We resume with Kale, Bully, Socks and Flux arriving in Westpoint outside of Chick's Café where Belladonna told them they had been attacked...only to once more find themselves surrounded by SOCorp Operatives!

Kale sneered at the order to surrender, teleported behind two of the Operatives, his eyes began to glow red, and he yelled with a watery roar: "You dare order a servant of The Leviathan to surrender?  I shall crush all of you!"  One operative immediately ran as far away from Kale as he could, right into the clutches of Bully and Flux, while another's hair turned white under his helmet!  The third in the area loudly proclaimed that he wasn't afraid of Kale, when Socks tore up through the ground and ripped his face off, helmet and all.

Flux began to form his whirlwind, while SOCorp operatives opened fire on Bully and Flux.  Flux' air shield fended off bullets while Bully just shrugged as the bullets impacted him.

The SOCorp Elite attacked Flux with a stun rod, hoping to disrupt his concentration, but Flux fended him off.

Meanwhile, on a transport rapidly heading toward Northpoint, Vincent Blevins – stepbrother of Mindstorm – and Belladonna kept taunting and tormenting him...informing Mindstorm that they would be torturing him for information on OMEGA before turning him over to Warlord Shavak!  The whole time, Belladonna kept asking Vincent if he was "sure" that the V'Sori could get her "home".

Back in Westpoint, Socks tore through the ground at another SOCorp Operative who DID see him coming, but Socks still tore him apart.

Bully found himself battling ineffectively against the SOCorp Elite leader, who was just a much better fighter...he just couldn't hurt Bully!

Flux got shot but quickly shrugged it off, and his cyclone erupted into existence, whipping one of the SOCorp operatives down the street as the frightened operative running from Kale was accidentally gunned down by his own men!

On the transport, Vincent continued to ridicule his brother, mentioning that his father was now Governor of Maryland as appointed by the V'Sori.  Mindstorm asked him why he should care, with Vincent replying that he just wanted Mindstorm to know that he and his father were still successful while Mindstorm wore a ridiculous costume and was an ineffective terrorist.   He then pointed out what a pathetic leader Mindstorm was for not even knowing his own teammate had been replaced!  When Mindstorm looked stunned, Belladonna filled him in – explaining how she had traded places with the "real" Belladonna back in the ammo depot several missions ago!  She told him not to feel TOO bad...after all, Bully and Socks were insanely easy to pump for information.  Vincent called them "the stupid ones" and laughed about how they were being gunned down in the streets right now.

Back on the streets, the newly-white haired SOCorp Operative shot Kale in the back...and he grimaced, then spun and glared at him...telling him he would drink his soul!  A blue aura with bizarre, alien tentacles began to surround Kale and he pounced on the SOCorp operative, who screamed out in agony as he died!  The SOCorp elite, getting desperate, distracted Bully while Flux drew his cyclone closer to the conflict!

Mindstorm was loaded inside an interrogation room at SOCorp Headquarters, where Vincent began demanding blowtorches, acid, knives...all kinds of implements with which to torture his brother!

Kale teleported between two more the SOCorp Operatives, and his bizarre aura pierced their souls and sent them screaming into oblivion!  Bully sneered, turned, and impaled the SOCorp Elite with his horns, ending the fight.

Belladonna inadvertently saved Mindstorm right off in the torture session, when Vincent tried to electrocute him, but she told him Mindstorm couldn't be hurt by electricity (he can when his powers are nullified)...apparently confusing Mindstorm's willpower for resistance to that method of attack.  So Vincent returned with spike knuckles with which to beat Mindstorm.

A shadowy figure called to Kale, Socks, Bully and Flux from an alley, saying "Come with me if you wanna live...I've always wanted to say that!"  He introduced himself as Izzy, and informed them that he worked for Willy the Fish, a local crimelord that Socks remembered, from somewhere, for some reason...but he couldn't quite place it.  Izzy told them that reinforcements were coming, and they needed to get out of there!

Flux and Kale began to discuss the ambush telepathically, with Kale suspecting that Belladonna had been forced to draw them there.  Meanwhile, Socks and Bully began an open dialogue, with Bully suggesting that he just take over as team leader.  Izzy chimed in, informing them that Belladonna betrayed Mindstorm, as Izzy had been watching things once word got to Willy the Fish that Vincent and Belladonna were hiring gangbangers for some plot.

Back in the police station, Vincent had beaten Mindstorm into a bloody mess, but Mindstorm still wouldn't break.  He taunted Vincent, telling him to let him go and they could fight this straight out, since Mindstorm was CLEARLY inferior to Vincent.  Unbelievably, the taunts got the better of Vincent and he let Mindstorm out of his nullifiers and shackles!  Belladonna swore under her breath and moved in on Mindstorm, but he dodged her and electrocuted her and Vincent, leaving his all-too-human brother in bad shape!  The SOCorp Operative moved in as well with his stun rod, but Mindstorm shrugged it off!  Vincent ran away, as Mindstorm blasted Belladonna, but she managed to paralyze him again!

Izzy led the team to a safehouse where Willy the Fish appeared on a monitor.  Socks again seemed like he should be remembering something, but he couldn't quite place it...Willy pointed out to the crew that they had a common enemy, and he wanted to help them get their friend back.  He gave Izzy a map through the sewer system to get underneath the SOCorp HQ, and a dozen men – ready to die if need be – would rendezvous with them under Downtown.  Willy gave them explicit orders: Get in, get Mindstorm and get out.  His men were prepared to die to accomplish this, but it couldn't be for nothing.  Socks asked Willy if he knew him, and Willy honestly said he couldn't recognize the face.  Socks asked if he knew the name – Socks' real name Jonathan Slade – and Willy looked surprised.  He studied Socks for a moment and said "Huh.  Didn't expect that."  When Socks admitted he didn't remember everything that happened before the V'Sori experimented on him, Willy said he wouldn't want to push things, but that they would have to have a long talk in the future.

Belladonna and the guard shackled Mindstorm again and slapped on the nullifiers once more, and Belladonna ordered more guards.  When he left the room, she dropped a bombshell on Mindstorm:  She is, in fact, "his" Belladonna...once she saw the "alternate" Belladonna captured in her place, she decided to pose as the "alternate" Belladonna in hopes of escaping to HER reality, where the V'Sori hadn't taken over and she wouldn't have to deal with the whole stupid war.  She told Mindstorm that the only reason she was telling him this was because she wanted him to know, undeniably, who had betrayed him.  She said, as she prepared to leave, that she would wish him and OMEGA luck against the V'Sori...but really, it wasn't her problem anymore anyway.

As Mindstorm rested, beaten in his cell, a cop entered the room.  A small, African American woman named Office Lila Jackson of the SOCorp.  She ordered Mindstorm to his feet and started marching him to the door...and told him that she needed to get him out of there right away!  Mindstorm asked her what was going on, and she told him she was a double-agent working for Dr. Destruction!

Under the city, Buster Squad and Willy the Fish's men had traveled without incident...until they came right under the police station where they found a dozen Drones, and the superhuman operatives Deathstalker and Lycosa!  Lycosa and Deathstalker were apparently up to something else entirely when they saw the approaching force!  Kale leapt into action, causing an earthquake that shook up Deathstalker (as well as SOCorp HQ)!

Flux began summoning his cyclone, while the Drones got into position to attack, and Izzy led Willy's men into doing the same!

Socks tore through the ground and ripped into a drone, then came face to face with Lycosa!  Lycosa asked if they had met before, to which Socks replied that they had, and he was looking forward to this!  Lycosa pounced at Socks, but Socks fended him off...but this was only a set-up for Deathstalker to skewer him with his tail!

The Drones and The Fish's Men traded projectile fire, with the drones largely getting the worst of it.  One of the Fish's Men got shot hard and went down, but the drone that did the damage was quickly taken apart.  Socks dove into the ground to get away from Lycosa and popped up between Deathstalker and four drones in a desperation move!  The boldness of the action caught them unaware, and Socks struck HARD (playing the Final Blow adventure deck card) and obliterated the drones as well as instantly tearing Deathstalker's throat out!!  Lycosa turned, stunned, to see his partner and ally brought down...when one of The Fish's men fired and blasted him in the head, sending the murderous Spider to his grave as well!  Mindstorm and Lila Jackson entered the tunnels seconds later, just in time to see The Fish's men swarming on the remaining drones to finish out the opposition.

Bully proudly announced that he led the team there to bring Mindstorm home, and bragged about his success in guiding the team to victory in the sewers.  Lila sent them on their way, then returned to SOCorp.

When Warlord Shavak arrived at HQ demanding to see the leader of the Cell that had disrupted his plans, he was sheepishly informed by agents that the prisoner had...escaped.  Officer Jackson helpfully offered a report, about how Governor Blevins' son Vincent had been taunted into letting the prisoner out of his nullifiers and lost control of the situation.  Belladonna almost interrupted...but she herself had grown sick of Vincent's arrogance, and let it go.  Shavak, not surprisingly, was FURIOUS.

