The Lost Lands, Antarctica. Morning.
Mother Russia looked at the Temple. “Echo,” she said quietly in Russian. “So young.”
Then, in English: “Americans, we accept your offer to end hostilities. There is no profit in this fight. Let us retreat from this place.”
Mother Russia apparently trusted that Sentinel and Forester hadn’t harmed Echo in the Temple!
Accelerator agreed quickly, “I’ll lead the way!” ZOOM!! The battered bullet hurtled off due North without much consideration that others were following him.
Symbiote reached down and touched the unconscious form of Siberian and discovered his powers could not be simulated b the Harper Harness! But the sharp eyed scientist did detect that Siberian was wearing devices on his person and that he was not incapacitated (out of hit points and not waking up for hours) but merely unconscious (missed a % save against damage inflicted and could rouse any minute!)
“You!” yelled Mother Russia. What are you doing!” The Soviet caught Symbiote with his hand on Siberian’s bare arm, having rolled up a sleeve to make contact with skin.
(ooc: Reply/response, Symbiote?)
After Symbiote made his reply…
Symbiote and Talon took to the air on black feathered wings! They soared due east to cut off the trio of Tyrannosaurs that were headed to the Temple location! Their tactic was to slow the approach of the evolved Tyrant Lizards so that the others could escape and regroup!
Avatar followed Accelerator, running interference for the teams with his mystical shield! The scion of Olympus deftly leapt over a patch of quicksand and was off, racing through the flora.
Soldier helped the injured Polar Bear move out! The patriotic pugilist could have lifted him, but he wouldn’t allow it. Instead, Soldier put a shoulder under the Bear’s armpit and helped him forward.
The kindness of a man garbed in stars and stripes was not lost on the big Russian mutant.
Clones bound the Bear’s wounds with copies of costumes, others absorbed their unconscious brother eerily, and one said to Mother Russia, “What about him?” indicating Siberian, whom three other Clones carried.
Mother Russia said, “He is your leader. Bring him.” Then the indestructible woman leapt up into the air, in the direction Accelerator had gone. Clone knew where they were headed.
Forester nocked his last Scent Arrow and fired it off in the jungle in the opposite direction they were headed. Then the skilled student of the occult looked one last time at the humming Temple before turning after Avatar and Accelerator! His camouflage ability made him hard to follow in nature.
Cosmonaut’s boot jets roared to life and he flew with the group, clearly monitoring the Americans.
Shatter propelled himself forward in a standing position, passing through all physical things: trees, ferns, boulders, vines, men. The world of matter did not concern him.
Lightning Strike scanned Nemesis’ lifeless form. “He’s more organic than electrical. This won’t work.”
Strike joined the extranormal exodus!
Sentinel accepted Manetti and Shelley into his energy sphere and flew in the direction of the metahuman migration! Nemesis’ signal broadcast still fouled his energy senses. But Forester’s words rang in his ears: "If Strike cannot read Nemesis's memory banks... perhaps you can, friend."
Manetti thanked Sentinel and reloaded a pistol battery as he watched the jungle speed below him.
Shelley smiled despite herself, “T Rexes! Can you believe it?! I wonder what they’ve evolved into?”
Meanwhile…
The Tyrannosaurs were sighted by Symbiote and Talon minutes from the Temple! It was like nothing they had ever seen before. Taller than a three storey building. Teeth like swords. The elongated skull of the Terrordactyls. Whip-fast lightning tails! They snuffed noisily and their sharp eyes scoured the area. Their growls and roars served as communication among them!
They were all under thick jungle foliage, which hampered the aerodynamics of the winged wonders. They tried to draw the ravaging reptiles away with hit and run nuisance tactics. Each hero scored hits in time, narrowly avoiding the savage jaws of their monstrous adversaries! But no dinosaur was felled.
Once the Tyrannosaur terrors knew they could not reach their flying foes, they ignored them and continued hunting their prey! And then they made time, powered by unexpected speed and a knowledge of the region that was chilling to watch.
Meanwhile…
Slingshot was last at the battle site. He backed out slowly, protecting the retreat. Waiting for the freakishly skulled T Rex things. As the big man withdrew, from the corner of his eye he detected movement from the doorway of that interdimensional hell temple. He didn’t linger to investigate.
