Zenith Watch #4: A Miracle of Science

[sun_tzu]

Nightbane

Zach grinned as the top hot appeared, able to appreciate some magical humor like anyone else. However, the flames caught him a little off guard, as he wasn't expecting anything near as showy. "Nicely done. Generalists are toolboxes; perfect for any situation. As a matter of fact, we have one of those ourselves. Isn't that right, Greenthumb? Oh wait, you're just a tool," he said, jokingly to EA. "I kid... This green dude is invaluable whether you need a gag prop or not. Oh yeah!" he adds, trying to sound like Koolaid.

Nicholas looks over the green hero. "You're Emerald Agent, right? Checkmate seemed very interested in your powers. He said they were unique..."

[fireinthedust]

EA watches the magic display with a certain approval.

Nightbane

Zach grinned as the top hot appeared, able to appreciate some magical humor like anyone else. However, the flames caught him a little off guard, as he wasn't expecting anything near as showy. "Nicely done. Generalists are toolboxes; perfect for any situation. As a matter of fact, we have one of those ourselves. Isn't that right, Greenthumb? Oh wait, you're just a tool," he said, jokingly to EA. "I kid... This green dude is invaluable whether you need a gag prop or not. Oh yeah!" he adds, trying to sound like Koolaid.

EA's expression shifts to that of an upset Kermit the frog, then he smirks. Turning back to Nicholas, y'know, kid, science is magic. Sort of. Chemistry's name comes from the word alchemy. Scientists were basically magicians, who may have used what they know to perform tricks. We got electricity what, two hundred years ago? That's amazing stuff. Anyway... a demonstration, eh?

EA reaches forward, stretching his arm by becoming rubber if he has to, and takes the recently created hat. He looks intently at the materials making it, attempting to nail down exactly what the chemical composition of it is. He then states it, fairly precisely, turning it over in his hands.

By all accounts, a typical piece of headgear. Y'know. But, well, they don't make 'em like they used to.

EA's gem flashes slightly, he taps it with his finger, and the hat bursts into brilliant white flames. ((for those of you at home, he transforms it into a magnesium-based compound that ignites almost immediately))

You weren't going to wear this out, were you? huh. Heh, I better give it back. A moment later his gem flashes, and the hat re-forms into what it was, albeit somewhat singed; what would have burned off did, and a smoke comes off the hat.

yeah, I gotta work on the prestige, y'know? How'd I do otherwise?

[sun_tzu]

Nicholas looks wide-eyed at the hat. "Wow. That...was..."
"FOCUS!" Serena appears to have finally lost patience with the banter. "Nicholas, there is work to do. We're going to need your magic for data-gathering. Follow us." She then notices that Rose is lifting her finger as if to speak, but gets the words stuck in her mouth. "...You can come."
On the way out, Bravado whispers to Doublethink: "Chief, since you're the guy who knows everything and can have his AI pal find out everything else...any info on thee people?"

[fireinthedust]

Information? What kind? Does he do illusions?

[sun_tzu]

Information? What kind? Does he do illusions?

"Nah. He does the crystal ball routine, only without the crystal ball." says Casey.

[sun_tzu]

After a while, Serena leads your group to some form of control room, where you meet back with Checkmate and White.
"We have obtained some information, and it requires confirming" says Checkmate, who then addresses Nicholas: "Underwood, I need you to observe the following coordinates."
Wordlessly, Nicholas makes a few small gestures, seems to concentrate...then an image appears in the air. It...reminds you a lot of the Shadow base you fought in not so long ago, complete with the black-ops agents. At Checkmate's direction, Nicholas moves the picture around, finally hitting a room where the Adrian girl is apparently being interrogated by a Shadow Agent:
"...then why?"
"Because...mommy said people shouldn't mess with what happens after death. She said we would meet daddy in Heaven when the time was right, but not before."
"I see." From your angle, you can see him typing "Religious hang-ups against resurrection" on his computer.

((Bravado's question for DT still stands, by the way.))

[HellFencer]

Nightbane

Zach stared in astonishment at Nicholas' image. The ability to see inside such a secret facility was surely a well kept, and defended, prize. "Wow... Nice touch," he said quietly. The agent questioning the little girl, however, was enough to remind him how much these guys suck. His massive knuckles cracked as he made fists, and his eyes burned quietly with flames. "Do we know where that is? What can we do?" he asked, sounding a little at the mercy of someone unknown.

