{GM Note: all opponents
have been defeated; we are now out of combat}
{Thanks
for your patience on this issue. I always get stuck on how to write up the post
combat wrap up. I will be writing up the aftermath of the battle at the old
military base and introductory exploration situations for the rest of the
Islands of Infamy. If you don’t think your character or the team would go that location,
then you can either chose to read it as the player but have your PC have no
knowledge of it or chose to not read it at all}
"CLEAR!" Demy yelled seeing no
further combatants in the room. "M.I.S.H.A., cover," Demy sent her to
cover the room to the south where Strike sent Slam Tech 1 through the door
after M.I.S.H.A. got up from the prone position. Demy used her as a drone to
ensure there's no further attack from that room and let others know what he saw
through her. Which was a bunch of empty computer stations and cubicles. These were
all engineering stations which the android scientists had been working at
previously. There are no more scientists in the building. Only the automation
robots on the opposite side of factory were assembling a new Doomsday Robot.
The Doomsday Robot was somewhere between 45% to 60% complete but Demy can’t
tell for sure. The automation reminded him of the automation factory where
MISHA and other types of drones had their chassis and structures built back in
Russia.
Demy had MISHA ready to fire her canon if any
enemies appeared, but he was entirely surprised when she fired her canon at the
automation drones. She destroyed the assembly line.
<<GGRRRRAAWWWLLL!!!!>>
Demy had never experienced animalistic feedback
like this from M.I.S.H.A. before.
{GM Note: I am wanting to use this moment to
provide another foreshadowing event of the mystic side of MISHA. It was
triggered by her seeing automation that reminds her of the factory of her
creation and the General that is chasing her. Please take this opportunity and
explore it as you like}
Patty
brushed herself off and stretched in a theatrical manner. "I haven't been
in a slam pit like that since the Beastie Boys."
Powercell
said, “What are these Beastie Boys? Are they a supervillain team?”
Enforcer
smirked, and said, “Patty, I bet that was an amazing concert.”
Demy asked if anyone was hurt and administered
his med kit as needed. He checked the closest bodies for any access cards or
other devices that may be helpful, or looked around the room for gadgets,
devices, or other tech that may be helpful to their cause, in that order, while
awaiting further direction from leadership. He recovered access cards but there
weren’t any weapons on the androids or room other than the large tools they had
attacked them with.
Dr
Wildman grinned at the awakening Blizzard: "Well dear boy, you seemed to
have missed all the fun! Looks like you are patched up again, let's so
rendezvous with the others."
Blizzard
shook his head to clear it. “So Doc, tell me what I missed.”
As
the last SLAM crashed to the ground Erdbeben took a deep breath. "Thanks
Dr. Wildman. That had to be one of the toughest fights I've been in so
far!"
"You
are very welcome." relied on William, wincing slightly at the blaster
wound he took in the chest. He reached into his newly fashioned cloak and
pulled out another of his small vials, popped the lid and drank it down.
"Cheers!" he said to no one in particular. As the mystical elixir
washed down him, he could feel the burning in his chest subsiding.
Blizzard
looked around where the plane had landed, “Uh, so where is everybody?”
StrikeForce
exited the building looking to jump onto the roof closest to the direction that
Dr. Wildman warned that the enemy was coming from. The Cyborg Crusader used his
staff to aid his jump. Upon landing on the roof, he squatted down to cover his
body and leave only his head visible. He darkened his uniform to blend in with
the roof’s coloration.
Erdbeben
brushed the dust off himself as he started making his way over to the rest of
the team. He also checked out the blaster burns that he received curtesy of the
SLAM bots. Nothing too serious. Just a second-degree burn at most and the
fabric of his costume melted away in that spot.
StrikeForce
activated all his senses to determine when the team can expect company. He looked
in all directions to not be surprised if they came from a different or multiple
directions.
Patty
Plus said, "Okay, what's the status on the incoming bad guys? The real bad
guys? Where am I needed?"
As
Erdbeben approached the rest of the group, he saw that the fight wasn't over
yet. There were still threats in-bound. Manta-Man took to the air and circled
around to the plane. Blizzard prepared for the attack.
Manta-Man
said, “Everyone shatter, we don’t want to be bunched up if they try a strafing
run!”
Erdbeben
found that he was following along, once again feeling lost in the tactical
situation. To his surprise the in-bound Skyberions didn’t attack but instead
flew down to one of the warehouses on the dock. They entered through the door
and then the door slammed shut then a reinforced barrier closed to lock the
door down tight.
