EV #84 - "Burnout"

[GM Mad]

Eternal Vigilance #84 - "Burnout"

Roll Call: Frostbite, Goldstar, Stargirl, Menagerie, Flux, Tesla, Starguard, and the Scarlet Sabre


Out in space, a mere thirty million miles from the sun, the Vigilant are in the process of salvaging the Crimson Claw’s ship. However, the Claw himself was drawn back to the ship as he is mystically linked to it. The Claw brought the Borealis Gate with him and the Children of Azog flooded forth. Edgar brought the ships defense online and is using them to the keep the Children at bay while the heroes contend with the Claw himself. A task that is rapidly becoming more and more difficult.

While the Claw deals with his latest attacker, Goldstar comes up with a plan.

Tapping her Comlink, Goldstar will say, “I’ve got an idea. Brute force isn’t going to win the day. Everyone get your space suits on and keep your distance from that monster.”

“Edgar, on my command, shut off life support including gravity and vent the atmosphere. Menagerie, assume my form once more as I may need help. You too, Gloria. The plan is simple. We grab the Claw and take him outside the ship. I’m going to throw him into the sun! Let’s see how he stands up to the heat and radiation from a star!”

Frostbite coats the Claw with ice one more time before activating his suit once more. Starguard goes to help Flux, ensuring that the Vigilant Leaders suit is on.

“Venting now,” you can hear Edgar say over the comlinks.

The affect is dramatic. Is like a sudden hurricane inside the space ship as the air is being sucked out into space. Those with superhuman strength can keep themselves rooted in place while the rest will have to hold on to something solid.

In a matter of moments, the atmosphere has been vented and the ship is exposed to the vacuum of space. The Borealis Gateway was also sucked out into space, as he offered no resistance to the vacuuming of the ship. Out in space, the Children of Azog continue to emerge. This time there is no ships defense system to keep them at bay. But they quickly perish, as they cannot survive in the depths of space.

To no one’s surprise, the Claw is unaffected by the lack of air. “This is only a set back to me!” The Claw rages as he floats above the Arena floor.

“It wasn’t meant to stop you,” Goldstar counters. “Now girls!”

Goldstar surges forward, followed closely by Menagerie in the form of Goldstar and Stargirl. Goldstar drives her shoulder into the Crimson Claw’s chest and starts to fly away with him. Menagerie and Stargirl follow along grabbing a hold of whatever limb they can grab. The Claw’s strength is impressive, but he’s still not strong enough to break free.

“Release me!” The Claw shouts.

“Never!” Goldstar counters.

Together, the three solar heroines fly the Claw through the Arena hatch and into the depths of space. The Claw drives his namesake into Goldstar’s back, but she refuses to let go.

“When I say now,” Goldstar calls out, “let go! You don’t want to follow me!”

“I will make you release me!” The Claw shouts as his eyes surge with power once more.

“NOW!” Goldstar yells and in response Menagerie and Stargirl let go.

Just as the Claw unleashes his mental attack on Goldstar, the heroine accelerates into faster than light velocities. Both she and the Crimson Claw are suddenly gone.


Back inside the Ship, Edgar speaks up over the Comlinks. “Restoring life support. Warning, the live signs of the entity known as Borealis are fading rapidly. He cannot survive in the vacuum of space. Fortunately, neither can the beings emerging from him.”

[GM Mad]

Roll Call: Blackout & Lavender

The struggle with the forces of GENOCIDE continues on the rooftop of the ADT Building. Mysteriously, the GENOCIDE Transport flew off leaving the operatives behind. Powershift crashed into the Black Queen and sent her flying off the building. However, the GENOCIDE leader merely stretched out her bionic arm and grabbed a hold of the building. The arm then retracted, pulling the Black Queen back to the fray.

Blackout drops a field of darkness about him and leaps into the thick of the regular GENOCIDE Agents. The hero lands feet first on one agent, knocking him backwards into two more.

Hearing the triggers of the agents being pressed, Blackout drops to the ground as the operatives fire their weapons blindly over his head! He can tell that the men took out several of their own in the process! A leg sweep takes down those who are still standing.

The Black Queen lands on the rooftop and aims her very large gun right at Lavender! The lavender clad woman vanishes, teleporting away to safety before she can be fired upon.

Undaunted, the Black Queen turns and prepares to fire her weapon into the patch of darkness. Blackout senses this impending threat.

[GM Mad]

Roll Call: Backlash & Eldrich

Backlash just dramatically discovered a new power! He can reflect energy attacks after being hit by one! This new ability served him well as it reflected one of the cyborgs assault directly back on it.

The cyborg that Dr. Photon took out earlier unexpectedly rises once more! It’s clear that the human-half is not in control, suggesting some sort of remote control in action.

“What the hell?” Dr. Photon utters in shock. She raises her gauntlets once more and fires another round into the cyborg’s head! The head explodes in a shower of gore and circuitry. It falls to the floor once more. “And stay down!”

Three more cyborgs rise up and fire upon the heroes and the Furies. Backlash is hit once more but these attacks just bounce back, taking out the cyborg that fired them.

Hardbody is struck repeatedly, but shrugs the assault off. “You creepy tin men will have to do better than that!”

Electra avoids the assault. She touches a power line attached to the wall. Her body changes into electricity itself and she surges into the line. Once in the line, Electra moves further down the hallway and past the cyborgs. There she leaps out of the cable and retakes human form.

Chimera gestures and in response one of the cyborgs rises up into the air with no visible support. “That’s quite enough from you,” Chimera coolly notes as she slams the cyborg into the wall.

