Prof Wynde and Wonder Man TEAM UP! Issue #2 "The Invaders!"

"Hold up you two," Prof Wynde calls out once he feels that magic. "I feel a source of magic about a mile that way. Don't know what kind it is but I think we should investigate it. Might help us out in hiding from our enemies or for getting home. Yeoman, you probably don't want to follow us, understandable really, if the enemy can track the two of us somehow. So we either need to split up and thanks for letting us know what's going on or you need to sneakily follow us at a distance so you can see what happens to us. Which do you want to do?"

Yeoman looked torn.

"You two are supers. Good guys. Sure you aren't up to speed but we could really do with some help. All that I said before, about things being hopeless, well... that's not entirely true." he said.

"There's a place we found out about after a raid on..."

"Hold up. Sorry sir." said Fred Carson, 1930s polite and all. "Prof, how about..."

He leans in close, glancing about. Yeoman tries to look casual, glancing around as they stood in the ruins.

(whispered) "All this dust about. What say you whip up one of your swirling air storms and we look about for invisible types that would otherwise go unseen?" says Wonderman.

Yeoman, hands on hips, theatrically speaks up "There doesn't seem to be anyone here. I suppose it's safe to take you to our hidden base. Normally I would blindfold you but it's just us."

Prof Wynde glanced about. Everywhere, ruined buildings, cars, street furniture. No bodies, or remains. Somewhere in the city the sound of laser blasts ringing out could be heard and the whine of powerful engines. Here it seemed to be quiet in the shadow of a partially toppled tower block which had been a shining steel and silvered glass edifice back in the day. Now a looted (for supplies) husk reflecting the dust covered ruin that had been the ancient historical city of London...

OOC You specify the volume of air you want to move (and that becomes the OV/RV) and RAPs is the distance moved. Obviously the bigger volume of air, the higher the chance of picking the area where any invisible agents might be hiding...

ooc: hhmmmm ... I'm thinking about 1/4 to 1/2 mile radius, since we aren't talking an attack but blowing up enough wind to create a small thin dust storm. Not sure how many APS of distance that is.

Admin wrote:OOC Volume is a weird thing to measure (going as it does in three dimensions) but an equivalent of 9APs which would be half a mile away creates an amount of 500 cubic feet which is less than a 10' x 10' room. Nearer 11 or 12APs I reckon you'd need to be able to shift. The good thing is that you have those extra dice to throw and might be able to come up with a decent result. Your call though - the dice have a big say in this...

Use the dice.

OOC I'll assume you move a volume of 11APs.

Air Control 11 + 4D (accuracy) + 6d12+0 6,12,3,9,9,1+0 = 18 DOUBLE plus 2d12+0 3,4+0 = 25 (36) vs
OV11 (volume of air) + 2d12+0 3,4+0 = 7 (18)
Success +6
EV11 +6 (17) vs RV11=6 RAPs

Summoning up a tornado the superhero directs it about, here, there...

"WATCH FOR ANYTHING UNUSUAL!" Prof Wynde shouts out over the howl of the wind.

Yeoman pulled goggles down over his eyes. "Well, if the ADVENT forces don't notice this, they're blind!" but he did as instructed, looking out for... anything unusual.

"There!" shouted Wonderman. He pointed and it wasn't obvious at first...

Then he saw it. A 'gap' in the dust that was thrown up by.... nothing. No, not quite. Something, or someone was there, albeit invisible! The dust seemed to gather on one side of the female ADVENT agent as she stood against the powerful winds, almost bent at 45 degrees to withstand the blast!

She was strong though. Anyone that could stand up in the face of a class five hurricane - or more, Prof Wynde had never fully measured what he could do - had to be superhuman strong and durable!

With an idea of where the agent was Prof Wynde changed the shape of his air blast to direct it at her, throwing bricks, rubble even wrecked cars and the like in her direction!

"I suggest we run!" said Yeoman. "keep it on her and we'll head away, hiding and using the distraction. If we stick about this place will be crawling with ADVENT soldiers and machines. The soldiers we can take, the 'enhanced agents' and those killing machines... more of a handful!"

