Turn 5

Master Menagero dashes to the helicopter and climbs inside the pilot seat. Igneous, turns off his powers and climbs aboard as well, sitting next to MM in the co-pilot seat, and Death Nell climbs into the back. Menagero quickly studies the instrument control panel and makes an educated guess as to how it works. It wasn't to much different than a flight simulator game he had once played on computer. clicking several buttons on, the blades begin to whir, MM takes the throttle and the helicopter takes to the air, a tad erratically du to MM's inexperience.

Kinetica provides cover for the copter as it takes flight, hovering above the rooftop, shooting K-bolts and using her forcefield as a shield from bullets.

MM pushes another button, with the word "roof panel" labeled on it and an access hatch slides open near the end of the hallway where Roughneck and Zena are battling the guards.

Roughneck punches one of the guards in the nose, shattering it, as Zena kicks another, sending him flying back into a third, just as the access hatch opens above them. A ladder is thrown from the hovering helicopter, just as large animated chains bind Zena from head to toe.

"Sorry Zena, but you are out of control and we've got to get out of here now." says Verve. Roughneck grabs hold of the struggling Zena with one arm, and the ladder with the other. Verve quickly jumps on the ladder as well, as they are rescued by Master Menagero. (no xp expenditure necessary, as everyone gets one dramatic event per adventure for free.)

"Between Robocop and the Amazon Queen, this team seriously needs anger management issues," quips Kineica.

After a harrowing helicopter escape through pouring rain, and an even more frightening landing, the group finally sets it down in a farm in upstate New York, due to low fuel. Igneous, steals and hot wires a delapidated pickup truck with a camper shell on the back, and the group continues their escape on land. After many hours of driving through the night, they finally come to a stop in a backwoods dirt road, more of a trail really, in a hilly tree covered forest.

Zena hasn't said a word to anyone the entire trip. She seems to be sulking or brooding.

"I still don't think He is going to like us bringing them here", says Igneous to Death Nell as they lead the others through the forest to the entrance of an abandoned mine shaft.

"You worry to much, Iggy. Let me deal with Him, if its an issue. " replies the pale-skinned villain. "We are almost there, wait here a moment "she says to the others, stepping inside the mine and moving through the darkness of the shaft. the others heard some sort of clicking and beeping noises coming from inside the darkened shaft, and then a heavy stone-like grating sound, as a secret doorway opens up, bathing the mine shaft in the bright, bare light of electrical lighting shining through the hidden doorway.

She motions the others in, and they follow. Once all through the hidden door, it slides shut and the y can see that it is a large open air freight elevator. She pulls a switch and they descend downward, the only source of illumination id the single light bulb at the top of the elevator and the luminous glow of Kinetica's blue forcefield.

After descending an indeterminant distance into the bowels of the Earth, the elevator finally stops, and they disembark into a large underground cavern, filled with day modern equipment and trappings.

A shimmering pool of light, roughly humanoid in shape, heralds the arrival of two other metahuman villains. One is slight in stature, and wears a costume of green with purple highlights. The other, has a commanding presence about him, and is dressed all in black, as well as a facemask to conceal his identity, though his eyes and mouth are still visible..and they show the man's obvious dissatisfaction with the newly arrived visitors.

"Why did you bring them here?!" he demands. "Segue, dispense of the truck they brought here, it could be traced." he says to the shorter man. The man nods and teleports away.

"It's okay Vector, they helped us escape from prison." says Nell. "I think we can trust them. Haven't you been watching all of the news about them lately? "

"Of course i have. it would be hard not to, with the endless media coverage and discussion surrounding it. But I for one, am not so easily convinced that these former media-darlings have had a true change of calling. It makes no sense to me. So, i will ask you all directly..why should I trust you? Answer carefully, because if I think you are lying, then that lie will be the last thing you utter before you die"

"Told you," says Igneous to Death Nell, moving to stand behind Vector with his arms crossed.

"Who said anything about a change of calling?" asks Julia defensively. "I can't speak about the rest of them, but so long as I get to kick butt, I'm happy. Plus, long story short, I've got Daddy issues."

Vector raises his finger and points at Julia. She feels a terrible crushing weight bearing down on her shoulders."Is that the best answer anyone has to offer?" Vector says.

Sensing the strain on Julia, and having a short temper after the disappointment of not getting to Titania, Zena speaks up. "Stop whatever you are doing to her, or I will kill you where you stand. I will gut you and decorate my home with your innards. I will drag you back to the darkest regions of my island and I will rend your body until there is nothing left. I will then leave your bits behind as a feast for the animals therein." Zena longs for her animal companions, currently trapped in a man-made jungle. It must be pure torture for them.

"Easy Zena," says Verve. "let's see if we can interact with someone without you kicking their ass." Verve regreted having to confine Zena earlier, and had apologized repeatedly on the copter ride, but had only gotten the silent treatment from the red haired amazon. "What Zena meanns to say, Vector, is that we'd be more than happy to discuss these matters with you. There's no reason to make threats or use your powers against us. I mean we are all metas here right? Fighting amongst ourselves is exactly what the nats want isn't it? It makes us easier to control that way."

"At last! A leader emerges. Sir, Verve is it? Tell me, why should I trust your group? You are out of favor with the Nats and as most of the "good guys" usually are, are probably eager little beavers to get back in their good graces lest they brand you criminals or traitors to their cause. Their cause being to destroy your kind in case you haven't been watching. This is your final chance to answer." Vector releases Julia from the oppressive weight on her shoulders.

"What the !@%! was that about?" asks a pissed Julia. "If Daddy gets his way, none of us will be safe. God damnit, we're all on the same side here!"

"Despite what you said I am not the leader, so I can't speak for anyone else. But me personaly? I'm getttng a little tired of playing by the rules and having nothing to show for it. Why should thy have any say over us anyway, we are the ones with the power, they just want to control it. I can't says that I intentionally want to harm anyone, but I certainly think things have gotten a lot more tyrannical since 9-11 and especially after Katrina..govt watch lists, domestic spying, paranoia, being branded as individual weapons of mass destruction. It is ridiculous." says Verve.

"Why should you trust us? Easy. You shouldn't. And we didn't ask to come here. She," Roughneck points to Nell, "didn't bother to tell us where she was takin' us till we were already here. So why don't you cut the big bad villain act. We all got secrets. And ain't none of us worth trustin'--especially you, I figure." Roughneck is using this time to assess the guy in the mask who is talking to us. Trying to figure out what his power is. If he has time, he will assess all of them. Can I say he assessed Nell and Iggy on the long ride over here?

You can try to assess the power level of the power he just used but it won't allow you to know excatly what power it is. I'm not going to allow for Death Nell and Igneous, becaus that was sort of a journey , journey ,journey thing to get things moving along. You already have a good idea of what there powers are anyway, just not an exact number in game terms. You can attempt it though after Vector. It takes an entire exchange (round) to assess one ability , difficulty, or power intensity score. It is more of a metagame knowledge thing.

MM steps forward with a wicked smile on his face. "To tell you the truth, this was all part of a ruse to track you villains down." The little man lets the words sink in. "But not so that we could bring you in. Those days are over. We needed to show you wannabes what a weak defense and intellegience system you have. Here are the facts: If we wanted to..." MM steps close to Vector to assume his powers, "Our team could ignite a melee right now. You MIGHT stand a chance at winning. But, considering our track record, you stand a greater chance of being humiliated by a team that h as nothing, and I mean nothing to lose. You know our reputation. No need todraw a clearer picture for you, is there? Here is another fact: your system sucks. And like Roughneck pointed out, we could care less if you trust us. We need cash, some moolah to afford us some private digs, get us out of the limelight for a bit while we're onthe lam. So, here's the deal. You pay us big to improve your base's defense systems so that you never have to worry about the cops finding you again. Or, Meta-Force summarily kicks your collective asses and take possession of this base, which..." MM looks around the base's innards, "...might suit us just fine." The white-caped wonder flicks his capes away from his shoulders and clinches his fists. He can only hope the team rallies around him as a show of threat.That last plot point worked so well,lets try another one -- "Like-minded Alignment"

Vector glares at MM and MM feels as if he has been "glued" to the floor where he stands, causing his arms to feel as if they are being pulled into the earth. The pain is excruciating. Vector looks at Death Nell and Igneous glaringly. "You thought this was a good idea?" he asks sarcastically. He turns and starts walking out of the room at which time everyone inside, including Igneous and Death Nell feel the same feeling as MM, as if they are glued in their tracks where they stand. They can hear the sound of the ceiling creaking above them as if it is going to crash down upon them.

MM must make an easy Power Duplication action, opposed by Vector's power intensity. After this, you must make a challenging Willpower action to avoid being knocked unconscious by the energy backlash, as his power exceeds yours. Also I am unsure of how you ar eintending teh dramtic event to occur..see my e-mail

The instant Vector turns to leave, Roughneck attacks. Can I know what is trump to resist his power? Tell me whether I can know that or not, and I will give my cardplay. Re assessment, not sure what a "metagame knowledge thing" is. But please cancel the assessment attempt if it will take up my action for this turn.

If you do the assessmanet, then you will know what power and intensity score he is using...that is what i meant about meta-game knowledge, things that are on Vector's chracter sheeet, things taht Roughneck wouldn't know unless he knew he was in a n RPG game.Using assessment will, indeed cancel your action, because it takes an entire round of studying someone/something to assess the intensity/difficulty of whatever is being assessed.

"Predictable gnat," MM insults while summoning Vector's powers. "Meta-Force, let's make an example out of Vector and see which of his henchmen are stupid enough to turn down our most generous offer!""Like-minded Alignment" was meant to get Vector into a like-minded alignment. Uh, toss down my 4S for the power duplication, though I thought it was automatic...unless he is that powerful. Wow. Hope I didn't bite off more than we can chew. Use my best card available for the willpower unless my defense works...I want to do an all-out defense Using 6S and trump to reverse Vector's power with a push 4D.

"Okay, I've had enough of dealing with this !@%^ loser," says Kinetica. She takes to the air and fires a k-bolt at Vector. 6I to attack with 2A Edge. Use best non-Doom replacement card to dodge.

"What the hell, boss?" asks Igneous incredulkosly, as he feels the weight crushing down on him.

"Vector! Please! I thought they might be of value to the cause. You said we needed more recruits. I meant no harm by bringing them here. Isn't there something they could do for us? If it weren't for them, me and Iggy would be on our way to Stronghold prison right now. Don't let your paranoia blind you to an good opportunity. Send them on a test run. If I'm wrong then you can kill us." pleads Nell.

"Speak for yourself, lady," says Roughneck. He fires his laser at Vector. Using 1S (edge) for the attack. I have a question: the laser is either S or A trump. Must I play another card? Can I just use the 1S as a normal play and get the draw for it being trump? Or do I have to play another card and thereby lose my trump? If I can, I will just play the 1S (as trump, not edge). If I MUST play another card, I will play 4I instead of the 1S. I also want to push using my highest remaining card or best replacement card. (The hands disappeared from the page, by the way.) He is using the laser at full +5.

The trump is strength when you are using it HTH, it is agilty when youare firing it at range. So the 1S would caount as Edge, so you can play another card from your hand. Next round I will likely strt posting a coupl eof replacemt carss on teh hands for people. This gives a little foreknowledge of cardplay, but I think it will be more beneficial to teh game tahn harmful.

As Roughneck moves to attack, he suddenly freezes as a digital display pops up in his field of vision. It reads: Mission objective: Infiltrate MLF, obtain data. Recon status. Do not engage. This doesn't seem like a typical directive form the Core, but it is definitely coming from the same cybernetic computer systems and apparently whatever program is running is preventing him from attacking, in the same way that the core sends him into killing sprees during combat. You can still post for Frank, but if I think you are going against the programming, I will disallow it. Damn those hindrances. MWUHAHAHAHA!! Roughneck is going to try to resist the programming--only reasonable thing for him to do under the circumstances. Use one of the 6W cards for it.

"You are a complete idiot!" Zena shouts at Master Menagero. "I have seen more intelligence from the bugs on my island!" Zena tries to pull herself free while staring at the ceiling. 2D & 4D to try to break free. 5 Agility to dodge...

Turn 5.2

Positive aura on GM card allowed the heroes to go first, before Vector's power took hold.

"You are a complete idiot!" Zena shouts at Master Menagero. "I have seen more intelligence from the bugs on my island!" She launches herself at Vector, swinging a wild haymaker at him, the villain, easily sidesteps the blow intended for him.

