Avenger Assembled

Stealth might normally have been the order of the day, but given the urgency of the situation they had to work fast. The old Shepard mansion was dark and quiet at their arrival, with no sign of the elderly couple that lived within or the ample staff that such wealthy people should have been able to maintain. A low wind kicked up as they landed on the neatly trimmed lawn, ruffling the flower garden that looked well-maintained. Quiet as the house looked, someone had to have been there not long earlier. "I would blast in the doors," said Harrier, charging his pike with a whine of energy, "but the display would be pointless and only rouse him to action." He wore his unshielded armor, but it was Caradoc by their side, not the choke-voiced Omegadrone. I will not let them drive me to the rage upon which they feed. "Can either of you see inside the house from here?" They both could, easily enough, and the scene of recent violence within (easily visible on security cameras or by magic) suggested for a moment they might have come too late! Thick walls in a tony neighborhood hadn't kept this enemy out; instead they'd hidden the sound of carnage from the neighbors. The scorch marks on the walls and broken furniture suggested a grim scene indeed. But up in the big mansion's ample attic, neither Miss Americana or Nick could see, and the marks of battle inside the house seemed to suggest something had been chased up there. Or dragged, depending.

"I have been to space before. Unpleasant, but I can do this for such important task," said Frost, straightening his parka unconsciously. "I will require a substantial thermal insulation, both inside and out, and extensive armoring. I can give you specifications from previous space voyages." The truth was that Dimitri did not like going into space; the awful depths of its yawning cold abyss reminded him far too much of his time in the embrace of Hel. Though it did have its charms..."Prefer the lighted parts of space. Is more comfortable there." He folded his hands behind his back and nodded to his alien guests. "If you will pardon, I must make report to Russian government so that they know where I go. Excuse." And with that, he turned and left the room, the temperature perceptibly rising on his departure.

Round 1: Fleur de Joie: 24 Vector: 20 (since she has a higher init than the truck driver) Truck: 20 GK: 19 Cops: 15 T: 5

Steve and Erin were standing guard outside when Mara made her way outside with the dissassembled bomb components stored in her dimensional pocket; her two bodyguards looked a little the worse for wear as a result of their adventures with the seamy side of the Thieves Guild, but they had won the day nonetheless. This has been a good day, thought Steve. Far better than it might have been. Or so he hoped. Perhaps soon the entire Thieves Guild would show up to try and burn the place down, or the media would descend and...no, dwelling on unpleasant possibilities was no way to go about his work. He had enough of those in his life as it was. "The road is clear," one of the AEGIS agents called to Mara. "We have people standing by blocking aerial and road traffic."

Between Temperance and Citizen, the remaining gremlins didn't stand a chance, and it wasn't long before the two heroes found themselves standing in a room blessedly free of supernatural technological creatures. "Nice," said Sharl with a nod. He'd worked up a sweat against the Marchesa, and taken some bruises along the way, but he was remarkably intact given the crazy magic creature he'd just blown up. "I took care of what's her face inside the computer. Even if she had backups stored somewhere, I think she'll probably find some place less threatening to deal with. I'm Citizen, by the way," he said with a smile for the really quite cute Temperence. (Or so he figured behind the mask) Nice to see a girl I don't have classes with. "I like your style."

Citizen opted to wait around for the others while Temperance did her side of the patrolling, though as soon as she was gone he realized the problem with that. Aw, crap, Koshiro and Mali will think I made her up! His friend had certainly seemed a little surprised to learn that he'd gotten a date with a girl, come to think of it. Lacking the ability to leave a note, though, there wasn't much he could do. I guess I should probably talk with Temperance about how I'm a holographic construct being projected by what looks like my wristwatch, but's a conversation for another time... At least he was out of that stupid Goodman Building basement, he reminded himself. For tonight, anyway. He took to the air and left the cooler behind, letting his friends to find what they'd left behind. If there are any crooks there, I will beat the crap out of them...

15 I'll treat the Sheriff's deputies as a group; they'll act on 15. The speeding truck will hit the dairy office at 20; probably a bigger threat for the driver given the Create Object Fleur just put up, but still a worry...

