World War II - The Vanguard Issue #10 The day after doomsday...

ooc: Does my new life sense tell if the Nazis are there or not? Or out of range?

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc: Does my new life sense tell if the Nazis are there or not? Or out of range?

OOC: Yes this is kind crucial.

Sj

Anyman narrows his eyes and concentrates. There!

He senses the presence of the Nazis - all of them - and notes that the status of the man known as Void is that he's comatose! Either the others used their powers to down him, or the use of his power - which seemed to take a short while to prepare before he unleashed it - has overwhelmed him and knocked him out! They stand in a deep crater - all that remains of the prison camp, guards and surrounding area - which looks as if a perfect scoop had been made! Rock, soil, plants, stone... the power of the Void had simply expanded into a perfect sphere and swallowed it all up before seemingly having its fill and 'shutting down'.

'The perfect time to strike!' rasped the Dark Power inside the minds of the Vanguard.

Another spoke up 'Or the perfect time to leave. They will have spent the time defending themselves and resisting the enormous pull of that beings power. Typical of the enemy - they have beings of such power and potential, and lack the imagination to use it!'

Anyman knew all too well the truth of that statement. The Nazis superhuman program, brought about with the use of Lunarium, had been very successful. Without the Vanguard opposing them there would be little doubt that the history which was changed, and dragged the Vanguard into the past on a quest to right it, would have come to pass.

Now, the Nazis plan was in ruins, Bentham and Trowers, the architects of the Nazis plans, were making arrangements to hope through time once more, location unknown, and the world was a much changed place.

Exposure to technology from the far future, alien races, superhuman powers, supernatural forces and the power of Lunarium as a weapon, fuel source and the most valuable element in the known universe meant that this world would never long know peace!

The Dark Power spoke up again 'The enemy will think we are devoured. Until the being known as Void wakes up, they will not know for sure. The choice of whether to attack them, or save them for another day, is yours.'

Lionheart watched as the image winked off, his open mouth closing as he bits his retort away. Turning, he issued orders for the heads of DICE to arrange the Vanguards attendance as a matter of urgency! It was Frostbite who controlled this fleet, through Frostbot, so he would be needed. Anyman controlled his own Robo Carrier, and besides that the Aliens were scared witless of him. Silver Sentinel could wreak untold havoc with his control of metals if he got inside one of those ships. In truth, the aliens posed little threat though they would destroy the Robo Carrier fleet if they could, as part of their sabre rattling.

Sunburst leaned over a console, looking at readings. She seemed to stiffen, stare straight forwards, then her hands morphed, changing to match the size and shape of the Skrall technicians hands! They danced over the console and a Skrall technician stopped as it walked by, glanced over, then came to watch. So did another.

A Peeler came up to Lionheart "How much can we trust Agent Carter now sir? She's... changed..."

Beth looked up and around. "I have the frequency for their shields. I can modulate my energy form to bypass their shielding for a short time and get us on board one of those ships, Richard." she said in a robotic sounding voice. The she shuddered, looked about, and bowed her head, clearly taking the stares of everyone on the bridge as further proof that she'd lost her humanity.

With a sigh she walked up to Lionheart. "If you want on an alien ship, you'll have to trust me."

The Peeler, this one was 74, Michael Green, pulled a face. "With all due respect sir, the aliens might be controlling her! She might be trying to trap you, or worse, get you out into space and expose you to vacuum! Even with your powers, can you...?"

Another Peeler, Erin Hood (Peeler 98) called out "Sirs! Alien fleet powering up, making best speed for the moon! Eta at current speed... less than one hour!"

Lionheart moved to stand in front of the screen "Open frequency. Now hear this!" he declared. "Anyman and the Vanguard are en route! You have experience of him, know what he's capable of! There are three Vanguardians of equal power with him! Another, Nowhere Boy, is..."

The screen winked on. "Nowhere Boy?" asked the Alien. He looked off screen, then back. "We have a proposition for you. We will mine on the OTHER side of the moon that faces away from your planet. Any debris that is blasted outwards by the process will be fired into space. The terms of this agreement are that Anyman and the Vanguard stay on Earth. We have them as..." he glanced again, then nodded and turned back to Lionheart "located on the continent of 'Northern Europe' in a place known locally as 'Poland', according to our records. They cannot hide from our sensors! We have them listed as 'Beyond Omega' level threats and can detect them wherever they are. Of the Nowhere Boy, we can detect nothing, so spare us your lies! Tell the Vanguard to stay on Earth, or we shall launch a nuclear arsenal against it that will 'bomb your people back to the stone age'. It is a tactic we are well versed in to bring into line unruly planets and colonies. Your answer?"

