Supercape

Lord Steam aka Lord Lucien Lockwood

"Indeed" nodded Ms. Wells. "The fact is, he helped me design it... and build it." She waved her hand over the Brit Machine, which was still steaming and whirring, although it was (as far as any of the heroes could tell) powering down after its trans-dimensional journey. "I didn't always approve of the direction he took the Institute, but you should be aware that he was the one of the foremost weapon designers for the Empire. And we were travelling as incognito as we could - very few people knew about our planned demonstation at the University of Dehli. Only myself, and two bodyguards, who were, as far as I can tell, drugged. "

"Vacuum energy eh?" replied Supercape. He wasn't completely surprised - his guest had shown himself to be quite capable of understanding such esoteric physics - and was clearly motivated and able to dedicate significant resources to the challenge of harnessing such forces. It had always struck him as being... well, feasible but not necessarily warranted or even efficient. Conversion of matter directly to energy had always seen the best option. "Well, its an interesting thought. Played around with the idea in my head of course. Technically possible, I suspect, although the engineering to do it is not... easy to say the least. I wont press on just how what direction you wish to travel, but it sounds interesting. "

Back in MI7... "Ah yes, thank you, sir" replied Lord Lockwood, recalling the night of frenzied combat he had had with the bent policeman. He rubbed his side automatically, remembering the steel of the blade. Fortunately, he had been patched up with no problems. He could afford the best surgeons in London, and knew a far few of of the Harley street physicians personally. Important lesson he recalled. Detection is only half the battle! "Well, it all ended up quite well" he continued. "The rotter is locked up for good now, and the Heath is safe once more". "Yes yes" replied V. "Showed some promise there. Our best detectives couldn't crack that as fast as you did, I dare say. And I understand you made quite an impression with the Royal College of Metaphysical Engineering, with that unfortunate Zepplin incident..."

The Hatchet rose to his feet, shaking the cobwebs from his head. He staggered as he regained his composure, waving the bloodied knife in front of him. The two men no longer exchanged words. In the midnight rain, they faced off to each other, each desperate for victory. The cane and blade clashed, and clashed again, both glinting. Bodies thrust against one another, and boots strained for balance in the wet and muddy ground. The fight became less elegant and more ferocious. Lucien knew he was, this time, fighting for his life against an opponent who was a killer. Dispelling his mind of all thoughts of failure he once again grappled with the Hatchet, and both men tussled from side to side, slamming into a tree as they battled for supremacy. In the end however, Lucien was stronger, faster, and more able. A slip, and the Hatchet left himself open. A swift low kick compounded the stumble of the murderer, and the cane whipped around connecting with the villains head. This time, the Hampstead Hatchett did not rise. His bloodied blade slipped from his unconscious fingers and tumbled to the ground beside him. "And let that be a lesson to you!" proclaimed Lord Lockwood, tapping his adversary with a foot. Now to get this patched up... he thought, observing the bloody mess he had left on his shirt.

Next Round follow up from LS (HH shaking off stun) 1d20+9=26 DC 20 Toughness save (Bruised x1) 1d20+2=18 ENd of round LS Injured x2 HH Bruised x2, Staggered Next round HH Attack 1d20+6=22 LS Toughness 1d20+7=24 resisted, even with 2 Injuries LS Attack 1d20+9=10 Miss Next Round HH Attack 1d20+6=15 Miss LS Attack 1d20+9=19 Hit HH TToughness vs DC 20 1d20+1=6 Staggered again, meaning Knocked out!

The hatchet crept forward and sprung, faster this time, aware that Lord Steam was a capable pugilist. The cane came up, but too slow. Damn! Keep mind on the Job! he cursed, as he felt the blade sink into his abdomen. "Ouch", he commented, as he sunk to one knee, flailing with his cane. The Hatchet stepped back, withdrawing his bloodied blade with a grin on his face. "No different to all the rest are you, your Lordship?" he sneered. "You bleed just the same, and you will die just the same. " "Indeed" replied Lucien, wobbling slightly - and more than he needed to. "My predicament seems most perilous..." Again the blade came down, on his shoulder. It Stung, but he didn't feel the seeping wetness as he did over the first wound. "Die!" screamed the Hatchet, lost in bloodlust. Perhaps he was insane after all... he seemed to be relishing his murderous goal. "Not today!" replied the sleuth, with a spring in his step and a flash of his cane, that drove into the Man's Jaw and sent him stumbling away to his knees. "Its not quite as bad as it looked!" he remarked, holding his aching wound.

