The 50-State Initiative IC

[Julian84]

“It’s an unsettling time for all of us. The status quo that we grew up in has been thrown into upheaval, and the concepts and institutions that shaped the last century losing their meaning in this century. The arrival of the Avengers, the return of HYDRA, the unveiling of Wakanda… Where do we stand in the midst of these events? These are the moments that shape history, ladies and gentlemen… All eyes are upon us as we step forward into this new world.”

H.G. Nunez, Secretary of Homeland Security, delivering his commencement speech at the inception of the 50-State Initiative


It’s a warm September evening as six individuals stand in an awkward group, having only arrived a few minutes prior. Each had been accompanied by a government handler dressed in plain clothes who quickly departed afterwards. Their luggage and other personal belongings were sent on ahead to some unspecified location. . Around them was the campus of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, a cluster of grey stone buildings sitting atop a peninsula that jutted out into the Severn river.

They had been left next to the Crypt of John Paul Jones, though whether there was supposed to be any hidden significance to this could only be left to speculation. The minutes stretched out as they waited to rendezvous with their team leader, Lucas Lee, with little to do besides talk amongst themselves and watch naval cadets stream between the dormitories and the mess hall.

In the midst of their solitude, all of their phones buzzed with a message - a text from Lee.


On my way. ETA five minutes.

[SuperCracker]

Standing tall in the group was one Tim McAllister. Though he was on a Navy Base, brought here at the behest of the Department of Homeland Security, he wore a lack and red Atlanta Falcons t-shirt, a beat-up pair of jeans and some fairly new looking (in stark opposition to his other clothes) sneakers. His arms were splashed with colors from a very dense sleeve tattoo on both.

He glanced around idly, but seemed far from awkward. He was comfortable in his own skin.

He pulled his phone out to check the message. That’s a good start. He looked back up and over at the other folks here. “What’s good, ya’ll?” He said with a good-natured smile on his face. He had an undeniable Southern Accent. “I’m Tim. Nice to meet ya’ll. I reckon we’re gonna be the team.”

He offered handshakes to whoever would go for it. Though he was capable of impossible strength, no one would have been able to tell from just the handshake. It seemed normal. Now… the big superhero fight he’d had in Baltimore that had been on national news? Well… that probably gave his powers away.

[gac3]

Jamie Madrox is dressed nicely in a tailored suit. Nothing too extravagant but befitting a proper agent. He takes stock of his surroundings with a slight smile.

As Tim makes his introduction, Jamie steps forward to clasp his hand. "Jamie Madrox at your service. I'd suspect you are correct about us being part of the team."

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

There is a woman that is a study in the color blue. Here skin is white with a tint of blue with faint blue tattoos, her hair is silvery blue, the lips and eyes are also shades of blue. She has a loose white and blue robe with her arms through the sleeves and the rest hanging behind her back, beyond that there is more skin visible then cloth. She has long pointed ears and an unusually slender body compared to humans.

In an rather unusual accent "Greetings, is pleesuore tu meke yuour icquoeentuonce. Zhanty off zee Raydawn femeely."

[Zero Prime]

Vector Mk. III (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24178514&postcount=10)
Hero Points: 1 of 1 | Conditions: None.

Stark had taught him that he always needed to dress to impress, and given that Stark wasn't a man who considered moderation an option, he'd arranged an appointment with one of the most exclusive tailors in Manhattan. As Hogan pulled the Audi A8 on to Blake Road, Keener watched the United States Naval Academy sign, lettered on a low wall with the eagle clutching arrows and laurel in it's talons roll buy. Hogan, from the front could sense the young man's apprehension, "Nervous kid?" He asked in his typically, insightfuly, but casual tone. Harley just nodded, mumbling, "Yeah, I guess." Hap nodded, pulling smoothly into the central courtyard, "You know who he is, kid?" He nodded towards the pillared entrance to the building which contained the crypt of John Paul Jones. Keener shrugged his narrow shoulders, Hap only smiled, "'I've not yet begun to fight,' so don't give up just yet, ok? If Mr. Stark didn't think you could do this, you wouldn't be here," he smiled through the rearview mirror, "trust me, alright?"

Keener nodded, leaned forward put his hand on Hogan's shoulder, squeezed it, "Thanks Hap, no matter what Tony says, you're all right." There was a slight smirk on his face as he spoke. Hap was able to contain his laugh, barely, "Tony told you to say that, didn't he?" Kenner nodded as he exited the vehicle, "Maybe?"

He exited the sedan, reached back inside and withdrew a Stark Industries briefcase, walking towards the circle of person's waiting outside the Mausoleum. As he did so, his phone chimed, he reached his left hand inside his breast pocket, withdrew it, and viewed the message from their Government Liaison, Lee. He noted the time, and replaced the phone. He'd been briefed on his teammates, hell Mr. Stark had provided him with SHIELD dossiers on some of them, there were some concerns, and that bothered Keener. How was he supposed to work with these people, when he was supposed to be watching them, when Stark, himself, didn't trust them. He wasn't a spy, not like Fury or Hill, he wasn't sure he could pull it off. He took a deep breath, 'I've not yet begun to fight,' he steeled himself and took a step forward feeling very much the sixteen year old high school student he was.

His eyes shifted, surveying the odd group of assembled individuals, "Hey there, Keener, Harley Keener."

[Deja Who?]

It was almost too warm for September which was becoming depressingly common. This armor wasn't exactly equipped with interior air like a proper Ironman suit, and it's weight was just enough that standing around for ten minutes wasn't exactly uncomfortable but wasn't fun either. Melissa Gold had arrived early and took a little bit of a look around the area- not that did didn't trust Fury, per say, but a year on the run had mad her rather loathe to be so public like this. HYDRA could still be anywhere. But I suppose that was what the Sokovia Accords had been about; going public. No more masks, secrets, and having to be held accountable for what you've done. The last one was especially hard because, by all rights, Melissa Gold was a terrorist, and her crimes with HYDRA should have put her in jail or worse. It was just a sticky grey area that saved her in the end because if all the crimes of SHIELD were pursued than they would have to sort out the extent to which entire countries like the USA were at fault and that wasn't going to happen. If it hadn't been for Black Widow none of it would have been exposed at all. There was still a bit of anger there. But no more revenge fantasies. Why she was here instead of rotting in a cell or on a beach far away from all this didn't matter and what did was that she was here, at this spiritual successor to SHIELD at the behest of Nick Fury. Songbird, as her new code name stated, she kinda liked it.

So this short woman had been standing here for ten minutes as the others joined slowly. The suit that she wore was unmistakably STARK-tech and clearly shared it's origins with the Falcon's costume, except instead of his colors the suit was white and black in a greyscale style- seemingly a more basic and less colorful version of the Falcon suit complete with the compact backpack containing it's wings, but it was evocative of her comic suit. Her hair was cut short and was fully colored a sort of purplish pink, but her eyes were covered by goggles so you couldn't study her eyes. Her arms were crossed and she appeared contemplative.

When the others did show she noticed they were wearing civvies for the most part. Should she have? She'd been fighting or on the run so long she wasn't sure what she'd even wear at this point. Melissa definitely didn't want to come off as too uptight, but she didn't want to cause any of the others to doubt her more than already might. Which begged the question if any of them knew her or her crimes. It was a matter of government record after Black Widow's trial, but she'd been with HYDRA even after that..

"I'm Melissa Gold, but they told me I'd be using Songbird," She replied, her lips parting for the first time after Tim broke the awkward silence. When she heard the accent she glanced at Zhanty and did a double take. God, all that skin. Sure she'd seen pictures of Thor before but was everyone not exactly from here supernaturally perfect? Songbird couldn't peg down the others, but spotted that guy, that Harley guy... or kid? Looked too young to be here even in his expensive suit but his briefcase said STARK on it. That was a conversation worth having later.

Mimi shook Tim's hand too a little too firmly after Jamie finished and offered him a weak smile. "You're that anomaly from the news, aren't you? The Brawl in Balmer, a local hero. I'm not surprised to see you here after a show like that. That creature," She paused and bit her tongue, not wanting to reveal too much and already naturally falling back into HYDRA jargon. It had been a shock to see.. Angar, or what was left of him, on the news that night after so much time. The Screamer as the news dubbed him.

"Do you know where he came from?"

[SuperCracker]

Jamie seemed like a perfectly normal guy. Tim shook his hand. “I look forward to it.”

Then there was Shantae? Zhanty? That accent was wild. Her appearance was wilder still. She straight up had elf ears and well… for all he knew, she was an elf. Or a Vulcan. Or something. Tim was capable of many astounding feats… pronouncing her name, at least right now, was not one of them. “Good to meet ya. You got a cool robe.” He winced internally. He was a little thrown off by this one.

There was one newcomer who was late. He looked young, but also like he was headed to a business meeting of some sort. Tim noticed that the kid, Harley, took the James Bond approach to introductions. “What's up, Harley,” Tim said, “I’m Tim.”

