The Nightmare of SIDE

[Hyperbolic sine]

The person I want to be? What would you know?

Aidan returned Kate's gaze with cold eyes.

"..."

He didn't reply until after she stated she wouldn't have stopped at words, at which point he looked back and forth between her and Prophet for signs of a bluff. Of course, there were none.

"I said 'being paragons of good', not 'making the right choice'. I'm doing this exactly because of the professionalism you say I put above anything: she was trying to get into the prison, and you would put here there yourself? Is it really worth risking an APEX contamination? The 'right' choice is pretty clear to me, here."

"...but if you're willing to go as far as fight me, I yield. Hopefully it'll never come to that, because it being your fault will be of very small consolation."

With that, he turned in the direction of where a group of APEX summons had cornered a man in power armour. "You'd better make sure she doesn't wake up." he added, before charging into the fray to help the SIDE lieutenant. However, he didn't sound so upset as his words suggested.

[Dodgeson]

"That's my buddy!" Avery cheered as the clouds began to dissipate and Chlorine plummeted to the ground, rushing across the air towards Kenta he pulled of his hat and rummaged around for his fl...no this called for something way better than that...popping the cork on a large green bottle Avery sprayed its fancy contents towards Kenta (and that other guy that was with him).

"Do you see?! Do you see what you get when you mess with Hero Corp!" He taunted the unconscious villain in between celebratory swigs, wait...why was that black stuff still clinging to her? The colour drained from Avery's face, this was going to be Hayseed all over again...when Caleb and Kate confronted Foxglove he breathed a sigh of relief. His friend had a way with words that far exceeded his own, heck his plan was just to mallet Foxglove over the head and try and break his concentration.

With that situation defused he charged towards the giant APEX summons, they might have won this part of the battle but it looked like the local heroes are taking a beating.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Kenta didn't give much of a response to either Wraith or Avery. It was a victory worth celebrating, but he wasn't ready for that yet, not even as a brief moment of respite. Kenta was in his "all business" mode. When the normally laid-back, upbeat Hero got serious, you knew it meant he wasn't going to stop until the fight was over. He shot immediately into the fray, his aura still blazing bright as he swooped straight past a group of summoned guardians that were engaged by various Heroes of Adaros to start pounding on one of the clones of Daryll Harrens.

But the fall of first Tara Ellens and then APEX Chlorine had rallied the defenders of the prison, and they pushed back hard. Even so, and even when the Task Force joined the fray, it was still a pitched battle that could have gone either way.

For like, you know, maybe fifteen seconds.

Because after that, three full heavy military squadrons - each one consisting of a block of ten hovertanks with six fighter jets flying support in a V formation on their flanks, with a full-scale mecha at the tip, came flying into the fray, the jets laying down heavy fire while the tanks just straight dropped on choice giants and the mechs landed to attack directly with, well, the exact sort of firepower that mechs were known for.

The battle didn't last too long after that.

Spoiler: OOC

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You guys may feel free to describe any further contributions you wish to make. Go nuts. Avery, Aidan, and Hayseed, likewise feel free to describe your rescue of whoever it is you choose to rescue.

* * * * *

By the time Frostburn got back, the battle was over.

There was nothing left of the APEX summons but swiftly dissipating ectoplasm. The Heroes and SIDE agents who had been...corrupted or enraged or whatever had happened to them from the auras some of the giants had manifested had been subdued and seemed to be coming out of it. The clones had been neutralized and reverted to their original forms, three more victims of Comody's ritual who would likely never be the same. The prison was secure. The day was saved.

And yet, to Blake Steele, it did not feel much like a victory.

He had been sent flying from a giant summon's kick relatively early in the fight, and it had taken him this long to recover and get back. The rest of the Vanguard had come through fine, as he had come to expect of course. But the other Heroes...they had taken a beating.

Any hope that his comrades might have come out of even that horrific battle without casualty was dashed the moment he found his team, and saw Veritas sobbing in Richard's arms.

The temperature around him began dropping.

By the time Sierra had, grimly, filled him in, a sixty foot area around him felt more like a Lastellan winter than an Adaran one.

Numerous injuries, with Treetop's the worst - even after extensive healing, she was unlikely to ever fight again. And six dead. Evidently it would have been seven, if one of the members of the SIDE Task Force hadn't intervened.

Six dead. Another six dead, more precisely. Adaros had lost Heroes before, certainly. More than most cities had, in fact. It was a grim reality of the biggest city in the country that there simply were not enough Heroes to attend to the whole thing. There hadn't been even before the Ten Wolves. But when they had lost six of their comrades to a coordination ambush by the Ten Wolves, it had been the greatest loss they had suffered in...years? Decades? Ever? Longer than Frostburn had been there, certainly. He hadn't believed it was possible that such a thing could happen again.

And now it had, not even a year later.

This was not the Adaros Corps first time fighting APEX monsters. Indeed, it was probably fair to say that the disaster during Meteor Day had involved a worse threat than this attack, but they all came out of that one fine. How? Well, because they hadn't rushed in. They had secured a perimeter and waited for SIDE and the military to fully mobilize before charging into the thick of the fray. When they did attack, they played to their strengths, isolated targets they felt comfortable facing, fell back when they felt overwhelmed.

You could say the situation was different, that back then the greatest risk was to the Ten Wolves Megablock - even they deserving of protection, of course, but not so dire a target that immediate action was necessary. There the enemy had been disorganized and rampaging without purpose. Whereas here, waiting for the military to mobilize would simply have ensured Tara achieved her goal. If they had waited, or hadn't gone all-in, the prison would have fallen and everything would have been worse. And that wouldn't have been an unfair assessment, but...

To Frostburn's mind, it made no difference. The real reason they had faced a larger force that day and everyone had survived, whereas this battle had cost the lives of six Heroes, was because back then Simon had been there with a plan, and today they just had him telling them to fight as hard as they could.

The surviving Heroes had gathered. They were looking to him, for leadership, for a course of action, for something after the tragic loss of another half dozen of their friends. And he just returned their expectant looks blankly. He had nothing. He wasn't Gestalt, didn't have a way with words, didn't know what to say to make this any better. What was he supposed to do? Declare war on Tara Ellens like they had on Oliver Comody? Could the Heroes of Adaros fight another war? Could they win another war?

Gestalt would have known what to say.

Simon would have known what to do.

Frostburn knew neither.

Where were they?

[herodofcows]

Hayseed stands gasping for a moment, staring down the scope of her rifle as she’d prepared to take an entirely useless shot at Chlorine.

Not good enough. Not good enough at ALL, soldier.

Marsha and Julie and Frank are in danger Marsha and Julie and Frank are in danger Marsha and Julie and Frank are in danger

“Sound off!” she yells out, running towards the remaining SIDE forces, “Who needs medical attention?”

She skids to a halt at the side of some grievously wounded tactical team members and begins performing basic first aid. As medics run by, she signals for one of them to take over and goes running off to the next set of casualties.

Marsha and Julie and Frank are in danger Marsha and Julie and Frank are in danger Marsha and Julie and Frank are in danger

You were useless in that fight, soldier. ENTIRELY useless. Your team carried you and you added nothing. That is off-the-scale unacceptable, soldier. So SNAP OUT OF THE PANIC PARTY.

She takes a deep breath and shakes her head, briefly pausing in the midst of suturing a SIDE asset.

Good. Now, what are you going to DO?

She weighs the possibilities. She could vanish with her family. Pull the kids out of school, have Frank find a new job, run off to some distant corner of the country and restart their lives. It’d be the safest option, no doubt. Or . . .

Requisition some SIDE guards. Discreet ones. Have them keep tabs on my family without even knowing that it’s happening. They get to keep their lives, and they’re protected if Tara tries anything.

She blocks out any thought of how quickly Tara would go through even the most trained of guards and nods to herself.

Yes. They’ll be safe. As for me . . .

She thinks back to the funhouse mirror reflection that Tara had shown her in the battle. Herself, with guns and power armor and lethal options out the whazoo.

Guns make things too easy, but this isn’t a game anymore, is it? I think it’s time we started cheating a little . . .

[Dodgeson]

Following his buddy's example Avery charged back in to the fray, even with military joining the battle that was no reason to relax just yet. Tossing the green bottle over his shoulder a woman facing down an APEX monster with nothing but a staff in her hands. She didn't look SIDE, she had to have some kind of power right? Nobody would be that crazy!

Any second now...

When the woman narrowly dodge the APEX irradiated energy blast of the enormous summon by the skin of her teeth, Avery decided that maybe she might need a hand.

"Special delivery for Mr H.G Apex Monster!" He hollered, rushing down from his position above the battlefield, getting up in the summon's face and shoving a ticking package towards it.

KA-BOOM!

The bomb detonated with maybe a little more force than was necessary and sent the summon stumbling backwards, buying the woman some breathing space, but Avery wasn't going to loose any sleep over it. The roaring of a motor was barely noticeable over the din of the battle all around them as Avery touched down on the ground, putting himself between the woman and the monster, and pulled his rarely seen chainsaw out of his hat.

"Lady, I have no idea who you are but you're my kind of crazy. Lets take this thing apart!"

[Arlin]

Kate surveyed the aftermath with as much cool detachment as she could muster. They had successfully defended the prison, but at a hefty price. Not for the first time Kate was reminded that even with her portals, she could not be everywhere at once. She shook herself, casting her gaze around again before her composure could unravel. SIDE seemed to be continuing cleanup, attending to the injured and so on. Good, she thought, nodding slightly as she moved to the next area.

The other side of that portal however, found her near the group of Adaran heroes. Kate knew their pain, all too well. Or at least, some measure of it. Indeed, she had never lost six comrades in a single incident. She didn't know their leader personally, but she didn't envy his position in the slightest. As the temperature around Frostburn dropped and the silence stretched on, Kate wondered what he thought he was doing... shock, perhaps?

Instinct made her start forward, ignoring the cold surrounding their leader as best she could. As she reached him, she put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in as if giving a report, her breath misting when she spoke. "You can't afford to fall apart yet," she said gently in his ear. "They are still looking to you. Either keep them busy helping those who need it, or acknowledge those you have lost. There will be time to mourn later, but those who survived need you now. Take care of them, so they can be the heroes we all need."

Spoiler: OOC

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Persuasion to try to support Frostburn and get him moving again (+2 if Attractive applies): (1d20+15)[29]

[Hyperbolic sine]

It had been an awful day for Lieutenant Kovacs: it started with an argument with his teenager daughter for breaking curfew, then it continued with him having to to search half the prison for a coffee machine that wasn't either out of order or coffee, and now...this.

He almost didn't believe it when the cameras started showing an army of giants, but the alarms blaring with all their might confirmed that the threat was very real: and so, he sortied, with the whole Battle Squadron at his command, to fight a losing battle - the only hope was to hold out until the military mobilised.

