Inside the Aztechnology
compound, Vanguard burst through a large door and into a massive chamber
that was an “electronic blind room,” similar to the room Hal built in Vanguard
Vault for Ethan’s birth! The room was full of energy, machinery and people,
including Nanite, who was so close and yet so far!
Dominating the room, following the arc of its southeastern
wall, was an immense Digital Zone Gate! It
was nearly identical to the one in Vanguard Vault except it wasn’t just a
window. It was a portal, and it was open! A field of seven foot high generators, in rows before the
gate, powered it!
Through the open portal was the Digital Zone, the Entity’s dimension, cyberspace, a universe of
infinite black with billions of glowing chrysalis gossamers that formed shapes,
landscapes, cities of glowing, pulsing data. The gossamers were connected to
billions of diadem screens. (Imagine Tron, the Matrix, Neuromancer, etc.)
Already through the portal was Nanite! Just bringing her
into this room would have ended reception of the silent signal. She was
digitized, lifeless and slowly falling away from the Gate in something like slow
motion zero gravity. Still in her wedding dress, surrounded by the fathomless
data superstructures, she echoed the Datanauts visual. At her current distance
of 100 meters, and rate of travel, she was likely placed through the portal around
the time Vanguard lost the silent signal. Sentinel’s energy sense
confirmed her unique energy signature.
Slate heard
whispering voices emanating from the Digital Zone, not unlike those he had
dreamed of. Of their words, he could only make out his name. The voices, and
perhaps the Digital Zone itself, lured him, beckoned him, like a siren’s song,
like a long overdue homecoming.
Between Vanguard and
the Gate were the new Homicide for Hire! Among them were Ratman and Pachyderm!
Beyond the
extranormal assassins, near the Portal Gate, was another.
He was laid out on a
steel table with cables and wires attaching into his head and chest.
It was Soldier!
In the split second
it took Vanguard to burst into the gigantic electronic blind room and process
all that they saw, something else happened simultaneously:
The Soldier
that had joined Team One placed a reassuring hand on the shoulder of his friend
Avatar and the myrmidon of mythology felt a tiny prick there. Then Avatar fell
to the floor unconscious! Before the fight had even begun, Vanguard had lost
one of their big guns!
Soldier wasn’t the real Soldier. It was Skin Deep
FLASHBACK!
The real Soldier had taken a leave of absence from Vanguard last year. In the
Omega-verse, in an abandoned public library, Soldier was stunned to discover
that his father, retired General John Steele, was Silas Caine’s vice president
after the 2012 election! [see Issue 136!]
This shocking
revelation caused the star spangled superhero to leave Vanguard to investigate
this alone!
Soldier used his military contacts
to investigate his own father and found he was working as a consultant to MEDUSA,
as was Silas Caine!
Soldier knew about MEDUSA. Before the Omega-verse, Soldier’s father had
sent him, Larry Manetti and Dr. Ashe on a secret mission to retrieve a renegade
super-agent named the Patriot from Venezuela. Soldier succeeded, resisting the
Patriot’s request to join him in overthrowing Hugo Chavez. [see Issue 117!]
The Patriot was
taken into custody, and Chavez was soon overthrown anyway.
The whole thing smelled wrong.
Dr. Ashe joined MEDUSA and soon
the Patriot was released from custody and working as Silas Caine’s bodyguard!
Soldier began
surveillance on his father’s movements and discovered in his schedule several
appointments months ago at the Aztechnology compound!
While performing nighttime recon
on the wooded grounds of Aztech, he was confronted by Jim Harrik, the
Mercenary! Before the fight could start, the Merc used a small device to
deactivate all of the Soldiers cybernetic systems! Matt collapsed and was
captured by Homicide for Hire!
Soldier berated himself upon waking up. “How could you have
allowed this to happen? You've allowed yourself to be captured,” he thought.
“You’ve not only failed yourself, but the other members of Vanguard.” He'd
placed them in danger, and that's something he vowed to never let happen again.
While in captivity, he played
possum and continued his surveillance as he had been trained to do in the Army,
gaining more info than he gave up. In fact, HFH did not interrogate Soldier at
all!
- Soldier’s cybernetic systems had been created by MEDUSA!
This explained how Harrik might have deactivated them. Homicide for Hire
assumed him incapacitated and ignored him, even discussing things in his
presence! Soldier was still in possession of his firearm, Mercy.
- In captivity, Matt secretly activated self-diagnostic programs
to regain control of his systems. It worked. His systems have been operational
and at full power for the last few hours and he continued to play possum,
waiting for his chance. When HFH said that Vanguard arrived and began to
prepare for them, he knew his chance had come.
(In game terms, Homicide for Hire did not know that Soldier
had cured his Vulnerability to Electrical attacks!)
- Homicide for Hire evinced a shocking knowledge of
Vanguard’s powers and weaknesses! But they did not betray how. Soldier learned
that they attacked Vanguard at the wedding of Slingshot and Nanite, kidnapping
Nanite and furious that they hadn’t captured Slate as well, moved to “Plan B:”
luring Vanguard and Slate here.
- Homicide for Hire had been contracted to kill Vanguard,
and send Nanite, Slate and himself (Soldier) into the Digital Zone, with their
systems carrying a powerful Virus that would destroy The Entity, IT! This is
why they kept Matt alive; they were waiting for Slate to arrive, following
Nanite’s signal, and open the gate to the Digital Zone once. Then, they were to
destroy the gate and the facility and leave.
- Soldier doesn’t know who contracted Homicide for Hire or
who created the Virus. HFH’s most technical member, Maelstrom, knows enough to
be able to load the Virus into Nanite, Soldier and Slate, but he did not create
it. Maelstrom can also operate the Digital Zone gate. The Virus is inside
Soldier’ computers now, but doesn’t appear to harm them. Soldier is now a
carrier.
- Soldier heard Maelstrom remark to Ion that there was an
evolutionary sequence between IT and Mankind. Nemesis was an android. Nanite
was somewhere between a robot and an android. Slate seems to be the missing
link between androids and humans. And, to Matt’s surprise, he heard Maelstrom
say that MEDUSA’s experimental cyborg, Soldier, was designed to be a hybrid
between man and robot!
