Escapades

Annie,

He finally did it, Annie. He almost did us in. I mean, even when we were working together, he was always a bit... oh, how to be considerate here... "reckless", shall we say? Even when we began to have differences of opinion on matters we could always talk them out; he always stayed somewhat within the realm of what I would consider sanity (at least for him).

I think, though, that the Rubicon has been crossed. We've had our Sterling Bridge and it turns out he was William Wallace. Not I. He is the victor, your Stuart the vanquished. He pays no real heed anymore to ... I don't know. I know he still wants his revenge, Annie, but I don't think he even remembers why. I know why I went down this path, but I've come to realize that it was a mistake. An awful mistake. I've lowered myself to their level, I've done things as bad as they've ever done, and for what? You're still gone. Nothing has brought you back. Nothing will bring you back. Whether or not I get our...my... "revenge" ... does it matter? In a cosmic sense, will anything change?

No.

Not that you'd have any idea what revenge is, you twat. If Blade had done me in, and gotten you as well, the world may have been a better place. He's gone soft, Annie. Remember how the two of you would sit around during the Arts Festival and snicker at the arseholes who'd come up from London with their "refined airs" and their limping fucking wrists? Lets just say given your darling fragile little groom's recent behavior, I'm the only one laughing now. If your precious effing hubby doesn't have the stones to finish what he started, then bollocks to him, eh? I'll finish the fucking job for him. Oh yes.

And when I say finish, I mean FINISH.

He wants to be with his precious little beau again?

That can be arranged.

Annie - I don't know how much longer I have. He gets a hole blasted in us by a thunder cannon, he laughs it off the next day. He gets run through by Black Paladin's lance, he laughs about it the next day. 700 year old French witches turn him into a frog, he laughs about it the next day. Blade puts him on death's doorstep without breaking a sweat, he laughs about it the next day.

I'm the one dealing with the scars. I'm the one not laughing.

I need you. Here. Please.

- Stuart

Press Release

From the office of Councilman Paul Hewsen.
For immediate release.

The people of this city were attacked last night. Make no mistake, this was an attack on your elected official, your government, and an attack on the people of this city. As your representative, I have striven to stand up for your rights as citizens against those who would use your government as their own personal piggy bank. I left my opposition no other choice but to retaliate in the most disgraceful manner, with an attempt to silence me by taking my life. It is the last resort for cowards and scoundrels.

Rest assured, I am recovering physically and my resolve will not waver. In their craven attempt to dishearten me, they have only awakened my passion even further. I will stand again for the people of this city. When I'm fully recovered, I will propose a new plan to fight the villainous and corrupt in this city. With the support of the good citizens of Los Angeles, we will chase this vermin out from the holes that they hide in, out into the light where their evil cannot survive.

No one has the right to use force to manipulate your government, no one has the right to subvert honest representation for all.

Councilman Paul Hewsen.

A (slightly) dated Hooligan journal entry

(Date removed)

I've learned many things about many things recently.

Deep.

First of all, make sure to write Trauma a script if I ever need his help breaking into a morgue again. (Did I actually think that was a good idea?)

Secondly, make sure if taking Trauma to help me break into a morgue that Legion is going through the back door at the same time, working a little magic on the security and surveillance systems. I get the impression he's dabbled in a bit more of this B&E nonsense than Trauma has. Or I have, for that matter. OK, some aspect of his brain has ... you know what? Thinking about Legion's brain makes me tired. Makes me want to put down my pen.

I need to commit a few things to paper, if only to help my own sanity. These murders have gotten under my skin. Seeing four young women snuffed out too young... it brings back something awful. I'm not about to let the Freedom Bunch know that my emotions are running high over this. I don't need lectures. I don't need Sister Vanguard and Mother Superior Durante rapping me across the knuckles with their yardsticks. We'll stick with the "good" Hooligan for now. I promise.

1 Tonya Morris DOB 7/7/1978 Worked for Lareau Pharamaceuticals, a division of OCP. No criminal record.
2 Sylvia Blass DOB 6/27/1978 Worked as a jr. accountant at Hewson Electronics. No criminal record.
3 Jill Heilmann DOB 8/14/1978 Worked at Latham and Associates law firm. No criminal record.
4 Hillary O'Conner DOB 7/30/1978 Waitress at Denny's, one arrest for possession of marijuna.

They were young. Very young.

I don't trust the LAPD to chase crapping dogs off of the mayor's lawn, so why should I trust the medical examiner to do a passable job either? That's the trouble with government work, I guess. At least I have Trauma. (God help me.) We concoted a plan to get into the morgue to have a peek at the young ladies. In all reality, there was no real reason for me to be there, but I needed... I needed to see. Or thought I needed to see. I don't know. I'm a little confused anymore.

Trauma took on the form of some poor schlub who worked in the morgue. The plan was he would walk us right past the front desk while Legion did his business in the back, and we'd all meet in the middle. The Janus "excuse" for getting us in, however, lacked a little ... something. I believe he claimed to have left his lunch in his locker. I almost died. Suddenly, I wanted to be anywhere but in the lobby of the morgue.

I let him founder a bit more before explaining to the desk jockey that "Jake" here owed me some money after the Lakers didn't cover last night, but that he'd conveniently left his wallet in the back. If he'd just shut up, let "Jake" grab his wallet and not worry about things, I'd be happy to split the $40 with him, since I was in a hurry.

This calmed him down a bit, and he let Trauma past. Trauma's post-bribe boobery is for him to explain, not me. I stalled the cops for a couple of minutes to give him time to get out the back, something he apparently hadn't thought about. We finally told him over the radio to run AWAY from the police and out the back, where we were waiting to spirit him away. Sometimes I think that lad is a little too naive for his own good. He undoubtedly loves justice and freedom and whatnot, but ... man.

However, while with the actual bodies, he and Legion managed to find a few things that had escaped detection by LA's finest...

- Some fibers were found on the victims which seem to have come from a very expensive Persian rug. No flying carpet or anything, just a really nice rug. (I assume it tied the room together.)
- Some of the cuts on Sylvia Blass look like the claw marks of a giant cat.
- Legion found a sliver of metal in a breastbone of one of the victims that seems to be bronze with some sort of metallic blood like substance included as well. Blood, but not blood?
- One of the victims (Hillary?) had markings on her palm from some sort of leather wrapped handle. Maybe she had a weapon of her own? The autopsy report is clear that it didn't appear she resisted in any way, and that her own wounds may have been self-inflicted (*cough* BS *cough).

We did some analysis of the photos as well, and none of our theories proved true on that front - apparently, they were being morphed into the same person.

Clear as mud, all of it.

Some cult or ritualistic group is apparently abducting young ladies born in the summer of 1978 and trying to morph them into the same person, but with so far unsatisfactory results. Perhaps we can use the pictures we have to assemble what their "target" looks like - black hair, yellow eyes, etc - and see if they're anyone that the group "knows". Seems like a flyer at this point, but I'd hate to see another one end up like you, Annie.

Annie, there's too much revenge to take in this world. This armor is the best and worst thing that ever happened to me...no, no it isn't. Nothing was as horrible as losing you.

I'll get them, Annie. Soon. Get the people who did this, and get the people who got you.

We'll be together again, Annie. Soon. I promise.

Brimstone

Vanguard Mission Log:

In the aftermath of the Viper raid, we manage to work well talking to the press. I did ok, and Tripleforte seems to have a real knack for public speaking. All the press was great, just the thing our fledgling group needed.

We talked to the solo hero's about possible membership in the Freedom League. Mr. Nobody and Starburst agree to become reserve members. Having Starburst to call on will be a nice reserve bit of power if we need it. Mr. Nobody has many skills that could help us during investigations. Sgt. Eagle agrees to join at least on a probationary basis. This makes a lot of sense, he doesn't know us very well and we really don't know him.

Black Phantom warns us that Brother Hood is trying to start a race war. He's bringing in some heavy hitters. Phantom says that he will let us know if he finds out more.

It seemed like a good time for a team meeting to get our bearings. I take a role of open "cases":

• The Knights of Genetic Purity: Led by Flare, these are the guys responsible for the Flea's condition. We need to find them and get justice.
  
• The Endicot situation: Mason is working on it, and Sgt. Eagle says he may have some contacts that might prove useful.
  
