This thread is for the adventures of Cosmic Ray, the Alien Earthling!

You look down in your POD. Something isnt right. You're looking down at yourself. Your spectrian self. Your light is changing, dimming and then growing stronger. Quickly like something is agitating you. Your essence is drawn down through the light and immediately youre thrown into what appears to be a corporeal body.

*knock knock*

You try to look around but you're immobile. You see before you a vast snowscape. The sound of water lapping at your feet tells you, you're on water. The body jumps off what you assume is some kind of sea-to-land transport vessel and begins rushing a small base. An arm extends towards the gate of the base.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

A flash of light expands around the outstretched hand and the gate and surround wall are thrown backwards.
Soldiers in unusual uniforms rush into the base.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

An injured guard is picked up by the hand. The change in angle allows you a glimpse of your viewpoint. You notice the body is bare from the waist up, except for a single tube running from each wrist back up to you on his chest.

"Where is Iban?" comes a voice from above you.

The guard stares forward. Part defiance. Part fear. A moment before the guards neck snaps, there is a flash of light...you awaken in your POD in corporeal form to the rapping of Oaks fist on your POD doors.

I reach out with tendrils of scarlet magnetism, pushing open the tempered steel doors of my pod and floating out to meet Oak.

"Good morning, Oak. I'm afraid I may have just experienced some sort of premonition, or similar bout of ESP."

"Well, Ray...that sounds a touch unusual.  If you want to have a chat about that when you get back, I'm sure we can talk about it.  But that leads me to why I'm here.  One of the spooks up top just gave me some information.  He said there's some kinda top secret base in russia.  On the southern tip of the Kamchatsky Peninsula.  He refused to say what they did there but he did say they caught wind of a small japanese attack force heading there.  Will you go have a look around? You'll be going in blind and i have no suggestions for you other than swing for their legs *chuckles softly*"

I frown. I'm certain the dream I experienced was more than just a nightmare, but investigation will have to wait until lives aren't on the line.

"Thank you, Oak. Until we meet again."

I shift into my insubstantial form and Rocket off towards the Kamatchsky Peninsula at 1000mph.

Despite your haste, and a shortcut you could only take while insubstantial,  more time has passed than you would have liked.  Before you stands a well-fortified military installation.  Or it was well fortified.  A circular concrete wall spreads around the base.  The remnants of 4 watch towers posted on all cardinal sides are crumbled and smoking.  The entry gate appears to be blasted open...

DC 10 Notice check

I take on corporeal form as I land at the ruined gate. If nothing interrupts me, I step inside.

09:12, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 26 using 1d20+9.  Notice Check.

This is it.  The snowscape of your dream. Your vision.  It was of this place.  You scan the surroundings and you can see the faint visages of footprints leading up from docking marks at the shore to the gate.  Just inside of the gate is the body of the guard.  His face still frozen as you saw it but his neck...  No man's neck bends that way.

You couldn't see on approach but there is a small central building in the compound.  The troops appeared to have been attempting to defend this building but were easily overpowered.

The uniforms show that the base held not only Americans but... soldier of the USSR as well....

I drift deeper into the compound, looking for what was so important that these men's lives were taken; or signs of the men who took them.


13:18, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 17 using 1d20+5.  Search roll.

You enter the main building. Right into a mess hall.  This building has been sectioned off into 3 parts.  A small office in the back left corner.  And a door labeled KITCHEN in the back right.  Half eaten meals and turned over chairs cover the mess hall.  Your search of the office yields nothing.  The flooring seams to have been ripped apart, like they were trying to get under it.

While a vast majority of the kitchen appears in the same state as the mess hall, there appears to be a path to a pair of ovens in the back with an OUT OF ORDER sign on it.  Unlike most of the ovens you've seen in your time here.  This one happens to be shuddering back and forth slightly, with a mechanical clicking coming from behind it.

Using my Spectro-Magnetism, I lift the oven into the air from 15 feet away so that I can see what is behind it.

A blast of warm air rises up from a deep stairway.  The smell of air filtered air tainted by iodine and death wafts into the kitchen.

It's dark past the first flight of stairs.

Dropping the oven off to the side, I crank up my body's natural luminescence to provide a light source and float down the stairs.

You glide down about 5 stories worth of stairs.  Noticing that after the increase in their usual traffic, it was highly likely they would have collapsed should you have stepped foot on them.

