Gears of the Revolution (Start-up)

[Kamen_Fanatic]

{Current time - 11:52 P.M. Manhattan Island, New York City, New York. Friday, October Thirteenth, 2198. It has been a full year since Travis Chorcino AKA the first Paladin was executed for the "crimes" he has committed. One miserable year. All over the world and possibly in the space stations orbiting Earth, morality has dropped. They believed that now, nothing can stop tyranny. The UN has been fractured, and the countries went into their holes. My ancestral home country, Germany, has another Hitler in the reigns, but has of yet to make death camps of any sort. The Corp are storming into homes, demanding on the location of me. Seighart Warring. And the thing that's pissing me off? Those doors they're barging down are the places I call a safe haven. My friend's homes, my family's... no mercy for the cowardly. No mercy for the tyrants. After all, what kind of hero would I be if I don't save people and let the bad guys go off scott-free? I'd tarnish the name of the Paladin. Look out, world. A new Paladin is coming. And he's angry.}

Several Corp members were tearing through a home, throwing aside various items, not caring if they break. "All right, ma'am, where is he?!" The Corp commander yelled at a terrified elderly woman. "I-i-i-i don't know! I swear it!" She said, whimpering. A Corp drew out a gun. She started muttering to herself and God in a rapid flurry of German as it aimed of her. Suddenly, the window shattered and a black blur slashed through the Corp cleanly in half. "Sie monsters nicht verdient zu leben*." The metallic man spoke, turning to them, and his arm transfirgured his right hand to resemble a sword hilt. Then, a long thin piece of metal came out and heated up. A heat sword in a katana form. "Sterben*." He said, as he sped towards them. They tried to fight back, but the bullets ricocheted off of him and were instantly slashed in half. "Ich bin für das verlassen ein chaos auf dem teppich leid*." He said, turning to the scared woman, then flicked his blade from burnt blood. "Auf Wiedersehen*." He said, picking up the bodies and tossing them into the streets, then jumped onto the roof and ran/jumped away.

((German translations* -

Sie monsters nicht verdient zu leben: You monsters aren't allowed to live.

Sterben: Die.

Ich bin für das verlassen ein chaos auf dem teppich leid: I'm sorry for leaving a mess on the carpet.

Auf Wiedersehen: Goodbye.

 

[DXFrost]

meanwhile on the other side of the country, another battle was being waged. on a high roof a lone man stands. " take flight." he whispers. suddenly the pendent around his neck glows white. it ataches to his chest, then grows, as wires nd metel extend from it, first takeing the form of the armor seen in new york, but then talons extend from the wrist gauntlets and boots. the helmet develpos a bead like protrusion and two feather like metel crests. then finaly wings unfold aand extend. striker is on the prowl. and he's mad tonight.

 

[ShinyFlareon]

A lone figure sat in the shade of a wraparound patio of a small wooden house, nestled just beyond a white beach's sun-drenched shores. Her legs were propped up on a table, casually crossed, as she turned over a small, black and red pendant in her hand. A TV droned the news in the background as a Swablu chirped and fluttered over to settle atop her coal-black hair.

Ari flicked her eyes up to the news every now and again, trying to glean if anything on there would affect her. The main story seemed to be about hunting down some man named Warring over in Germany; some were even claiming him to be 'the next Paladin.'

'Nothing that affects me too much.' she thought to herself, looking back down at the pendant. 'Not unless they find out that there were other suits left behind.' She sighed, standing up, and the Swablu on her head fluttered to keep his balance. "Sorry, Ito*," she apologized to the small pokemon, reaching her hand up so he could climb onto it. "But it looks like dad's over in Germany at the moment on a manhunt." she explained, stroking the fluffy white plumage of her pokemon. "As long as he doesn't go after Nonno** in Italy next, I think he'll come back alive."

"Blu!" Ito chirped, closing his eyes happily.

Ari gave a small smile, but it quickly faded as her eyes fell back on the pendant laying on the table. "What am I going to do with this thing? I don't want it." she muttered, picking it up again as Ito flew to the railing. She sighed, looking out over the ocean, which sparkled in the midday sun. "Say Ito," she asked slowly, "what do you think about a trip to Italy?"



*Ito: short for Itokuzu, which means 'fluffy' in Japanese
**Nonno: Grandfather (Italian)

 

[Flame_]

Axle Cockleman was at gun point, "Surrender now, and maybe you'll get death by being skinned alive, we know what you have been doing" A corps soldier said forcefully. Axle put his hand on his pendant and pressed the button four times. The suit began to shape around him "Hey, YOU STOP NOW!!!" the corps soldier said "Never" Axle said confidently. Axle activated his Ice and Fire lasers, Axle shot the fire laser at the soldiers, as they were burning, Axle shot them with the Ice Cannon, Axle broke the frozen people's staues/bodies into a pile of rubble with his Electric Sword "Good riddance" Axle says. He took with his hover boots and went to a new city, maybe he could find somewhere safe. "Alright, Destination: NEW YORK." Axle went to sleep as the suit went into Auto-Pilot and the Auto-Defense was activated, "Maybe one day I'll find someone like me..........

