Log:SGG - No. 1

Starguard Gamma 2012/02/26 	 Dreadnaught Eve Jolt Kay Starlight Xing-Liu 1

Eve is out for a jog. In fact, she's been jogging for several hours and is coming to the conclusion that she's not going to tire this way. She's a bit underdressed for the weather, but at least this doesn't seem very strange given she's keeping moving.

Xing-Liu is taking a semi-cold weather dip, swimming in the still chilly waters when few others would.

Susan is at a beach BBQ with the rest of the trainees from the Park Ranger class of '12.

It's Sunday, one of the rare days that Kay has off from her dayjob. Which fortunately she's pretty good at. As per her usual she heads down towards the beach with the idea of getting some lunch and watching the ocean. After being land locked for so much of her life the ocean is still awesome to her.

In the silent vacuum above planet Earth, a spaceship materializes from hyperspace. It's damaged, venting smoke and debris into space. Swiftly, it falls into the atmosphere and begins to burn upon reentry. Before the craft disintegrates, however, three escape pods are launched. The three pods streak through the sky and to the unsuspecting planet below, they appear like shooting stars.

SHTOOM! A ball of fire streaks down and slams into the water about a hundred meters from the shore. The backscatter from the impact launches a plume of water thirty meters into the air. Water rushes into the void caused by the fireball, and then surges outward as a giant wave. A sightseeing boat is overturned by the miniature tsunami and a pair of wind surfers get dragged under the giant swell.

Xing-Liu is at first disoriented by the shockwave, then begins swimming toward the source of the disturbance, moving rather quickly through the waters.

Eve sees the impact and immediately turn to run toward the sea, to protect anyone she can from direct impact with the tsunami at least. And to rescue any swimmers as may be needed once it's past.

"Wow! Did you see that? Someone call the police and coastguards. I'm going to swim out and see if I can help the people in that boat that turned over." Susan tells her fellow trainees.. Suiting action to words she runs down to the ocean edge and dives in. But as soon as she's out of sight underwater she changes into her alternate identity, the heroine Starlight. Jetting through the water at high speed she travels some distance away from where Susan vanished and then steaks upwards to fly the rest of the distance to the unturned boat.

That's not something you see every day, not at all. Kay picks herself up off the ground where she was sitting and with a brief but focused exertion she protects herself from, well, pretty much everything and gathers her thoughts to think about starting to fly and then she does so, a red energy field coalescing about her as she takes off into the air and heads towards the overturned boat. "Someone go check on those wind surfers and we need people in the water for those who came off the boat!" She 'suggests' rather determinedly.

"Susan! Wait!" one of the ranger trainees shouts, as he watches his fellow trainee dive recklessly into the surf.

There are only a handful of people on the beach, and they water into stunned silence for a moment, before realizing that some of the wave is coming into the beach. They start to flee.

Well it seems like Jolt is nearby. She's actually standing on one of the rooftops with an ice cream cone as the shit hits the fan and rolls her eyes "Great, I dont even get to enjoy my ice cream without the shit hitting the fan" she stuffs her face with as much as she can fit in her mouth and tosses the cone as she gets airborne to see what's causing the problem.

In the water, Xing-Liu swims into the teeth of the wave front.

Rather than trying to surmount the wave front, she dives beneath to fight the current.

Eve and Xing-Liu are carried back to the shore by the power of tons of surging water.

Disoriented again, Xing-Liu gains her bearings and resumes heading toward the impact spot.

Eve too tries to regain her bearings and keep on swimming.

Starlight mutters, "Idiots." as she sees the people in the water around the boat aren't wearing life vests. But at least she can see them so they're on the surface. Not under the surface. First things first, get the boat righted. Then get the people back aboard and check everyone is accounted for. . o O(Sorry about any personal belongings.) she thinks as she dives down to pick the boat up, holding it upsidedown for a moment to drain the water out, loose items falling and hitting the water, and then places it right side up down on the water.

Starlight lifts the boat out of the ocean and watches the water drain out. Along with, oops, that looked to be an expensive laptop. Splash. After a moment the flow of water from the boat slows to a dribble, and Starlight turns the boat the right way up and lowers it back into the water.

Well considering Jolt isnt a very good candidate for search and rescue operations in the water and the boat has already been righted once more she decides it's best to go ahead and see what caused the problem to begin with... That and she's curious.

By her actions, Starlight also saves two people who were trapped in the cabin of the board when it was flipped upside down.

