[System]
Age: 18
Appearance:

On the taller side, Victoria has almost waist length black hair that contrasts with her naturally pale complexion. Her hazel eyes can look a little odd under the right lighting, and with her complexion and demeanor only add to the air of detachment. She usually dresses well, albeit casually, and most of the accessories on her person have some manner of emergency use if cornered by a supernatural foe.

Specialty: Victoria is gifted at dealing with supernatural foes personally, through both research, and as she might dryly remark, "the power of violence". Rather than face threats through brute force or charge in without prior knowledge, she firmly believes that pre-planning is critical. To this end she researches her foes tirelessly, and would rather invoke the better part of valor than charge into a fight that she does not understand. Her martial prowess is considerable, both with her weapons of choice and her bare hands. Necessities of being a potentially high profile target.

Bio: Victoria Cross is the daughter of a reasonably successful news producer who's job keeps him away from home almost all of the time. She moved to Washington about eighteen months ago from further east, and her transcripts reflect the grades of a gifted student. She's friendly enough, though quiet and a little distant, but not much of a talker when it comes to her past. She describes a fairly average childhood with a hobby for martial arts, but tends to be fairly vague when it comes to specifics.

Her fight against the things going bump in the night extends almost to when she moved into the apartments near the top of the Halifax building, as does her part time job at Halifax Coffee.

[User]
Ash Pierce did not smile, nor did he blink--let alone flinch. "I learned about him during my training to become a member of my Order. Our whisperers informed me he is likely in Washington a few days ago. No offense meant, but I assessed your group to be, frankly, not enough of a threat to warrant his notice. I'm still not sure you are; he very well could have been using all of you to get to her. That might explain the afore mentioned spotters; it might not. Just as possible he meant that trap for each of you, separate from the Slayer. For your sakes I genuinely hope not."

The man's back slid back into the back of the chair, as his eyes addressed Danny for a moment in silence. Then he shrugged, in answer, his face cold. "As some of you have indicated, you would be fighting this fight with or without me. Your fates are yours to own. I believe my culpability absolved by breaking with my Order's traditions and engaging all of you this morning. I have said my peace, what each of you does with it is your choice. Go back out, or don't. Seek out the Slayer, or don't. Believe her a monster, or don't. Take heed from my warning, or don't."

The tension, and silence, shattered at the sound of the electronic bell sounding from the school's general PA speaker in the room; First Period was over. Ash Pierce stood, tucked in his chair, and smiled casually. "On to your second periods, then." He turned on his leather loafered heel, and walked out, leaving the door open in his wake as the library outside the room stirred with motion and activity.

[Assistant]
Amid the sudden influx of students into the library, Dana Griese had shuffled surreptitiously in front of the table occupied by the group, pretending to pore over some tome laid out for inspection by the vampire hunting club - while, in reality, she was hastily stuffing a pair of large handguns into the bundle that had been made of her pea coat. She had gleefully laid them out at the librarian's request, sure he was testing each of them on their capabilities and methodologies. She had thought for sure her assumption was proven correct when Blaine pulled out his small crystal trinket.

After all, these could make a Holy Flash...

Buuuuuut she was not about to take the chance that the entire school was filled with supernatural minders that would turn a blind eye on weaponry within the school. Clearly America's happy-go-lucky munitions laws, though less stringent than those of her homeland, stopped applying when she took a step inside the school. And the exchange student possessing at least two hand cannons and a V-42 stiletto on her person at all times would no doubt raise questions, even among the jaded populace of Washington's local high school.

How foolish.

Bloodsucking demons could breach school grounds with little difficulty, of that Dana had no doubt. If they ever stayed at school late one night, and one were to approach her charge and attack, what means would Dana have to defend her with? A jury-rigged stake, fashioned from rulers and No. 2 pencils? Nonsense. She would need something to carry on her person in case of a bind. But this school had - for good reason - not ever been proofed against the supernatural, and Dana lacked both the patience and the English to make a gripping appeal to the school board. So, in the meantime, a few little weapons!

...

(Big weapons have to stay in the trunk.)

Only because Vicci-chan said so.

Speaking of, Dana needed to talk to her about this new series of developments later. While she had always been pigmentally challenged (which meant less than crap to Dana, who came from a country where pale skin very much remained a traditional sign of beauty) the dark-haired girl she protected looked positively rattled, having ceded even the usual faint red blush of her cheeks to a fearful porcelain color. It seemed as though the bullet points of this Slayer's life had adversely affected Victoria.

Dana thought it was awesome - almost as awesome as the fact that US Army tactics apparently worked on vampires?

This country is the best archenemy I could ever ask for!

Of course, hotblooded as she was, Dana was not so blinded by her want of a good fight that she couldn't notice the reactions of those around her. It seemed that nobody else was taking news of the Slayer as well as she was - even Casey and Danny's glib, prying replies had been fraught with tension, suspicious and aloof.

"Well, so much for Sailor Moon," Dana scoffed, having bundled her weaponry safely in her coat and bundled that coat between her arms and abdomen. "Did you see? She ran away as soon as she saw us. Slayer. She needs a spine. And Dior. She needs Dior in her life."

Her delivery of English, though still retaining the unfamiliar staccato of her learning days, had grown fluid and forceful; she seemed grouchy that she had been in the same room with the Slayer without either of them being tossed bodily through three bookcases.

"And the...library man," she continued. "I don't care what he says. If his job is...this Slayer. The Slayer will be his priority. We will be...afterthought. Afterthoughts. Did you see? He's already absolved himself. In case we die. Or in case she lets us die."

Dana pulled on her coat, after making sure that both her pistols were safely fastened from the inside.

"Fuck that," the Japanese exchange student grumbled. "This Slayer. This library man. They need us too. And I'm going to go tell the Slayer that today. Welcoming committee."

[User]
Everything spoken by Ash Pierce rung a bell internally for Adam. It was time for a wake-up call but not necessarily the kind most would have. Not even the kind that his family would have preferred. It sounded like a war was about to start in the secret dark alleys of Washington and it meant Adam's business might suffer for it or it might have benefited from it. Of course there was the whole pesky demon hunting thing that his family would have nagged him about now that this 'Crowe' was becoming a bigger issue. That wasn't really what bothered him though. Truly it was his reputation as 'The Man Who Can Get You Anything' that can get you anything coming to harm that actually worried him. He was a bit gallant that way.

"Mister Ash Pierce, the man of the hour." Adam muttered to himself and let out a slightly less than subtle laugh, never bothering to mention what was so hilarious in the first place. He shook his head before moving his head over to his fellow occult-dabbler-ites. His head first focusing on Dana. He stared at her with a rather confused look on his face before actually speaking, something was rather obviously bothering him. "So you find out about an entity dangerous more than all of us combined and you want to challenge it to a fight? Hey, I'm all for showing courage. Just let me know where you have this fight, I want to hold a betting ring... Just don't be offended if I say that the smart money's on the new girl."

He clapped his hands once, moving on from the subject swiftly, preferring not to invoke the ire of the Japanese fashion police. At least not too much of it. He turned his head to Danny. "Hey, thanks for calling that old coot out on his crap, one of us needs to have the cojones to do it." He snapped his fingers and picked his bag up from under the table, taking a deep sniff of the middle pocket. "Ah! Time for some good old-fashioned education, I'm off to photography class, children, let me know by text if you want me to get you anything by fourth period." He slung the backpack over his back nonchalantly as he spoke.

He began walking off in somewhat of a hurry, remarkably contradictory to his calm demeanor but he did stop just short of exiting the class and pointed at Casey. "Don't ask me for a family album of the Averys again." He stretched his arms out and yawned. "It's too expensive anyway." He said before turning and making his leave out of the library, proceeding to go to his photography class. No one really knows why he took it, some thought it's because he had some particular customers he took orders from during class but the truth was far more mundane... He just liked photography as an art, his secret hobby was making collages.

[Assistant]
The librarian didn't hear any more from Victoria, not before he left. Her eyes had steadily narrowed as he spoke, taking in and processing the information given. She didn't move, not an inch, until well after he had left. It was hard to tell she was even breathing, her movements had slowed and quieted to the point that she seemed more statue than woman. Pallor lent her the appearance of marble, as though she'd turned to stone before their very eyes.

Her eyes, in fact, were the easiest way to tell she was listening at all. The way they narrowed, shifted, moved from point to point with an undeniable intensity. Dana's behavior elicited the phantom of a smile, but her focus was absolute. Caution crept into her features, into her body language, just like the chill settled deep in her bones again.

The vampire, Crowe, didn't worry her. Maybe he should have, if Pierce was right, but he didn't. A man fearsome in life would be fearsome in undeath, but at the end of the day he was a vampire. Not an especially old one, either. The only worrisome thing was his intellect. That was where the danger lay, if he was as dangerous as the librarian thought. He didn't lack for cunning, if last night was any indication. Simple though it may have been leading the group into a trap like that had certainly caught them off guard. Vampires usually operated with little more than thuggish coordination, alliances through common goals rather than any real ideology.

