Shadowland - The Vanguard FINAL ISSUE!!!

A pounding rang out... So warm... cold... pain...

Darkness... inky black... impenetrable... Shouldn't a hand be visible in front of his face? Did he have hands left? Where...?

Silver Sentinel blinked. Something dripped in his eyes. Blood? So this was how it ended... He lay still, knowing his body was dying here in the hard vacuum of outer space. Had they done it? He couldn't see anything out of his helmet...

That pounding again... his heart... he still lived, for the next few moments. Then he would drift, forever, a corpse through the void.

So many things flashed into his mind. People he'd not said goodbye to, regrets at things said or left unsaid... not seeing his friends again.

The pain was immense, and finally his lungs gave out - he could hold his breath no more! A flaring of light! So this was how it ended!














"Steve?"

Sentinel gasped... and breathed in air! He reached with pained hands to turn his helmet around, the pain too strong to allow him to control his power... There was light all around him. What?

Beth.

Pulling the helmet off, Steve Jenson saw he was enveloped in an orange sphere of solid light - Sunbursts' doing! There was a cannister of oxygen hissing away near his feet! The sphere was translucent enough to see through, and he swore he could see the distant red glow of a dot, and the reflection of a larger sphere, if that was what he could call the dot beside it!

"Yes, Earth! I... I can't find the older you. I don't think he made it..." said the voice from all around Steve Jenson.

Sentinel nodded, numb from pain and loss. At his feet, a chunk of the pure crystal Lunarium that represented the multiverses' last hope against the Devourer! He stooped to pick it up, and clasped it in a scorched gauntlet. Turning to look at the direction he thought the sun to be in, he knew this singular chunk would not be enough to stop the Devourer... but there must be... some way to stop it! They were the Vanguard!

They were the Universes' last hope!

Panic reigned in the streets across the world...

Only the island of Great Britain seemed untouched, seemingly immune to the terror that befell the inhabitants of Earth with the sure knowledge that every living thing seemed to feel - their impending death!

Communications broke down. Widescale looting and violence as neighbours turned on one another, seemingly reverting to animalism as they tore at the fabric of society!

In a matter of hours, Law and Order devolved into chaos and anarchy. The sense of impending doom was palpable.

Mankind could taste it.

=========

Only those of the stoutest hearts and minds seemed able to keep their nerve...

General Freedom was one. Even as a raging mob tore at the gates to the White House, he wheeled the President away through a back entrance. He could feel the fear gnawing at him and knew it to be no natural occurrence. The Devourer had toyed with its food for long enough. Now it wanted the main course.

The panic, fear, terror and fury of mankind...

Even the animals were not immune. Loved and trusted pets turned on their owners, who responded by tearing at their pets in turn... Buildings burned, gunshots rang out, the air was thick with screams... radio broadcasts died, the broadcasters filled with a sense of rage and helplessness...

General Freedom moved through the corridors. "Sir, we need to get you away." he said, aching from his recent endeavours but still able to move freely as his mind battled against the onslaught the Earth had been put under!

"Why?" sighed Franklin D Roosevelt? "To go where? We're finished as a species. The world is lost! I ... Johnson?"

General Freedom paused as secret service agents stepped out into the hallway. Three of them, their eyes wide, glaring at the man in the wheelchair. The man in front, 'Johnson' rasped. "This is YOUR fault for siding with THEM!" he bellowed, teeth bared as he pulled his pistol and waved it at General Freedom!

"Now you are going to die!" shouted the Agent! All three of them turned their guns towards the President of the United States of America!

OOC you are 4m away from the agents in the corridors of the White House heading for a back entrance. The President is in a wheelchair. All over the White House there are screams, shouts and sounds like animals fighting... Outside it's worse, as mankind turns on itself. The end of days?

Admin wrote:OOC you are 4m away from the agents in the corridors of the White House heading for a back entrance. The President is in a wheelchair. All over the White House there are screams, shouts and sounds like animals fighting... Outside it's worse, as mankind turns on itself. The end of days?

Hoping that he might yet break through the fear, to the men's training and discipline Frostbite barked an order at the men, even as he raised his shield. A gesture meant to remind the men who they fought for, of greater things than carnal savagery, but of hope, honour and dignity. "This is your commander in chief, you've sworn to lay your lives down to protect him and the country he represents. Men, do your duty that is an order."

