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

"PUPPET?PUPPET? You're rrright frostbite................... Robot stop last command"

"FOOL, Stop. Think of all the future innocents you would save, by killing a few you can save thousands" echoed in sentinels head as he fell to him nees screaming and holding his head.

"Bbbbut what would my friends think of me killing off countries and murdering thousands, what of my parents?" Steve retored.

"Your family are dead human, they have no 'feelings' to hurt and your so called friends, the freaks back in england who bearly know you and talk about you behind your back will WORSHIP you when you save this punny world by ridding it of all evil and saving the shadow realm"

"NO. If you would kill innocents to save your neck you have a great deal to learn about humans. To care for all races and creeds and forgive, no matter the differences, is to be truly powerfull. If you would do make me do this you are nothing to me shadow NOTHINGGGGGG" and the silver sentinel stood up to shake a fist at the sky.

There was no reply from the shadow just quietness like the deapths of the vode of space that surrounded them.

Sometime past before Steve lifted his head up to his colleagues.

"Please.............. forgive me" Steve said solemnly as he turn and headed off to repair and stabilize the ship.

Dark Power Frostbite
Dark Power Silver Sentinel
Lionheart
Golden Lion (Saladin)
P'ertaria
Frostbot


Lionheart scaled the inside of the lift shaft, helped in part by Golden Lion, who seemed remarkable in that he now resembled Saladin!

"It was going spare. The 'other you' would have been twice as annoying, and I could not sit by and listen to the two of you prattle!" hissed the energy being as he leapt from a stanchion then turned to reached out a hand. Lionheart took it, then was tossed upwards by Saladin, who in turn was dragged by Lionheart up, up...

They climbed onto the bridge to see Frostbite and Silver Sentinel facing off against one another! Frostbite was covered in spines of ice, and seemed to have grown a foot. The sheer waves of power coming off him were colossal! Silver Sentinels armour had morphed, as had his body. He was an armoured hulk, a near giant at 8 feet tall and possessed of tree trunk thick limbs!

"I hate to admit defeat before a blow is swung..." said Golden Lion "But against these two? We have no chance!"

Lionheart ignored him and ran forwards. Frostbite, struggling to maintain control with a voice inside his head bellowing for him to use his power and smite his enemies, showed Sentinel a vision of what had already transpired, and perhaps a taste of things to come! Would the British people stand back whilst the German populace was slaughtered? Would they bow to the rule of these self proclaimed gods? No! They would fight, and they too would burn!

Frostbite shuddered as a vision of London in flames came back to haunt him... Blinking it away, he turned to the Sentinel, and hoped he'd gotten through...

Silver Sentinel battled for control of his body. As the battle for control of his form raged he felt the 'other' slip back, and finally Steve lifted his head up to his colleagues.

"Please.............. forgive me" Steve said solemnly as he turn and headed off to repair and stabilize the ship.

Frostbite breathed a sigh of relief. And yet? Something was wrong...

"FOOLS!"



Sentinels form stretched and morphed (OOC He's in NPC mode), growing and changing to become a 9' high Demon! Snorting fire, he laughed and stretched out his arms, feeling solid physical form at last! "My Prince! Free yourself from the bounds of your puny mortal frame! If they will not take decisive action, we should! We will boil the seas, cleanse the land! All who oppose our will be smashed into oblivion! All evil, all terror, delicious they may be, will be eradicated! We... no!"

He suddenly emitted ferocious heat, enough to melt the metal nearby and cause Lionheart to shy back! Frostbite stood, protected by a slim forcefield around his form. "If we eradicate evil, then what do we feed on? Is this our lot, to turn the universe into a place without colour, without the base emotions? What a dull place indeed it would be!"

With a snarl he swiped a hand through one of the cowering Alien warriors, splattering its form, metal armour and all, as fragments against the wall which dented with the impact! Licking his soiled hand, the demon turned to Frostbite "Know you humans. Here and now, we stand at the crossroads of history! You have a chance to right a great wrong, an evil even we can appreciate and admire will befall the peoples of the world below! Millions of souls will cry out in torment and despair! For the usurpers it will be a chance to open a great gate, the likes of which will surely see the end of life and reality as you know it..."

Suddenly the demon bowed its head "And we must be there to meet them. I see now, O' Prince, the danger in unleashing our might. We become that which we despise the most, usurpers, parasites, feeding from the torment of mortals as the Shadow Demons we once called brethren would." He laughed, a horrible barking sound. "What would make us different from them then?"

He changed then, to become Silver Sentinel once more, save he was devoid of his armour, kneeling on the floor in despair.

'We cannot help what we are mortal' said the voice inside Frostbites head. 'We act on a grander scale, because that is normal to us. You wish to defeat opponents, we would wipe out armies! You need to fight off a country, we would conquer the evil empires of the universe! There will come a time when you call on us, pray for us to help you, but that time is not yet, it seems.' Frostbite felt rather than heard the creature sigh inside.

"This is P'ertaria!" squawked a radio. "The core is going to blow! We can't do anything to stop it! A coolant leak is imminent! We'll all be frozen to death!"

Lionheart almost laughed at Benthams cunning. He'd foreseen the trap being avoided, so rigged the core to explode, activating the failsafe that would turn the whole ship into an iceberg in space! Missed out one way, he would get them another! He turned to Frostbite. "Surely there's..."

