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Tuesday, November 28th , 2017 Blackstone Federal Penitentiary Cell Block B, Cell 254 4:26 AM Live in Blackstone wasn’t all bad. Sure, there was little freedom and everywhere you went, somebody was likely watching you. Nobody really liked each other, and everything was scheduled down to a point. But at the very least sleeping tight wasn’t an issue. Getting woken up in the middle of the night was incredibly rare, the prison tried to avoid it whenever possible due to some bad experiences. So when suddenly, somebody knocked at Prisoner SH-202, better known as Synth, ‘s cell, it was enough to get her attention, even at this point of the night. What came after did even more for that. The clicking of the lock, indicating the door had been unlocked, and the whisper, easily audible with Synth’s ears. It was in Swedish. [“Come with us.”]

Just outside London Monday March 7, 2016 10:13 AM Gray clouds hung in the sky, typical of this time of year for England. Dee Farrington was paying little mind to the clouds as she guided her Aston Martin down the busy streets, instead more focused on her destination and why she was going there. With her in the sports car was Erick Sloane, who, as Foreshadow, was her teammate on Vanguard. The two had been involved for close to two years now, starting slightly after they had met during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. From the moment they had met, there had been few secrets between them, in part due to Dee's telepathic abilities. Having learned each other's identities from the start had allowed them both to be more open than either had been in any prior relationships. But that still did not mean that there were not parts of Dee's life that she had kept from Erick. But now she had decided it was time to change that in regard to one of the things that meant the most to her in her life. It was something she had been thinking about for some time, and finally on Valentine's Day she had decided it was time. But a part of her still felt nervous and uncertain. She would be opening up a part of herself to Erick that she did not share with anyone.

January 2018 Freedom City Great Bay Aquaria was alone tonight, resting on the shores of Great Bay as she looked up at the silent stars overhead. It was a holy night, a night of great alignments and portents - a night that in old days would have meant a hunt for a pod of dolphins or perhaps a great whale, and then a great feast to follow among all of the tribe. Given the time of year and her age, she'd have probably killed a beast herself, bathed in its guts beneath the light of the Moon, and fed scraps to the healthiest of her children. But instead she was alone tonight, several days swimming or more from the nearest Deep Ones, with the promise of her rubber and plastic bed at home when the morning came. She had a special mission tonight, a mission that required solitude. The alignments of this day would give power to all who sang the Names of the Gods Below or the creatures who dwelt in Sea of Stars - a power that on the Surface was usually taken by madmen and cultists, twisted creatures whose plans to summon avatars of Dagon and Hydra would only bring pain and suffering to gods and creatures alike. The blasphemers would take the names of the gods and use them in vain, and do nothing but bring contempt to every being like her. She was waiting in this sacred spot on the beach, a spot sanctified during the Archevil invasion before she'd even set foot on Freedom City's shores, for Surfacer cultists to arrive. If one did come, she had big plans, oh yes. Her armor was stored safely beneath her on the beach, cunningly buried beneath the sand - she squatted on her haunches before a fire she'd kindled, the light reflected in her great dark eyes, and began to sing in a bellowing, resonate bass, just loud enough that any creature on the beach would be sure to hear her.

01/07/2018, Late evening Lincoln - Between Yin and Yang Convenience Store The Noreaster which had swept over Freedom City had slowed the torrential pulse of the city into something softer and more manageable. The streets, quiet on a Sunday night, were especially so with the foot of snow which had brought things to standstill. However, the city, and its heroes were quite used to the Eastern Seaboard weather, and things were already getting back to normal. The Yin and Yang Convenience Store was a relatively new establishment in the Asian dominated area of Lincoln, but had quickly gathered a patronage due to the warmth of it's older owners. They seemed to be able to really put customer first policies in place and managed to get a rather wide variety of ethnic produce and foods to stock the shelves. However, on this Sunday night, the only person in the store was Zhu, who was sitting behind the register reading a book on Practical Applied Mechanical Systems for one of her classes. Her parents had sacrificed much to get her to America and the Claremont academy and she did her best to help them out when she could. Sunday night was usually a good night for her to give them some well deserved time off while she minded the store. While the store was not in the best of area's, it wasn't as deadly as the Fen's and the routine patrols by police and heroes did a lot to keep crime down in the immediate area. It didn't help that there was a liquor store adjacent to them, but at least they had a nice metal grate over their windows to deter the criminal element from the block. Drumming her fingers on the counter, she was making notes as she read, the computer next to her seeming to dictate things nearly on it's own. Outside a plow rumbled through the streets and she looked at the blinking yellow lights as the faded down the major thoroughfare. With any luck, she'd be able to close up early and get back to her dorm. She had a new dance track she wanted to play for Lexa and get her opinion on it.

