Stay tuned! Our action packed first issue launches later today!

Team Two: Grey Guardian, Alana, Blackhawk, Cryokinetic, and Wipeout.

DI Stone stood behind her desk, mush as she had the last time Guardian was here.

There were traditional paper files spread on her desk a a number of monitors in the room showed other related data.

As the team entered she wasted no time and began her briefing.

"The last operation went off without a hitch. Even our minor screwup turned into a win."

"We've had time to interrogate the prisoners and we're going to follow up on some leads we have gained."

"Do not forget that the primary goal of the last operation was to draw a hostile reaction from the Pallbearers hidden Cartel Boss."

"Keep your eyes open pout there she has talked A LOT of shit about what her reaction would be to authorities interfering in her business so she pretty much has to take a swing at us at some point!"

"We briefly thought she had been identified as "Popo" but then we learned that is simply Samoan for "Bitch". Tafola is apparently upset with her but he hasn't been willing to say anything more than he did during the raid."

i always thought that was the coppers myself.

Do we have any information on where to look for them or are we just waiting for them to strike and hope to make ti in time to have people not get hurt?

Although new to this office Alana is hardly new to briefings, and takes a moment to consider her suggestion, but not so long as to seem like she is wasting time or holding out.  ”Assuming this cartel operates like the other ones their only real interest is in money.  Unless we want to start taking their business at the street level we need to follow the trail higher up and cut it off there.  Find a few of their delivery or storage facilities and take everything they have.  It won't be long before you get a response.”

After the intro and breakfast, Rico heads down to the lockers to pick up his spare costume and weapon assortment that he keeps here.

The neocarbon suit reacts to his body heat and contracts, conforming to every muscle like it had been painted on. The surface flickers and goes from matte porcelain beige to the Blackhawk colors, night colors, blues and dark greys. The graphene armor over the more sensitive regions flexes and sets in place, ready to go steel-hard upon impact. The wing cape flares behind, a whisper of neocarbon that barely weighs anything at all. Better than the nylon cape I had back when I was Bluejay, he thinks.

He remembers the reaction from a cop in Chicago, back when he wore the blue-and-white. "Wait, you don't have any super powers? Are you f#%$ing insane?"

The mask goes from silk to steel in a heartbeat, and the optics come online at the same time – cycling through ranging, nightvision, ir, uv, check, check, check, All systems green. Comms synch up and bars appear over the various feeds before they fade away out of his vision until he needs them again. The mask talks to the wrist-mounted weapons he's putting on - flexor-based fire controls test green. It shows charges and current loads. It talks to the utility belt as well – grenades in place, tools, power source, comms booster, all green, green, green.

Nightsticks adhere to the magnetic spots on the back, under the wing-cape. He checks the ARCU-supplied stun pistol and stores it in the new holster he's added to the costume in recent days. At Siegestone, he'd used almost every sort of gun there was so he was familiar with it, but as Bluejay he hadn't used a gun save to fire grapples.

Well within the time limit given, he shows back up at Detective Stone's office.

He's the New Guy, so he listens to the others for right now. He's read up on the last raid against the Pallbearers, and he's interested in this new secret gangboss.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:56, Sun 22 Oct 2023.

Cryo arrived in the room and, for lack of a better term, froze when he saw Wipeout.

"Ummm...is me working with you guys gonna be a problem for the lady made of water? I don't want to freeze her out or anything..." He paused. "Sorry, that was a reflexive ice pun. Normally I use them on bad guys to get them to surrender. You would be surprised how often that works...because the jokes are that bad. "
This message was last edited by the player at 15:13, Mon 23 Oct 2023.

"You don't want to give her the cold shoulder, though," Blackhawk says, perfectly deadpan, face not changing expression.

Hernando finished his breakfast while following the others and while DI Stone spoke. When she was done he thought while he chewed on the last of his food. "You want us to take a run at him? If not what do you want us to do?"

Stone had nodded at Alana when she spoke and now she responded out loud to Guardian's question.

"We are going to turn up the pressure. This boss has issued some serious threats and yet has taken no action since the Pallbearers raid two days ago."

"Interrogating the Pallbearers has resulted in locating several of the Cartel's storehouses."

"You're going to destroy them and arrest anyone you find there."

"It is not a coincidence that this team comprises some of our best investigators. We still know painfully little about this organization and it leader."

"Find out more. Now for show and tell..."

A large burned metal hoop, about 7 feet in diameter, appeared on the screen behind her and she turned ot point at it.

"This device was discovered at the location of the Pallbearer's raid."

"This one was disabled during the raid by Cryokinetic's quick thinking."

She smirked at that point.

"From the intel we have gotten from the suspects apprehended there we are led to believe it is some sort of dimensional transportation device used by this cartel to "recruit" talent from other places. Places not of this world."

"We are further informed that it is not the only one."

"Locating and capturing these devices is a top priority on this operation."

"Any intel that can be gained regarding the nature of the beings that come through them is also a top priority.

"Addresses are in this file."

She dropped a wifi thumb drive on the table.

"Any questions?"

Guardian shook his head, "None from me, how about you guys?"

Looking at the picture of the big ring Alana doesn't seem overly worried, if robots can even demonstrate worry at all.  ”The stash houses aren't likely to also contain key elements of the organization, either magic rings or people, we can probably just destroy those without to much loss of intel, then capture the next tier up of people who come to solve the problem of missing product.

It would probably be a good idea to find a way for any one of us to disable the ring if we find it, and some kind of guess about how likely each method is to make it explode.”

"The one in the picture was stored, and apparently operational, in an abandoned gas station in the Labyrinth district."

Blackhawk studies the materials. "The hoop. Has any sort of metallurgical analysis been done on it, Detective Inspector? Something of that nature, it seems like it would contain some pretty rare materials; things that might only be supplied by only a handful of manufacturers." He pauses. "Presuming it's from our dimension to being with."

He shuffles through the pictures of the Pallbearers. "With all of the gang in custody, our mystery boss might be trying to recruit more members even now."

"It has not but I'll assign someone to do that immediately."

Looking at the picture, and talking about it is suddenly not enough for Alana and she stands abruptly from the chair, only then realizing something she turns back and makes a request.  ”I would like to see the inactive ring in person?

