Log:Small Town Portal Invasion

2019/09/30 Havoc Artemis Victory 1

Across the Bay is a small town with a large problem- or what was a large problem. Then two powerful solutions dropped out of the sky and put a hurting on that problem.

Twenty minutes ago StarGuard received a number of panicked calls from the local Sheriff's Department, each more terrified than the last. At first, the receptionist called to report the Sheriff was called out to deal with what may be an ET Contact- a perfectly spherical object, made of some kind of metal with a chrome sheen appeared in the town center with no warning.

A few minutes later a Deputy called to report that people were seeing movement within the sphere but no one could pinpoint what they were seeing.

Another call came in from another Deputy that was in the civic center building, looking right at the sphere. The office was in a state, freaking out once a literal battalion of faceless soldiers started appearing in formation. It sure looked like an invasion force.

Omega Guard systems were also alerted to the report. A priority alert went out to Artemis who had bumped into Havoc as he leaped across the city.

They moved to intervene.

We join them a few minutes later as they press the battalion into retreat- back through the portal from which they came.

Quite naturally, the Unkillable pair gave chase.

Updated reports will end up dispatching Victory for retrieval duty before the portal can be closed.

On the other side of the portal the pair find a world much like Earth but in hues of Greys and Reds, as if the star above shone in a different primary wavelength, causing life to adapt and color itself accordingly.

They are also surrounded with literally dozens of similarly outfitted invaders- supported by large tank walkers with laser canons.

One fires on the pair as soon as they are through- missing but causing a large crater near by.

Artemis is in her element. She shoots a conspiring smile at Havoc after they dodge the laser cannon's shot. "I'll wager I can bring down more foes than you by the time this day is done," she offers a friendly--if competitive--challenge. She brandishes her blade whip and begins charging down the front line, leading with her shield.

He turns to the left and leaps straight into the thick of it, attempting to land on a tank.

He misses due to it sidestepping during his approach and lands instead in the midst of another battalion. They all move to get away from him- those not crushed underfoot that is, while those out of the brute's reach turn their weapons on him. He roars and swings his arm out in front of him, swiping the nearest few away with force.

Victory gets to the location where the portal is and reports back to Starguard what he sees. He says over the radio to them, "Keep Delta on standby. I'm going to head into the portal to try to corral our people. Keep an eye on the portal."

Artemis has charged into the thick of it. She hasn't had a true challenge in some time, and here's a chance to work out some of that tension from having to be so still and 'diplomatic'. She sweeps her whip before her in a wide arc to drive their forces back, then shield bashes an armored invader to her left. The smile on her face says she's having a grand old time.

Havoc picks up a broken soldier at his feet by the leg and begins using it as a makeshift club wielding against its sworn kin.

The brute gnashes his teeth as he brings down the soldier over and over again before hurling him up and behind him once he's grown bored with that one.

At Victory's feet and all around the courtyard lie a few more just like it, left behind as the soldiers were forced to flee when two of Earth's Mightiest arrived to close the BREACH. As Havoc's last toy falls- it falls right into the portal- shooting out the other side, causing the entity to go shooting out horizontally at the same speed he was falling. It skids to a halt a few feet in front of Victory.

It looks up to him with panic in its orange, slit eyes- now visible thanks to its faceless helmet being smashed to peices. The creature looks like a strange mix of bug and lizard. Certainly not from this Earth.

Victory turns on his shield, mutters to himself...and picks up the alien...not with any intent to hurt him...but instead to get him to his side of the portal. "I hope you understand English. I'm going to get you home." He drags the alien with him through the portal to the far side.

Artemis swings her whip in another sweep to clear the way before her as she lifts up into the air. A handful of invaders go flying back. Her eyes are on the prize ahead...one of the tank walkers. It opens fire on her and sends her bouncing back along the ground several meters before she scrapes to a halt on her back near the portal. She only has to turn her head slightly to spot Victory dragging in the soldier. "Friend Wade! You've come to join the fight!" she says cheerfully despite taking a considerable hit.

