DragonRage

Mirri wakes up bright and early, and gets to checking her X-Wing and kit over for salvage operations with R2P14. When she notices the scorch marks, she does a brief perimeter sweep, grumbling about "idiots with Nar Shaddan cocktails and too much time on their hands." When she sees the group heading out to speak with Uber and L33t, she asks where they're going, and decides to come along. She'd like to meet our new allies in person. R2P14 is left to do final equipment checks and top off her spare oxygen tanks. When she sees the local tinkers, she does a double take, but manages to contain her fight-or-flight response (which really only does the first part) long enough to realize their outfits aren't authentic. "So, what's with the cosplayers?" She asks no one in particular, "No sane bureaucrat would put a convention in this city."

"No platinum here. It's rare and valuable," Vitor says, "And any gemstones I have fall under the 'magically active substances that might kill you' platform. But we should be fine for at least a night. Nobody's found us yet, anyway, and we've got sensors up around the perimeter so if we are found there'll be advance warning.

"A sparring match? When you're still recovering from a bite from the deadliest snake in the world? Are you insane?" Vitor asks Leo frankly, "I suppose you can have one of the tablets to do with as you please. No metal around, and no gemstones I can spare, sorry. Not unless you start drilling into the walls, and we kind of need those." He projects a mote of light with his hard-light system and starts playing it around the room for the kitten to chase. Stelio gains 1 strength from hitting the bag. Aquila gains one strength from pumping iron. Ena is able to use intelligence in place of dexterity for determining the DMR's crit chance now (trick level 1). Opal experiences some rather abrupt changes. A wide, adjustable top-loader sprouts from his magazines, and a laser sight appears below his barrels. Opal has gained the benefits of Eternal Arms Mastery and Bottomless Quiver of the Warrior Queen, ensuring that his wielder's attacks will never be hampered by any effects on them or Opal, and that any item that his wielder lifts and attempts to load him with may be used as a projectile. However, the class card remains frustratingly blank.

"Whoa, whoa, step back please," Vitor tells Leo, "We got you the antivenom in time, but your immune system's still weak. There's a lot of highly reactive and unpredictable stuff in here, some of it with really potent mystery. I'd like to say it probably wouldn't kill you, but that's not a chance I'm willing to take. So please wait until you've had some more time to recover." Vitor's circle flashes brightly, and Lucine feels a sucking drain of mana through the bone shard into the powerful spell. With a shimmer of red sparkles, a class card appears in the center. A picture on the front depicts a young woman with purple hair, red eyes, and very tight, armored clothes wielding a blood-red spear shaped like the one Vitor summons. "...I don't think that's Cu Chulainn," The Brazilian magus states the blindingly obvious.

"Those are grenades, Aquila. You pull the pin, throw it at an enemy, make sure nothing you care about is near that enemy, and boom! There's two types here. The flashbangs make a load of light and sound to stun enemies, and the frags spray shrapnel and fire everywhere." He holds up one of each as he talks to show the knight which is which. "I can do a bit better than that, Lucine," Vitor walks over to an unassuming metal panel in the back of the safe house, and pushes it aside with a grunt of effort, revealing another room behind. Inside the room lies a small table with a set of jeweler's tools, a rack vials of exotic substances (labelled as diamond dust, Athena's tears, distilled tranquility, quicksilver, powdered dragon scale, and essence of sunlight), a carefully carved, basic containment circle in the ground, and chalk sticks flecked with silver stacked next to it (presumably for temporary modifications to the circle). "Welcome to my laboratory. Such as it is. Please go light on the rarer reagents if you need them; it's hard to get more."

With Vitor in the lead, the group makes it to the Overwatch safe house in time to administer the antivenom to Leo. Leo gains the incurable status condition "Toxic Shock Syndrome", which lasts 5 in-game days and converts any new poisons he suffers from into constitution loss, killing him if it drains constitution while he's already at 0. Everybody gains 8 merit! Except Leo, who only gets 7. The Overwatch safe house comes with beds, several tablet computers with a satellite uplink, a small training area with a punching bag and some free weights, a well-stocked infirmary, and an armory which Nader presumably makes a beeline for. Armory Contents: [OOC: Feel free to rest up, train, and craft!]

