[IC]Masks: Team Exalt

[arscott]

OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?496555-OOC-Masks-Team-Exalt)

Team Exalt
Issue #1

Cover Page: A generic pose shot of our three heroes. Battery, masked, in the center, with little arcs of electricity indicating he's charged up. Damascus on the Left, and Aldebaran on the right, both with their glowing auras. They're standing on the roof of a brutalist concrete building--In the background is the night sky, with an AEGIS helicopter. Perceptive readers will recognize that the constellation directly above the team is Taurus, with the star Aldebaran glowing bright red.

[Sahaar]

Scott is at work, dutifully attending to a portable generator and a couple hundred feet of wrapped cable. When nobody is looking, he leeches tiny bits of energy from the surrounding lights, making his fingers glow dimly. As he checks his surroundings and ensures he isn't being watched, his communicator goes off in his pocket.

[CoreBrute23]

Damascus Blaze

Panel 1: A shot of Kshritij's back, heavily muscled, with scars from surgery and battle. He's training on a Mu ren zhuang, striking furiously, as evident by the impact onomatopoeia surrounding him.

Panel 2: Side shot-his communicator beeps, and he stops punching, sweating slightly. We can see the black stylized Sanskrit tattoos up his arms. His hand goes to his ear.

Panel 3: Off screen we hear/read, "This is Exalt 1, what's the situation?" as the panel focuses on a table where framed photo of Vik sits next to a stack of envelopes. The top one is marked 'Past Due'.

[BlueHerring]

Aldebaran leans back in one of the couches at the AEGIS safehouse where she stayed, and flipped through the third book she had read today. She had already finished training for the day, and reading all of these different books was something she never really got to do back in the monastery. Back there, it was just scrolls of techniques, or calligraphy by various masters. Imagination wasn't devoted to books, or movies or music. They had a greater concern than that.

However, before Aldebaran could think about the attack on the monastery, her earpiece buzzed. That didn't happen unless they were about to be dispatched, so what could have happened this time?

Pressing a finger up to her ear, Aldebaran responded with "Exalt Two, reporting in."

[arscott]

The first panel on the next page shows the gleaming glass front of the Halcyon City branch of Banque Internationale du Pacifique. The bank's globe logo hangs prominently above the four-story building's entrance.

Dialogue, from offscreen, with the zig-zag speech bubble indicating an electronically transmitted voice:
"The Banque Internationale takes up the first two stories of the building. A staff-member triggered the silent alarm six minutes ago, but we're receiving further details from customer 911 calls and posts to social media."

The next panel shows the same scene, but with each member of the team having arrived on a sweet-ass motorcycle. The voice is now show to be coming over the communicator.
"In addition to the two suspects, we believe that there are twenty customers and twelve members of the bank staff, including one armed security guard. The suspects are combat specialists but have no powers, so the three of you should be able to resolve this..."

The next panel gives the same shot, but the whole front window of the bank is shattered, as indicated with a giant smash sound effect. The source of the window damage is the unconscious body of a security guard that has been thrown through the window with some force.

"... quickly and quietly"

The next page is a splash page. A bubble panel in the upper left corner finally reveals the source of the voice, a dour looking older white woman with her hair in a bun who is speaking into a headset mike. A helpful captions reads: "Anistasia Whitmore: AEGIS agent"

The bulk of the page, though, shows two costumed villains, posing over several sacks of cash. On the left side is a big, muscled white guy in his forties. His hair is cut short and he has mean eyes in a face that bears the scars of many fistfights. He wears a stained wifebeater, and a pair of leather work gloves that have been fitted with brass knuckles. On the left is a skinny man in a black fencing uniform--his fencing mask is emblazoned with the letters "JK LOL" and his costume is festooned with racist, sexist, and generally trollish slurs, slogans, and imagery. He wields a sharp-looking epee."

"Tyson Blake. AKA Blackeye. Two weeks out on bail and he's already robbing a bank. Battery's dealt with him before, and knows the score. His punch packs a wallop so don't stand too close.

The other suspect is James Kentaro. AKA Offencer. Be careful, the sword's more than a gimmick. He was favored to go to the Olympics before they threw him in Juvie.

Keep the situation under control and make sure the bystanders stay safe. These knuckleheads won't hesitate to put an innocent in danger. And whatever you do, make sure the fight stays on the ground floor. Repeat, don't let the suspects flee upward."

What do you do?

[CoreBrute23]

Damascus Blaze

"Copy that." Damascus looks over the building, as he gets off his bike. He wears his familiar blue armored suit that conceals his face. He starts going over the details in his head, as he plans a first stage of attack.

"Battery, anything we should know about this Blackeye guy before we go in?"

I'm first Assessing the situation, so that's a roll with Superior. [roll0]

Will edit in my questions here, once I see the roll.

EDIT: Nice, got an 11. So my two questions are:
what here is the biggest threat?
what here can I use to get the civilians out safely?


Also, I think we are entering a battle as a team. So should we use team mechanics? That means 2 points in team pool as default (does that mean we start with 3, since we always start with 1?).

• If the leader has Influence over every
teammate, add another Team.
None of us have influence over the other two. I didn't give influence to anybody, and I don't have Influence over Battery because he gave his influence to Puff/al-Rashid. Damascus wants to act as leader, but even if someone else is leader we don't get the bonus. -Team pool=3
• If everyone has the same purpose
in the fight, add another Team.
I imagine we do, correct me if I'm wrong, but Damascus' purpose is to follow the mission-protect the hostages, deal with the bad guys. Is that the same as everyone else? Team Pool= 3?
• If any team member mistrusts the
leader or the team, remove a Team.
Do either of you distrust Damascus? Team Pool= 3?
• If your team is ill-prepared or offbalance,
remove a Team. I don't think we are badly prepared-we were briefed on the way.

So currently we have 2/3/4 depending on the others' answers.

[arscott]

Damascus Blaze
What here is the biggest threat?
There's a weird crimson glow that comes off of Blackeye's gloves when you look at them at a particular angle. Nothing in your briefing suggested those were anything but mundane gloves, but mundane gloves don't have weird glows, so you're betting Blackeye is going to have a dangerous new trick in his arsenal

what here can I use to get the civilians out safely?
Blackout and Offencer have a solid view of the main doors and the ground-floor emergency exit. But right now, everyone is huddled in the southeast corner--if you could get them onto the elevators in the east wall, they could go up a floor and then get out via the second-floor fire escape.

Team
As Damascus said, you're going into battle as a team. No leader has influence, and you are pretty well prepared for this (unless you know something the MC doesn't). But answer the questions about purpose and mistrust to determine how many team points you'll get.

[CoreBrute23]

Damascus Blaze

Damascus turns to look at Battery. "Are Blackeye's hands supposed to glow?" He described what he saw, along with his suspicion that Blackeye might have a new trick. He then turned to Aldebaran.

"Aldebaran do you think you're capable of covertly getting to those civilians, if Battery and I distract the criminals with ranged attacks?"

[Sahaar]

Battery shakes his head at the mention of his old nemesis. "He hits like a truck, but he only expects to ever need to hit once. I doubt he'll be able to stand up to any kind of ranged attack, or even just two of us at once. I don't know what to tell you about his glowing hands, he didn't have those last time."

He looks at his own hands. "But if I know one thing about glowing hands, it's that there's something...extra about him this time around. Best not to underestimate him. Going in together and coordinating our ranged abilities sounds like the best idea."