Anyman passes on the information to the others.

DavidMcMahon wrote:Anyman passes on the information to the others.

Frostbite spent some time deliberating before offering his thoughts to the others. "We still have a pressing need to free the P'utinarian's from the Nazi's but this new development has altered things a bit. Truth is, Sentinel and might be better off serving the new fleet, as Frostbot will be needed to control them and the rest of us need to cover Lionheart's back. But that leaves you, old friend..." Frostbite said glancing meaningfully back at Anyman, "...effectively on your own. I think we've probably seen the stiffest resistance in that little troop you sent packing. But there is no telling with the Nazi's like any cornered animal, who knows what they might have up their Lunarium sleeves? I know you can handle this, if we join Lionheart, but what do you think?"

OOC:
My feeling Dave, is that you carry on and I'll take Sentinel [If you are ok with this Ross also, say if you'd rather stay with Anyman] to join us on the Robo carrier fleet. It may be that like before we can send these guys packing before a real fight has to take place. I'd rather keep the Robo fleet in reserve as it might be an empty gesture to throw them at the forces, when we with our powers might be better able to disable the aliens fleet and make them think twice. But its a sizeable force and I think having Sentinel join me and Lionheart etc, would be better suited. That's what I'm thinking anyway. Next thing is to also get Nowhere Boy onboard also.

Sj

Admin wrote:Lionheart

The screen winked on. "Nowhere Boy?" . It is a tactic we are well versed in to bring into line unruly planets and colonies. Your answer?"[/color]

Lionheart gave a thoughtful look, he needed to delay, "I cannot speak for the collective people on earth, but we will be in touch with a response, bare with us as we gather to issue a response."

He knew the aliens would hardly hold off moving in, they clearly felt confident in their assault and their threat, but until the Vanguard were with him, he could hardly do much!

OOC:
- Ok I have no problem trusting agent Carter, so I am happy to go across, but want to wait on the Vanguard at present.
- I can go, but am stalling for time to make sure I know what they want to do first. It might be an error to be aboard if I then find that the Vanguard do the improbably and I am slap bang in the middle of it. So I'll wait out, when Frostbite and whoever gets here then I can make a more informed decision as to what I'll do next. I think.

Sj

"Sounds like a solid plan to me, as much as I would love to knock the stuffing out of super Nazi goones we always have time against us and besides on a robocarrier surrounded by good old metal what could go wrong? Mind u I wouldnt mind some reassurance that those bunch of supers that we've just faced wont be rounding up anymore POWs and if we were to meet them again have some kind of defence agaisnt them"

"I don't mind rescuing the remaining P'utarnarians," Anyman said. "I could try finding all the remaining ones in Europe with my mind sense and teleporting them to us right now but I think that may just be a bit beyond me at the current level of power I have."

ooc: Shifting power points around isn't allowed, correct? So I can't shift my DP super-strength over into the Life Sense and teleportation powers, right? Or I can do it with a roll to control it?

"Right then its decided, lets get one of the V ships fired up and get to Lionheart's position asap. At least this will give us a chance to assess what is going on up there. We'll keep you informed."

With that Frostbite and Sentinel filed out, making their way back to the ship in order to get to Lionheart's position. As they left Frostbite spoke up,
"I'm unhappy with the fact Nowhere Boy seems to have been so quiet. I'm going to try and contact him when we're aboard the ship. It maybe we need to send for him, he had a hand in all this and I don't want to loose that edge in all this. Besides, this is just taking our eyes of the important stuff going on down here."

OOC:
Ok once aboard the V ship and on route to Lionheart at best speed once free from Earth atmosphere, I'd like to try and raise Nowhere Boy on the mental link we share with one another. Since we captured so many V ships, if he is suffering dark power withdrawal (as I suspect) we'll send a v ship from the Robo carrier surplus to go pick him up and join us at Lionheart's location.

Sj

OOC Anyman will have to call on the Dark Power again (once spent, the power is 'gone' as it were) to summon up another two grades of Life Sense to cover the whole of Europe and pinpoint every single P'utinarian. Another grade of Teleport on top of what he has, and he can pluck them all (none would be able to resist the dark power, though a superhuman individual would require a roll). If Anyman really wants to impress them, a total of two extra grades (on top of what he has) of Life Sense and Teleport will transport every P'utinarian back to their moth ship on the other side of the solar system!

