The NEW Vanguard - Frostbite Issue #3

"Vell you hef brought us a bunch of strays und no mistake" said Wandafar as he alternated looking between a list of people and cameras that showed them in the dining room, gym, lounge and outside the house, amongst other places.

Justin St John, on a screen by video link, raised an eyebrow. The older man had seen much in his life, but Frostbites' saving of the superhumans ranked up there as one of the most impressive feats.

"We have an opportunity, gentlemen." said the former superhero. "Not all of these people want to use their powers in a way that benefits mankind, so we will offer them a solution. Wandafar, I want you to get to work on cooking up an inhibitor for the powers that will make the wearer for all intents and purposes an ordinary human being. That way they can live their life again when until recently they might have thought it was over."

"Oh yes, zis is easy, no doubt. Vat do you vish me to do after lunch?" drawled Wandafar. Frostbite could tell (again via video link showing the diminutive genius) that the scientist in him would relish the challenge.

"They can live there as long as they want. Wandy sort out the security, and I will make enquiries as to who those people were. If they found out about where they are there could be bother." said Justin. "Therefore Frostbite, I would ask of you a favour. Pick half a dozen of them. Train them, they will guard the place and everyone else will either train or wait to have their inhibitor fitted. Are you up to the task?"

OOC I plan to randomly generate the 'six' that Frostbite chooses, but if you prefer you can cook up a few characters from the Golden Heroes power table, 4 power rolls apiece. Your call.

"Thomas Channing-Waite. 34 years old. Tom can reduce or increase the pull of gravity on an area or object. He can make something up to 1000 times heavier or lighter." said Mary Harrison, 31, eidetic memory and speed reader. Fantastic record keeper, not so great in a fight.

Still, Mary was excellent at collating information and breaking it down into bite size chunks that Frostbite found easy to digest at a glance.

The new inhabitants of the stately home had taken a day or two to readjust to... well, to life. After being a prisoner, deprived of all sensory input and kept in comas for an indeterminate amount of time - many couldn't remember even their own names such were the powerful effects of the drugs that had kept them under - it was clear that some simply weren't ready to train and put into the field, so to speak.

Frostbite read another report whilst eating a slice of toast and slurping from a cup of tea. The dining hall was huge, and bustled with the noise of plates and cutlery clinking as dozens of people ate breakfast, some chatting, others nervously laughing at some remark. Strangers, united in the fact all had been held against their will, and all had superhuman powers.

David Russell, 41, The power of Earth Animation. He can call up a creature of rock and soil that will do his bidding. Fairly formidable it is too, but needs rock and soil, the type usually found in fields and the great outdoors, parks and the like. Tricky to find in cities.

Sarah Barrington, 28. She can immolate, without harming herself. We might be able to train her - at some point - to project the fire she covers herself in.

Kevin Jackson, 33. Kevin can grow in height, mass and strength, to around 70... 80' in height. Formidable, useless inside a building. We haven't figured out where he gets the extra mass from. One theory is that he shrinks the universe around him.

Frostbite did a double take at that, and looked up from the sheet of paper.

"If you just read the report about Kevin" said Mary, peering over the top of her glasses as she typed onto a laptop at a furious rate.  "I didn't write it. A small guy. German accent, came up with the theory. One of dozens. He's working on not just what peoples powers are, but how to improve them and train people in their use. Plus... if some want their powers removing, he needs all the information not just on how the powers work, but why they work. The next one on the list for example..."

Jeremy Cotton, 37. Best described as 'Dumb Luck'. Uncontrollable, unpredictable, limited in scope, amazing in potential. Potentially. If there are laws of the universe that apply to every molecule in it, Jeremy appears to be one of the few who can break those laws. It wasn't enough to stop him being incarcerated, however.

Frostbite raised an eyebrow. Looking a the photograph he scoured the table and saw the fellow. He was laughing, chatting with a young woman, probably trying to impress her. He tossed a section of his breakfast - a corner of toast - into the air, hoping to catch in his mouth on the way down. It glanced off his forehead and brought a roar of laughter from that section of the table. Several more attempts and interest drifted away. Frostbite watched Jeremy shrug, toss the toast fragment over his shoulder and reach for another. The toast glanced off someones' shoulder, off the back of someones' hand as they gesticulated about something they'd seen, tumble through the air, spin off the chandelier on the ceiling and land back on Jeremys fork end. He blinked, as did other people sat around him.

Mary looked across the table, her deep red hair falling in strands to her face, mouth half open in astonishment. "Dumb Luck."

Eric Forsythe. 48. Eric can separate his 'spirit' from his body. In this form he cannot physically affect the world, but can observe it unseen, save by those that can detect such things.

Michael Adawari, 41. Michael can fly, and instead of projecting himself through the air he can use it to bounce other things away, if he's anchored sufficiently.

Stephanie Miller, 23. She can drain the life force from another living being to give herself improved physical strength, speed, endurance and heightened senses. In other words, she is a vampire, of sorts. Luckily she doesn't sprout fangs or wear a red lined cape.

Fred Garrick, 29. Fred can move very, very quickly indeed, for a short span of time. However, Wandafar suggests that because he cannot move at a speed anything like what Lionheart can achieve, it is surmised that Fred instead 'stops time' relative to those around him, for a short space of time.

The redhead looked across at Frostbite. "Still collating the other results. Some don't want the powers, others are finding it hard to adjust to the fact they've lost years of their lives and been declared dead. That's what you have to work with. And me. For now." she said with a smile.

OOC: Ugh, never saw this, and never got notification.  It was only that you posted twice about Lionheart without making reference to FB that made me think you might have something here.  Ok, will have to read and reply to this later.

Frostbite considered the rough and ready rag tag bunch he'd pulled out.  Their being together was about creating some kind of community that could look out for one another, whilst keeping them safe.  The issue was the keeping, how long and how well would they want to be together?  How much like a benign prison would this place come to be?  He knew that the situation wasn't one they'd asked for, and it might chaff some, others would realise they could work with this and still the rest might find some sense of purpose in guarding their new home.  

