[M&M 3rd Ed.] Legacy, Vol. 1 - Gilded Age

[Nintendogeek01]

Somewhere... sometime...

"... remember... always comes to this..."

"... no matter... you... stop me!"

"Don't... a mistake..."

"... cost us... the entire world... us!"

"... I ever... never... me!"

"I..."

"... the world... learn... to make..."

"... the one... for... I... correct!"

"... listen... end... When!?"

"... we die... only... when... I never will,"

"... we have to... the world..."
____________________________________________

Legacy, Vol. 1 - Issue #1: The First Generation

June 5th, 1940: Dunkirk, France

Perhaps Charles Dickens said it best when he said "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," in his "Tale of Two Cities." World War II has been well underway for some time now, and France is losing ground to The Third Reich. Despite aid from Britain and their allies it seems only a matter of time before France falls to the Nazis; in spite of this a miracle has occurred in Dunkirk, despite losing to the German Forces the Allies managed to make a successful withdraw from the city with minimal casualties. Though this came at the cost of equipment that could help the Nazis, many brave soldiers would live to fight another day.

This retreat, while fortunate was driven in no small part by Parahumans under the Nazi regime. Parahumans, ever since the Global Aurora lights almost two years ago some people began displaying strange abilities; before the war the governments around the world managed to keep them a strict secret, even now the average civilian is likely to have never seen a Parahuman or heard more than a few easily dismissed rumors, but those on the front lines, in cities captured or leveled know the truth; there are abnormally gifted ones out there capable of things no man or woman should be capable of: Parahumans!

It is these Parahumans that have played a key role in securing early dominance for The Third Reich, and the higher ups of the Allies believe that utilizing their own Parahumans will be the key to turning this war around. Unfortunately Parahuman deployment has been sparse, erratic, and mired in bureaucracy; something needs to change soon, and something needs to take the first step, lest the Legacy of the world to come be a smoldering world-wide police state headed by the German's chosen Aryan Race!
Below in individual spoiler boxes you will find exactly where you are and what is happening to your individual characters, in your first IC post feel free to role-play your situation out as you give us a first look at your character. Don't forget, all players start with one hero point!
Eager to test your might against the mighty Nazi Parahumans here you came to be in Dunkirk, and here you came to be grievously wounded not by a Parahuman, but by dozens of normal humans. Oh make no mistake you sent no small number of those Nazi bastards to meet their maker in the process, after all what had you to fear from a bunch of normal guys with guns? Maybe nothing from a few, but from dozens, a lot to fear as it turns out. Fortunately you had someone else looking out for you that day, and a mysterious man and woman managed to rescue you; you couldn't see the details through the fuzzy vision and the blood running from your forehead, but somehow they managed to bail you out. You haven't seen the man in a while, but the woman managed to sneak you into the city where you've been recovering in the basement of an abandoned house that miraculously hasn't been smashed into debris.

The woman is an attractive brunette who must be in her early or mid-twenties with blue eyes, eyes that reflect having seen things, shapely body and you've noticed a sword sheathed at her side, "Don't worry, you did good work, without you The Allies may have lost far more soldiers," she'd frequently assure you while, sometimes painfully, removing bullets or changing bandages. During your rest she's been coy about personal details about herself, not even giving you her name, but engaging in conversation with you, and respectful enough of your equipment not to touch it, trusting you know your own equipment better than she could. She leaves every now and again to take a look at what's going on topside, but always comes back either with more bandages or what food she can scavenge.

By now you've mostly recovered, and soon she enters the basement in more of a hurry than usual, double-checking her blade, it's very shiny and well-kept, and gathering a few meager supplies, "Good news Mr. Dynamo," she'd call you that frequently, "We have both a way out of the city, and a way to get back at those damn Nazis," she says before facing you, "Alain managed to secure us a way out of the city, while during my scouting trips I got wind of something important to the Nazis, but we're going to need help for both, and I know where to get it," she hands you a slip of paper with directions on it, "I know leaving this city may be hard, but right now it's more important to live to fight another day, and if this plan plays out, we'll get that another day, I promise!" the determination in her voice is unmistakable. "Try not to draw too much attention to yourself, and head to where those directions take you," she instructs, but a smile crosses her face, "But that doesn't mean you can't "shut up" any Nazis that see you right?" she hints with a wink before she heads out of the basement, leaving you with your equipment and some instructions.
You and the Squad volunteered for the mission to aid in the withdrawl; impressive fortitude on the part of your squad, but for you it was a no-brainer, not just because you were going to be able to cap more than a few Nazi SOB's, but because the promise of Nazi Parahumans might mean a chance at revenge, rescue mission or not this might be your chance.

Boy were you right, while covering some soldiers attempting to evacuate, flaming bullets would streak through the air and, one-by-one, take down a soldier with each one, occasionally one soldier that was carrying explosives would suddenly be consumed by a burst of flames, taking down brothers with him, but you weren't going to have any of that if you had anything to say about it. Each time your visual acuity caught a bullet coming you'd return fire, sometimes to intercept bullets, or to return fire at the sniper. Soon enough the shooter would stop trying to gun down other soldiers and it turned into a deadly sniper duel... at least until you both happened to head for the same cover.

There he was, PowderKeg, covered from head to toe in what looked like a cross between a flame-retardant suit and body armor, you can't even see his face through the goggles that would serve as eyeholes, because a fiery glowing light obscures it. Freaky as that looked it didn't matter, here was your chance to shoot him and put an end to your brother's killer! But for some reason despite your powers your gun wouldn't fire, like something else was keeping the thing from igniting. "This is who's been blocking my shots!? A woman!?" his heavily accented English roared from under the muffling of that suit, and he didn't miss that opening your inexplicably dead guns created, he planted a few shots from his rifle in your legs, shots that continued to burn you. You got your licks in but those burning bullets and that opening were all the edge he needed to nearly kill you.

Thankfully your squad managed to come to your rescue, though not without cost, when you came to, Cory was nowhere to be had. To compound the misfortune your squad was unable to get to a ship to evacuate while carrying you and had to hide out in an abandoned home. "Guys!" Johnny came running in and stood in front of you and the rest of the squad, "...and gal," he said, as if barbing you, "Just met someone, didn't give me a name but they said they had a way out of the city for us! I know! Sounds weird but they killed a bunch of Nazis that were about to fill me with lead before telling me that, gave me this," a sheet of paper with directions is passed around until it gets to you "You ready to move?" Johnny asks you. The spots where the bullets were burning you are still visible, but the pain's long gone, you're good to move.
Maybe you should have listened to Professor Jorgenson, maybe then he wouldn't be in this mess, but damn it those Nazi bastards were steamrolling over France! This couldn't stand! You were going to pay them back for everything they did and you were making good on it too! You caught that one squad completely off guard and managed to lay waste to most of them, the path was clear for you to get the Professor to the evacuation ships and wreak some more havoc.

WHACK

You've never been hit so hard in your life, and if it wasn't for your new-found power that would've been the last time you got hit that hard to boot. Though your vision was blurry due to that thunderous blow to the head you did turn around in time to see some hulking figure wielding what looked like a hammer. In an effort to pay this guy back you let loose your telekinesis upon him, but if it affected the figure it sure didn't slow him down, because he would continue to wail on you with those mighty hammer blows until you couldn't even float an inch off the ground. As motionless as you were he must have thought you were dead, because he didn't continue his onslaught and instead picked up Professor Jorgenson with one arm and said to him in German that the Third Reich had use for the Professor before you lost consciousness.

Now here you are, the Phoenix must have had something to do with your still being here and moving, because by all rights you should have been dead. But now Jorgenson is in danger and you need to find him and that bastard who kidnapped him; unfortunately the Nazis have overrun Dunkirk, and even you might be hard pressed to fight all of them... well... maybe no one will miss a few patrols at a time, at least until one of them spills where the Professor is!

OOC: You get an extra hero point due to having a "Relationship" in immediate peril!
How... how did this chase lead you all the way to France? Just how? How could a thief lead you all the way over here!? Well obviously this couldn't have been just any thief, after all, not just any thief could have gotten past your magical wards and the wards of the entire Ministry. Not just any thief could have been standing in your private study holding an incredibly valuable tome of magic. And certainly not just any thief could have disappeared in a flash of runic letters and writing! No... if this thief is coming all the way to this war-torn part of France he must be delivering it to someone important. This reeks of Dr. Falkenrath.

No... no Svetlana, you don't have conclusive proof, but you know that the thief made it all the way to Dunkirk, and thanks to your magic you made it here too. Unfortunately if you're recognized it could spark an international incident, as Hitler and Stalin, much to everyone's surprise, signed a non-aggression pact. No one likes the Fascists or this non-aggression pact, but no one was going to say so out loud when word could get back to the Honorable General Secretary, and certainly right now it'd be a bad idea to ruin this pact for the USSR, especially not when your position is already so scrutinized.

Regardless, this tome is too valuable and contains too many secrets that not many else in the Ministry are privy to, truly your position and your power made you the most qualified to go and retrieve it... here's hoping your stand-in doesn't run the Ministry into the ground. You know the thief made it to Dunkirk, and now it's time to pick back up the thief's trail... damn legs are going to make this difficult.
Helio-Man has been called to aid in the evacuation of Dunkirk. The plan was simple, have "Mr. Weston's Jet," drop Helio-Man before flying away to evade the Luftwaffe, and once Helio-Man covered the escape of as many soldiers as possible, would catch a ride back on one of the evacuation ships. Simple right? Initially everything went to plan, unfortunately no one mentioned that in order to evacuate quickly Britain's soldiers were forced to abandon enough heavy weapons to level five cities! The Nazis did not miss out on this opportunity and tested them on the Helio-Man suit. Vasilia was forced to retreat in order to ensure the suit continued to function and managed to make it to some woods not too far from the coast.

During this retreat Vasilia managed to find a downed Airship that was currently crewed by only two men who were under attack by both Nazis and Asians. Helio-Man managed to drive away the offenders alongside the men, Mr. Swift (who was quite skilled) and Alain (who fought like a man at a debauched party but somehow fought well). Mr. Swift explained that he had been trying to repair his airship to retreat back to Britain, and Alain had been helping him gather the parts needed.

Despite Vasilia's expertise even Helio-Man couldn't produce a power source out of thin air, but luckily Alain had the answer, he gave the pair directions on where to meet in town, it was dangerous but he explained that a contact of his had both a way to power the ship, and get back at the Nazis, and maybe turn this war in the favor of the Allies.
"Help with the evacuation," they said, "With your ship it should be easy," they said. Well it was easy at first, James Swift and his airship could easily make the one round to rescue civilians and soldiers fleeing from Dunkirk, but unfortunately the Luftwaffe were waiting for him when he came back for a second round, and they downed your ship. Luckily your piloting expertise managed to land the ship mostly intact.

Unluckily a bunch of Nazis assisted by those Chinese Assassins that had been after you came after you while you were starting on repairs. Even aided by this mysterious French man named Alain, with his rather drunk looking manner of fighting, they were threatened to be overrun, but soon the famous Helio-Man arrived to aid and the assailants were dispatched in short order.

Now with Helio-Man's genius to add to the repairs, along with Alain's uncanny knack for finding what was needed, the repairs were well underway, but there was one problem: the assassins did seem to have a backup plan for if you got away with your life, they had destroyed the engine's power source and you were going to need a way to replace it. Luckily Alain had just the ticket; a dangerous ticket to be sure, but if following these directions means getting your hands on your way out of here AND a way of getting at the Nazis, then this was just double incentive.

OOC: You get an extra hero point for being deprived of an asset before the game starts by your "enemy." Oh yeah, What does your ship look like anyways?

[SuperCracker]

Jim Alford

Jim hadn’t been listening. The Professor had suggested they leave for the boats immediately. Jim refused. The Professor had insisted that the Phoenix entity was one great big uncertainty and that Jim shouldn’t be using these powers before tests were run. Jim exerted his psychic might with the same level of skepticism one would have for walking. Jim had felt himself vindicated, right up until that hammer slammed into the back of his head.

Jim turned to the figure and bared his teeth as he unleashed hell upon the man. A short-ranged blast of concussive force that carried the sound of the greatest cannons of the age going off. And it wasn’t enough. The German with the hammer hit him again, and again.

Towards the end of the “fight,” if you could call it that, Jim was on his knees, looking up at the man with fury in his eyes. The hammer struck again. Jim’s head rocked back, then came forward. And this time, his eyes were made of pure fire. The earth beneath their feet began to tremble dangerously. The air began to boil. But then the hammer came down, and that was that. Jim fell, looking like he might well and truly be dead.

But he was not. He didn’t remember standing up or waking up, but there he was. Dried blood on his face, but nothing out of place. He wore a dark blue shirt, thick black pants and a sturdy brown bomber jacket. His hair was short and brown, and two weeks worth of untrimmed facial hair sat upon his face.

"Got to find the Professor." His eyes closed. "Where are you..."

Jim went to work to find his friend. He reached out with his psyche, feeling the minds around himself. He could sense them, but he could not touch.. not yet, not with any fine control. Once he’d found minds, he extended his senses outward to view them directly, one group after the other. Searching mentally was faster than searching physically.

Using my mental sense to detect minds, then Remote Sensing to peer/listen in on them. He speaks and understands all languages because of Psychic Polyglot.

[The_Admiral]

All he wanted to do was to check out that castle, but he was drawn into rescuing civilians. The Nazis had to pick that time to attack, though his visions could wait, there were lives at stake he thought as he reloaded his revolver, glancing at Helio Man. "Nice to met a hero, are you coming with us to retrieve the powerplant?" he said, extending his arm in greeting at the giant armoured person and holstering his revolver.

[Inspector Valin]

In a small alleyway, leading off of Dunkirk's seafront, the shadows moved. Just for a second, not long enough to attract attention from any passers-by. What might draw notice however is the woman who emerges from the shadows, accompanied by a gentle clacking sound of iron wheels against the stone paving of the French harbour. From the darkness emerged a woman in a light blue-grey jacket and trousers, her dark-red hair fastened behind her in a ponytail and secured by a brass cogwheel broach. The stranger pushed herself outwards slowly, using a willow-wood cane as a lever, making towards the end of the alleyway. Coming to a halt on the edge of the waterfront, Dr. Svetlana Zharova placed her arms upward upon the guard-rails and looked out over Dunkirk harbour.

Lana smiled in spite of herself, as she gazed across the water. The wood, the smell of fish, the gentle lapping sound: all of these things brought back memories of her youth. It had been a long time since she'd visited a waterfront, and the Moskva had never seemed quite as serene as this. For a few seconds the Soviet Witch simply sat there, taking in the tide and gentle wind of this place. It let her remember simpler days, before the Aurora, before Fascists, Dragons and War. Soon enough though, Svetlana grew irritated at herself, reaffirming reality with a stamp of her cane and turning about. She had a job to do here after all, and a true member of the Party knew better than to lose themselves to idleness. She muttered the name of her quarry under her breath, as she wheeled herself gently along the cobbled street.

"Falkenrath."

Perhaps the second-greatest Occultist Parahuman around. They'd met more than once over the years since the Aurora. Lana could even remember the first time; an official function in Berlin's Soviet Embassy. She'd enjoyed that conversation. They had talked shop, exchanging anecdotes of magical activity laughed, smiled and seemed to enjoy each others company a little, as fellow academics. In another life, perhaps they would've been friends. A life where the German's arrogance and zealotry did not outweigh his capacity for reason. But as things stood, the wretched Thulian's belief in Nazi ideology had only grown with time. Now, he was a scourge upon Svetlana's ministry, upstaging their efforts at every opportunity in the quest for his beloved lost civilization. Always keeping one step within the non-aggression pact, always just toeing the line their countries had agreed upon. As long as he did so, there was nothing that could be done to stop him officially. But theft? From the offices of a Soviet Ministry? Svetlana couldn't tolerate that, ideologically or politically. The treasures she spent her life locating belonged to her people. Falkenrath had no right to purloin Soviet property, and his objectives were likely far from noble.

And thus, she would thwart him and his ambitions. Molotov and Ribbentrop could both be damned: this was her jurisdiction, and the Nazi had broken the agreement first. There would be hell to pay if she was captured, or clearly identified, but this was important. It was worth the risk. Her grip upon her cane intensifying, Svetlana turned the corner of the waterfront, making for the town square of Dunkirk. Time to gauge the local mood and see just what had drawn the Thulian here.

[roll0] Well Informed check on Falkenrath. We know that Svetlana knows him professionally, but any more information on the wretched man, and specifically what he's been up to lately? I'm including Eidetic Memory in this roll, as a Well Informed check seems kinda like it'd fall under remembering information. Not sure though, if you want to remove tha, it's -5

Taking 10 on Expertise, Magic and using Eidetic Memory for a total result of 33. What does Svetlana know about the book Falkenrath stole?

Can I take 10 on a social Investigation roll looking for Falkenrath's location? I'm assuming 'look around the city' doesn't require a roll: Svetlana's just trying to get a basic feel for conditions before she engages in anything more direct.

[Quellian-dyrae]

I failed.

The words kept echoing in her head, from the moment she woke up. The words of the squad sounded distorted, almost echoing, as they discussed plans and considered options and made the sort of jokes that you make when your life is on the line and you've been given enough time to know it. She didn't speak, didn't even open her eyes for several minutes. She just lay there, hearing the blurry words of her fellows, playing the battle over in her head.

I failed.

She hadn't been prepared for his power. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He could influence flame and explosions, she never even considered that he might have the power to stop her bullets before they even left the chamber. Her power was weak on its own. Six pounds of telekinetic force wasn't enough to fight off a young child, let alone a super-soldier. Not without her guns. Like her weapons themselves had been, she was thwarted before she had ever begun.

I failed.

And people had died for it. God, her people. She opened her eyes, looked around the abandoned building. Where was Corey? She knew better than to ask. Johnny came running in. He seemed excited. It took her a moment to focus on his words. An escape, a way out. She didn't want to escape. She wanted to find the ******* that she had come here to kill and finish the job. He had been right there! Right there and...

I failed.

The message got passed around. She stared at it for several seconds when it reached her. She had to read it five times before she had committed the details to memory. Her thoughts were a haze. Every time something coherent came to her, it was interrupted by another flash of memory. Her gun clicking uselessly. The extra-loud explosions of her brother's killer's weapons. The searing pain of the bullets as they splattered against her telekinetic defenses, the molten steel clinging to her skin.

I failed.

Yeah. Now try again.

The other memory came back to her clearly. The very first time Paul had taken her to the shooting range. She hadn't hit the bullseye. She hadn't even hit the target. She had barely been able to hold the weapon level. Steady had been flat impossible. The gun's recoil had almost knocked her on her butt. She had failed that shot pretty much as hard as you possibly could without accidentally shooting yourself.

Try again.

Right.

Sara sprang from the bed, landing solidly on her feet. Her telekinetic ablation had kept the damage mostly superficial, and the first aid she had received covered anything more serious. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's get out here," she said firmly, gathering up her weapons and heading for the door, projecting some faint pulses of telekinetic energy as she went to make sure it was clear outside. For now, the goal was to get her people to safety. She had survived the battle. She had acquired knowledge of her enemy. Now she had to come up with a way to put it to use. As long as she could walk, breathe, and hold a gun, PowderKeg's death warrant remained signed and in effect.

I haven't failed yet!

Routine Perception for 20, using Touchsight to scan outside before leaving, just in case. But otherwise, yeah, heading out with the Squad.

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana brooded as she moved slowly down the street, towards the centre of Dunkirk. Falkenrath was an ideologist, he was acting recklessly and this seemed to be the end point of his trip. The Doctor's mind is on more than the material as she proceeds. Focusing upon her trusted cane, Svetlana's mind circles around them, looking to trace that familiar feeling of mystic power surging through the air. Still, thankfully the good doctor is not blind to the Nazi patrols moving regularly down the street, seemingly still expecting an Allied counter-attack at any moment. Svetlana's grip upon her cane tightened slightly as a couple drew close to her. Like Falkenrath, she had some experience working alongside military forces, but these men were not hers. Even if she were here officially, they'd be as likely to shoot her in the back as listen to her. One of the guards glanced at the foreigner as she passed, sneering at the cripple bound up in her chair.

Good. Underestimate me. Just one poor wretch, making her way through this hellhole. You don't need to do more than snort.

I'm going to regret this, but 'searching for signs of potentially out of control magic' doesn't feel like a routine check. Remember though, Svetlana's magic sense is Acute, Extended and Analytical, so she's got some advantages here, right?

[roll0] Perception, looking for signs of magic.

Also, routine perception to see what Dunkirk is like at this point. Any shops or cafes still open? That comes out to a 20.

[OrganicEvil]

Inside the Egg1, Vasilia Weston leaned back in her chair and steepled4 her fingers. Though it would not be the same as touching him herself,6 she made no move for the controls, no effort to extend the Egg's arm to the stranger Swift8. Vasilia had never seen the point of making courtesies,11 and she saw even less in the middle of a war zone.12 She switched on the intercom. "Perhaps," she said. "Obviously, repowering your airship is a priority, but only inasmuch as it serves the higher priority of all of us remaining alive.14, 15 I did not design this unit for stealth,18 and we are behind enemy lines and severely outnumbered. I am therefore uncertain that direct action on my part is in our best interests at this time. As Mr. Alain has more relevant intelligence on this situation than I do, I shall defer to his judgement for the present."20 Idly, Vasilia began a mental game of chess.22, 23

1She did not, in truth, know how the name had come to her.5 There was little egglike about the hulking mass of steel and pneumatic tubing, save perhaps a sense of the beginning2 of things, and a small touch of the cosmic.

2If I am in an egg, what shall I be born as?3

3“Third, division and differentiation are the processes by which things are created. Since things are emerging and dissolving all the time, you cannot specify the point when this division will stop.” --The Liezi

4"And the people--ah, the people-- / They that dwell up in the steeple, / All alone."5

5She wondered briefly if that was where the name had come from. She could still remember her birth, and knew that she had felt quite alone at the time.

6Vasilia's First Rule was "Let no one touch."7

7Father.

8She wondered if he was any relation to the satirist.9, 10

9Or perhaps the ballplayer?

10It was only a 0.25% probability by her rough calculations, but still well within the realm of possibility. It was unimportant, regardless.

11She understood their function from a theoretical, psychological perspective, of course. It was just that they were stupid.

12There was also a small but nonzero probability that she could accidentally apply too great a pressure and crush the adventurer's hand.13 Best to avoid that, in her opinion.

13Like an egg. Funny how things tend to come around full circle.

14Survival was always Vasilia's top priority, albeit usually on a somewhat less immediate scale.

15"Getting back at the Nazis,"16 as Alain had put it, was rather low priority in Vasilia's estimation, and before the advent of the Axis Parahumans the eventual collapse of the Nazi strategy had been all but guaranteed.17 Recent events, however, had made the situation rather more urgent.

16Leave it to a man to make war sound like a sporting match.

17Hitler had been far too insane and his power too absolute for any other outcome to be feasible. Now, however, he might succeed by pure brute force long before that inevitability could occur.

18And she could not very well leave the thing behind.19

19Vasilia's Second Rule was "Let no one see."7

20Corollary: If this intelligence is at any point called into question, I will cease to do so.21

21And if he's a traitor I'll probably shoot him.

22Vasilia had never been able to play a game of chess with anybody other than herself; nobody else could provide a challenge.

23She opened with a pawn to E4.24

24And countermoved with a pawn to D6. This had the makings of a fine game.

[The_Admiral]

James smiled as his offer of a handshake was rejected by the man in the hulking suit of armour. It was probably better that way, that man had what was probably a crushing grip. His Kansas drawl was already slipping through as he replied, "that's a mighty fine point you have there friend, though we do need someone to watch the metaphorical farm while we go hunting for this here powerplant". the disarming tone of voice contrasted with him putting on his gas mask, he was all business.

[Nintendogeek01]

Helio-Man and James Swift

"Yes, best leave ze golden giant 'ere," Alain says with that suave accent of his, he tries to give Helio-Man a friendly pat on the back but only reaches up to the mech's hind end, but oh well. He sets down his backpack and digs through it for a bit, "Instead..." Alain pulls out what looks to be a radio box, "You... do have a radio on zat beauty yes?" he asks followed by a brief pause, "Well if not I've got flares but zat vould be less ideal, if you get a radio signal or see a flare, zat means We need your 'elp," he explains.

"Oh and please, "Mr. Alain," is not necessary, it makes me sound old... ze ladies and gentlemen simply call me Alain," he says to Helio-Man courteously, both Helio-Man's pilot and James get the impression that Alain doesn't want to discuss his age, also they could swear he was flirting with Helio-Man... but that couldn't be... right? "So zen Mr. Swift, or if you'd razer I call you somezing else do let me know, but time is running I fear, we'd best be off," he lets you know.

"So... if you don't mind me asking, any stories to share about ze ship? You're a lucky man to 'ave 'er," he says, shooting the breeze until you make it to a location where it's relatively simple to sneak past Nazi patrols, then he's all business and silent as a mouse.
We'll address everyone else on a later post.

[The_Admiral]

"naww, she is a beaut, only reason I have her is I got lucky after the great war, Indian temple had an artefact that fetched a pretty price to a museum and I invested that money." he replied, slightly muffled by his mask as they snuck closer, he too fell silent.

[TekHed]

His wounds had healed. His pride on the other hand...

He was up and strapping on his electroshock caestus when she came in. Rings of closely coiled copper wrapped around his thick forearms in regular intervals, encased within a framework of titanium rods and secured with sturdy leather straps. The vambrace acted to amplify the current continuously being generated by his body, and transferred that power via two thick black cables to the conductive contact plates covering his knuckles. Leave it to old Nick to find the perfect present for the puissant pugilist. He grimaced slightly as the tension of securing the straps caused a still tender muscle to strain. When he got home he was going to have to have Nick make him some proper body armor. If he got home. For his first foray into battle, he'd not acquitted himself to his own standards.

Not one to make a big production of sentiment, he took the slip of paper from her and read it, then stuffed it into his pocket. "Thanks," was all he said, ostensibly for the directions, but the intense look in his gaze implicitly added "for saving my life."

Lastly he picked up Zeus's Wrath. It was enormous, even for a hand canon, all copper plating, coils, and capacitors. He felt the familiar tingle and heat of the copper as it responded to his charge, powering up. Satisfied that it was functional, he slid it into the hip holster beneath his coat.

"Will I see you again?"

This time the intensity in his gaze implied something else...

[Nintendogeek01]

The Human Dynamo

She stops partway up the stairs exiting the basement and looks in your direction, "That depends on you Mr. Dynamo," she answers before disappearing up the stairs, nothing left to do but strap up and head out.

On heading out, following the directions will lead you through a series of alleyways, a few times even though a few stores and apartments either abandoned or manned by civilians who saw your display of bravery and gladly lead you through their homes to lessen your chances of encountering a Nazi patrol. One alleyway will contain a Nazi patrolman, but he's no trouble for your great strength. Soon enough this outlined path ends at the destination described in the directions, a large plaza where a large number of vehicles had been abandoned, parked around a gazebo in the center.
___________________________

James Swift

You and Alain are like a pair of mice, darting between alleyways, ducking around corners, just out of sight of Nazi Patrolmen as they go to investigate the noise. There was one occasion where two patrolmen had the pair of you cornered in a building, but you manage to ambush them with little difficulty (though Alain seems to take an almost disturbing amount of pleasure in kicking one Nazi's face in, but hey this is supposedly his home country) and move on. Soon enough Alain leads you to a plaza filled with abandoned vehicles surrounding a gazebo. "Ze one who can get ze ship running and ready for an evac, should arrive shortly," Alain whispers.
____________________

James Alford

Dammit Professor where are you!? You feel around and you feel around, you can detect the individual minds but no one you recognize, either the professor's dead or... no no that big guys said they needed him for something so surely... wait... the big guy...

You catch a glimmer of the large German's mind, if you can't find the professor directly then this guy can lead you to him. By focusing on your psionic power you extend your sight and hearing as far out as you are able until you can perceive a large plaza where a large number of vehicles had been abandoned, parked around a gazebo in the center. The large man's mind could be anywhere within a few hundred foot radius of this area, but it's a start. Now where is he...?
___________________________

Curve

The squad is on the move now. You, Mitt, Johnny, Barney, Lionel, Killian, Sonny, and Steven try to move as quietly as it is possible for 8 soldiers to move. The mystery directions that Johnny passed around do a pretty good job of directing you through areas where patrols are the weakest, they're not perfect, but your super-senses detect patrols and you guys manage to either avoid incoming patrols or quietly ambush one or two of the bastards. Soon your squad is in an alleyway in view of a plaza filled with abandoned vehicles surrounding a gazebo. Feels cl- wait! Someone's behind your squad!
___________________________

Svetlana

You feel... something for certain. It's powerful, but chaffing under something. Whatever you feel is not of this world, but it cannot leave, and it's angry. It wants to turn its might on something, anything; and if it's as strong as your senses read it as there will be a lot of damage in its wake. As you wheel through the alleyways you feel one other thing as well... bound to this world where it does not belong similarly to the first, perhaps not as power, but every bit as angry, no angrier still.

Trying to disseminate these feelings you find yourself wheeling just out of an alleyway into a plaza filled with abandoned vehicles surrounding a gazebo. You couldn't guess the direction, but the tingling on the back of your neck is unmistakeable, whatever these sources of magic power are, they're close.
____________________________

Everyone previously mentioned
http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/assets/0902/0000/0013/dunkirk_11_medium_mid.jpg

CRACK-A-THOOM

In a flash of light and a crack of thunder a group of eight goes flying from an alleyway, thrown into the plaza where some land behind the safety of vehicles, all of them groaning and struggling to their feet, except for one who almost floats back to her feet, guns at the ready and facing down their assailant. Curve, right in front of you is a true hulk of a man, over six feet in height and what must be almost 300 lbs of pure muscle beneath an SS Officer's uniform, in his right hand he carries a massive hammer, his red hair covers a good chunk of his face in a burly beard before neatly flowing back into a long ponytail flowing in a wind that seems prompted only by this man's presence, his fierce blue eyes occasionally flicker with energy. Everyone near the plaza see this man practically roar as he raises his cackling hammer to the sky.

"HEAR ME AND KNOW THE NAME OF THE WARRIOR WHO SHALL CAST YE ALL TO YER FINAL REST ALL YE WHO OPPOSE THE THIRD REICH!!!" as he bellows this the clouds darken, thunder strikes, rain begins to pour and a wind whips up in the area, "ABANDON ANY HOPE YE HAD OF ESCAPING OUR WRATH, FOR YOU NOW STAND BEFORE DONAR!!! LORD OF THUNDER...!!!

"Yes yes we're all impressed Donar," looking towards the Gazebo everyone present can see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed statuesque woman in shining armor mounted atop a horse that seems to be trotting in mid-air around the gazebo, "Now how about leaving someone alive for questioning this time," her suggestion of restraint to her companion is no comfort to anyone present. Svetlana can now say beyond the shadow of a doubt what those power sources were... these two, and they looked ready to wreck things.

"Oh $#!%," Alain mutters from his alleyway with James Swift, "Donar and die Walküre," Alain names the two of them for you Swift, "Zey're two of ze Nazi's toughest Para'umans, and look over zere!" he points towards and alleyway where a muscled man in what looks like a caestus on his arms, "Zat's ze man we need... Donar's easy to fool but die Walküre, she nearly got me and my contact too many times..." he explains, "I'm calling for backup," he pulls out his radio and signals Helio-Man.
____________________________

Helio-Man

Ah... the sanctity of having your personal space to tinker with machinery... you know you bet that if you could tweak the engine here just a bit you could...

BZZZZZT

Ah crap, that was the radio signal Alain mentioned, if it's going off they need help... wait, those storm clouds weren't above that part of town earlier! What's going on!?
First of all Curve gets an extra hero point as the rest of her squad, her "relationship," is now in immediate danger!

Time to roll initiative guys: James Alford, you see all this with your remote sensing, it will take you two move actions to arrive. Helio-Man, it will take you three to arrive on the scene assuming piloting goes well... that is if you go... and leave poor James Swift and Alain to get smashed.

So everyone roll initiative and your initial reactions to the scene, and I'll get back to you once I get back from work.

[Quellian-dyrae]

By the time Curve came to her feet, her weapon was in hand. She didn't waste time on banter, and certainly not on negotiations. She just took aim.

Initiative: [roll0].

Also, little question. I notice the conspicuous absence of the only squad member I had named in Curve's backstory (Mitt) in that list. Should a name be swapped for him, or should I take that exclusion to be both intentional and meaningful? :smallamused: :smalleek: ...:smallfrown:

[The_Admiral]

"Well, until Helio man shows up, we had better play the part of a distraction." he stated to Alain, checking his ammunition as he peeked out from cover, looking for anything he could use.


INitiative
[roll0]
Insight
[roll1]

[SuperCracker]

Jim Alford

Found him. Jim ‘let go’ of his Astral form, allowing his mind’s natural tether to his brain to snap him back like a bungie cord. Without hesitation he spread his arms and lifted into the sky on the wings of his mind. He glided low to the ground before shooting off as fast as any train or automobile. He made no secret about his approach either, tossing German vehicles every single time he saw one. It would make for quite a commotion coming towards the plaza.

Initiative time: [roll0]

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana pushes herself forward ever faster as her mind's eye starts to examine the strangeness within Dunkirk. Old and powerful gods, bound up, aching for freedom. And Falkenrath merely happening to show up with a purloined tome? No coincidence could be possible; this reeked of some grand idiotic plan on the Doctor's part. She had to find him and intervene, breaking cover if she had to. If she could talk him out of his wretched stupidity...

Dr. Zharova continued onwards, focused on the confrontation to come. So focused, in fact, that she was quite legitimately startled at the loud strike of thunder from across the plaza, jumping a little in her chair at the sound. She glanced curiously around the plaza at the figures that'd been seemingly disgorged from that alleyway. And then the large one showed up, bellowing fit to bust and seemingly revelling in yet another easy victory.

Chyort! Wasn't the battle supposed to be over with? Svetlana rammed her cane down upon the cobbles, forcing herself away from the confrontation. She had expected some military activity from the Germans within Dunkirk, this was a freshly occupied city after all, but nothing akin to two wretched Parahumans prowling the streets. Yet as the scene before her played out, the good Doctor's mild concern at having arrived in an active warzone turned to something between outrage and indignation as she studied the two Aryan super-beings that stood so triumphantly in the town square. If you looked beyond the material at the power bound up within their bodies, you'd see the patchwork job of bindings and conjunctions some arcanist had used to trap two old gods into these young bodies. And it was enough to make Svetlana Zharova grit her teeth and shak her cane at the absent Falkenrath.

What new foolhearty foolishness is this, Foollian? Creating parahumans artificially? Binding old gods into your service? Why in the name of all that's holy would you do this? Power, Lana supposed. It was generally the answer to most short-sighted decisions her counterpart made; that and ideology. When it came to playing with forces such as this, the risk of failure outweighed any potential reward for Svetlana, and the idea of attempting such a rite upon loyal Russian troops was enough to make her shudder. But The Fool Society were blinded by this obsession with their mythical past nation state. This gave Falkenrath two divinities of Ultima Thule, incarnate and in the flesh, just as he'd wanted them. Who cared if they were hollow lies: nothing but a pair of young humans with older powers they could barely understand rammed into their souls? What did the side effects if those bindings should fail matter? At lest it looked good, did it not?

Svetlana was just about to move forward, indignation overcoming reason for a moment, when the sight of one American pushing herself upwards brought her to a halt. This was a battle between Third Reich and Allied forces. Intervening in the fight would be a clear violation of the non-aggression pact, beyond even getting into a fight with the Germans on her own time. It'd give the Nazis an excuse for war against the Union. Yet without intervention, the Americans stood no chance, and neither did one lone Soviet mystic. Both she and they would need aid against this pair of Übermensch Nazis. Svetlana was tempted to abandon this scene, and resume her search for Falkenrath, hoping the soldiers would keep the doctor's goon squad busy for a while longer.

But no. She had to stop this. The stakes had risen beyond Lana's first estimation of one powerful book in Nazi hands. That was bad enough in its own right. But the Red Army wouldn't be able to match a nation capable of producing Parahumans to order, especially if Falkenrath could repeat this insanity on an industrial scale. For the good of her people, and the allies, Svetlana had to bring the Thulian's little operation to a halt. Somehow.

Damn it all..

Her face betraying all too real worry, the good Doctor raised her cane, ostensibly to ward off any passing blows that came her way. Pushing backwards, the Soviet Witch let herself fall within the shadow of one of the abandoned cars, her eyes darting between the two Nazis. This would not be easy, but if she was careful...

[roll0] Initiative

[TekHed]

"The hell?" Sacha muttered under his breath as the courtyard was illuminated with crackling lightning and two figures appeared, having apparently stepped straight out of a storybook.

It didn't take a scientific genius to see that they were up to no good, and would need to be dealt with. This was what he had come here for.

"Finally..." he said to himself, throwing off the greatcoat that had concealed his arms...and armament.

"Hey! Ugly! How about a taste of your own medicine?"

His hand hovered near his holster, like a gunslinger, and his trigger finger was feeling itchy...

[Nintendogeek01]

Everyone in the Plaza

James Swift could hear Alain groan when the Human Dynamo stepped out to confront Donar, "Ungh... 'e 'ad to jump out in ze open didn't 'e?" he moaned while desperately clicking the radio to send out the signal.

"Any who are mighty enough to survive my might shall be worth questioning Shield Maiden!" Donar bellows towards his companion, he then takes notice of two of our heroes taking aim at him while the American soldiers struggle to their feet. "HA HA HA HA HA HA...!" Donar let out a bellowing laughter as Curve and The Human Dynamo took aim, "Ye have spirit warriors of the Allied Powers! But yet are still no match for..."

"Hyah!" whilst Donar was shouting, die Walküre bid her horse move, and the flying beast whinnied in response, beginning to fly towards the heroes.

"... DONAR...! LORD OF THUNDER...!" his mighty shout accompanied by a crack of thunder as his hammer glowed brightly, turning to face the Human Dynamo

"Isn't that the Human Dynamo?" Johnny asked as he readied his weapon.

"Not important Johnny! Find us an escape route! Everyone else take cover and engage!" Mitt barked out to his squad, prompting soldiers to turn towards cover as the Nazi Parahumans shouted their war cries!
Environment Effects: Everyone except James Alford and Helio-Man are currently within the area of the following;
Intense Cold - Fort Check Countdown: 1/100
Storm Winds - Hamper Movement: -1 to movement effects
Rain - Impair Vision: -2 to perception checks

NPC Status:
Alain: Normal
Soldiers: 7/7
Donar, Lord of Thunder: Normal
Die Walküre: Normal
Horse: Normal

Initiative Order

The Human Dynamo, Curve, James Swift
Alain
American Soldiers
Villains
James Alford, Helio-Man, Svetlana


We're doing block initiative so if you don't know what that means it means that as long as it's your "block" you're free to go ahead and go in whatever order. It'll help me out a lot if, during combat, you guys post your current status at the top of your posts (name, condition, hero points, & luck points).

So with that, TekHed, Quellian, Admiral, it's your block! :smallamused:

[The_Admiral]

A quick glance informed James of the presence of soldiers, tapping Alain on the back, he makes his way to them, asking, "Captain James Swift Retired, Former First Corps what are American Troops doing here?" his Kansas accent still somewhat obvious. Peeking out from behind a car, he takes a pot shot at die Walküre with his revolver, ducking right back in.


[roll0]

DC 19 Toughness

[Quellian-dyrae]

Curve | Normal | 2 HP | 4 Luck

Sara knew she should be finding cover too, but she didn't move. Anything that made her stand out from the rest of her squad as a prime target had a chance of saving lives.

Parahumans. Nazi parahumans. Like PowderKeg. Just like him. She let the thought fill her mind, put all her focus into it, narrowed to a point, hardened to diamond. How many people had they killed? How many soldiers? Soldiers like Corey?

Soldiers like Paul.

The Nazis were still talking. She'd have rolled her eyes if it wouldn't throw off her aim. In all this rain and wind, it had to be perfect.

Meh, let's be honest. It only would have had to be perfect if she were still normal.

She leveled her gun on Shieldmaiden, squeezed the trigger...and telekinetically guided the bullet straight at Donar's eye.

Move: Feint at -5 on Donar. Insight or Deception DC [roll0] or Donar is Vulnerable against Sara's next attack.

Standard: Called Shot on Donar, Power Attack for 5, at [roll1]. On a hit, Toughness DC 24 vs. Damage and Fortitude DC 19 vs. Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless Affliction.

EDIT: ...SARA! You have been Cut-Scened twice now, don't you think it's time for a display of competence? Work with me here!

[TekHed]

The Dynamo juked right, dodging away from the charging Valkyrie. With lightning reflexes his cannon was in hand, unleashing a violent bolt of violet electricity that surged through air towards the mad Nazi enforcer, leaving its own thunder in its wake.

>>>ZZZZZZZZZAPBOOOM!!!<<<




Move: Flank Right
Free: Quick Draw
Standard: Attack: [roll0] Damage DC 23, Ignores cover and concealment

[Nintendogeek01]

All the soldiers present except Johnny, who was moving to duck through the gazebo in desperation to find an escape route, got behind a car to take cover. Half the team took fire at Donar while the other half took aim at Die Walküre.

Die Walküre's horse suddenly swooped upward and began to climb the air, while she bobbed and ducked out of the path of the majority of the bullets fired at her except for Swift's and Mitt's; Unfortunately Swift's bullet bounced harmlessly off of her armor while Mitt's shots managed to strike her arm, but what ablation they did cause didn't seem to bother her in the slightest.

Donar had finished shifting his weight to face the Human Dynamo, completely ignoring the hail of bullets from the American soldiers that bounced harmlessly off of him, when the latter fired his mighty lightning bolt from his Hand Cannon; unfortunately the Human Dynamo's haste to preempt an attack from Die Walküre left his aim unsteady and the bolt sailed harmlessly over Donar's shoulder to strike the corner of a building far behind the large German. He swiftly swung his hammer behind his head as though prepping for a back-handed swing when during the prep his hammer intercepted the course of Curve's bullet, whether he did that or purpose or not it's hard to say.

"Sergeant Mitt of United States Armed Forces," Mitt shouted back to Swift, sharing cover with him, "I could ask you the same question but we've got bigger problems right now, "Private get behind cover!" he shouted when he noticed Curve's bravado.

Donar then made an impressive 30 foot leap, effortlessly clearing the cover everyone was hiding behind, from a standing position all while shouting "Lightning!? I'll show you the power of DONAR... LORD OF THUNDER...!"

"No! Look out!" Alain shouted as he ran from the alleyway.

KRACKA-THOOOOM...!!!

Before Donar began his descent to the ground a few feet behind the soldier's cover, he fired a mighty bolt of lightning at The Human Dynamo, accompanied by a bright flash of light and the crack of thunder, cracking windows and stunning the senses of everyone close to the powerful Parahuman. Mitt and two other soldiers manage to cover their eyes and ears in time, but four others, including Johnny, and squinting their eyes and clutching their ears while screaming in pain; the only other good news is that the Human Dynamo seems unharmed by the Lightning Blast itself.

However Die Walküre's horse swoops down and runs mid-air circles around the Human Dynamo, Die Walküre's sword lashed out to strike the Human Dynamo as the horse finished its laps around him and dashed away, standing in mid-air above the exit to Alain and Swift's previously occupied alley. "Donar your lightning didn't phase him! Pay attention!" she shouted to her compatriot, who skid into a landing behind the soldiers and Swift.

However at this time it became clear that the car windows weren't the only thing damaged by the sonic boom, as the gazebo's wooden beams cracked and creaked while Johnny was still blinded and deafened underneath it, "Get out of zere!" Alain, remarkably still fine, dived and shoved the soldier out from underneath the gazebo, who sprawled across the ground outside of it just as it came crashing down on top of Alain.

CRASH

"Ha ha ha...! How do ye rate yer chances now!?" Donar gloated with bellowing laughter.

You guys: Donar succeeded on insight to resist the feint, your bullet did not beat his dodge defense. The Human Dynamo's attack also missed. Swift's attack hit but it had no effect on Die Walküre's toughness.

Donar, Lord of Thunder: Leaped behind the cover the soldiers were using and used his lightning bolt. It hit at a result of 27 but the Human Dynamo is immune; however it is linked to a burst area affliction that catches everyone in its area-of-effect. Curve, Swift, and Human Dynamo need to first make a DC18 dodge check, or then make a DC18 Fortitude save (DC14 if you made the dodge check). Failures on the Fort save will result in hearing and vision being impaired>>disabled>>unaware. (And before anyone asks the descriptors are light and sound so no immunity to electricity doesn't cover it). Donar is currently about 7 feet behind the cover of Swift and the soldiers.

Die Walküre and horse: The horse makes a move action to swoop high then approach the Human Dynamo; a standard action to use agile feint for a result of 19 on The Human Dynamo. Human Dynamo, since you don't have points in either skill to resit just roll a d20 with no modifier. If you fail you are vulnerable to Die Walküre's next attack (due to the horse's set-up, and no uncanny dodge does not cover feints). Die Walküre got an attack result of 17 so whether you need to make a toughness save at DC26 will depend on whether you avoided the feint or not. See above for where the horse and Die Walküre are currently positioned.
Environment Effects: Everyone except James Alford and Helio-Man are currently within the area of the following;
Intense Cold - Fort Check Countdown: 1/100
Storm Winds - Hamper Movement: -1 to movement effects
Rain - Impair Vision: -2 to perception checks

NPC Status:
Alain: Under rubble
3/7 Soldiers: Normal
4/7 Soldiers: Vision and Hearing unaware
Donar, Lord of Thunder: Normal
Die Walküre: Normal
Horse: Normal

Okay that was a rough first set of actions, but combat's still young and half of you haven't even gone yet. So post in any order you like now, it's every PC's block now! Good luck guys!

[Quellian-dyrae]

Curve | Vision and Hearing Impaired (Fort 18) | 2 HP | 4 Luck

"Guh!" Sara groaned as the thunderclap struck. Spots danced before her eyes and there was a ringing in her ears. It all would have been quite disorienting - for a normal soldier.

Curve, however, could still feel where everyone was just fine.

Big guy's the one who hits like a bomb. Cluttered battlefield like this, he's the most dangerous opponent, Sara thought.

"I-I can't see!" she cried out, sounding as helpless and terrified as she could as she whirled about seemingly blindly, spraying bullets in an apparently random direction.

You can't dodge bullets, Paul had once told her. But you can dodge the gun barrel being pointed your way.

Corollary: she thought grimly, Dodging the barrel doesn't help when the bullets don't have to move in a straight line.

Touchsight is Accurate, so Visual Impairment has no practical effect.

Move: Feint at -5 on Donar at [roll0].

Standard: Attack Donar with Nudge Shots, Power Attack for 5, at [roll1]. On a hit, Toughness DC 24+Multiattack vs. Damage. Crit. DC becomes 29+Multiattack, for a very probable 34 total unless crit immune.

EDIT: Yes, Sara. Just...just like that. Exactly what I was talking about. I'll just...I'll just be quiet and let you handle things then, shall I?

