Vanguard: Issue 65: The End of the World!

Near the AEGIS Spire, Athens, Greece. 8pm local time.

Vanguard was over Europe now and Manetti kept his altitude for as long as possible. Black smoke plumes dotted the continent. What news they could raise from Europe appeared catastrophic. Panic, mayhem and looting were thrown on the fire. Putin’s Russia had gone quiet. China too. Africa and Asia were hemorrhaging. The Primate was right. It was the end of civilization. The end of the human world.

Vanguard coordinated with Lightning Strike by replying to his email through their communicators (OOC: they function like a Blackberry).

Manetti said he didn’t like the underwater approach. “I’ll lose speed and maneuverability.” He didn’t state how he liked the air approach. It was already getting dark.

Then Lightning Strike suddenly materialized in a burst of white electricity within the Manta Craft! He could now travel wirelessly! (FYI: If Symbiote duplicated Strike’s powers, he could not do likewise as this was something the electric avenger trained himself to do.)

Strike made his report to his team mates: Within the cyberspace of the AEGIS Spire, the high voltage vigilante found no device amplifying Primate’s awesome power. Nor did he find any sign of Inhuman. Most main systems were down, including security. The antenna was not transmitting, so Slingshot stood down. The library computer had been activated and Strike had seen from within cyberspace that files on Primate and AEGIS had been accessed within the past few hours! Not wishing to activate the main computer or arm the security system, he resumed the search for a global power source that could be fueling Primate’s domination of the animal kingdom! With the world’s infrastructure crashing, Strike was less than successful. He believed one massive power source was somewhere in Athens, but he could not track its location! Another source seemed to be present far to the south, perhaps in Africa? But again he could not successfully pinpoint its position!

Vanguard attempted Kairos’ plan of a high-speed insertion from the supersonic plane with Vanguard inside an energy sphere of Sentinel’s. The G-Force hurt as the energy-shielded Manta Craft rocketed across Athens, where panic and madness held sway. Darkness, emergency vehicle sirens, fires, smoke. Roving packs of wild dogs and endless rats roamed the streets! Bird clouds amassed toward the jet! Wham! Wham! Whamwhamwhamwhamwhamwham!

Sentinel rebuilt his shield construct and then the energy sphere was away and the undefended Manta Craft climbed higher than birds could follow, pulling them from Vanguard and the AEGIS Spire. “Call me when you need to get out,” Manetti radioed.

SKRRAAAAASSSSHHH! The energy sphere smashed into the 80th story of the AEGIS Spire! Inside the futuristic skyscraper, Sentinel peeled open the sphere and Vanguard deployed, ready for anything! (OOC: 8 points damage to sphere construct)

The AEGIS Spire was dark and silent. High ceilings and Greek architecture fused with art deco created the space of a temple… a tomb to the lost team of superheroes. The crypt-like atmosphere made them wonder if Vanguard would one day meet a similar fate.

Sentinel detected no life forms within his range but Forester’s sharp eyes noted recent footprints in the dusty floor. They led higher, to AEGIS’s trophy room. There were kept the mementos of the disbanded team’s victories and losses including the costumes of their fallen members preserved beneath lonely spotlights. The Chevalier’s silver armor held aloft his silver sword in one final salute. (OOC: Kairos, that’s your luck point. The cases that hold these holy relics are not currently alarmed)

The Harper Harness released Strike’s facsimile powers when Sentinel detected a new extranormal on the edge of his range! Silently signaling the team, Vanguard quickly burst into the neighboring room to face whatever lay in wait!

It was Oracle! One of AEGIS’s two surviving members, the Greek woman was said to see the future! Shrouded in crimson robes, she calmly introduced herself. It was as if she was expecting them. The hair on Kairos’ neck went up. She reminded the fated fighter of the aura that surrounded Penumbra!
(OOC: Replies?)

Discouraged and impatient, Kairos said, “Where is the Primate?! This was his home. We thought he would return here, following his instincts.”

Oracle said simply, “I cannot speak of his instincts, but this is not the Primate’s home. He was born and raised in Congo.”

Kairos’s heart sank. He clenched his fists. The agent of antiquity tried another tack, “Can you really see the future? We need to find the Primate! When will we locate him? And where?!”

But before Oracle could answer, the AEGIS Spire suddenly disintegrated!! Steel, glass, concrete collapsed downward in a roaring avalanche of total destruction!
Unbeknownst to our heroes it had been hit by the Pachyderm who once more fell from the stratosphere. Also unbeknownst to our heroes, the Primate had Inhuman’s communicator in his possession since the aquatic adventurer’s abduction and was monitoring the team’s communications. The Master of All the Beasts knew exactly where Vanguard would be and had taken action.

The impact leveled a city block. No one inside the skyscraper survived the impact. Everyone was crushed alive.
(OOC: Sorry guys.)