Mother Russia looked at the Temple. “Echo,” she said quietly in Russian. “So young.”
Then, in English: “Americans, we accept your offer to end hostilities. There is no profit in this fight. Let us retreat from this place.”
Mother Russia apparently trusted that Sentinel and Forester hadn’t harmed Echo in the Temple!
Accelerator agreed quickly, “I’ll lead the way!” ZOOM!! The battered bullet hurtled off due North without much consideration that others were following him.
Symbiote reached down and touched the unconscious form of Siberian and discovered his powers could not be simulated b the Harper Harness! But the sharp eyed scientist did detect that Siberian was wearing devices on his person and that he was not incapacitated (out of hit points and not waking up for hours) but merely unconscious (missed a % save against damage inflicted and could rouse any minute!)
“You!” yelled Mother Russia. What are you doing!” The Soviet caught Symbiote with his hand on Siberian’s bare arm, having rolled up a sleeve to make contact with skin.
(ooc: Reply/response, Symbiote?)
After Symbiote made his reply…
Symbiote and Talon took to the air on black feathered wings! They soared due east to cut off the trio of Tyrannosaurs that were headed to the Temple location! Their tactic was to slow the approach of the evolved Tyrant Lizards so that the others could escape and regroup!
Avatar followed Accelerator, running interference for the teams with his mystical shield! The scion of Olympus deftly leapt over a patch of quicksand and was off, racing through the flora.
Soldier helped the injured Polar Bear move out! The patriotic pugilist could have lifted him, but he wouldn’t allow it. Instead, Soldier put a shoulder under the Bear’s armpit and helped him forward.
The kindness of a man garbed in stars and stripes was not lost on the big Russian mutant.
Clones bound the Bear’s wounds with copies of costumes, others absorbed their unconscious brother eerily, and one said to Mother Russia, “What about him?” indicating Siberian, whom three other Clones carried.
Mother Russia said, “He is your leader. Bring him.” Then the indestructible woman leapt up into the air, in the direction Accelerator had gone. Clone knew where they were headed.
Forester nocked his last Scent Arrow and fired it off in the jungle in the opposite direction they were headed. Then the skilled student of the occult looked one last time at the humming Temple before turning after Avatar and Accelerator! His camouflage ability made him hard to follow in nature.
Cosmonaut’s boot jets roared to life and he flew with the group, clearly monitoring the Americans.
Shatter propelled himself forward in a standing position, passing through all physical things: trees, ferns, boulders, vines, men. The world of matter did not concern him.
Lightning Strike scanned Nemesis’ lifeless form. “He’s more organic than electrical. This won’t work.”
Strike joined the extranormal exodus!
Sentinel accepted Manetti and Shelley into his energy sphere and flew in the direction of the metahuman migration! Nemesis’ signal broadcast still fouled his energy senses. But Forester’s words rang in his ears: "If Strike cannot read Nemesis's memory banks... perhaps you can, friend."
Manetti thanked Sentinel and reloaded a pistol battery as he watched the jungle speed below him.
Shelley smiled despite herself, “T Rexes! Can you believe it?! I wonder what they’ve evolved into?”
Meanwhile…
The Tyrannosaurs were sighted by Symbiote and Talon minutes from the Temple! It was like nothing they had ever seen before. Taller than a three storey building. Teeth like swords. The elongated skull of the Terrordactyls. Whip-fast lightning tails! They snuffed noisily and their sharp eyes scoured the area. Their growls and roars served as communication among them!
They were all under thick jungle foliage, which hampered the aerodynamics of the winged wonders. They tried to draw the ravaging reptiles away with hit and run nuisance tactics. Each hero scored hits in time, narrowly avoiding the savage jaws of their monstrous adversaries! But no dinosaur was felled.Once the Tyrannosaur terrors knew they could not reach their flying foes, they ignored them and continued hunting their prey! And then they made time, powered by unexpected speed and a knowledge of the region that was chilling to watch.
