HF RPG 2.0

IC: Saracen Rune - Main Communications Tower.

"Who are you?" He jumped down off the console and shifted into a battle-ready stance, rifle leveled at the newcomer. They looked like a hero, but he knew that looks could sometimes be deceiving... 

GM ???

"Easy there with the rifle, buddy." "Mene Vantal" put up his hands. "Mene Vantal, at your service." He sighed. "Sorry man, my comms broke on landing."

Inwardly, the villain would have laughed. Such a pathetic show of force. I could disarm you in an instant, and yet...I come in peace, and yet you try to hurt me? Ha. But there was no evidence of any of that on Mene's face. 

IC: Saracen Rune - Main Communication Tower.

"Broken comms? Fair enough," he lowered his weapon. "I'm Saracen, that's Gadget." 

GM IC GADGET

To Gadget, "Mene Vantal" would appear exactly as he said he was. It was clear that this being had hugely augmented strength, and strikingly high energy levels. Perhaps not too much for a Hero of his stature, however.

The tower...was oddly transmitting data through a series of wires to an underground bunker. If he moved closer, he would know what wires to disconnect...

GM IC ???

"Mene" smoothly walked past Sarcen to look at the controls. "I'm not going to disrupt the connection to Mission Control," he said, waving politely to Zib. "But there is something amiss here." He quickly typed in a bunch of keys, and a bunch of sound filled the chamber. "Dumacc here. No, the Heroes have not yet discovered our base, just the towers. Karter is going to reclaim the main tower now."

"How soon are you toward launch?" 

"Look, I can only do so much. Starting a solar flare is a delicate process, and if triggered wrong, it will just cause another disaster, not produce the weapon you wanted. We launch in 39 hours, and we just finished our 30th mirror test. Everything is still on schedule."

Static for a few moments. 

IC John Striker:

"Bad news, command. I've found a sizable amount of unrefined quaza and an unknown crystal set to be detonated. Uploading visual."

The helmet cam snapshot was sent to Mission control.

GM NPC ZIB - MISSION CONTROL

"Is there any way you can disable the triggers?" Zib said to Striker.

He seemed absentminded, flipping through the Hero Factory database. "That channel has been rerouted to one of our communications teams. We're picking up a signal that leads to Antopolis City, near the central district. Furno, Surge, that is a job for you." The two heroes left, presumably to arrest who Karter was communicating with.

IC: Saracen Rune - Main Communication Tower. 

Well... that was informative... Between whatever channel Mene had just tapped into, and Striker's message, Saracen now had a lot more Intel than he knew what to do with. But one bit stood out to him. He had no idea who or what "Karter" was, but if it was coming for the tower, he had to be ready for them. "This is Saracen at the comms tower. We've got incoming." 

IC John Striker:

"Not without setting off the whole blasted thing. I still haven't seen any signs of the enemy, or the two missing Heroes." 

John looked around.

"Only one place left to look."

IC Kathrine:

I slowed down my flight, "You boys need backup?"

IC Kaiba Blader:

No one caught his attention, and soon the Proto Hero was blasting out of Tranquis's atmosphere, bound who knows where.

IC: Gadget Thompson/Main comms tower

"I think the console's also transferring data to that bunker that 'Karter' is communicating with."

I moved closer to the wires and pulled some out. On the comms I also something with a bomb. I responded to Zib and Striker:

"I could try and defuse the bomb, but I'm up here doing repair in the comms towers."

And to Mene.

"How did you know what buttons to push?"

If he just got here, he wouldn't have known.

IC--Artemus Schadenfreude--Near Grand Tranq

Ah, one of those types. A bit annoying, but usually decent characters.

"Don't be concerned about that," Artemus replied lightly as his "guest" lashed out, slicing two brains in half without scratching their hosts. "I know how to handle myself." It was time to go on the offensive; if any of the infected got past, they'd probably try to surround them.

GM IC ???

"I impersonated one of Karter's operatives for awhile and hacked into his system a few times to get his passwords and keys," The villain stepped back. "I was designed to be able to shapeshift, to infiltrate evil villain organizations."

"It's important that I don't blow that cover when I deal with Karter in this form."

GM NPC ZIB

"Okay, Striker, go get the Heroes who are captured," Zib said. "Gadget, I'm afraid the situation with the explosives down below takes priority. Also, we need to get to that Karter character and shut him down. We'll have plenty of time to deal with the communications situation when all the villains below aren't threatening the planet."

