Gravitas's face, though it was masked by his shielding, was impassive. He'd expected as much of the brutish Terat. "As novas are exempt from human law, it falls upon novas to police their own number." With this he was really addressing the gathered crowd more than Geryon himself. "Geryon's short sightedness, extremism, and disregard for the lives of others will doom our race to war with the baselines in the long run. That is a war that - despite all our power - we will not win."

Space rippled around him again, but this time it was intentional. Gravity in the area multiplied itself, then again, and then again.

"Because he is a danger not only to baselines but to novas, and because of the senseless and needless murders he has carried out, I hereby take it upon myself to judge Geryon. I find him guilty of these crimes." He looked down upon Geryon from where he floated. "I hereby sentence you to death in the solar inferno."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
OOC: So I got 2 successes to max quantum - not as much as I wanted. I dump them both into successes for the Gravity Field roll. I activate my auxiliary Tech Boost technique, which allows Gravity Field to alter gravity by 1g per success instead of .5g per success. (this whole process has thus costed me 5+3+1 quantum points, though 5 of that was last round). Also spend a WP. This gets me +8 gravities, which pushes us up to 9gs in a 30m radius. Per page 199 of the Aberrant Core book, living things affected by this power get a Willpower roll to resist - I'm not really sure if that is supposed to negate the effect all together or remove successes on a one-for-one or what. It doesn't say. Per page 174 of The New Flesh, all characters (that aren't me or people I selectively remove from the effect) in the field lose 2 dots from Strength and Dex and characters with less than Mega-Strength 2 (after removal) must make a Might roll at a +2 difficulty to act at all (M.Strength 1 removes the penalty from the roll, but Mega-Str does not apply to the roll). Characters in the field must make an Endurance roll every turn at a +2 difficulty or take an unsoakable level of bashing damage (though Adaptation negates this damage).

Only 4 successes on a Wits+Mega-Wits+Nothing roll to detect Geryon's plan. I cannot even realistically attempt the Manip version.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 05:00, Wed 28 Aug 2013.

---

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I attempt to work out what he's up to.

23:35, Tue 27 Aug 2013: El Dragon rolled 3 (6) successes using 4d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((5,10,10,10)) For Mental Prodigy - Tactics.
23:38, Tue 27 Aug 2013: El Dragon rolled 10 (14) successes using 18d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((10,10,7,2,9,4,2,9,4,7, 7,4,4,9,6,1,8,7)) Wits+Tactics.

Would I be able to apply "Meditative Form" (new flesh 103) here since, although I'm not currently engaged in combat, I'm fully prepared for it?

---

Solitaire straightened slowly, back still to the crowd. She would have to trust Flare with Slider, there was nothing more she could do anyway. She wasn't a healer, just a destroyer. "Geryon. My disapproval has never been personal. I respect you as a peer even if I do not approve of your agenda or methods. However, you have just gone and made it personal." Solitaire turned, her eyes cold and her face hard. "She is one of MY people, an attack against her is an attack against me. An insult to her is one to me. I repay such things in kind." She took a step forward. "We are very alike Geryon. I know that you sense it too. This has been coming for a long time. We are both Novas of violence. Though while you let your nature control you, I have mine leashed tightly." Another step. "What do you say I unleash it?"

Solitaire smiled, and in her current mood, it was terrifying.

In a shard of a broken mirror, those who looked at just the right moment might have seen The Solitaire's reflection clapping mockingly. Or they might not.

---

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Not going to bother with the resist taunt roll. Solitaire pretty obviously isn't anyway.

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This message was last edited by the player at 05:04, Wed 28 Aug 2013.

Geryon laughed out loud at Gravitas's proclamation, then fell to a knee in shock as gravity crushes him down.  But it wasn't enough to immobilize him.  "I'm stronger than you," he grunted as he strained to move toward the floating celestial nova.  Veins in his neck and face bulged, and he left deep furrows in the ground where he passed, but he kept coming, finally leaping toward Gravitas and attempting to grab the floating nova before falling short and stumbling to a hard landing.