More than one APEX summon was incinerated by his plasma cannon or crushed with his maul, and he even traded a few blows with a Darryl clone, but, in the end, in an attempt to give a SIDE team a chance to escape, he ended up himself cornered and ganged upon. He gave his all, but he was no Hero: as much as he fought, overwhelming odds were overwhelming odds, and in the end one giant still remained standing, while his power armour was so battered that the servomotors finally failed, turning it into a metal tomb.

Is this how I'm going to die?

He thought back at that morning, at the argumend with his daughter. It all seemed so pointless...

I wish I told her I loved her instead...

The giant's fist was raised over him: praying that the Gift and the Heart be kind upon his family, he closed his eyes and braced for impact.

...

The impact never came. He reopened his eyes just in time to see the giant's severed arm dissolving on the ground, and a man in a trenchcoat engaging a - rather short - battle with the summon.

"Th...thank you. Are you with the Task Force?" he asked; if the man had been a Hero, he ought to have seen him on TV.

"Agent Foxglove." the man introduced himself, nodding. "You must be Lieutenant Kovacs."

"I am. Did...did we win?" he replied, unseccesfully trying to move and look around.

"The Ellens clone and the APEX Dreamer have fallen, and the military will be here any seconds now. The prison is safe."

Kovacs had seen good friends die, but at least their sacrifice hadn't been in vain. And...he'd able to see his family again. His last words wouldn't be of anger.

He started thinking about what to say to them, thankful that the helmet prevented Agent Foxglove from seeing his watery eyes.

[Thokk_Smash]

With a nod at Kenta's firm action, Wraith fades from perception. His contributions to the battle are far less obvious than anyone else's. Nonetheless, their effects can be felt readily. In Kenta's battle with a Darryl clone, the summoner seems to stop momentarily, expression confused as if trying to remember a particularly complex ritual equation. It gives Kenta enough time to charge up a Final Flash and shove it down Darryl's throat. A SIDE squadron facing down a trio of APEX monstrosities would find the monsters constantly swatting at the air in irritation, constantly weakened by invisible attacks but never taken down fully.

Compared to facing down the Tara Ellens, even a clone, skirmishing against dozens of APEX monsters seems pretty mild. And when the military arrives in force, it becomes even less of a stress for him. At one point, anyone caring to look at the lead mech would see flashes of a man standing on its 'head', firing shot after shot from a handgun and grinning madly.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Frostburn gave Kate a kinda half-surprised, half-embarrassed glance, but he seemed to get his head back in the game, anyway. Granted, there actually wasn't a ton the Heroes could really do at this point. What was really needed now was healers, and they didn't have any. Oliver Comody had seen to that.

Nonetheless. "Alright, everyone who can, let's make a sweep of the adjoining Megablocks, make sure nobody else is hurt. If anyone sees any signs of Tara Ellens, Daryll Harrens, or...whatever ritual or whatever they did to cause this, report it to SIDE immediately. And the Task Force," he added, as just a bit of an afterthought. "Everyone else report to either the SIDE medics or wait for the ACC to get their healers here." That was an order.

Several of the Heroes nodded and took off - one woman simply vanished, but reappeared several seconds later with four other people, who immediately headed for the wounded. Some of them, more injured, exhausted, or just overwhelmed, stayed near or went to seek medical attention.

Kenta, meanwhile, flew over to Avery. The Chi Master still had a serious look on his face, but some cracks in it appeared as he gave his cartoonish comrade a bit of a sheepish smile. "I think I'm staying here," he said simply. He wasn't keeping it secretive; if other members of the Task Force were nearby he was speaking loudly enough to be overheard. He just went to Avery first because, you know, fellow Hero.

[Dodgeson]

"Huh?" That was not something Avery had expected to hear today, but it hadn't really been a normal day even by Taskforce standards now had it? Looking around at what remained of the battlefield, everybody had fought as hard as they could but no matter how you sliced it today was not a fun day to be part of the Adaros Hero Corp.

"They couldn't ask for a better pair of hands to help 'em out." Avery hopped up in to the air so that was level with his friend "Tell you what, you're ever back in Verdania, gimme a call and we'll hit the buffets until they kick us out. Just like old times!" Fun fact, it was really difficult to kick a guy who could move faster than you could see and a teleporter out of your buffet for any real length of time.

"I'll give Tara one in the face for ya when we finally catch up with her." He grinned, offering his friend his flask for what might be the last time.

[Thokk_Smash]

Touching down, Wraith just catches Kenta's reveal. He's a little surprised at how much sorrow the announcement gives him. The young Chi master had grown on him, almost without Wraith noticing. "These guys are lucky to have you," he says with a grin, offering a hand to shake. "Keep in touch, kid. And you'd better not make Tsuki do all the legwork getting to dates."

[Dorni]

Prophet stepped away from the prison wall he'd been leaning against and to join the growing conference. Channeling so much of the Dream's power so quickly had left him winded. He'd hope for just a moment to catch his breath now that the fighting was dying down, but it seemed that wasn't to be the case. Everyone had to be tired. Many were still injured. A little fatigue wasn't going to stop him from helping.

"Allow me to help with your injured." He extended a hand towards the Heros' leader. At his silent prayer, his handed started to shine with the warm, golden light of the Dream. "I also have information you'll want to hear. Is there a Hero named Simon among you?"

[Quellian-dyrae]

"Sounds like a plan," Kenta agreed with a little grin. There wasn't any melancholy in his voice. Moving halfway across the country meant something different when you flew at three times the speed of sound. It wasn't like he'd never see them again. "I'll make sure to give you guys a call if these folks find her first," he returned in kind. Something told him that the Heroes of Adaros weren't just going to let the events of the day slide. He took a swig of the flask, handed it back, and held a fist out to bump. "And Avery. I'm going to do my best to be higher rank than you by the time I come back. But you better not make it easy for me!"

"Yes sir," he answered Wraith with due respect. After Ichiryuu's death he was basically the next closest thing to Tsuki's father after all! "...Err. I mean, I'll try to remember, anyway!" he hedged with a laugh.

Over by the Heroes, Frostburn gave Prophet a grateful nod. "That would be appreciated," he said. And then he asked about Simon. "We do. Not with us here...he and his team disappeared a bit over a week ago. We haven't been able to find any trace of them."

"Not that this would be the first time Simon and Gestalt upped and vanished without a trace," said one of the Heroes, a tall, dark-skinned, athletic woman in a coffee-brown leather duster. There was some levity in her tone, and to Prophet's senses she seemed more uncomfortable than upset for someone who had just lost six comrades.

"That was only for a few days though. Do you...have information about them?"

[Dorni]

"Not about their disappearance, no." Prophet's brow furrowed at the news. Simon's whole team disappeared? Had something happened to them? Or was Simon fleeing? The Vision had been focused on Simon and Arcanis, but if he had a team around him and they'd been working together...

"And I'm sorry that my news is not better, but it cannot wait." The golden light enveloped Frostburn as Prophet spoke, washing away the Hero's injuries. "My power comes from the Dream, and it shows me Visions. During the battle just now, it showed me a Vision of Arcanis' death. His battle with Tara didn't take place in Arbera. It took place in Comody's sanctum during the Ten Wolves' final battle, and Simon was there. He attacked Arcanis."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Spoiler: Well Informed or Expertise (SIDE, IN-SIDE, etc) DC 40. DC is 35 for Hayseed and Wraith, 30 for Aidan, due to their various Benefits. This is SIDE related, so Aidan can use his IN-SIDER bonus if he rolls Persuasion for Well Informed.

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Okay, you've been read in on this, actually (or acquired the information in your own investigations, if not an IN-SIDE agent).

IN-SIDE knows about a Hero named Simon in the Adaros Hero Corps. That would be Simon Candler, officially a former OUT-SIDE operative who joined the Corps after leaving the military. That much is public record. What isn't public record is that Simon Candler is a cover identity for Daimon Aimes. Daimon's an elite IN-SIDE agent. Among those in the know in IN-SIDE, the name Daimon Aimes is said with the sort of respect reserved for names like, for example, "Hayseed" or "Foxglove" or "Wraith".

While you don't have all the details of Daimon's mission, your understanding is that he's investigating rumors of some sort of secret society operating at the top levels of the Assembly. IN-SIDE has limited evidence on them, nothing that outright confirms their existence and absolutely nothing that indicates whether or not they're actually a problem, but what evidence they have is sufficiently suggestive of their existence and power that they deemed it worth dedicated a high-level asset to a high-risk, deep-cover mission to acquire more information. The reason Daimon was installed in Hero Corps is that evidence indicated that in they do exist, Arcanis was a member.

Spoiler: IN-SIDE agents only - this information is unavailable to even skill checks this high without IN-SIDE clearance

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He's not a Dreamer, but he does have a power - he's a shapeshifter. His power was artificially induced by a...rather experimental and not entirely reliable protocol that IN-SIDE has somehow acquired. He's not the only one - the code name Chameleon has been mentioned in certain extremely classified and highly redacted communications in Verdania - and among those in the know there's a rumor that IN-SIDE has one of these non-Dreamer shapeshifters in each of the Big Five cities in Ilessia. The value of such operatives to IN-SIDE cannot be overstated. Shapeshifting spies are useful. Shapeshifting spies who do not show up to Dreamer power detectors or technological scans are game-breakers. And to the best of IN-SIDE's knowledge (and the best of IN-SIDE's knowledge is very, very good), Ilessia is the only country on the planet, and IN-SIDE the only intelligence organization, with access to such assets.

There were a few moments of shocked silence after Prophet made his claim. To a man as intuitive as him, the expressions on the faces of the Heroes, the set of their body language, may as well have been written in neon lights. He could see that a lot of them - probably most of them - wanted to doubt it. They didn't want to believe that one of their own could have done such a thing. And maybe some of them managed to doubt. To tell themselves that prophecy could be a vague thing and subject to interpretation. That the vision may have been wrong. That no Dreamer power was perfectly reliable.

But they couldn't all comfort themselves with such rationalizations. And as the seconds ticked on, the meaning of that information sank home. Six of their members lay dead upon this field, and another was crippled and might never fight again. And yes, this had been a horrific battle, and there was no guarantee of how things might have gone but...

If Arcanis had been here, how many of them might still have been alive? Even discounting the personal fighting power of the Archmage of Hero Corps, Arcanis was a master wizard and a powerful diviner. As potent as his magic was, his knowledge had always been his greatest power. Even Tara Ellens might not have been able to conceal such rituals as this attack had required had Arcanis been on his watch. And if the defenders of the prison had been prepared for it? This battle absolutely would have gone very, very differently.

"Are you certain?" Frostburn asked. He had to. Frostburn may not have agreed with Simon on everything, but he respected him, he trusted him. "Is the vision subject to interpretation? Or could Simon have been mind-controlled? Or could it have been an illusion? What exactly did you see?" His voice sounded a little broken. Around him, the faces of the Heroes, already lined with grief, looked completely crestfallen. The woman in the brown duster just wordlessly turned around and walked away.