Fortitude to remove Affliction (DC 18): [roll2]. Condition remains

[The_Admiral]

As the lightning flashed, the sheer sound invaded his ears, however he was ready, he had training. The martial arts he learned in the Orient had prepared him. One of the training techniques being combat in the centre of a bell while it was being rung. He didn't excel at it, but it prepared him for this.

Shutting out the ringing, he peeked from behind cover, takes stock of the situation and says, "Sargent, get your men to focus fire on the big guy, he's the threat, I'm your ride out."


Hoping for teamwork from as many soldiers as possible
Persuasion
[roll0]

POWER ATTACK

[roll1]

DC 23 Tough

[Inspector Valin]

Well... that could've gone better for the would-be Resistance. Svetlana's grip upon her cane shook a little at the sight of the two German Soul-Bound warriors charging towards the rag-tag counter force, seemingly undismayed by any firepower their foes had to throw at them. These two were like the Wehrmacht in miniature: steam-rolling whatever got in their way and seemingly indefatigable. This was not going to be an easy fight for the Americans. Even with her power, perhaps it would be best to...

In Heaven's name! The Nazis haven't won yet. Get over yourself

Her gaze sweeping across the battle, Svetlana made her call swiftly enough. She was on her own effectively at the moment, so she should minimize risk. Start things off subtly, meddling from the sidelines. Only escalate this situation if you had to. With a tap of her cane, the wheelchair-bound witch pushed herself across the battlefield, coming to a halt behind a light blue painted van, now with less obstruction between her and the battle beyond. It might've simply been a trick of the light, but the strange woman seemed to be gesturing towards the lofty Walküre with her cane, humming to herself as the shadows seemed to twist slightly around the square. If she was careful...

Move Action to shift between cars and make sure Svetlana has line of sight, and then Cadence Invocation on Die Walkure. [roll0] Attack, for a DC18 Weaken Toughness, resisted by Fortitude. Svetlana is Vulnerable till her next turn.

The Weaken gets two more attack rolls if that failed, kicking in on Svetlana's subsequent turns and is both Subtle and Insidious. Given that Svetlana's sticking to shadows, both Nazis are probably focused on the obvious threat, and there's Donar's storm to inhibit perception, I'm hoping Walkure takes some penalties to that Perception roll. (If she gets to make one, unsure on that, since she probably wasn't paying attention to Svetlana)

[OrganicEvil]

Vasilia sighed and turned the radio buzzer off. Her new acquaintances, it seemed, were in trouble;1, 2 she would need to join them quickly. Unless, of course, it was a trap.4 It was an interesting conundrum,5 but in the end, easily solved. If the distress call was a trap, she would simply need to surprise her opponents, while if it were genuine, she would need to arrive with as much speed as possible. Fortunately, her Egg had a number of little-known features,7 one of which should be useful against either contingency. Quickly, Vasilia rerouted power from the plasma cannon to the jet thrusters and launched into the cloudy sky.

Vasilia took in the chaos below as she swooped in at not quite three times the speed of sound.9 Her companions, as well as a smattering of other Allied forces, appeared to be engaged with a pair of Axis parahumans.10 They seemed to be concentrating their fire on the larger one with the hammer, so Vasilia dropped to hover next to the obviously Valkyrie-themed hostile. "<In all honesty,>" she said in impeccably accented German, "<I always thought that Götterdämmerung was the best part of the Ring, myself.>"11 With a twitch of the Egg's controls, she launched a light12 punch at the would-be Chooser, feeling out her defenses.

1Or possibly just the American. Vasilia still had her doubts about the Frenchman; his 'contact' had seemed an awfully convenient pretense for an ambush.

2It would have been nice to know what type of trouble, but the primitive transmitters currently in military use were far too unwieldy for precise, quick communication. She would have to work on that.3

3Fractal antennas would be necessary, obviously, and the power supply...6

4See 1

5A dilemma, technically.

6Something with intercalated lithium compounds?8

7The foot massager was a personal favorite. Actually, she might as well turn that on now.

8No, lithium and sulfur would be far more efficient.

9That is, the average speed of sound at sea level. Local low-pressure and humidity conditions due to the storm likely increased that somewhat, but Vasilia couldn't say more without specific data.

10German, based on the iconography.

11Although, admittedly, Parsifal remained her favorite of Wagner's works.

12Well, relatively.

To start, I'm using a Hero Point to take eight additional ranks of Flight as an Alternate Effect on the Helio-Blast, stacking with the suit's normal ranks for a total of eleven. With that out of the way, here's a breakdown of the turn:

Free Actions: Take 10 on an Inventing check to design a modern smartphone for a result of 28, succeeding easily; roll all possible Expertise checks on Donar and Die Walküre, most notably including Military, Politics, Espionage, Science, Magic, Mythology, and Theology for a result of [roll0], assuming you don't want me to roll separately for all of the possible checks, which, given that I'm not as fast as Vasilia, could take a while; get a foot massage.

Move Action: Fly to the battlefield; Vehicles Check: [roll1]

Standard Action: Accurate Attack on Die Walküre with Unarmed damage; Vehicles Check: [roll2], Attack Check [roll3], Toughness DC 23 resolving after Svetlana's Weaken.

I wasn't sure what would need Vehicles checks, so if I missed anything, let me know. If I blow one of them too badly, I may Luck Point it.

[TekHed]

The lightning blast had been expected. Sacha would never fear that spectral force again. The resulting shockwave however... As unexpected as it was, the stalwart man of action reverted his gaze, ducking instinctively into cover behind a car. Then the metal wench was upon him, seemingly to trample him under flying hoof. He weaved out of the way, but it had been a setup. No sooner had he cleared the horse than he found himself staring straight into a gleaming blade headed straight for his torso. Time slowed as adrenaline flooded his veins. His spine contorted, his neck craning against the careening death. He wasn't quite fast enough. The tip of the sword slashed, opening up a deep gash under one of his cheeks.

Too close.

Once again he may have been too hasty. Vaulting over the nearest vehicle he decided cover was the better part of valor. Not to be dissuaded, he took aim at the Valkyrie's mount...and fired...


Condition: -1T
HP: 0

Attack: [roll0] DC 23 Toughness

[Nintendogeek01]

The three soldiers, including Mitt, not clutching their ears and seeing stars all take aim at Donar, "Open fire!" Mitt shouts, the three all aim for Donar's head, hoping to catch a more vulnerable part, one of the soldiers misses (nearly hitting The Human Dynamo), but Mitt and Sonny are both on target and well-coordinated with each other, "Stranger I don't know you, much less take you at your word! Let's sort it out after we get out of here!" he responds to Swift.

Die Walküre noticed the wheelchair-bound woman looking at her and chanting something, "Who is...?" her thoughts are cut off when she notices her's and her horse's shadow bending unnaturally, but Svetlana's magical senses can tell that Die Walküre's godly fortitude shook off the Evocation. The distraction did enable the large golden Helio-Man to fly in to punch at the woman warrior, who instinctively raised her sword-arm to deflect the blow; while her surprising strength did redirect the blow, Die Walküre's wincing face betrays her inability to redirect the full force. With a snap of her sword arm she reactively lashes out with her sword and strikes the large golden mecha at the same time a lightning bolt strikes the horse, causing it to rear back and whiny in mid-air, "No! Sturm!" she shouts out of concern for her mount.

"Ha ha ha...! Fire at me all ye like for ye'll never-Gah!" Donar's laughter was cut off when every single one of Curve's telekinetically guided bullets changed course and, with the added kick of telekinesis pushing them forth, managed to puncture Donar's thick skin in numerous places on his body, what's more, Swift's own bullet managed to "plug" Donar's ear while Mitt and Sonny's shots pelted him in the face, where even their bullets seemed to be affecting him.

"You fools! Ye have angered DONAR...!!! LORD..." he leaps at Swift, "OF..." he readies to bring his hammer downward, "THUNDER...!!!" he swings his hammer down at Swift; Swift has no problem side-stepping the blow, but the moment pavement shatters under the weight of the hammer a mighty shockwave flies in all directions, striking Swift, Curve, the Human Dynamo, and all the soldiers, knocking them back, uprooting pavement and even sending the car they were adjacent to up into the air!

"Ungh... Sonny...?" Mitt groaned, noticing Sonny was sprawled out on top of him, bleeding from the mouth and unmoving, "Get up you stupid... son... ungh..." Mitt loses consciousness before he can finish that sentence, Curve can tell by touch that Mitt, and all the other nearby soldiers had been knocked unconscious by the blow, except for Sonny, Curve can feel no pulse whatsoever from Sonny.

Before The Human Dynamo can full register what happened over there Die Walküre's horse, shaken but otherwise fine, charges in and looks as though it'll trample over the Human Dynamo, but once again it turns out to be a ruse and Die Walküre's sword is swinging in with all her might behind it, "Ye shall not hurt Sturm!" she bellows angrily, her swing's follow-through slicing the car in half before the horse flies over the remains of the gazebo and hovers above and behind it

As if compounding the wrath of the two Nazi Parahumans, the car flung into the air by Donar is making its way back down and is threatening to crush the unconscious Mitt.

You guys: Quellian's crit, plus Admiral's power attack, plus the soldier's team attack (not with you Swift you couldn't convince them), managed to daze and bruise Donar three times over. Die Walküre made her fort save against Svetlana's spell but got one bruise from Helio-Man, which prompted a successful reaction attack from her so Helio-Man must make a DC26 toughness save. The Human Dynamo's lightning bolt did hit the horse (apparently names Sturm) but it made the toughness save to avoid being hurt. James Alford, as we agreed your character basically makes it to the battlefield at the tail end of this round and is ready to act in the upcoming round.

Donar, Lord of Thunder: Donar was dazed so he charged to reach Swift but missed with a 18 however it is linked to a burst area damage that catches the people I mentioned it catching. The soldiers were all TKO'd by this attack (Sonny died due to a 1 on his toughness save, at least he went out like a badass) Curve, Swift, and Human Dynamo need to first make a DC18 dodge check, and then make a DC23 toughness save (DC19 if you made the dodge check). This isn't a lightning attack this is a shockwave, but good news for you Human Dynamo, you being behind total cover gives you a +5 circumstance bonus to the dodge check on top of your evasion bonus. Donar is currently adjacent to Swift.

Die Walküre and horse: The horse makes a move action to swoop high then approach the Human Dynamo; a standard action to use agile feint for a result of 24 on The Human Dynamo. Same roll as before to avoid being feinted, pray for that nat20 man. If you fail you are vulnerable to Die Walküre's next attack (due to the horse's set-up). Die Walküre got an attack result of 14 so whether you need to make a toughness save at DC31 (you pissed her off, she's swinging at you full force) will depend on whether you avoided the feint or not. See above for where the horse and Die Walküre are currently positioned.

Misc.: There's a car about to crush Mitt, anyone who wants to save him take what you believe to be an appropriate standard action to do so. If someone beats you to it mid-post you're allowed to change your action
Environment Effects: Everyone is currently within the area of the following;
Intense Cold - Fort Check Countdown: 2/100
Storm Winds - Hamper Movement: -1 to movement effects
Rain - Impair Vision: -2 to perception checks

NPC Status:
Alain: Under rubble
6/7 Soldiers: Incapacitated
1/7 Soldiers (Sonny): Dead
Donar, Lord of Thunder: 3 bruised
Die Walküre: 1 bruised
Sturm: Normal

Keep it up everyone!

[The_Admiral]

James grimaced as the pressure slammed into his chest, again his experience in the east proved valuable as he hardened his core, riding out the wave of force. Glancing around, took in the modified situation, the Sargent he was just talking too had just collapsed from the trauma inflicted by the force, and a quick look up indicated that a car was about to drop down on him. Forgetting his opponent, he dodged past the Lord Of Dunder and grabbed Mitt, lifting him off the ground and rushing to another point of cover.

Finally noticing curve he shouts at her, "GET TO COVER!"


Using my actions to grab Mitt and pull him away.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Curve | 1 Bruise, Dazed, Vision and Hearing Impaired (Fort 18), New: Fatigued | 2 HP | 4 Luck

Curve hurled her telekinetic force against the shockwave. Her defense took advantage of her strengths to overcome her weaknesses. The pulse of telekinetic energy she constantly, unconsciously radiated was quite diffuse, but near to her body was a lot more concentrated. And the pulse came fast. That was the thing; she could only exert six pounds of force, which for sustained lifting was next to useless.

But she could do it quickly and precisely. Throw six pounds of force into the teeth of an attack several dozen times per second and-

WHAM!

-well, and at least you don't get every bone in your body broken when you're smashed in the face by the shockwave of a god's hammer.

Curve was reeling for a moment. Dimly, over the ringing in her ears, she heard the guy who had been talking to Mitt yell for her to get to cover. Is there any cover on this battlefield that these two won't just move around or smash through? she wondered.

Her focus came rushing back. Her heart leaped into her throat as she saw the car about to crush Mitt, simultaneously with the pit dropping out of her stomach as she felt no pulse from Sonny. Before she could react, the stranger pulled Mitt to safety, and Sara's eyes narrowed dangerously on Donar.

**** cover.

Sara raised her gun and poured her will into every bullet fired, guiding them precisely and pointedly straight into the Lord of Thunder's head.

Move: Dazed.

Standard: Guide Shot on Donar. Perception range; Toughness DC 23.

Extra Effort - Additional Standard Action: DO IT AGAIN!

Fortitude to remove Affliction (DC 18): [roll0]. Condition remains

[Inspector Valin]

Well, that could've gone better. The false Maiden had proven vexing alert and had noticed the witch's enchantment almost immediately. And it hadn't even taken! Svetlana barely had time to note the arrival of the massive golden giant as Donar's gleeful roar announced his triumph over the American squad. Only one soldier was left standing, though other figures were still up and moving. This fight was intensifying, and now she was right in the middle of it.

Well, no sense holding back now.

Once again, the Moscovite witch pushed her chair along, this time sheltering behind what seemed to be a small black car. She didn't recognize the make, local? Irrelevent though, really. What mattered is that it should make her a little less obvious to the muscle-bound Thunder 'God', and let the good enchantress focus her attention on Wotan's would-be servant. Raising her cane upwards, a gout of strange black fire rose up towards the errant rider, stinging with a chill deeper than Donar's conjured storm.

Moving to try and get cover from Donar. Swapping out to Witch-Fire, targeting Valkyrie. [roll0] Attack, with a reroll next turn if it fails. DC23.

[OrganicEvil]

Vasilia had never met gods before.1 Thusfar, she was a bit underwhelmed. Still, they could turn out to actually be dangerous;3 best, then, to remove them quickly. Vasilia redirected power back to the plasma cannon6 and took aim at Die Walküre. Energy burst from the blaster's tip, instantly superheating the surrounding air into ionization, and a focused ray as bright and hot as the surface of the sun lanced through the stormy tumult, straight towards the Nazi parahuman.

1Or even parahumans who could pretend convincingly for that matter.2

2Although, based on Die Walküre's forced archaisms and Donar's... Well, everything, perhaps she still hadn't.

3Especially the big one.4 He seemed to be the more powerful of the two, and incredibly stupid to boot. Power and stupidity were a deadly combination.5

4Die Walküre seemed reasonably intelligent, but whatever intellect she possessed was assuredly a raindrop next to the vast ocean of Vasilia's own.

5Indeed, in Hitler's case, she had counted on it.

6She would hardly need extra flight range now.

Status Report:
Helio-Man: Normal
Vasilia: Normal
1 Hero Point Spent

Turn Breakdown:
Free Action: Switch from the extra Flight back to Helio-Blast
Move Action: None. Vasilia will remain hovering where she is for the moment. (Assuming she's still 150 feet or less from Die Walküre. If not, let me know and I'll edit.)
Standard Action: Just a normal Helio-Blast at Die Walküre: [roll0] Vehicles Check, [roll1] Attack Check, Toughness DC 21.

[SuperCracker]

Jim Alford

He sensed the battle a distance away and took off into the air to meet it head on. Bursting through plumes of smoke and threading himself through blasted holes in buildings, the American in the bomber jacket flew over the violence below. His eyes beheld the carnage – two Nazi parahumans, including the brute that took the Professor. There were others below, some with strange technology, some that seemed strangely out of place. But then again, he was a man who was floating in mid-air.

“German filth!” He shouted out, his fists clenching. Somehow, he managed to speak in whatever native language the listener spoke. The psychic effect even caused others to perceive his lips moving in the right manner. “You’re no gods. Believe me. I’d know.”

His eyes focused on the man with the hammer. He’d attempted to fight him with TK before, and that failed spectacularly. So now… he burned the man’s mind with a psychic assault. In the very same moment, Jim glanced towards the German swinging her sword at the Human Dynamo.

The air roiled behind her as a powerful blast of telekinetic might slammed into her from behind with the might of a battleship’s cannon. Jim’s powers could originate from anywhere, aim in any direction. It was useful for fighting underhanded. And when you fight Nazis… screw honor.

Standard action to Mind Blast Donar. Perception Range, so it hits. He now makes a DC 18 will save vs. Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated.

Going to extra effort and surge for another standard action.
Using TK Attack, which has indirect 4. Hopefully it surprises her and makes her vulnerable. I’ll all-out attack for 2. [roll0] DC 25 damage

Hero point to cure fatigued.

[TekHed]

...and that was that. The electrical man-of-action had met his match, or so it would seem. Down for the count in the second round.

[Nintendogeek01]

Die Walküre's response to the Human Dynamo, for striking Sturm, was swift and brutal like the Third Reich's Blitzkrieg. The Human Dynamo ducked right into the path of Die Walküre's vengeful sword swing and leave a deep gash, only prevented from being fatal by virtue of the Human Dynamo's own Parahuman resilience; thus he fell to the ground behind the bisected car and left Die Walküre and her horse to finish their flight path. Meanwhile, Swift manages to grab Mitt and dash away from being crushed by the falling vehicle, the other unconscious soldiers, for now, won't be joining Sonny.

Die Walküre, still righting herself in her saddle, managed to duck the black flame but was struck by the Helio-Blast front the front when a blast of kinetic force struck her from behind, but all either attack manages to do is scuff the exterior of the Parahuman's armor. Out of the corner of her eye she sees the flames curving around to come back for another strike, guiding her gaze upward to the newcomer flying over the field. "Hyah!" Die Walküre used her heels to prod Sturm forth, "Donar focus on..." she stops when she sees the state of the self-proclaimed Lord of Thunder, "Nevermind," she mutters as the horse flies forth!

"So, 'twas ye who fired all those shots at once!?" Donar smugly addressed Curve as Curve's first shot struck him square in the forehead, but despite the small mark it left it didn't seem like he registered its presence, casually shaking out the bullet Swift planted in his ear earlier, "Your brothers lie fallen little waif, what chance hav-UNGH!" Curve's second shot struck the Nazi in his nose at the same time that Alford's Mind Attack gave the Nazi a pounding headache.

"You DARE!?!" he looked to the blood that trickled onto his fingers before leering at Curve, "You DARE HARM DONAR!?! LORD..." he leaps at Curve, "OF..." he readies to bring his hammer downward, "THUNDER...!!!" he swings his hammer down at Curve, but unlike Swift she could not avoid the angry blow, the moment his hammer struck her TK field another shockwave flies out, hitting Swift once more, any windows that had survived up until now are demolished, and cars are nearly overturned by the force of the shockwave.

While the thundrous battle on the ground raged on, Sturm carried her mistress by Helio-Man, bringing her close enough for Die Walküre to strike her sword across Helio-Man's metal body. Sturm continued from there to charge at Alford, seemingly ready to ram into the enraged psychic, only to instead "leap" over him and float behind him, wheeling around for Die Walküre to leer at Alford, "So... Donar didn't accidentally kill you after all," she remarks to the psychic.

You guys: Curve's first shot was resisted by his toughness (at 25, but Donar was bruised at a result of 20 on the second shot. Alford, you managed to daze him (his result was 15), but he did shake it off at the end of his round at a result of 21. Svetlana missed Die Walküre, who made her toughness saves against the Helio-Blast and TK Attack at 29 and 26 respectively.

Donar, Lord of Thunder: Donar was dazed, so he was forced to charge Curve, but he just makes the power attack check at 16, Curve must make a toughness save vs. DC32, ouch... Swift (not Curve), same deal with the area attack as last time, DC18 dodge check, DC23/19 toughness save. Swift, you taking cover behind a whole car gives you a +5 circumstance bonus on the dodge check. Donar is currently adjacent to Curve.

Die Walküre and horse: The horse makes a move action, the path of which brings Die Walküre in range for a readied attack on Helio-Man, it hits at 15 for a toughness save of DC28 on Helio-Man. Sturm's move reaches Alford, where he will agile feint him for a result of 12; Alford must oppose that check with the better of acrobatics or insight to avoid being made vulnerable to Die Walküre's next attack (due to set-up), Sturm will finish his move action adjacent to Alford.

The entity bound to Die Walküre is growing more restless in front of the floating man who just arrived, as though it wants out, as though it wants blood.

Your ability to feel minds hasn't really been able to tell you exactly where others were standing, but now that this woman is right in front of you, you can definitely feel a second mind within her, and it seems to be trying to gain control.
Environment Effects: Everyone is currently within the area of the following;
Intense Cold - Fort Check Countdown: 3/100
Storm Winds - Hamper Movement: -1 to movement effects
Rain - Impair Vision: -2 to perception checks

NPC Status:
Alain: Under rubble
6/7 Soldiers: Incapacitated
1/7 Soldiers (Sonny): Dead
Donar, Lord of Thunder: 4 bruised, dazed
Die Walküre: 1 bruised
Sturm: Normal

Battle's still heating up, don't stop now!

[The_Admiral]

Lining up another shot, James notices another incoming shockwave, again bracing himself as it rolls over him with little to no effect.

Without furthur observation, he fires his third round in this combat at Donar as he rushes to cover further away from him shouting, "YOU DON'T ACT LIKE A LORD OF ANYTHING!"


[roll0]

DC 23 toughness

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana's mind is primarily with the bolt of black flame, realigning its trajectory with a thought to bring it back around once again towards Die Walküre. However, she was aware enough of the wider conflict to note the arrival of the additional fighter, a point that made her smile for a second and nod in agreement with his words. But then, a single dissonant note started to sound in the back of her mind. Enough to draw the witch's irritated attention and elicit a murmured "What the..."

Svetlana's focus shifted to the warrior herself, the Muscovite Magess frowning as she focused on the chained spirit within the woman. As she should've suspected. Falkenrath's fetters were woefully weak work, and his precious spell was starting to snap beneath some added strain. Perhaps at the challenge of this confrontation... but no, the gold behemouth hadn't garnered such a reaction. Something about this flying figure, his claim or his presence. Regardless, this was... both a good and bad thing, really. On the plus side, two less Nazi parahumans was a serious blessing. However, the alternative was a very real pair of high power spirits, right in front of them and angry as hell. That was not a great trade-off. They might be able to talk them down... but the odds were high. And Svetlana never liked taking a risk if she could avoid it.

She had to at least try to avoid the spell failing for the moment. Calling a second gout of black fire into the air alongside the first, the Soviet Mystic sent the bolt on its way with a whip of her cane before looking upward, yelling out towards the smaller Allied figure in the air. "American, get back! Either fight this from a distance, finish this now or leave the field. Or else we're all dead, these two included." Turning away from the flying man, the wheelchair-bound witch managed a snort, her eyes fixed instead on Walküre. "Unless you feel up to fighting a real death-rider and thunder god, rather than two pretentious young fools with stolen power and fancy costumes."

[roll0] Witchfire. Rerolling the one from last round too, through homing. [roll1] Either's DC23 if it hits.

Also, taking 10 on Expertise Magic, trying to work out what happens if the spell breaks. I assume since this one is craving blood they don't just fade away?

[TekHed]

ZzzZzzZzz...

[Quellian-dyrae]

Curve | 1 Bruise, Vision and Hearing Impaired (Fort 18), Fatigued, -5 Defense this turn | 2 1 HP | 4 Luck

The hammer came down on her like a freight train, the force of the blow all but incalculable. Invested with the partial power of a god's strength and the full fury of a deity's wrath, it fell upon the young woman as she hurled her miniscule power into the teeth of the blow.

And stopped cold.

It didn't seem possible. Even she couldn't believe it had happened. The math didn't work out. Given the rate of her pulses, times six pounds, subtracted from the sheer kinetic energy of that hammer, the answer to the equation was "smeared across the pavement."

Perhaps, in her desperation, she had pulsed faster than ever before?

Perhaps, in her fury, she had pushed the raw strength of her power past its limits?

Or perhaps it was just because the Nazis weren't the only ones with a fledgling deity on the field, and the American one happened to like telekinesis.

Curve didn't know. Frankly, she didn't much care.

"Not bad. But let's be clear," she said, hoping to distract him as she shoved her rifle up under his chin.

"YOU'RE STILL NO ZEUS!"

BLAM!

Move: Feint Donar at -5 at [roll0].

Standard: Attack Donar with Invest Shot, All Out Attack for 5, Power Attack for 5, at [roll1]. On a hit, Toughness DC 30 vs. Damage.

Extra Effort - Additional Standard Action: DO IT AGAIN, this time only Power Attacking for 3, at [roll2]. On a hit, Toughness DC 28 vs. Damage.

Hero Point: Negate the fatigue.

Fortitude to negate the Affliction (DC 18): [roll3]. Recovers

[SuperCracker]

Jim Alford

The Nazi Rider came rushing at him, her mount attempting to distract Jim from the real threat. It didn’t work. His attention remained on Die Walkure, who had put some real damage on the walking mechanism, it seemed. Jim turned towards her, floating still in mid-air. Someone below was shouting at him, but he ignored their plea. He wasn’t quitting the battle until the Professor’s whereabouts where known and these monsters were punished.

“Still kickin’,” he said with a small, threatening little grin on his lips. “Which is bad news for you. Worse news for him when I’m done with you.” He narrowed his eyes as he sensed that consciousness writhing around inside of her mind. She wasn't alone in there either, was she? He thrust his hand out towards her and Sturm.

The air began to vibrate as a roiling sphere of wildly spinning, telekinetic force began to form in front of Jim’s hand. It pulsed and grew until there was an odd moment of stillness… then all that kinetic force exploded forth in a thunderous explosion and massive shockwave, catching Horse and Rider together.

Using TK Wave – DC 18 dodge; DC 23/19 toughness vs. those caught in the AoE

[OrganicEvil]

Vasilia frowned.1 Die Walküre had managed to put a dent in the Egg's plating, and it had taken her a moment to regain flight stability after the force of the blow, but those were both relatively minor concerns. A more pressing annoyance was the presence of the flying man, directly between her and her target. Still, Vasilia could be patient,2 and Die Walküre was, she observed, a highly mobile fighter. In all probability, she would have her shot soon. With a thought to the inefficacy of the last shot, Vasilia dialed up the cannon's power slightly.3

1This in and of itself was an unusual occurrence; very little in the day-to-day surprised her enough to bother her or presented any real challenge to her intellect.

2When it suited her to be; admittedly, she wasn't always terribly good at it. Even the greatest of minds lay at the mercy of teenage hormonal changes.

3It would unfocus the beam slightly, true, making it harder to aim, but even a relatively poor shot like her last had managed to land, so she had little fear on that count.

Status Report:
Helio-Man: Dented (-1), Dazed
Vasilia: Normal
1 Hero Point Spent, 1 Luck Point Spent.

Turn Breakdown:
Free Action: None.
Move Action: None. Vasilia will remain hovering where she is for the moment.
Standard Action: Ready a Power-Attacking Helio-Blast, to be fired as soon as Vasilia has a clear shot at Die Walküre. Rolls for when that happens: [roll0] Vehicles Check, [roll1] Attack Check, DC 23 Toughness
Rerolled the Attack Check in the OOC for a result of 20. If the attack never gets fired for whatever reason, presumably I'll get the Luck back, since there was never an attack roll to spend it on.

[Nintendogeek01]

Die Walküre's flying mount whinnied in pain from the Telekinetic force, however the horse's mistress fared far better by rolling with the force and her armor taking care of the rest. Die Walküre noticed the states of Donar and his opponent and decided it best to intervene. "Sturm! Interception! Hyah!" in spite of the mount's crisis it followed Die Walküre's command and quick as a flash flew between Curve and Donar, separating them and taking the first shot fired by the gun-wielding telekinetic with no troubles. During this flight path Die Walküre had to duck under another blast from Helio-Man and a gout of flame from Svetlana, "Gah!" only to duck into the path of the one still chasing after her, a problem not helped by the fact that the flame she ducked was now coming around for another try.

"I have this! Guh!" Donar shouted with an extreme lack of gratitude for the save from the horse, and paying for it when Swift's bullet managed to catch his throat. The moment the horse swooped away Donar stepped in and swung his hammer vertically at Curve, striking her on the crown. She met this with a second shot that struck him in the left eye, "GAH!!!" he clutches his eye with his free hand and reacts with a horizontal swing that strikes Curve across the left cheek with his weapon hand.

The horse was coming back around towards Alford, carrying his slightly dazed mistress, whose furious expression was markedly different from before, <"Tis not we who are unfortunate,"> she growled in a language that could be deciphered only by those few who knew Old Nordic, <"Tis you for daring to challenge us here Surtur!"> she thrust her sword with incredible ferocity into Alford's torso, attempting to pierce the telekinetic defenses.

"YE SHALL ALL IMPUGN ME NO MORE...!!!" he bellows when Svetlana said something about them being pretentious fools, "I AM DONAR...!!! LORD OF THUNDER...!!!" he furiously grips his hammer in both hands as it cackles with the glow of electricity before he thrusts it into the air, sending a massive bolt of lightning skyward! The storm clouds pulsate with lightning, rumble ever louder, before casting down six massive bolts of lightning on all the heroes present!

You guys: Swift, your bullet temp. dazed and bruised Donar with his toughness at 17. Curve's first shot was interposed by Sturm, who got a nat20 on the toughness save and made it, but your second shot has put Donar at staggered! (at 13). Bad news is both of those attacks in melee range triggered two successful reaction attacks, make two DC27 toughness saves. Alford, you dazed that horse, thus keeping it from doing more than interpose (reaction) and move, but Die Walküre made the dodge save and put the damage within her impervious rating. Svetlana missed Die Walküre, but her homing attack crit and dazed and bruised thanks to a toughness roll of 19. Helio-Man missed.

Donar, Lord of Thunder: Aside from the aforementioned reaction attacks, Donar has activated the trump card! Mechanically handled as perception area attack so if you make a DC21 dodge save you guys will avoid damage entirely, but if you fail it you must make a DC26 toughness save.

Die Walküre and horse: The horse interposes as a reaction and moves back to Alford, Die Walküre is using an anger fueled Power attack that hit at a result of 20, so James Alford make a DC31 toughness save.

The other mind within Die Walküre seems to have suddenly gained power and is now by far the dominant one, and it's taking its toll on the mind it suppressed.
Surprisingly enough Donar seems to be handling the magical energy within him very well considering the duress this fight has put him through; maybe it's because he's more than happy to give the entity within him what it wants, a chance to cut loose and show off its power. The same cannot be said for Die Walküre, the magic within her body is now out of control and while it's too overpowering for your senses to be completely certain, there's no way this will end well for her host.
Environment Effects: Everyone is currently within the area of the following;
Intense Cold - Fort Check Countdown: 4/100
Storm Winds - Hamper Movement: -1 to movement effects
Rain - Impair Vision: -2 to perception checks

NPC Status:
Alain: Under rubble
6/7 Soldiers: Incapacitated
1/7 Soldiers (Sonny): Dead
Donar, Lord of Thunder: 6 bruised, staggered
Die Walküre: 2 bruised, dazed
Sturm: 1 bruised, dazed

You're doing great but neither one's out of the fight yet! Go go go!

[SuperCracker]

Jim Alford

The blade crashed into his telekinetic barrier, taking a blow that would have impaled a normal man and making it a relatively glancing blow. Blood was spilled, but it most certainly could have been worse. As for the Lightning, Jim raised his hand and focused his barrier, deflecting it entirely.

As for the German's mind... He could feel that whatever entity was inside this woman was growing stronger. Whatever was inside of her, it hadn’t merged as seamlessly as the Phoenix had merged with him. It spoke to him, using one of the names of the entity. “You’re burning out.” Whoever did this to her was a metaphysical butcher. It was troubling that they were so far along in experimenting with… with binding.

Jim, still reeling from the strike, reached out with his mind to seize the Horse with an invisible grip. If Jim managed to get a hold of it, he’d waste no time in throwing it as far as possible, back towards enemy lines.

Using Telekinesis.

Attack Roll: [roll0]
DC 20 strength check vs. grab. If I grab, I chuck it the max distance.

[The_Admiral]

Lightning coursed through his body as he kept a grip on the car, the metal conducting it away from his body. As it subsided, he finally let go a shock still running through his body.

The young miss was surviving Donar's assault, however, James didn't think she could survive much more of this, he shouted at Donar from his cover, "WE KNOW LORD OF DUNDER!" firing off a shot at him.


Using the bluff trick to get donar to attack him move action -5
[roll0]

Power attack 4
[roll1]
DC 23

[Quellian-dyrae]

Curve | 4 Bruises, Dazed, Fatigued, +2 Defense this turn | 1 HP | 4 Luck

Sara couldn't believe the guy's reaction speed. He swung that massive hammer as fast as she could shoot. Sara didn't try tanking any more of those swings straight-up; she used her power to slow and hamper the strikes, dodging and rolling to minimize the damage. His first blow only glanced her shoulder. The second caught her in the chin, leaving her reeling momentarily - just in time for the lightning to come down. The bolt was weakened substantially by her defensive pulses, but it still shocked painfully through her.

But at the end of it, Curve still stood, facing down Donar with grim determination. She was battered, reeling. Standing and trading attacks with this guy was a terrible idea.

But the thing was?

Every other option somehow managed to be worse.

So Curve fell back steadily, a defensive withdrawal, and kept firing. Her shots were poorly aimed as she withdrew, easily dodged, but a quick telekinetic adjustment to their momentum as they hit the car that had nearly crushed Mitt sent them bouncing back for Donar from behind. Of course, by this point, he had to know that when Curve missed, it wasn't really a miss. No doubt, with divinely-boosted reflexes, he'd anticipate and avoid the ricochet, sending the bullets careening back at Curve!

What he might not expect, though, was for the bullets to then bounce off of her telekinetic field and come back at him from the front, likely just as he was stepping forward to make his counterattack!

Move: Dazed.

Standard: Attack Donar with Nudge Shots, Defensive Attacking for 2, Power Attacking for 5, at [roll0]. On a hit, Toughness DC 24+Multiattack vs. Damage. This attack has Ricochet 2, so let's see if a double-bounce might catch him off-guard. And if it does actually miss? Why, it also has Homing 2, giving it two more chances to hit on later rounds. Because this whole "missing" thing is against Curve's religion.

EDIT: And later rounds it is! :smallamused: :smallsigh:

[Inspector Valin]

With everything else going on, Svetlana might have missed Donar's attack. Thankfully, the loud lord of lightning saw fit to make it as grand and obvious as possible, clouds parting, thunder crackling. It would've been hard not to see it coming. With a flick of her cane, Svetlana caught the lightning with the oaken wood, holding it for a second with a smile before pushing away. The bolt crashed harmlessly to earth whilst the Soviet Mage was carried away from danger once again.

However, Dr. Zharova's good mood faded swiftly as she looked upwards at the continuing brawl. She could feel the shift within Die Walküre, the spirit moving into dominance over the host-woman and whilst she might've continued to observe were circumstances different, the heat of battle gave her very little time to properly work out how to counter the binding spell. She glared up at the newly arrived parahuman, who had either failed to hear her warnings, or simply didn't care. Why his arrival had led to this shift was still perplexing. Regardless, there was ice in the Moscovite's glare as she muttered to herself. "Miserable stupid mu'dak American, doesn't listen to anything without a corporate sponsorship..."

Growling under her breath, Svetlana took her options in. None were good. Trying to finish the fight would put more strain on the woman's body. It'd lengthen her odds of survival even further. Trying to help the other group left Valkyrie's fate in the hands of the Golden Giant and the hothead. And their fates in the hands of Falkenrath's binding spell. She needed to pick the enchantment apart, but she didn't have time: that would require research, preparation, a complex ritual...

To hell with all of that. This is the field. Improvise.

Gritting her teeth, and planting her cane firmly in the ground, Svetlana bent her focus towards the binding spell. She had no time to devise a proper ritual, but she could feel the chains that bound Walküre and the Valkyrie. Without so much as a gesture on the part of the Moscovite Magess, black fire erupted from the rider's heart, spreading up and around her as invisible chains begun to spinter and crack. It was taking focus on Svetlana's part, she had begun to sweat and shake a little within her chair, but the witch's focus remained inviolate. She called upwards to the old one, borrowing the old Nordic tongue. <"That is not Surtur, good Valkyrie. Just a mortal man, fighting a war. That's all these people are."> She gestured around, towards the fallen Americans; then Curve, Swift and Helio-Man. <"Your fight is over, spirit. Return to Father Wotan, and take your leave of this unworthy host. You have earned some rest.">

Extra Effort: Power Stunting a Perception Range Nullify, specific effect (Transform: binding gods into people). This targets either effect rank, or will defence, whichever is higher, unless the target isn't the user of the effect, in which case it's just an Effect Rank square off. I'm noting the user thing because if this wasn't cast by either Valkyrie or the Spirit, neither of them get a roll, and it's up against Falkenrath's Effect roll. Who... is probably pretty strong, but hopefully weaker than the spirit he bound. Hopefully. :smallwink: Berzerker Valkyrie spirits aren't exactly a soft target.

As a note, Nullify has Affects Insubstantial by default. So instead I'm putting a three point Dimensional on the effect, so it hits the bindings even if they're technically in another plane of existence, and Precise. (On general principle of this being accurate, refined magic.)

[roll0] Nullify. Will HP this up if it sucks

Oh, and if that doesn't take, then Svetlana will maintain the Witchfire for free. Last one is still homing
[roll1] Attack, DC23 Toughness

[Nintendogeek01]

Sturm easily flies around Alford as he reaches out with his telekinesis, his mistress ready to swipe her sword towards the psychic's neck, <"Face my steel!>" but black flames slowly begin to engulf the mystical warrior, though oddly enough Sturm is the one to react as though something is happening to it first, and the horse slowly loses altitude until he and his mistress sprawl across the ground, Sturm shimmering and dispersing into small pulsating lights as he skids across the ground, as though glass were crumbling apart.

"What!?" Donar was distracted by the sight of his shield maiden falling from the ground, too distracted to react to Swift's bullet flying straight into the would-be God's mouth, "GACH...!!! he hacked and, eventually, coughed up the bullet along with a shot-glass's worth of blood, not even paying attention to the bullets Curve had bounced off of herself to hit the ground around him, "But I... am... Donar..." that he could talk at all was impressive, Lord... of..." he hit his knees, "thunder..." he face-plants into the ground and lays there barely breathing as the rain and winds die down and the skies go from dark and stormy to just plain dimly cloudy.

"AAAAAAHHHHH...!!!" two distinct screams come from Die Walküre, one is a much higher-pitched woman's scream, the other more closely resembles Die Walküre's voice with a haunting echo behind it. Svetlana can feel her power attempting to break the bindings on the otherworldly spirit, but it looks as though it will be to no avail until the power of the Valkyrie itself pushes against the bindings at the same time that you are attempting to break them, weakening them and weakening them until in a brilliant steel-gray flash of light your flames create a column of smoke that takes the vague semblance of a strong woman's face. It bellows before circling high into the air and vanishing, leaving a smaller, less attractive woman in an SS Officer's uniform with brown hair kneeling on the ground before she collapses into a fetal position.

<"The dead... they gorge and gorge... must find... must feed and drink... to battle... to battle!"> she shouts in German, Alford can tell that this woman's mind is fractured, and she is in no shape to do much of anything, much less interfere with anyone else gathered here.

Swift got a second stagger on Donar, thus putting him out of the fight at long last. Sturm, being here by Die Walküre's magic vanished due to the Nullify being successful against Die Walküre. So with this combat is over and all of you guys get 1 Power Point for completing this scene.
VROOM

Looking over, everyone can see a Nazi convoy pulling up at dangerous speeds before skidding to a halt, hopping out of the driver's seat is a very attractive young brunette haired woman with deep blue eyes, an army officer's uniform of unidentifiable colors (though thankfully not of the Third Reich's colors), and a straight-edged saber sheathed at her hip, "Get the wounded onto here now! We need to get going before the Nazi's catch up!" she shouts to everyone present, "Wait... where is Mr. Dynamo?" she asked, and then her face lit with shock and concern, "Alain! Where's Alain!?"

"Ungh... over 'ere..." a small bit of rubble from the gazebo is pushed out and Alain, battered but still pretty squeezes his way out of the hole he dug out. The woman immediately runs over and is looking over him, bombarding him with questions about where it hurts and if he'll be alright, "I'm fine... I'm fine..." was Alain's tired response.

"Good," she sights with relief, before rapping her knuckles on top of his head.

"Ow...!"

<"I told you not to do anything reckless! Why were you under there!?"> she scolded Alain in fantastically spoken French.

"It was 'is fault!" he said while gesturing to the unconscious Donar.

<"Get wounded onto the convoy over there,"> she tells Alain before marching furiously over to Donar. As Alain found The still unconscious Human Dynamo and got him ready for transportation and during the time that the wounded could be loaded onto the convoy, the woman stood over the still passed out form of Donar. She says... something. Whatever language that is not even Alford, Svetlana, or Vasilia could understand it, but her tone of voice was clear, she was furious at Donar, and she proved it when she drew her sword and then stabbed it into Donar heart through his back.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH...!!!" a fierce bellow that echoed with the fury of thunder cried out as what looked like storm clouds rose from Donar's body, forming the vague outline of a masculine face before it bellowed and vanished into the air, leaving the corpse of a much smaller red haired man behind it.

"Now then..." she turns to look at you Svetlana, and then speaks to you in perfect Russian, <"Good work on that spirit... I was surprised to find out you were in town Dr. Zharova, but I think I know why you're here, and you're in luck because I know where you can pick up the trail, but you'll have to come with me if you want it,"> then she turns to Alford, "You're Professor Jorgenson's protégé right? I can help you find him but we need to get out of here!" she shouts to him.

Once the wounded are loaded the woman hops in the driver's seat of the stolen convoy, "I'll drive, if you'd rather not ride with us..." the woman tells everyone how to get where they're going, Swift you know the location to be where your ship crashed and is waiting for the final touches. Soon enough the convoy is off, "While we're not out of hot water yet, I did rig up something to slow the Nazi's down... though it's a bit late now that I think about..."

KABOOM

Something explodes in an alleyway the convoy passes by forcing her to lurch the vehicle a bit, "Oops... sorry that was supposed to have gone off sooner," she apologizes to anyone present.

Alright guys, at this time if you were incapacitated you wake up mid-transit. Right now, assuming you actually follow this sword-wielding polyglot, you all are on your way to the woods where you will see a downed airship, Swift and Helio-Man of course already know about it. Feel free to role-play how your character feels, or role-play interaction with your fellow PCs, I'll make the next plot relevant IC post shortly after you guys arrive at the airship, I may sprinkle in NPC responses to your characters. There is of course the option of flying with anyone who can carry someone as well as the convoy, which will be full of Sara's comrades who will just be waking up.

[The_Admiral]

James releases a breath he didn't even know he was holding as the shot connected, he wasn't the yearly unbeaten shooting champion at the state fair for nothing. He holstered his sidearm, rushing to the young lady who just stood toe to toe with that monster, "Young Miss? Are you okay?" his accent extremely obvious.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara readied herself for what might very well be the end. And it turned out it was. Just not in the way she had been expecting.

She looked at Swift with frank respect. But rather than congratulating him with "Nice shot," or answering his question with "I'll be alright," or acknowledging that he had probably just saved her life with, "Thank you," she went with a deadpan, "Lord of Dunder, huh?"

...

"Nice."

Truth was she hurt all over and felt ready to take a nap. She just had absolutely no intention of showing it, whether or not her entire squad was currently too unconscious to see.

She didn't understand what had happened to the other one, or why. Honestly, if she had to take a guess, it would have been that her power was somehow tied to Donar's and dropping him had disrupted it, or something. In any event, she was down too.

Now she was torn. On the one hand, she needed to check on her squad. On the other hand, the Nazi ******* who had hurt them was still breathing. Based on the fact that she was a soldier rather than a medic though, the priority seemed clear. She pointed her gun at Donar's head and -

Felt someone approaching.

She whirled to aim her weapon at the convoy, and if she hadn't realized just in time that the woman coming out wasn't wearing Nazi colors, might have fired on them. She lowered her weapon, pointing it towards the ground and taking her finger off the trigger, although it was still aimed in the convoy's general direction and the safety was off, just in case. (Not that it really mattered, with Curve, where her weapon was pointing, but still, training).

The talk of getting the wounded to safety made her mistrust the newcomer a little less.

When she ran Donar through the heart, she became Sara's new second-best friend.

(Swift had become her new best friend when he shot Donar in the mouth.)

(Sara didn't have a lot of friends.)

In any event, following the woman's instructions seemed preferable to standing around alone in the middle of hostile territory with no extraction plan and six unconscious and injured soldiers to look after, so Sara just rolled up her sleeves and helped load them aboard. Including Sonny, and if anybody protested, she had a tongue lashing all ready for them. She wasn't leaving anyone behind.

[Inspector Valin]

In the Plaza

The Soviet Magess simply sat there as the Valkyrie broke free, flying upwards. Her eyes were focused instead on the revealed figure, a pitiful looking woman in SS uniform, who descended to the ground a wreck of her former self. Svetlana had known academically that the chains would've been taxing on the spirit's host, but to see the effect of their removal in action was something different. This was not her doing, it was the binding spell, but that fact didn't make the result any easier to deal with. Dr. Zharova pushed herself over towards the former Walküre, wheels clacking across the cobblestones looking down at her with honest sorrow at her fate.

I'm sorry. She should've thought of something better. Something more refined. What kind of scholar uses brute force to solve a problem? Svetlana tried briefly to make eye contact with the thrashing, insensate woman on the ground, but it was of little use. Her grip tightened upon her cane. No one deserves that, Falkenrath. Your experiments just proved themselves a failure as far as I'm concerned. I look forward to explaining why to you in person. There was little she could do at this point. Svetlana simply made the sign of the cross above the officers head, muttering a few half remembered words to herself, before turning back to the other side of the plaza.

There was a new woman here now, in some uniform Svetlana didn't recognize, taking command of the situation. Not something the Russian traveller could object to, expecially not when she'd arrived with easy transport. At the mention of loading wounded onto the lorry, the mage nodded, kneeling down next to a couple of men who had fallen side by side. Within the instant, all three figures had vanished, a slight moment of darkness the only trail of their passing. Within an instant, the wheelchair bound woman had returned, alone, moving over to two more men.

The Soviet Sorceress stopped however when the strange sword-bearer spoke directly to her. Svetlana frowned a little at that; recognition right now was not a good thing. Still,it was help, and that much she could appreciate. She managed a smile for the new arrival, and a brief chuckle<"You seem... well informed. I apologize for not sending a letter announcing my arrival. Thought it best to be a little more discrete"> With that and a nod, Svetlana returned to the work of loading prisoners. More conversation could wait a little longer.