Backlash plows into the cyborg that fired upon him, driving him into the back wall. There the cyborg crumbles to the ground.

Hardbody reaches the last cyborg standing, the female one. “Sorry sister, but I gotta do this,” Hardbody utters as she punches the cyborg in the face. The cyborg is hurtled backwards and is partially embedded into the wall.

That seems to take the fight out of the cyborgs.

Looking back, you can see Dr. Photon advancing on the cyborg closest to her. She points her energy gauntlets at its head! “Seems to me we best make sure these things are down for good!”

[GM Mad]

Epilog:

One second after vanishing Goldstar reappears with her unwilling passenger in the photosphere of the sun. The sudden acceleration to light speed dazed the Crimson Claw. Even he had no protection against moving so fast.

Mustering all her strength, Goldstar pushes the disorientate Claw away from her and into the heart of the sun. Coupled with the velocity at which they were moving the Claw is quickly lost from sight. The searing temperature of the star, nearly some 6000 degrees Celsius burn the Claw while radiation penetrates his body.

The Crimson Claw’s robes are burned away almost instantly and his skin soon follows. Almost nothing is left when what remains hits the sun’s surface. The Crimson Claw is no more.


High above, Goldstar fights off the intense gravity, something on the order of twenty-eight times what is normal and flies off. She accelerates to light speed once more and is gone from the sun.

Using her comlink as a homing device, Goldstar returns to the Claw’s ship. Just as she slows to sub-light speed, she passes out from the strain of being so close to the sun and the wounds the Claw inflicted on her. She tumbles past the ship out of the control.

Both Menagerie and Stargirl see Goldstar’s return.


Now what?

[Stargirl]

Stargirl:

Gloria tries to prepare herself for what is to come, but really isn’t ready. She was just a normal teenager a few days ago and now she’s out in space fighting some clawed maniac!

Aware that the hatch is going to be blown, Gloria reaches out to hold on to Cyrus and anyone else close to her so that they don’t get sucked out into space. She lets them go once it is safe to do so.

"It wasn't meant to stop you," Goldstar counters. "Now girls!"

Gloria surges forward when ordered. She grabs a hold of one of the Claw’s leg and tries to hold him while flying forward. The clawed maniac is carried out into space.

"When I say now," Goldstar calls out, "let go! You don't want to follow me!"

“Okay,” Gloria says.

"I will make you release me!" The Claw shouts as his eyes surge with power once more.

"NOW!" Goldstar yells and in response Menagerie and Stargirl let go.

Just as the Claw unleashes his mental attack on Goldstar, the heroine accelerates into faster than light velocities. Both she and the Crimson Claw are suddenly gone.

Stargirl happily lets go of the Claw and both it and mom are gone a moment later!

“She went to light speed,” Stargirl offers while considering following. But Gloria decides against it remembering her earlier lesson about how easy it is to get lost in the vastness of space. “I guess we wait now.”


No too long after that, Mom returns but then starts to helplessly tumble away.

“MOM!” Gloria calls out as she flies after her mother. Once catching her, Stargirl will return to the ship.

[Bruce]

Eldrich Arcane

'Typical male??' Their violent attitudes affected my casting adversely. Instead of an Arcane Bolt I manifested the Giant's Slap. I must focus more sharply on my intent.

Eldrich firms his resolve and begins another casting of an Arcane Bolt but the women are too quick, too eager to inflict injury: the half-human constructs are reduced swiftly, even the female one. Backlash hurls back all the attacks against him further speeding the defeats. But that is not enough for some it seems . . .

Looking back, you can see Dr. Photon advancing on the cyborg closest to her. She points her energy gauntlets at its head! “Seems to me we best make sure these things are down for good!”

"Have you no regard for the people they once were? It is obvious even to me that they do not control their own actions. Have they wronged you so greatly, these strangers, that you must murder them now? Is there no other recourse?"

Now we will see how much reason dictates the actions of these 'Furies'. I do mislike this situation and I do not trust their intent. There is mayhem in the air.

[Frostbite]

Frostbite

Back inside the Ship, Edgar speaks up over the Comlinks. “Restoring life support. Warning, the live signs of the entity known as Borealis are fading rapidly. He cannot survive in the vacuum of space. Fortunately, neither can the beings emerging from him.”

Frosty can only watch what is happening wishing them luck as they do so.

[Backlash]

Backlash

Backlash plows into the cyborg that fired upon him, driving him into the back wall. There the cyborg crumbles to the ground.

Looking back, you can see Dr. Photon advancing on the cyborg closest to her. She points her energy gauntlets at its head! “Seems to me we best make sure these things are down for good!”

“Then do it.” He said reaching for the cyborg and giving its head/neck a sharp twist(snap neck)

"Have you no regard for the people they once were? It is obvious even to me that they do not control their own actions. Have they wronged you so greatly, these strangers, that you must murder them now? Is there no other recourse?"

“Eldrich, would you think the same if you were their position their knives and weapons ready to take your life?”

[Menagerie]

Menagerie:

Goldstar's plan seems to work as well as can be hoped. Edgar vents the ship and Menagerie grabs anyone nearby to keep them from being sucked outside. Only what Borealis has become gets swept outside by the powerful suction. The Claw mistakes this for a failed ploy but she, Goldstar and Stargirl quickly show him that they are not finished. Grabbing the alien by his various limbs, then drag him outside, flying toward the distant sun.

“When I say now,” Goldstar calls out, “let go! You don’t want to follow me!”

“I will make you release me!” The Claw shouts as his eyes surge with power once more.

“NOW!” Goldstar yells and in response Menagerie and Stargirl let go.

