Valor Unlimited: Issue 5, A Different World

[RedBstrd]

Valor Unlimited: Issue 1, Team Up

Jack Flash utters something unintelligibly quick to his fellow members in Valor Unlimited, then realizes that the blank looks on their faces mean that they weren't able to keep up with his superhuman speed. "Umm... I mean: I'll scout out the building and see who their heavy hitters are..." A fraction of a second later, he disappears into the building in a blur.

Almost as quickly, the speedster flies back out of the building - this time propelled by what must have been a punch from something unnaturally strong. As the rest of Valor Unlimited runs over to check on Jack Flash, the battered and bruised speedster tries to get up from the remains of the brick wall he was thrown through. "... Found the heavy hitter...," he adds as he slumps back down onto the rubble, semi-conscious.

Jack Flash is Unconscious, Staggered, and has a -1 circumstance penalty to Toughness saves.

The speedster known as Jack Flash - who took his costumed-persona name from a Rolling Stones song - was the founding member of Valor Unlimited, a company which provides superhero services to the public, NGOs, and occasionally to government organs who need assistance (bodyguard duties, hunting down villains, aid with natural disasters, etc.) that mundane subcontractors cannot handle. Originally on the cast of a low budget reality TV show for B-rate superheroes, Jack Flash used his celebrity status to gather funds to found his current project after he grew tired of using his powers exclusively for entertainment. Today, Valor Unlimited has a strong lineup of promising young heroes and heroines who are more professional and less mercenary than those employed by the somewhat notorious Capes!, Inc. Still, Valor Unlimited hasn't shown itself capable of producing results comparable to the most prominent superhero teams. It's no secret that even Jack Flash someday hopes to use Valor Unlimited as a springboard into membership on either the roster of the Guardians of the Globe or Megaforce.

Everyone has been a member of Valor Unlimited for at least a month. While this job may be the first activity that some of you have done, everyone is acquainted with each other and knows the basic super powers of the other members of the team.

No one knows the secret identity of another member unless you wish to have it openly known among the other members of the team.

Valor Unlimited is currently responding to a distress call from a wealthy philanthropist named Alex Micah. Micah has majority stock ownership in Square Circle, a company which produces high quality synthetic chemicals, some of which go into advanced technology and occasionally government contracting. According to the information Jack Flash hastily gathered, Micah contacted Valor Unlimited after an unknown number of supervillains broke into First Security bank. The bank is unusual in the sense that it doesn't offer accounts to individual customers and only provides services for corporate entities. More of a storehouse than a standard bank, it offers safety deposit boxes for corporate entities which need high security or high maintenance storage of valuables off-site. As one of many corporate customers, Micah does not know if the contents of his boxes in particular are the target of the supervillains, but he has wired funds to Valor Unlimited to deal with the situation just in case.

The police responded to the emergency signal from the facility, but were unprepared to face the threat inside. The intruders used some sort of sonic weapon on the police cars as they assembled in front of the building. As a result, five police cars full of officers are unconscious out front. The front windows of the bank shattered in the sonic attack, so Valor Unlimited is assembled in the parking lot behind the building. Apparently the back door is guarded by someone strong.

[flynnarrel]

Split Second
HP:1 LP: 1
CND: Doing something OTHER than going in there next.

Derek had perfectly understood Jack the first time he'd spoken. He, however, was not eager to repeat the other speedsters' impromptu flying lesson.

In hit own blur of motion he was beside Jack, crouching to examine the massive bruising. He lays his hands on Jack's chest and pulls from the deep well of time allocated to himself. He hasn't ever explained what it's like, indeed, it's not something that lends itself to words, but he directs his time to flow into Jack's already sped up metabolism with the intention of the body's wound repair process to be thrown into overdrive.

Healing (1d20+8=22)
I don't recall if Healing heals Unconsciousness. If it doesn't then assume Derek left his words in a note.

Derek puts three Split Bars (tm) beside the newly-healed speedster.

"Woah there, Bud, eats these slowly, when you can. Join us when you're able. Otherwise, watch this exit and call if there are any problems."

[Hound]

Mainframe
HP: 1

Conner stood over Split second, examining his handiwork. His power of time was fascinating, the young scientist would have loved to get Split second into a fully equipped laboratory and examine him for weeks under a fine microscope.

Yet right now there were more pressing matters, there was science to protect! ...and people. Science and people to protect.

The armoured man motioned for the six other heroes to gather round, "I have an Idea." He announced, his helmet modified his voice, giving it a mechanical sound to help disguise is everyday voice. "Flare, your concealment ability, you reflect light to make you invisible, right? My armour has similar cloaking technology, with our powers we can enter, and flank the enemy."