"Eh?" said P'ertaria over the radio. "The core... it's... it's showing normal! What?" The sounds of laughter and rejoicing came over the comm-link.

'A gift mortal. Help your friend. The Dark Power is yours to call on, but to command it? You are not ready, not yet. Soon though. Your troubles now will seem as a drop in the ocean, and you will need to be ready. I feel great omniversal powers closing in on this dirtball, and here will be fought a battle of apocalyptic proportions! The people of the planet below will have to come together as one, or perish!' Then the voice was gone.

Lionheart confirmed what P'ertaria had said. "Maybe now we can restore air to the bridge. And clear these bodies up. What about you?" he turned to the aliens. They didn't understand, but dropped any weapons they still held and cowered in the corner. Golden Lion called out "King! Check the scanners! The Nazis are coming for you!"

It was true - a dozen blips on the radar, closing fast!

OOC Frostbite and Silver Sentinel are their old selves again, Dark Power gone - for now. The ship is saved from a cold death thanks to the Dark Power but there are Nazis on the way in fighter ships!

Dark Power Frostbite
Dark Power Silver Sentinel
Lionheart
Golden Lion (Saladin)
P'ertaria
Frostbot

Admin wrote: Golden Lion called out "King! Check the scanners! The Nazis are coming for you!"

It was true - a dozen blips on the radar, closing fast!

OOC Frostbite and Silver Sentinel are their old selves again, Dark Power gone - for now. The ship is saved from a cold death thanks to the Dark Power but there are Nazis on the way in fighter ships!

Lionheart wanted to shake his fist in fury, frustration almost getting the better of him as he realised they'd just averted one problem, only to face another.

Focusing on the matter at hand, he strode carefully over to Frostbite and Sentinel. "You to ok!" He wanted to say more but words failed him as he realised the ordeal they'd been through in both wielding and yet resisting the Dark powers within them.

Frostbite nodded first, though he'd used the dark power before, he'd never experienced it like this, not since he was the other Joe. But that was just a memory...now, now he understood. Pulling himself together he looked at Golden Lion now as Saladin, "Weren't you to trying to..." Lionheart held up his hands to fend off further explanations and added. "Its complicated." Truth was Frostbite already knew what had happened from scanning Lionheart's mind earlier. But even he was surprised to see Saladin in the new form!

Frostbite looked then shrugged, before turning to the ships scanners, he could see it didn't look good. "P'ertaria, you'd better come up here with our new friends. With got company." Then turning to the Robot he said, "Better round up the strays, we don't want them getting ideas with the cavalry arriving!"

Lionheart looked on, it didn't look good. He presumed that the Nazi's would want them to live, blowing them up was risky for everyone involved. But at the same time, he had to wonder where they went from here? Its not like they could hide, or hide for long? Or could they.

Pulling Frostbite to one side, Lionheart quickly imparted his plan, at least as a fall back option. Frostbite nodded, as he chewed on a finger concentration and concern etched onto his face.

OOC:
Ok since we don't know what is actually going on around us, we'll do what we can on the ship.

1. I suggest that the Robot and P'ertaria and the Bentham's Agents round up the crew and seal them into rooms where they can be kept out of harms way and from causing harm.

2. I suggest we find out if there are any weapons on board that can be used to stop them Nazi's I'm thinking about the Lunarium bomb for instance. If its impractical to fire it at them, or leave it so its between us and as we leave they fall into its blast radius (assuming we far enough away from the Earth not to cause a problem) at sufficient speed, then all good and well. But if not, my only other suggestion is that...

3. We could fend them off, after all if they don't kill us they'd have to board us and we could fight them off until we can take control of one of their ships and still get to the moon.

Ross if you have any other ideas, they'd be welcome. In the meantime, I'll give it some more thought and see if I can think of any other alternatives. I guess as well Paul, if there is information about the ship or our circumstances I'm not getting, then maybe you could tell us.

Just to say I am away at a wedding from tomorrow back on Sunday, I'll be able to read mail first thing and then read mail on Sunday evening, so there should be no reason for normal service not to resume.

Sj

Admin wrote:OOC Just a quick note - I'd have posted in character but am a bit rushed at the minute (at work). The Lunarium in the bomb is enough to appease P'ertarias people. Getting it to them at the other side of the solar system is the challenge though, especially with the Nazis on your heels!

Yes I did think of that and wondered what or if we could contact them? Shame we can't just meet them half way and then bomb the moon! If there is a way to contact them and at least get them talking with P'ertaria then I'm game.

Sj

Dark Power Frostbite
Dark Power Silver Sentinel
Lionheart
Golden Lion (Saladin)
P'ertaria
Frostbot


OOC I'll move us on a little bit as the main issue (whether Silver Sentinel and Frostbite would win the war all by themselves and conquer the world) has been addressed. As has been frozen in cryo-stasis not by one, but by two traps.

Golden Lion helped Silver Sentinel to his feet and whispered "I don't know what exactly went on between you and your friend but I could feel the power you possess. It must feel like... like a dam, always straining to hold back the water! For that, and keeping it in check when it so clearly could destroy us all, you have my thanks." The energy being then turned to where the others gathered. Silver Sentinel glanced down. He was in his underwear! Without metal to clothe him, he would be vulnerable and... he glanced about again. Plenty of metal here, and alien metal too! Would that work in the same way as his power, and perhaps provide some unexpected benefits?