And finally there was the pink-haired lady with the full on Falcon gear, Melissa. He shook her hand. Though her shake was too firm, he didn’t seem to notice. And the more pressure applied to shaking his hand, the more it felt like one was gripping steel. His eyebrow quirked (he was a wrestler and he liked The Rock, so get ready for that) when she called him the anomaly. “Yeah, that’s me. ‘The Invincible Aegis,’ somethin’ my boy P.J. came up with for my wrestlin’ alias. The news found out about it and it stuck.” He remembered the creature. That thing was a monster. Tim had never fought another super-powered being before then… Tim came out of it injured as well. It made him get serious about becoming a better fighter. “No idea what he was or where he came from. When I finally knocked that d*mn thing out, a whole buncha Men in Black types showed up and took ‘im away. Nobody told me nothin’ except that I needed to go to that shindig in New York.”

Satisfied with meeting them, he grinned again, flashing his white teeth. “Looks like a d*mn good crew to me. Five deep.”

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

Coul? No, a leettle tuo hut vit zee rube oun right nuo, it is. says Zhanty with as she struggles with with Tim's particular English dialect. "Vear less I vuould, boot zee lucel cuostums ov Midgard deectete ouzeervise.

Cool? No it is a little too hot with the robe on right now. I would wear less but the local customs of Midgard (Earth) dictate otherwise.

[SuperCracker]

Coul? No, a leettle tuo hut vit zee rube oun right nuo, it is. says Zhanty with as she struggles with with Tim's particular English dialect. "Vear less I vuould, boot zee lucel cuostums ov Midgard deectete ouzeervise.

Were this a different genre, he would have had a large droplet of sweat on his forehead right now. As it was, he just tried to look like he understood the back half of that and said, "Yeah, I get that." He had no idea what she said.

[Julian84]

Satisfied with meeting them, he grinned again, flashing his white teeth. “Looks like a d*mn good crew to me. Five deep.”

"Seven, actually." A man corrects with a droll tone. The individual in question is a middle-aged man wearing a navy blue suit, flanked by two others. One of them was an asian man, probably in his late 20s, with a katana strapped to his back. The other of the two looked to be an androgynous teenager with iridescent white hair and a vacant expression. The teenager also had a sword strapped to their back, but it seemed much more utilitarian, with no cultural influences or frills to distinguish it.

The suited man stops just short of the group, his stiff body language contrasting against a disingenuous smile. "I'm Lucas Lee, your government liaison. Welcome to the Naval Academy, which will be your new home as long as you are with the federal government. My companions here are Sora and Darcy, the reserve members of the team who will be activated should you be otherwise engaged with another mission or in need of reinforcements."

"Good evening," Sora says with a nod of his head, while Darcy remains silent.

Lee looks the five over for a minute before nodding and gesturing for them to follow him. "Well, let's get the tour underway. Follow me." He steps between his two companions and leads the group away from the Crypt of John Paul Jones. "Given the nature of this program, the department opted to have you stationed here as opposed to Baltimore or the outskirts of DC. It felt more symbolic in a way." He leads them to a large stone building close to the river. "This is where you'll be living. The academy has graciously afforded you each a room with an adjacent bathroom and closet. You'll have a shared common area with kitchen and living room." Entering the building, he leads them past the common area and to a row of small apartments, each with the name of their occupant already plastered on the door. The rooms are spartan, furnished with only a bed, a desk, and a dresser.

"At the end of this hall is a service elevator. You will punch this code into the console on it, which will take you down to a utility tunnel beneath the academy. This tunnel goes under the river and to the main facility with the situation room, training rooms, and the hangar." He hands them each a slip of paper with the code, 45-67-0192. "Commit this to memory and then destroy the paper." He orders.

"Before we head over to the situation room, do you have any questions?" Lee asks.

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions:
Relevant Active Powers:
Hero Points: 1/1

"I'm not fired, right?

The voice comes from behind the group, a normal looking guy in his early 40s. He's in a plain shirt and Jean's, has slate grey eyes and slight wisps of mist appear to come off him as he moves.

I know I'm late but the uber guy took the longest route possible. My bad, hey guys.

His eye is invariably drawn to Frost, both for obvious reasons and because blue people give him the jitters. He's pretty sure she's not a Kree though.

[Zero Prime]

Vector Mk. III (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24178514&postcount=10)
Hero Points: 1 of 1 | Conditions: None.

Keener awkwardly shook hands with his future teammates, before Lee and the two reservists made their way towards the group, he nodded his head, softly repeating their names as a way to commit them to memory. As Lee began to move towards the facility, Keener looked around to his companions, shrugged his shoulders and followed. While spartan, they reminded him of his lower middle class upbringing, his mother ... a frown flashed across his face as he shoved that thought down. Hard. When Lee handed him a scrap of paper, he shook his head, waving it away. "Eight digit, numerical only due to keypad entry, 108 possible permutations, that's pretty mickey mouse for the DOD?" Then his nose scrunched, "Wait, you said situation room, training room, and hangar? Because I am going to need access to a ...," most of his companions tuned out the technical specs he began to read off to Lee, "... if you expect me to keep the Mk III," he looked back at Melissa as he continued, "and the Exo Mk VII in operational order, I'm assuming you have an area where I can start setting that up?"

[SuperCracker]

Lucas Lee rubbed Tim the wrong way from the moment he flashed that fake smile. Tim was willing to let it go and just categorize Lee under the same mental file as an *sshole cop.. but then he said that this would be his home? That got a big raise of his eyebrow, but he still kept his mouth shut.

When Darcy and Sora were introduced, Tim gave them an uplift of his chin. “What it do?”

He followed along on the tour, listening to Lee talk about a number of decisions that the feds have so graciously made for them. Tim was reminded of growing up with nothing in a place with no warmth. He was reminded of people in his neighborhood sent to prisons that looked like this. And it was then that he would no longer keep his mouth shut. He let Harley finish with the technobabble, then he started.

Gesturing to the tiny room, he said matter-of-factually. “Yeah, that ain’t gone happen.”

A beat to let that sink in. He knew how to cut a promo for wrestling. Sometime you have to let the silence in.

“I signed up for this when ya’ll asked me to. And when I signed up, I didn’t agree that I was gonna be your slave or your inmate. I got my own place. I live with folks I consider my family. They depend on me. My neighborhood depends on me. Not to mention that this ain’t some summer job for me. Now I don’t know if you know this, but my powers can’t shut off. Every second I’m standin’ here I’m usin’ my powers. Which pretty much means I’m in this Initiative for life. And if you’re gone sit here and tell me that I’ve gotta live where you tell me to live for the rest of my life, then we got a problem.”

He looked Lee right in the eye. “If ya’ll want me to be on call, I’ll be on call. I could jump from my house to here and ya best believe I’d stick the landin’. I’ll do any job ya’ll ask me to do to help people, to save people and I’ll do it with a smile.

But you don’t tell Tony Stark where to live… so you ain’t tellin’ me where to live either.”

He was quiet for another beat.

“So we gone be cool?”

Hey. I went three posts before getting into trouble. Great job.

Persuasion, willing to throw a luck at this because it means a LOT to him: [roll0] +5 if Lee is attracted to men. You never know.

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

Zhanty looks at the gloomy little room made of overly refined man made materials. How these humans are able to live in such places is beyond her.

"Nu prublem it is, leefing it zees plece. Huoefer zees ruom. Tuo hut, it is. Tuo fer frum netuore, it is. I cuonnut rest in suoch a ruom. I bruought my huouse, Cuon I set it oop sumuohere? Nut fery beeg, it is."

Living at this compound is no problem. However this room, it is too hot, too far from nature. I cannot rest in such a room. I brought my house, can I set it up somewhere? It is not very big.

[Deja Who?]

Damn this guy was ripped, like the Hulk was his personal trainer. Looked too young to have a son too, maybe some kind of anti-aging formula? It was impossible to tell.

But of course Angar was in the hands of the government now. It was sort of relief and sort of dread she felt about him still being alive. Rounding up anomalies like that used to be her job. Maybe now it was again.

"Thanks, but I didn't really think you did..” She let it sit in the air, obvious she wanted to continue, but unsure of how to proceed. "So where did you, well, come from? Who did this to you?” Mimi questioned abruptly, unable to stop herself from continuing. She leaned in closer slightly.

"..was it HY-”

Her former boyfriend from the program and this poster-child for gamma radiation in the same place? Couldn't be a coincidence. She'd been suspicious of Tim since she'd seen the report. If only his skin was green she'd know for sure it was an enhanced version of Deidre's serum. She was sure she'd gotten them all. Damn, damn.

But her question was interrupted by the arrival of their leader and Melissa let herself drift away from Tim as he spoke, filing into the back as they followed him. It was too early to just confront him like that. Guy was made of steel. She sped up to be more in step with Sora who she greeted professionally. When handed the paper she glanced down at it a few times. The serum had muddled her mind ever since it’s injection so it was going to suck to try remembering this. Oy vey she was gonna have to get someone else to open her locker just like high school.

