Vanguard Roll Call!

Vanguard Roll Call!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Issue 48: Wanted: Undead or Alive!


Big City, Lonely Town. Night.

After discovering the location of Morgue’s hideout, Vanguard attempted an invasion and was pushed back by an unexpected gang of undead criminals and killers! Our heroes wisely retreated, regrouping atop the roof of an abandoned warehouse to administer first aid to the unconscious Forester and plot their next move. Lonely Town crouched beneath them, quietly waiting like it had all the time in the world.

Clone was silent and aloof but Ghost moved near the unconscious Forester where Sentinel and Symbiote administered first aid. The Ghost passed his intangible hand inside the archer’s abdomen. When he removed it, the Ghost opened his hand to reveal two bullets. The Ghost looked at Forester’s chest and said: “He’s slowing his own heartbeat to lessen the blood loss. Incredible.”

A black CHESS stealth hovervan silently touched down on the warehouse roof. Inside was an armed pilot and a CHESS rook who was also a medic - the same rook who gave Vanguard the stim-shots earlier. His name was Ishikawa and he got to work on the injured Forester. The last passenger was an extranormal!
“Last of your reinforcements,” said the CHESS pilot. “His name’s Inhuman. Might be useful in the sewer. We’ve already briefed him on your situation.” Inhuman is clearly amphibious. His costume is a hooded wet suit. His bluish grey skin's texture is reminiscent of undersea creatures. Beneath his visage-concealing hood, a hook nose is visible. He smells faintly of iodine. On his belt is an iron pipe wrench-looking tool.
Sentinel, Strike and Slingshot find something strangely familiar about his presence.
(OOC: Insert introductions and descriptions here, and please welcome Skip / Inhuman to the game! Skip, review the last few issues for your ‘briefing.’ Thanks!)

The hovervan had computer terminals and mission gear. Symbiote and Inhuman were given communicators. The pilot relayed Symbiote’s information about Hyena’s vulnerability. But Hal’s hero, Doc Rocket was not present; he was still working to heal Nanite’s robotic body.

Sentinel raised Ajay on his CHESS communicator, who patched in CHESS Agent Sam Drake. Within 30 minutes CHESS had located and transmitted schematics of the colonial catacombs that lay beneath Lonely Town. A central area, of the kind Sentinel said might serve as a stronghold for Morgue, was located on the map. It was in the direction Spider Girucci had given. The map would be accessible on everyone’s wrist communicator, even if they lost satellite contact.
Looking at the maps, the Ghost reiterated his belief to Sentinel that now they were aware of the undead legion, he might be able to guide the team in on a less crowded path using his spectral vision.

Lightning Strike and Sentinel both asked Ajay and Drake about CHESS’s knowledge of undead extranormals.
Ajay reviewed CHESS files and eventually reported: “There are a few known extranormals who have raised the dead, but nowhere near this scale. And most all of these extranormals have been destroyed.

· One who is still active is Voodoo: a Haitian supervillain. Currently at large. But he could only create a few zombies at a time and they were non-sentient, unlike what you’re describing here.

· “A destroyed extranormal who could create revenants was Vampyress, a villainess who killed the Freedom Forcer, Black Cat, and transformed him into the vampiric superhero, Black Bat. Vampyress later attempted to summon an undead “god” of death called Tr’gharnik into this world to destroy it. The Freedom Force prevented the summoning and destroyed Vampyress.

· “The entity known as Tr’gharnik might be able to do this, but his arrival on our planet was supposed to have signaled its immediate end. And the stars will not be right for his return for another 500 years.

· “Black Bat continued as a member of the Freedom Force, despite his vampirism. This was controversial within the team, notably with the alien hero, Stentor, who felt Bat was evil. But Stentor could not persuade the Freedom Force. Eventually, Black Bat turned on the FF and was destroyed by them.

· “The Liberty League once fought a battalion of undead Nazi soldiers, but they were created by the twisted science of Dr. Swastika and had no mystical origins.

