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| The First to Fall; (open) | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 14 2008, 10:36 PM (3,400 Views) | |
| Ellis Reed | Apr 14 2008, 10:36 PM Post #1 |
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Energy Manipulation / Wraith Form
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Time of day: Late; very late; Early, very early. Place in the timeline: Friday April 11th/ Saturday April 12th; about a month and a half after 'Encroaching darkness'; a week or so after the state of the school address. JP - Taylor & Eldan (this first post can be skipped for plot purposes, has gotten kinda long ^__^; ) Taylor's fingers flickered across the keyboard while the mouse lay, ignored, off to his right. Eldan and his friends had a very nice computer system, but he had an antivirus that, despite it's less than perfect performance, was still thriving. Within moments, Taylor had McAfee Antivirus among the virtual dead. In it's stead, he installed a free antivirus, AVG Antivirus. Okay, so he installed the pro package, which wasn't free, but because of Taylor's special.... Discount, the price didn't really apply. But Eldan didn't need to know that, now did he? No, he didn't, and he never would. Taylor was in the zone, he was in his Zen. He could find several things hampering the beautiful system that he’d affectionately named “Zelda”, and the techno-geek within him felt the irresistible urge to bring out the übersystem lying dormant within the system that was simply “nice”. It was in thee, it simply needed a little nudging by hands with the correct body of knowledge. 1337 hands. His hands. He could feel something vaguely similar to a mother’s pride as with every successful modification, the computer’s 1337 percentile (in Taylor’s personal rating) rose, just a little each time. Every settings tweak, every memory adjustment, brought the “nice” system closer and closer to the übersystem status that was its birthright. He would show the world precisely why he called himself 1337. Beyond that, he would do a good job optimizing his friend's unit. By the end of it all (two and a half hours later), Taylor had updated and streamlined all of window’s automatic updates, purged Zelda’s registry of old and unnecessary entries, cleared the hard drive of applications and programs that hadn’t been used in forever, and added his own home-made encryptions to the existing firewalls. The system was damn near impenetrable and was running twice as fast as it was before. Most of the extra speed went to Zelda’s background processes, which would increase her multi-tasking abilities. 1337 was proud of his work. As he stood to leave, Taylor used his special brand of special ness to power down the system. He had one more mission to accomplish in this place. The Edraitii had recently acquired a Gamecube. Sure it was kinda old compared to the Wii and the Xbox 360, but it had one game full of so much awesomeness, it was nothing short of a miracle that it didn't explode. Taylor would teach Eldan how to play "Super Smash Bros. Melee" if it was the last thing he did. To this end, he made his way up to the main house. The mansion wasn’t in the best of repair, truth be told, but it was still rather beautiful in a melancholy way. It wasn’t falling to ruin, of course, and it had electricity and all… it was just old. It had looked the part, last October, when Eldan had set up a ‘haunted house’ for the surrounding area. He hadn’t had to do much, really, but he’d had nearly as much fun as the kids setting it up. The place wasn’t messy, considering the amount of teenagers and children that lived there. Then again, Faye’s mom kept the kids in line, now. Mostly. It was a relief not to have to worry about that kinda thing, though it was weird. The whole situation was increasingly strange. Eldan was fairy certain that Bazie was crushing on the pretty red haired woman. What Faye would say to that… he was older than Bazie, if not taller. Ah, well, the woman looked more like Faye’s sister than his mother, and more like a medieval princess than a conventional mom. The Wraith lounged on the sofa, that was slightly too small for his lanky self, seemingly on the verge of falling asleep. The dark haired youth had his half-opened pale green eyes on the door, however, and he was alert as ever. Eldan didn’t go to the guesthouse, much, the teenagers there… Eldan didn't have enough patience for them. Apparently he tended to scare them senseless if they annoyed him too much. Not to mention, it’d be best if he didn’t skulk about while Taylor worked on the security system. He didn’t think that he unnerved the technopath as he did the teens residing in his guesthouse, but in any case it had to be irritating to have someone watching… So, he waited. And waited. El would admit without much debate, he was a rather impatient person, but really. The door opened; Eldan stretched a bit before sitting up and swinging his feet to the floor in one fluid movement. Taylor wasn’t necessarily sneaking in, and as such, he wasn’t in full ninja mode (tip-toes, crouched movement, ect.); even so, he wasn’t expecting someone to be waiting for him at the front door. His brain hadn't even noticed Eldan for several seconds. Ignoring the mild spasm of surprise, Taylor spoke first. “Please tell me you weren’t sitting there this whole time.” How long had it been again? Longer than an hour. Probably closer to two or three. Waiting quietly for a mere half hour was beyond Taylor’s abilities. Two hours would be nothing less than torture, and he felt a slight pang of guilt that he was the reason Eldan had suffered said pain. Of course, he may have been making things more dramatic than they were, but still.. Two hours is a very long time. A quick glance took in what Taylor assumed was the main room. The place was rather huge, he’d gathered that much while he was outside. On the inside, the place seemed quietly regal; like one of those families that had been rich since the beginning of ever; old money. The fact that everything seemed rather ancient somewhat affirmed this observation. “Of course not,” Eldan said, not missing a beat. He had been laying down… ahaha. No, really, earlier he’d been mobbed by small children before he shooed them off to bed. Anyway, after that, he’d finished reading a book. Elvenbane was quite interesting; now, the annoying thing was that he was going to have to wait for Faye to finish the next book and pass it on. Or he’d have to find and buy a copy for himself, braving the obvious hazards of mall crawling. Yes, he would go through all that trouble -having been slightly traumatized by visiting a mall during the holiday season- for a book about elves, dragons, and unicorns. Mind you, the elves were aliens that enslaved the human race, the dragons were shapeshifting mages that delighted in manipulating the lives of lesser creatures, and the ‘unicorns’ were bloodthirsty psychopathic fanged beasts. But that made it all the more interesting. Okay, clearly Eldan, brought up on classic literature and such, was corrupted. No self-respecting Draith would read such a thing… not that he cared. It was fun. The Wraith was completely at ease, quite used to the old