Prof Wynde and Wonder Man TEAM UP! Issue #1

"Do that," Prof. Wynde agreed. "See if you can find a map around here too. Not sure where in France we are, so finding Dunkirk may be a bit of a hit or miss for us. Maybe there is a roadmap in the local garage?"

He looks over the woman he blasted.

"Not sure what to do with the woman," he tells Hawkers. "I think that alien took control of her mind before I blasted him. Not sure if he is still in her mind or not. Maybe distance from his body will help break any mind control he has over her. What do you think, Hawkers? Should we take her with us? At least some distance if not all the way?"

ooc: Yeah think I will take her with us, at least for some distance. So we need food and water, some basic toiletries, a map of France with some roads printed on it. Oh! And clean underwear! Hate to think how old the pair he is wearing is!

The group move quickly through the village finding a change of clothes from the ripped up dirty rags they wore.

Hawkers kept watch from an upstairs window and Fred Carson dashed about looking for a map and other supplies.

"Near as I can make out we're in the south of France near a place called Riom." he said, sifting through a drawer full of papers.

That put them smack bang in the area soon to be known as 'Vichy France'. All of the places around here would collaborate with the Germans through the course of the war because of various reasons, not least that being the Germans would take two million French Soldiers prisoner and hold them hostage...

Dressed as French peasants they would be able to move easier through the countryside. If Prof Wynde wanted to maintain his costume he would have to set to with a needle and thread...

"Nearly done here. We left plenty for the villagers when they eventually return to their homes. Sure hope those Ratzis don't take it out on them." said Carson.

Prof Wynde checked over the young woman. She'd be out for a while and wake up with a crazy powerful headache but otherwise recover from her ordeal. Would she remain linked to the alien? Prof Wynde hoped range would sever the link and that remained to be seen.

"We have company." shouted Hawkers from upstairs. "And they brought friends!"

Wonder Man and Prof Wynde moved upstairs to look out across fields and farmland to see a distant seething mass of soldiers, tanks and vehicles approaching. They'd be here soon!

"Time to go." said Wonder Man. "Though we may be dogged the whole way. Do we make our way by foot or..." he made a swoop motion with his hand...

"I got the girl, you carry Hawkers," Prof. Wynde decides. "I'll match your pace, Wonderman. Let's get out of here."

With that, he gathers up his share of the supplies and leaps out the window, flying low just above treetop level.

ooc: Figure to jump and fly for about 1-2 hours, hopefully that will be enough time to lose our tail. Then check on the girl and see if that distance helps her or not. Not real sure how long it will be before she wakes up. Need to question her when she does to make sure that the alien isn't still inside her. No sense in disguising ourselves, flying and jumping tends to give us away.

Moving from the opposite side of the village the strange group flew and leapt away!

They'd done what they could for the villagers but this was war, and saving everyone was an impossible dream.

=========

"She's waking up." said Wonder Man, keeping a watch from a tree top around and occasionally looking down.

The small fire continued to cook the stew they'd rustled up from catching rabbits and the vegetables they'd scooped into sacks at the village. It was dark and the fire would be visible in the open. Hopefully the trees would mask it and the smoke would vanish into the night.

Being able to speak French Prof Wynde leaned in with a cup of hot broth and offered it to the girl, who gaped, eyes wide, before shying back, frightened.

No sign of purple eyes yet.

They'd been travelling at speed for an hour and a half and made good progress but it had been hampered by avoiding enemy patrols and armies. The Nazis were everywhere, their tank divisions too many to count. Hawkers looked exhausted. "I though it was fun at first but it gets kind of wearing when you land every couple of hundred yards and take off again."

"That's why I mixed it up with some running but I know what you mean." said Fred Carson from the tree top. "Sorry chum, but it was preferable to the alternative."

Hawkers raised a mug of stew. "I hear that."

"Switch." said Carson as he hopped down from the tree. Hawkers looked up and laughed "I'll watch from the ground." he said, standing. With a glance at the fire and the girl he marched off to find a vantage point to keep watch.

Fred Carson crouched by his friend. "Well, she say anything yet?"

As if in answer the woman's eyes started to glow. "Uh oh." said Fred. Prof Wynde readied an attack but...

"Where am I? Who are you?" asked the girl. "I feel... strange..."

The thing was, she'd not opened her mouth! The pair of them heard it in their heads!

=========

Elsewhere...

"I don't care about excuses, I want them FOUND!" roared the Nazi General, pounding on a table.

The gathered Majors and Colonels looked sheepish. One spoke up. "Sir... they are Ubermensch! Our bullets have no effect, they throw tanks around like they are weightless! They move... faster than the wind blows!"