Sentinel’s shields were overcome instantly and so was he before he had time to remake them. The beacon of liberty was at last extinguished!

Caught unaware due to an unforeseen anomaly, Oracle joined her teammates in death!

Without his beloved extranormal powers, Symbiote proved all too human, and too mortal!

Kairos’ luck had finally run out, his destiny incomplete!

Even Slingshot’s rubbery hide could not repel the weight of a building! Strangely, his final thoughts turned to Nanite.

Strike could not transform into electricity in time. His wife’s murder would go unavenged!

Viper cursed his rotten luck. To come out of retirement for this?! “$@#$&*!,” he yelled.

Forester perished wondering if he had lycanthropy and could it save him in this moment?

Vanguard was dead and in time, the Primate was good to his word. Humanity was undone, her once proud civilizations were finished. In a year’s time, all the humans on Earth had been hunted down and killed. Nature came back into the world, as cities and roadways were overgrown with vegetation and wildlife. And then came a cruel stewardship like the world had never known, beneath the subjugation of the savage Primate!

(OOC: Sorry guys. It’s been fun. Enjoyed playing with all of you. There are two things we can do at this... )

Then Vanguard and Oracle opened their eyes.

They were all still standing in the AEGIS Spire, which too was still standing.
Oracle had shown them what the future held in store, like Kairos had requested.
It had all been too real. They had experienced their own deaths, followed by the death of the world. Apparently, so did Oracle. Her eyes shed tears.

They had seen everything that would soon transpire. They knew about Inhuman’s communicator. And that in one minute, the Pachyderm would begin his descent down into the AEGIS Spire from a circular craft hovering high above them all!

OOC: Actions?

Thanks,
Jeff

Current Conditions: (Everyone gained one hit point healing rate from the length of the trip)
Forester: Hit Points: 18 Power Points: 69

Kairos: Hit Points: 42 Power Points: 82

Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 40 Power Points: 67

Sentinel: Hit Points: 20 Power Points: 44 Energy: 88 Construct: 80

Slingshot: Hit Points: 55 Power Points: 90 Invulnerability: 8

Symbiote: Hit Points: 32 Power Points: 72 Charges: 13

Viper: Hit Points: 47 Power Points: 85

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Symbiote:
(OOC:) Jeff, Just a guess...you pulled the wings off flies as a child, didn't you? SADISTIC MONSTER!! I NEARLY WEPT!!!

OK, now that I've taken a Valium and can think clearly....(/OOC)

IC: Symbiote quickly turns to Sentinel..."Remember me telling you that one day we might need 'two Sentinels?'" Hal asks the Energy-Wielding Wonder. "This is the day. Your shields won't stop him, we've seen that. We've got to fly up there and either catch Pachyderm before he builds up too much momentum or bat him into the Mediterranean if he's already moving too fast. And we need to catch that airship if we can." Symbiote extends his hand to Sentinel. "Are we gonna do this?"

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Forester:
Forester is beside himself and at a loss for words. If the opportunity presents itself, he will follow the footprints from the vision. Otherwise, he will follow the direction of the others.

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Kairos:
Very good. Very well done. I'm sorry for the bad things that I was saying about you as I read that.Kairos, confident in the abilities of his comrades, takes the sword (and scabbard and any accessories) and then steps after Forester if Forester is following the tracks, asking Slingshot to accompany or at least extend and arm along with them so that they can be snapped back quickly, if necessary.Kairos will try to ward Forester from any melee attack that might befall him if danger presents itself.At this point the sword will be a secondary weapon with the staff remaining the primary. It will automatically become the primary against Hyena or when I specify an attack with it.

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Slingshot:
Jeff: It was a great turn. Nasty, but quite effective.Others:"ok. we have less than a minute. Turn off the damn communicators."Here's what I'm thinking. We pickup the sword. We all jump into another aero-dynamic energy construct from Sentinel and I'll slingshot the whole thing at the circular ship above. He makes hand hold for me to tag along.If Pachyderm comes along, Someone needs to try to divert him into the ocean (I could do it, but I'm thinking that Sentinel/Symbiote might be able to create a chute for him So he'll hit rock bottom on the ocean.. and I'd like to see how his armor/invulnerability will work under water. I'd love to see how he likes them apples.Anything else, you guys can think of real quick?

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Lightning Strike:
I go along with the construct plan to divert Pachyderm to the Meditteranean sea. We don't need to stop him, just divert him so the slide construct should work. It would be like one of those huge slides at the waterparks. The physics of it is a little complicated as we don't want him falling through it but simply using his momentum and sliding him out to sea. Hopefully, I can compute the logistics in less than a minute but it is our only hope.

Tony

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Slingshot:
Slingshot's a construction engineer. So he could figure it out as well...and I meant the Mediterranean Sea, good catch... ;)Sentinel should be able to grab the picture/construction of the slide from either of our brains and make it happen.

