Disclaimer: Don't own Aberrant, don't own Incredibles. Aberrant and the characters associated are owned (in theory) by White Wolf publishing (though if I win the mega-millions, expect me to start looking to buy it). Incredibles, owned by Disney/Pixar, created by Brad Bird (who would probably kill me if he saw what I've done with his creation, but he's busy, has a real life and a real job, so I'm safe...:-D )
Gregory Paladino was created by a member of the Plothook crew (don't know his real name, but he was cool enough to let me use his character). Thank you, GP.
Author's Notes & Recap (for the newbies who are probably asking "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!")
For those of you who have read my stuff already, yes, this is a revision/edit/re-post of the original "War of Angels" story. I decided to take a month or two off D&I and Collision to go back and re-read my stuff, correct some mistakes, and clean up the stories a bit. I also decided to consolidate them all into one series. I also decided to put this entire series back in the "Incredibles" folder because, while there is a "White Wolf" folder, there is no "Aberrant" sub-section in their "Worlds" list. After I finish posting this, I'll then work on editing/revising D&I and continuing the story with new material from there. As for "WoA:Collision", it's on hiatus, but I will continue it when I resume D&I since those two stories are linked, but it will NOT be in the Incredibles directory (it will still be stored as an Incredibles/Justice League crossover).
For those of you just joining us (in other words, if you haven't read the first three installments of this series), I'll try to give you a semi-quick recap of this sick and twisted 'verse you clicked onto (though you might want to read the aforementioned stories to get the full scoop). Normally I wouldn't do this, but hey...I don't want any potential newbies reading this being lost and going "WTF!".
First off, I moved up the time-line to the Incredibles, setting the events of the movie in the late 90s (I say 1998). I know, some purists may go "that's crap", but hey...if Batman: TAS can do it (city and setting had "1940s feel", but you had people walking around with laptops, cell-phones, and Internet), so can I.
Now, the recap. Shortly after the events of the movie, supers (those that were still around) were slowly being allowed to "return" to the public eye. However, something happened only a few months after the movie that totally changed things: the Galatea Research Space Station exploded in orbit, raining it's "radioactive" payload on Earth. Within hours of that "incident", the first new super-human manifested. More would follow over the next several months. These newly "erupted" super-humans were dubbed "Novas". After the Galatea incident and the emergence of these new "novas", someone realized something must be done to stabilize the situation and help curb any chaos that might occur (a nice and subtle way of saying "We need to control these people").
The Aeon Society (a secretive "philanthropic organization" that dates back to the 1920s based out of Chicago...yes, THAT is canon, I didn't make that up) approached the UN with a proposal to create a new organization that would help "make the Earth a better place" by helping newly erupted novas learn how to control their powers. This new organization would be called "Project Utopia" and with the assistance of novas in its employ, they did indeed make the world a better place, developing new technologies, helping clean up the environment, and doing all the good things that most "global approved" organizations do.
At least, that's on the surface of things. However, while most of the rank and file "Utopians" believe they're doing the right thing, their masters don't see things that way. Not only that, there are people around the world who suspect Utopia (or those behind it) have a darker agenda.
It's been eight years since the events of the movie and now things have exploded.
It started when a young man named David Pine Flynn suddenly surfaced, claiming the remains of his father's assets and creating a new company called Syndrome Software & Technologies. Needless to say, his arrival on the scene caused a headache to a lot of people in power worldwide (particularly Utopia, the NSA, and the Parr family).
A nova (or at least a super-powered being of some sort) himself, David has made it clear that he's not like his father, though he's opposed to Project Utopia to the point of openly defying them by hiring novas (or the children of the previous generation's supers) give them a chance of making a profit selling any new technological advancements they develop (as opposed to Utopia paying them a pittance, confiscating the new tech, and then sitting on it because they feel "humanity isn't ready for it yet"). Things finally came to a head when a Utopia "retrieval" team actually made the mistake of attacking SST's corporate headquarters in Metroville to acquire an "unregistered nova", Zoe Kilmarten.
The Utopia team was soundly defeated by the nova staff at SST (with a reluctant Violet Parr spearheading the fight against the Utopia team). The situation deteriorated into a public relations nightmare for Project Utopia when David Flynn released video footage of the fight to all media outlets worldwide showing that it was the Utopia team that was in the wrong, despite Utopia's claims that the SST staff attacked unprovoked.
