The New Vanguard! Miss Victory issue #2 Fighting for the Flag... AND her life!!!

MISS VICTORY HP 105



What happened Before...

Dr Veronica Chase was part of a soviet super soldier program but realised it was to create an army rather than do good for the people or the world! She escaped with the formula which she then perfected in her adopted country of America, which she came to love in a short time! Seeking to 'give something back' to the country which had become her home she used her perfected Vita pills to grant her extraordinary superhuman powers including reflexes like lightning, almost immeasurable superhuman strength and durability to withstand all but the mightiest of explosions! Coupled with inhuman speed and physical prowess she donned a mask and costume and sought to fight crime as the incomparable MISS VICTORY!

After a few minor crime fighting stints she responded to a major incident with a break out at a secret Government Supermax prison. Teaming up with several trainee members of the Worlds Premier Supergroup known as the ULTRAHUMANS she ran into trouble immediately with heavy hitters known as ULTIMATUM and LIGHTNING OVERLORD. Recovering from an early defeat she ventured into the prison with Ultrahuman Reservist SHELLGHOST and trainee heroine MIND MAIDEN and things went from bad to worse!

Now Mind Maiden is dead at the hands of the inmates, Miss Victory is captured awaiting brain washing at the hands of BRAINWASHER and MINDSHARK and there is mention of a villain known as NEXUS who would free all the inmates and instigate a new world order with villains as the rulers!

The only glimmer of hope seems to be that Mind Maiden has somehow survived - or at least her ghost has, which has extensive Mind Powers that Miss Victory has successfully called upon a couple of times. Can she use those, or Shellghost, to escape this death trap?

The door clicked closed and Dr Veronica Chase knew she was in trouble!

The bindings secured her arms in such a way that sheer strength wouldn't get her free. Unless she had her Vita pill in which case she'd make short work of them! Trapped ironically in a lab so well equipped Dr Chase figured she could make another batch of her Vita Pills up in an hour or so without interruption... which at the moment she wasn't likely to get!

Think! There had to be a way ...

'Can I help in some way?' asked a disembodied voice which formed into a ghostly image of Mind Maiden!

"Can you get me one of my Vita Pills," Miss Victory says as softly. "With all my powers back, I can do what I can to handle the situation. Without them, there's not much I can do but survive until more help comes."

'I appear to be tied to you in some way.' said the ghost. 'If I were near my wife, perhaps I could tie to her instead.' explained the shade of Mind Maiden.

'I can operate in an area near you but am dragged back when I try to go further. You can access my abilities by 'linking' with me but you aren't a mentalist and it's difficult, I know. When my powers manifested it took all my time to tune out the thoughts of others and even longer to learn the other abilities I gained!'

She sighed and 'sat' on a stool, looking about. 'Is there some way, with telekinesis, you can find a way out of this lab? What about... what about Shellghost!' the ghost said and stood. She paced about, excitedly. 'He's in here somewhere! He's no good in a scrap but maybe HE can get your pills for you! if only there were some way to contact him...' she said, looking at computers terminals and a comm panel on the wall.

Just then distant voices were heard outside the door! The ghost stuck her head through and appeared to be pulled back towards Miss Victory by some unseen tether! She struggled, straining to get closer...

Finally, seemingly exhausted and much fainter than a moment ago, she returned to Miss Victorys' side and looked exhausted as she spoke, her voice quiet and distant. 'There are two guards outside. One was saying unsavoury things about what they wanted to do but the other warned him about Mindshark. This place is a powder keg, set to explode! Different factions are taking over and gathering forces to them. Mindshark is but one! I couldn't compel another to do my bidding, sadly, but ... the guards know the access code for the door. By probing their mind it may be possible to learn it! Of course, the shackles and restraints are a different matter. Can you pick locks?' she asked, brightly.

"Lockpicking is not one of my skills unfortunately," Miss Victory replies.  "There is a slim chance I can break free of them but currently, I'm no stronger than a very strong normal man."

"But i can try, better than just laying here and doing nothing.  I have a paperclip, after all.  It may not be a hairpin but it will have to do."

ooc:  Do women still use hairpins or has that faded mostly out of existence like phone booths?  The bachelor wants to know.  

actions:  Try using her strength to bust out of the restraints and if using HP will help then spend some to get a couple of dice worth.  If that fails, trying using the paperclip and pick the locks, also using HP for a couple of dice worth.

OOC hairpins? I think so. No real idea though.

MISS VICTORY HP 92 (after 13HP on two dice)

Trying to break the restraints would be one of the hardest things Miss Victory had EVER attempted!

