Project GI Joe Issue 1 - The Adventure Begins

ooc: I will start posting the intro over the next few days. Then we're off to see if this works or not.

Issue #1 - The Adventure Begins


Location:  Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in a heavily wooded, seldom used corner.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Campbell
Time:  Now [20xx - not sure what year we are in with our current timeline in game] - just a few weeks after the ending events of Ultrahumans Issue #3.

A even dozen colorfully clad and masked men and boy stand around in a briefing room looking over each others outfits and wondering ...

Moments later the door to the briefing room opens by the guard outside the door and yells, "Attention!".  Everyone snaps to attention as a large metal skin man in camies with one star on each tab enters, followed by some obvious aides and a few possible scientists and medical personnel.




"At ease," the general snaps as he enters and approaches the podium.  Everyone snaps to the position of "At Ease" and waits, eyes front.  He pulls out a cigar and lights it as he looks over the collection of folks in costume.  "Be seated," he finally says roughly.  An aide coughs politely and then points to the "No Smoking" sign on the wall as everyone takes their seats.  The General snarls at him and finishes lighting his cigar.

"Right," he says after taking a big pull and letting out a cloud of smoke, "I'm your commander, General Steele, and as you can see one of the successful products of Project G.I. Joe as are all of you."

The boy in short pants softly mumbles and shifts uncomfortably.

"We 13 are the first in what is hoped to be a new wave of super-powered fighting men.  But considering how many tens of thousands of service men and women who were tested and volunteered for the project, I pretty sure it is going to be a very very small wave of new heroes."

While he is talking, a couple of aides are setting up a projector for a Power Point presentation.

"The original Project G.I. Joe was started back in 1939," he says as they finish setting up and another aide starts clicking on the opening page, showing the original Project G.I. Joe logo from that year.  "It's purpose was to make super-soldiers.  It became a priority operation after the appearance of various superpowered folks like Wonderman, Zatara, Blue Beetle and Superman and the Nazis' attack on Poland and the start of World War 2.  Project G.I. Joe was actually the umbrella of a number of smaller projects all working on making super-soldiers or super-weapons at that time."




"Captain America was our first and biggest success at that time," he continues.  "We had very few after that.  And the few we did have didn't last more than a year for various reasons I won't get into.  A number of men and women on their own figured out how to give themselves powers during this time and became what was called at the time "costumed heroes" or "costumed crimefighters" or, later, " superheroes", but they did not bother to come forward and tell the government how they gained thier superpowers.  Some of them were magical in origin we learned later.  We still don't really understand magic so we don't have much hope there for gaining new heroes but we keep trying."

"Over the decades other successes occured and spectacular failuers but never in big numbers."

[Shot of the 50s Shield, Super Green Beret, the Hulk, Captain Atom and a small group of others flash on the screen.








"Part of the problem was that, as we learned later, many soldiers and sailors were unwitting subjects to the various sub-projects that came under the umbrella of Project G.I. Joe.  These were totally unethical and not properly supervised and were hidden under the guise of "national security".  This information will be breaking to the general public in a few years due to the Freedom of Information Act and the automatic downgrading of classified documents after 50 years  and I imagine quite a storm of lawsuits will be generated as a result. That is not for public consumption, men, you keep your mouths shut about that or find yourself in Leavenworth Prison for the rest of your lives!"

He glares at each to make sure they understand that order.

"Now, as to why the Project was restarted after it was officially ended in 1975, is pretty evident.  We were invaded by the Advent.  We were invaded, whatever else the talking heads may try to call it.  And there are reports, not sure yet how valid those reports are, that have the Advent helping out with the Super Max prison break where we lost a number of our superheroes and a number were seriously imjured and will need months to recover.  And this latest fiasco with Atomic Champion, where even more superheroes were seriously injured or killed, along with the President being kidnapped.  And all these supervillains running wild all over the country.  Congress greenlit the restart of the Project for that reason and we 13 are the first results.  We are to help replace the lost and injured heroes and rebuild America's confidence in itself and perhaps be the first wave to fight Advent if and when the President feels she has enough proof to go to Congress and ask for a declaration of War against them and all the nations siding with them.  In other words, the start of World War 3."

"Now the project is in an unusual postion.  While we are military folks of various branches, we will not be acting as military but as superheroes.  This is the biggest reason why you will not be given any military weapons to use while out there, it is illegal for the military to fire upon America citizens without the DIRECT authorization of the President and if the President DOES authorize its use and Congress disapproves, they can impeach and remove the President from office.  And most supervillains we will face ARE American citizens, so remember that."

He stares at the Fin.  "You better not be using that to try to kill folks," he says softly, "or you will be facing a court-martial.  Even if a sword is old fashion and no longer used except for formal occasions in the military, it can be considered a military action by some folks.  Remember that.  Not everyone in the military and government is behind us and will use any excuse to harm us all."


*MORE LATER*

Issue 1 - Part 2

"One of the other things we are trying to figure out is ... AFTER ...."