The General pulled out his luger and calmly shot the Colonel between the eyes. "Excuses! Find them then..."

"I can help." said a costumed form coming through the door. He was hulking, and had to duck.

The General snarled, then backed up a step. The man was huge and dressed all in dark red with a swastika on his arm and black belt breaking up the otherwise head to toe blood red. "Who...?" spluttered the General.

"We..." said the newcomer as other dark red clad forms - men and women, and all in the perfect Aryan style of blond and fair of feature - stepped into the room. "Are the Crimson Tide."

The General spluttered a laugh, though it was nervous and he backed up a step. "How did you get in here? Where are my guar..."

One of the men in red dragged the limp form of a guard by the throat. When he tossed the man on the floor his head was at an unnatural angle!

"Your guards sought to deny us entrance. We disarmed them but thought a demonstration would better persuade them to grant us passage." said the tall hulking man. There were dark patches on his red suit and he saw the General glance then continued. "Your bullets do not harm us, as they do not harm the British Ubermensch! Now. Tell us all you know. Sightings, information. Their abilities."

The General eased his collar with a nervous hand and stepped back as the six stepped forward to crowd around a map on a table and the jittery Nazi soldiers started talking. The woman of the group closed her eyes, pointing to a place on the map and tracing her finger across it as the nazi soldiers relayed information. There had been sightings but the enemy was too fast to follow and by the time a spotter plane arrived they were long gone - and some found it difficult to fly in gale force winds!

The dark red 'Crimson Tide' stood impassive, listening whilst the woman traced a line and tapped on the map.

"There." she said.

Fred Carson crouched by his friend. "Well, she say anything yet?"

As if in answer the woman's eyes started to glow. "Uh oh." said Fred. Prof Wynde readied an attack but...

"Where am I? Who are you?" asked the girl. "I feel... strange..."

The thing was, she'd not opened her mouth! The pair of them heard it in their heads!

"UH-oh Again! Didn't expect that or hoped not to happen anyways," Prof. Wynde mutters. "I am Prof. Wynde, a British Superhero. That's Wonderman, an American Superhero. Can you tell us your name and what you remember?"

ooc: Need to make sure it isn't the alien but the girl who now has powers. So will have to question her and watch her reactions.

"My name is Sylvie DuJean. I am... was... a farmers daughter but now I feel..." she glanced at Wonder man, Hawkers then Prof Wynde...

"Unlocked... opened. I know what has happened. My mind is... expanded somehow..."

She seemed to well up then gathered herself. "That... alien being did something to me. There are specific people who the Sectoids can 'unlock' for want of a better word. Until the process is complete there is a chance that the 'Unlocked' can free themselves, be independent and not remain permanently tied and controlled to the Sectoid that unlocked you. I know this because... information, snippets... swapped from it to me. ADVENT view mankind as unique amongst all the races and species they encounter. Nowhere is there more diversity, more possible mutations that allow fantastical abilities. They seek... ahhhh... the link was severed. I am sorry."

She bowed her head then wiped a tear, raising it and looking defiant. "They will not beat me! I am not some frightened little girl any more! When they unlocked my potential they will transmit to others of their kind where I am, who I am. I must leave this place. My family, friends, the people of the village are all in danger if I stay."

Wonder Man gently eased Prof Wynde aside whilst Hawkers comforted her. "This could be some kind of trick. Those aliens sure have been sneaky so far. That said, if it's not a trick, maybe she could be useful. Depends what she can do, besides talking inside our heads."

He paused then added "That's not creepy at all."

=========

Elsewhere...

The alien reached down and touched the prone form - a mirror of its own form. All about it stood soldiers, scientists in white coats and others of its kind. Sectoids.

The process which unlocked psionic potential was delicate. Interrupted, it could have unpredictable consequences. The Sectoid withdrew its hand from its fallen brethren and pulsed a thought to one of the white coated men. His scarred face and hulking form suggested he was more than that of being merely a man of science.

"Vell, Count Von Bludhammer? Vot did it say?" scowled a Colonel of the SS.

Bludhammer snarled but let the impertinence go for now. They needed the Nazis, but their short sighted vision wasn't useful in the overall plan. "The process was initially successful. The girl did indeed prove to have latent psychic abilities and the Sectoid unlocked them. However, the images taken from this one..." he referred to the fallen Sectoid "... before it fell suggests the process was interrupted."

"Then... she did not unlock her abilities?"

"No... some yes. The others, perhaps not, or in time she might develop them." said the Count as he looked at the prone Sectoid on the ground in the village.