At the bottom of the stairs, you come into a room.  Large enough to accommodate a fair amount of foot traffic.  This is nothing more than a welcoming room.  A secretary's desk sits just to the left of the stairs, her body slumped back into her chair.

Behind her is an office, door firmly shut.

At the rear of the room is a door that reads LAB & HOLDING.

To the right, a door standing wide open but you angle doesnt allow you to see in.

Remembering that my core objective here is the extraction of survivors, and the location of perpetrators, the a jar door implies it's been entered or exited most recently. I float through it.

You move through the doorway into a gymnasium sized barracks.  The men nearest the door were the luckiest, you suppose.  They died in their sleep.  The men at the back put up as much of a fight as a soldier can in his undershorts.

There are no survivors and no remains of the infiltration force.

I will become insubstantial and drift back through the walls until I am in the closed office, examining there next.

You float into the office.  A man is there with a fire burning in the trash can.  Hes emptied out dozens of files from the drawers and is destroying them.

He looks up as you fully pass through the wall, throws one last handful on top of his make shift incinerator, smiles, and says, "Pobeda za mnoy"

He produces a Tokarev TT-33 and shoots himself in the head.

03:00, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 20 using 1d20+10.  To snatch the gun with magnetism before he can shoot?

The gun sails away, banging into the wall.  The effects of your magnetism stopped the bullet from leaving his skull...but not from entering...the man's eyes glaze over.  Smile frozen.

Smoke slowly fills the room.

The fire still burns.

"A senseless waste of life."

I mold the trash can into an enclosed sphere so that the fire is deprived of new oxygen. Once it has snuffed itself out, I peel open the container and see if there is anything left to be discerned from whatever he tried to burn.

The sphere opens easily.  The sudden influx of air into the vacuum puffs ash back into the room.  Soot and ash have stained most of the documents the accelerant didnt blur or the fire didn't destroy...

BUT

You have some modicum of luck with one page from the last batch that fell into the bin.

It reads

• Advanced
• Former USSR
• League of --van-_d (suspected aff____tion)
• Power-s__e ki__ of __ergy based __nipula___n for physi___ bolster___
• Fam_ly- 1 Brother (Se_g_i-pow__ unknown)
• Use_ d__ice to absorb and _____ a___tional ener__. (Lo__tion-Base 5A, U_A)
• _ode__me- Antion

Though there's not a ton there, that's enough for me to put some together. I make a note that Iban and Sergei Bolchevenko are personsof interest.

Depositing the papers I was able to preserve into the pocket in my cloak, I return to my insubstantial form (which should clean the ash off of me, but will allow me to transport the papers safely in my pocket) and glide over into the sealed laboratory.

You float through the door into a long hallway.  Down both sides there are doors labeled Subject with an identifying number for each door.  Some have padded walls and floors, some have additional fire suppression units.  The most unusual was set down an extra 30 feet of hallway that opened up to a large cavern with a suspended cell made of some advanced non-metallic polymer.

At the end of the hallway, there are two doors.

To the left the Laboratory

To the right the Testing Room

I go to the laboratory first. I need to know what I'm dealing with.

Bodies in lab coats litter the room.  Test tubes and other scientific instruments are strewn about.


DC 15 Notice Check

14:42, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 27 using 1d20+9.  Notice check.

The bodies here are different than the soldiers you saw before.  The soldiers were eliminated quickly.  Efficiently.  These scientists...what body parts that are still attached to their bodies are either scorched or facing directions they shouldn't.

Except for one in the back of the room. Her arm is stretched out with a wad of paper clutched in her left fist.  A bottle of silver nitrate lies next to her right hand. You see the imprint of a small book outlined by her labcoat tucked into the waistband on the small of her back.

The note reads

Take me to the cold, Show my face to the light, The answer will grow bold, You'll know what direction's right

DC 20 Knowledge roll
This message was last edited by the player at 20:48, Tue 26 Feb 2019.

17:10, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 22 using 1d20+17.  Know. Physical Science

You ponder a moment before you realize the clue to the riddle was right in front of you.  Silver Nitrate is reactive in sunlight.  Could she have known where they were going next? Why was she the only scientist thats wasnt seemingly tortured before she was slain?

Is there silver nitrate in the laboratory?

