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

He looked uneasy. "Don't like gambling everything on the throw of a dice, hoping we can get away with one risky move." He looked at Stormwarden. "I hope you know what you're doing." The dark clad Vanguardian seemed far less self assured and resourceful than he normally would. Perhaps dying - again - had taken something from him that would take time to get back. Or perhaps he was simply being more human than his usual cold, calculating self.

Lionheart spoke up "Are we all going down there?"

The ship was almost within range of the teleporters according to the computer...[/quote]

"I'm going," Putty replies, slipping into his transsuit but leaving his head uncovered.

FROSTBITE

"Do you wish to utilise the stealth capability of this craft? It is too small to carry phase change equipment but the hull plasto ceramics can alter to match the background and render us less noticeable."

Frostbite simple nodded, knowing full well he didn't want the crew or ship to be in danger if their plan should fail when it came to signalling Adjutant.

Lionheart spoke up "Are we all going down there?"

The ship was almost within range of the teleporters according to the computer...

"I'm going," Putty replied...

"Ok I want a skeleton crew to remain onboard, we get in, we get what we need and whilst the P'utinarians remain here we contact Adjutant to see if this will work. I'd rather use the base as our meeting point as it will give us more room to move - lets hope we don't need it."

Frostbite finished somewhat ominously.

OOC:
Ok Paul, we'll get suited and booted and head on down, the team and as many of the P'utinarians as we can go at once, we'll get the P'utinarians to get things working with Nowhere Man talking to the machines. And then set about trying to extract the ore.

If that doesn't get Adjutant's attention to being with, then we'll mine as fast as we can, get what we need aboard the ship and then contact Adjutant - as I want to try and spare the P'utinarians any more grief, if this goes south.

As for the team I suggest we help where we can and prepare as best we can, seeking the best place to meet Adjutant and finding out whatever we can, whilst here. Unless we're not alone of course?

Sj

The Vanguard

The ship kept an orbit above the base as groups gathered on the teleportation platform to be transported down to the surface of the moon. Without knowing what was inside the base, it was clear for those with any sense that teleporting 'blind' wouldn't be a good option. Nowhere Man handed out torches to those who requested them, and took a small pack with medical supplies, as did Lionheart. "Prepare for anything, be pleasantly surprised if you don't use it. I'm still waiting for the first time." he growled.

=========

Moments later Frostbite, Stormwarden, Putty, Nowhere Man, Lionheart and the P'utinarians (around 15 of the 30 allocated) were stood on a hard metal floor panel on what looked to be a square outside the main entrance to the base. There were no lights on save those shone by the group, and the searchlight from the ship hundreds of metres up. The place was as cold and silent as the grave. Even through the suits - which had taken a leap of faith to wear then trust as the group teleported into hard vacuum - the cold could be felt. It was sharp, painful and would steadily chill the skin, then the blood, and finally the organs, even through the suit, though it was a miracle of technology. Microns thick the material was some kind of plastic that allowed air to be exhaled one way through a clear layer to be trapped by another on top, allowing harmful gasses out through a vent near the ankle and oxygen to be recycled giving a limited rebreathing capability.

"Best get to it." said Lionheart quietly. He noted how the others heard what he was saying - built in communications too - and nodded his approval. Stepping up to the main doors they resembled a large pair of vault doors set in steel and plas-crete walls. Solid, in other words. There were sticky labels across it, dangling off but the message was clear - albeit in German. Do not enter! Danger!

Lionheart frowned, turned to the others. "How we doin' this? Stormwarden? You want to grab the other door? Putty - want to help with both doors, prizing them apart, or does one of you phasing types want to go in first?"

Nowhere Man stepped up, the black mask showing none of the mans' emotions underneath as he touched a hand to the door, pushed forward - and met unyielding metal. "Too soon for me. I feel like the ability is there, but my body, or more accurately my brain, hasn't joined the dots yet. Hold on." He tried again, this time sinking his finger tips into the dense metal. It was, for him, like pushing his fingers into balsa wood. Eventually the pressure and resistance was too much to go any further. "Give me an hour or so. Frostbite?"

He turned to the Vanguards leader even as Lionheart piped up. "Maybe there's something of interest in these outbuildings. There are enough of them. I must admit, I never saw THIS in my history classes." he admitted. "I'm really not in Kansas anymore..." he muttered to himself.

