Avenger Assembled

Nick's words seemed to mollify the locals, for all that the bones themselves were still a mystery. "Can you look into their eyes? See the last thing they saw, maybe?" Mark had sobered noticeably when surrounded by all the skeletons, memories of the past in his mind as he respectfully, delicately picked it up and gazed into its open eye sockets. It reminds me of Erin's homeworld, he thought. Those poor people. "If you need to do a magical ritual or something, I can clear out everyone else," he commented quietly, gently replacing the skull as if having thought better of it. "I know that may not be something you want everyone watching."

Ice crystals erupted over the dragon's body, cascading over its massive form and sealing it beneath a solid block of ice as massive as a tractor-trailer: only its position still standing on the ground kept it from crashing right onto the heroes, especially Edge who it had been straddling a few moments later. As Nina was going in for the kill, the dragon blinking at them all in frustrated fury, Edge slid out from under the dragon and interposed himself neatly between the beast and the heroes. "" And so he began to talk, his voice soothing and warm, his arm going around first a bemused but not displeased Nina, then Archeville, until they stood together in a trio of good fellowship beneath the dragon's iced-over maw. "" he added with a gesture to Archeville, "" And done ill too, but that was neither here nor there. "" He reached up and put his hand on the ice, and from inside his bonds, the dragon began to weep. "" boomed the dragon. "" Mark made a gesture to Viktor and turned, sotto voice, to Nina. "See," he murmured, "sometimes diplomacy is the best option." She hmmed up at him and said, "All right, I'll concede you were right about diplomacy, just as I was right to come along on your expedition. But you owe me a pair of boots," she added with a smile. "I'll make it up to you," Mark promised, and bent down to kiss her before they both turned back to the scene at hand.

Edge uses his formidable Diplomacy skills, backed up by a hero point, to talk the dragon down. Nat-20. Hey, nice! 40

"They will die in agony if you leave them here," said Harrier coldly as he joined the two women. "Swiftly, if Mandragora is merciful. Slowly, if not." Through soulless, faceless armor of spikes and pain he stared at the terrified prisoners, memories of a thousand horrors in the back of his mind. He thought of his parents, finally, and the grief and horror of a thousand years in bondage. "...too many people have been slain by the Terminus in this place already." Despite temptation, very powerful temptation at that, they were all better than this. "Real enemy is..." His head jerked up as, far enough away in the sky that the unaided eye could see only a cascade of black against the red sky, reality tore open and something grey, massive, and six-limbed, one of which was a set of massive wings, broke through. "Incoming!" Louder, he shouted over the technicians screaming in utter despair, "GET CLOSE! NOW!"

The evacuation of the Vault was proceeding apace, people crowding through the whirling dimensional teleporter at every stroke, the room thinning out all the while. Tress and Kurt (at Samson's insistence) had already gone through, leaving Samson and a pressed-into-service Lieutenant Hudson to watch the machine's gauges as they whirled. With two dozen people left, suddenly there came a great BOOM and the entire Vault shook harder than it ever had before, the dimensional teleporter yawing dangerously back and forth as everyone left staggered and tried to keep their feet against the shockwave. A new alarm was sounding, urgent and high-pitched, while green sirens flashed. Samson pulled himself to his feet and said simply, "That's the breach alarm. Something's at the surface door and is trying to dig its way in! I'll see if I can get something on the interior cam..." He walked over to one of the few still-functioning computers along the wall and typed quickly at the keyboard, the screen changing to a grainy, black-and-white security camera that showed a scene like something out of Hell itself: three massive reptiles, each panel-truck sized or more, were inside what must have once been the entrance hall thousands of feet overhead, the bank vault door that once must have been the front entrance next to them neatly melted to pieces. They seemed to be arguing with each other; one small and yellow, another grossly fat and blue-green, a third lean-faced and red-skinned, with the hatchet eyes of a born predator, but there was no sound on the feed: instead they seemed to settle their argument, deferring to the red one, who led the way down, breathing black curling Terminus fire as they went. "Looks like Mandragora didn't have a lot of faith in Green Screen!" called Samson. "They'll be knocking on our door in twenty-five, thirty minutes once they get through the blown tunnels! I suggest we finish up and let you people get home!"

