16066/Reavers: Assault on Cooterman's Creek

Reavers: Assault on Cooterman's Creek
Date of Scene:	15 October 2023
Location:	Cotterman's Creek, Australia
Synopsis:	This is it! Nettie leads a mixed-team attack on the Reaver's base in Australia. The Reavers are stopped, Gateway is freed and the contract of Joshua is voided.
Cast of Characters:	Joshua Foley, Talia al Ghul, Nettie Crowe, Roberto da Costa, Kelly Praetor, Negasonic, Cain Marko
Tinyplot:	Reavers

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Joshua Foley has posed:
Current location: The Candle's workshop room.

Gateway.

It was the triggerword that Nettie and the aboriginal had decided upon to alert him that the assault was prepared and ready to go. Half a world away, the mutant only known by that bame starts to spin his bullroarer as soon as that word is spoken. Faster and faster, as the blue sparks form and then expand, opening into a portal, connecting the Reaver's base with the Candle, Book and Belle. It comes into existance, the blue opening expanding to a roughly seven foot wide opening.

The plan had been discussed and made. Joshua had made the mistake of joining the Reavers. Been one of them. Realized what they were really doing. Helped a mutant escape from them. Died because of them. Came back to life. And yet they still hunt. They have not released him from his bond. 'Reaver for life, or you can help the Reaver cause in death' Skullbuster had said to him. And now Joshua had laid this whole dumpster fire of a problem at the feet of Justice League: Dark, not that he had ever planned to. But Nettie and the others were now involved, which made Joshua feel even more guilty about all this.

Dressed in a pair of black combat fatigues and some light armor, Joshua carries a sidearm, a pistol at his side. Not that it can do any harm to those he figures he's going to be facing. Along with that, he has a first aid kit - though that really is mainly for show - must everyone knows what his power set is and what he can do. And while he's going with them, it's been made abudantly clear that he's mainly for medical support.

But still, he feels the need to say something at least to the group that was preparing to disembark. "Thank you." he offers as a meek beginning. "I know that this is not a team problem." It is in fact, a Joshua problem. "And there are those that probably think that I only came here to get help with it. But you're here. Maybe becaue of Nettie." A glance to the woman that has taken him and made him her own son, showing him more care than he has seen in the last few months.

"Whatever your reason for being here." He looks to the portal and waits for Nettie to give the word to step through. "...thank you. Thank you for helping me be free from this. I know it is not a supernatural curse or one given to me by a cursed object, but it is a curse regardless. And I appreciate it and will spend my days trying to find a proper way to repay you all for fixing my folly."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
She has been waiting for this for hours. Days. Time is meaningless when one is in contemplation. Talia Al Ghul has been sitting. Waiting. Reviewing information. Memories. Plans. There is a wicked smile on her face. She has not said a thing in the time she has been here at the Candle. She has been stock still, not moving the entire time. Not even seeming to do more than breathing in and out precisely every seventy five seconds. Air going into her lungs, then out. As she does hte slow process of getting as much oxygen into her for the fight ahead, letting it permeate her. For those few that can read her, read her tells..

There's a twitch. Ever a small twitch. Those that can pick out those miniscule cues in her body language. A twitch. Morbid, macabre glee at what is to come. At her core, Talia Al Ghul is many things. A traitor. An abuser. An assassin. A killer.

And even in her state of almost being entirely still, there is that enjoyment, that rush, that barely balanced mania resting on the edge of one of her blades that will be drawn. There is restrained glee at the coming engagement in that thing she admits to few that she revels in, that she enjoys.

After so long of silence, she shall finally be able to release her restraints.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie herself was in combat mode. She'd been a nurse to the dying when she fought in those great wars, and though short it shows in her countence as she checks over her straps, reagents, her wand. Her besom os crossed over her back, along with a longsword. She had an armored vest, fatigues, and a long, thin sweater-like shrug that she was wearing, along with a pair of darkened half-moon glasses.

    She also has what looks like the front half of a skull bungee-corded to her bag.

    Morbid and macabre as it was, that's who Nettie was, right down to the core of her being, someone who's kissed Death on the lips so many times her wife couldn't ever be jealous. It was like breathing to the necromancer.

    "It's all right, Josh. You're with us now, Lad. And we look out for one another." she states softly, her gloved hand set on his shoulder a moment before she moves to the front.

    "For anyone who's never portaled before -- remember, it's OK to puke upon landing, but *keep moving*. We're going to try and take them by surprise, but they will move to kill us." she states, and then she passes through the portal first. Just in case.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto Da Costa is here because Gabby talks a lot, and he has learned in his time as a leader and a planner that there is wisdon in letting people fill silence. It made for more interesting meetings anyway and the clothing business he was mentoring was going really well anyway. She was a natural for it. He also hated the Reavers, personally. So when they needed to be smacked back hard and scared back under the rock that they used to hide he was ready to show up. Magic isn't really his thing, it actually gives him a headache. He can absorb it but not quite digest it, always weird. He has learned to deal with it over long experience but like it? Hmm.

