Thevshi

Sureshot sprinted up the fire escape, disappearing up onto the rooftop of the building as Foreshadow swung back over to where he had left the unconscious sniper. The man was still there, and out cold, his bindings just as secure as when Foreshadow had left him. A pair of police cars pulled up at the scene, their lights flashing and sirens blaring. The gang members of both sides had all scattered out of sight, going in different directions to try to escape from the police. Other sirens could be heard echoing from other directions, an indication that more squad cars were on the way, and increasing the chance that some might come across fleeing gang members. Just then, Foreshadow froze slightly, as one of his visions came to him. He saw a dark alleyway, red light flashing on one of the walls. A police officer was running down the alleyway, a flashlight sweeping around in front of him as he went. Further down the alley, a gang member hidden behind a dumpster readied his sub-machinegun, stepping around the corner and aiming at the flashlight before opening fire!

Okay KD, Gabe is up! Improved Thrown appears to override the ability to use Acrobatics to avoid being tripped, but, I will let you use it to try to land on you feet, DC 20 (the same as instant up), so you won't loose a move action standing up if you make it.

GM As Velocity skids to a halt, Gabriel heard a whistle of something flying through the air from several hundred feet to the left side of the road. Tiamat caught a whiff of magic, before a stone arrow impacted on her left flank. The massive dragon's thick scales proved more than capable of deflecting the projectile however, and it glanced harmlessly off. Looking to the left side of the road, Tiamat and the others saw a fourth figure just emerging from the shadows of some trees over three hundred feet away. She stood just over six feet tall, with shoulder length red hair and was wearing a green body suit and matching archer gloves and domino mask. An ornate bow was held in her left hand, and a golden symbol was on the left side of her chest. The Aries shot forward in a blur of motion, maneuvering around Tiamat and heading first toward Gabriel. The speedy villain lowered his head as he approached the white clad hero, ramming into Gabriel and knocking him off his feet and off to one side. Aries continued past Gabriel, rushing up toward Comrade Frost next and repeating the same maneuver. As before, Frost was unhurt, but knocked off his feet as the supervillain continued towards Gaian Knight. The Earth controller was also unable to avoid being rammed into by Aries, ending up sprawled on the ground as well as the golden helmed villain continued toward the League speedster present. But as Aries charged toward Velocity, the yellow clad speedster was able to quickly dodge to one side, causing Aries to skid to a halt a short distance beyond.

Aries charges Gabriel, attempting to overrun him. He has Improved Overrun, so Gabe cannot chose to avoid. He hits with a 25, and gets a 27 on the Trip roll. Aries has Improved Throw, so choose for Gabe to roll his Str against the Trip, and Gabe cannot beat that, so he is knocked to the ground. Aries continues, moving to Comrade Frost next, hitting with a 21. A 43 on his Trip roll against Frost, and it does not matter what he has Frost roll, as Frost cannot beat that, so is on the ground as well. Gaian is up next, and Aries hits again with a 24. A 39 on the Trip roll, which Gaian also cannot beat, so he is on the ground as well. Aries moves next toward Velocity, but misses her with only a 22, so that ends his movement.

Okay, and the Zodiac member no one saw or heard attacks! Sagittarius takes a shot at Tiamat (power attack -2 atk/+2 dam), hitting with a 21. DC 27 toughness save for Tiamat!

With two villains on the ground, and far closer to each other than she really needed, Velocity was quick to move into action. In a blur of yellow, the League speedster ran up toward Aries, her fist shooting out at supersonic speed at Aries, a loud *CRACK* echoing over the road as her hand broke the sound barrier. Velocity's punch impacted with the glow that surrounded the tall Zodiac member, the field absorbing the hit with seemingly little effect. But Velocity was already moving again, closing the distance over to the tall woman in the blink of an eye. *CRACK* Her fist shot out once more, again braking the sound barrier. Once again she connected, no glowing forcefield stopping it like had happened with Aries. But Libra took the hit with only the slightest indication she had even felt it, stepping off to one side slightly, but otherwise seeming to be unphased. Velocity skidded back to a halt near where she had started from, frowning at the lack of results from her opening attack. Fairview Church: "Staff Sergeant Reynolds ma'am." The soldier replied as she told him to rest a bit more. "We were transporting the cargo to Fort Belvoir, just a bit south of DC." He replied. He then gave her a somewhat downcast look. "Unfortunately, I don't have the projector any longer ma'am." He said, lifting up the briefcase, which easily swung open, the locking mechanism apparently damaged. "It was busted open when the supervillains almost got us and we lost Specialist Jones. When we managed to get away, I knew the Humvee was not going to make it far, and neither was I. I gave the projector to Sergeant Davenport, and dropped him and Specialist Parker off in different parts of town so they could try to make their way clear on foot, while I drove as far as I could, hoping the villains would follow me. Once it broke down, I was just barely able to get myself here."

