The clock is running out for Greater Vanguard. Only minutes remain until the stars align and the world ends. The heroes grimly prepare for what could be their final mission.
Symbiote and Nanite remain behind to enact repairs to the Omni-Carrier’s mainframe. Nemesis and Doc Monster join the Vanguard reserves.
Everyone wears short range communicators that don’t rely on satellites. Greater Vanguard totes CHESS gear. Menagerie has grenades.
Grey replies to Sentinel, “If MEDUSA has anything to stop mind control, they ain’t tellin’ us.”
Sentinel remembers the training his grandfather, the original, golden age Sentinel, gave him to shield his mind.
“Lock and load, people,” says Soldier.
“Seems like old times,” grunts Viper.
“Indeed,” agrees Forester.
“Gentlemen,” says Blue Comet. “It’s been an honor.”
VMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
Aperture and Shatter teleport them to their final destination.
Two teams, greater Vanguard and the Soviet Super Soldiers, are the two bottom points of a triangle. The top point is the location where lie all the Artifacts of Power. Each side of the triangle is 1 kilometer long. (0.6 miles)
Their molecules reform and they are immediately attacked by an overwhelming heat and humidity.
The World Storm rages on. Thunder roars. Lightning cracks. It’s nearly midnight. Wind and rain hammer down. Greater Vanguard hover over the jungle canopy, under their own personal power, or atop Sentinel’s energy platform.
Darkness, mist and the hurricane conspire to destroy visibility. Aperture reconfigures himself to vastly improve his visual senses. In combination with powerful telescopic settings, he cycles through spectrums, infrared, ultraviolet, until he can make out the heat signatures of the Soviet Super Soldiers a half mile to his right. A half mile ahead, through the torrential downpour, he discerns ancient stone ruins rising up from the jungle foliage.
Near those ageless temples, warmth radiates under the canopy.
Aperture tells Greater Vanguard what he sees.
Actions?!
Current Conditions:
Aperture: Hit Points: 35, Power Points: 38, Nanotech: Heightened Senses
Avatar: Hit Points: 29, Power Points: 85, Manifestation: None
Clone: Bodies: 1, Hit Points: 23, Power Points: 67, Hit Point Pool: 23
Lightning Strike: Hit Points: 36, Power Points: 85
Menagerie: Hit Points: 26, Power Points: 66, Form: Man
Sentinel: Hit Points: 28, Power Points: 70, Creation Points: 140
Slingshot: Hit Points: 38, Power Points: 92, Invulnerability: 8, Damage that can’t be regenerated: 42!
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Sentinel:
OOC:
Seemed like the team choice was to hold back rather than port right into the scene... do we want our speedsters to do reconnaissance? Seems like as good a chance of being discovered that way than anything else. I don't see it playing out that we get valuable information without Swastika knowing it but I'll go with the team call.
Do we know which of the locations is the ceremony at this point?
If so, at this point, per my earlier suggestion, I'd suggest we send the other two teams ahead to run interference and clear a path towards the summoning (you know, like my rudimentary understanding of football, you have the blockers that clear the way so touchdown can be made - we have the weapons to hopefully best neutralize Swastika so they need to intercept and neutralize his forces to allow us to get there)
Only thing I thought about is once Swastika's team comes out to be intercepted by our guys, if we know the location instead of traveling the terrain perhaps we can port in on top of them - perhaps with the anti-magic bomb ready to be deployed if the time is right. Maybe it disrupts things and renders the summoning ineffective or the magic of the artifacts neutralized. It takes their magic qualities to do the summoning, no? If we render them and/or the summoning area neutralized from magic doesn't that prevent the summoning and the end of the world?
Or am I missing something? Or might too much magic neutralize our anti-magic bomb?
Seth
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Hey heroes,
OOC GM Replies:
Stephane/Slingshot wrote: 'How far are we from the actual coordinates of the artifacts?'
GM: I quote from Issue 222: 🙂
'Two teams, greater Vanguard and the Soviet Super Soldiers, are the two bottom points of a triangle. The top point is the location where lie all the Artifacts of Power. Each side of the triangle is 1 kilometer long. (0.6 miles)'
So, 1 km away.
Stephane/Slingshot wrote: 'Can Aperture pinpoint the building from what he sees and what he knows?'
GM: Vanguard has the coordinates of the artifacts of power.
Jon/ Aperture wrote: 'Can Aperture create some kind of invisibility/camouflage?'
GM: As per his character sheet, Aperture can create any standard device on the V&V Powers list (Devices). 🙂
Anything non-standard requires an Inventing Attempt. There probably isn't time for that at this point.
Jon/ Aperture wrote: 'Can he currently detect heat signatures near the apex of the triangle, where the artifacts are? Not specifics, but general number?'
GM: In general, it seems like a lot, dozens at least. But at this distance, at this position, the jungle canopy is blocking his view.
Jon/ Aperture wrote: 'I’m assuming this is not the location where we recovered the Statuette, where the anti-magic shell was, not that there wouldn’t be one here, but maybe…'
GM: Correct. That was the Lost Lands in Antarctica.
Jon/Aperture wrote: 'Speaking of anti-magic, just want to make sure Aperture has the Digital Pulse Cannon with him.'
GM: He does.
Seth/Sentinel wrote: 'Do we know which of the locations is the ceremony at this point?'
GM: See quote from Issue 222 above.
Other questions seemed rhetorical or not directed at me. If I'm wrong and you still need an answer to something I missed, please let me know!
Thanks!
Viva Vanguard.
Best,
Jeff
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Sentinel:
OOC: Thanks Jeff. Yesterday night was ComicLink original art auction closing so that was where my attention was focused.
I thought we'd had the exact location of the artifacts but wanted to clarify.
And yes, my comments were more for the PCs so we could come to a plan to act since it seemed they felt reconnaissance prior to attacking the ceremony was prudent.
Swastika knows we are coming and is anticipating it. We've come up with our best defense of inventions to hopefully allow us to disrupt his plans and prevent the summoning... we just need to get there and do it and hope our planning is better than his.
But I'm open to any ideas that gives us a better fighting chance here... I just don't have them to offer at this point.
Once the other teams draw out his legion of villains to allow our entry I thought perhaps the port in instead of covering the physical terrain might give us an element of surprise he hadn't expected and get us past exterior ground offenses he may have set up... but it would seem we would be porting into an unknown situation too so it could have the reverse affect on us.
Seth
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Slingshot:
OOC: I agree.. the thought was to get some reconnaissance going. I half expected legions of foes.. much like the undead horde in france or the dinosaur men in Antarctica.
Obviously that will not be the case. So I expect us to have a lot of super powered foes instead.
so i guess that going in full strenght will be the best route. Let make sure we coordinate our attacks to make the best use of our attacks and their weaknesses.
I have no specific action plan from this either.
Stephane
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Aperture:
OOC: Perfect, Invisibility is on there.
IC:
Aperture will inform the team that he’s going to try to get the artifacts away from here. He’ll switch his power to invisibility and move a little away from the rest of the team close enough to keep an eye on them, but far enough away to hopefully not get involved in whatever conflict they might get caught up in.
His plan is to get around the enemy, get to the artifacts, and teleport them out, possibly making a portal beneath them if they are all in one place, or at least breaking them up if possible so they aren’t all together.
He’ll use the digital cannon if he runs into a magical foe, or switch to disintegration/teleportation if he gets into a pickle.
Slipping into the foliage, he fades from view…
Jon
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Avatar:
Will activate Weather Control when it becomes apparent that we are going to make a move. Heightened Speed, also.
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