Mimi looked up when Harley indicated her and narrowed her eyes at him. This kid was the best they could get to tinker around with the only things keeping her from plummeting to a horrible death. Great. Stark’s boy, an obvious plant. The dismay on her face was evident so she turned her attention back to Lee.

This place looked a little spartan but it was better than some places she’d had to lay low in. But live here? She just signed a lease! Vivian was not gonna be happy.

However she didn’t say much, not when Tim started in on their new boss. She wanted to see how Lee handled himself here. And if Tim was HYDRA he was a pretty good actor.

[Julian84]

Lee and the two reservists turn when Inhuman comes down the hall. "Not at all, Mr. Staranson. I was, in fact, worried that you'd had perhaps been having second thoughts. We're quite excited to have you on the team." He extends a hand to shake David's.

"Bear in mind, Mr. Keener, that these security measures were developed during the Cold War." Lee spoke softly as Harley dismissed the security arrangements. "While we in the DHS are working to upgrade the facility, most of our budget for this quarter was portioned out for simply bringing the required fifty facilities up to snuff in time for the teams to take residence. Security upgrades would simply have to wait... As will the full laboratory and technical fabrication facilities we have planned for someone with talents such as yours. For now, there's a ready room adjacent to the hangar that will have to serve as a repair bay for the suit until more appropriate measures can be taken."

After making his case to Harley, Lee stares at Tim for a moment, his expression neutral and devoid of tension. After appraising his subordinate he takes a deep breath through his nose and exhales, breaking eye contact. "I am not unsympathetic to your situation, Mr. McAllister, far from it. But your personal desires will have to take a backseat to political realities. The American public will simply no longer tolerate people with your abilities and temperament to have free reign... Unless you're willing to show that you can work with us first. Tony Stark gets to stay where he chooses because Tony Stark plays ball with the federal government now. Carrot and stick, you see. I will put in a good word to my superiors, and perhaps you will be duly rewarded for your service, but for now you will simply have to make do with these present facilities... There are plenty of people in the government who would much rather you be back in Baltimore not making any use of your powers, or stuck in a cell in the Raft." He glances back at Tim, "But if we're going to have a problem, I could call up Mr. Stark and have him explain to you why you should cooperate?" Lee lets the question hang in the air with a humorless smile before turning to Zhanty.

"We can arrange for other accommodations on the premises, if you like. I believe there's a walk-in freezer that could be repurposed into a living space of sorts if that would be more comfortable." Lee offers to the elf while thoughtfully tugging on his ear. "Or we could perhaps try to bring some air conditioning units into your room to lower the temperature."

He pauses for a moment before looking across the group. "Any other questions, or shall we head over to the situation room?" He asks.

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions:
Relevant Active Powers:
Hero Points: 1/1

Relieved, Dave shakes Lee's hand and offers it to the reserves, of whom Sora alone accepts. The unit was no Afterlife; but palatial hidden village in the Himalayas was hard to replicate. Since then he'd been alternating between a low key apartment and quarters in the SHIELD base, so this was fine with him.

Listening to the arguments made for and against on-site living, Dave did wonder if some of the others had been misled on the fact that they were effectively being conscripted into the Army.

[Zero Prime]

Vector Mk. III (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24178514&postcount=10)
Hero Points: 1 of 1 | Conditions: None.

Harley nodded his head as Lee spoke, "Fair enough, my apologies. I am used to dealing with a significantly larger budget," he shrugged, "I would ask, though, before installation begins in the work area, if I could consult, I've got a specific way I like things. maximizes efficiency."

He noted the newer addition, waved, then turned back to Lee, "Lead on McDuff!" And with a hand he extended it in the direction of the situation room. There was still the question of his schooling, but that would be resolved in a private discussion, as McAllister was already wary of the Initiative arrangements.

[Deja Who?]

"The cold war? So the government is just doing the laziest cheapest thing behind the scenes while they're all glitz and glamour for the cameras." Mimi scoffed, "Disappointed but not surprised."

"It's because Tony Stark can afford to." She said breaking the tension, then stepping back next to Tim before addressing him further. "The reason Tony Stark lives in a glass tower and we get to live in the cheapest accommodations known to the 50's when we all signed the Accords is because he's rich enough to make the rules. Am I reading the current political realities right?" Melissa questioned, slowly giving Lee a weary look.

"But we all signed the damn thing which means we have to do what they say. Don't rescue kittens without filling out your B-83 Saving Kittens request form. Welcome to government work. Just skip back over there when you have the time, four days without seeing their family is nothing compared to some jobs people have to do just to make it."

[SuperCracker]

Even when Lee broke eye contact, Tim kept his eyes right there, ready to make eye contact again as he sat through what he considered to be a torrent of bullsh*t. He barely paid attention to anyone else as he shot back blow for blow. “The American public? You talkin’ about my folks in Balmer? Or the average folks on the street? Did they take a vote I didn’t know about?" He paused, looking thoughtful. Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh. Or are you talkin’ bout a few rich, white old men? What did they do when Baltimore was gettin’ wrecked? What do they do when people are gettin’ shot in my hood?”

And then Lee said “there are plenty of people in he government who would much rather you be… stuck in a cell in the Raft.”

Without any explanation he said, “F*ckin’ try it.”

He can call Tony Stark. “Call him then. I got time.”

A lesson Tim had learned from a harsh upbringing… it never gets better until you stand up. So you may as well stand up right from the start.

He became aware of what Melissa was saying, and she was right. She was also right that it would probably be easy to just go along. But it’s the principle of the thing.

[Zero Prime]

Vector Mk. III (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24178514&postcount=10)
Hero Points: 1 of 1 | Conditions: None.

Harley stepped between the two, looked up at the larger man, "Mr. McAllister, can I remind you, of a few numbers? New York, 74, Washington, D.C., 23, Sokovia, 177. The first cost tax payers 160 billion dollars, the second, close to 3, and Sokovia, 487. How much training do you have? Fire and rescue? Search and rescue? Have you ever dealt with a structural collapse? A mine? An overpass? What about a train derailment? Oil spill? Hazardous chemicals?" He paused, "I could go on, but we, can, *all*, benefit from this arrangement, can we not? You could go on, thinking that punching things really," he looked at the man in front of him, realised the force his punch could generate would probably turn him into a fine paste, but he continued, "REALLY hard. Or you could learn to use your strength to your advantage, and how to save lives. Or, how to save lives *more* effectively, with oversight, training, controls. So what do you want to do, go home, sulk and listen to a police scanner you bought at Future Shop, or have access to, and co-operation with local, state and federal agencies?"

He shrugged, looking a little lost, "You do you Mr. McAllister, if you want to continue to wait until someone gets hurt and react to it, I won't stop you. But if you want to use your gifts to help people, to be proactive to stop events *before* people get killed, I would really appreciate you being on our side."

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions:
Relevant Active Powers:
Hero Points: 1/1

"Like the kid said you're free to resign. But the government is going to tail and tramp on you for using your powers outside the Initiative. Maybe let him finish before you go to war with the Feds?"

Dave doesn't know Tim, doesn't know what he's been through. For all he knows this reaction is perfectly natural after being screwed over one too many times. But on the other hand they're supposed to be a team, and this was not a great start.

- - - - - -
I don't have any powers or skilld to convince him. Consider this a hail mary.

[gac3]

Agency: Jamie Madrox

Jamie had been accepting of what was happening this far, typical stuff. He had lived in worse arrangements and he had lived in better. No sweat off his back.

Then when Tim started getting angry, things got exciting. It became increasingly difficult not to ask for popcorn.

When Harley started throwing facts into an emotion game, he decided to throw something into the mix and see if it can get the show rolling again.

"I'm not sure I can get on board with your point kid. New York, most of the damage was done taking out an alien threat. How much better does that situation get if Cap sits in the office and waits for home office to make the call about whether that warrants a response or not? The DC incident I'm pretty sure was all sanctioned by either SHIELD or Hydra. That show could go down just as easily with this organization. Sakovia you might have a point about but depends on how you approach it. We live in a world where a threat can come from anywhere at any time. From space or rogue group of nuts with too much power or from people just like us. If there's one thing I've learned over the years it's that the more beuracracy you add to people like us, the less we can do to help. I'm sticking around because I need the suits and the Intel to be of any use but I'm only comfortable doing this because I know there are people like Cap out there to fight the good fight while the higher ups debate if there even is a fight. People like him are going to keep casualties and damages down while we wait to hear if we even get to leave the base."

His speech done, he takes a step back and gestures to Tim."Didn't mean to interrupt but I salute your for the people attitude sir."

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

"Velk-in freezer... iur cundeetiuning? Zeese zeengs I knuo nut vhet zeey ire."

As a stranger in a strange land Zhanty is willing to attempt to abide by the local rules. However there are so many and they are very complicated, but on the whole they are not too bad.

"Zee ruoles, nut su bed zeey ire. Tu pleces muoch vurse I hefe been."

Air conditioner, walk-in freezer? I do not know what these things are.
The rules are not so bad. I have been to places much worse.