"AFTER Advent is gone.  AFTER all the super-criminals are rounded up.  AFTER you leave the service," General Steele continues.  "When the original Project G.I. Joe was formed prior to World War 2, there was no consideration for what would happen with super-powered servicemen.  Luckily or unluckily, Captain America disappeared during a mission only to be found frozen in ice decades later, so the Government didn't have to think of what they would have to do with him after the war."  

"Maybe he would have made a career as a super-soldier.  Maybe he would have gone civilian and fought crime as a costumed crimefighter.  Maybe he would have done like countless other servicemen and gone back to civilian life and got a job and hung up his shield for good.  Who knows?"

"But we are smart enough to think about that ... now.  As such, the people in this room who came in with me and just a few other highly cleared folks know your identities or your faces.  Which is why you will always be wearing your costume while on base on duty and using the superhero names you have come up with.  So we are going to keep your identities a secret so you can go back to civilian life, when you decide to, without having to worry about super-criminals coming after any family you might have or will have in the future."

"When you want to go on leave or you need a cover story, you can switch to your regular military identities as you have all been assigned to the newly established Inter-Service Support Education and Research unit or ISSER, which is pronounced "Is Sir," here on this base.  It's public function is cross-training and education for the various services, basically online and mail order coursework so troops can work on better educating themselves with their MOS, credit for promotion, work on getting new MOSs and college credit for a degree and other such things."  

"It is commanded by Major Glenn Talbot, Army, who has been dialed in on your "real" job, and he will be giving you "special assignments" across the country to keep your absences justified.  Your regular military identities will have quarters there just as your "hero" identities will have quarters here.  You will bounce between the quarters as needed.  He is not here today since he have "nothing" to do with this Project.  So we are doing our best to make sure that there are no leaks on base that the super-soldiers in this room are the same folks as those working at ISSER."

He looks around at everyone and takes a big puff on his cigar.

"We had hoped we could make "supers" in the Captain Atom to Superman range.  Or even more powerful than that.  So far, it hasn't worked out yet.  All of us seem to be in the Captain America to Spider-Man to Thing range in powers and strength.  Which mean we won't be having members joining the Ultrahumans any time soon.  Nor will we be able to go after the really big villains who are currently tearing apart our country.  We will have to leave that to the Ultrahumans and other powerful civilian superhero teams."

"So, we are working on where to place all of you across the country.  Plans are still a bit fluid on that.  Some want to keep this unit as one single super-squad here with rapid deployment where needed.  Some think you should go solo and be assigned a city or territory to protect and given a "secret ID" to work out from like a regular superhero.  Some think, since you are not overly powerful, that we should put you into fire teams of 3 or 4 and move you as needed but still based here."

"Currently, we are planning on the last option.  You are going to be broken up into 4 3-man teams, assigned the same quarters, and working missions together.  You will be sent on missions as neede and where needed.  There may and probably will be some transfers between teams as we get a better handle on your powers and making sure you have sufficient variety in those powers for any missions you do."

An aide flicks to a new screen showing the following as General Steele speaks about them.

"Your current mission parameters are:
1.  Regain the trust of the civilian population in superheroes through good deeds, photo ops, speeches, interviews etc..
2.  Capture as many supervillains as you can and help fight general crime and disorder.
3.  Rescue operations.
4.  Do not hide that you are super-soldiers created by Project G.I. Joe.  Encourage others to enlist and volunteer to try to out for the program.  Again, DO NOT mention the dark history of the original Project G.I. Joe or prison it is for you.  But mentioning Captain America as its first success would be considered a win for us while doing such interviews or speaking casually with civilians.
5. Help eliminate Fear and bring Hope and Pride back to this country.
6.  Act as Moral, Patriotic Superheroes should."

"Now, I want each of you to stand in turn and give us your "superhero" name and a bit about what you can do and limitations about your powers that you know about.  I'll go first."

"I call myself General Steele because that is both my last name and my real rank.  As you can see, I have a metallic body and it comes with great strength and seem to be mostly bulletproof if not more than that.  Don't know about you but I'm not planning on standing in front of a heavy machinegun and let them fire armor piercing rounds at me to see how bulletproof I am."

He gives a dry chuckle at that.

"Hope none of you are stupid enough to volunteer for that kind of testing."  

"I cannot change out of this form so I basically have no civilian identity anymore.  I'm also career Army and have another 5 years minimum of service before I even think about retiring.  And I'll probably stay in longer than that."

[OOC:  I haven't created these characters yet, just set up an idea of their abilities, look and names.  All of them have the same build rules you used, except the general.  So if Paul gets bored in his COPIOUS slack time and wants to punch them up on his hero program, feel free.  This guy is basically Colossus from the X-Men except he cannot change his form.]

OOC2:  I'm going to present the NPC heroes first.  After that, drop in your character name and description



"Let's start with you," he says, pointing to a boy in blue shorts.

Part 3

The boy, who seems to be just about old enough to be a freshman in High School [or around 14 for those who don't have 4 year high schools], stands up with a look of disgust on his masked face.

