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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Vanguard: Issue 163: Rampage of the Pachyderm!

Within the Aztechnology compound, Vanguard battled the new Homicide for Hire before a second Digital Zone Gate! Inside the Digital Zone were Nanite, Zephyr, Slate and a bizarre amalgam of Nemesis and IT, the Entity!

Slate erased the Virus from Nanite and Slate!

The Nemesis Entity stopped! “What?!” it cried; the sky face gazing down at Ethan’s tiny form. “You/They are the Digital Child!”


Nanite awoke, floating in the weightless fluid of data. “What?” she said softly. 

Slingshot quietly pulled Nanite back into this world of flesh and men. KRAKOW!
She was herself again, safely in his arms! Still in her wedding dress.
Slingshot left a finger like a long coil of rope, a lifeline, for Ethan.

Zephyr had Ethan and was pulling him toward the Portal, back to their world.

Then all hell broke loose. “RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAUUGGHH!!!”

Pachyderm rampaged forward into the generator field! He slammed into them with his titanic fists, causing a chain reaction explosion! KA-BOOOMMM!!!

“ROOOAARRR!!” The Pachyderm wanted to bring the building down! Flames and black smoke roiled from the burning generators, threatening to soon fill up the room!  The other-dimensional wind pulled the smoke toward the Gate!


The Digital Zone Gate sparked and flickered! The loss of so many generators was causing the Portal to begin to close! Slate and Zephyr were still on the other side! It would be shut in a matter of seconds!...

Avatar ignored the Gate and leapt 30 feet at Harrik, pressing his attack with the Sword of Hephaestus! KANG!
The magic blade struck the ground hard as the Mercenary barely got out of its way!

The Mercenary leapt over Avatar and back to his original perch, from where he could survey the battlefield.

Menagerie, deep in the roiling smoke of the flaming generators, could hear Harrik speak into his headset with his keen Bear ears. “Maelstrom, teleport an object inside Sentinel. Now!”

The shamanic shapeshifter could also hear Maelstrom’s reply. “No go. Repeat, no go. Jump Suit is off line.”

Harrik’s right hand held out the small device that had shut down Soldier’s systems two days ago. Seeing Soldier’s weakened state, he put it away, and smoothly redeployed the grenade launcher. He loaded it with a larger cartridge and fired.
Fwooooooooosh!
VWA-BOOOM!!!
The thermobaric grenade detonated on Slingshot, Nanite and the six Clones that surrounded them!
At the last second, Slingshot turned away from the blast to shield Nanite with his own body! There was nothing he could do for the Clones!  (Slingy had been carrying Nanite. PR: 2 to change facing out of your action phase.)
(OOC: 16 damage to each Clone!) All six Clones were incapacitated by the blast!
(OOC: 24 damage to Slingshot due to his Vulnerability to flame or heat attacks. 8 from Invulnerability, rolls with 6, takes 10 from hits.) Slingshot was barely conscious, and not on fire!
(OOC: 0 damage to Nanite, thanks to her brave husband) Nanite was unscathed!

Slingshot shook his head at the Mercenary. "Why do something that will hurt you in the end? Money won't help you if you're dealing with that." Scott tilted his head at the Entity. "Should I tell IT that you're the one attacking and see what IT can do to your bank accounts?"

The Mercenary spat, “You’re bluffing, Brock. You’ve got no more control over that thing than I do.”

Lightning Strike moved from the smoke field and readied himself to stop anyone who attempted to attack or shut down the generators until everyone was clear!
The super-intelligent hero deduced that with Nanite back in the real world, Homicide for Hire didn’t want to close the Gate.
Watching the portal flicker and spark, he knew how best he could help. “Rrrrraah!” he growled as he fired hot electricity from his hands into the remaining generators, giving them a boost of power to keep the gate open a little longer! SHA-KOW!

The Gate stopped flickering for now!

Some of the billowing black smoke moved from the roiling clouds in the shape of a man! No, it was the Luddite! He advanced on Lightning Strike with madness in his voice! “Why are you trying to save the boy and the woman infestations? You know the future. You know the threat they represent! What more will it take for you freaks to act like the heroes your press agents claim you to be?!”

