Log:Starguard Adventures, Scene 3

Starguard Adventures 2013/10/05 	 Chen Darkling Jolt Paul van Sterran Phillippa Pleiades Ten

3

= The Briefing =

Pleiades is standing at rest in the office, waiting for instructions.

Ten is there too, leaning against the wall.

The receptionist smiles. "Hey, Chen..." She signs for the package. "Paul's in a meeting right now, something important. I'll make sure that he gets it though. Just put the package on the scanner belt." She presses the button for her intercom. "Paul, Chen is here with a package for you?" "Chen is here? Send her inside." "Ok...." The receptionist looks up to Chen. She shrugs with a bit of surprise. "I guess you can deliver it in person, Chen..."

Ten and Pleaides can see Paul on the other end of the intercom conversation. He's sitting behind his desk. "That's fortunate," he says. "Chen is here."

Chen nods, passes the package through the scanner and picks it up again, "Thanks." she tells the receptionist and heads into the Director's Office, morphing into a small Wookie form as she walks.

Pleiades grins, "Great! We could really use her help!"

Pleiades says, "Hi Chen!"

Ten smiles to Chen. "Hey."

Chen says, "Hi, Pleiades. Something happening? Hi, Ten. Everyone. Got a special delivery for you, Paul."

Paul says, "Who is it from? I'll look at it later... I'm afraid we've got a situation here, Chen."

Jolt was probably at the HQ doing some tests with the scientists when she got a call to come to see Paul because something was going down. She ends up showing up a bit late. Likely walking in shortly after Chen "Hey everyone, whats up?"

Chen nods and puts the packagedown on the desk. "Sure. How can I help?"

A figure in combat fatigues and balaclava approaches the front security checkpoint and exchanges security codes supplied by Guardian at an earlier meeting. The codes are carefully verified by direct contact with Colonel Hearn before the woman is permitted in the HQ, Before doing so however she retrieves her weapons and leaves them with security while she goe to where the briefing is being held.

Paul explains: "The Caveney Shipping Corporation has a ship that's been hijacked the the metahuman group called the New Zodiac. We're not sure how many or which members are on board but Orion and Ursa Minor have been sighted. The ship was conducting experiments with new teleportation slash extradimensional technology that the company is working on. And if the New Zodiac is involved it likely means that Dr. Louis Furmano is involved as well. He's an unbalanced super scientist and expert in extradimensional technology.

Paul continues: "We don't know what his plan is, but we have satellites tracking the ship, and it's heading for the Bermuda Triangle."

Pleiades sighs and shakes her head.

Chen says, "That means if they get there the ship will vanish, won't it?"

Accompanied by a security officer Darkling is escorted into the meeting area where her authorisation is confirmed to the ranking officer with a self-conscious nod to the other assembled heroes she seats herself to the back of the room.

Jolt nods some "So we need to come up with a way of stopping the boat from getting there. How big is it... maybe we could just kill their engines and leave them dead in the water?"

"Our scientists tell me that the Triangle lies on some kind of.. interdimensional fault line," Paul explains. "If he takes that equipment there, he could wreak some serious havoc."

Pleiades hmmms, "That could be bad, if he can set off a dimension-quake."

Ten says, "OK, so we need to move fast!"

"Everyone?" Paul says, "This is Darkling." He gestures to the newcomer. "She's new, but I think we may need all the help we can get with this."

Paul pulls up a diagram of the ship, The Hippocamp:

The Hippocamp is the name the the Caveney Shipping science ship. Towards the front of the ship is roughly composed of three 20m by 20m sections from front to back: bridge and crew quarters, hangar, and the helipad.

There are 23 hostages aboard: 10 crew, 10 scientists, 2 helicopter crew, 1 VIP - Phillippa Vogt-Caveney. The VIP is locked alone in her personal quarters. The hostages are likely being held in the crew quarters section of the ship.

The hangar is where the scientists have set up their experimental extradimensional/teleportation gear.

