Lugubrious

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

Ow, my soul.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Abel Fulgurate - On the way

Huffing and puffing, the guardian thundered like an asthmatic ox down the hallway, struggling to fasten his armor on as he did so. Anyone unfortunate enough to be in his path pressed against the wall to avoid both him and the floating polearm that followed him, and received a brusque apology as Abel sprinted past. Of all the days to have previously left the Ampere in the Survival classroom, it had to be mission day. Abel, rounding the final corner toward the pavilion, pulled taut the last strap before he snatched his weapon out of the air. Only a few moments later, he stood, winded and tousle-haired but sufficiently ready to kick some ass, among his teammates.

After his attempt at saying 'hello' result in little more than a haggard ”huugh”, he resigned himself to standing with the Ampere's butt planted in the ground and trying not to look like an idiot. Sapphire, Shiro, and Gren appeared normal, or as normal was for them, so he busied himself with reading the mission statement on the screen before them. While he found himself slightly distracted by the aroma of his allies' tea, he did not assume that there was enough for him, and so paid it no mind. A few seconds later, he found himself able to speak. “G'morning. Sorry 'bout the wait, got really unlucky. Um. Looks like your rebreathies are gonna come in handy, Gren. Don't really know anything about Sirens though. Are they aquatic? Pretty landlocked back home.” He turned around, his gaze questioning, but discovered that everyone else seemed fit to depart. Feeling more than a little awkward to be centering the attention on himself with time a-wasting, he gestured dismissively at the screen. “Uh, whatever. Price I pay for bein' late, you can tell me on the ride over or something. I'm ready. You ready? Let's go.”

Brewing Storm

“Alright. You know what to do: find a way inside, find out what the hell happened, and find every single person you can. Oh, and chemical drums, if you care about money. We'll be watching from above; if you hit a snag, radio either IFRA or I for help. We'll have the birds-eye view, and tell you whatever we can. God forbid, but in case something goes really badly, both Mr. Orpheus and Mr. Lloyd have been issued a flare gun. The ship will fire on wherever the flare goes, inside or out.” Goodwitch crossed her arms and began to rise, along with the rest of the ship, into the air. Wind whipped her hair and cloak, but her last words came clearly and authoritatively, as if she could command fate to favor teams Bastille and Jumpercable. “Good luck.”

For a place determined by sweeping scans to be crawling with Grimm, Outlands Distillery looked rather quiet, albeit very ominous. Teams BASL and JPCL, dropped off on a hill in front of the facility, could see clearly the large, oddly-shaped structure, as if the building itself were deformed. All sorts of pipes, tanks, and other pieces of equipment lined its exterior, and behind the Distillery lay the sprawling swamp, choked by giant, twisted trees, stagnant water, and rolling fog. Though this mission lay on the cusp between summer warmth and autumn breezes, the air felt both cool and thick. Each hunter-in-training, on the descent to the facility, would doubtlessly step over gnarled roots, stinking puddles, deposits of mud, and an impressive variety of insects, amphibians, and reptiles. Just before the Distillery this terrain gave way to a large, paved lot, scattered over which were a few machines, storage boxes, tanks, and other such. Only one of the trucks showed any real damage: its hood had been torn off, exposing the engine, car battery, and various cables.

When they got to the main door, however, they would find it sealed shut. Beside it on the left stood the towering freight door, a giant, industrial version of a garage door, which appeared closed also. Fortunately, a terminal lay between the two apertures, though powered down. Anyone with electrical savvy might be able to tell that the entire Distillery's power grid was offline, but an external source of power would be enough to activate the terminal and unseal the locks.

A less tech-savvy individual, uneasy and looking around, might spot a small, dark shape disappearing around a corner as the teams approached.

Defend a Caravan

The airship ferrying team JESS flew with speed and silence, which as the trip went on developed a decidedly discomforting vibe. More and more, the seniors of Beacon assigned to this task would begin to suspect that their mission had, probably recently, become that much more urgent. In short notice, the ship left the verdant kingdom of Vale behind, shooting like a lonely comet of liveliness over barren steppes and wasted scrublands. Below, the occasional group of Grimm could be seen, but one got the impression that many more lurked beyond where the fleeting eye could discern.

At last, forty minutes later, the airship's velocity began to diminish. The two individuals in the sealed cockpit, who so far maintained an enigmatic nonpresence as far as the hunters they'd hired were concerned, finally connected to JESS via intercom. A female voice came to them with a shockingly intense tone, demanding attention and immediate compliance, “Hunter team, prepare for action immediately. The caravan is under attack this very instant. I'm not an expert on Grimm, but I can see a huge scorpion, a couple of dinosaurs with sails, and a bunch of bulls. They've stopped the vehicle and are destroying it. Your best bet is to remove whatever is preventing the vehicle from moving and get it going. Deploy now!”

The airship swooped down, and from its opened ramp leaped the members of JESS. Only a short fall lay between them and the vehicle, and as they dropped, the situation became obvious. The caravan vehicle, though huge and heavily armored, was under immense attack. Slowly but surly, the Sitting Bulls, the Tutankhamuns, and the Death Stalker were ripping through its armor. One of the Tutankhamuns stood on top of the vehicle's hulk, weighing it down as it rammed its head into the reinforced glass of the driver's terminal. At the back, the Death Stalker had a hold of the rear tires, and with its stinger lodged in one of the exhaust vents, the vehicle couldn't work up enough traction or power to get going.

