The NEW Vanguard - LIONHEART Issue #3 - The Mission, Part 1

Admin wrote:OOC The Challengers jet will be here in seconds, and the heroes disembarking at the same time. Thunder Woman is shaken up by the fate of the armoured warriors but knows Timpson was to blame, despite initially wondering if Lionheart had done it. This new group of heroes, however, will know only what Timpsons people have told them, and the news channels... news travels fast in the digital age... The building looms ahead. You can break it at your leisure, seemingly...

Lionheart looked somewhat crestfallen. What was meant to be an urgent mission to retrieve White Dwarf matter to aid with stopping a micro world assault on the earth was fast becoming overlooked by the present troubles of getting the material itself. Lionheart, for all his speed and formidable powers of mental ability was somewhat stuck as to what to do. Did he press on regardless, knowing that his best chance was probably already blown? Did he come back another day, delaying the confrontation that he needed to have to get this material? Did he leave and see if Wandafar could try another way. Perhaps Silver Sentinel and he could form a spacecraft to retrieve said material at source?

In truth the decision was one that was already written before him. Although he didn't like it, he could see when fighting was not going to win the day. Nodding reluctantly to Thunder Woman, Lionheart indicated that they perhaps ought to leave. The look of disgust on his face said it all.

OOC: Well played sir, I had no idea that I was walking up the the 'Lex Luther' of the Shadow world, but clearly that is what Timpson is. I can see now that my original play would have equally fallen in like a house of cards.

Right after explaining to Thunder Woman my reason for needing Timpson, I think I'd best alert Wandafar - if I can get ahold of him to the situation. We are going to need a bigger set of guns, or another solution to get in. Clearly I am up against something for which brute strength and ignorance are not going to be enough. For now I guess we go back to Thunder Woman's apartment till a solution present itself, as I am tapped out.

Sj

OOC yeah figured that given Lionhearts power throwing an enemy in front of him that could duke it out would get old fast, so this is more of a case of approaching the problem from a different angle. Timpson has a colossal intellect, is a billionaire genius inventor with contacts all the way through the highest level of world governments and security organisations (as he provides weapons and technology for many of them) and he is 'the man with the plan.'. Maybe less Lex Luthor, more... Ozymandius. I'm sure you're familiar with Watchmen, but in case you aren't... Take a look what you're up against.

Thunder Woman looked at Lionheart, then seemed satisfied.

"In my career I was often accused of being in love with war and battle. To an extent that is true, but since I retired I have taken time to appreciate that brute force cannot solve every problem. It seems, friend, you are a better hero than I was, because you have realised it already. Come. I'll make you a meal and we can examine the next move options. We'd best go before the Champions arrive. The current line up is young, brash and eager to prove themselves. The devastation from their last battle took weeks to repair, the bill was footed by..." she turns, and nods towards the steel and glass skyscraper.

Lionheart looked up. The scale of the opponent he faced was beginning to sink in. He would look bad thanks to the mans machinations, to the extent that he probably needed to watch what he did and who he associated with, in case he dragged them into the mire with him.

The pair took off, weaving between the canyons of streets and skimming the rooftops to outdistance the arriving champions and avoid the view of multitudes of surveillance cameras, though there could be no guarantee all had been avoided.

=========

"Vell, something is better zen nuffink" said Wandafar as his face filled the laptops screen, the two way skype call giving Lionheart an opportunity to show Wandy what he'd gotten.

"I need to get it in my leb to see how much we vill need." he muttered. "Zis men you hef upset is very smart. He uses ze mass und veight of zis stuff inside an energy field zet turns ze incredible properties into near limitless energy, limited only by ze circuits und technology around it. Unfortunately for ze application ve hef in mind, I em sinking ve vill need more. Zis much might shrink you a few inches for a short time, which is amazing seeing as it is only ze size of a thumbnail."

Kayleigh looked annoyed and stared at the television which showed the fight and painted a very dim light of Lionheart, suggesting that he had been responsible for the death of Timpsons men, though no official comment had been made by the man or his organisation as yet.

"My sister is still held by that man, and he's untouchable, even by, by you two! What can we do? Arggh!" she cried out, and walked to the window, looking out across the city.

Lionheart felt for her, and half heartedly dug into the doorstep of a salad sandwich Thunder Woman had cooked up for him. She sat in a chair which protested at her weight and dug into her own. "Right. Know you enemy. Intelligent, rich, one of the worlds best inventors, untouchable by the law and controls the media to a great extent. Has an army of lawyers to quash anything undesired. Don't think I missed anything."

