KnightDisciple

Gabriel all but growled as he tried to re-adjust his aim. The trees and Gaian Knight were at least confusing the Grue pack, though they were still clearly dangerous. And getting rather annoying. That they quickly tore into a couple of the trees was worrisome; at least Fleur's powers seemed to be working well enough she ought to be able to summon more soon. "I'm getting tired of these-" His quip died on his lips as his shot went wide. Again. He grit his teeth in frustration. 'I've half a mind to club these gits silly with one of their own....'

Standard Action: Ranged Attack at....Mutant 5 16. Their Defense total is 18, as I recall. So, miss!

Corbin hadn't gotten much sleep; he'd decided to spend the "down hours" he had catching a nap on the couch in his forest hideaway. It wasn't like it was far enough to delay him any when it was time to move the plan along.... Currently he was standing on the roof with the others, having darkened the blues of his outfit a bit, and forgone the cape for the moment. He eyed the other heroes on the roof, his own anxiety ramped up a bit due to some of the lingering tension that basically all of them sensed. Finally he cleared his throat and spoke up. "So. Uh. The Liberty League. Pretty cool deal. How's it been going for you guys? Any particularly exciting showdowns with villains or whatnot? I don't catch the news much lately."

Gabriel frowned at the descriptions of the rather thematic encounters. He scratched his chin absently in thought. "Hm. I know Cobalt Templar; good kid. Haven't encountered "Wasp Ninjas"; only ran into any sort of "ninja" once, and that was a few working for the Crimson Katana's gang. Weren't too much trouble all told. That's...a lot of ninjas to have such a unified theme. Hm. Maybe they were more...mercenary...and someone specifically had them use a wasp theme? Can't be that hard for bigger groups to get discounts on themed clothing these days; plenty of "no questions asked" super tailors in town. As for giant robot wasp...the only giant robot stinging insects I've seen are bees. Who are all on Sanctuary." His earlier joking was mostly gone as he continued. "I haven't heard of a wasp-themed villain. At all. But, you know what they say. Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is an enemy action. And this is a mighty strange coincidence. I'll keep my ear to the ground, but I have a feeling you'll keep "running into" these "coincidences". Like I said earlier, if things get really hairy, no shame in asking for help. Last thing you need to try is taking on a Wasp League or something. Unless you have robot doubles or something." He gave an exaggerated sidelong glance accompanied by a grin to show he was (mostly) joking on the last bit.

