"Uh ... yeah.  Heck yeah, there's enough materials around here.  Give me a minute."  He paused.  "You think we should build the cage here?  Or outside?  No, nevermind.  We can pick up and carry thing thing when I'm done."

With all the work he'd been doing on the side for the Christmas Gift Monorail, Comstock was getting a little faster and more precise.  He dug into the ground until he found the remains of a steel frame.  Then he wrenched it out of the ground and proceeded to bend and twist it into a box shape, willing the joins to seep and bond together for strength.  A few minutes later, he'd cobbled together makeshift walls for the cage out of chicken wire, shopping carts, struts, shrapnel, and burnt wreckage.  A bit of sweat -- quicksilver and rust -- seeped from his brow.  "With some time I'd make another frame and pack the space between the two boxes with all this sand and old concrete.  But I hope this'll do."

After the two men were in good hands Imp went back to work searching for survivors, he didn't have the amazing senses of some of his teammates, so, when 'Tasm mentioned that she was changing sectors he called in over his headset, "'Tasm, why don't we work together over here, I can't find people as well as you can, but I can shift more rubble, more safely than you, how bout it?"
He then radioed in to HQ.  "HQ, this is Impetus, where exactly is our backup?  Slider can have 50 people on the moon in less time than you've had to get organized.  Tell pax that I know he's been working hard, and that if he's worried about not having the oomph needed to shift a few dozen tons of rubble at a time, not to worry about his image, I mean, he's tired, probably doesn't have the stamina needed for this kind of work.  Yes, tell him exactly that.  Or send him the recording you have of me saying that.  Do whatever it takes, we need as many people here as possible.  Teen Tomorrow, the auxiliaries, everybody.  We've got thousands of casualties here, if Utopia can't step up to the plate on this one the world's going to know we're a paper tiger.  and send Dir Laragione a copy of our conversation as well. Thanks Sally."

As Flare isn't really cut out for heavy lifting, she gives what healing she can to the wounded, then sees about grabbing blankets, first aid stuff and water from any nearby stores.  T2M can always pick up the tab.

"Hey Gale, since we're not rubble movers, want to fly with me and raid a quicky-mart or something for supplies?"

Flare keeps an eye out for any straggling survivors, and any sign terrorists, but basically zooms to the closest place, which is probably right outside of ground zero, loads up, and flies back.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Flare's got 4 strength and flies at about 200kph
Flare rolled 3 successes using 7d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 10,1,3,1,2,9,9. Searching for survivors and shopping.

---

"Sorry Impetus, we are trying to get you more help.  Frostburn is currently speaking to the local authorities, who are surrounding your position, but waiting for hazmat teams and emergency personnel with appropriate gear before they move in to offer aid.

Several Auxiliary team members are not able to be located at this time, and the others are being called back from their days off... Slider is working to locate and gather them all.

Pax initially sent... Well, sir, he said that the Americas could handle it on their own, but in light of the video footage the director is going to have Pax's team there in another 5 minutes."

Frostburn cuts in on the transmission from operations.

"I've been sending some of the video footage up the pipeline, and letting them know that the locals are just not prepared to deal with this kind of disaster.  You WILL be getting aid, but it will be another few minutes.  Just keep going as best you can for a little longer.

Flare, the offer to get supplies is a good one, but one person on that kind of job won't work unless they can lift a few tons worth of goods... But there is a situation developing in the streets.  Panic, confusion, that sort of thing.  Not a riot, but it could become one if not taken care of... Normally I'd put Imp on this, but he's busy lifting heavy things right now.  You and Gale, especially with her looks, should be able to manage the panicked citizens a bit.

Comstock, Slider will be opening a portal there shortly, and they'll take the prisoners off your hands."

Frostburn flips off the transmission, and the group hears a bit of yelling as she harangues someone on another line before cutting off.

"I don't give a fuck what kind of 'special' mission he's on, screw the black ops shit, we need more--"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:05, Wed 27 Jan 2010.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Gale agreed.  She turned to Flare.  The last thing they needed was a full out riot.  "Let's go see if we can calm them down."

