Vanguard Vault, New York City, dawn
At dawn, cyberspace invaded Earth.
Given mankind’s reliance on technology, man wouldn’t stand a chance. A sentient virus could cross the globe in seconds. To get to the satellite systems might take a second longer than that. All modern communications, power, transportation, heating, refrigeration, water supply, food supply and medical equipment would fall. In moments, mankind would find itself in the 18th century. With none of the skills or equipment required to exist there. Too bad the Luddite hadn’t lived to see it.
With power out and food and water supply lines down, rioting would soon seize an unprepared world.
…Or the Entity could simply launch missiles. Or rain satellites down from orbit.
The locus of this world-ending event was inside the Vanguard Vault.
The 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. 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… and end it.
Nearby, in the infirmary…
Soldier coolly reported the loss of cybernetic systems as he scanned the injured Rook for a weapon. “I’ve got to help them stop this thing, or we’re all dead. Do what you can to keep these guys safe and watch out for the damned machines.” Then the extranormal enlisted man requested the use of Manetti’s duty weapon. “Sure thing, Soldier,” the injured pilot replied.
Soldier raced to the computer lab and opened fire on the portal structure with the CHESS energy pistol! BZAT! BZAT! BZAT! The first strikes damaged the machinery, making the portal energy flicker!
Then Nanite opened her eyes and the very mechanisms around the portal transformed and reconfigured themselves, like the Soviet Star had, and suddenly a translucent force field barrier protected the portal!
Soldier said, “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!”
Talon defended the injured civilians in the infirmary from the mechanical medical menaces that had just mutated into being. "I can deal with this! You guys put an end to this twisted love story before it kills us all!" the bestial birdman yelled as he slashed savagely at the electrical cables, rendering two automatons powerless!
Clone joined Talon’s effort to protect the injured! There was one homicidal machine left and it moved menacingly toward its closest target, the unconscious Siberian! The cruel master of the Soviet Super Soldiers, who with but a word to Russia could end the lives of Clone’s family, lay helpless before a living laser bone saw and only Clone could save him! Clone, who had been raised by his family to revere all life.
At dawn, cyberspace invaded Earth.
Given mankind’s reliance on technology, man wouldn’t stand a chance. A sentient virus could cross the globe in seconds. To get to the satellite systems might take a second longer than that. All modern communications, power, transportation, heating, refrigeration, water supply, food supply and medical equipment would fall. In moments, mankind would find itself in the 18th century. With none of the skills or equipment required to exist there. Too bad the Luddite hadn’t lived to see it.
With power out and food and water supply lines down, rioting would soon seize an unprepared world.
…Or the Entity could simply launch missiles. Or rain satellites down from orbit.
The locus of this world-ending event was inside the Vanguard Vault.
The 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. 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… and end it.
Nearby, in the infirmary…
Soldier coolly reported the loss of cybernetic systems as he scanned the injured Rook for a weapon. “I’ve got to help them stop this thing, or we’re all dead. Do what you can to keep these guys safe and watch out for the damned machines.” Then the extranormal enlisted man requested the use of Manetti’s duty weapon. “Sure thing, Soldier,” the injured pilot replied.
Soldier raced to the computer lab and opened fire on the portal structure with the CHESS energy pistol! BZAT! BZAT! BZAT! The first strikes damaged the machinery, making the portal energy flicker!
Then Nanite opened her eyes and the very mechanisms around the portal transformed and reconfigured themselves, like the Soviet Star had, and suddenly a translucent force field barrier protected the portal!
Soldier said, “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!”
Talon defended the injured civilians in the infirmary from the mechanical medical menaces that had just mutated into being. "I can deal with this! You guys put an end to this twisted love story before it kills us all!" the bestial birdman yelled as he slashed savagely at the electrical cables, rendering two automatons powerless!
Clone joined Talon’s effort to protect the injured! There was one homicidal machine left and it moved menacingly toward its closest target, the unconscious Siberian! The cruel master of the Soviet Super Soldiers, who with but a word to Russia could end the lives of Clone’s family, lay helpless before a living laser bone saw and only Clone could save him! Clone, who had been raised by his family to revere all life.
(OOC: What does Clone do with his action?!?!)
