KnightDisciple

Magnus carefully took an inch-long sliver of the material and slid it into an instrument as tall as he was, which spent a moment whirring and beeping before settling down. A moment later, one of the wall displays lit up with a complicated image of a molecule, alongside a detailed electron-microscope-quality closeup of the computronium sliver. "Hm. I think so. Right now it would take some work, mind you. But it seems like it's less "totally new element" and more "advanced alloy using unique allotropes of existing elements". It would take some time, effort, access to at least three top-end particle accelerators, a bit of money, a dash of nanotech, and some patience, but it's totally doable." He waved a hand in the direction of the giant skull-shaped spaceship outside. "Honestly of all of this, though, it's the computronium and some of the basic drones that are the least impressive; a new metal is fantastic, and probably doable for us, and robots are almost passe what with the bloody Foundry, but the ship itself? It holds the key to the stars, my friend. What we learn here today could, one day, let humanity step forth from this single rock to Out There. Not just the Sol system, but the galaxy at large!" The excitement (some might say "fervor") was clear in his voice.

Curator's Ship, Near Centurion's Sanctum, Arctic Morning, January 25th, 2013 The wind howled outside the prefabricated dome of plastic and metal, rattling the thick, sealed door some in its frame. Inside, the occupants wore heavy coats; while the temperature was above freezing, it wasn't by much, and this "mobile lab", being right next to the crash site, was by necessity rather bare-bones. A couple of hardy computer displays, a couple of tables, and some sturdy sensors. Much of the delicate work was further back at the main base camp, or deep inside the ship itself. At the moment, one of the leaders of the joint expedition (which included Archetech, AEGIS, UNISON, Katasrof & Sorenson Technologies, and a couple of others) was hunched over one of the tables, poking at several chunks of glittering metal as he talked with another, more colorfully-dressed member of the intrepid scientists. "I can't believe computronium hasn't been discussed more in the wider scientific world! This material is incredible! The properties are just astounding, and it's clearly robust enough to not be simply computer components!" Baron Magnus Vilhelm Katasrof was engrossed in trying to analyze the properties of a metal he hadn't even known existed before coming on this trip. His companion at the moment was the electrical hero, Voltage.

OOC thread for our shenanigans with Fenris, Voltage, Doktor Archeville, and Cyberknife/Miss Americana (with possible input from AA!). No rolls just yet, but perhaps soon!

Corbin absently nodded, both to himself and to Mali's words, as he spied his prize. He looked up at her, sympathy in his eyes. "It's...it's rough, seeing that. It was the end of my junior year before I saw death. First it was one, just right there in front of me, but then...It got a lot worse." He stopped as their milk was placed on the table. "I'll have a stack of at least 6 of those blueberry pancakes. Yes. 6. I know how much it costs. Don't worry about it. Big thing of syrup for us would probably be a good idea, too." After Mali had ordered and the waitress had moved on, he continued. "Wish I had magic words here. I don't. It sucks. Just...damn. This just makes me feel more useless. Didn't do anything useful to help any of my friends. At most I just helped blow up some robots." He sat back with a sigh, sipping his milk and looking a little despondent.

"<Your compliments are appreciated.>" The Baron's own English was very lightly accented, as if he'd been speaking it his whole life (which he probably had!). "I would say my English is passable enough for our purposes, yes." Magnus's expression was neutral as he shook Robert's hand and sat down across the table from him. He waited patiently as the man explained his reason for being there, which was apparently....a fancy watch? "It is...well, it looks rather nice. And I'm glad it keeps time so well. But while I'm sure I could scan it for hours, I don't see what exactly requires my specific expertise, as opposed to, say, the watchmakers in Switzerland, Mr. Harrow."

Corbin trailed behind, politely stepping to the side a few times to avoid running into patrons or staff bustling back and forth in the homey little diner. He waited until Mali was seated, both for being a bit of a gentleman, and for the sake of getting a better idea of how he could arrange table and chairs to not make it too uncomfortable. He still ended up a bit hunched over, and "cheating" a bit with his powers very slightly lowering his weight to make the seat more comfortable. "Too bad there's not an "extra burly boy size" booth or whatnot." When the waitress came by, Corbin asked for an extra-big glass of milk along with some water, before settling to look at the menu. He tried to find out if they served pancakes this late at night. "So...I guess busy with patrol? With the, you know, not eating."

