Ari

Yes and yes.

GM The one who'd intercepted Deoxy paused for a moment to glance at their comrades, then began talking in earnest "It's the deal with Maruha Nichiro, it's all connected! This isn't about saving ocean life, it's just to stretch out the lifespan of their fishing subsidiaries and look all innocent when things collapse anyway!" "Think about it, Doctor. Maruha sends them fish, they augment the fish, their engineered fish outcompetes natural species and then what the Hell are we gonna do? Did they even tell you this isn't the first Platform? Have they told you about the others up near the Arctic Circle, or near the Weddel Sea? They're trying to normalize something horrible!" The others nodded fervently, their maskéd faces shifting between the besymbioted man and their looming, gleaming target of destruction. "I have heard a great deal. All good," Rayzer added with a wry smile "part of what I've followed is your dedication to protecting and preserving healthy science. I don't trust people like Americana or Daedalus, they're too close to the problem. But I heard about your efforts to help OCEAN-Freedom. One of my people works for them. They saw everything you and the...patriot heir did. As for the problem..." The smile died and Rayzer's eyes glittered fiercely as they slitted "...at base it is a problem of control. PanStar holds the genetic future of all mass-harvested marine animal life(a problem that must be dealt with soon) in its bloodied hands. You know what PanStar has done everywhere they've been. They can, thanks to technology leaked from a certain penumbral acronymed organization, control where the animals go and what they do. They experimented on sharks and have it down pat." Rayzer looked Leviathan in the eye "The law protects them but they're as much villains as any Megalodon. If anyone dies here because if what I do you can take me in and I won't make a murmur, but I won't shed any tears about a broken building. One blast from my ship and there won't even be any debris for a minnow to choke on." One light on the Platform had been growing steadily, as Rayzer finished it condensed into a harsh red dot and the water began filling with deepening vibrations, slowly heating up...

GM The polite applause that greeted Tona's fumbling words was almost worse than open derision. Among the sea of strained, glassy smiles, one low table housing noted local medical tech legends Hisao and Rebecca Saito at least had occupants willing to give her supportive looks and burn holes into Max with their eyes. Emerald's favourite son, despite his cocksure attitude and grinning unconcern, was very clearly wishing he was somewhere else by the time Amir took the mic. As the al-Misri's favourite wastrel spun the conversation back onto himself, he could almost hear Mars gritting his teeth behind him. Which made it almost a relief when the faint droning that had coalesced in Tona's ears into the humming of rotors became the shriek of super-sonics and the splintering of glass as the roof dissolved above them! As it fell, Amir launched himself into action. Summoning his absorptive aura the Lion hurtled around the hall, catching every deadly silicon blade as it sliced towards an innocent head or shoulder. Some of them got through, helped by his own rush to rescue and burying deep into his body. That was just the start. Dozens of boxy drones darted through the hall, glowing lines snapping into being between emitters on their corners and the arms and legs of the guests! "~Look lively, maggots!~" A figure in gaudy, cumbersome, blocky armor dropped in a three-point land into the hall, the floor crumbling and smashing under their weight, a cloud of dust rising to silhouette the imposing figure and their glowing eyes, a synthesized voice barking "~You're comin' with me on a little trip! And if you're smart all you're saying to the Air-Martial is 'sir, yes sir!'~"

Okay so Amir notices that Max is really shocked and confused by the Air-Martial busting in. No surprise round, straight to action. Blue Jay: Unharmed, 3HP Air-Martial: Unharmed-GM Drones(x30): Unharmed-GM Asad: Bruise(x1), Injured(x1) Rav, for this first fight Tona is struggling with flashbacks to her childhood, when people would be kidnapped and flown away by the Steam General and Omegadrones to be made into monsters. The drones descending to snatch people up with EM tethers is similar enough to be harmful. -2 to rolls, checks and saves for this fight. You are up first, having the higher Initiative bonus,

That hits for a DC28 Toughness save, Robosaur cannot make that and just detonates under Buffy's flurry of blows. Warp is up unless Echo wants to move again, in which case but say so, THEN it is Key's turn.

