World War II - The Vanguard Issue #4 - The Battle Of Britain!

ANYMAN/SALADIN

"Anyman, this is Saladin...I hear you and will be returning soon. I look forward to hearing more about what you are proposing." He finished with a small smile, relishing the awkwardness of being himself rather than King, the team preferred team-mate.

"What in the world," Lance mutters to Emma. "Why in the heck is this Saladin fellow answering a call for Lionheart? And since when can he hear our mental messages to each other?"

ooc: Anyman doesn't know a thing about the merging of the two since there hasn't really been anytime for everyone to gather.

ANYMAN/SALADIN

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc: Anyman doesn't know a thing about the merging of the two since there hasn't really been anytime for everyone to gather.

OOC: And Saladin in typical arrogant fashion won't feel up to explaining, but he is answering for Lionheart at the present time and what he knows Saladin knows and can make use of. So if he wants a pilot, then Saladin it is or otherwise he'll happily let Anyman walk to Berlin.

Sj

Silver Sentinel
On Board a Qrii ship
With Fastback (feinted) and Anchor
Also one MP (other one destroyed)

"Well..." grumbled Jock. "Ye're th' boss, but ah've a bad feelin' boot this."

Three aliens floated forwards, wings wafting slowly and propelling them gently through the air. All three of the trios eyes glowed, and a yellow glowing field shone around Fastback, lifting her from the floor and laying her horizontal in mid air.

"You will be taken to processing. The leader shall address you from there." said all of the Qrii at once.

Two groups of three moved away from the large group and made their intentions clear with a pointed hand towards a corridor away from the hanger bay.

=========

As they walked along the corridor, Jock growled "When we gonna make ah move?"

He had a point. Though they were outnumbered, allowing themselves to be taken to some place for 'processing' didn't sound too good for their health prospects! Looking about, they wee in a round corridor some 20' high and across, lit by a glowing blue light that pulsed along cables that ran along the walls, though Steve had the strangest feeling...

'The ship is alive' confirmed the Dark Power. 'These beings are some kind of loathsome insectoid race. It is possible that the ship itself is some kind of 'Queen' and able to reproduce more of these things. They are powerful, with highly developed mental abilities, and it is clear they mean to kill your mortal form. I will survive - I will simply find a new host, but the inconvenience may be disastrous seeing as though your 'Vanguard' is already spread thin. Your decision, mortal.'

Steve looked about. He had a funny feeling that the stuff they were walking on wasn't metal, more likely some kind of super hard resin secretion! The only metal about was that of the car - back in the hanger! He glanced over his shoulder, back some 20m to where the gathered aliens were poring over the car. Without metal, how useful could he be?

'Relax mortal. You can call on my power at any time...' said the Dark power.

Beside him Jock popped the fingers in his fists. "If ye're no gonnae do nuthin', maybe ah should..."

Anyman
Saladin
Frostbite

Alice was pleasant enough company but with Joe distracted, and the strange incident with the woman hardly anyone could remember (even if she was unforgettable!) the evening drew on to a somewhat rushed conclusion, the pair leaving before the rush for taxis and Joe seeing Alice to her door. "Well..." she smiled. "I suppose we might yet see each other again. Good luck Joe." she said, giving him a peck on the cheek.

Joe smiled uneasily, then watched the door close as he stood in the rain. A heartbeat later the rain moved through him and onto the floor, and he took to the night sky, troubled thoughts clouding his mind and the evenings' pleasantries already forgotten...

=========

Saladin sped to a halt, raising his hands for the shocked MPs who approached him.

At super speed he'd zipped back to the base and been challenged at the gates, then been admitted whilst the Sergeant looked into the darkness wondering where the two DICE agents were.

Outside the barracks, with the rain easing off, Saladin met with Anyman.

Anyman watched Lionheart approach, but was confused about the change of identity. Still, with all the voices rambling away in their heads it was a wonder any of them were still sane!

Just then a dark figure came out of the sky, but without looking Saladin said "Relax. It's Hoskyn. Frostbite." he said, leaning against a large hut wall. Anyman relaxed some as his team mate walked over. They'd not seen one another for a while, but reports of each others exploits were becoming near legendary already!

Just then, a match struck, and the glow from a cigar lit up the darkness several feet away. General Wynn crunched on the gravel into view, puffing on the cigar, and pulled up his collar. "Damned nuisance this rain." he growled.