With regards Nowhere Boy, you're right in that he'll have suffered the same loss of power that the Vanguard did. When use use the Dark power, it draws on the negative emotions of an area (several hundred miles around) and you are 'tethered' to that area, wherever you go - even across the galaxy. You 'feed' from that point, so the nastiest, most downtrodden areas are the richest source of power for the Shadow Demons, sad to say. With Britain being an area of goodwill, hope and optimism thanks to Frostbite, you are essentially unable to use the Dark Power there until you travel to a place where the symbiote inside you can feed - like Poland, where you are - and after that you are 'tethered' there, so can go about your business (even back to Britain and still use the Dark power) unless everyone suddenly has an outbreak of joy and happiness, in which case you need to find another negative emotion pool to draw on. In wartime, they are easy to find.

A P'utinarian approached Anyman "We cannot thank you enough. The legends of your deeds continue to spread. All of you, for opposing the evil humans that we mistakenly allied with. Until they are vanquished, though, this will not end."

Frostbite pondered those words for a moment, then pressed on the earpiece he and the others wore. "Send down a V-Ship." he ordered, and watched as a distant gleam of a V-Ship left the hanger of the dot that was the Robo Carrier that Anyman had commandeered. It would be here in minutes.

The people that Anyman had rescued from the camp were bewildered, frightened, but somehow knew that the strange beings that had rescued them could be trusted. That said... a man walked up to Anyman, clearly jewish from his attire and appearance, and spoke in his native tongue (Polish). Anyman was presented with another problem. He had over a thousand people, including P'utinarians, to feed and house, or at least guide to shelter!

Silver Sentinel considered the options available. If there were enough metal about, he could 'command' it to form structures to use as shelter for the former prisoners, but they looked in a bad way - many were malnourished, had been tortured and some were so ill they couldn't even stand. He turned away, biting back his anger at the cruelty inflicted on them by the Nazis.

OOC We'll switch to another thread for Lionheart, Silver Sentinel, Frostbite and Sunburst if Anyman is staying on terra firma. We may as well make use of Issue #11 which only had one page before we switched to this thread. Dave E and Ross, hop over there is you will. Dave M, calling on the Dark power to perform another miracle?

The people that Anyman had rescued from the camp were bewildered, frightened, but somehow knew that the strange beings that had rescued them could be trusted. That said... a man walked up to Anyman, clearly jewish from his attire and appearance, and spoke in his native tongue (Polish). Anyman was presented with another problem. He had over a thousand people, including P'utinarians, to feed and house, or at least guide to shelter!

ooc: Don't forget that the ship that Anyman controls was reconfigured to house something like 10,000 refugees and food for them. That said, going for the Dark Power one more time to get the power to teleport all P'utanarians on Earth out to their mothership sounds good. Use effort points to do so. Then use the Life Sense and Teleportation to remove all humans from prison camps, concentration camps and death camps across Europe and North Africa would also be a good idea. And just for good measure, throw in the Russians held prisoners in the various Gulags in Siberia and such places [Damn Commies, as bad as Nazis!], leaving the German troops in their concentration camps for now. Or did they attack Russia yet? Sort of forgot with our timeline if they did or not. Probably don't have twenty million people in these various camps ... yet. Still will be overloaded trying to feed and house all these folks. Good thing I got lots of robots to make more housing out of materials that can be gathered from destroyed cities.


"Okay, I'm going to summon all P'utanarians on Earth and send them to their mothership," he informs everyone. "Then I'm going to bring all prisoners, death camp inmates and others from all over Europe here. My ship can house thousands of them and feed them. We also have needed medical supplies."

He thinks for a moment. "I'm also going to need a new Number One to coordinate things for me with the ship."
He radios his ship. "Send me a new Number One," he orders.
"Anyone speak this man's language? All I know is German and French."

ooc2: Depending on what happens in space after this, Anyman may be journeying to the center of the Galatic Empire to fulfill his promise to them. So you might want to set up another thread or hold off until we see what happens in near space.

Anyman
80/110 htc (see below)
68/88 htk (see below)
66 Hero Points, 10 Fate points
Dark Power XP 9/20 (level 3)
Dark Power Points 0
Dark Power Growth 4 (see below)
Strength +11 Grades (4fr)
Armour Piercing (-4DD) (4fr)
Teleport Gr6 (8fr)
Life Sense Gr3 (8fr)

Anyman called for another assistant or 'Number One' to assist him, then started to concentrate. LeSeur looked and called over. "They'll never accept you, you know." he said, a quiver in his voice. "When people find out what you can do, all the power you possess? It's clear to me how this will go. Ha." he chuckled, shaking his head. "Pied piper in hat and bandages."

