Friday, June 14, 2019

Crusade: Battling the Prime Squadron - Issue 47


{Location: Everglades Florida, the Base of the Chemical Thieves}

Adamas sat up on the floor. He signaled to the New Crusaders he was successful. “Now all we have to do is capture the bad guys.” Manta-Man said.

Seeing the destruction at hand, The Black Orchid realized valuable evidence might be destroyed by the onslaught of water. "Adamas, can you pull out any pieces of machinery you see near the water purification plant. It may provide evidence against Dr. Velo and gives us further clues to the scope of the operation." Black Orchid said.

Hearing Orchid's request and not seeing anyone in his immediate area, Adamas began to gather the requested equipment.



On the level D above Adamas, the scientist slammed his fist on the table in frustration. “How did they find me so soon? My plans are so close to completion. I will have to accelerate the time table.” said the Super Scientist. He reached over to the intercom. “Attention Prime base this is Psi-Prime”, said the Super Scientist, “Adamas is on Level E. I will deal with him. The rest of the New Crusaders can’t be far behind him. Stop them!”



Psi-Prime walked out the room into the room that Adamas had smashed through. The Super Scientist stood at the edge of the hole. He watched as Adamas gathered evidence. Adamas was watching for anyone to show up. He spotted Psi-Prime.

[12] Adamas fired 5 optic power blasts at Psi-Prime.

ZARK! ZARK! ZARK! ZARK! ZARK!

Two of the blasts make it through the 5ft hole in the ceiling, striking the Super Scientist. He rolled with the blasts. Psi-Prime was still standing and able to continue to fight. Two of the blasts struck the ceiling but didn’t damage it. The last blast didn’t leave his eyes because it slowed to stop, then his optic power blast fizzled.

{GM Note: Adamas fumbled on the last attack rolling 20 and 17. He lost the ability to use his optic blasts for one turn. For story purposes I am folding the failure into Psi-Prime’s attack. Jon if you don’t like that let me know how you want to write it and I will change it}

[12] “That will be enough of that.” Psi-Prime said as his eyes glowed. “You are powerful Adamas. Definitely the most powerful opponent I have ever faced. Obviously my coins will have little impact of you if you are able to rip my base apart like you just did.”

“I think I am going to have to extend my powers beyond normal in order to stop you.” The glow around Psi-Prime’s eyes expanded to encompass his entire head. A blast of physic energy unleashed from the Super Scientist striking Adamas’ brain with full force. The Diamond Dynamo resisted as best as he could but failed.

Adamas failed. He fell unconscious to the floor.

{GM Note: Adamas was hit with a Paralysis Ray with the unconscious modifier added. He is unconscious with a wake up roll at the end of each turn.}



None of the New Crusaders are on level C. Therefore they don’t know what is happening there.



{GM Note: You can see Adamas on this map because it is the top level and there is a hole all the way to the bottom. I put Adamas there hopefully making it easier to distinguish it represents a hole through multiple floors. The hole is 1 inch (5ft) in size. It takes up the entire space on the map}

StrikeForce launched himself into the air using the repulsion ability of his staff. He jump in an arc toward the hole create by Adamas. He dropped the hole easily. As he dropped threw Level A he saw the surprise guards stare at him as he dropped through the hole in the flow. He saw the guards were each carrying conventional sidearm and had equivalent of a bullet proof vest on.

StrikeForce landed on Level B. He quickly checked his surroundings. He didn’t see anyone but he heard voices and movement in other rooms on this level. They were to the left of him. He could make out 5 voices and he recognized one of them. It was the Swamp Goat they had talked to before. The old coot that had told them about the white heron they had followed to the island where Swamp Rat and Sludge had attacked them.

StrikeForce used his senses to scan the area, "So, Coot is in on it with them. He directed us toward the hut in an attempt to take us out." As this thought ran through his head a wave of anger washed over him; the people that attacked his father's lab and the hostiles here became one and the same. It was a level of anger, or any emotion he hadn't felt since before the attack that had cost him five years of his life.