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Symbiote:
The chute's a good idea, but I'm hoping he can be caught before he builds up velocity. Held in mid-air (where he can't get any leverage), with a larger, air-tight bubble around him...until he passes out from lack of oxygen (I've seen Invisible Woman pull this trick against the Hulk at least once).

Assuming that doesn't work and we do have to deflect him into the Mediterranean...well, I have a feeling this is going to be an "all hands on deck" fight, like some of the great Hulk vs. all the Avengers issues I remember. And yeah, I'll admit...I'm hankerin' to copy his powers. The battle could be epic.

I'm also hoping Sentinel will "loan" me his powers and let me come with him so we'll have a better chance of taking down the aircraft as well. Pachyderm, from what I understand, isn't very bright and probably doesn't know or understand much about Primate's plan. The pilot of the ship may be more likely (or at least the flight logs might tell us something about his location). Even if it's remote controlled or a programmed drone, it'd still be good to take it down so that'll be one less resource in Primate's arsenal.

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Sentinel:
Hi everyone, I know that there were a bunch of postings, but I haven’t read them yet and these are Kirk’s comments after reading issue 65 and the first posting, Symbiote’s inquiry to Kirk. I stopped there having my own thoughts of what to do and having the action directed to me. I’ll reply to other stuff after, and if I’ve duplicated other ideas already posted but not read by me, my apologies. I’ll just go to my saying, “great minds think alike … and us too”.

Given the drama about to unfold, I have to ask; since this is something Strike ‘trained himself to do’ wouldn’t Kirk’s refining of his energy sense regarding the auras of living begins also fall into the same category? Inquiring minds want to know J.
‘He believed one massive power source was somewhere in Athens, but he could not track its location! Another source seemed to be present far to the south, perhaps in Africa? But again he could not successfully pinpoint its position!’

Kirk thought for a moment. “Perhaps there’s even more than two, perhaps he’s using a series of relay stations located internationally to boost his power to the worldwide scale. It would help to explain how he could be affecting the entire world; and looking at Strike, if we could get you to one of them, you’re just the guy to create the feedback loop to knock out the entire system. Once we get into Athens if you point me in the best general direction of where you think the power source is, perhaps my energy sense can lock into it.”

(As an alternative to explain further actions already in the issue – they could assume that the best place to start looking would be the Spire which would be logical)

‘(OOC: Kairos, that’s your luck point. The cases that hold these holy relics are not currently alarmed)’
Given that Kairos used a luck point for something specific to this adventure, I’d assume the answer will be nada, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask. Given Kirk’s knowledge of super-heroic lore and his energy sense, anything in the trophy room that he notices that might be beneficial for himself or one of his teammates? Perhaps something thought useless or ‘deactivated’ but really just in a dormant state, etc? Anything relating to a Primate involvement in a ‘case’ that sheds some further light on our current situation.

‘There were kept the mementos of the disbanded team’s victories and losses including the costumes of their fallen members preserved beneath lonely spotlights. The Chevalier’s silver armor held aloft his silver sword in one final salute.’
Is anything apparently missing here? A bit of a longer shot not knowing what should be here, but perhaps since I inquired something might have caught Kirk's eye.

Kirk turned to Oracle, knowing the nature of her powers and noticing the crimson robes (Kirk couldn’t help thinking perhaps they were donned as a reminder of what occurred that hateful day with Primate’s slaughter of her teammates), and said in all sincerity and feeling it himself with what they had just seen walking through the Spire, “I’m so sorry for your loss. The world’s light grew dimmer that day.”

‘They deserved better,’ Kirk thought to himself.

“Our intelligence informed us,” Kirk said giving a slight nod to Lightning Strike, “that the library files on the Primate and Aegis has recently been accessed, given your presence here I’d think it was you, if so, did you find anything to assist with our current situation? If it wasn’t you, any idea who it might have been?”

OOC Hopefully we can at least get that answered before Kairos’ impatience (ie GM exploiting his ‘weakness’) takes us into the next step of the events.

‘It had all been too real. They had experienced their own deaths, followed by the death of the world. Apparently, so did Oracle. Her eyes shed tears.’
As Kirk ‘came to’ his own eyes welled with sadness feeling the enormity of their shared vision, but he held back the tears and his sadness turned to blazing anger.
Kirk raised his arm while tapping the components of his communicator with his other hand and almost shouting with a loud voice of disgust said, “Turn these damn things off!” His own knowledge of heroic lore, two scientific geniuses on the team, all of Chess, and no one had thought of such an obvious means to monitor them! (For a second he thought of the act he and Symbiote put on for the entertainment of the rat and grimaced further)
But now, thanks to Oracle, for once since this mess started, we were one step ahead …

IC: Symbiote quickly turns to Sentinel..."Remember me telling you that one day we might need 'two Sentinels?'" Hal asks the Energy-Wielding Wonder. "This is the day. Your shields won't stop him, we've seen that. We've got to fly up there and either catch Pachyderm before he builds up too much momentum or bat him into the Mediterranean if he's already moving too fast. And we need to catch that airship if we can." Symbiote extends his hand to Sentinel. "Are we gonna do this?"

