Vanguard Roll Call!

Vanguard Roll Call!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Issue 3: The Secret of the Doomsday Robot!

"Better set your sights on me, you bucket of bolts!" said the Comet as he sends a blast of searing blue flame at the eye of the gigantic robotic Cyclops. Fvwwooosh! Intense heat washed over the gigantic orifice until… KRAKA-BOOM! The eye detonates in a massive explosion of angry orange, leaving a blackened hole with greasy smoke pouring out of it!
Then, faster than can be seen by the human eye, the cyan speedster spins a dizzying halo of blue flame around the robot's head. The Comet ends his path behind the head of the iron beast. "Hey Rusty! I'm behind you!"
The Doomsday Robot didn’t turn to face the Comet. Amazingly, it still moved steadily toward its prize, the zeppelin, despite being “blinded!” It was clear that the “eye” was not how the mechanical leviathan “sees!” Perhaps the eye was an energy weapon of some kind, and now a disabled one at that!

(OOC: Actions, Comet? FYI, due to your super speed power, you get two actions per “issue,” compared to the one action everyone else gets. You unknowingly had them here: Trying to obscure an opponent’s vision, even through movement, is still considered an attack, you clever boy. Thanks.)

The cyclopean giant reached for the aircraft, and suddenly the Sentinel flew off the roof of the Empire State Building towards the giant intruder and started to grow in size, growing larger and larger as he approached the robot! Suddenly, there were two 100-foot tall figures in the sky: a gigantic Sentinel and the Doomsday Robot!

The Comet noticed that something was strange with the surface of the giant Sentinel’s skin, almost like it was too shiny, or humming with energy or something. Also, his chest emblem, an all-seeing eye, was translucent like a window and had golden light emanating from it, like a beacon!
"Why don't pick on someone your own size you oversized bucket of bolts!" shouts the Sentinel, as the Robot attempts to destroy the zeppelin with his bare claws! Sentinel blocks the Robot’s punch with his now-gigantic staff, but the Robot’s mighty fist (as big as a house!) crashes through the staff and through the Sentinel as well!

KER-RAASH! The Sentinel actually blows apart upon impact, shattering impossibly! Crystalline shards and pieces of him fall away and evaporate into thin air! The staggering damage reveals that it wasn’t the Sentinel at all, but some kind of energy construct that looked just like the masked beacon of liberty!
Half of it was gone now, half still remained: the torso, both legs, one arm and half the face, all torn open. Inside of it, within the scintillating gem-like interior structure, could be seen the real Sentinel, still regular sized, and completely unharmed!
The zeppelin was saved… for now!

(OOC: Actions, Sentinel? The Doomsday Robot just wiped out half of your creation points. You can use your next action to completely heal/repair your creation OR to attack, or to do something else for that matter, but no more than one of these things. Thanks!)

Meanwhile, down below, it was chaos! The Zeppelin was trapped! -moored with the needle of the Empire State Building, and the disembarkation tube extended from the gondola to the observation deck! It was a mad, screaming stampede as passengers ran for their lives from the titanic iron behemoth that loomed over them as it grappled with the super-sized Sentinel. Viper was swimming upstream against this flood. He scooped up two British children with one arm, and rescued a woman who had fallen, saving her from being trampled to death in the crush, before calling out to the mob and getting the evacuation organized and under control. It actually worked! Viper was as surprised as anyone. Maybe it was the costume.
The passengers continued the evacuation, quietly, quickly, and orderly. Then Viper heard someone yell over the crowd,” Viper! Over here!” The human serpent turned and saw a man he didn’t know, coming down the ramp from the zeppelin.
“I’m Grey,” the stranger said flatly. He was closer to forty than thirty, and had an eye patch and a cigar. “Nice work, kid. Thanks for coming,” he added matter of factly.

There was another man with Grey, an elderly gentleman with white hair and a cane. He was looking up at the titanic Sentinel, and smiling. Grey indicated the old man to Viper with a wag of his head. “Viper, meet Doc Rocket. Doc here is what the robot is after.”
The nervous crowd still rushed past them. Soon they would all be clear, but not yet!!

(OOC: actions, replies Viper?)