Meanwhile, out in the Indian Ocean at a remote "containment and research facility", Buddy Pine (alive and well, despite having a cybernetic arm) quietly plotted his escape from C-12 (aka "The Neptune Facility"). His plans finally came to fruition using a jury-rigged "quantum projector" that caused a disaster of nearly biblical proportions that destroyed the facility, disrupted international shipping lanes in the area, and created several tsunamis that wiped out coastal villages and flooded several miles inland of various countries. Estimated body count: almost a million people.
After escaping to via an improvised teleportion device, Buddy managed to get a hold of some assets by killing a group of yakuza selling "second-rate" versions of some of his weapons, stealing their mega-yacht (blowing up a portion of the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada as a diversion), and then brokering a potential business deal with the people the yakuza was trying to do business with, an anti-nova human supremacist group known as The Church of Michael Archangel.
To prove to the Michaelites that he was on the level, Buddy made his way down the west coast of the US, pausing in San Francisco to murder a Utopian sponsored super team called the protectors. Though he killed most of the members, one person survived, but was in a coma. During his attack on the San Francisco waterfront, Buddy crossed paths with Jean-Paul Renard (son of Bomb Voyage), also known as the adrenaline junkie thrill-seeker/mercenary called Bomber. It was Bomber's interference that kept Buddy from killing the last member of the Protectors. After caving a building on Bomber and an unconscious Blazestone II, Buddy arranged a virtual conference with the leadership of the Michaelites.
Calling himself Gabriel, he informed them that he would give them one more "act of good faith" to demonstrate his technological capabilities. That "act" was the attack on Mexico City, one of Project Utopia's "restoration projects" and headquarters for the Americas cell of Team Tomorrow (Utopia's elite nova hero team). Using a modified cruise missile, Buddy disrupted all electronic communications coming to and from Mexico City (along with most electronic devices), then proceeded systematically slaughter Team Tomorrow Americas. He was then attacked by the nova terrorist Geryon (who had been trying to track down the murderer of the novas in San Francisco). Geryon managed to fight Buddy to draw, but Buddy immediately left (after Geryon ripped off his cybernetic arm which was rigged to explode if removed from Buddy's body). Geryon was about to give chase when three more cruise missiles slammed into Mexico City. Rigged with ZP technology, the cruise missiles hit three locations, burrowing beneath the city before detonating, causing an earthquake.
Meanwhile, other drama has happened. Helen revealed a dark secret to her family which left Dash angry (and he took it out by beating the crap out of David Flynn). Violet has accepted David's offer of being VP of SST and the Aeon Society received a new director who wants to take a more "proactive" approach in dealing with those who oppose her agenda of "creating a better world".
Oh, and two of the children of one of the heroes Buddy killed in the movie are quietly stalking David Flynn, preparing to assassinate him.
So, I think that covers most of the major plot elements so far, though I'm sure there's a few I missed, one of them intentionally. If you want more details, go read the other stories.
Now, for those of you who have been with me through this crazy ride so far, I will warn you right now, things are going to get a little dark from here (as if they haven't already). I've told some of you what I have planned (but not everything, or maybe I was lying to you), but it's going to get ugly.
Anyway...just wanted to warn you ahead of time.
Oh...and just for the record, this chapter takes place before the final chapter of "WoA III: Countdown"...about a day before Buddy's "sermon".
"It has been nearly two days since all forms of electronic communication in Northern Mexico had been disrupted. There have also been reports of aircraft losing control and literally falling out of the sky during the three hours the airspace was shrouded by what had been described as a 'Quantum Anomaly'. During those three hours, an earthquake measuring at least 8.6 on the Richter scale hit the city followed by several after-shocks that, while less powerful, were felt as far as the Southern United States.
"However, the widespread sporadic damage caused by these quakes pales in comparison to the devastation that hit Mexico City. Even though it's been two days and communications are being restored, reports of what actually happened are sketchy at best. In the meantime, aid and rescue teams from Project Utopia, the United Nations, various other countries, and even some non-affiliated private organizations are still trying to locate and help survivors..."
-N!Channel News
"Scattered reports from survivors of the tragedy in Mexico city have varied. Some claim there was a missile attack, others claimed there was a lone nova involved, and there have been claims that a member of the Teragen might have been involved. However, none of these reports have been confirmed. What can be confirmed, however, is that the devastation is real, not just in Mexico city, but in surrounding areas as well..."
-ABC News
"Though the images coming from Mexico City clearly show the devastation that has hit what had been dubbed Project Utopia's 'Americas Crown Jewel' of accomplishment, it fails to show the full scale of what has happened. Since the re-establishment of communications, there have been reports of at least thirty downed aircraft in the Northern Mexico, with several more listed as missing. When approaching Mexico City from the ground, we passed by four locations where aircraft had gone down. Local emergency crews from nearby towns and villages helped with the disasters and search for survivors. Oddly enough, organizations like Project Utopia were absent from those incidents."
