Speaking to those assembled StrikeForce said,
"While I know that we have gathered information that is drawing our
attention away from the biggest threat that we are currently facing. Meanwhile
Dr. Apocalypse is threatening more destruction. I believe that that is where
our attention should be directed." StrikeForce waited to hear what the
other heroes had to say.
StrikeForce turned to talk to Adamas and Joshua Rose about the Island location so that he can determine the best avenue of approach for landing the team’s transport.
If they are all in agreement to go after Apocalypse, StrikeForce obtained the coordinates for the island and prepared the craft for takeoff. He ensured that the aircraft has flotation equipment, survival gear and food/water.
CHESS Rooks loaded a Skycycle into the cargo bay of the aircraft. They ensured that if Black Orchid needed to exit the aircraft quickly, she would be able to it by riding the Skycycle.
The Black Orchid, even though she was evolving into leadership duties still felt awkward around groups of people. On hearing about the plane and recon possibilities, her mind drifted away…
…until Dr Wild man’s rally pulled her back out.
“I still can’t do anything about the magic, but I can probably make the plane and even Adamas less detectable on the way. If we send in a tiny drone to collect data on how their scanning, I can design countermeasures pretty quickly. Is there anything anyone can provide on the magic side to help collect some data?”
Her question was met with only silence.
“Patty, do you expect to return to your body during the fight? If so, we’ll need to bring the physical you on the plane. We’ll need a few top CHESS agents to protect the plane since it will now contain a vulnerable asset. “
Patty indicated she did plan on returning to her body,
Bishop Prince, pausing to clear his throat, said "CHESS can't send any agents with you. This must be a Licensed Superhero action only.
Blizzard harrumphed, "So only the 'Pawns' are allowed to go."
Manta-Man, interjected, cutting off anyone else from responding, said, "It is part of the condition to be Licensed Superhero. So, get over it! Okay, this is not a problem. Enforcer, Blizzard and Powercell will travel on the plane to protect it and Patty Plus' body when they land."
Everyone nodded in agreement. The New Crusaders remembered that Shocker of the Crushers changed his code name to Powercell when he reformed his criminal ways, married Evergreen, and joined the Original Crusaders.
Patty replied, "As far as *where* to scout, unless The Black Orchid or StrikeForce has a different idea, I was going to check out the main island, specifically that abandoned military base. If I were the The Destroyers and I were setting shop up on a new island, that's where I would probably make my HQ."
"I'll report back after checking the base out. If that turns up nothing, I'll search the island in segments and report back after each one.”
“Erdbeben, did you find anything useful about TOTEM that could help with the countermeasures?”
Erdbeben shook his head, “no”.
Black Orchid said “Finally, jibes and barbs about people’s country and attitudes are ok when we’re decompressing, drinking beers and throwing darts after a mission, but before a mission that kind of talk can cause the kind of hesitation and doubt that can get us all killed. So let’s tighten up our talk to stay in the mission at hand.”
The Black Orchid didn’t know if her little speech would resonate or not, but she was trying to accept this growing mantle of responsibility, after the years of shunning and distrusting formal organization after her accident.
Demy sat next Patty. "Hey all, I'll stay with Patty before she "heads out", if that works for her and everyone else. I can stay with her and the craft and her after you all disembark and send MISHA out to scout another sector of the island or possibly "hide" and patrol the area around the landed craft for further security until we move out in force".
Black Orchid replied, “Thanks Demy, you can be first point on Patty-watch, but I think we should still have a few agents if possible, so as not to limit our tactical choices.”
“There is definitely some high tech on that island. Do we think that we can actually fully surprise them?”
Adamas said, "I'm sure Pietor knows we're coming, and I owe Annihilator. I don't think we'll be surprising anyone, we've just got to be ready for anything."
StrikeForce replied to Adamas, "I agree we need to keep our guard up. I believe that Apocalypse and Annihilator will find out that jumping on is a lot easier than jumping off."
Black Orchid asked, “we could potentially use the sub as a decoy, getting somewhat close and then pulling back to make it look like that is the recon probe to suggest an attack later. Manta Man, do you think that is too dangerous to use the sub for that purpose?”
Manta-Man said, " Yes, we can use the sub as a decoy. I will pilot it.