As the plants erupted from the ground to surround the dairy office, suddenly the ground began to shake beneath everyone's feet as a powerful, localized tremor shook the land near the dairy. A deep, basso roar echoed in the air as cans flipped over and windows shattered as if something deep beneath the earth was stirring and howling in frustration! As it did so, the sheriff, his deputies, and indeed everyone the heroes could see staggered as one and clutched the sides of their head as if something there was stirring and roaring as well. When the earthquake stopped, the sheriff and the townsfolk looked at the heroes and suddenly they didn't look so friendly anymore. "Kαταστρέφω!" they shouted in an eerie Greek chorus as they charged the heroes, guns blazing and fists raised as the entire area seemed to converge on the quartet of heroes outside the dairy! The townsfolk might have been civilians, the sort of people who heroes should hold back against when they fought, but from the look of murder in their eyes it didn't look like they would pay the heroes the same favor. And even their charges weren't safe yet; as the heroes watched, one of the dairy trucks spun around with a squeal of tires and began rocketing faster and faster, with a roar of its big diesel engine, towards the protected shelter of the dairy office!

?'s Power Check: 33

"Oh, you know, the usual stuff, the government's taking his money, the superheroes are all out to get him," said the sheriff with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Who can follow with these lowlifes? Normally he'd be at the festival by now, but the mayor and I told him he should stay indoors and keep out of sight if he couldn't keep his mouth shut around supers. I guess that was a mistake. If we can get him to the door again, I can probably take him from long-range," said the sheriff, unholstering his pistol. "We gotta keep this milk comin', lady," he told Fleur with great fervor, and might have gone off if someone hadn't shouted from inside the barricaded-off manager's office. "Don't listen to them!" yelled what was probably Cedric from what looked to be behind the door, the barred-over window at top cracked open by what looked like gunfire. "They're crazy! They're all crazy! This town has gone nuts! I swear to God I did not want to shoot that man, but he came in here trying to get at me and my boys and I had to do it! Look at the jail! Look at where they're keeping people! And don't drink the milk!"

Getting into the air wasn't easy; the mayor had initially protested "The sheriff can handle it! Really!" But when the heroes were determined, he gave his assent with a shrug. As Gaian Knight flew, a speeding black and white patrol car followed them on the streets below, sirens blaring as they made their way through the town to the dairy on the other side. The city itself was still and quiet from the air, with few people on the streets: the only strange sight was around the police station, where a parking lot full of a wide variety of cars threatened to burst out onto the two-lane road next to the old brick structure. Along the streetside of the jail, several fire and dairy trucks were parked, firemen and dairy workers walking around and working around both, the aftereffects of what looked like a milk spill just visible at their feet. At the dairy proper, the heroes found an odd, grim scene: a dozen dairy workers and policemen were lined up outside the manager's office, open steel jugs of milk turned sour nearby, and the dead body of someone in a police uniform was stretched out in front of the building's steel door. With its cinderblock walls and nearly windowless construction, the building that still bore the sign REED DAIRY along the wall looked tough to breach. Evidently the uniformed man by the front door hadn't succeeded, from the grim damage to his torso he'd stopped the shotgun rounds that Fleur had heard earlier. The sheriff arrived on scene just a few minutes after the heroes and quickly parked to assess the damage. "Oh, jeez," he said, his face turning pale. "I knew Cedric was going to go nuts one of these days, but this is...that's Wally Park, one of my deputies. Oh, geez..." He went to tend to the body, amid a strange scene. None of the cops on scene had evidently called in about the murdered officer, at least not as far as the heroes could see, and the dairy workers with the milk pails had clearly been with them. As for the dairy itself, despite the manager evidently barricaded in his office, the site itself was still in active operation, uniformed workers loading milk trucks and running machinery in the barns behind the reinforced building at the front. "Cedric's been on edge for a while now with that sovereign citizen crap, and it only got worse after Benjy won that contest," one of the other deputies offered. "He hates cops, and he hates capes."

"We put him in storage in our facility, Dr. Atom," called Sharl up to the older intelligence. He knew the grandfatherly old man quite well, if only because the elder Atom had been a natural person to consult given his own situation. With a glance at Miss Americana to make sure he wasn't speaking out of turn, he went on, trying to explain the situation to Atom. "He seems to be sentient, albeit not a true upload." He let it go at that, trusting Miss A to figure out what fate they were going to work out for D-Gray 2.0. "I can zip back there if you need me to," he offered to Miss A, "make sure his matrix is still holding up now that the Foundry's attention is elsewhere."