Anyman considered that for a moment, but didn't delay. He called on the Dark power once more...

OOC Thanks for the reminder about the ship, and I assume you'll be putting other freed prisoners in there too? As for the Dark Power, you need 30 points for 2 extra grades in teleport and the same for life sense. There's 3 points of Dark power growth, but you only need around 20 points, so call it 5D10 to be on the safe side? Dark power Ego 8 + Roll 9,9 (18, double!) plus 10,6 (16)=42. Uh, that's not good at all. You stated you were using effort points, I'll assume 4 effort points. Anymans Ego 12 + Roll 9,4,3,4,7,8 (roll of 9 and 8 isn't going to be enough, so it'll have to be 4,4 double and hope beyond hope things turn out...) extra roll 7,4 (11). Total 31. Dark power roll FAILURE.

Somewhere, an alarm goes off inside Lance Allards head... then he seems to fall, tumbling end over end, and the light that is control of his mind, body and soul gets ever further away!

'Such puny beings' rasped 'Anyman' as he looked about, his eyes glowing red.

LeSeur started, stumbling back. he felt fear as he'd never felt before, and the others in the field, over a thousand individuals, felt it at the same time! They started to scream, to run, and thefear increased as Anyman started to swell, and grow, his body becoming massive, towering and menacing!

'For too long have I been shackled, hamstrung, by the humans notion of honour and duty! You have enemies! Wipe them out!' roared Anyman, one hundred foot high and now and still growing! 'All of them!'

OOC that was a pure dice roll thing - and it was bound to happen at some point. It's a shame it happened to Anyman (again) but because its happened before, he *might* be able to talk the Dark Power out of what its about to do, or at least restrict what it's wrath will unleash...

=========

Major Nazi pushed a fallen wall from off of him...

Dusting himself off, he looked around for the others. He saw Void lying in the middle of a vast crater, some 100m away, and growled, his anger manifesting in popped knuckles and a desire to smash the unconscious superhuman into the ground!

As he walked past, he kicked the big man, who stirred where he lay. Lightning Strike was gone, doubtless into Void. Mind Queen was still alive, though unconscious. The Dark power had protected them, but Lightning Strike had been too slow to act! He cursed, and was about to take to the air and fly over to Void when he felt it...

"Oh no" he said, the colour draining from him! He screamed as the Dark power, hundreds, thousands even, of Shadow Demons acting through him and drawing from the negative emotions near him, all left at once! The others screamed likewise, waking and looking about, fearful. Though they still had their Lunarium derived powers, they were as nothing compared to what they'd lost!

Bouncing Bomb stammered in fear "Major! What is happening? Why have we... look!"

All turned to see the distant figure of Anyman, now hundreds of feet tall, stood miles away and looking in their direction!

There was a bright flash, and wave emanated from him, in every direction! Up, down, to every compass point, and it formed into a barely visible wall of power that reached outwards! The wave came at a phenomenal rate and the Nazis knew, from this there was no chance of escape!

=========

Anyman, lost in the prison of his own mind and body, was aghast!

He'd lost control! The Dark Power was unleashed, and would not be sated until thousands, millions even, had died! He watched, helpless, as his body raised its massive arms as it towered over the countryside, then unleashed a wave of power in every direction!

The purpose he knew, was devastating, horrifying and would end the war in one fell swoop!

The wave would kill every Axis follower, every man, woman or child affiliated with the German, Italian or Japanese war effort, the world over!!!

OOC you have only moments before this wave gathers momentum and wipes out
millions of people across the world, leaving Germany mostly desolate, and Italy/Japan devastated but to a lesser degree than Nazi Germany. The Dark Power is 'showing Anyman how to do it' and cares nothing for the shattering loss of human life!

ooc: OH MAN! Gotta think about this for a bit. Will think it over tonight but here are a few ideas ....
1.Um ... what are the odds that I could teleport to the Empire's Main System and use that power to cause their sun to go nova instead? I mean, I did warn them that I would do exactly that if they came back and tried to steal our stuff again.
2.Could I go all Dragonball and send out into space, destroying the moon?
3.Directing it back into the Dark Realm and letting them get killed instead?
4. Oh wait! Use my life sense and find the Devourer and attack him with the power!
5. HELP! MOMMY!
6. Damn! Nothing comes to mind yet beyond those ideas. Let me know how viable those are while I think of something else.

