Prison Sector, Onboard SKULL’s Star Giant, the Atlantic Ocean, 18,300 feet below sea level.
Time until Tsunami Machine Activation: Unknown.
The battle of the titans erupted!
Viper was first to move! The human serpent suddenly leapt forward in an unexpected burst of speed! He landed smoothly, crouched near the entrance to the prison cells (see map). After calling to Strike and Slingshot, he attempted to fix a Hypnotic Gaze on The Aryan! The perfect man’s body was stronger than his mind, and he found himself struggling to avoid falling into a serpentine trance! (Aryan loses his action this turn!)
“I’ll... get… you…” he said distantly.
Forester followed up on the one-two combo. The Zen trickster fired off insults, puns and finally a boomerang arrow. It appeared to miss its target until, impossibly, it looped back around, striking the dazed Aryan in the back with its blunt, weighted head- SLAMM!! The overman was injured, still standing, and still struggling against Viper’s Gaze!
Sentinel leapt into action! He held his arms forward and his energy shields instantly expanded to form a massive battering ram against the Ubermensch phalanx!In the wink of an eye, the ram retracted, forming a glowing golden energy orb around Sentinel, who now held an energy staff and an attempted air of confidence. The entranced Aryan and the majority of armored SKULL soldiers took the brunt of the impact. The swastika-emblazoned super soldier was knocked off his feet and half the SKULL soldiers were knocked unconscious! Baroness Von Zero and Panzer seemed unaffected by the attack.
Baroness Von Zero smiled coldly within her crystalline ice armor. It was as gothic and jagged as a broken stained glass window. Coolly confidant, even in the face of Sentinel’s attack, her voice was calm, like a mother soothing a child, “Zere, zere, lieben. No need for all zis struggle. It’s almost over now,” she cooed to the heroes.
Her pale hand pointed at Sentinel, and an invisible wave of icy cold embraced him. His energy armor offered no defense; the chill froze him to the bone. (Lose 11 power points. No damage to hit points.)
“Zurrender, child,” she said to the masked beacon of liberty. Her breath issued a cloud of frost.
Panzer lumbered forward to the strains and whines of hydraulics deep within his massive iron armor. A human Doomsday Robot, he was nearly seven feet tall. “Panzy?” he repeated via a crackling speaker system. “I zhall crush you beneazth my heel, znake!”KRACK-KOOM! Panzer’s huge iron fist slammed into Viper’s midsection! (18 points of damage! Viper rolls with 6 of it , taking 6 off his power points and the remaining 12 off hit points!)
“Vhere are your taunts now, Amerikan?!” Then Panzer held his mighty hand before his eyes, shielding them from Viper’s Gaze! These Nazis knew about the heroes’ powers!
The 3 SKULL soldiers that remained conscious chanted: “Serve SKULL! Sanctify SKULL!” as they opened fire on Forester with their energy carbines!
BZAT! BVOOMM! BZZATTT! One of the three red beams struck the archer! (12 points of damage! Forester rolls with 6 and takes 6 off his hit points!)
“Continue to press our advantage, Ubermensch,” the Baroness said calmly.
Meanwhile in Sgt. Stone’s prison cell…
Lightning Strike transformed himself into crackling white living electricity! SHRACKK! The bolt entered into the wall and was gone, leaving Stone and Slingshot alone in the cell.
“Amazing,” said Swastika-Stone quietly. “I shall rather enjoy adding that ability in my arsenal.”
Inside the prison sector’s computer system, Strike found there were no other defense systems within Stone’s cell, but they did exist in the control room where the epic battle now raged. Strike resumed control of the energy door to Stone’s cell and then had to wait for Slingshot to leave the cell before reactivating it!
Sgt. Stone, or whoever he was, did not wait. He crashed two merciless fists into Slingshot, laughing at the joy of having such strength at his command. A famed, experienced combatant, Stone connected again and again! POW! KRACKK! (Double attack: 1st fist: 23 points of damage! 8 points to Invulnerability, Slingshot rolls with 8, takes 7 points to hit points. 2nd fist: 17 points of damage: rolls with 7, takes 10 more to hit points!) Slingshot was hurt badly, but still awake!