In the Lorry

Svetlana's chair rests against the side of the canopy, the Soviet Magess in turn resting on her cane, leaning forward with her eyes closed. She still seemed tired, her breath is a little heavy and she moves little, but soon enough she glances across to Curve and Swift, smiling gently at them. Her voice has the trace of Russian about it, though just a trace. "Americans. You went toe to toe with that loud one for quite a while. How are you two holding up?" The Russian's eyes darkened a little as she glanced around between the unconscious men. Hard to gauge them like this; especially for one more used to the theory of medicine than its practice. Svetlana looked back to the uniformed figure with a slightly worn look. "Not every day regular humans are set up against gods. Do you want me to take a look over them? I can at least check for any major injuries, see what needs to be addressed."

[The_Admiral]

Plaza
"Best ah could do." he replied smiling as he removed his gas mask, slipping it into his coat.

Lorry
"Ah'm doing fine, though this young miss has been struck more times this day than a lady should ever be struck in her life, I think they would appreciate the help, I know nothing of medicine, always went to ol doc Edward, but there's proper medical facilities on mah airship fer your use." he replied to Svetlana, leaning on the lorry exhausted.

[Inspector Valin]

Lorry
Svetlana chuckled a little at James' words, the accent was strange, but the content all too familiar. The sorceress nodded, smiling faintly at the recollection of days gone by. "I had to be my own Doc Edwards, back in the day. Intellegensia are never around when you need us." Snorting at that, she looked across to the 'young miss' for a second, glancing between the two before leaning back once again. How best to phrase this? "Some people do not like leaving their injured to the mercies of a... stranger. Even in bad times. I wouldn't judge you, or them for being wary of me. Hence, an offer. Nothing more."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara opened her eyes; it hadn't taken her long to learn to take sleep where you could get it. There was a certain pragmatic comfort to being functionally alone in tight confines with superpowered strangers who she may or may not be able to trust. If they decided to kill her, being awake and watchful probably wouldn't change the result much. So she might as well sleep. "I'll be fine," she answered the mage's question. "But yeah, anything you can do for them would be appreciated." You also took medical attention where you could get it, although Sara evidently had yet to fully internalize that lesson.

She settled back and closed her eyes again, for about a second and a half, before they snapped back open and she fixed her gaze on Swift. "Wait. Did you say airship?"

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana's gaze narrowed at the soldier's first words. Still, she nodded at the request. A stamp of her cane, and the Soviet mage was seated on the deck, right next to one of Sara's comrades in arms. Her inspection was swift, efficient, working off an old route as she moved the man's limp arms. Check the pulse, check the torso, check extremities. Look for blood or bruising, and any reaction from the patient. None of these men seemed too badly off, but it was hard to be sure. Soon enough, the good doctor stamped her cane a second time, shifting to a second man's side before beginning to repeat the process. Occasionally Svetlana glanced upwards towards the still standing woman, measuring her up briefly before continuing on.

Taking 10 on Medicine, which should be enough to diagnose and perform basic first aid, if any's required. Not sure if it'd be medicine or insight to diagnose Curve right now, but that's what Lana's going to try for, and it's the same modifier either way

[roll0] Insight/Medicine

[The_Admiral]

"M'name's James, James Swift, forgive my manners, ah neglected ta ask your names. and yes ah did say Airship, though currently its powerplant is shot." James replied to Sara

[Quellian-dyrae]

Right. Manners. Basic politeness. Sara thought.

"Sara," she answered, extending a hand to shake. "Glad to meet you, Mr. Swift. Circumstances notwithstanding."

"Um...so without power, how does it get us out of here?" she asked.

[Nintendogeek01]

"He's lying at your feet!" the woman from earlier says, looking back over her shoulder through the small window separating you from the driver's part.

"Watch ze tree!" Alain shouts in a panic from the passenger seat, a moment later the car swerves once again.

"I've got it I've got it," she answers, "Don't worry, Mr. Dynamo at your feet there is the key to us getting out of Dunkirk,"

"After tying up a few loose ends zat is," Alain adds.

"We've got a plan, so rest easy, it will work out," the woman added once again.

The truck and its inhabitants melts from your view, the feeling of being cradled in loving arms as a lullaby is sung to you, "... it will work out," a feminine voice whispers in your ear.

A splash of crimson red clouds your vision, black silhouettes of a man and woman, the latter weeping, the former furious, "It will work out!?" this time shouting forth like an angry demand.

In between sobs the feminine silhouette whispers out, "... victim... of envy... I am so sorry..."

The red washes away and now you are on a soft silk bed, too weak to move more than his lips into a light smile as a young woman, bearing a marked resemblance to the woman driving you, lovingly caresses your forehead, her eyes welling with bittersweet tears "It will work out," her voice grows more distant as her lips keep moving, "... only... free... sins..."

Like a flash of light your senses return to the car just after it corrected itself from another swerve, you feel sharp pain in your chest and stomach, but also the gentle warmth left over after just breaking from an embrace.

[Inspector Valin]

The russian mystic remained close to the ground, her focus on the men rather than the conversation. Still, eventually she looked up to the rest of the group, bobbing her head briefly. "Doctor Zharova. At your service." There was no reason to be impolite, and their driver had already given her name, even in a different language. It couldn't hurt her any more now.

At the remark about the Human Dynamo, Sveta looked down at the unconcsious man with a bemused expression. This was their trump card? Turning back to the soldier she'd been attending to, the Muscovite Mystic chuckled a little. "Well. I am glad you have such an... energetic power source. You have clearly planned this carefully."

[The_Admiral]

"Nice to meet ya too." he replied, returning Sara's handshake and nodding at Zharova as they introduced themselves.

Then the woman who was transporting them said it, It will work out, the world vanished. He stared off into the distance as his vision played, and as the car swerved, something kicked him in the chest and gut, pain striking these parts of his body as the rest felt leaving the warmth of an embrace. biting down the pain, he curled forward, hands holding his chest and gut, the pain subsiding.

[OrganicEvil]

The Plaza, Several Minutes Earlier:

Vasilia landed the Egg softly1 next to the Chooser's former host. "Fascinating," she muttered. The strain of containing the spirit's essence had clearly broken the woman's mind,2 but still, she could be of some value. She was an officer, after all, and a former parahuman; she might be a valuable intelligence asset.3 Picking up the woman in one massive golden hand, Vasilia lifted off, her course set for the airship. The Egg was somewhat slower than the convoy, but the route by air was more direct, so she should arrive at about the same time. Once there, Vasilia intended to barricade herself in some unused room somewhere and get straight to work.

1Well, as softly as it could be landed.

2Or perhaps the trauma of the sudden separation. It was immaterial.

3And not only on the Nazis. After all, if she really had been bound to a Valkyrie, there was a very real possibility that her fractured psyche might reflect some impression of the Chooser's own. That was something she needed.4

4Vasilia had no truck with old gods; they'd had their chance, and this wasn't their world anymore. And if they wouldn't go quietly... Well, Vasilia would just have to deal with them.

And with that, I'm off for my vacation. Vasilia has about two days worth of work to do while I'm gone, so we'll see how that goes. First off is repairing Helio-Man; that'll take 16 hours and two DC 20 Tech checks, both of which Vasilia can easily make at routine. Working twelve hours a day (which is fairly typical for her), that should take all of the first day and most of the second. The second thing Vasilia will be doing is building this device:

Memory Reader [Technological, Invented, Neural Bridge] (8pp): A pair of helmets connected by thick cables which allow the wearer of the "Primary" set to read the memories of the "Secondary" set's wearer.
Mechanics: Mind Reading 16 (Close, Cumulative, Effortless, Feedback, Limited to Memories/Subconscious (Cannot read personal or surface thoughts))

Due to the Close range with no attack bonus and the Feedback modifier, the helmet is essentially useless in the field. It can, however, be used to gather information from helpless prisoners or to access a willing subject's suppressed memories. Doing both the Design and Construction checks as routine, with two -5 penalties to each to reduce the needed time, Vasilia designs the Reader as a free action and can build it in about eight hours, as soon as she's done with Helio-Man.

EDIT: In response to stuff from the EduPad: In that case, Vasilia will call her own jet once they're in the air and switch over to that before flying full-speed back to Carduel. If anything prevents her from doing so, she'll try to carry out the original plan by positioning Helio-Man at the door of whatever room she's working in and taking whatever parts she needs to work on inside. She has Improvised Tools, so she should still be able to get at least some work done. If the first plan goes off but someone *cough*Svetlana*cough* objects to her taking the former Valkyrie with her, she'll extend an invitation to them to come with her to Carduel, where she and her staff will do their absolute best to keep the busybody away from anything important. She won't back down on the issue unless it come to a fight, and even then only if she think's she'll lose.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara gave Swift a warily concerned look as he clutched at his torso. "You okay there, buddy?"

[The_Admiral]

"Ahm fine, it's just something that's been happening ta me recently, haven't gotten the chance ta have it looked at proper, that's all..." he replies, smiling as the pain fully subsided. These visions have been becoming more and more common, he hoped he could get to the bottom of it.

[TekHed]

The Human Dynamo opened his eyes, languidly at first. As the world came into focus it became clear he was lying down, in a moving vehicle, and surrounded. As this trifecta of facts struck him, his body shot up, one hand instinctively seeking out his weapon. A moment later, all eyes suddenly upon him, more pieces of information flooded in. These were no Nazis. He recognized a couple of faces familiar from the battle, but knew not there names. Finally, language returned.

"Where are you taking me? And who are you people?"

[Nintendogeek01]

"Ah-ha! Finally up Mr. Dynamo!?" Sascha recognizes the woman's voice, the one who had nursed him back to health a while ago.

[TekHed]

"You again?" He said, even before turning to face her.

"We really have to stop meeting like this..."

[Nintendogeek01]

If Sascha strains his neck from where he's sitting he can partially see her head through the window separating the driver's seat from the troop carriage of the vehicle that he's in, "Agreed, fortunately the next thing you're needed for should prove far less dangerous than two powerful Parahumans," she shouted back.

At this point the other soldiers have groaned their way back to consciousness, "Private... status?" Mitt groaned the question to Curve.

"Hey... are you really the Human Dynamo?" Johnny asked Sascha.

[TekHed]

Sascha made an expression halfway between a grin and a grimace.

"One and the same," he replied. "Though I usually don't have such a glass jaw..."

He shifted himself around so he didn't have to crane his neck so much.

"So...my beautiful rescuer...do you have a name?"

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana snorted as she heard the mighty Dynamo's remark, muttering to herself in Russian as she looked over the last of the now stirring into consciousness soldiers. <"That's what they all say, isn't it? American, German, Russian... Never happened to any of them before.">

The Soviet mage smiled to herself, before stamping her cane one final time, positioning herself once again within her mildly battered wheelchair. She glanced between Curve and Mitt, she's assumed the parahuman led this force, but looking at their rank tags, this man seemed more senior. Shrugging at the impasse, Lana addressed them both, voice plain and unconcerned. "No major injuries visible. I'd prefer to give them a check up once we reach your infirmary, but I doubt I'll find anything too severe. These are a lucky bunch of men."

The facts relayed, she turned to look between Curve and Swift. Neither seemed in the best of shape, and Svetlana's tone has a touch of steel to it. "The offer goes to the two of you as well. You've both been through hell today. Parahuman or no, you're still mortal, and doctors willing to help allied forces are about to become in short supply. Don't take chances with your health."

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Easy, guys," Sara said as the squad came to. "We're on a transport heading for an airship. The Nazi parahumans were defeated. Mister Swift here shot the one guy," she intentionally avoided using his name out of pure spite, "in the mouth, and then the other one seemed to lose her power and collapsed. I guess maybe their powers were linked or something, somehow? He also kept you from getting crushed by a car, by the way," she added as an aside to Mitt.

"The others were part of the fight too. Best I can tell, they're allies, and we're as safe as we're likely to be given that we're still in enemy territory."

"Sonny's dead. The blast killed him," she finished, voice flat.

At Vasilia's offer, she replied, "I'm f-" before hesitating a beat as she knew Mitt would first pester and then order her to do it anyway. May as well just save time and present a united front. "-fine with a checkup once we're in the air, and everyone else has received medical attention," she appended.

[The_Admiral]

"Naah, I wouldn't impose on you Miss, this young lady here needs it more than I do, unless ya got something fer whatamacallit, visions." he replied to Svetlana, partially joking.

[Inspector Valin]

The Russian chuckled at Sara's swiftly shifting answer, nodding to her without further comment. At Swift's words she raised an eyebrow, but nodded, seemingly making a mental note of his words. Turning to the apparently senior member of the soldiers, the wheelchair bound woman nodded politely to Mitt. "Doctor Zharova. I was merely passing through."

Pleasantries done, Svetlana's mind turned away from the immediate, towards thought's of Sara's words. Evidently, these soldiers either were unaware of the nature of their foe, or hadn't been briefed on the subject. Zharova frowned, sitting back and letting her eyelids droop a little as she considered to herself. The information she had was potentially valuable. The possibility of creating parahumans had been the stuff of myth for years now, and Falkenrath had stumbled upon what seemed to be a working method. The Premier would probably prefer her to keep this quiet from the group, in the hope that the book could be recovered, and the ritual replicated by her ministry, without the knowledge of foreign nations.

So that more young men and women could get burned out and left clutching themselves in the mud and grime. Bold Soviets looking to serve their nation and party, having their souls burned away for the sake of their nation.

If Comrade Premier ever does ask me that, the man can go and hang himself.

The choice wasn't easy. That book should be in no one's hands. But these people had fought beside her. They could be trusted with the basics, at least. And the Allied Forces should probably know just what those Thule chasing fools had achieved her. Opening her eyes once again, Svetlana looked up towards Curve, shaking her head gently. "I can explain the Valkyrie's fall, Ms. Sara. Though it is not a pleasant story." Pulling herself upwards with her cane, the Soviet Sorceress met the young soldier's gaze directly as she continued. "Those two were artificially created parahumans. Regular mortals with spirits bound inside them. The Thule Society, and the Third Reich by extension now has the capability to manufacture superbeings. In theory, at least."

A trace of a sneer crossed Sveta's face at the last, this was not something she would deem successful. Still, the situation remained bleak. Svetlana turned to Mitt, the officer, adding a few words to clarify how the battle had concluded. "I was able to unravel the binding spell on the Valkyrie, but only with the spirit's help. I am... unsure if the feat can be replicated in the field. We should not rely on that happening again."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara listed to Svetlana's explanation with a blank look on her face. Parahumans on demand. Parahumans as strong as those two on demand. Theoretical or not, there was only one appropriate response to this sort of information.

"****."

[The_Admiral]

"....Do you know how to remove their capability to do this? Or is this easily taught?" James asked as he nursed his head, this was something bigger than his visions, the Third Reich with this, their potential for destruction would be limitless.

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana leant back a little at Swift's words, resting her head against the canopy. In moments, she was an academic again, answering a question of theory for some official of the Kremlin who wanted to know why he wasn't allowed a flying car from 'The Department of Magic'. "I doubt this ritual can be taught. Magic is rarely that simple. By that principle, an industrial scale is likely beyond them, at least for the moment. The sorcerer probably had to make use of artifacts, consult a book to recreate mystical diagrams, and find a spirit to use for the sake of power." It was a nuisance Svetlana knew well; the Moscovite Mystic chuckled a little to herself at the thought of Falkenrath trying to order ingredients for his grand doomsday plan from the local grocer. A moment given to that personal joke, the mage then concluded her explanation with a nod."In time, they could replicate materials, catch more spirits, operate more efficiently. But for the moment, this is one matter in which scale cannot help the Reich."

The brief good news given, Svetlana's eyes narrowed as she looked up towards James. "That said, those were early efforts. Inefficient bindings that left a good portion of the spirits' power unused. With practice, they may be capable of perfecting the rite and producing much more powerful parahumans." Best not to mention the third spirit present in Dunkirk for the moment. That thought was just depressing. Sighing, the Soviet mage snorted darkly at the silent question of the group. "Fighting a strong man who can call down lightning is one thing. Fighting an incarnate god will be quite another. This is not a good situation for anyone without blond hair and a good grasp of German."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Stronger. Wonderful.

"You're saying there were...spirits, bound to them," Sara said. "You broke the binding on one, releasing it, which is why the woman lost her power. The other guy is dead, which if we're operating under the premise that spirits exist, I believe is generally considered to release them from the body to go...to whatever place is most appropriate." Sara may have been a bit behind on her church visits. "The Nazis would need to...find or acquire more spirits to create more parahumans. But what about these two spirits? What happened to them? Could the Nazis just dump them back into two more soldiers and send them back out good as new?"

[The_Admiral]

"now ah don't like the destruction of knowledge, but that seems like one book that needs ta be burnt, and a whole group of people, ah don't like ta day this, we need to get rid of...." he says, rather determined sounding.

[TekHed]

Spirits. Magic. The vernacular caught Sascha by surprise. Then again, the things he had seen Old Nick pull off might as well be considered arcane rituals. And of course there was the aether. Perhaps magic was simply science by another name. He mused silently to himself, one eye still on the ethereal stranger. There was more to her than she was letting on, but he wouldn't press further in his vulnerable state. He made a pretense of checking his lightning canon while eavesdropping on the conversations of the others, gleaning what he could of their identities and motivations without overtly prying. To his satisfaction the weapon was undamaged, but the circuit on one of his caestus was severed...the steel framework was all that had saved him from the brunt of that...woman's blade.

[Inspector Valin]

Just for a moment, Svetlana fixed the southern sounding gentleman with a look of true venom for his suggestion. A second or two later however, she sinks back into her chair, rapping the man's forearm gently with her cane. "Careful, Mr. Swift. Don't make me give you a lecture on the neutrality of wisdom. I'm too tired for that, anyway."

Her reprimand given, the strange doctor turned towards Curve with a slighly re-energized look on her face. Svetlana nodded, the lorry creaking a little as she shifted her chair forward."Now, that is an excellent question, Ms. Sara. Ultimately it would depend on how they caught the spirits in the first place. The bonds didn't give me much indication on that score, though I had less time to examine them than I would've preferred." Switching her cane to her offhand, the witch gestured behind them, out of the back of the lorry. "Mystical creatures tend to inhabit desolate spots. Uninhabited islands, the deepest wilderness, ect. The Thule Society explores places such as those for ruins. They have the means to locate beings such as these. How they were able to detain them is anyone's guess."

Not overly helpful, and Svetlana knew it. Her eyes lingered on the rapidly shifting road behind them before turning back to Curve. "Without further information though, I'd say that they will not immediately be able to recapture the two we freed. There was no mage there at the time to rework any form of binding. Perhaps with some powerful artifact, used in their ritual, they might have been able to fashion some kind of cage. But were that the case, I would've thought there would be some sign when the spirits were released from the original spell." Sighing, Svetlana raised her cane, running her hand across the design at its head, and not quite looking up as she concluded. "Two less German Parahumans. For the moment, and with luck."

[roll0] Expertise, Magic. The above was off the cuff speculation from Svetlana, this is her attempt at a more thought through answer to the question. How would/could the Thule Society capture spirits, and pull this all off?

[The_Admiral]

"Well ahm sorry miss, this here sound like affairs man was not meant to meddle with, ahm just not comfortable with this kinda thing.." he replies, rubbing his forearm.

[SuperCracker]

Jim

The woman knew where the Professor was, or so she claimed. As much as he wanted to wreak havoc on whatever soldiers might be following the convoy, he couldn't turn down the opportunity to save his mentor. Jim nodded once and flew down to terra firma, loading up onto the truck and taking a seat. There was a fair bit (read: a lot) of conversation, but he did little to participate. He simply listened, an unmasked look of concern on his face.

It wasn't until they got to the point of discussing the binding of otherworldly entities that he spoke up. "I'm not sure how they did it. But I suspect that the particular entity requires a specific kind of host. Not just any person will do. My guess is that they will seek someone out." He didn't say why he knew this... and especially didn't mention that this was from personal experience.

[Nintendogeek01]

"Hey we're here!" the woman calls to the back, unfortunately for anyone who wasn't ready for it the car lurched to a stop instead of a gentle ease into the stop, "Oops,"

"Hm? What is she doing 'ere!?" a few seconds later, Alain can be shouting very angrily.

Getting out of the vehicle everyone can see the large, blimp-like airship resting on the forest floor, remarkably intact considering the state of the trees behind it, and already here is Helio-Man, holding the Nazi woman who was previously the host of the Valkyrie. "Simple, she was previously a parahuman, and is an officer. The intel she could offer would be valuable," was the golden giant's response.

"Intel? She can't possibly give us intel like zat!" he said, gesturing towards the woman who was still mumbling and cradling herself. Despite Alain being at an extreme height disadvantage he showed no signs of backing down.

"Even if she cannot be conversed with there are still means by which we can acquire valuable information," of course it was also clear Helio-Man wasn't willing to back down either.

"Bah! Study 'er!? No! If we do anyzing wiz 'er, it should be to shoot ze Nazi bitch and get it over wiz!" he shouted, "Ze only reason I'd 'estitate is because killing 'er would be doing 'er a favor!" he added with particular venom, leering at the Nazi officer.

"Alain!" the mystery woman raised her voice and placed her hands on her hips.

"Can you look me in ze eye and 'onestly tell me zat she doesn't deserve whatever she gets? You've seen what zese bastards are capable of!" he argued back.

"Maybe so, but saying things like that is unworthy of you," she scolded.

"Hmph, excusez-moi," Alain seems to calm down a bit, "But zis changes nozing! She doesn't deserve to live!"

"Killing her is wasting a valuable resource however," Helio-Man calmly argued.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara listened to the debate. She wasn't thinking to say anything - she was a soldier, and dealing with the logistics of securing, transporting, and interrogating prisoners was frankly a bit above her pay grade. Still, the discussion in the transport stuck with her, especially that last comment about the binding possibly requiring a specific person, or type of person.

It was a bit above her pay grade. But at the end of the day, Sara wasn't the type of person who held her tongue when she had something to say. "He suggested that whatever process was used to imbue those two with power may have required a specific type of person," she said, nodding at Jim. "If that's the case, keeping her alive may make it easier for the Nazis to rebind the spirit. Unless someone here knows more about how they did it, we can't say for sure that there's not some connection between the spirit and the host, or that it can't be bound again at a distance, or anything like that. I don't think we want to risk that our prisoner might turn into a sword-swinging demigod with a flying horse when we're miles above the ground in a giant balloon. We should execute her now to be safe, especially since she doesn't seem like she's in much of a state to tell us anything useful."

Sara didn't know the first thing about magic, but once you've accepted that you can lift things without having to touch them, skepticism of any supernatural phenomena was arbitrary and pointless. But she could understand what the others had said and use the words they did to hopefully make an intelligent, if not educated, contribution to the discussion.

Besides, "when in doubt, kill the Nazi, and that goes double for parahumans" was a simple and practical rule of thumb.

[Inspector Valin]

The Russian woman's eyes narrow at Jim finally speaking up. She turns towards the stranger, rapping her fingers on her cane reflexively as she met his gaze. "If accurate, that helps us. Though without some understanding of your background, American, it is... difficult to gauge the reliability of your information. Few people have encountered old gods in this day and age." This man didn't exactly strike Svetlana as a fellow mage, but it was hard to tell such things from simple appearances.

She would've spoken more, but then the lorry arrived at what appeared to be Swift's airship. Disembarking with a little shadow-magic, the good doctor watched the exchange between Helio-Man and the resistance fighters in silence, eyes cold. Once Alain was done, she muttered to herself in Russian. <"No one deserves to live like that. Even a Nazi."> She barely had the wherewithal to follow Sara's remarks, and much less to argue with her. This topic made Lana feel all the more tired, and nothing the soldier said was outright inaccurate. Just relying far too much upon the flying man's story for Svetlana's taste.

This was all black business. Still, with the former Valkyrie in custody, some form of restoration might be possible. That was an angle worth perusing. Svetlana tapped on the great golden armour with her cane, looking up into it's face. "If you have some ability to mend her psyche, man of gold, you have my full support. That is something I could not do. Otherwise, her continued existence as a cruelty unworthy of anyone here." Words given, she turned back to the apparent owner of this flying machine, bobbing her head to the man. "Mr. Swift, can you show me to your infirmary? I should hopefully be able to take stock there and get it ready for use."

[The_Admiral]

"Ah have ta agree with ta lady, nothing deserves to live like that," he added on, staring at the brain dead nazi, blinking as the Russian lady teleported out of the lorry.

And as she asked, he replied, "Mah pleasure Miss, if ah may?" as he placed his hands over the handlebars on her wheelchair, with permission, wheeling her into the airship and the medical bay.

[TekHed]

She had rather pointedly ignored his question. That was not a good sign...she clearly had something to hide. Then again, had she wished him harm, she'd had every opportunity for it. That might mean she needed him for something, which was in a way even more unsettling. He had no wish to be anyone's pawn, and what with all this talk of binding spirits, such a scenario was seeming all the more likely.

Sascha surveyed the scene as the exited the truck. The airship was impressive, as was the swath it had cut through the dense forest. Not nearly as impressive however as the massive metal man walking and talking next to it (as he'd been quite unconscious by the time Helio-Man had made his grandstanding entrance). He stood there dumbfounded for several moments. Even Ol' Nick had never come up with anything quite like it. A funny feeling washed over him, a sense of destiny, though it would be several lifetimes before it's significance would become clear.

Realizing that the others were arguing, and he was staring, the Human Dynamo interjected.

"Killing POWs is something the enemy does. We're better than that. She should be tried as a war criminal. But if you're going to execute her, at least interrogate her first. All of these questions you're asking, she probably has some answers for..."

[OrganicEvil]

Vasilia steepled her fingers.1 "Look at her. Do you honestly think that she's competent to stand trial in this state? No. I can get the needed information from her, likely without pain. After that, I shall look into treatment--not one of your barbaric 'asylums,'4 proper treatment. Should that succeed, perhaps a trial could be discussed, but more likely... Caretakers, a disappearance from the public eye, and a place in the country to live out whatever remains of her life. Would that satisfy?"

1She'd found herself doing that a lot lately2, and had no real idea why.3

2Especially when explaining things to people.

3Perhaps she was developing a tic?

4Few things could prompt an emotional display from Vasilia anymore,5 but places like that made her skin crawl.6

5Though those which did tended to do so dramatically.

6Not only were they cruel, but unnecessary and wrongheaded as well. An unforgivable combination of sins.

I have internet! Again, temporarily, and I'll likely be fully cut off by tomorrow, but for now, I have an unexpected opportunity to make a quick post.

Anyway... Taking 10 on Expertise: Psychiatry and Expertise: Scientists, the first to assess the prisoner's condition, the second to recognize the Dynamo as 'dear old Nicola's manservant.'--I feel like while he and Vasilia are unlikely to have met, they've probably corresponded--for a result of 28 on both.

[TekHed]

"Well I didn't mean put her on trial now," Sascha countered. "I just meant that rule of law and justice is what separates us from these genocidal bastards..."

[Nintendogeek01]

"Ungh..." while the debate went on Mitt, sort of hobbling his way toward the airship, groaned and shook his head, "We should of just left her, the resources to keep a prisoner in that state isn't worth the trouble." Mitt says, "Well, come on men, like it or not that woman's the only one promising a patch-up, and we're short on other options," he says; probably as close to an 'okay go ahead' as Svetlana's going to get.

"Alright that's enough," the mystery woman spoke up, "Whatever she deserves doesn't change the fact that we're still in a Nazi controlled city right now and we need to get ready to leave," she points out, "So if I might suggest, we just keep her alive for the time being and figure it out later."

"But..." before Alain can finish his protest the woman puts a hand on his shoulder and shakes her head, "... hmph," Alain looks as though he wants to say something, but eventually he just nods in agreement; he's clearly not happy, but he doesn't say anything else and just goes to helping any soldiers who are hard of walking.

"Now then, since we've got wounded to tend to, let's meet in the infirmary," the woman suggests, going to follow Swift, "Before we escape Dunkirk, there's one person we need to rescue, and a chance to get some intel that could really hurt the Nazis," she said with a smile. While heading in Helio-Man stops outside the door to the airship's interior and doesn't move, "Coming?"

"I... should begin repairs, and there is no room in there," the voice from the large suit explains.

The woman stares at Helio-Man and smiles a bit before whispering something to the large suit, inaudible to anyone else before she vanished inside of the ship. The giant golden robot didn't move an inch until Alain came up with Johnny over his shoulder, "Eh look... about earlier, I 'ope zat I did not offend, ze Nazi conflict is just... personal for me. I may not like your idea for dealing wiz ze prisoner, but I do appreciate zat you are zinking a'ead, and I still zink you are a marvel," he said to Helio-Man, his tone of voice getting smoother as he went, "So... talk later? Oui?" he asked with a wink.

"Were you... flirting with the robot man?" Johnny asked.
__________________________________

Soon enough everyone was in the infirmary, patching up any scrapes and burns, and the woman with the sword was by the door, "So first of all," she turned her gaze towards Sascha, "Sorry I didn't answer you earlier handsome, it's just that SOMEONE wouldn't stop trying to be a passenger-seat driver," she said while clearly looking at Alain.

"Watch where you're driving zen! Sheesh!" Alain retorted.

"Anyways, in public I go by April, but officially my code name is Stigma," she finally introduces herself, "So whatever sounds better to you I guess," Stigma says with a smile and a shrug.

"Officially? So you do work for someone?" Mitt asks.

"Yes and no, it's a little complicated, but I currently have a working relationship with Winston Churchill," Stigma answers, "Simplest answer being I know a LOT of people."

"Zat's an understatement," Alain snarks, prompting Stigma to march up and smack him in the back of the head, "Ow! Hey...!"

"Behave," she tells him sternly.

"Look lady," Mitt starts, "I'm here because we have injured, but this is supposed to be our ride out right? Why haven't we gotten this thing off the ground yet?"

"Because our business in Dunkirk isn't finished yet Sergeant," Stigma told Mitt, sternly but she did tone the word Sergeant with some apparent respect, "The Nazis currently have a prisoner and some intel that are likely to provide some insight into how they made Parahumans like Donar and his Shield Maiden."

"How can you be so sure they'd have that here? They only just took this city," Mitt pointed out.

"Because zey've set up shop in my 'ouse," Alain said, a noticeable 'harumph' to his voice as he said it, "I've been keeping tabs on my 'ome and some creep named... Folkenrap or somezing moved into the place wiz a lot of 'eavy luggage, and ze guard detail suggests 'e is someone important," Alain elaborated.

"Falkenrath, and he's part of the Thule Society," Stigma said, once again hitting Alain on the head.

"Ow! What was zat for!?"

"You need to work on your spying," she said with all the stern admonishment of a drill-instructor.

"You were ze one zat 'ad me running around ze city doing zis and zat..." Alain muttered.

"The plan works like this, we'll split up between two groups, one to guard the ship and get her operational while the rest of us go to rescue Professor Jorgenson, the hostage I mentioned earlier, along with retrieving any important data Dr. Falkenrath has," Stigma elaborated. "Since Mr. Swift is the only one here who's experienced at piloting the ship, he'll need to stay here, as will Mr. Dynamo as your powers are necessary to power the ship once again," she tells them.

"I doubt the Nazis are going to let us fly out of here," Barney points out.

"Which is why Helio-Man will also be staying, it needs to be repaired so that it can help fight off the Luftwaffe, thankfully most of them have moved on by now but they're still present," Stigma countered, "You soldiers also need to stay, recover and help guard the ship just in case."

"But..." before anyone in Curve's squad can argue Mitt holds up a hand to shush them.

"I don't like it either but she's right, too many of us wouldn't work and most of us aren't in any shape to go," Mitt told the squad.

"So... out of everyone else, who wants to go with me?" Stigma asked.

"Moi of course," Alain said.

"Besides you," Stigma immediately shot him down.

"Why!? It's my home!" he argued back.

"You're too close to this Alain and you know it," she tells him.

"Ugh... fine... you know where to fire ze flares from so we can pick you up yes?" Alain asks, resigned to this turn of events.

"I do," she tells him whilst patting him on the head as.

"Private," Mitt turns to Curve, "I honestly would rather have you here rather than going off with some strangers..." he starts, "But I know your skills would be suited to this... so if you want to go I won't argue," he sighs.

Stigma once more faces everyone with a confident smile on her face. "So, who's with me?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara lost interest in the debate as her squad started struggling towards the airship, and went over to help them get aboard as best she could (of course, her help was about 75% insulting them to keep moving to 25% actual physical assistance; they were still soldiers, after all).

As long as she doesn't transform again, what happens to her doesn't matter, she decided, although deep down, Dynamo's words were kinda gnawing at her. His point about POWs wasn't wrong, and part of her felt kinda guilty suggesting they just execute a helpless opponent.

Kinda guilty. She was still a Nazi after all.

So we compromise. Kill them in the heat of battle, and then you don't have to worry about the prisoner issue. Problem solved. Everybody wins.

--

Sara listened to the details of the mission quietly. Honestly, there was a non-trivial part of her that wasn't too fond of the idea of leaving her squad in the care of these strangers when they were this vulnerable. Especially given her concerns regarding the former Valkyrie.

Still, the longer they were there, the more time the Nazis had to organize an attack on them. And it sounded like taking out this Falkenrath character would be a worthy thing to do on its face.

Naturally, any doubts she had were locked in a sturdy box, wrapped in chains, and thrown into the ocean. "Good," she responded to Mitt with a teasing smirk. "It wouldn't be fair to argue with you when you're all beat up like this."

She looked to Stigma. "So, primary objective is rescuing Professor Jorgenson, secondary objective is acquiring Falkenrath's data, tertiary objective is the neutralization of Falkenrath? Are we wanting him as a prisoner, or are we shooting to kill? And are we running this as an assault, or an infiltration?"

Aside from the horse, did Valkyre have any gear that vanished or transformed when she lost her powers? And did she look significantly different physically than she does now? I'm getting this half-baked idea that Sara could disguise herself as Valkyrie to get in among the enemies, maybe protect Jorgenson during the assault or just hit them from an unexpected angle.

[Nintendogeek01]

"You've got the priorities right," Stigma replies with a nod, "Ideally we capture Falkenrath, but killing him is perfectly acceptable. However we are running this as infiltration primarily, so we're going to start heading for the extraction point once we have the Professor and the data to give ourselves the best odds of getting out of the city." Stigma further explains.

"Say... I left a bottle of Romanée Conti in ze cellar, while you're zere..."

"Alain..."

"Fine fine..."

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana grimaced as James took control of her chair. The act was visibly one the magess felt uncomfortable with, her face blaunched slightly and the cane shook a little in her hand. However, soon enough Dr. Zharova nodded to the overly chivalrous Swift, letting him direct the chair through the airship. It was not something she enjoyed, having another push her around always felt wrong, but for all her magic, there were still times when she needed help. Regrettable as those were.

________________


Svetlana looked away from the infirmary's medicine cabinet, having just replaced the last set of bandages. She hadn't needed to watch in order to follow what was said, and the situation was mostly simple enough to follow. They'd been spying on Falkenrath, they knew something of what he was up to already. It didn't answer all of her questions, but it was enough for the moment. Summarily, the good doctor nodded to the pair. "I will go too. You need someone who knows enough of the Thule Society and their ritualism to appraise what you find there." The Soviet sorceress glanced between the duo and Curve, smiling with what might have been an attempt at friendly good humour. "I would also request you do not meddle with any artifacts or books without my permission. At least until after the mission goes completely wrong. This magic could be volatile, and we do not want to burn Mr. Alain's house down, correct."

[TekHed]

Sascha nodded, halfway to himself when April finally introduced herself. It wasn't necessarily her real name, but it was a start. The decision of whether to join in or stay seemed to have been decided for him, though if he were being honest two back to back defeats had left him questioning his own competence. All he had left then was his curiosity...

"So...why do you go by Stigma?"

[Nintendogeek01]

"... and we do not want to burn Mr. Alain's house down, correct."
"Oui oui please do not burn 'er down," Alain responded to Svetlana, "So many memories zere... Penelope, Ursula, Andrew... ah... oh 'ow I miss you all," he sighs wistfully.


"So...why do you go by Stigma?"
"Well..." she pauses and seems to visibly think about her answer a bit, "We all have a history don't we?"

Another flash of light, you are in a grand Chinese Palace, bleeding and breathing heavily as an Imperial Guard is locking blades with you, his shove pushes you over a ledge! Falling... falling... falling...

You manage to catch a branch clinging to the side of a mountain in a vast wilderness, no sword in your hand but the hand of another, a woman? The woman? You are clinging to desperate to keep her from falling. "My... thank you... don't... carry my..." the branch is slowly losing its grip on the mountain, but to your horror the woman pulls out a blade and despite your please and shouts, she hacks off the arm you are holding and she falls, the blood trailing from her stump flying up to blot out your vision...

The red washes away and you are back in the infirmary.

[The_Admiral]

He stumbled back, as his mind is again hammered with a vision, holding his head, he stumbles back a few steps, blinking away the RED in his vision. He looks at Stigma, no April, who was she, how was she triggering his visions.

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana laughed heartily at Alain's words; she had no particular ill will against the resistance man, but his timing couldn't have been better. He seemed like a good man, or at the least good company in a depressing situation. With mock seriousness, the doctor wagged her finger at the over-focused Resistance member. "Typical bourgeois Frenchman. Even after everything else that's happened this week..." Snorting a little and shaking her head, the Soviet mystic gestured to herself with a wry smile. "Mind you, I'm one to talk. My last 'intimate encounter' was with a dragon off the coast..."

Before she could continue that story, Swift was clutching his head and shambling back across the room. Svetlana's focus shifts to him in an instant, the good humour of a few seconds ago gone. "Swift? Were you being serious earlier, when you talked about visions?" Barely waiting for the man to nod, Svetlana had withdrawn a notebook and pen from her jacket, ready to take notes. She looked back towards the airship captain, gaze completely serious. "Can you describe the circumstances? Content? Do you know what triggers them?"

[roll0] Expertise: Magic to diagnose these visions and the possibility they might be a danger to Swift during this mission.

[The_Admiral]

"Partially miss, ah didn't think it was that serious, could have been just mah hallucinations.....As fer circumstance, they started five years ago, thereabouts since ah usually go months between them, can't rightly say what triggers them, as for mah most recent vision, content are different every time, though mostly historical, things that feel like they have happened before." he replied, meeting her gaze and smiling weakly.

[TekHed]

"Fair enough," the Dynamo replied. Let her open up in her own time...

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara regarded Swift a bit warily as he had another...episode, or whatever. If she were honest, she was not too fond of the possibility that he may have one of those while he was flying the airship.

But there wasn't much to do for it, if he was their only pilot. She kept her focus on the mission. "Where, exactly, should we be firing the flares from?" she asked, not willing to bet the entire team's extraction on the survivor of one member.

She looked to Alford. "Might be smart for you to come with us. Since you can fly, and all. That way if we get pinned down and can't make extraction, we have someone who can catch up with the airship, bring the intelligence along at least. Maybe the hostage too. Could you carry someone into the air, if it came to that?"

Don't bother planning for success until you've properly planned for failure.

"Also, just how nasty is this Falkenrath guy? How big of a win would it be to take him out?" Sara had no particular inclination to sacrifice her own life. If she were dead, she couldn't kill PowderKeg. Plus her mom would cry, and Sara was raised to know better than to make her mom cry. Still, you don't become a soldier without accepting some risk. Only question was how much risk you'd take to accomplish any given task.

[Inspector Valin]

Strangely, it was Doctor Zharova who answered Sara's question, chiming in without lifting her eyes from her notebook. "Falkenrath is second in command of the Thule Society. Goes all over the world, looking for Ultima Thule. Rumour says he's the power behind the throne, reporting directly to the Fuhrer, and I can vouch for him being... a moderately capable magician." Svetlana rapped her nails upon the head of her cane, frowning slightly. To think of slaying Falkenrath in battle was... strange. And a little disquieting. She'd hated the bastard for years, dispised his short sighted theories, his arrogance and presumption. She'd come all the way down here out of anger at him, with the intent of making him pay for what he'd done. But now, with the prospect of a scholar's death on the cards? It all tasted bitter to Svetlana

Still, these people needed whatever information she could give. As did the war effort. Frowning still, the good doctor continued her hypothesis. "His death would probably hinder their operations in parahuman creation, at least. This sounds like his personal project, and I doubt they have many real magicians equal in skill to that idiot. A few researchers and part time occultists won't be enough to do what he managed with those two back in the plaza. Research and artifcts should be the central goal, but Falkenrath's death would... probably be helpful." And God forgive me for saying that of a fellow scholar.

Returning to Swift, Svetlana tapped her pen upon the page before looking up at the American, a little curiously. "Well, I sensed no magic just now. I'd need to investigate at more length to work out what was afflicting you, but it wasn't mystical at least." That was a long way from a satisfying answer. She would look into this later, but right now, they had little time.

[The_Admiral]

"Thank you miss, normally ah'll be raring ta go, but ah don't think ah should, given these attacks..." he replied, both to Svetlana and April.

[Nintendogeek01]

James Alford is now on auto-pilot until you post again, or until he can be removed from the story in a narrative-appropriate way; you will be warned again before the latter occurs.

"Yeah I can carry people," James Alford answered in the affirmative to Curve's question, "And you couldn't stop me from coming if you tried. The Professor is part of the reason I'm here," he added, April, or Stigma, had already mentioned out loud a connection between him and Professor Jorgenson, no use denying it, the thought he'd have a chance to smash some Nazis also held promise.

"Good, I was hoping you'd come," Stigma said, giving some thrown flares to Curve, Svetlana, and Alford, "There's a tower with a balcony on the East corner of the house, the balcony faces the rough direction of these woods, so if we throw a flare, it can fly in and we can jump on," she elaborated, "Time's-a-wastin' so let's not linger here, any other questions I'll take as we move."

"Don't get caught s'il vous plaît," Alain says as he waves goodbye.

Stigma stops at the exit and looks back towards Alain and shows a softer expression than she had previously, "I'll be alright, you try and stay safe until we meet again," she told him before leading the three volunteers out the door.

"Erm... Alain right?" Johnny started, "When you mentioned an Andrew earlier..."

"Well no time like ze present right? Let's get zis beaut operational!" Alain hastily exclaimed before leaving the door.

"Holy crap... the things we heard about the French were true weren't they?"
________________________________

Stigma had once again taken the driver's wheel of the stolen troop transport, from the front carriage perspective you can understand Alain's unease with her driving, especially when she looks away from the front to talk to anyone."We'll take this partway but then ditch it and go on foot to a building with a secret entrance to Alain's house, and sneak up from there," she tells everyone. After a pause she looks over and asks, "If you don't mind my asking, what are your stories?"
Still time to role-play, though this time the groups have been set. Ship group consists of The Human Dynamo, James Swift, and Helio-Man (who is currently on auto-pilot until Organic returns).

The away group consists of Curve, Svetlana, and James Alford (on auto-pilot until reclaimed). So role-play away!

[The_Admiral]

"Alain, Mitt the bags need fillin, Dynamo, if ya would be so kind as ta charge ta condensers? We can get this ol girl up in the air in half an hour with this crew..." he barks out, gesturing towards the group, walking into the storage bay.

"........Alain, how do you know Miss April?" he asks, as soon as he has time.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Eeep! Wait wait wait! Don't have us leave yet! I've got plans and things! :smallbiggrin:

Actually if we can do this on the way it works just as well, or there may just not be time to do it, I dunno. Anyway.

"Alright then. Here's what I'm thinking, if we're trying to do this cleanly. I can disguise myself as a Nazi parahuman soldier. I bring the two of you," she nodded to James and Svetlana, "in as captive parahumans, get them to take you to where they're holding the prisoners. Should get you right to the doctor, hopefully. Meanwhile, I get them to let me speak to Falkenrath for a debrief. I'll stall him while you guys extract the doctor. Once they're clear, Stigma, you take some pot shots at them, make some noise. If you two are clear enough to join in on that, even better. Get gone before they can engage you directly, but try to make enough noise that they feel like they're under threat. What I can try to do then, is convince Falkenrath I can get him to safety while his soldiers hold off the attackers. Have him grab whatever notes and stuff are critical, and follow me. I think I have an idea for a power I can bluff that would help me sell it. I lead him to the rendezvous point, we all surround him, call down the airship, and that's that."

"I mean, you know, that's how it'd go in a world where plans actually happen the way you describe them. But it's the basic idea. Does that sound reasonable? And do we have some time for me to get the disguise set up?"

Alternately, we could just rush them and lay waste, but if we're going for an infiltration, this should let Curve's high Deception skill be our workhorse mechanically.

If Nazi uniforms aren't something we can easily acquire from fallen soldiers or whatever, I'm willing to spend a Hero Point to say that Curve's squad has some on hand in preparation for this sort of ploy (maybe also some blue contact lenses; 'cause she's already blond and, well, Nazis). If I can get a Team Check from Svetlana and Alford, a Routine check from each of them would be sufficient to give me +5 to my Deception check to create the disguise too.

[Inspector Valin]

"Not an option. Falkenrath knows me, well enough that he'd check out a report of a parahuman in a wheelchair, and I'm not going to put myself at his mercy. He doesn't have any." Actually, she could probably deal with the rival mage, at least physically speaking. The real problem was her own position. Falkenrath knew who she was and knew that she couldn't report her activities here back home. And that he could give the Third Reich a very good reason to apply pressure against the Union: one of their ministers was on their soil illeagally. Neither point left Svetlana happy to see her old foe. She had to talk Curve out of this plan. Sighing, she rapped her cane gently on the ground, smiling a humourless smile. "Plus, they probably know who their own parahumans are. How're you going to make that disguise work?"

_______________________


Looking to Stigma, Dr. Zharova chuckled a little bitterly. "You already know mine, correct? As pleasent as it is to be recognized, that was... unexpected."

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Fair enough. We could swap you with Stigma, or both of you could take up an ambush position while he gets the doctor out and I occupy Falkenrath. As for the disguise, it seems improbable that he knows the face of every single parahuman in the entire Nazi army, and the random nature of parahuman manifestations means it wouldn't be a hard sell to say that I just recently gained my powers and was on my way to report to him when the unit I was with encountered the prisoner, and so on. And if he does see through it for whatever reason..." Curve shrugged. "Keep an ear out for gunfire and come in hot."

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana nodded at Curve's words, pleased that the American woman was so quick to adapt. Humming gently to herself, the Soviet sorceress raised a second point. "There's also the issue of Falkenrath's materials and research. I doubt he'll abandon them without an overwhelming threat. This is both his career defining triumph, and a moment of validation for his philosophy. His more likely response would be to attempt to defend them and rally whatever German forces he can to defend the house." It was a problem, no matter what method they went for. Seperating the Thulian from his treasures would not be easy. Resting her cane across her lap, Svetlana looked between her two comrades. "You might be able to distract him for long enough to let me investigate his room, take stock ect. I don't even need to go through the house: if you can signal what room his materials are in, I can conjure myself up through the window. But that isn't exactly risk free either. Could be alarms, mystical traps..."

Still need to balance the points, but this confirms it. Spending that PP on Nullify as an Alternate Power to Svetlana's main Magic array.

[TekHed]

"Alain, Mitt the bags need fillin, Dynamo, if ya would be so kind as ta charge ta condensers? We can get this ol girl up in the air in half an hour with this crew..." he barks out, gesturing towards the group, walking into the storage bay.

