Justice League Generations (Inactive)

Game Master tumbler

"I don't think I have a brain either you know.The scientists said I'm just a bunch of plasma. Hot gas or something. "

"You know what I mean. you think, you have emotions, there's still neurons firing around in there."

Fortitude: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (8) + 15 = 23

Debbie does her best to hide her internal revulsion over the strange shift in reality.
She did her best to focus on her previous brave words and manner but reduced in size as a result of her flipped stomach. She had no wish to add to the sensation of internal vertigo.
As the group headed towards the Stinger she was struck with a flash of lightheadednsss overcome her briefly and her arm shot out to anyone nearby for something stable. "Little help?." she asked groggily.

Fort: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24

"You lean on me, I'll lean on you."

With everything settling down into a pre-flight/pre-attack status, the Lex-Sec take time to converse amongst themselves in an after-action report, and share insights and strategies. All of this is on an intra-net comm and isn't normally overheard (but any super-hero eavesdropping on the line only picks up a conversation about mortals talking about the fight that just happened.)

Then they help each other and go over their equipment, applying FastPatch here and there, and ejecting magazines and inserting fresh clips. The five that were injured complacently allow the suits to work on their bodies, injecting nanomachines and fast-acting amino acids into their bloodstreams.

After a few minutes, all the guards look hale and hardy.

Imagine also spends a few moments looking at them, in silent Tele-communication with them, though what she says isn't really discernible, but a few of the members nod as if in understanding of long-held orders. During one pass she herself nods and says, perhaps unconsciously, "Ha. Sure. It'll just take some dumb, worthless money."

In time the groups seems to finish up their business, and Imagine turns to their new friend. [to all:]'Pleased to meet you, Thurse. I'd ask what the hell a 'Durlan' was, but I sense that the time is not meat to discuss extra-stellar geography. But if you could, for those of us that just had our Reality turned upside down recently, please state, specifically, again, what you would like us to do? Are we just to observe His Homugousness? Or did you want us to engage? Or even engage targets of opportunity to make your invasion go smoother?

It's said that the first casualty of battle is the battleplan, so let's just go over it once more since we're gonna be all incommudicado an' stuff.'

Shale eyes his discarded vaccuum suit, "First question; does Mars possess or lack an atmosphere in this timeline? I dislike encounter suits."

"Durlans are shapeshifters.
There's some bias against them, partly for that and partly because some of the famous ones have been right evil bastards."

Captain Aterro turns his helmet in the direction of Debbie and Shadow appearing to be rather close. Possibly friendly. His internal camera is silent. So is his message.
"Imagine, objective 7 dash 39 completed."

Sinter spends his time trying to cough up non existent cookies from his non existent stomach.

Sinter, it doesn't have to be actual nausea. You could play it as disorientation or just a sense of distraction and "wrongness."

Thurse responds, "Of course, I am completely ready to brief you. We are currently moving into a stationary orbit around Mars. As soon as you are ready, we will launch the Stinger and you will pilot it to Earth. Given the ability of the ship to travel near light speed through its warp drive, you will arrive within a matter of minutes. Once you arrive, we will attack Mars Colony, which as a matter of interest is still mostly domes and underground tunnels at this point in your history, or rather future. We are not too far ahead of your own timeline and in the same tracks, as it were. There are atmospheric engineering projects ongoing, but normal humans would still live for only a few minutes unprotected on the surface.

Once we begin our attack, you will descend through Earth defenses and atmosphere towards Metropolis. We believe your cloak will allow you to remain undetected. Once there, you will attack the Monarch's homebase, as you an see here. Your goal is to engage Monarch, arouse his curiosity. If possible, carefully observe any behaviors that might reveal his or her identity. Most importantly, you must interact with his nano-fiber armor and attempt to determine how it functions. We have been unable to gather a sample of it, and without the ability to penetrate it, all attempts to defeat the Monarch are futile. Once you are able to gather useful intelligence, make your way back into orbit. We will be unable to use our own teleporters to reclaim you from the surface, but you can use your own ship, your own powers, a ship you commandeer, or Watchwall teleporters to reach orbit. From there, we will be able to transport you here as we did before. And before you ask, the WatchWall is a series of satellites built upon the same technology as the JLA Watchtower of your time. They surround Earth with a series of stations and superweapons capable of defending from attack but also of destroying the planet if need be."

