Vanguard Vault, New York City, dawn
The Vanguard Vault was alive and trying to kill Vanguard!
Avatar, Clone, Sentinel, Symbiote and Manetti stood over Angel and Cosmonaut in the center of the training room when the lights activated and the training room sprung to life as it began an automated battle sequence that Vanguard had not seen before (imagine the X-Men’s Danger Room out of control!).
Two gun batteries erupted from floor hatches (SE and NE corners, both visible on the map). Each had four different gun barrels! BRAKKA BRAKKA BRAKKA! the first battery fired live rounds!
Clone fell on Angel to shield him with his two bodies! (PR: 2 each to hit the deck!) The clone on top was ridden with bullets, saving Angel, at a terrible cost! (18 points damage. 1 point to hits, 17 to Power)
The second battery was more exotic. VWOOOSHHH! A flame thrower targeted Avatar and missed!
VREET! VREET! Pulse beams strafed Sentinel’s energy shields! (10 points off shields)
mmmmBOOM! A sonic cannon blast deflected off Symbiote! (15 points. 8 off Invulnerability. 7 off Power)
ZING! An Ice blaster fired at Manetti and missed (Manetti is experienced and was evading last ish)
Sentinel, energy beams ricocheting off his shields, activated his communicator and broadcast to all his teammates, "It appears that the point of entry for the silent signal and the nexus of the power controlling the Vault is the computer lab. The Vault's attacks are the symptom - we need to get to the source to stop them. I'd suggest that all of us that can converge on the computer lab to stop this madness and finally get some answers."
VWOOSH! Then a robot appeared, lifted up fast from out of the floor, tearing through the trampoline that had been over its hatch (SW corner, trampoline is visible on map). It was an 8 foot tall, man-shaped terror, built to tear train locomotives in half with its massive steel hands. A hatch in the ceiling slid open!
Avatar, seeing the immediate threat as the ceiling hatch, fired beams of light from his hand at the emerging weapons array! KA-BLAST! The weapons system exploded overhead! The Apollonian avenger agreed with Sentinel’s counsel and with Siberian still over his shoulder, fled the training room, running the way they had entered. “This way, Vanguard!” he called, wishing he could get a moment to rest.
The Vanguard Vault was alive and trying to kill Vanguard!
Avatar, Clone, Sentinel, Symbiote and Manetti stood over Angel and Cosmonaut in the center of the training room when the lights activated and the training room sprung to life as it began an automated battle sequence that Vanguard had not seen before (imagine the X-Men’s Danger Room out of control!).
Two gun batteries erupted from floor hatches (SE and NE corners, both visible on the map). Each had four different gun barrels! BRAKKA BRAKKA BRAKKA! the first battery fired live rounds!
Clone fell on Angel to shield him with his two bodies! (PR: 2 each to hit the deck!) The clone on top was ridden with bullets, saving Angel, at a terrible cost! (18 points damage. 1 point to hits, 17 to Power)
The second battery was more exotic. VWOOOSHHH! A flame thrower targeted Avatar and missed!
VREET! VREET! Pulse beams strafed Sentinel’s energy shields! (10 points off shields)
mmmmBOOM! A sonic cannon blast deflected off Symbiote! (15 points. 8 off Invulnerability. 7 off Power)
ZING! An Ice blaster fired at Manetti and missed (Manetti is experienced and was evading last ish)
Sentinel, energy beams ricocheting off his shields, activated his communicator and broadcast to all his teammates, "It appears that the point of entry for the silent signal and the nexus of the power controlling the Vault is the computer lab. The Vault's attacks are the symptom - we need to get to the source to stop them. I'd suggest that all of us that can converge on the computer lab to stop this madness and finally get some answers."
VWOOSH! Then a robot appeared, lifted up fast from out of the floor, tearing through the trampoline that had been over its hatch (SW corner, trampoline is visible on map). It was an 8 foot tall, man-shaped terror, built to tear train locomotives in half with its massive steel hands. A hatch in the ceiling slid open!
Avatar, seeing the immediate threat as the ceiling hatch, fired beams of light from his hand at the emerging weapons array! KA-BLAST! The weapons system exploded overhead! The Apollonian avenger agreed with Sentinel’s counsel and with Siberian still over his shoulder, fled the training room, running the way they had entered. “This way, Vanguard!” he called, wishing he could get a moment to rest.