It had not been a good day for the Heroes of Adaros.

Spoiler: OOC

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I've set up about what I need to set up and don't want to drag this out too much since there's not a ton of meat on the bones for the whole group. Anyone who wants to say some final stuff here may feel free to do so, but unless there's a compelling reason otherwise I'm thinking I'll move us along to the next episode with my next post, which will probably be in the next couple or few days.

[Hyperbolic sine]

Aidan reached the group just about when Prophet asked about Simon.

Simon...Hero...

It ringed a bell. Actually, a cascade of bells - he did get access to a whole lot of classified material with the recent promotion to Overseer, and the memory was still fresh.

If that Simon was indeed who he thought he was, though, he must have had his reasons, and considering all factors involved blowing his cover simply wasn't an option. Thus, he kept what he knew for himself, although agent Aimes would have to fend for himself if he ever got back from wherever he apparently disappeared to.

[Quellian-dyrae]

The Heroes would have their share of questions for Prophet, and there was still work to be done. But the injured were treated, the dead gathered, the damage repaired. The Task Force though hardly unknown further afield, were generally bigger names in the Verdanian region. After this, though, let there be no doubt that they had earned themselves a reputation in Adaros.

Tara Ellens was already SIDE's most wanted, but in the aftermath of this attack...well, things got worse for her. First, she and Daryll Harrens were officially declared enemies of the state by the President. That was a big deal. That meant more than just being a wanted criminal. That meant that the military had been authorized to engage Tara directly if possible. And even for a Dreamer as powerful as Tara Ellens, that was not a good thing.

'Course, they'd still have to find her.

It also meant assets. Look, SIDE provided their Task Force with the tools for the job, sure. But the thing is...the Verdania prison break had kinda done a number on their yearly budget. The less the Task Force spent, the better, was kinda the thing. But with the military authorized to contribute directly...well. They got some new toys.

Second, Hero Corps responded to what happened in Adaros with fury. They had of course contributed Avery and later Kenta to the Task Force. Heroes were a confident lot; they had deemed that plenty. But Tara had killed Heroes, and that made it personal. It wasn't quite at the level of attacking a Hero's family, but the Heroes were more than happy to use their powers to assist in investigating Tara, interrogating her followers, and would love, love, love the opportunity to punch her in the face if it became available.

Which of these repercussions was worse for Tara...well, that was a matter for debate.

Spoiler: OOC

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Okay! Here's what's up!

First, we've been kinda making some assumptions on you guys having things like commlinks and such, but now you get them "officially". These are free EP, so while they still have all the normal limitations of Equipment, you can use them tactically and I won't arbitrarily disable them if it suits me. Everyone gains full ACCS functionality as well as Commlinks. If you already had such Equipment, you may refund those points.

You guys also gain access to two military ACVs (Aerial Combat Vehicles), which are kept in your base when not in use, so you have to get there to access them. You'll have to pilot them yourselves (using your actions) and note that they are technically lower PL than you and you'll want at least a +4 ranged attack bonus to make full use of the weaponry.

Spoiler: Aerial Combat Vehicle (ACV) (PL 10 Vehicle, 150 EP)

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Basics

Size: L. Strength: 6. Defense: +8. Toughness: +12. Speed: Flight 6 (Alt: Speed 6+Swimming 6).

Features

Alarm 3 (DC 30), Communications, Computer, Navigation System, Remote Control.

Powers

Anti-Collision Forcefield: Immunity 5 (Slam Damage) {5}.

Crash Protection System: Movement 1 (Safe Fall; Affects Others Only) {2}.

Tactical Computers: Enhanced Ranged Attack 3 (Affects Others Only) {3}.

Heavy Armor: Impervious Toughness 12 {12}.

Power Dampeners: Feature 2 (Possesses a Will and Fortitude Defense despite Absent Abilities, starting at -5); Enhanced Will 17 (Limited [Non-mental Effects]), Enhanced Fortitude 13 (Limited [Affects Objects powers]) {17}.

Computer Security: Immunity 10 (Technopathic Compulsions; Limited [Half Effect]) {5}.

Sealed Environment: Immunity 10 (Life Support; Affects Others) {10}.

Nanite Repair System: Regeneration 6 {6}.

HUD: Senses 6 (Radius Extended Vision Penetrates Concealment; Limited [Mapping]) {3}.

Sensor Suite: Senses 7 (Vision Counters All Concealment; Ranged Detect [Dreamer Powers]) {7}.

Weapons Systems (ACV 1): 40-point Array {40+4}.

Autolock Machine Gun: Damage 10 (Ranged, Multiattack, Concentration).

Homing Machine Gun: Damage 10 (Multiattack, Targeted Cone Area, Accurate 5, Homing 1, Improved Critical 4).

Kinetic Cannon: Damage 10 (Ranged) Linked Affliction 10 (Dazed+Impaired/Stunned+Disabled; Fortitude; Ranged, Extra Condition, Limited Degree).

Rocket Launcher: Damage 12 (Ranged, 10 ranks Burst Area, Extended Range 6).

Missile Launcher: Damage 10 (Ranged, Burst Area 3, Unreliable [5 Uses]).

Weapons Systems (ACV 2): 40-point Array {40+4}.

Incendiary Machine Gun: Damage 10 (Ranged, Multiattack, Secondary Effect).

Plasma Cannon: Damage 10 (Ranged) Linked Weaken Toughness 10 (Toughness; Ranged).

Laser Cannon: Damage 10 (Perception Range, Alternate Resistance [Highest Base Active Defense]).

Flame Blaster: Damage 10 (Cone Area 2, Secondary Effect).

Electricity Blaster: Damage 10 (Shapeable Area 2 [Limited to 6"x6"x240' Line]) Linked Affliction 10 (Vulnerable/Stunned/Incapacitated; Fortitude; Shapeable Area 2 [Limited to 6"x6"x240' Line]).

Calculations

Size 1 + Strength 2 + Defense 9 + Toughness 5 + Speed 12 + Features 7 + Powers 114 = 150 EP

Next, you guys now have a base.

Spoiler: The Task Force Base (PL 10 Installation, 30 EP)

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Size L, Toughness +16.

Features: Communications, Computer, Fire Prevention System, Garage, Gym, Holding Cells 2 (Sleeper Cells), Living Space, Power System, Secret 3 (DC 30), Security System 5 (DC 40).

Projection Blocker (Defense System 1): Immunity 20 (Projections).

Reinforced Construction (Defense System 1): Impervious Toughness 15, Immunity 2 (Critical Hits), Immunity 5 (Burrowing; Limited [Lowers Burrowing rank by Toughness]).

Augmented Construction (Defense System 1): Immunity 30 (Fortitude; Limited [Resists with Toughness], Limited [Affects Objects powers only]); Immunity 30 (Will; Limited [Resists with Toughness], Limited [Non-mental powers only]).

Emplacement Weaponry (Weapons 3): 55-point Array.

Autocannons: Damage 10 (Ranged, Multiattack, Targeted Shapeable Area, Concentration, Accurate 5).

Suppressive Fire: Damage 10 (Ranged, Accurate 5) Linked Deflect 10 (Burst Area, Selective).

Shock Traps: Damage 10 Linked Affliction 10 (Vulnerable/Stunned/Incapacitated; Fortitude; Cumulative, Progressive); Accurate 5.

Knockout Gas: Affliction 10 (Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated; Fortitude; Cumulative, Cloud Area 2, Selective); Enhanced Extra 10 (Extra Condition [Impaired/Disabled]; Limited Degree).

Power Nullifiers: Nullify Dreamer Powers 10 (Broad, Simultaneous, Concentration, Sustained, Continuous, Accurate 5, Limited [Duration expires when subjects leave range, but reinstates if they return in the next minute]).

Naplasma Cannon: Damage 10 (Ranged, Secondary Effect) Linked Weaken Toughness 10 (Toughness; Ranged); Accurate 5.

Next, as a result of Hero Corps going all-in against Tara, any of you may spend a Downtime Action to acquire the assistance of a PL 10 Dreamer for a non-combat task related to tracking Tara. You may define the general power set (something broad like "paragon" or "cryokinetic"), I decide the actual powers and specialties. But if you need a mind reader, or a scrier, or a telepath, or whatever, you can declare there's a Hero with the appropriate general powerset, get in touch with them, and secure their aid for the cost of a single Downtime Action with no check required (though they might have to make checks to accomplish the desired task).

Finally, you guys are now entitled to a bonus respec. You are welcome to use this opportunity to buy custom military gear if you wish to, although you don't get any bonus PP or EP for doing so. Since these weapons are being provided by the military, you have a special advantage - you may array them with your existing powers if you wish to, even though the descriptors don't match. They don't get Equipment/Removable/Easily Removable discounts in this case, but you can add Quirk 1 (This power counts as individually Removable), Quirk 2 (This power counts as individually Easily Removable), or Limited (This power is subject to the restrictions of Equipment) to arrayed military gear. The military gear is not negated if powers it is arrayed with are negated, and vice-versa, unless you design them to interact with your powers. This doesn't have to be weapons,
although it can be; the Aranth doc has some examples of what sort of gear might be available.

--

It was a little less than a month since the attack on the Adaros prison, a pleasant Sunday morning, and our heroes were enjoying a well-deserved day off.

Hah. Right.

--

Prophet

The past month had been...stressful, in a new way. It had been happening more frequently, at least a few times a week, although never when you were in the team's new base. You just...had this strong feeling of being watched. You knew what it was, because SIDE had furnished the Task Force with analytical scans of the Darryll clones' powers after the battle of Adaros.

Spoiler: Darryll Harrens (Clone) Dreamer Powers

Show

Spirit Shaman: Array.

Shamanism: Variable 14 (Elemental Magic; Reduced Action [Move]).

Summon Spirit Cohort: Summon 14 (Heroic); Variable 7 (Elemental Magic; Reduced Action [Move]).

Summon Archetypal Spirits: Summon 14 (Heroic, Multiple Minions, Variable Type 2).

Summon Elemental Spirits: Summon 14 (Heroic, Multiple Minions 2).

Summon Spirit Guardians: Summon 12 (Heroic, Multiple Minions 2, Horde, Sacrifice); Immunity 2 (Critical Hits), Senses 1 (Danger Sense).

Summon Spirit Army: Summon 8 (Heroic, Multiple Minions 5).

Farsummon Spirits: Summon 8 (Heroic, Multiple Minions 2, Horde, Perception Range, Continuous, Limited [Requires Beacon]); Remote Sensing 20 (Visual, Auditory; Distracting, Limited [Only for someone he has met face-to-face]) Senses 1 (Communication Link; Affects Self and Others, Perception Range).

...So, that explained why he had been willing to take the risk of meeting, apparently.

The new base had a projection blocker, so fortunately, it wasn't as big a liability as it could have been. None of that changed the fact that Tara's fanatically-devoted paramour could now apparently scry on you at any time if you were outside such a defense.

