The New Vanguard! Miss Victory issue #3 Enter... NEXUS! guest Starring Lionheart!

Steeple_jackuk wrote:
OOC: Sometimes I wonder, as a GM, how much Paul has this worked out before and how much he reacts to and redesigns around us.  In some ways its a bit like asking a magician to show you how you do it, and then you can never go back.  I did wonder if on this occasion in order to raise the stakes he'd written himself into a corner, or if this like Flashback or some such mega cross-over the event was going to rationalise the world and its lore and bring everything to a neater package like the new 52 etc.  As you say, we'll see.  I do trust Paul though, he has never done us wrong, even if the way to where we were going was convoluted ;-)

Sj

True true true.  And since weekends tend to be slow times for him to reply, it may be Monday or Tuesday before we find out.  Meaning, this may be hanging over our heads ALL WEEKEND LONG!      

I know he has to react and change things based on die rolls.  can't count the number of times the dice have failed the Haunt and how he had to come up with something to keep the guy alive.  

Shouting for everyone to "FIND COVER!" Lionheart moved with Miss Victory to the door and pushed against it, trying to hold it shut against the blast.

Miss Victory sprang up to help him and everyone else started to rise.

Then the loudest, biggest force any of them had ever experienced blasted the door inwards and flooded the place with fire and fury!

OOC Bomb 32 vs Lionhearts+Miss V's str. No contest really. Still, I'll roll.

Bomb 32 + Roll(2d12)+0: 4,5,+0 Total:9 (41) vs
Lionheart Str 13 + Miss V +1 str (she has 12 so adds +1 AP) + Roll(2d12)+0: 10,2,+0 Total:12 (26)
+5 (to 37) vs RV14=23 RAPs. The bomb blasts the door open and inwards and the pair are flung into the room which fills with destruction!

DEV ATTACK Bomb 32 + Roll(2d12)+0: 3,12,+0 Total:15 (47) vs
Lionheart Dex 14 + Dev Att 8 + (no way to use Acrobatics against this kind of area attack) + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,10,+0 Total:17 (39)
+4 (to 36) vs RV37 -12 Dev Att so RV25=11 RAPs. Lionheart is on 2/13 Body and still conscious, not stunned or anything else.

His is a personal force field and not able to expand over others.

DEV ATTACK Bomb 32 + Roll(2d12)+0: 10,3,+0 Total:13 (45) vs
Miss V Dex 10 + Dev Att 8 + Roll(2d12)+0: 1,12,+0 Total:13 (31)
+5 (to 37) vs RV29 - 12 Dev Att so RV17=20RAPs damage. Miss Victory takes 20 damage, is on Body 3/23 and needs to be careful about changing her power reserve about because the damage will carry over if she allocates less APs to body. With only 6 Body if she stopped using her power Reserve sufficiently it would kill her. I'll say that lasts until her next recovery check, then she can use Power Reserve as required.

The roaring seemed to last forever and the flame/force/fury almost too much to bear!

It did subside though with a WOOOOSH of vacuum that slammed the door shut and had Miss Victory and Lionheart gasping for air.

Crawling to his feet Lionheart looked about. Miss Victory was alive but her clothes were burned from her and hair somewhat singed. The others in here, about a dozen or so including the allies they'd made, were smouldering and burning, skeletal and in some cases smears on the untouched metal floors.

Dust filled the air and there was something else, radiation probably, but it harmed neither hero who were considerably more durable than anyone else in here, including Obsidian who'd perished alongside Irradiator, Magma Girl, Lupus and Possessor amongst others.

Stumbling into the corridor Lionheart saw burning piles of clothes and bones, the smell cloying and sickly where others had been caught unawares and blasted by the power down the corridors to smash against walls or simply burst into flames. These (on level 1) were the best of people in the prison and they'd been annihilated. Who'd done it? Why? Those on level 8 intent on conquering the world? The authorities from above?

Miss Victory rose to her feet, mindful that her modesty was somewhat compromised but that was small price to pay for living when dozens of others, including her allies, had perished.

Those from the lower levels would be heading upstairs now, she figured, and fast. Lionheart was out in the corridor. if he was there when those brutes came into view...? Even his power wouldn't be enough to stop their power she figured.

