"That guy," Says Solitaire, tapping the screen, "either has two twin brothers who aren't here, or can be in multiple places at once. Saw him back in the Wars, no idea what he can do apart from that, aside not get himself killed, which is more than a lot of us from back then can say. I'd be careful." With no other insights to offer, she checks her headset, puts it on, and kicks off, giving the rest of the team a thumbs up as she does so.

"OK, showtime people, lets do this quick and clean, no mistakes." Those listening could hear her smile through the headphones, "Mistakes mean paperwork."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:35, Tue 22 Sept 2009.

Quentin stares blankly at one of the billboards in the area for a moment before returning to his senses. "That's weird," he said mostly to himself before turning to the others. He seeks out Frostburn specifically and asks, "Is Shadow Walker on this mission?" He can't think of anyone else that has such odd powers over shadow and who might attempt to relay a message couched in such terms.

Quentin takes a moment to pull gravity around himself, taking on the purple-lined black form that Elites in the Wars knew to be Gravitas. "I am ready," he says after he's finished whatever short conversation with Frostburn follows his question.

Flare, all shiny and eager to be useful, is practically buzzing with energy.  Her 'I'm ready' is obvious.

"Fuck.  5 novas?  Two or 3 of them known elites, and a porter to boot?  Last time we had a showdown with almost a dozen novas we wrecked dozens of acres of rainforest.  Let's hope you're as good as they say you are Pax, those shields are gonna take a beating.
Also, base, let us know the coordinates of any quantum use outside of the perimeter after hostilites break out, their porter may be inside and will probably try to get them out of the trap to a fall back position.  Overwatch moving into position, let us know if you need us to engage, Big Guy."
Imp follows Sol into the overcast sky, they stop and hover together just inside the cloud layer. "If anybody comes our way I'll take em from the front, fire off some blasts and fuck with their maneuverability while you move in to take them down while they're disoriented.  Sound good?"

"Honestly... Keep it to yourself, but we haven't been able to get in touch with him for days.  Every time he goes out, he stays longer, gets more lost in that place he goes to."

"Hum," says Gravitas, his voice sounding somewhat distant as the sound waves struggle to escape his now-immense personal gravity, "I think he's sending us some sort of message, though I can't much interpret it beyond that he's trying to help us. He says," Gravitas squints at the billboard to ensure he's reading it correctly, though this motion is totally lost on the others as his form is relatively featureless with his shielding active, "'They watch from the shadows, but the shadows block their sight.' I don't know if that is any less cryptic to anyone else..."

The air around a few feat beyond Frostburn and Gravitas chills for a moment, an aura of stilled air molecules dampening sound.

"Well... I know that we've put some effort into using nova precognitive and clairvoyant abilities, and it would stand to reason that others might be doing the same.  We've also spent some time attempting to learn how to block such powers, maybe 'Walker figured out some way to do that...

Since your mind is probably already exploring multiple streams of thought right now anyway, here's a somewhat related question for you Gravitas: what less advertised uses of nova powers do you think are being explored, both by our organization and others?  Don't bother answering, just something you might contemplate."

In reply to Impetus (msg #27):

"Sure thing, keep them distracted and I'll knock 'em out of the sky." Solitaire said brightly, as she usually was just before a mission. It usually only lasted until stuff started blowing up, but that was to be expected, after that she entered 'mission mode' and stopped smiling. Still, beating down on criminal Nova's was enjoyable, and if Pax was keeping an eye on the baselines (God, how it must be driving him crazy, it was great!) she could cut loose a bit more than she usually did, assuming any of them fly or the ground team didn't masterfully take them all without firing a shot.

But whatever, should be fun.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Thu 24 Sept 2009.

Indecision.  Go or not?  Comstock was torn.

After Imp and Sol were in the sky a few moments, he nodded to Phantasm.  "Make sure you come out of this in one piece."  That said, he keyed his own headset and put on a stern voice.  "Alright, people, can the chatter.  There's five hostile Novas.  Repeat that, five confirmed Novas.  Everyone keep careful count while we're in there.  That brings our numerical advantage back.  Do this by the book, straight, and if you need to go ahead and nuke the building just make sure nobody gets hurt.  We can rebuild clubs, we can't rebuild people.

All of you know your roles.  If you lose track of things, make sure you are either moving civilians out of the op-area, arresting and detaining baseline criminals or engaging one of the enemy Novas.  T2M:A, your priority should always be engage."

