(no subject)

[6billioncreditwoman]

[Well, she's here, she's unpacked, and even before arriving at the elaborate underground base she saw at least four people in ludicrous costumes chasing other people in ludicrous costumes while driving in from the airport. She's in the right place.]

[Omeganet, Video]

[Broadcasting on the Omeganet is a red-haired woman in her late 20's, wearing a blue military uniform shirt and a tan beret. Military nerds will recognize the combination as not American even if they can't make out the UN and Canadian Special Forces Command insignia on the edges of the video.]

Good afternoon, Omegafriends. My name is Commander Shepard, and I'm here representing the United Nations Super Hero Intelligence-Finding Task Force.

[She relaxes slightly, as if she's normally used to saluting while introducing herself.]

I'm formally here as an observer, but I've got a few skills that I think I can add to your team. I'll be spending the next couple of days getting acclimated, and if Venture City's reputation is anything to go by, probably foiling a robotic robbery every time I go out for coffee.

And if there's any supervillains tuned in to this, no hard feelings on that part. I just like coffee.

Comments

Video

[pega_pony_princess]

"Aaaa! UN Shift Force! I've heard of you guys!"

The teenage Omegafriend in old-fashioned armor and a leather mask looks very pleased with herself before suddenly drawing herself up painfully straight and throwing a textbook salute.

"Princess Pegasus, 1st Ylissean Pegasus Knight Corps, at your service!"

eeeeee this is so cool

Video

[6billioncreditwoman]

Shepard can't help but smile slightly at the girl's enthusiasm. She gives a quick salute back.

"So you are. That's a nice ensemble you've got going there."

[pega_pony_princess]

Nod nod.

"It's the traditional light armor of a Pegasus Knight!"

Pause.

"The mask I got from a friend, though."

[6billioncreditwoman]

"Speaking as a military woman myself, we don't usually go for masks on uniforms unless there's a good reason."

Exactly why she wasn't bothering with one or some clever alias even after getting 'superpowers', at least. A teenage girl, on the other hand...

"Protecting your identity's a good idea if you're not doing this for a living yet, though, or you have family you're worried about."

[pega_pony_princess]

SHRUG

"Honestly, we don't have much of a tradition of masked heroes in Ylisse, either, but I like the people I'm staying with so I figured I'd adopt the local customs."

Pause.

"Plus, y'know, might be interesting to deal with people who don't know I'm royalty for once."

[6billioncreditwoman]

"Oh, so you're a real princess. I thought that might just be a codename."

Shepard thinks on it for a moment, but she doesn't actually know anything about Ylissean royalty.

"So what can you tell me about Ylisse, your highness? 'Pegasi' pretty much covers all of what I know."

[pega_pony_princess]

Pause to think.

"It was founded about...three thousand years ago, I think? By my ancestor, the Hero-King Marth. When I was younger, Skeletor invaded and stole a tome of dark magic from Plegia; it took Dad and his Shepards a couple of years to clean up after that mess. I'm not too good at history, though, so I can't tell you much else."

[6billioncreditwoman]

She'd smirk at that if this was text.

"Sounds like a long and storied history. Kind of glad the New World is lacking in tomes of dark magic now, though," she admits.

[pega_pony_princess]

Pause.

"Well, like I said. Skeletor has it. And he's...here. In this town."

Another pause.

"...I'm pretty sure he hasn't actually...used it yet, though? Because otherwise we'd be hearing about his legions of the restless dead and all."

[6billioncreditwoman]

"It's still an open case, huh?"

Shepard thinks about it for a moment. "If this town's reputation is true, his plan's probably in the queue somewhere. You came here to track him down specifically, or was that just a happy coincidence?"

[pega_pony_princess]

"Coincidence, actually. I just wanted to spend some time punching evil and maybe do some husband hunting?"

[6billioncreditwoman]

"I can definitely approve of the former, and I guess if you're royalty I can't call you too young for the latter."

Hey, if she was looking, it would probably be on the battlefield too.

[pega_pony_princess]

"I'm sixteen! I got like five years, tops, before I'm so old nobody wants me!"

Medieval ideas about marriageable age: really good at being accidentally insulting when elaborated on.

[6billioncreditwoman]

"......"

Shepard's just going to stare meaningfully into the camera for a few seconds.

[pega_pony_princess]

Princess Pegasus will just stare back innocently, completely unaware that she's said anything offensive.

[6billioncreditwoman]

"...right. Just remember you don't have to rush into things these days, and enjoy being a teenager while you can, alright?"

Let's be real here, Commander, you're already married to the Navy.

[pega_pony_princess]

"Sure thing!"