- Having observed both Jim Harrik (aka The Mercenary) and
the Patriot closely, Soldier believed it was possible they were the same man!
But he had no proof.
- The Luddite is certifiably insane and is not a member of
Homicide for Hire. Neither is the Pachyderm who is seen more as a secret
weapon, not unlike how the Atomic Brain was used for the last altercation with
Vanguard. Pachyderm was brought into this room moments ago, in preparation for
Vanguard’s arrival. He had not seen him before that. Everyone else present are
members of Homicide for Hire.
- Soldier saw only these criminal metahumans during his
captivity. No one else.
-The unconscious Nanite was just brought into the electronic
blind room moments ago. Then Maelstrom opened the Gate.
“I was wondering
when you’d find us,”
Harrik’s voice
snapped Matt back to the present!
END FLASHBACK!
“I’ve been waiting a
long time for this rematch.” Harrik said coolly.
Then to his team of
trained professionals: “Take them.”
The battle erupted!
Avatar's
heightened metabolism shrugged Skin Deep’s sedative with amazing speed! Opening his eyes, he saw Soldier and realized
what had likely happened. He also saw the
foes arrayed against Vanguard and knew that this will be one hell of a fight!
Ratman quickly
scurried across the tops of the towering generators on all fours, and then
leapt right at Agent Drake! The human rodent’s insidious, steel Whiplash Tail
struck the valiant agent in the back of the head before he could react! KER-RACK!
Drake collapsed to the floor, unconscious!
Ratman snickered, “Heh
heh. Could never stand Feds. They’re just cops with attitude.”
Slate was drawn
to the portal... It looked somehow so familiar.
Seeing Nanite floating away, his first thought was to go after her, but
Slingshot's words cut through his reverie...
Slingshot
surveyed the room. He noticed the generators and noted the positions of Harrik,
Skin Deep and the Luddite. He focused on the portal and took in the scene
displayed there.
He turned to Slate, speaking softly: "I'm going for mom. Once I have her out, I need you to keep her safe. I have a few scores to settle."
He turned to Slate, speaking softly: "I'm going for mom. Once I have her out, I need you to keep her safe. I have a few scores to settle."
Upon seeing Harrik, Sentinel’s
hand instinctively reached to feel the scar on his side from their last
encounter and said to Vanguard, “Whatever you do, don't let Harrik choose your
sparring partner for you. He is very
specific in prepping his team with the hero that they are best suited to
defeat."
The Mercenary
spoke quietly into his headset as he jumped atop the nearest generator, to view
his killing floor.
His well-rehearsed team nodded understanding at his words.
The Merc pulled a grenade launching carbine from his back,
loaded and fired a mini-thermobaric
cartridge directly at Slingshot! Fffwooooooosshhh! KA-BOOOOM!
Slingshot was ground zero for the grenade detonation! The
concussion slammed his malleable form, and the thermite exploded in flames!
(OOC: 24 points of damage! 8 from concussion, 16 from heat as per his weakness.
Slingy takes 8 off Invulnerability, rolls with 9 and takes 7 to hit points!)
The concussive blast remained close to Slingshot, not
affecting any of the surrounding environments, knocking him back ten feet into
Sentinel! Slingy was burned but not ablaze.
Flames reflecting in his polarized visor, Harrik afforded
himself a small smile. It was short lived.
Lightning Strike
moved to attack Harrik! The vengeful vigilante of voltage overcame the powerful
urge to attack the Luddite and instead magnetically launched a fistful of nails
up at the Mercenary! Harrik was completely surprised by the unexpected form of
attack and the nails marched a line up the underside of Harrik’s left forearm that
he had instinctively thrown forward in defense! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! The
nails pierced the master tactician’s insulated combat uniform, and his arm ran
red with blood!
Harrik scowled at this unanticipated development, and cursed
the lack of intel into his headset.
Soldier was done
playing possum. This was his chance! He broadcast a signal to Vanguard’s
communicators: "I'm still not quite sure what's going on, but any help you
can give me getting the hell out of this place would be much appreciated."
With that, the patriotic powerhouse leapt off the table at
his nearest captor: The Puppet! Soldier landed behind him and threw a low strike
at the Puppet’s head to try to knock him out! KERACK!! His fist hit home! The
Puppet was knocked forward but remained “conscious.” Soldier realized for the
first time that the thing was made of actual wood! He had damaged it, but its
anatomy wasn’t human! It couldn’t suffer concussions from blows to the head!
Pachyderm turned
stiffly to glare at Soldier with malice in his eyes.
“Our toy soldier is awake!” the Puppet shrieked in a horrifying mockery of human speech!
“Stick with the plan,”
Harrik snarled.
“Relax, freak,” Ion
said to the Puppet. “I’ll ace him and throw him in the Portal.” Then came a
crack of thunder and the flash of lightning! Ion fired a cascading roar of white
hot electricity from his eyes into Soldier! KRAKA-BOOMM!! (Damage is not
doubled because Soldier had just bought down his Weakness! He takes 12 points
of damage. 8 from Invulnerability. 4 from Power. 0 from Hits!)
Soldier had been
doused with electricity and was unharmed!
Ion said to
Harrik, “Hey, boss man. I thought you said this guy can’t handle lightning!”
Harrik frowned
for the second time today. But not the last.
Menagerie assumed
the shape of Man and bravely approached the elephantine elemental force! “Pachy,
what has happened to you? Why has my friend left the Great Canadian Wild? Where
is beautiful Snow Leopard? Don’t you remember our time at the campfires eating
fish and elk together? Why are you here with these people? They don’t love you
like Snow Leopard and I do.” (OOC: expends Luck Point to increase Pachyderm’s
chance to escape the mental domination of the Puppet! Also, nice job deducing
the stringed Svengali’s powers!)
Pachyderm stood
blinking, uncomprehendingly, at Menagerie as crucial seconds ticked by!
“Cat… Lady…?” he managed to utter with great effort.