Symbiote, super scientist that he was, considered deactivating or reprogramming the training room, but given the inexplicable phenomena observed, he was inconclusive that it would succeed. So Hal resorted to simpler, more enjoyable methods. WHAM! The simulator of superpowers threw a haymaker at the giant robot with Mother Russia’s strength, knocking its head clean off! The robot fell forward, flat on its chest. KANG! Hal picked up Cosmonaut with one hand and followed Avatar out.
Clone absorbed the battered double that had acted as a living shield. He was down to one body now. He picked up Angel and noticed that the worker had been doing routine maintenance on the training room when he had passed out. Clone raced after Avatar and Symbiote!
Sentinel lifted the injured Manetti (I assume) and flew from the deadly machines of the training room, back down the NE stairwell toward the Computer Lab! (Evasion costs 2 PP)
“Never a dull moment with you guys,” Manetti smiled weakly. “Drop me at the Infirmary on your way. Please.”
Meanwhile, above them in the Manta Craft hangar, Slingshot and Shelley heard the engines of the Soviet Star firing up. There was no one inside it! The Star was rotating. If it fired its engines at the two, they would be cooked alive. If it rammed them and “jumped,” there was no telling what would happen!
The eastern wall hangar doors were still open and there was a fuel tank in the SE corner of the hangar!
Slingshot wasn’t changing his goal, hoping that his momentum and fluidity would get them through the hangar before the machines could react. His priority was to keep Shelley alive no matter what.
The elastic evader twisted and turned as he hurtled for the NE stairwell, the jet engines whining sickeningly behind him somewhere.
Then VROOOM! The jet engines reached emergency ignition! BOOM! The pilotless Soviet Star screamed forward at Slingshot and Shelley. SKRASH!! The jet slammed into the northern wall, barely missing Slingshot and Shelley as Scott leaped down the stairwell. KRASH! The Star burst through the wall and was airborne somewhere outside the Empire State Building! Bricks and steel rained down on the malleable man of might as he shielded Shelley. (20 points of damage! 8 Invulnerability, 8 power, 4 hits)
Scott could feel the speechless Shelley’s heart racing and he could hear the jet engines turning in the distance as he plummeted between the dark stair flights!
Meanwhile, Lightning Strike, Soldier, Mother Russia, Polar Bear and Caine saw data cables burst from the walls of their room and writhe and snap of their own volition, like fiber optic tentacles from some machine kraken trapped floors below.
Soldier warned his teammates that something was out in the hall and from there, pistons and air brakes hissed and roared like iron dragons. The hydraulic lifts and cranes of the eastern hangar were actually moving and coming for Vanguard! They were alive. They could “see.” Their machine movements were direct, plodding and relentless. Like the Manta Craft that “jumped” from Africa to Manhattan in seconds, these three mechanized monsters had likewise been inexplicably altered to serve their new purpose!
Then sounds of laser drills, sonic saws and power hammers came from the Mechanical Projects room!
Mother Russia said in English, “We must destroy the Nemesis weapon,” and she looked ready to do it.
Silas Caine cursed, “Damn you all. I wish you would have listened. Your folly is inexcusable when you consider the power each of you possesses. I pray we’re not too late.”
Strike said, "Obviously there is some truth to what Caine is telling us but as usual he holds back the critical information." The electric avenger spoke to the group near him. "Do not destroy Nemesis yet. He may still be the key to getting out of this alive. I am going to attempt to trace this to the source. I am not sure I can maintain my electrical integrity but I know we can't defeat every electrical device in the city. I would recommend going to the area with the least vulnerable electrical devices…”
With that, Strike assumes electrical form (probably never to be heard from again).
SHAKOW! Living lightning replaced the form of Lightning Strike and entered the Vault’s electrical system! His entry overloaded something and the tentacle cables fell dead! (OOC: Strike, see separate email.)
Soldier was the only member of Vanguard left in the room. It didn’t faze him. He said to Caine: "I'm seriously considering leaving you here, but I think we'd all be better off know exactly what it is you're up to." Then the star spangled super tried to grab Caine by the neck… and missed!
Soldier was an experienced hand to hand fighter. He didn’t telegraph his moves but it seemed like Caine predicted Soldier’s action and avoided it!
Caine said, “No need to revert to type, thinking with your fists. I’ll follow you voluntarily, ‘hero.’”
Soldier scanned the room with his bionic eyes’ thermal imager. He saw the automated assassins had heat signatures that no longer matched what they used to be. These machines had been changed.
The patriotic powerhouse pulled a fire extinguisher from the wall and hurled it at the ground in front of the marauding mechanisms. BOOM! Concussive force and white mist filled the hall, giving Soldier and Caine cover to break for the SE elevator shaft, Vanguard’s original path! The Soviets spoke to each other in Russian and did not follow immediately. Soldier found the elevator doors pried open, the shaft empty.