He paused, a few moments of static filling the line.  Too late to step back from this.  "Frostburn, Pax, Sol, Zero, Slider: Operation is go."

Comstock went heavy and turned to Phantasm and Gravitas.  "I'm expecting you two to keep me on top of things if they start getting out of hand.  Okay Slider: whenever you're ready."  It was Slider's turn to carry some weight.  At her discretion, they'd portal in.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:44, Wed 23 Sept 2009.

"Well, here goes.  Good luck everybody, and be careful out there."

Slider focuses, spreads her arms wide, and creates two portals, one for each team.

The T2M:E portal leads into the front of the club, while the T2M:A portal leads to the back room.  She sets it to come out near the ceiling facing downward, in the center of the room, allowing the team to quite literally "get the jump" on the enemy.

Gravitas steps through first and immediately reverses his personal gravity so that he adheres to the ceiling rather than falling to the floor below. He opts to let Comstock be the one to 'drop in' on them. Gravitas was much better suited to being ranged support anyhow.

Comstock finished drawing out his skin just as Slider finished opening the window.  Weighing in at nearly a ton, he took a running leap for the tripod, hoping to crush whatever flashing device they had beneath his foot.  His voice boomed like an angry machine, tuned to a low, unsettling frequency. "Drop your weapons and surrender NOW!  You are under arrest!"

If all went well and his landing didn't destroy the room, before he had even finished his speech Comstock was straightening out and spinning to impale Hardbody on his arm, hand shaped into a brutal spike.  He aimed directly for the solar plexus.  Something about another so-called "Invulnerable Man" rubbed him the wrong way, and it would be a morale victory if the other side lost their heaviest hired muscle within seconds.  He would trust in the Doctors if "Hardbody" wasn't hard enough.

In his head, he kept that running tally of targets so he wouldn't lose his grip on the situation.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
For my own benefit and anti-confusion...

Confirmed Enemy Roster in Club Back-Room:
- Juan Tajillo (Near-Invulnerability, Electrokinesis?)
- "unknown nova" (possibly the 'Porter)
- "Chalk" (Elite. Cold powers?)
- Shooter (Elite.  Blasting)
- Hardbody (Cartel. "Invulnerable")
- Possible Unknown Nova?  (Last to arrive.  Jams bugs?)

Baselines
- Five men, ~2 with "large guns", ~2 with "merchandise, one with tripod and "flashing device"



Alright.  So.

Initiative: 15

Attacking. Six Successes on a simple strike at Hardbody.
15:43, Today: Comstock rolled 5 successes using 8d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 6,7,9,6,7,2,9,8. (Strength + Brawl) Punching Hardbody. Spending willpower for +1 success.

Hope that cracks his DV.  Damage is Lethal with Claws active.  25 levels with Mega-Strength 5, plus a damage pool of eight (Strength + Strike + Claws).  If Hardbody is hit, I'm hoping he'll at least fly through a wall.



Spent 8 quantum buffing.  Usual 6 for max-density upgrade, 1 for claws, 1 for second skin.  I'll calculate full soak when I get home and have my books, but it's ~30+ B/L.

EDIT: Defense = 3

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This message was last edited by the player at 04:27, Fri 25 Sept 2009.

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

Those going in should roll initiative, and declare their actions, similar to what Comstock did.  The novas are not surprised, they knew something was going to happen, and were on guard, but you have tactical advantage and can pick your targets.  This round they will mostly be responding to you guys, rather than taking the initiative.

Once I get actions in, and initiatives, I will do a description of the fight in initiative order, like I started doing on the last fight we did.  Also, could you guys list your DV's for me with your initiative?

---

Top of round 1:
Comstock crashes into the room, cracking the foundation of the building as he crushes the jamming equipment set up in the room.  The monitors flicker back on in the staging point.  He looks around for Hardbody, finds him, and starts to move toward the enemy nova...
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:35, Thu 24 Sept 2009.

From his vantage point on the ceiling, Gravitas takes a moment to survey the criminal novas and attempts to evaluate which would be the best for him to pursue. Comstock was probabably going to go for harder targets, he new his destructive potential, and it was wasted on any of the humans present (who he'd largely be able to ignore) and most of the softer targets. Problem was, with novas you could never be sure who was the soft target. Their intel gave them a few leads, and he could see Comstock finding the one their info had described as particularly tough.