When the team arrived at its agreed holding position some miles off the Nacht Islands Dr Wildman donned the Helm of the Chimera and transform into the Sea Creature from the Lagoon.
The aircraft was 20 miles off when he dove into the ocean and swam underwater towards the islands using his sonar ability to pick up any information that might be useful or simply as a warning of any approaching danger.
Patty's Astral form was visible as she left the aircraft. She quickly turned invisible.
Erdbeben sat in the craft. He kept an eye on Patty's vitals while she was astral projecting. He may or may not have been taking detailed notes of the effects of astral projecting and if it can be 'scientifically defined'.
Demy watched over Patty too. He has not summoned MISHA since there wasn’t room in the aircraft for him.
Black Orchid hadn’t turned the aircraft invisible yet. It would be too exhausting for her to do that while they were in a holding pattern.
Adamas flew outside the plane but stayed with the aircraft so that he can intercept any attacks that might endanger the heroes inside.
He kept an eye on Dr. Wildman but wasn’t unable to watch Patty once she turned invisible. Adamas’ vision abilities are impressive both in distance, and his ability to see through materials.
Patty arrived at the island 10 minutes after leaving the aircraft. She immediately went to the abandoned military base.
Patty approached the base. She saw dockyards and piers {marked A on the map} which were still being used for the loading of export goods and offloading of supplies. Despite how early in the morning it was, there was several people in overalls working in and around the building of the old military base.
{Marked B on map} This building was the power station for the old military base and continues to serve the same function today. Insider the building are three gigantic dynamos which supply massive amounts of power to various stations all over the island. There are several people on hand working the equipment.
{Marked C on map} This building is a former barracks for the old military base. It is now being used as an assembly and programming plant for the construction of additional androids like the one that manned the Doomsday Robot. They look exactly like the people Patty saw earlier on the base. The building has been divided into 10 rooms plus a large parts storage area on each of its three floors. In each of these rooms an android is being assembles and/or programmed by another android technician. Patty read several of the signs in this room. The androids were referred to as Simulated Life Android Models (SLAMs). It was evident to Patty that the SLAMS now being constructed are intended to be soldiers. Each of the rooms contain a computer, tools, and equipment necessary for assembly of one SLAM from component parts.
{Marked D on map} This
building is a former barracks for the old military base. It is currently being
modified to house the charging stations for the SLAMs and Cyberions {The 9
foot tall Robot protecting the androids within the Doomsday Robot}. There
are 20 barrack rooms on each of the 3 floors. There are a plethora of SLAM
technicians and workers involved in the refitting.
{Marked E on map} This building is the former company headquarters for the old military base. It is now being used as an electronics assembly plant. Electronic parts shipped from Montuori Industries in Megalopolis are assembled here into various items of machinery required to run everything on the island. SLAM technicians and workers are operating the plant.
(Marked F on map} This building is a former office building for the old military base. It is now being used as a cybernetics assembly plant. As in the case of the electronics plant, the raw cybernetics parts are shipped in from Montuori in Megalopolis and assembled here into the 'guts’ of the various types of robots. This building has a sign referring to as the 'maternity ward'.
{Marked G on map} This building is the old main headquarters for the military base. It has been converted into and is now used as a machining plant for the construction of all of the mechanical parts that make up the components of the three types of robots being constructed here. (The SLAMS, the Cyberions and the Doomsday Robots).
In addition to machining the metallic parts, the plastic and synthetic/organic parts are molded here. As in each other case, SLAMS make up the entire body of workers.
{Marked H on map} This building is the former Armory and Supply center for the old military base. It is being used in that same capacity today. One half of the building is devoted to the manufacture and storage of the various types of armaments employed by SLAM forces. Such things as blaster weapons carried by the Doomsday Robot crew are in assembly here.
The rest of the building is used for the storage of supplies that come in from off island. In addition, the produce of natives is stored here prior to its being shipped off on the same boat that brings in the supplies. This building is guarded by at two Cyberions. SLAMS, as usual, make up the work force.
{Marked I on map} This building is the former mess hall for the old military base. One of the large walk-in freezers is being used currently to store sensitive cybernetic and electronic parts that require storage in cold, dry environments. There is Cyberion on guard here. In addition, there were four SLAM workers in this building.
