ADVERTISEMENTThe team and the researchers are safely escorted back to NYC the next morning. Mr. Oglethorpe is very grateful and proclaims that he will tell all of his business associated about what a great job the team did in their recovery. Thor bids them all farewell and though he is gracious of Master Menagero's invitation to join the group he politely refuses, stating that his time in Midgard has passed, it was under the protection of new heroes now such as the ones in the SoF.
Everyone is glad to be back home, and is given a few days off to recuperate and attend to personal affairs.
With the exception of Zena who still can't find a comfortable spot in her new life. No matter how hard she tries, or how hard the others try and make her feel like she belongs, she just can't seem to feel at ease. She constantly stays on her guard, she constantly draws her weapons on her "teammates" when they sneak up on her. Teammates. She still can't get used to that concept. A tribe of her sisters is one thing, but most of these people are just too strange for her to comprehend.
A guy who looks as if his face has been torn off, and other guy who dresses all in black and draws pictures all day. It doesn't matter that his drawings come to life. In her mind, her could be a better warrior. The Captain, who Zena still hasn't heard a name for, just talks funny all day long. He's good in a fight, but it takes forever to listen to him talk. Julia seems to be the best warrior out of the bunch aside from Zena herself, at least in her own warrior mind. Zena just feels that Julia could be a little more reserved. The strangest of all the people though, is Master Menagero. Zena can tell that he is a nervous man, but he seems even more nervous around her. Perhaps he is frightened of Zena. The thought makes her happy. Back home she used to intimidate everyone that she came came into contact with, especially the few strangers that came to her island. Her, no one seems to give her a second look. Tolwynn scares them more, and Tolwynn is a pussycat.
So Zena finds herself, once again isolated from the rest of her "team". She stays in her room with no one to keep her company except her animals. Occasionally one of the other members of the team start to feel sorry for her, being the fish out of the water that she is. They try to get her to go to a restaraunt or out to a movie, whatever those things are, but Zena always coldly shoots them down, closing her door in their face She longs for her home, and for her friends. She knows deep down that she will never see any of them. All she has left is her hatred for the men who killed her friends and family. They took from her everything that she knew. Now she's learning new things. She doesn't like this "modern world of convienince" Hunting and gathering. . . . that's the life for her. Once she finds the people who destroyed her life, she'll have to build a new raft and find a new, quiet island to settle on for the rest of her days. Until that day, she'll be content with staying in her room with Tolwynn and Tancreed.
********************
The Captain was ready to enjoy some time off. Read some comics, go to a sci-fi convention, the normal stuff he does on his off time.
Then he got this e-mail
>Sender Information: Viacom Inc. Sent by: [Attorney] [Firm] 1515 Broadway New York, NY, 10036-5794 Recipient Information: "The Captain" in care of Supers of Fortune [Private] 5555 Park Avenue New York NY Sent via: Via Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested
Re: Re: Infringements of STAR TREK Copyrights and Trademarks
I write as attorney for Paramount Pictures Corporation ("Paramount").
As you are, no doubt, aware, Paramount owns all of the rights to the television series entitled STAR TREK, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, STAR TREK: VOYAGER, and all theatrical releases relating thereto including the upcoming eighth movie in the STAR TREK motion picture series (collectively the "STAR TREK Properties"). These rights are protected by numerous copyrights trademarks in both the programs themselves and the characters, sets, and other elements appearing in those programs.
We have recently learned that you have assumed various elements of the STAR TREK Properties in your superheroic persona as "The Captain" . For example, we refer to your derivitave Star Trek uniform and logo , as well as your use of devices resembling STAR TREK elements. Your use of these items is an infringement of Paramount's rights in the STAR TREK Properties.
Based upon the foregoing, we hereby demand that your confirm to us in writing within ten days of receipt of this letter that: (i) you have removed all infringing materials from your superheroic persona, including the aforementioned uniform and devices; and (ii) you will refrain from using any similar infringing material in the future.
The foregoing is without waiver of any and all rights of Paramount Pictures Corporation, all of which are expressly reserved herein.
Very truly yours,
[Attorney]
This e-mail suprised him. He had assumed Paramount wouldn't be angered at his costumed identity, after all it's free publicity. He is going to have to ask Ms. Chesterton for legal advice.
******************
Julia stood nervously outside the door of her neighbor, wearing just a loose trenchcoat over her uniform (and perpetual force field).
Her neighbor Brad finally opened the door. He was a bony young man, about a few years older than Julia. he had dark brown hair with blond highlights, and wore a Hawaian shirt and sunglasses, even in doors.
"What a tool", thought Julia. She raised an eyebrow at him, "Do you have it?"
Brad nodded, and invited her in. Julia moved to kiss him on the cheek, only to be twarted by her forcefield.
"It's on the counter, in the brown bag, just like you asked," said Brad, as he sat down on the couch, unbuckling his belt, and removed his pants.
Julia sat down next to him, and carefully wrapped her hand around his male reproductive organ, gently massaging it with her forcefield until he was satisfied. It wasn't like she had to actually touch it.
"Still, he was sorta cute for a computer nerd...," thought Julia.
With Brad satisfied, Julia smiled at him. It was so easy to exploit the crush her had on her, as she gathered up the bag, concealing under her trench coat.
"See you tomorrow," she said, as she returned to her appartment.
Julia opened the bag, and hugrily gazed upon the vodka bottle within. She thirstly drank it down until she passed out on the floor.
**************
Rupert must quickly make his first payment on the new building he bought to be the team headquarters. Being in Antartica almost made him late with his bills. Rupert proudly looks up at the yet unveiled RensCorp sign that is built into the front entrance of the building. Soon,the team could move in here and the Supers of Fortunes could have a base of operations from where to coordinate their activites.
Rupert enters the front door and locks it behind himself.
Meanwhile, across the street and four stories up, a withered person spies down with binoculars on Rupert as he enters the building. Through the beige overcoat and knitted shawl wrapped around the figure's head, one can here heavied breathing as if a long-time chain-smoker was buried beneath the garb. The person drops the binoculars from her eyes and begins a quiet laugh that grows louder until it transforms into a hacking cough. Now the face of Mrs. Kravitz, Rupert's old neighbor and ex-tenant of the new RensCorp building, can be seen. Her mustached lip snarls as she turns towards the shadows.
Four costumed figures stand in a shadow cast from an adjoining building. Mrs. Kravitz says to the mysterious quartet, "Did you get a good look at him? Did you? I sure to gosh hope so. Because THAT is the vindictive, young whippersnapper that evicted me from my home of sixty years just so that the ruffian forces of technology could drive us honest-to-god retired folks out onto the streets! But, thanks to our new group, we will strike vengeance upon this horrible generation that continually pushes us to our early graves. My mind and plentiful life-savings (thanks to good ol' Harry's pension, God rest his soul) matched with your awesome powers will destroy Rupert...and then the world!"
An old voice comes forth from the shadows, "Shall we strike now?"
Mrs. Kravitz moves into the shadows where, from left to right, she speaks to her elderly minions. The first is a rainbow-garbed old coot whose costume is reminiscent of an Elton John rejected costume. Next to him stands another elderly gentleman in a full black costume with a skull mask and battle scythe. Standing beside him, an elderly woman in a high-tech, levitiating wheelchair stocked with a seemingly endless amount of weaponry and armor. Finally, another severly obese, old man whose hands and feet are nearly fully covered because of his extreme fat.
"NO!" Mrs. Kravitz replies. "Not yet. But, soon. Right now the power of BEN-GAY, brilliant manipulator of rainbow light; JERRY ATRICS, controller of the aging process; HELL ON WHEELS, armored mistress of destruction; and THE BULGE, World War II veteran who won the original Battle of the Bulge only to lose a later battle against bulge when his latent meta-human powers surfaced. Together, we, the OLDTIMERS, will strike. And together we shall prevail!!
In unison, all five villains laugh, a quiet laugh that grows louder until it transforms into a group of hacking coughs. They still themselves and slink into the shadows of New York.
**************
After their much too short respite, the SoF members are contacted by Ms. Chesterton informing them they have a new case and they need to meet at the offices for a briefing on their new assignment.
When all all of the team members arrive at the office, Ms. Chesterton introduces them to an Agent Stansberry. Stansberry is a representative of the Secret Service.
"It is a pleasure to meet all of you", he begins, "I've heard good things about SoF. Normally, the Secret Service doesn't seek outside assistance but we have a potential situation that may require your assistance. Five days from now Senator Thomas J. Blanding will be arriving in town for a fund raising event. As you may well know, Senator Blanding is a very vocal supporter of stricter laws dealing with metahumans and has proposed that in the wake of Sept. 11th the Metahuman Registration Act be reinstated. This has generated a lot of controversy and the Senator has received some death threats over the past several months. Normally this wouldn't be something that the Service couldn't handle, but many of the threats have come from a militant metahuman rights group known as the Metahuman Liberation Front, or MLF. Our sources indicate that the MLF has hired a freelance assassin known as the Knighthawk. The Knighthawk is one of the world's top freelance assassins and it is believed that he is a metahuman himself, though no one knows for sure since he has never been captured. We believe that the Knighthawk may try to make his move against Senator Blanding during his stay here in NYC. We'd like you to be on hand, as additional security in case a metahuman crisis arises.
Zena sighs heavily as she learns that they will be assigned to yet another security gig.
There is one catch to this however, Senator Blanding doesn't want any non-conventional security on hand. He is convinced that the death threats are not serious and doesn't wish to be seen as fearful. The only way we could get him to agree to your presence is if you remain out of sight and undercover. He does not want it known that SoF has been hired to protect him.
Here is the the Senator's schedule for his stay in the city. It is of course classified."
Stansberry hands each of the team members a portfolio that contains a schedule of the Senator's upcoming visit five days from now . [Listed below]
* 6:00 PM Senator arrives at JFK International Airport via Secret Service aircraft. * 6-7:30(8 PM) In transit from airport to Convention Center via motorcade. * 7:30 or 8:00 PM Arrive at Convention Center. * 8-11:30 PM Fundraising Dinner and Speaking engagement. * 11:30 Depart for hotel. Retire for the night. * 5:30 AM wake up * 6:30 AM Depart for airport * 8:30 AM Flight for Washington DC leaves.
"I can guarantee full cooperation of the Secret Service within reasonable limits on how you would like to handle this. Does anyone have any questions or suggestions?"
"Perhaps I could get a position under him," suggested Julia, with a wry smile. She raised her eyebrows up and down, flashing a smile at Verve while doing so.
Zena stands idly by with her animal companions waiting for one of the others to speak up. Master Menagero seems to have taken on the leadership role of the team, or at least that's the way she's seen it. In her mind he's the best to come up with whatever plans are necessary. It's just her job to beat the hell out of anyone who gets in their way, and that's the only part of this "team" thing that she actually enjoys.
Frank listens to Agent Stansberry and looks over his copy of the portfolio and the senator's schedule. To Frank's surprise, when he reads "JFK International Airport," a small bright dot appears in the lower left of his vision. It is similar to the targeting grid that is superimposed on his vision when he enters combat, like an overlay on his real eyesight. When Frank tries to look directly at the dot, it expands into a full image in his vision. To his surprise, the new image is an architectural map of JFK Airport. As Frank pans left, the map pans left, so he can see different areas of the map. He focuses on one part of the map, and it enlarges, giving him more detailed information. When Frank stops focusing on the map, it disappears, once again reduced to a small dot in the corner of his vision.
"Huh," says Frank outloud. When the others look at him, he says, "Nuthin', sorry, I'm listening."
Frank's "makers" must have endowed him with much information, all stored in his data core. The problem was that Frank didn't have voluntary access to it. Only when something else triggered a memory did Frank get access. He looks at the rest of the schedule, and learns that he has maps in his head of the Convention Center, the hotel, and even a roadmap of New York City.
Just to see what happens, Frank thinks in his head what the best way to kill the Senator would be. Immediately, a list of several options pop up in his vision like a menu in a computer program. The top items of the list are all times when the Senator is changing venues, when he would be outside or otherwise exposed to public view—deboarding the plane (listed as a hard target, too much security at the airport), entering and exiting his motorcade (soft target and listed as primary chance to kill the Senator, since he is exposed to the public at that point and there are several tall buildings in the vicinity in which an assassin could hide at range), during the fund raiser (hard target, limited admission to the event), and so on, throughout the Senator's itinerary. As Frank focuses on the option to hit the Senator as he is leaving his motorcade, maps of the surrounding buildings are generated before his eyes, along with security personnel schedules for some, and even the security systems used in some of the floors of the buildings.
Frank's brain involuntarily tries to grasp all this information at once, and his mind reels. He begins to feel dizzy, and has to squeeze his eyes shut and shake his head to clear his vision. When he looks up again, the others are looking at him, and Ms. Chesterton asks, "Roughneck, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm OK. Sorry. Just thinking about the mission. You know, this guy's prob'ly gonna try to hit the Senator when he's most exposed to the public view, like when he gets out of his car and before he enters the building. The convention center's parking garage is across the street, so he'll prob'ly have to get out of his car in front of the building. Somebody with a rifle could get at'im then, that'd be the easiest time. There's public access to at least seven different floors in three different buildings that have a view of the convention center entrance." As Frank rattles off these facts, the others, including Agent Stansberry, look at him in amazement.
"You've done your homework, though I have no idea how. Roughneck is it? Our agents have already figured all this out and those areas will be locked down. You don't need to worry about every security detail, our men will be all over the place and the perimeter will be as secure as we can make it. What we need you for are the threats we can't guard against. Meta-human attacks, teleporting in past security, destroying the whole building, that sort of thing."
By this time, Frank is no longer listening again. His vision has already been filled with more details about how to kill the senator. More disturbing to Frank is the fact that he feels a very strong urge to carry out these plans--like his job, his only mission in life, is to accomplish this assassination. He sees himself killing the senator in fifty different ways, each variation accounting for a different security plan. Frank realizes, with absolute certainty, what he was designed for.
Frank tries to clear his head and get these thoughts out of it. His job is to protect the Senator, not kill him. Protect him, don't kill him. The evil thoughts are gone as quickly as they appeared, and Frank is himself again, the compulsion to kill the Senator out of his head.
The team agrees to stay incognito per the Senator's wishes. Verve, Master Menagero, the Captain, and Blitz will pass themselves off as regular secret service agents, but Roughneck, Zena, and Kinetica pose a problem. Zena could be disguised but she would stick out like a sore thumb, due to her unfamiliarity with such events. Roughneck's extreme scarring and Kinetica's forcefield are both beyond hiding. It is decided that tthe three of them will remain inside a secret service vehicle with tinted windows that will be in the Senator's caravan. A regular Serviceman will drive the vehicle. All of the other vehicles will have tinted windows as well so as not to draw attention. Zena, Roughneck, and Kinetica will have to remain in the vehicle while the others escort the senator inside the Convention Center along with the regular entourage of Secret Serviceman.
"The plan sounds fine to me," Says the Captain to the Secret Serivceman. The he turns to Ms. Chesterton, "This doesn't have anything to do with the mission, but when you have a moment I need to ask your adivce about something."
"Check me out - I'm a MIB!" says Blitz Blitz will wear his costume under his secret service suit, except for the face mask, of course. His face will be semi-concealed by the ultra-cool secret-service issue sunglasses.
"Oh great, I get stuck with the amazon and the hackjob." says Kinetica.
Frank ignores Kinetica's comment. With his face, he doesn't expect any slack from a young girl, especially one with her attitude.
"Look at it this way, Kinetica. The others get to play 'human shield' while you get to raid the wetbar in the limo."
Frank will wear a trenchcoat and fedora and glasses to hide himself in case he must exit the vehicle. (NOTE: law enforcement people never "get outta the car", they ALWAYS "exit the vehicle.")
Julia perks up considerably at the mention of 'wetbar.'
Ms. Chesterton glares disapprovingly at Kinetica. " There is no 'wetbar' . Even if there were, no one is allowed to drink on the job...Especially minors who are on probation for drug and alchohol related offenses."
Julia curls her lower lip.
"Is this going to be a problem?" asks Agent Stansberry "There will be alchohol being served at the function. If that is going to compromise security, then perhaps Ms. Kinetica should sit this one out."
"No. It won't be a problem. Will it Kinetica?" says Ms. Chesterton, secretly hoping that she hadn't scewed up by allowing Kinetica on the team.
"No, Ms. Chesterton, it will not be a problem."
Menagero asks Blitz, "What say we use your powers and my powers in conjuction to perform a quick runaround of the facilites. I can detect metahumans within a one-mile radius. We may be able to pick up anomalies to watch out for and have Zena, Julia and Frank investigate. Its better then them sittign in a limo waiting for some action, wouldn't you say?"
"If you can do that while remaining out of sight, then that is fine," says Agent Stansberry "As i said earlier the Senator doesn't want any attention drawn to the fact that you have been hired as extra security. It was like pulling teeth just to get him to agree with it. Other than that he plans to make a big entrance and get in a lot of good photo ops and PR for the press. He really isn't the least bit concerned that these death threats are for
real. He says he has gotten them throghout his political career and nothing has ever happened. I'm not so certain."
"How much more 'out of sight' can you get than one inch tall running at over 300 mph?" MM smiles at Blitz.
Having settled on a plan the team makes the necessary preparations and 5
days later Senator Blanding arrives on schedule at the airport. Master Menagero and Blitz have decided to not hang with the caravan, choosing instead to do a shrunken down reconnaissance at superspeed while the caravan makes it's way through the city heading towards the convention center. they remain in radio contact with the others, but far enough away and at fast enough speeds so a s not to draw attention to themselves. They plan to meet up with the others at the convention center, dressed as Secret Service agents already stationed at the center.
Master Menagero registers no superhuman powers, until he nears the convention center, then there is a multitude of them,too many to keep track of. This is due to many metahuman protesters who have gathered out side the convention center to decry Seanator Blanding and his policies. MM makes a point to steer clear of the protesters, no telling what sort of powers he would end up with, the sheer influx of that many powers may make him faint. He decides to go in the back entrance, flashing the guard his credentials, he is allowed entrance.
