1964-10-04 - King's Men 21: Akkad
Summary: A visit to Mosul didn't go as planned. Now Nineveh province is completely dark, a huge roaring green column went into the sky, and you figure that wasn't noticed? Right-o, time for Plan B.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
hala nexus chloe blackagar triton gorgon rogue 


Attilan shudders restlessly under chronic assault by technologically adept forces from beyond. Security systems engaged by Nexus provide some protection for the populace, and Maximus' wards hold over the Great Refuge… for now. But that time is ticking. Persistent assaults fueled by obviously driven forces — or mindless code, repeated ad nauseum — continue unabated.

So the Lockjaw delivery service is engaged. That involves the great hound hopefully nudging Blackagar for a pet before individually knocking against all those selected to go. With his selective doggy humour, he carries the Inhumans across two continents in the smear of light and sensation. Position depends entirely on his fondness for the individual. First to go: Blackagar, landed on a rise outside a large collection of standing stones beneath the glimmering Milky Way. (https://goo.gl/bQMGik)

The Ring of Brodgar cannot be understated; not in size, design, antiquity. Set in the North Atlantic on Orkney, the neolithic stone ring is alight with some nameless power. Twenty-seven henges rise on a leveled plain between two lochs, an impressive spot for ritual. (https://goo.gl/j8b7uZ) The air hums to a seething whisper of wracked power, mingling with the restless autumn wind and aqueous melodies of the waves. Triton is dumped in waist-deep water. Wet Lockjaw carries Nexus directly onto the rock that he meditated upon after his first visit.

So it goes for each and every person. An immense presence dances on the atmosphere, throwing localised auroras and splashes of light and colour. Standing in the middle of the circle is an elderly man in a tweed coat, holding up a pair of binoculars to the sky.


Settling upon the stone, Nexus gives a fond smile to Lockjaw and nods his head to the dog; good pup! This is exactly… But then, the technopath blinks, and the circuits along his skin flash bright white, "The relay is active; in fact it is so active that it puts all of Attilan's computational power to shame." He tilts his head, reaching out, "I believe it is interfering with communications in the area, I can sense no telephone lines even in the town." He seems… confident, strong. Nexus just has a *presence* at the moment that puts his usual attitude in Attilan to shame.


A hand comes to rest upon Lockjaw as the last of the group arrives after he did. Blackagar reaches up shifts the fit of his coat some before glancing to the rest for a quick visual check then diverts his gaze to Nexus. A nod comes, slow and hesitant before he motions with his hands and impresses, «If the Relay is destroyed?»


Triton was at least not frozen when the armoured fish man hit water level again. Lockjaw got a pat and a nod of thanks while he took a moment to orient himself. Now where did they put that- Oh. Right. Triton turned around. That side. He was going to reply to Nexus when he spotted the man in…tweed? Was he bird watching or henge watching? Oh no, that was a familiar face behind the glasses. Recognition drew Triton's hand away from one of the knives on him and that said, trudged up out of the water and into the ring.


Arriving in Mosul with everyone else , Gorgon would tilt his head a little bit. Looking at Nexus "No telephones? strange." he shrugs though, apparently finding this rather odd in and of itself. Oh well! He crossed his arms as he had a few knives on him, but mostly a large axe on his back. He didn't recognize the stranger, but he stood near his king and fellows.


Chloe arrives as Triton's side. She's left the merlin falcon behind, much to its disgruntlement. Sometimes it's just not safe for a tiny predator. She gives Lockjaw a pet and murmurs to him, "You're a good dog. The best dog." Given her gifts, she can be understood by animals. It never hurts. She's not in her normal pretty sun dress, but rather something more sleek and fitted to her form. She's got two wicked looking jagged knives at her hip.


Fetch waits his turn, letting Lockjaw decide on what order to take people. Once he gets to Scotland, he looks around a moment to asses the immediate threat then takes stock of those who are here. After a moment, he steps closer to Gorgon. Within arm's reach in fact. Just in case.