P'ertaria played about with the controls on a console, finally establishing a faint, crackling connection with her peoples mothership at the edge of the solar system! Speaking in her own alien tongue, one too fast for mere humans to follow, she turned "My people have heard the offer - of the Lunarium in the bomb, and will give due consideration to any proposal the Allies have in some kind of agreement. At the least, they say they will stop sending more of our people to help the Nazis, though they cannot speak for those already working with them. I suspect it will be dangerous for our people should word get out that the P'utinarians no longer consider the Nazis their allies. The Nazis would not, I fear, take it well."

The Robot spoke up "The ships are incoming. I have interfaced with the ships defence systems. They are... rudimentary at best but may buy some time. The incoming vessels are small and fast, and will easily evade the defences if the pilots are competent. I suggest we use this vessels engines to get underway towards the Motherships location as soon as possible. Bear in mind our old means of transport is still attached. Perhaps it can be used in some way to slow our pursuers down?"

Golden Lion glanced at a panel. "Restoring air to the bridge! You can remove those masks now. Then we have the problem of what to do with them."

All eyes turned to the three alien warriors still standing. The rest of the bridge was littered with bodies, all dead from asphyxiation...

Suddenly an alarm broke the silence "Here they come!" shouted Golden Lion. With the groups consent, and P'ertarias guidance, he set the great vessel underway. It was clear the pursuing ships would catch it, but those on board would surely know it carried the Lunarium bomb - were they desperate enough to die themselves in order to stop the Vanguard?

=========

Helped from the goop tank, Bentham wrapped himself in a towel and walked over to a console...

Looking at the display, he calculated his various options. The enemy - whomever they were - had captured his cloned agents, and Saladin. Whilst the data he needed was stored in his incredible mind, be knew he would need Saladin and Lionheart together to create the ultimate warrior, one that, when cloned in the thousands, would have no trouble in conquering Planet Earth - and beyond! Cursing, he stared at the screen again, and ordered "Board the ship. Make it your mens priority. Their trajectory is interesting though. Hmmm." With that he walked away, creating plans within schemes within plans...

OOC The large ship you are travelling in isn't quick enough to outrun the fighters in the short term, but once away from planetary bodies it can use it's fusion drive and accelerate away. You are being pursued by a dozen fighters, the Agents have secured the prisoners - human and alien crew - in their quarters on floor 4, and the Vanguard have an opportunity to secure this vessel as a base and a means of transport - if they can prevent it from being destroyed or captured. Next stop - the edge of the solar system? Or a fiery end after the attacking vessels destroy the ship?

Frostbite
Silver Sentinel
Lionheart
Golden Lion (Saladin)
P'ertaria
Frostbot

Admin wrote:OOC The large ship you are travelling in isn't quick enough to outrun the fighters in the short term, but once away from planetary bodies it can use it's fusion drive and accelerate away. You are being pursued by a dozen fighters, the Agents have secured the prisoners - human and alien crew - in their quarters on floor 4, and the Vanguard have an opportunity to secure this vessel as a base and a means of transport - if they can prevent it from being destroyed or captured. Next stop - the edge of the solar system? Or a fiery end after the attacking vessels destroy the ship?

OOC: Ok just getting ready to go out, in a mo, so last email for 24 hours. Sorry its a bit rushed.

1. I'll have the agents on stand bye to repel borders, I suggest Lionheart join them as they can cover more ground quicker.

2. I suggest Sentinel (unless you have any alternative suggestions mate) goes with Frostbite to decouple the old ship.

3. I suggest the Robot and P'ertaria man the bridge to make sure they keep us informed and as soon as we can engage the fusion drive (oh that sounds good we should punch it.

Speak to you tomorrow.

Sj

"I think I've hit an all time low" sentinel said looking down at his standard issue army briefs then walking away to hide his shame behind a computer console.
"Mmm I wonder." Stooping down to place a hand on the suit Steve felt a tingle even before he touch it. "What the he'll" he added as he shrugged and continued his hand forward. A sparked jumped up and flowed through his body increasing as it flowed combining with the liquid metal creaping up his arm.
"I say that'll wake you up in the morning" he exclaimed up to his feet wide eyed and bushy tailed like he had drunk a pint of espresso.

Frostbite
Silver Sentinel
Lionheart
Golden Lion (Saladin)
P'ertaria
Frostbot


Silver Sentinel moves to a section of wall, running his hands over the metal. It wasn't manufactured on Earth, that much was clear. The ... 'feel' was different, even if part of it was definitely iron based. With a shrug he concentrated, focussing his power on it.

Nothing happened.

With a frown, he tried harder. Finally the metal started oozing, slowing making its way from the wall like thick liquid to run up his legs and start to cover his body. It took almost 30 seconds to form a new suit, an eternity compared to his other one, but it was as functional. With a shrug he clanked his way from the bridge with Frostbite towards the lift and down to the 3rd floor where the old ship was anchored to this one.