I prefer the comedy value.

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Oh so close!
The time displacement causes Neil's nanites to hiccup just a touch out of step, enough for him to notice that they'll need a quick reboot. He nonchalantly exits his suit, which seems to crawl back under his skin.

"If I can get up close and personal with this Monarch, I may be able to interact with The Monarch's Nano-Fiber Armor."
How exactly, I'll have to figure out as we go along.

"Durlans are shapeshifters.

There's some bias against them, partly for that and partly because some of the famous ones have been right evil bastards."

"Yes, Shadow Star. You refer, no doubt, to the invasion of the Dominion and the Alien Alliance that attempted to neutralize the meta-gene that gives so many inhabitants their powers. You may be aware of our goal in that invasion to prevent the unpredictable mutation of humans and their tendency towards destruction. You might also not that The Monarch probably proves that our motivations were accurate, and that a denizen of Earth has destroyed cultures across multiple universes."

"Considering how many aliens there are on Earth, I don't see how 'limiting the human meta-gene' has much point.
Or how a race all having the same power makes their culture more acceptable.
But I can't say my people's visits to Earth had any better reason or that our culture's been all that wonderful, so let's not debate it now."

With the current relationship between Earth and Mars, it is 8 minutes from Earth to Mars using the lightspeed drive of the Stinger.

Here is a pic

The stinger is a stealth ship, fast and maneuverable but with no weapons and only minor defenses. Most of you are tougher than its outer hull, although it does include a repulsor system to prevent it from running into space dust and micrometeorites. There are multiple redundant stations for pilot, co-pilot, systems ops (sensors, cloaking, navigation, etc.)

It is probably closest to a Star Trek runabout with a really good cloak? Other comparisons are welcome, but it is also pretty close to the javelin we used earlier.

When everyone is recovered from their time sickness, you suit up, load up, and launch yourselves from the hangar into space. This is the first trip into space for some of you. You can see Mars hanging nearby, but no other spacecraft or satellites from your vantage point. You have just enough time during the trip to get nervous (well, except for Shale, who has time to get a Bachelor's degree). As you approach Earth, you can see a necklace of Watchtower like satellites, superweapons arrayed against both invaders and Earth itself. A quick scan of the planet surprises you. Most of the planet is devoid of city life and urbanization. All of humanity seems to have been concentrated into a megacity centered around what you knew as Metropolis (which is located on the East coast of the US between New York and Boston for our purposes). The city stretches roughly the size of Texas, and contains perhaps 14 billion people living in stacked roads, train systems, and every utopian futuristic innovation you can imagine. Much of the United States is devoted to agriculture, but the rest of the world seems to have been depopulated and returned to a "natural" but possibly over manicured state. You aren't quite sure if you are looking at Utopia or Dystopia, but it is certainly ordered and logical. Carbon fiber tethered space elevators reach into space, and the sky is filled with satellites of various functions.

At the center of the "city" is a massive tower 4 miles tall. At first you are reminded of The Lego Movie, but then you realize it must be what The Monarch calls home.

I'm having a lot of trouble posting to the boards. Not sure if it is my connection or something else.

It's not just you; I've had the same thing going on.

Yeah, things were pretty flaky all day yesterday.

There's a (pretty great actually) Pathfinder Humble Bundle going on right now, and there was a deluge of people downloading.

"What year is this, exactly?"

Alright, it seems like the site is (mostly) acting normally again. Let's try to get some momentum back! =)

Imagine scans the readouts coming form the planet. 'This is all wrong. It's like some kind of environmentalist's wet dream--all of humanity packed in to a Hong Kong-esque sardine can, with all the rest of the little birdies kept in tight boxes, all for the sake of...I can't even understand what the point is, other than to keep all of humanity under a more efficient iron fist.

Well, if we're gonna go be heroes, let's be about it. What should we do? Just fly close to the Tower and look for room in their parking garage? Actually, that might not be a bad idea....'