But even as he spoke, Frostbite didn't trust that the men's will's would be enough verses the onslaught from the Devourer. Try as they might, would they have the capacity to endure? Perhaps, but perhaps not for long. Frostbite had to get the President to safety.

OOC: Move up to the president so as to put myself in the way and make sure that if these men decide to move, I get to protect the President first.

Sj

Undead closed around the small group...

Anyman wrestled with a thing that was over ten feet tall, and seemingly composed of dozens of undead intertwined into one chaotic whole! Everywhere he looked it grew a mouth to snap at him with yellowed, cracked and broken teeth! Fetid breath brushed his cheek and he glanced at the others...

Trowers fired round after round into the crowds of Undead streaming towards them into the tunnels and around the small group. They'd backed up, heading deeper into the mines, untili stopped by the deep red glow of the place!

"Can't ... go ... any ... further!" gasped Bentham. "Rad levels... off the scale!" he grunted. He pulled a small box from a pocket on his jumpsuit, yanked another from a pouch on his belt and spent a few moments seemingly mixing two liquids together before taking a syringe and filling it... His hands were shaking like a leaf, but the fellow had terrific strength of will and managed to mix the solutions together without dropping the lot onto the rock floor.

Anyman pushed the terrifically strong undead beast away and took a moment to catch his breath as the beast crashed into it's fellows! Here the tunnel narrowed some and funnelled the Undead so they couldn't go around. Somewhere in the mines the deafening sounds of guns rang out as the Robo Warriors, robots from the futuristic flying aircraft carriers now under the control of the Vanguard, sliced and diced the undead with their weapons! The closer they got to the Lunarium mines, the tougher the Undead got - as Anyman could testify to.

Bentham helped Trowers to his feet. The man was sweating profusely and clawing at his dome like helmet. "No good..." rasped Trowers. "May as well... end it!" Holding a weak flashlight up, the former Lunarium Man shouted "We're doomed!"

Claude Bentham turned to Anyman and held up the syringe. "We need to get the machine into the caves below. It needs to impact on the core, and it needs to be calibrated to point at the sun, or at least at the cloud covering it! Even then... it's like hitting a jar on a fence a mile distant with a thrown pebble! I've run the numbers... We are going to fail!" he sighed as Trowers fired again and again, dropping Undead momentarily as the group backed up further. "We need a miracle! That machine will catalyse the Lunarium and start a chain reaction... but chances are it won't affect the Devourer, or worse, make it stronger! Maybe it WANTS us to do that? It's our only shot though... Until then..." he looked at the Syringe then at Anyman. "Do you trust me?"

Suddenly the huge undead creature got to its feet and barged a number of uniformed Nazi undead aside! It ignored bullets from Trowers gun and paced towards Anyman, determined to break the warm fleshy thing that had thwarted him thus far!

"We need the Crystal Lunarium that Silver Sentinel is bringing," Anyman said, facing off against the giant undead. "Without it, we just add more food to the Devourer. We have to hold until he gets here!"

"Silver Sentinel," he mentally pulses, "are you here yet? We need that crystal! Can't hold on much longer without it."

General Freedom with the President in the White House...

Using his body as a shield, General Freedom held his ground...

"This is your commander in chief, you've sworn to lay your lives down to protect him and the country he represents. Men, do your duty that is an order."

The words were projected with as much steel as Joe could put into them.

The guards paused. One man started sweating... anothers hand started shaking, gun and all...

The third... grunted, then cried out! "No! NOOOO!" he screamed, then he put his gun to his head and pulled the trigger!

The other two agents stared in horror, then dropped their guns and ran out, away from General Freedom and the President.

The older man looked down sadly at the agent and up at General Freedom. "They are still in there... good men, loyal men... but it seems a cloak of... darkness... of evil.. has settled over everyone."

"Pretty soon the whole world will have torn itself apart..." he said. With tears in his eyes he looked outside and the orange glow of Washington on fire.

=========

The Streets of Washington were unsafe, to say the least...

Despite his superpowers, General Freedom felt helpless. He'd taken a car, the President in the back, and driven away from the White House as rabid citizens charged through the streets, looting, fighting, screaming and in some cases, simply breaking down and crying.