"Pah! Just one girl! Who cares! Find more!"

"Yes, we can do that, but think on zis. If ze allies find some way for her, in turn, to unlock others like her, those with the spark we found... they could fan it into a flame!" roared Bludhammer and those gathered took a step back. The scarred former weightlifter was famously strong BEFORE the process that had changed him, thanks to Advent!

"If you are responsible for doing zet... ze.. Fuhrer... would not be pleased."

The Colonel loosened his collar. "Find zet girl! Get everyone on it! Ve MUST get her back!" he bellowed.

The Nazis scurried off to mount up in jeeps and tanks and to send radio messages. Bludhammer looked down and placed a heavy booted heel on the throat of the Sectoid. CRUNCH! The other Sectoid looked on impassively as Bludhammer snarled "Burn that. Burn ALL this place. I vant no trace remaining!"

Prof. Wynde nodded at Wonderman's comments as he agree with most of them. They had way too many things on their plate right now. The girl, a brand new psychic, and them being chased by Germans, Advent and whoever else. Trying to get back to Dunkirk to drop off Hawkers and making sure that super Nazis weren't stopping the retreat and deciding what to do after that.

"We can't do everything and be everywhere," He muttered out loud, "but we have to do enough that the time line remains mostly intact. We have to do enough but not more than that. Hard to make that decision."

He looks over at Wonderman.

"I'm starting to think that maybe we ought to go to Tibet and find that Lama friend of yours and revive any other heroes who decided to take the statue route until needed, after we make sure that Dunkirk's retreat goes as history says it did. We could use more help fighting Advent on multiple fronts. Not sure how many there are there now. I'm guessing most went there after WW2 ended but there might be a handful currently sleeping there."

HE goes over to the woman to speak with her.

"Excuse me, Miss DuJean, but we are on our way to Dunkirk and the battle there. The question is, what do you want to do? Come with us and maybe get to England? Or go join the now forming Underground in this country and fight here? If you want to stay and fight, then you should get to central or northern France as that is where the Underground will be the strongest. If you have friends or family up there, we could drop you off near them. If you wish to get to England and work on developing your powers there, we could take you to Dunkirk with us. OR do you have some other plans?"


ooc: Arrgh! So many choices! Not enough folks to handle them. Really need more bodies to handle all the brushfires Advent is causing all over conquered Europe! Heck!, I wouldn't be surprised that Advent is in the USSR and making deals with Uncle Joe Stalin. Of course, internet search reveals that the USSR didn't enter WW2 until June 1941 on the Allies side but attacked Finland in Nov 1939 ... so ... yeah, Advent is probably already in the USSR at this point. And we don't even know how many Advent are in this time period. A few dozen? Hundreds? Thousands? We need more help! Even if we don't form an official organized team like the JSA or Lore Knights, having other heroes working behind enemy lines, taking down Advent where they can and being able to call for help when it is too much for them would be a good thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaur_Publications

This comic book company went out of business very early in 1942 apparently due to poor distribution. They had a number of characters, listed in the wiki above, that maybe we can use.
"Speed Centaur", a centaur named "Speed", nothing weird about that character! Amazing Man also has a Tibetan origin too.

OOC I can - possibly - take a couple more players on in this storyline as running Wonder Man (and all the Lore Knights previously) took up a fair chunk of time. The visit to the mountains in Tibet and the cave where the Lama freezes (into stone) all the heroes/heroines from the 30s and 40s sounds like fun and characters from the Digital Comics Museum archive might be fun to stat up, although some of them (looking at you Stardust) are way OTT.

Wonder Man nodded. "The Lore Knights are powerful and we could sure use their help but they are tied to the land of Britain and maybe better off fighting off ADVENT and the Nazis there."

He didn't mention his unrequited feelings for Katheryn/Faerie.

"Maybe we're better off helping the people off that beach. At some point the allies must fight back but I gotta say, the more and more we travel across France and we see the Germans setting up... are you SURE they didn't win the war?" he asks.

Sylvie frowns, and once more 'speaks' without opening her mouth inside the heads of the heroes. "You speak as if you know the outcome of the war? My country shall never surrender! This is just a setback, my father says so..."

Prof Wynde cringed. The French Resistance would fight back in their own way but France had made a complete hash of defending their country with the Maginot line when the Germans simply went around it with their tanks.

The longer they stayed in France the more chance they had of running into more Nazi super soldiers. Plus there were others - these 'new' nazis working with Advent aliens. If they could convert people en masse to grant them psychic abilities like the young French Woman with them they would do. That meant they would instead have to pinpoint and track down those specific individuals that could be 'unlocked'. He hoped there weren't too many - an army of psychics winning a war without fighting bullets was too horrid a vision to contemplate!