[BlueHerring]

"Covert? My power is to literally glow. I don't do covert." Aldebaran seemed a little bothered by the fact that she had almost been relegated to crowd control. "Besides, I'm the only one here who specializes in close combat. Regardless of what Blackeye's packing, I should be able to handle it just fine. It's not my first time fighting against glowing hands."

[Sahaar]

"We could always do a rapid assault; take the crooks down before they even realize they're facing more than just a SWAT team," Battery suggests with a shrug. "I might be able to stun them with a bright flash effect."

[CoreBrute23]

Damascus Blaze

Damascus doesn't exactly glower at Aldebaran, but he was very close to doing so. Why must she always second guess my orders? He thought privately.

"We don't want to engage the enemy in close combat, because that's what they specialize in. Besides a rapid assault might cause them to flee or endanger the civilians." He frowns and looks over the situation again. "Alright new plan.

"Battery, kite both enemies towards you with your ranged attacks. The fencer looks like he's thin skinned, so insult his manliness if he doesn't immediately follow. Aldebaran you back Battery up, and keep those two from getting too close. Pay special attention to Blackeye-we still don't know what his glowing hands can do.

"While that happens I will infiltrate the building, bring the elevator to the ground floor, and get the civilians out. Once the civilians are safe we can focus on subduing the suspects. Exalt move out!" Without waiting for a response, he made his move.

He focused on the special Photokinetic generators embedded in his muscles, connected to both his muscles and his thoughts. He began to glow with light, before the light turned curved around him, and suddenly he was translucent. It wasn't perfect invisibility, but in the dark with no one expecting him, it should suffice.

Crouching down, he took a superhuman leap towards an open window on one of the higher floors (or if there are none, he aims for the roof).

I think this is an unleash power roll. I assume I get a +1 for following the advise from Assess the situation. So that's a +2 with my Freak. [roll0]

EDIT: Well that's disappointing. But on the other hand, yay potential!

EDIT 2: Unless the others spend team poll to help, but maybe you guys should save it, just in case. Your call though-it would use up most of our team pool.

Also, since I've told Aldebaran to focus on Blackeye, can I give her my +1 if she acts on the fact he's the thoughest threat?

Battery you didn't answer the questions about the team pool.
1. Do you have the same purpose as Damascus? aka 'follow the mission-protect the hostages, deal with the bad guys.'

2. Do you mistrust Damascus?

We need to know the answer so we know how much team pool we have.

Aldebaran you didn't answer the questions about the team pool.
1. Do you have the same purpose as Damascus? aka 'follow the mission-protect the hostages, deal with the bad guys.'

2. Do you mistrust Damascus?

We need to know the answer so we know how much team pool we have.

[arscott]

Damascus

Getting into one of the third floor windows is easy enough. It's a small and nondescript apartment. Well, it would be nondescript if it weren't for the occupants: Agent Konaldi Okoye and two other AEGIS agents. Okoye is watching a video of the bank below, while another agent operates an eavesdropper microphone.

"Damn it. Didn't Whitmore tell you to keep on the ground floor? This is an ongoing investigation that you may have just compromised with your blundering about.

You and your team can keep people safe, and help us keep the world safe. But don't think you can do that by being smarter than AEGIS or the Harbingers. We've all been at this for a long time, and without our experience, you're liable to get even more people hurt!"

Damascus, Konaldi is telling you how the world works, increasing your danger and decreasing your superior. How do you respond?

[Sahaar]

[SIZE=5][COLOR="#696969"]

Battery you didn't answer the questions about the team pool.
1. Do you have the same purpose as Damascus? aka 'follow the mission-protect the hostages, deal with the bad guys.'

2. Do you mistrust Damascus?

We need to know the answer so we know how much team pool we have.

[/SPOILER]


1. Yes
2. No



Battery nods as he's given orders, and powers himself up, causing his arms and legs to take on a faint glow, like glow in the dark paint. He starts laying out his plan as he approaches the building. "Alright Aldebraan, let's take these suckers down. We can break in through the side windows and take them both out while they're surprised. Let's rock!"


Can I take this opportunity to use The Mask and swap my Savior (0) with Mundane (+3)?

[CoreBrute23]

Damscus was startled to see agents on this floor. This was not part of the brief.

"I was told to keep the suspects away from the top floors." he whispered loudly at her. "I am trying to protect the civilians, which was our top priority. If you super spies could take your go-go gadget sticks out of your martini stirred ass holes, we could have coordinated better."

I have more to say, but that depends on my roll. Will finish this post after I see my roll, because I am definitely rolling to reject her.
[roll0]

EDIT: This is so far not Damascus' best outing. But a great time for potential! I'm increasing Danger, and decreasing Superior correct?

Also, marking Insecure.

But as Damascus said this, he knew it wasn't the right thing to say. He sounded like a child, he wasn't using his head. Vik wouldn't have made mistakes like this. He thought morosely.

[BlueHerring]

Aldebaran has the same purpose as Damascus, but she doesn't trust him.

Aldebaran shakes her head at Damascus' reckless attempt to charge ahead. She didn't like how he plays team leader, but neither she nor Battery really spoke up. She nodded at Battery's suggestion, and made her way to one of the side windows. She launched herself at the window, and...

CRASH!

Aldebaran landed neatly on the floor of the bank, her violet battle aura glowing softly around her.

"Really? I get stuck with Internet Meme and... whoever you are?"

Obvious provoke is obvious. [roll0]

[Sahaar]

Battery smashes through the opposite window, trapping the crooks between them. "Hey kids, training for the Olympics? How about duking it out with someone closer to your skill level?"

[arscott]

Aldebaran:

Offencer draws his sword, while moving to engage:

"B**** are you trying to trash talk us? What do you think is going to happen? That our fee-fees will get hurt? That we'll give up faster than your mom does on a Friday night?"

Offencer lunges toward you, his epee extended. He is skilled--not skilled enough that he's landing blows just yet, but skilled enough to piss you off a little bit. After all, you spent most of your life honing your combat skills, and this joker is managing to go toe-to-toe with you. You start to care about being better than him in a way you didn't before.

Offencer takes influence over you.
Adults automatically have influence over you, but Offencer is your age, so he doesn't start with any influence

Battery:

Blackeye scowls.

"Hell of a thing to say, coming from you. Didn't you shoot me in the back from the other side of the street last time we fought?"

He punches the air, and as he does so, his fist glows crimson.--a wave of energy extends from his punch across the room--knocking a big hole in the wall about an inch away from your head.

"Looks like this time we're better matched, punk!"


[and yes, you can swap your labels per your mask move]


Damascus:
"When this is done, we're going to have a talk about 'need to know'," Agent Okoye says curtly. "In the mean time, you have a job to do. If you need to bring the hostages up, the second floor should be safe. But do NOT bring them to this floor and don't tell anyone that you saw us here. Now go!"

Everyone:
What do you do?

[CoreBrute23]

Damascus narrows his eyes at her, but doesn't say anything. He holds his hand to his ear and starts speaking via communicator, as he walks towards the elevator.

"Exalt 2 and 3, have you gotten the suspects out of the bank yet, or at least away from the civilians? Waiting on you here."

As he does, he pays careful attention to the agents' activities, specifically Whitmore, trying to get a read on her. He doesn't call for the elevator until he hears confirmation from his team.

Using pierce the mask on Agent Whitmore. [roll0]

Got a 7. Nice. Here's my question:
what are you really planning?

[arscott]

It's pretty clear that Okoye isn't here for you or these robbers. She's here to spy on the bank, and this whole robbery has just been an unwelcome distraction.