Blizzard
said, “Well, I didn’t see that coming, did you arrange that Manta-Man?”
Manta-Man
replied, “No, suspect that was courtesy of our team genius, Black Orchid.”
{See
Issue 92 where Black Orchid setup electronic lures to trap Cyberdoom’s robots
in their own buildings}
Patty
doesn't have an overall picture in her head of what's happening where, so when
she hears clear directions from someone who does she will follow them.
The
Black Orchid waited a few moments and didn’t hear any sounds of battle. “Ok
everyone, we should regroup. I think I
bought us some time to keep CyberDoom busy for a bit. Let’s compare intel and
figure out our next step. They won’t be stuck there forever. “
As
the Solar Druid walked to the others with Blizzard and Erdbeben he
conversationally remarked as he kicked a stray robotic limb out of his path:
"Damn those Androids! I swear one day they will ruin us all. Perhaps we
should re-christen Pietor: Dr Terminator as he seems to enjoy his 80's pop
culture so much!"
Before
Black Orchid left the computer center, she pulled up the surveillance systems
on the Islands. While she hoped all the islands were being electronically
monitored, she discovered they weren’t. It appeared as if the Islands were divided
into two halves. Parts were heavily covered in electronics and others were void
of them. It appeared as if those sections that were void had magical protection
to prevent the surveillance systems from working. She would have to ask Dr.
Wildman if that was even possible.
{GM
Note: Evidence of the Supervillain Team up which occurred. Dr. Apocalypse allow
CyberDoom to use portions of the main island and the ocean surrounding it but
CyberDoom restricted in where he could go and what he could access}
Searching
surveillance cameras inland first, she found where Annihilator had attacked the
satellite communications station. Black Orchid watched as Annihilator destroyed
2 Cyberions. His disintegration ray sliced the Cyberions to pieces. He then
turned his powers on the Satellite communication station itself. Before he
could destroy it, 6 more Cyberions arrived to protect CyberDoom’s station. Annihilator
destroyed 2 more Cyberions before he was overwhelmed by the superior numbers.
The Cyberions picked up Annihilator, carrying him with them when they flew off.
Before they could reach their destination, they were lured into one of Black
Orchids traps. All 4 were trapped with Annihilator.
Black
Orchid tried to contact the Satellite remotely. Its systems were working, and
she was able to access Undersea Base’s systems which were controlling it. She
communicated with CyberDoom’s Satellite. Black Orchid turned off the cloaking
device which was making it invisible both on the visible and electronic
spectrum.
Black
Orchid called out on the comm device,” Adamas, do you copy I have a job for
you.”
“Read
you loud and clear, Black Orchid,” Adamas said. He had finished his battle with
the 2 Cyberions he had carried off. Adamas remembered his debrief from
StriikeForce which was where StrikeForce described his battle with a Cyberion
and the Cyberion’s capabilities and defenses.
{GM
Note: It was inside the Doomsday Robot, see issues 59 to 65}
StrikeForce
described how the Cyberion was armored and able to withstand small arms fire.
Adamas knew his power blasts wouldn’t be very effective, so he used his speed
to his advantage, performing high speed flying rams into them. They couldn’t
keep up with him, so they had hover and try to hit him with their power blasts
as he flew large circles and ellipses around them as he rammed them over and
over again until they were destroyed, raining robot parts into the ocean.
Ironically
as Dr. Wildman finished speaking about those damn Androids, they come upon the
Cyborg Crusader StrikeForce, MISHA the Bionic Bear and the rest of the team.
"Well Skipper, what's the plan?" he asked. "There is a whole lot
of hurt on its way and we seem to have mislaid our big hitter - Adamas."
Black
Orchid said. “I had a special assignment for Adamas, he is flying into outer
space. He will permanently bring the end to CyberDoom’s and Dr. Apocalypse’s
plans.”
“I
know that CyberDoom won’t be appearing soon, because I was able to reprogram a
few of his Seaberions to turn on him. I am sure he is a little busy at the
moment,” Black Orchid said.
Manta-Man
said, “Dr Wildman, tell us more about what you saw while you were separated
from the rest of the team and what you did that makes you think that someone would
chase after you to seek revenge.”
{Checking
the rest of the Old Military Base}
Manta-Man
and StrikeForce find Manning Enterprises, DeBrandt Industries {Alexander
Brandt, aka Centurion X, owner see Quest Issues 33 to 34}, StarCorp {Joshua
Rose, aka DarkStar, owner see Quest Issue 1} and Vanguard Intellectual
Property and designs. They were surprised to see how much Tech Iron Maiden had
been able to steal and was used to create CyberDoom’s SLAM Androids.
