Some ASSEMBLY required.

[Will]

Targets left, sir. Fifteen degrees on the z, minus forty on the y.

''Thank you Rufus.''

BA-BLAM BLAM

They seem to be wishing to engage in fisticuffs, sir.

''Good good.''

Richard spun, a definitive roundhouse kick flattening three men in a mighty sweep. He regarded them all, eyes glowing blue beneath the venerable golden helm, red star proudly shining on his forehead. He picked up a pistol from one of the corpses, the Augmented Reality Overlay identifying it immediately as a simple blaster pistol. Enough for his needs.

He broke it apart, taking the power pack, hastily rewiring, ensuring it would overload. Explode.

He put it by the munitions crate at the foot of the pyramid of munitions crates that festooned the factory floor. Should never have let him in somewhere with explosives.

With a shove, the main doors opened, and he strode out. Cool and casual.

As the building behind exploded, scum roasting inside. He kept walking.

Cool guys don't look at explosions.

 

[Kit]

Eden was making her first Venture out into the world as Armoured Lightning tonight, Lightning for short. Well, technically she wasn't. She wasn't using the armour she had built specially, though this suit contained most of the basics and despite looking completely different, was fairly similar.

A test run, if you will.

She was making a HANO jump. A term she coined herself; High Altitude, No Opening. Fired, from the belly of her ship far above, she plummeted to the ground like a rock. A rock made of metal, and covered in guns.

At the last second, everything burst to life, shields flared to existence, repulsors fired hard, and her descent was slowed to very survivable velocities. For her at least.

She was here to recruit, ostensibly. Her network had told her that the man she was most interested in getting onside had been operating around here for a little while. She had timed her arrival to coincide with the attack she had expected him to make this evening.

A stroke of bad luck saw him arrive earlier than she had hoped, and then rig the place to explode. Like a meteor, she fell, unstoppable, into the exploding building.

Moments later, she emerged from the flaming, collapsing building, never once looking back. Heading after the 'superhero' the galaxy hadn't gotten around to naming.

 

[Will]

Sir

''Shush now Rufus, I'm thinking.''

Well Sir, while you're thinking, there's someone coming after you in a suit of rather advanced armour...

''That's impossible nothing could have survived that...''

But he was indeed proven wrong.

''Explosion.''

He stopped, crossing his arms.

''Be ready to rumble, Rufus. This one has an ominous air about it. Look at that stride. Screams 'menace', neh?''

 

[Kit]

"You!"

She called out, the suit's vocaliser unit utterly disguising her voice, to the point where there was no reason to suspect that she was in fact female.

"Got a minute?"

She stopped once he turned around. She had chosen to come armed and dangerous to this one, because of the nature of her man; he was dangerous, clearly active, and may well turn out to disagree with her methods very... passionately.

Plus, she figured he would appreciate a show of strength, if it came to that.

"I'd like a word, if I could."

 

[Will]

''Go on...''

Sir, I can't decode the voice distortion. Good tech. A rarity, sir.

''Well that makes it interesting, doesn't it Rufus!?''

He looked the armoured vigilante up and down, Rufus working on scanning, picking up obvious features. The armour was thick, there was shielding there. Nothing as advanced in field tech as Richard had, but hefty. Weaponry present. Multiple varieties enough to test Richard sorely, and he wasn't wanting too much testing today...

''A word you want, a word you shall have... Do I get the name of my armoured interrogator?''

 

[Kit]

"Of course, but only after I've gotten yours."

Eden's own suit, with it's own onboard AI, was also scanning feverishly, though it lacked both the sentience and dry wit of it's counterpart, it was also yielding less than she would have cared; shields, energy propulsion and probably flight.

"You're quite the mystery, you know. I've been trying to find you for weeks."

 

[Will]

''As you wish.''

Sir, are you sure you want to divulge such imp-

''Richard Quill. Self-styled avenger of the Red stars and general anti-imperial vigilante. Now, I believe I get your name?''

Rufus had given up. He had the basic overview. Some systems were too buried under countermeasures and baffles. Not many, but enough. It was certainly an interesting turn of events, so far. And if Richard enjoyed one thing, it was interesting.