"I'm called American Youth," he says with his voice slightly cracking from puberty.  A few snickers occur at that and a number of smiles hidden behind hands trying to pretend that they are coughing.

He's wearing some kind of variation of old style short pants Japanese sailor suit like you see in the monster movies from the 60s.



He turns around and snarls at them, which actually looks kind of cute on his young masked face.

"I got my powers through magic.  My powers, my "costume"," he looks disgusted at his outfit, "and even my name, through magic.  No details but it was more of a curse than a wish fulfillment or wish granting thing.  I was a Marine DI [Drill Instructor] before it occurred.  I can change back into my regular Marine body by saying a magic phrase.  And "NO!" I'm not going to tell you what it is!"

"American Youth, and all of you will call yourselves and each other by your "superhero" names, will be in charge of general fitness and training for the unit when we are training on base," General Steele says dryly, as American Youth's eyes widen in pleasure and he looks over at everyone who had snickered at his changing voice.

"I can fly, have super-strength and can run pretty fast and seem to be fairly invulnerable," he says as he eyes those he is planning "extra special" training when he gets the chance.  It's not revenge, it's training!

[OOC:  He is basically the original Captain Marvel but age reversed.]

"Next," the General snaps out.

A blonde haired man in a blue costume with white star motif and red beret stands up next.



"I call myself Americommando after a famous World War Two costumed civilian superhero who went undercover in Nazi Germany at the Government's request," he says.  "I do not seem to have any "superpowers" though my skills and physical abilities have become pretty much maxed out for a human.  Probably there are very few non-powered people on the planet who can beat me in hand combat.  Weapon skills.  Ninja Skills.  A number of knowledges I didn't' have before but learned since the change.  So in a sense, I guess I'm the weakest one here."

ooc:  Basically rankings in Martial Arts, Weaponry, Military Science, Thief, Vehicles, Acrobatics, Detective and Animal Handling.  Physical abilities are at or near normal human max.  Plus some knowledge/scholar advantages.  

Part 4 --

"Next," snaps General Steele and the man next to Americommando stands up.  He is basically a human bird.



"The process used on me turned me into some kind of human/bird hybrid and I cannot change back and no one knows how to do so, apparently," the man says calmly.  "So I've decided to call myself Bald Eagle as I now look so much like one.  I can fly, thankfully what with this form, have various enhanced vision type senses, and am pretty strong.  The claws on my feet seem even stronger than the rest of me.  I can rip through thick sheets of steel with them.  I also seem to be able to negate gravity to a degree on anything my feet claws hook onto so I can actually fly away with a tank in my feet claws.  Not bulletproof, by the way.  But seem to be able to dodge way better than I did before the process."


ooc:  Flight with the disad of the wings needed and can be entangled.  Vision - Basically as many of the vision powers I can afford, going with telescopic, ultraviolet, infrared and perhaps microscopic.  And perhaps some sort of paralysis vision as a special surprise attack he will develop further later on.  Gravity Decrease when clutched in his claws/no range.  Claws or some kind of super-strength only useable by his feet, something like that.

"Next!"

A pudgy man stands up.  He clearly seems totally unfit for the military life but closer look shows that the "fat" on his body doesn't seem to be sagging.

"Hello.  I'm Space Force," he says cheerfully, "though I can't fit in a capsule or seat on a spaceplane with the way I currently look now."



ooc:  Turn the black of the above outfit into red and add a red mask for a patriotic themed costume.

"I haven't really decided on a name yet.  I'm deciding between Rebound, Bounce Back and Specialist Bounce.  Maybe I can get a consensus as to a name?  I can grow a bit and stretch and shape my body into a round shape," he says while demonstrating his powers.  "I can then ... bounce like a rubber ball.  I also seem to be somewhat bulletproof when in this form.  I've gotten really good at bouncing in different directions so I can attack small close groups of men at the same time."

ooc:  He's Bouncing Boy from the Legion of Super-Heroes.  Writeups.org has one on him.  Have to cost it out minus the Legion gear and see if he can be made here.

And that's all for tonight.  More tomorrow evening, hopefully.

The next man stands up without being ordered to.  He's in a blue skintight outfit with blue shorts and a pair of swim googles.  Yellow fins on his boots and gloves.

"I'm in the Coast Guard and since I received aquatic based powers that means I'm still best for guarding our shores, I'm calling myself Coast Guard," he says with a grin.  "I can swim fast, breath, see and move underwater with ease.  I much stronger now.  Can run faster and jump higher than I did before the process I went under.  Don't know if I'm bulletproof or not and I don't really want to try cutting or shooting myself to find out.  I figure you can use me for dealing with smugglers, drug runners, illegal aliens sneaking into the country and search & rescue at sea."

"And no, I can't talk or command fish.  I'm not Aquaman.  I guess I can also be useful for doing any underwater scouting of bases and such some villains or this Advent might have near our shores."

Looking over at the Fin, "I'm guessing I'm not the only one with aquatic based powers so maybe we will team up?"



"Possibly," General Steele grunts, "or we may keep you apart as your powers might be too similar and we have two coasts that need watching, not counting the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River."