His good old Bushnells are fine for seeing the stars, but observing them through the cyanotic halo engulfing the huge stone circle might be impossible. Tweed coat and slacks give Ianos the look of a proper English eccentric. His white hair stands on end rather than in lovely waves, and several of the stones shine with a fell light out the images scribed on their surfaces. Or possibly floating over the ancient bluestone, hard to tell. Anyone able to read High Kree might make something of the stylised symbols, but to the rest, they're gorgeous knotwork anticipating insular Celtic style by about 16,000 years or so. "Company!" the Grey Sage crows. The only thing grey are his boots, but regardless. "If only I'd put the brown Betty on. Well, that great hound can fetch a tea service from Kensington Palace if he puts his mind to it." He gives a remarkably dextrous bow for someone past his first century and looking snappy for it. "I knew your father," he says to Gorgon, nodding to the very large man. "Ah, and your sister. Fatally charming, Triton Mander-Azur. My king." Yep, Max isn't identified here as such, a nod to Blackagar made deeper.

"Kree attack on the system. Pity it happened in my lifetime," the old fellow remarks, shrugging. "Hasten up, you lot, if you're going to have a city left you'll best be on your way. By the looks of it they've pulled six of the sites into their control and I cannot guarantee the security protocols will let anyone else through soon. Been a bother as it is to hold the European pathways open. Unless you fancy a jump to the Amazon and those dreadful ruins, you want that one." He gestures to a stone standing dead north, taller than Gorgon and possibly his sister.


"Ianos." Nexus nods to the elderly man with consideration, before he turns his expression upon Blackagar and he pauses, consideringly. "I can not be certain, but as this is the… for lack of a better word… nexus for the sites, it may disable them all. I would need to study the interconnections to be sure." And with that he closes his eyes, reaching out to try to understand what all this computational power is being used *for*. But after digging around in it for moments, he nods to Ianos, and moves to the stone. "But my experience, Blackagar, is that we should do what he suggests." He nods to Ianos.


Blackagar looks then at Ianos, eyebrow upwards in silent indication before he looks at Gorgon and makes motions with his hands, «Just what is being suggested to be done?» The cousin being given the time to ask related questions while Blackagar himself takes a few steps forward to cast his eyes in the direction indicated by Ianos as the 'source'.


Triton dipped his head to the older sage taking the compliment to his family. "Thank you, she is an excellent woman and a fine mind to be sure." He looked to his cousin, their king and back to the older man. "Our King wishes to know what is being suggested to be done, Ianos." His eyes drift to Chloe, then Nexus, then up to Gorgon. Good good. All present and accounted for.


Gorgon would uncross his arms a small moment when the Grey Sage appears and speaks that he knew some of Gorgon's family "Oh? they are a rather interesting pair are they not?" he laughs a small moment, before looking to his King with a small hum..but he seems to nod in agreement with Nexus. "It can be done I think. It's worth a try." he nods a little,, before looking to the stone. crossing his arms once again. Looking between all present.


"Quite simple, your majesty and your highnessses and my lords and ladies." Right, protocol. "Box the Kree's ears and get them to cease this business. Considering that particular site faces a city of about a million people? Stop mass death or a mob looting a precious location we've kept hidden for a very long time." Ianos' crisp English holds not a hint of a Scottish burr. He clutches the Bushnell binoculars to his side. The odd strobing of silver to green light washes him over, heightening the craggy wrinkles in his weathered face. "Save Akkad if possible. We still don't understand what the leaders of the Exiles left for us. If not, well, make the bastards pay. It's not a human source for this. Kree or Inhuman, and I safely discount the latter."


Chloe shakes her head vaguely and says to Triton, "I only know to follow your lead, my Prince." Her gaze lingers on him, and she smiles. She falls into step beside him then and begins to scan their surroundings. Let the royals make the decisions, she's here to guard Prince Triton with her life, if needs must.


"At this point, shutting down the relay is pointless; they're here. Once we've dealt with our ancient enemy, we can come back and disable the network." Nexus murmurs, shaking his head slightly, "At the moment they are using it to spin up systems and download data, but … it would take me hours to sift through the system entire." He reaches the indicated stone, and pauses before laying a hand upon it, looking back to Blackagar and the others, "We need but touch it."


|ROLL| Triton +rolls 1d20 for: 14


|ROLL| Rogue +rolls 1d20 for: 15


With a touch on rough stone, the world contorts around the subject. To those left on Brodgar, they disappear in a cascade of green sparks. It's quite another story for the subject, torn in oppositional directions: feet seem to implode to the belly, the upper body streeeeeetches ten feet tall and thin as a wafer.