Manta-Man
cursed, “How did Iron Maiden gain access to Manning Enterprises intellectual
property and their designs? I will need to brief their security team on what
happened.”
Demy
recognized the designs for the Cyberion robot, and all its derivatives, were
from earlier designs of the same Russian research program that M.I.S.H.A. was created
in. The program was codename Siberdum.
Black
Orchid with Manta-Man’s help was able to permanently lock down all the trapped
robots and androids.
{Checking
the Satellite Tracking Station site}
The
tracking station site is located on the tip of one of the hills near the old
military base. It was being constructed by the U.S. Military as a station for
tracking satellites. When the United States lost possession of the island and
had to leave the site unfinished, it was completed by CyberDoom. The
sophisticated tracking systems of the base are currently used for two main
purposes:
1.
As
a radar base for monitoring the defense of the islands; and,
2.
The
major portion of the facility is devoted to the tracking of CyberDoom’s secret killer
satellite as it hurls through space in a low orbit over the defenseless cities
of the United States. The equipment in this station has been specially designed
and calibrated to be unaffected by the satellite’s cloaking device.
There
are disintegration ray burns on the outside and throughout the building.
{It
wouldn’t take much for Powercell, Dr. Wildman, and Manta-May to use their
electrical abilities to completely fry the computer equipment. Do they do that?}
{Checking
the Cave}
The entire cave floor
was electrically illuminated. In the middle of the cave is a large platform.
There are broken crystals and orbs scattered across the platform. There are
broken crystals and orbs in the river downstream. The team searched downstream
where they found crystal and orb shards at least a mile away from the platform.
Dr. Wildman, by opening a portal to the ocean, had destroyed the massive
magical generator that Dr. Apocalypse had planned to use to mentally enslave
the people of the Refuge Islands.
Over on the opposite
side of the cave are container tubes for holding the subjects whose magical
abilities would have powered the crystals and orbs. They are all currently
occupied by the members of the oceanographic expedition and a man in a blue and
black costume with gold arm bands. Blizzard ran to his cousin. He called out
asking Starbolt if he could hear him. The five members of the oceanography team
and Starbolt are in a semi-comatose state.
The Headsmen are lying
incapacitated on the ground. There is no sign of Dr. Apocalypse and the Four in
the cave.
Blizzard opens the
containers releasing Starbolt and the oceanographers. Starbolt was the first to
wake up. He didn’t remember how he came to be here. The last he remembered was
being attacked by Hauntress and Headhunter. When asked by Blizzard if he was
okay, Starbolt tried to use his powers but couldn’t. Headhunter had stolen his
powers, and his waking up didn’t return them to him.
The oceanographers
remember being warned by villagers to leave the island. While they were sleeping,
they were attacked by the Headsmen and brought to this cave where they were put
into these containers. No gas was pumped into the container, it felt like their
consciousness was drained from them when the crystals and orbs started glowing.
{Oceanographic Base}
The oceanographers
packed up their base and arranged for their ship to come pick them up. They
offered the New Crusaders the use of their Range Rover and/or Deep Hawk Subs
while they waited for their ship to arrive. It would take it about a week
before it would get there. They planned to stay on their base until then and
finish up their notes and record keeping.
{Undersea Base}
This is the undersea
base of CyberDoom, it is his personal sanctum sanctorum, 800 feet below the
surface of the sea. The killer satellite threatening the cities of the United
States is controlled from here as is the satellite’s cloaking device.
The undersea base is a
permanent structure located at the bottom of the deep-sea trench. There are
many possible ways to approach the installation. The New Crusaders may use the
undertube system which is connected to the undersea base. They may approach vis
the Deep Hawks submersibles belonging to the oceanographic expedition, or
Manta-Man and Dr. Wildman could use their abilities to get there. Once there
Dr. Wildman could open a teleportation portal to bring the team, he would have
to take a minute to memorize the location the New Crusaders wre waiting at
before he left for the undersea base.
When the New Crusaders
arrived at the undersea base, they witnessed 3 Seaberions floating in the water
outside. They are totally inert. When Black Orchid checked the surveillance
system, she discovered that CyberDoom produced from within his armor a device
which froze the Seaberions, shutting down all their systems and fusing their
circuits.
