Megalopolis: Crusade: Small Packages!

Location: Crusader Citadel

A heavy storm raged around the Citadel. Inside the Harmon Building Lobby trapped Megalopolis SWAT team hid in cover as best as possible.

ZZABBBOOOOMMM!

A lightning bolt struck the lobby for a fourth time!

The lights were on in the entire building.

On the fourth floor of the Crusader Citadel, eyeing the Micro Mind Manipulator, Starbolt thought to himself, “I have to take her out before she gets her mental claws into any of us." "Black Orchid" he said, "let's triangulate our attacks, she will have to choose one or the other of us to attack, allowing the other a shot from behind."

"Wait!" The Black Orchid whispered, "I'm not ready to compromise my invisibility yet! Attack with Tomahawk unless you think she's really that dangerous. The code word is Nemesis. If I don't hear you say that when I see you again, then I know something's up. I'm off to find any others." The Black Orchid starts to leave but waits a moment to hear any protests/suggestions from Starbolt.

"Please radio for assistance before you engage any of the villains if at all possible," Starbolt said. "I prefer that we keep the numbers advantage if we can." he added before Black Orchid leaves.

"Roger SB. ML, you still there?" The Black Orchid said into her intercom while continuing downstairs. "I'm here. I've found the Crusaders... and the malfunctioning malware that calls himself Mocker. Better hurry if you dudes want a piece of him."

Tomahawk signaled he would attack Marionette at the same time as Starbolt but he would attack from the front. "May the wolf and crow guide your shot Starbolt, as they will guide my hand. Wraith are you attacking with us?"

The Wraith, as almost always, stayed silent and, apparently, unmoving.

Taking flight The Star-powered Sentinel moved to get an altitude advantage over the Mind Maiden of Malevolence. Starbolt planned to let loose with a blast attempting to take out his adversary as soon as possible. "Hang on Manta-Lad", he thought to himself "we'll be there as quick as we can.”

His next thought was not his own.

“Land”

And Starbolt did. He landed in the room in front of Marionette.

“Stand Still”

With his arms by his side, his body passively stood still but his mind violently struggled to be free.

Then Marionette’s arms moved to her sides. Here entire body strained against an unseen force. Unknown to her or Starbolt, The Wraith had successfully grabbed her with his telekinesis.

Starbolt’s mind fought harder against Marionette hoping that forcing her fight control against two adversaries would overwhelm her.

WHAM!

The Micro Mind Manipulator jerked her head forwards and then back. Her eyes rolled upwards into her head. Her head slumped forward. Her head then raised at a slight angle and one eyelid opened but her eye did not look anywhere.

“She’s out cold. Wraith, you can release her.” Tomahawk said as he turned visible.

The Star-powered Sentinel felt his body return to his control and he watched Marionette fall to the floor. Several thoughts and appreciations were never said because through the stairway door flew their next adversary, Centurion.

“I don’t know how you defeated Marionette and Hornet, Starboy and Tonto, but you will never defeat me!” He screamed

{GM Note: Teamwork played a huge part in this turn. If The Wraith hadn’t been holding Marionette she would have been able to roll with the punch when Tomahawk hit her. That was the difference between her losing all her Hit Points versus having 1 HP remaining and able to fight next turn.}

** Earlier before Starbolt left the stairway **

She came to the third floor. When she looked through the doorway she heard someone coming up the stairway. The Crusher wasn’t walking or running up the stairs, he was flying. Black Orchid ducked through the doorway as the roar of rocket boots filled the stairway. In a flash Centurion flew up the stairs heading toward the fourth floor.

Black Orchid looked into the third floor from where she was standing. She could see into the communications room. In the northwest section is a short wave radio as well as a mini-tracking station. Near the north-east corner is a small television broadcasting station. On the west wall is a viewscreen for two-way communications. In the center of the room is the Emergency Communications Console, which, if activated, sends out an alarm to the authorities and many other local superheroes and friends of the Crusaders.

The south-east corner of the room holds the security monitor for the Citadel with a video display of every room except for private quarters. Sitting in the Security Monitor Console is Raijin. He is apparently meditating. There were streams of electricity flowing from him to the Console and back to him.

On one screen she saw the lobby where Detective Broyko and the SWAT team laid unconscious.

On a different screen was Starbolt and Tomahawk standing over an unconscious Marionette.

On a third screen she saw Manta Lad taunting Mocker as lightning flew from his hands. Instead of striking the electricity appeared to grab two panels next to two of the tubes holding the Crusaders.

On a fourth screen she saw Black Orchid watching Raijin watching the monitors.

** Earlier before Starbolt left the stairway on the First Floor**

This was it. Everything that the kid detective had been working towards. He was finally in a room with Manta Man and Mocker.

Manta Lad stepped over the unconscious form of Mace, looked straight at Mocker without fear and said into his wrist communicator in his best tough-guy bravado: "I'm here. I've found the Crusaders... and the malfunctioning malware that calls himself Mocker. Better hurry if you dudes want a piece of him."

He stopped talking but left the channel open! "You don't mind if I invite some extra friends to crash the party, do
you, Pumpkin head?"

Then the human monkey-wrench tried to take control of Manta Man's prison and release him! He successfully gained control of both Manta Man’s and Enforcer’s medical controls. He set the controls on awake and the gases were removed from their tubes. The tubes opened and out tumbled the Teen Techie’s Benevolent Benefactor and Gun-toting Enforcer of Good.

