Ari

GM May 7th, 7.54 P.M. There was a rumor going around the vagrants and homeless of the Fens, mutters and whispers of a vicious night-stalker, a holdover from the brutal Moore era of the city when the streets were feared even in the wealthiest districts, and the Fens was considered nearly suicidal to live in for more than a week. It was said that it, she or he prowled the borders of the Greenbank and Fens, searching for petty crooks and drug dealers to slaughter in fits of bloodied justice, leaving messages carved into the nearest flat surface justifying the presence of the inevitable splash of blood marking the only known remains of the victim. The monster knew everything about its victims: their names, habits, tastes and haunts all revealed to them, as the crude messages always revealed. With a crunching noise of grit underfoot, Marceau Suvou, the King of Suits in the House of Cards and as he said of himself "passably competent in crime-fighting" alighted on a roof overlooking the scattered warehouses and rail yards, office buildings that once tallied the wealth that flowed into the city and the docks that accepted the world's tribute, all slowly decaying, all rusting away and being gradually forgotten. He scanned the long flat buildings glinting in the dusk light and growing star and moonlight with shining blue eyes, observed the myriad of hiding places fifty human monsters could hide in with ease, and swung down from the side of the crumbling soap factory he had perched on. Landing with a soft thud, he retracted the pronged head from its crevice in the wall high above, and slipped noiselessly into an alleyway that, unknown to perhaps 98% of Freedonians, led him directly into the old Percy-Edward railway yard, just behind the main freight yard. This is going to take a while he told himself resignedly. At least he had some clues...

"Glad to hear it!" Marceau said cheerily, launching himself slightly off the wall and stopping with a sharp wobble slightly closer to Bram. Taking out a small pad of paper and a slim red pen he explained to the Penitent "Seeing as you are all but proven not guilty of the killings((With regards to Mz. Lightbearer), most of my questions can be safely discarded. All that needs answering are these questions:" scanning the paper briefly he quickly found the short list, and rattled them off "First: Have you been informed or become aware of any changes in your demeanor recently?" he flicked the collar of his cape back upright after realizing it was drooping noticeably " Second, do you have known relatives with powers similar to yours? Thirdly, have you been approached by any admirers who seemed...unstable?" he said the word with great care "Fourthly, is there some unknown clause or catch to an-slash-the agreement that grants you your powers that might result in you attacking people without your knowledge? Fifth and finally, to your knowledge have you made any enemies who you know could make cloned or robotic duplicates of yourself?" He smiled again at the Penitent "I'm fairly sure those don't cover all the potentialities, but they strike me as the most likely." he glanced with no little wonder at Starlight, adding politely "If I may, I would like to assist in you and these grand ladies' efforts to stop the creature posing as you." His bright blue eyes practically sparkled with hope.

Going for a Trip Attack against Ernest #3. Attack roll: 13. Great job, IC. Move Action next to Glow using Flight, As a Reaction I'd like to Interpose the next Attack against Crow. EDIT: Changing that to a non-Trip Attack, everything else same. Editing IC post.

"]There is no time for care, Young Britannia!" thundered El Heraldo, leaping a couple of feet into the air and rocketing towards one of the Snake people cultists, one hand clenched into a fist, the other gripping the Banner in a red-gloved hand. "If we can stop these villains from completing their purpose before they have a chance to open this gateway to the past(how does that WORK? he wondered)we can prevent in one stroke their ever gaining their foothold in the past! We can prevent untold horror and tragedy, if only we strike instantly! I admit, it may be a trifle foolish to charge in like this, but Fortune is ever said to favor the bold! Besides which, such an attack as this will disrupt their own defense, being forced as they now will be to fight on two fronts at once, rather than preventing us both from reaching them they must instead combat the enemy in their midst as well as the one at a safer distance; truly they shall be hard-pressed to keep up such a struggle. And ayway, if they have some vile devilry prepared for us, I would rather it fell upon me rather than you" he said, hurtling towards the hapless cultist like a red, yellow and blue bullet! Subito..you idiot child moaned the Blue Dame in his head You might have just cost us the victory! Listen to your elders, young man! But victory is nigh! pleaded El Heraldo as he swept through the sewer FINE snapped the genius loci this one attack, then return to the side of the British spirit of Justice for her orders she said with stern fury But victoryyyy Silence! As you wish O Blue Dame Good youth.

Very well. Combat is concluded, with the result being Net Fly's defeat and capture by the robotnioticcions.(1HP) He is taken out of the Main Computer room and locked in the ship he came aboard in. Note that you have free reign over the vessel, you just can't get it to takeoff.