The bulk of his allies were crushed completely to the ground, hardly able to breath, though a few struggled against the field and others powered up energistic attacks.  Those around Solitaire cringed helplessly in fear as the menace of her aura turned toward them briefly before settling on Geryon.  Geryon himself was preparing for another leap when he realized Solitaire was joining the fray.  He knew when to retreat, and it was plain to see that he was contemplating the best exit strategy.

Dragon, blessedly free of the gravity field, took time to contemplate Geryon's tactics.  The man appeared to have intended to distract and enrage the group, even as his people moved in closer, then use superior numbers to tie up key opponents until he could eliminate them one by one.  He hadn't expected Gravitas to actually be at full strength, or for the field to take such a toll on the Terats.  A potentially fatal miscalculation.

The crackling of the portal drew little attention, its buckling quantum fields lacked the visceral threat posed by the nova-on-nova conflict.  But something was coming through regardless.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
1 successes to grab.  That didn't work out well after accounting for all the lost dice.

After we get another reply from someone that hasn't posted, Impetus can come on into the scene.  Probably stop it cold if he tries, awe everyone into quiescence... if that's the route he wants.  Not sure where he stands on the whole judgement thing.

---

Comstock watched Impetus' effort with the Director.  Something more was at work here.  Very little of it made sense, but once Impetus was through the portal Comstock caught him.  "I have you, my friend."  The portal winked shut.  Someone or something did not want Impetus changing the course of the world, and had forced the matter.  "There will be another chance."

In the rubble of Bahrain, among the damaged buildings and broken streets, matters had escalated.  Nine-gravities was not trivial, but Comstock's metal worked in a world of hyperdensity and was well acclimated to it.  The buildings, however, were unprepared.  Any nearby Gravitas' effort began to collapse in on themselves, imploding with strange physics while their dust clouds rapidly settled.

He nodded to Impetus and set him upon his feet.  They'd discuss Laragione later, but for now Impetus' house was in tatters and needed attention.  The ground buckled momentarily as Comstock grew heavier.

He hadn't heard what set Gale off, but she looked more confident than ever.  Angrier too.  They'd have a nice talk later, about what to do now that they couldn't go back to Utopia.  Dragon could head back to the military even if T2M ditched him.  Phantasm could fit in anywhere, even among the Teragen.  Flare had her own games.  But to Comstock's recollection, Gale didn't have anywhere else to turn.

---

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OOC: Buffing and holding action for a turn.  Comstock now has less than a third of his quantum left.  He's spent too much making repairs on Europa, and just now manifesting a type of force-field to make sure his soak was impossibly large.  On the bright side, it's unlikely Geryon will win a simple punching match if it comes down to it.  Mega-Strength 6 is back, and Soaks are at 70B/60L!

Which, by the way, gives me pause.  My soaks were only a little lower a moment ago, and those guns still did 3L ... also, that's worth mentioning, I'm short by seven lethal right now.  I have extra health levels and no wound penalties, so it's not really a thing, but the only time when Comstock was more messed up was after an Atomic bomb.  His costume looks nice, but he's not mint-out-of-the-box anymore.

If anyone looks like they are going to die, on either side, Comstock would wade in to break people up.  But Comstock's too slow, of foot and of mind, to really have an expectation or recognizing the moment between 'safe' and 'dead' at this level of quantum.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 13:26, Wed 28 Aug 2013.