Chuckling, he added "I loved that film."

Nowhere Man growled. "Focus. We're here on business that will determine the fate of reality as we know it. The Wizard of Oz will have to wait his turn."

OOC open the doors manually, look for another way in, or phase into the building and find a way to open them from the inside?

|FROSTBITE

Admin wrote:
OOC open the doors manually, look for another way in, or phase into the building and find a way to open them from the inside?

OOC: OK I am about to head off to London tomorrow back Tue, so I am going to suggest a course of action, but with Kendal away till Monday you might want to NPC me to keep things going so Dave is left stranded till I'm back

But I suggest firstly I try my computer see if it can link the base and see if it can't override, or connect to what is here. If its possible that I can open it mechanically all good and well. If not then secondly I phase through as I don't want to ruin the air seals if we can get air flowing back through. If all else fails then I think we let Stormwarden and Putty tear the doors off.

One final thing, is it possible for Dave to slip into the base in his Putty form by flowing through the gaps - without loosing the integrity of his suit. If so If I slip in then I at least don't slip in alone if option 2 is a possibility.

IC: Frostbite stared at the wall for a moment, then laying his hands on the doors and what looked like some sort of control panel he said, "Computer, try and interface with the systems here and get these doors open." Then turning to Nowhere Man, he said, "Just want to make sure we try what comes easy before we have to do this the hard way."

Sj

PUTTY

One final thing, is it possible for Dave to slip into the base in his Putty form by flowing through the gaps - without loosing the integrity of his suit. If so If I slip in then I at least don't slip in alone if option 2 is a possibility.

IC: Frostbite stared at the wall for a moment, then laying his hands on the doors and what looked like some sort of control panel he said, "Computer, try and interface with the systems here and get these doors open." Then turning to Nowhere Man, he said, "Just want to make sure we try what comes easy before we have to do this the hard way."

Sj[/quote]

While waiting for Frostbite to see if the computer would work, Putty flattened his hands and felt around the edges to see if he could slip inside that way. He also strecthed his neck out, looking for some kind of manual handle or jack, off to either side of the door. He figured the Germans, ever efficient, would have had some way to manually open the doors if they ever lost power, something like a rachet.

The Vanguard

Frostbite concentrated, asking his internal computer to speak to the computers in the complex. <<There is naught here to speak to. The power generators have long been dormant from what I can compute. They may be housed in a separate building somewhere in this complex.>>. Frostbite frowned, then asked Putty if there were some way of manually ratcheting the door open. The incredible elasticated being stepped up, allowing near liquid appendages to run across the door. There was nothing obvious from here, and the door itself was sealed tight, like an airlock, which it probably was. The mere act of Putty attempting that had Lionheart looking about though. To the side, around five feet to the right of the door, he loosened a panel by stripping it away from the wall, his superhuman strength making light work of mere metal screws! Inside, a wheel, presumably to turn and thus open the door. He tested it, but even with his superhuman strength, it wouldn't budge.

Frowning, Lionheart muttered "Weird. I should be strong enough to turn this, unless the base was meant for powerful metahumans. Maybe its been locked from the inside?"

Nowhere Man looked over. "That doesn't make any sense. From all accounts the Nazis sealed this base - surely from the outside - and in doing so trapped those inside to die, especially with the air conditioning turned off."

Stormwarden (OOC Run as NPC) pushed against the door. "Solid. There must be a way to open it from the inside. Perhaps they jammed the door ratchets on the inside of the door with something. Should be easy for you to move Frosty."

Frostbite shrugged, shifted phase and stepped neatly through the thick vault door - several inches of high grade steel - and into a pitch black room save from the light his chest plate afforded.

There were skeletons in space suits gathered about the door. Welding equipment lay discarded to one side against a wall. Another door out of this room, an airlock type, had been welded from the inside by whomever died here. They'd welded the doors so no one could get in... or perhaps... get out. Including themselves! What secrets did this place yet harbour? The door ratchet had a thick metal bar welded into place jamming its movement. Frostbite applied intense cold to it, colder even than the hard vacuum of space, then gathered up the tank for the welding gas and slammed it down, shattering the bar into fragments. Almost immediately he saw the wheel turn as his team mates rotated the wheel on either side of the door.