Kirk had already been thinking and calculating a plan in his head, and a smile came to his lips, “Why not both at once? But first I need to ask you something privately.”
Kirk quickly moved them out of earshot of the others.
“This isn’t the way I wanted to ask you this, but we’ve no time! Hal, I know your heart and I trust you with who I am, but with my powers I’ve gained access to certain knowledge that if misused, would be catastrophic. Promise me now that this knowledge, should you come to know it too, goes no further. You won’t make any record of it, won’t pursue it, won’t discuss with anyone else without my consent. I pledge to you on my word that this promise won’t endanger innocents, but will only protect them. Will you give me your promise in this regard?”
(OOC: I know that Symbiote hadn’t revealed his identity to Vanguard in general, but I thought he did reveal his first name when they first met and introduced themselves. If I’m wrong we can omit it, otherwise, especially at this moment, he’d use it. Also I recall he did reveal it to Doc Rocket and given all of their time working together, there’s a good chance he’d have heard it that way too.)

Kirk thought he already knew the answer, but he needed to hear the words.
… Assuming Kirk gets an affirmative to the promise …
Kirk smiled almost relieved, “I’m glad I’ll finally have someone to talk to it about.” And then his face turned to one of concern for Hal’s well-being.
“Look, I don’t know how this is going to work for you, and I hope it isn’t going to be overwhelming because we don’t have much time for you to adapt here. Once we do this we’ll take off, if you’re having difficulty I’ll take you along in hopes you get it together in the few seconds before we reach Pachyderm.”

“If you have any control as you acclimate the powers, try to concentrate here first,” and Kirk pointed to his head, “with my recently acquired mental awareness, if you focus there first, it might get you centered enough to deal with the energy sense. Absolutely don’t focus on the energy sense to start; it will be there anyway, kind of like a buzzing sound in the peripheral of your hearing. If you focus too quickly on it and amplify it, it may overwhelm you. This is going to be like a blind and deaf person who never had those senses working before getting an operation to provide them. Light and sound would be introduced gradually in a controlled environment to allow the person to adapt. You wouldn’t toss them into the middle of the runway of an airport on a bright sunny day because it would overwhelm them; that’s what we’re dealing with here.” And Kirk thought to himself, ‘and we’ll deal with all the repercussions of losing sight and sound together’ as Kirk worried for the psyche of his friend.
(OOC: Three cheers for free ‘talk’ as part of the rules of the game)
Kirk began to speak loudly again.

“Here’s my plan unless someone has something better, we go to do what you said, but try to form a slingshot (he said with a nod to their teammate) of sorts and shoot Pachyderm right back at their ship. At this point it would be logical to assume that they’ve ‘fired’ the Pachyderm at the Spire and that he isn’t in control of things, in essence, he’s simply a body in motion. Working together we can form a construct to redirect that motion; and I say we send it right back where it came from. Rather than try to stop the motion, we can work together to form a controlled ‘ramp’ or ‘track’ of sorts continuing to extend length and reinforce structure and turn him around. Once we get the direction turned, we simply let him go.”

“Normally I just ‘feel’ my way through these things on almost an instinctual basis, but we’d have your added scientific genius and mathematical skills, which will help us reinforce the construct as needed and also help us calculate the exact redirection angle needed to release Pachyderm back at our target as well as how to have him ‘enter’ the construct. With his speed and mass, it’s likely the edge we’ll need to prevent him from simply smashing through the construct upon contact. Do you think it can work?”
With that, Kirk extended an open exposed hand towards Symbiote as the energy surrounding him seemed to crawl away with a life of its own.
OOC Again, hope this doesn’t step on anyone else’s posting and thanks for the cool lead-in to these actions, Greg.

And now on to all the other postings… huzzah! I love my Sunday morning gaming!

Later…
Ok. Read all the postings and seems we were all on the same page here.

So, who needs a leader? :)

I forgot Slingshot had the engineering skills - he's probably among the best choice that we have then.
Is there a chance at getting the ramp that could shoot Pachyderm back at the ship or do we need to shoot him into the sea or could that be the backup and we try to turn him back at the ship.

I'd leave that call to Slingshot, Strike, and Symbiote. Either way I still think Symbiote's mathematical skills and our co-coordinating things as dual Sentinels would be the way to go assuming that Symbiote's still on board after all of my concerns are heard.

Kirk could possibly do a quick scan of whoever seems to have the mechanics best in mind if it might help their chances of success (although time is short and the stronger his energy levels are for the maneuver the better). I wish that he had further development of his mental senses so he could actually help Symbiote acclimate things, but that's beyond his power right now.

I'd be against trying to take the whole team up after the spacecraft until after the current threat of Pachyderm is resolved since that would be a further diversion of their needed power and concentration to get the task done.