Imp came through the portal furious.  Some...things were screwing with him, with humanity.  Not entirely human things, if their speech patterns were anything to go by.  At least he still had the chrysalis.  He felt Comstock's impossibly strong hands steadying him until his feet stabilized on the shaking earth.  He looked around, smelled the impending carnage, then sighed regretfully.  At least he could stop more needless deaths.  He stepped forward.  "If we are going to police ourselves, as is only right, then there need to be rules.  Gravitas has challenged Geryon, as is his perogative.  You," he looked scathingly at Geryon and his hangers on, "You look to others to support you in your actions.  You do not understand teras, you weak minded pretenders.  To embrace teras is to stand on your own, to accept the consequences of your own actions.  Geryon, this is the consequence of your actions.  A peer has judged you, has challenged you, and now you must face him or be forever know as the coward that didn't have the stones to stand and face the music.  And you are right to fear Gravitas, in all his power.  The Master of Gravity.  he can tear holes in space and time, and casually violates the laws of phsyics whenever he chooses.  You are infinitely less than a law of physics." He turned the full, aweful weight of his attention, finally freed from the weakness that had plagued him for so long, towards the pretenders.  "And you, who yap doglike at your betters, you will stand aside as this comes to its inevitable conclusion, and you will bring word to you fellow sycophants that we are indeed each of us a nation, and we all have the right to set our own course, but that does not give you carte blanche to do whatever it is you want without suffering the consequences, or Solitaire and Comstock will show you exactly what it means to be nova.  In case you've forgotten, they survied not one, but two nuclear blasts in the same day and walked away unharmed, and they did that when you were still pimply faced teenagers having wet dreams about how awesome it would be to be a nova.  I seriously doubt you could even mess up their hair.  Gravitas, finish this so that we can begin our real work."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Imp's throwing what he's got left at this, since he couldn't cut loose back in New York he's doing so here.  His speech has three purposes.  One to give Gravitas the confidence to take Geryon down.  Two, to make Geryon believe that Grav can clean his clock, thus making the outcome a foregon conclusion.  Three to make the anarchists stand down and seriously question the wisdom of continuing to cause trouble.  Halo makes everybody involved feel that Imp is doing all this for the right reasons. 

---

Dragón's innate sense of justice was entirely satisfied.  The world of the Terats still seemed alien to him, and he doubted he could ever see himself embracing their philosophy, he could admire the fairness and relative simplicity of their system of justice.  Looking over the potential foes, he felt sure that Geryon would be shamed into accepting the challenge as it was issued.  He couldn't be so sure about the members of the feral "pack" that had followed him here.  There was always a chance that if their leader appeared to be losing that one of them might try to intervene in an effort to win favor.

He kept his eyes on them as he stepped up behind Phantasm and rested a hand on her shoulder.  The roiling green nightmare that enveloped her didn't disconcert him because he knew and loved what lived inside it.  "How are we doing, Bonita?" he asked quietly.

"Harumph.  Savages."  The calculus was simple.  There were a lot of savages about and Wilhelm didn't have the juice, the persuasive powers, or the inclination to go about making them all play nice individually.  Occasionally it was necessary to make an example pour encourager les autres.  The greasy punk who had thought to challenge him would probably suffice.  He didn't look like he'd be much help removing debris and being a nova he could probably take at least one hit.  So Wilhelm replaced the punk's skin with a variety of nasty nitrogen compounds usually only synthesized within labs having a very unfavorable chemist-to-limb ratio.  The punk disappeared in a cloud of brown smoke and an earth-shattering kaboom.  "Any further questions?"

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
So 8 agg from Disintegration vs. a target that doesn't look like he's got Hardbody or a bunch of extra health levels.  Hope I didn't over-juice things and leave the punk just a smoking pair of shoes.  Oh well.  Don't have the quantum to have a prolonged disagreement without rest.

---

Waiting for the "formal" challenge between Geryon and Gravitas to start, eyes on the distance where Shrapnel was flying, Phantasm replied to Angelo. "I'd be doing better if this had turned into a fight.  But whatever.  If Grav loses, Geryon won't live till tomorrow.  I'm sick of him, and in every scenario I play out, he really fucks up the future."  Cold, but he needed to know where she was at, what she was capable of.  She'd shown vulnerability when she was powerless; now he needed to see the other side.

"You forget Bonita," Dragón said, giving her shoulder a squeeze, "I was a Special Ops sharpshooter.  I know about putting down the rabid dog.  You might say I've been there, done that."

There was cold satisfaction in her voice when she replied, "I was hoping you'd say something like that."

Gale didn't turn to respond to either Phantasm or Dragon.  Phantasm understood her feelings, and that was why she was part of Gale's "family".  Dragon didn't, and that was part of why he wasn't.  She was done giving people chances to betray her later.