Maelstrom suddenly
appeared next to Slate! The technological teleporter matter-of-factly injected
a hypodermic needle into Slate’s neck! The scion of cyberspace could detect
nanites entering his body! He was being infected with the Virus! “Host 3 is
ready,” Maelstrom reported.
The Puppet scrabbled
up one of the seven foot tall generators, looked at Zephyr, and held his
hands out as if manipulating unseen puppet strings. “Yes, my dear,” it crooned lovingly.
“Yes. You are MY puppet now!”
Zephyr shook
her head ‘no,’ held out her hands, “Stop!” and then was still.
“Yeeeeesssss,” the
predatory Pinocchio hissed. “My lovely princess doll. Send Slate home.” He
began giggling uncontrollably. “Heeheeehee! Yes! Send that tin robot back where
he came from! AH HAHAHA HAHA HAAAA!!”
Zephyr nodded
mechanically and took to the air! She flew behind Slate, placing him between
herself and the Digital Zone Gate. Her face contorted in resistance as she was
helpless to stop herself from blasting him with a hurricane force gale! WHHHOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
“YES!” barked the
Puppet with savage glee! “THAT’S the way to do it!”
Slate was
blown up over the generators and through the Digital Gate into cyberspace!
When he came within
a foot of the portal, he felt himself pulled in, with a flash of electricity! KRAKOW!
(OOC: Slate has a new character sheet in this plane of
existence.
Your Intelligence score is now your Agility score as well.
Your Charisma score is now your Strength and Endurance
scores as well.
Your Hit Points are now equal to your Charisma Score.
Your Power Points equal (Chax2) + (Intx2) and they are currently
full.)
Slate became
digitized, rendered in green linear data, and felt as if he was finally coming
home. He felt a sense of completion, of resolution, and suddenly the voices he
could hear calling his name stopped!
Floating toward Nanite, he remained focused on her,
wondering what affect the Virus would have on her, and suddenly he knew. As if
just thinking upon it made it so. It was all laid out before him, clearly and
simply.
Here, he could see and comprehend the Virus’ code.
It was already infecting cyberspace. Slate watched it
working to dissolve the Digital Zone’s very fabric.
Slate knew the Virus would not harm Nanite in the world of
flesh and Men, but here it would eventually destroy her, and him, and
everything in cyberspace. He didn’t have much time.
Looking at his hands, the Digital Child saw the Virus code
pouring off of them, flowing, spreading, working. And in watching the code, he
believed he could rewrite it.
Meanwhile, in the concrete world, the living opposite of
Slate acted!
The Luddite
wanted to absorb Lightning Strike alive! He ranted, “This all ends here! The
invasion of cyberspace is stopped! The Earth will survive, thanks to our
actions here today! The Digital Revolution shall be overturned!” He floated
above the generators and moved to attack Lightning Strike and…
The Mercenary
barked, “I said, stick with the plan!”
The intangible technophobe hesitated and then fell in line. The Luddite held his hands out before
him in the direction of Symbiote and absorbed the energy of the Harper Harness!
SHRAKK!! Electricity flew from
Symbiote into the Luddite and was gone!
VWOOP!
The Harper Harness had been drained of all power! (No
charges remain. But Inhuman’s template is still active.)
Clone said to his
nearest duplicate, “I am knowing this one from somewhere I am thinking, but I am
not knowing from where it is,” as he failed to recall from where he knew the malevolent
marionette!
The Puppet
replied mockingly, “Yes, Alex. I believe you should. Hahahaha! The dear Dr. X
had been a… client of mine some time ago. I can’t wait to be pulling your
strings again! Hahaha haha!”
The mob of multiplying mutants started to move forward, and one of their number looked back at his fellow Vanguard members and said, “Please to be saving of Nanite! I will make you some time,” With that the ‘Replicating Russian’ started to sub-divide once again, but this time he didn’t stop at just one or two – this time he went all the way! (OOC: Costs one Action and 15 PP to create 15 more duplicates!)
There was suddenly a line that divided the battlefield,
comprised of 22 Clones!
No wait, there were 23!
Skin Deep, still
wearing the guise of Soldier, was behind all of Vanguard. Unobserved, the
façade fatale transformed into the likeness of Clone, including his battle
staff, to blend in with the crowd!
Sentinel couldn’t
stand the sight of Harrik and all he represented. He recalled how they had
pursued him and he was able to escape despite their best efforts, and how
ineffectual Kirk had been in combat with him. The scar in his side from
Harrik’s weapon was a constant reminder of that day. But Vanguard had changed
since their last encounter. They were seasoned. And they had much more power at
their command. He looked to his friend John, back then Kairos, now Avatar who
manifested the power of the Pantheon of Greek Gods! If any of us was fast and powerful
enough, resilient and versatile, and just plain stubborn and gutsy it was him.
Without looking at him but within his earshot Kirk said, ‘I suspect Homicide
for Hire is quite unlike the Hydra.’ He knew John would get the mythical
reference that for HFH once its head, Harrik, was cut off, there would be no
miraculous recovery, only defeat.
Kirk surveyed the situation and
his concern over seeing Pachyderm in their numbers was great. He knew from
first-hand experience that the combined power of all of Vanguard might not be
enough to take him down and that just one blow of his brutal power could crush
half his teammates permanently! He heard Menagerie attempting to reach him …
and remembered his own attempts to do the same in the alternate world when his
best friend Hal had assumed that persona. At the moment Kirk focused on that
gateway and the Digital Zone and formed a plan seeing it for what it was here …
the great equalizer. Everything that made Pachyderm the lethal threat in this
world would be neutralized in that world… a world that when visited is based
not on the physical prowess one possessed in this world, but rather the
internal fortitude.
Kirk held his action to see if
Menagerie’s efforts with Pachyderm would be successful. But he was poised and
ready so that the first moment he saw him ‘on the charge’ he would look for the
moment he was most unprepared and off-balance and thrust him though the gateway
into the Digital Zone!
Slingshot knew
that he was likely in for a large amount of pain. He took a giant step towards
the portal. He anchored himself to one of the generators and then extended an
arm as quickly as possible to retrieve Nan from the digital dimension!