So it stopped. The sky cleared, the clouds boiling apart above the camp, revealing clear star lit skies.

"Gentlemen." said Wynn, a twinkle in his eye. "Midnight meetings? Whatever next? What's afoot?"

OOC This is the calm before the storm, in case you were wondering. It's not all whizz bang boom. That said, there is a war going on, and very soon it will be all whizz bang boom, so enjoy the calm whilst it lasts!

Are you sure about this my dark shadow? We cannot afford any more enemies we need more allies if we are to destroy the increasing threats.' sentinel question the dark voice as he continued freely doing as the 'insects' wished.

Under his breath Steve wispered to jock "its not like we can just escape, were would we go we are in space remember. They know I have powers but I dont think they know you do. If things get hair use you powers to break away with Mary and get your ass' outta hear"

OOC: I would like to inform the other vanguard of my situation and tell them we must make allies.

My plan is to find a 'queen' in this hive and if I cant make her see sence being her down

Anyman
Saladin
Frostbite

Just then, a match struck, and the glow from a cigar lit up the darkness several feet away. General Wynn crunched on the gravel into view, puffing on the cigar, and pulled up his collar. "Damned nuisance this rain." he growled.

So it stopped. The sky cleared, the clouds boiling apart above the camp, revealing clear star lit skies.

"Gentlemen." said Wynn, a twinkle in his eye. "Midnight meetings? Whatever next? What's afoot?"

"Oops," Putty says inside Lance's head. "I think we stepped into it."

"Um ... General? What are you doing here," Lance asks. "I was just looking for Lionheart. Discuss a few things. Have a few drinks. Things like that."

"Smooth," the third voice says helpfully.

Anyman
Saladin
Frostbite

Admin wrote:"Gentlemen." said Wynn, a twinkle in his eye. "Midnight meetings? Whatever next? What's afoot?"

Saladin, looked on his smile, broadening as he anticipated an interesting reaction from Wynne, who was nobodies fool. Would he let it go, trusting that his men knew what they were doing, or something else. Just at that point Joe Hoskyn, spoke up.

"General, Anyman..." Saladin noted the awkward way he stumbled before recovering, "Saladin, I've been given another update from our counterparts regarding this threat we've keep hearing about this Devourer of worlds. I think we all ought to go and discuss this. Whatever and whoever this thing is, that its got our enemies wanting to sign up to defeat it, suggests that this is more serious a threat, than we might have imagined. More so and perhaps even more urgent than the war itself."

Saladin looked on, interested, for he too knew that this Devourer was indeed a grave threat. He filed Hoskyn's information away, intent on using it when it suited his purposes. But for now he was interested to see how things would play out.

OOC:
Whilst we're mixing things up a bit, at some point I guess we'll get a call through from Sentinel about his predicament.

Since he needs help, together with Anyman and the Putinarian's its going to be interesting to see how this unfolds at this point.

Saladin will warm to any idea of helping Anyman simply to serve his own ends and find any further information.

Joe on the other hand, is all business, he wants to do right by the general and will want to help Sentinel. He won't stop Anyman, but will warn him that Saladin is not to be trusted, and briefly, given what little he knows, will inform him of the change that has occurred there to bring him back up to speed.

Sj

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
General Wynn (Stormwarden)
at Bletchley Park (midnight meeting)
Silver Sentinel
Anchor
Fastback
+ MP
in space, on board a Qrii ship!

Midnight, the grounds of Bletchley Park

Suddenly those gathered at Bletchley Park heard a voice in their heads... (OOC a little autopilot of SS, hope you don't mind...)

"This is Silver Sentinel! I've been abducted, along with Fastback and Anchor! You won't believe this, but I'm aboard an Alien vessel! Saying that... It should be easy to believe with all the things we do and come across and... anyway. These things are strange, like insect men. And they have mental powers, so could be tricky to deal with. Luckily humans appear to be different enough that they can't read our minds. Yet. I haven't revealed my Dark Power but they intend to 'process' us, which doesn't sound good. I have a feeling this lot might be the first of an invasion fleet..."

Those on the ground heard the words... and Saladin 'picked up' on the thoughts inside the others heads, so he was able to listen in.