"........Alain, how do you know Miss April?" he asks, as soon as he has time.

Sascha allowed himself to be shown around the inner workings of the dirigible. The entire apparatus was impressive, state-of-the-art. Shown the power condensers, he grunted assent, reached out with both hands, and completed the circuit.

[Nintendogeek01]

"Know 'er? We're related," Alain answers Swift, not at all distracted from the work he's doing, "Why do you ask? Interested in 'er? I know a few ways to make 'er like you more," he offers with a smirk. "If not 'er, if you feel so inclined... once ze war is over and I get my 'ouse back zere's space left..." whatever Alain was about to say is cut off as he sniffles a bit, "Well, guess zis isn't ze time eh?"

You can see Alain's eyes watering up a bit, this line of conversation was leading close to a topic that's clearly weighing on him.
Getting the ship up and moving again we'll be rolling for shortly, don't roll yet though, we're approaching this in a more involved fashion than simply saying "roll technology to fix." We'll elaborate on my next IC post.
____________________________________________

Responding to Svetlana, Stigma turns to face the mystic, "It'd be more accurate to say I know your reasons for being in Dunkirk, not why you do what you do, not your story," she tells her before looking back to where she's driving and narrowly swerving out of the way of yet another obstacle.

"Well... your idea does have a very clean way to get all of our objectives," Stigma responds to Curve approvingly, "But it does put you and Mr. Alford at more risk than I'd like to put you in, and it'd reduce the number of people to go looking for the professor," Stigma added as a word of caution, "I can get Dr. Zharova into the base easily enough through the secret passage I mentioned earlier, I'll have to guide her there since I know how to open it; so if you want to go through with your plan it'll have to be you and James Alford up there being the bait." after saying that she then adds, "So go with your gut, I'll do what I can to help make it work."

Having said her piece on the plans being made she, more casually than earlier, glances at Alford, "You've been quiet, nothing to add?"

Still a little time to RP right now guys, next IC I make will probably get into the nitty-gritty of... the dice-roller! :smalleek: Dun dun dun...

[Quellian-dyrae]

Funny thing? I somehow completely missed the secret entrance thing previously. My plan feels a lot less practical when we already have a way in :smallamused:.

Sara considered. A small team working together could more easily overwhelm lone guards or small patrols, and simpler plans were often best. Especially when the simpler plan had a higher probability of taking out a few Nazis along the way. "As long as you think we can get through without drawing the whole force on our heads, I'm fine with just sneaking through. How are you all at stealth? If a quiet approach is infeasible, I don't mind the added risk of running a con. I can probably convince him to take his materials and go, if it comes to that, but if we can achieve our objectives with a plan with fewer moving parts, even better." She was, honestly, a little uncertain about bringing a wheelchair-bound woman into a stealthy infiltration, but if she had magic, well, that probably evened things out.

[The_Admiral]

"Alain, there isn't a better time, if there's somethin ya wanna get off yer chest, I'm here ta listen." he replied as he closed a valve, turning to Alain and placing a hand on his shoulder, looked him in the eyes with a comforting smile.

[Inspector Valin]

Earlier

"That's the part that worries me. And I'm not sure how you knew that, exactly." Svetlana chuckled, but her eyes narrowed a little as she looked at April. It was a legitimate question. Still, she couldn't afford to compromise this over a gut reaction. Taking a deep breath, and continuing to wheel, she explained the basics of her story. "I got into this business through circumstance. Ended up in the 'right' place at the right time. And it hurt, A lot. After that... well, responsibility, I guess." It was hard to explain. These people likely didn't want a lecture on the prolitariat. Svetlana paused for a second or two before continuing. "I know more about magic and parahumans than most people would want. Someone had to become the expert. Might as well be me. You do the most good you can, with the hand that God dealt you."

Later

Dr. Zharova frowned, as the question of stealth arose. She shrugged when eyes turned to her, gesturing down at her chair. "I'm a doctor, not a commando." Still, Falkenrath had proven pretty good at stealth. Her counterpart was putting his physicality to use. Quiet for a few seconds, lost in thought, Svetlana spent a little time mulling the implications of that over before returning to reality, shaking her head in dismissal of her earlier remarks. "Still, you want me in there. I should be able to find Falkenrath and anything mystically resonant if I get close enough. I'll follow your lead as best I can."

[Nintendogeek01]

"Erm... could we go back to 'ow you could pick 'er up?" Alain asked, probably referring to April. Though after a beat he sighs, "You know what? After everyzing all of us have gone zrough, and my... outburst... I guess you ought to know. Zough... 'aving said zat, I would ask you not talk about it like some afternoon social gossip," he requests of you.


"Ah won't, swear ta god, me ma, bless her soul, would have given me a right good trashing fer gossiping......" he replied.
"Ah... mozers and ze zrashing; I swear zey go 'and-in-'and," Alain muses, finally actually putting aside his work to face Swift properly. "Alright, Penelope, Ursula, and Andrew, you remember me mentioning zose names?" he asks you.


"Yeah, me ma, toughest woman ah ever knew, and ah remember, ah just thought it was a french thing, no offence meant," he replied.
"Is it 'just a French zing,' to feel passion for ozers?" Alain asks, though it's hard to tell if he's actually insulted or not. Either way you certainly flipped some kind of switch "Penelope was a beauty matched by few in all of Europe, and a sweetness to match! One could not 'elp but want to bask in 'er company! While Ursula wasn't too bad to look at eizer but she was more zen Penelope's match in pure passion! Zat fiery temper, zat vigor when making love, it 'ad a way of making one feel alive! Now zere was zat incident zat put a sour note on ze relationship for a while when she found out about Penelope and zreatened to set fire to ze 'ouse while I was sleeping wiz Andrew, whose courage was matched only by 'is poet's wit I might add. But we patched up and..." yeah you get the sense this conversation is rapidly losing track.


"Ah just meant ah was raised different, that's all, no offence meant........ What did ya want ta tell me?" he replied, as he smiled, holding himself from laughing.
"No no... zis is what I wanted to say. Zey were all wonderful people, wonderful lovers..." he starts to choke up a bit as he continues, "Ménage à trois? Ha! We 'ad a ménage à quatre!" he declares with bittersweet pride as the tears begin to stream down his cheek. "... and un invasion later from a bunch of bastards in dark coats and swastikas later... zere is only mois..." Alain does not whimper or make another sound, but he doesn't need to, the tears streaming down his cheeks say all that needs to be said.


James silently hugs Alain, words weren't needed, here, comfort and acceptance was what was needed and it was what he would provide.

Alain returns the hug, savoring this feeling of comfort. "I 'ate ze Nazis. I 'ate zem and I want zem to pay so much... and if 'elping all of you get out of 'ere is a step in zat direction I'll gladly 'elp."


he stands there, staying silent for minutes “...........When ah was in the east, ah heard this saying, Before yah embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves, just, be careful, ah don't want ta see anyone's life consumed with vengeance......”

As you finish giving your response you are hit by another vision. In your hand a Chinese Broadsword that is covered in fresh blood, and a Chinese Man in elaborate robes clutching a fresh stab wound; around you fierce flames threaten to consume you both "First... me... now... why does... me...?" he gasps as he collapses to the ground.

"No!" A man in royal robes shouts from across the room as a guard attempts to lead him away from the flames separating you, "You... cost my Empire... prosperity... destroyed it! ... vengeance...!" You cannot hear the rest of the shouting as flames consume the tower and consume your vision.

Your senses return to the present to hear Alain groan about your warning against vengeance, apparently having turned his back before your vision kicked in. "Yeesh... you sound just like mozer when she showed up and..." he pauses abruptly and slowly turns around, "... and you need me to do somezing else around ze ship?"


With ma gone, ah feel it's mah responsibility ta dispense her kind of wisdom and only if you're feelin up for it. he replied as he turned another valve, shaking off his vision, his eye on the gauge.

Alain and Swift had finished their talk, and repairs were underway, "Let's get zis beauty flying shall we?" Alain suggests with a confident smirk.

Okay, we're going to get this ship repaired via a challenge sequence! What this means is you must get a certain number of successes before you gain a certain number of failures. I will tell you what checks can be made to contribute to the challenge, but if you think you have an idea on how you can contribute that I have not specified, ask me; I'm willing to lend an ear to a clever idea, but I do retain the right to shoot it down if it won't work for some reason. Degrees of success do contribute to the total number of successes needed (unless I say otherwise), but be warned, degrees of failure also contribute to the number of failures you're allowed. :smallamused:

To Succeed: You need... 5 successes!
Three of these successes must come from the Human Dynamo succeeding on a DC17 Fortitude check (to represent maintaining the energy to charge the ship). This is special in that failures on this check will take away from accumulated successes on this check before it contributes to failures. (Example: You have 1 success on this check so far, but then fail by two degrees; thus you lose that one success and gain one degree of failure.) This does not mean that successes here take away failures.
One success must be getting Helio-Man ready to defend the ship (DC25 to repair)
One success must be to Repair the ship proper (DC20 to repair)


The challenge sequence will fail if you accumulate 3 failures

_____________________________________

Well it'd be more accurate to say I had a hunch as to why you were here," Stigma tells Svetlana, "I knew of you by reputation, and during one of my 'shifts' to watch Alain's home I saw a cloaked figure I didn't recognize approach the home holding a strange book. The guards didn't look ready to let him in until one of the Thule Society's sorcerers was shown the book; the man was let in right away after that," she explains, "I figured it had to be magic if it got someone obviously not with them in the doors right away. Then I see you in town and took an educated guess." she brings the vehicle to a screeching halt, "We'll go the rest of the way on foot."

A little while later Stigma leads you all to what looks like a wine shop nestled in with a bunch of homes and businesses; a layer of dust has settled on the ransacked shelves of bottles in conditions ranging from uncorked to broken, a testament to the recent fate that has befallen Dunkirk. Soon enough you are guided through the door to the backroom, with shelves and casks in worse condition than the front, and taken to the back wall, where Stigma pushes in an unlit lamp and then pulls it down. Soon enough part of the wall slides open and reveals a long stone corridor, "I can only imagine how overjoyed Alain was to find the exit to this passage led from the wine cellar to a wine shop," Stigma sighs with bemusement.

Eventually you reach the end of a tunnel where Stigma once again flips a switch and the door opens up into a wine cellar, the shelves and racks of which have also been ransacked, although there remain quite a few, apparently the Thule Society has had the sense to save some for special occasions. As you exit the passageway Stigma stops and eyes on bottle in particular, she pulls it out and looks at it, "Romanée Conti" apparently. Stigma sighs and puts the bottle in her pack, "The things I do for you, you'd better be grateful you little..." her sighing and muttering is eventually inaudible.

Mercifully the attached kitchen is empty, but everyone knows that once you open the door into the huge-ass house proper that the real challenge starts, "Okay, let's try and keep this as quiet as possible, remember, once we have Professor Jorgenson and whatever important documents we can find, we make for the tower in the East wing," Stigma whispers, "Good luck"

Okay, we're going to get your objectives completed via a challenge sequence! What this means is you must get a certain number of successes before you gain a certain number of failures. I will tell you what checks can be made to contribute to the challenge, but if you think you have an idea on how you can contribute that I have not specified, ask me; I'm willing to lend an ear to a clever idea, but I do retain the right to shoot it down if it won't work for some reason. Degrees of success do contribute to the total number of successes needed (unless I say otherwise), but be warned, degrees of failure also contribute to the number of failures you're allowed. :smallamused:

To Succeed: You need... 7 successes!
Four of these successes must go towards finding your objectives in the first place. Perception rolls to get wind of and avoid patrols are DC15 and may only contribute to two successes. DC20 perception to find the appropriate locations.
What contributes to the remaining three successes will be revealed once you get this far.
Each player has one stealth or deception check to reduce accumulated failures, however if you've hit the max number of failures before you can do this, too late :smalltongue:.


The challenge sequence will fail if you accumulate 3 failures!

Your mystical senses are... spotty in this place. You can definitely feel magic here and there, but what you can detect seems to flicker in and out; impossible to truly analyze.
Once you got close to the entrance leading into the wine cellar of this house you stopped being able to feel the minds of others. Perhaps this is why you couldn't feel the professor earlier?

[The_Admiral]

"Ah couldn't agree more," returning the smile as he got to work on repairs.


[roll0]

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara quietly approached the door and listened at it to see if she could hear anyone on the other side. She'd look back to Svetlana and Alford questioningly, to see if they heard anything (or noticed anything with any other special senses they might possess). If they all felt confident it was clear, she'd open the door just a bit - enough to start bouncing a pulse through to try and feel out the halls and rooms beyond.

I'm hoping to get a Team Check from Svetlana and Alford here. Honestly I'd kinda rather be supporting Svetlana's since we have equal Perception but I have Teamwork, but I'm already realizing I'm exactly the sort of player who skill challenges don't work for, and if I try to micromanage the mechanics to that degree I'm going to drive at least myself and possibly everyone crazy. So.

Perception. [roll0], plus any bonuses for Team Check if they take it. Not sure if using my Touchsight to scout the place warrants some sort of circumstance modifier; it is Acute and Accurate, so basically as precise as vision (although it won't detect color or writing). It can see around corners and such, but not straight through walls.

EDIT: ...So, what that tells me is it's a hot night, and they left all the doors and windows open to create a cross-breeze, and Sara just scouted the entire building at one go? :smalleek: :smallcool: Also that I should worry less about micromanaging the mechanics and just trust the dice.

[Nintendogeek01]

Double-checking everything and making sure that the ship is fully ready to receive the power surge it's about to goes along smoothly, Swift is certain that he's done all he can do to get this ship off the ground, all that's left is to wait and see.
____________________________

Curve peeks out of the room and 'feels around' with her senses, getting a feel for where many of the patrols are located, and now knows where to point everyone else to avoid patrols; assuming that nothing else goes wrong.

Ship Repair Challenge: 0 of 3 failures

Energy charging - 0 of 3 successes
Ship Repairs - 1 of 1 successes
Helio-Man Repairs - 0 of 1 successes

Espionage Challenge: 0 of 3 failures

Locating Objectives - 0 of 2 successes
Spotting/Avoiding Patrols - 2 of 2 successes
Secret - 0 of 3 successes
Failure Cancellations Remaing - Curve, Svetlana, James Alford


So far so good, both rolls thus far got more than one degree of success; that being said they were both for challenges that had limits on how much they could count towards the success tally. Still, no failures is always a good start to a challenge.

[Inspector Valin]

"Something strange is going on here. Something I can't determine."

Svetlana frowned, muttering to herself as she gently creeked forward after the American. The Russian magess was holding her cane aloft, and her eyes appeared to be half closed, but she placed her boot down firmly before colliding with Curve. Opening her eyes, she glanced between the marine, Stigma, and the flyboy. "Keep your eyes on the physical. I can focus on mystical activity around us, a task that gets easier if I can focus on it. This place is full of flickering energy at the moment, but if I can find anything greater, it could give away Falkenrath's location. Or that of his office."

Routine Expertise: Magic check to gauge the potential effects of flickering magic. What could this mean? Concealed effects, after effects of some big spell, what? Result of 28 if Svetlana has no past experience with this, but a 33 if she could've read about this previously. Also, could I wrangle Expertise: Magic for knowledge of Falkenrath? Expertise is supposed to be more widespread than a knowledge skill, it's everything you'd get out of working in a given profession. And as a mage, and 'colleague' of Falkenrath, Svetlana might be able to remember enough of his habits to gauge where he'd put his office (presumably one of our objectives)

Regardless, that would be one roll. Here's a perception roll, using Magic Awareness and trying to set up a team check with Sara. [roll0]

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara nodded, and led the way, slipping quietly through the halls. Her pulses told her where the guards and patrols were long before she could see them - or they her - and gave her a decent mental map of the place. She guided the group through the house, moving to circumvent the guards and seek out their targets. Mostly, she just took them on as thorough a route as she could, but any insight Svetlana offered based on the mystical forces she was sensing would help to direct Sara's course.

Then another Perception roll it is, at +5 for Svetlana's Team Check, this time making sure to go for the DC 20 target: [roll0]. EDIT: Yay for team checks!

[Nintendogeek01]

Getting this out so that the espionage players know what to do next. TekHed, would still like to see The Human Dynamo's in-character response to powering the ship successfully. :smallsmile:
Vasilia, tucked away from the eyes of the soldiers and the rest of the ship's current occupants is frantically trying to rig some temporary repairs on Helio-Man. If only she had proper time this would be easy, but the urgency to get this ready to defend the airship has made this a more pressured task and she's having unusual difficulty.
____________________________

Svetlana is certain that the reason for the inconsistent magical detection has to do with warding magic. Perhaps some magic is more powerful than the wards and thus "leaks" through occasionally. Still it's enough that, with Curve guiding their path around patrols, the heroes in the mansion eventually reach a hallway corner where two guards are standing outside of a double-door. Stigma gives a sly smile and undoes the uniform she's wearing, revealing that she had folded up a french-maid's uniform underneath it. She puts a finger over her lips, indicating to everyone to "shush" before she goes around the corner. Those of you who understand French can understand that Stigma is acting like a nervous servant bringing the soldiers refreshments, while anyone who understands German can tell that the soldiers are being chauvinistic pigs... until they start getting suspicious. Suspicions that are cut off with the sound of flesh being pierced, weak coughing and gagging. When you look around the corner, there's Stigma standing above two German soldiers with bloodied uniforms, while she holds a bloody knife and blood on her uniform.

"Door's unlocked," she says with a shrug, "I'll catch back up in a minute, I need to go hide the bodies," she says, taking back her normal uniform and leaving you with the double-doors.

Behind the double-doors appears to be a study, and it's been absolutely covered with various notes, opened books, bookmarked books, and a board with many maps and documents tacked to it, and strings connecting the various documents and maps. James Alford gets a look on his face and checks a nearby door, "Professor!" inside the room is an adjoining study room that is much less messy, and an older gentleman bound and gagged to a cozy chair. James seems to use his powers to try and pull at the bindings, but glowing that Svetlana recognizes as magic hold the Professor's bindings together. Now you have two of your main goals in front of you; the Professor, and a plethora of notes to search through.

Ship Repair Challenge: 1 of 3 failures

Energy charging - 3 of 3 successes
Ship Repairs - 1 of 1 successes
Helio-Man Repairs - 0 of 1 successes

Espionage Challenge: 1 of 3 failures

Locating Objectives - 2 of 2 successes
Spotting/Avoiding Patrols - 2 of 2 successes
Free the Professor - 0 of 1 successes
Find Documents - 0 of 1 successes
Reach Extraction Point - 0 of 1 successes (may not roll for yet)
Failure Cancellations Remaing - Curve, Svetlana, James Alford


So the PCs I auto-piloted both happened to fail their respective rolls by one degree (Vasilia got a 23 while Alford got a 14).

The DC to free the Professor from the magic bindings is DC18 athletics, or using something else that could remove bindings.(Alford tried to use his move object power effect). To find vital intel is a DC25 perception!:smallamused: You may not yet roll on the extraction part of the challenge.

Remember: If you think you have a clever alternative solution ask me about it; Espionage group remember that you must use failure cancellations before you hit the allotted failures. DC15 to try and hide from (stealth) or deceive (deception) a patrol that comes by because you spent time on something and got nowhere. Success on this roll removes failures based on the degrees of success.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara started rooting through the documents, mainly just doing a cursory scan and pointing out anything that looked potentially significant to Svetlana, since she'd probably know how to best make sense of it.

Using Perception to Aid Svetlana at [roll0] after +5 for Teamwork. Svetlana gets +5 on her check.

Also, Valin, I would be shocked if your Investigation skill wasn't at least as viable as Perception for this check. Figured I'd mention it since it's five points higher.

Nintendo, if Valin's action fails, I'm requesting that Alford delay his action for this turn so I can negate one of our failures next turn without risking the dice being evil and giving us two failures on the same turn.

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana twiched a little at Stigma's swift killing of the two men, but nods to her afterwards. It couldn't be helped. Her eyes turn swiftly between the pieces of string as they enter Falkenrath's study, trying to make sense of the connections her counterpart had made. This was enough to distract her for a moment, long enough that she couldn't intervene against the third team member's power usage. Glancing into the second room, Svetlana growls a little at Alford, pushing herself between the man and his goal with a motion from her cane, and then raising her hands defensively, "No more brute force, Flyboy. Those bindings are tied to the magic here. Let's wait to break them until after we've got everything else, please?"

Command given, Svetlana pushed herself back into the main room, making a mental note that there were more documents to check in the side study. Still, there were pleanty here for now. She smiled a little to Curve, flipping swiftly through the open books and reading over those papers the American passed to her. They were close to working out just what was going on here, and with a little luck...

Investigate [roll0], and Svetlana's keeping her eyes open for her own book in particular.

[Nintendogeek01]

"No..." Alford said quietly as you search for the documents, he looks back at the professor, "It's my fault he's even here, and I won't let him be another victim of these damn Nazis!" he once more tries to force the bindings, it looks as though he's going to fail once more but this time his telekinetic might holds out and the bindings strain and stretch until they snap! The professor is freed and he gasps for air as Alford grabs hold of him.

"Well said," Stigma enters the room in her normal attire, "Better lay low quickly though, I heard someone coming this way," she warns.

Damn... now!? Curve and Svetlana were really being efficient about going through the maze of documents... oh well, if they get caught now, finding them is going to be impossible as opposed to difficult.

Ship Repair Challenge: 1 of 3 failures

Energy charging - 3 of 3 successes
Ship Repairs - 1 of 1 successes
Helio-Man Repairs - 0 of 1 successes

Espionage Challenge: 2 of 3 failures

Locating Objectives - 2 of 2 successes
Spotting/Avoiding Patrols - 2 of 2 successes
Free the Professor - 1 of 1 successes
Find Documents - 0 of 1 successes
Reach Extraction Point - 0 of 1 successes (may not roll for yet)
Failure Cancellations Remaining - Curve, Svetlana, James Alford


This time Alford's auto-piloted roll just succeeded at an 18, I just learned that Organic may be able to post soon so I'll wait.

The DC to find the documents is still DC25, good luck. :smallsmile: (Oh and if anyone was wondering, no Stigma will not be supporting you in these rolls; she's a plot NPC as opposed to the PCs that are on auto-pilot).

Remember: If you think you have a clever alternative solution ask me about it; Espionage group remember that you must use failure cancellations before you hit the allotted failures. DC15 to try and hide from (stealth) or deceive (deception) a patrol that comes by because you spent time on something and got nowhere. Success on this roll removes failures based on the degrees of success.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara frowned some at Alford as he ignored Svetlana's warning, but she didn't say anything.

"Yeah," she answered when Stigma came in; she could feel the approach from her pulses. "I got it," she said, shifting to a position at the table where she would be in immediate view to anyone coming through the door, and setting one of her pistols on a chair off to the side before going back to rooting through books and papers. When she felt the patrol getting close, she started muttering a hasty, nervous-sounding, "Come on...come on...it's got to be-"

When the door opened, she would whirl on the patrol, her eyes wide. It really was kinda impressive. In a heartbeat, she went from a stone-cold super-soldier to a scared young woman obviously in over her head, outnumbered and outmuscled by the Nazi troops that stood a head taller than her. Her eyes darted immediately, desperately to the gun she had set aside. If they spent a few moments to think about it logically, they might have realized how nonsensical it was for her to have put down her weapon.

But in those initial moments, she knew, those wouldn't be the thoughts of the soldiers. The gun, the trembling, the shock on her face and desperation in her eyes, and even, she knew well, her own physical appearance, would all contribute to a simple display of helpless vulnerability that would take the soldiers off their guard, draw them in to grab her. If the others stood aside, they wouldn't even notice them until they had come fully into the room and into Curve's reach.

And by then it would be too late.

In an instant, Curve would explode into a flurry of sudden strikes, once again swapping from helpless damsel to lethal warrior in the time it took to blink. Hard, open-hand attacks to the sternums and throats would prevent shouts for help. A roundhouse kick would daze and disorient. And then the only thing that would keep them from getting their necks snapped in a single brutal grab and twist was if one of the others took them down first.

Once the last soldier was down, Sara telekinetically called her gun back to hand, checked the safety, holstered it, and went back to going through the documents. "You got a place to hide a couple more bodies?" she asked Stigma offhand.

With both its guards and the patrol assigned to check it out of commission, she figured it might be a while before someone thought to check this room again.

Deception to negate failures: [roll0], probably with +5 for Attractive.

[TekHed]

It was exhilarating, the flowing of energy as he became one with the ship. Orgasmic even. A closed loop, a circuit, energy flowing through him, into the ship, and back again, increasing in magnitude as the connection grew stronger and, accelerating with every cycle. He could feel it as he opened himself to the quantum current...a sea of infinite energy, just waiting to be tapped. He could feel himself getting stronger.

The condensers drank from him like a dying man in the desert, but with his rate of output, their thirst was slaked in little time. Unlike the Human Dynamo, batteries had a limited capacity, and at a certain point the flow equalized and he knew the charging was complete. This was simultaneously verified via James's instrumentation.

"Topped her off." he sad to the Midwestern gentleman. "A beautiful contraption she is...did you build her yourself?"

[The_Admiral]

"Ah can't rightly say ah did, ah had loads of help putting this old girl together." he replied, tapping the bulkhead.

"Ah'll be going for a looksee, just in case, ya'll get yourselves settled." he says as he left the anchored ship, patrolling the perimeter.


If OE is OK with it, will look for Helio man and help the repairs...

[TekHed]

Sascha sidled up next to Alain,

"So...ah, your sister...she seems pretty mysterious. Never can tell with a mysterious woman, whether we really shared a moment or if she was merely exercising her feminine wiles..."

He coughed, awkwardly.

"So, uh...does she, well...I mean. Does she have a fella?"

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana's eyes had darted up at the announcement of more guards approaching their position, but Curve's swift move towards the door was enough for the Soviet Sorceress. She turned back down to the books, frowning as she resumed her attempts at organizing Falkenrath's chaos into some form of methord. This was not an easy task, but with persistence...

So, short post, but needed to get something down. Feel bad for just doing this, again, but mechanically I can't think of a clever way out, short of power-stunting Postcognition. And I'm out of HP and exhausting Svetlana seems like a bad idea. :smallwink:

[roll0] Investigate, +2/5 if Curve or Jim can aid the check

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara just went back to organizing, primarily just skimming through documents and sorting them into "clearly nothing," "might be something," and "definitely something" piles. The second was by far the largest, but anything she could do to cut down on the number of things Svetlana to look at would help.

(She also quickly realized that six pounds of telekinesis was still enough to pass a wheelchair-bound woman a document instead of requiring her to wheel around to the other side of the table to look at it, so that was probably good too).

Team Check! [roll0] after Teamwork. If it beats DC 10, Svetlana gets +2 to her previous check. If it beats DC 20, she gets +5.

[Nintendogeek01]

Sascha sidled up next to Alain,

"So...ah, your sister...she seems pretty mysterious. Never can tell with a mysterious woman, whether we really shared a moment or if she was merely exercising her feminine wiles..."
Alain looked as though he were about to say something but then paused with his mouth agape, and then his face contorted with some concern, "Wait... do we look zat much alike?" Alain reaches into a coat pocket and pulled out a hand mirror, one that has been cracked in numerous places, but still intact enough for Alain to look at his handsome face, "... oh $#!%... I suppose we do..." he murmurs, "I mean zat's not to say eizer of us look bad but I didn't zink ze resemblance was zat noticeable..."


He coughed, awkwardly.

"So, uh...does she, well...I mean. Does she have a fella?"
"Erm... look to be 'onest, I don't know, zese last few days were ze first I'd seen of 'er in a few years," Alain tells Sascha with a shrug. "While I was just living zings up over 'ere in Europe, she was off somewhere else in ze world, and believe you me, zat could be anywhere," he elaborates. "So... no I don't know if she 'as a lover right now, first zing she does when we meet is scold me for 'being a suicidal idiot'..." he says while mocking April's voice, "... and zen it's been straight to business in... well... intel gazering, getting us all out of ze city... zat sort of zing."

"But 'ey if you're interested I can 'elp you out a bit," Alain leans in a little closer, "She's really fond of water lilies, but regular white lilies will do too; now you're out of luck wiz chocolates, because ze countries zat make 'er favorite kind are eizer surrounded by or wiz ze Nazis, but if ze war ends in our favor she really likes ze Chocolate ze Germans make, she's generally fond of poetry but zat American nutjob... Poe or somezing... I seem to remember 'er mentioning liking 'im especially, oh and she likes mystery novels, especially if zey 'ave clues she can try and figure out 'erself she's uncanny wiz zat actually..." and he gives you a virtual laundry list of things April likes and what gets her attention.
If you want to know more request it of me via PM, but let's not extend this post longer than necessary lol.
_________________________________

After skimming through a wide number of documents, handily drifted through by telekinesis from Curve, Svetlana eventually catches one particular document, a copy from the looks of it. The document is, naturally, in German but the magic of your staff enables you to read it


Dear Herr Null.

As you have requested I am personally sending you an update on the status of the two Parahumans I created in cooperation with our... new associates. Sadly they have both been defeated by the unexpected intervention of Allied Parahumans. I will grant that while your intel did indicate that all of the Allied Parahumans that were reported were indeed in Dunkirk at some point in time, I had been left with the impression that most of them had already either been killed, or had left the city. It is no matter however, as the loss of the hosts of spirits is trivial; in fact their loss provided me with ample data to more reliably recreate the process. I must admit that I was surprised when you told me that Dr. Zharova was within our territory. Still, I must remember to thank Dr. Zharova when next we meet, her intervention provided me with the opportunity to gain the aforementioned data. I think we can both agree that this data is worth forgiving her intrusion, for now, Herr Null.

More importantly, regarding our associates. They seemed all too eager to agree to the trade of considerable capital and arcane knowledge for a single tome and some of my own arcane knowledge. When their agent arrived in this city, as you predicted, I did manage to convince him to let me look at the tome in exchange for assistance in smuggling him out of the city. What little I was able to decipher before time was running to get him onto the evacuation boats did reveal a remarkable piece in its own right, but hardly worth what they exchanged with us for its location and a few arcane rituals. This, in addition to Dr. Zharova's presence in this city so soon after the agent's arrival and departure has led me to believe there is more to this book than either of us realized. I am going to make full use of our new relationship with our associates to try and find out more. We can both agree that having our associates cheat us at this juncture would be inconvenient, or even dangerous.

Thusly Herr Null, I must leave our territory for an indeterminable amount of time. It shall be fine I think, The Thule Society may languish for a bit with my absence, but its leader is a capable man of keeping things running even without its most capable occultist, and he will continue to send you reports Herr Null. If I learn anything new about our associates and that book I will inform you as soon as I am able.


Sincerely, Dr. Eckhardt Falkenrath
Another note, in German, attached to this one has this to say.


The agent assigned to observing Donar and The Valkyrie, codenamed: Powderkeg, expressed frustration with his orders to observe and not, to quote him, "Plant hot lead into the skulls of every oblivious Ally down there." I once again reminded him that having accurate data on the mystically created Parahumans was more important to the Third Reich's ultimate victory than a single battle. Powderkeg will be sent back to Herr Null soon, along with a report that the former needs further discipline, as I suspect a few of our soldiers here did not die of burns from some leftover resistance in this city.

"You two look like you found something," Stigma says after shoving those two bodies into the room that Professor Jorgenson, who Alford is currently carrying on his back, was previously tied up in. She gives the document a quick once over, "What? He's not even here!? I swear some days I want to strangle Alain," she sighs. "Alright let's... hm..." before finishing what she was about to say, something from the really huge "might be important pile" seems to catch her eye and she pulls it out, "Huh... this one's written in Latin, interesting," she eyes it over before folding it and stuffing it into her pack, "What we've got will have to do, let's make our way towards the tower," she advises before heading to the door.

Ship Repair Challenge: 1 of 3 failures

Energy charging - 3 of 3 successes
Ship Repairs - 1 of 1 successes
Helio-Man Repairs - 0 of 1 successes

Espionage Challenge: 0 of 3 failures

Locating Objectives - 2 of 2 successes
Spotting/Avoiding Patrols - 2 of 2 successes
Free the Professor - 1 of 1 successes
Find Documents - 1 of 1 successes
Reach Extraction Point - 0 of 1 successes
Failure Cancellations Remaining - Curve, Svetlana, James Alford


Challenges are almost over guys! Just one more roll apiece. (assuming no failures that is).

Still awaiting a roll to try and fix Helio-Man, DC25 technology roll in case it's been forgotten.

For reaching the extraction point you have a few options. Athletics to just make a break for it, stealth to quietly get there, perception to find the best route to it, and others you can ask me about of course. DC20 in all cases.

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana's grin of triumph turned to a grimase as she looked over the copied letter. Falkenrath was just as smug on paper as he was face to face, and this information solved few of their questions about the parahuman creation process. Instead it left her chained to this assignment for longer. The Nazi had the nerve to sell a stolen book to this unknown ally of his? And was already aware of her involvement in all of this? Is there anyone who doesn't know I'm here by now? I probably should've just rung the man and scheduled a formal tea, sat down to discuss it with him or something. The fact that apparently her banishment of the spirit had helped the Thulian was just one more sour note in a dissonant melody. Even if they both survived the war, there was no way Eckhardt would ever let her forget that point.

Folding the letter up, Svetlana glanced to Curve, nodding curtly as she explained the basics. "They know about what happened in the battle already. There was another Axis Parahuman watching us and reporting back. The information on their program is... worrying." More of a briefing could wait for the moment. The sorceress glanced around their little group, frowning to herself. James and the Professor seemed distracted, and the latter's addition brought their party up to five. Getting these people all through the mansion without arousing suspicion seemed like a long shot to Svetlana. And if she could deactivate the wards...

With a nod to herself, Dr Zharova closed her eyes, raising her cane above her head and speaking crisply to her allies, "Give me a second. I might be able to get us out of here more cleanly." As she spoke, her mind was in another plane, twisting aside the half formed flaming scraps that were Falkenrath's ward. The structure was intended to be subtle, hard to find a single point to attack before it sprung up like a wall against hostile magic, but if she was quick she might be able to bring the whole edifice down temporarily. Just long enough to teleport a small group of people out of the manor without risking a run through the corridors.

Well, worth a shot. Need 20 or higher to down the wards. If it succeeds though, Svetlana can get all of the documents on this table out. Giving us more to peruse at our leisure, and hopefully mucking with Nazi bureaucracy! :smallbiggrin: And if she fails... well, here's hoping we all are good at getting out of here quick.

[roll0] Nullify Magic.

And whilst we're here, [roll1] Investigation, using Well Informed, on 'Null'.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara nodded, keeping a wary eye on the doorway while Svetlana did her thing.

I realized, even if Sara couldn't read German outright, she might be able to recognize PowderKeg's name, if the German was similar enough. But according to Google the translation is Pulverfass, which she'd never guess.

[TekHed]

"Hmm," an affirmative grunt being Sascha's only response to the thorough accounting of aphrodisiacs.

"She is also parahuman? What about you?"

[Nintendogeek01]

Helio-Man is now on auto-pilot until you post again, or until she can be removed from the story in a narrative-appropriate way; you will be warned again before the latter occurs.
Over the waters that separate France from Britain, a plane flies over it, and piloting it is a man not as well-known for his piloting as he is for one other thing: being a volunteer Parahuman!

Alistair Quinn is en route to Dunkirk on special orders from the Prime Minister himself. In the recently occupied and evacuated city of Dunkirk, France there is an agent that is working with Great Britain who stayed behind to gather intelligence and extract others from the city. Prime Minister Churchill however is concerned that her loss would be more damaging in the long run and has thus dispatched you to aid her and then get out of the city as quickly as possible, your powers and experience with the RAF making you ideal for this assignment.

The agent goes by the name of Stigma; he has already given you a picture of what she looks like, a very attractive young woman who carries a rather distinguishable sword on her hip. Upon making contact your orders were to render any aid necessary to tie up current business, and then escort her back to Dover. Hopefully the Luftwaffe presence should be minimal, but as Parahumans were involved in Dunkirk's fall there's no way that this was a safe mission, but it needed to be done: and Alistair Quinn was the man to do it!
____________________________________

Success! You can feel the wards fading, your power to teleport is now unperturbed, it's time to get out! "What? Do we just... grab on or something? Oh heck let's go for it," Stigma, Curve, and Alford huddle up, Alford placing the professor on Curve's back while Stigma uses her free handle to cling to the table, while wrapping as many documents in her arm as she can. After which you pop out of the office.
____________________________________

"Oh... do I detect a fetish?" Alain teases Sascha with a light elbowing to the muscleman's ribs. "Well 'ey whatever you're into, I've tried all kinds myself. But to answer your ques-" before Alain can finish a flash of magical light flashes on the deck and there is the part of the group that went off to infiltrate Alain's occupied house, along with another man and a desk, "Sacrebleau!" Alain exclaims in surprise, reaching for a gun at his hip before he stops upon registering who came out of that flash.

"Relax, it's just us, we decided to improvise a bit," Stigma reassures everyone. From the looks of it not all of the papers were in contact to transfer them, but there was still a not small amount of documents to browse at your leisure... once you were out of enemy territory that is.

Elsewhere on the ship, Swift finds Helio-man, still scuffed but otherwise moving normally, "I am ready to assist in our extraction from this place," the voice from within the large robot informs Swift.

"Swift! We're already here! Take us up and out of here!" Stigma's voice carries from elsewhere on the ship.

"Gah... what was ze point of me finding zose flares zen?" Alain mutters in frustration as he heads towards the door to the ship's interior.

"Wait, take the professor in with you and make sure he's fi-" Stigma's eyes then pop open as a sudden realization dawns on all of you, "Wait... where is Alford?" True to her words, James Alford is nowhere to be seen.
___________________________________

In the office of Falkenrath, now absent a desk, James Alford stands amidst papers fluttering around him as men in Nazi uniforms rush in with guns at the ready, <"Down! Or we'll shoot!"> come their angry shouts in German.

"Try it, and see how far it gets you..." James Alford turns slowly to face them as his eyes glow with fiery wrath, "COME ON YOU DAMN NAZIS...!!!"

BOOM

The auto-pilot roll to fix Helio-Man was also a nat 20, so both challenges ended on a nat 20 appropriate enough. Well done all.

The final stretch of this issue is at hand, feel free to post a little role-play to the current situation, or Quinn's thoughts in your case Hyperbolic, and we'll continue shortly afterwards.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara made sure to pull the two Nazis she had killed over and step on them so they got teleported too. They had uniforms that weren't riddled with bullet holes, and she wanted those for future infiltration purposes.

--

Sara had...kinda-sorta had an idea of what Svetlana's magic was going to do, in the general sense. She figured it would kinda whisk them out of there in some manner, in any event. What she hadn't really expected was that it would pop bring all of them back aboard the airship instantly. The sudden change in her location disoriented her for a moment, but after taking a few seconds to collect her thoughts and feel around her location, she gathered her wits.

And eyed Svetlana with new respect. The woman had talked about magic, and Sara had basically gone along with it and made a mental checkmark, sure, magic, sounds like she knows what she's talking about, probably makes up for being in a wheelchair, whatever. She had said she had expelled the spirit from the one parahuman, but that was still too abstract for her to really get, intuitively.

This was anything but. She had said a few words and they, the table, the documents, everything was suddenly on the airship.

Holy.

Crap.

When their missing companion was mentioned, Sara looked around with more curiosity than concern. "He was with us the whole time...he must have decided to stay for a reason," she said with a slightly amused smirk. She could imagine a few. Normally, her protocol was "don't leave anyone behind."

In this particular circumstance, she was under the impression that making an exception would only be bad for the Nazis.

"So. Um," Sara said to Svetlana, just a little tentatively now that she had seen what the woman was capable of. "What all did we learn? Anything useful?"

[The_Admiral]

"Well that was pointless." he muttered as he ran into the pilot's cabin, pressing the quick release.

"Now, ya'll please stay still, this here is going ta be a little bit bumpy." he says over the intercom as the ropes are released and the airship rocks a little, rapidly ascending into the air, the passangers again feel another bump as James pulls down the power lever, the electricity moving to the propellers.

"Now Ah'll have ta apologise for the lack of bright lights, due to the lack of an engine, ah had ta save on electricity, until ah can get a new one." he continues as the ship crawls towards London.

[Hyperbolic sine]

Up in the air, traversing the Channel, there's a solitary Lockheed Hudson: in its cockpit, Alistair Quinn sighs. Why did they insist he went on a plane, when he could have gone there much more quickly and safely with a few wormhole jumps? They weren't large enough for the aircraft to enter, so he couldn't even use them to speed up the flight.

Something about wards. Accursed sorcerers!

At least the scenery wasn't so bad, once he started flying over France, but it was a meager consolation.

I take it that I can use Expertise (Aircrafts) to pilot? Because Alistair has no ranks whatsoever in the Vehicles skill.

[Inspector Valin]

Svetlana rests upon her cane, looking down at the table as the world shifts around them. The spell took more than a little out of the Soviet Sorceress: translocation was always a taxing business, and doing so at long distances quickly left her with a ringing headache. Still, she managed to look between Curve, Stigma and the processor with a smirk on her face. She'd done it. She'd gotten hem out of the manor without having to bring Swift's airship in close to the city. That was... good. Potentially that bought them time before a Luftwaffe response. Time to do what, though? The Minister couldn't think of what best to do with this, and for the moment, all she did was sit there amidst the papers.

Sara's question made the magess sit up, looking across at the Marine with a slightly weary smile. She straightened out the document, laying it flat at the top of the pile. "Well, it answers some interesting questions. The Thulians have found an ally of some sort for Germany. A third party, with knowledge that goes beyond theirs. These strangers seem to have provided the knowledge to enable this creation program, though even the Nazis don't trust them. But their new 'friends' have an agent who was able to get aboard the evacuation fleet. They'll be in Britain by now."

Snorting, Svetlana glanced towards the attached note. "There was also a Parahuman tracking us in Dunkirk. He had fun, apparently. Here, hold my cane." Offer given, she shifted her grip away from the snake-carved wooden head and offering it to the American. If Sara took it, she might not feel the subtle embrace of the charms woven into the wood, but looking down at the papers beneath them would prove strangely enlightening: gibberish words now becoming obvious and falling into place.

Sorry for the delay. Looooong day. :smallfrown: Not my best post, but hope it's all right, and Svetlana at the end is just offering to let Sara use her device for a sec.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara grimaced. Enemy infiltrators, lovely. She nodded idly as she took the cane, and then did a double-take as the texts appeared written in English suddenly. She gave Svetlana a kinda uncertain, almost suspicious look, but then shrugged it off with a mental, Remember: Magic, and quickly perused the documents. The whole "their loss provided me with ample data to reliably recreate the process" bit did not sound good, and Sara put Herr Null on her list of people she wanted to shoot in the face, just on principle, but otherwise it was all pretty much above her pa-


The agent assigned to observing Donar and The Valkyrie, codenamed: Powderkeg, expressed frustration with his orders to observe and not, to quote him, "Plant hot lead into the skulls of every oblivious Ally down there." I once again reminded him that having accurate data on the mystically created Parahumans was more important to the Third Reich's ultimate victory than a single battle. Powderkeg will be sent back to Herr Null soon, along with a report that the former needs further discipline, as I suspect a few of our soldiers here did not die of burns from some leftover resistance in this city.


The agent assigned to observing Donar and The Valkyrie, codenamed: Powderkeg, expressed frustration with his orders to observe and not, to quote him, "Plant hot lead into the skulls of every oblivious Ally down there."


...assigned to observing Donar and The Valkyrie, codenamed: Powderkeg, expressed frustration with his orders to observe...


...codenamed: Powderkeg...


...Powderkeg...

Sara's face grew very, very still. Her grip and Svetlana's cane grew very, very tight.

He was there! He had been there and watching them and those stupid spirit-bound paranazis had distracted her and-

And-

Someone started growling. Could have been anyone, really.

Holding firmly onto Svetlana's cane, Sara started telekinetically flying through the documents, not reading, not even skimming, just going through the documents as fast as she could looking for that one name.

Perception: [roll0]. EDIT: AH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH! IT'S FUNNY 'CAUSE IT'S TRUE! :smallbiggrin:

Sara is so upset right now that her Rapid Vision Limit doesn't include reading :smallamused:.

[Nintendogeek01]

The sound of tree leaves rustling and the sound of air filling the balloons and the creaking and swaying do little to distract Curve as she flies through the documents that were brought over on the table with the infiltration party. Unfortunately there seems to be little to assuage her rage, as the documents reveal that Powderkeg's assignment to the Thule Society in Dunkirk is temporary only as he does not fall under the occult branch's jurisdiction; in fact the reports indicate that he has been getting along rather poorly with the occult branch and is due to leave Dunkirk soon.

"Dr. Zharova! Curve! We're gonna lose those documents to the wind if we don't get them inside the ship!" Stigma calls out to you, she is not oblivious to Curve's expression however and goes over to her, "Curve, listen to me," her stern but caring tone trying to call you back to Earth, "We will deal with whatever is in those documents, that was the whole reason we went to get them, but we need to get these inside, and we need your eyes to watch over our escape, please."

Several minutes later on, once the documents are inside the ship and secure, Stigma is up in the pilot's cabin with Swift while Alain is out on the deck with the others. "Say... whoever killed zose Nazis on ze deck, I could kiss you!" he says with a grin, "Don't be shy speak up!"

"Mister, has it not occurred to you that we are not yet out of hot water?" Mitt asks Alain, rather annoyed by the Frenchman's seeming disregard for the danger, indeed the Airship is only just now beginning to fly over the English Channel.

VRRROOOOMMM

Right on cue, ten fighter planes from the Luftwaffe are closing in and facing the Airship, the one in the lead even firing off a few shots from its gun. Everyone immediately ducks for cover while the bullets trail up the side of the ship and travel along the deck for a few feet before the plane breaks away from its straightaway path

"Non... I did indeed notice!" Alain says to Mitt from his position on the ground, climbing back to his feet.

"Dammit, well we expected this," Stigma cursed while standing next to Swift, "Keep her heading towards Dover, tell me what I need to do to keep her flying!" she tells Swift resolutely.

"Dammit! Can our guns even hurt those bastards!?" Barney yells in frustration as he looks over the edge, trying to get a better view of the planes now beginning to circle the airship.

"Private don't lean out!" Mitt shouts.

FWOOM

SPLAT

Too late; no ship fired off a shot, instead a trail of fire and smoke lingers in the air for a moment, painting the trail of a bullet that pierces Barney's ear, and he falls to the ground with a smoking hole in the side of his head, unmoving. Anyone with the visual acuity to see for what could be anywhere between several hundred feet to miles, can see a lone figure on a building overlooking the bay; Curve's visual acuity for danger knows exactly who this is, and who exactly is now aiming for the balloons on the airship.
____________________________________

Quinn's beautiful view is tarnished by a sight he only half-expected to see; yes a few Luftwaffe fighters weren't exactly unexpected given that the Nazis recently captured Dunkirk, but what was less expected was the sight of them surrounding what looks like a really fancy blimp. Wait... you've actually seen that ship before; some adventurer owns that ship and had used it to ferry several evacuees from Dunkirk to Dover, but you'd heard that it had been shot down when it went for a return trip. That said it looks to be badly outnumbered and surrounded so it may meet that fate for sure this time without help.

