And Then There Were Three

20 April 2006 --

Ah, when plot threads converge into a whole cloth of whoop-ass. Once we repelled Satan's Sidekicks from Nationwide Arena, our precog claimed that she now saw images of our Lost Girl (the energy-blasting high schooler on the lam) joining up with that same Brimstone Bunch. So now the race was on to get to her before they did.

And finally (not to mention conveniently), we had some actionable intelligence. The precog also was able to see the face of the person Lost Girl was now trying to find: a teacher from her school. Jeff's robot did a quick net search to help find a name and address to go with that face, and off we went.

Hardly a moment too soon, too. We arrived just before the girl did, and the bad guys attempted to drive down through the roof moments afterward -- with the exception of their Earth-based Brick, who came up through the floor in the living room. Bill's teleporter spirted the girl away, but had to leave the hapless teacher, so Brian's transmuter and Craig's speed-hound had to keep the Brick occupied to allow her escape.

Meanwhile, thanks to quick thinking and good rolls, the rest of our crew were able to neutralize (okay, murder) two more of their side: the shadowcaster and the force-field guy. The surviving three teleported away again . . . but these guys don't seem nearly as intimidating as they did before we started bumping them off.

Hey! Who Turned Out the Lights?

26 March 2006-

We started this week on a high from our previous success (see last week's entry). After all, we had completely kicked butt last time, and now we were going to be set up in ambush, expecting trouble, and bolstered by some other supers from IST New York. The expected attack was not long in coming, but we didn't expect the form it took. Sentinel, our decoy, was up on stage pretending to be the minister we were protecting, when the stage was engulfed in darkness (did we mention that they have a darkness generator? Damn!). He was mauled, but not badly, since physical damage is largely ineffective against him.

Despite the fact that we were all ready, charged, and anxious to mix it up, we came to the sudden realization that almost none of us can see in induced darkness. The only one to be really able to see our targets was Southern Cross, who manipulates magnetism and can scan an area with a self-genreated MRI. As such, he was able to dodge the bad guys' attacks against him, while others among us were not so lucky. Two of our extras got hurt pretty bad, and we could do little but sit and watch. We shot into the darkness while they shot out of it.

The highlight of the engagement (from our point of view, anyway) was when Southern Cross grabbed their leader (who wears an iron crown which appears to be attached to his head) and yanked him out of the darkness with a natural three. In GURPS, that means maximum damage, which is quite high when playing Supers- their head bad guy was snapped around like a rag doll. At that point, they did what sneaky bad guys always do- they teleported out!

Not a win, but things might have gone our way if the battle had continued. At least their head bad guy should be in traction for awhile.

Score One for Our Team

19 March 2006-

We had to take some of the team off the search for the girl (still fruitless) to go make our other appointment- the visiting minister who we think is the target for the team of demonic bad guys. We convinced him not to go on with his scheduled appearance in person, but to let Sentinel (our friendly, neighborhood, nanomorphic living-metal "I am a phone" robot) mimic him instead, and to set up the auditorium as a trap for the bad guys.

The plan almost worked, in the sense that we were all set up and ready to pounce, when the bad guys decided to throw us a curve, sending their fire projector to burn down Children's Hospital as a clear and significant distraction. Our teleporter Evac took Red October and Damascus, two of our bricks, to the scene, left them in the parking lot, then proceded to teleport their guy in between the two bricks. What followed was a brief, but thoroughly satisfying ass-kicking of the highest order, as the two bricks grabbed the bad guy, held him in place, and then beat him to death in the space of three seconds or so. Although we normally try not to kill anyone, we unanimously agreed that any villain evil enough to burn a hospital full of kids deserved service above and beyond that which we provide to most of our opponents.

You could have served what was left on toast.