HH Attack url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2983489/]1d20+6=26 Critical! DC 22 Tough Save 1d20+7=13 Bruised and Injured. Shaking off the Stun this round, for HH to attack again url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2983493/]1d20+6=20 A regular hit DC 17 Toughness save with 1 Injured 1d20+7=16 Moves to Injured x2 And his retaliation 1d20+5=25 for a fast feint vs 1d20+10=18 Meants the Hatchet is Flat Footed +2 dam / -2 Attack from Lord Steam 1d20+7=19 A comfortable hit, DC 22 Toughness 1d20+3=6 Staggered, Bruised, Stunned.

Supercape swore he could actually feel his blood cells melting down as bathed in the radioactive goo. Have to get out of this he swore, as he concentrated and flew out of the coolant with his cape flapping wildly, droplets of glowing green coolant splattering the entire room. This is going to be a nightmare to clean up... He was sick, wounded, and facing a nuclear powered villain who had gone critical. This wasn't looking good. But with enough time, Dragonfly might be able to overload him. I have to buy that time... With a wave of his hand, a globe of quantum material sprung up around Hiroshima Shadow. The faintly blue, semi transparent material was stronger than steel and would last forever. As long as nobody clever examined it really hard. It neither existed not did-not exist, and careful scrutiny of its more esoteric properties caused it to collapse to a state of non-existence. And that's a start... he nodded. Hopefully Hiroshima Shadow was not an expert on quantum mechanics, nor had the inclination to examine the material in much depth.

All good. Notice check is straightforward (as she can read Russian!).

Lucien sidestepped the man. The Hampstead Hatchet was not clumsy, far from it. He was actually deadly, and totally at home fighting with the blade. But the sleuth was faster, quicker, and more skilled with his trusty cane, which he brought up into a Baristsu fighting pose before slapping the blade away and striking back with his stick. The two men spun around to face each other again, each now aware that their enemy was not some helpless maid or witless thug. Both men were fast, strong, and able, and had a taste for the cut and thrust of fighting. Lord Lockwood moved with a cunning but effective grace, and his opponent with a powerful and violent crouch that spoke of much experience in dirty fighting. His heart racing, Lucien - in a detatched manner, came to realise that the detection of the criminal was only half the matter. One must also apprehend the villain. And in this case, that put him in considerable personal jeopardy. He was not surprised to find he loved the flush of adrenaline.

Using slightly modded "Mob Boss" for Hampstead Hatchet 1d20+1=13 Init HH 1d20+3=12 Init LS HH up first 1d20+6=14 Miss. LS will feint as a move action 1d20+5=22 vs 1d20+10=23 done And proceed to attack! 1d20+9=11 missing

Previously... Lord Lockwood pulled up his coat over the drizzling rain. November, in a cold winter, on Hampstead Heath, at midnight, in the middle of a rain that seemed to seep and stick to his clothes... Not his idea of a pleasant evening. But three murders here in three weeks. And grizzly ones too. He had asked around, and examined the scenes, carefully examining for clues. The weapon... a Hatchet, the man was large, with a slight limp, and a particular type of shoe, with worn soles. Left handed. He had even tracked down the soil that had been trampled around the victims. All of it had lead him here. He realised that he was now close, and it dawned on him that he may in fact be in some physical danger. Ahead, a copper patrolled the pathway, solitary, and also wet to the core. "No use running", said Lord Lockwood calmly. "The games up!" The grizzly copper shuffled to his side, with a slight drag of his right leg. "How did you know?" he growled. Lockwood replied with an even smile. "Aside from all the evidence you left at the scene, the victims... you tried to make it look like a grizzly serial killer, but they were all crooks themselves, carrying large amounts of money. A bent copper like you knew just when to strike..." "Damn right, and I bet you are carrying a pretty penny too, being a Lord like you are..." snarled the Hampstead Hatchet pulled out the flashing steel from under his rain coat, and charged the Lockwood.

