World War II - The Vanguard Issue #2 (Crossover Silver Sentinel, Frostbite, Lionheart)

OOC:

Love the graphic look to the status and this works well for me, hope its the same for everyone else to. Nice one Paul.

Your expertise in computing is clearly very handy, if something of a millstone when it comes to being collared for computer problems! To be honest in a day and age when we rely so much on what we do on them, I wish I knew more about putting them together, building and replacing parts than I already do.

============

The robot spoke up, quietly "You can squeeze your malleable form underneath the door and appraise us of the situation on the bridge. This unit expects it will be heavily guarded."

Nodding as he listened, Frostbite then directed P'ertaria to take a look so that they might appraise the situation. Frostbite had a odd flashback moment, where he realised in Joseph Rigdon's life he had the power to phase through solid objects. It struck him as odd that the thought should intrude upon him right now, but he dismissed it for the time being, whilst he waited for P'ertaria's report.

OOC:

Ok so let me know the layout of the above floor and what we can expect. I'm glad you've made it clear what this ship was, as at first I thought it was just a patrol ship, now we start meeting all these nasties on it I started thinking this was all a bit odd. Now it makes not only a lot of sense but also a lot more to be concerned about.

Anyway once P'ertaria has given us an account of what is above, I think we'll take the opportunity to devise our plan. But whilst she is looking is there access to air ducts, any other bits that lead from here to other parts of the ship or maintence conduits etc? Anything also the Computer/Robot can interface with to get a schematic layout of the place and tap into any potential weak points?

=========

SMACK! THUD! "Arrrrrgh!"

OOC: Bentham is my new number one target!

"BENTHAM, you cheap dog, you've sold us all out!" Lionheart was mad, angry and the full weight of his own sacrifices and his grief over Beth, came to the fore. Even Golden Lion looked on a bit startled as Lionheart seemed to growl like his namesake, and ploughed forward ignoring almost everyone else in the room to focus on Bentham.

Lionheart sped forward, still mindful of tricks but otherwise focused on attack the man, he felt responsible for so much unnecessary death and destruction.

OOC: Going for a punch here, assuming we get the drop on him? So this is a run into combat and assuming his DC is pretty low like 8 so to hit: 1d20+3+8=25 I will pull my punches so I don't kill him, but do want to take him out asap. I'll let you roll damage. Meanwhile Golden Lion will mop up the scientists so they can't be a problem. Giving them a little love tap to knock them out.

Sj

"What's the plan?" asked P'ertaria. "I assume there is one, other than 'rush 'em'?" she enquired, raising an oozing eyebrow at Silver Sentinel in particular

"What?" ss answerd

After P'ertaria agreed with the robot and slid under the door the two super humans and the robot where left behide to wait for a re-con report. After a while the silence grew heavy....

"Its not like thats my answer to everything, just kick the door down and blast everything.......... okay maybe it is but you'll be supprised how often it works." the young brit whispered, who obviously had been thinking about it for the past few minutes and was standing at a ready attack stance with his glowing palms out stretched.

Also:
P'ertaria (A P'utinarian - shape shifting grey ooze alien) and an Alien robot, occupied by Frostbites computer consciousness...



OOC ok, what we have here is:
Blue Circle=Lift to all floors
Light Blue areas=Rooms
Red areas=Control panels and stations, tended by crew and technicians
Green dots=Crew and technicians. These are green skinned Alien guys dressed in nondescript grey overalls that move noiselessly about, performing their tasks with cold efficiency
Yellow dots=Alien warriors and command crew. These guys are bigger, and wearing what appears to be some kind of powered armour. Big, mean, ugly, like Orcs or Trolls in powered suits!



Orange Dots=Nazi officers dressed in grey overalls. Your team cannot see these guys yet
The stairs leading up to N10-W10 go to a raised platform, the command area. This is some ten feet higher than the rest of the bridge. The wall in front of the control panel at Q5-T5 is a screen, around 20' across and the same high. It shows space, and the moon in the distance, and at the lower section of the screen, the battered spaceship the Vanguard travelled in, somewhat smaller than the craft they now travel in...

P'ertaria returns, oozing through the gap in the lift door, even if it is impossibly small, and relates all she had seen. "I know nothing of the aliens. It seems there are a number of different species, and more arriving all the time! Hitler means to conquer your world... but in doing so, may well turn it into the charnel house of the galaxy! The ruling caste are big. Something about 7' tall, and probably weighing over 400lbs, even without the powered armour. I don't know their species, but it's clear they aren't here to make friends! If the Nazis aren't careful, one of these Alien species may find something interesting enough on your Earth to convince the rest of their race that the planet is worth subjugating! Madness!" she cried out, voice echoing lightly down the shaft.

"There are a number of ventilation conduits near the ceiling, which is around 30' high and curved. Unless you can shrink, I would suggest that only I could use that way to travel about." she said, then looked doubtfully at the robot. "If they have any more of those, we could be in real trouble!"

The robot chimed up "I may be able to interface with an input/output socket on the bridge to ask the ships computers to cut off life support to the bridge. It's clear the aliens breathe a mix of oxygen and nitrogen, and doing such a thing might render them unconscious, thus sparing widescale destruction of the bridge and the controls."

'The computer is learning' rasped the inner voice inside Frostbites head. 'The enemy is to be swept aside, and collateral damage to be avoided as the very highest priority!'

Silver Sentinel listened to the description, then heard a voice inside his own head 'Remember, stripling, that you can call on the Dark Power but I would not suggest it as a wise course of action. Your body is not yet ready... but getting stronger...'

=========

Lionheart sped from the lift, barely suppressing a growl as he targeted Bentham!

For his part, Bentham turned calmly, raised an eyebrow and pressed a button on a device attached to his belt...

Lionheart screamed, and felt his chest tighten, his arms go numb! He sped forwards, stumbling, until he tottered to a crashing halt at Benthams feet!

"Ah, I was wondering when you would turn up!" he said in the cold, nasal voice of his. "Hello... 'son'. Heh, yes, I could call you that. It was me who changed the intermix parameters on your neocortex designs to make you... 'different'. Of course, I'm just another cog in the wheel, but if anyone knows how you work.. and how you can be stopped... it's me."

