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

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

At Lionhearts behest P'ertaria stepped up to a battered looking panel. Brushing aside fragments that had fallen from the ceiling, and having to duck under an I beam that had been put in place to brace the battered vehicle, she nodded to Lionheart who reached under the panel top and fiddled with wires, diverting current to the communications. Suddenly the air seemed thinner in the ship!

"Greetings. We have secured the crashed vessel and slain the primary targets." said P'ertaria, unsure of whom she was addressing. "This vessel is badly damaged, but we were hoping to bring back the bodies of the meta humans for study. The findings will be... most interesting." She'd changed herself to resemble one of the K'atinarians. The resemblance was chilling!

The smashed viewscreen flickered into life.



A Nazi officer flanked by a soldier appeared on the other end, and in the shadowed background other creatures - with dome like helmets and rather looking like red skinned upright lizards - were at work at various control panels.

"Interesting." replied the officer. "Land at the moon base, but do not attempt to disembark. We are watching."

P'ertaria nodded nervously, then added "Heil hitler." with a weak smile.

The viewscreen blinked off, and she shuddered, becoming her natural self. Lionheart couldn't be sure they'd bought the story, but at least they'd not opened fire! This thing was a sitting duck - they didn't even know if the manoeuvring thrusters would slow them enough to stop the ship slamming into the moons surface!

Sensors showed the ship was keep a distance of around 10km from their own, a long way, but not in the vastness of space! It would be a long, suspense filled ride to the moon. If the Nazis changed their mind and opened fire, well... there might be little or nothing the group could do to stop them!

OOC Want to ride it out to the moon? Or try another plan? Sorry the post is so short as I was expecting a fight of some kind - sometimes talking your way out really IS the best option though Over to you

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

Admin wrote:OOC Want to ride it out to the moon? Or try another plan? Sorry the post is so short as I was expecting a fight of some kind - sometimes talking your way out really IS the best option though Over to you

OOC: No worries I was expecting a fight as well, but form what you said about the state of the ship (you know its hard to determine how bad is bad, when we use only a verbal description I wonder if this ship and objects in general need stats. If we know we've got a pool of 200htk with dividers /3 but we're down to 50 then we know more accurately really how bad things are - if you see what I mean.) My reluctance to get into a fight was based entirely on how badly patched up the ship is.

=======

Lionheart when to P'ertaria's side. "You did well, I know it couldn't have been easy. None of this has been, so thank you." He then sat down near here attending to the bits and pieces he could around the room. "I can't imagine what the Nazi's must have done to your people to turn them into those monstrosities. Perhaps things have gone so far now, that we may yet be able to get your people to change their minds and get you all to leave and rejoin your people."

Meanwhile Joe remained quiet, they had no idea what the Nazi's had built on the moon, although flashbacks to his other life had hinted at several surface structures and deep caverns beneath. But he had no idea of what they'd be facing on the ground, it was clear they weren't going to fly in undetected, and fighting might reduce their craft to the scrap heap it ought to be in already. So perhaps a second rouse, might work, perhaps.

OOC:

Ok I don't think that unless we have to, a fight is going to work. From all you've told us the ship is ready to fly apart in the nearest breath of solar wind, so a fight would be a our last option. I am thinking we go through with the rouse idea.

But we'll have to see, in any case the chances of us getting onto the moon, unnoticed are going to be slim. Shame we couldn't steal one of the other working craft like the one that is accompanying us now.

Sj

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

As the ship creaked and groaned its way through the void, the occupants could only wonder what was going on with the vessel that shadowed them. Did they know the old rustbucket harboured enemies? Were they toying with them only to destroy the ship within sighting distance of their destination on the dark side of the moon?

<<This unit is detecting residual computer activity elsewhere in the vessel, possibly from some form of 'hibernation' mode. Suggestion: Investigation. It may be transmitting an undesirable report or signal to your enemies.>> said the computer inside Joe Hoskyns mind.

Joe glanced about. The beams that had been welded in to hold this thing together seemed to sway and groan, despite the incredible power of Silver Sentinels metal morphing, which bonded the metal in a way that most welding could not. Would mere earthly metal withstand the forces of the cosmos though?

P'ertaria sighed, leaning back in a broken chair. "When we land you know they will surround the vessel. Do we intend to battle our way through hundreds of soldiers, possibly my own people, who know what Aliens that have signed on for a share of the spoils and those superhuman Nazis? This thing..." she said, referring to the ship. "Will barely get us there. We're in no shape for a fight! In..." she glanced at a flickering display that shorted every few seconds "Under 2 hours we'll be atomised, and my people permanently enslaved by the Nazis that lied to them!" Her head bowed in despair, and only the thrum of the protesting engines rang out to compete with the groaning of stretched metal.

Just then a sound echoed through the ship! A sound of metal on metal!

P'ertaria looked up, then glanced down. "That's coming from the hold! It's been mostly gutted, save the junk the Americans did not take away to examine! What's happening to the ship now?"

