Raveled

Corona frowned at the reply, finishing the buckles on her cuisse before answering. "Well the Lor Navy has no records about a Za'akis ship comin' in for supplies or tradin' or anything else." She paused a moment, then added, "You can sit tight in high orbit while I go have a chat with the Magistrate. If'n this is a fair deal, then there's no problems from anyone. You hear me?" She never planned for things to go smoothly, and with Za'akis in the equation it was especially unlikely, but she still hoped that everyone would be reasonable and sensible this trip. The Navy was likely to chew her out if she destroyed another shuttle.

I need to get Brigandine into threads with other heroes now that she's around, and since it's sort of still in the middle of the school year, it doesn't seem right to just have a "new arrival at Claremont" thread. So instead we're going to say she's always been around and is only now getting her own title. This thread is going to be for PCs at the PL 7 or PL 8 level. It's going to involve a ruckus at Millennium Mall; I'm looking for two or three other PCs to be in it, besides Brigandine.

Blue Jay had been following the richly-attired woman for nearly three blocks now. It wasn't merely a lark; she was a hunter, and while she wasn't cruel enough to set out a stalking goat, she was more than willing to take advantage of one when it appeared to her. So she had followed this woman as she walked down the wrong alleys, and watched the group of muggers and thieves accumulate in her wake. She watched the woman turn down a blind alley and knelt at the edge of the rooftop, watching the situation developing below. It didn't take a tactical genius to realize that pretty soon, the woman in a pretty dress would be a corpse in a pretty dress. Jay couldn't let that happen. The archer fixed her anchor to an air duct and jumped down, the line playing out behind her. Her boots made contact with the shoulders of a thug in a leather jacket; he went down hard and she leapt off his crumpling body towards a skinny guy with beach-blond hair. He turned just at the last moment and Blue Jay's padded knee caught him on the tip of his chin; his head went back and she rode his body to the ground, rolling once he was on the ground. She came to her feet between the muggers and their intended victim. There were seven or eight more blocking the exit, but Jay wasn't too worried about them. She rolled her neck and set her feet in a wide stance, hunkering slightly to lower her center of gravity. "You're going to want to stay behind me," she called over her shoulder to the civilian. "And maybe cover your eyes."

Jase was trying to shrink into the upholstery of the pick-up truck. "Yeah, yeah, alright. It's this place in Greenbank, down by the river. I don't know an address or anything, like I don't know what to put in Google, but I know where it is." The drug dealer began talking quickly, describing stores and turns and all sorts of other landmarks. Miras leaned in, comparing the story to her own mental map of the area. As the terrified monologue came to a close, she swore loudly to shock Jase into silence. This place wasn't just in her neighborhood, it was right outside her home! She stalked away from the truck, doing her best to breathe deeply and control her anger. After a minute she turned back to Jase, walking back to her place by the driver side door. She held up her hand to make sure the dealer could see as she summoned smokeless fire. Her palm and fingers were wreathed in blue-yellow flame, the fire licking around her digits without burning her or her gloves. "We're going off," she told him, "and stop the person getting you drugs. You should get help for yourself, because if I find you dealing drugs in this city again, you're going to find out what my hand is feeling right now." Miras walked away from the truck, heading for the far end of the parking lot. She waited for Fast-forward and Starlight to get near her, clenching and unclenching her fists while she felt the anger boiling through her. And while she waited, she felt a different part of her sitting off to the side, almost coldly watching her own emotions and wondering how to make it into a song. "I know the place this ---hole is talking about. Just follow me and I'll lead you right to them." Miras wrapped herself in magic and sped off into the city, making a beeline towards her home.

Does Corona have any sort of briefing that warngs her about the Za'akis? Should she expect them to be here? And who is in charge of this planet?

Aya K'zan sat in the pilot's chair in trim Navy blues, waiting patiently as the Nomad II dropped out of warp. The jump had been precisely calculated to the thousandth digit, and she appeared in high orbit around Ja-Gorr. Surprisingly, the sensor board lit up almost at once, with one large contact painted a bright crimson. Aya considered what the ship was telling her, her usual frown deepening as she did so. The Lor officer flicked open another set of commands, quickly opening up a comms channel between herself and the Za'akis ship. "Za'akis ship, this is Aya K'zan of the office of the Lor Republic Outback Overwatch Patrol & Survey. This planet is claimed by the Lor Republic. Identify yourself and your cargo." While she waited for a reply, the Lor stood up and walked over to a cabinet set into the side of the cockpit. She unsealed it with a quick palm swipe, revealing her battered but functional space armor. She doubted the Za'akis ship was a simple trader.

Alright, going to modify my post, then. Ranged Attack check on the AA turret: 1d20+10 15

Corona turned back to the cockpit, steadily walking backwards towards the open belly hatch. "Get down to the LZ," she repeated to the pilot, "and then get yourself safe. But make sure the troops are off this ship, first!" She didn't give the pilot a chance to argue further, instead stepping out of the bay doors and dropping. For all of a meter or so, before her aura snapped on and she caught air. Corona rolled smoothly away from the troop ship, muscling out of the larger vessel's slipstream and into open sky. It was impossible to miss the huge defense towers growing out of the planet's surface, the sides of the structure bristling with computronium cannons and turrets. The Lor officer eyed one directly in the troop ship's path, trying to pick out structural weaknesses. After a few moments though, she gave it up as a bad job and simply snapped off a shot. The Lor sped through the air, glowing gold and red. She took a moment to tie her suit's systems into the troop ship, putting it on her HUD. She didn't want to get so involved with blowing up the towers that she lost sight of her squad.

