WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD - Mod Plot [Mission Log Post]

[letsgolegion]

Who| Everyone!
What| Fighting all the threats that Galactus' presence has caused
Where| Mostly on and around Braal, except for Spectre team who will be on Earth
When| After Galactus' appearance and after Nova was put in Medbay
Warnings/Notes| N/A for now

There were a lot of fires for the Legion to put out all at once. While the Legionnaires native to the universe constructed the sun cannon near Braal's sun and prepared to fend off an attack from Galactus, the other teams had to get into place in the many places they were needed.

So far Galactus' siphons hadn't been sunk into the planet yet but it was only a matter of time.

Comments

PART 1: STARDUST (BETA TEAM) - Alexander, Son Gohan, Kon, Tadashi

[letsgolegion]

The only good thing about Galactus having two heralds was that they both were expected to spread out over the planet and survey it. That meant that they weren't in the same place at the same time.

The Science Police let the Legion know when the planet's planetary defense grid picked up on Stardust stopping in a good area to fight in, so that they could threshold in and pick a fight somewhere uninhabited. This area of Braal used to be full of ore mines but heavy bombing during the war between Titan and Braal had caved many of them in and left the area full of unstable ground. The Braalians planned on eventually trying to excavate them again, but for now the area was just a craggy, stony mess of hills and craters.

Most importantly, there were no people here, making it the perfect place to fight such a powerful being. They could all cut loose without hurting any civilians.

Each Legionnaire had been given one of the handhold threshold devices, meant to suck up Stardust's energy after she was destroyed, but only two had to be activated for it to work. Once she was destroyed and two of them were activated, her energies would be sucked into two different containment units in different star systems. Even if her energy broke free, the distance would make it so it'd take her a long time to reform.

Of course, the Legionnaires facing Stardust had to do the nearly-impossible first and actually manage to take her down.

[ooc: After all four characters tag in for the first time, Stardust npc tags will happen after every 2 PC tags.]

[sofresh]

Normally, Superboy would be all about the banter, but he wasn't so eager to chat it up today. He was far too uncertain—uncertain of what he could do, of how he could contribute. He didn't tend to think of himself as a team player, but today, he was secretly relieved he wasn't alone.

But it was better not to think too hard about it. This place was abandoned, which meant finding a good spot to hide and spring an ambush from wouldn't be too hard. (Hopefully. He hadn't been practicing his stealth skills, but it'd be a pain if he ran into Stardust by accident...) As long as he didn't stray too far from the others, anything would be fine—he had a feeling he'd be kind of useless on his own.

[got_gud]

Children. Alexander had been sent in with what were, to him, practically children.

Not that he doubted their abilities, but for the Legion to expect someone so young to face some cosmic horror like this made him feel uneasy.

If he were at full strength, then at least he would be able to spend more time fighting this 'Stardust' head-on, relying less on the others. As it was, the best he could hope for is to serve as bait and try to coordinate the others. As he waited for the creature to arrive, dozens of potential plans passed through his head to try and get everyone out of there should things go wrong.

Most of them, he felt, would likely be insufficient.

So he stood, waiting amongst the bombed out crags and ruins, while the others waited in ambush nearby. He held out his hand, letting many of his Souls coalesce in his palm, taking the form of what looked like a brilliant, white-ish flame. Such a near impossible concentration of life force wouldn't go unnoticed for long.

[fourstars]

Gohan had dealt with these kinds of odds before. Galactic threats that seemed unstoppable, aiming to destroy the planet, they weren't new to him. He was telling himself over and over that he was used to this; that as long as he gave it his all, everything would be alright. But as much as he kept trying to tell himself that... he couldn't help but doubt his ability to deliver on that promise.

Even back home, with all the power he had, he always held back in some way. And more often than not, it got people killed. He always told himself that if he just stopped holding back, that if he just let himself loose, then maybe they wouldn't need to depend on his father so much. But here, in this universe, with his diminished powers... would he suffer from the same problem? Would he subconsciously hold back just because he was scared of what he could do? Would people get hurt because he couldn't commit to using everything he had?

... Well, there was no turning back now, whatever the case may be. Which was for the best, because he refused to run and hide. His hand tightened into a fist, his gaze firmly fixed on the spot where Alexander was standing. They had a plan, and dammit all, they were gonna make it work.

They would win. The alternative just... wasn't an option.

[the_civilian]

Tadashi was trying really hard, but every angle he came at this problem from looked pretty bleak. At least Hiro wasn't around to see this -- or worse yet, get caught up in it.