The trip from the airport to the convention goes off without a hitch and
the team gets out of the limos to escort the seantor in to the building (except Kinetica, Roughneck and Zena), The fundraising benefit is already underway when the senator's caravan arrives at front.
The center is fairly crowded, filled with well to do members of the Senator's political party. After the senator arrives to a standing ovation , he takes his seat at the head table and dinner is served shortly thereafter, It is a thoroughly boring affair to watch for the team. Big business tycoons hob nobbing with the politicians. The press is there as well, getting all the newsworthy footage they can tape.
After dinner at around 9:00 p.m. various dignitaries get up and give their fundraiser speeches. The Senator is the last to speak. As the applause dies down, he begins his speech, detailing the need for extra security in these new times, yadda yadda yadda...
One of the waiters slips and falls, breaking all of the wine glasses he was carrying on his tray. The crowd all look to the sudden sound and the waiter gives an apologetic smile as he scrambles to pick up the pieces of glass. Everyone looks to the Senator in expectation of him resuming his speech.
What they see instead is the Senator clutching his throat with one hand, a frightened look on his face as he tries to make a sound, but nothing comes out of his mouth except a milky white substance and a few gurgling sounds. The same substance is seeping from between his fingers that are clutched at his throat. He falls down backwards, crashing into the curtain behind him and bringing it toppling down on top of him. The crowd lets out a collective gasp of horror and several people scream panic stricken.
chaos ensues.
"Time to blow my cover" Blitz thinks to himself as he drops to his 2-foot height and zooms up to the senator at hyperspeed. Arriving several seconds before even the closest bystanders, he will use his top-notch assessment and paramedic skills to examine and hopefully stabilize Senator Blanding.
He pulls out his medical kit and starts cleaning the wound and tries to establish an airway so Blanding can breath. If necessary, he'll create one using an airway tube through the mouth or nasal passage. This is normally only done to an unconscious patient because of the discomfort of having a plastic tube run down your throat into your bronchial tube. But this time, it may be the only choice. "Now where did I leave that tube of lubricating jelly...?"
He will also collect a sample of the white substance for later analysis. While examining, he's looking for the cause of the trauma and method of delivery (bullet hole, cut/slashed throat, poison dart, pill capsule, etc). He will relay any relevant info through the commlink.
Blitz uses the 6W for the attempt to save Senator Blanding. Maybe he'll get to use the defibrillator. He loves using the defibrillator! He always gets a tiny thrill from shouting "Clear!" and then delivering the electric shock. Oh the perverse joys of the paramedic!
The method of delivery looks to definitely be a bullet hole. It appears as if the bullet entered from the front of the Senator's throat and exited the back of his neck at the base of his skull. . The white milky substance is leaking out of him in place of blood and has the consistency and look of skim milk. It becomes apparent to Blitz that the Senator is NOT human. There is high grade plastic tubing in place of veins and arteries and miniaturized servos in the place of bone and muscle. Without knowing any better, Blitz would guess that the Senator is some sort of sophisticated android. the press films all of this with vulture-like glee.
"Get back! Make some room! Someone get the me some medical assistance from the security staff, NOW!"
Blitz is barking at the crowd of bystanders trying to keep them away from the Senator's body. Despite the artificial workings, Blitz tries his best to repair & stabilize the Senator. Afterall, androids are people too. Besides, they will have many questions for him later, IF Blitz can keep him alive.
If Blanding dies, Blitz will remain guard over the body to protect it from interested press-vultures until the real security personnel can take his
place. While standing guard, he will visually search the room for any clues about the assassin, although by that time, the person(s) would be long gone. But maybe he can spot something that would be helpful to the others. He will only leave the body if summoned by a teammate or if other security personnel can relieve him.
ooc: MM uses the following card for the next move: 7W* (Crisis of Faith)
Menagero stands up as beads of sweat start to pour down his face. He taps on his commlink, "External Team, have all security personel seal off all exits to the building. We have a situation in here. No one leaves the vicinity. Roughneck, you may want to double-check all security personel while your at it.
"Let me offer a quick explanation: The Senator has been shot yet he doesn't seem to be the Senator. He looks like some sort of android.
"Xena, darling, perhaps your feline friend can prowl the sewers for any strange occurances while Tancreed flies overhead in aerial recon.
"And, everyone be careful. We have more paranormals than we can shake a stick out looming around out here."
MM turns to Verve, "Here's the real question, my friend. Where's the real Senator?"
[Assuming Blitz reports all these facts over the commlink...]
Frank thinks, "Android!" So the Senator wasn't a human. Maybe he's been an android for a long time, thinks Frank.
Before he can consider the full implications of this, he jumps out of the limo. Seeing the entrance to the center still crowded, he decides to do some surveillance. "Kinetica, I'm gonna go try an' see what I can see." He dashes off to get a better perspective.
Frank rushes across the street and down one building, to a highrise apartment building. Frank leaps up as high as he can to a balcony, grabbing the bottom rail and pulling himself up. He does this twice (or however many times) until he has a view of the front of the convention center, and the nearby streets.
He scans the streets to see if anyone is discretely leaving the scene. Most people are crowding in toward the entrance of the center, curious about the sudden commotion. Most of the people outside still didn't know what had happened. Frank also scans nearby buildings.
Remembering Blitz's message that it looked like a bullet wound, Frank closes his eyes and imagines where the Senator must have been standing. A map of the convention center pops up into his head, and he sees a virtual podium. Frank's computer core extrapolates vectors from the podium in an attempt to figure out where an assassin might have been hiding.
In the event that the assassin is invisible, Frank periodically scans the streets (and everywhere else) in IR and UV ranges looking for something that may not be visible to normal sight. Also, a recently discharged gun barrel might hold more heat than its surroundings, so Frank looks for something like this too (IR range)
Kinetica bursts from the car, looking for the assassin. She hovers over the crowd, looking for anyone with a gun. Her eye fall on the bar however.
One drink wouldn't hurt, would it?
[Julia will play the 4W to resist her Addiction.]
The Captain, not wanting to cause more of a panic, scans the crowd while keeping his eyes on the waiter who dropped the tray, on the hunch that the waiter may have set of a signal for the assassin. (I'll use the 6S to look for suspicious things and keeping an eye on the waiter.) If I see something suspicious I'll go for it, if the waiter seems suspicious I'll teleport over to him and stun him, if someone else gives me an order I'll follow it.
Zena sends Tolwynn and Tancreed off on their specified assignments and then runs towards the back of the building to look for anyone who might be out of place or fleeing the scene.
Try as he might Blitz is unable to save 'Senator Blanding" whose android body gives a sickening gurgle for a death rattle and it's all too human looking eyes begin to glaze over. The press moves in even closer, despite Blitz's protests to the contrary. Regardless of being full sized he is nearly crushed by their news gathering frenzy.
Roughneck scales the nearby apartment building up to the second floor in
two easy leaps. From his vantage point he scans the area looking for anything strange. It is hard to filter everything out with all of the commotion going on outside of the convention center. Everyone was suspect and there was a whole throng of people pressed into a relatively
small area as the Secret Service moves in to contain the area. He notices one person in the crowd suddenly shift electromagnetic energies.
The man was invisible now, but Frank could still see him making his way past the Secret Servicemen who were completely unaware of the man's presence.
Waiting until the man is nearly clear of the crowd (so Frank can follow him more easily), Frank discretely drops back to street level, keeping an eye on the invisible stranger. He is trying not to be too obvious. (Remember, Frank has a coat and hat over his costume.) He radios the others, including the secret service (whose channel I assume we are using?): "Hey everboddy, I see an invisible person outside in front of the building, making his way east away from the Convention Center. U'm gonna follow. Zena, your animals might be useful here, maybe they can sense this guy."
Zena speaks through her communicator for the first time since recieving it, "My animals will have to return to me before I can speak to them again. I am around back confronting two scoundrel's stealing large sacks
of property. I will have then contained in a few seconds."
"Roger," says Roughneck, as he is positioning himself for the jump. He scans the man to see if he can detect any kind of device that may be generating the invisibility. If he sees such a device, he will try to snatch it away from the man, or destroy it with a short laser burst if he can't get it off.
Frank thinks about zapping the invisible man with his laser, but he hesitates. This could be an innocent meta here, and Frank would be asssaulting him with a deadly weapon. But then again, why would the guy be invisible if he weren't guilty?
Frank makes his way around the outskirts of the crowd to cross the invisible man's path between him and the convention center (i.e., behind the invisible man as he leaves the center). When Frank is directly behind the invisible man, he watches his target, using his telescopic vision to make sure the invisible man is not looking. Frank then silenly leaps into the air, intending to land directly behind the invisible man, using his arms to knock his target down. Frank will use martial arts to get him in some devious thumblock that his computer core knows about.
As Frank prepares to leap, his computer gauges the proper trajectory, taking into account the invisible man's current speed and the wind and the moon's gravity and....
Kinetica hovers over the crowd outside of the convention center, which draws quite a bit of attention her way from the bystanders below. She scans the crowd looking for anyone suspicious what she sees instead is a
metahuman protester, with one giant eye instead of two, taking a swig out of a bottle with a brown paper bag wrapped around it. Her mouth immediately begins to water, longing for the numbing comfort of the booze. She tries to resist, tries to stay focused on the job at hand, but it is no use. Things were too chaotic... she needed a drink. She flies down and snatches the bottle out of the one eyed man's hands and chugs it down. The whisky burns her throat and stomach as it goes down but it settles her nerves. In fact she doesn't even care that the paparazzi at the event are gleefully snapping damning pictures of her actions.
Julia throws the empy bottle at one of the dopes taking pictures of her. She knew she was in serious sh*t. All she needed was her parole officer to see those photos and....
She did not want to think what would happen then.
But only if he say the film....
Julia, while under the influence, decides to destroy the cameras. She targets the nearest one with a forcebolt.
[OOC: Not her best idea, but well...she is intoxicated and therefore not thinking too clearly.
To be appropriate, let's throw down that 3 of Agility--Rookie Mistake.]
Julia replies to Roughneck over the commlink. "I'm a little-*hick*--busy taking care of PR at the moment."
Into the commlink Blitz says, "Ju...um, Kinetica is handling PR?! We'll just pick up our severance checks on Wednesday."
Responding to Master Menagero's commands, Zena sends her animals off on their reconnaissance missions while she runs to the back of the building. In the alleyway she sees two men quickly loading bags into the back of a white van.
It's times like these that I love being Naive]
Seeing the 'thieves' stealing large bags of money or other stolen goods Zena springs into action. She sends her chakram through the air. It [hopefully] slices through the bag being held by the man in the rear of the van, ricochets off the van door and heads towards the other looter in possession of a bag.
"Your plans of greed will not unfold this night!"
[7A for the action]
Master Menagero again tries to pick up any other superhumans in the vicinity using his detection power.
[ooc: Using my 5I+]
The Captain keeps an eye on the waiter who spilled the tray. it was hard
to tell if he had anything to do with it or not. The waiter was probably
no more than 19 or 20, pimple faced and gangly. Everyone seemed suspicious, but the waiter was the most logical participant. The Captain sees the waiter scoop up the remains of the shattered glasses and head toward the swinging doors that no doubt lead to the kitchen area in the back of the building.
The Captain teleports infront of the doors, holding his hand up to stop the waiter, "Please...wait sir. I...must ask...you...some...questions."
Verve is uncertain what to do. The Secret Service is quickly moving in to seal off the area and prevent anyone from leaving. The crowd however is still understandably in a bit of a panic. He begins to sketch out an opaque barrier that will surround the immediate area of the "senator", hopefully giving Blitz some room to breathe and prevent the press from further contaminating the crime scene.
Blitz feels like Indiana Jones when he was in the Well of Souls fending off snakes with shaky torch. Despite all of the action going on outside,
he knows better than to leave the Senator's body unguarded for even a moment.
Summoning all of his authoritive muster, he tries to quell the onslaught
of reporters and dignitaries with a commanding statement.
"Everyone please remain calm and give me some room. There will be an official statement and press conference after --"
A stubborn reporter tries to use this as an opportunity to sneak in a question, "But what of the allegations that Senator Blanding was really a robotic sex slave?"
Bitz continues undaunted, "-- AFTER this situation has been resolved. Please return to your tables and the staff will serve a round of drinks to calm our nerves."
[I'll play the 4W for trump on the Willpower action to attempt some crowd control.]
Into his commlink, Blitz addresses the chief of security, "I'm sure it's
standard procedure, but once the smoke clears, try to get a head count to see if any of the invited guests are missing. Just in case."
Blitz covers the body with one of the curtains that originally fell on top of the senator. Once Verve's barrier is in place, Blitz will leave the building via the rear exit to regroup with Zena...no telling what the powerful Amazon might do to someone putting up a fight.
Roughneck leaps onto the invisible man, knocking him down onto the street. He quickly grabs the man's hand and puts him into a painful nerve lock. The man screams in pain. "Somebody please help me!!!!"
Frank doesn't think that sounds like the cry of a villain, and he suspects that he has the wrong man. He lets up on the nerve lock, but not enough to let the person get away.
"Calm down. If you didn't do this, apologies right now. But I can't letcha' go. You were fleeing a murder scene. I'm a sanctioned hero, I won't hurt you. Stop struggling and turn visible and I might let you up."
Still holding onto the person (actually sitting on the guy's back with both arms in chicken wings), Frank quickly scans the area again, looking for anyone else fleeing the scene, or with a heat signature resembling a weapon that has recently been fired (like the barrel of a gun).
Frank uses his comm: "I've apprehended the invisible person outside, but keep on the lookout, he might not have done this."
Frank tries to hurt the person he has as little as possible, but he won't let him go yet.
As Frank looks around for any other suspects, he sees the brawl break out where Kinetica shot her bolt.
"We're gonna get fired over this one," he thinks.
The man slowly starts to turn visible and stops most of his thrashing. " i didn't do anything. let me go you asshole." says the man.
Frank does not let the man up. "I told you, I'm a sanctioned hero. You're being legally detained under suspicion of murder. Shouldn't've gone invisible and fled the scene right after a Senator was shot, that was really stupid. And calling me asshole won't help matters either, got it?" Frank handcuffs the man. [Don't know if I actually have handcuffs, but I do have a utility belt and this seems reasonable.]
Frank is annoyed at the whole situation now. This was quickly turning into a clusterfuck. The Senator dead, Kinetica apparently attacking a reporter. . . Yup, they were all gonna need new jobs before this was over. Frank keeps scanning for another suspect, hoping the situation can be salvaged.
Kinetica's force bolt knocks the camera out of the paparazzi's hands and
smashes it onto the street. The man is visibly upset., shouting up at her. "You're going to pay for that you damn meta-freak!"
Julia sticks her tongue out at the man. "Blow me."
A man in the crowd next to him with goldfish looking scales covering his
body says, "You better watch your damn mouth, you g**damn Mere." and pushes the cameraman. [ "Mere" is a derogatory term used by some metahumans to refer to normal humans. It derives from the term "mere mortal"] The two of them begin getting into a shouting match and a fist fight breaks out between the two of them. In addition to this a Julia hears someone calling for help in the distance.
Assuming there are no more poperatzi around, she'll head for the cry of help.
Julia heads in that direction and sees that the source of the cries appears to be Roughneck, but then upon closer inspection it is the man who is slowly turning vivble beneath him that is screaming fro help.
Julia flies over to Roughneck is and sees he's got the situation in hand. She then glances back towards the brawl before turning back to Roughneck.
She smiles and shrugs innocenty.
Zena unleashes her chakram at the two men loading the van. It slices through the bags the men are holding, spilling white powder from within them into the ground. Zena had been watching a lot of television to familiarize herself with her new habitat. This was no doubt the drug called cocaine and these men were no doubt drug smugglers.
"Surrender villains or I shall unleash upon you an everlasting supply of
pain, not unlike what you have unleashed upon this city with your foul drugs!" Zena shouts as she catches her chakram as it returns.
Both of the them immediately put there hands up in the air. 'You got it all wrong lady." says the one on Zena's left.
Zena ignores their words as she looks for something she can use to secure the captured villains.
The Captain teleports in front of the waiter, who lets out a surprised gasp and begins running the other direction, back into the dining room.
The Captain fires a stun blast at the waiter (5S)
Who immediately falls unconcscious from the blast and falls into a table of hor d'vours (spelling? )
"I have secured the...waiter for...questioning. When...he...wakes up that is."
Blitz gains a little respite from the reporters who back off of him slightly allowing him to cover the Senator's body. Then Verve's barrier snaps into place. Blitz exits the building at hyper speed to rendezvous with Zena. He sees two frightened kitchen helpers holding their hands above their head in surrender to Zena and they are both covered in flour.
Master Menagero cannot detect any other metahumans in the crowd other than the team members. there was a large number of them outside in the crowd of protesters as well.
Master Menagero asks the security service over the commlink, "Did you successfully seal all entrances? Did anybody successfully exit the building?"
Paying attention to Zena, "Are you alright? I heard the sounds of your chakram unleashing their deadly might." MM gets a little excited at the thought and sneezes.
"I am securing two cocaine traders at the moment. I lack anything to bond their hands. Some assistance in that area could be necessary." says
Zena. She hates asking for help, but has no way of holding the felons.
"Excuse me. Did your animals detect anything, below or above?"
"My friends have yet to return. I'm sure they will arrive shortly."
The Secret Service now has the convention center locked down , but there
are reports over the commlinks of a large brawl breaking out in front of the center [ the same one that was started with Julia's help]
[I'm going to move things forward a bit here, since i put us behind schedule ]
After much ado, the situation is controlled with the assistance of the Secret Service. The assassin however, seems to have been able to slip away in the chaos. The various suspects (the waiter, the "drug dealers" in back and the invisible man) are all found to have reasonable alibis for their actions but are taken into custody for questioning nonetheless. The SoF members are the first to be cleared by security and are allowed to leave the convention center. Everyone else inside will be checked one by one before being allowed to leave. It would be a long night for the Secret Service as well as though detained inside the center. SOF is informed that they are to attend a strategy meeting the 10:00 am the next day at Secret Service HQ to discuss the situation.
