Adventures Assemble S3E3: The Great Brain Robbery!

[stavaros_the_arcane]

... & Gelert
Justice Hall

The Marshal slightly shakes his head at Gelert, as if to say 'this can't be right', then turns to one side and keys his wireless earbud.

"Pandemonium One," Marshal Lawless says. "Are you absolutely certain of the target? All this old fool seems to be capable of is immature grade school-level spite."

There is a hiss of static, and then a high-pitched, middle-aged man's voice comes very loudly through the earpiece. "I am absolutely sure, Herr Lawless! My Quantum Probability Computron has determined this is the case with certainty of six sigma. What you are facing is what we call distraction. The dog is using the Mayor's stupidity to occupy you while he seizes ze advantage!"

Marshal Lawless looks at his now empty hand: Cooper is gone. He looks at the crowd: there is now a very tall (and likely bulletproof) wall of light between him and the civilians, whom the staff on scene are still hurrying into the nearest ferry.

"Requesting air support," the Marshal growls into his commlink as he points the shotgun at Gelert instead.

"This is why I never leave interrogation to field agents. You are professional in shooting, so shoot! Leave ze questioning to professional in questioning!"

OOC
Jason is within melee range of Marshal Lawless and the R.I.O.T. Squad, and is under concealment. Gelert is about 50ft away.

Round 1
24 Gelert *
20 Marshal Lawless (Minion)
-- R.I.O.T. Squad (Minion, Squadron)
18 Jason (Fade)

Gelert is up!

Gelert tilts his head. "Your Boss is pretty rude."
Gelert simply bunkers down, maintaining the walls he put up to protect the crowd.

OOC: can't really do anything while holding up the shields.

[Psistrike]

Moonlight
HP: 2 LP: 1
Condition: Fine

"Vaccines to save lives are different from changing people's very physiology and biology like you plan." Aranel says as she pulls out the syringe from her arm, her regeneration and fortitude overpowering whatever was in it. "Now I think it is time to deal with you, let's see how well you handle the vines." Some of the previous vines Aranel used before came back to life and lunged at the bad doctor intent on wrapping around her.

OOC: Fortitude save: Fortitude save: 1d20+8 23 Attack roll for Nature Entraps [plant descriptor]: Attack roll: 1d20+12 24 DC 21 Dodge to resist.

[Ysariel]

Nightbird
King's Junction - Pierce & Co. Steel Works (Factory interior)

Before her scream had faded Imogen launched herself in a flying kick at the Mayhem Machine, this time she meant to put the spook out for good.

"-- THE VICTOR OF THIS CONTEST IS YET TO BE --"

You drown out the rest of his sentence with a deep THOOOOOOOMM that can be felt as much as heard. The iron and concrete walls of the factory tremble; the lamps hanging from the ceiling sway in an unseen breeze; and spent cartridges and metal fragments from the battle skitter across the floor. The Mayhem Machine shudders much more violently and gouts of blue flame erupt from its hull, almost as though it struggles to contain the evil spirit within it.

You then plant your boot squarely between the twin blue lights of its sensor cluster and crumple the hull right in that vulnerable spot. As you backflip off it, the machine explodes in a shower of flaming metal bits!

OOC

Knightfire Dodge DC 21: 1D20+10 = [7]+10 = 17

-4 toughness

And Knightfire is not capable of passing a DC 33 Toughness check even with a 20 on the die, so the possessed Mayhem Machine is defeated.

A cloud of bluish smoke rises from the wreckage of the robot and hangs in the air, in the form of a hooded, spectral head. For a moment it shudders, as though attempting to say something; then it wisps away into nothingness with a moan. You stand in the darkened factory surrounded by unconscious militants, and aside from the odd groan of pain they are silent.

From outside, you hear the sound of police sirens wailing. It seems as though someone has noticed the sounds of combat and alerted the authorities.

[Ysariel]

Gelert & Jason
Justice Hall

Gelert tilts his head. "Your Boss is pretty rude."

Marshal Lawless snorts, "Boss?" before leveling his shotgun and opening fire.

Gelert easily sidesteps his rocket-propelled grenade, and it goes whizzing past the corgi to go sailing into the Pacific Ocean. It doesn't seem as though the Marshal considers Pandemonium One, or whoever that callsign might belong to, as any kind of superior.

The rocket-pack-equipped troops join in and open fire with their shotguns. However, they are trained to hit roughly human-sized targets and their shells roar harmlessly over Gelert's head. Sometimes, it's good to have short legs.

OOC

I'd thought your power was continuous duration but, apparently it's not. Nevertheless, there are a number of things you can do without being reduced to just maintaining your power, if you want.