Leo completes his golemcrafting with a flourish. It is excellent work, if he says so himself, especially since he was walking as he did it. A great job- Crunch. HSSSSSSSS. A series of sharp pains in his left leg prompt him to drop the golem and look down, where a large, brown snake is rapidly slithering away from him, its tail sporting a painful-looking kink and a boot print. He immediately starts feeling the effects, as stabbing sensations working their way swiftly up from the bite accompanied by sudden feelings of paranoia. "Holy shit! Taipan! Just stay very still and non-threatening until it leaves!" Vitor says urgently, with forced calm. "I've got antivenom at my safe house, but if any of you have a way to slow the venom down, now's the time. How the hell'd you miss the threat display? Wait, don't tell me, you stopped watching where you step. Who the hell does that in Australia? Santa Maria. Someone's going to have to carry him. The less he moves, the slower the venom will kill him."

"Right now? No. My magecraft works through touch, so I have to be touching whatever I analyze, and I only learn about whoever's used an item in the past," Vitor says, "So even if you put a Heroic Spirit's power into an object, I'll only read who's used the object. Sounds like that means I'd learn more about you. I could probably do more if I had some lab time to examine Opal, though. You said you have trouble choosing which spirit you summon? I still have the bone shard I read to emulate Gae Bolg. Could you use that as a focus to create a card for Cu Chulainn?"

"You can put an entire aspect of a heroic spirit into a mystic code? That's amazing!" Vitor exclaims, "I can only get equipment, and it's an imperfect copy at best. Plus it comes with none of the skills of the original wielder. It took a lot of work to learn how to use even the one I have. "But yeah, the big mage organizations and families are a lot nicer nowadays. Probably comes from most of the old guard dying in the Omnic Crisis. We lost so much knowledge it inspired a flood of new research, and closer ties to regular humans, like in Overwatch. And now new heroes are popping up, people with powers and skills that set them above the rest. Mystery is even getting stronger lately; seems like the more we learn, the more we realize is out there. It's a new Age of Heroes, and nothing from pre-crisis is set in stone anymore. And unless Talon, or some old fogies, or whoever you're trying to stop mess things up, it'll just keep getting better and better."

"What's wrong with being a homunculus?" Vitor asks, "Just because you were built instead of born doesn't make you any less of a person. And I've never heard of the Yggdmillenia, so they must be a local name. Definitely not active in Brazil. "And whoever that sniper was, if they could hit Junkrat's ear without getting the rest of his head, we're only living by their mercy and the grace of God."

Mirri walks into the warehouse, ignoring the people nearby, finds a private patch of floor, and goes to sleep.

Vitor asks to touch the shield, and assuming Aquila assents places his organic hand on it and concentrates. "Whoa. This is- I think this thing comes from ancient Egypt!" Vitor exclaims, "It's ancient... There's a lot of mystery in this. It... It was used by a Pharoah called Imhotep... to fight an alien invasion at the head of a team of Egyptian heroes? Wow, your world's history is trippy. If it has any special properties, they'll probably only manifest in a great leader, or while you're fighting extraterrestrials. I'll have to meditate on this later. I might be able to make a Phantasmal Blueprint from it. "Wait, did you say Einsbern? I've heard that name before. They're in a lot of old alchemy books. But they were wiped out in the first Omnic Crisis here. I'm sorry for your loss. They refused to believe that the works of science could be a threat to mages, and were overrun by drones commanded by the God Program Fenrir. Oh, a bit of context. There are these AI called God Programs around here. Nobody knows where they came from, but if you erase them on one server they appear on another soon after, even if there are no connections between the two. They name themselves after gods or supernatural creatures, can control any advanced technology they connect with, and most wish to see humanity rendered extinct. Fortunately, they're not all evil, they can be contained, and an AI with a strong will can fight them off. Heck, they might actually be divine spirits incarnate. Machine gods for an age of machines. It's fitting, in a twisted sort of way."

"I preface this by saying I'm an architect and amateur magus, not a mage-surgeon or something," Vitor says as the group continues toward the safe house, "But to my knowledge my magical crest and the circuits that come with it are a set of five diamonds in a disc of gold engraved with runes. The crest is implanted in my soul, and acts as a sort of interface between me and magic. The more and better magic circuits you have, the more mana you can put into your spells, and the stronger you'll be. My circuits are few and not exceptionally high quality, so my raw power is low, but I've practiced a lot, and my hard-light projector helps pick up the slack. Someday, I'll pass my crest and most likely my projector on to my firstborn. They'll probably have more circuits that I do, since I've been practicing and honing my magecraft since I got my crest, unlike my father may he rest in peace, and so be stronger mages than I am. In this way, we'll continue to improve and progress. "You're a gunsmith, metal man? You ought to take a spare weapons my teammates had. They, uh, won't be needing them anymore, so maybe you can do something with them. It's all powder weapons; a bit old school nowadays, but reliable and easy to maintain, which counts for a lot out here in Australia."

