Avenger Assembled

As he heard Wave-Eye coming up the stairs, Harrier turned and roared down the corridor, only his expert skill keeping the big Omegadrone from slamming into the nearest bulkhead. He bore down on Wave-Eye, a living incarnation of horror and suffering as the spike-bodied cyborg scooped up the pike from the undersea creature's hand as he roared back towards his enemy, jet scorching the air behind him into black and red fire. The pike erupted into life in his hands, Terminus steel building on Terminus steel until the small rod Wave-Eye had been carrying transformed itself into the mighty instrument of an Omegadrone. Harrier was silent as a drone as he brought the shrieking, buzzing blade down across the zombiedrone's face, digging deep as it cut through steel and flesh to the being within. "Wave-Eye," he called down the corridor, gesturing to the room at his side and the pried-open door. "The pumps! Destroy them!"

Tulink had a few ideas for where Inquisitor could stand, but the cybernetic intelligence was all smooth servility as he said, "If you and your counterpart will discharge the energy from your rings at the portal as the machine engages, that should provide the final stability needed to maintain the device's power." He folded his hands neatly before him and cast his eyes down, the perfect picture of a loyal servant. "We have no guarantee that this device will work for you a second time once you have successfully made the transition," added Sharl as he aped his counterpart's tone, if not quite that look of craven...not even surrender, of simply being _nothing_. "But sufficient empowerment from both sides of the portal should allow you to make this one journey. It is unlikely you would be well-received by the authorities of this dimension if you chose to stay."

"Oh, it's got, uh, whaddya call it in English?" Bigfoot scratched the top of his head and growled gutterally for a moment. "That's what we called it back on Cholax, man, before the Star-Khan's army showed up and really harshed on everything, man. Shot people just for some stupid element with too many electrons." He plopped down onto his big chair, looking briefly disconsolate. "That's how I got to Earth in the first place, gettin' sold off by my idiot cousin just so he could buy more guns. Got no pride at all." He slowly, slowly began to lean over as he talked, eventually winding up on his side on the giant couch. "Man, I ate too much. Hey, that's what it was! Atoms with too many electrons, so when you hit them with stuff they explode! Anyway, that's what powers the wrinkle drive these days. You can go anywhere you want without leaving Earth. I'm gonna take a rest now." He closed his bloodshot eyes. Citizen was dead silent for a moment, staring at the bizarre figure and slowly collecting himself. "Okay...okay, so it's got some kind of spatial drive?" he hazarded to Wraith, the only other person there even vaguely familiar with interstellar technology. "Powered by heavy elements, but his supply has run low. That makes sense after forty years on Earth. I guess he's probably planning to get a ride back to Lor space on one of the patrol ships that stops with the Freedom League?" He hmmed. "Let's check the reactor room and the space-tech stuff out," he suggested tentatively to the others. "We should at least see what he's got."

"Not very much!" Sharl confessed, headbanging to the music. "It's very crowded where I'm from! We don't really have space for things like this! Music's about the same, though!" He certainly liked what they were doing, though, the kinetic girl he was dancing with both nice to look at and nice to talk to. "You look like you get to dance a lot!" He wasn't paying much attention to the annoying human celebrity behind the music, all his eyes were focused on the pretty girl. "You look good! At dancing, I mean!" Smooth, Sharl, smooth. "And other ways too!"

Then he will do so! (Just making sure!) Move: Flight/Draw Melee attack (All-Out Attacking, dropping his defense by -5) 29 With the autofire bonus from surpassing by 9, that's a DC 27+4=31 Tou save, I believe?

It depends on the PCs, B_R! I could see a group deciding to stick it out despite the mansion (probably) blowing up and having been driven to hateful violence against each other for a while, I could see a group happy to see the back of each other after such an experience. Either way no permanent harm done, and they'll at least catch the bad guy. Ooh, maybe throw in a proper English household staff who are actually .

Preliminary planning for this one. No chuckleheads. An unlikely team of heroes is assembled by a mysterious backer in order to defend the world from crime, in a shiny new suburban mansion just right for a potential new superhero team. Looking for 3-5 potential PCs with a preference for characters who have reasons to have conflict with each other, preferably ones with an established, active superhero identity but who also would be financially needy in a way a well-connected backer could discover. Preference for people with flashy powers like powerhouses and energy controllers, and people not particularly technologically savvy, though secret tech geniuses may be able to slip in. No juvenile PCs. Note that there is a risk of PvP in this thread because Preliminary Stats for the Mystery Mansion are: Size: Huge; Toughness: 20; Features: Communications, Computer, Concealed, Defense System, Fire Prevention System, Garage, Holding Cells, Isolated, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Power System, Security System 2 (DC 25). Cost: 3 + 3 + 14 = 20/20 with the additions of

"Er, yeah, let's dance," said Sharl with a smile, his electronic heart starting to pound. New as he was to dancing, Sharl was good at imitating humans, and it was something that seemed to come naturally as the music pounded down. His hand touched hers briefly as they reached the dance floor with that same electric spark, before they found a clear place on the dance floor. "I've gotta admit!" he called over the music as the lights shone down on him, "this beat rocks!" Sharl was into the music and into the pretty girl; so into her, in fact, that at one point, still dancing, he proceeded to step half into and half-out of an oblivious guy trying to make time with another girl nearby: luckily no one seemed to have noticed his slip, so he threw himself back into the rhythms!