Lionheart squirmed. His heart was racing, pounding and threatening to burst from his chest! He gasped for air, found none, and felt his blood start to boil!

Only then did he look past Bentham and see in one of the tubes, with pipes and hoses leading from it...

He was comatose, but otherwise in good health.

"Saladin. The man we sent back in time thanks to Seneschal Trowers and others. We plan to...'remake' the future in our image. There will be no war, no famine, no want. The people will be perfect. Supreme warriors sent out to expand our empire across the galaxy! Earth? This piddling place is a backwater nowhere! We are using this time, and this place to gather aliens and resources from across time and space, then we plan to set in motion a chain of events that will guide history on a path of OUR choosing." he knelt, turning the helpless Lionheart over onto his back. Tapping Richard King on his chest, he states "In here. We bio-engineered you to be perfect, all of you PSI Corps, but the do-gooders, the... worriers, the whiners, moaned there was too much power placed in your hands, that you would turn on the masters as the 1st Generation had done. They never turned! They were acting on our specific programming! But ..." he turned to look at Saladin "They were flawed. They had undesirable qualities. Honour, duty, love, a need for freedom, to live their lives as they chose. And so the 2nd Generation PSI Corps was created, and of them, you were sent back in time to find and stop Saladin. Little did the council know that was our plan from the beginning! We needed parts of Saladins DNA mixed with yours to create... the ultimate superhuman warrior! Peerless in mind and body, able to wipe out armies of conventional troops!" he smiled, stood, and dusted his hand off. "We needed a safeguard, something to ensure your compliance, and so the blood transfusion was needed from Saladin. That and..." he looked at the still form in the tube. "Certain parts of his brain where a special evolved process has taken place. Combined with your unique genetic material and applied to these vat grown forms... prototypes of the ultimate warrior! Created to rule! We will leave a centuries old legacy in the Antarctic that can be thawed when we need to use them. An instant army of cloned warriors, peerless in battle! To rule not only the Earth, but the universe!"

Lionheart felt his vision blurring. There was something else though. He shifted his eyes... his energy double was... gone?

Bentham gestured and several scientists gathered Lionhearts stricken form up, carrying him over to a bench where shackles were applied to his arms and legs, then to his head and neck. They were going to cut him open, like a lab rat!

"You may think it strange to find Saladin here, but not so. Your were not only fated to find each other, but designed that way! Like a homing instinct! I added that part. I'm particularly proud of it, and I told Trowers it would bring you here but... I must admit, I thought we'd meet on the moon. I'm impressed agent Lionheart. You were always the clown, the joker, fooling around, taking nothing seriously. Your grades were awful, your attention wandering, your dedication to duty lacking. But... you were always, out of thousands of PSI Corps, the one with the most potential. Because we took HIS DNA and brain patterns, the best and most lethal of the 1st Generation PSI Corps, and grafted it into you. You are different from any other, unique, and that, my dear fellow, will be your undoing..." he said, pointing to the floating, still form of Saladin. "Your older brother. Genetically speaking, but he is ying, to your yang, What is inside you both, the hidden code, will grant us ultimate power! It is something that could not be produced in a lab, or programmed. Your life experiences, everything you have ever seen or done, have moulded you, and your evolution has jumped millennia in the few years you have been alive, whereas the rest of them? Humourless drones for the most part. Good for being Judge, jury and executioner, but little else. The plan is to drop a hundred or so of you on a planet we desire, and come back a year later, with the place conquered and ready to rule! An instant empire, if you will!"

Lionheart gasped, the pain unceasing. Benthams prattle had opened his eyes, but now he saw a machine mounted on the ceiling moving over, some kind of laser cutting device being put into place to carve him up!

'Over my dead body!' laughed a voice inside Lionhearts' head. 'Tell me when we've heard enough, Richy boy!' laughed Golden Lion.

The robot chimed up "I may be able to interface with an input/output socket on the bridge to ask the ships computers to cut off life support to the bridge. It's clear the aliens breathe a mix of oxygen and nitrogen, and doing such a thing might render them unconscious, thus sparing widescale destruction of the bridge and the controls."

Frostbite nodded, "Can you do that from here or do we need to get you in their first?"

'The computer is learning' rasped the inner voice inside Frostbites head. 'The enemy is to be swept aside, and collateral damage to be avoided as the very highest priority!'

Frostbite's head seem to rattle with the sound of the other within him. But his conciliatory tone was new. Since when had he considered collateral damage important! He didn't have time to wonder, telling the others to get ready, he was already trying to think through other possibilities if their plan, such as it was failed.

OOC:

Ok if the Robot needs to get close, I am going to send P'ertaria through the vents, and try to get her to get to the main control panel, hopefully by disguising herself as one of the aliens. But she can stay undercover till needed.

The rest of us will burst in if Sentinel takes the guard out at m20 and I take out the one at T18 then we all surge forward giving the robot/computer chance to do their thing.

However if the Robot/Computer can interface from here, then no need to worry. We'll take it from there.

=========

Lionheart gasped, the pain unceasing. Benthams prattle had opened his eyes, but now he saw a machine mounted on the ceiling moving over, some kind of laser cutting device being put into place to carve him up!

'Over my dead body!' laughed a voice inside Lionhearts' head. 'Tell me when we've heard enough, Richy boy!' laughed Golden Lion.

Lionheart cast a defiant gleam in his eye, "You idiot Bentham, you you always did talk to much!" And with that Lionheart released his counter part, right at Bentham.

OOC: GL is going for subduing asap with only 16 psi points left I've not got time to hand about, if I'm going to stop myself looking the turkey roast on Christmas day and get Saladin free.

Nice twist and turn there are so many surprises that have sprung up I didn't see this one coming that much is for sure.

Sj

OOC:

Silver Sentinel listened to the description

What description was that? The robots or the shadow in frostbites head? Can ss hear the shadows in others?

smaug wrote:OOC:

Silver Sentinel listened to the description

What description was that? The robots or the shadow in frostbites head? Can ss hear the shadows in others?