You recall a silver nitrate bottle that had been emptied on the floor next to the scientist's hand.

Perhaps there is a message on the paper that can only be revealed with sunlight.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:29, Thu 28 Feb 2019.

I will blow a small hole through the roof with a Cosmic Blast to allow the morning sun in. Then I will hold the paper under the exposed light and attempt to read it.

You find a spot near the corner of the room for as much structural bracing as possible and let out a powerful concentrated blast upwards.  You easily pierce the layers of ice and stone above your head.

A small beam of light now shines into the lab.

A series of numbers appears on the paper.  Coordinates.

52.35, 175.92

You haven't seen a map anywhere, which is unusual for a place like this.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:10, Thu 28 Feb 2019.

I file those coordinates away. They will surely be my next location.

I do one last sweep of the lab. I'm looking for any files or reports that might illuminate what they were doing here. Or scientific "ingredients" that might give me a clue as to what the larger puzzle is.

There were many vials and beakers all over the lab.  All standard fair for any chemist.  The vials contained blood samples.  From whom, you dont know...

But as you prepare to leave the room, you remember the small book outlined on the riddler's body.  You glide back to her and check under coat.  As politely as you can be to a dead woman.

Diary of Sacha Stockhova

You thumb through reading a few excerpts as you go.  Most is generic things a woman would write until 2 months ago.

I've just been transferred from my prestigious hospital to this horrid cold place in Russia.  The US government sent me here to assist in a joint covert study of these people called "Advanced".  I don't know why they picked me.  I think there is some scholar in New England that knows more than me.  It's probably because my parents left russia to bring me to the US when I was young.

1 month ago

The experiments they've been doing only grow worse and worse.  I feel so bad for Iban.  He's so sweet.  He says he misses his twin, Sergei.  They say he can absorb energy and channel it somehow.  Augmented by some device they shipped off to some techies somewhere.  I find it hard to believe Iban could do anything like that but I'm only here to compare blood samples...

1 week

I heard the officers discussing Iban. I found out where they sent his device.  They say he may know something about some League of Advanced? Not my Iban.  They'll torture him even worse now!  I have to get him out of here.  He told me a way to contact Sergei.  Maybe Sergei will find a way to sneak us and the other patients out.



This base was here to do some kind of experimentation on Advanced.  Iban must have been captured and brought here before they discovered his possible connection to the League of Advanced.  You dont know who they are or where they might be.  Maybe Oak could pull some strings later for more information about them.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:54, Thu 28 Feb 2019.

Perplexing. The further I follow this down, the more I suspect I am moving towards some sort of donnybrook with the brothers Bolchevenko and their League.

I add the coorinates and the journal into the pocket with the burned files. In my other pocket I store what is left of the silver nitrate. Perhaps this will not be my last secret message in the endeavor.

I then turn insubstantial and glide over to the testing area.

There is a chair in the center of the testing area.  Dried blood and other things coat the floor under it.  The tools and equipment in this room range from medieval torture looking devices up to advanced machines to monitor brain waves, magnetic strength, electrical power levels, and other devices that look custom made to serve whatever nefarious purpose their designer intended.  There is a note on a table next to the chair.

when testing subject 13, attempt to use small drops of silver nitrate and nitric acid to create small explosions on skin.  Careful though.  Too much will cause an explosion that will cave the base in...

You see past the tools and devices into a room in the back.  The door was kicked open.  There was a bed centered in the back of the room.  The bed has been blown in half and the only thing remaining of its occupant is an ash shadow imprinted on the wall. You doubt there is anything worth inspecting in that room anymore.

To your right, is a small work desk covered in dishevelled papers.  They appear to be nothing more than inventory stock for the base.  But most importantly, there is a large gridded map on the wall above the desk.

I take out the coordinates I found in the Laboratory and compare them to the grid map. Where do they end up?

They lead to an island west of Alaska called Buldir Island.  It's a very small land mass near the end of Alaska's island "tail".

Then getting to Buldir is my next objective. But I don't want to go in blind and I'm in need of intel, so I will float up through the complex checking one last time to see if I left any stone unturned. If I did not, I return to my home base at Fort Clark.

With no additional clues revealing themselves, you rush off to have a discussion with Oak.

You shave a little time off your return flight home, which makes you happy for some weird reason.