Surveying the scene, gears clicking into place, Gravitas held out both of his hands towards the various assembled novas. He needs to do two things. The first is to divert the attention of as many of them as he can, and the second is to actually make some sort of impact upon the fighting. To that end he sprays a bit of fire somewhat randomly, not really aiming for any of them, but tracking towards the chalky white nova. The last thing they needed was for Comstock to be frozen into a block of ice or some such thing. With any luck the others would have their attention split. Particularly with three novas entering the scene, all of them with very... different methods of attack.

---

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

Combat Paralysis means roll two dice and take the lowest for Init:
You rolled 1 success using 2d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((4,10)).
This leaves me at an 18 as well.

Edit: DV formula is [(Dexterity + (Appropriate Skill) + (Defense buff from Equipment) ) /2] + Mega
My DV is 5 before attacking and 4 after attacking.

Dice roller hate: Today: Gravitas rolled 4 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 7,4,4,2,7,5,8,3,3,4,8. Dex+Grav, bolt, 2 Mega.
Since the first 7 is on a mega-die, this is actually 5 successes to hit whitey.
Damage used against nova targets is lethal until they look severely injured, will then switch to bashing to incapacitate rather than kill (yay for Gravitic Bolt being able to freely switch between the two). Won't roll damage until it is required, but it is 10 successes+8 dice for lethal (plus acc, if any).

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This message was last edited by the player at 05:17, Fri 25 Sept 2009.

On the outside, Flare prepares for the screaming hoard likely to be running out, while picking a likely window to crash through if things go badly.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
  Flare activates her fire shield once the others have burst into the warehouse.

You failed (no successes) using 2d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((4,6)). So 4+14, 18 on initiative.

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This message was last edited by the player at 16:40, Thu 24 Sept 2009.

In reply to Flare (msg #38):

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

if you could post your initiative roll that would be helpful

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Before Slider opened the portal, Phantasm created a small, vicious looking sheep with fangs, rotting skin, matted fur, and rolling eyes.  She whispers to it "attack what I attack".

She replies to Comstock with a wink, and says "You to D'."

Once the portal opens, Phantasm leaps through and immediately springs towards Shooter, lashing out with a series of rapid strikes from the front, as her sheep moved to flank and rip at the novas legs and groin with its sharpened teeth.

---

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

Before we go through the portal, I want to have a critter made, since we have prep time. It means I'll have to refresh my shield and stuff sooner, but I figure the extra round is worth it.

Initiative =19
You failed (no successes) using 1d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((5)).

Defense =7

Critter roll: You rolled 3 successes using 9d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((2,4,3,5,1,7,2,9,7)). 1 will, 3 mega
=4 succ... Dice roller hates me now.

Hateful Mutant Sheep:
(1 critter, sheep size, sentient [2succ]; armor piercing fangs [3], dex 5, str 5 [2], martial arts 5 [1], m.dex w/quickness[3], luck 1 [1] {no successes on the roll, so its a wasted point})

When I go through, I want to try and take out Shooter.  I want to go after him myself with a series of attacks, while sheep goes in from behind for the kill... And assuming I've read his file, if he's a killer, I don't intend to pull any punches.

[Flurry of blows; 2 mega-dex, 2 mega-str, lethal damage is 10L+5d+Acc]
You rolled 2 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((2,4,5,6,6,4,5,1,9,7,6)).
=2 succ

You rolled 7 successes using 10d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((10,7,6,9,9,2,9,9,1,10)).
You rolled 1 success using 1d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((10)).
Nothing on last reroll
=11! succ, dice roller loves me again!

You rolled 4 successes using 10d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((5,8,9,4,5,7,4,9,4,3)).
=5 succ

[Sheep bites, 1 mega-dex, second attack 5 ticks after first; added quality Viscious (actually Fast, just sounds better), since the constructs seem to function like a standard nova, just at lower points; dmg = 6d+Acc & uses armor piercing extra]
You rolled 4 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((6,6,9,1,10,1,3,10,4,9,2)).
You rolled 2 successes using 2d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((9,10)).
nothing on last reroll
=6 succ

You rolled 3 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((9,3,4,6,1,5,5,1,4,10,9)).
Nothing on reroll
=4 succ

---

Solitaire yawns and stretches, loosening up as the first crashes reach her and Imp's ears.