GM NPC KARTER

"You mean me?" The scientist-warrior stepped into the room. "Stand down, Heroes. This is private property, and those trendy lasers are a huge 'No trespassing' sign. So get off my property before I blow you away." 

He raised his machine gun, pointed it straight at Sarcen, and began firing. Ten robots lined up their laser-firing devices, reminding everyone how risky fighting interfering with his targeting would be. 

IC Kathrine Scarlet:

Oh, it is so Hero time.

I doubled back, firing on all thrusters. I had to get there fast.

IC John Striker:

"Copy."

The Veteran hero cloaked, then climbed the ladder once more, moving down the hallway.

IC Ezec: 

"Now you see how futile it is to challenge a God." Rumbled Ezec, still bearing down upon Rocka's leg. Meanwhile, he began to squeeze into Rocka's sword arm with his enormous clawed hands.

IC: Saracen Rune - Main Communications Tower. 

Saracen wasn't deaf, or blind. Given that he'd still been facing towards the doorway, he'd both seen and heard Karter and co. while they were still making their way up the stairs, and started thinking about how best to deal with them.

So when the mad scientist began to raise his weapon, Saracen flew upwards, then started flying sideways when Karter opened fire. A few rounds nicked his legs as he did, but he managed to make it out one of the shattered windows. Powering up his rifle, he flew up and over the tower roof to begin firing at Karter's back through a different window. 

IC: Gadget Thompson/Main Comms Tower

Gadget immediately jumped and ducked for cover with a couple of bullets grazing his arm.

"Requesting major backup at the main communications tower, now!"

He jumped onto his hoverboard.

"Striker," he asked. "Send me your coordinates."

IC John Striker:

"Coordinates sent."

IC Kathrine:

"On my way!"

IC Jet [sunny Square]: Jet noticed Aza's arm too late and was consequently socked in the face with her elbow. This sent him careening to the right, but didn't stop him from grabbing on to the armor of Aza's right shoulder and clinging to it for dear life. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, he immediately loosed an electro pulse through each gauntlet simultaneously... 

IC: Riot - Streets (Near The Grand Tranq)

That's what they all say...

Figuring that he'd be able to free more civilians if he was in a better position, Riot backflipped his way into the air, activating his jetpack as he righted himself and flew upwards in order to obtain a bird's eye view of the incoming horde. Strafing to the right, he fired off a few more shots from his weapons, intending to hit the Brains closest to his position.

GM NPC CITIZENS OF TRANQUIS (NEAR RIOT)
 
All the citizens Riot fired at were freed from the brains' control. Some of the other freed ones had decided to leave the area, presumably to go home. 
 
Meanwhile, the stream of brain-controlled beings had largely abated this direction. There were still a considerable number running away, some back into the Grand Tranq, away from the bullets. 

GM NPC ROCKA

"Okay, guys, now I could really use some help," Rocka said. Not like it's going to do me any good while I'm being forcibly disassembled for spare parts, but at least I tried.

GM NPC KARTER
 
Karter didn't even blink as Sarcen flew over the building, his visor cameras showing him the Hero's trajectory. He just turned around toward the window Sarcen was coming at and kept firing.
 
Meanwhile, the robots with him fired at Mene Vantal...

GM NPC KARTER'S ROBOTS/SCIENTIST TEAM (NEAR JOHN STRIKER)

As John Striker moved through this hallway, he would notice a bunch of storage rooms and a hallway that led to a row of lockers and offices. That is, until he saw a bunch of robots running his direction. Some were the ordinary attack bots that the others would recognize from above, but others appeared to be civilians carrying pistols and rifles. One was covered in a revolving field of electric energy. 

"This is a Code 47 emergency. Everyone move, we're running out of time."

"Anything I should know?" one of the civilian bots asked. 

"We have both of their weapons, still, but one of the Heroes has augmented strength-"

GM IC ???

"Mene Vantal" was not idle - but he was taking damage pretty badly from the lasers, being such a big target in a small space. Instead of shifting to a smaller form, the villain just picked up a robot, lasers firing and all, and threw it out the window, away from Sarcen and Gadget.

If either looked closely, they might see his form regenerating, but he doubted that either would be paying attention enough to notice. 

GM NPC ZIB  

"Gadget, I was able to track Karter's position using a sensor reading from this location." Gadget would see what appeared to be an abandoned hospital about 200 yards from the tower. "I think you might be able to get into Karter's underground base from there. See what you can do."

IC Ghid Squidulus

Ghid raised his shield, the blast knocking him back a bit. "At the moment, I'm fighting for my rear, which isn't saying much. But last i heard, you're trying to blow up something rather important which we don't necessarily agree with."