OOC P'ertarias description of the room (hence the map) was what I was referring to. Sometimes he can hear the Shadow Demons voices in other heads, but I'll let you know when that is the case. Actually, that'll be quite soon as you guys gain the ability to... ah. To be revealed soon Probably won't have time to post until I get home (at work at moment) but update later...

Also:
P'ertaria (A P'utinarian - shape shifting grey ooze alien) and an Alien robot, occupied by Frostbites computer consciousness...



P'ertaria made her way into the bowels of the ship. It would take her time to move through the various conduits and pathways. Inside Frostbites head, the dark presence explained itself 'I ... sense ... something about this ship. Something as yet unrevealed. Too much damage could cause a catastrophic explosion that would destroy this host body, and I would then have to find another, most inconvenient.'

The Robot confirmed that it would indeed have to interface directly with the computer systems. It offered a word of caution "The aliens with powered armour will be empowered with superhuman level strength. They are enforcers, in a caste system where might is the measure of success. To attain such a rank would mean that they can fight, and fight well! The technicians will be or a lower caste, a nonviolent one."

With a nod to each other to confirm the plan - 'rush 'em' - the group prized the door open and spilled out onto the deck!

OOC Initiative 8 heroes, 6 bad guys, BUT I'm giving you a bonus frame (so that's five this round) for complete surprise. So that's 2 frames to you guys and you start at the blue circle on the bottom of the screen. If you can indicate which target (yellow dots are the bad guys closest) you are aiming for (T18 or M20 are closest). Will be updating Lionheart in a bit - family duties call

OOC Initiative 8 heroes, 6 bad guys, BUT I'm giving you a bonus frame (so that's five this round) for complete surprise. So that's 2 frames to you guys and you start at the blue circle on the bottom of the screen. If you can indicate which target (yellow dots are the bad guys closest) you are aiming for (T18 or M20 are closest). Will be updating Lionheart in a bit - family duties call

Frostbite rushed forward toward the alien enforcer in front of him as he directed Sentinel and the Robot to the left, aiming his hand high, he sought to get a good aim on the alien, before firing.

But for all his attempts to aim straight, the alien proved the quicker...

OOC: Saying it like this makes it easier on FB's ego, as he missed: 1d20+6+3=13 Using 7 Dice of energy, wasted. I'll stay where I am by the lift door for now, since that will mean the alien will have to fire at me or come closer.

Sj

Lionheart
(HTK 54/54 HTC 43/43 PSI Energy 13/22 round 3/5)

Lionheart surged forwards, and felt his own strength magnified beyond anything he'd ever had before! The metal straps binding him to the bench snapped like balsa wood, and he freed himself, staggering off the table and steadying his body whilst seeing it glow with energy!

'I'm still here, just inside you!' laughed Golden Lion. 'But don't underestimate this guy! He made you.. he will know every back door trick in your head to bring you down!'

Bentham looked amazed "I must say, Agent King, you do surprise me more and more! Your strength.. and these readings why... " suddenly his face dropped. "You've already had the blood transfusion from Saladin haven't you? It's changed you, in ways even I couldn't imagine!"

Lionheart launched himself at speed at Bentham, and the man from the future parried the blow as best he could. He crashed to the floor with Lionheart partially connecting and the other scientists in the place scattered like sheep, heading for the exit!

Bentham must have had something changed to alter his body, as the blow Lionheart planted on him would have felled a Rhino! Even so, he wiped a smear of blood from his shattered nose and spat a read gobbet on the floor, rising on unsteady legs! Without a word he pressed a button on a small box on his belt, and there was an explosion!

Lionheart, with superhuman reflexes and speed, was able to avoid flying metal fragments as the metal/glass cylinders all around him blew out!

Through the thick black smoke he saw the glowing ooze spill across the floor, and heard the thud of bodies as they splattered into the mess!

"Dead or alive!" shouted Bentham through the smoke and over the crackle of flames. Lionheart turned - the man was making his way around, towards the exit! Lionheart himself felt something inside of him, the failsafe device Bentham had used on him before, but somehow nullified with the prescence of Golden Lion inside of him! Bentham seemed to realise it too, and he was no longer gloating. Instead he paused to look through the black smoke filling the lab and shouted "Kill Lionheart! But do not destroy his body! His DNA is the key to a new level of power for you... MY CHILDREN!"



Lionheart looked through the smoke.. all the tubes - including Saladins - had been opened by some explosive charge. A fail safe by Bentham - was there no end to the mans machinations? Most of the clones lay where they'd fallen on the floor, covered in green ooze and apparently lifeless. Clearly technology in the mid 20th century was not compatible with knowledge from the 22nd, even with Alien help! Still, three figures rose up out of the smoke, still dripping wet with ooze, but faces Lionheart recognised from another life...

Antoinette Beauchampes - Agent Guillotine
Lara Johnson - Agent Boudica
John Gerrald - Agent Spartan

"Recognise them?" Bentham called out. "They are all ..." he said, smiling "up here!" and tapped the side of his head for theatrical effect. "I told that pathetic Nanny state that I was on the verge of a breakthrough, and I proved it, with Saladin and you! But then Saladin escaped after he discovered the plan, and made a right royal mess of things because we slaughtered a few clones after framing them... SO WHAT? They were alive only from our whim!"

Lionheart was about to reply when he felt a hand close around his ankle. He was about to strike out, when he saw the naked, battered form of Saladin at his feet! His leg was still broken, and he'd received a number of other injuries during his time in captivity with Bentham, Trowers and their Nazi allies! "Kick his ass, King!" he hissed, grinning through a swollen mouth and able to see only through one eye, the other having been beaten closed!

There was something else...

Lionheart frowned. The energy inside of him crackled and surged, leaping from his own body to also encompass Saladin! Saladin pulled his hand back, startled "What's happened to you?" he uttered.

Before Lionheart could answer, he saw the three PSI Corps agents coming at him through the smoke!