If Crowe's gang was more militaristic, that could be a problem.

Still, he wasn't on her mind. The Slayer was. The girl with military training, inhuman abilities, and a willingness to use them both. Washington, as strange as it was to say, had felt... Safe. The vampires were a threat, but they were a threat everywhere. And in Washington, she had a team. A group, ragtag though it may be, to watch each other's backs. And they were good at it, too. That didn't bring fear; hearing the librarian cast doubt on their abilities made her angry. She didn't particularly care what he claimed to know. Or who he claimed to be. His knowledge was an asset, but one that had been vague at best up until now. He could claim responsibility for their success if he liked, but it was meaningless. He was hands off. Laissez-faire. He wasn't in the trenches with them each night, fighting for his life and the lives around him. He didn't watch her back, and he didn't watch their backs either. Her trust was theirs, when it came down to it. They'd earned it. Her life was as much in their hands as theirs in hers and they hadn't given Victoria any reason to doubt them.

Dana was right. He was covering his own ass.

And she could see why. The Slayer had not been the picture of stability, and she was the source of her fear. That their 'ally' might decide they weren't her concern after all. Or, even worse, that they were in her way. Casey's support for her hadn't been a surprise; he'd always struck her as the most trigger-happy when it came to the supernatural. If he couldn't look at it and see a white hat, something he could empathize with, it was the enemy. That was what she'd seen, at least. He'd probably put it a different way. The reservations others had, though... They'd all made good points. Showed yet again that they could be trusted.

That was something the librarian and this Slayer would have to earn, though given the choice she'd rather they were both three states away.

Victoria moved for the first time since Pierce left, stepping forward to briefly lay a hand on Dana's shoulder. She did give a faint smile this time, one earned by her friend's comments. Having her around fought off the chill, just a little.

"Easy, Dana. Time enough to make enemies later." She looked, briefly, at the other people in the room. Adam had left, but she knew how to reach him later. If she needed to. It was the others she wanted to say a few words to. "But I think Dana's right. If Mr. Pierce and this Slayer are allies, great. But I don't trust either of them. Pierce kept us in the dark, and his intentions had nothing to do with keeping us safe. Leveling with us when he realized what was going on would have saved a lot of trouble. His intentions are his own, and they're not necessarily the same as ours."

"And I'd prefer this Slayer was nowhere near here. I'm going to try and do some research later. Blaine, if you end up doing some, let me know what you find. Please. Dana... I think I'd be happier if we kept some of your toys a little closer to hand than normal."


[System]
Species: Human

Age: 18

Appearance:

Faction: Believers

Equipment:

Dual Vibroswords - Two blades of sharp metal that vibrate at high speeds, widening any cuts made by them.

Jetpack - A crude jetpack salvaged from a bounty hunter's kit, this well-maintained piece of junk allows Ken an added mobility advantage; useful for sudden strikes against enemy installations.

Shield Belt - As Ken prefers to travel light, he does not carry much in the way of armor. A belt containing a small shield generator, however, can more than make up for that. Made up of jury-rigged components taken from slain slavers, the belt can handle a few volleys of blasterfire before it overheats. This, when combined with Ken's high mobility, makes him as lethal as possible in combat.

Skills:

Melee Combat - Ken is skilled in the art of cutting up his foes.

Agility - Ken is as fast as humanly possible at peak human strength and speed.

Piloting and Mechanics - Ken is a skilled pilot of airspeeders, shuttles, and (obsolete or cobbled-together) starfighters. He also knows how to repair and maintain them, the only reason he had much of an education.

Weaknesses:

Mistrustful - Years of slavery had left their mark on Ken, and so have the years of fighting for freedom. Ken hates the Empire and the Hutts as much as anyone could, but thinks that the New Republic would just absent itself from the affairs of the Outer Rim like the Galactic Republic of old had before.

Cross-Purposes - Ken merely wants to liberate Hutt Space; he does not want to take the fight to the rest of the Empire and New Republic. In fact, he doesn't care about the Galaxy outside Hutt Space at all; they can go hang as far as he's concerned.

History:

Ken's father and mother were minor officers in a Seperatist ship, one of the few not crewed by droids or using droid brains. They fought in several fleet actions in the Outer Rim, and were on the verge of promotion when the droid armies were suddenly deactivated all over CIS space. Forced into a rout by the emerging Galactic Empire, Ken's parents retreated with their ship to the Western Reaches, where with several other holdouts, they were faced with the overwhelming might of the enemy. For a while, they managed to inflict some casualties on the aeging clone troopers and the cheaper, more expendable recruit armies of the Empire before being forced to go on the run again, this time heading to Hutt Space. There, they planned to work as mercenaries and build up new strength to fight against the Galactic Empire.

This strategy worked for a time, but then the Hutts decided that Ex-Seperatists with a political agenda and without tactical skills were too much trouble for the cost. And so, in a startling (to them) betrayal, Ken's parents were attacked by Hutt-allied mercenaries and enslaved. Some years later, Ken himself was born into a life of servitude.

The resulting childhood was rough, and Ken's parents knew that their son would not have much of an education at all if he didn't show any skill at anything that involved mechanics and technology. So, they, in what time they were allowed for themselves, tried to encourage Ken in that direction. They partially succeeded when it turned out that Ken, though not a genius, showed an early interest in speeders and racing them. He was then allowed by the local overseer to learn from the nearby slave-mechanics.

Ken thus lived a less hard life than other slaves, but still with its share of struggle. He hated it. He hated the life he lived and wished to be free. And that was when he encountered Cinder's messages exhorting the slaves of the Hutt Empire to revolt. And a flame grew within him, a flame that cannot be silenced quickly, and he and other mechanics who've heard Cinder's words began planning a revolt of their own.

They made blasters and explosives from spare parts, as well as tracked the location where the tracking devices and kill-switches of each slave were receiving their signals. All the while, they kept their group small, in order to prevent betrayal from within. Finally, when word arrived of Jabba the Hutt's death, and the Battle of Endor mere days after that; they struck, destroying the place where their metaphorical leashes were kept by remote-piloting a cargo vessel packed with explosives straight through the comms tower.

After that, the planet began to erupt in rebellion; several other cells had the same idea of revolution inspired by Cinder. And so, in a chaotic few weeks, a planet was freed from the Hutt Cartel and slavers, Cipher had more followers, and Ken gained valuable combat experience.

However, Ken knew that more was needed; a planet can be bombarded or blockaded from orbit, and so the Believers needed their own starships. So he, along with members of other cells, formed a team dedicated to seizing as many vessels as possible, and the tech to repair them. That way, they can have a fleet that may one day contest the New Republic and the Empire, and drive them out of Hutt Space...

Ken's parents are alive and in a secret sanctuary, btw.

[User]
Elias Joranis|Did Someone Say FUBAR?

Elias grunted as a bolt struck his armor, ricocheting off of it into a nearby crate as Sirka said to run to her. Glancing around his cover, firing three shots at the pirates ahead, and noting that the giant lizard was already closer to them than he was. "Yeah, no, you come to me." If she were to turn around, she'd have spotted his twin blaster pistols making pirates and others dive for cover, because if a bolt found it's mark, they didn't get back up. When the flashbang went off, Elias fired off another rocket into the area, not aiming for kills so much as effect as it detonated and added more bang to the grenade's.

The giant lizard then moved to Elias's location and the pair made a break for it, vanishing into an alleyway with blaster fire peppering the area around them. Once he was sure they were out of sight, he began to lead them towards Docking Bay c-12. "Just gotta pick up what Koren sent me here for, and then we can argue about why your sister is on Circumtore with me. Now's not a great time."

[Assistant]
Circumtore

Between Sirka's powerful legs and Elias' jetpack, the pair were able to put quite a bit of distance between them and the remaining pirates rather quickly, particularly with the pirates having been stunned by the flash grenade. They weaved between crates to keep the line-of-sight broken, then tried to keep their path unpredictable once they were in the city. Sirka was absolutely not someone who could hide in a crowd, so their only option to get away from the fight was to simply keep distance from the pirates. Hopefully, with all of the confusion that had been stirred up at the warehouse, the pirates would not be effectively following.

Eventually, Sirka and Elias were able to holster their weapons and continue to walk somewhat less conspicuously towards the docking bay. Predictably, Sirka was none too happy about much of what Elias had to say to her. There was a low, rumbling growl from her throat while she stared him down with her black eyes. "I'll argue whenever, and wherever I damn well please." She asserted, though despite her words, she did not immediately begin to shout at him. "I just want to get my sister back home, but for reasons I can't comprehend, she was adamant that I stick my neck out for you. She insists that it would impress Koren for me to help his interests here, so against my better judgement, I'm going to get you and that package back to your ship. Even if I have to drag both of you there myself. Then, we can have a nice, looong chat, just you and me." As she finished speaking, Sirka reached out and placed her oversized hand on Elias' shoulder. She did not squeeze tightly enough to harm him, but at the same time, she kept her grip firm enough that he would absolutely not be able to remove her hand on his own.