Victory shouts to Havoc and Artemis, "I'm here to try to get you to come back! The goal is to close the portal! We can't try to do that with you on this side!" He sets the alien down carefully where he might have a measure of cover from the battle.

The Alien tries to fight back, but its too battered. Arms broken, armor shattered, one of its legs in worse shape than anything. Its fighting quickly stops when it sees where Victory is dragging it.

On the other side it begins breathing again- grateful to be back off that strange world.

Meanwhile, Havoc has found a soldier wearing an exoskeleton! He can be seen bolting through a stand of men as he chases after it- sending them flying end over end jsut before Havoc reaches his latest prey.

Some sort of leader spots Wade's arrival and an audible sound can be heard from similarly empowered individuals- a keen ear or eye might notice there is 1-2 in each formation. They pass the call all allong the battlefront.

In the distance a city like structure can be seen, more hive than municipality but large enough to be seen despite its distance away.

As soon as each battalion leader has spread the call they move to retreat- terrified that Victory might somehow be more powerful than the two that gave chase.

The tanks and exoskeleton-wearers remain to provide cover for their retreat. No thought is given for their fallen comrades- perhaps because they are 'merely' drones or soldiers.

With an exoskeleton wearing alien in hand, Havoc holds him overhead with one hand and smashes it over his knee. Parts of the armor shatter instantly as its pressed far beyond its manufactured tolerances.

Havoc laughs and leaps toward one of the tanks- not having heard Victory over the din of terror & war.

Havoc holds the broken alien in hand like a basketball player moving for a slam dunk- but instead of a rim there is only a tank charging up to blast Artemis again.

Artemis rises up to her feet, dirt and rocks falling from her as she steps out of the trench she dug from the last blast. She raises her shield as the tank charges up, looking to Victory. "Without teaching them the folly of their invading ways?" she asks with some disappointment in her voice.

Victory raises a brow as he sees the aliens retreat. "I think you've already taught them that! Look!" He motions to their retreat. "That's not due to me! Focus on the mission!"

Victory might be speaking to the wrong pair about 'Focus'. Havoc certainly is displaying next to none as he leaps aboard the charging tank- dunking the exoskeleton-wearing alien (lets say Commander-class) down the barrel where it gets jammed between the various high-energy firing arrays.

Havoc pulls himself atop it and begins walking towards the cockpit meanacingly cracking his knuckles as he considers what he's going to do to this beauty.

Unfortunately he never gets to make a decision as the tank fires its charged blast which promptly impacts with the Commander-Class trooper in its barrel. A cascading explosion takes place right beneath HAvoc's feat that ripples out in 30 meters in every direction destroying everything in that range besides the Havoc-sized mass ejected upwards, burning (and roaring) as it flies back towards Artemis and Victory.

Artemis usually leaves the mission details to the strategists. But if there's one person she might, MIGHT listen to, it's Victory. Though not without a conflicted expression her face. "Very well. There is no honor fighting an enemy in retreat," she concedes, sheathing her sword for now as Havoc hurtles towards them. She looks to Victory questioningly, then realizes it's probably up to her to try and catch Havoc. She moves to intercept the cannonball of rage to collect him.

Victory sees Havoc coming...and rather than move to catch the hero-turned-missile, he moves out of the way, figuring that Havoc can probably handle an impact with the ground better than Wade can deal with trying to catch him.

Havoc's burning body is put out by the air blowing past him at high speed & his relatively minor wounds are already knitting themselves back together by the time Artemis gets into position to hopefully catch the massive man.

He's still roaring angrily as he impacts the awaiting Artemis and immediately begins to flail against her, likely still thinking himself in midst of enemies.

"I'm gonna smash you all to tiny bits!" He announces as the pair slide backwards and downwards as Artemis absorbs his momentum.

Artemis would probably have landed with the pair safely if not for taking a ham-sized fist to the face. The two crash down on the ground--not as hard as Havoc's initial momentum--with Artemis on her back again and underneath the raging Havoc. She takes a few more hits after their slide ends, interposing her shield when she can, or twisting to roll just out of the way of a fist. "Halt, Havoc! The day is--" she takes another fist to the face. "--won!"

