As the name indicates...this RPG will revolve around Crossroads and New Beginnings.CrossroadsWe would like to see characters come to a 'crossroads' in their lives where important and life changing decisions have to be made. These events can be very personal...i.e. a relationship beginning, ending or changing, or they can be moral or spiritual. Whatever is decided, they should show 'growth' for your character.New BeginningsThis can be any number of items as well and most likely will relate back to the 'crossroads' in your character(s)' life or lives and/or career. They may be starting a new career as teacher or student at Xavier's School for the Gifted or may have been selected to train for the upcoming X-Men team(s). Their 'new beginning' once again may be as simple as establishing a new relationship or changes in an old one.
The X-Men and all likenesses are the property of Marvel Comics, 20th Century FOX, and ALL the creative minds therein. X-Men Crossroads is a non-profit RPG board. We here participate for the pure enjoyment and satisfaction writing in the X-Men Universe brings.Most of the Bio information is courtersy of Marvel Directory
Re: Whale: Inspection of the ship.... Logan,Gyrich
When they entered, the display initially showed the ship's layout which Evo had set up, with areas of interest fronted in phosphorescent red. It blinked, and instead now displayed a map of the solar system.
As Nemesis moved into the room behind him and began to look about, the large display blinked and caught Logan's attention. He glanced at it and then he did a doubletake. Scowling at it, he moved up closer to it to get a good look.
Tagged in blinking red was an asteroid on an eliptical, earth-crossing orbit. It was tagged as 2003 QQ47. Also on the display, a white softly blinking document icon, labelled "X (personal from M)".
Wolverine's head tilted slightly to the side as he considered the blinking icon.... what did that mean? "X, personal from M"? Well, it was obvious the "M" must be for Magneto... who's the X? XMen? His face scrunched into a deeper scowl; wondering, if it was meant for the XMen... why?
He thought about the implications of it, if it was meant for them, how would that be taken? He glanced around to check on Gyrich's activity and something else caught his eye. Logan turned and walked over to check it out.
It appeared to be a three dimensional model of what looked to be some sort of base. His eyes scanned it slowly; domes, building type structures and what appeared to be landing pads. His sharp eyes narrowed at the one inch diameter models of the Jonah's Whale. Wolverine turned slightly to look back at the large display as he began to put it all together.
"You gotta be kiddin'..." he growled to himself. Then he looked down at the model again. There were other landing pads that displayed much larger vehicles that could be cargo ships. He moved around the display model, noting that there didn't appear to be any obvious weaponry built into the example.
Leaning down closely, Wolverine cocked his head to peer into the tiny domes and stared at the detailed habitats inside. Each one held a different earth type environment.
On further inspection he also noted that the model exhibited a massive drive system, indicating that the entire complex was capable of guidance and acceleration. It could be piloted??
"It's a ship?" Wolverine asked aloud, to nobody in particular. Then his eyes dropped down to the shiny brass name plate afixed to the side of the display: Covenant.
Wolverine straightened; taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly then walked back to the display. His eyes roamed the diagram from top to bottom and settled on that small white document icon again. Raising a finger to touch it; as if it didn't belong there, seeming out of place.
When his finger touched the screen, the display flashed and Logan pulled his hand away and stepped back. The new display showed the document's file ready to be opened. Waiting for the password that would access it.
Wolverine stared at it... thinking. What would Magneto use for a password? He nearly rolled his eyes as his mind started counting off all the things in Magneto's life that would be important enough to reference. Logan sighed, his eyes darting about, focusing inward as he went through a list of things that he knew about the man.
Logan turned to look at the model again, his eyes focusing on the name... Covenant.
'Covenant... ark of the covenant... God's promise... Laws... God's Laws... Ten Commandments... Moses... Israelites... Jews.... Jews...... Magneto's Jewish...... Death Camps... Holocaust... Nazis.... Superior Race.....'
Logan blinked... Lenscher believed mutants were the next step in human evolution... a separate species... Homo Superior. The Superior Race....
Entering the words 'superior race', he stepped back.
Access denied flashed across the screen. Stepping forward again he focused and entered words derived from the first and worked his way through.
Superior Race... Access Denied
Homo Superior...Access Denied
Mutant Race.... Access Denied
His eyes flicked to the space station model....
Space Race... Access Denied
Future Race... Access Granted
The screen flashed and the document opened; quickly phasing through pages of preliminary information. 'Figures', Logan thought to himself, 'the future race.' Throwing a look over his shoulder, Wolverine grunted a sound to get Gyrich's attention.