While it is unlikely I can replicate its function from an inactive version it is very likely I can make a convincing enough copy to disrupt the plans of whomever we find that knows what the thing should be able to do.”

In reply to Alana (msg # 15):

Cryo shurgs. "I should tell you they where using the city's power grid to make that doohicky function. When I cut off the junction box, it overloaded and burst into flames. From what I could tell it did seem to be some sorta...gate...to somewhere."

Then he glanced over at Blackhawk after the hero makes his own ice pun. "See? Its spreading. By end of day the whole team will be using them. The only cure is to start make other elemental-based puns, stat!" He looked over at Wipeout, expectedly.

"it's in the lab section. I'll let them know you are coming when you leave here."

Guardian said, "Good, while you look at that I will go and try to question the Samoan. Anyone can accompany me who wishes, but I would ask you to allow me to do the questioning."

Blackhawk nods and shoots a quick smile to Cryokinetic at the comment.

"If you don't mind, Alana, I'd like to accompany you. I'd like to see the hoop myself, as well."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:07, Wed 25 Oct 2023.

Does it have any symbols of any kind on the device?
Anyone with a magic bent looked at it?
Does it appear to be technology based?
Do we know what kind of other planes?
Do we know if it can change what plane it contacts?

This message was lightly edited by the GM at 19:06, Wed 25 Oct 2023.

As Alana, Wipeout, and Blackhawk arrive in the heavy lab they are greeted by the sight of a team of techs surrounding The Hoop as it had been suspended in the center of the lab by a crane.

Viktor Crenshaw and Mina Hellenbarger of ARC:US's tech wing are present along with a few apprentice tech and, somewhat surprisingly, the Rustic Arcanist himself, Hatfield McCoy!

Despite being dressed like a 19th century hillbilly he seems to be carrying on a conversation in technical jargon that would cross Bill Nye's undereducated eyes.

As he enters Flynn begins to fire questions at the tech team like bullets from a machinegun.



The techs and HM turn toward her with somewhat bemused expressions.

The share a look, reject all snarky options, and Viktor merely answers in order,

"Rather boring workaday safety notices. Yes. Yes. No. Completely unknown."

McCoy added, in his trademark drawl,

"Cryokinetic wisely wrecked it before them what built it could use it. Fried it so it ca'int be power'd up agin'. Or so t'would seem thus far."

"Follow me gentelmen."

"Tafola is currently housed in our onsite Hard Room. Though he has offered no trouble so far he is FAR stronger than our previous intel suggested."

He leads Guardian and Cryo down the stairs and into the built up below ground level of the Headquarters.

He stops in front of a door one might find in a post apocalyptic bunker. Flanking the door are two fully armored and armed guards, a human on the left and an android on the right.

"He's right in there."

Alana offers Hatfield an obviously familiar nod in passing but otherwise ignores the conversation about the object.  Instead she walks up to it and touches it directly, skipping to the end of whatever process they might have had in mind.

Not more than a few seconds after starting her close inspection of the ring Alana begins the complicated process of altering her form, parts that seem like solid pieces split apart into many smaller pieces, all of them shift around rotating or sliding into new relative positions.  The end result takes about three seconds and results in her looking exactly like a second Hoop, balanced perfectly to stand on its own without falling at least for long enough to begin the transformation back into her humanoid robot form.

Guardian sat down across from the Samoan. He made eye contact but remained silent.

using the Mom trick of letting him do the talking.

Cryo stays in the background, checking his phone and looking over at GG as he tries to interrogate the prisoner.

Wipeout gives the device another look over to see if there are any other symbols which might have been missed, or perhaps covered up by the "Rather boring workaday safety notices"  Using her fingernail or something to check.

Blackhawk looks at the hoop and then steps back as Alana begins her transformation, just in case she needs the space; regardless, he seems fascinated by watching her change shape.

"Okay, tech basis is good; at least I might be able to contribute something. I don't know anything about magic, really..." he says.

Once Alana begins to change back, he asks "Can you tell anything about it's composition when you do that? Are you mimicking just the shape, or it's internal workings as well?"

Apparently he's skimped looking at the files on his teammates during his initial time at ARC:US.

It takes a moment after turning back into a form with legs for Alana to reorient back to the people in the room, but not much longer.  When she does she answers Blackhawk's question as best she can with little or no hesitation.  ”With most things I am mimicking the shape, and how the shape works, but this thing doesn't use its shape to do any work, like a computer, it does everything without moving.”

Tafola smirks.

Viktor observes wipeout's actions and says, "We x-rayed the whole structure. Our impression is that the parts are salvaged and these safety stickers were already on the material."

"Hatfield assures us there is no mystical element to the operation but that it is marked by residual other dimensional energies."

His voice is clear and carries over the entire lab well enough for everyone to hear.

Alana can tell that her imitation of The Hoop is incomplete. Some important bits were destroyed when the power surged. The appearance however was perfect. The object is a small enough to avoid any of the micronization some of her forms experienced.

Blackhawk nods to Viktor, and watches Alana change back to her humanoid form. "Salvaged parts. Interesting. Probably no way of finding the source of any materials, then, unless those stickers can tell us something." He pauses. "Hmm. Salvaged. Could be worth it to check out some of the salvage yards. With super-scientists and crazy techno-villains throwing their stuff into the trash, it's a wonder we don't see more of this kind of thing."

He looks to Wipeout. "Any of those stickers look interesting?" he says, moving into position for a closer look, himself.

Guardian continued to stare at the Samoan.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:53, Thu 26 Oct 2023.

The big Samoan made a face studying both Cryo and Guardian closely.

"Where's the big guy?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:26, Thu 26 Oct 2023.

Well seems i'm out of idea right now.  What else do people have for brilliant ones?

Blackhawk scratches his chin and looks to Wipeout. "Depends on what else the hoop might tell us. A survey of where the salvaged parts came from might be useful - it would tell us what the Mystery Boss is looking for, and maybe give us an area to start in. Or they might not be salvaged so much as stolen, which would be even better."

Staring judgementally and accusitorialy, Guardian shrugged, "Out."

Tafola didn't seem to be picking up on the subtle by-play.