She took off into the sky, and once she noticed a particularly active group of people, she started landing near them.  Gently, of course.  She didn't want to cause more panic.  It was only once she was on the ground that she turned to Flare and said, "Um, do either of us speak Portuguese?  That could make things difficult."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:49, Wed 27 Jan 2010.

In the busted animal shelter, "Lassie" leads Gravitas to a collapsed area of the building, near where trucks are unloaded and food stored, where moans from several injured and trapped people can be heard.  The ceiling is mostly caved in, with only an area near the eastern wall clear.  Two people in brown uniforms are huddled there, but a large beam is blocking the only exit (the people are visible only through a narrow hole).  On the other side of the room, Gravitas can make out at least 3 voices, and sees two bodies amidst the rubble, one of which is impaled on broken piping.  "Lassie" barks.

-

The streets outside the primary blast area are, as Frostburn noted, starting to fill with panicked and lightly injured people.  The surrounding city, while not destroyed, did suffer damages, including broken windows and cracked foundations, for several blocks further out, much as if an earthquake had struck.  People are frightened and trying to obtain information, as well as aid for cuts and a few more serious injuries.  The emergency personnel are beginning to get a bit overwhelmed, and are likely to become more so as time passes.  The people are a distraction to the emergency workers setting up the camp, and in the areas without any emergency personnel to calm them (such as the soutwest quadrant) the citizens are becoming more unruly (danger of a riot is highest in these areas).

-

After he finishes his impromptu detainment facility and prepares to return to investigate the traces of radiation he sensed, Comstock feels the matter inside his metal prison shift... it is as though matter just appeared in the center of it...

-

Operations lets you know that Pax's eta is 3 minutes.

-

Gale and Flare are given wide room, and allowed to do whatever they want.  They can see signs of the distress Frostburn was talking about around the store they were in the process of entering as Frostburn's communication went through, and inside it.  A few elderly and religious individuals even ask Gale if "the end is coming" and whether she was there to "take them to see the lord".  Of course all of this is in Portuguese, so she may not be able to understand it at all.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:55, Wed 27 Jan 2010.

"I'm currently downloading a patch to your earpieces... It is an early version of a translation software program that R&D was working on, but given the circumstances I was able to get them to let it go.

Once I'm done giving instructions, power down your headsets, and turn them on again; the reboot should take about 20 seconds.  When you do, say "Voice Command: Activate translation protocols, authorization code delta gamma sigma epsilon".  The set will then give you a continuous shitty translation of whatever it hears, at a low enough noise level that you should be able to still hear what's going on around you... Once we link it to the HUD it will be more useful, but until then this is the best we've got for those of you not fluent in every language.  Frostburn out, reboot now."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:06, Wed 27 Jan 2010.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea, we'd get more done together on this one... I'm moving toward the south west section of this mess if you want to meet me over there.  I'll be looking for survivors..." Phantasm takes off at a run, covering ground far better than most vehicles could, given the rubble; she leaps and rolls over the debris, and shifts her senses as she goes, looking and listening for more people.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)

joy, dice roller hate on perception
22:19, Today: Phantasm rolled 3 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 4,5,1,10,6,9,4,4,10,3,3.

But I will also shapeshift to electromagnetic vision, any useful hearing enhancement, and x-ray vision if need be, so hopefully that will make it better (I'd be more specific, but I don't have my book on me right now).
You rolled 34 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((7,6,6,1,10,4,1,4,7,4,5)).

3 successes will go to extra sensory stuff and 1 to a dot of perception I guess.  I figure that's more valuable than strength right now, especially with Imp helping.  Hmm... that extra perception would actually give me a higher pool if I don't manage to spot anything on roll 1...

---

This message was last edited by the player at 04:26, Wed 27 Jan 2010.

Huh?  Comstock frowned.  That's weird.  On a hunch, he dug his fingers into the box and pried open a hole the size of his fist to peer through.

"Oooh pigeon Portuguese. No speaking on my part, I think if we hover and look reasonably intimidating it should help with crowd control." She eyes up Gale's wings and smirks a bit, "or you can be the heavenly messenger, and I can be the burning bush. I think that will cow them a bit. "

Gale turned to Flare and nodded nervously.  "I'll try being the compassionate angel."  It wasn't a role she played often; she wasn't a very religious person after all.  She didn't know of many novas who were.

