Thevshi

Veronica While the story had something of a slow, academic start, once Veronica got past a brief description of the initial planning for the expedition to try to locate and excavate the lost pharaoh's tomb things picked up slightly in terms of excitement. She described how after two initial excavations they managed to locate the top of the buried pyramid and had the good fortune of locating one of the upper “air shafts’ not long afterward. This had allowed Veronica and her father to rappel down to the interior of the still mostly buried pyramid and start exploring the inner chambers. There she described some of the ancient traps they had encountered, namely a couple of pitfalls and a fake wall of stone blocks designed to collapse down onto those that walked across the stone slabs near it, triggering the mechanism to cause the collapse. Several photos came up through Veronica’s descriptions of the interior of the pyramid. "Eventually we located one of the burial chambers, finding the false burial chamber outside the queen's actually burial chamber. Unfortunately, tomb robbers in antiquity had managed to get inside and break through the false wall to the queen's burial chamber, removing much of what once was located inside. All that remained were the stone slabs on which the queen's possessions would have been laid out for use in the afterlife and the stone sarcophagus in which there would have been a more elaborate sarcophagus, likely gilded with precious metals." Veronica described as photos came on the screen showing the sparse interior of the chamber. "There were at least several colorful murals which are still being studied." The teenager then gave a small smile as she paused for a brief moment. "However, while the queen’s burial chamber had been looted, it was when we managed to reach the pharaoh’s burial chamber that we happened upon the most significant discoveries in the excavation. For some reason the tomb robbers had been unable to locate the pharaoh's chamber, and it was undisturbed. Inside we found not only the collection of valuables placed there for the pharaoh’s use in the afterlife, but Sanakht's mummy inside his gold and silver gilded sarcophagus." The screen to one side had gone dark and Veronica smiled again. "While I could show you some pictures of the pharaoh's chamber, I do not want to spoil the opportunity for your first look at many of those artifacts to be made in person. But there are images we took of the chamber located toward the end of the exhibit, so you will still have an opportunity to see them in their original place."

Megan Megan listened as Lulu listed the classes she was having the most trouble in and talked about how she enjoyed the ready she was able to do in English and history. "Well, it is good to enjoy reading and appreciating the subjects. So I will arrange for some tutors for math and science. Though, it might be a good idea to get someone to help you with writing papers as well. I believe there will start to be some sizable research papers in your classes as the year progresses. Never hurts to get some additional practice on writing." When the waitress came to take their order, Megan glanced back at the menu to check her selections. "I will have the house salad with vinaigrette on the side and the mussels mariniére and an iced tea to drink. Thank you." Handing the menu to the waitress how headed off to enter the orders, the blonde woman looked back across the table to Lulu. "So, beyond classes, how are you adjusting to being around more of your peers once more?"

Veronica It had never really been much of a question of whether Veronica would attend Claremont’s fall dance or not, it was a chance to try something new and experience a part of normal high school life she had not had the opportunity to take part in. Yes she had been to a number of formal events with her family over the years, but it was not nearly the same. The bigger question had been would she give way to convention and wear something formal for the event, rather than something more comfortable. It had taken a bit of discussion with Aunt Rachel and Prudence, and maybe even a few observations about the social expectations of the dance from Janus, but ultimately Veronica had relented and gone shopping for a evening gown. The teenage Danger was dressed in a red one shoulder column evening gown which fit tightly to the curves of her athletic body. For shoes, she had gone with red suede slingback pumps with the lowest heels she had been able to get away with. Her long brown hair was lose and went down to her mid-back, Veronica having put far more effort into it than she typically did, given she typically had it in a ponytail. As Veronica entered the gym, she came up behind a redhead that she quickly realized was Lulu. "Hey Louise! You look fabulous!"

Synapse Synapse did not complain about taking the offered chair or tea after she had pulled up several hidden memories from the soldiers. Letting out a tired sigh, she took a sip of the tea as she listened to Dr. North and the others. "The Sleeper has worked years setting up agents all over the world. I have managed to root out a few in the UK, but they are not easy to find." She added to the conversation. When Replica asked if she felt she could get enough rest on their trip to Moscow, the Englishwoman nodded. "A short nap on the way should be good enough. As Dr. North has stated, we have little time to waste. The longer we wait, the more likely they will slip away."