place. The only things that were new, other than the appliances and electronics, were things that had to be replaced after 'accidents' with the children’s powers. "Would you like something to eat?" he asked, standing up after a moment. The kitchen was right around the corner.. As Eldan stood, Taylor noticed how tall he was. Really, it was only about 4 or 5 inches, it seemed like more. The prospect of food managed to shift Taylor's attention from Eldan's height to his stomache. He'd probably been hungry for a while now, but computers and games took precedence over eating and sleeping (such trifles are not to be indulged in at the expense of his inner-nerd). Right now, though, between programming and gaming, was the perfect time to appease his hunger. Sitting at a desk, working on one of the most beautiful systems he'd ever seen for hours had gotten his stomache a'grumblin. Besides, he hadn't eaten since... A large bowl of ramen at 2PM (the memory made him even more hungry). Food would be the intelligent option right about now... It wouldn't do to pass out or fall victim to whatever happens to anorexic people. Taylor spoke simply and short..ly. "Please." Well, it was more like an eight or nine inch difference, which was probably why it seemed like more. Not that Eldan was paying attention to that. He led the way into the kitchen, which was literally around the corner, past the winding staircase… and turned on the lights. The kitchen was the only room to be really updated, and it was just … big. Everyone currently living in the mansion - and then some - could comfortably hang out. It was possible that a few rooms had been combined with it, like the dining room. It was all very open; at the opposite end, one could step out onto the back porch. It wasn’t very visible at night, the gardens, or the forest beyond. It seemed almost like a wall of darkness. Something that Eldan was quite used to now. While he had good night vision, it was by no means perfect, and the lighting of the kitchen kinda ruined it… "Hmm, what do you want?" he asked, moving over toward the fridge. There was a large bowl of fruit on the counter, as well as some fresh baked muffins and such. Elii pulled out of the fridge... some leftovers from a meal Ryandra made earlier that day. Lasagna was seriously his favorite, too bad she wasn't as good a cook as that blond kid. Well, he took that and some chocolate milk out, before glancing at Taylor. There was plenty to choose from, really; they had to keep the fridge and pantry well stocked with how many growing kids and teenagers lived at the mansion and its guesthouse. Taylor followed, continuing to glance about. He saw several paintings, but he didn't recognize any, not that he was any art fanatic. He simply lacked the eye for such things. He was thoroughly surprised when they got to the kitchen, though. His whole apartment could fit in there! Not that his apartment was particularly big (it was particularly small, actually). He helped himself to an apple from the bowl while Eldan searched the fridge. Lasagna? He'd never eaten the food before. Kevin hadn't really been big on eating out, and almost never cooked Italian food (when he did, it was usually simple spaghetti). The only thing he really knew about Lasagna was that it was Garfield's favorite food in the world. He recognized the dish, however, because he'd taken a two-bit home ec class, and had been made to find a different dish (and preparation instructions) every week. M4551V3 5UX0R. Anyways, now was the best time to try it. Besides, Tay didn't want to have to ask for something else. After they ate, the two teenagers spent quite a lot of time playing video games . Eldan was a fast learner, so by the end of it he wasn’t being beaten too badly in ‘Super Smash Brothers Melee.’ Time passed rather quickly it seemed, and it was about two in the morning when Eldan was feeling rather too tired to play anymore. There were other games, though he wasn’t sure which one it was that the technopath was playing as he was dozing off himself. He didn’t intend to fall asleep on the sofa in the living room, but that’s where he ended up passing out. He was woken abruptly again at five that same morning, slightly bewildered. |
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| Ellis Reed | Apr 26 2008, 04:13 PM Post #2 |
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Energy Manipulation / Wraith Form
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When he woke up, it was still dark. There wasn’t the faintest amount of light filtering through the curtains; either it was still very late, or very early. As there wasn’t a clock to be seen, Eldan couldn’t be sure. Uncomfortable as the way he’d been sleeping was, slumped on the couch, he wasn’t really feeling the affects of sleeping like that. Maybe it hadn’t been long enough for that? He got up, stretching, and wondered what it was that had woken him up. Taylor was sleeping, in a rather more comfortable position than El had managed. The television and game cube was still on; he turned them off. What had woken him off? He rubbed at his eyes, moving toward the window in a sort of bemused daze. Three hours of sleep wasn’t quite enough. He couldn’t quite make out the form of the guest house near the street, but the lights were on, and there seemed to be quite a lot of activity. Another one of those all night parties? He was going to have to do something about that…Eldan frowned. Something wasn’t quite right. Just as he decided to go out there and find out what was going on, the lights flared… the guest house was on fire. He swore under his breath and spun away from the window and to the door, flinging it open before stepping out into the night. He had absolutely no idea what was going on, but he was going to find out and stop it before it got out of hand… as if the place burning down wasn’t out of hand! |
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| Koen Taylor | Apr 28 2008, 02:40 AM Post #3 |
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Unregistered
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Taylor opened his eyes. At least, he thought he did. It made little difference: there was no light. He was sprawled out on his back, fully cothed, having stolen a cushion from the couch to use as a pillow. One thing because clear to him, even without the abiity to see. He was now alone. Oh, yea! That's what had woken him up... Someone slammed the door. Had it been Eldan? Anyways, he now sat up. He couldn't tell what time it was, but he knew that it was an 3V1L hour to be awake. It was even more 3V1L to be cooking (no, burning) stuff. Really, who could possibly cook at such an ungodly hour? The cyberpath stood and made his way to the kitchen. Odd. Nobody was cooking. Still, the smell of burning led him outside. The sight that met him nearly brought tears to the Eidetic's eyes. The building that housed the system he'd spent hours modifying, was now burning to the ground. Wait.. Eldan had mentioned kids living there, hadn't he? Despite the fact that Taylor had 1) no firefighting training of any sort and 2) no powers that could possibly help at the moment, the eidetic took off at a full run toward the Guesthouse. Halfway there, he