OOC Initiative Heroes 9, Bad guys 5. 3 frames. Saladin is in no shape for a fight. You are 7m or so away from the nearest clone, and there are sparking machines, rubble and wrecked tubes lying in between, not that it would present an obstacle to someone with Agility, Speed and Reactions, like everyone here has! There are three PSI Corps agents coming at you. You have an advantage over them, but you'll find that out. Their numbers balance that out, and they have similar superhuman strength! At the moment, Lionheart has the extra Grade of Strength (+10 points, rolled when he merges with Golden Lion) but can switch it to another grade of an existing physical power, or a force field, or flight, at any time so long as its not in the same frame as a reaction such as parry or dodge is taking place. Costs his usual 3/round after paying 8 to start off with. That's how he was able to break free from 'indestructible' alien bindings, and ignore the heart attack Bentham induced in him. Speaking of which, Bentham is 5m from the lift, 10m from Lionheart. A very intelligent man, he may have more tricks up his sleeve, but Lionheart has surprised him several times so far, much to his annoyance!

OOC: Okay I'm aiming for m20 then, quick blast as these Alien warriors have powered armour, as Im running in close to the warrior as I can then its clobbering time.

IC: Frostbite bound forward to his shocked target, indicating to the silver sentinel to do the same to the alien warrior nearist to him, firing his mighty enery attack as he charged in. The SS did the same to his alien target who was equally as shocked but obviously still prepared for 'hostiles' in his platinum plated power armour.

Smiling as he charged in and firing a quick blast of plasma at the alien scum SS thought to himself how he prefered these odds compaired to all the seaking around and attempted stealth from before (OOC: I see SS as a Han Solo type 'bring them on I prefer a staight fight'. Typical military type, obey orders but nothing to fancy very shooty shooty)

"Rush 'em works again" he said under his breath with a smirk remembering the convisation with P'ertaria from before

Lionheart took one look at the fleeing Bentham and knew what he had to do. Rushing to where he was trying to escape, Lionheart sought to grab the man and throw him at his new creations.

"Benthem is not getting away that easily." Lionheart said to himself, even as his muscles surged forward and he grabbed the man, responsible for his creation seeking to grab and throw him back into the room before he could escape.

OOC: Going for a grab and throw here, 1d20+3+8=20 So hit the guy and throwing him with full force at the three other psi clones. My aim is to use him and them to tangle each other up and so keep these lot right where I want them. I'm also sticking with strength for now.

Sj

OOC the two threads had me confused as to who'd answered or not. I see you guys are waiting for me now *confusion*. Let's clear it up...


Also:
P'ertaria (A P'utinarian - shape shifting grey ooze alien) and an Alien robot, occupied by Frostbites computer consciousness...

OOC Frostbite used a frame with Quick Blast and 7 dice, missed... Still has a frame to use and is stood near the lift.

The Alien in the armour blinked and turned as the blast flash by him. Immediately he called out in his alien tongue and suddenly, the Vanguardians knew there would be trouble!

=========

P'ertaria glanced through the ventilation grid of a shaft she was in and saw the pandemonium soon to be stirred up by her allies...

With a muttered curse she continued to move on through the passages.

=========

The Robot moved upwards in the lift shaft so that it was level with the opening of the lift itself. Then it heard something from below...

"Ah. The lift." it intoned. It started to muscle its way through the (for it) narrow lift opening.

=========

Silver Sentinel used the fastest means of transport for himself to get to a closer range with his foe...

At near point blank range, he could barely miss!

OOC And didn't. Roll of 16 to hit, 18htc and 14htk from the 4/3 split were all good solid rolls.

Alarms rang out across the bridge as the aliens mobilised themselves! Frostbites missed shot had alerted the Nazis and their allies to the presence of intruders on their bridge!

=========

P'ertaria continued moving through the ventilation shafts, finally coming to a grid. She looked out at the feet of an armoured alien...

And saw the thing move away, towards where Frostbite and Silver Sentinel were creating mayhem! With a smile and muttered "Well done boys!" she oozed out and slithered towards a console where several technician alien workers kept their attention on the their work, despite the blasts and sounds of combat coming from the other side of the large bridge area!

=========

The armoured alien facing Silver Sentinel moved towards him...

Saying something in a distinctly alien language (that SS couldn't understand) he added something that SS could understand... The armoured suit extended, the arm of the alien elongating and revealing the alien not to be wearing a suit, but to be bio-mechanically augmented! The suit was part of the alien!

OOC Aliens have (for records only, I don't mind if you guys know) 3 frames E10 S25 D9 V12 Htk37 /2 Htc34 /2 WC1 D2d6+10 Htc or pistol 3D6+3htk and 1D6=3 htk with -1 DD. Powers: stretching, cyborg implants, strength G1, Stunner (bite) at WC0 3D6htc -2DD needs to grab first. The one facing Silver Sentinel is on 23/37htk and 16/34htc

The cyborg couldn't lay a hand on Silver Sentinel! Swinging again and again it called out something in it's alien tongue, swiping at SS who flitted about in the air with his boot jets!

OOC three rolls, all hopeless and none above 6.

=========

OOC I will assume Frostbite holds a frame for defensive duties and resolve the following:

The Alien facing Frostbite ran towards his human foe, clanking across the deck!

Once within 3m it extended its arm to strike out!

OOC Damage to Frostbite Roll 12, hit. 22htc. Reduced to 7htc. Any response? OK guys you have 3 frames Silver Sentinel, 4 frames Frostbite (though you may choose to parry with one, that's your choice). Right now, you only have these two to contend with. The robot is ripping it's way onto the deck, P'ertaria is closing in on the environment controls. The lift is coming up.. with a surprise package or three onboard to throw into the mix!

Lionheart
(HTK 54/54 HTC 43/43 PSI Energy 13/22 round 3/5)

Despite the fact Bentham was trying to induce a heart attack in his foe, Lionheart sped forwards, grabbed the villain by the neck and whirled him about, throwing him through the air!

The two women stepped aside and sped towards Lionheart, coming at him from front and back. The man twisted, caught Bentham in the air and set him down before glowering at Lionheart!