Veronica As the curator introduced her, Veronica made her way out of the side room and out to the front of the room in front of the applauding crowd. She gave a small smile as she moved over to the podium that Wright had vacated for her, coming to a halt behind it and scanning over the crowd, managing to pick out Elizabeth and Kam. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, thank you." Veronica began. "As Mr. Wright indicated, my family was involved in the initial excavation that led to the discovery of Sanakht’s buried pyramid just off the main section of the Saqqara necropolis." As Veronica spoke, an image came up on the screen that had been set up to the side, a picture of her a couple years younger, with a man and a woman that appeared to be her parents (a fact Kam knew to be the case having met them) and a younger boy that appeared to be her brother. The four were out in a desert, where a section of sand had begun to be dug out behind them. "While I certainly want to talk about when we first reached the pyramid and found a way down to the burial chamber, first I want to talk briefly about the earlier discoveries that led us to the location." The first picture was replaced by another that showed an even younger Veronica standing near a massive column that was one of many in a long row of similar columns. "During a trip to Karnak two years earlier, my mother helped in the excavation of a new section of one of the older temples near the main sites. While doing so, she came across several fragments of a wall covered with hieroglyphics." Another photo replaced the last, this one showing a number of large flat pieces of rock that were laid out on a tarp, each covered in numerous hieroglyphics. "Each of the pieces were photographed, and over the next year and a half during travels to other parts of the world, my mother and I worked on translating the fragments. While doing so, we came across the cartouche of Sanakht within one section of the wall. As we continued our work, it became clear that not only was this a later recitation of the Third Dynasty pharaohs, but there was information regarding the burial locations of several, including Sanakht."

GM A older gentleman in a dark grey suit stepped up to the podium at the front of the room, causing those gathered to begin to fall silent as attention focused on the man. Once the conversations had ceased, the man spoke into the microphone located at the podium. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I am Harold Wright, the antiquities curator here at the museum, and it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the opening night of the Treasures of Sanakht, a special exhibition the Hunter Museum has the great fortune to host for the next month, working in connection with the Museum of Cairo and Imhotep Museum." "The artifacts in this exhibition come from the recently excavated burial chamber of Sanakht, one of the pharaohs of the Third Dynasty. Not only are the artifacts that you will see tonight ones that have expanded our knowledge of a little known period of the Third Dynasty and settled much of the debate over whether there had even ever been a pharaoh named Sanakht, but many are artifacts so rare that their like has not been uncovered in any other Egyptian excavation in the last eighty years." Wright paused a moment as there were a few shocked murmurs in the crowd. "Freedom City's own Danger International is not only a primary sponsor of this exhibition, but also provided significant funding to the excavation as well. In addition, tonight we will be hearing from one of the members of the Danger family who was not only present during portions of the initial excavation of the site, but also was involved in determining the location of the site as well. May I introduce Veronica Danger, the oldest child of Rex Danger II and his wife, renowned French archeologist Jaqueline Giroux Danger." The curator stepped away from the podium and turned to the entry way from one of the side rooms as the applause erupted from the audience.

Veronica Veronica glanced around the changed environment as she heard the teacher explain the exercise. She looked over at Danica as the other girl apologized about slowing them down and others quickly discussing ideas on how to overcome any issue that might cause. "Yeah, we are in this as a group, we will figure out how to do it as a group." Looking over to the others, she continued, "I doubt I am the fastest, but I am pretty quick on my feet, I should be able to move to one of the near ones and be ready for when we collect them all together and then move to catch up at the furthest." She then gave a nod as Huang suggested putting Danica out to the furthest to hold it while the rest of them moved to be ready to get the other flags and hold that point on their path to the cave. "That sounds like a good plan, anyone have a good means of getting Danica over here?"