The murderer of Lightning Strike’s wife held out two black, spectral claws at the electric avenger. “Given your unnatural condition, you are the most vulnerable to my fearsome gifts! Die, traitor to the human race!” SHRAKK!!

Lightning Strike, a being of pure electricity, felt his life essence stolen from him, absorbed into the Luddite! (OOC: Strike loses 34 Power Points!)

Clone acted! With a sudden burst of speed and determination, four of the ‘replicating Russians’ charged towards The Mercenary. Careful to not to group too closely together, the ‘copying communists’ lashed out at the villain with their staff weapons in a unified assault! KRAK! One of the four struck Harrik, who rolled with the blow!

With the Luddite disappeared through the black smoke, the three Clones that had been nearest to him backed out from the smoke-filled center of the room and discovered Maelstrom! They charged him!

Before they could reach him, Maelstrom warned, “Stay back!” and fired a blast of white energy from the palm of his green gauntlet! VRAK! One of the three Clones was felled (13 points of damage) but the other two moved in and both struck! CHOK! WHAK! Maelstrom’s armor protected him from the staff strikes!

Desperate to thin the number of enemies before them, two more of the Clones attempted to wallop the Ratman into unconsciousness with their bludgeons!

Before they could act, Ratman, cornered, injured and desperate, lashed out at the nearest Clone combatant with his insidious claws! SKASH!!!  “Back off, russkies!”

The Clone was badly cut (11 points of damage) and fell to the ground unconscious!

Ratman backed up, ready to grab the unconscious Agent Drake and use him as a living shield!
The remaining Clone smashed Ratman across the skull with his staff! KERACK!
Ratman was still conscious, but was too cowardly to risk turning his back on the Clone to grab Drake!

Symbiote awakened. Shaking off his headache from the Villainous Vermin's vicious tail attack, Hal quickly assessed the situation again.  Slate and SHELLEY in the digital zone!  And those generators are about to give out! he realized with a panic.

There were any number of villains in the room he would've loved to take a piece out of--chiefly Ratman, Mercenary and The Luddite--but at that moment his only concern was his sister's safety.  He used the power of Inhuman to gather the water that had splashed away from Ratman's head and caused it to fountain up and into the fires around the generators! SPLOOSH!!! The fires were out!

Meanwhile, in the Digital Zone!
Slate was torn… there was so much to learn here, without the confusion he constantly felt in the “real” world.  Here things made sense, he longed to stay, and began to pull away from Shelley when he heard his true father’s words, “being a hero is about doing what’s right, not what you want to do.”  He looked at Shelley and could see she was in pain, this world was rejecting her, and she had come here to save him.

Ethan looked longingly at the face of the IT/Nemesis entity, “Yes I am, and you are safe,” he thought toward IT/Them, then turned and wrapped his arms around Zephyr and shot toward the portal like a dolphin through water, gaining speed as he went.  He grabbed Slingshot’s finger, using it as a lifeline.

Through the portal, Slate could see what was going on in the room, and seemed somehow aware of all of the events that had occurred, even though he had not truly been paying attention. It was as if the data from the physical world was streaming into the digital dimension itself, and he was able to “tap” into that flow.

As they flew through the closing portal, sliding to a stop just inside the room, Slate turned to the Luddite and said, “You are the abomination here,” as his eyes began to sparkle with static.

The dark form was now the focus of all of Slate’s frustration, anger, and angst.  Slate had used his powers before, but this was different… Twin beams of destructive digital energy flow from Slate’s eyes, attempting to pierce the dark form that is the Luddite, reminding everyone that had seen such a thing before exactly of how IT had looked when he first attacked Vanguard. (OOC: Luck Point spent to gain +4 to hit)

ZOM!! The twin eye beams of static struck the Luddite, who had been badly injured by the generator blast!
“NO!” cried the anti-technology terrorist. “You cannot succeed! You are anathema to nature. A plague upon this world! A contagion that must be destroyed! I swear I will stop y-”

Then the Luddite disintegrated into thin air.

