Shadowland - The Vanguard FINAL ISSUE!!!

Admin wrote:OOC The final act is on us my friends, over to you. You face the Dark Alternate form of Silver Sentinel and have 2 frames (1 action) before he completely obliterates you... use 'em wisely...

OOC: use them wisely indeed. Fellas I suggest that whilst Frostbite attempts to keep the dark sentinel busy, Sentinel melts that box and then we're free to use the Lunarium and Anyman had best get out and do what he can to protect the machine until we can insert the Lunarium to fire it.


Frostbite whirled around he said all he needed to with a quick glance at his companions, they knowing one another well enough to know what their parts all were to play. Playing their parts as a team, each fighting for the upper hand each complimenting one another's moves to make the final play count.

Frostbite then turned on the sneering dark emissary before him, he launched an attack, not so much to harm. What could he do in the face of such power, but he could momentarily distract, and moments were all they had. Lunching his powers and marshalling all his efforts, he dug deep as he blasted for all he was worth at this nemesis.

Sj

yeah, that plan seems to work best. Anyman will protect the machine and use his stretching, if it helps, to grab the Lunarium and place it into the slot and push the big button.

Frostbite gave a nod to his companions, and instantly turned to unleash his most potent cold blast against the thing which had been his friend Silver Sentinel, in another time and place like this, but different...

Pouring it on, his powers amplified by the natural cold of vacuum, Frostbite knew his power would instantly freeze, to their core, any normal person, and shatter all but the hardest of substances!

The Dark Emissary stood without flinching in the face of the withering blast which formed steel hard ice around it, inadvertently bracing the walls and ceiling of the mine tunnel in this section!

Then it laughed!

Anyman stretched around and past the pure cold blast, wincing as his skin hardened and refused to comply when it came too close! Biting back a curse he reached the machine, the device built by Claude Bentham to cause a chain reaction in the core of the moon and guide the resulting explosion out into space! Preventing rocks from crushing the thing with the use of his own body as a shield, Anyman turned and shouted to Silver Sentinel "The Rock! Pass it!" he bellowed.

OOC Silver Sentinel has to get the rock to Anyman - Anyman could grab it and stretch to the machine... but would be stopped before he could peel the lead off, insert it into the machine and whack the big red button... The Dark Emissary is momentarily distracted by Frostbites blast, but it's about to let rip into the Vanguard... Silver Sentinel is up...

With the walls of the mine shuddering around them, and the monstrous dark version of himself threatening to annihilate them all, Silver Sentinel knew he had only one chance to get this right...

Glancing at his evil self, who was pulling up his arms to thrust them at the Vanguardians and snuff them out, he made his own gesture...

The lead box he'd formed around the White Lunarium spun through the air... and the lead peeled away with an application of Sentinels' power!

Instantly the white glow of the crystal being tossed through the air clashed with the red of the glow on the walls, and for those in the mine it had another, immediate effect...

The Dark Power left them.

Frostbite, Anyman and Silver Sentinel felt that being which had been a part of them for months now seemed to shrink up and disappear! For the dark emissary, it was worse - it depended on the Dark Power for life, sustenance, it's very existence, and the White Lunarium drained it simply by flashing close past it!

With a wail the creature seemed to dissipate like smoke, but a single shouted word was left hanging in the air...

"thankyou..."

Anyman took the crystal in his oversized, stretched out hand, and pressed it into the slot of the device Bentham had made, even as more rocks slammed down around them! Nowhere Man and the other Dark Emissary were battling and there was every danger their war would bring down the tunnels of the moon, with the Vanguard crushed under millions of tons of rock!

He looked at Silver Sentinel and at Frostbite. Detonating the device would cause a chain reaction through the moons core, and cause a massive explosion of energy to blast upwards and outwards! The White Lunarium would, in theory, convert the red Lunarium found on the moon into White, and it would destroy the Dark Power, assuming the energy could be somehow directed towards the Sun!

OOC hit the button? Any plans on how to get out, or hit it and be caught in the explosion? You no longer have the Dark Power to call on, and chances are the next post you make might be the Vanguards' last... for in saving the universe, there's a good chance they'll have to make the ultimate sacrifice... But then the Vanguard has ever been about beating the odds

ooc: Just to remind myself, Anyman is still dying of radiation poisoning, right? The shot he took earlier just stopped the deterioration for a time. Now that the Dark Powers that were keeping him healthy are gone, he will rapidly die from the poisoning? OR was he cured? If not, staying to the bitter end, holding off the crushing rocks and helping to orient the explosion anyway he can, even with his body, is what he will do. Heck, even if he is cured, that is probably the best way to do this. Stay until the bitter end, doing what he can to save the Earth from the devistation of the explosion by directing as much as he can.