Doing as ordered, Menagerie releases her hold on the alien. Goldstar streaks off with him. Menagerie shifs to the form of Quasar so that his enhanced vision will allow her to track Goldstar a little longer, but it is no use as Goldstar shifts to hyperflight.

“She went to light speed,” Stargirl offers while considering following. But Gloria decides against it remembering her earlier lesson about how easy it is to get lost in the vastness of space. “I guess we wait now.”

"Yup, might as well head back," Menagerie says.

Back inside the Ship, Edgar speaks up over the Comlinks. “Restoring life support. Warning, the live signs of the entity known as Borealis are fading rapidly. He cannot survive in the vacuum of space. Fortunately, neither can the beings emerging from him.”

"I'll get him." Menagerie flies off to fetch the entity once know as Borealis. To be honest, she's surprised that there's still a living being in there somewhere.

“MOM!” Gloria calls out as she flies after her mother. Once catching her, Stargirl will return to the ship.

Just as she's nearing Borealis, Menagerie sees Goldstar off in the distance, tumbling out of control past the ship. Menagerie instinctively turns to chase, but Stargirl is quicker to react, so Lily sticks with her current task. Grabbing Borealis as best she can, she begins to drag him back toward the ship.
______________________________________________________
As far as I can tell from my notes, none of Menagerie's forms have the ability to extend life support to another person. Does that seem accurate, Mad?

[Blackout]

Blackout:

Blackout drops a field of darkness about him and leaps into the thick of the regular GENOCIDE Agents. The hero lands feet first on one agent, knocking him backwards into two more.

Hearing the triggers of the agents being pressed, Blackout drops to the ground as the operatives fire their weapons blindly over his head! He can tell that the men took out several of their own in the process! A leg sweep takes down those who are still standing.

Deftly Blackout takes on the task of eliminating the agents. Unhindered in his own created darkness, he dispatches several quickly while the agents struggle to find him and take out several more of their own. However, the threat is far from over.

Undaunted, the Black Queen turns and prepares to fire her weapon into the patch of darkness. Blackout senses this impending threat.

Sensing that he's in the crosshairs and guessing who it most likely is, Blackout goes full defensive. If Lavender can deal with the Black Queen then all the better, but if not, Blackout will move defensively to a place where he can't be shot at and see about dealing with her himself.

[Tesla]

Tesla:

Finally getting her sight back it seems that a plan to deal with the Claw is underway. Suiting back up, she watches as Goldstar takes command of the Claw and vanishes at faster than light speeds. There's nothing much else to do but wait. Menagerie grabs Borealis, but that's about all the excitement to be had until Goldstar returns...

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

Roll Call: Blackout & Lavender

The forces of GENOCIDE have been whittled down to just the Black Queen. A field of darkness surrounds the regular GENOCIDE Agents courtesy of Blackout. Sensing that the Black Queen is about to fire her giant gun, Blackout dives clear right before an energy beam blasts through the field of darkness. Tumbling away, Blackout moves rapidly across the roof with blasts of energy dogging him.

All at once the blasts stop. The Black Queen is no longer where she had been. Instead, Lavender teleported her straight up! The GENOCIDE leader is now falling back towards the roof of the ADT Building.

The Black Queen extends her cyborg arm once more, trying to use it to brace herself against the roof and protect herself from the fall. Blackout throws his rod once more, knocking the hand away causing the Black Queen to take the full effect of the plunge. The Black Queen hits the roof hard, making a good-sized depression in the roof. A strike from Blackout’s rod settles the issue.

While Blackout is catching his breath, he senses a new arrival on the roof from the building below. Blackout puts up his guard and then relaxes once he recognizes the person as Sea Guard.

“What’s going on up here?” Sea Guard can only wonder. “I was looking for my teammates and seem to have found some new arrivals.”

After being filled in some more, Sea Guard goes deep into thought before speaking. “This is very strange. First an alarm is sounded here and then a VIPER Transport crashes into the side of the building. All the snakes on board are dead and the pilot vanishes. Then you say that GENOCIDE shows up and someone steals their transport? It has to be the VIPER pilot who did that. All of which begs the question why?”

“I’m tracking Backlash and Eldrich deeper inside the building, but I cannot contact Edgar. Must be some kind of interference. Perhaps they have learned more as well? What happened to Powershift?”

[GM Mad]

Roll Call: Backlash & Eldrich

Down inside the ADT Building’s basement, Backlash, Eldrich and the Furies have just finished off the experimental GENOCIDE Knights. These knights are cyborgs, half-human, half-machine creatures.

Dr. Photon, the newest member of the Furies, seems particularly bloodthirsty. She points her energy gauntlets at the nearest cyborg and seems on the verge of firing!

“Seems to me we best make sure these things are down for good!”

“Then do it.” He said reaching for the cyborg and giving its head/neck a sharp twist(snap neck)

“You will do no such thing,” Chimera commands as she steps forward. “Much like the mystical Goddess of Vengeance from which we take our name, the Furies are also fair. We do not kill a defeated foe, clearly unlike the supposed heroes of this city.”

Dr. Photon hesitates for a moment, but then will lower her gauntlets. “Very well,” she says before wandering off.

"Have you no regard for the people they once were? It is obvious even to me that they do not control their own actions. Have they wronged you so greatly, these strangers, that you must murder them now? Is there no other recourse?"

“Eldrich, would you think the same if you were their position their knives and weapons ready to take your life?”

“There are always other options,” Chimera adds. “If you bother to take the time to find them. The male cyborgs are your responsibility. I’ll take the female with me. I have than just a passing familiarity with cybernetics. I may be able to help her.”