Fleur: Fleur hears a distant gunshot at the sheriff's words, echoing over the hill from the direction of the building complex a couple of miles away that's been pointed out to her as the Reed Dairy. That's not too weird; this is a rural area and people do have a lot more guns than in Freedom City. But then she hears another one, this time a different sound: a shotgun blast. Then another. GK: You distinctly see a big, overstuffed rural family climbing its way out of an overmatched sports car with out of town plates, smiling and laughing as if nothing's out of the ordinary.

I need DC 25 Notice checks from everybody; Vector, give me a DC 20 one.

The crowd continued to pay warm, eager attention to the celebrity judges and their friends as time went by. There were offers of ice cream and milkshakes whenever their supply seemed to run dry, and the crowd of fairgoers were as interested in sticking close to them as they were to taking in the fair proper. A few cars with out of town license plates were starting to arrive by now, but they seemed to be coming up the access road from the town rather than down from the highway proper. The whole thing seemed to have a lively, carnival atmosphere, clowns forming up beneath the dais and performing for the crowd and the heroes as they sprayed each other with seltzer bottles full of milk, the ice cream truck from Reed's Dairy having moved up behind the stage, slowly circling as music played over and over again. Suddenly, there came from everywhere a terrible mechanical wail, a rising and falling shriek that made the out-of-towners start but didn't do more than make the townsfolk glance at each other. "Ah, sorry folks, I think some joker pulled the tornado alarm," said the mayor, turning to reassure the crowd before turning back to the heroes. "We can't shut it down from here, it has to be shut down from the hardpoint that called it in. Sheriff?" he asked the banjo player on stage significantly. "My boys are on it already," said the sheriff with a reassuring smile, his voice penetrating the noise thanks to the mike he was wearing, "they'll take care of that."

The minute Catherine set foot on the fairgrounds, the dairy crowd was on her. Smiling men in cheese hats pressed cheese trays on her; little boys in cow costumes and little hats smilingly offered her fresh cups of milk, milkshake merchants began pressing their wares on her from their stores. Even the ice cream truck approached, closing in behind her as its music played in a cheerful rhythm. A cow approached her, bell jangling as it sidled along and parked itself on the grassy path behind her. The heroes could see Catherine arriving easily enough; she instantly became the most important person in the fair for everyone anywhere near her. The Mayor, however, smoothly kept his attention on the heroes and company. "Aw, well, we do have plenty of regular American for a young lady's palate," he said with a wink. "Try the cheese, try the milk, enjoy the fair!" As he spoke, one of the 'cowboys' approached carrying a tray loaded with milkshakes. "As for judging, Mz. Fleur, that'll start at the hour of noon sharp. We have to make sure our special blends are all ready for serving, you know how tempermental a cheesemaker can be. Haw-haw-haw!" He threw back his head and guffawed before adding, "Feel free to help yourself while you wait. There's no charge for the Freedom League, of course, or their special guests." The All-American Surprise tasted just fine for a blend of American and bleu cheese, albeit a little mild if you were a bleu cheese devotee.