Velocity will move up and trigger her Rapid Attack to hit Aries and Libra (power attack -2 atk/+2 dam), hitting both with a 31. The attack bounces off Aries with no effect. Libra gets a 30 on her toughness save, so is just fine!

Okay, Aries makes a counter-bluff against Gabe’s attempt to get him to monologue, and gets a 41! So…. 55 Velocity (unharmed, 4 HP) 30 ??? 30 Aries (unharmed) 18 Gabriel (unharmed, 6 HP) 16 Aquarius (unharmed) 14 Comrade Frost (unharmed, 1 HP) 10 Libra (unharmed) 8 Gaian Knight (unharmed, 3 HP) 7 Tiamat (unharmed)

GM To the south of town: As the sonic booms and the sound of Tiamat's roar began to die down, Gabriel could hear the hundreds of voices throughout the town of Fairview questioning whoever happened to be near them if they had just heard the same thing. Of course the sound of the falling rain made it a bit more difficult than normal to hear across the town. But the white clad hero soon heard the approach of rapid footsteps, someone running far faster than a normal person could (although not nearly as fast as Velocity was capable of running). Thanks to her goggles, Velocity was the first one to spot the approach of the other speedster, as well as the appearance of a man with a cape who dropped down out of the dark clouds above, flying down lower toward where the Freedom League members where gathered. The yellow clad speedster quickly noted the man above to her teammates, as she appeared to focus on the man who came to a sudden halt in the rain over a hundred feet past where the barrier had once stood. The man that had sped into view was tall, standing several inches over six feet. He was wearing a white one-piece costume, which metal banded gloves and boots. He wore a golden colored helmet with full face mask on his head, with two small horns on each side of the head. In the center of his chest was a golden symbol, and a faint glow seemed to flicker around him. Just as the man came to a halt, another figure appeared a little over a dozen feet to the right of him, a woman who stood almost six feet tall herself, with long platinum blond hair. She wore a golden full body suit, with two long strips of cloth that wend down from either shoulder town to past her knees, with a white strip of cloth that covered her eyes almost like a blindfold. She had black gloves and boots, and a black symbol in the center of her chest. The man flying down from the dark clouds above was shorter than the other two, dressed in a blue and white costume, with dark blue gloves, boots and cape. He wore a brass mask that covered his entire face, though is shoulder length brown hair was free, a few streaks of grey at the temples. A golden symbol was on the chest of his costume as well. The man with the golden helmet called out over the wind and rain. "The Freedom League, we feel so honored! I am Aries, and we are the Zodiac!" "We were not holding the town hostage, merely insuring that the soldiers we were seeking were unable to leave while we looked for them. But we are more than willing to face you in the process." Fairview Church: The priest had seemed started by the sound of Gabriel’s voice and Tiamat's roar, but focused back on Fleur when she spoke up. "You are free to bring any who might need shelter to this House of God." He replied. "As for what is going on, I am not sure I can provide much insight. It was only a short while ago that this unnatural storm rolled in, the rain and lightning forcing people to seek shelter in their homes or in other buildings. Then this soldier appeared at my door and I took him in and granted him sanctuary." As the priest finished responding, the Sergeant with the briefcase handcuffed to his wrist stirred awake, Fleur's healing having soothed the burns until they were little more than a faint hint of red and closed up the arrow wound after forcing out what appeared to be a stone arrowhead. "What…what is going on?" The man asked, as he sat up and glanced around.

Sureshot spun with the hit, pushing off his feet as he performed a spinning side arial, landing a few feet away. Reorienting himself toward Foreshadow, he gave a small smile as the police sirens grew ever louder. "I have a feeling we could be at this for quite some time, but given the approaching police, we will have to save that until another time." He then began sprinting away, leaping up onto the roof of a car a short way down the street, using it as a springboard up toward the top of a bus stop. As he arched up, he spun around, flinging another of his glowing discs at Foreshadow. The costumed crimefighter barely rolled away from the glowing energy disc, which passed just to one side as he flipped away. Sureshot had already turned back around and sprung off the bus stop, reaching out to grab a light pole, which he spun around once, using the momentum to launch himself over onto a fire escape of the nearby building. Down the street, the gunfire between the two gangs had gone silent, the gang members starting to scatter as they tried to get away from the approaching police.

Sureshot takes another shot at Foreshadow, just missing with a 21. Round Twelve Foreshadow 32 (Unharmed, 1 HP) Sureshot 27 (unharmed) Shore Gangstas 15 Los Tiburones 11

Sureshot just beats it with a 30 on his acrobatics roll. But, that hit still connects, but he gets a 25 on his toughness save, so he is fine.

HGM, so, Velocity is going to let Grim hop out, then search the nearby area (up to a mile out) for some stable shelter to take any injured to that is out of the rain. Using her maximum velocity (ie maximum quickness) this should take less than a second (taking 20 on the search roll).