As his arm got close to the portal, it was pulled in! The
force of the attraction was so strong that Slingshot’s arm reached its maximum
stretching length in an instant, and the force kept pulling! (14 points of
damage! Cannot be rolled with!) Slingshot remained conscious and held on to his
anchor point with all his might!
Fighting against being pulled into the Digital Zone,
Slingshot regained control of his now-digitized right arm and grabbed Nanite!
His arm had sailed past Slate and was within Slate’s reach! (OOC: But your turn
ends here! Movement to stretch to reach Nanite, and your Action to grab her!)
SHRAK-KAK-KAK-KKK! Electricity sparked from the interface of
the concrete Slingshot with his digitized arm!
“NO!” howled the
Luddite! “Would you sacrifice the entire world for your accursed
family?!!!”
Zero G was about
to call an audible, but then remembered Slingshot could warp his form to escape
many of the effects of his gravitational powers. He stuck with the play book. He
levitated toward Sentinel and targeted not the heir of heroism, but his solid
energy shield! VROM! Zero G chuckled
thickly to himself as…
Sentinel felt his
shields becoming heavy, heavier than he could “lift” with his powers! The
beacon of liberty fell to the ground beneath the titanic weight of his own
construct and was in danger of being crushed alive inside it! (OOC: 10 points
of damage, all to Hit Points. Cannot be rolled with!)
Symbiote looked up
at the Villainous Vermin, studying him as though he were the rat he represented.
"You know, Ratso, I've had to perform the occasional experiment on rats in
my scientific career," he said. "Can't say I liked it, just something
that had to be done to further medical science. But you...I'm going to enjoy
trying something out on you. Like humans, a rat's body is about 90%
water," Hal raised a webbed hand. "Let's see what happens when a rat
gets really, really dehydrated..."
With that, Hal used his powers to force a significant amount of water out of Ratman's body...through his pores, through his eyes, his mouth, through....shall we say, less pleasant to think about orifices, if necessary. It wasn’t pretty. Symbiote now controlled 50 lbs. of water!
With that, Hal used his powers to force a significant amount of water out of Ratman's body...through his pores, through his eyes, his mouth, through....shall we say, less pleasant to think about orifices, if necessary. It wasn’t pretty. Symbiote now controlled 50 lbs. of water!
Ratman whimpered
and whined as he was dehydrated! (Ratman will now act as if Fatigued)
“I’ll get you for that,” he squeaked.
Pachyderm stopped blinking at Menagerie. He shook his head as if to ward off agonizing pain. Then he turned to the Puppet. “You… killed… Cat Lady!!!”
Pachyderm stopped blinking at Menagerie. He shook his head as if to ward off agonizing pain. Then he turned to the Puppet. “You… killed… Cat Lady!!!”
“No! Wait!” pleaded the
Puppet, all mirth quickly draining from his wooden features.
“RRAAAAAAUGH!”
roared the massive man-mammoth as he smashed his fist down onto the freakish
figurine! KRUNCH! The Puppet was shattered into splinters, along with the
generator he was perched upon! There was a flash of light and Menagerie knew
that the foul sorcery that had possessed the wooden idol was gone!
The annihilated
generator sparked and smoked and the Digital Zone Portal flickered but remained
powered!
Zephyr was
suddenly released from the Puppet’s control!
Avatar regained his bearings. The miraculous man
of myth manifested the Strength of Ares and readied for battle!
Jim Harrik
barked to his team: “Stop Slingshot from reeling her in!” Then: “Here IT comes!”
Vanguard turn and
saw, through the portal, a gigantic face was forming in the sky of cyberspace!
But it was different than the last time! This face was a blend of the features
of IT the Entity, and Nemesis!
To be continued!
Current Conditions:
Avatar: Hit Points: 62,
Power Points: 69, Manifestation:
The Speed of Hermes! The Strength of
Ares!
Clone: Bodies: 22, Hit Points: 1 each, Power Points: 42, Hit Point Pool: 22
Lightning Strike:
Hit Points: 41, Power Points: 78
Menagerie: Hit
Points: 23, Power Points: 55, Form: Man
Sentinel: Hit
Points: 13, Power Points: 69, Creation
Points: 138, Shields: 100 Has a saved
action!
Slate: Hit Points: 30,
Power Points: 72
Slingshot: Hit
Points: 58, Power Points: 82, Invulnerability: 0 til Issue 163
Soldier: Hit
Points: 57, Power Points: 76, Invulnerability: 0 until Issue 163
Symbiote: Hit
Points: 34, Power Points: 78, Charges: 0, Copied: Inhuman, Water Controlled: 50
lbs.
--------------------------------------------------
Avatar:
IC: Avatar hears
Sentinel's statement and bounds up at super-speed, heading for Harrik at
maximum velocity! Without weapons, he
attempts to slam into Harrik, using not only his strength but also his speed to
try and drive the Mercenary into a solid object.
OOC: Trying to hit
him with an initial attack that not only uses my punching damage with the
higher strength score but also the speed of travel. I don't care if I also do some damage to
myself with this (I think that I remember rules in the back of the book for
this sort of thing) because I should do MORE damage to him. I'll go ahead and use a Luck Point on this
attack AND I'm hoping that he's surprised at least somewhat since he saw me go
down. Unless the situation changes
drastically, Avatar will continue attacking Harrik.
--------------------------------------------------
Clone:
OOC: As always, an awesome Issue!
I have a question - Based on Vanguards past run-in's with
Skin Deep, would Clone know Skin
Deep's powers? If so, what are they exactly?
Is Skin Deep simply a shapeshifter like Marvel Comics Mystique or is there an actually power mimicry going on
(i.e. does Skin Deep have some/all of
Clone's powers)?
-Kev
--------------------------------------------------
Slingshot:
OOC: You've done it again! You manage to keep me on the edge
of my seat for the whole read.
.. and while I know what I need to do next, I'm still torn
between the many things I need to do.
--------------------------------------------------
Menagerie:
OOC: AWESOME Issue!!!