"A magical crest is something established families of mages use. It's a sort of enchanted construct that stores our discoveries and mage circuits for the next generation. I guess you don't have to worry about those, being from another world," Vitor shares, "But my crest only has five circuits, which isn't a lot, so the power of my magecraft is severely limited. And my hard light projector is built into my hand. I kind of like having two of those, and I'm an architect, not an engineer. I know how to use it, not how to make another one. You're welcome to a non-invasive scan if you've got a way to pull it off though."

"Great idea!" Vitor agrees, "I am Vitor Santos Schultz. I am also a mage, but a poor one. My family's magical crest is not strong. My best skill is psychometry, reading the pasts of objects I touch. But by combining this with hard-light technology liberated from Vishkar Corp, I can do some pretty cool stuff." Vitor waves with his artificial right hand, the white material gleaming in the sun, before conjuring his spear with a flourish. "By reading the past of an object with a rich history, I can create a copy of it when it was at its strongest. So by reading the past of a fragment of bone found in a tomb in Ireland, I was able to recreate the item it once was a part of. Emulated Phantasm: Gae Bolg." The spear shivers slightly at the words, "The weapon used by the ancient Irish hero Cu Chulainn, brought to life once more. I can do this with any historical artifact, though not too often and only if historical user was a person of great deeds and renown. I can also create lesser hard-light constructs, I'm a trained architect, and a decent shot? I know a lot about magecraft, so I could probably teach that too, but I've been limited by my family's crest."

Regi's second scan bears fruit! It looks like a bunch of assault shuttles (and civilian shuttles with snazzy paint jobs) have drifted in close to the Crescent while the pirate was blustering. The clever bastard put them on a ballistic intercept course before he revealed himself and started talking! Ciara reaches and powers up the Eclipse cannon without incident. Giocomo achieves a target lock on the pirate's Vanguard Destroyer. Roberts makes a Knowledge: Space Pirates check! 23! Roberts doesn't recognize these guys specifically, which means they're either new or not very successful. However, he does notice that the pirate vessel seems to be modified to look a lot shabbier than it actually is, a common trick in less safe regions of the galaxy. A grizzled sergeant slams open the door to Sojie's bunk. "Get up you swabs," he yells, "We're under attack! Stand by to repel boarders!" Scrag enters his mecha and asks for orders. The flight lieutenant orders him to go out and check the hull for hacking probes, boarding shuttles, etc. Scrag exits the hanger, turns left, and loses some paint to a drab assault shuttle heading for the hanger he just left! The shuttle is clearly not one of the Crescent's. Sigurdr's rage and La Lune's reasonable suggestions don't seem to daunt the pirate captain. "Yarr. I'd suggest you control yer pet, lest I make y'all walk the plank when I take your shiny ship instead o' maroonin' ya somewhere! Yar!"

"Ballista? These are called guns, and they're powered by tiny explosions. Basically, we have a powder that burns really fast, and occupies a lot more space after burning than before. So we put it in a tube with the bullet, and when it explodes it sends the bullet flying really, really fast. There's more to it than that, but that's the gist of it," Vitor explains to Aquila, "An interdimensional task force? I'd call bullshit, but after what we just escaped from that sounds almost pedestrian. But hey, if the multiverse needs me, sign me up. This world isn't too bad off, overall, so maybe other worlds need heroes more than we do."

Roadhog appears to consider his actions, mask panning between the sniper's location, Nader, and Junkrat, before he slings the wounded pyromaniac over his shoulder and retreats to protect his friend from the bullets and poisonous gas. Everyone breathes a discreet sigh of relief. _______________________________________________ "I've got a safe house nearby. It's not much, but it's got food, water, and medical supplies. We can regroup and recover there," Vitor suggests, leading the way as he continues to talk quietly. "Sorry, but I don't know who that was. There's only two people in Overwatch who could make shots like that. I know for a fact that Ana Amari is in Rio de Janeiro right now, and Hanzo Shimada uses a longbow, not a gun. Oh, uh, Overwatch is the organization I work for. A global peacekeeping task force recently reinstated to help fight growing instability in the world. We're still in the process of reforming, so we're stretched a bit thin. And we've only got a few magic adepts, which makes things even worse since there's two magical crises going up right now; this one and the one in Rio. Especially since we're supposed to keep the fact that there is magic as quiet as possible. Things are bad enough without wannabe sorcerers running around blowing up buildings. The only reason I can talk to you all about this is that some of you are pretty clearly mages yourselves."