Okay guys, this is it. We're treating this like combat of you vs. a bunch of planes surrounding the airship plus a guy waaaaay off in the distance who may bring it down on his own anyways: however winning the fight is less important than getting out of there, so we're not going to bother with rolling initiative, instead all the players get their block first, while all the NPCs get their block second.

So, initial reactions to this development, and players make your actions! Also Curve gets a hero point for her "enemy" killing another member of her "relationship"

Combat Begin!

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara fixed Stigma with a furious glare as she interrupted her, but managed with gritted teeth to give a slight nod, and delay her reading until the documents were secure.

She was just coming back on deck after having rapidly gone through the documents, her anger only growing as they proved all but useless for her hunt. He was being sent back to this Herr Null, who knew when Sara would next encounter him, or if she would? She didn't respond to Alain's comment. It didn't even draw a quirk of a smile.

She had had her chance and-

Even Sara's focused train of thought was interrupted as the attack began. She hissed out an annoyed breath and drew her rifle. As Barney shouted his question, she called back, "Mine c-"

In the space between a syllable, Barney was gone.

Sara's entire face went blank. It wasn't a look of grief, or of fury, or even of hatred. Sara Wright had gone beyond those things. The look in her eyes...

It was like her soul had checked out.

She knew that she could use her telekinesis to protect the airship and the others on it, to deflect incoming bullets. She knew that, tactically, it was probably the smartest move.

She just didn't care.

Every thought, every ounce of her focus, was on that distant figure. It didn't matter that he was so far away that he was barely a speck on a roof. Her eyes were fast enough to follow the path of a moving bullet. She stared straight at him.

And. She. Saw. His. FACE!

It was an impossible shot. The speed of the airship, the distance to the target, there was no possible way for modern military weaponry to get a bullet to the target under these conditions.

But then, that hadn't stopped Powderkeg, now had it?

So really, the true impossibility, was that Sara's return fire would miss.

Extra Effort + Hero Point: Power Stunt off of Touchsight. Senses 3 (Extended Vision 3); Enhanced Extended Range 4 (applies to Gunplay).

Move: To the edge of the airship.

Standard: Attack Powderkeg with Guide Shot. Perception range attack automatically hits. Toughness DC 23 vs. Damage.

Move-by Action: Reposition and Hide with Hide In Plain Sight at [roll0].

Current Status: Normal.

[TekHed]

"Oh... do I detect a fetish?" Alain teases Sascha with a light elbowing to the muscleman's ribs. "Well 'ey whatever you're into, I've tried all kinds myself. But to answer your ques-" before Alain can finish a flash of magical light flashes on the deck and there is the part of the group that went off to infiltrate Alain's occupied house, along with another man and a desk, "Sacrebleau!" Alain exclaims in surprise, reaching for a gun at his hip before he stops upon registering who came out of that flash.

"Relax, it's just us, we decided to improvise a bit," Stigma reassures everyone. From the looks of it not all of the papers were in contact to transfer them, but there was still a not small amount of documents to browse at your leisure... once you were out of enemy territory that is.


"Not a fetish, no. Just curious..." But before he could get a straight answer out of the flamboyant Frenchman the others were, quite miraculously, returned, with their rescuee in tow, but missing a comrade.

"That was fast," he remarked, rather dryly given how impressive their entrance was. He'd seen Tesla pull similar stunts before so very little surprised him anymore.

There wasn't really time for explanations however, so he didn't bother to ask after their missing member. Fallen soldiers were all too common, and the living left with little time to mourn.

____________________________________________


When the attack came, and one more fell, Sascha sprang into action. Ducking behind cover, he bade his time, waiting for the luftwaffe to come into range for a licking from his lightning...

Move Action: Take Partial Cover
Standard Action: Aim

[The_Admiral]

"April, keep an eye on that panel, if ya see a light turn red, shut off the corresponding switch, she's a hydrogen flier, it'll stop any explosions before they happen! The rest of ya, hold on tight!" he barked out, gesturing at a panel full of lights and numbered switches, shouting the last part through the intercom as he attempted to lift his airship furthur and furthur up.


Vehicles roll because if this is a chase, this roll is for the I'M OUTTA HERE!
[roll0]

[Hyperbolic sine]

The airship was definitely in dire straits: the fighter's machineguns could easily shred the balloons and sentece it to a crashing doom. Plus, if it was shot down near Dunkirk and now it was flying again, chances were that Stigma was on it.

...and if not, I am afraid thou shalt have to wait.

The Hudson is a transport plane: it has a couple of machineguns, but its inferior agility and Alistair's own lack of air combat training means his intervention would normally be akin to a suicide run - maybe he'd be able to take down an enemy plane, but the others would then surely outmaneuver him). That said, he has no intention whatsoever of using those (or any other standard weapon, for that matter) to attack: after all, planes have a glaring weakness even too easy to exploit with his powers.

Changing his course to gain altitude and start circling around the airship (without approaching it too much, though, just enought to see the enemy clearly), Alistair focuses his powers on one of the Luftwaffe fighters and makes a gesture as if he was driving away a fly (unneccessary, to tell the truth, but it helped his focus): without as much as a warning, the pilot of the chosen aircraft would suddenly feel its plane hurled towards its nearest ally...

Move: circling around. Not that a plane could stand still, anyway.
Standard: Using Gravikinesis on the plane that seems to be the less distant from the others, in order to increase the chances of success*. Perception Range auto-hit, Move Object 8.

*Ideally the furst plane would just be thrown into the second, but if that can't be done merely changing its course so that the two collide is enough (and the closer they are, the less time the pilots would have to correct the course before impacting).

[Nintendogeek01]

It's hard to say how Powderkeg handled that shot, it definitely hit him, but the ever increasing distance and the fact that Curve, as would be the smart thing to do in a long-range gunfight, ducked out of sight makes it impossible to say for certain how he took that shot. Hopefully that bullet fared better than the others' attacks against the Luftwaffe fighters. Helio-Man's stream of plasma only struck a glancing blow against one fighter that did little more than damage the paint, while Svetlana's magical fire only succeeded in leaving scorch marks on the exterior of another fighter. This wasn't looking good...

But wait! From the deck of the airship everyone's eyes managed to catch a plane vibrating in midair as a peculiar force attempts to crush it. With a swipe of your hand, Alistair Quinn, your gravity powers smash into one of the Luftwaffe fighters! The plane manages to maintain its integrity but it veers wildly off-course as the pilot suddenly has to keep the plane from "falling" in a different direction. Perhaps a more skilled pilot could have turned away, but fortunately for everyone on the ship this Luftwaffe was not skill enough, and he collided against a fellow pilot's plane and both began to plummet to the Earth, the leaking fuel catching both planes on fire as they fell.

"Nice, who called ze cavalry?" Alain asked from his position behind cover, peaking out to witness the RAF plane that just showed up, presumably the source of the one German fighter getting smacked into another; especially since none of you present could do that.

"Hang on everyone!" Stigma shouts into the intercom as Swift brings the airship into an ascending climb to escape the encirclement of the Luftwaffe; while the fighter planes were considerably faster, Swift proved a more capable and clever pilot, resulting in the Luftwaffe having difficulty in keeping up whilst maintaining a solid formation; a formation that seems to have changed in response to the apparent knowledge of a parahuman capable of knocking them around, as the fighters now are maintaining an unconventional amount of space between themselves.

Apparently deciding the Parahumans on board are a threat to them, an understandable train of thought, the eight remaining fighters swoop around and machine gun fire begins to litter the deck of the Red Cloud. Thanks to partially taking cover behind the lightly armored edges of the airship deck, machine gun fire either passes around the Human Dynamo or fails to fully penetrate his cover. Svetlana uses her magical cane to deflect any incoming gunfire around her, while Helio-Man's armored body takes some heat.

"Augh!" while initially it seemed most of the bullets had missed the Frenchman, a second sweep from another fighter successfully strikes Alain in the right shoulder, causing him to clutch it and duck back behind cover.

"Alain!" Stigma's concern is readily apparent over the speakers. "Sergeant! Get your men and Alain in here!"

"Since when do we take orders from..." Johnny was about to protest before Mitt shot him a glare.

"We aren't carrying the firepower to do much else Private! Grab the Frenchy, let's move!" he ordered his men, "Private Wright! Get your head back on straight!" he barked out before heading inside the ship's cabin door with the others.

While all this is going on, Quinn is rightly feeling good about successfully taking out not one, but two Luftwaffe.

CHINK

FWOOOM...!

Inexplicably it sounded as though your ship got hit by a bullet before it suddenly burst into flames, and was now out of control on a collision course towards the airship! Curve managed to catch sight of Powderkeg leaping out of his perch, aided by a small burst, before firing off a shot, which your eyes followed to the newly arrived plane. As you turn your head back to face Powderkeg's distant position you can see him already descending into the drink of the English Channel, and his parting gift now careening towards the airship!

You guys: Regardless of what Curve knows in-character, Quellian I feel it's alright to let you know that Powderkeg rolled a 25 on his toughness save. Swift, despite the fact that the fighters are much faster did give them a circumstance bonus, they still failed on a result of 21, thus they've accumulated one failure on the pursuit of your ship. Quinn, I decided that under the circumstances that, on a lucky roll, it would have been possible for ships you've hit to collide. The plane succeeded the initial toughness roll of your attack but failed the move object resistance, and both planes failed the toughness save on collision. Svetlana and Helio-Man both hit their targets, but both targets made their toughness saves at 26 and 27 respectively.

Powderkeg: He just took a massive fall into the English Channel in his desperation for some payback. He won't break the water's surface within the period of time he'd still be able to attack the airship so he's out of the fight; but not before shooting down Quinn's plane (Alistair Quinn gets a hero point for this!) which will collide with the Airship this round if nothing is done to stop it!!! Oh and Quinn may want to get off of that plane either way... it's on fire after all.

Luftwaffe: Good call on the cover Human Dynamo, the two that took shots at you missed only by virtue of that cover. Most of the planes missed badly against everyone else they shot at except for Helio-Man. The one that hit Helio-Man got a 21 and thus Helio-Man needs to make a toughness save against DC23. Alain did fail a toughness roll by one degree, but since he can't contribute to the fight anyways he's being taken out of the fight (to safety, along with the remaining soldiers; as long as the ship survives that is). The fighters have spread out in response to the presence of someone who can knock them into each other, so any attempt to try that again is going to be significantly harder.
Escape from Pursuit: Planes are at 1 failure

NPC Status:
8/10 Luftwaffe: Normal
2/10 Luftwaffe: Destroyed
Powderkeg: Underwater

You're just getting started. :smallamused:

[The_Admiral]

He grins as the planes followed him furthur and furthur up, he then says, "April, do you know what's interesting about carburettors in airplanes?"

Turning on the pumps, he continued, "They only work in one direction!" he finished, emptying the gasbags, the Airship begins dropping downwards.


Droppin like a rock

[roll0]

[Hyperbolic sine]

"HA! Two down!" Alistair cheers from the cockpit, until something sounding like a bullet hits the plane...despite all the enemies facing the airship and none having turrets. There is little time to worry about that, though, as the Hudson suddenly bursts into flames as the fuel leaks from the pierced engine: since being burnt to a crisp has never been his aspiration, he promptly opens the cockpit and quickly "falls" upwards, out of that soon-to-be burning inferno, and starts hovering in mid-air.

"Curses! Take this, sons of chastity-lacking mothers!"

Suddenly, up above the Nazi fighters, ripples start to appear in the air and a diminutive, circular, black spot appears: a micro black hole, that starts sucking in everything in a 60 ft radius.

Move: Escape the cockpit.
Standard: Singularity, placed where it can affect the most plane while leaving the airship just outside of its radius.
60' burst, Dodge DC 18 for half, Move Object 8 towards the center. Grab DC 18, Escape DC 23.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"RAHH...!" Sara screamed with fury as she poked her head up for her next shot and saw Powderkeg disappearing into the channel. She couldn't let him get away. She planted both hands on the railing and lifted one foot over it to-

No.

It was her best chance. Neither his guns nor his powers of combustion would be of any use to him under water. He would be helpless. She just had to get to him. She could probably use her powers to survive the fall, and then, well, she'd just have to-

No.

Sara closed her eyes for just a second. Then she let out a curse.

And then she turned her furious glare upon the planes.

She rushed nearer the back of the ship, firing a shot invested with a moderate amount of telekinetic force invested into it, but her main focus was in strengthening her defensive pulses. Everyone within ten meters would feel a fluttering vibration against their skin and clothes as she worked to telekinetically deflect any incoming weapons fire.

And then she ducked back into hiding.

Sorry for the delay, internet was completely down all yesterday.

Move: Nearer the rear of the airship, although really, I'm aiming to cover as much of it as possible in my area, so she'll probably still wind up closer to the middle.

Standard: Trade Shots on the lead aircraft, Power Attacking for 4, at [roll0]. On a hit, Toughness DC 23 vs. Damage. In addition, all allies within 30', most definitely including the airship itself, receive the benefits of a Deflect action against any incoming ranged attacks. The deflect defends at 1d10+15, although Helio-Man would only receive 1d10+14 due to her high Toughness and PL limits.

Move-by Action: Reposition and Hide with Hide in Plain Sight at [roll1]. EDIT: ...Sara's all about stealth.

Current Status: Normal.

[TekHed]

Emboldened by the force field of protection the brave young woman seemed to exude, Sascha popped up out of his partial cover and, having a solid bead upon the plane he'd been aiming at, overchanneled as much current as he could through his lightning gun...


So I spent the last turn aiming. I'll all-out and power attack for 2 each. Gives me a total of +13 to hit and an effect rank of 10. -2 to defenses, but Curve is deflecting so takes precedence.

standard: [roll0] Toughness DC 25 vs Damage (electricity descriptor)
Move: Stay in partial cover.

[Nintendogeek01]

As the Red Cloud drops the Luftwaffe cautiously loop in the air for a bit while more steadily declining their altitude; their greater speed enabling them to keep up with the airship, but they are nonetheless having difficulty keeping formation whilst following. "Good to know..." April remarks as she heads for the door, "I'll be right back but I need to see if Alain's okay," she insists as she hurries out, the concern in her voice very apparent.

The Human Dynamo wasn't the only one emboldened by Curve's protection, as Curve's bullet pierces a plane's engine and the Human Dynamo's lightning courses through another until it explodes, Helio-Man fires a more powerful plasma shot that leaves a wide circular hole in one plane, while Svetlana sets another plane ablaze with a more powerful gout of black fire!

BOOM

FWOOSH

Things are looking up, and as if to top all of this, you see a black hole in space open up as four Luftwaffe are swooping in for an attack, and immediately those planes are struggling to maintain their course. One plane immediately spirals through the air towards that hole and is reduced to a ball of crunched metal with its pilot trapped within. Another plane seems to initially have escaped the pull, at least until the planes tail is ripped off towards the center and the rest of the plane follows immediately afterwards. The other two planes maintain their shape but are unable to escape the pull of the singularity, thus are stuck essentially flying in place as the Red Cloud gets further away, safely carrying away its passengers with its new ally flying by its side!

Congratulations Admiral for correctly calling high on the tie-breaker roll I rolled. :smallbiggrin:

Everyone succeeded their attack checks, and all the planes failed their toughness saves; though things got more interesting with Quinn's singularity; one of them succeeded the dodge save to reduce the area effect, but that one then failed its toughness save :smalleek:. The other three failed the initial dodge check, one failed toughness, the other two succeeded toughness but failed the check to escape the effect, so they're not catching up to the airship; this scene is over!

So with this...
For succeeding the challenge earlier: Everyone except Alistair Quinn gets 1 power point!
For exceptional Performance during this final scene: Alistair Quinn gets 1 power point!

Everyone is able to finally take a well-deserved breath as the skies are now free of Luftwaffe fighters and the airship stops rocking and bobbing near as much since it needn't dodge enemy planes anymore; the way to Dover is clear, and another miracle has occurred in Dunkirk - you escaped!

Pats on the back and congratulations are cut short however as the door to the interior of the ship flies open and Alain walks out, restrained and with a knife to his throat. The man restraining him is covered head to toe in a dark clothing, tightened around the forearms and shins. What little skin you can see through an eye-slit in his mask seems to indicate Asian heritage, and on the torso of the outfit you can faintly make out a serpentine dragon woven into the torso of the outfit, only a slightly lighter tone of color. Swift, as Alain and the man restraining him slowly get further from the door, they eventually enter the line of sight of the cockpit and you recognize this man as one of those assassins that had been hounding you!

<"I know at least one of you can understand me!"> the man shouts in Cantonese, <"I am only here for James Swift! If you wish to live have him show you how to get this ship to its destination, then bring him to me. If you do not comply I will detonate the explosives that I have hidden on this ship! I suggest you not try anything at the risk of this fool's life!"> he shouts, making damn sure to keep Alain between him and any of you.

"I know what you're saying..." Alain grunts with an exasperated undertone, <"*******!"> saying that last bit in Cantonese. Unbeknownst to the assassin, but seen by the rest of you, Stigma is slowly but surely sneaking up on the assassin from behind, and there is a furious blaze in her eyes.

<"You... ungh!"> Stigma plants a solid kick to the assassin's knee joint and wrests him from Alain, but not before he leaves a nasty gash on Alain's shoulder.

"Ooww...!"

<"Bastard!"> Stigma shouts in Cantonese, dragging the assassin towards the edge of the ship. "Augh!" He manages to slip away by stabbing her in the leg, but when he stands up she is fighting through the pain and advancing on him with her sword tightly clenched in both hands, swinging away and forcing the assassin to defend himself while Stigma shouts at him at the top of her lungs.

SHING

She stabs him in the torso just before kicking him over the edge. She eventually slumps into a sitting position against the railing of the ship, holding her bleeding leg, though the bleeding is surprisingly minimal all things considered, the same can be said for the gash Alain has on his shoulder; in fact, closer inspection reveals that the wounds are already closing up, and Alain is looking at Stigma as though she just said something taboo, "Ow... you know what you just yelled right?" he asks her exasperated.

Curve's squad runs out, guns out and looking around before realizing that the situation is... calmed down, "Okay... some guy in a mask grabs the French Guy then drops a smoke bomb... now where'd he go!? What's going on?" Mitt asks, a mixture of confusion and frustration apparent in his voice.

"Erm..." Stigma looks at everyone sheepishly, "How... many of you understood me...?"

While swinging away furiously at the assassin, Stigma yelled "GET... AWAY... FROM... MY... SON...!!!"
We're wrapping up this issue with some role-play folks, initial reactions to combat ending and what just transpired if you please. After enough RP'ing, we'll end issue 1 and start issue 2!

[The_Admiral]

<"....I understood, who are you? ">, Swift replied in Cantonese. As he stared at her, how old was April? Keeping an eye on the pressure, he refilled the gasbags.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara didn't even smile as her shot downed a plane. It was a minor victory compared to what she wanted. Still, that would hopefully be enough of a contribution that now she could-

No.

She did crack the hint of a grin when the rest of the team tore into the planes. Four shots, four kills. Not bad at all. But her real reaction came when some force was unleashed that yanked all four of the remaining planes simultaneously, destroying two of them and locking the other two down.

At that, Sara just stared, stared back in mouth-agape shock at the rapidly dwindling planes. She couldn't believe it. Oh, sure, the powers the others had displayed had been impressive enough, Svetlana's feat of teleportation in particular, but she didn't really have a personal frame of reference for those. But that, telekinesis on that scale, powerful enough to affect four planes at once...

Sara's little six-pounds of sustained force suddenly didn't feel all that sexy anymore.

She finally snapped out of it when she realized just how far away they were getting. Now was definitely the time to-

No.

When the assassin came out with Alain in his hands, Sara snapped her gun to the ready, and the only thing that kept her from firing was the knife at Alain's throat as she tried to calculate if the assassin might be able to plunge it home before she could pull the trigger. She wasn't worried about hitting Alain; Sara didn't really do cover. She had been just about to take the risk when she sighted Stigma closing in, and held ready for the woman to make her move.

Fortunately, further assistance wasn't needed as the infiltrator dispatched the assassin amidst a flurry of gibberish. Sara just nodded and went back to-

No.

With a long sigh, Sara holstered her weapon and stepped away from the railing to join the rest of the group, wondering how her brother could manage to be a more overprotective stick in the mud dead than he had been while he was alive.

I love you, too.

Sara gave a little flicker of a smile, wiped what was definitely an errant dust mote from her eye (the airship was moving pretty fast and they were all out in the open, after all), and said deadpan as Mitt and the others came out, "He should be hitting the ground any second now. You guys all okay?"

[Hyperbolic sine]

As soon as Alistair stops pouring power to maintain the singularity open, the black hole collapses on itself as suddenly as it appeared and disappears without leaving a trace.

What a waste of airplanes...wel, time to search for Stigma.

An airship supposedly downed at Dunkirk heading back to England, and several Luftwaffe fighters sent to intercept? With Parahumans aboard, to boot? Too many coincidences for Alistair to be able to afford not checking if this mysterious Agent Stigma is aboard. He dives towards the Red Cloud, more or less quickly closing the distance between the airship and himself and arriving just in time to hear a woman scream unitelligible sounds and then see someone get dropped off board. Alistair's first instinct is to catch him: however, judging from the situation on the deck, the man was no ally of theirs and thus he does nothing - letting the Chinese assassin fall to his doom.

What he does, though, is keep approaching the airship and, unless someone tries to stop him, land on its deck as if he was weightless. "Greetings, ladies and getlemen." he begins, adressing all those present, "My name is Quinn, Alistair Quinn, and I was to head to Dunkirk for a rescue operation. Now, I seek no thanks for the help I provided you with, but since I've lost my aircraft and you come from there I'd be grateful if you could provide me with a little bit of information: specifically, is someone who goes by the codename of Stigma a passenger here?"

Maybe a bit too straightforward, but everyone on the airship should be an ally...shouldn't they?

[Quellian-dyrae]

When the newcomer landed, flying under his own power (Man, that would be so cool...) it wasn't particularly difficult for Sara to put two and two together, so she headed right over, and without preamble as she cocked a thumb in Stigma's direction, "Yeah, over there. How did you do that?" she answered and demanded in the same breath.

[Nintendogeek01]

Svetlana's normally stern demeanor broke for a moment with a surprised expression before it returned to the default analyzing gaze she normally carries, <"I could hear you... that begs a few questions,">


"... is someone who goes by the codename of Stigma a passenger here?"

Maybe a bit too straightforward, but everyone on the airship should be an ally...shouldn't they?

"That would be me," Stigma answers, using the railing to lift herself up from her sitting position, "So Churchill couldn't wait could he?" she chuckled a bit, "Sergeant, I have to ask you to send your men back inside the ship, save for Private Wright over there," she requested of Mitt.

"And why would I do that?" Mitt asked, "Lady you and the Frenchman over there have proven trustworthy enough to a point but these are my soldiers," Stigma slowly moved closer to Mitt, limping a bit at first before walking normally, she whispered something into Mitt's ear, prompting him to sigh, "Men, go get Sonny and Barney... ready," he said with a heavier tone.

"Sir," Johnny nodded and saluted before he and rest of the soldiers headed inside the ship.

Once they were inside Stigma looked ready to speak up before Alain interrupted, "I mean you VERY SPECIFICALLY told me not to say anyzing about zat! Zen you go and blurt it out! What gives!?"

"First of all!" Stigma raised her voice a little bit, prompting Alain to immediately flinch away just a bit, "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," Alain shrugged.

"Good," she then turned to look at Alistair Quinn, "Mr. Quinn, I really appreciate the assist, I'm sure we all do, unless Mr. Swift has any objections I'm sure we can give you a lift to Dover," she tells him. "You've all done well and... probably deserve a bit more than I've been telling you; nothing particularly dangerous, just a lot that I'm in the habit of keeping a secret. So... if you have questions, ask them and, unless I have a really good reason not to, I'll answer them," Stigma offered, the moment Alain opens his mouth she leers at him and says, "Shut up Alain."

"Hmph."

In a red-tinted haze you pull your sword out of an assassin, before looking over to see a woman bearing a striking resemblance to April lying in a puddle of blood as the blood runs across the floor to your feet before it rises up threatening to drown you... but it's warm... warm like a loving embrace. Soon the red, the suffocation, and the warmth fade as you return to the airship.

[The_Admiral]

James blinks away the decidedly creepy vision as he built up the nerve to ask, <"...this is going to sound crazy, but have you ever chopped off your own arm?"> he asks hesitantly in Cantonese.

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Indeed, that would be appreciated." Alistair replies with a smile and a hint of a bow to April's offer of a lift. Technically he could just travel back via wormholes, but this would be his first time meeting other Parahumans...spending a little while in their company won't hurt.

Having no questions for Stigma, for the moment at least, he turns to answer Sara's question, fairly sure "that" was the black hole. "How? Thou art asking a difficult question, Miss, for the answer eludes me: I have power over gravity, but why or how I exert such control I cannot say." he says, with an apologetic expression. "I reckon that thou art not scared by such a display, thus I have to ask: art thou perchance one of my kin? Mayhaps the one able to invoke lightning?" he then adds, gazing curiously at her.

[TekHed]

And just like that, the battle was over and clear skies loomed ahead. Something had opened in him with that last shot, much more current flowing from whatever hidden source it originated from, perhaps a side effect of powering up the massive dirigible...

He had little time to contemplate the import of his sensations however, for no sooner had Sascha holstered his weapon than an assassin appeared out of nowhere...and was just as swiftly put down.

He ran to her side when she fell, helping her up as she leaned against the railing. He was about to call for a medic when he noticed the wounds closing of their own accord.

"Well isn't that something..." he muttered under his breath.

When the newcomer strode upon the deck making Sir Newton out a liar while souring Shakespeare, Sascha nodded once by way of greeting.

"Actually that would be me. Sascha Lorentz, Human Dynamo."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Right. Gravity control. Not telekinesis. Entirely different. Why, there's practically no need to be seething with jealousy at all. It's a totally different power set entirely.

Totally.

"Yeah. I'm telekinetic, actually. Gravity control. That's...um...it's just..."

...

"How did you move that much mass?"

Look, she wasn't planning to jump off the airship in hopes that she could telekinetically slow her descent enough to then go after a dangerous Paranazi solo anymore, right? Progress!

[Hyperbolic sine]

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Lorentz." Alistair says to Sasha, reciprocating the nod, before turning again to Sara. "It was merely a gravity well. Earth's gravity affects all of us simultaneously, doth it not? It is the same principle, Miss...?"

Truth be told, given the camo uniform he's actually quite sure that she was the "Private Wright" Stigma mentioned, but a soldier woman is definitely not a common sight. Best to make sure before making a blunder.

[Quellian-dyrae]

That...actually made a lot of sense. Sara didn't feel quite so disappointed in her power anymore.

"Wright," she answered, offering a hand. "Sara Wright. Sara's fine, but otherwise it's Private, not Miss."

[Nintendogeek01]

Svetlana and Helio-Man both glance at James, Svetlana raising an eyebrow, clearly wondering what the hell he's asking before they both turn their gazes back to Stigma, who is looking over and smiling at the rest of the Parahumans who are engaged in conversation. She even takes a moment to blow a kiss at the Human Dynamo.

"Talking with allies in a time of crisis is a luxury, one I'm glad you've all earned," Stigma remarks before turning to look at Swift, "As for your questions... earlier you asked who I was, and I've already told you," she answers, "In the rare moments I get to try at a normal life I go by April, but I take the name Stigma otherwise, and I know a lot of people; I've seen and done more than most ever will, and who I was or what name I had before all of that wouldn't matter even if I remembered either one."

"You don't remember?" Svetlana asks

"Are claiming to have suffered a form of memory loss?" the Human Dynamo adds.

"Let me first answer Mr. Swift's other question... about my arm I think,"Stigma doesn't seem the least bit phased by that question as she takes off her gloves and rolls up her sleeves to show you her flesh and blood arms, "As a matter of fact I have, both of them, multiple times, and the damn things keep coming back," she adds, slightly difficult to tell if she's joking or not.

"You're kidding," Mitt is clearly non-plussed.

"I've said ze same zing to 'er about multiple zings my friend," Alain pats Mitt on the back reassuringly to further add to the latter's confusion, "She almost never is," Alain adds with bemusement.

"I've lost more than my arms too," Stigma adds, letting her sleeves back down and putting her gloves back on, "I've lost my life more than once."

She pauses to let that sink in for a bit before she opens her mouth to speak again, "Who I was and what name I was born with I don't remember simply because it's been far too long ago."

"Oh now she's done it."

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Very well, I shall endeavour to remember that." Alistair replies, shaking Sara's hand. "You Americans are quite progressive, are you not?" he adds, clearly hinting at the fact that a woman soldier isn't an everyday sight. Then Stigma speaks up, and drops a bomb on them.

After he discovered his powers, Alistair had made a point not to dismiss with "impossible" anything anymore: the sudden revelation of her being immortal, though, still manages to get a flabbergasted expression out of him for a brief while. "Well, I do suppose we are in no position to label immortality as preposterous." he then comments, taking April's words at face value.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Not in particular," Sara responded dryly. "We've got some good folks though," she added with a slight smile and nod towards her squad.

Her rapidly shrinking squad.

Sara gave a little appreciative upnod at Stigma's mention of her power. Her thoughts largely matched Quinn's. The moment she had started moving things without touching them, the word impossible had been deprecated. Immortality seemed like a good ability. She'd have been happy with that, for sure. It still didn't have the same impact as Quinn's had, just because again, it was too dissimilar to her own to really compare. Moving something without touching it was impossible. Coming back from the dead was impossible. Instantly transporting several miles was impossible. In her mind, then, the powers were functionally equivalent. Whereas Quinn's ability to move tremendous amounts of mass without touching it was something her brain had pegged as both impossible and really difficult.

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Verily so, Mi...Sara." Alistair replies, turning to her again and resuming the earlier conversation. "The States are not at war, and yet here you are, selflessly putting your lives on the line of your own accord. Commendable indeed.

[The_Admiral]

Swift nods along to her answers, could it be? Could he have ran into the answers to his question, his eyes narrowed as he resolved to ask her about it later.

Returning his attentions to the vehicle, he lowered the power to the propellers gently dropping the Red Cloud lower and lower.

[TekHed]

Sascha coughed when "April" revealed her secret. Here he was flirting with a beautiful woman only to discover she wasn't just old enough to be his grandmother, but older than civilization itself. Frankly, it was more than a bit intimidating. His eyes had smiled back when she blew her kiss, but now he found it difficult to meet her gaze at all.

Once again, he'd found himself in over his head. Quite unsure what to do or say, he made a pretense of taking apart and cleaning his signature weapon.

[Nintendogeek01]

"Hold on... what!?" Mitt, the normal human present, has a much harder time wrapping his head around what Stigma just said, "Jus... I mean... how old are you?"

"Non non my friend, never ask a lady zat," Alain teased, "Even if zat lady is my mozer," he muttered.

"Not helping!"

"Pft, sorry but I stopped counting years ago, I don't remember my childhood, farthest back I can remember... I think it'd be in the ballpark of the bronze age," Stigma elaborated.

"So... when you say you've lost your life do mean that literally in that you come back to life after dying? Or you just can't die?" Svetlana asked, the academic in her clearly coming through.

"Every time I die I simply wake up the next day; if there is a way to put me down for good, I haven't encountered it yet," Stigma answers.

Stigma seems almost sad when she says that, perhaps bittersweet? Though her smile is definitely genuine as she subtly glances towards Alain.
"Alain's wounds demonstrated similar alacrity in healing as yours, is he likewise immortal?" Helio-Man asked.

"I don't know, and I am in no 'urry to find out zank you very much," Alain answers as he scoots a little bit further away from Helio-Man.

"It's doubtful," Stigma answers, her expression turning into a frown, "Alain isn't my first child, and the others before him could heal and had certain... immunities, but if they died... they stayed dead," Stigma's sadness is very audible when she answers that question.

Inside of the Helio-Man suit, Vasilia is pondering the information that she just received, but she is left little time for pondering when a light goes off in the suit, an emergency alert for one situation and one situation alone: something has happened at her hidden headquarters, last time the alert went off an experiment went haywire... badly. If this alert is getting sent out then this MUST be attended to. "It is good fortune that we all managed to escape from Dunkirk, I bid you all good tidings, as there is something that demands my attention," Helio-Man bid farewell and took off from the airship, Helio-Man began flying towards her plane and leaving the airship behind.

"Wait!" it was no use, Helio-Man paid no heed to Stigma's shouts and was soon out of earshot, "Oh well, I doubt Helio-Man will just share that information anytime soon, which reminds me..." Stigma turned to look at everyone else, "... I'd like to ask everyone to keep it under your hat about my age."

"Not sure who'd believe me or would want to... but why?" Mitt asked.

"Governments have been keeping Parahumans a secret from the populace partly because they don't know what to make of us," Stigma begins to explain, "At best the governments are paranoid, at worst they exploit their parahumans, if they believe that Parahumans existed for longer than a few years then there's no telling what the so-called "experts" on the subject would come up with," Stigma warned.

The airship was beginning its descent and the airfield that the Red Cloud had used to drop off its evacuees earlier was coming into view, "I'm going to make sure zat wackjob wasn't bluffing earlier, excusez-moi," Alain says as he disappears into the ship, and looks up towards the bridge of the ship, smiling a bit as he recalls earlier.
_________________________________

After arriving at the airfield you were greeted by a few members of the field's guard and asked to wait on the ship. It didn't end up being a long wait however as a heavy-set older man in a heavy coat and a cigar in his mouth is escorted to the foot of the ramp leading up to the deck, and everyone, including Mitt but minus the rest of his squad, is escorted to right in front of the man. The man removes his cigar and looks straight at Stigma, who is at the front of the crowd, "I must say I didn't expect the Prime Minister himself to come to greet us," Stigma said with a smile towards the man, apparently Prime Minister Winston Churchill himself.

"Considering we sent one of our Parahumans to go and get you I am bloody well going to come and see if you had something worth letting you go to Dunkirk for!" he said with a bit of a scowl, a scowl that lightened when he took a puff of his cigar. "Was it worth risking your life? Do you have anything?"

"We do," Stigma answers confidently, "The American soldiers that we rescued should be bringing the documents out shortly, also a captive we rescued should be able to offer some insight into one of the Thule Society's major projects," Stigma's smile gets even larger as she looks at Churchill, whose facial expression remains unchanged as he puffs his cigar again, "Now I believe you owe me one."

"Hmph," Churchill harrumphed, "This'll take some explaining in parliament," he sighs, "Quinn! You're being reassigned! Until further notice you answer directly to Agent Stigma!" Churchill informs Alistair Quinn, "I'll leave the rest to you Stigma, for now the nation needs to prepare itself, and I need to help her," he says with a heavy sigh before being escorted away.

Stigma turns to the rest of you, "Well, as per my agreement with Churchill, in exchange for valuable intel from the Nazis, I now have the authority to put together a task force of the Allied Parahumans," Stigma smiles as she looks to the rest of you, "None of you directly answer to the British Empire, but you are my first choices for this, so I'm asking you to help, please?" she asks all of you, turning to Mitt, "Sergeant, I think Curve can be of help to us, and we to her, so I would ask you permit her to join this task force, if she wants to."

Mitt sighed and looked at Curve, "I'll sort it out somehow, so it's up to you Private," he says with a reluctant sigh.

Stigma once more turns to everyone "So, are you in?"

Closing remarks guys! :smallbiggrin:

Hero Points and Luck points reset to their base at this time!

[Quellian-dyrae]

What really caught Sara's attention was how that meant that parahumans had been around for...much longer than she had thought. How had they managed to stay hidden for so long? she wondered, before she realized...maybe they hadn't. How many beings of myth and fantasy, old wives tales and ghost stories, might have been the result of some unsuspecting soul's encounter with a parahuman? Was she not even then flying aboard an airship alongside a woman who wielded the power of Merlin, and a man who commanded the might of Zeus? How many "haunted" houses could be explained by a person who was capable of moving even a mere six pounds of matter with their mind?

(Sara got a little smirk on her face at the thought. Shooting Nazis was a much better use to put such power to.)

--

Sara stood at attention when the Prime Minister greeted their group. She didn't say anything though, just listening to the discussion passively until she was asked if she wanted to join the task force.

That...she hadn't expected. On the one hand, she was less than thrilled about the idea of leaving her squad. On the other...as a military asset, she was uniquely capable. She wouldn't ever be just another soldier in the trenches; her power would always be best put to use on specialized missions. But she was the only member of the squad with such power. They had lost three on this mission, faced thrice superpowered foes. Such enemies she was well-suited to fight. They were not.

The simple fact was, to stay with her brother's squad would mean either putting them in additional danger, or failing to contribute all that she could to the Allied cause. Neither option was acceptable.

This team hadn't begrudged her her place on the battlefield. Indeed, she and Svetlana and Stigma had been accepted among them without the bat of an eye. Indeed, it was Stigma who was leading this task force, and specifically requesting her aid.

She could help here.

So the only question was...

"The parahuman that attacked as as we were leaving. The one with the flaming bullets. His codename is Powderkeg. He killed my brother. I am going to find him. And I am going to kill him. As long as joining this task force is not mutually exclusive with that goal, I'm in."

[Hyperbolic sine]

Alistair finds himself wondering whether Bram Stoker's Dracula is not actually fiction, when he notices April's bittersweet expression. Not really surprising, if one stops to think about it...immortality seems cool and all, but seeing those you care about wither and die while you don't, outliving loved one after loved one, is certainly something that takes its toll. On the long run, it ends up being more of a curse than a blessing. he thinks, unaware that a similar fate was awaiting him.

-----

Alistair silently watches the exchange between Stigma and Churchill with a smirk of mild amusement, dryly answering with an "Aye, Sir." when the Prime Minister addresses him. In fact, he's actually more excited than he lets transpire: it's finally time to head out on the field, and moreover with others of his kin! We shall put an end to this war before my family gets hurt.


Stigma once more turns to everyone "So, are you in?"

"The parahuman that attacked as as we were leaving. The one with the flaming bullets. His codename is Powderkeg. He killed my brother. I am going to find him. And I am going to kill him. As long as joining this task force is not mutually exclusive with that goal, I'm in."

"I look forward to crush the Nazis under the sole of our more or less metaphorical boot with you, then." he replies, an ominous light briefly flickering in his eyes when Sara mentions her dead brother.

[The_Admiral]

"Miss April, ahm flattered, but ahm just an ordinary man," he replied to April's offer to join the team.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara met Quinn's gaze for a few moments, before giving a small, sharp nod.

"Not sure you get to be called 'ordinary' after taking out Donar back there," she chimed in after Swift had spoken, a hint of a smile on her face. Besides, team like this, be nice to have the airship, she thought.

[The_Admiral]

"Young miss, me ma could take him out from a mile away on a bad day." he replied to the compliment.

[Nintendogeek01]

Okay looks like one more post before this issue closes will be necessary after all, :smallredface:

"Hm hm, maybe I should see if I can't recruit your mother then," April jokes, "But take it from someone who's met all kinds of people Mr. Swift, it doesn't take being a Parahuman to be extraordinary, I want you on this team as much as I want everyone else," April told him, "The Third Reich won't just stop in Europe, and anyone who is both brave enough and skilled enough to fight their Parahumans face-to-face is someone I'd want fighting at my side," she says with a smile.

[TekHed]

The punches, they just kept rolling in. Her son? (wow...awkward) Bronze Age? Thousands of years old. Ancient. It was just too much to fathom. As he tried to wrap his mind around it, the march of centuries, how many generations were born and died, a profound sense of loneliness settled over him. Sascha was very quiet for the rest of the flight, seeming shellshocked.

When at last they landed and were greeted by none other than the allied Prime Minister himself, the Human Dyanmo managed to pull himself together. When April (that's who she introduced herself as and that's how he would always think of her) posed her question, he finally looked at her. His cheeks burned but it wasn't embarrassment that shone in his eyes, but determination in the face of pain. The existential pain when one realizes that the other one so longs to know and understand is ultimately unknowable, beyond the solipsism that separates every human, the abyss of the other.

"There is so much I wish to know. About you. About all of you," he gestured to the assembled host. "About who and what we are."

He stood tall, and rested one hand pointedly upon his holster.

"But my burning questions will have to wait. The world needs us, and the Axis of Evil must be broken."

[Nintendogeek01]

"I... am sorely tempted, but I cannot," Svetlana answers with a frown, "My going to Dunkirk was a serious risk, and my being seen aiding you would be even more of one... but Dr. Falkenrath has something of mine, if you give me your solemn vow to retrieve it and return it to my possession, then I can aid you from behind the scenes; research, advice, that sort of thing," the Soviet mystic offers to Stigma.

Stigma seems slightly less pleased, but gives an understanding nod and offers her hand to Svetlana, who shakes it, "You have my word," once the agreement is made she turns to the rest of you, "And whatever you all need, vengeance, answers, I will help you attain these as well. Whatever your motivations we have a common enemy, a powerful enemy that will not rest on its laurels," she paces a bit as her voice resounds even more, "The Nazis won't rest but neither will we, if they send us their übermenschen, then we will raise them our best, our brightest, and most importantly our most determined. If they want to undermine us from the shadows then we will find them, and we will show them that the world doesn't belong to Hitler or his Nazis! It belongs to all of us!"
____________________________________________

Legacy, Vol. 1 - Issue #2: Imaginal

June 18th, 1940: Bradford, England

In the letter Stigma had personally pulled from the pile of documents found in Dunkirk there had been reference of correspondence between Falkenrath and "The Pact." It wasn't much of a stretch to imagine that these were the associates that Falkenrath mentioned in his letter to Herr Null. This has since become the primary goal since joining up with Stigma: find Falkenrath and this agent of The Pact; now was the best time to do so while the Third Reich was still gathering its strength to attack England, before all of you would be needed in the defense of the country in earnest. It was looking as though that this case would have to be left as a loose end were it not for one lucky break.

After days of fruitlessly chasing down informants, Swift and Curve were on their way back to report to Stigma, passing through an alleyway, when a bolt of lightning flew in between them and struck a cloaked figure they had both inexplicably ignored; just in time too since it nearly put a bullet in Swift's head. The Human Dynamo had been out to fetch the two for Stigma when he saw the would be assassin from a distance. Not willing to fight three people the assassin fled, failing to take with him pictures of all of you and orders to kill people asking around about "The Pact."

Curve and Swift would continue to have a difficult time remembering the details of the attack, something that Svetlana's counsel suggests might've been a specialized spell (hence why Sascha remained fine since he was too far), but the assailant and the evidence left behind gave everyone a lead to pursue, one that eventually revealed an address in the city of Bradford in West Yorkshire, a trek made very easy with liberal use of Quinn's portals.

Upon arrival in the city April mentions having a home here that the team can base themselves out of, rest up, and make sure everyone's ready before heading to the address, a good thing too since for some reason Quinn's portal refused to open anywhere near the address that the investigation revealed.

The house, and all the houses on either side of it, look as though they were squeezed together as tight as possible, but they still manage to be a decent size, as revealed when April opens up the door to her home and the interior seems to have just enough room for her, all of you, and Alain. Upon entering you are greeted by the surprised face of an older lady in a maid's uniform, "Mistress! I didn't expect to see you so soon!" the woman exclaims with surprise.

"We're only stopping by for a short bit, no need to make a fuss," April replies with a smile.

"Hm... nice place," Alain mentions, as though completely ignorant of the conversation taking place.

"Only a little bit, oh he'll be so disappoin-" before the maid can finish that sentence the sound of light thumping can be heard from atop the stairs.

"Okāsan!" at the top of the staircase a small Asian boy can be seen beaming and looking right at April. Alain snaps to attention as the boy runs to April with arms wide open, prompting her to scoop up the child and hug him tightly, causing Alain's expression to show being clearly flabbergasted.

"Ren! Anata ni aitakatta," April told the youth with clear endearment.

"Is that..." Alain cannot bring himself to finish his question.

"Anata no kyōdai no harō o oshietekudasai," she tells the child.

"Konbanwa oniisan!" the child says to Alain.

"I mean... I don't even know 'ow to speak zat... what is zat... Korean or somezing?" Alain's confusion is not alleviated as April sends the disappointed child upstairs with the maid.

"There's a sitting room down the hall and first door on the right, meet in ten minutes everyone," April tells all of you, pointing down a small hallway before she goes up the stairs after the maid and child.

"Erm... did zat look like what I zink it looked like to ze rest of you?"

I highly encourage everyone to role-play what your characters did for the investigation we glossed over (sorry, but going through it would've mucked up the pacing); so role-playing it is probably for the better. I'm especially interested in how you guys react to the assailant.

Also, I'll be PM'ing you guys with individual scenes that will be posted later, issue 2 is gonna be awesome! :smallbiggrin:

[The_Admiral]

"Your mother remarried?" he replied to Alain, chuckling.

His face turning serious, he added, "We need ta figure out this 'Pact', Ah would suggest ah be acting as bait for them if they're that triggerhappy about people asking after them."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara learned something useful over the past few days. She was a much better infiltrator than investigator.

Give her an enemy compound filled with sentries to sneak past, documents to rifle through, and unsuspecting guards to manipulate any day. Instead, she was going from bar to bar, meeting with these informants. Getting them to talk was fairly trivial. They just didn't seem to know anything useful. Frustrating.

Fortunately, it did appear that someone had uncovered some information. Pictures and documents, it seemed. She wasn't entirely clear on where they came from, but whatever. Yay go team.

(Sara had her gun drawn before the echoes of the thunderclap had faded. She whirled on the assassin and then evidently forgot all about his existence. Which was lucky, 'cause she probably would have shot and/or chased him if she hadn't. She continued back to base unaware of the documents that had been left behind. It had been a weird day.)

Despite the whole cold sniper schtick she was trying to maintain, Sara did have a little smile on her face when Stigma mas greeted by her presumed son. "What, you thought you were the baby of the family?" she ribbed Alain with a chuckle, once their leader had left the room.

"What makes us think they're triggerhappy, now?" Sara asked after Swift had spoken. He apparently remembered the details of the encounter better than she did.

[The_Admiral]

"Metaphorically speaking, given that they apparently sent someone ta kill us." he replies rather quickly.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Means we're on the right track," Sara said confidently with a firm nod.

...

"Wait. Who'd they send to kill us? Was this when I was ordering drinks?"

(It was just barely possible that the...specific strategy that Sara had used for her investigative work, while eminently practical for the task at hand, had left her just slightly more susceptible to the spell's effects. If the Nazis attack tomorrow, they would dearly regret it.)

[The_Admiral]

"Ah barely remember the details but ah trust mah teammates to tell the truth about assassination attempts."

[Hyperbolic sine]

It was almost like Alistair had gone back to university: days and days spent on books and tomes of varying degrees of thickness and ancientness. Except that, well, back then the oldest books had probably no more than two decades, nor were they about the occult...and, more importantly, he didn't have to travel all over the United Kingdom to get them.

All wasted effort, as he found a truckload of material on various kinds of pacts, but nothing relevant about "The Pact": luckily (more or less), the other three happened to stumble into clues, putting and end to his fruitless researches. The curious thing was, neither Sara nor James seemed to recall what had happened: some mind-affecting spell, according to the Soviet sorceress. Every day something new and more worrisome.

----

"I believe it is actually Japanese" Alistair replied to the Frenchman. "But even though I did not understand a word, it seems clear you have indeed a younger sibling, Alain. Try to get along."