Activating his comm link he replied to the team. "StrikeForce here, I am on level two, I am commencing a sweep and clear of the hostiles here. I have Coot and four others on my level, I will join you shortly." The anger in his voice is clearly evident; it is very different from the even and measured tone he usually uses.

Dr Wildman raised his reptilian eyebrows, somewhat reminiscent of Roger Moore's Bond portrayal: "Well something's got his goat!"

StrikeForce moved as quietly as possible, following the voices to their location. When he arrived at the room his hands grip hard on his staff as he readied himself to kick down the door and take down the opponents in the room.

“Attention Prime base this is Psi-Prime”, said a voice over the intercom, “Adamas is on Level E. I will deal with him. The rest of the New Crusaders can’t be far behind him. Stop them!”

Using his heightened hearing he pinpointed where the Prime Squadron members and Coot were located in the room.

[7] As he quietly made his way to the door that Coot was behind, he converted his staff to the escrima sticks. Visualizing where the targets are inside the room, he readied himself for the fight to come. StrikeForce positioned himself in front of the door that Coot was behind. Taking a martial arts stance the cyborg combatant brought his rear leg forward in a thrust kick that destroyed the door and sent pieces flying into the room. The force of the kick penetrated the door and stuck the Swamp Goat. This caused Coot to go flying into the guard closest to him. He struck the guard hard causing both to fly into the far wall of the room, leaving both on the ground, incapacitated.

{GM Note: This is why I love the Mighty Protectors V&V 3.0. It has rules to guide the GM how to play this action out. I treated the Door as automatic hit (movement only, not action) and the SR 3 as Armor that had to be penetrated first before Coot could be hit. StrikeForce rolled 25 points of damage. So he easily did it. Now for the attack on Coot, since Jamey wanted to direct the knockback, if any, that would require 2 actions; 1 action to hit Coot and 1 action to direct the knockback StrikeForce didn’t have two actions so a multiple attack was required, -3 to hit on the attack. Since Coot was surprised his defense isn’t used and he can’t roll with the damage so on a 17 or less he is hit and will have knockback. StrikeForce had 22 remaining points of damage. Coot is knocked out and knocked back 20 hexes (25 less -3 SR of Door and -2 for mass roll). On a 17 or less he will hit the surprised guard he was aiming for. The roll was successful. Coot traveled 1 hex so the Guard gets 19 points of damage. The guard’s armor absorbs 6 so the guard takes 13 damage points. The guard is surprised so he can’t roll with damage. He is knocked back 9 hexes (13 less 4 for mass roll). Coot takes 6 points of damage from striking the guards armor. He is incapacitated. I now check to see if Coot and the guard each hit a different guard. Both are need a 10 or less (not aimed and no defense applied because of surprise). Both miss. Coot and the guard travel the remaining distance to the wall. They take the remaining knockback as damage as it doesn’t exceed the wall SR by 3. If it had exceeded then it would have created a ½ inch hole (2.5 ft) which they would have traveled through at half movement. They didn’t have enough damage so the wall is cracked and they take the damage instead.}

The sudden attack left the other guards surprised except for one. He had perceived the noises (Adamas crashing through and StrikeForce landing on the floor) to becoming from an attack on the base. The guard called out on his comm. “We have StrikeForce on level B. Repeat, StrikeForce is on level B. He has taken out one of the Inhuman League. Swamp Goat is down, I repeat, Swamp Goat of the Inhuman League is down.”

With his heightened hearing StrikeForce heard the response, “Roger, New Crusaders are on Level A too, defend your position. We are scrambling the rest of the Inhuman League now.”

[4] The guard moved toward the other Prime Squaddies. He fired his pistol at StrikeForce. His shot missed.


StrikeForce prepares to move into the room and engage the Prime Squadron guards remaining.


Manta-Man opened the doors to the underwater dock. Manta-Man, Skink, Dr Wildman, and TicToc entered in the vacant dock. As they came in they saw a guard staring at them. It appeared he was using a communications device which Manta-Man figured was a transponder to a Mini-Sub. The Mini-Sub must have been on a mission as it wasn’t in the dock. Manta-Man turned on his Lightning Defense.