He took a slight bow, making sure not to drop his guard as he taunted. "But, milady, while i not be the best choice for disabling you, i can keep you busy so my associates will take care of the valuables you posses. I figured it out when they radioed me on the stairs. We may not have found your explosives yet, but we've got you cornered."

This horrific string of lies was covered up by a hologram of a serious expression, one that would hide the lying face underneath. "So i'm sorry to present that i must keep you from leaving. Shall we dance?"

IC: Gadget Thompson/Abandoned Hospital

With the coordinates Striker sent me, as well as the coordinates from Zib, I landed stealthily near an abandoned hospital. I used my technopathy to see if I could sense any secret entrance, at least mechanical ones, and if there were any other bots nearby.

GM IC GADGET

Gadget would sense a bunch of dead and broken hospital equipment...but whatever the secret entrance was, he couldn't sense it yet. There were no other robots in this sector at the moment. 

IC: Gadget Thompson/Abandoned Hospital

Content, Gadget walked in carefully, with his laser pistol in hand. His technopathy was active as he looked around.

GM NPC KARTER

 

Karter didn't even blink as Sarcen flew over the building, his visor cameras showing him the Hero's trajectory. He just turned around toward the window Sarcen was coming at and kept firing.

IC: Saracen Rune - Main Communications Tower. 

He cursed, flying upwards once more before he could take too many hits. Once over the roof and out of sight, he change direction, flying down to another window to fire not at Karter, but at Karter's weapon in the hopes of damaging or disabling it. 

IC Ghid Squidulus

 

He took a slight bow, making sure not to drop his guard as he taunted. "But, milady, while i not be the best choice for disabling you, i can keep you busy so my associates will take care of the valuables you posses. I figured it out when they radioed me on the stairs. We may not have found your explosives yet, but we've got you cornered."

IC: Mr Vyle - Theatre Roof.

"Sorry to disappoint," he sneered, "but those aren't my explosives, nor are these my brains," he noted that this hero liked hiding behind his shield, in the same way the the factory itself hid behind its facade of honour and purpose. "I'm just a man who wants off this rock before it explodes, a man who also happens to detest your corrupt organisation..." 

He lunged into an attack, electrified sword sweeping down in an overhead blow, while hie fired his pistol down at the hero's lower legs. The shield wasn't big enough to block both, so hopefully this time he'd strike a crippling blow... 

GM NPC CITIZENS OF TRANQUIS (NEAR RIOT)

 

All the citizens Riot fired at were freed from the brains' control. Some of the other freed ones had decided to leave the area, presumably to go home. 

 

Meanwhile, the stream of brain-controlled beings had largely abated this direction. There were still a considerable number running away, some back into the Grand Tranq, away from the bullets. 

 

GM NPC ROCKA

 

"Okay, guys, now I could really use some help," Rocka said. Not like it's going to do me any good while I'm being forcibly disassembled for spare parts, but at least I tried.

 

GM NPC KARTER

 

Karter didn't even blink as Sarcen flew over the building, his visor cameras showing him the Hero's trajectory. He just turned around toward the window Sarcen was coming at and kept firing.

 

Meanwhile, the robots with him fired at Mene Vantal...

 

GM NPC KARTER'S ROBOTS/SCIENTIST TEAM (NEAR JOHN STRIKER)

 

As John Striker moved through this hallway, he would notice a bunch of storage rooms and a hallway that led to a row of lockers and offices. That is, until he saw a bunch of robots running his direction. Some were the ordinary attack bots that the others would recognize from above, but others appeared to be civilians carrying pistols and rifles. One was covered in a revolving field of electric energy. 

 

"This is a Code 47 emergency. Everyone move, we're running out of time."

 

"Anything I should know?" one of the civilian bots asked. 

 

"We have both of their weapons, still, but one of the Heroes has augmented strength-"

 

GM IC ???

 

"Mene Vantal" was not idle - but he was taking damage pretty badly from the lasers, being such a big target in a small space. Instead of shifting to a smaller form, the villain just picked up a robot, lasers firing and all, and threw it out the window, away from Sarcen and Gadget.

 

If either looked closely, they might see his form regenerating, but he doubted that either would be paying attention enough to notice. 

 

GM NPC ZIB  

 

"Gadget, I was able to track Karter's position using a sensor reading from this location." Gadget would see what appeared to be an abandoned hospital about 200 yards from the tower. "I think you might be able to get into Karter's underground base from there. See what you can do."

