Incoming Transmission

[Haley Crusek]

Haley narrowed her eyes in focus at the end of the three count and tried to lock Conduits body in place with her TK to prevent her from dodging Sam's punch.

[Conduit]

"Start a war? You're as dumb as you're rude!" Conduit laughs in Haley's face. "Ya think those guys are taking their ships out for a picnic? They--" That's about where she's interrupted by a blow to the back of the head and she, well, doesn't collapse, and not just because Haley is keeping a grip on her. The glow fades from Conduit's eyes and her head kinda sags to the side a bit but her eyes are still open. Sam could feel that she's definitely unconscious but artificial electric signals are keeping her propped up somehow. A small light on the implant on her temple blinks instead and her throat makes a strange croaking noise as if she's trying to talk but isn't entirely sure how.

"Emergency Slipstream failed." she croaks out flatly. "SOS signal transmission successful." The blinking light stops and her body finally follows suit and limply collapses.

[Samantha McManus]

"Okay, that's... maybe not encouraging."

"But... less discouraging than thermonuclear war?"

[Will Stanton]

"Some of us don't have inside voices," Will mumbled.

"So. What do we do now, chief?"

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Hope the Russians are reasonable for once?" Tosh asked after returning to normal.

[Samantha McManus]

"We're outgunned, and even if we let Miss Crazypants there shoot at them, we'd be stranded in the middle of the ocean with about three quarters of the ship."

She shifts back down into her normal form.

"We should probably get up on deck."

[Will Stanton]

Will nodded. "Aye aye, sir," he said, turning and heading out the door.

[Samantha McManus]

"With any luck, they don't want to start a war with the UK any more than we do. And ah... they might react better to Tosh than to Bruce?"

She headcants to the sharkman before heading up onto the deck.

[Shatterstar]

Up on the deck are still a number of unconscious soldiers as well as the huge frame of the dinosaur, slowly rising and falling as it breathes. In the distance they can faintly see the fleet although it's mostly blurry shapes and a number of smoke-plumes. Not the most modern collection of ships, apparently. One of the ships is closer and a little clearer to see but drawing even more attention is the bright trail of light arcing out from the fleet towards them at significant speed. The beam zips past the ship once, then comes around and slows down, becoming identifiable as a woman of hard to determine age. She seems young but extremely weathered, partially thanks to the eye-patch. She clearly belongs to the fleet, judging by her pilot jacket and the insignia on it, one of them a red star. She floats down, slowing down and coming to a stop a good 10 feet above the deck, eyeing the obvious signs of a battle.

"Your bow says HMS Dauntless." she says in surprisingly accent-free English. If anything she sounds vaguely American. She also sounds amazingly unfriendly and harsh. "What happened here?" she adds with a pointed look at Mr. Stompy.

[Samantha McManus]

"Well ah... funny story," she says as she steps out onto the deck, putting her hands up.

She peers at Shatterstar, wondering why she looks vaguely familiar before shaking it off.

"We were off the coast of Ireland a few minutes ago, responding to this ship being hijacked."

[Shatterstar]

Oddly enough, the woman doesn't seem to have too much trouble buying that story.

"The Order." she just says, eyes still on the dinosaur, then going over to the pile of soldiers. "This is the original crew?"

[Samantha McManus]

"Yeah, the hijacker put some sort of implant in them to control them, then attached something to the control room. The damage to the ship was the hijacker firing at us with the ship's guns."

[Shatterstar]

"Sounds like the Order alright, apparently they were out recruiting. That's how they control most of their troops. How do you not know that? They must have messed up their transport if they ended up here. You fought them off?"

[Samantha McManus]

"There was only one. Well, one and the dinosaur," she gestures.

"Our ride is presently... floating in the Atlantic."

"I mean, I hope it's floating."

[Shatterstar]

"Just one of them?" she asks, her expression darkening. "Where are they now?"

[Samantha McManus]

"The rest of us are below decks securing her."