Sylvie contemplated. Speaking once again mind to mind (she didn't speak English verbally) she added "Perhaps my role as an insurgent might help this resistance you speak of. If I could... if you could grant me access to your mind I can get more details of that which you speak?" she asked of Prof Wynde.

OOC your call.

As you say, you have choices...

get to Dunkirk, help the evacuation effort

take Sylvie to paris

fight the nazis behind the lines to draw their supers away from the conventional forces and towards PW/WM

leave them to it and head to Tibet to recruit more good guys

As for extra players in this game the trade off would be i run less NPCs

ooc: If other players want to join in, either bringing over their characters from their own adventures or making new ones or taking over some of these golden age characters that you stat out unless you can find them stated on writeup.org, I'm fine with that. Otherwise, we can just get a bunch of NPC heroes from the golden age. Big problem is that many of these characters aren't going to be around until 1941 or early 1942. And if they are, many don't operate in Europe or England.

We could use the Centaur Publishing characters because that company went under Before the Pearl Harbor attack or at least were last dated Dec, 1941 or Jan, 1942. So them being in Tibet is possible. And then are characters from Fawcett Publishing from Master Comics #1-6 starring Master Man. He and most if not all back up characters disappeared before the end of 1940. Slam Bang Comics also ran in 1940 and then folded into Master Comics with issue 7, bringing Bulletman over to star in Master Man's place, until he was pushed to the side by Captain Marvel Jr. So all those could be in Tibet too.

But then again, it is more like getting the characters active and splitting up over Europe to do what they can to stop the Advent and Hydra and Nazis rather than one huge group. Though if we get a player or two, then they can group up with Prof. Wynde and Wonderman while the NPC heroes go off to fight the good fight where they feel they are most effective.

There are also Timely Comics characters who only lasted 1-4 stories so they might be available too and they started printing in 1939.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timely_Comics


"Hmmm ... no but I do not want you reading my mind," Prof. Wynde tells the young lady. "Let's just say that as a Master of Magicks and therefore involved in many mystical events, I know somewhat of the future. But if too many know of the future we run the risk of changing that future and destroying it. Especially if that person is captured and the information is pulled out of him or her. The Advent, the strange creature that entered your mind is one of the
Advent, is apparently from both the future and outer space, is trying to change that future so that they can take over our world more easily."

"Thinking it over, I believe our best course is to get to Dunkirk and help with the evacuation. We can have Hawkers get you on a boat and he can make sure you get to Prime Minister Churchill. Hawkers, you go to Number 10 and tell Churchill that we sent you with the lady. She needs to get to wherever it is that they are starting to set up training for French agents to move into France and start helping set up and run the Underground or Resistance or whatever they choose to call themselves."

"I think that is better for you, Miss Sylvie, it will give you time to figure out your powers and get you some valuable skills you will need to survive this war and be able to train other loyal Frenchmen and women to fight and survive as well."

"I could fly us to Dunkirk more quickly than Wonderman can run and jump but the force of the wind could make it very difficult to breath and you would get badly windburned. Wonderman's body allows him to easily deal with those problems but your bodies won't. Maybe we could find a large thick piece of canvas and some rope and use it as a windshield? Wonderman could wrap the three of you in it, protecting you, while I hold onto the ropes and fly us there."

ooc: Ok, current plan, get to Dunkirk, get the girl and Hawkers on a boat to England so they can set up themselves there where needed. Meanwhile, Wonderman and Prof. Wynde fight off the supers attacking the evacuation. Then, when that's over, head to Tibet.
At least, that's the current plan. Gonna have to get the old Monk to fix the amulet too if we are going to convert and stoned heroes back to life.

OOC Prof Wynde's amulet is on 5/10 Body. Because this game doesn't operate a 'spiral of death' whereby your resistance shrinks when you take damage you still get protection from it but obviously damage of 5 points or more will take it out of action and that will be it until it gets repaired.

Hawkers spluttered "The Prime Minister? That's ... that's quite a plan old boy, but I'm up for it if the young lady is!"

Sylvie looked uncertain but glanced about. These were honest people, good people. She could sense it. Though she couldn't speak English, she could convey her thoughts mind to mind in a kind of 'universal' language that the human brain could translate. She thought in French, the others heard her thoughts in their native language of English.

She chuckled. Even that seemed outlandish, but given what she'd seen, what she'd experienced... and the powers that these people seemed to have... "Yes. That is a good plan." she pulsed. "I will help my countrymen fight this evil, and learn to use my powers to help others so that they will not suffer the same fate as my village!"