What indeed? There was the clanging again! P'ertaria moved to the lift, pressing a button to open the door, then having to prize the barely functioning door to open the rest of the way. She stared down the lift shaft, then glanced back at the others. "Somethings moving down there! Have we... have we been boarded?"

Admin wrote:P'ertaria sighed..."Under 2 hours we'll be atomised, and my people permanently enslaved by the Nazis that lied to them!"

Lionheart looked across, his usual crooked smile began to return. He still was pretty cut up about Beth, but life had a way of bringing him thumping back to the present. "Now look, P'ertaria, I think you're being far too optimistic. You're riding with the Vanguard and nothing goes that simple for us..."

Admin wrote:Just then a sound echoed through the ship! A sound of metal on metal!

"Somethings moving down there! Have we... have we been boarded?"

Joe looked up, "My internal computer picked up a residual signal, whatever that means." Joe said, startled by the complexity of his own response. "Whatever is down there might have been in storage or perhaps stowed aboard when we were still grounded earlier. Its clearly activated something. P'ertaria, we can't afford not to have you on standbye, Silver Sentinel, Lionheart and I will check this out."

Joe wasn't really the ranking officer, in the crew, but something about his other Joe made him instinctively take the lead when they came to a decision point. He suspected Joe had been the previous groups leader then, its why it kind of came nature to him now.

OOC:

Ok I suggest we go for caution, Lionheart's energy persona will be made evident, Silver Sentinel should suit up -if he isn't already and I'll ice over to make sure we're in an optimised state and then we'll descend below - persumably we can use shafts, or stairs or ladders as an alternative to the lift. Frostbite will also suggest that the ship try and keep us in touch with P'ertaria.

Sj

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

OOC We'll wait for Silver Sentinel to catch up but I can shuffle us on a little...

The lift shaft was a tangled mess of severed pipes and broken beams, with the shaft itself crushed in too many places to count, some to the point of being impassable, at least by anyone who couldn't fit through a 6" gap! The light from Frostbites chest plate cast an eerie glow over the wreckage below, and the glowing form of Lionhearts energy body (OOC updated character sheet when I get home from work tomorrow) lit the way even more. The ship was rotating to provide a semblance of artificial gravity but every now and again stray broken fragments would float free and settle gently to rest where they landed, proof further that they 'weren't in Kansas anymore' not that any were needed.

Moving down half a dozen levels, the group noted that the damage was indeed extensive. ON the other side of the ship to where they were the vessel had been crushed, rendering those rooms and floors unusable. It was a wonder the thing could fly at all, and maintain breathable atmosphere, and testament to the materials and construction skills of the alien Putty people. That said...

<<Warning! Air leaks detected! The air down here is ebbing away through numerous leaks. The environment controls of this vessel will ensure the air is supplied to those decks you are still using, but down here it will get thin!>> said the computer in Frostbites mind.

The frost lining the shaft down here suggested something else too! Though the heat of the propulsion unit and the pipes running through the place preventing the interior from freezing completely, only Frostbite was immune to the cold. Lionheart, and in turn his energy simulacrum that mirrored his health, shivered with the intense cold, as did Silver Sentinel, who'd been clumsily clanging his way down the lift shaft with less agility than those clad in regular clothing, (or even the heavy rubber diving suits should they so wish) and when the lift shaft closed in, crimped shut by the great impact that had occurred when the ship crashed, the group turned to face the double doors leading from the shaft into the junk filled hold. The doors were mostly closed, but clanking could be heard from within!

With chattering teeth on two of the three, the group stood outside the door, aware of the air hissing out into space somewhere near them, and the deadly cold seeping in!

OOC The group are at the bottom of the lift shaft, at least the part which is passable. It goes for a few more floors down but isn't passable unless you can phase through wreckage! They stand at the side of the doors leading into the hold where the clanking sound is coming from.

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

Admin wrote:The doors were mostly closed, but clanking could be heard from within!

OOC The group are at the bottom of the lift shaft, at least the part which is passable. It goes for a few more floors down but isn't passable unless you can phase through wreckage! They stand at the side of the doors leading into the hold where the clanking sound is coming from.

Lionheart whispered to the others, "Let me see if my buddy here," He gestured over his shoulder to the glowing slightly wispy version of himself also looking over his shoulder, "in to have a look."

OOC: Just re read the notes it said the simulacrum can be projected through solid objects, so I'll phase him into the room to take a look around and withdraw should things get nasty.

Joe nodded, turning to Silver Sentinel he whispered. "Be ready, if this thing can survive down here, it might be mechanical which is where you come in. In any case we might need you to seal the room, or even jettison the whole area if this things too big to handle."

OOC: I'm thinking either we're facing another one of the aliens or some kind of robot. Either way if things turn nasty it might be easier to see if Silver Sentinel can just cut this whole section out and jettison it. Which might not be practical, or leave us more exposed, in which case we've got to do this the hard way.