Whatever happened, Frostbite realised that powers were not directionless, personality, character and a whole host of complicated human stuff went into making or breaking a team.  His being able to train them was going to rely as much on his estimate of them as people, as it was on their powers.  

Frostbite didn't say much whilst he finished his toast and chewed over his thoughts.  "Ok, Mary, thanks for working up this profile on their powers.  I presume that these are the most willing and motivated to be trained for guard duty?  However can I tempt fate and your ire, by asking if in the course of these evaluations you got some idea of their their temperament for the task at hand?

OOC: In other words I don't mind training the lot of them, or a select bunch, but my A team is going to be those whom I can work with, because they've got a teachable attitude, not just attitude.  Should it be that we can train them in teams of A and B then we can do that to.  We can't have everyone on guard duty 24/7, but we need people with a good attitude to hard work, discipline and the demands of being on call some of the time.  When off, we can rotate group B in to cover team A.  So based on temperament can we split these into two teams? And off the back of that, lets start a training regime, hand to hand, fitness, and also tactical awareness, not just how they can use their powers.  Having an all round appreciation of combat, and what not, would make them better with their powers.  Besides which it might give them some additional basic skills, like hand to hand, martial arts etc.

Sj

Mary shrugged "Well, that's on a case by case basis. I'm not experienced in team leading or management but I suggest we give them a team building exercise of some kind. This place..."

She said, waving her hand generally about "Is set in grounds and surrounding woodlands. Plenty of space to stay out of sight yet test what the folks you pick are made of. I'm happy to follow your lead, but I'm... limited of use I suppose, save for organisation and record keeping." She smiled sheepishly "But those things can be important too. Sometimes."

As she said that, Stephanie Miller (the vampire) came over. "I, uh, gather your in charge. Thank you...again... for rescuing us, and giving us somewhere to lie low. I... I know that they will want to recapture us, and that they will know where we head. Most straight for their family or friends I expect, some to police stations. I suppose others will head straight to the nearest post office to knock off and get money. They will stick out like sore thumbs and have the UKChampions or one of the other teams down on them like a ton of bricks. I don't want to wait here to be captured, and I don't want you to suffer the consequences of helping us. Some of us were taken in when the Government 'declared war' on unregistered supers. They made us illegal, simply by existing and wanting to lead a normal life by using our powers as little as possible. Even if that isn't the case now* most have been scarred, and scared, into another way."

"If you, or someone like you, can train us, to be like you... to help people... to show them we are on their side... we can maybe change enough hearts and minds along the way that superhumans can live in peace with ordinary people, and lead ordinary lives. The alternative is a life on the run. Some of the people you freed are very bitter about their situation. Rightly so, but fighting the authorities will only make things worse, I think. Fighting the bad guys, and being seen to fight them, will make things better. So if there's something I can do round here, besides watch the telly and wonder when the government will come to round us up... well I want to volunteer, is all." she smiled. The young woman was tall, gangly and awkward looking , but pretty in her own way when she smiled. Far better to smile than scowl like some of those in the large dining hall. Frostbite figured some wounds would take time to heal...

Mary tapped the desk with her pen, and chirped in "I'd say we have our first recruit." Stephanie looked over, nodded and shyly went to sit back down. "I'll get to work on finding out what the others can do, get a complete list. May take a day or two, but we should have enough information together by the weekend to give you a pool to pick from, even if some of the less willing ones will need some persuading..."

OOC Perhaps devising a training regime as you suggest, or even a 'drop in the deep end' exercise with you as the bad guy to really test what these guys are capable of..?

Admin wrote:Mary tapped the desk with her pen, and chirped in "I'd say we have our first recruit." Stephanie looked over, nodded and shyly went to sit back down. "I'll get to work on finding out what the others can do, get a complete list. May take a day or two, but we should have enough information together by the weekend to give you a pool to pick from, even if some of the less willing ones will need some persuading..."

OOC Perhaps devising a training regime as you suggest, or even a 'drop in the deep end' exercise with you as the bad guy to really test what these guys are capable of..?

OOC: Oh the fun we can have here. Ok can I suggest some sort of field test, identities, team names and such and the like can come a bit later, if people are up for it. Sometimes flying under the radar, means popping up all over the place so the radar becomes redundant. Having a team or teams that we can lead, direct and help might be a good way to turn the tide and use these people to take back their lives, rather than be the victims of other people's designs on their lives.

"Ok Mary, talk to everyone see if you can get them to tell you what they can do, break down their limits in terms of numbers 1 being average human, 2-3 being top class, 4 meta and 5 being the big guns. That way we've got some sort of an idea of what people rank at alongside one another and me. From that we can get an idea of code names. If we take these people out to make a difference, I want to make sure we can work well as a team. Covering each others weaknesses and making room for one another's strengths. If we are going to turn them around from Victims to victors, we need them being aware of themselves and those around them so we don't create the publicity that writes the wrong sort of stories for us. I'll go around and canvas folk individually, ask them to chat with me one on one and see if we can get an idea of who is up for it. Get people to sign up on a strictly voluntary basis. Some of these guys needs normal before they get to act supernormal. Others are wild cards, looking to show off, or possibly keen to make others the victim. So we need to help them direct their conflicted emotions, experiences and try and channel it in a more positive direction. At least working on this together, might help some of them find some sort of normal. Let people know, starting tomorrow, we'll be having an informal chat and getting a team together. Don't mention to much, just keep people informed and aware they can step back at any point, if they don't feel ready. And thanks again for your help in this. Don't think you part is insubstantial, just because its in the background."

With a small smile, Frostbite moved away to consider the files that he'd been given.