“Not much help I’m afraid. You’ve read Morgue’s CHESS file but remember, his extranormal abilities are estimated since he’s never been in captivity. If he can kill a man by touching him, what might happen if he touched someone already dead? Does sound like it would require a lot of power to raise so many so quickly.
In terms of weaknesses, destroying them often requires some form of decapitation, burning, and/or removal of the heart.” (OOC: Replies, questions if any )

Agent Drake said: “Lightning Strike, when we crashed the safehouse, you had a computer program running. The program’s results were secured for you and then we shut down the system.” Strike accessed the CHESS hovervan computers to locate the encoded program results and found what he had expected: Nanite’s killer, whom she named “The Luddite,” had never targeted a holding of Silas Caine, and usually sabotaged companies that he was looking to purchase, destroy or compete with!
Symbiote administered his stim shot in the presence of Ishikawa. Then the rook said, “That’s it. I have to evac Forester to a hospital.” The pilot nodded. They wished the heroes well and the hovervan took off.

By now, the heroes were rested. It was time. Strike stopped siphoning power from the building to restore his energy levels. Sentinel silently reformed his armor, and Symbiote duplicated Lightning Strike’s powers. (OOC:
1) Transformation: May transform into Sentient Electricity: Costs 8 power points and one action. Changing back costs nothing. Bestows: a) Near-instantaneous travel, almost like Teleportation. Can only travel via wires or transmitted waves (cell phones, radio, TV, etc.). Strike will burn out devices not meant to receive electricity. b) Non-Corporealness defense.
2) Lightning Control: May control electricity. As an attack: Range: 36” (180 feet), 2d8 damage, PR=4. Electrical defense costs one action and no PP to activate. May attempt to control or short out electrical machinery, circuitry, etc. Costs 4 PP and one action per attempt.
3) Heightened Intelligence: +15 to Intelligence.
Weaknesses:
1) Special Requirement: Due to his altered physiognomy, Lightning Strike can’t heal power points or hit points normally. Must “recharge” from an electrical power source instead, at a rate equal to his healing rate. Side Effect: Lightning Strike doesn’t need to eat.
2) Minor Low Self Control: When Transformed into Electricity, Archer assumes some of the detrimental effects of electricity: grounding, loss of control in water, conductive, etc. So, Archer is careful to transform into electricity only when a containing environment is available, like wires.)

There was no sign of the legions of undead when Vanguard re-entered the sewers at a different point than Butcher and Barber. Risking as little light as possible, they quietly descended once more into the underworld, with the map and Ghost’s X-Ray vision to guide them.
Their hearts pounded in their chests as they breathlessly crept lower and lower. Dark, dank and foul smelling, the sewer eventually gave way to drier, more roughly shaped tunnels that served as catacombs, extensions of the world’s largest cemetery, dating back to Dutch colonial times. Cobweb-shrouded crypts and sarcophagi of proud families long forgotten. Absolute darkness and rows and rows of the dead. The rocky necropolis seemed without end. Our heroes were cut off and alone.

Suddenly, Ghost, Inhuman and Sentinel could detect the living dead around them, out there in the black darkness! Stopping, motionless, Vanguard held their breath and waited. A hundred heartbeats passed. 20 of the undead things could be detected. Then 30. Then 40. Then 50. It was clear they were being surrounded. There was nothing for it. Vanguard bolted! Shrieks and shouts erupted savagely from the undead army and echoed throughout the tunnels, some from Unhappy Jim Hacker and the Quickdraw Kid!
With the armies of hell at their heels, the heroes flew down the final, long tunnel and crashed down the door of into the chamber believed to be Morgue’s stronghold! Slingshot used his incredible strength to smash his huge fists into the ceiling behind them, causing a massive cave-in, trapping the undead out and Vanguard in!

The earthen rumble was deafening and when the dust cleared they saw the stronghold chamber for the first time. Earthen walls surrounded a gangster hideout. Stock-piled weapons, food, chairs, mattresses, tables, newspapers, a working television and radio. Ancient sewer pipes had been tapped to fill water basins. Had living men had once been here? On the side were piled bodies of dead gangsters; fresh, bloody victims of the gang war, stacked like firewood, awaiting an even darker fate.