came to a stop. Something was in the darkness. It was strange, because he hadn't remembered any structures in that general area, so there shouldn't have been any signs of technology. Regardless of Taylor's rationalizing, there were two very large machines not very far away. Taylor wanted more than anything for his first impression to be horribly wrong. Subconsciously, Koen lost all patience and thrust what should have been the obvious truth before Taylor. Sentinels, two of them, were approaching the Eldraiti mansion. "Eldan?" Taylor tried to yell, but his voice caught. Clearing his throat, he shouted at the very top of his lungs. "ELDAN??" He took two steps backward, his mind racing. What to do? Find Eldan, or try to stop the sentinels now, alone? Well, there was no time to run off to find Eldan. The robots' next shot may very well be the mansion itself. Their next shot could be him. Taylor sent an audio signal to the Sentinels. If there were humans piloting them, they would hear his voice in their headphones, and every other speaker system. ::Please, cease fire! There are children inside! I repeat, hold your fire, there are human children inside the mansion!!:: Of course, there were also mutant children inside as well, but Taylor felt that wouldn't do very much to halt the Sentinels. |
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| Ellis Reed | Apr 28 2008, 03:25 PM Post #4 |
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Energy Manipulation / Wraith Form
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Running into a burning building wasn’t the brightest thing Eldan had ever done. He’d noticed the Sentinels as he approached the guesthouse, but didn’t give them a second glance before he ran inside. From all appearances, most of the residents had fled the building already. ~Of course they did, they actually have some common sense,~ Eldan thought at himself irritably as he nonetheless continued searching. If worst came to worst, he would change into his wraith form to escape and turn his attention to the Sentinels. He was about to turn back when he finally found someone… two someones, actually. He swore under his breath and knelt next to an all too familiar pink haired mutant. “Dammit Bazie, I can not carry you,” he muttered at his friend, before giving the cute little girl huddled next to him a reassuring smile. Faye’s little sister, Rilkya… he didn’t bother wondering what the kid was doing in the guesthouse when she lived in the main house. “Hey, Bubbles,” he whispered to the frightened child, as he attempted to pick the heavier mutant up, “C’mon… its time to get outta here…” The red haired little girl nodded, her grey eyes serious as she stood up and clutched at his cloak as he led the way out. It quickly became apparent that they weren’t going to be able to get out the way he came in. The fire had spread. Stumbling under the weight of his unconscious friend ~Please let him just be unconscious~ Eldan brought them to a window. “Rilkya, you can climb down here…” he told her with confidence in her climbing abilities although she was clearly scared in this situation. “The trellis… the thing with the flowers,” he explained. “It’s just like a ladder.” A brave nod of her head made her red little ringlets bounce and she climbed out of the window. Eldan let out a sigh of relief when she got to the ground, and began climbing down himself, Bazie over his shoulder. Less than halfway down, the trellis ripped away from the building. They hit the ground painfully. “Bubbles, you alright?” he asked the little girl as he sat up, feeling rather bruised. “Yeah…” the girl whispered, eyes on the sentinels not far away. They were in the shadows of the burning building, but she was sure the monster robots could still see them. She was distracted as Bazie started coughing violently, waking up ready to tear something in half. “Little creeps,” the pink haired mutant practically snarled. They’d been sold out, he was certain. Several of the human residents of the guesthouse had vanished the day before, without a trace. He hadn’t thought that it was a problem, people left all the time… no one had to stay. "You're still with us..." Eldan said expressionlessly, relief flooding him. Now was not the time to ask questions, now was the time to act. He stood up abruptly, and felt for his cell phone. Luckily he had it with him, there was no time... without even looking he texted 'evac' to Riker and Wren. Between the empath and the speedster, they should be able to get the children safely away and calm. They did have a few emergency codes, of course. Anything otherwise would be foolhardy at best, in these times. "Bazie," he began, intending to have the slightly younger teen escape with the kid while he distracted the sentinels. He intended on dealing with them anyway, and the more of a distraction he was the more likely they would focus on him to the exclusion of the mutie children escaping from the mansion. "No," Bazie said, smiling grimly at his leader and friend as he stood up. He caught on to what Eldan was thinking, knowing the wraith well enough to guess. There was no way El would survive against these things alone, and then they would hunt down the survivors. The little girl's 'bubbles' could protect her, anyway, she was getting very good with them. "Is that your friend?" he asked blankly after a moment, noticing Taylor. Eldan turned to look, and nodded abruptly. The teenager was directly in the sentinel's line of sight, and probably in range of anything they had to throw at him. ~What's he thinking?~ he wondered, quickly and silently moving through the darkness towards Taylor. If this had happened during the day, he would've been near useless in the blinding light. As it was, he was in his element. |
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| Koen Taylor | Apr 29 2008, 01:59 AM Post #5 |
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Unregistered
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Taylor may as well have not said anything. The sentinels didn't even pause. For a single second more, the cyberpath worried. He worried about his own safety; he had no combat training, nor had he ever had to use his powers in a combat situation. He'd done all his hacking and techno-manipulation in the comfort of his own home, with no mortal danger present. He was worried about the safety of the children in the guesthouse, the continued safety of the children in the mansion. It only took a single second of worrying for Taylor to remember. While he was worried and scared and (still) tired, he was at the same time thoroughly pissed. He screamed into their speakers once more. ::This is your last warning. There are human children inside that mansion. Stop now or I'll have to disarm you.:: The warning was purposeless, though. Taylor didn't give them a chance to properly react. The instant his last message was completed, he mentally latched onto one. The firewalls were very complex and heavily layered, but his system at home was still better protected. The firewalls were no problem and he brushed aside the various counter-viruses and worms and probes attempting to connect to him, assuming that he was a computer. The trouble came when he tried