The Vanguard! Issue #3 - The Vanguard, The long dead Queen, and the Holy Grail...

Lionheart

OOC: German, well you could have fooled me. I like what you've been doing and its been really cool to see the use of another language and culture. I loved that quote it had sufficient gravitas to make me think it was something from a book - but you're an author, so why not you ;-).

Lionheart looked into the darkness. His enemy was still out there. He had the chance to follow him, though it would mean Stormwarden was on his own for this crucial part of the mission... what would he decide?

Reluctantly, he turned his gaze to follow Stormwardan. He picked himself up and said, "Coming dear..." Somewhat wearily as he sought to pull himself into shape.

OOC:

Ok looking about at the stones, will I be able to use previous memories, or information to hand on the site to know how to reconstruct the 'henge' as it was before being dismantled.

If need be I will look around the guard station and see if I can't find plans, or some schematic that might give us a clue.

Sj

The Vanguard - Frostbite and Putty

The refugees watched in silence as their rescuers left the scene. The heroes, for their part, knew that the chances were slim that those people would live beyond the day. The Nazis would continue to purge the undercity, and all they'd been bought was time, nothing more. Sometimes, being a hero meant making the hard choices and looking at the bigger picture.

And feeling not very much like a hero at all...

=========

Frostbite crunched ground up rock and rubble underfoot. He stood in the grounds of what had been Buckingham Palace, home of the monarchy. Now a ruined, bombed out shell, it had been burnt, looted, defaced... The place was unrecognisable. Some mounds of rubble were higher than others, and it was hard to see where to start, for this was a vast site, and nothing like what Frostbite had hoped for, or expected.

Putty glanced over, seeing the silent hero. Growing up as a German citizen, he'd been spoon fed the history of the way the British people crumbled before the might of the 3rd Reich, meekly surrendering and accepting their fate in the new Empire of the glorious 3rd Reich.

This didn't look like meek surrender. It looked, and felt, for all the world like all out defiance, to the last. Even against overwhelming odds and, as it transpired, help from both the future AND extra terrestrials, the British people had fought and died to preserve their way of life. That they'd lost didn't make their efforts futile, but rather driven home the reasons why anyone fights for anything, even when they know its a lost cause. The right to decide your own fate, live your own way of life, preserve your culture and history, all worth fighting for. And as Putty knew, opposing the evil of the Nazi regime was as good a reason as any to fight. He bowed his head in silent salute.

Frostbite took a deep breath. "Anything?" he muttered quietly. <<As you have walked around the site, I have been scanning. Admittedly, my range is too limited to be absolutely certain but the technology within my bio-computational matrix is more advanced even than that of the Nazis. With that in mind I would direct you to a site some 3m east of your location, and 4m north. That mound, I compute, represents the best chance of finding an entrance to the lower levels based on your memories and the knowledge in my data banks. Furthermore there is an electrical signal coming from somewhere in this place. It's frequency is of a type I am unfamiliar with and it is possible that it pre-dates any in my database, suggesting technology devised in the Victorian age. The Nazis, unaware of this, may have overlooked it as interference. Looking for it specifically has allowed this unit to find it, though there may be other complications.>>



Frostbite pulled back, out of sight behind a mound. The Nazis who'd been with Majestic when Darkshadow took him down were back! Doubtless ordered to track down those with the one who'd absconded with Majestic, it was probable they'd follow up any and every lead, perhaps as punishment for their abject failure! From 30m away or so, it was hard to make out what they were saying, especially as it was in German, but as they looked about, it was clear they were looking for something - or someone. They'd not seen the Vanguardians yet. Frostbite considered his options and glanced at Putty. Time was of the essence. Could they rely on the Nazis searching the area and moving on, or would they linger for a while and make things ... complicated?

OOC The Nazis are close by, kicking about in the ruins of the Palace and looking about - presumably for you. The Nazis appear to have some means of telling where you are, or at least tracking you in some way, though your exact location is hard or impossible to pinpoint, luckily. These four may have information as to how they are doing it. They don't look like they are expecting an attack at any rate. They are around 30m or so away, Frostbite is on full energy by now.

Frostbite[/i]

OOC:

Dave/Putty I'm undecided about the best course of action here, so I though I'd ask you what you thinks best. These guys might be super powered goons, three frames and a couple of powers, but form what we dealt with back at the concourse fighting majestic, who knows. There are four of them and if they get even three frames each we could be in big trouble if the dice goes against us.

So I have a couple of thoughts, well three actually.

