World War II - The Vanguard Issue #6 Deal with the devil...

Admin wrote:Lionheart OOC Initiative Lionheart 4, Robots 8. They spend two frames moving into attack range and will do so with their remaining frame, but Lionheart has his five frames first. They are 5m away and closing fast!

OOC:
Ok so I take it from what you've put here that the terminal is inside the ship and I've clearly got to push with everything I've got. Well I'd better drop what I don't need to amp up strength and push through and find a terminal to allow Frostbot to make sure his programme functions. Frostbite would kill me, if I lost his other half!


"Hang in their buddy, going to try and get inside..." Lionheart said with a grunt as he pressed into the forcewall with all his might.

OOC:
Ok once inside I'll concentrate on getting Frostbot sorted before trying to fend off Robots. Assuming that is ok - all good and well. But assuming the worst, i.e. I've got to fight my way to a terminal I better make sure what remains of Frostbot is secured and safe.

Sj

DavidMcMahon wrote:Bulletman being a one trick pony right now, other than a raygun, he tries to fly and smash into the lead robot, buying as much time for his allies as possible with that attack.

"Hey Gravity Girl," he calls out as he is about to take off again. "Can you put all your gravity on one spot on the ship, make it tilt to the ground from a massive shift in weight like that?"

Bulletman launched himself again (OOC roll 7, miss...) and ended up sliding across the deck, floundering. Embarrassed, he got to his feet and turned about, yelling over to Gravity Girl.

She looked past the robots, relieved that he was alright, albeit with pride in pieces. "I'll try but..." and she looked about, at the sheer size and width of the thing which dwarfed half a dozen Aircraft carriers! "You could build a town on the landing platform of this thing!"

The robots moved in, hands buzzing! Three moved in to Gravity Girl, and two moved over to Bulletman. One moved to NoMan and stood, puzzled, as it saw what it thought was its fellow robot sitting on the deck. It glanced to one of the other robots, thought for a moment, then decided one of them was fake, or both were real and it was mistaken. It continued to ponder, frozen in place.

Gravity Girl saw the robots closing in, their hands buzzing with static "Uh... guys?" she yelled, watching and waiting for the attacks to come in!

OOC and here they come, thick and fast! Rolls 12 (hit), 4 (miss), 14 (hit) 12 (hit) 7 (miss) 18 (hit). Gravity girl takes Htc damage of 6, 10, 6, 18, 40 in total. She goes down!

With a cry, Gravity Girl goes down under the repeated electric shocks, and one of the robots catches her limp form as the others turned to face Bulletman! With one standing over NoMan, and 5 angry robots about to dole out some punishment to Bulletman, things looked grim! All the while the guns of the carrier rang out, filling the air with flak and tracer fire!

More than that - it continued rumbling on towards Birmingham and the heart of the manufacturing centres in England! What would its fiendish mechanical mind have in store for the unwitting inhabitants of that city?

OOC Initiative... 8 Heroes, 2 bad guys. Bulletman has two in melee range, 3 heading towards him. NoMan is on his butt (1 fr to get up) and resembles a robot. He has one robot stood over him, confused. Gravity Girl is down and out for the count!

Anyman/Lionheart was 'invited' by the armed guards onto the ship. Aware of his reputation they made no sudden moves. The incensed (after Anymans words) hologram of Trowers blinked out, and Lionheart walked down corridors, flanked by guards. Though not a prisoner, he was aware that he may well be walking into a trap, and saw automated devices - cameras, or some other alien scanning equipment, track his every move.

Flanked as he walked into one of the several science labs, he was met by a scientist - a woman - that seemed vaguely familiar from Lionhearts memories...

"Agent King. We meet again, albeit it has been several centuries. Don't look so surprised." she said as she directed skralls about the place. She pointed towards a bed, complete with manacles and some kind of ray gun/scanning device over the top.



Anyman racked his brains. Simone... Haines? Codename Nightingale. Medical support for the PSI Corps, she basically patched them up when they came in missing limbs or chunks out of their bodies! Anyman was somewhat alarmed by this - this woman had crossed time with Bentham, Trowers and who knew who else, in order that she might have a hand in a new world order!

"I need a sample of your blood plus a number of brain scans. Mr Trowers will deal with the threat of those deranged automatons. I did warn him that Benthams schemes were foolish. One cannot simply pluck things from the timestream and expect them to fall in line with expectations! He of all people should understand Chaos theory, and the implications of opening gateways to other places..." she muttered, all the while busying herself with a number of syringes. "Hopefully things can be straightened out but it rather looks like we're going to have to leave this place, sharpish."

