Bermuda Holiday Session 7

Princess Guard - The New Era 2017/02/01 	 Charm Titan Pulsar Wolf Cecila Harlequin 30

Cargo Ship Santabelle
From the exterior the cargo ship Santabelle has the appearance of a decrepit vessel slowly rusting from lack of maintenance. The superstructure is marred by patches of rust and peeling paintwork. There are many that look like it on the seas, plying for trade and cargoes that have mostly moved to the great airships that have made a comeback from the 2040's.

Inside however it's a different story. The vessel is well maintained. The forward cargo hold has been converted into a concealed living space for the Beasts villain team. Several bedrooms and a common area. One bedroom is currently occupied by the kidnapped friend of Johnathan, the redheaded Amanda Reinhart.

The heroes, well most of them, have gated aboard the cargo ship Santabelle. Charm is up on the bridge having dominated the crew there. Pulsar and Wolf are on the deck. Titan is in the forward cargo hold standing on lead ore. Harlequin and Cecila are still back on Bermuda on the other side of the gate.

Titan says over the link, .oO(I believe we have a false layer of ore on top here. There's likely something underneath.)Oo.

The information Wolf is seeking by telepathy is, not unexpectedly, in the forefront of the crew person's mind. He's thinking the killers down in the forward cargo hold will deal with these heroes. The thought that they might fail isn't in his mind. He also briefly thinks about the woman the killers brought on board and took down there.

Wolf sends this information over the link, to all of the team-members. ..

Charm collects the weapons from the surrendered bridge crew, lest they subsequently change their minds, then starts toward the cargo hold.

Pulsar drops the holographic disguise hiding the gateway. He looks down to Wolf and pets him. "So what's next?" He asks since he's not connected to the others over the PG communicators.

He seems antsy and his tone betrays him when he asks, "Any word on the rest of the crew or what Titan found?"

Pulsar 's face scrunches up as he gets the update mentally. "Ah - so they're hiding huh? Well, I guess I'll play bait and draw them out." He says as he suddenly becomes translucent. "Tell the others I'm going to see if I can scout out this forward cargo hold without being noticed."

.oO(Our shining star descends within The lead-sealed forward hold, To lure those Beasts to chase him out, A daring move, quite bold )Oo.

There's a layer of lead ore all around the forward cargo hold, on the top and down all four sides. As Harlequin mentioned, that's good for blocking a lot of sensing abilities. It doesn't stop the desolid Pulsar of course. As Pulsar passes through the top of the hold he gets a bird's eye view of what's been done to it. Half the area is a luxurious common area where Claw, Fang, and Stomp are relaxing. The other half has been partitioned into five bedrooms, one larger than the others. The kidnapped Amanda is huddled on the floor in one of the smaller bedrooms. Being in an enclosed cargo hold nobody bothered to put ceilings over the rooms.

Claw catches sight of movement out the corner of his eye and points up at Pulsar, "Intruder!" he calls out.

"I wouldn't say 'intruder', rescuer? Maybe. Defender? Definitely." Pulsar crosses his arms and levels out. So much for going unnoticed. He remains desolid.

Titan walks around on the ore, looking for some kind of hidden door, since smashing his way down might hurt Amanda. And it has the nice side effect of letting the villains know someone's up there. Perhaps they'll come out.

Titan smiles .oO(Found it.)Oo. He reaches down and pulls open the trap door which has some ore glued to it to obfuscate its location. .oO(Looking forward to a straight up fight for once, I have to be honest.)Oo.

Wolf informs the team he'll try to get behind the Beasts and to the hostage, once Titan and Pulsar engage, and pads across the foredeck to get into position. ..

Charm hurries to the newly-discovered trap door, ready to join the fight - but of course she stays behind Titan.

Pulsar solidifes now that he seems to have the drop on his foes. He hopes the others are behind him - but considering he's been made he figures if he leaves now the hostage will be in even more danger. So instead he floats into a position to put the hostage behind him and his enemies in front of him.

"I can sink this boat single handedly and save the hostage..." He says in a threatening tone as he calls forth a LaserLance into his cocked back arm. He locks his shoulder into place giving him the appearance of a javlin thrower who was equipped with Apollo's personal quiver. "all with just this one throw. So you can stand down and be taken into custody - or you can sink with the boat and be brought into custody after my friends perform CPR on you." He's bluffing of course - he's really just buying time for the others to find him and the hostage. But he's ready to hurl this bolt of laser light if any of the criminals make a hostile move.

Claw stands up out of the chair he was seated in. He laughs, "Sink the boat if you like. You'll go down with it and so will the woman. Our employer was clear on that. If he can't have her knowledge about anti-matter reactions, nobody can." Then he races towards Pulsar as long sharp claws emerge from his fingertips.

Pulsar is already at the ready - so as Claw charges, he snaps his arm forward reliquishing his hold on the LaserLance.

The javlin of light arcs forward - striking his target.

Pulsar is silent, as if his actions will speak for him. No one is taking his word.