Meanwhile…
Slingshot was last at the battle site. He backed out slowly, protecting the retreat. Waiting for the freakishly skulled T Rex things. As the big man withdrew, from the corner of his eye he detected movement from the doorway of that interdimensional hell temple. He didn’t linger to investigate.
Not long from the temple site, trees crashed open around him and a Tyrannosaurus Maximus roared into view. RRAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!! Its breath was a charnel house. Its eyes, full of eager intelligence, found Slingshot and the thing came at him like a locomotive of teeth and muscle!
Slingshot, continued backwards and stretched a massive fist at the thing’s head! SLAM!! A direct hit! The Paleolithic predator shook off the impact and charged again! RAAARRGGH!! The jaws caught Slingshot and closed violently!
(OOC: 16 points of damage! Between Invulnerability and rolling with damage, you only lose 2 hit points)
Symbiote and Talon burst into view, circling around a second lethal leviathan, their flight trajectories still hindered by the jungle canopy! The third Tyrannosaur, the injured one, had been lured off by Forester’s Scent Arrow!
Meanwhile…
Their rear flank protected, the rest of Vanguard and the Soviet Super Soldiers were almost at a full run, racing north across the Lost Lands! They flew from the jungle canopy into a field of tall green grass beneath a white mist sky. A majestic waterfall from a dizzying cliff was visible to the west. The pool it formed attracted a herd of Sauropods. Terrordactyls to the far southeast.
In the far distance Vanguard saw Accelerator and Mother Russia’s destination: their jet aircraft.
Parked in a clearing and covered with brush, it was Vanguard’s only known way out of Antarctica!
To be continued in Vanguard: Issue 98: A Deadly Détente!
------------------------------------
OOC: Actions everyone. Please let me know what your plans are for the next few minutes. Thanks!
Current Conditions:
Avatar: Hit Points: 40, Power Points: 50, Manifestation: Hestia: Shield, -4 to be hit
Forester: Hit Points: 23, Power Points: 55, Arrows Used: Parachute, Scent, Sonic, Acid, Flare, Evading,
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 25, Power Points: 47
Sentinel: Hit Points: 18, Power Points: 42, Creation Points: 84, Shields: 84%
Slingshot: Hit Points: 48, Power Points: 62, Invulnerability: 0
Soldier: Hit Points: 43, Power Points: 70, Invulnerability: 8
Symbiote: Hit Points: 51, Power Points: 74, Charges: 11, Copied Talon: S:20 E:27 A:24 I:25 C:13
Talon: Hit Points: 28, Power Points: 65
Clone: Hit Points: 1 each, Power Points: 25 each, Total Bodies: 8.
------------------------------------
Clone:
As we board the aircraft, two of the Clones will attempt to secure Siberian (rope, zip ties, or whatever is handy ). Two of the main reasons they want to secure him are - 1. If he should awake at an awkward moment ( middle of a T-Rex fight for example ) he could make a sticky situation even worse, 2. He may not know that The American and Russian teams have; for the time being, joined forces and may attempt to re-start the fighting.
Assuming this is a military aircraft - I'm hoping there might be a small cache of weapons or arms locker aboard - if so the remaining Clones will arm themselves and establish a defensive perimeter around the craft until its time to take off ( I'm assuming we're taking off since we a pack of hungry T-Rex's and some sortt of H.P. Lovecraft style critter creep'n around look'n for us ). If possible they will try to stay relatively close to one another - no more then ten or fifteen feet ( less if tactically possible ) - they want to be able to quickly re-absorb back into one Clone right before take-off ( so that their combined weight doesn't prevent the aircraft from getting off the ground).
. . . the group of peace keepers have now become an army ;)
Talk To You All Soon,
-Kev
------------------------------------
Soldier:
Quick Question. Even though I'm helping Siberia along, is there a small tree or something handy I can toss at our pursuers, to help slow them down a bit? I'm all for putting the smack down on the Dino's but Soldier's primary concern would be getting the wounded to safety, and to do that we need to put some distance between us and them.
------------------------------------
GM Replies to Clone:
There is a weapons locker onboard the Soviet Star (the team's jet aircraft).
In it is one Makarov Pulse Pistol per Soviet Super Soldier on the mission, or eight pistols. These energy weapons attack as better of Light or HTH.