Avatar manifested the power of Hermes and the champion of Olympus raced from the infirmary to the computer room in a burst of unearthly speed! Using his wooden spear he attacked the power conduits feeding the gate in an attempt to disrupt them! ZAKKTT! Cutting the live wires in a hail of sparks, the eternal Avatar saw that other power cables were inexplicably blowing themselves open!
Lightning Strike, unbeknownst to Vanguard, was nearby in the electrical systems, being swept away in that raging surge of power, like a child in a flash flood! Violently and inexorably, the roaring cascade of awesome power was pulling Strike to the portal! The electric avenger desperately tried to stop his speed, to no avail! In a last ditch attempt, Strike tried to blow out the cables that powered the portal device. BOOM! In the Computer Room, everyone could see cables overloading and blowing open!
Symbiote yelled "Shelly!" You said in Antarctica that Nemesis is somehow a biological organism now, not even cybernetic. How can he be under electrical control? What's going on here?"
Shelley yelled, “I don’t know! There must be something else happening!”
Symbiote rushed to join the attack! RRIPP! The super-strong super-scientist tore open wall panels to manually activate the fire control systems. Sirens blared as fire retardant foam was deflected by the translucent forcefield that protected the portal! Seeing this, Hal joined Avatar and tore out more power cables with his hands. ZAPZKT! As he expected, Hal took a massive jolt from the power that surged to the portal! (17 points! 7 to Power, 10 from Hit Points! Super strong Symbiote was still conscious!)
The cut power cables exposed raw sparking electricity that was still pulled to the portal like all the electricity in the area! But it must have been flowing at a slower rate! The portal flickered and the Entity’s motions were slowed, like a man waking through water. But he still pushed forward slowly… slowly!
Sentinel looked at Caine and now knew that this man who had publicly campaigned against extranormals was himself… an extranormal! If Caine noticed Sentinel observing him, he did not let on.
In the Computer Room, Sentinel attempted a telepathic link to Nemesis. The results were catastrophic!
Nemesis was controlled by the Entity whose mind was alien and wrong. Sentinel caught half-realized mental flashes. The Entity had created Nemesis and Nanite as experimental, hybrid bridge organisms between his/their plane of existence and mine/ours. He/They watching in the dark for millennia as windows of light and color slowly opened in their billions. He/They was/were learning to become biological organisms… He/They was/were becoming carbon-based. He/They would meet Earth’s dimension halfway. There was more…
He/They is/are what men call cyberspace!... including its total store of knowledge and information. The Entity knew everything that could be known. Sentinel glimpsed that knowledge and was consumed by it. (Imagine Mastermind being granted cosmic awareness by the Black Queen Jean Grey!)
In the Computer Room Sentinel suddenly yelled in horror and in his mind he said, "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/their self-preservation you/they are advised to stand down now. The Entity will encounter what he/they fears most here."
But he might as well have been screaming at an ocean or the infinite cosmos for all the Entity seemed to notice.
Nemesis did not move or act but electrical energy still flowed between he and Nanite.
Slingshot saw the Entity had been slowed by Vanguard’s attacks but still came on! The big man moved to the cyber-cathedral and noted that Nemesis was injured. He had been tagged by his former ally, Polar Bear. Without pleasure, Scott said, "Nanite, Nemesis, I must do this. I hope you will understand."
He threw a rubbery arm at each of them and wrapped them up with coils upon coils of rubber and used his immense strength to separate them!
Any man trying this would have been electrocuted, the current running right through him between Nemesis and Nanite. But this man was made of rubber. The current was broken.
The lights in the base flickered. The portal’s pixel static data wiggled like thick water and then…
KABOOM!
Everyone slowly opened their new eyes.
The world was black with billions of glowing chrysalis gossamers that formed shapes, landscapes, cities of data. (Imagine Tron, the Matrix, Neuromancer, etc)
The gossamers connected to billions of diadem screens, windows into our world. One screen showed Mother Russia and Polar Bear still unconscious in the Vanguard Vault.
More gossamers erected a reverse angle cyber cathedral in the digital landscape. A mirror reflection of the one on Earth, far from this place.