Wynn harrumphed. "Boy finds bloody trouble wherever he goes. Good soldier though. You all are." he said, narrowing his eyes. "And he's starting to take after you..." he added, pointing his cigar vaguely at Anyman. "Whatever you're up to, bear in mind that those gathered here and the lad up there are the first, last and only line of defence. Not just against the Nazis, but against the aliens Sentinel is the guest of, and every other threat that we face. This 'Devourer' that was mentioned in the reports for starters. If you have business to sort, Gentlemen, I suggest you get it done, pronto."

Taking a drag on his cigar, he looked about. "With all you've been through, it's only natural you need time to recover. Say, 48 rather than 24 hours. Churchill will moan bucketloads. Let him. he isn't sticking his neck on the line every minute of every day. The others will throw a wobbly too, once they figure out you've gone AWOL, but I'll placate them. Whatever you need to get done, get it done - fast. I'll hold the fort till then. In the meantime I'll give them something to smile about. The Justiciars will need their numbers replenishing, so I'll get right on it."

=========

In Space, Sentinel was led down the corridor into a hexagonal shaped room.

"Wait here." said three of the insectoids. "As if you have a choice."

The door hissed shut as Flashback was lowered to the floor. Anchor looked about. "Now what? We shoulda acted when we had th' chance!" He activated his power, throwing a meaty fist at the wall!

BOOM!

The wall didn't shatter though - it instantly formed around Anchors' hand and he screamed as it seemed to grow tendrils and break through his skin, blood draining through the tendrils into the ship!

With a cry Anchor tore his arm away, clutching the wound... and the room came alive around the group... tendrils growing from the walls and reaching for the trio!

OOC The Vanguard have an extra day of grace to a) rescue the P'utinarians or b) Silver Sentinel. Anyone with a c) option is able to take that instead...

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
General Wynn (Stormwarden)
at Bletchley Park (midnight meeting)
Silver Sentinel
Anchor
Fastback
+ MP

Admin wrote:Wynn harrumphed. If you have business to sort, Gentlemen, I suggest you get it done, pronto."

"Right you are sir and thanks!" Joe added, knowing the hassle Wynn was letting himself in for with the top brass.

"If you don't mind..." He said, turning to Anyman, "I suggest we take the ship, I'll need to mount a rescue mission to help out Sentinel and find out what is going on up in space, I suggest you and Saladin go do what you've got to do. If we grab the ship, we can drop you two off first."

After suggesting a time to meet back, to make sure they were all ready to go, Joe shot off to grab his uniform and any other equipment he felt he might need. He didn't like the sound of what Sentinel had reported.

Meanwhile Saladin, shot off, grabbing his gear, he also sped back to the ship. Within moments he'd begun to get the craft ready. Systems were being switched on, and the ships crew made ready for a rapid take off. This was what he wanted, needed. Anything to keep the blood pumping and his mind active, so as to stop King, breaking through and taking over their shared body.

OOC:

Ok I'll get ready to go, Anyman/Dave can make sure his compatriot is ready to take his place and we've got 48 hours to get ready - and this is down time!

If anyone else has any bright suggestions or ideas, feel free to amend my post and we'll go from there.

Sj

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
General Wynn (Stormwarden)
at Bletchley Park (midnight meeting)
Silver Sentinel
Anchor
Fastback
+ MP

"If you don't mind..." He said, turning to Anyman, "I suggest we take the ship, I'll need to mount a rescue mission to help out Sentinel and find out what is going on up in space, I suggest you and Saladin go do what you've got to do. If we grab the ship, we can drop you two off first."

"If it isn't a trap, we are going to need to be able to bring back lots of folks," Anyman says once the General had disappeared. He quickly fills the others in on what the P'utinarian had told him. "Unless, of course, he was duped into sending me there, in which case it is a trap and we won't need transport back."

After suggesting a time to meet back, to make sure they were all ready to go, Joe shot off to grab his uniform and any other equipment he felt he might need. He didn't like the sound of what Sentinel had reported.

"Righto!"
ooc: off to see Emma and update her on what's going on and his plans. Not sure if she can get out of the hospital to meet the Anyman replacement or not. Either way, he will make his meeting with the P'utinarian and get as many details as possible, locations, numbers, guards, surrounding territory, etc. See if the agent is willing to take his place, understanding Emma and perhaps one or two others might be with him.