He looks at the next man who stands.

The man is dressed like a cartoon hillbilly plus a mask.  He's also 8' tall and well muscled.

"Ah'm going to call myself Hillybilly," he says with a southern hillbilly accent.  "Somehow ah was turned into the spitting image of an old comic strip character called "Li'l Abner" but ah thought there might be some kind of legal problems iffin ah called myself that.  My granddad and great-granddad were big fans of that comic strip and would cut out the strips from the paper and paste them into scrap books and read and re-read them over and over again.  Even bought the comic books that came out too.  My dad, uncles and aunts all read them too and we kids did the same when we visited granddad."

"As to powers, Ah'm strong, somewhat invulnerable, can heal somewhat quickly, and much taller than ah was before.  Don't yet seem to be able to shrink back down to my normal size.  Ah kin run fast but not superfast and jump far but not too far.  I'm in the Air Force, by the way.  Ah was raised not too far from here either, so I got kin all over.  You guys behave yoreselves and ah might introduce ya to mah female unmarried kinfolk if we get the chance.  The purty ones that is.  Course, they's all purty to my mind."

He has a big grin on his face as he finishes up and looks to see if he has any takers on the introductions.







General Steele harrumphs at that but doesn't say anything. Maybe he is single or divorced and ready?

A bare chested man with long horns stands up. Either those horns are growing out of his head or are part of his cowl that also covers his shoulders. He has a strange beard as well and either some kind of hairy hands or they are hairy gloves.

"I'm calling myself Texas Longhorn," he says, while doing some body builder poses. "I'm Army. I'm a bit stronger and tougher than I was before. Can heal up quicker than normal. And I got superspeed. Pretty low level superspeed but I can outrun a high performance car. I can also generate lightning bolts from my horns. My horns can also move a bit and are sharp enough to pierce metal."

[well, that answered that question. They are part of his head.]

His horns then move up and down and side to side, even twist around one another. He then produces an arc of lightning between his horns. He then sits back down.

ooc: I guess we would call his horns Extra Limbs, two of them. They could easily be used to defend and attack when he's not firing lightning bolts from them.

The next man to stand up is wearing a yellow and black costume in a wasp or yellowjacket motif with insignia.

"I'm going to call myself Yellow Wasp since there is a hero running around already calling himself Yellowjacket, when he isn't calling himself Ant-Man or Giant Man or whatever else he calls himself."



"I can fly and can command and communicate with all sorts of flying stinging insects, wasps, bees, yellowjackets, hornets and the like. Also can generate an insect-like venom that I can use by touching an opponent. I can also see pretty much all around me, due to these compound eyes of mine. Yes, they and the antenna are real. The antenna allow me to communicate and control my stinging friends."

ooc: So he basically has Ant-Man's ant controlling abilities but for flying stinger-type insects. He has Poison Touch which is his venom-sting.

Only 4 men remain to speak.

ooc:  I have two more NPC heroes to introduce but I haven't yet created their costumes or totally defined their powers.  So if you want to pop up and do your characters in the menatime, go ahead.  It will probably take me a day or so to get these other two ready, if not longer.  Depends on RL stuff.

I have 3 NPC heroes I was thinking of months ago so two of them will probably be the remaining two heroes, unless I come up with another idea for a hero.

Gecko-Man - abilities of different Geckos - Gliding, Clinging, Night Vision, Sonic Cry, Chameleon
                                                                                                              https://www.treehugger.com/surprising-facts-about-geckos-4864284
Nite-Owl - Darkness, Gliding, Night Vision, Martial Arts
Omniman - Molecular Chameleon  - this may be too expensive to do.

If you got a good idea for the two remaining NPC heroes, let me know.

Issue 1 Continue

The 9th man of the 12 stands up.  He is wearing a long black robe and a round one-way, reflective, glass-like helmet over his head.  {A helmet like Mysterio would wear}  He has on black gloves and shoes and it is assume black clothes under his robe.

"I'm the American Spirit," he says, his voice echoing a bit through his helmet.  "I can turn invisible, can disperse my atoms, fly and can produce a small amount of fog which helps hide my dispersed form.  I'm almost as a good a martial artist and thief as Americommando."









ooc: His design is based off the vigilante/villain pulp character called the Moon Man.  Interesting series if you ever want to read something different in pulp characters.

The 10th man stands up. He wears a gray bodysuit with a red cape that attaches at his wrists. He has a bird-like cowl.












"I'm calling myself The Owl," he tells everyone. "There were a couple of other men who called themselves that back in the 40s and 60s but I thought the name was appropriate for me so I adopted the name and the costume they wore. I can see in the dark. I can fly and glide silently. I can create a field of intense darkness, either around me or in front of me that I can see out of. I just barely qualify as having super-strength [7]. I can heal from wounds fairly quickly [2-4 ranks of regen]. I'm better than average when it comes to hand combat [3 Martial Arts to make 10 with strength]. As I was originally a Master-at-Arms [ie Shore Patrol which no longer exists by that name or Navy Police], I'm also a trained detective as well as having learned a number of skills top crooks use [Thief Skills]. I'm pretty acrobatic as well."