OOC: Ok so once Mary has got people lined up, we can interview folk - no need to roleplay it but just wanted to supplement our arbitrary numbers and powers list with some idea of personality, goals and motivations. I could work this up myself, but it would be to easy to design what I want, rather than what makes for a interesting mix. In any case once we've got an idea of what we're dealing with from among the raw recruits, I want to take them out onto the grounds, to just do some basic stuff, like seeing them use their powers against non living objects. See them play a game of capture the flag, using their powers and also try and access their levels of control. Will letting them loose endanger them or and other people etc. I am happy for you to change this any way you like, but wanted to put some ideas out there to give you something to work with. I will of course inform Justin, both in terms of what I see needing to happen and in terms of how I am going about it. I will welcome any input he wants to bring and if there are people he knows who are retired but with expertise who could come in as 'tutors' then the more the better, as it might mean we could get a working team out in weeks rather than months or a year.

Sj

Mary nodded, taking it in "Good idea. I will start with the ones who volunteered. Using your guidelines, I've come up with this:"



"I'll get on with questioning the others."

OOC You can input as much or as little as you like. If you want to randomly generate characters, assign a name, then some means of generating powers, like the Ultimate Powers Bookwhich is a free (legal) pdf of the old Marvel Superheroes game. That site (Classic Marvel) has all the pdfs of the old game. Basically the more powers a character has, the less powerful they are. So half a dozen powers would be pretty weak, one or two might be quite powerful. There's potentially another 30 or so recruits if they can be persuaded to use their powers to help themselves. Many have been brought nothing but pain and misery by using their powers though, so it's no easy task...

Frostbite walked through the halls of the mansion (think the house from X men) and nodded politely to those who saw him. They were grateful for the most part, shy the rest. Moving into a lift he selected the second floor - down - this place went up three floors and the same down! Striding into a white panelled corridor that illuminated as he walked along it and darkened after, he opened a door into a large room. The infirmary. Instantly a hologram formed, 'Carruthers' the butler appeared, dressed in Doctors attire. Elsewhere in the great house copies of the hologram were tending to the needs of the guests. "The patients" he said with a wave of an arm revealing rows of beds with about ten occupants, male and female, young and old "Continue to respond to treatment. Their incarceration and the deterioration of their muscles left them weakened, and affected their ability to use their superhuman powers. One..." he said, leading the way "Is... remarkable."

In another room, with a large window sealing off a portion of the room, a tank of pink liquid held what looked to be an arm. Huge, heavily muscled, purple in colour. "The body appeared to die, as did the arm until only a finger was left... and it started to regrow. Hours later it has become an arm, and there..." he pointed to wispy tentacles sprouting from the shoulder stump "growing muscle, bone, tendons, nerves... Remarkable. You humans are truly astounding creatures, though many of the people in here cannot truly qualify as simply being human..."

Behemoth was regenerating. Would he be a boon... or a burden?

Carruthers raised an eyebrow and turned to a blank wall which flickered and turned into a screen, then he disappeared, leaving Frostbite free to speak to Justin St Johns.

"I have to be quick. have a parliamentary special committee to chair. My work is never done. How are our guests settling in? Their former ... landlords have made noises in certain channels. I fear that the trail to the tale of their captivity will lead to these echelons of power. I must tread... carefully. I suggest you pick the most useful and get them trained, then prepare for anything. They are directionless, powerful, needing guidance and purpose. Sending them home would raise many questions, not least from the press, and that would be problematic. More than that, it would ensure they never have any peace, and would soon be back in captivity. If there's anything you need from me - or Wandafar - ask, and I'll do my best to provide it." said the former superhero.

Admin wrote:"I have to be quick. have a parliamentary special committee to chair. My work is never done. How are our guests settling in?

Frostbite nodded, "They'll get there, but it will take time. It might be if we can get some small victories with one group the others will pull together to. I believe we can make this work. But its going to take time for some of them, their former landlords have given them a lot to be scared of."

Admin wrote:"Their former ... landlords have made noises in certain channels. I fear that the trail to the tale of their captivity will lead to these echelons of power. I must tread... carefully. I suggest you pick the most useful and get them trained, then prepare for anything. They are directionless, powerful, needing guidance and purpose. Sending them home would raise many questions, not least from the press, and that would be problematic. More than that, it would ensure they never have any peace, and would soon be back in captivity. If there's anything you need from me - or Wandafar - ask, and I'll do my best to provide it." said the former superhero.

"Thank you Justin, for everything."

As the screen winked out, Frostbite turned to Mary, "Right lets get started."

OOC: Ok thanks for the suggestion about powering up the teams, right now not sure I've got the time to think about that in great detail. As it is chewing over our existing group is going to tax me far enough. Smart move.

Anyway so we'll form two teams, but in order to decide who goes where, we'll play a simple game of capture the flag. Each person will have a gps locater and a drone to fly around to give us a view of how everyone tries out. We'll use an area of the site, wooded and away from prying eyes or satellites for that matter.

Team 1:

Thomas White - Codename: Gravitas
David Russell - Codename: Terra Firma
Sarah Barrington - Codename: Firebrand
Eric Forsythe - Codename: Traveller
Stephanie Miller - Codename: Reflex

Team 2:

Kevin Jackson - Codename: Surge
Jeremy Cotton - Codename: Probability
Michael Adawari - Codename: Rebuff
Fred Garrick - Codename: Inpulse

Frostbite will work with team 2 to even out the numbers, but will restrict himself to using only his flight, energy attack and hardened skin, so as to try and make it fair.

We'll stake out an area and then play capture the flag to see how the two teams work out? Once we've got an idea of how people's powers work in game, we can then start to get some training in and some such. Not sure how this is going to work, but thought it might be worth a try.