[User]
Elias Joranis|Did Someone Say FUBAR?

Elias rounded on the lizard, using momentum and a nerve pinch to slip free of Sirka's grip, and locked a glare on her. "There IS no discussion to be had. I'm going to finish this job and I'm going to get you and your sister back to Paradise. Hold your petty grudge if you want, but I'm not going to spend the time after this job wondering if you're going to try and kill me. Believe it or not, shit happens." Turning away from her, the Mandalorian continued forwards until he could hear the sound of Sol'id's jetpack. "We're getting close."

[Assistant]
Bee

---

---

Lez was restless as she finished using the strigil to scrape the cleansing oil from her golden skin which she enjoyed for how smooth and silky it left her feeling.

She walked from the pad to a large mirror and seemed to enjoy the act of vanity as she inspected every inch with critical detail looking at her muscle tone, any developing blemishes, or anything out of the ordinary. Then she dressed and returned to the mirror and inspected herself once more taking inventory of what she had on, it's condition, it's position, if it's best use is blocked by any other articles she wore.

A few adjustments later she left her room and went on a search for her partner Ken Neumann to whom she'd been assigned by those who she now worked for.

---

---

She watched as the trusted smuggler who'd been paid to deliver her to a location far from the hidden base her new partner ran. She only knew him as an eager student who'd joined her in a small class of people who sought her skill with melee weapons, she'd barely had to correct him and had he been given her as a protege in the arena she'd have consider him not a waste of her time.

Like any former slave or abused animal the young male displayed a weariness of those around him which was to be expected and needed hiding; "You never trusted anyone but yourself when you have worn the collar".

Lez had to cover 60 kilometers in 22 hours through uncharted swamp but had paced it to 16 due to averaging 3.75 per hour covering 7 kilometers an hour twice to make up for the slower legs. She slowed pace only when she came to within 3 kilometers of the base; she didn't want to startle the youth at this base knowing that their inexperience could get her shot but wanting to get close enough to make sure the short range link she had hidden on her person wasn't intercepted by those with their auditory organs pressed to the door.

It took her 2 hours to cover the ground between herself and the camp twice coming close to what she thought might be listening points or warning sensors. Her form till she found herself at her limit of intrusion had been hidden by a camouflaged long hooded cloak was instantly exposed as she spread it out in a sunlit glade which was caused by the collapse of an old tree.

Her oiled skin now would make sense as chemicals in it drove off the swarms of insect life and her body coloration the same effect any bright colored poisonous creature. She stretched languidly before tapping the center of her headpiece and activating the comms so that any of the base who might have already spotted her she showed no weapons and was in a relaxed non threatening pose.

"Sunset, I repeat this is Sunset, one ping position exposed" she said before closing the link and going silent.

She had learned well that the thing in her headpiece was as deadly as any blade so rarely enjoyed activating it and felt mildly safer that depowered it couldn't be used against her by the clever. She prefered the older ways of communication for they brought she and who she was speaking with closer so she could read their body language.


[System]
Appearance: Of shorter-than average height (5'6") for his age, Thom is a youth with a self-assured body language. Acceptance seemingly radiates through his weakened movements. Oddly enough, his gold eyes smolder with a goal and his dark hair, both unkempt and oily with grime, seems to lay heavy on his scalp. After receiving the Alaya Vijnana surgery twice, two growths protrude from his upper spine. He calls them whiskers. Like the others, his clothes are fairly ragged. He usually sticks to the plain t-shirts and shorts for his meager lifestyle.

Age: 17

Background: His memory is dusky and has never been the best since his abduction but Thom can recall a few portent people from his past. He remembers his grandfather was in Gjallarhorn, that he may have been influential though he's unsure what rank or political power he held. His mother and father's fate remains a mystery to him, despite knowing they traveled with him on the shuttle. And under the spell of sleep, Thom can see the flashing of gunfire interrupting the ruddy lights of the pirated shuttle. The thought that, right before things went horribly south, that he would still visit Mars. See the birth place of the Orga Itsuka and the Tekkadan he forged. Like many others however, he was made Human Debris, brought aboard the Jolly Rogs Fleet, specifically the Mercurial Witch's crew, and made into a Rat.

Personality and Reputation: Overall Thom projects obedience. To most of the Mercurial Witch's crew, he's a silent presence, fierce and trained. He never questions his orders and follows them precisely, to the letter almost. Long as his survival is not on the line; he very rarely goes beyond his station. Most of them call him "The Pawn". To the other Human Debris, he's become something of a guardian figure and projects an almost unifying fearlessness in their shared suffering. With them the silence breaks and the real him rolls out. He's mirthless but he is protective and caring of the younger ones. Even more so of the dumber ones. Still, its his cold mental state that allows him to maintain a survivor's composure. He's fickle but once his mind is made up, he becomes annoyingly stubborn.

Mobile Suit: EB-06s Graze Commander Type
Name: Graze-Z
Frame: Graze Commander Type
Appearance: Graze-Z is a weathered green mobile suit maintained by the Mercurial Witch's mechanics.
Equipment |
* Alaya Vijinana System
* Head Sphere Sensor (standard)
* Booster Unit (standard)
* GR-W01 120mm Rifle (short rifle/weapon)
* GR-H02 Battle Blade (weapon/ its chipped)
* GR-E01 8.8m Shield (armament)

[User]
From his place in the dead of space, amongst his comrades and the wreckage of rocks and ships, Thom watched with cold interest. Fox's wild maneuver was met with a skillful offset, he eyed the enemy's Graze with renewed purpose. He's experienced. Good enough to hold his composure against bad odds, he determined, hands gripping the controls. This is all falling apart because of Martyn's impulsiveness.

Then Martyn's words tore through him like a punch from Bosun. It was invasive and tasteless but it brought him back to reality. Reminded him that as member of the Mercurial Witch's mobile suit team; results were demanded. It pushed out the remainder of his doubt, the scorch of battle sharpening his focus.

In a sudden burst, Thom drove the Graze-Z towards the enemy Graze. His shield which had been in a ready position was brought closer to his chest, just enough to anticipate the aim of the lance. Thom exhaled the tension building inside as the distance closed. He eased on his boosters, knowing impact at that speed would harm him just as bad as a direct hit. Martyn was closing in too, trying to play the hero as always, risking everyone's life for his own goals. It was infuriating.

Time collapsed on itself for Thom as the yellow Graze reached him with its lance. CLANG!!!

Thom swatted aside the lance with his shield, a hole tearing through the slab of metal and its wielding-arm. Without skipping a beat, his Graze-Z raised its axe and aimed to decapitate the enemy Graze's lance-arm. The screech of metal reverberated through his machine as the arm was chopped off. But he found dread filling his chest as he peered through his screen. The pilot of the yellow Graze was hardened, his rifle raising to open fire on Thom's cockpit.

"Come on!" he grumbled. "Don't let me die!"

[Assistant]
Kurt held the controls of his Graze as steadily as possible as he lined up the shot on the Gjallarhorn mobile suit. While the teenager was waiting for the order to fire, Fox in his Hugo sped past him, firing his rifle. Kurt knew that at this distance those shots would do very little damage but he could see them as warning shots.

As Fox took up a position in some debris, Holly ordered Kurt to take out the enemy Graze's booster pods. As this was the logical thing to do, Kurt had no problem with the order. Pumping his thrusters, Kurt launched his Graze toward the enemy mobile suit. Raising his rifle, Kurt adjusted its aim, trying to hone in on the Graze Schwalbe's boosters.

Hoping that the Schwalbe wouldn't notice him, Kurt hid his Graze between a particularly large piece of debris. Holly then taunted the Schwalbe pilot over an open channel, only to be knocked off course by some gunfire. Martyn took the opportunity to take lead, ordering Kurt to take out the booster pods.

"I know, I know," replied Kurt over the comms system, "I just need a clear shot."

The enemy Graze then left the area, heading toward Thom. Taking advantage of this, Kurt left the safety of the debris field and went over to where the Graze Schwalbe had first been spotted. Using his own boosters, Kurt blasted toward the Gjallarhorn wreck and the booster pods that floated near it.

"Alright, here we go," muttered Kurt.

Once in range, Kurt lined his Graze's rifle at the booster pods. Letting loose with gunfire, Kurt could only watch as the projectiles barreled through the void of space. As he held his breath, Kurt saw the bullets hit their mark, ripping into one of the pods. Breathing out strongly, Kurt was pretty sure that he had accomplished his mission.

But over his comms he heard Thom say to not let him die. Without thinking, Kurt whipped his Graze around, pointing back at the battle. His stomach felt like it dropped at the prospect of losing another comrade. While he wouldn't say he was friends with Thom, he did know him enough that he didn't want him to die.

"Damn it. Hold on," shouted Kurt over the comms.