 

[Chocolate Bones]

"The Paladins are self-righteous bastards."

Silas Midnight sat on one side of a slightly green-tinted glass poker table. The felt was transparent silver, making it easy to see the glassfish swimming beneath. A large stack of poker chips towered in the center, glinting brightly off the blue lights above. Five community cards, a King of Spades, a King of Diamonds, a Ten of Hearts, an Ace of Hearts, and an Ace of Diamonds, sat face up on the table, lying neatly in place. Various Peter Fox songs filled the large room, the sharp sounds of the stringed instruments sliced through the air.

He watched the evening news on a massive screen in front of him, as the latest headlines from around the world focused on a manhunt in Germany.

Sitting on another side was an older man with white hair in black and white suit. He slouched in his chair and held a martini glass in his left hand, a half eaten olive pierced by a blue, metallic toothpick. Two silver cards were pinched together in his other hand. He looked at Silas, or, more specifically, at the large, skull medallion on his tie.

"You're one of them though, aren't you?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning haughtily.

"Me?" Silas said, straightening his tie and pushing up his sunglasses.

"Who else?" Asked another man, seemingly the same age as Silas and wearing a similar outfit.

"I'm no Paladin. But, I do happened to be..." Silas pushed forward three more blue chips. "An opportunist... I grab chance by the throat and bend it my way."

The older man laughed and called the bet, flipping three identical coins into the pile. "You'd think an opportunist with that kind of power would actually take advantage of it..." He took a sip from the glass in his hand. "Instead of turning it into some stupid broach..." Silas shifted slightly in his seat and stroked the cards in his hand with his thumb.

"Tell you what," he said, leaning forward, "I'll risk it all." He unhooked the medallion from his tie and tossed it into the pile, knocking down the tower of white chips. "All in. Now it's your turn to play the opportunist..."

The older man grinned and looked at the pile on the center of the table. "I shouldn't let you squander a gift like that..." He sat up and pushed the rest of his chips to the middle. "But when opportunity comes a-knockin'..." The younger man too called the bet, still keeping his grin.

"Show 'em..." Silas said, straightening his Jacket. The older man grunted smugly as he tossed his two cards face up on the table. His King of Clubs and Jack of Spades shone brightly under the harsh light. "Three of a kind with a Jack kicker." He grinned more and shoved his hand into the pile, pulling out a few chips and the medallion. The other man shook his head and threw his hand into the burn pile. Silas stood up and tossed his cards onto the table. The older man looked at the two cards, grinning at first. But his grin slowly faded into shock.

"Four of a kind," he said, monotone, spreading the two cards apart to reveal the other two Aces. He swiftly reached into his pocket and pulled out a polished, blue steel Desert Eagle, and pressed it against the older man's chest, forcing him to drop the medallion to the ground, along with the clattering chips.

"This is still my town, Rico. You all still play by my rules." The other man held his breath and gripped his chair as Silas knelt down and picked up the medallion, studying it in the light. “And I’ll use this to remind the Corp of that very same fact...”

 

[Kamen_Fanatic]

[I don't have much time. Oh, shit. My name is Travis Chorcino and I pulled off a theft that's bound to get me into Interpol's black list. I stole a military weapon from the United States, which technically belongs to me since I have designed the blueprints for it. I have devised a battle suit that would redefine 'adaptive warfare' to a whole new level. My Technoneurotic Enhancement Cybersuit Mark 1, or T.E.C. Mk. I, can literally transform the body into a weapon. Swords, guns, missiles, rockets, this baby can do it all. And that's where the evil of the suit lies in. Imagine an entire platoon of these suits being worn by highly trained soldiers or Corp members. God, the results would be chaotic. Sadly, I know I'll die sooner or later, but thankfully, what I have is the prototype and all the notes for it. I'll tweak my suit to get rid of the major bugs in this system. I'm not selfish. I now if I die without leaving something behind, my cause for a democratic world would be all for naught, so that's why I'm making better and sleeker models for the next generation. Heh, "paladin". Who was the dumbass who came up with that? Oh yeah, a co-worker. But fitting. Somewhat. The suit is starch white, and I think paladins wear only white. Eh.]

