Thunderbolt beamed at Rampart's praise of his teammate, Diesel's, workmanship and Genius.  He agreed whole-heartedly that the Diesel suit was a wonder... but far less a wonder than the man inside who designed and built it!

{Ok.  Maybe this Rampart guy is not so bad after all!}

Hammer wrote on Aug 8^th, 2012 at 12:42am:


OOC: let's try this again.

Thunderbolt follows Power Chord to the roof and very closely watches his preparation - straining his magnetic senses to detect ...well anything at all of the time/space bending he is about to perform!  All to no avail... nothing not so much as a increased magnetic field.

One moment they are on top of the downtown BSI Building... the next miles away.

Thunderbolt grimaces, {Yep.  PFM!  'Pure Freaking Magic...'}

Just to be sure he looks around breaths deeply, {Hmmm... no residual inertia from orbital rotation, no noticeable temperature differences or thermal shock, No pressure changes 'ears didn't pop', and no disorientation of balance on arrival.  Some kind of castling effect or did he actually bend space/time making here the same as where we were a moment ago?  A wormhole in space/time?  Perhaps the teleport was not far enough sidereally... for us to notice a inertia or thermal shift...?}

Lost in thought his eyes take in Agent Smith as he approaches, an errant thought and first impression, {...this guy is cocky.  I hope not too cocky for his and our own good ...}

Then Thunderbolt looks up actually surprised at the whine of engines {I did not sense its arrival!?!  Could it be stealthed?}

The young meta smiles broadly under his mask commenting, "Heh.  I like the name!"

Has gone up and down the list of tattoo parlors. Looked in windows and roughed up inkers everywhere. No luck. He crouches on a church roof. Faces and answers running through his memory. The beep of his comm unit comes on."Hate to say it man, you can't solve everything with your fists. Maybe we should see if ECPD would be willing to share notes"

Guys, I forgot about Rampart's vulnerability to teleports, but no worries, as I've got a quick fix that might play into some stuff later.

GM to the group at the airport: Moments after your arrival, things seem to be fine, when a wave of nausea sweeps suddenly over Rampart. His head begins to spin,his hands tremble. Unable to speak, he feels as though he's about to pass out. Then to his horror, he begins to "fade", his hands becoming intangible.

Actions?

Thunderbolt turns to see Rampart's sudden sickness, {No side-effects? Maybe that is a premature assessment?}

"Is anybody else feeling nauseate~ed...!?!?"

His words end in utter shock...as he notices Rampart become translucent. 

"Uh, Power Chord... you got a spell in there to do something about ...whatever this side-effect is doing to Rampart?"

Thinking rapidly, {If he is dispersing on a molecular level... that could mean his electron bonds are somehow loosing cohesion.  But wouldn't that just kill him as the matter of his body no longer interacted with our 3-dimensional space?  How could he breath or survive the lack of atmospheric protection from UV and radiation cellular damage... let alone the delicate balance of cellular molecular respiration or bio-chemical reactions that make him alive still work?  I could send a charge of electricity through him and then control the current with magnetics to possibly strenghten his molecular-bonds... but... I'd just as likely kill him with that much current going through him!  STUPID IDEA...!  I'm clueless here... again my powers are only useful for hurting and not... really helping.  Hope someone else has an idea... Diesel perhaps.. he's the genius!}

"Uh, Power Chord... you got a spell in there to do something about ...whatever this side-effect is doing to Rampart?"

At Thunderbolts words, Power Chord spins to see Rampart fading, he's never seen anything like this.  He casts Detect Magic to see if he can determine what is causing this. 

OOC: I'm sure he'd be in disbelief as he's done this hundreds of times, and no one has ever had any ill effects... It couldn't be his spell that caused this... Could it?

"This was not magical in nature.  I've never seen anything like it in my experience."

"What the hell just happened here? I want some answers people, and I want them NOW!"

“My scanner is going wild here! All the readings are off the chart. I have never seen readings like these.”

"This was not magical in nature.  I've never seen anything like it in my experience."

Machinist listened intently to Thunderbolt informing the team what his senses told him. He latched onto a key statement made by the young cape.

Rampart was being 'pulled' somewhere else... briefly.  Whatever effect your instant space shifting teleport magic did it seems to have temporarily lessened Rampart's... uh... link{?} to reality here and now causing what might be a quantum shift between where he is now and where-ever he is linked to.  Where-ever that might be.

“It’s not wherever but WHEN ever isn’t it Mr. Smith? Unfortunately the file I was given is heavily redacted but from what I can tell is our friend experienced a disappearance and reappearance. Rampart himself mentioned experiencing temporal displacement; ‘Back in my day’ was the phrase he used.

So what do we have here Mr. Smith? Is Rampart a time traveler?”

Could... time be changed? Like... go back and save my mom or something like that?

Sorry, I specialize in hardware and data correlation not in theory. I have no idea what would happen but my experience is 1 change leads to 100 changes. So while you could save your mom you could create a world where your parents divorce.

Machine walks over to Diesel and holds his scanner toward him.

Do these readings mean anything to you, Diesel. Can you figure out what has happened to Rampart?  If your suit is capable I will upload the data into it.

"ENOUGH!"
Having caught his breath, Rampart stands tall and sets his shoulders. "Get yourselves under control. I'm fine . . . I had a bad reaction to the teleport. Everybody just relax . . . Some people get seasick, some folks can't handle roller coasters.
Its ... no ... big ... deal."