{Marked J on map} This building is the former vehicle maintenance center and motor pool office building for the military base. It is a three-story high converted aircraft hangar that has been reconverted for use today as an assembly plant for the giant Doomsday Robots. At present, there are no Doomsday class robots on the island except for the one being assembled in the plant. The major portion of this building is taken up by the single massive main room where the final assembly of the 60 foot tall titans takes place. There were 2 Cyberions in the main chamber, helping with the heavy lifting involved in the completion of the robot. There were twenty SLAM technicians and workmen working in this building.
It took Patty 20 minutes to scout of the base. While this was happening Dr. Wildman swam to the island. As he was halfway (10 miles) from the island Dr Wildman drew upon his druidic skills and tried to communicate with the local fish he found. They warned him to stop and not go any closer to their metal ??corral/reef/structure?? If he swam closer, he would bring the metal men. The fish were terrified of the metal men. The metal men could swim fast and attacked the same way Pistol Shrimp do. Repeatedly he was warned of the danger of the metal men and told to turn back before they came.
<Turns and Actions due Mar 10th>
Battle Conditions (Mighty Protectors character data):
Adamas Hit Points: 24 Power Points: 72 Flying
Black Orchid Hit
Points: 24 Power Points: 92 Visible
Dr. Wildman Hit
Points: 12 Power Points: 60 Form: Sea Creature of the Lagoon
Erdbeben Hit
Points: 46 Power Points: 66 Taking or Not taking notes
Patty Plus Hit
Points: 15 Power Points: 60 Non-Corporeal and Invisible
StrikeForce Hit Points: 31 Power
Points: 93 Flying Aircraft
Rubicon Hit
Points: 20 Power Points: 66 Absorption Protection
MISHA Hit
Points: 41 Power Points: 101 Not Summoned
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
New issue!!
OOC: Tom, I am thinking that a holding pattern
would be best. I'm not sure of what distance yet. I would think that he would
stay farther back than what traditional scanners would be able to detect.
Jamey
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on this dialogue from StrikeForce during
the team planning meeting, I feel that in character Patty would wait for
StrikeForce to tell her how to approach the islands:
StrikeForce replied to Patty Plus. "I can
fly our craft in at a low altitude to get in under the umbrella of energy they
have
constructed, and I have reviewed the
topographical information of the island to determine the best approach area to
best
avoid detection.
If I'm misunderstanding, someone let me know
and I'll take a look at the map again.
Regarding how far out, she will go astral at
the closest point StrikeForce feels comfortable bringing the aircraft near the
island(s).
Power question. I looked up Astral Projection
again and it's a persistent ability with PR = 5. I can't remember if that's a
once-per-use cost, or per turn.
Best,
Shane
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The PR
of 5 is for every time the Astral Form is created, not per turn or hour.
Tom
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks Tom,
Fun stuff. Busy week but hoping to follow up
this weekend.
Greg
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Cool
issue as always, great job Tom!
Adamas will be outside the plane but will stay
with the aircraft so that he can intercept any attacks that might endanger the
heroes inside.
He will keep an eye on Dr. Wildman and to the
extent he can on Patty. His vision
abilities are impressive both in distance, and his ability to see through
materials.
"I'm sure Pietor knows we're coming, and I
owe Annihilator. I don't think we'll be
surprising anyone, we've just got to be ready for anything."
Sorry I've been lax in my posts recently, just
a lot going on at home and at work.
Soo enjoying this team though.
Jon
--------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC:
"Crusaders Congregate!" - here we go, once more unto the breech!
(StrikeForce/Jamey: are we approaching in
daylight or at night?)
When the team gets to its agreed holding
position some miles off the Nacht Islands Dr Wildman will don the Helm of the
Chimera and transform into the Sea Creature from the Lagoon (really happy with
the design Tom - thank you).
Assuming its some 20 miles off he will dive
into the ocean and swim underwater towards the islands using his sonar ability
to pick up any information that might be useful or simply as a warning of any
approaching danger. When nearer the island Dr Wildman will draw upon his
druidic skills and try and communicate with any of the local animals
(fish/gulls etc) to again pick up any information as to where there are humans.