Sj

Admin wrote:OOC Took a bit longer than I thought to properly stat up the characters (and I say properly because its a frame with no real meat on the bones, and not costed accurately because the character generator tool don't work on Windows 7. To do so manually would take more time than I have so the character generator is a must for me to (somehow) get working. The old laptop (that died) had the working generator on Windows XP. I have no idea what this is going to look like on the screen, so if it doesn't show up then I will resize as required. The numbers might not mean much but I will dig up Frostys stats for you to compare...

OOC:Hey Mate no image at all, looks like the link is broken. I posted the actual address in separately and it couldn't get to the server at all.

Sj

OOC: Hey mate just to say, that the image is now showing up, so ignore my last message, I can now take a good look at things. So now that I can see the groups and all how are we going to play this out. I don't mind actually playing it out, or just moving forward and getting a summery and starting down the track of getting the groups out. Although I love the idea of taking the team on the road, at the moment I am having a hard time working out how we are going to roleplay so many characters in game, especially if it comes to combat?

If we do play out a game of capture the flag, on one level I'd have to have one team and you the other, so that we could properly face off. Basic rules would be no lethal damage, anyone reduced to 0 would be tagged, rather than knocked out etc. Might be fun to play it out and see where it goes. However at the same time, it would be potentially a lot of real world time spent playing, but not actually moving on in the game, so maybe we cut to the chase and move along. Not sure - what do you think? I don't want to spend what little time we get interacting out of game, I think that is my concern. And as I write this my mind is being made up so I am thinking lets just say my team wins and we carry on burning hero points so all the characters earn stuff they can spend whilst on training between real world mission in game, to develop? I take team A out on my next mission and then team B on the mission after that. Hero points gained out on the field get spent and so the teams develop, but I'm not on the sideline baby sitting whilst the others get to do 'real' missions as such.

Sj

OOC Happy to go with your suggestion about your team winning and go with the team rotation part. They are NPCs and will be regulars in Frostys adventures so as much or as little detail as we generate now will affect things later. With that in mind I'll do a summary, with a brief snippet of each characters part in the battle.

The 'Flag', a pillow case on a broom pole, was jammed into the ground in the centre of a copse of woodland. The two teams were set apart, and looked about nervously. Each was linked via a bluetooth headset and when the order was given to 'GO!' each reacted in their own way...

Gravitas took to the air somewhat falteringly. His power over gravity was impressive, his control less so. Hs rose slowly, decided he wasn't rising fast enough, then shot up like an arrow, 200 yards straight up! He overconfident smile on his face was soon wiped as he realized how high up he was, and what a fall from this height would do!

Terra Firma summoned the ground around him to create a 4m high Earth Elemental, and seemed to collapse into a trance whilst his creation strode through the trees, making all manner of crashing and cracking sounds!

Firebrand burst into flames, then cried out as she set nearby bushes alight! "Wait! I didn't mean to... I mean... has someone got a fire extinguisher? Should we call the fire brigade?" she wailed over the radio as she tried to pat the flames out and succeeded only in spreading them!

Traveller vanished, but from what Frostbite knew he would be a disembodied ghost on the field. That meant he could get to the flag fairly quickly, unseen and unmolested, but would not actually be able to physically interact with it unless he turned back into his human form...

Reflex seemed frustrated "You guys! Come on! We need to get the flag before they do!" she yelled, and headed for the cover of the trees.

Frostbite wasn't quite sure what she intended to do. As an ordinary human being she presented no real threat but her power allowed her to leech health from a target and convert it into strength, speed and endurance. A real, honest to goodness Vampire, save that her powers were metahuman in origin and not mystical, like the Vampires of literature. One to watch.

On his own side Surge instantly grew to a height of 46', towering over most trees and laughing as he declared "Let's do this guys! Candy from a baby! You might want to sit this one out boss! No use in even icing yourself up! We'll take care of these losers in no...ohhhh...." Surge seemed to cry out and look around. He was glowing, and the beam seemed to come from his body towards a point in the trees... where Relfex was according to the last time Frostbite saw her! "Get her!" shouted Surge. "She... she did me! Whatever she does!" he gasped.

Probability looked up "Shouldn't have been so overconfident! Remember that while some of us don't have a lot of practise with our powers, that doesn't mean we are defenceless!" He sped headlong into the trees. His luck power might protect him, Frostbite figured, but no one was lucky all the time...

Rebuff flew into the air, gestured, and 'pushed' Gravitas higher still into the sky! Gravitas' distant cries of alarm as his arms and legs flailed ineffectually might have been funny aside from the fact he was more than a mile up now, and a distant dot! Rebuff looked about, uncertain. "He can get down from there, right? I mean, he can fly, yeah? If he can't..." He started to fly upwards towards Gravitas.

Inpulse shrugged, then started running towards the trees. Frostbite watched him. Not really much faster than the man on the street, about athlete level speed. Frostbite was expecting more along the lines of Lionheart.

He took to the air and looked down on the battle site. Truth told they were untried and raw, but had potential. He could easily end the battle by going for the flag and stopping any of those with the wits to stop him, but that wouldn't tell him much about who he was working with. He looked at Surge, and saw the big man with his hands on his knees, breathing hard. Reflex had drained him. Then he saw the crashing of trees and the Earth Elemental ran straight past where the flag was in the centre of the woods and towards Surge! The way those trees were being pushed aside... Frostbite blinked. Terra Firmas' rock man had INCREDIBLE strength!!!! He was about to swing a punch at Surges leg when Inpulse appeared in front of him...

Frostbite flew lower. He would have to intervene if this turned sour!

Instead something else happened.

Frostbite blinked. He'd seen Inpulse seem to blur, and even as he flew through the air he saw the fellow move through the trees to where Terra Firma lay comatose at the other side, gave him a punch on the head, then run to where Reflex was. Here he had trouble, as he reflexes were sped up and though his ability had effectively slowed them down in relation to his, he found himself hitting her ineffectually as she ignored his only slightly better than human strength blows...