Pleiades says, "Nice to me you. I'm Sgt. Sigi Nachtmann, call-sign Pleiades."

Ten nods to Darkling. "Hey. I'm Ten."

The small Wookie waves, "I'm Chen."

"Welcome back, Jolt," Paul says. "With Spirit tied up investigating the Kubik/Next Generation attack, you're in charge of the team in the field."

Chen asks, "Any reason why I shouldn't smash the Dimensional gizmo? That would stop them doing whatever it is they intend, wouldn't it?"

Ten says, "Yeah, but Caveney have probably sunk hundreds of millions into it, and they might want you to pay for the damage."

Pleiades nods, "In an emergency, we can break it, but we should try to do as little damage to ship as we can."

Darkling nods to the wookiee, her movements slightly hesitant and self -conscious. "Hey" she says softly.

Jolt nods some to Paul "Oh joy... my favorite mission out in the middle of nowhere on the ocean" she smirks some, she's no fan of water herself "Alright... so who do we got here?" she starts looking over people to guess what sort of firepower they have at their disposal "Actually lets actually start you know getting to the location, we can plan on the way"

Paul nods to Pleia: "Safety of the crew is the top priority, and so is preventing Furmano from triggering some kind of cataclysmic interdimensional event. Try minimize property damage if you can."

Paul says: "The flying van captured from Next Generation is fueled and ready to go. The cloaking system should help it evade the radar system on the ship."

Pleiades revs the band on the wrist of her gauntlet, "Great! Let's go!"

Ten says, "Probably especially damage to the project. We were told that they need this so they can connpete with Transmat and Hypersite: traditional shipping is dying. So they *really* won't be happy if we trash the project and with it the company."

The Wookie shrugs, rippling fur, "How happy will they be if the entire ship vanishes off to another dimension. Or if another dimension invades through some kind of rift? The Zodiac people might be working for Shield, say."

Paul adds, "We do have contact with someone on the inside. The head of Caveney Shipping has a... duplicate onboard, locked in her quarters. She can communicate with her dupe here in Colonial Bay in realtime."

The Wookie looks up sharply, "There's a Wolfguard on board? Why do you need us?"

Pleiades says, "Uh, Chen, I don't think everyone with a duplicate is a Wolfguard?""

Ten says, "We should stay in radio contact with her. She may be able to update us with things hapening on another part of the ship...."

The Wookie nods slowly. "Oh. Yeah. It's just... Well everyone with a duplicate I know is Wolfguard."

Ten nods. "There's One Man Army for one - uh, several dozen."

"Correct," Paul says. "As far as we know she's not Wolfgaurd. Just a meta with the ability to create up to 5 duplicates over herself."

Chen reverts to her normal form. "Yeah. You're right. Guess I've been at the Baron's long enough recently to have just overlooked pther possibilities. What with all the Wolfguard that have gathered there."

Jolt nods some and holds up her communicator in bright yellow "Everyone who doesnt have one of these make sure to grab one. Yours wont be yellow because this model is electrically shielded. We leave in 5. AIS"

= The Mission =

A Next Generation flying van with cloaking technology. The inside has been stripped down of all weaponry and extras in an attempt to remove possible tracking devices.

The heroes load up into a Next Generation flying van with cloaking technology. The inside has been stripped down of all weaponry and extras in an attempt to remove possible tracking devices. There's SG pilot and copilot in the front seats. The heroes have space in back.

The copilot climbs to the back area of the van. "How should we bring you in? What kind of approach should we use?"

Ten leaves this to Jolt, as designated leader.

Jolt makes sure to get the back seat or one near the door "Alright... we'll figure it out when we get close. Right now I need an inventory of the powers we have at our disposal. Other than Ten, since I've worked with her quite a bit and know her power is basically being almost indestructable"

Ten nods. "THat and hitting things with sticks."

Pleiades says, "Um, I can do a lot of different things. I'm a Close Combat Support Mage, so I can fight in hand to hand, provide close ranged support fire, I can shield and area, heal or shield others. I can move fast on the ground, swim fast on the water, and created a solid road to skate on in the air."