-Fox News
"Already, I'm starting to hear people complain about Project Utopia's lack of response to the accidents in Mexico. For crying out loud, people, Mexico City was fucking decimated and people are crying about how Project Utopia isn't sending people out to help a few downed aircraft. C'mon, at least a million people died in Mexico city compared to the thousand or so in the aircraft. I know it's harsh, but Utopia has to prioritize which emergency has to be dealt with first."
"Besides, it's not like other people aren't helping. Various other organizations are stepping in, even that little shit David Flynn is sending some of his corporate assets to 'assist'. But let's be honest, the little fucker and his SST flock are just a bunch of vultures circling over the dead and dying. If Utopia's smart, they'll detain the little fucker and drag his sorry ass out of Mexico."
-The Brandi Miller Show, Air America
"Okay, a lot of people are still asking 'What are we going to do?', though it looks like various groups, other than just Utopia, are stepping up and helping out. But the other question people are asking, though they're not saying it out in the open yet, is 'Who did this?'. Say what you will about this being a freak act of nature, God, or whatever, let's be honest here folks. Someone targeted Mexico City and it seems that Utopia, its backers, and its critics are playing a blame game and pointing fingers at each other."
"Depending who you ask, the Teragen did it, Utopia actually orchestrated it, some rogue faction in the US government did it, some other nation did it, the theories range from reasonably plausible to outright insane, but, despite the rhetoric, no one seems to want to actually investigate this. Meanwhile, whoever truly was responsible, is probably sitting on his ass in the shadows somewhere, laughing their ass off while they plot the next move. Wake up people, we're all being played!"
-The Duke Rollo Show, XM Radio
En Route towards Mexico City
48 hours after Incident
Despite being lightly bounced around in the passenger compartment of the Humvee, Gregory Paladino still managed to lightly doze off, mostly ignoring his fellow passenger who cursed every time the vehicle hit a rough spot in the terrain.
"Relax," he assured his companion, not even opening his eyes. "You get used to it."
The young reporter shook his head and looked at his cameraman with annoyance. "Okay, Greg, how do you do it?"
Greg opened one eye. "Do what, Ted?"
"Be able to sleep while we're being tossed around as our psychotic driver seems intent on running over every obstacle in the road?"
"I heard that," piped up Maria Ortiz, their assigned technician and driver. To emphasize her point, the Humvee bounced again as she ran over some more uneven terrain.
"Crazy little bitch," Ted said, but Greg could tell that Ted was more amused than pissed off. Then again, from what Greg heard about the man, Ted Richards was odd for a reporter. Most of the "young punks in the big time" would act like arrogant royalty, whining if they had to do more than just show up at a location, stand up in front of the camera, and rattle off prepared material. Only a couple years younger than Greg, Ted was one of those reporters who actually believed in the "old school" approach of actually looking for the story and being on the ground with the "grunts" instead of simply waiting until things were prepared for him. He also heard that's what got the reporter shit-canned from the ABC affiliate he was working with...well, that and telling veteran news anchor Charles Gibson to go fuck himself might have had something to do with that.
Needless to say, Ted found himself blacklisted in the American market, but didn't complain too much since CTV was more than willing to snap him up. There were rumors that Lloyd Robertson personally pulled some strings to hire the young reporter on. Normally, someone from high-up pulling strings would have concerned Greg, but having met and worked with the "old man" at CTV, he was certain Ted was hired because of his "old school" attitude.
But that didn't surprise Greg, since Lloyd hired him on after his brief stint with Fox. The old man (he had to be somewhere in his seventies) had hired Greg after seeing some of the footage he shot of the earlier Mexico City quake back in '02. Greg, ignoring the Fox reporter he was assigned to, actually went into the remains of a crumbling building, his camera still running, because he heard someone crying for help. Even though he actually saved the lives of two children trapped inside, the reporter took the credit and threatened Greg to stay silent or risk losing his job. Greg responded by setting the camera down (forgetting that the thing was on live-feed at the time) and punched the reporter out.
Greg closed his eye. "It's very easy," he said in response to Ted's question. "I developed a skill called 'sleep ninja', allows me to sleep anywhere, no matter how uncomfortable it is. Takes a couple years to develop, but it's worth it."
"Yeah, but being driven around in an abused Humvee with a maniac at the wheel wasn't in the job description."
Maria giggled wickedly from up front.