• Trauma says something call "The Church of the Army of the Lord" attacked him. He doesn't seem to have many details or information beyond that, but that's Trauma for you.
  
• Nicodimus escaped from Canada: not sure where to begin with that one
• Hooligan is working on a series of murders that appear to be connected. He needs assistance from Mason and Trauma.
  
• Tripleforte says he needs help to find "Micheal." He doesn't give a whole lot of other details. I confess that "Mystic Shit" gives me the creeps.
  

We were just getting into the meat of the open cases when a disguised Foxbat shows up looking to join the team! I was temped to just knock him around and be done with it, but then I figured, why not have some fun? I told him he had to spar with The Hooligan as his first test. I didn't think I'd need a second test. I was wrong. I think our attempts to real in the Hooligan may have worked too well. Foxbat left him in the dust. I quickly came up with a essay hoping to keep Foxbat busy for a while.

Meanwhile, Legion returns. Not sure where he's been but it was good to see him. He warns us that Viper is already arranging hit squads to come after us. I hope Legion can turn up some more information.

If that wasn't enough, Jeremiah Gabriel shows up (more Mystic Shit!) with a friend. He tells us that the "thing" is causing them all kinds of trouble with DEMON and they want to give it back. This seems like a really bad idea to me. All of use are essentially part-time so I'm not sure how we can guard it full-time. He also informs us that the entire inner circle of DEMON is believed to be in L.A. Ok, that cannot be good at all. Something big is about to go down.

As if on cue, a portal opens up in our freakin' conference room. At least you can't fault DEMON for not getting to the point. In pours zombies, DEMON agents, Morbanes, and some awful looking "Death Knight."

Of course the battle rages. Things went pretty well despite the odds. I tried to stay in the back and trouble shoot a little, throwing a shield over Gabriel at one point, but I ended up face to face with the ex-Knight. Tripleforte assisted me to take the big ugly down. Sgt. Eagle spent most of the battle surrounded by zombies, but managed to come out mostly unscathed and he took a bunch down single handedly. He never panicked; he's gonna be a good addition I can tell. I'm not sure what all Trauma was doing, but I'm never usually sure.

Mason discovered other elements of DEMON doing something else in the base. Gabriel went to assist and I sent Legion with him. I can't think of a better member to send when we don't know what we are getting into. Later, Mason and Gabriel asked for more backup. I hated to pull someone off the main battle, but sounded important. I sent Hooligan to back them up. It turned out to be a good choice, as he was able to subdue an inner circle member with his special brand of hospitality. As much as Hooligan sometimes gives me a headache, it's nice to have someone who knows how to kick ass and take names once in a while.

We managed to take out the entire strike force. Another problem surfaced, as we discovered Gabriel offing DEMON agents with a hideous knife. I managed to get him to stop, but this in going to be a stick issue to deal with. More on that later.

Who Are My Allies Anyway?

The day started simply. A meeting to discuss what our team had pending. We had our slew of usual projects. The “Endicot” problem. Hooligan & some mission with the local police. I mentioned the need to find Michael. I was of course blown off in getting any help with that. When the war comes we will not be ready without him & yet nobody takes me seriously. Vanguard told me this was a personal problem. Are not all of the missions we go on personal problems of some kind or another? I really have no vested interest on a personal level with Hooligans cops or Endicott yet here I am putting my neck on the line for their interest & getting blown off in return.
I do have to admit that I find myself sounding like some kind of, Holy Roller Quack,” whenever I mention what it is I need to get accomplished. If I were in there shoes, I might also think the same thing. Perhaps this is what caused Kane to go, Bug Nuts,” & start killing people who don’t follow his agenda.
Anyhow, Legion showed up to let us know that we had made some serious enemies with, “Viper.” They plan to hit us hard in the near future & we need to watch out backs. Great! Just one more group that is after me now! Let’s see I now have: Viper, Demon, Society of the Silver Sunrise, Endicott & his thugs…… am I forgetting anyone who wants me dead besides old girlfriends?
After an annoying visit by Foxbat another problem of mine shows up. Jeremiah Gabriel & Brother O’Brien arrive & need our help. Apparently, since receiving the heart of the Demon that Mason, Trauma & I recovered, the Vatican has been under attack. I did try to explain that we do not have the resourced to guard this when Vanguard interrupts & tells them flat out “No.” We can’t keep it here. Also, what is up with Mason. Ever since my friends arrived he is suddenly feeling sick and has to be excused? He did return but only after Vanguard had already made up his mind that Freedom League was not going to touch this project. Then Gabriel informs us how bad things are in LA. Apparently a bunch of big wigs in Demon are gathering here. Gathering like it is time for something to happen. It was about then that Demon attacked us. Zombies, Demon Warriors, & several Witches pounded our base & several members of the team. We were able to fight them off but the battle was messy. Then Gabriel started killing people. We were able to talk him down eventually but not until after some were already dead. I must find a way to prove to Gabriel that killing is not the answer. Hooligan, could also use this lesson.
I’ve decided that regardless of Vanguard’s opinion I am going to take on the Demon heart. There really is no other choice.
Sgt. Eagle mentioned when I asked him to join what our declaration of principles is. I had no idea what to tell him. What kind of a group are we without one? I think we should help others doing the right thing at all costs. Although, I don’t approve of Gabriels methods, I do think he is fighting a worthy battle against the forces of evil. If Vanguard & the others don’t agree with this then perhaps it is time for me to part ways with the Freedom League.

Sweet humiliation

I've reluctantly contacted Mason and Trauma to enlist their help in solving this string of murders the LAPD dumped in my lap. I'm not sure either is willing to ... oh, how to put this ... "bend" the law in the ways that the LAPD wants it bent in order to solve these cases.

We'll see. The litmus test will be breaking into the morgue and getting a better look at the victims.

Thus far theories and ideas are few and far between. They all seem to have been young women, decent jobs, upwardly mobile, and with no discernible relationship between them. All seemed to have been killed in the same manner, and that manner suggests the possibility of cult involvement - as does the fact that they all seemed to have rather drastically changed in appearance before (after?) their untimely demise.

Oh! Farmer Jack's is running a special on imports. Must stock up.

We had an official Yellow Alert meeting to bring everyone up to speed and decide who would work on what. We still have unfinished business with Endicott and his bunch (business I look forward to finishing, if you catch my drift). We're still looking into this whole vampire/mob/our secret IDs business (which I suppose is a high priority, but somehow I'm just not terribly worried about it. I should be. Why am I not?). We've also got these poor dead girls, which is going to be my priority.

During the meeting, we got a visitor - a new applicant to the team. Someone named Superbatfoxmanguy. I was asked to put him through the paces in the training room. I did. He then pulled a gun on me. Perhaps I should have made the parameters more clear? Hand to hand? I hate Foxbat. I hate him so much. This is what I get when I try to not harm someone. Next time I won't play nice. I'll use him as a damned caber.

As it turns out, most of the team expected me to break him into a million pieces. Sometimes I find my 'friends' are less predictable than Foxbat...err, Superbatfoxmanguy.

Also, Legion showed up. Did I mention Legion showed up? Legion showed up. I'm sure a long story is forthcoming. I'll need more Belhaven. Ahh yes! Farmer Jack's! Have to finish this up. Getting thirsty.

Yet another intrusion occurred during our meeting - Jeremiah Gabriel and some monk lookin' bloke showed up and started spewing a bunch of gibberish that I'm fairly certain didn't apply to me. That is, didn't apply to me before the zombies showed up through a portal looking for whatever it was that they were protecting for the Pope.

Here again I must question the tactics of the team. They get so wrapped up in taking down the big bad guys in the room they forget about the little guys - the little guys that end up nickel and dime-ing them right into unconsciousness.

Not me. I had me a go at some zombies, and I took out more than my share. After clearing my side of the room, I started in on some of the bigger looking guys in the corner, but Vanguard suggested I would be of more use out in the base aiding Gabriel and Mason. (And Legion, I guess. He was as sleepy as Mason when I arrived.)

I quickly dispatched some goons and a scary looking voodoo priestess. Gabriel took the chance to shoot her dead, but I was forced to intervene when she said, "If I die, your friend dies."

