Martin Langford's Story

The TV across Wing City flickers and changes from whatever is being shown on that channel to, at once, display the same Terracasted message. A neat-looking suited reporter is sat behind a basic desk, his black hair neatly combed. After a short moment, he looked into the camera and spoke.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special emergency broadcast. Reports are coming in from across the City as magic users find their drinking water contaminated with the dangerous drug Elysium. Early investigations have shown that contamination from Wing City Lake is to blame, linked with a Russian attack on Gambit's Bar. Details of how the Elysium reached the Lake have yet to be confirmed, but improper disposal of an Elysium bomb is being cited as the cause by witnesses. All magic users and magical beings are advised to stay away from the tap water until decontamination can be performed. A reminder that Elysium is a dangerous drug that over-enhances the magic with any magical entity until that power destroys them from the inside out. A nasty way to go for sure, folks. This has been a public emergency announcement. We now return to your scheduled programming."

The TV returned to whatever had been showing beforehand, its warning given.

The TV across Terra flickers and changes from whatever is being shown on that channel to, at once, display the same Terracasted message. A neat-looking suited reporter, familiar from another similar announcement, is sat behind a basic desk, his black hair neatly combed as ever. After a short moment, he looked into the camera and spoke.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special emergency broadcast. Reports are coming in from Wing City and from across the local system of conflict between Aschen and Taiyou forces. It would appear that the Taiyou Empire is launching a full-scale assault on the occupying Aschen forces on Terra and in the Local Region. Thus far no civilians have been injured in the cross-fire and it appears that no hostility has been expressed towards Terran citizens.

An official Terran response has yet to be declared by the TNG, but so far the WCPD and other police agencies are encouraging civilians to stay out of the conflict. Stay indoors, stay away from CPF garrisons and stay away from the fighting. This has been a public emergency announcement. We now return to your scheduled programming."

The TV returned to whatever had been showing beforehand, its warning given.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another news bulletin on the latest war to ravage Terra. My name is Martin Langford. It has been confirmed from several channels that the Taiyou and the Aschen are no longer alone in our system. An unidentified fleet has taken up a position near to Terra's moon, seemingly unaligned with either side of the conflict. Unconfirmed reports that this fleet is associated with the famous Arcus Sol, known for his Sol Tower being a striking landmark of Terra's own Wing City.

Furthermore, we're getting word that the Coalition has entered the system, but we have yet to confirm their intentions. The Coalition are reportedly advising that Terran citizens evacuate the planet immediately.

The conflict on the streets of Wing City has reached a boiling point as Taiyou forces systematically eradicate all Aschen positions, and the fleet engagement above the planet is in full swing.

Taiyou, Aschen, Coalition and other forces have all showed out to do battle above our world and we are left to ask one question: where are our leaders? What actions are they taking to protect us?

The short answer, ladies and gentlemen? None. Our government is doing nothing. The valiant men and women of the Terran Militia and the police force are doing all in their power to keep our civilians out of the crossfire but we have had NO - not even one - statements from the government with regard to the escalating conflict. It's beginning to look like the Coalition might have the right idea, folks. Maybe it's time to abandon ship.

This has been Martin Langford, continuing coverage of the latest war to ravage our homeworld. Stay safe out there, folks."

[url=http://www.roleplaygateway.com/roleplay/the-multiverse/places/terra?start=15900#roleplay2340900]Within the bar, a news broadcast played regarding the current war ongoing both above Terra and in the streets of Wing City. The arrival of a Coalition fleet and an unknown fleet potentially related to Arcus Sol bodes ill for the conflict not escalating any further. The government's lack of response remains, as ever, discouraging.

The Coalition are advising Terrans to evacuate the planet. Maybe they have the right idea?[/url]

The TV across Wing City flickers and changes from whatever is being shown on that channel to, at once, display the same Terracasted message. A neat-looking suited reporter is sat behind a basic desk, his black hair neatly combed. After a short moment, he looked into the camera and spoke.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special emergency broadcast. Reports are coming in from across the City as a veritable army of what appears to be cyborgs have flooded out of the business district."

The footage cuts to show Main Street, Sol Avenue and the rest of the business district from overhead, scenes of chaos and violence unfolding below as NPA, WCPD and Invictus troops clashed with the relentless cyborgs, alongside vigilantes and civilians fighting for their lives.