"Can't you just... I don't know, go push his teeth in and make him give my sister back?" asked Kayleigh, close to tears.

Lionheart was about to answer when...

OOC 2d10 → [5,1] = (6) Oooh. That's not great.

The window and part of the wall exploded inwards! Lionheart had had the merest hint of a warning and leapt across the room to grab Kayleigh out of the way, his forcefield up and using his body as a shield. He was flung across the room and crashed into the large flat panel tv, destroying it!

"Damn! I don't believe this!" screamed Thunder Woman! "I've just had this place decorated!"

Through the hole in the wall Lionheart saw a woman floating in the air about 100 yards away. Her body was composed of glowing green energy, with details hard to make out save for the vague body shape. "THUNDER WOMAN!" she called. "WE ARE THE CHICAGO CHAMPIONS, AND YOU ARE HARBOURING A FUGITIVE! SURRENDER!"

Thunder Woman swore, and took a last bite of her sandwich. "Is the girl alright?" she asked. Lionheart checked, and found that Kayleigh was breathing, albeit unconscious. She would be in the line of fire if another fight kicked off!

Admin wrote:Through the hole in the wall Lionheart saw a woman floating in the air about 100 yards away. Her body was composed of glowing green energy, with details hard to make out save for the vague body shape. "THUNDER WOMAN!" she called. "WE ARE THE CHICAGO CHAMPIONS, AND YOU ARE HARBOURING A FUGITIVE! SURRENDER!"

Thunder Woman swore, and took a last bite of her sandwich. "Is the girl alright?" she asked. Lionheart checked, and found that Kayleigh was breathing, albeit unconscious. She would be in the line of fire if another fight kicked off!

"Quick, get Kayleigh out of here, she might need medical attention, its me they want so I will lead them away. Give me a location we can meet if we get out of this and I'll see you there at midnight tonight. If I fail to show, then I'm either dead or captured. In which case it's been short but pleasant working with you."

With that Lionheart shot out of the wrecked apartment, gazing ruefully at these would be protectors and unwitting pawns in Timpson's bigger game.

"If you want me, you going to have to work for it."

And with that Lionheart sped off taking the opportunity not to go so fast that they couldn't stay within reach, but not so close that their powers might do him some harm. His intention was to lead them a merry dance and see if they could be evaded. However he had to face facts, Timpson knew where they were, perhaps because of additional surveillance they'd not taken account off. So in order to shake him, and his would be pursuers, Lionheart might have to leave the city for the time being and evade possible Satellite coverage as well.

OOC:Well I thought that was a deliberate hint in the dialogue about surveillance, of course these young guns seem to be making the case for Superhero registration only more iron clad. Ok so do my best to use my power pool to dodge weave and otherwise lead but leave my pursuers behind and what not. Try and get myself out of town if need be and bearing in mind satellite coverage and what not, might need to come in, in disguise. If there is a chance to have uninterrupted and none hacked communication with Wandafar, this might be a time to do so. I need a plan b, I toyed with the idea of letting myself be captured. But I think that would be a plan desperate, trouble is I don't know enough about Timpsons operation, how I might get at him or more importantly what he has to store. It may be possible that with the existing White Dwarf material I could be shrunk down to capture more, but what good is getting in if you don't know how, what, where of the location of the stuff. I need intel and I need a way to deal with the ramifications that are making this a much broader and more deeply complicated scenario. After all I can't keep offering asylum to all sundry fellow meta humans and their families, but something needs to be done!

Sj

Thunder Woman scribbled some numbers onto a sheet of paper. "Hope you can read grid references. I can't!" she admitted then added "But then I know where this place is... was. It's secure, or was fifty years ago at any rate."

She smiled, then looked at Kayleigh, with the smile fading. "My location here was a secret. I have a feeling our friend here may have - misguidedly - contacted Timpsons people... to what end I'm not sure."

Lionheart glanced at the unconscious woman. What had she done? What could have... was she some kind of traitor? Or perhaps so desperate to save her sister that she would do anything... and had now been injured as a result of that?

Thunder Woman scooped her up and glanced at the hole in the wall. "Time to go. Midnight. See you..." she nodded at the paper "There."

Raising a foot, she slammed it down, crashing a hole into the floor and revealing the apartment below. Dropping down into the room with Kayleigh in her arms. Looking back up, she muttered "Good luck." and created another hole in the floor below!

Lionheart raced out through the hole into the air, mentally shifting his psionic energy to empower his speed.