GM Replies to Soldier:
Yes. Sorry I missed that. Soldier can push down a small tree to add problems to pursuers.
Polar Bear will press on while you do that, and then you can catch up with him.
Best,
Jeff
------------------------------------
Soldier:
In that case Solider says.IC: "Keep moving, I'm going to try to slow them down."He'll then smash a tree, and throw it in there path. If possible, He'll try to draw their attention toward him, and away from the wounded.
------------------------------------
Symbiote:
“You!” yelled Mother Russia. What are you doing!” The Soviet caught Symbiote with his hand on Siberian’s bare arm, having rolled up a sleeve to make contact with skin.
Symbiote stands up over the unconscious Siberian and looks the Muscled Marxist in the eye. "I was attempting to copy his powers to use them against the dinosaurs--they're cold blooded, might've been able to stun them or immobilize them," Hal says matter of factly. He figures the truth will serve as well as any deception at this point. "Unfortunately, his abilities are derived from a technological device of some sort, I can't duplicate them." He pauses, and then says, in a very measured, clear tone. "I usually ask for permission before doing it, but I tend to make an exception for people who have tried to freeze me alive and threatened to take me to their homeland so they can force my secrets from my mind." Symbiote then flies off to engage the Tyrannosaurs before Mother Russia can engage him in the fine points of metahuman ethics.
Once Symbiote and Talon have found the Tyrannosaurs and Slingshot, Hal will continue attacking them with wolf-pack tactics, working especially to hit them from the rear of the skull (he figures their oversized craniums probably create a wide blind spot). He'll work with his teammates to lure the creatures away from the Soviet aircraft. Once they seem to be sufficiently drawn away Hal proposes to pick up Slingshot and to fly back to rejoin the others.
Viva Vanguard,
Greg
------------------------------------
Talon:
Talon will direct his attacks at the Tyrannosaurus that scored the hit on Slingshot. If he needs to land and direct his attacks to areas of the dinosaurs body that will do the most damage, he will do so. He will try and use his agility with short bursts of lift from his wings to avoid the potential tail-whip attacks from the dinosaur that he is attacking and to position himself away from possible attack by the other predator.
Viva Vanguard,
Denny
------------------------------------
Sentinel:
But Forester’s words rang in his ears: "If Strike cannot read Nemesis's memory banks... perhaps you can, friend."
Once clear of the current threats Kirk will try to use his powers combining his energy perception and intuitiveness with computers, along with his recent mental discipline skills to see if a combination of any of these will work regarding Nemesis's memory banks.
If unsuccessful and they get the opportunity out of earshot of the Soviet Super Soldiers he would see if they could possibly brainstorm between Soldier, Strike, and Symbiote to perhaps make use of Soldier's nanotechnology to revive Nemesis in some form until they can get him to his regeneration chamber.
On the retreat, if Kirk engages any dinosaurs to protect himself and his passengers, he'll go with the classic giant boxing glove to the snout. (Just can't resist such a classic silver age image photo-op).
He will continue to work on integrating his understanding of this energy to read it better - and if he gets the opportunity on checking out the glyphs he took from the temple. If anyone else on the team has a means to copy the image or a good memory he'd try to arrange for them to see it (at this point he'd likely keep th at info from the Soviets unless he saw a clear advantage to sharing it - although they likely had ample opportunity to make copies themselves already).
If I missed anything or any response due anyone, please remind me. Work has been really busy again the last week or so, so sorry for the delayed reply and just the actions without the dialogue (although perhaps many would thank me for that :) ).
A good week to all.
Seth
------------------------------------
Slingshot:
[ooc]I believe that it's called: more of the same!If Scott is still stuck in the mouth of the T-Maximus (unsure), he's going to pull a King Kong move and open the mouth to the point that it rips. No "swallow whole" attack for me!If Scott's on the ground, then he's going to hit the T-Maximus in the head again.[/ooc]Slingshot is stuck in the monstrous animal's mouth and doesn't want to be lunch. He attempts to force the mouth of the beast wide open as wide as he can make it!