“In the meantime, I suggest that we focus on the task at hand. There has to be more to this GENOCIDE secret lab and more perils to encounter. I suggest that we keep moving. The sooner we complete our mission, the sooner we can part company.”

[GM Mad]

Roll Call: Frostbite, Goldstar, Stargirl, Menagerie, Flux, Tesla, Starguard, and the Scarlet Sabre


Out in deep space, the Crimson Claw appears to have been finally destroyed by being tossed into the sun! Edgar restores life support to the Claw’s ship.

Just outside the ship Menagerie in the form of Quasar of the Protectors and Stargirl wait for Goldstar to return. Menagerie picks up Edgar’s transmission about Borealis dying from exposure to the vacuum of space and flies off in that direction. As Menagerie gets closer, she can see numerous Children of Azog floating in the void, apparently dead as they could not survive under these conditions.

The Borealis Portal is close by. As Menagerie flies closer, the portal winks a few times and then fades away as Borealis is too weak for it to remain open. When it closes for good, the Greater Emerald Eye slips from Borealis’ hand and floats in space. Menagerie retrieves Borealis, but doesn’t risk touching the Emerald Eye itself in fear of opening up another gate. With her passenger in tow, Menagerie returns to the ship.


Not far away, Goldstar returns from her trip of dumping the Claw into the sun. Then she passes out from the strain and goes tumbling helplessly through space. Stargirl flies after her and easily catches her mother. They then return to the Claw’s ship.


Borealis is taken to the ships medical center. Somehow, he survived both the experience of being a human portal and being unprotected in space! Physically, he’ll recover, but you can’t help but wonder about his mental state. For now, he’s sedated to prevent him from waking up.

Goldstar quickly regains consciousness from her ordeal. The claw marks on her back are nasty, but she’ll recover.

Not long after that, Edgar will have a report. “I’m getting some strange reports from back in San Diego. It seems that Powershift is attacking the locale PRIMUS base! I can’t reach the other Vigilant at the ADT building. There is some sort of interference preventing me from contacting them.”

Turning to Flux, Goldstar will say, “You better take the team in the Star-V and investigate this. Powershift has been acting strange lately as it is. Scarlet, Starguard and I can take care of things here on the Claw’s ship. Go and find out what is wrong with our teammate. We’ll catch up when we can.”

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

As far as I can tell from my notes, none of Menagerie's forms have the ability to extend life support to another person. Does that seem accurate, Mad?

I’d have to agree with that. In fact, I can’t think of a character who can even do that off the top of my head. At least one that Menagerie can mimic.

The Claw has been dealt with, but what’s wrong with Powershift?

Now what?

[Bruce]

Flux

That ended well for us. No evil critters got through alive, The Claw is not coming back from that trip and even Borealis gets to live through it all.

Medical needs are seen to and work begins again on the craft but all is not well back home it seems.

Not long after that, Edgar will have a report. “I’m getting some strange reports from back in San Diego. It seems that Powershift is attacking the locale PRIMUS base! I can’t reach the other Vigilant at the ADT building. There is some sort of interference preventing me from contacting them.”

Turning to Flux, Goldstar will say, “You better take the team in the Star-V and investigate this. Powershift has been acting strange lately as it is. Scarlet, Starguard and I can take care of things here on the Claw’s ship. Go and find out what is wrong with our teammate. We’ll catch up when we can.”

"Right. Tesla, Menagerie, Frostbite we're out of here. Tesla prep the Star-V for a return flight. Edgar, notify PRIMUS we are inbound to collect Powershift and get an update of his position and actions if you can. Get me a visual of the ADT building piped to the consol of the Star-V. I want a look at the place. Stargirl, I'm not sure of your status in our little band here but I'd like you along just in case unless your mother objects."

Flux is moving back toward the hanger bay while talking adjusting his space suit as he goes.

"Connect me to Major Star at PRIMUS or whoever is in charge at the base just now. Depending on the situation I'll be assigning teams to Powershift and the ADT building as needed. I assume 'Shift is not answering his comm? Try to patch me me through to him anyway. Maybe he'll talk to me."

Ok sarge, now what do you suppose is bugging 'Shift so bad he's kicking PRIMUS personnel around? Contamination from the demon-gem? Mind control? Too bad I can't ask our new resident mage. Sigh. Never rains but it pours.

"Tesla, get me an ETA to atmosphere. We may have to divide the team up in route."



[As a side note: I can only think of one character that fits the bill for that. Traveler of Executive Sanction. He has FTL and life support for space usable by his whole team. Don't have the book, Allies, but I remember him for that.]

[Bruce]

Eldrich Arcane

Eldrich wanted to see how vicious the 'Furies' would be but it is Backlash that suddenly exhibits the most violent of traits, snapping the neck of a downed machine-man!

“Eldrich, would you think the same if you were their position their knives and weapons ready to take your life?”

"I AM in the same position. I am right here, taking whatever risk may entail from their strange weapontry."

“You will do no such thing,” Chimera commands as she steps forward. “Much like the mystical Goddess of Vengeance from which we take our name, the Furies are also fair. We do not kill a defeated foe, clearly unlike the supposed heroes of this city.”

Stranger and stranger this grows. Am I allied with the wrong people-again?

The one called Dr Photon acquiesces with ill grace to the orders of the Chimera but for at least two of the half-men it is too late. Unless there were some way to raise the dead to life in this realm, they would never live or breath again.

“There are always other options,” Chimera adds. “If you bother to take the time to find them. The male cyborgs are your responsibility. I’ll take the female with me. I have than just a passing familiarity with cybernetics. I may be able to help her.”