Manta Lad positioned himself between Mocker and Manta Man, facing Mocker, to buy his beloved mentor some time to find his bearings. "Lemme guess. You still got an 8 bit processor up there, right? Tell me the truth; you still back up your memory with floppy disks, don't you?" he chuckled derisively. "Come on, you lame, old-school loser, I hear you sonic scream just like a little girl."

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Mocker screamed in rage at Manta Lad. Blasting him with his sonic powers, Manta Lad’s life support attempted in vain to withstand the assault.

{GM Note: Even with the use of a Luck Point, Mocker was still able to hit Manta Lad. He did 18 points of damage. Manta Lad rolled with 5 points and took -10 to Hit Points}.

As Manta Lad fell to the ground he looked toward Manta Man and Enforcer. Both were on the feet and ready to carry on the fight. As he lost consciousness Manta Lad smiled to himself as knew he had achieved his goal. He had rescued Manta Man.

<Due Date: May 12^th, Actions? Replies?>

{GM Note: Black Orchid and Tomahawk failed their Endurance save so the Stealth Chemical is no longer in effect.}

Current Conditions:

Black Orchid Hit Points: 30 Power Points: 84 Willpower Defense active

Manta Lad Hit Points: 0 Power Points: 47 Luck Points Pool: 0 ** Unconscious **

Starbolt Hit Points: 34 Power Points: 72

The Wraith Hit Points: 10 Power Points: 51 Invisibility: +2/-2

Tomahawk Hit Points: 69 Power Points: 84

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Eyeing the Micro Mind Manipulator, Starbolt thought to himself, " I have to take her out before she gets her mental claws into any of us." "Black Orchid" he says, "let's triangulate our attacks, she will have to choose one or the other of us to attack, allowing the other a shot from behind." Taking flight The Star-powered Sentinel moved to get an altitude advantage over the Mind Maiden of Malevolence. Starbolt lets loose a blast attempting to take to his adversary as soon as possible. "Hang on Manta-Lad", he thinks to himself "we'll be there as quick as we can.

Jamey

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Marc

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"Please radio for assistance before you engage any of the villains if at all possible," Starbolt says. "I prefer that we keep the numbers advantage if we can." he adds before Black Orchid leaves.

Jamey

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OOC: Awesome issue. Thanks Tom.

Well, this is it for Manta Lad!

Two questions:
a) What exactly does Manta Lad know about Mocker? The whole dossier, please.

b) Can Manta Lad use his Lightning Control powers to control or power
the machines that hold the Crusaders, in order to release them? I'd
happily expend a luck point to dramatically open up all the tubes in
front of Mocker! :)

Thanks,
Jeff

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Manta Lad knows that Mocker views himself as the Leader of the Crushers but it usually takes a combination of threats and trickery for any of the Crushers to follow his commands. Mocker is an Android that speaks with an accent that sounds like a cross between a British Aristocrat and Butler. He has built in protection which limits damage. This protection has prevented Manta Man from using his Electrical abilities to take control of Mocker. The Android body has limited self-repair capability as well.

Mocker's main power is the ability to control sound. He can project a sonic blast, manipulate it for speech and perform ventriloquism of all kinds of sounds.

It has been 3 years since Mocker last battled the Crusaders.

Best

Tom

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"Roger SB. ML, you still there?" The Black Orchid says into her intercom while continuing downstairs.

Marc

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He stopped talking but left the channel open! "You don't mind if I invite some extra friends to crash the party, do
you, Pumpkin head?"

Then the human monkey-wrench tried to take control of Manta Man's prison and release him! If he could understand the technology, and such a thing was possible, he'd also instruct the tubes to awaken Manta Man (eg: with an adrenalin shot or the equivalent)! Manta Lad would position himself between Mocker and Manta Man, facing Mocker, to buy his beloved mentor some time to find his bearings. "Lemme guess. You still got an 8 bit processor up there, right? Tell me the truth; you still back up your memory with floppy disks, don't you?" he chuckled derisively. "Come on, you lame, old-school loser, I hear you sonic scream just like a little girl."

OOC:
ML is mocking Mocker like only a teenager can in order to get him to attack ML over MM. Also to rile him up.

Not sure if the attempt to open multiple capsules was a Dual Attack, a Multiple Attack or two Separate Attacks.
If it's a Multiple Attack, as per the rules, then Manta Lad will target one tube: Manta Man's. If it's some other kind of attack (where blowing one attempt doesn't make all of them fail) then he would also attempt to open Enforcer's capsule. Either way, he'll devote a Luck Point to succeed in this task, if necessary.

He'll also burn a Luck Point to increase the chance of Mocker's next attack missing (ie: Mocker has to roll twice to hit and use the worse of the two attack rolls).

Thanks,
Jeff

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(ie: Mocker has to roll twice to hit and use the worse of the two attack rolls).

Interesting use of the Luck Point. When players use a Luck Point to improving the chance to hit I give a +4 to hit. So I would plan on giving Mocker a -4 to hit. Would you still want to use a Luck Point for that method.

Question: In your actions you did not activate Manta Lad's Lightning Defense, it that on purpose or did you forget it wasn't active because of the Stealth Chemical (which failed at the end of last turn).

Thanks

Tom

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Yes please! I think I might adopt that -4 rule for my game.

If he can activate his lightning defense as movement, then he will
activate it. Thanks!

Jeff

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Best

Tom

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The Wraith, as almost always, stays silent and, apparently, unmoving.

In actuality he will be using his telekinesis to try to "grasp" the Miniscule Malevolent Mistress of the Mind, and hold her perfectly still so that Tomahawk and Starbolt have a better chance to hit.

Patrolling the Crusade (Wraith is a little confused about where his place in life is at this moment),

Greg

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Crusade: Small Packages! - Issue 21