Morgue was there all right. Big, angry, fierce, toting a tommy gun, and he was not alone.
The Five Bosses were with him and they were also undead now!

Poker Face! The conman gambler whose sweet talk fooled three polygraph tests and four juries! He once controlled all gambling in Big City! Now his famed deadpan was grey and skull-like. One skeletal hand held a tommy gun. The other a deck of playing cards. He leveled the gun at Vanguard. Even now, he still hadn’t gotten his fill of bloodshed and murder.

The Octopus! This human mollusk’s tentacles once extended throughout the underworld! He controlled the protection rackets, muscle and enforcement. Now his flesh was as rotten as his soul.

Dexter Sinister! The bipolar psychedelic psychopath whose skin was said to exude a powerful pharmacological agent that replicated the effect of any drug he chose! Sinister once controlled the entire drug trade of Big City! Alone among the bosses, he was smiling.

Femme Fatale! Once, no man could resist her charms! Fatale ran all prostitution in Big City. Now she was still oddly alluring despite her ghastly appearance.

The Cat! He was said to be deadly fast, cruel and blessed with nine lives! No more. The ninja and master thief who once ran all fencing operations in Big City was out of lives and out of luck.

The eyes of the Five Bosses were bleak and haunted, like those of slaves!

Morgue laughed loudly. It was an ugly sound. “The peace conference worked out better than expected.”
His one good eye was full of merry hate. He snarled through clenched teeth. “So, Homicide for Hire wasn’t enough for ya, huh? You wanted a #$@%&* showdown, huh?! Well now you small fries have got one!”
Morgue held up a big bare fist. “This is yer last damned chance: Get the hell outta here! Big City belongs to me now! So take some air or else I’ll be forced to add you to my !#$%*& gang!!
OOC: Actions?

Current Conditions:
Inhuman: Hit Points: 25, Power Points: 60 (hasn’t taken stim-shot)
Kairos: Hit Points: 20, Power Points: 75 (hasn’t taken stim-shot)
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 18, Power Points: 75 (can’t take stim-shot due to Weakness)
Sentinel: Hit Points: 12, Power Points: 52, Creation Points: 104, Shields: 100 (hasn’t taken stim-shot)
Slingshot: Hit Points: 26, Power Points: 90, Invulnerability: 8
Symbiote with Lightning Strike’s powers: Hit Points: 13, Power Points: 88, Harness Charges: 8

Best, Ye Ed

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Kairos:
The distance to the nearest of the enemy is only 20' or so...not a lot of room to maneuver. Kairos will, therefore, head straight along the south wall toward Octopus at a dead sprint. Right before Kairos reaches him, the staff will be used like a pole in a pole vault competition to vault over him and try to fly through the air to land feet-first on Morgue's face.
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Inhuman:
OOC: Kewl By me. BTW assuming Morgue is facing someone tough enough to deal with him, if everyone is squaring up for a fight I’ll take on the tentacled terror unless someone else has dibs, if everyone is doing mano a mano and I have no one that is not covered then ill try de-insultaing/grounding Lightning Strike's or Symbiote's target to help them finish their targets off faster. As the new guy on the block im willing to take on the "less loved" of the villians group :). though from the posts these are a whole new batch of problem children so there doesn't appear to be any grudge matches going on, maybe one will develop.... If the Criminal King of Cephalophods looks like he has an ink spray attack I may prep to counter it as quickly as possible if my powers will help.


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Symbiote:
(OOC: Let me say at this point that I know, just KNOW that there's more to this situation than meets the eye. In the immortal words of Han Solo, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Unfortunately, Hal doesn't have the benefit of knowing he's a character in a role playing game, and pretty much has no choice but to respond to the situation with the info he has. So, time to pick a dance partner...)

IC: Hal takes a step towards Dexter Sinister. "Today's your day for a Really Bad Trip, Man," he quips, as he tosses a lightning bolt at the decaying druggie.