Inpulse soon gave up on that and moved towards where the flag was... only to find Traveller already there! the man had appeared and grabbed the flag up...

Frostbite levelled an arm to blast at the guy and freeze him where he stood. Traveller saw that he was about to become a target and vanished again, leaving the flag behind! Reflex burst from the trees and flew at Frostbite, a feral snarl on her face and reaching for him with hands shaped like claws - she wasn't messing around!

Suddenly a blast of fire shot upwards through the air, and Frostbite found himself swooping to the side to avoid it! That was HOT!!! His ice form had little protection against fire based attacks, but he was superhuman tough and could take a little singeing. That much though???

Surge recovered enough to angrily reach out and backhand Reflex as she headed for Frostbite, seemingly swatting her from the sky! "HA!" he bellowed. It seemed she was more suprised than hurt though as she crashed into the treetops and out of sight. "YOU DON'T GET AWAY FROM ME THAT EASY!" laughed Surge as he looked down, parting the trees with huge hands and looking for his prey.

Terra Firmas' elemental collapsed into a mound of earth and rock, the man who gave it form and motion having been struck and his concentration thus interrupted. Firebrand burst from the trees, coated in flames and heading for the flag. Probability came out of the clearing opposite and headed for the flag. The fiery woman called out "Get back from the flag! I don't want to hurt you!" She blasted at the lucky man... who moved to the left, then the right. She tracked his movement, and Reflex cried out as the fiery blast missed Probability and blasted her in the back, even as Surge loomed over her!

"Hey! Whose side are you on?" she shouted. She turned, looking up... and Surge stepped on her!

Rebuff suddenly called out "Hellllllllllppppppppppppp!" as he fell from the sky, suddenly heavier than his own flight power had the ability to support! It seemed Gravitas wasn't out of the fight just yet! Frostbite sprung into life as the responsible leader and created an instant snowdrift under the falling Rebuff... his ultra heavy form plunged into the fifty foot deep snow mound and left an impression that went down for metres!

Suddenly Surge cried out, his eyes rolling back in his head, and he fell backwards, crashing into trees and slumping to the ground! he shrank to normal size as Reflex climbed out of the hole Surge had put her in. She looked pretty beaten up, but even as Frostbite looked on her bruises were fading and she had a determined look on her face!

She turned towards Frostbite again, who figured he'd have to put her on ice... then he ducked another fiery blast, THEN he felt himself getting heavy! What in the... his flight was barely enough to slow his descent as he strained to lift his own magnified body mass!

"We win!" shouted Inpulse. Everyone turned to look, and saw that the fellow was already back at the starting point waving the flag. Frostbite felt the weight fade from him, and Reflex slowed her run to stand near him, rather than launch at him.

Rebuff wailed "Someone get me out of this snow!". Terra Firma groaned "What hit me?" and Surge snored.

=========

With the fire put out and ice packs applied to certain heads, Frostbite felt he'd learned something from the battle.

Mary handed a cup of tea to him as she settled back in the controllers chair back in the mansion monitor room to watch the multiple screen/viewing angles of various cameras that had recorded the battle, thanks to flying drones and various tripod mounted recording devices. "Pretty good" she remarked. "Not great in terrms of team work but that can be improved upon. What do you think? Who shined, who needs more work? Do the teams need jigging about? Is anyone not ready for action out on the streets?"

OOC You are right about a battle to/fro. With this many combatants it would have taken months to resolve. Instead a general strategy, perhaps an average taken from 3 rolls to apply for each sides separate attacks (so roll three times, take the middle result and drop the rest) and that would speed things up. Frosty is the only one (as PC) in this case who gets to spend hero points. Anyway, see what you think of how that went, we can alter/change things to suit.

Admin wrote:OOC Strewth I knew that was a long post but not how long till I posted... bedtime reading for you mate

OOC: Ok just organised the above along with the stats to take a good look at what and how everyone did and from this I think I'll be able to come up with an A and B team. I want to rosta them on and off to get them the chance to build up their powers. Anyway need to read through it again before making a final decision. So just assume that Frostbite is taking a few days to review the material (as am I) before settling on a final decision.

Sj

Admin wrote:OOC no probs mate As soon as you get your team together you can bet they'll be dropped into the deep end Frosty will have his hands full, count on that

OOC: Of that I have no doubt.  Right been able to re read the fight and look at stats and how everyone did so that I feel I can make a competent decision.  Its still possible that I might change people around after all no system is perfect.

Frostbite clicked off the screen as he looked at the list once again, it had been a day since the team game with some surprises, shame and embarrassment.  But Frostbite hoped that the group was beginning to get beyond winners and losers and rather thinking of themselves as a team.  He had two piles and was concentrating on the files that Mary had put together trying to make a decision about which to put Gravitas into.  

As his hand hovered over the two bunddles, he realised that Mary was standing in the door looking in an amused smile played over her face.

"Its not as easy as it looks.  Some of these guys are going to be powerful allies and make a real difference to lives.  But the journey to that place might be rough and before I let them loose I need to minimise the harm to those we're actually in the business of trying to save."

Finally he placed Gravitas in the second pile.   "Done.  Right we'd best get the team together and let them know what is happening.

Mary could see that Frostbite had made a list on a data slate and handed it to her. She could read the names of the two groups.

Team 1
Traveller
Rebuff
Reflex
Impulse

Team 2
Probability
Gravitas
Terra firma
Surge
Firebrand

When the group was assembled Frostbite took a seat and had the team do the same.   "Well I want to commend you all for your efforts out there.  The objective wasn't to win, but to see how you went about winning as a team and how you handled yourself and your powers.  You all did great, much better than..."    Frostbite voice trailed off as a distant memory from his predecessor no less surfaced unbidden into his mind.  Shaking himself out of the interruption he continued.