1. We stand a fight?
2. We run and come back to the place later
3. We try and get into the underground base before they catch up with us, perhaps I go make a decoy, whilst you get into the base and then I phase and join you somehow.

I don't mind what we do, but I realise their are repercussion for whatever we do and I didn't want to act without first taking the opportunity to ask you, in this instance. So what do you think/


Sj

OOC

Dave/Putty I'm undecided about the best course of action here, so I though I'd ask you what you thinks best. These guys might be super powered goons, three frames and a couple of powers, but form what we dealt with back at the concourse fighting majestic, who knows. There are four of them and if they get even three frames each we could be in big trouble if the dice goes against us.

So I have a couple of thoughts, well three actually.

1. We stand a fight?
2. We run and come back to the place later
3. We try and get into the underground base before they catch up with us, perhaps I go make a decoy, whilst you get into the base and then I phase and join you somehow.

I don't mind what we do, but I realise their are repercussion for whatever we do and I didn't want to act without first taking the opportunity to ask you, in this instance. So what do you think/

I'm of a mind to have Putty ooze closer, hidden, and see if he can overhear what they say to each other. That may help us plan what to do next better.

And I have a sneaking suspicsion that they are tracking the new weapons we are each carrying and if we use them on these guys, we can handle them. Though any fight will mean time for them to get messages out and limit our search time. If I'm right about the tracking bit, they won't all follow whoever does the decoy bit.

So I suggest we try to get closer and overhear what they have to say first.

David MC

Frostbite

OOC:

And I have a sneaking suspicion that they are tracking the new weapons...if I'm right about the tracking bit, they won't all follow whoever does the decoy bit.

So I suggest we try to get closer and overhear what they have to say first.

Agreed (besides which I complete forgot about the new weapons).

Frostbite signalled for Putty to move closer, whilst he himself phased slipping slowly through the mounds to try and come closer from one direction, whilst Putty moved in from the other.

Sj

Putty & Frostbite

Frostbite signalled for Putty to move closer, whilst he himself phased slipping slowly through the mounds to try and come closer from one direction, whilst Putty moved in from the other.

Putty forms into basically a large slick of slime and oozes his way closer to the Nazi Supers, using every bit of cover he can find, until he is close enough to hear them. Just before he gets in range, he stretches out one eyeball and one ear, and oozes them closer in order to hear and see without as great a risk of being seen.

ooc: you know, Shapeshift 2 and Stretching 2 are a very interesting combo!! I'm really liking it.

The Vanguard - Putty and Frostbite

Frostbite watched Putty go as he himself sank into a mound of rubble. Able to phase anything he could comfortably carry closely to him, weapons, like his costume, were of little problem to phase. He started to move about.

OOC The following, translated from German.

"...problem as I see it, there are too many leaders who consider their way correct! Politicians, commanders, heads of staff... We are like chickens, heads severed and running in every direction! Now they send us... where? Here? Where is here? WHAT is here? They say to watch out for something, but they can't tell what..." said the Nazi with the thigh high black boots.

The one in the armour boomed, his voice echoing. Putty, close as he was, didn't even need to stretch his ears much in the direction to pick up the conversation. To the casual observer he was part of the scenery, his colour perfectly blending with the browns, greys and blacks all about.

"You saw what happened to Majestic! These people are not to be underestimated!"

"Majestic was a fool! Powerful, yes, but no one is invincible! Not even Adjutant!"

"Careful... he may not use his powers as much as we would like, but he is still..."

"Yes... yes. Where is he though? If these people can take Majestic out, could they do the same to Adjutant?"

"You have to remember, the one who took Majestic disappeared as well. The others seemed less powerful."

"Then why can't the Gestapos' room full of mystics and psychics detect them? They can scan every inch of this accursed land, identify every man, woman and child given enough time. And yet they cannot detect individuals who should stand out like beacons!"

The one with the Axes turned "Will you listen to you two? Bickering? They cannot 'see' these people but that does not mean they are useless. Where they cannot see is itself a help! Perhaps an explanation that you might understand. Imagine you are in a dark room. You are looking for a gun. You know what the gun looks like, feels like, how heavy it is and so on. You can picture it in your minds eye. You fumble around in the darkness until you come across something hard and square. You assume it to be a box of some kind. Is the gun inside it? You have no idea.It could be, it might not be. The psychics and mystics cannot see these people, but the areas that are blank to them stand out because they cannot read or see them when they can with absolutely everything else! So they send us down here because, somewhere around here, they say is an area they cannot see into! It might be nothing, it might be the ones we are looking for. Added to that, there have been disturbances in the last half an hour or so that suggests something is going on! Now keep your eyes open!"