Wonderman called out "We have a chance to take her out! I'm not happy about striking a woman though, even if she does want to kill us!"

"Who is this guy? This is the 21st Century pal and the world is coming to an end! you can't hold on to old fashioned notions of..."

Wonderman stepped up to Yeoman and snarled "Some things are just plain wrong no matter when you are!"

The Advent super wouldn't put up with the wind blast for long and Prof Wynde wasn't sure how long he could maintain this. Fight her, or head for safety and maintain the storm behind them as long as he could?

"Let's take her down ... as gently as possible," Prof. Wynde replies. "And fast!"

ooc: Magic blast. Just keep up enough wind blowing to just put dust into the air to outline her, not attack her with it.

Wonderman scowled but nodded. He was reluctant but realising that women were as powerful and resourceful as men in ANY era despite being brought up in a time that implied otherwise.

Yeoman had no such qualms. "Come at her in a pincer effect 'old man'" he yelled over the roar of the wind. "Prof Wynde, blast her in the middle whilst we attack on the flanks!"

With the gale howling the Alien Advent Agent realised what was happening and became visible. Her tall, slim, athletic frame came into view and she shielded her face against the dust and debris whilst assessing the threat facing her. She reached over her shoulder and pulled a baton into view... which hummed into life with a five foot glowing energy blade!

"Whoa!" called out Wonderman. "That's real Buck Rogers stuff!" he cried as he leapt in then altered his course as she crouched and no doubt prepared to attack.

"Don't just talk, DO something!" shouted Yeoman as he flew down, scooped up a huge chunk of concrete and tossed it at the alien!

She turned, slicing with the blade which chopped the block in half then ducked beneath both halves... one of which impacted against Wonderman as he pulled a fist up in time!

The concrete exploded in a shower of fragments and dust as he wafted about trying to clear it. Luckily the wind swept most of it away.

Prof Wynde used that distraction to blast at the alien...

OOC Magic Blast 11 + Accuracy 4D + 6d12+0 5,3,12,12,4,12+0 = 24 DOUBLE (boom!) plus 2d12+0 6,9+0 = 39 (50) vs
OV9 + 2d12+0 5,5+0 = 10 DOUBLE plus 2d12+0 10,1+0 = 21 (30)
Success +6
EV11 +6 (EV17) vs RV10=7 RAPs damage

The Advent super agent staggers, reeling from the blast! Despite being encircled she knows who the true threat is and leaps towards Prof Wynde!

OOC She's going to win initiative (very high Dex) anything you want to do to defend yourself?

Prof. Wynde flies straight up and hopes that maneuver will surprise her enough he can get into another devastating attack just out of long sword swinging range.



ooc: I misread it the first time and thought she had an energy baton so I was thinking something like :




then I read it again and read energy blade and it reminded me of a character from the Southern Knights comic books done back in the 80s. First energy sword swinging heroine I remember before Pyslocke came along though their powers there seem similar.

The Alien Advent Enforcer snarls as she sprints towards the Mage...

He responds by taking to the air, flying straight up!

His speed is such that he is beyond even her ability to jump so she twists... and leaps at Wonderman!

OOC

AV11 + Weaponry 4D (0D Acro) + 6d12+0 5,7,9,1,12,8+0 = 21 (32) vs
OV12 + 2D acro (1D m arts) + 4d12+0 2,5,10,1+0 = 15 (27)

Success +3

Poison Touch 12 + 3 (EV15) vs RV15=0 RAPs. No damage!

Wonderman was fast! He was superhuman fast, enough to make a striking Cobra look slow and yet this Alien, this 'hunter' struck him with her sword! It CLANGED! from his incredibly durable skin which was enough to easily stop a shell from a battleship in its tracks!

"Whoa lady!" he called out "That's playing rough!"

Yeoman called out "You fool! That energy will continue to eat at you until you are disintegrated!"

"Huh?" spluttered Wonderman, looking where she'd struck his arm.

The Alien snarled, hissing... and Prof Wynde took aim...