Black Orchid overrode the elevators control. Evergreen and she rode it down to Level A. The doors opened. They look out to see 4 guards staring back at them. The Prime Squadron guards had been taken by surprise and hadn’t readied to meet them when they arrived.


“Attention Prime base this is Psi-Prime”, said a voice over the intercom, “Adamas is on Level E. I will deal with him. The rest of the New Crusaders can’t be far behind him. Stop them!”

[12] Skink leaped at the Prime Squadron guard striking with both claws.

Sknit! Sknit!

Both claw strikes hit, the guard fell unconscious to the floor. He had been KOed.

{GM Note: The guard will get a wake up roll at the end of the turn. He has to roll under his remaining hit points or get a 1 on a d20 to regain consciousness. I marked him KO instead of the X so you know which opponents get wake up rolls}

With a mystic nimbus of green eldritch energy one of the two crocodiles transformed like a reptilian were-creature into humanoid form. The figure stood dressed in Dr Wildman's familiar garb of black and green but crocodile skin remained where human dermis should have been. (Dr Wildman cast crocodile skin.) He gave Skink a wink: "Well youngster, you've inspired me to take a leaf out of your own book and go all reptile on these not-so-fine people." Dr Wildman placed the hood of his jacket over his head and subconsciously felt for the silver torc around his neck. Dr Wildman checked to make sure he was still in control of the crocodile. Satisfied that all was in order he patted the giant crocodile to his right affectionately on the head, picking a bit of stray weed from between its scales. With a flick of his wrists lightning crackled and arced in readiness.

[7] The giant crocodile left the dock, entering the main area. It attacked the first guard it came to.

CHOMP!

TicToc bite into the Prime Squadron guard. The bite penetrated the guard’s protection. He screamed in pain as he rolled with the damage. He was hurt but still able to fight.

[7] All 4 of the Prime Squadron guards leveled their pistols and fired in unison at the giant crocodile.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Commander Schmidt’s gun jammed. It can’t fire again. {GM Note: Rolled Fumble on the attack, resulted in  lost attack}

Prime Squadron Guard One’s pistol shot struck TicToc knocking it off balance but the bullet didn’t penetrate its scaly hide. {GM Note: Roll Critical Success, Opponent of balance (-3 Def) until it rights itself. TicToc took no damage.}

Prime Squadron Guard Two’s pistol shot struck TicToc but didn’t penetrate its scaly hide. {GM Note: TicToc took no damage.}

Prime Squadron Guard Three’s pistol struck a penetrating shot on TicToc. The giant crocodile roared in pain as it rolled with the damage. TicToc was still able to fight. {GM Note: TicToc was hit with 6 points of damage. Rolled with 2, -2 PP and -4 HP}

{GM Note: Coordinated attack is a new combat maneuver in Might Protectors rulebook that wasn’t in prior versions. Now if all PC/NPCs attack on the same phase as a declared coordinated attack the opponent can roll with less damage. All the attackers get a To Hit modifier of -3. 3 of the 4 Prime Squadron Guards attacks were successful. TicToc’s protection stops each attack the same. His armor of 3 stopped 3 points of damage so 2 of the attacks’ damage were completely stopped. On the one attack whose damage was greater than 3, TicToc couldn’t roll with up to 6 Power Points as normal. The amount that TicToc could roll with was 6 divided 3 (number of successful attacks) rounded down. Because the guards coordinated their attack TicToc took -4 HP where if they had attacked individually TicToc wouldn’t have taken any damage to his Hit Points.}

[6] Black Orchid moved out of the elevator. She hit Prime Squadron Guard Three with her vacuum blast. The guard shivered from the cold as his energy was sucked from his body. He felt drained but he was still able to fight.

[5] Evergreen stepped out of the elevator. “So this is where those who would destroy nature have chosen to hide. You cannot hide within the very thing you seek to destroy and you cannot hide from me!” She raised her arms and twirled them in a circular fashion. Within 5 seconds she lowered her arms to point at guards One and Two. From outside the base the plant life on the island grew and twisted together. Shaping themselves into giant vines, as they stretched through the hole leading into the base; the plants moved toward the two guards.