"That would be Comstock.  And that sounds like Phantasm. Ohh, that didn't sound healthy... Think they'll leave any for us?" She continues to make comments about the ensuing carnage in the back room, as this is both amusing, and allows her to keep a tally of whats going on, all the while listening for any indication she should jump in.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
22:14, Today: Solitaire rolled 6 successes using 10d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 7,1,6,8,2,4,6,10,8,8. Keeping an ear on things.

Init 22:17, Today: Solitaire rolled 12 using 1d10+8 with rolls of 4

DV is 5, for what its worth.

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This message was last edited by the player at 05:21, Fri 25 Sept 2009.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
DV=6
Initiative=21
07:45, Today: Dr. Zero rolled 1 success using 1d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 8. Initative.
I'm sorry I haven't posted more in this topic. I'll try to contribute more, but it's been a little crazy.

---

"Dunno, really.  If they gank 'em fast it'll be great for morale, and make criminals keep their heads low, but a stunning midair battle between us and them will do the same thing, and increase our action figure sales, so I'm going for option 2."  Imp stretched and rolled his neck, then focused on drawing the energy bubbling inside him into a fever pitch, his hands started to glow slightly and his eyes similarly started to shine with and eerie bluish light.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Init is 21.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 11:37, Sat 26 Sept 2009.

Top of the round:
Comstock crashes into the room, cracking the foundation of the building as he crushes the jamming equipment set up in the room.  The monitors flicker back on in the staging point.  He looks around for Hardbody, finds him, and starts to move toward the enemy nova.

21:
Zero lurks, and Imp floats, waiting for something to happen

19:
Phantasm acts, leaping through the portal and moving towards Shooter before her teamates can react.  Her first punch misses as he sidesteps, but after that she's able to track his movement and connects with her other attacks... But only barely manages to pierce the invisible force barrier around him (1L).  The construct faires worse, and merely latches on and gnaws at the force field, not managing to penetrate the field despite its needle sharp fangs.

18:
The entire front of the building is blown out.  Civilians are shoved out, and are shepherded by T2M:E and Flare.

GravItas takes aim at "Chalk", but he easily anticipates the shot and ducks around it, returning fire with a lance of chill air that is lost in the spatial distortions around Grav.

Shooter smiles and holds his hand out, index finger pointed, much as children pretending to be shooting guns.  Focused quantum bursts blast from his finger tips.  Phantasm manages to dodge the first, but the second rips through her layerd protections and cuts into her side (5L after soak), while the third makes short work of Sheep, leaving only a crackling residue of quantum energies where it stood. Phantasm "Dies".

17:
Juan realizes that their mission is blown, and leaps out of the building through the roof, grabbing the merchandise on the way out.  His leap carries him through the portal set up above the building, into a nice chunk of the antarctic.

16:
The unknown nova's powers get an explanation, when he suddenly partitions off two more bodies that look exactly like him.  The clones run at the T2Mers, one at Phantasm and one at Comstock, and begin striking at them with fists and feat.  The blows miss, but there is clearly superhuman strength behind them.  Plattoon, the nova cloner, takes a moment to recover.

15:
Comstock's spearhand slams into Hardbody like a massive chisel, throwing him through the club's back wall, and into the side of the garbage can outside (5L).

Imp rockets down into the fray from above, using Juan's exit hole as a reference point.  He sends a blast of kinetic energy into Shooter and manages to compress the enemy novas shield enough to cause some minor damage (1B).

12: Solitaire chases after Juan, and manages to hit him while he's still in the air (he still nearly manages to dodge even then), and knocks him back through the portal, though he doesn't fly with the speed and force he should have with that hard of a kick...

The baseline criminals lift their BFG's and fire into Comstock and Phantasm.  Phantasm nimbly dodges, while the bullets do nothing but bounce off of Comstock and spray the room with shrapnel (the baseline that brought in the jamming tripod is severely wounded by the flying bits of metal).  The bullets continue on through the walls and out side.  Pax's force shield isn't up yet, so several people are hurt. T2M:E novas are protecting as many as they can, but it's crowded downtown.

9:
Hardbody rips himself off of the warped and mangled dumpster.  He sways a little as he stands, but rather than being threatened by the silver man that threw him through a wall, he seems angry.  Hardbody charges Comstock, bowling him over, but doesn't even manage to scratch the chrome plating.

Bottom of round:
Frostburn gives a play by play via radio, so that everyone is on the same page, inside and out.