Tona started forward when the other archer began preparing herself a cup of coffee at hyper speed, then raiding the cabinets. It was a silly feeling, but Tona still thought of that area as 'her' territory, and seeing a stranger roaming in it with familiarity was galling. She stepped up and physically forced Toni away from the espresso machine. "Ma pere should have taught you better," she said, frowning. "You can ask before you take things." She turned to the machine and started futzing with the different knobs and handles, checking the grounds and the milk drip. After a moment, she frowned, poking the wet grounds with a suspicious finger. She turned back to Toni, brandishing the portafilter full of grounds like a weapon. "Okay, fine. Trade. You want bagels? I want to know how you brewed a good cup in under a second." She poked the other archer. "Now spill, or I'll bring out the bran muffins."

There are god-knows how many Lor variants, of course. In Incursion: Troopers, I mentioned a "canid warrior" with a long rifle.

Tona’s mind went down dark, depressing paths as she tried to absorb Wander’s words. She imagined living the rest of her life with Sam and Mali and Cerys, keeping this part of her separate from them, lying to them for however long she lived. It drained her, like all the energy she would have to spend through her entire life maintaining this lie was being taken from her right here and now. She had no idea how she was supposed to do it; she had not idea if she could do it. Tona was not a crafty person, she was not good at deception or fabrication. She doubted that she would be able to keep a secret like that from Sam, at least, for very long. Still, Wander was the Brave and Tona didn’t want to contradict her. Maybe she was even right, but in any case Tona felt like she didn’t have any fight left in her. “I have to get back to my apartment,†she said quietly. “I have to… wake up my roommate.†It was a poor lie, but Tona didn’t have the energy to think up a better one. She just wanted to get away from this conversation and stop thinking about it.

So I'm gonna come right out and admit it. One of my goals for this thread is for Miras to discover that Starlight is homeless and offering her a couch to crash on. Bluefish, I don't know if this fits your plans for Starlight, and I figured I would get your opinion on this.

So there's a bunch of flak towers around shooting at the transport, and we're some distance up from the landing zone?

She needs waaaaaay higher Knowledge and Investigation and Computers skill to be Oracle.

The office workers stared at the robed figure who appeared in their midst, but soon they rallied and a grey-haired woman stood up from her desk. “We can’t give our student information to just anyone. We have to protect their privacy!†Miras turned on her, wishing she could make her robes billow for dramatic effect at times like these. “Well you don’t have to worry about Brian Akanu then, because he’s not a student anymore.†She paused for effect. “He’s dead.†The office workers recoiled like she had thrown a live snake on a desk; even the matron looked taken aback. “He brought something into our world that killed him, and then I had to kill it to stop it from hurting anyone else.†Miras sighed, feeling any bravado she had been holding onto wash out of her. “I’m not trying to hurt Brian’s image, but someone pointed him in the wrong direction. I want to find them, and stop anyone else from turning up dead.†The words hung in the air, heavy and pink, while the mage waited for someone to react. Finally, the clerk who had spoken up for the rest went back to her computer and typed away for a moment. The office’s printer whirred into life and spat a few pages out, which Miras snatched up and scanned. She frowned at the name connected to Brian’s, and was still frowning when she reappeared in the hallway. She started walking, slowly, engrossed in her own thoughts. “Brian’s professor was Eric Aquarius,†she said. “I never thought of him as a wizard. He’s the kind of guy who has a reggae hat signed by Jimi Hendrix, but mostly he just talks about psychedelic rock and Woodstock. I wouldn’t think he was into unspeakable horrors from the Dungeon Dimension.â€

So... what is Gretchin supposed to provide Grim, exactly?

The math on Defense isn't adding up. 6 Base and 1 Dodge Focus = 7, not 10. Also, you should list the base Def on the build

Jase started when Miras appeared by his car door. "What!? What!? What are you going on about? I don't know any Alison! I was just going to get her help, honest, and you can't do this to me I have--" He cut off abruptly Starlight streaked towards him like a neon meteor, lighting up the dark parking lot. Surrounded on both sides by women radiating power and anger, his defiance crumpled. "I, I, I, I'm just a guy, okay? I know a guy and sometimes he gets me stuff, any sometimes I share it around. To, you know, friends! And if those, you know, friends want to pay me back, well that's what friends do, right?" Miras felt a sick anger twisting in her gut. This guy was a human worm, feeding off the misery and addiction of others, and he wasn't even courageous enough to admit it openly. At the same time, he was probably addicted himself, and the mage's better side was whispering that she should help Jase as well. Even though she only really wanted to grind his face into the asphalt. "I, I, I get it from this guy in Greenbank, right? I can tell you where he is!†Miras felt her anger grow hotter. Somebody was brewing this poison in her own backyard.

Miras stood with a slight grunt and shook out the sleeves of her robe, freeing her hands. "I don't know much about shadow portals," she admitted, "but if you hum a few bars I can follow along." She paused, and added, "And I'll make sure that this particular portal doesn't drop us in the ocean or the Arctic or something." The mage handed her shoulder bag to Sun Walker, then went to stand beside Set. "Alright. How exactly are we doing this?"

Yeah, well, you scared the ^(@# out of Jase. Do you have any questions in particular you'd like to be answered, or will you just let him ramble?

For a cat-themed person who sneaks around, I would tart with AA's White Lion build and pare back as needed. It's really a big job to rebuild something from the ground up.

In that you will scream incomprehensibly during it, and never be able to recreate that feeling again.

... Supernaturally hard or with claws or martial arts or hits them supernaturally fast?

Well hey, we were all terrible at building stuff at first. What sort of things do you want Black Jaguar do? What does he do when someone threatens him?