=========

The speed was amazing! He'd lapped the world dozens of times in a second and knew he could run faster!

Ten Million? Ha! With speed like this, the world was his for the taking! Those fools! They'd unlocked his true potential and...

He stumbled, righting himself whilst running over the Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America/Pacific/Asia/Atlantic/America in the blink of an eye.

What was...?

Then he realised. He'd been double crossed. He wasn't the fastest man ever to exist any more, because he didn't exist... The speedster crumbled into dust as his body aged decades in the blink of an eye and even the dust was too small to see...

=========

He soared up into space, desperate to be away from anyone else as raw power leaked from his body....

Something was embedded inside him, he could feel it. A bullet or a small rock. It had punched through his skin - something nothing else could ever do - and caused him to bleed, and in doing so, for a heartbeat, he'd released the power of the sun from his wound!

Knowing he was doomed unless he could cauterise the wound, Silver Sentinel headed for the heart of the sun...

=========

Thunder Woman got to her feet. She'd seen her lover vanish into the sky, no longer a dot even, and looked about. The power he'd unwittingly unleashed had flooded the prison and when he'd turned the stray blast flashed through his fingers...

She turned.

A path had been scythed through the gathered heroes. Some were alive, burning and in agony. Others were smears on the desert floor. Those to either side were stunned, looking at the downed heroes in the middle, then following the path and seeing the swathe it had slashed through the US Army forces, tanks and men tossed aside, burning, like matches.

A Colonel blinked. The Ultrahumans, supposedly on THEIR side, had... opened fire? Hundreds of his men had perished, tanks, vehicles, soldiers, all burning or ash...

"OPEN FIRE!" he roared. "TARGET THOSE SOMBITCHES!"

The US Army opened fire on the hapless Ultrahumans!

=========

A sound like rumbling thunder echoed through level one as the Heroes stumbled through the dust and ash that filled the corridors.

Something was happening outside/upstairs. Something bad.

Lionhearts danger sense didn't have to tell him it was bad. He knew, but he also sensed danger from somewhere else.

Below. They were coming up, and no force on Earth would stop them!

Miss Victory followed Lionheart, looking for something to cover her. Unfortunately everything on the level that wasn't made of Promethium was ash, so she'd have to ask for Lionhearts' prison oranges whilst he wore his Superhero costume.

Something bad had happened. Something worse was about to happen... The sound of the US Army giving superheroes 'gone rogue' outside of the prison was like nothing they'd heard before... and yet that paled in comparison to the powers that would soon emerge!

OOC you're caught between a rock and a hard place chaps!

ooc:  Not sure if we had radiation in that attack or not but if we did I finally [? is that a good thing?] got to use Sealed Systems!

And yes, it looks like she is keeping her 23 Body and 12 Strength for now.  At least until she heals up.

"Lionheart!  You got superspeed," Miss Victory gasps, "get to the Army commander or rather his main communication tent or vehicle and get on the radio and tell the Army to retreat.  That Nexus is free and coming for us ALL!"


"I'll try to get the Ultrahumans to run away as well."


With that, she takes off up the stairs to the outside at her measly Running speed of 8, horrified at what she sees happening.  Looking for anyone she recognizes [I guess a Perception check] she runs up to that person AND YELLS AS LOUD AS SHE CAN SO EVERYONE NEARBY CAN HEAR HER.



"LISTEN TO ME!  DON'T FIGHT!  RUN AWAY!  NEXUS IS FREE AND HE IS GOING TO KILL EVERYONE HE SEES!  RUN!  HIDE!  REGROUP LATER!"

ooc:  Let's throw in Charisma and Attractive [sort of, in this case] in that desperate persuasion check.

DavidMcMahon wrote:With that, she takes off up the stairs to the outside at her measly Running speed of 8, horrified at what she sees happening.  Looking for anyone she recognizes [I guess a Perception check] she runs up to that person AND YELLS AS LOUD AS SHE CAN SO EVERYONE NEARBY CAN HEAR HER.



"LISTEN TO ME!  DON'T FIGHT!  RUN AWAY!  NEXUS IS FREE AND HE IS GOING TO KILL EVERYONE HE SEES!  RUN!  HIDE!  REGROUP LATER!"

ooc:  Let's throw in Charisma and Attractive [sort of, in this case] in that desperate persuasion check.

