Big City, Queens. Investigation Day Two, 7:05pmThere was a price on Vanguard’s head and Homicide for Hire aimed to collect it! The battle raged on!
The Mercenary spoke into his headset and expertly directed his crew of extranormal executioners.
The Hyena heard those words and turned from Forester to face the mysterious Symbiote who was advancing on him! “You picked the wrong day to play Good Samaritan, bright boy. Gonna cost ya,” the jovial jackal laughed as he leapt over the seven lanes of the Grand Central Parkway in one bound! The bestial brute pounced on Symbiote with alarming speed and his razor sharp claws slashed savagely! (OOC: 18 points!! Symbiote rolls with 7, and takes 11 off hit points!)
The superhero simulator fell backwards into a grassy area near the highway.
Hyena smiled and licked his oversized, inhuman fangs as he casually closed in on Symbiote.
“Hmmm,” he said. “I wonder what your entrails are gonna taste like.”
The Mercenary observed the field of battle through small binoculars from his vantage point atop the elevated tracks, behind the line of his team. After Jim Harrik had killed Spider Girucci, he saw where the envelope went. The Merc let his binocs dangle from his neck and pulled a grenade launching carbine from his back, loaded and fired a 40mm M1060 thermobaric cartridge directly at Slingshot.
Fffwooooooosshhh! The M1060 is a US military issue grenade designed to lethally destroy targets through a combination of intense heat and forceful overpressure blast (better known as "concussion"). It was developed for use against structural targets such as bunkers, houses, caves and masonry as well as providing soldiers with a greater probability of kill/incapacitation within its effective radius.
KA-BOOOOM!
Slingshot was ground zero for the grenade detonation! The concussion slammed his malleable form, and the thermite set him afire!! (OOC: 21 points of damage! 7 from concussion, 14 from heat as per his weakness. Slingy takes 2 off Invulnerability, rolls with 8 and takes 11 to hit points!)
The concussive blast cracked the asphalt, knocked over nearby cars and might have affected Silencer!
Slingshot’s rubber body burned and greasy black smoke poured off it! (OOC: Fire damage will continue!)
The Mercenary calmly reloaded the carbine.
Forester fired a blunt-headed arrow at Hyena and missed! Then the arrow’s trajectory changed in mid-flight! It was a Boomerang Arrow! It turned 180 degrees and succeeded in striking an unaware Zero G square in the back! POW!! Unable to roll with the surprise attack, Zero G was hurt by the impact!
Also, the arboreal archer’s keen eyes detected the effects of what must be some sort of personal gravity field around Zero G: the arrow fell two feet the moment before it struck Zero G; Forester had aimed for his head. The anti-gravity assassin turned his attention from Lightning Strike to Forester.
Symbiote looked up at the slavering Hyena and suddenly gripped his leg. (OOC: Absorbing powers takes an “attack,” so you can’t punch for another attack while absorbing) The Harper Harness activated for the first time for real and Symbiote felt himself change! “What the hell?!” barked Hyena when Symbiote’s body rippled with a new, inhuman musculature and thick, stiff tufts of hair sprouted out of his costume. Hal’s mouth grew terrible fangs and his hands sprouted claws! The Harness resized itself and notified Symbiote of his new, simulated superpowers… and super-weaknesses!
· Heightened Strength: +15
· Heightened Agility: +15
· Heightened Senses: Scent, Hearing and something the Harness couldn’t ID or duplicate
· Natural Weaponry: Claws and fangs: +3 to hit, +6 to damage with hand to hand attack
· Transformation: Can transform into the form of a human being or a large hyena!
· Weakness: Unusual appearance in Hyena-man form: animal-faced, large, furry, fanged
· Weakness: Vulnerability to Silver: suffers a x 2 modifier to damage from silver weapons
The Hyena stopped laughing. The lethal lycanthrope snarled, “There’s only one me, punk. And I’m it!”
Lightning Strike remained pinned by his own extranormally augmented weight! But the high-voltage vigilante continued his attack on Silencer. Having gained control of the sonic supervillain’s sound amplifier device, Strike turned it up to maximum level as he fired a lightning bolt from his hand. KRAKA-BOOOOOM!