Okay, I've narrowed down my choices to two. If neither one is feasible, let me know and I will go to plan two. IF both are equally feasible, let me know and I will choose the one I want. If one is more feasible than the other, go ahead and do that one and let us know how it turns out.

1. Use/deflect the Dark Powers and cause the sun of the Star Empire's capital star system to go supernova, killing everyone in that system. Anyman did warn he would utterly destroy their entire empire if they came back to steal from us and try to harm anyone on Earth by doing just that. So he is being nice and only taking out the capital system. They are enemies so he might be able to persuade the Dark Prince to do that instead of wiping out millions of humans on this Earth.

2. This one is a brain twister and could reset the whole campaign. It could eliminate or change some or all of our characters as well as some of our foes. Putty is from an alternate future, alternate from the Earth we are on - alternate from where the original heroes are from as well, where Germany won WW2. Not sure if they won the war before America got into it or after they got into it, along with 30 or 40 other nations who picked sides in world war. So the Nazis of that world are foes of Putty/Anyman. He will direct the killing energy to THAT Earth of OUR current timeline [1940] and wipe out those Nazis, Fascists, and Commies instead of the ones here.
Depending on your time travel rules, this would mean that Putty would never exist since all of those foes died decades before he was born and England wouldn't have the Nazi boot on their necks. It would mean that the Vanguard would not have gone to his Earth to try to stop the changes in time since the time traveling mad scientists of the future would not have gone there. Heck, it might even mean that their timeline doesn't exist, which means another Vanguard wouldn't even exist besides Putty. Which also means we wouldn't be "HERE" and never were and were never needed "HERE". My head hurts. Time Travel has so many problems in it!

I realize if one or both are possible, lots of people are going to die. I'm just trying to pick the ones I would prefer dead instead of others. But if neither is possible, let me know and I will go with plan B. I think I'm almost out of effort points, not sure, but using up what I have to do whatever I wind up doing.

time travel - really sucks. That's why the Doctor has a rule that once he is in a time event, he can't just pop back in the Tardis to fix it better. I kind of like the idea that minor changes in time don't really affect the time stream in the long run. It's only the big changes that cause the time stream to split into two or more branches, creating other alternate worlds. Makes things a bit easier. That way you can go back in time and kill Hitler as a baby but you are now stuck in the new timeline and can't get back home to your own where he wasn't killed as a baby.

So it sounds like Option One is feasible, so that's what he will do. Blow up their sun of their capital system. Since the sun goes nova at the speed of light, everyone should pretty much die in a split second without knowing that they are dying. Only those who were watching their faster than light travel monitors would realize that their sun if about to burn away their atmosphere and turn their planet into a molten ball or at the outer edge of their system might survive. May not satisfy the Dark Power since they won't have time to be afraid but a few will.

Use points to succeed, not that it worked the last time.

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better just to turn all the Lunarium in the solar system into lead.


"NO!" Growled Anyman with Putty backing him up. "Not them! I made a promise! I have to keep that promise. I told those aliens if they came back to try and steal from us I would destroy their Star Empire by blowing up their suns. They didn't believe me. So we will blow up the sun of the capital star system instead! Think! Billions dead instead of millions! You would like that, wouldn't you? It's a waste of your power to kill all the Nazis. They've already lost!"

OOC try to convince the Dark Power to direct its efforts instead to destroying billions of helpless, relatively innocent (its the governments/leaders who decide their actions, not the people...) aliens in a far distant star system, the home of the Star League... Using hero points (villain points? , 4 as usual (unless someone wants to actually say at some point how many they will spend ) we have a roll of Ego 12 + Roll 2,1,6,2,3,3. Well, that's pretty horrible rolling, but a double 3 and a follow up roll of 8,9 (17). Total is 12 + 6 +17=35, which exactly matches the target number, so technically fails (beat target number to win), however...

Anyman
80/110 htc
68/88 htk
62 Hero Points, 10 Fate points
Dark Power XP 9/20 (level 3)
Dark Power Points 0
Dark Power IN CONTROL

LeSeur and the rescued prisoners - human or otherwise - cried out in sheer terror at the size of the creature towering over them, its vast shadow covering hundreds of metres, and seemingly coming alive as Shadow Demons spewed from the darkness, fawning and worshipping their former ArchDuke!