Stone calmly left the cell, having heard Strike and Slingshot’s plans to isolate him. From the hall outside the cell, he taunted the pliable powerhouse: “Imbecile, you are overmatched here!”
Slingshot, staggering from the pain, poured his elastic form out into the hall. In a desperate bid to cage Stone, he stretched tight around the granite gargantuan and anchored himself.“Unhand me, oaf!” snarled Stone.
The ebon earl of elasticity slingshotted Stone back into his cell! Stone landed in a heap! CRRASH!
Lightning Strike, waiting in cyberspace and watching via the cameras, reactivated the energy door on the cell and Stone was imprisoned!
Slingshot, through the energy bars, called into the cell: "Stone! This is Slingshot! Scott! Don't force us to lock you up! Fight this Nazi monster! You can do it!" Sgt. Stone, splayed across the floor, seemed to stiffen and then writhe violently, holding his big, cinderblock-like head. Then he was still.
He pulled himself half up and dragged a big stony mitt down on his face. “What in Sam Hill?” came the familiar rocky voice of Sgt. Stone, hero of WW II!
OOC:Actions, everyone! Here’s everyone’s current condition:
Viper: Hit Points: 31, Power Points: 62
Forester: Hit Points: 19, Power Points: 54
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 20, Power Points: 39
Sentinel: Hit Points: 12, Power Points: 17, Creation Points: 34, Current Shields: 34%
Slingshot: Hit Points: 21, Power Points: 66
Best,-Ye Ever-lovin’ Ed.
------------------------------------Forester:
In a funny way, the SKULL soldiers' repetitive chants reminded Forester of the own meditative chanting he had learned while studying Zen at the Haven dojo before becoming a hero.
"< ... >" he laughed noiselessly, when struck by the blast of red energy.
Although he had incurred plenty of scrapes and scratches during his time as a death-defying stunt archer, this was Forester's first official war wound. In many cultural traditions, he knew, this alone would make today worth celebrating.
UNEXPECTED INTERLUDE: FORESTER'S "ZERO ISSUE" ADVENTURE: After realizing that "Haven can wait," the anti-authoritarian archer made his first attempt at costumed crime-fighting, and stopped a bumbling bank robbery basically by showing up. Following that "non-experience" not so long ago, Agent Grey recruited the eager hero into Freedom Force. So despite any lingering doubts about the liaison, Forester had Grey to thank for this occasion.
ACTION: "I dig your backup singers, Baroness. Those 'Aryan Air-heads' are really outta sight," Forester says. He fires a Smoke Arrow directly ahead so Von Zero and the three SKULL agents will all be within the the 2-inch radius of the darkening gas.
MULTIPLE ACTION: While trapping the Ice Queen and her bone-headed henchmen inside a smokey cloud of doom, the arrow-dynamic hero creates an added hurdle to boot. By also firing a Cable Arrow to stick knee-high against the far wall, Forester devises a dangerous obstacle course for any opponent left in the dark.
------------------------------------
Viper:
"I zhall crush you beneazth my heel, znake!"KRACK-KOOM! Panzer's huge iron fist slammed into Viper's midsection! "Vhere are your taunts now, Amerikan?!" Then Panzer held his mighty hand before his eyes, shielding them from Viper's Gaze!
What seemed like slow motion, Viper straightened up from Panzer's blow. "I hardly recall a time when there WASN'T some big galoof pickin' a fight with me. Usually they weren't afraid to look me in the eye! Come on! Big boy! Try that again! Or do you need to wait for Mistress Chilly to give you orders?! You're the Uber-Stench!" Viper Cackles.
At that, Viper uses Panzer's blocked vision to back down the hall towards the cells. He's trying to bait Panzer down the cell where the others (Lightning Strike and Slingshot) are battling Sgt. Stone. If Panzer doesn't take the bait, Viper will attack him. Viper is hoping to get a 3 on 1 on Panzer. If Panzer follows Viper, he'll yell out."Sling, Strike! I got a big one coming! Better get a cage ready!"
OOC: I want more powers! Super taunt is ok, but I wan't gadgets! Just kidding! Let the pounding commence!