"Now. On the gurney and roll up your sleeve. You promised full cooperation, yes? I'm rather looking forward to studying you." she said. The guards held weapons ready and spaced themselves around the room. "I'm in charge of eliminating disease and illnesses of all kinds, and you are the template for doing that!"

'The ship is moving. It appears to be heading towards the place you call 'stonehenge'. As well as being a magical nexus for the various ley lines that still exist on this world, it seems the time stream is weaker there than in other places. I have no idea if these people plan to head into the future and strand you or fix it in some way, as their science is alien to me.' said the Dark power.

OOC Agent Haines, 6 guards and half a dozen skrall technicians in here. Whether Trowers intends to keep his side of the bargain or not...?

Admin wrote:Anyman/Lionheart Nightingale[/b].

"Nightingale..." Anyman/Lionheart said slowly as if trying to pull a memory out. But covering it with his winning smile.

"Nightingale, my dear its good that you are so much less reckless than your employer. Their meddling with timelines will undoubtedly come back to haunt them at some point. Not least of all because these Robots now aware of the other timelines will undoubtedly not stop until they've conquered them all. Bentham may well have released a plague on all our houses."

With a wave of his hand, Anyman/Lionheart dismissed the thought, having sown it there he'd return to it later. "Anyhow, I know what I promised and the terms of our bargain, but so far I've yet to see Bentham uphold his side. I am here, aren't I! But you'll get no further cooperation from me until, I see those Robots gone. Even now my friends are fighting to stop them, but around the world millions will perish. I cannot as Psi-cop, even a bad one, let you carry on without knowing that is taken care off."

Anyman/Lionheart stood resolute, a steely look of determination in his eye. As far as he was concerned it was a stand off. He'd done his part, now it was time for Bentham to do his.

OOC:
Looks like we've got a stand off, but if I know Bentham, he is trying to get away without having done anything or what he does do is blow everything up leaving now trace etc. So Anyman/Lionheart is not going to do anything further, until Bentham honours the deal. I will use all the usual idea, duty and honour as a Psi-Cop etc. But I get the impression Bentham is trying to wipe me away without doing anything.

Oh Boy, can't help but wonder if this is a giant bluff and the guy doesn't have anything up his sleeve, is trying to bug out leaving the whole sorry mess behind!

Sj

More than that - it continued rumbling on towards Birmingham and the heart of the manufacturing centres in England! What would its fiendish mechanical mind have in store for the unwitting inhabitants of that city?

OOC Initiative... 8 Heroes, 2 bad guys. Bulletman has two in melee range, 3 heading towards him. NoMan is on his butt (1 fr to get up) and resembles a robot. He has one robot stood over him, confused. Gravity Girl is down and out for the count!

"Damn, damn, damn," mutters Bulletman. "What can I do against a horde of robots that I can barely dent?"

"NoMan, you have any ideas," he yells out.

'Flee with Gravity Girl and hope to live a few days longer," NoMan suggests in a monotone.

"Can you disrupt the robots or the ships somehow in that form," Bulletman asks, getting ready to fly. "Plug in someplace and overload them, sort of like Anyman did?"

"I can try."

"Okay. I'm getting out of here and taking Gravity Girl with me and hope I can get away," the man said, disgusted with what he was saying but seeing no other option.

actions: Bulletman flies over to Gravity Girl, grabs her and flies off the deck of the ship. I'm thinking instead of flying away, he files under the keel of the ship where he might be out of flak range and can then access if Gravity Girl is still alive or not.

I honestly can't think of a single thing he can do to change what's happening. He isn't strong enough to take on more than one robot at a time and even then have a good chance of losing against it. Maybe NoMan will have better luck.

DavidMcMahon wrote:I honestly can't think of a single thing he can do to change what's happening. He isn't strong enough to take on more than one robot at a time and even then have a good chance of losing against it. Maybe NoMan will have better luck.

OOC: "Hey what about the real Lionheart. My team mates may be about to be squashed under a deluge of Robotic monsters, but Lionheart is trying to get Frostbot's head into the ship to plug into a terminal! That sentence doesn't read right ;-)

Sj

ooc: Yeah, but he is at another part of the ship. So everything is all on his and NoMan's shoulders. No pressure, right?

Bulletman was new to the business, and whilst eager to do his part, was aware of his limitations. His powers depended on two things - Lunarium, and devices which used Lunarium! Of course, superhuman strength and durability helped immensely, but against an army of robots? It was like trying to hold back the ocean with a bucket!

He took to the air, angling downwards after passing over the robots to where Gravity Girl lay, her lunarium powered ray gun at her side, and the lunarium powered jet pack dormant on her back. The robots tracked his flight and started marching over as he landed, scooping her up.

