Vanguard Roll Call!

Vanguard Roll Call!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Issue 61: When Wakes the Sleeper!

Special Giant Sized Annual #3
The top secret location of CHESS Castle, 30 miles north of New York City, beneath Ossining Penetentiary (aka, 'Sing Sing,' or 'going up the river.')

The thunderous hailstorm raged on as the super maximum security jailbreak continued!


In the prison yard…
Accelerator and Symbiote were still climbing higher into the cloud cover. “You’re in trouble now, sucker,” laughed the speed demon.

Symbiote whispered back to his entangled antagonist, "In case you hadn't noticed, Zippy, you're along with me for the ride. Pretty much anything that happens to me from this point happens to you too. Don't worry, I've got an idea that'll make it a real interesting experience for you."


Accelerator replied: “Whatever happens to me has to go through you first!”
Then he touched Symbiote again, releasing the last of his “stored” velocity.
ZOOOOOOOOMMM!!


Symbiote and Accelerator hurtled straight down. BOOOOMM! The two cratered the prison yard but not before crushing another unidentified extranormal convict under the 400 lb. rubber pinball. (OOC: 30 points of damage! Roll with 8. Take 22 hit points. You don’t fall unconscious on the % roll) “Speed kills, huh?” laughed Accelerator weakly.

Hyena lost sight of Kairos and reared around to face Forester, who had been bravely taunting the leering lycanthrope, using his own body as bait to delay the feral freak’s flight. This time the resolute ranger’s luck ran out. SLAAASSSH! (OOC: 15 points of damage! 6 to power. 9 to hits) “There it is!’ Hyena laughed. “Let’s hear more of your funny words, nature boy! Tell me ‘gain how you wanna help me!”

Gadget Girl got the fallen CHESS Knight’s jet boots off, modified, and on her feet. VROOOOOW! They fired up and the gizmo-loving gal was airborne. The wind and hail threw her off her path but she was heading over the wall!

Forester shouted over the storm: "You've lost your edge, Gadget Girl. One might even say you've gotten rusty." He fired a corrosive arrow at the ad hoc antagonist. Despite the powerful winds, the amazing archer’s aim was true! THUNK! SSSSsssssssss. The arrow struck her newly stolen left jet boot and its acidic compound started dissolving it! Smoke and sparks pouring from her one boot, Gadget Girl lost what little control she had and slammed into the ground hard.


“Damn!” she cursed as she squirmed out of the boots. “Give a girl a break, willya?”

Figment, the strange little man, did another strange little dance and sang:
“While wary, I weary. Don’t tarry, be not teary. Hullabaloo and pell mell. I bid thee fare unwell!”
With that, he folded in on himself like a non-Euclidean piece of origami and was gone!

Symbiote didn’t need a parachute anymore. But Accelerator was out of gas. Symbiote stepped on the Accelerator (sorry! Couldn’t resist) and ruthlessly strangled him into unconsciousness!

Singularity said, “That felt good. So many years without the use of all my capabilities. But no more.” The air around him moved again, space itself rippled and Singularity disappeared!

Inhuman lay paralyzed in the hailstorm. Jellyfish was not out of range yet! He found he could not activate Jellyfish’s powers by manipulating the water in her body. But due to the extreme levels of water in her form, he could primitively move her limbs like a puppet in a grotesque pantomime of human movement!

Jellyfish slapped Crab Man to get his attention, pointed wildly at Gadget Girl and then pulled her hand across her own neck in the “kill" signal. Then she tried to wrestle free from Crab Man’s arms.

Crab Man said, “Huh? What is it baby? Dat girl over there is boddering you? Is she what’s got you sick? Hold still,” he said getting a better grip on her, preventing her “escape.” The criminal crustacean stalked toward Gadget Girl. “Dis one? Dis one here, baby?” he asked tenderly.

“What?!” squeaked Gadget Girl, still rubbing her butt from her fall. “No wait no wait no wait no wai-” WHAAMM! Crab Man smashed a giant claw into the maiden of mecha. She was down and not moving.

Slingshot cursed the loss of the communicators. He yelled out to the friendlies close by, "Stay alert people, bogeys from the sky. The clouds are giving them cover! Stay Alert! We need to stop the flow of criminals. Anyone who thinks they can go down and do it, get to it fast. I'll try to hold the fort here." The heat and flames searing his flesh, Scott yelled at the crustacean villain. "Crabman! Stand down! I don't want to hurt Jellyfish. Stand down and stay put and I'll let you be."

Crab Man looked up from Gadget Girl, down at Jellyfish and back at Slingshot. “All right.”
Then: “Baby, wake up. Dat girl can’t hurt you no more.”

Black Ice fired ice from his hands! ZIIINNG! It formed an ice slick across the prison yard and the intemperate terrorist started “skating” toward the damaged section of the outer wall!

Slingshot saw Black Ice. The malleable man of might stretched his long arm out to envelope him. Black Ice had some effect that made him hard to place, like his namesake! But he was unaware of the giant black hand’s attack! Slingshot scooped him up and hurled him into the fire of a nearby ruptured gas main! FVWOOOOSSHHH! His icy covering melted but Ice was still moving!


Three more convicts emerged from the broken access building! Cockroach, Gator and Slugg! (see images at right) The terrible trio had been captured years ago by Freedom Forcers Paladin and Pulsar in their sewer lair.

Inhuman felt his overwhelming numbness subsiding. He struggled and stood up!

Meanwhile, in the prison’s electrical system…

Lightning Strike turned into electrical form and headed for the backup generators. Any one villain in Hotsleep might be too dangerous to stop. If all of them escaped, the consequences could be disastrous!

Strike saw that Elemento had been controlling the storm. Elemento had been an Intercrime thug but his infamously weak will (Reduced Charisma and Intelligence), despite his amazing array of powers, made him a likely stooge for any strong personality.

Strike found that the back up generators were somehow off line! He could not power them!!
Strike traced the circuits down to the Hotsleep cells. He found that it had been unpowered for minutes now! Strike’s only course of action was to power it himself! SHA-KOW! (OOC: Uses 40 power points to fuel Hotsleep sector, aka Sector 5. It will be enough to power the sector’s voracious energy needs for 40 minutes.)

Sector Five came back to life! Lights, air, security cameras, and some data access. From cyberspace, Strike does not understand what the Hotsleep process entails, but he was able to ascertain the identities of the prisoners in Hotsleep! He did not know all of them. They were:
-Prometheus: The S’Korian murderer of the original Paladin! This cosmic-powered alien killed Paladin at his own wedding, right in front of his bride, Venus!
-Biosorb: A creature than can absorb living bodies into his own!
-An Intelligent Tyrannosaurus of some kind!
-Negathos!
-Zeitgeist!
-Ravager!
-The Pendulum: the time traveling mastermind!
-Brainwasher!
-A prisoner known only as John Doe

Strike was right. If these beings gained their freedom, the results would be disastrous. This was likely the reason behind the failsafe mechanism he discovered: A tactical nuclear weapon! It would detonate should any two sleepers simultaneously awaken!
The Hotsleepers’ biological status was accessible and all remained in suspended animation.
All… save one!! (to be continued below!)
Meanwhile, in the impact crater! Agent Drake, Kairos and Sentinel descended into the smoking pit. They had left Elemento behind at the crater’s edge. “He’ll slow you down and divide your energy between protecting yourself and containing him,” Drake said as he unlimbered a high-powered flashlight from the network of pouches that webbed his combat uniform, revealing the fire blackened crater to be 100 feet deep. The sides were scorched, the generator disintegrated.

They could hear into the prison. Sounds of rioting. Prisoners fighting each other. Explosions. Yelling. CHESS Knight energy weapons. Near the bottom, they discovered a man made tunnel into the side wall of the pit, toward the prison! Steel and rock had been pushed aside. There were no markings from tools.

The tunnel opened onto a prison level whose walls were marked ‘Sector Five’! The lights were working! This level had power! The trio followed Kairos’ prison guard’s directions to the backup generator, passing by signs to an area called Hotsleep.

They found the backup generator room and that it held an auxiliary security center and three prison maintenance workers who sure were glad to see CHESS and Vanguard!
In no time the problem was explained: a cable as thick as a man is tall came undone from the quake tremors. The three workers couldn’t budge it, but together, all six could get the backup generator on line! As the heroes were struggling to move the great weight they thought they heard pounding but eventually it faded. With a mighty effort, the generator was working again!