As Roughneck moves to attack, he suddenly freezes as a digital display pops up in his field of vision. It reads: Mission objective: Infiltrate MLF, obtain data. Recon status. Do not engage.This doesn't seem like a typical directive form the Core, but it is definitely coming from the same cybernetic computer systems and apparently whatever program is running is preventing him from attacking, in the same way that the core sends him into killing sprees during combat. he tries to resist this directive, but he cannot. In fact, he really doesn't want to. This is a war after all, and he is a soldier in it. The mission is the important thing. Why didn't' the others s see that?

"Okay, I've had enough of dealing with this !@%^ loser," says Kinetica. She takes to the air and fires a k-bolt at Vector that smacks him square in the face , knocking him to the ground. (17 pts of damage)

"Predictable gnat," MM insults while stepping forward to assume Vector's powers. "Meta-Force, let's make an example out of Vector and see which of his henchmen are stupid enough to turn down our most generous offer!" he shouts, then immediately passes out from the power backlash.

Vector activates his power full force and everyone the room , can feel the crushing weight of intense gravity being magnified a thousand fold. Everyone is immediately, not only stuck ot the floor, but pushed down flat against the cavern floor, including Kinetica, who comes crashing down from her flight path, though her forcefield cushions her fall

"What the hell, boss?" asks Igneous incredulously, as he feels the weight crushing down on him.

Vector makes no reponse as he uses his power to snatch away Verve's sketchbook and pencils, shredding them in the air with opossing gravitational forces. He then uses his power to lift Master Menagero and Verve, placing them back to back, far way from the others. Verve feels as if he is stuck to Menagero like glue, gravity binding them together, as well as hoding them to the floor. Verve sees the point of this. Vector has effectively rendered the two of them useless. Without his drawing materials Verve was just a regular person, when MM awakes, he will automatucally assume Verve's power and be just as useless.

all strength and agility scores have been lowered by Vector's power intensity making them less than 0. actions can still be attempted, but at incredibly low values to base them on. Non-gravity based powers would still, work, but I will require a strength action to move arms/etc. to aim any ranged attacks, etc.

"A test run, hmmm? What do you think my queen?" he says, looking at Zena. "Should I give this group another chance to show they are not the stupid imps the media has made you out to be? Clearly you have run afoul of the law, and I am not surprised. It seems too much time with the camera amplifying your powers has caused you to forget that there are many of us here in the world far more powerful than yourselves." He strolls through the group, steps over Zena's head and puts his booted heel on the back of Death Nell's neck. "They must know they cannot defy me if they seek to enter our service." He presses his foot into the back of her neck and a gasp of pain escapes her sultry lips. He removes his foot and Nell and Iggy are released from his power.

"Stay with your new friends and see if you can talk some sense into them. If they feel like they would like an opportunity to pass my test, bring them to dinner. Verve is to have no paper or writing instruments and Menagero is not to come near me." Vector walks from the room, the hollow sound of his boots reverberating painfully and he dissappears from sight. When he is gone the group is released from his power though a dull thud like a painful headache remains.

"Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out!" Kinetica calls after him, at least she does after he's out of earshot. "I'm starting to think we were better off in Stronghold than with this maniac calling the shots. If this his how he treats his own, I sure hate to see what he does to his enemies. Unless Captain Psycho invites them over for tea and biscuts."

As MM slowly awakes from unconsciuosness, he decides a bit of levity is in order, seeing how his false braggadacio flopped. He jokes with Verve. "This is a fine mess you've gotten us into, Olly," he pulls from a Laurel and Hardy sketch.

"Phfftt. I'm not the one who started mouthing off to a megamaniacal terrorist, and nearly blowing our cover," Verve mutters softly enough for only MM to hear.

Death Nell stands up rubbing her aching neck. "Sorry about that. He's really not so bad once you get to know him better."

"Regardless, it seems like Vector is willing to give you all a second chance. Won't you at least stay for dinner? It's the least we can do for helping us out at Ryker's." says Nell. "I promise it's better than the prison food." she says with a smile.

Frank says nothing, barely aware of the conversation going on around him. He is preoccupied with the fact that his core is now issuing other orders to him, new orders. Cape's orders. A cold rage washes over Frank. Not again, he thinks. He's just now getting a hold on the core's desire to make him kill everyone he fights. Wait a sec, he thinks. He'd tried to attack Vector, and there was no sign of the frenzy. Instead, Cape's orders had flashed on his screen. Did they wipe the core's old program? he wonders. He doesn't have a clue how such things worked. His core is a mystery, might as well work by magic. But it seems Cape understands that kind of magic. They've reprogrammed him. Frank will go along with whatever the others do.

"No. It doesn't work like that" Verve answers hurridly. He had jsut been wondering the same thing, but couldn't let the MLF members know it was a possiblity.

"Don't go getting any bright ideas, Picasso, or I'll break your damn fingers off. Then you won't be able to draw anything , except flies. HAR HAR HAR HAR!!" Igneous bellows, obviously amused by his threats. He seems to take great pleasure in intimidating others.

"Zena," MM retorts having had time to stew on Zen'a mean spirited words, "Have I ever taken the time to tell you what a loser you are. You are a reject from a WB network flop. Maybe its time for your own I-am-Queen-of-the-Amazon fakery to go the way of your probably extinct vermin you call pets."

Zena scowls at Menagero. Attacking her was one thing, but to wish harm to her companions is an all-together different matter. She is just about to lay into him again, to remind him that he was on the same show as she... that he has failed in his every attempt to lead this team leaving him in no position to question her right to her throne. Before she can say anything she hears Verve.

"You think me unaware of this Verve? I am well-aware of it. You should have left me to handle it on my own." explains Zena. "I never wanted to be in this group in the first place. I was forced into service with the Supers of fortune, I was forced to participate in the idiotic television show, and I was forced to adhere to the laws of your kingdom... laws that should not hold sway over someone of royal heritage. But I am here now, and I am just trying to make right what I have done. I have no use for these villains and their nonsense except for the fact that it will help to correct my earlier mistake by giving you all a second chance at freedom. I admit that when I broke us out my reasons were selfish. I wanted to find Titania, but my rage gave us a chance to get away. Once again, however, I wish you had left me to handle things myself and made your own way."

"Well, until Amazonia is recognized by the United Nations as a sovereign nation, I'm afraid the laws of this country still apply to you. Ignorance of them is unfortunately, not a defense. But, at this point, it doesn't really matter. We are all wanted criminals anyway," says Verve.

To make multiple paragraphs a certain color use "div" rather than "span". You may need to insert a "p" with < > around them to get the proper paragraph break.

Nell smiles at Julia's comment and says, " I knew you'd come around. I'm sure everyone is just irritable from the chaotic escape we all made. After a hot shower and good meal, everyone will be much more amicable I am sure. I will try you find some fresh street clothes for everyone.I'm not sure how well they will fit, but it will be better than the bright orange prison fatigues we've been wearing."

Nell runs a hand over her orange jumpsuit and it immedialtely rots away under her touch, falling to tatters on the floor before disintegrating completely. "Mmmmmm..I feel better already," purrs Nell, not the least bit self-conscious about revealing her sultry nude form in front of the others. She flashes a devilish smile, and says "I'll be back in a flash, with some attire for the rest of you,"as her ivory white figure disappears down a dark corridor.

Turn 5.3

After everyone has calmed down, showered , and put on new garments, they are shown into a larger cavern with a long table in the center. It is laid out with a decadent gourmet feast and expensive dinnerware. Vector sits at the head of the table. To his right is Death Nell. To his left is Igneous. Master Menagero is forced to sit at the far end of the table with Verve on his right and Roughneck to his left. Kinetica sits between Nell and Roughneck, Zena sits across from her, between Verve and Igneous. Segue teleports around the room, filling everyone's wine glass. (desperate willpower action for Julia to resist the demon alcohol) as the plates of food are passed around the table.

Julia tries her hardest to resist drinking the wine set before her, but it had been so long. One little drink wouldn't hurt right? She rationalizes to herself, and slams the glass of wine down her throat like a shot. Vector sees this and indicates to Segue, that Julia is to have no more alchohol.

As she eats and drinks, Zena's eyes never leave Master Menagero. At times it doesn't even appear that she is blinking. It is apparent to everyone that she has not let go of his comments.

Something odd catches Zena's attention. Her eyes dart away from Menagero and over to Vector. He said that he had a contact in CAPE. Zena tries to recall the conversations leading up to her current situation. She knows that she picked a fight with CAPE, but are they the ones who are forcing her to infiltrate Vector's team? She wishes now that she had focused more on those conversations, because if they are indeed working for CAPE, then there's a chance that Vector knows of their plan. Zena continues to eat as she thinks over the possibilities of the situation. With the villains so close, she has no way of confirming or debunking her fears with her teammates. Her eyes never do seem to make it back to Menagero after this thought. I know who we are working for, but it doesn't seem like details that Zena would have paid much attention to at the time.

After dinner, the group stands in a tight circle, along with Death Nell and Segue. Igneous stays behind with Vector, and Verve is supplied with a sketchbook and pecnils. The group vanishes from sight with a flash of light, teleporting from the cavern. A series of disorientating, rapid-fire teleports occur as Segue moves them back towards the city and finally stops across the street from Ultratech.

Zena stands next to her teammates. Not having her original clothing, Zena improvised by tearing and shredding her prison uniform. When she was done she had turned it into a tattered simulacrum of a tank top and shorts. She ditched the boots deciding to go barefoot as usual, and even went so far as to tie her hair back into a ponytail with one of the remnants of the cloth. It's a far cry from what she usually wears, but at least it's somewhat comfortable.

OOC: We are in costume right? In full view of everyone?
Master Menagero flips his cape around his body. "Okay, what's the well-thought-out, infallible plan so that everyone can mess it up by being pig-headed, self-oriented fools and thus lead to an even stickier situation?"

Frank is able to access his core, and he even sees a subfolder called MAPS within the main folder called TARGET. However, there is nothing within any of teh subfolders. Maybe he was to be uplaoded with relevant information regarding his assassination targets prior to his escape. He sees a number of other main folders labeled
Intelect Boost
Assessment
Bionics
Computers
Cryptography
Espionage
Photograpic Memory
Target (empty)

He has no idea what they mean. He scans himself and doesn't appear to be emitting any foreign signals.

Zena responds to Master Menagero's condescending comments, "Perhaps we should start by hurting you Rupert. That way we can get your running and crying out of the way now..." 5 Agility to defense

Okay, Princess. Why don't you lead the way. We'll take your orders. I will folllow them down to the letter. LEt's see how things turn out. Or are you afraid of the responsibility?" OOC: I want to scan for powers in the vicinity. 3D- Sabretooth (Demolisher/Collateral Damage)

Did Segue and Death Nell stay, or did they/are they leaving? They are still there.

"Fine." Zena responds coldly to Menagero. She looks to Death Nell and Segue, "Are you two staying to help, or just to monitor our progress?"

Taking control of this group makes Zena nervous. She was only just starting to learn how to lead since taking control of Amazonia and here everything... including the people, were alien to her. This teams track record is not a sparkling one. She knows that Menagero cannot be trusted... ever since just before the group disbanded he has seemed like a different person to her. While she never truly respected him, she at least was willing to tolerate him. Now however, she can't even seem to do that much. She wonders where things went wrong between her teammates. She looks at Roughneck as she awaits an answer from the villains and her stern eyes soften just a bit.

Roughneck seems lost in his own thoughts. He has a pained look on his scarred face, as though he is thinking of some unpleasant memory or fighting some internal urge. He doesn't notice Zena looking at him. The longer she watches him, the more disturbed he looks.

"I can take you closer to the buildig if need be, " says Segue. "In fact I was planning on a rooftop rendezvous. I can't risk teleporting us inside as I am unfamilair with th eenvironmant and we could wind up reappering inside a wall or something."

"It will have to do." Starts Zena. She has only had a few moments to come up with a plan and she knows nothing about the capabilities of this place and its staff. without knowing any of that, her plan could prove to be completely useless. "Frank, eliminate the power sytems controlling the building. As soon as it is dark I would like Segue to take Rupert to the rooftop of the building, while we begin a distraction. I would like Rupert to use Segue's powers to teleport inside the building, preferably to the lower levels which is where I would suspect the production facility to be. If you are not comfortable teleporting inside blindly Rupert then please find another way in. Once inside it will be up to you to locate these plans and find away to destroy the robot facility or the entire complex. Avoid detection as long as possible. You are the only one I believe capable of this task."