Re: Whale: Inspection of the ship.... Logan,Gyrich
"Hello, old friend," Magneto's recorded voice rang out.
"Quite a remarkable ship, is it not?" While it held the form of a question, its expression was as a mere statement of fact. "Were you aware its sensors are exceeded by only those of the Hubble space telescope and a handful of ground stations? What a shame to have such spendid resources, but not to use them properly. For if they had been, if someone were looking where they should have and not someplace else, they then would have noticed something unusual coming their way."
At that, the map of the solar system animated through time, and a high resolution image of 2003 QQ47 appeared in a separate window on the display.
"2003 QQ47. An occasional visitor to this side of the solar system, occasional on a cosmological scale at any rate. It is a nickel-iron visitor, perhaps 2 or 3 miles long. To the portion of humanity who have observed it, this is nothing more than a rather predictable chunk of rock, interesting only in that it will grace our planet by flying nearby."
"Oh look, it is not so predictable after all. Do you see that?" Magneto's recorded voice asked, as the image of the asteroid zoomed in, showing a large white mass to one side. "This particular chunk of rock has merged with an icy body. As the asteroid tumbles along its orbit, merrily passing its hours and days away, plumes of gas will jet out from it, driven by the solar wind. A subtle, random, and perhaps dramatic deviation to its orbit will result. It loses its predictability."
"Humans just aren't that good at dealing with the unexpected, are they not?" he said, pitching his rhetorical question into a deeply condescending tone. "They sleep - I DO NOT!"
The animated display accelerated. Instead of a smooth, curved line, however, this time the line spread out, becoming a cone marked with varying probibilities. As the display advanced along, a section of the cone intersected with the earth.
"Of course, it may still miss us, a grazing shot. But we must prepare, you and I. We cannot trust the humans, they will only dither, or do something rash or on the cheap, become distracted by some other event until it is too late. That is why I gave you this ship, so your team can become familiar with its systems, and help me some years hence - or act alone in my absence as the case may be and in that case I wish you luck for you will indeed need it, absent my powers. There can be no future for evolved humanity, if there is no future."
"There will be a price, of course for saving humanity. This is becoming quite the unfortunate habit, is it not? First the nuclear weapons diverted from the black market, and now this. I suppose I should open an office in a sleazy part of town, advertise in the yellow pages, hire a leggy blond with an attitude to take my calls. Magneto Investigations, no case too large. Saving humanity from its own folly, affairs of global significance," -dramatic pause- "my specialty."
"Or perhaps not. Oh Charles, why you place your faith in these people, or in God, or in anything other than yourself will always remain shrouded in mystery, I am afraid."
"The asteroid will be diverted to low earth orbit. There, I will create a homeland for those of us fleeing persecution on earth. That is all I ask."
The recording ended.
Edited by: Paid by the Word at: 4/16/06 12:21 pm
Re: Whale: Inspection of the ship.... Logan,Gyrich"Or perhaps not. Oh Charles, why you place your faith in these people, or in God, or in anything other than yourself will always remain shrouded in mystery, I am afraid."
"The asteroid will be diverted to low earth orbit. There, I will create a homeland for those of us fleeing persecution on earth. That is all I ask."
Alerted by Wolverine's grunt, Nemesis had paused in his examination of the room to tilt his head toward the recorded message. As the voice bloviated on, he listened with part of his attention, committing the important bits to memory while he studied the model of the base and tried to guesstimate its capabilities.
His green eyes blank and unreadable, he stood for a few moments at apparent ease as the recording ended before drawling into the ensuing silence, "The man purely does love talk."
Re: Thera Island, Outside Hospital, Gambit, etc
Scarlet Witch:
Wanda stared at their 'transportation' with a look of disgust written on her face.
"Is that what we're going back in? Ugh"
She didn't like it. It was a terrible thing to be in but if it meant getting off this island and back to the familiarity of the mansion, she would tough it out.
"Fine. Let's get the heck out of here," she said, sighing loudly.
Karina:
Karina gazed at it with awe. She didn't know what to say but the thought of riding in one was an exciting prospect.
"Yeah! Let's go!"
It was Scarlet Witch who rolled her eyes at Karina's display of excitement over being in that..that thing.
Re: Thera Island, Outside Hospital, Gambit, etc
Mrs. Adams stared at the man called Kurt. She didn't know him from Adam and her gaze plainly showed it. But if Gambit trusted him, then so should she.