Just barely! 14 Bound and helpless, at least till it gets a chance to break the thing. I'll get a post up for Edge and the dragon shortly.

Dragonfly and Wander efficiently shut down the redhead, who stood there palefaced, her white skin cast ruddy by the red and burning skies overhead, while the others went about their work. From the look of fear on her face, it wasn't hard to guess what she was fearing: the consequences of failing those she'd been working for were worse than death, and from what Harrier had described, even those in the Terminus who opposed Omega had a tendency to treat his slaves as disposable enemies rather than disposable pawns. But that wasn't how the heroes of Freedom operated, a fact Harrier only occasionally had to remind himself of as he herded the last of the techs into line. They'd done their grisly work as best they could, turning the after-effects of the dragons' slaughter into something that would look much like theirs. The techs, made up of the usual assortment of races and appearances that marked humans from the Terminus, didn't bother begging or pleading as he gestured with his pike. They knew they could expect no mercy from an Omegadrone. Harrier might have expected to enjoy their fear; it only made Steve Murdock angry. Damn these people for what they'd done...and damn the Terminus for revealing the darkness in them. The darkness in them all. Finally, so he didn't have to feel like an Omegadrone anymore, Harrier spoke. "Stop there. Form into a circle so that Dragonfly's spatial warp can reach you." He stalked back and forth like a prison warden inspecting new recruits, nodding as the redhead joined the larger group. "You will be transported back to our Earth, where you will be dealt with fairly and justly. As you have dealt with NO ONE!" The shout came from the heart, and it was enough to make the crowd flinch. "Are you...are you from this world?" asked the redhead, looking even more fearful of the Omegadrone than the others. Harrier kept his armor on as he stared the woman down, perhaps because hiding his face made it easier for him to control the emotions he felt today. "I was born on the streets of Nihilor. Son of a murdered world, father to a murdered life. Were I yet the boy from those streets, your fate would be-" Suddenly, just as Dragonfly was putting the finishing touches on her spatial device, the communications console flared to life. Beep beep. Beep beep. "It's...it's Dragonshelm!" called the tech, backing away from Harrier so far she bumped into her peers, who still were giving her hostile looks. She flinched forward and hurried over to rejoin Wander and Dragonfly. "It's Mandragora's ship. He's calling us."

He's still breathing, but shallowly. He looks pale and sick; he needs to get to a doctor sooner rather than later.

A mighty chomp missed the fleet-footed Edge by a mile, who'd been dodging creatures like this since he was fourteen. That wasn't that long ago! I'm only nineteen now! He slid down the slope of scree at his feet to get beneath the slavering jaws, wincing as acidic spittle made the rocks near his head hiss and spew noxious gases. "" taunted the dragon despite its missed attack. "" "SLAVE?" Nina al-Darsah didn't so much as hesitate as she waded into battle with the monster, though it was impossible to tell if she'd been moving to defend Edge before or after the monster had insulted her personally. "" The pond nearby came up and it was all icy daggers that whirled around her in a deadly dance before whipping forward at super-sonic speed to bury themselves deep in the flesh of the dragon's maw, making it hiss and rear back. "

Nina: 18 Edge: 10 Dragon: who has these stats, since he's just a prelude 4 Nina al-Darsah (NPC): (18) Dok A: 16 (5 HP, +1 Complication from his house, +1 from this being an enemy of his apparently?=7 HP) Edge: 10 (8 HP, +1 Complication for his UNISON job, +1 from Nina being there=10 HP) Dragon (NPC): 4 I'll say the dragon gets a surprise attack vs Edge: 10 Given Edge's to-hit, this fails. Nina is up. Move Action: Acrobatic Bluff -5 for Move 18 16 And the Dragon is flat-footed. Standard Action: +5 Power Attack with her Blast. 12 This just barely hits, inflicting a DC 30 Tou save 27 A bruise! Dok is up, as soon as I post in-character.

Beyond the notational errors in how her powers are written and such: The character's background is a pretty heavy concern for all of us, Cubist. This type of character in comics is generally an environmental activist or animal rights fanatic, not a member of an internet fandom subculture. We try and downplay that sort of thing on the site in general, and especially in this particular area. "Animal rights fanatic gets animal powers and goes about unleashing the beast within people" is good. "Furry fangirl gets powers and turns people into anthros" is more of a concern. You see where we're coming from this?