Meanwhile, away from the disembarkation tube, Lightning Strike states calmly: “Of course, sending a man of metal against the master of electricity is a fait accompli."
Then, impossibly, the high-voltage vigilante transformed his body into a spidery bolt of white lightning that struck the Doomsday Robot in the arm!
ZZZZT! Electricity arced across the surface of the mechanical monster, as Lightning Strike could not find a way past its iron plating! The Robot was completely insulated! To make matter worse, the creature was dripping with water… salt water! Lightning arced across the robot impotently, until, finally, the electric avenger found a way inside, through the hole that the Comet had burned in the thing’s eye!

Looking to put an end to this now, Lightning Strike searches for the higher brain functions to short them out, and finds... there are none!
From the systems within the iron behemoth, Strike discovers that The Doomsday Robot is not a robot at all, but a giant vehicle! The “robot” is actually manned by a crew of men, who operate the titanic machine from within! There are no cameras within the vehicle, so Strike can’t be sure of the crew’s numbers. But, from within the hyper-advanced circuitry’s cyberspace, Lightning Strike can detect six different decks/ levels within the marauding machine’s head and torso.
He can also sense several computer systems:
· Navigation and Flight: Systems report: Engaged!
· Beam Weapon: Eye: Systems report: Out of Commission!
· Sonic Disruptor: Mouth
· Missile Launcher: Chest
· Arm Controls
· Communications: Systems report: Microwave antenna is currently transmitting!
· Engineering and Power: Systems report: Full power!
· Ground Movement/ Gyroscopic Balance Systems
· Life Support
· Airlocks
The titanic technological terror was a futuristic wonder of engineering!

(OOC: Actions, Lightning Strike? He may now attempt to short out any one of these systems with his next action, or do something else entirely, if you wish. It had cost L.S. an “attack” to get into the Robot, due to the insulation)

OOC: All: Remember to only play what your character knows. For example, right now, only L.S. knows that it’s not a robot. Only Viper knows what the “robot” wants, etc. But, feel free to communicate!!
Have fun! -Ye Editor

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Sentinel:
Sentinel glances at the disembarkation tube and sees the helpless passengers scrambling to exit, but not having yet fully cleared the area.
The decimated image of the giant Sentinel starts to reform beginning where the shattered torso remained, the mid-section filling in first and then extended upward and outward, forming arms. As the right hand forms the fist closes and the huge staff extends outward reforming also. As the staff forms the huge Sentinel begins to swing the staff around, in martial arts fashion. As the staff swings around the top of the image above the arms finishes reforming, completing the process as the head is reformed. The giant Sentinel is whole once again and positioned between the robot and the innocents exiting the zeppelin.
The huge Sentinel reformed and having swung the staff around and about in martial arts fashion holds the staff in a defiant and defensive posture preparing for the mechanical behemoth's next devastating attach. Completing the effect, the fingers on the left hand gestures towards the robot, in effect, waving him closer and telling him to bring it on!
"Is that the best you've got? And here I thought this was going to be a challenge!"

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Viper:
Viper stares at Grey and Doc Rocket in distaste while people rush past them. After a few seconds, Viper grabs a Fedora off of a fleeing passenger, then stops another and takes his overcoat.
"This looks my size." Viper frowns at Grey. "Seems I need a disguise for my disguise!"
He puts the hat and coat on while he speaks....
"So. Is this Robot looking to kill, maim or torture you, Doc?"
Viper pushes them down the boarding tube and continues...
"Now if the Robot is looking to kill you, then no where is safe. If he's looking to capture you, then I suggest hiding inside the building. I don't suspect the robot will knock the building down to get at you if he needs you intact."
Viper leads his charges towards the emergency stairs...
"So Which is it?"
[OOC: Viper put the hat and coat on so he isn't a green beacon for the Robot to pick out Grey and the Doc. The other three have the robot busy so Viper will escort Grey and Doc to safety and play defense for the two if need be]

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Lightning Strike:

After ascertaining that the robot is not truly a robot, Lightning Strike shouts to the rest of the heroes over the Doomsday Robot's deafening PA system: "Get those people out of here! I will try to get this mechanical monster out of the area." Lightning Strike intends to engage the flight system but rather than short it out, he wants to trigger it and force the robot to fly away from the area where the team can disable it at a safe distance.

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Blue Comet:
"Sometimes it's best to attack a problem from the bottom up... or the inside out"
Seeing the gaping hole he just created in the eye weapon, Comet flies into the very heart of the mechanical beast to get a first hand look at the innards. Using his incredible speed he surveys the interior and tries to identify the flight center or engines. Using his remaining attacks, he will try to damage the engines, but not destroy them. Comet wants to limit its movement or get it into a controlled decent, rather than a freefall.