to actually take control of the systems. The sentinels weren't each running on a single system. They had seperate systems for everything! There was one central system that was connected to several dfferent systems for temerature regulation, weapons, audio/visual signals, another system for movement which in turn was connected to more systems for arms and legs, torso and head. Taylor tried shutting them down, one by one, but each sysem was interconnected, so the instant one was shut down, the others simply backed up and rebotted the failed system. The whole thing was an interconnected web. There was no way Taylor could control them all with his current level of control with his abilities. Hell, he would probably only be able to control two similar systems with the current environmental stress. Well, the things were equipped with enough weapons that even if Taylor froze two at a time, they would still be able to wreak considerable havok. Instead, he simply took control of both arms in one sentinel, raising one of the arms in a "hold on" type gesture. Palm backwards, fingers outstretched. Besides, as long as their hands weren't pointed at the mansion, they were probably protected from most of the weapons. At least, from that sentinel. |
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| Cyclops | May 6 2008, 02:43 AM Post #6 |
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Punches from the Punch Dimension
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Continued from Morning Fires The first of the 'escorts' showed up about five minutes into the flight. Quinjets, a set of two, each one equipped turbojet engines. A quinjet could reach Mach 2.1. The Blackbird could reach Mach 4.2 at its service ceiling of 230,000 feet, a ceiling that Cyclops was more than capable of reaching. As their SHIELD appointed caretakers appeared on the radar, Cyclops gave no orders to his co-pilot, even though she had no innate skill for aircraft. She borrowed his talent, which was considerable, and the ultra rapid ascent, 29.5 miles per minute, was as smooth as pulling out of one's own driveway. Cyclops's lips twitched as the quinjets struggled to keep up, knowing without even a flicker of doubt that his craft was the most sophisticated thing in the air next to SHIELD's Helicarrier, itself, and there was no way Fury was going to unlock that behemoth from its gravitational moorings to chase the Blackbird. Besides, no matter how advanced it was, the Helicarrier did not have Scott Grey-Summers at it's control. Evasive maneuvers were as natural as breathing. And, though the tensions were high on both ends, not a weapon was fired, something that Cyclops hoped that the naysayers on this team who suspected their leaders of some misdeed took notice of. Three times in the fourteen minute flight quinjets were on their tail, and three times Cyclops and Phoenix lost them. How easy it would have been to blow these jack booted humans from the sky, in the defensive of the mutant people, but, Cyclops was not going to throw the first punch in this combat. Besides, it was very clear what was happening. They were being herded towards the combat zone that was the Edraitii base. They were meant to see the Sentinels in action, first hand, and that was just what they were going to do. Coming into sight, the two giant lumbering beasts demolishing the Edraitii compound, the guest house already a blaze, the grounds filled with panicking children running from several flanks of ground troops. What were they doing? Rounding up the children? For what purpose? The first of the Sentinels spotted the Blackbird and it's 'hand' shot out, blasting outward with a repulsor beam. Cyclops pulled hard to starboard, the Blackbird tilting dangerously. "X-Men! Ready yourselves!" Cyclops said as he brought the craft around in a tight landing spiral, VTOL equipment bring it into the field just beyond the battle zone. "Nightstalkers, on Ms. Schwarz's command move, flank right. X-Men, fliers up top, ground based move left. Get the Edraitii and the noncombatants out of the line of fire, and start in on the Sentinels. Weapons are adaptable. Do not attack the same Sentinel twice with the same tactic. Improvisation and Innovation are imperative." The Blackbird touched down and the hatch slid open. Cyclops was on his feet in an instant, Phoenix rising at the same time. They strode to the door to take point and paused at the door for just a moment. Cyclops looked back at his team and said, simply, " Extreme force is authorized." The War had begun. |
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| Synch | May 6 2008, 10:40 AM Post #7 |
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Unregistered
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With a look of gratitude and reservation Synch took his seat and buckled himself in again. The sudden pitch and yaw of the jet was thrilling to feel as Synch felt his body be thrown about in his large passenger chair. With the approaching combat and possibility of danger people were mentally prepping themselves but Synch was enjoying the flight all too much. The sense of exhilaration and excitement was evident upon his face from the sly grin on his lips. From the Squawking voice on the radio they weren’t supposed to be heading to their intended destination. The plot thickened when the voice addressed Scott by name with familiarity. When Scott ~Who was this guy who was trying to stop them from helping innocent people? ~ Synch thought to himself. The enjoyment of the flight had been destroyed when Scott began issuing orders to people and the realisation of the attack finally sunk in. With buildings on fire and two huge machines pounding the stuffing out of what remained standing Synch swallowed as his mouth suddenly went dry. His dreams and nightmares of these things were a constant irritation since they took his bed. Synch did love his sleep after all but the never ending memory of that thing standing over them all in Mutant Town still haunted his dreams. “My god those things are insane.” Synch muttered to himself absently. His eyes were only pulled from the view port when Cyclops spoke up about their battle plan. They were to attack from the grown and defeat these huge monstrosities of metal and electricity. The absurdity of this plan was astronomical but Synch could not sit by and do nothing so like everyone he began to mentally prep himself for the approaching engagement but every once in a while he would glance out of the window and see those humans weapons. |
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| Samantha Carter | May 6 2008, 11:24 AM Post #8 |
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Unregistered