The voices trailed off as they started searching in a wider pattern. One called out. "Spread out. This seems like a wild goose chase but we need to be sure. I do have another plan though. If they ARE around here, we will grab a bunch of scavvies and torture them until their screams bring these fugitives running!" The others laughed, and continued their search.

OOC They are spreading out. In moments they will be 20m or so apart, walking around, looking about, and sometimes not within sight of each other as mounds of rubble get in the way. It's also possible they'll leave the area soon, so you have options. Pick them off, let them go (and possibly wreak havoc amongst the unfortunate scavvies), maybe even capture one or more for better information. You have the weapons (the Axe I believe you took, plus arrow heads and sling bullets) as well. Not all the Nazi metahumans will have powers derived from Lunarium but a good percentage will have. This could be a tough fight or the easiest one you ever partake in...

Frostbite

Frostbite ground his teeth as he heard the Nazi's laugh at the thought of using torture to bring them out into the open. Though it was tempting to beat the snot out of them, he reigned in his anger. Their mission could so easily be compromised and their search useless if they draw too much attention to themselves. Their biggest weapon, save the Red Mineral they carried, was that they still had the element of surprise. That was something Frostbite wasn't willing to trade casually.

A quick signal to Putty, and Frostbite made his way to the mound they'd detected earlier. Hoping to get in before they got noticed.

Sj

PUTTY & FROSTBITE

A quick signal to Putty, and Frostbite made his way to the mound they'd detected earlier. Hoping to get in before they got noticed.

Putty wanted to attack the Ubers. He figured he and Frostbite could take them out one by one with surprise. But he knew that only one had to let out a yell and the others would be on top of them. Gritting his currently none existing teeth, he oozed and slithered towards the mounc when Frostbite signaled to him.

The Vanguard - Stormwarden and Lionheart

The rain continued to hammer down, the wind howling, the lightning flashing across the sky as the thunder boomed, rattling windows and teeth alike!

Untouched by the maelstrom about them, the Vanguardians marched up to the front gate of the camp around the site of the ancient monument.

"Wer dort geht?" called a soldier, pinning his helmet to his head as he peered into the gloom. Attempting to sound menacing and authoratitive, the soldier called out to his comrade who rose from his slumber to look about.

The pair braved the storm to move up the gate, looking to see which madman would be out on a night like this! They looked out... then up.

Stormwarden pounded the heads together, no sympathy whatsoever as steel and bone crumpled. They'd live, but fractured skulls weren't an easy thing to recover from! Striding in through the front gate, the pair looked about. Various huts served as barracks for a permenant garrison here, albeit a small one.

Stormwarden looked down at Lionheart "A lifetime ago I was a writer. I remember researching a few bits on Stonehenge. I don't recall the exact configuration of the stones, but we may be able to dig about, find something of use around here. The Nazis will have trashed it once they figured out their goose stepping goon scientists couldn't do anything with it. Maybe there'll be notes, diaries, something..."

He finished speaking as gunfire rattled out into the night. "Looks like we've been discovered. Now that your friend and the witch are out of the way, I expect these to be normal goons. Can you sort them out?"

OOC There are about a dozen or so Nazi soldiers armed with machine guns who are firing blind into the storm. They are stumbling out of the barracks area at the moment. Any special plan for Lionheart to take them on?

The Vanguard - Putty and Frostbite

The Vanguardians minded their tempers. They had the 'big picture' to look at, anything else being reduced to distraction, albeit painful ones to ignore. The arrogant Nazis marched on through the gloom, walking right past the ones they sought. One of them paused for a moment, looking as white as a sheet. One of his comrades paused to shout across to him, and he started walking again, suddenly feeling better. He looked back at ...well, nothing. Rubble and trash. Shaking his head, he continues on his way.

The Vanguardians pass, in their own unique ways, through the rubble...

And appear in a pocket underneath, a number of metres down. It was a square cut concrete tunnel, dark save for the small lamps of the Vanguardians and the blue glow of Frostbites' chestplate. The tunnel was full of collapsed rubble, not that it made much difference to the pair. Putty flowed up, down and around it, Frostbite simply phased through it.

=========

Time passed...

Even so, after several false trails leading to storage areas, smashed wines and rotting foodstuff along with a heartbreaking rotted mass that had been a library, the Vanguardians were beginning to wonder if anything were still intact down here. The place was partially flooded, completely ruined and a sad reminder of the fate of civilisation should the Vanguardians fail. <<3m to the east. An energy source, faint.>> said the computer inside Frostbites head. At his direction he and Putty moved to the directed area and came up against a vault door. Tarnished, dented after an 'I beam' had crashed into it, and all around the sides the reiinforced concrete had caved in partially. Whatever the Vanguardians could glean from this place lay behind that door.