Silencer reeled! He pulled off his helmet to get the amplifiers away from his ears, but it was too late. Blood leaked out of the bald killer’s deafened ears! At that moment, all of Homicide for Hire tore off their headset communicators. The channel was open and the amplified sound of the lightning crack had transmitted to each of them! (OOC: You rolled a 1.) The Merc frowned. His communications were out.
Slingshot was deaf, burning and missing much of what had just transpired. But his eyes told him all he needed to know about Silencer. The cacophonous killer’s armor was slowly disintegrating from Forester’s corrosive arrow. His helmet was off. He was dazed, deaf and hurt from Strike’s sonic onslaught. Still burning, the big hero loomed up and suddenly his fist was bigger than Silencer!
KRA-POW!! Slingshot crashed a gigantic roundhouse into Silencer’s entire upper body, laying him out cold! Silencer was silenced!
Zero G released Lightning Strike from his power and slowly turned his terrible attention to Forester. It was the heinous hitman’s wish to render Forester at a negative weight and watch him fall upward into the sky at 7 Gs. But Zero G did not get his wish. Somehow, the willful woodsman resisted his attack!
The extranormal assassin’s blank, glowing eyes glared with hatred.
Kairos, meanwhile, was falling out of the sky! As he plummeted to certain death, the fated fighter coolly steered his body while monitoring the epic battle, the movements of jets taking off and landing from LaGuardia, and the course of a blimp hovering over Shea Stadium. The defender of destiny accepted his fate as ever, when suddenly a gleaming, art deco craft zipped up aside him…
Sentinel waved cheerfully from the cockpit of a two-man fighter plane that looked like something Flash Gordon would fly; a 1930’s vision of what the future would become. High above Shea Stadium, the beacon of liberty matched Kairos’ speed, eased him aboard and sealed the canopy. The crowds at Shea saw it all and went wild!
“Welcome aboard the Sentinel One! If you think that boarding was something, wait for the rest of the flight,” Sentinel said cheerfully. Then he hurtled back to the fray to lure the Atomic Brain into a trap. But Sentinel fell into a trap of his own…
Penumbra opened a rift in space directly in front of the Sentinel One! Our heroes only saw it after it was too late! The ship hurtled headlong into the black, inky spirals... vvvwwoooosshhhh!
The portal re-opened right next to the steel girder skyscraper construction site and the ship smashed into its 50th story at full speed! KRRAAAASSSHHH! (OOC: 20 points of damage to Sentinel’s construct!) It happened so fast, our heroes barely understood what had transpired! They never even saw the evil, extra-dimensional enigma named Penumbra. But the black, mist-rift remained open…
The Atomic Brain came through the open, pulsing portal. It limned him with undulating, swirling tentacles of black nothingness. “Here you are, old friend,” he said.
Sentinel reformed his crashed ship from the twisted metal girders, taunted the radioactive robot and blasted off on a merry goose chase (OOC: Kairos: let me know if you go with Sentinel or stay on the 50th floor of the unfinished skyscraper. Thanks.). Sentinel weaved around the Unisphere, the World’s Fair Towers, and commercial structures. At the last sharp turn, Sentinel stopped short and quickly re-morphed his ship into a translucent wall.
KER-SMAAASHH!
The Atomic Brain flew right into Sentinel’s wall construct! His atomic powered force field flickered from the impact and resumed. “Is that all you have?” he asked as Sentinel absorbed the wall back into his shields. The Brain’s Odinium body fired its atomic death ray at Sentinel! VWOOOOMMmmmmMM! When the terrible green beam stopped, Sentinel’s shields were all but gone! (OOC: 25 points of damage!)
“This is even better than I had imagined!” the Atomic Brain exclaimed through his electro-speaker. “And I have imagined it. I’ve played it out, over and over again in my mind. And it was never sweeter than this moment now. You, my arch-nemesis, are at my mercy! It took the entire accursed Liberty League to defeat me in the past, and I am stronger now than I ever was, thanks to this immortal body! But you have succumbed to the ravages of time. You are slower and weaker than ever before!
Despair, Sentinel! You are finished! Beg me for mercy, as I imagined you would. Plead for your life …and I may let your new friends live.”