[Haley Crusek]

"...am I missing something here? Who's the Order?" Haley piped up.

[Shatterstar]

At that the woman looks as if she'd just been shot, all color draining from her face. "Securing her? You mean she is still on this ship!?"

She floats a couple feet higher almost instinctively as she reaches for her radio. "Abort the approach. I repeat do NOT approach the unknown vessel! Conduit is on board!"

[Samantha McManus]

"We ah... broke her teleport thing and knocked her out."

[Siberia]

In the distance, the approaching ship begins turning away. "<Can you confirm?>"

[Shatterstar]

"<Negative, no visual confirmation.>" she tells the radio in Russian.

"The Order is a group of extremists bend on world domination. They have proclaimed themselves a sovereign state in Antarctica. We're at war with them." she informs Haley frantically. "If she's still unconscious then you need to kill her. Right now."

[Samantha McManus]

"Whoah whoah whoah, there. We're not... we're not killing anyone. X-Men don't kill."

[Shatterstar]

"Fine, then stand back. I will." she says, not even bothering to float down, instead just dropping down onto the deck into a three-point crouch before standing up straight and walking towards Sam and Haley.

[Haley Crusek]

Haley looked to Sam then back at the approaching woman. "Listen, I don't like that bitch very much either but I'm gonna need a lot more info before I just let her get smashed."

Her barely five foot frame did not inspire fear at the moment.

[Samantha McManus]

"What she said. You don't have, like, power suppression collars handy?"

[Shatterstar]

"Yes, let's slap more machinery on the insane Technopath. Next you're gonna tell me you got her locked up in the control room." she says, blinking when she sees the expression on Sam and Haley's face. "Oh no no no, you have got to be kidding me. How long has she been out for?"

[Samantha McManus]

"We knocked her out a few minutes ago when she started talking about launching missiles at you guys."

"So you know, you're welcome for that."

[Shatterstar]

"Appreciated, but I'm not sure you realize what that maniac and her friends are capable of." she says, which is when their conversation is being disrupted by a loud screech in the distance. At first it just looks like a big bird, which is odd in the middle of the ocean already but then the distance involved makes it clear that it's significantly larger than any bird and looks more like a huge reptile with a long beak. Metal gleams in the sun on the creature and a moment later it seems to drop something.

Shatterstar manages to yell "EMP!" into her radio before the thing detonates in mid-air, an expanding sphere of electromagnetic exploding outward and encompassing the fleet as well as the Dauntless. "Fuck!" she manages to add before the air is filled with a succession of the 'whoomps' of displaced air as countless humanoid shapes materialize on deck. They look brutish and very much like someone stuck a bunch of cavemen into light-grey uniform.

[Thresher]

A hulking humanoid resembling a shark stood tall among the troops, combat-ready cybernetics twinkling in the sunlight.

"Professor says find Conduit. All others expend... killable," he rumbled in a voice like a meat grinder that needed oil.

[Samantha McManus]

"O-okay, they've got a shark man too..."

Sam grits her teeth and shifts back up into hairy awfulness.

"BRUCE! NEVERMIND!" She calls over to her comrade.

[Haley Crusek]

Haley looked around as the deck filled with hostiles.

"Well. Fuck y'all too, then."

Her eyes flared with blue energy and she lashed out with a blast of telekinetic energy trying to slam the two nearest to her off the deck and into the sea.

[Toshiro Narumi]

"On my way," Tosh answered.

He shifted into Bruce as he reached the deck and blinked at the second boarding party. "Whoah... Is that... CyberSharkzilla?"

[Narrator]

"O-okay, they've got a shark man too..."

Sam grits her teeth and shifts back up into hairy awfulness.

"BRUCE! NEVERMIND!" She calls over to her comrade.

Three of the cavemen break off and charge at Sam, wielding metal spears and clubs.

Haley looked around as the deck filled with hostiles.

"Well. Fuck y'all too, then."

Her eyes flared with blue energy and she lashed out with a blast of telekinetic energy trying to slam the two nearest to her off the deck and into the sea.