…On the other side…

The body blurs back together in a round hub of a room, completely encased in translucent panels, possibly glass. Smooth plates display three dimensional matrices manipulated at a remove by a team of three people in green and white uniforms. Understanding how and what they do at first sight is difficult, not the least because they are scattered at different points in the chamber. Overhead hangs some kind of energy globe, no apparent means to contain the stable plasma, but it glows bright enough to show at least three more blue-skinned folks wielding particularly lovely hammers with a tapered block wedge. They stand on alert, the only two obvious ways into the room — doors at 9 and 5 o-clock — sealed and guarded.

As the first of the Inhumans go through, the response is a shout in, surprise, Kree.


Triton reached out and gave Chloe's shoulder a squeeze. "Our mission is simple. Protect our King. Protect his people." There was almost a humor to it but as the scout he headed over. He gave a nod back to Gorgon. There was no fanfare with his webbed hand hitting the block, weapon already defensively in hand in case.

It took no second thought for him to process the room and let the first dagger fly at one of the Accusers rather than those manning the consoles. Spinning low he went right for whomever was attempting to make the first move of reaction towards their point of entry… and that was if the others were coming in at the same point he was.


Gorgon would give a nod in return to Triton as he watched those who touched the stone disappear before taking a braeth and walking up to touch the stone himself. "Okay…." Defending the royal family was his purpose, and so he did not shy away from any danger. He would touch the stone officially, then surprise surprise! he's with the others, armor glistening faintly as he cracks his neck. "alright…let's get started." he says softly, and as Triton went for the Accusers, so did Gorgon almost immediately, charging some on the other side of the room for full coverage.

or at least he tried to.


Chloe looks to the King, and she nods. "Of course," she says. The gentle-featured gardener gives Triton a curt nod, all business. When she first comes through, in her disorientation, she draws her knives, ready to stab. When things right themselves, she relaxes, and she follows after Triton and Gorgon. That's the plan, anyway.


Nexus crouches the moment he appears, making himself a smaller target as he closes his eyes and lifts his hands. The circuits in his skin brighten as the technopath reaches out to the guard's Universal Weapons to disable them; or at least, that portion of their function that is not purely kinetic. If he is able to.


Blackagar forces himself to take a moment to gather himself mentally after the rush of tranportation; batting eyelids several times until he focuses and looks up. The initial strike already underway he sees no immediately need to spring in, rather he starts a quick survey of their area, motioning with his hand towards the entryway and to either side of it.


|ROLL| Rogue +rolls 1d3 for: 3


A trinity of bolts fly from around the hub; the blast in motion burns a solid greenish shade. One nails Triton squarely in the upper shoulder. The effect is numbing, pain receptors blown skyhigh. Another skims close to Chloe's face and glances incidentally onto one of the pillars supporting the roof.

Then there's that double-shot fired at Gorgon, a figure big enough to take up two bus seats. Who knew that monster could move so fast? The Accuser who shot at him clearly doesn't, since the second burst strikes the computer where a blue-skinned male, bald, with a prominent crest sits. Or did sit; now he's leaping aside, knocking a floating disk away, shouting, "«What is this? Hala preserve us!»"

"«Initiate Protocol Seven," snaps one of the Accusers smartly in Kree. The white hammer in hand flicker-flashes as its circuitry comes alight…. and promptly emits a low vibration, like a dog shaking off water.


Triton at least had agility on his side and avoided the brunt of retaliation with liquid movement. That bolt though spun his torso off balance sending the usually even keeled fish growling into his mask promising the Accuser in Kree "Revenge for that will be levied on you." He was pretty damn certain they were in building code violation 21 for breaking an entering. That also meant 229-232 said it was perfectly alright to kill these guys and dump their bodied on the porch. Or maybe they had to drag them outside first? When he regained any feeling in his fingers he'd worry about the minutiae.