She waded into the crowd, spreading her wings a little to make them look bigger.  A few of the people who had fear in their eyes, asking about end-times and taking them away, she shook her head slowly and laid a gentle hand on their shoulders.  She played up the angelic affect, probably enough that some people could see the halo around her.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Activating Awe-Inspiring.  Only works on those who believe in angels.

---

Flare lets the 'Angel' do her work and circles the area, a vivid reminder that they wouldn't get far if they tried anything.  As people relax Flare simply keeps an eye out for any danger, and any people in the area that don't look like haggard victims.  Its not out of the realm of possibility for someone responsible for this destruction to have lingered at a safe distance to watch their handy work.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I just noticed Suzukaze's request for help in mssg 168, assume I helped before gallivanting off. Sorry.

---

Imp wiped some blood off his upper lip with a silk handkerchief, Sifting tons of rubble around again and again and again wasn't something he'd practiced much.  Still, no rest for the wicked.  "Alright 'Tasm, you direct me I'll shift rubble."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Imp will continue shifting rubble until 'Tasm tells him there are no more survivors in the area, or he gets relieved by the arrival of the rest of Utopia's nova assets, or he passes out, whichever comes first

---

This message was last edited by the player at 04:04, Mon 01 Feb 2010.

Comstock opens a hole in his makeshift prison, and is rewarded with a stream of pressurized liquid metal... The metal has properties similar to liquid mercury, but is highly unstable and radioactive. Comstock can feel that the atomic structure of the material should not be able to exist at all, and that it will decay into simple mercury after a few minutes, though in the meantime it is irradiating the entire area.  The material was held in the sealed prison under a great deal of pressure, thus its geyser-like eruption.

-

The people near Gale instinctively calm in her presence.  Many of those that seemed to be growing violent are reminded of their "better" natures, and visibly change their behavior, helping those closest to them to move towards safety.  Though a few are convinced that Gale is the angel of death come to take them to the lord, the majority view her as a protector, and hush their fellows.

From her vantage, Flare can see that Gale is making a difference in the area, but that there are several other parts of the city, especially around the blast area, that could use her attention.

-

Gravitas observes the situation... there are several possible approaches to rescuing the few survivors, but whatever happens will have to happen soon, at least for those buried in the rubble.

-

Phantasm detects a large number of survivors in the ruins of a 3 story apartment building that has entirely collapsed under the weight of a 5 story building next to it.  Most of those that were in the top floors of the 5 story were killed, as were those on the 3rd story of the apartments, but there are multiple survivors from the bottom floors of both buildings.

-

Slider's voice comes over the team's headsets:
"-ch me into the conversation down there... Am I in?  Ok guys, 45 seconds until I escort Pax's team in.  Fair warning, he plans on taking over, and being a dick, he's in a mood today.  I... Ok, yeah, I'll be there Pax, the last two aren't even on the pad yet... Anyway guys, help is on the way, Slider out."

-

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
for those without mega strength, these rescue activities are pretty draining on quantum.  Those using special abilities, like forcefields/constructs, kinetic control, gravity, etc. to accomplish their rescues should probably roll to recharge their quantum stores...

also, one more round of responses and Pax's team will be there to "help"

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 00:57, Mon 01 Feb 2010.

"Hey Imp, we've got a bunch of people beneath a couple of collapsed buildings over here.  I don't think anyone survived on the top floors, but the bottoms have some survivors, if we can get to them at least. I'll try and get some helpers to sort through the rubble, but your gonna be much better for the heavy lifting.  I'm gonna take a second to recharge here, while you get over here, then we'll tackle this..."

Wanting to make sure that she has enough energy to keep going in case of an emergency, Phantasm takes a moment to pull in some of the ambient quantum in the area, using her highly developed node to recharge her energy stores.

After the moment of rest, she looks at the fallen buildings, grim determination showing in her stance and facial expression.  Pulling on the loss and heartache around her, she focuses her will on shaping an army of ant helpers to sort through the debris. For the next several moments, Phantasm's body is obfuscated, as a swarm of sheep-sized ants emerge from her shield and crawl off into the debris, sorting through pieces of rubble many times their own size.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)

Quantum Recovery: You rolled 8 successes using 13d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((7,5,10,8,3,10,6,2,7,5,7,8,10)).
I was only shooting for six, so this should do nicely... though how do we keep this honest, since we basically get to set our own difficulty then make the roll?