"Don't see why you should be concerned about it," Greg said. "I thought you were used to this, having flown around in helicopters reporting on Heroin traffic in Afghanistan."
"Yeah, but that's different, people were shooting at us and we were in constant danger."
"Ah, I see." Greg grinned. "You're used to your life in peril, but you're not used to simply waiting in a vehicle and NOT being shot at? Okay, that makes sense. And that tells me you have issues."
"Says the man who hates flying."
"I don't hate flying, I just don't like flying in an airspace where aircraft have been falling out of the sky in the last two days."
"Good point," Ted conceded. "Though the fuel costs of this is going to be a bitch."
Greg propped himself up and turned to look out the back widow of the Humvee. He could see the convoy of vehicles behind them, some of them carrying news teams, but most were carrying medical workers and supplies. He was surprised that Lloyd had convinced CTV to arrange their LA bureau to bring in supplies, but was even more surprised when local businesses and a few non-affiliated networks also contributed, despite being told by Utopia reps to stay clear until they assessed the situation.
The Utopia response told Greg that there was a story here. Advising people to stay away until they assessed the situation, but letting their own people in and focusing only on Mexico City while ignoring the other areas that were affected...oh yeah, there was definitely a story. Within twelve hours after the "Blue Haze" appeared, Greg found himself teamed up with Maria and Ted and on his way down to Mexico City, leading their little caravan of reporters and aid workers.
The next day and half consisted of their convoy stopping at four separate sites along the way where aircraft had gone down. A few of the vehicles stayed behind at each site, the emergency workers providing aid to those they could help and the reporters trying to get an account of what had happened, though it seemed most were willing to help with helping survivors when asked.
"This is fucking creepy," Greg mused allowed.
"Of course it's fucking creepy," Ted said. "We have a grisly trail of fallen aircraft that lead us to Mexico City."
"It's not that," Greg replied. "I feel like I've come full circle, I was down here a few years back in '02 when Mexico City first got hammered by a quake."
"Ah, yes," Ted said a wistful look on his face as he leaned back in his seat. "2002, back before Utopia had changed the place. Back when we had corrupt politicians on both sides of the border, illegal immigration problems, drug running, and potential border wars breaking out...I really miss those days, so peaceful compared to now."
"Yeah, Utopia supposedly 'fixed' that." Greg didn't bother to hide his disgust. He knew that showing any kind of disrespect for the UN backed organization probably killed some career prospects for him, but he didn't care. "And I have to tell you, Ted, this is uglier than it was in '02."
"No shit," Maria said from up front. "According to the reports we're getting, the count is up to twenty-one planes downed that we know of, and we're not even-OH MY GOD!"
Both Greg and Ted looked out the front window as Maria brought the Humvee to a stop. Even though it was still several miles away, Greg could still see the smoke plumes coming from where the city should be. Even at this distance, he should have been able to at least see some of the skyscrapers that made up the city's skyline...skyscrapers that weren't there anymore.
The rest of the convoy came to a stop behind them as Greg and Ted got out of the Humvee, Greg activated his camera and zoomed in, making some modifications on his camera to see through the haze. "Holy shit," he muttered.
"What do you got?" Ted asked.
Greg wordlessly handed the reporter the camera, not standard practice in this industry, but Ted was familiar enough with the equipment and had no problem using the controls. Ted didn't say anything as he focused on what was left of Mexico City, but his complexion paled and his jaw dropped as he saw the crater where the center of Mexico City used to be. What was more grisly was that it wasn't an empty, smoking crater, but there were remnants of high-rise buildings and skycrapers now lying in an over-sized pile of rubble. It looked as if the ground beneath their foundations had suddenly disappeared and they had fallen into each other as they collapsed.
The crater itself was at least a mile wide. Several fires had ignited throughout the entire city and were still going strong. Even though they were several miles away, the three of them could smell the smoke and other scents that were carried on the light wind.
Ted handed the camera back to Greg, pausing for a moment to cross his heart and mumble a silent prayer. "Okay," he finally said, "we have to get down there."
One of the drivers of the other aid vehicles came up to them, carrying a cell-phone. "We got a problem, Mr. Richards."
"What is it?"
"A Utopia rep, they're telling us that we're being tracked and we are to stop our approach. And they want to know why you didn't answer your phone."
"Probably because I turned the damn thing off a couple hours ago so I couldn't be bothered by them," Ted said. Despite the situation, Greg caught himself smirking at the reporter's comments. That was another reason he and Ted got along, their mutual distrust of Utopia.
"Well, they're really pissed."