"Now because of the nature of our work, for the time being some of you will need some more training, simply because either the nature of your powers or and the way they play with others. They will become incredible beneficial, but also have the potential for some harm or hindrance.  Therefore I want you to know this isn't a competition, my primary concern, before taking any of you out there, is that you can come back in one piece. And that in going out we minimise the risk to civilians.  

Bad guys are fair game, and they know it.  But people is a different matter.  If we set fire to stuff, who's to say where that fire ends up?  Or if a rock creation should fall on people whilst we also need to figure out how we keep Terra Firma, David, from being attacked in his trance like state.  So we've a few kinks to work out. But believe me from all I've seen I've no doubt you'll make a great team and we'll all be making something of what we've got.  Anyway, who knows, we may even get to the bottom of this mysterious group that had you captured.  

But baby steps first.  Ok so lets continue to work together, and keep training.  For the time being work as teams to best aid one another and cover one anothers gaps.  And once we've got used to our teams, and finer control over our abilities, we can mix the teams up to keep it interesting.  Ok stay loose, we don't know when we might get a call out, team 1 you'll be up first.  Dismissed.    

As the group filed out, Frostbite noted the looks of disappointment on some faces whilst others seemed scared, or delighted in equal measure.  It was a lot to find yourself suddenly out there on the field.  But he had to know they were going to be able to handle themselves when there, he couldn't nurse maid them the whole time.  

Turning back to Mary, Frostbite looked pensive.   "Not easy being the one to disappoint, lead and call the troops to order.  So much easier when I was in the army.  Still times change.  Lets schedule training in for everyone, basic fitness, target practice, hand to hand combat.  Lets start to build up these kids into something that can make this country proud."  

OOC: Ok that was fun, lets get to it.  Hopefully we'll have a bit more time to make sure everyone is suited and booted.  I'd also like to make sure that costume wise we go for something a bit more understated but that clearly gives team identity.  I want full masks where possible to protect their identity, if our big bads get wind of who these folk are they might come sniffing around and I think we're not ready for that just yet.  Besides I don't want their families getting wind of their being around and unwittingly causing more harm or conflict.  We've hidden them away to protect them, no need to undo that.

ok so when we are ready team one is with me.  Ok my bad, I realise that I'd put Impulse as Inpulse - argh, bad spelling.  Should have had an m in it not a n.

Sj

There were a few shrugs, Firebrand nodded knowingly, looking relieved, and others looked less than impressed.

Surge was notably annoyed. "I got cheap shotted! I can take on anyone in this team and you know it!" He swept a bunch of cups, empty and full, onto the floor with a shattering crash and stormed out.



Reflex settled down, a look on her face suggesting she was less impressed with the attitude of Surge. "No one likes a sore loser." she muttered. Traveller (Eric Forsythe) was somewhat surprised. "Thank you for the faith you've shown in me. I was surprised, I must admit. I'm more of a scout but I can see how that would be useful."

Impulse clapped him on the shoulder "Hey we're all useful in our own ways!"

Rebuff looked doubtful but added "I'll do my best for the team, rest be assured."

Terra Firma came up "I understand your reasoning, and agree with most of it. It's all new, and I'm happy to play any part in the team. I'm sure no one will let you, or the team, down." He congratulated the others then left to head to the canteen.

=========

"I chose a few designs. We need a team name. The costume is basic at the moment. A semi stable molecular weave thanks to Wandafar. It will adapt to the powers of the...oh. What's this?" she said, looking over at a monitor screen.

"...reports coming in of a hostage situation at the Azerhajani Embassy where it's said that the American Ambassador has been forcibly taken against his will. Recently the rogue state has been bullish about it's nuclear ambitions, prompting ever stronger language from both the US and the United Nations. Mr Ferris, the US Ambassador, was on his way to Downing Street when his car was... Wait. We have a new report saying that the Azerhajani state sponsored superhuman team with the name that translates to 'Enforcers' is in the Azerhajani embassy and that they will be taking the US Ambassador, presumably against his will, back to their home country to answer for 'his countries crimes and insulting language'. It's widely known that the Azerhajani government is backed by rogue and terrorist factions and that the situation is escalating, with neighbouring states making it known they will back the rogue state against any 'aggressive incursions from the west'..."

Mary looked shocked. "The UKChampions are scattered at the moment, dealing with various events. The police will be outgunned...the Americans, when they get here, will tear up half of London! This is..."

The phone rung, and Wandafar came on speakerphone.

"Vell zis is a right pickle and no mistaking. Our... benefactor is making ze enquiries about getting ze Ambassador out of zet place before those nutjobs can get him out of the country. He has ze word zet any superhuman resources that can be brought to bear are given ze green light. Question is, vot do we hef?"

Admin wrote:


"Vell zis is a right pickle and no mistaking. Our... benefactor is making ze enquiries about getting ze Ambassador out of zet place before those nutjobs can get him out of the country. He has ze word zet any superhuman resources that can be brought to bear are given ze green light. Question is, vot do we hef?"

"Looks like the team are going to get some action sooner than expected.  This is sensitive so I want you monitoring the feeds from the headsets with me.  We can review how things went and make better evaluations after the fact that way.  Get everyone together, have any blueprints sewer plans, nearby buildings and any relevant data you can patched up to the ship.  We'll take off in 5.  OK?"

With that Frostbite frosted over, got Frostbot to patch into the computers so that he had a running dialogue with Wandafar and any relevant data on the location.  He mentally assigned his onboard companion to tap into any CCTV camera's in and outside the building and any communications to and from.  These guys couldn't be working alone, and must have an exit strategy in place.  Whatever the team did, they had to look like they weren't there, so that the Embassy had no grounds to complain that their sovereign territory was invaded.  Last thing Frostbite needed was an international incident or reason for these hotheads to attack.  

If this wasn't handled well, it could well cause an already sore wound in the Middle East to erupt into yet another war, nobody needed or wanted right now.  