Meanwhile NoMan, although aware of his limits, knew that his potential for improvement and control was near unlimited! He rose, in Robot form, and considered his other options. The robots were able to tell the craft to open the hatches for them and therefore admit and expel them from the ship. Unfortunately, his mimicry didn't extend to complex machinery, but had thus far fooled the robots visual sensors. Might he be able to pose as a damaged 'bot, or somehow escape notice and hitch a lift as the robots re-entered the ship? If he was fast enough, could he get the robots to attack him, whilst attached to one, and move out of the way at the last moment?

As he considered where best to fly with Gravity Girl in his arms, Bulletman heard her whisper "Watch those hands buster..." and he glanced where she lay.

A beeping sphere on the deck seemed to be stuck in place. It should have rolled with the motion of the ship - unless, or course, it was magnetic or had been made superheavy!

"Think you can wiggle your nose and get that thing to go off with a bigger bang?" she whispered. Bulletman glanced up - the robots were nearly on him!


OOC Just some ideas. The Lunarium powered equipment might not have been obvious to David M as a player, so figured I'd mention it seeing as Bulletman has a related power... As for NoMan, copying the entire ship might be beyond his abilities, but hitching a lift on one of these robots or tricking them into battling each other might not be. Bulletman, NoMan and Gravity Girl might not be the most powerful of the Vanguard/Justiciars, but they are useful in their own ways when thinking 'outside the box'...

Meanwhile Lionheart with the head of Frostbot pressed against the force field. He knew he would get an electric shock from pounding the thing, but had no choice anyway. He tired his best to hold onto ragged metal where the gun had been to stop himself being left behind by the carrier which flew at nearly 200mph! The Frostbot head clamped onto his belt with its mouth and he pulled a fist back...

BANGGG!!!

OOC Grade 5 strength is plus 68, putting him on 82 strength.

He cried out in pain as he received an electric shock for his troubles (OOC 10htc damage) and pulled his fist back as he saw a pale blue energy ripple outwards from where he'd struck! In quick succession, he delivered a blur of smashing blows!

OOC total taken 30htc

He pulled back his stinging hand, seeing where he'd struck still shimmered, but it was a much darker blue now. If only someone else would apply damage to some other part of the ship at the same time! It would have to be coordinated, so when Lionheart struck, someone else attacked too. That might not drop the field for long, but it would be enough to get him in!

Just then he looked up, warned by that strange sense that told him of danger! Small spheres, the size of footballs, popped from the smooth walls of the ship, stuck magnetically onto the sides, then grew legs and scuttled like spiders towards him! There were dozens of them!

"Not good." stated Frostbot with his mouth full of Lionhearts belt.

=========

Elsewhere...

"I must go to him. He needs me."

A vast echoing voice rang out through the darkness. "YOU ARE CHANGED. YOUR FRIENDS AND ALLIES WILL NOT KNOW YOU."

"I know who I am, what I feel, even if I am not..."

"HUMAN?"

She stood silent, head bowed, body glowing bright white in the darkness. If she could have cried, a tear would have rolled down her cheek.Instead, a shining mote of light dripped and dissipated before it hit the floor.

She straightened, sniffed and turned to the bright sun, feeling it give warmth and power. She flexed a fist, knowing that her brain told her something that was not truth, but ignoring it as best she could.

She tensed, crouching, ready to spring into the air.

"WAIT! WHAT ABOUT CLOTHING? HUMANS VALUE CLOTHING FOR MANY REASONS...NOT LEAST OF WHICH IS MODESTY."

If she could have blushed, she would have. Instead, with a wave of a hand, a costume appeared over her glowing form. With a nod to the sentience all around her, she vanished, a dot in the northern sky!

OOC Meant to post this earlier (whilst still in Drax) so it may affect any actions if another post has popped up in the meantime...

A beeping sphere on the deck seemed to be stuck in place. It should have rolled with the motion of the ship - unless, or course, it was magnetic or had been made superheavy!

"Think you can wiggle your nose and get that thing to go off with a bigger bang?" she whispered. Bulletman glanced up - the robots were nearly on him!


OOC Just some ideas. The Lunarium powered equipment might not have been obvious to David M as a player, so figured I'd mention it seeing as Bulletman has a related power... As for NoMan, copying the entire ship might be beyond his abilities, but hitching a lift on one of these robots or tricking them into battling each other might not be. Bulletman, NoMan and Gravity Girl might not be the most powerful of the Vanguard/Justiciars, but they are useful in their own ways when thinking 'outside the box'....

ooc: Totally forgot he actually controls Lunarium ala Silver Sentinel!

"I think so," he says quietly, "if I don't get killed before I can set it all off."

