Chapter 1: The Galactic Imperative - Orion

[Shurijo]

In a galaxy far, far away, begins Chapter One of the Mutants and Masterminds: Infinity Crisis campaigns. This thread is for the character Orion only. Please do not post to this thread unless you are Trogdor or are instructed to do so later on.

Present day, Somewhere in Messier 42 nebula, Timeline 128 * (As recorded by Time Keepers)

In the nebula known to earthlings as Messier 42, the starship named Zu Corumbae silently turns on their faster-than-light, cosmically powered Inerton hyperdrives. The spacecraft is on route to rendezvous with another starship, the Keta Cefum, in approximately 10 galactic hours.

The starships are crewed by the collective civilization known as the Celestials. The varied alien races within the Celestials were chosen by the Guardians of the Universe to support their mission of protecting certain key planets and systems. Most of the Celestials do not understand the full intentions of the Guardians and most serve in awe of their technological marvels including their somewhat rumored command over the space-time continuum. Many of the Celestials operate as ambassadors to the planets under their protection, some called protectors fight cosmic threats, and others serve to maintain operations that enable Galactic communication and shared defense alert systems.

The primary objective of the Guardians of the Universe is to ensure peaceful progression and advancements of civilizations, provide council regarding first contacts, broker peace arrangements between warring civilizations, and protect planets and other space entities against unnatural destruction.

The galaxy's primary threat is an ancient and mysterious alien race called the A'Qal. The A'Qal targets specific planets and then eradicates all life on that planet leaving the planet uninhabitable for unknown reasons. The Guardians of the Universe has yet to locate the A'Qal home world or even communicate with their ships. The Guardians named the hostile race A'Qal after their ancient word for the infinite cycle of destruction and creation. It is unknown to all, except for the Guardians; exactly how many worlds have been saved by the Guardians or destroyed by the A'Qal.

The Keta Cefum, a research and think-tank vessel of the Guardians of the Universe, believes to have discovered a pattern behind the A'Qal targeting of worlds. Orders were given to the Zu Corumbae to rendezvous and receive further instructions on the list of potential targets. It is the desires of the Guardians to contact these worlds by sending the Celestial ambassadors and protectors to warn them of their immediate danger. As the rest of the Guardians attempt to prevent the destruction of the world and prepare to assist in finding a suitable planet for relocating the planet's population.

Aboard the Zu Corumbae sits the former member of the elite Orion Scout Service of the Hydran Republic, a civilization spanning numerous worlds. The scout was once called Davin Astric, but now simply goes by the name of Orion. The Guardians, as if by destiny, found Davin Astric caught up among a cosmic anomaly and rescued him. Now the cosmic powered being works for the Guardians as a protector and ambassador among the Celestials.

Scattered throughout the room, other protectors and ambassadors stand listening to the briefing. The being from the planet Lantaria calls herself Solarflare. She is reputed to be the only Celestial protector whose parent was also a protector. Those from the planet Lantaria are mono-gendered which closely resemble females from the Hydran Republic (along with Earth females). Others in attendance include the ageless Pleiadean male named Skirnir. He has been one of the Celestial ambassadors for many ages and worked alongside Solarflare's parents before she was born.

Solarflare and Skirnir soon approach Orion after the briefing concludes. Solarflare begins, "If they've cracked the riddle, then we may be able to reach the planet before A'Qal appears and begins their attack. This might be the first time that we'll be able to put a stop to the fight before it begins."

"Have patience my child," Skirnir responds. "We still must find a way to defeat them. I'd settle for an open channel of communication to start and then we may be able to reason or at least determine why they are systemically eliminating certain entities across space."

The two look towards the newest Celestial protector, Orion, for his thoughts on the matter.

OOC

Welcome back Trogdor. This begins the official games of the Infinity Crisis campaign.

Notes: I forgot to originally include these.
* Orion is PL 10 here, as we discussed, he's on par or somewhere around the same power levels (+/- 2 or 3) of other protectors (maybe not the senior ones, but in general). Your depowering to PL 7 will be role played during the story.
* Orion does not have his weakness drawback yet (you won't be negativity affected if you go near that substance). This weakness will be introduced/created during the story.

[Trogdor]

"I'll keep hoping for the best," Orion says with a slight shake of his head. "But if after all these eons the Guardian's haven't been able to open up communications ... well, I think I'd settle for a fighting chance to save a planet from the A'Qal." He looks out into the star field that fills the Observation window before him. "Do we have any information on the planet that we're headed to?" he asks. "The predicted target of A'Qal aggression?"

[Shurijo]

Skirnir shakes his head as he begins to answer. The man stands nearly seven feet tall with blond hair, pale pinkish skin, and blue eyes. His muscular build and ornate armor and spear make him stand out even in a group of varied races that make up the Celestials.

"We have yet to establish communication with them because they're always gone by the time we arrive. We do not know how they travel faster than the Guardians. They leave no evidence behind of who they are or why they are doing this. The surface of the destroyed planets are heated to a temperature so hot that the surface turns to glass."