OOC: Skip,
Welcome! Hope you enjoy it and don't get horribly mutilated by legions of the undead!
Best regards,
Greg

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Inhuman:
OOC: Never really did much Email gaming so I'll just ask for your guys forgiveness and direction while I learn the ropes. :) Ah, clarification: As the "new kid" I'll let the others take the lead, the order of priority for encounter is as follows: a. Should the team decide to attempt to negotiate, I will send a trickle of water(sweat?) over to the pipe in preperation of opening. Something along the lines of "while the others were speaking, One remained silent in the corner, Inhuman seemed to be sweating so much that it was dripping off of the latest member of Vanguard, forming rivulets that dripped off of his wetsuit the pool slowly and nearly invisibly slid away toward the wall and then to the base of the old water pipe where it almost coiled as if ready to strike. " b. Should the team go straight for combat Inhuman will'Sensing a fight brewing, the Indecipherable Inhuman moves closer to the water pipe, Pointing at The Octopus with his freshly drawn iron pipewrench "You Criminal Cephalopod, you and your altered allies are about to be apprehended" and then he smashes the pipe with his pipewrench where two sections meet a coupling "UN-less you all surrender."(OOC: I'm aiming for a leak or spray but not necessarily a completely smashed pipe, ill take either case in preference to just ineffectively denting). To the Gm Dragging water note: could I use my powers to contain and sort of herd a mental bag/pool of water along on the way, or would that be too tiring? If not as we left a free water area heading to our incident I may (assuming the kind Gm so allows) have Watered up at that point just to have 100 lbs to start the combat with. unless that proves unnecessary or unviable in which case Ill just get along. :) OOC: Hey Stephane do you remember Fir Bolg or was that someone else?
Later…
It appears B is the correct answer... (OOC to greg: I'm allready being horribly mutilated.... as far as i can tell they can't do anything worse to me!! :) (OOC: it just occured to me that surrender= apprehened, oh well Inhuman got a little excited!)
P. P. P. S.: Based upon the briefing from CHESS plus the mention of the water pipe the dead guys are using as a water source (the last time Inhuman was dead he didn't need any water) I agree with the "something is not right here" group. Are they trying to pull a Scooby Villian trick? (Ie Guys in costumes/disguises?) Should Inhuman have the time perhaps his super senses can discern some additional information. And he will keep an eye out for his Criminal choice's costume to slip during the combat.

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Sentinel:
OOC: Quick question -- from our Chess file review of Morgue and his known activities-any indication of his having heightened strength of any kind. If we were given specific info about him previously that I forgot about if you could direct me to the issue, I'll look it up.

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OOC: GM Replies:
Seth: It was way back in the golden days of Issue 27! Man, I hate the long continuity arcs of these new-fangled comics! Where's the entry point for the new customer?!
No super strength is mentioned but you know that with any subject that's never been in captivity, the file is incomplete.
You guys will be writing the new file... if you LIVE!! (cue ominous music)

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Inhuman:
(OOC: So when He throws one of us through walls, THEN we know he has super strength! Gotcha! :)
(OOC2: Since Inhuman hasn't attacked here goes) Having gotten some movement room and with a series of strange sounds the Incredible Inhuman takes control of the flowing water and pushes a wave against the Monstrous Mollusk trying to sweep him into the northeastern room (OOC4: If taking control of the water only involves movement/power, otherwise use charges the Octopus swinging his pipewrench at the mysterious Mollusk) (OOC 4: Yeah not only is the entry point for new customers issue one but what is it with all the OOC's!?!?!?!?! Gee Whillikers! :)

