[IC] Guardians of the Galaxy

[Limos]

http://i52.tinypic.com/142zaz7.jpg

Knowhere Station, last stop on the ass end of the universe, the only neutral ground within a hundred lightyears of anywhere important. In life it was the head of a Celestial, one of the amazingly powerful machines that run the universe, but in death it had been re-purposed as a home for refugees, political outcasts, exiled super beings, and all those disgusted with the politics of their homes. Tasked with keeping the peace on the station and in the universe beyond it were the Guardians of the Galaxy. The team has recently been reformed after the former members had fallen away one by one, some to return to their homes, some killed in actions, others taking up work with the ruling forces of other systems. The new team was promising, but as yet mostly untested.

Major Gibson, do you copy? There is a disturbance in the cortex chamber. A voice crackles over the communicator keyed to Major Gibson's energy signature, relaying the signal without the need for a physical communicator. It looks like the Churchies are making a scene again.

The Churchies, as the residents of Knowhere mockingly called them, would be the Universal Church of Truth. The UCT was well known for it's fanaticism and it's massive number of parishioners, as well as their tendency to make trouble. As the hollow boom of an explosion ripples through the station it can be assumed that the disturbance had become rather serious.

[industrious]

Gibson's quarters on Knowhere are quite simple:a plain, uniformly unadorned hollow cube surrounded by thick walls. The "bed," such as it is, was another solid iron rectangular prism. It was immensely depressing, but not nearly as bad as a furnished room. To be surrounded by things he could never touch again, at books he'd never be able to read, surfaces he'd never be able to feel...that was worse torture.

"This is Gibson."

His hands reach, out of habit, for his radio reciever, before he realizes that he doesn't have one anymore. And even if he did, he wouldn't be able to use it-his incorporeal form would just pass straight through the device.

"Please state the exact nature of the--"

Then the explosion. And Major Thomas Gibson is no longer brooding about his fate.

"We're coming."

He rises and passes through the "ceiling" of his room. And as he does so, verbally orders the computer to signal the other guardians.

"Red Alert!"

[SuperCracker]

Con'orr-Vell

Gazing out of a viewport, Connor missed Earth. Specifically, he missed his own Earth. Earth in this universe was familiar, yet alien at the same time. His mother didn't recognize his face... neither did Rick, or anyone else. While the familiar scenery was a comfort, he was an intrusion on their lives. He didn't belong. That's why he came to Knowhere.

He exhaled a sigh. Another day goes by. Things will be okay.

That's when the station was rocked by an explosion. His eyes widened.


"Red Alert!"

His comm, fitted on with his Nega-Bands, lit up with the Chief's warning.

Connor extended his arms to his sides and erupted in cosmic power. His eyes glowed bright blue and the symbol of Captain Marvel appeared on the back of his jacket. He then took flight in the direction of the blast.

Over the comms he shouted, "This is Zenith. I'm on it."

[Tichrondrius]

Paibok

Paibok missed the Throneworld. As a military Skrull, he had been off-world fighting for a great many years and then got stuck on Earth for a while.. he'd barely been there for a few months before he was reassigned here. But at the same time he was happy that he was this powerful and considered high ranking enough to be the Emissary from the glorious Skrull Empire on this ship.

The room was outfitted with all the pleasures of room and he enjoyed them. But there were also things he enjoyed from Earth here. The room was both simple and extravagant, much like him.

The truce bothered him. He found himself on the same side as Humans and, worst of all, Kree.. and he didn't even know what a few of them were. He stood before the mirror and took the shape of a few of his "teammates" before scoffing. This was one odd assignment.

"Red Alert!"

No time for that now.

His body became engulfed in flames just enough to draw on the Human Torch's power but not enough to burn down his living space. The flames made the form underneath totally unrecognizable but he was used to that. Half the time he didn't even know what his true form was.

"Paibok. On my way." He spoke into the comm and blasted towards the source of the disturbance at top speed.

[Starsign]

Tk'all often used his free time reading, and now was no exception. Studying was a part of life for him, something that is a requirement when it comes to the career of a scientist. Not that he minded of course. He had only been assigned recently, but fit in with his situation better than the other members. He liked the idea of space life rather than living on a planet and living in space could yield new and fascinating facts, though he had found none thus far.

He had felt uncomfortable working with the Skrull. A being that can absorb powers and use them for themselves is a dangerous power. Transforming perfectly into another person altogether however was a nightmare in itself. The uses of such a power could be a universe-wide threat, thankfully the truce prevents such an occurrence. For now at least.

But future worry should not matter when the present is at stake. The alarm broke Tk'all's concentration and put his mind to the situation. "Coming to the ready," he states on the comm as he hurries to the disturbance.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

The room was only lit by a single display screen upon one wall near the door, casting harsh shadows everywhere else as the light crept through the web of black and red strands that stretched from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. The strands quivered at the voice that suddenly crackled over the communications system and a pair of wide, white eyes opened in the corner. Writhing tentacles reached out for the voice before realizing that it came from the walls of the station around them. They drew back, curling in upon themselves as if disappointed, and a shape uncurled around those white eyes. There was a sickening sound like raw meat being scraped over a metal floor, then a staccato popping of bones. Then the shadow moved toward the light.

Strangely, rather than some hideous monstrosity with tentacles and glowing eyes, a well-muscled Kree soldier stepped into the light a moment later looking completely normal by the standards of his race. He had on a green Kree soldier's uniform complete with a mask, but carried no weapons and he sported none of the Imperial Guard's symbols. He scanned the display screen for a moment, then flicked his eyes up at the ceiling. "This is Amalgam. We are coming." he replied to the disembodied voice that had called out to him a moment before, then headed out the door at a jog.

Upon reaching the hallway, Amalgam jumped onto the wall, rebounded onto the other wall and quickly disappeared from sight crawling across the ceiling. The doors closed upon a sound like a whip cracking from the direction he'd gone.

[Limos]

As the Guardians trickle in from across the station they find the Cortex chamber to be in an uproar. In the center of the room a group of UCT fanatics strike at the mob around them with their strange faith-lances, lengths of seemingly normal steel that flare with golden light whenever they meet heathen flesh. The enraged populace presses forward to attack with their bare hands, knives, swords, or whatever they could pick up and swing.

A Kree in a military uniform fires into the melee from one of the upper galleries with a laser rifle. Several other residents have their weapons drawn and mill about in the back looking for a shot. In the midst of the Fanatics a group of people in encompassing brown robes huddle fearfully under the watch of a Cardinal. This by itself was enough to cause note, there are only five Cardinals in all of the UCT and the Church usually disdains the metropolitan atmosphere of Knowhere to focus on more rural corners of the galaxy.

Off to the right side of the chamber the mob is gaining ground in the wake of a massive brown furred creature with two curving horns on either side of his head. The Beastman grabs a Fanatic by both his shoulders and tosses him across the chamber where he strikes the wall with a sickening crunch and then lies still.

The fighting is vicious but most of the combatants are untrained and cautious. Most obvious threats are the Kree Sniper, the Cardinal, and the Shi'ar Beastman.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Initiative: [roll0]

The Kree man walked into the room normally, walking upon the ground, but when he saw what was going on he took on an irritated expression and looked up at the sniper shooting down into the melee. He could have tried to disperse the crowd at large, but if he sent them all running for cover the more dangerous or guilty ones would have a chance to escape. Better to take the trouble-makers down first while everything was still in confusion. Besides, shooting into the crowd like that, the Kree sniper could injure or kill a civilian if he missed. That would dishonor a uniform that Amalgam still honored.

Gathering his legs underneath him, Amalgam jumped and easily cleared the distance to the upper gallery to land near the Kree soldier. "Under the authority of Knowhere Station's security forces, we order you to drop your weapon and stand down, soldier. Do so now or there will be consequences." Amalgam commanded, glaring at the sniper. In their Kree uniforms they looked almost identical, save for the insignia, or lack there of in Amalgam's case. If Amalgam was worried that the sniper was armed, the emotion didn't show. In fact, after his jump he'd remained nearly perfectly still. The only movement was a slight...rippling...to his clothing from time to time. It could have been a trick of the light, but Amalgam's uniform almost seemed to have moved on its own.

Intimidate: [roll1]

[Limos]

[roll0]
[roll1]

The Kree soldier shrinks away from Amalgam in shock and nearly drops his weapon. He gulps and backs away a step before speaking, "You don't understand. This isn't what it looks like" He says in a tight voice, "I don't have time for thi-" He cuts off as the gallery you are standing on is hit by a blast of golden light and the whole structure begins to tilt and slide.

Give me a DC 16 Reflex to avoid getting knocked on your ass

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

With wall-crawling, I should be able to hold on with my feet no matter what's going on, but I'll give it a roll anyway.
Reflex Save (DC16): [roll0]
Touch for Grapple?: [roll1] - This is to grab the Kree sniper and keep him from falling just in case it looks like he's going to fall off. I don't intend any damage but if I have to grapple him to save his life I will.

Amalgam calmly looked toward the side as the structure began to tilt to the side and looked irritated again. His feet stuck in place by his wall-climbing ability, he hardly needed to shift his weight to keep from falling over. He stayed standing straight up in a completely comfortable pose. "We think you should explain it, then." he replied, glowering at the Kree sniper.

The only time Amalgam moved was if the Kree looked like he was about to fall. Then he would quickly close the distance, catch the sniper by the hand, leg, or the back of his uniform, and haul him back up to stable ground. If the sniper was too scared of him to think correctly, he would have no hesitation in simply overpowering him and forcing him to accept help.

[industrious]

Major Gibson

Dressed in a sharp, 1960's suit, complete with thin striped tie, Peregrine rises out from the floor about ten feet away from the Beastman. He stares the animalistic alien down.

"Stand down. Or face the consequences."


Initiative:[roll0]
Diplomacy:[roll1]

[Starsign]

Ebonscale makes his way to the designated point as he arrives to see the maddening beastman attacking. Focusing on nothing else, the hero attempts to grab the thing and bring it down peacefully. "Hold still! You're going to kill people at this rate!"

Initiative: [roll0]
Grapple Check: [roll1]

I'm large size btw. Did I calculate the grapple check right?

[Limos]

As the Kree sniper slides by he is snagged by Amalgam just before he would have plummeted into the mob. The Sniper grips his wrist tightly with both hands, letting his rifle fall forgotten to the ground far below. "I'm part of the security team for the Kree embassy! the Captain ordered us to block the Cardinal's escape! I'm just acting under orders!! But I don't know why the Shi'ar are here.""

[Limos]

I actually think your Grapple is 12, Attack bonus + Strength Modifier + 4 for Large size, versus Medium anyway. Against a Large opponent like the Beastman it evens out. So it's +8

[roll0] Grapple

The Beastman roars as Ebonscale leaps on to him, but quickly reaches back over his head and tosses the interloper off his back. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He bellows at you, his massive arms spread menacingly, his posture aggressive.

He pulls back slightly as the spectral figure of Major Gibson rises through the floor. "I ain't started nothing, they's the ones what started it. He snarls waving one giant paw at the assembled UCT forces still trying to beat off the attackers. "Them and that prig Cardinal."

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"The Kree Embassy has no jurisdiction in the cortex chamber. Pull your men back now or you'll be arrested for causing this riot." Amalgam said, holding the Kree sniper up by the wrist so that he could look the man in the face. Then he pulled the soldier up and set him upon the ledge so that he could support himself without Amalgam's help. Afterward, Amalgam pushed off of the damaged ledge and out into the open air. He rebounded off of the nearest wall, flipping like a gymnast, and pointed his closed fist toward the ceiling. Suddenly, a black and red tendril shot out of the back of his hand and affixed itself where he had pointed, allowing Amalgam to lazily swing over the heads of the mob as he let out more "line" and lowered himself quickly toward the ground. He continued his descent until he was swinging like a pendulum directly over the Cardinal's head.

It looked rather odd, considering he was still dressed like an exiled Kree guardsman in bright white and green.

As he passed to and fro over the Churchies, staying just out of reach of their weapons, Amalgam said, "We are with Knowhere Security. An explanation would be forthcoming, Cardinal."

[industrious]

"Understood. Rest assured, Knowhere security will finish it. As it were. Please stand down for the time being."

Gibson turns to face the Cardinal.

"I'd agree with my colleague as well, Cardinal. An explanation would be quite welcome."

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

Zenith, perhaps late to the party, flew overhead, moving to where the security chief was. He observed the situation quickly... He never liked the Church, but he's station security (among other things), so he does everyone a favor.

"I think it may be best to keep you all separate until this is resolved."

Zenith then raises his hands up, cosmic power flowing through him visibly. From the ground, magically, a massive metal construct begins to form, giant, tough bars forming all around the Cardinal and as many of the church members as possible. The structure begins to form a dome, and seals, keeping the two sides separate from each other.

Using Create Object with Progression 4 to form the right size dome. Toughness Save +12 (impervious 8) structure. Using selective to make it to where the Guardians can still fire into the barrier, but no one else can attack it freely.

I also guess they get a reflex save to avoid being trapped... but it's a big friggin cage. =P Reflex Save 22.

[Limos]

"I Believe this was a completely unprovoked attack upon members of my flock by sinful heathens." The Cardinal rises to his full 7 foot height and hefts his mace which still glows with residual golden glow. "I demand that you disperse these pagans so that we may take our leave of this festering pit." One of the brown robed parishoners fidgets but the Cardinal shoots him a glare and he shrinks back into the others.

With Zenith on the scene many of the fighters are separated by the cage and are now unhappily beating on it with their weapons or merely staring sullenly through the cage at one another. The Kree snipers scuttles up the tilted platform and into the doorway at the back of the chamber, into the halls. The Beastman growls and presses forward, "Liar! What have you done with the Shi'ar Ambassador?"

"Be silent mongrel!" The Cardinal points at him and grits his teeth so hard the tension can be seen in his shoulders. "You have already dug yourself a big enough hole, this I Believe.

Now would be a good time for Notice checks

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

"From where I'm at, it looks like the hole is big enough for both of you." He says pointedly to the Cardinal.

Connor turns his attention to the Beastman, thankful that he's not in outright rage at the moment.