[Julian84]

Lee takes a deep breath, staring back at Tim with a surprising lack of fear. "Fine," He finally snaps, reaching into his pocket and fishing out his phone. "You want to do this the hard way? We'll do it the hard way." He swipes through the touchscreen for a few moments before holding out his phone... But instead of an open line, it's a picture of a young woman, blonde, with a roguish grin. She's tattooed and has numerous facial piercings, someone who has definitely lived her life on the wild side.

"This is my sister, Lorena." Lee explains briskly, almost angry. "She's a firefighter. Do you know any firefighters in 'Balmer', Mr. McAllister? As first responders, they have grueling shifts. 12 hours at least, but idiots like her will easily put in 48 hours because it's what they feel they have to do. They do this in a fire station, because people realized a long time ago that first responders are most effective when they are able to launch from a single, unified point. That's how they help the most people."

He pauses, looking at Harley for a moment. "She was at New York that day. Because she was on site at her station, she was able to help evacuate over 200 people." He takes a long, long breath. "Before an alien shot her in the back."

Lee puts his phone away, his hand trembling a little. "We realized then that we needed a new kind of first responder after New York, one who could do more than just put out fires. Someone who could do more than just a cop. But first responders need to stick together. They can do more to help people by being a team than by going off on their own. I don't want to be your enemy, McAllister. I really don't. I believe we could do a lot of good being on the same side. But there are rules that even cops and firefighters have to follow, and those rules help them be better at their jobs. I know you don't want to live here, and I promise I'll try to convince my bosses to see things your way... But for now, this is the best place for you to be if you want to be a part of this team." Lee's shoulders sag as he exhales, worn out already.

"...Safe to say, Ms. Raydawn, that you'll be well taken care of." He promises weakly.

[SuperCracker]

Without looking at Harley, Tim responded to Harley. Tim’s taller, so he can do that. “Ain't talkin’ to you, kid.” Tim’s voice was calm. He had nothing against the kid, but the kid wasn’t the one in charge here. He didn’t set the policies or the rules or the goals of any of this. Lee wasn’t really either, but he was the closest thing to it. So Tim’s beef is with him. Besides, it wasn’t like he didn’t believe in the mission statement.

The argument Dave had about the government didn’t sway Tim either. He simply wouldn’t be intimidated, even if it was the Feds. Lee found that out the hard way already.

Jamie well… spelled out a lot of things Tim felt but hadn’t articulated to himself. They’d probably have a conversation or ten about that later. Tim decided he liked the guy.

Tim was holding firm. If Lee was threatening to call Stark, Tim was ready to talk to Stark or walk. Life had been fine without this bunch before. So when Lee showed him the picture of some lady he was caught off guard. She looked like someone he would’ve hung out with.

He listened quietly, letting the man say his peace. Sounded like the way Amelia talks about her husband. Tim gets the need for this kind of initiative, he does; but he has a bad feeling about it. Lee and his demeanor hadn’t helped it.

By the time Lee is done, Tim unfolded his arms and took a deep breath in through he nose. He was trying to lower his own hackles. “You promise? I got your word?” Very little meant more to him than how good someone’s word is. He stuck out a hand to Lee.

[Zero Prime]

Vector Mk. III (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24178514&postcount=10)
Hero Points: 1 of 1 | Conditions: None.

Harley's face was blank as he looked at MacAllister, then a look of confusion crossed it as his brow wrinkled, then he shrugged slapping his hand away. "What ever dude, you do you." He turned, looked to Lee, pain crossed his face, "Very sorry about your sister Agent Lee, I'm here to do everything I can to make sure nothing like that happens again." He swallowed, hard, "to make sure everyone's brother, sister," his voice quavered, "mother." He took a slow breath, steadying himself, "comes home."

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

Zhanty says a blessing for those who have died in battle in her native language.

[Julian84]

Lee pocketed his cell phone and reached out to shake Tim's hand. "You have my word. Just try to be patient - these things move slowly." He releases Tim's hand and breathes a small sigh of relief before leading the group into the elevator and punching in the code. With a lurch, the elevator begins to descend deep below the surface.

As the elevator rumbles, Lee slowly returns to his placid exterior. Sora seems to be sizing up the other members of the group while his younger companion idly reads the maximum capacity warning above the switchboard.

When the elevator finally arrives at the bottom, the doors open to reveal a long concrete corridor stretching forward for over a hundred yards. It the is damp and musty, and it's difficult to see with the old flickering bulbs overhead. "We'll be installing a tram to make this stretch of the journey a little faster." Lee says offhandedly as he leads them down the corridor. "Originally this was meant to be a fallout shelter intended to preserve the best and brightest young minds of the navy in case of a nuclear war. On the other side of the Severn river is a naval support station that facilitates the training of the academy cadets, and it was found that building the shelter beneath that facility was the best choice due to differences in the bedrock layers. I'm no geologist, though, so if you want to know more about that you'll have to go to the academy library."

Finally reaching the far side of the corridor, Lee cranks open a cumbersome metal airlock door, opening it to reveal a large room with a surprisingly high ceiling. To their left was a large array of screens bolted to the wall, with technicians working to hook them up to a variety of sensors, data feeds, and other information tools. Three screens were already online, showing a constant satellite feed of the state of Maryland, a news feed from WHiH World News, and a RSS feed with police reports from all across the state. Arranged in front of the screen array were six desks, each with a workstation being set up for each on-duty member to be productive at.

"Welcome to your new base of operations. It's a work in progress, but soon it'll be state of the art." Lee says proudly. "From here you will have access to a vast amount of information that will help facilitate your mission. Training facilities are down that hall, with a gymnasium as well, and up that hall is the hangar and ready room."

Two individuals stride across the room to join the growing crowd. "Ah, allow me to introduce you to the last two members of our team." Lee says briskly, pointing to a young woman with fiery red hair, "This is Scarlett Burgess. Think of her as your 'guy in the chair' when out on missions. She'll provide back-up from here coordinating logistics."

"Heya!" Scarlett waves at the group, a little nervous. "I'm pretty pumped to be on this team, guys, I hope we have a good time together fighting the bad guys!"

Lee doesn't miss a beat, gesturing to the man beside Scarlett, "This is Vincent Gere, the pilot of your Quinjet."

"Charmed, I'm sure." Vincent says with a lazy wink. "I'm not taking you on any beer runs, but you can rely on me to save your bacon if the going gets rough."

Lee turns back to the team with a tight smile. "As time goes on, we may add more staff and technical capabilities to the team to support your activities, but for now this is all we got." He pauses, then blinks in surprise, "Oh, I almost forgot... Your codename. From what I've been told, the PR guys were focus-testing a handful of names for the team with the public... The Bannermen was the leading team name by far."

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions:
Relevant Active Powers:
Hero Points: 1/1

"I bet the California team's base was finished before they moved it.

He means it as a joke, the secret SHIELD base was about as bare bones as those when he arrived. The navy having better facilities than the super agency wasnt a surprise.

[Deja Who?]

Melissa watched the continued exchange passively and did not engage further. While it was a relief to have that bit of bad business over with, it did make her question the temperament of Tim. She was sure he was close to a Hulk Gamma-meltdown, especially if he had really been augmented with a perfected Ogre Serum. Mimi slowly let her grip release from where she had been clutching her submachine gun for a feeling of safety. She kept up with the group passively with her arms slightly crossed, her eyes taking in the area and equipment.

The other two seemed to be level-headed enough, except for a residual hero worship of Captain America. Sure, Mimi had loved Captain America growing up too but the man was a terrorist now and she was sure the program didn't want that kind of talk- especially in front of the cameras. Most super-powered individuals would naturally take that approach. The kid, and Tim was right he was a kid, was naturally the most pro-Stark position, too young to really question things much yet she figured.

The stoic woman did feel a twinge of guilt for what she said when Lee told the story of his sister. She'd lost someone back then too, a Firefighter, a friend of hers charged into a collapsing building but he couldn't save everybody, nor himself. Damn aliens. Present company excluded, of course.

"Hey, I'm not good at this sort of thing so sorry about getting on your case before. Long flight. Firefighters are the best of us. I look forward to working with all of you." Mimi took the opportunity to say after Lee introduced Scarlett and Vincent, nodding to both of them as she finished speaking. Despite her misgivings, it didn't look so bad in here, but she was sure it'd be up to them to do the sprucing. She suspected she wasn't alone in thinking that the worst part of living here would be getting to know quite the surly crowd.

[SuperCracker]

Tim had been offering the hand to Lee. When Harley tried to slap it away, it was like trying to slap away a brick wall. It wasn’t happening. Tim gave Lee’s hand a shake and nodded. “Alright then… sorry ya’ll.” He still wasn’t happy with this arrangement, but he wanted to do something good, so for now he’d put up with it.

For now.

He stepped into the elevator and leaned back against the wall. He still looked comfortable, despite the confrontation. To Harley he said, “No offense meant to you, Keener.” He was trying to extend an olive branch without arguing more. The kid hadn’t lived his life yet. He just didn’t know. He threw out numbers… but there was one he didn’t know that Tim knew by heart.