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Slingshot:
[OOC] Again, Welcome Skip. [/OOC]
[QUOTE] "Last of your reinforcements," said the CHESS pilot. "His name's Inhuman. Might be useful in the sewer. We've already briefed him on your situation [/QUOTE]
Inhuman saw Slingshot come up to him. He was dressed in purple. He was massive and black as tar. His skin was like rubber. He had no hair. A few feet too far, he stopped and with a boyish grin, his arm extended the extra distance for a proper handshake. He closed as the handshake finished.
"Welcome Inhuman. You'll find that we are all less than human and more at the same time. So I'm sure you'll fit right in. We'll see what you're made of very soon. Morgue is a tough cookie. Now the important question is will we have to ban tuna sandwiches in this team?" With a wink and a guffaw, he gave a big pat on Inhuman's back.
[QUOTE] Morgue laughed loudly. It was an ugly sound. "The peace conference worked out better than expected." His one good eye was full of merry hate. He snarled through clenched teeth. "So, Homicide for Hire wasn't enough for ya, huh? You wanted a #$@%&* showdown, huh?! Well now you small fries have got one!" [/QUOTE]
Scott couldn't believe his eyes. What a coup! What a disaster! Would we have stopped this if we had not retreated? A million thoughts was going through his head. Easily, half of them laying blame at his feet. He locked onto one. His head extended to right besides Symbiote's head. He whispered to him, "I'm glad you're here, we need to neutralize Morgue. Take his powers and see if you can turn the leaders back, if not then drop them dead again. I have your back." With that, Slingshot waits for Symbiote's next move.
[OOC] Hold action, if I'm going before Symbiote (not likely, but you never know). My two main goals are 1) protect Symbiote 2) get him to touch Morgue. So if any of the bosses target him I'll take him out or at least shove him out of the way. For Morgue or Dexter Sinister, I'll grab a table and squish them against a wall. I'll make sure they cannot touch me. There's no reason for me to actually move from my position to do anything as my elasticity will allow me to reach anywhere, unless I'll bodily protect Symbiote. [/OOC]

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Symbiote:[OOC] I have a nasty feeling that Morgue's powers are supernatural in nature, and thus probably not vulnerable to my powers. Nevertheless, what the hey. If it's not too late I'll dive for Morgue instead of attacking Dexter.

One more little twist if possible: If I do touch Morgue and I DON'T feel the Harper Harness activating, I'll go ahead and do a contact shock against him with Lightning Strike's power.
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Sentinel:
OOC: Stephane: That is an absolutely fantastic plan! At the very least we'll find out about Morgue and if this is really his doing.
Nice!
Seth

…after reading Symbiote’s reply…

Well, that was about sixty seconds of elation on my part ...
Seth

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Lightning Strike:
Lightning Strike assesses the odds and grimly agrees with the strategy having Symbiote attempt to obtain Morgue's powers. "We need to take the fight to Morgue and hopefully with him down, the rest of the undead gangsters will go back to hell where they belong. We should make every attempt to provide a clear path. When targeting the gangsters, whenever possible target the head as it appears to stop these zombies in their tracks. Since they appear to be already dead, I recommend that we do not hold anything back. If they are not really dead, we can face those consequences another time."

With that, LS blasts at Poker Face, hoping to clear a nice end run path to Morgue. I will attempt to special hit the head with the idea that the electrical attack may short circuit whatever synapses Poker Face has left and take him out. If this works, I can repeat it in subsequent actions in the attempt to bring down the remaining zombies.

Hope this works with everyone's previously stated actions but I am sure our ever understanding GM can straighten it all out.

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Sentinel:
As Kirk worked on trying to assist his fallen comrade Forester he was clearly dismayed. Following Ghost's retrieval of the bullets Kirk was impressed with his control in his ability to remove the bullets without further damaging Forester; he clasped Ghost on the shoulder and said with a smile, “Great work! Glad you’re on our side.” His admiration for Forester grew further as Ghost mentioned his slowing of his heartbeat to prevent further blood loss, despite his unconscious state. The loss of Forester to the mission was huge in Kirk’s eyes; Kirk had come to admire the skills of the archer, as well as his perceptive abilities. His gut also told him that Forester’s previous time away from the team held clues towards uncovering what was really behind the events here in New York.

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As Kirk approached Inhuman, he has a smile on his face. He wasn’t the least bit put off by his appearance as he extended his hand and said, “Welcome aboard! We’re glad to have you here. You’ve certainly chosen to join us in the thick of things; thanks for the assistance.”