"Start with what you think happened to the Ambassador. What's made you believe they've taken him... or her?"

Notice Check: [roll0]

[industrious]

"Bluster doesn't do anyone much good. Especially you."

Gibson has no observable reaction to the Cardinal.


Sense Motive Check:[roll0]
Notice Check:[roll1]

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Unprovoked...right. We're sure that sparkling personality had nothing to do with it." Amalgam scoffed.

With the situation somewhat under control, Amalgam scuttled up the line a bit more so that he could get a commanding view of the room. He kept watch for anything unexpected or dangerous.

Notice: [roll0]

[Starsign]

After a failed attempt, Tk'all gets back on his feet to listen on the conversation, making mental notes on the behavior of the Kree and Beastman. He felt that a dangerous misunderstanding was taking place. "Yes, let's avoid any more aggression. What Intel did you hear this from?

Notice Check: [roll0]
Take 10 on Knowledge: Behavioral Science on Kree and Beastman. 22 result.

[Limos]

The Beastman snarls and drags his claws against the surface of the energy cage. "The Ambassador was meeting with the Church leaders, shortly after his personal distress beacon was activated. But we found it in the hallway along with two of my men, both dead."

"I was not even at that meeting, that responsibility fell to one of the local clerics. Does it surprise you that you might be waylaid on this station? No greater hive of sin and villainy have I ever seen." The Cardinal says with a sneer. He walks right up to the edge of the cage and peers up at at the Beastman casually.

The Beastman beats at the cage with renewed vigor but his fists are ineffective against the powerful construct.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Zenith, might we ask a favor of you? Open the top of the cage? We would rather talk to the Cardinal face-to-face, as it were." Amalgam said as he swung idly from side to side. He transitioned so that he was hanging from one of his feet, bending the other knee out to the side, and left his arms free. He gave Zenith a small glance and the green, Kree mask over his face rippled slightly.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

"Actually, Amalgam, I see exactly who we're looking for. Lower yourself in, it looks solid, but you can pass through."

Subtly, he alters the cage's properties once again, making it essentially insubstantial in regards to Zenith and his allies, while still remaining impenetrable to all others.

He moves to the edge of the cage and points at two particular parishioners and shouts.

"Those two. Release the K'ree and the Shi'ar, now, or I will let the Beastman in, along with several of my other allies, and they will force you to release them."

[industrious]

Major Gibson

"Of course. This is so very obviously just a misunderstanding."

Gibson strolls through Zenith's bars, and faces one of the parishioners. A small, brightly crackling nova appears in his hand, and he sets the man's robes on fire, carefully burning them away.


Using a hero point(already? Such is the life of an intangible being) for a Fire Control effect with the Precise feat.

"Like I said. I'm afraid I just don't understand."

[Starsign]

Ebonscale brushed whatever dirt was on him when he hit the ground earlier as he said, "I'll discuss with the Beastman in the meantime. Can you get everyone else to clear out in the case of an emergency?" While discussion was not the Saruid's strong suit, he'd much rather do this the diplomatic way than to use brute force, especially when confronted with a creature such as this. He shakes his head slowly as he walks up to the creature as the Saruid passes the energy field.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Not bothering to wait for their release, Amalgam simply held out his hands toward the parishioners. As he did so, his appearance rippled and an oily, reddish black substance swarmed quickly over his form, leaving wide, white eyes as the only identifying mark on his form and completely covering his blue skin. With a flick of his wrists, his arms began to flow and elongate. They shot out like the webbing-tendrils had before and grabbed the two that Zenith had pointed at right between their shoulders. Another flick of Amalgam's wrists and he hoisted them up and away with a snap.

Snare (Split Attack 6/6, Tether): [roll0]
One attack for both. Obviously, he doesn't mean them any harm. He's simply lifting them away if he can. They can resist (if they want) with a reflex save DC16. This is assuming the attack roll is successful, of course.

[Limos]

The Kree and Shi'ar ambassadors are snagged and lifted out of the UCT's reach by the oily strands, one fanatic manages to grab on to the Kree ambassador's shoe for a moment but almost immediately falls back as he is pulled out of his grasp. You can hear the Cardinal's knuckles pop as his grip tightens on the haft of his mace, two dim points of golden light appear in the slits of his ornate helmet.

"Yes... of course. Simply a misunderstanding. It seems some of my flock have been... overzealous in their recruiting." He practically spits out the words through clenched teeth, "I assure you those responsible will be punished for their lapse, this I Believe. Punished most harshly." The crowd of fanatics quiver with fear behind the Cardinal's back.

He waves one gauntlet-ed hand in the direction of the two ambassadors. "If you would kindly un-gag the ambassadors perhaps they can identify the responsible parties and punishment can be served appropriately. We really must be going, the Faithship Ardent is currently waiting for me, and I'm sure they would become distressed if I remain absent for much longer." He lets the words hang on the air, a veiled threat.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

Were he on his own... and not part of the Guardians, he might have called that bluff... let the faithship chase him all over the galaxy. That sounds like a good time, actually. However, he does happen to be a representative of Knowhere right now.. so maybe it is best to avoid an intergalactic incident.

..Maybe later.

"Should I let them return to their ship, Chief?" He says with the emphasis aimed at the Cardinal.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Amalgam snapped the ambassadors up into the air, reeling them in until he had one in each hand, then dropped to the ground, safely depositing the possibly rattled dignitaries in front of the other Guardians. He gave the Kree ambassador one more short look, his emotions unreadable through the blank, mouthless mask that had formed over his face. Then he sliced through the gag on the ambassador's mouth with a clawed index finger so that he could speak. He let someone else help the Shi'ar.

[Limos]

The Shi'ar ambassador glares at Amalgam with his gag still in place while the Kree massages his jaw before speaking. "We of course would not wish to cause any unnecessary conflict, and as I was taken by ambush in my own chambers I am unable to identify which of your membership were my kidnappers."

"Missionaries. Ours is an Evangelical faith." The Cardinal interjects.

"Kidnappers." He glares at the Cardinal who is a good head and shoulders larger than him. "While you have a transport to catch, perhaps you should leave your attendants in the care of my guard so that they might be interrogated." He smiles slyly as the Cardinal growls in his throat. The parishioners actually look relieved.

"Completely out of the question. I will not allow my flock to be imprisoned for the crimes of a few of their number."

[Limos]

The Beastman turns to Tk'all with a surly growl, having given up on clawing his way through the cage. "Why are we talking? Tell your man to release this cage so I can tear these cowards apart. Only then will honor be satisfied."

[Starsign]

Ebonscale gave a small shrug as the beastman sprouted his words. "Honor? By murdering people who you have no conclusive proof they did such a heinous act?" the Saruid questioned the beastman. "Death does not bring honor. Honor comes from one's ego, one's idea of a law. A rule they follow down to the letter, eventually controlling their way of life." He started to monologue as he walked around the creature. "When one's life is controlled by honor, they lose sight of what's common sense. Honor is what separates the wise from the fools, the freed from the slaves." He turns to the beastman with a nasty glare. "Honor is why this all happened. Admit the truth and tell me you were wrong in your actions!"

Intimidate roll in order to get it to cooperate: [roll0]

[Limos]

The Beastman snarls, but his pointed ears go back against his skull displaying his cowed status. "Bah, take the wretches from my sight and spare me your speeches." He walks away from Ebonscale and to the Shi'ar ambassador, taking a moment to pull off his gag and manacles. "I am shamed my lord, I failed to protect you."

There ensues a hushed conversation between the two until the Beastman takes up guard position behind the Shi'ar.

[industrious]

Major Gibson

The Shi'ar ambassador glares at the former human, who shrugs helplessly at his inability to remove the alien's gag.

Though technically speaking, weren't they all aliens here?

Ignoring that logical thought in favor of a more human-centered view, Gibson shakes his head at the Cardinal's request.

"It would hardly be imprisonment, Cardinal. We would simply be detaining them for questioning. I understand your position on this matter, Cardinal. I would hope you understand ours."

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Nearby, Amalgam bristled at Ebonscale's words, but now was neither the time nor the place to discuss their opinions on the matter. Instead, he focused on the larger conversation with the Cardinal over his "flock."

"Perhaps they would like to confess their crimes then. We wouldn't want to keep you, but the sooner we have those responsible for this offense the sooner we may allow you and the rest of your followers to leave." he suggested.

[Limos]

The Cardinal appears to consider your words and then turns back to his flock. "Well my children, some among you have done wrong today, though I understand that what you did you did for your Faith. You must Sacrifice yourself so that the others may go free." He emphasizes the word and the parishioners straighten with odd looks on their faces. "Which of you are my Martyrs?"

The crowd splits and four men walk to the front. "We are they, most holy one." The men seem nervous. "We kidnapped the ambassadors so that they might share in the light of our faith. We will submit to judgement."

"I am most disappointed in you, my children." The Cardinal turns back to the Guardians, "There now, you have your culprits, allow us the use of the cortex so that we might be about our business."

[industrious]

"Hold on."


Sense Motive check:[roll0]

Did he trust the guy? No. Did he trust Kennedy before he gave that speech about being Catholic? Also no. Plus, religious fanaticism just seemed...off. Believing in something blindly was just un-American. Like Russia.

The irony of his thought processes is lost on Major Gibson.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

He glares at the Cardinal as he puts up four of his people as lambs to the slaughter. Honorless charlatan. He was just like a televangelist... only WORSE.

"As they have confessed, the rest of you are free to go. But trust me, one day, I'll make you see the light. It's some real hellfire and brimstone stuff. Old Earth tradition."

His eyes flashed. He then dismisses the cage he created, the material breaking apart into smaller and smaller pieces until it all vanishes.

Zenith's hands glow brightly, a sign that he was now more focused on his attack powers.

"Now get off of this station before I throw you all out an airlock."

[industrious]

Major Gibson

"Zenith. A moment."

Gibson waves a hand through the hybrid's arm before he can release his cage. It doesn't do a thing physically, but it gets the man's attention.

"I commend your parishioner's loyalty, Cardinal. Such...sacrifice is rare in this day and age."

He knows. The Cardinal can quite easily tell what Gibson is implying. And can't do a thing.

"Since you have proven to be lax in properly instructing so many of your entourage, I would recommend that you not come to Knowhere for the next standard revolution. So that next time, you won't need to have any Martyrs Sacrificed."

[Starsign]

Ebonscale also was disgusted by the whole sacrifice idea. "How absurd" he told himself.

Sense Motive check: [roll0]
Oh my god you're kidding me... My rolls are awful

He gave up on continuing this conversation. He had nothing else to comment on.

[Limos]

With no further resistance from any quarter and the mob dispersing the remaining parishioners move to the Teleportation pad in the middle of the Cortex chamber. "A Standard Revolution then. Don't worry, I'm sure these are the last Martyrs that Knowhere will require, this I Believe."

With that the Cardinal signals the technician to begin transmission. With a muted whoosh the Universal Church of Truth (minus four), makes it departure to the Faithship Ardent. The four remaining Parishioners turn to face you and as one they begin to smile.

Their lips stretch, their eyes begin to bulge in their sockets, and most curious of all... their skin begins to luminesce softly as though a lightbulb had been lit deep in their gullets. They lift their arms to the sky with rapturous expressions and roar with voices magnified beyond what their slender frames should be able to produce.

"I BELIEVE"

Roll Initiative to see if you are fast enough to react
[roll0]

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Amalgam's head split in half horizontally about two thirds of the way down his face into a dentist's nightmare -- rows and rows of fangs dripping saliva -- and he roared at the light.

Initiative: [roll0]

Leaping at the parishioners, he elongated his arm as far as it could go and tried to sweep them all onto the teleportation platform with it. Then, surging forward in a blur of motion, he engaged the controls again. Hopefully he would send them to the same coordinates as the previous transport -- the Cardinal's ship.

I'm hoping that I can blow a hero point so I can use elongation combined with Amalgam's super-strength as an area attack. Not to do any damage, but simply to push them onto the platform. They don't seem to be willing or able to dodge it, so you could roll contested strength (+14 on my end), or however you wanted to do this. If no one else has the initiative to help, I can use extra effort to surge and hit the button to teleport them hopefully to the last teleportation coordinates: the Churchie ship.
EDIT: Edited to reflect these actions.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

Connor hadn't thought the Cardinal foolish enough to actually attack Knowhere! But here we go, some crazies about to jihad-style martyr themselves!

He tries to react fast, bringing his hand up towards the martyrs.

Initiative: [roll0]

Reaction failure!

[Tichrondrius]

Paibok

Paibok had arrived a little late, true, but he saw most of what happened. He simply choose not to interfere. The rest of his team seemed to have troubles well in hand and Diplomacy wasn't his strong suit, so he let the other handle it, standing silently by and watching as things progressed. He walked back and forth watching them bicker back and forth like children but held his tongue not wishing to bring any dishonor upon the glorious Skrull Empire with his words.

As the Cardinal departed, the Skrull simply smiled.

"Should have killed him anyway." He spoke for the first time to his group, "Fanatics like that are nothing but trouble."

Just as he finished speaking his sentiments were proven right.

"Ungrateful fools!"

Initiative: [roll0]

[industrious]

Major Gibson

He knew it. He knew it he knew it he knew it.


[roll0]

[Limos]

Meanwhile, aboard the Faithship Ardent

The Parishioners and Cardinal portal in to the atrium of the Faithship just in time to catch the tail end of the Captains report. The face on the screen turns to study the Cardinal.

"Where are the ambassadors Cardinal?"

"I have failed you. But all is not lost, I left four Martyrs to disable the Cortex. The attack can go as planned."

http://i51.tinypic.com/sxbpg8.jpg

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in Knowhere

Amalgam sweeps the four Parishioners on to the platform with one stretchy limb and immediately slams down his other palm on the Teleport controls. A look of sudden dismay goes over the Martyr's faces as they shimmer and disappear. The odd assortment of people in the Cortex let out their held breath as one.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Once again on the Faithship

The four Martyrs appear in a second belated whoosh of teleportation. The parishioners pull away from them in terror while the Cardinal merely looks on with resignation.