Sj

Silver Sentinel, Lionheart and I will check this out."

"suited and booted" Steve said standing there next to a small melted metallic puddle where his chair had been

"Be ready, if this thing can survive down here, it might be mechanical which is where you come in. In any case we might need you to seal the room, or even jettison the whole area if this things too big to handle."

"You bet." the silver sentinel said in an almost cocky tune but really trying to impress the 'big guns' of the vanguard.

"Ok whats behind door number one" the plucky young brit said charging his gaulets ready for his plasma attack wondering if lionheart 'other' self is going to rattle the cage.

OOC: Ok whats the plan SJ? Slow it down while I'll get in close? Steve is more likely to listen to you guys I feel

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

Concentrating, Lionheart formed a glowing energy field around himself, lighting up the lift shaft! Frostbite and Silver Sentinel looked on as a glowing copy of Lionheart (OOC don't think we ever established that he wears a costume in this time? Probably just white shirt and breech trousers tucked into knee high pilots boots?) stepped from the original, gave a cheeky grin and moved through the wall towards the room beyond. Though it would solidify in the room and become tangible to objects, in order to move back through the wall the way it had come Lionheart would have to 'cancel' the simulacrum (OOC in other words, once made solid, it stays that way until it dissipates)

Inside, the glow from the copy lit up a room full of smashed, twisted junk. Metal, the strange ceramic material the space ship was skinned in, smashed panels and equipment, even soil and dust picked up from the crash more or less filled the room. Well, save for an area of shifting rubble. The simulacrum watched as rubbish shifted to reveal a large (OOC 8' high) rusting automaton that slowly extricated itself from the rubble. Littered about were parts of other robots. Lionheart (both copies!) deduced the robot had hibernated somehow, then reactivated when the ship had powered up, detected intruders and was about to sort them out! It was resourceful too, and the signs were that the thing had adapted parts from other smashed robots to use to fix itself!



The huge gun looked like it meant business! Such a weapon would easily scythe through the weakened walls of this near dead ship and possibly suck them all out into space!

=========

"This is P'ertaria" crackled the com-link on the wall...

Frostbite leaned in, mindful that the air was thin down here. "Have you found anything? This ship will have been equipped with a number of robots to assist the crew, and if it was an exploration vessel, possibly some kind of military unit as well."

=========

Inside the room Lionhearts simulacrum watched the 'bot finally free itself from the rubble...

It turned, and a red light passed over the energy being! It warbled something in an alien tongue, then brought the gun to bear!

Outside, meanwhile, the voice in Frostbites head intoned <<There may be some way to interface with the robot, if that is what it is. Such a process would require getting close to it though, and placing hands in the general area of its central processing unit to overcome any shielding...>>

Frostbite glanced at Silver Sentinel. His power to morph metal was also an option. Might they need all the help they could get on the moonbase?

OOC Apologies for any typos - I'm posting from the loco and the screen is turned well down to save the battery!

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

Admin wrote:Frostbite glanced at Silver Sentinel. His power to morph metal was also an option. Might they need all the help they could get on the moonbase?

"Sentinel, I've got an idea, if we can try and subdue this thing, maybe I can convince it to work for us. I need to get close, I need to be able to touch it. I wonder if Lionheart and I distract it, and then you weld its feet to the floor - nothing too heavy, we want it to move again, but whilst its distracted I can try and rush in to take it over."

This last part was said as Joe pointed to his chest that glowed with a cold blue light. "Onboard computer..." He said it easily enough but then realised, Silver Sentinel probably had no idea what a computer was, "never mind. We'll distract the robot, you get in and immobilze it, maybe jam its gun, but don't damage it beyond repair. "

With that Joe nodded to Lionheart who sent his double away from the door as the two heroes sought to burst the doors and run into the room, giving Sentinel cover to get close to the robot.

OOC:

Ok think that is clear enough, Lionheart x2 and Frostbite try to give the robot multiple targets whilst Sentinel tries to give it something else to think about and then Frostbite runs in to tackle its computer brain.

Sj

"Sounds like a strong plan frostbite, whats the worst that could happen?" he said with a smirk
"It was nice meeting you chaps anyway" Steve insinuated that they were going to die but he said it in a carefree manner as if this is what he lived for and the way he wanted to 'go out'.
"Ok then, after you two" he said leaning forward ready to dash the mighty robots awesome gun to prevent any damage to the hull.

OOC: I know I say this every time .......but loving the picture, where did you get it from it looks really familar.

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

OOC Think its from 'Gears of War' but can't be sure as I never played the game (and I don't have an Xbox 360. Don't think it came out for the PS3 which my son has. Or the WII, PSP, NDS, or the half dozen PCs we have around the house...)

The two Lionhearts wrenched the doors open, one each from either side. The robot turned, evaluating the threat. The gun started to spin up...