I'll assume that Patty's Astral form will float
alongside, dart off and then return and then dart off again etc as we make our
way. She may well decide to leave the aircraft earlier. If so Adamas can keep
eyes on, William feels 30 minutes of swimming to get to the islands should be
enough distance.
Any discovered info he will communicate back to
the plane assuming he is in range, there is no interference, and his
communicator is waterproof.
I suspect we might not get this far in an issue
(but just in case) if he makes landfall, and its safe to do so, he will
transform into a native gull and start to scout the islands.
Let me know if you need anything else,
Steve
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I do need to know which hybrid you are dropping
for the Sea Creature of the Lagoon. You
don't have enough CPs to add another Hybrid creature form.
The dropped form can be reclaimed after this
adventure is over. If during the adventure, you realize you wish you could use
that form you could drop an unused form to get it back. The Sea Creature from
the Lagoon would be the only form you can't drop this adventure.
I am not making this a guessing game on which
form is not needed for the adventure.
Tom
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Demy
sits next Patty. "Hey all, I'll
stay with Patty before she "heads out", if that works for her and everyone
else. I can stay with her and the craft
and her after you all disembark and send MISHA out to scout another sector of
the island or possibly "hide" and patrol the area around the landed
craft for further security until we move out in force".
OOC: I was considering summoning M.I.S.H.A.
once we make landfall, not sure 1) how much room on board to accommodate
something of that size, and 2) what range M.I.S.H.A. can be separated from
Demy. In other words, is there a tether
line that once that is exceeded the bear is either unsummoned, stops and
becomes inanimate, or can be used as a means of observation indefinitely? I know one of MISHA's story background was to
be a means similar to a drone as well as war fighting. Tom, on this last point, let me know if there
are limitations here that can to be picked up maybe by using a CP (now or in
the future) assuming this could be retrofitted in.
Greg
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Tom,
I'll drop lizard man; the Creature is an
evolution of that form perhaps...
Creature
Minotaur
Roc
Dryer
Were-Rat
Steve
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry
for missing a round!
The Black Orchid, even though she is evolving
into leadership duties still feel awkward around groups of people. On hearing
about the plane and recon possibilities, her mind drifts away…
…until Dr Wild man’s rally pulls her back out.
“I still can’t do anything about the magic, but
I can probably make the plane and even Adamas less detectable on the way. If we
send in a tiny drone to collect data on how their scanning, I can design
countermeasures pretty quickly. Is there anything anyone can provide on the
magic side to help collect some data?”
[The Black Orchid is willing to spend IP to
create the plane’s scanning countermeasures, using Invisibility as a base for
the effect. I’d be happy to spend more points to block a “magic” sense, but I
don’t think The Black Orchid has that kind of knowledge without help.]
“Patty, do you expect to return to your body
during the fight? If so, we’ll need to bring the physical you on the plane.
We’ll need a few top CHESS agents to protect the plane since it will now
contain a vulnerable asset. “
“Erdbeben, did you find anything useful about
TOTEM that could help with the countermeasures?”
“Finally, jibes and barbs about people’s
country and attitudes are ok when we’re decompressing, drinking beers and
throwing darts after a mission, but before a mission that kind of talk can
cause the kind of hesitation and doubt that can get us all killed. So let’s
tighten up our talk to stay in the mission at hand.”
The Black Orchid didn’t know if her little
speech would resonate or not, but she is trying to accept this growing mantle
of responsibility, after the years of shunning and distrusting formal
organization after her accident.
Marc
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Oops I
missed the reconciliation part! I might say she says it anyway.
“Thanks Demy, you can be first point on
Patty-watch, but I think we should still have a few agents if possible, so as
not to limit our tactical choices.”
“There is definitely some high tech on that
island. Do we think that we can actually fully surprise them? If not, we could
potentially use the sub as a decoy, getting somewhat close and then pulling
back to make it look like that is the recon probe to suggest an attack later.
Manta Man, do you think that is too dangerous to use the sub for that purpose?”
Marc
--------------------------------------------------------------------
How
about a Crusader Balloon, I hear they are very popular atm
Steve
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I knew someone would make a comment like that,
I just wasn't sure how fast!
Marc
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Manta-Man
said, " Yes, we can use the sub as a decoy. I will pilot it.