"Oh Bollocks."

http://i56.tinypic.com/1213dxu.jpg

[Tichrondrius]

Paibok

Blocking his face with one arm made of flame, he suddenly glances over his arm to find himself and everyone else unharmed. Well, everyone else being unharmed was a surprise, but he figured it would be okay being immune to fire and all.

That Kree had actually done it and saved the station. He looked over at him and a smile crept over his face as he gave Amalgam an honorable nod between warriors.

Outside he heard the ship explode and gave a little chuckle.

"Yeah, get that **** right out of here." He said arrogantly and let an elongated limb travel over to high-five Amalgam. "So now I assume we hunt down and execute every single member of the Church?"

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

Well, one thing's for sure, Amalgam was very fast. Another thing was for sure... those bastards just got what was coming to them!

Connor grins slowly as he imagines a faithship blowing up. He gives Amalgam a thumbs up.

"That was pretty much perfect. Honestly, I give that performance a 10. Easy. I owe you a bee-- ...some kind of drink sometime."

He grins and moves over to the Kree ambassador first. Speaking in K'ree to him (just a show of respect), Connor says, "One moment ambassador. Allow me to heal any wounds you may have sustained from your captors." He then reaches out, his hand glowing with a soothing blue light. The light then washes over the Kree ambassador, and heals his wounds.

Connor then makes his way to the Shi'ar Ambassador, speaking in English and letting the translators do the work, "And to you as well, let me undo whatever bodily harm you may have suffered." And Connor repeats the process, the Power Cosmic altering molecules and restoring their health.

My massive healing power should be enough.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

A little out of breath, Amalgam's face full of teeth turned into a terrifying rictus. As the symbiote-stuff of his arm pulled back to normal length, he accepted the high-five from the Super-Skrull. "We would not be opposed, though we believe honor to be satisfied for the moment." he shrugged, licking his prodigious chops with a dripping, prehensile tongue for a moment before drawing it all back into that blank, mouthless mask with just the two white eyes. The little people tended to shy away from Amalgam when he wore his true face. He'd let go in the excitement and only now remembered to make an effort to preserve polite behavior.

[industrious]

Major Gibson

"Wow."

He attempts to offer his own high-five to Amalgam, but stops halfway through. Still getting used to not being able to touch. He doubted he'd ever get used to it. The habits of a lifetime die hard.

"That was...that was pretty swell, really."

[Starsign]

Ebonscale was too slow in his actions. Without ability to react he watched as the symbiotic saved them all. "Impressive" he simply stated as he offers a handshake to Amalgam. The Saruid's voice seemed stoic, but had passion and respect for the Kree. Hearing the exposion of the ship in the distance made him sigh a little. "Not that it could have been avoided, but I do hope next time we can solve this with less violence." he chuckled quietly.

Finishing up, the Saruid heads to the nearest window to see what else could be waiting out in space. "Think there could be any kind of useful tools or info we could discover from the destroyed rubble?" He commented about the destroyed ship.

[Limos]

"I doubt much of the ship will survive as it falls further into the nebula." The Kree ambassador moves towards one of the monitors to look at the scans of the wreckage. "But indeed this attempted kidnapping is troubling. I wonder what the Church thought to gain by taking us? And why try to destroy the station when he failed?"

The Shi'ar ambassador mumbles something to the Beastman and the large creature nods. "The Shi'ar Security will be launching an investigation of this heinous attack upon the our embassy."

"As will the Imperial Guard." The Kree sniper scuttles into the room in the wake of a much more imposing Kree in full imperial guard armor, with markings of rank on his shoulder that denote him a Captain. "Worry not, we will get to the truth."

One of the technicians sends a small communication to Major Gibson. "Sir, perhaps you remember the last time the Kree and Shi'ar 'Investigated' one another. Should I assign security details to keep them away from one another?"

[industrious]

Major Gibson

"I would agree that an investigation is called for."

The Major's eyes flick between the two.

"But so that neither party is offended by any...unfortunate questions or probing, as well as for your own protection, I would like to assign both a security detail to the both of you. We, too, are interested in finding out what the Church is planning. And how they smuggled those Martyrs onboard."

Attempting to keep the Kree and Shi'ar from investigating and knocking heads would be nearly impossible. Containing and redirecting that force, on the other hand, was far easier.

[Tichrondrius]

Paibok

"Yes, completely incinerated that is." Paibok muttered as he watched out the window before stretching his head back to join the rest of his body. "Still, I could go take a look and see if anything survived the wreckage before it's all lost." He offered, crossing his arms passively.

"Personally, I'm not against the Kree and Shi'ar killing each other over this." Paibok said when both the groups had left from them, ignorant of the Kree and Shi'ar within his own group. "But I'd rather they not do it here."

"Besides, I'd rather the Church pay dearly for this first and foremost. Do you believe any loyal to that cause remain on-board, Major Gibson?"

[SuperCracker]

Zenith


Paibok: "Personally, I'm not against the Kree and Shi'ar killing each other over this."

That little comment gets a sharp glare from Connor. Granted, Connor didn't look like a Kree... at all... but that was mostly due to all the genetic tampering on his father that was conveniently passed down. Grade school would've been hell, otherwise.

He lets it go for now and looks to Major Gibson.

"It is troubling that they outright attacked the station, this time. Specifically, the Cortex."

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"We will keep our ears to the ground, watch the places where the vermin like to hide. If there are more of them here we will catch them like a fly in a web." Amalgam said, clenching a clawed fist in emphasis. "We doubt there are more of those suicide bombs aboard, however, or else they may have tried to go off as well to ensure the station was disabled or destroyed. We think it more likely we will be searching for any spies, saboteurs, and assassins that they may have left behind."

[Limos]

I was hoping someone would take some initiative in how you want to go about the investigation, but I guess you need a little direction

The Next Day, after the factions had settled down from all the excitement, a representative of Kree, Shi'ar and the Knowhere security staff met with Major Gibson and the Guardians of the Galaxy to discuss their course of action. The Kree representative is an imperial guardsmen, a corporal it appears by his insignia of rank. The Shi'ar is one of the birdlike creatures whose race it is that forms of the core of the Shi'ar empire. The insectile creature in the Knowhere staff uniform is there on behalf of the technicians.

"Sir *tik*, from our sweeps of the wreckage it seems that Ardent had some kind of extra-dimensional portal on board. *tik tik*" The green carapace-d technician double taps his data slate and it beeps in response, "Energy *tik* readings are consistent with the *tik* Negative zone."

"That tells us nothing, the Negative Zone is a very large place. They could have been doing any number of things with that portal" The birdlike Shi'ar ruffles his feathers as he interjects, "The Shi'ar intelligence agency has reported of several meetings between Universal Church of Truth Cardinals and the leaders of the Badoon, on Moord. We hadn't thought it important enough to investigate until now."

The Kree imperial is much more businesslike than the other two and calmly waits for them to finish speaking before clearing his throat and standing. "The Faithship Zealous was spotted entering the Sol system, where it took up orbit around Uranus. We are unable to confirm but we believe that they met with the Inhumans. The Church's stance on genetic tampering has always been clear, they have always denounced the Inhumans as abominations, and on Kree have insisted that they are one of the many sins for which our society must atone."

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Perhaps we should ask the Inhumans what they talked about? Yes, you're right. It is very strange to have a civil, deathless conversation with those that consider you godless abominations..." Amalgam conversed with...well...mostly himself, but loud enough that the others could overhear. He nodded sagely, as if he had made a good point, and crossed his arms over his chest. He was showing his Kree face today, but the black stuff covered him from the top of the neck down to the tips of his toes, resembling a simple bodyglove.

[industrious]

Major Tom

"Sol?"

He didn't know where Earth was relative to Knowhere; his accident had left him drifting through space. He shakes his head at any perceivedinterest. Now wasn't the time.

"We have three leads, then. The Negative Zone, the Inhumans, and the Badoon. We should investigate each. And since we have the numbers for it, we can do so simultaneously."

[Starsign]

Tk'all decided to deliver his on opinion on the matter. "We should make a decision on who to send. If the church does indeed provoke threats on the Kree, then perhaps we should send one who does not ignite hostility or friendliness towards the Kree." He makes a quick turn to Amalgam before continuing. "It would be best to avoid starting any more conflicts between anyone associated with the church as of yet. If we can we should have the person with the strongest friendly tie to the lead be sent to investigate, failing that, the one with the most intelligence about the lead. I will volunteer myself for the Badoon. I have taken extensive research on their planet, Moord, and of the Badoon themselves. I will be able to converse with them"

[SuperCracker]

Con'orr-Vell

"I agree, Chief. As for myself, my father was trapped in the Negative Zone for quite some time, but I myself have rarely been there. On the other hand, I'm also from the Sol System." ...Sort of. "I believe I would be best suited for either of those missions."

He turns to look at the Kree ambassador, "Has the faithship left the Sol system, yet?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"We have history with the Kree. While we bear them no ill will, we are not allowed to enter the territory of the Empire. Sol is not Kree territory, but we are feeling diplomatic." Amalgam smiled, turning to the Kree corporal standing there. "Would the Empire find it acceptable if we went to visit the Inhumans, corporal? Or are we a danger to them as well?"

One couldn't immediately tell whether Amalgam was being sickly sweet in an attempt to goad the Kree guardsman or if he was being absolutely serious. His moods tended to shift often. Yesterday he had been all business, but today a certain humor was leaking into his personality.

[Limos]

"It has been a very long time since the Kree had any official ties to the Inhumans." The corporal says stiffly, "While our forces keep watch on the area it should not provoke any of my superiors by your presence."

[SuperCracker]

Con'orr-Vell

Well, with Amalgam volunteering to go speak with the Inhumans, it made his choice easier. He nodded. "I agree, Tk'all. A neutral party might be best. With that in mind, I think I'll go check out the Negative Zone. The Cosmic Awareness will be helpful in searching for whatever the Church is up to."

He gave a small nod to the Chief, "You should check out the Sol system, as well, Chief. Take a look at Earth." He gave him a friendly smile.

"With that, I think I'm going to go have a look at what's left of this portal."

And he started making his way towards the airlock.

[industrious]

Major Gibson

"That might be awkward. Disappearing for about a month, especially when you are thought to be dead..."

It's been over forty years. With no Gregorian calender to be found, he hasn't quite grasped how much time he's spent since his accident. In his mind, it's still 1962.

"But I'm sure that they'll be happy to have me back. I be they think the Red's sabotaged my ship...

[SuperCracker]

Con'orr

"A month? The Reds? Chief... that's.."

Well dammit... he didn't want to have a history lesson with the Chief in front of everyone. It might embarrass the man.

"Look... just, stay calm when you get there, alright? I think things might be different if you visit Earth. At any rate, good luck, team."

[Starsign]

Tk'all gave a small grin of agreement to the rest of the group. "If we are all in agreement, then I shall be in the library. Some more studying on some of the more subtle regions of Moord could be worth knowing." he calmly told as he started to leave as well, taking one look at Paibok first. "I must ask, how are the Skrulls standing with the Badoon? If they have no hostility or otherwise shady business been done between the two, then I'd like to ask you to accompany me."

[Limos]

"The Badoon *tik* have a negative relationship with everyone." The technician clicks through his dataslate some more as he looks up the relevant statistics. "They aren't the *tik* friendliest of species. Though they *tik* don't have any particular dislike for one race or *tik* another."

[SuperCracker]

Con'orr-Vell

And so, Connor makes his way to the airlock and walks inside, activating the system. Warning klaxons go off inside the lock as it is sealed... then the air is expelled outwards into the vacuum of space.

The Power Cosmic, channeled through the Nega Bands, causes his body not to explode from depressurization, or freeze from the bone-chilling cold, and the whole not needing to breath is good, too.

His body lights up in a soft, blue glow as he nimbly floats out of the airlock and into the silence of space. The light around his body glows more brightly as he accelerates, flying towards the wreckage of the faithship Ardent.

[Starsign]

Tk'all arrives just in time for Connor to take his leave. "Well, you could have waited for me." he sarcasitcly proclaimed to himself. He had no need to breathe either, a nice side-effect to the Ebon power that he held. Finding nothing else to do aside from waiting for an opportunaty to leave, Tk'all heads back to the library, seeing what he could learn about the Badoon.

If you will allow it, I take 10 on the Knowledge: Behavioral, Physical, and Life Sciences about the Badoon. If you allow it instead though, I'd like for Tk'all to spend some time to take 20 on it instead for a 32 result rather than 22. :smallsmile:

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Well, Major Gibson, I suppose it's you and us then." said Amalgam. "Shall we depart immediately or is there anything to take care of before we head to Sol system?" he asked, scratching his chin as he pondered the last question himself. All that Amalgam had to do recently was disguise himself and eavesdrop on random conversations in the hope he might hear two or three Church infiltrators scheming amongst themselves. Alas, no success thus far.

[industrious]

Major Gibson

"I doubt I'll need to do much research. It is Earth, after all. How much different could it be?

He rubs his chin thoughtfully, considering.

"Do we need to get you a spacecraft, or can you get to Earth on your own power?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Transport would be appreciated. While my other can survive in a vacuum, I cannot. Besides, we have no form of inherent locomotion suitable for traveling faster than light through the space lanes." Amalgam shrugged. "So it would do us little good even if we could survive exposure to the void."

[Limos]

"Sir, the Transporter Cortex is fully operational, we can transport you directly the Sol system. *tik* We'll put you right on the Kree ship..." The technician stops and looks at Amalgam, Oh right *tik*. And I suppose it would be a bad idea to *tik* drop you right into the Inhuman's city. Well there is another occupied world in the system... Perhaps you could find *tik* a transport from there, though they are rather primitive."

Tk'all's research
You learn that the Badoon have a form of extreme gender dimorphism, and that their mating rituals are extremely violent. To the point that until they got them under control they remained trapped in the iron age. Eventually the males attained dominance and moved their population off world. The females remain on their homeworld and the males travel their periodically to mate, this helps keep their mating urges under control.
[+5 to Sense Motive and Diplomacy with Badoon]

The Badoon are extremely aggressive. They make use of genetically and cybernetically augmented soldiers which they call Monsters. In the station data you find schematics and biometric data on these creatures and their weaponry.
[Favored Enemy Bonus: Badoon Monsters]

[Tichrondrius]

Paibok

"The mighty Skrull Empire has not had any major conflicts with the Badoon in several years." Paibok mentioned as he accompanied Tk'all to the library. "However it is the best place for me to investigate, no matter how aggressive they are. Earth and I have a troubled history, not to mention the Kree.." He opened his arms in a half-shrug to indicate he didn't need to go on.