I don't know if she was referring to Mason or Legion, but since Mason is immediately important to me for my LAPD gig, I was forced to talk him out of killing the villain. I've gone soft. Too soft. It doesn't seem like so long ago that I would have been yanking the gun out of his hand to do it myself.

He insisted there were witches to kill, and that I needed to not get in his way. Maybe even back him up. I agreed. I felt a little better about it.

Of course, the rest of the team objected to his witch killing (predictability returns!). There was some moralizing about right and wrong and good and bad and blah blah blah. I just kept my mouth shut. The fight was won. As far as I know, we still have... well, whatever it is we still have. Thanks to Gabriel for putting us all is such danger without so much as a warning.

I'm thirsty. I'm off to the store. I'll write more when I get a chance.

That Voodoo that She Do...

An old friend of mine asked me recently, “So, whatcha been doing?” I answered with a smile and a quick “Just keepin’ alive.”

Yep, that about sums it up. I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I left the old group to come work for the boss. Can’t rightly say she bewitched me, but she did make a hell of a good offer. With the training and equipment she could provide, it was like living a dream. I was so busy it was almost maddening at times, but it was worth it all.

But I missed the old days, too. Sure, now I was offered all sorts of chances to set up surveillances in the most secret of places, I was learning how to become practically invisible, and I was learning so much more about how to take advantage of the “legion” in me.

But still, there’s nothing quite like kickn’ butt with the Hooligan. Well, and getting your butt kicked back.

It started with the morning news. Hot on the wire was a story about my old buddies, working under a new team name with some other guys I never saw before. Freedom Force, they called themselves. I sat back and reminisced a bit, then the boss called me in to let me know that my old buds were in trouble. Wow, talk about timing, huh?

She said that VIPER was sending a hit squad out on them. One of the big bad teams, maybe Snake Pit, maybe someone else. All I could really get was that it could be 6 or 8 baddies. Really bad baddies. She gave me some time off to do what I wanted, which of course was to go see the old guys and warn them. Maybe even offer to help.

I went to the Tower, found it easy to get in. Met one of the new guys, Mason somebody, and started up the elevator. Lo and behold, who should arrive right then but Foxbat. I almost split a side, he was disguised as some superhero wanting to join the team! He looked goofier than a size 10 Sallie in a size 4 baby doll shirt. But they humored him, and sent him into the training room with Hooligan to get his butt kicked.

But then it REALLY got funny! Old Hooly got his own butt kicked! He’ll never live this down, not if I got anything to do with it. But then Vanguard sent Foxy packing with an essay assignment. It was 10 pages, so we probably won’t be seeing him for a few days.

Well, I warned the guys about VIPER. They didn’t seem too worried about it, but I don’t know if they really understood what I was trying to get across. They hit the big time now, and whatever they’ve been playing up until now was chicken feed.

Then two froofy religious guys showed up, the place sure was hoppin’! Jeremiah Gabriel and Brother O’Brien, that’s who they were. This Gabriel guy said his team has been killed off, and something about how every member of the Inner circle of DEMON has moved here to LA. He wanted to give back the item that Durante gave them, just calls it “the thing”. Doesn’t want to keep the Holy Father in danger to keep the item safe, DEMON has attacked the Vatican even.

Well, I didn’t know what the hell they were all talking about, but I figured if I kept my mouth shut I’d find out. It was something they found in Antarctica, a holy relic of some sort. And now they had brought it here to turn over. What had these guys gotten themselves into?

Just then this guy Nicadamus called up, said “they’re coming for you!” Sure as shit, right then a portal opened in the wall, big and red as a beaten hiney, and a bunch of zombies came rushing in. With them came a couple of dead looking guys and some things they call “demon warriors”. Hell yeah, we fought! I took out a zombie and a couple of the warriors. I thought I saw some wand get passed from Gabriel to Vanguard, and then he gave it one of the bad guys! I hope he meant to do that, or he figured out that he shouldn’t and got it back! I could stick around to find out, Mason call over the intercom that he was up shit creek and needed help in the control room. I took off with Gabriel to see what was going on.

We left the combat at hand and ran down the hallway. We met with a weird zombie voodoo lady, and a couple of her cronies. I went to take on the zombie lady and knocked her down, but she was able to shoot a blowgun at me that entangled me with something. Before I could break free, one of the cronies stabbed me and I went out.

I was mad at myself when that entangle hit me. I haven't been in a real combat situation for a long time, and the sight of that dead-looking voodoo lady freaked me into doing something stupid. My style is firstly one of stealth, and of scattering the enemy's defense before engaging directly. Instead of using my tools of blinding and concealment, I rushed her head-on. I am grateful that I lived through this, to learn, but I fear the consequences will remain with me for some time.

All that time I was out, I was having one hell of a bad dream. I was back home, down in the backwoods near Leeville. I thought for a minute that Tommy Thibodaux was with me, like that night we snuck into picture show and dumped a bucket of toads we collected around Cocodrie. I remember looking down into that bucket in this dream, but there weren’t no toads. It was that strange lady’s face looking up at me, and then all I remember is her chasing me in the woods.

When I woke up, the guys told me that they took her down, but she did something to me to tie our lives together. She cast a spell, dammit! I can feel the taint of the voodoo on me as I write this, and I know I have to do something. I plan on heading down to the sticks, see if I can find myself a transplanted hoodoo and see if there’s a name for this spell, and maybe a way to break it.

But for now I need to go get debriefed. There's a lot of questions to ask, and some explaining to get from the guys. I can't rest until this spell is off of me, and the guys won't be resting either. That team that came in was not from VIPER, which means now they got two major bad-guy groups after them.

Yeah, sometimes it's all you can do to just be keepin' alive.

A Snake in the Grass

Vanguard Mission Log:

We were contacted by the hero group known as the Justice Foundation. They tell us of a plan to simultaneously attack several Viper nests in order to triangulate their computer transmissions back to the main Viper instillation. The plan was bold and we agreed to assist. We needed to attack the L.A. Viper nest, which is one of the world's largest. The Justice Foundation suggests that we get some other local hero's to assist, considering how much resistance we might face (not to mention that Legion is not around). We put the word out and manage to get some local heroes to agree to the plan:

• Crusader and Starburst agree of course. Crusader has no love of Viper and Starburst usually is willing to help out Crusader.
• Nightstick: a street vigilante operating out of Chinatown. He doesn't agree to help us fight, but will use his considerable infiltration skills to scout the base for us.
  
• Mr. Nobody: a shapeshifter.
  
• Sgt. Eagle: A new face, at least to us.
  
• Life Line: obviously he won't help us in the raid, but will be around to assist with injuries.
• Black Phantom: technically retired, but he agreed to help in a limited fashion.
  

We put together a simple plan. The plan was for us to disable Viper's vehicle pool, then while the rest of us assault the main base, Mason, Black Phantom, Mr. Nobody, and Nightstick will secure the vehicles and watch our backs.

The base was of course well staffed with Viper agents wielding high tech gadgets. Viper did have several superpowered villians at their disposal.

• Brick: superstrong and able to throw chunks of himself
• Damage: a mutant who wears and armor suit
• Hammerhead: a powersuit wearer with a really big plasma cannon
• Mindwipe: a mentalist who is a little unstable
• Faze: and energy projector who "fazes" in and out of reality
• Shattershot: crazy hit man who likes shotguns
• Shadowfist: bodyguard of the head Viper, Style

Things went relativity well. We made it into the base with a bit of resistance. On the first level, things got a little hectic. I guess it's not to surprising when you throw a bunch of heroes together who aren't used to fighting side by side. It quickly got disorganized, and the appearance of Mindwipe messing with Trauma's head didn't really help too much. We did manage to overcome the agents on that level, although I managed to get caught by a Viper blast and didn't see the whole battle. I'm told that Trauma's "girlfriend" Black Diamond showed up also, I can't even begin to make sense of that.
Things got a little out of hand after that. Mindwipe was down but not exactly out, and we failed to make sure he was out of the fight. Before I knew it, Hooligan and Starburst went ahead to the next level down and met the main Viper force. At this point we lost local superiority. The next few minutes were a blur of fists, blasts, and gunfire. It was a hard slog, and tactics went out the window and it turned into a superpowered scrum. Hammerhead was as nasty as we thought, and his plasma cannon caused a lot of difficulty. There was also a mystery guest that we didn't know about, and we still are a little unsure about.