Princess Pegasus grins happily. So cool!

text;

[forgottendecade]

[this name isn't a full-fledged hero of the Omegafriends, but he can be considered an ally on most days. by the information gathered by some supers, he's an japanese techno-wizard that is probably semi-retired.]

rumor has it that there was a rash of hamburger thieves as well so i'd be careful of those places
otherwise, welcome to america's super hero central

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[6billioncreditwoman]

Yeah that's part of why I was excited to be assigned here. I think this is literally the only place on Earth that would happen.

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[forgottendecade]

on the bright side, you don't have to go far in order to see any number of super in action

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[6billioncreditwoman]

Very true. It's a good thing that's actually my job now.

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[forgottendecade]

is part of your job also to help classify them or figure out their identities?

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[6billioncreditwoman]

I wouldn't know where to start with either of those if I wanted to.

Mostly I'm here to keep an eye on the situation and see if something happens that needs international attention.

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[forgottendecade]

just checking
some people have an aversion to getting cataloged by anyone outside of their groups.

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[6billioncreditwoman]

I've got too much respect for superheroes to go invading anyone's privacy, even if having everyone's home phone numbers would be convenient.

Supervillains are another story, but that's why most countries keep a record of convicts.

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[forgottendecade]

the watches work almost like having a direct line to their cellphones
that will probably also depend on exactly what level the villains are at too
the king supervillains aren't the types to get caught easily

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[6billioncreditwoman]

They're also usually the ones with the extra-flashy egos that make Most Wanted lists easy. It all evens out eventually.

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[forgottendecade]

usually, yes
some though manage to keep their real identities a secret compared to their underlings

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[6billioncreditwoman]

We wouldn't be heroes if everything was easy, would we?

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[forgottendecade]

being a hero means being able to face the odds even when one is hurt or worse, yes

[number1_kerbal]

The reputation isn't entirely deserved Commander! Why, the McMoons on the spaceport only got hamburgled that one time when that crazy guy was in town.

[6billioncreditwoman]

...I forgot you guys had a spaceport.

[number1_kerbal]

Well, until three years ago it was an abandoned cold-war airbase, so you're excused. We've made some major progress in upgrading it, though our older machinery and computers are still housed in the old base structures. Including, as previously mentioned, a certain former hamburger franchise that now contains a lot of magnetic tape reel machines for interfacing with old NASA hardware.

[6billioncreditwoman]

I think I heard about that. Is that where they found the hi-res moon pictures hidden on old tapes?

[number1_kerbal]

Yeah, it is. We're actually going through some other old tapes from a few of the old Mars and Mercury probes right now.

[6billioncreditwoman]

Great work. One of the moon photos is my desktop wallpaper back home.

I should drop by and see this place. Is it open to the public?

[number1_kerbal]

I can't take any credit for that stuff. Data-recovery isn't my ball.

The Spaceport has guided tours, Monday through Saturday, 15 bucks for adults...

Unless you show up this Saturday, when we're having a free day. Should I put in a word with Mister Kerman to arrange for something special?

[6billioncreditwoman]

No need for anything special. Unless you can book Chris Hadfield, but I'm about 90% sure he doesn't do tours.

[number1_kerbal]

Not on short notice anyways. Nice guy though. I have a signed copy of his book.

[6billioncreditwoman]

I've been meaning to dig up a Space Oddity EP for if I ever get to meet him, personally.

So what is it you do here other than work at the Spaceport? I'm guessing if you're on the network you also do some crime-fighting, or something.

[number1_kerbal]

Not a bad choice. I might go for that other single he cut though.

And yeah, Kerbal-X at your service. I borrowed a spacesuit and a jetpack to do a bit of crime-fighting in when I'm off the clock. My superpower is basically 'not dying'.

[6billioncreditwoman]

Probably the most useful superpower there is.

[Probably saves the local space program a ton of money on safety features too, but she's too polite to suggest that.]

Good to meet you, Kerbal-X.

[number1_kerbal]

Well, that depends on your definition of useful. I mean, teleporting would be nice to!

But thanks for saying so.

[Video]

[big_blue_boyscout]

It's a pleasure to have you onboard, Commander.

[And he means it, any help is more than welcome. He's a little surprised though. Maybe he hadn't kept his ear to the ground closely enough, but he hadn't heard about this. It makes sense, given that some of the heroes had had some ... issues, lately.]

[Video]

[6billioncreditwoman]

[Oh hey it's Superman responding to her communication like it's no big deal. Well, no reason to be unprofessional about it.]

Likewise, sir. It's a little different from what I'm used to, but there's a lot of good people here.

[Video]

[big_blue_boyscout]

[He smiles slightly at, "sir." It probably isn't too much of a surprise that he gets it all the time.]

I'm inclined to agree. And you can hold off on the sir, I'm not anyone's boss here.

[Video]

[6billioncreditwoman]

"Superman"'s a little bit of a mouthful for every day use, but I guess I can stick with that.

[Like hell is she going to call him "Supes".]

[Video]

[big_blue_boyscout]

If you'd rather go with, sir, that's fine. Just saying that it isn't necessary.