Vanguard had gone through the portal. Lightning Strike was there too, in his human shape. He recognized some of this place. It seemed to be an area in cyberspace he’d never experienced before.
Clone was there. So was Silas Caine, Siberian, Cosmonaut, Shelley and Doc Rocket who was waking up from the shock of being reconfigured into a digital being.
Angel, Manetti and the unconscious CHESS personnel must have been beyond the range of whatever just transpired.
Everyone was slowly getting their bearings. They felt weak and getting weaker, like they did not belong here. Even Lightning Strike.
They saw, within this dimension’s cyber-cathedral, Nanite and Nemesis likewise rendered in data.
Overhead, the entire “sky” was now the giant face of the Entity. The “sky” held an expression of anger and rage when it bellowed:
“I/WE SHALL DELETE YOU!”
Vanguard saw the portal nearby, only now from the opposite side as before. It was damaged. Through it, rippling, they could see the Computer Room in the Vanguard Vault, color and light cutting through the darkness. The portal flickered. It was slowly closing, and with it the way home!
Actions?!
To be continued in Vanguard 106: Welcome to the Machine!
Avatar manifested the power of Hermes and the champion of Olympus raced from the infirmary to the computer room in a burst of unearthly speed! Using his wooden spear he attacked the power conduits feeding the gate in an attempt to disrupt them! ZAKKTT! Cutting the live wires in a hail of sparks, the eternal Avatar saw that other power cables were inexplicably blowing themselves open!
Lightning Strike, unbeknownst to Vanguard, was nearby in the electrical systems, being swept away in that raging surge of power, like a child in a flash flood! Violently and inexorably, the roaring cascade of awesome power was pulling Strike to the portal! The electric avenger desperately tried to stop his speed, to no avail! In a last ditch attempt, Strike tried to blow out the cables that powered the portal device. BOOM! In the Computer Room, everyone could see cables overloading and blowing open!
Symbiote yelled "Shelly!" You said in Antarctica that Nemesis is somehow a biological organism now, not even cybernetic. How can he be under electrical control? What's going on here?"
Shelley yelled, “I don’t know! There must be something else happening!”
Symbiote rushed to join the attack! RRIPP! The super-strong super-scientist tore open wall panels to manually activate the fire control systems. Sirens blared as fire retardant foam was deflected by the translucent forcefield that protected the portal! Seeing this, Hal joined Avatar and tore out more power cables with his hands. ZAPZKT! As he expected, Hal took a massive jolt from the power that surged to the portal! (17 points! 7 to Power, 10 from Hit Points! Super strong Symbiote was still conscious!)
The cut power cables exposed raw sparking electricity that was still pulled to the portal like all the electricity in the area! But it must have been flowing at a slower rate! The portal flickered and the Entity’s motions were slowed, like a man waking through water. But he still pushed forward slowly… slowly!
Sentinel looked at Caine and now knew that this man who had publicly campaigned against extranormals was himself… an extranormal! If Caine noticed Sentinel observing him, he did not let on.
In the Computer Room, Sentinel attempted a telepathic link to Nemesis. The results were catastrophic!
Nemesis was controlled by the Entity whose mind was alien and wrong. Sentinel caught half-realized mental flashes. The Entity had created Nemesis and Nanite as experimental, hybrid bridge organisms between his/their plane of existence and mine/ours. He/They watching in the dark for millennia as windows of light and color slowly opened in their billions. He/They was/were learning to become biological organisms… He/They was/were becoming carbon-based. He/They would meet Earth’s dimension halfway. There was more…
He/They is/are what men call cyberspace!... including its total store of knowledge and information. The Entity knew everything that could be known. Sentinel glimpsed that knowledge and was consumed by it. (Imagine Mastermind being granted cosmic awareness by the Black Queen Jean Grey!)
In the Computer Room Sentinel suddenly yelled in horror and in his mind he said, "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/their self-preservation you/they are advised to stand down now. The Entity will encounter what he/they fears most here."
But he might as well have been screaming at an ocean or the infinite cosmos for all the Entity seemed to notice.
Nemesis did not move or act but electrical energy still flowed between he and Nanite.