He grabs her and flies about 20 meters away, the limit he can control lunarium, keeping as many robots as possible between them and the lunarium. Then concentrates on trying to make the pile of Lunarium explode, wrapping his body around hers.

Admin wrote:Meanwhile Lionheart "Not good." stated Frostbot with his mouth full of Lionhearts belt.

"Blast it!"

Lionheart could see the futility of blindly whacking the force field, and getting no further as a result save beaten black and blue for his troubles. This was going to be difficult to begin with, then the sudden spheroid spiders appeared and he heard Frostbot's words echo in his mind as they drew his attention away form his stinging hand. This wasn't a good day to take over leading the team, inside Lionheart had never felt like he wanted the firm hand of Frostbite. Even though the Frostbite he'd come to know in this time line wan't the seasoned solider of long ago, nonetheless he couldn't help appreciate the useful enthusiasm and determination of the younger Joe Hoskyn. This was Frostbite's team, somehow he'd know what to do.

Lionheart just knew how to be reckless and look where that had got him. "We'd better find the others, this ain't going to work."

And with that he rearranged his powers so as to drop one level of strength and gain one level of flight to speed over to the where the others were. He had to make sure that Frostbot was safe, before trying to take on the other guns.

OOC:
Ok not sure what to do now, so regroup with the others - they seem pretty beaten up so might have to tell the V Ship to hang back and make sure we can defend the rest of the group. This ain't looking good - I think this is the closest we've come to total defeat! Even if we wipe this ship out there are several more to tackle let alone those that are attacking other major parts around the world! Where is Anyman/Lionheart when you need him most?

Elsewhere..."I must go to him. He needs me."

Admin wrote:OOC Meant to post this earlier (whilst still in Drax) so it may affect any actions if another post has popped up in the meantime...

OOC: I could take a good guess as to who this is, but since it seems to be happening without Lionheart having any idea that its going on, I don't feel there is much I can say. Unless I am hearing this conversation in some way!

Sj

Anyman/Lionheart said his piece and looked into 'Nightingales' eyes. She seemed to waver for a moment then activated the comm channel on a nearby panel. "Get word to Trowers. As a show of good faith we need to do something... anything ... to stop these robots."

There was silence for a moment then a reply. "Very Well. I have sent instructions to the bridge. Make sure you get those samples Doctor. Lionheart, remember the deal you struck."

The ship lurched forwards, and Nightingale looked on a panel. "We're heading North, towards Glasgow. There's... there is a robot ship heading towards that city, unopposed. Trowers knows what he's doing, and doubtless Bentham is advising him. As to what will happen when we get there..."

She looked at the panel again, adjusted a couple of settings. To Anyman, it was all gobbledegook, alien symbols not even resembling words or numbers. Nightingale watched the panel screen on the wall, then flicked several switches. A view of a distant vessel in the sky against the background of Glasgow.

"Big, isn't it." muttered the Doctor, staring at the screen. She activated the console again. "Trowers? Are you sure this ship, on it's own can stop that thing?"

The reply came almost immediately "Bentham is running through the probabilities and calculations needed to emit an electromagnetic pulse to destabilise it. Unfortunately these things are shielded against such attacks, so whatever we do will be temporary at best. It will buy time, nothing more. If Lionheart wants to do more, I suggest he get out and fight it, AFTER we have our samples. I would prefer he not though."

"This reality is doomed. There are too many events closing in on one point, and that point is oblivion. If the robots don't obliterate mankind, the space entity will, or the aliens we detected in the solar system. Bentham says there's something else, a power he can't fathom. He calls them 'shadows' but none of his equations make sense in that regard. Even he is at a loss, and as far as I know, the only other things that ever threw his calculations out were Lionhearts friends in the so called "Vanguard'. In fact, I may look in to those other sites to see how they are doing without Lionheart."

Anyman/Lionheart straightened. It wouldn't do for them to see Lionheart taking on one of these ships in Birmingham when he was here in Glasgow!

"ALL HANDS! BRACE FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE SURGE. THE EFFECT ON THIS SHIP WILL BE UNPREDICTABLE!" said a voice over the tannoy. Somewhere in the ship a great hum, like a machine being wound up, started.

"On the gurney Agent King. Sleeves rolled up." said the Doctor, glancing again at the screen and the impending doom approaching the unsuspecting people of Glasgow. She turned expectantly to Anyman/Lionheart. "We're keeping our side of the bargain, now roll your sleeve up!"

Admin wrote:Anyman/Lionheart The reply came almost immediately "Bentham is running through the probabilities and calculations needed to emit an electromagnetic pulse to destabilise it. Unfortunately these things are shielded against such attacks, so whatever we do will be temporary at best.

"WHAT!"