Seeing Starlight, or rather, what she assumes is Starlight since it's the only tiny thing she knows of that can lift immense amounts of weight handling the boat Kay nods to herself and looks for civilians in the water that can be rescued. Propelled by her own TK she dives down towards the water and moves to start gathering people up so they can be re-deposited on the boat while looking around for the windsurfers, "Hope those windsurfers aren't caught in the wave heading out to sea..."

Once she is aware of the boat, Xing-Liu changes course to move toward that and see if anyone is under water who doesn't want to be.

Underwater, things are a cloudy mess as kicked-up silt makes it hard to see much of anything there.

Eve swims toward the nearest person she can see in the water to attempt a rescue.

"Wonder if it was a meteor strike..." Kay murmurs to herself, going to deposit the three she pulled out of the water back onto the boat now that it's been set upright and will likely need a crew. "Get warm, shut the engine off and away the anchor." She tells the people she just dropped off before going back for more.

The three sightsee-ers that Kay just rescued simply huddle together on board the ship; they're in too much shock to do anything useful.

Starlight calls out, "Hi., Force." as Kay goes by. Then she tells the people back on the boat, "Take a rollcall as we get your friends. Lets make sure nobody is missing underwater."

Eve and Xing-Liu can make out the shapes of wrecked sindsurfing boards. The noses of the board bob at the surface of the water, presumably weighed down at the other end by the surfer who's tethered to it. The two boards are in different locations.

Xing-Liu moves to Eve to ensure she knows, and points to one of the surfboards. She herself begins swimming to the other.

Eve swims as hard as she can to rescue the windersurfer!

"Hey Star. Keep an eye out for the propellers if they're still spinning, could be trouble. I'm hoping the flip did an auto shut off as the tanks went upside down." Kay says to Starlight then goes back to get more people out of the water. Priorities. People in the water are in more danger than the people on the deck.

Jolt floats over the impact site and looks down into the water. Well she's pretty useless it seems since she's not going to risk in the water. Then decides to just try her luck with magnetic force on the off chance whatever went down had some metal in it... "Hopefully all it is is a defunct satelite"

Starlight waves, "Yeah. Good point, Force. I'd wreck the propeller blades if they hit me. I can't see crad down there under the surface. Too much slit stirred up. Don't suppose you have sonar hearing or something, do you?"

"Fraid not. I can't see anything down there either. Am more worried about civilians being caught by the blades." Kay answers Starlight, yay for SGG communication pieces. "People we can see first, then we got to get them warm and that ship to dock."

One of the next three people that Kay is able to fish out of the water includes the tour guide, a Park Ranger that Starlight recognizes. The ranger starts doing a head count.

Xing-Liu pulls the unconscious surfer up from below, using the surfboard as a floatation surface, working first to push the water from their airway and then imbuing with her chi to help them more quickly recover from the ordeal.

Eve dives beneath the surface as she reaches the board and helps the surfer back through the murky to the relative safety of his board.

Xing-Liu swims the surfer and board back to the beach.

Starlight joins Force is pulling people out of the water and returning them to the boat, growing to full size to do so as people are too squishy to grab with tiny hands.

Eve check this guy is ok and then swims to aid someone else to shore.

Starlight says, "Force, can I leave the rest of these to you and go do a fly-around looking for anyone else in trouble?""

The ranger on the boat does a final headcount. "That's everyone," he concludes. He turns to Kay who happens to the the closest hero. "Thanks -- you saved us."

"Sure thing Starlight." Kay says to the other woman with a smile, going back to fish out some more survivors from the sea and in so doing, not seeing anyone else on the surface this time. "We'll have to do a head count, there might be more underwater. I can't see any on the surface." She communicates through SGG channels as she goes to deposit the last of the survivors on the boat and go about helping to get them blankets and the like and to be on hand if the ranger leader says people are missing.

Eve says, "I wonder what it was that hit the water...."

Eve dives down into the murky water looking for (a) other people and (b) the source of the wave.

Starlight flies just sub-sonic in a search pattern above the choppy water looking for any others in trouble, or evidence of such. Unattended surfing boards, small boats, waterjets, etc.

Underwater, visibility is improving slowly and the silt begins to drift down to the bottom.

Kay nods and makes sure there's not anything else she can do before she takes off the deck of the ship and flies out towards where her best reckoning of the impact site was. She looks down into the water and frowns, "All rescued as far as I can tell Starlight. Leaving just the source of the trouble... unless people on the beach didn't you know, run from the wave..." She looks beachwards just to make sure.