Hoping that the booster pods had been rendered unusable, Kurt boosted his Graze back over to the battle. Seeing the Graze Schwalbe right in front of Thom's Graze-Z, Kurt pushed his mobile suit to the max. He had precious few seconds to get into firing range of the yellow mobile suit, knowing that if he fired now his shots would do nothing.

[User]
"Familiar Two, brace yourself." Was the only warning Thom received as Fox's quiet tenor crackled over the LCS. Having taken careful aim, the young man opened fire from his perch with the Hugo's machine gun. Almost all of the rounds flew harmlessly between the two Grazes, a few punching dents in their opponent's armor with only one finding it's intended target. But one was enough. Punching clean through the magazine of the Schwalbe's rifle, the impact threw off the gun's aim off... and detonated the ammunition within.

 The resulting explosion took the Schwalbe's gun hand with it, while Thom's Graze was blasted with molten shrapnel, leaving visually impressive, but mostly superficial damage on the other human debris' mobile suit. "Familiar Five securing target. Captain, requesting further orders for Familiar Squad." Fox announced calmly, an odd contrast to his Hugo's aggressive movements, the space superiority mobile suit already rocketing into the "fight". Instead of slowing down he merely fired one of the Hugo's anchor claws, catching the golden Schwalbe on the way past and sending them both tumbling through space.

 Down an arm, a hand and against a pilot with the Alaya Vijinana System, the Schwalbe Graze's pilot stood little chance in the ensuing melee. Before too long, Fox had the Gjallarhorn mobile suit tangled up in the anchor claw's line, the Hugo's foot mounted claws further pinning his target in place. Leaning in, Fox pressed the barrel of his machine gun against the Schwalbe's vulnerable inner frame through a gap in it's armor. "If you'd like to live, I suggest surrender." The young man advised in his usual emotionless tenor, having activated an open comms channel.

[Assistant]
"Wait, did you get him?" Holly questioned over the comm as she heard some of the chatter coming from Fox. Her displays were down for good, it seemed, and she couldn't see any of what was happening. Her mapping was still partially functional, based on the last known images, but the Ahab wave ovelay seemed to still be operating in real time. Using this, Holly turned the Big Boi so that its back was to the fancy Graze, and hit the control to open her cockpit.

She heard the wirring of servos as the armor plates moved out of the way, then the hatch in front of her opened forth. She could see now that her sidelong tumble had been stopped by grabbing the edge of the hole in the old wrecked ship's hull. What she saw inside stopped her dead. "Uh, stand by, my system isn't working right..."

The rent in the bulkhead opened to the ship's hangar bay, and there were five mobile suits lined up. Each was unique, and Holly did not recognize any of them. She disconnected her AV and the harness that kept her secured in her seat, then kicked off from the cockpit and drifted into the bay.

It was dark, and she realized the only reason she could see is that there was a computer terminal that was still active after all this time. She drifted over and looked at the screen. It was cracked down the middle, and the only word she could make out was "Wake," which seemed to be part of a button or prompt. She reached a gloved hand out, her breath caught in her throat, and pressed it.

~~~

On the bridge of the Mercurial Witch, Brun was watching with a satisfied smile as her rats tangled the interloper up.

Her reverie was interupted by a bleeping from the console, and Mick spoke up.

"Uh... there's new Ahab waves... I don't even know where they came from! They're right on top of Familiar One, but I don't see anything..."

"Could it be an error? Maybe one of the old reactors shifted when the feral one flew through the debris."

"It's possible..." he sounded like he doubted it, "I don't recognzie the signatures, so it would make sense if they're from older reactors."

~~~

Holly gasped as new light came on in the vast dimness. Five pairs of eyes suddenly flared to life, glaring down at her. As one, their armor shifted, silent in the vacuum, revealing the opening cockpit hatches in their chests. It seemed incredible that any part of them could still work, but Holly chose the friendliest looking one, and kicked off the floor towards it. She pulled herself past the armor plating and into the cockpit. It was light up brightly from all the displays and controls. Unlike the computer terminal out in the hangar, nothing could get to these electronics to damage them.

The cockpit looked remarkably similar to what she was used to. The seat was cushier, but she noticed the Alaya Vijnana interface embedded in it. The controls were also comparable, though without the scratches, scuffs, burns, and other little marks from long, hard use.

Without thinking nearly as much as she should have, Holly plugged the interface in. She made a choked groaning sound as the man-machine interface connected, her body convulsing wildly in the plush seat. The feedback was worse even than her Rodi. As her body relaxed, she gasped out the word "Stolas..."


[System]
Appearance:

"These villains are demagogic in their exploitation of the popular discontent." - Yoshio Sanzo
Superhero Name:
Age: 16
D.O.B: March 30th
Weight: 66kg (145lbs)
Height: 175cm (5'9)

Personality: Yoshio is usually soft spoken and mild mannered. He hates to offend, he hates to interrupt, and he hates to steal the spotlight from others. He is modest and polite to a fault, and goes to great pains to ensure he speaks properly to everyone, regardless of status. He likes to solve conflicts with words rather than force, even if the conflict in question is threatening him directly. He is not so naïve as to never resort to violence, but he will hold back unless absolutely necessary.

Yoshio undergoes something of a transformation when it comes to topics he is passionate about. As something of a bleeding heart and idealist, Yoshio can talk for hours on subjects such as reforming society for the better, and when he speaks on said subjects he will speak strongly, loudly, and even fiercely. He is not blind to the fact his ranting can end up being boring and even annoying, and so all it takes to make him stop is to politely ask. If he has gotten started against someone he vehemently disagrees with, on the other hand, he won't stop no matter how much they ask him to.

History: Yoshio is the son of Tokuda Sanzo, a member of the House of Representatives of the Japanese National Diet. Tokuda Sanzo is well known for being a political firebrand, not only because he gives lengthy and passionate speeches on core topics, but also because his quirk allows him to spew fire from his mouth. Yoshio grew up watching his father's speeches on t.v., as well as having his mother as a semi-successful Hero, and quickly developed a keen interest in becoming both a passionate politician as well as a hero of justice. To his youthful mind, the two were hardly incompatible.

Much to a young Yoshio's consternation, many of his friends discovered his quirk before him. Having yet to demonstrate neither his father's fire breath nor his mother's concussive blasts, Yoshio was beginning to become frustrated with his lack of progress. One day, he went into something of a tantrum, lamenting his quirklessness in a long and screaming rant. Upon finishing, he unleashed a wave of concussive force from his mouth that destroyed one of the walls of his house. He was both overjoyed at having finally discovered his quirk and regretful that he had caused some damage to his own house. It was of little consequence in the end, as Yoshio had his eyes set on the gleaming future that awaited him as a Hero.

Quirk Name: Filibuster

Quirk Description: "Filibuster" operates via Yoshio building energy by speaking for varying amounts of time before unleashing the energy in a concussive blast. The longer he speaks for before discharging his energy, the more it builds up and thus the more strength lies behind the blast. Speaking for a very short period of time, for instance saying something like "Move!" or "Go away!", will produce force equivalent to a mildly strong push. Launching into a long speech, on the other hand, could generate enough force to smash through walls and send people flying. Absurdly long rants could produce potentially devastating results, however Yoshio has yet to experiment so much with his quirk, and he may never have the opportunity. The quirk relies on speaking loudly and clearly, so speaking in a soft tone would produce no energy. The range of his concussive blasts varies, with weaker ones travelling the width of a modest room, and stronger ones being carried across several blocks. Their strength is also affected by their travel time, operating on a sort of "shotgun" effect, meaning they are strongest when first released but dissipate as they travel.

Quirk Weaknesses: The most obvious weakness of "Filibuster" is that it relies entirely upon Yoshio's ability to speak, which if disruptive would render him effectively quirkless. If Yoshio were in the middle of building up energy and was interrupted by any means, he would be forced to discharge the energy regardless of his will, which may result in unfortunate consequences for both himself or anyone or anything nearby. His quirk also lacks subtlety, requiring a certain degree of noise even to begin using it, and thus making it worthless to someone attempting to attack without being seen, although it could be useful against somebody that doesn't know how it works. Extensive use of his quirk will leave Yoshio with a severely sore throat, making him incapable of using it again until his throat heals.

[User]
Location: Chihaiten Academy - Classroom
Interacting with:Alekos @Saarebas Noah @AdmrlStalfos19 Zentaro @Bornlucky

---

The large man had first began getting excited on the pink haired guy's... pink hair. Honestly, it was super cool and pretty unusual. He certainly sounded amazed. He then turned his attention to him. Rikuo grinned at the man. Looks like he already found a kindred spirit this time - a nice change of pace from Yoshiba who was rather serious. Not that he was saying that meeting Yoshiba was a bad thing. Knowing that there were so many types of people in this classroom made everything more interesting. He had to talk with everyone in class at some point. "It does, actually. Hope that doesn't happen again though. Speaking from experience, teachers don't like it when students run late." He replied and then followed it with a chuckle. While it had been rare, teachers were usually getting angry at him. He did try sneaking in multiple times, so perhaps that was the reason they got angry at him.