"King!" hissed Saladin, coughing. "There's something you should... this ship! It carries... lower deck... a Lunarium Bomb!" He rolled onto his back, grunted with the intense pain and tried to lever himself up. Bentham wiped his mouth, seeing his exit blocked, and ordered the man - the clone of Agent Spartan - to silence Saladin! he duly obliged, reaching down and backhanding the former villain across the face!

Lionheart kept a wary eye on his foes, but took a fraction of a second to glance over where Saladin lay. A Lunarium Bomb? His keen mind ran through the possibilites, aided by the fact he has a separate mind aiding him! In effect, he was almost twice the man he'd been, thanks to the Golden Lion persona within him!

'Lunarium Bomb' the inner 'him' surmised. 'Stands to reason that it has destructive power on a level with or greater than anything comparable in this day and age. probably even atomic... Something like that could destroy London! But the Lunarium aspect.. they could have created a conventional bomb with their technology, why one with Lunarium?'

Lionheart himself came up with the answer - he's seen the weird and beastly results of Animals melding with humans thanks to Professor Bedlam. What would a weapon do with the same kind of radiation? As he mind raced he could only come up with one answer - they intended to make Britain uninhabitable! Bomb London, destroy the seat of power and mutate the survivors, make them blood thirsty monsters who slaughtered the rest of the populace before turning on themselves! Rebuild the country in their image populated by...

He glanced at the two lovely naked women pacing around him... "Clones!" he hissed.

OOC You have 1 frame, then we'll do initiative. These newly awakened clones are rapidly gaining a sense of where they are and their programming is kicking in. That means trouble for Lionheart.. but salvation lays nearby... groaning, battered and bleeding! He's near the lift to the room, and at any point Lionheart could bug out by stepping intot he lift shaft - after all, Saladin has told him of the Lunarium bomb. Could the Lunarium inside the bomb be enough to satisfy P'ertaria and her people? First though, Lionheart and his friends have to survive long enough to deliver it! Over to you...

Admin wrote:OOC the two threads had me confused as to who'd answered or not. I see you guys are waiting for me now *confusion*. Let's clear it up...

Glad you spotted it mate, perhaps we ought to branch off into separate threads for the time being - but I'm easy either way. I'll try and post separately for Lionheart and Frostbite, to make it easier.

==============
Frostbite grunted as the alien's punch came in, and [OOC: 1d20+3+6=18] Parried the blow with one of his own. Before lunching a further series of attacks at the alien.

[OOC: 1d20+3+6=21, 1d20+3+6=14] Two blows one missing, Frostbite still tried to hammer home another blow one last time. [OOC:1d20+3+6=28] And was successful in connecting for a second blow.

OOC: Damage:2d6=7HTC, 2d6=4HTC + 17 HTK, 17HTK - final damage with the above dividers = 5 HTC and 17HTK

Frostbite knew that he was taking too long to take the alien down and that the thing might rally any moment, but he had to hope their actions would draw space for P'ertaria to get to the panels and let the Computer get control of the ship. He could help wondering if Lionheart was doing ok.

Sj

Lionheart knew that he couldn't leave Saladin to the fate of the others. If they could kill him and extract his DNA, they could do the same with Saladin. Knowing what he did now about the man and the duplicity of his own superiors he felt he had no choice but to rescue the man.

Rushing over, before the others could act, Lionheart sped to his unlikely companion's side, ready to reach down and grab him, assuming he could get the man out of here in one peace.

Inside the other part that was him, chuckled. It felt strange to have his feed suddenly feel crowded. The voice from within simple said, "Great now we can get a few licks in before we have to duck out." Lionheart wondered if Golden Lion had any idea of the trouble they were in.

OOC:
Ok speed to Saladin's side, to both protect him and hopefully be able to grab him next round and get out of here.

Sj

"Okay that went well" Steve said sarcastically.

The cyborg couldn't lay a hand on Silver Sentinel! Swinging again and again it called out something in it's alien tongue, swiping at SS who flitted about in the air with his boot jets!

"Ah whats the matter too fast for you ugly" Steve replied as he eased off the built in thrusters in his metal boots and made a comfortably soft landing

"Lets see how you do against the hammer brothers" the cocky brit added as he clenched both fist and attacked the gangrenous looking alien with all his might in a flurry of blows.

OOC: Lets try all out fisty cuffs against this goon

Also:
P'ertaria (A P'utinarian - shape shifting grey ooze alien) and an Alien robot, occupied by Frostbites computer consciousness...

The icy Vanguardian batted the aliens blows aside with triphammer blows of his own! Steeling himself he gathered his strength to strike back!

Frostbite hammered cold steel hard fists into his foe, spraying green blood across the walls as his blows struck home! The alien tottered, but clung to life as it realised its foe was no pushover, and that the human was in fact trying to kill it! (OOC Frostbites foe is on 20/37 htk and 29/34 htc). Frostbite realised that if he didn't take his foe down soon, they might soon be overrun!

He turned.

Behind him the robot was now stood on the deck, the lift entrance a mangled mess of torn metal! The thing, empowered by Frostbites own computer conscience, appeared to be looking around. Picking targets?

=========

Facing off against a foe of his own, Silver Sentinel taunted the alien in front of him, only to be ignored!

Language barrier aside, the Sentinel intended to give the Alien warrior something else to worry about! He hoped the alien wouldn't be able to ignore this!

OOC 14, 5, 10, two hits. Total (after dividers) of 22htc. Job done!

Silver Sentinel hammered a metal clad fist into the Aliens face, then grabbed the things shoulder to pull his face around again... to slam home another! The alien pulled back, and the fist went wide. The alien gave a sharp toothed grin, raising its own fists... only to have all its front teeth knocked from its mouth as a follow up punch sent it sliding across the floor!

Silver Sentinel glanced about. This place would be crawling soon! He wondered if P'ertaria had managed to deactivate the environmental controls...

=========

P'ertaria formed up her humanoid form behind a technician...

Someone shouted behind her, and the crack of a luger going off suggested the Nazis, at least, had seen her! Undaunted, she grabbed the technician by the back of the head, muttered "Sorry!" and slammed it face first into the panel, destroying it!