So that kinda sucked.

You had been in the middle of a sermon about three minutes ago, but you had felt that hair-standing-on-end feeling of being watched. Now, granted, it probably could only do Darryll good to listen to one of your sermons. But the feeling was different this time. Less like a faint itch, more like a sharp pain in the back of your neck.

It was a warning from the Dream. Danger was coming.

Your parishioners had been evacuated hastily...mostly.

The Storm Runners had been attending church services since getting out of prison. Well, more precisely, Natasha had been and she sometimes managed to drag the other two along. They had refused to leave unless or until you did. With everyone else clear, that option was available to you.

...Or, well, it would have been if you had had like ten more seconds before a sixty-foot tall, vaguely-humanoid monster that seemed to be composed of a living tornado came smashing through the front wall of your church, and roared in the voice of a hurricane.

You had seen the scans of the clone. You knew your Dreamer lore. This was no APEX monster. This monstrous beast was all Darryll.

--

Wraith

Serena had asked you to come over when her alarm had pinged an upcoming attack of her powers. You had been in the kitchen with her, making small talk while she prepared breakfast for the kids, who were playing video games in the living room, when her eyes rolled back and she fell. An old hand at this by now, you had had no trouble catching her before she landed face-first on a hot frying pan, and were able to take over the culinary duties to make sure the pancakes didn't burn without trouble.

No, no, the trouble started when she woke up.

She was spouting her usual random stuff during the attack. Who even knew what any of it meant? Nothing sounded noteworthy to you at least, even if every word was made to sound foreboding and ominous. Until her eyes snapped open, she looked straight at you, and said in a way too lucid voice, "It's coming!"

The very next second, the wall of her apartment - and your apartment, and pretty much every apartment within two doors of you in any direction - was torn apart by two giant, rock-like hands. A sixty foot tall roughly-humanoid monster composed of solid stone in a dozen striations, like the side of a mountain come to life, was standing in the street outside your apartment. And it was looking straight at you.

...No. No, that would have been better. It was looking straight at Serana.

Shrill young screams rose from the living room.

--

Hayseed

Nearly a month had passed without any move from Tara. This in no way meant security was any laxer. The four sentinels that SIDE had authorized remained a constant but undetected presence around your family. One assigned to each of your family members, and a fourth to the house itself. And not Frank, Marsha, or Julie knew anything was amiss.

The family was just sitting down for breakfast (granted, getting Marsha to actually sit down to a family breakfast rather than grabbing a couple pop-tarts and heading off to do whatever moody teenagers did on weekends these days had required a bit of needling, but who, I ask you, could pass up the allure of waffles?) This did not, however, suffice to get the earbuds out of her ears or the phone out of her hand. Still, progress!

Julie was layering her waffles with a sensible array of fruits, foregoing syrup, chocolate, and even whipped cream in favor of just a faint dusting of powdered sugar, honestly more for the aesthetic than anything. Marsha, on the other hand, was piling hers' with everything sweet on the table, because she was a physically active teenager with a fully-functional metabolism and could eat what she wanted on the weekends! "I had a weird d-" Julie was saying.

But she was interrupted by one of the SIDE sentinels bursting through the front door. "WE HAVE INCOMING GET OUT N-"

...Super-speed suuuuuuuucked.

Before the sentinel could even finish shouting the warning, let alone anything being put into action, the entire front of the house exploded inward as a sixty-foot tall, more-or-less humanoid monster composed completely of stormy, foaming water swept it aside with a river-like tendril.

Frank cried out in shock.

Marsha shrieked in terror.

Julie screamed...and blazed with an aura of risen power, her eyes shining like stars, as she Awakened.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

You guys can figure the elementals used their first turn arriving and wrecking the buildings, so you can all act immediately.

Some details:

First, Prophet, take a Hero Point for your The Prophet! Complication due to the attack on your church. Fortunately, your two-degree Insight success from previously allowed you to get the civilians out early, as well as detecting Darryll's scrying.

Wraith, take a Hero Point for your A Select Few Complication.

Hayseed, it's finally happening!!!!! Take a Hero Point for your Family Complication, and may Arch have mercy on Darryll's soul.

I'm also sending Kenta's remaining Hero Points over to the PCs who have the least.

On The Other PCs: Avery, Aidan, and Kate, each of you can choose one of the other PCs. You must each choose a different one. You are their "default allies" here. You may assume your characters are present or in the area due to whatever contrivance you come up with, so you can act immediately in the relevant fight. Alternately, you can forego this option, post yourself as somewhere else, and both you and your default ally will get a Hero Point. Note that you won't be automatically aware that a fight is going down, and you also won't actually be tied to joining your default ally, you can do whatever suits you based on the scene you're in.

On NPCs: Complication-related NPCs have plot armor; they act as Heroic characters, no matter how unrealistic it would be that, say, a PL -2 child doesn't get immediately splattered into a fine mist by taking the lightest of glancing blows from a 60' tall PL 14 elemental. They are not subject to lethal damage by random chance; unless attacked while they're down, the worst state they can be in mechanically is Incapacitated (narratively, they may be mortally injured, but they'll be fine with medical attention). This is not to say their lives are not in peril. Darryll is absolutely targeting your loved ones here to make a point. If you lose one of these fights, it is their lives on the line, not yours. This also means that just getting them out of the immediate vicinity may not be sufficient to end the threat against them; if the elementals can follow them, they likely will. The best way to ensure their safety is to win.

As a result of this focused threat, I'm granting an additional Hero Point for each the above Complications, with the second ones going to your default allies.

Serana's kids I don't have any details on, so mechanically they're just sacks of -2 to all stats (but they still have plot armor). I didn't actively stat out Foofy but he's still a dog, so when forced to it he is capable of entering combat as a PL 1 threat. The SIDE sentinels are Heroic, but they don't have plot armor and are subject to lethal damage. The Storm Runners likewise are Heroic, but don't have plot armor and are subject to lethal damage.

As if this wasn't a crazy enough day in the McCrae household, this event has caused Julie's Dreamer powers to Awaken. Dreamers who Awaken in a stressful or dangerous situation have been known to see a substantial temporary boost over the baseline their powers will settle into, and Julie is no exception. She gets a +5 circumstance bonus on all stats and ranks during this scene.

You may freely Interpose for any NPC tied to you by Complication during this battle, even against Area and Perception attacks and with no limit to the number of times per round. You may also spend one of your own Hero Points to grant them two Hero Points.

Frank and Serana are parents whose kids are in danger. They each get two bonus Hero Points. All other NPCs start with 0.

I'll be controlling the NPCs, but their stats for reference (yes I had fun with building Frank):

Spoiler: Frank McCrae [Master Carpenter] (PL 4/60 PP)

Show

Abilities

STR: 2. STA: 2. AGI: 0. DEX: 0. FGT: 0. INT: 0. AWE: 0. PRE: 0.

Stats

Attack: +4. Damage: +4. Dodge (4): +4. Parry (4): +4. Toughness: +4. Fortitude (2): +4. Will (4): +4. Init: +0.

Skills

Expertise (Carpentry) 12 (+12), Insight 4 (+4), Intimidation 4 (+4), Perception 4 (+4), Persuasion 6 (+6), Technology 8 (+8), Treatment 4 (+4).

Advantages

Attractive, Extraordinary Effort, Improvised Tools, Teamwork.

Powers

Untapped Potential: Feature 8 (Each time he gains a PP, one point of this Feature can be converted to a new PP worth of traits) {8}.

Papa Wolf: Enhanced Advantages 4 (All Out Attack, Fearless, Interpose, Power Attack; Limited [Only in defense of his daughters]) {2}.

Hard Hat: Protection 2 (Easily Removable) {2-1}.

Master Carpenter: 10-point Strength-discounted Removable Array, Quirk [Each power individually Easily Removable] {7+3-4}.

When All You Have Is A Hammer: Damage 4 Linked Affliction 4 (Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless; Prowess; Extra Condition, Limited Degree); Accurate 2.

I've Set My Nail Gun To Full Auto: Damage 4 (Ranged, Multiattack, Accurate 2, Limited [Cannot Incapacitated]).

Take a Bandsaw To Their Fleshy Bits: Damage 4 Linked Weaken Toughness 4 (Toughness); Accurate 2.

Have You Ever Been Hit In The Face With A 2x4?: Damage 4 Linked Affliction 4 (Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated); Accurate 2.

Calculations

Abilities 8 + Defenses 10 + Skills 21 + Advantages 4 + Powers 17 = 60 PP

Spoiler: Marsha McCrae [Teenaged Dancer] (PL 0/0 PP)

Show

Abilities

STR: -1. STA: -1. AGI: 0. DEX: 0. FGT: -5. INT: -1. AWE: 1. PRE: -1.

Stats

Attack: -5. Damage: -1. Dodge (6): +1. Parry (6): +1. Toughness: -1. Fortitude: -1. Will: +1. Init: +0.

Skills

Deception 3 (+2), Expertise (Dance) 4 (+6), Expertise (Popular Culture, Scholastic) 0 (+2), Mobility 5 (+5), Insight 0 (+1), Perception 0 (+1).

Advantages

Attractive, Instant Up.

Powers

Student: Enhanced Intellect 3 (Limited 2 [Expertise]), Enhanced Advantages 1 (Jack of All Trades), Feature/Quirk (Jack of All Trades only applies to Expertise skills, but guarantees use of Int for Expertise skills), Quirk (Int bonus only applies to one Expertise skill per rank) {2}.

Calculations

Abilities -16 + Defenses 6 + Skills 6 + Advantages 2 + Powers 2 = 0 PP

Spoiler: Julie McCrae [Dreamer Mage] (PL 5/75 PP)

Show

Abilities

STR: -2. STA: -2. AGI: -2. DEX: -2. FGT: 0. INT: 0. AWE: -2. PRE: -2.

Stats

Attack: +6. Damage: +4. Dodge: +5. Parry: +5. Toughness: +5. Fortitude: +5. Will: +5. Init: -2.

Skills

Expertise (Scholastic, Literature, Mathematics, Science, Current Events, Magic) 0 (+6), Investigation 6 (+4).

Advantages

None.

Powers

Untapped Potential: Feature 20 (Each time she gains a PP, two points of this Feature can be converted to a new PP worth of traits) {20}.

Prodigy: Enhanced Intellect 6 (Limited 2 [Expertise skills only]), Enhanced Advantages 1 (Jack of All Trades), Feature/Quirk (Jack of All Trades only applies to Expertise skills, but guarantees use of Int for Expertise skills), Quirk (Int bonus only applies to one Expertise skill per rank) {3}.

Wizardry: Extra Limbs 1 (Projection, Subtle 2), Elongation 4 (120'; Quirk [Extra Limb Only]), Power Lifting 2 (Quirk [Extra Limb Only]) {8}.

Abjuration: Enhanced Defenses 7 {28}.

Cantrips: Feature 1 {1}.

Arcana: 10-point Array {10+4}.

