Chapter One: Laying the Foundation - Part One

[Deadman]

"All right you two. Go and get that Nazi son of a bitch!"

Fathom drops the gravity field pinning the unseen soldier on the other side of the door. This is War Machine and Paladin's gig now and Fathom is going to take all the obstacles out of their way.

He attempts to use his telekinesis to open the door blocking their view of the Nazi. That way Paladin and War Machine need not even fumble for the handle, and if it's locked they'll know ahead of time. Perhaps he'll even set up line of sight for War Machine to open fire from his current position.

[Tesseract]

OOC

Hello there folks, my name is Eanwulf and I approve this message'¦ Tesseract will be posting for me today. Please e-mail me with your replies if able to!

Watching their fellow comrades-in-arms rush to the aid of Admiral Cale through the thickly-paned observation window, the three remaining heroes soon put their plan into action!

Fathom releases his control over the gravitonic field that blocks the bulkhead door and proceeds to advance towards his teammates. He then focuses his efforts unto the large release pad and uses his telekinetic powers to try and push the pad inwards. Within moments, the release panel moves inward and the large steel bulkhead door begins to rise.

Action

Fathom's Concentration check to manifest Telekinesis, DC 18, d20 + 12 = 25, Success!

Paladin and War Machine race hurriedly towards the open doorway, each of the heroes solely intent on pummeling the remaining Nazi soldier into submission before he can do anything '˜foolish'. The two heroes suddenly screech themselves abruptly to a halt as they near the bulkhead doorway!

Standing over the now unconscious form of the prone Nazi soldier is the hulking form of some kind of a monstrous aberration. The figure is roughly humanoid in shape and stands some 9 feet in height. The figure seems to be comprised of hardened dirt and granite, its body interspersed with various crystals and other gemstones. The air around the figure is filled with the subtle sounds of grinding stone and some form of harmonic resonance

At present, the alien figure stands motionlessly as it looms quietly over the fallen soldier.

---

From the GM

I will allow you the chance to take it from here and will assume that Tesseract (our new player) will hopefully be the first to respond.

Unbeknownst to you all, this figure is going to be your new teammate - the Granite Golem!

Tesseract? You don't have any drawbacks stating that you can't talk, so when you post feel free to speak your mind.

Everyone else? Assume that when the Golem speaks it is in a heavy guttural tone that echoes raspily and appears to maybe even be that of a woman's voice.

Overall the Golem's voice rises and falls much like the tripstones of a mill's hammer.

Condition Summary

Father Time is Bruised & Injured
(-1 Toughness saves vs. Lethal & Non-lethal Damage)

Fathom is Staggered
(Can only perform a Standard OR a Move Action, not both)

Granite Golem is Healthy.

Paladin is Bruised
(-1 Toughness saves vs. Non-lethal Damage)

Silver Scarab is Healthy

War Machine is Healthy
(Impervious Protection has Faded to an adjusted +7 (7) Toughness)

Nazi Commando #5 is Dying

The Remaining Nazis are Unconscious

The Cavalier is Bruised and on Standby
(-1 Toughness save vs. Non-lethal Damage)

[Tesseract]

The hulking brute glances through the now open bulkhead doorway.

"Hmmm. It looks like you really didn't need my help that much. It looks like you had things well taken care of."

The figure appears to grimace.

"Who turned on the siren? I came as soon as I heard the alarm sirens."

It is hard to tell for sure but it appears that the figure gets embarrassed at this point.

"Oh! Forgive my rudeness. I am Granite Golem."

Granite Golem motions back behind, then to the unconscious man and finally toward Paladin and War Machine.

"I was just a short distance away when I heard the alarm. I headed this way and just before I got here this guy came through the door. As I approached him he seemed to be effected by some sort of gravity field from the look of it. It was easy for me to knock him out. Then you guys arrived."

[JohnnyWeird]

Paladin moves the sword to an at-rest position, regarding the rock-creature with a long, slow stare. Though his expression does not change appreciably, the tall blond soldier is speculative rather than hostile.

"I am Paladin. This," he indicates the automaton next to him, "is War Machine." He indicates the last of their band. "Fathom. It is good to meet you."

Action

Detect Evil. If it has a soul, it will yield its secrets.

[BrokenWire2086]

Dr Faustino does not take part in the greetings in the hall but instead slumps into a chain inside the controll room. He seems utterly exhausted but this is likely more because of the wounds covering his body from the exploding grenades.

[ignuspyre]

War Machine looks over the rocky giant with a keen mechanical eye. The rock creature seems to be very well spoken, indicating possibly high intelligence. "Pleased to meet you," came the flat mechanical voice from within the robotic body. "I need to repair myself. Please excuse."

He then moves back into the area where combat just took place to gather up all the mechanical and scrap debris he can find.