"Meanwhile, outside, We will do our best to keep the buildings defenses occupied, hopefully drawing out most, if not all of their security forces. Once I initiate the distraction, I want Verve to keep himself out of site. Send a drawing of a savage animal to attack the main entrance when the fighting first breaks out. Julia, I want you to give us cover from aerial attacks and help attack anything else that comes out those doors. Once the enemies begin to flood through to stop us, Nell and I will move into close combat range while Frank and Julia continue to cover us with their ranged weapons. I want Verve to stay concealed for as long as possible, just keep them occupied with your picture-warriors. Once Menagero makes it out Segue will need to pick him up so that we can all regroup and leave the facility." Zena takes a moment to survey the team and takes notes of their reactions to her shoddily concieved plan. 1 Doom + 4 Agil for Leadership skill

Verve has never heard Zena speak with such noble authority before, apparently the time spent leading her people has honed her abilty to take command of a situation. Despie himself, he feels very inspired by her decisive words, as do teh others.

Roughneck almost snaps to attention after Zena's instructions. Though he has misgivings about sending Menagero in alone, he is inspired by Zena's seeming confidence. Something of Frank's emotions surfaces a moment, and he looks at Zena. But just as quickly, it is submerged again. He reports in a monotone: "The security in this place is tight, as modern as I've seen." He scans the building again, his yellow eyes reflecting occasionally in the dimness. Frank is looking for the main power lines headed into the building. "I'll need a few minutes to get at their power. You'll know when it's done. They might have backup generators though. Still, if I can cut the main power, there may be a gap when their security's down. I can try to jack into their system, but I dunno if that'll work." After everyone is ready, Frank will take off toward where he needs to be in order to use his core to jack into their computer system. I have played most of my cards, if cardplay is needed for this, use a replacement card at your discretion please, best available. If he can't jack into the system, he will try to just cut the power lines with his laser.

"Roger that, boss lady," says Julia. Play 8S to attack any targets as needed. Unless something more threatening than run-of-the-mill guardsmen show up, Julia will rely on her force field to proect her. (go all-out-offense in that case). Otherwise, she'll play 8D to dodge

MM pretended to scowl, but was happy that his reverse psychology worked on Zena. For months he had been trying to get the group to accept the leadership of SOMEONE. It was for their own benefit. But the brutes just wouldn't accept the idea. It had cost Blitz his life, Rupert was sure. And, though the team acted like they didn't get along, they needed each other and respected each other's abilities. Even though he, too, thought Zena's plans were risky, we was going to make it work so that they could see the benefit of team work and leadership. "I'm in. I hope you plan doesn't flop, princess." MM looks at Roughneck. If you can get me some sort of coordinates, I can make a best-guess teleport into the facility to carry out my portion of the mission. Of course, it will do little good if the rest of you fail." Play 6I for teleport and push with 3D to gwet into building. NOTE: Whose powers will I have once inside the facility? They way I've been handling it is that MM's duplicated powers last for an aura duration. Once that is up, he would assume the powers of whoever is closest to him. This keeps me from having to constantly figure out if MM's powers are shifting, etc.

If the GM allows, Roughneck will try to access his core again to guestimate where Menagero should teleport to.

Turn 5.4

Under cover of the approaching night, Roughneck jogs a few blocks down the street, crosses over and approaches the Ultratech building from the side. Scanning the building and the various emissions coming from it, he is able to locate where the phone lines run beneath the ground and into the building. He extends his laser, cutting into the ground, then scooping out the earth that cove the cables. He makes a small incision, exposing the wires encased in the hard plastic tubing, and a small fiber optic wire extends from the back of his hand, jacking into the phone lines.

Frank's consciousness is submerged in a flood of electronic data. It takes a moment for him to reorient himself. The core guiding his way through the datatreams to find the desired information. He locates the power grid, as well as the location of the Minuteman production facilities. He can even see the design plan files, though he cannot access them. They are too heavily encrypted and the Ultratech computer systems are slamming him with firewall and virus protection intrusion countermeasures. he had jack out soon, or something bad was going to happen.

Frank transmits the necessary coordinates to Menagero's PDA before slamming a complete shutdown of all power systems in the building and immediately jacks out.

As the building goes dark, Segue and Master Menagero teleport to the top of the building. Menagero then teleports straight down through several stories to the ground floor. The roof schematic Roughneck had sent him was helpful but it was till a risky move porting blind. He reappears with his noise mere centimeters from the corridor wall. Close call. "I'm in. he informs the others and moves in the direction of the Minutemen production labs. It is chaotic inside as people are startled by the sudden blackout. Scientists and technicians hurry to and fro along the corridor, not taking much notice of him in the darkness.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" asks the woman as she tries to pull away.

Suddenly a thunderous crahing sound comes from the front of the building. That must be the distraction

Everyone please welcome Clint to the game. He has been a player in one of Garry's PBeM's for awhile now and expressed some interest in joining up. It was a little difficult figuring out a way to have him join in considering the current circumstances of the group, but it should all work out nicely. Please remember to seperate player knowledge from character knowledge as events unfold...Keith

As the woman leads Menagero down the corridor, the low reddish emergency lighting kicks on, providing enough faint light to see by. Menagero steals galances through the dark windows of each laboratory as they rush down teh hall. Then he sees it in a large hangar-like engineering production lab. The familair outline of the 30 foot Minuteman robot bathed in the eerie red glow of the lights sends shivers down his spine, as he remembers how easily the thing had taken out Meta-Force previously. He hopes it isn't operational, but there is no way to tell whee it is in teh production process with such low lighting

Menagero surmises that the plans are likely housed in the large computer banks in the production lab, on the opposite side of the room from the robot

An animated crane with a wrecking ball shimmers into existence just outside the front entrance of Ultratech, the large balls smashes into the entrance, completely destroying the doorway, as well as several feet of steel and concrete surrounding tit. "I know you wanted animals, but I took some artistic license, " says Verve. "That should get their attention. "

"Stay hidden," Zena reminds Verve. She then looks at the trees not to far away. A murder of crows has decided to stop there for the night. Zena hates to put the birds in harm's way, but it may be necessary to succeed here tonight. Keith, I hope it's alright that I placed the birds there, if not let me know and I'll revise this. 6 Doom to take control of the birds; 5 Agil to dodge

The others move quickly across the street to the doorway to meet any coming security forces.

Within a few moments the sound of small jets can be heard as a force of five armored female security agents fly into view from a portal in the side of the building a few floors up. They close in fast in a tight formation, moving to intercept the approaching group, as they lay down a strafe of automatic blaster fire from the back of their gauntlets. The lead security officer speaks through her voice amplification system, boosting it to bullhorn level. "THE AUTHORITIES HAVE BEEN CONTACTED AND ARE IN ROUTE! PLEASE SURRENDER AT ONCE!"

Turn 5.5

As the woman leads Menagero down the corridor, the low reddish emergency lighting kicks on, providing enough faint light to see by. Menagero steals glances through the dark windows of each laboratory as they rush down the hall. Then he sees it in a large hangar-like engineering production lab. The familiar outline of the 30 foot Minuteman robot bathed in the eerie red glow of the lights sends shivers down his spine, as he remembers how easily the thing had taken out Meta-Force previously. He hopes it isn't operational, but there is no way to tell where it is in the production process with such low lighting

Menagero surmises that the plans are likely housed in the large computer banks in the production lab, on the opposite side of the room from the robot

Menagero goes into the room and begins typing away at the keyboard, using his computer skills to try to hack into the system., with little luck.

The woman technician, Lucy Romero, by her name tag, watches Menagero as he types away. He obviously doesn't know the correct password and is trying to hack into classified data systems.

MM teleports behind the woman and grabs her from behind. He whispers, "Okay, so you know I don't know the password. And you have probably guessed I am the world's greatest super villain, Master Menagero. And you are probably imagining all the terrible things I will do to you if you don't punch the password into the computer. Oh. And you are kind of hot." Using 9D to teleport and 6W to intimidate her into doing my bidding.

The technician labelled Lucy Romero deftly avoids the 'world's greatest supervillain' with inhuman quickness. "Just isn't your lucky day Menagero, I haven't yet hacked into the computer systems here either," she says as she smiles coyly with a wink, "and if you start something with me, better hope you have backup." She motions to the computer bank, "So, the question is what do you intend to do once in the system, and are we going to work together on this?"
7D to dodge; 6W to Epsionage (trump) to keep an eye out for trouble

"Good move. You surprised me." MM says, "And I do have back up. In fact, I may not be able to hack into this computer, but I know someone who can. So, I better shut up and make it quick." Am I detecting her powers? MM wants to use the computer to tap into an open communication channel. Familiar with Roughneck's various bandwidths, including his PDA, MM wants to provide a link between the computer station he is working at and Roughneck.

As MM works on his watch, she replies, "I think you are bluffing. It sounds like your entire forces are outside causing a decent distraction. Tactically, you were the one most likely to hack in, from what I've seen on the tube. I don't think I'd have sent you without backup. If you want to try again, I can help you, she offers again."

MM sends a text message. "This is MM. Care to hack this info and get the data out that we need. Once you confirm upload, I will destroy the lab. Will need evac for me + 1 hot chick (super-powered). BTW, can you take over the Minutemen robot while you are at it.?"

Zena reaches out with he mind, commanding the crows to obscure the approaching security forces vision and flight paths. They respond at once, taking flight from the trees and heading straight for the oncoming opponents. The female guard take evasive maneuvers, as the crows zig and zag in front of them and generally creating a nuisance. They of course aren't doing any damage ot the armored females but they are certainly making it more difficult for them to get a clear shot on Meta-Force.

The crows make aiming at the jet packs difficult for Roughneck as well, so he just fires off a blast in the general direction hoping it doesn't fry any errant birds. It smacks into the security agent closets to him, burning a hole in her armor, but missing the jet pack completely.

"Here's my surrender, lady!" says Julia, putting her hands together and extending her index fingers towards the speaker. She fires a k-bolt at her.

The k-bolt slams into the lead agent with a loud smack., sending her spiraling out of control and skidding across the cement street. Smoke rises from her battlesuit and she does not appear to be in any condition to rejoin the fray.

"Good shot sweetie!" yells Death Nell, who can't do anything at the moment except dodge plasma blasts.

"Nice shot kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home, " Verve yells over the comm-link as the animated crane shifts shape and becomes an animated Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, about the size of a compact car. It does a barrel roll to get in position behind one of the security agents, and opens fire. It has equally devastating results, sending a second security skidding to the pavement.

"He can draw a plate that shoots fire but he can't draw animals." grumbles Zena.

The three remaining security agents regroup and form a V formation, then launch their counterattack.

Zena does a flying mid-air somersault to evade the strafe of plasma blasts sent her way.

A barrage of autofire hits Kinetica's forcefield, and she can actually "feel it" though it doesn't damage her. She grits her teeth and narrowly avoids her forcefield going down completely.

Roughneck is unable to avoid the spray of plasma fire that is sent his way. (8 points of damage)

3 Agility to Dodge As Zena again takes up defensive measures against the battlesuit guards, she begins to miss her weaponry. Twice now she has nearly tried to deflect the energy fire off her gauntlets only to remember at the last second that they aren't there. Out of the corner of her eye, Zena spies a round sewer access grate. Granted it isn't as lightweight or aerodynamic as her absent chakram, but it might do the trick... especially against such heavily armored foes. She grabs for the makeshift weapon. 8 Will to send the sewer lid at one of the guards... of course, as usual, if it isn't appropriate to have a sewer access tunnel nearby, I'll revise my action.

5 Willpower to dodge. Kinetica aims at the nearest guardlady and powerslams into her 6 Agility to attack.

Turn 5.6

Just as Master Menagero sends his text message and plugs his PDA into the computer terminal, Lucy Romero taps him on the shoulder. "We've got company coming," she says. Two security guards burst into the room with their guns drawn. "Freeze you two. This is a secure area! Step away from the computer with your hands up!" These are regular non-armored type guards

'Lucy Romero' throws her hands up, "Oh, thank goodness! He was trying to make me use my clearance to let him in the computer!" She makes a point of moving away from Master Menagero as if fleeing from him, to also make them split their attention. 7D to manipulation to pull off the bluff, which IS mostly true. 5I to espionage to keep a lookout and notice an easy way to dissabilitate the two gaurds quietly.