OOC Str 6 + two extra dice + Roll(4d12)+0: 10,4,2,5,+0 Total:15 (21) vs
OV10 + Roll(2d12)+0: 6,4,+0 Total:10 (20)

EV+1 (to 7) vs RV10

Straining, Miss Victory knew it would take a monumental effort to push her strength or to force the restraints apart! Even given the fact that they were designed to restrain depowered supers they were tough. Of course if she had a vita pill she could tear them apart like paper...

With a sigh she pulled the hair pin from a stray lock of hair with her mouth and leaned to reach to the lock pick.

OOC I wouldn't bother wasting any dice on this. Really, the roll required would be staggering. Plus without Thief she suffers a +4OV penalty... you CAN try it if you want but your best bet (I think) is to buy dice for a PUSH to Str and rip em apart like confetti. Or buy enough dice to practically guarantee the double and get a high enough roll to shred the restraints.

Or use Mind Maiden's abilities to reach out and contact Shellghost...



An alternative is to wait, because there is also the mystery prisoner who has helped out Miss V already. Burning through the stash of HP at the start of the issue may leave you in BIG trouble for the rest of it!

Actually, contacting Shellghost might be the best option here. For one thing, it has been a number of hours and for all she knows the Ultrahumans might be outside trying to get in. And maybe he can tell if that is true or not with the sensors and computers and such and could contact them and update them on the situation.

OOC trying to use Mind Maidens power...

Int 8 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,1,+0 Total:9 (17) vs
OV8 + Roll(2d12)+0: 1,11,+0 Total:12 (20) Attempt FAILED

Miss Victory tries to summon up Mind Maidens power and fails miserably!

Knowing that she needs to calm herself, reach deep within and overcome her own mind which is the barrier, she knew she had plenty of time still but failed attempts and desperation would make it trickier!

OOC the failure means +1OV and so on with every failed attempt as Miss Victory gets frustrated and loses hope. That resets to nothing when a day goes by.

With a sigh and sagging back, Miss Victory feels like a turkey waiting for Christmas!

OOC More HP and possibly going for broke +4OV/-6RV will be much harder to succeed at but could really do the trick. To contact Shellghost she needs to transmit using Telepathy and needs enough APs to cover the range required. By focusing only on Shellghost she hopes only the hero can 'hear' her. If the villains hear her message they'll come running! So if you do transmit, you'll have to choose a message carefully in case it's overheard.

One last try with HP.

Let's go with "Knock! Knock! Avon Calling! Am I at the proper front door? Could you check please?"

ooc: Don't know if you have Avon but they sell or used to sell to women in their homes various kinds of beauty and bath products. The salesmen were other housewives earning extra money by doing the selling to friends, neighbors, etc.

trying to contact Shellghost with the power.

"SHELLGHOST!" mutters Miss Victory. Then she frowns, and mutters 'SHELLGHOST!' in her mind!

'Too loud!' says Mind Maiden. 'Someone will have heard it! I can only hope that...'

Suddenly a computer screen flickers and a text message appears on the screen.

"I need to know who you are. Who else was with you when we met? There were three of you in total." it says with a flashing cursor.

"Can you hear me or do I need to type the answer," Miss Victory replies. "Probably have to type the answer. Mind Maiden, can you do that or do I have to try to use your powers to type keys."

If Mind Maiden can do it then have her do it, otherwise, guess you try to use TK to type on a computer. Unless I get lucky and he can hear Miss Victory, in which case she just gives the answer.

Give the answer, tell him Mind Maiden is dead and she is strapped to a lab table and bad things are going to happen soon. Ask if he knows if the cavalry has arrived outside or not.

OOC the answer was Cougar.

Suddenly Shellghost appears, spring from the console and gasps at Miss Victorys' predicament!

"Mind Maiden... dead? Damn I liked her." he muttered as he phased a hand inside the mechanism under the gurney and CLICK all the shackles released!

"I nearly got caught. Someone is 'in the system' with me. A criminal. They are trying to hack the doors to escape the prison but it's a smart AI. Only a matter of time though and some of the other criminals - heavy duty ones - are trying to batter through the walls. I hate to admit it, but there may be some things even Promethium can't stop, though it seems bizarre to even say that! There are heavy duty hombres in here Miss Victory."

He looked about. "A lab of sorts. What's the plan? No word as yet from the outside unfortunately."

"Not sure anymore," Miss Victory admitted. "My powers have run out and I do not have anymore of my Vita Pills. There is no way I can stand up to any of these thugs, even the weak ones, in my current condition. Martial Arts just doesn't cut it with these goons. I see I have enough equipment here to make more pills but it will take about an hour to do so and I do not think I have that long before someone comes back. Maybe we could bar the door long enough for me to make some?"