As Kirk greeted the newcomer, he felt something familiar about him. His memory raced through his own knowledge of hero lore and his recent review of CHESS files with his new access about known activity… and he thought about their recent undersea adventure and the mysterious undersea adventurer, Aquon, as well as the alien Starfish-like creature they assisted to escape from the control of Swastika … did this provide any further insight into this familiar feeling? Did Kirk feel Inhuman was somehow related to either the apparent undersea race of Aquon or the alien Starfish?

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As they reviewed the CHESS records about the undead encounters and Swastika’s name came up, with his recent resurgence, as well as Morgue’s having been captive by him, Kirk tried to recall the facts of the case as he knew them (if he knew that case) and exactly how Swastika did it and what source of power he used; if Kirk didn’t remember or know the specifics of this case, he inquired further about what the CHESS files held in this regard (if unknown, could they raise Doc Rocket about this).

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In terms of weaknesses, destroying them often requires some form of decapitation, burning, and/or removal of the heart.” (OOC: Replies, questions if any)

“Just to clarify since it seems you’re requiring some quite morbid actions on our part, does this mean that if we are in battle with these things and we put them down in some other way and damage them enough to take them out of the conflict, that unless we chop off their heads, incinerate them to nonexistence, or rip out their hearts, they are going to just get right up again?”

Kirk was uncomfortable with the sheer brutality needed if that was is the case and needed to clarify this so he could know what he had to do to govern his actions in the hours ahead.

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Symbiote administered his stim shot in the presence of Ishikawa. Then the rook said, “That’s it. I have to evac Forester to a hospital.” The pilot nodded. They wished the heroes well and the hovervan took off.
“Ishikawa, thanks for being here for us.” Pointing to Forester he said, “Take good care of him, he’s one of our finest,” Kirk nodded. From Kirk’s _expression Ishikawa knew he had no doubt he would do just that and that the words were likely more to reassure Kirk himself about his friend’s state than anything else.

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working television and radio:
Just to clarify and since Kirk would know pretty quickly with his energy sense; given the inability of their communicators to work down here previously, what allowed the access to the TV and radio – were there cable lines run down here, some kind of signal boosters or what? (Having seen Strike in action and knowing that Symbiote currently shared his powers, Kirk was just trying to log any assets down here into his mind).

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(Flashback to just before Kirk rejoining Vanguard for this mission:

They sat cross-legged floating in mid-air across from one other.

“You’ve done amazingly well adapting and understanding this new _expression of your power son. That’s no surprise to me at all. You’ve done us proud, as always. But I will say your speed in coming as far as you have this fast is something to behold. But don’t get cocky; this is merely your first step on this new path you’ve chosen.”

Lancaster leaned forward slightly, continuing, “and always remember as I’ve often told you, sometimes it does come down to the big battle of power and pounding on each other, winner take all, but most often the war is won here,” and as Lancaster said that he tapped the side of his head with his forefinger, “and I’m not talking about this new talent of yours,” he added with a smile.

End Flashback)

Kirk rose into the air above his teammates, assuming a legs-crossed position as if at complete ease with his environment as he did so. His hand moved to rub the bottom of his chin as if thinking and then he said with a calm and sincere voice,

“Y’ know Morgue if anyone else I’ve met said those words I wouldn’t give the threat much thought, but from all the rogues and cutthroats I’ve come across, I genuinely believe you to be one totally nasty son of a bitch. But, the one thing I can’t figure here is that when we loosed you from Swastika’s influence a few weeks ago, you were seriously pissed at him and his crew." Kirk paused for effect. "Now, at least Swastika was honest in his control of you…” as Kirk continued an almost imperceptible tether of energy whirled across the room, finding its target area above Morgue it formed into an image of hands holding strings attached to Morgue like a puppeteer pulling strings to make him dance, “this set up you have here, tell me,” and as he said the words he shook his head in disbelief and pity, “have you really convinced yourself its different and that you’re in charge of things here?”