Slowly, with a grinding sound that barely transmitted even with the suits, the doors began to open, and the light shone the ship high above bathed Frostbite in the glow as his team mates stood in the door way of the airlock.

OOC Do you want to smash open the inner door to the airlock, but in doing so you'll ensure this place is never air tight again? Or close the outer door, find some way to open the inner without destroying it? There are four skeletons in space suits - with Nazi insignia on - on the floor. Want to do anything with them? Also, I should be a bit quicker at replying this week. Been off work but had loads to do round the house etc, and over the weekend been up to my eyes in things family related as I'm sure you guys must have. Dave - sorry to hear about your dad - not much else I can say that will offer consolation As usual, real life comes first, will be here when you get back and will try my best not to kill Frostbite off He's done ok so far, but had quite a few batterings I must admit... Other than that I will aim for 2 updates a day this week when everyone else gets back. Amazing how hard it is to find an hour or so at the computer - it's 1.24am for instance right now Anyway, time for bed

PUTTY

There were skeletons in space suits gathered about the door. Welding equipment lay discarded to one side against a wall. Another door out of this room, an airlock type, had been welded from the inside by whomever died here. They'd welded the doors so no one could get in... or perhaps... get out. Including themselves! What secrets did this place yet harbour? The door ratchet had a thick metal bar welded into place jamming its movement. Frostbite applied intense cold to it, colder even than the hard vacuum of space, then gathered up the tank for the welding gas and slammed it down, shattering the bar into fragments. Almost immediately he saw the wheel turn as his team mates rotated the wheel on either side of the door.

Slowly, with a grinding sound that barely transmitted even with the suits, the doors began to open, and the light shone the ship high above bathed Frostbite in the glow as his team mates stood in the door way of the airlock.

OOC Do you want to smash open the inner door to the airlock, but in doing so you'll ensure this place is never air tight again? Or close the outer door, find some way to open the inner without destroying it? There are four skeletons in space suits - with Nazi insignia on - on the floor. Want to do anything with them? Also, I should be a bit quicker at replying this week. Been off work but had loads to do round the house etc, and over the weekend been up to my eyes in things family related as I'm sure you guys must have. Dave - sorry to hear about your dad - not much else I can say that will offer consolation As usual, real life comes first, will be here when you get back and will try my best not to kill Frostbite off He's done ok so far, but had quite a few batterings I must admit... Other than that I will aim for 2 updates a day this week when everyone else gets back. Amazing how hard it is to find an hour or so at the computer - it's 1.24am for instance right now Anyway, time for bed [/quote]


"Let's try to get in without destroying the inner door," Putty suggested. "Maybe search the bodies of the Nazis for clues? Why lock themselves here in the airlock? What were they fleeing inside the base? Maybe we can find something on them to tell us."

Putty examines the inner door, trying to figure out how to open it, after he closes the outer door.

FROSTBITE


OOC:

Dave - sorry to hear about your dad - not much else I can say that will offer consolation As usual, real life comes first, will be here when you get back

Well I'm back, had a great time with Dad, despite the enormity of what he is facing - basically he is dying of liver cancer. But he's good with it and in a good place, despite it all. We have no idea how long he has got. Anyway I am planning to get up and see him as much as I can, which may yet mean odd days out as I travel back and forth. Since I am on the net most days, if you don't see a post after 12 hours your safe to NPC my actions but I aim to keep you informed.


IC:

"Let's try to get in without destroying the inner door," Putty suggested. "Maybe search the bodies of the Nazis for clues? Why lock themselves here in the airlock? What were they fleeing inside the base? Maybe we can find something on them to tell us."

Frostbite nodded at Putty's suggestion - then turning to Lionheart he said, "Will you take a look at the bodies, see what you can find out from them."

Then turning to Nowhere Man, Frostbite said, I've been wondering why this facility was shut down if it still had this mineral the Nazi's needed. What are we seeing here and what could frighten the Nazi's enough to abandon this facility?" [Awaiting response]

Frostbite continued changing the subject to the matter at hand, "As much as I don't like splitting up the team, I think that the real danger is in here so I think the surface should be safe. I want you to take some of the P'utinarians with you to see if you can find the mainframe and get it switched on. Keep in contact...Adjutant may yet turn up without warning. And we don't know if the Nazi's didn't place in any other failsafe's." Frostbite then turned to the rest of the team and the presenting problem of trying to get through the door.