The tall young man's attention snapped to Mali. For just a moment, there was a severe degree of caution, before realization visibly flooded his eyes. A not-quite-smile leaked onto his face. "Yeah. I'm Corbin, by the way." He offered her his hand, hoping this time there wouldn't be a bombshell instead of a handshake. "Glad you made it." He jerked his head to the door. "Shall we get inside and commence with eating?"

"Yeah, nervous is a good word. That sounds fine. Don't worry about missing me, the ring doesn't add more than an inch. Usually." He took the slip of paper with a slight smirk, before flying off of the roof just as Mali took off on foot. ********************************** When Mali arrived at the diner, she saw a guy who was maybe a couple years older than her, but built like a brick house, leaning on the wall next to the door of the diner. He seemed...not nervous, but a bit unsure, and he was clearly keeping his eyes open for someone, anyways. He was dressed plainly, in jeans, a white t-shirt, and a red flannel shirt that was only halfway buttoned. Despite the rather brisk exterior temperature, he didn't even seem chilled. And his hair looked an awful lot like Cobalt Templar's had.

Cobalt Templar froze after dropping the second wrecked gun into the third box. He seemed to be thinking about Crimson Tiger's suggestion for several long moments, before turning his still-masked gaze back to face her. "I could really destroy a couple stacks of pancakes right now. Hang on, I'll do this the fast way." The three boxes became one, and suddenly he was streaking up into the sky, out of sight almost immediately. Perhaps a minute later, he was visible again, and just a few moments later, he was hovering there, without a trace of any of the guns on his person. "Dumped them in the sun. Now. As for food...do you know a place that serves pancakes that won't make a bit deal of us going in "uniform", or should we switch to plainclothes?"

As Crimson Tiger explained, Cobalt Templar's expression grew grim. By the time she was done, his arms had dropped to his sides. His fists clenched and un-clenched, and his eyes were solid orbs of glowing blue energy (or at least appeared that way). Without a word, his gaze snapped to one side, where a pile of wrecked guns (both types) lay on the ground. A blue fiery hand materialized and collected them, before going around grabbing the "straggler" firearms, until it was a box that hovered next to Templar. He took a single step, putting him somewhat inside Tiger's personal space, before suddenly an armor-clad arm was around her back, blue glowing straps holding her steady. "Hang on." And in a blur of motion they were standing on a rooftop not far from the site of the battle, CT already giving her space as his back was to her, his attention seemingly focused on the box of weapons. He idly plucked a regular handgun out of the box. "He...He and I, we never did get along that great. Did any of the ones who were on the team last year talk about that? Probably not. It...wasn't my best year." He popped out the magazine, mechanically ejecting unspent cartridges into the second of 3 boxes that now floated in the air in front of him. When it was empty, he just crumpled the gun and magazine together in a groan of metal and cracking plastic. "I sent him a picture I'd made, or a copy anyways, when I graduated. Peace offering. Wanted to let him know I thought he was....was a hero. All of them. You. Are. Heroes. It's..." He tossed the lump of former gun into the third box, his cape and helmet disappearing in the wind, revealing messy brown hair as his whole person sagged. He mechanically grabbed another gun from the first box. "Shouldn't have...Invincible. We're supposed to be invincible."

Cobalt Templar turned as the last of the thugs somehow managed to run his face into Crimson Tiger's outstretched fist, and fell down unconscious. "That was... anticlimactic. You hurt or anything, or did you just goon-sweep them all before they knew what was what?" Suddenly, her mention of what she had fought before clicked, and CT stepped over to CT and offered his hand to shake while grinning widely. "Wait a second, I think I remember now...Crimson Tiger. You're part of Young Freedom, aren't you? Man, are you guys still dealing with Nazis? Ugh. Well, I'm sure you did just fine. How's the rest of the team? Did Citizen manage to stay leader, or has Ghost Girl usurped him yet?" His light-hearted tone and grin made it clear he wasn't being intentionally cruel to someone who had just lost their team-mate. He just didn't know yet.

"Cobalt Templar. Nice to meet you, Tiger." It looked like these were stupid thugs, because they charged in to try and take down the two clearly-superior heroes. "Half and half, then." And with a flurry of blue fire, his assault began. His twin pistols spat an almost continuous stream of blue star projectiles, and the thugs fell almost like dominoes. Of the dozen or so that charged him, only two made it to arm's length. Those two, he simply reached out, grabbed by the necks, and slapped together. Crimson Tiger likely wouldn't find things more difficult; the most advanced weapon her "half" of thugs wielded was an aluminum baseball bat, and they had no form or grace to their movements. They weren't very tough, either...