OOC thread for this thread. The whodunnit of our time! Citizen's Murder Mystery. @Avenger Assembled

GM March 21st, Tuesday, 2017 Then With a final burst of power Citizen's android housing scattered across the floor. The unimaginable scale of the energy needed to discorporate an Archetech android originally built for super-level combat against space-borne opponents had the air tingling and crackling for a long time. The explosion's titanic BOOM faded, cushioned by the noise-cancelation field, but it rang in the ears of those watching for hours after the fact. The core was a whiff of vapor. Behind the screens someone said "It worked." Someone else began "Now we are all sons of b-" "We talked about this. No." "Sorry." A third "He's just going to come back." The last "And now we know we can beat him. Again and again and again..." Now Citizen woke up in the quiet peace and humming familiarity of Gina Evans' digital sanctum. To a quiet little house and a big happy dog panting lovingly on his shoulder. To the certain knowledge something very wrong had happened. Archetech West wasn't equipped for holding copies of Citizen. Its spare android sets weren't even unsealed. So far as anyone knew, nothing in either Emerald City was actually personally dangerous to what was effectively the most powerful single entity on the Pacific Coast. Apparently that had changed.

By all means, please do, Ex!

The Karkarius is vaguely familiar, it looks very like a kind of submarine UNISON was developing for use in Atlantean territory and Lemurian ruins several years ago. Unfortunately they ran into several issues during development and the project was shelved. Tristan's brother Alexander once had over one of the chief engineers who talked for hours about just a few of the problems: The "tail"'s curve conducts force entirely too much, a good hit through the energy skin would be devastating this far down. A series of concealed heat vents on the "back", if blocked up, would badly damage the craft's inner systems as its wires overheated. Trick would be finding them. Similar to an actual animal, the "head" of the Karkarius contains most of the sensory equipment. If damaged it would be unable to meaningfully go anywhere.

GM "Boot-up code is on the inside of the helmet, weapon unlock is 'AEGIS defend'" Powers muttered, shouldering into cover behind an imposing barricade of armored boots "Been like that since the 90's, really gotta update that one of these days." "If only you had a bright young mind to help lighen the workload, Harry?" "Safety's on, Doctor." "...Damn it, I actually looked. Next time, Powers, next time I'll-" Then the door shimmered and a floating hedron passed through. It was about a foot from tip to...other tip. Dark as obsidian and with some kind of power flow crawling across the surface. A power flow that snapped into a squared cone of light that flashed across the armory. Methodically, visibly separating the room into quadrants, the hedron began to search the armory. Hardwire's voice called, muffled by the metal barrier "Hey sis! Sorry it took me so long! But I got you a present: an Eye-dron! Moment it sees you, it zaps! With needle-beams, like in Lensman. And anyone else it sees, really. Besides me. I'm not crazy, I'm not the kind of gal who makes her robots able to attack her. I learned from our parents, you know, like that old saying? "'children learn from what the parent does, not what the parent says'. "And Mom and Dad never missed a chance to show what they thought about some useless genetic failure like me. Not you though. You got alien DNA. 'Cause special. "So enjoy your special, extremely brutal death. Just for you! And anyone trying to help you! Guess that waters it down. Thematically, I think that's-" The manic chatter didn't conclude. It just stopped. All throughout Doris and Horatio had gone from edgy but confident to increasingly, visibly worried. And the Eye-dron searched on, each facet emitting a harsh beam that panned to inspect every surface. That part was harmless, at least.

GM The eco-warrior started at the mental voice, wheeling around and catching sight of Leviathan's massive bulk cruising through the ocean. With a sharp wave he sent five people in advanced SCUBA suits to intercept the mutualist man of science. Rayzer himself sliced through the water to meet Tristan, halting just out of the super-smart sea monster. Clapping the electronic mask over his mouth guard, he spoke through the water "Leviathan? And Dr. Deoxy? What are you doing here, it isn't safe! We're going to destroy this place and stop PanStar from buying the trademark on life!" This close, the Devil Ray comparison vanished. Rayzer was visibly grizzled and tired, with none of the submarine pirate's erratic menace. "We could use your help, Leviathan, and I think I can prove this is justified. Will you listen? Please?" Meanwhile, the squad of Raiders had caught up to Dr. Deoxy, and were fanning out to block his progress, also keeping their distance from the science hero. One of them tapped a button on the side of their helmet "Hey, you're Deoxy! What the Hell are you doing protecting PanStar?" "You with that guy?" another asked, pointing at a hulking scaly humanoid sea beast nearby "We've gotta get everyone clear before we destory this thing! You get it, don't you Doc? You know this is a horrible idea."

The Karkarius is not so simple a device that just breaking propellors will work! I mean, ripping the hull to pieces will, but a Knowledge(Tech) roll will unveil some ways to make it more efficient and alternative methods.