    Roberto is attired in his Paladin garb, a modern stylized set of plate armor, silvery white worn over a white bodysuit. He looks around taking things in and watching the others, "Reavers hunt us all, this isn't just a you problem. It needs to be dealt with before it grows like a weed and then aerosolizes like poison ivy in a weed whacker and comes for everyone in a 20 foot radius... metaphocially.

Kelly Praetor has posed:
    You know, about a week ago, when Kelly first crossed the threshold into the Candle, Book, and Bell, it was on a lead from a friend to get information about what had happened to her. Fast forward to today, and she's about to travel across the planet by stepping through a Magic. Fking. Gateway.

        Becoming a 'hero' is weird.

    Now, on her SECOND visit, she had been hesitant at first, but hearing of Joshua's plight, these Reavers, and what they had done to mutants in the past? No, that won't stand, not if she can help it. ... And besides. ... That 'feeling' had started itching at the back of her mind. This would be a far better way to sate it than her alternatives.

    She is not nearly as prepared as the rest. She's just in her normal clothes, jeans, jersey, that's it. If anyone would have asked, she'd insist she'd be fine. If there was one thing she had discovered in her time since her transformation, it was that her agility was one of her -top- skills. The others... well, working on'em.

    The massive portal gets a long look, she listens to all, gives Joshua a nod, but a perplexed look to Nettie. Well, first time for everything. "Right.. just keep moving.. got it."

Negasonic has posed:
    Needless to say, when you get to knowing about Reavers... Ellie - otherwise known as the Negasonic Teenage Warhead, liked having an opportunity to cut loose.

    It was therapeutic, right?

    So she wasn't wearing her official X-Person uniform, but she did have on a black band shirt, worn under a black trenchcoat and a pair of leggings tucked into her official X-Man boots, at least.

    And she was using her last moments of having cell signal just to scan her last threads, before she tucks that away, pursing her lips as she glances up towards the portal herself. "Cool," she says, with all the passion of a rattlesnake in Antarctica.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Current Location: Cooterman's Creek, SW Australia.

Stepping through the portal, the group finds themselves not outside of the base as Gateway had planned. Something, in the grand scope of things, had changed the direction of the portal path that the aboriginal mutant teleportation.

That something is that Gateway was pulling people through, decided that they might need a little more help!

As the group arrives, they'll notice the white tile floors. The heavy florescent lighting. As their eyes adjust to the light, shapes can be made out. Tables, buffets, serving stations. The smell of grilled and fried foods is heavy in the air. And all of the caphony of a group of people that were talking comes to a complete halt. There are at least ten Reavers in this room, all thinking this was the time to relax and enjoy chow.

The only sound besides the hiss of the grills, the bubbling of the pots and the playing of the video jukebox:

Ambition makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking, squealing, Gucci little piggy
You don't remember, you don't remember
Why don't you remember my name?

They somehow teleported into the cafeteria and food court of the Reaver base. Sitting across from the group, a Reaver was just raising a bite of steak up to his mouth. He sits there, wide-eyed, staring at the group before after it seems like a lifetime (but closer to three seconds), Reavers are starting to try to get to their weapons and hastily deploy!

Nettie's team definetly has the initative!

Oh, and they may notice they have an extra person. That being Ellie.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And as soon as they're present there's euphoria in the dark eyes of the Arabic woman. Reborn how many times in the Lazarus Pits? Each time at a little cost to her soula nd herself. All those elements of chaos kept firmly locked up to let her focus. Talia Al Ghul is a woman that always needs to be in control. Or at least give the impression of it to thsoe around her. She is not a beast balancing on knife's edge. She decides when she firmly commits to a course of action and is not deterred from it unless the situation changes and it will not suit her.

Tonight? THis is a night wehre she does not care. She lets those blocks on her fall away. She has not cut loose since she came to Gotham, since she stayed under the protection of the elder Wayne. Tonight? Tonight she casts off those things which she cannot have for her own safety, and her own soul..

Tonight, she frees herself. She lets lose that mania, that edge that has been trained from as soon as her mind couldc cojmprehend the capacity to kill.. TOnight, she lets tha tpart of herself loose. It is cathartic. It is indulgent. And it is ever, ever so freeing.

She does not seem to move. She just vanishes. Whehter moving in stealth or with such speed.. She's just there and gone. Then she is somewhere else. Far ahead of the others. Whether she jumped, ran, or seemingly teleported.

There is just her. And the body of the individual that was in front of her is simply gone beyond any semblance of having been a body, cybernetics or not.

And Talia Al Ghul? Has not a spec of blood on her.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie Crowe, the Greywitch and one of the leaders of the Justice League Dark was prepared. Her gray bun set at the nape of her neck had iron pins set amongst the plait, and she stands a moment, her fingers splayed out, wand in hand as she peers out over the dining hall.

    Gateway. You magnificent bastard.

    She breathes out, and as she drops the preliminary shield, making sure no one's gotten any sort of sickness from the transfer, she immediately tilts her head to the side, and turns her wand about as dark twisting gray and violet energies seep from her fingers, following a sudden burst of fire.

    "Lay them to waste, poppets, but if we find Pierce, I require *words* with the bastard!"

    She does pause a half second, looking to Negasonic, and just... gives an approving nod of her presence.

    She's not one to complain about an extra ally or two!