[Eanwulf]

OOC

I will go ahead and summarize the past several seconds: Father Time, Silver Scarab, and Admiral Cale are currently waiting behind a magically created wall for any signs of someone coming through the door. Meanwhile the rest of the party attempted to bum-rush the remaining Nazi, only to find a huge rock golem of some sorts standing over the soldier's unconscious form. The golem quickly identified itself as Granite Golem and brief introductions were exchanged.

In order to help move things along smoothly, everyone assume that the heroes went back unto the testing floor and somehow managed to catch the attention of those people waiting diligently above and let them know that everything was alright. This being said, I will now continue on with the story.

Once Admiral Cale feels assured that the threat of any immediate danger has passed, he quickly ushers everyone into the control room where he begins to rant aloud. 'œNazis!? NAZIS in the facility!? SOMEONE GET ME THAT DAMNED MIKE CASEY!' Realizing that he has lost his temper, the Admiral quickly tries to regain his composure and after several moments, continues. 'œI beg your pardon team. I lost my head.'

Admiral Cale then turns towards the hulking form that is Granite Golem and nods formally. 'œGood Job Granite.' He then turns to the other heroes. 'œListen up team; I want each of you to meet Granite Golem. I intended to introduce her to you as a new addition to the team AFTER weapons testing of the Cavalier had been concluded, but it would appear that fate would have chosen to otherwise intervene. Now hear me out, G.G. is a good gal and was ORIGINALLY supposed to join your group during Basic Training, but an unexpected '˜accident' caused her to suffer an untimely death and it took longer than we expected for her to recover.'

The fact that the good Admiral refers to the towering monstrosity as '˜her' combined with the fact that G.G. was said to have DIED recently, leaves each of you even further befuddled and mystified by Golem's presence.

While the heroes continue to make their formal introductions, the weapons research lab soon bustles with much activity. Numerous security guards have finally managed to make their way unto the testing floor and quickly begin surveying the scene. Several of the heroes politely dismiss themselves and aid the MP's with their efforts to secure the prisoners.

OOC

War Machine, Fathom, & Paladin go down to the testing floor. Paladin even goes so far as to use his sacred blade Durendal to heal the dying Nazi '€" an effort that appears to have left the stalwart hero weary and fatigued. Meanwhile, several medics attend to the players' injuries as best they can whilst several scientists quickly redirect War Machine to a more 'appropriate' source of raw materials to use in repairing himself.

As the prisoners are rounded up, the heroes notice that underneath the fake scientists' lab coats, each of the soldiers wears a jet black uniform. Located on each side of the collar of these uniforms is a badge featuring a mysterious blue skull and crossbones. Other than their weaponry, the soldiers have only one other possession: an odd looking device that is quickly identified as being a sonic screwdriver. The device bears the markings of the base's insignia and obviously came from one of the labs within the complex.

OOC

Paladin? Check for a PM

For the time being, the Weapon's Research Lab continues to bustle with activity and by the time that the MP's begin to cart the prisoners off to the brig, most everyone within the complex has made their way unto the testing floor (Dr. Kreisky, Dr. Cooper, and Chief of Security Mike Casey as well) '€" each highly curious as to what it is that has just occurred.

Though Admiral Cale appears to be greatly flustered and irate, he quickly tries to make the best of a bad situation. 'œAlright people, let's not stand about idly all day! You know what you signed on for when you agreed to help us, so what better time than now to start living up to our expectations. I wish I could say that all of this was some elaborate scheme to test your abilities, but sadly it is not. What I can say it that from here on out each of you will be granted '˜Full Access' to our little '˜Facility' and that I want you to find out how and why these damned Nazis go into our supposedly '˜Top Secret' installation. Let's get going people'¦move'¦MOVE!'

---

From the GM

What the good Admiral has so colorfully stated is that he wants your group to begin investigating how/when/where the Nazi's came from whilst he goes and contacts Central HQ. Feel free to start discussing tactics and what not amongst yourselves.

[Trogdor]

"Aye aye, sir," Silver Scarab replies with the flat-handed salute used by the British military. "We'll get right on it." Then he turns to face the others. "Shall we split up and search the facility?

OOC

It is insanely common for a Golden Age group to split up into pairs or threes at the 'investigation' phase.

[Deadman]

"Good notion," says Fathom. Sheesh, a female rock, he thinks. Compared to everyone else here I'm practically vanilla.

"The only two questions that matter are how they got in, and what they were looking for. I'll interrogate the prisoners. Another team should look for any breaches in the base's perimeter."

It's clear to the other heroes that Fathom intends to beat the living daylights out of the Nazis until they talk.

OOC

Does Fathom speak German? Seems like something a special forces allied soldier would know during WWII. Otherwise I'll need a translator.

[BrokenWire2086]

"perhaps my skills would be best used to check over any of the facilities systems to see if perhaps they were sabotaged in any way, or another granted our guests access.". Dr. Faustino continues to hold his side where he was injured durring the fight, "but also some help from a medical aid person would be in order first as I can not so easily put myself back togeather."