"If they have chosen to ally themselves with the Church, however, their lives have become moot to me. I will not tolerate Anarchy in a Lawful Universe."

As they stood in the library, Paibok generally allowed Tk'all to research at his leisure and didn't say much. After a sufficent amount of time has passed, the Super-Skrull stretches his head to peak over Tk'all's shoulder.

"Find anything interesting?"

[Starsign]

Tk'all takes a moment to stop his research to turn to Paibok. "Indeed I have," he states somewhat confidently. "I would rather not bore you with the massive write-up I have written down, so let me try and sum it up to the best of my ability." He quickly shoves aside a two hundred-something page essay that he wrote on the Badoon and pulls out a smaller 20 page work that he wrote, with every line used up on the page. "Do the Skrulls have the patience for this sort of thing? I admit that even this might be too long to be considered 'short'"

[industrious]

Major Gibson

"Well then," the posthuman says. "Let's be on our way. Back to Earth. I hope I haven't missed much of the Andy Griffith Show."

[Tichrondrius]

Paibok

"Skrulls have a great love of knowledge as well." Paibok assured, taking the offered pages and glancing over them. "I suppose I'll have plenty of time to read over this on the way." He mused after a moment of hesitation, seeming to blanche at realizing the sheer size of this.

"I'd hate to see your full thesis." Paibok replied, giving a slight chuckle. "Maybe you can just fill me in on the short short version." He continued, shrugging a bit.

"At least I've got a picture of them. I do wonder if they'd react more favorably to a fellow Badoon? Perhaps we should get going."

[Starsign]

Tk'all put the 200 page essay in a container as he gave the smaller pages to Paibok. "Ah yes I forgot, Skrulls have an excellent foundation of science and knowledge. I suppose that is why they have people like you." He gave a small wink and grin. "Anyway, lemme give you a summary now, you can read that on the way."

Tk'all shares his knowledge with Paibok, and learns this...
You learn that the Badoon have a form of extreme gender dimorphism, and that their mating rituals are extremely violent. To the point that until they got them under control they remained trapped in the iron age. Eventually the males attained dominance and moved their population off world. The females remain on their homeworld and the males travel their periodically to mate, this helps keep their mating urges under control.
[+5 to Sense Motive and Diplomacy with Badoon]

The Badoon are extremely aggressive. They make use of genetically and cybernetically augmented soldiers which they call Monsters. In the station data you find schematics and biometric data on these creatures and their weaponry.
[Favored Enemy Bonus: Badoon Monsters]

Ready to head out of the library, Tk'all turns back to the Skrull, "The Badoons seem rather negative towards the other races, though I do not believe my own has met them. I suppose it would be valuable if you were to disguise as one of them."

Before they would embark however, Tk'all had one last thing to ask."I suppose... nothing would stop you from a full-planet genocide if we do learn that these Badoon are in league with the Church?" His voice was sour, he wanted to avoid violence, and a complete destruction of a planet would be unbearable for the Saruid.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Without further ado, Amalgam made his way to the cortex chamber. He probably arrived after Major Tom, simply because he couldn't just phase through whatever walls were in the way. Still, Amalgam could move at a pretty good clip when he had room, and the pathways of a Celestial's decapitated head had pretty tall ceilings. He swung into the cortex chamber and deposited himself on the teleporter pad.

[Tichrondrius]

Paibok

The Super-Skrull smirked back and shrugged letting the comment pass. "Of course they do, the Skrulls excel in many areas." He crossed his arms and chuckled a bit. "Be glad I enjoy your company, Tk'all." He warned, but his tone was still rather jovial. Paibok took the smaller pages and examined them as they walked.

"Odd." The Skrull mused, "..Most odd." He raised an eyebrow as he read on, only pausing to speak further to Tk'all. "Yes, a Badoon arriving with an off-world friend or.. prisoner.." He studied Tk'all for a moment. "Would most likely be enough to at least get us to someone who may know more about this Church Business."

As Tk'all asked him the last question, the Super-Skrull stopped for a moment and looked him in the eyes. "My friend, I am a Skrull. I do what must be done." He nodded honorably, and embarked with the creature.

"If they are indeed in league with the Church, I hope they die well."

[Limos]

The Wreckage of the Faithship Ardent

As Co'norr Vell drifts through the orange and red misted nebulae which surrounds Knowhere he begins to see parts of the wreckage spinning idly through the void. Part of an ornately carved archway formed from plasteel hangs in the emptiness, scarred on one side by the explosion that tore it free. A golden helmet embossed with religious symbols, the small twisted lump of frozen meat inside possibly belonging to it's owner.

As he moves further the chunks become larger, until he finds the bottom half of the ship itself, still intact. The distinctive Cathedral portion of the ship having been blown outward by the explosion of the Martyrs. The engines are cold, the systems showing no electrical activity on Knowhere's sensors. The small radar given to Co'norr to detect the Negative zone portal flashes slightly quicker, the display arrow points at the disabled ship.


-------------------------------------------------------------------

Earth

Amalgam and Major Gibson feel an all over itching sensation as the Transport Cortex powers up for a long range jaunt. The universe seems to lurch sideways beneath their feet (or at least for Amalgam it does) as the dazzling blue radiance overtakes them. Once the light fades the two find themselves standing in a small scorched crater in a grassy field. The bench to their right and the jungle gym down the sidewalk tells them that this is likely a park, middle class neighborhood. You remember what the technician had said shortly before transport.

I'll set you down in the outskirts of the largest superhuman density area. It seems the most likely place to locate transport on that world.

A strangled yell breaks the reverie of the peaceful neighborhood from behind you. A middle aged man in an ill-fitting jogging suit stands there with both hands over his mouth. He quickly begins lumbering away from you as fast as his pudgy legs will carry him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Paibok and Tk'all are still on Knowhere, they have to decide how they would like to reach Badoon. Remember you have contacts with both Kree and Shi'ar security embassies as well as the Cortex transporter

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Amalgam watched the man run. For a moment, he felt the predator's instinct to chase fleeing prey, but squelched it. Instead, he looked over at Gibson, then down at himself. His form shifted suddenly until he looked...not exactly like Gibson or the middle-aged jogger, but a mix of the two spiced with a few random alterations. He avoided just copying a face since he might run into the jogger or someone he knew. By creating a new, random human appearance for himself Amalgam could pretend to be just about anyone. The symbiote changed itself to mirror the jogging suit except in black and a perfect fit, since they both figured that was how humans dressed.

"Are all humans that skittish?" Amalgam asked Major Tom, cocking his head to the side like a curious dog.

[Starsign]

Tk'all takes the moment to ask Paibok one thing before they leave. "How shall we embark? We can get assistance from the Kree or Shi'ar embassies, or we can use the Cortex teleporter. What do you think would be the least frustrating for the Badoon?"

[Tichrondrius]

Paibok

"The Cortex Teleporter probably. I'd hate for them to be able to track our ship back to the Kree or Shi'ar." He said back, before making all preparation to use it to leave. Before they arrived he Morphed to appear as much like a Badoon as he could based on the research Tk'all had performed

[Starsign]

Tk'all nodded in agreement. "Wish us luck." he said quietly to himself as they boarded the teleporter to Moord. The two of them had not exactly planned this out in advance, so they would have to play things as they go along. The Saruid would find himself in a very dangerous spot if in fact the Badoon are in league with the Church...

[SuperCracker]

Con'orr-Vell

The sight of the spaced corpse was grim... but they had it coming to them. He weaved between the debris, pushing some out of his way if need be. He slows down somewhat as he comes to the more intact portion of the ship.

He checks the radar, keyed into the negative energy frequencies of the Negative Zone. Oh the memories this brought back. His father spent quite some time here-- Rick too-- when they were trapped in the same shared existence.

Using the radar, Connor finds an opening in the ship and makes his way inside. His eyes keep a close watch out, but makes his way towards the portal.

[industrious]

Earth

"We haven't even landed on our moon yet. People appearing out of thin air would be something very much out of the ordinary."

The ex-Major concentrates on his form, and manages to shift it into normal Earth attire...that went out of style fifty years ago. Suit and thin striped tie, fedora, and trenchcoat. Usual garb in 1960 meant highly conspicuous in the 21st century.

"Though I haven't anything like what he was wearing earlier. I suppose it must be some new trend. I don't think it'll catch on, though. Not for very long."

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"If this is such a backwater world, how are we going to get to its moon from here? We should have just teleported directly to our destination instead of this diversion." Amalgam said distractedly as he checked out his new duds.

[Limos]

Moord

The first thing that hits you is the stench. The overwhelming stink of ash and grease. Like falling face first into the gutter with a burger stand on one side and a crematorium on the other. The scent of a burning charnel house washes over you with each feeble gust of wind.

The second thing is the landscape. The only colors to be seen are brown and gray. Brown sickly vegetation, washed out gray-brown soil, the leaden gray clouds of pollution.

Moord's sister planet Lotiara, where the Females of the Badoon reside, rises high in the sky along with the four moons that rotate in their strange double looped ellipses around the binary system.

On the horizon a Badoon citadel can be seen slowly crawling along the hills, it's great iron claws sifting through the soil for resources. The Badoon ground their planet to scrap eons ago but they are stubborn creatures and never really gave up on finding just a bit more salvage buried in the toxic stew they had made of the planet's surface.

http://i54.tinypic.com/k3nmh4.jpg

------------------------------------------------------------------

The Wreckage of the Faithship Ardent

Co'norr edges his way through the wreckage painstakingly, pushing his way past broken hallways and shattered bulkheads. Every few minutes he finds another corpse. A man in brown robes, splattered into porridge against a transparent alumina window. An armored soldier cut in half by a collapsed security hatch.

Finally he finds himself moving into a larger chamber, the lights still on, the life support is still thrumming along. Lining the walls of the chambers are hundreds of bodies. Some of them stir feebly and a pulse of golden light limns their forms for a moment before sinking into the walls. In the center of the room three crystal spires shimmer and chime with each pulse of faith energy. A misty window appears in their midst then disappears again. The battered man at the console curses vociferously at the spires. "Believe! I need more Power! YOU MUST BELIEVE!!" The Cardinal screams at his dying followers, "Believe you miserable worms! My life is worth all of yours, you must give me your power so I may escape this tomb! THIS I BELIEVE!"

http://i55.tinypic.com/vhf1oj.jpg

[SuperCracker]

Con'orr-Vell

Silently he watches this wretched display. Whether it was religious nutjobs on Earth or these high-tech zealots, such blind devotion was a terrible thing. He felt sorry for these believers, sacrificing themselves for such a blatantly evil man such as the Cardinal.

Connor'll be damned before that man leaves here.

But before he does anything, he looks around the room from his vantage point, peering around a corner. The Cardinal, the bulkheads, the spires. He reaches out with the Cosmic Awareness to find any particular weaknesses.

Detect Weakness: Notice Check [roll0]

[Limos]

Your cosmic awareness seems fuzzed by the sporadic bursts of faith energy. The only weakness you can detect is the Faithful themselves. Their lives are very fragile right now. They could be snuffed out by the smallest trauma

[SuperCracker]

Con'orr

While taking out the Faithful would be an easy way to deprive him of power, Connor simply isn't willing to sink to that level. Looks like it's time for open confrontation.

Zenith prepares himself by creating a shield-like wall in front of himself with holes for vision, permanent (until destroyed or dismissed) that will hover in a position relative to him.

Create object. It's selective to let my attacks through, continuous (no need to focus on it at all), and tethered.

With that in place, he makes his way into the chamber openly.

"The only miserable worm I see here is you, Cardinal. You have one chance to surrender."

His hands glow with energy.

[Limos]

The Cardinal spins to face you with a primal snarl of fear and rage. "NO! It's not FAIR! I did everything I was supposed to do! I would have had the Kree and Shi'ar at each others throats if you and your filthy heathen team hadn't butted your big ugly faces in!" The Cardinal pulls his mace and the metal immediately flares with golden light.

http://i55.tinypic.com/1k701.jpg

Roll for initiative
[roll0]

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

"You can tell me all about it during your interrogation!"

His body lights up brightly with cosmic energy and his hands blaze with blue light. Zenith is ready to fight.

I am prepared to lose initiative. Haha. [roll0]
Using my "shield" for cover and to soak up an attack for me. Cover gives +4 defense.

[Limos]

"Your barrier cannot hold back the power of my faith! I BELIEVE!" The cardinal rushes towards you preternaturally fast and swings his incandescent mace at the barrier of cosmic energy.

The mace sweeps through the field of energy like it was wet tissue paper but the barbed tines miss by a hair's breadth. Co'norr comes out unharmed but with his barrier dismantled.

[roll0]
[roll1]
No damage, barrier negated

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

Zenith leaps backwards away from the strike of the mace, and for good reason, too. The faith-powered weapon smashed through his shield like it was nothing. Zenith rolls as he lands, then comes up into a crouched position. He then lets out a battle-cry and explodes forward in full-speed flight towards the Cardinal, striking with a fist full of cosmic energy before carrying through, flying to the other side of the chamber. Connor neded to use his maneuverability against the Cardinal.

Move-by attack.
Attack Roll: [roll0]
Damage DC 27+Autofire 2; and penetrating

[Tichrondrius]

Paibok

The Super-Skrull resists the involuntary urge to cover his nose as his body materializes. His Badoon body's nose wrinkles in disgust as he waves his skeletal arm through the air to clear it.

"Nice ****ing place." Paibok curses- a rarity. He looks out over the landscape and sighs. "How did we get stuck with this particular assignment?" He chuckles, obviously not expecting the planet to be this bad. "On second thought I'll take the Earth one." He continues to muse to himself, taking a step forward.