You hover outside Oak's office window.  You almost enter while insubstantial but you remember a chastisement about privacy and manners Oak once gave you.

*knock knock*

Oak jumps in surprise, whipping around with a pistol he pulled out of nowhere.  He immediately recognizes you.  He falls back into his chair and begins massaging his leg.  Chuckling to himself, you are beckoned in...

I float in through the wall. I the. Give him the charred paper work and the journal, but I keep the tube of silver nitrate. I will also give him the full update, giving special attention to Iban and Sergei Bolchevenko and the League of the Advanced.

"I need to get moving towards Buldir with haste. Is there anything information about the leagueni can bring in with me?"

Oak - "I'll flip through this stuff and run it up the chain. This journal could prove interesting to some of the squints I know.  I don't know anything specific about this "league of abnormals" but I'll see if any of my contacts know anything.  Sounds like we lost some good people there.  Maybe you'll find some measure of justice in Buldir.  Is there anything else?"

"Yes I need to borrow your globe."

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Using the globe, I chart an approximate direction I could phase through the center of the Earth and come out near Buldir. This will certainly not be exact, but it will get me closer, faster.

Once I'm back through the crust, I will head straight towards Buldir.

You turn insubstantial again as Oak begins flipping through your notes, prepare your trajectory, and take off.

Flying downward through the building, you dip into the ground.  You focus mainly on maintaining a proper course through the earth's crust.  As you near your destination you angle up slightly.  Better to approach by air or sea than accidentally pop up in the middle of the base.  You exit the solid ground into the bottom of the ocean, passing a pod of whales as you rise.

You break the surface of the water with just your head to judge just where you are.

About half a mile north of your sea location, you see a tower of smoke on a small island.  You can only assume this....is Buldir...

I will "sprint" towards the plume of smoke. Sprinting multiplies my top speed by 4.

You hurtle towards the plume.  As you near, the picture grows clearer.  At the shore sits a modified Japanese watercraft.  Mechanically and structurally augmented for cross-oceanic travel.

The base before you appears to have been built into the side of the mountain.  The opening into the side of the mountain stands about 300ft tall and at least twice as high.  Two guard towers sat near the center of the entryway with concrete walls running from the edge of each tower to the edge of the icy walls.  The smoke your saw is coming from what remains of the left guard tower.  A blast of some kind brought down the ceiling of the cavern above it and now blocks the left 1/3 of the openings entrance.

There appears to be one guard moving around in the tower.  Your distance is too great to identify friendly or hostile status.


+3 to all stealth rolls outside of the cavern while insubstantial due to sun glare from the snow and water

I will not allow another massacre like the one I just left.

I come in fast and hard. Superhero landing next to the figure I saw in the wreckage of the tower. Friend or foe?

You crash through the glass, thudding next to the man.  It's obvious he is not a friendly.  He is so surprised by your sudden appearance he stands in shock.

You hear a couple shouts from outside.


Roll Initiative - Opponent is surprised

13:37, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  Initiative.

Surprise round

13:54, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 12 using 1d20+8.  To hit guard with Cosmic Strike.

Watchtower Guard, rolled 19 using 1d20+2 ((17)).




The guard steps back in confusion causing your blow to whistle a hair's distance from his head.


Combat Round - Guard wins initiative
This message was last edited by the player at 19:07, Tue 05 Mar 2019.

The guard recovers himself long enough to let loose a spray of smg fire

Watchtower Guard rolled 19 using 1d20+6.  DC19

(Missed me. Pucker up.)

I launch myself over the spray of his gunfire and swing a glowing overhand right at his head.

14:26, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 16 using 1d20+8.  Cosmic Strike. D.C. 25.

Watchtower guard rolled 16 using 1d20+2.  Toughness save


The blow lands with a satisfying THWOP!

The guard is knocked back against the wall.

Bruised and stunned by the blow, this gives you another chance to strike.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:07, Tue 05 Mar 2019.

I propel myself backwards so my back is against the far wall opposite him. Then I got him with both barrels of a Cosmic Blast.

16:20, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 26 using 1d20+10.  Cosmic Blast. D.C. 25.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:21, Tue 05 Mar 2019.

Watchtower guard rolled 18 using 1d20+1.  Toughness save

The force of the blasts pushes the man into the wall.  Leaving him bruised and stunned, resting in his body's indention in the wall

Watchtower guard stands at -2 to toughness bonus and -2 to defense bonus

Good. I keep the pressure on so he stays in that hole.