Victory moves to protect Artemis and Havoc after they land, interposing himself and his shield between them and any followup incoming fire. "Havoc! Get up! We're heading back to our world! Otherwise, you're getting left behind!" He coughs from the flying debris and dust in the air.

Havoc's head snaps this way and that until he can see Artemis is the one who's grasped him.

He snorts and climbs up and out of the crater they made and bits of burnt & charred skin and flesh fall from him, revealing perfectly unmarred skin beneath.

His eyes turn to Victory and narrow as he sizes the soldier up before turning back to the fleeing aliens. Their military vehicles and weaponry all posed at them but after seeing Havoc literally shake off a massively powerful explosion they aren't firing- afterall, what would the point be?

He doesn't bother to dust himself off. "Dat might not be so bad. Spend all da rest of my days jsut chasin' and smashin' these bugs." He says with a shrug but the look on his face is one of longing- as if this has all ended too soon for his tastes.

Artemis flies out of the crater and lands besides the others, a bit dirty from the brawl, but relatively battle-ready. "They are in full retreat now. As close to surrender as we can hope for. To thrash them further would be cruelty." She looks to Victory and gives a nod, though she, too, is disappointed the fight is over. "The mission," she affirms. "Have they found a way to seal this portal device?"

Victory shrugs. "No idea. But it can't happen until we're on the other side, either way. These soldiers won't follow, I think. If they opened it and can control it, they'll likely close it on their own."

What looks like a retreat to the Earthdwellers is really just the mobilization of troops out of harms way. As the seem to fall into line and retreat back towards the city the line breaks, revealing a walker twice the size of any other on the field.

"Oh I think dey just startin' to play." Havoc grumbles as he points to it and a smile crosses his face.

Once it draws near it will be a bit more evident that while large, this vehicle is meant to push unwanted visitors back through the portal.

Artemis eyes the larger walker and smiles a bit. "They are rallying," she comments, then looks back through the portal back to Victory and Havoc's earth. "They have more spirit to them than I suspected," she comments, looking back to the walker.

Victory shakes his head as he sees the walker. "Artemis, don't engage. Come on." He heads back toward the portal. "If that thing was meant for the attack, you'd have already seen it before now."

Artemis weighs the wisdom of Victory's words, and finds them to be true. "You speak truly. Very well," she relents to Victory's command, turning to accompany him through the portal. She casts a glance over at Havoc as he hesitates longer before eventually following them, but not without his fair share of grumbling protests.

Victory gets back through the portal to find a full Delta squad in their power armor on the other side, ready to engage as necessary. The sergeant says, "Hold your fire! They're coming back through!" He waves to them, "Both Havoc and Artemis are with me!"

Artemis steps through, sword still sheathed but shield at the ready for treachery from the invaders. She has yet to witness Delta Squad for herself. Havoc comes through after giving one last look to the armies on the other side. He cracks his knuckles and grins at Delta Squad.

Victory looks back at the portal after they're through. "So, how did this thing open in the first place?" He also looks for other aliens to get back to their own world. He goes about checking for downed invaders...and when he finds one, he takes them to the portal and tosses them through.

Artemis looks around at the few still left on this side of the portal. She lifts two of them and hoists one over reach shoulder, then walks over to the portal to dump them over to the other side. "It merely appeared as a strange metal sphere before activating to grant passage between worlds," she gives her understanding of the occurrence as she drops her 'cargo'. Even Havoc participates, grabbing the last invader and unceremoniously tossing him through, aiming for another invader as he does.

That seems to clear their side of the portal, as once these invaders are returned, the portal seals into a chrome mirrored sphere before popping out of existence.

Victory tilts his head and takes a deep breath, "I wonder why they chose here to try to invade?" He smiles and looks over to Havoc and Artemis, "Thanks for driving them off."