"All right, for you I'll trust this Kurt fellow. But if he so much as harm my daughter, he'll regret it."
LaTrina glanced at her mother at that. Why would this person if think to harm her? She was determined to give this Kurt the benefit of a doubt.
Besides, he seemed trustworthy, not really sure why she thought this but she would trust her first impression.
Re: Thera Island/Gambit
Tags: Kurt, Wanda, Latrina, Karina, etc.
Quote:"Magneto's a showoff!' Kurt exclaimed, gesturing with his thumb back over the vehicle body. "But I think ... " and with that, he ducked his head back in to scan the controls, and with a "Aha! There we go!" found the control for the ramp.
"And it flies, too! Well, hovers actually. I said it HOVERS!"
Gambit had heard the blue elf the first time, the music not stiffling years of practice at listening for things not easy to hear. Nodding, he said, “Well, dat be a fun t’ing t’ be drivin’,” moving over to the ramp. He so wanted off this island, and he wanted off now.
Again, he chose to ignore the Scarlet Witch’s complaints, shaking his head. Karina’s excitement brought a smile to his face, “Now dat attitude be more like it, Petit,” he said, pointedly looking at Wanda.
Quote:"All right, for you I'll trust this Kurt fellow. But if he so much as harms my daughter, he'll regret it."
”I be havin’ non doub’ dere, Cher,” the Cajun responded, impressed by the woman’s protectiveness of her daughter, especially considering she was surrounded by mutants. ~Now she be de strong type,~ he thought, leaning over close to Kurt, “Don’ be messin’ wit’ her,” he said, loud enough only for him to hear even over the music, winking.
Quote:"Okay, can we go now?" the teen asked plaintively.
Red-on-black eyes turned back to look at Latrina, “Yo’ be gettin’ aboar’, we be leavin’,” he said, smiling at her.
Re: Whale: Inspection of the ship.... Logan,Gyrich[Gyrich's] green eyes blank and unreadable, he stood for a few moments at apparent ease as the recording ended before drawling into the ensuing silence, "The man purely does love talk."
"You have no idea," Wolverine drawled out dryly. "He also thinks he's the official spokesman for all mutants everywhere. He isn't," Logan was sure to emphasize that point again. Then he turned away from the screen, turning his back on it, and moved toward Nemesis. "Chuck oughtta find that personalized message interestin'... should also be interestin' to see his response to it." Wolverine said offhandedly, his tone indicating that he is not pleased with Xavier right now. "So..? What're we lookin' for? Doubt he'd put a bomb in here... not with his precious "toys" on display."
Re: Whale: Inspection of the ship.... Logan,GyrichMrs. Adams stared at the man called Kurt. She didn't know him from Adam and her gaze plainly showed it. But if Gambit trusted him, then so should she.
"All right, for you I'll trust this Kurt fellow. But if he so much as harm my daughter, he'll regret it."
Kurt visibly shrank from Mrs. Adam's baleful look at him, and he withdrew his head and arm back inside, gripping the steering wheel tightly as if it were a shield, raising his arm slightly as if to ... no, he was over-reacting. Calming down, he gave off as innocent and respectful look as he could manage.
As everyone got in who was going, he gave a weak "thumbs up". Now that everyone was aboard, he just wanted to be out of there, and he turned on the autopilot to get them back to the Whale. As he flipped the switch, the craft slowly rose in the air to a height of three meters above the tree line, and then flew straightforward for the home base out in the water.
A few minutes later, they had landed safely in the hanger, and the doors opened to let everyone out.
((This will be edited if anyone wants to do something before we land - just make a post out of time and I'll retro this to the time of your actions))
Re: Whale: Inspection of the ship.... Logan,Gyrich
((I'm going to move the final "Payoff post" up to here - the silos in the launch bay will be empty, you can still RP that out if you like but the package that was going to be on the floor of that room will be here instead))
As the two continued their inspection of Magneto's quarters, they discovered a thick manilla folder in waterproof plastic. On the top of it was a single sheet of white paper labelled "Press Release," postdated five days hence. On the distribution list were hundreds of mainstream media outlets worldwide.
Within, were CD-ROMS and photocopied evidence, linking the path the confiscated nuclear weapons had followed from their diversion from the Ukraine, details of the participating sellers, bank account transactions, lists of buyers and their bids, receipts & travel vouchers, as well as extensive background information on all participants involved. The evidence was such that most would face lengthy prison terms if they were bought on charges.