GM Post Hekatoncheire had been repeatedly battered by the heroes, once by his own teammate. At this point, his frame was just too damaged; Fenris's attack didn't just peel away armor, it tore in and attacked his power source. Which was why, after a brief "data surge" like what Arachne had given off, the many-armed combatant simply imploded, his whole body folding and crumpling in on itself until there was nothing but a pile of scrap left. The room was suddenly rather quiet, as one enemy lay unconscious, and two lay as piles of scrap. ********************************************** Ironclad's foe, Kobalos, seemed disoriented still, his eyes actually showing a few flashes of what might have been static. Perhaps he was almost too lifelike, and thus vulnerable to being "knocked for a loop"?

Fenris actually paused and tilted his head to one side, his metallic ears unconsciously flicking in an almost curious expression. 'Odd that she would...Wait.' "She uploaded somewhere else! We've got to make sure to lock and wipe these computers; we'll be lucky if she didn't have the plans memorized!" With a new found desperation, he focused his fire upon the many-armed robot. He took a moment to triple-check his target lock, the HUD flashing red as he ignored the world around him. His mind "squeezed the trigger", and twin arcs of manmade lightning flashed forward. They struck almost the same spot in the robot's back, burning deep within his systems...

Initiative Order Dragonfly (25): Bruised x1, 5HP Empousa (25): Dazed (Bee-Keeper's Action), Bruizedx1, -HP Unconscious Arachne (25): Disabled, -HP Dead Hekatoncheire (21): Dazed (Dragonfly's Action), Injury x3, -HP Bee-Keeper (13): Dazed (Arachne's Action), Bruised x2, 3HP Kobalos (6): Dazed (Ironclad's Action), Injuredx1, -HP Fenris (5): Uninjured, 0HP Ironclad (4): Uninjured, 4HP Kobalos is Dazed (man that's going around, I tell you), so I guess we're over to Fenris! He has only 1 target. Free Action: All-Out Attack 2: Defense is now 18, Attack is +12 Standard Action: Fire his PPCs at that robot! Ranged Attack: 29 is good enough to hit!DC 25. Heka Toughness Roll, DC 25: 8. That's a Fail by 17, he's toast! It's Ironclad's go.

Cobalt Templar gave a wordless cry of challenge as he swept his staff in an arc, knocking several gang members (most of whom had more dangerous firearms that were thus conveniently ruined) into others like bowling pins. Ten gangers fell, only five stood back up, and they were blinking the stars out of their eyes. One of them was simply punched in the face, going out like a light. Another got a groin kick so hard his eyes crossed and he emitted a tiny squeak as he tipped over like a felled tree. Two vicious looking girls tried to attack him from the sides; he simply took a large step back and let them run into each other before giving an exaggerated chop to their necks with his flattened hands. The last thug had picked up one of the 3 still-functional energy guns, and almost had a bead on Templar...until the energy staff was thrown directly into the gun's barrel. The thug dropped it in surprise as it burned and melted, which meant he missed the sleeper hold he was put in until it was too late. Only two firearms of any kind were left; one was a rusty revolver in the hands of a skinny-as-a-rail thug, while the energy weapon was hefted by a young man built almost like Templar. Too bad they were hopelessly outgunned. The ring-slinger just grinned and manifested two flattened, high-tech looking pistols that fired what looked suspiciously like sheriff's badges. The last two guns were ruined, and the weilders were knocked down... But a dozen more thugs came out of the woodwork, probably called in by a text or quick phone call. About two dozen milled around now, and while none of them had guns, the new arrivals were all pretty beefy. An empty circle had formed around the two heroes, filled with unconscious gang members and metal scrap. With nothing but a nod, the large blue-clad hero moved over to stand at Crimson Tiger's back, eyeballing the remaining thugs with a somewhat arrogant grin. "So. Are you feeling lucky, punks?" The construct weapons twirled on his fingers for a moment before pointing outward again.