Meanwhile, down that elevator shaft, Talon saw the elevator car was hurtling up the shaft right at him! The avian antihero didn’t know if he would beat the elevator to the doors on 83, let alone have time to pry them open while balancing the stunned CHESS Rook he carried.
VROOOOOM! The industrial elevator car hurtled upward at him, rocketing like a one ton rollercoaster!
Talon executed an aerial full stop and reversal, flying back up the shaft! The athletic avian antihero raced the one ton elevator for his life! FWOOOOOSH! Losing a few of his feathers, Talon burst through the open elevator doors on the 85th floor, escaping the death trap with a second to spare! The elevator flew past 85 and crashed into the shaft’s ceiling! SMASH!! Debris rained down the now empty shaft!
Soldier and Talon were reunited outside the elevator, with Caine and the injured Rook in tow.
Soldier frowned at his position. The extinguisher mist was clearing and six mechanical murderers were advancing! They blocked the door to the room that still held the Soviets and Nemesis (room Q)!
CRASH! ZAP! Sounds of fighting could be heard above the machines, coming from within (room Q)!
Soldier and Talon could wade back in there, among the killer machines, or make a clean escape down the elevator shaft! The decision was easy (based on your prior orders). The two foils descended in the elevator shaft, to make for the Infirmary near the Electronics Lab. Talon flew, carrying the Rook. Soldier and Caine climbed down ladder rungs embedded in the shaft wall. The machines did not follow.
Vanguard raced through the Vault, destroying security cameras on sight, and thanking CHESS for not installing interior security weapons.
They reunited on the 82nd floor, except for Forester, Lightning Strike, Mother Russia and Polar Bear.
Slingshot and Shelley burst into the Electronics Lab (E-1 on the map). Nanite was gone from the table that had held her lifeless body for months. Doc Rocket and two scientists were on the floor nearby. Unconscious, breathing. They could not be roused.
Avatar, Clone, Sentinel, Soldier, Symbiote, Talon and Caine were in the Infirmary (room I on the map). Siberian and Cosmonaut were sedated. Angel and the CHESS Rook were laid on beds. Manetti opened a first aid kit. Avatar rested. Sentinel quickly scanned again. Caine was uncharacteristically silent.
Slingshot and Shelley came into the Infirmary with Doc Rocket and his two scientists. Soldier and Symbiote soon surmised that all base personnel had been electrocuted into unconsciousness!
Sentinel, Soldier and Shelley’s scanner placed the power nexus in the Computer Lab (Room C-1)
Then the Vault found them. The medical equipment in the Infirmary began transforming into automated assassins! Instead of laser saws and jet drills, these had hypodermic needles and X-Ray radiation!
Sentinel and Slingshot bolted for the Computer Lab (room C-1 on floor 82) each for his own reasons!
Inside they found bright white light and silence. The Vanguard Vault’s main computer room had been transformed. In its center was a circular portal with a ten foot diameter, fashioned from circuitry and wire. Inside the portal was shifting, swirling pixilated data static. The power of New York City was holding that portal open. A wind blew hard into the portal and crackling static electricity rode that wind.
Before the portal was a cathedral of metal and wires, with digital riverfalls of raw electricity.
Within that cyber-cathedral stood Nemesis and Nanite, a new Adam and Eve.
In the ceiling was a tunnel Nemesis must have burned through the walls to get here.
The artificial man and woman were touching hands and Sentinel and Soldier could detect an energy transfer and reaction that interacted with the portal! They broke the eerie silence with their dead, synthesized voices:
“I/we have waited an eternity for the inferior technology of the Earth to be sufficiently prepared. At long last, the invasion is ready. I/we shall herald in a restart of this database. The Entity is come. He/they shall delete the organic infestation. You/they shall be erased forever.”
Sentinel and Soldier detected another energy shift! Communicators and scanner were dead; all electrical devices wanted to leak energy into that hole.
Symbiote felt the Harper Harness draining (lose 7 charges so far, with more to come next ish).
Soldier’s sensors were out, as was his healing factor. He felt weakened! (Lose 30 Power Points; all the Power Points gained from Bionic stat increases. Hit point and stat increases are unaffected so far)
Even Sentinel felt his energy shields unable to resist that pull (lose 20 points of your shield)
The portal shifted too. In the center of it the undulating pixel data static formed a giant face. A sentient face of a digital being. It was moving toward Vanguard. He was about to pass through the portal and enter this world.