Lionheart didn't need to be told twice, racing off, he launched forward over the now nonexistent defences and the long corridors without any defence, doors, or in some cases walls. He sped past the scene of carnage above and got to the General. He was going to try and explain but wondered if there would be time. So he grabbed the coms unit the general was using and spoke quickly.

"Nexus is coming, this is his doing, and not the Ultra Humans...stop wasting your attacks." And with that Lionheart brought the general to the entrance where he returned to what remained of the Ultra Humans and in front of Thunder Woman. "Nexus, this and the others on the 8th level this is their doing, some grand plan. I've no idea how, and how Advent is mixed up in this. But they are, and he is ready to take over the world, starting by taking out Silver Sentinel. And it looks like his plan is succeeding." Handing the general to Thunder Woman, he stood back, looking about the devastation moments ago he could avoid seeing by running past so fast, now it hit him and all his senses. And despite his training, he tried hard to retain a semblance of dignity.

Sj

Moving at speed the pair raced through the swirling dust in the corridor, ignoring the small fires and smell of death.

Miss Victory moved amongst the stunned and under fire superhumans, ducking as 50 cal machine guns ripped with round after round around the entrance to the Prison. Lionheart moved through the forces of soldiers who laid on with a hail of gunfire and grenades (OOC Gunfire and Grenades, a Vietnam D&D esque Jungle Crawl RPG??? ) . The Heroes were able to avoid or resist most weapons but they were concentrating on two directions, torn and confused. Some tried to help the blasted victims of the stray blast.

Thunder Woman appeared next to Miss Victory at speed and grasped her by the throat, faster than Miss Victory could react (OOC currently anyway). The UltraHumans deputy leader snarled "Who are you? Are you working with NExus? Advent? Tell the truth, I *COMPEL* you!"

Her eyes flashed with power!

Lionheart reached the command tent and the General. "Who in sam hill are you?" he blazed as guards pulled guns and surrounded Lionheart.

"Nexus you say?" as the General frowned. "He's on the list of Class 1 threats. We can't deal with him. We only have the nuclear option.. and it looked like someone already used that. We have casualties and they were inflicted by SILVER SENTINEL!"

Lionheart whisked him off at speed to appear in front of Thunder Woman who was grasping Miss Victory by the throat!

"Lionheart? General Wade? What's going on here?" snarled the Ultrahuman. She still held Miss Victory by the throat and looked ready to explode!

"Call the soldiers off!" she roared at the General who dropped to the floor as bullets zipped around them. He yelled "You need to stand down Thunder Woman or we WILL nuke this place from the face of the Earth!"

Lionhearts danger sense 'tingled' from the direction of the Prison entrance...

Admin wrote:"Call the soldiers off!" she roared at the General who dropped to the floor as bullets zipped around them. He yelled "You need to stand down Thunder Woman or we WILL nuke this place from the face of the Earth!"

Lionhearts danger sense 'tingled' from the direction of the Prison entrance...

Lionheart stood between them and spoke with authority. "Nexus General, Thunder Woman, he and not this my ally, Miss Victory is behind all this. He had someone plant something on Silver Sentinel a substance attuned only to him that tore a hole releasing the energy he contains within like a bomb. It was a Nexus and the other threats at the deepest level planned. Miss V here saved my hide and was a great assistant in this fight. Put...her...down and General call off your attack dogs before they hit you. We've not much time, Nexus and his allies are coming, and we can't afford the luxury of fighting one another."

Sj

"N-N-Nex ... us c-com ... ing N-n-noooooowwwwwww," Miss Victory manged to gasp out. "P-plot, all this ... h-his plot. RRRRUNNNN!!!!"

ooc: Ah well, we wrote over each other but I think both still work as is. THOUGH ...
I misread your first line I thought you had written:


Lionheart stood between them and spoke with authority. "Nexus General, Thunder Woman, he and Miss Victory is behind all this.


Talk about heart attack city!!!

The General, dodging bullets from his own side, could barely make himself heard over the roar of guns and shouted "CEASE FIRE! THIS IS GENERAL WADE! CEASE FIRE!!!"

