RESISTANCE IS FUTILE - [modplot/log catchall]

[letsgolegion]

Who| Everyone who signed up
What| "Resistance is Futile" plot catchall
Where| All over the place, but mostly Colu
When| After the network briefings and deployment.
Warnings/Notes| cw: zombies, body transformation (probably). If your subthread has something triggery pop up, put it in a subject of the one of the comments.



The entire planet Colu is a sprawling urban mess, one of the worst environments to fight zombies. Yes, the cities are clean and impressive and yes they're meticulously planned, but they're planned for elegance, efficiency, and ease of transportation -- not defense. While Colu had suffered under the yoke of various oppressors in the past, that was over a millenia ago, and they've grown complacent, thinking their world untouchable due to their technological superiority.

Now they're paying for it. Robo-zombies swarm through the various mega-cities, spreading their disease by touching or wounding their prey. Due to the many walkways, hover-lift tubes, maintenance tunnels, and sewer systems, there seems to be no way of stopping them.

When the Legion first arrives, it seems hopeless. The Coluan Home Defense Forces aren't used to combat and are struggling to set up defensive zones. But then something unexpected happens.

Pods drop in all over Colu from orbit. The CHDF regard them with suspicion and disdain, but they have their orders, and the civilians regard them with fear, despite word starting to spread about who's come to help.

Kid Q's voice comes over the comms and while it's hard to hear it through the crackling, she sounds absolutely delighted.

"Look alive, folks, we just got a miracle. It took some negotiating with the CHDF, but they finally relented on accepting some help from others beyond us."

The pods all burst open and Robotican combat mechs start rolling and marching out, spreading out over all of Colu.

"The Roboticans haven't been able to translate it to a cure because the virus was meant to interact with them differently than organics, but due to their disaster preparedness, they were able to develop a block to the Brainiacs' virus and only suffered a few casualties. Robotican leadership says they're eager to have their chance to make reparations to organics by defending them from this threat -- and that they're honored to stand with the Legion."

It's not a magic fix. It'll still be a deadly struggle. But at least they've got more than the inexperienced CHDF at their backs.

"Let's make the most of it, Legionnaires."

[ooc: This will be used as a plot catchall, but you can make your own log posts in Legion Missions set in the plot if you like. All major plot parts on Colu will be set up here, with "The Reject Pile" part set in the Legion World comm (with an accompanying network post). That said, if you'd like to set individual plot threads on Legion World, you can also start your own Legion World posts in legionworld.]

Comments

[araignee_du_soir]

The smoke obscured the Brainiacs' vision, but not Widowmaker's; it did nothing to interfere with her infrasight. She saw her teammates enter the fray, two going for the child while the others focused on the true threat. With Marjara's bees. Had it not been for her ultra focus, the sniper might have cracked a smile at the way the insects swarmed Brainiac 8 and gave Widowmaker the one piece of knowledge she needed: those shields were down.

One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four...

Her timing of the fan was consistent, her target's head between her crosshairs. A controlled exhale as everything came into sharp focus, and a squeeze of the trigger once a fan blade passed.

BANG!

The single shot was loud, the sound of the high caliber rifle echoing through the air, as the bullet found its mark a brief moment later.

[truefaceofthelaw]

Rico only has a split second to feel amused about the tantrum. He's turning on his heel to face the remaining threat in the room when it hits him. It's a cold trickle at first, one he has time to blink at, but something suddenly jolts straight into the back of his brain, unfiltered and furious, flooding everything he's aware of. His entire body locks up and he almost pitches over, mouth working silently. Oh Grud, are those - are those tears welling up in his eyes?

Luckily for him, he doesn't need to dwell on it long. Something else hits him soon enough. The sonic pulse from Brainiac 8 wreaks havoc on the inside of his head and rattles his ribcage, even with his helmet dampening the damage. He aims his lawgiver with a juddering, shaking hand, heart beating faster and faster until it's just about to burst, when the sound of a shot rings out. For a second his head is so rattled that he thinks he must have squeezed the trigger, despite not having done so.

Where the hell did that shot come from?

Thankfully released from its grip, Rico hits the ground knees first, and gasps for breath.

[googledox]

Most of B8's body is bulleproof, but the three lights on her head are external sensors that have a direct beeline to her brain. The little ports are one of her very few weak spots. Because of the havoc the others have wreaked, B8 is completely vulnerable, unable to take time to detect any other threats in the room.

It's an improbable, nearly impossible shot, one that very few people in the galaxy have the skill to make. But the bullet hits one of the sensors perfectly. And with that, it's over. The sonic pulse stops abruptly and B8 falls backward, eyes wide in shock, her cortical processor shooting off angry sparks.

After Bunny frees him from the throne, Brainiac 5 stands up, his movements rigid and mechanical. For a moment, he looks at the squirming, screaming child in Bunny's arms, tiny face all screwed up as he cries ugly tears. Then he looks at Brainiac 8, lying dead on the ground, her main cortical core sparking and smoking through the hole in her head.