Veronica Veronica was seated in her chair, dressed as she usually was as if she were about to head out into some wilderness or to explore some ruins. She had been rather curious when Nicole had asked her to come to this meeting, having not had much opportunity to interact with the older student thus far in the term. The teenager could easily sense the powerful magic within the suit the older teen was wearing, and it was taking a bit of willpower to not look even deeper than that to analyze the nature of its magic. She listened as Nicole gave a very general explanation of why they were all there. Again Veronica felt an urge to more carefully scan the battle suit, but again held off for the moment, though she suspected that she would be helping to examine it much more closely at some point. When the other girl finished, stating anyone that wanted was free to leave if they chose, Veronica spoke up first. "Well, members of my family are typically not ones to walk away from something unusual or even potentially dangerous, and I am no different. So, you can count me in."

Veronica Veronica was standing in one of the rooms just off the room where Kam and Elizabeth were seated among a couple hundred other guests. Prudence was standing with the teenage Danger, dressed in her normal business attire and checking her seemingly omni-present tablet. The young woman looked up at Veronica and frowned ever so slightly. "I still believe you should have worn something more formal for tonight's event." Veronica gave a small shrug and a grin. The teenager was dressed in her typical attire, a olive long sleeve shirt, brown cargo pants and a pair of well worn-in hiking boots. "Well, this is what I typically wear in the field, so figured those here tonight would appreciate that." She paused a moment then asked, "everything ready for the presentation?" "Of course. I have everything ready to start once you are introduced and out on stage." Prudence replied.

Hunter Museum of Natural History North End, Freedom City, New Jersey Thursday, October 18, 2018; 7:25 PM The Hunter Museum of Natural History had recently achieved something of a major coup among American antiquities museums, managing to obtain a showing of an impressive collection of Egyptian artifacts only unearthed a few years earlier on loan from the Cairo Museum. The Hunter Museum was aided in this endeavor in no small part by its connections with Danger International, which had been one of the main organizations funding the dig. In fact, members of the Danger family had been instrumental in planning the location of the dig and had been present for the major discovery. As such, the museum had worked with Danger International to have Veronica Danger speak at the opening event for the exhibition to discuss her and her parents’ work. Two of Veronica's fellow Claremonters, Elizabeth Grey and Kam Kingdom, had expressed some interest in the exhibit when they had heard her discussing it with Janus over lunch a week ago. So Veronica had made sure Prudence arranged tickets to the opening night event for the two. Now the two teenagers were seated in the crowd of well-dressed men and women that were gathered for the presentation that was the start of the opening night of the exhibit. Seats had been arranged in one of the larger rooms off the main lobby, a small podium set up toward one end of the room where the chairs were facing, and a large projection screen having been set up to one side of the podium. The room was filled with the sounds of various conversations as those gathered awaited the start of the opening presentation.

Green Machine OOC Going to be needing this. The crude map below gives a rough idea of the environment. The brown circles are all floating islands on roughly the same altitude. Blue circles are lower, green circles are higher. The letters on the large circle are our PCs. The small orange triangles are the four flags. The red lines connecting the islands are the chains. The two red lines leading to the top of the map head towards the cave in one of the canyon walls. The black line in the lower left hand corner is for scale and equals 100'

GM Just as the group was discussing what they might face, a voice sounded out over the comm. system in the Doom Room, as the plexiglass windows of the control room were lit a couple dozen feet up above the floor of the room. "Good evening Green Squad." Came the voice of one of the schools teachers. "I do not believe we can continue to wait for Mr. Rhodes, as you only have a limited time scheduled for the room. So, shall we get started?" Clearly the question was a rhetorical one, as a moment later the room around the five teens began to shimmer and then suddenly instead of a large empty room, they were standing on a large rocky island floating in a wide canyon. A number of other rocky islands floated in the air around them, some about the same altitude, while others were higher or lower. Several thick chains a little under a foot wide stretched among some of the floating islands, two of the chains extending from the island the members of Green Squad stood on, one leading to an island about twenty feet lower than theirs, the other to an island about the same level. Further up the canyon, nearly three hundred feet ahead, was a large cave in the side of one of the canyon walls. Two of the large chains lead from floating islands up ahead and over to the entrance of the cave. "Okay, the objective is rather straight forward." Echoed voice of the teacher down the canyon, the windows of the control room were no longer visible. "You need to get the flags and take them to the entrance of the cave." As that was explained, four bright orange flags appeared on four of the other floating islands around the one the teens were on, two just on islands to either side of theirs, the other two on islands further up ahead. "Just one catch though." The teacher quickly added. "You need to collect all four flags at the same time. And, there will be hazards trying to stop you from getting them." "So, let's see how quickly you can do this in the first run. Go!:"