The guns started to die out, slowly then quickly, and the flat desert plain was peppered with holes and drifting smoke. Thunder Woman put Miss Victory down. "Easy to mistake a good guy for a bad when they wear prison orange. Sorry." she said, clearly and distracted. "Get around everyone! Casualties to the hospitals! Everyone stand down! That's an order!" she screamed to the Ultrahumans.

The super heroes were angry, humiliated, hurt and dazed. They'd come as backup to the big guys to prevent a mass prison break out and been fired on by their leader AND the conventional armed forces at their backs.

There were a number of heroes who were injured, some seriously so. Not everyone was bulletproof or able o avoid such a thick hail of fire from hundreds of soldiers on foot and dozens more of vehicles from Humm Vees' to light tanks and helicopters.

The General stomped off back towards his people and Thunder Woman started to move about with her lieutenants to check out those heroes that had been downed.

Miss Victory and Lionheart stood alone for the moment and both turned as an orange suited Prisoner stepped from the entrance. He was tall, nearly seven foot high and built like a tank. His shaven head glinted in the sun and he shielded his eyes. "Huh, freedom." he growled. "Right." he said, rolling his neck. "Who's first?" as he popped his knuckles.

There was movement behind as others started to leave...

"We can't win," Miss Victory hisses into Thunder Woman's ear, "not like we are now. If you order everyone to attack, they will all be massacred! Get everyone out of here. Once the villains scatter, then we can take them down piecemeal."

"Well, until Nexus and the others of Level 8 who planned this whole thing with him decide we are too much of an irritant and wipe us out," she thinks the last bit to herself.

"We need to save everyone here that we can, so we can face them and the Advent who had a part in this thing, when we are stronger. You get these remaining heroes killed, then there is no one to stop the Advent and Nexus from destroying the world while fighting over it."

"What?" hissed Thunder Woman, seeing the orange garbed Prisoner for the first time. "Run? I think you overestimate their chances!"

"We just need to get down to the bottom and turn the power nullifiers on. They'll be ordinary people, even Nexus." she hisses at Miss Victory. "If you have no stomach for a fight, help with the wounded!" she declares as she speeds up to the prisoner and delivers a head butt that echoes with a seismic wave for twenty feet around!

The Prisoner grunts, leaning back but doesn't go down. "I remember you." he laughed. "Where's ya boyfriend, woman? I don't want a starter, I want the main course!"

His eyes flash and an energy beam lances into Thunder Woman who grunts, sliding backwards.

Those Ultrahumans still on their feet, a mess of colour, speed, muscle and powers, mobilise and charge up to the prison entrance as more Prisoners spill forth, blasting, swinging, snarling and spreading out!

The General watched through binoculars back at his command tent. "Dammit. This is getting out of hand! We can't fire on them all because we'll hit more Ultrahumans and the Ultrahumans can't hold back that orange tide spilling from the prison! Get me the Defence Secretary on the line. NOW!"

He chewed his lip, remembering the meeting. "Silver Sentinel can handle anyone, but if this goes south... pull back and make the call. We'll nuke the site and sweep through the remains."

"You can't be serious!" the General had argued.

"Deadly! You've seen the files. More than a dozen of those inmates are multi megaton level threats! One of them is as powerful as Silver Sentinel. Need I remind you what will happen? You saw the time he took on the military. Thousands dead, the biggest cover up in recent history... There will be panic in the streets, anarchy, our enemies will strike. It's a last resort, but you need to make that call if they are loose..."

He watched now, and prayed for a miracle.

=========

Level 8...

"How goes it?" asked Nexus, feet up and filing his nails.

Eidelon replies. "As expected. Without Silver Sentinel they are blunted. The more powerful members will slow the progress of the inmates but the more aggressive prisoners will force their way out. Once that is done, the General will see the cause is lost and nuke the site. You need to be there when it goes off."

"The Gauntlet?"

"Too far away, but safe at the predetermined spot."

"Fine. The blast will give me my powers back and I'll retrieve the Gauntlet, so I keep them."

Miss Victory is at a loss here and looks to Lionheart for any ideas.

"I don't know what to do, Lionheart.  I can't get mixed up in the battle while wearing an orange prison suit, that would make me a target for every hero who sees me.  I'm surprised I haven't been attacked again by other heroes.  No one knows who I am except you.  No one will listen to me.  And I am barely on my feet as it is and that's due to my Vita Pill.  I'll probably die when my hour is up as I don't have any regeneration abilities like so many others seem to have."