GM ASTRO Labs Downtown, Freedom City, NJFriday, October 28th, 2016 11:00 PM There were many sounds one didn't want to hear in Freedom City's illustrious tech sector. Explosions could signify a castrophic event, or even the game changing creation of a new powered player in town. Screams and wails often followed a tear in the natural laws of the universe. Then there was of course H. Gordon Willicker's crickety knee. A sound that would be inevitably be followed with a ten minute description of the current pains that plagued his body. In graphic detail. But, the worst sound? Absolute silence. Just after the silence alarm was tripped in the world renowned ASTRO Labs facility, not a peep could be heard. Or seen for that matter. The patrol cars had yet to arrive on the scene, but news was quickly spreading throughout social media. Something weird was happening in ASTRO Labs...

GM Eastern Seaboard Bank Wading Way, Freedom City, New Jersey Thursday, July 27 2017 12:30 PM Tellers working lunch hours at a bank knew they were a part of the peak shift. It was the busy period when everyone could sneak away from their day to make a quick withdrawal or deposit without disrupting whatever else they had going on. That extra bit of traffic alone would account for the increase in pay for anyone working the busy shift. Anywhere else that is. For Freedom City's own E-Sea, the prime tellers were instead earning hazzard pay. Yet again the popular destination for criminals whose plans started and stopped with the words 'I want to rob a bank today', was being held up. "This is a hold up! If you don't want to get a taste of my Devil Ray's you'll--uh shut up. Yeah just shut up or else." A distorted voice called out from a jet black demonic looking helmet. It was the all too familiar site of the infamous Devil Ray. The Crime League's own superarmored aquatic thug was pointing his gauntlets at everyone. While three men wearing animal themed luchador masks (A wolf, puffer fish, and owl respectively) backed him up. The trio were making demands to be let into the safety deposit box whilst Devil Ray continued to simply bully the victims in the bank lobby. A result of which began to bring media attention to the latest E-Sea robbery.

Monday, November 27th 2017: 9:00am, Claremont Academy Zhu got out of the small old Honda Civic and had to just stop and look. While she already had looked over the school with an illegally appropriated satellite, checked every photo that was in a cloud anywhere, and had as much comprehensive knowledge about her new school as she could possibly get, there was something about the majesty of the campus that still overwhelmed her. It was a stark reminder that while information was good, there was nothing that could quite replace actual experiences. Perhaps she would have to do some research into why reality was so real. Around her, the suprisingly warm November day had a glorious feel to it and the students were taking advantage of the Indian Summer, perhaps anticipating the winter to come. "<Go ahead, we're proud of you. You can do this>," her mother gently chided to her in Mandarin from the passenger seat. Zhu, no Alexa, she had to keep reminding herself that, turned to her mother and smiled, "<Thank you for your sacrifice. I will honor your choice.>" Her mother waved once and, as neither of them were fond of long emotional goodbyes, drove off leaving Alexa standing staring at her new school. Brushing back her hair, she took a deep breath and muttered to herself in slightly accented English, "this is where I should be." She knew the path to the registrar's office and began heading across the well manicured lawns not bothering to hide her wide eyed wonder at the diverse student body. Without taking the phone out of her pocket she pulled up the agenda that had been sent too her. It was rather vague, something that annoyed her, but contained at least a starting point to her new journey. Of course, in the name of efficiency, her parents had dropped her off nearly a full hour before she had to be anywhere, but if her schools in Shanghai taught her anything, it was that punctuality was to be observed to the exclusion of nearly all else. She was certain that the Dean would feel the same way.