[BlueHerring]

Aldebaran grits her teeth as she sidesteps Offencer's individual lunges. It wasn't difficult to dodge them, but being stuck fighting someone who hadn't dedicated themselves to the art of combat as much as she had was downright insulting. She didn't want to let that stand, and doing so would have been an insult to the Order.

Taking a quick breath, Aldebaran ducked low as she closed the gap between Offencer and herself, before launching a quick series of jabs at his upper torso, and finishing with a single, painful palm strike.

Going to directly engage Offencer.

[roll0]

Edit: Going to resist/avoid blows, and impress, surprise or frighten them.

[Sahaar]

Battery blinks once as he realizes that his old nemesis isn't just a street punk anymore--he's enhanced in some way. All the more reason to deal with him more quickly. But he couldn't unleash a bright flash--Aldebraan was directly across from him and her eyes would fry too--not to mention the other half of the villain team was facing the other direction. He only had one choice.

He powers himself up to the maximum, and fingers his earpiece.

"Working on it, Team Lead; give us two more minutes."

He hurls himself forward, aiming an enhanced straight punch directly at Blackeye's solar plexus.



[roll0]

EDIT: There was a +1 in there I didn't add, so if everything's good, that should be a 7.

My Pick One is to Take Something From Them, in this case, his breath, since he just got socked in the lungs.

[arscott]

Aldebaran & Battery:
A series of small panels take up the top half of the page, each one showing off Aldebaran's quickness and skill: Dodge, sidestep, close, dodge, jab, sidestep, jab, jab. Palm strike, and then two panels showing Offecner knocked backward by the force of the blow.

The bottom half-page is an action spread that shows Battery engaging Blackeye. Simultaneously Battery delivers his punch, while Blackeye lands a roundhouse to the side of Battery's masked face--each punch is called out by an inset panel and a sound effect.

Battery: Take a poweful Blow

Next page: Offencer, rolls into the landing and comes up in perfect fighting stance. He opens his mouth, as if to say something, closes it, and opens again. "Damn. Chop Suey can land a punch. Doesn't mean she's not still an aberration who doesn't belong alongside normal people. Hey, Purple Ninja! Even your friends think you're a freak--I'm just willing to admit it."

Aldebaran: You now have influence over Offencer. He's trying to shift your freak up and your mundane down. (And don't forget, your influence gives you +1 to reject his words, if you choose to do so)

Blackeye stumbles to his feet, gasping for breath. He moves behind Offencer. "Yeah, you're a bunch of *cough* freaks."

[CoreBrute23]

Damscus didn't like not knowing what was going down below. Even with Battery reassuring him, a lot could happen in two minutes. He noticed the cameras the agents were using, realizing they could be useful.

"Agent Okoye." He began. "I don't know what your trying to learn from watching this bank, or is so important you aren't moving despite the supervillains below. I know asking would be a waste of both our time.

"What I am asking though, is if your team can use those cameras to coordinate with me. I'm sure you have access to the surveillance systems here, perhaps even beyond what was in the brief on the bank. If you work with me, be my eyes in the sky, it's your best chance to making sure your work is undisrutped-and more importantly, undetected."

Using Provoke here. Wish my superior hadn't just been reduced, oh well. I don't think pierce the mask gives the same bonus for acting on information that assess the situation does, so I'm just including my superior bonus. I don't think my earlier assess the situation roll applies here either, but add a +1 if you think it does. [roll0]

[arscott]

Damascus Blaze:
"The cameras are fixed. In the lobby, we've only got feeds from the bank's security cameras. But we can find the best angles on the conflict, and we do have sound recording." She gestures to the third agent, who sits at the computer monitor and selects the camera that gives you the best view of the conflict. Just in time for you to see Battery get punched in the face by Blackeye.

what do you do?

[CoreBrute23]

Damascus nods curtly at Agent Okoye in gratitude. He winced when he saw the punch.

"Exalt 3 are you alright?" He spoke into his communicator. "Why are you engaging in close combat with Blackeye? I told you to retreat and kite him towards you." He turns to one of the agents next to him, asking, (after muting the communicator) "What caused that hole in the wall?"

"Blackeye seems to be able to shoot some sort of energy blast from his gloves." Damascus nods and speaks into the communicator.

"Exalt 3 try absorbing the energy out of Blackeye's gloves. Without his ranged capabilities you'll have the advantage again-and even if it is innate, you will still have a boost."

Feel free to ignore my advise if you want. But just giving you an idea, and if you use it, we can treat it like I gave you a team point if you need it. We've got 4 now.

You seem fine. I don't think you need advise here. :smallwink:

[Sahaar]

Since I don't have any conditions yet, this shouldn't be too bad...
[roll0]

I'm Struggling Passed The Pain. I take Angry, because that punch freaking hurt, and Guilty for not following the plan as intended.


That punch hurt like hell, but Blackeye was winded. "good trade", he thinks to himself. But I better take advantage of this quickly! Taking his leader's advice, Battery leaps forward and attempts to grab Blackeye by the fists in order to drain the energy from his fancy new gloves. He may have the advantage of range, but he had to keep Blackeye preoccupied, lest he tray to take a hostage and flee.


Directly Engaging Blackeye, with the intent to take his power gloves away from them (if this would be better served by an Unleash Your Powers roll to Overcome An Obstacle, let me know and I'll reroll)

EDIT: I forgot I can't do a dice roll in a post. Let me know which one of the two would be the more apt option and I'll roll in my next post

[arscott]

Go ahead and roll "directly engage", since you're not overcoming an obstacle, reshaping your environment, or extending your senses.

[Sahaar]

Let's hope for something good!
[roll0]

Going to Take Something From Them, namely,his powered gauntlets.


Battery grabs Blackeye's wrists and holds them up, absorbing their power into himself.

"Not so irritating without your special gloves, are you, big guy?"

[CoreBrute23]

"Battery keep your guard up! Watch out for a headbutt!" Damascus yelled through his communicator.

Spending a team point to make Battery's roll a 10. So he can select a second option if he wants.

Team pool: 3/4

[arscott]

Battery: Damascus's eye-in-the-sky advice gives you a second option. do you chose to avoid their blows, to create an opportunity for your allies, or to impress/surprise/frighten?

Aldebaran: Offencer circles backwards, trying to keep well out of your reach--and also putting him in a position to attack Battery while his back is turned. What do you do?

Damascus: With Offencer moving back and close to battery, that means both villains are well away from the hostages, and if they wanted to go for the hostages, Aldebaran would be in the way. What do you do?

[CoreBrute23]

Satisfied the super villains had been distracted enough, Damascus hurried to the lift.

"Agent Whitmore, please contact me on AEGIS frequency Alpha Third Neuron, if you see something on the cameras I should know about." He adjusted his comms to have both that frequency and the Exalt private line, before the lift doors closed.

When he arrived on the ground floor he held the door open and gestured to the hostages to enter the lift.

I don't know if this is a defend action (defending civilians) or a comfort/support action, because the civilians are scared. So I'll roll my dice and you can add the appropriate modifier.

Also does my +1 from acting on the assess situation still apply here, since I'm using the lift to save them? I assume it does, so it's included in the roll, otherwise, reduce my result by 1.

[roll0]

If Defend others, it's -1 to the roll (Superior +1, But I'm Insecure, so -2)

If comfort support, it's +0 (Mundane is +0).

EDIT: wow, either way it's at least an 11. Because both offer the option to clear a condition, I'm going to clear my Insecure. Let's be honest, right now this is going pretty well, I can see him becoming a bit confident.

