Still Not Safe [M&M 2nd ed]

(And again, people post a lot while I'm asleep)

Andrés has taken in everything the girl told him, and waited for everyone else to come. He looks calm and focused, contrasting with the average nervousness of the group. He's good at controlling his eagerness. He's always been.

Then Todd approaches him and whispers at him. Andy's eyes express surprise for just a moment - then thoughtfulness. He's enough of a toku and anime geek to recognize the idea instantly, and so isn't weirded out by it at all.

"Oh, a straight fastball special? Yeah, no problem here. You sure you can get enough distance, though? I mean, the God weighs upwards of a ton and is probably unwieldy as hell". He smiles mischievously "Of course, me being dense and full of spikes will probably only improve the effectiveness of the thing, come to think of it. What the hell, I'm in. Gotta warn the armor unit, though - wouldn't want to fall on top of one if it shakes me off".

He approaches Emi, smiling. "Ey, it seems I'm not going to be bothering you for transport. Todd said he can just throw me up there, so don't worry and do your thing. I'll be counting on you to cover my sorry ass if I mess up, though!" he winks. He seems completely nonplussed by the idea of being thrown at near terminal velocity towards a murderous superpowered alien entity. It's not that he's wishing for the fight, like Todd is, but more that he seems to think it's something he has to do and he can get through.

Todd shrugs his shoulders and gives Andy a smile.

"Trust in the Green Wizard, my friend! I assure you, you will get enough distance."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tengu_temp

"You don't have to call me like that, though... It makes me feel devoid of individuality. I'm a human being, not a number."

---

Cat holds up her hands in a gesture of apology. "Sorry, this whole soldiering thing is new to me... just wanted to try talking the talk." As they head towards the bunker she sees Todd's little - ritual? - with their pointman, and the contrast with the girl at her side is striking. Mad bastard. She grins. Well, at least the troops seem to like it. Her own anxiety is damped down and back to the level of performance nerves - any weightier concerns are being diverted away from her head and seem to be orbiting around her solar plexus instead, which means once the action's over and she gets a chance to relax a little they'll probably hit her like a punch to the gut.

Reaching the bunker, she looks around at the others. No doubt they all know what they're doing in their armours, most probably better than she does, but do they know how to work together? "Um - so what's the plan for when the bunker comes down? Should we stay where we are, or scatter? Do we try to hit it hard as we can first, or pin it down and hold it in place if we can?"

"I will try to overwrite the attack this SE tries to use out of existence. That should create an opening for you." Inside the bunker, Laura stands by a wall, her gaze low - perhaps focused on her amplifier, which she rubs intently like if hoping for a reaction to occur. "I cannot offer much offensive power. I'm sorry... I was a support member in the previous squad, too..."

"Alpha squad, do you copy? This is mission control." A female voice comes in from the bunker's radio, as well as from your amplifiers. Despite her professional choice of words, the voice is motherly kind and warm. "Your bunker closes in 4 minutes, 45 seconds. Make sure everyone is inside the building, and stays clear off the eastern wall as it closes. Thank you. Estimated time until 01B's arrival: 19 minutes and 20 seconds."

Quote:

---

"Um - so what's the plan for when the bunker comes down? Should we stay where we are, or scatter? Do we try to hit it hard as we can first, or pin it down and hold it in place if we can?"

---

"Hit it as hard as we can of course! Show it no reprieve, and give it no other option then to be on the defence!"

Todd suddenly grabs Laura's shoulder from behind, and gives it a squeeze. He continues on, though what he says is more directed towards her then anyone else.

"And if it does manage to attack, we will be ready for it. We not try to stop it, we will stop it. We won't try our try our best, we will do our best."

He lets go Laura's shoulder and laughs.

"Let there be no doubts on this!"

Todd rubs his throat, no doubt sore from all the yelling he's done in such a short amount of time.

"Because, honestly, i'd rather not kill my voice box before the battle. Heh."