Artemis offers a shrug and a smile as her shield retracts back into her bracer with the help of dimensional folding. "Your world is rich in resources and galacticly isolated. Many planets in the Far Reach were troubled with raids. This planet is similarly isolated," she hazards a guess. She flashes a smile at Victory's thanks. "The Godflora cannot simply ignore the call of aid when it is issued. I received warning through Omega Guard's network. Havoc followed."

Artemis plants her hands on her hips to survey the battle damage. Most of it was kept to the other side of the portal, but there's a fair share of damage on this side. "You took control as a true leader when you arrived," she compliments Victory, knowing his concerns of being a good leader.

Victory chuckles. "If they knew enough about our resources, they should know enough about how well we can defend ourselves." He shakes his head and motions to the Delta sergeant, "We're good here, I think!" The sergeant gives a thumbs up, and the troopers start to deal with cleanup.

Victory pauses and looks to Artemis again, "Thank you." He quirks a smile, "I have to have something going for me. It's not like I can lift a truck."

Artemis chuckles mirthfully. "One need not lift a truck to be a leader. Especially when you can order those who can to do it for you," she winks, then looks down at herself and starts trying to dust herself off in vain. Those burn smudges aren't just wiping off.

Victory laughs. He takes a look at the burn marks. "You might have to scrub that out. Or meet a mage who can fix that kind of thing without work."

"Scrub and polish," Artemis agrees and she gives up on trying to clean her breastplate. "I know not about the use of sorcery for such things, but perhaps someone can use their magic to clean this." Since dry cleaners don't accept armor.

Victory nods. "At least a couple of the mages in town had spells along those lines at one point. I don't know if that's still the case now or not."

"Are they with the Starguard?" Artemis asks, making her peace with the soot. "It matters little to me. It will not impede my celebrations of this day," she smiles.

Victory shakes his head, "Not that I'm aware of?"

Artemis tsks. "I will just have to put some work into it later," she decides. She watches Delta Squad getting to work curiously. "That battle merely whetted my appetite for battle and adventure," she complains. "Is this where I must give the 'reports'?" she asks, the concept being agony to her.

Victory grins, "You're not part of Starguard. So...no. I'm going to have to do that."

Artemis laughs merrily at being free, patting Victory consolingly on the shoulder. She resolves that joining Starguard officially would be a headache. "I envy you not, my friend. Though I do feel some guilt on the burden you must bear. Perhaps I can make it up to you somehow." She starts to ponder on how that might work.

Victory chuckles. "I don't mind having to write reports, honestly. It's a necessary evil. If I do it, it creates a record that someone else can reference in a few years when those aliens try again." He points with a thumb back toward where the portal had been.

Artemis smiles as she's let off the hook. "Better you than I, then. And I am free from owing you a strong drink.," she chuckles. Something occurs to her. "Ah, the Starguard Astronomer is helping me narrow the search for a path to Ajurpan Si. Perhaps in the coming several days, we will find it. Are there any of your squadron baseball games happening soon? I'm curious to see one if I can before I depart Earth."

Victory smiles. "A squadron baseball game? We don't really have an official league. If we play, it'll likely be a pickup game, though we might be able to set one up against another SG base."

Artemis frowns and tries to remember. "Ah, not squadron. Team?" she guesses. But then she looks more intrigued. "You mean to play? Oh, this intrigues me much. To face off with another Starguard base to see which reigns supreme!" She grins. "I would be willing to lend my strength and skill to your base, Friend Wade."

Havoc has kept himself busy throwing invaders back through the portal before it closed. Then by cleaning out a local hot dog vendor while Delta team finished the rest of the clean up on Victory's authority.

He grunts after popping the last of his spoils into his mouth and confidently makes his way back to the others.

"Dis wha' every day iz like f'ya?" He asks Victory after swallowing the rest. It'd be a wonder if he even tasted it.

Victory shakes his head and says to Havoc, "Not every day, no. Thankfully. Though the recent Rift issues were a lot like this in rapid fire."

"If only," Artemis laments at Havoc's question.