Suddenly a new kind of alarm rang out! The red lights flashing over the bridge turned blue, indicating to the crew to evacuate, as the environmental system detected a pressure loss and assumed a hull breach! In fact it was the smashed panel telling the computers that, but the computers on the ship reversed the air supply and conditioning to preserve pressure oxygen in other sections of the ship!

=========

Despite being locked in battle, Frostbite turned when he saw an electrical field form over the lift entrance!

Some kind of energy field, designed to maintain hull integrity and protect the rest of the ship?

Silver Sentinel noticed it too - the air vents in the walls and near the floor sealed with an energy field, effectively sealing all those on the bridge in whilst a central vent sucked oxygen from the room at a sharp rate!

=========

The robot marched over to where Frostbite was tackling his alien foe...

It hammered a huge fist down on the alien, who gaped with eyes wide as death rushed in!

OOC roll of 20. That's 9 more than required, reduced dividers by 1. Damage is 2D6htk 1d6htc for the robot, +15 from strength. Roll of 7htk, +9 from the critical, +15 equals 31htk. Splat.

The alien splattered like a tin of green paint had been crushed, green goop spraying every which way. The robot, impassive, stated "The air supply is already dangerously low sir. Your superhuman biology may protect you, but these alien cyborgs may have some means of survival in vacuum, meaning that you should take them down immediately! It appears our alien comrade was able to deactivate the environmental systems. Once the Cyborgs have been dispatched, they can be restored."

The Robot didn't know that P'ertaria had destroyed the immediate way to restore air!

=========

In the lift shaft three deadly biological killing machines scaled the walls with incredible speed and agility!

They'd climbed through the top of the lift and headed towards the sound of combat... now they wanted only one thing... to feed!

=========



OOC Blue dots are you guys. Silver Sentinel is at M20, Frostbite at T18, Robot at T19 and P'ertaria at Y13. The attack on the bridge, the various alarms going off, then the apparent hull breach on the bridge itself and evacuation warning has aliens running willy nilly all over the place, not to mention the panicking Nazis. The technician types are staying put, working like robots at their posts... If all the exits are sealed by a force field, why then is the evacuation signal being given - how could the crew get out? Unless there is another way somewhere besides the lift.Initiative 10 heroes, 6 bad guys. 2 frames. 2 Alien warriors down, possibly 6 to go and four Nazis who might prove a nuisance. And air is fast running out! Over to you (it's round 2/5 for your energy, will update in next post)

Lionheart, unwilling to leave Saladin to his fate, dashed over to the stricken mans side, then turned to face the three clones closing in on him with a triangle formation. Bentham snarled, hissing "Just strangle him! Kill him even! it doesn't matter I just need his body for my experiments!" The three responded, and closed in!

Meanwhile Bentham himself considered his route to the lift, only to see an energy field flicker across the lift and blue lights flashing across the ceiling! "What now?" he spluttered. "Can't those moronic Nazis do ANYTHING right?" The statement was ironic, Lionheart thought. Looking back he wondered how he could have been so naive! The utopian society he was a part of had so many comparisons it could draw with Hitlers vision of the perfect Empire it was untrue! How could he have been so blind?

'Don't beat yourself up about it.. beat them!' rasped Golden Lion inside.

Standing over Saladin, facing off against three PSI Corps clones - who thankfully had displayed no sign of mental powers as yet, so whilst they may have had their reflexes and strength enhanced to a certain degree, Lionheart hoped it didn't extend to his own levels, which relied a lot of Psionic abilities. If it did... well, he'd be in trouble!

OOC Initiative Heroes 8 bad guys 10. 1 frame then your four, then their remaining 2 frames. As yet they are still 3 frame/round.

The trio glanced at one another, then with perfect timing launched themselves forward at speed! They certainly lacked none of Lionhearts own superhuman speed!

OOC 1 frame for each to move within punching distance of Lionheart. He has targets in range, but when their fists start flying...Over to you! 4 frames.

Whilst Frostbite was aware that there may yet be a way off the bridge despite the rapid evacuation of air, right now they had to gain control of the bridge, before they could exploit that possibility. "Come on..." He said sparing not time for pleasantries to the computer, as he point at the Alien cyborg ahead, [OOC: S16].

Moving forward he attacked the creature, using his strength, seeking to conserve his energy till he had to use it.

OOC:

Ok move for a frame and three blows, as necessary to take the alien down. I'll go for speedier results this time, since concussive damage is easier to deal, I'll go for subduing rather than killing for now. It also fits better with me, though this Joe, may have no qualms about killing in war.

Rolls to Hit= 1d20+3+6=10 Miss, 1d20+3+6=11 Miss, 1d20+3+6=26 Finally a hit! Damage 2d6+17=24HTC /2 = 12HTC. Not such a good run after all.

=============

Frostbite growled annoyed at his inattention and bad luck as he tried to beat the alien down only to miss twice before finally connecting with the dodging and weaving creature.

=============

OOC: Ok so I will elect to parry where possible as my combat response, to chuckles here and also try and get P'ertaria to use the onboard systems to defend us against the aliens onboard. Including and especially whatever is still following us up the lift shaft.

Sj

Lionheart looked at the biggest of the clones and gave a loan moan as he set his mind to concentrate through the haze of pain his body was still feeling from the battering he was taking. Something told him that maybe if these three were connected, what happened to one might feedback on all. Then again that my just be wishful thinking.

He lowered his head and then roared as he let his Psychic energy rip from his to the clone before him.

OOC: Psi Attack v Ego 1d20+18=37. And damage I'll use all ten points of Psi power to attack this guy, "in for a penny..." As this is going to be make or break. Now help me out here, its 1point = 1d6 am I right? If so 10d6=38HTC I've no wish to kill these people who are only following orders and I'd rather turn them loose on Bentham, unless I've no recourse.

Since that takes care of only the first two frames, I then use my strength to follow up with fisty cuffs against the other two not targeted by my psi blast.