"Whadda we here for den Use?"

Guardian answered, "For you to talk. I guarantee I can out wait you."

"No you can't Hernan, you've got a time sensitive assignment to carry out."]

But even as Guardian is getting that message in his ear.


"Da'fuqs said I din't wanna talk bro? Dat Popo hung me out to dry and lied about what she gave me!"

"So far all dees Gugus do is stare at me like you doin'."

It takes a few moments for Alana to fully assess her experience as the new ring before she tunes back into the conversation going on around her, but she catches up quickly enough.  "If we can figure out how to fix it that would be nice, but they reportedly have more than one, so we should search for the others and at least examine any new one before we break it.”

He holds up a finger and touches ear with the other hand, It's Hernando or Grey Guardian, D.I. Stone."

Then to the Samoan, "I need the name and location of your boss, the location of the other dimensional gates, names of accomplices not in custody...anything else relevant."

"I ain't rattin' on nobody but dat Popo use! She bailed and left us all hangin'! She put dat thing in Abduweli!"

"Some kinda black magic witch hoodoo bulls*** with chemicals and atomic s***! Makin people inta slaves! Feeding people ta da devil! Stickin' da devil inta people!"

"She said she made me invulnerable so I can get my sisters out but when she left it went away!"

"DA POPO'S NAME IS Rein..."

At that point his eyes bulged out and his hands gripped the table crushing it into an aluminum wad.

"Her name..."

Blood came out of Lofa Qiloa's mouth and eyes splattering all over the floor.

"Da Popo's name is Reina Escobar! She call herself da queen of da monsters..."

The huge man collapsed to the floor and a river of blood flowed from his mouth, eyes, and obviously burst blood vessels in his neck.

Finally he lay still.

Guardian jumped up and began shouting into his ear piece, "Medic! Man down. Repeat man down." He will attempt CPR on the big man.


22:29, Today: Grey Guardian rolled 77 using 1d100.  /81% Medical Doctor
This message was last edited by the player at 02:30, Sun 29 Oct 2023.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 43):

"Holy crow!"

Cryo zipped in, trying to chill the body and stop the blood flow. Maybe he could put the man on cryogentic coma. Maybe that might keep the man alive until the medic got there...
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Sun 29 Oct 2023.

Wipeout just stare in disbelief that the man either died because of what he said or was killed because of it.

Medic were into the room in seconds, Dr. Silverback literally swung into the room through the top of the door above everyone's heads.

The gorilla took over and closely inspected the body before shaking his head at Guardian.

"He is dead."

He rested an open palm on the big man's chest. With his other hand he indicated the ruptured wounds in Samoan's neck.

"I suspect this vein and artery damage goes clear through his body."

"I'll have to autopsy him to be certain of course."

Everyone who had been present during the incident, or after, was covered in blood.

Viktor nodded.

"There is some possibility that more of these are set up in some of the warehouses you guys are targeting today."

"Dr. Smith and her team will be ready to roll if you find something that needs to get back here intact.

Hernando nodded at the Gorilla, "Yea. He turned his head away from the large man. I hope what we learned was worth it."
This message was last updated by the GM at 22:47, Mon 30 Oct 2023.

Why would someone do that?  what kind of monster are we dealing with?
This message was last updated by the GM at 22:45, Mon 30 Oct 2023.

Cryo looked at the corpse, realizing now his powers could not stop a nearly instant death. He knew of course that had always been true, but he had very good luck up till now. His defeats and failures minor compared to his success.

"Well...uhhh...can one of our medical types figure out the gizmo in that guy's neck?" He said, a little shaky.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:51, Mon 30 Oct 2023.

Blackhawk nods to Viktor. "I hope so; any information we can glean from them is good." He pauses. "I wonder how Cryo--" And then the call comes over their comms and he runs down to join the horror show in the interrogation room. "Madre..." he coughs as he smells the intense coppery scent of blood...everywhere.

Silverback seemed to struggle for a moment. His instinct was to touch those close to him when they were experiencing stress but given the situation, and the blood, it didn't seem appropriate at the moment.

Then his eyes opened wide and his head came up.

"There is no gizmo, and this young man has given us far more than a name!"

He stood up and lifted the 400 plus pound Tafola like a man lifting a child.

"I don't think this is blood at all, in a biological sense."

"Seal this room as an active crime scene. Everything in here will need to be processed, including all of you. I'm taking Tafola to forensics lab 3. Bring everything that so much as touched his blood, and all of his blood you can gather from the interrogation room to me there."

"I'll need to decontaminate all of you before you can continue with your operation today."

"And if someone would please radio Doctor Roller and ask him to return. I'll need his help with this."

He made his way out with alacrity enough that questions would need to be asked at the Lab.

Just about to arrive on the scene, following the call for help, Alana pauses outside and does something unusual, even for her, she turns into something immobile.

Taking on the form of a biosafety level 4 airlock perfectly fit to the open doorway in a way that shouldn't be possible.

Guardian went on a kind of autopilot as he wrestled with his emotions. He went about attempting to collect evidence.

Blackhawk gets there after Dr. Silverback seals the room. "If there is anything I can do, let me know," he says, standing by the new security door. He looks impatient, but he also doesn't turn green at the sight of All That Blood.

Well shit, i hope he does not make me go through a filter...

Wipeout waits for the decontamination.

"Great...artificial blood that makes people explode. Functional AND super gross at the same time!" Cryo says with an disgusted grunt.

Blackhawk readies a couple of packs on his utility belt just in case. Man, he thought, this is just like Advanced Body Disposal with Special Instructor Mandible. Freakin' lunatic provided his own.

The team and the staff of Arcus threw themselves into the problem.

The interrogation room was scoured. Those present were decontaminated thoroughly.

Wipeout was in fact passed through a filter. A not altogether comfortable experience.

All traces of Tafola's blood are gather and meticulously stored as evidence.

Doc and Dr. Silverback emerge from the lab and immediately call a meeting of the team.

Silverback stood by. His simian face was hard to read but the general feeling was that he was angry.

Doc patted the gorilla on the shoulder and the spoke to the team gravely.

"Mr. Qiloa's sacrifice has given us an invaluable lead on the new Cartel's plans as well as their abilities."