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The flight had been far from smooth and when the first maneuver hit to dodge the incoming aircraft trying to persuade the Blackbird into going another way, Sam nearly lost what little she had in her stomach. Her body remained unmoved although the tension in her arms rang up into her neck, not good. If she didn’t relax before all of this was over, there’d be a nice mess to clean up right here on the plane. Words shot back and forth from the communication area. To reduce the fear raging through the feline, Sam concentrated on the words, using her feline acuity to hear it all. When S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury were mentioned a flash of the laboratory that took her suddenly became present like it was happening right then and now. What the? Something triggered that and the art teacher suspected it was the callout of those names. But why? There wasn’t any time to reminisce. Cyclops gave the go ahead as the large black stealth had already made it’s landing and the hatch slowly opened. The vibrations of the large machines outside, indicated just how dangerous and stupid it was for Sam to come along. I mean really, what in the world is a six hundred pound tiger going to do with oversized toy soldiers that weighed probably ten times her weight as a cat? Naw on their legs? All the young woman could think about was the children. Maybe if she could get them to safety, it would be enough because her abilities didn’t really make a whole lot of sense against an army of toys made for King Kong. The buckle came off with ease and the woman was already down the plank before the first rumble of giant footprints really impacted the reality of the situation. Her body turned around the blackbird and caught the first glimpse of those giant machines and Sam couldn’t help but feel a knot in her throat and a stroke of fear rivet through her veins. She’d never been in combat before, never trained properly, never really prepared herself for what was about to happen. ”What am I doing here?” she mumbled softly enough to remain only to the toned ears of those that could pick up a whisper. Taking in a breath, the feline closed her eyes and concentrated. Maybe if she could pick up a trace of a voice, a small voice, children, it would be enough incentive to carry on and do what they set out to do. There was nothing, but Sam continued to use that ability as her feet carried her closer to impending doom. |
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| Anna Cuff | May 6 2008, 03:10 PM Post #9 |
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Unregistered
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Anna lurched and nearly lost what little was left in her stomach since her last meal twelve hours ago. That first maneuver took the Chaos Queen by surprise, but she managed the rest of the flight ok. Even in the sickening drone of the twin jet engine strumming along, Anna could barely pick up some of the conversation in the cockpit. Radioed voices tried to get us out of the air, Mr. Summers...Cyclops...refused to to comply. She had never known Mr. Summers to be one to break the rules, but maybe this Cyclops character could do just that. Anna Spent most of the fourteen minute flight playing with her fabled shards of light. The incandescent hum of her powers were drowned out by the steady strum of the engines, but there was something...almost sothing in just feeling the hum of her powers though her hands, as she folded spacetime so that all the air between her hands suddenly was conc3entrated into a microsphere of red-hot liquid nitrogen/oxygen mix, which immediately rushed out to fill in the sudden vacuum she had created around it. Each Pop only made a cubic foot vacuum, that the hyper-concentrated atmosphere in her hands readily filled, time exploding with a slight "WUMP!" and a blast of air. Still, it was as fun as a kid playing with Silly Putty. Soon, after a bit of dodging, the Blackbird landed. Mr. Su-Cyclops stepped out of the cockpit. Anna let go of her shards, and half of the randomly pulled molecules shot back out to where they were needed. She nodded when it was needed, and started to take off the harness holding her in this metallic deathcan. Anna paused and nodded slightly towards Shina, like the knights of old pledging there sword to a higher commander, Anna was signaling her alliances to this warrior. She bolted to the ramp, but paused just to the side of it. As the others rushed out, Anna froze in place, just thinking about what was going to happen. Sudden images flashed from her life, her fifth birthday party, the day her sister was brought home, her first day in high school, the day her powers manifested themselves, her first kiss, her first cross country race, her first controlled tweak, the last time she's seen her parents..It was all flashing before her mind, swift yet whole. The entire feeling of that moment swam up in her, and receded to make room for the next one. Is this it... she thought, is this my life flashing before my eyes? Someone tapped her and the shoulder and Anna shook herself out of it. She wasn't going to die here, she had much better things to do. A swift nod and she was out the door, and onto war. |
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| Ellis Reed | May 6 2008, 07:28 PM Post #10 |
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Energy Manipulation / Wraith Form
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It was surreal. One moment and the world seemed to fall apart. Much of the action was in the back of the mansion, as the children attempted to get away. The evacuation wasn't going well, obviously. The children began to panic despite Wren's attempts to calm them with her empathy; she was scared as well and there was so many of them... There were so few people on their side that could actually do anything worth speaking of... and there were troops. Actual... the teenaged girl glared at them. The only one that wasn't running from them at that point, she attracted their attention with her apparent fearlessness and her obvious mutatancy; her hair was quite purple, and her eyes flashed golden in the night. She instilled bravery in the children, as she called out direction to them rather than scattering as such easy targets. "I'll protect you," she whispered, faintly. She didn't know how, but she would. She'd instill terror and pain enough to drive their enemies mad. She'd drown them in the sorrow she felt for the ones they'd already lost in the fire. She'd do anything to protect her children. The calm over the children didn't last, as they gathered behind her... a faceless soldier fired at the girl and she collapsed. There was so much blood... she refused to pass out. She clung to consciousness. They were crying, they were scared, she had to protect them... The sentinels were semi-distracted from whatever task they were supposed to be accomplishing. Whatever it was Taylor was doing, one of them was having issues with its arms and the other.. the other was being dented up slightly by a strong youth that didn't have the sense not to attack a giant robot on his own. Yes, Bazie had rushed it, and it didn't seem to be going so well. Barely able to dent the metal, he was getting frustrated and worried. He'd practically thrown little Rilkya at Eldan to keep the Wraith out of it... The older teen was in shock, he could tell. It was like the time they'd nearly died last summer. Eldan was glaring at the sentinels and clutching Rilkya protectively and standing by the technopath's side silently as he tried to focus his energy to damage one of the monstrous hulks if he could. Bazie was thrown to the ground, and the world swam in front of his eyes. He