GM One thing the book wasn't was lean on indexes. Every single page was listed in the Contents section directly after a blank page, with a brief summary of the leaf's purpose and relevance to the function of the mainframe. Thus, it was a breeze to quickly locate the needed explanation for turning it on(it seemed the lights only came on when it was off. Somehow), and even an exhaustive series of ddaigrams showing how to use the control panel to program the thing for its various functions. One of the functions listed was "Controlling the Goals and Movements of the System's robot Servants", and by the worn edges of the page this part had seen frequent use, as did the scribbles throughout the margins recording various questions and odd problems that had arisen over the years of the thing's use. in fact, just about every page was all but filled with little notes about problems that had been encountered during the mainframe's use.

GM El Heraldo: The older man laughed aloud, tossing the car carelessly aside to send it careening through a streetlamp ina shower of torn metal and shattered glass, followed by the engine exploding and taking much of the car with it. The civilians were mostly shielded from the blast, and the only vulnerable ones were saved by the rain of debris striking Strongarm first. Still chuckling, but with an odd look in his dark eyes, the falen man of might replied thoughtfully "Kid, you're not fooling anyone. I can see from here how scared you are, and that's okay. I was scared of people like me before I became like them too." Another disquieting smile. "Still," he admitted with his languid voice "You make a good point. I should do what I want to, instead of being someone's lackey" he shook his head sadly "But that's life, I can't live entirely under my own power yet, so until then, I need a sponsor!" His smile became a little more morose, and slightly less human. Net Fly: As the world around him dimmed, the robots eyes' took on a more fearsome light, and they rushed to press their advantage, firing another barrage of shots as one of their number scuttled over to ready themselves for a leap onto the rotating computing sphere. Their shots struck home, and with accompnaying jolts of pain, burnt clothing and a dented Megaphone, the floating mutant was sent to the ground. Said ground being blocked by the rotating sphere, he fell on that instead, and was quickly caught by the robot that had been assigned(or chosen to) catch him from it. Carrying him with neat efficiency that pulled at his already aching limbs four of the robots made their speedy way with him to the hanger, passing by dimly-heard scenes of chaos as the 'bots cooly went about fixing the damage Net Fly had caused, their comms entirely unaffected by his attempted blanking. With a thud, he was tossed onto the hard floor fo the ship he had arrived on, and with the thrum of the magnetic lock he was sealed within. A crackle heralded the things' message over his ship's communications "we will perform the experiments in five hours. make your peace, organic."

Another volley from the robotyzakids, four shooting at you, one moving themselves closer to the sphere and Readying a general "jump over there and grab the guy" plan of action. Attack rolls: 23, 17, 10, 22. So three hits(I think), 3 DC18 TOU checks.

El Heraldo fought to remain calm under the renegade paragon's stare, smiling throuhgout and saying as strongly as he could(which wasn't much) "I...I see. In light of this, I must say I am scarcely impressed! Someone of your caliber, as someone else's hired killer? It beggars belief that you would lower yourself so, when you could be doing things far more to your own likings." He nearly bit his tongue trying to keep himself steady while he spoke, leaning on his own prop in the form of his Banner. "An accident? I dearly hope nobody was hurt!" He exclaimed seriously, frowning a little at the news. He almost asked why he had never heard of it when he remembered and rubbed his forehead. Right, this is a simulation. Gotta keep that in mind he reminded himself sternly, wondering if he would need to end up fighting the guy before this was done...

Heraldo's Bluff Attempt to convince Strongarm he's totally not fazed by his murderous ways: 11. Not good. Strongarm's Sense Motive check: 11. The Hell?! okay, so Strongarm can tell how rattled Subito is.(-2 circumstance bonus for Heraldo vs. Initimade checks). Also, Diplomacy check on EH's part: 18. Strongarm was Unfriendly before, is now Indifferent.

GM Two more parts of the Whole were sent in pieces through the air, their sonicallly-shattered limbs and torsos making perfect parabolas through the air before crashing into rattling heaps and spiralling off the ramp into the rounded bottom of the Main Computerroom, leaving long marks in the polished metal floor. The surviving robots made no answer to Net Fly's counterpoint, satisfying themselves with keeping up their rate fo fire on the vibrating hero, three more bolts slamming into his arms and shoulder. All the while, the sphere in the center which the attacking robots were still connected to, had kept up a constant movement, creating a barely-felt field of power that seemed to be having some adverse effect on the robot's accuracy.

Tou save DC22: 30, woohoo!

Okay, apparently it's Initiative time, so.: 11. Wow. Okay, Crow has the higher bonus, so he goes before El Heraldo.

El Heraldo will execute a Slam maneuver(if possible) on one of the Cultists. Attack roll: 13. Bah. If by some alchemy it hits, DC is 22(+4 Accelerated movement, +3 from using the Flight power rank). EDIT: Also, Free Action to speak while flying at the Cultist.