IC  John Striker:

The invisible Hero let them oass, and grabbed one of the straggling civilian bots, clamping a hand over his mouth, and his knife to his throat as he dragged the civilian away from the others. once suitably out of range, he uncloaked, and spoke in a low growl,"You're gonna tell me everything I want to know, are we clear?"

IC Kathrine Scarlet:

I rocketed in through one of the open windows, Plasma firiig around the room as I made my stunningly flashy entrance.

IC Ghid Squidulus

Two attacks at once, huh? why didn't i bring an energy rifle or something?

Ghid's shield wasn't just for cowering. As he jumped upwards, the ground underneath him chipped off a bit, while he thrust his shield up into the oncoming blade. It bounced off with a hiss, sending Ghid back down to the floor.

Kicking back onto his feet to avoid the sword possibly digging into his shield, he unsheathed his knife from behind his shield. "Corrupt? oh come now, when was Hero Factory ever corrupt? sure, they gave us the ability to feel despair and depression, but... What did they ever do, besides stop people from killing each other?"

GM IC GADGET

Nothing would be apparent to him yet. 

GM NPC CITIZEN (WORKING WITH KARTER)

The citizen nodded wordlessly, looking terrified. 

GM NPC KARTER

Karter scrambled forward, away from where he thought Sarcen was going. A few of Sarcen's shots hit his outer armor thanks to what Sarcen was aiming at. Katherine's blasts melted some of the outer armor on his arm on the other side. 

Frantic, he turned what remained of the tower's laser array, hoping to make his shots harder to dodge. He turned it to the outside of the tower and left it there. 

GM NPC EVIL BRAIN CANNON

The brains turned to fire on Ghid Squid's back, again. 

GM ???

The villain was hit by a couple of Katherine's shots as she entered and as he tossed his second robot over the edge. This wasn't going to work.

His form shifted into some reflective panels that reflected the lasers aimed at him around the room, and turned those lasers on Karter's back. 

OOC: Y'know, he's also physically looking around. A good description of the reception area he walked in would be nice, please.

OOC: Y'know, he's also physically looking around. A good description of the reception area he walked in would be nice, please.

OOC: As you wish.

(Quick note on this: I'm starting to note that this RPG's design, while designed to accommodate my absence, is kinda wonky in the event of my presence. I'm feeling like I'm running one of those plot-linear video games and watching a bunch of people play it and make a bunch of "mistakes".

Hopefully once we get off Tranquis I'll be able to do less railroading, especially as the villain characters get more exposure.) 

GM IC GADGET

As Gadget walked into the reception area, as it were, he would notice a bunch of chairs on both sides of the room, some overturned, some covered in lubricants. His technopathy would reveal that those weren't medicines. 

The floor was covered in dusty footprints, although there were so many it would be difficult to distinguish any of them. 

In front of him was the reception desk. The desk itself looked like an ordinary desk, with several hologram tablets on it, some broken. His technopathy would tell him that these contained patient records. 

There were two hallways to the left and right of the desk, respectively, leading into the blackness. The sun was setting fast; it would be better if he found the entrance before it grew to be pitch black. 

IC Ghid Squidulus

 

Kicking back onto his feet to avoid the sword possibly digging into his shield, he unsheathed his knife from behind his shield. "Corrupt? oh come now, when was Hero Factory ever corrupt? sure, they gave us the ability to feel despair and depression, but... What did they ever do, besides stop people from killing each other?"

IC: Mr Vyle - Theatre Roof.

"You're the mindless enforcers for a dictatorial regime," he spat, taking a few steps back, and wondering why his electrified sword hadn't electrocuted the hero's simple metal shield, "You think you can just wander onto any planet and curbstomp the inhabitants into submission, all in the name of your so-called heroism." 

As the brain cannon opened fire on the hero's back once more, he did the same, firing off a few rounds at the hero's chest. 

GM NPC KARTER

 

Karter scrambled forward, away from where he thought Sarcen was going. A few of Sarcen's shots hit his outer armor thanks to what Sarcen was aiming at. Katherine's blasts melted some of the outer armor on his arm on the other side. 

 

Frantic, he turned what remained of the tower's laser array, hoping to make his shots harder to dodge. He turned it to the outside of the tower and left it there. 

IC: Saracen Rune - Main Communications Tower. 

The sudden reappearance of the lasers forced him to back off, circling wide around the tower in search of another way inside. He spotted the hole Kathrine had made in the walls earlier and flew straight towards it. Putting his rifle on his back, he spread his arms wide for a high-speed tackle as he sped through the hole towards Karter. 