Tadashi flexed his hands and rolled his head on his neck, looking up at the alien sky above them, taking a last few moments to try and center himself before everything exploded in screaming and chaos. He needed to stay centered, because if he lost his head (metaphorically), he might lose it literally. And so might these people here with him, and all the people on this planet, and more besides. He owed it to all those people to try and help, as someone who'd suffered loss and as someone who'd been given a chance to hang around a little bit longer and make the good-bye he'd really needed to.

It didn't matter that he was scared. It didn't matter that he didn't have the best control over his new power. He had the opportunity, and someone had to help. So he was going to help.

He just hoped he could do it soon, before someone (maybe him) cracked a joke about anticipation being the real killer.

PART 2: THE MILITARY (GAMMA TEAM) - Nick Wilde, Judy Hopps, Donatello

[letsgolegion]

The UP Council had made a deadly decision to send a UP military fleet to try to take Galactus out by force. This fleet was almost certainly doomed to destruction if they tried.

Now that the fleet had arrived in Braal's star system some distance away from the planet, and stopped as they awaited their final order to attack, the Legion had to find some way to keep the fleet from getting close to Galactus. They'd been given access to the call signal of the lead ship in the fleet where the general in charge of the military maneuver was located, but they had to figure out how to use that to somehow stop or delay the fleet.

[thethinzooline]

While the fleet was paused in space, about to threshold closer to Braal in their final attack, a massive vortex suddenly appeared in front of it, invisible to sensors but visible on their viewscreens. It looked like it had blasted their way from Galactus itself, a horrible swirly black-hole-like void.

It was only a distraction. Nick made sure to make himself, Donatello, and Judy invisible while he created it.

They just needed some time to get on the general's ship.

"We need to move fast and find a way on board. I don't think I can keep this up for long, and they're only going to see it. Their high tech-ey sensors are eventually going to tell them it's not real."

[nerdninja]

Donnie was already working through ideas in his head, sorting them out by difficulty and effectiveness - but all the plans in the world wouldn't mean anything if he couldn't get in to put them to use.

"We get on board, we get to a console, and I can take it from there. But all the good stuff - navigation, communications, sensors - I can't get at those without physical contact to a terminal inside. From the hull, all I can really work with is -"

- oh, there it was.

"If we get in close I can pop the docking bay to let us in."

[the_fuzz]

"I guess that means I'm the one punching anyone who tries to get in our way."

Judy didn't particularly like that fact. These people were only doing their job. On the other hand, getting punched in the face by a bunny was much better than getting vaporized by a giant cosmic shark-person.

[letsgolegion]

The ships nearest the edge of the fleet were not, obviously, the lead ship. They could select one of those -- hopefully getting close enough for Donnie to sweet-talk the docking bay open before they were spotted -- or they could try for the lead ship, which would require sneaking by many, many more ships.

PART 3: THE SPECTRE (DELTA TEAM)

[letsgolegion]

With the help of the sorcerers of Sorcerer's World, ancient texts describing where the Spectre was imprisoned had been translated, leading the searchers to Earth.

The location? Jerusalem. The hill of Golgotha, in particular. This part of Earth, once a place full of bloody conflict, was now peacefully co-inhabited by the descendants of peoples who had learned to share the region together.

Still, the ancient history of bloodshed that the area was known for perhaps made it an appropriate place for the Spectre to be contained. Under the hill where Jesus had supposedly been crucified was a hidden passage that could be opened up with the right words in Aramaic. Once the Legionnaires got the door open, they found themselves in an underground chamber, a temple -- a prison. It had been built in ancient times, but only after many eons of the Spectre being free on Earth had people gifted with magic finally managed to contain the spirit here.

The walls were carved with worn down reliefs showing horrifying images of the Spectre's incredible power. They didn't have time to look at them for long, however. Their presence triggered a set of traps and the floor opened up under them. A sucking vortex overpowered their powers and flight rings and split them up into groups of two, dragging them down into the dark.

Hal Jordan and Vance Astrovik

[letsgolegion]

Their flight rings didn't work in this place, though their powers worked and their transuits seemed to still be working so that they weren't stuck with stale air.

Hal and Vance had landed in a long tunnel full of mirrors on both sides. Despite this place being a dusty tomb, the mirrors were perfectly pristine, and their reflections radiated out infinitely into the distance on both sides.

[ringslinging]

There was nothing like a holy site to make a guy realize just how unobservant he'd gotten in his not terribly old but definitely no longer young age.