To be continued!
OOC:Actions everyone?
Current Conditions:
Forester: Hit Points: 21, Power Points: 63
Kairos: Hit Points: 44, Power Points: 73
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 28, Power Points: 69
Sentinel: Hit Points: 20, Power Points: 50, Creation Points: 34 out of 104
Slingshot: Hit Points: 44, Power Points: 71, Invulnerability: 0 until start of next ish
Symbiote-Hyena: Hit Points: 76, Power Points: 94 (Symbiote: Hit Points: 17, Power Points: 64)
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Symbiote:
"Heh. I'll be. The gizmo works after all. Shelly owes me a Coke," Symbiote thinks to himself. But only for an instant. He focuses on his lupine attacker. "Time to get fixed, little doggy!" the Myrmidon of Mimicry snarls as he launches himself at the hirsute hitman, attacking with all the savagery his newly borrowed powers can muster!
(OOC: I'd hoped to do a little bait and switch, i.e., borrow one villain's set of powers to use against another. But if I understand the map correctly, with Silencer down and Hyena having no distance attacks (plus, being right in my face) I'm pretty much committed to battling it out with him. So be it. If Michael Vick happens to be walking by he can take bets.)
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Sentinel:
OOC: Couple of quick questions Jeff: I'm assuming the location of Penumbra and her movement will be somewhat dependent on what Kairos does regarding tagging along or not which would determine whether there was damage to platform and or/her? Or did the force shield of the Brain save the platform from any dishevel at all, and if so, what is the size/range of the platform area.
Can you please let me know if from the further contact if Kirk has been able to perceive anything more regarding the energies surrounding the Brain and his usage of his power. His destructive ray emanates from the physical body -- is this a different form of energy from the forcefield energy or the same? Has Kirk picked up anything more that might be of use to him in formulating a plan?
Regarding the force field energy of the Brain and Kirk's own energy and such, any experience/history/knowledge of the possibility of Kirk using his energy on a more elemental level to mess with the Brain's shields/energy etc? If not, any possibility of Kirk surrounding the Brain and using powers in a reflective way so that when the Brain fired his blast it could be reflected back (ie the blast is contained within the shields causing reverse damage)?
I'm not counting on any of this being possible based on what I know currently, but these were some ideas that I wanted to check for possibly working before Kirk tries another ploy to buy time for a group effort, since it appears that his solo efforts just can't do enough damage to get the job done and history shows it took "the whole team" of the Liberty League combined to take out the the Brain in the past. Plus I've already got some cool dialogue running through my head for the next scene.
Much thanks... and go Tony go! (Hooray for LS knocking out their communications and giving us some advantage here)... we need it.
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OOC GM Replies:
Sentinel wrote: I'm assuming the location of Penumbra and her movement will be somewhat dependent on what Kairos does regarding tagging along or not which would determine whether there was damage to platform and or/her?
GM Reply: Penumbra's location is unknown to Sentinel and Kairos at this time!
She was last seen on the Atomic Brain's force platform at the end of Issue 39 (see Issue 39 map).
Then you zoomed off to Shea Stadium to save Kairos. You lost sight of her then, obviously.
Then, what you believe must have been one of her portals opened before you and teleported you into the skyscraper construction site with your velocity intact.
The portal that transported you remained open and the Atomic Brain came through it alone. (see write-up of Issue 40).
Then you took off (with or without Kairos) and the Brain followed.
But Penumbra never appeared at the skyscraper construction site.
Since Brain is no longer carrying anyone, there is no force platform being used by him.
With so much happening, and the villains having plans of their own, you might include clear if/then statements in your orders with Plan B options like Terrific Tony and Good Greg do, Slacker Seth. ;)
Sentinel wrote: Can you please let me know if from the further contact if Kirk has been able to perceive anything more regarding the energies surrounding the Brain and his usage of his power.
GM Reply: When Sentinel employs his Energy Sense, he learns:
-The Atomic Brain's brain is extranormal.
-The robotic body has one power source for the force field, the death ray, etc.