OOC: Dam right we should stay, we are truly heroes who see the mission through to the end no matter the risk to our selfs. The big question is what cool and heroic thing do we shout out, im thinking FOR ENGLAND AND KING GEORGE

OOC Claude Bentham injected Anyman with multiple doses of his anti radiation serum - including his own, which eventually caused his demise. As for what happens next...

Anyman shielded the device with his own body, grunting as rocks rebounded from his battered form as he took the White Lunarium shard, placed it in the receptacle provided on the torpedo like machine embedded into the Lunairum lined rocks of the mine shaft, and hammered on the button.

Silver Sentinel hovered near him, his armour trying its best to stop the hero from being pulverised as he, too, stopped falling rocks and debris from smashing it before its work was done! "FOR ENGLAND AND KING GEORGE!" he bellowed!

There was a bright sudden flash!

And then? Nothing...

Frostbite looked around. Still intangible, he was immune to the rockfalls but without the Dark Power inside, even his superhuman stamina would not long hold out against the glowing red lunarium of the...

Make that White lunarium...

The walls and ceiling of the mine began to shudder and where deadly red glowed, it soon became a serene soft white glow, and the pain of the radiation attacking the body cells of the Vanguard started to fade!

The tremors started to become more violent! Whatever was happening could not now be stopped!

'Krzzzz.... Suggestion to host form' said Frostbot inside of Frostbites head. 'Depart immediately!'

With rocks still falling the problem of protecting the machine before it could trigger and blast a beam of raw power towards the sun still remained. It became clear Sentinel and Anyman were not about to let the plan go awry, even at the cost of their own lives!

=========

A Peeler on one of the orbiting Robo Carriers looked about, dodging as best he could falling panels and sparking fires that broke out across the bridge!

"Incoming attack" said one of the Robots. "Shields down, damage critical. Suggest abandon..."

The robot never finished its sentence - the Robo Carrier, all kilometre long length and half again as wide and deep smashed into dozens of huge pieces, fire boiling outwards! A dark being - one of hundreds flying towards the Earth, paused to feed on the brief burst of terror from the few human crew on board. Dissatisfied at the lack of sustenance, the creature moved on.

All through Earth near space, the Robo Carriers fought - and died in fiery explosions - as the Dark Emissaries flocked to feed on Planet Earth!

Gaps started to appear on the black cloud blocking the sun, but the people of Earth were too terrified, frightened out of their minds, screaming and tearing at their hair, at anyone else, at everyone else, as the Earth was invaded by Dark Gods!

=========

"Skrrrzzz... Robo Carrier 'Number One' to Anyman... Earth is under attack. You are needed..." crackled the voice in the earpiece still in Anymans ear!

Surprised to hear anything over the rumble and crack of rock, Anyman and his team mates sheltered in the tunnel as the torpedo device continued its work - causing a chain reaction spreading outwards through the core of the moon. It would spread out in all directions, then bounce backwards to the torpedo device which had triggered it. When that happened, the torpedo would go off - and blast a concentrated beam of pure Lunarium - White Lunarium - energy out into the darkness of space! There was no way to tell if it would point harmlessly to the reaches of space, or would somehow point in the right direction and strike the cloud covering the sun!

"Do you require emergency beam out? Your signal is erratic, and we only have partial locks on two of you. The third life sign we detect as insubstantial, and cannot be transported" said the Robot aboard the Robo Carrier

Anyman wondered if the Robo Carrier waiting for them in orbit around the Moon might - somehow - be able to deflect or direct the beam. Problem was...

More rocks rained down and the tunnels started to collapse in on itself! In moments this whole place would be rubble, and the Vanguard would be no more!

Silver Sentinel used the metal of the mine shaft struts to hold the tunnel up as best he could, but he was fighting a losing war - soon thousands of tons of rock would come smashing in!

Frostbite wondered if all this was in vain? The beam - if and when it was emitted - might well miss, and then the Earth would be doomed, as would the Vanguard! After all, they would be trapped on the ruins of Zombie infested moon, with air supply running out and the Earth overrun by dark gods...

Frostbite had to shrug - they'd been in worse situations.

He couldn't quite remember quite when those were, mind...

"Skrrrzzz... Robo Carrier 'Number One' to Anyman... Earth is under attack. You are needed..." crackled the voice in the earpiece still in Anymans ear!

Surprised to hear anything over the rumble and crack of rock, Anyman and his team mates sheltered in the tunnel as the torpedo device continued its work - causing a chain reaction spreading outwards through the core of the moon. It would spread out in all directions, then bounce backwards to the torpedo device which had triggered it. When that happened, the torpedo would go off - and blast a concentrated beam of pure Lunarium - White Lunarium - energy out into the darkness of space! There was no way to tell if it would point harmlessly to the reaches of space, or would somehow point in the right direction and strike the cloud covering the sun!

"Do you require emergency beam out? Your signal is erratic, and we only have partial locks on two of you. The third life sign we detect as insubstantial, and cannot be transported" said the Robot aboard the Robo Carrier

Anyman wondered if the Robo Carrier waiting for them in orbit around the Moon might - somehow - be able to deflect or direct the beam. Problem was...