5 uses is normally not a recommended flaw for jury-rigged Devices but given the vast number of Omegadrones in the thread (i.e., machines who might otherwise be a target for such an easily portable device), I'll allow it!

Comrade Psychonaut PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 22 pp STR 10 (+0) DEX 10 (+0) CON 20 (+5) INT 14 (+2) WIS 24/14 (+7/+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Telekinesis) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +0 Grapple: +6/+20 w/Move Object Saves: 13 pp TOU +10 (+5 Con, +5 Protection) FORT +7 (+5 Con, +2) REF +5 (+0 Dex, +5) WILL +13/+8 (+7/+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 10 pp=40 r Concentration 3 (+5/+10) Languages 5 (English, French, German, Romanian, Russian; Base: Romany) Medicine 8 (+10/+15, Skill Mastery) Notice 8 (+10/+15, Skill Mastery) Search 8 (+10, Skill Mastery) Sense Motive 8 (+10/+15, Skill Mastery) Feats: 9 pp Attack Specialization (Telekinesis) 2 Dodge Focus 4 Second Chance (Concentration checks) Skill Mastery (Medicine, Notice, Search, Sense Motive) Ultimate Save (Will) Powers: 72 pp Device 5 (Psychonaut Helmet; Hard to Lose) [20 pp] Feature 25 (Adds Subtle PF and Buys Off Side-Effect Flaw on Psychonaut Array) [25dp] Enhanced Wisdom 10 (to WIS 24/+7) [10 pp] Protection 5 [5 pp] Psychonaut Array 16 (32 pp, Flaws: Side-Effect 2 [stun], PFs: Alternate Powers 7) [15 pp] BE: ESP 4 (Clairvoyance; Auditory + Visual Senses, 1 mile, DC 14 Notice; Extras: Action [Free], Duration [sustained], No Conduit, Simultaneous; PFs: Fast Task 4 [Full Action to search 1-mile-diameter area]) {32/32} AP: Blast 10 (Telekinesis; Extra: Range [Perception]; Flaw: Action [Full]; PFs: Knockback 10 [Total 20], Precise, Split Attack) {32/32} AP: Mental Transform 10 (Memory Alteration; Extras: Alternate Save [Will], Duration [Continuous/Lasting], Mental, Range [Perception]; Flaw: Action [Full]; PFs: Precise, Reversible) {32/32} AP: Mind Control 10 (Domination; Extras: Conscious, Instant Command; Flaw: Action [Full]; PFs: Mental Link, Second Chance [Mind Control checks]) {32/32} AP: Move Object 10 (Telekinesis; Str 50, Hvy Load 12 tons; Extra: Range [Perception]; PFs: Precise, Split Attack)) {32/32} AP: Stun 10 (Pain or Sleep; Extras: Alternate Save [Will], Mental, Range 2 [Perception]; Flaw: Action [Full]; PFs: Sedation, Variable Descriptor [sleep/pain]) {31/32} Super-Senses 12 (Danger Sense [Mental], Mental Awareness 2 [Mental], Postcognition [Flaw: Uncontrolled], Precognition [Flaw: Uncontrolled], Uncanny Dodge [Mental]) [8PP] Telepathy Array 6 (12 pp, PFs: Alternate Power 2) [14 pp] Communication 6 (telepathy; Mental, 20 miles; Extras: Linked [Comprehend, Mind Reading]; PFs: Rapid [x10], Subtle) {8} + Comprehend 1 (Speak Any Language; Extras: Linked [Communication, Mind Reading]) {2} + Mind Reading 1 (Extras: Action 2 [Free], Linked [Communication, Comprehend], Effortless, Mental; Flaws: Duration [instant/Lasting], Limited [surface Thoughts]) {2} {8+2+2=12/12} AP: Mind Reading 10 (Extras: Mental, Penetrating, Flaw: Duration [instant/Lasting]; PF: Subtle) {11/12} AP: Move Object 2 (Heavy Load: 100 lbs) (Extras: Damaging, Range [Perception], PFs: Precise, Subtle) {10/12} costs abilities 22 + combat 24 + saves 13 + skills 10/40 + feats 9 + powers 72 = 150 pts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Design Notes: Comrade Psychonaut was a Romanian gypsy, swept up in a police raid carried out under the authority of Romania's harsh despot Nicolae Ceaușescu. "Volunteered" for a program designed to give test subjects psychic powers, he survived (unlike all the others) and gained fantastic psychic abilities, albeit at the cost of a transparent skullcap. He feigned total amnesia (and had powers enough to convince the low-level psychics working for the government that he was telling the truth) and took the name and costume they gave him: Comrade Psychonaut, among the mightest psychics of the Eastern Bloc! He used his powers to check up on his family; saw his wife remarried and his children being raised well, and decided to leave them safe at home. His destiny lay elsewhere now. His helmet protects him from the effects of his roughly-gained powers: it can't just be ripped off, but OTOH given his low Strength and Reflex save it won't be that hard to Snare or grapple him and work it right off his head. Psychonaut is growing more and more concerned with what he sees in East Berlin; there are significant cracks growing in the People's Revolution, and if his team fractures, it may take the city, and the world with it. OK, Psychonaut is a fairly straightforward psychic (I just yanked his array from our standard psion archetypes): the difference is that his powers are dangerous to him! With every use of his big array when he's not wearing his helmet, his overwhelmed surgically and drug-altered brain risks mini-strokes, neuro-electrical cascades, and other serious hazards. (He can still use his Telepathy without it, so he's not totally helpless without the Helmet) With his OK Fort save, he can take several hits from his Side-Effect, but eventually they _will_ chip away at him and he will be in serious trouble! The Side-Effect points do allow for strengthening him in other areas; like adding a super-high Wis that gives him an edge over more 'mundane' psychics. Romania needs a native superhero just like any other country, and his story makes a good reminder of the horrors of the old regime. (Nicolae Ceaușescu consciously modeled himself on the Kims of North Korea, for one thing, though unfortunately they haven't met the same fate...) Outside of his Cold War context, he works just fine as a victim of the DNAscendant process given great power albeit at a significant physical cost, given a high-tech device by the Freedom League so he can live his normal life. But he can't just let the psychic cries of the city go unanswered! Or maybe it's worse; maybe he's a villain who pushed his quest for mental powers too far, at the cost of his very sanity!