Emi gives herself a mental note never to become the greatest mankind has to offer. This Todd is even crazier than Rooster Boy.
"Okay, if I don't have to make any flying platforms..." She sounds a bit disappointed. "Then I will create additional barriers around the SE, to give some extra cover to those who attack from a distance. Um, and if any of you get injured, I can help you out - Genesis has some healing abilities." Emi sounds a bit embarassed. Support and healing - she's not making a good job at ensuring others she is not the Useless Shonen Anime Girl, does she?

"Okay... I'll hang back and hit it with whatever I can, so. I might be able to freeze it in place if it gets close enough to the ground, or at least tie up those tendrils, so someone tell me if you want to try that. I can try to lower the temperature in the area too, if that won't slow our people down, or cause problems for you..." she looks at Ben.

Still leaning against the wall, Lorne offers: "Once the battle opens up and we make contact with the enemy, I can scan it and direct the team towards any weaknesses or vulnerable points. Other options will become available to me at that moment as well, but I'll most likely just fly above the SE and harry it with my Air Lance."

He does some quick calculations in his head before adding, "I may also be able to use my armor's power to levitate one of you into a position to strike at the creature's tentacles, though it might take some time depending on where it ceases its descent."

"Emi, a little extra cover will definitely come in handy, although if you can provide an offense against the main body that might be more necessary--at least until we discover what exactly this creature's mode of attack entails, if it has one aside from striking with its tentacles. Speaking of which, I'm not sure, but I think the creature's tentacles will come to within 10 meters of the ground, making them a perfect target for anyone who can't project force at a greater distance."

Ben Brooks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kamikasei

"...I can try to lower the temperature in the area too, if that won't slow our people down, or cause problems for you..." she looks at Ben.

---

"It won't bother me, if that's what you mean, since Requiem is the average temperature of molten lava normally. Try to stay on the opposite side of it from me, because I'll be trying to make my side as hot as I can. Your ice will just melt. Anyway, I'll be hitting it from a distance first, then closing in on any weak spot that Lorne offers up." Ben said, eyes opening just slightly to find Cat. His gaze flicks to Todd for a moment and his expression, in no uncertain terms, reads, What an idiot... before he looks away.

"I can jump and engage the SE first when it's still in the air, if you need the time to analyze it. I might be able to fish its attack, so you can see its attack pattern." James breaks his silence as he opened and closed his fist.

"Don't worry, I believe in my speed and ability to dodge its attack." And to make it a bit safer for everyone else...

Cat nods at Ben. "Okay. Then I'll ice the area while I move around to its other side. I'll wait until I'm in position before opening up with direct attacks. And I guess I won't try any binding attacks unless it turns out it's immune to heat or something." To Lorne: "I can propel myself, not too fast, but fast enough. It all depends on how much moisture's available... but there should be enough."

She looks back at Ben. "So uh... your armour is hot as lava? The armour you'll be changing into here in about ten minutes? I know they're are supposed to protect us against the elements, but let us get into ours first, yeah?" She smiles at the older boy, clearly not entirely serious.

"Well, if the monster flies too high for you, I could always try dropping something heavy on it. I'll just have to be cautious not to squash any of you, too." Emi grabs her forearm. She doesn't feel at ease sitting with eight others in a small bunker. "And I can focus on attacking, but I wanted to create extra cover for the guys in MSASs... They can't move as quickly as we do."

Ben Brooks

"Don't worry, I can hold it in while other people are around. Just don't touch the armor without some protection." Ben advised with a smirk.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Haven

"Emi, a little extra cover will definitely come in handy, although if you can provide an offense against the main body that might be more necessary--at least until we discover what exactly this creature's mode of attack entails, if it has one aside from striking with its tentacles. Speaking of which, I'm not sure, but I think the creature's tentacles will come to within 10 meters of the ground, making them a perfect target for anyone who can't project force at a greater distance."

---

"Still, if you ask me, we should do as the old story remarked and stay clear from the Kraken's tentacles as much as possible - either try to reach the head, or throw something at the tentacles, or shoot at it, or whatever. I mean, there's a lot of them, and meleeing something with thirty times as many arms as you, if the thing's got good coordination.... pretty hard. I dunno what kind of attack the main head will have, but I personally don't think the chance of being blasted by a heat blast is worse than being grappled" Andrés looks pretty serious. "For one, it's easy to recover people blasted off for healing, while a grappled one is going to have to be there until we kill the thing or manage to cut that kelp forest it has for tentacles".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChronicLunacy

Ben Brooks

"Don't worry, I can hold it in while other people are around. Just don't touch the armor without some protection." Ben advised with a smirk.

