SpeaksAre you afraid of the dark?
Can... reach... it...
[6] Willpower is a funny thing. It makes acts that should be impossible practically routine. It turns deadly injuries into mere flesh wounds. It drives you to keep on fighting when all reason or possibility of doing so has long since passed.
And when it comes to Heroic willpower...
Speaks ignores the pain. He ignores the deathly cold, the ice that grips his veins and locks his limbs. He ignores the whispers that tell him to resist is pointless; that death has already come, that this is the end. The bold, determined alien roars his defiance and
punches the shadows, and against all odds, that punch connects with something.
For a second, the grip on him loosens, and that second is the only thing he needs. Speaks grabs the tiny Dazzle Suit and clicks it active.
[4] There is an explosion of light and sound. It's like a miniature sun igniting before his eyes, and Speaks staggers like from a physical blow. An unholy cacophony of noise hits his eardrums; bright, dizzying balls of multi-colored light dance across the lab, illuminating it in all its glory. Stabbing beams of pure white light sweep across the shadows like from the galaxy's deadliest disco ball. Speaks hears sounds like hissing or burning.
Holding the Dazzle Suit above his head, Speaks looks around. He still feels cold and dazed, but he can move, and
[5] so can the surviving Soviets. A few of them look pale and lifeless, already drained, but the rest come to in the continuing barrage of light and sound. There's no telling how long that will continue - the corners of the room still look ominously dark and seething. Speaks wonders if the intensity of the dazzling is actively giving... whatever they are... pain. Perhaps it's even lethal.
---
Status: Gnarly. Dazed: -2 to CR, -1 to Accuracy, action penalty, 1 turn remaining.
HP: 25/30
Possessions:-
Tooth Gun [Damage 3/
Precise, Special Ammo/Teeth]
>Shattering Teeth (2) [Tearing II] >Diamond Teeth (10) [+3 Damage/Piercing II, Stunning +0]-The Terrorporter [
Terror Port]
-Dazzle Suit (Variant IX) [Unuseable.]
+Nazi First Aid Materials (2)
-0 Fabricator Tokens
Traits: None
Erin, Crit and LondonF. I. R. E. DON'T FIRE.
Beep beep beeeeeep!
Run and take cover. Suppressing fire! Seed should finish him off.
"Yer right, Goring, we are yer opposites! Yer foul science is no match fer that burning heart of a Hero!"
London continues to hack away at the beast with her axe!
Meanwhile, in the next room over, the rest of the Heroes continue to combat the cunning Göring.
[4] Crit withdraws from the melee, heading over to the other end of the Bridge instead to use the giant throne for cover. He bumps into Evil Roy, though his noble comrade seem a little distracted with tinkering with the little panel in the back of the throne. Crit
[1+1=2] is too distracted by the sudden appearance of his friend to make his attack on the Nazi leader.
Erin decides not to risk firing with her fellow Hero in the firing line, leaving it to London to battle the dread Nazi.
[2+1=3] The intimidating giant before her doesn't bother our Hero too much. She shouts out her defiance -
'Yer right, Goring, we are yer opposites! Yer foul science is no match fer that burning heart of a Hero!' - and swings for his neck!
[Dodge:1] Grímnir's Hold strikes true and hard, cutting right through Göring's protectively-raised arm and sinking itself deep into his chest!
[Damage:6*2=12] The Nazi monster roars and staggers back, trailing blood from the enormous wound.
London
[5+1=6, 3+1=4] has no time to celebrate, though. With furious vigor, Göring rebounds and charges forward with all four arms swinging.
[Dodge:4/6] London parries, dodges and weaves under the blows, giving ground but not letting a single blow through. Göring roars again like the mad beast he is.
'Finish the monster, comrade! Don't let him escape!' the surviving Soviet leader shouts out, and the next moment London sees why. Göring turns tail and charges for his throne, one of his machineguns clattering to the floor as the arm holding it comes down to press on his wound.
'I am INVINCIBLE! I WILL RETURN!' Göring shouts,
[Regen:2] his enhanced biology doing its best to stop the bleeding.
It is at this point that everyone's attention is taken up by events at the Throne.
---
The Reichsmarschall [HP:10/50]*
Fleeing for the Throne, Close Range to Erin and London, Long Range to Evil Roy and Crit*3x MG70s [Damage 3/
Automatic II,
Inaccurate/Nazi]
*
Tissue Regeneration [Regenerates 1d4 HP per turn unless set on fire, electrocuted, poisoned, etc. etc. Chance of rampant growth resulting in mutations.]
*
Abomination of Science [+2 Stunning Resistance, +1 to Combat Rolls]
*
Limbs Like Tree Trunks [Melee attacks cause +3 Damage and are Stunning +0.]
Jetpack Soviet Team Leader [HP:5/5]
*With London, Crit and Erin
*PPSh-48 [Damage 3/Close-Ranged I/Communist]
*Biggest Hat [+1 CR to comrades in area]
Status: Rattled.
HP: 23/25
Possessions:-
Grímnir's Hold [Damage 6/
Unwieldy I, Ancient Wards/Containment]
-
Kodion Thermal Shield [DR: -2/Shield Use: 3/
Fire Barrier/Fire]
-Jetpack Soviet Fur Hat
+Nazi First Aid Materials (2)
+Nazi Experiment Logs
-0 Fabricator Tokens
Traits: None
Status: Stranded. In Cover, +1 to Dodge.