Initiative time! (And yes, Dok can be fairly sure he never actually did that)

The dragon roared in fury at that, raising his head to bellow fire at the sky! "" "Can we just get to the-" "No! He has to explain himself first, otherwise there's no point," came a quick exchange between Nina and Edge at the fringes of Dok's vision. Princess and hero were obviously ready to strike, but that the dragon had targeted none of them even in its fury seemed like a sign of something. If a dragon doesn't try to eat you first off, he's probably not a bad guy...right? " "" roared the dragon in reply, claws digging into the rockface as it paced back and forth. "" With a snarl, the dragon spread his wings and seemed keen to take flight. "" he snarled at Edge just before leaping from the cliffface at him. ""

Hm, must be a funny link: it's your fairly typical-looking red dragon. And no, it is a very real creature. ...but (assuming Dok lifts himself up and peers in with his sensor down the hole where Fafnir here emerged, the thick walls of which provide partial Radio concealment), he will find lingering traces of a recent teleport. Which is something Dok has the skill Mastery to recognize even without a roll.

Edge skill masters 15.

The great reptile came boiling out of the hole not long afterwards, a mighty dragon of ancient lore. A sexapod, with four limbs and giant wings that beat the air behind it, the red-hued reptile looked like something from a fable as it came crawling down the broken wall towards the heroes, belching smoke and flame from its nostrils. Nina didn't look like she needed to be told twice; she had a twisted whip of water curled up in her hands before the dragon boomed like something from a 1930s German serial. " "" called Edge in reply in the same language, his German flawless as he moved to back up Nina. " "" boomed the great beast. "

Stupid creatures from space making zombies out of these poor soldiers and scaring the hell out of everyone, thought Mark, his teeth grinding with frustration as they slogged through the monsters one by one. It wasn't that he begrudged his team the fight, or saw anything wrong with them, but there was something so...terrible about this. Those space monsters were manipulating those bodies and practically forcing Mark and his friends to tear them apart one by one, making it all so much the worse. "Time to change our luck!" Edge called out, gesturing in the air as reality (already hard-pressed with all these bizarre colors flyin around) suddenly warped in on itself in the air overhead and with a sickening crack, the last two glowing-eyed creatures crashed into each other with the force of an oncoming jet! The lights faded, and they fell, Mark nodding for just a moment in hard satisfaction at a job well done. "Those poor men..."