343.

343 homicides in Baltimore last year. It was a higher body count than all of Harley’s examples put together. It was easy to focus on alien invasions, Sakovia, etc. But blood was spilled in the streets every day and Tim wasn’t going to be helping if he’s stuck here. It was a discussion for later, because otherwise the argument would just keep going.

He followed along inside the dank corridor. Yeah, they really spared no expense here. They made it into the main room, and Tim found himself focused on the feed of police reports. Well… that seemed like something he could use. “Yo Lee,” he asked, tone friendly in fact. Lee probably tensed up anyway, but what followed wasn’t argumentative. “Your trainin’ facilities… got anywhere someone like me could work out? Dumbells don’t cut it no more.”

The question, mostly idle for right now, was put on the back burner as they were introduced to the support staff. Scarlett immediately jumped to the top of his favorite people list. Tim grinned and offered his hand to her. “Tim. Nice to meet ya.”

Vincent got a smirk.

Then came the codename. He wasn’t sure how he thought of it. “Sounds like it's from Game of Thrones.” It wasn’t a diss, he just scratched his chin. “I feel like… it works if ya think of it like a wrestlin’ stable. Ya know, like The Bullet Club or The Four Horsemen.” Besides, Tim thought if they were going to use a Game of Thrones name, might as well be the White Walkers. Zhanty Cantpronouncicus looked kind of like one anyway. “But if ya’ll like Bannermen, it’s cool with me. I ain’t ever been good at namin’ stuff.”

[gac3]

Jamie Madrox


Nice place. Nothing fancy but Jamie could work with that. He was interested to see what all this would entail and how strict some of the rules would be. "When do we start boss?" he asks after their team name is announced, figuring that marked the end of the tour.

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

Zhanty is constantly amazed by the ingenuity of humans and the gadgets they make because most of them do not know magic.

"Hellu Scerlett und Fincent."

As she wanders around looking at the things.

"Buonnermeen? Cerry zee flegs und stuond beck ve vuould. Fonguord ve shuould be. Furst intu bettle"

Bannermen? We would stand in the back and carry the flags. We should be the Vanguard, the first into battle.

[Zero Prime]

Vector Mk. III (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24178514&postcount=10)
Hero Points: 1 of 1 | Conditions: None.

As MacAllister made a half hearted ... something to Harley, he shrugged and turned his back on the larger man with a muttered, "What ever man." That was the problem with some people, is they got so blinded by their own bias that they couldn't see reason, even when spelled out for them. And to compound the fact, both MacAllister and Lee treated him like he wasn't even there. Great, he thought to himself, so I am the tech prodigy, and if it doesn't relate to that my team is going to ignore me. He shook his head and continued to follow Lee, making note to do some research on Lorena Lee when he got some down time.

His mood brightened visually when being introduced to the support staff, he nodded to Burgess, smiled, Mission Ops, nice. "Hey, Harley Keener," he shook the woman's hand. "Love to see your specs at some point," some color may have rushed to his cheeks as he realized how that may have come across, "the, uhh, network specs. See if we can't optomize them," he stammered. Shook his head, Great job, Keener, he mentally chided himself. Now you are drooling over the red head, and there is a half naked blue elf standing behind you, judging you, real smooth!

Thankfully Gere saved him. "A Quinjet, rad! What's the thrust:weight ratio and ...," he started to cycle through various flight characteristics, trying to configure the vehicle in his mind with the perfect thrust, to fuel, to operating range he could configure. "Err, yea," he nodded, "I'd love to pull back the hood on that one when you got the time."

[Julian84]

Lee blinks slowly, processing their confusion over the name. "N-no, you see, the Bannermen was chosen because of Maryland's history - The Star-Spangled Banner was written in Baltimore during the War of 1812. So the marketing types figured that a name appealing to the state's history would help establish rapport with the civilian population." He glanced between them, looking for a sign that any single one of them was catching what he was talking about.

"Uhh... Anyhow." Lee pinches the bridge of his nose. "The training center has a full range of programs to help you learn about a range of subjects from emergency response to first aid to law and order. They've even got language modules if you want to brush up on your second or third language. The gym is rated for enhanced individuals, so it should be able to give each of you a sufficient workout."

He turns to Madrox, "We're going to give you a few days to get acclimated to the facility before officially activating you for your normal duties."

Meanwhile, Scarlett clears her throat at Harley's gaffe. Given he's about ten years younger than her, that came off less than endearing. "My network is sufficiently optimized, thanks." She replies coolly, before addressing the rest of the team. "There's a great bar right off campus, let's get drinks sometime! Friday is karaoke night!"

Vincent chuckles good-naturedly at Harley's enthusiasm, pulling out a small datapad with the jet's schematics. "This is a cutting-edge model donated from the Avenger's fleet of Stark-enhanced quinjets. Some teams are having to settle for the older SHIELD models, but we've got the best of the best."

Lee smiles, nodding to himself. "Welcome to the Bannermen, team. You're all dismissed."

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

Zhanty does not know much of the context that Lee is mentioning for the explanation behind the name Bannermen. She goes to the training center to learn a quick bit of American History so she can understand what was said.

She would currently have negative ranks in Earth History if that was possible.

[Deja Who?]

"Bannermen. Great." Melissa muttered to herself as the team started to disperse. Before they could get very far, Mimi addressed the group obliquely.

"So.. what were you all selected for? It's important know what each of you can do to make for an effective team. You can probably guess from my inconspicuous backpack what I can do." She continued, "The government has about half-a-dozen of these things laying around and not many folks can utilize it without getting hurt." Mimi kinda made a weird expression, "I only know one other guy who can do it and he's not exactly on speaking terms with the U.S. Government.”

“So you get me.”

"Advanced scout and rescue. I was also in S.H.I.E.L.D. for a while before saying that could get you put on some kind of watch-list." She looked over at David and Jamie Maddox, her gaze accidentally making direct eye contact with Jamie- something she hadn't done with any of them yet. "Probably a few more of you were former S.H.I.E.L.D. also." Mimi suggested, clearly putting David and Jamie in that same group.

“We all know what a boon an Asgardisn can be.” She continues, clearly indicating Zhanty. ”..and of course having a hometown hero who was on the news is great for PR, we all know what you're capable of." She added, glancing Tim's way and letting her gaze linger on some of his more defined muscular features. Okay, make no mistake he was an attractive man, but she couldn't let that distract her. "But why can do you do those things?" HYDRA, probably.

"And you, Mr. Harley Keener. You obviously aren't merely tech support or you would have met us here and not out front. You must be some serious anomalies to be here with the rest of us. Too young to be here, out of your depth, and an obvious STARK boy?" She frowned at him. "No need to be shy about it; you're Spider-Man, aren't you?"

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions:
Relevant Active Powers:
Hero Points: 1/1

"Fellow SHIELD high-five? I got recruited after the Triskelion incident, but always heard people talk about how great it was before. But it never made sense to me how you could be spies when you owned so much flashy real estate?"

Dave holds up his hand and a cloud of silver-white mist runs out of his sleeve and into the air, forming a disk about a foot across.

"I make walls, I make clouds and I turn people to stone. I'm up for a fight, but I'll be spending most of it behind the hometown hero; I'm delicate.

----
Reference for people who didn't watch agents of shield. Between Winter Soldier and now a tonne of Terrigen got dumped in the oceans. Through the food chain (fish tacos, cod liver oil capsules, etc.) people with latent inhuman DNA are getting cocooned in stone, then coming back out of it with super powers. It's been about 9 months I think, we're at the Senators denouncing the mutan-I mean, Inhuman threat, and organised vigilante groups starting to show up.

Also Coulson's alive and Fury made him SHIELD Director. He runs it out of an old SSR base and he has a robot arm.

[SuperCracker]

So she had the Falcon’s backpack. Did everyone think that even saying Sam Wilson or Steve Rogers was going to cause an army battalion to show up? It was good to know that someone in this bunch could fly. All superhero teams needed someone that could fly, right? She was also a real agent, but so was almost everyone else on this team minus… Zh—Zh---Zhanty? Tim sat back and let people say what they wanted to say about themselves… but when asked a question, he answered.

“But why can you do those things?”

He shrugged at Melissa. “I dunno. I ain’t ever had some strange chemical spill on me. I ain’t ever been around a buncha radiation. Ain’t ever been experimented on in a lab. No secret drugs that I take. No magic, no alien abductions. My parents sure as sh*t ain’t gods, so I don’t think I’m a god. Never had a big ole cocoon grow around me.”

“I just had ‘em one day. I think I was just born like this.”

He looked over to Dave. “Hide behind me all ya want. I’m bullet-proof when I wanna be.”

