Royal [IC]

[obilisk260]

Mark looks over his shoulder at Richard, then glances back at flock one. "You'll have to excuse me."

He walks over to Richard. "Not the most subtle one, are you? Don't worry, you won't need to be for my plan to work. Come with me, and when I give you the signal, start that vomiting thing you do. Make it look like you can't control it." Then, without waiting for a response, he starts walking briskly towards the door and out into the hall.

[Business Scrub]

@Cory: With a spooky sensation, you push effortlessly through the wall. It begins to dawn on you that perhaps, unlike the others, you can leave whenever you like. Inside the ceiling is, of course, totally dark, so you can't see while inside it. However, as you poke your head into the room above, you see a few men and women in white and blue coats huddled around a box of some kind.

Woah, woah. Dosimeter's off the charts. Thompson, are you getting a look at this?
Is that thing calibrated right?
Uuuuh, guys...

One lone man has turned around, staring at you and rubbing his eyes. At the same moment, you hear a female voice, vaguely familiar, echo inside your head.

Hello? All right, I don't know if you can hear this or not, but everyone needs to shut the hell up. Just shut up for like, a minute, please? I'm trying to listen.

@Mark and Richard: Mark hears the man in white's voice clearly, despite the distance:
If Rachelle knows what's good for her, she'll mind her own damn business.
The men in the hall notice Richard almost immediately, and quiet down: he doesn't look terribly suspicious, but neither is he particularly stealthy and it was clearly supposed to be a private conversation.
Mark leaves his plan a bit vague as he walks down the hall, gaining a pair of glares, as the other two are, of course, within earshot. Which leaves Richard with the age old question: to vomit or not to vomit?

At that moment, Richard and Mark hear the same voice echoing in their heads.

Hello? All right, I don't know if you can hear this or not, but everyone needs to shut the hell up. Just shut up for like, a minute, please? I'm trying to listen.

@Don: You begin to drift off in your sleep, having a pleasant dream of success and easy life by bending the weave of time to your will. Outdoors in your dream, you see a shorter woman with black hair. You immediately recognize her from before as Alice, one of the members of the first group you met. Although not right next to you, she speaks as if close by:

"Hello? All right, I don't know if you can hear this or not, but everyone needs to shut the hell up. Just shut up for like, a minute, please? I'm trying to listen."

The speech seems real, very real, as you bolt awake, sitting upright in the tree.

[El Zombi]

Richard stares awkwardly at the two Royal employees and gives a kind of half smile and a chuckle.

Then he hears the voice in his head and goes wide eyed in surprise.
Hello? Who is this? Richard tried to respond with his thoughts.

[obilisk260]

Mark looks over at Rich, "Did you hear that?! What is going on?" He instinctively goes invisible. "That is super weird."

[swrs3d]

What the?

Don looks around for Alice, wondering if he actually heard her or if it was just a dream.

Spoiler

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Search check, take 20
Happens at 25x normal speed because of quickness power

[pyrefiend]

Oops. Really thought it was open air above the dome.

There's too much going on for Axon to sort out all at once between the telepathy and the surprise of being found out.

"Um, sorry. I'm going back down there now."

Axon slips back below into the dome, wondering what the hell what was going on with the voice in his head.

Maybe I can just read minds now? Those were probably the thoughts of one of those technicians-- she must have been angry with one of the others. I'll have to work on controlling that.

[Business Scrub]

@Don: You find the girl sitting near the stream, but with her eyes closed in apparent concentration.

Incredible, really. I ask all of you to not talk and what do you do? You talk immediately. Wonderful. Ugh, just... listen to this. It's the same voice in your head as before (or in Don's case the one he heard in his dream), and she sounds vaugly irritated. The voice suddenly changes, as if you're now hearing some movie's audio.

A loud, mechanized rumble persists over all other noises, but what seems like many people shout to be heard over it.
"Minute thirty until impact sir."
"Excellent. Cut the heat, we don't want to fry anyone on the other side."
"Sir? They won't exactly be giving us the same consideration."
"Be that as it may Eric, we're here to gather resources, not to kill."
The second voice, 'sir', gets louder as he presumably gives orders to others in calm, even tones.
"Saftey off ladies and gentlemen! Just like we practiced: we want priority on the exotherms. That means anyone you see shooting fire or creating chaos, you tag them first. Close-Ops, as soon as I blow open that door I want you under camo and up the stairs. Brace for impact folks."