Frostbite reached out, hands glowing with cold energy that suddenly manifested in the barrels of the weapon! BRRR... SPUT! SPUT! CLANK! The Robot glanced down as the weapon sputtered and died, jamming. It gave the gun an annoyed swat with a metal paw, then dropped it to the ground.

Golden Lionheart (OOC abbreviated 'GL' to save me typing...) sped up to the robot, ducking and dodging as the hug metal arm swung and failed to connect! Silver Sentinel reached forward and 'glued' to the floor as metal flowed like wax, joining with the floor and finding its legs wouldn't move!

With a metallic RRRRRRRIIIIIPPP!!!! one foot came up from the floor, taking several square feet of floor with it! And that melted too, becoming metallic glue that stuck where it landed! The frustrated robot swung wild fists...which Lionheart ducked, weaved clear of, then grabbed as it came past! "WHOA!" he said, being swept off the floor as he hung on. He landed with his feet on the floor, braced and cried out "ARRRGGGH!!!" as the powerful robot strained against his superhuman strength. With its legs immobilised, the GL grabbing the other arm and Lionheart taking a firm grip on the first, the robot squirmed impotently!

Frostbite moved in, reaching for the things head... until a panel opened in its chest revealing a half full rack of mini missiles! Eyes widening Frostbite lunged for the head just as there was a FIZZ from the chest panel... and a missile fell rather than spat from the rack, clanging on the floor and ticking loudly!

With hands on the robots head it suddenly stiffened and Frostbite saw his chestplate glow!

Suddenly the robots eyes glowed blue and it looked about... it raised its head and spoke (in English) "I... LIVE!"

It titled its head to Frostbite and said "Greetings Joe Hoskyn... Joseph Rigdon...I am in control of the robot. You may release me now."

The missile continued to tick on the floor...

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

Admin wrote:It titled its head to Frostbite and said "Greetings Joe Hoskyn... Joseph Rigdon...I am in control of the robot. You may release me now."

The missile continued to tick on the floor...

Joe released the Robot satisfied that his onboard computer had it under control. "Robot, can you deactivate this missile?" Joe asked, before nodding to Silver Sentinel to melt it into scrap so that the explosion would fail or be encased in enough metal so as to fail to do great harm.

OOC: ok so if robot or my computer cannot stop the missile detonation then Ross, you have Silver Sentinel melt it to goo, if however that isn't a workable alternative, we'd better encase it as I mentioned.

Assuming that goes off well.


"Robot state designation and original purpose?" Joe was intent on getting this Robot, to follow their orders and not try to realign itself with its original programming. He didn't want this at their back, only to find their aid was an enemy, when they needed him most.

Meanwhile, Lionheart turned to the coms unit and filled P'ertaria in on what had happened. "Any change outside?" He asked, curious as what had triggered the Robot, in case it had come from the escourt ship or they had just triggered something from within. It gave him pause for thought, as he didn't want the rest of the ship turning against them.

Sj

"You might want to get back from this, here goes nothing" Steve bent down, melted some surrounding panels into a football sized blob around the missile and stuck his hand into the blob, with a wince Steve at arms lengh touched the missile with the tip of his finger to hopefully deactivate it. (OOC: Hopefully)

OOC: All being well and I still have both my arms, the things heroes do to save a ship full of people they hardly know, ............

Steve was just standing by the metallic blob shaking his head, "Robot? What like in a childs comic book? It cant be, it must be a weird alien this metal man. Next thing you'll be telling me is it comes from the future, the year 2000 or some thing, where people drive over 100mph and heres a 'robot' in every home."

smaug wrote:"Robot? What like in a childs comic book? It cant be, it must be a weird alien this metal man. Next thing you'll be telling me is it comes from the future, the year 2000 or some thing, where people drive over 100mph and heres a 'robot' in every home."

Lionheart shrugged, "Don't be silly, man. What kind of speed is a 100mph. In our time, that would have got you arrested for travelling too slow, tail backs were awful when people did that. But there again, with the robot driving most people travelled comfortably along at 400 mph." Lionheart winked at Joe, and moved off to draw his alternative to himself.

"Don't mind him," Joe nodded at Lionheart as he leaned into speak to Steve, "he may be from the future, but I think he likes to play with your head, fool you around!"

Sj

"Errrr what???

Seriously?

Then you chaps know how the war ends? We win right? What year are you from? Do they still eat food in the future?

"Stress levels increasing" the robot said over the top of Steves series of endless questions

"You can stop this war prematurly and save thousands of lives." the Steves face changed from overwhelming confusion to almost angry ............." Why didnt you come back before the war...... you could of saved countless families....... like the families on the Athenia" Steve fist smashed through the iron ore like solid metal blob, it smashed as if it was a of stick of rock.

Steve let out a heavy breath of air and stared into space some where around his feet.

smaug wrote:"Errrr what???

Seriously?

"You can stop this war prematurly and save thousands of lives." the Steves face changed from overwhelming confusion to almost angry ............." Why didnt you come back before the war...... you could of saved countless families....... .