OOC Silver Sentinel gains an extra +1 HTK divider using this alien metal. The downside is it takes a full 30 seconds of concentration to summon and he can't do anything else in that time, but once it's formed, he's good to go. It's harder/more durable but still as light as the metal he used before, so no real downside aside from the time to make it and possibly running out of supplies unless he has a crashed ship he can cannibalize or makes a point of keeping this metal whenever he takes it off.

Frostbite led the way from the lift, and over to the airlock, site of the first battle since coming on board. The bodies of the downed were still there. Some yet lived, but would be out for hours.

Everyone felt the jolt as the ship started moving, and the robots voice over the comm confirmed "The enemy is closing in! Brace for impact! Automatic defences engaged."

The sound of small rail guns on the outside of the ship going off was like a hundred chattering machine guns on a battlefield. Designed to deflect or destroy small slow moving objects like asteroids, the guns would have to 'get lucky' to hit a fast moving fighter! Still, it was better than nothing. Would it be enough to stave off the enemy though, or was there something the Vanguard could do?

=========

Lionheart gathered the agents. "Keep an eye on the prisoners" he directed to Spartan

The man nodded. Deprived of weapons, and the armoured aliens separated from the power packs to their cyborg exo-suit, they didn't expect any trouble but the prisoners could still prove to be a distraction. The other two, Boudica and Guillotine, carried breath masks and laser weapons from the Alien cyborg warriors, determined to see off any boarding parties.

=========

The ship shook as incoming hostile fire rattled across the hull

"Hits taken" stated the computer over the comm. "Hull holding. There appears to be some kind of ray shielding to prevent radiation from penetrating the hull. I have increased the power to it but that has reduced our speed. Contact me should you wish to sacrifice the shields for greater speed. Projections suggest three incoming ships on a collision course. The size of each suggests possibly half a dozen boarders assuming the vessel is not destroyed. Brace for impact!"

OOC Frostbite and Sentinel to uncouple the old ship? I assume Lionheart and the female agents will move to any hull breaches. The robot has increased power to the shields but it means you'll be under attack for longer. Dropping the shields means you move faster but the chances of one of these ships penetrating the hull with lasers or by ramming is increased. The defences are fairly useless, but I have assigned a percentage chance of them striking an enemy. I'll roll those dice next post based on the tactics you use (lower shields=higher speed= less chance to hit Nazis with rail guns)

"The ships are incoming. I have interfaced with the ships defence systems. They are... rudimentary at best but may buy some time. The incoming vessels are small and fast, and will easily evade the defences if the pilots are competent. I suggest we use this vessels engines to get underway towards the Motherships location as soon as possible. Bear in mind our old means of transport is still attached. Perhaps it can be used in some way to slow our pursuers down?"

Sentinel walked over to the party almost strutting in his new found suit.

"Just an idea but how about a little distraction chaps? Hear me out GL goes down to the old ship, I melt the ship free from my previous 'weld' freeing it then allowing GL to fly off. Ok it might not take all the incoming ships with it but some is better than none right? And tactically speaking they proberly only want to disable the ship not destroy it to get their bomb back giving us a little more time to get the hell outta here, and we might just take a few of those blighters with us. What do you say?"

smaug wrote:"Hear me out GL goes down to the old ship, I melt the ship free from my previous 'weld' freeing it then allowing GL to fly off."

OOC: I like the idea of bobby trapping the ship, but GL cannot go to the ship without Lionheart as they two cannot be more than 20m from each other.

The idea of bobby trapping the ship is a good one. If we can rig it so that the ship can explode in the wake of what is going on. And SS is right one of the ships might consider slowing down to take a look.

Ok so slight change of plan.

Lionheart snapped his fingers as did Golden Lion, which was a bit disconcerting and stopped him momentarily, before continuing with a slightly hurt look about him. "Anyway...as I was about to say, if we booby trap that ship to go off, at least it might by us some time. Hold the ship in place, FB, me and my shadow are on our..." And moments later he finished right outside the air lock, "...way!" with a huge grin. Saladin, the Golden Lion, just raised his eyes in mock disgust and they both sped inside the ship. Arguing as they went about strategy.

Meanwhile Frostbite nodded to Sentinel, "Keep them out of trouble and watch for hull breeches, we've got to get this Lunarium to P'ertaria's people. With them outside of the war, we'll either have potential allies or one less race to have to fight."

And with that he strode up to the bridge to lend a hand where he could. As he went he realised so much had changed from the initial plan they'd started out with and yet, so much remained undone. Getting the bomb to the P'utinarian's seemed like the right course of action, assuming they could complete delivery. Then what? The Nazi's will be on high alert, knowing the allies had become space faring and so they'd have lost the element of surprise! He had to dismiss those thoughts for the moment, but keep them within arms length, though he had other matters to deal with, he couldn't afford to ignore what must surely follow soon after.

OOC:
Ok firstly we'll definitely continue with shields up and slower on the power. Lighter might be faster, but its also a much easier target.

Frostbite will help on the bridge or wherever he can be of most use. At some point it would be good for him to know he can phase, as that might make the difference in terms of speed and getting to a hull breech when they occur.

The other Psi agents need to be on standbye, getting to spaces to repel borders when attacked.

Finally if there is anyway that LH and GL can rig the old ship, to blow either when the ships get close, or after a specified time, then that would be cool.

Ok I think that is it for now.