Juan slams back down into the club, back in the room he started from.

An invisible figure lurks, looking for a target...

---

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

Those that haven't acted can insert themselves where they like, as long as it's below their initiative.

Things people might want to respond to:
Juan is running, and people can give chase there.
Phantasm is just got fried by a heavy energy projector, and has both a nova clone and a mook on her
Civilians are getting shot by big guns spraying bullets from inside, and Pax hasn't got a full barrier up yet

As always, if I missed anything, let me know.  Once Sol/Imp/Zero have acted, we'll go to next round.

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This message was last edited by the GM at 21:49, Sat 26 Sept 2009.

"I'll take the tough guy shall I?" Solitaire cheerfully says to Imp, as they watch Juan leap up through the portal. She gives him a small wave and reports to Frostburn she's in pursuit before she rockets off after Juan with a sonic boom.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Now, I'm assuming here that I can catch him easily, as he's only jumping.

---

Solitaire catches up to him with little effort, and leans around his left side, hands clasped behind her back.

"Leaving so soon Mr Tajillo? But the night is young, don't you want to dance?"

Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Solitaire spins and lashes out with a booted foot straight at the back of Juan's head, intending to smack him through the portal to where he could do little damage. The nice thing about non-fliers in the air, was that it was much harder to dodge.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
22:56, Today: Solitaire rolled 4 successes using 9d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 with rolls of 7,8,9,6,3,4,10,1,6. Boot meets Head.

damage 7[25]+any extra

---

In reply to Solitaire (msg #45):

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

Primary post edited to reflect Sols action

---

Phantasm hadn't ever been injured that badly.  Her dexterity and forcefield had always saved her, but her forcefield wasn't performing today, the trapped nightmares were quiet and barely clawing for escape.

What now?  A quick analysis said that if he hit again, she'd go down, for good this time.  But his hit would probably have killed an average nova... If she played dead she could stall and then re-shift to deal with this guy, or at least try and push emotional energy into her shield, get her focus back.

Phantasm let the blast hit her, and fell over "dead". Her shield flickered out, and she laid motionless on the floor.  She would roll if it looked like Shooter was going to make another attempt at blasting her, but she figured he had more to worry about right now.

---

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

1q Trickster
play dead: You rolled 2 successes using 7d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((5,10,4,7,3,6,4)). 3 mega, 3 auto for trickster
=7 succ

This shouldn't take an action I don't think.  Had to roll multiple times to get the dice pool right, messed up the multi-action penalties for the round the first times.  I think that is the right pool.

Once the round is over, I'll declare more actions.  Either dual activation of f.field and QC, or shapeshifting to a more dangerous form and reactivating force field.

---

At the corner of his awareness, Comstock realized Phantasm had been hit.  Then she hit the floor, obviously dead.  On reflex, Comstock's body shut out the shock.  His pupils dilated and dispassionate calm came over him once again just in time for Hardbody to bowl him over.

On reflex, he rose, braced, and shoved back against Hardbody, aiming an uppercut directly for the Nova's skull with a rude left fist covered in fractal spikes and jagged edges.  He didn't hold back: obviously the big guy didn't know when to stay down.  "Phantasm is dead.  Lethal force authorized," he called over the comms.  Too slow he swung at a Platoon Clone with his right, catching only air.  Too many threats.  He needed to be faster than this.  If Hardbody didn't go down, Comstock was determined now to kill the Nova as quickly as possible to eliminate a potential threat and free him to engage the remaining enemies.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Round 2 -- Confirmed Enemy Roster in Club:
- Platoon (Cloning) + Two Platoon Clones.
- "Chalk" (Elite. Cold powers.)
- Shooter (Elite.  Blasting.)
- Hardbody (Cartel. "Invulnerable".  Injured.)
- Possible Unknown Nova?  (Last to arrive.  Could just be a person.)
- Baselines: Five men, 2 with "large guns", 2 with "merchandise, one with broken tripod (injured by shrapnel)

Above the Club and through the Portal:
- Juan Tajillo (Near-Invulnerability, Electrokinesis)


Finally got back to tally everything.  Soak totals to: [34B/30L] thanks to Second Skin.
Eight quantum and one willpower spent so far.

EDIT: Attempts to attack Hardbody invalidated by dog-piling Platoons and a lot of ice!  New actions below.

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This message was last edited by the player at 01:10, Wed 30 Sept 2009.