The laserlance strikes Claw and clearly affects him. It even burns through his scales and leaves a charred wound. But Claw keeps going and slashes out at Pulsar with a clawed hand.

The claw looks VERY sharp. But first it has to hit Pulsar and this time it didn't.

Fang follows Claw. The lion headed villain muttering under his breath, "Hot- head. There's no 'I' in team. So much for coordination." Fang leaps in the final few yards and tries to bite Pulsar.

Pulsar stands proudly, unconcerned with any of those before him. Claw's wide attack in fact only makes Pulsar that much more confident that he far outclasses these villains.

That is until of course Fang leaps into action and clamps down on Pulsar's arm. His eyes go wide as he's actually injured by the bestial man. Pulsar yanks his arm away from Fang in surprise. "Yow!" He shouts.

Titan drops down into the hold, landing with a thump. He then runs forward, trying to plow into Claw.

Titan moves just beyond Claw, missing entirely. He takes note of Pulsar's injury, though. "I can take these two chumps, Pulsar. Go ahead and work on the third." Claw's face loses its smirk as Titan barrels past in a near miss. "Stomp! Get over here. This one is yours." he yells.

Pulsar nods to Titan. "On it." He says, releasing his hold on his forearm. The holes left by Fang do not bleed, but instead leak beams of light into the room. If the look on his face is any indication, he is surprised by this.

Stomp leans forwards in his chair, past the point of balance. As he falls toward the floor his arms change into legs and his body grows to resemble a hippo. A big charging hippo thundering towards Titan in a move-through aiming to stomp the hero underfoot.

Stomp slams into Titan carrying both towards the nearby wall of the forward cargo hold.

Titan lands on the floor with a thump, and he...laughs. "Seriously? Is that all you've got?"

Claw strikes out at Pulsar with a frantic worried expression on his face after seeing Stomp fail to take down Titan. It's not something he sees all that often.

Pulsar's chest expodes with a beam of light pouring from the slash across his chest. He gasps, bringing his hand to the wound. The light spills from between his fingers.

Despite being made of light, it doesn't seem that he can close these 'holes' in his holographic physiology. He sucks his teeth in pain as he glares at Claw and clenches his jaw.

Wolf drops down out of the ceiling, and, seeing that the time for Stealth has past, shape-shifts into his "fighting form". . . the first time anyone has ever seen this. He looks bigger, shaggier, and has facial markings a little bit like a Siberian Husky would have.

Fang turns on the new arrival, Wolf, and tries to bite into Wolf's throat.

Fang's teeth pass through the not really all there Wolf without effect.

Pulsar does not look like his usual happy or chipper self. In fact, he looks to be in some pain. But through clenched jaw, he perseveres.

With Fang chasing after the much more feral looking Wolf, he turns his attention to Claw. He tries not to make it personal. He tries to keep his attention on the hostage behind him.

So he holds his ground - never moving, not even so much a step back. He calls forth anothe LaserLance - this time, aiming for Claw. He cocks his arm back and then hurls it with all his might.

Claw wilts under the impact of a second Laserlance. He staggers back a half step and then drops into a crumbled heap where he stood.

Charm is concerned that Stomp looks like the sort that could endanger the ship perhaps even unintentionally - and so sings the villain a beautiful song intended to keep him in reverie.

Stomp closes his eyes and relaxes for a moment. Then he shakes his massive head and alertness returns to his face. He lifts his head to look at Charm, "You're dangerous!" he says.

Charm thinks .oO(Uh-oh....)

Then Stomp looks at Titan, "If you have any control over your team people how about calling them off so we can go one-on-one. You might just be able to give me a decent workout."

Titan gets to his feet and takes a swing at Stomp. "I'd be able to do so...but I have other priorities right this second."

Stomp shrugs and slams his head at Titan as Titan punches.

Stomp is hurled back 14m but his four footed form helps him roll back onto his feet.

Titan grins. "Besides...you'd just get your butt kicked. You'd be better off just surrendering now."

Stomp grins right back. "We'll see who's butt gets kicked." he replies.

Wolf canters over towards the fallen Titan, then accelerates and lowers his shaggy right shoulder into the Hippo's left-rear quarter to hip-check the animal as hard as he can,. . . hopefully moving the Beast far enough away from Titan so that the Hippo will not be able to execute his name-sake "Stomp" attack. But by the time Wolf arrives, Titan has regained his feet and punched the Hippo back!

Fang follows Wolf and tries another bite.

Wolf gets bitten for his troubles. Sigh, Cats .. .. .. He turns around to face the lion-man, bleeding slightly from his left side.

Pulsar tries to ignore the gashes of light from his chest and left arm. With Claw down he flicks his eyes between Stomp and Fang. Stomp seems to be well in hand - Titan proving he is every bit as indestructable as he is rummored to be.

Mentally, Pulsar notes that he is not.

He catches the tail end of Wolf being bitten by Fang. This focuses his attention away from the pain in his chest - seeing blood drawn from his friend will do that. He uses his free hand and pulls the ambient light - focusing and compressing it into another laser lance. He turns as Fang maneuvers - keeping him in sight before hurling another bolt of light at the Lion-man.