Notes: Socks officially hit Seasoned at the conclusion of this, with Mindstorm right behind.  A ton of character stuff was laid here, especially for Socks and Mindstorm.  Next session, we should be back to mission activity, with the next Plot Point dropping when Mindstorm hits Seasoned (he's only one point away right now).  At or around that point, we will take a brief 1-2 week interlude playing some other game, then resume Necessary Evil.

New Session!

Izzy and Bully showed up at HQ with good news for Socks: His new, modified Fin armor should only be about a week out, as Izzy's guy in Downtown was working hard on it.  Mindstorm pulled Kale aside to ask him what he knew about the new guy, and whether or not Flux was trustworthy...not wanting to have another "Belladonna" incident.

Bully continued touting his success as a team leader, when Dr. Destruction updated their V-MAP with news that a missing villain had been found in Japan, a sabotage mission was required in New York, and recon was needed in the sewers under Beachhead.  Mindstorm pondered splitting forces, sending Kale on recon, Socks and Bully on the sabotage and he and Flux heading to Japan, but thought better of it.  Bully pointed out that he wanted to flex his "men-tic-al" muscles and go to Japan, but they all wound up heading to Tarrytown, New York anyway.

Buster Squad 5 met up with Tula Michaels, a human resistance fighter who had been fighting the V'Sori in Tarrytown since the invasion.  Her people had been on the run recently, after the V'Sori unleashed their Terror Gas, a fear toxin designed to target human physiology.

Sock quickly took the opportunity to inform the attractive freedom fighter that he was very much single, though the President's Wife was hitting on him.

Tula told the villains how the V'Sori had set up shop in Marymount College's science building, where they had begun developing their nastiness.  She said she would lead a strike team into the steam tunnels under the college and into the science building, though the tunnels would be too large for Bully.  She also said she had a diversion in place, with her people attacking the barracks on campus.

Mindstorm said that Socks and Flux (using his Earth control) could widen the tunnel for Bully while he and Kale summoning a vicious storm as a distraction.  Bully smiled softly at Mindstorm, slapped him on the shoulder, and said there wasn't room for two leaders:  Bully was going to lead the human assault on the barracks!

Kale and Mindstorm stood in view of the science building and summoned a nasty storm, Kale tapping into Leviathan's wells of power to form a massive downpour over the area.  Tula led Socks and Flux underground, Socks hitting on her the whole way.

Flux and Socks both felt the hair rise on the backs of their necks and turned, just in time to see a G'Rok rising through the pipes!  Tula spun and shot it, but the blast bounced off!  Flux summoned the earth to grasp the G'Rok, but it snarled and faded through the ground, emerging behind Socks!  Socks sneered as it bit him, but he shrugged it off and ripped its jaws wide open, then tore its heart out!  Tula, used to fighting alongside fully human fighters, was quite surprised at the whole thing.

The wind howled and battered the science building, as Tula brought Socks and Flux to the basement of the science building.

Bully told all the superpowered guys to "join me in the frontal assault, the rest of youse play clean-up" and they attacked!  Well, Bully attacked.  Since he was the only one there with powers.  One of the men radioed to Tula that the barracks were now under assault, and she led Socks and Flux inside.

Heading to the second floor, they immediately came face to face(s) with half a dozen drones still patrolling the building, as the alarms ripped across the campus!  Two V'sori scientists inside the science lab sensed the half-Atlantean presence of Flux and headed for the hills, rounding up Terror Gas while calling for reinforcements!  Flux began summoning a cyclone inside the building as Tula took a shot at the Drones and they returned fire!  Socks scored first blood, charging the first two drones and slashing them to ribbons.

Two drones extended vibro-blades from their arms and advanced, but Socks batted them away and Tula shot one of them down.  Socks polished off the other as the V'Sori made their escape upstairs.

Socks charged the final two drones just as the cyclone came into effect, and six more drones charged down the steps, led by two Fins!  The cyclone failed to move the drones, but Socks was able to get one of them.  As reinforcements moved in, the cyclone caught Socks and the other drone he was fighting, and whipped them hard into a wall, with Socks being hurt badly (3 wounds initially, soaked into 2 instead).

One of the Fins sneered and moved in with four drones trailing him, as the other Fin marched on with two drones behind him.  Flux was disappointed to see the Fin wasn't affected by his cyclone, and finally thought he might should move into different tactics.

Lula was shot by a drone but stayed in the fight, while Socks batted back the attacking Fin.  Luckily, that crack drone programming kicked in, and the Fin exploded in a mass of burning and body parts as one of the drones accidentally shot him in the back!  Flux sent flames erupting in the hallway, but the Fin caught in the fire just shrugged it off and moved in where his brother had left off on Socks.

Tula shot the drone next to Socks, taking it out, as two more drones moved into the hall and opened fire on Flux and Tula.  Tula was shot again and wounded very badly (now at 3 wounds) but Flux' air shield held up to the assault.  Socks played defense as the Fin pressed the attack.  The Fin was momentarily distracted when Flux unleashed a huge burst of wind in the hallway, throwing two drones past the Fin and through the wall!

Socks capitalized, killing the surprised Fin with a brutal assault before being shot!  A second shot on the wounded, off-balance Socks caught him in the face and he went down in a smoldering heap!  Tula screamed in outrage and ran to his aid despite her wounds, opening fire on the drone and killing one.  Flux ran down the hall and placed himself between her and the drones, buffeting the remaining drones with air.  This went back and forth, with Tula killing another drone, when Flux unleashed fire instead and actually caught a drone on fire, before Tula shot it in the head.

Outside, visibility was crap in the rain, but Kale's telepathy sensed a V'Sori presence on the roof and he alerted Mindstorm!  Kale uttered a spell and soared through the air with Mindstorm, the two landing on the roof as the scientists tried to make their way to their parked M'Buna!  Mindstorm, without a word, unleashed a burst of electricity that did little to one, but nearly seized up the heart of the other!  The remaining scientist turned and opened fire with the Terror Gas, but Kale and Mindstorm dodged, and Kale called forth lightning from the Heavens that sent the V'Sori to Hades!

Bully broke over the commlink and announced a status update: That he was now "covered in glory."  He was overheard commending the unpowered resistance fighters for making up for how their superpowered fighters chickened out.

Flux and Tula were on Socks, trying desperately to save his life as Mindstorm kept breaking over the commlink asking for an update!  Kale finally contacted Flux via telepathy, and told him that he and Mindstorm would be down to retrieve Socks and Tula, and told Flux to use his control over the elements to "bring Hell to this facility".

Socks, conscious but hurt badly, was cracking jokes about the whole attack, even while Flux was commenting on the burnt scar running across his face.  Tula smiled, touching it lightly, and commented that "chicks dig scars".

As Mindstorm, Kale, Socks and Tula bugged out, Flux summoned a massive firestorm inside the laboratory, sparking a huge explosion centered on the second floor.  Flux strode out of the building with purpose, Mindstorm and Kale noticing that his duraweave costume had taken on a bizarre red glow that it hadn't previously had...

As the two cells went back underground, Tula told Socks that what he had done, charging head on into the enemy forces, was "not cowardly"...and she asked him, a little sheepishly, if perhaps he wouldn't come back to Tarrytown...sometime.

Dr. Destruction broke over the commlinks, interrupting the moment, and told the cell that he had an urgent mission for them, stemming from his conversation's with the President's family!

Meanwhile, word spread very quickly about how the mutant terrorist Mindstorm led a vicious surgical strike on Tarrytown, New York, wreaking havoc on V'Sori forces there, and setting back their efforts at combating human terrorists.  Warlord Shavak, annoyed, pondered out loud: "Now where I have heard THAT name before?"

Notes: Mindstorm broke the squad up this mission, and I don't think it worked out well at all...and I don't think he thought it did...well, aside from Kale and Mindstorm being in prime position to intercept the V'Sori scientists.  Socks and Tula are developing a bit of a connection, thus adding another NPC element to the tapestry for the players, which is cool.  Socks was officially Seasoned going into this, and saw a slight evolution in his powers: He beefed up Toughness and Parry, while also adding Wall Crawling (claws).  Mindstorm officially hit Seasoned at the end of this session, and thus I am moving the team onto Episode 4 in the Plot Point campaign.  Flux, after nearly killing a teammate with his cyclone, finally decided to shake up his tactics a bit, utilizing his other powers.

