Raveled

Jessica had followed the group quietly, taking in all the exotic sights. During the briefing she was literally on the edge of her seat, almost quivering with excitement. She was on a spaceship, talking to aliens, about to visit ruins very possibly older than human civilization! It was a personal fantasy come true. The fact that was about to head into deadly danger did little to hamper her spirits -- she did that every day anyway! She'd stayed quiet through the briefing, absorbing information and filing it away, but she did sit up straighter when the captain addressed her directly. "No real questions," she said, "unless you know what O/S the Preservers used" She flashed the group a smiled to show that it was just a joke, but after a moment the expression went glassy as her mind raced a million kilometers ahead. "Actually," she added, "has there been any sense that the defenses are organized or reactive at all? And have other Preserver sites been protected by AIs?"

Liz's response was immediate and demure. Her eyes stayed on her coffee cup, but her cheeks darkened even further as a blush spread across them. "No no no," she said. "I very rarely play for a group, and when I do sing it is never in English." Which was technically correct; the few times she did sing, the young woman used a tongue not of this planet. It was a risk, but worth it. Or at least she always thought so when she was mad or sad enough to sing. "I could never do what you do," Liz said, looking up at Agnes. "Performing in front of thousands. Recording music and sending it out for the whole world to hear."

Glowstar looked down at the vent opening and scratched his head. "I'm not sure," he admitted. The teen hero did try dropping to his belly and worming his way into the vent, but he only got one arm and his head in before he got stuck. Pulling himself free, he stood and dusted himself off. "Well," he said, "whoever designed this place certainly didn't have Bruce Willis in mind." He shook his head and glanced around the battle-scarred corridor. "I don't think we're going to be folliowing the little guys. We should check to see where the civvies got to, though. Make sure no one was hurt."

Starlight's Ini. (1d20+7=10)

+1.

I could get behind the Masterwork Library, Labs, and Workshop, maybe a Universal Translator power (actually worked up a Device like that in Ironclad's News thread -- direct contribution from her, maybe?) and even a Think Tank from Agents of Freedom, but I really don't think we need much else.

Liz's eyes tracked the black van as it drove around the campus and disappeared behind one of the buildings. She frowned, changing her path to head towards the loading docks. Peeking around the corner, she noticed a man in a silver-gray jumpsuit, cape, and visor; obviously another hero investigating the scene. She ducked back behind the corner again and put her books on the ground. This would probably mean that she'd miss her class, but it was far more important to find out who was kidnapping students. And it also promised to be more fun. Standing tall and clad in golden armor, the heroine Starlight strode around the corner and easily hopped up onto the loading deck. "Hail, hero," she called out, raising her hand in greeting. At the same time she called forth her power, creating a sphere of brilliant illumination just inside the darkened entryway.

GM Asad's roar smashed into the entryway, blowing Bonnie off her feet and knocked Thunder even further back, smashing his head through the lintel of the entrance. Things were certainly going in the heroes' favor, but the villains apparently weren't out of surprised. A new figure drifted down through the ceiling, hovering over the crowd. It was a man dressed in the uniform of a Confederate general, gold brocade shining. It was a very nearly perfect reconstruction, except for the slight translucence and the fact that his head was a bare, meatless, grinning skull. The empty eye sockets drifted over the fight until they came to rest on Asad. The ghostly figure stretched out its hands and locked gazes with the wealthy hero. He could feel the fell thing's power trying to force its way into his head, trying to subvert his will and drive him to his knees.

Asad needs to make a DC 20 Reflex save; if he fails that, a DC 20 Will Save vs. a Fear effect. After that, Sage is up. Supercape, I still need a DC 27 Toughness save from Lord Steam. EDIT: Done! Initiative 31 - Sage -- Stealth'd -- HPx6 28 - Victory -- Uninjured -- HPx2 26 - Hecate -- Bound -- GM 25 - Wellspring -- Uninjured -- HPx5 22 - Bonnie Blue -- Bruisex1 + Daze (Asad) -- GM 21 - Lord Steam -- Bruisedx1 + Dazed (Soldier) + Staggered -- HPx3 19 - Young Britannia -- Uninjured -- HPx2 18 - Zippy -- Bruisex1 + Daze (Victory) -- GM 17 - Ironclad -- Uninjured -- HPx5 16 - Rolling Thunder -- Bruisex2 + Daze (Asad) -- GM 15 - Last Loyal Soldier -- Uninjured -- GM 8 - Asad -- Uninjured -- HPx1 6 - Ghost of the Confederacy -- Uninjured -- GM Apparently I didn't have Zippy up in the Initiative count. Oh well, all he would've done is get to his feet, anyway.