The end of days.

=========

A safe distance away, the pair watched the chaos from the hills...

"What now?" asked the President, his voice breaking the night air...

Just then a voice crackled over the ear comm piece that General Freedom wore... "...Skrrzz... Robo Carrier 7... We have detected the remains of the MARO, Silver Sentinels' vessel in space. Sensors are not strong enough to detect life signs. Computers monitoring solar activity have detected the smallest fluctuations in light levels. Possible explanation - some of the beings obscuring the sun are heading towards the Earth..."

What now indeed...

Admin wrote:General Freedom with the President in the White House...

What now indeed...

"Sir for the time being I am going to have to put you where I know you'll be safest. I realise you might wish to be with family and we'll do what we can to reunite you. But for now my priority is your safety."

With that Frostbite ordered the Robo carrier to send down an armed escort and transport to take the president and a second vehicle to collect his family.

Whilst he waited for his orders to be sorted, Frostbite turned his mind toward the others in England, the Queen and her people in Atlantis, what remained of Germany and Europe and finally to his friends, scattered to the four winds. What indeed must he do know.

OOC:
Ok once the President is taken care off and appropriate orders given for the collection of his family and their safety in the Robo carrier, I guess I go on? Not sure where yet, I guess back to the Robo carrier for now, as there is little I can do here on earth for the present.

Sj

OOC Not sure if Ross knows about new thread or is just busy - will PM him.

Anyman on the moon with Bentham, Trowers, Lunarium Man (depowered) and a robot army battling undead...

Lance Allard waited for a reply but got nothing. (OOC He doesn't know it, but the White Lunarium has drained Sentinel of all Dark Power now, including the ability to speak mind to mind)

With the huge undead creature coming at him, Anyman realized it was up to him to save the known universe! Again! He noticed Bentham poised to the left and behind him with a syringe raised! "Anyman, trust me when I say this will hurt like the blazes but probably save all our lives!"

And he punched it towards Anyman!

OOC Roll of 10 - He will hit only if Anyman lets him. in any case it's initiative 6 Heroes, 2 Bad Guys. You have 2 frames, then will be overwhelmed by hordes of Undead! The sounds of machine guns are getting closer but in the meantime there are half a dozen zombies, a ghoul thing (faster and fiercer) and this... unholy mess of intertwined limbs and multiple mouths, standing some 8' high and with an attitude as bad as it looks. And it's heading straight for Anyman.

Frostbite watched the smaller vessel, a shuttle, ascend with the President on board and his family.

It had taken only minutes to arrange, but felt like hours. Flying over Washington had been heartrending and Frostbite felt unable to look at the distraught old man in the wheelchair. He wondered what a token gesture such as saving the President would mean in the coming hours, if that was all the Earth had left.

The city burned, and fires lit up the landscape in the darkness as smaller towns fell into chaos and anarchy.

Now on the bridge of a sister craft to that which had taken the President to a remote hilltop location, there to unfurl and expand into a metal prefabricated building complete with defense systems enough to ward off anything that 1940s technology had to offer, Frostbite sat on the bridge in silence as he viewed broadcast scenes from other Robo Carriers around the world which watched the Earth from Orbit. In every country, people rose up in fear and terror, lashing out at authority, against leaders, anyone who wore a uniform. Everywhere there were fires burning, the crackling drowned out by screams and shouts.

=========

Captain on the Bridge! Announced a Robot

"Where are the human crew?" asked Frostbite, inquiring where the Peelers had gone.

"Incarcerated for their own protection. They became 'afflicted' with the madness some minutes ago before you arrived on board." replied a robot, configured to look vaguely human, as were the others on board. Frostbite couldn't help but feel lonely...

The robot went on...

"Available locations are:

Near Space, where the remains of your Team Mates Spacecraft have been detected.

The Moon, where a Robo Carrier has been called to help Mr Anyman.

The United Kingdom Government building - the British Isles are the only place on Earth where the terror has not affected the populace.

We also have another solution.

Mass gassing of the populace. There will be casualties among the sick and young, but possibly less than this unit projects the current anarchy will bring anyway."

Admin wrote:Frostbite

We also have another solution.