SJ

Frostbite
Silver Sentinel
Lionheart
Golden Lion (Saladin)
P'ertaria
Frostbot


OOC I gave a 20 % chance for the weapons on the pursuing ships to breach the shields. They will get more shots in as you are travelling slower, but without the shields up the chance of doing some damage would go up to 35%. As it is, 1d100=46, 1d100=68, 1d100=89, 1d100=79, 1d100=95, 1d100=37, 1d100=66, 1d100=34, 1d100=61, 1d100=40, 1d100=61, 1d100=61 not a one managed to punch through the shields.

As the large science ship gathered pace, it occasionally rocked and bucked as the small chasing vessels opened fire. The consoles on the ship made little sense to Frostbite, but the Robot was able to confirm "The shields are holding. If the enemy manage to penetrate them expect them to ram a moment later, and board the ship. We may have to endure more minutes of this before we are clear of the gravitational pull of the Earth or Moon and are able to engage this vessels' Fusion drive."

=========

Silver Sentinel flew through the corridors and noticed small metal spheres with long thin metallic tentacles 'tending to the wounds' of the ship...

The things were like insects, half a dozen limbs delicately moving electronic devices back into place before welding them and patching up rents in the metal. With several of the small repair 'bots on the case, they were able to quickly patch up the signs of battle, though it would be weeks before the ship was fully restored to 'as new' condition thanks to the raging battles that had taken place. Most of it was beyond Silver Sentinels capacity to understand - he was born in the early 20th century after all - but he was picking it up better than he expected. For that he had to thank Saturday morning matinees of the various Larry 'Buster' Crabbe shows, notably Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon!

He followed Lionheart and Golden Lion through the ship to where the other was tethered. The three agents that Lionheart had recruited had cleared the Nazis away from the third level where the airlock was, and the small group was unmolested as it went aboard the battered rusting hulk that had gotten them into space. It seemed something of a shame to destroy it, but when it represented a life line they could use to escape the mad, buzzing, hornet like ships that followed them, the loss was bearable. Besides, even with those insect like repair bots on the case, the rustbucket was more or less beyond repair, after years of scavenging by American Scientists trying to figure out how the Alien tech worked.

As the three boarded the ship, they looked about as it creaked ominously. Only Golden Lion was able to get away with not wearing a breath mask, seeing as he wasn't truly 'alive'.

Moments later they were in the engine room. The weak pulsing blue light in a thick glasslike cylinder that ran from floor to ceiling highlighted myriad cracks in the containment of what power remained. Silver Sentinel nodded to the other two after deciding what to do, and began weakening the bonds of the ships engines to the rest of the ship. Golden Lion and Lionheart set the ship to maximum power to overload what remained of the engines.

=========

Frostbite glanced at a panel. "What's that flashing?"

"We are almost out of range of the gravitational fields and able to accelerate to our full speed shortly." advised Frostbot.

Suddenly the hull shook again with a renewed bout of firing!

OOC 1d100=39, 1d100=19, 1d100=77, 1d100=22, 1d100=37, 1d100=92, 1d100=68, 1d100=74, 1d100=89, 1d100=92, 1d100=2, 1d100=42. Two hits this time, and one near miss.

Suddenly the whole ship shook!

P'ertaria whirled from the console she was monitoring. "Shields breached! Prepare for..."

BANG!

BANG!

"Uh... impact..." she said, looking dazed.

The robot looked to the screens. "Hull breach on level 4 - prisoner containment, former living quarters, and level 5, engine room and location of the Lunarium bomb."

=========

Silver Sentinel stepped back onto the ship as Lionheart and Golden Lion appeared beside him.

With superhuman strength he was easily able to close the airlock door, and he concentrated, severing the metallic magnetic bonds that tethered the old ship to the one they now used. Looking through the small portal in the door they watched the old ship tumble away, shrinking... then THOOOM!

=========

Everyone on the ship was further shaken by the massive explosion outside!

The robot, righting itself after being toppled by the jolt, checked the readings. "The explosion accounted for 7 of our 12 pursuers, and two of those 5 remaining have breached our hull, doubtless boarding even as we speak. The other three are recovering and may get chance to fire again before we can escape the gravity wells."

OOC 1d100=94, 1d100=9, 1d100=36. One hit

BOOM!

Suddenly smoke and debris filled the bridge as the small nose of an enemy craft jutted through the roof of the bridge! Immediately energy fields formed up to create a seal around the vessel, and the Vanguardians present saw the things smooth, pointed nose suddenly fall away... as metal booted Alien warriors (OOC cyborgs as before) spilled from the vessel and landed on the deck below with a metallic clack!

OOC There are three hull breaches, the engine room, where the prisoners are and now the bridge. If you can decide which floors which character is heading for we'll get this part of the adventure wrapped - unless the aliens set off the Lunarium Bomb, in which case... *boom* ...

Frostbite
Silver Sentinel
Lionheart
Golden Lion (Saladin)
P'ertaria
Frostbot

Admin wrote:BOOM!

OOC There are three hull breaches, the engine room, where the prisoners are and now the bridge. If you can decide which floors which character is heading for we'll get this part of the adventure wrapped - unless the aliens set off the Lunarium Bomb, in which case... *boom* ...