"Oh we would if we could, but it doesn't work like that. The point being that though we made the jump back, we were followed by those who were here before us. We're trying to change things back so the Nazi's don't win the war. Because..." And at this Joe glanced again at Lionheart, "some people came back form the future they've permanently changed the way things are, I mean were. We're trying to make sure that what was history remains that way. We've all had to make sacrifices son, believe me. You don't want to see what the Nazi's do to England, if they do win. He, I mean we, well he saw it and it weren't pretty."

Looking down at the damaged fuselage, Joe concentrated and filled the gap with ice, thick and hard. With the temperatures outside, it was unlikely to thaw anytime soon.

OOC:

Sorry Paul we might have jumped the gun with all this back and forth dialogue, but its great to be roleplaying with Ross as well. I can understand his characters anxt at learning what we know, but also how powerless we are to change things that have happened.

Sj

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

OOC no problem on the back and forth, and even with some story steering (in that you defused the missile. If it'd gone off the side of the ship woul've gone and everyone would've been sucked into space, so I'm ok with that too...)

"The missile is malfunctioning." advised the robot. Silver Sentinel duly sorted it out by melting the metal casing with a thought, reaching into the cool metallic gloop that parted like custard to his hand and unscrewing the warhead, then removing the small metallic red rod inside. It was about the size of a matchstick cut in half.

"Lunarium. That fragment would be enough to destroy this ship. Unfortunately, the Lunarium in all this robots weaponry has gone 'off', meaning it is as likely to explode at random as it is when required. The robots' designation and function was 'Offworld Pacifier' designed for use in offworld hostile environments that the P'utinarians wanted to explore, but found too dangerous thanks to the indigenous life forms. Once the robot had cleared a suitable spot for the ship to land, the P'utinarians could explore in safety thanks to its impressive armament array. Unfortunately this one appears to have been in hibernation a long time. It runs on a hydrogen reactor which has unfortunately run dry. This encounter has almost exhausted it's stored power. More water is required." said the robot.

After Lionheart addressed P'ertaria, she replied over the crackling comm-link. "No change that I can see. They are shadowing us. I dare not scan them for fear their sensors would pick up the attempt and reveal us as hostile. Nonetheless, I suspect their weapons are primed and ready. We must be walking into a trap!"

The three in the hold (and the robot, now looking decidely worn out) could breathe easier thanks to Frostbites' application of cold in the place. It froze the moisture in the air around the splits in the ships hull, forming an impromptu seal. It was clear the ship would never survive re-entry to Earths atmosphere though - would this prove to a be a one way trip for the Valiant Vanguard?

As they pondered the coming challenge the robot chimed up again. "This unit has an idea. The robot was designed to be dropped from space in a capsule. If it could be powered up somehow, dropping it into the Nazi base as a distraction could allow the rest of you to enter the base and obtain the Lunarium you need. Remember also that the robot carries a number of lunarium warheads best described as 'unstable'. The impact from crashing into the moon base could do nothing... or destroy a large part of it. That would serve as a distraction though?"

P'ertaria chimed up "We don't have long before I have to apply reverse thrusters boys! I suggest whatever you're doing down there get finished up quickly and you get up here. The Nazis will be waiting for us, of that you can have no doubt!"

The Nazis were no dummies. A ship matching the markings of one that had been declared lost by the P'utinarians suddenly flying its way to the moonbase? Clearly they were curious, which is why they'd not blasted it from space yet. That would change soon after landing though!

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

Admin wrote:As they pondered the coming challenge the robot chimed up again. "This unit has an idea. The robot was designed to be dropped from space in a capsule. If it could be powered up somehow, dropping it into the Nazi base as a distraction could allow the rest of you to enter the base and obtain the Lunarium you need."

Joe looked at his two companions, before turning back to the Robot, "If we could empower you with water, then you could restart your reactor which would give you a better chance of surviving this. I can freeze the air, place it into the area in question, and then you can convert that water into a usable power source."

Frostbite set to work, whilst Lionheart called out to P'ertaria, to get directions for the pod before setting about to get it ready, with Silver Sentinel's help.

OOC:

ok like this idea, had we not know about the pod, we'd never have though of dropping the robot. Anyway, I suggest that whilst Frostbite is giving the robot a means of power to do its thing, the rest of us get the pod ready to be dropped.

That still leaves the saucer that is flying close to us, so we'd better think about what we do if it comes into attack.

I'm thinking that we might need to work out, if we can jump ship or defend ourselves from this ship. So once the Pod is ready we'd better take a look around to find out what other surprises might be aboard that will enable us to set about defending ourselves.