{GM Note: CyberDoom used Inventing Points to create a
device with 3 shots which immediately and permanently froze the Seaberions by
taking advantage of their vulnerability to electrical attacks. They would have
to be repair by an external source before they could start working again}
Black Orchid,
Manta-Man, and the rest of the New Crusaders searched the undersea base. They
were able to discover where CyberDoom had fled to. They know in what city his
secret base is located.
{Let me know if and/or
when you decide to use this information to hunt CyberDoom down.}
{The smaller 3 islands
of infamy}
The native population
of the Nacht Island is distributed amongst 13 villages on the three smaller
islands. At one time there were also villages located on the main island, but
these were permanently disbanded by Doctor Apocalypse when he took over the islands.
Each village has an
average population of seven to eight hundred men, women, and children per
village. Immediately adjacent to 10 of the villages sites is a small area of
cultivated land which produces crops and provides small amounts of income for
the native population. The New Crusaders saw several canoes of fisherman
scatted all across the water inside the coral reefs.
The small houses that
stand prominently around the central clearing are storage huts for the
village’s agricultural produce. They are built above ground on pilings and
stand about thirteen feet tall. The storage huts are made of wood and thatch
and are profusely decorated with painted symbols of countless varieties. The
dwelling houses of the village are situated around the storage huts. They are
primarily made of wood and thatch and built on piles, although a few in each
village will have metal roof coverings. If the New Crusaders inquire, they will
these houses belong to the most important families. The dwelling belonging to
the chief and his family is always the largest hut located nearest to the
central clearing. It will always have a metal roof. Each of the dwellings
houses one extended family, including all the parents, children, uncles, aunts,
cousins, grandparents, and grandchildren in such a family group. Modern western
clothing is worn by natives except in festival times, however, shoes of any
kind are seldom worn.
The natives are
extremely polite and somewhat passive to the New Crusaders. The natives, who
all speak in a heavily accented English, will helpful if possible but will not
go to the main island.
When asked about Doctor
Apocalypse, they will refer to him as the Great K’taunu, which in the mythology
of the T’paku cult means the Bringer of Death.
When asked about the
robots, they will say they invaded the island two years ago. They weren’t liked
because they disrupted the fishing around the islands. They told how they would
rejoice when the servants of the Great K’taunu destroyed the robots and ensure
they stayed on the main island and patrolled the deeps sea away from the coral
reefs.
{GM Note: Doesn’t
appear to be a harmonious Team Up if the factions for each Supervillain were
fighting each other}
Three of the villages
in the Nacht island groups are made up of those who still actively practice the
T’paku black magic cult. For the most part, these villages are identical to the
other 10 villages. The most important differences are that the inhabitants of
these villages do not have any agricultural production. They live entirely from
their fishing and the produce they can extort from the other villages.
{The Temple of T’pao}
On the highest point of
the island of T’pao is the ancient temple that predates any recorded habitation
of this group of islands. All the exterior walls of the temple are covered in
weird and foreboding hieroglyphs of a language never before encountered in
human memory.
Dr. Wildman can detect
a significant magical presence associated with the Temple. It is possible there
is more than one presence. If the New Crusaders approach the Temple, in the
doorway will appear the Priestess. She will warn the New Crusaders from entering
where they are not welcomed but she will not attempt to prevent them from
entering.
{Please
let me know if you decide to attempt to enter the Temple. This will put us back
into combat. Let me know in detail how you approach the Temple and what you are
trying to do; both how you get there and what you do to reach your
destination.}
{Villa south of the
cave and old military base}
The
private villa is situated on the slope of the hillside overlooking the main
inhabited parts of the island. It is patterned after the modern Greek design of
luxury households. There was a road leading from the villa to the site of the
old British town. The road is now unused and overgrown. Dr. Wildman performed
detect magic before anyone approached the villa. He could feel a significant
level of magic in and surrounding the villa. He warned everyone to be cautious
before approaching the villa, it is highly likely magical wards protect it.
{Please
let me know if you decide to attempt to enter the Villa. This will put us back
into combat. Let me know in detail how you approach the villa and what you are
trying to do; both how you get there and what you do to reach your
destination.}
{GM
Note: If the players contact CHESS or any other US based entity requesting them
to come to the Nacht Islands to help the New Crusaders with cleaning up the
aftermath, they will decline saying they do not have Congressional
authorization to enter on non-US soil and assist them. They do recommend that
the New Crusader could contact the United Nations if they insist on their
needing assistance. From the tone in the recommender’s voice, the suggestion is
more of a sarcastic response then a helpful suggestion.}
<Turns
and Actions due December 28th>
Experience gained. All active Player Characters gain 8 CPs.
Adamas gained 4 CPs.