From the auxiliary security center, they saw through the surviving security cameras that there was now power on every prison level! Rioting prisoners on level three stopped for a moment with the return of the lights. Two CHESS Knights on level four were rallying a group of prison guards who had holed up there. Prison security devices were activating. Drake broadcast across the PA: “Attention prisoners, this is CHESS and Vanguard! We have regained control of the prison! Stand down! This is your final warning!” It sounded believable.

Meanwhile, in the prison yard:
Perimeter flood lights came on. Drake’s voice was broadcast on the outdoor speakers. Then something happened near the smoking impact crater. A man shaped object leapt from the crater straight into the sky! It was grey and possibly seven feet tall. His coloring, skin and build reminded one of an elephant or a rhino. The powerful Pachyderm held a dark figure in his massive arms. Just as quickly as he appeared, he was gone in the low storm cloud cover!

Then something else happened! A dark circular shape appeared in the storm clouds where the Pachyderm has disappeared! Its size was difficult to gauge! It hovered lower and beams of light radiated out from its underside! The beams struck people and they began to ride up the light against gravity! Crab Man! Jellyfish! Hyena! Cockroach! Ratman! More! The pattern was clear! It was all of the convicts who were animal empowered! …except one! The unconscious Dr. Chiropterus was not among them. But Inhuman was!*

When the extranormals were aboard, the lights died and the ship quickly pulled back up into the storm and was gone from view!

Meanwhile, inside the prison’s electrical system…

Lightning Strike found the identity of the one missing Hotsleep prisoner: The Primate! The hyper-intelligent simian who had vowed to destroy humanity before humanity destroyed the Earth!

OOC: Actions?

*Aided by the ice and hail, Inhuman made his save between turns vs. Paralysis! He has time to do something before he is pulled into the ship and it takes off. He is no longer paralyzed but he is in the anti-gravity beam’s powerful grip! Let me know what you would like to try to do, Skip! Thanks.

Current Conditions:
Forester: Hit Points: 18 Power Points: 54
Inhuman: Hit Points: 25 Power Points: 51
Kairos: Hit Points: 42 Power Points: 71
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 40 Power Points: 21
Sentinel: Hit Points: 20 Power Points: 50 Creation Points: 100 Shields: 68
Slingshot: Hit Points: 33 Power Points: 71 Invulnerability: 8
Symbiote: Hit Points: 35 Power Points: 73 Invulnerability: 0 til Ish 62 Charges: 13


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Backup Feature!
A Freedom Force classic reprint** from 1993! AEGIS! For a United Europe!!

“Primate: noun1. (prī'māt') A mammal of the order Primates, which includes the anthropoids and prosimians, characterized by a large brain.2. an archbishop or bishop ranking first among the bishops of a province or country.3. Archaic. a chief or leader.

“A telling choice,” rasped Professor Fahrenheit, the brilliant leader of AEGIS.

“Silence,” commanded the Primate as he looked over his captives, all imprisoned in filthy animal cages:

-Professor Fahrenheit of Sweden! The ingenious master of ice!

-The Lion of England! The queen’s chosen champion!

-Oracle of Greece! The prescient priestess of power!

-Monolith of Germany! The obsidian titan or stone!

-Centurion of Italy! The supreme soldier!

-The Chevalier of France! The chivalric adventurer!

-Dr. Monster of Romania! The creature of myth and mystery!

“How the proud have been brought low. Soon you will understand how it feels to be a subject of scientific experimentation!” the Primate glared.

“Simon, please! I only ever wanted to help you! Look at all I’ve done for you!” pleaded Fahrenheit.

“Yes,” murmured the Primate. “And I intend to put it all to good use, my dear Professor. For the kindness you’ve extended me, you shall die first. Let it not be said that I am without mercy.”

The Primate was good to his word. In the coming days over half of AEGIS was killed by his black hand, but not before stopping his diabolical plan to devolve all of humanity into ape form! The European superteam captured him alive and disbanded shortly thereafter.


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Slingshot:
OOC: Assuming that the ship's last movement rate, does Scott thinks he's got a chance to catch a ride on it by Slingshotting to it?

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Forester:
Forester wants to use a cable arrow to tag along before the menagerie of captured extranormals disappear -- to investigate and help Inhuman escape. But the woodsman is too slow to follow Plan A.

Seeing that the still-unconscious bat-menace was left behind raises Forester's suspicions. He didn't expect the effects from the sonic attack to last this long.

"Holy disappearing acts, Dr. C.," Forester says to the seemingly unconscious bat-menace. "I wonder if you might be the key to what's going on."

"This might be redundant," he continues, as he fires a Tangler Arrow over the motionless opponent, "but I'm worried that you're playing opossum--and I can't risk you waking up and flying out of here."

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Symbiote:
OOC: Great issue as always...a couple of things...
1) Can I get a quick headcount of how many "hostiles" are up and within potential striking range?
2) Related: Is the "Animal Ark" (or whatever it is) gone, along with Inhuman? As in, out of range of any reasonable attack or action by the time I could take any actions?
3) Could you explain exactly how Slingshot's regeneration power works again? It may have been explained in detail during our downtime issue but I don't remember and I don't really have access to the archives from this computer. Seem to remember something about having to consume petroleum products to make it work...what does that mean, exactly? Do I have to literally chug down a quart of forty weight to activate it? (Stephane, maybe you could field this one while Jeff's out of town, if you'd be so kind).
Enjoy your vacation, looking forward to the saga continuing.
Greg

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Slingshot:
OOC: You need rubber/petroleum/plastic material to absorb while you regenerate. You will use an action per round (2 issues, I think) and you will regenerate your healing rate per round. Here's how I see it, but Jeff can correct me. You apply it as a bandaid/balm and the skin simply absorbs the material and closes wounds. Keep in mind that it doesn't work for heat/fire damage.

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GM Replies:
Slingshot: Hard to say. It went up into the clouds and out of sight.
Symbiote: Thanks.
1) See map. It's just Black Ice and two still unidentified convicts in the storm swept prison yard. Inside the prison, who knows??!
Well, okay, maybe Kairos and Sentinel know.
2) It went straight up into the clouds, out of sight. So range is hard to determine.
3) Thanks Stephane for explanation. I didn't see it as drinking the materials, but absorbing them.

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Inhuman:
OOC: Understood, just from a personal point of view standing up is a bad idea in Inhumans mind, he is operating just fine in the prone position, he sees no need to stand and make himself a target and when the 'abduction' occurs pretending to be paralysed may grant him an advantage in what he views as a terribly dangerous but brave situation he is willing to allow himself to be placed into.

Clarification: Inhuman will use some fragment of the water to operate the communicator, taking pictures, deactivating the tracking device, preventing reception of calls ect....

I was thinking of keeping in mind all of the dark things that has happened to Inhuman since he became a hero in the fore front of his mind. Berkley rejecting him as a professor, the loss of his scholarship, finding out about how the rest of thoe world looks at him now and rewiting some stuff in his head like having Kairos (and Aquon for that matter) be an insensitive jerk, Sentinel a puffed up popinjay, Symbiote, Agent Grey and Doc Rocket laughing up their collective sleeves at his fears of a sea invasion and his desires to return to normalcy. As well as having feelings of disdain and disgust from the others in the group all of this with the objective of concealing his feelings and making it more likely for him to not be discovered as a mole in the organization while he seeks to have opportunities to convert Crabman, Jellyfish and other sea life to the good guys.

I also plan on "returning" the communictor with a few pictures and a message in it about how I "found new friends (pics enclosed) who wouldn't treat me like a freak, and Kairos just because you are 'pretty' it doesnt make you good in combat, remember our last conversation where you were like a jerk? well here is what i really think about you and the other losers who can't work together for a goal... PHHHHHHHHHBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBTTTTTTTTT!!!! Vanguard? Ha! No-good is more like it."

If I get into combat on the ship (say Crabman attacks me) I intend to evade and use my water powers to see If I can't either get him to open a way to the outside (say by punching a hole in the ship) or destroy the engines/controls and crash the ship with all on board. Hopefully, before I have to abandon my communicator.
in one episode of Justice League Batman allows himself to be capured in order to keep the Joker from going hog wild. Similar ideas operating here.

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Symbiote:
OK, I guess I understand the regeneration thing. Jeff, please let me know if there's a rubber/plastic/petroleum source nearby I can use--a spilled puddle of gas that hasn't caught fire yet, the tires from a prisoner transport van, whatever it might be.

Would the absorbtion work something like a disintigration touch on petrolium based products? Ie he could destroy a plastic gun in order to heal himself?

