The store was quite large, as these things went.  It appeared to consist of bulk quantities of various goods-- foods, bags, cleaning supplies... things that didn't have an obvious purpose.  And then people, pushing metal carts that they filled up with goods as they went.

"Ah, this is clever. Selling in bulk is good," Zhi'an said.

"Yeah, it's how they operate here," said Eris.  "Comes in handy when you have a bunch of people to feed.  Even more when one of them is Mountain."

"Yes, I suppose he must eat a lot," Zhi'an said.

"I swear a third of the shopping is on his behalf," said Quickstep.  "So... you wanted more salt, right?  I can pick you up some salty snacks, too.  They'll probably be just average for you, though..."

"I'm willing to try them, unless money would be an issue," Zhi'an said.

"Nah, they're pretty cheap," said Eris.  "Anything besides salty that you want in particular?"

"Do you eat fish here?" Zhi'an asked.

"Yep," said Quickstep.  "At a place like this, we're probably going to have to compromise on some kind of breaded, frozen fish fillets, though.  Fancy whole-fish stuff's too pricey for a group our size."

"Ah, okay, well, whatever you can afford," Zhi'an said.

"Ah, I'm sure we can try and find something," said Eris.  "Better than canned stuff, too.  Remember, if we buy a big one, we get to feed everybody.  Anything else you need?"

"No, get whatever you normally do. I'll be find with trying anything you get," Zhi'an said.

Perception Roll

(OOC: Perception Check - Weather Witch rolled 13 using 1d20+10)

It seemed like the line that they were in was taking a very, very long time, and there was some kind of fuss outside.

"I wonder what's going on," Zhi'an said and went to look.

Something exploded in the parking lot!

"Is this normal here?" Zhi'an asked.

"No," said Eris.  "Definitely not.  This is bad."

Zhi'an headed outside to see what happened.

Some sort of large machine was hovering above the parking lot, firing off blasts of energy and flailing around with gigantic mechanical arms!

Zhi'an flew up to the thing.

Gun placements were tracking her...

Init!

(OOC: Init roll - Weather Witch rolled 24 using 1d20+8)

Go.

Zhi'an raised her hand and a lightning bolt down from the sky.

(OOC: Lightning bolt attack - Weather Witch rolled 14 using 1d20+9. Spending a luck point for a reroll. Weather Witch rolled 24 using 1d20+9.)

The lightning struck the machine, but to no effect; out of the corner of her eye, Zhi could see Quickstep evacuating civilians while Eris did... something?  Space seemed to warp around her, and the machine was shaking.  But the machine was hardly stopped, and a bolt of energy came at Zhi!

21 Attack, Damage 12

(OOC: Toughness Save - Weather Witch rolled 35 using 1d20+16)

Zhi'an was able to deflect the blast with a last minute force field. It also seemed that bigger guns were needed. Zhi'an summoned down massive hail.

OOC: Hail attacks is an area one that is 12 damage and a DC 22 reflex save for half.)

The strange machine was damaged-- but now it was sweeping the entire area with beams of power!

Damage 12 Area, so DC 22 Dodge check to reduce the damage by 5

(OOC: Dodge Roll - Weather Witch rolled 19 using 1d20+8, Nope. Toughness Save - Weather Witch rolled 19 using 1d20+16. A luck reroll. Weather Witch rolled 30 using 1d20+16.)

"This thing is quite technological for your planet," Zhi'an said as her force field absorbed the beam, while continuing the hail.

The machine was damaged further-- but it wasn't out yet, and more waves of energy engulfed Zhi!

Same saves

(OOC: Dodge roll - Weather Witch rolled 11 using 1d20+8. Nope. Toughness save - Weather Witch rolled 36 using 1d20+16.)

Zhi'an again deflected the beam and kept the hail failing.

Something shorted out in the machine-- it stopped firing, and was now retreating at top speed.

Zhi'an took off after it.

The machine was fast-- Zhi could keep up, and Quickstep was joining her, but they were leaving Eris behind.

Zhi'an kept the speed on and tried to hit the tank-thing with a lightning bolt.

(OOC: Attack roll - Weather Witch rolled 13 using 1d20+9. Nope, last luck reroll. Weather Witch rolled 21 using 1d20+9)

The machines sparked, fell to the ground-- and then abruptly exploded!

Zhi'an kept her force field up and went to investigate.

It was clearly primitive technology, for the most part, but there was something odd about it.  There clearly had been no crew present; it was either autonomous or remotely controlled.  But what was it about those circuits...?

Techology check, if you have it.  Otherwise, bring some back for Kryten!

(OOC: Tech roll - Weather Witch rolled 11 using 1d20+6)

Zhi'an studied it as best she could, but tech was never her string suit. She decided to grab some to bring back.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" said Quickstep, materializing next to her.

"I figure we should bring back some tech for my friend to study," Zhi'an said as she sifted through the remains.

"I can help with that," said Quickstep.  "Just tell me which parts you need."

"I'm not sure what to look for," Zhi'an said.

"I'll just grab a selection," said Quickstep, and he did so at great speed.

Zhi'an grabbed some as well.