Which wasn't to say that Hal had been the best about it as a child either; the Jordan household had been a jumble of two faiths, with a mother who made an effort that didn't always quite pan out, and a father who couldn't really care less about going to church. He couldn't count on it while he was flying, he'd always said, and Hal had halfway agreed, when he first entered the Air Force.

These days, of course, he thought otherwise.

Hey, Dad, so it turns out there's definitely a God and I know because I spent a couple years smiting sinners in His name after I died. But He still wouldn't have pulled you out of that crash, so I guess you were right about that part.

He summoned some energy around his hand - not really forming it into anything, just keeping the room bright enough to see easily (albeit entirely tinted in green). The aesthetic was...well, exactly what he'd expect from the Spectre's new pad, honestly. Art history wasn't the purpose of the trip, though.

"So we should probably be looking for a -"

And then the floor went out under their feet and he let the light go out in a moment of surprise.

He landed awkwardly. He was good at that.

"- door," he finished lamely as he got to his feet and brought the light up again. "Who've we still got?"

[sir_vancelot]

It was a good thing that Vance had had lots of practice catching himself when things went out from under him. It had been one of the ways that Dwayne had liked to train, to make sure they were ready for anything.

Of course, the way that vortex hit and overwhelmed them, he was only JUST able to get his focus back in time to stop himself from hurting himself with the landing. He stood up, dusting himself off as he looked around. "Looks like it's just you and me," he said, turning around. "And about a million of our closest look-a-likes." Another moment and he added, "And this is why I always hated mirror rooms in theme parks."

In all honesty, there was a large part of Vance that had wanted to be in space, dealing with Silver Surfer. But the more he'd thought about it, the more he'd realized that this was something he was probably more suited to.

Maybe.

He hoped so, at least.

"It might be a mirror maze. Those things are always fun."

Dipper Pines and Gwen Stacy

[letsgolegion]

Their flight rings didn't work in this place, though their powers worked and their transuits seemed to still be working so that they weren't stuck with stale air.

Dipper and Gwen landed in a room that was closed off and covered with Aramaic on the walls. There were no doors. It was just an empty stone room with writing. That was all.

[captainbuzzkill]

"Ow. That was full of 'ow.'"

Dipper's cap had gone askew and he quickly adjusted it and looked around to see who'd fallen with him. The Aramaic on the walls was glowing with red light just enough for him to see that the only person here with him was Gwen. Looking up told him that the hole they'd fallen through was suddenly gone.

"Great. It looks like this place wants to split us up. That's never good. Never. Usually that means something wants to pick you off."

Divide and conquer.

[deafleppard]

Fall down through a hole? Eh, no problem. Gwen could just shoot a web line and take both herself and Dipper back out. Get back and find the others. But seriously, when was it ever that easy?

Never, that's how often.

"It'd be nice if that something actually showed up. We're kind of on a tight schedule here."

PART 4: THE SILVER SURFER (EPSILON TEAM) - Sam Alexander, Grif, Tsubomi Hanasaki, Hiccup

[letsgolegion]

The only good thing about Galactus having two heralds was that they both were expected to spread out over the planet and survey it. That meant that they weren't in the same place at the same time.

The Science Police let the Legion know when the planet's planetary defense grid picked up on The Silver Surfer stopping in a good area to fight in, so that they could threshold in and pick a fight somewhere uninhabited. This area of Braal was once a thriving factory district, but a recent fire had broken out because of an irresponsible factory owner ignoring regulations. Now the entire area was full of burned and twisted wreckage and it hadn't yet been rebuilt or cleaned up.

The lack of people here made it a good place for a confrontation. The Legionnaires could cut loose without risk of hurting innocent people.

[ooc: After all four characters tag in for the first time, Surfer npc tags will happen after every 2 PC tags.]

[headinjuries]

When teams were being assigned, Sam had made it very clear where he wanted to be.

Rich had nearly died. Even now, he wasn't out of the woods (although Sam was very pointedly not thinking about that possibility). The Silver Surfer was responsible, and as Sam had once said himself: if you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us, even though...I am the last one.

He wasn't the last Nova here, and he didn't want to be again.

If Rich had gotten his ass kicked this badly, though, what chance did Sam have?

Not thinking about it not thinking about it not thinking about it. Just doing it.

He took a deep breath as they thresholded into the factory district.

Here goes nothing.