As Kirk takes the above actions he will try to focus on his energy sense to see if there is anything hidden in this room and expand his senses into the adjoining surrounding area also (it is understood that given everything else going on and Kirk’s doing other stuff too it may take some time for detailed information, but you can let me know if and as it comes over the next few turns).

Kirk feels that if Morgue is the source of the undead resurrections then it could only be by means of some additional source of power and he wants to find that source; he also hopes that if he’s right, maybe Morgue will spill some of the pieces of the puzzle from his words. Also, given Morgue’s prior known personality, he likely will take much umbrage at Kirk’s words and focus attention on him, which should help the others in their attacks and plans against him.

Kirk will hold his physical “attack” until the end of the round so that if somehow Morgue does get as far as removing his glove to apply a death touch, he can prevent the actual physical contact by manipulating his construct. If that doesn’t occur this round (and Kirk doesn’t think he would go for that at this time), then Kirk will expend his attack of manipulating his construct in the most useful means at the time (which is hard to know now given that just about every hero will move ahead of me).

If he ends up just smashing one of the bosses with his construct, perhaps in trying to push them out of the way to allow the attack on Morgue, he would use his construct to form the shape of a gravestone with the words “RIP” at the top and then the real name of the crime boss if known or else their “boss name” if not known, in hopes that before getting smashed in the face with it, perhaps it would trigger a memory within them of what they have become and if there is any remnant of their old personality left it might take them out of the conflict as they resist what they have become and the controlling influence of Morgue.

FYI. My earlier question about knowing if Morgue had enhanced strength was for defense. If it was known that wasn’t one of his powers, Kirk would have formed a 15-20 point “ball” around his hand. In this manner he would have prevented Morgue from being able to remove his glove or touch someone with the death touch and hopefully the 750-1000 pound inanimate construct on his hand would have weighed him down, preventing him from moving, and allowed his teammates to take him out easier. However, if he had enhanced strength he didn’t want to give Morgue the additional brawling weapon to swing around and use against his teammates in attacking them. At this point, Kirk would hold off this form of attack since he doesn’t know for sure, and feels it likely that he might have enhanced strength as another power to go along with his death touch.

For my own info, if Kirk formed an animate construct in the same way around Morgue’s hand, could he use it to “hold” him in that spot in a similar manner? (so at to limit his mobility and prevent him from swinging it around)

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Inhuman:
btw jic I havent said it before thanks for all the friendly welcome, it almost makes up for leading right into a fight with major campaign baddies as a first level character!!! :) OKies im sending this out to all of you guys, but these questions are just so I can get a better handle on the campaign, some of the questions may shed light on things you haven't really considered as of yet, but our Editor Extraordinaire is probably best equipped to answer them. In the world history it was stated that technology now is behind what it was before the campaign reset of the FF. Does his mean that Tommyguns are respectible/decently effective weapons still, or is it just archaic weaponry suitable to the gangsters of thier day? Are Aquons people Pacific, Atlantic, somewhere else (or even migratory)? Who are the starfish people Stephane mentioned (if I have even heard of them)?

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OOC GM Replies:
Q: As Kirk greeted the newcomer, he felt something familiar about him. His memory raced through his own knowledge of hero lore and his recent review of CHESS files with his new access about known activity… and he thought about their recent undersea adventure and the mysterious undersea adventurer, Aquon, as well as the alien Starfish-like creature they assisted to escape from the control of Swastika … did this provide any further insight into this familiar feeling?
A: Yes.

Q: Did Kirk feel Inhuman was somehow related to either the apparent undersea race of Aquon or the alien Starfish?
A: The Star Giant!!!! Texture and coloring of the skin as well as something else that Kirk can't quite place!

Q: As they reviewed the CHESS records about the undead encounters and Swastika’s name came up, with his recent resurgence, as well as Morgue’s having been captive by him, Kirk tried to recall the facts of the case as he knew them (if he knew that case) and exactly how Swastika did it and what source of power he used
A: With the loss of the Star Giant and all the equiement in the Body Bank Chamber, it is impossible to know for certain how Dr. Swastika was able to transfer his terrible consciousness into the body of another human being! But it is not unheard of. CHESS Files cross reference to other extranormals who could control the minds of others!