"Stormwarden lets close this outer door. When you're finished, would you help Putty examine the room and door as to how we might bypassing this door."

Frostbite then moved toward the same door himself. Stepping to one side of the door he motioned to the others as they set about their tasks, "I'm going to take a look from the other side, if I'm not back in two minutes and there is no communications...we might want to think about brute force."

Although Frostbite didn't like the notion of battering the door down, the team did not have the luxury of time on their side. And if in danger, neither might he for that matter.

Stepping to one side of the door, Frostbite moved forward insubstantially into the wall, counted four steps and then stuck his head out sideways into what he hoped would be the space beyond the door.

Sj

The Vanguard

"Let's try to get in without destroying the inner door," Putty suggested. "Maybe search the bodies of the Nazis for clues? Why lock themselves here in the airlock? What were they fleeing inside the base? Maybe we can find something on them to tell us."

Putty examines the inner door, trying to figure out how to open it, after he closes the outer door.

The pliable alien probed and pushed at the door. It was locked from the inside, a door similar to that on a submarine. There was a simple lever - seized from lack of use - that shifted easily to Puttys' strength. After that, a simple wheel set in the middle of the door could be turned to open it. Though more than resistant to a normal man, there were enough super strength types in here to make it childs play!

At Puttys' suggestion and Frostbites' request, Lionheart knelt by the bodies. He paused first to lift the strange binocular device he carried to his eyes, and with a flash he blinked, then looked in closer for a detailed examination.

Then turning to Nowhere Man, Frostbite said, I've been wondering why this facility was shut down if it still had this mineral the Nazi's needed. What are we seeing here and what could frighten the Nazi's enough to abandon this facility?"

Nowhere Man frowned. "Hold on. I'll see if there's enough of the ... old 'me' in here to access his memories. Yes... yes. There were experiments conducted... but ... but that's all he knows." he said. Frostbite looked at the man he knew as a friend, but found it hard not to see him as a leech, latching onto a new host form. "I'd guess it went wrong, didn't give the right results or similar. If the Nazis no longer needed Lunarium, they'd have considered the P'utinarians wishes and simply halted mining before summarily executing those P'utinarians they could find." he rasped. "Bastards."

Frostbite continued changing the subject to the matter at hand, "As much as I don't like splitting up the team, I think that the real danger is in here so I think the surface should be safe. I want you to take some of the P'utinarians with you to see if you can find the mainframe and get it switched on. Keep in contact...Adjutant may yet turn up without warning. And we don't know if the Nazi's didn't place in any other failsafe's." Frostbite then turned to the rest of the team and the presenting problem of trying to get through the door.

Nowhere Man looked up, then nodded. Without most of his powers he was a liability, though hoped they'd come back sooner rather than later. Every 'transition' was different, this one like any other so far.

"Stormwarden lets close this outer door. When you're finished, would you help Putty examine the room and door as to how we might bypassing this door."

Frostbite then moved toward the same door himself. Stepping to one side of the door he motioned to the others as they set about their tasks, "I'm going to take a look from the other side, if I'm not back in two minutes and there is no communications...we might want to think about brute force."

Although Frostbite didn't like the notion of battering the door down, the team did not have the luxury of time on their side. And if in danger, neither might he for that matter.

Stepping to one side of the door, Frostbite moved forward insubstantially into the wall, counted four steps and then stuck his head out sideways into what he hoped would be the space beyond the door.

Putty (OOC NPC'd for this line) turned. "It's done. It was locked from the inside as we thought. Me and Stormwarden should have no problem opening it."

Frostbite nodded, then phased through the wall into the corridor beyond. It was cold, white panelled, sterile. Aside from dust, there were a number of panels ripped from the walls, wires strewn about. Down the corridor, which ran east-west to the room he'd just come from, Frostbite saw more rubble - broken chairs, pieces of wood, broken glass... whatever had gone on here... it looked like some kind of riot had taken place! He shone a hand lamp all about, and saw several missing ceiling panels.Aside from dust motes suspended in the air (The suits seemed to add a kind of gravity stabilising effect, like a gyroscope, and a strange sticky sensation that kept feet adhered for a split second. Not enough to climb walls, but certainly enough to allow normal walking.)