The taint followed to Congress, in that the budgetary expenditure which was to be used for buying and disarming the nuclear missiles was cut, with most of the remaining money diverted. Clear links could be shown between the responsible representatives and campaign donations, trips, and other compensation "rewarded" to them by mid-level operatives involved in the diversion scheme.
Many of the potential buyers for the nuclear weapons were also shown, by newspaper clippings, to have had mysterious accidents - plane crashes, automobile accidents, and so forth. For the most part these were from "untouchable" regions, immune from law enforcement efforts. Notably, the entire Iranian contingent died when their plane crashed as it was about to make a landing.
Uncharactistically, there was no glowing, condenscending diatribe from Magneto - only a simple note explaining what was in the packet of papers, signed with his name.
Whale: Magneto's Quarters/Gyrich/Tags: Logan"You have no idea," Wolverine drawled out dryly. "He also thinks he's the official spokesman for all mutants everywhere. He isn't," Logan was sure to emphasize that point again.
Gyrich made a noncommittal noise at the words, though his green eyes gleamed a little. A soldier for many years, he knew all too well the irritation of politicians, journalists, and activists putting words in the mouths of himself and his fellows.
Then he turned away from the screen, turning his back on it, and moved toward Nemesis. "Chuck oughtta find that personalized message interestin'... should also be interestin' to see his response to it." Wolverine said offhandedly, his tone indicating that he is not pleased with Xavier right now. "So..? What're we lookin' for? Doubt he'd put a bomb in here... not with his precious "toys" on display."
'Chuck.' There was that name again. Nemesis was curious, but he doubted very much that Wolverine was going to elaborate. "Probably not," he agreed with the mutant's assessment of the unlikeliness of a bomb in the room. "And the background levels of radiation are normal." Scanning the room visually again, his eyes fell on the sealed 'Press Release' packet and he gave a sigh that was more a groan. "Now what?"
As the two men studied the contents and exactly what 'what' was, anger grew in the commando. Damned politicians. Clinton to Cunningham, crooks, the lot of them. Gyrich and tens of thousands of men and women in the military were out here risking their asses, while the politicians sat on theirs pocketing bribes and embezzlement and earmarks. Paging through the transcript of a particularly smarmy conversation between aides to the 'Honorable' gentleman from Pennsylvania and Maine, he caught a growl between gritted teeth.
Re: Whale: Inspection/Logan,Gyrich Tags Cyclops
Logan looked over at hearing Gyrich's rhetorical question of "Now what?" Curious, he moved closer to him as Nemesis picked up the plastic wrapped package. Scowling, as usual, he waited patiently as his companion opened the Press Release and shifted slightly to scan it's contents over Gyrich's arm.
Once they'd both gotten enough info off of it, Logan looked away with a wry expression and stated off-handedly, "Seems to me... mutants ain't the biggest threat this country faces."
Then he moved toward the door and stopped to take one last glance around the office. "C'mon. We're not done yet an' I wanna get back to the Command Center."
Stepping into the corridor to wait, Wolverine keyed his radio.
"Wolverine to Cyclops.... gimme a sitrep."
Re: Whale: Inspection of the ship.... Logan,Gyrich
Chamber 'heard' Mrs. Adams and shrugged. His gaze went to the group taking in each and every one of them especially of the woman, Mrs. Adams who seemed very protective of one of the girls.
Another shrug and he looked at Kurt,
*Well, I'm ready to go back to the mansion or wherever.*
His gaze went to Gambit and another shrug came forth.
Whale: Command+Inspection/Cyke/Tags: Open"Wolverine to Cyclops.... gimme a sitrep."
Scott glanced at several displays and readouts to check the status on the Whale's hangar, the engines, and their surroundings. "Nightcrawler and our people are aboard ... bay doors closing now. Ship's engines are online and Chamber, Evo, and I have familiarized ourselves with how to operate her. We can dive, hydrofoil, or fly -- including, if this is correct, outside the atmosphere.
"Where would you like to go, sir? The Harriers are still around, but they've gone on station well away from us and aren't lighting us up."
Re: Whale: Inspection/Gyrich/Tag: LoganThen he moved toward the door and stopped to take one last glance around the office. "C'mon. We're not done yet an' I wanna get back to the Command Center."
Gyrich returned the items to the envelope and tucked it under his arm. The file wasn't leaving his custody until he placed it in the hands of the Attorney General -- after first copying some of the more damning bits in case dragging feet needed a bit of spurring. While he loathed reporters even more than politicians, their cupidity did have its uses.