"There he is!" shouted a ... well, a gaseous cloud with a pair of eyes and a mouth!

Nearby, what appeared to be a boxy robotic form, all chrome and shining metal, raced across a rooftop and shouted "SURRENDER! WE SHALL ENSURE YOUR TRIAL IS FAIR!"

"Fair?" growled a hair covered woman in a leotard, all fangs and feral appearance as she leapt out of the Champions VTOL jet. "Ttttttrrrrryyyy telling that to the men he murdered! GRAAAAAWOOO!"

The green energy woman shouted out "Take him down Champions! You saw what he did to Timpsons Enfo..."

Lionheart was a dot in the northern sky!

=========

A glance behind showed the Champions had re-boarded their vessel and set off in hot pursuit!

Lionheart sped low and reasonably fast at first, though in order to avoid structural damage to the buildings in Chicago he needed to stay subsonic! This was going pear shaped, fast! A simple smash and grab with the very best of intentions had caused the hero to cross paths - and swords - with a most dangerous adversary.

The city started to thin, giving way to suburbs and less cover. Lionheart gained altitude and blasted high into the clouds before piling on the speed! Behind him, the jet gave chase but started to inexorably move backwards!

=========

"Communicating is dangerous" crackled the communicator in Lionhearts ear.

Wandafar continued "Zis man is capable of serious bad sings. He is more... than I thought he was. It is time to come home. Bring ze... skrrrrzzzzz... crackle...."

Lionheart pulled the earpiece from his ear, tapped it, and tried Wandafar again.

There was silence... then... "Hello." an American voice, one Lionheart didn't recognise. "We haven't met, but we will. It's time to stop running. You give me what I want, and I will give you what you want."

Lionheart had a bad feeling that the earpiece might be a means of tracking his movement. He looked towards a distant mountain range, the site of the meeting in under an hour, at midnight. The pursuit had been exhausting, a fact Lionheart was reminded of when he dabbed his bleeding nose. He'd lost the pursuers, then been picked up again, and again, and again.

Finally, he'd sped underwater, hiding in one of the great lakes, and seemed to have given them the slip, only for his trail to be picked up yet again by the green energy woman. She was faster than her team mates, and had appeared on her own. That had proven her downfall. Lionheart had flattened her with a mind blast, and laid her unconscious form down gently before racing off.

Now with the rendezvous looming it seemed the enemy was making himself known. How would Lionheart respond?

Admin wrote:"Communicating is dangerous" crackled the communicator in Lionhearts ear.

There was silence... then... "Hello." an American voice, one Lionheart didn't recognise. "We haven't met, but we will. It's time to stop running. You give me what I want, and I will give you what you want."

Lionheart had a bad feeling that the earpiece might be a means of tracking his movement. Now with the rendezvous looming it seemed the enemy was making himself known. How would Lionheart respond?

Lionheart put the links together and realised with a sinking stomach that he had no choice if he didn't just want to leave and let everyone down. Kayleigh was still desperate to find her sister, Thunder Woman was waiting to meet with him, and Timpson was now aware of him. Things couldn't be worse, in terms of what was meant to be a simple snatch and grab.

He took the earpiece out, truth was Wandafar had already made it clear that the earpiece and Timpson himself was far more than anyone appreciated. It left him with two stark choices, losing the ear piece cut him off from Wandafar even if it stopped him being tracked by Timpson. It wasn't really a choice, he crushed the ear piece. He realised that he could leave it to lead the others a merry chase. But then if the tec found its way to Timpson...clearly the man was formidable and getting to him or getting anything from him was going to require something of a different order of things. Lionheart knew that he should just fly back, but not before he had established what was to become of the others. He didn't feel easy leaving in anycase, but clearly this was a jurisdiction and a situation way beyond what he had signed on for. Getting into this was just going to lead him down a rabbit warren out of which, he wasn't sure he could escape. And to add to that, he still had a huge open case to resolve back at home.

Flying on, low and fast to avoid further detection by any other means, Lionheart circled around the intended meeting point, before alighting and waiting for Thunder Woman to show, mindful to be sensitive to what was already a terrible precarious situation.

OOC:Phew, ok, so hopefully I've avoided the pursuit, and will have to either trust that a)if I stay longer Wandafar will find a way to get in touch or b) I won't stay anyway because what hope have I of making a difference here, so best discover a plan b. So with that in mind I'll talk to Thunder Woman, find out about Kayleigh and apologise for this mess I'd gotten her embroiled in and see if we can't avoid any further entanglements. It chafes me that I've come so far however with little to aid me taking it further, what's to be done? It's all a moot point of our tiny invaders attack. Besides which, unlike Frostbite, Lionheart isn't American and even if he was has no real jurisdiction or resources, let alone support to fight against the captors of Kayleigh's sister or Timpson.

