Gygek the Grey Emissary

The cosmic entity known as the Preserver of Balance, Gygek the Grey Emissary has watched silently over the development of the Earth for hundreds of thousands of years. Gygek is one of the last of the MonKai, a race of scientists from the lost First Universe and godlike figures to the Moonborn Ab-Originals. Only at times of great cosmic importance does Gygek choose to reveal itself. As you are now witnessing its presence, this must be one of those times.

Copernicus Oliver

Alone in an hidden underground chamber lies the withered worthless body of Copernicus Oliver, otherwise known as the Big Brain. The dimly lit vault is filled with a humming medical devices all centering around a containment tube holding the physical shell of easily the most powerful telepath on Earth. He has beckoned you here and you have answered. His mental projection, that of a larger than life face and brain hovers before you. He is clearly not as dead as previously believed.

Farside City

There is a technologically advanced colony on the dark side of the moon called Farside City. established by the MonKai Perservers thousands of years ago when they converted the saurian population of the planet Earth into beings with nearly identical genetics with that of the MonKai race. Hidden in this city are the descendants of the first human beings that call themselves the Ab-Originals. The Ab-Originals are also a proud, technologically advanced and xenophobic people. They control white furred beasts called Crater Apes and each member of the Ab-Originals possesses superhuman abilities derived from exposure to Perserver nanomachines they call the Silver Storm. Their current monarchs, King Mentac and his wife Queen Seline, are pompous royals that believe they lord over not only the moon but the Earth as well.

Trimash

Maximilian Mars is actually an immortal multidimensional being and one of the creators of the Battlenexus. His true name is Trimash. He is one of the fourteen surviving ZenKai, immortal beings that existed in the first universe before it was shattered by the Collaspsar.

The Zenkai fought against the Collaspsar alongside the MonKai, who once served Collaspsar in its cosmic alignment as Celesteon. The uneasy alliance of the Zenkai and the MonKai ultimately weakened the Collaspsar the Devourer long enough to imprison it. Once imprisoned the ZenKai demanded that the cosmic being be destroyed but the MonKai argued that Collaspsar should be preserved until a way could be found to return it to its former self. Neither could persuade or overpower the other. At the dawn of the multiverse the MonKai Perservers stood guard over the Cradle of Lore, a pandimensional prison nebula created to contain Collaspsar. They focused on developing new technology and researching ancient ways to restore Celesteon. The ZenKai who retreated to the Nexus began training and testing warriors that might one day eventually kill the Collaspsar.

Like many of the ZenKai Trimash was assigned to subjugate a section of the multiverse. His first attempt was thwarted by the Emerald City Silver Age magician Dr. Spectre. After that defeat Trimash decided to fulfill his mission through trickery, not force. He adopted the persona of Maximillian Mars and began talking over the newly emerging computer and communication industries as well as reaching out to enemies of the heroes that fought him in the first place. Over time Trimash as Mars created the Chamber cabal and linked villainous allies across his assigned spectrum of dimensional spacetime. He even created the Encounter with Inverted Earth crossover as a test of his ultimate plan. Mars would conquer multiple Earths by simply linking them together dimensionally during a single globally witnessed event and then allow the Chamber’s Mind Control Field to subjugates trillions of people on hundreds of Earths. All he needed was a catalyst to televise.

His solution was the formation of a new superhero team powerful enough to capture the attention of the globe but dysfunctional enough to allow little resistance to his plan. Trimash underestimated the Vanguard and now has altered his plan. Instead of the formation of a super team Mars Communications’ Rose AI will broadcast the Tellax attack on Emerald City.