Please let me know how you will want to use them. If I
don’t hear from you, I will use it to recover Invention Points, making the
Ability permanent and any remaining CPs will be held in the “bank” available to
be used whenever desired.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"CLEAR!"
Demy yells seeing no further combatants in the room. "M.I.S.H.A.,
cover," Demy sends her to cover the room to the south where Strike sent
Slam Tech 1 through the door after she gets up from prone. He'll use her as a
drone to ensure there's no further attack from that room and let others know
what he sees through her. He'll ensure she’s activating her regeneration as
well. If there are enemies she'll fire her canon.
Meanwhile, if no additional threat, he will ask
if any one is hurt to administer his med kit, check the closest bodies for any
access cards or other devices that may be helpful, or look around the room for
gadgets, devices, or other tech that may be helpful to their cause, in that
order, while awaiting further direction from leadership.
Have a great holiday weekend!
Greg
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the last SLAM crashed to the ground
Erdbeben took a deep breath. "Thanks Dr. Wildman. That had to be one of
the toughest fights I've been in so far!"
Erdbeben
brushed the dust off of him as he started making his way over to the rest of
the team. He also checked out the blaster burns that he received curtesy of the
SLAM bots. Nothing too serious. Just a second-degree burn at most and the
fabric of his costume melted away in that spot.
As
he approached the rest of the group, he saw that the fight wasn't over yet.
There were still threats in-bound. As everybody ran to prepare for dealing with
the threat, Erdbeben found that he was following along, once again feeling lost
in the tactical situation.
Paul
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"SLAM Tech 3’s feet hung out of the hole
in the wall created when SLAM Tech 3 went through the wall headfirst."
HA!
Tom
as always thanks for all of your hard work putting these issues together.
---
Patty
brushed herself off and stretched in a theatrical manner. "I haven't been
in a slam pit like that since the Beastie Boys."
"Okay,
what's the status on the incoming bad guys? The real bad guys? Where am I
needed?"
She
doesn't have an overall picture in her head of what's happening where, so when
she hears clear directions from someone who does she will follow them.
Shane
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom,OOC: how tall are the buildings in the
area we are in? I am thinking that Strike Force should jump onto the roof and
use his senses to determine when and from where the villains are coming. If he
can jump that high. If he can make it, this is his action, if not, I will come
up with something else.
IC.
Strike Force exits the building looking jump onto the roof closest to the
direction that Dr. Wildman warned us that the enemy was coming from. The Cyborg
Crusader used his staff to aid his jump. Upon landing on the roof, he will
squat down to cover his body and leave only his head visible. He activates all
his senses to determine when the team can expect company. He looks in all
directions to not be surprised if they come from a different or multiple
directions. If/when he sees/hears anything he will relay it to the team.
Jamey
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With his staff and parkour, he can reach the
roof.
Tom
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks Tom. I will go with the actions I sent
you.
Jamey
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom, I wanted to add that.StrikeForce will
adjust his costumes color to be dark. Hopefully he won't be as easily to be
seen.
Jamey
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Black Orchid waited a few moments and
didn’t hear any sounds of battle. “Ok everyone, we should regroup. I think I bought us some time to keep CyberDoom
busy for a bit. Let’s compare intel and figure out our next step. They won’t be
stuck forever there forever. “
Marc
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Wildman grins at the awakening Blizzard:
"Well dear boy, you seemed to have missed all the fun! Looks like you are
patched up again, let's so rendezvous with the others."
Erdbeben
took a deep breath. "Thanks Dr. Wildman. That had to be one of the
toughest fights I've been in so far!"
"You
are very welcome." relied on William, wincing slightly at the blaster
wound he took in the chest. He reached into his newly fashioned cloak and
pulled out another of his small vials, popped the lid and drank it down.
"Cheers!" he said to no one in particular. As the mystical elixir
washed down him, he could feel the burning in his chest subsiding.
As
he walks to the others with Blizzard and Erdbeben he conversationally remarks
as he kicks a stray robotic limb out of his path: "Damn those Androids! I
swear one day they will ruin us all. Perhaps we should re-christen Peitor: Dr
Terminator as he seems to enjoy his 80's pop culture so much!"
Ironically
as he finishes, they come upon the Cyborg Crusader StrikeForce, MISHA the
Bionic Bear and the rest of the team. "Well Skipper, what's the
plan?" he asks. "There is a whole lot of hurt on its way and we seem
to have mislaid our big hitter - Adamas."
Steve
(Thanks for your patience, everyone!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------