Arcane Sight: Senses 10 (Darkvision, Extended Vision, Rapid Vision, Ranged Acute Detect [Magic], Ranged Acute Detect [Dreamer Powers]).

Sorcerous Flight: Flight 5.

Magic Tricks: Quickness 5 (Affects Self and Others).

Glamour: Illusion 1 (Visual, Auditory; Continuous, Precise, Area 5).

Sorcery: 16-point Array {16+4}.

Arcane Force: Damage 4 Linked Move Object 4 (Contagious, Reduced Range [Close]); Accurate 4.

Energy Blast: Damage 5 (Burst Area, Selective, Variable Descriptor [Energy]).

Force Barrier: Create 5 (Selective, Affects Insubstantial 2, Reduced Range [Close], Reduced Duration [Concentration]) Linked Deflect 5 (Reflect, Accurate 4, Reduced Range [Close]).

Healing Rite: Healing 10 (Quirk [Heal Order], Quirk 3 [Condition Costs]).

Weave Phantasm: Affliction 5 (Vulnerable/Compelled/Controlled; Will; Perception Range, Insidious).

Calculations

Abilities -24 + Defenses 0 + Skills 3 + Advantages 0 + Powers 96 = 75 PP

Spoiler: Serena Valar [Astral Projection] (PL 5/90 PP; EPL 5.5)

Show

Abilities

STR: 0. STA: 0. AGI: 0. DEX: 0. FGT: 0. INT: 0. AWE: 0. PRE: 0.

Stats

Attack: +6. Damage: +4. Dodge (8): +8. Parry (8): +8. Toughness: +2. Fortitude (4): +4. Will (6): +6. Init: +0.

Skills

Expertise (SIDE Agent, Tactics, Law, Law Enforcement, World Culture, Current Events, Popular Culture, Dreamer Lore, Criminal, Streetwise) 0 (+10), Mobility 5 (+5), Insight 8 (+8), Investigation 15 (+15), Perception 8 (+8), Persuasion 5 (+5), Stealth 5 (+5), Technology 8 (+8).

Advantages

Assessment, Benefit 2 (TOP-SIDE Analyst, Tactician [Substitute Expertise: Tactics for Deception to Feint and Trick]), Favored Environment (Prepared Environments), Improved Initiative 2, Improvised Tools, Redirect, Set-up, Teamwork, Uncanny Dodge, Well Informed.

Powers

Training: Enhanced Intellect 10 (Limited 2 [Expertise skills only]), Enhanced Advantages 1 (Jack of All Trades), Feature/Quirk (Jack of All Trades only applies to Expertise skills, but guarantees use of Int for Expertise skills), Quirk (Int bonus only applies to one Expertise skill per rank) {5}.

Uncanny Defensive Roll: Protection 2 (Quirk [Benefit lost if both Stunned and Defenseless]) {1}.

SIDE Self Defense Training: Enhanced Strength 4 (Accurate 3, Limited [Combat Purposes]); Strength Damage gains Linked Deflect 8 (Secondary Effect, Reduced Range [Close]) {15}.

Probability Clouds: Senses 4 (Precognition; Uncontrolled, Quirk [Can provide both true and false information]), Senses 1 (Danger Sense) {2}.

Astral Projection: Remote Sensing 20 (Visual, Auditory; Uncontrolled, Limited 2 [Stunned, Defenseless, and Unaware while in use]) {10}.

Calculations

Abilities 0 + Defenses 18 + Skills 27 + Advantages 12 + Powers 33 = 90 PP

Spoiler: SIDE Sentinel [IN-SIDE/DES-SIDE Agent] (PL 8/120 PP)

Show

Abilities

STR: 2. STA: 4. AGI: 0. DEX: 0. FGT: 0. INT: 0. AWE: 4. PRE: 0.

Stats

Attack: +8. Damage: +8. Dodge (8): +8. Parry (8): +8. Toughness: +8. Fortitude (4): +8. Will (4): +8. Init: +16.

Skills

Deception 10 (+10), Expertise (Dreamer Lore) 6 (+6), Insight 4 (+8), Mobility 6 (+6), Perception 8 (+12), Stealth 12 (+12), Technology 10 (+10).

Additional Expertise (2): Tactics +6, Current Events +6.

Advantages

All Out Attack, Assessment, Benefit 4 (SIDE, Double Interpose, Area Interpose, Perception Interpose), Defensive Attack, Equipment 6, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Initiative 4, Interpose, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Second Chance 2 (Perception to detect hidden threats, Stealth to avoid notice), Teamwork.

Equipment

Body Armor: Protection 4 {4}.

Tactical Helmet: Video/Audio Recorder, Camera, Computer, Phone, Commlink, GPS, Flash Goggles, Gas Mask, Rebreather, Senses 5 (Darkvision, Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Extended Vision) {15}.

Deployment Boots: Speed 4, Leaping 4 {8}.

Law Enforcement Gear: Handcuffs, Restraints, Bugs {3}.

Powers

Combat Training: Enhanced Strength 4 (Limited [Combat Purposes], Accurate 4) {8}.

Firearms Expertise: Enhanced Advantages 2 (Precise Attack 2 [Ranged/Both]; Limited [Partial Cover Only]) {1}.

CQC: Damage 4 Linked Move Object 4 (Quirk [Reduced Mass], Reduced Range [Close]) {7-6}.

SIDE Tactical Visor: 4-point Easily Removable Array {4+1-2}.

Power Scanner: Senses 4 (Ranged Acute Analytical Detect [Dreamer Powers]).

Broad-spectrum Sensor Suite: Reduced Senses 2 (Darkvision), Senses 5 (Vision Counters All Concealment), Senses 2 (Vision Counters Illusion; Limited [Only allows a check to disbelieve on sight rather than auto-countering]).

Military-grade Weaponry: 32-point Easily Removable Array {32-6+4-12}.

Autolock Assault Rifle: Damage 8 (Ranged, Multiattack, Concentration).

Suppressive Fire Expertise: Damage 8 (Ranged, Multiattack) Linked Deflect 8.

Laser Rifle: Damage 8 (Perception Range, Alternate Resistance [Defense]).

Stun Grenades: Affliction 8 (Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated; Fortitude; Ranged, Burst Area, Cumulative).

Buckytube Blades: Damage 8 (Alternate Resistance [Highest Active Defense], Multiattack, Secondary Effect).

Calculations

Abilities 20 + Defenses 16 + Skills 29 + Advantages 24 + Powers 31 = 120 PP

Spoiler: The Storm Runners With Their Older Ugly Stat Blocks

Show

Thunderstrike - PL 10. PP: 0/150.
STR: 12. STA: 12. AGL: 0. DEX: 0. FGT: 8. INT: -2. AWE: 0. PRE: 0.
Attack +8, Dodge +8, Parry +8, Damage +12, Toughness +12, Fortitude +12, Will (8) +8, Init +4.

SKILLS

Intimidation 10 (+10), Mobility 8 (+8).

ADVANTAGES

All Out Attack, Equipment 2, Fast Grab, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Interpose, Luck 2, Precise Attack (Close/Cover), Power Attack, Takedown.

POWERS

Storm Walker: Immunity 10 (Electricity), Senses 4 (Vision and Hearing Counters Concealment [Weather]) {14}.

Thunder Rolls: Teleport 8 (Increased Mass 4) {21}.

Fists of Thunder: 24-point Array {24+2}.
Thunder Strike: Damage 12 Linked Affliction 12 (Fortitude; Dazed+Vulnerable/Stunned+Defenseless/Incapacitated+Helpless; Extra Condition).
Thunder Flurry: Damage 12 (Multiattack) Linked Affliction 12 (Fortitude; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated).
Thunder Smash: Damage 10 (Burst Area) Linked Affliction 10 (Fortitude; Dazed/Stunned; Burst Area, Limited Degree) Linked Move Object 6 (Burst Area, Reduced Range [Close], Limited [Push Away]).

COSTS:
Abilities: 60.
Defenses: 8.
Skills: 9.
Advantages: 13.
Powers: 60.

__________________________________________________ _______________________________

Blitz - PL 10. PP: 0/150.
STR: 0. STA: 8. AGL: 12. DEX: 12. FGT: 0. INT: -2. AWE: 0. PRE: 0.
Attack +12, Dodge +12, Parry +12, Damage +8, Toughness +8, Fortitude +8, Will (8) +8, Init +48.

SKILLS

Mobility 4 (+16), Persuasion 10 (+10), Stealth -6 (+6).

ADVANTAGES

Accurate Attack, All Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Equipment 2, Evasion 2, Improved Defense, Luck 2, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Cover), Takedown 2, Uncanny Dodge.

POWERS

Storm Walker: Immunity 10 (Electricity), Senses 4 (Vision and Hearing Counters Concealment [Weather]) {14}.

Lightning Speed: Speed 12, Quickness 8, Movement 1 (Wall Crawling) {22}.

Speed of Lightning: 24-point Array {24+2}.
Blitz Attack: Damage 8 (Multiattack, Precise) Linked Deflect 12 (Subtle, Reduced Range [Close]).
Lightning Flash: Damage 8 (Shapeable Area 2).
Blitz Assault: Damage 8 (Burst Area, Selective).

COSTS:
Abilities: 60.
Defenses: 8.
Skills: 4.
Advantages: 16.
Powers: 62.

__________________________________________________ _______________________________

Windstorm - PL 10. PP: 0/150.
STR: 0. STA: 10. AGL: 0. DEX: 0. FGT: 10. INT: -2. AWE: 0. PRE: 0.
Attack +10, Dodge +10, Parry +10, Damage +10, Toughness +10, Fortitude +10, Will (10) +10, Init +20.

SKILLS

Deception 10 (+10), Mobility 8 (+8), Stealth 14 (+14).

ADVANTAGES

Equipment 2, Move-by Action, Luck 2, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover, Ranged/Concealment), Uncanny Dodge.

POWERS

Storm Walker: Immunity 10 (Electricity), Senses 4 (Vision and Hearing Counters Concealment [Weather]) {14}.

Wind Runner: Flight 10 {20}.

Air Blending: Concealment 6 (All Visual and Olfactory Senses) {12}.

Wind Control: 30-point Array {30+4}.
Gale Force Flurry: Damage 10 (Multiattack) Linked Affliction 10 (Fortitude; Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated).
Wind Blast: Damage 10 (Ranged) Linked Move Object 10 (Limited [Push Away]).
Wind Crescent: Damage 10 (Ranged, Alternate Resistance [Dodge]).
Wind Burst: Damage 10 (Ranged, Burst Area).
Direct Wind: Move Object 10 (Perception Range).

COSTS:
Abilities: 36.
Defenses: 10.
Skills: 16.
Advantages: 8.
Powers: 80.

On Respeccing: "Wait, QD, you say we get a bonus respec and then throw us immediately into combat? What gives?"
If you respec entirely before you make your first combat post, you can use the respec this episode. Otherwise, use your current stats this episode and the respec will be in play starting next episode.