made a sound of protest as the sentinel shot something at the group. The blast would have killed them all, he was sure, except... there were suddenly bubbles everywhere. Little bubbles, mostly, but one big one surrounding the trio. Still, the force of the blast sent them all flying and the bubbles quickly began to dissipate. The child oft called Bubbles was unconscious... hopefully unconscious. He couldn't make out the forms of Eldan or Taylor; it was too dark and they were too far away. He tried to get up, to either run to his leader and friend, or to attack the sentinels he didn't know. He couldn't move. He didn't hurt, much, but he couldn't move. He couldn't feel his injuries that he surely had... he had no idea how much blood he'd lost already... Was he dying? It seemed that everyone was dying tonight. At least he wouldn't be alone. Rike was nothing but a purple blur. He'd started evacuating the children from the mansion, in case that was firebombed (or whatever it was they'd done to the guest house) as well. There was a group of them safely far away from the mansion under the watchful eye of Ryandra Dai'Fayerth. It was, he was, he wasn't fast enough. For the first time since he gained his powers, the world was moving too fast for him. There were too many children for him to save on his own. There were too many enemies, and he was forcibly reminded of the incident at the warehouse he summer before. There were too many; they were overwhelmed. He couldn't fight them all, and he couldn't get the children away from them fast enough. He... he needed to go to Eldan. He needed orders. He didn't know what to do. He nearly reached he group as they were attacked, and he froze in place as they went flying. Almost instantly he was kneeling by the unconscious form of his leader; unconscious, not dead, he quickly found as he checked the teen's pulse. Alive. He looked at the behemoth that injured Eldan. At its feet, lay his other friend. He didn't even know where Wren was. With the children, probably. He needed to find her, help her, but he couldn't leave his injured friends to the nonexistent mercies of these ... these humans. Tay, I left it open whether or not ya actually got hit and all so that's up to you. Eldan's unconcious and injured, as are the rest of the Edraitii that can actually fight worth anything. |
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| Koen Taylor | May 7 2008, 02:39 AM Post #11 |
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Unregistered
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Taylor sensed yet another system approaching, and simply reacted. He released the sentinel's right arm so that he could sieze control over a weapon in the left. If these new problems were prepared for anything, they wouldn't be prepared for an attack from one of their own. The arm rose, took aim, and fired. He missed, though, and the arm repositioned itself to take aim at the second sentinel. Before he could fire again, Taylor's sentinel rose it's right arm in his general direction. But it wasn't aiming for him... Who? The cyberpath turned to see a little girl and Bazie. "OH SHI-" Even though the weapon wasn't aimed at Taylor, it was powerful enough and the intended target was near enough to his position that the shockwave still knocked him head over heels until he hit something big and hard, banging his head and blacking out momentarily as he came to a stop. When he opened his eyes a couple seconds later, Taylor found moving difficult. He could, however, sit up and open his eyes. He saw an injured Bazie and an unconscious little girl. He couldn't very well move his head--every movement sent sharp pains through his skull--but he could still see Riker, relatively unharmed and Eldan, on the ground, not moving. Was he dead? No, Taylor wouldn't allow himself to believe so. Instead, he returned his attention to the bastard systems who'd caused this madness. He'd intended to retake control over the sentinel's left arm and repulsor beams, and make it blow it's own head off, and if that didn't stop it, it would blow out it's chest. But between the stress of the current situation, his concussion, the pain, and his not-so-complete control over his abilities, he did something wrong. He didn't know what, but everyone would hear the result. The arm didn't move, the repulsor beams didn't fire, instead, the repulsor beam systems simply exploded, taking out the whole arm and a portion of the chest. If he could think, the cyberpath would have been proud that he'd managed to wreak such havok upon a sentinel. As it were, he was clutching his head, forgetting that every movement pained him. It was as though the explosion had been inside his skull, it hurt so bad. Taylor lost the ability to form linear thought and was consumed with vague, chaotic impulses. HURT. PAIN. FEAR. FIRE. He was on his side now, but had no recollection of the actual fall from sitting up, curled into the fetal position. GOD, his head felt like someone had taken a blunt axe to it... He tasted blood -his nose was bleeding now- but beyond the pain and the fear, beyond the worry for his survival and the survival of the Eldraiti, Taylor was certain of one thing: He, and everyone else present were going to die. |
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| Wolverine | May 7 2008, 01:24 PM Post #12 |
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Unregistered
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OOC: I was on a roll. If anything needs to be edited, please let me know. Thank you ^^. Observation. It’s what he was best at. Total. Silent. Observation. Taking in the subtleness of body reaction, the little hints at how people were feeling, what may have been going through their minds, and then, adding the tone of their voice to the picture already forming in his head. The Wolverine knew Scott was right… the war was coming, had been for a very long time, and now, it was here. It wasn’t until he’d heard the order from Fury to lower the jet back down into the hangar, to forget about what was going on and just sit on their asses waiting for those behind all this to mop it all up, and come up with some pathetic excuse as to why it'd happened in the first place. SHIELD were definitly the problem, and it was up to the X-Men to stop them. "Be prepared, X-Men, this war is about to get ugly," prepared? The Wolverine was already prepared, always ready, for any moment things could go south, and more often than not, they happened when he was least expecting it. No one woke up that morning believing the Eldratii base would be destroyed;; thinking, for one moment, they’d now be lifting off heading for a battle scene that was no doubt going to cause many an emotion to be felt. For him, it would be anger that fuelled him;; a rage that was always dying to be released, an instinct held in and controlled for way too long. To get his claws into the real thing, to be given the chance to obliterate the reality, his entire body ached with the need to be there already. Of course, that was in-between keeping his balance as Scott so expertly outran the quinjets, Logan never for one moment doubting his skill. The feral had been at the mansion for five years, and never once had