"Where are these cyborgs coming from? What do they want, or who sent them? All citizens are being advised to evacuate from their homes and the city until this incursion can be contained. Those behind the cyborg lines are advised to barricade your doors and await response teams from the WCPD and NPA to clear the area. We'll be bringing you more on this story as it develops."

The camera panned around to show an NPA official seated beside the anchorman, and the broadcast went on, showing footage of the fights and repeatedly detailing evacuation protocols as they developed.

The casual programming on the television in the corner of Tauvyr Tavern was abruptly cut short. The TERRACAST logo flashed on screen for just too brief of an amount of time before a sharply dressed gentleman appeared on screen. His name was Martin Langford, one of Terra's highest rated news anchors.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special emergency broadcast.
Reports are coming in from across the City as a veritable army of what appears to be cyborgs have flooded out of the business district..."

The report continued to show images of chaos and destruction.

"I wouldn't be so quick to assume," Aaron waved a finger, chuckling. "I'll take what life throws my way, of course, but I'm far from averse to playing the field a bit. I am but young, after all. Gotta live a little, you know?"

It was at that moment the TV screen across the bar lit up with a news broadcast from the planetary news network Terracast. A sharply dressed man - Martin Langford, one of Terra's highest rated anchormen - was sat as images of a violent horde of what appeared to be cyborg zombies ('Really?' Aaron thought, 'Of all the things?') poured from a collapsed building in the nearby business district.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special emergency broadcast.
Reports are coming in from across the City as a veritable army of what appears to be cyborgs have flooded out of the business district..."




The broadcast ended, and Aaron let out a whistle. "Well tie me up and fuck me sideways, that's new." In the distance outside the bar, gunfire and explosions began to become audible. The Aschen district of the city, and Vogel's Bar within it, weren't far from the business district where this bizarre event had originated.

People began to leave the bar hastily, muttering amongst themselves. Aaron leaned back in his seat and glanced towards the door. "Something tells me we're going to need another round of whiskey before the day's out..."

The door's opened with a bang a shadow stood in the door way for a brief moment before a female stepped in with long silver hair with chunks of gold and black streaks and a single red chunk hanging in her eyes. Black sunglasses hid her eyes, while a black leather trench coat flapped bout her leather clad form. Black leather pants, brown leather belt that has a silver chain that holds a sheath and sword at her left hip, and a black strapless laced up bodice. Bout her neck was black leather in loosely wrapped bout her neck. Black finger nail polish and a black onyx ring on her left middle finger, which flashed when she raised her hand to pull of the sunglasses to show dead yet chaotic gold eyes.

Yawning Luna looked bout the room as the doors closed behind her and tapped her glasses against her left thigh before she closed them and slid them into a coat pocket. "Well well. Just my type of place. Not so crowded." she said, her voice husky yet crystal clear and moved further into the room her eyes roaming over those sitting and drinking.

(ooc: sorry my posting will be slow for a while, I have an internship and it's a 9-6 job, and it takes me about an hour to get there and and hour to get back so i don't have much time to rp and sleep :( )

"I apologise, i shouldn't come to such quick conclusions" He laughed.

Jim looked at the TV screen "Now what?"

He looked back at Aaron once the broadcast had finished "Yeah i believe this is more than an Excuse" Jim did not move waited a second then motioned his head towards the bar while saying "Well go on then it's your round" He laughed again.

Jim then pulled out his two pistols from behind his back ensuring both of them were loaded with a high powered charge cartridge which has the ability to break through tough metal, just in case they encountered any trouble. Then his slipped them back into their holders on his back under his trench coat.

Jim then looked up to see a new arrival to the bar and whispered to himself in dismay "Nobody wears trench coats, i buy a trench coat, now everybody is wearing trench coats" He looked at his trench coat and sighed. Even though his trench coat was specially designed for him with hidden pockets, a hood and a special lining which was slightly bullet proof and tricked security scanners, he still felt annoyed. He never liked to be the same as someone else because he wanted his own identity. When he was an orphan he was nobody and since he became an adult he had made a name for himself and anyone who even wore the same clothes as him he automatically slightly disliked.

The headline of the news programme blared across the screen as the voice of a man began to speak over images of a gathering of reporters outside the heavily defended RIP facility outside of Wing City.