Mass gassing of the populace. There will be casualties among the sick and young, but possibly less than this unit projects the current anarchy will bring anyway."[/color]

OOC:
More likely that Ross didn't realise about a new thread, email him directly or yeah a PM will do it.

By the by, is Frostbot still with Anyman, I've kinda lost touch with where he ended up!

Looking about the robot crew, creatures who were hellbent on whipping out or enslaving the human race and where they failed the Devourer had succeeded. The sheer frankness of the robots suggestion was laughable, but only up to a point. An idea formed in Frostbite's mind. Sure they'd be casualties, unexpected problems, but what if gassing the population, not to kill but to sleep. That would stop the Devourer feeding straight away. It was of course possible that it would just expend energy to stop the gas, but it would at least give it pause for thought. He had to buy the human race more time, keep the Devourer guessing, until their desperate acts might yet come together into some cohesive whole.

Configure the ship, to gas the population, only make it non lethel, potent enough to send them into a very deep sleep. If anyone dies as a result of this they shouldn't feel any pain. But it might just buy us time with the Devourer. Also warn our allies, anyone who can be trusted. See to it!

Frostbites mind turned to his companion. Strangely he felt comfortable among the robotic creatures that surrounded him, his one constant since that coma, that gave him what he had, had been the presence of a future Joe and the computer. A concept he didn't even understand, but now couldn't live without. He missed the strange voice, its stiff manner. He even found it funny when it had a body that robot that it wore like a skin and the shear delight, even humanity it showed at its new found freedom.

Speaking to himself, Frostbite knew if he ever got out of this, Frostbot needed to be his own. He shared Frostbite, but clearly was confined within him, within a body of his own, he was his own...'man'! As it were.

Turning to the glowing panels, he wondered how the others were doing, what in all this madness was happening with Sentinel and Anyman and Frostbot.

Sj

Things really couldn't get any bleaker. His body had taken so much punishment and his mind.....well his mind....the trauma of it all.....the agony of lose that kept building up as he pushed his pain to one side. He had no hope. All he could feel was despair. He didn't even know if there sacrifice had been in vain. Was it all for nothing?

Were the two of them set to float about for the rest of their life's, as short lived as that maybe, for surely there was no way they could return to earth now.

OOC: Thanks for the heads up Paul. Truly the end of days. P.S. Loving the idea of cyber sentinel

With the huge undead creature coming at him, Anyman realized it was up to him to save the known universe! Again! He noticed Bentham poised to the left and behind him with a syringe raised! "Anyman, trust me when I say this will hurt like the blazes but probably save all our lives!"

And he punched it towards Anyman!

ooc: The fact that anytime I asked him to do something for me results in him doing his own thing which includes mass murder, I'm really really doubtful I should let him stick me. Then again, Anyman has tough skin, how is the needle going to go into him unless I somehow soften my skin so that it can do so?

ARRRRRRGHHHH!!!! Decisions. Decesions. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.


"Damn," Anyman mutters under his breath as he allows his skin to soften enough to take the needle.

actions: Dpending on whether or not the stuff in the needle prevents him from acting, this multi-arm thing absorbs flesh if memory serves so Anyman will need to grab some rocks or metal to bash away at the thing.

Frostbite pondered on where his own computer companion might be...

OOC thanks for the reminder - yeah Frostbot is on the moon with Anyman.

The Robot nodded to confirm Frostbites request then paused. "Hypothesis. If the so called 'fear' effect that is gripping the planet affects them during their waking hours, would it not be more pronounced during sleep hours, when the subconscious falls prey to the phenomena known as 'Nightmares'? This unit does not fully understand the process, but has detailed files extracted from thousands of test subjects in this units quest to produce the best means of annihilating the human race."

Frostbite turned. This thing was talking about having slaughtered thousands of people in the name of research, in order to better improve its chances of destroying the human race! It did raise an important point though. If gassing the populace to put them into a deep sleep made them more vulnerable to the Devourers' power, there might be no limit to the suffering it could inflict on Billions of people who could not wake from a perpetual nightmare!

He sagged in a chair. There seemed to be no end to the insurmountable challenges facing them!