[fireinthedust]

What can we do? Move fast and hit hard. Give us a where and send us in!

((I'm so ready to move forward on this one. :) ))

[sun_tzu]

"This is Shadow's Toronto base" says Checkmate. "However, you cannot attack it directly. The agent we've been interrogating didn't know what base the girl would be taken to; that information was obtained thanks to the nanomachines we've spread through their facilities with your help. If you go there, they will realize that the Zenith Watch - or whoever they suspect is directing the Zenith Watch - has insider information on Shadow. That could jeopardize all of our efforts to take them down. Before you charge to the rescue, you must obtain an alternate way of knowing the girl's location.
Thankfully, there is one way to obtain that information. Since shortly after your departure, a team of Shadow operatives have been investigating the Adrian household from a safe distance, presumably hoping to obtain scientific data relating to the entropy control. Their measurements are being transmitted live to the base where the girl is being held, via a Shadow satellite." Checkmate grins and readjusts his glasses. "A satellite the Faction built and placed in orbit for Shadow in exchange for certain services. A satellite whose electronic defenses will, conveniently enough, be gravely damaged within a few minutes, while you shadow Shadow's operatives and try to use their line to the satellite to detect which communications are being sent to which locations. The ones pertaining to their research will be the ones being sent to the Toronto base - and once Doublethink has ascertained that, it will be simpler for Shadow to believe you obtained the information that way with the Faction's covert assistance."

[HellFencer]

Nightbane

"That would be brilliant, if I knew anything about satellites and tracking people quietly," Zach said, grinning in general. "Ok, so I take it you guys are taking care of the satellite damaging?"

[sun_tzu]

Nightbane

"That would be brilliant, if I knew anything about satellites and tracking people quietly," Zach said, grinning in general. "Ok, so I take it you guys are taking care of the satellite damaging?"

"Increasing the satellite's vulnerability is my job. Doublethink can handle the hacking. The rest of you...will have to distract the Shadow agents so that they don't realize what Doublethink is doing. Be creative."

[sun_tzu]

A short moment later, your entire group is teleported a few blocks away from the Adrian household. Doublethink, you can detect the satellite communication...but for this to work, you believe you'll need to get a lot closer. Not to mention, the Shadow agents will still need to be distracted somehow...

((OK, long scene at Checkerboard's HQ is now complete. Hopefully that'll mean people will start posting again...))

[HellFencer]

Nightbane

Zach looked around and said, "Alright guys, thoughts on plans?"

[Dorni]

Gerit

Gerit looked around, trying to get his bearings again. "I'm not sure how close we're going to have to get, but we're probably going to have to do this quick before they snap whatever connection they're using." The weretiger paused to take a deep breath -all this teleporting was not sitting well with his stomach. "Give me a minute to sneak around and I can find where the agents are. With luck we can ambush them before we knew what hit them."

[fireinthedust]

Huh. So we're looking to run in there, get the Shadow agents, and get out with the girl? Sounds like a general theme to work around. I'm guessing I can't just run in there and explode. What are we picking up in terms of communication arrays? Sensors? Last time we attacked these guys, we just kinda ran in there and smashed stuff. I vote we do that! The direct approach.

[sun_tzu]

Huh. So we're looking to run in there, get the Shadow agents, and get out with the girl? Sounds like a general theme to work around. I'm guessing I can't just run in there and explode. What are we picking up in terms of communication arrays? Sensors? Last time we attacked these guys, we just kinda ran in there and smashed stuff. I vote we do that! The direct approach.

((Er, you realize you're not attacking the Shadow base yet, right? You're sneaking up on a group of Shadow agents who are trying to get readings around the Adrian household; the idea is for you to distract them while Doublethink hijacks their link to Shadow's satellite.))

[Blackbird]

"We should try and get as close as possible before attacking. Pick a target. Hit them hard and fast. Don't give them a chance to cut the transmission."

[fireinthedust]

I think I'm ready for some fisticuffs. Let's go; my fists are getting itchy!
With that, EA becomes smoke and "whooshes" low to the ground at one of the Shadow agents. He sneaks up behind him, changes into rubber, and covers his mouth while grappling him to the ground.

[HellFencer]

Nightbane

As the green hero begins to tangle with an agent, Zach waits to see if the other agents notice before charing in.