The adventure deck was used to great effect: Socks drew two cards, one of which was Second Wind, which he used fighting the G'Rok.  Flux wanted the Relic card played, since he didn't use his card the last time, so his dramatic firestorm inside the lab has left his armor/costume with unusual properties (to be determined).  At the last bit, Socks swapped his second card with Mindstorm, giving Mindstorm a +1 charisma for his "amazing deeds"...so I ruled that word spread quickly about this assault...about Mindstorm in particular...who is EASILY the face of this cell.  Next week, we play on Saturday...most likely doing Necessary Evil again, with the possible scheduled break coming the week after.

New Session!

Izzy and Bully showed up at HQ with good news for Socks: His new, modified Fin armor should only be about a week out, as Izzy's guy in Downtown was working hard on it.  Mindstorm pulled Kale aside to ask him what he knew about the new guy, and whether or not Flux was trustworthy...not wanting to have another "Belladonna" incident.

Bully continued touting his success as a team leader, when Dr. Destruction updated their V-MAP with news that a missing villain had been found in Japan, a sabotage mission was required in New York, and recon was needed in the sewers under Beachhead.  Mindstorm pondered splitting forces, sending Kale on recon, Socks and Bully on the sabotage and he and Flux heading to Japan, but thought better of it.  Bully pointed out that he wanted to flex his "men-tic-al" muscles and go to Japan, but they all wound up heading to Tarrytown, New York anyway.

Buster Squad 5 met up with Tula Michaels, a human resistance fighter who had been fighting the V'Sori in Tarrytown since the invasion.  Her people had been on the run recently, after the V'Sori unleashed their Terror Gas, a fear toxin designed to target human physiology.

Sock quickly took the opportunity to inform the attractive freedom fighter that he was very much single, though the President's Wife was hitting on him.

Tula told the villains how the V'Sori had set up shop in Marymount College's science building, where they had begun developing their nastiness.  She said she would lead a strike team into the steam tunnels under the college and into the science building, though the tunnels would be too large for Bully.  She also said she had a diversion in place, with her people attacking the barracks on campus.

Mindstorm said that Socks and Flux (using his Earth control) could widen the tunnel for Bully while he and Kale summoning a vicious storm as a distraction.  Bully smiled softly at Mindstorm, slapped him on the shoulder, and said there wasn't room for two leaders:  Bully was going to lead the human assault on the barracks!

Kale and Mindstorm stood in view of the science building and summoned a nasty storm, Kale tapping into Leviathan's wells of power to form a massive downpour over the area.  Tula led Socks and Flux underground, Socks hitting on her the whole way.

Flux and Socks both felt the hair rise on the backs of their necks and turned, just in time to see a G'Rok rising through the pipes!  Tula spun and shot it, but the blast bounced off!  Flux summoned the earth to grasp the G'Rok, but it snarled and faded through the ground, emerging behind Socks!  Socks sneered as it bit him, but he shrugged it off and ripped its jaws wide open, then tore its heart out!  Tula, used to fighting alongside fully human fighters, was quite surprised at the whole thing.

The wind howled and battered the science building, as Tula brought Socks and Flux to the basement of the science building.

Bully told all the superpowered guys to "join me in the frontal assault, the rest of youse play clean-up" and they attacked!  Well, Bully attacked.  Since he was the only one there with powers.  One of the men radioed to Tula that the barracks were now under assault, and she led Socks and Flux inside.

Heading to the second floor, they immediately came face to face(s) with half a dozen drones still patrolling the building, as the alarms ripped across the campus!  Two V'sori scientists inside the science lab sensed the half-Atlantean presence of Flux and headed for the hills, rounding up Terror Gas while calling for reinforcements!  Flux began summoning a cyclone inside the building as Tula took a shot at the Drones and they returned fire!  Socks scored first blood, charging the first two drones and slashing them to ribbons.

Two drones extended vibro-blades from their arms and advanced, but Socks batted them away and Tula shot one of them down.  Socks polished off the other as the V'Sori made their escape upstairs.

Socks charged the final two drones just as the cyclone came into effect, and six more drones charged down the steps, led by two Fins!  The cyclone failed to move the drones, but Socks was able to get one of them.  As reinforcements moved in, the cyclone caught Socks and the other drone he was fighting, and whipped them hard into a wall, with Socks being hurt badly (3 wounds initially, soaked into 2 instead).

One of the Fins sneered and moved in with four drones trailing him, as the other Fin marched on with two drones behind him.  Flux was disappointed to see the Fin wasn't affected by his cyclone, and finally thought he might should move into different tactics.

Lula was shot by a drone but stayed in the fight, while Socks batted back the attacking Fin.  Luckily, that crack drone programming kicked in, and the Fin exploded in a mass of burning and body parts as one of the drones accidentally shot him in the back!  Flux sent flames erupting in the hallway, but the Fin caught in the fire just shrugged it off and moved in where his brother had left off on Socks.

Tula shot the drone next to Socks, taking it out, as two more drones moved into the hall and opened fire on Flux and Tula.  Tula was shot again and wounded very badly (now at 3 wounds) but Flux' air shield held up to the assault.  Socks played defense as the Fin pressed the attack.  The Fin was momentarily distracted when Flux unleashed a huge burst of wind in the hallway, throwing two drones past the Fin and through the wall!

Socks capitalized, killing the surprised Fin with a brutal assault before being shot!  A second shot on the wounded, off-balance Socks caught him in the face and he went down in a smoldering heap!  Tula screamed in outrage and ran to his aid despite her wounds, opening fire on the drone and killing one.  Flux ran down the hall and placed himself between her and the drones, buffeting the remaining drones with air.  This went back and forth, with Tula killing another drone, when Flux unleashed fire instead and actually caught a drone on fire, before Tula shot it in the head.

Outside, visibility was crap in the rain, but Kale's telepathy sensed a V'Sori presence on the roof and he alerted Mindstorm!  Kale uttered a spell and soared through the air with Mindstorm, the two landing on the roof as the scientists tried to make their way to their parked M'Buna!  Mindstorm, without a word, unleashed a burst of electricity that did little to one, but nearly seized up the heart of the other!  The remaining scientist turned and opened fire with the Terror Gas, but Kale and Mindstorm dodged, and Kale called forth lightning from the Heavens that sent the V'Sori to Hades!

Bully broke over the commlink and announced a status update: That he was now "covered in glory."  He was overheard commending the unpowered resistance fighters for making up for how their superpowered fighters chickened out.

Flux and Tula were on Socks, trying desperately to save his life as Mindstorm kept breaking over the commlink asking for an update!  Kale finally contacted Flux via telepathy, and told him that he and Mindstorm would be down to retrieve Socks and Tula, and told Flux to use his control over the elements to "bring Hell to this facility".

Socks, conscious but hurt badly, was cracking jokes about the whole attack, even while Flux was commenting on the burnt scar running across his face.  Tula smiled, touching it lightly, and commented that "chicks dig scars".

As Mindstorm, Kale, Socks and Tula bugged out, Flux summoned a massive firestorm inside the laboratory, sparking a huge explosion centered on the second floor.  Flux strode out of the building with purpose, Mindstorm and Kale noticing that his duraweave costume had taken on a bizarre red glow that it hadn't previously had...

As the two cells went back underground, Tula told Socks that what he had done, charging head on into the enemy forces, was "not cowardly"...and she asked him, a little sheepishly, if perhaps he wouldn't come back to Tarrytown...sometime.

Dr. Destruction broke over the commlinks, interrupting the moment, and told the cell that he had an urgent mission for them, stemming from his conversation's with the President's family!

Meanwhile, word spread very quickly about how the mutant terrorist Mindstorm led a vicious surgical strike on Tarrytown, New York, wreaking havoc on V'Sori forces there, and setting back their efforts at combating human terrorists.  Warlord Shavak, annoyed, pondered out loud: "Now where I have heard THAT name before?"

Notes: Mindstorm broke the squad up this mission, and I don't think it worked out well at all...and I don't think he thought it did...well, aside from Kale and Mindstorm being in prime position to intercept the V'Sori scientists.  Socks and Tula are developing a bit of a connection, thus adding another NPC element to the tapestry for the players, which is cool.  Socks was officially Seasoned going into this, and saw a slight evolution in his powers: He beefed up Toughness and Parry, while also adding Wall Crawling (claws).  Mindstorm officially hit Seasoned at the end of this session, and thus I am moving the team onto Episode 4 in the Plot Point campaign.  Flux, after nearly killing a teammate with his cyclone, finally decided to shake up his tactics a bit, utilizing his other powers.

The adventure deck was used to great effect: Socks drew two cards, one of which was Second Wind, which he used fighting the G'Rok.  Flux wanted the Relic card played, since he didn't use his card the last time, so his dramatic firestorm inside the lab has left his armor/costume with unusual properties (to be determined).  At the last bit, Socks swapped his second card with Mindstorm, giving Mindstorm a +1 charisma for his "amazing deeds"...so I ruled that word spread quickly about this assault...about Mindstorm in particular...who is EASILY the face of this cell.  Next week, we play on Saturday...most likely doing Necessary Evil again, with the possible scheduled break coming the week after.