Session Eleven: Victory Day

A few weeks ago Mayor Talbot’s campaign promise of creating a super hero team in Emerald City began to take form. The Vanguard is to be led by reality T.V. bad boy android Doctor Robot, who has spent more time in parties than fighting crime. Joining him is the South American luchadora vigilante Ultima Saborosa. On the day they both moved into Victory Tower, a state of the art superhero headquarters provided by tech millionaire Maximillian Mars, two more superhuman appeared and quickly were recruited into the ranks of the fledgling team. The first was Shota, a gladiator from a pan-dimensional dojo known as the Battle Nexus. The second was a reformed art thief named Adela who was capable of teleportation and invisibility. They first act as a team was to stop the notorious super criminal known as the Commander, who had taken control of LAX in an attempt to covertly steal an artifact known as the Sarcophagus of Aphosis. A.E.G.I.S. agent Barricuda Ritchman took custody of the man in the Commander armor while Doctor Robot took the armor, the alien crystal that powered it and the artifact back to his private lab for study. Three more cross-dimensional gladiators (Kiishigo the kung-fu dinosaur, Meron the energy being sumo wrestler, and Ringo the techno-organic tai-chi master) arrived to warn Shota that they had learned of a plot to subjugate thousands of parallel Earths by the immortal ZenKai masters of the Battle Nexus in preparation for the coming of the cosmic threat of Collaspsar the Devourer. Doctor Robot’s lab was then destroyed by the terrorist organization S.C.A.L.E. who stole the armor, the artifact and kidnapped Kiishigo. Shortly after Maximillian Mars was fired by the Mayor and replaced by the international spy agency The Chessmen. During this same time Adela was also secretly contacted by the mysterious ghost like Superunknown, who warned her about the Chamber conspiracy and led her to find ex-secret agent Somber Quinn and teenage reporter D.Q. Gray. Those two had been uncovering a villainous plot that corresponds to Vanguard’s official debut during Victory Day. The Vanguard tracked S.C.A.L.E. to a deep sea tech think tank community known as Sea Floor City run by tech billionaire Tox Colvera. S.C.A.L.E. was attempting to activate the Sarcophagus and would have done so if Doctor Robot hadn’t teleported it into a volcano. S.C.A.L.E. was turned over to Barricuda Ritchman and A.E.G.I.S. and the Vanguard turned their focus to uncovering the Chamber. And uncover they did… learning that Emerald City was secretly controlled by a cabal of supervillains as a safe haven and night club for criminals from many parallel worlds. The entire city is blanketed by a Mind Control Field maintained by a supervillain known as the Big Brain. The vanguard defeated Alexander Gaspar, Grandmaster of the Chessmen and the Big Brain only to learn that S.C.A.L.E. had taken over the A.E.G.I.S. flying saucer. The Vanguard attacked the saucer, liberating it from S.C.A.L.E., but not before they succeeded in finally activating the Sarcophagus of Aphosis… turning it into the towering robot Tellax. Now Tellax is headed to Emerald City to begin converting humanity into lizard people and only the Vanguard can stop it. The time has come. It is...

Tellax the Redeemer

The Sarcophagus of Apophis has been reanimated. From it awakens the Tellax. A towering mechanical monster created many millennia ago by the mysterious alien race known only as the Perservers.

It is made of impenetrable alien metal and ores. It is capable of impossible acts of spontaneous regeneration. It is armed with energy beams capable of disintegrating mass, negating momentum and reordering the chemical composition of physical matter.

It is consumed with one singular terrifying purpose, to change the world to the design of an ancient alien race.

And thanks to SCALE it is headed directly toward Emerald City.

AEGIS Saucer #4

AEGIS.O.S.

Koschei the Deathless

The undisputed head of the Malakov crime syndicate that has beared his name for decades, Gregor Malakov long ago traded his humanity for power, becoming the superhuman crime boss called Koschei the Deathless and would gladly trade whatever remains of it for the ability to live forever, for that he would sacrifice anything or anyone.

Typically, while appearing to members of his organization or fellow criminals, Koschei wears a full, concealing hood of dark green, showing only
his glowing green eyes, with wristlength
leather gloves (to conceal his fingerprints) and a dark, tailor-madesuit.

Gregor’s legitimate business interests serve primarily as a means to launder Mafiya money by investing it in shipping, real estate, warehousing, contracting, and various other businesses.

Koschei has formidable psionic powers allowing him to read thoughts and memories, project illusions, and strike foes with powerful mental blasts. He can also exert mental influence over the minds of others, even to the point of editing their memories. Koschei’s powers make his position as mob-boss almost unassailable, since he knows every disloyal thought and can deal with any plot against him before it happens. Koschei also possesses a degree of mind-overmatter, somatically controlling his body to resist aging and shrug off some harmful effects while healing quickly from any injury.