“-ou!” was suddenly heard from the Digital Zone Gate! The Luddite had re-materialized inside the Digital Zone. For one who held such a philosophy as his, being “digitized” rendered into green, linear data, must have surely been a living hell.

The Luddite looked at his surroundings and then down at his own hands that he now struggled to recognize. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” he shrieked as the brobdingnagian visage of the Nemesis Entity took notice of him. The colossal face grew enraged, opened his mouth as if to yell, and swallowed the Luddite alive!

ZZPOW!! The Digital Gate flickered, sparked and finally lost power! KSHOOM! The gate was shut! The Nemesis Entity was no longer visible!

Zephyr regained her bearings, noted the positions and conditions of her brother, Sentinel, and Ethan, and then used her amazing wind powers to dissipate the smoke that threatened to fill the room and asphyxiate everyone in it! WHOOOOSHH!!

As the smoke began to clear, a badly wounded Zero G saw Sentinel’s energy shield pyramid that protected both the beacon of liberty and the weightless Soldier, whose cybernetic systems had lost all power.

Zero G held out his hands and released Soldier from his control, and gave Sentinel’s construct negative weight!
The construct, with Sentinel and Soldier inside it, began to rocket upward!
Sentinel could not alter the construct’s speed or trajectory! It “weighed” too much for him!
KRASH! The pyramid “fell” upward through the ceiling, bursting through the roof and continued plummeting up into the night sky!
(OOC: The construct takes 21 points of damage from the impact with the roof) Debris from the roof rained down, but didn’t strike anyone in the room.

Sentinel and Soldier could feel the G-force as the pyramid approached terminal velocity!

Zero G, wanting to keep the pyramid construct within the range of his powers, flew up with it! He chuckled thickly as he watched his helpless captives!  Or so he thought!

Soldier, still raging about the situation and not thinking clearly, rapidly drew his smartpistol, Mercy, and fired an explosive round at Zero G! BLAM! BOOM!!

Zero G was hit and knocked out cold! The anti-gravity assassin began to plummet to earth, along with Sentinel, Soldier and the now-released pyramid construct!

Sentinel regained control of the energy construct and flew it back down through the hole in the roof and into the Aztech facility, blasting energy at Harrik as he and Soldier emerged from the hole! ZARK!

The Mercenary was unaware of the attack, and was struck squarely by the blast! He was still conscious!
“Not very chivalric of you, Sentinel. Seems adversity does reveal one’s true character,” he smirked. “Guess you’re just like the rest of us after all.”

Ion, unlike his boss, wasn’t in a joking mood. He mercilessly fired more jagged bolts of electricity from his eyes at Avatar’s back! KRAKAKOOM! (14 points of damage! All from hits! Avatar stays conscious.)
Then the evil electrocutioner said to Harrik, “We’re running out of options here. And revenge don’t pay the rent.”

Slingshot looked at the carnage of the generator explosion. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take another hit. On the other hand, he knew that he had things well under control. Nan and Ethan was on this side. That left him with a precious moment to enact some little protection.
As the smoke continued to clear, he scanned for Skin Deep, with Symbiote’s DNA extraction unit at the ready!

The pliable powerhouse found her.
Because now there were two Menageries!

One in the shape of Man. The other in the shape of Bear! “ROOOARRWW!!” howled the giant grizzly at the man-shaped Menagerie! (OOC: In animal form, Menagerie can only speak telepathically on his action)

The man-shaped Menagerie put a gentle hand on Pachyderm’s forearm. His face was a model of love and serenity.

Pachyderm recognized his old friend, the man-shaped Menagerie, and focused upon him. “Cat lady… dead.” He repeated with effort.

“Yes,” said the man-shaped Menagerie (OOC: who was Snow Leopard’s actual murderer!! –Ye Ed) with genuine sadness. “These people are to blame, Pachy. Make them pay, my dear friend. Starting with that one,” he said, pointing at the Grizzly Bear!

Pachyderm’s unimaginable fury was unleashed! The monstrous mammoth raised his head in a roar of vengeance and then charged the Grizzly with all of his incredible power!