Solarflare interrupts Skirnir to add her opinion on the matter. "We don't know when they'll strike next. Sometimes the wait centuries before another attack. Othertimes, it's been as little as weeks between the attacks. The Guardians didn't even figure out what was happening until five hundred years ago. Since then, I've been told, there's been about twenty eight planets destroyed. Some were inhabitable, but others..."

Skirnir raises an eyebrow to Solarflare's assessment, "She partially right." He puts his hand on her shoulder and continues, "We don't know how many planets that's been destroyed. Some solar systems remain completely void of life, so if a planet is glassed there, it may be centuries before a scout finds it. Since I've been working with them, there's been about five or six planets destroyed that had life. A few of those were at a technological advancement of inhabiting multiple worlds, so at least they didn't become extinct. The others weren't so lucky."

"The brightest minds are on the Keta Cefum. If they've discovered a pattern or any evidence, then they might be able to calculate a list of potential targets. As of now, we don't know if they've produced such a list or merely found a pattern."

OOC

Skirnir's race is what most would consider Nordic gods, such as Thor, Odin, etc.

Solarflare's race is what would look like red skin toned female Zabraks (Star Wars).

[Trogdor]

"Do the Keta Cefum have a task for us?" Orion asks. "A possible target of A'Qal aggression we can warn? A planet we can investigate for signs of A'Qal activity?" He looks over at Skirnir. "I'd fell better doing something rather than just waiting."

[Shurijo]

Solarflare looks to Skirnir as Orion poses the questions. She looks eager to leap into battle or take on whatever task or challenge lies ahead of them.

Skirnir measures his words with a pause, "Orion, have patience. The lives of an entire planet may depend on our deeds. The scholars have been aboard the Keta Cefum for decades trying to decipher the A'Qal mysteries."

Looking at the two younger protectors, Skirnir knows that his response wasn't a real answer and they deserve more. He pauses again and then looks over his shoulder to make sure no other Celestials are about before continuing on.

"I shouldn't guess, but I believe they have a list of potential targets. However, that's just my guess. It's also my guess that they'll have a task for all of us once we arrive. There's no other reason to bring us half way across the universe unless it's this important."

OOC

Partial post. I'll finish up with the meet up with Keta Cefum over the weekend or Monday. Feel free to add another post or so between the posts.

This first part is kind of drawn out, just so I could include some details that I should have included in the initial post. We'll get moving a bit faster in a little bit

[Trogdor]

OOC

Ah, I misinterpreted the first post. I thought we were already tasked by the Keta Cefum and on our way somewhere on their behalf. Now I see that we're heading to the Keta Cefum to see what they've learned.

Now things make more sense.

Orion nods. Though long years past, his days with the Orion Scout Service had taught him patience. System surveys involved long, drawn-out scans with little excitement between them. When things did happen, they were typically intense. But otherwise, there was a whole lot of waiting around. You learned to stave off boredom as an Orion, or you left the service.

"We'll have our answers soon enough," he says. "And then, perhaps, we'll know what we need to do next." Then he turns and looks out the view port, hands clasped behind his back, looking out at the stars beyond and thinking of what the future will bring.

[Shurijo]

As Orion turns and stares out the view port, Skirnir excuses himself and leaves the room. As he exits the room, it leaves only the two protectors remaining as the other Celestials have went back to their assigned duty stations.

As an ambassador, Skirnir is offered a direct line of communication with the Guardians. In their absence, he's seen as the highest ranking officer of the ship. The two protectors, Solarflare and Orion operate independent of command structure, but most of their tasks originate from Skirnir at the behest of the Guardians.

The young and eager, Lantarian hero glances around the room before walking over and joining Orion. She gazes through the view watching the numerous solar systems and galaxies.

After a short pause, Solarflare asks "Do you miss home? There's all kinds of things happening on Lantaria, but out here those things seem so insignificant. Your home world must have changed since you last visited. Do you ever wonder what it's like there now?"

[Trogdor]

Orion stares out the view port for a while before answering. "I used to go back quite often," he finally replies. "Back when my parents were still alive." He smiles at the memory. "I was a bit of a celebrity. 'Local boy makes good.' That sort of thing. They weren't certain exactly what happened to me or what precisely I was doing. But they knew it was important." The protector sighs. "But that was years ago. Everyone I knew got older. My parents passed away." He shakes his head. "I still have some friends there. But we have less in common with each passing year. So yea, I do miss the life I had. At least a little bit."

Then he turns to face Solarflare. "But I always go back," he says with conviction. "It's my home, and it's my grounding." He looks at his fellow protector in silence for a moment. "You say what's happening on Lantaria seems insignificant after what you've seen out here. But I think you're missing the point. What's happening on Lantaria, or Hydra, or any other planet in the galaxy is the most important thing there is. It's people growing and loving and learning and ... well, living. Enjoying life; enjoying the universe, however large or small it is to you is what's important."