Pleiades says, "Um, but, since this a hostage situation, what I can't do it sneak very well, so maybe we shoudl stand off cloaked while Chen sneaks in and gives us a better idea of the situation."

Chen says, "Have you got an image of any of the known villians onboard the ship?"

Pleiades says, "Hmm. We should approach from underneath. If Chen can't swim fast enough, I can carry her until we get close enough for her to board. Its a dual hull catamararn, and they probably have lookouts on the bridge and helipad."

Jolt nods a bit at Ten "Well that too. As for the shielding and healing we can certainly use that. As you might expect my power is all electrical. Alright so Plan A will be stealth. We will secure the hostages, sabotage the engines and beat any villain we come across senseless. Plan B... We'll do all that and smash the device if it comes to that"

Chen says, "Drop me in front of the ship. I can latch onto it as it passes."

Pleiades nods, "OK Chen."

The copilot pulls up the latest satellite images of the ship for Chen and the other heroes. It's not possible to see into the bridge or to the hangar area, but it does look like there's an individual on the helipad deck, next to the helicopter. From the top-down, is silhouette is odd. It looks like he's a... centaur?

Ten says, "The rest of us sit tight as she scouts? Or?"

Chen studies the images available of Ursa Minor... and morphs into a imitation of the brickish villian. "This should let me roam fairly freely. Unless I bump into the real one."

Ten thinks. o O (That costume looks even stupider in person.)

The copilot nods to Chen. "Roger that." He climbs back up to the front seat and relays the plans. The flying van pulls ahead of the speeding catamaran. "You are green to drop, Chen," the pilot calls out.

Jolt peers out the window to look "Centaur? Hmm... actually if that's based on Zodiac symbols that's Sagittarius symbol of the Archer. That brings the villain count up to 3"

Pleiades blinks, then laughs, "Saggitarius..."

Chen waves and opens the door, and just steps out. She switches to turtle mode before hitting the water, and then morphs to appear as a small patch of floating oil spill.

The Hippocamp is the name the the Caveney Shipping science ship. Towards the front of the ship is roughly composed of three 20m by 20m sections from front to back: bridge and crew quarters, hangar, and the helipad. There are 23 hostages aboard: 10 crew, 10 scientists, 2 helicopter crew, 1 VIP - Phillippa Vogt-Caveney. The VIP is locked alone in her personal quarters. The hostages are likely being held in the crew quarters section of the ship. The hangar is where the scientists have set up their experimental extradimensional/teleportation gear.

Ten waits, on edge, thinking that if CHen is spotted then she'll want to be on the ship as fast as possible before bullets start flying.

Chen extends a tentacle as the ship passes by her and the suckers on the octopus like tentacle catch hold and cling dragging Chen to one of the hulls under the overhang out of sight. She starts working her way back along the hull to check of the possibility of disabling the propellers.

Chen thinks oO(No propellers. How does this ship move then?)Oo. Okay, lets get on board and see what we can see. Morphing to the same color as the hull, Chen clings and works her way up to a porthole. Peering in to see if the room beyond is empty.

Pleiades clenches and unclenches her armored fist as she waits.

Jolt waits on Chen to report back in as she goes over what is the basics of her plan with Pleiades and Ten "Alright... We're going to try and drop you" she points at Pleiades "Over top of the hostages, I want you to shield the door/wall and prevent the villains from getting in. Ten, you're going to drop and head to the VIP. Anyone that gets in your way feel free to beat to a pulp. I'll try to get to the Bridge and weld the door shut to give us some time before any 'backup' escapes the bridge. We still need to sabotage the engines too. Maybe Chen will have an idea on that when we get a report"

Chen is making her way for the crew quarter portholes.

Ten nods. "Get to the VIP, got it."

Chen has a backup plan. If anyone of the bad guys hears or catches sight of movement, she'll be morphed in a thin layer clinging to the walls of the air conditioning duct and looks like a layer of dust and gunk.