Flee the Hog! The Mysterious Sniper shoots Roadhog in the face. He is not happy about this. Contagion runs for it! Aquila runs for it! Vitor runs for it! Vitor is safe! The Mysterious Sniper shoots Roadhog in the face again! Roadhog hefts his hook contemplatively, but after a few seconds of indecision waddles over behind Junkrat's house, presumably to take cover from the sniper and protect his ally. Alan runs away with his Doombot! Alan and his Doombot are safe! Leo runs for it! As he runs, he channels healing magic to heal Freya, Lucine, and himself! His frost brute also runs for it. Leo is safe! Sha'Tith burrows underground, his barbed wire dealing 1 damage to Junkrat and Roadhog. Contagion continues running! Contagion is safe! Aquila continues running! Aquila is safe! Vitor holds his action, hard-light spear at the ready. Red outlines in the shapes of Junkrat and Roadhog become visible through the house, making them easy to see, as two more grenades arc overhead from the Mysterious Sniper. Lucine runs for it! Lucine is safe! Freya runs for it! Ena runs for it! Ena is safe! Junkrat struggles futilely against the sticky grenade he was hit with. Blue Occultist lashes out with a rubber band, and pulls a small, round, green pin from Roadhog's harness. The pin has a smiley face on it, and is approximately the size of a tower shield to the tiny wire warrior. Roadhog shrugs off his sticky grenade, and pulls Junkrat free. Nader sights in on Junkrat's outline behind the house, and fires the Horsekiller, blasting through the house and dealing 21 damage! Junkrat spins around and collapses, his left arm blown completely off! Stelio holds his actions. Status:

"I think... I think some sleep might do more for me," Mirri decides, and heads for the warehouse assuming Frigus agrees that we're done here.

"Guh. Kusuke, I think that thing did something to me," Mirri informs Frigus with forced calm, "I feel a sense of cold, kind of like what you get from a place heavily tainted by the Dark Side, lodged in my chest. It feels very wrong." Mirri focuses on the light side of the Force, attempting to flood the cold presence with positive energy and feelings.

"A healer! Great! We can always use more of those," Samantha grins at the other woman, "My powers can be hard on my body sometimes, and I don't think a lot of the people around here are as cautious as they probably should be. But you sound like you're much better equipped than some of us. ...I kind of just throw cosmic fire at problems until they stop being problems." _______________________________________________________________________________________________ "Thank you," Lexiel accepts a pretzel, and it vanishes into the same place everything else a being without any digestive system, internal organs, or indeed metabolism puts what they eat. "I am Strike Captain Lexiel, of Overwatch, former Boros Sergeant, former Izzet Chemister, and one of what passes for commanding officers in this group. Huh, I don't think we ever settled on a name. Basically, I was a wizard, then I became a wizard cop, and I now serve with a peace-keeping organization dedicated to preserving freedom and innocent lives wherever we can reach. Being 'in charge' around here is more about giving tactical advice than anything. We don't have an established chain of command, and there's too many strong personalities for a traditional military approach to end anything but poorly. That said, we got pretty pasted in our last fights. Maybe people will be more interested in listening to a plan of attack now that they've come so close to defeat. Not that I'm entirely blameless; I keep expecting lone wolves and big shot heroes, where they come from at least, to react like trained soldiers. I'm not used to working with so many amateurs, and it shows. I guess we all have something to learn, eh? "So what do you bring to the team, Magnum? In the interest of tactical cooperation, it's best to share. I'm one of our best magical adepts, and to my knowledge the only one with a formal education on the subject. To that end, I have a wide variety of spells to protect, enhance, and heal my allies. I'm more focused on versatility than raw power, but I find having the right tools for the job is generally better than brute forcing things. My specialty, however, is summoning. I can create magical constructs to fight for me, follow my orders, and take hits for allies. They aren't actually alive. Even the self-aware ones are being remote controlled by one of my friends from somewhere safe, though those are still a work in progress. I'm sure you can see the advantages to a large supply of expendable bodyguards. I also have a powerful artifact called the Doomfist, but I shouldn't need it unless my entire team blocks a flash grenade with their faces. Again."