As Kirk and Hal take off to deploy Vanguard's plan Kirk says to them while focusing on Slingshot in particular as the one present with power to make it so, "I know that you'll be sure not to be in the target area should things not go as we've planned."

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GM Replies:
Thanks, everyone. Glad we’re still on speaking terms. :)

Two big things. Then answers to OOC questions:

1) Symbiote: (Assuming you take the famed Oath of the Sentinel!)
Hal touches Sentinel and... nothing happens!! His attempt to duplicate Sentinel’s powers fails!
This means his abilities are not embedded in his DNA as Sentinel had always believed they were... as he had always been told by his grandfather! Perhaps they are psionic in nature? Or supernatural?!
Sentinel is clearly surprised! And Hal has 45 seconds left before Pachyderm begins his descent!

2) Sentinel: Your idea to try to shoot Pachyderm back at the ship is a good one.
However it violates your character’s Weakness that requires him always act according to the highest moral code.
You all last saw Inhuman being taken aboard a circular ship. He could be on this very ship and your proposed action could accidentally kill a fellow hero and team mate!

(FYI: Also, Sentinel isn’t allowed to lie, so your Master-rat Theatre performance might have been questionable too. Living up to the mantle of Sentinel ain’t easy!)

Forester said: If the opportunity presents itself, he will follow the footprints from the vision.

GM Reply: FYI, The Troubleshooting Tracker can quickly surmise that the footprints he was following belong to Oracle, who created the visions you experienced. Those visions of the future have ended and created no tracks.

Sentinel wrote: (Before the apocalyptic vision)
“I’m so sorry for your loss. The world’s light grew dimmer that day” … “Our intelligence informed us,” Kirk said giving a slight nod to Lightning Strike, “that the library files on the Primate and Aegis has recently been accessed, given your presence here I’d think it was you, if so, did you find anything to assist with our current situation? If it wasn’t you, any idea who it might have been?”

GM Reply: Oracle said softly, “Thank you. I did access those files, more for remembrance than information.
I believe I am the only one here, save all of you; if Primate had come here, he would not have resisted the chance to desecrate Professor Fahrenheit’s uniform in the Trophy Room.”

Sentinel wrote: ...do they talk it up so that she becomes more than a 'red shirt' at this point, or is she overall distant and unfriendly.

GM Reply: Rook Christensen is a CHESS professional thrust into a new situation: being in a jet with a pack of extranormals at the end of the world. She’s hesitant to discuss Hotsleep but is open to other topics. She is worried that her husband and children, whom she lost contact with yesterday, are all dead.. But she is trying to keep focused on this mission in the hopes that some good will come of it.

Sentinel wrote: Given the drama about to unfold, I have to ask; since this is something Strike ‘trained himself to do’ wouldn’t Kirk’s refining of his energy sense regarding the auras of living begins also fall into the same category? Inquiring minds want to know

GM Reply: Lightning Strike used a level advancement to learn how to do this.
Sentinel’s use of energy sense to detect extranormals didn’t require a level advancement training.

Sentinel wrote: Given that Kairos used a luck point for something specific to this adventure, I’d assume the answer will be nada, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask. Given Kirk’s knowledge of super-heroic lore and his energy sense, anything in the trophy room that he notices that might be beneficial for himself or one of his teammates?

GM Reply: Nada. Also, nothing dangerous was stored in the Trophy Room, due to safety considerations.
FYI, the alarm was off because, as Strike reported earlier, he did not activate the security systems, and apparently neither did Oracle when she entered.
One item seems to be misplaced in the Trophy Room, but Sentinel found it: A group photo of AEGIS taken in happier times. Simon Simian (who would later become the Primate) was with the team, smiling. Oracle had taken the framed photo down.

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Symbiote:
Symbiote replies to the Avatar of Energy. "Kirk, whatever secrets you have are safe with me. I trust anything you want to keep quiet is for the good of everybody. Now let's go stop Operation Dumbo Drop!"

When it doesn't work, Symbiote releases an expletive not suitable for a family oriented comic book. "We'll figure this out later," he says immediately afterward "Right now, go get him! And make that chute shallow, Athens is five miles from the ocean...he's going to need plenty of lift if we're going to drop him in the Mediterranean!"

Hal then goes to copy powers from Lightning Strike again, planning to electrically transmit himself to some point on the Greek shore line and meet Pachyderm if/when he climbs out of the ocean. He recommends Strike himself do the same, and that the rest of the team follow as quickly as possible. If crashing into Chess Castle didn't do Pachy much damage I doubt crashing into the ocean will either, and as I say, this looks to be an "all hands on deck" battle royale.

(OOC: That particular stretch of shore line is probably a resort area. I have amusing visions of Symbiote and Lightning Strike materializing out of the power outlet of some Greek tycoon's mansion. "'Scuse us! Coming through! Got a supervillian to fight! Sorry for the intrusion, lovely place you have here....")