I'll make mental note of it, but I'm not going to do it for a least a turn or two. Likewise, I'm absolutely itching to absorb Accelerator's powers, but that's going to have to wait as well (though I'll stand in place as best I can, over his unconscious body). Nope, my first priority is to help round up prisoners, at least the ones on the surface. Black Ice is in the fire, not about to reach in there. But I will attack whichever of the unidentified prisoners is nearest. Nothing fancy, just a rubberized fist launched at him or her from across the courtyard.
Viva Vanguard!!

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GM Replies:
Symbiote wrote: Jeff, please let me know if there's a rubber/plastic/petroleum source nearby I can use--a spilled puddle of gas that hasn't caught fire yet, the tires from a prisoner transport van, whatever it might be.

GM Reply: Some of the buildings have tar roofs. Vehicle tires. Plenty to work with here.

Symbiote wrote: Would the absorbtion work something like a disintigration touch on petrolium based products? Ie he could destroy a plastic gun in order to heal himself?

GM Reply: Yes. But if an opponent is holding the plastic gun, it’s a special attack to hit.

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Kairos:
Kairos will go ahead and leave everyone (techs, Drake, etc.) where they are after arranging a clear path for himself up and out of the prison levels the way that the bulk of the prisoners escaped. The goal is to aid any good guys who might need aiding and to mop up any resistance still given by the prisoners and to (finally) come up and out of the prison BEHIND any prisoners who might still be active.I believe that the incident is now largely over but I may be wrong. If anyone has a better solution for me, please pipe up.

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Sentinel:
OOC: Since I didn't get time to do my normal posting I'll just do a summary type reply in order of preference.
Kirk will continue to be alert to his energy sense to prevent sneak attack on his team from hostiles.
Kirk will reenergize his shields to full capacity (as close as he gets with current power points).
I'm assuming that communications have not yet been restored even though we have power since I don't believe you told us they were. Since Kirk doesn't know if its from a villain or from something installed in the complex communications system, Kirk will use his energy sense and computer skills to try to determine if he can find the source of the problem and if so, try to reestablish communications between Vanguard as well as the Castle and Chess.

Assuming the communication thing isn't needed or doesn't take up his turn, Kirk would try to use the security systems to ascertain the scope of things and determine what could next best be done to contain the convicts/where he could best use his skills/powers. If he can access further info or video feeds on who are what caused the damage/break-in and any Intel from the surveillance systems on that he would be interested in that too.

I realize that there isn't much time for him to check the systems, so it would all depend on what he 'hits' first but communications would be his first concern.

If it makes sense from what develops, Kirk would suggest to Drake that they need to continue to give the appearance that things are under control and the is insurrection is about shut down and that they have more manpower in place than actually exists. He would suggest that Drake continue to monitor the now running surveillance system and continue to make announcements indicating that things are under control and he could even intersperse legitimate orders in between the BS. (ie. sector five is now secured, continued efforts in sector six recommended, badass villain#1 has been resecured, etc, etc) (this made me think of Mars Attacks with the Martians blasting megaphones saying "We come in peace, do not run" as they destroyed everything in sight).

If during his searching the systems he or Drake finds an area where they can best assist, he would head there to help in his next turn.
Seth

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Slingshot:
Slingshot's getting worried. They are still coming and we are not able to stop the flow. Time to be nasty.

He focuses on Black Ice and with two huge mallets for fist, he give a one-two hit to the Frigid Villain.

OOC: Two Attacks to Black Ice.

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Lightning Strike:
Once the Hot Sleep was stabilized, Strike ascertained the most efficient course of action. Although Simian may be a villain to be reckoned with, Strike was in no shape to do so at the moment. His best course of action was to recharge with whatever excess electricity was available and then use movement to go through the electrical system to intercept Simian in his most likely course of escape.

If these take multiple actions, let me know and then I will adjust accordingly, although I need to recharge enough to have an effective attack so charging up is my first course of action (if Possible).

Sorry for being late,
Tony

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GM Replies:
While Inhuman and the rest of Vanguard are separated, I’ll stop public posting to the Vanguard Vault.
Stay Tuned!

Issue 60: Chaos at CHESS Castle!


The top secret location of CHESS Castle, 30 miles north of New York City, beneath Ossining Penetentiary (aka, 'Sing Sing,' or 'going up the river.')

Last Issue! Manetti yelled: “This is the best I can do!” and opened the manta craft’s side hatch as it hovered. The rain was louder. The yells of rioting prisoners in the surface buildings. Sirens. Gunfire. Thunder. Pure chaos.

Now! The sky darkened, artificially hurrying nightfall. Hail the size of golf balls fell. The temperature was plunging and the wind made standing still a challenge! Vanguard deployed into the mob of super villains escaping CHESS Castle!

Kairos got the layout of the sub-basement back-up generator from the rallying guards. “There are more prisoners down there… in Hotsleep Sector,” one added.

The avatar of antiquity vaguely recalled that years ago the US government wanted to place uncontainable extranormal convicts into cryogenic suspension for the duration of their sentences. The Supreme Court ruled against coldsleep, as it flatlined the prisoners, meeting the definition of murdering them. He didn’t know what hotsleep meant.

Kairos leapt out into the prison yard like a warrior borne. He muscled his way through the gale force winds and hail that assaulted the yard.

Half way to the crater he caught Hyena’s attention. Hyena had picked up Kairos’ scent when the wind shifted. He remembered him from the battle of Vanguard and Homicide for Hire. Kairos had leapt off the runaway 7 train into the feral freak’s chest (way back in Issue 42! –Ye Expositional Ed). Forester could wait, especially since he didn’t fight back. Hyena, soaking wet from the storm, lunged savagely at the evading Kairos and missed! “Dammit!”

An unidentified prisoner also took a swing at Kairos as he made his way through the chaotic gauntlet of weather and prisoners! Kairos evaded his fist, thought he might have been Goth, a west coast gang enforcer in for murder one, but he didn’t look back to confirm it. (Continued below)

Ratman looked out at the mess in the yard and knew he wanted no part of any of it, especially not superheroes. True to his namesake, the sneaky cowardly twerp turned tail and ran for it, scurrying on all fours north around the access building and away.

Forester nocked an arrow. Ratman had turned a corner out of sight. Even if he hadn’t, visibility was shot. And the darkness, wind, rain and hail would ruin his accuracy. He sent a flash arrow over the access building anyway into what he calculated would be Ratman’s path, hoping for the best. FASSSH!

Symbiote coiled and compressed his newly malleable body in a spring-like manner and launched himself up in an arc over Accelerator. Once in position, Hal spread his body wide as he descended upon the speed demon. Accelerator suddenly found he wasn’t being rained upon. He looked up… too late!

Symbiote fell on the surprised speedster, covering him completely (Didn’t see attack coming, his evasion doesn’t count). Symbiote began constricting him, trying to crush him into unconsciousness.

Accelerator was still wriggling. He touched Symbiote and sent the rubbery replicator flying. Symbiote heard muffled laughter. Speed + Rubber made for a wild combination. Symbiote was a 400 lb. ball that ricocheted around the yard at deadly velocities! CRASH! Symbiote rocketed into a guard tower! BOOM! He caroomed off a building toward the group of unidentified convicts! SLAMM!

Goth was flattened! CRUUNCH! (OOC: Line on map shows your path. Symbiote takes 30 points of damage! 8 off Invulnerability. 10 off power. 12 off hits! Accelerator takes kinetic damage equal to your hit point damage/2, but he cannot roll with it). More laughter from inside: “Had enough?” (continued below!)

Jellyfish touched an unidentified convict that got in her way. He locked up and fell over as she smiled.

Elemento was trapped, but not helpless. He looked through the translucent walls of his energy construct prison directly into Sentinel’s eyes. More lightning was summoned from above, crackling down white hot into Sentinel! SHA-KAKOOOOMM!(OOC: 18 more points to shields!) The intensity of the storm increased further!

Sentinel was struggling to hover in one place and not be swept away in the climate cataclysm. The heir of heroism closed his hand into a fist as his energy globe likewise closed onto Elemento, knocking him out! The storm was no longer being controlled but it did not weaken!
Lightning struck the ground near the prison yard! SHAKABOOOOM!
Sentinel began descending with his vanquished foe and saw the mayhem on the ground.

Lightning Strike struggled to remain standing in the gale force wind. He looked up at the electrical storm and thought he might help control it. But there were more pressing matters. The high voltage vigilante transformed himself into living lightning and entered the prison’s electrical system! SHAKOW! He was gone!
The unidentified convict that had emerged with Ratman was suddenly covered with ice! The translucent nature of his covering made him hard to see once he tore off his orange prison jumpsuit. He might have been Black Ice, a known anarchist terrorist!