The details of the battle are not so important. I feel that my leadership was not quite up to the task of this raid, and with all the extra allies, I lost control. Thing got out of hand and chaotic. On the other hand, our team showed a lot of Grit in the face of a deadly enemy. We all fought "tooth and nail" and managed to eek out a victory when things looked grim.

I will cover the aftermath in the next entry.

Sweet Victory!

As usual nothing turns out as expected. In a way this may be a good thing though. It just changes our strategy a bit. Viper had a few more surprises then we thought they would. The first being the big energy cannon leveled on us from the roof of the main building. Second, they are not sending all of their sups all at once. They also seem to have a much larger force of “normals” then I had anticipated.
Mason & his teams plan seemed to go off without a hitch. Although, momentarily distracted by some guards that had squeezed through the cracks of his foam gun. Mason was easily able to secure all of the vehicles that were inside of the hanger.
As for the assault team, like I said, we had some extra obstacles to overcome. The grounds seemed to be swarming with viper agents. Trauma charged into the fray & was gunned down very quickly. Vanguard & I stayed behind & removed the threats on the roof of the hangar before moving forward. Mr. Nobody swooped down from the sky to take on the two agents on the cannon. The rest of the team rushed forward to aid Trauma in taking down the Viper agents that were swarming in on us. The strike forces with some strong shots from the Hooligan & Sgt Eagle were easily able to pick off the swarm of Viper agents. Meanwhile, Starburst was able to lend his support in taking out the cannons. This left me in a position to try to help Trauma back to his feet. He was hit pretty hard when I arrived though and although I felt a huge surge of power from my tattoo I was not able to revive Trauma. He would have to join us later on in the fight.
Confident, that Lifeline would follow up & get Trauma back on his feet we only paused briefly before entering the studio.
Rushing in our team met up again with a large number of Viper agent. How many bad guys can be dug into one city! We also encountered our first super. Brick Leaped forward & started to throw pieces of him at our team. We quickly took down Brick when Phase appeared out of thin air. I put the hammer down on his brain which really made him mad. He charged me & sent me flying. I landed on the ground & took a moment to dust myself off & to survey the situation. By the time I got back on my feet Phase was down. I clobbered his brain one last time for good measure & went on to resume the good fight. Next Damage popped through the stairwell. We opened a barrage of attacks on him sending him reeling. Starburst then blasted & blinded him & he retreated further into the lair. We paused briefly to catch our breath and headed into the next level of the lair
Even more viper agents! My god what were they planning to do to this city. Along with this group of agents was Mindwipe. He quickly took after Trauma which turned out to be a big mistake as no sooner did he mind control him did his girlfriend leap in to avenge him. We are going to have a little chat with Trauma about keeping well laid plans a secret. She could have compromised our whole mission. Not to mention she was using deadly force against our opponents. It’s a good thing lifeline was here to put all the pieces back together. I decided to make sure nobody was hiding out in the rooms that we were leaving behind so I decided to start opening doors. To my surprise even the cooks in the kitchen were armed. I decided to turn on the charm & pressure them into getting the team some grub. Since they were just the help & not real agents I offered to let them go after cooking me a good meal. They agreed & started right back to work. I finally caught up to Trauma & Sgt Eagle. Trauma was still under mind control. I did not realize he was so weak minded or I would have tried to clear his mind & set him back on task. I got Sgt Eagle back on his feet & prepared to head down to what was hopefully the final level of this crazy lair. Just as I started to move Starburst went flying up the stairs. It must be the work of Hammerhead I thought to myself. As he laid sprawling unconscious on the floor. He didn’t follow the plan & let me hammer him in the brain first.
The final battle took all the strength we could muster. In the end only a few of us remained standing. It was the closest & most hard fought battle our team has taken on to date, it gives me hope that we can be an effective fighting force in the upcoming war to come. I think Vanguard & I worked well as a team in the final battle. He knocked them down &I would mop them up. A great strategy for future fights. I may suggest we continue working together. I also think that as well as things turned out we should ask all the Heroes that joined us to be permanent members of the Freedom League. I do wish the Flea could have been here to see our team succeed. I think he would have been proud to be a part of us today. I think I will go to visit him & let him see how well things went. With this victory I have no doubt that we will be able to avenge his brutal attack.

Hooligan Scribbles

Back to the grind with the LAPD. It had been awhile since the gits in blue had dragooned me for one of their little spills they couldn’t clean, and this one is a doozy.

Some freaked out serial killer has started picking off young attractive ladies in the L.A. area, and frankly, the Po-Po (I think that’s what Brother Hood calls them) won’t stand for attractive, young, dead white girls. I’m not a terribly big fan of them being dead myself, so I guess I have no real objection to lending a hand.

I’d just picked up some very preliminary info on the cases and was headed back to the SkyBox when I met the team rushing out. I hitched a ride to…where in the blue hell were we headed, anyway?

My questions were met with repeated answers of “YOU CAN’T KILL ANYONE!” Ugh. This shite again. I should have known. The Freedom League wants their victims alive, presumably so they can escape custody and ensure the League never goes out of business. I mean, I’m all for secure employment, but this is ridiculous!

The sketchy details I was provided were these: we’re on our way to a VIPER nest, our job being to scare them into dumping the data contents of their computers to another server far, far away. Apparently, someone was then going to make sure that info got into the right hands. Our hands? Whatever.

So we charged. I’ve elected to employ a new wait-and-see policy in combat, hopefully granting me more time awake and less time asleep. Flea convinced me it was worth a shot…Flea. Sigh. I hope he pulls through. He’s a good kid. A little naïve, but his heart’s in the right place. If I get my hands on the thugs…you know, maybe I’d better let the team handle it. Can’t have people dying on us. Wouldn’t be prudent. Isn’t that was President Bush used to say? The older one. Not this one. (Why is it that my opinion on this administration changes depending on which ID I’m sporting? Sometimes I love that Rumsfeld fellow.)

I digress.

My wait-and-see approach allowed to me to do considerable damage against the mooks and thugs that met us in the parking lot. One fellow in particular might have been too in the way of a soccer ball, but I think Lifeline attended to him. It gets tiresome to hear the groans of my teammates whenever I hit someone hard. They can splatter someone from hear to Nevada, claim accident, and the rest of the team consoles them. I actually do try to leave them in one piece, hit them a little harder than I’d like, and I’m a loose cannon out for blood. Utter shite.

We made it into the building – some sort of studio lot, it appears – and found more VIPER agents. We also found Phase, a right angering bastard if I’ve ever met one. What hits him? What doesn’t? When to swing? When not to swing? At least he seemed as pissed as I, and eventually we did away with him and with Damage, his little friend who ran ran ran. Mindwipe, on the other hand…a floating hippie? I moved from the bosom of Mother Scotland to find myself fighting a floating hippie?

We blasted him down the stairs in short order. Man, this fighting like a team…assuming that Starburst, Black Phantom, Lifeline, and whoever the new guy (Major Dick? Captain Falcon? I assume intros will be forthcoming after the brawl) are on our side…this fighting like a team thing could work. (It’s possible that in the heat of battle and fog of war I might have given Crusader the ol’ Headbutt of Justice. Despite what my ‘friends’ probably think, I feel just awful about the whole thing. At least there was no hugging involved.)

Making our team stronger was the unexpected appearance of Trauma’s girlfriend, Black Diamond. Oh, sure, she robs and steals and plunders and loots and is in fact a super villain, but hey – he likes her, so she gets a pass. (Are you effing kidding me? The team doesn’t like Brother Hood because of his ‘methods’, but Trauma’s allowed to bring villains to the base and blab our plans to them? WHY ISN’T SHE IN JAIL?!? Oh, right – Trauma is going to ‘rehabilitate’ her. Apparently, he has license to do that now. I’m sure he’ll produce the paperwork giving him just such authority Real Soon Now^TM.)

I followed Starburst down the stairs to help restrain Mindwipe, committing not one but two errors in the process. First, I assumed either Starburst had put him out for the long haul, or the fall had done it for him (NOTE TO SELF – Please stop assuming your friends will kick a man when he’s down, no matter how necessary that may be). Secondly, in my haste to keep the mentalist from doing any more harm, I failed to notice that the stairs opened up into a room full of elite VIPER agents and supers.