One of the guards checks out her Ultratech name badge on the lab coat. "OK. You are free to go. Stay close by though, we are going to need you to fill out a full incident report concerning this Ms. Romero."

They turn their full attention on Menagero at this point. Lucy now has the element of surprise on her side as she walks past the guards as if to leave the room.

'Lucy Romero' smiles, and flings her hand up, as if throwing something with a flick of the wrist. In the near-darkness, she figures nobody (Menagero) will see the corrosive missile as it flies towards the suspended heavy industrial light to eat away the support cable on one end. She figures its trajectory will swing it down into both of the guards... 5S for Corrosive Missile stunt, dodge with 4A

The cable hisses and smokes as whatever Lucy flung at it , quickly eats through it. Th ecable gives way, swinging the indutrial strength light like a pendulum fof a giant grandfather clock. KRASH!! The light smacks into the guards who are taken completly unaware by the surprise atatck. The are both knocked unconscious by the blow.

MM comprehends the maneuver his new partner is trying to pull. "Roughneck, can you get the plans of not?" MM asks, prepared to launch another back up plan if necessary. He teleports to doge any incoming fire. He wants to end up looking out the door in case backup is arriving. If he sees no one, he closes the door. Figuring his partner's move will work, he says. "Well, you know my name. Who are you and what are you doing here? Dodge with edge 1D and 3A.

The woman quips, "You figure a building full of super scientists would build more quality into their facility." Ignoring the first question, because often the walls have ears, she replies to Menagero, "I'm here for some information in the computers, I'm a free-lance espionage operative, currently doing some personal research. I had planned to find a terminal already logged in, when you arrived." She stares intently at Master Menagero, studying his appearance.

"Oh, well. Sorry to have inconvenienced you. No need to quit trying, eh?" MM will try to access the plans again. "Well, if you ever need another operative, give me a call. I am getting tired of putting my life on the line with no backup or support everyday."

Quizzically, she replies, "Just what do you think my job entails but exactly that?" She moves to the computer to aid him in his hacking attempt. Play best card towards his action, if allowed
As they work, she asks, "What kind of job are you on now. Did network TV make all of meta-force turn to crime? How's that paying, anyways?" Her voice fades down some, "I'm currently looking for work..."

MM looks up for a moment from his typing. "So, we are both unsatisfied participants." He goes back to trying to crack the code. "We are not on anyone's payroll anymore. We have broke out of the hero game and have decided to use our powers to benefit ourselves; one such benefit being making sure these Minutemen contraptions don't bother us and our kind in the future." MM hopes she buys his story. "ROUGHNECK, UPDATE!?!"

Over the comm, Menagero hears Roughneck grunt in pain and growl, "MM, I can't get in."

Zena gracefully dances through the plasma bursts with a series of acrobatic flips that lands her near the manhole cover she spied earlier. She reaches down and yanks it up , sending it flying towards the armored female who had just shot at her. KLANG!!! The makeshift chakram strikes the guard straight in the head, causing her to do a backwards somersault on the air before smacking into the pavement, which cracks from the impact. The crows, having done as Zena initially asked, have sense scattered away from the e fray .

Roughneck sees MM's text message flash across his field of vision, as he has routed the PDA through his own system earlier to transmit the building coordinates to MM. He barely misses being hit by a plasma blast from an oncoming guard. He quickly fires off two laser blasts VIP! VIP! at her , both strike true, sending the guard careening into an erratic loop that quickly ends as she smacks into the side of the Ultratech buling and crashes through the 2nd story window KRASH!, sending shards of glass to the area below.

The last remaining guard fires away at Kinetica, peppering her with autofire plasma blasts ZARP!ZARP! ZARP! ZARP!which are deflected harmlessly by Kinetica's forcefield as Kinetica flies toward her at full speed. Kinetica slams into the guard with everything she's got. THWAM!!! The impact sends the guard straight back into the Ultratech building, and she smashes into brick and steel of the exterior , caving it in and leaving a cartoon like silhouette of her form.

As the smoke from the battle clears, the others can hear MM's current plight over the comm-link.

"Sounds like your boy is in trouble," says Death Nell. "I'm going in." she says and darts through the rubble where the front entrance used to be prior to Verve destroying it.

"What's the status Oh Captain, my Captain? Should I stay or should I go with you guys? asks Verve over the commlink, as the Millennium Falcon morphs into a floating question mark. "That reminds me of a Clash song. I love the Clash, by the way "

Zena has no idea what Verve is talking about. "Stay outside for now in case any reinforcements arrive. The rest of us will go to Menagero's aide " she says.

Kinetica flies into the building, punching a hole through any walls getting in her way.

As he movs into the building with teh others, Roughneck tries to hack into the computer system via the uplink Menagero has provided. 7S for the attempt, 6A to dodge if necessary.

Roughneck tries to hack into teh computer system but the defenses are too great. He cannot break through the ICE (Intrusion Countermeasures). The Ultratech computer launches defensive program designed to fry a hacker's system. Frank tries to "evade" the cyber attack, but to no avail. It travels's through the PDA, through his fiber optic link, and straight for the Core. He sees a white flash of light, as the Core shunts the damage to his cerebral cortex rather than take the hit itself. A small rivulet of blood begins to seep from Frank' nose and he has a sever headache, worse than any hangover he has ever experienced.

Roughneck, dazed from the computer countermeasures, prepares to enter the building, ready for a brawl; but he stops dead in his tracks. He is a soldier. Soldiers follow orders. He looks toward Zena. The look isn't the usual look though. This one is merely a question to the person he currently sees as in charge. In the back of Frank's mind, he wonders as his behavior. But his actions are dictated by his new programming. He awaits instructions before acting. Blood is running freely from his nose, and his eyes are glazed.

GM note..The soldier calling doesn't make you a mindless automaton incapable of freethought. know you are just posting fo reffect, but thought I dhould point ot out anyway. it also states that "Your hero prizes following or giving orders unless it conflicts with his or her moral code" basically just following a chain of command and liking a regimented type mindset.

Turn 5.7

With Lucy's help Menagero is able to access the files and quickly burn them to a disk. A moment later the others arrive, having honed in on MM's location through the GPS system in each of their PDA's.

"Who the hell is this? " asks Death Nell indicating Lucy, as she strides toward the Minuteman robot on the far side of the room. When she reaches it, she places her hands on it's metallic frame and it immediately begins to corrode and rust away. Over the commlink she says, "Segue, we need an immediate evacuation. Segue? Come in Segue. "

Verve's voice can be heard over the commlink "Guys it looks like we've got some more company!"

Then a thundering explosion is heard KRA-KOOM!! as a large man crashes through the ceiling of the lab, landing in the center of the room with an impact that cracks the floor . The stocky, brick shithouse of a man is dressed in oil stained, faded blue jeans with suspenders holding them up. His large beer belly hangs heavily over the waistline and his hairy belly button peeks from beneath his ill fitting red muscle shirt. He has a navy blue baseball cap, though it is black in places from years of sweat stains. It has the initials "SW" on the front. He hasn't shaved in days and has a huge lump of chewing tobacco in his bottom lip. Its none other than the legendary powerhouse, Shockwave of Guardian's fame. "CAN YOU SMELL WHAT THE SHOCK IS COOKING!?" he bellows and spits some tobacco juice on the floor. "Who wants the first serving of Whoop Ass?" he asks with a raised eyebrow, while cracking his knuckles on his ham hock sized fists.

Menagero is immediately hit with a surge of power as his uncontrolled abilities seek to assume those of Shockwave. He can tell that this meta has more power than he can safely assume, and fights to assum the powers and not be put out of commission from a power backlash.

Shockwave is quickly joined by two other Guardians, Iceman and Huntress who enter from the hole in the ceiling, sliding in on an ice ramp created by Iceman's powers. The Huntress rides behind him with her hands around his waist, she lets go and nimbly lands on the floor besides Shockwave, with her handheld crossbow at the ready. She is dressed in a form fitting dark blue leotard with exposed legs and arms, with a cape and hood pulled over her head. She has various utility belts and pouches belted around her waist and thighs. "I'm afraid we've already taken care of your getaway man. I suggest you surrender quietly and just skip the obligatory slugfest. The end result will be the same either way. "

Iceman comes to a stop beside her, he is fully encased in his ice armor, and appears as if made entirely of ice.

"I got tall, dark, and fugly," says Kinetica. She flies full speed into Shockwave. Play 10D attack with 1I edge, 7W to Dodge in needed.

"Who you calling ugly?" asks Shockwave incredulously. "I am one sexy, hunk of pure American beef!" he says slapping his enormous beer gut that ripples like jello from the impact.

As she closes in on Shockwave, Julia remembers the last time she tangoed with this brute. It was her first assignmet with the team, then called the Supers of Fortune. She had made the mistake of letting him get his mitts on her and the subsequent bear hug he put her in had nearly squeezed the daylights out of her. She won't make the same mistake twice.

Lucy Romero stays to the back, against the massive computer. The introduction of this terrorist Death Nell makes an interesting opportunity. She decides to stay in the back and watch for now, particularly Death Nell to get a feel for her peronality and tactics. While remaining a bystander, she looks to help Menagero dodge any attacks that he seems uncapable of avoiding, as he is her only 'ally' of the moment. 4A dodge. 7D to move Menagero out of way of an attack that will strike him if doesn't look capable of dodging it.

MM's mission is complete. No need to stay around tangling with these pros. IF POSSIBLE, I would like to use Seque's last bit of energy to teleport out with my team members, Death Nell and our other ally, leaving Lucy behind. If I can do this, use 3A and trump + push with 4D. Put us as far away as possible. I have the info, my mission is done. If I am forced to stay, I will try to contain SHockwave's power. Use 4I + trump and push with 4D.

Zena charges towards Huntress ready to engage her female opponent. She begins barking out orders again, "death Nell, keep on destroying that malicious device. Roughneck, you take out the cold warrior while Kinetica handles the giant. I'll handle their mock amazon. Menagero, work on a way of getting us out of here and contact our other man outside and see if he can find Segue. Do what you can to prote...." Zena hesitates in her words for a second, momentarily forgetting her role in all this. She quickly rethinks her last statement as she throws a punch at Huntress. "Use the civilian as a hostage if you have to!" 4 Agil to dodge, 5 Str to attack Huntress. Are we still under the effects of my Leadership or should I make another leadership test?

"No need for that" says Death Nell as she rushes towards Shockwave, "All it takes is a touch to start the chain reaction of decay. The robot will be a pile of rust in a few moments."

Roughneck, still wobbly on his feet but recovering as his core asserts even more control, fires his laser at the Ice Man. Roughneck can feel his body's protests, but the core ignores them and pushes him on. Full blast, 6D to attack, A to dodge.

Turn 5.8

Zena sprints towards the Huntress, her long powerful legs closing the distance so fast, her opponent can't even get a shot off her crossbow before Zena throws a savage punch at the lithe archer. The Huntress, spins under the punch performing a leg sweep maneuver, that Zena springs over. It seems Zena's ferocity is matched by the Huntress's martial prowess. The Huntress stands in a karate stance ready for more. "Bring it on, Big Red." she says with a sly smile.

Roughneck fires on Iceman with his laser, who cries out in pain, as it burns into his armor. Iceman fires back a volley of ice missiles, that Frank barely avoids.

Kinetica blasts into Shockwave, whacking him in the face as she flies over him to stay a safe distance away. His head snaps back slightly from the blow, but he seems more amused buy it than anything. "Hmm. Looks like we got a scrapper. Come on baby, i like it rough. Here let me show ya!" Shockwave turns to face her, and slams his mammoth hands together, sending a sonic shock wave straight at her. Kinetica's forcefield offers her no protection from this barrage of sound and the ear splitting clap of thunder sends her head swimming.

"Don't you hurt her, you bastard!" Death Nell screams jumping on Shockwave's back and placing both of her hands on either side of his head. Shockwave's eye's roll back in his head, and the color drains from his body as Death Nell begins draining the life force from him. She releases her hold and the mammoth man limply falls face forward on the floor, unmoving. He doesn't appear to be breathing. Death Nell kicks him in the ribs for good measure.

Zena seems exceptionally shocked by what has happened. These were good people only trying to uphold the laws and rights that her teammates in Meta-Force were always doing their best to preserve. Now because of Zena's actions it is all come down to this. If that man dies the blame falls directly onto Zena's shoulders. After all, she got them into this mess with her outburst. Her shocked expression turns into one of determination.