“In the meantime, I suggest that we focus on the task at hand. There has to be more to this GENOCIDE secret lab and more perils to encounter. I suggest that we keep moving. The sooner we complete our mission, the sooner we can part company.”

"In that I am in agreement: the parting of company cannot come soon enough for me."

. . . perhaps in more than one way . . .

[Menagerie]

Menagerie:

As she draws closer to Borealis, the gate that he has become seems to wink out, leaving what is left of the man. She sees a gem, which she recalls hearing referred to as the Emerald Eye of Azog, slip away from Borealis' hand. Perhaps it was the source of the other-dimensional gate. Still, she daren't touch it, so she scoops Borealis into her arms and flies him back to the ship. Perhaps he can still be saved...

Once in the ship's medical center, Edgar takes over caring for Borealis through the electronic link he maintains. Goldstar is there and returns to consciousness just after Menagerie lays Borealis down. With no real expertise in medical matters, they rejoin the others.

Not long after that, Edgar will have a report. “I’m getting some strange reports from back in San Diego. It seems that Powershift is attacking the locale PRIMUS base! I can’t reach the other Vigilant at the ADT building. There is some sort of interference preventing me from contacting them.”

What is wrong with Powershift?! Lily thinks to herself. This isn't like him at all.

Turning to Flux, Goldstar will say, “You better take the team in the Star-V and investigate this. Powershift has been acting strange lately as it is. Scarlet, Starguard and I can take care of things here on the Claw’s ship. Go and find out what is wrong with our teammate. We’ll catch up when we can.”

"You're right. This isn't like Powershift at all," Menagerie says. "Oh, by the way, that Eye of Azog thing is floating out there where I found Borealis. Might be worth seeing if you can find a way to send that into the sun without touching it."

"Right. Tesla, Menagerie, Frostbite we're out of here. Tesla prep the Star-V for a return flight. Edgar, notify PRIMUS we are inbound to collect Powershift and get an update of his position and actions if you can. Get me a visual of the ADT building piped to the consol of the Star-V. I want a look at the place. Stargirl, I'm not sure of your status in our little band here but I'd like you along just in case unless your mother objects."

"I'm ready, boss." Menagerie will retain her Quasar form for now. She heads for the Star-V as they will be leaving soon.
___________________________________________________________
Yeah, I wasn't sure there were any. I seem to remember a character from the Wild Cards books that had that ability, but I could be wrong about that.

[GM Mad]

GM Note:

As a side note: I can only think of one character that fits the bill for that. Traveler of Executive Sanction. He has FTL and life support for space usable by his whole team. Don't have the book, Allies, but I remember him for that.

Yeah, I wasn't sure there were any. I seem to remember a character from the Wild Cards books that had that ability, but I could be wrong about that.

I do have the Allies book, and yes Traveler of Executive Sanction does have that particular ability. Executive Sanction does not, at least at the present, exist in this world. Both Major Star and Silver Avenger Rackham, currently stationed in San Diego, were lift from that team. I cannot say at the present if the other members of that team even exist or not. Nothing involving them was ever planned.

Several other characters from that book were lifted for use elsewhere including Black Hole, Atomic Kid, Major America and Starguard. We looked at it mainly as a resource of characters to add here and there and not to drop whole teams into this world.

[Goldstar]

Goldstar:

Everything happened in a blur. The claw was carried off and he resisted mightily, clawing Goldstar’s back. The jump to lightspeed took much of the fight out of the Claw. For those unprotected from going that fast, it is usually fatal. The fact that the Claw even survived is a testament to just how tough this demonic entity is.

Once at the sun, Goldstar pushes the Claw away with all of her remaining strength. He plummets away and is quickly burned up. Fighting the intense gravity, Goldstar makes the jump back to lightspeed and returns to the Claw’s ship. The last thing she remembers is slowing down at her target.


Goldstar wakes up with a start. She’s in the ships infirmary and her back is hurting. Glancing at the wounds in a mirror, Goldstar notes that, “No swimsuits for me for a while.”

With just an act of will, she repairs the damage done to her costume. The wounds will take much longer to heal.

Everything seems to be in order. The Claw is gone, even Borealis was saved, although just what’s left of him is open to debate. Edgar has an update.

Not long after that, Edgar will have a report. “I’m getting some strange reports from back in San Diego. It seems that Powershift is attacking the locale PRIMUS base! I can’t reach the other Vigilant at the ADT building. There is some sort of interference preventing me from contacting them.”

Turning to Flux, Goldstar will say, “You better take the team in the Star-V and investigate this. Powershift has been acting strange lately as it is. Scarlet, Starguard and I can take care of things here on the Claw’s ship. Go and find out what is wrong with our teammate. We’ll catch up when we can.”

"You're right. This isn't like Powershift at all," Menagerie says. "Oh, by the way, that Eye of Azog thing is floating out there where I found Borealis. Might be worth seeing if you can find a way to send that into the sun without touching it."

“Thanks for the heads up,” Goldstar says to Menagerie. “We certainly don’t want that thing floating around out in space. I think I can permanently remove that particular threat.”

"Right. Tesla, Menagerie, and Frostbite we're out of here. Tesla prep the Star-V for a return flight. Edgar, notify PRIMUS we are inbound to collect Powershift and get an update of his position and actions if you can. Get me a visual of the ADT building piped to the consol of the Star-V. I want a look at the place. Stargirl, I'm not sure of your status in our little band here but I'd like you along just in case unless your mother objects."

“No, no objects here,” Goldstar answers. “In fact I was going to suggest the same thing. She could use the experience. Good luck to you all.”