Summer 2017 It was a beautiful summer day in Emerald City, Oregon - especially if you stood here on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, far from the noisy, delicious minds of the city and enjoyed the peace and solitude of crashing waves at the base of this seaside cliff. The beaches here weren't like the ones Sensus had known back on the Jersey coast, much rockier and colder, but they had a wild beauty all the same. "Excuse me, miss. Did you need some help?" Turning behind her, silhouetted by an east-rising morning sun, Sensus looked up to see Citizen - the most famous superhero in Emerald City. For his part, Citizen's early morning flight had let him spot this girl by the edge of seaside cliffs that had taken the life of more than one young man or young woman in the last few years. There was a fence - but it wouldn't be hard for someone that small to slip underneath it. At first glance, he'd assumed this was a lost child - but she clearly wasn't too far from his own early twenties, though his black costume and glowing blue chest symbol marked him as a superhero.

GM January 5, 2018 The winter weather wasn't exactly forgiving. Record lows and snowfall were a strain on everyone's patience in sone form or another, and nowhere was it more obvious than among people who worked for Freedom City's social services. Homeless shelters struggled to find room for everyone, from adults to runaways... The situation was taxing enough on everyone that no one really noticed when vacancies opened up. A bed here, a room there... no one questioned it; rather, they were thankful that someone else could be housed, and the fairest assumption was that the previous occupant had moved on. Transient population", they siad. Some people knew better. All Nathan Ratliff wanted to know was 'why'. A local volunteer and social worker, Nathan was well known among his peers for being a big-hearted busybody. So in late December when several runaways he'd been working with vanished, Nathan refusded to believe they'd simply packed up and gone somewhere else. A week later... Nathan didn't show up for work.

GM Norris Atoll Lonely Point, Freedom City New Jersey Wednesday, February 1st, 2017 5:17 PM Norris Atoll was a pseudo atoll formed by the three islands South of the Lonely point Naval Base. Far from an island resort like Bermuda, the islands were just as desolate as the mainland. Which made the territory an easy concession when the United States agreed to a formal concession of land for an Atlantean Embassy on the Atlantic. King Theseus reached out to the architect behind the construction of the Freedom Aquarium who oversaw the construction of the structure. Essentially it was designed a self-contained deep sea resort, using the Aquarium's iceberg like design in which a majority of the property was actually beneath the surface. Visitors would be allowed to stay for as long as they so choose as long as a security concern does not arise. Allowing for the education of Atlantean culture in a way far removed from the offensive Atlantis Casino. The Ocean Factory at the bottom was closed off from surface world access. Only subcontractors and official delegates would be allowed access with a residence designed for use for any Atlanteans that would choose to use the facility. The fact that Atlantean hostilities with the surface (and the location being so near a surface world military installation) made it unlikely that anyone other than the Atlantean Ambassador would choose to actually use it. News outlets approached the entrance on a cargo ship. The grand unveiling was to be broadcast throughout the country. Including from within a Waterfront Russian bar where two heroines were currently enjoying a meal. Or the much quieter apartment belonging to Jessie White and Aquaria Innsmouth. William Cline, or Thoughtspeed as he was currently dressed, had a much closer look of the festivities. Having been personally invited by Princess Thaelia, as the only one of her friends not currently out of the city. With the possible exception of Elias, who she could never keep track of. Thoughtspeed found himself sitting in a room, with a view of the approaching vessel, accompanied by the Atlantean royal family minus King Theseus himself. An armed escort posted throughout, perhaps too armed for a guided tour.

November 27th, Mid Morning Claremont Dormitory After meeting with the Dean, Alexa felt more at ease. She had a schedule as well as a room assignment, which while she loved new experiences, order was much preferable to chaos. Of course, she was wheeling a mostly broken suitcase with the remnants of her things, courtesy of a less than mindful speedster. The vaporized silicon components likely were ground into most of her things, but even that was just another problem to deal with. She was here; Claremont. It was now official and she could relax just a little bit before whomever the school had assigned to her as a roommate. She opened the door to her room and looked at the small, but orderly room. Two single beds twined with matching desks and small shelving units dominated most of the space. The carpet was soft and clean and the walls a pleasantly neutral color. What was nice was the wood trim and furniture which was something that was rare in China, although it certainly was more common here from what she could tell. Still, it added a touch of warmth to the space which was nice and made it feel more lived in even though nothing was there. She thought briefly on waiting to see if anyone showed up before unpacking and essentially choosing a side. However, her patience wore thin after a few seconds and she forced open the battered suitcase and began to unpack on the left side of the room. It was a shame that washing was going to have to be done already, but that was more than outweighed by the excitement of meeting all of the very special people that seemed to go to school here.