Then he looks away, expression flat and impassive, because he has to not think about it all right now.

There's an overtone, a slight electronic buzz to his words when he speaks.

"The sniper is most likely another Legionnaire. Kid Quantum's usual modus operandi in a situation involving mind control or telepathy is to send a backup agent or team without telling the rest of the team, in the event the primary team is telepathically interrogated or assimilated."

That way, when their minds are read, the enemy won't know another team or team member is lying in wait.

"An exemplary effort on your parts, by the way," he comments, walking over to one of the consoles. "The bees in particular were a touch of genius. My family line isn't exactly known for its ability to adapt to chaos, improbability, and creativity."

He sounds legitimately very impressed. Placing his palm on the console, nanites spread out from his skin and start creating a connection between him and the electronics within.

"Brainiac 8's death is...unfortunate, since it's always preferable to avoid the need for killing on a mission but that sonic pulse would've melted the flesh off your bones if it'd finished transmitting. I'm sure Kid Quantum and the Science Police will deem it necessary force in regards to the law and Legion protocol, given the circumstances."

This one is definitely justifiable self defense and defense of others.

"I'm opening threshold gates to relocate the three planetary bodies to their proper coordinates."

It's astonishingly fast for the ship to move them, considering their mass, but that's Brainiac engineering for you. Through the main viewscreen, they can see massive threshold gates open and swallow Colu, Earth (and Legion World), and Robotica. The Lunar Debris Field is left behind, floating in space where it can no longer threaten the Earth.

Computo enters the room then, a spiraling flowing field of energy and information, floating up through the floor. He reaches tendrils towards Brainy and Brainy smiles wryly.

"You're spectacularly late for curfew, young man," he jokes. Computo communicates something in complex harmonic tones and Brainy nods. "If you can, I'd appreciate it tremendously."

There's a pulse of light as Computo transmits the cure that the Legion found - that's already spreading across Colu - and the hand the energy tendrils are threaded around suddenly turns black. The layer of carbon spreads all over Brainy's body, creating a blackened shell that covers him completely. He isn't in the cocoon long. After just a few moments, he breaks out of it, and then he's himself again, albeit covered in carbon dust. Only a few bits didn't convert back properly or left marks, like the circuit pattern imprinted on his cheek.

After curing him, Computo moves on to the throne, to turn back the Coluans trapped within. His movements demonstrate hesitance but he still tries to cure them anyway.

Then and only then does Brainy turn back to face the screaming child in Bunny's arms. He has a decision to make here. It's a given that the child will be taken away from Colugov, but without his intervention UPgov will probably build some kind of juvenile detention facility to contain him.

And then what? He languishes away, possibly growing even more emotionally disturbed and dangerous in isolation?

At the same time, most parents didn't have to suffer anguish and mind control because of their own offspring. It does exactly get any paternal instincts flowing.

[googledox]

Brainiac 6 finally kicks Bunny hard enough to squirm out of his arms, and drops to the floor, a writhing ball of rage and misery.

"You can't stop me! I'll crush Colu, I'll blow up Earth's sun, I'll undo the laws of physics and make the matter in every one of your universes disassociate until it turns into soup!"

He starts crying harder, flailing and pounding his little fists on the floor.

"They hurt me! They hurt me!" he hiccups. "People are supposed to get punished when they're bad! It's not fair it's not fair it's not fair - "

A pair of arms suddenly sweeps him off the floor and holds him, and he looks up in shock to see Brainiac 5 staring at him as he cradles him in his arms. The screaming stops, even though tears still trickle down his face.

[googledox]

Brainy smiles at he looks down at him, even though it's not easy to.

There are a lot of ways this situation can end. He could try reason. He could try anger, and outrage over the evil he's committed.

But those all seem too heavy-handed. This needs a much lighter touch.

"If you stop trying to commit galactic genocide," he says reasonably, "I'll take you for an ice cream."

[googledox]

For a moment, the young Brainiac looks outraged, as if all he can feel at the prospect of being treated like a child is towering rage.

He is Brainiac 6, evil supergenius, builder of doom lasers -

"...What flavor?"

- and he's also 2.

[googledox]

"Any flavor you please. If you don't like what's available, we can synthesize a new one."

[googledox]

"I've always wanted to try plooberry."

[googledox]

"That would be acceptable."

[googledox]

There is a very long pause as the young Brainiac decides whether he wants galactic conquest or an ice cream cone.

Then he says, "Okay."

And clings.

[googledox]

After being converted back from his robot form, one of the Coluan Council-members rounds on Brainy.

"You can't just walk away with that little monster and give him ice cream, you traitorous -"

He's interrupted by Brainy turning and slapping him across the face with a ringing slap. The Council-member reels back, shocked, holding a hand to his now bruised cheek.

"You -- you hit me!"

"You're lucky that's all I'm going to do to you," says Brainy, his voice simmering with rage. "I'll see you in court."