"Hello, and welcome to Terracast News at Noon, I'm Martin Langford. Our top story this afternoon: the killer of Taryn Lebeau, wife of the infamous Remy Lebeau, owner of popular local establishment Gambit's Bar has been taken into custody. An announcement was made by a member of the WCPD earlier today stating that the unnamed child murderer who witnesses had reported as shooting Mrs. Lebeau without provocation in Wing City Plaza had been apprehended alive, and was now interred within the high security Davrell Rehabilitation Institute for Paranormals. The spokesperson stated that no details regarding the child's identity were available for release, and nor were details of their arrest. It is being speculated that the arrest was somehow related to the catastrophic detonation of the city's Spaceport yesterday morning, due to sightings of a child-like culprit during that event, however the spokesperson refused to comment on these claims."

The shot cut to images of the spaceport and the explosion that had taken place the day before.

"Amidst the chaos striking in the business district as the undead cyborg menace persists, we are left reassured that the police department has not forgotten about the other threats to the city's safety. The question remains on many citizens' minds though, in light of the knowledge of his wife's killer's capture, will 'Gambit' reopen his bar?"

It did not take long afterwords for a group of people to show up at the news station. They were quick to kill anyone who tried to get in their way, and disabled the alarms and cameras in the building, as well as jamming all communications prior to entry. The subsequently tracked down anyone in the Terracast building, and their leader began to shoot the janitors and cleaning staff, asking for the man "Martin Langford", and demanding anything they know about the assassin. He then told them all that if he even suspects they are holding out on him, he will begin shooting people. He also tells them that no police will be coming, and that no one will be able to help them, as all signals are jammed, all alarms jammed and disabled, and all exits are blocked and guarded. All of their weapons were silenced and suppressed using some sort of new technology.

"So, you will give us everything, and you might just have a chance of surviving. Some of you, anyways..." They all wore masks that made it impossible to tell who they were.

A businessman had been walking across the street when he saw the group of men enter the news station. The man was called Leaf, and he had been looking for a new business since the one he had owned had been taken over by very angry zombies, and those disgruntled customers had killed his only staff and he wanted to tell his fellow businessmen to unite and get some much needed compensation.

Leaf crossed to the doors and tried to open them to no avail. The businessman took a few steps back and begun to call the station, which again, he got no reply. Leaf sighed and crossed to the other side of the street and turned in the direction of home when he realized just how wrong that a radio station would be shut without a note on the front door like this on a business day.

Leaf called the police.

"No, come on- get the camera- no, not there! Oh, it doesn't matter, just keep it pointing vaguely at me... are we on? We're on? Oh for-" Martin Langford, TerraCast anchorman and reporter hastily straightened his tie from where he was half-standing, half crouching at the edge of the crowd.

"Of course we're on, we're filming live, you idiot," Fernando hissed from behind the camera.

"Well, I don't know, I thought the rain of bullets might have..." Martin hissed back, before coughing and clearing his throat. "Anyway, I apologise for that interruption ladies and gentleman, but as you can see behind us, Mr Gabriel Ereb's speech in Asteria City has been brought to an early end by some sort of terrorist attack. It's hard to tell exactly what's happening out here but it seems as though Ereb Industries private security have responded by returning fire into the crowd..." He cut off with a muffled curse as a bullet ricocheted off the ground a few metres away.

"...I've seen several casualties already, at the hands of the terrorists who appear to be able to morph people into clones, and to the stun guns." he went on, "It's turning into a massacre out here folks. It seems as though Mr. Ereb has some ruthless enemies."

Appearing in a windowsill cyprus held a SKT0-Rail Rifle and looked for a target. He didn't have to worry about being seen because of the shadows, his dark powers, and a perception filter added to the armor. He panned the thermal plasma scope across a area to get a good look a the Chaos ragging below he quickly tapped the hair trigger on the fully automatic gun and dropped an Alpha Trooper. He congratulated himself, a perfect headshot. Then he panned the area again searching for Erib, who was nowhere to be seen. Cyprus scowled, his target gone he decided to help the others below by picking off the Alpha troopers.


Later:

Cyprus noted the casualties then packed up and left the building. He will complete his mission, no matter the cost.

"These things just won't give up will they?!" one of the clones shouted, although the sounds of gunfire and panicked cries made it difficult for his contemporaries to hear him. Before he could even ready another grenade for fire, he found himself overtaken by some invisible force that violently slammed him into the ground--light's out. The remaining clones found themselves fighting an up-hill battle, one that they would undoubtedly lose. One by one the clones let their weapons hit the ground and placed their hands behind their heads. There was no sense in continuing the assault for their message had been delivered. Albeit they had failed in the assassination of Gabriel Ereb, their attempt would likely be the first of many conflicts to come.