OOC DEV ATTACK

Magic Blast 11 + 4D Accuracy + 6d12+0 4,5,7,4,6,3+0 = 8 DOUBLE plus 2d12+0 7,9+0 = 24 (35) vs
OV9 + Dev Attack 8 + Range 2 - Telescopic Vision 2 + 2d12+0 8,9+0 = 17 (34)

Success +1

EV11 + 1 (EV12) vs RV10 - 12 Dev Attack (RV-2)=14 RAPs

The Alien Hunter is DOWN and OUT and VANISHES!!!

Yeoman swoops in and... spins to a halt, hovering in the air...

It's suddenly quiet (though fighting is heard elsewhere in the city).

"What...?" he spins around. "Maybe it's a trick. She can vanish, become invisible, teleport... but generally not in the air. We've seen her do that and become disorientated. She can jump though and... did we... did you beat her?" asks Yeoman.

Wonderman dusts himself down to make sure he's not burning up with alien energy. He walks up, cautious but shrugs. "I haven't met anything that can take two blasts from my buddy here." he says with a light slap on the back for Prof Wynde. "Nice shooting pal. Chalk up another one for the guy in the weird hat."

Yeoman shook his head. "I can't believe that... what is that you use? We've tried energy, gas... good old fashioned punching... she's hard to hit! Keeps vanishing just as you're about to land a blow and... well I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth! You two might be just what we need to turn the tide of this war in Britain, if you're willing to lend a hand!"

"I'm Prof. Wynde, a wind magic-user. I hit her with an old fashion magic blast. Few people have resistance to that if they are not mages themselves, then it is pretty much useless."

He shrugs and looks around.

"Now, what say we get somewhere else before she revives or get reinforcements?"

YEOMAN, WONDERMAN and PROF WYNDE

"Getting out of here sounds like a plan! Those 'Enforcers' are the equivalent of ADVENT elite units. They tend to vanish when taken out but always come back for more! That one is annoying. She can vanish at any time and has been a real pain to deal with... until now!" said the relieved once superhero now freedom fighter.

"Come on!" he said, waving and led the way through the ruins of London...

=========

"It's not much, but it is home..." said the Freedom Fighter as he led the pair through ruins and finally to the entrance of what had been a tube station.

A carefully disguised entrance amidst the rubble required some contortion to get in and Yeoman was careful to check it out to make sure it seemed undisturbed once Wynde and Wonderman had crawled in.

"ADVENT could clear the streets up in days with their machines but we're glad they don't." he explained as he patted a torch that finally got working and led down long out of service elevators to the depths below London. "It might seem like squalor but it hides us for the most part and they figure we're just not worth the bother of ferreting out."

"They have sent things down here though. Nasty stuff and..."

"STOP! Who goes there!"

"Yeoman!" replied the once hero as a flashlight shone in his face at the bottom of the elevator. "Your guns don't work on me boys, and besides, I'm on your side! Oh, and I brought new friends!"

Uneasy rag tag soldiers came out of the woodwork so to speak and lowered guns as the trio descended the elevator. Prof Wynde noted the half a dozen dirty, ragged people (men and women) and their desperate look. There was something else though - defiance. They'd not given up yet.

He also saw wires trailing about along the floors and by the walls and guessed the whole place was wired to blow if ADVENT came in force. These six would guard the tube entrance with their lives if need be.

One brought a dog up, a spaniel which was happy, busy and friendly as it sniffed about. "We thought we'd try a tactic from an old movie and sure enough, dogs can spot ADVENT for some reason!"

"Not some reason." said a woman. Hard to put an age on her but the war had piled years on. "ADVENT have been turning people into their troops for years in their 'gene therapy' clinics. Dogs figured this out faster than we did..."

"...maybe shoulda put them in charge, wouldn't be in this mess." muttered another fellow. "Good ta see ya Yeoman. Heard you'd been got by some Hunter Killer ADVENT slimebags."

"That was close, I have to say." replied the once hero. "Lured me in with hostages. Lost a lot of good people and the hostages were booby trapped. I took a real beating but handed some out too. Not easy when you're the only super against an Alien army."

"Hey! We all fight too!" snarled the woman.

Yeoman held up his hands to placate her.

"If'n the UKChampions had been better at their jobs maybe this wouldn't a happened!" called out a guy at the back.