He sits down and General Steele looks over at the last two men in front of him. Will the Fin or the Patriot stand up first? Stay Tuned! Same Hero Time! Same Hero Channel!

ooc: sorry, been re-watching the 60s Batman TV show on Amazon Prime. Kind of affected me there.

OOC Phew! Took a while to get through that! My plans to spend more time at the computer today were somewhat scuppered with an urgent need to fix the toilet. I suppose I can add it to the list of unplanned skill sets I've had to pick up since buying this house.... Anyway, let's see where I can get to with updates and stuff.

PATRIOT

"I'm Patriot." said the man in the mostly blue costume, standing up and feeling a little self conscious. "I was kind of torn which direction I wanted to go in when I signed up for the forces. I thought... a medic of some kind. Turns out I'm not a bad shot either, one of the best in my division. The reason for that came about after more testing. One of my ancestors was involved in one of the World War II projects to grant superhuman abilities."

He shrugged. "Seems that they skipped several generations. I'm strong, reasonably durable and faster than before. My eyes are better. I mean, sure, they would good before but now? I can stare at something and see it up real close. There's something else. I don't know how all this works but it ... it feels like I have some kind of energy swirling around inside. I can stare even harder, really intense at something and ... energy blasts out. I haven't practised with it too much but I can spread the energy around my body. It makes me... I guess... denser? Stronger? Tougher? Downside is that I tend to sink into the floor and crack sidewalks when I do it so need to be careful."

"You know the best part of the powers? All the things I can do? I can fly. The sense of ... Freedom I guess, it's just amazing. I don't know how it works, I just jump and stare where I want to go and gravity seems to go 'sure, go right ahead' and that's it. No wings, no jets... I can float, fly, it's..." he grins, and throws up his hands. "Every time I fly I get the thrill. The chance to get somewhere and help someone, give something back to my country."

He shrugged, boyish grin on his face. "I'm glad to be able to serve in whatever way possible, help out how I can. We've been through a wringer and come out bruised, but we don't give up. We fight back. We're the greatest country on Earth and we lead the way, shining a light for others to follow! ADVENT may think we're down and ready to be counted out but I say NO WAY! We'll drag ourselves up and keep fighting until we win!" he finished with a raised fist.

Somewhat self conscious he cleared his throat and sat down, muttering "Um thanks for listening."

OOC For Bouncing boy guy how about REBOUND?

I'll find some time over the next day or so to churn out some characters. What sort of costs are we looking at? 750HP ish and no more than say, 50HP in wekanesses? More? Less? Or just stat them up and no worries about costs? The guy with skills will be by far the most expensive to stat up. Back in the day (this was with 1st edition so you can imagine how long ago it was) I statted up a Legion of Super Heroes knockoff team, dozens of them. One of them - 'Ultimate Man' - had max human stats and skills and had to be loaded with weaknesses and disadvantages to get anything like.

For everyone else it's pretty easy to knock down costs. Gotta love the ol' power burnout!

Fin stands. "Thank you Patriot, for explaining your background. I'm the Fin and I was feeling a bit out of place. My powers come from my Neptunian and Atlantean heritage, plus my maternal grandmother was psychic. It sounds like the Coast Guard and I have the same power set. I have twenty times normal human strength and am able to survive the crushing pressures of the ocean's depths. I can breathe air or water, and can swim as fast as a torpedo. However, if not immersed in water, my strength gradually weakens. I tried the treatments to see if I could overcome this need, but to no avail."

He turns to General Steele. "Don't worry about the sword. It's just for cutting ropes or chains, like anchor lines if necessary. Plus, there are some things like jellyfish and the spotfin lionfish that are dangerous to touch."

The man in the gray sharksuit with red embellishments turns back to the group. "My father was...is the original Fin. He's got a magic sword that slows his aging. Mine is just a gift. He thought I should learn fencing in addition to sailing. I don't talk to fish either, but that'd be as far as I'd reveal any of our secrets. Being that there are very few like me on the surface, I'm a pretty solitary person. And as for wanting to meet any of Hillybilly's sisters, they'd have to be interested in wearing a bathing suit for extended periods to date me. I'm willing to give it a shot though, as well as team up with a couple others. Not being a loner all the time is one reason I agreed to come here. Some of you with even less conventional looks than me, do make me feel guilty about feeling sorry for myself though. I can hide what I am for an hour or so. Not everyone is so lucky." He looks apologetically at Bald Eagle, the round guy, Texas Longhorn and Yellow Wasp.

"Sorry to be such a downer. I hope whoever follows me can brighten the mood."

The Fin then sits down and drinks a glass of water.

General Steele nods as the Fin sits down. "Good to know you have to stay near water, Fin. Guess I won't be sending you to Las Vegas or Kansas. Now then, Captain Albright here will give you a tour of the facilities, get you some chow, explain our security procedures and then head you over to the barracks where you will find your rooming assignments posted. There you will find some briefing papers you will need to read today. You will have the evening off and then American Youth will lead you through morning PT tomorrow. By then, we should have some assignments to hand out."