You have Interpose so you can interpose for the civilians (all the civilians and staff on scene count as a single unit for this purpose, as though they were a squadron). It just means that you take any damage, rather than a construct. You can interpose with the descriptor of using your Ring of Hope powers to create a force wall, etc if you like.

Your Move Object is precise. You can try to disarm Major Lawless's shotgun with it, or disarm his troops (all the troops count as a single target for this purpose), because their weapons are easily removable. You can also choose to destroy their weapons as they are devices.

This is a little too late now, but you could have delayed Marshal Lawless and his troops using Fascinate. If they fail the check they cannot do anything and you can easily keep them in place indefinitely, until all the civilians are evacuated, before attacking them. If they pass the check they still do not immediately attack because it doesn't appear as though you took any hostile action.

Marshal Lawless uses Haywire Grenade on Gelert.
Marshal Lawless attack vs Gelert: 1D20+14 = [2]+14 = 16
Misses

R.I.O.T. Squad uses Suppression Fire on Gelert.
R.I.O.T. Squad attack vs Gelert: 1D20+10 = [8]+10 = 18
Misses

Round 1
24 Gelert
20 Marshal Lawless (Minion)
-- R.I.O.T. Squad (Minion, Squadron)
18 Jason (Fade) *

Jason is up!

[Gilliam]

Nightbird
HP: 5 > 4 LP: 1
Condition: Fatigued


Feeling a sense of satisfaction at the disappearance of the hate spirit, Imogen took the opportunity to ensure the rest of the Mayhem Machines were fully destroyed before using whatever was at hand to restrain the extremists before the authorities arrive.

While carrying out the various tasks Imogen tried to recollect what she knew about Professor Pandemonium.

Knowledge Streetwise: 1d20+12 24
Use an HP

Nightbird Knowledge Streetwise: 1d20+12 13 + 10 = 23

[kenseido]

Jason Maxwell
HP: 3, Condition: Serious face (Fatigued at end of turn)

If it was just Jason and the dog at risk, he might joke about how this guy must hate fish since he shot them instead of Gelert.

But he won't make that mistake again.

Two targets and possible air support inbound. They need to neutralize these targets asap.

Jason just appears as he fires a magical bolt into the troops. "Afflicto!"

He then spins around and thrusts a ghostly blade into the leader of the group. Even if this doesn't take them all out, it should get everyone focused on him so Gelert can keep the innocents safe.

Use Afflicto vs the R.I.O.T Squad. Take 10 for a 20, DC29 Toughness; this negates Fade
Switch Personal Magic Array to Blades. Surge and attack Marshall Lawless, Take 10 for a 24, DC25 Toughness

[Ysariel]

Moonlight
The Inner City

"Vaccines to save lives are different from changing people's very physiology and biology like you plan." Aranel says as she pulls out the syringe from her arm, her regeneration and fortitude overpowering whatever was in it. "Now I think it is time to deal with you, let's see how well you handle the vines." Some of the previous vines Aranel used before came back to life and lunged at the bad doctor intent on wrapping around her.

Doctor Disorder preens. "In case you didn't know, botany was one of my specialties as a -- Oof!"

The nest of vines slithers up her body and wraps itself tightly about her torso and limbs, mummifying her within moments; her face goes blue as the breath is driven from her lungs. "No, no! I will NOT be defeated by an extra from a Peter Jackson movie!" she seems to sweat profusely; it's not until a hissing sound fills the air and the vines begin to shrivel and blacken that you realize she is not sweating, but secreting corrosive acid from the pores of her body. More tendrils surge up from the floor to reinforce the faltering binds. "Oh, COME on!" the doctor roars, and with a mighty heave the bursts free of the remaining vines before they can fully wrap themselves about her.

"Count yourself lucky, fairy," she stabs a finger at you, brushing off what's left of the shriveled vines, but then her look of fury melts into a sly smile. "But... perhaps you'd be interested to know that the mutagen here is not wholly my work. If you wish to know the truth, ask the patriots at General Arms Systems."

The red light of a teleportation device surrounds her, and she warps out with a cackle!

OOC

AA Doctor Disorder Dodge DC 21: 1D20+11 = [2]+11 = 13
Failed, Defenseless and Immobilized
If your Affliction had a 3rd degree Doctor Disorder would be defeated at this point. However since it does not, she can still act.

Doctor Disorder uses Corrosive Acid to try and counter your affliction, with the descriptor of melting away the vines.
AA Doctor Disorder Corrosive Acid power check DC 21: 1D20+13 = [2]+13 = 15
Extra effort and try again
AA Doctor Disorder Corrosive Acid power check DC 21: 1D20+13 = [12]+13 = 25
Passes, and she is again freed.