GM Ironclad Charity Luncheon Liverpool, EnglandMonday July 17, 2017 2:00 PM Joseph Walker's Ironclad Charity had the sort of inspirational story that was begging to be turned into an inevitable "based on true events" movie. Dockworker's and other "toughs" of Liverpool banded together with the sole purpose of giving a voice to the voiceless. A true support organization with a dedicated focus to helping victims of abuse. The head of the organization, the aforementioned Joseph Walker, was to perform an incredible feat of strength for the whole crowd. The luncheon wasn't completely a high society affair. With the various rugged members of the charity scattered about providing a contrast from the wealthy Of course some people were there just to rub elbows with the wealthy, or to even propose business opportunities. At the end of the day a majority of the guests were still there with the intention of giving back to a worthy cause. Erick Sloane and Agnus Stone, however, weren't there simply to give back to a good cause. For years, the Vanguard has been waging a battle against the distribution of the Darwin X supervirus. Their latest lead for a distribution route was in Liverpool. With Dawn Farrignton's research going so far as to suggest that their charitable host could be at the center of the distribution.

Hangar Bay C, Tethron Commerical Hub Tethron System, Sharahazad Sector The story of the “Sharahazad Crisis” had spread over the galaxy like a wildfire. A massive group of people, all arriving in the sector of otherwise little importance. Looking to buy and sell all sorts of goods. Many people saw that they could profit from the situation. Some saw the fact they could help people at the same time as a good thing, some didn’t care much for anything beyond money. Ak’kar had gotten the news too. And according to some rumours, many of the refugees were interested in buying all sorts of scrap. So he loaded up his ship, and travelled. It had been quite the journey, but upon arriving at Tethron, which served as the entire sector’s main cargo hub, these rumours were confirmed. Before he even arrived at the station itself, he’d already received multiple offers for what he’d been carrying. The Oog’ol, a species who had fled, seemed particularly interested, but some others, some of them merchants themselves, also offered great prices. The Leviathan landed, and as the crew got everything unloaded, Ak’kar was approached by a group of about 50 people. Some of them were Oog’ol, but the majority of them were what Ak’kar could now recognize as Asshui, another of the fleeing species. One spoke for them all, and his Galstandard was lacking. “Large ship. Will pay for bringing us out of system. Different place to stay. Us, and others after. Have money or goods to offer. “

GM London, 1850 'Twas a most chilly London night. The Yuletide season had kicked off with a dusty snow that was already becoming black from the machinations of London. A frost in the air, an ice on the roads. The sun was lost in grey clouds and all in all it was a cold, bleak day. Such grim and grime as there was (and verily, it was plentiful) was soon interrupted by a crashing sound at Leicester square, followed by a splashing sound. Victim of the Darwin-XC virus (a chronologically infused variant of that most potent viral agent), the massive hulk of Dreadnought came crashing through time itself, slap bang (yay, a bullseye in this matter) in the middle of the nineteenth century without warning or preamble. There was a crunch as he collided with Nelson's column to most ruinous effect, and a splash as he cut through ice into the fountains and pond beneath. Whatever disorientation such violent motion may (or may not) have caused, 'twas nought but a second until all could see the mighty column of Nelson crack and start to fall, breaking at midpoint. And screams from those about to be crushed my the mighty masonry!