------------------------------------
Avatar:
When Avatar gets clear of any immediate danger, he'll drop the shield and manifest light control powers. With them, he'll attempt to blind any t-max within range with a directed beam of light (as opposed to some burst effect). If that doesn't work, he'll use light control as a damaging attack.
------------------------------------
Symbiote:
IC: After snapping at Mother Russia, Hal (presumably) notices the inert body of Nemesis being carried by Sentinel. He'd dearly love to to examine and, if at all possible, help revive the Cybernetic Superhero but knows he doesn't have the time--the T-Maxes are on the way. But he knows of somebody else who might be able help. He turns to sister...
"Well, Shelly, you're the one who did all that research on Nanite. When it comes to artificial people you're at least as much of an expert as me, if not more. Think you can take a crack at waking him up, or at least accessing his memory?" the Copying Crusader asks.
Without even waiting for an answer (because the dinosaurs aren't going to wait either), Symbiote launches himself into the air for the aforementioned actions against them.
/IC.
Viva Vanguard,
Greg
------------------------------------
Lightning Strike:
Seeing that other heroes are hanging back to try to take down a T-Rex or two, Strike will also blast one of the dinosaurs. He will try to hit one of the lead dinosaurs hoping to knock it down so that it may delay the others. With movement after the attack he will continue to the plane.
That's all for now.
Tony
------------------------------------
As we board the aircraft, two of the Clones will attempt to secure Siberian (rope, zip ties, or whatever is handy ). Two of the main reasons they want to secure him are - 1. If he should awake at an awkward moment ( middle of a T-Rex fight for example ) he could make a sticky situation even worse, 2. He may not know that The American and Russian teams have; for the time being, joined forces and may attempt to re-start the fighting.
Assuming this is a military aircraft - I'm hoping there might be a small cache of weapons or arms locker aboard - if so the remaining Clones will arm themselves and establish a defensive perimeter around the craft until its time to take off ( I'm assuming we're taking off since we a pack of hungry T-Rex's and some sortt of H.P. Lovecraft style critter creep'n around look'n for us ). If possible they will try to stay relatively close to one another - no more then ten or fifteen feet ( less if tactically possible ) - they want to be able to quickly re-absorb back into one Clone right before take-off ( so that their combined weight doesn't prevent the aircraft from getting off the ground).
. . . the group of peace keepers have now become an army ;)
Talk To You All Soon,
-Kev
------------------------------------
Soldier:
Quick Question. Even though I'm helping Siberia along, is there a small tree or something handy I can toss at our pursuers, to help slow them down a bit? I'm all for putting the smack down on the Dino's but Soldier's primary concern would be getting the wounded to safety, and to do that we need to put some distance between us and them.
------------------------------------
GM Replies to Clone:
There is a weapons locker onboard the Soviet Star (the team's jet aircraft).
In it is one Makarov Pulse Pistol per Soviet Super Soldier on the mission, or eight pistols. These energy weapons attack as better of Light or HTH.
GM Replies to Soldier:
Yes. Sorry I missed that. Soldier can push down a small tree to add problems to pursuers.
Polar Bear will press on while you do that, and then you can catch up with him.
Best,
Jeff
------------------------------------
Soldier:
In that case Solider says.IC: "Keep moving, I'm going to try to slow them down."He'll then smash a tree, and throw it in there path. If possible, He'll try to draw their attention toward him, and away from the wounded.
------------------------------------
Symbiote:
“You!” yelled Mother Russia. What are you doing!” The Soviet caught Symbiote with his hand on Siberian’s bare arm, having rolled up a sleeve to make contact with skin.
Symbiote stands up over the unconscious Siberian and looks the Muscled Marxist in the eye. "I was attempting to copy his powers to use them against the dinosaurs--they're cold blooded, might've been able to stun them or immobilize them," Hal says matter of factly. He figures the truth will serve as well as any deception at this point. "Unfortunately, his abilities are derived from a technological device of some sort, I can't duplicate them." He pauses, and then says, in a very measured, clear tone. "I usually ask for permission before doing it, but I tend to make an exception for people who have tried to freeze me alive and threatened to take me to their homeland so they can force my secrets from my mind." Symbiote then flies off to engage the Tyrannosaurs before Mother Russia can engage him in the fine points of metahuman ethics.