GM The older man grumbled a little, but returned the hug with a gentleness that belied the iron slabs he and most of the restaurant family had for muscles. He switched gladly to Greek. ">Bah, I'm rustier in this lingo than you are. You go to Crete or something? I think my cousin there mentioned seeing you once by the old Knossus ruins, that true?<" Michel waved his own questions away with one hand while another rummaged in his faded apron for a pad and Biro ">Sure, we still do that sandwich, I'll get the meat from the missus and give a ring when it's ready. Have a seat, Moira, and welcome back. Praise the Thunderer!<" With a fond smile the stocky sandwich savant stumped back into the kitchen, hollering for lamb. The two men in suits had stiffened and glanced around sharply at the word "Thunderer", but resumed their conversation, with occasional glances at Moira. Finding a seat was fairly easy, a good one only mildly less so. However, the moment she sat down somebody dropped promptly into the chair across from her. He was dressed in simple grey coveralls embroidered with the Helios Energy logo of a smiling sun, his face was drawn and severe with narrow features, a pair of the angriest eyes Moira had ever seen burning under a shelf of shaggy brown hair. He looked her in the eye "Welcome to Earth, Edone. I'm Ixion. Your great-uncle, Lord Hades, wants those" he pointed at the bracelets on her arms "and he's fine with us getting a little rough to stop you polluting the Earth with divine artifacts. That's against the Pact, you know." The feral gleam in his eyes said he'd be fine with violence no matter what the excuse.

Works for me. That concludes combat. Notice Check DC25 to spot the Hammer of Justice, by the way.

GM The man was all too willing to obey as the gulf between Earth and the world of apocalypse was torn away, and Surtur's rage boiled the sky. Half of a volcanic cliffside loomed through the portal, and to Osla's eyes it seemed almost to twist in space to catch the helicopter, a hissing cascade of magma crashing into it with all the fury an avalanche of molten rock could muster. Some of the lava spilled out onto the Bedlam street, crushing the much-abused pickup truck under lashings of red-hot igneous rock, the thing melting and groaning as it crumbled, the tires bursting spectacularly. There was a faint sigh behind Arrowhawk, a familiar voice saying "Oh well, close enough." Loki, as usual towering a few feet over Osla and dressed in silver-green jötunn finery, his thick black hair and beard seeming to catch the firelight like a net of gems, lounged under a streetlamp and surveyed the scene with a sardonic smile. Glancing at Arrowhawk he added lightly "He's been here for a while, you know. Just over there." He waved generally across the street, where the shadows seemed to cling tighter in the blazing light and heat of Musphelheim. "If you don't destroy his hiding place, he will, because why leave it standing if you don't have something on him? Really, it's for the best, and you already have the materials for it..." His eyes drew up to the cataclysmic landscape raging above them.

There was a deliberate silence, something deep in Dol-Druth's black eyes shifting and changing as billions of minds passed through its brain. To Errant it was like the soft rustling of deer padding invisibly by. "We apologize. We did not anticipate it would matter which of us you spoke to. Dol-Druth is returned." "Each new member of our race is isolated from the manymind until their brain and reception apparatus has sufficiently matured." The alien twitched his antennae. "Otherwise, until death there is no separation. It is necessary for developing a sense of self, but afterwards is of little use. Yes, if losing Dol-Druth was more useful than not, we would give him up. I would not object. But we appreciate your empathy. We would likely not feel the same." We have read all of your authors. We are aware of the dystopias and their wider context. What part do you refer to? The policing of thought? The revisionism of history? The bent of human society to the needs of perpetual war? Some other facet?"

"No, I have no idea who this guy is." Darting to and fro around the crackling man-shaped pile of static, Ishmael inspected their prisoner closely "There's some bats-uh, crooks-who come around sometimes, but I dunno about any weird martial artists. Most of the time it's just goomies from overseas and they don't stay long or try to kill supervillains." Turning to look at Peri, the boy asked anxiously "So...how many other supervillains you think are in town? Just her? Nice job nabbing her, by the way!" He smiled admiringly "How'd you get so much practice in? I didn't think we lived in that dangerous a town." Meanwhile Sha'ir flitted through clouds and across broad stretches of empty sky. Eshu's Kingly Current propelled him after the darting firebrand at a speed far outstripping theirs, and soon the Spellsmith plunged into a heavy grey castle-like cumulus looming over Mt. Stanley mere moments after his quarry. Hakim drifted in the eerie, damp silence of the cloud, hunting for any sign of the would-be mental invader, when he heard the voices. "He saw me! And if you don't lift the restriction on at-will silencing, braniac, he'll have enough to figure out everything! Just let me kill him!" The first was a woman's voice, brimming with anger. The next was a dull, male monotone, echoing and dry "Unnecessary. We have been monitoring this region and few psychics of any note exist outside our family. I will make him forget. You will be compensated for your time and the risk of discovery. Thank you for the assistance, Mindfire. Now..." The mist cleared and Sha'ir saw a woman in a striking red, yellow and black costume surrounded by a veil of ephemeral fire, hovering beside and glaring at a giant, pink image of a floating brain. The brain turned and somehow Hakim felt something regarding him closely. Images, sounds and sensations from moments ago suddenly came to the forefront of his mind. "Be free." And something with claws of iron tore the memories from his brain.