On Maps: Not even gonna bother.

And that should be that.

All PCs are on turn

[Hyperbolic sine]

It was a nice Saturday morning, and Agent Foxglove was leisurely sitting inside his car, sipping coffee and spying on the McCrae household and its surroundings.

...ok, not really. Hayseed had asked him for an assesment of the SIDE Sentinels' skills and, since he was going to pay a visit to Julia, he decided he might as well leave his house earlier, take a small detour and get it done. Of course, he personally didn't have much trouble spotting them, but all considered it looked like they were pretty good at their job.

*Blip*

Hmm? What's that?

His visor marked something in the sky: only a tiny speck, for the moment, but it was rapidly becoming bigger and bigger. Soon it would be in range for a power sca- Bloody -!

Aidan went pale, and rushed out of the car more or less at the same time one of the Sentinels dashed inside the house to warn the inhabitants a whopping one second before the water elemental reached the house and tore its front wall apart.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Power scanner, and routining Assesment for 30.

[Dorni]

Prophet thanked the Dream for enough warning to evacuate the building. As for the monster itself, regarded it with equal parts awe and disappointment. Awe, for even as it tore his church apart it was still a majestic incarnation of the Dream's gifts. Disappointment for how its owner was choosing to employ that gift. Even after their mountaintop discussion had hit an impasse, Caleb hoped that his words might yet reach Daryll.

He gave the Storm Runners a gentle look. "Thank you for your help with the evacuation. You've already saved a lot of lives. But no one will fault you if you leave now." Strongly Gifted as they were, they were still kids.

Prophet stepped forward, eyes blazing with the Dream's power as he did so. There was no grand speech. Instead, he raised a hand before him in the universal sign for "stop", as if he was directing a car. Rays of the Dream's Light shot forward from his outstretched hand to meet the Elemental's roars.

Spoiler

Show

Free: Set The Seeking to Eyes of the Seeker
Standard: The Dream Heeds My Call: Attack (1d2+11)[13] 31 Crit. On hit, DC 21 Will vs Cumulative Impaired/Controlled/Compelled Affliction & Weaken (Will)
Move: Insightful Feint (1d20+16)[17]. Pass benefit to Self, Thunderstrike, Blitz
Extra Effort: The Dream Heeds My Call: Attack (1d2+11)[12] 15. On hit, DC 21 Will vs Cumulative Impaired/Controlled/Compelled Affliction & Weaken (Will). If the elemental is Vulnerable, apply Power Attack 2 to the results.

The Weaken effect only applies vs Prophet. Prophet is Fatigued next turn.

[Thokk_Smash]

Flipping the pancakes and humming a small tune, Louis can't keep a smile from his face. This is nice. Sundays are normally restful to begin with. But with the sounds of childish enjoyment in the other room, the soft aroma of breakfast in the air, and a pretty woman to talk to...well, suffice it to say Louis could get used to this.

Of course, with Serena muttering cryptic and mostly-ominous statements, the effect is undercut a bit. He had long since gotten used to Serena's mutterings while under her Dream's spell. Sometimes they were funny, sometimes they were just odd. But it's been awhile since her oracular mutterings were this foreboding.

He had just set down the plates, and had opened his mouth to call the kids, when Serena's eyes wrench open to stare right at him. Wraith's entire body tenses in the split second before the earth elemental bursts through the wall like an oversized Kool-Aid man. One look through the monocular device on his left eye, and his suspicions are confirmed.

Both Tara and Darryll are more than proficient in magic, in addition to their potent Dreamer powers. Wraith had requisitioned a scanner from the military, one that can detect magical effects as well as Foxglove's visor could Dreamer effects. He had done this in preparation for their eventual fight with Tara and Darryll. He just hadn't been expecting the fight to happen this soon.

A dozen and more thoughts flit through his mind in the span of a second, filtered through with the eye of a tactician. His thoughts succinctly sum up his conclusions nicely: "This is going to be painful."

"Serena, on me! Back me up!" he yells, even as he's halfway through running at the earthen giant. Serena's TOP-SIDE. He knows that she can handle herself in a fight, especially one in her own home. Arch only knows how many traps and little goodies she's got stashed in the most innocuous places. He isn't going to insult or patronize her by telling her to get out, especially when her children could be caught in the crossfire.

And that brings up another thought: "I've never bemoaned my lack of ability to draw the enemy's attention." It's not often Wraith wants to be targeted by an enemy, and to be fair, he doesn't really want to get crushed by a several ton boulder, or lanced through by shards of stone. But he'd much prefer that than the alternate: Serena's kids being the target of the same.

"To all members of the Task Force: Harrens sent his Earth Summon to attack my neighbor, I imagine some of you are besieged as well. Harrens is probably downtown, to discourage a confrontation when we defeat his Summons. If anyone is free, I would greatly appreciate some help at my location."

Wraith seamlessly bobs and weaves as he approaches the stone golem. Working in tandem with Serena, he pounds the stoney body with his bare fists. His fists are heavier than they seem, landing, if they do, with dull percussions. Each fist also attempts to infiltrate the earth golem's sentience with the certainty that Wraith does not exist. He ends up hovering a half-dozen feet above the ground, still within arm's reach of the stone giant.

Spoiler

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Free action: Swap to Forgotten Combat. Call out to Serena for an Aid, or else a Feint/Set-Up attempt.

Move action: Into Close range of the golem.

Standard action: Attack the golem with Forgotten Combat: (1d20+12)[14] (If Serena Aids him, this is Power Attacked for the number she gets) vs DC 25+PA Toughness Damage, DC 20+PA Will vs Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless (Limited to Wraith)

Status: Fine, angry
HP: 4

[Dodgeson]

"Come on.come on... I know you're in here somewhere..." Avery rummaged around in his pocket for a set of keys he hadn't touched in a while because whilst it was true to say that the cartoon hero paid rent every month, saying that he had an apartment might have been a little bit of a stretch. Shortly before being appointed to the Task Force Avery had found himself on the wrong end of an extended feud with a particularly wily mouse, forcing him to spend his downtime crashing at the Tower, although thanks to SIDE's generosity that wouldn't be a problem for the foreseeable future.

Finally locating the keys he cautiously pushed the door ajar and when no bowling ball went crashing to the floor he stuck his arm around it, waving a white flag "Be cool, I'm just here to pick up my stuff.". Heading in to the dusty apartment Avery began the task of shoveling his belonging in to his hat whilst keeping an eye out for his nemesis, he knew that he was planning something but little did he know that Avery had a plan of his own! The second he was out of here he was cancelling his lease and then he'd be someone else's problem (of course there was no evidence that this mouse was anything but a manifestation of Avery's own power but Barry assured him this wasn't the case)

And then the back wall of the apartment was torn off by a mountain that walked like a man, so that changed his plans.

"Already on the scene." Avery replied to the stranger on the comm-link (who else had they given these to?) "I hear kids, can you get them out of here?"

Avery charged towards the towering elemental, pulling a mallet out of his shirt sleeve and swinging wildly, the best thing he could do right now until he got a handle on the situation was to try and do as much damage as possible and draw the monster's attention.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Free Action: Reconfigure Hammer Space to 'Acme Mallet' Damage 11 Linked to Affliction 11 (Impaired&Dazed/Stunned&Disabled, Fort)(Cumulative, Extra Condition)(Limited Degree)
Move Action: Move in to Close Range with the Elemental
Standard Action: All-Out/Power Attack +5 the Elemental (1d20+11)[16] DC31 Toughness Save & DC26 Fortitude Save vs Impaired&Dazed/Stunned&Disabled if that hits

Status -5 Active Defense
HP 4

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Negative. Engaging Water Summon at Hayseed's."

Aidan slammed shut his car's door.

"Foxglove to HQ, Foxglove to HQ. Harrens has sent summons after the Task Force members, he must be in town. I want eyes over the whole city, look for powerful magical signatures, but do not engage. I repeat, do not engage."

Starting to envelop his hand in the usual energy field, he darted towards the towering elemental.

"Agents, support fire! Hayseed, evacuate your family!"

And then he jumped, punching the summon right in the back of its knee (or where that was supposed to be, anyway) and following with a disintegration-empowered sweeping kick on the same spot - trying consume enough water to make the giant fall down by virtue of not having a knee anymore - before moving away, hopefully diverting its attention and falling into a defensive stance that would let him split the water, and deflect its pression, so that it couldn't fling him away.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Talking Is A Free Action^TM x3. Asking one or more of the agents to provide Aid/Team Attack, and reserving the right to retroactively spend (IN-)SIDE successes to locate Daryll (or just spending them outright, if that's not possible).
Move: Close in.
Standard: Corrosion Punch at (1d20+10)[24], crit 26+, Toughness DC 25/20 vs Incurable Damage/Weaken Toughness, HAD DC 20 vs Impaired/Disabled/Transformed on Resistance rolls, Mobility (because I finally remembered Improved Trip) DC (1d20+20)[31] vs Trip.
EE Standard: Again at (1d20+10)[14] 29 (Trip DC (1d20+20)[24]), crit 26+. Crit, +5 all DCs. If this attack also recieves an Aid AND the summon is already Prone (and does not have Prone-fighting), this will be Power Attacked by the amount of Aid it recieves.
Move-by: Move away enough to be out of the elemental's apparent reach + some dustance for good measure (though still in sight).
Free: Switch Maneuvers array to Immunity (Forced Movement).

Deflected at 1d10+22.

[herodofcows]

Cassie had known this was coming.

She'd spent all of a day living in denial, telling herself that Tara had been bluffing, that IN-SIDE had buried her too deep, that there was no way that her life, her family's life was truly threatened. But then she'd called in some favors and gotten round-the-clock Sentinel protection and acknowledged to herself that this was Tara. If Tara said she knew, then she knew.

So she'd prepared. The military involvement had helped, of course: she'd gotten access to some deep lockers with all sorts of passwords and caution signs stamped to them. Gone were the shurikens, the quarterstaff, the silly little Speed Suit meant for sniping and getaways. She had knives now, and guns, and a military grade laser rifle, all compact and enclosed into a thin tank of a suit that could armor up with nearly a thought on her part. For the past month, this had been her second skin: at work, at home, on errands, at parent-teacher conferences and opening nights, even fast asleep in pajamas, she was armed and ready to go.

And so she'd waited, and waited, and waited. The Sentinels were good, the public moves were good, the investigation's direction was good . . . and still she'd waited for the day when it all came crashing down. She'd tried to be as around as possible amid the investigations, to pack in as much support and affection in her everyday interactions with her family as she could. And it had been great, in no small part because she knew it couldn't last.

Still, as the door bursts open and the Sentinel begins yelling, Cassie allows herself one tiny moment of despair. She tries, unsuccessfully, to capture the moment that had passed one second before; they'd all been at the table. The waffles had been warm and steaming. Frank had been wolfing his down (how many times had she told him that he needed to eat more slowly). Marsha had been looking down at her phone. Julie had been about to tell them about her dream. She had . . . what had she been doing? Eating? Reading the paper? Drinking her juice?