Eve swims down and onward toward the interesting lights.

Starlight answers Force over the SGG communication link, "No sign of anyone else needing immediate help. What was it that hit the water out there? Meteor? Any idea?"

Eve replies (in a rather distorted voice) down the link. "Has flashing bluish green lights. No air to talk long."

"No, waiting for the water to clear some before I go down." Kay answers over the very self same link, "I know it was..." And then Eve speaks over the link, "Well it's not what I thought. Time to go see if anyone else needs rescuing." And she dives down into the water using her TK to protect her and propel her. "Lets see if I can see those lights and get a bearing..." She doesn't even get wet, must be nice.

Eve saves the other half or so of the air in her lungs for an emergency.

Jolt looks down and thinks out loud as she responds to the chatter on the communicator "Well I'm sorta over where it crashed but I dont see a thing"

One the floor of the bay, is some sort of capsule, about 6 feet long and two feet in diameter. It's outline is marked by a few lights that shine blue-green under the filter of the water here. It's ruptured and taking on water from the trail of bubbles rising from it back to the surface. There are marking on the panel, in some kind of alien language. Inside the capsule, visible through a cracked, transparent panel, is some sort of alien creature. It's three feet tall, with short, stubby fins for arms and legs.

Starlight ceases her search pattern and flies rapidly over towards the impact point, diving down into the water and heading for the bottom when she reaches it. Calling before she submerges, "Starlight, on my way."

Eve takes hold of the capsule where the bubbles are leaking out in an attempt to stem the flow, then sees if the capsule is buoyant enouggh to be lifted.

Starlight swims/flies into one of the bubbles and breathes in, checking if the gas mixture is an O2/N2 combination. It looks like a swimmer but the capule is leaking air, of some kind.

Kay 'flies' down through the water to the capsule, "Get a good hold on it TB. I'll try and carry it up to the surface with you. Lets just hope that the atmosphere leaking out of it is compatible with ours or whoever's in there is in real trouble." she frowns, "Wish the Gamma premises were ready..."

Eve lifts the capsule and (the hard part) starts trying to swim up to the surface, carrying it, propelling herslef with her legs only. She may need help.

Eve nods to Kay.

Good thing Kay is there helping then.

Starlight thinks. o O (These communicators are better than anything the Vigils had but useless underwater for me.)

The lights on the capsule short and flicker out. The alien inside seems to wake up, with a single black bulbous eye blinking open. Suddenly the clear panel of the capsule kicks open and silt from the ocean floor rises up and rushed into the opening. The water begins to cloud again as the capsule suddenly gets heavier and heavier. The creature seems to be binding the the dirt to its form, growing bigger and heavier.

Eve perforce drops the capsule as it bursts open. "Are you ok?" she asks the creature, using a bit more air. Odds are it won't understand, but and expression of concern may help misunderstandings. And it may need help.

Or it may be preparing itself for combat. Unless the capsule gets to more than she can comfortably hold with one hand (50 tons) Kay keeps hold of the capsule, as it may contain useful information in the future. "That's likely defensive or perhaps preparatory aggressive behavior TB. Starlight if you can hear me still we'll likely need to contain it if it gets nasty."

Starlight bobs up and down to signify she heard Force.

Starlight shrinks back down to her combat size.

Eve had considered the possbility, even likelihood, of hostility. But doesn't go for her weapons till she's sure of it.

Dreadnaught

Eight feet of silt, hardened and shaped in a humanoid shape with a wide chest and powerful looking arms and legs. He's form is craggy, like a mountain, with crusted rock-like bits forming on the backs of his hands, elbows, knees and spine. Rocky spikes protrude from his chin, giving the appearance of a beard, and by comparison, a bald head.

As the silt clears, the alien is transformed. When it speaks, it's voice booms directly into minds of those around it. << Free at last! There ain't a prison been built that can hold Dreadnaught! >> Looking around, he reaches to try and grab for Eve.

Eve pulls her gun from her pocket and firsts at the alien before she can be grabbed!

Eve fails correctly to identify the alien's weak spots, so her shot is less effective than it might be.

Eve's shot grazes Dreadnought, kicking away a little bit of dirt from his body.