With a cry Anchor tore his arm away, clutching the wound... and the room came alive around the group... tendrils growing from the walls and reaching for the trio!

Without thinking sentinel leaped at the writhing tendrils closest at anchor trying to rip them apart shouting "why is everything in the universe always trying to kill us?".

OOC: If they survive sentinel will apologise for being wrong about the 'insects' and tell him the fate of the free people rests in their hands. Being a hero isnt easy, we all have to take risks after all this is bigger than just them. Im guessed the MP proberly would be kill ....just like the red shirts in star trek

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
Guillotine
Boadicea
Spartan
at Bletchley Park (ship)
Silver Sentinel
Anchor
Fastback
+ MP

The ship was parked under camouflage webbing in a field out back from the Manor itself. Armed guards stood, miserable in the rain in their waterproofs which were steadily becoming less so. Under the webbing small figures scurried around, and every now and again sparks would flare out, and one of the pint sized skralls would yelp, then chirrup away in anger at one of their comrades. They were busy as ants, making repairs.

Saladin sped up to the guards, considered telling them what he was doing, then waved them off. His rank was all they needed to know. Besides that, he was exhausted and irritable. If they questioned him...? Well, there'd be trouble!

Guillotine came down the ramp, wiping her hands with a rag. She was covered in oil and sludge, and wore technicians overalls. "What's going on?" she enquired, then shrugged as Saladin marched past without a word. She looked out into the darkness, seeing Frostbite fly over, a duffel bag packed to the brim with spare clothing and supplies. Guillotine rolled her eyes, sighing "Just when I thought we'd gotten this bucket of bolts back together again..."

=========

Emma struggled to get out of bed...

Anyman winced as he saw her pull up short, clutching at her ribs. She was extremely durable and tough, so to see her like this was a reminder of how hurt she'd been. The others were in a worse way though. Sterling Silver was a shell of a man, his dashing movie star looks horrendously ruined. The others were in various states of disrepair, all considered out of action for at least a week, in some cases longer.

"There's no way... *nnngh* you're going off without me again. I can heal this up.. my powers... will... ouch." She glanced down and saw a spot of red on the gown where her ribs were on the side of her body. "Damned stitches opened up. Again." Lying back, she muttered "I'll babysit the Alien, coach him as to what needs be said. Wynn will cover for me, and besides, I'm too injured to throw into the field again. Just..." she clenched Anymans tie, pulling him in towards her with surprising strength and kissed him firmly. When they broke away, she looked into his eyes "Come back in one piece. Alright?" she whispered.

She lay back then, and turned away. Anyman respected her privacy, and patted her hand gently before leaving the ward.

=========

Joe Hoskyn looked about. The ship had been scoured and running repairs were still taking place...

Despite the late hour Spartan and Boadicea were working hard on the ship repairs, and trying to understand just how the thing worked. Their minds assimilated the technology reasonably quickly, possibly some legacy of their incredible brain structure that held untapped psychic potential. Spartan called out "Sir? The ship isn't... 100% but we think we have limited escape velocity. We really need that Lunarium Anyman brought back, or some of it anyway."

Boadicea dug him in the ribs.

Frostbite frowned. "How do you know about...?"

Spartan made an 'oops' expression and Boadicea explained. "We've been trying to work with the Skralls who say - we think - they need the Lunarium to properly fix the ship. It has automated systems but the power requirements are very high - too high normally, and so the systems are shut down on all these ships. The Skralls came to this solar system for more of what we call Lunarium, as its one of the rarest metals in the universe. The moon has unknown quantities of the stuff and... well, take a look at this."

She motioned over to a console to show a stream of shapes and letters in lines. "We haven't worked out how to translate it yet but from what we think we can manage, we broke down some of the key phrases. It doesn't help that they have three letter 'E's or their equivalent. Anyway. An invasion fleet is on the way. To Earth. To get the Lunarium. They say all Skrall vessels be ready. Looks like the Nazis are about to find that their allies stay their friends only long enough to assess their strengths and betray them! We have managed to set up a 'null field' which stops the ship being tracked, but the weapons are offline whilst the field is in place." She shrugged. "The ship is capable and in the right hands, invaluable, but without lunarium, everything is a tradeoff. Defence OR speed. Weapons OR stealth. The escape velocity thing will mean that the batteries need to recharge on the Ion Capacitor field matrix coils before the negator poles are able to fully inverse the Quantum polarity chamber and discharge the flux inhibitor spheres."