HP: 18/30 [-3 to Damage]
Possessions: -
Mnemonic Autocannon [Damage -/
Heavy Weapon,
Automatic I,
Stunning +0,
Memory Drain/Lion, Memory, Large]
-
MPL-188 [Damage 4/
Close-Ranged I,
Volatile/Nazi]]
-
Armor of the Pariah [DR:-3/
Pariah State/Ugly, Magical, Depression]
-Flashlight
-0 Fabricator Tokens
Traits: None
Status: Obsolete.
HP: 19/30
Possessions:-
Cadgewell's Green Rifle [Damage 3/
Inaccurate,
Internal Bloom/Earth, Overgrown, Organ]
-
Dress Sword [Damage 3/Nazi]
-
MPL-188 [Damage 4/
Close-Ranged I,
Volatile/Nazi]
+Nazi First Aid Materials (2)
+Mega Seeds
+SGP Glue
+Last Resort Explosive Digger
+Parachute Pack
+Quantum Lab Tube [An experimental product of Nazi superscience. Appears to contain every chemical at once.]
+Quantum Key [An experimental product of Nazi superscience. Appears to
be every key at once.]
+0 Fabricator Tokens
Traits: Nazified Evil RoyEvil Roy, though not an electrician by any means, figures that this is a good sign. The best option is to continue with the previous plan. The escape pod is clearly the best possible weapon here.
With the Nazi leader charging right for him, if unknowingly, Evil Roy knows it is time to act.
[1, oh my god] He bravely goes up to the panel and begins bashing it at random with full faith in Destiny, Heroism or blind Luck doing his work for him. Surely it's only a matter of time till he hits on the right combination of controls to plop this baby on its side and send it screaming towards their target?
It takes a minute or so, with a bunch of gauges jumping into red, error messages growing more and more urgent, a thrumming sound coming from below... and then the Throne
explodes.[2] It is not a gentle explosion. The sides of the Throne rupture outwards and flame bursts out in every direction, carried even further by some kind of released chemical that promptly ignites. Pieces of the throne go spinning through the air, trailing fire and smoke. Evil Roy and Crit are, of course, right at the heart of the blast.
[Evil Roy Dodge:4-1=3] The instigator of this 'splosion has nice reflexes and quick wits, but it still only gets him half-way. Evil Roy makes a leap for the lower level the moment he realizes something's gonna blow, but the explosion catches him in mid-air and punches him into the wall with the force of two angry giants.
[Damage:20/2=10] [Stunning:5] He narrowly avoids the cloud of burning shrapnel that follows as he falls on his... something on the floor of the lower level. The pain is quite immense, but he feels very much alive.
[Crit Dodge:5-1=4] Poor, unfortunate Crit is next, but his robotic sensors catch wind of what's happening before it happens, and the plucky little robot rolls clear of the Throne and down the stairs onto the relative safety of the lower level. Bits of metal and machinery rain down on him, but the wave of heat and force barely bruises him and only knocks off a few useless Nazi knicknacks.
Charging right into the explosion is the Reichsmarschall,
[Dodge:4-1=3] and his momentum carries him right into its heart. A muscular monstrosity of Nazi science turns out not to be the most agile of creatures.
[Damage:20/2=10] He's promptly thrown right back the way he came with shrapnel lancing into his flesh. Göring screams, a deep, tortured wail that conveys death and vengeance upon all who dare stand against him. He lands heavily on the middle of the bridge,
[5] which manages to hold under his weight.
[London Dodge:6] [Erin Dodge:2] [Soviet Dodge:5] At the end of the bridge, in the face of the onrushing firestorm and storm of steel, London and the last Soviet throw themselves flat or into cover and manage to avoid the force of the blast. Erin is not quite so lucky,
[Damage:10-3=7] though her armor at least deflects some of the shrapnel. Damn, but heroics are a dangerous business.
The aftermath of the explosion leaves their ears ringing, their wounds bleeding but all of them, including the Reichsmarschall, quite alive, and not even on fire.
[1] The same cannot be said for the Bridge itself. Hungry flames are beginning to spread outwards from the smoking ruins of the Throne. The reinforced glass of the far wall is punctured in several points, rushing air fleeing the room.
---
Status: Evil. Purplish?
HP: 12/30
Possessions: -
'Reaver' Powered Crossbow [Damage 4/
Close-Ranged I,
Stunning +1, Special Ammo/Sadistic, Mind-Altering]
-
Ursus Amplifier Sword [Damage 5/
Amplifier/Bear, Intensify]
-Maelocht's Gloves [
Soulgnawer]
+Parachute
+Nazi Fire Extinguisher
-0 Fabricator Tokens
Traits: None
---
A success for Evil Roy would likely have sent the Throne and Göring with it rushing straight into (and through) the ceiling and every level above. A great success would've instead used it as a giant missile that would in all likelihood made Göring, London, Erin and the Soviet splatters on the wall. Of course, any of these results could have been made greatly more Fun* by Evil Roy jamming his Amplifier Sword into the machine.
*Several characters would likely be much deader, for instance.