Chen us able to scout the forward section of the ship. Ursa Minor is in the crew quarters section of the ship, guarding 14 hostages. On the bridge, there's a woman in Roman-style robes who fits the description of Virgo. She's there with the remaining hostages, two of whom are manning the controls. The others seem to engaged in some kind of awkward slumber party. Phillippa is where you all expect, locked in the VIP quarters.

Things get a little complicated when Chen begins to scout the hangar. Furmano is there, checking on the machine in the center of the room. Orion is in the hangar area, using a work bench, tinkering on something himself. Furmano is oblivious, consumed in is work. Orion, however looks to the air vent that Chen is using to spying on the area. He puts down his work. "I think I heard something. Everyone sound off."

Virgo is a woman dressed in a toga, with flowing green hair.

Sagittarius is a cyborg-centaur -- half man, half mechanical horse. He's armed with a bow and a quiver of high-tech arrows. He's dark skinned, and he wears goggles to protect his vision.

Orion: The man in the costume is fit and athletic. He's armed with a club and an armor vest that he wears over his bare chest. There are lots of grenades and gadgets hanging from his vest, and his belt. He's bald, but sports a full beard, and his identity is concealed with a simple domino mask.

Ursa Minor: Before you is a woman wearing what's obviously a bear costume. Through the maw of the bear head you can make out her eyes and her features dimly. She's    relatively tall, perhaps 6 foot 3, and even through the costume it's possible to see that her sturdy frame is lined with powerful muscles.

Chen quietly slithers back from the hanger area and once is a deserted part of the ship she reports in what she's seen.

Chen reports, "The engine room is deserted. I can disable the engines if you want. Maybe I can make it look like a machanical failure. Not sure. Don't know much about engines."

Pleiades says, "If we do that, they'll move to investigate, which might split them more, but also alert them."

Jolt nods some and ponders for a moment as she reports back to Chen "Get to the hostages, I think Pleiades might need some help taking down the lone villain there. The faster they go down the better. I'll go handle the engines. Maybe I can do something fancy with them other than just leaving them dead in the water. Everyone ready?" she tells the pilot to take them over to the nearest entrance to the hostages since she figures the 15 or so people in there probably should be the priority at the moment.

Chen reports, "Give me a minute. I'll go to the bridge. I should be able to get one free shot at the villain there."

Ten nods, grasping her staff and making ready to go and rescue Philippa.

Pleiades nods. "Ok. I'm ready."

Chen slithers to the air vent for the bridge, and when ready crashes it open using casual strength, morphs to brick mode and thows a stretched punch as hard as possible at the hopefully unsuspecting Virgo.

Chen cracks Virgo from behind, hard, and from her feet. She flies forward into one of the men piloting the ship, and the both crunch forward into the controls. Virgo flops onto her back, dazed momentarily.

Ten jumps from the van, and, following orders, runs up the stairs to the VIP quarters and blasts the lock of the door with her staff.

Ten blasts the door open. Phillippa is sitting down at a table on the other side. "It's you!" she says, surprised.

Ten nods, and says cheerfully. "Rescue party's here."

"I hope you're not the only one they sent," Phillippa adds. "Oh, good."

Orion rushes into the crew quarters area from the hangar area. He waits there to assess the situation.

Jolt drops from the ship at the same time as Ten and goes rushing in and down towards the engineering section if possible flying down there as she goes to sabotage the engines in some way shape or form.

With a well placed blast of electricity, Jolt fries the power transfer manifolds. It melts into slag and drips onto the ground, filling the air with an ozone-y smell. The engines cut out, and the ship begins to coast to a stop.

Jolt probably realizes the amount of overkill she did on the engine and radios over the SGG communicator "You're gonna want to call a tugboat to tow this back to port for when we're finished here. I dont think this engine will be starting again"

Pleiades skates into the room. "Panzerfaust! Dimension Chain!" Her gauntlet replies, "Ja wohl, mein Kameradin!" As a circle of runes appears beneath her skates, she fires a helix of ethereal chains at Orion.