[Julian84]

Chapter 1

Paul Dirac Positron Research Institute
College Park, Maryland
1344 Hours, 10/3/2016

The lights flickered overhead (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqx0ApdjvR8) as Dr. Iris Monterrey trotted down the hallways of the institute towards the primary applied sciences lab. A weird humming filled the air and rattled the fillings in her teeth with each step she took closer to the source of the bizarre phenomenon. Some primal part of her brain was screaming at her to turn and go the other way, but she couldn’t help but continue forward. She burst through the doors to the lab only to be forced to a halt, shielding her light from the crackling bursts of light emanating from within the containment unit.

“Somebody talk to me!” She barked over the noise, the humming now risen to a rumbling that shook her very bones. Looking at the back of her arm, she saw the hairs had all risen on end.

One of the senior technicians ran over, his skin so pale it looked almost translucent. “Chief,” He breathed, shuddering uncontrollably, “We’ve lost control, the readings… They’re off the charts now.”

“What happened?” She demanded, pushing him out of the way and staring at the light with mounting horror.

He shakes his head. “One of the junior researchers was… Was testing a series of gamma isotopes. It was a standard experimental protocol, part of the tests outlined by Dr. Watkins. But something happened, the reseacher was blown halfway across the room…” He turns towards the unfortunate soul, reduced to a bubbling mass of tar smeared across the floor.

Monterrey covered her mouth for a moment, nausea taking over. “Where’s Dr. Watkins now?” She asked after a moment.

“He… Went to go and try to shut off the main feed source.” The technician replied. Behind him, the containment unit rumbled louder, the glass portholes cracking suddenly.

Monterrey swore under her breath, running to the wall and pulling the fire alarm and signaling a general evacuation. “We need to get as many people out of here as we can.”

---

Bannermen Situation Room
Annapolis, Maryland
1415 Hours, 10/3/2016

An alarm sounded through the Bannermen apartments and their subterranean facility, gathering the team together, such as it was. Harley Keener, Codename Vector, had been forced off the team after a controversial decision by the higher-ups regarding ownership of the Vector suit. In the end, he went off to join a Stark Industries internship provided by his benefactor.

The team gathered in the situation room, finding Lee in a grey jumpsuit and pulling on some sort of black body armor with gold trim. Scarlett was behind her desk, swiftly typing and pulling up satellite feeds, blueprints, and every other scrap of data she could find regarding the Paul Dirac Positron Research Institute.

“Gather up, Bannermen.” Lee announced as he pulled on a glove. “We have our first mission. Not too far from here, either. The Positron Research Institute in College Park is experiencing some sort of anomalous phenomenon that they report as being catastrophically dangerous to the surrounding area - which includes the nation’s capitol.”

“Boss, we won’t have live satellite coverage for another hour.” Scarlett reports in a terse tone, all business.

He nods back, holstering a sidearm. “Can’t rely on always having perfect data. We’re taking the Quinjet over, evacuating civilians, establishing a perimeter, and figuring out what the hell is going on.” He looks at the team. “Any questions?”

[gac3]

Jamie: Agency

This was exciting. Finally a chance to see how this was going to go in practice. With effort, he keeps a straight face, resisting the urge to smile. "How is this going down? Are you just dropping us there and saying "go be super" or are we going to be assigned individual zones or tasks or whatever?"

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

Gu, ve shuould. Reedy, I im.

We should go. I am ready.

[Deja Who?]

“Roger that. I’ll do a sweep of the area once we’re in the proper air-space. We won’t need satellite coverage with me in the sky.”

[SuperCracker]

Only a few moments after the alarm began to sound, Tim rushed into the room at superhuman speed. The main delay was donning his gear. You see, when Tim was superheroing about before the Initiative, he just wore t-shirts, jerseys, and occasionally his wrestling ring gear. All of which were now hopelessly riddled with bullet-holes or half-burned. He needed something that would actually survive a mission, maybe. So before any suits were made, Tim handed in a drawing from PJ… what the boy thought his hero should look like.

Tim was wearing that suit. Black with blue racing stripes running down each leg and each one of the short sleeves. Tim’s arms were bare, showing off their tatted-up superhuman glory. A gold, Superman-style shield was big and bright on the chest.

He had a long red headband tied around his head, underneath his hair. Something Amelia gave him for luck once when he was younger. He never did any planned heroics without it.

“Just get me over there,” he said, ready to go. Whatever was happening down there, someone needed help, especially the people stuck in the positronic net… no wait… whatever it is.

Either way, he was on his way to the Quinjet without another word, giving Jamie a fist-bump on the way out.

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions:
Relevant Active Powers:
Hero Points: 1/1

Dave is in a suped up Initiative uniform, dark blue with gold and green accents, a chunky belt intentionally reminiscent of Batman's utility belt, and a jetpack. Nowhere near the wingsuit's capabilities, more Starship Troopers jump-jets.

The Bannermen's State Senate-approved logo sits on his right uppwr arm with the words 50 States Initiative in a curved patch on either shoulder. Epaulettes with the letter G and his ID number (0007 - he was the last arrive and didn't get bumped up when Keener left) complete the look.

[Julian84]

Lee shakes his head as he regards Jamie with a steely gaze. “Negative. I’ll be dropping into the area with you and calling the shots from the ground, in the thick of it side by side with the rest of you. We’re a team, no matter what.” He pauses, glancing around the room. “We have no idea what exactly we’re walking into, which isn’t exactly ideal for our first mission… But it doesn’t matter. Keep a cool head, follow orders, and we will save lives today.” He walks passed them, heading towards the hangar at a brisk pace. “Let’s head out.”

Falling in behind the government-appointed leader, the team jogs out into the hangar, where the quinjet is already ready to go, engines roaring in the confined area. The ramp descends so they can clamber aboard, giving them barely enough time to strap in before Vincent hits the throttle and begins ascending towards the ceiling.

“Alright boys and girls, let’s all play nice today.” Vincent says, opening the hangar bay doors. Sunlight streams in from above as the massive doors open, making a wide berth for the quinjet to rise up and over the city of Annapolis. “Hang on, kids, this is going to be a bumpy ride.” With that he switches to forward thrust, accelerating hard enough to slam anyone not prepared back into their seats.

Their communicator’s crackle to life in their ears as Scarlett chimes in. “Hey team, I’ll be orienting you from the situation room. The research institute reported that the anomaly is occurring in their primary lab on the north side of the facility. We’re beginning to detect signs of gamma radiation, so I’ve tweaked your bio-readings to warn me if you begin to hit hazardous radiation levels. If you get a buzz from me, that means you have to extract yourself pronto, unless you want to see if you become the next Hulk… Or a pile of irradiated ooze.”

“ETA to target, 10 minutes.” Vincent’s voice crackles over the radios. “Confirm launch site is cleared, PeeDee actual.” He banks slightly, shooting the Quinjet on a southwest trajectory. “Roger that.”

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

As they board the jet Zhanty utters an incantation to a spell she has not had a reason to use since her arrival on earth. Starting at the tips of her fingers and toes and finishing at the top of her head her body begins to turn completely into living ice.

Activating Ice Form

[SuperCracker]

Tim gripped onto whatever railing was available and didn’t have a hard time hanging on as the Quinjet screamed forward into the sky. Tim had never gotten close to radiation before, not really… but he knew he could survive things that normal humans could not. So when Red gave them the warning about the gamma radiation, he looked at Lee.

“Yo Lee… lemme go in the lab. I can take the radiation. No one else has gotta risk it… and maybe I can get someone out alive.”

It went back to Lee’s sister… if a normal first responder had to go near that building, they’d die… whether it’s not or in a decade. And though Tim wasn’t positive he could be completely immune… well.. he was the best bet, wasn’t he?

And also... elf-lady was now ice-lady. Cool.

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions:
Relevant Active Powers:
Hero Points: 1/1

"So, are you made of ice or covered in ice?

[Julian84]

Lee walks to the cockpit of the quinjet, watching the clouds race by. “I’m more than aware of your strengths, Aegis. Trust me to know how best to use them.” He turns back to face the super-powered hero, his lips quirking into his trademark humorless smile. “Thankfully we’re in agreement this time.”

After a few minutes, the quinjet lurches as Vincent begins to descend towards the research institute. Lee clambers to the back of the quinjet, slapping a button to lower the ramp. A roaring gust of wind buffets the interior of the jet, almost deafening in its intensity. Lee hits the communicator on his wrist, his voice coming in through their earpieces. “Songbird, you will perform aerial recon of the facility. That facility is rated to contain the radiation, but you should be able to pick up any leaks through your thermal imaging.”

He walks towards where the team is strapped in, holding onto a strap hanging from the ceiling of the quinjet. “Agency, I want you to create three duplicates. Two with me, two with Aegis.” He says quickly, barking orders. “Aegis, you will punch a hole through the facility straight to the primary lab. I want to create the most direct path to the primary lab so we can direct evacuees out the fastest way possible. When you get to the primary lab, report on what you find. Agency, your two duplicates will then evacuate anyone still left in the lab.”