She could hear Geryon, but Gravitas and Solitaire had already stepped in.  Impetus was also participating in the frackus.  She stood guard over Flare and Slider.  Watching her friend in pain was hard, but even with her powers restored there wasn't much she could do.  She was prepped for the fight that was sure to break out though, clawed hands opening and closing in anticipation.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Gale rolled 6 successes using 10d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 8,6,8,7,1,6,2,7,5,8. Wits+Mega-Wits+Rapport.  Geryon Taunt.

---

Imp looked around at his friends even as he knelt to check on Slider, his aura noticeably diminishing. " These disagreements cannot turn into dozens of novas fighting on each side, that would destroy entire cities, as this once prosperous place shows only too well." Nearby a building collapsed under its on magnified weight. " Grav will not lose, before he picked this fight he ran the numbers.  He would never have challenged Geryon without asking for backup if he thought there was a chance of losing.  It is the others that I worry about.  Those that murder humans for fun disguised as retribution.  They are a blight that must be eradicated.  Likewise, those organizations that prey upon novas, when they have the chance.  They too must be removed, although they will be perhaps easier to deal with than our kinsmen."

Any resistance from the terat rabble died when Impetus spoke.  Already cowed by Solitaire's aura of menace and Gravitas's display of paralyzing power, they were completely overwhelmed by Impetus.  His disapproval crushed their wills and made them question the existential truths of their existence.  They had thought of Geryon as their leader, the nova who would free them of the chains of humanity, but in the tide of Impetus's smooth baritone voice, they drowned in the ramifications of that freedom.

Geryon fared little better.  He was a slave to circumstance.  The terat was almost happy though, as now he had a fair fight, one that he somehow still believed he could win.  Shrapnel though, she realized the truth of the matter; pausing in flight, she watched the scene unfold from a safe distance.

Finish this? What else was there to do. Despite what Impetus had said, Gravitas knew full well that this was a gambit. He was counting on Geryon's overconfidence and the assumption that Geryon expected him to remain weakened and possibly insane.

The one thing he could not do was allow Geryon time to recover. He reached through space, locating the star at the center of the Solar System. It was not hard to find. Not to his senses. He began to manipulate the gravitational field to initiate a wormhole, but he delayed the completion of the bridge. Just for a moment. He waited for Geryon to make another leap at him. Once the other was airborne, there'd be no way for him to alter his trajectory. Gravitas could then open the near end of the gateway where his opponent would land, ensuring that he would be unable to get out of the way in time.

If this didn't work, Gravitas knew, this was probably not going to go well for him.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
OOC: I'm holding my action for Geryon to make another leap, which if he wants to attack me, he will have to do, as I am still airborne. Hitting someone with a warp is Dex+Warp (or Spatial Manip in my case)
Gravitas rolled 4 successes using 10d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 6,8,3,7,10,7,1,3,1,4. Dex+Warp, 2mega.
Determining range is still done with a perception-based roll though (with Quantum autosux), so here's that:
Gravitas rolled 2 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 4,5,3,10,3,5,3,5,1,7,1. Per+Warp, 3Mega.
One of the Mega-Dice (last 3) is a success, so this is 3 successes, a willpower pumps it up to 4, which is enough to reach the Sun.
The aperture of the portal will not technically equalize pressure (because rules!) but you can see through it. This is probably horrifyingly bright to pretty much everyone, and possibly irradiates part of the area - unless the same effect that protects us from multiple kilotons of solar plasma leaking through the gate also prevents the incredible radiation wash that comes with being anywhere near the Sun.

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This message was last edited by the player at 04:12, Thu 29 Aug 2013.

In an anti-climax of epic proportions, Geryon lept toward Gravitas, a portal irised opened between them, a bright light singed unprotected retinas in the area, and when sight returned to the observers there was no trace of either the portal, or Geryon.

The sky was awfully blue in Bahrain, the scene completely still except for the bird that casually flew into the heightened gravity field.  Its fall ended in a dull splat.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
23:32, Wed 28 Aug 2013: Rydi rolled 1 success using 8d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((2,8,4,1,2,2,1,4))

---

Even Gravitas was forced to blink his eyes several times to clear his vision, though his nova-powered senses recovered rapidly.