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Slingshot:
Is Sentinel ok with just diverting Pachyderm into the sea then?

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GM Replies:
Slingy wrote: Is Sentinel ok with just diverting Pachyderm into the sea then?

GM Reply: Yes, if his player is.

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Sentinel:
‘Hal touches Sentinel and... nothing happens!!’

Kirk is clearly shocked by this turn of events, there would be puzzlement and disbelief of the implications of this. This so shocked Kirk that he might have lost sight of the situation had it not been for Symbiote's quick action (likely noting Kirk's reaction):

‘ Athens is five miles from the ocean...he's going to need plenty of lift if we're going to drop him in the Mediterranean!"’

Sentinel takes off to try to intercept with as much time as possible to allow for the redirection. If Jeff will allow and timing works, perhaps Kirk can make mental contact with the surface thoughts of whoever can help him calculate things correctly - although it may be unnecessary since we aren't trying to do the more complicated turnaround and just shooting him in another direction - I'd think this would be much easier and wouldn't require the more mathematical complications, but you can tell me on this.
’Your idea to try to shoot Pachyderm back at the ship is a good one. However it violates your character’s Weakness that requires him always act according to the highest moral code. You all last saw Inhuman being taken aboard a circular ship. He could be on this very ship and your proposed action could accidentally kill a fellow hero and team mate! ‘

I've no problem shooting him into the river and I will accept that as what Kirk attempts to do ... but
I will say that I'll take it more for the following reasons:
(1) the turnaround would be much more difficult to pull off and much harder to work without Symbiote's assistance (although it would have been massively poetic had it worked)
(2) the GM prefers this for the story and events to follow - to me (and for the game) I think that's a valid reason because I think we're all working together to tell a story and have fun with it, and if something plays better into the drama Jeff has prepared, then that's a good enough reason (it might not be in the 'official' rules but to me its a better justification)

Why I don't think this breaks Kirk's high moral code:
(1) Kirk didn't actually see the ship that took Inhuman since he was underground and when I inquired if its appearance helped to trace it I was told in the storm nothing definitive was able to be seen, so Kirk would have little reason to believe this was that same ship. In fact, I'd been working under the assumption that the craft that rescued Primate and took the prisoners was one of many; if Primate has only the one, all the better.
To put it another way, if one of Vanguard saw a Chess vehicle, would we have reason to assume Grey or Drake was on it? They could be, but they could also be at a base, in the field, in another craft, or anywhere else.
It honestly didn't occur to me that either Primate or Inhuman would be on this craft at all. I figured we'd have to get through this and head to the Congo to take on the Primate and get reunited with Inhuman.
(2) I honestly didn't think that even it the Pachyderm made contact with the ship it would destroy it and those aboard. I figured that the ship would have defenses and if we were really fortunate it would disable the ship and at worst, they would have to abandon ship and we'd have an easier victory here.
(3) My take on Pachyderm's damage to the prison isn't that its his power. He happens to be an invulnerable juggernaut, and I'm sure he's pretty tough and can dish it out, but I think most of the damage he is causing is that he's being launched out of orbit and picking up the velocity. With the 'turnaround' rather than continuing to pick up velocity, he would lose velocity since he is now working against gravity, so the damage done when he hit the building would be totally different than the damage done should he swing around and hit the craft.

Again, this was what I was basing the action on. If my reasoning is off and Kirk has reason to believe that this would definitely be a lethal attack, then I think that your calling into play his moral code is valid... but the thought of this being a lethal attack really didn't occur to me with the above reasoning.

To summarize, I'm fine with the diversion towards the water - without knowing the game rules, I think Kirk would have a better chance of pulling it off. I still don't think his shooting him back towards the ship would break his moral code.
’(FYI: Also, Sentinel isn’t allowed to lie, so your Master-rat Theatre performance might have been questionable too. Living up to the mantle of Sentinel ain’t easy!)’

As Jon Lovitz would say "Acting!". Or as Spock said "I exaggerated". Perhaps Kirk is a better sort than me and I consider myself overly honest but we can say that Symbiote laid out the plan and Kirk simply replied along the lines of, "That's a great plan!" or something like that.
... and that just makes me think of an old Calvin & Hobbes strip that went along the lines of "Calvin obeyed the letter of the law, if not the spirit."
Kirk had already employed his 'acting' skills with Lightning Strike before the prisoner interrogation :)
’Sentinel’s use of energy sense to detect extranormals didn’t require a level advancement training.’

ACCKK! Game rules! Seth must flee and ward off the evil spirits ...
Funny thing is, I thought you were going to say that.
’One item seems to be misplaced in the Trophy Room, but Sentinel found it: A group photo of AEGIS taken in happier times. Simon Simian (who would later become the Primate) was with the team, smiling.’