The robot then twitched. "Incoming distress beacon picked up by an Orbitting Robo Carrier. It is from the agent designation Beth Carter also known as Sunburst, requesting rescue from an area of space nearer Mars than Earth. The signal is weak. From the records we have of the solid light construct known as Beth Carter, such a message would expend vast reserves of solar energy, which given the fact the sun has been effectively blocked out, means its energy supply must have almost run out."

OOC Your call on the gas - kill or deep sleep, or leave it. I suspect you'll leave it - you don't put out a fire by throwing everything that's important to you on it. Meanwhile the distress signal from Beth may warrant investigation.

Sentinel noticed the energy bubble - Beths reconfigured body - was flickering, weakening all about him!

His older self had been lost, presumably killed. He had lost his legs, though used his metal morphing powers to replace them. Now, devoid of the dark power, unable to contact or be contacted by his friends, and with a chunk of rock that might be useful in a long-shot chance to nullify the Devourer, Steve felt his luck had finally run out.

The darkness of the void surrounded him. He was floating in space, encapsulated in a bubble of energy that had started to fail.

He was about to die. This was it. And with him, the hopes, the last chance of the human race, would die with him...

OOC Or will he? Depends on your team mates

Wondering if he was doing the right thing, Anyman left an area of his skin vulnerable to the needle!

It punched into his arm, and he felt the serum flood into his blood stream, instantly feeling strange...

He turned, angry to face Claude Bentham. The man with the glass bowl on his head looked back, and took a step of two away. "What have you done?" hissed Anyman, feeling his limbs stiffen...

He turned to the Undead monstrosity almost on them and struggled to get his limbs to respond - it was like walking through molasses!

Then he noticed something else - the pain from the radiation had gone! His head started to clear, and he realised his body had gone into a form of shutdown, ignoring the constant radiation pain as much as it could and slowly killing him without him noticing!

He turned to the fragments of red stone on the floor - raw lunarium. He no longer felt the 'buzzing' like a swarm of bees in his head!

"It won't last long!" shouted Bentham! "Enough for you to find a way for us out of here I hope! I'm just glad it didn't put you into a coma or stop your heart - that dosage would have felled a herd of elephants!"

Anyman grabbed a section of rock from the cavern wall and yanked, tearing it free.

Suddenly the tunnel started to shudder, and rocks fell along its length. One landed on Trowers helmet and he cried out as it cracked.. but did not shatter!

The undead thing came on, roaring with fury... and got its face smashed by the boulder in Anymans' hand! The creature spun to the side, then straightened up. The flesh was gouged and chewed up... but healing already!

"We can't fight this!" shouted Trowers. "We either stay and hope the machines can cut their way through this horde, or head deeper into the mines and hope the radiation doesn't kill us!"

Bentham chuckled "He'll be fine. The rest of us...? Damon... I fear our time is up."

The undead shambled on. The former Lunarium Man, once a common soldier, turned to the superhero. "Bring the roof down on them! At least take them with us! I don't want to end up like... like that!"

Trowers fired the last of his bullets into the heads of the Zombies. Head shots weren't even fasing them now! The Lunarium had made them 'super zombies', able to heal from any wound almost instantly!

Anyman realised they were in the worst place possible for this fight - the Zombies drew strength from the lunarium in the walls and floor of this mine tunnel!

OOC You can go deeper into the mine, collapse the tunnel on them, continue to battle the undead though only Anyman has a chance at slowing them, and even then they heal almost as fast as they are injured, or perhaps some other, crafty master plan you can dream up. You are still in contact with the Robo Carrier orbitting the moon, there is still a robot army battling the undead (who heal as fast as they are wounded) and the Robo Carrier itself has enough firepower to level a city. It uses the robots for precise strikes, but you could call down a small air strike and hope for the best... As for Anyman - he is immune to the effects of Lunarium or any other kind of deadly radiation for the time being thanks to his leap of faith... of course knowing Bentham the side effects will have him turning into a plant or something