Before turning to the foes at hand, Frostbite shouted over the communication devices, so that the other members of the team were aware of where the hull breaches where. "Lionheart you and the others secure the engines, team Boudica, you've gut personnel, and we've got a breach up here also."

With that Frostbite told the Robot to keep an eye on things and only join in if things went badly. As soon as they could use the fusion engines then use them.

Then directing P'ertaria, they moved into the fray. Frostbite made ready to launch a quick frost blast at the creatures, before wading into melee.

Meanwhile down below, Lionheart and Golden Lion, already alerted by the impacts, made their way to the hull breach below.

OOC:

Ok Sentinel can join us or team Boudica, but us two will head down to the engine room and attack where we can as necessary. Making sure the bomb is secure firstly and then tackling the cyborgs.

Frostbite will wade in and attack on his initiative count. He will attempt to parry if hit.

I'm not sure what I'm rolling for now, otherwise I'd be happy to give invisible castle the numbers to crunch. So I'll let you worry about that for now. Although I do like doing the rolling. But since we don't know where the Initiative count is yet, I'll hold off until you tell me.

Sj

Ok going by the new rules.

Frostbite will fire a quick blast of 2 energy at the nearest Cyborg alien exiting the craft.

so if I've got the new rules right, its 3+6+roll = 1d20+3+6=21 so that makes 4 points above 17 to hit x2 =8 damage, to HTC.

Ok So if I do the same thing again, another quick blast for another 2 points. Ugh same rolls: 1d20+3+6=21 so another 8 damage to HTC! But all in one action.

Sj

OOC I had intended to give a bonus to initiative for those repelling boarders, but there's no need. Roll of 10 for the good guys, 1 for the bad. 4 frames.



OOC haven't applied the new htc/htk totals yet. Both characters would lose out (I think, would have to check for sure) but it applies to the bad guys too. Let's do that after this fight and assuming everyone else agrees.

Frostbite watched as the cyborg aliens dropped from the vessel, one at a time, onto the bridge! Ordered to stay put, the Robot concentrated its efforts on plotting a course to the coordinates P'ertaria had specified. "Countdown commencing" said the robot. "Though whether these symbols are words or numbers is unclear to this unit. Will research possibility of language conversion to English."

OOC both Frostbites quick blasts hit, albeit not too accurately (the more accurate you get, the more damage is the theory). He used 4/15 energy and has 2 frames left. Copied from before - 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.



P'ertaria starts moving around the bridge, clinging to the walls to get near the aliens ship. The robot is plotting the course and counting down to fusion drive launch.

Admin wrote:P'ertaria starts moving around the bridge, clinging to the walls to get near the aliens ship. The robot is plotting the course and counting down to fusion drive launch.

Seeing that he hit, Frostbite ran into repel the invaders seeking to stun them into submission.

OOC: Ok not sure how far they are away so this might be a moot point if I need to use both frames to get to them. But in any case, here I go - for one final punch:

And I get my usual run of bad dice rolling with a unspectacular 14, 1d20+2+6=14! What a dud!

Sj

Ok Sentinel can join us or team Boudica, but us two will head down to the engine room and attack where we can as necessary. Making sure the bomb is secure firstly and then tackling the cyborgs.

"Im not leaving you two to have all the fun anyway as I see it that bomb is priority number one, if anything happens to that thing we are all toast and worse case scenario if they try tampering with the bomb I might have to melt the blasted thing."

Meanwhile down below, Lionheart and Golden Lion, already alerted by the impacts, made their way to the hull breach below followed by the young silver sentinel.

OOC I'd planned to update Lionheart to his new 'ultimate' status, then put it off thinking I'd write him up in the DC system, realised we're still using GH for the Vanguard game, and so haven't updated his stats yet. Oops. There will be a little delay whilst he gets his boost, but Lionheart, as the most powerful superhuman currently on planet Earth, is comfortably ahead of anyone else - at the moment. Don't worry, Vanguardians - your time is coming. LH might still be the most powerful on Earth but the Vanguard will operate on a far bigger scale... Will post up tonight. Meanwhile Frostbite is in a pickle...



Cursing as the punch on the end of his run swung wide, Frostbite suddenly realised he was heavily outnumbered! Three of the Aliens were ready to attack, and the remaining three were recovering from the leap made from their ship!

OOC Here goes. They are WC1, vs DC6, +7 in total. 3 frames apiece. 1d20+1+6=16, 1d20+1+6=15, 1d20+1+6=14, 1d20+1+6=15, 1d20+1+6=13, 1d20+1+6=11, 1d20+1+6=23, 1d20+1+6=9, 1d20+1+6=23. Ha! Not so bad. Two hits. Looks like Frosties luck has rubbed off on these guys... Damage is 6+6 (htc from punch)+10 (damage bonus)=22htc each hit. Response? With the trial dodge rules you roll 1D6 + dodge - WC and reduce the accuracy score (6 in both those cases) by the result. Parrying is still the same (I'll get round to making that simpler and faster) After dividers the damage will be 7 points apiece anyway, putting Frostbite on 33/47 Htc. I'll get on with Lionhearts newest stats and post up Sentinel + the two Lions later tonight.