[BlueHerring]

Aldebaran shrugged off Offencer's verbal attack. Coming from someone who dressed like that, it didn't really mean much. Despite that, however, he was still keeping his distance.

Aldebaran needed to change that.

With a sudden, indigo flicker, she surged forward like an errant bolt of lightning. The moment she was before Offencer, she unleashed another assault of serpentine attacks - sudden, brutal strikes targeting his solar plexus, lungs and shoulders. Given how easy it was to fight him, Aldebaran decided that this was as good a time as any to disarm him with a quick grab of his wrists. Wrenching his grip upwards, Aldebaran forced Offencer to let go of his foil.

Directly engaging Offencer. Since I have Influence over him and take +1 forward from resisting his influence, that gives me +2 against him.

[roll0]

Edit: Taking Offencer's foil, and avoiding his blows.

[Sahaar]

I'm going to Avoid Their Blows.


With Blackeye's gloves sufficiently drained, Battery kicks the villain directly away from him before any headbutts could be landed.

"Thanks for the heads up, Exalt 1," he says into his mic.

[arscott]

Damascus:
The elevator door opens, and the hostages quickly slip in. As she passes by you into the elevator, one of the hostages, an older woman speaking with a thick accent, stops and touches you on the shoulder. "Thank you. You save my life." Once everyone is in, the elevator lurches upward--though slower than usual given how crowded the elevator is. When it reaches the second floor, two of the rescued bank employees usher everyone to the fire escape.

Aldebaran and Battery:
"That's... That's cencorship!" Offencer spits out as Aldebaran seizes his sword. "This is the only reason girls ever win--they cheat."

Meanwhile, Glowing red energy flows from Blackeye's gloves and is absorbed by battery. Blackeye wrenches free, but not before his gloves are rendered inert. "Screw this, man, I'm done here." Blackeye shouts as he runs toward the shattered front window, stopping only to grab one of the bags of cash from the bank's floor.

"Fine, be a P**** and run away!" offencer spits out. "I'll handle this all on my F***ing own. You heroes think you've won? well too bad, because I get the last laugh!"

He pulls a few vials from a pounch at his belt, and throws them down to the floor--most land among the remaining bags of cash and valuables that the robbers had gathered before you arrived. On e by one, the vials start to smoke and glow, and one of the bags catches fire.

"If I can't have it, neither can you!"

Everyone: What do you do?

[CoreBrute23]

When Damascus heard that Blackeye was getting away, he immediately ran to a nearby window. Without waiting to open it, he jumped through the window, his superhuman legs propelling him so far he landed right in front of Blackeye.

"You aren't going anywhere." He stands up, and his arms glow as balls of light form around his fists. "Drop the bag and put your hands in the air."

Damascus is going to try to Provoke Blackeye into surrender, through the power of intimidation. [roll0]

[Sahaar]

How large is the bag of valuables/money?

[arscott]

Battery: The bags are drawstring-style backpacks stuffed full, each one probably weighs about 25 pounds.

[Sahaar]

Battery looks at the fire starting on the bags of money. This could become a much bigger problem, he thinks to himself. He dashes for the closest fire extinguisher and grabs it before attempting to put out the fire before it gets too out of control.

[BlueHerring]

Aldebaran glanced as Battery grabs the nearest fire extinguisher from the wall, and turned her gaze back to Offencer. "Hate to burst your bubble, kid, but there are no rules in a fight. No rules, means there's no such thing as cheating."

Aldebaran, sliding the foil into the sash at her waist, darts forward once again, to deliver yet another series of blows against Offencer. Bullseye may be out of the building, but Aldebaran would be damned if they let this joker escape.

This is assuming that Offencer hasn't run. Still, going to directly engage him. Because that's what Danger is for!

[roll0]

Edit: AWWWWWW YEAH. Dodging blows, and surprising/impressing/frightening Offencer.

[arscott]

Battery:
Sounds like you're defending the fire. Go ahead and roll that.

On a hit, the money & treasure is fine. Choose the reward effect from the move. On a 7-9, also choose whether you expose yourself to danger or you escalate the situation. Either way, we can address it in the subsequent scene. On a miss, you eventually get the fire out but one of the bags is burned to a crisp.

Damascus:
Blackeye drops the bag to the ground where it lands with a thunk. He puts his hands up in the air, and you can see Halcyon City PD cars finally arriving at the bank.

Aldebaran:
Another quick series of punches, and then one strong finisher, and Offencer slumps to the floor, unconcious. HCPD officers cuff him and take him away.


Everyone:
After the robbers are in custody, you depart on your wickedly cool motorcycles to--well, wherever it is that you go once the mission is done for debrief or celebration or what have you.

Damascus, what is that place, and where in the city is it located?

Battery, When you arrive at the place Damascus names, someone is there already. Who is it and what do they want from the team?

Aldebaran, what about the place that Damascus names is familiar to you or makes you feel more comfortable?

[CoreBrute23]

Team Exalt drives under a large overpass on their wicked motorbikes. What drives out the underpass are three teenagers on still cool, but less impressive motorcycles.

The three of them park their bikes at the raving night club*, Goyer Get Smashed or GGS, located on the edge between the clubs close enough to the local University/College and the poorer part of downtown, giving an eclectic mix of clientele.

The bouncer at the door, when he sees Kshritij and the others immediately steps aside, letting them in, despite the outcries from the line of club goers outside.

Inside, the three walked up to the bar. Normally it would be too loud to have a conversation over the ear bleeding house music, but a tap on the communicators muted the outside noise, allowing them to have a clear, but whispered conversaton.

I don't know if it's day or not. I assume night, but if it's day, change the description to this:

The club Goyer Got Smashed, or GGS, was still shut given how early it was. Kshritij pulled out a key and opened the door, allowing the others inside. He was usually the one who had to set up the bar anyway, and he was grateful for the job. Gave them a nice private place to chat.

"The mission went well today." Kshiritj noted. "No one was hurt, and both suspects were arrested. I think we're allowed to call this one a win." He holds up a glass of cranberry juice to toast. The bartender would sell him alcohol if he asked, but Kshritij prepared to keep his thoughts sober.

"At least until Illuminator goes through excruciating detail, listing all the ways I screwed up as leader." He allowed himself a small smile, but gave Scott a questioning look. A look that asked, 'how do you think I did?' or maybe, 'how did I compare to Vik?'

I think we are celebrating a victory, so that triggers my team move (and probably the others too).

When you share a triumphant celebration with someone, ask them if you’ve been a good leader or effective teammate.
If they say yes, your mentor loses Influence over you and you mark potential.

If they say no, your mentor gains Influence over you, and you take +1 forward on using the Label your mentor embodies.

The book says that even if there are multiple people to celebrate with, I should pick one, so I pick Battery. Battery, was I good leader?

[Sahaar]

Hooray for Savior +3

[roll0]

[Sahaar]

Something buggered up, let me try again.


[roll0]

I'm going to add a team to the pool, since we coordinated pretty well.


Scott gets a cider, mostly just so he can have apple juice and not look like a preschooler. He joins Damascus in his toast. "I'd call that a win, too. Thanks for the extra pair of eyes, it really helped us out. He notices Damascus' questioning glance, and gives him an approving smile and nod in response.


That's me saying you were a good leader :smallcool:

[BlueHerring]

"Well, considering that you were worrying way too much about what Offencer and Blackeye were capable of, it went surprisingly well," says Aldebaran, taking a sip from her glass of beer. Unlike the other two here, she could actually hold her alcohol. It wasn't surprising, really, since the monks back at the Monastery used alcohol to simulate trying to fight while poisoned. "Plus, I got a souvenir from that buffoon. It almost makes tolerating his idiocy almost worthwhile."