"Yeah! Only ones put up a good fight was the VANGUARD but no one knows what happened ta them!" said another fellow.

Yeoman turned to Prof Wynde and Wonderman. "We're on the edge of defeat. We need something. A win. We need to show ADVENT they don't get to grind us into the dust of history without a fight. How far in this are you?" he asked...

"I would like to learn more about how all this happened," Prof. Wynde replies. "Wonderman here is originally from 1939 and wound up in my time period, 20xx[not sure what year we were starting in. Aren't we a few years ahead of real time in game time?]. Then we wound up back in 1940 and the Battle of Normandy and now we are here."

"Maybe just maybe we can find out what happened that went wrong in OUR time period, your past, and go back and stop it so this future doesn't happen. If not, I'm all for kicking butt and causing all sorts of mayhem. And if we are stuck in this time, maybe I can find a few people who are capable of using magic and can teach them some. Or we can find some of the remaining mages and have them teach them. That would give us a bit of an advantage over ADVENT. Magic is something they don't deal well with."

"Magic?" queried the woman with the scars. "I would have said I don't believe in it but that was before I saw Yeoman hold up a building whilst we got refugees out. It was before I saw a heroine called Sun Girl sacrifice herself so we could evacuate a compromised base. I..."

The woman's voice trailed off. Her bitterness was easy to detect in every word. "What went wrong?" she asked of herself.

"The UKChampions went wrong. Adjutant, Watkins, the 'poster child' for the Government never recovered from his injuries. Advent teamed up with a group called Eurotrash in 20xx and they included Supers who were leaps and bounds more powerful than anyone we'd seen. A guy called Saladin and one who called himself Frostbyte"

(OOC Correct, we never specified what year it was. in Oct 2009 when we started all this I said it was 'a few years from now' and comic book time as you know moves in funny ways. Peter Parker has been twenty something for decades, Steve Rogers is much older and calls him 'son' but has been fighting crime since the 60s, so it doesn't really make sense, just how I like it! 20xx is just fine by me )  

"I knew Frostbite! he was a straight arrow, a guy you could rely on, a hero! I met him on his very first foray into this scene! No way he turned..." started Yeoman.

"Frost BYTE" emphasised the woman. "Different spelling same word. They came from ... somewhere else. A world where Advent had won. Their goal was to subjugate our world and transport their people over as the Earth they knew had been thoroughly trashed by the time Advent started repeatedly nuking the American continent. The Ultrahumans were too much for them. Silver Sentinel, Thunder Woman, Miss Victory, Lionheart... all those others. No way would they cave in. Advent cut their losses and pounded the continent from space via some interdimensional portal technology. A guy called Nexus helped them. He trapped Sentinel in a time loop and the others were picked off one by one. Didn't find out what happened to Lionheart or Miss Victory but the others were high profile takedowns."

"Of course America fought back with everything and the world suffered as a result. By the time the bombs finished landing there weren't many left to enjoy a victory. Hundreds living in plastic domes dotted around the world. The Earth died."

"You know a lot about this Catherine." said Yeoman quietly. "Never spoke of it before. How? What do you...?"

"I was Captain Ion a long time ago before I lost my powers. A superhero like you Yeoman. Now I'm Catherine Stowe, battle weary Freedom Fighter sick of fighting but having done it so long I know nothing else. I had friends in the game. I was... close... to Frostbite. The real one, leader of the Vanguard. My Frostbite."

There was uncomfortable shuffling about.

"What happened to him?" asked one of the guys. "I never knew. All I know is that every day is a battle for survival. Never seemed much point in figuring out why, just deal with it."

"Frostbite vanished. No idea where." said Catherine. "Even my old friend Wandafar couldn't figure that one out. He said - in his words 'I blummin vell don't know where he is but he isn't in zis universe, zet much I em sure of'." she chuckled. "Worlds smartest guy, or one of them. He was up there."

"What happened...?" asked one of the resistance.

"To Wandy? Advent. He used his technology to act as a rearguard for refugees to escape after a Eurotrash masterclass in how to be morons. Burning building, hundreds trapped. Last I heard he was overwhelmed whilst helping others escape and having held off dozens of Advent amped up goons."