Other unidentified convicts kept running, one leaping through the hole in the outer wall!

Slingshot shook concrete dust off his sore head and slungshot toward at Crab Man! SWOOOOSH! The malleable man of might landed, grabbed Crab Man and hurled him at a crowd of extranormal convicts! Jellyfish got out of the way. Figment laughed as Crab Man passed harmlessly through his holographic likeness and slammed into another unidentified convict! KARRASHHH! Crab Man crushed him into the mud! Later he would be identified as Ray Argo, an Intercrime goon who had returned to human shape again ten years after the startling transformation into the swamp creature known as Gangrene!

Crab Man untangled himself from the hapless Argo and charged through the storm at Slingshot! The two massive metahumans were about to be locked in a titanic struggle while…

Inhuman lay paralyzed in the dark electrical hailstorm and serenely pondered the appearance of his aquatic adversaries. He could not quite place their exact species but did hazard a guess that they seemed likely to be Atlantic spawned.
He realized that Jellyfish did not have tentacles. She touched him with her “hand.” Her touch left nothing on Inhuman’s person save an overwhelming paralysis. His hydro-sense was fouled by the torrential precipitation in the air.
He reached out his mind to seize control of the water that made up over 90% of Jellyfish’s body. And succeeded! She suddenly fell over, likewise paralyzed!

Crab Man saw his fallen partner and stopped charging Slingshot. Hail bouncing off his impenetrable carapace, he said: “What the hell? You allright, baby?” The crustacean criminal went to her, picked her up with surprising tenderness and carried her in his claw-like arms toward the hole in the outer wall.
Crab Man looked up into the sky and muttered something to himself that Slingshot overheard: “Where the hell are they?”

Soon Jellyfish would be out of range of Inhuman’s eerie powers!

Two more extranormals emerged from the broken access building:
Gadget Girl, an ingenious ingénue inventor who rushed out with a makeshift device assembled from parts she must have just recovered from the prison! She appeared to have tools. She ran to the fallen CHESS Knight and started cannibalizing his armor!
The other was the first convict to emerge wearing the markings of a Level Three prisoner. He remained perfectly still and everything around him moved.
The water in the air rippled, and so did the ground! An earthquake wave rolled out, knocking people off their feet! A gas main was torn open and the yard was exploding with fires! BOOOOMM!
He might have been Singularity, who could warp reality itself. (10 points of damage to Forester and Kairos. 20 to Symbiote and Slingshot who have a vulnerability to fire! Damage can be rolled with.) The Guards that Kairos had rallied saw this and fell back! The extranormal mayhem of the prison yard was too much for them!

Accelerator, still inside Symbiote’s elastic epidermis, pointed his finger upward, touching Symbiote again! The superhero simulator rocketed straight up! He was hurtling up 100 feet, 150 feet, 200! He passed Sentinel and kept flying straight up into the heart of the electrical storm! “You’re in trouble now, sucker!” laughed Accelerator.

Agent Drake and Kairos met at the edge of the impact crater. Agent Drake looked back at the perfect chaos of the storm, the escapees, the giant rubber pinball, the earthquake and resultant fires. He squinted up at the swirling tempest. “CHESS jets won’t make it through that.”

Then he looked down into the smoking pit. He unlimbered a high-powered flashlight from the network of pouches that webbed his combat uniform, revealing the fire blackened crater to be 100 feet deep. From here they could hear into the prison. Below were sounds of rioting. Prisoners fighting each other. Explosions. Yelling. CHESS Knight energy weapons.

OOC: Actions?


Current Conditions:
Forester: Hit Points: 27 Power Points: 61
Inhuman: Hit Points: 25 Power Points: 53 Note: Currently paralyzed!
Kairos: Hit Points: 42 Power Points: 72 Evasion: until first action in Issue 61
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 40 Power Points: 62
Sentinel: Hit Points: 20 Power Points: 51 Creation Points: 102 Shields: 68
Slingshot: Hit Points: 33 Power Points: 72 Invulnerability: 0 until Issue 61
Symbiote: Hit Points: 57 Power Points: 82 Invulnerability: 0 til Ish 62 Charges: 13
Inhuman does not make his save between turns vs. Paralysis!


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Symbiote:
OOC: Cool issue. Rock 'em, Sock 'em action. Before we go any further, however...does Accelerator have the power of flight that we know of? He's obviously sent me bouncing high and he's along for the ride, but can he fly under his own power (again, that we know of)?
Best regards,
Greg

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GM Reply:
Thanks.
Accelerator is not known to have the power of flight.

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Forester:
“You've lost your edge, Gadget Girl," Forester shouts. "One might even say you've gotten rusty." He fires a corrosive arrow at the ad hoc antagonist.

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Slingshot:
OOC: I'm willing to bet that he can "transfer" his acceleration just before he lands, although I must say that the first thing that I would have thought of would be just that.

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Kairos:
Kairos looks at Drake and asks, "Do you know the layout of the place? If so, let's get going."

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Symbiote:
OOC: OK, great. One more question (should've asked it earlier, but my head was still spinning from all the pulse-pounding action!): Are Accelerator and I still ascending? As in, are we still rocketing upward? Or have we reached our apogee--the point where gravity overcomes our momentum and we're holding weightless for a few seconds? Or have we already reached that pointed and started falling back to earth?
Let me know, and then I'll have a response.
Thanks,
Greg

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GM Replies:
Kairos looks at Drake and asks, "Do you know the layout of the place? If so, let's get going."

Drake uncoiled a thin line of rope and said bleakly: "Yeah... but I've never entered this way before."
OOC: Where would you like to go? Still attempting for Sub-Basement back up generator? Following sound of prisoners fighting? Of CHESS Knight energy weapons? Thanks.

Symbiote wrote: OK, great. One more question (should've asked it earlier, but my head was still spinning from all the pulse-pounding action!): Are Accelerator and I still ascending? As in, are we still rocketing upward? Or have we reached our apogee--the point where gravity overcomes our momentum and we're holding weightless for a few seconds? Or have we already reached that pointed and started falling back to earth?

GM Reply: Still ascending but starting to slow.

James wrote (privately): I replied before looking at the art and it's funny because Gadget Girl looks almost exactly as I had imagined. Here's something I'm curious about: are any/all of these escaping villains ones that you've used in your Freedom Force campaign before Vanguard formed?

GM Reply: Here are the villains who fought the FF in the original campaign:
Mother Russia (Soviet Super Soldiers)
Crab Man (Sinister Sea Squad)
Jellyfish (Sinister Sea Squad)
Smog (Blight, a team of anti-environment terrorists)
Elemento (Intercrime)
Ray Argo aka Gangrene (Intercrime)
Ratman (Destroyers, in a different incarnation)

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Inhuman:
OOC: Q: are my powers reactive or non reactive? IE like a rope (which will pull me along) or like Silly putty (which will snap and break?) Q:Is he supporting Jellyfish or constraining her? It sounds like he is doing the Creature from the Black Lagoon with her.
If not constrainment I'll use My attack to have her hands touch him in some likely weak spot (recalled from my visual of him when he [IIRC] leaned over me and suggested I join their side) disguised as a "seductive/gentle" move at first and see if i can activate her powers through my Hydro awareness/manipulation (I think I Should be able to sense this and do this because I allready have the water in my senses assuming it is some sort of chemical ability. Unless it is an energy attack then I probably won't be able to do so.) then use movement to pull her up and over him slinging her past/behind him and then head closer to me but not directly to me. If I cannot activate her powers though my manipulation and he is constraining her then I will have her slap him, turn her head away in apparent disgust Point Wildly at Gadget Girl, mime the "kill" signal (drawing her pointer finger across her throat from left to right) and then have it appear as if she is trying to struggle free. If I cannot activate her powers though my manipulation and he is not constraining her then I will have her slap him, turn her head away in apparent disgust Point Wildly at Gadget Girl, mime the "kill" signal (drawing her pointer finger across her throat from left to right) and then head back in my range perhaps swinging threateningly at other criminals.