It seemed the only strength this group had (besides a certain sense of diversity) was its sheer numbers. Still, even that didn't seem to help them; only so many could reach the young martial artist, and any of the ones close enough to her to try and attack were also close enough to become unconscious or disabled. Her fists, while not quite as fast as lightning, still hit all the right places to leave them out of the fight. Normally she'd need to worry about the ones with guns. But they had their own problems. Since Cobalt Templar had stood up and was clearly not impressed. "Normally I'd be all for community activity, but this is a bit over the line, boys and girls." "Man you're not even older than us!" "It's called an expression. Moron." "Express this!" Another energy bolt, right to his face. Cobalt Templar's head snapped to the side before slowly turning back around. His right cheek was purple with a bruise, and the corner of his mouth was bleeding. Slowly, dramatically, he reached up and wiped away the blood, rubbing his fingers together a bit before it just burned away. "That stung. My turn." And in his hands suddenly was a quarterstaff thicker than a child's arm, and he was suddenly right next to a couple of the ones armed with energy rifles. Which were now scrap while they clutched bruised hands, and then bruised torsos. He was in their midst, and the gang risked hitting themselves instead of the hero!

Despite the terribly cold temperatures and bleak sky outside, the inside of Katastrof & Sorenson Technologies, Power Division, Headquarters building was warm, well lit, and soothing, with plenty of modern art, soft angles, and earthy tones to make the decent-sized lobby a welcoming place. Considering how large the building was, that was an accomplishment! The receptionist, in this case a young man who might well be working a (paid) internship checked his screen before nodding with a smile. "Yes, but you're only a couple of minutes late. The Baron stays pretty busy himself, so he understands, especially with this weather going on. He's waiting in one of the mid-floor meeting rooms. Here are your guest badges; the elevators are right over there. Just walk in and speak your name, it will take you to your floor, where wall panels will help guide you." Indeed, the warmly-colored elevator (that somehow combined futuristic and retro looks at once) slid open without a sound; there was a button panel, but if Lord Harrow spoke up, he'd quickly feel the box smoothly move up a dozen floors or so before gliding to a stop, never once feeling the typical "jerk" of an elevator from most buildings. The wall panels were about a foot tall and ran the whole hallway, and were currently lit up with a soft blue line that ran to a set of dark wooden double doors. The meeting room inside was fairly simple, the windows currently showing the stark weather outside. Baron Katasrof, dressed in a black suit, stood in front of them, hands crossed behind his back. The room's table (big enough for a dozen) stood behind him and empty, aside from some glasses and a carafe of ice water and the comfortable-looking leather chairs around it. He didn't turn around right away, though it was unlikely he hadn't noticed his fellow noble entering the room...

Gabriel nodded and seemed to relax a bit, though the suddenly...playful...nature of the director of AEGIS caught him off-guard a bit. "That's good to know, Director. And don't worry, I should be well-equipped even without any MAX armor." He glanced around the room and shifted a bit in place, assuming a slightly less guarded posture as he continued to address the eye-patch-wearing man. "That said, perhaps we should move on to the "meat" of the briefing? I think at this point, to give you much more input, we need to know what's going on, what we'd be getting into. Then we can all talk about what we bring to the table, and what support we'll need or want from you."

Tonight was the lucky night for some people for sure. Definitely for Crimson Tiger. Probably not for others, and for Cobalt Templar it was going to be 50/50. Since a trio of energy blasts roared up to smack him in the legs, face, and thankfully-armored groin, causing him to yelp in surprise, emit a flare of blue fire, and tumble from the sky to slam into the pavement, accompanied by a surprisingly loud set of hollers and cheers. Mali was able to see the flurry of blasts that had flown into the sky suddenly, drawing her attention to someone who glowed blue and fell from the sky. It was only a couple blocks over where he fell.... Meanwhile, Corbin was laying in a slight crater in the pavement, shaking his head to clear it. He didn't really feel hurt, but he hadn't expected that caliber of weaponry to hit him out here. "Haha! Told you those capes couldn't take it! Boy it's a good thing we nabbed some of these fancy guns. Now we can get rid of these stinkin' capes and take back our neighborhood! Business has been hurting, after all..." A group of some 30 or 40 gang-bangers advanced on Cobalt Templar. Around 10 were holding high-tech looking weapons; the rest had mostly baseball bats, pipes, and knives, with a couple of regular guns mixed in. The speaker was apparently the leader of the rather eclectic-looking group of toughs, sporting a bald head and an evil grin. When Crimson Tiger rounded the corner, she was staring at the back of a large group of toughs, but could just barely make out the blue glow of someone or something on the other side. From the sound of someone's speechifying, it was probably a hero the gang was about to attack en mass...

Knowledge: History: 25 Knowledge: Physical Sciences: 17. Dang it Magnus I don't have the HP to burn, buddy. :?

As far as European shenanigans go, I think AA had/has some Oddballs that are nominally European heroes, at least a "sketch" sort of layout. And while it seems selfish I must point out Ireland has 7 full-on superheroes, and a host of minor powered and non-powered hero-type folks.