Spoiler

Show

I'm holding my initiative, or whatever, and just going to strike when I see the other agents freak out, or a non-subtle attack on them from our side.

[Blackbird]

Seeing EA engage the enemy, Eagle Owl takes to the skies, swooping down into the midst of the agents.

[HellFencer]

Nightbane

In seeing EagleOwl nosedive into the agents, Zach leapt into the fray, fists swinging if close enough, eye beams if not. He tried hard not to scream out a nifty war cry.

[fireinthedust]

((Heh, I believe you mean EagleOwl. I see my script for the comic is having serious consequences on this world's continuity!!!

Which reminds me, I really need to illustrate that... or get someone to do it for me. I've got a hankering to write the second issue!

[mutecebu]

((Back from the grave!))

"Chief, since you're the guy who knows everything and can have his AI pal find out everything else...any info on thee people?"

"Sure, I'll tell you all later. They're all fine people, so we'll be good guests for now." It would be extremely rude to discuss online files of these people right in front of them, and there wasn't any essential information that his teammates wouldn't derrive from their character. If necesary DT could use the communicators, but he planned on telling the team after they left.

With luck we can ambush them before we knew what hit them."

Before we know? Now that's fast.

Last time we attacked these guys, we just kinda ran in there and smashed stuff. I vote we do that! The direct approach.

Sounds good to me! Lets smash the people though, lets keep the equipment and the house intact. Doublethink adds, "That means *no* Kool-Aid incidents if possible" looking between Nightbane and EA.

((I assume the team waits for Gerit to circle arround before attacking))

As Doublethink approaches, he uses his penetrating vision to find where the agents and the equipment are, and communicates the locations over the comlinks. If there are agents near the equipment, once his teammates attack DT bends his own rule and shoots through the wall at any Shadow who don't leave the equipment.

((If the equipment is inside, if possible, DT attempts to remain outside and hack the equipment from the other side of the wall. If this doesn't work, he charges through the door. If the equipment is outside, DT attempts to take cover in the surrounding suburban landscape. Either way, he stays as far away from the equipment as possible yet just within hacking range.))

[sun_tzu]

As Doublethink can see, there are five agents inside the house. Three seem busy taking measurements, while the other two are standing guard. He can access their communication - it's heavily encrypted, but it nevertheless leads him to the satellite.
Then the attack begins with Emerald Agent grappling him from behind. It almost works, but, despite the surprise, the agent manages to roll away, sending a blast of high-power bullets at the green hero. Your elastic form prevents any bleeding or internal damage, but it still hurts like hell ((one stun hit)).
The other sentry is about to shoot when he notices Eagle Owl lunging at him through an open window. He tries to dodge by letting himself fall to the ground, but the avian is too fast, too close; his talons cut through the agent's body armor. The latter attempts to shoot, but all his bullets are dodged.
Meanwhile, Nightbane enters through the front door, while Gerit can see everything from another window.

[HellFencer]

Nightbane

As the ebony behemoth entered the house, he looked for the first agent he could see, and began to run. In mid stride, he curled his arm back into a punch, ready to spring.

[fireinthedust]

EA growls. Hey, careful with those things! Don't you know you could shoot your eye out?! With that EA lunges at the Shadow agent, grappling him to tear the gun out of his hands before elasti-smacking him with it in, yes, the eye.

((I'm not sure how that should work in-game, as grappling is a standard/attack action (as is disarm, I think), and so it attacking. However, EA is crazy-stretchy right now. Without checking the book (as I know Sun will anyway) could we say he's grappling the agent, and if the grapple works and he can do damage, EA's grapple-smack works? It just sounds cool. Otherwise, EA's just going to Elasti-smack him in the face to take him out, then become gaseous and go after the next one standing))

[sun_tzu]

((Guys, I'm still waiting for actions here...))

[HellFencer]

((I'm attacking, if that wasn't obvious. And no offense, but maybe its time for some new blood? Seems like we've had some players wander off.))

[fireinthedust]

((I'm attacking, also))

[sun_tzu]

((I'm not in favor of the "new blood" option. The Zenith Watch is Doublethink, Nightbane, Eagle Owl, Tiger Claw, and Emerald Agent (and a few sidekicks); changing that just wouldn't be right.
But, yeah, kinda waiting for posts from the rest of the team here.))