Slingshot saw the Entity had been slowed by Vanguard’s attacks but still came on! The big man moved to the cyber-cathedral and noted that Nemesis was injured. He had been tagged by his former ally, Polar Bear. Without pleasure, Scott said, "Nanite, Nemesis, I must do this. I hope you will understand."
He threw a rubbery arm at each of them and wrapped them up with coils upon coils of rubber and used his immense strength to separate them!
Any man trying this would have been electrocuted, the current running right through him between Nemesis and Nanite. But this man was made of rubber. The current was broken.
The lights in the base flickered. The portal’s pixel static data wiggled like thick water and then…
KABOOM!
Everyone slowly opened their new eyes.
The world was black with billions of glowing chrysalis gossamers that formed shapes, landscapes, cities of data. (Imagine Tron, the Matrix, Neuromancer, etc)
The gossamers connected to billions of diadem screens, windows into our world. One screen showed Mother Russia and Polar Bear still unconscious in the Vanguard Vault.
More gossamers erected a reverse angle cyber cathedral in the digital landscape. A mirror reflection of the one on Earth, far from this place.
Vanguard had gone through the portal. Lightning Strike was there too, in his human shape. He recognized some of this place. It seemed to be an area in cyberspace he’d never experienced before.
Clone was there. So was Silas Caine, Siberian, Cosmonaut, Shelley and Doc Rocket who was waking up from the shock of being reconfigured into a digital being.
Angel, Manetti and the unconscious CHESS personnel must have been beyond the range of whatever just transpired.
Everyone was slowly getting their bearings. They felt weak and getting weaker, like they did not belong here. Even Lightning Strike.
They saw, within this dimension’s cyber-cathedral, Nanite and Nemesis likewise rendered in data.
Overhead, the entire “sky” was now the giant face of the Entity. The “sky” held an expression of anger and rage when it bellowed:
“I/WE SHALL DELETE YOU!”
Vanguard saw the portal nearby, only now from the opposite side as before. It was damaged. Through it, rippling, they could see the Computer Room in the Vanguard Vault, color and light cutting through the darkness. The portal flickered. It was slowly closing, and with it the way home!
Actions?!
To be continued in Vanguard 106: Welcome to the Machine!
OOC:
Each of your characters has a new character sheet in this plane of existence.
Your Intelligence score is now your Agility score as well.
Your Charisma (Will) score is now your Strength and Endurance scores as well.
Your Hit Points are now equal to your Charisma Score.
Your Power Points equal (Chax2) + (Intx2) and they are at full… for now.
Because you are rejected by this plane of existence, as the Entity had been by yours, at the end of every Issue after this one, your Power score will be halved. This includes Lightning Strike.
Your characters don’t know to what extent any of your super powers will work in this dimension, so please give me an if/then statement around their use.
Example: “If I can fire a power blast I will. If I can’t, I’ll try to slug him.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, your characters aren’t completely sure about the laws of physics here, so please include in your instructions your intentions. You’ll have at least one ‘attack’ and one ‘move’ before the portal shuts.
Examples:
I want to attack so-and-so and then escape through the portal
I want to grab so-and-so and carry them through the portal
I wish to harm the Entity
I want to try to hold open the portal
I will try to prevent the Entity from following us through the portal even if it means not going through the portal myself.
Stuff like that. Thanks.
Viva Vanguard!
Best,
Jeff
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Sentinel:
Hi Jeff.
Well, wasn't expecting this turn of events.
Please let me know the following:
(1) Does Kirk still feel/have control over his 'stolen' energy from the previous issue that was drawn into the portal or is it simply gone?
(2) Is Kirk's energy perception/connection with his environment gone or active here? If active, what is he getting both in understanding this cyberspace and also in tracking/feeling the source of energy here (ie anything they can try to disrupt or destroy)? Can he figure out anything powering the event on this side?
(3) When he was cyberized did his energy cyberize with him that was around him and within his control? If so, can he still control it? Or did he appear just as a cyberized human ala your description of Lightning Strike?
(4) We are correct in assuming that we have been transformed by the portal to fit this dimension? In other words, we don't also see our physical bodies through the portal on earth, correct?