------------------------------------
Sentinel:
Sentinel smiled at the Baroness, "Thanks for the cool breeze; it was getting mighty warm in here and I was starting to feel faint."
At this point Sentinel swings his staff around posturing as if advancing for a physical attack in martial arts form. This is a decoy for his true actions as Sentinel will use this as a distraction, along with the cover of Forester's smoky arrow for his real attack. Since the Baroness has ice armor and his energy is at its low level it is unlikely a direct attack will do much, so he will break off a small transparent amount of his energy to move (hopefully unseen with his distraction and that of Forester) towards the Baroness. The goal of this energy will be to enter into her ear and once in expand and move through her ear canal. Figure the construct to take on the consistency of a thick fluid once entering her ear and sloshing into it. Unless he has reason to believe otherwise, for the Baroness to hear, the armor shouldn't be protecting her ears -- if he misses on exact entry into her ear, once landing around the area, it can just move around any armor and enter. As the energy "fluid" fills her ear canal, this should produce deafness in the one ear, it should cause vertigo, and she should no longer be able to know exactly where she is in physical space or know how her movements are actually being made in real space (the inner ear canal interprets all of these things for the brain)- this would likely throw off her ability to attack us --- assuming she doesn't totally give in to panic from this anyway having no clue what is happening or why. I believe this is all scientifically valid.
I don't believe this attack would actually cause any damage to hit points or anything along those lines, but should pretty much incapacitate her in the battle and leave her vulnerable to other attacks than are not deflected by her armor that is already in place. If this is a valid attack, then this is my action and goal.
------------------------------------
Slingshot:
Slingshot was definitely worse for wear. Sgt Stone really gave him a sound trouncing. The fallen hero seemed to have recovered his wits, but Scott wasn't sure it was just Swastika who was shaming. Lightning Strike had the access codes to the cell and if he was going to let him out, then so be it.
"Sling, Strike! I got a big one coming! Better get a cage ready!"
Hearing Viper's cry for assistance, the mahogany master of elasticity wasted no more time liking his wounds. He elongated himself down the corridor. Holding onto the opening of the closest cells, he stretched around Panzer in an attempt to become his namesake. His plan was simple, yet effective. To slingshot Panzer down the corridor, out of reach.
[OOC: I'm assuming that Viper's that much faster than I am and I'll go after him.
Actions: As explained above, run up to the Tank and slingshot him down the corridor. I'm assuming some sort of grapple hit. Since I'm late responding, I'll take my chances, but I would like to know for next time if what I'm trying has a lot of penalties to it. I hope I'll miss Viper in the process.
------------------------------------
Lightning Strike:
Once Sgt. Stone is safely (?!?) locked back in the cell, Strike focuses on the control room. Strike seeks to take control of the defense systems and fire them on the human tank Panzer.
Ideally Strike would use the defense controls as a conduit of his electrical energy to blast Panzer as iron is a good conductor and would not provide a defense against an electrical blast. If I can not use the defense systems to conduct an electrical attack then I will attempt to strengthen (adding extra charge) the defense systems and focus them on Aryan to take him out of the battle as he is already dazed. If other systems are available to me in movement then I would like to disable the lighting system to put everyone on equal footing (and I can disable the lights with movement). That should do it for this action.
OOC: Not sure how recharging works but does it take an action to recharge via the ships electrical system. Hope I didn't screw up everyone else’s actions.
------------------------------------
GM OOC Replies:
Slingshot said: “… but I would like to know for next time if what I'm trying has a lot of penalties to it.”
GM: No. You are throwing an opponent. That doesn’t have penalties in V&V. The “slingshot” part is really a special effect of your power and doesn’t affect rule mechanics in this instance.
Lightning Strike said: “Not sure how recharging works but does it take an action to recharge via the ships electrical system.”
GM: You get your healing rate ( 2 points) in power points for every minute spent resting and recharging. You get your healing rate in hit points for every 8 hours spent resting and recharging (usually sleeping). This 8 hour healing cycle can only be done once every 24 hours.Basically you heal as per a normal person AND you require an electrical power source to do it because of your Super-Weakness.