But this place wasn't to her liking. It was too loud without the noise-cancelling earbuds, and even then, the lights were annoying. This was a drastic departure from both her apartment and the monastery, which made it really annoying when Kshiritj wanted to come here.

[Sahaar]

"I'm just glad nobody started bickering over orders. It's great when we can all come together as a team and focus on what really matters instead of stroking our own egos." Scott takes a sip of his drink. "And it's nice to celebrate with the team outside of work. We're more than just our masks to each other, right?" He glances at Aldebaran.

[CoreBrute23]

Kshritij didn't show any obvious gratitude to Scott, giving him just a curt nod, but inside Kshritij was grateful for the words.

"I would rather overestimate my opponents than underestimate them." Kshritij responded to Andrea's snide comment with a neutral tone. His eyes quickly glanced around the bar.

The reason he wanted to bring them here is because it would be difficult for them to be overheard, even if AEGIS had bugged the place. He wanted to talk about what he saw Agent Whitmore was up to, but he didn't want to be caught out by surprise.

Unfortunately, Battery has spotted someone. See the last GM post:

"Battery, When you arrive at the place Damascus names, someone is there already. Who is it and what do they want from the team?"

[Sahaar]

Oops, completely forgot about that.


As the team celebrates their victory, Scott looks over and catches the eye of a young man across the room. As soon as he notices the team, the man smiles excitedly and runs over to where they're sitting.

"Hey..." Scott says, nodding in the man's direction. "Wasn't that guy on the news yesterday? His sister was kidnapped or something?"

[CoreBrute23]

"I think I saw that. There's been a few kidnappings recently. What was his name again?" Kshritij subtly glances at the advancing man. "More importantly, why's he coming this way?" Kshritij asked, slightly concerned. He began subconsciously flexing his fingers-if this man knew their identities, he could be a potential threat.

[arscott]

His name, as it happens, is Kyle. His younger sister Serafina Lopez has been missing for three days, according to the news reports you saw.

He's practically ecstatic as he reaches your table. "I can't believe it, it's really you. Just like in the pictures!"

He's holding a moleskin sketchbook. Its pink, and has hearts drawn on it in what is probably nail polish, as well as the words "Serafina's Dream Journal"

But then he opens the notebook, revealing an incredibly detailed sketch rendering of Andrea's face, surrounded by dense paragraphs of writing in a language that only Andrea recognizes.

[Sahaar]

Scott's eyes widen. "Oh my. Got yourself an admirer, do you?"

[BlueHerring]

Weird thing is, Aldebaran refers to herself as Aldebaran. Andrea is her secret identity. Just wanted to clear that up for people.

Aldebaran lowers her glass with a slow clink as she sees the picture. The picture wasn't what bothered her; the writing did. It was in the same script that the monks in the Monastery wrote in - some deviation of Sanskrit, apparently - that no one else in Halcyon City should be able to write. So, how did a random person with a missing sister have a book with that writing?

Aldebaran was about to find out. She turned on her stool to face Kyle, and spoke clearly, despite the cacophany of the music and lights.

"You had better explain yourself. Fast."

[arscott]

"My sister drew these."

He flips to another page. It's another detailed pencil sketch--the entry gate to the monastery you grew up in. More of the Firmament writing fills the margins.

"She's been having weird dreams--nightmares really, and couldn't sleep. So my dad bought her this journal and told her to write or draw the things she sees in her dreams, and she's been sleeping better ever since."

Another page, this one shows an intricate symbol that is used to explain a major spiritual tenet of the order. More writing

"We'd never read it--Serafina is twelve, so her privacy is very important to her. But she disappeared from our house on Monday. Her bedroom window was open from the inside, so the police think she ran away. And so we looked through her phone and her journals and things, trying to find clues. And found that."

He flips to the most recent page in the journal. A little bit of that same writing is on the edge of the page, though it's much shakier. But where the other pages had detailed pencil sketches, this one just has a big, black void, illustrated in spiralling marker.

"My friend Carlos is a bouncer here. When he saw that drawing of you, he recognized it, and told me you sometimes come to this club. I came here just hoping you could tell me something. anything. I know it's ridiculous, but... my sister is missing. Anything I can do that might help find her, you know?"

[BlueHerring]

Aldebaran's expressions changed from one of annoyance, to immediate interest in the following pages. That is, until Kyle turned to the last page, and Aldebaran laid eyes upon one of the few things she'd hoped to never see in her life.

It was a portal, like the one the Shadow Clan used in their assault on the Order's monastery.

As far as she was concerned, this was bad. Forget Offencer and Bullseye, the Shadow Clan was actually serious in their bid for world domination, and they had been at this for millennia. Without the Order's numbers or the aid of any of the masters, fighting them was going to be difficult, to say the least.

"This is... out of your league, or even the police's. She didn't run away, but I... can't say more. Not here, especially with so many people around. If you give us your address, we can meet with you at your house. That way, we can at least investigate and confirm my suspicions," Aldebaran said, pausing to finish her drink.

"But there's something I need to know first. How long has she been having these dreams?"

[arscott]

Ryan gives you his address in response to your prompting. 7275 Riverpark Drive. When you ask about the dreams, though, he has to pause and think for a moment.

"Um, September, two years ago. I don't remember the exact day they started"

But you do. That day is burned into your brain. The day of white dew, in the fourteenth year of master Acamar. Or in the reckoning that Halcyon City uses, September 8th, 2014. The last day you saw your home and your order.

Everyone: What do you do?

[Sahaar]

Scott takes a swig of his drink and taps Aldebaran on the shoulder. "Do you think you'll need help with this? Me and Damascus are here; we're a team after all," he whispers to her.

[CoreBrute23]

"This is... out of your league, or even the police's. She didn't run away, but I... can't say more. Not here, especially with so many people around. If you give us your address, we can meet with you at your house. That way, we can at least investigate and confirm my suspicions," Aldebaran said, pausing to finish her drink.

Damascus turns his head so Ryan can't see his face, but Aldeberan clearly can see him mouth, "We will investigate?" at her accusingly.

She's going to compromise our secret identities-hell she probably already has. Damascus thought to himself. I'm going to have to have a word with her about this later.

Still he nodded with Scott. Aldebaran wouldn't be doing this alone-who knows what she would do without supervision?

[BlueHerring]

Aldebaran swore under her breath - in another language, naturally - at Kyle's mention of the date. Whoever this Serafina Lopez was, she was somehow tied to what had happened with the Order on that fateful day. And, it was probably for that reason that she was targeted by the Shadow Clan.

But why now? Why had the Shadow Clan decided to suddenly abduct her, and not do it sooner?

Eventually, Aldebaran decided to focus on

"And I'm going to need that journal. I need to confirm a few things, but I'll see you at your house," she says, taking the journal from Kyle. Once he had left the group, Aldebaran turned to the others.

"This is big. Bigger than anything we've dealt with - even Ragnarok. I'm going to need help with this. Meet me at my apartment; can't say more here."

With that, Aldebaran paid for her drink, and got up, heading to her bike with the journal held under one arm.

[CoreBrute23]

"We'll stagger our exits, and meet you there." Damascus recognized the need for secrecy, so nodded as she left. However, a few minute after she left, he sighed and turned to Scott.