The voice fades out of your head, and suddenly your whole world begins to shake. For those not airborne, the ground beneath you shudders and jumps, and you struggle to keep your balance. You hear a high Whiiiiir noise, when the side wall of the dome blows open, spewing chunks of concrete, paneling, and dirt into your environment. There's a moment of confused panic among the people inside, some scrambling to get a look, some shouting about an earthquake.

As the dust settles, you see people begin to spill out of the hole. In black and green close fitting armor that obscures their faces, they weild some kind of clawed gun and begin to fan out into the room.

Atop the pile of rubble, a drill the size and shape of a tank sits, it's head slowly spinning to a stop. On it's back sits a network of mesh metal. Cages, you realize, all open and empty. On top of the drill, a man stands in a white labcoat. He has short, dark brown hair and a grin. One of his hands wears a glove like a mechanical skeleton: thin boney extentions around the fingers that attaches around the wrist. You recognize his voice as the one heard before.

"Good afternoon, children."

Spoiler

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Initiative:
Axon
Don
Mark
Rich
Everto
CloseOps
Soldiers
Other Flocks
Eric

[pyrefiend]

More attackers? The universe must really want to test my limits today.

Axon zooms down to the man in the labcoat and speaks in a voice like an electric razor.

"I don't like the look of those cages. Leave us alone or you'll regret it."

Axon takes a second look at the cages.

Then again, I can pass right through those things. So I'm not in any real danger. Naturally.

Axon readies himself to attack.

Spoiler

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Readied action to tackle (possess) labcoat guy if he or any of his allies perform an aggressive action towards me or the assembled metahumans.

[swrs3d]

Oh good...

Don quickly glances up to locate any sprinklers over the drill/cage vehicle.

Metal cages, we're halfway to setting off the fire alarm anyways, and water + metal + time = bad. Let's hope they're not rust proof.

Spoiler

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I'm posting options for if there are sprinklers or not to keep things moving.
If there are: Disintegrate on the sprinklers, and then on the cages so that the water can accelerate the decay.
Lose 4 toughness (automatic since area attack and inanimate object, I think). Then toughness save DC 19, fail by 20+ target is atomized.
Damage is lethal if anyone is standing near the cages and gets caught.
If not: 2x paralyze attacks centered around as many grunts as possible. Area is shape-able progression 4 so I think that's 20 5m cubes?
Paralyze 1: [roll0]
Paralyze 2: [roll1]
Fail causes: Move OR Standard action, -1 of atk, def, and reflex rolls, 1/2 move speed
If failure by 5 or more or second successful attack target is paralyzed, will save per round(+1/round)

Sorry for so much detail, let me know if not necessary. I'm still remembering how MnM works.

[swrs3d]

Spoiler: Not sure why the rolls failed, but whatever.

Show

(1d20+4)[21]
(1d20+4)[19]

[El Zombi]

As the ground under Richard's feet shakes, and he looks upon the new commotion, he begins to feel something bubbling up inside him. Pure Anger. Richard had seen what a driven scientist could do to his test subjects first hand. There was no way in hell he was going to let that happen to him. His eyes turn solid black, weeping acid, and he gives in to the rage.

Spoiler

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Effects of the rage feat, +8 Str, +4 will, +4 Fort, for 10 rounds, then fatigued for 10 rounds.

Richard then zero's his attention in on the man in the white lab coat.

He's mine

Richard sprints towards the man in the coat and attempts to rend into him.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Strike (corrosive)
attack: (1d20+4)[5]
damage: (1d20+4)[6]
edit: sigh...

[Business Scrub]

@Richard: You give into the rage inside, and launch yourself at the man. He's quicker than you might expect from a scientist though, and steps to the side as you fly past, giving you an extra push that almost knocks you over.