Goldstar will ask Edgar to keep her apprised of the various situations unfolding back on Earth while they work on restoring the Claw’s ship.

“Oh, and Edgar. Let’s seal off the Arena deck and shut down life support there. Just in case that something nasty turns up again. Not that I'm expecting it, but better safe than sorry.”

[Stargirl]

Stargirl:

Heart in her throat, Stargirl flies after and catches up to her mom. Thankfully she just seems to be asleep, although those claw marks on her back are nasty looking!

Putting her arm around her mother, Stargirl flies back to the ship and following Edgar’s directions takes her to the medical area. Thankfully, it’s not serious and mom starts to come around shortly there after. Gloria remains by her side.

“Don’t scare me like that!” Stargirl chastises. “I’m glad your okay.”


Edgar reports trouble back home and before Gloria can speak up, others do.

"Right. Tesla, Menagerie, and Frostbite we're out of here. Tesla prep the Star-V for a return flight. Edgar, notify PRIMUS we are inbound to collect Powershift and get an update of his position and actions if you can. Get me a visual of the ADT building piped to the consol of the Star-V. I want a look at the place. Stargirl, I'm not sure of your status in our little band here but I'd like you along just in case unless your mother objects."

“No, no objects here,” Goldstar answers. “In fact I was going to suggest the same thing. She could use the experience. Good luck to you all.”

“Sounds good to me! I'll be happy to tag along.” Stargirl adds joining the others. “Staying here would probably just be really boring to me.”

Stargirl returns to the Star-V and takes her seat in the back.

[lavender]

Lavender:

Lavender teleports away from the woman with the really big gun for safety! However, she’s firing on Blackout instead!

Lavender thinks for a moment, trying to figure out what to do to save Blackout. Then she reaches out and teleports the crazy woman straight up! While her teleports have built in safety precautions to negate momentum, this isn’t an issue here. The Black Queen wasn’t moving to begin so that doesn’t apply. Gravity does the rest.

“I’m glad that’s over with,” Lavender says as she teleports closer to Blackout. “What now?”

Another man unfamiliar to Lavender comes up on the roof, but Blackout says that he’s a friend. The newcomer asks about Powershift.

“Your friend went bonkers and flew off,” Lavender answers. “He knocked the Black Queen off the roof in the process, but she managed to safe herself. He looked really ticked off to me.”

[Tesla]

Tesla:

"Right. Tesla, Menagerie, and Frostbite we're out of here. Tesla prep the Star-V for a return flight. Edgar, notify PRIMUS we are inbound to collect Powershift and get an update of his position and actions if you can. Get me a visual of the ADT building piped to the consol of the Star-V. I want a look at the place. Stargirl, I'm not sure of your status in our little band here but I'd like you along just in case unless your mother objects."

"On it," is all Tesla says as she starts powering up systems and plotting their return trip. She pulls up a screen to be used for the ADT visual and makes sure all other systems come online.

"Tesla, get me an ETA to atmosphere. We may have to divide the team up in route."

"One sec, Boss," Tesla says as she punches in coordinates and gets the data she needs. She will run a few options to see if they can cut down the travel time safely, but will inform Flux of whatever their best time will be.

[Blackout]

Blackout:

The forces of GENOCIDE have been whittled down to just the Black Queen. A field of darkness surrounds the regular GENOCIDE Agents courtesy of Blackout. Sensing that the Black Queen is about to fire her giant gun, Blackout dives clear right before an energy beam blasts through the field of darkness. Tumbling away, Blackout moves rapidly across the roof with blasts of energy dogging him.

All at once the blasts stop. The Black Queen is no longer where she had been. Instead, Lavender teleported her straight up! The GENOCIDE leader is now falling back towards the roof of the ADT Building.

Blackout plays catch-me-if-you-can for a while, avoiding the Black Queen's shots. Suddenly the stop and Blackout turns around after one more defensive tumble just be certain. He tilts his head skyward upon sensing that the Black Queen once again no longer has her feet planted on a firm surface.

"That's my girl," Blackout says smiling, having been confident Lavender could handle things.

The Black Queen extends her cyborg arm once more, trying to use it to brace herself against the roof and protect herself from the fall. Blackout throws his rod once more, knocking the hand away causing the Black Queen to take the full effect of the plunge. The Black Queen hits the roof hard, making a good-sized depression in the roof. A strike from Blackout’s rod settles the issue.

"Oh no you don't," Blackout says, hurling his rod to make sure the Black Queen doesn't get herself out of this situation. She hits hard but is still surprizingly awake, even if just barely. Another quick throw and he makes sure she will stay down for a while.

While Blackout is catching his breath, he senses a new arrival on the roof from the building below. Blackout puts up his guard and then relaxes once he recognizes the person as Sea Guard.

“What’s going on up here?” Sea Guard can only wonder. “I was looking for my teammates and seem to have found some new arrivals.”

“Your friend went bonkers and flew off,” Lavender answers. “He knocked the Black Queen off the roof in the process, but she managed to safe herself. He looked really ticked off to me.”

"Yeah that pretty well sums it up," Blackout agrees. "He didn't seem very concerned about her fate and had quite the un-heroic demeanor." He'll also fill in Sea Guard with the rest of the details about what they saw upon arriving here.

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

Roll Call: Blackout, Lavender, & Sea Guard

The fight with the GENOCIDE forces is over. Sea Guard of the Vigilant has arrived on the scene to compare notes.