Across the floor the animated plant life twitches and jerked as it reached out for the guards. They entwined and snare the guards within the branches and trunks which comprised the summoned growing animated plants. It has successfully grabbed the two guards in its constricting grasp.

 

[4] The coast clear Dr. Wildman headed to a nearby computer console and check the manifest to see when the sub left and who it was carrying. Seeing that there was security cameras made Dr. Wildman happy as that was even better. He asked if perhaps Manta-Man could tap into the system and display what can be seen. “If it was Dr Velo and he had departed recently he will make a decision as to whether to give chase or not; perhaps using the communications device as a means to track it.” thought Dr. Wildman.

Turning to the team in the sub base Dr Wildman tapped Manta-Man on the shoulder pointing to the computer console. "Any chance you can plug yourself into that and get a visual feed from the security cameras?" He pointed at the camera in the room as if to underline the point. "It might help us find Dr Velo and any of his cronies that are nested in here."

Manta-Man said "yeah, I should be able to access the feed"

 "Fantastic, can you reroute the feed to display on this monitor?" Dr Wildman pointed at the screen before them. "Scroll through the feeds and see if you can locate where Dr Velo is."

Manta-Man opened the console and connected to the circuitry. He ran several protocols attempting to override the security. {GM Note: -2 PP for +2 to Save target)

As a few minutes he dropped his head in frustration. He had failed. “I am sorry friend but I am unable to. Give me a couple of seconds to think about what I missed.”

{GM Note: Manta-Man needed to roll 17 or less, the roll was 19}

Dr. Wildman looked at the camera feed. He thought he recognized it from the set of Wildman’s World. If it was close enough then he would need to switch out two boards and reverse their jumpers. That would allow them to remotely view through the cameras. He focused on how he used to make the changes on the show {GM Note: -2 PP for +2 to Save target)

It worked.

Dr. Wildman smiled sheepishly when Manta-Man stared at him. He indicated that he was more than the star of Wildman’s World. He had to help out with the cameras and editing from time to time.

{GM Note: Dr. Wildman needed to roll 10 or less, the roll was 9}

Dr. Wildman and Manta-Man switch the camera over to the Mini-Sub. In the mini-sub they saw a Prime Squadron guard and Dr. Nay, who Manta-Man had met at the Indian Village.


Next Dr. Wildman and Manta-Man switched the camera to level C. “There’s the Inhuman League”, Manta-Man said. “I recognize Spyder and Tank Gunner. I don’t know who the winged woman or the alligator man is.”

They watched the winged woman fly into the elevator shaft.

“Hmm,” Manta-Man said, “Swamp Goat had us follow a White Heron. What do you want to bet that is her name too.”

Spyder grabbed Tank Gunner by the belt. The leader of the Inhuman League leaped into the elevator shaft hauling Tank Gunner along with him.


The Alligator Man walked to the edge of the hole in the floor and looked up. As if he was preparing to jump through it.


Manta-Man said, “We have company coming, get ready New Crusaders!”


When they switched to level D they saw a lone figure standing and looking down at Adamas. This had to be the Psi-Prime they had heard speaking over the intercom. He wasn’t wearing the costume of Dr. Velo but Dr. Wildman thought the super scientist looked about the same size and build as Dr. Velo.



Switching the cameras to level E they saw Adamas lying unconscious in the water filled floor next to the broken Water Purifier Unit. Manta-Man noticed a side tunnel in the wall not far from Adamas.


Dr. Wildman found which switch turned the camera to the tunnel on Level E. He switched over to the end of the tunnel.

What they saw were two missiles in launch bays. The missiles were inactive.


“So that is how Psi-Prime is going to deliver the chemicals. He is going to contaminate the oceans.” Manta-Man said.