@Exaccus @HG Morrison That last I really like. Also it helps foreshadow the Nightwatch infiltration(can't miss something we don't know is there). So how about this: Tekton and Kukson end up in the middle of a three-way collision between the Blood Brothers vampire society, a F.O.E. magician and the gestalt of bound spirits they were hired to settle down.

For that action Asad gets his HP back and also gets a Bruised and Injured condition that cannot be shaken this scenario. Also another Notice roll, DC10, Initiative rolls, please TA. Also in the first round Asad is Dazed(though also avoided by "Air-Martial" and the Raptor drones).

Runningrunningrunningrunningrunningrunningrunning Skidding to a halt in a spray of water, a man in a gaudy black, green and orange suit paused to take a breath. Leaning against another car full of terrified people, the Salmon glanced out over the Malory Bay and the oncoming wall of water. Starting at the unfamiliar sight of something rocketing through the sky, Ishmael grimaced behind his grinning mask at Citizen as the android went to face the storm. "F***ing showoff." Turning back to the task at hand, the Salmon drew back a step, paused for a fraction of a second and then rappd on the car door dripping with mud and rain, hollering "Atte! Get outta there! I'm Salmon, I got super-speed, I can task you and all your dumb kids!" By now it wasn't nearly so totally unexpected to see people in costumes yelling at other people, but it took another second for the family inside the tiny car to decide they'd take a chance with the strange yelling man in the mask over the wave or making it on their own. Racing them to the closer shore took agonizing seconds, and not for the first time that day Ishmael cursed his weak powers. By the time he was done with those five people ('Two men, one women, and those kids are both adopted? That's a way better idea') he was panting for breath, again, and had to rest against the next vehicle stuck in the As-Me's middle. Waving gratefully at the other two Originals working to rescue to trapped drivers, Ishmael turned once again to his incredibly pointless self-appointed task 'Bet Citizen just punches that wave and all this is for nothing. You're a real hero, Fishy'. Takazumi Ryu's mocking nickname for him stung more than usual, cold and wet and bone-weary as he was. Mars' offer hung even more tantalizingly in his mind's eye... The Salmon hoisted an old man who literally couldn't walk the distance onto his back and set out for Bridgepoint, dodging and weaving and leaping through the tangled metal maze. Runningrunningrunningrunningrunningrunning

OOC thread for this, where definitely science crimes happen. Rolls post upcoming,

GM March 15, Wednesday, 11.33AM, 2017 ASTRO Labs West, Emerald City University, Emerald City, Oregon "...Which brings us to one of Professor Zediker's running experiments, transmission and reception of ZPE radiation between dimensional points!" With a final, flourished tap of a button on the numberpad, the door beside Dr. Razko segmented and retreated into the wall, letting the small crowd of humans and the super-advanced super-powered android into an antechamber overlooking the experiment proper. The rented convention floor was crammed with setups like this, small mini-buildings holding this or that portion of revolutionary super-science too dangerous for the open air. Anyone walking into the converted Worlds Fair complex could feel the electricity humming in the floor. The "Sponsored by REDSHIFT ENERGIES" logos were perhaps not in the best of taste, but they stood out for their graceful simplicity next to the clumsy programmer art in evidence elsewhere. Behind walls thicker than most humans are broad, strategically-placed windows gleaming with frost allowed for a fairly clear view of a massive ring ten feet in diameter. Energy crackled in brief, brutal discharges from the central white void, while the black outer rim bent the bolts back inside. Ice clung to the walls and ceiling, radiating from the ring. A few technicians inside monitored control stations surrounding the apparatus while several more observed from the antechamber. One of them, a robust and energetic white man with iron-grey hair and a silver goatee, white dress shirt, black tie and slacks watched the ring intently behind slim square glasses. Starting at the entrance of Razko and the visitors, the man recovered rapidly and glided majestically towards them, all smiles and crinkly-eyed grandfatherly charm. "Welcome, glad to have you! As you can see, me and my team have managed in a few weeks what took Doctor Atom and his descendants years. A stable interdimensional portal, looping a burst of radiation in and out of an endless array of realities! And, unlike last time, no risk of robot dinosaur attacks!" That got a resounding chorus of laughter from the Emeraldites, a strained smile from Dr. Ann Razko and a polite stare from the ASTRO Labs representative at the back of the party. Stepping forward, the bespectacled blonde hurried to get things back on track "Professor, we both work at the ECU's Parker Building, and your portal there is at least twice as powerful as this one, but both emit the same amount of energy. Would you explain why that's relevant?" "Certainly! You see, Ann, the Parker Portal is less concentrated, there's more space for energy to escape but that space decompresses it as it leaves the portal. This one has a much tighter beam but is also less stable. It'll collapse in twelve hours. The one I made at Eeseeyou will last longer than I do! Plenty of time to refine it and start the next age of humanity." "Which you define-" "By expansion!" Zediker's steely eyes caught those of Archetech West's rep and the most powerful hero on the Pacific seaboard "Citizen, what do you think? Colonizing other Earths by 2020 or 2025?"