"If I was given a nickle from everyone who said, 'this is big, I can't say more', AEGIS would be paying my college tuition and Illuminator would owe me a mansion." He took a drink of juice before putting it down.

"Alright I'm off. Avoid drinking anymore-you're riding a motorcycle not a tea cup." He headed out to his motorcycle, planning to take a circuitous route to Alessia's apartment.

[Sahaar]

Scott can only nod in agreement at Damascus' statement. A few minutes after Damascus leaves, he chugs a glass of water and exits the bar as well. "More red tape than a CIA investigation..."

[BlueHerring]

By the time everyone else had arrived at Aldebaran's apartment, she had lit up every square inch of the apartment. Even strange spots, like the gap beside the refrigerator, or under the oven, had been completely lit. Weirder still, was the presence of some odd things, like her couch that lacked cushions. It was almost as if the entire design of the place was heavily tailored to minimize shadows, if necessary.

Aldebaran, meanwhile, sat at the couch, and was flipping through the journal. When Scott finally arrived, she gestured for him to close the door.

"So, I suppose it's time I explained what this is all about. Ms. Lopez was kidnapped by a group of people known as the Shadow Clan, and she's somehow tied to me. How, I'm not exactly sure, but it's what got her into this mess. The Shadow Clan is bad, bad news, as far as I'm concerned. They've been trying to take over the world for millennia, and they've taken down a significant part of the opposition against them recently," Aldebaran paused, and glanced at Scott for a moment. He knew the story behind the Order's fall, but the details that Aldebaran had given him were sparse. "This is... personal. I can't allow the Shadow Clan access to whatever link Serafina has with me."

[Sahaar]

Scott takes a deep breath. "Oy vey, the Shadow Clan...that's something we should deal with for sure."

[CoreBrute23]

Kshritij's long route wasn't just to avoid being tailed. It was also so he could head back home to retrieve something.

He pulls out what looks like a personal computer from his jacket, but like most of the Illuminator's gadgets, it used holographic technology. It shined a three dimensional image of a group of people in shadowy clothes-Aldeberan recognize as the outfits of the Shadow Clan.

"Illuminator and I have been trying to keep track of these guys for a couple of years now. They don't have much of a presence in Halycon City, except for when they assist certain mystical villains. Never on a permanent basis though, and always for some non-monetary price. Usually an artifact, or a service of some kind from the villain.

"In fact they haven't made any noticeable independent actions since they attacked the Order at Hindu Kush." It's at that point Damascus realizes he's made a mistake. Aldeberan never told him that the Order of the Firmament was located in the Hindu Kush mountains-he got that information from his own investigations at AEGIS.

MC is 'they've worked with mystical villains in Halycon for special services or artifacts' an appropriate detail?

Also, increased Superior and decreased Mundane for being selfish-he's not being very considerate of his team mate's feelings.

EDIT: "Additionally," He spoke quickly, hoping that by avoiding a pause an argument wouldn't unfold. "Their actions usually have a finality to them-a directness. People ended up dead, places are destroyed, Stolen items, quickly end up in a villain's hands. They don't leave a lot of mysteries-except this kidnapping." He scratches his chin, frustrated. "I don't like mysteries."

[arscott]

Scott/Battery:
As the team is discussing the Shadow Clan, your phone buzzes twice

From: Gina
"Hey, your butt was on TV!"

And, she's helpfully provided a photo. Your butt was, indeed, on TV, specifically HCN News@10 shows a photo of you leaving the bank-awkwardly composed and shot from behind. The tagline reads "New Hero Team Stops Robbery!"

From: Gina
"Are we still on for tonight?"

[Sahaar]

Scott pulls over as the side of his leg vibrates. He reads the message and laughs at the picture of himself. Then he gets the next message.

"Aw, ffff..." he smacks the side of his helmet in frustration. How could he have forgotten? He quickly responds:


I'm probably going to be late tonight, we've got a shadow ninja problem that needs to be solved.


He gets ready to drive off again, but sends another message first:


No, seriously.

[CoreBrute23]

After Aldebaran's explanation

Song: Veracity - Nightmare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9MdhmM6cO

As the wind whistled through Kshritij's hair, he knew he should have head back to his apartment, got some rest.

As he glanced down at the hundred foot drop, Kshritij knew he should have spoken to Illuminator about the Shadow Clan.

As his shoulder crashed into the roof, followed shortly by the rest of his body, he knew there were a dozen better uses for his time.

And as he pushed himself up from the ground, and started sprinting forward, he knew he didn't care. He saw running in front of him, moving with such agility her feet barely touched the ground before she propelled onwards.

"Are you even trying Damascus?" A floating figure whispers next to him, easily keeping up. "Or do you just like the view?" Damascus could feel the blood rush to his cheeks.

"Shut up." He said with unconvincing menace to the telepath. "Stay out of my head-you know I don't like it." He didn't like hear her titter in response.

"I don't need to look in there to see how you feel about her." Psyche glanced at the topic of conversation. The daughter of the immortal Erik the Red, was showing up a whole team of supers with her remarkable parkour. "You're right Damascus, those jeans really compliment her-"

"Wait up!" The exasperated cry of their 4th member interrupted them. "I'm gonna pass out!" Damascus glanced back.

"Wren you'll never make it on the Harbringers if you can't do a little rooftop jog!" But Damascus couldn't help smiling. How could he? He was with his best friends-his team. Nothing could ever tear them apart.

And like smoke, each of them vanished, leaving Kshritij alone. Desperately chasing the ghosts of his past.

[BlueHerring]

Aldebaran folded her arms and glared at Kshritij's supposed "knowledge" about the Shadow Clan. How dare he, an outlander, declare that he knew about the Order's sworn enemy? It was insulting, to say the least.

But this wasn't the time, nor place to confront him about it. Somewhere out there, there was someone who was caught up in all of this, and their safety relied upon Aldebaran being at the top of her game.

Once the others had left, Aldebaran pushed one of her couches back, and sat down on the ground, placing Serafina's notebook before her. Aldebaran closed her eyes and steadied her breathing - as she had been trained since a young age - and reached out, trying her best to grasp at whatever metaphysical tether linked her and Serafina Lopez.

[arscott]

Aldebaran:

Exerpts from the book:

"My name is Devoted Sister Hadar.

And I am dead. I died at the hands of the shadow clan--those who seek to rule the world with their darkness. But in life, I mastered many secrets, and death cannot truly end one who is in balance with the universe."

You knew Hadar vaguely, but were't friends. She had attained the rank of devoted, and was known in the monastery for her mastery of water forms, and for the delight she took in nature's beauty.

"I transmit this knowledge, through the dreams of a child, so that our order might not be ended with the fall of our monastery. Within this volume I shall write the ways and teachings of our order, so that a light may continue to shine in the darkness."

Pages and pages of dense lore, techniques, cultural histories, and more. Diagrams and drawings. You are confident you could learn much from this book--and that you could use it to teach other worthy candidates the ways of your order.

You're also confident that if the Shadow clan gets their hands on the knowledge it contains and learns how to pierce its secretes, they would be unstoppable. Fortunately, you have the book. Unfortunately, they have its author--or at least, the person she becomes manifest through.

Mark Afraid

Damascus:

You've got a 10AM briefing. On your way out the door, you're stopped my a large man in an ill-fitting suit. "Excuse me, are you..." he looks at a piece of paper he's holding "Viksar or Kishir--kiri-- um shir-taj... Are you one of the contracted tenants of this apartment listed on this form?"

At the top of the page he shows you, in big bold letters, it reads "Five day notice to pay rent or quit"

What do you do?