"Dat waz good fun. Kinda wishin' I stayed- coulda lived like a king, but then I'd have to give up on Bruno's Dogs... and dat won't do." Havoc says with a shrug.

"Not often I go lookin' for somethin' to crush and a few hundred volunteers show up." He muses as happily as the brute ever seems- which isn't much by most measures.

"Would it not be boring once all your foes were defeated?" Artemis asks.

Victory shrugs, "There's no guarantee that they'd have food you can eat over there. Though I don't know if that's an issue for you or not."

Victory turns off his shield, finally...when it's clear the aliens are not coming back. "Something still feels odd about this event here. I'm not sure what it is, but it feels like something doesn't quite sit well with me."

"Invasions never should," Artemis comments with a grin, folding her arms over her chest. "You should, however, pay heed to your instincts on this, my friend."

Victory nods. "It's the 'why' that bugs me. Why here? Why us? It's fine and good to say it was for resources. And that might be the case...but they would have had to know about those resources somehow. Were they pointed toward us by a third party? Or can they see our planet remotely?"

The massive Havoc shrugs. "I suppose I'll neva kno'." He says to Artemis. "I'm pretty sure I coulda found a way to keep myself plenty busy- but you're right. It might have gotten boring if thoze bozos were as tough as it eva got." He adds after a moment of thought.

He offers Victory a shrug. "Well, I wazzn't lookin' forward to eatin' any a'them if dats what ya mean. Plus the light waz all weird anyway. Who amIkiddin'? I woulda hated it."

"Deez are all good questions. I ain't got no answers- but I'm hopin' they come back. Better and stronger than eva." He laughs boisterously- sounding quite a bit like a massive basso landslide.

Artemis gets a suspicious look on her face. "Might there be spies amongst your people?" she proposes.

Victory shrugs at Artemis's suggestion. "Not at Starguard. But there might be some alien or dimensional traveller who helped them. And htat person could be here...or there."

Havoc chuckles at that. "Oooh. You think therez more of 'em out here- hidin' out? OOoh. Well, whatz StarGuard gonna do about that Shieldman?" He asks Victory, giving him a playful nudge that would probably topple over just about any normal person end over end.

"How d'you even track someone like dat down?" He says, thinking aloud.

Artemis rubs her chin and frowns at the thought. She wonders the same thing Havoc does.

Victory manages to keep his balance despite Havoc's nudge. "I'm not sure we can, other than to keep an ear to the ground. Or call in an expert. Was that another planet? Or another dimension? If the latter, we might have someone in town who can find out."

"I've not seen any of their ilk in my travels. I fear I am of no help in this endeavor," Artemis apologizes.

The Brute approves of Victory much more seeing he wasn't bowled over so easily.

Havoc furrows his brow as he tries to consider Victory's additional before giving a 'whelp, not my problem' type of shrug to go along with his face sliding into a much more passive (though still angry looking) face.

"I ain't neva seen a place like dat but I try t'stay on Urth wheneva possible. Still- gonna be a tough day f'dat guy who'z gotta figure it out I guess." He says aloud. "Wouldn't wanna be him."

Victory nods. "I guess we'll check with contacts with the Guild, and see if they know. Or the dimensional specialist. This guy named 'Radical'. I haven't met him, but he supposedly is...well travelled?"

Artemis turns to Victory, perhaps having an idea. "You should definitely inquire with them. Perhaps Starguard can research if any strange signals proceeded the invasion? There may be a way to be warned of such dangers."

"Well you twoz call me when you need something broken. I'm off to go find some food." Havoc says with a nod to the others before leaping off into the sky with a crack of thunder and a circle of cracked pavement in his wake.

"Where might we seek this radical being?" Artemis asks Wade.

Victory shrugs, "I don't even know that. I just know that the guy is local. I have no idea where to find him."

Artemis looks puzzled over this. "I have never heard of this being, but I shall try to hunt them down," she offers.

Victory nods. "Well, good luck. I'll check with Starguard's folks to see if they can identify the alien race in question, with some help from the Guild."

Artemis nods and smiles. "And good luck in your endeavors, my friend."