We know that this tunnel that the Entity created is going to supposedly allow his entrance into our dimension and seemingly allowed our entrance into his (although somewhat still rejecting us) - my current thought would be to try to bring something here that didn't come through the Entity's portal... what I'm thinking here is if Kirk used his power to create/bring his energy to this dimension, not by means of the portal, perhaps his energy which is unnatural here and which hasn't been drawn/converted through the Entity's portal may have a very negative effect and hopefully even work as a disrupting influence ... I guess some of the above will help me to determine if Kirk has a reason to be thinking that way.
Thanks.
Seth
PS: Another couple of questions:
So we have a digitalized visualization of a world - do we see any evidence of life? ie, Does it seem like the Entity is, in fact, this dimensional space giving it its sentience or does it seem like he is the dictactor/ruler of this world over other digitalized beings.
I thought of another possibly play here depending on what we seem to be dealing with.
Seth
------------------------------------------------
Clone:
“Clone joined Talon’s effort to protect the injured! There was one homicidal machine left and it moved menacingly toward its closest target, the unconscious Siberian! The cruel master of the Soviet Super Soldiers, who with but a word to Russia could end the lives of Clone’s family, lay helpless before a living laser bone saw and only Clone could save him! Clone, who had been raised by his family to revere all life. (OOC: What does Clone do with his action?!?!)”
As I read this my jaw dropped lol. Nice job with the moral challenge Jeff - I love it!
Clone would react in much the same way Batman would if the Joker was about to be killed – as much as his world would be a better place if he was dead – he has to save him!
As for suddenly appearing in a digital world – Clone will split into as many duplicates as possible and will save his action(s) if possible. He’s not sure what to make of this world – being raised on a farm all his life he’s a bit overwhelmed by all this technology stuff. Should the situation call for it – Clone will sacrifice whatever he must to make sure the group escapes alive. He has absolutely no desire to die, but if he must do so to help save the group then he will – it’s what his parents would expect from him. =)
OOC: Does the entity seem to be alone in this world? Are there any other digital beings here besides us and the entity? How large (dimensions) is the cyber-worlds cyber-cathedral? Is it simply a mirror image / digitized version of the one in our world or does it appear to be a completely different and independent object? Did moving into this virtual world revive or ‘heal’ the injured and unconscious people that were in the Infirmary ( Siberian for example )?
Just thinking out loud – is it possible that this entity is some kind of sentient computer program / virus? It said that it would delete us – could that be its idea of death? If so perhaps it is some type of programming and not an actual living thing as we know it. If it is just a computer program / virus – who made it? Silas Caine perhaps? Could it be possible to upload some kind of computer anti-virus software / spyware into the entity or its world? Perhaps through the electricity that its feeding upon? Sought of like slipping in medication through an I.V. line. Would it be possible for Lightning Strike to do this? Maybe I’m just adding up two and two and getting five – just some random nonsensical thoughts. =)
Talk to you all soon,
-Kev
------------------------------------------------
Sentinel:
Clone wrote: “Could it be possible to upload some kind of computer anti-virus software / spyware into the entity or its world?”
Actually this is exactly where I was going with my second email line of questioning. If there isn't independent digital life forms here we could activate a self-replicating program to either redefine or delete the Entity.
Ultimately all programming in its most basic form comes down to bits which are either on or off which means either through the use of Kirk's energy or Strike's electrical energy - (one of Kirk's main skills is understanding computers in additional to his energy sense) - combining that with the genius of Strike/Symbiote/Doc Rocket/Slingshot (and anyone else with programming/scientific/mathematical skills that I don't know about), we should be able to devise and introduce the program.
Seth
------------------------------------------------
Clone:
OOooohh! I just had a REALLY crazy, out of left field, kind of idea! Based on what Jeff said . . . “Your characters don’t know to what extent any of your super powers will work in this dimension . . .” . . . what if Clones powers are ‘altered’ here; such as every ‘virtual Clone’ generated here being ‘born’ with full Hit Points, perhaps Clone could some how be the virus! With every ‘virtual Clone’ being ‘born’ with full Hit Points he could replicate indefinitely! Perhaps overloading, altering or even some how replacing the entity. I know I’m really really reaching with that ( and I'm sure that it won't be possible ), but wouldn’t that be cool?! Just throwing some wacky ideas out there, -Kev ;)
------------------------------------------------
Avatar:
Avatar will attempt to shift over to Weather Control. John feels that his powers should probably span worlds, though they might function differently. In this case, he's hoping that Weather Control will translate to some sort of control over the local environment (i.e. electricity, at least at the heart of it). If he can gain some sort of control over the local environment, he will direct everything that he's got into trying to damage or hinder the Entity while yelling for everyone else to run for the portal.