Nancy Street, Oct. 17th 10:47PM It was a relatively quiet night on Nancy street. Gunfire could be heard in the distance, a woman's scream, a child crying, the sounds of domestic disturbances and aggravated assaults, and of course after the screams faded to whimpers, the sounds of sirens. All in all, a quiet night in comparison to most. The rain had started to fall on Bedlam City, doing it's level best to wash the grime and the muck and the human refuse away. To leave the world clean and new again. Bedlam, and Nancy street in particular, would not be so easily swept away. It's stain marked the states, the world, a dark black spot on a hardwood floor that refused to come up no matter how much you scrubbed. Bedlam was the reminder of mistakes past, of wrongs done, of lives lost. A strange sound over the din of inequity peeled through the air of Nancy street. The church bells started to ring. No mass anyone knew of was taking place, it was no holiday, it was not quite midnight. The crystal clang of that pure sound seemed both off and ominous, and many lights turned on in the houses and tenements, this sound above all others piqueing the curiosity of the jaded residents. As the bells faded there was a knock on Ronin's door. Downtown Bedlam Abandoned Mill It was a quiet and dark place that Victor popped into, stepping out of the shadows. This was not part of his contract with the Scarpias, but old habits died hard, and he needed to destroy something... precious. No one was in at the moment, as he had made sure, it wasn't time for justice to be meted out, it was time for the chase. Victor laid the parchment he brought on a dresser and pinned it in place with a dagger, it's hilt in the style of a rose dripping blood, the symbol of his old Order. The parchment read: The Church on Nancy Street. Come find me, or I find those you hold dear. There was no signature. Victor smiled again as he melted back in the shadows. The petty thugs might be upset that he was bringing an uninvited guest, but he cared little. They were nothing, he did work for them to pay bills, so he could do his real Work. The game had begun.

Content warning: sensuality and off screen sex. This was not as bad as Moira thought it would be. There were a few manufactured homes here, but spaces for mobile homes too. It certainly had it's homeliness. There were a few kids running around the grounds with sticks. They pretended to be heroes. She watched them for a bit as she searched for Maxie's mobile home. They carried on about being The Knights Of Freedom, eliciting a small laugh from her. Finding Maxie's home was just a matter of following directions. Google Maps didn't go in these areas, so she had to traverse back and around. She almost went in a circle before she found it! At least it fit the description. She sighed and hoped it was the right one. Knoccking on the door she waited. The sky was a bit dark, rain maybe?

27 December, 2017. 432PM. Damien looked in the refrigerator. It was his turn to cook. It was always his turn to cook. Paying off the debt of living with his friend in a nice area of town. Luckily, Austin Sinclair - the founder of the feast, so to speak - kept a fully stocked kitchen. Tonight's menu was simple. Mushroom-stuffed Pork Tenderloins. Luckily for Damien, dead things didn't show any patterns. He thought about being a vegetarian for a while. The patterns showed him really messed up things, not just humans. Animals too! He just didn't understand animal biology that much. As Damien began to prep the ingredients, he smelled burning. Looking outside, somehow (he had some educated guesses how) the building across the street was at 3 alarm blaze. He scanned... yeah, there were people still in there. Dinner was going to be late. Austin knew of Damien's engagements outside of cooking and school. Didn't make him any less hungry. Damien dropped his shirt and pants to reveal the morphic molecules costume he wore under it. Pulling over the mask Damien was now Power. As quick as he could, he rushed outside to hear the fire trucks coming. He had to get in an rescue those people. Luckily his body repaired itself fast enough to avoid some of the fire. Hopefully he could get some people to safety!

GM The Hunter Museum of Natural History Midtown, Freedom City, New JerseyThursday, December 21st, 2017 1:30 AM Shortly after midnight a roving guard in the the Hunter Museum of Natural history discovered that the World Wart II exhibit had been broken into. Despite the building's nineteenth century roots, its security system was as modern as it came. Which made the fact that the crime occurred without so much as a blip on any of its systems all the more questionable. What made matters worse what that no one on site could identify what was stolen, the criminal having completely erased the listed contents in the museum's possession (signifying an arduous period of work ahead for its curator). Police officers had cordoned off the building as they prepared to conduct their investigation. A decision that both Trevor Hunter and Erick Sloane managed to overhear with their computer's access to the FCPD police feeds. For both parties, it was the first they had even heard of the robbery. The thief( or thieves) managing to avoid even their notice, despite Foreshadow's precognitive abilities or Mignight having direct access to the National History museum's security feed.