Orion quickly whips a flash grenade at Pleiades.

Pleiades grits her teeth, "Ahhh!" She tries to keep her shot on target.

Orion barely has to move to avoid Pleia's errant blast. "Ursa," he says. "She's all yours."

Ursa grins from inside her bear mask. "With pleasure." She tries to grab Pleia in a giant bear hug.

Pleiades shifts at the last minute, narrowly avoiding the grab. . o O (I hope she keeps talking.)

On the bridge, most of the hostages seem to be paired up in man-woman couples, slow dancing to a jam from the 2040s. They continue doing so.

In the crew quarters, the hostages seem trapped between invading heroes on one side and approaching villains on the other. The take cover in place in the room.

Sagittarius advances to the edge of the crew quarters, taking cover in the archway that separates the crew section and the hanger. With his centaur stature, it looks like he might have trouble navigating inside the more cramped confines, were he to fully enter the crew section.

Phillippa says to Ten. "Come on. Let's go kick those losers off of my ship."

Ten says to Philippa, "You'll be ok? Because I think I'll be needed elsewhere...." Then she leaps back down to the deck below to see what she can do.

Ten promptly extends her staff to thwack the woman in the bear costume.

"Tickles," Ursa says as she no-sells the attack.

Chen morphs to Martial Mode and stretched to slam a punch into the prone Virgo, again hitting as hard as she can, aiming the blow down so Virgo won't be sent further away.

The second hit is enough to take Virgo out of the fight.

Chen reports, "Bridge is clear. Where do you need me next."

Pleiades says, "I need back up. Blinded, 3 villains, hostages. Ten is also here."

Ursa looks at Ten. "That's right -- didn't I mop the floor with you at the University once?"

Chen says over the comm, "Okay, I'll be on my way as soon as you tell me where you are, Pleiades."

Jolt calls out over the comm "Get to the Crew Quarters. I'm heading that way myself" and boy is SOMEBODY going to regret that as she flies back up the stairs now that the engines have been disabled and looks for Ursa having heard her laughing off someone elses attack "Lets see if this tickles!" she unloads a hefty blast of electricity at the bear.

Pleiades tells her what room they're in

Ten regards Ursa. "No one's every mopped the floor with me."

"Yeeeargh!" Ursa yells as she gets zapped. She staggers backwards a step and leans against a table trying to regain her bearings.

Ten giggles as the fur of Ursa Minor's costume stands on end.

"Holy -- ?!" Sagitarrius looks as shocked as anyone by Ursa getting rocked. "We gotta take her out." He readies three arrows at once and fires them.

Pleiades says, "Point me at Ursa! Is their anyone behind her?"

Ten says, "Your two o'clock, and no."

Jolt typically draws fire when she starts dropping people like flies. That said today is no exception since well lets face it she's probably in the crossfire now and gets hit with those arrows and falls to the ground. Thank god for her costume, she'd probably be dead many times over in her career without it and curls up a bit on the ground.

Pleiades holds out her left hand as a pink sphere of energy forms. "Panzerfaust, load Zaubermunition! Heaven BREAKER!!!" She punches the sphere with her gauntlet sending a massive blast of energy at Ursa.

"Unhff." Ursa grunts, taking another solid blast from a hero.

Orion rushes towards Jolt, hopping over a table and sliding past Ursa. He tries to knock out Jolt with a blow from his club.

Orion jumps back, shocked by his contact with Jolt. He drops his club which is damages and warped by the vicious electrical discharge.

Jolt is really not in much of a position to get out of the way and stops moving after the blow takes her out for the time being... That said she does luckily have some manner of retribution as he makes contact he becomes the unlucky recipient of a rather potent shock.

Chen stays in Martial Mode and runs to the place she's needed. On the way she morphs into a horrific demonic form and when in sight of the villains she roars loudly in fearful challenge.

Chen's roar definitely grabs the Zodiac's attention. Sagittarius looks visibly shaken, but Ursa and Orion take it more in stride beyond the initial shock.