"Negative," Anyman radioed back. "I'm here to the bitter end! There is about to be a huge explosion. We are trying to direct it at the cloud covering the sun. Can you help us direct it towards our target? Or deflect it for us? The power will be unimaginable! But it is the only way to stop these beings."

"I'm staying to use my body to protect the transmission point and help send the energy towards the cloud and away from Earth."

"The others may want a teleport out though."

He looks to see what they want to do.

DavidMcMahon wrote:The others may want a teleport out though."
He looks not see what they want to do.

OOC I am not really sure, what I can do, if I go to the Robo carrier with Ross, then that leaves Dave vulnerable on his own. And there all I can do is deliver Frostbot, I'd be useless. Ross might be able to keep the ship together however. So why don't I stay with Anyman and Ross beam to the ship to try and keep it together long enough to create a means to ensure the beam stays true? Meanwhile I'll do what Sentinel has been doing and frost up the ceiling to try and stop it falling in on us.

Frostbite signalled to the ship nodding in Sentinel's direction, "One to beam aboard, if you're ready?"

Then turning to the cavern, he continued where Sentinel left off, using his incredible control of temperature to try and support the ceiling, bonding water where it existed and forming ice hard braces to try and hold back the roof.

Sj

ooc: BTW, it's my intention to use Anyman's body wrapped around the torpedo to help guide the explosion. Since explosions tend to go the way of greatest weakness, when confined, that's what he is trying to do. confine it and direct it through one opening.

"I'll do what i can old friend" and as the tin man started to dematerialize he still had enough time to say "good luck and gods speed".

When Steve next looked about he was obviously somewhere completely different with sirens and alarms blasting out all around as his senses adjusted them selfs as if he had gotten up too fast.

Anyman used his body as a funnel of sorts, awaiting the final, fateful blast that would cause and explosion and fire a pulse of energy from the depths of the moon into space!

Frostbite ground his teeth, then gestured and poured the cold on, again and again. He held the ceiling up as long as he could, but felt his strength failing...

=========

Sentinel flew onto the bridge of a Robo Carrier, using his power to seal what he detected as a serious crack in the superstructure of the ship...

"Report!" he bellowed, clanking over to stand in front of a partially shattered main display screen. All about, robots hurried to keep the vessel in one piece - a glance at the screen showed why.

Dark Emissaries soared through near space towards the Earth, slicing into pieces the Robo Carriers that sought to stop them. Despite the lighting up of the void with the sheer volume of ordnance being tossed the way of the enemy - including nuclear missiles - the Emissaries were barely slowed, and were quite thorough in their destruction of the massive vessels!

Debris tumbled through space, sparking and burning as it continued to disintegrate after being hammered by the unimaginable forces ranged against it.

A massive shudder went through the superstructure of the vessel Sentinel stood on, and smoke hissed into the bridge whilst alarms battled for dominance to be heard. A robot wobbled up having clearly been damaged. 'She' was female shaped, and announced that the ship had been critically damaged, and it was time for all human personnel to evacuate.

Sentinel explained he was there to hold the ship together long enough that it might be used to deflect the energy beam from the moon towards the sun and the gathered mass of the Devourer. With that in mind, he knelt and pressed his hands to the deck. He shuddered as continued damage started to split the ship into several sections, and it took all of his considerable power to bond the remaining metal together in a desperate attempt to keep the vessel intact!

=========

Inside the cave Anyman protected the missile from further damage and the constant smashing of rocks on his body subsided as Frostbite formed ice around the pair, over and again...

The tremors grew more violent, and both knew their time had come. Frostbite narrowed his eyes, then considered his options. They were almost out of air, irradiated to a virtually fatal level, and about to be either blown to smithereens or buried forever. Both probably. He looked at Anyman shielding the weapon, and considered there might - just - be a way to accomplish what they needed by using Anymans body as a mould, then pouring in his hardest, most intensified ice around the weapon and accomplish the same thing as Anyman intended by sacrificing himself...

=========

"Sir?" shouted Number One over the din of distressed metal being torn apart...

"Busy here!" shouted Sentinel to the robot as he felt more supestructure disintegrate despite his best efforts!

"There is an intruder reported on Deck 57. Security has been despatched to deal with it, and was duly despatched... Systems indicate the computer system is being hacked. Whichever individual is accessing our systems has a level of skill previously not encountered. Correction. intruder is 'in' our systems. Curious. According to..."

A structure beam dropped from the ceiling and smashed Number One into smithereens! Another robot wobbled over. "The ship is in position, all power has been diverted to the integrity field and gravimetric amplifier. It is ready."

Sentinel turned, reaching for a button on a console and pressing the wrong one, then finally popping his head up, pressing the right one and speaking up.

"Do it! Press the button!" he bellowed.