Carlsbad Skink

The man once named Carlsbad Skink is long dead. He body succumbed to liver poisoning, gout and late stage syphilis. In a desperate attempt to save his brilliant mind his memories and personality was digital encoded on experimental hard drives. The artificially intelligent robotic snake that calls itself the Tyrant Lizard is all that remains of the once mildly well respected and generally poorly reviewed science fiction writer, self-help guru, self styled cult messiah and terrorist organizer. Now he exists only to see rise to the new Lemurian Empire and the extinction of the entire human race.

The Big Brain

The Big Brain is the source of the Mind Control Field. It appears as a floating mental protection of a head dominated by a bulging, pulsating brain. It's voice vibrates in your skull.

The Core

For the past twenty years the immortal body of Robert "The Core" Young has been in a irreversible catatonic state after the wild Norm superhero overdosed on heroin. Despite his brain dead state his body refuses to die.

And now he is awake.

Brain Damage

Brain Damage

Last time on Vanguard for Victory our heroes initiated their counter strike against the Chamber! DQ Gray removed from the city and taken to the safety of the remote hunting cabin on Mount Forge. Her father, Somber Quinn, reentered the city posing as Mayor Talbot, who remained at the cabin feeding him instructions through the use of a Majestic20 communication device. Doctor Robot set to work at Emerald City Circuits, attempting to locate and neutralize the source of the mysterious Mind Control Field covering the city. 

While the rest of the team debated on the location of the Chamber A.E.G.I.S. Agent Barracuda Ritchson jet packed in to ask for assistance. The S.C.A.L.E. prisoners are willing to confess, but only to members of the Vanguard. Realizing that the impending threat of Victory Day was just to great the team sent Barracuda off empty handed, Promising that once they solved the mystery of the Chamber they would assist A.E.G.I.S. with S.C.A.L.E. With that Lt. Ritchson rocketed back to his flying saucer hovering over the Pacific Ocean.

. The Vanguard then decided to investigate the site of the old Majestic20 headquarters, hidden beneath the long abandoned Magic Hill Amusement Park. There they discovered a House of Horrors filled to the brim with advanced deathtraps made by the supervillain literally known as Deathtrap. They were clearly on the right path. After Shota disabled the defenses he, Adela and Doctor Robot descended into the depths of the derelict secret military facility. Using Doctor Robot's X-Ray vision they discovered a hidden room filled with teleporter pads of various designs arranged in front of a large vault door. As they moved toward the foreboding portal Shota couldn't shake the feeling that this place felt familiar. Inside the vault they found a small cell that housed another airlock like door at it's far end and numerous coats and capes. 

Entering the next antechamber they were welcomed by a large lizard like humanoid supervillain named Snakeeye. Instead of immediately attacking our heroes, Snakeeye welcomed them with enthusiasm, apparently pleased that Adela had recruited other members of the Vanguard into something called Project Endgame. Snakeeye then initiated a cross-dimension shift that transported them to... The Chamber, a night club that caters to supervillains from several different dimensions. There the heroes tried their best to fit in. Doctor Robot dropped his inhibitions and partied with supervillains happy to have him onboard. Shota saddled up to a bar run by a magical gorilla and ordered the best food he had eaten in weeks. Adela remained hidden observing the hundreds of villains enjoying the safety of the Chamber, her mind reeling at the implications of her connections to this conspiracy. During the Doctor's detour into debauchery he was confronted by a robot created in a vague likeness of the Commander's armor. Introducing itself as Scion, this robot appeared angered by the Doctor's presence here, referring to Liam as 'his father' before skulking off into the shadows of the club. Shota convinced Gorillapocalypse to let him talk to the cook, who recognized Shota immediately. The cook, named Dandan, is a member of the servant class of the extradimensional Battle Nexus. Dandan revealed that The Chamber was actually located within the Battle Nexus and was controlled by a member of the viscous Zenkai. Armed with that knowledge the Shota pulled the others out of the club, surprisingly without incident despite a few tense moments. 

There are only thirty hours left before Emerald City celebrates Victory Day.

With the truth behind The Chamber revealed what will the Vanguard do next? And how will the supervillains behind this conspiracy respond to the exposure of their secrets? Needless to say the next several hours will likely not go smoothly for our heroes. In fact, there is a very high likelyhood of...