"You have any way of finding the other lab that they have my pills at, grab one or two and come back here? That would be quicker."

"If I was powered up, I could make a run for the main control room and try to reactivate the dampening field, that would settle things down here until more help arrived. And if I had thought of it earlier, Mind Maiden wouldn't have been captured with me and tortured to death."

"Can you find out if help is outside yet or not? If it is, can you let them in?"

ooc: If he can grab pills and get back that will be Plan A. If he can see if anyone is outside and can let them in, that is Plan B. Plan C is to bar the door and try to make more pills before they break it down and take her down again.

"I can search..." said Shellghost reluctantly "but like I say, I'm not the only ghost in the machine."

He sighs, sagging. "Truth told I'm as much as a prisoner as you are. The AI in this place *knows* people are trying to break out so it has isolated itself from many of the systems that allow me to freely travel in and out - like cutting a wire. Superheroes and some of the worlds greatest minds built this place to keep people in and others out, and they do a darn good job of it. Were it not for the villains initial breakout and interfering with systems before the AI could properly react, it would be secure. However we are dealing with a battle on all fronts. Phsyical, Mental, Mystical, Scientific and the unknown. Out there is an army the likes of which the world has never seen before!"

"The only thing saving us now is that there are about half a dozen Generals and most of them hate each other. Mindshark is one. You may have encountered him. Vorpal is another and there is another one. Someone called Nexus. To look at you wouldn't know, but apparently he's the worst of the lot and he's just waiting on the delivery of something. Some... trigger or artefact, to restore his power. Just on his name alone he has gathered support and from what I can gather he was an ordinary guy till he puts this thing on. After that?"

He paced about. "The problem is this guy was jailed for crimes he committed as Nexus and now has a grudge. He seems not to remember anything he did but is bitter enough to kick the whole thing off again. Out of everyone in this place, if Nexus gets what he wants this prison might not even be enough to hold him. Only Silver Sentinel might be able to withstand him, but from what I remember he needed a lot of help."

Sagging into a chair he looked about. "I can lock the doors and you can bar them to buy you time but they are reinforced steel meant to deter depowered villains. Some of those goons out there could sneeze on the metal and it would crumple like paper!"

"That said, I did take the precaution of putting the cameras in here..." he gestured about "on loop. They are seeing what I want them to see. For now. Someone sharp eyed might notice not much is happening when you should be crying out, fidgeting, trying to escape or pleading for your life or whatever. That will buy you *some* time. Enough to cook up your pills? Not sure."

"As for finding your lab, it's a big place and I can search but that other ghost is out there and knows something is up. I may get caught and you'd lose your ace in the hole. Not to mention me being tortured and killed." he said quietly. "Poor Mind Maiden."

"As for getting outside I'm as stuck as you are right now. The only way I can get back to the rear entrance control area you entered through is to move physically through the prison. I'm no good in a fight! The Ultrahumans changed me from being a hacker and a thief into some kind of hero and I've tried my best, but I don't want to die! That said... if it helps you out, I'll try to get to the place and see if they will open up to me. By cutting off certain systems and computers they have effectively sealed me in with the rest of the monsters in here and quite frankly it terrifies me!" admitted Shellghost.

OOC So, you have options, and there's Shellghosts' take on them. Which you take are up to you!

"Then let's hope we have time, time I can use to make more Vita Pills," Miss Victory says with a small shrug and smile. "That appears to be our only option. Well, other than waiting around for me to be tortured to death. Wouldn't want that now would we?"

she starts to work in this lab to put together what she needs to make the Vita Pills.

Shellghost considered her words and looked about. "Do you have everything you need?" he asked.

Miss Victory was sifting through cupboards and finding lots of everything she needed but not quite everything. The serum was inside her, effectively, and a pill didn't give her powers, they just reactivated the super serum which had altered her at the genetic level with an 'X' gene. (OOC have a I got that right? Not that it really matters)

To reactivate that gene needed a chemical cocktail in a specific format and measured precisely, but maybe it could be 'fooled' by a close approximation?

She started with the ingredients she knew then clicked her fingers and looked about. Her search continued for moments and she turned to Shellghost. "There isn't any <insert long science name for drug required>. Can you get me some?"

Shellghost looked back at Miss V and moved to a computer, plunging a hand into the box. Words flashed across the screen faster than any eye could follow. "There is some of that... stuff... in the prison but its locked in stores and guarded. I guess I can ... try... and get some."