Lionheart/Anyman shouted. "I am not getting on your bench until I get some explanation. The deal was that Bentham got rid of all the robot ships not just destabilize one of them. I knew something was amiss with this ship, running to flee, like rats of a sinking ship."

Lionheart/Anyman played it to seem like he was about to loose control, which in truth wasn't hard, as he was upset that Bentham had played so recklessly with so many lives and was about to abandon the whole sorry situation to carry on inflicting his own brand of sick thinking on another world. Well not if Lionheart/Anyman had anything to say about it, he wasn't.

OOC:
Ok so looks like Bentham has lied, as I thought. He can't get rid of one ship let alone the lot, so I might have to go ballistic and blow up his ship and scupper their plans to leave. I bet that will make him reconsider how much he can do to confront these different forces.

I'll just wait and see what he does, as a result of my shouting.

Sj

edited this since you posted while I was writing.

"On the gurney Agent King. Sleeves rolled up." said the Doctor, glancing again at the screen and the impending doom approaching the unsuspecting people of Glasgow. She turned expectantly to Anyman/Lionheart. "We're keeping our side of the bargain, now roll your sleeve up!".

"You are right, they haven't kept it yet," Putty inside Anyman's head says. "The deal was save this timeline then he gets "Lionheart", not an effort to save it."


"Agreed," the demon shadow inside said as well. "They may be bluffing about being able to save the humans here. We may have to steal this ship and use it oursevels to try to save everyone."

"I feel a Sir Francis moment coming on," Putty chuckled. "Soon. Very soon."

Lionheart adjusted his powers to increase his level of flight and zipped outwards and around the vast hull of the ship - not too far as to become a target for the countless guns on the side which kept the stricken V-Ship at bay though. As he moved, he mentally kicked himself - he could have coordinated mentally with the others, via his telepathy! Tell them to strike at the same time he did, or for the V-Ship to fire everything it had then Lionheart strike at the exact same time via his incredible superhuman reactions! Determined now, he streaked around to the deck of the ship where he saw robots looking up at Bulletman who flew with Gravity Girl in his arms. There was no sign of NoMan.

=========

NoMan had a moment to second guess what Bulletman was doing, then saw the grenade left on the deck. Surely he couldn't think that small thing would do any damage?

Well, it might do no damage to the ship, and very little to the robots, but it would certainly damage him! As quick as he could, he stretched away and latched onto a point on the deck, getting the attention of the robots who realised there was a shape shifter in their midst! Somewhere within the vast ship the information was collated and analysed... NoMan pulled himself over to the point he'd stuck to and reformed from a pool of rubbery liquid into his normal form.

All around him, hatches opened with half a dozen more robots rising up.

=========

Air raid sirens were audible now as the vast carrier came into the outskirts of Birmingham

Below, people ran for cover, but some, even those who should know better, like the home guard, couldn't help but gawp at the impossible. A thing in the sky which dwarfed the largest of ships, flying without apparent means of propulsion! They couldn't know the robotic carrier had come from a time where the land masses were radioactive cess pools unfit for human life, and the seas boiled with acid. This ship was designed and built to take that environment and more in its stride, and the robotic mind in charge of it felt nothing in the way of mercy or pity to the tiny humans scurrying like ants before it!

It only had one goal.

The eradication of humankind!

=========

Bulletman turned and at the edge of his range, thrust out his hand

"I made it as dense as I could!" shouted Gravity Girl over the roar of cannons and burst of flak in the air as the Robo Carrier warned off or destroyed RAF fighters and Bombers that tried so desperately to deter it!

Bulletman nodded, then agitated the Lunarium inside the grenade as best he could...

THWOOOM!

The robots standing around it, turning to look at NoMan, were obliterated in the blast, and a vast blue ripple shimmered over the deck and skin of the vessel. It stopped, and there was a groaning noise somewhere as tortured metal twisted as its integrity field was weakened for a moment. Then the smoke cleared, and aside from a dent in the deck, and black scoring, there seemed to be little other damage.

"Damn!" muttered Gravity Girl. "I was hoping the super dense lunarium coupled with your ability to make it go into an 'overload' state would do more than that! Still, I have three more grenades, and it did something. Look! There's Lionheart! Perhaps he has a plan to stop this thing!"

Bulletman turned. A dozen flying spheres twisted to separate into two sections with the pair of hemispheres joined by a thick arcing blue lightning bolt. They flew further apart, creating a lightning field/sheet between them and flying straight at where Bulletman and Gravity Girl hovered!

OOC You have a dozen flying robots coming towards you. Lionheart can hook up with Bulletman and Gravity Girl, NoMan is surrounded by half a dozen robots (and is in trouble). The carrier, though it paused, will be over the heart of Birmingham in less than a minute. After that?