Doesn't matter. The moment is over. The life before that moment is over. The next moment is here. So MOVE IT, SOLDIER.

In one smooth motion, she rises from her seat and leaps over the table to put herself in between her family and the . . . thing. Her new contacts are feeding her data on it, but she's more focused on drawing her two new pistols and opening fire.

ZZZZAT-ZZAT-ZZAT-ZZAT

"Everyone, out of the kitchen!" she barks over the gunfire in her most mom-ish voice, "Get out the back door and head for the yard. We're going to circle ar-"

As she finally turns back to check on her family, she sees Julie's eyes . . . hands . . . entire body glowing.

Oh my god, baby girl, not you, not you, not now . . .

"FRANK!" she yells, an edge to her voice, "GET THE GIRLS AND GO!"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Okay, let's open fire! Pistols for now, Power Attack to bump up those damage numbers.

Mobility Suit is in its standard high-dodge mode.

Perception for the lenses to detect this thing's powers: (1d20+16)[19]

Assessment on this creature: (1d20+14)[32]

Power Attack with those Disruptor Pistols: (1d20+12)[21] vs. Dodge, DC 23+Multiattack Damage, Affects Insubstantial 2, Variable Descriptor 1 [Energy]

[Arlin]

"Well, I suppose this is sufficient reason to abandon a hot coffee," Kate commented grimly, a portal closing behind her as she stepped into the room.

It would seem that the reward for work done well is indeed, more work. With the rapid shift in situation, both the SIDE agents within the Task Force had been more than busy, which left the freelance investigator... well, the role she served best. Kate had been taking a rare break from digging up information at a local cafe when the roar of the wind pulled her attention. Between the direction and the area, she had assumed the worst.

Her eyes scanned the room before resettling on the enormous tornado. "Prophet, are you all right?" she called out, sending a pair of portals whizzing through the creature. "I can get them out of here fast, if needed."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move: Portal Step in.

Standard: Destructo Disks (Crit 1) on the summon: (1d20+11)[27]. On hit, DC 24 + Multiattack HAD vs Damage.

Extra Effort: Noneuclidean Pathing on Prophet. Prophet is deflected at 1d10+21.

Status: Fatigued Next Turn.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 1

Prophet and Kate

Prophet unleashed his power against the summoned monster, but he could find little purchase. The summoner's hold over his minion, while perhaps not absolute, was not going to falter easily. Kate's portals hit the creature...but edge-on, slashing through it rather than teleporting some of its mass elsewhere, causing no particular harm.

The Storm Runners...look, they had never been the brightest bolts in the sky, to be fair. "Psshaw, not a chance!" Carl responded confidently.

"This is our jam!" Natasha said. "Air monster against the Storm Runners! Please!"

Carl blinked over to the thing with a rumble of thunder, swinging a powerful blow that...passed right through it. Natasha strafed around, following up with a searing bolt of lightning that just got absorbed into the wild winds harmlessly. Tamra tried to bind its movement with her wind-controlling powers, a move that at least had a theoretical chance of working...but the fact was that she was nowhere near powerful enough to control that much wind force. She took to the air, vanishing into it as she did so.

With Prophet shielded by portals and the Storm Runners functionally useless, the air spirit focused its wrath on Kate, rushing her with a barrage of hasted strikes, each falling with the force of a hurricane.

Spoiler

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Thunderstrike:
Move: Use Thunder Rolls to Teleport into Close range.
Standard: Attack Spirit of the Wild Winds with Thunder Strike, but it's Insubstantial 2 so immune to the physical attack.

Blitz:
Move: Strafe.
Standard: Attack Spirit of the Wild Winds with Lightning Flash, but it's Immune to Electrical Effects.

Windstorm:
Standard: Use Direct Wind to try to Grab the Spirit of the Wild Winds, but thanks to its defensive Strength bonus it actually can't fail to resist even after I decided that the specifics of the descriptors get around its immunities.
Free: Activate Air Blending, gaining Total Concealment from all Visual and Olfactory senses.
Move: Reposition.

Spirit of the Wild Winds:
Move: Fly into Close range of Kate.
Standard: Attack Kate with Galeforce Flurry at (1d20+14)[29]. On a hit, Toughness DC 29+Multiattack vs. Damage, Will DC 24+Multiattack vs. Dazed+Vulnerable/Stunned+Defenseless. Hit. +2 Multiattack.

Prophet and Kate are on turn

Wraith and Avery

Serana was a TOP-SIDE agent. Her skills were in the fields of logistics and tactics, protocols and paperwork. She was trained in self-defense, because she was a SIDE agent so of course she was. And let's be clear, SIDE self-defense training, even just for TOP-SIDE agents, was serious stuff. Serana felt competent to hold her own against your average combat-capable Dreamer if she needed to.

This was not an average combat-capable Dreamer. This was an earth elemental that was bigger than her entire apartment building. Protocol for a TOP-SIDE agent faced with this level of threat was to escape as fast as possible.

Your children are in danger. Protocol INVALID.

In the event of an attack where escape was infeasible, protocol was to minimize personal expos- INVALID. ...and to provide tactical support under the direction of the highest-ranking field agent on scene.

That was a protocol that Serana Valar could get behind.

In the modern day, SIDE had all kinds of cool Dreamtech and Dreamtech-derived weapons and devices for dealing with Dreamers. Nullifiers and suppressors and depressors and plasma and lasers and SPECTRE units and just all kinds of things. But that hadn't always been the case. Back in the day, when SIDE was just getting off the ground, their agents hadn't been able to rely on overwhelming force and technological superiority to deal with Dreamers. They had done it by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of powers. Not the ones that came up on their fancy analytical scanners. Because they hadn't had those either. No, they identified how the powers worked, what they did, and what all that meant.

And the agents of TOP-SIDE were the keepers of all those old tricks. Because they knew. They knew that there would come a time when an agent needed to fight a Dreamer without all the cool toys and devastating weapons. And when that time came, they would be ready with the knowledge needed to win.

A Dreamer (well, a summoned elemental in this case, but the same principle applies) made of solid stone presented a unique challenge for an Unpowered combatant. Skin of stone was one thing, but a body of stone meant no vital organs to target, no skeletal system with joints and weaknesses to strike. Well...sort of. Serana risked getting closer, peering intently at the elemental, and...there! "Just under the right arm! Strike there!" she yelled to Wraith.

Solid stone was solid, and that meant it wasn't flexible. It had no skeleton, which meant it had no joints. But it could still move, in the exact same way the earth could move - along fault lines. The elemental, sweeping its arm through the building, had left one of its faults briefly exposed. They would be weaker than the rest of its body, and with its mass and momentum, it would have trouble bringing its arm back around to defend.

Wraith's attack capitalized beautifully, except...well, it was still a sixty-foot tall monster of freakin' solid stone. The universe did not appear inclined to forget that fact so quickly.

Avery's mallet...didn't strike a fault, and resultantly just glanced harmlessly off the monster.

Serana's kids stopped screaming and moved . Their mother was a TOP-SIDE agent. She had taught them some protocols too. In the event of a dangerous situation, the Valar Family Protocol one was to hide, a solid strategy against most opponents to buy time for their mother or Wraith to deal with the threat. Protocol two was to run away, optimal for escaping a dangerous situation that had nothing to do with them.

Serana's kids bit off their own screams and moved, quick and quiet, for their room. And the escape tunnel that had been installed there. TOP. SIDE.

But here's the thing about targeting the enemy's weakness. Smart enemies would prepare for it.

"Oh, yes, targeting the weak points of a giant stone monolith, under the assumption that it wouldn't be able to defend them as easily." Darryll Harren's voice emanated from the elemental in tones of didactic disapproval. "A rather obvious strategy, wouldn't you say? The sort of thing a competent summoner might be expected to prepare for."

Serana gaped as the elemental's fist began to glow with brilliant green light, and it swung it straight at Wraith.

Spoiler

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Serana:
Free: Set Favored Environment to Defense.
Move: Into Close range of the Spirit of the Impassive Mountain.
Standard: Aid Wraith, rolled in the OOC.

Serana's Kids:
Double Move: Go go go.

Spirit of the Impassive Mountain:
Move: Meh.
Standard: Attack Wraith with Summoner's Trap at (1d20+14)[27]. You are subject to this attack for attempting a Power Attack on this opponent last turn. On a hit, Toughness DC 29 vs. Secondary Effect Damage, Will DC 24 vs. Secondary Effect Impaired/Disabled/Incapacitated Affliction, Fortitude DC 24 vs. Weaken All Defenses. Hit

Wraith and Avery are on turn.

Hayseed and Aidan

Here's the thing you had to remember about Julie McCrae.

Okay, yes, she's a twelve-year-old. And yes, she's not exactly great with the whole self-esteem thing. And yes, she is smart and responsible enough to know not to take candy from strangers or approach strange vehicles or stand around in a pitched fire-fight against giant monsters!

But she was also a girl who spent a substantial, some might say inordinate, amount of time reading young adult fiction. Anybody want to take a wild guess how many books Julie had read in her life where the hero or heroine discovers they have some amazing Special Power that catapults them into the Life of Adventure or leads them towards their Ultimate Destiny? Julie knew the score. She knew what manifesting powers meant. And she knew all too well just how many of those Destined Heroes had lost their families because they hadn't been ready to heed the Call soon enough.

Julie McCrae was extremely genre-savvy.

That fact that it was for the wrong genre entirely did not occur to her.

Which all goes to explain why, at the exact moment Hayseed was shouting at Frank to get the girls and go, Julie's young voice, shrill with panic but nonetheless firm in its demand, and made louder by a power she had never had before, cried out, "MOM! DAD! MARSHA GET OUT OF HERE! I'LL DEAL WITH THIS!!!"

(To be fair, Julie also wasn't actually aware yet that her mom was an elite SIDE agent, so that may have played a tiny bit of a role in her decision-making process.)

The SIDE sentinels opened fire, supporting the elite agents while providing cover to the protectees. Aidan's attack managed to disrupt the elemental some, though the damage was minimal. The combined force of the shots from the sentinels didn't seem to be doing much, until Hayseed added some fire to the equation, boiling away the water before it could flow back into the wounds. It wasn't much damage, but it was a start!

Marsha was going. To be fair, Marsha was rather observant, especially for a smartphone-addicted teenager. She noticed the team of SIDE agents busting in to lay down cover fire. She noticed her mom pull two pistols from out of nowhere and start shooting fire from them. She noticed her sister suddenly manifest Dreamer powers. She noticed all that. And none of those observations changed the fact that it was time to run. Her mom said go for the back, and Marsha went.

"JULIE COME ON!" Frank shouted over the gunfire.