Turning back to the doorway to let the others know the coast was relatively clear, Frostbite paused. There were dark brown marks all over the door. Smears, like rust. Leaning in, he looked closer.

Rust?

Or blood?

Just then something clanged elsewhere in the complex... Maybe hundreds of metres away, but enough to reverberate around. That suggested there was some air for sound to travel, but also that something else was alive in here... after all these years...

FROSTBITE

Frostbite...then phased through the wall into the corridor beyond. Turning back to the doorway to let the others know the coast was relatively clear, Frostbite paused. There were dark brown marks all over the door. Smears, like rust. Leaning in, he looked closer.

Rust? Or blood?

Just then something clanged elsewhere in the complex...something else was alive in here... after all these years...

Returning through the door, aware of the startled look on everyone else's faces, Frostbite said, "So it wasn't just me. Something made that noise and the other side of this door, it looks like something caused these marks, which I suspect are blood. Lionheart would you take a look."

Then turning on his communicator, he signalled Nowhere Man, "Hey old man, we've just heard something making a noise deeper in the base. We might have found what caused the panic, and it seems it might have survived. I think we've got no choice but to proceed as planned."

[response]

Turning to the others, Frostbite said, "OK soooo we might not be so alone. Whatever caused what we've witnessed here, could have survived. But if we are going to get the Lunarium, we've got to go down there. But lets go with a plan, any suggestions people?"

OOC: I'm aware how often I can post and thereby dominate things, so I'm wanting to get you guys to chip in or and act so that we can move things along together and not feel like spectators.

So suggestions, ideas and thoughts re a plan of action, I think we've got a likely fight on our hands.

Sj

The Vanguard

Lionheart looked up as Frostbite came back through the door. "These guys - well three men and one woman - died from lack of oxygen. They locked themselves in here and ... well, the air ran out, as far as breathing went. Enough to decompose them though." he stood, dusting his gloves off.

Stormwarden opened the door into the corridor with mighty arms twisting the stiff - and noisy - wheel on the door, and opening the door inwards. Lionheart stepped up, took a close look, then at Frostbite "Blood." he nodded. "Though from the way the marks were made... " he frowned. "They are like, well, like animals. It's hard to say given the time that's passed, but it's like they were clawing to get in?"

Frostbite let this sink in, then turning on his communicator, he signalled Nowhere Man, "Hey old man, we've just heard something making a noise deeper in the base. We might have found what caused the panic, and it seems it might have survived. I think we've got no choice but to proceed as planned."

Nowhere Man responded with a growl. "Be careful. We're superhumans, but ... no idea to tell what the Nazis have been doing here. If it's an airborne virus that was used at some point, we should be protected whilst the suits have air. That's another thing. I checked back with the ship. Communications are garbled, and teleporters flakey. The nearer you get to Lunarium the more chance of them not picking up your signal. Bear that in mind. I'm heading over to an outbuilding with these P'Utinarians to see if we can get the generators online. Keep me posted."

Turning to the others, Frostbite said, "OK soooo we might not be so alone. Whatever caused what we've witnessed here, could have survived. But if we are going to get the Lunarium, we've got to go down there. But lets go with a plan, any suggestions people?"

Stormwarden frowned, then turned to Frostbite. "Might be bet off splitting up. Use the communicators and look for the Lunarium. When one group finds it the other heads back here. We've got an abundance of strong types so shouldn't be a problem lugging it back. All the while we need to listen out for warning about Adjutant. If there's any chance of getting through to him we should try it, otherwise he'll pound us into mush based on the way Majestic was beating us down on his own." He looked about. "I can take one team, you the other, Frosty?"

OOC You have 15 P'utinarians, Nowhere Man has taken some with him to the generators (say, five) and that leaves 10 P'utinarians, Frostbite, Putty, Stormwarden and Lionheart. Thoughts on dividing or sticking together? I'll pull my finger out today and post a map up. It's going to be a bit of a 'dungeon crawl', but I'm sure you all did a bit of that at some point or another

PUTTY


Turning to the others, Frostbite said, "OK soooo we might not be so alone. Whatever caused what we've witnessed here, could have survived. But if we are going to get the Lunarium, we've got to go down there. But lets go with a plan, any suggestions people?"