Magnus nodded as she indicated she didn't want anything. He pressed a few buttons on his tablet before pushing the sides together, compressing it to something the size of a larger smartphone, then tucking it away somewhere under his jacket. "Fair enough. I'm a bit thirsty, and the cart will have extras, so if you happen to get thirsty, feel free. As for this building, it's some of both." He smiled and gestured around. them, mostly pointing toward the cityscape. "We're not really well positioned for some of our more exotic research, but we have a few physical labs, and plenty of computer labs for various projects at various stages. But mostly this is our "hub" for coordinating our various American operations, which thankfully are only on the Eastern Seaboard right now. If we get facilities far enough West we'll likely need more. Ah well." He shrugged at the thought as a gentleman in slack and a polo, with a security badge around his neck on a lanyard, pushed in a large cart with a refrigerator integrated into it. Magnus smiled and thanked the man as he left, opening the fridge and extracting a large bottle of water. He took a quick swig before standing up and walking to one of the "side" walls of the rectangular room. He waved his free hand, and the wall lit up with a map of....Sweden and the surrounding Scandinavian area. He snapped his fingers, and some 20 dots were highlighted; some in the midst cities, some at the edge, some in the mountainous areas between civilizations. He turned to face Jessica. "In the last two months, 5 of my highest-security facilities in Europe have been attacked. Not directly, but several hacking attempts, a few break-in attempts...." He turned and touched 3 sites, 2 in the "wilderness" and 1 in the city. "And 3 successful attempts. Two stole physical samples of our technology; some high-end alloys and..." He paused, looking...uncomfortable...admitting the next part. "A crate containing 20 brand-new, working Vacuum Energy Systems, each of which produces enough power to run something the size of a large civilian sport utility vehicle for...well, until the parts break down. Of course, that's each VES individually. With 20 chained together, which is possible for a sufficiently-advanced mind, you could power some rather impressive hardware. Unfortunately, the third theft was for some of our designs for high-capacity power lines, that would allow just that sort of chaining." He left that map up, with the 3 theft sites glowing an angry red, the other 5 attempts glowing yellow, and the rest glowing green. Another couple of odd gestures and the large wall opposite the windows (which had auto-tinted to the point of being opaque) lit up, showing the upper half of the East Coast, centered on Freedom City. The current building they occupied flashed yellow...and the main facility for Dawes Technical Solutions lit up first yellow, and then red. Magnus's face was grave as he turned to face Jessica. "Just 3 days ago, someone, probably the same group, tried to hit the servers here. Considering what's happened to us already, we immediately shut them out. Some of my best men and women even pulled some tricks out of their hat to try and trace them. That failed initially, but...they managed to notice that Dawes Technical Solutions was hit. We didn't get all the details, but we saw the file names for the information they grabbed. This was just 15 hours ago. Your people locked it down within 20 minutes, but whoever is doing this is really, really good. They knew just what they wanted." He brought his hands up over the table, and suddenly a half-dozen blue wire-frame models came up, with labels. "They apparently acquired several of your company's "less-lethal" plans for the military. All of them using directed energy. I don't know all the details, but the names allow some inference. Individually, I would be worried that they're trying to make a super-sized version powered by several VES to hold the city hostage or some such. As many of these villain types are wont to do, as I'm sure you well know. But all of them together...I worry there could be something they're trying to make that takes components from each. The problem is, I don't know exactly what goes into these; we just saw file headers and the "display" pictures. I'm smart, but I don't just know what someone puts in a machine by looking at a shiny shell and a name. Worse, I have a feeling the buck isn't stopping there. There's a couple more high-end technology companies in this city. Archetech is one, but I'm actually more concerned they'll try for Hallomen Advanced Experts. Both are run by top-notch women in, well, most all the science fields. But Archetech has more resources and is better-established, so their security might be just a tick higher; plus, these thieves seem to be trying to be subtle. The thefts from my company weren't noticed for approximately 12 hours. Hallomen is smaller, which to the mind of the thieves might mean "less public target". Considering the rather private nature of the company and owner, I'm inclined to agree." He waved a hand and the schematics and names flew over to the large wall display, settling to the opposite end as the map of Freedom City. DTS was still in red, KST was in yellow, and HAX was in green with a yellow question mark floating over it. The schematics from DTS were joined by wire-frames of the VES and cables, as well as chemical notations for the alloys. Magnus settled heavily into his chair. "As you can see, we have a problem here. A big one."

9:30AM January 10th, 2013 Katasrof & Sorenson Technologies, American Branch, Freedom City HQ K&ST's Hanover building somehow managed to look simultaneously "old world" and "shining future" as Jessica Anne Parker walked up to it. The strangely perfect fusion of stone, steel, and glass seemed like an impervious fortress...But the front doors appeared to be ready to receive visitors, so. Once inside, she could quickly spot the front desk. After introducing herself, she was given a guest pass, guided to an elevator, and told which floor to go to, as well as how to get to the conference room (she couldn't miss it). Indeed, once she stopped at the second-from-the-top floor, the elevator opened to a hallway with a few clearly-marked doors; a couple of bathrooms, emergency stairs, a couple maintenance/cleaning rooms, and at the far end, a set of double doors that were marked simply "Meeting", with an electronic indicator underneath that said "Open". When she stepped inside, it was a large, comfortable meeting room. The far wall was floor-to-ceiling windows that seemed to auto-tint themselves; the other walls had display screens covering most of their surface, including the inside of the (surprisingly thick) door Jessica had come in (which seemed to smoothly close into the wall. The table itself was metal and "glass", though it looked as if it could also serve as a display unit; the chair surrounding it were large and very comfortable. The ceiling had discrete climate control vents, some speakers, and some nodes that might just be holographic display units. Perhaps 2 minutes after she entered the room, a young blond man just a few years her senior entered the room, wearing a dark grey business suit, holding what looked to be a translucent tablet PC, and with a somewhat distracted look on his face. When he noticed Jessica's presence, he looked fully up and walked over, a smile on his face. He offered her a firm handshake. "Excellent! I was hoping you'd be able to make it this morning. We've got a lot to talk about, and probably not as much time as we'd like to do so in. Oh, right, names. I'm Baron Magnus Vilhelm Katastrof; welcome to Katasrof & Sorenson Technologies. Would you like to have a seat? Do you need any refreshments?" He sat down in a chair that was shaped a bit differently from the others (though not by much) at the "head" of the oblong table; he gestured to one of the chairs next/near to him.