If this shift does not take place, he will see if the Heightened Speed power is still in effect and, if so, will sweep up a couple of the non-powered types and take off toward the portal in an attempt to make it through.
If neither of these powers work, he'll make for the portal himself just as quickly as possible with another plan in mind that he may try once he gets to "the other side" (if he gets there).
------------------------------------------------
Sentinel:
Clone wrote: “Could it be possible to upload some kind of computer anti-virus software / spyware into the entity or its world?”
Actually this is exactly where I was going with my second email line of questioning. If there isn't independent digital life forms here we could activate a self-replicating program to either redefine or delete the Entity.
Ultimately all programming in its most basic form comes down to bits which are either on or off which means either through the use of Kirk's energy or Strike's electrical energy - (one of Kirk's main skills is understanding computers in additional to his energy sense) - combining that with the genius of Strike/Symbiote/Doc Rocket/Slingshot (and anyone else with programming/scientific/mathematical skills that I don't know about), we should be able to devise and introduce the program.
Seth
------------------------------------------------
Clone:
OOooohh! I just had a REALLY crazy, out of left field, kind of idea! Based on what Jeff said . . . “Your characters don’t know to what extent any of your super powers will work in this dimension . . .” . . . what if Clones powers are ‘altered’ here; such as every ‘virtual Clone’ generated here being ‘born’ with full Hit Points, perhaps Clone could some how be the virus! With every ‘virtual Clone’ being ‘born’ with full Hit Points he could replicate indefinitely! Perhaps overloading, altering or even some how replacing the entity. I know I’m really really reaching with that ( and I'm sure that it won't be possible ), but wouldn’t that be cool?! Just throwing some wacky ideas out there, -Kev ;)
------------------------------------------------
Avatar:
Avatar will attempt to shift over to Weather Control. John feels that his powers should probably span worlds, though they might function differently. In this case, he's hoping that Weather Control will translate to some sort of control over the local environment (i.e. electricity, at least at the heart of it). If he can gain some sort of control over the local environment, he will direct everything that he's got into trying to damage or hinder the Entity while yelling for everyone else to run for the portal.
If this shift does not take place, he will see if the Heightened Speed power is still in effect and, if so, will sweep up a couple of the non-powered types and take off toward the portal in an attempt to make it through.
If neither of these powers work, he'll make for the portal himself just as quickly as possible with another plan in mind that he may try once he gets to "the other side" (if he gets there).
------------------------------------------------
GM:
Replies to OOC questions:
Sentinel wrote: Does Kirk still feel/have control over his 'stolen' energy from the previous issue that was drawn into the portal or is it simply gone?
GM Reply: Kirk lost control over it when it entered the portal. He cannot locate it here.
Sentinel wrote: Is Kirk's energy perception/connection with his environment gone or active here? If active, what is he getting both in understanding this cyberspace and also in tracking/feeling the source of energy here (ie anything they can try to disrupt or destroy)? Can he figure out anything powering the event on this side?
GM Reply: Kirk’s Energy Sense exists here! He can detect that energy was fueling the event on this side as well, but has now stopped. The event has failed, due to Vanguard’s actions on the other side, and that failure is causing the portal to close.
Sentinel wrote: When he was cyberized did his energy cyberize with him that was around him and within his control? If so, can he still control it?
GM Reply: Yes, and he believes so.
Sentinel wrote: …we don't also see our physical bodies through the portal on earth, correct?
GM Reply: Correct, you do not see them.
Sentinel wrote: So we have a digitalized visualization of a world - do we see any evidence of life?
GM Reply: None beyond those listed: yourselves, the Entity, Nemesis, Nanite, etc.
Clone wrote: Clone would react in much the same way Batman would if the Joker was about to be killed – as much as his world would be a better place if he was dead – he has to save him!