Menagero feels Shockwave's power flooding into him, even as he watches in horror as Death Nell sucks his life away. He almost feels sick as he assumes the behemoth's massive power. He was strong!
MM yells, "We are out of here! Follow me!" Without a moment's hesitation, Menagero marshalls Shockwave's stupendous powers and charges Huntress with a devastating leap. He plans to tackle Huntress than barrel through all the walls until the team has an exit point. Leaping 18 + 3A + trump + push with 6W.

Seeing Shockwave go down, possibly dead, Roughneck yells, "I'm with MM! Time to go!" He moves to follow MM out of the place, though he will wait for his teammates before leaving. He sprays his laser at Ice again, though he is not intending to hit the hero--just hoping to distract him enough to let the others escape. 5A for any dodging I must do, 5D for the "attack" on Ice.

Lucy reaches in her coat pocket, coming out with three shuriken in her hand. She then flings the three at Death Nell. She remains silent and near the computers trying to stay out of danger otherwise. +4 shurikens, 4A attack, 7D dodge

Zena is outraged by what Death Nell did. She hasn't moved since Shockwave fell. Had she wanted to, Huntress probably could have taken Zena out right then and there due to the distraction. But her sentiment was with her very injured, possibly dead friend. Zena had to work this out so that Death Nell went down and was captured for her crime. She loks around the ground until she finds something lose. A piece of machinery, a tool, a discarded weapon... anything. Once found, she retrieves the object and hurls it with as much force as she can muster right at Death Nell. 6 Str into a push for my action, 5 strength to hurl whatever I can find to hopefully take out Death Nell, preferrably without her seeing where it came from (I'll play my best card availiable for the action if I need to in order to hide my attack from Death Nell)

Philip Delain tries to quietly get out of bed without waking his partner. He looks at her naked, seductive form half covered by the silk sheets still in disarray from their lovemaking. The woman rolls over, and watches him as he gathers his clothes from the floor. "trying to sneak off so soon, darling? " she asks coyly, her dazzling blue eyes twinkling from the candlelight.

"It's getting late and I don't want Katherine getting any more suspicious than she already is, " replies the mayoral candidate.

"Oh don't worry about her. If she starts making a stink about it, I'll just have her taken care of like my father did your first wife." she laughs and pushes a lock of curly black hair behind her ear.

"For me to know..." she teases. "Besides, she'll never leave you. You are too close to becoming Mayor. What woman wouldn't want to have that much power at her disposal? At least with me, you know I'm not after you for your money or power."

"Right. You just want to keep me under your thumb for your own reasons." replies Philip buttoning his shirt.

"Oh, you sound upset, Philip." she says with a smile. "You knew there would be strings attached the first time you came to my father. You only dug your hole deeper when you came begging for me to take care of that blackmail business, your daughter's sexcapades got you involved in. besides, It's not all bad is it? Not many men get to share the bed of Alexis Falcone, AKA Vendetta, the Queen of Organized Crime.

"Mmmmm...I hope not. Soon the campaign trail will be over and we can get about the real business of running this city."

She raises up on her knees on the bed and pulls him closer by his tie, kissing him passionately. Within moments it is obvious that Philip Delain wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

"Holy Crap! Tell me you got that shot!" Guy Flairentino exclaims, as a spray of blood and several teeth splatter across him and his cameraman Calvin.

"I got it boss." replies Calvin, as he adjusts the zoom on his lens to get a better angle of the match currently taken place in the caged arena.

"Ohh!!! That's gotta hurt!"' shouts Guy over the man's screams as Titania bites the ear off of her opponent, gouges out his eyes, and snaps both of his kneecaps in just under two seconds. The burly man falls to the bloodstained mat and immediately begins going into convulsions. Titania raises her arms in victory and gives an amazonian battle cry. The crowd of felons goes wild with a mixture of cheers and cat calls in praise of the brutal and beautiful amazon inmate.

"Ari's gonna love this!!" Guy says wiping the blood from his official "Alpha Male" nylon jacket, with his official "Alpha Male" hand towel.

The Xargothian lunar escape pod leaves a trail of superheated atmosphere as it plunges in to the earth's gravitational pull. It had been lost in space for over a year, until a a stray asteroid had changed it's trajectory and sent it on a collision course with the Earth. Inside, Rupert Renspotnick, straps himself in and braces for impact, even though he knows the crash probably won't harm him. He still posses the invulnerability of Harbinger, as well as several other powers he had assumed from his former team mates, in their battle with the Xarhothians.

Getting yanked out of his own time, would prove fortunate after all. It had blessed him with more power than he ever thought imaginable and conveniently stepped up his timeframe. The sooner the the world was under the power of MASTER MENACE, the better.

Turn 5.9

Huntress immediately fires off a quarrel at Death Nell , that ensnares her in a ropelike coil, pinning her arms to her sides.

Iceman dodges the laser blasts fired at him by Roughneck and slides over to his downed teammate and begins doing first aid. Roughneck can feel his body quickly recovering from the damage he took from the computer attack attack earlier.

A split second after Huntress' quarrel hits Death Nell, Zena and Lucy both fling their respective missile attacks at the villain. With her back to them , and her arms pinned, she really has no chance to dodge the attacks. The softball sized chunk of ceiling debris that Zena picked up, strikes Nell in the back of the head. Lucy's shurikens thump into her back with pinpoint accuracy.

Kinetica's head is still reeling from Shockwave's earlier attack, but the room finally quits spinning enough for her to get her bearings and take in the scene.

I did an aura reading to see if Kinetica could piece it together, and she is able to figure it out. She wasn't unconscius, so she would have at least heard Death Nell screaming and Shockwave groaning. KH

She sees Menagero coming down in an arc from his super strong leap towards Huntress. The quick archer turns her head just in time to see the mountainous Menagero about to crash into her. She does a series of backwards somersaults, that take her safely out of harm's way as Menagero crashes down into the floor, kicking up chunks of the floor, where his feet make contact. KA-THOOM! The leap had taken a lot out of him, he realizes as the impact jars his frame.

Huntress comes to a stop in a crouched position with her crossbow at the ready, covering Iceman and Shockwave. Her eyes dart quickly between the downed Death Nell, Zena, and Lucy. Something didn't figure. "Does somebody want to tell me just what the hell is going on here?" she asks. "Terrorists with a conscious? I don't think so. "

Huntress looks at the amazon skeptically. "I was nowhere near her, when you threw that rock. It was intentional. Now tell me what's really going on? Your team helped clear our names at one point and I'm willing to return the favor, provided you have a legitimate excuse."

Verve can be heard over the comm-link, "I'm on the roof. Segue is out cold, bound and gagged by one of Huntress' trick arrows it looks like."

He stayed behind at the MLF base. KH

After hearing Verve, Zena decides they need to leave while the heroes are preoccupied. She doesn't think they'll bother coming after them and risking Death Nell slipping away after what she did. "Meta-Force.... let's go. Menagero get to the roof and secure Segue and Verve, you'll need him to get us out of here." Zena then starts to make her way to the closest exit, hopefully with her team in tow. 4 Will to all out dodge this turn as I try to leave.

"Don't move Zena! This isn't over yet." says the Huntres."If you thnk we are jsut going to let you walk out of here after what just happened you are crazy."

Iceman looks up from Shockwave, "He needs to get to a hospital or he is going to die. I can't do anything for him."

Zena hasn't stopped her escape attempt as she shouts behind her, "Your move Huntress. Stop us or save your companion. You don't get both today, but you do get to keep Death Nell!"

"He..he.,he's dead." Iceman says in disbelief. His face contorts into a visage of rage as he screams, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" He unleashes a full scale artic explosion from his body.

Roughneck runs to Ice and slugs him. 7S for the attack, 8A replacement card to dodge.

MM follows Zena's orders be jumping straight up through the building's ceilings to get to the roof.Using 3A , all out defense

Lucy runs to Shockwave, and begins looking him over, re-performing first aid. cardplay in private email; dodge with 7D

"Nell!" cries Kinetica. She channels her force field at Huntress (and Iceman if possible), entraping them in a bubble of blue energy.Play 9I with 2I edge; 7W to Dodge if needed

Turn 5.10

Before the others can do anything, Iceman unleashes his devastating attack. An explosion of ice and snow emanate from his body with blizzard like intensity effecting everything in the vicinity.

The room is immediately filled with over 6 feet of snow and ice, and the temperature drops to sub zero levels, flash freezing everything. Everyone in the room immediately passes out from the rapid temperature drop.

They awake to find themselves back in the MLF base, bundled in heavy wool blankets and surrounded by magma filled rocks, courtesy of Igneous' power, to warm their bodies. Vector, Igneous, Death Nell (wrapped in blankets as well), Verve, and Segue are all present and stop their conversation as it becomes apparent that the others are waking from unconsciousness. "Welcome back to the land of the living. " says Verve. "We were just debriefing Vector on our mission and escape."

Vector looks disapprovingly at the metahumans. "You all nearly failed. Had verve not been able to rouse Segue, and teleport you all away, you'd all be in custody right now. Still, you destroyed the robot and got the plans. So at least that much was accomplished."

"Don't forget about Shockwave." reminds Nell. She gives no indication that she is aware of Zena's attack on her.

"Yes," says Vector, "he would have made a powerful ally, but he was was as deluded as the rest of them, perhaps it is best he is dead. There has been no coverage of the event by the media. My contact within CAPE informs me that Ultratech and the Guardian's have decided to cover it up given the sensitive nature of their respective defeats. But I am sure neither of them will let it go lightly. The Huntress in particular is extremely diligent, and with the death of her team mate, probably more so. We haven't seen the last of the Guardians..at least not yet."

Zena feels a pang of guilt at the mention of Shockwave. She feels responsible for his death.

"This is a war.." Vector continues, "and casualties are a part of war. Which brings me to my next assignment for all of you." He points at Julia and flatly says, "your father must die."

Zena stands. "No." Her words are firm, "Just because we have turned our backs on the laws of your nation does not mean we are murderers." Her eyes stare coldly at Death Nell, she is not even trying to mask her hatred for the woman. "We will not be your assassins."

Death Nell remains quiet with a bemused smile on her face and maintains Zena's gaze with a cold stare.

"As, I said, this is war. Does a soldier commit murder when he eliminates the enemy? It is no more than they have planned for us." replies Vector.

"Da...daddy?" asks Julia. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not my father's biggest fan, but this...this isn't what I signed on for."

"I see..." says Vector gravely. "Does everyone feel this way? Keep in mind the penalty for insubordination is death. "

"Look, you can't expect a girl to murder her own father, no matter what he's done," says Julia. "Besides, killing him will just make him a martyr, and none of us here wants that."

The group begins to feel gravity slowly increasing around them, as Vector's displeasure increases. not enough for any game effects, just enough to let you know that his power is being activated

"What kinda leader are you, anyways? There for a while, I figgered you had some sense," says Roughneck, straining against Vector's power. "You can't trust Julia as far as you can throw her. She's a drunk and an addict. She's good in a scrap, but if you try to make her kill her dad, you're just askin' for her to turn on you--and the rest of us. A smart builder don't use weak lumber to bear a load, he uses it for trim. Use the strong stuff for the hard jobs. I'll kill DeLain. It's what I was made for. And I don't need any of these others either. They're all goody-goody. 'Sides, they'll just get in my way. Send Iggy along if you don't trust me--he don't look like he minds a little blood. I'll get'er done. Hell, send the others somewhere else--opposite side of the city. Make some kinda distraction, draw the Guardians away. They'll be lookin' for revenge after what she pulled." Roughneck nods toward Nell.

Struggling against Vector's power, Julia gives Frank the look. "Gee, it's nice to know who one's friends are."

MM wants to spend his time taking in the surroundings, tring to figure out the base they are being kept in. Vector has too much of the upper hand. It's time to start widdling away at the villain's power base. Best intellect feat possible.

Master Menagero can see that the base is a natural underground cavern made entirely of earth and stone. With his newly acquired abilities, he surmises that every aspect of his environmnet is now his to command if he chooses.

Vector levitates off of the cavern floor, glaring at the group menacingly. The walls begin to tremble as he speaks, "I am the type of leader who does not tolerate having my orders questioned! I am the type of leader who desires the decimation of every homo-sapien and those who sympathize with them! There is no place for this sentimental sniveling in a true warrior's heart. This is about survival of the species! Plain and simple! Only the strong will survive the final war and you have all revealed your weakness! Don't take your deaths personally, it is just part of the evolutionary process." The cavern ceiling begins to cave in as Vector finishes his speech, threatening to bury the team under tons of earth and stone.