OOC. For stuffs. Infiltrator: Empousa; Portrait Thief: Kobalos; Portrait Muscle: Hekatoncheire; Portrait Mastermind: Arachne; Portrait The above are the 4 NPCs being used. At the moment, no rolling, but. :twisted:

"There's certainly enough heroes in the city for a bunch of teams! Who knows? Maybe you'll join one sooner than you think. Either way." He fell silent as well for a few moments, apparently just enjoying the view. "Made a "nemesis" or three yet? That's one of the "fun" parts of the job. Whether it's specific villains, or groups, it's honestly kind of funny when they just hyper-focus on you." He shrugged. "Gallows humor, I don't know. But I guess it's the same reason I scratch my head at some of these folks..."

Gabriel frowned slightly at the mention of deputization. "This deputization is short-term only, yes? I don't need something conflicting with my League membership." He paused, shaking his head at the poster in amusement. "Just what is it you think we can accomplish that your own agents cannot? Is this a matter of power, or of something else? Authority? Deniability?"

"Didn't have a key. I'd just texted Trevor. Midnight. You know." He gives Erin a sidelong glance as she calls her boyfriend "Midnight" and clearly displays a fair bit of...he couldn't pin it down, but something was going on. If it hadn't been 2-something AM, the Terminus wasn't involved, and he hadn't assumed Erin would punch him in half through the wall, he might have gently said something. So it was probably better he didn't! He followed her down into the Cave, eyeballing the china cabinet entrance with a thought toward his own "secret base"... -------------------------------------- Cobalt Templar nodded at the plan. "I can stay sky-bound, keep up a platform for us so we can all go in together without being on the roof or something. It's not subtle, but it at least gives us the distance option. And I can get us in there quick; it'd be a wild ride, though." His wide grin gave the impression he wouldn't mind trying such an entrance out, though. But as he contemplated the mysterious call, he frowned. "It was routed around, so at least this "Trawler" doesn't know who I am behind the mask. But I thought that whole thing was kept secret? Isn't it more likely she just picked a smaller hero group, you guys, and then a couple other heroes? I'm not front-page stuff, but I'm all over the city, and I'm by no means subtle. And Eve's got some connections in the science business. Maybe she connected just enough dots? Though....that's not really a great thought, either.

Ninjas wait for no man, it seemed. Almost before BK had confirmed CT's plan, several ninjas were airborne, soaring toward the blue-clad hero. Some almost immediately flew backwards, slammed away by the blunt end of his self-constructed weapon. Other stopped in mute surprise as their weapons were deftly sliced apart, before the flat of the fiery blade hit them upside the head and knocked them down. Of course, a few got back up; whether it was sheer grit driving them on, or Templar's blows not imparting all the force he wanted. And while he was no slouch in the speed and agility department, it wasn't his strong point, and after a minute, he had a couple ninjas physically grappling with him. Each arm had a ninja attempting to hold it still. Had his strength been that of a mortal, the blue-clad hero would surely have been at their mercy. Instead he shrugged and flew upwards about 5 feet...before suddenly turning himself and the two ninjas horizontal and slamming back down into the ground. His opponents stayed put as he stood up, looking around. The naginata dissipated, and he decided to stick with his fists for a moment, though the armor around his arms seemed to thicken a bit. Only four ninja mooks remained, after all! And those were quickly dispatched. Then a large, meaty hand wrapped around this throat, gripping it like an iron vice. "Urk!" Cobalt Templar's eyes widened as the "sumo wrestler" seemingly casually picked him up with one hand, a grin on his face. He brought the young hero up as high as his arm could reach (which even to CT seemed rather far up in the air), before slamming him down flat on his back with shocking speed. This time, the armor all over his body showed cracks, and he lay there dazed and confused for several moments. The wind was knocked out of him for sure! 'That hurt more than the time I got Erin to punch me as hard as she could, back before we stabbed Omega in the face. At least I think it hurts more. Ow. Pain.' A few long seconds stretched, and the padded giant grinned again, raising one booted foot up to crush Templar's head... Right before a blue fist the size of the sumo's head grabbed his foot. The large man's eyes bugged out in surprise as Cobalt Templar growled in anger, slowly standing up to a height that dwarfed even the giant before him, casually holding the man upside down with one arm! "That HURT." And then he proceeded to slam the sumo wrestler back and forth into the ground, flopping around like a doughy rag doll for several moments, before ending up back on his feet. Barely. Before the sumo-ninja could clear his head, the fire-giant in front of him grabbed him, flipped him upside down, and proceeded to fly up past the second floor of the mall. At which point he slammed the surprisingly tough ninja into the ground in a giant-sized piledriver that left a small crater in the floor. A crater from which the sumo didn't move, even as a now-normal sized Cobalt Templar strode toward where Bee-Keeper faced off against the large muscular man. He was about to shout some encouragement at his armored comrade when he felt a slight buzz and cold metal at his throat. Without moving his head or neck, he shifted his gaze to the woman with two swords. She was standing there calmly, her face betraying no emotion. "So. Come here often?" Her flat stare didn't give him much hope of talking this out.