@Don: You look to the cages: one could figure what they were for easily enough, especially given what you just hear. Glancing up, you spy the sprinklers again. They helped last time, why not again? You focus on the heads, weaving the time rapidly around them with satisfaction as rust and grime corrode them. They don't disintegrate entirely, but it does the trick as more foamy water leaks out onto a wide area of the dome, including all over the drill and cages. Now all it would take is to age the cages themselves, assuming they will rust.

@Axon: Not one to waist time with clearly the lesser folk, you approach the coated man, and warn him of the consequences if he doesn't leave. He looks at you with a mix of emotions, but fear is not one of them, as he brushes past Richard and you and begins stepping off the rubble.
"Fascinating, really. You've shed your body somewhere, I suppose? Or no... possibly stored in hyperspace? But that wouldn't explain how you can speak. Listen man, I have been preparing for today for months. I daresay I'm not going to 'regret it' simply because you are confident in your newly discovered abilities. Now you can either be a boon to mankind and assist our work by coming with us willingly, or be an insolent child like the others and ride back in one of those cages."
He looks back at the cages in question.
"I admit it's not the most elegant of solutions, but you know what they say: don't reinvent the wheel."

Spoiler

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Initiative:
Axon
Don
Mark
Rich
Everto
CloseOps
Soldiers
Other Flocks
Eric

[obilisk260]

Well, this is new. Lets see if we can find a diplomatic solution to the problem.

Mark goes invisible, while simultaneously creating an illusion of himself exactly where he stands. He flies into the air, while the illusion walks over to the scientist and starts speaking.

"Hello. I am Perceptus, and I have no desire to fight you or your troops. Would it be possible for us to come to a peaceful solution? You did mention something about being a 'boon to mankind'?"

Spoiler: rolls

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bluff: (1d20+13)[21]
diplomacy: (1d20+13)[33]
charisma: (1d20+4)[16]

[Business Scrub]

The man scratches his chin for a moment, as if considering. He claps his hands together, apparently satisfied.

"Excellent!" Turning to Axon, he says again, "See? One of your friends already decided to do the mature thing."
Again to Perceptus' copy. "Head further back, you'll find an agent waiting to recieve you. You'll have to be restrained, of course. We're not in the habit of taking chances today. But atleast you won't have to ride in a cage like a dog."
There is a tiny boom noise as the man's feet pick up off the ground, the air beneath his heels wavering.
"I said again and again that force would be entirely unnecessary here, but was overruled. Perhaps I was right after all."
He lifts into the air and rockets towards the general center of the dome. With one outstretched finger, he points with his gloved hand at the double door entrance, producing a red beam from the tip of his finger. The man draws a red X on the door with the beam which, after a short delay, blows in on itself, reveling the hallway beyond.
At the same time, an angry alarm begins going off, red lights on the walls flickering. Almost immediately a bullet flies from somewhere at the speaker, destroying it and cutting off the noise.

Five of the agents, their armor purple instead of green, start hustling towards the opened door and seem to vanish.

The man in the coat looks down at everyone gathered, and speaks in a voice that is amplified somehow.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I appologize for the jarring arrival, but it was the most practical means of getting to you. Now, I am here simply to extend an offer to you all. An offer that you come with us, where your powers may benefit all of mankind instead of be squandered in a hole in the ground.
Acceptance is, unfortunately, mandatory. However how you choose to comply is your decision. In fact, one of your number has already decided to come along willingly: an example I hope you all follow."

There is for once, a long moment of silence as people seem to take this in, and then somewhere from the crowd: "Um... how about f**k you?" A ripple of shocks comes out of the crowd, shooting up towards the man, but is dissipated harmlessly around him. Apparently that was all the provocation all the agents needed, as they start firing their web-like guns into the crowd. Some score hits, which wrap around their targets tightly and seem to deliver some kind of shock, as many of the people caught shake violently, then go limp before the claws start retracting.

The assembled metahumans retaliate, too disorganized to form a plan. Many shoot, jump, or slice their way at the agents with a hodgepodge of abilities, all to varying degrees of success. Others simply run back or take cover behind something, unwilling to expose themselves in the fight. In the center of the dome, chaos reigns.

High above, the coated man shakes his head, looking dissapointed. "Barbarians, the lot of you..."

The agents work effecietly on ones they hit, handing the unconscious bodies to another, who quickly runs back to the set of cages.