"Yo, Captain Vectsectomy!" Yes, I know it's spelled vasectomy. She playing off his name. "Decimate means to reduce by one-tenth. You can't decimate every homo sapien, moron. What are you going to do, shrink everbody by six inches?" She pinches her fingers together about three inches appart. "Which, by the way, Nell tells me you think is this much."Play 6W to Taunt Vector into attacking only her instead of the group, and 7D to dodge his attack (or 5S if its a strength action to resist).

"Hmmm...you learn something new everyday." says Verve, whipping out a brand new sketchbook and pencil.

"Gosh. Even I didn't know that, and I'm the brains of this outfit...and for the time being, the brawn too!" I want to command as much rock as will obey my whim to impact Vector, pouring int oevery open orifice of his like rabid sand particles. 1W + 5W + push with 4A

Still angry about the events involving the Guardians, Zena grabs the nearest hunk of stone and hurls it right towards Death Nell, planning to punish her in whatever form she can muster for the death of a hero. 8D to attack; 4 Agil to dodge

Michael, There aren't any apartment located on teh ground floor. They are all on the second floor. The two largest ones are labled master bedrooms and are in the SW and SE corners of the second floor. Let me know whiich one MM wants, or if he wants a different one. I think the one you are referring to on teh ground floor, is the Conference room, which is uded for meetig with guests and media...CAPE was under teh assumtion taht the MLF was planning something big! On teh dcale of another Hurican katrina-like attack. They had Nell and Igneous in custody, but neither were talking. So, CAPE decided to use us, to infiltrate teh group and gather as much Intel as possible. OOC: Okay. Just pick me a purdy one, uh haha.

XP's can be spent after this current storyarc is over. True, I did start a new Turn number and award XP's but I'd rather wait until the team has a bit of downtiwe, rather than right in the middle of all of this. Especially, the Edge thing.

Turn 5.11

Kinetica's taunting seems to have no effect on Vector as his power continues to shake the ceiling above them.

Zena grabs a chunk of rock that lands near her and launches it at Death Nell, hoping to repeat the success she had at Ultratech. Death Nell easily avoids the rock, ducking nimbly out of it's path.

Roughneck fires off a laser blast at Vector, hitting him dead center , and sizzling his chest . The villain seems shocked that his gravity based forcefield did not prevent the attack from harming him. Frank feels the core trying to send him into killer mode, but he is able to transcend the programing with a remarkable push of will.

This changed the narrator card to a positive aura, therefore letting all of the heroes go first

Verve looks nervously at he ceiling, seeing the hundreds of stalactites hanging from it, and redoubles his sketching. "If that ceiling comes down, we are all going to be pin cushions. "

Master Menagero's hands glow like like red hot embers and a barrage of earth and stone shoot out at Vector from the nearby walls and floor. The projectiles are robbed of their momentum as they near Vector, overcome with the forces of gravity the stones fall to the floor before ever hitting the villain. Though one does get through, cracking him in the head. He looks more annoyed by this than hurt.

Igneous' rock laden hands glow red and a wall of earth shoots up in the cavern, cutting off any means of escape for the heroes. They were now in a death trap. Death Nell is trapped within as well.

"Vector! What are you doing? " she shouts.

"The price of failure, my dear. You brought traitors within our ranks and revealed our location to them ." Vector's muffled voice can be heard answering through the wall of stone. Then the ceiling caves in, sending tons of earth and stone down upon the group with the dagger like stalactites leading the way of the approaching debris.

"Done!" shouts an exasperated Verve as he finishes his drawing a the last possible second. A heavily fortified , bank vault type environment scribbles into existence in the air around them, as tons of earth and stone slam into it from above. The room would be plunged into darkness, except for the pale blue glow of Kinetica's ever-present forcefield. "I'm not sure how long this drawing will last . " says Verve. "Not to mention our oxygen supply."

Menagero is about to use his newfound earth control powers to burrow their way out, when he feels the powers quickly slip away. He begins to glow blue, as he assumes Kinetica's power, which seems odd, since Death Nell is the closest to him.

Kinetica' s powers are unavailable for MM to use until next turn

Death Nell looks warily at the others, prepared for any further attacks on her.

Roughneck immediately uses his laser in a melee attack at the wall Play 5S trump, push with 7W. Laser at max.

|Since the wall is easy to hit, can I make a contingent attack? Or will that reduce the damage? How would that work, O GM?

Using your Lightning speed to make a contingent atatck would split your attacking ability in half. In this case your strength. cards could be played to both f them. so it is possible to do more, but the base woud be halved.

Julia turns to speak to Nell. "Not that bad, you say?" As she speaks, she expands her forcefield to reinforce Verve's supports. Play 7D. "Paranoid, delusional, and as a psyche major, it is my expert opinion that he suffers from an accute case of nucking futs.

Death Nell rushes to the edge of the 'vault', where Igneous conrstructed the rock wall, and begins corroding away the floor into a tunnel. "Kinetica, I need your force field to reinforce this passage as I make it, do you think you can do that?"

"I can help," MM says as he uses Kinetica's powers to perform tthe requested task.

Garry, Are u out there? KH

Sorry, busy week and weekend, I was putting all my energy and time into getting a new campaign off the ground.

Zena glares at Death Nell. She wants to take the woman down, but her corrosive powers might be the only thing that gets them out of this chamber. With no way of even helping her friends at this juncture, Zena just thinks about all the things she plans to do to Death Nell when all this is done... and Titania... and Vector... and Igneous... and Guy... and CAPE... and possibly Rupert...

Turn 5.12

t takes several minutes for Death Nell and the others to burrow their way safely out of the deathtrap left for them by Vector and Igneous. Once everyone is clear of the tunnel, Verve and Kinetica both release their roof supports and the rocky debris fills in the small area where they had been trapped with an echoing boom.

The rickety sound of the freight elevator descending towards the caverns, puts the group on alert. They take cover, planning to take any opponents by surprise. A cadre of CAPE agents, lead by Col. Jack Rogers, emerges from the elevator and quickly canvases the area outside the elevator, ready for anything with assault blasters at the ready. Rogers barks orders at the agents. "Spread out, people! I want complete recon done on the areas. All equipment is to be tagged and inventoried. "

"Sir, we are picking up 4 metas in the area. Two gamma class, and two beta class. " reports one of the CAPE agents, looking up from a handheld scanning device.

"Any MLF members are to be shot on site. Meta-Force are friendly. Repeat.. do not fire on Meta-Force members." commands Rogers. Rogers looks around, trying to locate the hidden metas in the dank gloom of the caverns. "Meta-Force! It's Over. This has gone on long enough. You've earned your pardons."

Please insert any responses or actions you may want to take here. I am sure many of you have bones to pick with Rogers.

A quick search of the caverns by CAPE reveals no sign of Vector or the others. ANy computer and technology based equipment housed in the caver-based MLF hideout has been smashed to pieces, either having collapsed under it's own intensified gravity, or assaulted by earth and stone.

"It appears the MLF have decided to cut and run. With the help of Segue's teleportation, they could be anywhere in the world by now." says Col. Rogers. "Hopefully, our tech boys can salvage some useful information out of this destroyed equipment"

Not much here yet, but the player responses will determine how things proceed from this point.

Is Nell still with us?

She was still with the group when they hid. Kinetica is not in a place to see if she is still there or not, since Kinetica had to hide further away from the group to avoid detection due to her glowing forcefield.

Roughneck sees Col. Rogers. The sight of the man who reprogrammed him causes his anger to flare, to boil--an anger and desire to kill that is separate from what the core does to him. This hatred is completely natural. Reprogramming him was not part of the deal. He'd lived with the core for years now, and Roughneck long ago convinced himself that the men who'd originally welded him were evil for doing it. They had no right to take control of him, to make him a slave.

And Col. Rogers has done the same thing. Compelling them to go undercover or face imprisonment was at least a choice, and one based on their own mistakes. But Rogers had gone a step further with Frank. They had apparently known of Frank's weakness--the programmability of his core and its control over him. When they used it against him, when they invaded his mind and enslaved him again--they became his enemy.

How many CAPE agents are there? A dozen, not counting Rogers

Master Menagero strides forward. "We are not safe until we can be sure Vector and his cronies are behind bars. And CAPE can't be safe as an organization without meta-human protection. I think I would like a little more than a pardon. Meta-Force wants to be the world's premiere team of super humans. We've proven ourselves time and time again in the name of the planet's defense. I think I speak for the team when I say we are through using our powers for the benefit of a government that constantly ostrasizes, alienates and acts suspicious of us. If the government won't allow us to use my powers for its benefits, and accord us the proper dignity that goes along with placing ourr lives on the line every day, then we will use our powers for our OWN benefit. We have proven that Meta-Force is not a band of rag-tag simplton soldiers. We are the pinnacle of meta-humanity. We demand the respect we have earned ten times over. So, Colonol Rogers, does Meta-Force work in conjunction with the government to make a better world or are we on our own?"

Col. Rogers smiles politely at Menagero, "Now don't get all worked up. If you are formally asking for government sanctions, there are a number of conditions that have to be met before anything like that can happen. I have nothing to do with the process, other than giving a written statement of opinion to the review comittee, but I can certainly point you in the right direction if that is what you really want."

"I don't know MM, do you really think working for teh governmet would be such a good idea? I mean look at what they've had us do so far. " says Verve.

Frank says quietly to Zena, so no one else can hear, "This isn't your fight. Don't follow my lead." He then follows Menagero up to Col. Rogers. His expression is calm. Almost serene. Is Rogers wearing body armor? What weapons does he have? Frank points to CAPE's meta-tracking device and says quietly to Menagero, "I thought you got rid of that thing."

If Frank is plannig on attacking Rogers, his new programming will not allow it. They are all wearing standard CAPE body armor and blasters

While Menagero and Frank are confronting CAPE , Julia tries to find Nell before the agents do.

Julia goes to the last place she saw Nell and can see no trace of her anywhere.

So does Menagero have anything else to add? Is frank going to atatck Roger's? If so he will have to make a willpower save to overcome his programming. Zena???

The others may be free, but Frank knows he is not. They got into his head, and he can already feel the restraint against attacking Col. Rogers. So not only did they program him to complete the mission, but--now that the mission is over--he is still not free of their control. He knows he never will be. These men are no better than those who welded Frank in the first place.

Frank thinks he's close enough to strike. He won't be their slave. He may only get in one shot--one Blow for his Freedom. He intends to make it count.

Menagero sees Frank getting steamed. "Roughneck, calm yourself. Let's just end this mission and recalibrate at our base. No need to make any harsh moves. THe best strategy is a good plan...and we do not have one right now."

Frank suddenly lunges at Col. Rogers. Brawling (killing damage), 5S for the attack (trump) with laser at +5, pushing with 7W. Dramatic event: 6I "Blow for Freedom" (with XP) to nullify the Core's effects. 5A for defense. (If I need to play a card for the core attempt, use the lower WILL card Frank has still in his hand.)

Frank overcomes his new programming with a desperate blow for freedom. The attack catches Col. Roger's unaware, as Franks' hand laser driving deep into teh man's chest, cutting through the body armor with little problem. Col. Rogers gasps in pain, and his eyes roll back in his head as he slumps backward, sliding off of the laser, and onto the floor at Frank's feet.

"We have a hostile!" one of the CAPE agents shouts. "Freeze! Don't move!" he souts at Frank.

You must make another will save to resist following this order. If you do overcome it, then you will have the frenzy to deal with. Double whammy. I don't have time to update and post the hands right now

"Holy shit!" exclaims Verve as he sees Roughneck attack Col. Rogers with no provocation (everyone is unaware of Frank's new programming, so it would appear that way to Verve). He immediately begins sketching up something to contain Roughneck. He had seen his old friend, become increasingly erratic and bloodthirsty in the last few months. He couldn't allow innocent federal agents get killed, regardless of the crap Rogers had put them through. This would land them all right back in prison, this time, not undercover.

Everyone please post what you intend to do regarding the current situation

"They're in my skull!" yells Frank, tears on his face and blood on his hands. "Don'cha see? They been in my skull from the start! Just like the ones who made me." That last trails off as Frank attempts to flee. If he overcomes the core... He tries to barrel through the CAPE agents toward the freight elevator. Play 5W (trump) to resist the guard's orders; Play 6A and push with 5A to resist the frenzy. Play highest remaining Agility card to escape/dodge. If Zena gets ahold of Frank, he will not resist.