The Next Day.... Everyone reports as ordered. Julia is a bit nervous, wondering if reports of her exploits had reached the Secret service. So far nothing had turned up about it on the news, though there was major coverage of the "assassination" of Senator Blanding and allegations that he was some
sort of android.
A man wearing a CAPE uniform enters the room. He introduces himself as Commander Hudson, he is the regional head of CAPE and is personally overseeing the the "Blanding Affair" as he refers to it. CAPE has been called in by the Secret Service as they feel that this may involve some type of preternatural circumstances tat they aren't prepared to deal with.
He asks for the team's help in this matter. (the heroes of course agree--and after consulting with Ms. Chesterton by phone a fee is agreed
upon. )
After this has been squared away. he informs the team that CAPE's R&D department has determined that the Senator that was "assassinated" the night before was in fact some form of advanced biological android. Their opinion is that it was probably grown in some type of laboratory. According to the CAPE science guys the only possible lead as to who might t have created the replacement android is Dr. Alexander Zircher, the world's foremost syntho-biologist.
Zircher is known to have been working for a corporation called Syntho-Tek Inc. from which he resigned 4 months ago. His current whereabouts are unknown, but he is known to have a summer home/ cabin somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.
Commander Hudson wants the team to check out the cabin and see what if any clues they can turn up. It is a long shot but it is the only lead they have a t the moment.
[If anyone has any questions or comments they would like top add, put them here]
[assuming they agree to this].....
The heroes arrive at the cabin late that night. It is a large "A" frame house situated near the shore of a picturesque lake. There are no light s on inside the cabin and no vehicles parked outside. If anyone knocks there is no answer. Th doors are all locked. Through the windows they can see that the furniture is all covered in sheets. Though the building itself is in good shape, It looks as though no one has been here in ages.
"I could bust in easily enough, but I think we may want to go with something a little more subtle." says Julia
"Allow me. " says the Captain. "Energize." He teleports just inside the doorway and unlocks the door from the inside. He opens the door to allow the others entrnce.
At the same timeZena throws her Chakram in through the window that the heroes were looking through, embedding it in the far wall. Her hope is to see if anyone or thing responds to the intrusion. (using the 7I - Breakthrough card.
A fine layer of dust seems to coat everything, but for some reason it doesn't seem to effect Master Menagero's allergies.
Frank scans the whole house from the outside with his EM vision, focusing on radio waves to see if there are any transmissions coming from the house. (He could also probably tell if someone were "tightbeaming" any comunications to the home too, but couldn't tell if someone were inside receiving a general braodcast.) He also looks for anything indicating a big power source inside (big computers/equipment is often "noisy" in some EM ranges--any current induces a magnetic field, which Frank could see if it is strong enough).
Frank also looks at the lake near the house. He wonders if there could be anything under the lake, like a lab. He uses his EM vision to scan for emissions from the lake too. Next he does one circuit around the cabin to look for tracks. (Would my EM vision help here? if so, he uses it.) Frank also looks with IR vision to find anyone spying on them from the woods or the lake.
(I use the "W" card from my hand for the scanning. If I have to use more than one card, I use the intelligence one next, saving the dex card for combat.)
Frank also thought of looking for a security system, but this is now irrelevant.
(If Frank sees anything, he will tell the others what he sees--you can post that keith if you want.)
Frank wonders if, as heroes, they were allowed to enter private homes without warrants. He knows cops aren't supposed to do that, but he also knows (from TV) that cops did do it all the time. Must not matter. Besides, it looks like no one is here.
Frank enters the home with the others, scanning as he goes.
Frank says, "Hey MM, you ain't sneezin'?" Frank scans the dust carefully with his highest power microscopic vision. He suspects that it is synthetic.
If it is, that means this is a ...
TRAP!
MM says, "Did you say TRAP?" THough the dust does not affect MM's allergies, the sudden stress does. He sneezes.
[I am going to continue this turn # into this week since I got it out late and not much has happened so far. ]
Frank's examination of the dust reveals that it doesn't look like "regular" dust under his microscopic scruitiny. It has a more uniform look in the microscopic patterns than those occuring naturally. [Frank doesn't really know what he is looking for--he doesn't have the scientific background to make much sense of what he is viewing].
His examination of the perimeter and other EM scans reveal nothing out of the ordinary.
Everyone is on guard as they wait for somethingf to happen..some trap to be sprung..but it never happens.
Slowly , one by one they begin to spread out throughout the cabin..looking for clues.
Nearly an hour later the others hear Verve say "Aha!.. I've got something. " When everyone has gathered around, he shows them a bill he found in a stack of papers on the dust covered desk. "This bill is for dinner at the Key West Yacht Club in Florida. It is dated 12 days ago....there is no way that this much dust could have accumaulated in just 12 days time. Something fishy is going on here."
[Fast Forward....]
The heroes check out the Key West Yacht Club the next day. The meet the owner ,Raphael DeSantos, "friend to the stars". The club walls are full of photographs of Desantos standing arm in arm with various clebrities... The Captain notices taht in one of them with DeSantos shaking hands with Russel Crowe outside in front of a yacht called the San Marquel. Alexander Zircher,the world's foremost syntho-biologist is seen in the background sitting in a chair aboard teh yacht. The date on the picture is 6 days ago.
When asked about the yacht, Desantos reveals that it is regisatered to President Calvione, President of the Republic of Chinilaya ( a powertful
non-aligned Central American country). The records show that the yacht left the marina the same day theat the photo was taken; the destination was to be a place known as Delamrion Cove in Chinilaya.
[Common Knowledge about Chinilaya:
Up until 6 years ago, Chinalaya could be called a "banana republic" . Ruled for nearly 100 years by a single ;long stagnant "royal" family. Six years ago the massacre of a large number of Chinalyan mountain villagers by overzealous government troops sparked off heavy rioting that quickly became a full scale revolution. Led in the "peoples revolution" by defecting army general Alfred Delchevos., the oppressed citizens took control of the government before any Eastern or western power were able to lift a finger to aid or hinder them.
That same year Delchevos was elected "El Presidente:. " he remained president of Chinalaya until two years ago, when he stepped down due to an illness. Named a his successor was his right hand man, Carlos Clavione. Calvione quickly began to modernize an expand the small nation and the its economy. It is now one of the most powerful and politically stable nations in the region. Also of note is that the Chinalaya rose to its place of power without a single dollar of foreign aide, a fact that some economic analyists fin intriguing.
Common Knowledge about Delmarion Cove:
Delamarion Cove was the site of one of the climatic battles of the Chinalyan Revolution. Rebel forces surrounded and outgunned by government troops, rallied and defeated the superior government army. However in the process the leader of that part of the rebel army, Hector Delamrion was killed. Since the revolution, the area was converted from jungle to a small retreat for the Chinlayan President. It is used only when the president goes on truly non working vacations.
The Cove itself is virtually flat, except for a slight rise in the terrain on one side. According to information compiled , it contains a good sized boat dock and a large house (on the higher ground).
I need to know how the characters want to approach this situation. Any ideas , suggestions, etc., would be appreciated. Keep in mind this could blow up into a major international incident if handled incorrecly. If the Charcters wish to consult with CAPE , they have a number whee the Commanfer udson can be reached.
For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, I am using the old V&V module "Assassin" for this adventure, but I am changing things throughout to make it different enough. ]
Menagero expresses his concern to the team aboard the Fortune's Fury (Conveniently located behind a building near the Yacht Club.) "If we go about this the wrong way, we're looking at a possible international incident. This is going to take an unprecedented amount of stealth and subterfuge, not our usual rock 'em, sock 'em ways. I suggest a two-prong tactic to find Zircher...Anyone interested?"
Julia frowns. "Drat, and I was hoping for some fun. That whole Senator thing was a major bust. The cloest thing to a supervillain I say was the damn poperatzi."
[Flashback: Julia after the assassination:
Julia slumped on her favorite chair, stairing at the bottle of vodka on the counter. She couldn't believe how badly she blew it earlier that day. Luckily, it hadn't made the news. At least not yet.
Still, perhaps she did have a problem. I mean, having a drink now and then in her own home was one thing--even for an underaged minor on probation--but in front of the press while on the job was something else entirely. She couldn't help herself.
Boy, did she blow it.
Her eyes drifted back towards the bottle. One drink wouldn't hurt. She needed something to help her forget what she did earlier that day, and it was only one drink.
And then another...
And another...
And....
Julia awoke the next morning on the floor with the empty bottle clutched in her hands.
[End Flashback]
"I like it, we need to...be subtle. What is your...plan." says the Captain
Roughneck has no idea how to tackle this situation, he has never been out of the country (to his knowledge--not counting the few years of his memory that are missing). He is thankful that MM has a plan, because going to a foreign country to look for a suspect sounds like a recipe for disaster.
"What's yer plan, MM?"
"Okey-dokey," MM says, preparing for his plan. He goes to the holo-projector table at the rear of the ship's cockpit and toggles through to a map of the country they will need to invade
ooc:(I forgot the name of the country and deleted my past emails, sorry.)
"I suggest a three-pronged force for this mission. Verve, we will need your powerful abilities to create a separate disguise for each of the N-YOUR-FACE infiltrators. I have been giving serious consideration to your powers and I believe we could channel your metahuman artistic abilites into creating life-like masks and body suits for the N-YOUR-FACE band.THese will have the look and feel of real flesh. Geez, they'll even bleed once a add a chemical supplement.
"THe N-YOUR-FACE band will include myself impersonating Secretary of State Enriquez Marquez, Verve (available for quick fixes on our disguises) impersonating Foreign Minister Alvaro Gonzalez, and Blitz impersonating Mr. GOnzalez' executive assistant Roman Lopez. We will get up close and personal as the main extraction team for Zircher. CAPE also has voice impersonation technology along with linguisitc translators which will take care of the language problem. I am sure we can beg a few of them from CAPE.
"You're all wondering, I'm sure, what about the real Marquez, Gonzalez and Lopez? THat is where our GUERILLA SQUAD consisting of Roughneck and Zena comes in. Your first mission will be to kidnap the three aforementioned politicians from Gonzalez' suburban retreat and place them in unconscious custody with a small band of democratic loyal rebels called the Esperanza de la Mundo or Hope for the WOrld brigade. Some preliminary research I have suggests that we can work a deal with them to keep the three abductees in safe custody in exhange for some arms which our grand governemnt would be most happy to provide. In addition, they will lend support to the GUERILLA SQUAD's operations during our mission.
"THe final role GUERILLA SQUAD will need to perform is creating a distraction for the N-YOUR-FACE crew while our third prong moves in. Once we've successfully nabbed Zircher, the OUT-OF-SIGHT band, consisting of only Kinetica, will pilot the Fortune's Fury to the borders of (insert country's name here) their sea territory. Using Marquez's personal helicopter, N-YOUR-FACE will rendevous with OUT-OF-SIGHT, dumping the copter mid-air."
"Wait a minute!" says Julia. "I have to babysit the helicopter while the
rest of you hog all the fun?"
TUrning to ROughneck and Zena, "I am sure that the GUERILLA SQUAD will be able to easily evade government forces once we give the all clear signal flare. Once outside the main city, you'll have about a thirty-mile trek through rough jungles to get to the country's border, where a contingent of CAPE troops will facilitate your return to the USA."
MM looks at everyone and tunrs off the holo-projector. "How's that sound?" > "One problem" says Verve, "my animated sketches, don't look 'real' , they look like animated pencil drawings with 3-d form. I could try to do what you suggested but it is a huge risk and woudl put us in a lot of danger if it failed. I could use colored pencils to increase my chances but even then it will probably still look like animated pencil drawings in color. Also they do not last very long [ aura duration] and I have no way of telling when they will vanish. Not trying to shoot down your plan, just that it is a pretty big gamble if my powers can't be used in this way [If the power stunt fails].
MM adds, "Your powers seem to be baed on your imagination. I am surethat we have not seen the limits of your powers. But, if you feel unsure about this we can defer to CAPE's espionage division to see what type of MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE get-ups they can supply us with."
Blitx adds,"Sure, this is a life-and-death situation." Patting Verve on the back, "But, maybe on our down time we can work on improving your powers, eh, buddy?"
Frank says, "Lemme get this straight. You want me and Zena to kidnap three innocent government officials, and hand'em over to rebels who'll guarantee their safety in exchange for weapons? Then you want to impersonate these officials so as to kidnap Zircher, who's an American citizen and has committed no crime as far as we know?"
Frank was once kidnapped. He lost nearly three years of his life because of it, and was now a freak-show cyborg, welded to a computer. When he had awakened during his captivity and realized what was happening to him, he had felt like a trapped animal, and had killed his captors to escape. And he had felt completely justified in killing them, because they had kidnapped him, taken him against his will and made him a prisoner.
"I'm not kidnappin' anyboddy, 'specially people who got nothin' to do with this." Frank is beginning to wonder about MM. This idea of his, coupled with other facts, like embezzling 10 million dollars in the process of "accidentally" obtaining his powers, set off klaxons in Franks head, and he doesn't even need his computer core to warn him.
"Whoa! I didn't mean any offense, Roughneck!" MM is taken aback by Frank's reaction. "I thought ouro rders were clear, to find Zircher. I didn't say any harm would come to him but I take it we're all assuming that ZIrcher is there agaisnt his will. Maybe someone needs to refresh me on our mission orders. It's not as if any intrusion into their country will not be perceived as an act of war anyways."
Frank says, "Yer right, Zircher might be there against his will. But that picture of him and Russel Crowe on the yacht didn't exactly look like he'd been abducted. He may be in on it. He may be completely innocent too.
"But my real problem is with kidnapping these unrelated government officials and handin'em over to rebels, plus giving these rebels weapons. The dossier on Chinalaya said their old leader "Delchevos" was elected. If these rebels are democratic, why aren't they just voting? I don't like the idea of handing innocent people over to outlaws, and bribing the outlaws to not harm'em by giving the outlaws guns.
"We're government agents, aren't we? I mean, we work for Ms. Chesterton, but we're deputies, we're more like cops than normal citizens. It just don't seem right." Frank runs out of steam here, forgetting what his point was.
Frank feels foolish now, wondering if he is overreacting.
Blitz responds, "Well, I'm not an elected official myself. I'm only a member of this band. I defer to Frank's opinion on this matter. But, I see that in the future, we really need to decide who makes the final decision. We need an elected leader to make the tough choices when we all don't agree. I nominate Frank. He seems pretty experienced in battle."
"I'm willing, but I'm not a good day-to-day leader. I'm no good at givin' orders. MM's best at makin' plans, I just had a little problem with this one I guess."
[OOC: Frank would have voted for Blitz to be team leader, since he is a paramedic and is most experienced (highest edge and assessment skill). But now it looks like Blitz may not be around much? Michael, are you going to keep playing Blitz for good? If so let me know, I can repost.]
Of course! The CAPTAIN should be team leader! after all, he IS the captain...
"I believe that Tolwynn, Tancreed and I are aptly capable of capturing these men. Perhaps Frank would prefer to join Julia in the helicopter." says Zena as she polishes and cleans her chakram and bracelets.
MM weighs Zena's words carefully and habitually winks at her. "THanks for the vote of confidence, my beaut...I mean, Zena. Though I agree that the Captain may be a natural born leader, I must defer to thosewith actual battle experience outside of SoF. I'll swing my vote Blitz's way if needed and I thank any who may give me consideration. My knowledge fo metahumans IS extensive but in such an espionage-ridden case, I amy not be the best suited for the job."
"Despite my...codename I do not...feel...I am ready yet...to lead the team. I support...MM or...Blitz" says the Captain
Blitz adds, "Well make a decision, will ya?"
"Before we decide anything I think we should get in contact with Commander Hudson and Ms. Chesterton to see what they think. She is a lawyer after all and he is the regional head of CAPE. Neither one of them may want us to even go to Chinalaya. I think that is probably where Zircher is, but we can't be sure that he was kidnapped or if he is there willingly. Even the fact that he "may" be involved in the pseudo assassination of Senator Blanding doesn't give us the right to go into a foreign country and start taking prisoners....Maybe if we were military, but even then it would be a dicey situation at best. But then again, what the hell do I know...I'm just an artist. " says Verve, lighting up two cigarettes at once and tossing one to Julia. "The whole situation stinks if you ask me. I'm not too keen on
doing the governments dirty work for them if that is waht they expect us to do. I'm sure they have metahuman Covert Ops teams for just this sort of thing. Acting as bodyguards for public officials is one thing, but infiltrating a foreign country is quite another. "
As the team debates what to do the Furtune Fury is plunged into darkness, then the entire ship is jerked about as if an earthquake is happening, then a spinning sensation as they are all tossed about th ecabin , the spinning stops with a sudden impact and a loud splash of water. This all occurs very quickly, a few seconds at beast. Everyone is shaken up but no one is serioulsly injured...minor bumps and bruises. If anyone looks out the cockpit windows they see that the Fury is now in the ocean about a mile off shore and is beginning to slowly sink benath the waves.
On shore, Requiem, the team leader smiles to himself. That was too easy he thinks. "Nightfall, Ferro! Good work. But stay on guard.. Halflife, fly out to where Ferro threw their ship and blast anyone who tries to escape. "
"Roger." says Halflife a burst of radiation enveloping his body, as he takes to the air waiting for anyone to surface. A few hard rads would take care of any survivors.
A grotesgue wiry little man scampers near Requiem, his nose twitching excitedly "The master will be pleased Requiem? " he asks almost fearfully.
"It is too early to tell at this point Vermin. We need to make sure there are no survivors. The boss wants these idiots punished for their incompetence. If they'd done what they were supposed too and protected the Senator, then none of this would be necessary. All loose ends are being taken care of and examples are being made. These aren't the only ones. "
"Yes I know, " says Vermiin gleeefully stroking his three foot long rat-like tail. "The Master let me feast on some other 'exampes' last night. "
Requiem shakes his head in disgust and waves the rodent man away. He needed to concentrate on the mission at hand.
[I should remind everyone not to confuse player knowledge with character
knowledge here. I added the supervillain comments for flavor, not as information to be used by the characters.]
