RS1-Stolen University (Salix Judging)

[Raylis]

As Zenji stabs the sword into the sphere, the young man can feel power surging through the blade, the sphere glows a bright blue then there is a whirring sound, like something starting up, it grows faster and then

BOOM

Zenji finds himself clear across the room, pasted against the wall. Static electricity visibly bouncing off his clothes...and somehow knows that 10-KVT was the license plate of the proverbal truck that hit him.

The machine's debrie litters the ground where it stood. In front of the ground a dozen grenades (probably ejected from the machine) line the floor, each one producing a five foot diameter energy field, encasing both Jones and Archeville. The gernades blink red once and then self destruct in small, controlled explosions.

Over the comm the trio hears the Major's voice, "Major Sinclair to Resolutes, do you read me...and what the hell was that sound?"

 

[rgordona]

Just on the point of congratulating Dr Archville for his success Mr Jones looks on in horror as Zenji plunges his sword in to the heart of the machine.

As the noise subsides the magician shakes his head to clear the ringing from his ears and surveying the destruction mutters "Well, maybe it was for the best."

Then as their controller's voice comes over the com he turns his microphone on and replies, "Major, Jones, I hear you. Is the force field down? The explosion was the generator we think." To his comrades he adds, "I'll take a look outside."

[sblock=actions]ESP - Out side the building. Is the force field down? Is it still oddly warm and sunny? Are there a load of students running around screaming "What just happened?"[/sblock]

 

[Hand of Vecna]

[sblock=Shoulder Daemons]Ah! The Machine! That fool!

The Major! The field must be down!

Of course it's down, because of our careful work... but then he... he...

Wait, we need to make sure the Major's okay! The Minister might go after her!

Bah! The Machine... he wrecked it! And the grenades! We could've found out where the Minister had gotten them from! Added their "technological superiority" to our own!

Used it as evidence for future court proceedings... Used it to help develop force fields for consumer use....

Yeah, sure, whatever... Point is, he destroyed it, for absolutely no reason! I can only hope Jones's... 'magic hat'... was able to shield the grenades within from the self-destruct signal.....

Oh, I'm sure he meant well....

He's an ignorant fool! I should... and.... with a.... grah![/sblock]

Archeville slowly picks himself up, rubbing his head and mumbling in German. "<Ohhhh.... Zenji... the Machine... why?>" Shaking his head and surveying the destruction, he quickly gets to his feet. "Ve could haff learned so much...."

Unconsciously, Archeville's left hand gripped the handle of his blaster.

 

[Raylis]

[sblock=Mr. Jones]
The forece field is down, and the air has returned to the chill of January. You can see some soliders slowlying making their way from the parking lot of the athletic building across the street onto the campus.
[/sblock]

"Yes, the field shimmered and went down. What of the Minister, have you found him yet?

 

[Asmor]

"Whoa... That... was intense!" Zenji stands up slowly, leaning against the wall for support. His ears ringing a bit from the blast, Zenji misses much of what Archeville said. "Yeah, don't worry about me, I'm fine." He holds up the sword, its magical steel still pristine despite having been at the epicenter of the blast. "Yep, magic triumphs over unchecked technology once more!"

 

[Hand of Vecna]

"'Once more'?" Archeville repeats, anger creeping -- no, galloping -- into his voice. "'Once more'? Just how many pieces of ultra-tech evidence have you destroyed, Zenji? How many pieces of potentially useful technology have you ruined? Has it never crossed your mind that such devices can be used for good as well as evil, and that it's the user, not the device itself, that determines how it is used? I could probably have found a way to adapt that generator for the Resolutes, to create a force field around our headquarters in case of an attack by supervillains, or mass produce them to generate protective fields around hospitals and schools and national monuments and other large things that my own force field technology cannot currently cover!" Archeville's glare fell from Zenji and swept over the destroyed generator, "Not to mention finding just where and from whom the Minister got it from, and seeing just who else they're passing out such technology to...."

"Or are you just afraid?", his glare snapped back to Zenji. "Afraid of what you don't understand? Just like all those people who were afraid of witches and warlocks and had them burned and hung and drowned?!"

 

[Asmor]

"Afraid? Of course I'm afraid! We don't know anything about that, except that it was made by a mad man!" Zenji leans down to pick up a piece of debris from the explosion. "Look at this. Do you know what it is? Do you know what it's made of? Do you know what its purpose is? I know the history of every piece of my equipment. Each artifact I wield was created by the righteous in the fight against evil. The origins of something are at least as important as its function, and often times even more! Have you never read a comic book? Ever seen Terminator? How many times have the good guys tried to salvage the microchip from the destroyed robot, or the "benign" bit of alien technology, only to find out that it was more than it seemed." Zenji throws it down in disgust. "Would you try to salvage the unethical and disgusting research the minister has been doing here? Of course not, it's inherently evil from its very roots! And how dare you try to compare the ignorant persecution and murder of innocent people with the destruction of a thing?"

Zenji turns his back on Archeville and sighs. "I have done what is right, this day, and I would do it again."

 

[Hand of Vecna]

"You ignorant hypocrite!" Archeville spat. "Technology could be used for evil, so destroy it? That's the exact same mindset the witch-burners used -- 'that witch could cast a hex on me, or turn me into a frog, or summon a demon to possess me, so let's burn all the witches! Let God and St. Peter sort them out!' Heck, while we're at it, let's round up all the Metahumans and kill them, too, since some of them turn into supervillains!"

"I might have been able to find out what it was, if you hadn't destroyed it, if I had had time to study it! That's how you find out about things -- you study them! How did you know all the things that fancy staff of yours does? Did the knowledge simply appear in your mind one day? Or did you research it? Maybe even experiment with it? Why, just today, you found it can unleash a damaging blast of energy! But, no, you just presume it's going to turn evil, all because you don't know what it could do, just like the fear-gripped savages who harassed and killed any misunderstood minority."

"And we don't know who made this" he picks up a few random pieces of the generator, "Archer said he got it from an arms dealer in New York. But now we have no way of finding out who exactly that is, of tracking her down and stopping any further distribution of dangerous technology, because of your shortsightedness!"

"Not to mention that you've still destroyed evidence which could have been used against the Minister and his associates! Archeville throws the pieces down, a few scattering towards Zenji's feet, and bent to pick up the Minister's laptop. "As for their research, I most certainly do intend to try and make something of it -- doing nothing with it, or destroying it, would mean that any pain and suffering these people went through would be for nothing! Or would you prefer that nothing be done to try and reverse the changes done to them? To have them live out their lives with the alterations Archer and the Minister made?"

 

[rgordona]

"Yes, the field shimmered and went down. What of the Minister, have you found him yet?

As the other two argue Mr Jones attempts to keep the major informed. "We found the Minister but then lost him again. His HQ was in University house, there is a wooden man somewhere around there, you should keep the soldiers away. There's also a really fast girl still running loose, and probably a few guards as well.

"There are hostages all over the place, Tawanka Commons, the science building, Dressler and Pearce Hall. The Minister used some kind of mind control to keep them calm. If the victims don't want to be evacuated its not a good idea to try and force them, they can get angry real quick."

[Sblock=actions]Teleport up onto the roof of engeneering. Leave Zenji and Dr A to bicker.[/sblock]

 

[Raylis]

OOC: I belive this might qualify for Archeville's magical distate complication, 1 hp, Zenji I forgot to mention another bruise from the explosion.

"Jones...did you say a wooden man? Could you clarify? Is this one of the Minister's henchmen or-? from the roof of engineering, Jones can see the two groups of twelve soliders enter the campus and head down the path between the science building and the library, six splintering off toward the Science Building's back door.