"The fluid we recovered from his body is, as Dr. Silverback surmised, not blood as know it."

"It is in fact made up of microscopic machines. Oxygen transfer is only one of the capabilities of these machines. They also transform, rebuild, and energize the cells of the host body."

"Despite being clearly technological these devices draw there energy from another dimension and this energy is what we commonly classify as "Magic"."

"It's quite possible that with proper access to the dimensional energies that power them Mr. Quiloa's claim of invulnerability may have been legitimate. Maybe even against mystical energies and weapons."

"But for some reason he was denied this energy."

Guardian said, "We have a lead too, Reina Escobar." The fact that she shared his kast name was not lost on Hernando.

"Queen?"

Hernando was confused, "I'm sorry? What does this have to do with Freddy Mercury?"

Blackhawk flashes a smile to the Guardian. "Interesting title, both ways. She empowers her people with the nanoblood, but I wonder if she can control it afterwards, as well? Magic isn't something I know a lot about, though, other than some of the basic forms. I thought magic didn't work well with technology, Doctor," he said, changing his attention back to Doctors Roller and Silverback. "Or is that just another misconception?"
This message was last updated by the GM at 02:02, Fri 03 Nov 2023.

Roller clarifies the question, "You said Queen Escobar?"




"Agent McCoy assures that it is just that. In other worlds it is combined in various proportion. Unfortunately that is not his specialty."

Guardian spoke again, "Ah now I understand. I think it was meant as a name, like Cezar, not a title. I might be mistaken."

"So...anyone with this blood in them has gizmos that need magic to stay active. If that's the case would they show up on the magic version of a geiger counter?" Cryo suggests.

So .... That .... Was a completely different level of invasive.  I used to think that the sewers were the worst thing i have had to go into.   One thing that makes that worse is i will have to do it again, better because at least its clean.

So basically magic fueled other dimensional nano machines that replicate blood and regeneration among other things.  How are we supposed to fight that kind of stuff?

Blackhawk punches his palm with a soft smack and says to Wipeout, "I suppose we find out at the warehouses." He looks to the Doctors. "How does what we learned here change that mission, if any?" he asks. "If there is anything magical there, how will we recognize it?"

"The "blood" is merely a suspension that acts as a transport medium for the nanomachines. The death of Mr Quiloa indicates that they remain in the control of their installer."

"Still your hypothesis could work but for one missing element; a magic version of a geiger counter. Hmm...let's call it a Merlin-ometer."

"The biggest change is in the threat assessment. If the Reina Cartel can manufacture supers then the chance you will encounter super powered threats becomes much greater."

"That said you are all professionals and I've no doubt you can handle that issue at need."

In reply to Dr. Silverback (msg # 71):

"Ooh! Ooh! How about a Copperfieldian detector! Or a Houdiscope! Or a Chris Angel array!" It seemed like Cryo had a lot of these names...and none of them where getting less annoying.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:17, Fri 03 Nov 2023.

Guardian was intrigued by the conversation but kept his own counsel. This Reina's last name was irksome and had a large portion of his attention.

"Those are all fake magicians. Merlin is real."

"Okay, we've learned what we can for now. These targets need to be serviced."

"Keep your eyes open. Report anything that may connect to these issues."

"Get me one of those hoops in working order."

In reply to Dr. Silverback (msg # 75):

"If that guy is real how come he's not starring in a sold out show in Vegas, smart guy!?"

"I got a hair dryer and a sponge, You want me to go get them?"

"Get to work!"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:32, Mon 06 Nov 2023.

In reply to Dr. Silverback (msg # 78):

"I find that offensive! And I never mentioned Bananas even once!" That being said, Cryo zips off and vanishes before aformentioned hair dryer and sponge could be deployed.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:43, Mon 06 Nov 2023.

Blackhawk smiles at the repartee between Silverback and Cryo. He gives a short not to Dr. Roller. "Okay, then, we'd better get started to the warehouses," he says. "Target number one."

He has taken note of Grey Guardian's quiet moments, and he hangs back a bit. "You look concerned," he says. "Anything the matter?"

Guardian shook his head, "I'm just...thinking. This woman uses my own last name. I am wracking my brain to try and figure out why. I mean it could be just that she has the same name, but I do not believe in coincidence."

Blackhawk nods at the Guardian. "Not all that uncommon a name, though; you think there is a connection?" he says. "Any bruja in your family tree? Since it sounds like she might be one."

Guardian made a face that said he was trying to figure that out by wracking his brain. "I was under the impression that my family tree ends with me, though now I am trying to figure out if perhaps there is some distant relations."

Guardian will take the wheel of the armored vehicle. He will drive to their first destination and try to get an idea of what they are dealing with and come up with a plan of attack.

Blackhawk takes shotgun and gets his gear ready as they travel - checking his utility belt, and making sure his weapons are good to go. "Good as it can get," he says to the rest as they pull up to the warehouse. The young man looks like he's calm but he's itching to get to the action; his intense look as he checks out the area around the warehouse might give that away. "Any one see civilians in the area?" he asks as he does a sight check.

"I'm gonna scout ahead." Cryo's voice was heard over the commlink. Those who had worked with him before knew he could travel fast under his own power, and unseen.

Rather than waste space in the armored vehicle Alana just becomes an exact copy of it  right down the any license plate or tags it is currently showing.

She then leaves enough time for anyone who wants to ride with her time to get in before following the real version out in s short convoy manner.

Despite it's rocky start most of the day goes smoothly.

The small convoy (2) of armored SUVs rolls from location to location and the team takes down warehouse after warehouse of Reina Cartel loot and contraband.

By 6 in the afternoon they are approaching the last address designated for a strike.

Something about the place, deep in the Labyrinth district, set off alarm bells in the finely honed senses of all the team members.

All of them are certain this will not be a lightly defended storehouse. There was definitely something dangerous in there!

Guardian got everyone together. "Alana, we need you in a small form, easily carried, maybe a go-pro? Cryo, take Alana with you and scout. We need at minimum numbers on who is here and any other intell you can get. Blackhawk and I will stay behind and keep watch. We will be able to join you quickly in case of emergency. Unless someone has a better idea, lets get moving."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:04, Mon 13 Nov 2023.