=========

On the moon Anyman nodded, and Frostbite slumped, exhausted, from the pouring of ice...

Their plan, such as it had been, had worked. The device, encased in the hardest most compact ice Frostbite could summon, had been protected from the heaviest of rocks smashing down on it.

All that remained was to press the button.

So he did.

Everything around the pair seemed to shimmer... then the moon exploded!

Anyone looking up into the sky will have seen a bright flash, then wondered if the sun had returned to a deprived, tortured Earth!

A beam of pure white light flashed outwards and towards the waiting robo carrier...

On board, Sentinel felt strange for a split second, then was enveloped in a bright white blast all about him!

The beam smashed into - and around - the gravity field being projected by the Robo Carrier, and light splayed in every direction whilst the main body of the beam was deflected slightly and shot out into the depths of space!

=========

A wave of White energy sprayed outwards into space, bathing the Earth, the solar system, and spreading further...

Emissaries evaporated where the white light deprived them of the Dark Power...

People across the world, when touched with the white light, stopped and looked up to the sky, crying in joy as they saw a tiny dot of light from the Sun appear... and expand steadily outwards as the Devourer was deprived of its Dark Power, it's very life blood and sustenance!

=========

Minutes later, the glow started to subside...

Weather patterns across the Earth started to change, some violently, as the sun shone down on a light deprived Earth. The wind howled, rain hammered the ground and the snow started to melt as the eternal night gave way to the birth of the first daybreak in weeks.

Despite the violent storms, people cried in relief, joy, and felt hope that humanity might survive. Only in Britain, where the people had been curiously detached, did they look to the sky, shrug, and continue their flat out efforts to rebuild the country after a year or so of war.

Few would attribute their salvation to a small band of superhumans who they'd considered to be the cause of all this.

The Earth was saved.

Debris continued to tumble through the void...

Smashed spacecraft from another time, destroyed so thoroughly that 1940s Earth would not be corrupted by their futuristic technology, burnt up on re-entry into the Earths atmosphere or continued to spin through endless space, forgotten and derelict.

On Earth, the British Government held emergency sessions to determine the countries strategy and direction.

There was a power void in the world.

Britain would fill it.

Elsewhere, the governments of the countries of the world were in disarray, law and order had disintegrated, and the natural way of things would take a long time to restore, if it ever could be.

=========

Forbes, Dawson and Wynn walked out into the bright sunshine of London streets....

As if to echo the calm and discipline of the country, the storms that had racked it were no worse than usual for the time of year. The streets gleamed, washed clean.

And yet it had a grey, sterile feel. The traffic flowed, people went about their business in an aloof manner, seemingly in concert with one another. It was similar to an Ant colony, with each drone knowing their place, function, destination and ultimate goal.

The three former heads of DICE glanced at one another. The world had been saved, then replaced by a brave new one. They did not know how things would turn out, but knew they owed their lives to the sacrifice of the Vanguard. It had been days since the flash in the sky and the return of the light. Britain appeared isolated from the rest of the world, and her war machine was in full swing, turning out weapons and vehicles designed to step into the role of peace keeper, law maker and ruler.

Each knew of the gate at Stonehenge, opened and used by refugees for days now. Wynn had to be gently tapped to remind him to keep moving. The Peelers, former DICE agents, were operating as enhanced law enforcers, and looking to arrest the fugitive DICE leaders.

"Wherever you are lads, thank you." said the old man, simply. A tear formed and rolled down his cheek. Across the street a stolen car waited to whisk them from the capital, Ernest Slobotham at the wheel. He looked about at the peoples impassive expressions, unphased by all that had gone on, and the sacrifice of the few that had seen the survival of the many.

His passengers climbed into the car and it set off, heading out of London and towards the south west.

=========

A section of a Robo Carrier sparked and turned through space...

It's structure was mostly intact given that it had been smashed free of the whole of the main vessel, and forcefields flickered to maintain the hull integrity and atmosphere, despite that no human beings were aboard it. The power plant still active on board the section would run for days yet, and as it happened, a computer took advantage of it.

A cracked computer screen flickered.

"Bounced signal received. Pattern buffer filling. Signal integrity boosted. Correcting gravitational distortion effects. Buffering... Processing 1%... 2%...3%..."

The section of the ship passed over the moon, where a massive crater on the dark side showed where the massive blast had erupted outwards, making a deep hole covering the entirety of the hidden side of the moon. Debris drifted past, and the solar system would see a stream of dust and rock add to the flotsam that normally wafted through the endless darkness.

On the ship section, another voice crackled from a speaker. "Get a bloody move on." stated Frostbot to the computer which hosted its form. A holographic emitter flashed, and a humanoid form sprang into life, inspecting itself and looking around for the first time. "Divert pattern buffer on completion to the transporter room." ordered the hologram, then it winked out and reappeared in that room, leaning over a console to look at the screen. "14%" it said with a sigh...