Note I am assuming no armour means a DC of 10? But you can adjust this roll accordingly: 1d20+3+10=22 First ones a hit, for =2d6 +16=[4, 5, 16] 25HTC, 1d6=[5] 5HTK
And against the second one 1d20+3+10=25 hits for=
2d6 +16=[2, 6, 16] 24HTC, 1d6=[1] 1 HTK.

And that is Lionheart tapped out for present. Rather than dodge he will elect to parry, since he needs to protect Saladin and try and work out some way out of this situation before he gets beaten senseless!

Sj

OOC: Just a quick question, to quote the robot

these alien cyborgs may have some means of survival in a vacuum

and assuming there is a lot of noise coming from Z12 surrounding area would the alien in L14 have his back towards me and not be concerned so much with the lack of air? Also what about the alien technicians/green dots would they have vacuum resistance/air supply too if not where would they be running to?

IC:

Silver Sentinel noticed it too - the air vents in the walls and near the floor sealed with an energy field, effectively sealing all those on the bridge in whilst a central vent sucked oxygen from the room at a sharp rate!

'There is always some thing trying to suffocate me' SS thought as he peered around the corner of which P'ertaria said there would be a guard.

OOC: SS is going to attack to nearest yellow dot (L14) hopefully it will have his back to me. Going for a coupe de grace or the equivalent to break his neck or if he is looking his way (time is short) so quick blast and get in close.

P'ertaria (A P'utinarian - shape shifting grey ooze alien) and an Alien robot, occupied by Frostbites computer consciousness...

OOC Frosty and co. have 2 frames to act so you might want to revise your action for the last two depending on what happens with the alien. I'll highlight in bold how many frames you have as it's possible/probable the actual number itself might be lost in the middle of all my waffle! If you want to stick with the farmes as rolled (so your next frame misses and the last one hits) we can do that, just let me know.

Frostbite swung, and the Alien swayed back, as if taunting his foe! The air was getting thin in here now - it wouldn't be long before it was drained completely! Frostbite saw the Nazis behind the alien run as if to attack, then pause, look to see Alien warriors running for the walls of the bridge, and change their minds. They, too, started running for the walls of the bridge...

=========

Silver Sentinel looked at the Alien warrior...

It was running towards where he was, but because he was peering from around a corner, didn't seem to have noticed him as yet. He prepared to pounce on it as it came into view!

OOC The Alien is running in the direction of where Sentinel is, but not actually coming for Sentinel. For something else? The technicians are staying at their post. They can be clearly seen to have trouble breathing (they are smaller, thinner versions of the warriors in grey overalls and no cybernetic implants, save a head set that looked hardwired into their skulls.). They are staying at their posts, regardless of whether they keel over from lack of air! P'ertaria smashed the console at Z12 but the air is being drawn from a roof vent at R/S12 at a fast rate.

Silver Sentinel waited for his foe, but saw another Alien warrior (OOC the one at M10) heading towards the wall of the bridge. A glance at the wall revealed smooth panels... but they might open in some way?

If the panels opened to reveal breathing apparatus, that would leave Sentinel, Frostbite and P'ertaria as the ones without air and at the mercy of the Aliens! He blasted the Alien rushing towards him...

OOC Roll of 9. I thought that missed, but Energy Attck is WC3 so it hit on the dot. Quick blast 7 dice leaves SS on 1/15 on round 2/5. Damage is 19htk, 9htc. This alien is on 18/37htk and 25/34 htc. I assume that SS won't waste a frame by moving to the Alien, and let it come to him instead.

=========

"You need to work on your accuracy." stated the Robot...

Was that sarcasm? Frostbite scowled at the metallic giant beside him. Since his computer had leapt from himself into the thing it appeared to have developed an annoying streak...

Nonetheless, the robot levelled an arm and a gun clattered out. It made a brief 'spinning up' sound then discharged a torrent of needle sharp slivers!

OOC roll 17, Hit. The weapon is unreliable, and scores a critical miss that would cause the weapon to explode on a 1-5! That said, it does good damage if it does hit... Though 8htk on 4D6 can't truly be classed as 'good' Reduces dividers so the Alien is on 29/37htk and 34/34htc. The robot used an action using the weapon. Aliens turn.

The Alien snarled, pulled up it's own pistol, and fired two shots at Frostbite, point blank range!

OOC 4... and 1. Critical miss. Roll of 10, I'll choose... Weapon jams and explodes, causing 9htk to the alien. It's on 20/37htk and 34/34htc

The Alien cried out as the weapon went off like a grenade in its hand! With a snarl it swung at the Vanguardian...

OOC Another 4. This might be a long fight. The next time there are a bunch of misses I'll roll again until one side or both actually hit something!

=========

The Alien coming at Silver Sentinel saw him when he popped round the corner and zapped it!

With a cry it kept running, and lowered it's head to charge at the Sentinel!

OOC 15, hit. 24htc reduced to 8htc by dividers. Alien follows up with a punch, 26htc, reduced to 8htc by dividers. Any response? If not SS will be on 29/45htc but he's a big boy and can take it!

The alien swung with its cybernetically enhanced fists at Silver Sentinel, though the Sentinel did see it flick a glance over to the wall (OOC J19, a plain panel, nothing to see really, but it's making for it) and clearly it wanted to get Silver Sentinel out of its way!

Meanwhile P'ertaria used the confusion to flow underneath the panel she'd just smashed, along the floor and towards the walls where it seemed the Alien Warriors were most interested in getting to.

OOC 2 frames each before the new round. Dave, if you want to keep the rolls as before, I'll resolve that, or change your action, I have no probs with that either.