Anyway with all senses switch on alert I'll both be on the look out for Thunder Woman and any pursuit.

Sj

Landing outside the cave just before midnight, senses alert, Lionheart looked about

It was clear the place had seen better days. Scorch marks on the stone in places around the entrance, rust from old fittings and what might have been a huge vault type door preventing entry, and tucked high in the ceiling the faint marks of removed wiring. This place really had been the previous headquarters of a superhero team. Out of the way, away from prying eyes but easy enough to get to if you had the speed. Stepping into the cave entrance he noted that the cavern was pretty large, but had been larger. A colossal cave in saw to that. As he walked to look around and find more clue of what had gone on here, he heard a pretty rough landing of a person outside.

In the blink of an eye he was at the entrance again and saw Thunder Woman, holding onto a bleeding wound in her side. "Ah you made it" she grunted, probing with blood slick fingers in the wound itself, stifling any noises of pain that the fearsome warrior might think of as showing weakness.

With another grunt she pulled out a long golden bullet. Almost instantly her wound started to close. "The Champions have upped their game since they were trounced a few years back when they were new on the scene and something of a joke. Didn't think bullets were fast enough to hit me, or punch through my skin, but looks like I was wrong."

She tossed the high calibre shell to the floor and looked past Lionheart to the cave. "We chose this place because it seemed that was what hero groups did. Secret HQ, gaudy costumes, masks and so on. Times change, even from 15, 20 years ago." With a sigh she moved to sit down on a rock. "I need to go. Change my name, my appearance, everything. Your friend, Kayleigh, contacted Timpson. She thought he would be honourable and give up her sister if she betrayed you. She didn't want to, but desperation will lead people to extremes. She said sorry, by the way. I left her back at the city, too dangerous for her to be caught in a tussle."

"The way I see it, you have several choices. You take the small sample of the stuff you were after and go, see if Wandafar can do something with it. I wouldn't be surprised if he could. Or you could find like minded people who think Timpson is a threat that needs taking down. You'll have to look past the glossy bright veneer of superhumans clad in spandex, to the types that usually beat criminals to a pulp before remebering to ask any questions. They tend to be less powerful, but more resourceful. Or you could escalate your private war with Timpson, but people will get hurt. The man has no qualms about taking a situation and twisting it to his own purpose. Right now you and I are wanted by the authorities and by various superhero groups, some of whom are coming to Chicago. It's all going to get rather messy, and I retired to avoid all that. So much for the quiet life. but I'll start again."

She looked up, at the night sky, and the twinkling stars. "Sometimes I want to go up there, and keep going. I could, I suppose, but it would get lonely. Maybe just for a short while." Standing, she walked to Lionheart. "You're on your own friend. Sorry I can't help you more, but I'm drawing a lot of heat and need to lay low. My former friends in various groups know all about any vulnerabilities I have, and will use them to bring me down. That means you have the best chance of success, because you're an unknown. Me? I can draw heat away from you, but only if I keep moving."

Lionheart pondered her words. He was facing an enemy that seemingly had a limitless reach. Back home there was the matter of the microscopic invasion force to counter, and it seemed that Kayleigh had betrayed him in order to try and save her sister. It would be easy to fly out of here, back across the sea, don a fresh costume and pretend all of this never happened. Was Lionheart that kind of hero?

"If you're wondering where to go next, and are serious about fighting Timpson in any way possible, check out the docks area in Chicago most nights. A vigilante called 'Death Shroud' - yeah he's as grimdark as he sounds - generally prowls about, scaring the lowlifes and drug dealers into psychiatric wards. He has something of a vendetta against Timpson, but I'm not sure why. The few times I've spoken of him in the last couple of years to people have revealed he tends to target Timpsons companies and employees, which of course has earned him Timpsons wrath, and placed him on the wanted list. Like us. The enemy of my enemy...?"

"If there's nothing else...?" asked Thunder Woman, making it clear she was ready to leave and put this behind her, hopefully to start afresh somewhere else but in the meantime draw the hounds from Lionhearts scent as much as she could, being more high profile than he was.