Wonder Man glanced at Prof Wynde and nodded. "I'll scour about, see if I can find something that will shield them from the high speed winds."

Prof Wynde settled down to turn the food over in the fire, fishing out the rabbit and pigeon when they were cooked and wondering what challenge they may face next...

=========

A day later...

The sound of gunfire rang out. Echoing from distance it was drowned out by the boom of cannon fire! The whine of distant airplanes diving - Stukas most likely thought Prof Wynde - followed by a CRUMMMP! as bombs exploded suggested that they were nearing the 'front'.

They'd flown through the night, stopping for a rest and to fix up the shell of the car that Wonder Man had torn the engine from then pinched together the panels in a kind of 'weld' with help from his superhuman strength!

Unfortunately the old thing had needed running repairs but it was holding up better than an old canvas sheet which had frayed quickly and started falling to pieces. Without wheels, an engine and with most of its bodywork twisted and shaped the car wasn't so much of a vehicle to travel in but a kind of blunt shield to protect against the rigours of high speed travel.

Even then, the nazi airplane patrols had grown in frequency and they were seeing armoured divisions now.

France was doomed.

Sylvie was pale as the quartet watched from the cover of trees as the distant battle sounds rang out. Having bypassed most populated areas they'd avoided the invading Germans for the most part, save for when they'd come across some farmers being bullied then lined up against a wall. Wonder Man couldn't let that go, so Prof Wynde had guided them down.

Moments later with unconscious nazis scattered and Sylvie comforting the distraught farmers they'd had to make sure that the rescued people wouldn't run into more trouble. That had all taken time but finally they'd got to within a quarter hour or so of reduced speed flight (to spare the mangled vehicle) to get to the beach of Dunkirk.

All they had between them and there was the third reich. Lucky (for them) the Germans were intent on driving the allied forces into the sea, and less mindful of what was behind them!

=========

(Translated)

"Well? We've travelled non stop and you..."

"hush!" said the woman.

The man's nostrils flared! How dare she address him in such a...

"I've found them. I think. We must travel! Fast! Now! That way!" she said, pointing...

The Crimson Tide took to the air, flying towards the increasing sounds of battle in the Dunkirk area!

Prof Wynde had another "DOH!" moment.

"Wonderman, we are both idiots, you know that?" he said to his friend.  "Why didn't either of us think about just flying these two to England?  It's just 30-35 miles or so to there from here!  Why don't you stay here and bash some super-Nazi heads in while I fly these two to the coast and drop them off?  They can make their way on their own from there.  Hawkers can see to that."

"Take me about an hour or less to fly them out and then fly back here.  I should be able to carry the two of them easily enough that distance.  What do you say to that?  Or stick and try to get them on a boat?"

ooc: Slower flying on the way to England and full speed back. Or maybe spot a boat that's definitely heading back to England and far away from the shore and drop them off on that then fly back to Wonderman.

Wonder Man shrugged. "Well, we can do that, but it was be like paining a target on our asses for those nazi planes in the sky." he said, glancing at the distant buzzing dots that were Messerschmidts harrying the allies.

"Still, at your top speed, even if you slow some for the way there, should be back in no time." He rolled his neck, grimaced. "I might keep a low profile for now, rest up until you get back."

Sylvie and Hawkers glanced at each other and nodded. The battered, barely held together car was creaking and had been tied together with bits of rope and twine as well as held together by the occupants. A 100mph flight might be pushing it but would see them across the Channel in 30-40 minutes all being well without any distractions.

"See you shortly." said Prof Wynde.

Hawkers shuck Wonder Man's hand. "For a yank you're alright! Wish more of 'em were like you!"

Fred scowled "Yeah, I don't know what those guys are waiting for. I mean, sure, the French seem a little yellow bellied but they don't deserve th... oops."

Sylvie frowned. Then she shrugged, leaned over to kiss Wonder Man on the cheek and they made their way into the beaten up car.

"Good luck." said Wonder Man. "See you soon."

=========

RATATATATATATATATA!!!

Bullets screamed past Prof Wynde as he used wind to fly whilst juggling the ball like shape as it disintegrated over the channel!

An airplane had spotted them and banked before lighting up with a hail of bullets! Without his amulet protecting him just one of those volleys would chop him to mince!

Luckily the winds that Prof Wynde wielded made the ME109 buck and weave, unnerving the pilot and causing them to back slow and wide, but they were coming around again!

Prof Wynde looked about. They'd flown over the beaches and he winced. Thousands would be saved, but many would die on those beaches.