Kelly Praetor has posed:
    Welp. "Once more unto the breach." Words Kelly always said before hitting the field, home or away, back in the League. Those words had a much much different meaning, now. Step, step, YANKED across space and time to ... A cafeteria? She has about half a second to blink before her stomach turns over. Three times. Leaps up into her throat. Though, nothing else happens because something clicks. There are men, everywhere, staring at the group, and in about another moment, if nothing happens, guns are probably going to come out.
        Alas, steak man, you will be missed.

    There is no time for her stomach to get what it wants as Kelly crouches and just lunges half way across the room. There's a loud -snap- sound, and suddenly there's a sparking remnant atop a neck rather than any sort of human being left behind. A series of thumps, thuds, a long roll, and then it bops into a boot. "The hell? Robots?!"

    And then all hell probably breaks loose. . . . . Probably.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto Da Costa goes from silver and white to a color that can only be called vanta black in an instant, the air near actually cools as he pulls at all the energy in his immediate area. The light simply doesn't reflect form his form, leaving him a black formless humanoid figure without detail, he doesn't emit heat meaning he drops off thermal displays. He does react seamlessly, lifting a table from the ground and launching it at one Reaver as he unloads a blast of plasma at a full group of them eatting the chili or maybe vegemite, Australia right?

Negasonic has posed:
Right before entering the portal...

Ellie tucks her phone away, safely into the inner pocket of her trenchcoat. Probably wouldn't work where they were going, anyways. Pulling a piece of gum from her pocket, she stuff it into her mouth, chomping down on it as she gives a glance towards Nettie, and lifts her chin towards her. "'sup?" she says.

As if she'd been here all along.

And when she had entered the portal - she takes a step towards one of the tables, her eyes alighting with a fiery glow - before she dashes forward, fueled by nuclear powered oomph, and causes a small explosion on one side of the cafeteria, tables and Reavers flying.

Hopefully, this wasn't a stealth mission.

Joshua Foley has posed:
As Talia launches -- nay, ninjas -- into the first of the Reavers, it is the poor one that was just trying to eat his steak. The fork with the steak falls away as does the upper half of the Reaver's body as oil is spilt.

With Talia away, at least one Reaver is responding to her. This one was working the meat station and his arms transform, flipping from a pair of hands holding knives into a pair of carbon-bladed katanas as he launches towards Talia, using the pneumatics of his legs to try to engage the scion of the al Ghul family head on.

Joshua is feeling a little ill from the teleport, but it was Nettie that quickly gets a shield around him and settles his stomach, the mutant healer moving to find cover close with the group, realizing that offensively, he has no right to be in this fight.

That is especially proven true with the flames erupt from Nettie's fingers, ripping through a bench and straight into the Mexican buffet stand, causing it to explode into flames as beans and rice goes splattering against the wall along with Reaver parts.

Kelly ends up in the Chinese grill. The head snaps off of the Reaver she just took out and it falls to the ground, rolling around before it's looking up at her. "We're not robots, mutie bitch, we're cyborgs!" And there's finally a Reaver that swings around with a shotgun to aim at Kelly, preparing to pull the trigger on her.

As the flames from Roberto wash over the Reaver he's attacking, the plasma burns away flesh and clothing, causing him to scream as the metal frame beneath it to buckle from the heat reaching the boiling poing and the cyborg collapses in on itself, the crackle and hiss of oil and hydraulics as his frame just falls in on itself.

Reavers fly, thrown around by Ellie's blast as if they were tinker toy. They crash into the ground, thrown into fires created by Roberto and Nettie, or end up in the claws or blades of Talia and Kelly. The few Reavers that are trying to put up a defense currently are finding themselves well outclassed by the attackers.

The good news is that they have quickly cleared the cafeteria area and there's a lot of damage and destruction to show for it. The bad news is, that with all the fire and destruction and screams, there is also a very audible and LOUD alarm going >BWEEEEE! BWEEEEE!< throughout the base.

A sign at the door points the way. Below them is the 'Medical Lab', to the right is the 'Motorpool' and to the left is 'Barracks and Command'.

Split up or stay together is the first choice that Nettie finds herself facing.

Kelly Praetor has posed:
    Grill? Kitchen?! FOOD?! Don't make her fly off the handle even more than before! The head gets stared at but the swinging of a shotgun in her periphery vision gets her to drop straight down to the ground instead of look their way.

    "Ah shut up I wasn't talking to you," she calls out at the responding head, "Get dead!" she barks before taking in the immediate surroundings. Ugh. All this food going to waste, and it smelled half decent! Oh well. The jerk with the shotgun will find a wok has been hurled his way, full of chow mein still, before she vaults, pushes off of, and lunges for the reaver with those wicked claws splayed out. He's gonna hit the ground and have a Really Bad Time. Someone tell Optimus Prime this is how you take someone's face.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The point is to quickly take out the eenmy before they could rally. Talia responds forcibly to the group, speaking to them through preestablished communication methods. Comms? TElepathy? Magic?

<<Secure the beachhead. Neutralize all enemy targets before they can coordinate. As soon as beachhead is secured, reconittir nearby areas.>> They had to hit fast and hit hard. They could not fight theirw ay through a full Reaver base on alert and dug in. They had to take the violence as fast as they could before command and control could take over.