---

Lorne gags a little.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tengu_temp

"And I can focus on attacking, but I wanted to create extra cover for the guys in MSASs... They can't move as quickly as we do."

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Drascin

"Still, if you ask me, we should probably try to stay clear from the Kraken's tentacles as much as possible - either try to reach the head, or throw something at the tentacles, or shoot at it, or whatever. I mean, there's a lot of them, and meleeing something with thirty times as many arms as you, if the thing's got good coordination.... pretty hard. I dunno what kind of attack the main head will have, but I personally don't think the chance of being blasted by a heat blast is worse than being grappled" Andrés looks pretty serious. "For one, it's easy to recover people blasted off for healing, while a grappled one is going to have to be there until we kill the thing or manage to cut that kelp forest it has for tentacles".

---

"You're both right," Lorne concedes, "that was a little incautious of me." And I certainly wouldn't go against those tentacles myself, so I can't ask the others to...

"I suppose," he adds, with a friendly nod towards Todd, "I simply got swept up in the enthusiasm."

(I'm assuming a minor timeskip can commence. If your characters were talking about anything else during that time, feel free to still write the dialogue.)

Time passes uneasily... you really feel separated from the world, hiding inside a tiny metal pyramid, with almost no sounds coming from the outside. But you know that a SE is somewhere out there, steadily moving towards your position.
"Six minutes until contact. Bravo squad, Charlie squad, Delta one - MSAS materialization authorized." The operator suddenly speaks from the radio again. It doesn't take much time for other squads to respond:

"Delta, all good." "Bravo, materialization successful." "Charlie, everyone's materialized without difficulties." Frank and a female and male unfamiliar voices speak up respectively.

"Five minutes 15 seconds until contact. Alpha squad - PSA summoning authorized. Please commence the summoning in callsign order, rather than everyone at the same time."

"I... wonder why. I do not remember any accidents occuring with PSA summoning." Laura wonders. "Well, I will start then." She raises her left arm, the one on which she wears the amplifier, and clenches her hand into a fist.
"The Great Pretender!"

The transformation is, like always, nigh-instant. Pieces of armor appear seemingly out of nowhere, covering Laura's body. It takes only a few seconds for her PSA to fully materialize - a silver suit of metal, with distinctive feminine shapes. Its helm does not cover her face from the nose down, although the upper faceplate has no visor or visible openings that would allow vision. However, it does apparently feature an opening for Laura's hair, as it freely tumbles down her back. The whole figure is levitating several inches above the floor, surrounded by gently flowing mists.

"I am in my armor now... we cannot turn back. I have to protect everyone..." Laura sounds determined. The mist slowly spreads throughout the room, covering the floor with light fog. It is shy in its moves though, just like the person who summoned it into being.

(EDIT: Feel free to post without paying attention to the squad order. We can assume it happened in appropriate timing anyway. Or, if your characters are rebellious or hotheaded and don't want to wait for their turn in transforming, then make sure to mention that as well.)

Though Todd was eager, he didn't transform out of sequence. His desire to do battle was strong, but a transformation sequence is just something you do not mess with. He counted down each one, waiting for his turn. One, the shy girl who bends reality to her whim. Two, the hot blooded youth of fire and flames. Three, the furious fowl who's crow turns the tide of darkness. Four, the smart one whom he wasn't really paying attention to when he was talking. Five, the rumbling earth god!

“Six! The Harlequin hero with unrivaled passion!”

Todd makes a fist and raises it high in the air.

“Green Wizard, ACTION!”

The sound of creaking metal echoed across the room as Todd became engulfed by his PSA. It started from his amplifier and quickly covered his entire body in bright green armor. The last part of his body to be covered was his face, though even that was soon covered by the bright green metal. The creaking of metal stops as soon as the transformation is complete.

