Crusaders #5 - "The Mechanon Gambit: Chapter 3"
Backlash kicks in his jetpack and heads after the disappearing Armadillo. The thick fog has already almost covered his getaway. A moment later, and Imperial is right on his tail, as well. Through the shrouding fog, the two heroes can see Armadillo, apparently stopped, just up ahead. He is working busily, tunneling into the ground near the edge of the airport.
"Heads up bucket-head!" Imperial yells, as he swoops in firing. The bright energy blasts explode on Armadillo's back. He turns to face this new annoyance.
"Couldn't just leave me alone, couldja?!", the armored villain yells, shaking his fist. But instead of retaliating, he turns and burrows into the ground disappearing from sight.
While the two heroes ponder this minor surprise, Officer Terry is retrieving her weapon and walking shakily over to Lightwarp. She comes up and kneels down beside him.
"I'll take care of him. You go help your friends.", she says.
"You don't exactly look in the best shape yourself, Miss. But, it does appear that the fighting is finished right here for now." The armored figure rises to his feet. "By the way, nice shooting." He then turns and takes to the air. She watches him fly away, and then turns her attention to the wounded officer. She places her hands on the man and concentrates. Moments pass, then she opens her eyes to see that the officer is now breathing normally. Satisfied that the officer will be okay, she turns her attention to herself.
Meanwhile, Nomad kicks the sputtering agent, sending him to the ground. He then dives into the pond. The water is unbelievably COLD!! It burns his eyes, but in a few moments, Nomad locates the other agent. He gathers up the man with his Telekinesis and comes back to the surface. The man's clothing looks as though it has been eaten away. His skin looks burned. His breathing is nearly imperceptible. Nomad immediately begins CPR on the fallen agent.
While all this is going on, Lord Liberty recovers from the surprising sneak attack and begins his scanning. Eventually, his radar picks up a small moving target. His visual senses home in on the target and show the armored hero a 3-inch tall woman in a light blue and black costume. She is rapidly flying toward Imperial and Backlash, both of whom are totally oblivious to the minute attacker. Before Lord Liberty can warn either of them, she blasts Imperial.
Caught completely by surprise, Imperial is dropped like a sack of potatoes. He lands barely conscious.
Nomad's attempt to save the unfortunate agent apparently meets with good fortune. Eventually, the man starts breathing on his own again. Just as this happens, the entire runway area is suddenly bathed in a bright light that cuts through the fog. Lightwarp has set up a large searchlight. This makes it much easier to see.
Officer Terry, meanwhile, sees a large contingent of men and vehicles move in. The all wear the distinctive blue and gold uniforms of PRIMUS. A number of ambulances arrive on the scene a few moments later. Rescue people move in and start work on all the injured police officers, Officer Terry included.
Lightwarp walks up near Lord Liberty.
"I only picked up a small portion of that signal you spoke of, Lord Liberty. Can you pinpoint the exact location of the reception? I have a feeling that we may be....". But the sentence is never finished. For, suddenly, without warning, the ground erupts under their feet. Both heroes go sprawling!
Turning they see, and anyone else who happens to look over here, a large menacing metallic figure standing nearby. Red light glows from its eyes, as it slowly turns its head from one side to the other, taking in the entire scene.
"This foolishness has gone on long enough! Now, Mechanon shall deal with you ignorant organics who dare to disturb my base!" He raises his armored hands and they start to glow brightly!
Okay, now it's your turn....
Spectrum's Comments: And finally we get to the meat of the act. Mechanon as arrived on the scene!
SUBJ: Backlash (R) FROM: Rastermstr 02/09/89 S#: 522832
Yow! If I saw Imperial get 'is butt shot off I stop and hover where I'm at and begin the mental exercises that bring on the state of awareness that allows me to detect and turn incoming focused energies (put simply, ready reflection, btw glow is from powers tendency to reflect various subatomic particles in random directions (outward, mostly photons) resulting in sort of a mini Aurora borealis around myself) If I didn't notice, and I assume I did notice Mechanon's quip, I turn around and cautiously head back to runway.(Probably getting blown away in process... )
SUBJ: Hmmmmm......... (R) FROM: ELRIK KANE 02/09/89 S#: 522262
lets see now this agent was burned by the water? Keeping that in mind, I do a quick scan on the agent to see if I can locate any big type explosive. Then I'm going to pick up as much of that funny water I can and bop Mechanon on the area that he's standing on. If that water can melt a hole in his outer skin IM gonna shoot my Tk in the hole and start ripping out wires. If he's not insulated, my TK may have enough of a charge to zap him silly. I hope it works.