"I suppose we'll head for that Citadel. Don't make any sudden moves if they're so wary of outsiders. I'll vouch for you but who knows if they have an itchy trigger finger." Paibok said, looking over before scoffing in disgust at his current attire. "Savages, really." He said to himself before walking on towards the nearest building.

"Maybe we'll get lucky."

[Starsign]

Tk'all's nose felt like it was burning when he arrived with Paibok. "Well, it's much like my planet," he analyzed, "Just with heaps and heaps of uninhabitable machinery." he then stated in a more disgust tone. He decided that there wasn't any point to turn around, so they had to continue forward.

"We should head in quietly and unnoticed," he told his Super-Skrull ally. "Let's get a closer look at the citadel before we decide to head in through the front door or the back way." He followed Paibok, keeping a lower stance due to his size.

"...Have we even decided how we will be handling conversation with the Badoon?"

[Limos]

Ardent

The Cardinal rolls nimbly away from your strike, surprisingly agile for such a large creature. As you fly out of his reach he snarls and lofts his holy weapon skyward. "I BELIEVE!" The mace flares again, brighter than the sun, filling the chamber with painful brightness.

You missed.

Fortitude save DC 22 or be blinded

[SuperCracker]

Zenith, On Board the Ardent

He raises his hands to shield his eyes from the light. The brightness is painful, but he manages to withstand it. Shaking it off, he remains where he's at, taking aim at the Cardinal with his right hand and unleashing a powerful blast of energy at him in the form of a beam of bright blue light.

Attack: [roll0]
DC 25+Autofire 2

[Limos]

[roll0] vs. 27

Stunned and Bruised. Your move.

The light strikes the Cardinal in the shoulder and spins him about with a sizzle of burning vestments. He loses his footing and slams into the console, then bounces back into the walkway. Unsteadily he braces himself against the railing and catches his breath. "Pagan scum!"

[SuperCracker]

OOC: Don't forget the autofire 2 bonus. He might have actually failed by 10 if I beat his defense by 1 or more.

[Limos]

You exceeded his defense by 4, which means you get +2 damage. I'm assuming you are using All Out Attack to increase your damage at the cost of defense correct? Also you should only apply Autofire extra once. It has no effect applying it twice.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

Connor narrows his glowing eyes and starts to move forward, flying overhead for a strafing run against the Cardinal, a beam of cosmic energy tearing a line through the floor of the room, aiming to carve right into the creature and take him down before he can strike again.

Another attack. This time, I'm going to use All-Out Attack to sacrifice 2 points of defense and grant myself 2 points of attack.

Attack: [roll0]
DC 27+Autofire 2
EDIT: DC 31, same as last time.

[Limos]

[roll0] vs. 31

Oh wait, no dodge roll bonus, take 5 off his Toughness. Which means he fails hardcore. Staggered and Stunned WAIT! He also loses his dodge bonus to defense, which means your autofire is even more effective. Unconscious.

The second blast knocks the Cardinal the length of the hallway where he skids in a boneless tumble against the archway entrance. He struggles to rise to his feet with drops of dark blood dripping from his mouth and nose, trickling out of his helmet and on to the floor. "Kill you, you... filthy heathen..." His mace drops from his limp hand as he takes one step toward you down the walkway.

In mid stride his knees turn to jelly and he slump to the ground. His grand helmet rolls away from him, between the bars of the railing, and falls into the depths of the Faith reactor.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

He keeps his hands raised in an attack position until the Cardinal falls to the ground. Zenith takes a small breath and reaches for his communicator, sending a message back to Knowhere.

"Station, this is Zenith. I'm aboard what remains of the Faithship. The Cardinal is unconscious, but should be alive, and some of his followers are alive, too. I need a security team and a ship to bring them back to Knowhere for questioning."

He floats down closer to the floor, and makes his way towards that control panel. He hopes to find out what they were doing with the Negative Zone.

[Limos]

On the control console Co'norr finds a set of coordinates that have been entered by the Cardinal. They correspond to a particular location in the Negative zone where a matching portal will allow transit in both directions.

After several minutes a Knowhere shuttle arrives and with Co'norr's help it cuts through the wreckage to reach the Portal chamber. The Cardinal is clamped down with power dampeners and restrained, then carted off into the shuttle. The followers that are still alive are taken directly to the med bay for triage. All told you recover 26 living followers and the Cardinal himself. The remaining followers have all expired. As soon as the last follower is disconnected the system begins to lose power and the Knowhere staff evacuates the wreckage.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

He quickly downloads the coordinates. Unfortunately, the portal from this ship seems to not be functioning anymore.. at least without the power being siphoned off of the faithful. Poor bastards, all of them. Connor attempts to contact the techs.

"Is there a way we can bring this portal back on-line with an alternate power source? I need to find out what's on the other side."

Barring that, of course, he could always find an alternate means of getting to the Negative Zone, then just travel to those coordinates himself. Reed Richards was always good at that.

[Limos]

Moord

Paibok and Tk'all hear a sound approaching them, it's source obscured by the clouds of drifting haze. ...clank thump wheeze... Like an old refrigerator kicking on, ... thump wheeze whiiiiiiiiir... Two points of green light appear for a moment to your left.

There is a scatter of metal on metal as something large and heavy knocks over a pile of junk before disappearing into the darkness. ... huff wheeze rattle thump... The veil lifts for a moment and you see the creature, the Monster, a twisted parody of flesh and clockwork squatting on the pile of refuse. Another cloud of ash rolls over you all and the creature disappears.

http://i56.tinypic.com/23ve45t.jpg

Notice checks, super senses. If you've got em now is the time to use em.

@Amalgam and Gibson:Just so you know, Gibson would be aware of Cape Canaveral air force base (since that is where he was launched from) and probably the plans for Kennedy Air Force base that would have been built the year after he was launched.

In addition you are both aware that the Inhumans are located on the Moon.

[Starsign]

Tk'all makes a turn to the creature, then all around him. "I don't like the looks of this. It may have been a recon unit. We should hurry on our way."

Notice check: [roll0]

[industrious]

Major Tom

"Well..."

That was a really good point. And it takes the man out of time a second to come up with an answer.

"Connor was able to come to Knowhere. So there must be some sort of...classified government project working on more advanced space travel. Area 51. So logically, we get ourselves to a big city, I flash my government ID, and we get access to some sort of reverse-engineered craft?"

Major Tom begins to walk towards along the sidewalk, whistling all the while.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Didn't they say this was some sort of hub of 'superhuman' activity? Maybe one of these abnormal human mutations can help us? Ah, but we'll follow your lead. It's your planet, Major." Amalgam replied as he began to walk along the sidewalk as well.

[Limos]

Earth

As you exit the trees around the park you see a sign which reads Gantry Plaza Park, the street signs on the nearby roads indicate you are somewhere in Queens, New York. The road near the park is quiet, with only a few cars passing by, though one slows down to take a closer look at you both before speeding off down the street with a squeal of tires.

The man in the jogging suit is standing next to large black vehicle in the nearby parking lot, he is speaking rapidly into his cell phone. You can't make out his words from this distance but he appears distressed.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Oh look, it's the corpulent human. We knew he probably wasn't going to get very far." Amalgam stated the obvious. He lifted his hand and waved at the jogger, smiling with his faked face. The smile was just a little bit flat and lifeless, but still wouldn't make anyone think "alien" if they saw it. Amalgam just wasn't used to expressing with his new face yet.

[industrious]

Thomas Gibson

"Well, that isn't very nice."

Though why they were staring was a question. Thomas looked exactly as he did in life, albeit not in astronaut garb, and Amalgam looked...if not normal, then certainly within the bounds of normalcy.

"Though he's got some sort of compact pocket radio on him. He's probably a police officer of some sort. No doubt he's calling for backup, or some sort of escort."

[Limos]

Earth

The trees beside you suddenly begin to whip about in the spontaneous maelstrom of wind, the grass flattened as though a massive threshing machine had just passed through it. The whup-whup-whup of rotors causes you to look up and you see the helicopter swinging in from over the park. Emblazoned on the side of the machine is a black emblem.

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090201141959/marveldatabase/images/2/27/HAMMER_Logo.jpg

"Attention unregistered superhumans. You are in violation of the United States Superhuman Registration Act. Power down immediately and put your hands behind your heads. You will be processed in accordance with the law." The crackling electrically amplified voice manages to make itself heard over the rotors. "We repeat, power down immediately."

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"How interesting. I wonder if they would understand that by virtue of not being human, we are not bound by this planet's laws. Hm...probably not. They look rather feisty to us. Shall we go along with it or attempt to remove ourselves, Major?" Amalgam asked calmly, raising his voice just loud enough to be heard. Amalgam didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble, but rotting in a human jail over some obscure backwater law governing unique abilities among its populace was not his idea of a good time.

[industrious]

Major Tom the Temporally Confused :smalltongue:

"Obviously, the Cold War has picked up in my absence. Hold on. I can handle this."

Tom reaches into his wallet, and flashes his security clearance. His fifty years old, out of date, security clearance. Signed by Dwight Eisenhower.

"It's okay!" he screams over the roar of chopper blades. "We are not Reds! Repeat, we are not Reds!"

[Limos]

Earth

"He's got a weapon!" The tinny loudspeaker voice shouts as Tom reaches for his wallet "All units engage hostiles!" The sides of the helicopter open and long black ropes snake down to the lawn, they are quickly followed by armored humans toting very large rifles. A second squad of HAMMER agents arrive with a screech of tires as an APC swerves to a stop down the street.

Apparently we need a more overt message of violence.

Roll Initiative

--------------------------------------------------

Moord

Tk'all is unable to see the Monster through the heavy smog while Paibok stands like a lump and stares into space. With a whistling teakettle screech the Badoon's living weapon leaps from the top of a junk pile and slams into Tk'all with bonecrushing force.

Toughness save DC 23

Then roll initiative

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Your race is rather quick on the draw. Oh well, if they insist on violence, we shall oblige them." Amalgam shrugged as his black jogging suit snaked up to cover his head and turned into his normal full-body "costume" with wide, white eyes.

Jumping into the air above the heads of the armored men with big rifles, he pointed his fist at the helicopter above them. A sticky, black strand shot from the back of his hand with a thwip and attached itself to the centerpoint of the vehicle's rotor blades, twining all around them and quickly wrapping itself into a knot. At this point the helicopter's remaining passengers would come to the horrible realization that he was trying to gum up the engine and stop the blades from turning. At this height the fall wouldn't kill anyone, but the helicopter would probably be too damaged to even think of getting back in the air again.

Snare 12: [roll0]
On a successful hit to the chopper's defense, the chopper has to make a Reflex Save DC 22 to avoid becoming entangled or worse. Obviously the goal is to crash it into the grass and sow general confusion and chaos as the humans scatter away from it. I know Major Tom won't be hurt because he's incorporeal.

[Starsign]

Toughness Roll: [roll0]
Initiative: [roll1]
The creature's sudden appearance left Tk'all off guard for a moment as he found himself hit by what felt like a child's attempt at a football throw with that slam attempt. The Saruid quickly gains his ground as he looks at his opponent. "So this a... Badoon?" he asks himself.

[industrious]

Major Tom

"My God..."

The warning by his fellow American. The strange clothing. The hostility. And most obvious of all: the name of the organization. HAMMER. There could only be one explanation.

"They're all Commies!"

And for democracy, for freedom, for truth and justice and the American Way of life, he had to stop them!


Initiative:[roll0]
Only way to justify Tom's assault, really. And I like his delusions. Spoiling them too early would be a problem.

[Limos]

Earth

The webbing flies a bit off center as it aims for the helicopter and rather than gumming up the works it hits one of the rotors and wraps around the spinning portion. While distressing to look at it doesn't actually impede the helicopter's function.

Snare is a miss on helicopter, still need your initiative

[roll0]

--------------------------------------------------------------

Moord

The Monster scrambles back to it's feet and begins circling the Saruid warily. It's unblinking diode eyes glow a jaundiced yellow through the smog.

Tk'all is bruised.

[roll1]

[Limos]

Amalgam and Major Tom win Initiative for Earth. Amalgam goes first

Monster wins Initiative for Moord

Moord

Sensing an opening of some kind the monster leaps back at Tk'all with a screech, his metal claws drag along the ground leaving furrows in the toxic soil. He slashes with one arm in a heavy overhanded blow. The massive claw strikes Tk'all in the chest and wraps around his ribcage, lifting him off his feet.

[roll0] vs. DC 18 Hit
On hit DC 23 Toughness save and opposed Grapple check vs.
[roll1] (grapple is Strength bonus + Attack bonus + super strength ranks)

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Amalgam tied another webline to the helicopter's underside as he swung by beneath it, using it to slingshot himself back right in through the open doors on the other side! He let his foot do the leading, smashing anyone standing in the open passenger compartment either between the shoulder blades or right on the chin, possibly even knocking them straight out of the hovering vehicle.

Unarmed Attack (Damage 12): [roll0]
I'm assuming there's someone left manning the gun or something. If not, this could be applied to the pilot or copilot just as easily.

[Limos]

[roll0] Staggered and Stunned, Knockback takes effect

Earth

The Soldier who was just revving up the machine gun built into the side of the attack chopper is knocked off his feet and right out the opposite side of the chopper. He gives one shrill shout of surprise before disappearing into one of the park trees in a crash of snapping branches. The pilot screams and jerks on the chopper controls sending the vehicle into a lazy spin. Two of the soldiers on the ground who were still clipped to their safety lines are towed along with it and are pulled off their feet.

Major Tom is up

[Starsign]

Toughness Save: [roll0]
Grapple Check: [roll1]
Ugh, I don't feel like making an IC post atm...

The slash did nothing to Tk'all's muscled body, but at the moment he was unable to get out of the creature's claw-like grab.

[industrious]

Major Tom

"You won't defeat America that easily, you Reds!"

His arm outstretched, the Major concentrates on the accident that removed his physical form, on the radiation that bombarded him throughout his journey. And a writhing, brilliant blast of ultraviolet radiation is sent towards the APC.


Attack Roll:[roll0]
Damage DC 25 Toughness.