Not sure what you mean by using his energy on a more elemental level to mess with the Brain's shields/energy. Please clarify. While Sentinel can create energy, he can't manipulate energy he hasn't created. Reflecting energy back at him might not work. The Atomic Death Ray isn't a laser beam that bounces off mirrors. It's an entropic ray that disassembles matter. If fired at a mirror, it would disintegrate the mirror.
The situation is dire. Sentinel might have to try some of the things he mentioned earlier. (End GM hint)
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Kairos:
Kairos will not go with Sentinel in the newly-reformed “Sentinel One” but will instead stay on the 50th floor of the unfinished skyscraper.
“Bon voyage…and thanks for the save,” Kairos says to the departing Sentinel, “Go do what you have to do…I think that I might be better off staying right here for the moment.”
As Sentinel departs, Kairos looks around the unfinished structure, taking note of things that might be able to be used as weapons or obstacles as well as keeping an eye on that open portal through which he just knew something would come…
OOC: Kairos will be looking for something near the edge of a drop-off of some sort, whether on the outer edge of the unfinished skyscraper or just a little to the inside. His goal will be to find something of substantial weight (i.e. unattached girder, cement mixing drum, pallet on which something heavy is fastened, etc.) that is near the edge and that can be pushed off with leverage from his staff or through sheer physical effort. If something of this sort is found, he will tie one end of his line to it and wait with the grappling end of the line at the ready. If it isn’t obvious, my thoughts are that something is probably going to come out of the portal and it isn’t going to be friendly because, well, the rift was opened by an “evil extra-dimensional enigma”, we’re superheroes in a fight, and the color of the portal is black. If I can get the grappling hook end of my line entangled around such a creature and then push the heavy object on the other end off of the skyscraper (or the actions of the creature do so), then maybe it will be hurtled fifty stories to the ground and splatter.
Also OOC: If I don’t find a heavy object, I’ll just tie one end of the line to a girder. Even limiting the actions of a creature would be a step in the right direction.
Kairos is also on the watch for Penumbra herself. If she appears, I'll actually attempt the same thing with Penumbra herself as I would with some creature. Since it seems that you retain your velocity when going through her portals, I'm thinking that, if I could entangle her and have her falling, 50 stories is enough time for her to use her powers to escape but she might retain enough velocity to take her out of commission wherever she might have teleported to.
If nothing comes through the portal, I'll just wait this turn and then, if nothing comes through, I'll begin to make my way down the skyscraper and back to the main fight as quickly as possible.
IF, however, the "other end" of the portal (i.e. where Penumbra hit Sentinel and I with it in the first place) is at a height that I can manage, I may jump through the portal...not that I know for sure that's where I'm going, of course.
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Forester:
As Zero-G glares hatefully down at Forester, the philosophically grounded bow-man simply shrugs his shoulders.
"News flash," the hero calls out, as urgent information had just arrived. Turning his attention to yet another opponent, Forester fires a Flare Arrow at Mercenary, who had been directing the enemy ensemble, with binoculars in hand, safely outside the battle lines.
OOC: As the battle unfolded, Forester felt satisfaction as he watched Silencer's armor weaken from the Corrosive Arrow fired moments ago. And yet, the outdoorsy adventurer was keenly aware of his own limitations. Avoiding the effects of Zero G's powers was a fortunate fluke as far as Forester was concerned.
As he again changed targets, aiming for a blinding attack against Mercenary (the leader), Forester made the most strategic move he could image at the time. This maneuver followed the "coyote" combat style he had studied during his initial training at Marksman's dojo all those months ago.
The coyote of Native American legends was a suitable archetype for the the green-clad hero (with his expertise in archery and improvisation). And yet, Forester did not wrap himself in coyote iconography, and he had no coyote super-pets or spirit guides.
So what was Forester to make of Hyena, the harried opponent who picked up on his metaphysical "coyote" scent? Weeks ago, Dr. Swastika sensed how Forester relied on meditation to keep his skills sharp; and he met the extraterrestrial named Venus who too could read thoughts. Perhaps Hyena had a similar ability--or worked with someone else who did.
With no explanation at hand, Forester chose to ignore Hyena completely instead of falling for his taunts. There would be time for questions later (or perhaps not). Either way, we would trust any opponent to call his shots.