IC: Gadget Thompson/Abandoned Hospital, Reception Area

Hmm...

I briskly walked down the left hall. If I didn't sense any hidden mechanisms or see anything suspicious, I'd immediately turn back and go the other way.

IC John Striker:

"Good. We're going to begin with simple yes or no questions. First: Do you know where the Heroes known as Bulk and Stringer are being kept?"

He kept his hand over the Civilian's mouth.

GM NPC KARTER
 
Karter wasn't exactly going to dodge the Hero flying toward him. He barely had enough time to stash his gun as he was slammed into. Thanks to his armor, he bounced on the floor, skittering towards a shattered window. 

GM IC GADGET
 
Gadget would find himself in what was a emergency room - for robots. There were re-chargers and quaza stabilizers and some nanites that Splint might recognize - these were a variant, although less effective than the ones he carried. This, with all measures of electrical and mechanical tools.
 
Beyond that was a hallway that he would be able to see bent to the left. His technopathy would tell him that they were offices...and that one of the offices had a broken terminal system, while the others were intact but shut down. 
 
GM NPC CITIZEN (W/JOHN STRIKER)
 
She shook her head no. 

IC: Saracen Rune - Main Communications Tower.

He kept propelling himself forwards, hoping to push himself and Karter straight out the window. Unless the villain had a jetpack or something built into that suit of his, chances were that the fall would be very unpleasant for him... 

IC Ghid Squidulus

Ghid didn't take long to make the space between the two attacks vacant, allowing the pair to shoot at each other. Unfortunately he dropped his knife.

"I'll have you know i don't curbstomp onto any planet unless we own it first." He whipped out his communicator. "This is The Squid to any nearby heroes, requesting immediate backup, on roof with brain-controlled energy cannon. Dumb crackpot on here won't stop rambling and fighting."

IC: Gadget Thompson/Abandoned Hospital, Emergency Room

Hmm...I picked up a couple nanites in a jar. Useful as they were, I didn't have to time to analyze them further. Where is the entrance? I went to a broken terminal I sensed. I proceeded to analyze it further.

IC Kathrine Scarlet:

"Well, when's the last time you met a villain who -didn't- run his mouth?"

I adjusted my fire, so as not to hit the other hero in the room, focusing in the combat drones.

IC John Striker:

"Do you know anything about the red crystals?"

IC Ghid Squidulus

 

"I'll have you know i don't curbstomp onto any planet unless we own it first." He whipped out his communicator. "This is The Squid to any nearby heroes, requesting immediate backup, on roof with brain-controlled energy cannon. Dumb crackpot on here won't stop rambling and fighting."

IC: Mr Vyle - Theatre Roof.

Confused though he was as to how the hero had evaded the shots from the front, and the ones he didn't even know were coming from behind, Vyle didn't give the hero a chance to radio for backup. The moment "The Squid" (not only did the heroes have a stupid cause, they apparently had stupid names now, too) pulled out his communicator, the larger robot opened fire on the device and the hand holding it. 

OOC: Waiting for an Aza post.

~Unit#phntk#1

OOC: Ghidora - AFAIK you aren't between the canon and Mr. Vyle. While I understand that Ghid Squid has enhanced agility, it doesn't give him eyes in the back of his head. You're playing this a touch implausible here. Consider this a warning.  *insert stern expression here*
 
GM IC GADGET
 
The terminal was pretty much broken because it was neatly bisected by...something that looked suspiciously like a laser cut. It was also severed from the wall. 
 
His technopathy would tell him that this part of the system has been forcefully wiped...twice. The parts that were removed were in the research areas - all the patient records were mostly intact. 
 
But what would likely stick out to Gadget the most was the huge hole in this particular office's floor, leading into a tunnel. He could probably climb down without much trouble, although if he wanted to use his hoverboard instead, he would have enough room to do so.
 
GM NPC CITIZEN (W/JOHN STRIKER)
 
She held up a pair of fingers with a small amount of space between them. A little.
 
GM NPC KARTER
 
Karter tried to twist out of the way as the springs in his chest recoiled and pushed Sarcen off, but he was already going too fast as he bounced out of the tower, scrambling for anything to slow his fall. One of his robots grabbed a cable and threw it out the window, and Karter grabbed it, burning his hands and causing his arm servos to scream and give out. 
 
He landed on the ground, his arm dangling limp by his side. Who was this character, anyway, and why did it seem that he could always outsmart him, every time? Wasn't he just a Hero Factory rookie?
 
Karter shook his head. A veteran in disguise as a rookie.