[Limos]

[roll0]

Earth

The APC loses quite a bit of paint as well as one of it's doors and begins to steam in the moist air. The squad that was taking cover behind it back away warily and grip their weapons.


----------------------

Moord

Tk'all throws off the hideous beast and it screeches it's rage at the escaping prey.

Your grapple check is 37 and thus you resist his grapple and can take your turn as normal. Please smack this sucker down post haste.

[Limos]

Earth

[roll0] vs 22
[roll1] vs 22
[roll2] vs 22
[roll3] vs 22
[roll4] vs 22
[roll5] vs 22

The soldiers open fire with their rifles on the two supers, One strikes Major Gibson while three sizzle through the air toward Amalgam.

Tom makes a DC 19 Toughness
Amalgam makes three DC 19 Toughness

[Starsign]

Out of the creature's grip, Tk'all suddenly showed a rather mad-looking scowl as he rushes crazily at the creature, releasing a hard flurry of Ebon-imbued punches.

Activate Rage 4. Strike with Ebon Punches (Strike). DC 36 normally if hit, Autofire applies afterwards.
Attack Roll: [roll0]

[Limos]

Moord

Tk'all's punch connects solidly with the creatures chin and a large chunk of the jaw breaks off with a groan of twisted metal. It leaps back into the fray but goes wide of the mark, still off balance from it's head injury, and crashes into a pile of wreckage.

[roll0] - Bruised

No damage, no grapple. You're up.

[Limos]

[roll0] vs. DC 18
[roll1] grapple

[Starsign]

Tk'all chases after the creature in what seems like a blind rage, crushing the creature's head in with his fists while it's down, then grabbing the creature's head and smashes it on the ground repeatedly.

Another Ebon Strike. Attack Roll: [roll0] DC 36 (before Autofire) if connected. May try for reroll if it's too low Nah I won't reroll.

[Limos]

[roll0] - I'm going to assume that being enraged makes you use lethal force, so DYING

Moord

The creatures skull cracks with a wet noise like a towel that has been taken out of the washing machine and thrown on to a tile floor. The bloody ruin of it's face gurgles and wheezes as it slips into unconsciousness. One of the cables sparks and crackles where it has been pulled loose from the surrounding flesh and circuitry.

"Mossst impressssssive," A sibilant voice breaks the silence of the scene. "You just cossst me sssixty creditsss. I had though the Monssster too powerful for you."

Turning, you see three Badoon in casual clothing lounging on comfortable couches. They flickerr and go transparent for a moment, revealing them to be a holographic projection. Their reptilian features give them an unpleasant cast, dead eyed and cold. "What bringsss you to Moord warrior?"

[Starsign]

Tk'all calms down and regains his senses as he sees what had just happened. "Gah... I must have went overboard... again." he thought to himself as he looked at the creature's mangled head before turning to the Badoon holograms. "You're monsters are impressive, but to the main point..." he complimented, "I am Tk'all, I come to investigate if there was any meeting's between members of your race and the Cardinals of the Universal Church of Truth that might have taken place on your planet. Do you have any info or proof of such?" He spoke in a calm tone now, despite blood obviously shown on his hands, and to a lesser extent, his face.

[Limos]

"SsssSSSssss... It wantsss information?" The Badoon chuckles, "Well maybe I sssshould tell you, after all what hassss Brother Royal done for me lately?"

"Yessss, the leader can be ssssuch a bore!" One of the other Badoon pipes in between bites of some kind of small alien fruits.

"Brother Royal hassss had a meeting with the Chuch, but about what he didn't ssssay." The first Badoon hisses. "But I sssshouldn't sssay more, unlessss you've got an offer?"

[industrious]

Major Tom

The Major briefly flickers as the laser punches through him.

"...Tingly."

His expression combines both bemusement, and arrogance. He takes off his fedora, and shakes it at them in defiance.


Toughness Save: [roll0]
Thanks to the Ablative flaw, I'm now at 11 toughness.

[Starsign]

"Hmm... an offer..." Tk'all muttered to himself quietly before responding. "Well I do hope you are not thinking of a mating ritual, I've heard such events are rather... violent." He paused for a moment before continuing. "This leader of yours is male? I thought the males populated off-world. I take it you do not take kindly to him?" He said in an almost smug tone, as if he was making them an offer...

[Limos]

"Thisss isss off-world, our homeworld isss Loitara" The Badoon corrects you, "You could sssay that. But for offersss I wasss thinking more of an exchange of information. What tidbitsss might you have that are worth my time?"

@Tom and Amalgam
Once Amalgam makes his toughness it is your turns again. Since you are on the same side it doesn't really matter what order you go in. So if Tom would like to just post his actions now that would be fine.

[Starsign]

"Ah, well I apologize then." Tk'all said, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I am looking info on the Church who had attacked Knowhere Station in the Faithship Ardent recently. The Faithship failed to survive the attack, but there are no clues to why they attacked. That is why I am here, because I have heard of a meeting between the Church and the Badoon." Tk'all took a small sigh as he crossed his arms. "I need to know if any of the Badoon are or were in league with the Church and have or had any involvement in the attack. I wish not to wage an attack or war upon you, regardless of if the Badoon had a role or not." He spoke about the entire Badoon population in the galaxy, rather than the ones on Loitara, in case there was a war among the race.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Amalgam ducked to the floor, his hands and feet adhering to the metal surface despite the pitching and rolling of the helicopter. One energy round sizzled into his shoulder through the open hatch, but the symbiote was more than enough to dissuade such a primitive weapon. It writhed, spat out some smoke, and reformed itself as if nothing had happened.

"Excuse us." Amalgam said as he quickly skittered forward into the pilot's compartment on all fours. Tendrils coming from his shoulders reached out and began to wrap up the seated pilot and copilot in bands of creeping darkness. "We were just remembering how easy we got airsick. We'd like to be back on the ground, please." he quipped as he readied to rip the humans from their chairs and retreat from the soon-to-be crashing flying machine.

Toughness DC19: [roll0]
Snare 6/6 (Split Attack): [roll1]
DC16 Reflex Save for the pilots, who I believe may be strapped in, so that might limit them. Amalgam has the strength to easily rip them out of their seats the next round, though. He'll bring the seats along, too, if he has to.

[industrious]

Major Tom

Casually, he sends another blast of radiation at the APC.

"Did you think it would be easy? Invading America? This is the land of the free, buckos. As long as one American's heart beats true, you can't stop us!"

Tired, and cliche phrases. But Tom comes from a time when those cliches were accepted as fact.


If these guys count as minions, I'll just take 10 on my attack roll.
DC 25 Toughness again.

[Limos]

Earth

The pilots are ripped free from their safety belts and follow Amalgam as he exits the helicopter. Meanwhile Major Gibson's radiation blast strikes one of the shooters and sends him head over heels into a lamppost which bends under the impact. The man slithers bonelessly into the gutter.

Just as the helicopter is about to crash into a nearby building it is enveloped in a blast of blinding yellow brilliance and the wreckage is deflected to fall harmlessly into the bay. Tracing the line of fire you see a group of strangely garbed humans coming towards you.

http://i52.tinypic.com/161xpqf.jpg


[roll0] vs 16
[roll1] vs 16
[roll2] vs 25

You can still make diplomacy or bluff checks or something if you want. If you wish to just go right back to face smashing then roll initiative for new combatants.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Upon seeing the new arrivals, Amalgam dropped to the ground, depositing the pilot and copilot safely on the grass, and leaped to meet them. He easily cleared the heads of anyone in between him and the other group and hit the ground about twenty feet short of the one in the lead - the bonded symbiote. He all but ignored the others as he straightened up and cocked his head to the side in interest.

"You're like us. What a pleasant surprise!" Amalgam said, his symbiotic costume buzzing a little with excitement. "We didn't expect to find another of our kind on this backwater world. How did you come to be here?"

"Oh," he added, "but please excuse our lack of manners. We call ourselves Amalgam. What's your name, brother?"

[Limos]

Don't worry about it, they've got themselves unclipped by now. They would have done so right after getting pulled off their feet

"A Symbiote? I'm nothing like you!" Venom snarls, "You're just another weakling like Brock, letting that bucket of slime call the shots. I'm the one in charge around here, not the Symbiote."

"Venom, stand down." The flying woman in the back reprimands him sharply. "You don't seem to be Toxin, or Anti-venom, or any of the other Symbtiotes on record, and you are much too comfortable with your powers to be a newbie. I'm guessing you two aren't from around here." She glances at Gibson, "I have no idea what you are, but Radioactive Man tells me you're a walking reactor. Any chance you can turn that off?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Weakling? Symbiosis makes us stronger. You should know that. We work together, two equals forming a greater whole." Amalgam said, showing his fanged mouth this time while speaking. He was perplexed. Both Norath and the symbiote were at a loss as to explain why one half of the equation would try to "call the shots" and boss around the other half. Wasn't that just counterproductive?

After a moment of regarding his strange kin, he turned his attention to the flying woman. "There are others? How peculiar!" he exclaimed, but quickly got back on track. "Oh, but are you here to attack us as well, then? Could you explain why first? As much as we love the exercise, we would rather be on our way."

[Limos]

Moord

"Well that issss interessssting." The Badoon says thoughfully, "Well I can sssssay that Brother Royal hasss been making sssomething. Sssssomething expensssive, and I hear the Chuch issss footing the bill. If you were to go poke around hissss citadel I'm sssure it would be educational."

"I heard he wasss making a portal." The second Badoon says, "But what kind of portal could cossst thisss much I don't know."

----------------------------------

Earth

"You two just stepped right into the middle of a war." The Golden woman says as the light fades from her hands and she alights on the ground. "If you run we will be forced to chase you. But if you come along quietly and meet with Director Osborn then we'll have you on your way as soon as possible."

"Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"Can this Director Osborn acquire us passage to your planet's moon? If so, we'll say 'take us to your Communist leader, humans.'" Amalgam answered with a very toothy grin.

[Limos]

Earth

"You came to Earth... just to get to the Moon?" She sighs, "Yes, we can arrange that."

You see some kind of Jet coming in overhead, the engines swivel forwar as it begins hovering and lands slightly up the street. The battered HAMMER soldier file in quickly, dragging their unconscious comrades. The golden female motions towards it. "Right this way gentlemen."

Ugh, too tired to write anything good right now. I should probably just stop updating tonight

[industrious]

Major Tom

"I actually can't turn it off. I'm like this all the time. Sorry."

As the jet settles down, Tom eyes it with suspicion.

"One question before I get on. Are you a member of the Communist party?"

[Starsign]

"Hmm..." Tk'all thinks for a minute. "I've always enjoyed education, I'd like to see if there's a way I can get into the citadel, I'd like to know what kind of portal he is designing. You called it "his" citadel, may I presume he runs it as a dictator?" he questioned the 3 Badoon, trying to maintain a positive relationship with them at this time.

[Limos]

Earth

No, we aren't." She stops and looks back at the large man in the radiation suit, "Except for Radioactive Man, but he's on loan from the Chinese."

I just realized that I chose this configuration of the Thunderbolts because it was small, had a good splash page, and contained Venom. Without realizing that it also contained Radioactive man, who is in fact a communist.

----------------------------------------------

Moord

"Brother Royal'sss power isss absssoulte." The Badoon stops, yawns, and looks at Tk'all blearily. "Thisss conversssation hasss begun to bore me. If you want to know about the portal, then come ssssee Brother Royal." He points over his shoulder, towards the horizon where the Badoon Citadel is sifting through the ground.

[industrious]

Major Tom

He quickly blurs into motion, cosmic radiation glowing around his fingers. Said fingers are less than three inches away from the man's throat.

"And you let him with you? He's a Russian spy, don't you get it! We have to get rid of him!"



In Tom's world, such a response would be perfectly logical. In the post Cold-War, superhero-laden environment, Tom's raving.

[Limos]

Earth

"Russia is no longer Communist" The large man's voice sounds flat through his gas mask, "Your people won the Cold War nearly fifty years ago."

[industrious]

Major Tom

"Fifty...years...?"

The next thing he knows, he's on his back. Fifty years. He's been gone for fifty years.

"Fifty..years?"

It is very hard to wrap his head around it.

"...I thought I've been gone six months, at the most. I mean..."

He's shaking his head, still in shock.

"What year is it? I haven't been on Earth since 1961..."

"I mean, everyone I know is dead..."

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

When Major Gibson had almost attacked Radioactive Man, Amalgam had also prepared to hold off the other three, stepping between them and letting his tentacles flow and weave through the air menacingly. He left his mouth open, considering the others seemed fine around Venom who never seemed to shut his, and it made him look terrifying. (Though probably not to the Thunderbolts, who were used to seeing Venom all the time.) However, when Tom backed off he followed suit. He looked almost sheepish for having looked so threatening before.

"You have our sympathies, Major. We realize how hard it can be to not have a home to come back to." Amalgam said earnestly.

[Limos]

Earth

The large green man looks at Gibson sympathetically, "It is the year 2010. You have missed much in your absence. Come, we will fill you in on the way. I am sure Osborn will be very interested in meeting you." He and Venom turn, then walk to the entrance of the troop carrier jet. The golden woman stays behind.

"Ready to go?"

[Starsign]

Tk'all leans over to get a look at the citadel. "So, that is it then?" he asked himself quietly. "Very well, I'll make my way there then, if you have nothing else you wish to ask or question me that is..."

[Limos]

Moord

The Badoon in fact have nothing more to say and their hologram fades out without further input. Tk'all troops further through the wasteland, leaving the burbling corpse of the Monster far behind. Every time he thinks that the Citadel is drawing closer it proves to be yet larger than it first appeared. A massive edifice of soot blackened iron and steel. As he draws close to the ground level gateway a reptilian voice amplified by a speaker calls out to him.

"Who goesss there?"

[Starsign]

Tk'all stopped immediately as he heard the voice. "I am Tk'all of the Saruids." he bellowed at the citadel. "I have come to meet Brother Royal on events surrounding the Universal Church of Truth."

[industrious]

Major Tom

"Yeah. Let's...let's go."

He can't really sit in the helicopter, but floating just above it works just as well.

"So..."

Something. Anything to get his mind off the year.