"Can you get me to the general and vouch for me?  Maybe I can get him to understand that if a nuclear bomb goes off here, the world ends?  Maybe together we can convince him to convince the President not to launch one?  It's one of the only two ideas I have left in me.  The other is that maybe you can tell when the bomb is on its way, can catch it and get it far away from here before it explodes."


ooc: Since battle is currently going on, can she make a Desperation Recovery Roll? Do I even have 15 HP to spend on it? Technically, she is at -14 Body. She is only alive and at 3 Body because she is putting 17 points of her 23 points [max allowed for her at this time] into her Body. Even if she makes a Resting Recovery check [if I am reading the rules right] at the moment her power vanish in an hour, she can only recover 5 Body as she only has 6 Body, putting her at -9 Body and that's enough to kill her.

OOC Desperation recovery is 15HP. Miss Victory has 98, so that's no problem. Miss Victory on 83HP

Body 23 + Roll(2d12)+0: 9,9,+0 Total:18 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,7,+0 Total:29 (52) vs
OV0 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,5,+0 Total:13. +9 (to 32) vs Rv0=Miss Victory is on FULL BODY (23)

Miss Victory sucks in a deep breath and knows she'll be alright, but it was touch and go for a while. Surviving a nuclear blast hadn't been on her list of stuff to try but cemented her position as a very very powerful superhero!

However the Orange suited prisoners boiling from the prison were a different level, and would make her seem very ordinary. Even Lionheart would struggle, and looking at the Ultrahumans, chances were they would not long withstand the first wave of villains from levels 2-4. Levels 5-6 would break through and level 7 would steam roller whatever Ultrahumans and Army personnel were left. Level 8? On their own they could probably beat the Ultrahumans without Silver Sentinel being there...

Admin wrote:OOC We're waiting on catchup from Dave E before I can update Haunt/Steep or Miss V/Lionheart so concentrate on Wonder Man and we can see if we can rattle through a few posts...

OOC: Sorry been out all day...

Asking if Miss V was ok, Lionheart took on what she said. "I'll try and reason with Thunder Woman, but to be honest I am worried that the red mist is rising...she might not see sense after what they've done to Silver Sentinel."

Speeding over to the Ultra Human's leader, Lionheart sought to dodge blows as she traded some with the onrush of villains. "I thought you fought with more than fists, brains not just brawn. We are seriously depleted, we haven't even begun to face the danger of the lower levels, all of whom just survived practically a nuclear warhead. And all the while we fight on, depleting our numbers and Advent are rising. I think we ought to fall back and take stock and regroup. This is no way to win this fight"

OOC: OK wondering what she is going to say here, but this seems pure madness we can't win this not as we are, we need to regroup and I hope she can see the sense of that rather than let the warrior win her over.

Sj

With Lionheart gone to speak with Thunder Woman, the now healed Miss Victory ups her running speed a bit, making it 10 with 23 Body and 10 Str now, and runs over to find the General among the troops and try to get him to reason with the President.

"Run if you want to Lionheart." said Thunder Woman as she grabbed a prisoner and pounded him repeatedly in the head.

"But I'm holding the line here, alone if I have to." she grunted as she summoned up a sword of pure energy and swept it about, keeping prisoners at bay. One lunged in and she plunged the sword into his chest. It left no wound but the prisoner slumped, unconscious. Lionheart used his speed to dodge laser blasts, energy beams of all sorts of colours and powers of every description. The ground rumbled, lights flashed, sound roared and even Thunder Woman had to stumble back when a powerful prisoner from one of the mid/lower levels blasted her with a blast that sent her skidding backwards, heels dug into the floor.

Then they were pouring out.

The Army took aim and fired but may as well be firing blanks. Some of the Ultrahumans cried out as they were tagged with bullets then got walloped by prisoners. One prisoner got out, raised high into the air and FWOOOOSH!! Lit up like the sun, blinding anyone who had been looking directly at him. After that?