Today is gaming day, so won't be around at all really, though maybe a bit tonight. Tomorrow is church and then taking my brother back to college, so it'll be mid-afternoon before I'm able to get on. Just FYI.

I had a busy week and haven't had a distinct "opening scene" write itself in my head. Also, I'm still waiting to see if someone wants to do a "co-op" thread.

Gabriel snorted as he leaned against the wall next to the cell door. "Wow, Paddy? What's next, jokes about potatoes? Oh, wait, maybe jokes about priests? Possibly about leprechauns? I mean, sheesh man, at least try for some original material. Besides, I've fought ghouls that nearly ripped my guts out. Bodily harm from one source isn't any scarier than another." He gave a another derisive snort. "Also, "T-meth"? Wow. You guys can barely make anything up! At least "Martinet's Tears" is sort of original-ish. Bet you didn't come up with that one. Still, those sound kinda scary. What, would your plan involve "throw a bunch of drugs and a couple wacky guns at street gangs and see what happens"? Not pleasant, but hardly world-shaking. Maybe if your plan was to try and take us down in about 40,000 years or something. Still, seems pretty lame." Of course, he was actually glad; they'd just gotten information they might not have had before, information the League could use to start tracking some of these drugs on the street.

Gabriel reached a hand up to his face and gave an exaggerated yawn. "Oh, sorry about that. You're just so boring. I mean, "I like plans, yes" and "oh I'd offer power and eternal life and junk" are...well, those are kind of "duh" things. We could have figured that on our own! You're not totally stupid, so sure you've got plans." He leaned over a bit to Miss A and Steve and stage-whispered. "Except diet plans!" He straightened out and brushed some imaginary lint from his jacket. "I think you're just clueless. I mean, you clearly don't actually know anything. I guess we could just leave? I don't feel like playing entertainer for a guy ripping off Errol Flynn. It's as dull as that brain of his."

I think I will get in on this Bluffing game! Switching Array to "Charisma mode". Skill Mastery for Bluff 50.

I think I will get in on this Bluffing game! Switching Array to "Charisma mode". Skill Mastery for Bluff 50.

Corbin sent a quick acknowledgement to Edge, followed by a quick notice to Trevor (his mother would scold him for being impolite otherwise). As he headed downstairs, he scrounged up some paper and pen to leave a note for his parents. As the paper was laid on the counter, he was, in a brief flash of blue light, clad in his "classic" costume. His expression was grim; if the Terminus was truly involved, dire consequences could be ahead. He quietly opened and closed the doors, glancing around once more....Before streaking into the sky. As a precaution, he flew up several thousand feet, and "slightly" adjusted his position, before flying straight down. His prodigious willpower kept his excess power leashed, and there was no tell-tale flash of light or trail of fire in his wake, though he did provide a momentary flash of blue against the night sky. He landed behind some bushes not too far from the front door, and when he walked out he was dressed in his "civilian" clothes. His hand reached up to knock, but...He knew Trevor's grandfather likely needed his rest. Instead, he opted to message Trevor.