He nods to an Army captain who steps forward.

"Ah-TEN-HUT!" he snaps out, everyone jumps to their feet and comes to attention. He snaps a salute to the general who returns it and leaves the briefing room.

"At Ease!" he says after the general leaves. "Follow me and you will get the Nickle tour."

He then leads the 12 out and shows you around to the remote part of the base you will be operating out of.

ooc: You guys have an idea who you want for your roommate/teammate yet? I believe we have one vote for American Youth. I figured to let you choose rather than pick one myself. Once you decide, we will move into the meat of the adventure. Oh, and to clarify things, while I am running the story, Paul will be running the dice rolling since its his universe and we are using his rules for the game and he knows it best. So while he is a player here, he is also assistant GM.

Ensign Dan Noble takes note of where the showers and garden hoses are. He's spent enough time on the surface to be used to having human strength most of the time. It's also how his father was raised, before the submarine accident, when Lieutenant Peter Noble discovered his powers. However, this GI JOE project was designed to face superpowered foes. So he may need to power up quick if they are ever under attack. He's glad there are some on the team without super strength, because he won't have it as long as he's on the surface. Both Dan's parents are aquatic race halfbreeds, which makes him sort of a halfbreed himself, being 1/4 Neptunian, 1/4 Atlantean, 1/4 Caucasian and 1/4 Asian. Maybe Dan should have named himself "The Mutt".

PATRIOT

Somewhat self conscious about wearing a mask and a costume, Patriot is quiet and takes things in, listening to the others chat about what they expect will happen or where they will be posted.

"Hey." he says to Fin. "Patriot." he offers his hand.

"How do you get on with, I dunno, snow? I mean, it's water right? Does that help with dehydration and such? Certain seasons of the year could really work out for you if that's the case." he offered.

"I guess I got lucky. You see on the news, heard on the grapevine about that 'goldilocks zone' of super powers - not too bad, not too good. Mine seem to have dropped into that but I have to be careful about using that energy I have into increasing my density. For some reason it doesn't seem to slow me down but its means just picking stuff up or nudging into something causes problems. Should see the dents I put into cars." he says, cringing. "Not to mention the sidewalk. Man, it looked like an earthquake had been through when I was enjoying myself and testing things out then looked behind me at the mess."

He shook his head. "Something I'll get used to. I tried to go down the gym and see how much I could lift but all the 'roided out jocks were taking up most of the machines so started on the heavy stuff and hoped to, I dunno, get some baseline. Broke it. Like, bent the bar, left hand prints in the metal, cracked the floor. Weird thing was the weight didn't even feel like anything, like... picking up a bag of sugar but it's over a quarter ton."

"Didn't go back there. All the funny looks, mutterings. Glad the place was old school and not camera'd up. Myself I don't mind about so much but my family and friends... they don't deserve to be a target for what I can do." he said, pausing for a moment. "I wonder how they get on, you know, the guys who been doin' this a while. Knowin' that some bad guy could snatch their... wife, kids, mom n pop, use them as leverage, as hostages to get them to pull bank jobs an' stuff. Or whatever it is they do these days. Something else we gotta worry about."

"Oh man, sorry for talking 'bout this. I'll shut up now. I guess, there's no one else I can talk about this stuff to. Less people that know, the better, right?"

ACTIONS

Go with the flow.

Maybe, I dunno. Perception check to see if anything of interest pops out in the base? Any other super soldier programs, exo skeletons, zappy weapons and the like? Is it like a version of Marvels SHIELD? Best of the best recruited to stop the threats no one else can handle with a budget 'off the books' so to speak?

Happy enough to go with the Asst GM stuff. The only thing I'd need to know is the Opposing/Resistance values of tasks and for bad guys their stats unless I just churn out the rolls and you interpret them against what you have down. I'm sort of detached as a player anyway because I've been GMing for so long (oh, forty years or saw give or take a few years off for real life stuff) so tend to run characters I play as if I were GMing an NPC anyway. That probably doesn't make sense, but it means I don't get too attached to characters these days.

ooc: Did you have a choice for a roommate/teammate? One vote American Youth.
More later, not feeling well right now. Stomach issues.

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc:  Did you have a choice for a roommate/teammate?  One vote American Youth.
More later, not feeling well right now.  Stomach issues.

Sorry to hear about your tummy issues. Too much Holiday Cheer?

"No worries, Patriot. I knew about my potential powers since birth, like my mom, but can imagine it being a lot to take in if I suddenly discovered I had extraordinary abilities, like dad. As for snow, it'll help I'm sure. With you around, I don't need to be super strong all the time. You can handle that department. I imagine you'd just sink to the bottom of the ocean if you tried increasing your density in water though. But you did say it doesn't slow you down. Have you tried swimming yet?"

Does the base have a pool? Maybe an Olympic size pool with lanes for doing laps?