The prisoners unleashed their abilities. Dozens... even hundreds of them. The soldiers burned, died, disintegrated, screamed, collapsed or melted... Some tried to run but there was no give in the prisoners. The Ultrahumans battled in small pockets and they started to dwindle as the prisoners wittled them down. Miss Victorys prison orange actually saved her from attack as some of the brutes from level six piled past, battering anyone who wasn't wearing orange...

Lionheart had been pounding on prisoners where he could but his danger sense was screaming now, telling him some of the magic users were targeting him (in his superhero costume).

The day was lost, the prisoners were free...

=========

"Retreat! Signal the retreat!" shouted the General as his staff ran here and there, packing things up. A chopper warmed up and the General picked up a satellite phone "This is Eagle Alpha One at the Eagles nest. The Birds have flown, repeat, the birds have flown. Unleash hell! May god have mercy on us..."

The General started running to the chopper knowing this had turned into a colossal mess. He saw hundreds of prisoners taking to the air, running off, killing soldiers or Ultrahumans... Thunder Woman was engulfed in a mass as one of the more powerful Prisoners pounded her into the floor like a rag doll and others blasted at her...

OOC The big bads are on their way. Level 6 and 7, when they get here, will match or surpass anything you can muster. Level 8? It won't even be a fight.

Admin wrote:OOC posts crossed but see what you think. If you want you can get to the General but he's hightailing it out of there knowing what's coming in a few minutes...

Chase after him and try to get the missile aborted.

If that doesn't work, just have to hope Lionheart can catch it and send it as far away from Nexus as possible.

DavidMcMahon wrote:

Admin wrote:OOC posts crossed but see what you think. If you want you can get to the General but he's hightailing it out of there knowing what's coming in a few minutes...

Chase after him and try to get the missile aborted.

If that doesn't work, just have to hope Lionheart can catch it and send it as far away from Nexus as possible.

Lionheart knew there was so little he could do against the villains pounding out against them all. Seeing the Mages moving, he decided to try the unexpected and dashed to them..."This isn't the grand plan you hope it will be, Nexus is coming and moreover Advent want this. How else can they take over if there is too many to wade through? No let you guys cut them all down, there is a greater enemy coming and I am not speaking about those who are on level 8. You have the power to counter this mess before there is nothing but a blackened stone we once called home!"

Lionheart knew that this was about as bad as it could be. Either way Advent/Nexus one of them was going to win, but he seriously wondered if the world that would be here tomorrow would be one with anything left fighting over.

OOC: OK this is desperate but I can see no point in aiding Thunder Woman I'm simply outmatched so I'm trying to play the smarter move but its a fine line and one I might have slipped over. I can't metagame so Lionheart wouldn't know what is planned with the bomb but my feeling would other be that someone will take the bomb aimed at us and turn it around. I don't see it getting a chance to devastate everyone or there is the possibility that the big bads are so strong they can take it. Hmmm, that is a reasonable infraction from all this. OK, I'm going to see what the Mages say. I wish I could make Thunder Woman see sense. I hate to run out on her, but if we don't who will be left at this rate to fight back?  Sorry posts crossing so just caught sight of this reply after wrote the above.  OK so go with the plan to try and involve the mages and if that doesn't work then yeah, trying to redirect a nuke, why not - the only other thing on my to-do list looks like dying at the moment   .

Sj

[quote=
OOC: OK this is desperate but I can see no point in aiding Thunder Woman I'm simply outmatched so I'm trying to play the smarter move but its a fine line and one I might have slipped over. I can't metagame so Lionheart wouldn't know what is planned with the bomb but my feeling would other be that someone will take the bomb aimed at us and turn it around. I don't see it getting a chance to devastate everyone or there is the possibility that the big bads are so strong they can take it. Hmmm, that is a reasonable infraction from all this. OK, I'm going to see what the Mages say. I wish I could make Thunder Woman see sense. I hate to run out on her, but if we don't who will be left at this rate to fight back?  Sorry posts crossing so just caught sight of this reply after wrote the above.  OK so go with the plan to try and involve the mages and if that doesn't work then yeah, trying to redirect a nuke, why not - the only other thing on my to-do list looks like dying at the moment   .

Sj[/quote]

ooc: Don't know if it is metagaming or not but we do know that a nuclear bomb is the last resort for stopping these villains. Since the base hasn't blown up from an underground nuke, that logically just leaves a missile coming from somewhere, from some direction. THAT we have no information on.