She looked at Frostbites blank face. "We only have one trip into space per day out of the ship at the moment." she explained.

"So how do you know about..." asked Frostbite.

"Here." she said. She pointed to a large 3' by 3' screen on a panel set into the wall. It showed a green dot in the middle and a flashing red dot nearby. "We calibrated one of the sensor arrays to find lunarium. It wasn't hard to put two and two together after Anyman turned up and it started showing a signal. We tried extending the range but..."

Spartan added "Blew a sensor array. We're down to two now."

Boadicea shot him a withering glance then smiled "Nothing the Skralls can't fix. But if you CAN somehow get that Lunarium?" she added, smiling sweetly, oil smudged face stunningly attractive despite the mess.

=========

"Thank you! THANK YOU!" said the Alien (in human form) as he hugged Anyman and shook his hand.

"From what I know the camp is well guarded. 20' high barbed wire fence with a killing ground then another fence, mined in between and machine gun emplacements on towers every 40 feet. It was designed to hold metahumans - I think you call them - and besides the P'utinarians there are others. The Nazis calls them 'freaks'. They don't look like their ideal blond haired blue eyed vision of the master race. I don't know how many there are, but they may prefer escape to being gassed. You MUST hurry though, please sir! My people don't have long!" He thought for a moment. "The ground is cleared for half a mile around. Guards? A garrison of around 100. It's possible they have superhumans too - to keep the captives in line. I don't know too much more - I was nearly discovered whilst sifting through that information. Some of the men in white coats would arrange for the odd Nazi 'freak' - they called them - to be taken away for ... whatever they do with them. It's horrible, but my people MUST come first! Please..."

He listened carefully as Anyman explained the role he'd be playing in impersonating him, but that he hoped he'd be back in time before Churchill started shouting and throwing stuff around. The Alien looked relieved to hear that they would stall Anymans meeting with the PM, but all knew time was against them.

OOC Is Frostbite taking Frostbot, currently a metal statue in his room until Frosty swaps his consciousness into him? If I get the team split right, Anyman and ? (Spartan, Guillotine, Boadicea?) will rescue the Aliens, whilst Frostbite and Saladin head up to space to help Silver Sentinel? If so, next post will have the two teams splitting into separate threads. Will also update Silver Sentinel later (tomorrow morning) as I need to hit the sack now. I hope to update twice in the next 24 hours, as my shifts are only 8 hours. Saying that, so was todays, but I did 13

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
Guillotine
Boadicea
Spartan
at Bletchley Park (ship)
Silver Sentinel
Anchor
Fastback
+ MP

Admin wrote:
Joe Hoskyn looked about. The ship had been scoured and running repairs were still taking place...

Boadicea shot him a withering glance then smiled "Nothing the Skralls can't fix. But if you CAN somehow get that Lunarium?" she added, smiling sweetly, oil smudged face stunningly attractive despite the mess.

Joe looked on shaking his head, "Its one thing to have got the ship, if we grab the Lunarium, chances are it might be used up just powering this craft. If we could get more or make sure it was returned as before, no problem. Or slightly less of a problem, in fact. But unless we can be sure it won't be consumed powering the ship, I think we're on a hiding to nothing there."

=========

Signalling the Frostbot from the ship, Joe gave it orders to come aboard, as much as it pained him to let go of his counterpart. In truth he knew how useful the Frostbot was to the group. Truth be told the Computer had been very quiet, Joe wondered if it were possible for the computer to sulk, since returning to the limiting space within him.

Meanwhile Saladin got ready, rubbing a hand over his eyes, sore with unconscious habit that kept him trying to massage the tiredness away. For a moment he felt the soft embrace of his weariness start to take hold, but the sudden jerk of his head, woke him suddenly, where he stood berating himself for his lapse in control.

"No, no, no...my friend, you don't get the upper hand so easily with me." He said within himself, knowing full well that King could hear him.

As the group made their plans, Saladin's only comment was that he, would be joining Anyman, he smiled when he noted the dark looks, especially from the Psi agents. He knew the liked King and had no love for him. But he welcomed it. It kept his adrenaline going and spurred him into greater wakefulness.