Seasoned Play Begins!  (or, Plot Point Episode 4!)

Kale spent a few days magically mending the wounds of Socks, removing most of the damage done in the last mission.  Flux, feeling quite disoriented from his flare-up of power when he destroyed the Science Lab in Tarrytown, took off for a while, though Kale assured the team (or tried to) that he would be back.

Dr. Destruction gave them their next mission, which was two-fold:  Make contact with a disgruntled V'Sori battlelord at his communications outpost and gain his aid, then assault the V'Sori occupied base of Hydra, the Mutant Mastermind.  The team was quite pleased to discover that the Warlord occupying the base was Shavak, who they had dealt with in the past.  Dr. Destruction's orders were to find a device that looked not unlike a silver and blue phone booth, and to destroy the base.

The team quickly learned through Dr. Destruction's debriefing that Shavak and the communications officer, Ikaran, had some bad blood between them because Shavak had publicly dressed Ikaran down and demoted him.

Some common knowledge rolls later, and the team deduced that Hydra was actually the father of the President's grandchild (which kinda impressed me).

Before they set out, Bully announced "as team leader" that he'd arranged back-up for them:  Human resistance fighter Tula Michaels, whom they had aided in Tarrytown!  Socks was quite pleased to see Tula, and Bully helpfully suggested that they should "be one unit", to which Mindstorm replied "I didn't know we were splitting up" and Bully asked "Whose talking about the mission?"

The team was surprised to discover that Ikaran was holed up in a tenement about two blocks away and took off to meet with him.  They found signs of a recent struggle, where Ikaran had fended off some dregs that had tried to attack him.  The team went right to him and confronted him, with Socks quickly telling him they were after Shavak and wanted his aid.  Socks dropped the Turncoat adventure card here, and Ikaran quickly rolled over and offered to kill communications at the base, if they would kill Shavak and show them his silver pendant, which was a sign of his demotion.

With that helpfully resolved, the team stole away in a submarine to the mainland and Hydra's compound.  As they approached the compound, they decided to have Socks burrow his way under the compound, taking Kale, Bully and Tula with him.  Mindstorm brought in storm clouds and headed into the skies, trying to get recon.

Unfortunately, he was quickly spotted by a pair of Warspheres, which took to the skies opening fire on him.  Mindstorm lashed out at them, unleashing the fury of the storms on them and trying to gain a closer look.

Meanwhile, Socks led his crew under the compound, awaiting word from Mindstorm about the layout.

Mindstorm flew in for a closer look, but saw four more Warspheres and two more headed deeper into the compound!  He sent out the order to Ikaran to shut the communications down, and tried to chase the two retreating Warspheres but had to deal with the four that were heading at him!  Only singed by one of them, Mindstorm shrugged it off and blasted the four Warspheres out of the sky.  He got a layout of the land and relayed it in detail to Socks, but had no time to rest before four more Warspheres attacked!  Once more, Mindstorm handled their assault, then headed toward Hydra's mansion.

As he moved in to land, his heart sank:  A dozen Drones, four Fins and Shavak were waiting on him.  Shavak mocked him for walking straight into their hands like that all alone, and blasted him with a mental assault, then ordered his Drones to open fire.  Kale cast an ineffective earthquake, but Socks, Tula and Bully popped out of the ground, with Socks tearing his way through Drones, Tula blasting one in the face and Bully pounding another.  Shavak was annoyed by this, but the Fins moved in, three opening fire with rifles while one made the mistake of slashing Bully and sending him into a rage.

Shavak blasted Socks with a mental assault, but he shrugged it off and slashed the Warlord, wounding him.  Tula and Bully tore their way through Drones while Kale electrocuted a Fin.  Mindstorm, wounded from a blast fired at him, found his concentration shaken as he tried to summon lightning to attack his foes.

Kale took control of a Fin and sent him after the nearby Drones to no effect while Shavak physically assaulted Socks and was outmatched.  Mindstorm pitched the silver pendant to Socks, who caught it and said "This is from Ikaran...and so is this" before slashing the Warlord down.  Shavak, his voice filling with blood and death, screamed at the travesty that a warlord such as him could be brought low by a pathetic traitor like Ikaran and insignificant bugs like these villains (Mindstorm played the Villainous Verbosity card to prevent Shavak from attacking or escaping).  Mindstorm lashed out with another bolt of lightning, blasting Shavak into unconsciousness...Socks sneered and ripped his throat out, saying "I hate V'Sori."

Kale, Bully and Tula cleaned up the Drones, then the team went inside to find the tube.  Deciding to look around before finishing the place off, they spied Hydra, floating inside a chamber filled with green liquid!  Bully smashed it with a headbutt, and they freed Hydra!  Hydra, upon seeing Bully, was convinced that he was in Hell!  However, Mindstorm explained the situation to Hydra and Hydra agreed to leave with them, to meet with Dr. Destruction.  Before he left, he set the base's self-destruct mode, which blew Socks' mind.  Hydra's response?  "Of course I have a self-destruct.  I'm a SUPER-VILLAIN...what are you?"

As the villains escaped in their sub, the cliff-side base erupted in explosion.

A few hours later...

Socks knocked on the door of Ikaran's communications outpost.  Ikaran opened the door and said "Oh.  It's you."  Socks offered "I have something for you," and tossed him Shavak's head.  "Now I want yours," Socks said with a sneer.  Ikaran looked taken aback, then blasted him with a mental assault that Socks was seemingly immune to.  Socks advanced and Ikaran yelled "Do your worst!"  Socks brought the battlemaster low with a brutal assault, then parried Ikaran's sword attack.  Ikaran, sensing his end said, with a sigh, "Go ahead then, kill me...it's worth it, knowing Shavak is dead."  Socks brutalized Ikaran with a claw full of gut, but stopped short of beheading him as well.  He did pick the blaster and vibro-sword off of Ikaran before departing, leaving the dead V'Sori in his tenement.

15 minutes later, another V'Sori communications outpost tried to raise Ikaran repeatedly...an hour later, a detachment of V'Sori strode to the top floor of the building and looked disappointed to see Ikaran dead.  One offered "Check the feeds...this building is wired...it was probably dregs that did this, let's find out for sure."

And at the wreckage of Hydra's base, an Mbuna landed, releasing its crew to the carnage.  As they spread out, their leader remarked "Scour this base...seek out any clues.  This is becoming far, far too common."

Notes:  The honeymoon is over.  Mindstorm is a known commodity among the V'Sori, and now their repeated tactics as finally being noticed...plus, Socks went "off the reservation" a bit and killed Ikaran in his own tower, albeit before Ikaran could alert anybody...however, Ikaran's death (and manner of death) has not gone unnoticed.

Flux' player flaked out on us at the last minute.  No idea if this is going to be a common theme or not.  Socks and Mindstorm are both Seasoned now, and I am changing the dynamics of the setting on them a tad.  We're off next week (still getting together, just doing a game of Slasher Flick instead of Savage Worlds, but we're back in two as we resume Necessary Evil...hopefully with Flux (now wearing the Flame of Atlantis) in tow.

New Session!

After returning from a hiatus brought on by flood and rescheduling due to Mother's Day, Buster Squad 5 returned to action.

Flux emerged from his sabbatical, having discovered the secrets of his armor, The Flames of Atlantis.  He rejoined the team just as Izzy informed the squad that word on the street had it that Capone's safe had been found...by the government of Star City!  Izzy gave them the details as he knew them: That the government would be transporting the safe from Star City PD to Warlord Grypon at dawn.

Mindstorm, Bully, Kale, Flux and Socks prepared their assault at dawn...the plan being that Kale would cause the armored truck to shut down...Socks would tear through and get the safe, hand it down to Bully, and Flux would shift them through the earth to get away.

Everyone got into position...Kale zapped the truck and shut it down...Socks decided to attempt to be stealthy in removing the safe...and he rolled a 12 versus both the Drones and the SOCorp Operatives critically failing their Notice rolls!  Socks managed to remove the safe from under the truck without being noticed!  Everyone was so distracted by the truck shutting down and a potential outward assault, that Buster Squad 5 was long gone before anyone saw it was missing!

Bennies abounded for that, from participation in a perfectly executed plan, as well as Socks pulling off his sneak-steal without winding up in an unnecessary fight.

Kale got the safe open and the crew was surprised to find $200,000 in gold bars, a map to Capone's hideout and a note from Capone, revealing that before his execution in 1959, Capone used a yogi mind trick to jump into a cloned body of Capone!  Buster Squad 5 saddled up in a sub and headed toward the coast of Maryland, where Flux avoided V'Sori patrols and guided them to the cave entrance.  He widened the cave entrance so Bully could enter, and the group found an Atlantean sarcophagus with a body inside.  Kale quickly opened it, and Capone rose from the sarcophagus!  He asked the team if they were here to kill him, but Mindstorm assured him they were not, and that they had found his note.