OOC You can go deeper into the mine, collapse the tunnel on them, continue to battle the undead though only Anyman has a chance at slowing them, and even then they heal almost as fast as they are injured, or perhaps some other, crafty master plan you can dream up. You are still in contact with the Robo Carrier orbitting the moon, there is still a robot army battling the undead (who heal as fast as they are wounded) and the Robo Carrier itself has enough firepower to level a city. It uses the robots for precise strikes, but you could call down a small air strike and hope for the best... As for Anyman - he is immune to the effects of Lunarium or any other kind of deadly radiation for the time being thanks to his leap of faith... of course knowing Bentham the side effects will have him turning into a plant or something .


ooc: Bit confused as to priorities. Thought we were staying near the machine waiting for the Lunarium gem to use it against the Devourer. If we leave, doesn't that leave the machine primed to be destroyed without anyone to protect it? Or is the machine some place else? Or have I forgotten why I'm fighting on the Moon and not some place else? Because if the machine is what we need to win, then Anyman can't go anywhere. He has to stand and fight and not give an inch while hoping one of his teammates shows up with the gem to power the thing.

Or is the machine portable enough that we can carry it to the Robo carrier and head out to where Silver Sentinel lies near death? And use it out there?

Admin wrote:Frostbite

OOC Your call on the gas - kill or deep sleep, or leave it. I suspect you'll leave it - you don't put out a fire by throwing everything that's important to you on it. Meanwhile the distress signal from Beth may warrant investigation.

OOC: Oh it seems I've become somewhat predictable. Yes never thought that dream state might be worse, than waking. Surprised the Devourer hasn't thought of that itself. I was kind of assuming that the sleep they'd undergo would be so deep as to make dreaming impossible. A state of suspended animation where functions slow down so much nothing cognative would function. But now we've got Beth on the Phone and clearly things are difficult there, we'd best take off and find out what is what.

Reluctantly, Frostbite gave the orders for the ship to climb spaceward and head in the last known location of the Beth's message.

Sj

ANYMAN in the Nazi Moon Base/Mine with Bentham/Trowers/Lunarium Man and a host of undead!

OOC The machine Bentham worked on is indeed portable enough to carry, and needs to be 'detonated' deep in the Lunarium mines, which are fatal to anyone without adequate protection - like Anyman currently has. You're right in that the White Lunarium will indeed be useful, heck, vital, in your coming battle against the Devourer. That will take further time for Bentham to get his (considerable) genius around. He needs to use the White Lunarium to somehow cause a chain reaction and change the Lunarium into the moon into more White Lunarium, then use the explosion he'd planned to blast through the Moon Base and out into space. Hitting the Devourer will need a heck of a shot from the Moon to the Sun, mind.

The echo of chattering guns rang out louder now as the Robots chopped their way through the masses. The first of the Robots, a hulking industrial unit with tough armour and huge arms for hefting large weights, pounded left and right, tossing undead aside as it barged its way through. Other robots fared less well - the undead clung to them tenaciously, and with superhuman strength in some cases. They yanked at every gap, tore at wires, ripped through hoses and rendered hydraulics useless!

Frostbot, inhabiting the large (8' tall) robot, called out "We will clear a path for your departure." The robot moved to clash with the biggest undead creature, and glanced down as the monster crumpled Frostbots forearm with its vast strength! "The window of opportunity will not stay open for long. There are many more undead massing and they seem to recover from any wound. Our explosives may slow them most effectively, but..." CRUNCH! The undead monster bit into Frostbots shoulder and tore metal free! Frostbot responded by unleashing thousands of volts into the beast! It lit up like a christmas tree, but seemed barely slowed! "...using them in the mines will bring the tunnels down."

Trowers turned to Anyman "We have to take this chance Anyman! Even you won't last long once these things finish the robots off! Regroup, re-equip and get back down here with more firepower! Or stay here and end up as these things lunch!"

Bentham watched as more robots forced their way through the massed undead, then turned to press and restrain the undead against the Mine walls. The undead quite literally shredded the robots with fingers and teeth but the tactic of slowing the things down was working for the moment. More gunfire chattered out as hundreds of robots took on hundreds, perhaps thousands of Undead scattered through the place. "I can make significant improvements to those robots. Their design is functional, but crude. Molecular bonding and ... oops"

An undead shoved past a robot and lunged at Bentham, who took a nervous step back and turned to Anyman "Yes, ah, a strategic withdrawal might be prudent."

If this undead army had been unleashed on the Earth, it would have been turned into a charnel house in hours...