Across the world, those who aligned themselves to the Nazi cause felt *something* about to happen, and their terror was great! If they were doing something, they immediately broke off and sank to their knees, curled up, or ran off shrieking! Battles ended, rescued efforts were forgotten, men and women screamed...

Nearby, feeling dwarfed by the power ranged against them, the Nazi Lightning Squad led by Major Nazi were ready to die, knowing that they could not beat Anyman, and that he had the power to obliterate their entire country!

Then something changed.

Stormclouds boiled above, swirled and spun, then opened, making a circle in the sky! The wind whipped up, uprooting trees and sending people tumbling! The giant thrust a hand up to the heavens... and from within a dark lightning burst forth, thousands of metres wide and lancing straight up into the sky!

The black lightning flashed through space, a constant stream of powerful force that flowed like a river faster than light! Space folded to its power, and it sliced through any planetary bodies in its path!

=========

Distant outpost listening station Theta 8F30018881 (translated from galactic standard tongue)

The green skinned technician laughed as he watched the holovid broadcast. Thurlbong and Shizznarke was the funniest show, watched by billions. He popped another squirming flingpopple into the second, larger of his mouths and considered beaming a message to his pod mate and the podlings. When the alarm rang out he looked about, confused. What?

Leaning over the console, he reached to cancel it, then looked at the energy readings... The flingpopple leapt clear and scurried under the console, grateful at having escaped when the aliens mouth gaped open. The technician shook his head, then thought for a second, before typing in a code and pressing SEND.

Omega level catastrophe inbound from space. Code 113.

The listening post disappeared in a flash a heartbeat later, the dark power beam now thousands of miles across in every direction and heading unerringly towards the heart of the Star League, the E'nkarr system and the 8 orbiting planets, countless satellites and home to 11 Billion sentient beings, and countless more indigenous life forms.

=========

E'nkarr system... Karvati Station... Situation - Red alert!

"Are we under attack?" "By what? Do we scramble?"

Commander Bengforr looked at the scrolling partial message. Code 113. The Star League was under attack, but the details had been snuffed out. The message included a split second video now on freeze frame showing a bright flash of 'black' lightning that formed a wave thousands of miles high and wide and getting wider all the time! As chief of the largest defense station in the system he was in command of a thousand ships and over 1 million troops, all scrambling from bunks or leaving behind what they were doing...

Suddenly the station, all 10 miles high, wide and deep of it, shook! All eyes turned to the viewscreen as the sun, distant and life giving, suddenly turned... black? A heartbeat later a trillion beams shot outwards from it, lancing into planets, starships, space stations...

Bengforr didn't even have time between breaths before black lightning smashed the station into smithereens and punched into his and every other living beings chest, draining life force, everything they were, wanted to be and never would be...

Across the solar system billions of beings died in instant agony, their emotions, thoughts, memories, all sucked from them by lightning that danced from one creature to another!

The sun would survive - it acted merely as a point of distribution to bounce the Dark power from, and the souls of every living being it touched sped back to it as bright pulses as the beam across the universe flashed brightly!

Starships who witnessed the phenomena were destroyed if they came too close, galactic powers sat up and took note, the energy readings beyond comprehension. Had the devourer come to lay its dark embrace on them?

The screams were silenced, but carried along the pulsing beam across the trillions of light years and through the boundaries of space time - it happened in an instant!

=========

On Earth Anyman - the giant - towering thousands of feet in the sky, cried out as the black lightning flashed and pulsed from his body!

Finally the clouds dispersed, the lightning flashed brighter than the sun, then faded into nothingness. The whole thing had taken less than a minute.

Hundreds of metres away, the fear stricken escapees watched the giant shrink, down, down...

Finally he seemed to disappear, but only because he'd become his normal size. Lance Allard, the Anyman, was the destroyer of worlds... Tears streamed down his face and he looked up, knowing then the true nature of the devourer heading towards Earth, a creature that destroyed without mercy, which was little different from that which he had become!

'Well done mortal.' rasped the Dark Power inside Anyman 'I am sated.'

=========

The En'karr system...

Life continued in the jungles, the seas, the plains, the deserts... The sun shone overhead, the mountains still stood, and the world still turned.

Everywhere machines lay dormant, streets were empty, cities, ghostlike and abandoned. Many were burning, some completely destroyed.

All intelligent life in the En'karr solar system had been utterly obliterated.



OOC Anyman is back in control.