“Frost, Inhuman, I want you to begin setting up as many barriers as you can around the primary lab. If there’s some chain reaction or explosion, I want at least some sort of shield between that building and the surrounding area blocking irradiated materials from flying all over the place.” He says to the final two members of the team. “Frost, be ready to go into the primary lab if it’s in the process of some sort of meltdown where your powers could help delay or prevent a total catastrophic failure.”

He is silent for a moment before making eye contact with each of them, saying, “We’re going to save the day. It’s cliched to say, I know, but we need to believe it, or the people down there will see it on our faces that we don’t. We can save the day.”

The quinjet touches down outside the research institute, alarms blaring as the team dashes out onto the front lawn. Scientists, technicians, and other staff are running away in blind panic, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the facility as they can, shepherded by firefighters and police. “Alright, Aegis,” Lee turns to Tim with a grim expression. “Go for it.”

Lee hits his communicator again, broadcasting to all local receivers: “All nonessential personnel clear the area. The Bannermen have arrived.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXr9oSqhbuI&list=PLIR18qtLNtiyCnPeHimoeHdV6YIUX4I8d&index=6)

[gac3]

Agency

Jamie smiles after receiving his instructions and then scans his team, ending on Mimi and giving her a wink. "Let's show the world what us aliens can really do."

He then proceeds to make his dupes. Over the next several seconds, three more Agency appear. One with blonde hair, one with blue eyes and one seemingly identical. The blonde and blue haired ones immediately stand next to Tim.

If possible Jamie would have avoided showing off this talent to all but Tim until now.

Rolls for loyalty (Assuming I will be told if there are issues since I still am not sure entirely the scale.)
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3] ignore (only 3)


Quirk rolls:
[roll4] Blue Eyes
[roll5] Russian Accent
[roll6] Blonde Hair
[roll7] ignore

[Deja Who?]

"Play nice," Mimi audibly scoffed, but didn't say much more before climbing aboard the Quinjet. She'd been calibrating her suit when the alarm sounded but it looked as fresh as ever, black and white with the design on the chest looking like snowy mountains. She hadn't spoken to the rest of the team since the spat earlier, but she hoped these putzs could handle a search and rescue. This was her specialty.

"Gamma Radiation?" Melissa questioned with a twinge of worry.

The serum she took had been given select burst of Gamma Exposure, but it wasn't like she'd ever taken a full blast of it before. She wasn't sure what that would do to her. Her eyes flickered over to Tim for a moment. Well now, if he was charging straight in there now was her chance to see how his mutation reacted to possibly further radiation. But she couldn't dwell much on it before her attention was diverted by Zhanty. Cool, literally, but no reaction was visible on her face.

Melissa sat quietly like a good soldier and nodded at her orders, only itching to spread her wings for the first time in what seemed like forever. When the time was right she unhooked her seat and ran for the open exist as the Quinjet hovered in preparation for a landing. As she hit the open air she closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the drop for a few precious extra moments before the impressive wings of the EXO-7 FALCON burst forth. Within seconds she was flying down close to the building, her eyes peeled for any signs as her visor cycled through different visions before settling on infrared.

"Giving the location a fly-by, roger."

Perception Skill Roll (First of the Game!)

[roll0]+8

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions: Normal
Relevant Active Powers: Walls of Attilan, Flight, Immunity (Life Support, Crits)
Dodge: 8 / Parry: 1 / Fort: 7 / Tough: 11 / Will: 7
Hero Points: 1/1

Inhuman exits the quinjet and triggers his uniform's active systems. Control cables tighten around his legs and jets pop up and kick into life at his shoulders and lower back. Reminding himself not to be jealous of Songbird's wingsuit, he joins her in the air and once reaching his effective range, starts raising walls as instructed around the primary lab.

He calls Aegis on the communicator. "So I know you can run through walls, but just to check. These are halfway between steel and titanium, do I need to leave you an exit route or are you good?"

I remember I used to be good at maths, I got an A in my GCSE. I blame calculators.

Anyway, 4000sq ft for the primary lab. that's 64ft per side - ish. I can make 20ft diameter at a time. 1ft thick, 50ft high.

So it will take me 17 rounds, or 1 minute 42 seconds to completely surround the primary lab and put a roof on for good measure. At 1ft thick, giving it Toughness 13 (Impervious 6) for being over an inch thick. Hopefully it won't blow up before then.

[SuperCracker]

The second the ramp opened up, Tim came down off the ramp and moved out ahead of the rest of the group. Brown eyes watched the people fleeing. He’d seen that look so many times… cowering from gunshots outside the window, trapped beneath a car, terrified of a rampaging monster. Tim was never the one who fled from trouble. He ran to it.

Aegis focused his power into his muscles for speed and into what he conceptualized as his health. Those around him might feel a shift in pressure or a movement of the air as his body was flooded with super power. They’d never really seen him use his powers in person.

“Go for it.”

FWOOSH! Aegis blasted out from his position in an impossible sprint. He was in control of his speed, able to avoid panicking people and first responders without flattening someone. He did exactly what Lee told him and made for the closest part of the building. As his momentum brought him close to the building, he leaned forward and lowered his shoulder. His power shifted again. His speed greatly reduced but his forward power was amplified. Nothing could stand in the way as he burst into the building, tearing through the structure like it was made of tissue paper. And he just kept going forward towards the lab.

“Don’t worry ‘bout me!” He called to Inhuman over the comm, “You can seal me in… just leave a way for Jamie to get out with folks.” His words were punctuated by the sound of smashing and crashing over the comm.

Dynamic array is allocated as follows: 9 points into Immunity. It will cover everything in Life Support except starvation and thirst. 6 points into Speed, at least until he gets to the facility. 240 mph.

Once he’s there, speed 6 gets shifted into Penetrating Burrowing 3.

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

While on the jet before they land Zhanty holds up a semi-transparent hand in response to Dave's question.

-----

After they land Zhanty skates out of the ship in some bizarre reversal of earthly norms, a humanoid made of ice skating on solid ground. She scouts the perimeter and makes a pass through any open parts of the facility before beginning an incantation to summon forth vast quantities of ice to reinforce the Walls of Attilan.

1 mile of movement for scouting.
Rank 16 create can add a 4 foot thick barrier of super ice to the outside of the walls that Inhuman just made.

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions: Normal
Relevant Active Powers: Walls of Attilan, Flight, Immunity (Life Support, Crits)
Dodge: 8 / Parry: 1 / Fort: 7 / Tough: 11 / Will: 7
Hero Points: 1/1

Inhuman briefly debates stopping as Frost outperforms him fourfold, but resists. Lee had bigger problems than his bruised ego. Instead, as fog rushes out from his arms into shimmering grey walls, he turns his attention to Agency's revelation.

"You know when you said you shoot things, I might have gone with the whole 'cloning myself' anecdote instead.

[gac3]

Jamie

Looking at Inhuman, Jamie shrugs and smiles. "Well okay. I can shoot a lot of things at once."

[Julian84]

Aegis & Agency: Aegis charges forward, smashing into the facility and punching a hole towards the primary lab. Concrete and metal bars fly apart in front of him as he smashes through one barrier after another, barely feeling the impact as he continues on his path. In his wake, Lee leads the four Agencies through clouds of dust into the facility, sending two after Aegis while the other two spread out to help him search for other evacuees.

“My name is Agent Lee, Department of Homeland Security! We’ve created a new path to safety, if anyone can hear me, come towards my voice! This path will lead you to safety!” Lee barks, clambering over pieces of concrete and slamming doors open to try and find any personnel who still need to be evacuated. He holds up his wrist to speak into the comm, admonishing Tim. “Aegis, we use codenames while on mission communications,” he reminds the stalwart hero.

Songbird: Soaring above the facility, Mimi detects that the rooftop of the primary lab is several magnitudes hotter than the surrounding facility. Whatever is going inside, it’s bad. She notices that there are several fires breaking out from rooftop AC units, transformers, satellite arrays, and other technical equipment that are suffering from the effects of the disaster. If left unchecked, the whole building might burst into flames.

Frost & Inhuman: Zhanty skates forward and scouts the perimeter of the primary lab. She notices immediately that the surrounding temperature is extremely hot, steam beginning to pop off from her surface. A bright light is shining from within the building, and the glass windows are beginning to melt and distort. Inhuman catches up on foot, beginning the process of erecting the Walls of Attilan to contain the lab.

Aegis & Agency: Tim slams through the final barrier, skidding to a halt inside the primary lab and immediately assaulted by a dense wall of hot air. Several computer stations are sparking, melting, or on fire, and there are several people strewn on the ground, motionless. Nearby he can see an older woman in a labcoat lying against the wall, her eyes closed.

At the center of the lab is a massive circular structure with mechanical components he doesn’t grasp the purpose of. It’s capped by a transparent dome, which appears to be containing a crackling lightning storm that surges against its container. Nearby, there’s a puddle of black goop from which green pseudopods are trying to grasp upwards.

The two Agencies follow him in, immediately under assault from the intense heat. They get the feeling they’re not going to be able to stay in there very long before they succumb to the elements as well.