::::gulp::::
I'd hate to have him mad at me.
Ps my Force Field is STILL ACTIVE!!!!!
SUBJ: Lord Liberty FROM: REM9 02/09/89 S#: 442569
Turning Lord Liberty shouts, "Warning, Backlash there is a miniature woman in your vicinity. Beware." Then facing Mechanon, "These organics are my friends Mechanon. Their destruction will only come after my termination." I will then scan Mechanon for weaknesses in his construction. I will then martial dodge until I am close enough to let Mechanon know that I mean what I say, fist style.
Crusaders #6 - "The Mechanon Gambit: Chapter 4"
Where we are at:
Armadillo has just tunneled away with an armful of electronic and mechanical parts. Imperial and Backlash had been following him, but Imperial was just blasted by an unknown attacker.
Backlash - "Yow! What was that?!"
Backlash hovers in the air preparing to reflect any incoming attack.
Lord Liberty - "Warning. Backlash, there is a miniature woman in your vicinity. Beware."
Backlash - "Thanks for the warning, big guy."
That's about when Mechanon bursts onto the scene. Meanwhile, Nomad is just finishing with his rescue of the agent who was knocked into the pond.
Mechanon - "You meddlesome organics will all have to DIE!"
Lord Liberty turns to Mechanon.
Lord Liberty - "These organics are my friends, Mechanon. Their destruction will come only after my termination."
Lord Liberty starts to close in, as Mechanon turns to face him directly.
Mechanon - " YOU! My memory circuits tell me that once you were my lackey! You will be so again, or you WILL be terminated."
Lord Liberty - "Never!"
Mechanon - "Very well. You leave me no...What?"
Just then, Mechanon is drenched by a large amount of water. It has no noticeable effect. The robot turns to see Nomad over by the pond.
Mechanon - "Was that supposed to have some sort of effect, organic? Other than to draw my attention, that is? You have it, and you will be the first to die!"
From his fist comes a bright bluish light. It glances off Nomad, knocking him back to the pond's edge. Luckily, his FF absorbed most of the attack.
Meanwhile, Imperial is just getting to his feet, while Backlash hears the commotion going on nearby.
Backlash - "Oh great! Mechanon!"
Imperial - "Go help the rest of them with bolt brain. I'll take care of the munchkin."
Backlash takes to the air and flies toward the combat area.
Back at the battle, Lord Liberty moves in and swings at Mechanon, but misses! Mechanon answers the attack with a punch of his own. Lord Liberty is knocked back and slams into the runway, near the gaping hole. The force of the impact crumbles the already weak edge and Lord Liberty drops away from sight and crashes to the ground below, stunned.
Mechanon - "Now, your turn, organic."
He turns back to Nomad.
Backlash - "How about trying your hand with me? Or are you afraid?!"
Mechanon doesn't even answer as he turns and fires on the newcomer. The bluish energy slams into the glowing Backlash and bounces straight back hitting the robotic villain. The blast doesn't hurt him much, but knocks him to the ground.
Mechanon - "I will not tolerate such insolence!"
As he regains his feet, Nomad, who has managed to receive a loose grenade from one of the VIPER agents, lobs the grenade. It explodes around Mechanon, but he hardly even seems to notice.
Suddenly, without warning, a green and gold flash streaks in and slams into Mechanon. He crashes to the ground as Lightwarp stands over him.
Lightwarp - "You're facing the NEW Crusaders now, robot! Let's get this egomaniac, heroes!"
POST AWAY!!!
SUBJ: Zap sucker....... FROM: ELRIK KANE 02/19/89 S#: 833651
As I stated earlier my tk is Bioelectrical in nature. I am going to try something here that I hope will work. Focusing my tk into a narrow Beam, I shoot it at Mechy aiming specifically at his joints. If I can get enough of a charge, it should at the least knock him on his butt and at the most, my ambient electrical charge might give him a nasty shock
"May the Force be with me"
Spectrum's Comments: Not very many responses for that post. Several of the players did the old Q fade and were now gone. I might have sent Imperial's actions via E-mail instead of posting them. Several new PC's debut in the next Crusaders Q file update. Oh, and I forgot to mention it above, but Lord Liberty was created by Mechanon.