Lionheart

OOC The way PSi works is that you can't spend more than 10 points at a time. Now Lionhearts speciality is PSI blast, which is half cost. Whilst that might read as being able to spend 10 points and get 20 effective, it really means (I assume) that in fact you use 10 points of PSI but only have to pay for 5. It delivers 1D6 per 2 points (per 1 point in Lionhearts case) so 5D6 is the max. Roll 5D6, comes up 21htc. The Ego roll came up 1, so Lionheart had no trouble getting through. This gets me thinking though... More and more I am leaning towards accurate rolls being rewarded. That means a high to hit roll should add to the damage. It's something I'll think on but I've used it in a couple of (half finished admittedly) homebrew games I've started writing. One is a fantasy game where you roll to hit, and the amount the hit roll exceeds the target number is matched by the weapon up to a certain amount. So say Jorgan the Warrior needs 15 to hit, rolls 19, he does 4 damage and the sword he's using matches it with 4 points (up to its maximum of 8 points) and he adds all his strength bonus (2 points in Jorgans case). Now I know we're going off on a tangent here, but I was also thinking things like Energy blast and certain weapons benefit more from accuracy so act as a multiplier for damage instead of rolling randomly. Instead of energy dice I'd say energy powers have a X8 multiplier to use over 5 rounds (we can tweak that number to suit) and can choose a number from x1 to x4 for each blast . So Frostys Energy blast might be, say, x2 for this shot. He rolls 19, needed only 9 to hit so scores 10 points. Multiplied by 2 is 20 damage. Unnnh. Look at the time. See what happens when I post late? I'll stop rambling now (or at least stop writing Golden Heroes v2...)

The man (agent Spartan) staggered when the energy Lion leapt from Lionhearts chest to maul him! He ground his teeth in pain rather than cry out though, testament to his fortitude!

Then he followed up with a punch!

OOC NOTE: The 3 PSI points you are burning every round are for the enhanced strength (+1 grade, adding 10 points) Lionheart is using. So his damage bonus is actually +26. The agent tries to dodge. He has speed (+3) and Agility (+2) against Lionhearts WC3 martial arts. A roll of 1 scuppers the dodge but turns it into a glancing blow. He dodges 20 points, coming off htk first and the other 15 from htc. (I'm typing this out cause my head is spinning) He takes 20htc, plus the 21 taken already. Spartan is OUT. Lionheart then attacks one of the ladies, same result from a dodge. She takes 18htc after the Glancing blow, putting her on 20/38htc and 41/41htk. She's used one frame, the other has all three. Here we go: 1 hit from the woman with 3 frames. 16htc. Response? Next (with 2 frames) woman: 1, critical miss (next hit roll was a 20, but the crit, 1, means she loses her next frame. Lucky...) Decide whether to respond to the blow (dodge would be auto for him and cost 1 frame from next round) then Intiative LH 6, bad guys 2. 2 frames to Lionheart then their three. He is on:



But possibly loses 16htc from the blow depending on response. Over to you. Me? Bedtime! Zzzzz

OOC 2 frames each before the new round. Dave, if you want to keep the rolls as before, I'll resolve that, or change your action, I have no probs with that either.

Yeah its not fair after the fight to have take backs besides what am I going to do, re roll with my energy. I've no choice but to keep punching till this guy goes down and then try and figure out what these panels are. I don't want to use my frames to turn my back on him. But I am glad that P'ertaria has got the same idea and using her frames to check them out. Either this is going to go badly for us and these panels will reveal an oxygen source, or they're some sort of escape vehicle. I suspect not though, because if the air did evaporate then you might not be able to get to them.

Arghh, dilemma. No go with the roles, I'm not sure what the alternative would be anyway and then see what we do next round.

Sj

Admin wrote:
The man (agent Spartan) staggered when the energy Lion leapt from Lionhearts chest to maul him! He ground his teeth in pain rather than cry out though, testament to his fortitude!

Then he followed up with a punch! But possibly loses 16htc from the blow depending on response. Over to you. Me? Bedtime! Zzzzz

OOC:Ok I will dodge as I said before. I like to try and keep my actions up front so that you can just respond to them as a given and then we can move on. I'm all about keeping it going. So if I write and action response down, take it as a given. I don't like take backs really. You've got to live or die by the choices you make at the time.

Lionheart dodged the blows and then continued to strike out using his superior martial arts skills to try and take the remaining assailants down.

OOC: 1d20+3+10=18 Hit for:2d6+26=[1, 1, 26] 28 HTC!,1d6=[2]HTK

Then another back ward kick at the other girl.1d20+3+10=22 Hit for:2d6+26=[1, 2, 26] 29HTC, 1d6=[1]HTK Man I'm not believing these rolls.

Anyway so that is that. Again Lionheart will elect to dodge or parry to mitigate the damage as long as it doesn't mean I put Saladin at risk. I think the way the rules put it is that dodge doesn't require movement?

Anyway sorry this is a bit of a slug fest, I'd love to come up with some creative juicy ideas for defeating Ursa and Lursa! But as it is with Saladin at my feet a potential piece of leverage against me, I can't do much else.

============
"Ladies, Ladies, there really is enough of me to go around, there is no need to fight me. Really! If you just stop this spat we can put our energies to something more constructive. Like rippening Bentham's head off over there. Now whatta say?"

Truth be told Lionheart had no interest in any such thing, especially since losing Beth. But his old self, sarcastic, flip pent and defiant was beginning to emerge from the grief that was still a real part of what he'd been through in recent weeks.

OOC:

Now on to your proposal. I like the idea of its simple elegance. To be honest I'm totally useless when it comes to rules and their implementation. But I like the idea that a great hit results in a higher amount of damage.

But how do you represent that when say Lionheart is trying his best to hurt someone (i.e. I'll use 5 dice not 2 etc) only to find he misses or doesn't hit as convincingly. Then at that point its how much he hits, rather than how hard he is trying that determines the damage and that is arbitrary as its down to a random roll. Also how do you plan to check how much energy is lost?

Having said that, if you've only 15 die and you use them in one round, its nuts that you have to wait four more rounds before being able to get any of that back. Even if you recovered a certain amount per round, at least you can carry on doing damage, So if you said, each round you recovered, 3 dice at least that's just above filed manipulation in terms of damage output and probably a bit more comparable with strength!

Anyway did you want to take this discussion into another thread, where Dave can get involved.

Also I've been reading Dave's thread, (good work there) so I've been following what's been happening as a set up for the Lore Knights where I'm quite keen to try an experimental hero in the field with these new rules ideas.

Sj