{That was his first recording the first Paladin did. Sounded like he ran a mile full tilt without the suit. Anyway, I'm being shot at by the German Corp all the way in Germany. You don't wanna know how I got the suit past Airport Security. I thought originally to pay my oma* and opa* on my dad's side (the German side) a visit. "What's the worst that can happen?" I thought. Now look. That line is so fucking cursed, it's not funny. Oh, great, they're shooting 50 cal. rounds now.}

"Tötet ihn*!" An Air Force German Corp member yelled, ordering a Gatling gunner on a chopper to shoot at Paladin, who was jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

((Translations:

Oma: Grandma

Opa: Grandpa

Tötet ihn!: Kill him!))

 

[DXFrost]

striker flew over the city. he was in san fransico. suddenly a missle lock warning buzz in his suit. you could never tell cause of his helmet, but he was smilling. " so this is were the fun begins." he chuckles as he dodges the missle with ease. " come down and disengage the suit or die striker!" a warning rang through the cold night air of the city. " as if." he taunted. suddenly a whole payload of missles fly at him. he engases his laser sword, and knocks each missle out of the sky, createing a brilliant display of light. he flies down and spins, destroying the rocket launchers. he then captures the soilders ina net. it was his one rule. never kill a soilder unless theres no other option.

 

[ShinyFlareon]

"The hell do you MEAN there are no flights to Europe?"

The short, pudgy blonde woman behind the counter was unfazed. "I'm sorry, Ms. Emerson, but all flights to Europe from here have been put on hold due to the manhunt currently taking place in Germany."

Ari shook her head. "I don't want to go to Germany, I want to go to Italy!"

"I'm sorry, miss." the woman said calmly. "The only flight I can put you on now is to San Francisco, with a stop in Honolulu."

Ari grumbled, rubbing her temples. "Fine." she muttered, not in the mood to get into an argument.

The woman, expression unchanged from the start of the conversation, simply nodded and began typing away at her computer. "Here you are, miss." she said when she was finished, the printer spitting out the ticket. "Your flight leaves in half an hour."

Ari muttered her thanks as she took the ticket, calculating how long it would take her to get through security. Everything was electronic, there was no more need for people to actually have to waste hours of time going from person to person, getting patted down and checked in thoroughly unpleasant and unwanted ways. 'It shouldn't take more than twenty minutes,' she thought, heading off towards the gates.

Sure enough, three hours later, Ari's plane touched down in San Francisco. Ari walked calmly off, blessing the technological advances that had shrunk the world so much. The weight of the pendant hung heavily in the pocket of her grey wool coat, which she'd worn on a whim. Just because she lived in a place where the temperatures never dipped below 70 degrees Fahrenheit in winter didn't mean the rest of the world did. She ran her fingers over the uneven surface thoughtfully as she stepped out of the airport. 'Where to from here?'

She didn't have much time to think about it. Faint explosions, sounding almost like fireworks, sounded in the distance, and Ari quickly scanned the surrounding area. Missiles were chasing some odd, almost angel-looking thing through the air, and the winged person was neatly cutting them apart with a sword. Her eyes narrowed: she recognized that technology, and she'd only seen it once before, when she had found the suit. "Fuck." she muttered, hurrying through the streets toward the strange figure. Maybe he could give her some answers.

 

[DXFrost]

an electonic jolt alerts him to another suit. " so, looks like i have a second paladin in my city." striker says, " i'll let him find me."

 

[ShinyFlareon]

Ari made her way to the top of a hill, in plain view of the winged figure. With their missiles gone, the Corps had -- for once -- made the smart decision that regular guns weren't really going to be doing much to this guy, so they had turned back, presumably to find heavier ammo. She stood calmly, arms crossed and looking straight at the other holder of a suit. She didn't wave, or draw attention to herself -- she didn't need to. She was positive he'd seen her.

 

[DXFrost]

striker flies down to her level. " you got allot of nerve coming to my city paladin." he tells her as he retracks his helmet, revieling his grin.

 

[ShinyFlareon]

Ari merely raised an eyebrow. "If this is your 'turf,' then know that I'm just passing through." she replied steadily, pulling a small, cylindrical object out of each pocket. With a light tap on one end, they extended out into a pair of tonfas, which she gripped tightly. "And either way, I would prefer not to have anyone chasing me with missiles. I'm no Paladin. Just someone who's very, very unlucky."

 

[DXFrost]

" if your not a paladin then why do you cary the embilum of one?" he says as he actvates his lazer claws, his wrist talons glowing white then extending.

 

[Flame_]

Axle Cockleman was on his way to New York City, he was asleep, the defense systems would protect him anyways. As he was flying over Massachusetts, several corps hover tanks and fighters got behind him, granted he was sleeping but the systems alerted him.