"These goons." asked Wonderman. "Amped up you say?"

She turned to the blond hero. "ADVENT lured people in with the possibility of a cure for humanities ailments. Instead they used their biological 'material' to form into their armoured grunts. The aliens rely on this. They move from place to place, subjugate the populace and use them against the remainder. We are fighting ourselves. When they came across Earth and all the thousands of superhumans, good and bad, they had to improvise. Time Travel. Some of the UKChampions simply never existed, snuffed from the time line. Before we could figure things out they'd disbanded the core team and left people like Jetpack Jill and Matador, Concorde and Jetstream as the 'core' team without any knowledge of heroes like Atomica - who in our timeline never came to Earth - the true powerhouses who formed the heavy hitters. Without those only the Vanguard were left as the true defensive line, and heroes like the Haunt. All gone, who knows where..."

"Those names don't mean anything to me, sorry ma'am." Wonderman offered. "I can say that I will fight to help you but ... this seems like holdin' back the tide with a trashcan lid. Isn't there... is there some way to stop this, prevent ADVENT from 'winning' using the technology that brought us here - time travel?"

She shrugged, propping her AK47 against a wall. "Sure. Maybe. I talked to Wandy before... He was smart. It's hard to describe how smart he was. Einstein to us, he was to Einstein, except levels above him. Anyway, he theorised that the aliens behind ADVENT are after something. Either give it to them or stop them before they get to Earth. Or... and he was waaaaaaayyyyyy out there with this one."

"Make a deal with a power greater than ADVENT and keep them away from this timeline." She turned to Prof Wynde. "Wandy was a scientist but he knew plenty about the 'other side'. Magic." she offered. "ADVENT used it when they could but didn't have a clue how it worked and the magic users they recruited liked to keep their secrets. That's the key." she said, looking at Prof Wynde again. "Magic. It's a force that can affect the mental, physical and mystical and few understand it. "

"I certainly don't and it's how I got my powers!" exclaimed Wonderman.

"How does this help us now?" asked Yeoman.

Catherine shrugged. "All I know is that the smartest person I ever met said magic was the key to ending this. He mentioned about one of the Vanguard going missing on a mission to the moon and that Frostbite was a driven man to get her back but the forces against him up there were magical in nature and more powerful than he could fight alone. That's saying something. Frostbite could blast a mountain to smithereens, form a mountain out of ice, throw that mountain ... a long way, maybe not into space but... point is few knew how powerful he was. He kept it low key, out of the headlines. His protege, Battlebug was off the charts fast and strong like no one I ever met. Maybe on a par with Silver Sentinel."

"What happened to him?" asked one of the Freedom Fighters.

"Look around you. Battlebug happened. This is what happens when a teenager deprived of his friend and mentor switches sides after someone mind controls him. It's like a nuke going off every time he punched the ground."

"I thought it WAS nukes!" said Yeoman.

"We'd all be dead from radiation from this much damage. Heck, nukes don't do this much damage to entire countries." said Catherine. "ADVENT, SALADIN, FROSTBYTE, BATTLEBUG and Eurotrash do..." she said with bitterness in every word...

"I wonder if OOP survived," Prof Wynde muses out loud. Seeing the bemused faces around him, he explains. "The Order of Preservers. I studied under them to learn magic and graduated as an OOPS Mage, specialty in wind magic."

At a few snickers at that title, he blushes and explains. "Stands for "Order Of Preservers, Second-class Mage", the lowest rank of mage that they allow to become superheroes. I didn't come up with the names. Every few centuries or as they think is needed, they change the name of the organization. It's basically an international secretive organization of magic types who teach new mages the arts that they are best suited for, intelligence gathering and social club as well as a force of good to combat any mages turned evil, demons, other dimensional beings, etc."

"Sorcerers are the big guns in the magic world. Folks like Dr. Fate and Dr. Strange; they would be OOPF Mages, Order Of Mages, First Class. Mages of Legend like Merlin and Shazam."