<Turns and Actions due July 23rd  >

Battle Conditions (Mighty Protectors character data):
Adamas                        Hit Points:   18  Power Points:   49         Attack Style: Offensive
Black Orchid                 Hit Points:   24  Power Points:   92         Invisible
StrikeForce                  Hit Points:   31  Power Points:   93         Attack Style: Offensive
The Skink                     Hit Points:   24  Power Points:   82         Attack Style: Defensive
Manta-Man                    Hit Points:   13  Power Points:   66         Lightning Defense: On
Dr. Wildman                  Hit Points:   18  Power Points:   60         Form of: Human
Evergreen                     Hit Points:   23  Power Points:   66         Attack Style: Offensive
TicToc                          Hit Points:   22  Power Points:   72         Charmed Crocodile

Phase of Action for next turn:
[13]       Adamas
[12]       Skink
[ 9]       TicToc
[ 6]       Manta-Man
[ 5]       Dr. Wildman
[ 4]       Evergreen
[ 2]       StrikeForce
[ 2]       Black Orchid
           
I listed Adamas even though here is unconscious and won’t act next turn unless he is woken up.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Great issue Tom! It is worth the wait. I will work on StrikeForce's actions.

Jamey
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 I'm having this cover framed!!!

Best time Adamas has had since the battle with the D hole. :)

Let's clean this base out... a little concerned the mini-sub is missing, or is it just me?

Jon
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Adamas is The Man! I am concerned about the missing sub as well.

Jamey
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
We are working together like a well oiled machine!

Seeing the destruction at hand, The Black Orchid realizes valuable evidence might be destroyed by the onslaught of water.
"Adamas, can you pull out any pieces of machinery you see near the water purification plant. It may provide evidence against Dr. Velo and gives us further clues to the scope of the operation."

[OOC:  Sorry about being MIA for a while there. Work trip in France for a week, back for a week then in New Mexico for a week wreaked havoc with my free time. I didn't think about the sub (The Black Orchid might, she's a lot smarter than me). I would only say something if the GM thought she might have noticed.]

Marc
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Now that is the way to crack open a villains base...! Love it!

Manta-Man opened the doors to the underwater dock. Manta-Man, Skink, Dr Wildman, and TicToc entered in the vacant dock. As they came in they saw a guard staring at them. It appeared he was a communications device which Manta-Man figured was a transponder to a Mini-Sub. The Mini-Sub must have been on a mission as it wasn’t in the dock. Manta-Man turned on his Lightning Defense.

My assumption is that someone will KO the guard before Dr Wildman gets to act.

With a mystic nimbus of green eldritch energy one of the two crocodiles transforms like a reptilian were-creature into humanoid form. The figure stood dressed in Dr Wildman's familiar garb of black and green but crocodile skin remained where human dermis should have been. (Dr Wildman will cast crocodile skin.) He gives Skink a wink: "Well youngster, you've inspired me to take a leaf out of your own book and go all reptile on these not-so-fine people." Dr Wildman placed the hood of his jacket over his head and subconsciously felt for the silver torc around his neck. (Dr Wildman will check he is still in control of the crocodile and will happily reinforce control if necessary using another charge from the amulet.) Satisfied that all was in order he patted the giant crocodile to his right affectionately on the head, picking a bit of stray weed from between its scales. With a flick of his wrists lightning crackled and arced in readiness.

If the coast remains clear he will head to a nearby computer console and check the manifest to see when the sub left and who it was carrying. If there are security cameras even better - perhaps asking Manta-Man to tap into the system and display what can be seen. If it was Dr Velo and he had departed recently he will make a decision as to whether to give chase or not; perhaps using the communications device as a means to track it.

Steve
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 StrikeForce used his senses to scan the area, "So, Coot is in on it with them. He directed us toward the hut in an attempt to take us out." As this thought ran through his head a wave of anger washed over him. The people that attacked his father's lab, and the hostiles here became one and the same. It was a level of anger, or any emotion he hadn't felt since before the attack that had cost him five years of his life.
Activating his comm link he replies to the team. "StrikeForce here, I am on level two, I am commencing a sweep and clear of the hostiles here. I have Coot and four others on my level, I will join you shortly." The anger in his voice is clearly evident, it is very different from the even and measured tone he usually uses.
StrikeForce moves as quietly as possible, following the voices to their location. When he arrives at the room his hands grip hard on his staff as he readies himself to kick down the door and take down the opponents in the room.

OOC: StrikeForce will kick the door in and hope that the group inside is surprised. He will begin attacking the first person he comes to, or that comes to him. Then he will attack the next available target.