Frank recovers from the tossing about and immediately looks out the window. Realizing (from the sound and impact) that the plane is sinking, he uses his laser to cut a hole in the top of the fuselage so everyone can escape--big enough for multiple people to exit at once. He then leaps at the cut out piece, intending to use his momentum to burst out of the plane and remove the section he cut out at the same time. He will do this at an angle so he will land on the plane.
As Frank does this, his danger sense goes wild, though he can't see any attackers.
"Everboddy, incoming! More attacks on the way! Get ready!"
Frank then scans the whole area (using his wideband EM vision) looking for what caused this. If he cannot see anything (i.e., if the plane has darkness cast on it that blocks all EM wavelengths) then he will leap into the air straight up, hoping to get out of the radius of whatever darkness is on the plane. He intends to land on the plane when he does this.
If at any time Frank is knocked off the plane, he will sink like a rock, so he takes care and will try to grab anything to prevent being tossed into the water.
If Frank sees any attackers, he will shoot his laser at them.
MM immediately states, "What the heck was that? Roughneck, Kinetica, Zena, Blitz, Captain...Get on top of the Fury ASAP and defned anymore possible attacks. Verve, I'll need you to stay with me and whip up a quick fix. How about a huge flotilla to get this baby out of the sea while I start up the water pumps and main engine. It's like a tornado hit us!" MM starts up Fortune Fury's engines and begins scanning the area for metahumans. OOC: 9D+ (Pyrrric Victory) for the detection
Blitz immediately zips outside the hole Roughneck made and takes a with look at his surroundings.
OOC: For blitz: using 8A*(Dramatic Entrance) to get a visual on any incoming.
Tolwynn and Tancreed quickly follow Roughneck out of the Fortune's Fury,
Zena looks around the jet for something that she can stand on to access the newly made hole.
"Get to shore my friends" Zena says to her two companions. If she were anyone else aboard the Fortune's Fury she might suspect the foul play that awaits the team outside the jet, but for her this is simply one of the many troubles that comes with modern technology. Her only concern is
escaping this man made coffin before it takes her into the depths of the
sea.
Julia, who was not wearing her seatbelt, is promptly thrown into the side of the Fury. Fortunately, her force field protected her from injury, but it would not help her in the depths of the ocean. With her life on the line, adrenelin surged through her body, and a slight smile cusped her lips. This was just the sort of excitement needed to put an end to the monotony of life.
"One sunroof coming up," she declared, propelling herself towards (and hopefully through) the roof of the Fury. (Roof meaning whichever side happens to be facing up from the ocean).
[Playing the 5 to create an exit.]
As soon as the ship settles down The Captain will begin teleporting team members on to the top of the ship, starting with non-flyers (who will have a harder time getting to Roughneck and Kinetica's impromptu doors) I use the 5S for this.
If an attack come while the Captain is on top he will fire his stun blast at the attackers, 8D for that.
MM informs the team, "I detect 5 other metahumans in the area. One is very near the ship, he has some sort of radiation based powers. Kinetica, take that assailant! The other 4 are on shore. Here are their powers and best possible match-ups. One has sonic based powers; Blitz can outmaneaver sound, I hope. Another has superstrength and heightened defenses; Captain, take Roughneck with you and put the kibosh on that thug. The last seems to possesss some sort of animal based powers, something quick and mean; Zena, tag along with the Captain then you and your friends can tame that beast."
"Aye aye," says the Captain, "Energize"
I will use the 3S to teleport and the 8D to fire my stun blast at the Super strength guy
"You got it, M&M," says Julia. Nothing like an adrenaline rush to take her mind off of things. Once out of the plane, she will hurl herself at the nearest metahuman, perferably one not on the team :-)
OOC: She'll play one of her 6's for this.
Blitz shrinks down to his smallest size and check-in, "You got it, MM! But, since I don't know who's who yet, do you mind if I soften them up for us all?"
Blitz speeds across the water to deliver a devestating blow on the attacking horde.
ooc: Edge 1S*(Scent of Prey) + 8A*(Dramatic Entrance) and the use of the event on the card. (trump please)
If successful:
Blitz moves in at superspeed. He sees the band of bad guys on the shore and pinballs off of each one of them, trying to seperate them into opposite directions. (He will utilize his body armor for protection from refracted charges.) He taunts the bad guys, "I don't think we've properly met, seeing how you planned to drown us and all. Let me makes an introduction. I'm the brave-hearted Blitz and the rest of the folk who'll be joining us shortly are the rest of my team, the Supers of Fortune. I'll assume you didn't know who you were messing with or else you'd know we're the new, titanic team in town and would've avoided us like your fathers avoided your mothers."
Verve begins sketching up a giant flotation device for the ship. "Hey Zena, I'm not sure if this will work or not, How about calling up some help from any aquatic animals in the area. Assuming you can contol them as well as you can Tolwynnn and Tancreed, that is...I'd rather not have to deal with any hungry sharks or giant squids at the moment. " says Verve.
"I have never tried to gain the assistance of aquatic life before. But I
think I can do what you ask." states Zena.
"If my sketchpad gets wet, my powers won't work. " he adds to no one in particular.
"Perhaps you could conjure yourself a protective case to put your book into until you can get to dry land." she adds. She then begins concentrating, reaching out with her power over the znimal kingdom, trying to gain control over any aquatic OR land based animal in the area,
[Okay, now this is totally up to you Keith, and it sorta depends on how animalistic Vermin actually is, but if it is within the scope of my powers, I'd like to have the animal based life -- possibly including Vermin -- to swarm and attack those who oppose us. 6I for the attempt]
"Be careful out there, people," MM says waiting for Verve to complete his drawing so that he can get airborne. He checks the radar again to see if he can lock on to the radiation-emitting individual. "Kinetica, hit-and-run your opponent. After striking, get some clearance each round of sparring. I plan to give this joker a piece of the Fury's weapons systems."
As soon as Roughneck bursts out of the plane he is under attack. Blast after blast of radioactive energy is sent raining down upon him. He evades several of the blasts but the last one catches him in the shoulder, singing his flesh. His regeneration should start any second , but Frank is alarmed when he realizes that it isn't working, there was some sort of complication going on with his cybernetics, perhaps caused by the radiation.
Gritting his teeth in pain, Roughneck takes aim at his assailant and fires his laser. It catches the man, who is bathed in a greenish flame, in the side and lets out a small grunt of pain.
[Pat, please try to start posting what cards you are playing with your actions]
Kinetica busts out of her own hole in the side of the ship and immediately makes a beeline towards the flying green man. The man does a rollover technique Kinetica had seen a jet perform on Top Gun and evades her easily. "You'll half to do better than that Sweetie! They call me Halflife, which is more life than your gonna have left when I'm through with ya!" He says and begins blasting away at Julia with his radioactive blasts.
"I just hope that if I get hit by that !@#$, something weird doesn't happen like growing a second head," Julia says softly to herself as she swerves to avoid the attack, as she turns around in attempt to slam into him once more.
OOC: Julia will play the 6A on defense, and the 9 on offense.
Blitz zooms to the shore, running so fast that he skips along the top of
the water like a thrown rock. He sees the oddly garbed villains on the shore: One looks like some sort of Island of Dr. Moreu reject with rat like features, the other is a imposing muscular man who looks to be made
of iron, and the last is wearing a black body suit with red trim, his mask covers his face , except for his mouth and long brown hair. Blitz slams into the the iron man and the long hair, but the rat man evades , he was damn quick. The attack seem to have no effect on the iron man, but the long hair was clutching his side. "Wait a minute " says Blitz, "I thought there was supposed to be 4 bad guys on shore."
"There are." says an ominous voice as a wall of darkness falls over Blitz and he feels a chill come into the air.
The Captain and Zena make there way to the top of the ship, and the Captain teleports himself along with Roughneck, Zena, and her animals to
shore. They materialize extremely close to one of the storage sheds near the yacht club. The Captain realizes that he had almost killed them
all by teleporting into solid matter....he'd have to be more careful about that , he thinks as he steps out from behind the building and fires a stun blast at the big iron guy. The iron man, staggers about, visibly dazed but he does not go down. He was a tough one.
Frank, badly injured, is further disoriented by the teleportation-- his first experience of the Captain's powers. But he is thankful to be off the Fortune Fury and away from the water.
The shot from the radiation villian smolders on Frank's shoulder, the green fire still dissolving his flesh in a widening area. Frank collapses against the storage shed, his face white with pain and shock.
"My regeneration...ain't workin'." He grits his teeth and tries to stand.
[Frank will try to shoot Requiem, who seems to be the leader of the enemy. He will try to use the corner of the shed as cover against enemy fire, keeping lookout for anyone trying to flank his position. I only have the one card to play.]
Zena concentrates her will and calls upon any animals in the area to come to her aide. A swarm of seagulls swoop down upon the four villains pecking at their eyes and causing a general nuisance. . [the three of you can see the fourth one. He is dressed in long black cape, creepy looking, sort of like Spawn] She tries control the mind of the rat like looking man, but his will is too strong, he was like an animal,
but different enough to not make controlling him an easy task.
Having been alerted to their presence by the Captain's attack, the long haired villain says, " Vermin, Ferro, take care of our newly arrived guests. I'll dispatch these damn birds. Nightfall keep the midget occupied. "
"Yes Requiem" hisses the one called Vermin as he and Ferro charge towards the trio.
Requiem begins screeching at an ear piercing level, birds begin falling dead from the sky.
The Captain fires another stun blast at Ferro (The big guy) (6S)
For deffense I will use the 5S and trump it.
Verve finishes his drawing and a giant flotation device springs into existence underneath the fortune Fury, causing the submerged sections to
come above sea level. "Fire up those engines, MM! " says Verve jumping into the co-pilot seat. Master menagero gives up on trying to locate the flying man on the radar, he was probably too small to show up.
MM is not too happy with their response attack, "Captain, handle the dark-matter manipulating villain. I'm sure Roughneck can handle the brute. Bltiz, stay on the sonic screaming menace. Kinetica, forget your current opponent and focus on their leader with Blitz. Verve and I will wrap up the radiation man. Zena, keep up your assault on the animal-man."
"Roger wilco, mein Kaptain." Julia departs from Halflife, glad to be rid of the radiation freak, and heads to render assistance to Blitz.
"No thanks. I'd rather handle the metal man!" exclaims Zena. She didn't like the fact that Menagero kept announcing their attacks. It gave the enemy too big of an advantage. Somehow she had to regain the element of surprise, even if it was through deceit.
She speeds her chakram towards Ferro with ferrocity. But Ferro is not her target. She knows there is little she could do to effect him. Instead, her target is Vermin, and if the gods guide her hand, her chakram will ricochet right into the animalistic bastard.
[Sorry, Couldn't check or send out mail all day yesterday, something was
wrong with my Server. Use the 4A for the Ricochet attack (off the nearest object -- directed at Vermin);
8 D for Dodge]
"But...very well." The Captains attack is now focused on the dark-matter guy, same card play.
Same card, I'm using my only higher card to attack, and if I don't get trump then I will stick with the 5S still rather than the 3I
[ Both Zena and the Captain can see that Roughneck looks like major hell... check out his Hand. He is down to one card , from three total , and the one card that he has left is a 1. So you would both realizre that he is in no condoition at the moment to be taking on Ferro, or anyone ellse at the moment. halflife didi a number on him. ]
"Belay that team. Roughneck...is not up to full combat...right now. Kintetica...take the...Dark Matter...villian. Roughneck...back her up. My...stun blasts...can take down supprisingly strong...targets. As soon as...anyone...finishes with their...target...aid Blitz."
So I'm still shooting Ferro.t (The big guy) (6S)
For deffense I will use the 5S .
MM sets the Fortune's Fury on a intercept courtse for the radiation man. He intends to ram into him full speed and take on his powers. "Back up, Verve, I need to gain as much space between myself and yourself and this glowing metahuman!"
5D- (Hazmat Leak)
"Um...sure thing." says Verve. The back of the Fury is like a wind tunnel due to the two holes punched through it's exterior by Kinetica and Roughneck. Verve clutches his sketchpad protectively and begins drawing something to seal the holes with, at least temporarily.
On shore, Blitz uses his 5A+ trump to dodge any assault from the shadowmancer and decides to go for an old fashion KO punch to Requim's face; using 6S* (Emergency) + trump.
[ It would make it much easier if everyone could post what cards they plan to play for defense as well as their attack actions. If not, I have to guess as to what cards you would play for defense.
I also attached a very rough map of the yacht club area. I just used the
first initials of thecharcter's name to represent where they stnd. the good guys are in green, bad guys are red. The marks over Blitz's position are to indicate the darkness surrounding him. ]
Roughneck fires his laser at Requiem, but the long haired villain is able to dodge the attack. Though his attack is unsuccessful, Frank e finally feels his regeneration start to kick in , slowly restoring some of the damage that was done to him.
Blitz runs out from beneath the cover of darkness surrounding him and lands a powerful TKO punch on Requiem [double Trump!] that send the villain sprawling backward unconscious.
Kinetica, who was on her way to help Blitz targets, the creepy looking shadow guy. She slams into him, as he fires off a bolt of dark energy at
her. The attack gets through her forcefield and she feels a cold sensation as the shadowy missile strikes her. Her forcefield dims a little, weakened by the attack. "My darkenss shall consume your light, child," Nightfall says in a voice that sends chills down Julia's spine.
[ I am going to be using Steve Kenson's rules for Forcefields here: Force Fields: Force Fields serve to absorb damage from attacks. Unlike other forms of defense, force fields can also be damaged by attacks. When a force field takes damage in excess of it's intensity, the protected characters suffers the excess damage normally (applying his or
her Strength). The force field's intensity is then reduced by the amount
of the excess damage. A force field reduced to 0 intensity collapses. A hero can restore his or her force field to full strength by spending an action or counteraction to do so.
Example: Aegis is fighting the Hulk and ol' greenskin lands a punch against the acrobatic hero for 20 damage points. His intensity 14 Force Field soaks up most of the damage, but 6 points get through. Aegis' Strength handles it, so he takes no damage. His force field, however, is
reduced by 6 points, to intensity 8. "Man, he nearly shattered my field with that punch!" Aegis thinks. Unless Aegis spends an action to reinforce his field, the Hulk's next punch is sure to collapse it, and do some damage to Aegis in the process.
So by this 9 points got through your forcefield, reducing it down to 3. You can restore it by using a n action or counteraction to do so]
Julia crashes into the ground after the attack and assumes the fetal position, shivering horribly from the strange dark energy. She's not about to let the creep get away with this though. Forcing herself to her feet, she takes to the air on a collision course with Nightfall, not certain whether or not she could, with her force field weakened, survive a second blast. A devilish smile forms on her face. She wouldn't have it any other way.
Playing the 5I for attack with trump, and playing the 5W for defense.
Tolwynn and Tancreed both attack Nightfall, trying to distract the villain to allow Kinetica a better attack.
The Captain blasts Ferro yet again. His synapses overloaded from the Captain's, the brawny villain falls into an unconscious stupor,
Zena's Chakram bounces off of a nearby yacht and catches Vermin in the back of the head. It was a solid blow, but not enough to incapacitate the beastly little man, who charges onward and leaps at Zena, slashing with his talon like fingernails. Vermin is incredibly quick and Zena is unable to block the attack with her bracers. Vermin's talons cut a large
gash in Zena's thigh.
Master Menagero takes aim at Halflife with the Fortune Fury. The radioactive villain is able to outmaneuver the ship and MM is unable to ram him. However, he does feel his powers beginning to change and his vision takes on a greenish tinge as radioactive energy begins to glow around him.
A millisecond later Halflife, rips the rudder off of the Fortune Fury causing it to spin out of control. [Of course verve and MM areunaware of the cause of this] Verve screams over the commlink " what the hells i going on MM? " as he tightens his safety harness of the seat he is in.
[So basicallly thre are 3 of the 5 villains still left awake: Vermin, who ois attacking Zena, Halflife, who is near teh Fortune Fury, and Nightfall who is fighting with Kinetica. Both Ferro and Requiem are down for the count.
"Blitz...help Zena. Roughneck you...and I will aid...Kinetica." Says tha Captain as he fires a stun blast at Nightfall (3I with trump to hit, 4A with trump to dodge any attacks)
"Got it," says Roughneck. Roughneck feels much better now that his enhanced healing is working. He can feel the rejuvenation taking place. He leaps atop the storage shed and takes aim with his laser at Nightfall.
He then notices that the Fortune Fury is in trouble. "Captain, I gotta help MM and Verve, they look like they're in trouble." [I am assuming Frank can see that the radiation guy is attacking the plane; if he can't, please let me know.]
Roughneck aborts his attack on Nightfall and shoots his laser at the green radiation man. He uses a short pulse so as to make it less likely he will accidentally hit the Fortune Fury. [Use the 4I for this attack.]
[O GM, if Roughneck can't take this action for any reason (Plane out of range, whatever) then Roughneck will go ahead and attack Nightfall.]
MM screams, "YAAAAAAHHHHH!" as the Fortune's Fury begins a wicked rollover. "H-hold tight, V-verve, w-while I t-try t-to s-stablize t-the c-craft!"
[ooc: Tossing my 4A + trump and push with my 6D to stanblize the jet and set it parralel to the horizen to prevent a crashlanding and dodge any of Halflife's coming attacks. This should cancel my powers from Halflife because of the distance being shorter between Verve and I)
Zena grasps her thigh as blood begins to spray out. Vermin had only barely missed a major artery that could have ended her life. She grits her teeth instead of screaming in pain. Not willing to fall to this animalistic adversary, she turns her pain into rage.
Blitz responds to the Captain, "You got it!" Trying to catch Vermin's attention while purposely angering Zena, "Hey, Ratface, lay off the lady. Don't you know that our Zena is afraid of rodents."
[Blitz will deliver a karate chop to Vermin's knee-cap, 3S + trump, while dodging any atacks with his 4A + trump. And if I need a willpower to egg Zena on, I'll toss my 4W + trump.]
This comment only throws more fuel on the fire, "I FEAR NOTHING!" she shouts as her fingers jet out towards Vermin's neck. All it will take is
to hit the right pressure point and the fight will be taken right out of
Vermin.
[7I push into Stun Touch -- 6W trump for my Stun Touch. I will use whatever my replacement card is for my dodge.]