Fang flinches as the Laserlance strikes home and a small patch of his furry hide is blackened.

Charm decides to switch targets, hoping Fang is less pig-headed (or possibly hippo-headed). She sings the same song to Fang, putting her heart into it.

Stomp comes charging back in with intent to trample all over Titan.

Stomp slams headfirst into Titan. Fortunately for Stomp he hits with the hardest part of him, his head.

Titan gets knocked back again and into the wall, landing on his duff. Again...he's laughing. "I've been hit harder by Wolfguard. Seriously."

Titan gets to his feet again, and since Stomp is just a little too far away...he flies back in that direction, leading with his shoulder to plow through Stomp.

Stomp lowers his head and stands his ground.

Stomp utters a surprised 'Oof!' as he is hurled back to slam hard into the far wall of the cargo hold.

Stomp shakes his head and reverts to his more human form. "Enough already." he says raising his hands.

Sasha concentrates on the images that Wolf shows him over their link then with a waves shuts down to the Gate. To open again a moment later, just a few meters from Wolf. .oO(The Gate is in position to extract Amanda.) he states over the PG link.

On the island side of the Gate, Harlequin reaches into a sleeve and pulls out a handkerchief. He uses it to sop of some sweat from his neck.

Titan checks on Amanda, "Are you okay?"

Charm keeps up the mesmerising song, just to be on the safe side.

.oO( Our Harlequin has moved his Gate To where I'm standing now.  Thus we'll soon get Amanda freed,  and off this garbage-scow! )

Amanda is badly shaken up. When Titan enters the room she's in she flinches and cries out in fear before recognising him. Then she bursts into tears of relief, "Oh, Joh.. Titan. I've never been so terrified in my life."

With the villians thwarted, Pulsar returns to holographic form once more. The glowing gash is still on his chest, and fang holes onhis left arm - but they are not glowing so profusely any longer.

He watches the others, and then floats towards Stomp since Titan went to check on the hostage, Amanda. "It's a shame you boys didn't listen to me at the beginning. This would have been a lot more pleasant for everyone involved." He says adding, "Now lets put those hands on the top of your head. "

Titan helps Amanda get to her feet, "C'mon. We'll get you out of here." He leads her over to the gate that Harlequin created.

Wolf *noses* Pulsar gently as he passes by, Healing him. ..

Stomp looks up at Pulsar. "You don't have time for that. You won. Take the woman and go. Chimara will be getting here any time now." he says.

.oO(Do we have any idea why they kidnapped Amanda?) asks Harlequin over the link.

Out loud, he murmurs, "It is very good to see you hale and healthy, mam'selle," to Amanda.

"Chimara?" Pulsar asks, looking around at the others. "What do you mean? We just wiped the floor with you guys... your boss isn't gonna come running after that." His words are confident, but the way he looks around to his teammates indiciates that that might just be a front.

Stomp seems to be sincere as he says, "I wouldn't be so sure of that. The boss is better than any of us. Better than all of us."

Amanda is hanging on to Titan like a drowning person to a lifebelt.

.oO( The science which her mind does hold Attracted notice here. Such knowledge can be bought and sold, to fetch a price quite dear. . . ) "What does this Chimera want with an anti-matter reaction specialist? What are you all playing at?" Pulsar asks, urgency coloring his tone. He may be relatively tough and relatively strong - this is the first time he's been injured in the line of duty. He's on edge.

.oO(I wonder if this Chimera has three heads: a fire breathing dragon, lion, and, hmm forget the third one. And a poisonous scorpion tail. The Classical myths are rather confusing. Or am I getting it confused with that RPG I played?) muses Harlequin over the link.

Titan says over the link, .oO( Could be a shapeshifter. Keep that in mind. ) He leads Amanda through the gate to where Harlequin is.

Wolf *sniffs* around for what Chimera must smell like. . . knowing the Beast-smells of Claw, Stomp, Fang, and subtracting Amanda's scent as well, he tries to zero in on the "unknown" Beast. ..

Amanda sighs in relief as she passes through the gate and arrives on land. "They had the wrong person. They wanted Amanda Reinfeld. She's an expert on anti-matter. I know her. I realised what had happened when they asked me questions about anti-matter. And I was too scared to tell them they had the wrong person. I was afraid if they realised that they would get rid of me."

What Wolf can smell is Claw, Fang, Stomp, and another scent, all rolled up in one and stronger than any of the individuals.

Titan smiles and nods. "Smart thinking. But it also likely means she's in danger. Where is she?"

Sasha reaches into his messenger bag and slowly, somehow pulls a nice warm fleece blanket from it and holds it out to Titan. "Mam'selle Amanda has had a shock, Titan," is all he says.

Amanda says, "I don't know for sure. I think she's probably in some secret military research site somewhere that doesn't officially exist."

.oO( Chimera is an amalgam, of those we faced to start . . . A stronger mix of each of them, plus, added: one more part! )

Stomp finally answers Pulsar, "It was a contract. We would have been paid for handing her over to Dr Void."