"Remember, all of you. This was not done in anger, or in malice. The future of Earth - our planet, the planet of both baseline humanity and of novas - has a bright future ahead. To build that future, we must eliminate violent extremism and racial hatred. It does not serve the greater good. Together, we can build a better future for our children, and our children's children, and all of the inheritors of mankind."

He floated to the ground then, and took a few steps toward one of the nova's that had aborted their energy-based attack against him. He knelt down and whispered to him, placing a hand on the other nova's back. "You were wise to stand down," gravity in the area slowly began to return to normal. "Know that I do not do this out of spite, but rather, out of need." With that, he liberated some of the quantum from the nascent Terat's matrix and assimilated into his own.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Grav hasn't demonstrated this ability much or at all yet, but he picked it up in his last chrysalis to help mitigate how expensive his powers were and just how quickly he was able to empty his own pool out.

Gravitas rolled 6 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 1,10,1,10,2,8,9,8,2,10, 1. Int+QLeech, 5 mega.

This is opposed by a willpower roll, though in this case it doesn't really matter since such a roll could not possibly exceed the number of successes. I gain spend 1 QP to gain 6 of the target's.

---

Solitaire threw up her hands in disgust. Now she was still pissed and had nobody to vent it on. Fucking great. She went back to sit with Slider, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with her by the sheet intensity of her gaze. For all of Solitaire's considerable and fully restored power, she could think of nothing she could do to save her. Deep beneath the anger, she was terrified. On a very core level, to her, power was the ability to protect her friends, if Slider died here, then its restoration would forever be linked with failing to protect a friend, again.

At the airport, the young terat female squeaked out a yelp of surprise and fear, the sound that actual terrified people make, as opposed to the blood curdling screams of horror movies.  The example was quite eloquent and persuasive: no one else bothered the Hell Kraken in his stay at the airport.

"Well that solves that."  Gravitas was something to be feared.  He did not fight in a way that Comstock understood, and did not see the world as Comstock did.  He glanced about his comrades and the terats to try and gauge if everyone was thinking the same thing.

He listened to the radio-waves with his metal shell, then stepped forward to address the terats.  "Alright.  Anyone who can heal, we have a wounded comrade here.  A nova.  Everyone else, if you aren't going to help rescue survivors from the rubble it's time to start clearing out.  You've helped send a message to the world.  Now we just need to see how the world responds."  He turned back to his comrades.  "Dragon, Flare, Imp ... T2M is organizing for a landing at the north of the island to retake the airport.  Swifts like Johnny Afterburner have been overseeing things, and the radio says that T2M:E is on its way.  If you want to keep in their good graces, get yourself in touch with them."

"Gale, Phantasm, Operator: I'm going to save as many people as I can in here, and I'd appreciate some help with that if you have the time.  Phantasm's going to get us out of here before the law comes down.  I'm going to take a page from Pax's book and sever all ties with Utopia.  Whatever's going on here, we've only scratched the surface.  Proteus may only be the beginning."  Nothing made sense anymore.  "I'm going to need some help with it all."

"Sol," Comstock marched over to her and the dying Slider.  "I'm going off the radar for awhile.  But we need to meet up again to talk.  About what comes next.  I'll call you."  He frowned.  "We cannot take her to a hospital."

Now that the moment of tension was temporarily past, Dragón moved his hand from Phantasm's shoulder and took her hand in his.  Comstock's words brought home a reality that all the danger and threat had managed to hold at bay.  A knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he was forced to confront a choice.

"So, what's next for you, Bonita?" he asked.

In many ways his future hung on her answer.  He had the sinking feeling that he would be forced to choose between two things he loved.

"I know, and I know. Anything you ever need, just ask and I'll be there." Solitaire said without looking up. "You're my team leader, and always will be. I take orders from nobody else."

"It's not orders.  And I'm not your leader.  It's just one friend to another."  He gave Slider a reassuring nod.

Solitaire laughed softly. "Thats exactly why."

Imp looked at 'Stock, "Before you go, you need to know that all of our fears on Mars were entirely justified. When the dust settles, we need to talk."