That said, Forester was relieved beyond words that the shapeshifting Sybiote had appeared to prevent Hyena from tearing out his chest. Ignoring an enemy can continue for only so long.
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Sentinel:
“This is even better than I had imagined!” the Atomic Brain exclaimed through his electro-speaker. “And I have imagined it. I’ve played it out, over and over again in my mind. And it was never sweeter than this moment now. You, my arch-nemesis, are at my mercy! It took the entire accursed Liberty League to defeat me in the past, and I am stronger now than I ever was, thanks to this immortal body! But you have succumbed to the ravages of time. You are slower and weaker than ever before!
Despair, Sentinel! You are finished! Beg me for mercy, as I imagined you would. Plead for your life …and I may let your new friends live.”
Kirk stood firm in midair as his energies convalesced around him facing the Atomic Brain; there was no jet reformed, instead merely a barely perceptible aura surrounding him. He took this moment to reinpower his construct and bring it to full levels of protection once again.
(as you imagine Kirk’s next actions, picture the words and actions ala Errol Flynn in Robin Hood)
Kirk placed his hands on his hips, looked his nemesis square in the face, er brain, and smiled, and began to chuckle and then he laughed and laughed and laughed.
“Well, old friend, I’m glad you enjoyed the show! There’s not much good to be said for long lost comrades that can’t share a few moments of nostalgia together.” And Kirk chuckled ever more.
“But I think you confuse my reminiscing with what really is … 'slower and weaker’", Kirk mimicked the Brain’s words, “succumbed to the ravages of time,” and he laughed again.
“Just so you understand what really is happening here,” Kirk reached to his mask and removed it ever so briefly before replacing it revealing his handsome youthful vigor, and his voice grew stronger, “Behold the ravages of time! I only wish you still had physical eyes to see for yourself, but I’m sure you ‘get the picture’. It seems that time chooses to be kind toward its ambassadors of good,” as he gestured at himself, “but not so kind to agents of destruction,” and he gestured towards the Brain.
“I'm sorry so see that time has left you as merely some disembodied grey matter with delusions of grandeur clutching on to that tin can hanging near you posing as a body, hoping to hold some grasp of what you once were … and for that reason, I do pity you (and Kirk did say that part with genuine sympathy in his voice and meant it).”
“As much as I’ve enjoyed our time together, I have to leave you now as there are some genuine threats to be dealt with here. Perhaps after I’ve dealt with ‘your friends’, we can reminisce some more…”
With that Kirk flew back towards the battle scene where he left his teammates at top speed. His aura morphed a bit resembling the appearance of a G-Man from the 40s (this for the continued benefit of the Brain) complete with 40’s style suit and FBI badge. He flew just passed the Mercenary and descended into his “space” coming as close to him as is allowable and possible at this point, and says, “I’m done reminiscing old times,” and ‘flashing’ the construct FBI badge at the Mercenary adds, “so we going to do this the easy way or the hard way”.
OOC: Explanations and hopes: Ok Jeff – if I understand how my “shields” work, at this point if I don’t renew them, I’ve only got 1/3 of a chance of them actually protecting me which means I’m dead 2/3 of the time with a hit from the Brain (I’ve got 20 hit points and he’s been doing at least 25 points of damage with a hit). So I need to get my shields up. To my understanding, this is the equivalent of my attack; I can’t redo my shields and attack.
Kirk is hoping at this point that his speech will really push the Brain over the top becoming so infuriated that he no longer has any control or sense or care about anything other than pulping Kirk. He was already close to this, but we’ve now added taunts, confused his world further, and totally dismissed him as being irrelevant and not even worth thinking about.
I’m figuring as Kirk takes off the Brain is going to be hot on his tail. By flying over and trying to ‘engage’ the Mercenary I’m hoping that when the Brain catches up to Kirk he’s going to be so angry that he’s going to blast Kirk and anything near him and I’m hoping that by being so close to the Mercenary he’s going to get him too. Hopefully Kirk’s shields at full power will protect him from what is likely going to be the most devastating attack the Brain has and perhaps that attack will take the Mercenary out of the fight totally. By flying passed the Mercenary, Kirk is hoping to ‘turn him around’ so that it would take longer for him to notice the Brain coming and he would have less of chance of evading the Brain’s onslaught.
