KnightDisciple

On their way over to the plant, Cobalt Templar had donned what looked like a dull blue and grey shaded urban camoflague pattern field uniform, like something the military would use. Just without all the extra gear; his head bore the same soft hat the Army might issue, and the blue mask on his face was the only part out of place. Something in him had changed as well, and his aura, normally a flare of not-quite-fire around his body when he flew, was nonexistent. When they landed, he went into a tight crouch that disguised his bulk, keeping him behind cover as they had a last-minute conference on tactics. Sea Devil proved the decisive voice, and CT nodded at her words. He gestured for Singularity and Foreshadow to follow her and let him come last. "I'll be rearguard and overwatch." As he spoke, the uniform on his person became raw energy, its light tamped down, and it moved across his body, until it was a suit of armor bearing a cloak, clearly designed for moving unnoticed. The blue patterns had darkened, and his chest bore a dulled red rendition of an eagle emblem, one with head pointed to the sky and wings outstretched. His left shoulder bore a "101" in the same shade of red, while his right shoulder bore an eagle's head. In his arms, a weapon that would be over-sized for the average person manifested itself. Cobalt Templar scanned the horizon through his weapon's scope until the other three heroes were down into the waterways below. Then, and only then, he slip in, quiet as a ghost.

Hm. Well, I can roll a Knowledge: Tactics, but, broadly speaking, I see 3 strategies: -Everyone blaze in -Two forces, one all-out attack and one stealth -Everyone sneak in Let's assume Teleport won't work no matter who does it (since none of us are Annihilists or Omegadrones). I think (looking at our sheets) we have a non-zero chance of sneaking in. If we go for that, I say we sneak through the parking lot to the nearest building that gives us access to the underground. Then, we have...hm. Someone needs to run point. We should probably keep Foreshadow safe-ish so he can do tech-stuff to the DOOMGIZMO. I could put CT on point, especially once his edits are official and he's got a pretty-decent stealth and perception. He can also adapt on the fly sufficiently to help the others rally to him. Or stealth-kill a Drone with a dramatic neck snap.

Thoughtspeed let the weird time-traveling man talk, nodding at the appropriate moments, trying to build a better picture of what "had" happened, what "might" happen, and what "should" happen. He didn't speak as the man left, simply staring where he'd been and contemplating what might be happening... ====================== Thoughtspeed had, naturally, gotten on-site first, and had nodded a greeting when Grim showed up, having heard (a mixture of things) about a fellow alumnus of Claremont. "Apparently. Bit of an odd situation, really. Especially since it's about someone who will invent...a gizmo that can look at the future?"

Cobalt Templar hadn't met Sea Devil or Singularity. He'd heard quite a bit about them. Erin practically ranted about it sometimes. Well, as much as she ranted about anything, to anyone who wasn't Trevor. Really, these things were relative anyway. Point was, he knew who all these folks were, at least their hero-names. And right now, what else mattered? His body's armor faded for the moment, leaving him wearing his mask, a blue ball-cap to cover more of his head, and a rumpled pair of jeans. And nothing else (visible); when the others inevitably gave him an odd look, he gave a sheepish shrug and rubbed the back of his neck for a second, blushing slightly. "The invasion kind of woke me up, and I haven't had a lot of free time lately." Getting a bit more serious, he came up to the table and threw back his glass of scotch in a single motion, though he took a few moments to roll it around in his mouth before swallowing. He seemed unbothered by the burn. "Good stuff." He nodded at Sea Devil mentioning Midnight's plan. "I haven't gotten word of the full plan, but if Midnight's involved along with you, Foreshadow, I'm in 100%. Just tell me where we need to go and when. I can get in quiet then make some noise. Been a while since I've gotten to wreck Omegadrones. Maybe this time I can show Steelgrave what mortality's like; his boss never did take kindly to that." The fact that he's standing in an underground vigilante lair, shirtless and shoeless while bearing a blue mask (with whited-out eyes) and a conjured ball-cap didn't really seem out of place to him.

FYI I finished the post last night.

Hey everyone, I know I just did this not long ago, but I'm going to be traveling for a few days starting tomorrow. My computer/internet access will be limited, mostly i-devices, never mind spending time with my family and whatnot. I apologize for any delays this introduces.

I had a work call come in while working on the post, and at this point it'll be tomorrow before I have enough brain cells to do anything with it.

War never really changes, not at the end of the day. Fear, anger, courage, cowardice, hope, despair, death, life, all mixed together and stirred with the sounds of silence and violence at any one moment. This one just had higher consequences than some. Cobalt Templar had been seemingly all over the besieged Freedom City, helping hold the line many times. A few times, he'd laid in wait and ambushed one or two of the "hero killer" Omegadrones that prowled about, using skills honed in decades of war against super-soldiers, mechanical wonders, and worse. Despite his size, he'd found ways to move and not move that kept him from sight until the moment of his choosing. And while Omegadrones were dangerous....they were typically also a little stupid. He'd used that to his advantage, along with his size and power. Now, he found himself at the lair of the new Foreshadow, feeling all the years he had in experience over his peers and friends, his eyes showing more age than his face. He tried not to worry about Quo-Dis, knowing she was with a team of powerful companions out west, knowing that as easy as it would be to see her, this was not the time. There was work to be done. Cobalt Templar landed, a classic three-point landing as his cape flared. He stood slowly, looked around, and entered the building, just a few moments after Singularity and Sea Devil. Once he landed, he walked with purpose and assurance, quickly finding the staircase and taking it down, his ears catching the sounds of his fellow heroes as they descended ahead of him.