Hmmm. Primate smiling with the team; what changed? Hmmm.
Just to make sure we have it straight, I was figuring on a ramp/track to redirect Pachyderm to an area where he'll cause less damage, which the team has figured is the water; hopefully he can meet him in time to allow the physics will allow the proper angle, etc.
I suppose if we thought there was a better chance, Kirk could also grab one of his teammates and bring him along if he thought the mathematics from his mind once he saw the momentum and angle of Pachyderm at the last moment would help... just a thought. I don't know how easy/difficult it is for this to translate to game term and would just like to do whatever gives Kirk and Vanguard the best chance to pull off the save.

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Kairos:
OK...I understand now about the footprints. Forester is in no danger (well, sorta...).
Kairos will just hold his sword in his hand and wait for his comrades to save the team and the tower.

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GM Replies:
Seth / Sentinel wrote: the GM prefers this for the story and events to follow - to me (and for the game) I think that's a valid reason because I think we're all working together to tell a story and have fun with it, and if something plays better into the drama Jeff has prepared, then that's a good enough reason (it might not be in the 'official' rules but to me its a better justification)

GM Reply: I don't prefer any version. Dramatically, shooting him back at the ship is actually best because of the poetic justice.
Sentinel would have been caught up on everything that transpired in the CHESS Castle courtyard and would have made the connection with the ship.
Sure, Primate could have a fleet of these things, but I don't think Sentinel would take a chance on that, when Inhuman's life was at stake. Especially after experiencing first hand the damage caused by Pachyderm on an entire skyscraper.

It may not be the most logical thing for Kirk to do. But then again, he has a psychological limitation. Weaknesses are called weaknesses for a reason.

:)

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Slingshot:
Sentinel, you're right on.The only thing I would like is for you to make a globe with everyone in it, so I can slingshot it at the ship. That way we could take the battle back at them before they disappear again.Unless everyone wants to do something else.

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Lightning Strike:
OK, I have been trying to follow along with all the long thread of e-mails (thanks Seth) and I think there is some agreement on the strategy, however I am changing my actions towards a more long term gain. Assuming that Sentinel can divert Pachyderm out to sea, Strike will attempt to change back to electrical form and board the plane dropping Pachyderm. The goal is to enter either the navigation system or the flight recorder in order to track the origin of the plane which will hopefully lead to the Primate.

As soon as the information is gathered, Strike will report his findings to the rest of the group.

Good Night all,
Tony

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Sentinel:
Anything to make life easier for you, Tony. :)
And I think your move is a good one.

Problems with making a globe at this point and taking everyone along is that it will divert further power/protection etc from the construct and I'm thinking Kirk will need as much as he can muster for the maneuver and may need his full movement to perhaps keep up and redirect Pachyderm further (Kirk's a slowpoke flying). Also, we don't know how high the ship actually is at this time (unless we do from our 'vision').

As an alternative, assuming that I'm still up and around after my initial encounter of diverting Pachyderm, I can come back and pick up everyone or I can take you along with me as I fly up to meet him and you can slingshot upward towards the ship as I encounter him (thus freeing Kirk totally for the encounter); if the ship is too far away, you can slingshot downward instead or anywhere else (and again, I've no problem coming back for you before pursuing the ship assuming I'm still up and around and have an option).

My other concern is that you were the best means for making sure the rest of the team got clear of the building if somehow Kirk is prevented from diverting Pachyderm or fails, so if we are going the route of you coming up with me initially, I say that Kirk take the whole team out of the building now so they can put distance between themselves and ground zero should Kirk fail.

I just want to be sure Kirk has the best opportunity to divert Pachyderm and should he fail, that Vanguard survives the attack as unscathed as possible since its not just the building, its the world at stake here.

Actually if you came along, you could be calculating Pachyderm's angle and speed of descent and Kirk could be reading your mind which might help him succeed in his efforts in the task.

I likely have some more comments to Jeff's last reply back; but I'll send them in a separate email reply purely for Tony's sake :)

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Slingshot:
Good points Seth. Since I've got the skills, you got the powers and Strike's out of the picture (and that's a good plan).I'm likely not going to be able to be at both locations at the same time. This leaves Symbiote to absorb my powers and slingshot himself and the gang at the ship or at least out of the way of Pachyderm if our gambit doesn't work. How does that sound?

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Sentinel:
I guess it falls to Greg to determine whose powers he wants for the next round. If he takes yours, he can be sure that the team gets proper distance from the building. If he'd prefer Strike before he takes off, Kirk can take everyone out of the building, drop the rest of the team at the top of a building out of what we saw as the 'strike zone' in our vision, and we can take off upward.

Hopefully we've gained the advantage with the vision and there won't be additional surprises to meet us until after the strike on the building is thwarted (hopefully).