"Maybe I can find some of them and hook up and find out what they know and if they can help?"

ooc: I have that OmniConnection skill which I think I've never used since it costs HP to use or used only once. If I have enough HP, which I don't think I do, I would try to find someone who knows how to get in touch with OOP.

ooc: 200 miles ain't much for the speeds we can move. However, running the gauntlet of ADVENT and back and whatever else is happening....
unless we can think of another plan, that may be the route we will have to go. Caer Alwyn is probably the better bet since we've been there before 70 years ago, give or take a decade or two.

"Wait!" said one of the resistance soldiers. "You find a couple of capes who can help us, dangle some hope in front of us then what... they're leaving?"

Another piped up. "What sort of plan is that Yeoman?"

"Simmer down!" said the hero as everyone started to talk at once. "This guy is the real deal. What he does isn't the same as what I do. It's real. It's magic."

"if he says the best way forward is to get cross country and talk to the spirits, I'm not gonna argue. All it means is that we carry on as we are, fighting the good fight..."

"I'll stay. Help you fight. Until Prof Wynde gets back." offered Wonderman.

Prof Wynde turns. His friend provided the muscle, he provided the brains and mystical might. That was the way it had always been. Now though, his suggestion was that they split up. It made sense - Prof Wynde was faster than Wonderman but his air magic could carry both of them comfortably.

"I'd ordinarily go with my friend but this is something I don't understand. I'd just be going along to watch. Here, well, hopefully here I can make a difference. If Prof Wynde can get there fast and back soon he can find me. He can sense magic and my powers come from magic..."

"Hey! If he can sense magic, then all ADVENT need to do is find someone who can do the same and they'll find you as easy as he can!" said another soldier. All of a sudden the group burst into arguing again and Yeoman pulled Prof Wynde and Wonderman aside.

"Look, this lot are raggedy, strung out, on the edge of despair. They need hope. They need a win. I was going to suggest that me and Wonderman here go target an ADVENT watch tower and raid it for supplies, make some noise, beat up some ADVENT goons. Get these guys a win, something to raise their spirits. However if you think you need Wonderman along to help you summon these magic guys then... I say go with him. I'll tackle the watch tower on my own. I'll leave the call to you. Don't worry about these guys or the others in the resistance. I'll... I'll just have to handle them. Like I do most other things." he said with a tinge of bitterness and world weariness...

OOC Your call - Wonderman with you or stay and help Yeoman?

"If you think you can help here better than a jaunt to the countryside, then by all means, stay," Prof. Wynde said with a smile. "I'll try to bring back a postcard from my holiday for you. Maybe one of those slightly naugthy ones?"



ooc: something like this ...................

Wonderman shrugged. "I'll stay here and help Yeoman and the resistance out."

That seemed to draw some sighs of relief and Yeoman patted the hero on the shoulder. "We'll take all the help we can get! Better if the Prof were helping out too but he has bigger fish to fry."

Yeoman turned to Prof Wynde. "Watch yourself. The Capital is mostly a ruin so ADVENT built domes for the more 'privileged' to..."

"You mean those that sold humanity out?" asked one of the Resistance fighters.

Yeoman sighed. "Some might not have had a choice. When your family is at risk you'd be surprised at the ..."

"Not me!" barked another guy. "I lost all my family and friends! I have nothing left to fight for but my sense of duty!"

Others pitched in and Yeoman sighed, waving them off and stepping up to Prof Wynde.

"Watch yourself. Some of the Supers went over to the enemy side. They know about all the old places we'd hang out and watch them. maybe they watch Caer Alwyn too. Chances are some of the magic types know about the place and its history." said Yeoman.

Wonderman nodded. "As he said. Don't take chances. Find out what you need to know and get back."

OOC Fly high, low, at night/day, go straight there or a more roundabout route?

ooc: Starting to wish I had weather control so I could summon clouds to hide me in as I fly.

Since I only have telescopic vision and not any form of night vision, flying at night might be a bit too dangerous. I think going in early morning, just before the sun cracks the horizon would be best. Fewer people around that time of day and I would have the barely rising sun at my back, helping to blind any who might look up. Flying just below radar level. So I guess that's low but not too low, hilltop height?