"It's true, I've seen things since I became a protector that I never even imagined when I was a kid back on Hydra. And I count myself fortunate to have seen them. But I try not to forget that most of the beings in the universe never experience what we do. They never know the dangers they might face, and they're ill-equipped to confront them. That's why the Guardians are here; and that's why we're here."

"I try and go back home to Hydra at least once a year, even if only for a day. I like to wander around different parts of the world in regular clothes, anonymously enjoying a hint of the life I left behind when I signed up with the Guardians. Sometimes it's a city, other times the countryside. Normally I wander on my own, though occasionally I meet up with friends I still have there. And yes, it's changed a lot since my youth. But it's always interesting, always alive. Being there reminds me why I serve the Guardians, and what we're trying to do out here."

[Shurijo]

The two seemingly spend the next few Galactic hours looking out into the galaxies and talking about their home worlds before they separate and go their own ways. Life aboard the starship sometimes requires great patience as they move from one galaxy to the next. Even with faster than light, cosmically powered Inerton hyperdrives '€" engines that are only available to the Guardians spacecraft, there are still periods of downtime.

A few Galactic hours later, Skirnir calls Solarflare and Orion to the command bridge of the starship. "The Kefa Cefum," he states as the screens show a greatly enhanced image of the Guardian's research vessel. The starship looks much like the Zu Corumbae, but with greatly reduced armor, shielding, and carrying capacity.

"We'll be docked in a few moments, for those who can't survive in space,' he mentions as he waves them to follow him. The three walk through the ship to the lower deck were the docking will occur and wait for the final docking procedures. Although, Skirnir is responsible for the vessel, he's not a starship captain or pilot and relies on the other Celestials to do their part with starship operations.

Once docked, the trio exit the ship and board the Keta Cefum. They are quickly escorted to a rather small briefing room alongside a room full of other protectors and ambassadors from various galaxies and ships also docked alongside the research vessel. The room is full of beings of all shapes, genders, colors, and sizes from various races across the universe. Even though Orion has traveled many galaxies, there are still many species represented that even he isn't familiar with.

After a few short Galactic minutes, a few more protectors and ambassadors arrive and the briefing begins. Several Guardians take the stage and begin to speak. Immediately, all in attendance can fully understand the Guardians as if they were speaking their native tongues. The Guardians, while few in numbers, do not hold regularly scheduled meetings even with their ambassadors. Instead, they operate behind the scenes providing guidance and instruction to the ambassadors oftentimes telepathically over great distances. This meeting is unique because the Guardians are personally briefing everyone rather than via telepathy.

"Ambassadors, Protectors, and Celestials, it is an honor to stand before you and report that we have discovered a pattern in the A'Qal intentions. We believe they are sentential machines from the future who return and destroy planets that somehow disrupt their own timeline. Using that hypothesis, we spent the last few months searching for the space time continuum fluctuation signature. A few hours ago, we discovered that signature and within moments, the planet was destroyed."

"We will seek to find these beacons and destroy them before they are activated. In order to wipe out all of the beacons at once, we will dispatch one ambassador and team of protectors dispatched to each planet with sentential life to search and locate the beacons. If they fail to find the beacon before the space time continuum fluctuation signature appears, then a fail safe given to each Ambassador will be activated. The fail safe devices can only be used once and, if that should occur, it will result in a localized space time continuum disruption designed to give the team additional time to locate the device."

OOC

Just pausing to collect my thoughts, I'll try to tie this up in next post, maybe tonight or tomorrow

[Shurijo]

The Guardian speaker continues on saying, "As of yet, we do not know what these beacons look like, how they are placed on the planets, or who places them there, or where they are placed. Once a team has discovered this information, the ambassador will relay that information back to the Keta Cefum and we will distribute that information to the other teams."

"Your assignments have already been sent to your transportation vessels or relayed to those ambassadors with teleportation abilities. Today marks the first day of the end of the A'Qal threat. Are there any questions?"

Skirnir, Solarflare, and Orion has been quiet since the start of the meeting, but when asked for questions. Skirnir speaks up asking, "How are we suppose to find the beacons if we don't know what we're looking for or where it's located?"

This question seemed obvious to many in the room and looking around the room, many ambassadors and protectors seemingly nod in agreement a few moments after Skirnir speaks. In those few moments, the words of Skirnir's question were telepathically relayed to the others in their native languages.

The Guardian looks at the other Guardians assembled and then turns back to respond to Skirnir's question. "We do not know that answer."

The collected group of ambassadors and protectors talk within themselves for a few moments digesting the response. It seems as if the task is impossible, but there is no other organization in the universe which that task could be delegated to other than the Celestials.

Skirnir looks to Solarflare and Orion to see if they have any questions before departing back to their ship to find their assigned planet.

OOC

I'm realizing that I'm narrating too much... another lesson learned during my rookie GMing. Sorry about that, we'll launch into action for you soon.