"Well I can fly down, but I'm kinda obvious.

There's a (pretty great actually) Pathfinder Humble Bundle going on right now, and there was a deluge of people downloading.

"What year is this, exactly?"

This was a legit question.

@ Sinter: Remember, we're in a Stinger stealth ship. We can try flying it anywhere.

Yes, I remember, but Sinter is not the sharpest tool in the shed. He understands that staying on board is a better bet.

"By my calculations, this is an ideal form of living-- strictly by the numbers. Numbers don't account for human experience though. I can't quantify all the suffering. In this kind of living, the poor are extremely poor, or dead."

Capt. Robo eyes the tower.
"Simply parking into that tower won't do. It's 4 miles tall which will give The Monarch plenty of time to escape. Shale, I can trust you to run recon. Dive out of the Stinger, run up, down, in and out of the tower and give us a full read of what we're dealing with here, structure-wise, then return to the Stinger. If Shale's recon proves The Monarch is present, Imagine, get your men ready to cause a distraction. If we divert their attention elsewhere, we may be able to have Shadow-Star blink us right into The Monarch's main chamber."

(well, except for Shale, who has time to get a Bachelor's degree).

Niiice! Given all this delightful leisure time then, can I sift through the computer at high speed to try and read up on the people and culture in this version of reality? Tech-Level is likely to be the most important question; what can they do with science in this reality, and what still remains science-fiction?

Computers: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

"I have no issue doing so, but keep in mind that while I can be hard to spot at high speeds, I am not invisible. Likewise, even in our time, secured locations often had warning systems specifically designed to detect rapidly approaching objects. While in our time cruise missiles were the concern, a human-sized object was not entirely beyond detection for sufficiently advanced systems. When I first arrived on Earth, I inadvertently caused more than one accidental incident with various world power's early warning systems, both via radar, and by being careless with breaching the sound barrier. Apparently, remote listening posts are, or were, common along sea lanes and in the arctic, to aid in the detection of submarines or low altitude aircraft. The Flash had to assist me in learning the correct protocols to avoid misunderstandings."

"Now, if I shift myself out of phase with matter in this reality, I will bypass any solid substances, such as air, and therefore avoid any audible signs of my presence, or air pressure disruptions. However, I am still visible to lightwaves, and both radar and lidar will detect my presence and inbound speed. A security alert would inevitably be triggered. If we could find a way to render me invisible to EM radiation, those early warning systems could be easily bypassed; my own abilities should suffice to circumvent audio, seismic, and air pressure detection systems."

Imagine frowns at Robo. [to all:]'I -know-. We've ran simulations based on this sort of thing. The only way this kind of thing POSSIBLY works is if everyone. EV-ERY-ONE. Is kept poor, sick, and demoralized to a point unimagined since the Dark Ages.

Also, it's bad for business. No profit with a planet of slaves. Jus' sayin'.'

She turns her head and stares at the Sec guards. A few nod their heads and their helmeted heads give an all-too familiar aura of fatalistic determination. The cherry ice cream smile returns to her face.

[to all:]'Just give the word. If there's one thing that these men are good at, it's killing people and breaking things.'

Alternate: Shadow Scry (ESP R6 Visual, Flaw: Medium (shadows, darkness), PF: Subtle R2 Linked to Quickness R9, Flaw (-2): Only to use Notice, Search) (1 pt)

This power was designed to allow me to quickly look at everything in a large radius and act as a watchman for my whole city. (It's dangerous out there in the wilds.) Perhaps we will try it? R6 ESP is 20 miles, Quickness visual search is 1 months search takes 6 seconds. It requires a medium-Shadows/Darkness. (Yes, I have darkvision)(Unfortunately, if it is brightly lit enough, my goggles won't protect me from the light blindness.)

Search: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (19) + 17 = 36
Notice: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (7) + 18 = 25

"Get me closer. I'll take a look. I can see from every shadow and from every dark corner."

The year is 2052, which is 32 years after your present.