Tolwynn and Tancreed both begin attacking Nightfall , who curses at them
angrily. Kinetica uses this distraction to her advantage slamming full force into the villain. Nightfall is sent flying backwards through the air, slamming into the side of the yacht club. As he slides down the wall, the Captain makes sure that he remains incapacitated with the help
of a stun blast. Nightfall is quite unconscious by the time he hits the ground.
Blitz karate chops Vermin's knee as Zena lets out a ferocious amazonian battle cry and strikes the rodent man in a bundled nerve cluster at the side of his neck. The sudden overload to his nervous system causes Vermin to twitch uncontrollably as he falls to the ground in an epileptic-like fit before falling unconscious. Zena is badly wounded, pushing her limits while already injured was taking it's toll. Blitz notices that she appears a bit pale and a little clammy...the signs of shock and blood loss manifesting themselves. He'd seen it many times before as a paramedic.
Roughneck fires off a pulse laser at Half-life, who is laughing maniacally as the Fortune Fury spins towards the waves below. The laser hits it's mark, but seems to do little or no damage, merely causing half-life to take notice of Frank. Half-life seems to consider flying inland for a direct attack upon Roughneck, but when he realizes that he is the only villain left standing he simply flips Roughneck the bird and
flies off to sea. Roughneck is able to see the radioactive trail left in the villain's wake. It would be no problem to track it, it glowed in Frank's sensor's like Day-Glo paint.
Frank radios to Kinetica, "I can see his radiation trail, but I can't fly. I don't know how long it'll stay visible, but if you lose him we can try to track him to wherever he goes."
Frank is glad his regeneration is working again, he is nearly entirely healed. He will have to watch out for radiation powers in the future. They apparently mess with his cybernetics. Meanwhile.. MM is giving it everything he has to prevent the Fortune Fury from crashing, yanking so hard on the controls that he actually strains several muscles in his back and arms. His effort pays off , as he is able to do an emergency landing into the harbor, The Fury comes to
rest in the shallow water of the beach about a quarter of a mile south of the yacht club docks.
"Nice flying, Ace!" says Verve unstrapping himself from his seat belt and slapping MM on the back cheerfully. MM winces at the touch upon his strained muscles.
Blitz moves toward Zena and begins first aid on her leg, "Hold still, warrior. Let me get a patch on this wound. Vermin took a nice chunk out of you." 5I* (Strong Evidence)
Zena grudgingly accepts his aide knowing that she has little choice. Still, she would rather have one of the shamanic warriors from her tribe
present instead. Seeing that Half-Life has fled and all others have been
stopped, she calls her animals to her side and resecures her weapons.
[Sorry, not much for me to add at the moment. . . . ]
MM cries over the loudspeaker. "Kinetica, we shouldn't let one of these miscreants getaway! Have Roughneck patch his telemetry into your Commcard and pursue that bugger. Pretend he's a bottle of vodka. That should keep you on his tail all night." MM's pain transforms into a harsh sarcasm. The little man does not take pain too well. In addition, he feels like a complete doofus for not pulling a detection stunt sooner. It could have saved his team, and his Zena, much pain and suffering.
"I'm on it," replies Julia. "But if you talk to me that way again, I'll shove that bottle of vodka down your throat, bottle and all." Julia flies after him, closing for melee if possible. More likely, she will lob a kinetic bolt towards him. Cardplay: She will play the 5W- for offense, using the all-out-offense option in RRGtE (assuming you allow it). If she needs to make an action to close, she will play the 5W*, pushing the 4 if he seems faster than her.
MM begins system checks on the Fortune Fury and intructs the team, "The rest of you bundle up these creeps and make sure they're KO'd. I suggest we get them back to my labs for interrogation. We need to find out what their link is to our current mystery."
The Captain retieves what ever we have in the Fortune Fury for this sort of situation (I assume, being well supplied enough to have a cool transport vehicle we have some kind of super-retraining devices on board).
On the short walk back from the downed Fortune fury to the yacht Club, Verve makes a call to Ms. Chesterton on his cellphone (on a secure scrambled line) to explain the current situation. Ms. Chesterton patches through Commander Hudson on three way calling as Verve expalins it all to them.
"Hmm...it souonds like it could be a sticky situation", says Hudson recalling all of the heat the feds had taken in the Elian Gonzales affair. "I cannot officially sanction the team to enter a foreign country. However I also cannot forbid you from doing so, if you get my meaning. CAPE has pausible denaibility at that point and will deny any involvement in the affair if it should go sour. That is assuming that you do in fact enter Chinalya, which as I said earlier I cannot 'officially' condone."
Verve sighs at the bureaucratic doubletalk.
Ms Chesterton puts Verve on hold as she and Commander Hudson speak privately.
A few moments later she clicks back on without the Commander. "Verve, the team is to go to Chinalya and retrieve Professor Zircher. Do not draw attention to yourselves in this matter, it requires a great deal of
subterfuge. The cover story is that the team was hired by a distant relative to find Zircher after he disappeared a few months ago. CAPE is no longer officially involved in this matter."
"But, " Verve begins to protest.
"No buts. These are satnding orders from the team's owner himself. Besides, the money we will earn from this is just to good to pass up. " "Keep me posted. Ciao." says Ms. Chesterton as she hangs up.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" curses Verve. He didn't like this at all. Plausible denaibility? Cover stories? Those type of terms bothered him a great deal. Granted Zircher held valuable information into the how and
why of Seantor Blanding's 'assassination' and perhaps where the real senator was as well, but this seemed a bit shady to Verve. Why should they risk their neck's for Blanidng anyway, he was an vehement antri-metahuman deamagogue who campigned for several civil rights violating bills against metahumans.
When he finally reached the others, he informs them of the conversation and all that was said.
" I may sit this one out." says Verve. "for ethical reasons."
Frank says, "I don't like this either, but I'm in, for personal reasons." Frank still hopes that the people who created these androids were somehow connected to his own past. How many secret organizations creating cyborgs/androids could there be in the world? Maybe several, but Frank thinks this is his best chance to find out who was behind his transformation into a cyborg.
"And now that we actually have some kinda "sanctioning" for invadin' Chinilaya, MM, exactly how did that plan of yours go? Can we do it without risking people who aren't already involved?" Frank was disturbed at MM's previous suggestion to ransom innocent Chinalayan civil servants with a rebel group, even if the rebels were legitimate. But they also needed a plan, and MM was the only one coming up with one. Frank is not a planner.
"Well, Frank, I value your ethical guidelines. Sometimes the scientist in me takes over." MM flies the Fortune's Fury over to his group. "But before we decide a new course of action, why don't you all load the villains into the craft and we'll all go provide back-up for Julia." MM wipes his nose on his cape. "She may need our help."
MM will stand next to Verve and draw in the needed pieces to repair the rudder. If it works, we're off.
4W*(Sudden transformation)
An animated rudder pops into place.
Verve sighs heavily. "That thing won' t last all the way to Chinalaya, assuming that is where Half-life is headed. I guess I'll have to come along to redraw the rudder everytime it starts to fizzle out. Don't say I never did anything for you guys. " he says sarcastically as he boards the Fortune Fury
Once the team is onboard, MM will punch the accelerator and follow Julia's commlink.
Blitz, with his small stature, picks up Vermin after securing him with the Nega-bands and jumps into the ship. "Let's go, team. We'll bad the last baddie and then figure out how to tackle this complex situation. One other issue we're having: We need a leader and a deputy leader. I still think Frank has the best tactical abilities."
As the others secure the defeated villains, Kinetica is hot on the trail of Half-Life pushing herself to the limit to close with the villain. She unleashes a volley of Kinetic bolts, which pound against the villain, battering him about the sky, but he is able to maintain his
flight pattern due to the radioactive energy field which surrounds him.
Half-life looks back over his shoulder and shouts, "You should've learned yer lesson the first time kid. Now you are gonna pay. " He flips onto his back, while still maintaining his flight pattern and fires off a blast of sickening green radiation ot Julia. Julia , who was completely focused on attacking Half-Life cannot evade the attack and slams right into it. She feels her already weakened forcefield give way under the attack as the darkness of unconsciousness overtakes her.
This occurs just as the Fortune Fury gains fight and the other watch helplessly as they see Julia plummet into the murky waters below.
Reaching the spot where they saw her hit, they are able to recover her unconscious form, which was just about to sink beneath the waves. As they pull her out of the ocean they notice that her normally blue-tinted
forcefield is mixed with swirls of green , then it disappears completely. With her forcefield down Blitz is able to perform CPR on Kinetica .
Julia coughs and spits out sea water as she slowly recovers consciousness.
"Did I get him?"
She feels strange. She can't put her finger on it at first, but something is different. There was no blue-tint to her vision and she could actually feel the floor benaeth her. She looks at her hand and it is not surrounded by the familiar bue-glow of her forcefield. Her eyes widen in shock as the revelation sets in.
"My force field!"
"Is it...permanent?"
Julia moans slightly as she runs her hands over her skin tight outfit. It had been a long time since she felt anything touching her body beyond air and liquid, and felt so good to feel a caress again, even if it was only
her own.
Slowly, she stands up, and grabs Blitz and kisses him. "God, I missed that," she says calmly.
"Hey M&M, what's the prognosis? Is my force field going to turn itself back on automatically in a while? Can I turn it back on, and if I do, will I be able to deactivate it?"
"Without my powers, I won't be able to remain on the team."
"Not that I care, mind you," she adds a little to quickly, "But if I don't complete my term of service, the feds are going to stick me in rehab...or worse."
Zena is still hurt badly from her melee with Vermin. Blitz's first aid helped stop the bleeding and take away some of the pain, but it would be
awhile before she was up to her old amazon self again.
With Frank's guidance, the team is able to follow Half-Life's radiation trail, without the villain being aware of it. It becomes obvious from his flight path that he is headed for Chinalaya.
Several hours later they are about 50 miles from the shores of the island nation of Chinalaya when a high power scanning wave is detected. The wave is too powerful to jam. A short time after this, the radar picks up three fighter aircraft closing quickly, The computer target identification system identifies these aircraft as as American made F-53
Tiger II's. The database also adds that these aircraft were sold to the Chinalyan government prior to the revolution.
'I got a bad feeling about this. " says Verve.
"I hate to sound like a wimp," MM utters while wiping his nose, "But I suggest we do NOT cross over into theri airspace until we formulate a plan. I can set up a jamming frequnecy which will prevent them from scanning us and we can high-tail it out of here before none's the wiser. Plus, we need to get both Zena and Kinetica taken care of."
"I am fine. I have fought with worse injuries." Zena states trying to stand . She grimaces with pain and then returns to a resting position. "The time to strike is now. The more time we plan, the more time they have to plan."
"I must agree with...MM...they are...currently more...organized that...we are. We must...know what we...are doing."
Blitz mutters, "I feel like we're running blind here. We need to get into their playing field. We've been ambushed and don't know squat why!"
MM begins to turn the ship around after setting up a jamming frequency.
Frank doesn't like this either. "If they're already closin' on us, they gotta know we're here. I like the part where we get the hell outta here. Can we outrun fighter jets? How old are they?"
Frank doesn't know much of anything about fighter aircraft. But his computer core might. He tries to focus, to connect to the core. He pictures a fighter airplane in his head.
ADVERTISEMENT[I am going to intersperse some additional info throughout the previous Turn which I copied below, since not much occured last Turn and there were some questions that went unanswered. ]
> As the others secure the defeated villains, Kinetica is hot on the > trail of Half-Life pushing herself to the limit to close with the > villain. She unleashes a volley of Kinetic bolts, which pound against > the villain, battering him about the sky, but he is able to maintain his > > flight pattern due to the radioactive energy field which surrounds him. > > Half-life looks back over his shoulder and shouts, "You should've > learned yer lesson the first time kid. Now you are gonna pay. " He > flips onto his back, while still maintaining his flight pattern and > fires off a blast of sickening green radiation ot Julia. Julia , who > was completely focused on attacking Half-Life cannot evade the attack > and slams right into it. She feels her already weakened forcefield give > way under the attack as the darkness of unconsciousness overtakes her.
> > This occurs just as the Fortune Fury gains fight and the other watch > helplessly as they see Julia plummet into the murky waters below. > > Reaching the spot where they saw her hit, they are able to recover her
> unconscious form, which was just about to sink beneath the waves. As > they pull her out of the ocean they notice that her normally blue-tinted > > forcefield is mixed with swirls of green , then it disappears > completely. With her forcefield down Blitz is able to perform CPR on > Kinetica . > > Julia coughs and spits out sea water as she slowly recovers > consciousness. > > "Did I get him?" > > She feels strange. She can't put her finger on it at > first, but something is different. There was no blue-tint to her vision > and she could actually feel the floor benaeth her. She looks at her > hand and it is not surrounded by the familiar bue-glow of her > forcefield. Her eyes widen in shock as the revelation sets in. > > "My force field!" > > "Is it...permanent?" > > Julia moans slightly as she runs her hands over her skin tight outfit.
> It > had been a long time since she felt anything touching her body beyond > air > and liquid, and felt so good to feel a caress again, even if it was only > > her own. > Slowly, she stands up, and grabs Verve and kisses him. "God, I missed that," she says calmly.
Verve's eyes widen at the unexpected kiss and he blushes shyly, muttering something about not mixing business with pleasure. He returns back to the refuge his drawing to escape the awkwardness he feels.
> "Hey M&M, what's the prognosis? Is my force field going to turn itself
> back on automatically in a while? Can I turn it back on, and if I do, > will > I be able to deactivate it?" > > "Without my powers, I won't be able to remain on the team." > > "Not that I care, mind you," she adds a little to quickly, "But if I > don't > complete my term of service, the feds are going to stick me in > rehab...or > worse." >
MM walks closer to Julia and feels himself assuming her powers despite the lack of her ever-present forcefield. A bluish forcefield springs up around him. He concentrates and it turns off. He concentrates again and it turns back on. "It would seem that the radioactive powers of Half-Life have somehow furthered your metahuman mutation Julia. It appears to be benign, allowing you to activate and deactivate you power at will. Whether this is permanent of not remains to be seen. We can do a more detailed analysis at my labs when we return home. "
"Congatulations, Julia" says Verve. " I know it must have been hard being trapped inside your forcefield. "
Julia bites her lip a bit, and then tries to activate her force field. A familiar blue glow emerges around her, and then she concentrates and it ceases once more.
Julia begins to cry, obviously tears of joy and not sorrow.
"Thank you," she mouths to MM.
> > Zena is still hurt badly from her melee with Vermin. Blitz's first aid
> helped stop the bleeding and take away some of the pain, but it would be > > awhile before she was up to her old amazon self again. > > With Frank's guidance, the team is able to follow Half-Life's radiation > trail, without the villain being aware of it. It becomes obvious from > his flight path that he is headed for Chinalaya. >
[This next part occurs several hours later than the above. as such, Kinetica, Zena and any others who were injured will have recovered moreseo than the cards i sent with the last Turn indicated. I apologize for the confusion . The cards below reflect the accurate health of the team members. ]
> > Several hours later they are about 50 miles from the shores of the > island nation of Chinalaya when a high power scanning wave is detected. > The wave is too powerful to jam. A short time after this, the radar > picks up three fighter aircraft closing quickly, The computer target > identification system identifies these aircraft as as American made F-53 > > Tiger II's. The database also adds that these aircraft were sold to > the Chinalyan government prior to the revolution. > > 'I got a bad feeling about this. " says Verve. > > "I hate to sound like a wimp," MM utters while wiping > his nose, "But I suggest we do NOT cross over into > theri airspace until we formulate a plan. I can set up > a jamming frequnecy which will prevent them from > scanning us and we can high-tail it out of here before > none's the wiser. Plus, we need to get both Zena and > Kinetica taken care of." > > "I am fine. I have fought with worse injuries." Zena states trying to > stand . She grimaces with pain and then returns to a resting position.
> "The time to strike is now. The more time we plan, the more time they > have to plan." > > "I must agree with...MM...they are...currently > more...organized that...we are. We must...know what > we...are doing." > > Blitz mutters, "I feel like we're running blind here. > We need to get into their playing field. We've been > ambushed and don't know squat why!" > > MM begins to turn the ship around after setting up a > jamming frequency. > > Frank doesn't like this either. "If they're already closin' on us, > they gotta know we're here. I like the part where we get the hell > outta here. Can we outrun fighter jets? How old are they?"
Frank is unsure if they can outrun the jets or not. He knew the Fury could reach speeds of up to Mach 2, but had no idea how fast or maneuverable the jets were. The Fury wasn't really designed for combat...it was more of a
transport, plus it was already damaged, being made flightworthy by Verve's animation powers. The jets were at least six years old since they were sold to the Chinalyan government prior to the revolution (which occurred 6 years ago)
> > > Frank doesn't know much of anything about fighter aircraft. But his > computer core might. He tries to focus, to connect to the core. He > pictures a fighter airplane in his head. >
and it is a pretty picture, but his computer core doesn't help him.
As MM turns the Fortune Fury around, the fighter planes move to intercept. The fighter pilots were obvioulsly already aware of the Furys presence and had visual lock on them.
Requiem, sitting with the rest of his captured team-mates in the back of the ship shouts to the front. " You idiots are going to get us all killed. Let me hail them on the radio. They won't open fire if they know that we are
aboard. " indicating hinself and the other captured villains.
"I can try to get us safe passage to the island." he says. "I don't want
to get shot down any more than you guys do, and if I have to dupe the Chainalyans to do it, then so be it."
"I don't know if we should trust this guy", says Verve. "But waht other choices do we have right now? " he asks looking to the others for answers.
Zena approaches the bound man and grabs his face firmly, "If this is a ruse, and you try to get us killed I will rip your throat out with my bare hands before I die."
ADVERTISEMENT Blitxz is going to use his plot point this round with the following card. 4W* (New Disciples)
"Zena, calm yourself please. We don't know under what circumstances these men came under the control of our enemies. I want to make them an offer. Requiem, you and your friends here can defect to our side. We promise you asylum, exoneration from your crimes and a pretty paycheck to be arranged from the United States governement if you order the jets to stand down and share with us some information we're trying to get a hold of. What do you say?"