OVERWATCH: ENDURING BETRAYAL

I'm here. I'll read the IC, but I think I want to make sure that we've got at least a group of five before I get started.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Missions will begin tomorrow morning. If there are any objections, let me know so I can shoot them down mercilessly.

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

sigh

I'm tired, my head is full of chemistry that keeps on getting messed up, I'm sick of life, and right now, all I care about is that these people are using religion, amoung other things, to murder people. How does 8 frigging people suicide and take down close to 200 people?

It shouldn't happen. It shouldn't be possible. And It just stinks. So right now, all I care about is so many people are dead, not going home to families, to their homes or even to their pets.

@Caits

It's a tragedy, yes, one that we can all agree on as horrendous, inhuman, and outrageous. Not all of them suicided; some used illegal machine guns to fire into crowds. Just rotten. But by saying what you're saying you are laying the blame on me, most people I know, and indeed the majority of the world, and not the people themselves. I know you're angry and disgusted; we all are. All I'm asking is that when you think about the innocent casualties, you point your anger and disgust at the people (and specific, extreme beliefs) truly responsible.

Signing off.

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

<Snipped quote by Lugubrious>

I kno its unrealistic, but the world might be better off without it. How many wars, battles, etc been started because of religion?

I am religious, but I wouldn't go killing someone because they worship some other god. Yes, some religions haven't been involved in war.

I just think it's a crap excuse for a war. Like I'm more then sure their god wouldn't want the deaths of so many people. Well. Mine wouldn't.

Of course I haven't gone to church since I was 12, but that's beside the point.

@Caits

How many wars, battles, etc have been started because of land, money, pride?

You're advocating for the complete elimination of all religions based on the actions of an extremist part of a single religion. The problem isn't with the idea of religion, it's with ones that condone violence.

Let's put it this way. I'm a Christian, and in the bible, it does not advocate the murdering of people in order to facilitate the spread of the religion. In fact, it discredits the use of violence. Same goes for the holy writings of most other major religions out there. Have some Christians used violence and hateful means to do terrible things? Yes, but if you assume they stand for all of us, you're making a major mistake. Likewise, Islam itself isn't necessarily bad, but the people who abide by the doctrine of jihad (which means "a holy war undertaken as a sacred duty by Muslims") use violence to do terrible things.

It is absolutely a crap excuse for a war. That's why most religions don't do war. If you please, name the a time within the past five hundred years that Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, or practitioners of Shinto have made a substantial religious movement to kill nonbelievers rather than enrich culture and thinking. Neither I nor any Christian I know would kill someone for believing differently; so in your grand plan for the elimination of religion, do we deserve to be expunged/exterminated?

Ludicrous.

Edit: to everyone mentioning the Crusades, yes, thank you for pointing out the one time that Christians fought a holy war, nearly 1000 years ago. Please keep in mind that the opposing side of the Crusades were the Muslims. Why did they go to war? To reclaim the Holy land, yes, because the Holy Land had been conquered by the Muslims and they dealt with the Jews and Christians there in a way somewhat similar to the way modern extremist Muslim groups deal with Jews and Christians. I'm not trying to claim innocence here, but pointing out the universality of fault.

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

<Snipped quote by Zarkun>

Well it's 14/11 here but I know you do it backwards so yes, 11/14

It's just so sad. All for what? Maybe we should just get rid of all religions. The world might be a better place for it.

<Snipped quote by Leslie Hall>

Sure, come to my place. We have a spare room XD

Some people just make me sick

@Caits

...Get rid of all religions? By what, siphoning faith from people's veins, or exterminating them en masse? There are more people with some sort of affiliation in the world than people without by far (Think India (Hindu) and China (Buddhist)) Perhaps you should narrow your field down to religions that condone slaughtering infidels. Ones that advocate complete pacifism, living in harmony with the universe, or the idea of loving one's neighbor, aren't for the most part detrimental to the world. Sure, every faith has its infamous black sheep, but a kneejerk reaction against all religions based on an extremist sect of one religion is almost stunningly shortsighted.

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

<Snipped quote by Caits>

Complacency, religious zealotry taken to extremes, a number of ways, as rhetorical as it is. And the sad thing is? Obama won't do jack shit to help this nation's ally. Paris stood with us after 9/11, but I promise you we won't be there after their 11/14. They should be a day ahead of me.

@Zarkun

Obama's afraid of offending and opposing the terrorists; he's been apologizing for people who want to kill people because of their ideals for a while now. It's downright tragic.

The citizens of Paris will most definitely be in my prayers, no matter what anyone says.

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

I was shocked when I first heard the news. Truly terrible...really makes you wonder how gripping the dogma of terror is, to make humans perform such atrocities. Suicide bombing, gunning down civilians in a concert hall...just sickening.

There are a whole lot of reasons why this happened, Caits, each as saddening as the next. Suffice to say, open borders, unarmed civilians, and zealous extremism. I hope the situation gets under control.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Re-tallying complete. As luck would have it, my ruling turned out pretty similar to last time, with some minor editations in the reviews. All scores stand as previously.

<Snipped quote by Lugubrious>

I have to confess that I only skimmed the critique of the other entrees and as that last post didn't have anything in it to differentiate it from being part of the critique above I kinda glanced over it. My apologies for berating you for something that wasn't actually true. If it's not too much trouble I would like an opinion on the clarification I provided for the contest entree.

@Prince of Seraphs

Das okay. The clarificaton makes a lot of difference, and makes me think better of your entry, but the entry itself can't be changed afterward.