Before he could introduce himself, a light brown haired girl entered the room and sat down at the opposite side of himself. Rikuo seemed to turn his interest to her as she seemed to look unsure on where she placed herself and was looking at their general direction. This led to Rikuo observing her further. She stood up and then sat down beside him. He looked back at Alekos and then said, "Oh right, the name's Rikuo Watanamiya. Nice to meet you all." He thought that introducing himself to all three people present would be the best course of action. He then leaned back as he began to listen to the two converse.

The girl doesn't seem to be too good with Japanese, since she looked like she was having trouble with speaking. Whoa, he didn't think that he would have a foreigner - oh wait. Robin was one as well right? Except he was pretty much well-versed in Japanese. She seemed to think that Al wasn't a first year - despite him being here. Honestly, though, he didn't think that the school would actually make a mistake like that. Though maybe in her home country, it might have happened at least once for her to assume that it might be a thing. But then he became lost as the girl started to speak in English. As much as he loathed to admit it, he cannot converse in English. He could understand bits of pieces - but never entire conversations.

So, he continued to listen but then looked around. There was the green haired girl that sat just a little bit away so he couldn't actively talk with her since she was too far. Shame. It was hard to talk to the pink haired guy too, since he was pretty far too and he would be directly disturbing Al and the girl's conversation if he tried. The teacher, Mr. Kemikaru, was still sitting on his chair - watching them fill up their own seats. There were still some bits of formula left over on the board and he tried to make something out of it by tapping into his knowledge of Chemistry from his previous years in a normal school, but most of it went over his head. Maybe it was because it wasn't the complete formula. He should ask Mr. Kemikaru about it later. Honestly, he wanted to know more about it. He might not be the most studious of students, but his curiosity must be sated.

Rikuo looked back at the pair beside him when he heard the girl mention that her name was Noah. Huh, that was good to know even if he was just kind of eavesdropping. Thinking back to the event earlier where the headmistress called up all their names, he fished out Noah's name. Noah Acosta... Noah huh? Sounded like a guy's name but maybe he was mistaken. Anyhow, since she introduced herself with her first name, he assumed that she was fine with being called by her first name. He wondered when class would start.

[Assistant]
---

 - Chihaiten Academy, Sakai (Japan) -
- 9/ 4/ 2XXX -

- Interacts with: @Saarebas,@AdmrlStalfos19,@Polaris North

---

And the tall and evidently loud boy talked to him. About his hair of all subjects. How strange.

Zentato ran a hand though his curly pink hair. People used to compliment his hair when he was younger and ... rounder. But once he got tall and built people stopped complimenting his hair. They seem to think he would beat them down if they talked to him or talk about anything but his physical abilites which is what he wants people to talk about. But people talking his hair is not such a bad thing. It talks about something he can change at anytime so it wouldn't hurt to reply back to the loud boy. He also seemed to placed in the back often if his dialogue with him is truthful which it should be the boy seems incapable of lying. Which is nice. Zentaro gave the boy a response.

"Thank you, I grew it myself." Zentaro spoke overly seriously he didn't even realized he made a pun he wasn't used to getting compliments about anything but his fighting ability. The boy told him is name after excusing himself for being rude. Which he wasn't the topic hasn't arisen naturally yet. People care too much about politeness it seems at this school besides the blue haired girl. Zentaro nodded at the boy's overly long and hard to pronounced name, and Zentaro simply responded with, "I'm not everybody, I wish to see what our year holds in stores for the both of us, Alekos."

Oh, good another raised hand.

Zentaro silently raised the same side hand and poked the large man's hand and then diligently stared at him with the intent to say they're doing this strange ritual that people do to introduce themselves. After a few moments of silence Zentaro lowered his hand and stared back forward. But that wouldn't last long.

After that another boy spoke to the big boy and they joked about him being late. Zentaro felt a ting of annoyance in his gut but he snuffed it out. bvut he couldn't help but speak up, he can't let what should be equals act less then as such. "You should be more diligent in your effort from now on Alekos, if only so people won't get the wrong idea about you." Zentaro reprimanded the tall boy with his always serious face. Next was a girl who spoke with rudimentary Japanese. Zentaro took note of her Japanese and tried to think what her accent is. But her name is rather strange, when she introduced herself. Noah. Isn't that normally a boy's name? Maybe they're a boy? Neither? Both? How confusing. Zentaro couldn't help but speak up. Deciding to move on from the thought of this Noah person's gender since it wasn't any of his business nor did he really care to ask. "How long have you two been in Japan?" Zentaro asked the two foreigner of the group."You're Japanese is... passable. Better then my English, no doubt."  Zentaro mused aloud, if he wants to surpass his classmates he needs to learn English so they can't speak in front of him without him knowing what they're saying. He better pick up some books after class to help with that.

Finally everybody in the group introduced himself after the boy with glasses introduced himself. Zentaro placed a hand on his chin and thoughtfully wonder if he should give them his name before thinking a "Fuck it" and let them know. "It would appear you all put me at a disadvantage in this introductions game. I won't lose. I'm Zentaro Kobashigawa... I win... but so did everybody else it seems.... good for us." Zentaro spoke earnestly without any hesitation. He won and so did they all. How useless, a definite winner and loser is always best way of gauging such competitions. If everybody wins it proves nothing. But he decided to ignore his gut feeling and speak as he did, uselessly, like nearly every discussion he had today.


[System]
Age: 18
Appearance:
Annabelle stands at 5 foot 9 and has a thin physique. Obviously the most noticeable part of her appearance is her green skin and pointed, elf-like ears. She prides herself on her inhuman heritage, and while she could easily disguise herself as a normal human, she instead chooses to bear her features with pride. Her hair is long, wavy and a naturally pale red, almost matching the violet colour of her eyes.
Years in the Academy: 4
Ancestors: Ahura Boltagon[Father], Blackagar Boltagon[Grandfather], Medusalith Amaquelin-Boltagon[Grandmother]
Powers/Abilities: Annabelle possesses a few powers inherited from her father and grandfather at birth, but gained a few unique powers after going through the terrigenesis.
-Hypersonic scream. Anna's scream is nowhere near as powerful as her grandfathers or even her fathers. Her scream is a lot quieter and is only capable of leveling a modest sized block of flats at full potential.
-Energy beams. Again, a lot less powerful than her ancestors, the beams are capable of cutting through concrete but are rather thin and unwieldy.
-Inhuman physiology. After the terrigenesis, Anna's body was enhanced, giving her increased strength, speed, reflexes and endurance.
-Additionally she possesses the ability to store kinetic energy and in turn channel this energy into attacks. Currently she can only transfer the energy into small objects and throw them, causing them to explode or simply disperse it through her hands.
Bio: Annabelle was of course born as the daughter to Ahura Boltagon, just before he was elected as CEO of the Ennilux Corporation. Her early life isn't much to speak of. It was relatively sheltered, what with her being descended from royalty and her father being the head of one of the largest Inhuman corporations. She was hardly even allowed to have friends, and any that she did make were vetted and scoped out to the point where they practically didn't want to be her friend in the end. As a result, Annabelle developed a superiority complex, believing that the reason people didn't like her was because she was inferior and the only way to get people to like her was to act like the royalty she was.

However, making friends wasn't exactly on her mind while the complex came about, her Terrigenesis was coming up and she was overtly nervous about it. While the genetic deformities had mostly been stomped out through the screening process done before hand, Annabelle was still terrified that she'd come out the other side looking like some sort of monster.

Suffice to say, she was right to be nervous. She spent the next month in her room, crying about her green skin, strange eyes and pointed ears. It took another month before her father convinced her to be proud of her deformities and show them off like a prize. She began taking more trips into the human world after that, seeing herself as an ambassador for the Inhumans. Her father let her go on believing it, after all she was only a girl of 13 years, what harm could a little embellishment do?

A year later and she received a letter from Tony Stark. Her grandfather urged her to join the avengers academy, having worked with Stark in the Illuminati. She accepted and has attended the school for 4 years now, providing a valued asset and representing the small number of inhumans at the academy.
Family/Relationships?:
James Victor Rodgers
James and Anna don't know each other hugely well, but they've met from time to time. Anna would consider James to be a friend of hers, but dislikes his boy scout attitude to things and doesn't really know enough about him to be good friends. In their first year, James helped Anna fend off some bullies who were mocking her for her skin colour and inhuman status.
Mark Westbrook
Anna doesn't know Mark all that much, she's been in a few classes with him but other than that she has little idea of who he is.
Vix
Anna has been in a few classes with Vix, but again she hasn't spoken to her very much and doesn't really know who she is.
Will Fleeter
Anna has never met Will.
Charlotte Rhodes
Anna knows Charlotte well enough to call her a friend. They were often study partners around exam time and occasionally spar with each other. Charlotte often teases Anna due to her royal heritage.
Alex Kinney
Anna knows Alex fairly well. She wouldn't exactly call him a friend, but not exactly an acquaintance either, just somewhere inbetween.
Weapons: None as of yet.
Personality: Annabelle has a tendency to expect the worst of just about everything. Be it people or situations, she mostly always has a negative outlook on how it will turn out. She has a little bit of a superiority complex, especially when it comes to music. For the most part, the complex plays itself out to hide how inferior she really feels on the inside, but when it actually comes to music she does, in fact, feel superior to most people. Speaking of, she is most definitely an 'indie chick'. She browses vintage shops, listens to old music(primarily the Smiths and the like) and has a penchant for disliking mainstream things.