"'Shift has been acting strangely the last few days," Sea Guard notes. "At first I thought it was because of that strange mage that Flux seems to trust, but perhaps it was just a symptom of a larger problem. His powers come from a magical jewel embedded inside his chest. Powershift draws energy from this jewel, but there is a danger. The jewel is the prison of a powerful demoness. There is a limit to how much power he can safely draw. Go too far, and the demoness begins to exert her influence on him."

"A few days ago, an alien mage took the jewel out of Powershift and used it. We managed to get it away from him and back into 'Shift, but I can't help but wonder if this is the cause of the problems. I wonder where he went too?"

"There's not much we can do on that front right now. We don't even know where he went. I'd suggest catching up with the others and see what they found out. You coming along, Blackout?"

Sirens can be heard off in the distance, as the fire department, police, and local rescue units are approaching the ADT Building due to the VIPER transport that crashed into the side of the building.

[GM Mad]

Roll Call: Backlash, Eldrich, and the Furies

In the basement, a secret GENOCIDE lab has been uncovered. Inside it, GENOCIDE agents were being modified into cyborg Knights. But that's not the lab's only secret.

Just past the area where the cyborgs were battled is the lab where they were created. The most prominent feature of the lab is a series of inclined beds along the left and right hand walls. Numerous tubes and wires emerge from the wall behind to where the occupants of the tables had been. Another door can be seen on the far side of the room.

A button is pushed the door slides open. Beyond is what seems to be a control center of some kind. There are seats before control panels that are on stepped platforms. The further back you go, the higher the platform is so that the back row can clearly see over the rows in front of it. The rows are all facing the same direction. The wall in that direction is entirely composed of reinforced glass panels looking out into a vast chamber.

"I would say that these cyborgs are not the only secret GENOCIDE has concealed here." Chimera calmly points off into the chamber outside the control center.

The whole thing reminds of you a large-scale factory complete with catwalks and overhead cranes. Standing in a large pit is a gigantic mechanical robot. It easily stands fifty feet tall! The control center is roughly at head level to the giant robot.

"That looks a lot like a Minuteman!" Electra will cry out in shock. "But I've never seen one that big before!"

Chimera will glance from the Minuteman to the cyborgs in the previous chamber. "New type of agents and a new type of Minuteman. Genocide is upgrading their operations."

"How can this get any worse?" Blaise Morgan demands.

Suddenly, the eyes of the giant minuteman begin to glow.

"You just had to say that didn't you?" Hardbody answers sarcastically.

"It is even worse", Chimera states. "That thing is active. But not for long. Electra, if you would do the honors?"

"On it!" Electra answers.

Electra transforms into raw electricity once more and surges into the control panels, shorting them out as she passes. The electrical surge them travels over the wires connecting the giant Minuteman Mark 7 to the controls. Much like she did in the control room, Electra shorts out the circuitry with her passage. Just as quickly as the Minuteman started to power up, it now looses power. Puffs of smoke are emerging from the giant, now powerless robot.

Just that quick, Electra is back among you.

"Piece of cake," the electrical woman states. "That thing is one giant paperweight now."

"Very good," Chimera nearly purrs. "I'd say that our mission here is now complete. GENOCIDE has been foiled. We'll be taking our leave of you."

"Oh, there was some kid with pimples inside that thing," Electra tells you. "I just knocked him out, but I imagine you'll want to fish him out."

Hardbody pauses long enough to pick up the female cyborg. The Furies will depart unless they meet with resistance.

[GM Mad]

Roll Call: Frostbite, Goldstar, Stargirl, Menagerie, Flux, Tesla, Starguard, and the Scarlet Sabre


The salvage mission out in space has been completed. The unexpected complication with the Crimson Claw appears to have been permanently resolved. Work turns back towards restoring the ship when Edgar reports that Powershift is attacking the PRIMUS base in San Diego. The Vigilant prepare to return to earth, while Goldstar, Starguard, and the Scarlet Sabre remain on the ship to continue their work.

"Right. Tesla, Menagerie, Frostbite we're out of here. Tesla prep the Star-V for a return flight. Edgar, notify PRIMUS we are inbound to collect Powershift and get an update of his position and actions if you can. Get me a visual of the ADT building piped to the consol of the Star-V. I want a look at the place. Stargirl, I'm not sure of your status in our little band here but I'd like you along just in case unless your mother objects."

"Notifying now," Edgar reports. "I'll have a visual for you in a few moments. The image will be transmitted to your PDA. I do have more information regarding the ADT Building. There are reports of air vehicle crashing into the side of the building. Emergency response units are already en route."

A high overhead view of the ADT Building appears on Flux's PDA. The image zooms in and you can spot people on the rooftop. After further zooming in, you can make out Sea Guard, Blackout and Lavender standing on the roof talking. Around them are men in the uniforms of GENOCIDE who appear to have been defeated.

"Connect me to Major Star at PRIMUS or whoever is in charge at the base just now. Depending on the situation I'll be assigning teams to Powershift and the ADT building as needed. I assume 'Shift is not answering his comm? Try to patch me through to him anyway. Maybe he'll talk to me."

"I can't reach Major Star, but I have Silver Avenger Rackham," Edgar reports.

"Flux?" Rackham calls out. "You better come and get your man here quick! He and Major Star are slugging out in the sky overhead! He's gone crazy!"

"Tesla, get me an ETA to atmosphere. We may have to divide the team up in route."

"On it," is all Tesla says as she starts powering up systems and plotting their return trip. She pulls up a screen to be used for the ADT visual and makes sure all other systems come online.