He then glances over to his teammmates, saying "Well then, I shall head to the sitting room first" before lazily floating there. They were all Parahumans, were they not? No need to hold back.

[TekHed]

His particular skill set more suited for sanctions than sleuthing, Sascha had found himself shadowing the trail of their erstwhile investigators when he saw the mysterious figure pull a firearm on his two compatriots. Well he'd be having none of that. It was strange that they had allowed themselves to walk into such an ambush, and moreso that they held no recollection of what had transpired. He'd considered giving chase but tending to to the addled-headed parahumans took precedence over pursuit.

~~~

When they reached April's safehouse, the revelation of her other child washed over the Dynamo with a kind of numbness. She'd mentioned other children, so it wasn't that he was surprised anymore, but one so young implied the father was still in the picture. However seeing even Alain react with incredulity was of note...children of such different ethnicities so far apart. And why would she keep them secret?

When they went upstairs, Sascha filed through with the others to the sitting room. To Alain's query he replied, "It does seem like your mum gets around."

[Nintendogeek01]

"Remarried? Pft, she didn't even know my fazer," Alain remarks before looking at Sara a little bit flabbergasted. "Baby? I'll 'ave you know I am seventy-two years old zank you very much," Alain replies to Sara, with that same semi-offended tone he's used when Swift commented on his "French-thing." "Oh but make no mistake..." he regains his suave composure as he follows the rest of you into the sitting room, "My body and soul remain in ze springtime of passion!" though once he takes a seat his brow does furrow a bit, "Alzough... zis came as a surprise."

"What did?" April arrives in the sitting room shortly after.

"Zat you 'ad anozer kid of course!" Alain almost shouts, "I mean you couldn't 'ave mentioned zis when we first met up after... what... little over twenty years?"

"I was busy saving your life when we first met up you know," April told him firmly.

"It's been weeks since zen!"

"We've been busy since then,"

"It still would've made for an easier introduction to my little brozer! I mean really, when did 'e even come into ze picture?"

"Keep your voice down Alain, Ren needs his sleep!" she scolds Alain, prompting a brief silence before April sighs in relief for the silence "Five years ago, in Japan," she finally breaks the silence by answering Alain's question.

"Zank you," Alain replies, sitting back in his chair and taking a few breaths.

"Now then, the address we retrieved, I'm certain that it belongs to one of those country homes near here, belongs to the Pettigrew family if memory serves," back in business mode, Stigma begins the briefing, "Like a lot of the upper-crust who can't do much for the fight the most important members of the family have fled the country, leaving the more distant relatives to manage affairs and support the war effort."

"And yet ze Royal Family stays be'ind, pft... ze rest of ze "nobility" could learn a zing or two zere," Alain comments.

"Ahem..." she clears her throat before continuing, "Anyways... not like I know the Pettigrew family tree u-"

"'ey... just like wiz my fazer..." Alain interrupts with his snark.

"Alain!" she scolds him, causing him to shirk just a bit, "As I was saying... I don't know who got the short straw to watch that home when the Nazis are getting ready to fly over... but frankly we don't have the time to find out," Stigma tells everyone, "Since we're dealing with mages who have enough contacts to catch wind of when someone's asking about them if we sit on this info who knows what they could prepare or if they'd even still be there tomorrow, so we're going in tonight."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara stifled a chuckle at Alain's response. Whoops. She hadn't thought that an idiom like "the baby of the family" might lose something in the translation.

Once April arrived though, banter started going in one ear and out the other as she focused entirely on the mission.

"What's our objective? We basically just searching around for whatever we can find again, neutralizing everyone within, rescuing this Pettigrew family, executing this Pettigrew family...?" Best Sara understood it, their information largely amounted to, "this address is somehow related to..." Ehh...wait...what was it again?

(Seriously, that spell had done a serious number on her, whatever it was).

[Hyperbolic sine]

Alistair raised an eyebrow at the exchange between Alain and his mother: what was disconcerting, though, was not that he was much older that he looked, but the fact that he was reacting like a butthurt schoolgirl.

"If infiltration it is that we must do I believe I have the right tool for the job: in fact, as long as you stay close to me I can conceal us from sight." he says, a hit of pride in his voice, before sighing and adding I don't know what kind of accursed sorcery might be at work around and inside that mansion, though, so it might as well be worthless."

"Oh, before I forget, doth any if you want some tea? If Miss April shows me the kitchen, I can make some."

[Nintendogeek01]

"Quinn has the right idea," Stigma replies, "We're operating as a team under the good graces of the British government, going in with guns blazing into the home of an upper-crust family would be bad news for everyone," she explains, "Our goal hasn't changed, arrest Dr. Falkenrath, or kill him if arrest becomes too impractical, and retrieve that book for our Soviet friend; anyone we can be certain are a part of The Pact we arrest to stand trial later; but again if they fight back with enough force, killing them is excusable, oh and we will need to determine if whoever was watching the mansion is being coerced or is complicit," she finishes explaining.

"So... about zat tea..." Alain seems to be only half paying attention.

"Afraid you'll have to get it yourself after we leave Alain, we're heading out as soon as possible," Stigma replies with a sigh, "Oh and sorry Quinn, maybe next time?"

"Shame..." Alain then blinks and you can almost see him connecting the dots, "Wait... am I not going wiz you?"

"If something goes wrong and we don't come back I need someone who can report back to London," Stigma tells Alain.

"So why not ze guy who can teleport?" Alain makes a rather grand gesture in Quinn's direction.

"Quinn's powers will be necessary for this mission, especially if it turns out more than one or two of the Pact can actively cast spells," Stigma answers, "Alain, please... if something goes wrong I'd rather it be his older brother looking out for Ren," she asks, her voice softening.

Alain just throws his hands up, as though he were saying "I surrender," "Fine, fine... I 'ope you taught 'im at least some English... or any ozer language I know... or somezing..." he continues to grumble as he leaves the sitting room.

While undoubtedly what she said is true, it's more likely that April simply wants her sons as far away from The Pact as possible.

Stigma sighs and turns to the rest of you, "Believe it or not I was even worse than that," she scoffs with bemusement, "Not having to worry about dying of old age has a way of making the "invincible teenager" feel more justified," she shakes her head and regains her professional composure, "Alright, any questions?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

"No questions here," Sara said, running through a quick check of her weapons. Just because they didn't intend to go in fighting was no excuse not to be ready if it came to that.

[The_Admiral]

"None whatsoever Ms," Swift also replies, loading his revolver, shotgun, and patting his coat for his newly modified mask.

[Hyperbolic sine]

Alistair could understand and relate to April's desire to keep her sons out of danger - he joined the war effort to protect his family, after all.

"None relevant to the task at hand, at the very least." he replies, without doing any particular preparative. "I shall make them regret ever being the cause of an Englishman being denied his tea." he adds, half-jokingly.

[TekHed]

"So...a stealth mission. I suppose the more obvious of us ought to hang back then?" Sascha queried.

Altogether they were locked and loaded...and loaded for bear.

[Nintendogeek01]

Stigma looks at you Human Dynamo, "Just follow our lead, we'll definitely need the firepower you bring if and when it becomes a fight," she tells you before turning to address everyone, "Alright, then let's not waste anymore time, we're heading out!"

Alain is at the door as you're leaving, he gives a nod to Stigma and looks to the rest of you, "Look, I know zat one way or anozer zat mozer will see me again as long as I'm still alive... but ze rest of you... do be careful," he says with sincerity as he gives everyone a pat on the back and a wave to send you all off.

The first leg is taken by car, but after a while the car is left behind so as not to draw too much attention on approaching the house, and what a grand house it is! This country house is pretty much exactly like how any of you non-Brit natives pictured an expensive British mansion looking like; a wide field, sprawling house that rises a few stories into the air, and gated all around it surrounding a huge garden full of flower bushes and almost perfectly squared hedges.

Stigma stops you all and checks ahead for a bit before coming back, "Doesn't appear to be any guards right now, let's get over that fence quick, after that we stay quiet and look for any sign of The Pact," she whispers.

It's that time again! So as to remind you all what this is all about you must get a certain number of successes before you gain a certain number of failures. I will tell you what checks can be made to contribute to the challenge, but if you think you have an idea on how you can contribute that I have not specified, ask me; I'm willing to lend an ear to a clever idea, but I do retain the right to shoot it down if it won't work for some reason. Degrees of success do contribute to the total number of successes needed (unless I say otherwise), but be warned, degrees of failure also contribute to the number of failures you're allowed. :smallamused:

To Succeed: You need... 5 Successes!

Perception or Stealth rolls are acceptable, as always, if you think of any others that are useful then by all means suggest them. Perception rolls have a whopping DC25 (for now... I wonder why that is... :smallamused:), while stealth rolls are opposed rolls.
The maximum amount of times any one check can contribute to the success count is 3! For example, if you got 2 successes on a stealth check and then 2 degrees on a second stealth check, it will still have only gone towards 3 total successes, that fourth one would do nothing.
Surmounting the fence does not contribute to the challenge, you are all capable of getting over it under your own power or helping someone over it easily; getting over that fence would be too trivial to bother rolling for it.


The Challenge Sequence will fail if you get 3 Failures!!!

[The_Admiral]

As the walked into the place, he flipped on the binocular attachment on his mask, observing as much as possible as he stuck to the back of the group, hand on the shotgun in his coat.

The description does say a +5 equipment bonus
Perception
[roll0]

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara would hold to give Quinn the chance to utilize the power he had mentioned that might help conceal them, before saying, "Follow my lead," and heading for the building, scampering over the gate without difficulty. She checked windows as she approached, to make sure no one was watching the entryway when she opened the door, or failing that finding a room no one was within and slipping in through a window (and if she needed to dart up a wall to reach a second-story window to do so, hey, why not). If Quinn did conceal them, she'd make sure the party stayed together, keeping track of them tactilely with her telekinetic pulses and using her simple telekinetic ability to nudge them or tug their clothes in the right direction if they were separating. She kept a bit of a lead, using her pulses to sweep approaching corners to check for hostiles; if there were any, she'd wait to give them a chance to leave or at least make sure they were facing away from the group before moving stealthily on.

She kept in contact with Quinn to benefit from his concealing power (and also to make sure they didn't get separated), though stayed to the front of the group to test the ground and help guide their steps, using her pulses to sweep approaching corners to check for hostiles; if there were any, she'd wait to give them a chance to leave or at least make sure they were facing away from the group before moving stealthily on.

Stealth: [roll0], plus any bonus for Quinn's Concealment if he chooses to use it. Not sure if my sweeping the corners with my touchsight will help, but worth a shot.

[Hyperbolic sine]

"This particular application of my powers hath a catch: for me to be able to affect others, I need to keep physical contact." Alistair says when they got off the car, rolling up his sleeves. "I am afraid that those of you who wish to be concealed will have to grab my arm. Also, I probably should arn you that radio communication will be impossible between the two sides of this...barrier, for a lack of better terms."

Once everyone who wanted had done so, Alistair proceeds to create an almost skin-tight layer of light-bending gravity wells: he - and those touching him - suddenly disappear from the sight of anyone observing them, though the only hints that something happened for those inside the "barrier" are a slight brightness reduction and the fact that they no longer project a shadow. Then, Alistair follows Curve's lead, soundlessly floating around few inches from the ground (though the gravitational noise would be obvious to anyone able to percieve such effects, such as himself).

Everyone touching Alistair gains Concealment from All Visual Senses and Immunity (Light Effects).

Also, Alistair's Flight is Subtle 1 (detectable only by Gravitic Sense), but I suppose hoping for it to count as an automatic success is a bit much :smallbiggrin:. Can I get some kind of bonus to Stealth check out of it, though?

[Nintendogeek01]

Swift observes that there seem to be a few more guards further down in the gardens going along the side of the large house, but gauging more than that is difficult as he has to duck back behind cover when closer patrols come by. Knowing this Curve decides that moving inside the house may be for the best and, whilst in contact with Quinn as most everyone is, leads the group to a window, everyone doing their best to move silently.

The window isn't terribly high up off the ground and everyone present is athletic enough to easily climb or float up to it, there's a heartbeat-skipping moment when immediately upon entering the window there's a guard in the hallway staring wide-eyed at the window that just suddenly opened, but everyone's pulse is able to return to normal when that guard ends up looking back and forth between a flask he's holding and the window before he walks off mumbling something about needing to cut back.

Now that you are inside the country house, in particular a hallway lined with large extravagant family paintings facing windows on the opposite walls, there seem to be fewer guards, they're not totally absent, but they are less numerous than the late-night servants who are doing a late-night dusting and sweeping or gossiping, some of the gossip whispering about the thicker guard patrols in the gardens tonight.

Infiltration Challenge: 0 of 3 failures

Stealth - 2 successes
Perception - 1 Success
Total - 3 of 5 successes


Check the description a bit more closely Admiral, the Binoculars have +5 bonus to overcome a distance penalty, which is really only pertinent if you're trying to make out something in particular at a distance, still an effective 27 succeeds the perception check so it still works out.

Guards' check ended up being a 16, when put against your 20 included with the +5 bonus being visually concealed gives you, your 25 beats that by two degrees (so close to three).

So good news everyone! By moving to a location with thinner patrols the DC for perception checks has been reduced to 20!!! Stealth rolls will still be opposed rolls though so no helping that. As always, if you have an idea you think might be cool run it by me, asking me won't hurt you... after all I can't seem to access hammerspace today. :smalltongue:

This challenge is looking like it'll be a piece of cake for you all really, but that's fine it's only the first bit of issue #2.

[TekHed]

Sascha clung to Quinn's forearm as instructed...though he couldn't help but find it comical as the five of them huddled around the gravikinetic. For his own part the Human Dynamo switched his usual passive spectral sight to his aethervision. Old Nick had explained it as an expansion of his invisible electromagnetic field emanating from his eyes. To Sascha, it felt more like...squinting, but without the physical muscles actually doing so. With just a bit of concentration he could see through solid matter as clearly as if it were the air. He scanned to and fro as they crept through the compound aiding their efforts to evade detection.

Perception: [roll0]

Wow. A better than average roll, but I'm glad for the recently reduced difficulty (though I'd have argued that his aethervision may have eliminated the penalty for him). In any case, I'll happy take the degree of success. Just one more...

[Nintendogeek01]

As you quietly proceed through the hallway, the Human Dynamo sweeps the location with his Aether-Ray Scanning, and during that sweep he sees something highly unusual; off near the back of the gardens you can see a greenhouse, a rather large almost dome-like one, but what's within it is obscured to your sight, almost like how the heat of a fire distorts your vision; you think you can make out a number of figures though... standing in... a circle it looks like, the rest is too fuzzy to say for certain but given the objective of finding occultists and the rumors whispered by servants that's got to be your ticket. Luckily the hallways are laughably easy to get through while invisible, and while guard patrols would have seriously impeded your progress on your way to that greenhouse, they seem to have made sure no patrols went close enough for the greenhouse for you to worry about.

However you go about getting to it you are soon enough at the double doors to the greenhouse and you can hear voices muffled by the wall separating you from the figures inside. Stigma breaks her grip on Alistair and presses her ear to the door, "Sounds like they're just about to start whatever it is they're doing in there," she whispers to all of you, "Get in formation by the door, I'll take point, let's crash this party before they get a chance to summon Satan or whatever it is these Cultists think they do," she instructs you, adding that last bit with no small amount of glibness.

She waits for a few seconds for you guys to take up whatever positions you are going to take up, she slowly draws her sword, and then promptly kicks the door open, "By the authority of the United Kingdom you are-" before she can finish her sentence a countless number of bands spring forth from thin air and wrap Stigma up almost like a mummy.

"What!?" came the surprised shout from a man in a beige cloak resting over an SS Officer's uniform, and in his arms a large tome, the very same one Svetlana had described to you. Surrounding the man is a number of other robed figures, six of whom are wearing beige robes and hoods, and three others more uniquely robed, all of them standing at points on a a glowing pentagram on the ground, the "lines" drawing it being made entirely out of written characters none of you recognize, and the robed figures standing at each of the ten points where lines and corners intersect on the pentagram.

"Can't you see we're tied up right now?" one of the uniquely robed figures asked, tone mildly annoyed and completely unironic, as he withdraws his hand from Stigma's direction. He is wearing lighter gray robes, bears a wicked pair of mutton chops, and his eyes... those piercing steel gray eyes... something about them is... unnerving.

"We're too close now! Detain them! Kill them if you must!" a figure in deeper gray robes with intricate gold patterns shouts to the bewildered figures in robes... though his robes and hood conceal his entire appearance from you he's... really big and plump... like wow, "Falkenrath get your wits about you man!"

The last figure, wearing primarily red robes lined with gold along the hem... but most strikingly... the figure has no face, none whatsoever, no eyes, no nose, nor mouth. Its blank pallet where its face should be turns to look at you, weird writing glows and hovers in front of its face as words just echo in your head, "Violence...? How... distasteful..."

Good work guys, you see, I decided that Sascha's particular super-sense would grant him a +5 circumstance bonus since it circumvented a lot of what would make searching the place difficult, so you got the last two successes needed to complete the challenge... and head into combat! Don't worry though, the reward for completing the challenge was surprising most of the enemies... well except the one who got Stigma tied up but that'll be his action this round.
NPC Status:
Stigma: immobile
Falkenrath:: surprised (stunned & vulnerable)
Light-robed Sorcerer: Normal
Large-robed Figure: Normal
Faceless One: Normal
6/6 Pact Members: Surprised (stunned & vulnerable)

Initiative Order

Curve (20), Human Dynamo (19)
Villains
Stigma
James Swift (10), Alistair Quinn (9)


So as not to keep Volthawk waiting longer than necessary, but so that your initiative ratings aren't made useless, I went ahead and rolled initiative for everyone this time (you'll roll it next time promise... if you survive this that is. :smalltongue:) Block initiative as before, so that means it is Quellian's and TekHed's turn to post.

Oh and one last thing... Roll will at DC20, do so in the OOC if it's not your turn... MUA HA HA HA HA...! :smallamused:

[Quellian-dyrae]

Curve | Normal | 1 HP | 4 3 Luck

Sara...well, would have cast Sascha a look as he directed them straight to their goal, but they were all invisible, so it would have been kinda pointless. Still, that was something. She wondered how he did it.

Note to self, learn more about what everyone is capable of, she said.

When Stigma told them to get into position, Sara nodded, hefted her assault rifle, took several steps back, and pointed it at the door. That Stigma was in her line of fire didn't appear to be a concern.

The moment that binding magic caught Stigma, she started firing, a stream of automatic fire straight for Stigma's back - and every bullet curved around her, telekinetically guided past the trapped immortal and into the room, some of them coming so close that they tore into the bindings upon her. They swerved left and right in a random pattern before spreading out, like a swarm of angry bees, flying unerringly at every mage in the greenhouse, and some of them even going for any magicky-looking props, runic circles or pentagrams, or other things that looked like part of whatever this ritual was. She left the book unharmed, though; Svetlana wanted that.

She sent a particularly intense hail of fire at the faceless one, to hopefully keep him focused on her for long enough for Sascha to take advantage.

Standard: Attack with Spread Shots. All enemies in a 60' cone (including any ritual props, circles, etc) get Dodge DC 18 for half, Toughness DC 23/19 vs. Damage. This attack is Selective. If possible, I'd like to include the bindings around Stigma in the attack.

Move: Feint the Faceless One at [roll0], using Set Up to transfer the benefit to the Human Dynamo.

EDIT: Ehh, sorry Tek, I tried :smallamused: :smallsigh:.

[TekHed]

As the five of them maneuvered into position, Sascha kept his lightning gun holstered. Instead he crouched down into a runner's stance, as if on a set of starting blocks. As he built up the charge in his body, small sparks began to arc from his legs and feet into the ground and crackle around his forearms and fists.

When the door was opened and Stigma went down, Sascha sprang into action. With a jolt of violent violet lightning he dashed into the room, seeing Curve's set up fail, he attempted to clothesline Falkenrath into the dirt with an outstretched arm. It took him a mere moment to close the distance, carefully avoiding the mystic runes upon the ground, and he kept gloving after the hit, taking cover where it was available and allowing the others to begin their assault.

Move-by Action targeting Falkenrath....

Stunning Blow: [roll0]
DC 23 Toughness vs Damage 4 Bludgeoning, 4 Electrical
DC 18 Fortitude vs Electricity, Dazed/Vulnerable, Stunned/Defenseless, Incapacitated

Ending Move behind Cover if possible.

[Nintendogeek01]

Bullets are flying everywhere, striking at all of the robed figures except for two on the outer-most edges of the Pentagram, which despite some bullets clearly hitting it remains undisturbed... magic indeed. Before the four beige robed figures can pull out whatever they were reaching for in their robes the bullets strike them; the beige robed one in the center with the uniquely robed individuals seems to step out of the path of the bullets but ultimate cannot escape the telekinetically guided attack. By all appearances they seem to avoid fatal injuries, but they'll probably need medical attention.

The other four in the center, though, fare far better: while in his surprise Falkenrath is unable to react appropriately to defend himself, whatever magic he uses to protect himself seems to minimize the damage to a few nasty bruises. The plump one is either much more agile than his size would indicate or one of the luckiest men on Earth because despite stumbling to get out of the way the bullets don't do more than leave holes in his robes and leave a few scratches, painful but not remotely life threatening. The Faceless one manages to bob and weave and shift out of the path of most of the bullets, and the few that do hit him don't cause any visible reaction, and lastly the sorcerer who had bound Stigma waved his gloved hands in front of him, deflecting the bullets to the ground around him harmlessly.

"Intruders!" amidst the hail of bullets Falkenrath seems to have regained his wits, "How dare you inter-UGH!" he is interrupted by the outstretched arm of the Human Dynamo striking him in the face, knocking him backwards and onto the ground. He manages to almost immediately pick himself back up off the ground though, and doesn't seem to have seized up from the electricity like one would have expected. By the time he's on his feet The Human Dynamo has somewhat concealed himself among the multiple plants and flowers in the garden.

Off to the side you can see a figure in a faded cloak and a tragic drama mask aiming a gun at Curve's head, you can hear him muttering "Ignore me while I'm here, forget me after I'm gone," as he pulls the trigger sending a bullet in Curve's direction.

A bullet manages to strike Curve's head, calling your attention to the two remaining beige-robed cultists that have at this point pulled out small pistols from their robes. The second the plump one gets out of the circle he begins chanting something.

"Elder One, I will return once the violence has subsided..." that same voice that echoed in your heads earlier states as glowing letters and characters begin whirling around the faceless man, whom you all suddenly find standing amongst you, no sooner do you notice this however do the swirling vortex of letters and characters burst outward, flying across your eyesight and burning itself into your brain like a book you just tried to cram into your memory despite the headache it was giving. By the time you can see clearly again, the faceless one is gone.

"So be it!" the large robed figure responded as he finished his chanting and raised his hands. Upon doing so a translucent wall of purple energy completely encloses him. "Falkenrath! Mercury! Take care of this!" the Elder shouts from behind his barrier.

"Keep at them... I'll be out... rah!" After trying to work her sword within the bindings and straining at them, they eventually snap at the point the edge had been cutting into them, dropping Stigma back to ground level where she grips the straight-edged sabre in both hands, ready to slice the nearest foe.

You guys: Too much of a pain to tell you the numbers the minions got since they're either make or break as it is, but every minion you caught, Curve, (which is 4/6 of them) failed the toughness save. The Faceless guy and the gray-robed one both succeeded the dodge (at 24 and 20 respectively) and toughness saves (at 19 and 22 respectively). The Elder succeeded dodge at 20 (much to my tremendous surprise let me tell you) but got a bruised at 15. Falkenrath for his part failed both saves (dodge at 14, toughness at 21), and then failed the toughness save against the Human Dynamo's attack by two degrees (16), but he got the fortitude save at 24).

Faceless One: He left, but not before leaving a parting gift. This is a perception area affliction: Human Dynamo, Curve, James Swift, and Alistair Quinn first roll dodge at DC20 to avoid seeing the effect (Human Dynamo, you being among the bushes and stuff gives your vision partial concealment, so have a +2 circumstance modifier to the dodge roll). If you fail the dodge check, you must make a DC20 fortitude save or be (impaired >>> stunned >>> incapacitated) due to your brains straining to process all of those symbols at once.

Elder: Created an obstacle around himself.

Falkenrath: Oh wait he's stunned he doesn't get a turn. :smalltongue: (I should note that he's only vulnerable to Swift and Quinn, as the other two have already had their surprise attack on him).

Mercury: By my mighty GM'ing powers I used up his actions to bind Stigma at the start of all this mess.

2/6 Cultists: Like Falkenrath they're surprised so they don't get actions this turn, they're only vulnerable to Swift and Quinn too.

Masked Guy: he hits Curve at 21, so Curve make a DC20 toughness save.
NPC Status:
Stigma: Normal
Falkenrath: 1 bruised, stunned & vulnerable to Swift and Quinn
Mercury: Normal
Elder: 1 bruise
Faceless One: I'm outta here
4/6 Pact Members: Incapacitated
2/6 Pact Members: vulnerable to Swift and Quinn

We just started this so keep going!

[Quellian-dyrae]

Curve | 1 Bruise | 1 HP | 3 Luck

Sara had little trouble processing the strange symbols as they came at her; she could telekinetically direct bullets in flight, processing a bunch of stuff moving towards her wasn't particularly difficult. She telekinetically deflected the bullet coming for her head enough that it only barely grazed her, nothing she couldn't take.

She quickly surveyed the fray. Two nobodies still standing; a smart soldier doesn't ignore any gun on the field, but they weren't the top priority. The one she deemed the primary threat had fled. The Elder had locked himself in a bubble; as long as he wasn't able to cast through it, there wasn't much point in wasting effort on an enemy focused on defense. She wasn't too concerned with the masked guy's gun, compared to spells, but if he knew she had seen through whatever spell he had presumably been using in hopes of shielding himself from detection, he might turn his magic to more offensive uses.

Best to hit him hard before he realized it, then.

Sara aimed her weapon at Falkenrath, apparently intending to support Sascha and seemingly oblivious to the guy who had shot her. The shots would hopefully distract him to give Sascha an opening, but they wouldn't hit him, flying past and bouncing off the wall to go for the Elder's...shield, which they would likewise bounce harmlessly off of on their way to the true target, the not-nearly-as-invisible-as-he-was-probably-hoping masked man.

Move: If my use of Ricochet 2 qualifies for Surprise Attack status on the Masked Man, then Feint Falkenrath at [roll0], using Set Up to transfer the benefit to Sascha. If not, the Feint instead applies to the Masked Man, and I'll claim the benefit personally.

Standard: Attack the Masked Man with Nudge Shots, Power Attacking for 5, at [roll1]. On a hit, Toughness DC 24+Multiattack vs. Damage. On a miss, he has to deal with Homing for the next two rounds.

[The_Admiral]

He recognised the symbols, somehow, something deep inside him SCREAMED at him to shut his eyes, which he did, fortunately. Pulling his shotgun out of his coat, James opens fire at the german man.


[roll0]

DC 20

[Hyperbolic sine]

Whatever those accursed sorcerous symbols were, Alistair instinctively averted his gaze before they could cause harm to his brain.

Still unseen, he inaudibly floats behind the masked man before breaking the invisibility to focus all his power on his fist. "Forget I shall not, for I am the harbinger of your vanquishment!" he utters as he punches his foe with devastating force.

Move: behind Masked Man. Since Alistair is invisible and his Flight is subtle, hopefully the following will qualify as a surprise attack.
Free: Switch array to Grav Punch
Standard: Grav Punch Masked Man at [roll0] Rerolled. 21, Toughness DC 23 vs Damage and Fortitude DC 18 vs Dazed+Impaired/Stunned+Disabled/Incapacitated
Still invisible, Alistair silently flies into the greenhouse to reach a spot from were he can hit as much enemies as possible: then, his light-bending shield his broken as the gravity force of which it's made of rushes forwards in a wave of destructive force.

Move: were he can hit as much enemies as possible (and no allies, of course). Since Alistair is invisible and his Flight is subtle, hopefully the following will qualify as a surprise attack.
Free: Switch array to Grav Wave
Standard: 60' cone, Dodge DC 18 for half: Toughness DC 23/19 vs Damage and Fortitude DC 18/14 vs Dazed+Vulnerable/Stunned+Defenseless

[TekHed]

Sascha trained as a boxer, and in the manly art of fisticuffs one didn't stop punching until one's opponent was knocked down. Falkenrath was the prize...

Move-by on Big F: [roll0] Edit: Nope!
Damage DC 23
Fort DC 20

[Nintendogeek01]

Falkenrath sees Curve and Swift level their firearms in his direction and with the trained reflexes holds his free hand out, creating a ripple in the air right in front of him that sends Swift's shot further to the side than it was already going, "I know off you fools and I assure you zat you are nno sreat too..." he stops his rant when he registers that Curve's bullets never actually came close to hitting him and he is left wide open to an attack from the Human Dynamo! He instinctively ducks one jab but instead receives an uppercut to the chin, his head flies up and his muscles seize..."UuUuUuUuUmph!" and then his head flies further back, barely able to regain his balance after stumbling from both the punch and the electric shock.

The bullets bounce off of the Elder's barrier and head straight for the masked man, though the mask conceals his face the way he whips his body around certainly gives away his surprise, however he hits the ground and evades the bullets, as he's picking himself up Quinn appears behind him ready to drive a gravity weighted punch to the assassin, though perhaps shouting about being his vanquishment was a bad idea in hindsight as the assassin nimbly shifts his body weight to one of his hands and whips his body around to Quinn's side, speeding away from the punch, and using the momentum from the pivot to stumble backwards to his feet, casting glances in the direction of both of the attackers that saw him, that tragedy mask possibly being an accurate representation of how he may feel about this.

The masked figure apparently decides that hitting an unknowing target is a better option and fires a shot in the direction of Swift, the bullet about to enter his side.

While the Human Dynamo is left to wonder who the hell Quinn is shouting about being the "vanquishment" of, the sound of a gunshot causes Swift to suddenly find a masked man is standing just outside the pentagram aiming a smoking gun at him.

Stigma seems to have relaxed her posture a bit, holding her sword out in front of her in a better position to parry incoming attacks, and using her free hand to pull out a handgun, and those of you who know your guns know that her firearm of choice is quite the hand-cannon. Regardless Stigma dashes around to one of the sides of the pentagram, keeping the cultists with the guns from getting a steady aim on her, before Stigma simply unloads the clip in front of her, shooting down the remaining two cultists, leaving a bullet visibly stuck in Falkenrath's shoulder, but failing to hit the Gray-robed sorcerer Mercury, whom she dashes at with sword at the ready.

"Hmmm..." Mercury sighs with annoyance as Stigma gets within sword's reach of him, he waves his hands in her direction but none of you perceive anything happen when he does.

You guys: Most everyone actually missed their attack checks, yes Curve did get a surprise on the Masked Man (Sorry Quinn, but he beat your subtle on flight at 24), but the attack check did not beat his dodge defense. And a 13 on Swift's attack check (when we correct for PL limits) wasn't enough to hit Falkenrath even when vulnerable. Dynamo's reroll however did hit Falkenrath and he failed the toughness save at 14, and the fortitude save at 14 oddly enough, though I'd check your math again Tek, the fort save on your attack is DC18 not 20.

Stigma: Moved to a good position to use multiattack's fanning option so that it wouldn't hit you guys (she doesn't have selective on it), she took down the minions, hit Falkenrath at 23 (who failed toughness at 19) but she missed Mercury at 13.

Elder: Still chillin' in his bubble.

Mercury: You guys can't tell without a DC20 perception check.

Masked Guy: He hits James Swift at a whopping 29 which is within his crit range... ouch. So James Swift must make a toughness save at DC25, additionally, since Swift only failed the will save earlier by one degree, being attacked by this guy broke the affliction, you can now see the masked guy.
-
-
-
-
-
"Augh! Grrrr... vatever machinations zat Soviet vitch sinks che has inn motion by sending you vill not com to pass!" Falkenrath, after gritting his teeth through the new bullet stuck in his shoulder growls before he begins chanting something that sounds like gibberish to the rest of you.

"What? No Falkenrath you fool! The ritual isn't all in place anymore!" the Elder begins banging against his bubble in a vain attempt to stop Falkenrath, whose chanting is causing the Pentagram to glow.

For the first time since this debacle started a few moments ago, Mercury actually shows an expression, one which conveys extreme panic, "NOOOO...!!!"

"Whatever he's doing stop hi-" before Stigma can finish shouting bolts of light that course through the area like electricity, bypassing obstacles and striking everyone in and around the pentagram! And soon everyone is consumed in a blinding pillar of light!
Oops... did I make you guys think this was an actual fight? My bad... :smalltongue:

I'd refund those hero points you spent... but you might be dead... <.< ... awkward...

Well in any case, feel free to post your reactions to this last scene before the light consumes you! Mua ha ha ha ha ha...!!!
_____________________________________

As the light consumes you, your various lives flash before your eyes, up to and including these moments...

"First... me... now you... why... me?" the Chinese man clad in elaborate robes utters out before he collapses from a sword you thrust through his chest, while the Chinese man in even more elaborate robes shouts curses of vengeance at you from behind a wall of consuming fire... fire that consumes your vision and replaces it with a silhouette resembling April.

"Mr. Swift?" your vision returns to the tavern corner you and April are sitting at, she is looking as you pretty concerned, "Are you alright?"


"Ah am now Ms April, have you ever met someone with visions? Visons of a past ah don't think he ever saw with his own two eyes...." he asked, the visions were annoying enough, hopefully someone as long lived as April might have seen or encountered something like this.

"Met plenty of people with visions, most of them were hoaxes though," she says with a smirk while taking a drink, "Not to say they couldn't make some really good calls, I guess they just read the... atmosphere well," she remarks before shaking her head, "Although this does remind me... I've occasionally met some men who not only had visions... but were chased by some Chinese assassins, much like the one on your ship," April gets really ponderous as she tells you this.


"These aren't visions of the fu......you have?" he asks, suddenly curious.

"Yeah I have," she gets a little wistful, "It's been a few decades since I last met someone with those problems... and maybe... mmm... little over two centuries when I met another man with the same problems... we'd be here all night if I tried to tell you when I met all of them, but one thing they all had in common," she raises her glass before taking another drink, "They were some of the best friends I ever had."


"......Well then, ah hope ah can live up to that lofty title," he replied,partially joking as he raised his own glass.

"Did any of them ever figure out the source of their visions?"

"Hmmmm..." April's brow furrows as she thinks really hard on the question, "Let's see... Haschwalth said he was on to something... but... augh... I don't remember what he said, I do remember that we were ambushed by those assassins on our way to what he wanted to show me, killed us both," April recalls with frustration.

"I think... Newman may have figured it out... but he was so old at the time, he died of old age without telling me," she continued to recant, this time taking a huge gulp of her drink, "Oh and dear old Martin Cobbs... I hadn't seen him in decades but I'd gotten word he passed away of old age too... man was so adventurous, so thrill-seeking, I'm sure he would've hit on something, but I didn't even get to be by his side when he died," she answers sadly.

"Do any of those names mean anything to you Mr. Swift? Do you know your family tree?" April suggests, doing her best to shake off that morose feeling from earlier.


"Sorry Ms, ah don't recall any relatives of that name," he replied, sad and disappointed.

"No I'm the one who should be sorry," April replied in earnest, "But if it's any consolation Swift, if those men did actually figure something out then I'm sure that you will as well," she tells you confidently, "Hey! Another round over here!" she calls out before turning back to you, "We've got about... thirty minutes or so before we should get going, let's see who's seen more, me or your visions," she dares you with a confident smirk just as your drinks arrive.[/QUOTE]


Swift returns her smile saying, "Challenge accepted"
(Swift accept the ancient and honourable tradition of a drink off.)

It was not long after the Prime Minister told you to follow Stigma's lead; it is unfortunate though that this investigation into potential traitors has yet to bear fruit though, something April catches onto apparently, as she finds time to get you alone with her just outside the hotel the team is using.

"Mr. Quinn, it occurs to me that you had only just met up with us as we were leaving Dunkirk; is there anything in particular I might fill you in on to make your transfer to this team a bit... smoother?" she asks.

"I do suppose knowing exactly what you all were doing in Dunkirk would not hurt. It seems to me that none of you have been acquainted with the others for long, and as far as I know thou wert dispatched by thyself: still, I find it hard to believe that several Parahumans met in there for a mere coincidence." Alistair replies, in his usual verbose and archaic-like manner, after a moment of thinking. "Unless our kin is actually not as rare as I was led to believe."


"As far as I know Parahumans really are a pretty rare breed," April begins, "But this is a conflict that could embroil nations, it's no surprise that a few would wind up in Dunkirk, especially since Germany has been making liberal use of its Parahumans," she further explains her reasoning.

"But as for why we were there... I know that the American soldiers Curve was with volunteered, and Swift and Helio-Man were helping with the evacuation. Svetlana's presence surprised me but the latter mentioned what she was after; not sure about Mr. Dynamo though..." she pondered a bit.

"As for Alain and I... well Alain had been living in Dunkirk for about two years and when I heard how far the German advance was moving... well I couldn't leave my son in danger like that..." she sighs and glances to the side silently for a bit, her face betraying something weighing down on her mind.

"So coincidence it is. Well, as I have said on the airship, I am in no position to label anything as impossible, let alone something that is simply unlikely." Alistair replies with a shrug. "That said...I thought Churchill sent thee there?" he then asks, looking at April with questioning eyes and wondering whatever it might be that was worrying her.


"It's like this..." April seemed to shake off whatever was weighing on her to face you, "When I first got word of the conflict stirring in Europe I made my way to London... no easy feat since I was all the way on the other side of Asia let me tell you," she chuckles a bit, "I had already begun working with Churchill when things took a turn for the worse in France; Churchill and I had been arguing back and forth on the particulars of getting a Parahuman team together up until then so I made a deal with him; a bet which "so happened" to send me to Dunkirk," her emphasis on "so happened" being rather obvious.

"The deal itself was that if I could get intel and rescue Allied Parahumans in Dunkirk then he'd work things out to allow me this team," she finished her explanation, "So... I guess it'd be more accurate to say he gave me permission to go to Dunkirk."

"I see, I see. In the end, you killed two birds with a stone." Alistair says, nodding. "Or two Nazis with a bullet, which I suppose would be more appropriate to wartime." he then adds, mumbling to himself.

"It must be hard, though." he resumes, after pondering in silence for a moment, his tone becoming suddenly very serious as he steers the conversation onto a likely touchy topic. "Outliving everyone, I mean. I do hope I am not being too inappropriate by asking this, but how dost thou deal with such thing? I cannot fathom a fate worse than witnessing the decay and death of one's loved ones countless times."


"Heh, quite a way to put it gently Quinn," April's sarcasm being obvious, "But... well to answer your question, at first I didn't care, not until I outlived the first real friend I made," she sighs, "It hurt, but I got over it eventually; though after... a particular loss I lost it for quite a long period of time; instead of just dying from being reckless I actively tried to find a way to kill myself for good," there's a heavy atmosphere when she pauses after saying that.

"But I got better," she smiles softly, "I've met scholars who would've liked to learn more languages, well it occurred to me that I now had the time, I could travel anywhere in the world I wanted, see whatever I wanted to see..." April's tone is definitely lifting up, "... learn to cook anything I wanted to for myself, or for new friends and family, paint, see performances from different cultures, and now we have machines that can fly when such a thing could be scarce imagined not so long ago!" she takes a deep breath and lets out a relieved sigh.

"Thing is Quinn, and this took me a loooong time to figure out, tragedy happens to you no matter how long you live, but there are wonderful things in life too; I've just had a longer time for both is all."

Alistair's eyes sparkle when April mentions airplanes, and excitement surfaces in his voice. "Truly wonderful machines, are they not? Thousands of pounds of iron and steel, and yet they soar the sky faster than anything else on this Earth."

"*Ahem* A-anyway, he then continues, clearing his throat a bit embarassed by his almost child-like reaction, "that is a commendable attitude to have...it is something to reflect on, I suppose, even if I am not going to have a lifespan particularly longer than it should be. I am not sure why I asked in the first place, to tell the truth...I offer my sincerest apologies for my rudeness."

Ignorance is bliss, sometimes, is it not?


"Apology accepted Quinn, besides, I did sort of expect someone would ask or say something about it," April says with an understanding nod, "I actually sort of appreciate talking about it; hardly anyone even knows the true extent of my immortality, it's refreshing to talk about it; in fact... how about a few drinks? We've still got a night to talk away after all," she offers you.

"I shall take thee up on that. I need it, spending the whole day unsuccesfully rummaging through more and more books is giving me headaches." Alistair replies with a sigh. "I am starting to think 90% of magic, be it fictional or real, derives from some kind of pact or another."
A few days after the team was formed, and after a long night of chasing a lead that turned out bad, you and April are at one of the hotel rooms the team is using.

April is carefully polishing her sword, but she takes a moment to look up at you, "You know Mr. Dynamo... I never did ask, did you build that equipment you use yourself?"


He still was having trouble understanding how he was supposed to relate to this ancient parahuman, but he'd pushed most of that aside for professionalism's sake. Now they were alone and all of that confusion came flooding back. Still, she'd asked him a direct question, so it would be rude to continue brooding.

"Me? No. I know a fair bit about metallurgy. Father was a blacksmith. But no, this technical wizardry I owe to perhaps the most brilliant mind alive today, the inimitable Nikolai Tesla himself. I was his lab assistant when the aurora cause a lab accident that made me parahuman."

"You knew Nikola Tesla? I tried to meet him to satisfy my curiosity, but he wouldn't see me," April sighed, "Said I'd be a distraction or something, hmph."


"Yeah...old Nick never did marry. At first I'd thought he might be queer, but asexual is probably a better term. His mind is too filled with impossible equations to have time for impossible women..."

He glanced at her sword.

"I'm guessing your blade is a relic of an age long since lost?"

It immediately hit him that his wording could have been better.

"I wouldn't say it's that old it..." she paused and then looked slightly offended, "Wait... relic?" she stands up, but her look of offense quickly turned to one of bemusement as she twirls around and poses as though she were standing on a stage, "Would a relic look this good?" she flourishes a bit, drawing attention to the amazing figure of a young woman in her prime, not at all representative of the age she estimated for you on the ship.


"You know...relic as in reliquary. Like it belonged to some great king or warrior or something?"

"I...I'm sorry. I've just been feeling a bit awkward since... I mean, I've seen Nick pull off some amazing stunts, but that's all science. But you..."

He found himself once more at a loss for words.

"Hm hm hm hm..." she chuckles, "Oh... sorry I probably shouldn't laugh," her elated tone from the chuckling winds down, but she still doesn't lose that smile, "So... what about me do you need to understand a bit more? How my apparent power works? How I tick? Or are you just worried that I might be too old?" she leans on the table as she asks those questions.


Sascha was quiet for a long moment while he composed what he wanted to say.

"It's not your power. Sounds like that's a much a mystery for you as the rest of us. It's just..."

Again an awkward pause.

"Look...I won't deny I'm attracted to you. You are beautiful, and alluring, and strong. It's just...well. When I think of how many lives you must have lived, how many lovers you must have had, and how fleeting each must seem, it's just...alien. Human life is supposed to be short, and that brevity breeds a passion. Most of us only ever get one love if we're lucky, and we grow old together and die, finding peace on the legacy of our children. We seem to have...some kind of chemistry between us, but it feels strange to think I'd be just one more in a long line of lost loves..."

He looked away.
April takes her seat as you explain yourself, soft smile unchanging through most of it, nodding understandingly.


"And I feel like an ass even saying that much, because I can't imagine how painful it must be for you to have outlived so many...
April's smile fades to a more neutral expression.


"...especially your own children..."

On mention of this April's expression becomes a full-on frown and her eyes reflect no small amount of pain; nonetheless she seemingly swallows her sadness and opens her mouth to reply, "Sure there is a long list of men and women alike I never even knew the names of, but the ones I really knew, real friends, real lovers, my children... they aren't just a list," she smiles again, seemingly regaining that inner fortitude from earlier, "The world has moved past and will continue to move past the people I care for, but it doesn't make knowing them, knowing such wonderful people, any less worth it; even if their faces fade from memory, the things we shared were still real," she puts her sword back in its sheath and slowly walks towards the door.

She stops for a moment and looks back at you, "I should go for the night, we resume our search tomorrow morning," she then blows you a kiss, "Good night Sascha," she opens the door and begins to exit.


Stupid. Stupid. Dammit what an ass I am.

Just before she could exit he was there, moving with lightning speed and a tingle of electricity in his touch as he caught her hand.

"April, wait..."

He looked into her eyes, for the first time in days really looked into them, and saw the pain and vulnerability underneath the composed exterior. He brushed a hand down her cheek, suddenly filled with tenderness, as her moment of pain had opened him to his own longing. He let her beauty and mystery wash over him, as he searched the ancient soul within.

"The past is the past. Life is always happening right in front of us."

Allowing himself to take a risk, and trust in the attraction, he held her gaze and leaned his head down ever so slightly...

"Hm!" there's a faint gasp from the electrical shock of your sudden grip, her own gaze held by your own eyes as you look into them, "Silly... I already knew that..." she whispers as you lean in, her eyes half shut as she leans up about to meet your own lips, but then she sighs and swiftly, but gently, interposes her fingertips between your lips and hers, "I'm sorry," she apologizes and steps back from you, "There is... much I need to think about," she opens the door, takes one last warm but uncertain look towards you over her shoulder, and then shuts the door behind her.


Sascha just stood there quietly for many moments. The human heart was an unpredictable beast...even for immortals it would seem.

But...there was nothing for it. The mission was what mattered most now. Romance could wait for the fall of the Reich.
Shortly after the team was formed and the investigation for the Pact was underway, you are telling Stigma your report of frustratingly few results.

"Thank you," Stigma nods in appreciation, "Your patience is appreciated, I know it's frustrating to be investigating this to seemingly no result, but the sooner we root out a potential enemy from within, the better for everyone; and then you'll be able to pursue what you want," she tries to assure you.


"It's not a problem. Whatever it takes to minimize the chance of the Nazis binding more spirits into people. I plan to make Powderkeg pay for what he did, but killing him isn't going to protect the rest of the world from the Nazis. Besides, Powderkeg apparently got sent back to this...Null person anyway, so finding Null is my best chance to find him," a flicker of a grin crossed her face at that last bit.

"Powderkeg... hm..." April is clearly thinking, "What do you know about him? I have some basic intel on him, sniper, minor fire and explosive based powers, but I was just wondering if you knew anything more of... substance." April asks you.


"Not enough," Sara answered in an almost disgusted tone. "I know that he's able to somehow disable firearms, presumably by preventing the ignition of the gunpowder. That's how he managed to get the edge over me the first time we fought. I wasn't expecting that." She sounded defensive as she said so. "He intensifies the heat of his bullets too. First time I fought him, I was able to blunt their impact well enough, but that didn't stop the melted lead from clinging to me. Distracted my focus. His power is..."

She swallowed. She almost didn't want to say it. "It's like mine, in a way, I think. It's not...strong, in and of itself. Not like Quinn's, or Sacha's. But he uses it to augment his weapons. A bullet becomes a whole different level of threat when it has like ten times the explosive power behind it as the volume of gunpowder it contains."

"Tactical considerations aside...he's a psychopath. He...enjoys this. Killing. Not because he has a reason. Not because he believes in what he's fighting for. From what I've seen of him...he just enjoys causing pain. Even if it wasn't for...if he hadn't... He would still have to be stopped. The world deserves better than to have people like-" us "-that in it."

"As few Parahumans as there are, those of us fighting in this war are bound to meet each other, we'll have our chance to take him out," April tells you with certainty, "Now before I let you go, you should know, if you ever need to talk I'll make any time that I can," she leans back in her seat and smiles softly, "Believe it or not, I've been around enough blocks to relate."


Sara visibly shifted; her posture straightened, her eyes seemed more intense, even though she was still sitting she had visibly come to attention, as if April hadn't been making a friendly offer, but had given a gentle reprimand. Sara was not particularly a "talk about your feelings" sort of woman, and the suggestion she might need such was apparently one she took as an indication of weakness. "That brings up something I've been meaning to ask. Do we have any idea how many Parahumans there are under Axis command? Even a rough estimate?" she asked, more to change the subject than out of any expectation of significant tactical data.

"Hm," April smiled when Sara shifted to attention in her seat, what did that smile mean? What does that smile mean!? "Let's see... including Powderkeg and Dr. Falkenrath... there's the so-called Übermensch who guards Berlin, Madame Blitz, Silhouette... hmmm... those are the only five I know of off the top of my head, no concrete data on them or anything but there could yet be a few more," Stigma answers.

"Ah well... we'll know more in time, I suppose that's everything I needed you for Sara, but if you'll indulge me, not as your superior, but as someone who hopes she can be a friend to you," her face becomes a bit more serious, "Don't neglect yourself, I've both lived through and seen what can happen if you lose yourself to a single cause," she shakes her head a bit, almost as if she's a bit embarrassed, "Ah but you probably have better things to do than listen to someone as unnaturally old as me don't you?" she smiles a bit at her moment of self-deprecation.[/QUOTE]


Sara nodded, making a note of their codenames and trying to guess what their capabilities might be based on them. Which made her wonder if hers' made things too obvious. Curve. She supposed it was nonspecific enough.

"Good advice for peacetime, but for right now, best I can do for myself and for everyone else is concern myself with winning. I'll worry about the rest if I live through this war," she said, before standing and saluting. If there was nothing else, she'd head out of the room.
____________________________

Okay so studying Parahumanity - fascinating and a wonderful job to have. Retrieving Parahumans - seldom happens and not always easy (for a few reasons) but still plenty of discovery to be had. But bugger! Why. Won't. They. Let. You. Fight? They've been training you so you're not just a super-powered liability, and yet they'd still rather you stay in your lab and keep studying skin samples or "play with your chemistry set" as the more ignorant ones like to put it.

Oh well, being stuck in London isn't completely bad, at the very least your unique position of being a Parahuman scientist has given you unique opportunities; one of which was being assigned to investigate strange reports of citizens and law-enforcement disappearing in an abandoned subway tunnel. Those tunnels could be vital in keeping the citizenry safe if the Germans ever get as far as London so the brass want those tunnels cleared. If those tunnels are dangerous they need to be taken care of by someone equipped to handle it, and if it's due to some weird science or pseudo-science that has been cropping up ever since the Aurora lights they need someone who can study it and figure out a solution: so let's send the one guy qualified for both positions!

Enter David Cooper!

Here you are, flashlight in hand and studying the tunnels... so far nothing remarkable though. Only thing worth mentioning were one pair of sooty footprints that suddenly stop with no warning, though other footprints keep going... hey wait... is that a light at the end of that tunnel? Weird these subway tunnels should be going on for far far longer? Wonder why that light is there? How curious...

You're finally up! And it looks like you may be running a solo series... :smalltongue:

Anyways, role-play out David Cooper's feelings on his surroundings.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara hurled herself in the way of the bullet intended for Swift. Then things got glowy.

Interposing for Swift. Toughness (DC 25, -1 for Bruise): [roll0].

[Volthawk]

For once, David was rather content as he walked down the tunnel. The ongoing refusal by the authorities to take an active role in the fighting burned, but this would be an adequate distraction. The lab work was hitting a rut, anyway. Everything seemed so much simpler when he examined himself, but all these other parahumans were...different. All messy and strange and warped, and understanding how it was all linked was becoming an increasingly difficult endeavor. To be honest, he himself was more difficult to understand these days - it seems the surges of inspiration he had back when he did his biggest work have faded, and even he has some trouble following everything done back then. The small sample of parahumans he had access to didn't help, particularly because even they vary greatly. Very hard to find a proper stable starting point to work off. No matter, this is a new field after all, there's going to be bumps in the way.

A thought crossed his mind, prompting a laugh to echo down the tunnel. If he ran into anyone, it was probably he who would be the one with the abnormal appearance, given his new project. The new suit met its purpose perfectly, meaning that he could have free use of his engineered abilities without running into the slight issue of his clothes either being torn to shreds or no longer fitting. Isiah had advised him to prioritise that problem - it wouldn't be proper, it would be scandalous, much worrying along those lines (David really did respect the man, but he could prattle on about such matters that were irrelevant in the scheme of things). The important thing that the challenge - some kind of clothing that could change size with him - was set, and the science behind it was fascinating, and very much an ongoing project. His mind was full of potential improvements and modifications, but presently it was rather primitive in its additional functions, just a biological system that produced air for him to breathe. The most notable thing about it, heading back to his original thought, was likely its appearance - a full-body dark brown and black thing, subtly flexing and moving (his specialty was still in the biological sphere, after all), with yellow somewhat insectoid-looking eyes. He was also currently rather small, which made the flashlight more awkward but still well within his manageable strength. All in all, a rather odd picture he supposed.

Cooper shakes his head, clearing such thoughts from his mind. There's a time and place to have these long rambling thoughts. Could be one of the reasons they're so reluctant to deploy him out there. But anyway, now the focus was on the here and now, and the here and now was rather interesting. The light was...anomalous, both his mind and his special eyes agreed this point. A good thing too - yes it was nice to go do an actual mission for once, but as missions go it seemed rather boring (or so he assumed), so this was most definitely a welcome change in the situation. Hopefully something...interesting for him to sink his teeth into. His small size and increased agility should serve him well to stay subtle on his approach (or so he hopes), no need to needlessly alert anyone in or around the light as he approaches, somehow managing to constrain his curiosity.

[TekHed]

That made two solid hits on Falkenrath. The sorcerer was no glass-jaw, that was for certain, but he was wearing down. Another sideswipe or two at most. The others seemed to be doing well, but in the heat of battle everything seemed confusing. Honing his senses in on his target, Sascha lined up for a third stunning blow, when a blast of light overwhelmed his senses, followed by darkness...

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Curses." Alistair mutters under his breath as the masked man avoids his punch. He turns to face him again, gaining a bit of altitude to execute a downward strike, but just when he's lining up his fist the room explodes in a blinding light.

"Wha-"

[Nintendogeek01]

Okay first of all, much to my chagrin I did not actually kill you :smalltongue:

If, and only if, you used a hero point during the combat scene it has been refunded! This includes luck points.

The combat party receives 1 Power Point!

David Cooper

The light keeps getting brighter and brighter, almost overwhelming your senses. But eventually your eyes adjust and you can see a lush green grass on the ground, and the roots of a large tree drawing your eye to what must be the tallest and thickest tree you have ever seen in your life! Exiting the tunnel completely and you find innumerable trees of the same majesty, and around the forest floor bushes with bright and tempting looking berries, and flowers you've never seen before of bright and lush colors.

The wildlife itself is nothing to sneeze at for that matter. You see woodland creatures prancing or skittering about, and... what's that? A small person with wings? Oh bugger it already flew off. This is absolutely astounding!

Fascinating as this though there is of course no way this should be at the end of a subway tunnel that you only walked a relatively short distance through from London and... wait... that tunnel behind you... where'd it go?

... Oh sod...
_______________________

James Swift

So... cold... so... sleepy... You hear the sound of a lullaby as the silhouette of a woman's face is painted across your vision as though being drawn by an invisible hand. The silhouette appears to be smiling, until the silhouette turns blood red and begins to weep bleeding tears "... sin... of envy... I am so sorry..." a voice echoes between sobs.

Your eyes snap open with a start! You see... snow, the ground feels... very cold. Looking around all you can see around you for what must be miles is a ground of solid ice, and snow fluttering around. Literally; only a portion of the snow actually seems to be falling to the ground, some of it drifts parallel to the ground or upward in intricate loops and patterns, guiding your eyes upward to a deep navy sky that serves as the backdrop to aurora lights that linger in the air for a few minutes before blinking out and then almost exploding back into view before repeating the pattern over and over again.

Looking at the ground beneath your feet you can suddenly see fish and snakes and birds... swimming underneath the ice, or is it through the the ice itself? Hard to say, but you have never seen creatures of their likeness before. As if the world wasn't done trying to baffle your mind and defy all explanation you see creatures flying through the snow filled sky, some of them don't even appear to be made of flesh and bone, but of snow and particles of ice or water.

And then it strikes you... you are alone here.
_____________________________

The Human Dynamo

Unnnnghh... whatever you're resting on is... firm... and warm... Your eyes slowly flutter open and you find yourself staring into the ground, your nose and mouth practically buried in a pile of dirt. Pbth...!

Now that you can pick yourself back up and your vision has cleared you can see you are definitely not in the greenhouse anymore. You find yourself on top of a tall mountain, looking down you see a slope of gray and brown stone with patches of green much further down. Looking to the horizon you see even more mountain peaks, and the stone on them gets blacker and blacker until it goes beyond your range of sight, you could swear a few of those mountain peaks near the end of your visual range even have openings with the ominous red glow of lava at their tops.

Your more immediate surroundings show trails of upturned dirt much like those made by burrowing creatures. Soon enough one such creature pokes it's head out of the ground, but that's no mole or groundhog, it looks... like a small person with a fuzzy tail. It notices you looking at it, panics and then disappears under the ground never to be seen again. Perplexing as it is you notice something else unusual... you don't see... any bird life, and the wind is incredibly weak, almost non-existent.

To top all of this off the sky seems to be almost stuck perpetually in a sunset state of colors, it would be a nice view to share with the others. Too bad you're alone up here.
____________________________

Curve

Ugh... as if having a bullet stick itself in your abdomen wasn't bad enough you suddenly find yourself feeling really damn hot. The bullet didn't pierce your barrier too badly, so removing it is no problem, but now that you're not focusing on that injury it quickly becomes apparent that you have muuuuuch bigger problems.

Surveying the area reveals that you are in what appears to be a plain with rolling hills... of black rock and flowing lava!!! You in particular seem to be on a small islet separated from the rest of the plains by a small creek of lava, easily jumped but the opposite side is no more appealing than this little islet you find yourself on. A landscape of rock, holes in the ground occasionally spurting lava, and some that spring out what looks to be really hot water. And the sky... the sky looks as though it is little more than rolling dark clouds with the only real light source being an ominous red glow that seems to be diffusing across the clouds.

Oh but this place is not lifeless, but it sure as hell isn't life like you've ever seen it, you see a pair of tiny lizards that look like salamanders, with the exception of the fact that the second they notice your presence they begin to glow and let off a lot of heat. From the lava creek you occasionally see what looks vaguely like a fish leaping out of the lava and back into it, and while you're no biologist you're pretty sure that isn't normal. Finally off further in the distance is a really large hulking beast on four legs with a prominent horn on its face and skin that seems to be made of hardened rock accentuated by glowing lines of red and orange.

And it gets worse... you're the only one here.
________________________________

Alistair Quinn

Glowing lights or no you shall be the vanquishment of that fiend wearing... the... what the?

OOMPH

Where once you were floating in air you fall on your bum onto solid gray stone. Picking yourself off of the ground this... hardly looks real. It was nighttime at that country house and now you find what must be the clearest blue sky you've ever seen and mountain peaks that stretch onward for miles... without the mountain bases attached to them!

Off in the distance you see a large chunk of mountaintop has separated from the base and is floating above it. Off in the distance some mountains seem to be more grounded, but in the opposite direction gravity seems to have less and less hold over them and they simply float in place, remarkably unmoved by the really strong yet refreshing winds that ceaselessly blow through the area.

As your eyes are looking over the pathways made up of narrow stones hovering in the air your eyes catch a glimpse of a fast moving creature flitting through the air. It looks sort of like a bird but not like any bird you've ever seen. Trying to follow this creature with your eyes draws your attention to what looks like a horse with its own set of majestic wings, whinnying and soaring away into the distance. It seems that every creature you see every so often is capable of flying under its own power either on wings or by means imperceptible to you.

Then a thought briefly banished from your mind by the fantastic sights returns to you... your powers don't appear to be working. Wait no... if you concentrate hard enough you can do a few tricks... but you can't lift yourself off of the ground for more than a few feet at a time, and you don't seem to be affecting the world as powerfully as you could before.

Stopping yourself before your mind wonders if it could get worse, it occurs to you that you are the only person here.
_______________________________

Each hero alone, and each one in parts utterly unknown, there is nothing to do except get your bearings, try to find any sign of intelligent life, and survive long enough to do either of those things.

Dun dun dun...!!! :smallbiggrin:

Okay guys, at this time I would like to encourage role-playing here! So here's a few things to keep in mind.


My next IC Post will be after a long period of time passes in-game how long you ask? You don't know, the sky doesn't ever seem to change significantly in your respective locations.
Consider what your character would do to survive. Fetching water from a source (realistic or fantastic depending on where you are), getting food, etc.
Consider the fantastic creatures around you. How do you interact with them? Let your imagination go wild so long as it's fitting for the area you're in (they can be real but exaggerated, or completely fantastic if thematic to your area).
If you are in an extreme environment you don't need to bother with the usual rolls, I'll explain why later, just bear in mind you still feel the temperature.
Lastly, If your next post is particularly good I will award you one hero point! So get creative. :smallbiggrin:

[The_Admiral]

James pulled his coat around him as he stared at the environment in wonder, it was different, it was wondrous, and it was probably going to kill him he chuckled as he pressed the still hot barrel of the shotgun into the ice. He wasn't going to let it kill him, wouldn't give the environment the pleasure of doing that. His first order of business, to look for some shelter, he flipped on the binocular attachments as he scanned the horizon and sky. He began to walk.

----

He grinned at himself, he was a genius, he thought as he took his impromptu fire starter to the pile of dried out fish parts he caught, an Igloo lay around him, formed of blocks of ice cut out from the ground. He thought he was going to make it, a simple plan already in mind as his mask lay to his side.

----

A large creature barged into his Igloo, shocking him from his sleep, a creature of ice, shaped, almost like a bear. It lowered its head and began eating into his stored food. Hand on his gun, he slowly approached it. He was thinking of naming it Chuck.

----

He rode the creature onwards, metal spear in hand, trail of prints behind him, stopping as exhaustion caught up to him, "Good boy," he said, patting the creature on the head as he got to work, crafting another igloo in his seemingly endless trail of them. His coat no longer armour plated, instead stuffed with the strange feathers of the ice birds.

----

Stopping for a few moments before moving on, he glanced at his reflection in the ice, he had a small beard now, his hair was long and unkept and his face covered with soot from fire after fire. Gas filters discarded for just the goggles for protecting his eyes against the glare.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara looked around the burning landscape with her eyes wide. No one was around, so there was no sense in denying it.

She was terrified.

"Some sort of magic trick," she whispered, more trying to convince herself than anything. She closed her eyes, willing the fiery area to go away.

Assuming it didn't oblige, she gave herself a solid ten seconds to freak out. Without screaming. That make prompt an attack by the creatures. She just closed her eyes (keeping aware of any approaches via touchsight), and breathed as steadily as she could. Every breath almost seared her throat and lungs.

After ten seconds, she opened her eyes, looked around, and started working on survival.

She had been supernaturally teleported to this place, like Svetlana had done. The creatures here were...different. Not just exotic, supernatural. Presumably, then, she was no longer on Earth.

...

...

Sara closed her eyes for ten more seconds.

...Make it fifteen, just to be safe.

Okay. No longer on Earth. Fine.

So there were two options. Option one, stay here, or as close to here as she could find reasonable shelter. Pros: if she had been teleported, it was possible - if only just - that Svetlana could somehow trace or follow it, and rescue her. If so, it would be best to stay as near to her point of arrival as possible.

Of course, that theory was based on the idea that A) she had been teleported to another world, B) Svetlana was capable of teleporting to other worlds, C) Svetlana could somehow follow the magic, D) Svetlana was able to figure out what had happened, and E) she survived for long enough for any of the above to be relevant.

The odds...were less than ideal.

Option 2: Get on the move. Try and make it to somewhere less hostile to life. Perhaps somewhere on this world there was some benevolent wizard who could send her back home, or a magic portal back to Earth, or something.

And as slim as her chances of Svetlana appearing to rescue her were, the chances of that were slimmer still. At least the fact of Svetlana being capable of magical teleportation was known. The idea that there was a more hospital area she could reach, or any sort of magical solution to her problem, were pure fantasy.

It all sounds...pretty hopeless.

The memory came back to her. Her brother, back home on leave after his first tour of duty, was telling her about a mission that had gone all wrong. Dozens of enemies around. His squad cut off from reinforcements. Ammo getting low. Tanks on the way.