"Ugh, what now." Axle says drowsily. Then, out of the blue a barrage of missles and lasers are flying at him. He was being blown out of the sky!
"Oh, crap" Axle says

Some of the missles nail him right in the back, some others knock out his propulsion system, and the lasers hit just around his head. "Noooooooo."Axle yells as he is plummeting to the ground.
Axle's suit begins to deactivate itself, he sends out a distressbeacon in hopes for other rebels to find him, but what are the chances of that, he thinks to himself, and as he fades into unconscionsness he sees corps ground soldiers landing and probably getting ready to scout for him. He is under a pile of rubble without his suit enabled, he is at their mercy if they find him. He just hopes his suit reactivates before they find him....

 

[ShinyFlareon]

"Just because I found it doesn't mean I want it." Ari shot back. Before their argument could progress any further, however, a red glow began pulsing insistently from her pendant, and she looked down at her pocket curiously. "The fuck? It's never done that before."

 

[Chocolate Bones]

The card game had long since ended, but the pile of poker chips still dominated the round table, and Silas stood in thought, staring at his glass player piano as it played Somewhere Beyond the Sea.

The song was interrupted by heavy and deliberate steps heading up the stairs, the steel toed shows clanging against the glass stairs. Silas paid it no mind until the steps stopped abruptly with the sound of bare skin sliding against glass. He looked over and saw an older man try desperately to pull himself up by the rail. He quickly ran to him and helped him to the top of the stairs, revealing the blood spilling from his stomach, seeping through his buttoned shirt.

"What the hell happened, Reeve?!" Silas asked, looking down the stairs. The old man paid no mind to his wound and coughed up a response.

"There are several soldiers who demanded to see you, Sir... when I asked who they were... they opened fire on everyone..." He closed his eyes and scraped his shoes against the floor in pain. Silas squeezed the medallion tightly in his hand. He knew why they were there.

He pulled his wrist up to his mouth as he held the man up and hit a button on the side of his watch with his chin.

"Yes, Mr. Midnight?" A voice responded readily.

"How fast can you get H-24 running??" Silas answered, propping the old man up on the chair and hurrying to the player piano, which was still chiming away to older tunes, checking behind him as he did so.

"No more than five minutes, Sir," the voice said.

"Get as many staff members onto the plane as you can," he said, looking around again and speaking as though he was out of breath, "Take anything you think we might need. I'll be there in ten minutes."

The voice needed no explanation and sent back a right away, Sir, before Silas turned back to the piano. Hesitating for only a split second, he smashed down the first and last two keys, causing distant, almost rhythmic slamming noises. The lights dimmed and Silas wasted no time, grabbing the injured, old man in his arms and hurrying over to the elevator. Once inside, he slammed the lowest button with his foot and waited for them to reach the basement floor.

When the doors opened they were greeted by a team of fancily dressed men and women, as calm as though nothing had happened. Wasting no time, Silas sprinted down the large warehouse full of large jets and luxury cars, instructing the men and women to do the same. He climbed aboard and leaned the man up into a seat, buckling him in. He waited for the rest of the staff to climb aboard and accepted a drink poured for him.

"So, wanna tell us where we're goin', Sir?" The pilot buzzed in. Silas paused for a second, clutching the cold glass as he gripped the medallion tighter in his hand.

"East..." he said finally, lifting the glass to his lips. "I don't know why... but I feel like that's where we need to go."

 

[DXFrost]

the crest on strikers chest also glowed, but white." it would seem when two suits come togther this happens." he says.

 

[Kamen_Fanatic]

A rapid, pinging noise went off in Seighart's helmet. "Bring it up, Jarvis." He said to the suit's A.I., whom he nicknamed it Jarvis, after Tony Stark's system in the Iron Man films. {Sir, it would seem a fellow Paladin had sent out a distress signal, all the way in New York.} Jarvis replied, getting his companion to groan. "On it." Seighart said, turning around, and fired a grappling hook at a copter, embedding into it. Tugging it, it retracted, pulling him towards the chopper. His fingers sharpen into claws and embedded into the metal, then slammed a fist into the gas tank, making it leak. Scanning the chopper, he downloaded some schematics to the suit. then dropped down, letting the copter take a spiral fall.

All of a sudden, Seighart's helmet changed into that of a jet pilot's, then two wings protruded from his back and a turbine where his spine is. His overall appearance was that of an F-16 Raptor pilot. Warming up the turbine he rocketed away from the scene at jet speeds. Many a Corp member were cursing in German that their quarry escaped.

 

[DXFrost]

suddenly another electonic burst alurts striker to the same destress signel." well since i wiped out the corps in this are might as well go ansure the becon." he said. an with that he takes off, spreading his majestic wings wide has he flies off, ready to fight once more.

 

[ShinyFlareon]

"Hey! Don't you run off on me!" Ari yelled. "Where the hell do you think you're going? Get back here!"