Capone, content with that answer, told them he had a hidden weapons cache inside the cave.  Mindstorm asked how long he had been in the cave, and Capone asked what year it was...did the math...and said it had been 45 years.

Mindstorm gave him the good news and the bad news: The good news being that superheroes were no longer a problem, the bad news being that alien invaders had taken over the planet!  Mindstorm tried to recruit Capone for OMEGA, but Capone brushed it off.  He gave Buster Squad 5 his weapons cache, which included Energy Knives, Octo-Bombs and Palm Blasters.  Kale took the Palm Blasters while Mindstorm loaded up with the rest...and Buster Squad 5 found themselves better armed with a tentative ally!

Notes: Before the session began, Socks used an earned Advance to take the Bring It On edge from a Martial Arts supplement that allowed him to diminish the Gang Up bonus for attackers against him.  The force on the armored truck was a dozen SOCorp Operatives and four Drones which was hardly insurmountable, but Socks' stealth and their botched Notice rolls made that laughably easy.  Rather than find an excuse to get them into combat, I let the whole thing go smoothly, giving them a well-earned moment of a well-executed plan.  At the conclusion of this adventure Mindstorm and Flux earned advances, with Mindstorm taking Power Points (adding Force Control with Telekinesis trapping and the Gale Force modifier for Storm) while Flux revealed his previously unknown Streetwise skill.

That having gone so smoothly, we launched into a new mission.

Dr. Destruction, pleased at the news from Buster Squad 5 about their mission, told them that he had (yet another) double-agent working for him infiltrating the V'Sori, an Atlantean named Lucian.  Lucian had been supplying superhumans for an underground fight club ran by a V'Sori Warlord named Darb, who was – sources said – due for a promotion!  Destruction, not wanting his brand of barbaric entertainment to be spread further, ordered Buster Squad 5 to infiltrate the club and assassinate Darb.  The plan was for two of the team to pose as prisoners and enter the arena, while the other three would disable the transports from the arena and try to free the prisoners.

Bully fell all over himself trying to volunteer as a prisoner, and Socks – of course – was eager to volunteer as well.  Socks and Bully beat each other up to make their imprisoning look legit, while Flux, Mindstorm and Kale formulated a plan to sneak into the club.  Mindstorm threw an Octo-Bomb at the back entrance of the club while Kale cast a spell to gain Darkvision and tried to sneak in with Flux (using their telepathic link to guide him through the darkness)...Flux tripped up and drew the attention of Drones inside the facility, but Kale blasted one and another fell from a stray shot into the darkness fired by another drone.

Flux charged one Drone and caused flames to erupt around him, but it didn't seem to affect the Drone.  Flux, Mindstorm and Kale looked rather helpless against the Drones, not really being hurt, but not stopping the Drones either.  Kale gave up and moved on into the cells, where French thief Cyber-Burglaire kept calling for him to release him!  Kale made his nullifier shackles malfunction, and Cyber-Burglaire unlocked the prison door from the inside!

The two men released Rictus, the Undead Clown of Crime, who quickly bolted for the exit.  They next released Brimstone, who cackled and teleported away.

Mindstorm finally electrocuted one of the remaining drones and Flux burned the other one down, putting them to rest, while Kale and Cyber-Burglaire freed the jingoistic vigilante/villain Patriot, the Darkforce manipulator Shadowcaster, the angry Elven warrior from Asgard known as Sarveen, Hiro – a martial artist who had fought Mindstorm before, and Lycan, a werewolf hero.

Cyber-Burglaire, Shadowcaster and Sarveen (especially Sarveen) were eager to do whatever it took to bring this down, while Patriot seemed reluctant to go along with it, and Hiro and Lycan weren't sure they trusted the villains...still, the lot of them finally agreed to join forces and ambush the V'Sori transport crews.

Socks and Bully entered the arena, where Darb watched on surrounded by Drones.  Two Groks were unleashed on them, but Socks and Bully fended off their attacks, with Socks wounding his and Bully dropping his with a single blow!

Darb looked confused at just what had happened, so Bully sneered, grabbed Socks, and launched him through the air at Darb!  Socks snarled and tore through the force field that was supposed to protect Darb, and came to rest at his feet!  (This was accomplished through the Teamwork Adventure card, and some very nice rolls from Bully and Socks).

As Socks prepared to battle Darb and his drones, the V'Sori Internal Police arrived and ordered everyone to surrender...but Darb refused and ordered his men to fight!  Seconds later, Socks tore most of Darb's face off (a vicious attack combined with a botched Soak roll).

Bully battled the remaining Grok, but Drones and Warspheres were advancing on him, and a V'Sori fired a well-placed shot at Socks that would have been QUITE brutal, but Mindstorm's player played the Lucky Break card...Socks turned, holding Darb's body still, and Darb absorbed the shot!  Socks dove off the platform and burrowed into the ground, coming up under Bully and yanking him to safety!

Outside the arena, Kale made the big pitch on behalf of Mindstorm to the villains (and heroes) that they had rescued.

Cyber-Burglair and Shadowcaster quickly agreed to join forces, while Sarveen swore he would aid OMEGA to the end against the V'Sori.  Patriot seemed unsure about working with Omega, while Hiro and Lycan, reluctantly, decided that perhaps OMEGA was just what the world needed...a necessary evil.

Notes:  Again, another rousing success for the team.  I have done away with the random mission selections, picking and choosing the missions as I think it will benefit the campaign.  Other than the embarrassing 5 rounds it took to beat the two drones inside the facility, this sessions was very good to the villains, going a long way toward letting them feel suitably awesome.

Next week, they battle a pair of black marketers and, if time permits, the next plot point in which Socks' actions in the last plot point will come back to haunt the team.

Exterminate!

Change of plans with the next session.

The session began inside the team's HQ, where Dr. Destruction had arrived surrounded by his guards.  He told the team that he had a very urgent mission for them:  Another cell of OMEGA terrorists had broken from the organization and Dr.  Destruction now considers them to be huge threats to the future of OMEGA.  His orders?  Hunt them down and kill them.

Dr. Destruction gave them team personnel dossiers on all five members of the team: The powerhouse Crunch, the Voodoo Master known as Curse, the fearmonger known as Effigy, energy controller Vesper and superspeedster Zephyr.  Mindstorm asked if any of them could be salvaged, to which Destruction replied "Doubtful".  Mindstorm quietly contemplated that answer as he stared at the files.  Destruction said he would leave them to it, trusting in them to finish the deed.

First up was Crunch, an insanely powerful brick who had been tracked to a summer camp, and – Destruction believes – is planning on swimming from Star City to The Arctic.  Mindstorm made a plan: Bully goes in first, Kale, Flux and Mindstorm use supplemental powers to slow and stop Crunch while Bully fights.  Socks' role is to hang back and help out if Bully got outmatched.  Flux, controller of elements, was also told to keep Crunch from escaping if he hit the water.

Bully snarled and charged Crunch as Kale and Flux got into position around him.  Crunch flinched at the charging Bully, but shook it off when Flux summoned the earth up around him.  Crunch broke free and hurled a chunk of rock and soil, smashing Flux and staggering him.  Mindstorm and Socks got into position around Crunch as well, Socks burrowing under a cabin and Mindstorm flying to a roof.

Crunch surprised everyone by leaping through the air and truing to crush Bully, though he missed and Bully spiked him with his horns...which did no damage to the horrific creature.  Mindstorm tried to bind Crunch, but wasn't nearly strong enough.  Kale summoned Socks to his side, putting Socks in position to rip up through the ground and lay an attack on Crunch that left him Shaken.  Flux surrounded him in rock and dirt once more, this time holding him tight.  Crunch tried to break free, but failed.  Kale, once more channeling dangerous levels of magic, unleashed a power bolt of eldritch energy, but Crunch was still only barely harmed.  Socks assaulted him as well, while Mindstorm tried to telekinetically reinforce Flux' grip.

As they pushed hard to keep him from escaping, Bully roared and drove his head and horns deep into the earthen tomb until blood and dirt began to run down his face...then he pushed again harder.  Crunch stopped struggling, and Flux and Mindstorm released their grip.

Kale summoned Healing magic and restored Flux...not a moment too soon, either, as word came that Zephyr and Effigy were robbing a bank and Dr. Destruction did NOT want them falling into V'Sori hands.

Notes: First target down.  Mindstorm laid out a plan and it mostly worked.  Good thing, too, because Crunch's Strength was growing every round.  The huge difference maker was Flux successfully binding Crunch in place so he could be whittled down.