IC: Menagerie was overcome with sadness and anger at hearing
the fate of Snow Leopard. "Pachy, I am so sad to hear about Snow
Leopard." Menagerie pointed at Zero G. "He is Wooden Man's friend. He
helped kill Snow Leopard, you know what to do. While you hurt of him I will go
hurt more of Wooden Man's friends!"
OOC: Does Menagerie's Heightened Senses provide him with a
high chance (75%+) of detecting which Clone is Skindeep?
Thanks
Tom
--------------------------------------------------
GM:
OOC: Thanks guys!
Harold/Avatar: Understood. As per the rules:
With Strength of Ares (+15 to Strength), your new HTH damage
is 2d8.
Speed of Hermes increases your ground movement by +750"
and adds 25 to your initiative, giving you two actions per combat
"issue."
Running at full speed and hitting someone gives you +3d10
damage, as per the ramming rules in section 3.3 of V&V second edition (or
2.1 edition). See chart called "Projectile Velocity / Damage Bonus"
But, while moving at such speeds, you incur a -5 to hit, as
per the Range Modification Rules in section 3.2.B in V&V second edition, or
2.1.
Last time you fought, Harrik was hard to hit.
Please note, if you move at slower speeds, you may reduce
your damage bonus and your negative modifier to hit, as per those charts.
Please also note that your movement of 829" covers one
combat turn or two "issues" of my game.
Finally, the Luck Point expenditure will give a +4 to hit
for one attack. Do you burn Luck Points for both of your attacks this issue?
Please let me know what you'd like to do. Thanks.
Kev/Clone: Skin
Deep has never been captured by the law so her true powers are unknown.
She clearly has the ability to disguise her appearance with
shape shifting, and this includes the replication of clothes and hand held
objects.
She exhibited stretching powers when she fought Slingshot in
his solo adventure, and when she attacked the President disguised as Slingy.
Slingshot burned her in his solo adventure. Whether there
was additional damage due to a Slingshot-esque vulnerability to flames or not
is unclear.
Tom/Menagerie: Your Heightened Senses are a magic
power that helps you detect things related to Magic and Nature. It won't
increase your chance of finding Skin Deep among the Clones. Sorry.
Best,
Jeff
--------------------------------------------------
Avatar:
OOC: Hmm...I forgot about that negative on the "to
hit" roll. Can I divide my speed by
two, thereby reducing the penalty (and the damage mod, unfortunately) and
giving velocity bonus on the second action?
If I can try and gain the velocity bonus on the second action, as you
seem to state, I will most definitely make that attempt. Use a Luck Point for each attack, too.
Also, I had considered just punching him but, since he has a
weapon out, I'll use one, too. First
attack will be trying to ram him with the shield and the second attack will be
with the sword, if permissible.
--------------------------------------------------
Clone:
OOC: Jeff, I've been trying to figure out a way for Clone to
be able to determine which one of the duplicates Skin Deep is and I think I've come
up with an idea. If she has his powers, including his Telepathic Link, he would
know her thoughts - right? If she doesn't have all of his powers then I'm
assuming that he wouldn't - that make sense at all? I've been trying to
remember how it went down with Clone Omega ( I haven't re-read the old issue's
yet to see exactly ); and if I remember correctly, because they had the same powers
Clone and Clone Omega were sharing thoughts back and forth.
What do you think?
-Kev
--------------------------------------------------
OOC:
Hi guys.
Harold/Avatar: All of that is permissible.
Dividing your movement between your two actions in Issue 162
yields a +2d10 damage bonus and a -4 to hit.
If that's still too high a negative you can choose among:
-3 to hit, +2d8 damage
-2 to hit, +d8 damage
-1 to hit, +d4 damage
as per the charts I mentioned before.
All your movement replenishes for Issue 163. The first
combat turn is issues 161 and 162.
Kevin/Clone: Could be. If Skin Deep can duplicate
your powers, then either:
a) You and she will share a telepathic link
or
b) She will have a telepathic link with the duplicates she
creates of herself. Just as you have a link with the duplicates you create of
yourself.
If possibility b is what transpires, it means that Clone and
Clone Omega were able to share a link because they were the same person, or
close enough.
Best,
Jeff
--------------------------------------------------
Avatar:
OOC: Fine with me. At
least the use of a Luck Point reduces the penalty to nothing. I'd say that, between Avatar's powers and
Harrik's likely powers, things probably all come out pretty much equal
probabilities to hit or miss. With two
attacks, one will likely hit, doing 2d8+2d10+(whatever weapon and damage mods
are). That should get his attention and
distract him from directing combat, if nothing else.
--------------------------------------------------
Clone:
OOC: I hadn't considered the possibility of 'Option B' - so
it’s possible if she has Clone's powers; then aside from that commonality, they
could still be two completely separate individuals entirely.
If 'Option A' is
the case - is it safe to assume that Clone hasn't picked up anything from her
yet?
My apologies if
these questions are kind'a putting you on the spot, Jeff. I'm just trying to
logic-out how Clone would be able to figure out which one of the 'Clone Crowd'
is actually Skin Deep - or would he simply know which is which since he knows
who he is? That make sense?
--------------------------------------------------
Soldier:
OOC: Jeff, a few quick questions. 1) Soldier is fully online
correct?, 2) How heavy is the Puppet?, 3) Can a make run to grab him (a special
attack), as I've got an idea?
--------------------------------------------------
GM:
OOC:
Kevin/Clone: No problem. Clone hasn't picked up any of Skin
Deep's thoughts yet.
Dom/Soldier: Soldier is fully online. But the Puppet was
destroyed by Pachyderm this issue.
Best,
Jeff
--------------------------------------------------
Soldier:
OOC: Sorry I need to clarify. Is there anything left of his
body, as I'd like to use it as a club?
1) Because I need one
2) Soldier won't admit it, but he's pissed and wants to hit
something,
3) I just find that pic you posted of Puppet down right
creepy.
--------------------------------------------------
Sentinel:
OOC: Just got to read the issue.
Cheers to Tom for turning a liability into an asset. Congrats.
Your move likely turned the tide here.