16:49, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 17 using 1d20+10.  Cosmic Blast DC 25.

The fighting has taken its toll on the man.  He fades into unconsciousness as your blast fades away.

You've taken no hits and expended little to no energy at all.  You look out the tower but see little of what's inside the base.  Watchtowers like this are designed to gaze out, not inward.  There appear to be no sounds of men running around outside, but you do hear a pair of men ascending the steps of the watchtower to meet the would be defender of the base.

I turn myself insubstantial and aim to come through the wall above the two men ascending the stairs.

You phase through the wall and hover at the top of a zigzagging staircase.  The first of the men is just now reaching the landing below you, the 2nd man is not far behind.  They appear to be wearing the same type of uniform as the watchtower guard but, for seem reason, they seem much....less...

I become substantial, and then Cosmic Blast the first guard from above into the stairs beneath him.

10:31, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 27 using 1d20+10.  Blast to first guard, D.C. 25.

rolled 11 using 1d20+2.  DC 25 toughness save: Guard KO

The blast catches the man full in the chest.  Knocking him out and flinging his unconscious body down the steps he had just ascended.

The 2nd man behind him attempts to jump over his fallen comrade but his boot catches for a split second on the strap of the SMG.

Roll Initiative


Stair guard 2 rolled 3 using 1d20-3

12:40, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 9 using 1d20+4.  Initiative.

I fly down fists first into the next combatant, landing on him with my full solid weight. This will be a charge action, adding 2 to my Attack bonus and subtracting 2 from my defense for the duration of the round.

12:36, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 24 using 1d20+10.  Charge To Cosmically Strike. DC 25.

Stair guard 2 rolled 14 using 1d20+2.  Toughness save, Guard 2 KO

You barrel down the steps making hard contact with the 2nd man.  He is sent flying down the steps with his limp body making solid THUMP on the floor landing below.  All is quiet for now.  Which is surprising considering the noise of your blasts.

Which is the next logical direction to move in the base? I want to move towards the greatest gathering of people here in the hopes that that is where I can save the most lives.

You take a moment and come to two conclusions.

1) Despite your lack of subtlety, there have been no forces mobilizing further in the base.

2) The buildings these men are in must very well insulated keeping out not only the arctic air but also sound happening in other areas.

You surmise it would be best to survey the base before continuing.

In that case I try to drift into the building as lithely as I can.

11:12, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 9 using 1d20+4.  Stealth check.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:14, Mon 11 Mar 2019.

You phase out of the watch tower and look around.  The base appears to have been built mostly inside of a large cavern.  You didnt notice before but the walls that extend from the towers to the mountain are actually curved back to meet the mouth of the cave.  All of the ice and snow here must have hidden the fact this was an ice cave from you.

As you look around, you see a building behind the other guard tower, both of which have been decimated by the icy cascade that came from above.

 Behind the crushed building is a long narrow building that escaped any damage.

In the back right section of the base is a very large gymnasium sized building with a smaller building in front of it but offset to the right.

Nearest you however, is a building a little more than half the size of a football field.

It is the nearest building so you float into it.

Barrack guards rolled 20 using 1d20+3.  Notice check

The two men in the building immediately notice your entrance.

Roll Initiative

Barrack guards rolled 13 using 1d20+2.  Initiative

16:53, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 5 using 1d20+4.  Initiative. Whoof.

(They're move.)

Barrack guards rolled 10 using 1d20+6


The guards immediately let loose a hail of bullets that sail harmlessly through you and lodge into the wall behind you.

I become substantial and Blast the guard nearest to me.

13:17, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 18 using 1d20+10.  Cosmic Blast. DC 25

Barrack guard 1 rolled 4 using 1d20+2.  Toughness save

Your blast catches the man full in the face, sending him flying and somersaulting to the far side of the room next to his standing comrade.

The other man uses this opportunity to loose another burst of smg fire.

Barrack Guard rolled 10 using 1d20+6. smg spray to hit, DC 19.

attack misses

I crack off a blast with my other hand for the last guard.

10:07, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 16 using 1d20+10.  Cosmic Blast. DC 25.

I then return to being insubstantial.

The blast sails over the man's head as he ducks beneath a table.