he thought to ask if he could be taught more about the craft that merely seemed to be an extension of the man in the cockpit;; never once… until now. It didn’t matter though. None of it mattered. Nothing. Because, when the Eldraitii base came into view;; when the hulking forms of the sentinels were suddenly so obviously there, the telltale SNIKT! rang through the aircraft, eyes narrowed, nostrils flared, the Wolverine taking over. "…ground based move left,” he caught that, but only just… managed to wait until Scott and Jean made to move out of the jet. "Extreme force is authorized," and that was all he needed to hear. Gone. To the left, as ordered… just… gone, drawn by the smell of blood, heightened by the sheer exhilaration of the entire scene before him. Let the others take care of the kids… he was going after the sentinels! Or, so he thought. He heard the explosions, paused only momentarily to look up, find the source, and smirk so sinisterly it was amazing he’d ever been allowed to join the X-Men in the first place. Gaze breaking from the damage to the sentinel, among Logan’s thoughts was the need to finish the thing off, however, the smell of blood was now stronger, and the source of it was all bar… there! He spotted the kid lying on his side, saw another two young girls, not knowing enough about the members of the Eldraitii that one of them was Bazie, the other, Koen Taylor. It didn’t matter though, they were mutant kids caught in the middle of a war, up against machines most of them were too young and inexperienced in their powers to even stand a chance against! The Wolverine was not about to put his need to tear said machines apart before the need to get the kids out of the firing line. Grabbing a hold of the injured Bazie, he hoisted her over his shoulder;; taking a hold of the other little girl, she was small enough to hold underneath his other arm, where she hung like a limp rag doll. He moved, expecting to be attacked by the sentinels at any time;; moved so quickly towards the area furthest from where the sentinels were positioned. Yes, they could reach it with their weapons;; no, they would not find it so easy to do so now the X-Men were there. After placing them gently down on the ground, he turned, making his way back, kneeling beside Koen, understanding the kid was still conscious, dealing with pain and fear… the latter being the very thing that would indeed get him killed. “Suck it up kid!” he hissed. “Tha X-Men are gonna need yer help ter find everyone an’ get 'em ter safety. Where’s yer leader? How many are missin?” and then, the inevitable happened. The sentinel with its weaponry systems still fully intact spotted and subsequently fired upon them. Logan wasted no time, grabbing Koen and rolling him sideways, protecting him from the worst of it, as he felt his own back now on fire… the pain excruciating, yet, gone almost as soon as it had registered, regenerative powers kicking in to heal the results of what went flying as the repulsor beam ripped into the ground where they injured boy had once been lying. |
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| Static | May 7 2008, 08:13 PM Post #13 |
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Unregistered
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The period of time between the take off and the arrival at the Eldraitii base was mostly just a blur. Callan was too consumed in her own thoughts to be fully aware of her surroundings. This had come too soon for her. Sure, the fact that she had the ability and desire to help in this type of situation was a major factor in her decision to return, but she hadn't expected that fact to be put to the test before she'd gotten used to her powers again. What if she let everyone down? How could she possibly deal with that? Callan had too much to prove, and she really wasn't ready to prove anything. As the Blackbird was pulled to the right, Callan was pulled back into reality. They were about to land. "X-Men! Ready yourselves!" She wasn't one of the X-men in any sense of the title. What the hell was she doing here? The questions continued to flood her mind without any sign of stopping, and Callan wasn't sure how much longer she could take it. Things were about to get a whole lot more hectic, but there was no getting out of it now. "Nightstalkers, on Ms. Schwarz's command move, flank right. X-Men, fliers up top, ground based move left. Get the Edraitii and the noncombatants out of the line of fire, and start in on the Sentinels. Weapons are adaptable. Do not attack the same Sentinel twice with the same tactic. Improvisation and Innovation are imperative." ~I can't do this. There is no way I can do this.~ The Blackbird touched down. Cyclops and Phoenix rose from their seats and headed for the hatch which opened with a sound that seemed strangely ominous to Callan. This was it. Right outside that door there was a battle going on, and she was no warrior. All of the fear that had built up within her had her stuck in her seat for a moment, not even moving to release her belt. The stone cold expression that had appeared on her way to the hangar was still present on her face. ~Gotta move.~ Suddenly, she was up and at the door. Trying to calm herself, she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly. . . it didn't work. Nothing could prepare her for what she was about to witness. ~Why didn't I just stay in Boston?~ Then Cyclops, their always-composed leader, looked back at them before exiting, "Extreme force is authorized." Had it really come to that? Callan was no murderer. She wasn't the most altruistic, friendly person in the world, but she wasn't sure that she could really kill someone. ~Now's not the time to be a damn coward. Get going.~ Without ever being aware of her feet carrying her forward, Callan instantly found herself standing on the ground, looking vaguely terrified. They were just kids. What the hell did they do to deserve this? There was fire, screaming, chaos. Callan was an artist and she could never have pictured a scene like this. . . And the sentinels were massive, like metallic beasts of the apocalypse or something. Callan was born to shock things like that into oblivion, but she'd definitely never tried it, and she was currently hoping that she wouldn't have to anytime soon. ~Pay attention. No time to stare. Move right.~ Trying to hide the uncertainty she was feeling (really forming a subtle pout with the fear in her eyes), Callan looked to Shina. The least she could do was just follow orders. That was it. All she had to do was what she was told. No questions asked. . . hopefully. |
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| Samantha Carter | May 7 2008, 10:28 PM Post #14 |
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Unregistered