Being shot didn't stop the onslaught, but for now it did mean he was down an arm letting the left assail his attacker like a pissed piranha striking again working to disable first. efficiency was always key.


|ROLL| Triton +rolls 1d20 for: 9


Triton engages the Kree guard affectionately called Hammer 2, and that blow staggers the man back as he reverts to using his hammer as a primary form of defense. The blaster drops clear, kicked aside, and the blue-skinned warrior gets a bit of coverage from an oval table displaying a spinning equation midair. His swing back to the Inhuman scout fires Triton across the room in an invisible shockwave.


Having gained the element of surprise, Gorgon does -not- stop with his assault, attempting to draw his large axe and attempt to strike one of the hackers! (hacker 1) his focus being to keep up the fast pressure on the opposition, strong movements, and to keep the opponent retreating. He lets out a roar. what? they already knew they were there.


Ripped away from his terminal, the Kree hacker grabs hold of the floating chair as long as possible. Gorgon is an implacable force, as much as the hovering pad is. Hacker 1 — Ku-Yong — grunts and has the presence of mind to suddenly let go and spider-monkey cling to the Captain of the Royal Guard's torso, arm, and maybe roaring maw. "«HALA!»"


Chloe ducks low after the near miss, and she lunges in at a hacker clinging to Gorgon with silent, bleak efficiency. Her knives glint dully in the light. No battle cry, just stab, slash, stab. Missing Gorgon, ideally.


Staying crouched, Nexus focuses on the second hacker— and his terminal, in particular. He reaches out to it to pull power into it and try to overload it and send it exploding in a certain alien's face.


Shattering something-type-glass forms a spiderweb of cracks and glows ominously green. Then it blows outwards as the volatile energy source behind erupts in a wave that coats the hacker — a woman, Yan-da — and her terminal. She throws her hands up reflexively and cries out in pain. "«No! No, it's a relic, the poor relic. Augh! It burns!»" She rolls back to instinctively find cover, while the back doors into the room form a tight spiral to admit someone else in: blue-skinned, like the rest, in silvery attire. Behind him, two more.


Meanwhile, Chloe sheds Kree gore all over the Royal Guard captain. Goregon now has a dripping beard, and the tiny murder-hobo has herself a skinned rug.


Having hoped that the initially strike would have done more crippling, Blackagar now springs into action himself; charging towards one of the Hammer Brothers with as much speed as he can muster before lowering his shoulder and attempting to bull rush the Kree before following it up with a good ol' fashioned uppercut. Nothing like fighting bar room brawl style in a tech lab, eh?


While Blackagar charging anything would be cause for concern, it's plausible the smug bastard who sent Triton airborne has absolutely no idea who the Silent (once and future) king is. Certainly he raises the hammer expertly to intercept the blow, its energy shield dampening some of the knockback. Such has to hurt on impact. They slide across the floor; but that uppercut breaks through the defense and smacks the Kree soldier back. Ooh, is that blue blood?


|ROLL| Rogue +rolls 1d4 for: 3


|ROLL| Rogue +rolls 1d20 for: 5


|ROLL| Rogue +rolls 1d20 for: 12


The pair just entering at the back of the room in tandem take aim at Nexus and Chloe, their guns raised and shot within a second of one another. "«Halt!»" shouts the Accuser at the front of the wedge entering the hub. His voice rings across the walls and over the mayhem. "«Stand down, and you will not be harmed further.»"

The only hacker not totally incapacitated hunches down for his own protection, but the sharp whistle bursts up three octaves in a brutal trilling. Nothing, right? Except a tracer-trail of burning red light comes rippling out behind a suspended metal… twig? A pointy twig that rips faster than some can see, rolling around past Gorgon and chasing down Chloe. Yes, a floating arrow has taken murder-hobo personally.

The other Accusers who aren't immediately in danger of destruction pause, though one's side-eyeing Blackagar pretty damn hard.


Nexus is struck by a blow from one of the Guards, and he collapses to the ground and rolls into a fetal position, trembling and shuddering. There's absolutely no thought to it, no intent: its a technopathic *SCREAM* that reaches out to slam into everything. Unfocused it might do nothing; or it might be… a bad idea.