Menagerie mind spoke to Pachyderm, "Pachy, it’s me! Go home! Go back to the Great Northern Wilderness! I will deal with those that hurt you!!!"

Pachyderm stopped in his tracks! His head whirled back and forth between Menagerie and the Grizzly in confusion!  Frustrated beyond his ability to comprehend, the towering titan slammed his fist into the floor in anger – WHAMM! – and his incomprehensible strength and power created a shockwave that rocked everyone within 30 feet of him!  Wham am am am am am am am am am m m m m m m

(OOC: Symbiote, One Clone, Ratman, Lightning Strike, Slate, Avatar, Menagerie, Skin Deep, and Sentinel’s Shield Construct all take 10 points of damage that cannot be rolled with!
Everyone remains conscious except for that one Clone and Menagerie!)

Ratman was barely standing. “Jeez!” he whined.
A Clone fell to the power of the shockwave!
And so did the Grizzly! It hit the floor and then slowly transformed… into Menagerie!

Pachyderm looked down at his unconscious friend. “RRRAAAAAAAUUGHHH!!!!” he roared in clear distress.

Skin Deep, in Menagerie’s form, didn’t miss a beat: “Look here, Pachy! Look here. The Bear is fooling you. Like the Wooden man did. I am your friend. Me.”

(OOC: Given these revolting developments, Slingshot may or may not want to attack Skin Deep just now. I’ll say you saved your action. Next issue you have two actions, the first one will preempt everyone.)

Avatar suddenly leapt at Harrik with his sword! The relentless demigod of destiny struck true! KTANG!

Harrik was hurt but smiled at Avatar, nodding at Pachyderm. “Don’t you know when you’re beat, Vanguardian?”

To be continued!


(OOC: Tom, please give me Menagerie’s actions in case he wakes up next issue. As he lay unconscious, he dreams and sees, via his mind’s eye, that Skin Deep murdered Snow Leopard! Menagerie's Nature Sense power, which includes psychometry of predators, reveals this to our sleeping sorcerer supreme in a mystic vision flash when Pachyderm and Skin Deep came within close proximity of him and each other!)


Current Conditions:

Avatar: Hit Points: 25,  Power Points: 67,  Manifestation: The Speed of Hermes!  The Strength of Ares!

Clone: Bodies: 6,  Hit Points: 1 each,  Power Points: 40, Hit Point Pool: 6

Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 11,  Power Points: 34

Menagerie: Hit Points: 0,  Power Points: 46,  Form: Man, Incapacitated!

Sentinel: Hit Points: 13,  Power Points: 58, Creation Points: 116, Shields: 69 

Slate: Hit Points: 20, Power Points: 66

Slingshot: Hit Points: 4,  Power Points: 54,  Invulnerability: 0 until the start of Issue 165

Soldier: Hit Points: 7, Power Points: 45, Invulnerability: 8

Symbiote: Hit Points: 24, Power Points: 71, Charges: 0, Copied: Inhuman, Water Controlled: 50 lbs,
 

Viva Vanguard,
Jeff

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Menagerie:
Skin Deep killed Snow Leopard!!! She had moved to the top of Menagerie's list!!

IC: Menagerie woke up. He snarled an animalistic growl. "Pachy, go home! All mankind are liars. Leave us and mourn Cat Lady! I will kill her murderer for you." The look in his eyes told everyone in the room he wasn't kidding. "I guess I will have to eliminate all of Homicide of Hire to be sure that I get the job done right." He attacked Skin Deep with a ferocity that would have caused a honey badger to flee in terror.

OOC: Awesome issue Jeff! Great way to turn the table back around on me.

Tom

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Clone:
OOC: LOL Damn!!! Menagerie is down and the Clones are dropping like flies    - Great issue!!!
-Kev

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Slingshot:
OOC: I'm not done reading, but I'm putting this in:

<<Slingshot shook his head at the Mercenary. "Why do something that will hurt you in the end? Money won't
help you if you're dealing with that." Scott tilted his head at the Entity. "Should I tell IT that you're the one
attacking and see what IT can do to your bank accounts?"