OOC Epilogue is next. I need to wrap up LIONHEARTs adventure in my next post, which will be later on (it's 00.56 and I turn into a pumpkin at 01.00, so best hit the flower bed. Thanks all for your patience with this! We are... nearly... there!

Admin wrote:OOC Epilogue is next. I need to wrap up LIONHEARTs adventure in my next post, which will be later on (it's 00.56 and I turn into a pumpkin at 01.00, so best hit the flower bed. Thanks all for your patience with this! We are... nearly... there!

OOC: Epic ending, but curious minds need to know...what happens next. Talk about a cliff hanger

Sj

OOC: Epic ending, but curious minds need to know...what happens next. Talk about a cliff hanger

Can you say "Earth-Amalgam"? Since we are all from different Earths and different times ....

"Come on Wynny."

General Wynn smiled, though his face was sad. "Mind yer manners pup. I earned these stripes!"

Ernest Slobotham chuckled and saluted casually, before turning to look where his old friend and mentor cast his gaze. "Do you think any of them made it sir?"

Wynn smiled "Now you remember the 'Sir'!" he sighed. "I don't know Ernie. My gut says yes, but this old body is about done in, and there's someone else, a nagging voice inside of me says he wants his body back." Slobotham glanced at the General and kept his silence, turning to look at the ancient monument of Stonehenge. The stones each shone, almost as bright as a summers day. In the centre of the stones a man lay, sword held on his chest. He looked as if asleep on the grass, aside from the sword which shone like a beacon, even brighter than the stones. "Who was he, do you think?" asked Slobotham.

Wynn turned to behold the old man. "A warrior, finally at peace. A guardian, claiming his earned rest. A watchful protector, his work done because the land is safe. Who knows. I know that he went into that circle in the sure knowledge he would never come out alive. He did it... I think... to provide a gateway for people to escape the terror and horror of this world. A shame then that the people of Britain seem mostly immune to that which the rest of the world feels. I fear for it Ernie..."

"Don't get any funny ideas sir! This is our way out! The ungrateful bastards got what they wanted from the Vanguard and turned their dogs on us. We're wanted men, outlawed in every country across the World. You heard the radio address. This time it's not the Dark Power, or some villainous Nazi. It's Churchill and the sheep like mob he calls the people of Britain."

"Sheep? No, not that. I think it's something Frostbite said or did, for their protection. He did it too well, I fear, but he wasn't to know. Not Sheep, Ernie, Lions.And I fear the rest of the world will hear their roar."

Slobotham nodded, sadly. He saw a car approaching, and turned to Wynn, Forbes and Dawson, the latter two standing nearby and ready to enter the circle. "Car!" shouted Slobotham. "In the circle chaps!"

"Steady!" said Wynn. "You... you never know."

Forbes walked forward and place a hand on Wynns shoulder. "Our lot were many things, Wynn, but they were never the hitch a ride type. Flying, running, vanishing and reappearing... a cab?" Dawson saw Forbes words hadn't moved Wynn, so he pulled out his sidearm and checked it. Wynn glanced at him and muttered "Steady now Edward. Wait."

The car pulled up and Emma Steed got out. She was limping, and her arm was in a sling, but otherwise in one piece. Several -former- Peelers climbed out with her, none making any aggressive moves and looking about. Dawson lowered his gun and smiled. "Major! You made it! And you brought some of the others! Smith, Lawrence, Carpenter and... ah..."

"Jones sir." smiled the former Peeler. "Reporting for duty. We've not all gone over to the funny farms side yet sir."

Dawson glowered at Jones, but Wynn laughed and clapped Jones on the shoulder. "Now son, that's no way to talk about your Motherland, even if the whole bally lot of 'em has gone cuckoo. Right. We don't know what will happen when we step through the circle, or how long it will last. We only know that it's a way off this world, time, planet, and into another. Supplies ready?"

Each man - and woman - nodded and produced rucksacks, as well as warm clothing in bundles, in case the other side of the gate was freezing cold.

Wynn looked about at the plains and hills, heather blowing in the wind. The sun was shining, finally, and the snow melting. Winter was over, spring had arrived, in more sense than one. And yet Wynn could feel only sadness. The Vanguard had sacrificed everything to stop the Devourer, end World War II, and right the timelines that Trowers and Bentham, along with their secret Cadre, had changed. Their reward? Exile or death. Whilst superhumans of ANY kind remained on this world there would never be peace for the Vanguard, or for the people of the world. They'd suffered too much, despite the immense hope that the Vanguard had brought to an embattled world.

Sadly he turned, and followed his friends between two of the standing stones of Stonehenge, where they vanished from view...

OOC End of Epilogue part 2

A burning, acrid smell assaulted the senses...

He wasn't sure where he was, but Lance Allard was still alive. He opened his eyes, groaned, and reached out a hand. Immediately he pressed against glass mere inches from his face, and looked proper at his surroundings.