Dee followed up behind the professor, keeping the awing in place until the trio had made their way into the narrow side street. The Englishwoman then released her telekinetic hold on the awning, allowing it to fall to the ground back by the table they had been sitting at. As she did so, her eyes stopped glowing as well. <"We should keep moving, put a bit more distance between us and the snipers and then find a place to get out from the open."> She added, not wanting to wait for the snipers to try to relocate...or call in any backup that might be nearby.

Velocity listened as Robert confirmed what she had stated, going well beyond what she had been able to covey in the description as well, but then, this was Robert's area of expertise. When Grim spoke up about searching for notes or the like, the speedster grinned. "I was just thinking the same thing myself. But might be best if I go take a look. Searching the entire castle could take some time, but not for me." She replied. "I should only be a short while." And with that she was gone in a blur of yellow. As Velocity had stated, searching the building was not a difficult proposition for her, even when she was carefully searching. About ten seconds after she had left the cellar, she found a locked drawer on the nightstand in the master bedroom, an obvious place for a journal or the like. A few supersonic punches later the draw was smashed open and she had the journal in hand. Seconds later she was back in the cellar. "Well, found a journal. Now we shall see if we can read it."

Soooo, looking at the Search rules: If Velocity wants to search a 1 mile area (which I assume would be pretty much the entire castle), it takes 1 hour, to Take 20 on that would take 20 hours. But, her normal quickness is x5,000, so she can do the search in about 15 seconds (just under three rounds)! Taking 20 on a search would give her a 23.

Round Eleven Foreshadow 32 (Unharmed, 1 HP) Sureshot 27 (unharmed) Shore Gangstas 15 Los Tiburones 11

Even as Foreshadow began his attempt at out maneuvering the costumed criminal, Sureshot reacted in response, leaping up onto the trunk of the sedan and flipping over to the opposite side of the vehicle, putting him well away from Foreshadow. As he landed, Sureshot turned back toward Foreshadow, one hand sweeping outward to throw yet another of the man's glowing green energy discs. "Nice try." He commented as he threw, though whether that was in relation to Foreshadow's poor attempt to outmaneuver him or the attempt to get Sureshot to reveal his employer was not clear. This time the glowing disc struck the costumed crime fighter once more, but Foreshadow was able to twist as it struck, causing the energy disc to glance off one side. There was still a faint discharge of energy from the impact, but nothing that would hamper or slow Foreshadow down. The super-criminal frowned slightly at the lack of notable results from his attack. But at the same time, he seemed no longer the worse for wear due to Foreshadow's earlier successful attack. Down the street, the gunfire between the two groups of gang members continued, again without any clear advantage to either. And then an new sound could be faintly heard, that of approaching sirens.

Dee had just registered Erick's message about snipers when he had already tackled Professor Zaki, just before the first bullet punctured the coffee pot. The Englishwoman rolled out of her chair and onto the ground as well as the second two bullets cracked by. <"Two snipers actually."> She commented, sticking with French. Then her eyes began to glow red with psychic energy as she reached out with her mind toward the awning over the coffee shop. The red psychic energy surrounded the awning as well, as it was pulled free from the wall, Dee's mind moving it into position to at least obscure them from the snipers' direct line of sight. <"We need to move."> She added as she picked herself up and prepared to run towards a side street away from either sniper.

Synapse gets a 23, how average.

Sureshot will go for a full Accurate Attack (-5 dam/+5 atk), hitting with a 27, so a DC 20 toughness save for Foreshadow. Also, Sureshot appears to recover from Foreshadow's prior hit.

Dee listened as Professor Zaki gave a brief outline of the Cold War superhuman arms race and Egypt's part in it all. The young Englishwoman was all too familiar with the lengths that some governments would go to try and develop superpowered agents. After all, she was the product of a revived Cold War era program, and the same process had cost her twin sister her sanity. Pushing those thoughts back into her mind, Dee focused on the present. <"So, where would one look if they wanted to learn more about the testing of Darwin X that took place here?"> She asked, deciding it would be best to just get to what they hoped would be a promising lead.

Asad Topple looked over to Amir as he came up beside him and made his comments. "Amir, I am sorry, it was just an off the cuff comment." He stated, a slightly apologetic look on his face. "I mean, it is true, you are generally more than capable of protecting yourself. Certainly far better than I could." "Heroes such as Titan here or members of the Freedom League or Interceptors cannot be everywhere all the time. If some supercriminal decided to come after me and Diane when we were out on a cruise, there would be little that anyone on this ship could do to stop them." Riff and Titan The two heroes were just heading back towards their seats after the drawn out group photo when another one of the award recipients, an African American man in his late 20’s intercepted the pair. "Good evening gentlemen." He stated, offering his hand. "Congratulations on your awards. I'm Robert Cross."

Velocity Notice Check: 27 Initiative: 55

Okay, those outside by the south barrier can go ahead and post with them blasting a section of it apart (it is hunks of scrap metal and some wrecked cars that had been piled up on the rural highway). If I could also get notice checks from everyone out there, and probably an initiative roll (to just get that out of the way).