Doctor Disorder then engages her Evac Beacon as a move action, and teleports away.

For saving the lives of civilians and putting an end to the genotoxin plot, you gain 2 HP.

From outside, you hear the sounds of rapid footsteps. "Federal law enforcement! Make way!" a man's voice calls. Moments later, you see his head peek into the disorderly living room. There comes the whine of electric-powered servos, and behind him appears the silhouette of an officer in AEGIS's MAX powered armor. "My goodness," exclaims the agent, adjusting his mirrorshades. "What happened?"

[Ysariel]

Nightbird
King's Junction - Pierce & Co. Steel Works (Factory interior)

While carrying out the various tasks Imogen tried to recollect what she knew about Professor Pandemonium.

OOC
Your HP is refunded since your reroll result is lower than the original result. Check your PM's for the results of your streetwise check.

With nobody left to oppose you, you are able to easily destroy the remaining Mayhem Machines for good and also ensure that the militants are all properly secured. There are so many of them, you have to fashion makeshift restraints from cables and wiring to bind them all.

Before long you hear the sounds of rapid footsteps approaching the factory from multiple directions. "Police! Freeze!" someone yells as flashlight beams criss-cross the darkness of the factory interior. Then, "Oh, it's you! Apologies, ma'am. Somebody get some lights in here!"

Officers gingerly make their way inbetween the groaning and unconscious militants, in awe at the sheer scale of the carnage. You are approached by a middle-aged white woman with greying hair wearing a police uniform. "Good evening miss Nightbird," she flashes her badge. "What went on here? Who was behind all of this? My boys and girls found enough weapons out there to equip a small army. This is the bad part of town, but that usually means gang bangers and potheads. Not... this."

She gestures around at the aftermath of the battle.

OOC

For successfully foiling the planned attack by anti-alien extremists without harm to civilians, you gain 2 HP.

[Ysariel]

Jason & Gelert
Justice Hall

Jason just appears as he fires a magical bolt into the troops. "Afflicto!"

He then spins around and thrusts a ghostly blade into the leader of the group. Even if this doesn't take them all out, it should get everyone focused on him so Gelert can keep the innocents safe.

Your blast of magical power scatters the troops like a bowling ball, knocking all of them off their feet and sending several tumbling into the ocean. Two even go flying and smash into the translucent wall of glowing blue light.

Marshal Lawless flips his shotgun one-handed and loads a new shell into it, but before he can shoot again he freezes, pauses, and looks down at the spectral blade sticking out of his sternum. "Operational capacity... compromised..." he observes, and then passes out.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see eight pinpoints of light appear on the horizon; the Marshal's air support has arrived. They are moving far too fast and low to be manned aircraft.

OOC

AA R.I.O.T. Squad Toughness DC 29: 1D20+10 = [4]+10 = 14
Failed, defeated

AA Marshal Lawless toughness DC 25: 1D20+10 = [7]+10 = 17
Failed, defeated

At the end of round 1 the air support arrives. The 8 Cataclysm-class Cruise Missiles count as a single squadron.

Round 2
24 Gelert *
20 Marshal Lawless (Minion, Unconscious)
18 Jason
-- Cataclysm-class Cruise Missiles x8 (Minion, Squadron)

Gelert is up!

[Gilliam]

Nightbird
HP: 5 > 7 LP: 1
Condition: Fatigued

Officers gingerly make their way inbetween the groaning and unconscious militants, in awe at the sheer scale of the carnage. You are approached by a middle-aged white woman with greying hair wearing a police uniform. "Good evening miss Nightbird," she flashes her badge. "What went on here? Who was behind all of this? My boys and girls found enough weapons out there to equip a small army. This is the bad part of town, but that usually means gang bangers and potheads. Not... this."

She gestures around at the aftermath of the battle.

"Officer" Imogen replied politely in response "Some extremists who did not want any Lemurians to move to Phoenix Bay and I am sure if it wasn't Lemurians then it would have been someone else. Not sure if they had an official name but maybe something like Earth for Humanity. They were working for Knightfire and a lot of these weapons were provided by someone called Professor Pandemonium who to be honest I do not know much about but intend to. If there is anything the police do know about the Professor I would appreciate an update if you can of course."

Imogen smiled slightly at her last comment, her relationship with the police of Phoenix had been a little up and down over the years.

