Light the fuse, and get away

Posted on Wed Feb 8th, 2023 @ 14:19 by Robert Closeley & Heather Redding & Fiona Creagan

Chapter: Prologue: Dawn of Avalon
Location: Unknown, London?
Timeline: Sunday, September 27th, 1992
1397 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The room was kind of drafty, the old shack not quite well isolated from the elements. Robert stood hunched over an iron workbench with a bright light overhead shining on the components in front of him. He was assembling the bits and pieces as well as he could, carefully as to not upset the delicate device he was creating. "Times like these I wished I was stronger." He looked up to Fiona, who was standing right across from him at the bench. If anything went wrong he hoped she'd be able to shield them from the worst case scenario.

"Strength isn't what I'm worried about there, bucko. You screw the pooch, I'm not carrying you two back in a bucket. We about ready? I'm SO ready." No exaggeration from the woman there, Fiona was like a cheerleader on her laziest days, and today? She was pumped. Stoked. They were finally going to do something that made them out to be more than common street thugs that all the stuffed shirt humans made them out to be. No scrounging for scraps, no running, scared animals with deadly powers. They wanted deadly? The Rangers would show them deadly. "Come on, Robbie, let's give them something to really whinge about."

Robert looked over his shoulder to spot Heather in the back, "did we find any good place to set this thing up?" He asked. They wanted to maximise their effectiveness, while still minimising casualties, at least mutant casualties. It would've been much better if they could've figured out exactly who was responsible for the robot incursion, but in lieu of that they'd just have to make do with good ol' fashioned guerrilla tactics.

"Mmmhmm..." Heather said as she leaned against the door watching the scene dreamily. "We did. It is going to be a melting pot." She assured having two locations in mind and thought she would decide later on to see which one would be busier and maximise their cause.

"Melting pot... weird choice of words when there's enough incendiary in there to slag Big Ben, but I trust your scouting. Between Robbie's skills and yours, I'm just happy to be the beast of burden. So what's our target? Government? Those big robots stink of black ops; Military or MI:6 or the like." Those words were spit with a bit of disdain, some history there that spoke of a grudge Fiona held with long-lasting intensity.

"It definitely seems that way. Government has continued to deny involvement but I refuse to believe you can operate something like that in the Empire with their know and approval." Robert finished work on the device and looked up at Fiona. "We just need to get this into the right place and wreak some havoc. Then release a statement." He lifted it up as if holding a new born baby, "Are you ready to change the world?"

“Bring me my Bow of burning gold, Bring me my arrows of desire. Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold! Bring me my Chariot of fire! I will not cease from Mental Fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand. Till we have built Jerusalem, In England's green & pleasant Land …” Heather said almost to herself but it was fitting as was her way to mostly speak in poetry and metaphor. The poem was more usually found in a football or rugby stadium but it was originally a hymn about how one must take up arms against the industrialised world in order to bring about a paradise.

"Huh... poetry? Whatever gets you pumped works for me though. Now who's ready to light a fire under parliament's ass and make some old, wrinkly bastards sweat a little, eh?" Fiona wasn't much for fancy words, clear in her blank stare at Heather and all the poetry. But a pep talk like a coach before a game? That was more her speed. With one hand, she scooped the package out of Robert's hands and hefted it a few times, grinning ear to ear at her comrades in arms. "Let's start a riot or two, lads."

[London, exterior]

(OOC: I thought there wasn't much to add in the previous location, let's just to the site of the bombing and watch it all burn :o ... you're still free to add to the previous bit as well, of course. )

Robert stood leaning against a wall, hood drawn over his head to obscure his face from CCTV, looking out of the alleyway making sure no bobbies would get in their way. Heather and he were standing watch while Fiona was setting up the device to wreak havoc on the nearby structure which was certain to be a 'Tory stronghold'. They were the ones in power, they were the most likely to know about why a giant robot assaulted the sleepy town of New Cresthill. It reeked of special military operation, even if someone like Warden hadn't known anything about it. "How are we doing there, Joan?" He asked Fiona using her alias to avoid identification.

Fiona's reply came mostly in the form of enthusiastic grunts while she fiddled with the housing to make sure the device stuck in place properly and didn't just fall off the wall and blow up before they had a chance to get away. Could she absorb the material of the brick or nearby dumpster, survive the blast with maybe one of the other two? Maybe. Did she want to test that out? Not so much. "Almost... got 'er, boss."

With a quick look around for herself, Fiona shifted her hand into solid brick and punched forward with her fingers, digging into the wall and scooping some of the material out. Less subtle, but the device fit nice and snug when she was done, no jostling at all. "Just had to stop playing gentle is all. Ready to light the Tory's knickers up, Robin. That illusion of yours still holding, Mary? Made a little bit of a mess..."

"You act like you do not even know me," Heather said with a roll of her eyes having one of her more lucid moments when poetry or metaphor did not come into play. It was becoming easier and easier to maintain illusions and hiding a little mess was nothing.

"Alright then, let's get clear of the blast radius." Robert made a motion with his hand to indicate he wanted to get away from the device. It was armed now and even though it was set to trigger on a radio remote he'd rather not be in range if it did. There were grandiose quotes and things he might have wanted to say in the moment, but there wasn't going to be anyone that could hear him anyway. He'd save those for the public announcement of their manifesto. He looked at the two women with him and gave a small smirk, "Ready?"

Fiona smirked at Robert, fighting the urge to cheer and shout her enthusiasm, lest some passersby detect them and things went awry. She shouldered the empty bag and waved an arm in the direction of their exit with eyes still on the pair with her. "After you, boss. Let's pop things off, yeah?"

"Always," Heather said as she turned for the exit and left the radius. No one would see them anyway until she wanted them to be seen but there was still always a few who were more world aware even for humans.

As they continued to walk away Robert reached into his jacket pocket and squeezed down on the detonator. After a split second of delay an explosion ripped through the serene Sunday morning. Even though they were a safe distance away the heat still flared up, and blew their coats around them. Involuntarily Robert ducked away and then picked up the pace to get away from the scene of the crime. Behind them screams and yells started to fill the streets as people started to rush towards the carnage of the conservative society they had just created. The plan was set in motion, and soon the different news outlets and politicians would find their manifesto, their claim to this attack, and the reasons they did so. It would spread across the country, the kingdom, the empire, and in Robert's mind he was already at the forefront of the Mutant movement for independence.