OOC:
Ok Saladin will join Anyman's team, he was always onboard to find out whatever he could. Joe will let the Frostbot work as pilot and co-ordinator. Although if we can safely get the Lunarium without draining it, we'll stop to get that, otherwise we'll make our run, whilst its dark.

Time seems, as ever to be off the essence.

Sj

ooc: I think it is just Saladin and Anyman to the Death Camps and everyone else into space. Or at least, I didn't think about any of the second team going with them. But if they want a behind the lines suicide mission, knowing the survival rate of the second team on such missions with Anyman ......

And is anybody going to clue Anyman in on the fact that Saladin is occupying Lionheart's body and isn't Lionheart? Cause Lionheart is acting out of character for himself.

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc: I think it is just Saladin and Anyman to the Death Camps and everyone else into space. Or at least, I didn't think about any of the second team going with them. But if they want a behind the lines suicide mission, knowing the survival rate of the second team on such missions with Anyman ......

And is anybody going to clue Anyman in on the fact that Saladin is occupying Lionheart's body and isn't Lionheart? Cause Lionheart is acting out of character for himself.

OOC: Opps sorry about that Dave, I think I had intended to write this in earlier when I first saw you and before going to get my stuff, but checking back I noticed I didn't. Do you need a formal write up, or can we assume that we've told you off screen?

Sj

Either way or no one could tell him and Anyman will just keep calling him Lionheart until Saladin himself, while deep behind enemy lines, tells him he isn't who Anyman thinks he is.

DavidMcMahon wrote:Either way or no one could tell him and Anyman will just keep calling him Lionheart until Saladin himself, while deep behind enemy lines, tells him he isn't who Anyman thinks he is.

OOC: Though that might be fun, its hardly sporting. No I think Joe would have said something the first time he realised that Anyman, would look quizzically at him.

Sj

Silver Sentinel
+Anchor
+Fastback
+Normal Human (MP)
Where: Qrii Scout Ship in Orbit
What: In a holding cell, being 'probed' by... the ship itself!

Using his superhuman strength Sentinel tore the tendrils free from his friends' body. He turned to see Anchor a strange shade of purple, and gagging as if drowning!

"Curse you!" spat Sentinel as he sat Anchor up. The big man gasped, then ground his teeth and hissed "What was that? There's... something in my body!"

'If you wish to call on my power, we can help your friends. This... 'ship' as you call it, is alive! The drones you spoke to, the ones who took you here, are some kind of antibodies, intelligent, in a way, but limited of imagination. This whole ship is alive. You are inside the belly of the beast!' revealed the Dark Power.

Sentinel glanced down. He saw a lump moving under Anchors skin on his arm, about the size of a tennis ball! It moved slowly, and the scot ground his teeth in pain! "get it... out!" he gasped!

Enclosing a hand around Anchors arm, Sentinel blocked the things progress for the moment. It butted up against his hand, then started moving around. It was clearly trying to make its way up Anchors arm and towards his brain, or at least attach itself to his nervous system! Sentinel looked about. No metal! The only metal was the car in the hold - or the belly - of the beast! Without armour he couldn't fire energy, fly... these tendrils could affect him too!

'You always have the Dark power to call on mortal. Send a message to these beings. Tell them you are not some beast to be probed and examined! Tell them... you are power incarnate and will not be denied!'

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
Guillotine
Boadicea
Spartan
Where:En route to Poland

The ship took off quietly just after 0100 in the morning, with Frostbot once more in command of his own destiny.

"Many thanks sir." it gushed. "I was starting to think I was being punished by your removal of my autonomy." The last statement caused Joe to worry a little. The robot/computer mind was developing more and more into a being capable of making its own decisions about its future. That might not be a bad thing, but what if the robot went bad? Every time the computer mind left him, he felt part of himself missing, too. He resolved to keep an eye on the robot, but felt confident he could leave it to its own devices - for now.

Guillotine called down up the engine room. "We reconfigured the ships drive to run quieter and more efficiently, but the tradeoff is that we have to use emergency lighting on all decks.The Bridge will be fine - the panels give off enough glow - but all other decks will be darker. That is all." she said, abruptly, and signed off.

Spartan looked over from where he was sat at a console. "Sensors pick up the radar stations, but we won't be seen by them unless you want to be. it's a simple matter to absorb the primitive radar pings from this time period."