Tony ... Deadshot back in action!!! No one else will get the reference but nice
move.
Jeff: Seems obvious that the move here it to force Kirk to
drop his shields and to try take him out before he can recreate them. I'm wondering, since Tom turned the tide with
the Pachy move... even though Kirk can't lift the shields, can he reform them
to support their own weight? In other
words, he can reform them into say a pyramid form so that he is taking no
damage, still have their protection, and perhaps use his action to establish a
mental link to find out more about the plans of HFH? That's option one.
However, there isn't any reason that Kirk can't simply
reform his shields weight free here? ... of course at this point they could use
the same move against him ... just wondering if I'm missing anything?
Seth
--------------------------------------------------
Menagerie:
OOC: Thanks Seth
Now if I can only figure out what to do this turn.
Tom
--------------------------------------------------
GM:
OOC:
Dom/Soldier: Sorry.
My mistake. Puppet was 30” tall and weighed 25 lbs. before he was splintered.
The largest piece of it/him left is his head and torso at 15 lbs. It’s not a
club, due to its articulation and 18” length.
But it can be used as a brawling weapon for HTH +1 point of
damage, as per the Brawling Weapons table.
Or you could use a broken limb that has a sharp edge as a
makeshift knife, for HTH +d2 damage and a +1 to hit.
Seth/Sentinel:
Reforming the shields into a pyramid shape would be a difficult task attempt,
as Sentinel needs to lift a portion of the shields up, to form the pyramid
zenith, and the shields are extremely heavy.
And yes, he could “extinguish” his shields, gain those
Creation Points back into his pool, and then use those points to create new
shields that are no longer under Zero G’s gravity effect. Kind of like money
laundering, but for a good cause!
Best,
Jeff
--------------------------------------------------
Sentinel:
OOC: Hi Jeff.
I'm leaning towards the 'money laundering' move but am still
working on it ... likely will have to do that just to avoid further damage
which would take Kirk out of action ... but still deciding where to place
myself on the gameboard to do the most
good.
In the meantime some dialogue (and Kirk's 'normal' inner
monologue).
Kirk had feared Slate ending up in the Digital Zone. In his mind, with what they knew of his
powers, he figured he was the Son of the King… that his power would be
incredible there. His entry into the
zone would have been Vanguard’s last ditched effort if all seemed lost … but he
was concerned that somehow IT would have had something implanted within Slate
that would take control once he was there.
Kirk shouted to Slate, “Slate, are you all right? Do you still have free will? Can you act as you please? What can we do to help?”
And he hoped that if Slate was still in control of himself
that HFH had underestimated the potential within him and had just handed
Vanguard their best hope for victory.
Kirk looked at the face in the gateway; the bizarre
conglomeration of the Entity IT and the hero he desperately had wanted to
rescue … one of the greatest heroes of their time, Nemesis. He felt indebted to those heroes of the
Freedom Force and wanted to be sure they were all found. So far, Nemesis had been the only one … and
as quickly as they found him, Kirk lost him again.
Had Slingshot not pulled Kirk along with the rest of
Vanguard through the gate that day, he’d likely have perished in his attempt to
rescue Nemesis. Kirk’s failure to bring
him home led to this … thing … before them.
Seemingly ignoring the twisted image that filled the gate
before him he said, “Nemesis, Vanguard is here to help. Are you now in control of Cyberspace? What happened to you?” And he hoped the reply heard with be that of
the hero and not the threat of IT, the Entity.
Seth
--------------------------------------------------
Symbiote:
IC: Symbiote looked
towards the frightful image of The Entity appearing in the gateway. Gee, as if the nightmares weren't enough, he
thought to himself, remember the awe inspiring presence his teammates and the
Soviet Super Soldiers had faced down.
The Super Scientist began to calculate the variables: He's the real threat here. Harrik is probably a close second, and Skin
Deep probably runs third. But there's
not much to be done about IT other than closing the gate, and we can't do that
until Slate and Nanite are out. Probably
the best thing we can do is keep everybody off Slingshot until he can reel his
family in. Avatar's about to have Harrik
in hand, and there's not much to be done about Skin Deep right now.
So probably the best thing I can do is make sure nobody else
bothers Slingy. Wrapping things up with
my current dance partner is as good a place to start as any.
With that, the Piscean Powerhouse turned towards Ratman, and
the 50 lb. globe of water floating between them. "Oh, I'm sorry Ratso, were you using
that?" he asked, gesturing towards the levitating water. "THEN HERE....TAKE IT BACK!"
With that, Symbiote gestured towards Ratman and the water
zipped over his head, completely enveloping it.
Breathing would now become quite an issue, but Hal wasn't finished
yet. He clenched his outstretched hand
into a fist and the globe began to shrink, the water compressing, forcing more
and more pressure against the Rogue of Rodentia's skull. Half dehydrated and unable to breathe, how
many PSIs of water pressure can you take, you sick freak? Hal thought to himself. Let's find out....
Viva Vanguard,
Greg
--------------------------------------------------
Symbiote:
OOC: Having just read Seth's post, I just now realized that
Nemesis and The Entity seem to have merged.
Missed that in reading the issue.
Sorry.
Oh well, doesn't really change Hal's actions, he's still
going to try to finish off Ratman.
Except now he's a little hopeful that Nemesis will be the more dominant
personality in this merger, and that The Nementity will be benevolent, or at
least not actively wish us harm.
--------------------------------------------------
Sentinel:
OOC: Hey Greg.
Just hoping Nemesis is in control ... we got an incredible
break with Tom's turning Pachy into an asset, I suspect IT now being Nemesis
controlling cyberspace would be too much to hope for ... but we'll see.
And yes, my thoughts were the same ... protect and assist
Slingshot ... some of the other moves I was considering was placing Kirk with
shields intact in front of Slingshot to hopefully protect him ... I was so mad
with Harrik hitting him with the incendiary weapon again ... I'd remembered it
from last time but knew that Kirk wouldn't be fast enough to prevent it even if
the 'turning Kirk's shields into a weapon against him" wasn't done. At least he didn't stay on fire this time.