[Sahaar]

By 10AM, Scott is on set, at work. He's already charged himself up using the local outlets, and his last minute cancelling of his date with Gina was still irritating him. The nasty bruises he'd received from the fight at the bank weren't helping. His long sleeves covered most of the damage, but there was a cut on his lip that he was doing his best to hide.

[arscott]

Scott:

Today you're filming on-location at the Broadmoore Hotel. It's a big gala scene for the Christmas episode, so lots of extras in tuxedos and fancy dresses.

There are mirrors everywhere in the ballroom, so setting up cameras and lighting equipment so they're not reflected in the shot is a complete bitch, and the guest director hasn't taken any of that into account. The crew is getting frustrated, the actors are getting frustrated, the extras are just getting confused, and finally a break is called while the DP (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematographer) and the director argue about how to fix the mess.

During the break, you find yourself standing at the crafty table (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craft_service) nearby the following people:

Alice Birch, who plays the main Character Dierdre
Daesun Moon, who plays her GBF Anders
Tawana Hall, the script supervisor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Script_supervisor)
Alfonso Delacruz, your counterpart among the Grips (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grip_(job))

Everyone is discussing whether the show will get picked up for the back nine (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Front13Back9)--Everyone's pretty optimistic given the ratings of your first two episodes, but Daesun seems maybe nervous or anxious about the topic.

Meanwhile, a production intern whose name you don't know is frantically running around trying to make sure that everyone eats the real snacks off the crafty table, and not the prop snacks from the set itself.

So, Alice plays Dierdre while Daesun plays Anders. Dierdre is an average Jane sucked deep into a world of fascinating drama but is mostly passive. Anders is charming, stereotypically gay, and incredibly capable of getting others to do his way. If this show was MonsterHearts (http://buriedwithoutceremony.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Monsterhearts-Skins.pdf), Dierdre would be the mortal and Anders would be the Fae. Of Alice and Daesun, one is almost exactly like the character they play, and one is almost the complete opposite. Which is which?

As part of the electrical crew, you work closely with Alfonso and the other grips. While you don't work as closely with Tawana, she commands your attention because she's basically the on-set eyes, ears, and voice for the showrunner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrunner). One of them knows you well enough to notice that you're hurt. Which one, and how do they approach you about it? The other won't give you the time of day. Why not?

Feel free to answer these via an IC scene, speaking in the voice of the characters as necessary. This scene is really about establishing your mundane life, so take as much narrative control as you'd like here. If you prefer, you can answer the question in the OOC thread instead.

[Sahaar]

Scott is eating a delicious burrito for lunch; he always loves Burrito Day on-set. The day had been going well so far, and nothing majorly bad had happened yet. That being said, Alfonso had been giving him a weird look throughout the day, likely noticing the face bruise. Scott had tried to avoid him as much as possible, but the current arrangement might lead to a confrontation. Nobody else seems to have noticed, but then again, it had been a pretty face-paced day.

Daesun Moon was standing nearby, though Scott didn't have to worry about him. He saw the actor as quite a snob, and the actor saw him as just another grunt taking too long to get the lights set up. Most actors seemed to understand how difficult lighting was, but Mr. Moon seemed to be the exception. He might be a rookie--Nobody on set has seen him in anything else--but he gets a strong reception on social media, so everyone kinda just puts up with him.

Munching on his burrito, Scott passes Alfonso, still standing in line. He nods to his coworker in acknowledgement on his way by.

[arscott]

Scott

Alfonso nods his head in return, but whispers "Hey, can we talk later" as you pass by.

Then Daesun starts to yell. His target is that helpless production intern.

"Does this look like organic rice to you? I was promised 100% organic meals in my contract. This rice looks like it was grown in a dumpster! How do you justify this? How can any of us work under these conditions?!"

Daesun can be a jerk, but you've never seen him be anything close to this bad. The intern is trembling and on the verge of tears. Everyone else is just standing there in shock. What do you do?

[Sahaar]

Scott nods to Alfonso. At least I have time to come up with an excuse for this bruise.

He wheels in place when he hears Daesun yell. He sighs, and waits for the uppity actor to leave. As much as he wanted to confront the guy, one of the principle rules of being crew is never bother the actors.

When Daesun leaves, Scott approaches the intern. "Hey man, you okay? I know that guy can be kind of a huge ****."

[arscott]

Scott

"And you just put up with it? Everybody just puts up with it?"

He looks at you, angry. Like you're part of the problem.

"Well, **** that. I'm working twelve hour days, unpaid, just so I can have a job in this business. And if working in this business means getting yelled at by some untalented publicity whore, then I ****ing quit!"

He storms off, shouting at the rest of the cast and crew. "Hey, Tawana! I ****ing quit. You can get your own ****ing coffee from now on. Hey Daesun, you ****ing *****! Your ****ing organic diet might keep you skinny, but you still can't ****ing act!" He flips everyone the bird, and then slams the door shut so hard that the lights flicker.

Alfonso steps up next to you "Damn, Kale. What did you say to him?"

What do you do?

[Sahaar]

Scott can only stand still, mouth agape as the intern freaks out. He'd not be seeing that intern on any sets any time soon. Alfonso's question snaps him back to reality.

"I just told him that the actor can be a huge diva at times. Did I raise my voice or something? Even still..." Trailing off, he could only wave his hands around in vague gestures. "I dunno, maybe I'm more tired than usual. I had a bit of a late night last night."

[arscott]

"Oh yeah? the good kind of late night? or the bad kind?"

[Sahaar]

Scott tilts his head back and forth, trying to come up with an answer that sounded plausible, but wouldn't encourage an interrogation.

"Eh, some BS came up that prevented me from going out on a planned date with Gina. Kinda bummed me out cuz we haven't seen each other much, what with it being busy season and all."

[arscott]

"That blows. I hope you get a chance to make it up to her, bro. I know Luisa would be furious if I missed a date night."

He gets a concerned look on his face--his conversation become quiet and conspiratorial.

"Hey, your girl didn't, you know, hit you or anything?" He gestures at your busted lip. "Cause that ****'s not okay. Even if the girl hits the guy, it's still abuse."

[CoreBrute23]

Damascus

"It's Kshritij. The K is silent." He glanced at the piece of paper and his mood immediately soured.

"I said I would pay it." He rips the paper from the man's hand, and stuffs it in his jacket pocket. "Is there anything else, because your in my way."

I'm not sure I can roll provoke on him, given he's an adult, and you said he was a 'large man', so I can't really intimidate him to step aside.

If the man does let me past and has nothing else to say, I head straight to the briefing room.

[Sahaar]

Scott stumbles a bit, startled by the question. "Oh, this? Oh no, this wasn't on purpose. She went to play-punch me the the cheek and swung a little harder than she thought. Maybe that's why she's so upset, maybe she thinks she scared me off or something..."

He had no idea how smooth he made it sound, but it's better than nothing.

[arscott]

Kshritij:
The man doesn't do anything to block your passage--he just notes that he's delivered the document to you on a clipboard and then lets you pass.

But the document spells it out plainly. If the rent (plus late fees) isn't paid in five days, you're out of the apartment. And you don't have the money, and you won't have it five days from now either, unless you do something unorthodox.

Scott:
Alejandro stares at you with intensity and worry, and then suddenly grins.

"Nah, your girl din't do that. Something else is going on. You in a fight club? Or are you getting high on Xeph? I'd guess superhero but I know you don't got time for that!