Here is the result of the streetwise check about the Professor. Nightbird intends to share what she recalled with the others as soon as she is able so I have posted here just in case I forget to say ingame later on

You have not heard of Professor Pandemonium before, but he and his Mayhem Machines sound exactly like the kinds of villains that might belong to the Anarchy Command. Killpatrick told you of many of his battles against this super-powered terror group but made no mention of Professor Pandemonium specifically, so you might reasonably conclude he is not among the group's old guard.

The Anarchy Command is an global terrorist organization founded in the 80's that grew out of the Superhuman Liberation Army. In turn, the SLA grew out of the Cold-War era Metahuman Rights Front. These progressively more militant and extremist groups claim to champion the rights of super-powered individuals. The Anarchy Command is the movement's final iteration, and seeks nothing less than the destruction of the modern nation-state as an institution, believing that the abolishment of the rule of law and civil society will allow parahumans to rise to their natural, rightful position - one of dominance over the non-powered population.

The Anarchy Command was defeated in the 1990's by the Justice Foundation and collapsed into, well, anarchy after its former leader, Chaos Commander, was captured. They retreated to their base in disputed islands in the South China Sea, have been occupied with internal strife, and have not directly attacked the continental U.S. in years. Chaos Commander is serving 278 consecutive life sentences at Deep Six prison. He was present when Rainbow 7 attacked the prison, and made no attempt to escape.

[stavaros_the_arcane]

Jason & Gelert
Justice Hall

Jason just appears as he fires a magical bolt into the troops. "Afflicto!"

He then spins around and thrusts a ghostly blade into the leader of the group. Even if this doesn't take them all out, it should get everyone focused on him so Gelert can keep the innocents safe.

Your blast of magical power scatters the troops like a bowling ball, knocking all of them off their feet and sending several tumbling into the ocean. Two even go flying and smash into the translucent wall of glowing blue light.

Marshal Lawless flips his shotgun one-handed and loads a new shell into it, but before he can shoot again he freezes, pauses, and looks down at the spectral blade sticking out of his sternum. "Operational capacity... compromised..." he observes, and then passes out.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see eight pinpoints of light appear on the horizon; the Marshal's air support has arrived. They are moving far too fast and low to be manned aircraft.

OOC

AA R.I.O.T. Squad Toughness DC 29: 1D20+10 = [4]+10 = 14
Failed, defeated

AA Marshal Lawless toughness DC 25: 1D20+10 = [7]+10 = 17
Failed, defeated

At the end of round 1 the air support arrives. The 8 Cataclysm-class Cruise Missiles count as a single squadron.

Round 2
24 Gelert *
20 Marshal Lawless (Minion, Unconscious)
18 Jason
-- Cataclysm-class Cruise Missiles x8 (Minion, Squadron)

Gelert is up!

Gelert is very appreciative of the sudden appearance of back up. With the immediate threat dealt with he lets his construct walls fade.

"Thanks for the help!" Gelert calls down to Jason. Then his ear twitches at the sound of incoming aircraft and he turns to intercept.

He flies to meet the aircraft squadron and begins laying into them with his blast power.

OOC: Blast: Shapeable Area Damage 10 (DC 25; Shapeable Area: 30 cft., DC 20, Increased Range: ranged)

[Ysariel]

Nightbird
King's Junction - Pierce & Co. Steel Works (Factory interior)

"Officer" Imogen replied politely in response "Some extremists who did not want any Lemurians to move to Phoenix Bay and I am sure if it wasn't Lemurians then it would have been someone else. Not sure if they had an official name but maybe something like Earth for Humanity. They were working for Knightfire and a lot of these weapons were provided by someone called Professor Pandemonium who to be honest I do not know much about but intend to. If there is anything the police do know about the Professor I would appreciate an update if you can of course."

The officer introduces herself as captain Maria Lane, from the local police precinct. Law enforcement was alerted when a passer-by heard gunfire and a police patrol happened to be fortunately near by.

"Professor Pandemonium," she thinks aloud, thumbing her chin, before shaking her head. "Never heard of that person before. But the name sounds like one of those Anarchy Command terrorists. They haven't been seen in years. Is that who's handiwork this is?"

"Now Knightfire, or Daniel Freedman to be precise, he paid us quite a few visits during a stint in the early 2000's." As police officers move through the factory rounding up the militants and securing the area, Captain Lane tells you how during that decade, Freedman -- then known as White Knight -- launched several attempts to found and grow local chapters of neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations. In those years the Justice Foundation was at the peak of its strength and White Knight's operations were systematically dismantled.