Veronica Veronica looked over at Monica as she suggested programing any simulacra to represent members of the other teams. "Well, I am not sure there are any plans for us to be engaging in any sparing, light contact or not with the other teams. But I suppose we could do something like that for future sessions. I imagine it will take at least some programing to achieve the desired effect. Besides, to start out it likely makes a bit more sense to go a bit simpler until we get a feel for each other’s abilities and get used to working together." When Micah explained his abilities, the teenage Danger looked over and gave him a reassuring smile. "Well, mostly in control is considerably better than many other alternatives. In any event, I would imagine sessions like this will only help refine that control."

Tsunami Giang gave a small nod as Murk clarified the Codus rule on not killing a fellow immortal, indicating that, at least by the Codus, the prohibition was only for other immortals that had signed the Codus. "A fair clarification. Certainly the prohibition is one I can abide by, for as we previously discussed, I do not use lethal force lightly and thus far have been able to avoid any need to do so." When he mentioned the possible futures, she gave a small smile. "I can understand the perspective, and appreciate that I may have little say in whether or not I am immortal and will be in this universe for countess ages to come. I shall have to put my efforts into ensuring that that balance of my time is indeed beneficial."

GM "According to the flight logs of the flyer outside and the scans you took before we crashed, the main pirate base is about 400 kilometers to the northeast." Soreen replied. "The grav bike could get you there, but will likely take a couple of days. We could always load it into the flyer and at least head to a point closer." "While we cannot rush into things, we also cannot take too long." Laark added. "At some point the pirates at the main base will be become concerned when they do not hear from this outpost, or the pirates that arrived in the flyer do not return. As for the Jaas, I am skeptical that we will be able to sway them from their current allegiance. Even if they claimed to do so, how would we know and trust what messages they sent to the minds of the Edestrekai?" Soreen seemed in thought for a moment and then spoke up once more. "Well…we happen to know a local species that has some telepathic abilities."

GM The gang leader turned to regard Crimson Tiger, trying to put on a defiant look. But this time he just did not seem as convincing as normal, there was a hint of concern or even fear in his eyes now. He continued to try to put up the tough front as he responded. "If you are who you say you are, then there would be no shame in losing to you, particular when you required help to stop me." He paused for a moment, but when he seemed to realize his words were failing with the three young women before him, his expression relaxed a little and he looked down toward the ground. "We delivered the people we kidnapped to where we were told to deliver them. One of the On At-Zhang’s primary fronts, the Jade Lotus in West End."

This time he only gets a 20, so is a bit more willing to talk now.

Veronica Veronica noted as Abigail's pendant caught some of the light, but she was not quite ready to discuss the symbol on the pendant just yet. Instead, she collected her drink when delivered and made her way over to one of the seats toward the back as Abigail asked her question. "Wow, that is a tough question." The teenage Danger replied with a small smile. "I have been so many places and they all had something special or exciting about them so it is hard to really pick just one." She took a sip of her drink as she thought a moment, then continued, "but, if I had to pick one, I would say it is probably Egypt. Whenever we went there it was always to some archeological dig or another. The amount of ancient structures that fill parts of the country is just astounding and I have had the opportunity to go through a number of them."

