Issue 17: Back From Beyond the Grave!

Time: Unknown.
Atlantic Ocean. 18,300 feet below sea level.
Time until Tsunami Machine Activation: Unknown.

Inside the prison sector, within a titanic tentacle of the monstrous Star Giant, deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean…
Lightning Strike waved his dark hand over the computer console and the prison control room’s security cameras and alarms were prevented from transmitting signals out. But the monitors remained on in the control room for the heroes’ purposes.
Then Strike deactivated the energy door to Sgt. Stone’s cell. Stone’s shackles were controlled from a panel within his cell.
With Forester acting as a lookout, Strike and Slingshot made their way to Stone’s cell.

Forester (with a successful detect hidden) noticed a monitor displaying files of superheroes. Forester navigated the data, and discovered a system of files on almost every known superhero in existence. Forester and Slingshot were not to be found, but information on Lightning Strike, Sentinel and Viper, apparently gleaned from their deadly encounter with the Doomsday Robot, was present.
Cross-referenced with that encounter was data on a hero called the Blue Comet, who was identified as the original Tornado Man! It seemed that SKULL had monitored and manipulated his life for years, including the events that transformed him into a criminal, and eventually the amnesia-plagued Blue Comet! Their ultimate plan was to return him to the ranks of SKULL!

Forester turned his attention to Sgt. Stone’s prison cell, which he could monitor via the audio/video cameras Strike left active.
In Stone’s cell, Lightning Strike manually deactivated Sgt. Stone’s electro-shackles and Slingshot lifted the grey granite goliath to his feet. Stone was conscious, but weak.
Slingshot identified himself and said Stone’s name.
Suddenly, impossibly, Stone was alert and active, and he crashed a huge fist into Slingshot’s jaw! KRA-POW! The big rocky knuckles hit harder than a freight train! Slingshot was knocked back into the opposite wall, hurt but conscious!

Before the surprised pair could react, Stone attacked again, this time against Lightning Strike, slamming him with inhuman strength. KER-SMASH! Strike was hit, hurt, but still conscious.

Then Stone raised up his face. The pair expected delirium, perhaps from torture at the cruel hands of SKULL. But his expression was one of pure malevolence! His eyes were knowing and filled with fathomless hatred. Then Stone spoke in a voice that Slingshot did not recognize. It had the deep gravelly bass of Sgt. Stone but the voice was an educated, almost aristocratic English, tainted with a slight hint of German.

The voice coming from Stone’s mouth said: “Witless fools. You are exactly where we want you.” The cold evil voice laughed. “How perfect! To use the indestructible strength of my old arch-nemesis to effortlessly smite those who blindly follow in his path! Tremble, cretins, before the genius of Doctor Swastika!”

(OOC: FYI, The last round of combat was a successful ambush by Stone/Swastika, therefore you both had no attacks and he had two. The surprise also prevented either of you from rolling with damage, so Lightning Strike just took 20 points of damage (about half his total hit points!). He did not lose consciousness.
Slingshot took 25 points of damage! 8 were absorbed by Invulnerability, and 17 came off hit points. It was a special attack to the head, but miraculously, the dice were kind and he retained consciousness!

Meanwhile, Forester was about to rush into the cell and aid his teammates when he heard a noise! Viper and Sentinel came rushing in from the direction of the airlock! They were breathless and agitated (and their actions expended from travel). Sentinel and Viper saw displayed data on Blue Comet, as well as the live monitor feed showing Stone standing over Strike and Slingshot in a cell of some kind.)

(OOC: Any quick conversation can go here, but keep it brief because…)

Suddenly, a second ambush was sprung! From the third doorway, came a rushing onslaught, organized and ready for battle!
Sentinel recognized them, but could not believe his eyes! Forester and Viper recognized them as well, from the telepathic glimpse into Sentinel’s memory! (From way back in the golden days of Issue 10! –Ye Ed.)

Impossibly, they were the Ubermensch! The Nazi supervillains of WWII!