The Mercenary spat, “You’re bluffing, Brock. You’ve got no more control over that thing than I do.”>>

Scott answered easily, "I guess that is what it's really about, uh? Control. I don't need control. All I have is the truth. How about I tell IT that you're the dumbass that orchestrated this "attack" and that you love your money and that they are all in bank accounts and institutions that are linked to the internet, one way or another. IT can do as it damn well please. You better make sure that you nail all of Vanguard as they will be able to follow through with this threat."

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Slate:
Staggered by the force of Pachyderm’s blows, Ethan glances around the room and sees Menagerie standing by Pachyderm, and lying on the ground at his feet.  As he hears the words coming out of Menagerie, and realizes that this must be Skin Deep.  Obviously, she is using Menagerie’s form to get Pachyderm to do her bidding. 

Ethan quickly moves to Menagerie, and moves him away from Pachyderm.  “You’re going to kill him he says,” he says to Pachyderm.

Ethan is trying to get Menagerie out of Pachyderms “area of influence,” so that if he does another Whammmmm, Menagerie won’t be hurt.  His action is try to awaken Menagerie, as he appears to be the only one who can influence Pachyderm and break him from Skin Deeps influence.

Jon

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Sentinel:
OOC: Thanks for this move, Jon.

I was trying to work moving Menagerie and waking him into Kirk's turn and still try to distract Harrik for Avatar but now that you are moving him out of the range of influence and trying to wake him I can just do that.  Hopefully I'll get to post IC in the next couple of days... Kirk will engage Harrik in conversation and hopefully get him angry enough to be distracted so that Avatar can hit him...  (Avatar is moving with the speed of a god and hemorrhaging luck points and he still misses Harrik?!? It seems the only way to make contact is if Harrik doesn't see it coming...)

Seth

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GM:
IC:
<<Scott answered easily, "I guess that is what it's really about, uh? Control. I don't need control. All I have is the truth. How about I tell IT that you're the dumbass that orchestrated this "attack" and that you love your money and that they are all in bank accounts and institutions that are linked to the internet, one way or another. IT can do as it damn well please. You better make sure that you nail all of Vanguard as they will be able to follow through with this threat.">>

Harrik replied to Slingshot for everyone to hear: “Don’t worry. I understand that part as clear as day.
But the first part doesn’t make any sense to me. Maybe you can help me out. You want me to renege on a paying contract and in return you'll give me what's already mine?”
His mouth made a derisive snort. It might have been a laugh. 

“Come on. You can do better than that. Let me give you a hint. You say you can drain my accounts. Well, can you fill ‘em up?” smiled the Mercenary.
“I remember you were happy to cut deals with the likes of Spider Girucci. If you’re trying to buy us out, then for god’s sake, buy us out. Make us a real offer… before the Pachyderm leaves me no one to negotiate with.”

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Slingshot:
OOC: FYI  - I'm well aware that I can pay him off, but I don't believe that I have the resources to pay him off. Scott is not interested in buying him off. He wants someone to do it for the right reasons, especially, since he'll turn around just as fast as someone else's pocketbook shows up.

I also want Skin Deep's DNA. :)

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Symbiote:
IC:  Symbiote wanted to try the drain an opponent of their body moisture trick again, and listening to the arrogant, callous Harrik, he desperately wanted to do it to him.  He wanted to reduce the Hellacious Hired Hand to dust.

But he disciplined himself.  Slingshot seemed to have Harrik engaged verbally and it looked likely that Avatar was about to wallop him again.  There were other foes--perhaps not quite as dangerous, but dangerous still--who had gotten a free pass so far.  Hal meant to change that.

He looked at Ion, and concentrated on the Voltage Villain.  "Hey Ion," he snarled.  "Dry up."

With that, he began extracting moisture through every orifice in his opponent's body, as with Ratman.  Only this time the plan was to use the water to completely envelope Ion's form, like a thin full body membrane.  It was hoped this would a) prevent him from breathing, and b) prevent or at least impair his ability to use his powers--any time he tried to project electricity the water surrounding him would short it out.