This is the life that Talia was forged for. What she was made for. That of which was secondary only to the ultimate purpose her father had seemingly always intended her for.

Talia goes to charge towards the next Reaver targeting her, and her blade scythes out. The man going to use piston enhanced legs and servos to boost his speed and strength to attack her. Blocking his katana will be useless. Her humming builds. It's almost musical in nature the way she attacks.

One could hum a number to it, if the theme came to mind of those first musical bars. Namely 'a farewell to arms'.

With hopefully the limbs dropping off, fully slashed off. Then a quick reversal and another slash upp at him over the chin, intent on cutting off his lower jaw. The ultimate intent is to have him lying on the ground, hacked up and in shock.

She wants him to bleed out, dismembered, surrounded by his friends.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto Da Costa takes in the signs and cants his head, "Split up to hit the MedLab and Command? Reconvene at the motorpool for exfil?" Roberto directs a blast away form the center or the room and downwards towards the floor, an attempt to open the path between the group and the medlab. He offers a nod and a smile as he heads towards command not down the hallway but again using his explosive abilities to open walls. Berto does his best to avoid structural elements and move quickly to towards the command an control area, "Negasonic, you might want to collapse the corridor between us and the barracks, slow down reinforcements."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    No, it wasn't a stealth mission.

    And as the Reavers split, she takes a deep breath.

    "Good call Mr. Da Costa. Miss Gwynn -- cover our six. I'm counting on you. Miss Praetor -- to the Medical Labs. Free any mutant you can. Have them meet us to the south, and we will take them to the Candle to be dispersed. Josh, with them, make sure everyone's hearty enough for travel. If one of you, Mr. Da Costa or our terrifying strong and highly fashionable friend -- truly, ducky, love the look, reminds me of my days in the West End -- Talia, with me. We need to have words with the leader." she states, and then she gently taps the front of someone's skull that's hanging to her bag.

    "And you'll have your day in the sun, my boy, after what they did to you." she comments quietly to a scrap of bone, and then she takes off towards command, launching another volley of fire from her wand as her voice begins to echo with her cackles.

Negasonic has posed:
A longsuffering sigh comes from Negasonic as she cracks her neck from side to side, feeling that energy... flush from her. It was... so satisfying letting herself explode like that. Not something she got to do too often. Scared people, after all.

Roberto gives her a command, and while Negasonic does give him a pointed glance, she *was* sometimes a team player. Besides. She got to do that again. Breathing in a deep breath, the lapels of her trenchcoat flicker with moving energy as she draws quite a bit more energy into herself. The air around her thrummed with a corona of power.

"Be right back," she says, before stepping out into that corridor. The door behind her barely closes before the explosion ripples through it all, blowing the doors back into the cafteria as the corridor beyond starts to collapse.

Kelly Praetor has posed:
    Oh. Oh no. That was a human under there. With flesh. Blood. ... And now she has a muzzle fuuuuuull of blood scent. If someone was watching her, they could see a visible switch in her demeanor. There's a trill, a roar, and then Kelly is a whirling dervish of claws, fangs, tail, talons, and is -through- the door and raging down the hall, probably tearing apart -ANYTHING- and -ANYONE- that gets close.

    Oh. There's Apex.

At least she's headed toward Medical but, well, in her current mindstate, that maaaaaaaaaay not be the best thing.

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain was out doing some business just now. Nobody actually told him about the whole anti-Reaver/rescue attempt thing. His faut, he's mostly been away. So he's caught off guard when the portal suddenly opens up and drops him in the middle of a fight. "Oh for fu- not again!" He lets out a curse as he drops to the ground with a small boom, knees flexing. He gives himself a shake, and looks around. Then missiles impact on him. "Alright, who thought it was a good idea to pull me over to...is that a fucking Reaver?"

He squints at the cyborg coming his way. Man. Even as a amoral-ish mercenary, he doesn't like those guys. Well, if they were the ones who summoned him, unlikely considering the attack, they definitely made a poor choice. He absently cracks his knuckles, popping them off like rifle shots. Then he charges at the other armored giant, shoulder lowering into the classic charge. As he goes he roars out, "Somebody explain this now!" Just before the impact.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Talia is a bold. Ruthless. Efficent. She's a beautiful killer, both in repose and in reaction, and Josh can only stare at her as she disassembles the Reaver that dared to breath the same rarified air as her. Even an arm blade, slamming into the ground and embedding it next to him barely shakes him out of the trance of watching the assassin work. He never realized that death was so beautiful.

This so the player doesn't have to just type out that Talia's attacks are brutal, effective, and soon, the limbless Reaver is laying sprawled in the middle of the cafeteria, staring up at the cieling, waiting for the battery life to end and plunge him into darkness, his wordless screams never given voice as Talia had removed his voice box.

Kelly rips the face off of the Reaver she was attacking. If she was expecting to find a robot beneath it, she's wrong. Blood gushes as she rips the Reaver's face off and the flesh falls away, leaving muscle-covered bone, skull and the screams of the man having his face ripped off.