Give up now, or you'll be the only person we kill here today!
*thick japanese accent*

I float through the table and become substantial on the other side next to him.

"I find your suggestion unmotivating."

Then I get him with the ole' Night-Light-Right.

23:18, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 26 using 1d20+8.  Cosmic Strike DC 25.

Make a Notice Roll

13:37, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 19 using 1d20+9.  Notice Check.

You look down as the man's hand falls limp by his body.  A grenade with no pin rolls out of his hand...

I become insubstantial.

KAA-BOOOOM

The explosion sends pieces of furniture flying backwards.  The entire side of the building had spread itself out along the ground.  The man's body, obliterated.  The roof above you collapsed but falls harmlessly through your body.

You are now standing in the rubble of the building with smoke and water vapor from the snow rising around you.

5 men run out of the building across the open, snowy center of the base.  1 runs out of a large building near the back.  The 5 are about 65 yards away, the 1 is about 25 yards away.

They all begin sprinting in your direction.

the individual guard rolled 4 using 1d20+3.  Solo guard notice check

Group of guards rolled 13 using 1d20+3.  Notice check for guard group.

Stealth Check for Cosmic Ray

Cosmic Ray shall not hide.

I fly sixty feet up in the air, become substantial, and Blast the individual guard.

19:03, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 15 using 1d20+10.  Cosmic Blast.

Your blast lands right in front of the man but the concussive force of the beam sends him flying back through the door he ran out of.  He doesn't appear to be coming back at the moment.

Only the group of 5 remain.

Roll Initiative

Armory guards rolled 7 using 1d20+2.  Initiative
This message was last edited by the player at 16:14, Tue 26 Mar 2019.

18:17, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 20 using 1d20+10.  Magnetic stairs fling. DC 27.
18:15, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 16 using 1d20+4.  Initiative.

I reach out with my magnetic control and grasp the metal stair case from the outside of the base. I then fling them at as many of the five guards as I can hit.

I then return to being insubstantial.

The stairs creak for a split second before being torn from their mounts.  The men stare in awe as the mound of mangled stairs careens towards them.  So surprised by this sudden attack, the stairs sweep over them, knocking them all out, before they even had a chance to move.

With all enemy combatants seemingly dispatched, the only place left to go is the biggest building in the back.

Returning to substance, I will spike the railing and legs of the stairs into the ground around the men so they if they wake up they'll still be restrained. I then turn my attention towards the largest building and float that way.

I will return to insubstance for a moment to pass through the door (mostly to look bad ass) but will be solid when I light on the other side.

You solidify upon entering and take in what you see.  The whole building is filled with rows and rows of scientific equipment.  The scientist in you cant help but marvel at these technological advancements.  Even you cant tell at a glance what all these pieces do.  The pieces are set on concrete plinths.

The walls are lined with tables and shelves all covered with electronic gear, such as wires, what appear to be early stage motherboards, soldering gear, rubber and metal tubing, pretty much any tool a scientific man would need.

The room itself is large and gymnasium like.  Just you, the equipment.....and a man.

Standing in the back under the light of a plinth, facing away from you, is a tall, muscular but lean man.  He stand at about 6'3".  Despite the frigid air, the man is shirtless.  Wearing arctic camo fatigue pants, and high top military boots, his visage would intimidate a lesser being.  Most unusual about the man though, is a small backpack that appears to be attached somehow to his back with rubber tubing running up to his shoulders and down his arms.  The design has flex points at his shoulder and elbow so movement doesnt seem to be impaired and the ends of the tubing disappear into the man's wrists.

He turns around.  An angular face, and cold, harrowing eyes gaze back at you.

The man speaks with a strong russian accent...

I heard a commotion outside.  I assume it was you that has done this.  My men would have stopped you if they could have.  If they're not dead now, they should be.  I am only here to recover what was stolen from Iban before he was tortured by your government's pet "scientists" *he spits out the word in disgust*  I have harmed no people here.  Let me return to my brotherhood, and no harm will come to you.

"Sergei, I presume."

I float over and land about five feet in front of him.

"Perhaps you've harmed no one here, but I first picked up your trail in the Kamchatsky Peninsula. A location that was frought with harm. I think you know that I cannot allow you to simply leave. Not before you've answered some questions."