Harrier is going to try something new. My plan is for him to fly towards Wave-Eye, grab his pike, then fly back to melee range and attack. Is that something he can do with Move-By Action + Quick Draw?

"I'd say my life's in your capable hands, Gabriel," replied Steelgrave. "My armor's in storage in the back of the ship and there's no way I can reach it from here, and the four of you, is it, are some of the mightiest heroes on your Earth? You want to hold me responsible, go right ahead. I know what I did, and what I didn't do. Anyway, I'd rather be in your prison then getting my skin boiled off in Mandragora's slave pits or being thrown into a doomforge by my own better half, and frankly I don't think you guys are the type to send me back there." He flexed his hands a little in his bonds. "So what's it gonna be? Am I going to die because I have another man's personality? The personality of a man who's trying to kill me? Or are we going to be realistic about this?"

She squeezed his hands so tight a lesser man would have flinched, took a deep breath, then sighed. "So you are ready for me to...I was hoping you would come with me," she added. "You have so few years left, Corbin, and I don't want to miss any of them. Eighty years can slip by so fast, even for a human being." She touched his face, then released his hands, going over to gather up the plates of cold cuts she'd set out earlier. "We should at least be pair-bonded according to your religious teachings to seal the occasion before I leave.' Come, let's talk to our friends some more." She smiled sunnily and flew back into the dining room. "I have prepared food for our meal! Corbin helped." She set the plate of unfamiliar meats and cheeses on the table, proudly indicating each. "There is elk, crocodile, capybara, buffalo meats, and blaak, appenzeller, maron, and charouse cheese. There are so many different things to eat and I wanted to make sure you had many of them." She beamed at Corbin as he entered, taking a seat opposite the others. "Corbin felt you would not like the balut, and I think that is probably right."

Frost Giant PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 30 pp STR 30 [22] (+10/+6) DEX 12 (+1) CON 20 [16] (+5/+3) INT 10 (+0) WIS 20 (+5) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 [+7 melee, +11 Jotunheim Array/Unarmed]) [+5 w/Growth, +6 melee, +10 Jotunheim Array/Unarmed] DEF: +11 [+3 flat-footed]) [+10 w/Growth, +2 flat-footed) Init: +1 Grapple: +13 [+18], +17 [+22] Saves : 10 pp TOU +10/+8 (+3 Con, +2 Growth, +5 Force Field) FORT +8 (+3 Con, +2 Growth, +3) REF +5 (+1 Dex, +4) WILL +8 (+5 Wis, +3) Skills: 80 r=20 pp Concentration 5 (+10) Climb 9 (+15, Skill Mastery) Handle Animal 10 (+10) Intimidate 13 (+14/+15, Skill Mastery) Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 10 (+10) Language 3 (Braille, English, Norwegian; Base: Old Norse) Notice 10 (+15, Skill Mastery) Sense Motive 10 (+15, Skill Mastery) Survival 5 (+10) Feats: 15 pp Animal Empathy, Attack Focus: Melee 1, Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2, Dodge Focus 5, Power Attack, Skill Mastery (Climb, Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive) Startle Takedown Attack, Track, Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 55 pp Flight 1 (10 MPH) (Flaw: Platform, PF: Move-By Action) [2 pp] Force Field 5 [5 pp] Growth 4 (Extra: Duration (Continuous) [+1], PF: Innate) [Large size, +8 Str, +4 Con, -1 Combat, +4 Grapple, +2 Intimidate, -4 Stealth, 10 ft. reach] [17 pp] Immunity 4 (aging, environmental cold, heat, own powers) [4 pp] Jotunheim Array 10 (20 pp, PFs: Accurate 2, Alternate Powers 4) [26 pp] BE: Impervious TOU 10 {10} + Super-Strength 5 [6 tons/48 tons]) {10} {10+10=20/20} AP: Blast 10 {20/20} AP: Create Object 6 (Extras: Impervious, Independent [+0], PFs: Precise, Selective) {20/20} AP: Snare 10 {20/20} AP: Strike 10 (Extra: Alternate Save [Fortitude]) {20/20} Super-Senses 1 (Infravision) [1 pp] Drawbacks: -4 pp Disability (can only see in infravision, functionally illiterate in normal human society) (-2PP) Vulnerability (heat [common], +1 DC [minor]) (-2PP) costs abilities 30 + combat 24 + saves 10 + skills 20/80 + feats 15 + powers 55 - drawbacks 4 = 150 pts ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Design Notes: Here's my build for a Frost Giant hero, based on the Thor movie in which they are the first-act antagonists. He's a big, tough cold-controlling powerhouse, equally able to hurl ice shards, freeze people with a touch, or just pummel them with giant icy fists! (His force field represents the ability to cover himself in icy, protective armor as a Sustained effect.) I've given him the ability to shrink himself down as necessary to pass for a human being; just treat his Jotunheim Array and Force Field as being one rank lower (Complication-wise) to keep him from violating his PL caps if he's forced to fight at normal size. (Another way to do that would be to add some Enhanced Jotunheim powers and Enhanced Force Field to represent being especially tough and cold at Large size, I just found the book-keeping easier to handle this way) One special note are his drawbacks: I took a page from Dok's Predator build and built this guy without the ability to see visible light, something less of an issue in cold climates like Jotunheim (where presumably seeing heat patterns helps you track prey), but something that'll be an issue in human society since he's basically illiterate! This also has the advantage of making him look stupid and brutish to ignorant people; i.e., exactly the typical stereotype of Frost Giants! I've built this guy with the assumption that he was a hunter and tracker back home, perhaps he's a hero because he didn't fit in well with his fellows and wanted to go exploring elsewhere! How is a Frost Giant a hero? Well, the Norse pantheon doesn't come across that well in the Freedom City universe, so it'd be easy enough to make a heroic scion of Ymir long at war with the dastardly Asgardians, having come to Earth to secure aid against the dastardly Aesir in the name of brave Jotunheim! A somewhat more thoughtful approach, however, would be to paint the war between Asgard and Jotunheim as just that, a war, with heroes and villains on both sides: perhaps this guy tired of the endless cycle of war and Ragnorak, and decided to take a third option - to adventure on Earth and seek his own destiny!