Scion

Scion is a robot that vaguely looks like a skeletal version of the Commander armor. It glows with power. In it's chest rotates a diamond shaped crystal eerily similar to the one taken from that armor. If it is possible for a robot can look sullen and pissed off this one does.

Gorillapocalypse

He is a super intelligent ape fluent in the necromantic arts. Yeah. So that exists.

Snakeeye

Snake-Eye is a minor supervillain often tied to the villainess Madame Joy. His real name is Tracy Sadler and he often acts as Madame Joy’s bodyguard. Before his accident with a experimental radioactive snake he was already a career criminal with a rap sheet a mile long. He has radioactive snake powers, can track with his tongue and his bite is venomous.

Welcome to the Chamber

Last time on Vanguard for Victory our heroes were celebrating a major win against the forces of S.C.A.L.E.! The Vanguard mounted a successful assault on Tox Colvera's underwater think tank community Sea Floor City that led to the imprisonment of the Tyrant Lizard, The SCALE Sovereign and Lagarto. Quick thinking by Doctor Robot also resulted in SCALE's doomsday weapon, the Sarcophagus of Aphosis (known to the extradimensional Zenkai as the Tellax Device), teleported deep into the heart of a tropical island volcano in the middle of the Pacific. The mission was not without losses however, Ringo and Adela were both seemingly atomized in a trap set by the Seditious Campaign for Advancing the Lemurian Empire.

   Once back in Emerald City the team had little time to mourn their fallen comrades as they were pressed to prepare for their next publicity opportunity, attending the funeral of the late Majestic20 secret agent and national hero, Somber Quinn. Once there they were confronted by two other members of the Majestic20 agency... former director John Parker Lincoln and current director Wendy Foaly. After a minor disagreement between Lincoln and Foaly the director drives them to the newest M20 Field Office, located across Malory Bay in the city of Bridgeport. There Director Foaly reveal to large surprises. First was the existence of a mysterious Mind Control Field that covers the entirety of Emerald City and their possession of a Stone Age artifact addressed to the Vanguard themselves. The Artifact itself revealed itself as a high tech device and a message from thousands of years before. 

The message explained that Adela and Ringo were sent back in time and that Ringo reconfigured herself into a cocoon capable of suspending Adela life until the Vanguard can find her in the present. The artifact led them to a Mars Communcations site that hid a secret cave containing a degraded empty sarcophagus, the alien gem that powered it for centuries, stolen years ago by Maximillian Mars. Suspiciously enough the same gem that up until recently powered the supersuit of The Commander. Although the cave and cocoon appeared empty there was an unseen presence there... The Super Unknown. 

The Super Unknown revealed herself to be none other Adela. This Adela led them to a hidden away hunting shack on the far side of Mount Forge where they were surprised to find Somber Quinn alive and well and also an ageless member of the Grue alien species that invaded Earth back in the 1950's. There they learned the truth about Adela, Somber Quinn and the Chamber. The Chamber is believed to be shadowy cabal of supervillains that have controlled Emerald City for many years, using the Mind Control Field to ensure that no superheroes survive inside the city for long. It is also revealed that the Chamber is behind the formation of Vanguard for Victory and that something terrible is planned to coincide with Victory Day, in only three days time.

But the Vanguard are not without options or plans. Doctor Robot has learned that his unfortunate existence makes him immune to the Chamber's Mind Control Field. Mayor Talbot has been rescued from Emerald City and replaced by the shape shifting Somber Quinn (who is also immune to the Mind Control Field). The Vanguard has learned of the existence of Majestic20's abandoned underground headquarters on Council Island from the 1970's once called the "Chamber". Could this bunker on the very edge of the Mind Control Field hold the secrets they seek? And what of Alexander Kaspar, the Grandmaster of the Chessmen? What is his connection to the Chamber and what secrets does he hold from within his control room atop Victory Tower? 

The Vanguard is close to the truth, but will they be ready?

Hope you survive the experience.