The camp was isolated in the mountains, surrounded by woods, purposely remote within the huge Army base.  There was one main heavily guarded paved road in and out of the area.  The barracks held two main corridors with rooms with 4 single beds per room with small closets and room for foot lockers down each corridor.  Showers and the head down one end of the corridors and a closed guarded, both inside and out, entrance to the building the other end.  The mess hall was straight across on the east side of the Quad, where troops would fall out in formation and practice drills and do calisthenics, from the barracks.  A large well stock gym stood north across the Quad designed for those with super-strength.  To the south of the Quad was a huge swimming pool with sloping depths up to 75'.  Probably could be used for scuba training and other water activities.  Various height diving boards ringed the deeper end.  Most but not all personnel were also masked though in regular uniforms to help prevent security issues.












Beyond the Quad an infirmary was pointed out designed for those with the more common powers.  A more special experimental infirmary with the latest experimental equipment was being built.   The Armory.  The marching and running trails.  Classrooms and briefing rooms.  A few other miscellaneous buildings.  A number of other obstacle courses designed to challenge those with superpowers. Other places were mentioned but no shown.  The regular troops who guarded this place and other support personnel were housed further away.  They had to have special clearances to be assigned to this section of the base.

There were no other emminities like the PX [Post Exchange], movie theaters, pool halls, barber shops, etc.  Those were to be accessed by the heroes switching to their other secret military IDs and heading back to the main portions of the base.  Those unable to change back to their "normal" forms would have access to those areas as well but would have to make sure not to associate with the other heroes in their secret IDs so as not to give hints who might also be in the Project.

After a tour and an evening meal, the newly christened heroes had their first meal at the mess hall, pretty good food actually.  It was up there with a good family restaurant.  Then marched back to their new barracks.  Upon arrival, rooms were allotted to the men, 3-men to a room.  It seems, it was decided during their tour, that the heroes would operate in 4 teams of 3 and would live with each other.  There were a number of empty rooms but those were planned for the, hopefully, increase of new super-soldiers who would join them someday.  There were two large rec rooms at each end of the main entrance where off-duty personnel could gather and relax.  There were a number of different size chairs and couches to accommodate any hero larger or smaller than normal.

The Patriot, The Fin and American Youth found themselves sharing a room together, meaning that was their new team for fighting crime.  Two single beds lay along the north wall and two along the west wall with room between the beds were spaces for their footlockers.  The door was on the south wall.  The east wall held 4 small closets with slots for name plates to identify their owners.  There was also 4 small desks at each corner of the somewhat large room.  It was very much like a dorm room would be in college designed to hold 4.  On one of the desks was the heroes' name plates, allowing them to choose which closet they wanted to claim.  Their footlockers lay on the floor in the middle of the room.  The choice of bed was up to them.  The three of them had 4 beds to choose from.

They had the rest of the evening to unpack, relax, and get to know one another.  Then tomorrow at 0 Dark-thirty, their new day would start.

The Fin was told he had open access to the pool.  Now knowing of his limitation, there was talk of building a "dip tank" out behind the barracks so he could always take a quick dip if he needed to during the night or something.

ooc:  Up to you folks to decide which bed you want and what to do with the rest of your evening.  Tomorrow ... American Youth gets to get out his frustration at his situation ... er ... I mean, begins your morning workout before breakfast.  

Now I got to write up American Youth when I get a chance and then we are off to your first mission.

andyman wrote:

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc:  Did you have a choice for a roommate/teammate?  One vote American Youth.
More later, not feeling well right now.  Stomach issues.

Sorry to hear about your tummy issues. Too much Holiday Cheer?

Naw, I suffer from both acid reflux and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. About once a week or so, I'm having to spend "some time" on or near the toilet as the issues work themselves out of my system.

OOC On strike today which means I get a chance to catch up (which I will). Even on strike days where our union isn't participating we have to go in and sit there as some kind of penance even without trains to drive. All of that is causing ill feeling between Company/Drivers so its a mess. Glad to be out of it for a day.

To: FIN

"Water? Never really tested myself in it I guess. I tend to hold my breath when flying as its so hard to suck in breath otherwise. Didn't realise I'd been flying ten minutes straight one time until I remembered to breathe!" he shook his head. "Can you imagine? Holding breath for ten minutes? Man I was surprised, shocked, thrilled... scared! I dread to think what would happen if I used that energy to make myself heavier in water. It would sure take longer than ten minutes to swim to the surface again." He shuddered.

"Be good to test out the limits of what can be done though. I mean, sure, I can press a few hundred kgs and I guess a small car but after that?" he shrugged. "I hope I don't need to find out. It's crazy enough having to watch what I do so I don't put holes in stuff or break things with a casual swipe of the hand."

=========

"Some place." said Patriot, looking around.

"I guess at some point you'll find out anyway so may as well get right out with it. Albert Mace. Al, usually." he said, offering a hand to shake for Fin and American Youth. "I took the name Patriot to honour my ancestor but kind of feel like a fraud. He was the original, me? I'm just riding on the coat tails of what he did with his costume, the name, the things he did. Hopefully not too many are around to figure me for the fraud I feel compared to the original they knew."