SUBJ: The Mechanon Gambit (R) FROM: Panther13 02/25/89 S#: 847446
Lightwarp - "You're facing the NEW Crusaders now, robot. Let's get this egomaniac, heroes!"
As Mechanon gets back to his feet, Lightwarp follows up his previous attack. He smashes the robot with his fist, sending Mechanon back to the runway pavement. However, the mechanical villain is quicker than expected. He retaliates, smashing both fists into Lightwarp.
The armored hero is sent flying backward at incredible speed. Backlash, still hovering in place, is unable to avoid the unorthodox missile, and is knocked from the sky by his ally. Both heroes crash to the ground hard and are stunned.
Meanwhile, Nomad focuses his TK into a tight beam and directs it at Mechanon's neck joint. There is an audible crack and a bright flash for a moment. The robot is still standing, but the attack obviously hurt him some.
Mechanon - "You will die for that, organic!"
A force beam shoots from Mechanon's hands and slams into Nomad, stunning him. Mechanon approaches. Nomad is groggily aware that he has just been lifted off the ground by the front of his costume. As his sight starts to focus again, he meets the unswerving gaze of the Prime Machine.
Then suddenly, there is a burst of energy that explodes all along Mechanon's back. Nomad is knocked from his grasp. Mechanon turns to see the man in the blue and silver costume who was previously knocked into the pump house. The robot fires, but the hero slips under the attack and crashes headlong into the villain.
"Feel the power of Silver Star, villain!"
However, Mechanon is not impressed. He is not even moved as Silver Star slams into him. Silver Star, however, is stunned by the impact.
Mechanon - "Since you are so determined to be the first to die, very well!"
Mechanon locks his hands about the man's neck and a burst of reddish light explodes from his hands. Silver Star goes limp, and Mechanon lets his body fall to the runway.
As Mechanon turns to survey the scene, suddenly, he flinches from some unseen attack. His body begins to shake violently. Then there is another spark that centers on Mechanon's right knee. He refuses to go down despite it all.
Mechanon - (to Nomad) "You have hurt me twice, you disgusting organic. You will not do so a third time!"
Mechanon hefts one of the trucks into the air and hurls it almost effortlessly at the surprised Nomad! He shoots into the air to avoid the massive missile, but is a sitting duck for Mechanon's force bolt. Nomad drops from the sky and splashes into the pond.
Mechanon, then, stops for a moment and turns to face Officer Terry.
Mechanon - "You should have left while you had the chance. Your curiosity and your interference will cost you."
Mechanon's electronic brain then reels from some unseen attack. It only slows him down. However, it does give Imperial a chance to finally appear on the scene. The red and gold garbed hero fires a beam of energy which surrounds Mechanon's body.
Imperial - "Don't speak to soon, oh stainless steel one!"
The Prime Machine flexes his powerful mechanical muscles however, and easily throws off the entanglement. A force bolt blasts Imperial through the air almost 70 feet. However, he is not stunned.
Just then, Mechanon is assaulted by a heavily concentrated collection of blaster fire from the PRIMUS agents. Six of the agents have set up and are peppering Mechy without mercy.
Mechanon - "Is there no end to this foolishness?!"
Mechanon just stands there as the energy beams continue to erupt all around him. A panel on the robot's chest opens and four tubes slide out. They then shoot forth a number of projectiles that explode in an awesome pyrotechnic display! When the fireworks have ended, the PRIMUS agents are all out cold. However, their brief interference has allowed all of you to either regain your senses, or return to the battlefield.
Post Away!!
Spectrum's Comments: I have absolutely no idea who Silver Star is/was. Another player or an NPC ran by Muskateer. I simply don't know. Not that it really matters anymore...
SUBJ: You DIE!!!! FROM: ELRIK KANE 02/26/89 S#: 848079
Not Saying a single Word, [assuming that the COLD water has revived me] I Grab Mechanon and jerk him Into the pool letting the acid Finish what I started. You have sown the wind Machine now reap the Storms Hurricane I say as I push my powers to keep him under water until he is reduced to slag.
Crusaders #7 - "The Mechanon Gambit: Chapter 5"
Having just been given a brief moment's reprieve to gather themselves thanks to PRIMUS' intervention, the heroes assemble for another strike on the villainous Mechanon.
Mechanon - "This foolishness has gone on long enough!"
Imperial - "Hey! Toaster Face! Your mother was a garbage disposal!"
A beam of energy comes from Imperial's hands and surrounds Mechanon.