[whyarewehere]

Was Grif afraid? Of course Grif was afraid. He'd been standing right there when the Surfer reached out and touched somebody, and it was one of the least pretty things he'd ever seen. The Surfer had no reason to be so precise with any of them today. Part of him, the cynical part that was good at keeping his head on his shoulders, wanted to bail. Somehow, though, he couldn't do it.

They needed all the help they could get on this if they weren't all going to die eventually. Even if that help was terrified. An ugly knot of fear, rationalization, and counter-rationalization had been twisting tighter and tighter in Grif's throat the whole time, and there was nothing left to do but swallow it and move on.

"I'm going to remind everybody," he said as they moved, "that I'm not strong, I just move fast. So it's going to be up to the rest of you to actually hurt the fucker."

Despite how hard he tried to sound nonchalant, he was speaking lower than usual and his expression had settled into something unquestionably grim.

[floraltranslator]

Without a doubt Tsubomi knew she was in over her head. Having not been here for very long she had found herself already being assigned to this mission that was, quite frankly, out of the norm even for her. But with a determined look and a moment to swallow any fears or doubts she had, the pink-haired teen knew that she had to help any way she could. And based on her understanding of the matter, it seemed that in this instance, her abilities were best suited for this mission in particular.

Making sure not to get separated from the others in the group, Tsubomi was nervously glancing about the place despite her best attempt on putting on her game face.

"R-right..."

Not that she sounded one-hundred percent confident in this, she nodded up at Grif before falling silent for the now.

PART 5: HARROW (TEAM ZETA) - Jason Lee Scott, Videl, Parker

[letsgolegion]

After being given psionic blockers to stick to their temples, the team facing the psionic attack on Braal thresholded into the area with the problem.

The Science Police had given the Legion the location of the conflict, a temple dedicated to the Spirit of the Last Son, where many scared Braalians and Xanthan refugees had gathered in the face of Galactus' siege on their world. Many of them were running away from the church screaming. Some were scratched and bloody.

When the Legionnaires got inside the church, they would find the source of the panic -- one of the humanoid Braalians had glowing red eyes. Blood streamed from the corners of their eyes and from their nose, and they had somehow sprouted massive claws, despite not having claws like that naturally. The out of control Braalian was attacking everyone within reach and throwing aside pews with super strength like they were nothing.

There were already several dead people sprawled out on the floor of the church.

Re: PART 5: HARROW (TEAM ZETA) - Jason Lee Scott, Videl, Parker

[leverageintceo]

"Even I can tell that's not normal," Parker -- "Payback" at this point -- said, first eyeing the Braalian causing all the ruckus, then automatically scanning the architecture of the church.

"I'm going to need you guys to distract them long enough for me to tag them and take away...whatever's making them do that."

[kingtyrantranger]

Jason, or rather Amp since they were in the field, will take her chiding to heart and not call her 'Ms. Payback'. Glancing around at the chaos, he felt ill. Bodies weren't anything he would ever be used to, it seemed like. No one died when he was a Ranger. Things in the Legion's universe didn't seem to go as smoothly.

"Distraction? Sure. I can manage that." He wished he had any of his old gear. A good spray of lasers would make things pretty easy here, he figured. But in the absence of that... Well.

...Why wasn't that Braalian using magnetics?

He shoved the thought to the back of his head. Whatever was going on, the psychic creature probably didn't know how to use it and the Braalians were probably too scared to use it. Best not to let it twig on. "You do what you gotta. I'll keep its attention focused on me as best I can." He paused, took a breath, then sprinted full-tilt down the main aisle of the church, vaulting over fallen Braalians.

His plan was simple: Catch its attention. A good tackle would probably take care of that.

[notwithoutafight]

Videl always tended to talk big about how tough she was and how much she had been through helping out the police back home, but it took all her self control not to retch at the sight of the bloodbath occurring right before her eyes. Before thresholding out, Videl had been grumbling to herself about receiving a side-line assignment when the fate of the universe meant standing against Galactus. The sight of the warped Braalian --it was pretty obvious who was being possessed-- and the palpable terror of the crowd solidified for her that this was just as important as the world-eater.

While fighting to control her stomach, Videl opened her mouth to ask Parker what she was planning to do ... and closed it when Jason ran headlong into action.

"Wait a second!" she shouted after, though he probably didn't hear her. Gritting her teeth, she slammed down her visor and rushed off in the opposite direction as Jason. If he was going for the head-on approach, she'd play ranged. While he tackled the possessed Braalian, Videl quickly picked her way through the chaos, sticking close to the walls and making her way to the front of the church. There were sure to be plenty of distracting religious paraphernalia around the altar that she could use.