Panzer: The human tank! A large, black, iron colossus, he was thought dead, KIA in 1944!

The Aryan: The perfect man, except for his soul! The Nazi super soldier’s white crew cut matched his pupil-less eyes. His uniform was black and had a red swastika emblazoned on its chest. Aryan had gone missing in 1945!

Baroness Von Zero: A severe woman with a cruel mouth, clear ice formed an elaborate, medieval armor around her that had frost vapor rolling off. Her helmet had an icicle crown. To judge from her cold gaze, ice flowed through her veins! She too was last seen in 1945!

With them were 6 soldiers of SKULL, in formation and armed with battle armor and large carbine weapons!

The Aryan, looking as young as ever, commanded: “Remember! Do not damage zem unnecessarily, my Ubermensch! Now… ATTACK!!”

OOC: Aryan’s less-than-honorable ambush failed because Forester made a successful detect danger, and Viper and Sentinel arrived forewarned, more or less.
Actions?

Thanks! -Ye Ed

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Forester:

COMPUTER CROSS-REFERENCES: Forester's eyes light up as he scans the database of hero biographies, but his eyes can't help but water as he reads the tempestuous truth about Tornado Man and Blue Comet. "If there's anything worse than murder, it's mind-control," the archer says to himself. OCC: Because Issue 17 already describes Forester closely examining the screen of heroes, and thoroughly reading the profile of Tornado Man/Blue Comet, Forester could have ascertained answers to the following information:

1. Does the information about Tornado Man/Blue Comet state his current whereabouts and standing with SKULL?

2. Does his profile include any cross references to CHESS—specifically nefarious links to SKULL? If so, what does Forester learn about Grey's alleged connections about the two organizations?

3. Are there any cross references to Brian Grey? If so, Forester uses his heightened initiative and Zen-like awareness to scroll through as much of this material as possible?

4. Does the screen of heroes include any conspicuous omissions or entries (other than the understandable absence of entries for Forester and Slingshot).?

QUICK CONVERSATION: As soon as Viper and Sentinel arrive, Forester shouts: "We found Sgt.Stone--but he's acting like some THING fearsome! He started clobbering Lightning Strike and Slingshot--and now claims to be Dr. Swastika."

FANTASTIC FLASHBACK: Immediately spotting the incoming villains, Forester realizes that here at last is the battle he had imagined only hours ago, when the telepath Venus relayed Sentinel's history lesson to the rest of Freedom Force: "If we do go head to head against a revived team of Over-Men," the archer had confidently boasted, "I call first shot against Panzer or any 'super tank' protégé standing in his place. My corrosive arrow should disable his armor faster than any other attack." [See Issue 10]

But arrow'ding that enemy's exoskeleton isn't possible at this point, as hours of subsequent adventuring have cut Forester's available arsenal almostdown to the bone.

ACTIONS AGAINST ARYAN: Centered on the current situation, Forester selects another opponent instead... In a faux seductive voice, the archer says: "Well, Aryan, I always knew you were Mr. Reich, but I had no idea you'd turn out to be such a knockout." Looking into the whites of his enemy's eyes, Forester fires a boomerang arrow at the foe.

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Sentinel:
OOC: From the current situation with the sneak attacks on Slingshot and Strike and with my powers as depleted as they are and my prior injury, Forester low on arrows, etc; and all the baddies fresh, we are going to lose this battle no matter what we do here.

I did notice that Grey was leading our charge at the end of the postings but not with us as we came down the hall; did you neglect to list him coming or was he sidetracked and if so, how?

I don't know if this is possible, but with Sentinel's power as low as it is and with all the Skull agents in addition to the super-villains with the close quarters, Sentinel would try to take the offensive first with a move that will likely be more showy than anything else at his power level but may at least take out or discourage some of the goons.