Kay seems to think that the alien talking to their brains isn't a good thing, especially if it takes a shot from Eve's gun without flinching really. Of course, the mention of /prison/ also doesn't help much. "Are you here requesting asylum then?" She asks but her tone is mere formality, "If you continue with your aggressive action to a representative of Star Guard we will have to respond with appropriate force." For the time being however, she waits to see if it stops, or, if it continues to try and grab at Eve.

Xing-Liu simply ensures the beach is clear while the fighting happens over there.

Dreadnaught rumbles: << Star Guard? What the hell's a Star Guard? >>

Dreadnaught reaches with one hand to try and snatch Eve by the neck. << You look kinda interesting. I might just let you live...>>

Eve wriggles in the alien's grasp but doesn't say anythng, conserving the last of her air.

Dreadnought eyes his recent catch. << Strange. You don't look like a fish. >>

Kay tries to intercept Dread when it goes to grab hold of Eve like that, "Well I tried..." She says to nobody in particular then reaches out with /her/ free hand to try and grab hold of Dread's 'wrist' that grabs hold of Eve and tries to wrench it to make Dread release Eve.

Eve thinks. o O (Huh. Spot that with one eye, did you?)

Dreadnaught struggles against Force's might. In the end it's his hand that gives out, crumbling back into silt. He look down at the stump at the end of his arm. << Huh >> he grumbles. << What is this muck? Won't make a decent hand. >>

Starlight sees the alien is unquestionably hostile and swims away a little to get speed up as she swims back at top velicity to kick out with her feet as she passes Dreadnaught. Continuing up she breaks the surface of the ocean so she can use her communicator. "The alien looks like a natural waterbreather. Amphibian as it was in air. Can we get him to the beach out of his environment and into ours? The beach ought to be deserted by now after the wave."

Eve uses the last of her air to reply, "But he's limited by his mud body here - don't let him get near harder things."

Kay says, "We'll try to keep him on the beach, sand can't be much better than mud."

Starlight's kick connects with Dreadnought solidly, the thump echoing throughout the water. Bits of dirt 'bleed' from the impact footprint that Starlight imprinted on his side.

Dreadnaught's hand reforms, and the depression from Starlight's kick fill in.

<< Hope this entire planet ain't a water world. >> Dreadnaught says flexing his reformed hand.

Eve thinks, "hope the other picked up he doesn't seem to like the water." And not having much of a better idea she fires again, trying to go for what seems more core than mud.

Eve thinks. o O (What part of this guy isn't mud?)

Eve's slug impacts right into Dreadnaught's torso. It stops and floats down to the bay floor.

Kay smirks a little, "A lot of it is, but, don't feel bad. Our prison for types like you is a dead airless rock without an atmosphere. Far less fun than this." And she 'flies' towards Dreadnaught and tries to snag him with one hand to drag him towards the beach. "Starlight can you come pick up TB and help get her towards the shore where we have more tactical options and less mud?"

Starlight replies over the communicator, "Okay, Force. On it. TB, stand by for a pick up."

Eve nods, not that Starlight can likely see.

Kay grabs onto the alien's center mass with one telekinetically enhanced grip and starts dragging him through the water towards the beach.

Dreadnaught tries to pummel Kay with a short, inside punch.

Dreadnaught says, << You look like the leader. I beat you down, and the rest'll far in line. >>

Starlight swims down to Total Babe and grabs her up on the way past staying close to Force's progress with the alien.

Kay grunts as she gets hit sucking in a breath of the recycled air in her force field afterwards but she doesn't even move from the impact, anchoring herself with her TK out of reflex. "Nice hit." She says to the alien she's still carting towards the beach, "Gonna take a lot more than that to put me down though."

Dreadnaught says: << Chicks on this planet are tough. I like that. >>

Kay can't help but grin at that, "Oh yeah? Pity we're not into the whole one eyed villain cyclops thing." She doesn't bother trying to inflict any pain on the alien yet, just pushing her speed to get to the beach ASAP, which should be right about... now.

Xing-Liu waits until the thing being fought is within range, and focuses her chi to dampen that of the Dreadnaught.

Dreadnaught says: << Your friends won't be able to help you... >> He shakes off Xing-Liu's attack and tries to drive his stony elbow into Kay's side.

The elbow apparently has less effect than the initial punch did as Kay takes it with aplomb, the mud not even sticking to her thanks to her force field. Just like she's still dry and not even remotely wet. She grins, "Take a look around bub. I got friends everywhere."

<< I got friends too. >> Dreadnaught says.

Xing-Liu rushes to land a blow on the large thing, testing out just how resilient it is with all of the silt attached.