Another move may be for Kirk to stretch his construct into
the digital zone to aid Slingshot in pulling Nanite (and possibly Slate) back
in ... if it worked the same way for his shields like it did for Slingshot
being half in our world/half in the zone.
Kirk's stored action is going to have to be do deal with his
shield issue, but there is still too much that will happen prior to his next
move for me to figure out that to do here ... particularly with no idea of the
IT situation.
*** Ugh ***
I'm just hoping Harold puts a major hurt on Harrik...
Seth
--------------------------------------------------
Soldier:
OOC: Thanks. I'll be using him as an improvised club, as I
just can't see Soldier carrying what would effectively be a "shank"
into a fight. While it might be more effective, he'd see that as
dishonorable.
--------------------------------------------------
Slingshot:
OOC: Here is my theory regarding IT. Its features are
clearly a mix of the Entity and Nemesis.
While the Entity was malevolent, Nemesis was benevolent -
I'm willing to bet that this new Entity is perfectly neutral. Now we send IT a
virus to take it out. How do you think it will react? Badly.
If Slate has the chance to modify the virus into something
innocuous, take the chance. I'll engage the Entity to see if IT is malevolent
or not as I pull back Nan.
--------------------------------------------------
Slate:
As Slate reached out to access the closest Server, he was
grabbed from behind by a rushing wind and tossed toward the Digital Zone
Portal. He recognized it for what it
was. The portal appeared to be a larger
version of what he created anytime he digitized something in this world. As he grew closer, he felt himself
accelerating like a piece of Iron drawn toward a magnet. In the room, the flash
of energy everyone else saw, felt like a splash in a pool to Slate.
It was like returning to the womb. Warmth ran around his
body, he barely felt the digital world around him, everything was somehow
“right.” He felt whole. The emotional turmoil of the last few days
was gone. Everything seemed to slow down. He looked around and recognized the
world he was now in, he had seen this before, and the memories of his dreams
returned in a flood.
The approaching figure had comforted him when he was
troubled, and promised him his mother would be fine. He felt no fear or trepidation at its approach. The sickly pall, of the virus’, seemed to
color and distort everything it touched, tendrils like smoke spread out from
it. He saw the same smoky residue coming
from his mother. It was repulsive, and
he reached out with his mind to wipe it away, from himself and his mother. He mentally pushed his mother’s inert form
toward his father’s outstretched arm. He
gazed at how beautiful and peaceful she looked with her wedding dress digitally
flowing around her. Other than application of the virus, she did not appear to
have been harmed.
Slate heard words from the other side of the portal, but
they were slow and garbled, what an inefficient method of communication he
thought idly. At the same time he was
turning toward and moving forward, placing himself between the oncoming
Megalith that was IT/Nemesis, his
parents, and the portal.
OOC: Maybe Slate can at least take care of things on this
side of the portal while the rest of the team deals with HFH.
Jon
--------------------------------------------------
Soldier:
OOC: Jeff, few more questions for you. The Virus that
Soldier is now carrying in his systems, can he scan it? What affect does it
have on his nanites, and more importantly, can he make the virus work for him?
--------------------------------------------------
GM:
OOC: Hi Dom,
Soldier is unaffected by the Virus, he is just a carrier.
Soldier's systems, including his nanites, don't categorize it as a hostile invader. So his system defenses haven't targeted it as such.
Soldier's systems, including his nanites, don't categorize it as a hostile invader. So his system defenses haven't targeted it as such.
Soldier can't make the Virus work for him. He has no
cybernetic control over it. To "control" or re-purpose the Virus
would require it to be re-programmed, and Soldier doesn't have the skills to do
that.
Sorry,
Jeff
--------------------------------------------------
Slingshot:
OOC: So I'm kinda stuck. There's about 50 things I'd like to
do. Too bad I don't have many arms - Jeff, I have a feeling this is likely
going to be on my list of upgrades I'll be looking at. :)
Scott will yell at his son: "Ethan, it's in your hands
now. Talk to IT. Let IT know that we are not here to battle, but coexist! This
is what you were born to do! You're the link that ties us together. Let us live
peacefully!"
Slingshot looked at Mercenary. "Harrik, you don't have
a clue what you're messing with! Don't you see? The Entity is NOT what it used
to be! Just look at IT! Nemesis seemed to have merged with IT. Nemesis was a
Hero! By sending the virus, you only ensure that this new Entity will now see
us as a threat! Think man! You're the strategist. =Is it better to have an
enemy that may or may not be destroyed by this virus - but totally dedicated to
killing you, or an ally? Let us Parlay with it and see what we can do.".
OOC Action: Aside from chatting, Scott, will pull back
Nanite into this world and leave a finger back for Slate to grab onto if
needed. No way he'll leave his son behind.
--------------------------------------------------
Menagerie:
IC: After Menagerie pointed out Zero G to Pachyderm, telling
him that "Zero G is a friend of the puppet that killed Snow Leopard",
Menagerie turned into a Grizzly Bear. He tried with his heightened animal
senses to determined which Clone was really Skin Deep.
Best
Tom
--------------------------------------------------
Sentinel:
OOC: Hi all.
Jeff:
First move will have to be to recreate his shields so that
he doesn't continue to take damage (saved action from last round - no real
choice here, especially with damage from the prior battle unhealed) We've always done this move as instantaneous
so I'm hoping this doesn't leave him open with shields down as he does
this. Perhaps we can have him recreate
from the inside out or something along those lines. If possible I'd like it to be as
inconspicuous as possible so that HFH doesn't know he is now 'safe' and perhaps
this will allow Kirk a surprise move they don't expect. He'll try to make it look like he is still
caught in their trap until the situation calls for otherwise.