"Let's get moving. ... Skyhawk's the one we need to focus on. He's alone in the field with a bad comm-line. We need to make sure he's safe first. Then you eggheads can theorize to your hearts content"

With that Rampart lifts off and flies over to the Thunder Wing at 'speed'.
I've had more than enough of the BSI lab jockeys poking and prodding me for the past six months. There's no way I'm letting a bunch of masked vigilantes with unknown agendas who don't trust me do the same. What's with the kid? He talks like he's a bio-molecular physicist. 

Time travel? Maybe ... that's what the BSI brainiacs think. Thing is it doesn't explain the strange dreams I keep having. I'm pretty sure Earth never had two moons.

Thunderbolt is talking to empty space as Rampart had already flown off.

"Time travel," under his breath, "Facinating." As he boards the plane.

Thunderbolt enters the Thunder Wing not able to resist slipping forward to look at the cockpit cabin to see the pilot.

He says nothing only taking a quick look and giving the pilot the thumbs up before going back to the passenger cabin to take a seat near the center of the passenger cabin.

He unclasps his katana and settles into his lap so as not to be in the way of others... taking a window seat if possible.

Briefly flexing his personal magnetic field his metal mesh cloak compacts itself somewhat also as a convenience to the other passengers.

Thunderbolt makes sure to then settle his magnetic field substantially  so as not to garble the aircraft's systems.

He smiles widely beneath his mask - commenting to no one in particular, "This is my first time on a plane...  Kinda exciting actually!"

OCC:@ Dom and anyone else interested. Because the disappearance of the Guardians, and the President's call to arms for those with meta-powers to step into the void they have left behind is Rampart's primary motivation for playing the role of a superhero, he will have a keen interest in anything related to that team, it's history and clues to it's current status. He would have and will continue to make that a focus of part of his "downtime" activities. With that said I offer the following.



  Watching as the others start to board the Thunder Wing, Rampart looks down at Mr. Smith and remembers a similarly named aircraft another group of heroes had used. The Thunderhawk was the Guardian's hypersonic transport. As far as the public knows it is stored in a hanger on Citadel Isle ... but it hasn't been seen since the team disappeared.

Flying from tip to tail Jason smiles as a heavily armored Diesel and the Machinist walk up the the ramp into the belly of the sleek silver bird, not far behind them the crew chief and the kid ... not a kid really, but so damn starry-eyed it was scary. Personality clashes aside a really solid looking squad of individuals. All the components are there for an elite team of heroes. Hmmm . . . Power Chord/Azure, Machinist/Iron Eagle, Diesel/Hardpoint, Thunderbolt/Eden, ... Thunder Wing/Thunderhawk?

As the last of the Protectors enter into the craft, Rampart lands between the team and the enigmatic Mr. Smith. In almost a whisper, but with no doubt that the 'suit' can plainly hear every word,  "They aren't the Guardians, and I sure as hell am not a stand in for the Sentinel. You and the BSI might want to take a couple steps back and let them find their own identity." Pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the Thunder Wing. "You keep trying to push them into some damn government template and they're just as likely to cut and run as fill any void the Guardians have left behind. Chew on that while we're looking for Skyhawk Mr. Man in Black"

Although he's sure he could 'drive' it, and he's dying to get a chance to handle the 'Wing', Jason knows he still has some problems when it comes to quickly acclimating himself to new technologies. Activating the comm-link Machinist had integrated into the visor, "Rampart to Power Chord ... Unless that pretty bird needs a pilot, I'd like to stretch my legs a bit ... " Still looking coldly at Mr. Smith, " ... Jonesville is only a few minutes from here and I could use the fresh air". 

The frankenstien's monster that passes for Craig's computer picks up the texts. He still had not gotten the helmet to receive texts.  Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he check's the  system to see where his erstwhile partner was. GPS showed him headed home. Not at a good clip either. He had been out all night. According to the helmets recording he had been dishing out fists and feet all night digging for info. Sounded like the armor had taken a beating as well. Craig certainly didn't want to have to do any consoling. Would not go well. About a half hour later, the skylight opens and in comes the Stalker.  Craig simply passes along the info as the masked vigilante drops his helmet on the workbench and disappears  into the bathroom.

He smiles widely beneath his mask - commenting to no one in particular, "This is my first time on a plane...  Kinda exciting actually!"

Speaking up,"Power Chord your team seems well funded, heh.  I'm poor so RONIN has only mundane means to keep track of each other..."{gesturing to his cell-phone before putting it away} "I see you guys communicating with Skyhawk with your own communicators... got any to spare so we can all stay coordinated in the field?  I can't shout very far."

Smiling at the young man's excitement, "I'm sure the Machinist can hook you up."

Thunderbolt has to concentrate NOT to reflexively snatch the communicator out of the air magnetically but simply catch it with his hands.

"COOL!  Thanks Machinist!"

Then thinking Thunderbolt rolls the Comm-Unit in his hands familiarizing himself with its settings and operation amazed at how user-friendly the device was!  Obviously... Machinist has either had access to the best tech that BSI had available... or {more-likely}... Machinist had made enough of these devices that he had really streamlined the design and function to be very ergonomic and simple.  Definitely Machinist was a genius of practical application and innovation!

Again he was awed at the competence of 'real-superheroes'... and wondered idly if he would ever be able to measure up or contribute in some significant way.

Then a idea occurred to him and flexing his magnetic control he shifted, reshaped and opened his metal mesh mask to integrate the Comm-Unit to his mask to make the communicator capable of 'hands free' use...

The shifting metal made a soft metal on metal rasp as the mask adjusted for comfort and practicality with the newly installed component.

Triggering the Comm-Unit, [Testing. Signal check, You hear me Power Chord, Machinist, Diesel - over?]