Q:“Just to clarify since it seems you’re requiring some quite morbid actions on our part, does this mean that if we are in battle with these things and we put them down in some other way and damage them enough to take them out of the conflict, that unless we chop off their heads, incinerate them to nonexistence, or rip out their hearts, they are going to just get right up again?”
A: "Don't really know. Just reading the file to you," said Ajay.

Q: Just to clarify and since Kirk would know pretty quickly with his energy sense; given the inability of their communicators to work down here previously, what allowed the access to the TV and radio – were there cable lines run down here, some kind of signal boosters or what?
A: They are tapping into a juryrigged cable for the TV. The radio has no cable. Maybe they are using its CD player.

Q: For my own info, if Kirk formed an animate construct in the same way around Morgue’s hand, could he use it to “hold” him in that spot in a similar manner? (so at to limit his mobility and prevent him from swinging it around)
A: I'll stick with the V&V rules of 50 lbs. of weight per creation point. So if Morgue could lift the thing, he could move. Movement while carrying stuff is reduced by a percentage = weight of cargo/full carrying capacity.
FYI: Targetting a specific body part (head, hands, etc) requires a "special attack." This means, the player must roll the dice to hit, and BOTH rolls must succeed or else the entire effort misses.

Inhuman:
Q: In the world history it was stated that technology now is behind what it was before the campaign reset of the FF. Does his mean that Tommyguns are respectible/decently effective weapons still, or is it just archaic weaponry suitable to the gangsters of thier day?
A: Tommyguns are modern day weapons still being manufactured and updated over the years.
The universe's tech level is slightly lower in some areas but the same or even higher in others. Like Bruce Timm's Batman Animated, it's a world where cell phones and transatlantic passenger zeppelins coexist.
Why?
Game reason: The retroactive erasing of the 175 year-old machiavellian manipulator and Freedom Force arch-nemesis, Dr. Change, from Time itself.
Not to mention the impact that superbeings and alien invasions have had on the tech level.

Real World reason: Your GM loves silver age Marvel comics AND 1930's pulp fiction. Why must he choose between them?!

Q: Are Aquons people Pacific, Atlantic, somewhere else (or even migratory)?
A: Inhuman does not know for sure. He has no security clearance (yet) and the existance of an undersea race of humanoids or the Star Giant is not public knowledge.

Thanks, Stephane for answering on the Star Giant. Inhuman did read of the Star Giant during his Morgue briefing because Morgue had been a captive of Dr. Swastika onboard the Star Giant. The Star Giant first appears in Issue 13!
The Star Giant that held Dr. Swastika's Body bank, where Aquon was a prisoner, was in the Atlantic. But Inhuman met him in the Pacific, less than a week ago. Inhuman had been in the CHESS extranormal program for half a week and was thrown into active duty early when Forester requested backup here in Lonely Town's sewers/catacombs.

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Sentinel:
Clear on all Jeff, other than on this point I was actually asking about the Liberty League's battle against Swastika when he made the undead Nazis zombies and if we knew how he did it, what worked against them, or anything along those lines.

Thanks.

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OOC GM Replies:
Seth wrote: "I was actually asking about the Liberty League's battle against Swastika when he made the undead Nazis zombies and if we knew how he did it, what worked against them, or anything along those lines."

GM: Sorry. Dr. Swastika did it through delving into Things Man Was Not Meant To Know, of course! It was likely some kind of science-based wave transmission because when the League blew up his lab, the Battalion of the Damned fell to their knees and crumbled away!
They had no weaknesses that correspond to folklore of zombies or revenants. They seemed to be corpses reanimated through electricity and likely controlled via radio waves to implants in their wretched skulls!
Best,
Jeff

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Sentinel:
OOC: Now that sounds like one grand golden age adventure!
But none of it applies to help our current situation ...