"Is this Osbourne the current president?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Amalgam crouched, listening to the conversation. Rather than use a bench, he adhered his feet to the ceiling and regarded everyone while upside-down. He seemed to be studying those present, most notably Venom.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

After everyone has evacuated the ship, he does the same, lighting up with cosmic power and flying out of the giant hole in the ship, leaving the rest of it to be lost in the Nebula. Good riddance.

Connor makes his way back into Knowhere, specifically the Cortex chamber.

He gives the coordinates to the technicians.

"I need you to send me to this location in the Negative Zone. See if you can give me some room so I'm not immediately spotted."

Once they comply, he uses the Cortex to teleport to that very location... and he gets ready.

[Limos]

Moord

The guards bow just slightly and then move aside, the iron doors opening on motorized hinges. A smaller Badoon, possibly a juvenile of the species, is called over to lead Tk'all through the corridors. The interior is packed with two parts luxuriant furniture and pleasant foodstuffs to one part Badoon revelers. The lizard like humanoids lounge about in the definition of debauchery. There are also great numbers of alien females of many races, but none of the Badoon females. This holds with what you know of Badoon mating, they become frenzied by the presence of the female pheromones.

After traversing many hallways, stairwells, and two freight elevators Tk'all finds himself nearing the top of the Badoon citadel, the hallways opens into a glass ceiling atrium with a gaudy and tasteless golden throne at the other end. On the throne is a richly garbed, though somewhat soft and paunchy, Badoon. Brother Royal.

"Welcome to the Badoon court Ssssaruid." He rises unsteadily from the throne, "I hear you wisssh to ssspeak to me?"


------------------------------------------------------------

Earth

Major Gibson and Amalgam board the Thunderjet and there arises a tense silence. Venom glares at Amalgam, Dr. Chen remains uncomfortably silent in the presence of Gibson, Penance stares off into space (maybe, his helmet has no visible features so it can be hard to tell), and Moonstone's attempts at starting conversation fall flat.

She gives a dry overview of the situation on Earth in Gibson's absence, covering the fall of the Soviet Union, the Civil War and the rise of Norman Osborn as the director of SHIELD, which he restructured and renamed HAMMER. The whole affair was decidedly a local problem. (Unlike the 616 timeline there was no Skrull invasion).

Osborn, she tells you, is a businessman, a capitalist, and most recently a politician. His job is to keep rogue supers from destroying the world. She doesn't go into much more detail than that as shortly thereafter you arrive at Thunder mountain complex, the underground military base/prison that Norman uses as his central command.

Walking through the complex from the hangar you see a multitude of jets and planes, as well as a single silo with an alien Space Shuttle which Amalgam recognizes to be of Kree design. A civilian craft, with recent damage to several areas which have been refitted and replaced with objects of human design.

You enter a large seating area, and then a smaller office where a man is waiting for you.

http://acomicbookblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Norman-Osborn.jpg

"Gentlemen, I'm so glad you could join me." Osborn smiles charmingly and offers his hand to shake. "I'm Director Osborn, I would like to apologize on behalf of my men for our earlier misunderstanding."

-----------------------------------------------------------

The Negative Zone

Zenith disappears from the Cortex transporter in a whoosh of blue light, and finds himself in the crazy inverse land of the Negative Zone. The sky is an electric mauve with zigzag orange streaks of clouds running across it. Ten million stars or planets, or possibly just sphere of fire, twinkle and shine in the maddening sky, some streaking off as though falling to earth only to stop suddenly or change direction at right angles.

Probably best to ignore it.

The earth is the color of rust, or blood, and very dusty. Some kind of scrubby plant is growing, with odd trefoil leaves that split into two points at each end. The plants are a deep purple. You appear to be on top of a large hill, or small mountain, the valley floor rising up in a steep slope until it's nearly directly above you, or perhaps you are the one who is upside down above it.

On the valley floor a number of bonfires have been lit, the smoke twisting away in all different directions, and there are a number of ships parked on the stone. The fires are centered around a log pavilion where a larger central fire has been lit. The sounds of raucous merrymaking can be heard coming from the massive beach party below.

[Starsign]

Tk'all watches the partying group as he heads to the Badoon leader. Not seeing the female Badoon made him think how different things here would be if they did live with the males. He had to admit though, he had not expected such style among the Badoon, even if they seemed not quite fit in well with the architecture. It would be wise for him not to disturb the mood of the place, even if they were guilty of assisting the Church in the attack before.

As he arrived to Brother Royal he begins with a solemn tone. "Your majesty, I have come in knowledge of what business the Universal Church of Truth has been made upon your world." He took a quick look around the place, feeling uneasy with all the other Badoon watching.

[industrious]

Major Gibson

"It's no problem, Mister Osbourne. These things happen. I'd shake your hand, but I'm..."

He waves his hand vaguely in the air. It passes through one of the walls of the office.

"...rather unable, since my accident."

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

Not to leave the man hanging, Amalgam took up the slack and shook Osborne's hand. The symbiote slithered as it made contact, like it was tasting the Director's skin. It was pretty creepy, actually.

"No harm done on our side, and we suspect you have plenty of those rotor aircraft and little armored humans. So we can't imagine the damage we did to them would be of any consequence." he shrugged.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

The Negative Zone; a universe that was collapsing, a place in which Mar-Vell was trapped. Now Connor had come here willingly. According to Reed Richard's theories, there is only one Negative Zone in the Multiverse.. so technically, this is a more familiar place than the station he'd just come from.

Those thoughts aside, he needed to determine what the Church wanted with this location. He scans the area with his eyes. Ships, bonfires, and parties were the scene. No massive war machines or alien prisons... and the festivities seemed very unlike the Church.

So, with only one way to truly find out, he started to flow down-- or up-- towards the party, hoping to find some answers to his questions.

[Limos]

Moord

"Why yessss, the Church hasss been very generousss with their tributesss of late." Brother Royal slouches lazilly on his cushioned throne and idly plucks a grape from a tray being proffered by a servant. "They usssually aren't ssso open to the Badoon love of excesss, but they need our technology to build them the-"

"Your majesty, pardon my interruption." The booming voice drowns out Brother Royal's sibilant drawl and the end of his sentence is unintelligible. The owner of the voice is a Universal Church of Truth Cardinal, a different species than the one you encountered on Knowhere, being of much greater girth with a barrel chest and massive hands the size of summer hams. His raiment however is of the same design and clearly marks his position. "The Church has made it's wishes for privacy clear in this matter."

"Whatsss the harm in it Cardinal? He'sss just one man, sssurely I could just gosssip a bit." Royal ventures cautiously.

"You could, but then the Church would have to cut off it's tributes." The Cardinal looms over the smaller reptilian monarch, "You wouldn't want your stock of Red Sand and slaves to dry up now would you?"

------------------------------------------------

Earth

Osborn doesn't flinch in the slightest at Amalgam's crawling handshake. In fact your symbiote withdraws just slightly at the bitter chemical taste of the man's skin.

"Moonstone already sent her report ahead while you were en route." He releases your hand and moves over to his desk where he picks up a sheaf of paper and flips through it. "From what she tells me you need to get to the Moon. Clearly you are here for Black Bolt and his kingdom of freaks." He smiles at you and closes the packet.

"I think we can help each other. Recently a prisoner escaped from The Cube, one of our surface facilities. Intel places him in the Inhuman city. You need transport and I need my prisoner." Osborn pulls out a remote and activates the screen at the back of the office. A picture of a silver haired human appears.

http://superherouniverse.com/wiki/images/b/ba/Quicksilver.jpg

"I will lend you the use of my vessel on the condition that you capture and return Quicksilver to me. Moonstone and a few of my agents will be accompanying you."

------------------------------------------------------------

Negative Zone

Zenith drifts towards the party and meets the most varied assortment of rogues and scoundrels in any part of this or any other universe. Every low down scalawags and space pirate, political exiles and mass murderers, psychopaths and philanthropists. All the big players to have ever been banished to the Negative zone.

Each and every one ignores you or brushes off any attempt at questions, telling you only to go to the center. Meet the King. No no, I'm not who you need to talk to, you want the King. The King the King the King. One man tells you that this is a coronation celebration. Finally in the center of the log pallisade you find the King, one word goes through your mind as you recognize the man in his Skull Throne.

Blastaar

http://i54.tinypic.com/2wmjqxc.jpg

[Starsign]

Tk'all simply stepped aside as the Cardinal walked in. He wished not to disrespect the meeting with a loud, obnoxious uproar he was never a fan of. But as they talked he could see this was quickly going downhill for him. He decided to speak up with what he knew. "Do you mean about the portal that the Church needs the Badoon's technology for?" He turned to Brother Royal. "While this talk of Red Sand and slaves are of no concern of mine, You might want to be aware of your... disrespectful race members. They seem to value strength over royalty" He had an almost wry smile.

[SuperCracker]

[B]Zenith[b/]

Considering the guests in attendance, Connor felt this would end up being the worst beach party he'd ever been to. And when he found out who "The King" is. It only made matters worse.

Blastaar: one of the most dangerous beings in the Negative Zone. Annihilus must be well out of the picture if he's assuming power now.

Zenith steps up, still bearing the starburst symbol of Captain Marvel on his back.

"Blastaar... sorry to interrupt your festivities, but I understand that the Church had some interest in this location. Why is that?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"You humans always wear such colorful costumes. What is this one's 'super power' then? I'm assuming he doesn't turn into liquid mercury, but with a name like quicksilver it has to be something interesting." Amalgam said once the picture had been displayed.

The symbiote hadn't liked the taste of Osborne's skin. Something was chemically imbalanced about it, something wrong within the human. He was definitely more than he first appeared, though that hadn't exactly surprised him. It seemed most of the humans he'd met thus far all had some kind of trick up their sleeve.

[Limos]

Moord

"Ssstrength? Brother Royal isss the ssstrongessst ruler the Badoon have ever known!" He sits up straighter in his chair, his eyes focus for a moment then begin to waver as he succumbs to the chemical haze.

"He lies Brother Royal, all the Badoon know your power and influence." The Cardinal says quietly to him. "He would use paranoia to drive a wedge between your people and the church because he fears your power!"

"Alwaysss with your whissspering Cardinal..." Royal rises unsteadily from his throne and waves away the small brown robed man who is offering him a small mirror on which lines of glittering red powder have been arranged. "I want to hear thisss one ssspeak. Who isss plotting againssst Brother Royal?"


Earth

"Quicksilver is a mutant, he has Super Speed." Osborn picks up his own copy of Quicksilver's dossier "He moves and thinks at an accelerated rate. We have record of him exceeding the speed of sound, but that is near his limit. However if he has partaken of whatever power source it is the Inhumans use to enhance their abilities there is no telling just how his powers will act now."

Negative Zone

"Ha ha, another supplicant comes to kneel before the new King of the Negative Zone." Blastaar seems hardly to notice your actual words, so far gone in drink and merriment. "Be merry Brother, Annihilus lies dead and now Blastaar is king! What boon do you seek on this joyous day?"

One of his attendants taps him on the shoulder and whispers something in his ear. "What? The Church? Yes yes, fine allies they proved to be in the coup. I will not question why they wanted that worthless thing, it's always been far more trouble than it's worth." He stops and squints at you. "I don't recognize you newcomer. Why do you ask about the Church?"

[Starsign]

Tk'all bowed to Brother Royal as he said, "My apologies your majesty, I did not mean to judge your strength. Some of your other Badoon subjects that I have been chatting with however find you boring, and dare I say... self-centered."

Tk'all quietly clears his throat as he thinks to himself. "No way out now..." And he begins speaking. "Some time ago, the Church Faithship Ardent attacked Knowhere Station in a supposedly random act of violence. I do not know the reason why they did, but the Faithship did not survive the encounter..." He gave a small look of worry before he stated, "There was apparent detection of Badoon technology on the ship, and some of the galaxy councilors are accusing your race of assisting the Church in it's amoral attack." He turned quickly to the Cardinal before turning back to Brother Royal. "I'm a bit of a rebel against violence, though I can gladly hold my own if I must. But I fear that the galaxy is pointing their finger at you for responsibility for the attack, and may be planning to go to war if they do not figure out if you truly did assist in the attack. I do wish to prevent that my knowing the truth."

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

Well, he doesn't know who I am... thinks Zenith. This may be a good thing. The plan has presented itself: play the role of supplicant.

"My leige, I have come from far away to hear the full tale of your conquest. I wish to produce a comprehensive history of your glorious war against Annihilus. I heard the Church was involved, and I wished to know the tale.. to see how your amazing cunning and negotiating tactics bent the Church to your will."

[industrious]

Major Tom

The mistrust of officials and powerful men that the modern world held by default wasn't present in Thomas's era. To him, a successful capitalist, businessman, and politician meant only one thing: a trustworthy and noble individual.

"This seems fair enough, Director Osbourne. I don't suppose you have any indication about where this 'Quicksilver' is?"

Though why anyone would want to dress like someone at a county fair and give themselves a nickname was beyond him.

[Limos]

Moord

The brown robed servant hurriedly tries to push the red sand toward Brother Royal but the enraged monarch shoves him roughly aside, spilling the narcotics on the carpet. He advances on the Cardinal. "You throw away my giftsss like thisss? You would frame the Badoon? You traitorous wretch, I will have you head for thisss-"

"Lies! Foul lies!" The Cardinal thunders, "The Ardent could not have been destroyed, and even so it did not carry any of your technology aboard!

"Liesss?! I ssso tire of hearing you ussse that word, have you no rebuttal?" Brother Royal paces back and forth from the throne. "I have it, we will determine the truth by Rite of Combat. Cardinal if you sssay my guest is lying then you are welcome to kill him, and you Tk'all, if the Cardinal is the traitorousss wretch you sssay then execute him for me."

"I will hear no more from you two chattering magpiess."

Enough talking, time for fightan! Roll Initiative.

[roll0] - Initiative

-----------------------------------------------------

Negative Zone

Blastaar frowns slightly but fuzzed by drink he accepts you as a supplicant, though perhaps a strangely impertinent one. "A fine tale indeed! Two dozen fluxes ago, (Think of a Flux as being equivalent to a day) his royal majesty was approached by a man from the Universal Church of Truth. These were the days when Annihilus ruled the Negative Zone. The Church saw that I was a superior ruler to the foul insect Annihlus and offered alliance.