They soon had a good collection of parts.  A soft chime sounded, and Quickstep checked a small device he carried.

"Uh, it's my sister," he said.  "She's reminding us that she's not super-fast, and we still need to get the food home."

"Oh, right. Um, didn't we kind of reveal ourselves?" Zhi'an asked.

"Yeah, but we still need the food," said Quickstep.  "We need to find a way to make that work."

"Did everyone reveal themselves or are some still hidden?" Zhi'an asked.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:10, Wed 18 Dec 2019.

"Well, the others didn't come along," said Quickstep.  "But Phantasma could keep them hidden either way."

"Do we wait for them to do the shopping then?" Zhi'an asked.

"...nah," said Quickstep.  "They might not think of it.  We can sneak back and grab our groceries really quickly if we hurry."

"Okay, let's go," Zhi'an said.

The store was in chaos; people were running everywhere, calling on their phones, and waving to the emergency vehicles that were approaching.

Zhi'an headed inside to find the others and get their food.

Eris appeared to be pushing a cart full of food towards them-- and then she abruptly vanished.

Perception, plz

(Perception roll - Weather Witch rolled 30 using 1d20+10.)

There appeared to be, precisely where she had been standing, a large, furry animal wearing a collar and holding a large stick in his mouth, moving towards them at, surprisingly, just the speed a human pushing a cart might have.

"What happened?" Zhi'an asked. "Why is she no longer human?"

"Oh, she's still her," said Quickstep.  His nonhuman features appeared to have vanished.  "Our backup is here-- that's all."

"Ah, okay," Zhi'an said. "What was that animal?"

"A dog," said Quickstep.  "Domesticated companion and sometimes guard or hunting animal.  You'll see so many different breeds of them you'd swear it's fifty different species."

"Okay, well, I suppose we should get our shopping done then," Zhi'an said.

"Nah, Eris did that," said Quickstep.  "That dog is her, disguised."

"Ah, okay," Zhi'an said. "It was certainly an interesting trip."

"Yep," said Quickstep.  "...and here come the others.  Phantasma always does this red-and-green scarf thing so that we know it's her."

"I'll keep that in mind," Zhi'an said.

Indeed, now that they were pointed out, Zhi could see the others approaching.

Zhi'an waved to them.

"Are you all right?" Gauss asked.  "We saw some footage on the news of the fight..."

"I'm fine," Zhi'an said. "It did seem like pretty advanced tech for the planet."

"Yeah, it is that," said Gauss.  "We need to figure out where it came from, and what it's for."

"We grabbed several bits from it. Hopefully my friend can help us with them," Zhi'an said.

"That would be good," said Gauss.  "We need to know where they came from.  The last thing we need is multiple threats like this-- the True Men are bad enough."

"Was that the other mutant group?" Zhi'an asked.

"Yes," said Gauss.  "We seem to be awash in threats..."

"Isn't there prisons for them?" Zhi'an asked.

"Prisons that can hold mutants aren't reliable," said Gauss.  "And we'd have to actually catch them, first.  This is all new, too-- five years ago, you didn't have things like this happening."

"That is curious," Zhi'an said. "I haven't been to a planet where this is so recent."

"Well, I suppose that things have to begin somewhere," said Gauss.  "Someone has to be there at the start.  That's us, this time."

"I'm just surprised, I thought my world was behind the times," Zhi'an said.

"What's it like on your world?" Gauss asked.  "You flew here through space, after all..."

"In terms of superpowers? I was the first...well, first to actively survive the process and we faced an invasion because of it," Zhi'an said.

"But are things like this common?" he asked.

"There are warlords out there," Zhi'an said. "We dealt with a few others over the years."

"Well, it looks like it's turning into one of those years, here..." said Gauss.

"Could they conquer the planet?" Zhi'an asked.

"The True Men?  Probably not," said Gauss.  "They might cause a lot of trouble and destruction, but no matter what they think, I just don't see how a small group of people could manage to conquer and hold the whole planet, or even this nation we're in.  Whoever made that robot..."

He frowned.

"I don't know.  It depends on how many they have, and what else they can do with that technology."

"Hmm," Zhi'an said. "That certainly is a problem."

"Well, if we find out who's making those things, we might be able to stop them from manufacturing an army before it's done," said Gauss.

"Do you think any of them could could have built that tank?" Zhi'an asked.

"The True Men?" said Gauss.  "...well, they have access to advanced technology, but they also have a lot of pride in their powers.  I'd expect some of them to be along on the expedition."

"Could it be one of those groups that don't like mutants?" Zhi'an asked.

"Possibly," said Gauss.  "This hurt a lot of non-mutants, but they might not care..."

"Hmm. This is odd. I would think that it could be an outside force, but, uh...no offense or anything, but your planet is normally thought of as kind of a back-water one...," Zhi'an said. "Sorry."

"That's all right," said Gauss.  "It follows, if there's a galactic civilization.  But we might learn something from examining the parts of that machine."

"Let's head back to headquarters. Is it headquarters? What do you guys call it?" Zhi'an asked.

"'Home,'" said Gauss.  "And let's go."