I thought so too. But nothing's ever hopeless, Sara. Not as long as you can keep going, even if it's just for a little while. I didn't think I would survive that night, but I knew I could survive the next five minutes, so I made as good a use of them as I could. Got our ammo consolidated, got people tending our wounded, started coming up with a plan. And you know what I realized when those five minutes were up?

A way to escape?

No. But I realized, I was pretty sure I could survive the next five minutes, too.

Sara took a deep, slightly painful breath, nodded, and got started.

The geysers provided water. It was boiling hot, but the air was merely sweltering. Boiling water should be safe to drink, if she could get it cool. She snatched a three-pound bubble of it with her telekinesis and drew it to hover along behind her, letting it cool to a reasonable temperature. Meantime, she drank the water in her cantine dry - it was the last reasonably cool water she was likely to get for a while.

The animals would provide food. She still had her guns and plenty of ammo, plus her combat knife and her powers. She didn't go anywhere near the big horned creatures, nor did she approach the glowing salamanders. She went for the fish swimming in the lava. No need for a gun; just wait for one that weighed less than six pounds, pull it over, stab it, clean it, cook it on a rock.

By the time the fish was cooked and the water was cool enough to put back in her canteen, she realized she had made a silly mistake.

She had gone and survived for ten minutes.

Sara gave a little smirk, and decided she could live another ten, so she may as well use them finding herself some shelter...

[Volthawk]

David took a few moments to assess the new situation before shrugging and grinning under the suit. Clearly the light was some kind of phenomena that transported him far away to this place. Wherever it was, it clearly rather different from home - new life everywhere, perhaps even the underlying traits of the planet differ from Earth (if indeed he is on another world - his mind comes up with many different explanations, but the alien planet one seems sufficient for now). This needed further investigation. Oh, how exciting!

Oh, and he needed to survive. A minor concern, however. His form with increased size made gathering plants and catching larger creatures easier, while his small form helped get into more difficult spaces to chase smaller targets (also having the side effect of being more tempting for predators - at least, until they figured out that he was at least as strong and tough as them, if not stronger. Or he went big on them. That worked too), and his extensive knowledge was helpful in using the gathered supplies - he stayed away from the plants he suspected to be poisonous for now, until he discerned which were safe to eat, focusing on the animal's meat for now. It seemed to rain fairly regularly, and in any case there were ample streams and ponds here to get water from, so he was happy in that regard. It was all enough to satisfy his increased metabolism (a side effect of his tinkering) and began the process of looking as this new world scientifically.

A hollow in one of the great trees - the previous occupiers apparently gone - providing him with shelter and a place to keep his work safe and dry. Luckily, having gone underground as part of his investigation, he'd brought note-making equipment in the hopes of getting some hard data on the phenomena. He was getting that and more, oh yes. First of all, he got to work gathering samples of every apparent species in the area. The matter of taxonomy and species relationship was undergoing rather interesting work at this time, and Cooper had kept abreast of these new ideas and theories as they came along. Fascinating stuff, but for this scenario he needed some work of his own - he didn't know how much the underlying principles of their understanding of evolution and relationships even applied here, so he focused on the basics and then kept going from there. Soon, his supply of notes wasn't enough, but the wood of the great trees, burnt into charcoal and combined with one of the strange residues some produced made a substance that was serviceable as a pencil, somewhat like the charcoal pencils artists use (more precision than just scratching away with a hunk of charcoal like a savage, in any case). Soon, the entire hollow was covered in his notes, diagrams and maps as he tried to make sense of it all. It was difficult, though. Everything was just so...fantastical and illogical and strange, it made no real sense.

The small winged people troubled David. They never got too close to him, and he never could catch them to figure out what exactly they were or wanted. They were one of the big unknowns here. Were they sapient? Did they care about him? Should he be worried? Those kinds of thoughts, as well as the bigger more general ones about his future and home and whatnot, came to mind sometimes when he rested, but on the whole he was able to put them to one side. As time went on, the former thoughts overrode the later thoughts, and he soon barely thought about the old world, far too engrossed in this one.

[TekHed]

The first thing to do was panic.

"What the hell?" he said, as the shock of his situation hit him like a tsunami.

He scanned the horizon for any sign of his comrades, and found distressingly none. He knew of magic. He'd heard rumors of strange places, but his actual experience with the paranormal was quite recent. He startled at the sight of the small...person? Enough to quickdraw his pistol at it, but then it was gone. Aether-Ray scans revealed the network of tunnels, but if there were any more of them, the first had passed along the word to flee.

The sky was beautiful, but the air itself was thin, and still. He wasn't especially thirsty, but he knew he soon would be. He'd tried his hand at the Boy Scouts when they first started up in the States, but it was all a bit too ra-ra for his tastes. Still, he remembered a few of the things he'd learned, and one of them was that water always flowed downward to the lowest point. That green below looked worthy of investigation...

He'd noticed his powers had been growing steadily stronger since he'd really started to exert himself in France. Sending a massive spark of energy through his legs, he vaulted high into the air, much further and higher than he ever had before. At the apex he held out both hands, emanating crackling electrostatic globes that slowed his descent, transforming it into a horizontal glide. This combination of traversal allowed him to soar to the bottom of the peak in exceptional time.

Unfortunately the greenery turned out to be only patchy shrubs, and dry lichen. This wouldn't do. He sat, dejected upon a rock, pondering his seemingly hopeless situation. After a while of utter stillness, he heard a noise to his left. Resisting the urge to look, Sascha instead tried to view it through his peripheral vision. There were several of them this time, staring at him.

Slowly, he turned his head. They bolted beneath the ground. He saw them scatter into the tunnels...all save one curious fellow, who soon poked it's head back up. Upon closer inspection, he saw it wasn't quite human in appearance. It's eyes were large and dark, and slightly bulging. It had rather large ears for its size, slightly elongated, and its hands, and presumably feet were tipped with powerful claws for burrowing, like a badger.

The two just stared at each other for a long time, barely blinking. Slowly Sascha reached up and mimicked nibbling...the universal gesture for sustenance. It cocked it's head and blinked at him, then said something in a strange language, high pitched as one would expect from a small creature.

"I don't..."

The small being uttered a minor rant of unintelligible syllables, burrowed back into the ground away, popped its head up again, and beckoned.

"Follow you? Okay..."

He walked for near as he could tell an hour, following the burrowing trail as it meandered through the twisting ravines, the tiny being occasionally checking to see that he was still behind.

Finally it lead him to a cave, one well concealed from all but the narrow approach. It bade him enter, but seemed reluctant, possibly even scared to enter itself. Sascha drew Zeus's Wrath, it's copper-coiled grip comforting in his hand. He adjusted his vision as the light dimmed, going deeper into the tunnel. Soon, softly glowing moss began to appear on the walls, leading him into what seemed a wide spiral down into the earth.

Finally the tunnel opened up, and he found himself in a cavern most luminous. Water trickled down the phosphorescent walls, dripping off of stalactites into a pool, itself teeming with bioluminescent life, which Sascha determined to be some alien form of electric eels. Most strange of all, an obelisk, carved with absolute geometric precision into a natural alcove. No moss grew upon it to obscure the alien hieroglyphs etched into the stone, with edges so precise no mortal could have made them.

The water proved potable. The eels a source of food. Here he would make his camp.


*****

Many days had passed, how many it was impossible to say with the never changing sky. Each day he would walk in a direction until he had to sleep, and would return upon waking back to the cave. Then he would set out again in a new direction. Sometimes, his small friend would accompany him, and other times be nowhere to be found. Sascha had taken to talking with to the creature, who he'd christened "Mr. Tuft." regaling it with tales of glory about the New York Yankees, or what a dame Vivian Leigh was in Gone with the Wind. Mr. Tuft never had much of note to say.

When he'd circled around to the first, he went out for two sleep cycles. Then a week, in every direction. His powers allowed him to travel quickly, and he had begun to close in on the volcanic activity he'd seen when he first arrived. When he at last returned, hungry and haggard to the nourishing cave, he felt the final reserves of his resolve ebbing away. As he had done countless times before, he fell into a fitful sleep beneath the alien obelisk, dreaming of his lost life, his lost friends, and April...

[Hyperbolic sine]

Alistair's first thought was that one of the sorcerers had cast some sort of illusion spell and thus nothing of what he was seeing was, in fact, real: such a place could not exist, after all.

Neither can immortals or people able to bend gravity to their will.

Shaking his head, he drived that thought away. His powers didn't seem to work very well either: that had to be a sign that it was all an illusion, had it not?

...

Ten minutes passed, and the spell didn't seem to wear off, despite all of Alistair's mental efforts. Then another ten. When half an hour had passed, he had no choice but to admit that that wasn't an illusion. And I promised myself I would have not labeled as impossible anything anymore. He was stranded in some otherworldy region. With floating mountains and pegasuses. And he was alone.

Ok, Alistair, calm down. Think. What do I have with me?

Mechanical tools. A first aid kit. A couple of pens. A flashlight. A gun, seven bullets. A practically empty agenda. His wallet. Half a bar of chocolate.

"How wonderful. I should have insisted for that tea." he mutters sarcastically, as he starts moving to search for the most important thing: water.

...

It took "only" a two hours trek to finally find a stream, but at least its waters seemed clean. After refreshing himself, he finds a spot to rest under the shade of a tree: his body was telling him it was time to sleep, even if in that world it wasn't night - a jet lag of sort, for a lack of better terms. Thinking about what happened to his teammates, what will happen in the real world without him (and possibly them) opposing the Nazi, whether he will ever find a way home or if he'll die in that strange world, he slowly loses consciousness...before suddenly waking up struck by an idea: he reaches for the agenda and a pen, starting to scribble something before finally falling asleep soon after finishing.

Day 0
My name is Alistair Quinn, and I was stranded on this world today, the 18th of June, AD 1940. I write this in hope that, even if I perish here, this diary will eventually get back and to my family and former colleagues.

[Follows a brief summary of the events that led to the world shift, and a description of the new world]

Gravity behaves strangely here, and my powers are stunted: I find it to be a reasonable assumption that the former is the cause of the latter, but I wonder if my powers are the reason I, and only I, was transported here. Survival in the wild will be difficult, but I'll try my best. Mother, Father, Alexander, Evelyn: if I don't make it, know that I love you, and I am sorry I lied about going to America. I hope Britain won the war.

Day 1 (?)
Nothing ate me last "night", I suppose it is a success. There seem to be no day-night alternance here, though it might simply be very slow. It is too soon to speculate. My wristwatch still works though, so I think I'll be able to keep track of time. Today, I shot one of those strange birds and cooked it: it tasted like chicken, and if it's poisonous I have yet to show the symptoms. I'll have to build some sort of weapon soon though, because I am down to five bullets: I had to use a bit of gunpowder for the fire. Found a small cave to sleep tonight.

[...]

Day 4
Built a sort of sling with tendons, and some parts I had in my toolkit. With a bit of help from what remains of my powers, it appears ti be a valid alternative to my pistol: just in time, as I have only two bullets left. All creatures here fly, so melee weapons are sub-optimal, but they don't seem afraid of man either so that makes things easier. On the other hand, it means I am really alone here. Also, I finally don't need gunpowder anymore to help the fire burn, as I learned what kind of trees burn better.

[...]

Day 6
Finally found a cave with a narrow entrance that I can block with a boulder. Now I will not have to sleep in fear of being eaten...not as before, at least. I shall make this my home, as it takes only twenty minutes to get to the nearest water stream. Also, natural (?) lighting keeps being constant.

[...]

Day 10
Today I found a wounded pegasus: it had a broken wing and injuries that probably resulted from the fall. I intended to kill it, but then it occurred to me that maybe I could have it develop affection for its savior and gain a mount. I cannot afford to let anything than can help my survival slip by. The creature was unconscious, so I tended to the wounds and stiched the wing and a leg at the best of my capabilities. Guess that medkit ended up being used earlier than I thought. I am no veterinary surgeon though, the creature will have to rely mostly on its own resilience to heal.

Day 11
The pegasus did not make it - massive internal trauma, far beyond my capabilities to treat. Regretful, but I at least obtained a couple days worth of food from the meat I managed to recover. I wish I knew to work leather, though. Interestingly enough, judging from the creature's teeth pegasuses are actually carnivorous.
By now, I also estimate a 20% uncertainty on the day count.

[...]

[Day 13 is missing]

Day 14
Yesterday (or the day before? I think it is wise to increase the uncertainty on day count to 30%) my lucky streak ended and I ate a poisonous herb. It does not seem to have had lasting effects, but I was in excruciating pain until a few hours ago.

[Follows a rough sketch of an herb, with a "do not eat" annotation]

[...]

Day 17
I think I have trained my survival skills enough: tomorrow I will leave this mountain and go to explore the next. And I shall not stop until I find a civilization or a way to return home.

[Nintendogeek01]

So everyone who doesn't already know, you've all earned the hero point I was offering. So everyone should have 2 hero points. If you haven't been tracking them, remember that I've set up a note in the eduPad that I'm using to keep track.

Anyways, this upcoming part could get confusing once we get a few posts in, if you're not sure which part you need to respond to, every part will have a header indicating which character is being focused on, so just focus on that if you get lost within the next few posts.
Location of James Swift

It must have been several days by now, the beard was a show of that, and still there seems to be little sign of finding a way out of here; Chuck has carried you to a river of flowing water that divides the icy ground rather neatly, almost unnaturally neatly for that matter, not that this deters Chuck from going to get a drink once you dismount to look around. The snow and aurora lights are still present but less prominent than they have been. Still no matter how many times you mark your trail or how long you ride on Chuck's back you could never shake the impression that you are, at least to a point, going in circles... in fact now that you think on it, landmarks you could have sworn you passed by sometimes seemed to be gone once you looked back over your shoulder... hm... no that mound of snow is still there. And what's more... you feel cold but you don't feel sore or worn down like you would've expected such extreme cold to make you... God this place makes no sense!!!

"GROAR...!!!" your thoughts are interrupted by the anguished cries of Chuck, snapping your attention to see the icy bear being carried off in the jaws of... something absolutely massive... it's a wonder that it can swim in that river at all whatever it is! The small space and large size appears to be no encumbrance to it as it disappears under the river water... great... now Chuck's dinner for something on top of everything else.

"Oh... poor creature," a soft womanly voice draws your attention to the freezing cold water, where what must be one of the most beautiful women you've ever seen with blonde hair and the deepest bluest eyes you can recall ever seeing appears to be floating in the water, buoyant at waist height, showing that she is wearing a toga as white as the ocean spray, a toga with an opening showing the curvature of her chest. Soon enough her gaze turns to you, and she looks at you inquisitively, "You..." she exits the water, pressing a bare foot to the icy ground to climb up before she walks over to you, dauntless of the fact that she is approaching a complete stranger with no apprehension whatsoever, "You feel..." she stops a little more than an arms-length away from you and just observes you.

After a very awkward silence she looks you straight in the eye, smiles softly and speaks, "Greetings stranger of form, I am of the Undine, you seem tired and lost, whereas I am on a quest that I believe you may yet be able to help me with, so pray... aid me," she beseeches you, "Aid me and I in turn shall aid you, so first a question, before you found yourself between the Reaches of Water and Air, were you among companions?"
____________________________

Location of Curve

You know... it'd be easier to tell how long it's been if the DAMN SKY WOULD CLEAR UP!!! Seriously, time is fuzzy to you on so so many levels due to the unchanging atmosphere above you and also partly because of something else weird you've noticed; despite being hot and burning you have barely sweat all that much, in fact at this point you can almost get more fluid from the boiling water than you ever lose to sweat. While on the subject of peculiarities (besides everything else about this place that is), you could swear that the distant landscape was slightly different each time you looked out.

Oh great... it's one of those tiny hot as hell salamanders again, though this one is much more brave than the rest of them have been, normally they just turn up the heat before skittering away from you, but this one seems to just be standing there staring at you; just like that second one behind him, and the third through fifth ones behin... hey wait what the hell!? You suddenly notice that a whole lot of salamanders are now in formation staring straight at you, stopping several feet away from you forming a line that would make some armies jealous, and soon enough you think you know why.

The lava creek churns and bubbles behind them as the salamanders split their formation and form a straight path down the center of them, and soon a large claw emerges from the lava creek, and behind it a large dark-skinned lizard with glowing orange spots and stripes decorating its hide crawls out and looks straight at you with glowing orange eyes. It travels a short way down the path the little tiny salamanders made for it but stops before it gets too close to you.

"Hmmmmmmm..." it seems to be... studying you, and "hm-ing" while it does so, "It is not you I seek, though a stranger within the Reaches all the same," yup it can definitely talk, and much more clearly than you would have thought a lizard could talk. It slightly rears up, giving you a full view of its impressive stature, "Hear me stranger! You may call me Salamander, for I am among their greatest and so I am! I shall give you questions, you shall give me answers. Answer me true I will repay you with aid! Answer me false and I will repay you with fire!" it declares proudly as flames spew from various points of its body.

"Were you alone before coming betwixt the influence of fire and water?" he asks.
________________________________

Location of The Human Dynamo

"Didja haf ta feed 'im tha lit'el fellas en tha pool?"

Your brain still groggy from your latest sleep, your ears seem to catch wind of someone talking, your vision slowly comes into focus to see Mr. Tuft talking to... a very small and squat little man? Snapping awake and sitting up you can get a better picture of this guy, maybe about... three feet tall with short and stubby limbs, a big nose and big ears and what's more, he appears to have skin much like gray stone, with patches of moss forming a mess of hair on top of his head and long sideburns.

"Oi! Awake now ar ye?" he seems to take notice and gives you a big old grin, "Ah well if not take yer time, I don' think wa'ever I'm lookin' fer'll be goin' away too soon after all," the tiny stone man tells you, sitting down cross-legged, "Ye can call me Gnome, I hail from Earth und Faerie, so look ye were a right pleasent guoi ta me friend over 'ere in the place Earth and Fire reach into each other, so I'll gladly 'elp ye out if ye answer me a few questions," Gnome explains to you.

"Ye didn com 'ere alone did ye? Were ye with any'un before?"
____________________________

Location of Alistair Quinn

This has to be the most precarious hiking trip ever... of all time; the winds might be pleasant but they're still strong and that makes traversing the floating paths tricky, especially for those moments you have to jump. Eventually though you come to another floating mountain cap that provides you with a bit more ground to walk on for at least a little while.

As you explore it to get your bearings you happen upon a large bird perched on a cliff, overlooking the vast open sky that dominates the majority of what you can see, oh the uses if you can capture that bird. You slowly approach it, but then literally out of nowhere a woman with platinum blonde hair, green eyes, flowing robes and absolutely stunning green/blue butterfly wings appears in front of you and presses you to the nearby cliff face, "No no you mustn't!" she squeaks out to you.

Before you can object a massive shadow darkens the area and by the time you notice this an absolutely titanic bird talon grabs the large bird you were looking at earlier, a talon that connects to what is easily the most massive bird or creature you have ever seen in your natural born life, hell it could probably push Swift's airship to the side with just a flap of those massive wings! As it swoops away the wind trailing behind it catches up and threatens to sweep you off of your feet were it not for being pinned to the rock face, and you can still feel the air being pushed in your direction as it flaps away.

"The Roc was hungry, you might've been the appetizer too, hee hee..." the young lady releases you and flutters back, "Hello, you're from somewhere else right? Somewhere outside the border region of Air and Earth? Outside the Reaches? Outside the rest of this whole place? she bombards you with questions while flitting around you, "They said so at the Citadel! They know everything at the Citadel! They said I needed to do something! They said you could help me! They said you needed help too! Oh I know! Help me and I can take you to the Citadel later! They know everything!" this little girl is really insistent, "Call me Sylph! Now please tell me, did you have friends? Oh! Can I meet them?"
__________________________

Location of David Cooper

Another trek out to investigate this place, and this particular trip has given you a reason to wonder about your mapping data. Sure it was pretty illogical as is but you went to check a path you traveled earlier, well you want to say yesterday but time has gotten so fuzzy here you can't be sure, only to find that the already vague path has been replaced by grass and shrubbery. Confounding! How are you going to report these findings if no path seems to exist? Much less a path back to mother England.

As you make your way back to your tree you notice that the wildlife around you has become incredibly scarce, in fact it's almost non-existent.

"Hmmm..." a sound all too familiar to you around the lab table reaches your ears as you near the entrance to your tree, cautiously peeking in you see what is probably the most out of place creature in these woodlands, a fellow man.

The man is dressed in gray suspenders and a white dress shirt, apparently part of a suit piece that has long been discarded, besides his formal and out-of-place dress though the man has dark hair and a fierce pair of mutton chops, under one arm he seems to be holding some sort of book, his free hand placed to his chin as he studies the numerous notes you've scrawled on the inner walls of the tree hollow.

"Most observant..." he remarks out loud, apparently unaware of your presence. "A shame though, I had hoped that there might be..." at this point he turns around, and his piercing steel gray eyes focus on you, though his face does not reflect any amount of surprise or shock; it's as though those eyes are studying you, "Ah, I apologize I was slow to notice you," he says politely, "Are these your no-" he pauses as he looks at you more closely from where he's standing, "Wait, I know about you, you're David Cooper are you not? I should have recognized you right away," he chuckles with bemusement, "Ah and I forget my manners," he approaches you and offers out his free hand, "Robert Mercer, Parapsychologist, a laughable occupation not even a half-decade ago I know, but I'm sure you can imagine the demand for my field nowadays I'm sure," he attempts to converse.

Whether you shake his hand or not he relaxes his posture, "So tell me how did you end up here?"

[The_Admiral]

James kept staring at the spot Chuck was just snapped up from, he liked Chuck dammit.

Shocked out of his staring by the voice he turns his attention to the woman approaching him, hand on the knife in his Jacket as she approaches.

".......yes, I was, why do you ask?" he replies, eyeing her warily.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara hadn't bothered drawing her gun when the salamander approached. She did when the whole army of them showed up, although she didn't fire. That was...not a favorable targets to ammunition ratio.

When Salamander stepped forward, she relaxed incrementally, keeping her weapon in hand but pointed at the ground and with her finger off the trigger. Frankly, it was pleasant just to have someone to talk to again. Even if it was a giant fire lizard who may or may not burn her face off and eat it (not necessarily in that order).

She stayed silent as he spoke, until he asked his question. Answers for aid...all things considered, it sounded like a deal in her favor at the moment. She would have to be cautious though. She still wasn't convinced this wasn't some sort of magic trick. This place didn't seem real. Making her believe she was trapped on some other world, giving her some time to stew and despair, and then sending a helpful figment with promises of aid sounded like an awfully effective interrogation technique.

However, the initial question seemed harmless enough. The wizards already knew she had been with others. "No," she replied simply.

Then, after a moment's thought made her realize the response could be taken as refusal rather than answer, she elaborated, "I wasn't alone before I arrived here."

[Volthawk]

The newcomer's arrival is met with a large dose of caution. For one thing, the look at Cooper's face that let him be identified is all that Mercer gets, as the suit envelops his face once again, presenting the other man with an inhuman insect-like face. He spends another minute or two watching and examining, ignoring the offered hand, before nodding and speaking. "Yes, I am David Cooper. What were you hoping to find in my notes?" He sounds distracted, his mind elsewhere and still digesting his findings in the last trip, and working out how this man's presence may or may not work into it all. "Where did you come from? I've had the area scouted often, so you must be newly arrived from elsewhere."

[Nintendogeek01]

Earlier I mentioned that this part might get confusing a few posts in, mostly because in order to keep the feel of conversation going I'm going to reply to posts already up, even if not everyone has posted yet.

So as not to leave everyone too far behind I'll only stay one post ahead of everyone else at most (so Quellian, Volt, and Admiral; if you guys reply this time around you'll be waiting until Tek and Hyperbolic reply/time-out), and again, if you're unclear on what you need to focus on I'll be separating everyone's part with a heading.
Location of James Swift

"Ah, please allow me to explain stranger," Undine says before continuing, "There are rare instances when strangers similar in form to you appear within the Reaches, having gotten lost from whence they came wheresoever it may be, and ordinarily no cause for alarm nor for Leviathan to be so agitated," her eyes wander a bit, as if trying to spot something but she eventually returns her focus to you, "Where do you hail from good stranger? Is there something I may call you? 'Tis most cumbersome to refer to you as a stranger now that we are standing here and talking," Undine asks you.
____________________________

Location of Curve

Salamander's eyes seem to be studying you as your answer his question, but his head then turns to the horizon and the horse-sized fire lizard crouches low to the ground, "Get down stranger if you value life!" he practically snaps, and soon enough it's apparent why, as a massive shadow eclipses the already dimly lit area, trailing a blanket of hot air behind it, and casting that shadow is an absolutely massive four-legged reptile with thick leathery wings, a long whip-like tail, and horns that seem reminiscent of a crown on top of its elongated head. It touches ground with a thud that you can feel even from the incredible distance it lands, it's ashen-scaled body rippling with powerful muscles highlighted by the glowing red between its scales. With an earth-shaking roar it bellows out a humongous gout of flame that decimates the already barren landscape in front of it, the lava spouts firing off streams as if to applaud this act of might before the mighty beast flies away.

"The Dragon grows restless, as do many of us from the Realm of Fire," Salamander remarks before turning back to you, "But you are not the cause, I believe you answered honestly, what shall I call you stranger?" Salamander finishes, awaiting your response.
________________________________

Location of David Cooper

"I was mainly looking to see if you'd found any sign of a trail back to our world," Mercer answers your first question right away, "You see, I was investigating the unexplained disappearances that have occasionally occurred ever since the Aurora Lights," as he speaks he walks in front of the walls of the tree, very slowly traveling with the direction, or directions as the case may be, of your notes. "Interviews with family and friends, investigating locations where they went missing, questioning the ones that claim to have disappeared but returned, some of those fellows came back with Parahuman ability you know. In any event my investigations took me outside Edinburgh and, like previous locations I did feel as though I was being watched but this time there was one key difference."

He stops in front of your notes about the Ecology of this place, "As I walked my surroundings grew steadily more surreal, and almost before I even realized it I was surrounded by these magnificent trees, and retracing my steps did nothing to return me to where I was," he sighs, "As for how long ago this was that is difficult to say, there does not appear to be much in the way of a day or night cycle here, what was your experience like coming here?" he asks.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara was military. When someone yelled to get down, she got down. It was a reflex.

Her eyes got...very, very big as she saw the Dragon.

She looked down at the pistol in her hand, and then back up at the thankfully-distant one of the most powerful creatures of myth as it loosed a gout of flame that had put the volcanic geysers she had encountered to shame.

...Gulp.

A lot of people would have lost all their focus at that, would have babbled just about anything to get away from such a monster as fast as humanly possible. But Sara was trained for combat, trained to make split-second decisions with bullets flying all around her and artillery exploding in every direction. It would take more than that to break Sara's nerve.

"Call me Curve," she said, deeming it a fair compromise. Her scattered knowledge of the occult involved something or other about True Names and magic-folk being able to use them to do bad things to people. Or something like that. Sara didn't know the details, but if this was some sort of interrogation spell, giving her actual name seemed like a poor idea.

If it wasn't, giving a false answer seemed equally unpalatable. Her codename, then, would suffice.

[The_Admiral]

After these few minutes, James decided that this level of paranoia would get him nowhere, extending a gloved hand, he says, "Sorry, ah forgot mah manners Miss, mah name's James, ahm from Earth, what would you like me to call you, miss? And if yah don't mind me asking, what did you mean when you said I feel......" as he too keeps an eye out, band gripping tighter on his walking stick/shovel.

[Hyperbolic sine]

After being alone for a long time, being suddenly pushed and then bombarded with question left Alistair stunned and speechless for a good while, as he tried to precess everything that was happening: the giant bird didn't even make the impression such a creature ought to.

"Well, th- *ahem*" Alistair clears his throat to restore his voice to normal from the low, hoarse sound that exited his mouth after weeks of silence. "Well, then, thou hast my deepest thanks for saving me, Miss Sylph."

Intelligent life. A civilization. A way home.

"I am Alistair Quinn, and I indeed hail from a place beyond these...Reaches." he continues, bowing politely. "I had friends, but I do not know whether they were brought here too: if they were, I have yet to meet them. Now, tell me: what can a powerless human such as I do to help thee?"

Reach the Citadel. Return home.

[TekHed]

Well, this turn of events wasn't really any more strange than the last few months had been, but to hear another sapient voice besides his own feverish mumbling was quite a shock. Sascha bolted upright and hit his head on the ceiling of the low alcove he'd taken to sleeping under.

"Ah..." his voice croaked, parched for water. Warily he shuffled over to the pool, scooping some of the electrified water into his mouth. His clothes were tattered and his beard disheveled.

"Well then Gnome," he sat down cross-legged.

"I'm not exactly certain. I did have other companions...we were in a battle, there was a flash of light, and I woke up here. My friends nowhere to be found. I searched for them, but to no avail."

"What is this place? Not Earth..."

[Volthawk]

Cooper still watches the man cautiously, but he begins to ease up slightly. The story makes sense, so he slowly nods. "Yes, a similar story, London for me. Disappearances in the underground tunnels, you see. Then when I'm down there? Light, a bright light. Naturally, I investigate, and when I can see again I'm here." He thinks some more, facing the exit to the hole and looking out onto the new world. "Haven't found a way out. Have the suspicion that the landscape is altering. That or it exhibits sudden bursts of growth." Another pause. "Noticed the wildlife? It's missing."

[Nintendogeek01]

I laughed way too hard when Admiral and Tek's choice of words mentioned being from Earth.
Location of James Swift

When you offer your hand she looks at it as though a bit puzzled, but eventually she gently takes both of her hands, one to hold yours, the other to gently caress it, "I am of the Undine, so that is what I am, and what you may call me if it so pleases you James," she replies, "You are from the Realm of Earth then? You do not much resemble the few I've met from there, but then I rarely have cause to leave the Realm of Water," Undine responds to your answer.

"This also answers your question James," she gently takes your hand to guide you closer to the water, "You simply feel different from others in the Realm of Water, but if you are from another part of the Reaches then it simply must be because I have not known enough from the Realm of Earth," the woman concludes.

"I am on a search for a darker presence all of us in the Reaches felt some time ago, or one of a few darker presences," Undine explains, wheeling around to face you, "If it pleases you to accompany me through the next realm I intended to search, I can bring you to the Realm of Earth, I am sure that whichever of the Fae you hail from have missed you terribly," Undine offers.
____________________________

Location of Curve

"Curve..." Salamander stays belly to the ground but is moving his tail around more casually than he was while the Dragon was nearby, in fact that tail seems to be pointing to his back "... Salamander is true to his word, climb on my back and I shall take you to the City of Brass betwixt the realm of Fire and Earth," Salamander offers, the patterns on his skin lose most of the glow, "I must detour through a realm I have not yet searched, but you will be brought to a place more hospitable to you who are not born of this realm" Salamander explains.

"Until we arrive, let us speak more, our tales of struggle and triumph shall while away the time spent in travel," you could swear you can almost hear pride welling up from the Salamander's voice.
________________________________

Location of The Human Dynamo

You notice a bit of a low rumble in the ground, it doesn't seem to bother Gnome though, "Naaaahhh... nae quite Earth, we're between Earth und Fyre, a lit'le closer ta Fyre," Gnome responds to your question, "I meself wuld'a been 'appy jost stayin' in Earth und Faerie playin' with all me pals, but nae... bunch'a presences show up und all tha uther Faeries and even Giant are all riled up about a "dark presence," und now I need ta find it b'fore Giant tears up everythin' between Earth und Wa'er, und she'd do it too, she gets a right nasty temper if sumthin buggin' 'er," Gnome goes on to elaborate.

"So friends eh? 'Fraid I cannae say I saw anyun else 'round 'ere, but I'll tell ye wut mate," Gnome gets up and walks over to you, patting you on the shoulder while it's within his reach, "I've got ta keep lookin' fer tha' forebodin' presence or two or three, so why don' we walk und talk while on th' way to th' next place I wus gonna search, und if we still dinnae see ur friends I'll take ya tae the closest city I know of," he offers you, gesturing to another cave mouth which you could swear wasn't there during the last several days you were here.
____________________________

Location of Alistair Quinn

After you speak to Sylph there is a very... awkward silence for a moment while Sylph just hovers in front of you, then her face contorts as if she's trying to keep herself from smiling, then you hear a faint snorting, and then... "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA...!!!" Sylph bursts out laughing, and is flying through the air in front of you in wild loops while she does so, "You talk funny! AH HA HA HA HA...! she continues to laugh for a good bit before she catches her breath.

"Oh..." she winds down her laughter and finishes taking her breath, "Anyways, the ones at the Citadel told me you're not powerless! They hear everything and know everything! They think it's just that the realm of air is too free to be tied to your gravy or something like that, so it weakens your power!" she explains to you, though you get the impression that Sylph wasn't paying the closest attention to whatever she was told, "They said if we search in a place outside the Realm of Air, somewhere else in the Reaches, your power can help remove the ones who should not be here!" she says excitedly.

"They said there were two! But they did not hear more than that! They fear that even if the two who are not welcome don't hurt the Reaches that the Roc and the other great ones of the Reaches will hurt the Reaches trying to hurt the ones who are not welcome!" Sylph elaborates for you, more panicked than she previously sounded before, "So come on with me! We can fly to where they said I am most likely to find the ones who aren't welcome! I can fly you there! We get them! And then I take you to the Citadel! This is a great plan!" she says with all the enthusiasm of a bubbly schoolgirl.
__________________________

Location of David Cooper

"Hmmm... an entrance from London... a shifting landscape... that would fit with my experiences thus far, though I can't speak much for the wildlife, I've only observed any of it at a distance, and many of them resemble creatures from fairy tails," Mercer responds, clearly deep in thought. "Hmmmm... a hypothesis," Mercer begins, walking just outside the entrance to the hollow, "What if this place... this surreal realm... what if it was always here? What if the only thing separating it from our world is an immaterial veil over it, and on occasion... perhaps more frequently in recent years given the disappearances, on occasion that barrier thins and we can walk right into it, like... oh frames of reference are always so difficult when Paranormality is involved," Mercer muses for a bit before trying to continue his explanation anyway, "... like walking into the shallows of the beach at a low tide when we can see the sand normally covered by the ocean spray," Mercer posits, he seems to be using his free hand to gesture as if he were skimming his hand over the surface of water.

"But then once we enter that shallow spot, the tide comes back in, and we are trapped in with that sand," Mercer suggests, "Now bear with me a moment, I know this may seem like I'm reaching, but let us be honest we are talking about a discovery unlike anything the world has ever seen," he insists before continuing, "If our world can have multiple distinct locations for it to dip into this shallow, perhaps this world too has locations it may erupt into our own world," Mercer suggests.

"This is only a hypothesis, but I do not fancy staying in these glades any longer, fascinating though they might be, they'd be better researched by a team than by two men, two brilliant men true, but only two men who happened to wander in here," Mercer adds, "If you don't mind we could put these "shifting landscapes" to the test and see if we can't discover more about this world while we find the exit."

[The_Admiral]

"Realm? Oh.......no, I think there's been a misunderstanding, I am not fey, I am human, we just call our......realm, Earth, but I don't think it's the same Realm of Earth you speak of." he replies cursing himself, of course that place would exist, there was a realm of Water for crying out loud.

"Miss, as long as the next realm isn't as cold as this one, I would gladly." he adds.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Sara was...a little tentative, but after one more look around to consider the alternative...

Yeah, hopping onto the Salamander's back seemed like the better of the two options.

Her guard wasn't entirely down, though, and that offer to exchange stories of "struggle and triumph" sounded to her like an easy way to get her talking about potentially sensitive tactical information. So as she settled onto Salamander's back she replied, "I would be delighted to hear some of your stories." The pride in his voice made her think that it wouldn't be too hard to keep him talking.

Meanwhile, she'd consider some tales she could give him that didn't involve the war, in case he forced her to it. Not all of her struggles or her triumphs had begun with her landing in Europe, after all.

[TekHed]

"A walk? Honestly I'm so tired of traveling but any change would be better than this. How would you feel about riding piggyback? I can travel pretty fast, and get us where we're going sooner, if you can navigate."

Whether or not Gnome took him up on his offer, he circled back around to what he'd said...for starters something seemed lost in translation.

"No...I meant the planet Earth. It's made up of...well all of the elements if you believe in that sort of thing. I'm still not quite convinced that I've not gone completely mad and you're but a figment of my addled mind. But Earth...it's a giant sphere, a whole planet, that spins on it's axis and orbits a star in outer space...which means that sometimes it's light out, and sometimes it's dark. In this place the sky never changes. Never. So either I'm dead, hallucinating...or not on the planet Earth, anymore. And you...you're a Faerie? As in Mother Goose, Brothers Grim, Tinkerbell and Never-Neverland?"

After a moment, he added one more question to his pile. "If you didn't see anyone else, what made you curious if there were others who'd come with me? Am I one of your presences? Maybe the others might be my friends...and I certainly would not want them getting for up by a giant..."

[Hyperbolic sine]

Alistair smiles as he wait for Sylph to finish laughing: people usually just gave him weird looks, so ah honest reaction was a nice change of pace. She didn't seem to think much of it, anyway.

"I see...a beast hat size could certainly be cause of severe collateral damage. he mutters to himself. Also, it seemed his speculations about his loss of power were correct...and that people at this Citadel knew him. "Very well, I shall help thee: bring me where this threat is. Meanwhile, could thou please tell me more about this place?"

I wonder whether who invented the word airhead did so after having been here.

[Volthawk]

David again nods. "Yes, yes, you anticipated the next stage of the investigation well. The shifting is the next lead to follow up." He walks towards the exit of the hole, ready to emerge again. "The theory is interesting. Been keeping an open mind to the possibilities, a parallel plane is a strong possibility. It being another planet causes further questions to be posed, none of which have satisfactory answers. It being, hrm..." A small laugh. "magical is actually likely. Would explain the traits of local life, the possibile parallel nature, and the oddity of it all."

He then simply steps out of the hole, enlarging himself as he does this so that in the end he barely falls, standing tall and large. "This form is best for expeditions out, in case there are hazards. The wildlife is missing, which is...worrying. I imagine something must've scared them away. Something we may come up against. Do you have any special talents or equipment that may prove useful, even just weaponry?" Another pause, and this time David sounds more uncomfortable than he has the whole conversation. "It'd be fastest for me to carry you in some way - in shifted forms, I move something like twice as fast as a normal human."

[Nintendogeek01]

I had a lot... of fun with some of these... MUA HA HA HA HA...!!!

Oh but don't worry no actions are required on your part, just post how your characters feel and react and we'll get to the thick of this plot next post.
Location of James Swift

"Human...? Are you certain you are not from the Realm of Earth?" Undine seems quite confused before her eyes light up, "Oh, is this perhaps one of the fabled lands beyond the Eternal Shore? I have wondered if all strangers who end up lost here have come from there or not," she takes your hand and guides you close to the river, before putting about five feet between you two.

Slowly her skin loses and hair lose solidity and become fluid, before color fades to become the crisp sparkling clear blue of ocean water, and her legs fuse to become a long elegant tail, all the while she still remains incredibly beautiful, "Here," there is a slight echo to her voice as though it were coming from underwater, "I can swim us part of the way before we must travel by foot. fear not it is a location between the four realms, it should be warmer," before you can enlighten her on the non-aquatic nature of humans she gently wraps you in her now aquatic tail and dives into the water!

For as long as you can hold your breath you feel it is the end. You'll either die of hypothermia or drown... wait a minute... you're not exactly comfortable but... you're not freezing. And when you can no longer hold your breath you find that the water is not actually suffocating, sure you can't move as you would like but you can still breath perfectly fine. Even as Undine swims along at incredible speed you can't help but wonder...

What the hell is with this place!?
____________________________

Location of Curve

It seems this Salamander had the sense to turn off the fire on his body, he's still pretty hot to the touch but nothing you can't handle with the help of your barrier; what really takes you by surprise is how damn fast this thing runs! Salamander is not only about the size of a horse (or bigger) but also as fast, if not faster than one! The rock and lava streams immediately surrounding you just flies beneath his claws while volcanoes spurting their streams of lava grow smaller and smaller, looking in front of you it appears as though Salamander is blazing through a path only outlined by small hills of lava at its side and a cavern that he ducks into, and exits just as quickly, now running alongside a lava stream, but as he goes you can tell the fiery landscape grows less distinct and obvious... though in some ways it's harder on your senses as some landscape features seem to get subtly more surreal.

"We are going first to the realm between all four of the Elemental Realms, few of us in the Reaches take residence there for it is too much like the realms we do not call home to each of us, but I must search there to end whatever foul presence came to the Reaches!" Salamander explains to you as he carries you further and further away from that land of fire and lava, "The last time I ventured so far from the Realm of Fire was to battle alongside the Dragon in a mighty battle against the Giant! Though there was no clear winner that day I burned many a foe!" as he goes into detail about the titanic woman who wrestled the Dragon to the ground even while he rebuked her with mighty flame, and the many faerie who attempted to bring down Salamander himself, only to instead be reduced to cinders by the might of his flame!

After regaling you with that story he pauses and looks over his shoulder for a brief moment, "Any mighty battles to speak of Curve?"
________________________________

Location of The Human Dynamo

The rumbling in the ground continues as Gnome's expression grows increasingly perplexed. "Mo'er Goose? Grim Bro'ers? A land that was never? Lad I don' thenk yer dead but ye might be as addled as ye fear," Gnome remarks, concerned for your well-being. "I mean come on, who would live on a giant sphere? 'ow would ye keep yer balance and keep it from bowlin' ye over?" Gnome looks like he's trying to figure this out but eventually he throws his little hands up in the air, "Ah fergit it," he declares.

"Ta answer yer question, anytime one of ye tall fleshy things show up out o' nowhere everyone in the Reaches can feel it, it's a lot like someone stomping on the ground while I'm trying to sleep just below them," Gnome tells you, "Bu' ya... thar were more than one presence that fel' right nasty," Gnome explains to you, shuddering a little, "I'm sure if yer friends ar half as swell as you been ta me friends over 'ere it's not them, but Giant... she can be nasty when she gets angry. She's na easy to rile up but if this hunt fer th' creepy presence goes on too long she may start hurtin' all th' Reaches," he warns.

"So if yer serious about movin' but a bi' too tuckered out, I can help ye out thar!" Gnome thrusts his fingers into the solid stone ground, as though he were trying to work his fingers underneath something, and that something is a chunk of ground that you're resting on, which he soon hoists over his head, "Hope yer arms aren't tired 'cause we're takin' off!" the little mighty stone man shouts before bolting through that cave opening, carrying you and the stone chunk with it, and geez he's fast! He might even be as fast as you!

Soon enough you're outside on a mountain-side trail that winds around the mountain you're on for a bit before making a stone bridge to another mountain that Gnome seems to run along, and off in the distance you think you now know who Gnome's been talking about all this time... far in the distance is what looks to be a woman with a toned build in a patchwork of furs and leather who is as TALL AS THE SKYSCRAPERS IN NEW YORK!!! Each step she takes causes a tremor that visibly shakes the mountains in the distance ever so slightly, and she looks a bit cross.

"Oh thar she is, I thought she was closer to tha Earth side of this regin tho..." Gnome remarks from under the slab he's carrying you on. Just as he finishes saying that the Giant grabs a volcano from its sides and tears the whole damn thing out of the ground and hurls it in your general direction, sailing over you and impacting another mountain far in the distance on the other side of you, unfortunately the mountain was trailing lava and hot rocks behind it and you find yourself surrounded by falling lava and stone, which Gnome is somehow managing to carry you through with only a few near misses, "Hang on Lad! We're gittin' far from this region soon! I doubt she'll find any mountains to toss to tha place between all four realms!" he assures you... or tries to anyway.
____________________________

Location of Alistair Quinn

"Okay! Off we go!" Sylph waves her arms around and feel an intense well of air surround you, spin you around a lot before it lifts you up off the ground, Sylph then flies up into the air, and a gust of air sends you flying through the air in as ungraceful a manner as possible before another draft catches you and starts gliding you alongside Sylph, who is humming a merry tune and doing loops in the air that would make an airplane pilot jealous. She occasionally gestures in your direction and sends you through the air in similar loops but the multiple directions the wind has to blow to maintain your altitude has a tendency to make your limbs flail about uncomfortably.

"Oh right!" she claps her hands as though she remembered something... and drops you several feet through the void before the wind catches you again, "Oops! Sorry! I just remembered that you asked me something and I forgot to concentrate on the winds," she says sheepishly as though she had only dropped your mail or something... oh boy...

"This is the Realm between the Realms of Air and Earth!" she explains, twirling you through the air so you can get a good look around, "We're closer to the Realm of Air right now! And all of the Elemental Realms are a part of what we call the Reaches!" she tells you cheerily, "And we're going to a place between all four of the Elemental Realms! The ones at the Citadel told me that the other realms are already looking for these presences and that since the place between all four is uncomfortable for all of us that it will be the last place anyone has looked so far! So that's why we're going now!" she squeals out to you.

Eventually the flight become far less hazardous to your lifespan as you feel your powers slowly returning to you, still not to the level they are usually at but at least you can fly under your own power now.
__________________________

Location of David Cooper

"Well I'm a good shot with a pistol, and I have survived for this long," Mercer answers humbly, he doesn't seem particularly shocked by your growth in size, but definitely impressed, giving you the look that shows he's clearly thinking and studying, "If there is a place for me to hold onto closer to your ear I would very much like to continue our discussion," he suggests.

Regardless of how you choose to carry him Mercer will adjust his volume to continue speaking with you, "Before I found you I occasionally stumbled on vague paths, usually only outlined by plant life or hollows that go clean through trees," Mercer tells you, "I remember thinking about how much I wanted to find answers while traveling just before meeting you, so perhaps if you concentrate on finding someplace other than these forests we might be led out of here, just another hypothesis of course but it's worth testing is it not?" he suggests.

After a moment's silence he eventually speaks up again, "You know, it's funny that you mentioned magic earlier," Mercer says, "Among the first things I've investigated both before and after the Aurora Lights were related to the subject of magic, I've talked to many mages both charlatans and legitimate, in fact this book comes from one such mage," he says as something of an afterthought, referring to that book he's been holding ever since you met him, "Now where was I? Oh right... but at some point while interviewing them I've begun to wonder..."

"Magic is a word often used to describe a wonder happening before your eyes, but your mind has no explanation or understanding of how it works, its trappings, its rules, its logic, if you will. But as I continued my interviews and admittedly shallow studies into the subject of magic it became clear that magic does indeed have its rules, its laws, its own cost and effect, a certain logic to it really. So then, if magic is, contrary to popular usage of the term, bound by rules and trappings that can be understood with study, what then do we call the truly unknown?"

[The_Admiral]

After being done with his, 'I'M GOING TO DROWN' reaction, the next thing he did was attempt to talk, given that he could breath, this should be simple enough. "Miss, a little more warning would be appreciated." he sounded out hesitantly.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Once more, Sara considered the possible harm that could result if this were some weird form of magical interrogation. After a few moments, she decided the best option was to talk about the battle against Donar and the Valkyrie. The enemy had already had eyes on that fight, so nothing she could say would give them useful information.

"Biggest fight of my life was just several days ago," she said. "Against a man with great physical strength and control over lightning. He hurt my squad and killed one of them, and nearly killed me. But I managed to hold him off for long enough that one of my friends put a bullet in his mouth."

[Hyperbolic sine]

Against all expectations (but maybe not), it had been only the second worst flight of Alistair's life: the absolute worst was when he was learning to control his powers and practicing, because he had to it indoor - he stopped counting how many times he fell into the ceiling or the walls. Still, it had been a while since those days, and the lack of impacts did only barely raise the comfort.

"In...teresting." Alistair says, finally hovering under his own power and deeply breathing to counter the adrenaline surges Sylph's lift caused. "So...what is this Citadel?"

Hmm...Elemental Realms...The Reaches...I think I read something somewhere...

I finally remembered to roll Expertise (Magic)! [roll0]

[Volthawk]

Cooper nods, letting the smaller man take a position on his shoulder as he strode through the wilderness. He's quieter than the other man, listening and considering and putting how uncomfortable with the situation out of his mind. After a fair bit of time, he speaks up with his opinion about Mercer's last question. "The unknown."

[TekHed]

Sascha started as he was hoisted overhead. It took a bot of concentration to not lose his balance and fall off the teetering makeshift one-gnome palanquin he'd suddenly found himself on.

As the giant came into view he rubbed his eyes.

"I walked for weeks in every direction and I never saw this trail, nor that bridge, and especially not her. How could I have missed something so gargantuan?"

[Nintendogeek01]

James Swift

"Oh... I apologize," Undine responds to you, it's a good thing too, because if it weren't for you being dragged along and her response she'd be damn near impossible to see whilst in this river. "In which case, brace yourself, but fear not I shall make sure no harm comes to you," as soon as she tells you this Undine pulls you out of the river behind her in a mighty leap that breaks the water's surface! Her liquid form hits ground first and forms a sort of bubble that catches you and slows your descent to the ground drastically to the point that you only barely touch the ground before the bubble Undine formed of her own body begins to lift you aloft. You find for a brief moment that, unlike with the river water, you cannot breath within her aquatic body. This doesn't become an issue however in that she quickly deposits you onto the ground and reforms her normal body shape, shifting back to the humanoid form you first saw her in.

Looking around you see what looks more like a hole in the ground with water in it... which doesn't make a whole lot of sense because you could swear that you could see the sky through the river's surface the whole way to this location. Looking away from the hole you find yourself in a swamp. Mud already clings to your boots, and gnarled trees lean over the patchwork landscape of land mounds and murky water, all veiled in a mist that gives a visual clue to the heat and humidity; a mist that seems to part itself anytime your vision focuses on a destination, too bad the same can't be said for the slight wind that carries the stench of the swamp.

"This realm lies in between all four realms, this location is... not comfortable for me, but coming here was the wisest course of action it seems..." Undine seems more alert than before as she walks ahead of you. "The... unease I felt when the presences came to the Reaches... it is strong here, I must find it, and... bring an end to this," Undine breathes deeply, steeling herself before she begins to walk ahead, "Please Swift, stay close, I cannot in good conscience ask you to put yourself in danger, but the Reaches are ever shifting, a path back to you may not exist if I leave you alone," she advises before leading you deeper into the swamp.
____________________________

Curve

"Hm... I find it doubtful your man of lightning would match the Dragon, but few ever could," Salamander remarks before skidding to a halt, just stopping you both from sliding over the edge of a cliff overlooking a swamp. Gnarled trees lean over the patchwork landscape of land mounds and murky water, all veiled in a mist that gives a visual clue to the heat and humidity; a mist that seems to part itself anytime your vision focuses on a destination, too bad the same can't be said for the slight wind that carries the stench of the swamp.

"Hmmmm... this detour must go for longer Curve, for the foul presence bears on me stronger here, it may be within this realm between the four realms," Salamander says... almost... apologetically. He hops over the edge and skids down the cliff before beginning to move through the swamp, slower than before, more cautious. "I would relish seeing your strength against this presence if it so pleases you, but as this is not your battle I will not ask you for aid without promise of reward, I will need to think what would be suitable..." Salamander muses, his gleaming eyes peering around the swamp. "Regardless of your answer, I will still bring you to the promised destination when I am finished here."
________________________________

The Human Dynamo

Once Gnome has carried you well past the trail of lava and rock that fell behind the mountain Giant threw you finally hear Gnome breath out a sigh of relief, and he shouts up to answer you. "Wut? Ye expect 'er to jus always be in one place?" Gnome practically scoffs, "Giant does nae live 'ere lad, she prefers to be in the Realm o' Earth, nae between it und the Fyre Realm," Gnome explains as you enter yet another cave. "The Reaches'r always like this lad; vague paths tha' are nae always thar, landscape tha's nae always the same details, jus the basics remain th' same," Gnome tells you, "As long as ye know whare t' look und go in th' general way and want te... ye can get whar ye need ta go," he finishes explaining right as the cave opens up into an exit.

At the exit of the cave you find yourself in a swamp. Gnarled trees lean over the patchwork landscape of land mounds and murky water, all veiled in a mist that gives a visual clue to the heat and humidity; a mist that seems to part itself anytime your vision focuses on a destination, too bad the same can't be said for the slight wind that carries the stench of the swamp.

"Ooch... can ye feel it lad? Th' creepin' o' th' other elements?" Gnome shudders uncomfortably, you of course don't feel anything of the sort, but then again you're not a native. "Ooch... und wha's this? Oooohhh... I knew it. I can feel it lad, th' foul presence I felt some time ago," Gnome then turns to look at you, "Oi lad, I 'ate to ask this but I gotta find this presence, an' if I leave ye here I migh' nae be able te find ye, so do ye mind comin' wi' me?"
____________________________

Alistair Quinn

"Oh! The Citadel of the Four Winds!" Sylph squeals in delight in response to your question, luckily with your powers having returned, her losing focus on keeping you aloft is no longer a concern. "They hear everything there! They know everything!" she says rather excitedly. After an awkward silence though she sort of droops in mid-air and slowly turns to face you with a frown, "They didn't know what the presences look like though..." she moans, "But they know everything they hear!" she adds, immediately regaining the glee she had earlier. "When we catch the bad presences they'll say good job! Then tell us where you friends are! Then we can all be good friends and help you out for helping us out! This will be great!" Sylph flies in very complicated loops out of sheer joy around you, giggling and squealing the whole way.

Sylph eventually guides you down to below a bunch of leaves, giving you a clear view of the swamp you're hovering over. Gnarled trees lean over the patchwork landscape of land mounds and murky water, all veiled in a mist that gives a visual clue to the heat and humidity; a mist that seems to part itself anytime your vision focuses on a destination, too bad the same can't be said for the slight wind that carries the stench of the swamp. But on the bright side, your ability to lift yourself feels as strong as it ever was now... perhaps now your powers ought to work at their regular capacity.

"Got to be down here somewhere! We'll find it and win!" Sylph cheers excitedly before darting ahead of you before coming right back, "Ooops, sorry I forgot that if I get too far ahead the land might change and make it hard to find you again! Sorry!" then she darts ahead of you only slightly... slower.
__________________________

David Cooper

"I prefer to call them mysteries," Mercer replies, "And one day perhaps there will be no need for the word 'unknown.'"

A vague path of bushes and flowers gave way to directions pointed out by tree limbs and occasionally ducking through the hollows of other trees, or occasionally scaling cliffs with the help of tree root handholds. Occasionally Mercer points out something that was otherwise glanced over, and after a while of traveling the trees look less firm and tower-like, and the angles and contours seem less natural; but almost before your brain can work this out you realize that the scenery has changed completely.

You now find yourself in a swamp where gnarled trees lean over the patchwork landscape of land mounds and murky water, all veiled in a mist that gives a visual clue to the heat and humidity; a mist that seems to part itself anytime your vision focuses on a destination, too bad the same can't be said for the slight wind that carries the stench of the swamp.

"Well..." Mercer slowly climbs down from your shoulder to get a ground-level view, the mud audibly splooshing as his leg sinks about shin-deep into the murky surface, prompting Mercer to look to his feet for a moment, though he seems otherwise unperturbed. "This is certainly different..." his steel gray eyes scan the area, studying and observing the swamp in all of its murky and disgusting glory. While you take a look around you can hear Mercer slooshing around the swamp water, but by the time you look back down he seems to have disappeared... great... oh well... looking around is as likely to find him as it is to be informative.
___________________________

Your various guides from the various realms of the Reaches have all brought you to a land none of them call home, the second strange land to you. But after following your elemental guides to a swampy glade here you find creatures that embody three other elements, and with them your long-lost companions!

"What brings all of you here?" Salamander asks, clearly on his guard, "Curve... are these the friends you spoke of?"

"Oh oh! Gnome! Undine! Scary lizard!" Sylph shouts excitedly. "They said at the Citadel you might be looking around! I didn't think I'd see you here! Huh...! Are these your friends too!?" Sylph looks almost ready to explode with elation.

"Oh 'ey it's me friend Sylph! 'Ow 'ave ye been doin' lass!?" Gnome calls out with cheer. "So... are all of ye friends 'ere? What are the odds?"

"Oh my... have all of you been searching the Reaches too?" Undine asks. "Regardless... I hope these are your friends Swift, it would be well-deserved to find them after enduring such hardship."

Soon after this reunion a giant of a man, though not near as gargantuan as the great creatures each of you encountered, in a suit whose face-plate resembles an insect appears in the swamp alone. Before David Cooper are eight figures, half of whom look like creatures from myths and fairy tales, but the other half look human... in fact you recognize a few of them; either having examined them as per your job or looking at the medical files on Allied Parahumans.

"Ooohhh... not as big as the Roc but he's big..."

"Is this the foe I've been seeking!?"

"Be calm Salamander I do not feel the foul presence from him."

"Nah I dinnae think so."

Once greetings or explanations are done, a final figure enters the area, "Ah there you are Cooper... I should've thought better of wandering off when we'd discussed the possibility of a shifting..." Mercer stops in his tracks when he notices the intense stares of the other eight figures in the clearing. All of you who were at the Country House recognize this man, he was that member of the Pact that the Elder was calling Mercury! What's more... he's holding Svetlana's book! "Oh... you lot..." he sighs. He looks at everyone assembled and raises a hand out, as if asking someone to pause, "Now before anyone does anything hasty..."

"I feel it!!! It's him!!!" Sylph shrieks! Her form seems to almost fade from existence as she flies like a missile in Mercury's direction, the winds stirring up as she does so!

"I'll 'old 'im!!!" Gnome promptly sinks into the ground and a mere few seconds later his stony hands pop back up above the murky surface to hold down Mercury's legs.

"And I see you've met the residen..." before Mercury can finish what he's saying, in that same unflappable tone most of you have heard him speak in, Undine, in her watery form, wraps her tail around his head as a cyclone stirs up the fog and mud around him.

"Salamander! Help!" Undine calls out as Salamander's body becomes a lizard-like body of flame!

"Begone from here...!!!" Salamander's flaming body pounces upon Mercury, and a blazing cyclone is created upon making contact, leaving a swirling column of flame in place of where the new friends you've made were assaulting Mercury!

Okay guys, more RP reactions. I know I tried to cram it in a bit, but don't forget that you guys have had time to...


Talk with your respective guides
Reunite and talk after who knows how long
And lastly, reactions to the appearance and attack on Mercury.


So try not to leave these out... as for what comes next... oh wait I'm not supposed to tell you. :smalltongue:

[Quellian-dyrae]

"One good turn deserves another," Sara replied simply, not seeing any particular reason not to help Salamander. She wasn't exactly the sort to just stand back and do nothing while an ally fought.

--

Sara looked about the swamp with faint disgust evident on her face. "I can see why you don't come here often," she said wryly, frankly glad for her position on the great lizard's back.

--

Sara kinda blinked twice as she saw the others, each with their own elemental guides. That's convenient, she thought with a slender grin, hopping off of Salamander and raising her hand in a wave to the rest of her team. No Stigma though, she noticed with a frown.

"That's them, yeah," she answered Salamander. "Well, most of them, anyway."

--

Sara didn't feel particularly inclined to wait. Frankly, whether or not Mercury was the dark presence Salamander had felt was irrelevant. He was one of the Nazi scum mages responsible for getting her in this mess in the first place.

Given the numerical advantage, best play wasn't to try to bring the mage down personally, but to leave him open to attack from the others. So of course she aimed and fired straight at his head. Her bullet actually headed for a...significantly lower target.

Initiative: [roll0].

Move: Feint Mercury at [roll1].

Standard: Attack Mercury with Called Shot, Power Attacking for 4, at [roll2]. On a hit, Toughness DC 23 vs. Damage and Fortitude DC 18 vs. Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless Affliction.

[The_Admiral]

"Miss, ah've fought in the great war, ah've tangled with the Baron, ah can protect myself." he replies, following behind her, shovel raised.

---

His eyes narrowed as he replied to Sara's wave with a nod keeping an eye out as he made a silent headcount.

As Mercury appeared and was assaulted by their new friends he stood back, lacking any ranged options.


Perception for noticing stuff
[roll0]

[Hyperbolic sine]

That had to be the most unhelpful explanation someone ever gave Alistair: not only did Sylph not answer the question, but she didn't say anything she hadn't already. He sighs, convinced that asking further question would probably yield the same result: then she says something about the land changing, and curiosity wins over Alistair once again. "So dost thin- does your presence have a stabil- stop the land around you from changing?" he asks, trying to formulate the question in a way that even a child would be able to understand. At least the effort distracted him from the foul smell of the swamp.

----

Never Alistair had been so thankful for his ability to fly, as walking in a swamp is certainly not on his "things I'd like to do" list. Then he and his hyperactive companion reach a sort of glade, and his eyes widen with joy at the sight. "They are indeed." he replies to Sylph, then hovers towards his teammates. "I am glad to see you all seem healthy and unharmed." Did Stigma's absence mean she was not transported to the Reaches, or that something worse happened to her?

----

Good, the giant ant-man didn't seem to be threat Sylph had spoke of: still, given the elemental creatures' reactions it seemed like it was something foreign to the Reaches. "Who art thee? Art thou human?"

----

Alistair had no more intention to wait than Sara had: the more they stayed in the Reaches, the more the chances for his siblings to suffer harm at the hand of the Nazis. He smiles, raises an open hand in Mercury's direction and...nothing happens: meanwhile, though, at Mercury's back, a fist-sized stone starts floating in mid-air and then shoots straight for the man's chest.

Initiative [roll0]

Move: nothing
Standard: Power (3) attack Mercury with Gravitic Railgun at [roll1], on hit Toughness DC 26 vs [Bludgeoning] Damage. Ignores cover and concealment, and might catch him Vulnerable due to Indirect. If it misses, it's Homing 2.

[Volthawk]

Cooper was quiet for most the journey, just giving short responses to anything Mercer says. His mind was elsewhere, considering the wider questions on the world they were in and Mercer's earlier statements about magic. It was clear that there were more dimensions to this than he previously thought, things that he'd have to learn more about given the chance. He was a fast learner, though. That wouldn't be a problem. And then Mercer vanished. Annoying, given the nature of this land.

---

When he saw the others, he registered the recognizable ones in his mind, logging their names and abilities (as far as the information he could get access to covers - he'd wanted direct examination before, but hadsn't managed to get it with this group). At least one of them was willing to communicate, anyway, so he obliges, returning to human and commanding the suit to move away from his face. "David Cooper. Not an enemy, Quinn. Suppose this group was affected by the phenomena too. Native life excluded." Apart from that, he watched and waited, seeing how else would turn up and if he knew them. He was hoping these others would shet more light on the situation, but he'd have to wait and see.

---

The attack on Mercer caught David somewhat by surprise, and a quick judgement of the elementals he saw gave the result that he shouldn't try to stick his hand in there to get Mercer out. Furthermore, the other parahumans - who from what he'd read were loyal fighters of the Allies - were assisting. Clearly they knew something he didn't, so Cooper looks to one of the people not obviously attacking. "What's going on? Why is Mercer a target?"

[TekHed]

"I cannot" Sacha replied, drawing his pistol as they emerged into the ominous swamp. "Then again, I'm not from here, remember?"

"Where I'm from things actually make sense. Kind of." he muttered under his breath.

Soon enough they stumbled across the others, a sight for sore eyes if ever there was one. He noted some of them seemed haggard than others, but it was obvious to all who looked upon him that Sacha had wandered the reaches alone for a very long time.

Relief washed over him as he embraced his long lost comrades.

"I didn't think I'd ever see any of you ever again!" Relief soon turned to panic. "Where's April? She was with us when..."