Stormwarden frowned, then turned to Frostbite. "Might be bet off splitting up. Use the communicators and look for the Lunarium. When one group finds it the other heads back here. We've got an abundance of strong types so shouldn't be a problem lugging it back. All the while we need to listen out for warning about Adjutant. If there's any chance of getting through to him we should try it, otherwise he'll pound us into mush based on the way Majestic was beating us down on his own." He looked about. "I can take one team, you the other, Frosty?"

OOC You have 15 P'utinarians, Nowhere Man has taken some with him to the generators (say, five) and that leaves 10 P'utinarians, Frostbite, Putty, Stormwarden and Lionheart. Thoughts on dividing or sticking together? I'll pull my finger out today and post a map up. It's going to be a bit of a 'dungeon crawl', but I'm sure you all did a bit of that at some point or another [/quote]


Putty frowned. "Our last fight took all of us together to barely win," he said, his body shifting from shape to shape, a new nervous "twitch" for him. "Splitting up might be a bad idea. Isn't that how everyone dies in those murder movies?"

FROSTBITE

DavidMcMahon wrote:
Putty frowned. "Our last fight took all of us together to barely win," he said, his body shifting from shape to shape, a new nervous "twitch" for him. "Splitting up might be a bad idea. Isn't that how everyone dies in those murder movies?"

Frostbite nodded, but time was still against them and he didn't know how long it would take to haul out the Lunariam let alone get back to the ship and there was still Adjutant to deal with.

"I think we go for the Lunariam as a team, let whatever is down here, stay in peace. But if we're attacked, then we're attacked as a team. Besides the closer we get the Lunariam the more it will effect communications anyway.

Lets go, Putty and me will take point Lionheart you take with us and Stormwarden can cover our backs. Whilst you're there if you feel any atmosphere - see if you can't use it to our advantage." Turning to the remaining P'utinarians Frostbite said, "You guys can stick on walls and ceilings right? I want you to flow down these walls and ceilings, whatever made that noise was big, if you are attached to all the surfaces I reckeon we can use you as a sort of early warning system from any vibrations you might feel free the ground, walls of ceiling. Ok?"

With that Frostbite indicated for him and Putty to go forward, allowing his chestplate to light the gloom with his suit lights as well.

Sj

PUTTY

With that Frostbite indicated for him and Putty to go forward, allowing his chestplate to light the gloom with his suit lights as well.

Sj[/quote]


Putty moved forward. "Look for maps along the wall," he suggested. "And we can always use the radios to determine where we need to go by how much interfence we have with them."

Any intersection that they came close to, Putty would stretch his neck out and peek before getting within 20' of it.

ooc: Being 4-5 hours behind you guys always gives me weird posting times.
Off to work now, see ya in eight or so.

The Vanguard



OOC The main room is the one you started in, airlock. Nothing in the way of furniture in there save the bodies. The sound came from the east (right hand side) of the map. Red dot is your group, corridors are wide enough to walk four abreast with swinging room. The green squares are doors. Where the lit circle is is the extent of your suit torches shining. You may just be able to make out doors down the corridor in both directions. The sounds Frostbite heard came from the right hand side (east) of the picture, though from a longer way off he thinks. Any special precautions, or are you sending the P'utinarians out to scout with their unique abilities, or perhaps staying together as a tight group?

Stormwarden (OOC run as NPC) glanced about. The corridors were large enough for even him to stand in, and wide enough to fit smaller vehicles down, like fork lift trucks and the like, with room on either side for someone to walk. Clearly it was built with technology the Nazis shouldn't have had access to, more evidence, if any were needed, of the disastrous time tampering that had taken place!

Lionheart turned to the group "We're here for the Lunarium, right? The mystery of whatever happened to this place should stay here, ok?" he offered. "The Nazis will get what's coming, but I'm nervous about that... that monster floating about out there. If he comes in here we're gonna have a fight on our hands. A short one, by all accounts." he added, a downbeat tone to his voice.

Stormwarden patted his shoulder "Don't worry. Under all that Nazi evil is the man who is, in our age, one of Britains' greatest heroes, if not Europes. If there's a shred of decency and honour in him, I'll drag it out. If not, I hope Putty can slow him down enough for the rest of us to take him down." Even as he said the words, he feared the worst. Knowing full well the power he and the other Vanguardians possessed when the Dark Power was called on, it would be clear to everyone what the outcome of a fight would be if it came down to it!