Updated - Absurdist For Cobalt Templar Available PP: 16 Raising his Effective PL to 14. Spend 2PP to raise his Enhanced Strength in his Internal Fire Container to +8 (raising Strength to 30/22 (+10/+6); Grapple: +16, +29 Ring) Spend 2PP to raise his Enhanced Constitution in his Internal Fire Container to +10 (raising Constitution to 30/20 (+10/+5); Toughness: +14/+10/+5 (+10/+5 Con, +4 Protection): Fortitude: +13/+12/+7 (+10/+5 Con, +1 Enhanced, +2)) This makes the Container be marked as: Internal Fire 3.8 (19PP Container [Passive, Permanent]) [19PP] [Magic] Raise Device to 25 with 8PP (and tweak description): Device 25 (125PP Container, Flaws: Hard-To-Lose, Feats: Restricted 2) [102PP] ("Blue Ring of the Determined Leader" [Blessed/Holy, Magic]) Within the Device: Spend 1PP/DP to raise Enhanced Reflex to 3 (resulting in Reflex: +11/+8 (+3 Dex, +3 Enhanced, +5)) Spend 1PP/DP to raise Enhanced Will to 2 (resulting in Will: +12/+10 (+2 Wis, +2 Enhanced, +8)) Spend 2PP/DP to raise Enhanced Attack to 2 (resulting in Attack: +14/+12) Spend 2PP/DP to raise Enhanced Defense to 6 (resulting in Defense: +14 (+6 Base, +2 Dodge Focus, +6 Enhanced), +6/+3 Flat-Footed) Spend 2PP/DP to raise Blast [Inside of Holy Fire Control Array) to 14 (resulting in Holy Fire Control 14 (28PP Array; PFs: Affects Insubstantial 2, Alternate Power 1) [30PP] (Fires of Judgement) BP: Blast 14 (10 140ft Range Increments / 1400ft Max Range) [28PP]"Rain of Fire") Spend 2PP/DP to raise Super-Strength to 8 (resulting in Lifting STR 70 [Heavy Load: 200 tons] and Grapple: +16, +30 Ring) That's 10 PP/DP spent. The remaining 4 PP will be spent on Skills: +4 to Notice: Notice 8 (+10) +2 to Acrobatics, Craft (Artistic), Knowledge (Arcane Lore), Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Tactics), and Stealth, resulting in: Acrobatics +10 (13) Craft (Artistic) +10 (12) Knowledge (Arcane Lore) +10 (12) Knowledge (History) +10 (12) Knowledge (Tactics) +10 (12) Stealth +10 (13) This should put CT's Attack, Defense, and Toughness at +14, and the Toughness Save from his Blast and Strike to 29. His PP spread will be: Abilities (38) + Combat (36) + Saving Throws (15) + Skills (22) + Feats (9) + Powers (121) - Drawbacks (0) = 243/243 Power Points

Works for me.

Will frowned at this rather tangled story. "Okay, so putting the vaguely skeezy air this is starting to take aside, are you saying that this Pablo guy being on the catering staff is how it's supposed to be? Or he got, like, demoted, and now there's less chance of Jodi being born?" He gives Norris a critical, skeptical look. "Just what are you wanting me, us, to do about all of this?"

*Sighs* Missed the cutoff for May. Thoughtspeed I'm a Believer...Are You?: 2 IC Posts When We Were Gone Astray: 1 IC Posts Guide PP to Cobalt Templar.

Thoughtspeed had the decency to look a bit embarrassed at Scarab's clarification. He regained his footing quickly enough, even with Mister Mood Freezer standing about. "Well. Um. Still, I can appreciate someone taking up a legacy like that! That's one of the great things about us super-types, that sense of...continuity, I guess?" Then a statue-looking guy walked up and...was apparently interested in Scarab's gloves? Thoughtspeed glanced between the other two heroes, his eyebrow raised. He'd let them take the lead on this one. No skin off his back! More time to watch the crowd, too, which he did with his typical alacrity, his body blurring a couple of times as he made quick circuits of the area.

I would be willing to send someone with Singularity and Sea Devil; perhaps Cobalt Templar? I'd be interested in Gabriel being in on the Evac thread early on. If there's room I'd like to get Judex in the Bedlam thread, but if that one's at capacity, no worries. I'd maybe be interested in Raven getting in on the action somewhere too. A chance to really test the Unkindness? And really, I'm up for getting in whereever I can. I will pre-warn that next weekend I'll likely be unable to post for a few days due to being out of town (Thurs-Mon, roughly), but after that I'm back to regular days/schedule for a good while.