Admin wrote:"If you're wondering where to go next, and are serious about fighting Timpson in any way possible, check out the docks area in Chicago most nights. A vigilante called 'Death Shroud' - yeah he's as grimdark as he sounds - generally prowls about, scaring the lowlifes and drug dealers into psychiatric wards. He has something of a vendetta against Timpson, but I'm not sure why. The few times I've spoken of him in the last couple of years to people have revealed he tends to target Timpsons companies and employees, which of course has earned him Timpsons wrath, and placed him on the wanted list. Like us. The enemy of my enemy...?"

"If there's nothing else...?" asked Thunder Woman, making it clear she was ready to leave and put this behind her, hopefully to start afresh somewhere else but in the meantime draw the hounds from Lionhearts scent as much as she could, being more high profile than he was.

"Thank you..." Lionheart looked to want to say more, but it wasn't in his nature to be so, often covering his shortcomings with action or humour. Despite the situation with Kayleigh, Thunder Woman had proven a great help in all that had happened and he was grateful that she seemed to take it as a matter of pride to have helped, despite her own considerable losses. "If you ever find yourself in England, look me up. Ask Wandafar, he'll know where to find me."

With that Lionheart took off into the air, leaving the Warrior woman to her own thoughts and her life ahead. As for himself he wasn't sure. Timpson was a distraction for now, a big one that irked him no end. But did he really have the opportunity and luxury to pursue a fight with a man half way around the world. Being dragged into such a fight might cost more than any of them were prepared for, and run the risk of ruining the real mission he had to face. Lionheart felt sore and angry, frustrated and snatching so little and seemingly giving so much without the usual satisfaction of feeling he'd done a good job. But that was of little consequence if the world was swallowed up by an invading force no one saw coming. His pride and vendetta against Timpson would seem pretty hollow if that was allowed to happen.

No he had to take what he could and keep an eye out for Timpson, it was time to return home.

OOC:Reluctantly it seems most prudent to get back with what we've got, the clock is ticking and I've not a clue as to how to take Timpson down. Someone so organised requires being as equally organised in order to assess strengths and weaknesses and take them on. Otherwise one might fight every strength turned against you. Which is what I suspect Timpson would do. He is almost too big a fish for Lionheart to catch and like Moby Dick, if I tried I think like Ahab I'd go down with the ship as well. So reluctantly its time to get back to Wandafar and see what he can do with what we got.

Sj

OOC Be assured there will be opportunities to lock swords with Timpson in the future. Sometimes in superhero games/comics the easy answer is to simply bludgeon someone into submission with whatever power you have, but every now and again a curveball comes along that plan A will not easily resolve. Timpson is one such dilemma. He's on Lionhearts radar, as Lionheart is on his.

Keeping low and blasting along the contours of the rugged country, Lionheart thought about that which had happened.

In a way, he'd succeeded. The White Dwarf star material Wandafar needed to power the machine that would shrink him had been recovered, albeit in a tiny amount. It might not be enough, but Wandafar was smarter than the best geniuses when it came to making the best out of raw materials and existing technology. Hopefully he'd find a way.

Kayleigh had been a victim dragged up in all of this. Timpson clearly had things to answer for, but whilst he was legally sanctioned by the US Government and apparently able to act legally and without fear of recourse he would continue to trample over 'the little people'. At some point he would need stopping, but Lionheart had been an officer of the law in his own time and to stop Timpson now would require him to cross a line. Even then, the chance was Timpson would have every angle covered, and turn the situation to his advantage. One day the ultimate line would have to be crossed to take down a villain of his calibre, and for Lionheart, today, that was not an option he wished to consider, probably not ever.

Thunder Woman had been uprooted from his retirement and her home in no uncertain terms. Wandafar had called in a huge favour and it'd been repaid in full, plus more besides. She would set up, again, appearing somewhere else and trying to stay off the radar.

The night sky beckoned, and Lionheart upped his speed to a balance between pace and keeping his headaches under control. Even though he'd not won outright, a small victory might yet lead to a satisfactory conclusion in the problem Wandafar had discovered. He hoped so. It rather felt like humanity was sleeping, unaware that the next great threat came not from without, but within.

=========

EPILOGUE

"No need to cry." growled the rasping voice, The sound of water lapping from the docks nearby failed to silence his voice completely, as if it were amplified and modulated some. Which it was.

"I ... I don't know what to do... where to turn!" sobbed Kayleigh. "A man offered to help me. He... I think he trusted me, and I betrayed him to save my sister, only to be betrayed in turn and now I have nothing to show for it!"