A solo thread describing Lord Steam's entrance to Freedom City / Origin. Open to any ideas or even guest appearances later if people want to pip in.

Earth Victoriana, MI 7 Building Lord Lucien Lockwood paused outside the solid mahogany doors of the MI7 Master known only as "V". He brought up his fine silver shod cane and politely rapped on the doors three times. "Enter" roared the voice beyond. Lord Lockwood adjusted his collar and strode in with as much confidence as he could muster. Which was quite a lot. In any other situation he would have been as bold as brass. He was possessed of a truly exceptional mind, and he had no shortage of social grace. Combined with an athletic, tall physique and a certain unruly handsomeness, he had everything to be confident about. However, this was MI7 - the head of the most secretive division the Empire's intelligence services. "V" put down his pipe and gave Lockwood a meaty stare from behind his overgrown eyebrows. "There you are" he said, with some annoyance, reloading his pipe. "Now then, Sir" he continued, without waiting for Lucien to reply. "We had high hopes for you, dear boy. Bright chap and all that. Did quite a job on the Hampstead Hatchet..."

And Dragonfly is up. With that shiny reflex roll you can have that as grasping onto a bar or ledge and avoid getting dunked (or any other narrative descriptor).

...with Horishima Shadow basking in the unleashed nuclear might of the reactor. Spying the two heroes middair, he roared with laughter before setting his gaze on the coolant and realising a penetrating green beam from his eyes that hit the liquid causing it to glow with ghastly, and lethal, radiation. Supercape stumbled straight into the coolant and gasped as he felt the full radioactive power poison his system...

As the ship spun into a closer range to the meteor, the crew could see it in all its glory. It seemed to be more crystal than rock, with flashed of discharged energy arcing from one shard to another as it rotated swiftly on its own axis. A trail of microcrystals lay in its wake. Razor sharp crystals, rapid rotation, unstable geology, arcing energy, and possibly erosive microfillaments in the vicinity. The piloting skills of Victory could set them down, but they would be facing an inhospitable environment in depths of space...

Back from operation and good to go!

Miss Wells drew herself up to her full 5 feet five inches and fixed Jubatus with a penetrating glare. She had not become one of the most prominent members of the notoriously sexist institute for metaphysical engineering without being possessed of a formidable intellect and determination. "We are, I regret to say" she explained with precision, "in the middle of the Indian colonies, in rather perilous mountain region. We wont have any police service for a day... and I am not sure of the quality of investigation they will provide. In the meantime, the culprit may get away. If I suspected a simple assailant, or mugger, I may have left it that, distressing as it may have been. However, the victim was one of the finest engineers in England, and I suspect a rat. "

"Energy production sounds quite interesting" piped up Supercape, finding himself what the mechanical marvel would make of this. He didn't even know what powered Protectron - the machine was an intricate web of energy flow that he found impossible to penetrate. "I am sure we could do bang our heads together for the advancement of science, perhaps? The Lab is an ideal testing ground for such research..."

Back from surgery with all four limbs. Doped up on morphine, in pain, leg in plaster and three months of awfulness ahead. However, didnt loose my foot, and op was a success. And back!

DC 30 to Land... Yes, Victory can take 10 an make it!

"I imagine you can take anything you want. The more the better" replied Supercape. "Anything you take wont be crashing into Earth..." He frowned slightly. The crystalline surface was probably what was blocking the quantum entanglement he required to teleport to the location - and the anomaly persisted. "I don't know what its made of, but this certainly adds a new degree of uncertainty to the mission" he commented, before turning to Victory. "Can you land on that? its spinning rather fast..." And so it was, in an arkward axis, leaving a fine trail of crystal shards behind it.

Next week, I am off having some surgery on my foot :cry: which is a couple of days in hospital and then two or three months in plaster. Anyway, it means I will be unable to post for a week or so from next wednesday (and may be to high on drugs to post much!) Time up to then is filled preparing and a few evenings out with the Mrs - getting some out of house action in before that gets thrown out!