As mentioned yesterday in chat, my presence around the baords is going to be spotty at best for the next week and a half or so. My maternal grandfather passed away and I've got his funeral this weekend, and I've got my brother-in-law's wedding next weekend. My access to anything with more ability than an iDevice will be on-and-off.

Thoughtspeed managed not to show his inner thoughts when Comrade Frost completely killed the mood. Best to press on. He shook the pretty lady's hand with a big grin on his face. "Scarab, huh? Well, glad to see you're back out and about on the streets." He didn't fully understand how the red-and-gold hero's shtick worked but his folks spoke words that were fairly positive about the hero...at least in the past. His grandmother, too, once you decoded it. Comrade Frost, on the other hand, had been one of the sources of some of the more interesting words he'd learned from his grandmother. "I'm Thoughtspeed. Nice to make your acquaintance. As for the...proceedings...it's certainly interesting, if nothing else." His body language, previously casual and a bit flirty, is now noticeably more alert. He didn't visibly scan the crowd, at least to the average eye, though the two heroes looking right at him might notice a few moments of blurring around his person before he resumed. "Does feel a bit like it could turn bad if something goes wrong, though."

Thoughtspeed was out for a run-patrol, enjoying the night air and the feeling of barely touching the ground as he sped along, when the man in the out-of-place getup appeared and started talking time travel. He was stopped and listening in an instant. His family had drilled the importance of at least being respectful to time travelers into him, even if he hadn't been taught to implicitly trust them. So he stopped and listened, nodding gravely at the appropriate times. He wasn't sure he bought how wonderful this "future viewing" stuff was, but it sounded like someone was going to try keeping a kid from being born, and that was never cool. "Feel free to talk fast, I can keep up. So this lady's not born yet? What do I need to do to help someone not erase her or whatever? Does this involve cyborg assassins? My dad keeps warning me about them, and they don't sound as fun as ninjas."

Thoughtspeed kept his helmet closed and his body near-visibly charged with kinetic energy. This event looked like a big hippiefest his folks would probably love, at least on the surface. But between all the powered folks wandering around, the super-lax security (his mom could slip in in her sleep, literally), and the fact that the whole premise of this event was the sort of thing to set basically everyone else on edge... He saw a few Freedom City based heroes. He'd heard his dad talk about that Frost character a few times, so he just gave him a silent nod from a couple dozen feet away. But then he spotted her. Scarab would hear a slight whoosh of air, and then, bam, there was a young man in a black bodysuit with glowing green lines and a dark helmet that retracted to show a smiling face, handsomely messy hair, a big domino-style mask, all atop a figure striking a rather blatantly flirty pose. "Hey there! I'm Thoughtspeed. Nice to meetcha!"

Sorry, I just saw this. FYI @Sylinator, for future reference, PMing me here or in Discord works better than tagging me in Discord, since I lose the tag in the shuffle sometimes.

Yeah, I'll keep my eyes open!

Raven III Try Harder: 9 IC posts Guide PP to Cobalt Templar

I'll offer up Thoughtspeed, albeit with a warning that while he hits PL10 caps he's at PL12 PP.

After they arrived at the Rookery, Ashley had quickly changed and left in a discrete car they'd arranged for her to take. Alek had parked The Unkindness, and it was already withdrawn into the garage, nestled safely in the auto-repair bay, robotic waldos moving over it and fixing the minor dents and dings their little outing had accumulated on it. The Raven suit was mostly gone, only his under-layer remaining, the belt and armor pieces laid out to be cleaned and repaired. The only piece missing was the cowl itself. Currently, it sat on the computer console, its empty lenses staring right back at Alek's pensive eyes as he stat there, hands steepled in front of his mouth. He was pondering the events of the night, rolling the scenario around in his head. He had no satisfactory conclusions he could make; just questions and half-answers. After almost half an hour, he stood and went to shed the under-layer and change into civilian clothes. He needed to talk to his adoptive father; perhaps he'd have the best perspective on some of the jumble that Alek was experiencing right now. He walked up the stairs, the lights going down in the bunker-cave. The cowl still sat there, shrouded in darkness. Waiting for when it was needed next.

What sort of Power Level range are you looking for in this adventure, Syl? I'd be willing to lend a character.

"Oh, that rumor's still circulating? Good." Alek actually smirked. "I am an orphan; my biological parents died when I was barely a year old. The Raven rescued me from the circumstances I spent several years in after that. I was adopted by others besides her, though; at the time I didn't know who was behind the mask. And as I said, I approached her fro training and eventually, possibly, inheriting the mask. But the story of 'Raven adopts an orphan she trains to replace her' has good thematics, and obscures the issue in ways we find useful." At her question about Foreshadow, he smiled a bit. "Heh. He's a good guy. Not much older than me, really. Lot mouthier, though. He seems to have taken the role well."