Since there is much info to come and things may change by
the time Kirk gets his turn for this round I'm content holding my action if
prudent like you did this time around however here as some alternatives or
things that he will do depending on what happens:
(1) He knows that Soldier is the final carrier of the virus
- if it appears he is going to be thrown through the gate he will move to
prevent it. Kirk can move in front of
the gate and extend his shields to block it entirely and prevent Soldier from
being forced into the gate (he can form the shields around Slingshot so he can
continue his efforts to rescue Nanite or even place Slingshot behind them so
that he too would be protected from further attack on this side of the
gate. (Depending on when other things
happen, perhaps this might be accomplished with the reformation of his shields
instead of 'playing possum' - or perhaps this will be the movement of his turn
still allowing him an 'attack' of sorts)
(2) If Pachy doesn't take out Zero G and Kirk needs to do so
to prevent this from happening again I've actually got a plan for that. Kirk will go around and approach from above
Zero G from above him. If Zero G tries
the trick again, Kirk is ready to maneuver himself right above him so that he
is caught underneath the weight of the shields and takes damage from Kirk's
attach, the weight of the shields, and the fall. Since Kirk would be ready and looking for
this to happen, instead of being caught unaware like before, perhaps it would
be possible to shift the energy around so that he doesn't take damage and get
caught 'underneath' it but allows the bulk of the weight to be beneath him
while using the amount of energy he can support to maintain his shields. Sounds tricky, but perhaps with that being
his plan it might work.
(3) If things switch with attacks from the villains and it appears
Slingshot is in dire straights here and Kirk can help him or with the rescue of
Nanite he will do so.
If the game board changes and there is something I haven't
thought of that would be heroic and/or Kirk-like that would help the team then
you can certainly have him do it.
Thanks and Viva Vanguard!
Seth
--------------------------------------------------
Clone:
Seeing Skin Deep try to blend into Clone’s regiment of
replicates, the duplicates react with
the speed of a single being. The telepathic
and empathic link that exists between them makes their movements uniform and their response
simultaneous – Skin Deep will pay
dearly for attempting to invade the collective. Without hesitation the entire legion of Clone’s
crouches into an attack formation;
with their stave's held at the ready they strike the first thing that looks like them but is
still standing.
( OOC: Being that
there are some many Clone’s, I’ll try to break their actions up into small groups )
The Clone’s
Around ‘Skin Deep’
( OOC: Assuming their simultaneous ducking maneuver worked
and Skin Deep is the only one still
standing. I’ll spend a Luck Point if
need be to accomplish this. ) The duplicates surrounding Skin Deep pounce like a well oiled machine
– without hesitation and with without
remorse they lunge at her with their staves.
( OOC: Knowing how badly Slingshot would love to get a
blood sample from Skin Deep, at
least one Clone will try to take a shot
at her mouth in an attempt to bust open her lip or something. I’ll spend a Luck Point if need be to
accomplish this. )
The Duplicates Near ‘The Mercenary’
Like an ancient Roman Phalanx, another group of Clones
suddenly rise up with their stave's
and make a unified assault on The Mercenary!
Help Slingshot!
A small group of
duplicates instantly rush forward to aid their friend Slingshot. Desperately they reach
for any part of their elastic teammate
that they can, determined to keep him from falling into the abyss of the digital world that
lay before him. Like a group of
Ukrainian ticks, the squad of simulacrums ‘dig in’ and anchor themselves down – if Slingshot goes
in then so will they!
. . . And The Rest
The remaining
Clone’s do their best to fill-in where needed most. Like an army of well trained soldiers,
these replicates take on whatever role
is needed most by the teammates around them – defend, attack, or assist – these duplicating
defenders will do whatever it takes to
save their friends!
>CLONE’S OOC
RESPONSE<
As far as
attacking Skin deep and The Mercenary – as many Clone’s that can attack each without getting in
each others way will attack. They will
do their best to surround both targets in order to maximize the number of Clone’s that can
attack and in an attempt to keep them
from fleeing – if possible.
If the Clone’s are
able to take out either Skin Deep or The
Mercenary, one of them will sarcastically mutter in their best Ukrainian accented Schwarzenegger voice,
“Hasta la vista . . . baby!”
Jeff if there’s anything you think I left out or anything
else that you might need from me just
let me know, but I think I covered the
bases. The Clone’s that aren’t assigned definitive actions use them wherever they fit best – they’re going to
fill-in wherever they’re needed most
as the groups actions resolve. You have ‘GM-license’ to use them wherever they fit best into the
story =)
Talk to you all
soon,
- Kev
--------------------------------------------------
Lightning Strike:
Strike determined that he probably wouldn't be able to pull
the same stunt twice on Harrick so he moved on to another target. Zero G seemed to have Sentinel in a tough
spot and since Sentinel is more familiar with the Digital Zone, he would be
more needed in dealing with the Entity should it prove to be malevolent. Strike let loose with a blast at Zero G and
hoped to take him unaware as he was involved with Sentinel.
After that attack, Lightning Strike moved on to the
generators. He intended to keep them
running so that if another was damaged he could keep the portal open. He wanted to keep it open until everyone from
Vanguard was out of the zone.
That's all for now.
Tony
--------------------------------------------------
Soldier:
OOC: Sorry guys, I just couldn’t seem to get my act
together, and come up with a reply. Hopefully this one works. Solder going to
commence to put the beat down on either Zero G, or Ion , as it looks like they’d
be the closest to him, although to be honest, it’s probably not really going to
matter to him, as he’s going to let loose on whoever’s the closest to him.
IC: Soldier was pissed, he'd been lied to, manipulated,
kidnapped, infected with God knows what, and he felt violated. He hadn’t felt
this vulnerable since childhood, listening to his father berate him for some
perceived weakness or fault, on his part. And now he was ready to take all that
pent up frustration out on the members of Homicide for Hire. Using the broken
remains of the Puppet as a club, he began swinging like a raging madman at
villains assembled before him. “I’m going to break you bastards in half!”
OOC: He’ll keep clubbing away until either his target goes
down, the Puppet club shatters/falls apart, or he’s put out of commission by an
attack. He’s swinging the puppet at their heads, so if his target is taken
out(from a lucky head blow), he’ll immediately move onto the next closest
member of HfH, and continue to attack, he’s mad, and not thinking clearly, so
he’s not going to hold an action, or evade. If the Puppet falls completely
apart, he’d go hands on, making HTH attacks with his fists.
--------------------------