Yeoman agrees with Prof Wynde that travelling by early morning might be best.

"The patrols expect us to act at night and we haven't disappointed them." he explains as he leads into the subway tunnels.

"Down here we are mostly left alone. ADVENT tried all sorts to spook us out at one time or another. They also tried caving the place in. We let them think they got us and sprung a nasty surprise a week later. That stopped them in their tracks when one of their factories was blown to kingdom come."

"Still have to move around though, stay mobile. Anything that can't be carried is left behind." he grunted.

People were sat about. Dirty, hungry, a look on their face suggesting hope had been lost. There was little in the way of 'Dunkirk spirit' about the citizens of London these days. Most had lived in a world where superheroes protected them. Now most of the superheroes were gone - dead or vanished.

"Hey Yeoman!" shouted a fellow from the shadows. He stepped forward. At some point he'd lost an eye and limped thanks to missing the lower portion of his right leg.

"Hey, Granville! Hey man, still alive I see?" quipped Yeoman.

"Sure man! This? Tis but a scratch!" he laughed. "You scrag some tin cans today? Give it what for to th' Aliens?"

Yeoman shrugged. "Neverending battle my friend. So long as you and the others make it worth fighting for, I'll be out there, every day."

"You the man Yeoman. You all are... were..." he said, voice and smile trailing off.

"There were more of us." explained the hero. "Now, there's not so many. A group went out a week ago and we've heard nothing."

"Here." he said, pointing at a stained old mattress and some dirty sheets. "Not much to sleep on but we grab what we can from the ruins and drag it down here. get some kip Prof. Will wake you pre dawn and make sure you get off in one piece."

=========

A light hand woke the Prof from his slumber and he smiled as Wonderman helped him up. "Don't get yourself killed!" ordered the hero. "You're my guide in this 'strange new world' and I'd be lost without you!"

Minutes later Yeoman joined them. He looked tired. "No sleep last night. Got word another place was being hit so had to go help out. When I got there it was too late." He didn't elaborate.

Soon the trio picked their way through the tunnels, around the sleeping forms and rubble/rubbish and up a ladder to a manhole cover on the street above eventually.

Yeoman hissed. "It's clear. Come on!"

With the heroes safe in the shadows of a ruined building the first glimmers of dawn started to peak on the horizon. "Be careful. If it's a dead end, get back here as quick as you can. I think we may have to move the resistance cell after the hit last night." Both shook hands with Prof Wynde and dashed off, sticking to shadows.

The hero picked his way through the streets and raised himself to rooftop level. London was in ruins, worse than the blitz.

A sobering sight he saw the odd distant coil of smoke reaching into the sky and sighed. He still had a job to do.

=========

Following the river for a way he darted off and flew over parks and overgrown woodland, staying low.

Prof Wynde had seen distant aircraft swooping about. High in the sky some miles away was what looked like a flying saucer. Even from this distance it looked big. Up close it must measure a mile across. He shuddered.

Picking up speed he got his bearings, picked a direction and flew over rows of partially shattered housing, seeing occasional movement as people fearfully picked through rubble looking for food.

=========

The home counties had fared little better. Towns and villages were ruins, cooled down now from whatever had blasted them.

Cars clogged roads, the motorways were liked parking lots with nose to tail traffic blocking them. Plants had started to fight back against the concrete excess of man and would in the next few years start to reclaim the land.

He was making good progress until he glanced back and saw the gleam of something silver in the distance behind him.

And closing fast! His telescopic vision revealed several somethings. Half a dozen in fact! They were humanoids in armour on what looked to be something similar to a flying motorbike - sleek, fast, enclosed and blasting through the sky like rockets after him! There were half a dozen of them, hot on his trail!

He'd been careful, and gotten miles without being picked up but something - a chance spotting, some kind of aerial scan, radar, heat sensors, could be anything really - had picked up a fast moving human and ADVENT had sent its goons out to investigate!