GM Reply: I guess you don’t read Frank Miller’s Batman ;)
Clone wrote: Does the entity seem to be alone in this world? Are there any other digital beings here besides us and the entity?
GM Reply: Yes and No, despite his use of possessives.
Clone wrote: How large (dimensions) is the cyber-worlds cyber-cathedral? Is it simply a mirror image / digitized version of the one in our world or does it appear to be a completely different and independent object?
GM Reply: It is a mirror image / digitized version of the one in Vanguard Vault, approximately 75’ x 50.’
Clone wrote: Did moving into this virtual world revive or ‘heal’ the injured and unconscious people that were in the Infirmary (Siberian for example )?
GM Reply: Good catch. As Vanguard’s hit points are the result of a new equation in this dimension, Vanguard’s injuries seemed healed. It follows that it would be the case for everyone that passed through.
------------------------------------------------
Sentinel:
As Vanguard appeared in the Entity’s ‘digitalized dimension’ Kirk tried to assess what had happened to them and what they were dealing with. He knew they were no longer ‘physical beings’; but he could ‘feel’ his energy sense at work helping him to understand this new environment and what was happening.
His thoughts ran to his computer skills and training and he began to envision trying to introduce a computer virus into the world of the entity or perhaps trying to destabilize this world by forcing the entrance of non-digitalized energy.
Kirk thought that this was just another step in their battle to save the earth, but upon comprehending his energy readings he began to think otherwise, perhaps this was the endgame.
Kirk apprised Vanguard, “The energy fueling the event on this side has stopped. We were successful in preventing the event in our world and that failure is causing the portal to close.”
And then Kirk’s knowledge of heroic lore overshadowed his computer skills in his mind.
“We aren’t exactly what we seem to be here. I think you all feel it too. And whatever we are, this dimension is rejecting us. The longer we are here the weaker we will become.
I think we see ourselves and each other currently as defined by our physical selves back home, but I think here, we are more the sum of our inner selves; that is our strength and power.
And I think that we have an opportunity and an obligation here to be sure that this “Entity” doesn’t have another chance to regroup and threaten our world … or any other.
As Kirk spoke images of the Liberty League formed behind him …in the power and glory of their youth … Lancaster, the Golden Age Sentinel, the original beacon of justice adding his light to that of Kirk, Sgt Stone his skin of granite an impenetrable stronghold of reassuring protection, Agent America with his charismatic smile confirming victory was at hand, American Eagle, Blazing Glory, and Lady Liberty …
Was it Kirk’s power of at work in this digitalized world? Or was it a reflection of his soul, the League’s spirit ever-present with him.
Kirk, turned to Doc Rocket and said, “Just like the battle with Lord Zryphl of the Dreaming Dimension of Xaox. You wouldn’t leave the League down a member, would you?”
Turning to everyone present he said,
“While we are all at our strongest, we need to take down this creature together. This goes beyond any nation and individual - this is about the safety of our entire universe. Have faith in yourselves and your inner strength! The universe has always seemed to balance the scales against insurmountable odds. Strike as one! Victory is at hand!”
As Kirk turned to take the battle to the entity he saw the power of those with him; Avatar shining with the glory and power of the Pantheon of the Greek Gods, Soldier channeling the spirit of the men of Iwo Jima and every man and woman who fought for the safety of the innocent at the risk of their own lives, Clone whose inner heroic nature overcame his despotic surroundings …
Kirk flew towards the Entity, the images of the Liberty League beside him. He shouted to the Entity,
“You were warned. You failed to heed the warning. The Entity’s entrance into the organic world has been prevented. The promised organic intrusion defense is here in your world! Your purging is imminent!”
The Battle was at hand … and Kirk struck at the Entity with all his might …
(and hoped that a now young-looking manifestation of Doc Rocket and the rest of Vanguard were behind him)
OOC: Jeff: naturally decide how much of Kirk’s ‘manifestation’ works here and edit his remarks accordingly, but the spirit of Kirk’s actions should be clear … we need to fight as one against the Entity … and heroic lore dictates that perhaps we aren’t at the disadvantage that we seem to be (perhaps even as we are being rejected by this dimension, our mere presence is damaging and a threat to its nature and the Entity). It's time for good-old all-out team action against the insurmountable threat. Let's take him down!