It was in the low-to-mid sixties in Pleasantville that day, just the sort of good weather the townsfolk were hoping for. As Catherine pulled up from the state road onto the town's main drag, however, she found a quiet, nearly deserted small city, with brightly-colored banners hanging on deserted streets that pointed the way to "CHEESEFEST 2012: WITH SPECIAL GUESTS THE FREEDOM LEAGUE!" The festival itself was mostly in the meadows just outside of town, which were full of brightly-colored banners and stalls. All the typical trappings of a country fair in summertime are on show: clowns with bunches of helium balloons, stalls selling farm produce, a large bouncy castle in the shape of a ridiculous looming Friesian cow, a face-painting stall, and sundry other attractions. Most of the revelers looked to be locals, although apparently the festival usually attracts visitors from the neighboring towns – Ten Commandments, Yellow Banks, and Small – and they seemed to be a fairly typical small-town crowd. Dairy was, unsurprisingly, the overwhelming theme of the festival: between the samples of cheese on plates, men dressed as giant wedges of cheese, stalls selling yogurt from the local dairy plant, kids drinking milk from locally produced cartons, this place really could be called the "DAIRIEST PLACE ON EARTH" as one of the overhanging banners proclaims. Everybody there was either holding, selling, moving, or consuming a dairy product of some kind. There was even an ice-cream truck driving slowly around the perimeter of the fair, playing a slow tink-tink-tink of familiar music as it circled the area, and several cows just wandering around among the humans as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Getting through the crowd hadn't been easy for Gaian Knight and Teagan; everyone had been eager to press free samples of cheese, milk, delicious milkshakes, ice cream, and yogurt on them, enough that they'd attracted quite a crowd as they went. Enough that they'd attracted some attention. A four-piece band stood on a small raised stage nearby as the heroes met, working on their instruments slowly and carefully. Above them, a banner said “The Boys In Bluegrass.” The banjo player wore a sheriff’s uniform."Hey folks," said the town's mayor (or his twin, if the pictures sent in advance had been any guide) a big smile on his face as he stepped up to greet them, a plate of cheese samples in his hand. "Hey there, little lady," he added with a wink at Fleur. "Welcome to Pleasantville! I'm Mayor Stanley and I'm glad you could all be here today. Try a bite of our All-American Surprise?" he offered with a smile as he took a piece and handed it to Ammy with a huge smile.

Fleur, GK, and Vector enjoy all-American dairy.

Pleasantville, PA October 5, 2012 For the sleepy Pennsylvania town of Pleasantville, the annual Cheese Festival is the absolute highlight of the year. This week-long event is the most exciting thing that ever happens around these parts, the backwater equivalent of Mardi Gras, and this year anybody who is anybody will be there. The festival even attracts revelers from the neighboring towns of Ten Commandments, Yellow Banks, and Small. To the folks of Pleasantville this makes it practically an international summit. The Mayor has hired a bouncy castle and some clowns, and Sheriff Byrne has put together a band – the Boys in Bluegrass – to welcome the out-of-towners. This year’s festival looks set to be the best ever: Benjy Reed, the ten year old son of Cedric Reed, the town's dairy manager, won the Freedom League's essay contest: "What the Freedom League Means To Me" and two League members, Fleur de Joie and Gaian Knight, are coming out to meet Benjy and be celebrity cheese judges at the festival this year. Fleur and Gaian Knight are scheduled to arrive at nine AM sharp on the morning the festival starts, October 5. Meanwhile, another hero was being summoned. At around six AM on the morning of the fifth, Vector returned home from a long night of patrolling to find a message had been left for her on her apartment answering machine. Someone had been calling her secret ID, not her heroic identity.

APPROVED

I count 8 feats, not 10 You need to buy Dynamic on the base power of your Vector Array if you want to trade-off with that much flexibility.

All right, various kinds of things: I like the backstory, I like the powerset. I've corrected some errors here and there, but you need to do some personal revision. I put in her Grapple score; you should go ahead and figure out her Knockback, indicating it for both her Toughness with her Force Field up (That's what Sustained Protection is called, change it to say that) and her Enhanced Defense (maybe call that a shield for ease of reference?) As written Defensive Roll is a lousy feat, so we house-ruled it to be +2 Tou rather than +1 per rank. So you've got 2 points to spend, so that she doesn't have +19 Tou (and be rather over caps!) with her Force Field up. I alphabetized her feats and tightened up her Quickness. Telekinesis is better listed as Move Object (its name in Ultimate Power), so I did that and put in its Strength. You should figure out her Leaping distances and put those in for ease of reference. Why is she so vulnerable to fire, especially since she's immune to environmental heat? Is she...a WITCH? Overall good, just needs some book-keeping.

APPROVED

APPROVED

By the time the search was done, STAR Squad had already come and gone, taking a blind-folded and restrained Tommy Shepard from Caradoc's custody and into the well-guarded protective custody of the Freedom City authorities. Harrier was still in his Caradoc disguise when the heroes inside the building finally rejoined each other, knowing that both Miss Americana and Nick would recognize it from previous adventures together. "I suggest we head for the house," he said, his voice calm enough to let Miss A know that he'd calmed down from his earlier desire to head over there and simply beat Billy Shepard until he repented his magical ties to the Terminus. "Not through the portal, as it is Shepard's creature and no doubt well-guarded, but directly through some discreet passageway. This is an urgent threat, and should be met quickly, albeit not hastily."