Use my 4W and trump and push with 5A.
'Your offer sounds intriguing. We have a pretty hefty salary and benefits package now as it is. We can disscuss it in more detail after this situation has been taken care of, I can't order the jets to do anything. They are not under my command. I am hoping hpwever that once they know that we are onboard it will get back to the leader. Hopefully he will order them to stand down. Who knows? It depends on how valuable we are to him i suppose.
Perhaps if I radio that we are in command of the plane and that we have you all as hostages , rather tahn the other way around, it willl get them to
back off and allow safe passage.
Exactly what information were you interested in finding out?" he adds as he heads toward the front of the plane for the readio,
In the meanwhile, MM tries to push the pedal to the metal ant put some sdistance between the Fortune's Fury and the enemy planes. 6A- and trump.
Zena stares on, very dissapointed in her teammates willingness to trust the villains. She looks down at her trusted lioness companion, "If he tries anything. . . kill him. . . " she says speaking in the animal's tongue.
She then scowls at Blitz, the man who is allowing this atrocity to happen. After her angry stare, she turns and watches over the other prisoners, expecting some sort of deception.
Requiem hails the fighter pilots over the radio. "Attention pilots, this is Requiem. My security code is 3X7901. We are returning with prisoners and
request safe passage to the Cove. Over."
"Message received. " replies one of the pilots over the radio. "Please stand by while we confirm your code and inform HQ of the situation. "
A few minutes later, the fighter pilot radios "permission granted. You are free to land in Delmarion Cove. "
The Fury sets down next to the 200 foot long concrete dock in the Cove. The docks appear deserted save for five dock workers who are milling about the area.
Blitz thanks Requim. "Good job. And don't worry about that hefty salary. Whatever this small country is paying you, the good ol' US of A can easily match if not beat."
"Well certainly hope so." says Requiem.
MM is nervous. He stands next to Requim to gain his powers while also seeing if he detects any additional powers in the vicinity. "I pray that money is your only motivation, Requim, and that your heart is not hopelessly inclined toward evil. For if any harm comes to my team mates, no one will be able to stop the fabled fury of Master Menagero!" The team seems impressed with MM's boldness, a boldness which drifts away with MM's sudden, nervous sneeze. "AAAAHHHHCCCCHHOOOO! Oh. Beg your pardon. You're wearing some aftershave which seems to irritate my nasal passages..."
Blitz asks, "We are searching for a certain American scientist who specializes in creating near-human androids. Would you know of his whereabouts?"
"Yes I beleive I know the man you are talking about. A Dr. Zircher I believe. I can take you to him. But we have to figure out a way past these dock workers...they are no doubt armed and can raise an alarm if they see anything suspicious. They are expecting us to have hostages not the other way around. We can't very well be wearing these", indicating the power-cuffs, " and be your captors now can we?"
Frank says, "Yer right about that. That's why yer gonna trade clothes with us. Zena, if they try anything while we're tradin' clothes, have yer animals kill'em." He winks to Zena, not knowing if she will actually have her animals kill or not, but suspecting she would not hesitate.
Frank proceeds to exchange clothes with one of them who is about his size. He says to MM, "Better tell'em we're getting the prisoners ready and it'll be a few minutes, MM."
[If removing the power cuffs are absolutely necessary to change clothes, then we do that ONE AT A TIME so that only one of the villains has his cuffs off at any one time. During this process, the other team members should be made aware that someone's cuffs are coming off and to be ready.]
[Frank won't reveal his face to any of them, and he makes sure to get a good look at all their faces whether they like it or not. He also scans them each for any hidden devices (he should be able to see any electrical circuitry on any of them with his vision). I also can't remember exactly how many of them there are, so if there aren't enough for us to all dress as they do, then we will have to make some of our own team pretend to be prisoners along with our actual prisoners. If so, Frank suggests that the actual team members of course not be really handcuffed.]
Frank says, "These guys may not look much like us, but hell, do ya think the guys on this dock know what our prisoners look like anyway? Unless this is a familiar place for you guys," Frank says, looking at Requium, "then these dock workers won't know you from Adam." Frank hopes that the dockworkers are Rookies, and not seasoned veterans. If they were Rookies and they made this one Mistake, the plan just might work.
"So, Requium, why don't you tell us whether you or your friends have ever been to this dock before?" Frank uses his IR vision and microscopic vision combined to try to detect any lies that Requium tells. [I use a plot point if I can--Rookie Mistake. I know its unrelated to this action, but I did try to work it into the post reasonably. I don't blame you if you don't allow it.]
"Sure we have, This is the only major dock on the island. It is where President Calvione usually keeps the San Marquel moored. [For those that
don't remember..the San Marquel was the ship we saw in the photograph at the yacht club. In the background of the picture Professor Zircher was seen aboard the San Marquel]. I'm not sure if I know these dock hands or not. I tend not to pay attention to the hired help. " says Requiem.
"MM what if you absorbed Ferro or Vermin's power. Would you take on their physical characteristics to an extent? You'd have to be made of iron to mimic Ferro right? " offers Verve.
"Another possibility I just thought of...This dock is surrounded by jungle on nearly every side. Where there are jungles there are wild animals...and who better to tame these beasts than our very own queen of the jungle, Zena. I bet a bunch of hungry looking jungle cats would scare these dock
hands off. Or at least distract them long enough for us to get past them
without raising undue attention. So waht do you say, Big Red?"
MM is proud og his team's inititiative. "All of you have splendid ideas! Let's get into action. Zena, master control of some jungle beasts and create a distraction AWAY from our craft. This will allow ROughneck and the Captain an opportunity to high-tail it over to the San Marquel wherin they can search the ship for any clues as to Zircher's whereabouts. Verve, your idea is stupendous! I can easily copy Vermin's 'look'." MM stands next to Vermin and assumes his feral guise.
"We'll stall as long as possible. No reason to exit our craft just yet. We'll make the outsiders believe that Requim's team is prepping his captors for transport. Let's kee pin mind that Half-life is still on the loose and will undoubtedly return. If so, I will pursonally be responsible for subduing him if he tries to mess up our plan."
Blitz replies, "I'll do a miniturized recon of the area while the dockhands are distracted. Since our previus opponents are tied-up, I'm sure that Verve, MM and Kinetica can handle them...not to mention Tolwyn and Tancreed. Well, what are we waiting for? I'm itching to get this mission over with."
Zena looks to Requiem. "Answer with the truth, do any of these dockhands
have weapons? Guns?" She pauses for a moment, "I will not endanger an animal by sending them against armed men."
"I have no idea whether thay are armed or not. But, my guess is yes, considering that this is the only major port used by the President of Chinalaya for his vacation home. The dirt road that opens into the dock area, takes you directly to the President's hillside vacation house. But
unknown to the locales, ia vast underground complex is hideen inside the
hillside itself. I am sure that professor Zircher is inside the secret compund somewhere.There is a secret entrnce inside the vacation house."
"Can you controll...insects? Guns would be...useless...against a swarm of...wasps or an...army of ants," says the Captain as he looks out a window of the Flyer, after the last near miss he dosen't want to risk teleporting into solid matter. "I didn't see the ship when we were coming in to land MM, were else would you like us to teleport to?"
"I have never attempted to talk with insects. . . . but I will try. . . . " says Zena [2Will Edge and 6I for cardplay].
Frank looks out a window carefully and looks at all the buildings. He is scanning for any radio transmissions going on. He also looks for antennas on any of the buildings, indicating radio capability. If he sees anything, he remembers it.
Since the team is debating the plan, Frank offers this idea: "How 'bout Blitz and I dress as Requiem and [insert whichever villain is most appropriate for the other of us to dress as--I don't know what size they are or which it would be easiest to impersonate]. We'll go outside and approach the guys on the dock. Meanwhile, Zena try to summon some insects. Then once Blitz and I are in position, and hopefully some insects are on the way, the Captain can teleport everboddy else outside, on the other side of the dock workers by the HUM-V, keep'em from escaping up the dirt road."
[If Frank saw any radio-capable buildings, either by antenna or by seeing the radio waves themselves:] "The building to the _____ looks like there's a radio in there. Blitz, you're fastest, how about once the shit hits the fan, you go prevent them from radioing out what's going down. If we can keep'em from warning the house on the hill, we can keep the element of surprise."
Blitz is itching for action. "Good idea, Roughneck. I'm itching for action anyhow."
"Sounds...like a good plan. And...you think you're...not a...leader." Says the Captain
MM looks out of the Fortune's Fury's starboard window and talks to himself, "…I could have sworn I saw a boat docked there…must be getting old…"
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"Sure we got to do this know? I might not be able shut my force field down permanently, if not, I wouldn't mind having a little fun before I get trapped inside it again."
Ferro , who up until now has remained silent, says "Tell ya what toots. You take these power cuffs offa me and I'll show ya more fun than you can handle. " and smiles both lewdly and dangerously at Kinetica.
Vewrmin snickers nervoulsly in the corner at the comment.
Julia licks her lips. "Tempting." She flashes Ferro her most seductive smile. "But alas, duty calls." She blows him a kiss. "Have fun boys."
Frank dresses as Requiem and Blitz dresses as Nightfall. they depart the Fortune Fury and make their way towards the dockhand's, who look with interest at the strangely garbed duo.
The one closest to them nods his head in greeting and says something in spanish to them. Neither of them are sure what he said, but it sounded cheerful and friendly.
Meanwhile, Zena reaches out with her consciousness, asking the insect world to come to her aide. She had never tried to control the insects before, but they were a part of the Circle as was every other living thing, so hopefully she would find a way to communicate her desires to them. She communes with the multitude of flying insects, a million tiny
minds all sharing the same hive-like consciousness. They understood....
they would help.
As Roughneck and Blitz near the dockhands, they hear a sound unlike any they had heard before, Countless flying insects all buzzing, chirping, and clicking at once. A black cloud composed of these bugs emerges from the jungle and swarms towards the dockhands. The bugs are so dense, that they literally block out most of the sunlight. The dockhands flee in terror at the sight of this , screaming prayers to their patron saints, as they run into the jungle to escape.
The Captain takes his queue, and teleports himself and the others to the far side of the land rover. Blitz shrinks down and hotfoots it to the building that Roughneck had indicted contained a radio. Inside the building he quickly sabotages the communication equipment he finds there.
Zena leaves Tancreed and Tolwynn to watch over Vermin, Ferro, and Nightfall who are still secured inside the Fury. [I hope this is OK, but I didn't figure you'd want the extra villains tagging along] . The rest of the team, along with Requiem pile into the land rover and make their way to the vacation house.
The house is built on the side of a large hill and is up on stilts [Think Lethal Weapon 2]. It is strangely quite and appears deserted. Roughneck scans for any signs of trouble but detects none.
Requiem leads them inside and shows them the secret wall that opens up into an elevator.
"This will take you to an underground tram station, that leads to the hidden complex." he says.
They all file in, and after exiting the elevator at the bottom , they see tracks with a futuristic mag-lev tram-car attached to it. The tracks disappear off onto a winding and dark tunnel.
After everyone gets into into the tram car, it takes off at astonishing
speed.
"We'll be there in no time" assures Requiem in the pale green glow from
the console lights of the tram control board.
A few minutes later, Frank breaks th eeerie silence of the tunnel and screams "It's a trap!" A split second later, the all to familiar sound of machine gunfire erupts in front of them. The muzzle flashes illuminate the darkened tunnel with a strobe light effect as bullets punch through the glass and metal of the tram car and it slides to a stop on the tracks. A familair greenish glow emamnates from behind the gunmen, and Half-Life shouts "Don't spare the ammunition boys, the Boss
wants SOF DOA ASAP!" and he laughs obnoxioulsy at his lame joke.
[The tunnel itself is about 10 feet wide and about 10 feet high. The tram car 12 feet in lenghth. About as large as a luxury van. The tunnel
is pitch black except for the muzzle flashes and the greenish glow of Half-Life. No one has been hit yet, but you should definitely tell me what cards you are playing for defense, as well as offense. ]
MM starts letting out orders, "DO NOT REACT! Requim do something. Order those goons down now. I doubt Half-life knows you've captured us." MM takes on Kinetica's force field after standing next to her. He protects Zena with his body and cape. 4S+ (Wild Ride) and trump.
Blitz shrinks donw to 6 inch height, hops off the tram and begins running behind it. "And make it quick will you, Requim. I hate running blind." defense 5A and trump. If Half-Life doesn't react to Requim's stand down order, Blitz will grab a piece of random lead pipe (invulnerable to radiation) that is laying around in secret villain HQ's and bat Half-life's head with it. 5S* (Commanding Presence) and trump. Blitz is using his plot point of 6A* Accidental revalation to stumble across a crate that reads, "Lead Pipes".
"I'll take care of Captain Uranium. I've been itching for a rematch since our last tango."
Julia will power up her force field (playing the 9), then try to slam Half-Life with a forcefield aided fist (playing the 5 of Int, with a trump). She will use the 2 for any dodges she should make (also with trump).
Frank gets out of the car as quickly as possible. [You didn't say we were trapped in there, but in case we have trouble getting out Frank will cut a hole in the back side of teh car.]
Once everyone is out of the car, Frank says, "Clear out, I'm gonna run this car down their throats!" Frank grabs the car, lifts it off its track, and charges the gunmen. When he is close enough to them, he throws the car at them. {I use the 7 for the attack, and the 5 for any defense.] Frank tries not to hit julia, but he figures her force field will protect her anyway. He is happy if half life is in the way.
If this action is not possible, like if other heros get between the car and the thugs, then Frank will instead shoot his laser at as many gunmen as he can, not aiming to kill or anything (for this attack i use the 4, not the 7.]
The Captain first teleports out of the imediate line of fire and get ready to blast Half-Life with a stun blast.
2D for the teleport
4A for deffense
6s for the stun blast attack
Zena knew that this wasn't going to work out. She grabs Requiem. Using him as a shield she leaps through a window [6 Will for the Agility check on this. . . . if I need to make a strength check against Requim for grabbing him up -- then I'll use one of my 5 Strength cards]. She immediately stands up, pulling Requiem up with her. She continues to use him as a shield as she loosens her chakram. Once she can make out a target in the dark she looses her weapon at the nearest marksman.
[2 Str & 5 Str for the attack]
MM lights up his forcefield to protect Zena, bullets ricochet harmlessly off of his blue colored barrier.
Before Requiem can mutter a word Zena, grabs him up, smashes through the
front window of the tramcar with his body and begins using him as a shield from the incoming bullets. Bullets smack dully into Requiem's body as he screams in pain. Zena pays no mind to the villains death cries as she unleashes her chakram at the nearest gunman. It strikes him on the forehead, opening a bloody gash and knocking him unconscious. The chakram ricochets gracefully back into Zena's hand. The gunman falls with his finger still held on the trigger of his automatic weapon unleashing an erratic spray of gunfire that takes out two other gunmen.
Half-Life prepares to attack but he is hit with a massive 1-2-3 combo attack from Blitz, the Captain, then Kinetica. He staggers from the assault, then collapses, his greenish glow fading with his consciousness.
"Wohaa! Whose got half a life now, b**ch!" Julia kicks the unconscious
half-life for good measure.
Roughneck picks up the tram-car and throws it in the direction of the remaining muzzle flashes. With his IR vision he could see that there were only two gunmen left. The tram-car lands on the two of them with a
loud metallic boom that echoes throughout , the tunnel.
As quickly as it began, the battle was over. Zena releases Requiem's lifeless body and it falls to the floor with a wet, bloody split. She is completely covered with the dead villain's blood. The two gunmen, trapped beneath the tram-car scream and moan in agony, their bodies crushed beyond repair.
Verve, who had been sketching up a protective barrier, stops drawing when he realizes the danger has passed.
The coppery smell of blood quickly fills the corridor and Zena can sense the scavenging rodents nearby emerging hungrily from their dens eager to feed on a fresh kill.
Blitz does a super quick relay down the remainder of the tunnel and back. He reports, "The tunnel dead ends about a half mile up. It opens
up into another tram-car loading platform. Beyond that is a deserted hallway that seemed to open up into another room I didn't go all of the
way down the hall, because I heard a ton of noise, like a large group of people all hurrying about coming from the room that it opened into, I
couldn't see the room but just from the acoustics, it sounded like it was quite large like a hangar or warehouse, lots of echoes....there was also the distinct smell of salt water and I thought I saw water-like reflections coming from inside. "
"Requim!" MM runs over to the bullet-ridden body of the sonic-generating villain. He picks up no metahuman signature, signifying that the villain is truly dead. MM's face turns from sorrow to scorn as he turns toward his team, "HEAR ME CLEARLY, TEAM! REQUIM WAS ABOUT TO SOLVE THIS STIUCKY SITUATION IN A NON-VIOLENT WAY. BUT, YOUR OVERACTIVE HERO GLANDS ALONG WITH UNTAMED VIOLENT IMPULSES LED TO A CONVERTED MAN'S DEATH. YOU BLOOD-LUSTING TOADS MAY CONDONE KILLING AND TREATING OTHER HUMAN BEINGS LIKE TRASH, BUT NEVER WILL THE DAY COME WHEN MASTER MENAGERO, DEFENDER OF HUMANS AND METAHUMANS ALIKE, FALLS INTO THE LOW SINK OF DEBAUCHERY THAT YOU HAVE ALL DRAGGED THIS TEAM INTO. I KNOW THAT UP UNTIL NOW WE HAVE NOT ELECTED A LEADER. THAT IS TRULY SORRY, FOR THE BLAME FOR THIS TRAVESTY WOULD FALL SQUARELY ON HIS OR HER SHOULDERS. AND HE OR SHE WOULD HAVE HELL TO PAY FROM ME. BUT, I REFUSE TO GO ONE STEP FORWARD WITH ANY OF YOU SAVAGES UNTIL A LEADER IS ELECTED FOR WHOM ACCOUNTABILITY WILL BE EXPECTED."
Julia shrugs. "Don't look at me. I didn't use him as a bullet shield. And if you think that radioactive maniac was planning on letting any of out of here alive, you're more naive then I thought."