“Oh, and uh, Andy? I think we should hold off on that whole “Me throwing you at it” idea unless we get under it. If I miss, I could wind up throwing you a good mile, if not more so... so yeah.”

Ben Brooks

Ben opened his eyes and they were glowing red. His hair wafted up and out of his eyes, swaying softly in a warm breeze that only he seemed to be able to feel. He brought his amplifier up in front of his face, touching the control with his other hand. The tiny pyramid's internal temperature suddenly shot up ten degrees when he said, "Infernal Requiem, sing for the dead." Then the relative darkness of the bunker was completely overwhelmed with a blinding light as his transformation occurred.

Ben's armor appeared out of thin air the way Laura's had, but it appeared to be made out of molten metal, glowing white hot at first and then settling down from red hot to the normal black and red color scheme. The armor was relatively uncomplicated, marked by a t-visor covering his face and segmented plating protecting his form. He straightened and a gout of hot steam blew from the pair of grills where his cheeks would be. Ben opened his fist and held his arms straight and out slightly to his sides as the armor plates shifted and locked into their final positions.

James closes his eyes and nods when it's time for him to transform. Without further ado, he clenches his fist in front of his face and yelled.

"CROW, Grey Fowl!"

The first thing that you noticed fter the light that covers him subsides is, the striking red scarf that somehow flutters even in the windless bunker.

And in a second, slim grey armor with hard plates at vital places fully covers James.

For the first time, everyone can see why James calls his armor by that name.

As its namesake, it's vaguely... birdlike.

Lorne waits for Ben and James to transform before beginning his own sequence. Holding his left arm, with the amplifier on his left wrist, towards the sky, he says "Keeper of the Four Winds--Aeolus!" with a kind of energy he hasn't yet displayed today, as he brings his left hand down and across his chest.

A gust of wind unsettles the gathered fog, as his armor--colored primarily light blue, with gold trim at the segmentation and heavy grey patterning that seems to swirl about--materializes, starting with his chest: a plate of banded armor with a section of scales in the middle, shooting out to cover his arms and legs, segmenting at his shoulders, elbows, thighs and knees, turning to articulated gauntlets at his hands and boots at his feet. A small cannon shoots out of the armor's left forearm, while two heavy shoulder-pads erupt from his back and fasten themselves across his shoulders.

Finally, the helmet spreads from the crown of his head to meet his armor. It's a Spartan-like helmet, colored like the rest of his suit, except for the Y-shaped slit that would be the exposed parts of the face if this were a normal helmet: instead, it is colored black, until it suddenly activates, at which point it is a riot of colors.

As the helmet activates, Lorne's perception enhances immediately and drastically, something he always looks forward to. He gains new vistas of sensory experience. He can see above and below the usual spectrum available to human eyes, and up to ten times the distance as well. He gains the ability to sense everything around him with electricity, the way certain marine creatures do, but far more efficiently and long-ranging. Everything he sees, his armor gives him an exhaustive list of information about.

Though no one can see it, Lorne is grinning like a maniac."Outstanding," he says, to the group at large. Pulling his legs off the ground, he hovers cross-legged as he waits for the battle to begin.

Andrés waits for his turn calmly, chatting with the people around him, still trying to dispel the nerves in the air.

Ah, his turn now. He steps forward, and raises his amplifier. His voice seems to echo and rumble when he speaks, with a tone of absolute determination.

"Protector of Earth, Knight of Gaia, thy duty is calling! Awaken, Rumbling God of War!"

The light that surrounds Andy is soft and green, and his blindingly white armor seems to grow from his feet - smooth at first, but then, after it covers his whole body, spikes start to sprout from over it. It looks bulky, and spiky, but above all, weirdly natural in a way, as if this metal and earth monstrosity actually had sprouted naturally and it would be perfectly normal to see it growing alongside an oak in a forest somewhere. The process is done in a couple seconds, leaving a big, unmistakably heroic-looking armorclad figure where Andy was a moment ago.