"Did you think drowning yourself would help your sister? Get a grip. The take you told me of your sister being snatched is not unique. Timpson is the head of an iceberg, a villain who presents a smiling corporate face to the public and authorities who are kept quiet by his money or by his influence over them. Beneath the surface he's rotten to the core, and more than that. Few understand the true nature of the mans evil. He isn't interested in money. Power is his drug. He's hooked. Anyone in the way of his fix will be destroyed. Your sister is one of dozens of innocents who have fallen prey to him. There may be no way to rescue her."

Kayleigh turned away, wiping another tear, still shivering from the cold waters of the bay.

"Then there is no hope. I failed her, I failed Lionheart. Thunder Woman."

"They are brightly clad upholders of the law, blind to true justice. I'm not. I fight alone, chipping away at the edges of the iceberg. An impossible task you might say, but someone has to, or Timpson has won."

"Let me help you!" gasped Kayleigh. "I can... I ..."

Death Shroud turned to her. "You can what? Make a noise? You'll be ignored. Write to a senator? You'll be sent a polite brush off reply. Call the police? Timpson practically owns City Hall. Get real lady. You're too frightened. I'd say go home, but chances are you'll do something stupid."

"I could ask to see Timpson. Take a gun."

Death Shroud laughed, a nasty sounding heel over gravel scraping noise. "Timpson will laugh at you. Death has no meaning for him."

The vigilante pulled back his hood and peeled off his mask. Kayleigh gasped, and stumbled backwards. "Or for me."

"And now, it has no meaning for you..." he reached for the petrified woman who was too terrified even to scream...

=========

EPILOGUE 2

"Sir. Your serum." said the robotic voice.

He reached a hand over, ignoring as best he could the shaking fingers. Unlocking meta human genes in order to obtain his 'fix' of superhuman blood had always run the risk of being discovered, but money, threats and quietly disposing of people would always see to those petty details. He hadn't lived this long, come this far, to see some spandex clad buffoon spoil things. There would be others. He would deal with them. He sighed as the serum punched home into his veins, and leaned back on the expensive leather clad recliner. The British Superhuman had power. Real power. He could sense it. There was also something else about him. A familiarity. Nothing came up on the scans or the database, of course. He would have his contacts scour the British equivalents. Something...

He frowned, then spoke up. "Display spectrographic analysis of the superhumans in the fight. Ignore Thunder Woman. We are tracking her. The other one. Eliminate scan layers one through 17. Enhance layer 18. Run full analysis. Project temporal particle strobe over the top. Merge. Extrapolate."

"Temporal Scan complete. The subject is not of this timeline, as you surmise."

"Origin?"

"Future, most likely."

"What... what century?"

"Twenty Second."

A pause. "Sir?"

The man currently known as Frederick Timpson stood, flexing powerful muscles and looking at the scan. PSI Corps. Had to be. He narrowed his eyes. "Alert the Omega Team." he ordered, pulling on a robe and striding from his inner sanctum. Once out, he paused by a mirror, stared at his reflection, then morphed the change to become the public face of Dwarfstar, the man the public and authorities knew to be a gracious benefactor and public servant.

Fools.

=========

OOC When I get home I will sort out the Hero Point awards for this mission. Technically, you won. You got the Dwarf Star Material, but there are a number of loose ends which were not strictly 'winnable' (if there is a word) but set up different parts of the story. The Mission Episode 2 will start in a day or so, real life permitting...

Admin wrote: OOC When I get home I will sort out the Hero Point awards for this mission. Technically, you won. You got the Dwarf Star Material, but there are a number of loose ends which were not strictly 'winnable' (if there is a word) but set up different parts of the story. The Mission Episode 2 will start in a day or so, real life permitting...

OOC:Excellent wrap mate. There is a sense of, "Any victory you can walk away from..." here and I appreciate that in the tone of the epilogue. I did think about just going for Timpson and crossing that line, but then wondered how hard the smack down would be. What consequences would spill out and what gains I'd have gotten for it. In the end it was a no brainer, if playing true to my character, Timpson was too big an elephant to swallow whole, so rather than choke that down, I took the path I did. Which believe me in and out of character was the path I least favoured, but there you go. Be interesting to see when we can follow up those plot lines, since we've now got this invasion to prevent, but at least I can take out some of my frustration on these pesky invaders...or not. Maybe Frostbite ought to do the diplomacy on this .

I just about your birthday, I hope you get to celebrate it in some meaningful way at some point. Friends of mine don't make much of birthdays because they come around regardless. They spend more time celebrating their anniversaries because those are intentionally kept and worth marking - in any case Happy Birthday, if you didn't catch my FB post.

Sj