Sparrowhawk PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 18 pp STR 10 (+0) DEX 10 (+0) CON 14 (+2) INT 14 (+2) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 16 (+3) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Norse Magic) DEF: +10 (+6 w/out staff, +3 flat-footed) Init: +0 Grapple: +6/+20 Saves: 20 pp TOU +10 (+2 Con, +8 Protection) FORT +8 (+2 Con, +6) REF +8 (+0 Dex, +8) WILL +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 72 r=18 pp Bluff 12 (+15, Skill Mastery) Diplomacy 12 (+15, Skill Mastery) Handle Animal 7 (+10, Skill Mastery) Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 13 (+15, Skill Mastery) Knowledge (Life Sciences) 3 (+5) Languages 3 (English, Old Norse, Russian; Base: German) Medicine 3 (+5) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Survival 3 (+5) Feats: 8 pp Animal Empathy Fearless Ritualist Skill Mastery (Bluff, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Knowledge [arcane lore]) Taunt Ultimate Save (Will) Uncanny Dodge (mental) Powers: 62 pp Comprehend 2 (speak to and understand animals) [4 pp] Device 1 (Magic Staff) (Easy to Lose: PF: Restricted [Ritualist]) [4 pp] Enhanced Feat 1 (Luck) [1dp] Shield 4 [4dp] Flight 1 (10 MPH) [2 pp] Norse Array 15 (30 pp, PFs: Accurate 2, Alternate Powers 6, Indirect 2) [40 pp] BE: Illusion 10 (all senses) (Flaw: Phantasm) 'Loki's tricks' AP: Healing 10 (Extra: Ranged) 'Frigg's blessing' AP: Blast 10 (Extra: Range [Perception]) 'Thor's lightning' AP: Damage 10 (Extra: Area [burst]) 'Sunna's light' AP: Create Object 10 (Extra: Moveable) 'Heimdall's shield' AP: Move Object 10 (Extra: Range [Perception]) 'Njord's winds' AP: Snare 10 (Extra: Regenerating) 'Hel's grasp' AP: Teleport 6 (600 ft/20 miles) (Extras: Accurate, Portal) 'Bifrost gateway' Protection 8 [8 pp] Super-Senses 3 (Detect Magic 3 [visual]) [3 pp] costs abilities 18 + combat 24 + saves 20 + skills 72/18 + feats 8 + powers 62 = 150 pts ----------------------------------------------------------------- Design Notes: Sparrowhawk is like the little sister to everyone on the People's Revolution. Idunn Werner is young, beautiful, sweet and a little naive, a perfect Soviet propaganda tool. She spends most of her time visiting children in hospitals and meeting dignitaries, where her charming country ways (she's a native of a rural part of East Germany) and sunny personality make her friends wherever she goes. She's a healer and a trickster, using her psionic powers to make everyone's lives better and to fool her opponents in combat. The Red Directorate and some of her fellows on the People's Revolution know her secret: she's not psionic at all, but magic; the official party line is that magic doesn't exist, but unofficially the Soviets maintain a cadre of mystics of whom Sparrowhawk is one of the most well-loved and publically known, albeit one of the weakest. Well, that's what she lets everyone believe, anyway. Idunn was sweet and naive, once, before the Stasi came to her village and dragged her neo-pagan father away. They'd heard of the girl who could talk to animals and heal the sick, and they wanted her for the People's Revolution. A bargain was struck: she would do what they wanted, and in return her father would be allowed to live. (Her mother, a mysterious woman who her father had always sworn was a Ljósálfar, a light elf of ancient lore, had long since disappeared). So Idunn has played the part of the sweet ingenue, earning the love and trust of the people and of her allies. But one day soon, she will find where the Stasi is keeping her father, and then she will rescue him, and then they will...well, she hasn't figured out what she'll do when they have all of Eastern Europe against them. But when she does, there will be justice. Idunn here works fine as a Norse-themed mystic, calling on the usual broad range of Norse spells to get by with a theme of calling on the powers of Norse gods. She works OK as a Verbena-style pagan in general if you want to go that route, or with really any other kind of mystic if you switch the descriptors around. Her staff lets her deflect even the most powerful attacks and makes her magic stronger: with the Enhanced Luck built in, she can freely power-stunt or hastily cast a ritual without suffering any fatigue. She could easily justify stunting Weather Control to fit her natural theme, or an animal or plant summoning power. She's a very formidable young woman.