OOC Anyman is back in control..Using hero points (villain points? , 4 as usual (unless someone wants to actually say at some point how many they will spend ) we have a roll of Ego 12 + Roll 2,1,6,2,3,3. Well, that's pretty horrible rolling, but a double 3 and a follow up roll of 8,9 (17). Total is 12 + 6 +17=35, which exactly matches the target number, so technically fails (beat target number to win), however...



hey there is a double 2 there too, don't I get two rolls instead of one because of that? Just hoping.
Not that I would change the results all that much if I did succeed. Less colateral damage on the way to the system is all.

Lance Allard didn't say a word and didn't acknowledge the Shadows that were around them all. He just started walking. He walked over to the huge hole in the ground where Major Nazi and his people were at. He looked down at them, not saying anything for awhile ... just looking.

"Were you worth it," he said at last. "Were you? I lost control of the Shadow inside me. A Shadow, bigger and stronger than all the Shadows that gave you your new founds powers. It was going to kill you and you and you," pointing to each one, "and every Nazi, every Fascist, Every Communist on this planet. All the peoples of Germany, Italy and Japan. Instead, I directed his power to an entirely different solar system and killed every man, woman and child in that entire system because their fleet is over our heads as we speak, preparing to destroy the Moon while digging for some ore, and letting all the rocks just fall on Earth, killing millions of us. Billions of people were killed, just to save you."

He looks at them some more.

"So tell me ... were you worth it?"

Major Nazi looked like he'd been run over by a tank. Twice. The others were in no better shape and the big German seemed a thoroughly dejected, beaten man.

"Never haf I known such a fear. I... I soiled myself. ME! Perhaps ve are not vorth saving, but who are you to decide? You are one man, wiz ze power of a god! You can snuff out millions of people wiz a gesture! I vill agree, ve hef made war on ze peoples of Europe to carve out an empire, but you? You are a threat zat ze vorld cannot leave free to run around, unchecked! But what can we do, what can anyone do, against your power? I thought you a man viz honour, a soldier, like myself. Ve do vat ve are told und keep our questions to ourself. Ven ve sink ve do ze wrong thing, ve do it anyway knowing zat it vill be for some greater good, as decided by better men than us. Except, you are not like me. Or anyone else. Do vat you vill wiz us. It is not like ve could stop you anyway." he said, sagging back and waiting for death.

"Vell? VAT ARE YOU VAITING FOR? KILL US!" he screamed!

Except, you are not like me. Or anyone else. Do vat you vill wiz us. It is not like ve could stop you anyway." he said, sagging back and waiting for death.

"Vell? VAT ARE YOU VAITING FOR? KILL US!" he screamed!.

Anyman stood there, expressionless, which was easy with his whole head bandaged, but his entire body language was expressionless. Finally, he smiled down at Major Nazi. It was a terrifying smile.

"Kill you? No. Never. I won't give you the easy way out. You or your comrades," he said in a hoarse voice. "Nor myself. I will do something so much more worse to you! You will now follow MY orders! You will obey me as your superior, without question, without hesitation. You have no other superiors unless I tell you to obey someone else as well."

"And if you disobey me? Well ... I won't kill you at all. No matter how often or how much you disobey me. You know very well that I can make you wish to die, make you wish you could go unconscious, make you wish you could go insane and live inside a fantasy world where nothing hurts you. But I will make sure none of that happens to you, if you disobey me. I willl give you such pain that it would break a lesser man but not you. I won't allow it to break you. So I suggest that you NEVER EVER disobey me!"

"Understood?"

"As of now, you and all your super-powered cohorts belong to me and my new Legion of Supers. I am going to draft every Super on this planet into my Legion. The Legion's missions will be Search & Rescue & Aid. And for fighting off all alien attacks on this planet, such as the fleet currently over our heads that my fellow Vanguards are taking care of."

"You have the honor of being the First Legionaires! Do well and you will be remembered with great honor. Statues may be erected to each of you. Children may learn of you in school and be proud to know of you."

He smiles humorously at this point. He doesn't bother to repeat what will happen if they don't do well.

"Major Nazi. Go to my ship. One of my robots will direct you to a cabin. All of you follow him. Carry any that can't walk with assistance. You will be assigned cabins. Clean yourselves up. Those with injuries or unconscious, they will go to the sickbay. New uniforms will be given to you when you finish cleaning up to reflect the new reality, the new cause you will fight and die for."

"Major Nazi? You no longer will go by that name. Your new name is ... Major Hope!"