"The worrisome rumors, yes. We have to make use of all our resources, no matter how distasteful." He eyed the jury-rigged cell security systems. "Looks like you at least know what's what in that thing's guts. And if they get rowdy in there, well." He smirked. "I'm sure you'll keep them in line." That was when Steve woke Steelgrave up and confronted him. He frowned as Shadian almost immediately started working his way under Steve's metaphorical skin. He was not happy with the situation, not one bit, and it quickly showed on his face. But his stride was smooth, controlled as he walked over to visibility in front of the cell. "It has to do with you because your brain is still intact. You seem to have most or all of the "real" Steelgrave's knowledge. Even locked up down here. So if this was an existing plan from before your "download" was made, you'd know of it. If it isn't, you could speculate based on your knowledge of yourself and the others. We're giving you a chance for conversation and to show of your superior intellect. Humor us with what you might know or speculate, hm?"

"Yeah. Some sort of "technical consultation"; one of the guards mentioned it while I was making arrangements for us to come in today." Both eyebrows went up at the mentions of Steve needing him to provide....creative interference. "Um. I...understand complicated. That's fine, I'll talk to her, you can go give Steelgrave your patented glare. You know, the one that made those OVERSHADOW agents toss down their guns a couple months back?" His expression grew more grave at Steve's final comment. "Yeah. I know this is a tough moment anyways. We need to keep our head in the game, no problems." -------- As the elevator opened, Gabriel stepped forward with a smile and a handshake for the desk officer. "Good morning, Officer Johnson. Thanks for helping us out today. Here's our temporary badges. Anything else? Excellent." Procedure and pleasantries finished, Gabriel strode down the dark hall, all but shedding light on his own, the stark overhead bulbs casting a slightly odd glow off of his silvery, otherworldly armor. He'd spotted Miss Americana and Officer McInnis almost immediately. He stopped next to both of them, giving a smile and a nod of his head to each. "Officer McInnis, a pleasure. Miss Americana, nice to see you again. Wrapping up your consultation?" He cast an inquisitive eye at the partially-disassembled door, and the fine powder spread around its base.

"Morning, Steve!" Gabriel touched down, all whites and silvers like always, waving a "hello" at the guards and staff nearby. He chuckled at Steve's comments about the security system. "I set a few metal detectors off myself, these days." Gabriel gave a smile and a wink to let both Steve and the guards know he was joking. In truth, he was somewhat nervous. While fallen angels and fae lords and ladies were practically normal for him to face these days, the Terminus was still unknown enough to make him nervous. And the Steelgrave clone they'd "rescued" had left him wondering if he had about 10 extra angles working, even now... "Didn't seem right to keep you out of the loop. You might be some of our best insight regarding...this source. Anyways, guess we should check in with the security fellas, huh?" He strode up to the men at the gate and quickly got them both going through the door. He was all smiles and politeness and formality as they descended into the deeper sections of the prison. "I'm guessing Miss Americana is already down there?"

Tagging! With some hopes of epic sonic duelry later! :D

Corbin frowned at the phone message. He'd never heard of this "Trawler", but just the mention of "Terminus" had him on edge. The implications of shady deals at Grant, well.... 'Man, scary or no, I can totally believe that place has got its fingers in stuff like that. Anything to get an edge and make a buck...Better not tell Dad, he'd probably rant for an hour.' That he'd rather not inadvertently bring trouble down on his father helped that decision; Albert Hughes typically left hero work to his giant of a son, but if it was something "mundane" at a business the usually-quiet man had loudly railed against at least a half-dozen times in the last year...Corbin worried his father would stir up questions and trouble, and someone would come after him. But the other worry is that this didn't sound like it was just "ruthless corporation finds scraps of Terminus technology". This "Trawler" lady had mentioned "heavy firepower", and anything Terminus at a biological research company gave him an unconscious shiver up his spine. He recalled the dead world Wander came from... "This definitely isn't the time for solo crap. Let's see what Trevor knows..." He pulled out his smartphone and fired off a quick text/email to his former teammate. After a moment, he copied the message to Erin (without changing), reasoning she'd likely want to be in the loop, and might possibly have just as quick of access to Trevor as Trevor's own phone.

Knowledge: Business

Rolling Knowledge: Business: 28.