Jamey
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Will StrikeForce attack with his staff or convert them to escrima (it only takes 1" of movement to convert) to his attack?

Thanks
Tom
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Sorry, I forgot to ask, Will StrikeForce fight Offensively (normal To Hit and Defense) or fight Defensively (-3 To Hit and +3 Def)? StrikeForce has 21 to Hit with Staff, 20 with Escrima, and 2 Defense.

Thanks
Tom
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 StrikeForce will convert to Escrema sticks and fight defensively because of their being five hostile.

OOC: Sorry if his actions throw a monkey wrench into anyone's plans, but I had to go with what his reactions would be.

Jamey
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Go for it Jamey, play the character every time!

Steve
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Activating his comm link he replies to the team. "StrikeForce here, I am on level two, I am commencing a sweep and clear of the hostiles here. I have Coot and four others on my level, I will join you shortly." The anger in his voice is clearly evident, it is very different from the even and measured tone he usually uses.

Dr Wildman raised his reptilian eyebrows, somewhat reminiscent of Roger Moore's Bond portrayal: "Well something's got his goat!"

Steve
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 OOC: Tom are there internal cameras that can be accessed from our position near the sub base?

Steve
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Yes, it would be a skill check on Intelligence. If you don't have a background in electronics, security, or other area that would give you knowledge in how to override the controls, the Intelligence save will be made with a -3 modifier to target save number.

Tom
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 I try to Steve.

Jamey
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 (Assuming our guard has been dealt with by quicker souls than Dr Wildman...)

Turning to the team in the sub base Dr Wildman taps MantaMan on the shoulder pointing to the computer console. "Any chance you can plug yourself into that and get a visual feed from the security cameras?" He points at the camera in the room as if to underline the point. "It might help us find Dr Velo and any of his cronies that are nested in here."

Steve
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Manta-Man said "yeah, I should be able to access the feed"

Thanks
Tom
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 OOC: Tom, using his senses can StrikeForce determine which door is better to make his attack?

Jamey
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 With his heightened hearing he is able to figure out exactly where they are.

Plan Strike force's attack by looking at the map.

If you are wanting character information that the player wouldn't have, let me know exactly what you are wanting to know.

Thanks
Tom
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 OOC: Is there any way to determine what type of weapons they are carrying, ie; conventional, high-tech?
As far as an attack strategy, how detailed do you need?

Jamey
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 When StrikeForce went through the hole in level A he could see the guard was carrying a conventional sidearm and had equivalent of a bullet proof vest on

Attack strategy can be as detailed as you like, I will do my best to incorporate into play. The rules now do allow for a little more complexity to combat than previous versions but it's still a simple comic book fight simulator.

Thanks
Tom
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 "Fantastic, can you reroute the feed to display on this monitor?" Dr Wildman points at the screen before them. "Scroll through the feeds and see if you can locate where Dr Velo is."

Steve
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 OOC: Tom, use and/or change as necessary.

As he quietly makes his way to the door that Coot was behind, he converts his staff to the escrima sticks. Visualizing where the targets are inside the room, he readies himself for the fight to come. StrikeForce positions himself in front of the door that Coot is behind. Taking a martial arts stance the cyborg combatant brings his rear leg forward in a thrust kick that destroys the door and sends pieces flying into the room. The force of the kick causes Coot to go flying into the guard closest to him, leaving both on the ground. The sudden attack left the other guards surprised. StrikeForce moves into the room and engages the closest target, he is a whirlwind that is as graceful and beautiful as it is brutally effective. Ducking and weaving he defends and attacks until there is none standing except him. He activates his comm and replies to the rest of The New Crusaders "This is StrikeForce, where do I need to meet up with you?"

Jamey
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 Hearing Orchid's request "Adamas, can you pull out any pieces of machinery you see near the water purification plant. It may provide evidence against Dr. Velo and gives us further clues to the scope of the operation.", and not seeing anyone in his immediate area, Adamas will begin to gather the requested equipment.

If he hears anyone ask for assistance, or comes across an opponent, he will immediately provide aid, or subdue said hostile with extreme prejudice. (multiple-power blasts)

Jon
--------------------------------------------------------------------