Starlight says, "TB, you're pretty indestructable? Fancy being a cannonball?"

Eve says, "Never tried it, but sure!"

Xing-Liu's punch sinks wrist deep into Dreadnaught. He felt it, but he's still got lots of fight left in him.

Xing-Liu moved away after landing the blow, her typical combat style being one of the harrier.

Eve readies her staff and waits to be used as a cannonball.

Xing-Liu rushes in for another, testing a different spot on the mass.

Catching only grit this time, Xing-Liu moves off for another pass.

Kay lets go of the prison cell/escape pod now that they're on the beach. She keeps her hold on the alien however for now and she grins, "Where are your friends? So much easier if we round you all up at once." Now that she's got a hand free, her options are a lot less limited.

Starlight wabts to maintain her flight speed and also drop Total Babe off at Dreadnaught. So she merely flies past and holds Total Babe in a position that is shortly going to be occuplied by the alien.

Starlight says, "Wow. You guys okay. That was harder than I expeced."

Kay blinks as the alien nearly gets torn from her grasp if not for her tactile telekinesis she'd have surely not kept hold. "Good hit." She murmurs appreciatively.

WHUD! Dreadnaught would have been knocked clear from his feet if it weren't for Kay holding onto him. The blow knocks a bunch of rocks from the alien's chin to the ground.

Dreadnaught winces. He turns towards Kay and tries to slug her again. << Get off me! >> he growls.

Ah the advantages of close quarter combat, now that Kay's not holding onto the escape pod she's got an arm free and as another punch comes in she handily deflects it with a forearm and a twist. "Awww but I thought you liked me." She says to the alien even as she keeps him still, "C'mon, where's your friends."

Xing-Liu further weakens the Dreadnaught, focusing on dampening its chi again, packing a larger punch behind it than before...

Eve rrecovers herself following the impact - though she was surprised at how little it hurt! - and whirls her three-part staff at the alien with all her might.

Eve's strike connects solidly, but it doesn't seem to hurt Dreadnaught's silt-made body.

Starlight decides it's time to finish this before the conflict moves to populated areas. Truning is a half circle after dropping Total Babe she flies straight and fast at the centre of the alien's silt body.

Starlight wobbles a bit in her flight as she follows through for a few meters before slowing down. "Ouch. Anyone got a headache remedy on them."

POOMF! Dreadnaught explodes into a cloud of scattered sand as Starlight plows right through him. The little alien inside shoots from the cloud like a rocket, trailing a plume of dust. He lands into the shallow water with a splash and floats there, still.

Kay blinks as the alien gets torn right out of her one handed grip from the force of Starlight hitting like that and she winces, "Jeeze." She says lowly to herself, "Oh no, hope you didn't kill him." She flies over to the alien and goes to gather him up, just in case he recovers, and to make sure he's not dead of course.

Kay is still holding onto Dreadnaught's arm. It detached in the collision. It crumbled into dust, though.

Starlight says, "He seemed to be pretty uneffected by my previous hits on him. But I'll be glad to have you tell me he's not injured."

Eve goes to check on Srarlight -"Are you ok?"

Eve then checks on the alien.

Dreadnaught is in one piece. Telling anything more about his condition would require a xenobiologist.

Starlight grows to full size. "Yes. Apart from a headache. The shock of impact jarred me from the soles of my feet to the top of my head." She looks over at Force, "Thanks for holding him. I've never have hit him with that if you weren't."

Kay looks down at the alien, "No problem." She says to Starlight and then shoots a smile to Eve, Starlight, and XL. "However, he was right. There were two others coming down at least. So we'll have to keep an eye out."

Eve says, "Hm. I wonder of they have the same powers."

Eve says, "We should also find out where they escaped from!"

Xing-Liu nods her understanding, and begins toward the city.

Starlight looks out at the boat with its passengers safe and sound. Then at Dreadnaught. Across the Kay and Eve, "We work well together. You would have made great Vigils on my Earth. I'm looking forward to being in the SGG team with you. Hey. I guess this qualifies as our first SGG missions, doesn't it?"

Eve smiles. "I guess it does!"

Kay looks up towards the sky, as if trying to guess where the other two pods might have landed. "I'd hoped Star Guard would have sent a containment unit or something. We have to keep this thing in a sterile environment, no dirt or earth of any sort." She looks back down at the alien she keeps hold of before she smiles at Starlight and Eve, "Seems so. Good job everyone."