GM Nizhny Novgorod Nizhegorod Oblast Russia Wednesday, February 1st, 2017 1:00 PM (5:00 AM Eastern) It would take special cause for Comrade Frost to find himself called back to Russia on a mission. Especially serving under official Freedom League capacity. Special cause like a series of disappearances with no trace left behind. Including those inside of the Kremlin. Rumors were starting to spread about Baba Yaga returning and stealing "naughty children". As the only member of the People's Heroes still serving since the last great battle against Baba Yaga, Comrade Frost was called in secretly. Sandman, the guest in question, was brought in a special consultant by Comrade Frost, as he was told not to tell the proper Freedom League about the mission, political pride preventing sharing with the world a potential threat arising from out of Russia. That was if there was any truth to the rumors to begin with. After all, many things went bump in the night...

Whilst like any city Freedom City has its problems it also took great care to help those who were struggling for a variety of reasons. Many generous people gave up their time to try and help those in need, an especially at a time like this when not only was it the holiday season but the temperatures tended to drop. As with most things in the city, Superheroes were very much involved giving their time and energy to help make a difference in whatever ways they could. Temporary Soup Kitchen, Liberty Park Robin's Nest Senior Care, Lincoln, Freedom City

GM Cabin buried deep within Wharton Forest Wharton Forest, New JerseySunday, November 15th, 2015 3:20 AM Living in a national forest was to be a nomadic affair. It was prohibited by law to build permanent structures for the use of residence within. Of course, that didn't mean it was impossible to grease the wheels a little here and there. Especially for a cabin buried so deep within that no reasonable person should be able to find it. But, the Woodsman was far from reasonable. Following the general direction he had threatened out of a lackey, he easily combed every inch of the forest until he found Brasswell's cabin. The cabin itself had a very rustic appearance. The inside full of modern amenities and comforts, but lacking anything that could even be written off as threatening. Even looking inside it hardly looked like the sort of place a drug kingpin would hide out in. It was put simply nothing more than a home, at a glance The Woodsman skulked about the perimeter waiting for an opportunity to sneak inside unseen. After ensuring there were no traps waiting for him outside the youth did just that. Once inside a quick visual scan revealed that there was a man in his mid fifties sitting in a living room, his back turned to the Woodsman, having fallen asleep watching television. Just outside of the cabin. A few inches away from the door was Grim. His directions from the young man he helped passed on where more direct. But, that still left him as the second teen hero to arrive on the scene. Taking just long enough that he had missed Riley sneaking inside.

The scene…well, actually, neither Valerie Cain (alias, among other names, the heroic Wayward) nor Yamazaki Moe (aka the vetted rookie hero Sensus) quite knew where they were. Or how they’d gotten to this random city street. The street was lined with restaurants, bars, and clubs of seemingly every possible variety, and tonight business was booming. Before either heroine could reflect on what was going on here, a door burst open to one of the music clubs. Sobbing people poured out of it in one of several ways; either staggering as if their muscles wouldn’t work properly, attempting to return their dinners and drinks to sender, fleeing in terror, careening off walls and cars as if blind and deaf, or (worst of all) clutching their ears in clear physical agony. Clearly, something had gone horribly wrong in that establishment.

GM London, 1850, Winter...the Offices of Mr. Ebenezer Fiddle, Lawyer... An interlude from London Calling to discuss philosophy and such like and so forth... "Unngh..." groaned Mr. Fiddle, his burnt arm draped in cold wet bandages, the Laudanum having finally kicked in. "Don't mind me, please..." he mumbled at Dreadnought and Mr. Murk (whom had kindly tended to him. He might be blind, but he knew his way around the offices most well, and was tender in giving care). "Please help your selves to brandy...I know I will..." he said, floating between nearly awake and nearly asleep, and hoping Brandy might provide further relief from his injury. Mr. Murk sat down with Dreadnought, although the giant of Liverpool (or Norwegian troll, depending on which gossip one was inclined to believe) could of course not sit on any furniture. At least the floor had nice rugs. Indian, if Dreadnought were to guess. Mr, Murk himself had a brandy although only sipped it, savouring its taste rather than devouring its alcohol. "I don't think I have ever met anyone quite like you sir" he said, quite blind but seeming to look at Dreadnought nonetheless. "And that is saying something I rarely say these days. I might wonder that you have only told me selected elements of your story?" he asked, politely and warmly. "I don't know if you would care to regale me with more refinement?"