Obviously used to working in teams, Citizen dodged with admirable alacrity as the robots fell apart in eruptions of shattered parts. He looked around wildly at the still-frantically thrashing technology in the room, particularly at the somnolent figures of Miss Americana and Sergeant Danson. Oh man, if I tell them that the real threat is the unconscious paraplegic police officer...crap! He really hoped Gina was getting the job done inside the system! Meanwhile, from the other side, the small group of fliers that had been harassing Glow opened fire on her, jets of reddish flame flashing past close enough to scorch her! Citizen flew over there and helped block a shot, the heated blast scorching past his emitter, that might have come even closer, but the fight wasn't over yet! Danson, for her part, wasn't looking so good: the seemingly-unconscious officer had flinched like someone kicked in their sleep when the various robots had exploded, and was now visibly bleeding from the nose. But her fingers were still twitching, ever-so-slightly, in time with the movements of the wriggling robot parts! Six new humanoid figures were taking shape, stalking towards the heroes with murderous intent in their eyeless mechanical faces as they extended long, searing fingers towards them. "Burn you! Burn you! Burn it out of my head!" they hissed. Inside the mainframe, as she freed the GENIE, Gina could hear that voice too, coming from inside the system.

The thought echoed through the link between the Tulinks, though only the one from Erde was directing it at the entire company. thought Citizen, "I believe Leutenant Wilder's sonic device will be able to power the unit adequately," said the Erde intelligence evenly, as if no suspicion was being shot his way by his fellow teammates. "The only difficult matter is fine-tuning the power source so that no one else is killed in the transitional process, and his unit is precise enough to perform the proper mechanical adjustments," he said, working with copper wires and some spare tubes alongside his counterpart to build an antenna. "And Cobalt Templar's ring should provide enough stability for the porthole to open safely," added Sharl as if he and his other had been working together forever. As if they'd been programmed that way. "This dimension has a significant number of dimensional guardians. It would be unwise for you to pass this way again," he added, looking up from his work with his counterpart and giving the Erde group a significant look.

Citizen joined Miss Americana in her programming, the two of them more than familiar with the vicissitudes of working together. Sharl lacked Gina's brilliance and raw power, but he was a perfectly competent programmer in his own right, especially with his own ability to interface with machines. "I hate the Foundry," he murmured quietly, but with real emphasis. "Should we alert Dr. Atom?" he asked her a little more loudly. He'd only spoken to the paternal old man a few times, but Alexander Atom was something of a progenitor for him, for all that the elderly scientist had uploaded himself long after the Curator had come and gone from Tronik. "If more attacks are coming, he want to lock his systems down for a while..."