In reply to Grey Guardian (msg # 89):

"Gotcha! Me and Mecha Maiden will be all sneaky like!" He zips over to Alana. "You got a stealth mode? Or can you change size when you shift into a machine? Which is super cool by the way. I can bend the light waves around both of us if you stay close by me."

Reverting from the SUV form to her humanoid one Alana answers the question asked of her.
 "Stealth mode is an option.”
Then without further adieu follows the guidelines of her own answer and turns into the smallest and newest form of the go pro, found in the Insta360 GO 3, that is unlike its normal white cousins only in that it is a very dark charcoal grey perfect for blending into the not quite darkness of any urban environment.

In reply to Alana (msg # 91):

"Awesome! We can do surveillance for the entire team! I can hide us while you do the camera work!" He picks up the go pro, wondering where all the mass went when she transformed into something a tenth her size.

"Time for some speed skating!" Cryo, and Alana via her new form, zips off at 240 mph as he moves frictionless via his ice covered feet. Even as he does so, Cryo and whatever he is carrying-his sling bag and Alana in this case-fade from vision. He even fades from IR and UV spectrums of light. Granted there is a bit of a blur as he moves, but he moves fast enough where if someone blinks they will miss it.

"Good hunting," Blackhawk tells the others as they go off to recon - he stays with Guardian, and keeps a sharp lookout on the warehouse, and also on the surrounding buildings. They could have lookouts on nearby rooftops, and such. He flexes his forearms, checking the wrist-mounted weaponry again in his mask lenses.

Everybody roll me a perception roll on a D20 (Alana get's a +5).

18:59, Today: Grey Guardian rolled 19 using 1d20.  Perception

Blackhawk rolled 15 using 1d20+4 ((11))

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 94):

ooc-22:01, Today: Cryokinetic rolled 2 using 1d20.  Perception (mods for ir/uv vision?).

Grey Guardian connection to the city of Central Station is uncanny, even to him, and it shows itself once again as he sees nothing but the hackles of his neck rise as he senses something...unnatural.


Blackhawk and Cryo spot recently and brutally killed bodies scattered near where someone may have stationed sentries around the building.

None of them are moving and Cryo can quickly determine that they are far too cold to be alive.

Alana catches all of this on camera and (if she so chooses) stores it away for later.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 98):

Cryo hits the commlink to the others, and stays cloaked. All while 'filming' via Alana. All he really does is point the Mecha Maiden at the scene and lets her decide where to send the footage. "This is sooooo messed up!" Cryo whispered. "GG, you seeing this? Should we move inside?"

While quite good at what it does the little camera version of Alana does not seem to have any kind of broadcast function, instead recording everything for later.

"What's up, Guardian?" as he sees the man's reaction. After seeing the dead sentries, his weapons are powered up and ready; he just needs a target at this point. He moves to get cover from the warehouse building proper, and looks for anyone on the rooftops or windows.

Guardian spoke in the mic, "There is something here that isn't of this world. The City wants it gone. We're all going in so wait scout team. Blackhawk we're rallying with scout team." He started running to the rally point.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:21, Thu 16 Nov 2023.

Blackhawk begins running towards the scout team, wing-cape flaring behind him. He looks from side to side, ready for an ambush from either the warehouse or the surrounding buildings, and varies his speed and direction in dodgy bursts so a gunman has a harder time getting a fix on him. (Urban Assault 201,) he thinks. (I always did pretty good with this; let's see if it holds up now!)
This message was last edited by the player at 14:59, Thu 16 Nov 2023.

In reply to Cryokinetic (msg # 99):

Glad of his nearly empty stomach, Cryo keeps filming via Alana. "Lots of bodies here guys. Checking out the local area for unseen targets." He says over the commlinks to the rest of the team, dry heaving a bit as he moves the camera over the corpses. He makes sure to keep Alana and him invisible as moves deeper into the grizzly scene.

In reply to Cryokinetic (msg # 104)

Cryo and Alana see that the bodies are of mixed ethnicity and are dressed in fairly stereotypical criminal garb.

Some are burned, others are torn apart, and all of them have been tossed behind crates and bushes in a half-assed attempt to hide the bodies.

Guardian came upon the tangled mass grave he is disgusted but he knows this is not the time. Now is the time to push forward. There is an enemy that must be met and stopped. "I've no idea what we face, but I know it is supernatural. We must bind together to overcome it." He began making his way toward the warehouse, motioning the others to follow. "Blackhawk, can you see in the dark?"

Everyone with any sort of thermal sensors can detect heat coming from inside the warehouse.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 107):

"GG, Alana and I are going in." He said via the team's communications. Both of them would go in concealed by Cryo's light bending powers. Zipping in while moving fast, and using Cryo's IR to find the source of the heat.

Blackhawk trots up to flank Grey Guardian, staying parallel to him as they move up to wards the main building. "I can, yes," he says. "Thermals showing a lot of heat in the building, as well."

Guardian said, "Wait Cryo I need..." He shook his head. "I guess we are going in with the lights on..."

Cryokinetic sweeps into the warehouse quietly but nevertheless with great speed.

The warehouse is mostly empty but for an obviously fully functional Hoop in the center of the floor nearby which stands a misshapen horror.

The thing is around 9 feet tall with 5 limbs. It has two relatively normal legs that end in hoofed feet. Two gnarled left arms and one hugely disproportionate right.

Vestigial wings with hooked spines in place of pinions do not look capable of flight, merely flapping spasmodically completely out of synch with the movements of the rest of the body.

Most horrible is the creature's head. Malformed and oozing, with three twisted horns and nine eyes of various sickly colors.

Cryo, with his uncanny power bending the light around himself and Alana/GoPro, is shocked to see the monster turn it's sickening head to look at him as he enters.

"I am older than the light boy...I see on planes you cannot imagine!"

A weapon, an axe, of pure flame forms in the monster's right hand.

"She calls me here...But I will not serve! Instead I will take this city as my own! Your souls will be the first power I take in this soft world!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:48, Sat 25 Nov 2023.

Before the thing can strike the windows explode inward and Grey Guardian and Blackhawk land amid the shattered glass and iron of the frames!