He'd step forward (with a sure smile on his face) to be sure that his move doesn't hit the other heroes and to show he isn't rattled at all and extends his two hands forward; from that he will extend his current creation (his personal shield forward) so that it expands and pushes forward encompassing the entire hallway hopefully startling all of them and throwing all of them backward and hopefully doing some "slamming" damage to each of them along the way. He will then instantly retract his shield to himself and "summon" his battle staff to form as the shield returns to protect him and assume a protective stance awaiting the attack.

The expand/retract should occur as quickly as his powers will allow (hopefully within a second or two) just enough so they know he did it and hopefully before any of them can react or brace themselves. Hopefully this will give a bit more advantage to the heroes attack against them instead of the reverse.

If the expansion retraction can be done, this should likely not cost Sentinel power at this point or I would think it would be minimal compared to a normal attack; with the close quarters I would think this "push" attack should be hard for them to avoid and might make him seem tougher than he is right now.

If this isn't doable for some reason would a wide burst power blast do the same? If I had to make another creation to do this I would do so, but I do want to be sure that my shield is back in place either way.

I'd be going for a mental "startling" effect on them here where it would look like they have the advantage and all of a sudden they see everything encompassed and feel themselves thrown backward. Thanks.

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Viper:

Viper looks about the room and notices it's round shape. "Another circus ring," Viper mutters. His gaze stops on Baroness Von Zero. "Sentinel, you're more of a ladies man than I am. Not that I'm not better looking. I NEED (Viper tries not to put too much emphasis on the word) you to entertain her for me."

"Hey! You Skull boys! Looks like you need to take your Pansy out for a walk! Where's his leash?!" Viper takes his next action moving over to the only other exit from the room, the hallway leading to the action with Sgt. Stone/Swastika. Hopefully I can do this and take a Hypnotic Gaze action against the Aryan.

Once there, Viper yells back down the hall. "Strike, Slingy! Lock Stone back up and get in here, we have company!"

OOC: Other than the Baroness and Aryan, Viper is trying to draw the attention of the others to him. Hopefully, that'll give Forester and Sentinel time to work on their targets. At the start of the hall leading to the cells, is there a door there? Or are there doors on any of the exits from the Prison Control room? My idea is to possibly separate some of the Uber-mensch so that we could focus our attacks on one at a time or a smaller number. Divide and conquer. If there are no doors though, that would be a problem. And it would take a bit of luck, even if it is possible. How a-scared am I of the Skull henchman with the Carbine weapons? I think that's it!

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Lightning Strike:

Lightning Strike shakes off the massive blow and shouts to Slingshot, "Get out of this cell as fast as you can, we need to isolate him in here." As soon as he lets Slingshot know what to do, he assumes electrical form and attempts to re-enter the system. His goal is to lock down the cell and then disable it so that Stone can't get out again until we can snap him out of whatever mind control he is under.

Since I have already disabled it, I am hoping that enabling it again would count as movement and as an attack, I would like to determine if there are any more defense systems in the cells or in the control room that I can gain control of and use them to disable Stone and attack the rest of the villains in the control room. In synopsis, my plan is like this:

1) Lock Stone back in the cell.

2) Determine if weapons system can be overridden to disable Stone in Cell.

3) If possible, take over weapons system and turn it on those Nazi scum!!!

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Slingshot:

Slingshot heard Lightning loud and clear. It was an excellent idea. All he could come up with was to try and take him down. He figured that the whallop he just got had scrambled his brains.

As he retreats slowly from Stone, he looked at him. His face was rocky and there was little facial expression there, except for the out of place bearing of teeth. It left the eyes. The eyes betrayed the stony exterior. There was confusion there. Hatred and something else. As the granite officer readied himself to throw another charge, Slingshot could not just let him stay in this state without trying something. Anything.

"Stone! This is Slingshot! Scott! Don't force us to lock youup! Fight this Nazi monster! You can do it!" As he finally stepped out of the cell.