A lab of some kind, with several other floor to ceiling tubes with male human bodies - his friends - in them! Around the place, sparking machines and broken computer panels popped and banged. Several fires had broken out and been snuffed, and wires, cables, leaking coolant had turned the place - wherever it was - into a mess. Yet he was alive.

Looking up and around at the glass, he pressed at it again. Then he exerted his strength. He wasn't as strong as he should be, but perhaps that was understandable. His flesh was pink, raw, tender, and... lacked hair. He could see the beginnings of hair sprouting on the back of his hands, a rub on his head revealed stubble. What had happened?

"Please don't break the birthing tube. It took long enough to get it working with the parts I could find, and that is the fourth attempt I have made to cycle a fresh body for you. Yours was the most difficult." said a battered robot limping into view. It was one of those that had been on the Robo Carrier, but sounded different. "Frostbot?" asked Allard. "Astute as usual sir. Your personal robot designation 'Number One' was instrumental to your survival. After we uploaded your bit patterns to a transporter system that was still functioning, we had to find a genetics laboratory with enough supplies to vat grow new bodies for you. We are in Germany."

With a hiss the tube came open, and Allard wobbled out on unsteady legs. Another robot, this time in the likeness of a female, walked in through a side door. The robot looked like it had been crushed and straightened at some point, and an eye was missing. "So good to see you functional Sir." said Number One, holding up a dirty pair of overalls for Allard to slip into. As yet his powers weren't working, and perhaps they may never work again. He wondered if they were intrinsic to his body and had survived this process that had seen him, Frostbite and Silver Sentinel return from the dead. As if having read his mind, Frostbot spoke up "Your superhuman powers are still present. The... 'Vanguard' gene, for want of a better word, is present in each of you as before. Unique, unchanged, but your body is recovering from the birthing and accelerated growth process."

A hiss from the other two doors saw Frostbite and Silver Sentinel step from the tubes. Frostbot moved to help Sentinel, who was amazed not only to find himself alive, but that he had regrown his legs!

Number One spoke up again. "We must prepare you for travel. Scanners show large numbers of armed humans heading towards this crashed ship. We have no way of telling their intentions, but in your current states you cannot fight them off." A pause then a glance at Frostbot and 'herself' "And neither can we."

=========

"So after the pattern buffer on the transporter was filled, we were able to scan the remaining Robo Carriers for suitable facilities to imprint your genetic codes on new host forms. Unfortunately the Shadow Emissaries had destroyed or severely damaged almost all of the Carriers, and the best we could find was the ruins of the vessel you woke in. It destroyed a large swathe of German forest when it crash landed."

Frostbite leaned back in the car seat as Frostbot explained what had happened to them. The robot drove swiftly, competently, through the ruins of war torn Germany and towards France. "No doubt we'll be blamed for the devastation. How bad is... is the world?"

There was a pause, and Frostbot continued. "A mess. The rule of law exists in only a few places, and only Britain stands as a sovereign power with the resources, knowledge and coordinated manpower to step into the power vacuum. Russia has fragmented into civil war, there is talk of the American Union having broken up and a peasant uprising in China means no one rules there. It will take a long time for things to be made as they were."

"As they were?" spluttered Steve Jenson, Silver Sentinel, from the back seat. "The world was on the brink of annihilation! I hope they make a better fist of it this time!"

"Quite." said Frostbot. "Nonetheless propaganda has been spread as to the cause of the worlds upheaval and it points to the Vanguard. Whilst most admit the team were not directly responsible, all agree that the world will be better off without beings who have godlike power."

The car bounced along in silence for a while...

OOC End of epilogue part 3...

"A Green and pleasant land." mused Lionheart, watching soldiers neatly march past as he hid in the bushes

He'd avoided another roadblock and sped unmolested across the plains, drinking in the last sights and sounds of Britain. He neared Stonehenge, saw the glowing stones and cursed silently. He'd seen planes soaring high over the country, and when it was dark those things would shine like beacons, drawing soldiers and sealing the place off.

He slowed and stopped near the stones themselves and reached a hand towards one, but stopped short of touching its bright glaring surface. Looking about, he wondered if the other had made it. Sagging to sit on the heather, he sighed and looked around.

'Never fear brother. Though you have to leave, all think I am dead.' said a voice in his mind. His shields had been down, he'd been... well, not expecting an attack, but this had been a simple message. Saladin!

He looked around, then closed his eyes and concentrated. 'Thought you were dead!'

'Ha! Trowers is alive. He escaped that mess on the moon and set himself up as chief adviser to Churchills cabinet! Sold 'em a dream of empire and they bought it, hook line and sinker. Oh, they'll get their empire all right. He has enough knowledge, enough stashed technology, and the means to ferret out whatever wasn't destroyed, to see this nation of ours rise pre-eminent in the world.'

'I need to stop him!' replied Lionheart, rising.