Sj

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

The nearest the small group could find to a pod that housed the robot was a crushed mangled mass of metal pinned to the side of the inner wall of the craft where the crash had crimped the side in. With that in mind, a few heads were scratched until the robot itself came up with a solution. "The pod was designed to protect from atmospheric re-entry. The moon has none. The problem therefore is to drop this unit in the desired spot before the ship lands. In the time frame allowed, not enough Hydrogen can be generated to power this units landing thrusters, so your 'best guess' and pushing this unit out of an airlock seems to be the only option at present."

As Frostbite communicated their needs to P'ertaria, in that water was required, she suggested pumping from the ships water supply, which had been showing a small leak at any rate. Like the rest of the ship, the thing was barely held together and wouldn't survive anything but the smoothest of landings on the moon!

How to breathe should the group be exposed to vacuum was another problem that would have to be overcome in the forty minutes or so they had till they had to start the landing cycle.

The robot opened a hatch on its back, swivelling its head to face Frostbite as it turned. Inside, alien technology lined the circular chamber about the size of a medicine ball. "The technology in this unit is more efficient than anything Earth technology will surpass for at least 100 years. Urine will be the most efficient liquid to transform into Hydrogen energy, but failing a sufficient amount to fill the chamber, water will have to suffice, and a large quantity at that."

OOC hey, I'm only going off what wiki says about Hydrogen generation *shrug*

Just then the comm-link sounded. P'ertarias voice came over. "We've just been ordered to halt and prepare to be boarded! What now?"

The companions glanced at each other. The robot responded by picking up its weapon and spinning the barrel by hand. "Let's rock." it stated, somewhat uncharacteristically.

Frostbite
Lionheart
Silver Sentinel
P'ertaria

Admin wrote:Just then the comm-link sounded. P'ertarias voice came over. "We've just been ordered to halt and prepare to be boarded! What now?"

The companions glanced at each other. The robot responded by picking up its weapon and spinning the barrel by hand. "Let's rock." it stated, somewhat uncharacteristically.

Joe was just getting over the Robot's suggestion for them to urinate into its power cavity when the call came through. Giving himself a moment to think, he singled to P'ertaria. "This might be what we need, if they come onboard then we might be able to take their ship and blow up ours, pretending that we were rebels trying to get to the base."

Lionheart moved forward, eager for action and the hope of a decent landing. "Lets go see if we can spring a trap."

He said to his companions.

OOC:

Ok here is my suggestions, but Ross feel free to chip in this isn't just my show, here.

1. P'ertaria takes the guise she assumed before.
2. One of us I think Silver Sentinel, hides in the upper deck with P'ertaria, to mop up anyone whose left behind. At the first chance you get, you get into the docking ship, or try and get back across to take the ship. I'm assuming that this is a small craft we're talking about so there isn't a huge crew compliment.
3. Lionheart, Frostbite and the Robot are in the hold. Lionheart and Frostbite appear tide up and asleep. But Lionheart's Energy Double is loose and ready to attack. The Robot stands guard over us.

When the bad guys come in then we pounce. On Frostbite's command, the Robot can say something like, "The ships leaking, its cold down here!" And then we move.

Ross if you've any other suggestions let me know. Otherwise we'll make sure P'ertaria is onboard with this as well and get everyone into position.

Sj

OOC: Sorry for the delay guys so saw sucker punch last night, have you seen it yet? I thought it was random but very good, exspecialy the fight/dream scenes.
Reguarding the back and forth dialogue sorry I just felt silver sentinel needed to be up to speed, I could hardly tell the man myself but he is up to speed now (but feeling even more out of his league) I forget what its called when you know something about the story and your character doesnt.

IC: "A trap eh? Sooner we get off this bucket of bolts the better"

OOC: Sounds good Dave, we could hide in the cargo storage under the floor and when they board ........ no wait thats star wars......your plan is better

IC: Joe expland the plan of attack quickly but in depth

"Thats a solid plan but there little point in you three being in the hold after P'ertaria and me take these pigs by susprise they wont make it to the hold" he said with a laugh "but it cant hurt to have a plan B"

Frostbite
E12 S32 D10 V12 Htk 45/45 (/4) Htc 47/47 (/3) ENERGY: 15/15 (rnd 1) DC 4 WC 2 2d6/1d6-6 (+17) or Energy Attack Powers: EA, TS, Str, Cyb
Lionheart
E18 S31 D10 V13 Htk 54/54 Htc 43/43 PSI: 14/22 (rnd 1) DC 6 WC 3 2d6/1d6 (+16) or PSI Dodge +8 Powers: PSI, Str, Agi, Reac, Speed, Special (duplicate)
Lionheart
(Duplicate) E18 S31 D10 V13 Htk Shared Htc Shared DC 6 WC 3 2d6/1d6 (+16) Dodge +8 Powers:Str, Agi, Reac, Speed
Silver Sentinel
E12 S30 D10 V12 Htk 47/47 (/4) Htc 45/45 (/3) ENERGY: 15/15 (rnd 1) DC 4 WC 2 2d6/1d6-6 (+15) or Energy Powers: EA, Arm, Fli, Str, Metal
P'ertaria
E8 S20 D13 V11 Htk 38/38 (/4) Htc 40/40 (/3) DC 4 WC1 2d6/1d6-6 (+5) Powers: Freeform Shapeshift, Armour, Stretching, Strength, Wall Crawling, Skills

OOC Sounds like film is worth seeing. Must admit sounded right up my street after Dave pointed it out, problem is now just getting time to see it...