Hammerhead took the brunt of one of my soccer balls, but didn’t seem to notice. He fired a photon blast at poor old Sunburst, putting him down for the count. I elected to retreat down a side hallway and take my chances with one or two opponents until the rest of the League arrived, but those two opponents turned out to be Scattershot and Damage. Whoops.

I put everything I had into a soccer ball on each of them, and did some hurtin’, but I knew two on one it was just a matter of time. That shotgun hurts. A lot. My teammates are here!

Scattershot’s shotgun is here. Again.

Hooligan go sleepy now.

Poor Leadership

I'm taking the blame for not showing good leadership during the last battle. Something about missing the first session threw me off. I'll try to to better in the future.

--Tim

Cheat Sheet

Here's a link to a Hero System combat cheat sheet that might prove useful to some.
Find it here.

FROM THE PRIVATE DIARY OF SGT. EAGLE

A letter to:
Captain Star-Spangled, 42 Much Drive, the ash heap of history

Dear Capt.;

Writing to you is futile, in more ways than one. But that hops, as the cool cats say, because I’ve been thinking of changing my nom de guerre to “PFC Futile”.

Where to begin? “They told me that you’d been to her, and mentioned me to him.” Viper is still Viper. It’s nice that some things never change, because the attack on the base was definitively not Golden Age. More like Brass Age.

The Freedom Bunch is sloppy, very sloppy. They’re sloppy in their dress, and they’re sloppy in their execution. To them a “plan” is something to discuss in your fancy penthouse, not something you implement on the field of battle. Rather than concentrating their fire, they just spray it around like water out of a hose. They keep their more homicidal members out of the planning sessions so as not to alarm their allies, and then they have a flying medic on retainer to patch up the victims of their excesses.

Blast. Listen to me go on. I’m probably the last guy in the world who should carp about homicidal heroes. And to you, yet. What was I thinking?

I wonder if the Freedom Bunch know a flying stone-carver?

The real problem with the assault was me. I’m just glad Fen Lo wasn’t there; I’d never hear the end of it. I probably won’t, anyway. Hiding things from him is not only futile, it’s counterproductive. Elbow in. Elbow in! ELBOW IN! I must, must learn to focus. Also to pick up my feet: I got flattened by a tossed agent when I thoughtlessly placed myself downrange of my allies’ fire zone.

Due to failures in my technique I missed almost half the time, and when I did hit I didn’t always take the target down. Now that latter would be understandable against some villainous behemoth, but Viper agents are supposed to go down if you look at them cross-eyed, aren’t they? Oh, wait, that’s if YOU look at them cross-eyed. I keep forgetting. I’m probably too busy turning green watching the supes flit around through the air. Maybe I should practice flying. Based on my batting average, I’m clearly flapping my arms enough.

The gadgets: I don’t always use them at the right time, or on the right target: the gas bombs are NOT for regular villains. Once I tried to get fancy with a two-fisted gadget attack, and got nothing. Another time I muffed my throw and slopped a flash bomb right onto one of my affectionate allies; haven’t I learned my lesson about being sure of my target?

To be fair, I did owe Trauma one. During the assault on the penultimate floor of the base, he got it into his head that I needed a hug, and much slapstick ensued. This is not to blame him: I think he got mesmerized by the villain called Mindwipe. I spent most of that phase of the battle dodging his embrace. I tried to out-run him, but he was a lot faster than I expected. He’s also got a grip like an atomic vise. You would have shrugged it off, but I had visions of Valhalla.

In the end, the job got done. That’s what it all means, daddy-o. So tomorrow it’s kata. Tomorrow it’s lay out the utility belt and repack it in the dark. Tomorrow we try to get to Carnegie Hall. Tonight it’s some Ben-Gay for my bruised ribs, and a little of that Sleep of the Just. If we’ve learned one thing, it’s that there’s always a tomorrow.

Stay out of trouble, and hope I do the same,
Sgt. Eagle

The Awakening

I have to change. My actions and deeds have led the Freedom League down a path that I still am unable myself to fathom. I have to learn to understand my destiny. For if I do not, I fear all of my allies will suffer the same fate as the flea. The foul face of the fleas attacker is now burned into the core of my own soul. The fleas attacker tortured him. Kept him at the brink of conscience & at the height of pain. He was made to suffer for what appeared to be no reason. Unfortunately, I think I do know the reason. The only logical reason to resort to this kind of torture as far as I can see is to send a message. A message that only someone with my powers and abilities would be able to see. I feel rage not only against the evil man that bestowed this punishment on the Flea. Not only on those that have the Gaul to name themselves Knights & aid in the Fleas demise as well as the murder of innocent youths. Mostly, I feel rage burning inside myself for allowing this to happen. The flea was the best of us. The one whose soul was least tainted by the everyday trials of life. Now I fear that by my lack of action against the forces of evil the flea will never be the same again. Trauma seems to have been successful at repairing the fleas body. However, his mind & soul still greatly damaged. I must seek a way to repair these wounds as well if the Flea will ever be able to join our crusade again.
It is time for me to change. Time for me to decide why I am doing all of this. Yes, these powers are giving me the fame I have always craved, but I am finding that fame may not be all it is cracked up to be. It is time I start using these gifts that have been bestowed upon me to help others more then to help myself.

With that in mind we have an opportunity to strike a blow against a large evil. Working with other heroes in the area we have the chance at striking a blow against a very powerful criminal organization called "Viper." It seems that some associates from my past have found a way to strike at the heart of this elusive organization. An organization with no identifiable center. By striking several locations at once & setting off their warning signals we can hopefully help find a way to shut down this group of high tech villains at it's core. In LA we have now assembled a team of agents & fighters to lay down an assault that will send a message back to the core of Viper. Other teams doing the same in other regions should then lead us to this "Vipers" main pit.

Our plan: To strike Vipers base in what appears to be an Indy Film lot. One strike team will go in and take out Vipers hanger full of vehicles while the rest of us will strike the area that sets off vipers warning & shutdown systems. With any luck we can also capture the leader of this cell so that we are able to extract even more information about "Viper" and its organizational structure.

This is a test for me. A test to see I can change my ways. To fight for more than my own selfish agenda but for the good of the great new world that will come.

First Log

FROM THE PRIVATE DIARY OF SGT. EAGLE

A letter to:
Doctor Cosmonaut, #1000 Journey’s End, wherever commies go when they die

Dear Doc;
Temptation has come and alighted on my shoulder, again.
I felt your shade was disquieted when I re-donned the mask, as
I wrote you then. I wonder how you feel now? My recent “successes”
have borne the penalty I should have expected, but didn’t: Crusader
came to me last night, with word of a raid a local supers group is
planning against a Viper nest. These supers (the Freedom Bunch, or
something of the kind) are recruiting for the mission. I was
grateful for the invitation (although not as grateful as I had been
for Crusader’s aid against the Astrologer; Crusader is really top
drawer stuff). The thought of going up against Viper again filled me
with a poignant longing; the Captain always loved fighting those
snakes-in-the-grass. Remember the time you teamed up with them, in
Chicago? It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “political
machine”. If it hadn’t been for the traffic jam on Lake Shore Drive,
you might actually have gotten away with it, but then you’ve never
been lucky, have you? Especially not that last time.
But that’s enough of auld lang syne. I went to Freedom Tower,
to hear their pitch. They’re an odd bunch. Their leader, Vanguard,
seems steady enough, although his cape flaps gently even when there’s
no breeze (and yes, I said I was done with capes, but you don’t see
ME wearing one, do you? Others can wear them if they choose – that’s
the American Way). Durante I didn’t get a clear read on, he comes
across much like he does on television. The negro, Trauma, had a
plucky sense of humor, reminding me somewhat of the way Flamestar
used to wisecrack all the time (you remember Flamestar, don’t you?
Summer of ’60, Malaya. We really cleaned your clock that time).
The real joker in the pack, though, was the one they called
Mason. I’ve seen him before, down by the docks, driving trucks.
He’s tied in with those Klu Kluxers. Dinky dow. Clearly he’s a
double agent for someone, but the question is: Who? Are the Free
Bunch infiltrating the segregationists, or is it the other way
around? I don’t have enough information, yet, to answer that, but
during the Viper raid it shouldn’t matter. I can keep an eye on the
mole for the present. I don’t want to go shooting my mouth off when
they still regard me as wet behind the ears, that’s just asking to
get my can kicked.
That’s the penultimate difficult with this, actually: Trying
to be honest without dragging my whole, sordid past across the
table. This isn’t about me, after all, it’s about them and their
mission; I’m just one-time fire support. I’ve told them that I’m
primarily a martial artist, and that I have some gadgets, and all of
that is true. What I used to be doesn’t come into this, at least not
much. As Sensei says, do not strike at the dragon while stalking the
buffalo.
The ultimate difficulty, of course, is how you would feel about
all this. That bothers me. In life your feelings were the least of
my worries, but in death they still haunt me. Karen’s right,
though: to refrain from doing good is no way to atone for doing evil.
We go in tomorrow. I’d better close this and get some sleep.
I hope it’s not too warm where you are.