Note: this does hinge upon my paralysis type power being a grab like attack and enabling me to manipulate my targets after they have been paralysed. I certainly hope I can! But if you Don't see it this way then I will have to come up with something else. Inhuman lay there apparently helpless as he struggled to do more with much less than he wanted to have. Oh well he thought, Ice can be used to prevent the spread of the reaction to jellyfish stings if there is no baking soda paste to be applied. Inhuman smiled at the hailstorm to the best of his ability as he saw a myriad of ways for the Aquatic Assailant to turn this Calamitus Cacophony to his advantage. Perhaps, he thought, I can manipulate this fight another way.... If they get out of my reach before I can perform the listed actions or my HK (Hydro-Kinisis) is not usable as outlined above then i will grab nearby water as stated previously then move closer to GG (Gadget Girl).

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Symbiote:
GM Reply: Still ascending but starting to slow.
Perfect. Just what I needed /OOC):

IC: “You're in trouble now, sucker!” laughed Accelerator.
Symbiote whispered back to his entangled antagonist. "In case you hadn't noticed, Zippy, you're along with me for the ride. Pretty much anything that happens to me from this point happens to you too. Don't worry, I've got an idea that'll make it a real interesting experience for you."

(OOC: My actions are based on what I certainly hope is a correct interpretation of Accelerator's powers. I'll keep constricting him for whatever damage I can inflict until we reach the apogee of our launch--the point where we have stopped moving upward but haven't yet started falling down. At this point, assuming Accelerator has to work up his own momentum before transferring it to another party--well, he'll be pretty much helpless. He'll have no personal momentum, no leverage, and nothing to run against even if he did have leverage.

At that moment I'll do a move I've seen Mr. Fantastic, Elongated Man and Elastigirl pull dozens of times--I'll form my body into a parachute, with my arms and legs forming the struts and my torso forming the canopy. My legs will be entangled around Accelerator's legs. My left arm will be around his biceps and torso and still constricting for damage. My right arm will be around his neck, still constricting for damage. The idea is to try to suffocate him into unconsciousness.

We'll presumably start falling to the ground--slowly, maybe a couple of miles per hour. That's not a lot of momentum for Accelerator to transfer to me, and even if he can, what's he going to do with it? Drive us horizontally or further back up into the atmosphere? I'll still be choking him. Try to drive us back down to the ground? I assume my canopy torso will provide resistance to help overcome that and, even if it doesn't, he'll be hitting the ground first.

If he goes unconscious I'll stop squeezing him. If he's still conscious when we hit the ground I'll envelope him again. Since his legs are entangled he hopefully won't be able to build up any movement to speak of and we'll just lie there in a heap until I've squeezed him off to slumberland.

Through all this I assume there's a chance we'll both get hit by a lightning bolt from the storm, but since there's nothing I can do about it I'm not going to worry about it either. /OOC).

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Sentinel:
As Elemento went unconscious Kirk took a moment to get his bearings on what was happening around him. He had hoped that with Elemento out of the game the storm would subside, but apparently it now just raged uncontrolled. "Well, better uncontrolled then serving the will of these rogues," he thought. “For whatever problems it causes our side, it should equally hinder their side now; a draw.”

He saw and felt the area, a few prone cons in the prison yard and more cons pouring out, with the worst yet to come. Things were proceeding exactly as to how he'd been concerned before they entered the fray. "This is useless ... it's like trying to prevent water damage from a leak by sopping up the exposed water, if you don't find out what's causing the water flow and stop it at the source you’re not preventing anything, only delaying it,” he thought.

Kirk saw Drake and Kairos at the crater, the source of the impact and the closest link to the direct physical cause of the current predicament, and he thought, “I should have thought of it sooner, that’s our way in and our quickest means to find out what is really happening here.”

Kirk knew that Strike had already dived into the situation alone as only he could to get to the heart of things. When Vanguard was discussing strategy he noted Strike’s usual silence and knew Strike said nothing because Strike figured what approach the team would take initially and he already knew what he was going to do. It was exactly what Kirk expected of him; the no-nonsense logical approach on his own and his low expectations of anyone listening to his reasoning.

With Elemento in tow, Kirk joined Drake and Kairos as they were about to descend on Drake’s rope. “I’d suggest lowering the line as a backup ‘just in case’ but I can get us down there quicker if you’d like. I’m going down to the generators to find out exactly what caused this mess and if I can do anything to assist to get them back online. My guess is that Strike is either there already or on his way in his own unique fashion … I hope so, since Symbiote is in the thick of things out there and he and Strike are our best bets on getting the generator up and running again.”

Kirk pointed to Elemento and looked at his teammates, “He’s got control and at least some form of generation of electricity so I thought he might be of some use with the generators, although we’d have to get him to cooperate. And I was concerned if he became conscious again he’d use the storm against our side up here. Should we take him in or leave him here?”

As they descend Kirk will try to pay keen attention to his energy senses to be sure that they aren’t attacked unawares being tuned in to energy forces (possible weapon attacks) and energy auras (beings they are about to encounter) and if they do tow Elemento down to making sure he doesn’t become conscious and attack them unawares.

OOC: Kirk would likely regenerate his shields to be best prepared for whatever they find below and to give them the quickest speed of descent possible, although I’d have hoped for them to absorb another attack of sorts before expending the energy, but it would seem prudent to make the move before encountering whatever lies below. Can I ask at this point, if Kirk used his action to ‘evade’ lowering his chances of being hit would it apply since we’re somewhat out of combat as we go down? Although I suppose he could ‘evade’ and then make his approach to them. I know in game terms evading makes it harder to hit him but can you help me practically here regarding the advantage to reforming the shields verses evading? Or if evading would really apply in his actions? (Jeff: Must be fun to bounce back and forth between those of us that are mostly clueless to the game rules verses those that are fully versed in them.)

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Lightning Strike:
Strike assessed the chaos above ground before making his decision to turn to electrical form and enter the Castle. He made the determination that although there were some formidable foes already making a break for it, none of them were supremely dangerous. He felt he had one choice and it better be a good one.

He decided to turn into electrical form and head for those backup generators. Any villain in hotsleep might be too dangerous to stop on their own. If all of them escaped the consequences could be disastrous.

His plan was to ensure that the back-up generators were still functioning and if not, see if they could be restarted using his own electrical energy. If they could not, he would trace the circuits down to the hotsleep cells and use his own electrical ability to keep these villains secure.

Finally, in the back of his mind he was trying to think of any weather control villains who may have a connection to known villains incarcerated at the Castle. This may help him prioritize who this jailbreak was orchestrated for.

That's all for now. I will attempt to reply more frequently.
Take it easy all,
Tony
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OOC GM Replies:
Hey,
Today marks the 3rd anniversary of this game.
I don't often get the chance to say it but thanks to each of you for playing! It's a pleasure to GM for you.
I might have the next ish be an Annual or a Giant Size Special but it would throw off the issue count. How did Stan and Jack handle it?!
Best,
Jeff

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Lightning Strike OOC:
Well, I am not the comic expert that some of us are but from what I remember, then Annual issues were generally outside the regular issue storylines and were taken as an opportunity to either write a one-shot storyline that was self contained or in the case of Marvel in the later days, introduce a new character for the purposes of test marketing that character for their own issue.

Of course, I would never assume that our GM would be so callous as to introduce a character just to advance sales. (or e-mails as the case me be)

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Inhuman:
OOC:Annuals were numbered outside of the regular spectrum, which makes it difficult for A-retentive
comic book filers like myself to properly place the product.

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Symbiote:
I always place my annuals behind the regular run in my longbox. Of course, Marvel also did "Giant-Sized Fill-In-The-Blank-Title" or "King-Sized Fill-In-The-Blank-Title" periodically, and has recently taken to doing so again with "The Hulk" (undoubtedly to cash in on the upcoming movie). Possibly some other titles as well, though "Hulk" and "Thor" are the only Marvel books I'm currently reading.

The hell of it is that those Annuals, Giant Sizeds and King Sizeds often had reprint material in the back as filler. Annoying if you already owned the comic they were reprinting, possibly interesting if you didn't. Maybe you could give us a "Best of" Liberty Legion or Freedom Force reprint, Jeff? Perhaps something to do with the Black Cat/Black Bat, since he's very much a part of our lives today?

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GM Replies:
Inhuman wrote: Q: are my powers reactive or non reactive? IE like a rope (which will pull me along) or like Silly putty (which will snap and break?) Q:Is he supporting Jellyfish or constraining her? It sounds like he is doing the Creature from the Black Lagoon with her.

GM Reply: Once the range is exceeded their effect ends. Crab Man is doing the Creature of the Black lagoon with her. Also, Inhuman has never tried to manipulate someone before with his “paralysis” ability, despite the extensive power testing he has undergone. He doesn’t know if it can be done!