 

[Kit]

She smiled widely, though the fact was hidden by her impassive faceplate, and nodded.

"Eden, though they call me," She gestured to her armoured form, with the slightest wiggle of a hip, "Armoured Lightning. Or just Lightning."

Anti-Imperial, huh? That was brilliant news, though did carry potential implications.

"Avenger... I like that. Almost makes me wish I hadn't... Ah, well."

Taking a few paces forwards, she extended a hand, a gesture of peace, the universal handshake.

"No tricks, I promise. I just wanted to run something past you."

 

[Will]

He took the armoured hand, the metal sheath making the hold difficult, but he accommodated, gripping firmly as he shook. It was a good handshake, a strong handshake.

''That suit masks your femininity well, Eden. A Marvel, eliminating any prejudice other than 'shit that thing will end me'. Mine pales in such style.''

''Run away, madam. I'm all ears.''

 

[Kit]

She smirked underneath the helmet. That was kinda what she had been going for, despite this suit being very much a prototype. Reaching up, she disengaged the helmet, and removed it entirely. Her red hair cascaded out, a stark contrast to the gunmetal grey of the suit.

"Well, I'm putting together a team. One that is gonna ruin the Sith's day, as well as anyone who gets in our way. We'll be peacekeepers, bringing justice to those who desire it, and punishment to those that deserve it."

She gestured to the building behind her, that Quill had so ably destroyed.

"Above the law, working for a common good. We'll change the galaxy, bit by bit, until the very last scumbag is dead and buried. And I want you to help me do it."

 

[Will]

As soon as she showed her face, Rufus was cross matching her features to identify.

Eden El'Oohrn. It seems she was the head of a prominent paramilitary organisation, sir.

Richard nodded as Rufus spewed data as an overlay, glad his conversations with his AI were private via NOVA system.

A team... a noble effort. One he could get behind. Especially with a woman like that at the helm. Definitely an 8 1/2 or 9. He took off his own helmet, the blue glow dissipating, black filigree prominent around his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair.

''Really bad helmet hair with this thing.'' He smirked.

''Now then, This venture does indeed sound like something I'd be up for. Ruining the Sith's day is top of my agenda. Has been for a few years now. Do you have a base of some kind? I really hope so. Every good team needs a base.''

 

[Kit]

Eden didn't have the same built-in level of tech. Despite the bionics hidden in, or indeed replacing, parts of her body, she was still wary of becoming over-reliant, beyond that of weaponry. When her helmet came off, so too did her link to her AI. Where Quill now knew all he wanted about her, she was still in the dark, so to speak.

"I made sure when I built it that that wouldn't be a problem. You can't imagine how awful I looked after coming out of my first suits..."

She couldn't help but laugh. He thought similarly to her, apparently. Her first move, when beginning her little venture into heroics, was to set up bases, well defended and very well hidden.

"Oh, trust me, you'll have your pick... We also have a name, if you're interested."

 

[Will]

''I can imagine, that helmet looks very enclosed... You seem to have ventilation there too... better than this. Polymorphic underlay. Good for circuitry, bad for breathability.''

When she mentioned he had a pick, he perked up even more. To choose his own base, a lair to launch operations. A safe haven that couldn't be found.

A home.

''I'm thinking a big ol' derelict starship that secretly works. Not too cliché, I hope?''

 

[Kit]

She looked him up and down, barely bothering to even pretend to be subtle. Though she was aware that it had to be more advanced than it looked, she couldn't bring herself to call it a suit... It was practically skintight, and didn't look like it could really stop anything. Maybe energy weapons, but little else.

"Very too cliche, but I don't see why that should matter. Regardless, we'll see what we can do, once we're properly up and running."

She laughed, Quill had seemingly jumped at the idea. Having him onboard would be a very useful step forwards for her plan, for her team.

"If you're in then, Richard, welcome to The Vindicators. Now, if you'd be so kind as to follow me..."

Eden gathered up her hair, and placed the helmet back onto her head, the armour sealing itself once more. Then, without warning, blasted off into the sky. The flight system on this suit was rudimentary, but would be enough.

TO BE CONTINUED.​