Everybody Roll Initiative!
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:11, Tue 21 Nov 2023.

Initiative - 18:45, Today: Blackhawk rolled 20 using 1d20+2 ((18)).
Attacks Remaining: 7
This message was last edited by the player at 14:43, Thu 23 Nov 2023.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 112):

Ooc-21:12, Today: Cryokinetic rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Initiative.

22:57, Today: Grey Guardian rolled 20 using 1d20+5.  Initiative

Wow that's fast!

All of you act before the monster.

Go!

Blackhawk is taken aback by the monstrous Thing that emerges from the warehouse, and begins to dodge right, broken-field running to one side so he and the Guardian are not in a nice sweepable formation. He draws his stun pistol, and fires his wrist laser at the thing. More to test it's defenses and reactions than to hurt something that big, but you never know.

His heart is pounding. He's faced magic a few times as Bluejay, but... those were insane 'Look, I found a magic book'-type human villains. Not things like this. Not demons, or whatever that thing is.

"Here's hoping that's some kind of illusion," he says into his radio.

10:00, Today: Blackhawk rolled 4 using 1d20+3 ((1)) Laser
10:00, Today: Blackhawk rolled 19 using 1d20+3 ((16)) Stun Pistol

5 Attacks left over
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Mon 27 Nov 2023.

"GG, I am dealing with a senior citizen which has some sort of...softness issue?" Cryo says over the commlink but loud enough for the creature to hear. "I assumes that means he has some sort of constipation issue. He said he is older than dirt, so I am gonna try and communicate."

Cyro clears his throat. "Attension Elderly visitor! If you vacate back to your old age home we can promise as many adult diapers as you need! Is your hearing aid functional!?" Cyro says in a loud, excessive slow manner.

As he is detected, Cryo becomes visible and then starts blasting...

OOC-spending only two actions so far.

1 action to create self-sized shield that can parry ranged attacks, as it is cover..

1 action to drop 50 pounds of ice on his head.

12:36, Today: Cryokinetic rolled 2 using 1d4.  Damage .

12:36, Today: Cryokinetic rolled 16 using 1d20+8.  Snow drop.

If not dodged, creature takes damage, loses initative, and 1 attack.
 
This message was last edited by the player at 17:38, Sat 25 Nov 2023.

Grey Guardian slung his magic ax at the creature.

Throw Ax, do not recall

11:16, Today: Grey Guardian rolled 39 using 4d6+30.  Ax damage.

11:14, Today: Grey Guardian rolled 27 using 1d20+12.  Throw Ax.

6 attacks left over.

With the stealth phase of the mission obviously completed Alana initiates the transformation from her camera form back into the humanoid robot form, the same one she always uses.  In this case the first step disables the magnetic connection that was holding the camera up which causes her to fall on the ground where the camera continues to unfold impossibly many times, growing rapidly in size but still not any distinct form.

Neither of Blackhawks shots seems to have any effect on the creature and 50 pounds of snow and ice, somewhat disconcertingly, melts and evaporates before it even touches the thing.

Only Grey Guardian's tomahawk draws the monster's attention and that is only for it to laugh at the wound.

"IS it upon this that you base your hopes Guardian?"

"HAHAHAHAHA! YOU ARE DOOMED!"

Showing utter disdain the monster does not even attack the team as it laughs.

Guardian waved for the others to stop for a moment, "Your voice seems familiar to me, have we met before? Obviously you were different at some point."

Attacks 5?

(Madre de dios, I should have came in the car...) Blackhawk thinks. (Who knew I'd need to bring missiles to a gun fight?)

Blackhawk watches his laser shot go wide and the stun gun have about as much effect as he thought, so he unclips two small black ovoids from his utility belt and winds up to throw as Grey Guardian speaks. He hesitates, and sees what the creature does.

He does step back several feet.

5 Attacks left over

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 121):

Cryo prepares to blast the thing directly, but notices it does not attack while staying untouchable.

OOC-Preparing to create shields against anyone it plans to attack.

Alana stands up as soon as her robot form has recognizable legs and begins to move, quickly, away from the creature but only in distance not hiding but adding room to gain speed before she returns.  The last few changes lock into place as she reaches the farthest point away from the creature it can still be seen, and braces against the wall for a jump start if the attack resumes.

"We have not met Childe but you have heard my voice."

"I am Nine Eyes and I was there when you were bound to this city. I was there when you were made The Grey Guardian..."

'...and I will be there when you fail to guard it."

"I will be there when you die!"

The hideous monster fades from sight as if it dispersed into burning fog and then simply disappeared.

It's hollow laughter could still be heard after it was completely gone from sight.

More important than the taunting laughter the burning fog lit the warehouse on fire!

Everything in sight was either on fire or smoldering and about to catch except the Iron Hoop construct in the center of the room.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 126):

"You would think a senior citizen with vision problems and adult diapers would be a more empathic guy!" Cryo said, and zipped towards the flames. Blasting the burning material and smothering materials with ice and cold.

Guardian stood transfixed on the place where the thing vanished. He kept the name Nine Eyes in his mind. He waited while Cryo took care of the fire problem.

Every bit as fast on her feet as most other forms, and with better acceleration, Alana sprints through the fire and burning fog alike to reach the big ring, when she gets there she does the same thing she did in the lab, both touching and examining the functional version in considerable detail even as the building begins to burn.

The secondary fires, set by the ones Nine Eyes started, respond as they should to Cryo's powers and go out.

The primary fires, the ones Nine Eyes actually lit, continue to burn and evaporate any moisture that comes near them.

The result is that Cryokinetic can slow the Hellfire down some but he cannot stop it from eventually (in a few minutes at most) consuming the building.



Sprinting through the Hellfire before it has dispersed burns Alana for 160 SDC (Magical Fire Damage) but she is able to sense that the Iron Hoop is still functional and as she had theorized she can duplicate it's function but not the power source.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 130):

Cyro instead of trying to put the fire out, imprisoned the flames inside an ice barrier. Even if it would damage and melt the ice, he would make more and more. the question was he could see if the fire had limitless energy or the ice barrier would run out. As Cyro did not tire, he could last a considerable amount of time.

"We need to evac people ASAP!" Cyro said to the others.