Zena can't let Frank do this. She charges for him and immediately tries to restrain her friend. "Do not persist!" she implores him. push with 6I into strength; 5 Str to hold him. 4 Agil to dodge if needed.

Rupert is upset. Why can't things ever go smoothly. He rushes to aid the Colonel. All-out intellect feat to stabalize Rogers - 7S

Kinetica, having an iffy relationship with authority, backs Frank's actions and fires one of her k-bolts at the CAPE agent nearest the colonel. "I new we couldn't trust these facists!" Play 3I to attack, 6W to dodge.

Keep in mind, that if Rogers dies, he is likely the only one in CAPE that is aware of teh deal you made with him.

Turn 5.13

Frank is able to resist the CAPE agents command, but the Core takes over, kicking Frank into terminator mode. Targeting crosshairs, and threat analysis data floods his field of vision. He will kill them all, of that he is certain.

Doom card made you fail

Zena charges toward Roughneck, imploring him to stop as she tries to grab hold of the out of control cyborg. Roughneck's heuristic algorithms allow him to anticipate her move and he jerks out of her reach at the last second. Targeting crosshairs lock onto Zena's form. Computer diagrams illustrating the amazon's weak points flood his mind. The Core informs him, he has 10 different counterattack options from this position, listed in descending order of lethality. The top option blinks angrily and Frank feels compelled to obey.

You can make another will power action to see if you can overcome the frenzy this round. If you fail, you must make a second one to resist making Zena the target of your next attack.

Frank had forgotten about the frenzy. In truth, since CAPE had reprogrammed him, the core's tendency to send him into a murderous rage had been suppressed. Now that he'd broken CAPE's influence, the core's original programming reasserted itself. It now sent electrical and magnetic signals to the anger resonse region, stimulating and dilating capillaries in that area of his frontal lobe. It also flooded his heart with adreneline to double his pulse and increase blood supplies. All the while, heightened endorphines dimmed the pain of muscles and ligaments torn from the celerity and force of his cybernetic body's movements so far. Play 7W to resist the core. Duh... If that fails, keep playing highest cards to resist the core. If he succeeds at any point, his action will depend on what else is happening.

"I knew we couldn't trust these fascists!" shouts Kinetica as she fires a k-bolt into the CAPE agent who ordered Frank not to move. The blast smacks the agent in the face, knocking off his helmet and sending him spinning into the cave wall. he is unconscious before he hits the floor.

"Julia! No!" shouts Verve, looking up from his sketchpad for a brief second at the sound of Kinetica's blast.

Rupert rushes to aid the Colonel, quickly tearing off the dying man's body armor. He finds a small med kit, in one of Roger's utility pouches and uses the bandages to try to stop the bleeding. With direct pressure applied the bloodflow seems to stop.

An animated boa constrictor scribbles itself into existence above Frank. His warning systems allow him to dodge out of the way as the serpent drops down, trying to ensnare him.

A female CAPE agent, with the name badge of Hawkins, assumes control of the CAPE unit with Roger's down. "Open Fire! Shoot to kill!"

Agent Hawkins, as well as 4 other agents fire away on Roughneck with their blasters. His cybernetic systems jerk his body out of the path of the incoming fire. He looks like a puppet being violently jerked about by invisible strings.

Three other agents open fire on Kinetica, all of them hitting their mark, but bouncing harmlessly off of her forcefield.

Another agent fires on Zena, but she nimbly ducks out of the way.

The last two agents fire at Verve and Master menagero

Verve is hit directly in the face, knocking him off his feet. He screams in horror, clutching his eyes. "My eyes! I'm Blind!!" The snake he animated earlier, disappears from existence. Without his eyes, it may possibly be the last drawing Verve ever makes.

Using the additional injury chart, I drew a Phyically Disabled Hindrance

Zena, unsure what to do rushes to Verve's side to protect him from any further attacks. "Lunatics and simpletons! The lot of you!" Zena shouts at the CAPE soldiers. 5Doom to dodge; 5 Strength to pull Verve out of harms way if he is attacked again.

Menagero, intent on saving the colonel, doesn't even see the blast coming at him. Luckily, he still has Kinetica's power's absorbed and the blast ricochets' off of his forcefield. Kinetica's power wears off, just a split second after the blast ricochets off his forcefield. Menagero, can now feel that he is about to assume the power of Verve. He feels slightly naseaus as he dos so, but he doesn't black out. Menagero realizes, that if Col. Rogers dies, then it is likely the secret deal he made with Meta-Force regarding their undercover work will die with him.

Verve's power is not usable until next turn. I did an aura reading to determine how you were closest to

Agent Hawkins rushes forward and continues doing first aid on Rogers.

Frank clenches his teeth and his eyes squeeze shut in furious concntration as his battle goes from the physical to mental. The psychic dual of man vs. machine lasts only a second, but to Frank it feels like an eternity. Hardwired comuter imperatives, shoot lethal commands into Frank's grey matter, as he struggles to overcome them. He uses momonts of happiness and peace in his life as ammunition againt the Core. Laser knife to throat! Benji, my first dog! Knife hand to larynx! Sally, my first love! Eye-throat claw! Hiking in New Mexico!etc. Eventually, Frank prevails over the Core, the red tinted battle display in his field of vision receeds to it's normal digital display. He would not kill his friend, Zena. He opens his eyes, fully in control of himself, and sees the aftermath of his actions.

His eyes lock on the still-screaming Verve. Oh no. What have I done?

The jolt of the core's frenzy, and his effort to resist, are like cold water on Frank. CAPE did invade his core and secretly program him--but now Frank's efforts to escape that fate have simply cost too much. He has no sympathy for Rogers, but his friends shouldn't have to suffer for his fate. He hopes it's not too late to stop what's begun.

Frank stands up, presenting a prime target to all remaining CAPE members. He particularly tries to get in front of Agent Hawkins, who now appears to be in charge. "STOP!!!!" he bellows, his gravelly voice echoing off the chamber walls. "I SURRENDER!"

There are 11 agents now. Negative GM aura card, so the CAPE agents will go first this round.ALso, everyone may want to check out the new Response Bonus Options

Kinetica prepares to fire another k-bolt at the lady now in charge. "Lady, you picked the wrong day to...to...some-something's wrong!" The intensity of light from her force field fluctuates between it's normal level and extreme brightness. Hovering in the air, Julia curls up in a ball and screams. Play 5S: Energy Flux as an event.

MM sees whatJulia is about to do. He runs near her to take onher power and try to absorb her kinetic attack. "Enough! All of you!! Not another CAPE agent gets harmed. Not another shot gets fired. You're all lunatics. Roughneck, you are a faulty piece of hardware. Kinetica, your a hopeless drunk. Zena, you are a sociopathic elitist. I have had enough of this dysfunction!! I stand with the CAPE agents!" Play 4I trump and push with 3W: Protector/Endangered Innocents as an event.

Micahel, I am not sure how you are intending to use this event? KH

Actually, nevermind. It can't be used anyway. From the dramatic event section: Seperate players cannot change events multiple times within the same exchange..only one card substitution allowed per exchange (this is to make it less confusing in the PBeM format)
However, I am willing to allow you to spend an XP to do an aura manipulation this round, to retain Kinetica's power, rather than duplicate Verve's. See Response Bonus Options

"How is that any different from the rest of the time you spent with us?" Zena asks of Menagero as she protects Verve the best she can. "You have always been the power hungry one of this band of misfits... of course you would go where it benefits you the most. You started your super hero career off as a traitor to your government, and you'll end your time with us in the same way. All you ever do is turn on, and ridicule us. I, personally, have NO problem with your decision."

Zena looks to Kinetica. She can see pain tearing through her body, whatever is happening is hurting her. It seems obvious, to at least her that it is not happening by Kinetica's choice. Seeing the inevitable outcome, Zena shields Verve with her own body, to protect him from the coming blast.

Frank sees Kinetica's pulsating energy and scans it with his enhanced vision. Can he tell that she is about to overload? He looks at Agent Hawkins, who also sees Kinetica gasping in pain and pulsating wildly. Frank and Agent Hawkins briefly make eye contact, then Frank dashes toward Kinetica and attempts to cover her with his body. Highest Agility card, and I push with next best card to get Frank between Kinetica and everyone else before she blows.

Turn 5.14

Not heeding Roughneck's surrender, or Menagero's apparent change of alliance, Agent Hawkins, still tending Col. Rogers wounds, shouts, "Take them down!"

A swarm like buzzing is heard near her, and she looks around quizzically, "Dillon?" she asks with a strange look on her face, just as the other CAPE agents open fire.

CHOOM!CHOOM!CHOOM!CHOOM!CHOOM!
CHOOM!CHOOM!CHOOM!CHOOM!CHOOM!
CHOOM!CHOOM!CHOOM!CHOOM!CHOOM!

The barrage of blaster fire echoes throughout the cavern as Meta-Force takes defensive action.

Zena drops on top of Verve to cover him from the oncoming fire. A blaster shot whizzing past her heard , aimed at where she just was. Verve still moans in pain, clutching his scalded eyes.

Frank doesn't have time to analyze the energy coming off of Kinetica, as he dashes forward in an attempt to absorb the coming blast. Four agents fire at him as he charges towards kinetica, one of them catches him in the shoulder as he runs. Already weakened, the cyborg is knocked out by the blast, he falls to the cavern floor in mid stride if you want to spend an XP to remain conscious I will allow it

Four other agents fire on Kinetica, hoping to take her down before whatever is happening with her powers manifests. But again, their blasters aren't powerful enough to get through her pulsating forcefield.

Menagero is somehow able to will himself to retain kinetica's power, rather than assume Verve's. His forcefield reactivates, just as another blaster would have hit him in the chest . it bounces off his blue forcefield harmlessly.
he quickly moves to put himself in between Kinetica and the CAPE agents.

Kinetica, screams in pain as he powers undergo some sort of bizarre energy flux. rather than an explosion, as everyone expected, julia's forcefield lets off an ultra-bright pulsating barrage of light. The strobe light explosion effects everyone in the room. Everyone in the room, CAPE agents and Meta-Force members, are all overcome with sensory overload and immediately fall unconscious, except for Kinetica,, and Verve (who was saved from the attack due to his blindness)

Again, if anyone want s to spend ann XP to retain consciousness I will allow it

Kinetica's powers stabilize as quickly as they had rum amok. In the sudden stillness of the room, Julia hears verve, grunting as he pushes Zena's unconscious form off of him. "Hello? Is anyone there? What just happened?" he asks as he gets to is feet unsteadily, with his hands outstretched trying to feel his way through his now permanent darkness.

"Verve!" says Kinetica. "I'm here. Everyone else is...unconscious I think. I don't know what the f*** just happened." Julia surveys the damage she caused, shocked at what she unleashed.

Roughnecks' regenertative powers kick in and he slowly comes to consciousness. He looks around the room, surveying the situation. Both he and julia can see a strange figure laying over the top of Agent Hawkins and Col Rogers.

He resembles a bald human male, with less finished facial features compared to a normal human, having only a hint of a nose and lips, blank silver eyes, and pale silver-gray skin. His attire resembles a covert-ops uniform in dark tones of silver and grey, with the vague hint of specialized equipment.

The figure also rouses from unconsciouness, looking stright at Roughneck with it's unblinking silver eyes.

Frank is a little confused to see that no one is injured from Kinetica's blast. He was out briefly, and apparently something happened to knock the others out. Maybe Julia didn't explode as he feared. She seems alright now. Verve is another matter. But Frank has other problems to deal with right now.

He regards the silverish alien. Something isn't right here. His thoughts return to the missing Death Nell--and to Lucy Romero. He knew she wasn't any simple lab tech--lab techs don't fling chinese throwing stars. She had been with the group before Ice had gone frost nova, and Frank had assumed that Segue had left her to die at the company HQ when he'd ported them all to Vector's hideout. But Nell's recent disappearance was also unexplained. She was here just before CAPE burst in, and now she is gone. Unless...

Roughneck is ready to fire his laser at a moment's notice, but holds back. "I dunno who you are, but this is sure some kinda mess I got us into. You gonna disappear, or save Rogers?"

Unless the newcomer makes a threatening move, Frank intends to immediately go to Zena and try to revive her. But he first awaits the newcomer's reaction.