Miss Victory sprinted towards the distant Army lines which were criss crossed with fire, energy blasts, poison clouds and all manner of other attacks as the prisoners smash through the hapless soldiers.

Lionheart moves to the mages that are targeting him, men and women, young and old. Speaking to them, he tries one more tactic.

"Are you an ultrahuman? I'm going to enjoy searing your soul!" cackles a woman who is stood inside an energy dome where bullets flatten off and fall to the floor.

Another calls out "What are you after? Go back to that... gulag? May as well be out here, die if need be, but at least we'll taste freedom."

"Look out here, 'hero'." said another. He was blasting out time after time and where he landed shots, soldiers died.

Another had four arms and looked like some kind of ogre, tusks and all. It had two ultrahumans in two of its hands and pounded the heroes against the floor then against each other, repeatedly. It grinned and tossed the bodies aside.

Another mage stepped up, looking ghostlike and indistinct. "We are free. We have 'won'. When those guys from downstairs get out of here, I suggest you be elsewhere."

"What about Silver Sentinel?" asked another.

"Do you see him? Shouldn't he be here?" asked another of the mages.

The mage addressing Lionheart chuckled. "Run, little hero, RUN!" then his eyes narrowed and he snarled. "Or stay. And die!"

Lionheart was aware there were more than a dozen mages stood around where he was...

=========

Miss Victory sped up to the army base and caught sight of the General being hustled by guards towards a waiting chopper.

They were leaving in droves, jeeps and APCs roaring off, soldiers running towards trucks and choppers... Something big was going to go down and Miss Victory's instincts suggested it was something bad.

"General!" she shouted over the whirr of the chopper as a dozen guns trained on her, dressed as she was a prisoner.

"Get back in that prison or we'll open fire!" roared the General.

"Don't launch the nuke! You'll kill as many good guys as bad, and the worst of them will ignore the nuke, as I did! I'm on YOUR side! I've been in there trying to stop them, and it's all part of a plan by NEXUS and ADVENT."

"Nice story hot stuff, but I ain't swayed by batting your eyelids and ample cleavage. This situation is compromised, the President has been informed, it's his call now. Not mine. Silver Sentinel saw to that when he fired... or whatever it was... on his own people and half of my troops! We tried, we failed. If you are what you say you are, get out of here. Tell the Ultrahumans, whoever is left. When Silver Sentinel bugged out this plan went to hell and soon, this place is going there too." he turned to his men and made his way onto the chopper.

DavidMcMahon wrote:
Failing again, Miss Victory tries to do what she can to save the Ultrahumans.  She runs from group to group, yelling that she is on their side and that the President has just ordered a nuke on this place, see how the Army is running?  Get out and get out now!  Unless you can stop a nuke coming from who knows what direction, then go stop the nuke.

She drops her Strength to normal to raise her Dex up, figuring she will be attacked and wanting to dodge as much as possible.

She just hopes some of them will listen to her and save themselves.

Meanwhile seeing himself surrounded and somewhat staggered by humanities ability to out-do itself in own deniability and cognitive dissonance, Lionheart shot off, if he stayed still he'd be a sitting duck, but he waited for the last possible moment so that any attack they launch at him, might miss and hit the others.

This was going down fast and he was totally unsure in the chaos how to act now, what to do now? He and Miss V had come to set straight the prison, he was supposed to be on probation with earth's mightiest heroes, and he felt like a novice. Worst still the Ultra Humans were acting on instinct giving into a primal rage as they saw their own slaughtered which might have been prevented if they'd retreated at regrouped. This was the problem with this team, all this power and no discipline, cohesion when it came down to the heat of the battle it went sideways. At least he learned something from being alongside Frostbite all those years.

Moving about the battle he tried to help where he could. It seemed inevitable some sort of counter-attack was on the way, and until he had a chance to spot it he might as well prove useful. And then somehow try and turn a full-on nuc back to space. He would not let it go off if there was some way he could avert it.

OOC: OK so like Miss V try and lend a hand where possible and keep an eye for the Nuc which can't be long and go and say hi, even better do an Iron Man and send it into space. Assuming I even get the chance, with Nexus and this team arriving any minute now.

Sj