All about the bridge, Skralls scurried about, the tiny lizard men concentrating solely on the job of running the ship with no thought to anything else. The implants in their heads connected them to one another and to the ship itself, which housed an advanced, albeit alien, computer mind. Anything the ship 'desired', in terms of repairs, it simply let the Skralls know, and several of them would go jogging off to gather tools and get right on it.

Anyman looked over at Saladin, who was pacing like a caged tiger. (OOC I assume Joe had a quiet word with him about Lionhearts status). Saladin had been Lionhearts enemy, now absorbed completely into his mind. That made him dangerous, and unpredictable, especially as he was in charge of Lionhearts body now. No one knew how long that would last, but the dark rings under the PSI Agents eyes suggested Saladin himself thought it would last only until he slept. A way to find out might be to knock Lionheart out, but that was no easy task! As far as anyone knew,

Lionheart was the most powerful superhuman on planet Earth. Of course, the Dark Power changed things. Those with the Dark Power were alternately the most powerful beings, possibly in the universe, with the flip side they could also be amongst the most dangerous!

The ship soared through the night sky, high above the cloud cover and the rain that helped protect Britain. The weather had been most unseasonal, and thus prevented many night flights by the Nazis, even with some of the advanced craft they had. Mysterious lightning storms that cropped up from nowhere would often destroy such enemy sorties, as if some great hand were guiding it.

Which of course it was.

Soon over the sea, the ship turned, heading towards Poland.

"Is there any plan?" asked Boadicea of Anyman, "or will you do your usual and make monkeys out of the Nazis, having them running around like headless chickens whilst you chuckle quietly at them?" She wore greasy overalls, face smudged with oil and sludge. Whilst the Skralls knew the ship inside out, Boadicea and Guillotine had been learning and fixing what they could. Their brains seemed to devour every bit of information they could glean about the ship and the technology, and whilst they couldn't explain it to those Vanguardians from the 1940s - it was like explaining particle physics to a fish - in time they would be able to fully repair, enhance and even improve on the Alien Skrall design, given the right circumstances.

"Heads up" said Spartan.

Everyone looked up and walked to the console he was sat at. He pressed several buttons, muttered a quiet curse, then pressed two more. "Ah. There we go. Look."

The screen changed to show a 3 dimensional wireframe radar image of the base, still hundreds of kilometres distant, and high, high above it, an object in the sky? No, higher than that. In space! In direct orbit above the camp was a tiny vessel. Frostbot improved the scan and resolution, and it zoomed in to reveal itself as a P'utinarian shuttle, the kind which the Nazis used as bases from which to teleport, only this one was high above the Earth in orbit above the base!

"Friend or Foe?" asked Spartan. "Maybe we should ask them, but they might alert the ground forces if they aren't friendly..."

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
Guillotine
Boadicea
Spartan
Where:En route to Poland

Admin wrote:"Friend or Foe?" asked Spartan. "Maybe we should ask them, but they might alert the ground forces if they aren't friendly..."

Frostbite looked to Anyman, "In some ways, my old friend this mission is yours, as far as I'm concerned you call the shots. But I don't like the look of this, too many unknowns. I'd also hate to think what might be lurking in that ship, if you start setting off alarms below. But what do you think?"

Saladin, meanwhile, stopped his restless pacing and looked at the screen. He wondered what the effective range of his abilities might be and if there was any shielding on the ship that might stop his mind from accessing the information about its position. Although he knew his hated enemies were on the moon, he couldn't help but wonder if they might venture forth, ready to claim him, should he show his face. Such a craft might well be a point from which they'd come.

OOC:

Whilst Dave composes himself and wonders what to do, what is the effective range of Saladin/Lionheart's Psi power to be able to scan the ship and work out what sort of life forms might be present?

Sj

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
Guillotine
Boadicea
Spartan
Where:En route to Poland

OOC Going by the rules, Lionhearts range would be 20m, 40m at a push *cough, garbage*. With Lionheart as he is (very powerful) consider the range direct line of sight. If he can't see a target, then he's still able to 'fumble around blindly' but the targets ego will recieve a boost.

Saladin looked at the sensors. "If you can get the ship closer without being noticed, to within sighting distance, I can scan that ship and see who's aboard." he growled.

Guillotine turned, smile on her grease smeared face "What's up with you, grumpy? Run out of catnip?" she quipped. The look from Saladin turned her face pale, and she added "I'll head below. More repairs to do. Or something..."