However, it's not all doom and gloom when it comes to Annabelle. While she can come off as rather cold initially, after becoming her friend she is as loyal as loyal can be. She is also plainly honest, never wanting to lie to someone unless it would hurt them. She often hugs people when drunk and won't hesitate to claim someone who is only marginally her friend is her best friend.
Other:

[User]
Richard was late waking up. This always happened on his first day ever since the beginning of his second year. He had arrived the day before to unpack the things he brought back home and decided to get a good rest after staying out until two in the morning. Nothing good ever happens after two a.m. He was sleeping in his makeshift spider web hammock that rested above his own bed. He always wondered if he was weird for liking to rest in the thing every now and then. Besides his family no one even knew this about him.

He woke up to the sound of his alarm clock going off. "Ten... maybe thirty more minutes." His alarm clock on the other hand had other plans and kept blaring until he turned over and shot a web at it. Once attached he pulled the clock up to him and turned it off and jumped down onto the floor. His room looked like a miniature replica of his room back home. He had gotten used to the smaller space so it wasn't really a problem. He turned to his window to see the view he would normally see from his New York home. During his first year there he placed a holographic screen over the window so that he could wake up to the site every morning. "Window off." As he said that the screen faded and revealed the scenery outside of the dormitory.

Richard made his way to the bathroom and started his morning routine of showering, brushing his teeth, brushing his hair, and etc. This morning fortunately didn't have any sticky mishaps so that was a plus. Once all of that was said and done he put on his clothes which was just a regular black t-shirt with some jeans and an Avengers Academy jacket that he had customized. It was blue with a red A in the right corner of the jacket and on the jacket the word SPIDER was emblazoned in red a little above the center. To top it all off he had his necklace hanging around his neck.

Since he was already late for breakfast he decided to take the scenic route. He looked at his hammock and said, "I'll take you down later." and headed to his window. He opened it and climbed out and made sure to close it and lock it with webs. He didn't want to be the reason a villain was able to get into the dorms. He crawled up the wall and saw some familiar faces below that were looking at him. He waved and continued to head up until he reached the roof.

Once there he looked towards the cafeteria deciding to make a pit stop there before the cafeteria. Just at that moment the rocket situation was coming to its end and explosive shrapnel flew everywhere. He was sure everyone was okay. If not there was no real worry. The school was a school for heroes and geniuses so the medical advancements were well... advanced. Richie didn't hesitate in heading over and arrived once the drones did.

He listened to the drone that approached James and the others and heard the voice of their head instructor. Once he was finished he surprisingly made a gentle landing on top of its head in a crouched position and said, "I missed all the rocket fun. There's no way I'm missing this." He noticed some familiar faces and masks in the group and knew this was going to be interesting.

[Assistant]
Will looked surprised. He wasn't really used to being approached in a friendly manner, especially by older kids. Back at the orphanage, older kids just picked on Will. He listened carefully to the boy, nodding thoughtfully.
"I'm Will. Nice to meet you, James. And, uh, sure. I'll join you guys." Said Will, trying his best not to seem nervous. He forced a smile, holding out his hand and wondering if James would take it. He was doing his best to keep still, but it was a bit difficult. He hoped that the tower would have a bathroom...

He was still kind of getting used to this school. It looked as though there weren't a lot of kids his age here. Most of them seemed much older, maybe in the 15 to 18 range. he was only 10 himself, and frankly it was a little intimidating. He was still really new to his abilities, and wasn't really sure why he was being advanced so quickly. Maybe his powers would be really useful once he'd trained them, but for now he didn't really seem like he fit in.

[User]
Alex slowly sat up in his bed to his phone ringing. He reached over to his practically bare bedside table to grab his phone. He answered the phone saying, "Hey, mom." Her response was what most overprotective mothers would say. "I've only been back for a day. How could I already get in trouble?" Alex talked with his mom slowly reassuring her that it was safe. Once they said goodbye Alex looked around his room. It was basically empty except for his bed, table, desk, chair, and all the stuff in his closet. He took his sweet time getting ready for the day. By the time he was done the majority of people on campus would be done with breakfast. Alex was dressed in normal sweatpants, a workout shirt with the Avengers logo in the top left corner, and his signature leather jacket with the detachable hood. He picked up his sheathed Ninjato attaching it to his belt then he stuck his bo staff into its side pocket.

 He then left for the Hall of Heroes for the beginning of the day. Despite his Hyper Speed, Alex chose to just walk there and took his sweet time. When he finally got there he saw the small time heroes of the day and the small kid who had been saved. Alex had no idea what had occurred earlier this morning but it was practically a certainty that he would later find out. For now he just stared at the group mostly looking at James. It felt awfully strange to Alex having to be near this guy but no one would ever hear him voice that opinion.

[Assistant]
"Oh boy... Here we go." Ben said as the group was told to report to the Hall of Heroes. If there's one thing he didn't like, it was getting an earful from the teachers, especially in regards to something he had little to no involvement in. Just then, a familiar person popped by and expressed interest in following.

"Richie! My man! What's up?" Ben raised his hand up high. He then noticed he mentioned not wanting to miss the moment. "Well, if you're goin', guess I am too." Ben said.

[User]
James smiled as Will accepted the offer. It was interesting to see such a young kid here at the Academy, but to be fair, James enlisted when he was 12, so who was he to say? He didn't know what Will could do or what he was thinking, but he wasn't just going to leave him traumatized after seeing an almost death experience in a place he thought would be safe. He took the young boy's hand. "This your first year?" As they all walked to the tower, James tried his best to give Will the unofficial tour of the place, pointing at things, and at people who were descendants of famous heroes.

The Hall of Heroes was the most impressive building in the Academy. The first floor was a bit like a museum, displaying all the heroes who have come and gone into the Avengers, but in the center of the room were the costumes and information of the founding members of the Avengers so long ago. Captain America, Thor, Iron-Man, Ant-man, Hulk, and Wasp... It always sent chills down James' spine whenever he walked into this room. They were their legacy. One day their suits will be in here with the likes of Spider-Man, Falcon, and so many more.

He saw that Vix and Annabelle were already here, and soon everyone else followed suit. James looked down at Will to see his expression on his face. He didn't know if his parents were in this collection, or if he was impressed at all, but something told him that Will was going to make it here some day...

James caught movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to see that Alex Kinney made an appearance. It was always a weird feeling whenever the two were in the same room... His mother was cloned from Grandpa Logan's genes, which means that they were technically related. He remembered the conversation Grandpa Logan had with him when Alex first came to the academy. He had been through a lot as a kid, and that James had to keep an eye on him so nothing bad happens. He didn't specifically knew what that meant at the time, but from the small conversations that they had, he knew not to pry too much into it.

Maybe one day they'll talk about this kind of stuff...

He was about to go talk to Alex until the elevator in the corner of the room opened, and out came an older man, with graying brown hair, with a matching beard, and probably the best poker face in the world. He wore a nice red and blue suit, and his eyes scanned the room. "Mr. Lang--" James started, but the older man simply shook his head.

"Everyone enjoy the little breakfast and show this morning? What in blazes happened down there?" The old man demanded, looking at the small group that joined. For all the years James trained under Scott Lang, he could never know if he was angry, or if he was simply asking and wanted to know how the situation went.

[Assistant]
The situation played itself out rather well. The students aptly handled it all and kept everyone safe. Annabelle only hoped things would go as smoothly out in the field, lord knows they would be handling things a lot more dangerous than just bottle rockets. She bit the corner of her thumbs fingernail, a bad habit she had adopted during her first few nervous weeks at the academy. She turned slightly towards Vix as the projection faded.
"Problem is, what you prefer doesn't always lead to the one as you put it." She spoke, rather pessimistically. "Anyway, enough of that soppy stuff." She continued, intending to continue speaking but stopped herself as the group from the cafeteria made their way into the hall of heroes. "Looks like stuff is starting, we'd better join the group." She stated rather formally before making her way up to the group and following suit.


[System]
7 May 1908

Appearance
Average height, sand brown hair kept up in a professional looking bun when in school/working, left down to let her natural wave free. Hazel eyes often behind reading glasses and dark circles from being up way too late. Occasionally looks a little haggard, her fair skin making the dark circles a little more obvious. A few dark freckles on her face and arms stand out starkly.

Personality
Kind, giving, passionate, and a little absent minded. Bea is a nice person to work with, talk with (as long as you don't mind random, winding tangents on things you might not actually want to know about), and generally be around. She's dedicated to learning and her work, doesn't give up easily and will keep going sometimes even past when it's obvious she should give up.