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Symbiote:
I definitely got nothing better than that, but I do have one thing to add...
IC: Presumably still charged with the cyberworld's equivalent of Mother Russian's super strength, Symbiote prepares to launch himself at the malevoloent entity. But first, he turns to Nemesis and Nanite. "Listen to me, both of you!" he yells. "You are not the sum of your parts! The Great and Powerful Oz Wannabe up there may have made you as sleeper agents, but we've examined you--you're human now! You've grown beyond your original purpose!" (Hoping to reach some sort of V'ger/Iron Giant transcedent moment here). "You don't have to be weapons, you can be heros! Help us!"
With that, Hal leaps/flies towards the Entity, ready to attack.
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Clone:
Originally I said I was just going to duplicate till I couldn't duplicate any more and just save my action(s), but if the bulk of us are going to charge the entity I'll follow suit. Send in the Clones! -Kev
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Soldier:
OOC: I'm wondering if my nanites could be used as a carrier, of some type, to "infect" the Entity. Especially since they're inactive at the moment. Say, taking a blood sample from me, and reprogramming the nanites with the infected code?
Am I still armed with the sidearm?
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GM:
Soldier, your pistol is there, in a linear/digital incarnation, just like Symbiote's Harper Harness is too.
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Slingshot:
Scott is utterly torn. His devotion (obsession?) to Nanite over these long months fueled by his guilt over not being able to save her from the Luddite. Seeing that she's possibly simply a puppet of this monster.. but she had shown such tenderness, such humanity.
He looks on to the Entity. He knows that the portal is but moments away from closing. He turns to his fellow Vanguardians and says: "The portal will not stay open for long. It WILL close shortly. I do not see a good ending if we stay."
He speaks to Nemesis next, he speaks softly: "I wonder why you were named Nemesis? Maybe it's your time to show you are IT's Nemesis. You are by far the best equipped amongst us to handle IT. You are your own person now, you are not bound by IT like you were on the other side. I can see that now. Understand that we must separate you both forever. Will you take your place?"
He speaks to Nanite,"You also have a place to play in this little dance. I do not know if you are the same person that I was supposed to meet all those months ago in New York. You may not be. A simple response would be nice though." He finishes his sentence with a small tense smile.
Actions: Slingshot will test his powers. Stretching. or is it shrinking?
He'll defend himself and the others. If he's got his stretching powers still he'll wait for the last possible moment and pull as many of them back into the portal (especially if they are busy fighting the Entity).
Assuming that Slingshot get's something resembling the old Nanite, he'll pull her along with him and the others. He will make sure that Nemesis is NOT with them. Hopefully splitting them across the multiverse and spoiling the plans of the Entity forever. If Nanite takes Nemesis's hint and goes to fight IT while Nemesis holds back, then Scott will pull Nemesis with him instead to split up the couple.
The above assumes that the portal will close this turn. If the portal doesn't close, I'll just wait and hold my action.
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Talon:
Hello All,
Talon will fly up and attack the Entity. If things go bad he will grab anyone who needs help through the portal. He will look first to Doc Rocket. If he's making it alright, he will look for anyone who might be struggling and fly them out.
Viva Vanguard,
Denny
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Lightning Strike:
Strike feels that he more than all of the others is part of this digital dimension. Although he thinks that he can do damage to the entity, time is running out for the rest of Vanguard.
Strike attempts to contact the rest of Vanguard and let them know that attacking the entity is key. Strike will attempt to moderate the portal so that it can be sustained without opening it back up to the entity.
Hope that doesn't violate the rules for this turn.
Take care,
Tony
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GM:
Clone joined Talon’s effort to protect the injured! There was one homicidal machine left and it moved menacingly toward its closest target, the unconscious Siberian! The cruel master of the Soviet Super Soldiers, who with but a word to Russia could end the lives of Clone’s family, lay helpless before a living laser bone saw and only Clone could save him! Clone, who had been raised by his family to revere all life.
Clone did not hesitate. The duplicating defender leapt at the automatic assassin’s power cord and pulled it free from the wall! The murderous machine sputtered and stopped. Clone saved the life of Siberian!
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