It delivers its payload...

Anyman/Lionheart sprung up angrily from the bed, and Nightingale sprung back. "Guards! Don't kill him! Restrain him!"

The cloned guards - with the same abilities as Guillotine, Boadicea and Spartan - levelled guns and pointed them at 'Lionheart'. Nightingale tried to calm the situation. "There may not be time to stop these attacks - they are occurring all over the world! I know Bentham and Trowers are working on setting up a satellite link in orbit to redirect the suns rays into a focussed burst of solar energy. If the laser doesn't get these things, the electromagnetic interference will give them something to think about! But it takes time! Trowers may have told you that he can stop these robot ships, but the truth is, even with the best will in the world, there are too many of them! Bentham thinks that... oh, Trowers! This is your mess! Sort it out!" she shouted, and stood back from the console, where Trowers picked up.

"We're working on creating a series of Lunarium lenses. Properly set up and treated, they will angle the suns rays to create a 'super weapon', but this century... the tools available..." said Trowers over the other end of the comm link. It was clear he was stressed, and not on this ship.

"The Skralls want more Lunarium, and have threatened to take it. The Nazi superhumans - which were our insurance against the Skralls invading the moon - are tied up in battle against the Robo Carriers. Bentham... this is all... Look."

There was a pause, then "Lionheart, this time is done. You and I will never see eye to eye. I see the bigger picture. You cannot create the perfect utopian society with the Earth as it is. All the weak and undesirable elements must be weeded out of the garden before it becomes Eden! The plan was to plant the seed here in the past, to funnel and shape mankinds present to create a perfect future, free from crime, want, disease or war. To do that, we needed to win World War II for the Nazis, then shape them to our way of thinking. The world would then follow in our example, over time."

"And we just ran out of time. Saving the people in these cities is a waste of time and resources. We should concentrate on creating a portal back at Stonehenge to open a gate into another timeline, and start fresh. This one is done. Somewhere there will be a timeline where we can start anew, but perhaps do things differently. If we stay here, all we'll do is fight fires until everything is ashes. It's done. These people, this world, are done."

Nightingale sagged into a chair. "What have we done? In seeking to save our worlds future, we destroyed its past and probably created a situation where Earth will no longer exist, at least without human life on it! I am become death.. the destroyer of worlds..." she muttered.

Trowers continued "We MUST divert all our efforts to creating a gate to move through into a different time, one where we never went into the past. We need your DNA, after that? You can go. Stay here, help your friends, go through the gate of time, it's your choice. But this place?"

"Very soon, it will be as if it never existed, and all life in this version of Earth will be snuffed out. We need to be somewhere else when that happens..."

'These humans have a way about them that even I can admire.' said the Shadow Demon, bitterness in its voice. 'Without humanity, my people will starve, and turn on one another. Assuming, that is, they are able to survive the destruction of this planet.'

The guards adjust their weapons, taking careful aim at Lionheart...

Admin wrote:Anyman/Lionheart

Trowers continued "We MUST divert all our efforts to creating a gate to move through into a different time, one where we never went into the past. We need your DNA, after that? You can go. Stay here, help your friends, go through the gate of time, it's your choice. But this place?"

The guards adjust their weapons, taking careful aim at Lionheart...

OOC:
Dave this seems to me to be the ideal time for you to take over. Trowers either isn't interested in sorting out the mess he and Benthem created or can't. Either way the game is up, its fight now or go with them. All this talk about the Mirrors and that might work, but I don't honestly know what you think?

But feel free to become Sir Frances if you want and get things going. To be honest on the ground we're in a sorry state that much is for sure.

Sj

Admin wrote:Lionheart As he moved, he mentally kicked himself - he could have coordinated mentally with the others, via his telepathy!

OOC: Oh brother - Wish I'd thought of that. These situations are getting so complicated, I think I'm over thinking everything and missing the blindly obvious. Certainly its hard to keep in mind what we're supposed to do when things change so much.

Lionheart flew down to where the others were, "ANy chance of doing that trick with the bomb again. If we can get Spartan to fire at a similar point and I hit it with all my strength we might cause the integrity field to collapse once again. Then we can get inside. Start to take the ship apart from there. We've got to move fast.

OOC:
Ok even if we don't have another bomb type thing to use, lets still combine our powers and that of the V SHip to try and do what I tried to do before. This time I will convert all energy to force field 1, to protect against the back lash and all else strength so we can have another go at pounding our way in.