Measuring, writing something down and moving to the next ingredient Miss Victory knew that under normal circumstances in her own lab an hour would be a challenge, but this?

Shellghost glanced at Miss V again then turned to the computer, about to 'jump into it'. Then he stopped. "Someone's coming! A guard and a prisoner carrying food on a tray. This way!" he gasped...

"Tie me back up but make sure it is loose enough I can get free, then hide," she says quickly, moving to the slab she had been on.

actions: pretend to still be captured and endure the guard and hope they don't notice her bonds aren't as tight as they should be.

Shellghost looked hesitant. "What if they check, or are here to sedate you and drag you off? Maybe I should..."

His voice tailed off. behind the full face mask and imposing/spooky manner was a frightened young man deeply in over his head and suddenly aware that his own life would be at grave risk!

With a sigh he settled Miss Victory back on the gurney and stopped short of clicking the restraints shut on the wrists and ankles. "If they check these, you'll be in big trouble!" he hissed.

After that he gave a wobbly salute then dived back into the computer terminal, vanishing from sight!

The computer winked off and the lights dimmed to their former level. Miss V noted the cameras started rotating again.

The door opened and two muscular goons in orange stepped in, then another goon who was slighter of build but shifty looking. Dangerous.

Two more in orange stood outside then MINDSHARK walked in, glancing about then moving to Miss Victory.

"Madam, your help is required. Some of the scientists I have recruited to my cause have examined your pills and determined they do not grant powers, but rather activate latent powers. Others disagree, and that the pills are keyed to your genetic structure and therefore they can be used by others. Information, dear lady. Supply it. Tell me of the pills and the secrets they hold. if you do not? I shall pull them from your mind, and the experience shall not be pleasant." said the arch villain.

"And other than having you rape my mind if I help, what do I get out of this "offer" of yours," Miss Victory asks sweetly, while sweating deep inside and trying to keep from screaming in fear. Luckily, she had years of experience back in the Motherland dealing with such fearsome superiors. "I will give you this, even with some hints from me, it will take years before you can make those very expensive pills."

"You have spirit and determination. I have no idea who you are or what your superhuman abilities might be but..." he said with a finger waving at Miss Victory "You WILL tell me all that I require to know. If you are broken after that? It will be a shame but you would not be the first to resist me and fall hopelessly into oblivion."

He turned to the prisoners/goons.

"Bring her. Another room has more extensive instruments for the discovery of information." he snarled before turning and walking out the room.

Miss Victory had only seconds before the goons would be on her and realise the restraints were undone! The two at the door looked uninterested whereas the two reaching for her were lecherous males paying little attention to her hands and feet!

ooc: Honestly? I think Miss Victory is totally helpless here. No powers to speak of and her martial arts would be good against low level villains probably won't do a thing here against anyone, though trying it against MindShark might be fun even if she went down swinging. Even her Running is linked to her pills so she can't even try to jump up, dodge them and run out the room and outrun everyone. Mind Maiden's borrowed powers aren't strong enough to do anything useful as an attack either. Or if they can be, I am not sure how to use them usefully.

So ... let's give it the ole college try and surprise the goons by jumping up and trying to dash out of the room and try to make a break for freedom. Using Acrobatics for Dodge. Try to get past everyone and try to make it to someplace a little safer, either a place where she can hide or barricade herself in.

Miss Victory springs out of the seat to the surprise of the two goons reaching for her and dashes for the door!

The goons there are ready and step to restrain her, grabbing even as she swings fists and feet, fighting for all she's worth and giving battle (OOC this is cinematic rather than actual beating as she has no chance as you surmise, but... I don't believe in Kobyashi maru scenarios and Miss Victory has been on the down since she turned up to this place. Now it's time for an up.)

The blows rained in. Some of the combatants were faster and more dextrous than she was, and some were better fighters. Most were stronger and tougher, and the only thing in her favour was the prisoners had been given orders to keep her alive!

"Watch her teeth! She's a tricky one!"

"Put the boot in! Teach her some manners!"

"I'd like to do more than..."

"Remember Mindsharks orders!"

The beatings toned down to a slightly less painful restraining and Miss Victory groaned. This was all going pear shaped like...

She caught a glimpse of a female face, snarling like the others, but it belonged to the young woman who'd delivered her food to her - and that paperclip.

"You B*tch!" she snarled. "Now you'll get what's coming to you!"

Miss Victory sighed. So much for... she felt a hand brush against hers, press it, and move on.

Nestled in the palm of her gripped hand was a small circular tablet.