Synapse <"Excellent."> Synapse replied with a smile as the soldiers agreed to let her help them. <"Hopefully we will soon have the answers each of us is looking for."> Soon enough they were in the infirmary with the three soldiers, who were hooked up to machines to monitor them, not that those would help or hinder what Synapse had to do. When Replica asked if she had everything she needed, the Englishwoman gave a small nod and a smile. "Yes, have everything I need up here." She replied, tapping the side of her temple with a couple of fingers. Moving over to one of the three men, Synapse stood at the end of the bed where the man's head was located as he lay back waiting for her to begin. <"Just relax and clear your mind."> She said in Russian as she took a deep breath and placed both hands on either side of his head. Closing her eyes, she reached into the man’s mind, easily gaining access to his thoughts as he cooperated in letting her psychic abilities enter his thoughts. It did not take Synapse long to detect the psychic signature of the Sleeper, who had indeed altered the man's thoughts. Focusing on that part of the memories, Synapse was able to unlock repressed memories of the man and his comrades being diverted from normal special forces and to a secret facility in Moscow. "Yes, the Sleeper is behind this." She said out loud as she continued to push through the repressed memories. "They are all Spetsnaz, but diverted from legitimate Russian units by the Sleeper's influence to a secret facility in Moscow." She paused a moment as she pulled up the memory of the man's trip to the facility. "I believe I have found enough memories to led us there." Synapse was pushing her abilities already, but she continued to press into the parts of the memories altered by the Sleeper. "There were a total of about two dozen Spetsnaz that were taken to the facility to be conditioned by the Sleeper. Doctor Zero was there as well, ensuring the physical health of the men." She paused once more, focusing on another memory from the time. "I appears they have run out of any samples of Darwin-X, which would appear to explain why they sent these three to seal some." Finally the effort was too much and Synapse broke contact, sinking down into a chair as she took a deep breath, feeling rather fatigued. "I can get us to the facility in Moscow. But whether they are there still or not I cannot tell."

Synapse is going to use Extra Effort to give her +2 on her Telepathy (for +16 total to her roll). She gets a 26, so close. Still pretty good.

GM Starshot had gone with Laark and Soreen to the communications room to discuss what he had learned from the pirates. Laark nodded in grim agreement with Starshot’s comments about what lay ahead of them. "If we can get those they have enslaved to rise up against them, the pirates’ numbers are not likely to be enough." He stated. While Soreen did not appear disturbed by the discussion of killing the Jaas pirates, she did have a bit of a frown on her face, but one appearing to be connected to being deep in thought. After a few moments she then spoke up. "While I do not have any real issue with spacing some psychic pirates, I am a bit worried that might not be the easy way to free these Edestrekai. If the Jaas have convinced the Edestrekai priests that they have been hearing the word of their deities, I am not sure killing the Jaas will be enough to change the status quo. How will we be able to prove to the Edestrekai priests that what they have been hearing in their head was psychic interference from the Jaas? If we cannot do that, why would the Edestrekai priests not just continue along what their last messages from their deities told them, which was to serve the pirates."

Synapse The doubt and resistance was something Synapse had expected, understanding that these well trained soldiers would be rather strong willed and not prone to trust easily. But despite their training and conditioning, even they were susceptible to the abilities of one such as the Sleeper, or even Synapse's own power. However, things would be much easier if they were to accept her help willingly. <"Dah, I understand that you have no memory of how you came to be here or why you did what the Americans say you did."> Synapse replied. <"I have seen similar conditions before, resulting from the influence of a powerful Soviet-era psychic known as the Sleeper."> <"I am a psychic as well, and I should be able to help detect any tampering with you memories and perhaps even restore some of what has been lost. If I can demonstrate that you have been controlled and duped by the Sleeper, or some other psychic, then the Americans will have little reason to continue holding you.">

Okay, Veronica gets a decent roll of 25 for her Nullify check. Would be nice if you were to edit the bits with Prudence we talked about before Ari.

Sorry I have taken to long on this Ari. Veronica will use her magical gadgets to make a Nullify spell to cancel Fac's Mimic power (10 ranks with accuracy if needed). Let me know if we are going to make rolls, or if Ex will have a choice to voluntarily fail the save vs the Nullify.

Synapse During the flight back to the United States, Synapse spent part of the time reviewing the data regarding the Russian soldiers. What she found confirmed her suspicion that the soldiers were victims of a mind wipe. Whether it was caused by the Sleeper or something else, she could not tell from this raw data. When they arrived at the holding facility, Synapse let Dr. North take the lead in getting them access. The armed escort was slightly amusing to her, but she said nothing as they were lead to the room where the three soldiers were waiting. Moving over toward where the three were sitting, Synapse spoke up, speaking in Russian. <"Good afternoon gentlemen. I am Synapse of Vanguard. I am here to help determine what has happened to you.">