~~~

They'd had little time to catch up when the giant and frankly frighteningly garbed man emerged from the mists, but he soon proved an ostensible ally. Then Mercer appeared and everything went to hell.

Sacha watched everyone spring into action at once, and he indeed drew his sidearm, but his wisdom prevailed over his impulsiveness for a change.

"Wait! Don't kill him! He must know how we got here...and how to get home..."

[Nintendogeek01]

While the others were focused on launching their pre-emptive strikes you watched, carefully. A moment before Mercury's body was obstructed from your sight by the flames, you saw him withstand the small object Quinn threw into his back, and the bullet that Curve planted into him being pushed out of its, rapidly closing, entry wound. Strangely enough he doesn't seem to react at all like you would've expected someone to from where that shot was planted.
"Because Cooper..." Mercury's voice echoes ominously around the area even as the blazing whirlwind continues to twirl, "I am, as always, bearing the weight of another's sin!" No sooner is that said a marvelous wave of bright colors travels up the flaming cyclone before exploding into an equally spectacular flash of light, washing out the entire area for several moments before the scenery returns to normal. When you can see once more the four elementals are standing, almost huddled together, but there is something different about each of them.

Undine's watery form is no longer crystal clear liquid, but instead her watery surface reflects a multitude of brilliant colors. Likewise the air immediately around Sylph resembles equally colorful dust that slowly falls from her wings. Salamander is, like the other two, spewing flames that are far more colorful. Gnome's stony skin seems to have gained an iridescence about it resembling the colors the others are more blatantly showing. All of their eyes are also glowing in the multitude of colors and their expressions have become stoic and unflinching.

"Honestly! The elementals I expected this from! As intelligent as some of them can be they are ultimately simple creatures..." Mercury is speaking with an uncharacteristic growl to his tone as the elementals step aside, enabling you to see Mercury. From a kneeling position he stands back up to his full height, all traces of clothing and hair burned away, and patches of burn scars covering his toned physique; burn scars that are rapidly shrinking. Miraculously the book seems unharmed. "... but what have I done to merit such a hostile response the moment we meet again!? It wasn't I who was too impatient to wait to redo what was supposed to be a scrying ritual into the Imageria! No it was Falkenrath's impatience that cast us all into the Reaches!" While none of you can claim to have known him for long, this bristling of his body language and the angry clenching of his face is definitely the most expression he's ever shown you to date, "Is it The Pact's association with Falkenrath perhaps!? A Nazi!? Understandable but again you are mistaken! While he certainly had his own agenda he was not with us for his warmongering racial purists, he was with us as a new member of the Pact! I know for a fact that he was not with us on behalf of his Nazis! So what!? Dare. I. Ask? Is left that would brand us enemies!?"

In spite of his very real rage, you manage to look past it and notice that, strangely enough, his yelling at all of you is more akin to yelling at misbehaving children.
Once he is finished yelling, Mercury takes a deep breath and regains his usual composure and looks to the Human Dynamo, "But... I am thankful at least one of you is willing to listen to reason. And let me first preface this with an apology to you Cooper. You see, if I revealed that I knew more of the Imageria than I let on that would prompt your suspicions, suspicions you could take back to the British Government that may cost me the moderately convenient respect and influence I have with them; but if I am to be faced with all of you..." he sweeps his hand in your direction to be absolutely clear he is referring to the people who were at the Country House, "... then I suppose it is best to clear the air a bit."

"You see Mr. Lorentz, I do indeed know how we got here. The Pact has had learning about the Imageria one of their prime objectives for a long time, and Falkenrath had the... necessary skill and power to enable the scrying ritual we had been concocting. But when you appeared to interrupt us Falkenrath got hasty and tried to cast the spell anyways. By all rights the improperly cast spell should have obliterated us, but instead it sent all of us here to the Imageria... the Reaches to be more precise," Mercury explained, "Now I do know 'of' two ways out, but the improper method that most of us entered here have made one of them impossible, and the second way is the only way out... however unreliable it is," his piercing gray eyes stare more intently at all of you, "Having said that... it occurs to me that while I have come here ahead of schedule, there is an opportunity to be had, so I have an offer for all of you," he says this as the elementals begin to spread out very slowly, looking in your direction, as if stalking you.

"I am afraid that I must leave the Imageria, but I plan to return, and when I do it would be most useful to have more information, something more easily available to you since I am, as you have seen, not welcome here. So, while I find the way out, I will need all of you to remain in the Imageria and... survey it. The Reaches, and beyond, and whenever I return, however long that may be, I will hear your reports then," as he says this Salamander's body once again more closely resembles flame while Sylph's image disappears from sight, even Curve's telekinetic touch cannot detect her. "You will be rewarded for your help of course, and though I would rather have your cooperation, I am prepared to be more... forceful if you will not help," he says as he gestures to the elementals now, whose faces do not show a trace of the new friends you made to get this far.

NPC Status:
Mercury: Normal
Undine: Normal
Salamander: Normal
Gnome: Normal
Sylph: Normal

Initiative Order - I Rolled for the people who hadn't already rolled.

Curve, James Swift (15)
Opponents
Alistair Quinn, David Cooper (19), Human Dynamo (8)

I sincerely doubt any of your characters would actually take this lying down so I went ahead and rolled initiative; I'm not saying you HAVE to fight if you don't want to. But if you do take combat actions do-so in your given initiative order. So right now on the likely chance you guys feel like taking this guy down a peg, it is Curve and James Swift's turn! Block initiative as always.

Also note that I'm not chastising you (Quellian and Hyperbolic), rather I was quite impressed by your prescience. So with that said: Mercury got a result of 19 against Curve's attack (thus bruising him), and a 27 against Quinn's attack (thus saved). Though bear in mind that due to the fire cyclone your characters only see how he's doing after the fact and not how he reacted to the attacks themselves. Oh and he regen'd the one bruise. As for the cyclone... too much effort to explain it to you guys. :smalltongue:

[Quellian-dyrae]

Curve | Normal | 2 HP | 4 Luck

Sara kept her weapon leveled steadily. "We're not staying here. If you don't work for the Nazis, you've earned yourself a one-time-only chance to not get a beatdown. Release the elementals, stand down, and tell us how to leave this place, or we will get forceful about it," Sara demanded, ready to unload a spray of bullets if he refused.

Move: Nah.

Standard: Ready an action. If further hostilities are initiated (by anyone on either side), Spread Shots on Mercury and the elementals. Dodge DC 18 for half, Toughness DC 23/19 vs. Damage. This is selective, so it won't harm any allies who might be or get in the cone.

[The_Admiral]

"SCATTER! Quinn, immobilise, Curve and Dynamo, take them down!" Swift orders, spinning the shovel in his hand as he struck at Mercury with it, retreating backwards and making a come hither motion, ready to fight.


power attack
[roll0]

DC 21

[Nintendogeek01]

THWACK

The shovel strikes Mercury across the cheek, forcing his head to face the left while his body remains unmoving. Despite the attack no significant mark is left on Mercury's face and he slowly turns to look at Swift with the same analytical and unfeeling expression as before while bullets curved around Swift, courtesy of Curve herself, as Swift dared Mercury to 'bring it on.' Mercury didn't bother to dodge out of the way of the bullets even as they stuck themselves into his flesh, however they were slowly pushed out of his body to plop into the mud while the holes they left behind closed themselves, "Very well... if you won't cooperate willingly..."

Gnome seems unresponsive to the bullets even as they attempt, and fail, to penetrate his stony skin, but he does react to Mercury making a casual gesture in the direction of the group. Gnome runs to the side after running far enough away, jumps into the air and curls up as if he were doing a cannonball into a body of water!

BAM

Mud flies and the ground rumbles, making it difficult to maintain balance for everyone except Quinn, who is flying, and Cooper, who is standing further away than the rest. Gnome himself is simply standing at his point of landing looking ready for action, but while everyone is trying to find their footing, Salamander, who simply stood where he was a moment ago and let the bullets pass through him, interposes his multi-colored flaming body between Swift and Mercury. As if this weren't enough for Swift, Undine appears right behind him, gracefully weaving through most of the bullets and paying no mind to the few that pass through her watery form, and swings her tail at his head! Luckily Swift manages to duck the attack even while teetering, but soon Salamander inhales and then breathes a massive gout of flame that threatens to engulf everyone except for David Cooper!

"Now Cooper... I hope you're the kind to form your own opinion rather than let it be colored by a small group of soldiers such as this," Mercury looks to David Cooper as he gestures towards the group with a shadowy glowing hand, and suddenly from nearly any angle imaginable a number of shadowy bands shoot out from the space around our heroes, save Cooper, and attempt to ensnare them in place! "I realize this may be sudden, but surely you can see the benefit to a more thorough survey of the Imageria," Mercury adds, his tone as even and indifferent as ever.

You guys: Yeesh Admiral, guy makes you a politely veiled offer/threat and you smack him upside the head with a shovel... which he saved against at 22. He failed the dodge against Curve's attack at 16, and the toughness save by one degree at 22. Gnome likewise failed the dodge at 13 but he did succeed the toughness save at a whopping 29! Undine made the dodge at 26 and was impervious to the reduced damage rank. Salamander cannot be hurt by that attack. So let's move on... wait what do you mean "what about Sylph?" Oh... you don't know. :smalltongue:

Okay this is important guys, be sure you roll for the following saves IN ORDER!!!

Gnome: He ran far enough to the side that the radius of the Burst-area affliction hits the ground-based heroes and no one else (well most of the ground-based heroes). So Curve, Swift, and Dynamo make DC18 dodge saves to reduce it to half effect. After which make DC18/14 Failure results in being dazed & vulnerable >>> stunned & prone; to overcome these afflictions you must make a Fortitude check of the same DC.

Undine: Rolls a 15 on the attack check, which will miss even if Swift winds up being vulnerable so nothing happens.

Salamander: Uses a cone-area damage effect on the heroes. DC18 dodge to reduce to half effect. Toughness save will be DC23/19 depending on your dodge roll! Oh and again, this applies to everyone except Cooper.

Mercury: Regenerated that one bruise. Uses a burst area affliction resisted by Will, dodge DC18 followed by a DC18/14 Will save! Failure will result in being hindered>>>immobile. Will to overcome the affliction. And once more, applies to everyone but Cooper.

Sylph: What? You're asking me again? You guys sure as heck don't know. :smalltongue:
On the off-chance anyone was curious, despite the fog and mud these do not provide any environmental penalties, the mud is too shallow and the fog seems to mysteriously part whenever you're focusing on what you want to look at. There are trees and a few small stones, but while they're very thick with leaves at the top the trunks are rather thin and only provide very modest cover if anyone felt so inclined.

NPC Status:
Mercury: Normal
Undine: Normal
Salamander: Normal
Gnome: Normal
Sylph: How would you know? :smallconfused:

Okay, the block for all players is now on! Post post post! Fight fight fight! Die die die!

...

<.<

>.>

Erm... I mean... look an insane mage and a bunch of elementals! *runs*

[Quellian-dyrae]

Curve | Dazed+Vulnerable (F18) | 2 HP | 4 Luck

Sara wavered some as the ground rolled beneath her, a bit off-balance, but not so much that she couldn't roll with the movement of the ground to avoid the brunt of the blasts of flame and magic. Flame was weightless; guiding it around her body was a trivial feat for her power, and after her time in the Reach of Earth and Fire, the ambient heat of convection was kinda small potatoes to her. The few mystical bindings that managed to get a hold of her she flatly denied, the binds shattering as if they had been mere cobwebs.

Keeping upright amidst the rolling ground took enough concentration that Sara couldn't risk significant movement or really try anything fancy, so she just kept spraying bullets. It wasn't exactly aimed fire, but if you put enough bullets in the air, chances were they'd hit something - especially when they were being guided at your will.

Move: Dazed.

Standard: Spread Shots again! Dodge DC 18 for half, Toughness DC 23/19 vs. Damage. Not sure if Gnome got far enough away that he's out of the cone, but it sounds like the other three are still close enough, and it's a 60' cone, so might still be able to hit Gnome too.

Fortitude to remove Affliction (DC 18): [roll0]. Still Afflicted

[The_Admiral]

The closest description of what James did, was dancing, he bobbed and weaved through and around the attacks, the flames barely touched him as he casually weaved. Stepping past the salamander, he again strikes at the man with his shovel, shouting, "Dynamo! focus on Mercury!"


[roll0]
DC 21

[Hyperbolic sine]

The way Mercury spoke, like they were children, was quite irritating: his proposal, on the other hand, was utterly enraging. Spending who knows how many days, if not weeks or months, in that place doing his bidding and leaving Europe completely at the Nazi's mercy? Preposterous.

"Thou hast spelt thine doom, Mercury." Alistairs coldly mutters, darting towards the sky and avoiding most of both Salamander's breath and the shadowy tendrils - his resilience and willpower stopping the rest. Steeling himself against an attack from Sylph, who was likely to go against an airborne target, he looks down and focuses his powers on the mage, increasing the magitude of the gravity affecting him in order to restrain and force him down.

Move: Up Distance Rank 1.
Standard: Gravikinesis on Mercury, Strength or Dodge DC 18 vs Grab, Escape DC 23. It's Subtle (and Perception Range, though I doubt that means he can't resist with Dodge).

[TekHed]

Sacha cursed under his breath. Of all the people he'd normally be the first to say shoot first and ask questions later, but rift now he wanted answers more than a fight. Unfortunately the others seemed intent on forcing the former.

He didn't want to hurt Gnome or any of their other guides, but a direct assault on Mercury didn't seem to be working either. Sensing himself vulnerable, he leapt up into the canopy of black leaves with a violent spark, while switching his vision so as to keep an eye on the battle, though doing so cost him keeping track of Sylph. He took a bead on the magus, preparing to concentrate fire with the others.

Switch array to leaping, Move action leap into tree. Free action switch array to vision penetrates concealment.

Fortitude to shake off Dazed and Vulnerable, DC 18: [roll1d20+4[/roll]