Buster Squad 5 descended on Star City Bank where Effigy was keeping the bank staff and customers cowed and Zephyr was rapidly emptying the vault.  Socks tore his way up through the vault, with Mindstorm and Bully behind him.  He tried to attack Zephyr, who heard him coming and was far too hard to pin down...so Socks moved on through to block the door.  Mindstorm zipped in and swooped past Socks, sealing the vault so Zephyr couldn't escape...but was immediately targeted by Effigy, who unleashed nightmarish thoughts of Belladonna on Mindstorm, but the leader of this squad's will was too strong to be broken.

Flux and Kale entered the bank from a side entrance, and Flux spewed flame at Effigy, who initially freaked – but calmed when it had no real effect.  He snarled about how "All the heroes are supposed to be dead", and Kale replied "If we were heroes, you wouldn't have anything to worry about" before launching a fireball at Effigy that erupted and set him on fire.  Zephyr just laughed at Socks and literally ran through him, the vault door and Mindstorm, then out the door with two bags of money while Bully charged up into the vault, confused to find himself sealed in with Socks.

Kale reached out with his mind and forced Zephyr to come back and face them, while the burning Effigy shrieked in terror and unleashed his Fear power in the bank.  The staff and customers, as well as Mindstorm, ran away from him, while Zephyr freaked and fell to his knees vomiting.  The most unfortunate effect came from Kale's heart seized up and the Atlantean wizard fell to the ground in cardiac arrest.

Socks burrowed his way under the vault door and ripped into the blazing Effigy, tearing the constructed scarecrow apart.  Bully came up through the same tunnel and charged the Shaken Zephyr, smashing his spine and breaking the fragile speedster apart.

Flux immediately dove onto Kale and worked feverishly, trying to provide medical aid to keep Kale alive.  With a lot of luck and some natural talent (Healer Edge plus bennies), Kale was stabilized, but the V'Sori were en route to the bank.  Mindstorm ordered a retreat, since their goals were accomplished...and turned when someone grabbed his arm.  A bank teller, frightened but grateful, thanked Mindstorm and the rest of the team for saving them...Mindstorm, obviously taken aback by this, pulled his arm free and they escaped.

Notes:  Wow.  Second fight in this mission down, and Kale is in bad shape.  This took Kale out for the rest of the session...though Flux definitely saved Kale's life.  Effigy's desperation Fear effect totally changed the complexion of this fight, setting up Zephyr (total glass ninja normally) to be taken out by Bully since he was Shaken.  I gave them a 6 round time limit on this one before SOCorp would show up and turned it into a three way battle.

Back to the game...

Socks came up with the idea of contacting Willy the Fish, and Flux did just that with his Streetwise skill.  Izzy, henchman of Willy, told them he would meet with them to pick up Kale and get him some help.

As the Squad met with Izzy outside a gas station, they were stalked by a villain-killing vigilante named Blind Justice!  Justice opened fire on Mindstorm with a Nullifier gun – which had no effect – and pitched a grenade that came awfully close to the truck they had just loaded Kale onto.  Socks dove onto the grenade and absorbed a ton of shrapnel into himself...but kept the grenade from further harming Kale.  Izzy dove into the truck and fire it up, trying to get Kale away.  Bully charged Blind Justice, who snapped a katana free from its sheath and slashed into Bully...but Bully's tough hide deflected it (really, Flux played an Adventure Card that kept Bully from behind harmed in that one attack)!  Bully attacked and missed, but Mindstorm wasn't playing around and wrapped him in force bands.  Flux tried to ignite him, but Blind Justice was too well protected.  Bully smashed Blind Justice with a brutal headbutt that ended his resistance.  When Mindstorm drew a knife and walked over to finish Blind Justice off, Bully stopped him...saying that he had suffered enough from guys like them.  Mindstorm looked at Bully, then told Blind Justice that if he came at any of his people again, Mindstorm would kill him...even as Dr. Destruction provided information of a rendezvous between Curse and the V'Sori.

Notes:  Just a bit of an interlude with a Punisher-type vigilante attacking the team.  Socks made a huge sacrifice, risking life and limb to keep Kale safe from the grenade.  Blind Justice could have given any one of them a run for their money, but the team was thus far gelling really well together.

Buster Squad 5 approached the park where Curse was planning to meet with The V'Sori.  The team began to move in, unaware of the fact that Curse sensed them coming and was summoning zombies as well as preparing to copy Socks' burrowing ability to sneak attack them.  Mindstorm swooped in first (first round, got a Joker) and Curse smiled from ear to ear..."I was expecting you...saw you all com—"  Without a word, Mindstorm summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky that ripped through Curse!  An impressive 32 point attack dropped Curse where he stood (a soak roll provided no successes, and I decided just to run with it).

The team considered, for a moment, waiting for the V'Sori to arrive, but thought better of it.

Notes:  Wow.  This one was supposed to be BIG...Curse was summoning Zombies, he Copycat and Danger Sense, and the V'Sori were arriving in 3 rounds to provide backup...but Mindstorm, his closest ally on the shelf, was very, very angry.

Dr. Destruction sent only coordinates for the final target: Vesper.  The team arrived in a residential area, but seemed rather confused when they couldn't find their target.  Examining the area, they all realized at once who they were looking for:  The woman across the street unloading groceries with her kids.

The jaws around the table dropped at this final target.

Taking a moment to compose themselves, Mindstorm opted to fly over to her and called out her real name, Theresa Hammond.  Seeing Mindstorm floating in the air, she told her kids to go inside.  Mindstorm was brutally honest: He told her he was there to kill her...but that he didn't want to.  He asked her to come back to Omega so that no one would have to kill her.

She countered by pointing out that someone WOULD kill her if she went back...she would get sent on some stupid mission where some teammate would be too slow and she would pay for it.  She told Mindstorm that she's the only thing her kids have, and she can't risk that being a part of OMEGA again.

Mindstorm quickly offered a compromise:  Mindstorm told her he would have her added to his team's roster, but she would remain at her house in Westpoint with her kids, and would remain off the active roster except in circumstances of dire emergency.  She hesitated, weighing her options...and realized how few she had.  Finally, she agreed to his terms.  Mindstorm, before leaving, pointed out to her that if OMEGA failed, she and hers would pay as bad a price as they will if they don't fight.

On the way back to HQ, Mindstorm informed Destruction that Vesper was back onboard, as an inactive member of his team.  Destruction asked if Mindstorm was now dictating terms to him, to which Mindstorm said no...just that he hoped Destruction would trust him on this.  After a moment's thought, Destruction told Mindstorm he would abide by Mindstorm's decision.

Notes:  I intentionally tossed this one out there for the team to decide what to do...there was no wrong answer, even from Destruction's perspective.  He intentionally did not tell them any circumstance about Vesper's situation, in order to surprise them and see their reaction.  He figured that if they killed her, they were loyal footsoldiers.  If they didn't, they may yet be compassionate enough to be the world's saviors.  The plan Mindstorm came up with, I thought, was rather brilliant.

Incidentally, out of character, the players commented that they can't wait until the V'Sori are defeated so they can bring down Destruction.

One thing the guys seemed to like is that I typed up the personnel dossiers on the cell, and handed them out at the table when we began to play...they really rather liked that.

I also helpfully pointed out two more things about this mission:  1) This is what happens when people leave OMEGA and 2) Destruction clearly has files on all of them as well.  That's actually what prompted the comment about bringing him down.

Next session, I believe we are now going to tackle those black marketers, and then Plot Point 5.

New session!

The tale began with Kale still in the clinic, and Mindstorm visiting.  Mindstorm was approached by the owner of the Heroes shop, who revealed himself to be retired hero The Hippocratic Oath!  He had a situation and he explained it to Mindstorm: The clinic needs supplies, bad...and The Hippocratic Oath offered his services as a healer to Omega, if Mindstorm would resupply the clinic.  Mindstorm agreed, then began planning an assault on the Atlantic General Hospital, calling Cyber-Burglair to tap him for the mission.  Immediately after making the call, Mindstorm was contacted by Dr. Destruction, who was concerned due to another cell in Southpoint having gone dark.  Mindstorm gathered his team, and they headed out for the other cell's HQ.

When they arrived, they found a dozen dead drones laying around, and the cell all having been killed aside from one member, known as The Shifter (in reality, a V'Sori double agent known as The Sleeper).  The Shifter only had a shoulder wound, which instantly made Mindstorm suspicious.  He and Flux talked it over, and contacted Dr. Destruction who told him to take The Shifter on board until he could find a new cell for Shifter.  Mindstorm agreed, but decided to tell Shifter nothing, not even being willing to take him back to their headquarters.

Flux, mulling things over, remembered that there was a doctor at the Atlantic General Hospital that was known to help street people with medicines, and that Willy the Fish ran a pretty big underground medical supply trade.  Mindstorm took Bully's phone (Bully was talking to Willy's compatriot Izzy) and had Izzy arrange for a meeting with Willy.  Izzy told them to come to his safehouse, and they set up a teleconference with Willy.