P'ertaria called out "Whatever you're doing, do it fast!"

Silver Sentinel, on hearing Frostbites plan, moved to the elevator shaft and with an application of blue energy from his feet soared upwards. The sound of an occasional CLANG! as he bumped into the sides showed the decreased gravity would take some getting use to.

Climbing out of the elevator shaft the Sentinel moved over to the alien maiden. Now in a humanoid form, she activated controls, cursing in her own language as the machines performed sluggishly. "This *&%$^ing machine is fit for the scrap pile! All of this ship is!" She finally tuned the picture in to reveal the aliens boarding their vessel.



Strange tall reptilian creatures that seemed unperturbed by the thin atmosphere. P'ertaria gave a sharp intake of breath. "Zeronns! This place has become the festering pit of the galaxy for the slime to gather in! I'll bet they've been promised Lunarium, or a share of the spoils of Earth! They are mercenaries. Fight for the highest bidder, and they have no honour! Shame we don't have more to offer them as they'd fight for us - until a better offer came in! They are deadly - don't let them get you in a clinch! They are known as..." she searched for the word. "Space vampires! They drain life force from their victims for sustenance and extra power! Their only weakness is the rate at which their life force store drains when they engage in physical activity! Usually they are dropped in a hibernating state in the middle of an opposing army, where a mere touch would be enough to drain enough life to waken them and start a feeding frenzy! The Nazis are mad to trust them!"

In the hold Frostbite and Lionheart heard that as they gathered bits of rope, even thin metal to wrap around themselves with the help of the robot to look convincing. They heard P'ertarias' description over the comm-link, crackly as it was, and knew that they'd basically been 'sentenced to death' by the Nazis if they were unleashing these fearsome creatures on them!

P'ertaria continued "Some say the Zeronns have the ability to 'give back' the life they stole to the dead husk they drained, but that's no good if its broken into millions of pieces! Please, be careful!" she sighed. "Theirs is a tale of warning to all who seek power - be careful what you wish for! Their planet is dead, the life drained from it and the Zeronns in a state of perpetual sleep until unwitting life forms come across it and are devoured! Someone must have gathered these with a robot and cut them a deal! Do their bidding and they get all the life force they want to feed on..."

There came a clanking sound as doors were wrenched, having not been worked in decades. The Zeronns were coming closer!

OOC Does Lionheart intend to hold off on the Duplicate or create it as soon as they appear? I'll adjust the numbers above depending on when he wants to generate it. The only time it matters is because of the 8 first round, 3 round after on PSI costs.

A side door to the hold started to open. Rust and rubble gathered against and around the door made it hard to open for the creatures, who hissed their annoyance but with some effort the door swung open. Emergency lights in the corridor behind silhouetted three figures in the doorway, reptilian killers from across the galaxy!

Some kind of translation device turned their clicks into sounds the trussed up Vanguardians could understand! "Fresh life! We feed!"

OOC Initiative goes to you guys, who have 3 frames to act before the Aliens get their 3 frames each. It's a large circular room full of junk and rubble, some 30' ceiling to floor and badly damaged along one side where the walls have crushed inwards. Plenty of stuff to pick up and throw or duck behind. The Vanguard are 5m into the room away from the door the Aliens opened. On the opposite side to that door is the lift shaft leading up and down through the ship, and where air is escaping. If these things are anything like Earth Vampires they'll not be too bothered by extremes of cold or lack of oxygen! If Lionheart generated his duplicate as the Aliens came in they will be on their guard - a glowing enemy will get that reaction. The Robot isn't exactly friendly looking either... Is Silver Sentinel staying put? The comm-channel is open should he decide to speak up or find what he hears is too much to ignore and whiz on down there...

OOC: I feel that the SS wouldnt leave his new found friends at this point, sorry to change the plan but the boarding party looks more menacing than we originally thought. What do you think dave, can you handle it? Oh yeah and plus can the SS handle a vessel possibly filled with these buggers? Would it be easier for me to attack them from behind and help you then 'acquire' to boarding vessel?

OOC: Just to make it clear, I was hoping that Silver Sentinel could try to get on board the ship, since we know that there was a German on board and hopefully wrest control of the craft whilst we tied up their people down here. P'ertaria could stand guard and act as go between. If that sounds like a daft plan, then we can have Silver Sentinel join us, but I wanted to get the jump on the creatures as quick as possible so we could take their craft and fly ours on a collision course with the moonbase.

Admin wrote:Some kind of translation device turned their clicks into sounds the trussed up Vanguardians could understand! "Fresh life! We feed!"