There are no information banks on the Stinger itself, but Shale is able to receive transmissions from Earth that contain a wide variety of information, much of it in a the style of propaganda. In the past, at a time that is unclear, the world was troubled by problems from nuclear proliferation to space based weapons platforms and a motley collection of super powered and costumed heroes and villains. On top of that, Earth was routinely threatened by invasions from other dimensions and other planets, resulting in massive destruction and the death of millions. After an attack by an enemy known as Inferno, which seems to be both an individual and an invading species?, killed billions of people across the planet, a savior arose in the form of an armored hero who the people of Earth acclaimed their Monarch. The Monarch defeated the Inferno and then proceeded to tame the supervillains of Earth. His/her harsh methods brought him into conflict with many of the heroes of Earth,and eventually war. In the end, all of Earth's heroes were either dead, exiled, or had joined the Monarchy.

And then began the rebuilding. The Monarch reached out to the population of Earth and set them to revitalizing the world. The population concentrated themselves in the growing metropolis of, well, Metropolis. The city is now vast, a layered wedding cake of public transportation, occupation, recreation, and every activity known to humans.

Unlike your dystopic fears, Metropolis is a city without poverty, without homelessness. There is free health care, mental health support, education, career counseling. There are artists, programmers, wildlife rangers, and everything imaginable. Except criminals. There are no criminals, no rebellion. Rather than being confined to a Blade Runner style city, those who live in Metropolis can quickly travel into the wilderness for relief or recreation. The current population of Metropolis is about 7 billion, and in the past 14 years 12 people have died, mostly in accidents.

Metropolis is the center of a multi-versal empire, and life is good.

Security and defense are provided by a metahuman defense force, supplemented by a variety of adaptable androids.

As Shale relays the Utopian-esque data, Imagine rolls her eyes. "You can't tell me that everyone is happy without a backyard, so I call Mind Control. And, fine, I'm not one to judge. Mind control is great, some of my best friends are mind controlled. Have. I meant to say 'have' mind control.

I don't know about you, but I aim to misbehave."

I think Shadow is actually the best option.

Imagine turns her gaze on Shadow. "Alright, dude, let's have it. There's an invasion going on here. Where should we hit?"

"Hey, give me a minute- that central tower must be 4 miles high.
It's not like checking the drawers at a sorority house.
It'll take a bit.
Give me some specifics to look for if you want to speed things up.
Do you want to wreck things, locate security stations, find the throne room, or just raid the kitchens?
Should I be looking for weak points to crash the ship into, empty corners to Shadow Walk towards, some way to trigger the fire alarms, or a data station to hack up?"

"Oh, honey, if you were to check -my- sorority drawers it would take a LOT longer than a minute." Imagine's lack of a wink is, itself, salacious. "As far as what to look for, I think Captain Robo had a thought on that. Something about two things: One, the Big Man himself, the Monarch, and, two, the security offices. My minions can hit the security points closest to the Monarch, and that will give us some alone time with the M-man to get a look at him.

That's what we're here for, right? Just to looky? Not to touchy?"

"If they've been dealing with powers all this time, Hell, if he's actually one of us, there will be defenses in place.
I'll look for blank spots in the place while I'm Night Watching."

See previous rolls for initial notice/search.

Further rolls:
Notice: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 18 = 23
Search: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (10) + 17 = 27

Looking through the massive tower, you find scenes of urban utopia. You see families, couples, children. Offices, playgrounds, schools, workstations, control centers. There are communications systems everywhere. It appears that the massive structure is more than just a building. It also acts as some sort of dimensional antenna, allowing those within to communicate with and monitor feeds from across the universe and more. Perhaps this is the origin of the technology you saw before.

Sliding your senses through the massive building, your senses slip into the shade of a tree on some sort of arboreum level. At first, you are ready to move on quickly, seeing a grass floor, a playground full of earlier elementary age kids. Then you do a double take to see a massively built figure in blue and gold armor refereeing a soccer game between a bunch of elementary kids.

The Monarch (sans volleyball)

As for technology levels, the general populace has access to sophisticated tech. Energy weapons, robotic servants and protectors. Teleportation isn't widely available, but is available to the military and police.