Willy agreed to sell them what they needed for $25,000, which Mindstorm agreed to (they still had the gold from Capone's vault), but Willy offered to save them some money if they would just take out one of his rivals, a new face on the scene named Oswald.

Mindstorm agreed, and the team decided to approach Oswald at his set-up in Downtown, and spring a trap for him.

Flux and Bully approached, with The Shifter hiding ON Bully as a suit.  Mindstorm and Socks burrowed beneath the ground.

Flux tried to talk out an arrangement with Oswald, while Mindstorm suggested that Socks try to use stealth to get in under the truck and steal supplies.

Oswald and Glaive (his bodyguard) heard them.

Oswald suckerpunched Flux, but had no effect, and Bully lunged forth (with Shifter melting off of him) and attacked.  Glaive was too much for Flux or Bully to hit, but Mindstorm summoned lightning that messed Glaive up!  Socks jumped into melee, and realized that he knew Oswald and Glaive as the former villains Longarm and Cutter: Former members of Omega whose cell had been killed!  What Socks DIDN'T know, was that their cell was killed by the guy lurking on their team: The Shifter!

Glaive repeatedly fell short with his weapon, when The Shifter stabbed him in the chest with a spear-arm and brought him down.  Socks ripped into Oswald, and Bully finished him off.  Impressed with themselves, Buster Squad 5 raided the supply truck, then took off back to the clinic.  Upon returning, they were relieved to see Kale up and around, having been healed by the Hippocratic Oath!

Hippocratic Oath expressed his thanks, but the Squad had no time to rest as Dr. Destruction revealed that he had discovered what Hydra's device was missing, and had made arrangements to acquire the items!  He sent the team to the Farmer's Market on The Docks to meet a woman named Hardcore and get the items!

The team, Kale happily in tow, headed to The Docks!  A mysterious figure hit them up regarding some kind of necklace, that he wanted a cool $10,000 for.  Socks offered him $10.

Kale, trying to take the necklace from Socks, sensed that magic emanating from the necklace!  Mindstorm quickly paid off the cloaked man with gold, and gave the necklace to Kale.

The team made contact with Hardcore, and she took them to a warehouse, where they came face to face, in the flesh, with Willy the Fish!  Willy, with bodyguards in tow, told them to have a seat!  He offered them something to drink, they began talking with each of them...about the pasts, their powers...he started to tell Socks a little about his past, but held off, still for fear of traumatizing him.

After a good long spell of conversation, he told them they could grab the crate with Dr. Destruction's goods and they could go!

As Socks moved in to retrieve it, there was an explosion and the place was surrounded by a dozen Drones, a dozen Warspheres and a dozen Fins!

Everyone moved into a defensive position, with Mindstorm summoning a storm and Flux summoning a whirlwind!

Buster Squad 5 was quicker on the uptake than Willy's crew, launching into action.  Kale stalked into the middle of the Drones and Warspheres, surrounded first by fire, and then ice, dropping them.  Bully snapped into a rage and began wading through the villains.  Socks took the crate underground and hid it, while one of Willy's bodyguards was murdered by a Fin.  Willy shocked the team by sprouting horns, and goring the Fin!

The remaining bodyguards blasted away, gunning down anything they could!  Mindstorm unleashed lighting into the crowd, followed by electrical bursts.  Flux unloaded with his cyclone, sending targets scattering!  When one Warsphere wounded Flux, Willy burrowed through the room and came up in front of him, then lashed out at a Drone.

A Drone seriously injured The Shifter, while Kale teleported back into the building to get away from approaching Fins.  Buster Squad 5 and Willy's men were handling themselves well...until six armed men approached.  They opened fire from a distance, blasting Mindstorm and Flux.  One of them laughed, opening fire and wiping out Willy's guards.  Two of the Drones, bolstered, futher injured Flux and wiped out The Shifter.

Willy ordered a retreat, telling the team the box was more important, and he charged the newcomers...Mindstorm ordered the team to pull back, but Bully – in a full rage – charged them as well.  Another of the newcomers laughed and lunged at Bully with a katana.  Bully smacked him down, but he came back up in a rage, now wielding a chainsaw!  The gunmen kept firing at Bully, bringing him down further.  Socks tried to burrow under Bully and bring him underground, but the fighter drove his chainsaw into the ground and tore up Socks as well.  He nailed Hardcore a moment later when she got too close...and one of his compatriots shot Bully down while another threw a grenade on the pile, injuring all of them.

The team hurting and now clearly outmatched, tried to pull back to the box, and Kale cast a spell, reaching out for both Bully and Socks...when only Socks responded, Kale teleported him close, shorting out his powers in the process.

Mindstorm, reluctantly, ordered Socks to dig them to freedom, while Flux closed the path behind them.

Willy told them "Run!  For my blood runs through your veins!  Use it wisely!" as he shifted into a giant monster and tried to block their retreat.

Word spread quickly...the V'Sori had trounced Willy the Fish AND one of the terrorists, Bully.  Bully's body was paraded through the streets as an example.

As the team returned to headquarters, Dr. Destruction asked for the status of his contents, then told them a team would come pick the box up.

He then showed the hurting team what he had been told just minutes before: That the V'Sori had been tracking them since they returned from Hydra's base, and how.  He showed them the footage of Socks killing Ikaran at his outpost, and the V'Sori showing up to check on them.

Destruction told Socks, simple:  "You cost this organization an asset in Ikaran, and a very loyal and powerful operative in Bully.  Your stupid vendetta jeopardized this team and this organization.  I only pray that what's in this box was worth the price we paid for it."

And of course, the team never realized that they had been being tracked for weeks and were sitting right there in their base...SIGH.

Next session will be uglier still.

Notes:  This "Very Special Episode" puts the team on the defensive.  The elite team I dropped in was led by Mindstorm's brother, Vincent Blevins, though Blevins was in a mask and hasn't announced his presence yet.  That'll be next time.  The remaining team is actually led by field leader Murtha, and consists of gun-monkey Baldwin, mystic Cervantes, paranormal specialist Dante and psycho Jacko.  They lost popular (and powerful) NPC Bully, as well as NPC ally Willy the Fish.  I figure they'll be about due for some serious revenge not long from now, though.

After a month-long break...

We picked up shortly after Dr. Destruction's goods were picked up by another team.  Mindstorm, furious at the current situation, immediately called for a team meeting.  As the four remaining members of the team gathered together, Socks gave a touching – and hilarious – eulogy about departed "team leader" Bully, and placed Flux in charge of the team.  Mindstorm ignored him.  As Mindstorm tried to consider options for new team members, they all detected a sound...beeping...all around them.

Socks reacted first, burrowing into the ground...Kale, Flux and Mindstorm followed as their headquarters blew sky high.

Socks made the effort, as he burrowed into the ground, to strategically collapse the tunnel as he went, hoping to choke off efforts to follow them.

Dr. Destruction contacted the team quickly with coordinates, and they made their way under the city to a boarded up KFC full of Atlanteans.

Mindstorm pulled Socks aside and chastised him for everything his recklessness had caused them.  Then he took the dossiers of the OMEGA defectors they had hunted down a few weeks back and threw them at Socks, asking if he remembered them.  As Socks stared at the dossiers, Mindstorm pointed out that they were defectors who the team had to hunt and kill.  He told Socks, in no uncertain terms, that if he ever makes a move that stupid again, he will kick Socks off the team, tell Dr. Destruction Socks defected, and then hunt Socks down and kill him.

Socks was left with his jaw hanging open at the boldness of Mindstorm's statement.

Sarna, the Atlantean running the safe-house, informed them that Dr. Destruction had told them they were to remain only for an hour, and then they were to strike a local hidden naval base and hijack a minisub...at which time Dr. Destruction would contact them with further instructions.

She also told them that Destruction had told them to change their appearances as well as their tactics...the V'Sori were about to be claiming victory, and Destruction's thought was to let them have it.

The team found some raggedy clothes, and Socks dyed his hair purple.  They pondered what to do about Kale...who summoned his magic and transformed into a V'Sori...then promptly wondered why he hadn't ever thought of that before.

The team headed to The Docks, to hit the naval base, and saw about half a dozen V'sori and half a dozen Drones on site.  Flux snuck to the sea and dove in, making his way under water to the sub...while Kale, as a V'Sori, simply walked across the base and to the sub, passing inspection by all that saw him!  One V'Sori wandered too close to Mindstorm and Socks, so Socks suckerpunched him and broke his neck!

Kale made his way up to the sub, where one of the V'Sori finally began to question him, so he summoned more power from Leviathan and took the V'Sori's mind, entered the sub and had it lowered into the water.  He picked up Flux, and they later rendezvoused with Mindstorm and Socks!