Spoiler

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Agents remaining: 22/25
Uncaptured Metahumans: 65/72
Filled Cages: 7/60
-----

Initiative:
Axon
Don
Mark
Rich
Everto
CloseOps
Soldiers
Other Flocks
Eric

[pyrefiend]

Axon rushes at the man in the labcoat as soon as the attacks start.

Spoiler

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(1d20+4)[8]

That's a DC 15 will save on a hit, plus another 1 for every 2 by which he fails his defense roll, to a maximum of DC 20.

I'll save the rest of my actions for when I know the result, because it makes a difference whether I manage to possess him or not...

[Business Scrub]

@Axon: You rush at the man, trying to overpower his mind as your tendrils of electricity tap into him. However, his mind and body squirm too much, and reject your influence, pushing you out. He responds with rage.

"You seek to control me?! Grrr, immaturity and opposition I can understand, but this level of insolence is getting on my nerves. And don't even say it. Do you have any idea who I am? What I've achieved?"

[pyrefiend]

Axon veers around. "Whatever you are, you're nothing to me! I'll defeat you one way or another!"

He lashes his tendrils forward in an arc, trying to catch the man in a less direct attack.

Spoiler

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DC 14 Reflex, on success it's a DC 12 Will (otherwise DC 14). Emotion control: Fear and Drain Wisdom.

[El Zombi]

Richard hits the ground, tumbles a bit, then digs one hand intp the ground, using his momentem to spin him around to face his aggressor again.

Richard tenses up, then launches his body in attempt to strike the man in the lab coat again.

Spoiler

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attack: (1d20+4)[13]
Toughness save 19

Edit:totally missed that he was now flying, going to shoot at him ranged.

[swrs3d]

Looking through the fall of water, Don focuses in on the cages and attempts to disintegrate them.

Good thing no one is in there yet, this wouldn't be fun for them.

Spoiler

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2x Disintegrate on the cages.
Lose 4 toughness, then toughness save DC 19, fail by 20+ target is atomized.

[Business Scrub]

@Axon: You fire a bolt of charged energy at the man, which he takes full in the chest. He shakes off the mentally draining effects of the enervation, however you see him jet a few feet away from you, mixed anger and fear in his eyes.

"Eric! I want you here, now. This one is getting-- aagh!"

His fear distracts him just long enough to be struck by Malice's acid. However, though it burns through part of his coat, he removes it quickly enough, avoiding the acidic effect.

Spoiler

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Failed the save against fear, by less than five, made his toughness save.

@Hourglass: First priority should be withering the cages, you figure. After all, they're here for people, and if they can't carry the people, they might as well leave, right?

You pull at the strings of time itself, feeling the dizzying feeling of years go by in the blink of an eye. Immediately, the black paint around many of the cages is stripped away. So to is some kind of wire. Whatever it connected to, it's dust now.
Beneath the black paint, a silver metal gleams bright as day. Your physicist schooling has taught you to identify some materials by sight alone, which is why your face falls when you see this one: Titanium. This could take a while.

[swrs3d]

"Malice! Throw as much acid as you can at the wheels and axles. Axon! Dump as much charge in there as you can. We need to all hit it at the same time, so Malice you go first and Axon as close behind as you can.

It isn't going to be a very efficient battery, but its going to be really big and have a long time to run...

Spoiler

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In theory, assuming I'm not being stupid about electrolysis, turning the vehicle into a massive battery and running current into it (Axon) will cause the titanium to be reduced pretty fast (especially once it gets accelerated. Also the people in the cages will probably (probably...) be fine if their shoes have rubber soles. This will also mess up the drive train really badly both because acid, and also because battery. Yay science!

[obilisk260]

"Well, this could be a problem, if they figure out that that is just an illusion. Lets see if we can make it work anyways."

The illusion flies to the back of the drill, and stops in front of the agent. "Hello, my name is Perceptus and I am hear to peacefully surrender. I don't want to fight. The man in the lab coat said I would have to be restrained, however, there is a small issue..." The illusion passes it's hand through the wall as if it weren't there, making it appear that Perceptus is intangible. "You see, I seem to be insubstantial. I can't actually interact with anything in the real world. I can't control it, so I'm not sure if you will be able to restrain me. Do you happen to have a way around that?"