The cavemen have little to no defense against the blast and Haley knocks them off their feet and throws them through the air. One of them hits the railing with his legs and is forced into a flip as he goes flying into the ocean alongside his buddy.

Four more grunt out angrily and charge at Haley.

"On my way," Tosh answered.

He shifted into Bruce as he reached the deck and blinked at the second boarding party. "Whoah... Is that... CyberSharkzilla?"

A couple of cavemen look hesitant, almost a bit reverent at Bruce, although they duck their heads and charge when Thresher roars out their orders.

[Shatterstar]

A hulking humanoid resembling a shark stood tall among the troops, combat-ready cybernetics twinkling in the sunlight.

"Professor says find Conduit. All others expend... killable," he rumbled in a voice like a meat grinder that needed oil.

Shatterstar instantly zips straight into the air as people teleport in. One of the cavemen manages to grab her foot and is pulled up along with her until she manages to plant the boot of her other foot in his face, sending him crashing down to the deck again. Not even watching him hit the ground she turns her attention on Thresher and brings both hands forward. Her whole body begins to glow before the energy blasts out through her hands in a blindingly bright beam that slams into the cyborg-shark monstrosity.

[Samantha McManus]

Sam lets out a roar and charges back at them with arms outstretched, trying to clothesline as many of them as she can manage.

[Siberia]

In the distance, the slim profile of the ships had been widening out as they turned, but now a lot of their systems seemed to have ceased functioning after the EMP blast. It would be a bit before the hardened systems recovered, but Shatterstar could imagine what Siberia's response was going to be once the guns were working again.

[Haley Crusek]

"Shit, shit, shit," Haley swore to herself as four more came charging at her. She flung her hands forward and then yanked them together, trying to slam two of the grunts into each other to trip them up and hopefully delay them enough to let her deal with the other two coming her way.

[Toshiro Narumi]

A couple of cavemen look hesitant, almost a bit reverent at Bruce, although they duck their heads and charge when Thresher roars out their orders.

"Oh come on, I'm way better looking!" Bruce complained before swinging one of his thick arms into his attackers.

[Thresher]

Shatterstar instantly zips straight into the air as people teleport in. One of the cavemen manages to grab her foot and is pulled up along with her until she manages to plant the boot of her other foot in his face, sending him crashing down to the deck again. Not even watching him hit the ground she turns her attention on Thresher and brings both hands forward. Her whole body begins to glow before the energy blasts out through her hands in a blindingly bright beam that slams into the cyborg-shark monstrosity.

Thresher brought up an arm and a shield of translucent red hexagons shimmered into existence just in time to catch the blast. The blast pushed him back, deck squealing as clawed metal feet tear at it.

"My turn," he growled. The weapon mounted on his shoulder takes aim and fires a barrage of laser fire up at the flying woman.

[Narrator]

Sam lets out a roar and charges back at them with arms outstretched, trying to clothesline as many of them as she can manage.

Sam manages to knock down four or five of them with her charge before one of them swings a club into her path, hitting her shoulder and spinning her around.

"Shit, shit, shit," Haley swore to herself as four more came charging at her. She flung her hands forward and then yanked them together, trying to slam two of the grunts into each other to trip them up and hopefully delay them enough to let her deal with the other two coming her way.

The goons go flying fairly easily, slamming into each other and going down in a tumble. The other two keep coming and one of them gets close enough to jab his spear at Haley, narrowly missing her before following up by bringing the back of the hilt around like a quarterstaff and sweeping her legs.

A couple of cavemen look hesitant, almost a bit reverent at Bruce, although they duck their heads and charge when Thresher roars out their orders.

"Oh come on, I'm way better looking!" Bruce complained before swinging one of his thick arms into his attackers.

These guys are tough, but they're not giant-shark strong. One of them goes flying over the railing while another two get knocked down and into some of their fellow cavemen. Still, there's a lot of them and another three advance on Tosh and start pelting him with their weapons.