He waves them out of the hole and towards the ship.

He looks for his new Number One to relay his orders concerning new uniforms and cabins.

ooc: Think I will let them keep their uniform styles, since it gives each of them distinctive super-hero looks, but change the colors and the insignias - mainly using red, white and blue as the new colors, moving away from the colors of Germany - especially green and black. No swastikas. Major Nazi/Major Hope will now have the Red Cross emblem on his chest with British major insignias on his shoulders of his uniform. Give me a list of the surviving others' names again and what they can do and I will rename them.
Heh! Lots of Germans joined the French Foreign Legion after the war, and wound up fighting in Indo-China [the French Colony of Vietnam]. Well now the German Supers have just been drafted into the Legion of Super-Heroes!

OOC never saw that coming!

A flying sphere soared down, unfurled, and formed into the 'female' form of number one. "Arrangements are being made to accommodate all refugees. A more permanent settlement would be a better arrangement. With regards the human obsession with land claims might this unit suggest the terraforming of an uninhabited region with the promise of compensation in the form of shared technology for any aggrieved parties? Suggestion: the antarctic region or the sahara desert?"

Meanwhile Major Nazi, on his knees and slumped, stared in silence at Anyman. Finally he spoke. "You have won. Utterly. Where you came from, the power you can wield, the forces at your command..." he looked at the robot and the approaching Robo Carrier "None of it matters any more. Nothing matters." he sighed. "I will follow you, and do as you bid. I am not so foolish to think that a war against your or your friends will end in any way other than complete annihilation for myself and my people."

He stood, dusting himself down. "Der Fuhrer is missing, our allies from the future have gone, the aliens we allied ourselves with have been defeated and sent packing, again by yourself. Our country is smashed, our armies scattered... We are a conquered people. No one else needs to die."

"That is Void." he said pointing to the unconscious man on the floor. He looked normal now, his skin human like. "As his name suggests he can become a living portal into another place from which no one returns." He turns to the woman, who is stirring "Lady Psyche, who can attack your mind and read your thoughts. Ping Pong, a man who can stretch, has superhuman strength, and is nigh on bulletproof. He bounces like a ball when he wishes. Lightning Storm. He can generate electricity to blast his enemies. As for myself? I am strong, fat, can fly and blast heat rays from my eyes. My skin can withstand a bursting shell. We were... empowered by the things known as Shadow Demons. Their promises - that they would grant the power to defeat you, were proven false. Still, they gave a hint, an inkling of the power you possess. "

Anyman said his piece, and Nazi laughed. "Hope? If you say so. Look around. The human race will not live in hope with the likes of us around. They will look on with jealousy, fear, greed and hate. We are the new gods, they are sheep! It is the flaw of man that he cannot live in peace. Even when he has all his hearts desire, he looks to a neighbour and covets what they have. We are weak. We are easily convinced, that what we have is not good enough, and follow others - blindly sometimes - to our dooms! Perhaps what you have done here is a good thing. You have shown the world there is hope for peace - and given them a taste of the alternative. Peace, through overwhelming firepower! I can appreciate that."

The other Nazis climbed to their feet, save Void "He will be unconscious for hours. When he activates his power, it opens a single gate, consumes everything within an area, and closes. It would not be wise to use him. He has looked into his own abyss... I cannot guarantee his compliance."

The woman looked up, shaking her head in disgust at Major Nazi, then looking at Anyman. "You are legendary, and now I know why. So, we work for you now. What would you have us do? What shall we tell the German people?"

Number One spoke up "Anyman. You are summoned to London by the hierarchy of DICE. You are to cease all operations and return, now."

Major Hope raised an eyebrow "You still bow to their will, like some whipped dog, when you can eradicate them with a wave of your hand? When they find out the true nature and extent of your power, and what happens when you unleash it, there will be a reckoning, mark my words. Lead on, Anyman."

OOC I will cook up character sheets for the new Legion (?) Justiciars? Vanguardians? But... I'm very very tempted to convert everything to the house ruled DC Heroes/Lore Knights system we are using, with a few changes. There'll be no game change for you guys - state actions and roll dice, spend hero and fate points etc but things like power points for Energy and PSI attacks and the like will disappear. Having a limited pool of energy to draw on is a disadvantage, and not in keeping with the mid-high level nature of the game. It's been a long time coming, but there's a cut off/change over point coming up where we can start up the new way of doing things. Anyway, off to work, will write something up, and keep the updates coming. Got to take my mind off missing the England game with something!