Tell me, idealistic one, if a man kidnaps your brother and attacks you when you come to collect him, do you not respond in kind?  For what reason am I to stand by, idle, waiting, while my brother is held prisoner?  His only crime, joining a brotherhood of like minded Advanced.  Beyond the comprehension of fools bickering over who's god is real and who's hair is the wrong color.  Bah, the insignificant ignorant masses.  *he spits on the ground*

"While I may empathize with the plight of a brother stolen, do not dain to play the part of the victim with me. You are clearly a being of resource, as I am myself. I had to face 11 of your comrades to find my way to you, and 11 of them will live to see another day. Whatever the purity of your motives, the barbarism which you responded with leaves much you must answer for. And I intend to see that you do."

It doesn't matter what you do.  Leader will finish what he's started.  I am just a cog in the machine...

Roll Initiative

Sergei rolled 20 using 1d20+2.  Initiative

12:47, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  Initiative.

Sergei's hand shoots up and unleashes a blast of power.  You're prepared for the blow but it never lands.  He has aimed a concentrated blast at the ceiling.  A 10ft^2 chunk of icy metal hurtles downwards at you.

Do I have time to react before it hits me?

In reply to Cosmic Ray (msg # 95):

You have time to react.  I left it open ended not to shoehorn you into one option.

I turn insubstantial to avoid the falling debris, I will then fly forward towards Sergei.

Sergei's eyes squint and he smirks.

<Blue>A spectre! Interesting! Let us test your resolve!<Blue>


Sergei readies himself for your attack.

I charge him with a flying haymaker.

15:16, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 28 using 1d20+10.  Cosmic Strike DC 25.

You fist flies into his jaw sending Sergei flying back into the wall behind him.

Sergei is stunned

I attempt to tag him with a Cosmic Blast, and almost certainly fail.


16:53, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 14 using 1d20+10.  Cosmic Blast.

Sergei smiles as you fire off the blast.  He extends his arms out to the side and your beam splits in two.  Drawn to his hands like magnets.  Physically, he is rough for wear but you now sense a renewed vigor.  Like the blast has boosted him somehow.

Sergei is still staggered and he used his action to boost.

"Hmmmm."

I adjust, performing a charge action and hitting him with a flying knee.

17:54, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 16 using 1d20+10.  Cosmic Strike. D.C. 25.

Sergei rolls out of the way as your knee demolishes the wall against which he had been standing.

There's a flash of light out of the corner of your eye as Sergei looses a blast at you.

Sergei rolled 15 using 1d20+10.  Sergei's Blast D.C. 25.

(Missed me. Pucker up, Sergei.)

I duck under his right elbow to dodge the blast and then strike him with my right elbow in the ear.

13:48, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 18 using 1d20+8.  Cosmic Strike DC 25.

Sergei dips under your elbow and trys to jab you in the kidney.

Sergei rolled 10 using 1d20+7 for dirty kidney punches

I let him pass through me as he throws his punch. As he turns backwards to face me, I throw a straight right between his eyes.

21:34, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 18 using 1d20+8.  Cosmic Strike DC 25.

Sergei springs up and over your punch and kicks you in the shoulder blades like a diver in a competition.

Sergei rolled 9 using 1d20+7.  Kick ray and push off for distance.  DC 22 toughness save.

Miss.

I take advantage of the distance he creates to launch forward at him in a charge attack.

14:47, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 27 using 1d20+10.  Cosmic Strike DC 25.

Like a bull through a mannequin, your blow flies into Sergei and he is sent crashing through the wall and you don't see him climb back through the hole but you don't have a clear view of the ground to know if he's unconscious or not.

I keep as much momentum as I can and follow him recklessly through the wall.

You charge through the wall and lying on the ground 20 feet in front of you is Sergei seemingly unconscious.

DC 25 notice check

15:16, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 22 using 1d20+9.  Notice Check.

Failed it.

Unaware, I pull two foot long pieces of rebar from the hole in the wall to bind Sergei's hands and feet with, and start towards him.

You move closer to Sergei and reach down to bind his hands together but you hand passes right through him and he seems to shimmer and disappear.

You hear laughing behind you in the building.  As you turn to face the laughter, your vision is overcome with white light blinding you.  A blast hits you sending you hurdling into the side of the cave collapsing ice, snow, and rock down on top of you.