Southside, Freedom City, New Jersey Friday April 4, 2014 11:31 PM The weeks since Foreshadow had encountered some of the shadowy mystery man's men and Sureshot in Southside had been busy for the costumed crime fighter. The continued disruption of the status quo in areas of the neighborhood had kept him busy, trying to help curb the violence that was erupting between displaced gangs and other criminal elements. Some of his time had also been spent in trying to track down leads on Doctor Zero, the former Soviet superspy that had evaded capture during the incident at the Winter Olympics. There had been a few more brushes with the mystery man's men, who were well trained and equipped in comparison to those being displaced. But none had brought Foreshadow any closer to their boss than the prior ones, the crime fighter's normally reliable post-cognitive abilities continuing to fall short. And so he had needed to continue to focus on the more traditional methods of investigation to try to make some headway. Foreshadow had managed to track down the source of the military grade weapons the mystery man's men were using, Grigory Salnikov, an arms dealer with strong ties to military units in several of the breakaway Russian states. But knowing that Salnikov was providing the arms and ammunition was one thing, actually finding Salnikov himself proved to be yet another difficult task. But persistence and determination eventually paid off for the costumed vigilante, and he had learned that Salnikov was attending a show at an underground nightclub in the area of Southside that bordered the Boardwalk. And so Foreshadow sat on a rooftop a couple of blocks from the site of the underground show. The building was an old, multi-story warehouse. Most of the windows had been boarded up or painted over, making it hard to see what might be going on inside. The event could be using any one of the many floors, or maybe even a good number of them. A small crowd was gathered around what had once been the back loading dock for the warehouse, with several large bouncers there to control when people were able to get in. Foreshadow could see a number of other security personnel on the rooftop and at one of the corners of the building he could see from where he was.

August 2017 The Antarctic Circle Archetech Antarctic #006 (Outside Temperature -50 F) (Outside Sky Dark) "Okay, ladies, you are officially past the Antarctic Circle!" The Archetech copilot had been quite solicitous to Dragonfly and Jill O'Cure once she'd learned it was the two superheroines' first visit to Antarctica. "Welcome to the Real Down Under!" Keri Russet's Australian accent was thick; she'd worked for the Australian Antarctic Division before being hired on by Archetech as a helicopter pilot. She grinned, her head ducked low in the cramped confines of the back of the helicopter. On the one hand, the electrically-driven helicopter was a technological marvel, big as a Chinook but faster, with an engine specially modified to work in the extreme cold of the Antarctic winter. On the one hand, it was a helicopter with a passenger compartment about the size of a small bus, and Ellie and Mara had been riding in it since they'd taken off from in Rio Gallegos around the beginning of their subjective night. That had been after the connecting flight from Buenos Aires, and that had been after flying down from Freedom City. It had been a long couple of days. "With the winds the way they are and with these new engines, we're about two hours out of Ellsworth Base, so you might as well get comfortable," she offered to the two costumed heroes. "Things are a bit rugged down there - and I should know, Keith and I are gonna bunk down there till you fly out again." The pilot, a deep-voiced man with a Nigerian accent, was still up front. "You ladies must be pretty special," she added cheerfully, "you earned Keith and me both triple-pay for flying you in in the middle of winter! I'm gonna take my kids to Disneyland when this is done." The message had come for Dragonfly by long-distance text, a legacy of the tightened bandwidth at an Archetech temporary base in Antarctica at the height of the Antarctic winter. "URGENT AID NEEDED: TECH PROBLEM - MA. CONFIDENTIAL. PERSONAL PROBLEM - C." Miss Americana hadn't been around much during that summer, and come to think of it neither had Harrier, having left word with the Interceptors that he was going to be out of communication until the holiday season. Once they'd passed certain tests to prove it was a real message, had come the instructions for how to get where they were going - an Archetech "geological base" (according to their website) located in the heart of Antarctica's Ellsworth Mountains. In winter.