Somber Quinn

Somber Quinn was one of the most decorated and well respected agents to ever serve in the Majestic20 division. But before that he was one of the Thrillseekers from Outer Space. And before that he was just Squinn, a chameleon skinned defector of the alien race known as the Grue Unity. Squinn never fit in with his scheming Gruen brothers and sisters and was considered a reject and traitor as a result. Somber Quinn has been a resident of Emerald City for sixty year now and has loved every minute of his time on this planet. Well, almost every minute. Lately he has been consumed with uncovering the truth behind the conspiracy of the Chamber. Since his early retirement after the unfortunate death of the New Thrillseekers member Hiro Hosato he has dedicated his life to uncovering the truth behind the memory gaps, the mind control field, the lack of heroes and the unnatural peace that predominates this city. All of his research is leading up to one startling truth... the Chamber is planning something terrible to coincide with Victory Day. It is not too late to stop it.

The Artifact

Presented to you is a ceramic plate that is clearly ancient in origin. Etched into it in a rough scrawl are clear marking that are impossible in nature. On this disk that predates the paleolithic era are scratched the words:

VANGUARD

followed underneath by today's date, and the current time.

It is at that moment that the disk begins to crack in a fractal spiral radiating out from the center of the plate. Hundreds upon hundreds of tiny interlocking ceramic gears spin and thousand of minuscule panels unfold revealing a perfect spherical lens held within a lattice work of delicate entwining golden wires. A glow builds at the center of the lens and a faint holographic image appears hovering translucent in the air above the awaken disk. The wavering rainbow colored visage is of Adela standing in what appears to be a jungle hillside. The web of golden wires begins to vibrate in conjunction with the hologram of Adela as it begins to speak in a tinny metallic approximation of her voice. This is what it says:

"Okay, here goes. Hopefully you are seeing this. The last time you saw me was two hundred thousand years ago. No, wait... from now. Two hundred thousand years from now. Ringo, Shota and I were teleporting to the sarcophagus thing down on the ocean floor. It was a trap. Obviously. Maybe you know that, maybe you don't. There was a bright flash. Ringo and I... we were, well, we were sent back in time. Way back. Ringo tells me this is our world's middle to late Pleistocene era. Really early homosapiens. They are not friendly. Shota didn't appear with us. We can only assume that he was sent to another time or escaped the blast somehow. It's been, what, a few months now. We've tried to figure out a way home. Back to Emerald City then, in the future. No luck. But we, well, Ringo has a plan. But before we try it I have some things to tell you. First..."

The figure bends down out of the edges of the hologram and when Adele stands back up she is holding a distinctly human looking toddler. 

"Say hello to little Shakyamuni Junior. So, long story short. We met some aliens. Ancient outer space multi-dimensional ones. They are raising this little guy here. Don't worry, I am just babysitting. Shota, if you are watching and alive... we are both pretty sure this is you. So you are like, at least two hundred thousand years old. The aliens guys, they are evolving the cavemen to help protect him. So, how is that for an origin myth. Anyway, yeah... it has been a weird couple of months. Second, the sarcophagus this... it is a weapon of last resort. It needs to be taken away from those SCALE whackjobs. It is meant to 'weaponize' the evolved human population when the time comes. I get the feeling that we would not like whatever that means. All the doomsday, Monkey King stuff Ringo and her friends were saying. All real. This is going to be where it all goes down. Trust me, prehistoric aliens told me so."

Adela sets down the boy Shota and he disappears from view.

"Okay, so this is the crazy plan part. So the aliens are extremely resistant with us coming with them. And I get the distinct feeling that teleporting invisible onto their spaceship is a good way to get me killed. Ringo says seeking out the Battle Nexus could drastically affect the time line so that is also out. Obviously we can't time travel back to the present the way we came... so Ringo has an idea. She is going to reconfigure herself into a cocoon and, using some technology we liberated from our alien friends, a message... this message actually. We are currently standing on what will one day be Mount Forge. Ringo assures me her physiology will allow her to keep me in suspended animation until you eventually get this message. Once you do, this message disk should act as a homing beacon that will lead you to us. I assume you will need to bring some shovels. Or a backhoe. Well, so. That is it. I will see you in a few minutes or a few hundred thousand years, depending on which end of this message you are on."

The image wavers for a second and then resumes,

"Oh yeah, one last thing. Apparently the aliens say I am not harmonically consistent with this universal frequency. In other words, I am from another universe. Ain't that some shit? See you on the flip side."

And then the image fades and the lens begins to pulse faintly along one edge glass surface, as if pointing toward a distant something.