Frostbite, clad in his own uniform after changing from the torn rags of the General Freedom uniform, mused on the fact that the United States was no longer United. In fact, in seemed in a dire state...

The Robo Carrier rumbled through the sky upwards and away from the troubled Earth. Frostbite watched a video wall - an amazing feat of engineering that bordered on the magical in 1941 - as transmitted images from orbitting Robo Carriers showed every nation on Earth at their own throat. There was nothing organised about it. It seemed humanity had devolved into a force of anarchy, intent on self destruction!

Frostbite, slumped in the Captains chair as robots whirred around him, mused on the fact that the Devourer had not, as yet, taken direct action against them. The opportunity to kill his evil Dark Emissary counterpart had gone. His principles were intact, though he wondered what might have happened had he taken the Emissary up on its offer. He would never know.

Meanwhile the Robo Carrier left the atmosphere of Earth and entered the void of space. Rumbling through the darkness it passed close (well, thousands of miles away, admittedly) to another Robo Carrier. Signals passed between the pair of them.

The signs were clear. The gaps appearing in the dark screen blocking off the light of the sun suggested the Dark Emissaries were heading, steadily, towards the Earth.

The Dark Gods would soon visit their wrath on their unwilling subjects.

Planet Earths time would soon draw to a close.

=========

Away from a gravity well the Robo carrier could turn its vast thrust towards accelerating to its maximum speed.

It was no instant process. Frostbite prowled like a caged tiger on the bridge, urging the Robots to coax more speed from the huge engines.

"Target sighted. Estimated time of arrival 1 minute. Will engage engines in reverse thrust." said a Robot. Another turned from a console, to which it was plugged in. "Alarm! New contact detected! Heading from the direction of the Sun. Scan indicates... unable to scan. It is a lifeform, approximately humanoid shape and mass. Speed? Sub light, though not by a vast amount. ETA... to this vessel, 1 minute."

Admin wrote:Frostbite "Alarm! New contact detected! Heading from the direction of the Sun. Scan indicates... unable to scan. It is a lifeform, approximately humanoid shape and mass. Speed? Sub light, though not by a vast amount. ETA... to this vessel, 1 minute."

" I very much doubt if anything we throw at an emissary will stop it so just distract it with shells that scramble and disorientate. And make best speed for our destination. As soon as were within range, bring them aboard. But take great care, I mustn't in come in contact with this white Lunarium, not yet anyway."

Although, from what Sentinel had previously said, Frostbite didn't know what the effective range of this stuff was, he didn't want to find out until he had no other choice.

OOC:
Ok no point waiting to delay with an emissary, get to Sentinel's position and have the Lunarium protected in some sort of containment field, lead lined box etc.

Sj

Trowers turned to Anyman "We have to take this chance Anyman! Even you won't last long once these things finish the robots off! Regroup, re-equip and get back down here with more firepower! Or stay here and end up as these things lunch!"

Bentham watched as more robots forced their way through the massed undead, then turned to press and restrain the undead against the Mine walls. The undead quite literally shredded the robots with fingers and teeth but the tactic of slowing the things down was working for the moment. More gunfire chattered out as hundreds of robots took on hundreds, perhaps thousands of Undead scattered through the place. "I can make significant improvements to those robots. Their design is functional, but crude. Molecular bonding and ... oops"

An undead shoved past a robot and lunged at Bentham, who took a nervous step back and turned to Anyman "Yes, ah, a strategic withdrawal might be prudent."

If this undead army had been unleashed on the Earth, it would have been turned into a charnel house in hours...

"Frostbot, I need you with us," Anyman says, dancing around and trying to help where he could. "We need your calculating brain to help us aim and fire the weapon at the Devourer. Have the other robots bring down the tunnels behind us but come with us to the main Lunarium chamber."

actions: run like Hell with Frostbot and the others and the weapon and hold out until help arrives!

Silver sentinel returned to consciousness once again only to see nothing had change it was still as bleak as ever and possibly even worse as his body started to freeze up but then he spotted a large section of what could only be MARO.

Stretching out with his mind like he had done countless times he could sense to stray scrap but this end if feel like a billion times harder as he could almost feel his skin burn with the cold of space and his lack of the dark power within.