Actions?!
The patriotic powerhouse pulled a fire extinguisher from the wall and hurled it at the ground in front of the marauding mechanisms. BOOM! Concussive force and white mist filled the hall, giving Soldier and Caine cover to break for the SE elevator shaft, Vanguard’s original path! The Soviets spoke to each other in Russian and did not follow immediately. Soldier found the elevator doors pried open, the shaft empty.
Meanwhile, down that elevator shaft, Talon saw the elevator car was hurtling up the shaft right at him! The avian antihero didn’t know if he would beat the elevator to the doors on 83, let alone have time to pry them open while balancing the stunned CHESS Rook he carried.
VROOOOOM! The industrial elevator car hurtled upward at him, rocketing like a one ton rollercoaster!
Talon executed an aerial full stop and reversal, flying back up the shaft! The athletic avian antihero raced the one ton elevator for his life! FWOOOOOSH! Losing a few of his feathers, Talon burst through the open elevator doors on the 85th floor, escaping the death trap with a second to spare! The elevator flew past 85 and crashed into the shaft’s ceiling! SMASH!! Debris rained down the now empty shaft!
Soldier and Talon were reunited outside the elevator, with Caine and the injured Rook in tow.
Soldier frowned at his position. The extinguisher mist was clearing and six mechanical murderers were advancing! They blocked the door to the room that still held the Soviets and Nemesis (room Q)!
CRASH! ZAP! Sounds of fighting could be heard above the machines, coming from within (room Q)!
Soldier and Talon could wade back in there, among the killer machines, or make a clean escape down the elevator shaft! The decision was easy (based on your prior orders). The two foils descended in the elevator shaft, to make for the Infirmary near the Electronics Lab. Talon flew, carrying the Rook. Soldier and Caine climbed down ladder rungs embedded in the shaft wall. The machines did not follow.
Vanguard raced through the Vault, destroying security cameras on sight, and thanking CHESS for not installing interior security weapons.
They reunited on the 82nd floor, except for Forester, Lightning Strike, Mother Russia and Polar Bear.
Slingshot and Shelley burst into the Electronics Lab (E-1 on the map). Nanite was gone from the table that had held her lifeless body for months. Doc Rocket and two scientists were on the floor nearby. Unconscious, breathing. They could not be roused.
Avatar, Clone, Sentinel, Soldier, Symbiote, Talon and Caine were in the Infirmary (room I on the map). Siberian and Cosmonaut were sedated. Angel and the CHESS Rook were laid on beds. Manetti opened a first aid kit. Avatar rested. Sentinel quickly scanned again. Caine was uncharacteristically silent.
Slingshot and Shelley came into the Infirmary with Doc Rocket and his two scientists. Soldier and Symbiote soon surmised that all base personnel had been electrocuted into unconsciousness!
Sentinel, Soldier and Shelley’s scanner placed the power nexus in the Computer Lab (Room C-1)
Then the Vault found them. The medical equipment in the Infirmary began transforming into automated assassins! Instead of laser saws and jet drills, these had hypodermic needles and X-Ray radiation!
Sentinel and Slingshot bolted for the Computer Lab (room C-1 on floor 82) each for his own reasons!
Inside they found bright white light and silence. The Vanguard Vault’s main computer room had been transformed. In its center was a circular portal with a ten foot diameter, fashioned from circuitry and wire. Inside the portal was shifting, swirling pixilated data static. The power of New York City was holding that portal open. A wind blew hard into the portal and crackling static electricity rode that wind.
Before the portal was a cathedral of metal and wires, with digital riverfalls of raw electricity.
Within that cyber-cathedral stood Nemesis and Nanite, a new Adam and Eve.In the ceiling was a tunnel Nemesis must have burned through the walls to get here.
The artificial man and woman were touching hands and Sentinel and Soldier could detect an energy transfer and reaction that interacted with the portal! They broke the eerie silence with their dead, synthesized voices:
“I/we have waited an eternity for the inferior technology of the Earth to be sufficiently prepared. At long last, the invasion is ready. I/we shall herald in a restart of this database. The Entity is come. He/they shall delete the organic infestation. You/they shall be erased forever.”
Sentinel and Soldier detected another energy shift! Communicators and scanner were dead; all electrical devices wanted to leak energy into that hole.
Symbiote felt the Harper Harness draining (lose 7 charges so far, with more to come next ish).