With Nettie splitting up the group, Joshua is moving to be as near as Kelly as possible. He's no big damn hero like the rest of them, he's just trying to keep up and not get shot as more Reavers start to come up from the motorpool.

For those going down! As they head into the medical bay, there are a few Reaver scientists here at work. Body modifications are on-going, and they are trying to hastily destroy several large containers along a back wall as the alarms are blaring. There are six containers in all, and the outline of a human figure is visible within. Mutants. Being held captive to be experimented on and used.

There's one tube vacant. And it has a plaque.

'Foley, Joshua - Healing and Resurrection Powers'.

Was this all a trap just to bring Joshua here? The fear rises in the young man's features, eyes wide as he swallows hard, trembling as he draws his pistol, firing wildly at the scientist Reaver. He doesn't hit anyone, as bullets skrike pipes and containers and only draw the attention of them towards Joshua and Kelly!

Worst Escort Mission Ever.

As Roberto and Ellie work to cut off the Reavers from getting reinforcement, there is the whirl of another portal, and opening above the group as a teleportation circle and Gateway's laughter as through the roof and into the hallway falls one massive mound of muscle in the form of Cain Marko! Which is good, because from the cooridor, another massive form rises. Dressed in armor from head to toe, he's easily as girthy as the Juggernaut. Raising his arms, he fires off missiles while starting to tromp at Cain, the massive armored form looking like a tank! Juggernaut, meet Jaegernaut.

Nettie races for the command center. A pair of massive blast doors are starting to close as a pair of Reavers, these wearing combat helmets and humanoid frames that are robotic open fire with assault rifles on the witch, trying to catch her in a well-practiced and coordinated cross-fire!

Above the scientists in the medical lab, the walls and roof cave, before suddenly Sunspot is blowing through. One of the scientist are instantly vaporized, while the other, managing to survive, recognizes the Golden mutant and grabs a scalpel to start towards him. "Help me, freak. Heal me..." he demands, not seeking the Raptor in the shadows.

Ellie collapses the cafeteria, entombing all those within as the walls fall and buckle. Dust and debris starts to crumble, while Ellie herself finds herself passed by Nettie who is hellbent to get to command. She can choose to collapse the cooridor after the witch or not.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The breach area is secure. That's one step. The group id spreading out to hit various different areas. If they stay still they'll be caught in a crossfire, and be swarmed by sheer numbers if they're pinned. So ordinarily a small group should stay together.. in a raid it behooves them to spread the enemy out.

With the cafeteria secure, Talia Al Ghul goes to vanish now. She's moving to head on down to where the generator is. A base this big can't be drawing from a local power network - it would be taking in too much, and would definitely be noticed.

So, that likely means there's an internal supplemental power generator present that they were using to primarily power the facility.

Talia Al Ghul focuses on the layout of the facility, that they reviewed in planning.. And goes to start tracking her way on down towards it. She's not focused on engaging anyone she runs into.. Beyond picking off the occasional target of opportunity. But she's leaving the massacring to the others.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Not today, lads." Nettie grits her teeth, and she cracks her neck. She can feel the extra energy as Cain Marko joins the party, and as she leaps forward, she draws out her Besom, and as thr Broom turns she's pulled astride it.

    And then she draws her longsword, and with a bellow of rage the witch flies forward. Bullets catch against her vest, and she can feel their impact through her old bones and flesh, rattling the skeleton inside of her as she raises her sword and gives a mighty slash of it, crossing the crossfire with withering energies.

    "PIERCE, YOU FUCK. I AM COMING FOR YOU!"

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto Da Costa stops and watches Ellies disappear through the door, "Hunh, that's new. I guess Tabs is a good influence... nah, that can't be it." He does file the strange behavior away for later.

    Then there's Jugs falling through a portal which is alarming and another giant cyborg starts attacking. The good news is the missiles knock Cain off the top spot on the threat list as Berto reaches out and lays down a volley of covering fire. "Yes, Reavers, this is their base and we're trying to destroy it. Also rescue any mutants they're holding and gather some intel on their operations. Also, that guy." Roberto indicates the Jaegernaut, "He said he was stronger than you, better looking too." Roberto nods in that way that indicates he's on your side, "I said he had no idea what he was talking about, but he would not take my word for it."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Talia heads off to the generation station. As she descends the levels, there's more Reavers that are heading up to defend the base. They are easily dispatched by the assassin when she sees fit.

Further and further down she goes - before she finds the large 'High Voltage Sign'. Within, there are three large turbines that are being turned from a large tube in the center of the room. In the large tube is water, being circulated, electrified and churned as it enters the turbines and powers the base. That power source working the water?

A young man, maybe in his twenties. He's suspended in mid-air, hanging from tubes that have removed his arms and legs. He once wore a super-hero uniform, with only the tattered remains of his domino mask around his eyes. Wires, probes, diodes are all shoved into him as he breathes through a feeding tube. He looks up at Talia as she arrives. There are no words, only tears. Salvation has come -- but there is no way he survives removal from the machine.

With the scientist edging closer to Joshua, he raises the pistol to fire - and it clicks. Dry. Empty. Out of bullets. The scientist grins as he watches Joshua scoot backwards into the shadows and he starts slowly stalk towards his prey.