I think Geckoman has a copyright infringement case on his hands.

Jessica Parker proceeded smoothly through the Hall's security systems. Her reputation as a public superheroine and her work at the Lab meant that there was little doubt as to her identity, and the teleport was a scheduled event. She met her colleague Supercape just outside, and they chatted while the rest of the heroes assembled. There was a blaze of light, a moment of disorientation as their senses adjusted to such a rapid change, and they were standing on a spaceship. On an alien spaceship! She could feel the pulse and buzz of data in alien dialects all around her, and outside the window there were actual, hard, unblinking stars. She almost missed the briefing the alien captain gave them. "Excuse me," she said, stepping forward. "Why do you need our help? This is a warship, yes? You must have marines, or the local equivalent."

Liz Moya was not a happy person. She was failing her trigonometry course, mostly because she kept getting called away during tests to deal with various inhuman or superhuman threats, but her professor was being singularly unhelpful in letting her reschedule. Frankly she didn't know why she'd ever need to be able to calculate sines or cosines on the fly; the American school system was far too scattered for her liking, but at Langston Albright's insistence she had scheduled a meeting with the professor, late at night. Of course, he hadn't diegned to show, and she had essentially wasted an hour or better, all told. She clomped down the steps of the math building, fuming internally. She was considering changing into Starlight and sweeping through the Waterfront distract, to try and vent her frustration on some hapless criminals, but the sudden crash and brunch of the bus' glass and metal body caught her attention instead. Her lips curved into a thin smile; here was someone that was practically begging for a superhero to come after them. Of course, she couldn't risk transforming out in the open. The heroine ducked back into the building and ran to the bathroom; there she exercised her power and in a heartbeat, transformed into the tall, slender, alabaster heroine Starlight.

Starlight's Ini. (1d20+7=25)

Starlight has Skill Mastery on Notice, so that's 22.

Inside the elevator, Jessica took out her own pass card and swiped it, then punched the button for floor 22. In fact the card wasn't just an access device, it was a little marvel of engineering in itself, a flat sensor that collected several different kinds of biometric data when used. It was just one of the little miracles that surrounded life at the Lab. "Pretty much like working anywhere," Jessica said in response to Jasmine's question. "It's interesting to have the labs and production in the same building. It really cuts down on turn-around!" If the response was surprising, Jasmine quickly recalled that the woman she was talking to had been a millionaire from the moment she was born; she had literally grown up with the resources of a Fortune 500 company at her fingertips. If the Lab represented anything, it was the chance to collaborate with similarly genius-level intellects. Presently, the elevator dinged and the doors opened onto a gently curving hallway, glass on one side and a wall painted in mood-calming colors on the other. Jessica stepped off confidently and motioned Jasmine to follow her.

Liz Moya crossed the campus of Freedom City University with quick steps, headed for the science building and her afternoon physics class. The young girl's head was on a swivel, though, constantly turning and checking all the shadows around her. She'd argued with Langston Albright that finding a kidnapper was more important than keeping up with her studies, but he'd pointed out that if someone was snatching kids off the campus, then she already had the perfect cover. As long as she kept going along with her daily routine, she herself was a target. Liz clenched one hand into a fist, feeling the core of her power inside of her. Just let some two-bit villain try and take her. They'd soon learn what it meant to deal with a Bearer of the Light.

The situation was dissolving quickly, but Starlight was actually relaxing. She could feel the strange pressure within her fading and she knew, somehow, that her shapechanging abilities had been restored to her. Still, it was time to make an exit. The Grue drew herself up and pointed at the mother shielding her child. "Beware your son," she intoned in her best monster voice. "His fate is not yet done." With that she sprinted out of the apartment, moving as fast as her feet could carry her. If she could get back to her own unit, she should be able to become Starlight for true, and deal with the last, lingering effects of this hostile psychic intrusion.

Bonnie Blue's Reflex save, vs DC 20. (1d20+6=24) She makes it. Rolling Thunder's Reflex save, vs DC 20. (1d20+6=13) He doesn't. Bonnie Blue's Toughness save, vs DC 20. (1d20+8=14) That's a Daze + Bruise Rolling Thunder's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+9=18) Bruise x2 and Daze refreshes.