Your only mourner,
Sgt. Eagle=

Combat Choreographer

Combat Choreographer

Just a reminder of the useful little tool to make your Champs combats a breeze.

You can't always get what you want...

So, last night's adventure was a failure, but a qualified failure anyway. Despite Nigel's assertion, a sensor reading does not constitute proof of anything, at best it is probable cause. In this case there is no remaining evidence of any biological agents. Here is what ends up happening to end this particular story:

The cyborg Knight agent tortures the Jean-Baptiste, as I said, and JB spills his guts. Upon learning that JB is an UNTIL agent and that there is a squad of UNTIL agents outside looking to bust him, the Knight moves quickly to destroy evidence. First he goes and magnetically deletes then destroys the computer thus eliminating all files related to the operation. If there was any evidence directly tying DanCo to the op, or clues to the identity of the White Queen, or other leads to follow, they have been destroyed. He then headed into the lab (located in the room behind the room where he interrogated JB) and proceeded to destroy the evidence there, and presumably the biological sample if there was in fact one.

It was while he was doing this that the remaining 3 agents; Masa, Lisette, and Parvati, came upon JB and freed him before the Knight could return and kill him. Upon entering the factory they encountered little opposition from the workers, most of whom fled when faced with heavily armed cops. However, if the truth be told the Knight would probably have slaughtered a mere 3 agents (JB was too badly hurt to be much help), but he was too busy torching evidence to turn his full attention to the agents, then he shot his way out to get away rather than stand and kill you guys (this being very rational behavior on his part...where you see a few UNTIL agents it is generally known they will be followed by more). Parvati was seriously injured however, and Masa minorly. Lisette's forcefield protected her from any real harm during the Knight's shoot out escape.

So where did it all go wrong, and why is it not an UNqualified failure? Well, of course one of the main problems was that Andy screwed up about as many rolls as he possibly could have. That's just bad luck. Overall your plan was pretty good. The real problem is that you failed (Andy mainly) to factor in the possibility of security systems being in place. In the previous scenario I told you what they were from the start, since Lisette and Masa were assumed to have scouted out the target before hand. Nobody ever asked about any security systems this time. To be sure, they were not as extensive as the previous scenario...in fact they were rather simple. There were photo-electric beams on all the doors and windows (and such things could easily have been disabled), a few cameras, and motion sensors on the roof (which was why there were no guards stationed up there).

Once the alarms went off, you guys were kind of boned. If you had been able to attack them by surprise so that they were unprepared and piecemeal, things would probably have gone different. The guards had no armor and were poorly armed, as you noticed they did not pose too much of a threat. So anyway, what went right?

Well, the evidence of the illegal arms manufacturing itself could not be destroyed, not before the UNTIL cavalry showed up and secured the place, so there was that. The shipment they recieved was a bunch of computer chips, processors, and other cutting edge electronics that had been hijacked, presumably to be used in the weapons and gear being made. Thanks to the fact that Masa stopped the truck from getting away, UNTIL can trace it. The truck leads to the arrest of several Russian Mobsters working a hijacking ring in Denmark and northern Germany. Unfortunately they seem to have no direct ties to Genocide, simply being paid to steal and deliver goods, so they have little to further the investigation. The security guards which were captured are likewise not much use...while they knew they were working for Genocide (and proud of it), they were essentially Pawns-in-training...do your time and prove yourself here and maybe someday you get your armor and blasters and get to hunt real muties.
UNTIL command seems very interested in your description of the guy with the sword. He is known as Scimitar, and has been making a name for himself working as an enforcer for organized crime in Europe. They have a suspicion that his real identity is Victor Zapotek, a former UNTIL agent in the Copenhagen office. When it is brought to their attention that he seemed awfully fast and strong for an agent, command clams up. You get the idea that there is more to the story, and that it is above your security clearance. They do suggest that he is unstable and dangerous, and holds a grudge against UNTIL. His behavior is unpredictable, so be careful.

In essence, if this mission had gone off without a hitch, Genocide could have been practically rolled up in Europe. This won't happen now. There ARE leads that can be recovered, but unfortunately it looks like it will be a long drawn out investigation now using covert ops instead of a chain of untainted evidence unleashing hordes of UNTIL squads.

So what is the aftermath for your characters?

Parvati as I said was seriously injured. She will make a full recovery, but will face a review board after she returns to active duty for her decisions. Command is still a bit unclear about how you guys ended up in Denmark.

Lisette is commended for her actions in helping save Allesandro's and Jean-Baptiste's lives, and is assigned to the Genocide case on a semi-permanent basis.

Jean-Baptiste is removed from active duty and sent for retraining. He messed up but is not given an official reprimand...he suffers from some post-traumatic stress due to his torture and it is considered best that they give him the soft touch and let him work his way back when he is ready.

Tranh IS given an official reprimand for cowardice. "We do not leave a man behind." He is quietly transferred to a backwater office in Asia.

Masa. Masa wins, ladies and gentlemen. First off, he is given an official commendation, a medal for his bravery in leading the rescue of Jean, and a promotion. After going over the after-action report and noting his exceptional marksmanship and coolness in combat, he is also given the chance to go to Tactical Command school. No EWD agent has ever gone to Tac Command before. Masa also becomes something of a hero, and achieves legendary status among his fellow EWD agents. He modestly attributes his success to playing "a lot of HALO". He, like Lisette, will be assigned to the Genocide case.

Allesandro was critically injured by Scimitar. He will take a long time to heal and does not come back 100%. He is no longer fit for Sky Cav, so he is reassigned and retrained specifically for work with the Intelligence Corp. He is also assigned on a semi-permanent basis, along with Lisette and Masa, to the Genocide investigation squad.

There you have it.

Death and other funny stories

SO I just had some random thoughts about the last few sessions...

Character death is always better when it is not really your character that is dying. The last fight was a bad one and I expected some folks might die...you did a good job though. The two softest targets were the ones which bit the dust, and they also happened to be the two mutants in the group, so it was sort of inevitable in some ways.

One thing I did want to mention though was the fact that I notice a certain tendency for gamers to want to go after the biggest bad guy(s) right away. In a superhero game this is normally easy to accomplish since the characters can often move quickly to the opponent they choose. However, it is not always a good idea to go after the leader first when he has a horde of agents. Why?

Well, first off it's not very genre. In the comic books they always fight through the mooks. But that's not really the best reason.

Some honcho types like to sit out of the fight, perhaps judging the opposition, perhaps they don't want to get their hands dirty, perhaps they just want to direct instead of fight. Taking the fight to them immediately draws them into the combat...and if it happens they are a good fighter you just made your job harder.

But the best reason is that, at least in Champions, agent-types are often heavy on offense but low on defense. That is, they can often dish out a lot of damage, but usually can't take it. They are easy to hit and go down for good with one or two hits. Boss-types are rarely like that. So for instance:

Lets say you are fighting 10 agents with blasters and a superstrong brick dude. The 10 agents can deal out 9d6 damage per hit, the brick can do say 12d6 or so. Tactically it makes more sense to take out the 10 guys first, because even though they do less damage, they can be easily disposed of. It might take you a Turn or even two to beat down the brick, and in the mean time you are getting blasted by 10 guys, who even if speed 3 will probably lay about 12 hits per Turn.
On the other hand, if you can take out 2 or 3 agents each phase, in no time you have reduced your damage potential to just the one guy punching you.