=========

Elsewhere...

"What do you mean? You found nothing?" hissed the Gestapo area commander after the report from the metahumans sent to the location noted by the PSI division. With a curse he turned, looking out acrfoss the room. It was chock full of PSI sensitives and mystics, attendants sat next to them as they reclined in chairs and writing down notes. Each was wired to the other and the wires led into another room, where a unique mutant, known only as the Brain, collated and focussed their power to act as a bloodhound. Only, this time, he appeared to be somewhat shy of the mark, a first.

The commandant turned back to the communicator, thinking. His superiors would view this as a collective failure, and as officer in charge of the operation, he would take the fall. Knowing what that meant he considered his options, then called back to an under officer. "Get a demolitions team down there. I want this sector..." he pointed to an area on the map that had been the old Buckingham Palace and the surrounding land "Completely wiping from the face of the Earth. Exlposives, fire, gas, radiation. Gone. We must make sure!"

The call went out. A crew ran to their stations, gathering equipment and supplies as they went. They'd be on site in minutes...

Lionheart

Lionheart nodded, "A slight distraction, you get on finding the what you can whilst I mop up."

With that he speed off into the night, seeking to use the rain to cover his tracks as one by one he sought to come at them from all different sides.

OOC:

There are about a dozen or so Nazi soldiers armed with machine guns who are firing blind into the storm. They are stumbling out of the barracks area at the moment. Any special plan for Lionheart to take them on?

Ok Lionheart will circle around and try to pick them off, hitting them as he flies through at superspeed but not seeking to stop. I don't want my punch to be the end of my move but along my move, if that means I forfeit the advantages of a charge into combat for a basic attack so be it.

But I load up martial arts, to improve my WC, use strength where necessary, and make sure speed and reactions are active also.

Sj

Frostbite

<<3m to the east. An energy source, faint.>> said the computer inside Frostbites head. At his direction he and Putty moved to the directed area and came up against a vault door. Tarnished, dented after an 'I beam' had crashed into it, and all around the sides the reinforced concrete had caved in partially. Whatever the Vanguardians could glean from this place lay behind that door.

Frostbite looked at the door, reaching out to touch it and looking for a panel by which they might open it. "Putty see if you can see anyway in? A panel, controls! I'd even settle for a keyhole?"

Frostbites voice was low and calm, but both knew that their time was running out. Though they remain presently undetected it wouldn't play out that way for long. Especially if what lay here suddenly caused their sensors to come to life again.

Moving about he wanted to give his internal computer enough to go on by which to either open or find a way in behind the door.

Sj

PUTTY & FROSTBITE

Frostbite looked at the door, reaching out to touch it and looking for a panel by which they might open it. "Putty see if you can see anyway in? A panel, controls! I'd even settle for a keyhole?"

"Let's see," Putty said. He flattened himself against the vault door and the surrounding wall, much like a sheet had been spread over the door, and slowly pushed, looking for any crack he could ooze through.

The Vanguard - Putty and Frostbite

Putty oozed over the door. He felt a tingling, but disregarded it as one more example of his incredible bodies ability to act as a 'tongue' of sorts when draped over objects. With enough experience he would be able to identify and copy the materials he draped, at least that was the theory. Becoming as hard as steel or diamond, turning into liquid, or gas even... He blinked. There was something. He peeled part of his body away, and it dragged muck and rust with it. Carved into a tarnished brass plate was a tumbler lock of sorts. Four dials with letters on, some kind of tumbler lock? The tingling intensified... he felt something... some build up of pressure where his head was (currently spread across the door like the rest of him) and peeled away before anything bad could happen! Forming up on the floor Putty was able to pull away some of the crust and grime of ages to reveal a brass plaque around 7' high on the door. Though hard to read, the letters made out:

"Optimus Filius"

Meanwhile Frostbites' computer blared (in his head) <<There is a build up occurring of energy, designation unknown, from within the chamber behind the door! Best hypothesis is that the energy operates on a wavelength identical to the though processes of living beings!>>

A booby trap of some kind?

The lock, though crusted, could be seen to have various letters on. V, W, E, A, H, L, P when a tumbler was rolled. All four were identical.

OOC You guys as players feel free to do a little research here using the clues you know about to decipher the lock code, or try and use your powers to get into the best guarded of chambers. If you're stuck I can drop hints...