Soldier’s sensors were out, as was his healing factor. He felt weakened! (Lose 30 Power Points; all the Power Points gained from Bionic stat increases. Hit point and stat increases are unaffected so far)
Even Sentinel felt his energy shields unable to resist that pull (lose 20 points of your shield)
The portal shifted too. In the center of it the undulating pixel data static formed a giant face. A sentient face of a digital being. It was moving toward Vanguard. He was about to pass through the portal and enter this world.
Actions?!
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Current Locations: (see map!)
Sentinel and Slingshot are in the Computer Lab with Nemesis and Nanite. Shelley is there too if Slingy carried her.
The rest of Vanguard are in the Computer Lab, or in the Infirmary, or somewhere between the two, player’s choice among those options.
Everyone in the infirmary can hear what’s just occurred in the Computer Lab, and is affected by it, as per the above.
If the Infirmary is emptied out, tell me your plans for the injured and the civilians! Leave them to the tender mercies of the mechanized marauders or bring them into the heart of a super-conflict?
Forester last reported that he was in the western hangar (85th floor, H-1.)
Lightning Strike, Mother Russia and Polar Bear are missing!
Current Conditions:
Avatar: Hit Points: 40, Power Points: 38, Manifestation: Apollo: Light Powers
Forester: Hit Points: 23, Power Points: 68, Arrows Used: Parachute, Scentx2, Sonic, Acid, Flare, Impact
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 25, Power Points: 60
Sentinel: Hit Points: 18, Power Points: 36, Creation Points: 72, Shields: 48%
Slingshot: Hit Points: 32, Power Points: 77, Invulnerability: 0 until Issue 105
Soldier: Hit Points: 39, Power Points: 42, Invulnerability: 8
Symbiote: Hit Points: 59, Power Points: 72, Charges: 3, Copied Mother Russia: S:60 E:22 A:18 I:25 C:13 Invul:0 til Issue 106
Talon: Hit Points: 28, Power Points: 74
Clone: Total Bodies: 1. Hit Points: 1, Power Points: 37, Total Hit Point Pool: 1
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GM, Private to Lightning Strike:
SHAKOW!
Living lightning replaced the form of Lightning Strike and entered the Vault’s electrical system! His entry overloaded something and the tentacle cables fell dead!
In cyberspace, Strike was being swept away in that raging surge of electrical power, like a child in a roaring flash flood! The city’s power was pouring into the Empire State Building, the center nexus of a massive power vortex! Strike varied his own electrical signature to slow his speed, with partial success.
Quickly, he detected the power was going to one purpose: to fuel a device that appeared to access another dimension! A portal!
He faintly detected another sentience in the data flood, in the direction of this other dimension!
Violently and inexorably, the cascade of awesome power was pulling Strike to the portal!
Actions?!
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Sentinel:
OOC: Hi everyone! Jeff, a great pulse-pounding issue!
IC:
Kirk felt like they just weren't moving fast enough; to his energy perceptions it was as if a chasm had opened up and the world was draining into it faster than he could follow... but he realized, he perceived, heading to the source was the body of Nemesis.
‘Avatar, Clone, Sentinel, Soldier, Symbiote, Talon and Caine were in the Infirmary (room I on the map). Siberian and Cosmonaut were sedated. Angel and the CHESS Rook were laid on beds. Manetti opened a first aid kit. Avatar rested. Sentinel quickly scanned again. Caine was uncharacteristically silent.’
(Finally, the Caine encounter)
As Kirk continued to read the energy flow to try to understand what was happening and how they could counter it, he was actually shocked to find Caine amidst their number. The man that he had never personally physically encountered before and had spent much of his recent time eluding a public pretense. The man he thought to have orchestrated the devastation of the personal life of his friend and fellow hero Lightning Strike... the man that flared the flames of public opinion against extranormals after the valiant sacrifice of his teammate Ghost ... the man that in an alternate future was prepared for and took the lead in the persecution and decimation of those with gifts... and now finally, he had him.
As Kirk visually scanned the area observing the physical effects of the event he processed his energy perceptions and then he saw ... him ... Caine. Caine noticed an almost quizzical look on the face of Sentinel, as if saying, 'what on earth are you doing here?' Then his expression turned to one of concentration and focus and then Caine saw it on the fact of the young man, whom he undoubtedly knew more about than he had any right to know from the dossier Caine undoubtedly had on each of Vanguard; he saw an expression that said to him, "Got you, you bastard; I got you."