"I don't care, they're fucking hiding something and we got people dying over there who need the supplies we're bringing in. Here, give me that." He took the phone from the aid-worker. "This is Richards," he said, pushing the speaker button on the phone so they could all hear.
"Richards?" A voice asked. "Ted Richards from CTV?"
"Yeah, to who am I speaking?"
"This is Saxon of Team Tomorrow. You're a long way from Canada, boyo."
Richards tilted his head slightly. "And you're a long way from Europe, Saxon. What brings the European branch of T2M here? Or did they just send you?"
"That is none of your concern," the nova at the other end of the line snapped. "You and the rest of you baselines stay away until we've cleared the area of any threats."
"Wow...so 'high and mighty', are we? Covering up something?"
"Careful Richards, we know where you are, we can see you and your little caravan."
"Yeah, good for you. Unlike you, this little 'caravan' has stopped at a few accident scenes on our way here and tended the wounded...something that your employers should be doing, but they seem to be absent. Care to comment on that?"
No response came from other end and the line went dead. Ted shook his head and handed the phone back to the aid worker. "I guess, not," he said.
A beam of light suddenly shot down out of the sky, impacting the ground only a dozen feet ahead of their Humvee and then burning a line in the ground. Everyone looked up, Greg bringing up his camera and focusing on a lone figure in the sky who was now descending towards them.
"Holy shit," muttered Ted. "Is that Caestus Pax?"
"Yep," Greg replied as he continued to shoot footage. "It looks like he's laying down the law."
"Tell me you're getting this."
"We're getting it," Greg said. Then he realized Pax was looking straight at him. "And now he's heading over here."
A few seconds later, the nova landed right where he had burned a line in the ground and walked towards them. "You will remain here," he said, his voice taking on that annoying tone of authority that made it sound as if he were talking down to children in grade-school. "The situation is unsafe for you."
"Bullshit," Richards said, stepping up to Pax. "People are dying in that city."
"We are responding to situation and providing aid to the survivors."
"Really?" The tone in Ted's voice told Greg he wasn't buying it and, truth be told, neither was he. "So, out of curiosity, how come T2M Americas isn't handling this?"
Before Greg could react, Pax had suddenly become a blur, instantly closing the distance between them and putting his hand over the camera lens. "This interview is now over," he said. "Now you will remain here until we declare the area safe, but if you-" Pax stopped in mid-sentence as the sound of rotor-blades could be heard. Greg studied him for a moment, noting Pax's expression go from one of arrogance to outright disgust and hostility. "No," the man half-snarled. "Not now."
They all looked up as three Chinook helicopters began to approach, two of them starting to descend alongside, but a safe enough distance away from the convoy. The third Chinook hovered over them for a few more seconds before descending on the other side of the line Pax had burned into the ground. If Greg hadn't known any better, he was wondering if whoever was piloting that helicopter had deliberately chosen to land there. He managed to step away from Pax who now seemed to be focusing on the helicopter, obviously forgetting about Greg and his camera.
Greg had the camera zoom in on the company logo on the helicopter which he identified as a CH-47D, obviously a former military craft. However, the company logo said "Sefton Heavy Salvaging", which told Greg that whoever owned "Sefton Salvaging" must have had a lot of cash to afford buying expensive military-grade hardware. The side-door opened up on the Chinook and Greg almost dropped the camera in shock as he saw who exited the craft.
No...fucking...way!
Trembling for a second, he managed to regain his composure and kept the camera going as a young red-haired man, flanked by a large black muscular man and a tall amazonian woman, approached them.
Brian and Lydia were right, he looks just like his father.
"You have no business here," Pax rumbled, his threatening tone making it obvious that he didn't care much for this person.
The young red-haired man shook his head and smirked at Pax, obviously not cowed by Pax's attempt at intimidation. "Whatever, Pax, just do the guard-dog thing elsewhere," he said, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Pax. "As soon as you're done barking, take the time to read that. It's a emergency order given to me by the US government, authorizing me to be down here." He then stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Though, truth be told, I was forced to come down here by the NSA. Personally, I'd be more than willing to let you handle this, fuck it up, and then come in and clean up your mess."
"Watch yourself, Flynn," Pax warned him. "You're not in the US, and the NSA can't protect you."
David Flynn, to Greg's astonishment, didn't even blink as he looked up at Pax. "Careful, Pax, you don't want the world to see your true face now, do you?" He chuckled and stepped past Pax to approach Greg and Ted, extending his hand. "Sorry about the late arrival," he said. "I'm David Flynn, and I'm here to help."