The being stands before Roughneck, "Yeah, quite a mess," he laughs a single hollow mechanical laugh, "If you are going to behave, I'll be checking on the Colonel." The slit of a mouth curves up at one side, as if smirking.

"Could tonight be any more f***ed up?" wonders Kinetica.

4W to continue first aid on the Colonel. dodge/ resist mental/magic attacks with redraw.

Roughneck moves to revive Zena. He also speaks to Verve. "Hang in there, kid. Once we're outta here, we'll get you help. I hear they can do amazin' things with mechanical eyes these days." His feeble joke hangs in the air. Verve is obviously blind, and it is Frank's fault.

Verve turns his head in the direction of Roughneck's voice, a look of anger crosses his scalded face. "F@%k You, Frank! This is all your fault! I'm freaking blind, and your making jokes about it? We were done! We had earned our pardons! But you had to go apeshit and put us right back to square one! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Verve screams furiously. He tries to move towars Frank to throw a punch at him, but trips over a rock and tumbles to the floor. "I hate you!" he screams in frustration, trying to regain his bearings.

"Kirby, I'm sure Frank didn't mean for this...," begins Julia, but Roughneck cuts her off.

"Rogers ain't dead yet kid," says Frank quietly. He looks from Verve back to Zena, whom he is gently trying to revive. He's still not sure what happened to her and the others--before he was shot, she was still on her feet. But when the core revived him, everyone was out cold. He doesn't want to think about losing Zena...not that he ever had her to begin with. He knows she just needs someone to help repopulate her island. But that's not all Frank feels. "Come on back, Red," he whispers.

"Even if he does live, do you think he will grant amnesty after what you just pulled? He corraled us all before based on Zena's actions. Why would this be any different?" Verve says angrily.

I'll stay unconscious

"Rogers knows what he did to me. If he'll blame all o'you for what I did, then he wasn't gonna let you go anyway. 'Sides, the rest of these CAPE agents heard Rogers admit that we were undercover. They all gonna lie? Hell, maybe they will. But if they'll lie about that, then all that bunk about amnesty was a lie too. The only crime you ever committed was at Rogers' orders. Remember that. You ain't no criminal. None of you are. Just me." Frank keeps trying to revive Zena. "And Verve, you might wanna know, there's some alien-looking guy in here with us. I think he was actually Nell--she's gone, and he's here now. I figger Nell was a mole all along, workin' for CAPE--this guy looks like he can go invisible. He's helpin' Roges right now. Kinetica's OK, but everboddy else is out cold."

Frank gathers Zena's unconscious form and starts toward the elevator shaft. "I'm sorry Kirby."

"Nell?" ventures Julia, shocked. "Is that you? You f***ing used me, you c***!" She then mutters, "Apparently things could get more f***ed up afterall."

Locust starts to speak up, but thinks better as Master Menagero stirs...

At this point, MM wakes up. "Ooh. My aching head." MM sees ROughneck, Verve and the alien conscious. "Roughneck. I order you to stap put." MM stands next to Kinetica to assume her force field. "No one is going anywhere. If we all have to stand before the court of the land to straightne this debacle out, so be it. I am sick of running. Sick of fighting for no reason. Out there, in the cold world, peopel are dying due to injustice, domestic violence, starvation, war; and here we stand bickering between ourselves. It ends here. I serve a greater purpose than Meta-Force. Like my name inplies, I become that which is needed at any time. And right now, Frank, I need you behind bars until we fix whats wrong with your head. This is not a request and I will die before I let you slither out of here."

I am assuming MM is spending an XP to regain/retain consciusness here. This brings him down to 4 XP total. I did an aura reading to see whether MM would gain, Zena, Verve or Kinetica's power, as his power is uncontolled. You got lucky and Kinetica's power will be assumed, but you will not be able to use it until next round.

The retaining consciousness option for response bonuses presents a problem in the PBeM format, as the players don't know the results of combat until I post them. So if people don't tell me ahead of time that "If I get knocked out I spend an XP to retain consciusness" then I will proceed as normal. Otherwise, the chhracter will be knoocked out, with the option of spending and XP to regain consciusness the next round. Sort of like manipulating the aura for your character to see if he heals or not.

Menagero's statement rouses Frank's ire. "It was eggheads like you what made me like this in the first place, Rupert. And the colonel did it to me again. His techie's got into my skull, reprogrammed me. I ain't gonna be their slave. I'll die first. You can shoot me in the back if ya gotta. But you better shoot to kill. If you injure me, you know the core's gonna take over. And if that happens, God help you. It won't leave a single person here alive." Frank turns and continues walking, Zena in his arms, toward the freight elevator. I am stating my intent now to spend an XP to stay awake if Menagero shoots and knocks Frank out.

"Julia?" Verve scans the air with his unseeing eyes. "Get me out of here, please."

"Uh, yeah," replies Julia. "Sure thing, Kirby."

"Don't forget my sketchpad and pencil. I may not be totally worthless. I've done many a blind contour drawing in my day , but it has been awhile. Not sure if it will work or not but it's worth a shot."

Rupert surely does not want to wake up Frank's core and endanger the lives of any more people today. "Fine. Go, Frank. But, I warn you, the first chance I get to take you down without harming innocent people will be an unpleasant day for you. As long as you keep running, you have no place on Meta-Force." MM looks at Julia and Verve. "Verve, I will do everything in my power torestore your eyesight, I swear. As for you, Julia, I'll help you once you help yourself."

"What the f*** is that supposed to mean?"

MM starts trying to help the CAPE soldiers but he has not forgotten about the alien. "DOes your presence have any significance here, silver one? Or are you just going to stand around annoying us?"

OOC: What is up with Rogers, I'm doing first aid on him, is stable? alive? dead? This will make a difference on my approach to Meta-Force...

He is stable, but defintely needs to get to a hospital for more intensive care.

Locust turns his attention from Rogers to Hawkins, "Well, I would consider my presence here highly significant. After all, you couldn't have cracked that computer without me, which I haven't forgotten how you double crossed me and tried to bugger off without sharing the files Menagero, and you would also have been trapped in that tomb until the air ran out had I not saved you. So, which part of aiding you is most annoying, is it because I'm not bickering and launching personal assaults at one another that I annoy you?" Not pausing to let a word in edgewise, the silvery character continues, "Rogers still alive and is stable now, but needs to get to a hospital ASAP." The silver being stares, unblinking at Master Menagero.

Verve tears off a strip of clothing and ties it around his head to cover his eyes, cringing as the material touches his raw flesh. "Kinetica, could fly him." suggests Verve. "Or, I am sure these CAPE agents have some sort of transport outside. They had to get here in the middle of nowhere somehow. Regardless, I don't want to be here when these CAPE agents wake up. There is no telling how they will react. I think our only hope in clearing ourselves is making sure that Rogers survives."

Julia finds herself strugling for words. "You, mean all this time...Shockwave, did you really have to...I can't believe I let myself think...found someone who really...you know what, screw you! All of you! I...I can't deal with this now. Where's the bar?" Julia takes off, not even hearing Verve speak, in search of booze. ORANGE META NEEDS DRINK BADLY!

Hey, someone used to play Gauntlet! "RED WARRIOR NEEDS FOOD BADLY!"

Hearing Kinetica's repsonse and the whoosh of air, signaling her departure, Verve says "With friends like these..." He lets teh thought trail off

He motions for her to stop, and seeing her take off says, "Well, I was going to explain that I was not impersonating Death Nell until after Iceman blew up. Luckily for me, and the rest of you, CAPE kept her capture on the down low." Almost as an afterthought, "By the way, call me Locust."

Rupert stays where he stands. "I refuse to be impulsive anymore. I stay and meet whatever fate brings my way. Silver man, I will make sure Rogers gets aid if you, too, want to flee like the rest of these...people." Rupert decides to disarm and collect CAPE's weapons into a pile in the corner so that, when they do awaken, they do not immediately rush for their guns. He then will search the area for a craft to transport Rogers to safety, leaving the other CAPE agents behind until calmer heads prevail.

Just being nitpicky here, but Rupert identifies Locust by name even though he... she... it... hasn't given a name (aside from Lucy Romero)OKAY I FIXED ITyet.

Fixed that. =^)

Locust sighs, "I suggest we all evacuate with Rogers now. I need to make sure he gets there safely, else I'd offer to stay behind and try to tide things over better here, after all, I was once on good terms with CAPE and might still have some clout." He reaches over and pulls a mini notepad and pen from Hawkin's jacket pocket as if he knew it would be there and begins writing on it.

"I am with Locust on that part. MM you coming or staying?" questions Verve."

Nevermind about the directive

I am working under the assumption that Frank is leaving with Zena by way of the freight elevator. Once he gets to teh top and leaves teh abondoned mineshaft, he can see a CAPE shuttlecraft. Does he take it? If so, he effectively strands everyone else. However, if he doesn't he will be on foot, carrying an amazon in the dense and hilly forests of upstate New York. What do you do? What do you do?

At the top of the mine shaft, Frank breathes in the night air. Zena is still out. He's not sure about what he's doing, and not sure what she'll think when she wakes up.

CAPE's shuttlecraft stands nearby. Frank starts to move toward it, still angry at Menagero. To hell with them, he tells himself. He'll jack into the shuttle with his optical cable, shouldn't be too hard.

Then he remembers Verve. And the deal with Rogers. He flushes with guilt. When Frank had attacked Rogers, it was selfish. He wanted revenge. But killing Rogers wouldn't have freed Frank from the programming. In fact, looking at it now, it would have (already has) made it even less likely Frank will ever be free of their programming. God what a mess. I'm an idiot. He just hopes the team can still get their "pardons," even though none of them really did anything wrong. And that depends on Rogers surviving.

Frank scans the skies to see which way lies civilization, looking for city lights on the horizon. He heads the opposite direction, trying to keep to stones and hard ground so he's not as easy to follow. He moves at maximum speed, knowing they will be followed.

OK, It looks like things are close to being wrapped up here. I still need to know if MM intends on staying with the CAPE agents, or leaving with Locust, Verve and Rogers (it sore of seems that way from the ealier post, but I want to make sure). For those already gone form teh immediate situation, please post what you intend to do in teh interim between adventures, as well as any XP expenditure in the Advancement forum. Things have certainly gone in a different direction tahn I had planned but I already have ideas based on the fallout of all of this.

MM is leaving with Locust, Verve and ROGERS. Someone has to fly the craft.

Menagero, Locust and Verve all leave the caverns with Rogers in tow. Menagero is unfamilair with the CAPE shuttlecraft systems, but Locust seems fully at ease with them and pilots teh craft effortlessly (with Menagero as co-pilot) to the nearest hospital, located in Syracuse, New York. They radio ahead, and are met by a team of medics on the roof of the hospital who wheel Rogers away on a gurney to the emergency room. Verve, likely needs medical attention as well , but refuses to stay, insisting that they will be apprehended if they do. They then fly to NYC and ditch the shuttlecraft in the middle of Central Park.

I am expiditing things a bit here. But I need to know what MM plans to do from here. Go to his warehouse hideout? It is still a warehouse at this point, not the fully functional HQ, I posted maps for, but it will be I promise. If he goes there, Verve will go as well. Does Locust go? Does MM let him?

MM does not want to run anymore. I will go to the base, complete construction, do what i can to restore verve's sight, and preapre to debut to the public after contacting CAPE to make peace.

All I gotta say is you guys make it really really hard to join "the team" in this game! So far it has been a blast trying though!

Julia can't believe what a fool she's been. The metalic chick (or is it a dude?) completely played her. She should have known better by now. Even after she killed Shockwave, Julia felt a...connection with Nell. Maybe not the same way Nell felt about her (or how she thought Nell felt about her, although that never stopped Julia in the past), but there was something there. At least, until it all turned out to be a lie. Hell, Julia would have been happy if Nell was just trying to get into her force field, but to use her like this....

Finding a liquor store, Julia picks up a case of beer. On the way out, she notices a pay phone. She picks it up and dials a number.

"Hello, you have reached the campaign headquarters of Philip DeLain. We are unable to take your call at this time. Please leave a message at the tone."

"Hey dad, it's me, Julia. Just thought I'd give you a headsup. Some whackjob named Vector (who dresses up like a penis by the way) is planning to kill you. Don't underestimate him, he's dangerous. Really dangerous. Just...be careful, okay? I know we haven't always got along, but your the only family I've got. Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. Just...be careful, okay?"

Beer in hand, Julia finds a place to hole up for the night and drinks herself to sleep.