All of that occurred in a brief second or two. Had this been a more mature Sentinel, more experienced, he wouldn't have let his guard down and betrayed his thoughts with even those brief expressions. And had Caine been less the experienced expression of evil than what he was, he would never have noticed.
(OOC - So Jeff, give it to me here. Tell me from Kirk's energy reading about him that Caine is more than human himself... how does he read? With Caine's physical interaction (or lack there of) with Soldier in this issue, I'm even more convinced about Caine being more than human.
Given Kirk's 'downtime actions' building towards this moment I saw this 'mini-drama' taking place amidst the main chaos they were dealing with ... in my head I pictured it as perhaps one page of a comic with close-ups of the facial expressions of the Kirk and Caine amidst larger panels of all the movements of the characters with the energy cascades and such around them.
Let me know about Kirk's read on Caine and if this sequence of events if allowable ... or just modify it as you see fit.
(Back to the main event)
Kirk could feel the energy being drawn from everywhere and funneled towards powering this event. He was surprised and dismayed to feel even his own unique energy being torn from him, stolen to fuel the event. He also realized that this meant within moments his primary power and protection would be neutralized.
Kirk's energy surrounding his mouth morphed into outward into a megaphone as he encouraged his teammates, "The primary manifestation of this event is electrical in nature. Knowing Strike and not seeing him here I'm assuming he's in the thick of it and hope he can pull off something to disrupt it from the inside. From out here however perhaps we can do our part to break the chain. Since we know Nemesis and Nanite's coming together is the focal point, we need to separate these two lovebirds now! If anyone can think of anything to disrupt the flow of electricity with our resources on hand, go for it. Slingshot, I'd suggest you do what you can to separate Nanite from the event."
At this point, Kirk knows Nanite is Slingshot's main concern and hopes he can disassociate her from the event (and probably has the best shot of separating the two given his type of powers and that they are non-electrical in nature) and perhaps others can assist.
If Vanguard is not successful in separating the two, Kirk's action would be to use a large portion of the energy he can summon, not currently involved in his active shields to materialize a solid (inanimate) wall between Nemesis and Nanite and to break their touch and hopefully the flow of the circuit fueling the event. It's been a while since Kirk did an inanimate creation, but at this point it would be more appropriate since the power cost is low and in this manifestation, hopefully it would not be palpable as a source of energy to fuel the event.
However, I'm hoping that Kirk won't have to 'waste' his energy on that move and instead will turn back to Nemesis. Assuming that he doesn't have to use his action to separate Nemesis and Nanite, he will reactivate his thought scan of Nemesis.
He believes that the digital being trying to enter their universe is currently in control of Nemesis, but hopes that by activating his 'read' he will be able to determine if the mind of Nemesis is also there and perhaps they have an ally that can reassert control of himself.
Whether he can reestablish the thought scan or not he will speak directly to Nemesis and say to him, "Nemesis, I know what you have been through and how long it has been and all you have experienced, but you are back home now. We found you. You've made it home! We are your friends and your legacy; we are the current incarnation of the Freedom Force. The world is in danger once again and you are being used here against your will; help us to overcome this enemy and save the world as you have done countless times before!"
Kirk will then turn towards the 'face' and say, "The Entity is not welcome here. This database has incalculable levels of protection that the Entity has never encountered before. This database will not be purged. Entry into this database will cause an organic intrusion into your database that which will initiate the purging and erasure of the source code of the invader. Entry into this organic universe will cause the eradication of the Entity. For your self-preservation you are advised to stand down now. The Entity will encounter what he fears most here."
Kirk is also hoping that if the Entity is in control of Nemesis, he also latches onto a 'thought scan' of the Entity and perhaps his talk will have the Entity betray some thoughts that will assist in their overcoming it.
If anything is unclear here, let me know.
Best,
Seth
PS: I was just thinking about what I said to the Entity and another thought came to my mind. He just took some of 'my energy' which I sense and can manipulate and control... tell me, can Kirk still sense the stolen energy? Or is it beyond his range due to the portal? If he can still sense and even slightly manipulate that energy --- when Kirk is giving his ultimatum, could he cause the energy to 'pulsate' as if to emphasize that already the Entity is feeling the effects within his realm of control, his being, from his intrusion?
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Clone:
Sorry for taking so long with getting my response out, but I've been trying desperately to come up with a response that was heroic in nature lol - unfortunately with no powers and only one HP I've been left scratching my head for the past few days.
Given the circumstance I would imagine that he would stay in the Infirmary with the injured and try to combat the mechanical medical menaces inside of it. If he and the team were successful in fighting back the homicidal medical devices he would then try to barricade the doors from the inside in an attempt to protect the injured and to secure a safe fall back position for the team should they have to retreat from the Computer Lab.