Sentinel wrote:I know in game terms evading makes it harder to hit him but can you help me practically here regarding the advantage to reforming the shields verses evading? Or if evading would really apply in his actions?

GM Reply: You can evade in this situation as there is combat all around. Evading costs you action/attack and it gives you the tens digit of your current power as a negative to be hit. In your case right now, you would get a -5 to be hit on a d20, or a -25% to be hit (5 out of 20). But you have to be mobile and aware of the attack to gain the modifier. Evasion starts on your action phase and continues for this issue, all of the next and until your action phase on the third. (2 full issues). This is how speedsters like the Flash and super agile heroes like Spidey or Daredevil avoid being hit; they have so many actions per turn they don’t mind spending one in this way. Indestructible heroes like Green Lantern or Iron Man rarely evade because damage doesn’t affect them as much.

Recharging your shields would make you pretty indestructible for a while again. Either choice is legitimate.

Symbiote wrote: Maybe you could give us a "Best of" Liberty Legion or Freedom Force reprint, Jeff? Perhaps something to do with the Black Cat/Black Bat, since he's very much a part of our lives today?

GM Reply: Hmmm.

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Sentinel:
OOC: As I've said many times, I'm thrilled that we got a game going that we're all enjoying and happy that Kirk and friends are a part of my life ... and that I've gotten to interact with some new creative people to boot!

Thanks for a great ride Jeff, and everyone's input to the fun.

I like the idea of some "reprints" having missed out on the original Freedom Force playing, but that sounds like even more work than usual for our overworked editor/GM. Your call, although it would be fun.

Having more of a DC background to fall back on, special events were handled different ways at different times. DC did the annuals or specials and even more so in later years, but many times DC celebrated anniversaries without a special annual. Sometimes they would just do an giant-sized issue of the regular title (as you've done with Vanguard). However something that was done for the event was a big play-up on the cover about the "special anniversary". From memory Action #484 celebrated the 40th anniversary of Superman (Action#1 debuted 40 years earlier), in just the normal numbering and not even giant-sized, but had a special story (Superman takes a wife) ... this remains one of my favorite covers even now. There was a Superman issue (#411) that celebrated the 70th birthday and contributions to the comic world of Julius Schwartz (may the Schwartz be with you). Detective #627 was a giant-sized issue celebrating Batman's 600th appearance in Detective Comics. I'd guess there are others I don't remember.

FF/Vanguard didn't have an annual for our first or second anniversary ... and I like our numbering going up (ever looking for progress); I was happy that ye editor didn't restart our numbering when we went from Freedom Force to Vanguard like some of the other companies out there, so I'd vote for not having it separated.

But, hey, if you do want us to give you even more work than ever, how about pulling out the old pen and ink and doing up a genuine Vanguard "special cover" for the issue. I bet some of our new players don't even know what a talented artist you are! Of course, that might be so much work that you'd prefer to save it for our 5th or 10th anniversary!

Whatever you decide, I'm just happy to be part of the event. I can't believe we got one to "stick" this long, and I sure hope it continues.

Special thanks to you Jeff and to the rest of Team Vanguard!
Seth
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Slingshot: What's the intel we have on Singularity? What about black Ice? (I actually don't recall reading anything on him in the battle to date.
PS:I've stopped reading myself almost 10 years ago, but I'll concur with the other's suggestion.
Gratz to Jeff and all the players that made it this far. While I'm not part of the original players, it's been definitely fun.

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Kairos: Back-up generator is where I'd like to head.

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GM Replies:
Slingshot wrote: What's the intel we have on Singularity? What about Black Ice? (I actually don't recall reading anything on him in the battle to date.)

GM Reply: Part of the challenge of this combat is the limited intel due to the chaotic nature of the early moments of a major crisis (not to mention the arrival of new adversaries every issue!). You have no access to Ajay or CHESS due to the static field. So you are relying on memories of long-ago imprisoned extranormals.
Both extranormals were "ID'ed" only in Issue 60, and I quote: sa

"The unidentified convict that had emerged with Ratman was suddenly covered with ice! The translucent nature of his covering made him hard to see once he tore off his orange prison jumpsuit. He might have been Black Ice, a known anarchist terrorist.
Other unidentified convicts kept running, one leaping through the hole in the outer wall!"

"Two more extranormals emerged from the broken access building:
Gadget Girl, an ingenious ingénue inventor who rushed out with a makeshift device assembled from parts she must have just recovered from the prison! She appeared to have tools. She ran to the fallen
CHESS Knight and started cannibalizing his armor!

"The other was the first convict to emerge wearing the markings of a Level Three prisoner. He remained perfectly still and everything around him moved.. The water in the air rippled, and so did the ground! An earthquake wave rolled out, knocking people off their feet! A gas main was torn open and the yard was exploding with fires!
BOOOOMM! He might have been Singularity, who could warp reality itself."
But Slingy imagines there would be very complete data of all the prisoners somewhere inside CHESS Castle.
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Slingshot:
As what Crabman said sunk in, Slingshot cursed the loss of the communicators. He yells out to the friendlies close by," Stay alert people, bogeys from the sky. The clouds are giving them cover! Stay Alert! We need to stop the flow of criminals. Anyone who thinks they can go down and do it, get to it fast. I'll try to hold the fort here."

The heat and flames seared his flesh, Scott yelled at the crustacean villain. "Crabman! Stand down! I don't want to hurt Jellyfish. Stand down and stay put and I'll let you be."

[ooc: assuming that Crabman does not comply]
Slingshot looked at Crabman and shook his head. "So be it," he muttered under his breath. He lunged at Crabman wrapped his fingers around the behemoth and took two elongated steps and in a complete mockery of any NBA superstar, he dunks Crabman (and Jellyfish) into the crater.

[ooc: assuming that Crabman complies]
Slingshot looks around for a target. He's not sure that he could handle someone who has the power to warp reality itself, but he'll try. Here's to hoping he has a glass jaw.. Scott winds up a haymaker and lays it into Singularity.

[ooc: assuming that Singularity is not around by the time that I act]
Slingshot looks around for a target. He sees Black Ice. Let's hope he doesn't like fire as much as I do. He envelops the icy villain and hurls him at the fire coming out of the ruptured gas main.

Issue 59: Jailhouse Rocked!


The top secret location of CHESS Castle, 30 miles north of New York City

Last Issue! The Manta Craft was in the black smoke now. Rain came down hard. Wind. Lightning. Thunder. “Where do you want me to put this thing?!” yelled Larry Manetti. Prison yard sirens were audible. Men shouting. A loud explosion boomed. The sound of buildings collapsing, or maybe walls?!

The ship broke from the smoke on a pass over and got a visual. It was bad. The building that gave access to the underground prison was broken open like a fatal head wound. Men bled out. Dozens were visible with more coming, all in orange jumpsuits. They raced across the yard. Some were flying. There were two CHESS Knights down and not moving.
The impact crater was on the generators! They were burning the smoke plume. The access building burned too.
Through the craft’s cameras, from the CHESS Omni-Carrier, Ajay started identifying super-villains. Out of their costumes, he could only ID half.

Now! Wind and rain shook the Manta Craft as Manetti tried to keep it in the air. He struggled to get within the walls and hovering twenty feet from the ground. As he descended, suddenly all communications with CHESS went out! Vanguard’s communicators dropped out as well!
Lightning Strike said softly: “The work of an extranormal, somewhere down there.”
At this range they saw the impact had caused tremors that had rocked the prison structures. Some had partially collapsed. There was concrete rubble everywhere. But the outer walls still held.

"Larry may I borrow the external speakers?" Inhuman extends his hand to the pilot and awaits the operator’s transaction. He then uttered unintelligible sounds through the amplifier.

“Gimme that,” muttered Sam Drake as he grabbed the mic from Inhuman. ‘Attention! This is CHESS and Vanguard! Get face down on the ground NOW! This is your only warning!” A roar of defiance rose from the prisoners of the surface buildings. Six of the unidentified extranormal convicts in the yard got down, but no more. The rest continued racing for the walls! Jellyfish and Crab Man drifted west.

Manetti yelled: “This is the best I can do!” and opened the craft’s side hatch as it hovered. The rain was louder. The yells of rioting prisoners in the surface buildings. Sirens. Gunfire. Thunder. Pure chaos.

Drake turned to Vanguard. He had noted the tremor of fear that had rippled through them.
“Pull yourselves together,” he said as he checked his pistols. “You’re superheroes, remember?”