Lionheart and Frostbite remained still. They wanted the Robot to act when then creatures where closer, so they could get the jump on them. Lionheart and Frostbite had already spoken and assumed that these creatures feeding on energy meant that physical touch was a out of the question as was, potentially their energy attacks, both were ready with debris close to hand that they could throw and use as make shift shields if need be.

As the creatures got closer, Frostbite simply shouted "Now!" And leapt into a combat ready position. But the Robot, its gun no longer melted, started to spin the barrel on its formidable weapon array targeting the creatures.

OOC:

Ok Frostbite and Lionheart use strength to grab handy pieces of piled metal and start to use it to throw at the creatures, aiming to use lethal damage. The Robot aims to put himself in the way of the creatures, but not in the way of the heroes attacks.

Rolls for the heroes, are going to be useless: 1d20=3, 1d20=5. These are straight rolls as I don't know what to add by way of weapon class and their defence class. But it looks pretty pants for both shots. Oh well.

Hated the sound of energy vampires so am thinking no energy attacks, but I don't like the idea of no touching either so this might end up being a strange sort of fight, with my two heroes trying to stay out of the way of the creatures. Frostbite will parry with whatever he has to hand, both will use one frame to pick something up and miss then another frame to grab some more discarded metal so they can either auto parry, or in Lionheart's case dodge.

Meanwhile if we can steal Silver Sentinel aboard the ship, until we can deal with these guys and then try and get in to help? But it might turn out to be a bad idea. I did want to know what kind of ship had docked, was it the sort of ship that looked like it would have hordes in it? Or just a small shuttle type thing? I don't want Silver Sentinel going on a fools errand.

Sj

Frostbite
E12 S32 D10 V12 Htk 45/45 (/4) Htc 47/47 (/3) ENERGY: 15/15 (rnd 1) DC 4 WC 2 2d6/1d6-6 (+17) or Energy Attack Powers: EA, TS, Str, Cyb
Lionheart
E18 S31 D10 V13 Htk 54/54 Htc 43/43 PSI: 22/22 (rnd 1) DC 6 WC 3 2d6/1d6 (+16) or PSI Dodge +8 Powers: PSI, Str, Agi, Reac, Speed, Special (duplicate)
Silver Sentinel
E12 S30 D10 V12 Htk 47/47 (/4) Htc 45/45 (/3) ENERGY: 15/15 (rnd 1) DC 4 WC 2 2d6/1d6-6 (+15) or Energy Powers: EA, Arm, Fli, Str, Metal
P'ertaria
E8 S20 D13 V11 Htk 38/38 (/4) Htc 40/40 (/3) DC 4 WC1 2d6/1d6-6 (+5) Powers: Freeform Shapeshift, Armour, Stretching, Strength, Wall Crawling, Skills

OOC saw no mention of Lionhearts energy duplicate? Want to activate him yet? To throw it'd be frame to pick up, frame to throw. There's plenty of junk in range of your hands. Oh, and yeah, the rolls were pretty rubbish, miss (18 total required after +6 from DC and WC2, so roll of 10 needed)

Lionheart and Frostbite sprang up, tossing junk at the newcomers who stood and watched it clatter against the wall to the side of them, impassive. Less impassive were they when the large robot span up it's enormous gun!

WhiiirrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

OOC takes an action to fire affects all in an area. Roll 14, hit, 10 miss (WC1 robot) 16, hit. Reduces dividers, damage 13htk, 13htc on one and 8htk, 7htc on the other.

Quite literally the huge gun sputters and blasts, kicks up and down and several small explosions go off in the barrels as old munitions fail but are spat out anyway. The wall around the aliens is chewed up into scrap and the bullets punch holes through the next wall.. and the next... and... oh.

The hiss of air escaping from dozens of smoking holes fills the air breathers in the hold with alarm!

"Oops." remarks the robot.

OOC What's Silver Sentinel doing? Heading towards the docking bay (at the end of the corridor where the aliens entered from. He can get there via another route and P'ertarias' direction) or helping his friends out against these nasty things? Frosty and Lionheart have a frame apiece before these things get stuck in.

The Robot marches towards the three with serious intent. "Who needs guns anyway?" it growls. Frostbite finds it hard to believe that the computer inside of him is in control of the robot - it appears to have taken on a life of its own, though the voice is absent in Frostbites' own head, and his blue chestplate no longer glows...

OOC Last frame for the robot before the aliens act - movement. Air is really hissing out of the hold now, and klaxon/alarms have started ringing through the ship!

P'ertaria wails on the comm-link "Hull breach! It's widening! The auto seal skin isn't working! I'll get down there and seal it with my own body" she says to Silver Sentinel. The hull was metal and a ceramic coating, and Silver Sentinels own power wouldn't seal it fully unless he used the junk from the hold. Of course, the Aliens might have something to say about that!

OOC P'ertaria heads towards the lift tube.