The sudden turn the visit had taken was a complete surprise to Subito, and he had to struggle to keep naked confusion from his voice as he replied softly to Hayden "The Serpent people? Seriously? I have heard little good and much ill arising from any dealings with them. That aside, I understand wholly your frustration," he said, thinking back to his long rankling in the shadow of his incredible elder sister "real knowledge of the Atlanteans would be of tremendous good and interest to all our people." He removed his hat and ran his heavy fingers around his curly hair with a sigh "Very well, tell us, and we-" he was interrupted by Kristin's interjection. Listening to the quiet air of the manor El Heraldo nodded twice and returned his feathered hat to its rightful place, drew his Banner and muttered to her "Understood, O luminescent Glow. If you wish for me to carry Mr. Hayden out of here I will do so instantly." He placed a hand on the other man's shoulder in case this was needed, gently pushing Todd towards the door, with himself angled to shield the man from attack. How the blazes did Kris know about that? What's going on? he wondered in total befuddlement.

"Actually, I will." Wave-Eye said quietly, coiling himself into a ball of tensed muscles before firing through the gap hard enough to cut, bruise and scratch himself on the hard rocks, clawing ungainly through the narrowed slot to safety and open water free of the stench of ancient deaths... ...For the moment. Spinning on his tail, Nochehuatl raised his Conch to his lips and blew a fearsome blast, sending a hammer of red-veined water to smash into the rock face hard enough to blow several tons of rock free from it. With his massive strength, he quickly set about levering them into place, slamming them again and again against the wall to make them fit into the crevasse, blocking it from light and sound and scent forever. When he was done the free waters were a haze of dust and sand, and his chest was heaving from exertion, and some old scars had been widened to the point where he was bleeding ichor into the water. None of which mattered to him, he aimed to make sure nobody came back to this accursed place without difficulty, and that above all no-one would ever think the place was safe to enter. To that end he carved into the walls of stone in every language he knew "DO NOT ENTER HERE, THE DEAD WANDER" He raised Skull Face to eye level and said brusquely "I know the why of your plan, and I have no wish to know the how, so I shall not ask. Tell me this: do you want to be brought before the humans for justice, or shall I simply toss you into some reef for the coral to fest upon? Your choice." He looked with dull anger at the skull. An entire DAY wasted on senseless fights and fruitless searches wasn't his idea of fun or goodness.

Not going to do anything fancy with moving undersea cliffs yet, so I'll just make the check: 17. Hoorrah.

GM Net Fly: "we are not parasites, we are merely attempting to reduce the waste of finite resources in this galaxy" the electronic voices intoned as the struck robots were smashed apart by the sonic volleys. Over the sound of their answering salvoes it continued "we do not value personal ability in combat over the power of the Whole, thus the comparative weakness of our weaponry compared to your world's. our ships are far above your current level of technological expertise however, and equipped with weapons that can turn significant amounts of a planetary body into dust" Three of the shots struck home, striking the gadgeteering mutant with a flurry of hissing energy darts.

Both hit, so 2 DC24 TOU saves: 9, 15. The other five will Power Attack(+-3): 21, 19, 3, 19, 12. So 3 DC21 TOU saves please.

Okay, the 7 robotnicaisers will make another Attack. 21, 13, 13, 12, 15, 21, 19. So three hits. DC18 TOU saves as before.

3 DC24 TOU saves: 8, 16, 24. 7 left.

GM Net Fly: With a groan of warped sound, the two pulses slammed into Net Fly's targets, one of them tearing through the thing's metal body and leaving a gaping hole in the metal shell as it burrowed through, sending out a spray of fragmented metal while the thing reeled and crashed to the floor in a clatter of jerking limbs. The other managed to disperse the force of the pulse with a swing of its arm. There was a dead silence as every eye turned towards the fallen robot, followed by a hum as the robots' hands folded down, revealing glowing blasters. "you have committed an act of war against The Whole" the flat metal tones rapped out their grim syllables as their heads turned towards Net Fly "we not declare war on you, and will punish you for this treachery" it stated with finality. For a moment there was no movement on their part, and they seemed to grow more agitated, Net Fly could feel flickers of electricity coming from them as they called out to the others, and met no answer. Apparently the robots realized what had happened about the time they fired a barrage of powerful white energy bolts, most of which whizzed harmlessly about him, visibly changing course as they streaked at Serge's body. Only two managed to strike, and they felt weaker than he would have expected.

Their TOU saves: 6, 24. One down! They will attack with arm cannons(rank 3 Blast being added).(1HP for the Fiating of a new power for your opponents). 14, 15, 16, 24, 25, 20, 7, 10, 6. Looks like two hit, 2(EDIT: 3) DC18 TOU saves please.

Okay, the initiative of the ten rotobizes; 16. okay, go to. They're the regular medium-sized robots from the Core, for reference.

Alright, the camera is indeed within range, you successfully deactivate it, and are detected while doing so by the robotizoids. Still a chance to escape combat. If you wish, they aren't immune to persuasion.