Tom
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bishop
Prince, pausing to clear his throat, said "CHESS can't send any agents
with you. This has to be a licensed Superhero action only.
Blizzard harrumphed, "So only the 'Pawns'
are allowed to go."
Manta-Man, interjected, cutting off anyone else
from responding, said, "It is part of the condition to be licensed
Superhero. So, get over it! Okay, this is not a problem. Enforcer, Blizzard and Powercell will travel
on the plane to protect it and Patty Plus' body when they land."
Everyone nodded in agreement. The New Crusaders remembered that Shocker of
the Crushers changed his code name to Powercell when he reformed his criminal
ways, married Evergreen, and joined the Original Crusaders.
Tom
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, I'm
assuming Patty Plus is in the aircraft. She's scouting in astral form, but can
come back and get in her body and help in other ways if needed.
I don't think there's a distance limit to
astral projection and she can stay out of her body for a month if I remember
correctly, but I wasn't planning on her staying back at HQ.
I can be visible while in astral form, but I
was planning on going in invisible since it's a stealth mission. If people want
me to stay visible to keep an eye on me, that's fine. I'm guessing in a
non-corporeal form I still wouldn't trip any radar, sensors, etc.
In Person as Patty Plus:
"As far as *where* to scout, unless The
Black Orchid or StrikeForce has a different idea, I was going to check out the
main island, specifically that abandoned military base. If I were the The
Destroyers and I were setting shop up on a new island, that's where I would
probably make my HQ."
"I'll report back after checking the base
out. If that turns up nothing, I'll search the island in segments and report
back after each one."
Also, I love this bit from Tom:
"The New Crusaders remembered that Shocker
of the Crushers changed his code name to Powercell when he reformed his
criminal ways, married Evergreen, and joined the Original Crusaders."
Best,
Shane
--------------------------------------------------------------------
As a follow-up to the email I just sent about
Patty's plans (sounds like a tv show), here is the info on Astral Projection.
I just read through it again as a refresher and
thought it might be helpful to share with everyone since this first part of the
mission depends a lot on it (and I imagine future scenarios might as well).
Last, I want to give a shout out to Tom again
as DM. I went back through the last couple of issues and that's a lot of work!
:D
Best,
Shane
Astral Projection
Note: Patty's speed in astral form is 384"
(131 MPH)
This Persistent Ability enables a character's
intangible 'essence' to leave their physical body. In effect, Astral Projection
gives the character a form of Non-Corporealness (see below) with the limitation
that you must leave your physical body behind. Astral characters can only
become corporeal again by re-entering their physical body.
The physical body and the Astral body share the
same Hits and Power and have all of the same Abilities (even their personal
Gear is Astrally duplicated). The character can't bring anything else with them
when they become Astral.
An Astral body is also Invisible to normal
light and audible sounds. The Astral character may become visible and audible
at will, and they may only speak (or make any other kind of noise) when they're
visible.
While they're Astral, the character's body
falls into a coma and hovers at the brink of death. It's safe enough if it's
not disturbed, but if the character's Astral form fails to return within a
month, the physical body dies. If the body is attacked while the Astral form is
away, it's treated as an unconscious and immobile target. Since the body and
Astral form share Hits, the character can feel any damage taken by their
physical body while they're Astral. The character must also return to their
body to eat, etc. If their physical body is killed, the character dies.
The character has a 'Silver Cord' or other
navigational aid which only they can see, that always shows them the route back
to their body. If the character's astral body is knocked unconscious or
incapacitated while astral, their astral body automatically travels back toward
their physical body at its top possible speed.
PR = 5 (not per round)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Erdbeben will definitely be in the craft. He'll
keep an eye on Patty's vitals while she's astral projecting. He may or may not
be taking detailed notes of the effects of astral projecting and if it can be
'scientifically defined'.
Paul
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(Dr.
Wildman/Steve: I would prefer a night assault. Not sure what the rest of the
team wants. It would increase our chances of having more of the bad guys being
asleep and may give us an edge.) 20 miles sounds good to me.
Jamey
--------------------------------------------------------------------
StrikeForce
replied to Adamas, "I agree we need to keep our guard up. I believe that
Apocalypse and Annihilated will find out that jumping on is a lot easier than
jumping off."
Jamey
----------------------------------------------------------------------