He ran his hand through his close cropped hair. "At some point maybe a new code name might be appropriate, one that better suits who I am, what I want to do, and how I do it. Till then, I guess Patriot is what the army are happy with calling me."

"Say, Fin, knowing you need to be near water has me thinking. This may sound dumb, and I'm no inventor but what about some kind of tank on your back, save that it holds compressed gas and water. A suit that you wear could keep you wet and maintain your abilities, like in those Dune books where they are on the desert planet and their sweat is recycled into drinking water. Well this would be the same but with a tank of water to carry about. Failing that we are all strong enough I guess to crank open a fire hydrant. You should do fine hopefully. Knowing you need water means we can keep a look out for suitable stuff."

"American Youth, I, er... I mean, your uniform is magic right? Wearing something over the top might be an option, to stop all that snickering that goes on. I mean... oh man. You're an adult right, that gets changed into a super kid but the problem I can see you having is people taking you seriously - well, until you bend steel with your hands and the like. Maybe a change of clothes or something over the top of the sailor boy outfit might work. Unless you tried it and the magic won't let you. Even just talking about magic, being able to fly, breathe underwater or blast rays from your eyes... heh. I guess I'll just have to get used to it."

He packed his stuff in his part of the room, in his locker and so on. Locks seemed a waste of time when people could twist metal in their hands but it gave a sense of reassurance.

"Hey, please don't think I'm telling you guys what to do or how to do things, just suggestions. I hope you guys will give me some ideas on what to do with all... this." he said with a wave at the costume. "I'm so new to this and I feel kinda... corny ... dressed in a duplicate of my great Grandpas' costume. Even the name. I dunno. I guess I'm just all nervous and the fact that what I've been playing about at is going to be a real thing, and people may live or die depending on what we do, even more than before. We're going to be in the public eye and there's nothing more critical than the court of public opinion. I dread to think what memes will show up on social media." he said, cringing.

"What the heck, eh? Fin, American Youth and Patriot? I'm not sure FAP would be a good group name." he says with a lopsided grin.

"Patriot, I know the feeling. I've got my father's moniker and he's still alive. My name is Dan Noble. I'll take the bed closest to the door, since I may be going out at night for a dip in the pool. Or to swim in there. I just hope no one mistakes me for someone who drowned. As for my strength loss, I can always slice things with my cutlass if a good right hook isn't enough to do some good. I don't worry about it, but it that sci-fi suit becomes a reality, I won't necessarily turn it down."

"As for a team name. How about Cobra or Dreadnok?" Fin keeps the suggestion of 'Two and a Half Men' to himself. "Or maybe something Mark Twain related. You two are very American themed and I'm Huckleberry's last name. Samuel Clemens wrote The Gilded Age. Maybe we can be the Gilded Guardians? As the descendants of Golden Age Heroes, we're Gilded Age heroes. What do you think?"

"Gilded? Like Gold or Silver? Sure! I'm sure somewhere there are Silver Sentinels, Golden Guardians and so on, but there can't be many Gilded Guardians, right?" chuckled Patriot.

"Way I see it, Uncle Sam is payrolling all this and maybe they do the surveys and focus groups and such to see what sounds best. I dunno. I just want to be able to help and ... say. How about we snag a few fire hydrants - the water kind. We can all grab one, fashion some kind of strapping from the army webbing that people use to carry weapons and grenades and such and carry one around each. At any time we can help you out with a spray!"

"I wonder what they do about our secret identities. I have no problem with you guys knowing whom I am but the less the better as far as I see. Not for me - I'm in the firing line - but I sure hope my folks will be ok. I dread to think of anything happening to them because of something I do."

"I guess that's my real issue. In uniform we fade into the crowd of dozens, hundreds of others usually. Wearing fancy costumes like this... well, it marks us out. If we're exposed then anyone who knows us could be tracked down by the press and have their lives turned upside down, followed in the street, pestered, heck... even threatened. Criminals will stoop to any depth to make sure we don't interfere with what they do."

He shook his head. "When I put this on I get a thrill. When I fly, help someone, the thrill. Thinking about if someone figured out who we are... THAT gives me chills..."

"Fire hydrants just give access to the water system... you were kidding right? Sorry. I just don't want my face made public, so I can't go to a sushi restaurant or to the beach without being recognized as "The Fin Jr.". Anonymity has it's benefits. I think that's why Samuel Clemens used a pen name."

"Since there are only 3 of us," American Youth put in, his voice cracking due to puberty and scowling because of it, "we could be the Three T's - The Terrific Three, the Titanic Three, The Terrific Trio or the The Titanic Three.  Something like that. Maybe hold off on a name for us until we do something worth getting in the papers over.  Or maybe the general has already got a list of team names he wants to use.  Time will tell."

ooc:  Once I finally sit down without distractions for a few hours, I will write up AY's character sheet and then we can really move into the action. Remember, you are getting up at 0-dark- thirty. Of course with everyone having really great Body, that's no problem.