MM flails his cape and turns toward Requim's body. He gets on one knee and shuts the villlains eyes. Bowing his head, he lets silence fall over the group.
Blitz stutters, "...um, maybe a can help...". He rushes over to Requim and tries to administer first aid. 9I and trump.
Frank runs to the tram car and lifts it off the maimed gunmen, making sure they can't do any further harm. He stays well away from the radioactive form of half-life.
He then returns to where MM is yelling.
"Jeez," he says looking at Requim's cadaver. He then says, "Get a grip Managero. Those guys were usin' real bullets against us. Ever heard of self defense? And that's a pretty high horse you're ridin' for someone who embezzles millions from the taxpayers and suggests we kidnap innocent Chinalayan people, so you may want to climb down. Besides, it was their bullets that did the killing. Would you rather it was Zena lying there? I wouldn't.
"As for Requim bein' converted, don't be a fool. Who do ya think led us into this ambush?"
Frank is not happy about the villain's death, but Managero was being ridiculous.
"If you want a leader, I'll do it. And I say we should high-tail it down this tunnel to where Blitz heard'em makin' all that noise. Sounds like they're evacuating the compound by water, probably with Zircher if he was even here to begin with. It's half a mile, so let's move."
Unless the others object, Frank sets off at a trot down the hall.
MM does have a problem with Roughneck's opinion. The scrawny hero flips around, grabs Roughneck by the arm and, using Zena's strength, flips him around.
Frank feels an incredibly powerful grip flip him around, much stronger than MM should be. But even with Zena's strength, MM is only half as strong as Roughneck. Frank knocks MM's hands off him and says, "Touch me again and you'll regret it." He glares at MM with his artificial yellow eyes. Then, as his computer core begins suggesting ways to eviscerate MM, Frank fights to resume control and calm himself. It's stupid to fight amongst ourselves.
"Don't think that just because I look like a pantywaist that I'm going to take what you said lying down, Big Guy. I don't care if we are in the middle of a war between resurrected Nazi soldeirs and bomb-strapped Al Queda fanatics, we with power have a responsibility to use it wisely. Condemn my actions as you may, but the reason I 'extorted' the money was so that my technology wouldn't be used to hunt down and kill metahumans. As for this kidnapping idea, I never claimed to be perfect. I just know I'm not a wanton murderer! If you're running down that corridor to engage in some out of control killing spree, you can count MM out of the Supers of Fortune! I'm going to take Requim and Half-Life back to the Fortune Fury for medical aid. Perhaps we can save them both. Blitz, your first aid skills would be much appreciated, unless, of course, you plan on following our new team leader's lead." MM looks at Zena, wondering what the beautiful Amazonian will do. He realizes he may have squashed any hopes of her ever liking him, but his stance of killing was unbreakable.
There is a serious look in her eyes which does not show shame or remorse
for her actions.
Blitz hesitates, trying to see if Requim can be revived. (Any result from my paramedic attempt? Remember, he has Medicine skill.) "I've spent my life helping people. It's just my calling in life, I guess. Don't take this as disobeying and order, Frank, but Half-Life can definitely be helped. Requim, I don't know, but I have GOT to give it a shot. I may be a hero now, but first and foremost I'm a licensed paramedic. I have a responsibility to life."
MM adds, picking up Half-Life, "Unfortunately, some people don't feel they have that responsibility UNLESS their licensed." He ignores his team and begins flying back up the corridor towards the original exit. He uses Half-Life's flight.
Frank says to everyone else still there, "I know I said I'd be team leader, but no one has to follow that doesn't wanna. I'm not really the "order givin'" kinda guy. But Blitz, I think you should go with MM to make sure he doesn't get into trouble, he's still part of the team; and take this with you if you go," he says, nudging Reqium with his foot. "There's still villains on the Fortune Fury, and if they get loose, we won't have a ride home." Frank is also worried that MM might decide to take the plane back to the states without them, but he doesn't say this outloud. Judging from MM's outburst and vehemence, Frank believes MM could justify taking the Fortune Fury back to the states by himself and leaving all the "murderers" here to rot. Frank likes the Chinalayan weather, but not enough to move here permanently.
Zena watches the two heroes leave and turns to Roughneck. "You will make
a fine leader." She had liked the way Frank dealt with the Master's overreaction. "He would have died if I hadn't acted. When Kinetica left
the train, he lost his powers. I don't think he even noticed, but I did.
I used Requiem to shield us both. I acted on instinct. . . was I wrong?"
Her question to Frank isn't really to ease any guilt she may or may not feel. It is more to learn just how she should react to certain situations.
"No. You weren't wrong. You saved his life, whether he realizes it or not. Zena, some people have a serious aversion to killing, and it looks like MM is one of those people. It ain't wrong to value human life; I kinda understand why he's upset. He's probably never seen anyone die. Me, I've seen men chewed up by machinery on the rig, and even kill each other over spilled beer, so it don't affect me like that. I wish the guys with the guns woulda valued life as much as MM does; Requim'd still be alive. But the fact is they were trying to kill us, and it was Requium's life or yours. I don't think you were wrong."
This mission is quickly turning to shit, thinks Frank.
"Life,...any life...is precious. But sometimes...sacrifices...must be...made for the...greater good. The needs...of the many...out weigh the needs...of the few...or the one. We should...strive to preserve...life...even that of...our enemies. But...we...must understand others...don't see things...the way we...do."
"But...using a...prisoner...as a...human shield...may be...crossing the line. I...I don't know."
*What would Kirk do?" thinks The Captain as he finished his speech.
"Well this is turning out much better than I expected," says Verve sarcastically. He lights two cigarettes at once with his silver zippo and tosses one to Julia.
Julia nods her thanks.
"These guys work for VORTEX. They make Al-Queda look like the Girl Scouts..they have been blowing things up and threatening to take over the world ever since I can remember. " he takes a long drag on his smoke. "careful Julia, they are unfiltered and you don't have the forcefield to filter out all of the nicotine and
Julia shrugs. "Who want's to live forever anyways. Besides, in this line of work, I'll be long dead by the time I have to worry about such things."
The group makes its way down the tunnel to where Blitz said it came to an end. They see and hear all of the things Blitz had told him about: the salt water smell, the sound of water and people in booted feet rushing about. All of this coming from a hallway that appears to open into a much larger room.
Verve sketches out a miniature periscope attached to a video display. It allows them to use the periscope to peer into the room without calling attention to themselves. The others can see the inside of the room on the monitor. " i saw something like this on that AIr Force One movie," explains Verve in a whisper.
The monitor reveals what appears to be an underwater docking bay . There is a 300 foot submarine docked in the water . there is a metal catwalk 20' off the ground surrounding the the submarine on three sides. There are 4 stairways that grant access to the catwalk. On the catwalk are the controls of the overhead crane that is being used to load weapons and equipment onto the submarine. the crane is currently loading a rather large looking missile into the missile hatch of the sub. The missile has the unmistakable icon of nuclear energy stenciled on it's side. Frank's sensor's confirm that the missile is in fact nuclear.
A large force of VORTEX goons are busily loading equipment, supplies, and rations aboard the submarine. On the catwalk, towards the front of the sub, is a menacing looking man in VORTEX officer uniform who is barking orders at everyone. He looks like an Aryan poster boy...blonde hair, blue eyes, heavily muscled with a jagged scar across his face.
"To bad MM flipped out. He could tell us if there were any metahumans in there." says Verve.
"Whatever. I've got dibs on the uber-nazi."says Julia
Frank says, "OK, still no sign of the good Doctor Zircher, but now we got even worse problems. We can't let that nuke get loaded on the sub. We gotta stop that at any cost.
"So I think first thing we oughta do is take out that crane, stop'em from loadin'. Next we disable the sub so they can't escape. Doc Zircher is on there for all we know, so let's try not to sink it. Cap'n, think you can port you and Zena up to the crane operators and take'em out? The rest of us'll create a distraction so they don't converge on you. I'll try to use my laser to mess up the sub's prop, maybe that'll keep'em from escaping. If anybody has any other ideas, I'm all ears. I don't see any way to avoid a fight here."
"If the Captain can get us there, then I will happily bludgeon the soldiers and destroy the controls." states Zena as she makes sure that her Chakram is secure.
"Any idea how much space there is up there? I've recently realized I could accidentally teleport myself or others into solid matter, which I'm sure would be really painful if not lethal. I don't want to risk fusing myself and Zena with the crane or the workmen up there." (note: The Captain obviously is concerned about this. He dropped out of Shattnermode)
"Very well. If...Zena is...ready. Two to beam up...energize" (7 of Agility to beam us up, and I'll stun the guard when we get there, 5W for that, all appropriate trumps)"
> [Once we arrive, if The Captain successfully takes out the guard Zena will smash the crane controls with my fist. If the guard doesn't fall, I'll punch him instead. 5S Trump for either action or both 5S cards if I have
time to do both]
Julia will burst in heading for the uber-nazi and fire a k-bolt at the uber-nazi. She will then fly away from the group, hopefully drawing fire. Play 7I for attack, 8W for defense.
Blitz pauses as he exits the tunnel and meets up with the glowing MM. "Why don't we deposit these guys in the shed, MM. I'm sorry to tell you, but Requiem is past helping and if his team mates see that, they may go ballistic."
"Sorrowful...but agreed. Can you give Half-Life something to keep him out cold?" MM asks.
"Easily." Blitz takes a hypodermic needle from his supply pouch and inoculates Half-Life's unconscious body. "C'mon, let's put them in the shed and get going. We can pay our respects to Requim later."
MM heads toward the Fortune Fury and puts on a happy face as he enters the cabin. "Hello, boys. You'll be happy to know that our team has met with resounding success and are currently in negotiations with your former employee about restructuring a pension plan for you fellows. However, Zena has requested Tolwynn and Tancreed's presence. Apparently, your boss loves animals and these two critters know some neat tricks." MM trusts that the two animals will recongnize him. He tries to leads them out of the ship after making triple-sure that the villains are secure.
Blitz, "What are you doing, MM?"
"We need all the help we can get. These two are as much members of SoF as anyone of us."
"Shyeah, right. You're just trying to get in good with Zena." Blitz elbows MM on the ribs.
"Am I that obvious?" MM smiles as he and Blitz begin running back up the tunnel to meet up with the team. He, of course, sneezes from being in such close contact to the beasts.
[Zena's last order was for them to watch over the prisoners. So I don't think they'd follow MM's orders. Especially since that would leave the villains unguarded.]
Tolwynn and Tancreed ignore Master Menagero's pleas and continue thier vigilant watch on the villains, ready to attack at the slightests inkling of intended violence.
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 04:13:28 -0400 From: Keith Harper maxxlingo@m... To: Meta_Earth@yahoogroups.com Subject: Recap: Turn 4.12
The Captain and Zena successfully teleport up to the section of the catwalk where the crane controls are located. The Captain sighs in relief that he didn't materialized them into solid matter. The VORTEX goon, running the controls does a double take as the duo suddenly appears next to him. It is the last thing he sees before the Captain blasts him into unconsciousness with a stun bolt. At the same time Zena slams her fist into the control board with an Amazonian batttlecry. Molded plastic and light metal give way beneath her mighty blow. Sparks shoot out the sides of the conrtol panel, and the crane comes to a halt with the missile swaying above the sub some twenty feet above it.
While this is going on above, the three below are also taking action. Kinetica takes to the air on a beeline for the VORTEX leader. firing K-Bolts as she draws near. One hits him in the chest, slamming him against the wall a few feet behind him. He appears more angry than hurt by the blast. In fact he looks furious. He clenches his teeth angrily and a large vein begins protruding from his forehead.
Kinetica, seeing her attack being seemingly absorbed, goes for her plan B strategy. Just like she did with Ymir, she will attempt to take out the floor underneath the uber-nazi.
Playing 7D attack, 8W defense
Roughneck dashes in and begins cutting through the sub's rear propeller > with his laser. He is wide open out there so, Verve draws a small > two-man sized bunker near the waterline that provides Frank needed > protection while cutting through he prop. Once the bunker pops into > existence, Verve runs and jumps into it as well.
All of this has taken VORTEX by surprise. Amazingly no shots are fired as the team makes it's dramatic entrance
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR YOU FOOLS?????!!!!!!!" screams the leader. "KILL THEM ALL!!!" he then jumps over the railing of the catwalk. and lands nimbly on front section of the sub. he seems to be headed for the ladder that will allow him to enter the sub.
The guards all do as instructed and open fire.
Zena rushes over and smashes her fist into the face of the soldier near her.
5S for the hit.
1D Edge + 6W for Dodge (Substitute the 6W for an Agil card if I get one to replace the 5S. Or, if the replacement card is under my edge I'll include that with my dodge).
The Captain start fireing stun blasts at the three goons on the catwalk on his side of the crane.
6S for attack, 9A with trump for dodging.
Frank says, "Thanks Verve," indicating the bunker they are both hiding in. Frank, satisfied that the sub can't escape now that its prop is severely damaged, begins firing at the individual soldiers who seem quickest to respond to their leader's order to attack. Frank will use the laser on a low setting (intending NOT to kill anyone). His choice of targets is (1) guards attacking him and Verve (2) guards attacking Zena and Captain IF the heros don't see the attacks coming or appear to need help (3) anyone attacking the flying Kinetica.
[If the sub's prop is still functional, Frank will attack that FIRST.]
Frank says over the comm link: "Try not to sink that sub, Zircher might be on it."
Sorry, forgot my cardplay--4 on the attack, 5 on defense. (they are all the same suit--Int.)
[I am treating this as a surprise attack. Therefore VORTEX did not get an attack of last round, this round however they will, so be sure to state what cards you are using for defense as well as offense. ]
MM and Blitz finally give up on trying to convince Tolwynn and Tancreed to escort them back to the others. MM assumes Blitz's powers and the two of them head back the way the had come at hyper speed. As the take the elevator down to the tram car tunnels they can hear the distant sounds of automatic machine-gun fire in the distance.
"It sounds like the rest of the group is in trouble, says Blitz, Lets move!" he says taking off in the blink of an eye.
[Michael due to logistics of MM and Blitz having traveled all of the way back to the Fortune Fury , talk to the prisoners, and then back again, I'll say that even traveling at hyper speed, the two of you arrive at the very end of this Turn. So you can act, but the actions will be contingent. You won't be able to tell what has already occurred,, it will basically be just like walking into a chaotic gun battle. There will not be any time to assess the situation if you still want to get an action in for MM and Blitz. ]
MM tells BlitZ, "Well, it sounds like they've started without us."
The duo hears Frank's information about not damaging the sub. Blitz says, "Well, let's hope they left a hatch open for us. Let's get inside that sub, MM!"
Blitz and MM will come in on a contingent attack and rush into the sub with all-out defense, hyper-speed dodges.
BLITZ Plot Points 1: Using ('target of opportunity' to make sure a hatch is open that gets us inside)
EDGE 2I+ (target of oppportunity) ALL-OUT DODGE TRUMP 9I+ (new Discovery)
MASTER MENAGERO Powers Duplicated: Blitz Using plot point (collateral damage) to have goons that shoot at us accidentally hit the Uber-Nazi.
ALL OUT DODGE TRUMP 6A- (Xenophobic Hysteria) PUSH 3D- collateral damage
Four guards on the northern section of the room, open fire on Kinetica. The impacts from the machine-gun fire do nothing more than strengthen the heroine's forcefield as she goes into a power dive aimed at the sub's surface near the leader's feet. The impact echoes throughput the chamber, it sounds like a large hammer striking a giant steel trashcan, but it has no effect. Kinetica, glances off the hull of the sub, skittering along it's surface, She comes to a stop near the nose of the sub.
Zena feels the guard's nose give way with a satisfying crunch. The powerful blow knocks the man off his feet and he is unconscious before he lands limply on the hard metal of the catwalk. The other guard near her opens fire with his machine gun, and Zena, blocks the bullets in a dizzying display of speed with her golden bracelets. Two other guards, at the bottom of the stairwell begin running up towards her position to assist their comrade in the fight against the amazon.
The Captain fires a volley off stun bolts at the three guards nearest him , but his aim is thrown off as he dodges the machine-gun fire aimed at him. Luckily he isn't hit, but neither are the three guards. Two others near the stairwell below rush up to assist their cohorts bringing
the enemy forces from three to five.
Three guards on the sub on the side closest to Roughneck and Verve open fore on them along with four others on the walkway surrounding the water. Verve ducks down inside the bunker hoping not to get hit by a stray bullet.,. It seemed to be protecting them very well for now, but there was no way to tell how long the construct would remain in existence. Roughneck pops up and blasts the closest guard to them on the
walkway. he falls down incapacitated.
MM and Blitz zoom in to the room at hyper speed, the are able to bridge the short length of water in one velocity enhanced leap. They zoom about the top of the sub drawing the fire of four gunmen, but as fate would have it, the leader is caught up in the crossfire. Spotting an open hatch, the diminutive duo bolt inside the sub, just as the VORTEX commander falls to the ground.
Riddled with bullets and gasping for air, the commander pulls out a small black box and pushes a red button on it's surface... He begins laughing maniacally as a soothing female computer voice says, "Nuclear missile armed. Launch sequence to begin in 30 seconds, 29, 28, 27, 26. "
"See you all in hell!" the commander screams with his dying breath and the missile thrusters begin to slowly heat up as the countdown sequence commences.
Kinetica will plow through the goons (Playing 6), and try to grab the box, throwing it at MM. She will not make any defensive actions. Message 1992 of 1995 | Previou
[I am using the goon rules from RRGTE, so Move Through attacks are allowed and the Trashhead inversion rule is in effect.
On the map the x with the circle around it, indicates the hatch theat MM
and Verve went into. I erased any unconscious or dead opponents from the map. As before those people with ciircles around them indicate that they are on the upper level of the room (catwalk) ]
"Hoooolyyyyyy SHIT!" says Roughneck to Verve. "If that nuke tries to launch in here, we're all fried." Roughneck doesn't know if the nuke will detonate or what, but the thrust from the rockets would doubtless fill the entire room and kill them all, even if the missile doesn't detonate. Into his commlink he says, "Blintz, MM, did you hear that? This nuke's about to launch. If you can find any kinda failsafe in that sub, hit it!"