Also Paul is there some way we can track what points are spent on what in some text form. Part of me is having a real problem tracking what points I've got spent where and what is left over etc. I don't mind keeping it myself, but can you give me a current run down, or can we say of the 15 points used, I'll then keep it updated as we move on so we both know what has or hasn't changed and where I am operating at. Thanks

Sj

Lionheart flew down to where the others were, "ANy chance of doing that trick with the bomb again. If we can get Spartan to fire at a similar point and I hit it with all my strength we might cause the integrity field to collapse once again. Then we can get inside. Start to take the ship apart from there. We've got to move fast.

"Yes I can," Bulletman says. "Just tell me when and be fast about it. We have incoming!"

ooc: As to Anyman, try to hold off fighting until they try attacking the other craft, then we can fight. Running away might be a good idea if you can't talk them out of waiting.

OOC *Best guess as to LH's Hero Points. The sheet with them on (on my hard drive) was misplaced (it's there, somewhere, but I have 8 hard drives in my box and they were all renumbered after the last great hard drive crash of July 2011, or thereabouts. The other great hard drive crash of a bit later in July 2011 didn't help either). Will find it, and in the meantime, there's 10 to play with. it may be less, it's probably more (Lionheart needs less HPs than his Vanguard teammates because he's more powerful). I have other characters status sheets to cook up. Done four, more to do, so don't panic, they are on the list o stuff to do.

Mindful of incoming ships Bulletman dived towards the deck. Gravity Girl let go of a grenade she'd made super heavy, and with a CLANK! it landed on the deck, causing a minor ripple. Bulletman swooped up, and glanced behind. The robots were nearly on them!

Lionheart sped down to another spot on the deck, away from the robots and the grenade. "NOW!" he shouted, and watched Bulletman gesture before turning his gaze to the grenade. Time seemed to slow for Lionheart as his incredible reactions saw the beginning of an explosion! With a grin he considered counting several milliseconds but instead flipped all his Hyper-Kinesis into strength... and slammed down on the deck at the same time as the bomb exploded!

NoMan was grateful, for the explosion threw robots over and around him! As he lay on the deck, clinging on, he saw it shimmer, then a flicker of blue passed over it before the dull metal sheen of the deck appeared.

And a great groaning sound was heard!

Somewhere, a metal stanchion collapsed and a section of the ship quite literally twisted, popping the deck up and exposing the access tubes and corridor underneath! All the robots on deck or in the air suddenly shut down and clattered into the deck, scraping along with sparks, and the vast array of guns all went silent! Just then there was a growing hum, and a blue ripple passed over the ship! Lionheart stomach lurched as the vast ship dropped 1,000 feet, leaving Bulletman and Gravity Girl high up in the air over the ship! Several rents in the deck panels left access to the ship below. Until holes of that size (twenty or so feet) were closed the field would not be able to bridge the gap, and it would be vulnerable to attack! Lionheart and the team could defend them from the onslaught of robots that would head to close them in the hope the V-Ship could fire missiles into the ships innards, or the team themselves could enter the vast ship!

OOC your call. The deck plates have shifted, part of the ship itself has twisted and you can gain access or have the V-Ship attack. Lionheart has Frostbots' head which may do further damage if you can access a vital computer. You are about to have lots of company. Lots and lots of angry robots. Hundreds, in fact...

Admin wrote:OOC your call. The deck plates have shifted, part of the ship itself has twisted and you can gain access or have the V-Ship attack. Lionheart has Frostbots' head which may do further damage if you can access a vital computer. You are about to have lots of company. Lots and lots of angry robots. Hundreds, in fact...

Lionheart
HTC: 120/150
HTK: 125/125
Current powers: Flight G2, Strength G4, Force Field G1 (1pt over) HP:10

"Get off if you need to, I'm going in!"

Lionheart knew all too well what would happen if the ship went down. That would be bad enough, but the suddenly release of thousands of robots on an unsuspecting population would be devastating. He had to get Frostbot to a place where his programme could shut this and perhaps even the other ships down. Perhaps send them back primed to explode so the gates through which they came couldn't be opened again. After all their was only so much Lunarium.

In the meantime he had to hope the others didn't do anything to get themselves killed. Adjusting his power to incorporate speed, he flew and ran as the terrain dictated as he sought to get in deeper to the ship.

OOC:
OK and away I go, into the heart of the ship, looking for a way to unleash the viral bomb that is Frostbot on the Ship and its passengers. This is getting out of hand, I've no idea how we're going to shut all these ships down.

Updated: Current powers: Flight G2, Strength G4, Force Field G1, Super Speed G1 (0pt over) HP:10

Sj

Bulletman, keeping hold of Gravity Girl tries to fly out of reach of the robots, doding any attacks coming their way.