The Mercenary would be Kirk’s first choice (the G-Man taking out the Mercenary seems appropriate) if at all possible, but if somehow this wouldn’t work due to actions that come before his, Kirk would try the same approach with one of the others villains that were at a distance from his teammates (so they don’t get caught in the Brain’s attack).
I’m hoping that with the Brain’s “weakness” (apparent madness, especially aimed at Kirk) and with the above “role-playing” you’ll allow it, and perhaps Kirk will work an ‘attack’ when he really doesn’t have one.
Thanks.
Seth
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OOC GM Replies:
Sentinel wrote: Ok Jeff – if I understand how my “shields” work, at this point if I don’t renew them, I’ve only got 1/3 of a chance of them actually protecting me which means I’m dead 2/3 of the time with a hit from the Brain (I’ve got 20 hit points and he’s been doing at least 25 points of damage with a hit). So I need to get my shields up. To my understanding, this is the equivalent of my attack; I can’t redo my shields and attack.... .....Let me know if this sounds all right.
GM Reply: Correct. And your actions sound good to me.
Sentinel wrote: ....ie Kirk can’t do enough damage to pierce the shields from using his energy in a normal attack mode.
GM reply: That hasn't been proven either. Historically, forcefields can be overcome given enough time and power (Sue Storm's forcefields are always failing). It might require a team effort, but it's not impossible. However, in this case you then have the daunting task of his Odinium body.
I just wanted to clarify that forcefields don't make someone completely invulnerable to physical attacks.
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Kairos:
OOC: Where is the portal, exactly? Is it in mid-air? How close is it to the unfinished building? Did our crash into the building cause much (or any) damage to the structure?
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Slingshot:
OOC: A couple of questions.
1- I'm on fire. How bad is it?
2- Obviously, Mercenary needs the note destroyed. Is it?
3- Could I easily grab it and read it out to my communicator in my voicemail or something?
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OOC GM Replies:
GM Reply to Kairos: The black, misty portal is hovering in mid air about 5 feet due east of the 50th story of the unfinished skyscraper.
There was damage to several girders. It doesn't appear that there was major structural damage that would cause a collapse of any kind.
Slingshot wrote:
"1- I'm on fire. How bad is it?
2- Obviously, Mercenary needs the note destroyed. Is it?
3- Could I easily grab it and read it out to my communicator in my voicemail or something?"
GM Replies:
1- Your weakness is doubling the damage. If you don't put it out asap, you'll suffer d8 x 2 to hit points at end of next issue. Then d6 x2... then d4 x2, etc.
2- Not yet. It's "inside" your arm due to your stretching abilities. (see Issue 39)
3- Once it leaves your "inner arm," it could catch fire if you are still on fire.
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Slingshot:
There were moments in life where everything fits. Scott thought that Mercenary was the key to this outfit. He was right. The only other person that had an impact in the few seconds since this mess was started was Penumbra.
Feeling the searing pain of the fire burning, he turns his focus and complete intent on that coward, perched a quarter mile away. Too bad, I can easily reach that far.
[ooc] My first priority is that note in my inner arm. So if it is not doing fine as my turn comes, then I'll go for something defensive and/or stop the fire.
Otherwise.. Smackdown time!
Assuming he's within 900 feet, I'll just deck him from my current location, otherwise, I'll take however many steps are required to give him something to remember me by. So it'll be the usual fare: Enlarged Fists. ;)
[/ooc]
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Lightning Strike:
With Lightning Strike no longer pinned by Zero G he looks around to ascertain the situation. With Silencer out of the picture, Strike turns his attention to Zero G. "Your time of retribution has arrived. You took your shot now it's time for mine." Nothing fancy this time just a simple electrical blast to divert his attention from Forester. After the attack, with movement LS will head over to where the mercenary is over on Roosevelt Avenue. "We can't let the Merc attack from a distance and let him pick us off. We need to bring the fight to him."
OOC: With the next action or subsequent turn, I would like to charge up the elevated structure with electricity with the hope that the Mercenary is grounded on it and won't be aware of this kind of subtle attack.
OK that's it for now.