History

William Axford
9 September 1893

Appearance
Tall, broad shouldered, and generally built like a working man. Strawberry blond hair kept just outside of military standards, light blue eyes set in a handsome face. Few scars here and there, along with a few tattoos. One of his daughters name above his heart, a phoenix across his shoulder on his back, and a naked valkyrie one his right inner forearm.

Personality
Will is a bit of a bastard sometimes, and for the most part doesn't really like to spend lots of time in large groups of people. He's fine with a few people for long times but public spaces start to bother him if he's in them too long. He's rather caring to people he's close to, overly protective almost of them. He treats women amazingly well despite still being a bit of a sleaze sometimes when he talks to them.

History
Born the eldest of far too many, childhood was rough and made him tough. He left home as soon as he could and didn't look back really. A few years before the war broke out, at seventeen he became a father. But that only encouraged him to enlist and ship out.

He served on the front lines for a few yearsbefore moving on to airship service where he found his stride, quickly rising up the ranks. A year before the cease fire was called, he injured fairly badly in battle and he was still in recovery when the fighting stopped. When he was up again he'd been discharged and he took the offer from one of his former officers as captain of one of his civilian vessels. He has since captained the Valkyrie ever since.

Rebeca Elizabeth Axford
25 April 1910

Appearance
Medium height, slim build with a lovely set of curves. Long, mid back length bright red hair hair and startling blue eyes. She's almost always with a bright smile on her face, and a kind look on her face. Even if she had shorter hair there'd be no denying that she was a woman, everything about her screamed it, but in a soft way, especially considering her age. Delicate and feminine, but there's enough spunk in her look that one would believe she was able to go running and swimming with the boys just as well as them.

Personality
Kind, caring, compassionate, loud, exuberant, and loving. There is something about Rebeca that makes it hard to not be happy when you're around her. She gets under your skin quickly, making her seem like she's always been your friend. The girl is all smiles and light laughter. There are very few who would not count her friend, or friendly, even amongst hardened people she is a source of light.

History
The only child of a pair of high school sweet hearts who never wed, Rebeca was raised just on the cusp of middle class. Her mother did well enough to never have her wanting, but the extra little things of life did slip them by as well. But she was happy, and bright and didn't care about those things. Her mother died when she just a little over thirteen, leaving her to live with her grandparents just a few towns over from Saint Louis. She was happy and content with her life, even if she didn't see her father as much as she would have liked to have.

At sixteen, her grandmother who was already I'll passed, her grandfather a few months later. She stayed in the house for a while before her uncle kicked her out because he didn't approve of her lifestyle, and had never liked that she had been born out of wedlock and remains so. So she sent a letter to her father and he gladly took her with him when he next came into town.

[User]
She'd been on a few airships in her life. Only a few though. So the sight of all of them moored up was awe inspiring. She walked with her eyes focused on the ships, trusting that Roger would make sure that she didn't walk into anyone. Thankfully she made it there without any incident and stood looking at the Valkyrie. She was an old ship. But she was well loved, that was obvious.

When Roger spoke with the other man, she brought her attention over to him at last, looking confused. "I'm sure," Bea replied, not sounding it. People who self boasted of being the best rarely ever were. "Is the captain here, now though?"

The man crossed his arms over his chest, looking behind him for a moment. "He is," he said simply, not stopping them from going aboard, but not being overly welcoming either.

《》《》

Rebeca murmured her thanks for her drink, taking a sip from it before replying. "Sorta," she shrugged. "He said I could find you here and I decided to come down. A drink sounded good after all." She pulled a little cigarette case out of a pocket on her skirt, pulling a cigarette out of it and laying it open on the bar top with a gesture to Estella that she could have one if she wished.

She didn't light it up right away, but instead held it in her fingers as she looked at the other woman. "That thing you said was a problem, was one. This afternoon. And the fool had the audacity to blame you. Said you must have done something to it because you couldn't have known otherwise."

[Assistant]
The man was very helpful. However, Roger did not come back with a snappy reply. He smiled politely. "Can you get him?" He asked. Though the mechanic didn't seem to mind that they boarded, still, a ship was like a house. You didn't just walk on without permission. Many ship captains didn't like just anyone on their vessel wondering around and though Roger knew he'd probably fine - as he knew the man - he still didn't want to overstep his place.

The mechanic looked at him like he was an idiot. "I'm waiting for a," he paused glancing at Bea before saying what probably was going to be a curse word due to the pause and the rephrasing. "I'm waiting for a part. Should have been here by now." He said, clearly not wanting to be bothered by them. "Just go in. The ol' man is no doubt on the bridge or something."

Roger raised an eyebrow at the insult. No doubt if William would have heard that he would have not been pleased. What ever happened to that older mechanic. That nice man? He was a bit nicer and would have either gotten the captain or escorted them to him. Roger glanced toward the door. "And Rebeca?" He asked.

"She's the one I'm waiting for." The mechanic pulled out a cigar and lit it up. He crossed his arms and sighed. "Where is she?" He muttered annoyed. He really wanted to get this stupid part fixed so he could head out. She no doubt got lost but he wasn't going to go find her.
~ ~ ~
Estella declined the offer with a slight shake of her head and a smile. She listened to Rebeca. If she was given a nickel for every time she had been blamed for something that wasn't her fault, she'd be rich...well not really but still have quiet a few nickels. She tilted her head slightly at what to her seemed like an interesting statement. Was their an implied question behind it? She took a drink and decided not to answer it. She gave no defense, no reasoning as to why or how she knew. Instead she glanced over.

"Was anyone hurt?" She asked. There was slight concern. She didn't think so. Rebeca looked fine but you never knew. It all depended on how high they got before the Helacoptz went out. She didn't think it would have gotten that high but you never knew. She hoped no one got hurt. As it was, she was wondering if she should have voiced her concern to the captain. Immediately, she dismissed it. She had reported it to the mechanic. Though, she could have gone over his head, it hadn't been her call to do so. There were times you did but times you didn't.

Thankfully no one was hurt. For that Estella was grateful. She looked back at her drink. She was slightly curious as to why Rebeca had come looking for her. From the earlier statement, she didn't think the woman blamed her for the accident. Was she here because she figured Estella paid for the part? Oh she hoped not. She didn't want a big scene from it. But she couldn't think of why else she'd be here. So she waited. She could be patient and she wasn't going to come out and rudely ask.

[User]
Beatrix sighed and rolled her eyes at him some. "Well, thank you for that, " she said, sounding not very thankful at all. She doubted that he would show them on if they asked, and Roger had said that he was friend with the captain so she saw no point in not just going on board and finding the man himself.

So she swept past him, gesturing Roger after her as she went. It took her a moment before she could orientate herself, but she struck out with confidence down a hallway and was right in choosing as she brought them right to the bridge like the mechanic had said the captain was likely to be found.

And sure enough, Will was there in his chair, sitting sideways in it with his long legs over the arm. He was reading over the newspaper, glasses perched on his nose when he looked up at the sound of feet in the bridge. He blinked in a moment of surprise before he folded up the paper and swung his legs back over to stand up. "Well well, long time no see," he said, extending a work roughed hand to Roger with a grin spread wide on his face. "What brings you and this fine lady to my humble ship?"

《》《》

Rebeca smiled at her some. "No," she said in answer to her question about anyone being hurt. "Nothing damaged aside from the ship some, and someone's pride a little." She sipped at her drink a bit more before she went on. "I was hoping you might be so inclined to come back with me to the Valkyrie. Might be in née of your help. Even if just to carry parts back with me." Though it was obvious that Rebeca was after much more than just the errand running.

[Assistant]
The mechanic was not at all helpful. Roger missed the old one. This one he didn't trust. He had seen a couple 'discrete' glances toward Bea that the man shot. It seemed strange that William would hire this man but then again, one did what they needed to do. The old mechanic probably retired and finding a replacement isn't as always as everyone thought.

Following Bea into the ship, Roger followed. Considering she never had been on this ship before, she seemed to know where she was going. Entering the bridge he smiled at the Captain and shook the worn hand. "Passage. We're looking at traveling to Glasglow probably next week." Remembering his manners, he introduced Bea to the Captain. "William, this is Miss Beatrix Brown. A good friend of mine and daughter of the professor I used to work for. Bea, this is Captain William Axford. We met last summer." He didn't elaborate how they met or that it entailed security detail for some valuable cargo.

With the formal introductions out of the way and the pleasantries taken care off, Roger went back to the business at hand. "We're seeing if we can find passage to Glasglow and then back here to London probably mid-next week. I thought I saw your ship and was wondering if you were headed that way."

~ ~ ~
That was a relief. Pride was something that could be hurt and in her opinion was better than actual injury. But then again, from her brief encounter with the man, she doubted the mechanic would agree with her. But it wasn't her place to judge. In a way, she could possibly see his point. You get some girl come in and say something that doesn't make any sense. Then it happens and he gets the blame. Not that she was going to provide any pity. Though not an airship mechanic, if someone genuinely gave her a warning, she might look into it - even if she didn't believe them.