Just then, everyone heard a crackling voice over the communication link... "Skrrrrlllll....generator room. Looks like... skrizz, vurrrrr.....some time. We'll get right ...brizzzurrrr, weeeeoooooh, skrrrrrzzzzz.... hear that? Check it out. Be careful. No telling what.... skreeeooooohhhh vizzzzz weeeeeoooohhhhh"

After that there was nothing.

FROSTBITE

OOC:

Any special precautions, or are you sending the P'utinarians out to scout with their unique abilities, or perhaps staying together as a tight group?

Yeah this is how we are doing the marching order:

Frostbite---------------------P'utinarians
---------------Lionheart-----P'utinarians--------Stormwarden
Putty-------------------------P'utinarians

Sorry the lines are to prevent the formatting from ignoring the spaces I put between the names - but I wanted to show the pattern I'm suggesting we're all fairly close together but not too bunched up.

Lionheart can be ready to assist where needed so get him to have speed, agility and reactions ready. The P'utinarians will be 'moving' along the walls either side of us in the order shown, or floor or ceiling so as to use touch as a means to detect vibration and also to give us more room to attack etc.


IC:

"Skrrrrlllll....generator room. Looks like... skrizz, vurrrrr.....some time. We'll get right ...brizzzurrrr, weeeeoooooh, skrrrrrzzzzz.... hear that? Check it out. Be careful. No telling what.... skreeeooooohhhh vizzzzz weeeeeoooohhhhh"

Frostbite frowned as he then looked at the others. "It might be the presence of this Lunariam that's causing interference..." At that moment he suddenly realised that though, 'one good turn deserves another', this was turning into a bit more than expected. And still before them was the mission to save their time line. "Come on, there is no telling which side we should go down, but I want to head away from anything living...we go West."

Moving down the corridor, senses on alert, seeking to prob walls and floors with his eyes, Frostbite remained intangible as he floated in rather than walked forward his feet barely off the ground.

Sj

PUTTY


"Anyone spot any maps on the wall," Putty asks, stretching his neck out to see ahead. "If we can find those, we can find where we need to go so much quicker."

Steeple_jackuk wrote:FROSTBITE
Frostbite frowned as he then looked at the others. "It might be the presence of this Lunariam that's causing interference..." At that moment he suddenly realised that though, 'one good turn deserves another', this was turning into a bit more than expected. And still before them was the mission to save their time line. "Come on, there is no telling which side we should go down, but I want to head away from anything living...we go West."
Sj

Stormwarden looked quizzicly back down the corridor. He'd have loved to investigate further but priorities called. They didn't have the time to waste on another dead end. "Right behind you." he called.

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ooc. sorry for the delay. First time I've done any long driving since xmas. And nearly getting side swiped by a truck on the M1 didn't help any. Got home and slept. Crawled into work yesterday, got home and....slept. By dropping flat across the spare bed. Woke up to find out I'd left doors and windows wide open! Not a good thing to do around here. Anyway, back now, two matchsticks temp inserted into eye sockets.

OOC

Great to have you back Kendal, you've been missed. ;-)

Sj

The Vanguard

OOC back, and operational... sort of. Going down to a car show (GTI international for German car lovers) tomorrow, stocked up with beer and barbecue stuff, so no update at all tomorrow. Going to post now, and then later on tonight before I hit the sack - up at about 5 ish. At least my nose doesn't feel like a balloon but I do have the faintest of shiners under each eye. Nice. Anyway, back to our regular programming...

One of the P'utinarians came back. The translator spoke up for him. "There was nothing like a map. Or if there was, it has been torn from the wall. Someone - or something - has rampaged through here. Anything that is not secured to the walls and can be torn off has been. That includes metal panels. From our best guess that would suggest something has greater than human level strength in this complex, or had, at one time. We shall continue to scour the corridors."



Lionheart chuckled. "Want me to zip ahead and find out where we need to go? I mean, come on, you guys are like me - we're ALL superhuman here! Who's scared of the boo..."

CLANG!

Lionheart paused before adding "...oogey man?"