"Our combined forces seized Annihilus' citadel, and I personally spitted the bastard on a pike and hung him from the battlements. As per the deal the Church gets one item of their choice from Annihilus' vault, and the rest belongs to me." Blastaar chuckles, "They chose poorly methinks, no good ever comes of the Serpent Crown."

-------------------------------------------------------

Earth

"I'm afraid you will need to begin search on site, we have no informants in the Inhuman city, so I can't tell you of the citie's size or layout, nor where Quicksilver would be within it." Osborn says, "All we do know is that Quicksilver has been linked to an Inhuman female named Crystal."

[Starsign]

Tk'all makes another small sigh. "More combat again?" he thought sadly. "I tire of fighting, but... No choice here." He got himself ready, got into a fighting stance and cried out, "COME ON!"

Initiative roll. If I have higher initiative I'll make my attack roll on the OOC. [roll0] Guess not...

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

The Serpent Crown? It sounded ominous, but he had never had any direct interaction with the Crown before. Therefore he has to play the sycophant for just a moment longer and find out what this thing does.

"Yes, my King! You are the strongest, most fearless ruler we could ever ask for. You are also infinitely wise, your excellency. However, I would like to understand just a shred of your knowledge. Why did the Church choose poorly when they chose the Crown?"

Hope I can keep going on my last diplomacy, but if I need another one... [roll0]

EDIT: Oh crap.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam


"I'm afraid you will need to begin search on site, we have no informants in the Inhuman city, so I can't tell you of the citie's size or layout, nor where Quicksilver would be within it." Osborn says, "All we do know is that Quicksilver has been linked to an Inhuman female named Crystal."

"And if the Inhumans are not willing to give up Quicksilver? Do you intend for us to fight an army?" Amalgam asked. His tone wasn't accusing, but rather curious, seeking the human's motivations. He didn't bother asking what would happen if they chose to simply ignore Quicksilver once they had access to the shuttle, for Amalgam were men of their word and as far as he could tell Major Gibson was as well. If they said they were going to do something then they'd do it if it was within their power. Committing suicide in pursuit of such a goal was another matter entirely, however.

[Limos]

Moord

The Cardinal runs at Tk'all swinging his great arms as he goes. Golden light srpings up around his giant fists. He goes for a double hammer blow but misses, the light around his hands flares into brilliance as the attack powders a good three foot wide chunk of the tiled floor. "You will fal before the power of my Faith, this I Believe!"

[roll0]

----------------------------------------------------

Negative Zone

"Bah, do you mock your King? I should have you flayed for your insolence. But I will not refuse a supplicant on my coronation." Blastaar glares at you through lowered brows, trying to restrain anger beneath regal poise. "The Serpent Crown is a link to another dimension where deathless creatures roam. Whenever some poor fool activates it they become possessed by these creatures."

"Now get from my sight before I have you executed, wretch."

----------------------------------------------------

Earth

"Then I suggest you don't let them know why you are there." Osborn frowns, the first time his friendly mask has slipped since you came in. "Give Moonstone a target to hit and an opportunity and she'll capture Pietro. Then you can go about your business and everybody's happy."

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

Ah crap. He's angry now... going to have to blow the whole place up-- whew... okay. Still good.

His tension visibly lessons when Blastaar tells him anyway. He takes in a deep breath and listens. Deathless creatures and possession? Who does the Church want possessed?

"Thank you, my king. You have been most gracious to this wretch."

He takes a few steps back, into the surrounding crowd, then beats a retreat, flying up into the air.

Here comes the hard part. How to get back?

[Starsign]

Tk'all watches the Cardinal miss his swing as he casual responded with, "Perhaps I will from faith, though I'd rather avoid yours," his voice suddenly getting more serious as he said that last word. The Saruid then made his own charge, making pummel swings with his ebon powers.

Attack Roll: [roll0] 31 DC (+ Autofire DC depending on enemy's defense roll) if connected

[industrious]

Major Thomas Gibson

"Seems fair enough to me."

Normally, he'd be more questioning. But he's still in something resembling shock at the moment.

[Limos]

Moord

Tk'all assault knocks the Cardinal back on his heels and leaves him rubbing a deep bruise to his side where one of the punches connected solidly, but still very much in the fight.

He returns fire with a flurry of golden punches of his own. One of which clips Tk'all in the chin with a dazzling flash of light.

[roll0] - DC 34
DC 29 Toughness save
DC 24 Fortitude save to avoid being Blinded.

------------------------------------

Negative Zone

Zenith sees that the matching portal to the one on the Ardent is near the outskirts of the camp, but under guard, and with you out of favor with the court. There are four aliens standing or seated nearby the trident crystal which forms the negative zone portal. Two large yellow men with craggy skin, a short ball of fuzz wearing an ammunition belt, and what at first appeared to be a tree.

One of the yellow men takes a swig from his canteen and then grimaces. "Cor' we would get stuck drinkin' swill an' guardin' somefin' no one even cares 'bout."
------------------------------------

Earth

"Well then Gentlemen, let us prepare for takeoff then." Osborn smiles again and the receptionist returns to whisk you away through the corridors. Moonstone joins you along the way, without the other Thunderbolts this time. Osborn stays in his office and you hear him begin giving orders again, all cold professionalism again.

Together your group enters that hangar where the Kree shuttle is being housed. A suit is provided for Amalgam and one for Moonstone. Major Gibson is frowned over and then ignored on that matter. You enter the ship, finding large portions of it's interior have been redone using Earth equipment, as well as signs of battle which must have wracked the ship. Scorch marks and alien blood stains. However it was that this ship found it's way to earth, it was not a gentle course.

There are four seats in the cockpit, Moonstone takes one of the foremost seats and looks over the control. One of the HAMMER goons shows you a compartment behind the cockpit the size and shape of a coffin. Inside a variety of restraints and devices are arrayed, the entire affair disappears into the paneling when closed and has it's own shielded systems separate from the rest of the ship. From the spacing of the corridor you presume that there are several more of these compartments hidden in the vessel.

"So it seems we'll be working together on this." Moonstone says as she checks over the controls. "I suppose it's a step up from my usual team. Are you all set?"

[Starsign]

Tk'all's vision clears instantly as he's shown unaffected by the attacks and flash of light. His eyes gleam angrily. "Pathetic," he scowls at the Cardinal before threshing into the Cardinal with his ebon-powered hands, almost recklessly.

All-Out Attack, -5 to defense, +5 to attack.
Attack roll: [roll0] DC 31 (+ Autofire DC depending on enemy's defense roll)

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

He flies into the area where these four aliens are... He doesn't attempt to enter the gate, yet. First, there's some preparation that needs to be done. Zenith first looks them all over using the Cosmic Awareness, attempting to discern the weaknesses of these four beings. Then he tries to formulate some kind of plan. The first and most desirable option would be to bluff his way out. The second would be to trap them with some form of construct. And the third would be to fight four creatures at once.

Four Notice rolls for detect weakness. One for each creature.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Limos]

Moord

The Cardinal roars in to meet you then whimpers are your fist connects solidly with his jaw, clamping his teeth down on his protruding tongue. The poleaxed holy man crashes backwards and hits the wall, falling to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He struggles to his feet but is unable to work up the energy to pursue you.

[roll0] - DC 32
[roll1]
Staggered and Stunned, your move.

------------------------------------------------------

The Negative Zone

The two yellow men have very tough skin, but their brains are remarkably low in activity. The fuzzy creatures seems to be 90% hair, with a tiny ball of gristle and bone at the center. The Tree-like creature is very sturdy, but the joint between it's root system and trunk could be broken by blunt trauma rather easily.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

After sensing the weaknesses of these four aliens, Connor is confident that he has a strategy for defeating each of them should the need arise. However, if he can make this happen without a fight at all, that would be even better.

He walks up to the group, grinning as if he'd just come from the party, and decides to play to their wants.

"'Ey guys. The party's killer down there. Kind of a shame you guys are stuck up here. You should've seen those girls with the four arms... and four you-know-whats. Too bad I kind of pissed the king off."

He looks as if he gets a great idea.

"Hey, I know. I can watch this stupid portal and you guys can go down there and party. All I ask is for a big chunk of the drink there, fellas."

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam


"So it seems we'll be working together on this." Moonstone says as she checks over the controls. "I suppose it's a step up from my usual team. Are you all set?"

"Quite comfortable, even if the original seats have been...replaced. How did you come by this shuttle? The Kree obviously didn't give it to you as a gift." Amalgam asked, amusement apparent in his voice. He didn't really have a lot of room to move, being strapped in for lift-off, but he seemed to be having a good time.

[Starsign]

Tk'all watches the weakened Cardinal try to get up for a moment as he turns to the Badoon who he expects to have been watching with glee. He then turns back to the Church member, got into a position a good 40 ft away, and charged his fists for a minute, his hands glowing a greenish-blue ebon power before he slams his hands together on the ground like a giant hammer, sending a wave of powerful ebon energy at the Cardinal.

Ebon Punch, using the Thrown feat. Using All-Out Attack, -5 to Defense, +5 to Attack.
Attack roll: [roll0] DC 31 + Autofire modifier

[industrious]

Major Gibson

He's currently floating inside the shuttle. Inwardly, he's itching to ask about how Earth technology has progressed. Whether the Soviets managed to land on the Moon first.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Then it hits him.

"So. We've colonized the Moon?"

There is a giddy tone in his voice, as he nearly weeps at the thought-this time with joy. A decades long dream, finally realized. He can't wait to see it.

[Limos]

Moord

"I can't believe it." The Cardinal whispers just before T'kall's fist connects with the side of his head, slamming him back into the wall and leaving a perfect half face imprint in the paneling. The bulky alien wheezes softly as his eyes unfocused and he slumps into unconsciousness on the rich carpet.

From the throne Brother Royal claps slowly. "Well done champion. You are victoriousss. And thusss I will reveal all I know on the Church. They commisssioned my artificersss to build a portal for them, one that usssesss a resssonant sssignal taken from an artifact. It'sss desssigned to open doorways between dimensssionsss. I'll have my butler provide a copy of the desssignsss for you."

[roll0] vs. DC HOLYS**T

--------------------------------------------------

Negative Zone

The two yellow men take one look at their canteen, then at one another. They smile broadly, showing their impressive array of sharp teeth. "Now that's what ahm talkin' bout. Ya gotta deal!" They toss you the entire canteen and quickly hoof it for the party.

The Hairball and Tree remain where they are, either too suspicious or too ethical to walk out when they are on duty.

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Earth

"It crash landed in New Mexico. The Crew was eaten alive by some kind of alien insects and the wreck was salvaged by the United States Government." Moonstone provides helpfully, "There really isn't anything worth colonizing on the moon, and the Inhumans aren't the best of neighbors. Ever since Armstrong took the first steps on the moon people realized it's a nice place to visit but you wouldn't really want to live there."

[Starsign]

Tk'all kneels to Brother Royal for a moment. "I am honored your majesty." He then stands and says, "Do you know what artifact had this resonant signal before it was taken?" He then walked to the Cardinal and picked up his unconscious body as the Saruid thinks to himself, "I'd better take him with me. He could still prove useful..." He then makes one last turn to Brother Royal. "If I see any more of these Church fools misusing your technology, I'll be sure to smash the info in their brains that they will not trifle with your majesty ever again." He spoke in a noble tone, stating it as if he was solidifying his trust with Brother Royal.

[Limos]

Moord

"We were never told where the resssonance came from. The Church provide the signal and the fundsss." Brother Royal waves back over his shoulder and an attendant approaches with a silver tray. On it is a data storage which is offered, and then waved on. The attendant moves on to Tk'all and offers the data diffidently. "Thisss ssshould be of help with whatever ssscheme it is you are hatching. The Church hasss proven themssselves poor friendsss. So I care not."

[Starsign]

Tk'all gladly accepts the data and takes it from the tray courteously. "Then I shall take my leave. The best of luck to the both of us." he says to Brother Royal as he takes his leave of the citadel. Once out, he makes his way away from prying eyes of anyone who could see and uses the Cortex Transporter to teleport back to Knowhere Station with the Cardinal in hand. "Finally done." he says to himself. "Now to wait for the others..."

[Limos]

Knowhere

The Knowhere staff acknowledges your orders via subspace communication and a few moments later they lock on and transport you and your prisoner to the Cortex chamber. A blue light and a whooshing sound surround you as you fold through space-time and arrive on the pad. Two security troopers greet you and restrain the Cardinal, carting him off to the brig.

[SuperCracker]

Zenith

He jovially accepts the canteen and moves over to where the furball and the tree-man are and "stands guard." He waits until the two yellow men are away at the other party. The ploy just cut the number of defenders in half. Now for the other two.

He takes a small sip from the canteen and gives a grin to the furball, saying, "Nice night, huh?"

He waits for a few more moments... then unleashes massive violence. He springs up in a surprise (?) attack, flying right to the base of the tree. His right foot lights up with cosmic power, then Connor performs a roundhouse kick to the tree base, looking to capitalize on the weakness and fell the being. After his attack, he continues flying, moving to gain some distance between himself and the two beings.

Using Cosmic Strike (Damage 12, Piercing, Autofire 2) on the Tree. Move-by Attack to continue moving.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage DC 27 + Autofire 2 (Max 39)

And Initiative [roll1]

EDIT: If he is vulnerable to critical hits, that's a crit. +5 damage DC.

[ChronicLunacy]

Amalgam

"When humans, or inhumans for that matter, develop terraforming technology it will be a lot more habitable." Amalgam said as he looked idly out the window.

Ready to move on. TO THE MOON, ALICE! TO THE MOON! :smallbiggrin:

[industrious]

Major Gibson

"But have set our feet upon another world's soil. And no matter what happens on Earth, the Moon watches over us. We have done the impossible, and we are mighty for it."

Gibson, when you get down to it, is an optimist at heart. To call him a poet would be an insult to poets, but he tries.