As he strode through walls, dispersing his being as he went, he arrived at the hanger area and got ready to greet the team onboard.  

OOC:
Wow what a situation, going to be interesting to see how this works out.  Right once we know what is going on, I am thinking we'll need to go in from below, need to avoid any above ground activity as it will be easy to see us entering and spark a diplomatic incident.  Besides I imagine if they think to get the Ambassador out, it might be the same way, unless they can teleport him some distance.  In any case I think going in from below affords us the best chance of getting ahead.  

As soon as the team is up, we'll look for a place to assemble and get in.

Traveller will stay aboard the ship, but scout ahead getting an idea on what is going on, which affords me the chance to stay with the team.  It will also give us a chance to see how far traveller's spirit self can leave from his body and how we can continue to communicate.

Sj

Frostbot reported "Schematics of the Embassy and surrounding lands are not immediately available unless I can access a terminal in or near the Embassy in question. It appears they take their privacy seriously and are paranoid about having details accessible by others. That said there will be older plans that form part of public archives which may give a clue as to old sewer tunnels that might have possible access points to the Embassy. Searching..."

As the team suited up in a dark kevlar reinforced body suit with half or total face mask (as per the team members preference) Mary came up with more alarming news.

"The RAF has been scrambled to intercept a fast moving object heading towards British Airspace. Apparently it has already ignored and out run a number of other airforces, including German and French. Visual indicates it is a jet of some advanced design, on an intercept course for the Embassy. Given it's speed it is unlikely that the Air Force will catch the target and it has already employed advanced countermeasures to destroy air to air missiles. So far it has taken no aggressive action, only defensive action." she explained. "The Jet matches no known configuration of civilian or military aircraft."

Wandafar piped up "Zey are using something unnatural. I do not believe a more efficient or powerful engine zen zet I hef designed is possible. Vell, unless someone out zere is smarter zen I em. Maybe I em vatching too much Neighbours lately. I never saw Harold returning as an evil clone not in a million years."

Mary blinked and turned to Wandafar "What is he...?"

Frostbite waved her question away and jogged through the corridor to the garages at the back of the stately home. As well as conventional vehicles there was also something special. A plane with four rotating jets giving VTOL. Not as fast or advanced as the jet the team had last used, it was nonetheless rather well armoured and capable of carrying the team at what was still a high speed, and hover in place wherever required.

In minutes it was up, and Mary - at the controls - spoke over the comms to Frostbite who stood alongside "I've transmitted the airspace code that your friend Wandafar gave us. It's been acknowledged and the Ministry of Defence has assured us we are cleared to head to the scene of the incident. You must have friends in powerful places!"

Behind, in the hold, the others looked nervous, but still eager to show what they could do. Mary piloted the craft towards the capital and stayed low anyway, expertly guiding it between the canyons of tall buildings in places. "I learned to fly by reading some books." she explained. "I think I'm doing ok for a first time, don't you?"

She chuckled and added "I'll hang back a distance from the Embassy and we'll see what Traveller reports."

Frostbot spoke up "I need to get in the grounds of the Embassy to access their computers."

Over the comms Wandafar reported "Zet other ship vich is too good to be true vill be there in less zen 15 minutes..."

The teams jet pivoted the jets to hover in place out of direct sight of the Embassy. Frostbite watched as Traveller readied himself, gave a salute and said "I'll be right back!". Then the man vanished!

Inpulse spoke up "We don't have long. I hate to say this but maybe charging straight in to create a distraction might be a good idea. If you lot make plenty of noise I'll be in and out of there without making a fuss. I hope."

Reflex looked doubtful. "Anyone wanting to do this on foreign soil must be pretty capable. If we get drawn into a fight we might have our hands full."

Rebuff smiled "I have faith in us. This is out chance to show the world what we can do!"

Mary rotated the Captains chair in the cockpit and turned to Frosty. "Do we wait for Traveller? Obviously I'll stay here with the jet, ready to extract if need be. I wish we could get more information, some idea of what was going on."

Frostbot suggested "Getting closer to the Embassy might grant me access to the CCTV..."

Wandafar came over the comms again."ETA 13 minutes..."

Admin wrote:Frostbot suggested "Getting closer to the Embassy might grant me access to the CCTV..."

Wandafar came over the comms again."ETA 13 minutes..."

Frostbite indicated for the others to gear up, "Where are the sewer entrances?  We'll get you guys down there, Impulse I want you standing by.  This plane will have to land and chances are that is when they will try to move the ambassador, if we fail to snatch him, from within then you need to snatch him before he gets onboard that craft.  Traveller can scope things out, in the grounds once, he has finished getting us an idea of what's otherwise going on inside.  Right folks lets get to it."

With that the team disembarked and made their way to the sewer entrance, the whiff of fat and other congealed unsavoury substances, hit the team, but they each gathered their breath and followed Frostbite's lead down.  

OOC: Ok I know what you said about getting close to hack the system, so I am hoping that going underground will afford us that opportunity without risking being seen.  Moreover we can move freely down here, toward the mansion and hopefully get in before anyone knows what is happening.  The good thing is that all three of us can fly, which aids movement down the sewers.

So plan is move to mansion, hack the system as best we can and then make as quiet an entrance as is humanly possible.  If need be I will freeze things and let rebuff smash their brittle remains.  I'm beginning to think we could have done with Tera Firma to help with ground clearance if we have to force our way in.  But we'll have to see.

Sj

The sewers were accessed via a manhole cover in the middle of the road.

Traffic honked and swerved as the dark garbed superheroes made their way into the dark tunnel, guided by Frostbites' blue chestplate.

"You should be aware that access underneath the embassy will be restricted via heavy duty and alarmed gates and grids in the tunnels. If you are not careful, they will know you are coming and lock the embassy down." said Frostbot inside Frostbites' head.

Reflex and Rebuff looked about nervously but followed Frostbites' lead.