DC 30 toughness save to retain consciousness

09:22, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 11 using 1d20+10.  Toughness Save.

G'night, moon.

Darkness fills your vision as you fade into unconsciousness.

Your vision comes back.  You're looking at a doctor standing above Sergei.  Except his pack with the tubes is missing.  You realize that you're looking out through Sergei's pack.  Some remnant of your energy must be remaining in his pack allowing your unconscious mind to glimpse through it.

The doctor turns towards you

Iban will survive with no problem.  We will reattach the storage unit and he will be at peak performance capacity.  Tell me about his interloper.

Sergei: He vas some kind of American.  military maybe.  our energies were comparable.  I could absorb much of his attacks but they were quite impressive.  Iban and I will have no problem.

DC10 Constitution Check

15:39, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 12 using 1d20+2 ((10)).

Bright lights fill your vision once again before being snuffed out by a freezing cold, crushing blackness.  Your body seems to be working.  Working as well as it can considering the weight of the ice and snow piled on top of you.

He's some where over here!! Bring more shovels, the rubble is stable!!

You slip into your incorporeal form and float out of the rubble.

WHOA! the voice you heard from below belongs to a bookish man in his 40's who proceeds to swing a shovel at you.  It harmlessly passes through you.

I'm so sorry about that.  I didnt expect you to be alive, honestly...

He shouts to a young man in his 20's Hey Bolt, go get the Colonel! He is going to want to talk to this fella.

The young man rushes off.

You look around.  It appears that you are in a tunnel that ran parallel the whole length of the base.  You probably never would have found this place if Sergei hadn't knocked you through the ice wall.

As you take in your surroundings, a US military man in his 50's approaches flanked by two stern faced attendants? No, probably guards.  The man is well built with graying brown hair.  Pock scars cover his square face.  They arent quite there but jowls are beginning to form.

He asks with the air of a command Will you state your name, your allegiance, and who we should contact to verify your information.

This must be the Colonel.  He is calm but the two men by his side look like they're very....afraid of you...
This message was lightly edited by the player at 16:49, Mon 29 Apr 2019.

"My Codename is Cosmic Ray. I am an Agent of DARE and a liaison to President Roosevelt's Secret Service. My credentials can be verified by Agent John Okerlund at Fort Clark."

Corporeal! Get DARE on the line.  Corroborate this information.

One of the men at his side runs off.

Had a pretty good row with that fella, Sparky.  Seems to me you Advans are gonna be the next wave of military might.  I just hope the US can come out on top of that dog fight.

The corporeal returns and whispers something in the Colonel's ear.

Alright Sparky.  Seems your creds are good.  I have to take an accounting of the damage you guys did here.  Feel free to leave at your leisure.  If you have any questions itching on your mind, go talk to the Doc.  Heard he swung a shovel at you.

He chuckles at the last bit and strides off.

"While I'm sure he's a well educated man, Colonel, I fear I will need a bit more than medical expertise to locate the answers I seek."

Unless there's something else here that seems to be tied to Iban and Sergei, I'm going to return to Fort Clark. Specifically to my lab.

You skip the conversation with the Dr.  You fly hastily to your lab. Deep in thought about Sergei.  Wishing you had managed to get a look at their power pack devices.  You turn insubstantial and pass through Oak's office.  He is not their yet so you continue to your lab.

Going quickly to my work station, I'm going to attempt to construct a device that will track my own energy signature. I will then construct a suit that will shield my body from its detection, leaving the only trace of my energy signature that is vulnerable to it the piece that was unknowingly stolen by Iban.

Make a Craft, Electronics Roll

13:54, Today: Cosmic Ray rolled 25 using 1d20+9.  Craft Electronics.

You set to work easily assembling the tracker but the shielding device takes a bit more work.  With some creative ingenuity, you not only manage to create a device but its small enough for you to attach it to the top of your hand for ease of access.  You've tested it and are confident it works but have the feeling it will only activate and deactivate so many times before its unusable.

Cosmic Ray has gained the use of an energy detection device and a device that cloaks his energy signature.  Device will break after a certain number of uses and need repairs before using it again.


*knock knock*

You hear someone knocking on the door to your pod.  You hope its Oak with info about the League.

Sure that this room is rife with harmful ionic radiation after all this trial and error, I will turn insubstantial and step through the door to greet whoever is calling on me.