OOC-Instead of just relying a lack of oxgen and heat to put out the fire, I can physically imprison it behind ice walls. Even if damages the icewalls, I can add to their thickness depending on the size.

OOC: You can in fact do this. However it would just destroy the building with a flood and a fire (and/or maybe a giant steam explosion) instead of just a fire. You've already bought enough to time to get everyone (and the evidence/device) out with the quick application of your powers.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 132):

OOC-thats fine, if everyone is already out. However, I can keep adding thickness and freezing water. So if it causes the ice to melt, i can reform the ice in 1 or 2 actions. Ether way, I need to know if this enternal fire is gonna escape the building and burn the entire world down. Which means i gotta keep blocking it.

While not particularly worried about the fire herself Alana quickly realizes that the others aren't going to just leave and without so much as a moments additional delay she scoops up the ring like it is a giant hula hoop and hustles out through the biggest door she can see.

The fire grows until it engulfs the entire structure. The warehouse burns leaving little more than a black smudge on the aging parking lot.

Cryokinetic despite his best efforts is forced to flee along with the others.

Everyone makes it outside including Alana who carries the Iron Hoop as if it were a wayward child.

It occurs to a couple of those present that this is the longest Alana has been witnessed to remain in a humanoid form.

Blackhawk dodges around the areas of fire that aren't being affected by Cryo's powers, and tried to find if there are any survivors he can get to - he's not hopeful but he's going to try anyway.

None of the Reina Cartel thugs survived the arrival of Nine Eyes. To their credit it does not look like they even tried to run.

Seeing the damage that the Hellfire did to Alana (enough to almost wreck his DocMod(tm) heavy armor that he isn't wearing) inspires Blackhawk to be VERY VERY careful and then to depart.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 135):

Cryo zips out along with the others, moving at speeds well over 200 mph. He does use his ir/uv vision to insure everyone is out of the building including animals.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:56, Tue 05 Dec 2023.

Ultraviolet vision confirms Blackhawk's determination that there are no living people remaining in the warehouse and also reveals some crazy residual UV radiation coming from the Hoop. It forms some incredibly surreal patterns that almost look like pictographs.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 139):

Cyro bends the light to make symbols appear in the visible spectrum and then photographs them with his phone. Only then will he leave.

I'm sorry this will not be possible while leaving at over 200 mph after having fought the fire for as long as you did.

Going back in at this point would be potentially fatal for Cryo and definitely fatal for any known type of cell phone.

In reply to Cyrus (msg # 141):

OOC-can I just recreate the patterns as I saw them back in the warehouse? That way I dont have to do so there.

Guardian moved but only just as fast as necessary to avoid getting burned. As he moved, he was still looking at the spot where the creature appeared.

The warehouse burns leaving little more than a black smudge on the aging parking lot.

Blackhawk makes his way quickly back to the rendezvous point and turns to watch the warehouse burn into ashes. He looks over to Grey Guardian. "That thing there, you knew it? Is there any anything you want to give us before the official debrief?" He looks to Cryo and Alana, then back to the Guardian.

Guardian went to pinch the bridge of his nose but stopped part way up as he realized he was wearing his mask. He took it off instead. "Only the voice was familiar and vaguely at that."

He seemed frustrated as he said "Sorry dude, I got nothing else. I ain't holding out on ya, I wouldn't do that."

Blackhawk nods, and the caped young man turns to Guardian. "I know, man, 's cool. Just wondered." He cracks a wry smile. "Never seen anything like that in Chicago, let me tell you. Gangs there just like guns and fast cars, not this bruja stuff."

Guardian, still distracted by his own thoughts, said "It isn't the norm for Century Station either. Mount up, time to head back to base."

In reply to Grey Guardian (msg # 148):

"I would point put the only thing that seemed to bother that critter was your hatchets. Plus I saw some weird language burnt into the walls that may give us a clue about that senile blob." Cryo mentioned.

Alana looks up from her examination of the giant ring only as the call to mount up is made.  When that happens she does another quick transformation, this time into a half sized sky-hook helicopter, big enough to lift the ring for sure but not quite shaped right for passengers.  The hooking cables lash out like animated tentacles to secure the ring from multiple points and what looks more like an enormous VTOL drone than anything people would normally fit in begins to rise carefully off the street, around any local power cables, and pick up speed quickly on its way back to base.

In short order the team has regrouped at Casa Escobar.

The fully functional Iron Hoop stands in the center of Lab #7.

All team members are present as well as DI Stone and Doc Roller.

Guardian is still brooding and blaming himself, though he cannot for the life of him remember this Nine Eyes thing.

This message was deleted by the player at 19:31, Wed 13 Dec 2023.

"Is there some expert we can consult on this thing? Maybe they would be able to understand this writing?" Cyro says, creating an ice replica of the writing he had memorized as he saw it.

"I got about 5 seconds of this...transmission? Of course I can't read it...but someone can."

He gestures, and the light around his icy form bends and twists. Showing a very odd pattern of light that could very well be some sort of language.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:58, Wed 13 Dec 2023.

Blackhawk looks at the hoop and then the symbols Cry forms. "Does that look like a language to anyone?" he says, giving a hopeful look to the various Doctors in the room.

Hatfield removed his hat and stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the lab scratching his head.

"That ain't a language young un. That there's a spell."

"Question is whar and how'd you see it Cryo? Ain't 'xactly yer bailiwick is it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:51, Thu 14 Dec 2023.

In reply to Hatfield McCoy (msg # 156):

"It showed up on a non visible light spectrum. My ice form allows me to bend all forms of light around me in several diffrent ways. I can't sense 'magic's, which seems to be some sort of extra dimensional energy. What I can see is when that energy effects the laws of physics in this world."

Guardian let the others handle the magic stuff. "Dr Roller have you ever heard of The Nine Eyes?"

He sratched his head again and then pulled his flop hat back on.

"Well you shouldn't be able to see it. Hoop must be affecting the spell work and that can only mean one thing...."

He looks concerned and walks a lap around the Iron Hoop before he continues.

"...Gods@#$% Techno-wizardy!"

"We got it back home but it ain't supposed to work here. This world don't make enough magic for that mess."