The boats came and went, some of them tiny, and the seas were for once being kind. Unfortunately there wasn't much... ah!

He saw - in the distance - a small chugging boat like some kind of fishing vessel for small parties. It was pretty low in the water admittedly, but he could drop these two off he hoped and fight the plane... or he could speed up and hope that car held together... or he could juggle the ball and fight of the plane or... he heard the whine of the plane as it came around. He didn't have long to decide!

"I'm going to drop you off on that boat," Prof Wynde yelled to the others "And then go take care of that mosquito that's been buzzing us."

HE zoomed down to the boat - ship or whatever Navy folks liked to call them.

"Room for two more," he yelled to the men on deck. "I'm Prof. Wynde, take these two off my hands so I can go back to Dunkirk and give the Nazis What For!. Starting with that plane!"

He had no time for long good-byes. He had a plane to catch!

Swooping down, Prof Wynde finally had to concede defeat with what was left of the car as the wretched thing disintegrated!

However he was able to gently lower Sylvie and Hawkers down onto the already crowded deck - and ignore the rifles being pointed at him. The soldiers were absolutely gobsmacked... but aware that the planes buzzing about could pick them off!

A flying man! Something to tell the kids about... if any of them lived long enough to tell the tale!

Swooping up, absolute master of the winds he rode on, Prof Wynde scoured about and saw the ME109 come out of the clouds and aim to dive down at him/the small boat...

OOC Prof Wynde wins initiative... This thing is going to attack at distance however so depending on how far away Prof Wynde is going to attack determines whether he does indeed act first or second. Basically at what range (in APs) are you wanting to attack the plane?

ooc: hmmm .. isn't range limited to the level of power? So 11 in Air Control or Magic Blast would be 3 miles! Of course I only have a telescopic vision of 1 so that's probably a lot of minuses to hit. So I think I want to try it at 5 or 6 AP range - 100 to 200 yds. If they are the same minus to hit then 6 ap, if they are not, 5 ap to attack. Would this be considered an AOE attack or a single attack?


ooc1: Got so many things I need to spend points on when he finishes this chapter! Telescopic Vision, Obscure and Dispersal being the Big 3! Then raising stats comes after those.

OOC Same result if you single or area attack. Area attack just fires a separate attack against all targets in range.

Air Control 11 + Accuracy 4D + Roll(6d12)+0: 9,4,11,8,8,4,+0 Total:16 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0:
6,10,+0 Total:32 (43) vs
OV (speed) 7 + range 6 + Roll(2d12)+0: 3,3,+0 Total:6 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 11,4,+0 Total:21 (34)
+4 (to 15) vs RV7=8 RAPs

With a fierce torrent of wind the wings tear from the ME109 and the body breaks in two! There is a panicked flurry of motion and a tumbling form pulls on a parachute as the plane crashes into the English channel in dozens of different places!

Despite their fear and astonishment the exhausted soldiers on the small boat cheer and holler, seeing for the first time a ray of hope as someone is fighting against the Luftwaffe!

OOC Down to collect Sylvie and Hawkers or leave them to chug back on the boat?

ooc: Leave them to chug to England with those already onboard.

Prof. Wynde zooms down towards to boat and waves to everyone.

"Get back to England safely, folks, and get ready for a hard slog! I'll do what I can to keep the Luftwaffe off you fine folks and will then head back to Dunkirk to help out there! The name's Prof. Wynde, you may hear more of me in the future along with my American Buddy, Wonderman!"

He waves to them all and then zooms back into the skies, attacking any planes that are in his path, helping to protect the fleeing fleet of ships, large and small, as he makes his way back to where he left Wonderman.

ooc: Not sure how many days or hours are left in the retreat, so depending on how many Nazi Supers show up or not, he may just keep the skies as clean of Luftwaffe planes as he can and then find Wonderman and see if he wants to head to Tibet to help get more stoned supers to join the fight. If he can spot the Allied HQ, zooming down there to get the information on the evacuation would also be a good idea.

Three hours later, Prof Wynde was exhausted as he swooped down to what looked to be Allied command tents hastily set up.

There were a number of pairs of eyes tracking him with Binoculars and when he landed more than a few rifles trained on him with shouting soldiers!

"Enough of that!" barked an officer who walked from the tent. Along the beaches were groups of soldiers waiting to wade into the water. The man in charge looked Prof Wynde up and down. "We've been watching you son. It seems we are to thank you and ... whatever it is you do... for keeping the skies relatively clear of Luftwaffe. After you ditched that Bomber they seemed to have got the message and it's nice to get some respite from the ducking for cover whilst they strafe the beaches."