Kairos was first from the hatch. He landed in the yard and the weather was wild. He was instantly soaked. He ran to a guard tower that had movement within. Bursting inside, he found five lightly armed prison guards trying to rally their courage. Two tried their dead radios. Relief washed over them as they recognized the Soldier of Fortune itself. Kairos said: "Are there emergency generators or any other way to keep the rest of the population from escaping? We need to keep the bulk of them down below and not let them get out! These guys are minor compared to what's coming if we can't contain this!"

One said: “The backup generator didn’t kick in! Security is all down! That big impact must have knocked the generator off line! It’s in the sub-basement! You’ll never get through all those prisoners!”
“Wait!” said another. “That crater was a hundred feet deep if I’m a day. That could be the approach!”

Kairos subvocalized into his communicator, "Strike...can you power the prison with your personal energy? Is that something that … damn.” His communicator was dead from the localized static field!

Forester leapt from the Manta Craft into the yard! Visibility was almost nil! He had to move closer to the escaping prisoners to see them through the downpour. The arboreal archer fired a sonic arrow at the airborne Dr. Chiropterus! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! The mad biologist clutched his oversized bat ears and fell to the ground with a wet thump! He was still moving but disoriented! (OOC: Weakness to sonic attacks) Forester then called: "Hyena… you need our help~ You cannot run from the pack!"

Hyena heard Forester and loped toward him with an animal laugh. “You punks best be on your way. You’ve no idea what level of crap you’ve just stepped in. Sanctimonious bastard!” The feral freak suddenly and savagely clawed at Forester, but only managed to shred Forester’s cape.

Sam Drake leapt from the Manta Craft. He opened fire on Hyena with his energy pistol! BZAAT! BZAAT! The jovial jackal was hit but not seriously wounded. Drake moved toward the impact crater.

Symbiote saw he needed strength and range. He touched Slingshot and the Harper Harness activated! The powers felt different than last time. Then the black-skinned Hal leapt from the plane!
(OOC: 1) Chemical Powers: Rubber. Permanent. No ranged attack or Chemical Powers defense.
a) Stretching Powers: Maximum stretch: 186” (930 feet!) May form a 465-foot square, or a 233-foot cube! Minimum Stretch: 1/8” thick. Costs movement to stretch. Adds to movement rate, ‘slingshotting’ allows him to jump without a running start.
b) Invulnerability: 8 points of damage may be ignored per turn. Works against kinetic, energy and elemental attacks (not mental blasts or inhaled poison gas, for example.)
c) Natural Weaponry: +2 to hit with fists, from stretching. No damage increase.
2) Heightened Strength: +30 to Strength.
3) Regeneration: Slingshot can heal per turn. Up to one action may be spent per turn to regenerate, enabling Slingshot to regain his full Healing Rate in that phase. Slingshot cannot regenerate damage from fire or heat.
W1) Unusual Appearance: Skin is black and rubbery. Can’t pass for human easily. No secret ID.
W2) Minor Vulnerability: Takes double damage from fire and heat based attacks.
W3) Special Requirement: needs plastic/petroleum/rubber as a raw material to regenerate)
Hal looked up and saw…

Elemento flew up into the center of the storm beyond view! The weather wizard saw Sentinel following. SHA-KRAKABOOOM! Two lightning bolts pierced the heavens and struck Sentinel’s shields! (16 points!) They bounced off harmlessly and Elemento’s face fell! “What the-?” he moaned.

Sentinel’s ‘fiery’ shields extended an energy tendril that grew into a sphere that encapsulated Elemento! Inside, the elemental was savagely battered but not into unconsciousness!

Two unidentified extranormal convicts flew off over the walls, in different directions!

Lightning Strike leapt down from the Manta Craft and followed Symbiote’s suggestion. The electric avenger fired white hot bolts of lightning at the wet ground near a group of escaping convicts, letting the puddled rainwater carry his current! The prostrate Dr. Chiropterus cried out and twitched as he was electrocuted into unconsciousness! Accelerator yelped, “Hey! Watch it there, Sparky!” Two unidentified convicts also fell hard to the ground from the attack!

Mother Russia didn’t feel the current in the least, even as electricity smoked and popped near her feet. She looked up at the rain that fell on her face and smiled and cried. “At last. I am free once more!” (translated from Russian) She then leapt up into the sky and disappeared into the dark clouds!

Smog was distressed by the gale force winds. His voice was like a hundred smokestacks. “Free!... Now I may take my revenge upon this accursed world.” And he allowed himself to be pulled by the wind out across the river. He did not dissipate, but in time his thick smokey laugh did. “Hahahha ahhah haha!”

Triceratops charged the wall with his head and shoulders down. KER-RASH! The reinforced concrete was no match for the Jurassic juggernaut! The wall gave way and crumbled down! RRRRRMMBBBLLLL!

Slingshot said, "I will handle Triceratops" and with that, he slingshot himself at the enormous villain!
SHOOOM! The malleable man of might was hurtling directly at the prehistoric powerhouse and then unexpectedly sailed right through him and into the concrete prison wall! KER-RAASH!! (OOC: 14 points damage! 8 off Invulnerability, 6 off hits! Unable to roll with the damage due to the surprise!)

Triceratops swirled and disappeared! He was a hologram, an illusion! So was the hole he had seemingly put in the wall. But not the real hole that Slingshot had just unwittingly replaced it with!

Figment laughed, did a strange little jig and sang happily to Slingshot:
“Deceived! Destroyed! Oh feckless eyes! Be not disillusioned!... Try!”

Crab Man lifted a gigantic slab of concrete from the rubble and hurled it at the Manta Craft! It was 20 feet long and it tumbled end over end as its trajectory brought it sickeningly closer and closer! (OOC: Imagine the catapults at Minas Tirith in Return of the King!) It missed by an inch! Larry exhaled.

Inhuman was last from the Manta Craft. “Good luck!” Manetti yelled. “Send up a flare when you need me to come back!” he called as he closed the hatch and roared off before the lost control of the plane!
VROOOOOOOMM! The seaborne scientist ran through the downpour toward Crab Man and Jellyfish.

Jellyfish pre-empted his attack! Inhuman saw she was a translucent, protoplasmic organism in the shape of a beautiful woman. She lashed out at him suddenly and connected with her hand! Her bio-sting numbed Inhuman’s chest and the sensation spread! Inhuman fell over, momentarily paralyzed!
She laughed contentedly with her old team mate from the Sinister Sea Squadron.

Inhuman’s voice was slurred from paralysis as he spoke the language of the sea from the wet ground, trying to entice them to join him.

Crab Man thought about the offer and rumbled, “Nah. We got other plans, brother. Maybe you should be the one joinin’ us, Huh? Learned that lesson too late, huh guppy?” He laughed at his own joke. “Come on, baby,” he said to Jellyfish and the two continued to the hole in the wall where Slingshot lay!

Accelerator hurtled around the prison yard, gaining speed as he chuckled to himself. Then he stopped on a dime in front of Slingshot who had the misfortune of blocking the exit. “Hold that pose, kid,” Accelerator said as he touched Slingy’s elastic ebon epidermis. ZOOOOMMM! Impossibly, Slingshot flew off at incredible speeds across the prison yard! All of Accelerator’s previous momentum was somehow transferred to Slingshot with just a touch! He landed against the eastern wall with a crash! The sinister speedster smirked. “Get’s ‘em everytime!” (OOC: 12 points of damage. Slingy rolls with 8)

Two more extranormal criminals emerged from the quake-damaged access building! One was not immediately identified. The other was Ratman! He was not wearing his mechanical tail!

The chaos of the storm and the prison break was building!

OOC: Actions?!


Current Conditions:
Forester: Hit Points: 31 Power Points: 68
Inhuman: Hit Points: 25 Power Points: 59 Note: Currently paralyzed!
Kairos: Hit Points: 44 Power Points: 81 Evasion: until first action in Issue 61
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 40 Power Points: 70
Sentinel: Hit Points: 20 Power Points: 51 Creation Points: 102 Construct: 86
Slingshot: Hit Points: 45 Power Points: 81 Invulnerability: 0 until Issue 61
Symbiote: Hit Points: 80 Power Points: 102 Invulnerability: 8 Charges: 13

Inhuman does not make his save between turns vs. Paralysis!

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Forester:
"Don't be afraid, Hyena. This won't hurt," Forester says, hoping that provoking the feral foe will keep him from escaping.

The archer then fires a flare arrow at Ratman. If the unidentified extranormal is nearby, Forester will direct the arrow so that criminal also will be affected by the blinding flash.

OOC: During the momentary burst of light, does Forester see anything else unusual/noteworthy?