Once Symbiote and Talon have found the Tyrannosaurs and Slingshot, Hal will continue attacking them with wolf-pack tactics, working especially to hit them from the rear of the skull (he figures their oversized craniums probably create a wide blind spot). He'll work with his teammates to lure the creatures away from the Soviet aircraft. Once they seem to be sufficiently drawn away Hal proposes to pick up Slingshot and to fly back to rejoin the others.
Viva Vanguard,
Greg
------------------------------------
Talon:
Talon will direct his attacks at the Tyrannosaurus that scored the hit on Slingshot. If he needs to land and direct his attacks to areas of the dinosaurs body that will do the most damage, he will do so. He will try and use his agility with short bursts of lift from his wings to avoid the potential tail-whip attacks from the dinosaur that he is attacking and to position himself away from possible attack by the other predator.
Viva Vanguard,
Denny
------------------------------------
Sentinel:
But Forester’s words rang in his ears: "If Strike cannot read Nemesis's memory banks... perhaps you can, friend."
Once clear of the current threats Kirk will try to use his powers combining his energy perception and intuitiveness with computers, along with his recent mental discipline skills to see if a combination of any of these will work regarding Nemesis's memory banks.
If unsuccessful and they get the opportunity out of earshot of the Soviet Super Soldiers he would see if they could possibly brainstorm between Soldier, Strike, and Symbiote to perhaps make use of Soldier's nanotechnology to revive Nemesis in some form until they can get him to his regeneration chamber.
On the retreat, if Kirk engages any dinosaurs to protect himself and his passengers, he'll go with the classic giant boxing glove to the snout. (Just can't resist such a classic silver age image photo-op).
He will continue to work on integrating his understanding of this energy to read it better - and if he gets the opportunity on checking out the glyphs he took from the temple. If anyone else on the team has a means to copy the image or a good memory he'd try to arrange for them to see it (at this point he'd likely keep th at info from the Soviets unless he saw a clear advantage to sharing it - although they likely had ample opportunity to make copies themselves already).
If I missed anything or any response due anyone, please remind me. Work has been really busy again the last week or so, so sorry for the delayed reply and just the actions without the dialogue (although perhaps many would thank me for that :) ).
A good week to all.
Seth
------------------------------------
Slingshot:
[ooc]I believe that it's called: more of the same!If Scott is still stuck in the mouth of the T-Maximus (unsure), he's going to pull a King Kong move and open the mouth to the point that it rips. No "swallow whole" attack for me!If Scott's on the ground, then he's going to hit the T-Maximus in the head again.[/ooc]Slingshot is stuck in the monstrous animal's mouth and doesn't want to be lunch. He attempts to force the mouth of the beast wide open as wide as he can make it!
------------------------------------
Avatar:
When Avatar gets clear of any immediate danger, he'll drop the shield and manifest light control powers. With them, he'll attempt to blind any t-max within range with a directed beam of light (as opposed to some burst effect). If that doesn't work, he'll use light control as a damaging attack.
------------------------------------
Symbiote:
IC: After snapping at Mother Russia, Hal (presumably) notices the inert body of Nemesis being carried by Sentinel. He'd dearly love to to examine and, if at all possible, help revive the Cybernetic Superhero but knows he doesn't have the time--the T-Maxes are on the way. But he knows of somebody else who might be able help. He turns to sister...
"Well, Shelly, you're the one who did all that research on Nanite. When it comes to artificial people you're at least as much of an expert as me, if not more. Think you can take a crack at waking him up, or at least accessing his memory?" the Copying Crusader asks.
Without even waiting for an answer (because the dinosaurs aren't going to wait either), Symbiote launches himself into the air for the aforementioned actions against them.
/IC.
Viva Vanguard,
Greg
------------------------------------
Lightning Strike:
Seeing that other heroes are hanging back to try to take down a T-Rex or two, Strike will also blast one of the dinosaurs. He will try to hit one of the lead dinosaurs hoping to knock it down so that it may delay the others. With movement after the attack he will continue to the plane.
That's all for now.
Tony
------------------------------------