OOC: I would like to attempt to will what scrap i can to prolong the two remaining heroes with a cocoon of metal as im guessing without the dark power sentinel would have no way of building anything much greater than that

Silver Sentinel, with his air running out and hopes of rescuing Planet Earth with it, desperately gambled with what remained of his strength!

With a colossal effort of concentration to defy the burning desire to slip into unconsciousness, Sentinel used the metal of his suit and legs to form a sphere around the energy sphere that was Sunburst. She seemed to know what he was doing, and opened a tiny hole for the metal to flow out and around her form, then sealed it.

Sentinel bonded the metal at the molecular level, rendering it nigh on useless and brittle, but extremely hard and durable, at least until a sufficient force struck it that would cause it to shatter like ice, rather than bend and absorb impact as Steel might normally do!

The cold, as much as the hard vacuum, threatened to kill Sentinel. He shivered uncontrollably, knowing an ordinary human would have died long ago. It was scant consolation. He would die anyway, but take longer to do so.

And in the darkness. Sunbursts light started to dim, then winked out...

Frostbite held onto a railing as he watched the screen...

The ship shook and rumbled as it threw everything possible in the path of the oncoming Dark Emissary. The sky was lit up as explosion after explosion rang out, and a nuclear explosion seemed to give pause to the things progress, only for scanners to pick up its sub light pace on an unerring course, moments later.

An endless stream of tracer and missiles flowed from the near mile long craft. Small fighters, robots joined and formed into fighting ships, buzzed about and filled space with yet more blazing tracer and missile fire.

Finally, the Dark Emissary took notice.

With a gesture it lanced forth an ebon beam of pure darkness that sliced through anything it struck! Ship after ship was destroyed, and when the beam turned on the distant Robo Carrier carrying Frostbite en route to pick up Sentinel, it punched into the shields with a huge CRASH!

=========

Frostbite was thrown to the floor by the impact, and alarms blared throughout the ship!

Smoke and fire pumped from consoles and panels before robots scuttled along to spray them out. Getting to his feet, he called out for a damage report - it wasn't encouraging...

The shields had been smashed through, the thick armour plating of the vast hull hadn't slowed the beam in the slightest, and the attack had scythed through the ship leaving a 100 yard hole through every deck and out the other side! Repair crews set to sealing the ship even as it trailed smoke and debris through the void!

Moments later it's assault on the Dark Emissary resumed, and the ship creaked when the explosions it set off rang closer and closer to itself as the Emissary closed in...

"Closing in on target. Despatching drones to collect what appears to be a metal sphere or unknown origin. The metal has a density and durability rating beyond that which man made technology can produce. It was damaged but not pierced by a nearby nuclear explosion, and as a result we can no longer attack the enemy by that means. Projections show the Emissary will arrive at the same time as the Robo Carrier thanks to the damage sustained from the Emissary's attack. Suggestion: You take a shuttle configured for speed with minimal armament and shielding, retrieve the sphere and depart for Earth. This Robo Carrier shall turn towards the Dark Emissary, deploy all of its remaining ordnance and self destruct in order to slow or delay the Emissary. Projections show that the creature may be damaged by such an attack, though we cannot be certain of the outcome." declared a robot.

Looking about, Frostbite realised that the Robo Carrier wouldn't take too much more of a pounding. Even given its gargantuan size, all it could do (at best) was slow the Emissary!

=========

The ship left the docking bay. It was tiny in comparison to the host vessel!

All about, life pods ejected from the ship containing what living personnel were still on board, and a whole host of decoys that gave out signals that duplicated human life signs. Thousands of them spewed into space, heading out in all directions.

The robot pilot steered unerringly towards the metal sphere in space. Moments later it captured the object and its precious cargo, and dragged it into the hold with a tractor beam.

Even as Frostbite made his way to the hold to see his friend, he turned as the viewscreen showed the Robo Carrier making its last stand, interposing itself between the tiny ship and the oncoming Emissary! The darkness of space lit up as thunderous explosions went off, and ship after tiny ship impacted with the oncoming demi god!

OOC The Robot pilot is about to speed off towards Earth or the Moon (your choice) but Frostbite can talk to his friend - assuming he can open that metal sphere he formed to protect himself...