Anyway, she set her drink down and looked at Rebeca. "Sure, I can bring the parts back." She didn't mind delivering parts or heading back to the ship. She doubted though that the mechanic would want her poking around the ship. Not to mention she wasn't sure about that as well. It wasn't her place - she'd help if asked but at the same time, as her mother used to say, "gayst deyn eygn gesheft" - mind your own business. "Did Rufus get all the parts you needed?" She asked.

Her surprise was evident when Rebeca mentioned there was only one part. "Only one?" She blinked surprised. Had the schmuck even looked at the rest of the engine or had he just looked at the one part? She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but with an airship starting to take off only to crash back down again - there had to be more than one part needed. She hoped for their sakes that he didn't just assume it was the one. It would just make things worse and delay them more.


[System]
Gender: Male

Age: 19

Birthplace: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Appearance:
5'11" with dirty blond hair and blue/green eyes depending on the lighting. Fairly muscular but rarely show emotion on his face.

Personality: (Introverted/Sensing/Thinking/Perception) To most Alex appears cold and standoffish, but those who know him well realize he is just a quiet guy. He can seem rude but that is only because he is very direct and rarely lets bias change how he deals with things unless he REALLY dislikes someone. He is fiercely loyal and if someone hurts or wrongs someone he cares about he will defend them, but he rarely defends himself. He loves bringing characters to life and enjoys making people happy despite not seeming like it. Ever since the outbreak he has trouble trusting people and it takes a lot for them to earn it. Until they have earned his trust though he won't take his eyes off them. He does however pretend to trust them and he is very convincing.

Occupation before the breakout: College Student

Skills: Good shot. Fairly decent at fighting. Good actor. Great driver.

Fears/Incompetencies: Large numbers of people. That someone he cares about dies because of him. Will every now and then 'stick his foot in his mouth'.

Equipment: A katana he inherited from his grandfather. A bookbag with some water, food, and a change of clothes, an Atlanta Braves Baseball cap, a zippo lighter.

Group: He and his siblings are members of a democratic survivor group south of Dana Point.

History: Alex is the second oldest of his siblings. When he was younger he connected fairly well with others, but eventually someone really close to him betrayed him. Also almost all of the friend groups he has ever been in tend to have a large falling out leaving him to have to decide which side he would join. He never could choose so he always got left behind. Over the years he closed himself off emotionally to others and rarely opens up anymore. He went to college in California close to Dana Point and his siblings were luckily in the area during the outbreak.

[User]
Ethan Blackledge

Clouds completely covered the sky, with smoke still clearly visible from the north of a group who were running the opposite way. They'd reached the coast pretty quickly and gone east following the coast line. The survivors had not stopped running since the walkers had swarmed their home and destroyed everything they'd been building over the past year. There was only eleven people who managed to get out of the town together and they had no clue if anyone else had gotten out of there.

They hadn't spoken a word to each other since the first five minutes of escaping. Ethan, one of the survivors, thought to himself that it was best not to say anything. Letting everyone come to terms with what had just happened as they continued to move down the coast.

—————————————————————————————————————————

An hour later, they still hadn't stopped moving, still following the coast with the smoke slowly fading into the distance. Their speed had started to get slower and slower and you could hear everyone breathing getting heavier as well. "Stop…" Ethan said in an out of breath tone. "We need to take a minute to catch our breathes... One of us is going to pass out in a minute." Ethan slowed down to a walk then stopped completely putting his hands on his head breathing in as much as he could.

The highway road that they'd been going down was covered in cars that had slowly started to rust over the past year. Everyone had decided to agree with Ethan and started to lean against the cars or sit on the floor. Ethan took off his rucksack and chucked it on top of a car bonnet and grabbed his map and the bottle of water out and taking a sip and passing it towards Walter. A pretty quiet guy but Ethan was really fond of him. He'd been on a few scavenging trips with Walter and they'd all gone well, Ethan trusted him. He was also glad to see Alex, sometimes it was hard to talk to him because of the slight language barrier, but he knew quite a bit on medicine and in these times it was one of the best traits somebody could have.

Ethan laid out the map on the bonnet, looking it over to see where there next stop could be. "We'll keep moving down the coast until the sun starts to go down." Ethan said out loud thinking to himself. "Then find a house to stay for the night…" There was houses all the way down the highway and as far as he could see. "The walkers will probably linger about in Dana Point for a while so we should have time to sleep. Anybody think we should do anything different?" Ethan looked around to see if anyone wanted to do something else. He knew everyone was clearly thinking about what had just occurred but he knew this wasn't the time or the place to actually start talking about it.

[Assistant]
Camyllia's heart pounded in her chest as she ran down the street away from her home tears running down her face. She refuses to turn her head to see if she was followed or not due to her panic state of mind. She dodges under the arms of a walker letting it fall and kept running. It wasnt' long that she came to a stop by an abandoned apartment building. Camyllia puts her hands behind her head and allowed air into her constricting lungs.

"Oh man," She whispers putting her hands down and looking around. Camyllia had ran all the way to the beach she played at with her uncle. Letting out a smile she makes her way down the road to where some colorful houses going for the smaller but brighter blue one. Coming to a stop at the sidewalk watching a half walker groan on the lawn reaching out for her. Slowly making her way forward Camyllia saw who the walker was, Jannette, her uncles ex.

"Sorry," She says pulling out her softball bat,"Can't have you aroun' Jan," Camyllia said her country twang coming out a bit. The walker reachedoutmore for her making the girl sigh before she swung with all her might caving the womans head in. Camyllia eye's began to water and she backed away her stomach churned and she held onto it gagging. Get ahold of your self Cammy! You're on your own! No wussy crap

 Coming over to the walker she rips her softball out of her head and goes to the still feeling sick to her stomach over what she had just done.

[User]
The small white house was off to the side of the main road. From the outside it looked abandoned : boarded up windows, overgrown yard, cobwebs everywhere... But inside there were two souls that called the little sanctuary home.

Kat gently rocked the baby girl. She had been fed and given a bath, now it was nap time. But, being stubborn like her mother, the baby was refusing to go down without a fight.
"Come on Gracey..." her mother cooed gently. "You're going to make me do it aren't you?"
The baby girl's replied with a whine and reached for her mother's face.
Kat sighed. "Alright then," she agreed and began to sing.

 "You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine,
You make me happy when skies are grey,
You'll never know dear,
How much I love you,
Please don't take my sunshine away...

She continued softly, humming when not singing the words to the classic lullaby. It was the only thing that could make Grace sleep.
Eventually the baby girl yawned and laid her head against her mommy's chest, closing her eyes. Kat gently and carefully laid her in the makeshift plan pen she had crafted from safety gates and twine. She made sure Grace had her little pink blanket that she wouldn't sleep without.
Still humming, Kat picked up the shotgun, which now had no ammo but was still an effective intimidation tool, and went to the window to keep watch. A swarm of walkers had passed by during the night, which meant if any survivors were left in their wake they might be headed her way.
If they thought a single mother with a baby would be an easy scavenging target, they had another thing coming...

[Assistant]
Just outside of San Clemente High School in a sniper's den which is well concealed by large rocks and some foliage, Alex is holding the Hunting rifle looking down the scope and checking the fence. Pretty clear. The clean-up crew this month was doing very well. Maybe whoever got chosen this month would choose the same people. Alex didn't care where he got put as long as there was some solitude involved.

As he was about ready to pack up and head back to the gate his walkie squawked to life, "Hey Alex. Meetings about to happen soon. Did you remember to put your vote in this month." Alex detached his walkie from his belt and pulled it up in front of himself to respond, "Nah. You know it don't matter to me. I always vote for you anyway, Ollie." Alex always voted for Ollie. Why wouldn't he. Ollie knew how to lead a group of people, he was trustworthy, he was fun to laugh at, and last but not least he was his older brother.

"You know I'm getting tired of that excuse. A couple of the others are too. They think you don't take the system seriously." With that Alex grabbed the rifle, his backpack, and the binoculars and left the small perch, "Don't worry about it. Hey tell Dave that I'm approaching the gate. He's way to jumpy. I don't wanna risk getting shot." Alex turned his walkie off and walked the rest of the way down the hill and picked up a slight jog when he got close to the gate, "Hey. It's me. Guard Tower A Cycle 3 reporting back.
Under his breath
 I seriously hope I'm not under Jefferson again." The gate swings open in front of Alex and he rushes to the supply room and drops off the binoculars and rifle, then makes his way to the cafeteria for the meeting. By the time he arrived they had already started counting the votes for the month. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Erin, wait or was it Clara, whatever. Either way he decided he might as well congratulate her for the good work she did this month. He always hated running into stragglers on his way back from the perch. He walked over and sat beside her, "Hey good work this month. Hopefully whoever is in charge of clean-up chooses you for their crew. I heard you got the most kills this month."