"Walk with me." said the officer. "General Giles Winsmith. I heard the rumours but to see you in action...! You must be one of these 'mystery men' that the Papers at home were on about. We don't get too much news over here but we were told to watch out for you and try not to shoot you from the sky! Tricky that with the itchy trigger fingers about. We've had hour upon hour of getting people away from here and being scythed up by the damn luftwaffe. Your being here might give us the break that we need young man! Despite your outlandish garb making you somewhat of a target it seems all the stories are true - you can fly and more besides!"

He shook his head and watched as men waded out to boats in the shallows whilst others used rowing boats to ferry people back and forth to the larger vessels off shore.

"I got word from our people not so long since. There are Nazis, fantastically imbued like you with mysterious powers, who are making mincemeat of the rearguard. Once they get here... no bullets or bombs seem to stop them. This is not widespread knowledge so I would appreciate you keeping it quiet." he said with a glance to his armed escort ten feet back.

"I know you're not military and I appreciate all the help you can give, but we have several problems. The air, as you have seen, is normally buzzing with Luftwaffe. The rearguard, some fifteen miles back or so, is shrinking rapidly, and we're already at the sea. If they break through we're finished. Thank goodness that they don't have any..."

BAAAAWWWHOOOOOOO!!!!

All eyes turned to a ship in the distance, steaming away. Black smoke poured from it and distant screams of men as they leapt from the sides could be heard!

"What the...? What now?" spluttered Winsmith.

Prof Wynde squinted. Even with his sight it was too far out to see but no plane had torpedoed the boat, now listing to one side as it took on water!

"U-boat maybe," Prof Wynde replies trying to see better, so he flies up in the air a hundred feet or so to see if that will give him a better idea if there is a periscope showing in the water or not, or if it is a Super Nazi.

He drops back down to tell the general what he saw or didn't see.

"I also have an American friend, called Wonderman," he finishes up. "He is located around ..."

telling the general the last location Wonderman was at.

"...if you can get some troops to him and tell him about the Super Nazis attacking the rearguard, he may be able to help. I'm going to take a closer look at that ship and see what happened to it."

He zooms off into the Channel to find what he can find.

OOC Posting this in all the game threads but...

APOLOGIES FOR THE ENFORCED ABSENCE! Exams at work then 18 hours without internet/land line (not just me it seems, an entire postcode it would seem which is dozens of towns and villages) has left me high n dry! Anyway, back at it...

=========

Winsmith shook his head. "Amazing. I'd heard the stories but seeing a man fly, with my own eyes..."

"Captain!" he bellowed to an officer gaping as Prof Wynde landed. "Send a squad of soldiers to retrieve this man's friend. An American who is known as 'Wonder Man'."

The Captain spluttered a laugh but it drained away when he saw the General glower. "Right away sir!" he snapped a salute off.

Prof Wynde's quick look had revealed nothing but the boat was sinking and a hundred or more soldiers would go down with it! Life boats were in the water, overloaded, and some were jumping in, hoping to swim but a mile in clothes was a long way...

As PW wondered if he could help save some or all of them he saw something else. A silvery streak below the waves, moving faster than any dolphin...

He reported back to Winsmith and flew out again. Some of the small boats had changed course to help the stricken vessel but there was *something* in the water moving faster than it should have been able to... Prof Wynde was somewhat out of his element but there must be something he could do...

Prof. Wynde swooped down to the nearest boat filled with infantry.

"Grenades! Anybody got some grenades on them," he called out. Grabbing a number of them and stuffing them into the V of his sleeveless shirt, he zoomed back over the water looking for the silver streak.

action: if he spots it, he will pull the pins and drop a number of grenades around the streak, trying to guesstimate how far it can travel before the grenade goes off. Military Science should help with figuring how long to hold and then throw the grenades to get them to explode around the Silver Streak.

Though reluctant to hand over grenades they'd carried all the way back through France the soldiers were more concerned about that... whatever it was... in the water!

OOC Military Science (Demolition) will do the trick.

Prof Wynde scoured the waters and looked down from the sky.

Nothing so far...

OOC Can he spot the speeding underwater Nazi before it strikes again?

Perception 5 + Roll(2d12)+0: 1,8,+0 Total:9 (14) vs
Speed of swimmer 6 + range 4 (100' up) - Telescopic Vision 1 + Modifier (underwater) 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,6,+0 Total:13 (26)

THWOOM!

Prof Wynde was looking in the wrong place as a fishing vessel suddenly lurched hard onto its side, the screams of soldiers ringing out as they were flung into the water!