He slaps Cryo on the shoulder.

"Ye done good boy! Could have took weeks to figure that out without that image. Hell, maybe never!"

"US led Intelligence cooperative with several European nations..."

"...Philophy followed by Egyptian Royalty..."

At that point he stopped staring at the Hoop and looked Guardian in the eye.

"Neither of which would make your face look like that so I'm going to go with "No".

For possibly the first time the people in the lab saw Doc's attention focused on only one thing,

"What is The "Nine Eyes"?"

Blackhawk looks more and more out of his depth with the talk of sorcery and now techno-wizardry. He looks to Hatfield. "Is that maybe a side effect of the portal, or why they built it in the first place? To leak through enough magic on this side so the magic from their side works here? That.. would seem to be bad."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:46, Sun 17 Dec 2023.

PM

In reply to Hatfield McCoy (msg # 159):

"Well, I was never into techno at the club. Should I assume techno magic is worse? It certainly let our nine eyed senior monster doing some henious stuff. I dont suppose we can use what we know of technology and apply it to this weird magic?" Cryo asked.

Not having anything to add to the discussion about languages or tentacle monsters Alana took her time to land in a safe place after dropping off the ring, change back to her android form, and rejoin the group through the regular sized doors, even then it took her a few moments to sort out what she could possibly add to the discussion.  ”I can't speak to how magic would work with technology, but this ring is designed to draw a considerable amount of power, far more than almost any machine I have ever see, surely more than anything its size.”

"So this Iron Hoop pulls energy, that doesn't exist here, from the other side of the portal and then uses that energy to open a portal from there to here large enough for creatures to cross over to our side."

Doc put his hand on top of his head.

"And these creatures...At least Nine Eyes but maybe all of them, the Reina Cartel has no control over them at all.."

"That is insane. Absolutely Nuts."

He blew out a breath.

"Meanwhile Nine-Eyes has one upped our plan to draw a reprisal from Reina. We've caused some trouble but this thing killed dozens of her soldiers. It'll be a higher priority than we are on her hit list."

He punched his left fist.

"There is another thing. Reina has a coincidental connection to Grey Guardian. Nine-Eyes has a coincidental connection to Grey Guardian."

"Two unrelated coincidences means that the odds are neither of them is a coincidence."

"She thought this thing would go right after you."

Guardian shrugged, "I don't know either of them. I am very frustrated."

Blackhawk listens to the doctor with increasing concern on his face, then he looks to Grey Guardian, and then the others, to gauge what they seem to be feeling. He looks back to the doctor. "Maybe that's the point - that they are not controlled. They make the bargain, 'hey, you get to roam around in our world', then set them loose to cause as much chaos as possible, tie up resources?" He pauses, and then shakes his head. "Sorry, just thinking out loud. That doesn't make much sense unless they're some kind of apocalyptic cult. Most gangs want to make a lot of cash as soon as possible, and that course of action doesn't seem like it leads to a lot of cash," he says. The young man looks concerned and frustrated, and he looks back to the hoop.

Guardian was very troubled, and he knew that keeping his secret was part of that. He exhaled slowly as he made a decision. "I do not know how, but it seems our enemy has certain information that I thought I had kept secret. Since they know keeping it from all of you will just make things more difficult in the long run. There has only ever been one Grey Guardian. I am Hernando Escobar, and I was born in 1513 in Madrid. In 1542 I sailed with Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. We attempted to set a fort right here, where this building stands. I met and fell in love with a Native American lady. Before we could be wed her people were attacked by a hostile group. I and some of my men went to their aid and I was greviously wounded. I hovered at the verge of death and the tribe's medicine man came to me in a kind of dream. He offered me life in exchange for being bound to this land and it's people. I accepted. What I did not know was that the woman I loved bargained herself, marrying the Shaman if he would spare my life. So you see I am over five centuries old. This thing, the Nine Eyes claimed to have been present what this all happened. So you see, there is more going on here than any of us knows. Know that by telling you all this I am placing an enormous trust in all of you, I believe that keeping this a secret ensures my ability to continue to guard this City...my city."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:04, Fri 22 Dec 2023.

In reply to Grey Guardian (msg # 168):

"Ummm...ah...ok." Cyro said, for the first time being at a loss for words. "Do you want me to stop making old person jokes about Nine Eyes?"

Doc almost flinched when he heard that part.

"And now a woman with your name is trying to destroy Century Station. Furthermore she has summoned a powerful creature that was there when you became the Grey Guardian. And so far the only thing that has so much as scratched Nine Eyes is a tomahawk given you by the shaman that performed the ritual?"

Guardian took some offense at Roller's insinuation. "Do not speak ill of my Flower, Doctor."

Doc continued, not without sympathy, "There are too many intersecting factors for it to be coincidence and they all intersect right through you."

"You're either being targeted now or you were targeted in the past."

"We can't disregard that because it is painful."

Nodding, "Agreed, I've felt targeted. She died, and while I kept track of her children, I lost track of the line around 1680 when they relocated."

Done with her assessment of the big hoops Alana turns her analytical capabilities to the conversation about the big monster.

”Is it possible that the Shaman had a different way of accessing the same dimension, the one with the energy the portals use to stay open, and some how used that to empower or extend your life?  If that power is some kind of food or environmental comfort for the entity that tried to come through the portal it might be impossible to stop similar events without disconnecting you from it.”

"It's impossible to prevent it completely regardless of what we do. There is so much mystic energy in that other world that almost nothing is completely impossible there."

"I'd sure like to talk to this "Shaman" fella. Cause he's starting to sound more like a Shifter than a holy man ta me."

"I'm guessing he's long gone though what with mortality an' all."

"We should leave this to the experts...which sure as hell is not me!" Cryo mentioned, most of the discussed materials sounding impossible and crazy. Then again, so did a man of ice sliding around at 240 mph. So he really was not in the position to claim what was real and what was not.

"I agree with Cryo." He lay his tomahawk and ancient pistol on the table. "Study them, it might help."

"Alright. Stand your team down but don't leave HQ."

"We'll study the Hoop and your weapons and see if we can't pickup a lead."

"Once we do you're back on the case."


That is the end of this issue. Team assignments for the next issue may be slightly different.