As Jaegernaut collides with Juggernaut. "I will destroy zee imposter freak!" he roars in heavily accented German. "Noone can survive my ERDBEBEN SUPLEX!" he declares, even as armor comes off as the two heavy combatants collided and the whole base shudders and shakes in response to the collision of the Titans. Though Cain is getting Roberto's help, with the covering fire heating the Jaegernaut's armor further as he growls. "I will deal with vee mutant freak next!" he roars. And then, he attempts to lift and GERMAN SUPLEX Cain.

That's not going to go well.

Up in the command center, there is a single figure. A tall blond, impecably dressed. He waits for Nettie to arrive, Ellie not too far behind. "Ladies. You are crashing my home. It's disappointing. All this over a child." he clicks as Donald Pierce makes his way forward and holds a device in his hand. "And I know you'd love to take a shot at me, but if you do and my finger comes off this trigger?"

A glance outside towards the plateau. "All of that is gonna come crumbling down. I could probably survive it. Would you? Would /they/?" he asks Nettie pointedly.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The first thoughts that go through Talia Al Ghul's mind are ones that the others likely would be horrified if they could feel them. Fascinating. Fascinating. She had never thought of using a bio-kinetic being as a power source. Far more efficient than she'd have thought. There's a disturbing motion over in her brain them tos ave it for followup research and investigation to look into for the future.

The woman's ability to multi-task while in a basement of damnation was significant. She looks over at the poor -thing- in the tanks that's being used to fuel the place and keep it running. She has to get them out. But how.. Without killing them from breaking the circuit in the first place.. And killing herself.

She goes to speak along the communications link to the rest of the group <<There is an individual htere that is being used to power the facility in a containment tube>> Along with a quick description in whatever form it would be taken - verbal, telepathic, magical.. However it went, she would share it. <<I see no way to remove him effectively from the circuit without killing him.>> And she's not sure given the way he looks that he would -want- to be alive. But she's obligated to make the attempt to try.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Nettie holds, still floating on her broomstick, and she drops her sword down.

    "We're crashing the headquarters of a murderous hate-cult." she snarls, her now nearly colorless eyes darting to NEgasonic Teenage Warhead, and then back to Donald Pierce.

    But she freezes. The Plateu collapsing may kill everyone below them. May kill herself and the teenager beside her. May even be enough to kill Joshua.

    ... and according to Gateway, would collapse the Dreamtime.

    She hears Talia, she bites the inside of her lip as she regards Pierce... if she can keep them talking...

    "I don't suppose you have fine enough tuning to meld his flesh to the material of the box." she asks quietly of Negasonic, and then she holds her head up.

    "All this over the death. The pain you've caused. And aye, over a child -- You tried to kill my son." she whispers -- and that whisper echoes very oddly around the two women as Nettie brings the chunk of skull forward, and as she takes it from her bag, a sigil is burned into it.

    "I've even brought one of your own back." she states. "Charming fellow, Skullbuster. Pity that I had to return to him what happened to him before you sent him and his compatriots to die."

    Why is Nettie carrying around an enemy's frontal skull?!

    Meanwhile, in Medical, there's a wriggling next to Josh's bag. Something was stowed away in a pocket, and with a shake, tallons holding to his first aid kid a moment before the large, black bird that had no business being in Austrailia gives a loud, harsh CAW! and goes for the scientist's face that is looking to attack Josh!

Kelly Praetor has posed:
    Storming down the hallway, there's not a lot that can really stop Kelly from her particularly feral rampage. Medical is in her sights, Joshua isn't far, but the sound of a gun clicking dry gets her to go deathly still, slowly turn toward the scientist, emit a low growl that escalates into a snarl, before she snaps straight at the gun. And thanks to a particular large black bird, he may not even realize Kelly's turned toward him. Clever bird. ... Not kelly. That scientist may lose a hand as a result!

Negasonic has posed:
    And having survived the earlier missile attack by using her shield, Negasonic had been stalking along beside Nettie, her leather jacket just about sizzling at this point by all the nuclear energy - safe, harmless, by the way - that she had been channelling up until this time.

    Negasonic could just *feel* Scott's disapproving stare on the back of her head.

    Whatever.

    "Naw," says Negasonic to Nettie. "Mine is more a..." she expands her fingers, and makes a small hissing sound.

    Maybe she meant an exploding sound, it was a mystery. But she was being quiet, even as she observes Nettie with the skull.

    "Either way," she says to Pierce. "Think you better listen to her."

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain doesn't stop after slamming into the Jaeger. He keeps on pistoning those chunky drumsticks of his, pushing the man back. When the German man tries to suplex him, he wraps his arm around one of his in response, and then grunts as he flexes. Snapping the limb right in two. "Freak? Have you seen yourself, asshole? I've walked in on Blob getting out of the shower and you're still about the ugliest thing I've ever seen." He skids to a stop, and then grabs the man by the throat. "You turned yourself into a monster for a little strength. S'sad I guess. But you're an asshole so get fucked."

