Lightning Strike tried to "feel" his way through the melted circuitry of the Robot to locate a jet pack, but none was connected to the ship's hull. And the leap between the hull and a jetpack would force Strike to cross open water in his electrical form! No good! Strike was trapped! And so, the high-voltage vigilante plummets to the bottom of the Hudson River in a 100-foot tall iron coffin!
Meanwhile, above him, the Blue Comet takes a deep breath and plunges into the River. The water almost extinguishes his flame. Barely flickering, the dim, blue limning forms the cobalt crusader's only illumination beneath the black, midnight waves. Following the massive bubble trail down, Comet soon catches up on the massive wreck of the Doomsday Robot, lying motionless on its side on the river floor. There was no sign of life! Tapping the hull in Morse code, the cyan speedster and the electric avenger coordinate a plan to get Strike into a sealed circuitry component that can detach from craft. In the murky darkness of the high tech ghost ship's bridge, his lungs burning for air, Comet releases the circuit from the console and zooms out of the Robot to the surface. Higher and higher he climbs as he feels himself starting to black out.
Splash! Comet breaks the surface, gasping for air. Thirty feet over the water, he taps the "okay" sign on the circuit and electricity surges out of it, sparking white hot lines of lightning. Suddenly a man forms from this crackling energy, and Comet catches him before he falls into the River. (Strike now has full power points)
"What the hell now?!" cried Captain Bannick from his barge. From here, the two superheroes could see lights flashing from atop the city's most famous skyscraper…
Meanwhile atop the Empire State Building, Sentinel swats down two more servants of SKULL to the streets below! Then he envelops Grey and Doc Rocket in a translucent "force-field" baseball mitt, saving them from certain death at the hands of the remaining soldiers of SKULL! "Nice save, kid," said Mr. Grey around his cigar as he leapt to his feet and stared through the protective force field barrier at Viper, who was now outside and alone with the servants of SKULL!
Sentinel asked: "Now who's the old gentlemen with you?"
Without taking his eye off Viper, Grey said wryly: "This here is Doc Rocket! I figgered you'd recognize yer old team mate!"
Doc said: "Thanks for the timely assistance, 'Sentinel.' I dare say it seems like old times. Except, you haven't aged a day!" The elderly man smiled broadly.
Sentinel asked: "What's the most important thing we've got to prevent Skull from accomplishing here? What do they want?"
Grey said flatly, "They want Doc here, and that package out there. While we want to stop them from getting what they want."
Viper, meanwhile, was outside the protective energy barrier and alone with eight servants of SKULL! Viper shouted: "SKULL boys! Lookie what I got here. Harm those men and your precious package is destroyed!"
The captain of the Doomsday Robot was dazed, trying to shake off the effects of Viper's Hypnotic Gaze. But the other seven fanatical SKULL agents took action. All seven mobbed Viper, knocking him off the edge of the Empire State Building!
In a literal 'flying tackle,' the jet-packed assailants lifted the human serpent into the air! Viper could easily best three or even four men at once, but their numbers overwhelmed him. They did not attack to inflict damage, only to wrest the package from his grip and Viper soon felt the package torn from his strong hands!
"We are successful, Master!" The agents shrieked. The groggy Captain managed: "Doc Rocket is protected by an energy field. But his neck shall be under our blade again, and soon. We have retrieved The Item! Disperse!" "Yes, Master! Serve SKULL! Sanctify SKULL!"
Viper suddenly felt himself released from the combined grip of SKULL. He was now in mid-air, one hundred stories up! The agents and the Captain hurtled down into the city streets and flew off in eight different directions. In the darkness of night, it was impossible to identify who had the package! Meanwhile, Viper was plummeting to his death! He was thirty feet away from the windows of the Empire State Building that zoomed by him as he fell! Sentinel's choice was between saving Viper or chasing the scattered servants of SKULL! It was no choice at all. The beacon of liberty flew down the side of the skyscraper and caught Viper squarely in his mitt.
Grey scanned the roof for a jetpack from a fallen SKULL agent, but it was too late. The SKULL agents were long gone in the midnight maze of Manhattan's streets. Sentinel, Viper, Doc and Grey regrouped on the observation deck where they were shortly met by Comet and human-shaped Lightning Strike.
Suddenly a massive airship eclipsed the moon! It was silent and
looked like a flying aircraft carrier! Giant plumes of black smoke poured from its side. Battle damage! A large hatch opened and a team of uniformed soldiers deployed onto the observation deck- a clean-up crew.Grey snarled: "Yer late!"