"When we are in position, the rest of the group can draw their attention. I was thinking Jackson could use is telekinetic powers to lift one of the disable Police cars and use it as a shield or projectile to get their attention. With their attention focused on the five at the entrance. Flare and I can take them by surprise from the rear, giving the rest of you the chance to quickly enter with out a rain of fire being poured upon you." When he finished his plan, Conner paused for a moment, while his voice was steady his heart was racing uncontrollably. He disliked talking in front of people, being the focus of some much attention made him nervous. But the armour gave him a wall to hide behind, the world felt more like he was playing a video game at home and he was issuing raid orders over a head set.

"Sound good?" He asked, trying to appear confident, thankfully they couldn't see his knees shake in the armour.

[Neo-Paladin]

Justitia
HP:1
Condition: Normal

Thoughtfully, Justitia nodded. This sure was different than chasing after small-time criminals. There had actually been few brawls against other supers during her brief career as a superhero. This was a wholly different animal. And it definitely beat PI work. She could feel her heart thud in her chest, already at jackhammer speeds although she had not yet revved up her body...it was a feeling that filled her both with apprehension and wild, almost primitive joy.

" I would suggest myself as the Vanguard when we rush in. I'm not faster than a speeding bullet but I can get in there more quickly than anyone else on foot."

She cast a wary glance towards the front of the building where she knew the cars and their occupants to be. Damn, she knew some of them...had shared the same frustrations and merciless all-nighters with them...she just hoped they were ok. If they were not...then the arrest of these thugs would just end up a little rougher.

[CaptainChaos]

Nova

Nova looked around at the rest of the team. Sure they had been on a few missions together but nothing like this. They had only been together for a month or so and therefor only had a passing familiarity with each others abilities.

"Do we have the information on how many civilians are in there and where they are?"

She was very nervous but tried not to show it. She had so many things going on in her life right now. She had to concentrate on what was happening right now and not worry about anything else until later.

"We should try to separate the hostages from the villains if possible."

[Project Icarus]

Flare
HP: 1

Flare grinned and nodded at Mainframe's suggestion. "You guys could also just kick your feet up and wait for us to finish 'em off." He lightly pounded his fist on Mainframe's armored shoulder. "Whaddya think, Mainframe? We got this?" he asked, winking.

"Anyway, I guess we'll just use the car blowing up at the front of the building as our signal to attack," he continued. He looked at Jackson. "You can actually throw a car like that, right? That'd be a cool power to have, I gotta say. I mean, controlling light is cool and all, but can you really beat throwing huge stuff around?" He paused, looking around at the others. "Right, shut up," he added, mostly to himself.

As Nova mentioned the hostages, a small voice in the back of his head told him that he should be nervous about this, and, what's more, that he should be nervous because innocent people could get killed. He pushed the nervous voice aside.

"Mainframe and I can check things out once we get inside, see how many civilians and bad guys we got inside, and then figure it out from there. The client didn't have any information about hostages, did he?" Flare directed his question, almost as an afterthought, to Jack.

[Kaisius]

Jackson Wright
Hp 2
Cond: normal

Jackson nodded as Mainframe laid out his plan. He was still uneasy about actually doing this, being a "superhero". But for that...idiot in the elephant suit, he'd still be just a ordinary guy living an ordinary life. But, lives had been at stake, and were again today. And so, here he was, "to save the day." "Right, I'll get around to the front and create a distraction. One of us should get the knocked-out cops out of the way, ASAP. We need to hurry. We've lost whatever element of surprise we had." With that, Jackson takes off and circles wide around the building to the front. As he comes into view of the front of the building, he reaches out with his telekinesis and picks up a (large, unoccupied object) and has it float up behind him as he hovers 20' off the ground. "Alright, you've had your fun. Now, come out quietly, with your hands up or...there will...be...uh, trouble.", he calls out, and then quickly runs out of things to say.

Sorry for the late post, I crashed as soon as I got home from work. If there are any cars that have been damaged/totalled already and are unoccupied, that's what Jackson picks up. Otherwise, he gets a dumpster or some other piece of set dressing, something that won't count as collateral damage. I'll hold whatever action I have left. Initiative 1d20+7=11 blegh...

[flynnarrel]

Split Second

At the mention of casual collateral damage Derek pipes up.

"Okay any property damage we cause comes out of our share, you know that right? Let's not go throwing around cars and breaking walls all willy-nilly. Doesn't look good for the cameras, either." He smiles a gleaming white smile.

[Lord Fell]

Mr. Kamikaze

When Jack Flash slid to a stop, Mr. Kamikaze actually took two steps towards their employer before Split Second got there. Since Double-S was already doing more for the clobbered cruiser than Double-K could hope to, he just chilled. While the ideas and plans started to fly, he adjusted the straps on his gauntlets and mostly just listened.

"can you really beat throwing huge stuff around?"

"I throw huge stuff around every night," he quips with a wink in Justitia's direction.

"I want to have a look at the bouncer at the back door." Mr. Kamikaze claps his hands together, intertwines his fingers, inverts his hands, and flexes them, causing a cascade of knuckle cracks. "Then, I'll swing over and clear out the cops, back up m'man Jackson."