Listen, you don't gotta tell me what's up if you need to keep your secrets. It's your business, not mine. Just... stay safe, alright?"

How do you respond?

Damascus:
The AEGIS building in Halcyon city is a squat, brutalist building. Panels show you, in cosume, arriving, and entering the building, passing various security checkpoints. The second to last panel shows you arriving at a door marked "briefing room", and the last panel shows the same scene eclipsed by a jagged speech bubble. "What are you trying to pull here!?"

The tail of the bubble zigzags across to the adjacent page, which shows the scene inside the room. Agents Konaldi Okoye and Jackson Gregg are standing at the breifing table, while Illuminator shouts at them. "We made a deal, Konaldi. You said you'd keep him out of this, and he was in the middle of it last night!"

You could enter now--or you could keep listening to what Illuminator and the agents have to say.

What do you do?

[Sahaar]

Scott smiles and nods, relieved that he's not being pushed further. "Of course. Wouldn't want to have to miss work. We're living the dream, after all."

[CoreBrute23]

Stupid rent guy. Stupid rent. Stupid-ugh. Damascus had stuffed the piece of paper in his trouser pocket, as he walked behind an alley. He glanced around, making sure there was no one following him. When he was certain of his privacy, he placed his hand on his chest.

"Engage, Damascus Steel Engine-Unsheathe!" He body glowed bright blue, and his light armor costume formed around his body.

Within a few minutes he was parking his motorcycle at the AEGIS building. He stopped at the door, where he heard his mentor's voice.

No point hiding-those cameras at the door probably told them I'm already here. He pushed the door open.

"Whose dealing? Someone cut me in." He closed the door behind him with his foot, and crossed his arms. "Anyone want to 'shed some light' on the situation for me? Illuminator?" He glanced at his mentor, paying attention to what he said-and what he didn't.

Rolling to Pierce the mask +0
[roll0]

A 7 is cutting it close, but I'll take it! I choose 'what are you really planning?'

[arscott]

Damascus:
"We were just disagreeing on some operational details. Nothing relevant."

A lie, of course. He was talking about you. And if he's made a deal with Konaldi...

Takama-Ga-Hara. He's trying to keep you away from Takama-Ga-Hara. Suddenly, a lot of things make sense. AEGIS has been calling you in for disasters, lone villains, and regular crime, but no incidents related or Takama-Ga-Hara or any other faction of organized crime in the city. And some of the weirdest assignments seem to come at times that draw you away from Illuminator's side while he's going up against Takama-Ga-Hara. It was all planned--all organized to keep you out of the way.

Iconoclast's expression is a poker face, but you know him well enough to see the embarassment below the surface. Gregg has a look of smug satisfaction at this turn of events, while Okoye just looks annoyed.

What do you do?

Scott:
You both get to work, and the rest of the working day isn't especially eventful. But you've only got the location for so long, and one scene (The only scene in today's shoot that prominently features Daesun's character) is dropped from the shooting schedule.

Toward the end of the day, the mood of the cast and crew has improved significantly. Just about everyone is captivated by the guest star.

Alexander Kincaid is a well-know and well-respected character actor, and plays the main character's Uncle/Adoptive Guardian in the show. He's regaling everyone with tales of what it was like to move immediately from playing Hamlet in London's West End to playing the wacky cousin in a 90's sitcom in LA. Daesun (who would normally be intensely interested in these sorts of anecdotes) is notably absent.

What do you do?

[Sahaar]

Scott overhears Kincaid telling his story, figures he might as well join his coworkers in listening in. He takes a few smaller uncoiled cables over with him, so he has something to work on while he's listening, and makes his way over to the crowd, coiling along the way. Over, under, over, under," he chants in his head.

[CoreBrute23]

How dare they keep me from the investigation! Damascus simmered silently. He would have words with Illuminator later, in private. Right now though...

"Well that sounds boring to a lughead like me." He starts to slouch, giving the impression of the jockish kid these agents likely thought him to be. "anyway I heard something about a briefing? Did I miss that?"

Really sorry, I thought I posted a response, but it must have gotten eaten up by the forums!

[arscott]

Scott
"And that's the problem, don't you see?" Kincaid explains to his enraptured audience.

"So here am I, an accomplished world traveler, who had been on holiday in America many times before. But I couldn't figure out the most basic Americanisms. I kept mixing up five-cent and ten-cent coins. I lived in dread that I would ever have to drive, for fear I'd drive on the left. After ten years drinking coffee every day in England, I moved to the US and suddenly craved tea."

"Because that's who my character was. That's who I was playing on TV, day in and day out. A role is like a mask, but the problem with masks is that they come to define you, even after you take them off."

Alexander Kincaid is telling you how the world works. If you accept, shift your Savior down and your mundane up. Or, you can roll to reject his influence.

Damascus Blaze


"Well that sounds boring to a lughead like me." He starts to slouch, giving the impression of the jockish kid these agents likely thought him to be. "anyway I heard something about a briefing? Did I miss that?"

"No, you're exactly on time." says agent Okoye. "Though it seems the same can't be said for the rest of your team."

"But of course, your mentor was kind enough to show up, unexpectedly and with no invitation." adds agent Gregg.

Okoye frowns. "Illuminator is welcome at my briefing meetings, Agent Gregg. While he and I often disagree, I often find his perspective to be enlight--" she pauses for a moment, and then corrects the unintentional pun. "helpful."

"As to the topic at hand. Damascus Blaze, your team performed adequately. The hostages were rescued, the criminals apprehended, and there was no significant destruction of property or harm to bystanders."

"And you managed this with less-than ideal fore-knowledge of the situation. Banque Internationale was the scene of an ongoing AEGIS operation, the details of which--" and here, she exchanges a look with Illuminator "--I am not at liberty to disclose. Additionally, Both Blackeye and Offenser have had their powers technologically enhanced by an as-yet unknown third party. Given those circumstances, you and your team deserve praise. Since your teammates couldn't be here today, please let them know that AEGIS appreciates their work when you see them next."

"She's saying you did a good job, kid." Illuminator adds. "And I agree." Sometimes he's a hard study, but right now? He looks genuinely proud of you.

They are telling you who you are, increasing your savior and (since they're praising your performance as part of a well-oiled machine) reducing your freak. Accept and shift, or roll to reject.

Edit:whoops, I forgot that Illuminator doesn't have influence on you, as a result of your celebration move. He's still praising you, but the only words that are getting to you are Okoye's.

[Sahaar]

Kincaid's line about masks hits Scott hard. He's right, Scott thinks to himself. I can't let the mask define who I am. I might be Battery, but Battery isn't me.

With a smile, Scott decides to treat Gina to a nice dinner, other obligations be damned.

[CoreBrute23]

"My team mates had prior commitments. I'll be sure to brief them personally." When they started praising them, he shrugged.

"We're Exalt-that's what we do." Still, he couldn't hide the feeling of pride swelling in his chest. He lead the team to victory, and they worked well together. It was almost like the old times.

"But I didn't think you called me here just for the good news. What's the bad news this time?" He didn't like that they kept avoiding the topic at hand. It must be bad.

I accept the praise from the agent, and I've shifted my labels accordingly.

[arscott]

Gregg answers that one. "The bad news is that we're relying on a bunch of punk kids who can't stay out of the way."

"What my colleague means," Okoye interrupts, "Is that we'd like you to reach out to Advent Omega and his team of exiles. We believe we've found something that demands his attention."

She pushes a paper file across the room. Stamped across the top are the words "Project Atlantus"

End issue #1

Do the end of session moves!