Champions is one of the most tactically rich games I have ever encountered...but it's hard to really see all your options unless you are familiar with the rules. A lot of players think they are mostly limited to using their main attack every phase and thats about it. I recommend to anyone picking up the Combat Handbook, it will really amaze you what is possible and I think make everyone a better fighter. Believe me, if I played my villains as smart as i could knowing the rules, you'd get beat all the time.

That has some relevance to El Picaro's death, because the strategy of just poking the brick every turn got him killed. What could he have done different? Well, being a fencer his best strategy would have been to hold his action and block the spear thrusts. He was faster, but that doesn't mean he HAS to go first. Plus, fighting defensively with a higher SPD meant that he could take advantage every time Warrior missed or did not have a phase at the same time. El Picaro could ill afford to take even a single hit from Warrior, but Warrior could take many from Picaro. Therefore the best strategy is to use your superior speed to defend and riposte when the opportunity presented itself.

I am willing to lend anyone who wants my Combat Handbook, but I also encourage you to get your own. If you want to borrow mine, just ask me.

The mini-adventure I will run on the 14th will put you one the other side of the coin...you will be agent types. Agents fall down easy...so you will have to use teamwork and brains if you fight any supers.

Hooligan's Log

Here is the last installment of Matt's log. I think it's been long enough that I can safely split the remaining xp between he and Tim, nobody else is submitting. I'll still take submissions for the final bonus (some kind of reward for the overall log of the year award) but hurry for those too. Matt and Tim have pretty much got the hammerlock on all the goodies this arc.

Ooze apparently killed the security guard on duty inside the fake tank after escaping from his containment unit – sure hope it didn’t happen after Vanguard tried to cut the phone lines. We also learned that the legitimate employees here and Allied Chemical in general didn’t seem to know about the research going on – in fact, many memos had been sent up the chain asking why the facility hadn’t been decommissioned, as it was obsolete and inefficient.

On our way out of the tank, we heard the sirens, and it was no surprise to this son of the Tartan when we came face to face with P.A.R.T. I went quietly. Again, it occurred to me that we had broken laws, and perhaps weren’t such good guys. The team took a very Machiavellian view, letting the ends justify the means. Lucky for them, P.A.R.T. went with it, and let us go. (So – next time that I let the ends justify the means, will the team back ME up? Oh fuck no. Flea will seem shocked at my actions, Vanguard will spew mumbo jumbo about what we “can” and “can’t” do, Trauma will insist that I need to be rehabilitated, and Mason will…probably take my side. I’m liking this Mason guy more and more.)

The reason they let us go was that Justin Grisham showed up and claimed to know none of us. Needless to say, yours truly was burning a little bit under the collar…I mean, this guy did try to kill me…but I stayed quiet while other members of the team snapped at him. We soon learned an interesting little tidbit – Justin has a twin named Raymond who runs Allied Chemical and Grisham Industries. (Mental note – stop going out of your way to trash anything emblazoned with the name GRISHAM, Hooligan.) He gave us a ride back to the SkyBox and even offered to sponsor us as a superhero group, something he apparently did for the New Guardians as well. Sponsorship would be nice. He seemed like a decent enough chap, and put us on a month long probationary period before he formally sponsored us. He also told us he wanted to be the first to know if we ran into his wayward brother. Seemed like a fair deal to me.

We went back to discussing a group name, and after several not-so-wonderful ideas were put forth, I suggested a patriotic name to deflect some of the post 9/11 criticism we’re sure to endure. Much to my surprise, the group agreed! (Side note – HOLY F’ING SHITE! They…LISTENED to me! Just waiting for the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse…) We finally settled on the name Freedom League. I think it has a ring to it, actually. We did well with this one.

Other interesting tidbits which happened in the last few days…

- I went down to the jail with Tripleforte and Mason to have a talk with Lodestone and Proton. Got there just in time to see Lodestone being freed by a group calling themselves “IMAGE”. It’s an acronym. I don’t give two shits what it means. Something about Mutants fighting for themselves. Can’t wait for the Mutant v Human war. It’ll be a hoot.

- The group is still pissed about the fact that I killed some skinhead scum. I wonder very much what their attitudes would be had THEY lost anyone close to them. The next time the death of my wife is trivialized or compared in scope to the deaths of a bunch of racist scum, someone is stepping outside with me. An ass will be kicked and kicked hard.

- Mason got into Marshall Endicott’s compound and found out three very interesting things…

1. Howard Fitzwater, Jr. is in league with the neo-Nazis.
2. The Neo-Nazis have brought in a fella named Blade to kill Mason.
3. Blade is supposed to kill me next.

This can only go well! We discussed having Mason “die.” I offered up the thought that maybe Mason’s redneck persona could “kill” me to shoot him up the ladder a bit. Apparently, Endicott doesn’t call the shots – there’s a big guy above him. Now we know where to throw our line in the water, at least. When I get my hands on these bastards…man.

All of this was brought to a halt by a personal appearance we had to make for Durante, who is still trying to get his radio show off the ground. We (WE?!? When did I agree?!?) agreed to make an appearance at the opening of Omega World, which is a theme park based on the superhero drama “To Save the World.” Things were wrong from the start – before we even got through the gates, we saw a large carousel in the entrance concourse spinning out of control. Flea tried to jump through the wildly spinning animals, and was rewarded by being smacked across the park. Trauma put a stop to it with his gigantism, and we got the people off. Mason meanwhile wandered to the Bullet Train, the world’s fastest roller coaster, and found that the ride was out of control. A recorded message said that if the speed of the cars fell under 120 mph, a bomb would go off, but with the cars continually picking up speed, the ride was about to shake itself apart. Vanguard and Flea took the task of getting into the cars and finding the bomb while Tripleforte and I scampered to the next ride, Adamantine Mountain. As we were running in, we heard a vicious explosion behind us, and saw that something had gone horribly wrong. This being the first time I’ve ever been confronted with an innocents body count, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind, but Morgan and I pressed on into the ride. We saw a girl tied up by the wrists dangling over the tracks while a maniacal teddy bear (WHAT THE FUCK?!?) hacked at the rope with a knife. Worse still, as we ran towards her a cage descended from the ceiling and trapped us good. I didn’t let this stop me, unleashing a soccer ball which turned the teddy bear into a ball of fluff. The only obvious way out was a large red button on the wall inside the cell which was labeled “PUSH TO OPEN CELL DOOR.” I knew it couldn’t be good, but after a few frantic moments of trying to find a different way out, I whacked the button – and the door swung open! Of course, it also freed a bunch of maniacal toys from another cell, all of them bent on killing the girl. I took a running start, jumped the tracks, grabbed the girl in midair, and yanked her to safety on the other side of the tracks, after which Tripleforte and I finished off the very painful process of destroying the toys.

Of course there was no rest for the weary, as a trip to the Knights of the Realm ride revealed a bunch of robotic knights and a hooded executioner about to behead another young lady. A recorded voice told us we’d have to bravely fight the knights to save the damsel – which we did in a good damned hurry. The executioner skedaddled, but had no useful information to give us.

The voice seemed very familiar to all of us – the Idiot King. This can ONLY get better.

We tried the JFO Tower, reasoning it would give the Idiot King a good perch from which to watch our progress, but struck out. We spotted him ducking into Hecate’s Hall of Mirrors and gave chase.

I’m not sure what all happened inside. We split up early on. I came to a dead end, turned around after hearing the sound of glass breaking, and found myself trapped in my dead end by an ominous looking cloud of gas. Eventually it cleared up and I wandered out. It seemed that other team members came out a little worse for wear. (Who knew that the Idiot King would anticipate we’d break the mirrors? Sometimes I wonder how my teammates made it out of primary school. Good Christ.)

We then managed to stumble into the Idiot King’s control room, and the fight was on – for most of the group. I zotted the Idiot King good with a soccer ball, but was quickly double teamed for my efforts and knocked into next week. When I woke up, I learned that the Idiot King had been apprehended thanks to the timely reappearance of Samuel Mason. Good for us – more than 30 dead, but the King is in custody. (Why?!? What possible use does his continued existence have for society? He spends two separate existences – he’s either a drooling vegetable leeching resources from society, or a dangerous master criminal killing innocents for sport. Why not put him down?!? The rest of the team seems eontent to let the system take care of these super baddies, and in most cases I can give in to their wishes, but in this guy’s case, I just don’t see it. The system can’t cope. How many more people have to die before someone puts this guy out of our misery?)