Tesla dashes to the Star-V to get it ready to take off. She accesses the controls via her own PDA and begins the process before even reaching the cockpit. By the time everyone is on board, the ship is ready to fly. It'll take about a minute to get the Star-V out into space and far enough away from the Claw's Speed to go to lightspeed. The trip to Earth will take just a few seconds, but re-entry into the atmosphere will take around ten minutes. All toll, it'll take about twelve minutes to reach the PRIMUS base in the Star-V. Edgar can remotely control the ship via the autopilot, so everyone can disembark the Star-V and it will fly back to the Sea Base on its own.

Once everyone is on board, the outer hatch is opened and the Star-V emerges powered by its maneuvering thrusters. Once clear, the man engines are powered up to give you distance then the Star-V makes the jump to lightspeed. What seems like only a second later, the Earth appears and fills the sky. Tesla then begins the descent into the atmosphere.

So far, there has been no response from Powershift on his Commlink. However, communications with the rest of the Vigilant are suddenly restored as the Star-V closes in on San Diego.


Now what?

[Menagerie]

Menagerie:

“Thanks for the heads up,” Goldstar says to Menagerie. “We certainly don’t want that thing floating around out in space. I think I can permanently remove that particular threat.”

"Glad to hear it," Lily replies. "I'll certainly sleep better at night knowing it's gone for good."

A high overhead view of the ADT Building appears on Flux's PDA. The image zooms in and you can spot people on the rooftop. After further zooming in, you can make out Sea Guard, Blackout and Lavender standing on the roof talking. Around them are men in the uniforms of GENOCIDE who appear to have been defeated.

"Looks like Sea Guard and that Blackout guy made it. Isn't that the woman who attended the party with him? Does anyone know if she's a meta?"

"Flux?" Rackham calls out. "You better come and get your man here quick! He and Major Star are slugging out in the sky overhead! He's gone crazy!"

"Fighting Major Star?" Menagerie says. "Now I know something's wrong with Powershift. We better get back there quick!"

Soon, they are on their way back to Earth and San Diego.

[Bruce]

Flux

"SA Rackham, we are in route to collect Powershift. ETA twelve minutes."

*Seaguard. Report status at ADT building. Powershift is assaulting Major Star over PRIMUS base. He is not responding to comms. Any explanation for this would be helpful. What has happened?*

"Tenetive team division: Frostbite and Menagerie divert to the ADT building. Get in contact with the rest of our team there. Find out what cut off comms. Assess the situation and deal with it. Report back in via link."

"Myself, Stargirl and Tesla will transit to PRIMUS and see about Powershift in the Star V. We'll try talking first but I'm prepared to go to hardball tactics if we need to. Any questions?"

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

Sea Guard:

*Sea Guard. Report status at ADT building. Powershift is assaulting Major Star over PRIMUS base. He is not responding to comms. Any explanation for this would be helpful. What has happened?*

“Boss, is that you?” Sea Guard says as he activates his comlink. “’Shifts attacking Major Star? I’m not really sure what is going on with ‘Shift. From what I’ve been told he seemed really agitated and flew off from the ADT looking really mad.”

“As for the ADT Building, it seems to be secure for the moment, but I haven’t caught up with Backlash yet. As for what happened here, it’s really strange. A VIPER Transport crashed into the side of the building. When we arrived on the scene, all the passengers were dead, but there was no pilot. Powershift, Backlash, and that Eldrich guy went off to find him. That was the last I saw of ‘Shift.”

“Anyway, I went over the VIPER Transports onboard computer and I believe I located its point of origin.” Sea Guard pauses to let that sink in. “I believe that I have learned the location of the local VIPER’s Nest.”

“I just arrived up on the roof where Blackout and Lavender were taking on a contingent of GENOCIDE troops led by the Black Queen. I have no idea why they were here, but that’s not the strange part. The GENOCIDE transport flew off without them. The only thing I can think of is that the pilot of the VIPER Transport stole the GENOCIDE Craft. No idea why, but Powershift’s tracking led him to the roof and into the midst of the GENOCIDE Agents. Both Blackout and Lavender reported that he seemed really ticked off and flew away without explanation.”

“That’s all I know here.”

[Blackout]

Blackout:

"There's not much we can do on that front right now. We don't even know where he went. I'd suggest catching up with the others and see what they found out. You coming along, Blackout?"

"We're here so we might as well see this through," Blackout replies. While Sea Guard communicates with Flux, Blackout makes sure the agents and their commanders are all nice and secure for the arriving authorities.

[Tesla]

Tesla:

Once everyone is on board, the outer hatch is opened and the Star-V emerges powered by its maneuvering thrusters. Once clear, the man engines are powered up to give you distance then the Star-V makes the jump to lightspeed. What seems like only a second later, the Earth appears and fills the sky. Tesla then begins the descent into the atmosphere.

The trip is fast and uneventful, but it would seem that things back on Earth haven't been quite so calm. Tesla picks up much of the communications as she begins the decent. It seems Powershift has gone a bit batty.

"Myself, Stargirl and Tesla will transit to PRIMUS and see about Powershift in the Star V. We'll try talking first but I'm prepared to go to hardball tactics if we need to. Any questions?"

"No," Tesla responds simply. She remains at the controls of the Star V in preperation for engaging Powershift.

[Menagerie]

Menagerie:

The ride back to Earth is swift in the Star-V.

"Tenetive team division: Frostbite and Menagerie divert to the ADT building. Get in contact with the rest of our team there. Find out what cut off comms. Assess the situation and deal with it. Report back in via link."

"Go it, boss," Menagerie replies. Not certain what to expect, Lily take the form of Black Diamond, leader of the Avengers. Hopefully, Diamond's strength, toughness and ability to sense danger will be useful in dealing with whatever they encounter.

[GM Mad]

Post Closed