Actions: Slingshot retreats without leaving Stone from his sight. At this point, Slingshot will not take any actions against Stone, aside from making sure he stays in the cell. This means that any charge will he will make, Slingshot will use his elastic body to sling him back into the cell. So I'll call a "hold action" until he attacks and I'll trying to slingshot him back into the cell. All the while, I'll be pleading for him to break out of the Swastika's hold.

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OOC GM Replies:

Wow, great stuff everyone!

Forester’s data-mining results:

Q. Does the information about Tornado Man/Blue Comet state his current whereabouts and standing with SKULL?

A. He is currently in what is described as PHASE 4 of a five phase process. His current whereabouts are listed as the CHESS Omni-carrier!

Q. Does his profile include any cross references to CHESS—specifically nefarious links to SKULL? If so, what does Forester learn about Grey's alleged connections about the two organizations?

A. Tornado Man/ Blue Comet has no direct cross references to CHESS. But he is apparently being monitored onboard the Omni-carrier by a SKULL operative, unnamed here.

Q. Are there any cross references to Brian Grey? If so, Forester uses his heightened initiative and Zen-like awareness to scroll through as much of this material as possible?

A. Agent Grey is listed among SKULL’s top ten most wanted individuals. Information lists him as a deadly, canny opponent. He has been an Agent of CHESS for 20 years, and is affiliated with many of the original Freedom Force, especially its leader, Dynamo. Grey has battled SKULL numerous times.

Q. Does the screen of heroes include any conspicuous omissions or entries (other than the understandable absence of entries for Forester and Slingshot).?

A. No. It’s unnervingly complete.

Sentinel: Grey stayed behind to guard U-Man, as was discussed at length (seemed sensible in Issue 15). He wasn't leading the charge, he looked down the hall and drew his gun. But so dynamic is the Mysterious Man From CHESS, you must have envisioned him leaping into the fray!

Your 'ram attack' is legal, and won't cost additional power points, since you're using an existing energy construction. So no need to go for the 'power blast' option.Any reply to Viper's words about Baroness Von Zero? Thanks.

Viper: 'At the start of the hall leading to the cells, is there a door there?'

No. All the cells in sight are doorless as well!

'Or are there doors on any of the exits from the Prison Control room?'

The entrances by green arrow and the blue arrow have sliding "Star Trek" doors that are in the open position. Control panels are on either side of the door. But the Ubermensch are already in the room at the end of Issue 17, at the tip of that blue diagram arrow.

'How a-scared am I of the Skull henchman with the Carbine weapons?'

Back in the circus, ol' Texas Slim, the last of the big-top trick shooters, once told you: "Boy, a weapon is only as good as the man who's holding it."

Lightning Strike: Turning into electricity costs you an action. But you still might be able to activate the cell door and investigate weapons systems with movement. However, turning the weapon systems (if they exist) on the Nazi scum will require your next action.

Slingshot: Read you loud and clear. No problems.

Thanks everyone.-Ye Ed

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Sentinel:
Viper said, “Sentinel, you're more of a ladies man than I am. Not that I'm not better looking. I NEED (Viper tries not to put too much emphasis on the word) you to entertain her for me."

"Noticed that did you? It wouldn't be gentlemanly of me to pass up such an opportunity ... I'm sure that I can heat things up for the Baroness," Sentinel says with a wink, "besides those Skull agents seem more your type."

If it appears that after Sentinel's attack and defensive stance that the Baroness is going after Viper, he will attempt to intercept. Also, if Sentinel knows anything more about the Baroness's mo or weaknesses, etc let me know.

If as a result of the melee to follow there are any exposed/broken pipes, electrical panels or wires, or the like, please do let me know since it seems unlikely that Sentinel could take the Baroness down in direct combat here with his current power levels and unless he can make use of the surroundings to facilitate the offensive he's got problems. Thanks.

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Forester:

Forester steers clear of the "ladies' men" banter between Viper and Sentinel. Though a show-off by nature, the archer has never competed for the attention of a woman, except perhaps when playing the part of Robin Hood at a Renaissance Faire performance. Forester keeps his attention focused on defeating Aryan.