"Sorry sir," replied their leader. "The giant robot attacked us on its way to the Empire State Building!" "How the hell did SKULL know our positions again!" Grey barked.
He stalked toward the open hatch and then turned to face the four superheroes: "You four are green all right, no doubt about it. And you've plenty to learn about teamwork. But you've done good. Real good. If you want to keep doing good, come with me. SKULL may have won this round, but this fight ain't over yet! Not by a long shot! Boys, your country needs you. Right now. Whaddaya say?"
OOC: Replies? Please feel free to respond to any of the above. Also, once inside the carrier, there will be a debriefing. So in your reply, please write any questions you want to ask about anything. And include any information or ideas you have that you want to share! This will be an informational/ conversational transition segment, I suspect.
Best, -Ye Editor.
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Viper:
Sentinel catches Viper in his mitt...
"Nice catch there fella. You don't know how happy you just made a Bearded Lady back in Florida."
On the observation deck... "Boys, your country needs you. Right now. Whaddaya say?"
Viper unsuccessfully, tries to crawl into himself. He's visibly upset after the fight and periodically looks over the three 'real' Super heroes. At the sound of Grey's voice he stands at attention and blurts out...
"Viper reporting for duty, Sir! (Sarcastically) I'm sure you have a whole division of freaks that can lose important packages for you. And if you don't, the US Postal Service can help you out. I'm not sure what I'm doing here especially since these three don't look like they need a side-show freak from the circus to burden them. Look at them! They even have capes! "
(More heartfelt to Grey) "Listen. I appreciate the invite. I'm not this kind of hero. And I'm sure these three don't want to look after me AND the country."
OOC: When inspired to continue on, Viper remains quiet and brooding during the de-briefings. When the subject of the package comes up he'll sarcastically blurt out, "yes, that was the one I fumbled... (he sits down) Glad I could be of help." He continues to brood after that. Viper won't ask any questions, but he'll throw comments out when topics arise. When they're talking about the Skull agents..."those head jobs can take a punch."
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Sentinel:
At some point, Sentinel will make a reply along these lines to Viper:
"Look man, you did great out there! You put your life on the line to save the lives of innocent people without hesitation, without thinking about the risk to yourself. Those people on the zeppelin made it out alive as a result of your actions! You put yourself at risk again taking an a battalion of madmen and saved the life of an icon, a genuine hero (motions to Doc Rocket if he is around). You thought quick on your feet to accomplish all that when most men would have run the other way in fear and saved themselves or frozen in terror, not able to act at all, ... if that's not the actions of a true hero, then we've got to redefine what is..."
If Viper is responding positively to this and starting to smile, Sentinel adds with a wink or nod and smile, "... and you did a bearded lady in Florida real proud!", "and you pack a hell of a punch - I wish I had some of your moves."
At some point, Sentinel will reply to Grey along the lines of:
"Respectfully sir, if its about the good fight, then I'm there. And if its for the country, and by the country, I mean its people and the pioneering spirit that made this land the place of opportunity and the home of freedom, then count me in. But I'm no one's fool, and I won't act in ignorance. Trust is to be earned... and even then to be given cautiously."
"If this is to be a covert action, with what I know of you, and with Doc here involved, I'm in for the time. I'm ready to accept the "unique" personalities of people in our business, but we need to know what sort of men are at our sides. What's the situation here with Lightning Strike? He certainly acted heroically today, but what about the accusations of his being a murdered? Are they true? Is he reformed or had he worked a deal with you? And if the accusations are false, you owe it to him and to the rest of us, to get that matter cleared up... with the police, and with the public... especially if the future holds more public displays like today..."
Some other stuff that you might or might not want to pass along to the other characters, so I'll leave it up to you to forward the top of the email to the others if you feel it appropriate, this stuff I think would just be between characters and the GM ...
At some point if Sentinel gets some private time with Doc Rocket:
"Sir, I need to clear something up with you, and my (hesitation) "lack of aging". I'm not the Sentinel that you fought alongside, but the fact that my actions had you thinking I was, I'll take the ultimate compliment. It's truly an honor to meet you; you're a legend, and your actions along with your friends in the Liberty League are a major reason of why I'm here today!"
Sentinel would try to come off strong and would be sincere, but it would have the feel of a rookie in baseball who just made it to the big leagues with everything to prove meeting one of the legends of baseball that inspired him to take up the game.