"NoMan! Do you need a lift," he calls out. "I don't know what to do now. Do we enter the ship or get out of here? There's no way to stop all these robots, just the three of us. I figure the Big Guys will have to do the rest."

ooc: Entering the ship may actually be the best thing to do since it might lower the number of guns shooting at us, at least in the short run.

Lionheart sped into the heart of the ship, using speed and agility to good effect to dodge a number of attacks as electrified cables sprang from the walls and lunged at him! Dancing aside, he glanced left and right then flew, ran and jumped his way through the various obstacles - poison gas, exploding ball bearings, and lasers from the ceiling! All proved too slow to catch Lionheart...

=========

Gravity Girl pointed to where NoMan was and then to the right...

Bulletman got the idea, swooped down and after Gravity Girl made another grenade superheavy, dropping it behind the main group of robots before Bulletman made it explode, sending robots flying! As the smoke cleared, NoMan stretched up to catch hold of Bulletman and pulled himself up. "My thanks!" he offered. "More robots!" he said, pointing to the hemisphere droids with energy field joining each half.

=========

Inside the ship, Lionheart came up to a forcefield blocking the corridor ahead...

Stifling a curse, he turned - robots! Half a dozen spheres rolled towards him, twisted and grew arms and legs! Frostbot spoke up "To your right. A room protected by a force field but there is a computer terminal in there which may provide access to the mainframe through a minor subsytem." Lionheart looked to the advancing robots - they didn't look about to stand about and let Frostbot have his way with the ships computer! He could take them out, run past/through them to find another terminal, or ignore them as he tried to break down the forcefield protecting the door!

=========

"Too many to fight!" shouted Gravity Girl over the roar of guns...

"We have a choice. break off, and get back onto the ship, fight the robots or get into the ship and try to help Lionheart!" she said, then pointed out "Look! Birmingham! We're almost over the city centre!"

OOC things are building to a head here! Coincidentally (or not) what happens here might well tie in with what Frostbite and Sentinel are doing in that dying faraway realm! It's all a matter of timing - and staying alive!

OOC Unsure what course of action Anyman/Lionheart is taking (captive on Trowers Skrall Science Vessel) - is he going along with the bad guys, giving them a sample of his dna, unleashing his 'Sir Francis' persona, or doing something else?

Meanwhile...

Air Raid sirens filled the air over Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham...

People fled as best they could as scrambled RAF planes took to the air and valiantly gave their lives to try and slow the vast Robo Carriers as they headed towards their intended targets!

Elsewhere...

Claude Bentham tossed a piece of chalk down and swept a sleeve across the chalkboard. Computations and formulae too complex too follow save for Bentham himself were swept away and he kicked a table, venting his frustration to the air!

Damon Trowers came into the room. "Well? Earth is going to hell in a hand basket. What are we doing about it?"

"I don't understand! Everything we've done should have worked! My... our plans were perfect! And yet at every turn we've been foiled! Sometimes... It feels like I am dreaming, and another hand guides my own as I set plans into motion!"

Trowers looked at Bentham. The man was brilliant, supernaturally so, and probably quite mad. Their vision of destroying the past to remake a better future had seemed flawless. An end to war, pain, suffering, and perhaps, free will, but it was a price worth paying. yet what had happened? At every turn, they had been thwarted, and now, somehow, they had committed a grave error, somehow giving the opportunity of opening time gates to a murderous robotic race! How had it happened? He looked at Bentham. He'd never know the mans computer like mind to be wrong so many times, with so many things. His hand reached towards the holstered gun at his side...

Bentham laughed, whilst his head was in his hands. "I predict you are thinking I've outlived my usefulness! Perhaps even now you think of throttling me, or taking a glass beaker from the table and slashing my throat. I calculate there are seventeen different ways you could strike me down from the distance you are stood at. Well? What are you waiting for?"

Trowers paused his hand. "You are mistaken, again, as you have been about so many things since we got here. There is something at work here, a chaotic force that shapes and twists events to its liking. It cannot be predicted, planned for or diverted. Perhaps our efforts were doomed from the start!"

Bentham thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. "That... seems possible. It is almost as if something stands and watches from the shadows, waiting till we have left the room, then changes everything..." he laughed. "I see nothing in the shadows, even if they do seem darker these days. Come. We have to set in motion the sequence of events that shall see us restored to our rightful place in time. Perhaps then we can plan anew, and somehow win our ultimate prize."

"We could try again, choose a different time?" asked Trowers.

"We risked being lost in time to come here. We only have one assured path through time. The one from which we came. If we move through time again, we go further away from our own reality. That way, most assuredly, is the path to madness!"

Trowers nodded, and the pair left the room.

In the room they left, cackling laughter rang out, and the Shadows darkened...

In the shadow dimension, the Shadow Demons enjoyed a feast as the world cried out in terror!