'No, your work is done. Mine continues. I will watch, and I will wait. Patient, in the shadows. As long as Trowers, and Britain, remains peaceful and willing to lead in a benevolent way, they may actually do the world some good.'

'And if the people of the world decide they don't want Britains help, or Leadership?' thought Lionheart.

'That's when I come in. The ghost in the machine, the spectre who stalks. I am Saladin! They will hunt me, but I am too fast, too cunning! Too smart...' he chuckled. 'Rest easy. You have done all that was asked of you and more. The timeline has been restored, and its corruption limited to several strands I should think, where the war continued for a short time, or the Nazis did win, or perhaps Russia turned her might on the west. In none of them will the Devourer rear its threat. The Vanguard, you and your friends, saw to that. Now, I tire, and my head hurts! You are so fast! I could not find you! Then I heard of the battle, and when I arrived at the scene, you had gone. Finally I swept my thoughts to here, and found you. Farewell!'

'Wait!' shouted Lionheart in his head, but his old nemesis had gone...

He looked about again, then concentrated. Finally he turned to the south.

OOC End of Epilogue Part 4

"Earth technology in this era is pitiful" remarked Frostbot as the plane clattered and banged its way across the sky...

The stolen plane had been pursued and attacked, until the bullets from the pursuing German fighters had stopped and reversed their course, thanks to Silver Sentinel. Over the course of the afternoon the trio had regained their powers slowly. The plane had been taken swiftly and efficiently with 'Hauptmann Allard' ordering the pilots off it. Everywhere there were retreating Nazi forces in groups and clumps who sought to escape into the mountains using any means. The pilots and the soldeirs hadn't wanted to give up their plane easy...

"What?" asked Allard, settling into the co-pilots seat. "Stop complaining."

Frostbite popped his head in the cabin. "Should've known persuading them was down on your agenda."

"I DID persuade them!" chuckled Allard, popping his knuckles. "Powers or no, they were still Nazis! I hate those guys!"

Number One spoke from the hold. "Course is plotted. Avoid all contact with other planes and jettison the bombs over the sea. This Junkers Ju-88 has the range to see us to Stonehenge."

Silver Sentinel sat in the back, running his hands along his shins. It felt good to get his legs back, and now his powers were returning. He sat back, then sighed. Things wouldn't be the same though. The world hated them, hunted them. Feared them. After all they'd done. He shook his head and watched out the window as the light faded and France with it, behind them.

=========

"What's that?" asked Allard.

Frostbite came up front. "A glowing ring? That's where Stonehenge should be, according to your mashed up robot."

"Bogies. 1800 hours." said Frostbot suddenly.

Allard frowned. "That's 6 o clock. Behind us." He hung his head out of the window. "Like buzzing hornets. A dozen of them. Maybe more. Too dark to tell. They'll catch this crate but - maybe - not before we can jump out where the stones are. Might have to fight our way through. They can't know its us..."

"But we're in a Nazi plane!" shouted Sentinel.

"Don't remind me!" spat Anyman, and he looked out again. "A fight then..." he turned to Frostbite.

"They aren't the only ones. Look!" said Frostbite, leaning forwards to point towards the front of the plane.

Clouds of distant dots were on a course towards Stonehenge.

"Rock and a hard place..." said Allard.

"Story of our lives. use our powers to save ourselves and down the people we were fighting for, thus proving them right, or surrender?" muttered Frostbite. Anyman glanced at his friend and did a quick calculation. "Engines are at full chat. Those behind will riddle us with bullets, the ones in front will finish us off. Bloody Nazi plane!" he said, about to smack a hand into the dash before he pulled it back.

Suddenly the group (apart from the robots) heard 'HOLD ON!' in their heads, and the plane jerked forward, tearing across the sky at speeds unimaginable, and far beyond its design remit! The wings sheared off, causing the trio to call out in alarm, but the voice had been familiar, albeit sent telepathically.

'Took your sweet time! Been waiting for ages!' said Lionheart in their heads. He grasped the plane from underneath and flew as fast as he dared! 'Sentinel?' he asked, mind to mind.

"On it!" shouted Silver Sentinel over the roar of the wind. The two gaping holes in the plane howled a gale into the interior, but the superhumans were untroubled. All over the plane the metal structure reinforced itself, fixing and melding, morphing and strengthening it!

"This will be close!" shouted Frostbite over the howl of the wind.

"HA!" replied Lionheart, and the plane shot forwards again, down, down towards the bright lights of the circle.

"You nutter!" bellowed Sentinel. "We'll all be killed!"

Lionhearts replying laugh was cut off as the plane vanished when it 'hit' the stone ring, leaving silence and a fading glow... In the midst of the ring an old man started to age. He had already died, but his life had been prolonged far beyond his apparent years. Now, finally, he could rest. The sword he grasped fell through his crumbling form, then vanished in a flash of light!