Maxing Q.Construct (4q):
01:13, Today: Phantasm rolled 2 successes using 4d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 2,9,7,2.

Creating a Construct, spending an extra will (3q):
Phantasm rolled 4 8 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 3,10,8,5,3,6,7,8,3,6,2.
sheep size (1), sentient (1), 5 Nova points [adhesive grip, mega str 1, extra limbs] (1), doublings (total of 32 copies)

Total q spent for scene so far (after recharge): around 13, assuming maintenance costs on powers were paid once, and a few enhancements activated. Also spent 2 will.

---

Once Gale has got the crowd calm and actually working on something that will help the situation, she joined Flare up in the sky.  She sighed as she heard Slider inform them that Pax would be making an entrance.

"Let's see if we can get a couple more key spots calmed down before Pax gets here," she said, and then flew off for the currently worst looking spot.

"The hell?!?" Comstock gurgled beneath the toxic stream, falling backwards in surprise.  For a moment he felt light-headed and disoriented, but his body soon adapted.  How the hell did that happen?  With a grunt, he hopped to his feet, grabbed hold of the hole, and tore the improvised box open.

"T2M, this is Comstock," he sputtered, wiping radioactive mercury from his comms and face.  "someone get over here to back me up.  Prisoners may be compromised and need medical attention!  Possible hostile.  Over."  As the crate's contents exploded over the landscape, Comstock looked around in a hurry, looking for a way to contain the irradiated mess.

Quentin frowns. The impaled individual is likely beyond help. With confirmed survivors his first task was obvious: ensure that they remained survivors. Then he just had to get them out.

"I'm Gravitas from Team Tomorrow," he told them in Portuguese, "I'm going to try to get you out. How many of you are there, and what is your situation?"

He concentrated for a moment to again lower the power of local gravity. This had the dual benefit of reducing the chance that existing rubble would further collapse and allowed him to use his strength (peak-human though it was) to move larger bits of debris.

With the two brown-clad individuals as the most obvious survivors, Quentin moves to free them first. Bending down, he tries to get a grip around a section of the collapsed ceiling and starts the process of moving debris.

"Sounds like  a plan to me." Lacking the halo effect of Gale's wings, Flare mostly keeps an eye out for any more trouble while Gale calms the more volitile groups.

"Crap! 'Tasm, I'll be back as soon as I can."  Imp rocketed over to Comstock's position and seeing the mercury covering Comstock and the surrounding area he focused and scooped as much of it as he could see into a sphere hovering above the ground.  "Stock, what the hell happened?"

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
my crap roll to regain quantum (1 suc) balances against my decent roll to scoop the glowing silver stuff up (12 sux), if it matters, that should be 200 tons affected, if there is that much of the stuff

---

"Bloody hell. This would of course happen with Pax inbound, never going to hear the end of it..." Solitaire grumbles, turning in midair and speeding back toward the temporary cell. As she lands, and surveys the mercury-like substance, she feels a tingle in the back of her node, and asks "Radioactive? How?"

Suzukaze keeps a safe distance. Knowing she most likely can't handle radiation and possibly too weak to carry Comstock out... She circles and watches.

Figures something like this would happen... I'm totally useless here. Except for when those two tried to run... Suzukaze's lips curl into a smile...You get what you deserve Comstock.... We should have gone after my old team. This is all a waste of time.

Flare jets over to Comstock and the prisoners to do what she can. Radiation would probably make it through her shielding, but what the heck, you only live once.

With most of the radiation off 'Stock and the others, Flare checks on the prisoners. Though she is running low on quantum she heals what she can.

"Are you okay, Comstock, or does this stuff hurt you too?"

Comstock shook his head at Flare.  "No.  I'm fine."  He looked around, trying to make sense of the wreckage and find the two novas ... if anything was left of them.  "I don't know.  Something got in and just created this stuff!  Fucking hell!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:10, Wed 03 Feb 2010.