OOC:  I'm liking these past two issues.  A straight forward knock down, drag out between two organized super teams.  Gotta have them in the mix every now and then.

Viva Vanguard,
Greg

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Sentinel:
Kirk assessed the situation around him.  He checked the energy signature of Skin Deep and did this with her form changes to see if it changed to be sure to find her unique signature pattern.  OOC: Hadn’t mentioned this before, but it was for this very reason that Kirk realized he could sense and identify the unique energy signature of beings around him so he certainly wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

Seeing Slate moving to assist the fallen Menagerie, their best hope to handling Pachyderm, he turned his attention towards Harrik, their key to victory.  He had witnessed Harrik miraculously evading the blows of Avatar, Vanguard’s powerhouse, who moved with the speed, skill, and luck of the Gods. Yet both he and Strike had managed to tag Harrik with an unexpected attack.  Kirk thought his most productive move would be to do his best to distract Harrik to give Avatar the best opportunity to do what he does best.

Kirk flew towards and around Harrik circling and drawing his attention.  He gave Avatar a quick wink when he caught his eye out of Harrik’s range so he would know he was up to something.  Normally he’d expect Harrik not be rattled by this, but with events going not as planned and Kirk having already tagged him unawares …

“Upset your plans again, Harrik?  Can’t be good for business (shaking his headin a ‘no’ fashion)”

“You know Harrik, your rep overreaches the reality.  I get your whole ultimate strategist sales pitch, but when push comes to shove, like a poor General, you fail to execute when it really counts.  What’s the matter Harrik? Performance anxiety?”

As Kirk circles, he tries to maneuver Harrik unknowingly closer to Pachyderm so he would be within the range of another assault should he have one.  When Kirk thinks he has Harrik’s attention with both his physical movements and oral assault he will assume an attack positioning like he is about to fire upon him and Kirk will fire towards him.  However, Harrik is not going to be his target.  He is going to assume that Harrik is going to be out of his way with intent for his attack to move onward past him to tag Skin Deep.  If that isn't possible then choose another target that is possible.  Since Kirk can use his energy sense in addition to sight, I'm hoping the Skin Deep attack is possible.

If the battlefield changes and something else is more appropriate, you can have him take that action.

PS: Forgot to mention, when Kirk 'fires' upon Harrik, he would try to maneuver things so that when he dodges Kirk's attack he is actually moving into a better position to be hit by Avatar.

I'd add, in game terms if this is too difficult to do as a 'phony' attack, I'd sacrifice the move against another opponent to just attack Harrik knowing he'd likely miss if it would seemingly ensure the positioning for Avatar to connect - but it does seem likely that Harrik would avoid Kirk's attack, so I figured doing things this way made sense.

Also, although I gave some dialogue, Kirk is trying to rattle Harrik here- feel free to add more if necessary.

Seth

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Avatar:
OOC: Even though it's likely a waste of Luck, Avatar will spend a luck point with this attack to try and ensure another strike on Harrik.  Lackluster, yes, but he'll just keep attacking Harrik.  Other problems are being handled by other team members and Harrik has been a thorn in our side for too long to ignore him.

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Slate:
OOC: I believe Gary Busey said it best in "Soldier."

"If you want to drive in a nail, don't do anything fancy, just take a hammer and hit the son of a &!^(#."

Gratitude to the hammer.
Jon

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Soldier:
IC: Freed from Zero G’s grasp, Soldier hit the ground with a thud, and the force of the impact managed to knock some sense into him. “Dammit Matt, you need to get it together, the team needs you.” he thought. Taking a second to assess the situation, he immediately scanned the area for the locations of the other members of Vanguard, as well as those of Homicide for hire. Spotting both Pachyderm and Menagerie, he immediately set his sights on the hulking powerhouse. Taking a second to make sure he’d aligned his sights correctly, he fired off another explosive round from Mercy (Special Attack, he’s trying to take a head shot on Pachyderm). “I hope you enjoy this, as much as I did what you’ve done to me.”

OOC: If it’s successful, Matt will let out little smile.