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Kairos:
"One said: “The backup generator didn’t kick in! Security is all down! That big impact must have knocked the generator off line! It’s in the sub-basement! You’ll never get through all those prisoners!”
“Wait!” said another. “That crater was a hundred feet deep if I’m a day. That could be the approach!”

Kairos nods and motions to the battle raging outside, "Vanguard and CHESS are on the scene, guys...it's only a matter of time until this situation is back to normal. I need you to concentrate on staying together and defending yourselves as well as helping if you can. Do any of you know the layout of the sub-basement? If so, tell me where I can find the backup generator."
OOC: Kairos will listen to instructions if anyone volunteers any and will then or will otherwise dash off across the yard toward the impact crater, evading if he must or attacking if he can't evade for some reason. Once reaching the crater, he'll look for a relatively safe way down or stand his ground near the lip of it if he's pursued. If he must fight at the edge of the crater, he'll attempt to let his foe's own momentum carry them into the crater if he can re-direct it (if said prospective foe is attempting a melee attack, anyway).

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Inhuman:
Presumably the Piscine Powerhouse is Paralysed in body, but not in mind Inhuman thinks 'well, no teamwork and some of us get our buts handed to us... '
He mulls over the new information.

OOC: If the paralysis affects the mind also Inhuman will be incapacitated for a while yet, however since his psionics is mental Inhuman will try to determine if Jellyfish is in front of Crabby or if she is behind or beside. If she is in front and in range he will attempt to paralyse her and hope Crabman runs her over.... turnabout is fair play :) If she is in range anyways he will probably paralyse her anyways, maybe Crabman will not be willing to leave her behind.
If they are not in range he will take the rainwater in the local area and while trying to keep the escapees grounded (by leaving their water alone) he will also temporarily insulate the others by draining water from near them.

If he feels he can make some reasonable attempt at Communicating with Lighting Strike Inhuman will suggest that "Perhaps he could find the source of the static and take it out or even drain it by recharging power from the ambient static it is putting in the air?"

OOC: Inhuman Would like to Identify Jellyfish & Crabmans Order as well as likely ocean of origin (Skill check) if possible I would like to estimate from a skill check (assuming these take no actions) the weight of Crabman and where and how many "tentacles" with Cnidocytes Jellyfish has. Inhuman would like to verify there are no Cnidocytes left on his skin.(medicine skill check) *In addition Inhuman will have his Hydration sense on "full blast" checking for illusions as well as invisible people.Should the terrible two be out of range for the paralysis attack Inhuman will use his attack action to grab all of the nearby water (up to 200 lbs , 100 for defense 100 for other uses assuming I can combine those as a single "grab") and proceed to "body surf" without standing up to within range of an attack to attempt to paralyse Jellyfish. Should I feel my throat begging to close up or my heart begin to falter I will use the controlled water to open my throat (making a 'ring' for beathing purposes) and if necessary take over blood flow if my heart is paralysed. i am prepared to surivive no mater what and continue battling on. Really OOC : If Inhuman is paralysed for a while he will probably be seen as Even Creepier than he allready is, barely able to groan, and supported only by his power he will probably look like a dead thing shambling around..... "Brains..... BRAiiins..... Need to use my Braaaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnnss....."

*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JellyfishAlso here is how the Cnidocytes work as well as some of the more deadly versions (death touch/poison for the box Jellyfish)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidocyte

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Symbiote:
(OOC: THAT'S Mother Russia?!? I visualized her as being more of a Babushka type, or maybe looking a little like that murderous nurse from Miller's "Born Again" run on Daredevil. Wow. Pity that she seems to have Hulk-jumped away. Although on second thought maybe not so bad, we've got enough on our hands).

IC: Hal looked around, this wasn't going the way he'd hoped. He still believed sealing the breached wall was the key to salvaging as much as possible of this situation. He also still wanted to copy Elemento's powers and use ice to close the gap (and, frankly, because his mix of powers sounded like a lot of fun to use) but it looked like it wouldn't be happening for a while. Sentinel seemed to have the Weather-Wielding Wag well in hand, but he looked to be too far away for Symbiote do much to help him and eventually copy the villain's powers. Besides, other situations needed his attention.

He looked askew at the conflict between Forester and Hyena. Having been on the receiving end of the Snickering Slayer's wrath, Hal seriously doubted that Forester's plan to somehow befriend and reform the killer would work. Still, he was willing to defer to the Fearless Fletcher and allow him time to try to persuade Hyena--at least until such time as Hyena drew real blood. If the murderous freak actually harmed Forester, however, Hal was determined to bounce his furry head all over the courtyard.

And Symbiote felt like he could literally do that! Between his own efforts in the gym and Slingshot's recently increased power, Hal felt like he could take on the world. Which was good, because for the moment it appeared the very world itself was aligned against him and his teammates...

So Hal decided to take out arguably one of the more dangerous opponents--Accelerator. The old military saying is that "speed kills." An opponent who can deal out damage and then zip away before facing retaliation could be a real problem. Hal had a plan...

The Copying Crusader will compress his body in a spring-like manner and then launch himself into the air, making an arc towards Accelerator. He hopes the Velocity Villain will be too occupied with events at eye level to be looking up much. Hal will then spread his body wide so that he falls over Accelerator, covering him completely and enveloping him. (OOC: Think of something like a Lurker Above from AD&D). Hal will then try to constrict the Mountebank of Momentum, squeezing him into unconsciousness. If Accelerator attempts his transferred inertia trick and tries to drive Hal into a wall--well, he's trapped inside Hal's grasp, he'll be taking the trip as well, and hopefully will receive some transferred damage too.
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Sentinel:
Drake turned to Vanguard. He had noted the tremor of fear that had rippled through them.
“Pull yourselves together,” he said as he checked his pistols. “You’re superheroes, remember?”
OOC: Jeff, can you let me know the tone of Drake’s remark here. Is he genuinely trying to encourage us and be helpful or just being sarcastic here? … and why do I get the feeling you’ll be saying ‘both’?

“Wait!” said another. “That crater was a hundred feet deep if I’m a day. That could be the approach!”

OOC: Well, duh, do I feel stupid not considering it before. Jeff, since getting the backup generators going was part of Kirk’s concern and suggestion from the beginning and since Kairos can’t let us know about it, with Kirk’s aerial view and seeing Drake and then Kairos heading in that direction I’d like to get Kirk there too.
It’s your call as to when and how quickly Kirk realizes this since he didn’t hear the Kairos info, but the general ‘issue’ did list Drake’s actions so Kirk would be aware of it.

Jeff: Can I continue my attack as outlined from the last turn here? It seems like I ‘have’ Elemento at this point. Might I continue with the forward motion, etc described last turn? Kirk would be hoping that perhaps he is the one causing the storms and his being forced out of the sky, etc might also help with that situation.

Depending on what happens here, I’d be good trying to go for the ‘display of power’ as outlined in my previous post if I still thought it might help things some with escaping prisoners, or I’d be happy pummeling Elemento towards the crater area since perhaps he could be ‘used’ in powering the backup generators somehow too (electric control/generation).

GM wrote: I owed you this from earlier: You asked why did Bat's hypnotic control over half of Vanguard end when it did (just as they entered Caine Citadel)?...g) It was all done so that you would think that the control was broken. But it wasn't. Black Bat still controls them.

I hadn’t actually thought of (g) which is a scary possibility, especially given Black Bat’s confessed control of Stentor over time and Stentor’s apparent ignorance of it. This gives even more reason to try to see if we can find a trail of what happened to Stentor. And if the Bat had that power twenty years ago, how powerful would his mental control be now? If we haven’t discussed this as a group (and we haven’t unless we retcon it), then we need to do so after this mission. It would seem we need to get a telepath to probe the minds of the heroes to see if they are still possibly under Bat’s dormant control. I guess you can put this on the back burner to be brought up at our next ‘down time’ issue since we’d have to get their reactions to the possibility, their reactions to submitting to mind probe, arranging for it to happen, etc... that is, if you want to maintain it a genuine threat and possibility, and right now we’re in more than enough trouble without getting into it.

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Slingshot:
OOC will be all I can come up with today. My computer is on the fritz and I won't be able to do more. I apologize to the group.. It's combat anyways.. ;)
Mother Russia is gone. Ratman, Accel is being dealt with. I can't touch Smog. That leaves Crabman, Jellyfish and Figment. So I'll go for the easy hit.I'll retry my previous move with Crabman and use him to knock out Jellyfish and anyone else in the way (figment or the new unknown guy).