He draws back his other hand, and then drives it forward with fingers extended. His unstoppability doesn't have to apply to his whole body at once! it crushes into one side of the Reavers chest, and just keeps going. Coming out the other side coated in blood and probably oil, holding whatever passes as a heart for the cyborg. Pulling his hand back out, he drops it, then looks around. "Alright, what next..."

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto Da Costa sighs, "I mean between your fashion and sense and lack of actual threat value I think you better concentrate on one thing at a time, Herr Klink." He smiles looking about and finding what he is searching for a random PC on the network a work station nothing important. But Berto has a pair of usb fobs both of them connected to different satelites in orbit above the facility and both rigged to hack the network and look for data, information, download encoded files to secure remote servers for later analysis. Some days having two masters isn't easy, and sometimes it's a matter of giving everyone a bite at the apple.

    Roberto cants his head and frowns, nodding. he looks over his shoulder as he moves towards the hall, "Cain, you got this, right? Talia, I'm coming to you. I'll get him out if you can disable the rest." He takes a running start and launches himself down the hallway flying adroitly around debris and reavers moving quickly to get to Talia even as he takes pot shots.

Joshua Foley has posed:
As the young mutant looks up at Talia, and watches her talk he can barely understand the words but he gets the meaning. He shakes his head. "No. Please. Just..." he lifts his head, exposing his throat to the assassin. And he asks again of her as a tear rolls down his cheek. "P-Please." he breathes through the mask.

"This is all research into the grand design. Your /son/." Pierce spits the word on the command deck, "If you want to call that piece of genetrash that, had graciously offered his body to us when he first agreed to join the Reavers. Even you, curdled as you are, can understand the terms of the contract." Nevermind that death voided that contract. "But it seems we are at a stalemate. Your friend seems to be the nuclear option more than finese. And then there's are friend on the plateau. Yes, you have done great damage to this place, and to be honest, I don't appreciate knowing where you can find me now." He glares at the Skull that was Skullbuster. "And that, you can keep. I can always build another. A better one. But cut me a deal where we both walk away and you can call it a night and a win. Every business deal is a negotiation and that is where we are now."

Down in the medical bay, Joshua was just about to be grabbed when all of the sudden CROW BAG! "Go for the eyes, Corvax!" the young mutant yells, just as Kelly arrives and with a lunge, manages to rip off the arm of the scientist who screams and stumbles backwards as Corvax continues to attack.

Up in the hallway, Cain gets the advantage on the German Reaver. The suplex is a failure as he is reversed into the wall, driven backwards into the corridor and then when he tries to come to a halt, there's a scream as Cain caves in his chest as blood, ichor, and oil spill, with gears and armor falling to the ground and the Reaver falls to his knees and then slumps against Cain.

Roberto is fired upon by a couple of straggler Reavers that Talia had skipped by on her descent to the generator room. Which means that there are only a few moments that the woman gets alone with the captured mutant before she'll have company.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia is many things. Merciful? Rarely. But, the boy is over in a state where at the most she can do is take pity on him. Or at the very least, see that his existence is total misery and agony. Even if he could survive what was to come.. Did he really want to? So she goes to take out a small knife..

"As you wish." Her tone is surprisingly gentle,e ven as she goes tos tart to sing a lullabye. The words soft and soothing. The tone gentle.

To cover for her softly taking the knife to slit over his throat to make it gentle and painless as possible.

While at the same time spekaing over to the group channel. <<The power generator has been disabled>>

Kelly Praetor has posed:
    Oh, that poor sweet summer scientist. Just cause his arm is gone doesn't mean Kelly is done with him. She'll get him by the neck, clamp down pretty tight, and then just FLING him out from the area they're both in. For a -moment- Corvax and Joshua get a long, long stare. As if there is some consideration going on, before she resumes her talking toward Medical. Woe be to any Reaver that gets in her way...

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "I don't do business with the murderers of children. These boys, girls -- These CHILDREN surrendered to your knives -- their innocence, their *lives* for you to consume as cogs in your devilish machinery -- and you filled them with nothing but rhetoric and hatred for other lives." Nettie states, tense, her eyes brimming almost with tears. "You encouraged them to capture, and murder mutants and humans alike. You encouraged them to hate themselves as much as they hate other things in order to putrify their bodies with machinery, creating some bullshit false epoch."

    Nettie brings her wand up.

    "How *dare* you. How *dare you* spit upon the lives of the children who gave you *everything*." she whispers.

    And then the lights drop.

    She brings up the skull of Skullbuster.

    "A'ight lad, you've gotten a second chance at this if this works. Don't waste it." the necromancer whispers, and she gives a soft kiss to the forehead of Skullbuster's skull, where her burning brand hangs, and she gives a throw of the skull towards Pierce! as she cries ou t, her words echoing and stained with dark magics, the kind that might claw up the side of someone's neck and whisper with the grinding of metal and stone as Skullbuster is given form -- at least temporarily -- in the darkness of the command room.

    The crow keeps attacking the scientist, and then as the scientist is tossed to the side, he returns, panting a moment, to Joshua's shoulder.

    "Aye, may need to get the lead out boyo!"