"The heroes did a lot of good and saved many lives. Not just people who would've been hurt by his crazy plots, but young impressionable minds that would've been poisoned by his snake's tongue. But... while the heroes were able to stop Freedman's plots, they weren't nearly as successful as educating him. I don't think Freedman ever considered that he was wrong after all the defeats and physical humiliations. I think he choose to harden his heart more as a defense against his constant and repeated failures to achieve anything." She shakes her head.

A SWAT van and prisoner transport pulls up at the factory's front gate. "Would you like to interrogate any of the prisoners?" Captain Lane asks.

[Ysariel]

Jason & Gelert
Justice Hall

"Thanks for the help!" Gelert calls down to Jason. Then his ear twitches at the sound of incoming aircraft and he turns to intercept.

He flies to meet the aircraft squadron and begins laying into them with his blast power.

You soar up high above Alcatraz Island where Justice Hall is located and now you can see the eight pinpoints of light, actually the exhaust of eight rocket engines hurtling towards the island. You realize that these are not aircraft -- they are coming in too low and too fast -- but rather long-range cruise missiles.

The blue light brightens about you as you muster your powers. A single pure beam of blue light lances out and sweeps across the missiles in an arc, but then -- but then your vision cuts out and you are suddenly seeing the infinite black void of space.

"Gelert!" a voice calls, small and faint.

You see a handful of blue comets, their light feeble and insignificant against the vastness of outer space, yet so blue and full of sparkling life, hurtling through the void.

"Hope lives on," a different voice whispers.

"Some survive," a third breathes.

"We are coming," hisses a fourth.

The comets accelerate past your point of view, trailing sparks in their wake. The motes of light brighten and dissolve into the light of the midday sun, and your vision is restored.

You blink again and a series of tremendous blasts fill the air. You have detonated all eight missiles before they even reached the Golden Gate bridge. Along the bridge, people have stopped their cars and are rubbernecking to get a good look at the light show; even the civilians being evacuated down below are tempted to steal a look, and the staff have trouble getting them moving. From far away, you hear the sounds, now familiar, of citizens cheering for you.

OOC

The missiles have Improved Evasion, but as a squadron area effects are 5 ranks higher against them.

AA Cruise Missile Dodge DC 25, Toughness DC 25/20: 1D20+12+5 = [7]+12+5 = 24
1D20+8 = [7]+8 = 15
Failed both checks, destroyed.

For foiling the Anarchy Command attack on the island and keeping both Cooper and the civilians safe, both Gelert and Jason receive 2 HP each.

Combat is now over. You can interact, and you should also decide what you want to do with Marshal Lawless and his R.I.O.T. Squad , who are in your custody.

[kenseido]

Jason Maxwell
HP: 5, Condition: Less serious

Seeing the cruise missiles all detonate, Jason sighs in relief. Looking down at his clothes, he grimaces.

"Portare," he incants as the symbols appear beneath him and cause him to fade out.

A minute later, the symbols reappear and Jason fades back in, now in his adventuring clothes.

"That's better."

[Psistrike]

Moonlight
HP: 4 LP: 1
Condition: Fine

"A lot of things I'm afraid, officer. A young boy named David came to me to aid his ailing father, it seems people acting as government agents distributed some form of mutagen to the people of this area, deceiving them into believing it was medicine for an illness. I was able to successfully arrest the father's symptoms though he needs to be taken to a hospital for further treatment. The mutagen used seems similar to one in a case file on a mad scientist named Daniel who used it on a former member of the Champions. I believe everyone else in the area who were treated by these supposed government agents needs to be taken to a nearby hospital and given proper anti-mutagens as soon as possible.

Another mad scientist, a woman calling herself Doctor Disorder, showed up with this being she called a N.O.M.U. whom I believe to be a mutated human and in need of help, unleashed it to try and capture more test subjects for herself from what I observed. I was able to subdue it after a short fight, but not without it causing some damage first. Doctor Disorder seems interested in me as a...I believe the term is a guinea pig for her to to study and was forced to fight her as well. I...let my temper get the best of me and used flames to try and attack her at first, she is far more nimble than expected, forcing me to correct my mistake and put out some fires before they spread. She tried twice to use chemical agents on me, each failed possibly due to my regeneration, and I almost captured her. She was able to escape by destroying the vines I bound her with by secreting some form of acid from her body, and left me with a possible clue as to who the government agents really are, a mention of patriots at General Arms Systems, before she teleported away. As you can tell it has been a busy day for me already, I hope this statement was enough, I need to contact the other Champions about this matter so we can begin our own investigation. I suspect Doctor Discord might not be working alone, the resources she had would be hard for an individual to acquire unnoticed on their own."