Investigate+Life Sciences reveals that these are ancient bones, several hundred years old, at least. A mixture of male and female, all adults, and all seem to be of European origin. What killed them, well, it's hard to tell, but from all the necromantic magic bound up in them it must have been powerful.

Doc detects: From inside the crack/cavern, a great source of heat associated with a large object coming at them. Coming at them slowly, but with certain intent! With analytical on his radio, he gets the following result. Like so (Needless to say, as far as he is sure there was no dragon beneath this castle!)

In the sky overhead, Citizen and Rogue had their final confrontation thousands of feet above the city. There were no words now, just deadly intent as the two badly-wounded paragons slugged away at each other with punches that resounded like explosions. Rogue fought hard; head-butting Citizen hard enough to leave his head ringing, slamming her fist against his jaw hard enough nearly to knock him out of the sky, but Citizen would not be denied: he threw two big swings, both of which found their mark. "I have had ENOUGH!" They punched each other at once, and though Citizen fell backwards, Rogue fell out of the sky, unconscious as she plummeted towards the still, flat ocean thousands of feet beneath, with only the rapidly oncoming Ghost Girl to stop her from a high-speed collision with the ground below! Citizen took a moment to gather himself before flying down after his fallen foe, but it was clear he just wasn't going to be fast enough. Down below, Xevon seemed to sense his boss's defeat. His glowing eyes widening in sudden fear, the knife-monster put up his hands in the middle of the fight and knelt before Wraith and Papercut, looking for all the world like the thug caught out by the authorities that he was. "IIII surreeeeennnddeeeeerrr!" he called out, looking battered from the bombardment he's gotten from the two heroes. "Jjjjuuussstttt fiiiixxxx ssimmm tiiimmeeee!" he shouted as the glowing firewall overhead faded, leaving Cobalt Templar free to join them.

The children gave Victory looks that were a mixture of wide-eyed admiration and not a little suspicion; they were impressed by Victory, like most people were, but they had their own reasons to be uncomfortable around cyborgs. Still, they all shook hands without any signs of fear, for all that some of them (especially Pluto, the oldest boy) looked a little mutinous. Murdock introduced Roger as well, after the kids, to Victory. "I've told them about how you are a great and respected hero here," he told Victory, "but why don't you tell them more about yourself?" Harrier and Victory hadn't seen much of each other recently, but Harrier seemed to have improved. The dour ex-drone was at least more relaxed than how he typically looked, and his voice held more confidence. The kids obviously all trusted him.

Salazar's eyes widened at the translated question, and he fired back a rapid-fire response that made the UNISON translator wince before giving back the speech to Nick and Edge. "He...Sao Tome is a civilized nation that does not practice sorcery. Not every African nation has shamans and witch doctors ready to leap out of the jungle and cast spells on Western tourists. Sir." Before the rupture could worsen, Mark stepped in smoothly. "Dr. Salazar, Nick and I are both from the United States, and Nick is one of the most powerful practioners of magic there. Neither of us are judging Sao Tome; we're here to try and figure out what happened to these people. And if someone using magic did it, we need to figure out if it was someone local or an outsider." Salazar looked a little mollified by Mark's sincerity, and finally replied, "Well, there are some traditions imported from Africa...there were no native people here when the Portuguese arrived, all the Africans you see were brought here as slaves or laborers. I have heard there are some like that in the cities." He crossed his arms and went on, "And, well, the first Portuguese settlers were of an unusual sort. I have heard that the old Inquisition would bring prisoners here and leave them in remote places, to live or die as fate provided. Prisoners it was no longer safe to keep in Europe."