At the same time, Perceptus creates an illusion-sound that only Axon, Malice, and Hourglass can hear, "I'm going to try to infiltrate their organization. If Hourglass' plan doesn't work, I would highly suggest retreating. And throw in something about me being a traitor, it might help my act. Meet me at the city center in 24 hours."

Spoiler: roll

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[roll]1d20+13[/roll]

[Business Scrub]

Now with his labcoat removed, you can see the man for what he is. While it's not true to say that he is half machine, he certainly appears it at first glance. The man has nearly his entire body wrapped in a robotic exoskeleton, of precise and proficient make. The bars of the skeleton keep up smoothly with his movements, seeming to augment them. The soles of his feet shoot some small energy out, presumably what is keeping him aloft. Who knows what other secrets the machine and man hide?

He sneers down at Axon, disgust in his eyes. "You should be bowing down to me, praising the name Everto for what I have made you. But more maddeningly you stand in the way of progress! I suppose every flock has a few bad sheep."

He points his robotic finger at Axon and forms a triangle around his midsection, the edges of which explode a moment later, ripping through even the energy that holds your floating nervous system together.

Spoiler: Destabilization

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Affects incorporeal. Defense DC 23; if failed, Toughness save DC 23, nonlethal damage.

Back on the ground, the fight rages. A claw, shot from one of the agents on the ground, comes whizzing past Hourglass, attempting to hold him fast.

Spoiler: Snare Claw

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Defense DC 19; if failed, Fort save DC 14 or be paralyzed.

The chaos is too much to keep track of every moment. More agents fall, more of your fellows are dragged off into cages.

Spoiler

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Agents remaining: 20/25
Metahumans conscious: 58/72
Cages filled: 13/60

One agent, his armor tinted yellow, hurries to your area of combat. You recognize his voice as well from what you heard before the fight.
"Sir, I'm not getting a reading off one of them."
"Then leave him. Focus on the electric one with me. Do not change targets Eric? Understand. One at a time."
The man, Eric, nods and holds both hands up to his helmet in concentration.

@Axon: You feel you throat and chest seize up. Or what passes for them in this form. It becomes harder and harder to breath suddenly. Do you even breath any more, you can't help but wonder. Your brain certainly thinks so, and panics as each breath becomes harder.

Spoiler

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Will Save DC 15 or start to Suffocate

@Perceptus: You address one of the agents at the drill who looks shocked at your presence, and a little concerned. Moving between two agents bringing bodies back, she says,
"Uuh... Yes, yes of course. One moment." The woman goes into the closed section of the drill, then returns a moment later with a balloon looking object.
"Stand still please."

Spoiler

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Move action to move, move action to ready whatever the object is.

Spoiler: Initiative

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Round 3
Axon
Don
Mark
Rich
Everto
CloseOps
Soldiers
Other Flocks
Eric

[Business Scrub]

@Perceptus: You notice the agents hitting a small button on their wrist every time they make a trip to the drill.

[pyrefiend]

Spoiler

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Defense: (1d20+4)[21] Will: (1d20+4)[8]

Jeeeeesus.

[pyrefiend]

Spoiler

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Toughness: (1d20+2)[10]

I'm so boned.

[pyrefiend]

Spoiler

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Screw it, Ive got to use my hero point. Here it goes.

Toughness: (1d20+2)[7]

AWESOME. Well that's a 17, so I'm stunned. And bruised again. I gotta get out of here.

[swrs3d]

Spoiler: Defense Roll

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(1d20+4)[23]

Fort in case needed: (1d20+2)[17]

[El Zombi]

Richard again tries to shoot down the flying now labcoat-less man out of the sky.

Spoiler

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Attack roll: (1d20+4)[8]

[swrs3d]

This isn't going our way at all! Need to slow them down some how, distract the agents. No, don't distract, incapacitate, they certainly won't show us any mercy.

Spoiler: Disintegrate rolls.

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Ranged attack roll 1: (1d20+4)[23]
Ranged attack roll 2: (1d20+4)[11]
Will save DC 14 or lose 4 toughness, then toughness save DC 19 against aging effects.