Stepping into the corridor to wait, Wolverine keyed his radio.
"Wolverine to Cyclops.... gimme a sitrep."
After a last glance around, Nemesis moved to follow Wolverine, then paused momentarily by one of the table-cum-desks. There were a few small items scattered on its surface and, acting partly on instinct, partly on training, he palmed one. Tucking it away, he stepped out into the hall.
When Logan had finished his transmission, Gyrich said, "Let's finish this up. I've got other work to do." OOC: One plot bunny palmed. It might be something mundane and useless, it might be something more. Up to the powers that be which way it hops. Edited by: H P Gyrich at: 4/28/06 8:56 am
Re: Thera Island/Gambit
OOC: Sorry for not posting. Busy.
IC: LaTrina with a small shrug entered. She was unsure about all this but the thought that her mother was close by reasurred her.
With a glare at Kurt, Mrs. Adams joined her daughter. Moving over to be close to LaTrina, just in case, she didn't exactly relax but she did relax somewhat. She could tell that Gambit wouldn't let this new person harm her daughter. He seemed trustworthy, so she would give him the benefit.
"Well, wherever we're going, we might as well deal with it."
Re: Whale: Inspection/Logan,Gyrich Tags Cyclops"Nightcrawler and our people are aboard ... bay doors closing now. Ship's engines are online and Chamber, Evo, and I have familiarized ourselves with how to operate her. We can dive, hydrofoil, or fly -- including, if this is correct, outside the atmosphere. Scott reported over the radio.
Logan was relieved to hear that the rest of the team had finally been located and recovered AND the engines were now up and running and apparently able to do all sorts of things. Outer space?? Logan keyed his radio quickly, he hated outer space... he really did.
"Let's keep it on this planet for now, Cyke," he mentioned quickly, knowing the enthusiasm of his young team... especially the Elf's... he mumbled something undetectable, then listened again as Scott's voice came over the headset again.
"Where would you like to go, sir? The Harriers are still around, but they've gone on station well away from us and aren't lighting us up."
"Wait one," Logan requested as Gyrich exited the office behind him. He turned to ask the soldier where he'd like to be dropped off when Gyrich spoke out first.
"Let's finish this up. I've got other work to do."
Logan blinked at him, his brow furrowing a bit more pronounced. Falling in step beside the larger man he sneered as he reminded him, "Hey, this was yer idea, not mine. You want it done, finish it.... Now, if yer interested, we got the ship online an' under our control. Yer boys are on deck somewhere.... we're goin' home... where d'you wanna be dropped off?"
Re: OOCOkay, for all those characters with Gambit, please note that you can now post them as being back at the mansion. Just mention they used the transpad to get back somewhere in ya posts.
And, on that note, a post for Remy will turn up somewhere soon. Thankies.
Background: Many, many years ago, Charles Francis Xavier established Xavier's School for the Gifted. Also, seeing other Mutants misusing and abusing their powers, he created the first generation of the X-Men.This original team was trained and lead by an old friend of his...Logan, aka Wolverine. Logan's co-leader was a young woman and student named Ororo Munroe, aka Storm. Once the team was trained and fielded on active missions, they took on the additional responsibility of teaching and helping new Mutants deal with their powers.On one horrible night, the X-Men were fielded to stop a particularly powerful Mutant and his 'gang'. The 'intelligence' received on this Mutant and his cohorts was sketchy and actually turned out to be a set-up to entrap the X-Men and take them captive. In the ensuing melee', 'things' happened and a number of the team were killed outright or severely injured.After making sure his remaining team-mates were going to be okay, Logan left. Xavier has not, to current time, explained his absence or even whether or not he survived.Current Time/Game Time: Almost seven years later, as Human/Mutant incidents are on the rise, Xavier once again sees a need for a Mutant 'police force'. He sees this new X-Men team as a force for good and a way to help peacefully integrate the rapidly emerging Mutant society with the established Human society. To this end, he has contacted Logan and asked him to 'come home' and train his 'new' team.
Logan has reluctantly agreed.Can shadows from their past be put aside for the good of the new X-Men? How will the surviving members of the original team react and what will they do as 'truths' are learned about that disastrous night?Note: We want the new X-Men to include younger versions of the old familiar characters such as Scott, Jean, Beast etc...as well as many of the OCC’s and other Canon characters that are available.Please ask the Staff BEFORE stating or establishing that your character was one of the old, now disbanded, original X-Men.
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