He steps aside, his steps now resonating under his weight. Even his voice seems to have deepened greatly under the armor. But when he speaks, it's obvious it's still the same Andy underneath, as the first thing he says is "Hey, that's a pretty cool armor you got there, mister Keeper of the Winds"

He then hears what Todd said. "Um, dude, it's like thirty meters tall by ten wide at the least. Are you seriously telling me you can miss that?".

Cat takes a deep breath and stretches out her arms. Feeling, as usual when going through this, like a bloody fool, she speaks in an overloud voice.

"Alpha Seven, summoning! Oisín!"

With more-than-natural speed, moisture seems to condense out of the air around her, beading on her skin and clothes without seeming to wet them. In a second she's immersed from the neck down in a thickening layer of water, refracting the light as if far deeper in each direction than could be possible. Her breath mists as she releases it; the air around her begins to do the same.

Seeming, as if by a trick of the light, to emerge from the deeps, metal sections grow and encase her - torso, hips, forearms, shins. Armour in place, the water withdraws, revealing that the unplated areas are now clad in dark blue mail. Before withdrawing fully, the plated sections receive a thick coating of ice. Finally, the waters wrap around Cat's head, forming in a split-second a narrow-vizored helm to match the rest of the armour.

Unlike Laura's, there are no feminine touches to this armour - the closest that could be said to be such are her long hair which spills from the back of the helm, seeming dusted with snow, and the dark blue half-skirt covering her upper legs. Vapour steams around the completed figure. Cat's feet remain on the ground.

The time has finally come. After waiting for her turn, Emi closes her eyes, raises her amplifier to her face, and takes a deep breath - when she opens them again, she looks determined.
"The source of creation - Genesis!"
Emi's armor appears in layers - a tight-fitting, khaki(ish) metallic form first, and then much more elaborate, teal-colored plates over it, edged in gold and forming an undoubtedly female-looking piece of armor. In the third layer a long plate skirt, a tall, winged helmet and something on the back that a closer inspection reveals to be tightly folded wings appear, and finally a featureless, barring two blue crystal eyes, faceplate covers Emi's features. She is noticably taller in her armor, although between the heels and the helmet, that might just be an illusion.
"I am ready for anything." Her voice sounds more resounding and confident now.

(In case anyone somehow missed it, here's the image, just with the wings out.)

Spoiler

Show

http://ffrpg.republika.pl/img2.PNG

"Everyone has transformed successfully." Laura floats towards the radio, not moving any part of her body.

"I understand. We have visual on 01B. Prepare for contact in 4 minutes, 10 seconds. We will keep you updated." She is answered by the mission control lady.

These last few minutes are hardest to bear, not only because of the armors' additional bulk and other effects.
"01B follows the predicted path with 98% accuracy. We are making minor adjustments to the operation's timer. Contact in 2 minutes, 25 seconds. All squads, please report your status."

"Delta, ready." Frank Symes sounds stoic as ever.
"Bravo, ready." "Charlie, all set." But the two other squad leaders are restless and nervous.

"A... Alpha, we are ready." Laura seems as if she was broken from a trance. After the message, she continues whispering to herself. Those of you with keenest senses can catch the words: "I must protect everyone... I must..."

"Charlie squad, the target will be beyond the effective range of your weapons at contact. Advance forward before shooting." The operator sounds concerned. That's not good news. "Contact in 90 seconds... 85... 80..."
It feels like an eternity passing between each time update. "30 seconds... 25..."
"6... 5... 4... 3... It's doing something! Watch out!" Your operator almost screams into her microphone.
But you cannot react. With a loud thunk from the outside, Delta bunker opens rapidly - and almost immediately after, so do the other ones - including yours.

The first thing you see is the hulk before you. The SE looks just like on the photograph, but you weren't aware of how big it was until you saw it just now. Especially since it is only about 60 feet away from you, levitating so low that its tendrils almost touch the ground.
And its "eye" is looking straight at you. It's much larger than the photo, and blindingly white rather than red. You can hear sizzling... and feel a wave of heat coming from the SE.
"NO!" A desperate yell escapes Laura's lips. The eye unleashes a wide, crackling hot beam, straight in your direction! But it only travels less than five meters before disappearing in thin air, without making even a sound. The only clue to what happened is the mist around The Great Pretender flowing faster - and randomly changing colors.