Notes:  I was floored...FLOORED...with how flawlessly this plan played out.  I mean, THEY thought Flux would sneak onto the sub, Kale would slip away and Mindstorm and Socks would have to fight for a distraction, but it went WAY better than that.  Back to the game.

Flux and Kale were piloting the sub, as Dr. Destruction contacted the team once more and told them about a Hydro-Base a mile under water!  A strike team had been sent down two days earlier, and while communications from the base had ceased, so had communications from the sub, aside from a distress beacon.  The team headed toward the base, with the goals of finding out what happened to the team, and to make sure the base was disabled.

As the sub approached the base, Socks spotted the other sub in a docking bay, and saw a second bay that the team could use.  Flux veered the sub into the bay, and the team entered the base.

Mindstorm sent Socks and Kale one way, while he and Flux went the other...ordering Flux and Kale to remain in telepathic contact in case of trouble, while also giving each side a ranged fighter and a melee fighter.

Mindstorm and Flux entered the base's living quarters, finding blood and signs of struggle everywhere...blaster marks on the walls, overturned furniture, etc.  They also found, on the walls of the base, timed explosives that had not yet been set.  In addition, some kind of strange, muddy substance on the floor.

Kale and Socks entered the main corridor, finding the center of the base and more blood and signs of conflict.  The weird, muddy substance was there as well, heading off into one section of the station, while a bloody trail led the other.

The team regrouped and decided to enter the other sub, where they shut off the distress signal, but saw no other bodies or signs of life.  Getting weirded out and kind of frustrated, the team headed deeper into the base, first following the trail of blood into the mess hall.  Again, signs of struggle, overturned tables, etc...in the back of the hall, they found large stores of food.

The team then followed the muddy trail, encountering a V'Sori hanger.  They then entered a lab, where they suspected the purpose of the base truly lay.  Mindstorm searched for journals, while Kale summoned the power of Leviathan and began to work the controls while reading V'Sori aloud!  He dug through file after file, experiment after experiment until he said aloud, in English: "What's a Protean?"  Then, he turned to the team and told them that the V'Sori had tried to meld a K'Tharen with a Protean!  Before the team could ponder what that meant, a large, muddy, malleable, Fin-like creature stalked into the room, snarling!

The Proto-Fin lunged at Socks, who managed to avoid its attacks, while Mindstorm jolted it.  Flux followed lightning with fire, and Kale summoned eldritch bolts, which did little.

The Proto-Fin lashed out at Socks with a bizarre attack, but he luckily dodged at the last second!  Flux unleashed flames once more, and scorched the beast badly!  Kale tried to follow fire with fire, but his had little success...then, to the horror of the team...the Proto-Fin began to heal!

Socks roared into life, unleashed a furious series of attacks, hammering deeper and deeper into the heart of the Proto-Fin.  As it collapsed, Mindstorm hacked at it with Energy Knives, cutting its head off!  While Socks tore its heart out and devoured it, Mindstorm threw the head to Flux and told him to incinerate it, which he did.

Kale, having just studied the Proto-Fin, relayed that the Fin was apparently trying to breed with Socks, and that it had been absorbing the bodies of its prior victims.  Not waiting around to see if it recovered, Kale told the team to head back to the submarine as he moved from room to room, triggering the explosives and letting the base erupt in explosions.

As the team departed, Mindstorm contacted Dr. Destruction about the mission, with pleasing news that Kale had managed to copy the data from the experiments before they blew the base, and asked about their return to Star City...but Destruction told him that they weren't coming back to Star City!  He told them that the V'Sori had just pulled two humans, an Atlantean and a half-Atlantean from the wreckage of their base, and that the team was to stay as far away as possible!  He directed them to Florida, where they would then take a flight to Japan...to recruit: The Monolith!

Notes:  A much better mission after the downer of the last go-around.  Socks picked up his last Seasoned advance, gaining Brawny after his body underwent bizarre changes from eating the Proto-Fin's heart.  Flux boosted his Strength from a d4 to a d6, hitting his second Seasoned advance.  We decided to continue on with the game, so I sped things up about a week, with the team in Japan, hiking through the woods to find the Monolith.

As the team hiked toward the Buddhist Monastery where The Monolith was believed to be held at, Mindstorm filled them in on Monolith:  Dr. Karl Antaeus was an environmentalist with the power to transform into a giant stone man...and over time he had become more radical and unbalanced.  He had went to this monastery after being defeated by Champion and The Alpha Force, and Champion had sworn to take up the mantle of the environmental causes driving Monolith.  Now, the orders were simple: Bring Monolith out of retirement after ten years.

The team (now tentatively using the codenames #1 (Mindstorm), #2 ( Kale), #3 (Flux) and Doesn't Matter (Socks)), walked up the final path toward the monastery.  Several monks milled about, but about ten in the courtyard met them at the path.

Mindstorm said they needed to speak to Dr. Karl Antaeus, and they were rebuffed by the monks.

This went back and forth, with Socks and Flux joining in, trying to convince the monks that they had to see Antaeus, and that the Monolith was needed to beat back The V'Sori.  The team was repeatedly rebuffed.

Mindstorm grew annoyed, while Flux and Socks were in his ear begging for a fight.  Mindstorm began to suspect that Monolith was being held against his will, but the monks denied this.  Mindstorm said they were hiding something, the monks said they were merely protecting Antaeus.

The conflict slowly boiled to a head...and finally the monks attacked because Mindstorm and the team would not leave!

Flux controlled a stone barrier and wrapped it around one monk, while two others attacked him!  Mindstorm had been summoning a storm throughout this, but did not bring it into play yet, trying to fight in a calmer manner.  Intead, he telekinetically moved one of the monks away, though he came charging back.  Socks even refrained from using his claws, slugging it out with another monk, who was giving as good as he'd gotten.  Kale cast a spell with one hand, transforming a giant Buddha statue into a walking ally, while blasting one monk with a palm blaster.

The team played very nice, Flux trying to Bind opponents, Mindstorm telekinetically moving them and Socks using fists over claws...until one monk hammered Kale with one brutal attack, then dropped him with life-threatening injuries with a second!

The kid gloves came off, and Mindstorm began unleashing lighting bolts, while Flux – who was taking hits on all sides – began using fire to bring down the monks.  As soon as Mindstorm got clear of him, Socks went for a Sweep on three of them, and made it an Omega Strike, wiping out all three!

The one that brought down Kale went after Mindstorm, while Mindstorm freed Flux to go save Kale!

Socks, tired from the Omega Strike, ran down one of the monks while Flux and Mindstorm cleaned up the rest.

With Kale down, Socks fatigued and wounded, the team were glad it was over...until the ground began to shake!

The monastery collapsed and Monolith, enraged, emerged!  He charged the team, unleashing shards of earth that ripped Mindstorm to shreds and nearly brought HIM down!

Mindstorm unleashed a bolt from the sky, striking Monolith...and doing squat.  He retreated behind Flux and Socks.

Socks tried to burrow, but the constant earthquake made that sound like a BAD idea...so he lunged at Monolith...and failed to harm him.  Monolith formed a stalagmite, and began slashing away at Socks.  Flux tried to meld Monolith to the ground and make him fall over, but Monolith's control was far greater!  Mindstorm pleaded with Monolith to stop fighting and join them, and was crest-fallen when it seemed to have no effect.  Flux and Socks, however, sensed that someone wasn't quite right...Flux decided to get inside his mind, and he reached Dr. Antaeus, who was out of control and frightened!  Flux could also sense the overwhelming swell of energy being output by Monolith, causing the earthquake!

The team was getting very desperate, with Socks finally about to give in when a little pink-haired Japanese girl popped in next to Mindstorm and said Dr. Destruction had sent her...then gave him a little mechanical device that she said was designed to bleed off the excess energy in Monolith's body.  Mindstorm telekinetically flung it at Monolith, hit, and drove the powerhouse down!  The team quickly subdued him, and headed out for a rendezvous, so Monolith could be indoctrinated into OMEGA!

Notes: We had to wrap up very quickly, as I had just received news of a family tragedy.  Mindstorm had played "The Calvary Arrives" moments earlier, so I popped in a little Japanese girl-genius to help stop Monolith, though I made sure the decisive blow as in the hands of the PCs.

Kale, in a non-Necessary Evil game, would be dead.  That said, he has sustained grievous injuries once more.  Kale, The Magic Eunuch, anyone?

I gave out one more XP, which pushed Mindstorm into Veteran, and he took Power Points, with one power being Telepathy, which is how his Leadership Edges are now going to begin effecting Wild Cards.

I think, in the future, the team will make their way to the Protean crash site in Siberia, to learn just what a Protean is and what that means to them...it will probably be some time before I bring them back to Star City.