Admin wrote:OOC Here goes...After dividers the damage will be 7 points apiece anyway, putting Frostbite on 33/47 Htc. [/i]

Frostbite dodged and ducked or swiped aside the blows of the oncoming aliens as best as he could. Perhaps some of the Dark Prince's power remained or maybe the presence of these alien heroes had spooked the oncoming aliens. Whatever the reason, Frostbite was glad to have had the chance to fend off all but two of the blows coming in. [OOC: I'll take the damage this round]

"Ok you've had your fun, now its my turn." Frostbite said with force as he swung back at the oncoming aliens.

OOC:

Ok so 1d20+6+2=12 , 1d20+6+2=11 , 1d20+6+2=24 , 1d20+6+2=22

So two complete misses and two solid hits with the old one two. So lets see that means the first one 7+17=24/2=12 HTC and 22/2 =11HTC so total of 23HTC to the nearest of these bruisers from Frostbite.

Sj

OOC That health status bar is not exactly clear. I may have to tweak that to make it more visible, at least putting it on a white background. Never mind...

Silver Sentinel looked up at the hole in the lift as it shot down the shaft towards the lower floor. Golden Lion was humming a tune, hands behind his back, the curious energy matrix that gave him life buzzing slightly. Every now and again he'd touch the control panel on the wall, chuckling as it sparked and the lift shuddered. "Stop that!" hissed Lionheart. Saladin smiled, put his hands behind his back and muttered "Spoilsport. Always so serious!" which was ironic as Lionheart had always been the joker in this particular pack!

OOC And in previous packs, though that was another time, another alternate version of Lionheart

Silver Sentinel admired the armour on his body (OOC want to keep the same design? I was thinking something shinier, with spines...). The alien metal was strange. Neither hot nor cold, it felt light to his superhuman strength. Shrugging, Sentinel hoped it would do the trick, anything to take his mind off the events of a few moments ago, when he'd held the power to destroy worlds in his hands... or rather... it had held him!

The door hissed open into the engine room, the pulsing engine core dominating the room and flashing at a speed only Lionheart could - barely - follow. Across the far side of the room the nose of a fighter had punched through, and it'd been removed to let the Alien cyborgs climb out. All six were out, guns at the ready and turned at the 'ping' of the lift. "Ground floor, lingerie, sporting goods and alien invaders" quipped Saladin.

OOC Lionheart and Golden Lion are split. The Aliens are 20m away, at the edge of range for a distance attack, but still targets. Any plan? Initiative Heroes 2, Bad guys 1. 1 frame to you guys then their 3, then your remaining frames. Let me know with your actions what your combat responses will be. I'll cook up a new rule on parrying tonight or tomorrow, dodging is easy enough with the new rule though. The aliens are looking about, wondering whether to disable the engine or go straight for the Lunarium bomb. I'm sure the Vanguard has a third option. Over to you!

OOC Frosty needs to roll initiative before he acts next. That comes out 8 Heroes, 3 bad guys. 3 frames. Damage is accuracy (7) for first hit, matched by 7 points from the punch (up to a max of 12) +17 from damage bonus. 31 points of damage, divided by 2 equals 15. When he gets his next hit in (assuming he doesn't use that frame for a reaction) it will be 5 points, matched by 5 plus 17 for 27, divided by 2 for 13 points of damage. Seems like a bit of maths but it's pretty easy really. The more accurate you are, the harder you punch.



Despite having the battling skills of a drunken man who could barely stand, Frostbite connected with a powerful blow that sent his opponent reeling, barely able to stand and falling to the side, looking about! The others were less than impressed, and piled in!

Somewhere behind the mass of bodies jumping on him, Frostbite heard the CLANG! CLANG! of the robot on the bridge.

OOC This might hurt. Only 4 of 5 opponents can get on you cause they are big. The other is moving to take on the robot and one is stunned. 1d20+1+6=16, 1d20+1+6=11, 1d20+1+6=24, 1d20+1+6=13, 1d20+1+6=17, 1d20+1+6=13, 1d20+1+6=13, 1d20+1+6=17, 1d20+1+6=8 critical miss - lose a frame next round for one of the Aliens, 1d20+1+6=26, 1d20+1+6=12, 1d20+1+6=22. 3 hits. Solid ones at that. Damage is 24htc for the first (reduced to 8 after dividers), 28 for the next (reduced to 9 after dividers) and 20 for the last (reduced to 6 after dividers). Response? Frosty is taking a kicking now, and taking these would leave him on 10htc/47 just 2 points off being staggered! Parrying rules are the same as usual until I come up with an alternative. Over to you!

Admin wrote:OOC Lionheart and Golden Lion are split. The Aliens are 20m away, at the edge of range for a distance attack, but still targets. Any plan? Initiative Heroes 2, Bad guys 1. 1 frame to you guys then their 3, then your remaining frames. Let me know with your actions what your combat responses will be. I'll cook up a new rule on parrying tonight or tomorrow, dodging is easy enough with the new rule though. The aliens are looking about, wondering whether to disable the engine or go straight for the Lunarium bomb. I'm sure the Vanguard has a third option. Over to you![/i]

OOC: Yes we have a third option.

Lionheart quickly whispered to Sentinel a suggestion, whilst Saladin skipped into the room to distract the guards away from the Lunarium bomb. Then Lionheart equally as quickly sped around the other side of the Engine core to engage the aliens at closer range.