The planes, pursuers and interceptors, buzzed over the spot. Whether they fought or landed, none knew. All that the world knew is that the Vanguard passed into the pages of history...

=========

Somewhere else across Britain, a young woman woke from her nap and turned to her father, who was reading the paper. "Did you hear that dad? Like a 'Boom, Boom' sound?"

"Hmmm?" he mumbled, drawing on his pipe and turning the page. The young lady, almost out of her teens, walked into the farmyard and looked around. The sound was there again. Constant, getting louder? What in the...

She vanished without trace!

A heartbeat later, a voice made her turn about. "Welcome to Caer Alwyn, my dear. The land has need of a champion! It has need of the Lore Knights! It has need, of you!"

=========



OOC That's it! New start coming at the weekend. Need to get write ups finished and some prep, but I've asked another player to join from another board I frequent. Whether she does or not I'm not sure, but the Vanguards adventures will begin again shortly!

Steve lifted the leg of his trousers, still in shock.

"Does ......does this mean we aren't 'us'....i mean we are clones right? Not that i'm not ungrateful for being alive"

OOC: Sorry i starting posting this before you added the last part. This is gonna be great

ooc:

And which "us's" are we? The future us or the past us? Seems like for Anyman, he is the past "him".

Not that the future "him" remembers much of anything other than torture and more torture under the guise of experimenting on him and something about being a college student. He can't even remember if he volunteered for the Super Soldier Program like the good future British Nazi he might have been or was scooped up in some kind of student protest and sentenced to the Program.

And we might not even be any of "us" when we start again in a whole new universe. We might be brand new "us's". Like when DC revamped their whole universe in the Crisis of Infinite Earths in the 1980s. After the Crisis, while vaguely remembered and thought to involve the Martian Invasion which happened nearly at the same time, all the heroes were brand new heroes who didn't remember that worlds had changed and disappeared. Heck, Superman got a new origin and a new way to explain his powers - Mostly they are now psionically based, which is why his cape can be shredded now since his force field only extends a few inches out from his body instead of having invulnerable skin. And he was now born on Earth from an incubation chamber [ie. one of the first test tube babies on Earth] that landed from Krypton instead of as a two year old.

And since we are changing over to the home grown DC Hero Rules, our powers will change to - getting stronger or different in some way. So we might all be new "us's" who might or might not have memories or dreams of a different version of "us" or a different world. That's the fun of the restart!!!

I think Anyman is going to get stronger now. With Grade Two Strength, that's a lot stronger in the DC rules than the Golden Hero rules. Not sure what's going to happen to his shapeshift and stretching powers. Stronger? Weaker? Different in some way? And how invulnerable is he going to be now? He was mostly bullet proof under the old rules but what will he be under the new rules? What kind of changes will the new skill rules do to us too? Going to be fun to see what happens.

And for our GM, not sure if there is power advantages to taking weakness but remember that Anyman has a fear of acid resulting from what happened to him when he went into his coma that gave him his powers. And if the new stretching and armor rules make him even more invulnerable, we can always change that over to him being vulnerable to acid attacks.

I like the idea of Lance Allard still being an actor in his secret ID. Not a big star but works steady enough in small roles on TV and movies and slightly larger roles on the stage that he doesn't he to wait tables or do that many odd jobs very often. A twenty-something man who plays both leading men and a few character types as well.

Probably doesn't remember the old world except as vague dreams or feelings of Deja Vu. Gonna rework his origin a bit so he starts fresh in the new world. Maybe a jealous rival put acid in the stage prop he was using for his role of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. Or a jealous husband of a gal he was going out with, not knowing she was married, threw it at him, hitting him in the face with it. Something along those lines which will account for his weakness with acids and fear of such.

Acid was an almost common origin in the 30s and 40s. Pulp character the Black Bat had it thrown in his face, blinding him and scarring him around the eyes, by a crook. Dr. Mid-Nite from the Justice Society of America had the same origin. Harvey Dent [originally Kent in the 40s]/Two-Face was scarred by a crook while in the courtroom the same way - half his face was burned by the acid, the other half protected by a hand that was also burned. I think a Dick Tracy villain Half n Half had the same thing happen to him. Plastic Man was shot while attempting a robbery of a chemical factory and had acid poured into his bleeding wound getting it into his blood stream. Heck, Daredevil in the 60s was blinded by a barrel of radioactive acid that was thrown from a truck that was in an accident when he was walking by - it's how he got his hyper-senses.

Those are the ones I can think of just off the top of my head.

Another question that I don't think was brought up but are we going to be in England when we adventure or some other country? Will we even possibly be from a made up country that exists only in the new Earth?

OOC: I think sentinel will remember everything but as if a dream, just slightly hazy and confused with the others as they have changed due to the lack of there future selfs maybe occasionally questioning 'why can't you remember'.

He may even get obesed with the idea his parents exist here and place a trace on them. (wonder if they have a son) but other than that sentinel will remain wholey the same