Scene #5199: Issue #3: A Ship Passing...

Owner	Pose
Dr. Vahzilok	Talos Island, a busy place of commerce, with people living their lives, villains disrupting those lives, and heroes trying to stop them. Much like most other places in Paragon City. But the introduction of ghosts to the mix is still not quite common. And so, as night falls, the blue glow of the War Walls far out from shore isolating Talos Island from the ocean, when a spectral green tanker appears out on the water on a direct course towards Talos Island, people are understandably distressed. There is some time for heroes to arrive on the scene before it reaches land, but when it does, it just starts... Going... THROUGH buildings, streets, and people, instead of crashing. And ghostly figures appear, flying around in the air, and unleashing screaming clouds of darkness and life-sapping cold upon anywhere who hasn't cleared out. Heroes, are attacked immediately upon getting close enough, leaving no opportunity for attempted negotiation. They are an immediate, hostile threat, and they have to be stopped!r
Captain Flint	The Walrus sails towards Talos Island, the crew milling about abovedecks as they work together to keep the ship sailing. Flint stands atop the quarter deck, surveying the crew as the wind blows against him. Satisfied, he retrieves a looking glass from his coat, extending it and peering towards the coast of the island--at the port. "Prepare to make port," he calls out. His call is repeated by a few members of his crew, who all quickly adopt greater haste in their routines. One by one the sails are furled, until the ship slides into one of the larger channels and drops anchor. Flint and a vanguard consisting of a few martially-minded pirates depart the boat by way of a ramp over the port side.
Dorian Pavus	BLEH! Yes, Dorian made the mistake of getting on Flint's boat. And he has been paying for it the whole trip! Dorian's seasickness reared its ugly head pretty much as soon as they lost sight of land. The whole nine yards, too -- nausea, disorientation, dizziness, headache, and sweating. On the bright side though, he only got ACTUALLY sick twice, and he was near enough to a railing that he hasn't had to clean up any mess. Unpleasant as all hell, but nothing that'll stick around once he gets his feet back on land that doesn't rock and roll. Fortunately there happens to be an issue on Talos Island, and the Walrus just happens to be near enough to answer! Also fortunately, Flint's decided to pitch in. That said, Dorian would probably have asked him to drop him off there anyway; it's familiar and Dorian really can't stand being this kind of a burden to someone he actually LIKES. Also fortunately, Dorian has his dark, hooded robe! That's sort of become his 'costume', more or less, for dealing with issues in Paragon City and the surrounding area. So he puts that on, and as the crew disembarks, he follows. Yes, in that peculiar way he has of turning into smoke and zipping forward short distances to get where he's going, generally between cover.
Seras Victoria	Ghosts are a new thing for Seras to be dealing with. Hellsing has dispatched her to help with the situation however they can, through Paladin pacts and procedures. Paragon had better provide some gear that can deal with ghosts though, if blessed silver bullets aren't enough. So whatever the results of that are, Seras is currently leaning slightly over the ocean on the edge of the Walrus' deck, looking vaguely nauseous and far paler than usual. pale as a corpse, quite literally. Even her hair started to lose a tidbit of color. But the moment the Walrus makes it to a stop... she gathers up her focus and vaults off the deck. It's a long way to the ground, but she makes landfall on Talos island without incident. Other than gasping and panting breath she doesn't really need. Seras looks a bit woozy. Probably needs a few minutes to gather her bearings. But she checks over hear gear. She's brought a rather sizable rifle for this. One that looks capable of bringing down an elephant.
Dr. Vahzilok	No equipment has been provided. While there are no particular pacts in place, given the U.S. government of Primal Earth left themselves pretty neutral when it came to the Union and Confederacy, and they have yet to see a reason to change that now with a bunch of new factions, they also remain open to cooperate and accepting help. And if this leads to friendlier relations with one of the strange new groups that have appeared to replace the super-factions, then great. More importantly, however, is stopping the ghosts that are actively attacking people. The assumption appears to be that attacking them will work as normal. They have to materialize to attack, right? So they have to be able to be attacked back. That's generally how this sort of thing works on Primal Earth. So, as people arrive and prepare to fight, the screaming darkness clouds being launched by the ghosts continue to be launched by them, and people continue to run about in a panic as some heroes try to guide them to safety, while others engage the enemy. The ship is not slowing down or anything, so the sooner the new arrivals join the ongoing battle, the better.
Captain Flint	Flint's men, armed with muskets, follow closely behind the captain as he, Seras and Dorian enter the city proper. Feet pounding the earth in rhythm, the captain leads his crew members into the side alleys, taking a circuitous path wrought with cover from ghostly attacks. Eventually, they reach a block adjacent to the ship, and the captain has his men split up. The pirates, and Flint himself, begin scaling the surrounding buildings by way of fire escapes where present and grappling hooks where they aren't. Occupying two rooftops in total, the combined force hunkers down and takes firing positions. Both parties kneel as Flint waits for the ghosts to come into view. "Ready... aim... fire!" A brief barrage of musket fire rains down upon the ghosts below, shots zipping through the air like metal hornets.
Dorian Pavus	Dorian is zipping around as that blue-white smoke, his preferred method of travel when he's trying to get to a bad thing that's happening real fast. Or trying to get AWAY from one, but that's neither here nor there. Along the way he'll start clobbering ghosts with that staff if he can manage, if they go corporeal long enough for him to manage it. However, once Flint's got his men in positions where they can fire on the ghosts, Dorian gets an idea. He starts to cast lightning magic to corral and confine groups of spirits in smaller areas. This should make it similar to shooting fish in a barrel for Flint. And for Seras too! That rifle is big enough to cause some major damage to whatever it hits. If she lines it up just right she can take out a a few at a time, right? Not to mention that corralling these bad boys (and maybe girls too; Dorian's magic doesn't discriminate) will also make it easier for the civilians to get away and get to safe areas. If there ARE any safe areas, with these ghosts floating about everywhere...
Seras Victoria	Seras stands after taking about fifteen seconds to recover her wits and steady her resolve. Travel by ship took a lot out of her. But the screams that reach her ears are enough to revitalize her - in as much as an undead can be 'revitalized.' "Urrrhuah..." Up she stands, and flicks the safety of her rifle off. A fresh magazine of blessed silver bullets is rapidly locked in and loaded, first round chambered with a k-chakt. The ghosts coming towards her? She shoots, CAREFULLY. Police discipline shows here... as well as her bullet-time perceptions. Her aim is spectacular. BAM, BAM, BAM, each gunshot a thunderous noise as the heavy rounds fly out to pierce ghost... corpus? Whatever their spirit-stuff is called. "WHY aren't they even trying to talk...?!" After seeing what Dorian's up to, Seras gets smart. She takes a flying leap skyward and aims down, flicks her weapon to full auto and lays down a hailstorm of silver rounds on the fiends!