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Clone:
IC:
The Mercenary!
Desperate to keep the pressure up on The Mercenary, the four Clone duplicates assisting Avatar strike out once again at the cunning leader of Homicide for Hire with their staves.

. . . And Then There Were Two.
Figuring that they probably won’t be able to take down Maelstrom by themselves ( OOC: communicating through their telepathic / empathic link ), the two remaining Clones decide to try something completely    unexpected and truly heroic – they’ll attack Skin Deep and Pachyderm!

Turning their backs on Maelstrom, the two desperate Clones run head-on towards the rear flanks of Skin Deep and Pachyderm ( OOC: Jeff, looking at the last map of this Issue it looks like they would be attacking from the rear – hopefully I’m correct ). Having worked on power generators with their comrades in the past ( OOC: i.e. the Tesla lab in the Omega-verse ) the two quickly identify some damaged but still live power cables loosened by the Pachyderms outbursts and grab for the insulated material surrounding them. Not missing a stride, the two duplicates pick up the power cables and continue their charge against each of their apparently unsuspecting targets.

 As they come within striking distance, the ‘duplicating duo’ lunge at their targets with unrestrained determination. The one Clone thrusts his exposed power cable at Skin Deeps back, while the other leaps up and tries to drive his sparking power cable square into the back of Pachyderms head ( OOC: I’m hoping that the +4 Rear Attack bonus helps to off-set the double attack roll needed for this ). Knowing that their numbers are dwindling quickly and that the Pachyderm is now completely out of control, the replicas do their best to make every moment of this unified assault count ( OOC: I have absolutely no qualms using a Luck Point for each of these attacks . . . assuming I have any left )!

OOC:   
Talk to you all soon,

-Kev

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Lightning Strike:
Strike's attention is pulled in two directions.  Harrik must be taken down, and Pachyderm must somehow be calmed before the entire place comes crashing down.

Strike weighed the options and determined that with all of the experience Harrik has (OOC:  I think I have been fighting this guy for 30 years!!!), he is the most dangerous opponent.  Strike waited for the optimal moment for an opening when Harrik was engaged with a fellow Vanguard member (OOC: He held his action until a time when Harrik was dodging someone else.) and then unleashed a torrent of electricity at the Mercenary, hoping to penetrate his insulated suit.

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Slingshot:
OOC:
Sorry for the late reply. I simply couldn't come up with a right solution. I am really stuck. I have a decent conversation going and two actions, but I don't have the inspiration of what the right thing to do was. That included with the fact that I took two weeks off and I'm stuck catching up at work (wondering if it really was a vacation?). Real sorry about that.

I've decided that the main thing here is the super star destroyer: Harrik. As we should all have done in the first place. He's keeping these people together. Without him, they will all bail, hopefully, Skin Deep will be the first.

IC:
<<Harrik replied to Slingshot for everyone to hear: “Don’t worry. I understand that part as clear as day.
But the first part doesn’t make any sense to me. Maybe you can help me out. You want me to renege on a paying contract and in return you'll give me what's already mine?”
His mouth made a derisive snort. It might have been a laugh. 

“Come on. You can do better than that. Let me give you a hint. You say you can drain my accounts. Well, can you fill ‘em up?” smiled the Mercenary.

“I remember you were happy to cut deals with the likes of Spider Girucci. If you’re trying to buy us out, then for god’s sake, buy us out. Make us a real offer… before the Pachyderm leaves me no one to negotiate with.”>>

"Negotiate? I guess that's where you and I don't see eye to eye. Or maybe we can see fist to eye." And Scott winds up a haymacker at Harrik with a fist easily the size of a small dresser.

[OOC: I assume this is a saved action, I want this done before Harrik has his turn. Attack to Harrik. With my move for that action, I want to hand over the DNA gun to Nanite]

"Nan, I'm not going to last long. I'm almost out for this fight. Take this[dna extractor]. If I fall, make sure you or someone collects Skin Deep's DNA. I need to stop Harrik. Although, I would prefer if you would give your love." [code word for heal? :)]

[OOC: On my turn, more pounding on Harrik. I don't know if I'll be standing or not, but if I have anything left, it's going his way. Can't think of a nice repartee]

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