Meanwhile Saladin quipped again. "You ought to hire some image consultants but hey look I've got a free slot in my schedule. How about I come and rearrange your features. I mean, lets be honest, in your case anything has to be an improvement."

Lionheart couldn't believe the way his one time mortal enemy was behaving and just tried to focus on the matter at hand.

OOC:

Ok here is my suggestion, Sentinel melts the metal suits the cyborbs are wearing and welds them feet to the floor. Which will make them sitting ducks - or the equivilent off maybe. Ross feel free to disregard my suggestion, but just trying to think how we can stop them getting loose and doing more damage. You might prefer the alternative of just blasting them from where you are though!

GL and Lionheart will move in their frames to engage the enemy as best they can. Combat responses will be dodging - what else.

Sj

Lionheart and Saladin split up to distract three each. Both sped up with superhuman power to a blur, slowing to taunt and tease their foes!

OOC Aliens frames, 1 shot each (1 action) and all move to within punching range of their target. 1d20+1+6=18, 1d20+1+6=21, 1d20+1+6=23, 1d20+1+6=18, 1d20+1+6=27, 1d20+1+6=12. Holy smoke! 1 miss, all the rest hit! Damage is accuracy (roll total -17) and match accuracy point for point with weapon damage up to the weapons maximum. The guns do 3d6+3htk and 1d6+3 htc, so max damage is 18 +3 htk, 6 +3 htc. The plus 3 for each is inflicted like a strength bonus, regardless of how accurate the shot is. one of the shots (5th) was a critical. First, the hits on Lionheart: 5htk and 5htc, 11htk and 11htc, 15htk and 15htc. Dodge rolls for Lionheart are: 8 (dodges first shot completely), 12, dodges, 8, dodges. Dodging essentially increases the target number so with his high dodge these guys will need a 20 to hit. Oh look... targeting Golden Lion. First hit, 5htk, 5htc. Dodges with 13 (1d6+dodge-wc is added to the target number so easily dodges the shot). The critical comes up with 1d20=12. Total hit roll 39. Golden Lions dodge is 1d6 (4)+8-1=11. This bumps the target number up from 17 to 28. 39-28=11 accuracy, matched point for point to 11 (total 22) by the gun (+3) for htk and up to 6 points for htc (+3) for a total of 25htk, 20htc! Those 20s... they'll spice things up no end for sure! Damage is taken from Lionhearts totals that he shares with Golden Lion. Lionhearts current status:



OOC I only ran through those mechanics to make things a little clearer on how combat works. Basically I should be able to reel those numbers off in a snap from now on, and it means that Lionheart is no longer invulnerable by expending a frame...But you'll still need a 20 and a decent roll after to tag him. Lionheart has used all 4 frames this round. Golden Lion has used all three frames.

Silver Sentinel watched as the odd pair went about their business, taunting the Alien cyborgs and dodging the fire! It seemed impossible for the Aliens to miss, but that's what they did - until Golden Lion zigged instead of zagging! With a bright flash Golden Lion staggered, his movements mirrored by Lionheart on the other side of the engine core, clutching at a wound on his chest!

"Sorry old chap!" gasped Golden Lion. "They got a lucky shot in! Still, I know you're alright... I'm you!" he laughed, though the pain was evident in his voice.

OOC GL and Lionheart have acted. The Aliens have acted. Silver Sentinel is 20m away, but has four frames, then it's initiative.

Silver sentinel stood in the lift checking out his platinum armour, he could see his iron spine on the back of his suit reflected in the mirror like walls of the lift, the faint glowing plasma in the blue gems of his pectorial plates in between studying his renforced jointed boots (unlike the heavy plated boots of before) and the finely metal joined skeletal gauntlets.

OOC: Think like a cross between Isaac from dead space and a ring wrath e.g. his gauntlets. Ranged plasma attack at the ready for the nearest foe afree the lift doors open and the others had there turns.

Silver Sentinel
Lionheart
Golden Lion

With Lionheart and Golden Lion running interference on the Aliens, Silver Sentinel saw his chance to strike! Levelling his arm, he pointed and fired!

OOC I assume full power (5 energy points for a x5 multiplier) shot taking 1 action. Roll of 15, +WC3 +DC6 = 24, accuracy of 7 (target number was 17). Damage is x5 so 35 total. Even when concentrating all fire on Htc (damage dividers reduced by 1 to -1) the Aliens HTC dividers are dropped from 2 to 1. And so...

With a single accurate shot the bolt lances through the air, punches into a cyborg and throws him against a far wall! The Alien slides down the wall into a slumped heap!

OOC I will assume you fire again, same potency? 5 energy points, leaving him on 5/15. Roll of 20! Critical! Next roll is 7. 27 + WC3 +DC6 = 36, 19 points of accuracy. This, multiplied by 5, causes 95 damage! Damage split to 47/48 with -2 DD ... and so...

Lionheart glances to the side. Silver Sentinel fires again... an opponent in front of him literally lights up like a flare! When the glow dies down all that is left is ash!

Silver Sentinel glances at his palm, wondering whether he still had the Dark Power within him, or if he'd scored an incredibly accurate and powerful shot!

OOC The aliens are looking like:



Two shots, two down.

Our heroes are looking like...



Initiative Heroes 7, Bad guys 2. 3 frames.