OOC thread for this thread. @Raveled @TheAbsurdist Blue Jay and Asad fight a chase thing. Okay RAVELED, here are the rolls: DC20 Notice to hear the engines of the badfolks before they arrive, if successful +5 to the following Reflex and Initiative rolls. DC15 Reflex from Blue Jay and Asad to dodge the shower of glass when the F.O.E. potentiate descends. Fail and you get a Bruise. Two initiative rolls, choose the higher for the encounter at the Enclave Retreat. Second for the chase scene through the Elysian Forest. Using Dreadnought and the Air Cavalry from the Emerald City Knights campaign for the baddies. Dreadnought("Air-Martial") first initiative: 25, second: 13 Drones: 22. Second: 17 Regardless, Asad gets a HP for his Misery Girl being flung into the sky, and Blue Jay gets one for being caught in her civilian ID. Assuming Blue Jay hijacks one of the drones to serve as aerial mount or otherwise gains some fast-moving capacitium, or Stunts a faster Swinging. And for the chase scene, please roll three Reflex saves at DC15, 18, then 20 to try and keep up with each section of the sky-flight, and an Attack roll to destroy the drones and free the captured guests, vs DC19. After that, Dreadnought slips out of his armor and leaves it to fight the heroes. It takes three hits and then self-destructs convincingly. DC15 to hit and +15 Toughness. If any escape with their valuable cargo, they tie into the later group thread.

GM Elysian Forest, York Hill, Emerald Enclave Retreat Cabin , Emerald City, Oregon "...I am so glad to see so many unfamiliar faces here today!" Max Mars grinned out at the crowd from the stage, artistically set into a rock slab cloven by a trickling stream. The meeting room was walled in glass and metal, the ceiling admitting light falling golden and green through the boughs of pines swaying high above. The hundreds of guests were scattered at low Japanese-style tables laden with delicacies from dozens of countries. They'd been through four other speakers, starting in the morning and interspersed with music and other entertainments. Mars was the fundraiser's host and had gone to extravagant lengths to impress on the visitors what a great idea it would be to help fund the preservation of the Pacific Coast rainforests. Or, more precisely, to help fund technology that would help protect them. "We don't all live here, but all of us need this and other natural resources to stay in business. We need these just to live, folks, without paying Mother Nature a tax Uncle Sam can only dream of. In particular I'd like to thank-" His bright green eyes flashed across the holoprompter embedded in his contact lenses, an inhman mind whirring over the unusual names literally faster than thought. "-Amir ibn Jafar ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Misri, of al-Misri Holdings and Antoinette Baudin of Danger International! Come on up, you two!" In the deep woods, the polite applause and brief swell of congratulatory music stood out even more than would in the city below. And the ringing seemed to last even longer than usual as the two were collected by ushers and brought on stage. Max Mars was a full foot shorter than Amir and even Tona towered over his leonine-haired head, which do nothing to shake the irrepressible glee in his cat-green eyes. Extending a vigorous handshake to both of them and an ostentatious air-kiss next to Tona's ear (his beard scratching her cheek), Mars nodded to the crowd "Why don't you say a few words, let us all know a little about the good people we'll be working with?" His grin and expectant looks from the other guests brooked no refusal.

OOC thread for this thread. Scion versus the Hades Hitsquad.