The team had moved down the corridor to the west as per their leaders instructions, and almost come to the end of the corridor. From behind the door to their right there was some kind of scraping sound... Then silence. Lionheart put his head up against it... "I can't hear..."

Then a partially decomposed fist slammed through the heavy reinforced wood door inches from Lionhearts' head! It groped around, though the future lawman was way too fast for the grasping hand, which went back in through the hole...

"We're not alone fellows..." quipped Lionheart, shaken up somewhat...

Suddenly a P'utinarian unpeeled itself from the floor forming a shape! "We have a garbled message from our ship! We have detected a space craft entering space from Earth, and it's on an intercept course to the moon... where our ship is!"

Then, from the hole in the door, moaning started up... the room was too dark to see in but it certainly sounded like more than one creature was making a noise! And the door began to be ripped at from the inside!

Frostbite

OOC

Back, and operational...

Good, good I was thinking of sending out a search party. I'm not getting withdrawal symptoms...I'm not...honest!

IC:

"We have a garbled message from our ship! We have detected a space craft entering space from Earth, and it's on an intercept course to the moon... where our ship is!"

Pointing to the alien who'd just spoken, Frostbite said quickly, "Take two others return to the surface and send a clear signal to tell them to take whatever action they deem necessary. Then find Nowhere Man and let him know we've encountered resistance. I want you to assist him in case he's also encountered what we've facing here. Stay with him in any case come when if you can."

Then, from the hole in the door, moaning started up... the room was too dark to see in but it certainly sounded like more than one creature was making a noise! And the door began to be ripped at from the inside!

Frostbite concentrated and attempted to 'freeze' the air around the door, seeking to somehow reinforce the crumbling door, from complete obliteration. "Defensive position's people. Spread out to give each other room to move. We might as well try to face this now."

OOC:
Ok I suggest we move to take advantage of the immediate space this corridor affords, but I would like the P'utinarians to be kept safe, they are what remains of a species after all.

At the risk of much egg on face...I suspect on the evidence we've seen so far we're facing some sort of undead. And perhaps many undead...I think our biggest concern is that we don't get overrun, this group might not be the only group. Anyway as ever I'm open to suggestions as we still need to retrieve the Lunarium that remains here.

Sj

Stormwarden

Stormwarden was looking rather anxious here. "How long can P'utinarians last without food?" he asked quietly, looking at the gap. He started concentrating. There wasn't much to work with here - a dust storm would be the only real thing he could manage in this atmosphere.

"Do they get mean, if they're not fed? Or can we feed them something or other. Prefereably not us." he added. "Maybe we can take enough Lunarium and just run for it? This is supposed to be a side action guys. And we still have to worry about Adjutant."

PUTTY

"Do they get mean, if they're not fed? Or can we feed them something or other. Prefereably not us." he added. "Maybe we can take enough Lunarium and just run for it? This is supposed to be a side action guys. And we still have to worry about Adjutant."

[/quote]

"I say let's hit them first and find out how tough they are compared to us," Putty calls out, oozing his body along the right wall facing the door, "after all, we are tougher than the normal Germans that were here. And if they are too tough ... then we run."

Frostbite

Limerickcot wrote:"Maybe we can take enough Lunarium and just run for it? This is supposed to be a side action guys. And we still have to worry about Adjutant."

"We take our stand here, there is no telling if there isn't more of these things and we need to know what we're up against before go deeper." Frostbite said with a grim determination.

"I say let's hit them first and find out how tough they are compared to us,"

"I have a feeling you're right- but since this is some side action, as Stormwarden has warned, we need to know that we can take them or else leave. Our real battle isn't here. Frostbite replied, as he continued to concentrate on freezing the door to bolster its strength.

Sj

Steeple_jackuk wrote:Frostbite

"I have a feeling you're right- but since this is some side action, as Stormwarden has warned, we need to know that we can take them or else leave. Our real battle isn't here. Frostbite replied, as he continued to concentrate on freezing the door to bolster its strength.

Sj

Stormwarden looked grim. "Alright. We see if we can handle it. If we can, we secure a route to the Lunarium and back as best we can, and we move fast. I can't help but that times ticking away here."

He flexed his arms. He could maybe draw some fog, but that might not be any advantage to them at all. The same with wind. In fact he couldn't really see what he could do until he knew more.