Frank tries to use his EM vision to detect any signal still communicating with the nuke's control circuits. He first thinks he will destroy the receiver on the nuke, but then realizes that would stop any chance of MM and Blintz stopping the launch from inside the sub.
So Frank does the only thing he can think of: defend the team from the immediate threat of the guards and hope MM can figure out how to stop the nuke. Seeing Zena and the Captain outnumbered, he decides to take one of their attackers out. He relies on Verve's bunker to protect the two of them.
"Someday, kid, we'll look back on this-- and shit our pants all over again!"
[Frank shoots at one of the attackers of Zena or the Captain, which ever looks most in danger. He uses the 3I. He uses 5I to defend.]
While Zena doesn't fully understand the danger that has just sank upon them, she knows it's not good or the leader wouldn't be laughing. She notices that the Captain is doing poorly against his opponents. he will need help or he will be overwhelmed.
"Captain! Get off the walkway and see what you can do about the weapon. I will handle the minions!" Zena shouts, hoping that the Captain will see that she is capable of handling a mere 8 adversaries on her own.
She attempts to quickly reduce the number of attackers. She throws her chakram towards the guards attacking the Captain. At the same time she moves closer to the guards near her and quickly attacks various pressure points around the base of the neck. If she hits them right she will knock him out.
[Using Contingent Attack - For my main action I am trying to knock or break as many of the weapons that are held by the guards attacking The Captain. Pushing 3 S for this action and playing the 4I. For my contingent action I am going for a Stunning Touch on one of the guards - 8I. 3D to dodge/block shots unless I get a better card to replace the other two.]
"I...can handle...myself" says the Captain as he fires his stun blasts at the guards again (5A for attack, 4A to dodge)
The effect of all this combat and energy blasts (especially The Captain's stray blasts from his previous attack) causes enough strain on the walkway to trigger a 'structual collapse' on the section of the gang way holding the guards attacking the Captain (I'm playing my plot point, 5D+ Structural Collapse)
MM shrieks in a girly, high-pitched voice, "Yikes! He's going to blow us to bits. I have no idea how to disarm this thing. Blitz I have an idea!" MM quickly relates his plan to his partner.
Blitz likes the idea but frowns on the potential danger to himself. "You got it, MM. I hope this works. Meet you back at the bomb."
Blitz exits the sub and with all of his top speed goes to retrieve Half-Life from the storage shed. [Using 5A+ (Unlikeley Heroism) +trump + pushing with the 6S]
If Blitz can make it in time, he will run back through the tunnel, grab Half-Life from the shed, and head back to meet MM at the bomb.
Inside the sub MASTER MENAGERO will dodge any attacks made on him with BLtiz's superspeed before his teammates zips away. His goal is to get near the bomb. If he gets the opportunity, he will run through some goons like a bowling ball through pins.
4A + trump for dodge. 4S* + trump for bowling ball charge attack.
Zena throws her chakram at the guards approaching the Captain and it
knocks the gun from the hand of the one nearest him. In the process of
throwing the chakram Zena, exposes her flank to the guards nearest her ,
a well placed shot by Roughneck takes out one of them just as he was
about to shoot her from behind. The other two open fire and she whirls
about blocking the bullets on her bracelets with Amazonian grace. She
moves in to nerve strike the nearest one.
The Captain fires off more stun blasts at he guards approaching
him, the
blasts cause a strain on the walkway causing a structural collapse of
the section of the catwalk that the 5 guards were on. they fall 20 feet
to the hard concrete below, and are in no condition to continue to
fight.
Blitz takes off at hyper speed, pushing himself hard to cover
the
necessary distance to retrieve Half-Life and bring him back to the
current location.
MM exits the sub as well, assisting Kinetica in clearing the
deck of the
remaining goons. Between the tow of them they successfully knock eight
guards off of the sub and into the water.
Kinetica grabs the black box that the VORTEX commander triggered
the
countdown with and tosses it to MM. MM studies it for a second and can
discern no way to use the device to stop the countdown process.
Luckily, Blitz arrives back in the nick of time, with the
still sleeping
Half-Life. Blitz appears heavily winded and is sweating profusely from
having pushed himself so hard.
"Good work, Blitz" says MM as he moves towards the sleeping
villain,
absorbing his radioactive powers.
He flies up towards the missile and the greenish fire surrounding
him
quickly to surrounds the missile. MM strains with the effort as he
slowly depletes the uranium of it's radioactive properties.
Despite disabling the nuclear capacity of the missile, the
countdown
still continues... 5...4...
MM will shouts to his teammates, "The nuclear properties of
the bomb
have been negated but there is still going to be one doozy of an
explosion. I suggest immediate evacuation."
3...2...
"They'll never make it in time." thinks Blitz
1.... KA-BOOM!!!!!
Everyone on the team suddenly feels a wave of heat, a burst
of
indescribable acceleration, then a millisecond later, they find
themselves on a grassy field outside of the elevated house that gave
them entrance to the underground VORTEX base. All of the guards that
they had been in combat with, both conscious and unconscious are located
a few feet away as well (sans weaponry). Next to them is a puzzled
looking man whom the team recognizesas professor Zircher from the photos
they had seen of him.
The aftershock of the underground explosion can be felt beneath
their
feet and the elevated house's supports give way and it crashes into
debris on the hillside it was located on.
Blitz falls to his knees , gasping for breath..his eyes glaze
over and
he falls on his side, clutching his chest.
He appears old and haggard, and even smaller than normal.
MM runs to Blitz's side.
"Is everyone safe?" Blitz asks in a forced whisper.
"yes. yes. Everyone is safe from harm, " says MM.
"Good. That's all I ever wanted. " says Blitz with a smile
and then he
goes still as what little life he has left leaves him.
"ohmygoodness...ohmygoodness. OH MY GOODNESS!" MM
shrieks, turning Blitz over and beginning CPR. "OH MY GOODNESS!!"
The Captain, feeling a profound sense of deja vu,
finds himself muttering under his breath, "the needs
of the many...out way the needs of the few...or the
one...I have been...and always will be...your
friend...live...long...and prosper..." This goes on
for some time. The Captain has never lost a friend
like this before and doesn't seem to be copeing well.
[There are 5 guards that remain conscious, 15 are Ko'd. Half-Life
is
also still incapacitated. The body of the VORTEX commander is there as
well]
Zena immediately advances towards the still standing soldiers.
"I
suggest you surrender now. You are without weapons and I WILL severly
hurt you if you try to do anything but lay face down on the ground."
She has her Chakram ready to throw again. She quickly scans
the area for
any other possible threats. [6W for Observation. If
the guards try to
attack or run, 8I to hit them, 4I to dodge]
The soldiers quickly weigh their choices
and do as Zena commands.
A quick scan of the area reveals no
further threats.
"Keep an eye on them , Zena, whiel I
sketch up a paddy wagon to put them in.
" says Verve. Verve is very concerned about
Blitz, as well as the Captain's
reaction, but he needs to make sure that
the VORTEX goons aren't going to
cause them any more trouble.
" I knew this was a bad idea", he says
to himself. He fidgets with his free
hand trying to light a cigarette to calm
his frazzled nerves.
MM sees that Blitz is beyond his help
when he can't
emulate his powers. He is horrified by
the shriveled,
visage of his former team mate.
Soon, his distress
turns to anger as MM stands up, walks over
to Verve
and knocks the cigarette from his mouth,
"Bad idea?
Bad idea? Maybe this happened because we
took such a
light-hearted view toward life! What makes
Blitz's
life more valuable than Requim's, or mine,
or yours,
or any of us pitiable souls!" MM stares
hard into
Verve's face.
He then gets weak in the knees, develops
a nose bleed and passes out landing squarely
on his
back on the ground. "Oh, tragedy..." he
mumbles in his
semi-conscious state.
Julia looks solemnly at Blitz. "It's
not fair."
She mutters softly, "It should have
been me."
Zena huffs as she hears Julia,
Verve and Menagero, " Listen well. . ..
all of you. Death happens. It is a part
of life. Your civilization does
not deal well with death. Sometimes a sacrifice
must be made. Blitz saw
this. He gave his life to protect the lot
of us. Julia. . . . you
tarnish his sacrifice by wishing you had
died in his place. Verve, you
have done nothing but whine since the start
of this. And menagero. . . .
get off your pedastal. I am sick of your
babbling about who is right in
their actions. You should all quit complaing
and start thanking. What
Blitz did took a lot of bravery. He gave
up his life for people he
barely knew. He was a true warrior and
deserves nothing but praise. . .
and the next one of you who has anything
negative to say will face me.
Accept his death and move on. Honor him
in your hearts. If you can't do
that then you are not heroes. . . you are
children."
Once Verve finishes his drawing and
the VORTEX agents are safely herded into
the paddy wagon, Verve responds to Zena,
"Your'e right . I have been bitching about
this mission since the beginning.
I care about the people on this team ,
but I feel like out talents are
being squandered to serve corporate and
government interests. Blitz gave
his life to save us all, for that he is
a hero. However, If we hadn't
agreed to this shady 'Mission Impossible'-type
scenario then that sacrifice
probably wouldn't have been necessary.
To me, being a hero is about helping
as many people as you can, not just
those who can afford it. Once we get back
home I need to serious think
about whether or not I want to continue
on as a member of SoF.""
Frank says, "Blitz did save us, but
we all saved a lot of people from
that nuke. Not just the ones who paid us.
Gettin' paid don't make it
wrong, and it's not like we're just doin'
it for money. Would you be
workin' for Vortex if they offered to pay
you? I know I wouldn't.
That's the difference. And without SoF,
where would that nuke be
headed right now? Blitz would be alive,
but at what cost? I think my
time with SoF is well spent."
Frank kneels beside MM and Blitz's body.
He closes Blitz's eyes and
mutters something under his breath. "Thank
you for my life, Blitz.
Godspeed, wherever you're headed.
Verve continues "Again, I mean no disrespect
to Blitz, we all owe our lives to him. I will be
forever grateful and mindful of that fact,
but do you think he was worried
about the profit margin when he did waht
he did? I don't think so,,,and
that is what makes him a true hero. What
he did what a selfless act. Caring
more about the welfare of others than that
of his own. Putting the needs of
the many, (looking at theCaptain) before
those of the few."
Zena continues to watch the VORTEX soldiers
without looking at her
teammates. A rage is building in her. She
has seen too many of her own
people fight over another's death. It's
never worth it. Friends should
support each other no matter what. . .
. but that would mean that Zena
has accepted them as friends. Wouldn't
it?
She feels badly for the Captain. He
isn't taking this well and wonders
if he'll ever truly recover from this loss.
"Now aren't we all high-and-mighty,
priss-ess! Blitz was a good man,
too good to die saving the likes of me."
says Julia to Zena
Zena strides towards Kinetica, "Still
your tongue, woman."
"Why?" replies Julia defiantly. "Do
you think Blitz deserved to die?"
"Blitz deserved to die a hero, which
is exactly what he did! You soil
his sacrifice with your words. We are warriors.
Warriors die. We will
all die, and with good graces it will be
in battle.
"What a charming outlook on life," snorts
Julia.
Now still your tongue or I WILL test
the limits of your protective glow!"
Zena shouts raing her voice with each word.
his is the first time that
anyone has seen her become visibly angry
and lose her cool.
Julia bits her tongue for a minute,
and then once Zena turns away, sticks
it out and wiggles it at her.
The Captain has been watching the exchange
dispassionatly. He is wracked with guilt.
He could
have helped, he could have teleported people
out, he
could have teleported the bomb out. He
was wrong,
they had gone to far, he should have stuck
with MM and
not gone with Roughneck. Kirk would never
have used a
captured enemy as a sheild, and he wouldn't
have
deffened someone who did.
Paramount has threatened to sue him
if he continues to
call himself The Captain and dress like
a Star Fleet
officer. They want him to stop. They just
might get
there wish. He no longer feels worthy of
the uniform.
Frank tries to separate Zena and Kinetica.
"Hey, let's stay focused. No need to
fight over this, it won't help
anything. And we still have a live nuke
in that cave, on Chinalayan
soil. Unless we want Chinalaya to become
the world's newest nook-ya-
ler power, we gotta do something about
it."
Frank suggests the team move back to
the jet and radio Ms. Chesterton
to report and ask for further guidance,
particularly for what to do
about the nuke.
"Actually Roughneck, I belive Master
Menagero used Half- life's power to
render the nuclear capacity of the bomb
inert. We can ask him for sure when
he wakes up, but I'm fairly certain he
said something to that effect before
Blitz got everyone out of there. . " says
Verve.
"Maybe so, but that don't mean they
can't get more plutonium or
whatever it is they use. We can't leave
a nuke here. They could use
it to build another. I don't think Old
Rumsfeld would appreciate us
leavin' toys like that lyin' around. 'Specially
since we're only a
few miles from the border, as the missile
flies."
"Yeah, well if Miss High-and-Mighty
here would just leave me to my
self-loathing and not stick her nose in
where it doesn't belong, we could
get to cleaning up after ourselves." says
Julia
Seeing that Kinetica and Zena are about
to get into it, Verve moves towards
Kinetica..." I can see that it is past
time for your nicotine fix, " he says
trying to diffuse the situation. "Come
with me for a smoke break, " he says
leading her away from Zena.
Frank steps between the two women.
"Zena, we're not warriors, at least
not like you. Most of us ain't
never faced death. Don't be too hard on
everboddy. We'll cope, and
honor Blitz in our own way." To both women,
he says, "I don't he'd
appreciate seein' us fightin' amongst ourselves
like this."
"No. . . . No he wouldn't." says Zena
as she backs down. She glares at
Kinetica again before moving over to Blitz's
Body.
The SoF radio back to Ms. Chesterton and Commander Hudson of CAPE, and report their findings.
A few hours later the beach is swarming with US special forces units who have been sent in by the President.
In a quickly prepared speech, the President proclaimed VORTEX a "clear and present danger to freedom and democracy" and were branded part of the "Axis of Evil". US forces have been sent in to liberate Chinalaya from covert terrorist rule.
Professor Zircher is branded an enemy combatant and is shipped off to Camp X-Ray for questioning, as are all of the other captured VORTEX agents.
All government officials are now required to prove that they are not androids. The President was the first to undergo testing.
HE'S THE REAL DEAL!!!" proclaimed press secretary Ari Fleischer jubilantly after the results were in. .
Unfortunately Fleischer himself didn't pass the test. It was quickly explained by the Bush administration that Fleischer isn't an android, but an animatronic drone built by the Disney corporation, similar to the ones seen in many of the rides at Disney World, though far more advanced. Fleischer was paid for by campaign contributions. "He's not considered a threat." said Tom Ridge, special advisor to the President on Homeland Security.
After Blitz's funeral , the member SOF were all given some time off by Ms. Chesterton to recuperate and to mourn the loss of their team mate Blitz.
A few minutes later, Frank breaks th eeerie silence of the tunnel and screams "It's a trap!" A split second later, the all to familiar sound of machine gunfire erupts in front of them. The muzzle flashes illuminate the darkened tunnel with a strobe light effect as bullets punch through the glass and metal of the tram car and it slides to a stop on the tracks. A familair greenish glow emamnates from behind the gunmen, and Half-Life shouts "Don't spare the ammunition boys, the Boss wants SOF DOA ASAP!" and he laughs obnoxioulsy at his lame joke.
MM starts letting out orders, "DO NOT REACT! Requim
do
something. Order those goons down now. I doubt
Half-life knows you've captured us." MM takes on
Kinetica's force field after standing next to her.
He
protects Zena with his body and cape. 4S+ (Wild
Ride)
and trump.
Blitz shrinks donw to 6 inch height, hops off the
tram
and begins running behind it. "And make it quick
will
you, Requim. I hate running blind."
defense 5A and trump.
If Half-Life doesn't react to Requim's stand down
order, Blitz will grab a piece of random lead pipe
(invulnerable to radiation) that is laying around
in
secret villain HQ's and bat Half-life's head with
it.
5S* (Commanding Presence) and trump.
Blitz is using his plot point of 6A* Accidental
revalation to stumble across a crate that
reads,
"Lead Pipes".
Zena knew that this wasn't going to work out. She
grabs Requiem. Using him as a shield she leaps through a window [6 Will for
the Agility check
on this. . . . if I need to make a strength check
against Requim for grabbing him up -- then I'll use one of my 5 Strength
cards]. She immediately
stands up, pulling Requiem up with her. She continues
to use him as a shield as she loosens her chakram. Once she can make out
a target in
the dark she looses her weapon at the nearest marksman.
[2 Str & 5 Str for the attack]
I'll take care of Captain Uranium. I've been
itching for a rematch since our last tango." says Julia
Julia will power up her force field (playing the
9), then try to slam Half-Life with a forcefield aided fist (playing the
5 of Int, with a trump). She will use
the 2 for any dodges she should make (also with
trump).
The Captain first teleports out of the imediate
line
of fire and get ready to blast Half-Life with a
stun
blast.
2D for the teleport
4A for deffense
6s for the stun blast attack
Frank gets out of the car as quickly as possible.
[You didn't say we
were trapped in there, but in case we have trouble
getting out Frank
will cut a hole in the back side of teh car.]
Once everyone is out of the car, Frank says, "Clear
out, I'm gonna
run this car down their throats!" Frank grabs the
car, lifts it off
its track, and charges the gunmen. When he is close
enough to them,
he throws the car at them. {I use the 7 for the
attack, and the 5 for
any defense.] Frank tries not to hit julia, but
he figures her force
field will protect her anyway. He is happy if half
life is in the way.
If this action is not possible, like if other heros
get between the
car and the thugs, then Frank will instead shoot
his laser at as many
gunmen as he can, not aiming to kill or anything
(for this attack i
use the 4, not the 7.]
[The tunnel itself is about 10 feet wide and about 10 feet
high. The
tram car 12 feet in lenghth. About as large as a luxury van. The tunnel
is pitch black except for the muzzle flashes and the greenish glow of
Half-Life. No one has been hit yet, but you should definitely tell me
what cards you are playing for defense, as well as offense. ]