The clones hit by the paralyzing beams of electricity hit the ground like bricks before breaking out into a fit of convulsions; the sudden and traumatic shock caused them to revert to their original forms, revealing that the very attackers were Asterian citizens who had fallen into the clutches of the original 1(a). 3(b)'s eyes widened in fear when he peaked from behind the marble fountain. A hulking soldier clad in robotic armor barreling toward him was the last thing he wanted to see. The Chain clone dove to his left, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with soldier and stone.

As he exits the building cyprus was welcomed to the Chaos in the street. He walked toward the other side of the street then he saw an injured civilian laying in the street. Cyprus was overwhelmed with guilt when that vary sight brought him to the memory of when a very, very close friend lay dieing, and he did nothing to help her. He was so overwhelmed that he barely noticeed when a cop cuffed him and dragged him off. And he did nothing.

As the crowd continued to scatter like roaches and the terrorist clones dropped like flies, the Ereb Alpha Troopers cautiously approached the surrendering terrorist and restrained them.

"Not so fast..." Shadow-Sabre growled through his external speaker as 3(b) attempted to flee from the cyborg. He stretched out his hand and attempted to pull the clone into his grip with a yank of telekinetic force. The Alpha Trooper would catch him by the collar and lift him to eye level with the supersoldier. "I have some questions for you..." His voice was heavily modulated and intimidating. "Who do you work for?! Who ordered this hit?! And don't lie to me, because I'll kn-"

BOOM!

Shadow-Sabre glanced upward. Time slowed to a crawl as one of his fellow Alpha Troopers collapsed to the ground. Black shrapnel and sparks from the soldier's helmet flew across the concrete. A baseball-sized void gaped from his head.

The collapsed Alpha Trooper convulsed on the ground. His synthetic muscles twitched and spasmed. A low hum resonated from the suit as several cracks creaked along the torso and limbs. Finally, the fallen Alpha Trooper disintegrated into black smoke and ash that scattered into the wind.

"MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!" Shadow-Sabre shouted across their comm' as he dove behind the fountain with 3(b) still in his grip. "Paia! Logistics!"

<< Acknowledged. Accessing Crow's Nest. Up-link established. Evaluating ballistics and sensors. >>

The remained Alpha Troopers activated their stealth units and dove for cover as, high above the atmosphere, a satelite focused its lens on the city block. A complex array of sensors traced the path of the bullet from where the deceased Alpha Trooper once stood and scanned the approximate location of where it was fired from.

<< Sniper's roost identified. South-west building, third floor, second window from the left. Heavy caliber round - caution is advised. >>

Then, just as suddenly as the sniper appeared, he retreated down into the open where he was apprehended.

Once the smoke began to clear, Verhasst escorted Ereb away from the stage. The old man's face was pale. His eyes had lost part of their usual sheen, and blood stained his suit jacket. Verhasst draped the man's arm over his shoulder for support as they shuffled passed the news crew.

The crowd was beginning to thin out from the immediate area as the handful of police officers already on scene pushed their way through. One stooped to check on a fallen woman who hadn't risen from where an Alpha Trooper's stun weapon had left her crumpled on the ground. She was bleeding profusely from a deep gash in her brow inflicted by the trampling feet that she had been caught beneath. Not three feet away a man lay motionless as well, a pool of blood spreading across the pavement where a clone's bullet had torn through his abdomen.

Other officers moved in on the the clones and the Alpha Troopers while voices were shouting from all directions.

"Drop your weapons! Down on the ground!"

"We've got another down over he-"

"What just happened to him?"

"I don't know, the body just went up in smoke."

"Shit. Get these people out of here so the ambulances can get in."

"Secure those buildings!"

Cyprus was dragged away from the point of chaos to be shoved into the back of the nearest police vehicle parked out near the street while the other officers on scene moved to restrain the clones, and to order the Alpha Troopers down. They had their weapons trained on the Alpha Troopers as readily as on the clones and orders were being barked to drop their weapons and get down.

Backup had been called in and other vehicles and police would be arriving shortly, but until then the officers on scene seemed intent on neutralizing anyone with a weapon, regardless of who started what. The Alpha Troopers had no visible identification as law enforcement officers, or as TNG military, and thus were subject to the precautionary measure until the clones could be restrained and the situation secured.