He cocks a finger at the bank, like a pistol, and then 'fires' it by clicking down his thumb. "It's go time." With that, he is sprinting towards the the building. Mr. Kamikaze has said of his capabilities that "he's just a normal guy who's good at some stuff." But, he might not be Speedster fast, he's moving at a clip Usian Bolt couldn't match... and when he gets closer to the building, a single bound gets him up onto the roof, with enough clearance to work an aerial summersault in.

Once on top of the building he will drop into a crouch and roll for cover. He wants to work his way over to the back of the building and have a look at what's going on down there, without being seen.

The movement is automatic with his Speed and Leaping.
Stealth (1d20+16=22) Perception (1d20+7=10)
Crap rolls all around. The stealth is probably good enough. I'd reroll the perception, but it's a bit early to be blowing Hero Points.

[Project Icarus]

Flare
HP: 1

Flare waved off Split Second's concerns. "It's not like he's going to bring down the entire building." He paused. "You aren't, right, Jackson?" he added as he saw the telekinetic take off for the front of the building. He turned to the others and shrugged. "I guess we're up."

With that, Flare disappeared. Literally. And then he headed for the wall Jack Flash had just been punched out of, doing his best to stay silent and avoid the attention of whatever had punched him out.

Stealth: 1d20+9=23
And a Perception check, to see if he can spot the bruiser or any other bad guys: 1d20+7=24

[flynnarrel]

Split Second

People seemed to be splitting up. Well, Derek knew who he'd want to go with.

"Say, Nova, How about you and take an alternate way in and look for hostages? Saving the hostages is really important." And they remember most the people who saved them. PR Gold. Derek muses. And being seen with such a hottie won't be bad for my image either.

"Wanna walk through walls?" He holds out his hand to her.

[Neo-Paladin]

Justitia

HP:1
Condition: Normal

The hispanic heroine rolled her eyes at Kamikaze's comment. Guess she needed to make it clear he was barking up the wrong tree once they were done here. Not that this lame piece of innuendo would have worked on any straight girl either.
But it was time to get back to business.
Seeing Flare disappear, she took this as a sign to get going. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated on speeding up her metabolism to slightly superhuman levels, feeling her heart thud harder and faster until it had reached a staccato that would have killed a normal human. To be honest, she did not like revving up herself like this. It always left her with a queasy feeling in her stomach.
Her form becoming blurry, she hurried to the side of the building, next to the hole Jack had crashed through, keeping a careful eye out for any sign of hostiles. Which was easier said than done, since the lighting difference made it nearly impossible for her to see anything inside.

Perception check
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3445510/ Yeah, a 6, IC hates me today

[Hound]

Mainframe
HP: 2


A wave of relief washed over him, the group seemed to like his idea, they added a few minor revisions, but they seemed over all receptive. Conner had made a plan, now it relied heavily on Flare and his actions to ensure the others didn't walk into an ambush, and no civilians inside were used for target practise. A critical role, one Conner was no sure he was up for, but it had been his plan so he had to do it.

He issued a command and the artificial intelligence, Aya, popped to life, activating the cloaking field. His suit began bending light, making him almost invisible, only the slightest ripple in the light gave away his location. Conner moved towards the whole at reduced speed to try and keep his presence hidden, his every sense on high alert, his onboard computer constantly scanning the area for anything and everything.

Moving into the building with Concealment 4, all Visual, Blending, Passive, activated.

Using Dark vision, Infravision, Counters all Concealment, and Ultra-hearing.

Perception check: 1d20+10=29

[CaptainChaos]

Nova

Nova listened to everyone's ideas. Finally they concurred on a plan.

"All right, let's rescue the civilians and capture some bad guys."

"Say, Nova, How about you and take an alternate way in and look for hostages? Saving the hostages is really important." And they remember most the people who saved them. PR Gold. Derek muses. And being seen with such a hottie won't be bad for my image either.

"Wanna walk through walls?" He holds out his hand to her.

Stacy realized that Split Second was hitting on her but ignored it for the moment. With a name like Split Second, she wasn't sure if that applied to everything he did. However, going on through the wall into the building would give them the element of surprise.

Smiling sweetly and turning on the charm, she took a deep breath, accepted his outstretched hand, and replied,

"I would love to go for a walk with you."

Initiative= 1d20+2=21

[flynnarrel]

Split Second

Derek took her hand. With only a moment's concentration both he and Nova gain a slightly hazy, translucent quality to their forms.

"Now, most of my free time is locked into keeping us vibrating at this out-of-phase speed. So you'll need to reduce your flight." He seemed a bit sullen to have his speed so reduced. "But we will need to move quick because, though you don't need to breath, I'll have to hold my breath when we're not in open air. This place has lower floors, so let's go down about 40 feet or so then cut over to the lower levels of the bank. We'll explore through walls til we find something." He smiles again.