No time to mope, of course, because now Holocaust – the same mutant who slapped Executive Sanction out of the way and attacked the Pentagon – has given the people building the new City Center an ultimatum: stop construction on the building within 48 hours and tear it down, or he’ll do it for them. Personally, I think the thing is an eyesore and a drain on taxpayer resources, but I have a general objection to freelance demolition.

We started pondering what we could do, when we could do it, and how we’d go about it – and this is when my frustration began to grow.

We had an incredibly sensitive and dangerous situation on our hands. This will be our first time out as the superhero team defending Los Angeles, and we’d be fighting a mutant who single-handedly fought the U.S. government’s hand-picked superhero team to a standstill. You would think, given the circumstances, that the team would be entirely focused on the task at hand.

They weren’t.
Tripleforte was still moping about people dying at the theme park. He was too busy worrying about his stupid tattoo and his wacko friends. He was too worried about getting Mason in touch with the “right” people. Apparently, none of this could wait until our defining moment as a superhero team had passed.

Mason was too worried about trying to turn the building into pudding. Too worried about his golden girl. Apparently, she couldn’t wait until our defining moment as a superhero team had passed.

Trauma invited Black Diamond, a freaking supervillain, to the base so he could take her out for coffee. Apparently, that too couldn’t wait until our defining moment as a superhero team had passed.

Vanguard had to attend council meetings at city hall. Maybe, just maybe, the time might have been at hand for him to beg off and take an active role in planning the defense of the center? Apparently, his city council meetings were more important than preparing for our defining moment as a superhero team.

Flea? I have no complaints about the Flea. That poor little guy did nothing but plot strategy. He obviously wants this scrape with Holocaust to go well. Sometimes his methods and morals grate on me, but for this day, the Flea was my freaking hero. He understands that sometimes the team needs to set all individual problems aside and focus on one situation or one goal – as a TEAM. He gets it. I wish everyone else understood as clearly as we understand. Maybe it’s the fact he played basketball. Maybe it’s because of my footy experience. Whatever the reason, we seem to understand team play, and we’ve got to get the rest of the team on the ball.

Luckily, we didn’t need to let anyone know we’d be defending the CCB, because the L.A. Times headline the next day told the world we’d beat Holocaust. None of us talked to the paper. Turns out one of the idiot partners went and blabbed to the media about our upcoming exploits.

Tripleforte went to a press conference to discuss the impending attack (I refused. Fuck the CCB.) The party largely skipped it – the gist of the thing being that we were expected to defeat Holocaust and save the building.

My part in the plan was to taunt Holocaust into attacking me. (Wait a minute – I volunteered for what?!? It may be time to cut back on the Belhaven…) It worked like a charm, except for the fact that no taunting was necessary. He and his comrades came in all guns a-blazin’, and it wasn’t long before yours truly was knocked off the building and then tornadoed a couple of times for good measure. Amazingly, when I awoke, the building was still standing and the baddies were gone. Mind you, it wasn’t in great shape, and there were a couple of Sentinels laying destroyed around the building, but we were alive and praise rained down upon us from every corner of the city.

We also managed to trace the computer to which video footage of us fighting various baddies was being sent. It was some sort of warehouse, and we rolled into action. The group debated the best way to gain admittance to the building (disregarding my “JUST DRIVE THROUGH THE FREAKING GARAGE DOOR!” suggestion) until finally Trauma simply ripped a regular door off its hinges. It was alarmed. Maybe next time, I’ll get to check for that first?

We got into a vicious rolling fight with a bunch of machine-gun-wielding mooks, but they were little match for yours truly or the rest of the team. We found a staircase in back. Flea went down first and we immediately lost radio contact with him. The rest of us went in quick succession, and the next thing I knew I was standing in a big metal box. I was able to make out a door on one side and some monkey bars on the ceiling before the floor gave out from underneath me. I jumped up to the bars and took a look down into the water which appeared under me – water teeming with piranhas. I hung on as long as I could looking for a solution until finally, in desperation, I broke one of the light casings and tried sending electricity through the walls of my cell. It didn’t work, but the wire was actually long enough to stretch to the water. On contact, it fried the poor little fishies and all I had left to do was find an exit.

I soon met up with my fellow Freedom Leaguers and we found the control room in the center, where we met Interface. It seems Interface was the one who leaked the files on 9/11 to Silhouette, and as a result Doctor Destroyer was…displeased? Yeah, that’s the word. Displeased. Interface was now a strange mix of cyborg monster and manic depressive human. He was freaking tough to take down, but take him down we did. He didn’t count on us all breaking out of our individual traps and setting upon him like we did. Apparently, way back in the “bomb in the park” scenario, the pitiful explosion and gas cloud was really meant to cover us in radioactive dust, making us that much easier to track. Sadly (HA!) for Interface, Vanguard was trying to open the gates at the time and wasn’t covered in the dust. He had little intel on the councilman, and as a result had no idea what to expect from him.

So the Freedom League found itself triumphant again. Needless to say, I think all of the team members were surprised to find out who our nemesis was – at least I was fooled.

Now, as to those Nazi sons of bitches out at Endicott’s compound…

Mutants and Mayhem

Vanguard mission log:

The mutant known as Holocaust broadcasted on TV that he will destroy the new City Center building if construction is not stopped. Holocaust is a superpowerful mutant who attacked the Pentagon on 9/11. The government's superteam was only barely able to drive him away before he destroyed the whole Pentagon.

The people who are putting up the City Center seemed very interested in having us appear in a press conference before the time Holocaust gave as an ultimatum. We were staring at what could be a first shot in an all out mutant/human war, and they wanted good press! This seemed very suspicious. Mason was able to discover that the City Center is to house the new offices of the Institute for Human advancement. I should have seen that one coming.

I wasn't sure that this had anything to do with whoever keeps recording us, but I prepared to trace the camera signal, and we called in a favor to have a hacker trace the internet signal for us. I came up with a simple plan, and I thought were as prepared as we could be. I didn't know just how unprepared we were for the amazing raw power that Holocaust contains.

We set up our ambush. Holocaust arrived with two other mutants, Zephyr and Stormfront. They swooped down on us from above. I didn't even survive holocaust first blast. The amount of power was staggering, my shields couldn't barely dampen it. My recollection of the fight is naturally sparse, but I was told that everyone was involved in a desperate struggle. My teammates once again prove there mettle when things look grim. By the time I regained my feet, two Genocide Minutemen Robots were on the scene. (I think the Institute for Human Advancement is even more sinister than I thought) They murdered Stormfront in cold blood. They were not able to take out Holocaust however, and he started to tear down the building. I called him out and tried to stop him. He wanted to engage me in some kind of debate about me betraying mutants, but frankly, I was in no mood for banter. I managed to shore up the building before he blasted me into unconsciousness again.

When I woke up, I remembered the cameras. I spotted a flying camera platform speeding away. I managed to capture it. We were able to trace the signal back to it's source.

Finally, we will be able to get to the bottom of this nonsense.

At the location, we fight our way through a bunch of thugs. After dispatching them, we enter the facility. We trip some kind of trap, and are all teleported into separate Deathtraps. In my chamber, there are two vents that lower and raise the air pressure quickly. I realize that in not too long, I'll probably die from the Bends. I managed to use my powers to break the compressor, stopping my immediate danger.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team is dealing with their own chambers. The Flea manages to escape first, but is overwhelmed by our "host."

I notice that the power in the facility is fluctuating. I opened up the lights in my chamber, and crosswire them, causing a shortout. Our cells open and we managed to meet up in the hallways. We regrouped and go to meet our enemy.

Our enemy calls himself Interface. He's more machine than man. He tells us that Dr. Destroyer held him responsible for the failure of 9/11, and punished him. He's been studying us in order to take his revenge.

The fight was on. Interface had studied us well, and had lots of power, but he couldn't match our resolve. In the end, he lost and the Freedom League stood victorious.