"Now! Hit it!" A yell from commander Clayton. But some MSAS operatives acted preemptively - the spears are already flying in the SE's direction. Some of them would even hit - but the tendrils go up, intercepting the ammo with their buds! Each hit tendril falls down lifelessly, but there are many more - and about twenty of them proceed to rip themselves off the main body with awful wet sounds, leaving behind small holes that drip some colorless fluid. These tendrils then proceed to levitate just as well as the SE itself does, and fly in the agents' direction. At the same time, the now-dark red "eye" of 01B starts to get brighter again.

(Now is the time to act! You receive +2 to attack rolls and skill checks because of the Master Plan. You can attack seperate tendrils - they count as minions. Visibility is no issue - there are lamps, flares and spotlights everywhere. You can act now, no need to roll initiative.)

Lorne nods in acceptance of Andy's compliment, and then the battle begins!

Initiative--Lorne
[roll0]

Lorne continuously analyzes the monster with his enhanced senses, and flies upward to a distance of about 200 feet directly above its center of mass. He also allows his armor to adapt itself to the monster's capabilities.

((OOC: Can I learn what information my analytical sight gives me about the monster, and what power my Nemesis ability gives me, before taking my standard action? Since both of those should be free actions?))

Lorne - the enemy seems not very mobile which would make it easy to hit. It uses extreme heat as its primary weapon, and the smaller tendrils can exist seperately, attacking targets on their own or shielding the main body from harm. You receive Immunity (Fire) from your Nemesis power.
No need to roll for initiative, you all can post your actions now - this is a reminder for other players.

"It's barely mobile! It shouldn't be able to dodge your attacks very well, so I advise you go all out on it! However, the tendrils can protect the main body, but they seem very fragile so I suggest you focus some attacks on them! As for myself..."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cubey

You receive Immunity (Fire) from your Nemesis power.

---

Lorne's armor flares red.

And now for a totally sensible course of action.

As his armor adapts, Lorne alters his course so that he passes directly in front of the "eye"'s line of sight, attempting to get it to track him, and then pulling a series of acrobatic maneuvers to convince it to aim its heat-blast at him.

((Standard action--using Acrobatic Bluff to Trick the eye into firing at me on its next turn.))

[roll0]

"Okay!" Cat answers the commander's order - she's too intent on not screwing up to even register gratitude as Laura saves them all from being parboiled, or to pay attention to the actions of the others. Turning some of the ice on her armour back to liquid and gathering more from the air, she surfs off on a miniature wave, circling anticlockwise around the target. As she goes, she stretches her arms out in its direction, palms flat, looking as if trying to force shut an overstuffed suitcase. Around the SE, the air shimmers; condensation begins to bead on it.

((Using Environmental Control: Cold (unlinked) to generate extreme cold around the SE. Should be sufficient to encompass the entire area, I think. Should one round's motion suffice to get Cat on the other side of the thing?))

The air around your enemy gets considerably colder... in fact, it feels awfully cold, even though you are not directly next to it. It doesn't slow the SE down though, at least not yet.

(No, you are not fast enough to make it all the way through. If you circle around the SE, you should make it about halfway as a move action)

Ben Brooks

"Don't worry about protecting me, Laura! I can take the heat!" Ben yelled as he shot up and at an angle at over a hundred miles an hour straight toward the SE's "eye". He seemed to just slide on the air as if he was riding it, but those with enhanced senses would notice that his feet were continually moving and he was actually running across the air. He kept one arm behind him as he moved, and in that hand a ball of orange-red light condensed into being.

When he got close enough to the creature he closed his fist on the energy ball and it transformed into an actual flaming sword, spreading out above and below into a hilt and a five-foot-long blade. Fire trailed from the blade as he moved, leaving a curtain behind that followed along in his wake. As he swung the sword up and gripped it with both hands, the curtain whipped up and seemed to become an extension of the blade, increasing its length to fifty feet or more. Then he yelled a battlecry as he brought the sword down in a two-handed overhead cut straight down at SE 01B's "eye".

Spoiler

Show

Strike Attack: [roll0]