Triton was airborne with the shockwave. The good news was the console and part of the wall were there to catch him. Bonus. Nothing like a hard, solid surface to break unwelcome flight.

Ow~!*

This was not a banner day for the scout, but tenacity, thankfully, was a family trait. While action was decided he took the moment to pick himself off the floor. He was limping faintly but he wasn't out, at least not yet, and took the opportunity to try to help cover Nexus. One wall of scaled fish that was tenderized for Kree kitchen hammer of abuse coming up. He said quietly, eyeing down the Kree, "Nex, we got you." Though strained, still calm.


|ROLL| Rogue +rolls 1d3 for: 1


Shouting directly to the awakened system of Akkad, a machine bombarding Attilan from multiple different directions, normally does nothing. Except the technopath is the one shouting. Penglai under sea became Nexus' new best friend. Akkad does not take well to being howled at and overloaded by a surge of raw energy. The plasma ball chandelier wobbles unstable over the glowing mess from a shattered screen. Another of the guards wielding a hammer shifts onto the defensive.

The entire structure rumbles and reacts as a quasi-sentient AI would if just electrocuted. It lashes back out at them, violently, angrily, with an equal force to shove.

Light flashes in a single wave. Eldrac would be horrifically jealous, if he could see this. His schtick, done better.

"«Hala! Intruders!»" shouts someone as they fade into being, the whole of them…

In the belly of the Kree mothership.


Shaking his head as he rises, Blackagar looks up and then around at the surroundings. His eyes widen momentarily before he reaches down to his neck and pulls upon a chain there, freeing a tuning fork shaped object that hangs from it so it can rest on his chest; the focus he uses to direct his strength. Hands fly as he glances at the other Inhumans, «Brace yourselves…»


Nexus groans, rolling himself up to a sitting position… and immediately sensing where they are. He closes his eyes, staying near the ground, and *reaches out* to try to seize the ship itself. Primarily to lock every single door. He's still in pain, but the technopathic shout was somewhat cathartic. "The ship—"


was definately too busy dealing with 'ughhh kree blood. yuck.' to be really mindful of much around him, though a grateful nod to the knife thrower….what? he didn't see who did it..he had a hacker playing spidermonkey on him. But then things really start happening, and Gorgon tries looking around, even as the Ai of the sihp apparently starts to get mad. "oh crap." Gorgon says, not really sure what that means. Though as Kree fade into being, Gorgon still has a defensive position as everything unfolds! "Prepare yourselves…everyone.." he immediately moves to help defend the oryal family. "the ship sounds pissed…"


Chloe sloughs the skin of the Kree off her knives, looking down at it impassively as she pants for breath. Then the arrow pursues her and she brings up her knife for a shield, only to find the thing's taunting her, threatening to strike instead of striking. She steps back, properly irked. Then things start to shake, and she strikes a defensive position at Triton's side. "Ready," she says.


Triton was stunned but on his feet. Eyes flickered to the figure rushing at him: Chloe. That was okay. They moved to Blackagar and at the warning nodded and murmured back to Gorgon, "Oh fun." A hand went to Nexus' shoulder as they began to teleport. He wasn't entirely certain, but was almost positive that whatever they were about to land in he was going to be essential for any exfiltration plan. Running into danger was easy, escaping it… well they loved to keep raising the bar there. Here goes nothing.


A Kree ship doesn't come without some serious defenses. Even to Inhuman eyes, the hold is probably beyond futuristic, an enclosure of gleaming metals and polished lines. Radiating lines scroll outwards in a beam of light that focuses and strobes over the Inhumans as much as the Accusers and the Centaurian hacker still whistling sharply to keep the arrow in motion. Seals and activated protections aren't all technological; some are simply as simple as manually opening an airlock to jettison unwanted cargo.

Never mind the wedged guardians, Accuser in the fore, and one very much unhappy woman zip-sliding along an inner shuttle tube of sorts. No time for anything else; the black-haired Kree wears a different set of attire. She also has no issue with springing over a railing and landing in a crouch. "«This was unexpected. Account for yourselves. Sun-Yu, call Ronan!»"


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