Lexiel considers going and talking to the new arrivals, but decides that LOTUS' blunt style might be better for getting the point across to those two. So instead she extends her wings and flies over Lucky and Rampart, aura on full blast healing (in case there are any wounded in the area it might stabilize, and also to drive home how they aren't in Kansas anymore), and lands in front of the Boomtown Express. She takes care to turn her aura down to its usual levels before heading inside. "Hello in there? I hear you like football. I also like football. Oh, Urza's bones that sounded awkward." _______________________________________________________________ "You can feel it? I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. A lot of people have since I got here," Samantha says, "Uh, you're probably feeling the Phoenix Force. It's this uh, cosmic fire bird thing? And it's obsessed with redheads it thinks are part of my family for reasons nobody knows. So it connects with us, sometimes, and makes the special powers we already had stronger. Before it decided it liked me better than my cousin and my alternate reality time travelling niece (don't ask), the only powers I had were enough telekinesis to lift a pencil and enough empathy to read people's emotions even if they were trying to conceal them. Now..." Samantha concentrates briefly, and several nearby rocks levitate, surrounded by a burning aura, before dropping back to the ground, smoking slightly. "Way more power, and less control than I'd like. I've only been in a few fights so far, but I've taken point in all of them. So stick with me if things get violent, and I'll keep you safe. Just... not too close. Fine control is kind of a work in progress."

Taylor takes Morelull and heads in search of the Wailord. "We should help the poor Pokemon," He tells the as of yet unnamed Morelull and Jet. "Your sleep powder can help ease its pain and help us remove it from any dangers without endangering us in turn if it decides to take hostile action." Follows after Kalva, keeping an eye out for any signs of danger.

Flee the Hog! A shot rings out like a crack of thunder, a contrail stretching from somewhere in the distance to Roadhog's crotch. The towering man groans in pain, and Aquila can hear something metallic deform and crack under the force of the shot. It seems Roadhog was wearing a cup, was being the operative word here. Nader, Contagion, Vitor, and Alan instinctively flinch at the unmistakable sound of a high-caliber sniper rifle. Contaigion gasses Roadhog, dealing 7 poison damage and inflicting the debuff Toxified. Aquila slams the hilt of his flail into Roadhog's groin, right at the point of impact where what he thinks might be some kind of magic arrow struck, dealing 16 damage. The enormously fat man groans, flinches, and stumbles, freeing Aquila. Deranged laughter echoes over the battlefield, and a thin, hunchbacked man absolutely covered in grenades jumps up on top of a nearby roof. "Callin in reinforcements on my pal Roadie? That ain't sportsmanlike!" He shouts in a thin, reedy voice. "Ordinarily I'd give you a red card for that, but it seems I'm all out. Guess I'll have to blow you up instead! Ahahahahaha!" He barrages everyone 1 block away with grenades, dealing 12 damage to them (before resistance). Most of the people in the area take heavy hits, but Nader's armor almost completely protects him, and Ena's armor completely protects her. Leo's Doombot is reduced to scrap. Blue Occultist takes no damage, but is hit. Vitor applies sentry turrets to Aquila and to Alan's Doombot. Vitor regenerates 1 HP. 4/10 Ultimate Charge. Something arcs from the mysterious sniper's position and latches onto Roadhog's chest before spraying silky, silver threads all over him and his surroundings, the threads missing Aquila by inches. The threads are apparently quite sticky, and have momentarily immobilized the massive New Zealander. With a roar of rage and pain, Roadhog tears off the webbing! Alan runs for his life, alongside the surviving Doombot. Leo orders his Doombot to run, and follows his own advice. The Doombot, being a smoking wreck, fails to respond. Leo's frost brute runs away. Sha'Tith creates a wall between Roadhog and the group (HP 90/90, Res 5), and uses his barbed wire and fire breath to deal 13 damage to Roadhog! Contagion shoots at Roadhog with his assault rifle, dealing 8 damage with the first shot, 8 damage with the second shot, and missing the 3rd shot. Aquila takes his chance to run for it! Whoever that archer is, he could kiss them! Or at least take them out for a beer. ...Maybe best to see them before offering to make out. Vitor runs for it! The mysterious sniper takes a shot at Junkrat, winging his ear! Lucine runs for it! Freya runs for it! Ena runs for it! With a scream of stark terror, Junkrat dives off the house, eyes comically wide. If he wasn't trying to kill you, it'd be hilarious. Blue Occultist siezes control of the icefire and pushes it off Aquila onto the ground behind him as he runs. Roadhog pulls a can from his bandolier and pours it into a nozzle in his mask. Noxious fluid and gas gushes down his face and his wounds close instantly, the bullets pushed out of his belly by some internal force. Nader runs for his life! Stelio runs for his life! Stelio attempts to paralyze Roadhog! 13 vs 11 success! Roadhog is paralyzed.