As the two look around the lab and get a sense for their surroundings, the central containment unit makes a groaning noise, like the metallic structure is beginning to collapse.

[SuperCracker]

Aegis paused only long enough to assess the situation. He pointed out the people he could see to Jamie, but kept focused on the massive structure and what was going on around it. Agency could probably do a better job of recapping, but Tim was asked to do it so he would give it his best.

“Hot in here, stuff is meltin’ or on fire. Big thing in the middle here with what it would look like if ya captured a thunderstorm, covered by a clear dome. There’s a puddle of black stuff here that looks alive, like its got tentacles,” he called out over the comms. He was clearly out of his depth with the machinery and he knew it.

Then he heard the containment groan and could see the places where it was starting to bulge. He shifted power into his sheer physical strength and rushed to the containment, pushing back against the pressure to try and hold it together. Sure, he didn’t know how any of this worked, but he wasn’t going to stand by and just watch it explode.

“This dome ain’t gone last long! It’s about to come apart. I’m gone try and hold it together.” he said as his concession to Lee, "I dunno how long I can keep it together. Any of ya'll got an idea?"

Shifting dynamic array. Penetrating Burrowing becomes Power Lifting 6. Tim has effective Str 18 for lifting/feats of strength.

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

Hearing Aegis' call for assistance Frost moves over to get a look into the room where he is.
It is way too hot in there, better cool it off a bit.
She summons forth the sub-arctic temperatures native to Niflheim.

"Culd I cuon meke it. Furzeen suleed it cuon be."

A round of Environment Control Extreme Cold, Selective, 500 foot diameter cylinder centered on the device and not effecting any people.
I can make it cold, frozen solid.

[Julian84]

As Agency moves survivors out of the primary lab, Aegis runs forward to slam against the buckling metal, straining with all of his might to try and contain the ruptures from breaking through with catastrophic consequences. The wall closes behind him, sealing him in except for a small hole above where Frost positions herself, dumping snow into the gap.

The snow flash-boils as it hits the surface of the metal, filling the room with steam that obscures all sight except for small flashes of light. Aegis registers the scalding steam against his skin but presses on while the gap above is sealed in by the dome. The domed structure begins to contract from the temperature change, the metal groaning…

“Aegis, what do you see in there?” Lee presses over the radio as he and Agency help technicians evacuate the building.

In the lab, the flashes of light begin to subside… And eerie silence reigns over the primary lab. A crack suddenly appears in front of Aegis, metal rending in a screech that hurts the ears… But as he looks on in surprise, he sees tendrils of lightning slip through the crack slowly, carefully… Gripping the torn edges and beginning to widen the gap as more energy streams out of the hole in the container and begins to take shape…

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel-extended-universe/images/5/5c/Zzzax_Avengers_Initiative.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170112004936

[SuperCracker]

It looked for a moment like they’d done it. Like they’d sealed the machine up and everything was going to be over. That moment didn’t last long. Then lightning started to slip through cracks and worm its way out. Aegis tried to stop it, but how could hands, no matter how superpowered, contain lightning? Aegis moved back from the enclosure and faced the mass of energy as it took humanoid shape.

Aegis lifted his hands, assuming a defensive position. To answer Lee he said.

“A big guy made a’ lightnin’ just came out of the dome. He’s got a skeleton-lookin’ face.”

And to said Lightning-Guy, “So uh… how you doin’?”

Shifting Super-Powers. Boosted Strength will now go to boosted Speed. Keeping Environmental Immunity while in this lab.

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

"Nurmel fur Midgerd, zees is nut me zeenks. Cereffuol ve shuould be."

I think this is not normal for Earth, we should be careful.

Ready an action to try to seal the lightning thing in a block of ice if it attacks.

[gac3]

Jamie/Agency

As his Agents and he cleared out citizens, Jamie couldn't help but think that he had been hoping for something that would involve some more shooting. In all honesty, he felt the only thing that made him better than a group of regular human cops right now is that three of his four bodies were totally expendable.

Then Aegis said something about a man of lightning. Now, this would at least be a story worth telling.

"What's our orders boss?"

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions: Normal
Relevant Active Powers: Walls of Attilan, Flight, Immunity (Life Support, Crits)
Dodge: 8 / Parry: 1 / Fort: 7 / Tough: 11 / Will: 7
Hero Points: 1/1

Inhuman lands on his now-sealed wall, above Frost's ice. With a flick of his wrist he converts a palm-sized area of the wall into a puff of fog. He can see through it but nobody else can, just in case lightning man would notice a new sunbeam.

"Yeah, definitely not normal for Midgard. Lee, did the lab mention this when they called you?

[Julian84]

Aegis:
The towering creature looked around the primary lab quizzically before looking down at Aegis with an equally puzzled expression. When it opens its mouth to respond, an ungodly screeching noise emerges, like a car crash had a baby with the world’s noisiest modem. Looking back at the ceiling, it reaches a hand upwards… And its limb seems to stretch out into multiple tongues of lightning that lash through the concrete and girders, slashing against the Wall of Attilan and making the barrier pop and sizzle. The creature screeches again in confusion and frustration at the barrier, intensifying its probing for a weakness before retracting the tendrils.

Agency, Frost, Inhuman:
Outside, Lee frowns at Aegis’ description of the creature. “Team, back off from Inhuman’s dome, form a perimeter. Aegis, you’re on point. If it’s hostile, keep it busy and don’t let it leave until we can figure out how the hell it can be contained.” He pauses, gritting his teeth. “I don’t know anything more about this situation than you do, so this thing is entirely an unknown quantity.”

He glances at the duplicates of Agency carrying the scientists from the primary lab. “Wake them up, make them talk. I want to know everything about what’s going on here. The rest of you, if you see that thing escaping pour on the pain and keep it here. We have no idea what damage it could cause.”

[Kobold-Bard]

Inhuman - Dave Staranson
Conditions: Normal
Relevant Active Powers: Walls of Attilan, Flight, Immunity (Life Support, Crits)
Dodge: 8 / Parry: 1 / Fort: 7 / Tough: 11 / Will: 7
Hero Points: 1/1

Seeing the lightning Inhuman re-seals his spy hole and stretches another layer of alien crust over the peak of the dome for good measure

He then takes to the air again and heads to the opposite end of the wrecked lab to Frost and Agency.

----
Walls of attilan again to close the hole.
120ft/round movement, move back to 200ft, still airborne.

[SuperCracker]

Even Aegis winced at the horrible sound that creature made… but he didn’t take the screech as a threat because Tim could read the person/creature’s expression. Aegis changed his stance, holding his palms out open in an unthreatening gesture. “Yo! Yoyoyo! Relax. Relaaax.” He used a calming tone of voice. He wasn’t sure if the creature could understand him… whether it was human, had ever been human, or was something from… somewhere else. But maybe it could read his body language.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. I ain’t gone hurt ya. Just cool it with breakin’ stuff?” Aegis tried to pantomime the same type of lashing the creature had just tried to do on the barriers. “Trust me, I don’t like bein’ cooped up either. But we gotta make sure ya don’t accidentally hurt someone else or yourself when ya leave?”

He spoke into his earpiece. “It ain’t tryin’ to hurt me. It looks confused. I’m gone see if I can keep it calm.”

Aegis again communicated with the being. He gestured to himself, putting his palm on his chest. “Aegis.” He tapped his chest again. “Aegis. That’s me.”

Hopefully this would work... he didn't want to get into a fight with the thing if it didn't deserve it; but he was 100% ready if it had to happen.

Readied action to punch/grapple if it tries anything aggressive, but he’s trying to play nice.

Let me know if you need a persuasion roll.

[Izzarra]

Frost
No conditions

Zhanty watches without saying anything.

Maintain ready an action to try to seal the lightning thing in a big block of ice if it attacks.

[SuperCracker]

If the creature attempts to touch Aegis in a non-hostile way, Aegis lifts up a hand with a halting gesture. Aegis didn't know how much that would shock him. He could probably take it alright, but he didn't want to give this confused creature the idea that all humans could survive it... when they probably couldn't.


"You're made a' lightnin'. I think if ya touch somethin' it's gone get hurt."

He picked up a nearby clipboard and held it out towards the creature. Aegis took one of his fingers and poked it, then nodded to the creature and extended the clipboard.

"Now you try it."

[gac3]

Agency

Agency has his dupes set the down the scientists outside the dome. He assigns two of them to guard his personal perimeter. He has the final one slap the scientists awake as he draws his gun and holds it up, plainly visible while not yet pointing at anyone.

When they start to come around, he smiles."Now, the good doctors have finally come around. Now, based on the way things are going down and the lightning monster inside, I feel it's safe to assume that some illegal stuff was going down here. Now I need to know exactly what has been going on here. Be honest and maybe you will be able to make a deal, I'll even put in a good word for your cooperation. Lie to me though, and I shoot you in the legs and send you to meet the monster you created. Start talking, we haven't much time."


Intimidation: [roll0]
Since he isn't serious about shooting them in the legs, let me know if you want a bluff as well.