Depending on the time frame involved and the attitude of Rocket in downtime, he'd try to spend some time with him finding out about his life and filling in the details of the stories he's read about and heard firsthand. He'd tell him that he had been trained by the original Sentinel. Whether he tells him his relationship would be dependent on the time he spends with him and the trust developed; he'd want to be sure that the man is genuine still today.
On another note, since I am sensitive to energy, at some point, I'd like to get a feel for our two energy based heroes... when in downtime do they still emanate energy, anything weird that I pick up around them, or are they just like normal humans when their powers are not in use?
Thanks. Enjoyed the first round a bunch.
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Lightning Strike:
Lightning Strike gathers himself after a near brush with death and says, "Well this wasn't a very auspicious beginning. Why would our country want us after this? Also, if you haven't noticed Mr. Grey, my country already wants me for other reasons or is that something you can take care of?" "I already have a mission but I suppose, there is some sense to strength in numbers and you all have abilities that stagger the imagination. As long as this team does not prevent my ultimate goals, then I see no reason why we can't work something out. I suppose that as we work together longer we will begin to understand each other's abilities and coordinate things a little better." "Perhaps it would help us if we knew what was in that package and why SKULL wants both it and the good doctor here."
OOC: Does either the Doc or Mr. Grey seem familiar to me in any way? Have I seen the Doc before in my civilian circles?
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OOC GM Replies:
Sentinel said:
At some point if Sentinel gets some private time with Doc Rocket: "Sir, I need to clear something up with you, and my (hesitation) "lack of aging". I'm not the Sentinel that you fought alongside, but the fact that my actions had you thinking I was, I'll take the ultimate compliment. It's truly an honor to meet you; you're a legend, and your actions, along with your friends in the Liberty League, are a major reason of why I'm here today!"
GM Reply:
Doc Rocket smiled broadly. “I know, son. I was joking. We’ve met before, but you were too young to remember. As for your other sentiments, I, and the rest of the Liberty League, are humbled that our small contribution was remembered and in some small way, inspirational to you.”
Sentinel said:
Depending on the time frame involved and the attitude of Rocket in downtime, he'd try to spend some time with him finding out about his life and filling in the details of the stories he's read about and heard firsthand.
GM Reply:
There is no time for memory lane, as you’ll soon see in Issue 7 of our panicky, palpitating periodical!
Sentinel said:
On another note, since I am sensitive to energy, at some point, I'd like to get a feel for our two energy based heroes... when in downtime do they still emanate energy, anything weird that I pick up around them, or are they just like normal humans when their powers are not in use?
GM Reply:
The Blue Comet has low emanations of energy coursing through him, even at rest. Due to Sentinel’s knowledge of computers, he deduces that the patterns of the energy make it likely that his powers are nano-technological in nature. Mechanical devices intertwine through his organic physiognomy, being powered by his actual heart, lungs, blood, etc. Sentinel has never seen anything like this.Lightning Strike is even stranger. At rest, his energy signature doesn’t read as anything remotely human. Strike reads as pure electrical energy. He is human in shape only.
Lightning Strike said:
Does either the Doc or Mr. Grey seem familiar to me in any way? Have I seen the Doc before in my civilian circles?
GM Reply:
Grey is unfamiliar to you. Dr. Clark Rocket is not. He’s famous to the scientific community. During WW2, he was the British Einstein. The inventor of radar, and rocket technology, he was instrumental in the war effort. He disappeared from the limelight in the 1950’s. Retired, and did some teaching work, you seem to remember. Meeting him now, you’re kind of surprised he’s still alive.
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The Blue Comet:
When the Comet first arrives at the Empire State Building, and hears the tale of the package, he entertains the idea of tearing off into the night to find it. But, he quickly realizes that even with his incredible speed, it is simply too late. The Comet then settles back into the group and takes this all in. He keeps to the background and listens intently to the conversation, seldom taking his eyes off of Mr. Grey.
He seems a bit nervous, projecting the same self conscious stance that Viper does, but he doesn't verbalize any of his self doubts. He looks like a man who wants to tell a secret, but doesn't for fear of looking foolish.
Then Grey says, "You four are green all right, no doubt about it. And you've plenty to learn about teamwork. But you've done good. Real good. If you want to keep doing good, come with me. SKULL may have won this round, but this fight ain't over yet! Not by a long shot! Boys, your country needs you. Right now. Whaddaya say?"
Comet replies, "There is nothing holding me back. This is what I was really destined to do in the first place. I have some things to atone for and some time to make up. Thank you for a second chance. I'm in." The comet makes his way to the carrier.