As a utility worker in NYC I think I've come up with a few solid idea's on how to combat this Tesla-esque electrical stream. Being a simple Russian farmer however, I would imagine that Clone wouldn't actually think of these things, but I would imagine that a few of the other characters in the group could. The following ideas are of course based on real world theories and physics – how they would work in a comic book setting against a comic book style event such as this I’m not sure.
- A halocarbon fire sprinkler ( which we would probably have some version of in The Vault ) would probably just disrupt the electrical stream a little bit and not actually effect it that much, but it might provide a momentary distraction.
- An omni-directional EMP device would most likely put the lid on this whole thing - although given its otherworldly origin I'm not 100% on that. Also – depending on the size of the EMP’s field, all electrical devices in the area could be severally damaged and it could cause physical injuries to living things nearby.
- Eliminating the grounded nature of the building would probably stop the electrical stream as well, but given its size and raw power, would most likely result in the whole building ( and a good part of the surrounding area ) being blown up.
- Force feeding more ‘juice’ into it from another source of electrical energy and thus overloading the electrical stream ( such as one or more lightning strike(s) ) might disable it, but that would result in a large scale explosion as well.
- Redirecting the energy might be another solution. If it were possible to open some type of portal between the energy stream and its destination ( a dimensional doorway, teleportation portal, etc . . . ), that might end this as well.
- Deionizing the air around the event would probably work as well, although with an electrical event this large I’m not sure if it would completely extinguish it. At the very least deionizing the area would weaken the electrical stream. This however might cause similar electrical damage to all the electrical devices in the area in much the same way that an EMP could, and could also cause physical injuries to living things nearby.
Here’s a couple of interesting links that might help get some of the creative juices flowing in the direction of finding a solution to this otherworldly electrical event. Nikola Tesla - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla Wireless Energy Transfer - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_energy_transfer
P.S. On a side note – as a conEdison employee I can safely say that conEdison would be feverishly looking for these little extra-dimensional alien guys after this event is safely contained – after all – someone has to pay for all that electrical usage lol
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Symbiote:
OK, I've been slow to reply to this one because, frankly, I got nothin.' Not sure what we--or at least I--can do, not sure to what extent we can believe Caine.
But then I read Kevin's e-mail. Kevin, you're clearly a smart cookie and you know your electricity. As for the characters? Maybe Russian farmer Clone might not know any of that, but scientist Symbiote probably would. In other words, I'm stealing your ideas....;)
I didn't tear into the walls last issue to deactivate the gymnasium, but I will this issue (if necessary) to manually activate the fire control systems (that I assume, or at least sure hope, the Vault has). I see myself ripping out ductwork and aiming fire retardant foam into the rift, hopefully "shorting out" the entity, or at least whatever electromagnetic matrix is holding the rift open.
In the meantime, Hal also smells a bit of a rat about this entire situation...
IC: "Shelly!" Symbiote yells at his sister over the deafening crackling of the energy. "You said in Antartica that Nemesis is somehow a biological organism now, not even cybernetic. How can he be under electrical control? What's going on here?"
Hopefully, Shelly will provide some vital clues.
Viva Vanguard,
Greg
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Clone:
Greg wrote - Maybe Russian farmer Clone might not know any of that, but scientist Symbiote probably would. In other words, I'm stealing your ideas....;)
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Symbiote:
OK, I've been slow to reply to this one because, frankly, I got nothin.' Not sure what we--or at least I--can do, not sure to what extent we can believe Caine.
But then I read Kevin's e-mail. Kevin, you're clearly a smart cookie and you know your electricity. As for the characters? Maybe Russian farmer Clone might not know any of that, but scientist Symbiote probably would. In other words, I'm stealing your ideas....;)
I didn't tear into the walls last issue to deactivate the gymnasium, but I will this issue (if necessary) to manually activate the fire control systems (that I assume, or at least sure hope, the Vault has). I see myself ripping out ductwork and aiming fire retardant foam into the rift, hopefully "shorting out" the entity, or at least whatever electromagnetic matrix is holding the rift open.
In the meantime, Hal also smells a bit of a rat about this entire situation...
IC: "Shelly!" Symbiote yells at his sister over the deafening crackling of the energy. "You said in Antartica that Nemesis is somehow a biological organism now, not even cybernetic. How can he be under electrical control? What's going on here?"
Hopefully, Shelly will provide some vital clues.