"JUST GO I'LL BE FINE!" she shouted back, as the brilliant light blazing around her flared up higher, and began to condense around her hands, crackling with barely contained energy. "LEAVE! MY! FAMILY! ALONE!!!! she screamed at the monster, unleashing a rocketing blast of azure force straight for its chest!

Frank growled and lunged to grab Julie around the waist and drag her to safety, Dreamer powers or no Dreamer powers.

Foofy...look. This was Foofy's house. Foofy was Hayseed's dog. Arch take the odds. Foofy attacked!

The water spirit suddenly...exploded outward in half a dozen streams, hammering on all the SIDE agents with jets of eroding water.

Spoiler

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SIDE Sentinels:
Move: Position.
Standard: Aids and Team Attacks rolled in OOC using Suppressive Fire. Frank, Marsha, Julie, and Foofy are Deflected at 1d10+18.

Marsha:
Double Move: Be the sanest member of the family. The very sanest!

Foofy:
Move: Into Close range of the Spirit of the Pitiless Sea.
Standard: Aid Julie at (1d20+6)[14]*. +2
*Dogs get Teamwork as a racial bonus feat. Everyone knows it.

Julie:
Move: Nah.
Standard: Attack the Spirit of the Pitiless Sea with Arcane Force, Power Attack for 1, at (1d20+10)[15]. On a hit, Toughness ((1d20+11)[24]) DC 25 vs. Damage, Strength ((1d20+18)[23]) DC (1d20+10)[27] vs. Trip. Miss. Kinda a shame, would have Bruised and Tripped it.

Frank:
Standard: Attempt to pick up Julie at (1d20)[18]. On a hit, Dodge ((1d20+10)[18]) DC 12 vs. being picked up. Miss
Move: If by some miracle that succeeds he'll drag her for the yard, otherwise he's just gonna try and get between her and the elemental.

Spirit of the Pitiless Sea:
Move: On the off-chance it's Prone, stand.
Standard: Erode on Hayseed, Aidan, and all four Sentinels, Accurate Attacking for 2, Multiattacking for 6. On a hit, Toughness DC 27/22 vs. Damage Linked Weaken Toughness.
Hayseed: (1d20+10)[19]. Miss
Aidan: (1d20+10)[29]. Hit
Sentinel 1: (1d20+10)[11]. Toughness: (1d20+8)[14]. Miss
Sentinel 2: (1d20+10)[30]. Toughness: (1d20+8)[10]. KILLED!
Sentinel 3: (1d20+10)[17]. Toughness: (1d20+8)[17]. Just misses
Sentinel 4: (1d20+10)[28]. Toughness: (1d20+8)[17]. Bruised and Dazed, -5 Toughness

Hayseed and Aidan are on turn

[Hyperbolic sine]

"Agent Baneberry, this is Foxglove. Alert level Alpha, ready to -"

Too fast. The water jet was too fast to avoid, but Aidan was literally in a water-breaking stance - with that, his coat's protections held.

"- enact Doomsday Protocol."

Because chances were Julia could be targeted too, and he likely wouldn't be getting there in time, so all he could do was leave things in the hands of Baneberry and the rest of the security measures he set up after the kidnapping. He also made a note to self to buy her a dog.

The kid, though...Julie. Judging from his visor's readings (and not only that), she seemed to have Awakened a moment before, which...would be a good thing, if only she didn't start thinking that was enough to take on Daryll's summon - the same bloody creature that just killed a Sentinel. Aidan scowled, darting forwards for another hit-and-run.

I thought Adaros had filled my yearly death quota.

This time he went for the torso, and once more, if his punch connected, the energy would spread around and inside inside the elemental's body, making it brittle at a molecular level.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Technically speaking, delaying to benefit from Aids and such.
Free: Stunting Corrosion Punch (Updated): same thing, but without the Weaken and with Cumulative and Insidious on the Affliction.
Move: Close in!
Standard: attack with Corrosion Punch (Updated) at (1d20+10)[30], crit on 26+. Crit!. Toughness DC 25 30 vs Incurable Damage, HAD DC 20 25 vs Cumulative Resistance&Recovery Impaired/Disabled/Transformed (now with 100% more Insidious).
Move-by: Again Distance 4 away.

Deflected at 1d10+22.

[Dorni]

The elemental resisting his will did little to dampen the fierce pride he felt. The Storm Runners could have fled at the first warning, or after finishing the evacuation, or even at the first sight of the monstrous creature. He wouldn't have faulted them - they weren't trained fighters or Heros who had an obligation to fight such an overwhelming creature. They'd chosen to stay anyway. Even if there was no small amount of bravado in their boasts, it made their courage and resolve no less real. How far they'd come.

He invoked the Dream's blessing and reached out to them and Kate, letting go of his clarity of vision. <Don't be discouraged! Kate and I will reign the creature in. Try to contain it while we do.>

That said, Prophet unleashed the light of the Dream once more.

Spoiler

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Free: Switch The Seeking to Communion
Move Action: Activate Communion
Standard: The Dream Heeds My Call on the Air Elemental. Attack: (1d20+11)[22]. On hit, DC 21 Will vs Cumulative Impaired/Controlled/Compelled Affliction & Weaken (Will).

Missed The Dream Heeds My Call from last round tries again via Homing: (1d20+11)[27]. On hit, DC 21 Will vs Cumulative Impaired/Controlled/Compelled Affliction & Weaken (Will).

[Dodgeson]

With no response from the mysterious stranger on the comms Avery rushed out in to the air, following the sound of the children he quickly found himself two floors down just in time to see them rushing away, smart kids.

"Hey, don't I know you?" He asked as he spotted Wraith but the distant bell that his face was ringing was hardly the most pressing thing right now. His mallet clearly wasn't cutting here, tossing it aside he reached in to his hat and pulled out a large black and yellow jack hammer.

"This is for voiding my deposit you overgrown gravel pit!" Avery yelled, clinging to the oversized power tool's handle as it rode across the elemental's rocky hide in the hope of hitting some kind of fault or weak spot.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move Action: Move down to the apartment with Wraith and Serena
Free Action: Reconfigure Hammer Space to 'Jack Hammer' Damage 11 (Multiattack) Linked to Weaken Toughness 11 (Resisted by Fortitude) [33]
Standard Action: All-Out/Power Attack +5 at the Elemental (1d20+11)[26] DC31+Multiattack Toughness Save & DC26 Fortitude Save vs Weaken Toughness if that hits

Status -5 Active Defense
HP 4

[Thokk_Smash]

The mountain's blow strikes true, and in the split second before it lands it almost seems as if Wraith is pleased with this turn of events. Then his entire body is obscured by a stony fist the size of an Arch-damn car. His expression is a fair bit more woozy after that. Yet he only looks physically damaged, even as the emerald-green energy courses through his body with a promise of further pain to come.

His own weapon glows now, a pale whitish hue as the hilt lengthens and thickens, and the ethereal blade becomes more solid. In a moment, instead of a karambit knife he holds a baton that sparks with soft energy. Every part of his body is screaming at him to hide. To do what he normally does and let Avery take point here. He's not sure how many of those hits he can take.

But...

His gaze notably slips to Serena below him, for a long moment. In spite of the situation, a small smile blooms on his face for a brief moment at the sight of her. It's gone almost as soon as it comes, and he hefts the baton in front of him.

"Nice one, Avery! You'll just forget again, anyway. Serena, one more time! Keep your guard up!"

He goes in for a strike once more, the energy in his weapon guiding his arm to ever faster swings. He focuses on the giant's natural fault lines as well as the new faults that had been struck through by Avery's jackhammer.

Spoiler

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Free action: Switch to Forgotten Options.

Free action: Activate Variable: Forgot How to Life becomes Affliction 10 (DC 20 Will vs Entranced+Impaired/Stunned+Disabled/Transformed [Powerless], Limited [Entranced/Stunned apply to powers, Impaired+Disabled are Limited Degree], Cumulative) Linked Damage 10 (Multiattack).

Move action: Dazed

Standard action: Attack, AoA/PA -5/+5, (1d20+12)[14] (+Aid bonus from Serena) vs DC 25 Will vs Entranced+Impaired/Stunned+Disabled/Transformed [Powerless], Limited [Entranced/Stunned apply to powers, Impaired+Disabled are Limited Degree], Cumulative), DC 30+Multiattack Toughness vs Damage. Miss

Extra Effort: DO IT AGAIN! (1d20+12)[31] (No Aid) vs DC 25 Will, DC 30+Multiattack Damage Hit, +5 Multiattack to Damage

Status: Bruised, Dazed this round, SEs (DC 29 T, DC 24 W, DC 24 F), -5 Active Defenses, Fatigued next round
HP: 3 2

[herodofcows]

The ensuing six seconds had been PACKED with emotion.

Apprehension, that her fancy new guns weren't doing anything.

Rage, that the clone had already taken down one of the Sentinels already.

Terror, that her family was still in the line of fire and not moving because . . .

. . . because Julie thought she could help. No, no no no . . . because Julie thought she HAD to help. No! Not even THAT! Because Julie thought she had to FACE this thing! Face this thing HEROICALLY, no less! And why was that???

Because of those gosh-darned BOOKS.

Now, let's be clear: Hayseed is not anti-young-adult-literature. Heck, she'd bought Julie most of those books, back when she'd thought that her little wallflower might need a little bit of an escape from adolescence and all of the difficulties therein.

But that was before her little wallflower had begun shooting energy blasts at evil elemental clones of a Dreamer terrorist, which worked as a profound wake-up call to the dangers of these books!

And so, holstering her guns and drawing out her staff (hey, the classics are classic for a reason!), Hayseed finds herself ignoring all other emotion. All the fear, all the rage, all the apprehension . . . all of that goes away as she begins mentally composing a stern letter to the publishers of those books.

Dear Editors of Morgan-Nguyen-Price, she fumes internally, as she leaps the monster and begins swinging her newly-upgraded staff . . .

I'm writing to share my worries . . . No, my CONCERNS (that's better) about the messages that your Paragons of Ardania series is spreading to the youth of today. I am, myself, the mother of one of your readers and-

She twirls the staff through the mass of the monster, attempting to take careful aim at the "head" region with repeated precise blows in a specific place.

-Impressionable age, and encourages them towards dangerous and RISKY behavior when they try to emulate the protagonists of the book-

"Frank! JULIE! JULIE PRISCILLA ANDERS-McCRAE!" she yells, going full-mom mode as she lands behind the monster, "STOP trying to be heroes . . ."

She deals a final blow to the creature's back, almost as an afterthought, as she spins around to face the various members of her family.

". . . and LEAVE THIS TO THE PROFESSIONALS! A.K.A., ME!"

-NOT against fantasy literature (of course I'm not), but to present the actions in these books WITHOUT offering words of caution strikes me as . . . foolhardy? No, not foolhardy. Reckless? Irresponsible? IRRESPONSIBLE, that's the word. Strikes me as IRRESPONSIBLE to the extreme!

Spoiler: OOC

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