Prof. Wynde heads up into the nearest cloud and once inside it, he disperses his body into the air as much as it goes. It's not much right now but it may help him if they are using some kind of radar or laser sighting system. He listens and waits. Once he sees one or more them, he will blast them with his magic blast since they have harder time defending against that then his air blasts.

ooc: Not sure what the minuses are for multi-attack 2 vs 4 v6. Letting them get close enough that with telescopic I don't take range penalties. Go for Crit blow and multi-attack on 2 to 4 of them, depending the on minuses, only want to take the minimal minus this first round.



NOTE TO SELF - Get dispersal and Obscure raised next time we get end of adventure bonuses.

Prof. Wynde heads up into the nearest cloud and once inside it, he disperses his body into the air as much as it goes.  It's not much right now but it may help him if they are using some kind of radar or laser sighting system.  He listens and waits.  Once he sees one or more them, he will blast them with his magic blast since they have harder time defending against that then his air blasts.

ooc: Not sure what the minuses are for multi-attack 2 vs 4 v6.  Letting them get close enough that with telescopic I don't take range penalties.  Go for Crit blow and multi-attack on 2 to 4 of them, depending the on minuses, only want to take the minimal minus this first round.



NOTE TO SELF - Get dispersal and Obscure raised next time we get end of adventure bonuses.

The ADVENT goons on sky cycles zip across the landscape.

The silvery devices look like the kind of thing that land speed record holders would use - all sleek and bullet like to cut through the air and break the sound barrier. However when they turned they seemed to swell and spread somehow, slowing down dramatically as vents and air brakes appear on the smooth shape and when the throttle is opened the 'sky cycle' becomes sleek and smooth again as it rockets forward.

He hasn't time to marvel about the technology though!

Prof Wynde becomes insubstantial though he had to admit it was more like a mist form. Ordinary people wouldn't be able to touch him though the more dense types and materials would. Still, it was a start and his fledgling magical abilities grew in stature the more they were tested and practised with.

Swooping up to a cloud he hoped to be indistinguishable from it.

He was denser than any cloud though so wasn't too surprised after several of the sleek bullet shapes swooped about (with the bodywork flaring and braking the speed to allow turns) and a pair flew up in his general direction. His eyesight was magically enhanced bit even so he might struggle to hit all of them in one go. These two guys though... he formed the words in his mind, shaped with his fingers and imagined a rune in his minds eye. That rune flared out like a match had been put to it and green magical energy formed around his hands then lanced out like a beam as he scythed at the two approaching speeding 'sky bikes'...

OOC The others are 9-10APs away (but travel at 9-10APs so can be there in moments) but the two guys approaching are at 5APs when Prof Wynde can best catch both.

Magic Blast 11
Multi Attack on 2
Critical Blow

AV11 + 4D Accuracy + 6d12+0 8,11,3,10,7,3+0 = 6 DOUBLE (this is really tricky. I think the 11+10 is better, you'll have to let me go which you would have gone with) plus 2d12+0 6,10+0 = 22 (33 total) (the double, just) vs

OV6 + Multi 2 + Crit Blow 4 + range 2 (After Telescopic vision 3) + 2d12+0 11,11+0 = 22 DOUBLE plus 2d12+0
10,2+0 = 34 (48)

Missed!

The range was too great, their speed wasn't a factor with the magic - he was simply aiming at their spirits. 'Simply', ha! Physics didn't play a part where magic was involved and his powerful soul searing blasts.

He had alerted them to his exact location by lighting up a cloud green though!

One raced in, guns blazing at the cloud in general...

OOC AV8 + Weaponry 2D + 4d12+0 2,10,7,7+0 = 14 DOUBLE plus 2d12+0 11,2+0 = 27 (35) vs
OV8 + range 5 + Cloud Cover 4 + 2d12+0 8,12+0 = 20 (37)

Missed! JUST!

Blue energy blasted out from the guns in the front of the sleek one/two man sky cycle and Prof Wynde gaped, dancing this way and that in the air to dodge them! The cloud he was in sizzled with swirling gaps appearing and he knew that if they landed those blasts would hurt!

OOC Prof Wynde wins initiative. The Sky Cyclists are alerted and you will have six swooping about you next round! Your Air speed is Air Control less weight but you could hope for a higher roll and really put the afterburners on to lose these guys or you could slug it out, your call!