"Doubtful," Jessica said blithely, a smile on her face. "It's Lab policy to shut recourse-intensive systems down for the night. But we can boot it up in a jiffy." In fact Jessica had connected mentally to the appropriate machines on the elevator ride up, and they were already spinning their discs up. "Security should have your badge just about -- ah, there it is." The young inventor took a laminated badge from the secretary and handed it to Jasmine. It was the size of a driver's license, with a large mug-shot of her face taken from the security camera in the parking garage. The badge had a wide purple border on it, and the left-hand side was dominated by the words GUEST E-2. Jessica spoke as she lead the way to the elevator. "Keep the badge clipped on at all times. Floors four and five are semi-restricted and patrolled regularly by security, who will escort you out if you don't have clearance. Higher than that... well, let's just say that the automated systems aren't very gentle with intruders."

Jasmine walked up to the main desk in the lobby of the Lab and gave her name to the secretary on duty there, a tired-looking woman who kept one eye on the clock while she typed in the details of Jasmine's appointment. Unfortunately it seemed the individual in charge of the labs had gone home, but when the chemist made it clear she wasn't going to be budged the secretary gave a long-suffering sigh and checked to see just who was still working. Not surprisingly, Jessica Parker was still putting in long hours. Surprisingly enough, though, she was down in the machine shop, adding a bevel to the latest prototype of her armor. Her cellphone began ringing, but she made sure the lathe spun down safely before she reached out to answer it with her mind. Minutes later she was riding up an elevator and as she stepped off, called over to Jasmine. "Hello, there!" She walked over briskly, offering the other woman her hand. Jessica was dressed practically for a day in a machine shop -- which was to say she was wearing blue jeans, running shoes, and a cotton shirt that covered her from throat to wrist. There was also a pair of safety glasses danging from one hand, but she shoved those in her pants pocket. "You're Jasmine Benoit? I'm Jessica Parker, nice to meet you."

Ironclad took in the chaos reigning over the gathering in a quick glance, shaking her head sharply. "Not tonight," she announced. The young woman touched the bracelet around one wrist and was suddenly shining like the noon-day sun! When the light subsided her dress and jewelry had been exchanged for green and gold power armor, and she wasted no time at all in rising above the fray -- quite literally -- and getting a line of sight on Bonnie Blue, standing near the doorway. After all, if they were going to get those civilians out of the fight they were going to have to have some place to get them to. "You chose to wrong party to crash," she announced, losing a volley of high-energy particles at the leather-sporting Confederate. Faster than the eye could follow, Bonnie's compatriot, Rolling Thunder stepped in the way of the blast. He brought up the hammer to deflect it but the particles were just a smidge faster; they hit him in the chest, doing a number to his biker threads and knocking him back into the nearby wall. He crumpled up there but soon rose to his feet, mostly supporting himself on his hammer but still able to stand. Over by the bar, the man in the gray uniform stopped Lord Steam's baritsu blow with a quick cross of the arms. He sneered at the Victorian adventurer. "You don't know anything about what makes this country great," he said, swinging a bony fist at the hero. "You're a &*@# Brit!"

Okay. Ironclad's up, then it's Rolling Thunder and the Soldier. Ironclad takes a free action to change into her armor and then blasts Bonnie. Ironclad's ranged attack roll, vs. Bonnie Blue's Def. DC 25 (1d20+10=26) It hits -- but Thunder Interposes! Rolling Thunder's Toughness save, vs DC 25 (1d20+10=16) No one ever said the boy was smart, mind you. Daze + Stun. Thunder's Dazed, so up to the Soldier. He'll bat Lord Steam back a step, he will! Last Loyal Soldier's melee attack check, vs Lord Steam's Def. DC 27 (1d20+8=25) Ouch. That hits. Okay, IC post inbound and then Asad is up.

That is a whiff, I am afraid.

"Thu, thu, the kid from the apartment? I, I, I, uh, we met at a bar last night! And he said he really liked my music!" Well. From what Arcturus remembered, Leroy would overlook a lot for a pretty face. "So we went back to his place and... I played for him again this morning. And he laughed at me and said my music was terrible! I... I got real mad. So I... I killed him. And then I raised him." Starlight walked along the rows of seat, picking carefully over the dismembered corpses and kicking any bits that still wriggled. She stopped over one that seemed like decayed and shrunken than the rest; in fact it was still leaking blood from the throat wound that had killed it. Starlight leaned down and picked up the... well, it was just a section of chest, one shoulder, and head after what she had done to it. She considered the face for a moment and then glanced up to the stage. Was the bear getting anything from the necromancer?

You could also built it as a Device, if you have the points. Device 1 (5PP, Easy to Lose) [3PP] Super-Movement 2 (Slow-Fall, Swinging) [4PP] Speed 1 (10 MPH [1PP]