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Blood. It wreaked itself violently through the nostrils of the shape shifter sending a shudder of nausea down the stomach and up to the throat. Her hearing picked up the faint scent of a scream, maybe a holler while her eyes found a familiar figure darting to the left and towards the hungry metal giants. Instinct told the artist that there were children in trouble, maybe hurt, maybe even dead. Purity and devotion to those innocent faces caused the feet of the feral to move quickly without reserve in the direction that the Wolverine took. She knew his senses weren’t far from her own, but he had experience, something only she could learn from and grow as an individual, as a fellow feral, and as a future X-men. When he stopped with the children in his arms, concerned riddled the sapphire hues watching as the sentinel made no judgment on whom he aimed and fired upon. She found herself gasping the movements of the feral and thankful that he was there, helping them. But now, he needed help, no matter how well versed he was in fighting those children were a burden and in need of help. Racing up beside the group, Sam offered her help looking to Logan first. “I’ll take the young one back….” came as another shot was fired. This time right behind them sending shards of cement everywhere. Instinctively, the feline covered the wounded and unconscious little girl. A piece of cement smacked the feline’s back and even though the toughness of the black leather suit did retaliate some of the force, it didn’t take away pain. A loud growled grunt passed Sam’s face, but she remained over the body looking to Logan. “I can get her out of here quickly and possibly distract the tin man over there enough for you to do whatever is you do. I’ll be back after she’s safe to help retract more.” Without hearing a reply or even an argument, Sam closed her eyes allowing the molecules to begin their growth and transformation. The suit was specially designed to help with the pain of the shape change, but not internally. Bones expanded while the fur protruded through the pores throughout soft ivory skin. Feet and hands flattened, then shortened, then expanded to reveal paws with sharp claws. Her ears pulled back into the skull while her new ones grew on top of the head. Teeth expanded and sharpened to reveal fangs as whiskers grew from the upper lips and cheeks. The last thing to make itself present was the long tail that would be used for balance in the long quick stride back to the jet. It was the only place Sam could quickly think of as a safety net for now. There wouldn’t be a beeline to the Blackbird, but a series of turns and maneuvers to lose those metal giant’s targeting rays, if they decided to follow her. But she assumed the clawed man would take care of that. Once transformed, the large six hundred pound Siberian tiger stood tall on its four legs. Inside the mind, the control issue was already becoming a problem, as the feral inside wanted so desperately to take over. However, it tilted down and eyed the child lying there giving the human (Sam) enough power to grab the small girl whole. Her large jaws that could crunch bones like toothpicks engulfed her and gently place her securely inside. Motherly instinct had kicked in and Sam looking one last time to Logan before turning and sprinting off in the opposite direction just praying she could control this long enough for this young one to be safe. |
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| Orbital | May 8 2008, 07:33 AM Post #15 |
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Unregistered
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[ JP: Orbital + Stretch ] "Nightstalkers, on Ms. Schwarz's command move, flank right. X-Men, fliers up top, ground based move left. Get the Edraitii and the noncombatants out of the line of fire, and start in on the Sentinels. Weapons are adaptable. Do not attack the same Sentinel twice with the same tactic. Improvisation and Innovation are imperative." Was Roy conflicted? Clearly. S.H.I.E.L.D. simply couldn't do something like this to innocents, regardless of their stance on 'controlling potential mutant insurgency' -- but something in Scott's recent behavior hinted at more than just anger. He'd abandoned a basic precept of Charles Xavier's core teachings -- and that wasn't like Scott. But maybe there were just dynamics to the man he didn't know. Either way, with both Orbital and Stretch being X-Men, Cyclops was their commander -- and his order was their command. Kohl eyes would look up from Roy's hung brows -- and a curt, direct nod to his leader, rising to his feet and moving towards the Blackbird's exit. Colin's eyes shot to their field leader at that command, from behind his mask -- and in a quick rush, joined the ground assault, flanking left as Cyclops had just ordered. And here they were -- once again, on the scene of battle. Oh, sure, Stretch had a little ... run-in with Cyclops, earlier in the Blackbird -- but the interpersonal turbulence back there seemed to just dissipate once the pink-skinned mutant got the full low-down on what was happening. The Eldraitii Base -- their compound was a place for orphan children. And being an orphan himself, Colin knew the need for a good home. Why Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. were poking their nose here, he didn't have a clue ... but he didn't like it. He moved like a man possessed -- weaving between Logan and Samantha, to make his way further into the hallway. Charging his way into a room with a swift boot to the door, he looked to the three shocked children staring at him in shock -- before he gave them a smile. " ... Ey, kids, no time t'explain, but let's getcha outta here, capeche?" He said, not waiting for a response before he scooped them up on his strong shoulders, running back from where he came, to an exit, and to get them to safety. ---- The lumbering Sentinels were moving fairly quickly -- something only a vantage point from the air could see. And, hovering above the Eldraitii compound like some levitating vanguard, Orbital saw it all, with lowered brows. But the appearance of the Blackbird was likely sending the offending war machines the wrong message -- and one fired something ... something long-range. A missile. Targeted at the Blackbird, yes ... but the collateral would likely cause some severe damage to the compound. Maybe Scott was right. Maybe ... this was war. "Cyclops, I've got a positive on an incoming ballistic ... looks to be a frag warhead," he uttered out over the radio frequency. "I'll take care of it." That rocket roared through the sky -- but all Roy had to do was focus, and use his gravity manipulating powers to shoot that errant projectile high into the atmosphere ... and out of harm's way. ---- With a heavy breath, Colin put down the three kids just outside, by the Blackbird's gangplank -- before looking over to the horizon at the approaching Sentinels, as one fired a missile. Sure, Orbital managed it ... but the thought irked him. It irked him enough to be vocal about it. "What kinda stupid fucks fire live missiles when dere's fuckin' kids around, huh?!" Colin jawed off on the open radio frequency -- to Roy, primarily, but the transmission was likely overheard by other teammates. "Who d'fuck does S.H.I.E.L.D. t'ink dey are? Dey got sumfin' against kids havin' a home dat AIN'T a smokin' crater?" Judging from his tone, the Jersey mutant was pissed -- and it was easy to see why. And while Scott wouldn't quite word it that way ... the view was just about a mirror image of his own. |
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8:15 AM Jul 11