With so many boats spread over a wide area it would be impossible to react in time to this thing! It was too fast, underwater and like a guessing game to see where it would strike next... plus all these soldiers in the water... many would drown unless some of the other boats could help!

Just then Prof Wynde heard shouting... and cheering!

He turned and saw a dot in the distance bouncing from one boat to another... It took some doing but Fred Carson was WONDER MAN after all!

"COULDN'T LET YOU HAVE ALL THE FUN!" he shouted from a hundred yards away!

Where the gap was too big even for him to leap Wonder Man splashed into the water and swum as fast as any olympian before climbing out and leaping to the next boat!

"Eat your heart out Weismuller!" laughed Wonder Man as he swept his hair back. Dressed in a discarded uniform but with his all concealing domino mask on, he waited for Prof Wynde to float down. "I'm not at my best but can't sit things out whilst you fight the war with these fine fellows!" he said to the future hero whilst giving a nod to the British soldiers around him. "What's the plan?" he asked, looking about.

"Spot the Silver Streak, attack the Silver Streak," Prof Wynde replies. "Unless there is some pattern to the attacks, that's the best I can think of."

Wonder Man pondered. "You watch from above, I'll see what I can see below!" and he leapt into the water, swimming under the boat!

"Your mate's nuts!" spluttered one soldier.

"i read about you masked types in the Mirror. Didn't believe a word o it!" said another but her added "If I ever get out o this mess I'm tellin everyone what I saw wi me own two eyes!"

"me too!"

"Aye!"

The soldiers looked nervously into the water. Chances were that the grenades Prof Wynde carried would be duds anyway having been immersed in the sea, but you never knew. That said, carrying three grenades about that might or might not go off wasn't a healthy way to live!

The hero watched from the sky and waited...

Wonder Man was down there a while... a LONG while! Minutes passed and one soldier called out "Is your mate alright? eee can jump an that but NO ONE can hold their breath that long! Maybe we should have a look down there after im..." but the speaker pulled a face when it looked like getting in the water with that... whatever it was... was still in there!

Prof Wynde saw some bubbles in the wake of one small pleasure boat and swooped over. Wonder Man surfaced, treading water. "Can't see much. Those two ships are still sinking and people are in the water. Maybe we should help them out."

Prof Wynde faced a choice. Those sailors were too far out to swim back and would drown soon, their wrecked vessels going down in minutes. Then again there were dozens... hundreds of other craft, large and small, and they needed protecting!

The distant buzz in the sky suggested the Luftwaffe had regathered and regrouped!

"I'll handle the incoming aircraft," he told Wonderman, "you do what you can for the men in the water while trying to spot our Untersee boat friend or weapon."

"Hey!," he yells over to the nearest boat, "Are there any spare life preservers or flotation devices there? If so, toss them to Wonderman here so he can give them to the men closest to drowning!"


actions: So Wonderman splits his time saving drowning men while also looking for what is sinking the ships. Meanwhile, Prof Wynde will take on the Luftwaffe and if he has time also try to spot the thing/person taking out the ships trying to flee back to England.

If I am understanding the speed right from BOH, I can do 1800 MPH with a max speed of 3409 MHP

How fast is Mach 1 2 and 3?
Mach to Miles per hour table
Mach Miles per hour
0 Mach 0.00 mph
1 Mach 761.21 mph
2 Mach 1522.41 mph
3 Mach 2283.62 mph

Mach 4 is around 3044 MPH. Mach 5 is around 3806 MPH. Mach varies based on height from the ground and air temperature. So PW can do about Mach 2.35 normally and can kick it up to Mach 4.4 as the upper limit of Air Control of 11.

{Can you tell I have computer access at the office and time to goof around with this now? }

Air control of 10 gives me around Mach 1.18 normally and max of Mach 2.2 and a 20' wave front of air
Air Control of 9 gives me around Mach 0.59 and max of Mach 1.11 and a wave front of 40'

So if I do an Air Control flight of 9 with an air wave front of 40' I should be able to do a pass at two planes at a time at close to Mach 1 - lead plane and wingman, unless they are further apart than 40'. But instead of doing forward and back pass-by attack, since the wings are built to withstand air pressure in those directions, instead do an up and down attack on the wings, like a continual "W" that should snap a wing off. But that's real world logic in a superhero game system. Probably just have to hover next to the plane and blast it with Air Control of 10 or 11 and do damage that way since that would be closer to the rules.

ooc: And if and when we save all the men we can, take out the underwater threat, regroup, THEN we have to go back to shore and take on any supers attacking the men at Dunkirk. Should be pretty simple to do, RIGHT????