Spartan glanced at Frostbite as if to say "What do we do if he turns crazy?"

In response Saladin gave a knowing look at Spartan, but to his credit the cloned PSI agent didn't flinch or turn away. he knew he was outmatched - utterly - by Saladin, but he wouldn't back down even if it meant his life!

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
Guillotine
Boadicea
Spartan
Where:En route to Poland

OOC Superhuman equivalent of the Marx brothers I like

Spartan raised an eyebrow. "Despite all I've heard and read about you in the reports, nothing has quite prepared me to fully realise how mad you are, Anyman! You stand and joke just before plunging, not just into the Lions den, but up to the Lion and putting your head in his mouth whilst insulting its mother and questioning its parentage. Not sure whether to salute you or offer you a straitjacket..."

He turned to the screen. "Frostbot might be more able than I with the scanners, but there is a chance that they'll detect us when we scan them. It's possible we might get some idea of who and how many are on board that ship, and their fuel situation. All of those P'utinarian ships I have read about in reports were either low on fuel, or out. That might mean that one doesn't have enough to leave the gravity pull of the Earth should it come down here. or they may be waiting for the right time to strike by dropping a large payload of explosives onto the site to wipe you out, Anyman." he added, with a nod to the fearless Vanguardian.

"Either way... at current speed using stealth capabilities we'll be an hour till we get to the site, That gives time to plan, or to divert course and head up to that craft in orbit. Bear in mind that from there we will have to drop Frostbite off assuming we can catch the alien ship that kidnapped Silver Sentinel. And if we miss that chance... they may leave the system before we can catch them up later!"

Boadicea rolled her eyes. "No no, too much good news will put us off guard! What's the downside to the plan, because so far it looks like we've already succeeded..." she said, voice dry with sarcasm.

Spartan ignored her and turned to the others. "Or we could hail the ship. It's risky, and might ruin our chances at everything, but if they are friendly and we can convince them we are going to help, they might take Frostbite to the alien ship whilst the 'V-Ship' stays on hand to help the Aliens escape..."

The Vanguard
Frostbite
Anyman
Saladin (Lionheart)
Guillotine
Boadicea
Spartan
Where:En route to Poland

Admin wrote:Spartan ignored her and turned to the others. "Or we could hail the ship. It's risky, and might ruin our chances at everything, but if they are friendly and we can convince them we are going to help, they might take Frostbite to the alien ship whilst the 'V-Ship' stays on hand to help the Aliens escape..."

Turning a speculative eye from Saladin to Anyman to Spartan, was making Frostbites head spin, but he piped in, "I think Sentinel can always call on the dark power, and up here with far less risk. My going was more for us to contain that risk than anything else.

As regards what you do regarding the Putinarian ship in orbit? That's anyones guess. We know that the counsel were in favour of pulling out, but there wasn't a united front. We've no idea who won, nor indeed if that ship is stationary. Perhaps we all ought to take a leaf from Anyman's book and hail them, you never know it might just frighten the life out of them. Then again..." He said leaving things hanging. None of them were under any illusions that this could be a trap.

Saladin looked on, fuming with the delay and the increased risk that gave him more reason to be ideal and let sleep overcome him. He began to wonder if this trip was a mistake, or if indeed it would be better to find a way to resist Lionheart head on. He had to rest, mistakes would be made and it might deprive him of the very thing he wanted most. Taking himself off to one side, he began to think through his options.

OOC:

As regards to what we do, I think as risky as it sounds, we might need to step up a gear, fortune favours the bold. As Dave/Anyman has proved more than once. But at the same time, we could set a train of events in motion that potentially devastates the Putinarian allies and puts them at far greater risk. Perhaps bold ought to be saved up for when we can use it best.

As regards to Saladin, he knows he must sleep, is there anyway he can best prepare himself for rest by setting about to stop Lionheart from starting to get a grip. After all Lionheart was able to operate without the threat of Saladin taking over before. There has to be a way Saladin can stay in charge? And if so Saladin will want to explore that strange design and seek to implement it.

Good news about the computer, I wish someone could tell me what to do with mine. The fan on it gets so noisy, I have to put it into sleep mode, when I wake it quietens down a tremendous amount, but always sounds as if its straining but its not like its an old machine or anything.

Sj