Sloshing through the muck, having to stoop, the trio headed towards the direction of the embassy. Rebuff paused. "Did you... did you hear something?" he whispered. Aside from the roar of war, drip drip drip and distant wail of sirens, Frostbite couldn't hear anything, and aside from the grime in the foul smelling tunnels, couldn't see anything.

And yet... and yet those hairs standing on the back of his neck suggested Rebuff might be right about them not being alone...

Admin wrote:The sewers were accessed via a manhole cover in the middle of the road.

Traffic honked and swerved as the dark garbed superheroes made their way into the dark tunnel, guided by Frostbites' blue chestplate.

"You should be aware that access underneath the embassy will be restricted via heavy duty and alarmed gates and grids in the tunnels. If you are not careful, they will know you are coming and lock the embassy down." said Frostbot inside Frostbites' head.

Reflex and Rebuff looked about nervously but followed Frostbites' lead.

Sloshing through the muck, having to stoop, the trio headed towards the direction of the embassy. Rebuff paused. "Did you... did you hear something?" he whispered. Aside from the roar of war, drip drip drip and distant wail of sirens, Frostbite couldn't hear anything, and aside from the grime in the foul smelling tunnels, couldn't see anything.

And yet... and yet those hairs standing on the back of his neck suggested Rebuff might be right about them not being alone...

Hmm, Frostbite didn't like the idea of there being something creeping up on them, so he lay down a solid wall of ice across the way they'd came. At least this way, they'd know if someone was coming from that way, and that left only the tunnels ahead to contend with. Moving forward he suggested that the others use their flight powers, as a means to improve their control and skill and to keep them from getting into serious harm from the sewage around their feet. Moving forward, Frostbite lead the way, seeking to find that point where Frostbot could get within reach of a decent signal to piggy back onto and find out what they were up against down here.

OOC Ok so we don't know how far we can get, might need to disperse through and to release Frostbot into the electronics and then come back for the others. However if, as we go, I block off the other exits that lead away we limit the path of anything that might be coming after us...at least I hope so, cause otherwise we might just be boxing it in with us. But hey, it might be a decent lead, who knows?

Sj

Frostbite produced a steel hard ice wall to block the sewer tunnel behind them...

Reflex whispered "You probably already know, but I drain strength from my enemies. Until that point I'm more or less an ordinary human, without powers, so I'm reliant on you guys."

Rebuff smiled "I'd rather have you along than Surge. He's a hothead, and how useful would he be in the tunnels?"

Frostbite was about to answer when Frostbot spoke up in his head "There are infra red sensors and motion detectors in the tunnels ahead." the sentient program advised. I can attempt to connect wirelessly but a more effective hacking attempt can be made by placing me physically into one of the networked devices."

Frostbite was about to answer when he frowned. What...?

He turned. Though out of sight he got the distinct feeling that his ice wall was being attacked... and being burned through by something! He was almost as surprised that his connection to his creation gave him that sense that it was under attack as he was that there was something in the tunnels behind them that could burn through his ice!

He looked ahead. The tunnels forked. The left hand tunnel lead away from their destination but there might be a way to use that to their advantage. The right hand tunnel was the one armed with sensors and alarms. Though he couldn't see them Frostbot had said they were there, and the sentient program was rarely wrong...

Rebuff whispered "Which way?" He sounded nervous.

Admin wrote:Rebuff whispered "Which way?" He sounded nervous.

Somewhat perturbed by the distinct sense that Frostbite had more than a passing connection with his Ice wall, he was momentarily lost for words at Rebuff's request.

After explaining the layout ahead and the danger from the sensors, he motioned for them to take the unguarded corridor.  "I want to see what we're up against, which also gives you..." He pointed at Rebuff, "The best chance to gain and drain any powered individual down here.  Besides which, I don't want to trigger the alarms and find we're locked in down here, which I think we'd almost certainly be."

Although he didn't say it, Frostbite realised that this group had clearly spent time, money and considerable effort into fortifying their embassy.  Something that was provocative, but then so was this kidnapping.  Although not upto date with the political wranglings of this century, that spelled arrogance or amazing stupidity in any time.  That or else some other power was forcing things to gain some upper hand advantage.  

OOC: Ok so we take the unguarded way, and we see what we're up against.  I have a feeling that this might be something that is going to be more tough for me, the hint about burning through the ice was a worry.  In any case, I'll wall up the area behind me, but make it slightly thinner, as if we're hurrying.  My aim is that when whatever there is comes after us, whilst its trying to burn through, Rebuff gets ready to grab it, assuming it - is something she can drain, and myself and Reflex will freeze and fire at it in a co-ordinated approach.  I.e. I will freeze it, and Reflex will then punch it to get a good shot in before it can react.  Well that is the plan, lets see how much of it survives actual contact.

Sj

Forming an Ice wall behind him, the trio moved through the blue tinged darkness as Frostbites chestplate provided the only illumination.

As they moved through the tunnels, Frostbot commented "You are moving away from the Embassy. However, there is a grate in the muck below the waterline to your right 4 metres away that forks into the right hand tunnel. Because it is concealed it is possible the security services who prtect the Embassy might have missed it."

Frostbite turned to look towards that direction, then paused.

"What is it?" whispered Reflex, shivering as she stood thigh high in foul smelling muck and sewage.

Frostbite looked back. His ice wall had come down.

Just then there was something, like an echoing roar, that rang out through the tunnels!

Rebuff looked about "We don't have anywhere to run in here. Too low to fly and we can only go forwards... or backwards to whatever made that noise!" He didn't know about the grate, but the nervy look on his face suggested that Frostbite would have to act fast to keep him calm. His power was such that a misplaced shot might send one of his team mates pinging through the tunnel like a pinball!

The roar was more of a deep growl now. Something was moving through the tunnels, and possibly less than 100 yards away, round several bends in the sewer tunnels...