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Symbiote:
I'll go with Slingy's powers. Lightning Strike's plan to "transmit" himself at the ship is a good one, and while I suppose I could try to "wire myself" to a location near Pachy's splashdown or crashdown it's going to be hard to anticipate exactly where that'll be until it happens. Plus, with Slingshot's power it's going to be a lot easier and safer to get within arm's reach of the Elephantine Evildoer so I can absorb his powers (which I still definitely want to do).

Getting him to the water may be hard, the more I think about it. As I said in a previous post Athens is approximately five miles from the sea (at least according to Google). At the same time, I'm worried about dropping him on land--it's going to be hard to tell exactly what's underneath him, and we don't want any innocents harmed. I guess just aim the chute towards a piece of ground that looks unoccupied and hope for the best...

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Slingshot:
I guess that I'm nasty like that. I don't want it to be easy for him to come back. If the ship's teleportation is LOS, they won't be able to simply pick him up and send him back down right away. If it isn't then we are not safe from that, but we tried.

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GM Replies:
So far...
I know what Lightning Strike is doing. You said that you would inform the team of your discoveries asap. How will you do that? Communicator? ;)

Sentinel and Slingy are building a chute to divert Pachyderm from the Spire. Slingy's engineering skills. Sentinel's powers.

Symbiote, you are copying Slingy's powers and slingshotting yourself up toward the ship. (In the vision of the future, it was not in space, but appeared to be approximately at cruising altitude for a jumbo jet)
Are you taking the team with you, as per Slingy's original plan, with an eye toward boarding the craft?
Even without an energy globe, Slingy's invulnerable hide could protect the team for a limited time. Oracle can direct you to oxygen masks inside AEGIS Spire.
Are you going to attempt to touch Pachyderm in mid air? If yes, how does that affect your cargo of Vanguardians, assuming you will have them?

Forester and Kairos, are you joining Symbiote's raid (assuming there is one), or staying put in AEGIS Spire, or something else?

Viper, I hope you've read Issue 65 all the way to the end. We're still playing! ;)

Thanks everyone.

Best,
Jeff

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Symbiote:
Taking the team with me (assuming they're ready to load and go).
Touching Pachyderm will be saved for a future round, hopefully.

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Kairos:
Kairos will stick with Forester. I am working under the assumption that we will NOT be going with Symbiote. Too many things to go wrong for passengers on that particular trip.

I just think that Greg has an obsession with getting Pachyderm's powers for a bit.

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Lightning Strike:
Jeff, I would prefer to use the planes communication system to encode a message to the team. This assumes that I can: 1. Send a message via there system and figure out a way to encrypt it. and 2. Assume I can do this undetected.

If either of these are not possible, then Strike will materialize in a cargo hold and contact the team.

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Forester:
Forester is still beside himself after the vision. He will evade, unless Sentinel, Kairos, or one of the others give him direct orders to do something else.

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Slingshot:
I'm good with that. I don't know if that uses up my action, but if I have an available action, I'm more than willing to land a hand to Sentinel with my own flexible self to keep Pachyderm on the slide or be a reserve safety to protect both myself and Sentinel from distractions.

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Sentinel:
Other players can skip this since this is more to Jeff, but is available to all if interested in my mental meanderings.

On the whole weakness issue; I'll still disagree that it would go against Kirk's character and moral fiber with my reasoning mentioned, but I absolutely respect that you see it that way and chose to employ the weakness in redirecting his actions. It's your call as GM after I plead my case and no hard feelings on my end. Thanks for hearing me out on it, and I'm glad that I've done a good enough job playing Kirk that this is the first time it even came up.

And should some of what Kirk/GM supplied concerns be true, that might provide additional clues towards what's going on here, but I'll hold back further comments on it until the action plays out in the pulse-pounding next issue.

Also looking forward to dealing with the ramifications of Symbiote's attempted duplication. Since Kirk's character sheet said mutant and Lancaster went that route, I hadn't questioned it. In my mind, I had Kirk's power being inherited and thus 'mutant' to some degree, but figured as his future unrolled (assuming we got that far) his 'being in touch with the universe' would be revealed to be something beyond his family mutant powers (and hinted at with his energy sense not being a power of Lancaster) and he would assume a more cosmic mantle perhaps as a 'chosen one' unique among many generations of his family and all creation as he continued his journey of self-discovery ... but in my mind that was quite a bit down the road (although Kirk's reactions to Black Bat may have been early foreshadowing of greater awareness and a role to come).

Again, that was just some of the stuff in my mind for Kirk ... always subject to the rules and goings on of your playground.

Thanks again.

Seth

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Viper:
Jeff, Sorry about the lack of a response. We're finishing up a new school that needs to be opened in a few weeks! I need to be finished earlier than the rest of the folks because we're on a Cruise as of Saturday.

I read Issue 65 and didn't get snookered by you're *ending.*

Since Vipe's mostly hired muscle, I'll just have him go along with Symbiote and his *ride* to the Spire.

Don

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Forester:
As Forester long suspected, Sentinel is too good for his own good.