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain isn't sure what to do now. So, he just starts tromping. Going in the general direction the others went, looking for any stray Reavers or... a door back home, something. He's cursing under his breath as he goes. Then the lights go out. Great. He gradually nears the place where Nettie is confronting Pierce. No doubt his subtle touch will fix the situation immediately.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Thank you..." the mutant whispers, closing his eyes as Talia lulls him into the afterlife. He will find comfort at the Dreamtime village, guided away from the demons that are ripping at the gates on the astral.

The lights fail. All hallways, all cooridors go dark, on the strobbing of the alarm lights illuminating the hallways as the turbines grind to a halt, the blue water that the mutant biokenetic was floating in starting to gain a tinge of red as the mutant bleeds out.

Down in medical, as Kelly as going full apex predator on the scientist, Corvax has to get out of the way, lest he too be a meal for the predator. As the crow urges Joshua to go as everything goes dark.

"Not without Miss Praetor!" he demands of the crow as Josh pushes himself to his feet. "Miss Praetor! Kelly! We need to get out of here!" he grabs a flare from the first aid kit he had with him. Striking it alight, he waves it a couple of times to try to get Kelly's attention. "This way!" he calls out to the Raptor, hoping to lure her back upstairs and towards the command center. Especially since the flare is reflecting so nicely on his golden skin.

In the dark, Pierce laughs. "They weren't children. They're things. Not human. Not really human. Damaged goods. Genejokes. Muties. Call them what you will, they are nothing more than the cogs of the machine of my true world vision."

Skullbuster is thrown towards Pierce and he cries out as the dark magics tear across his body, up his frame and face, ripping synthetic flesh and cloth and damaging metal. But there's no life there to be found.

Donald Pierce couldn't even have been bothered to show up. Instead, he has sent an android clone to attack Nettie and the others.

But with the lights out, and no power, there is a fraction of a moment where if Pierce is destroyed, the killswitch will be destroyed with it.

Down the hallway, the hum of the emergency generators starting to click on announces that power is returning. Not much time left.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And this has Talia going to walk away at the sounds of 'something coming'. She goes to keep her blades out in front of her, and is vanishing over into the darkness. She's once more with the shadows, jogging towards the rest from where she hears the rest of the screams and the carnage coming from. Therea re no words from her. Only movement as she heads back towards the rendezous point to meet up with the team for extraction

Kelly Praetor has posed:
    Oh. That's bright. That's a light. It's also shiney. Maybe not lizard brain, but proto-corvax brain. Sure. She'll chase a flare. At least she doesn't seem hellbent on chomping on Joshua or any part of him. That's a good thing! Some part of her is in there.. and actually as they head for the command center, "Ugh, my head.."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Son of a *BITCH*." Nettie snarls as Donald Pierce proves to be beyond her reach, and she bites back bile as she pushes herself, summoning up her powers, her eyes turning dull, leaden gray before she grips in the air, hissing in Old English -- and she grips her hands in the air, and squeezes, Peirce's body slowly crumpling like a soda can, his laughter slowly becoming more metallic and fake before Nettie slings her hand down, and with a blast of decrepit magic the box for the explosion controls is destroyed -- but she can't tell if it will stop the explosion.

    "Skullbuster, back to me lad!"

    Nettie calls out, catching up the bit of skull as she stuffs it down her shirt for safe keeping, protected by bulletproof materials, adn she hops on the horn.

    <Save who we can, get the Hell out. I think we've been set up. Bastard couldn't even send himself to face an angry mum!> she snaps and guiding Negasonic Still The Best Dressed here to make an exit, Nettie flies hard to retrieve Joshua.

    "Please be allright, please be all right--" she whispers.

    "Gateway, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. We did what we could, friend."

Cain Marko has posed:
Cain emerges from the darkness behind Nettie as she destroys the box. His eyes shift between the witch and the prick, and as she flies away he rolls his neck. "I guess I'll do the cleanup then." He moves quickly towards Pierce, reaching out for him with those big hands of his. Wrapping them around his head and chest and starting to squeeze. He wasn't there for the reveal, so he's surprised when things take a little more effort to give way, and then there's... mechanical shit inside of him instead of withered organs and black sludge. He frowns. "That's disappointing." He drops the remains, then turns around. "Where are you all hurrying to?" He begins to follow after Nettie.

Joshua Foley has posed:
As everyone rallies up, Joshua finally drops his flare as Kelly seems to be coming around. "You're back." he manages quietly, before he looks to the others. As the lights come on and there is supposed to be a teleport out... nothing happens.

There's no explosion. No rattling of the base. Instead, it seems that whatever Nettie and Cain and the others did has disarmed the bombs.

The portal does open, and out steps Gateway. The little aboriginal elder looks around and then towards the group. "With the Reavers gone, the bombs can be removed." he says to them, a frown on his face. "My home will be free. My people can rest again. Thank you." he manages, and shakes his head. "Those that were innocent and died here. They will come with me as well. For the rest of you..."

The bullroarer spins to life as he opens the portal. "Home awaits."

At the Hellfire Club, Donald Pierce looks down at a picture of Joshua Foley. He frowns, and picks up a phone. "Remove all contracts on Foley. He's not worth the efforst to go after."

It's a set back. A huge one. Joshua could have been the key to everything. But Nettie has made the cost for him -- way too high.