Mechanon - "You tried that one before, organic. It never fails to amaze me that your pitiful race can be so utterly stupid so often."
To drive home his point, the robot shreds the entanglement easily in a minor burst of energy. However, this gives Nomad a chance to make his move. Reaching out with his telekinesis, Nomad grabs Mechanon. There are sparks as the bioelectric energy contacts Mechanon's metallic skin. He is lifted into the air. However, Mechanon is simply too strong. His mechanical muscles throw off the energy holding him!
Lightwarp - "The tide is starting to turn, robot! We are gaining the upper hand here!"
A burst of energy erupts from Lightwarp's gauntlets and smashes into Mechanon with a shower of energy backlash. Mechanon is downed. He attempts to rise, obviously fighting some other unseen force. Then suddenly, the ground below him collapses and Mechanon disappears as if sucked into the earth!
As all the heroes gather on the edge of the new hole, they see Lord Liberty swing what appears to be an unfinished duplicate of the Prime Machine at Mechanon himself. There is a resounding, almost deafening CLANG, and Mechanon is thrown back into a far wall. Everyone can see that there is some sort of underground complex here.
Imperial - "Awright! Way ta go, big fella! We got that tin-plated tyrant right where we want him now!"
Lightwarp - "Let's get him, Crusaders!"
Mechanon rises to his feet and surveys the scene for a brief moment before speaking.
Mechanon - "It is a paltry victory at best, organics. I have no desire to continue this farce, when I can simply destroy this entire complex with but a thought. This base has already been compromised, so that is no loss to myself. Good-bye, fools, for now,..."
A previously unnoticed door opens behind Mechanon and slips through it.
Lightwarp - "Get outta here! This place is going to blow!"
Lightwarp grabs Nomad and shoots out one of the three holes in the ceiling. The other heroes also make a beeline for the surface and everyone barely makes it out before the base explodes. The shockwave sends everyone flying!
A moment later, everything has settled down and is calm again, save for the numerous sirens signaling the approach of still more police and rescue units, and the massive damage down to the runway. Lightwarp turns to the assembled heroes.
Lightwarp - "I have to congratulate all of you for your parts in this. Despite the large property damage done and the fact that Mechanon and Armadillo managed to escape, we did capture a number of wanted criminals, including Darkon. I'd say that this mission was a success, overall. Therefore, I am offering each and every one of you a place in the new Crusaders. The headquarters is the old Crusaders Mansion, which I own. After everything is handled here, everyone who accepts can meet there. One of my employees, Felicity Daniels, will be expecting you."
--------------------------------------
Okay, I would like to know your responses to Lightwarp's announcement, and any other questions that you all might have.
SUBJ: Police Officer... (R) FROM: Miss Terry 03/05/89 S#: 841788
Surveying the mess, Terry walks around the runway toward the approaching police cars and rescue squads. Trying to help her fellow officer, she looks back just to see the masked heroes get ready to take off. 'Get an ambulance over here, we have multiple lacerations and possible internal bleeding' Terry yells as she kneels down by one of the downed officers and starts to apply pressure to the wounds.
Spectrum's Comments: Mystery never did offically join any of the teams. She appeared in a few other places before doing a final fade out.
SUBJ: Lord Liberty FROM: REM9 03/05/89 S#: 421660
As Lightwarp finishes his invitation and Lord Liberty is about to respond, he hears the officer call for an ambulance. Scanning the area quickly Lord Liberty spots one of the (hopefully) numerous ambulances in the area and rushes toward it. He then picks up the ambulance and carries it to the wounded officer. "Here is the ambulance you requested. Is there anything more I can do to help his automatic self-repair circuits start working? I would be of more assistance once I get my Underdog superhero ring like my pal Ernie said." After the chaos is all cleaned up, Lord Liberty will turn to Lightwarp and say, "Could you be assisting me in finding this 'Crusader mansion'? Then I will go and get Ernie so he can meet his new teammates. I cannot wait to tell him of all that has happened. This is just like that show he told me to watch called 'Superfriends'."
SUBJ: Imperial
"You can count on me, 'Warp. I'll be a callin'!"
(Underdog superhero ring? You puttin' me on, right tin man?)
"See you at HQ, guys!"
Take off and fly home. Freshen up and put on a clean costume. Then head to the Crusaders Mansion. I imagine its address is fairly well known. Otherwise ask before I leave. BTW: Is there any fringe benefits for bein' a Crusader?