"I, uh, have an announcement to make about work as well," said Quo-Dis suddenly, the forthright Ultiteen looking almost chagrined for a moment as she hovered in the air. "The Champions, one of the super-teams organized through the state of California, have...made me an offer of membership. They have been soliciting younger members in recent years and they felt I was appropriate for their needs." Tall, blonde, and gorgeous, with an athlete's body, impressive strength and low-level telepathy, it wasn't hard to guess why Quo-Dis had been a natural potential recruit for the San Francisco-based team. "I am sorry, Corbin Hughes," she added as they floated into the dining room, "I should have told you earlier, but the time was not right. I...I will go gather the food," she added, turning to fly into the kitchen.

That sounded a little ominous, but Edge wouldn't have fought along Midnight and Wander so long if talking threateningly about bad guys gave him ethical qualms. He was too busy summoning quick-drying emergency concrete to pin down the bad guys by the legs, taking advantage of something he usually made for civilian purposes for the United Nations. "Just don't break anything in here, you guys. Lousy thugs, putting their hands on this stuff. They've got to get better security in here." He paused for a moment, took a breath, then seemed to center himself as he looked down at the unconscious Wildcard. "Geez, I was hoping that was the imposter guy from Boston again. Wildcard must be using again."

Underwater, Citizen slid along as he and Cobalt Templar continued their search for the lost Bauble. he thought, and it wasn't about their search. Citizen really hated magic.

"That's Gloria Greenwich, the debutante," said Sharl, taking a seat opposite Eliza. Up close the tall, skinny boy was pale and dark-haired now that he was under lights that didn't distort the color of his skin. Absently, he toyed with what looked like a black box attached to his jacket at the shoulder for a moment. "I don't understand why someone who is styling herself a new kind of celebrity would want to make her name by playing such old-fashioned music," he added frankly. "I mean those vinyl records have been obsolete for twenty, thirty years? When I was at Horizon," he confided, "they had all new systems, practically super-tech. It was pretty cool."

Supercape, All the blasts missing Harrier into the pump room, any chance those are damaging the equipment enough to shut it down? Or is that something that might require spending an HP maybe?

"Freedom," said 'Steelgrave' with a shrug, at least as much of one as he could manage inside his bonds. "I've, heh-heh, made some enemies among my fellow Annihilists over the years. They don't like being outsmarted, what can I tell you? And I'm the smartest man in Nihilor," he said with conviction, returning after a moment to that relaxed persona that seemed to come so naturally to him. "Which isn't hard, I'll grant you. If they can't have the real Steelgrave to destroy, they'll happily take their frustrations out on a clone. I figured you guys, being heroes and all," he added, "might be a little more willing to see reason. Or don't you think you can use a version of Shadivan Steelgrave who knows everything he knows?" "For the love of..." For a moment, Bowman didn't lower his notched arrow, his muscular arms not even wavering as he steadily held a shot. "This is outside my pay grade," he finally said. "Keep him covered, I'm going to try and get in touch with the League again. This is bigger than some corn colossus. We could maybe use a barricade up so nobody stumbles across this, and some way of moving all this back into the city? I know a very deep hole where we can throw this for the duration."

Done!

Round 2: The mini-blasters blast Glow! 24 22 9 11 For what it's worth, Citizen, ever the paragon, will interpose for the first one (which misses him)...but that's still a DC 23 Tou save for Glow. Or should I say Toast?!?

Am I good to go, SC? If so, Harrier will attempt a grapple. All-Out Attack: 20 Well, that's a miss and it leaves him with a to-hit of 17. I'd like him to at least get his arms around the drone, so! HP reroll: 30 More convincing! 40 on the Grapple check

The sizzling black fire poured across Harrier's armored body, but he shrugged it off with a momentary hiss of pain. The lash of the Terminus, even this sort of finely-tuned beam that sucked at the very essence of his soul, was something he had felt before. He turned his impenetrable gaze upon the other drone, the urgency of the moment letting him fight past the demons of what had once been. There are far more important things than your old ghosts. And far greater terrors than your doom. "Come. Down here, where you can hurt no one else!" And with that, armored arms outstretched, Harrier went for the zombiedrone! His fists skidded off the armored body, but the bulky drone moved fast: he kicked off the wall as his jetpack roared, flames searing the air as he swooped back through the open door. Like this, eh? He raised his hand and made an unmistakeable beckoning gesture towards the zombiedrone. "Come at me!" he called challengingly. It wouldn't have worked on a drone, not with no one else's morale around to break, but perhaps the programming in this bizarrely resurrected unit was different. Modified by an army of humans, designed for a human battlefield...it could work!