The Vanguard - Putty and Frostbite

Frostbite looked alarmed at his companion, "Optimus...doesn't that mean, Noble, being virtous the best of our kind. And Filius means son, I think?"

But then when he spelt out the rest of the letters, he had to shrug. "How are you with word puzzles and Latin?"

OOC:I love puzzles, but I'm useless at them. I've found a few bits above, but as to what those letters spell out - well I can't put them into a Latin dictionary to find a word I don't even know how to spell, so Dave if you've got a clue great. Otherwise I'm stumped.

Sj

PUTTY * FROSTBITE

"I know of a Ceasar by that name," Putty adds. "But beyond that ....?"

DavidMcMahon wrote:PUTTY * FROSTBITE

"I know of a Ceasar by that name," Putty adds. "But beyond that ....?"

Frostbite queried his internal computer..."Computer, can you make anything of this in Latin?"

OOC: Sorry Paul, love the idea of a puzzle (especially in a Supers Campaign) but I'm useless when it comes to these things. I always wanted to have the brains and detective reasoning of Batman, but I'm more like the Creeper in that dept!

Sj

OOC Update tomorrow (or later on as is now) for Lionheart/Stormwarden, but here's a few clues to be getting on with.

The Vanguard - Putty and Frostbite

The computer pauses for a moment. <<The translation roughly means 'best son' in English, as you have surmised. The question therefore must be, whose 'best son' and who that best son actually was.>>

OOC You know whose tomb this in, under Buckingham palace, so that should give you more of an idea which letters to put in as the combination... (admittedly not much more, but a quick wiki/google on the appropriate subject might set you on the right trail. Coincidentally (I didn't mean it this way) the solution also has relevance, in a way, to the items the Vanguard seek...

The Vanguard - Putty and Frostbite

Even as the Vanguard pondered, more dust and dirt fell away from a portion of the door. A quick sweep of the hand revealed what appeared to be an engraving - that of a coat of arms. Some further clue as to the code required to get into this vault?

Frostbite

OOC: Paul I found out that the coat of arms belonged to Prince Albert, but so far using anagram hunters to work out both English and Latin words or any word connected with the letters: VWEAHLP is coming back with nothing. Sorry mate I've just spent the best part of an hour and a half trying to work this out and I'm all tapped out!

Here are the words I found in English, Latin comes back with nothing. I can't see any connection here to Albert, no pet names, or titles or anything:

ALEPH HALVE WHALE WHEAL WHELP EPHA HALE HAVE HEAL HEAP HELP LAVE LEAP LEVA PALE PAVE PAWL PEAL PHEW PLEA PLEW VALE VEAL VELA WALE WAVE WEAL WHAP ALE ALP APE AVE AWE AWL HAE HAP HAW HEP HEW LAP LAV LAW LEA LEV PAH PAL PAW PEA PEH PEW VAW WAE WAP WHA AE AH AW EH EL HA HE LA PA PE PH WE

Dave have you any idea, cause I'm this close, to just phasing through the thing!


Sj

Admin wrote:OOC probably looking a little too deep into it Dave The coat of arms isn't of Prince Albert, but someone closely related to him There are 4 tumblers, meaning four letters, and might not spell anything resembling a word. Maybe... initials? Of a 'best son' or 'favourite son'? Also think on the artifacts that are the Vanguards' target. Whose legend were they most closely associated with?

Err ok, I came across this coat of arms to do with Albert, the clue about Victoria made me think of him. So close to the sword and the grail would that be Uther Pendragon, but that's only two letters, UP or would it be UPD? But none of the tumblers offer that combination do they? I just checked wikepedia on Arthur and nothing comes back with a response. The Latin for his name Artois doesn't work with the combination nor does the letters for initials. The other thing is you said related to Prince Albert?

But you also said closely related to Albert - he was German, so it can't be Aurther it would have to be Victoria - but she isn't a son! But maybe favourite son in a cryptic sense as in as good as a favourite son? So I checked again and her initials are AV, but that is only two letters not four. It could be Queen Regent Alexandrina Victoria, but we've no R -

ARGHH! I'm sorry mate, you must be banging your head against a wall! But I did warn you I'm useless when it comes to puzzles. I hate them, because I can't do them, not because I don't want to do them.

Sorry mate, I've included my thinking here because as you can see its not that I'm not bothered enough to try, but I just don't get it? Dave, what about you mate?

I just asked my wife and the one thing she suggested HELP! Which ironically seems very appropriate right now!

Sj

I'm bad at this too. And no, I don't remember whose tomb this is supposed to be.