GM Post The bolts of more-than-space slammed into the many-armed-robot's body. More armor plating twisted. A couple of arms snapped off entirely. He swayed in place, sparks emitting from a few places. He seemed intact overall, but definitely paused in his relentless assault. Meanwhile, Arachne's artificial brain took in the whole scene, even as her frame shook and sparked. "You speak as if this shell is the entirety of my being. I am not limited like you collections of water and carbon." With a surge of green energy, she turned and fired a faint green wave of energy at... Bee-Keeper! The already-struck hero found himself the target of a near-solid wave of energy that battered him mind and body! Meanwhile, Arachne's force shook, before flares of light and sparks ran over her frame as she dropped to the floor. Her outer shell flowed like wax, leaving behind a green-accented metallic skull and skeleton. "Y-you have on-only delayed the inevitable. We are patient. We are eter-ter-ter-ternal. The machines wi-wi-will RISE." There was a brief surge of data that Dragonfly and Fenris both felt, and the metal skeleton seized and sparked, clearly slagging itself into useless metal.

Initiative Order Dragonfly (25): Bruised x1, 5HP Empousa (25): Dazed (Bee-Keeper's Action), Bruizedx1, -HP Unconscious Arachne (25): Disabled, -HP Hekatoncheire (21): Injury x2, -HP Bee-Keeper (13): Bruised x1, 3HP Kobalos (6): Dazed (Ironclad's Action), Injuredx1, -HP Fenris (5): Uninjured, 0HP Ironclad (4): Uninjured, 4HP Heka Toughness Roll: 19. That fails by 7. Dazed, and picks up another Injury. Initiative Order Dragonfly (25): Bruised x1, 5HP Empousa (25): Dazed (Bee-Keeper's Action), Bruizedx1, -HP Unconscious Arachne (25): Disabled, -HP Hekatoncheire (21): Dazed (Dragonfly's Action), Injury x3, -HP Bee-Keeper (13): Bruised x1, 3HP Kobalos (6): Dazed (Ironclad's Action), Injuredx1, -HP Fenris (5): Uninjured, 0HP Ironclad (4): Uninjured, 4HP Arachne is up next. She does not like how these heroes are messing up The Plan! Dragonfly especially! But Dragonfly is sadly hard to hurt. But hey, that Bee guy looks like he's vulnerable. Standard Action: Mental Blast on Bee-Keeper! Ranged Attack: 27 hits! DC 25 Toughness Save. It's Bee-Keeper's turn. Oh, and Arachne goes to "dying", which means she fries. But doesn't actually die! :twisted: Initiative Order Dragonfly (25): Bruised x1, 5HP Empousa (25): Dazed (Bee-Keeper's Action), Bruizedx1, -HP Unconscious Arachne (25): Disabled, -HP Dead Hekatoncheire (21): Dazed (Dragonfly's Action), Injury x3, -HP Bee-Keeper (13): Bruised x1, 3HP Kobalos (6): Dazed (Ironclad's Action), Injuredx1, -HP Fenris (5): Uninjured, 0HP Ironclad (4): Uninjured, 4HP

Early Evening, January 18th, 2013 Above the Fens, Freedom City The twilight sky above the Fens was suddenly lit up faintly with a blue light. Cobalt Templar was on patrol, and he was...cranky. It'd been 3 days since one of his best friends turned out to be a robot. And that was basically all he knew, beyond the fact that Trevor had gone off to retrieve Erin. He'd only barely kept in the loop. Some of it was understandable. He wasn't really part of the Liberty League. He was dating neither Trevor nor Erin. Trevor was an intensely private person, and had likely wanted to get moving as soon as he could. Corbin had caught a faint glimpse of something flashing red far above the city, and assumed it was his taciturn friend. All of those things made sense. That didn't mean he wasn't frustrated he couldn't help rescue one of his best friends from some sort of terrible fate. He had no firm direction, kind of like the last few months of his life. So he'd fallen back on "punching crime in the face with fire", and while it was working out well enough, he was sort of wishing he at least had someone to punch crime in the face alongside. But Mark was, well, Mark, and who knows where, Eve was busy dealing with the fallout from Grant (probably by buying half the company up and selling the rest off), and Cannonade was keeping busy in his own part of town. So he was on the lookout for a gang dust-up or something. He wasn't really sure at this point, but he felt like taking on a gang or 10.