"Um, either he's in a park with kids playing or he's got a duplicate running around while he's hidden."

pause

"Why is it that every time we look for this guy's dark agenda, we come up wrong?
Unlike the one who sent us here- who attacked Earth to get us to respond.
Are we sure we're on the right side?"

"Well, that's why we're here. Recon."

"Let's do a bit more digging and decide for ourselves."

At Shadow-Star's words, Imagine freezes. She looks around, as if she's tasting something strange and unpleasant. She speaks up. "You think we're being double-crossed? I HATE being double crossed. But what about all those images we saw? Where he's taking over different universes? (Universi? Universesus?)

Alright, everyone who thinks we should first try talking to Monarch, raise your hand."

Imagine raises her hand, takes a count.

"Everyone who can get to Monarch without being seen AND will be someone he wants to talk to, raise your hand. Careful on this, guys and gals. This hand raise counts as a volunteer."

Imagine raises her hand and waits.

"I guess we should talk to him. I sure don't want to get in a fight around kids. "

"We could check his rooms while he's out- if I ever find them.
He could have this place set up to make himself feel good about his rule.
That way we learn more before confronting him.
I'm actually on Earth to study peaceful and successful governing and I can tell you that the one thing I've learned is that this place should not be possible without a fundamental change in the actual people.
And in our time, humans have not decided exactly how to define or create those changes."

Imagine nods vigorously at Shadow-Star. "I know, right?! What the hell? That's why I call mind control! Unless...unless it's not in which case we SHOULD talk to him! Just to get his secrets if nothing else! Do you know how much money we could save if LexCorp could make employee quarters with this kind of effect?

Alright, so, can you do that?"

tilts head in thought

"I suppose if your empire was large enough and your personality diagnostics accurate enough, you could move anyone unsuitable to the established circumstances into a different paradigm/situation. Thereby reducing the possibility of non-conformity by sorting into conforming and self replicating groups instead of altering the group dynamics otherwise. There would have to be continuing analysis done, as individuals experienced gradual or even rapid personality alteration. Group integration could reduce graduated stress on the individual level- that could be key. You'd likely have to back the process up with extensive use of 'matrix-of-change' style reinforcement."

shifts attention; looks at Imagine

"Huh? Do what?
Find Monarch's living quarters, study his HR department for their process, find the mind control system, or Shadow Walk somewhere?"

Scanning the building, there are no obvious quarters fit for anyone who rules universes. Nothing over rich, overly ornate. Certainly nothing baroque.

Imagine shakes her head. "Your entire line of argument is specious. An advanced society can only have a promulgation of self-sustaining ideas with the advent of personal gain, foremost would be personal space -as-symbol. To cram everyone into hyper-optimized conditions while simultaneously waving a velvet rope in front of their face is like throwing a ball near gravity: Something's gotta give.

Unless anyone else has any better ideas, I'm gonna get ready for my date."

At a nod to Aterro, the guard brings over what appears to be a hot/cold lunch bag. Imagine turns into energy and stuffs herself in. Aterro closes it and hands the bag to Sinter.

[to Sinter]'Giddy up, big boy! ;)

I'm pretty sure you must mean Shale. While I am fast, I destroy everything I touch.

Ah! Okay. Shale it is then!

Whoops! I just noticed that Shale is Rictor's character, and he's been out. Change of plans!

Imagine frowns at Sinter as he only sees the obstacles in the plan. Minor things like "destroy" "everything" and that it would make a "bad" "first" "impression" to a "world" "ruling" "mega-power". She shakes her head.

[to all]'Alright. Fine! I'll go myself. Shadow-Star, please do keep your ears on. I mean...keep peaking into the shadows and the dark places where light can not touch. Oooo, I probably shouldn't wear a skirt then, you naughty, naughty boy. ;)

I'm...I'm not hot on this idea, but this might be as good a shot we have. Does anyone have any objections? Or, um, does anyone who is not me want to make first contact? Anyone at all? No rush, just form a...a line....'

Her adamantine confidence shows signs of cracking, but it's quickly replaced by a bright smile.

"Umm, well I'm hard to kill, but I'm no talker. I could try if you think it's too dangerous for you. "