Viva Vanguard,
Greg
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Clone:
Greg wrote - Maybe Russian farmer Clone might not know any of that, but scientist Symbiote probably would. In other words, I'm stealing your ideas....;)
Awesome! Glad I could help :-)
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Soldier:
And once again, I slide in at the end.
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Soldier:
And once again, I slide in at the end.
SOLDIER'S REPLY
" Then the star spangled super tried to grab Caine by the neck… and missed!"
Soldier thought to himself “What the hell?” And made a mental note or Caine’s ability to dodge his grab, but was far more concerned with putting some distance between him, and the animated killing machines advancing toward him. But, he'll definitely address the issue, if he manages to survive the situation at hand.
" Then the star spangled super tried to grab Caine by the neck… and missed!"
Soldier thought to himself “What the hell?” And made a mental note or Caine’s ability to dodge his grab, but was far more concerned with putting some distance between him, and the animated killing machines advancing toward him. But, he'll definitely address the issue, if he manages to survive the situation at hand.
Once Soldier’s systems start to go off line he’ll announce, to the others “Guys, while I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, I’ve got a bit of a problem here. All my sub-systems just went dead. And I can’t run a diagnostic to determine what’s causing it, but, I’ll hazard a guess and say it’s probably the same thing affecting the building.”
Soldier’s next concern would be arming himself. While he doesn’t have his cybernetics to fall back on, he’s still a highly trained soldier, and will look for a firearm, or anything else he can get his hands on, to defend himself, and his teammates. Was the unconscious Rook armed with a weapon? If so, Soldier will immediately confiscate it for use, stating: “Sorry buddy, but at the moment, I need this a little bit more than you do.” If the Rook’s not armed, how about Manetti? If so, he'll request to use his duty weapon.
Either way, he’ll want to get to the action. He’ll tell Manetti IC: “I’ve got to help them stop this thing, or we’re all dead. Do what you can to keep these guys safe (the group in the infirmary), and watch out for the damned machines.”
If he can arm himself, he’ll try to disable the portal by destroying the machinery with weapons fire, while at the same time, he’ll ask aloud, “Guy’s I’m running out of ideas, is there any way we can short this thing out, or overload it? Any input you may have, would be appreciated!”
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Slingshot:
He sees that Sentinel is there. He's always been on hand for a helpful hand.
If their union will bring back the entity, Slingshot must separate them. Let’s see if his insulated nature will help this. "Nanite, Nemesis, I must do this. I hope you will understand."
He throws on arm at each of them and wraps them up with coils upon coils of rubber and uses his immense strength to separate them and then finish covering them up with his rubbery flesh.
He will not try to hurt them, but will defend himself. Assuming he can stretch further, he'll keep them as far away from each other as he can.
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Avatar:
I'm thinking that Slingshot's action might be the best so far...
I've been at as much of a loss as everyone else (except for Slingy and Clone). The only thing that I can think of doing right now is as follows:
Upon hearing what is happening, Avatar does away with the powers of Apollo and activates those of Hermes. He will then run into the room with the rest of the team and, using his spear (hopefully the wooden shaft will act as an insulator) will attack the power conduits feeding the gate in an attempt to disrupt them. He will keep observing and change his actions as needed...
I know, I know...but it's all that I can think of doing other than using Weather Control and lightning to try and overload the power systems but, with that thought, I'm afraid that I'd just be feeding the entity rather than overloading anything.
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Talon:
Hey Guys,
Separating Nanite and Nemesis was the idea I had as well. Talon will spend his action trying to protect the injured from the dangers of the Infirmary. I will do my best to rip the mechanical menaces from their source of power to end any potential threat.
IC: Talon yells to the rest of the group, "I can deal with this! You guys put an end to this twisted love story before it kills us all!".
Good luck Slingshot!
Viva Vanguard,
Denny
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Slingshot:
(to Denny/Talon) You're more than welcome to lend a hand if I'm not able to finish the job.
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Lightning Strike:
Private to GM:
Strike figures that the Vault can't have that many different electrical conduits running into the building. Strike will attempt to blow out as many of the cables that flow into the portal device. Strike will make sure that he is on the side away from the device when he blows the wire. His goal is to limit the flow into the device as much as possible and hope that the heroes in the outside world recognize the pattern and attempt to take out some wiring themselves. Another hope would be that as the device begins to shift the flow to the remaining cables that this would tax them beyond their normal ability and fry them as well.
Hopefully that makes some sense.
Take care,
Tony
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Hopefully that makes some sense.
Take care,
Tony
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