Benji Carver

Forty years after becoming a counter-cultural icon, Benji Carver’s hair has grayed and dwindled to little more than his ponytail, and his tie-dye shirts now cover far more waistline. However, his ability to spellbind tourists with pleasingly chilling tall tales of the Undercity is undiminished, and he remains a city fixture.

Carver’s notorious Pack Rat Maze Tours provide him a comfortable living, allowing Carver to spend time on his charity work and political activism, focusing on the environment, social justice, and marijuana legalization. For an activist, Carver has remarkably few enemies, thanks mainly to his overriding good-natured charm. For any hero in need of information about Emerald City, the affable Carver is by far the most knowledgeable and approachable person available. In addition, Carver has made a lot of friends in all walks of life, from politics to entertainment, in the course of his activism. Benji Carver is always willing to help.

Unfortunately Benji Carver is also clearly insane...

...or is he.

Majestic 20

Majestic-20 is a covert organization that originated as a clandestine tool of the United States to safeguard the country against alien invasionafter the Red Scare in 1947. USAF Captain John Parker Lincoln was tapped to lead the new organization and prepare them for the task of defending the United States (and the Earth) from extraterrestrial invasions.

Early in the organization’s existence, key members began spreading disinformation to fringe elements and other easily-dismissible parties regarding Majestic-20 itself. Within a matter of years, people who attempted to disclose valid information about Majestic-20 were routinely ignored, discredited, or otherwise deemed unreliable as everyone knew the nonsense they were presenting was the stuff
of irrational conspiracy theorists and UFO-chasing kooks. Which was exactly the way Majestic-20 wanted it.

Acting from the shadows, Majestic-20 had its share of successes and failures over its first few decades of existence. Only select members of other intelligence agencies (such as AEGIS and the original Chessmen) were made aware of its existence, usually only to facilitate using those agencies as cover for its own actions in the field. As the years passed, the times changed. Lincoln and his peers grew troubled with the growing number of extraterrestrial incursions stopped by metahuman “heroes” over the years. The politicians who did know of Majestic-20’s existence, and who were responsible for paying its bills, began to see Lincoln and his people as relics of bygone age.

Then came the Moore Act in 1983 and overnight the heroes that had replaced Majestic-20 in the eyes of certain politicians became enemies of the state themselves. With this came a heightened period of alien activity not felt since the Red Scare in the 1950s. Majestic-20 was forced to abandon its shadowy existence. Unmarked helicopters, men in black and alien abductions became common sights in 1980s America. The headquarters of Majestic-20 was revealed to be a transdimensional facility beneath Council Island in the middle of Malory Bay conspiracy theorists took to calling the Isolation Chamber.

Two of it's most seasoned field operatives, Wendy Foaly and Somber Quinn became media darlings after them stopped an assassination attempt on the president by Farsiders from the Moon. The sudden attention did not sit well with Director Lincoln. He did everything in his power to keep an air of mystery around Majestic-20 even after its existence was revealed to the world.

With the return of true 'heroes' in the 1990s public attention moved away from Majestic-20, but by then the damage had been done. After a decade operating in the daylight John Parker Lincoln retired as soon as he was given the opportunity. Officially, Majestic-20 still operates within the intelligence network of the United States government although its scope and mission have been drastically diminished over the past ten years. Now Majestic-20 operates out of a small federal building in Bridgepoint across the Bay from Emerald City.  The modern Majestic-20 is run by now Director Wendy Foaly who oversees a small division of astronomers, medical specialists and data miners tasked primarily with monitoring alien traffic and communication for potential threats. The days of ray gun slinging men in black piloting stealth helicopters are long over.

New Lemuria

Delivered to the forces of SCALE by fate the interdimensional fighting champion known as Kii-Chugo has been elevated by the Seditious Campaign for the Advancement of the Lemurian Empire as their new ruler, the SCALE Sovereign. The last of his kind and the only living Lemurian on this Earth, his coming (along with the recovery of the Sarcophagus of Aphosis) heralds the dawning of a new age for the planet. No longer will homo sapiens rule the world. Instead there is a new order, a new ruling class... a new Lemuria.

Under the rule of the SCALE Sovereign, their old leader has taken on a new mantle... that of Tyrant Lizard Rex. Armed with a new costume re-engineered to control the alien contents of the Sarcophagus Tyrant Lizard Rex will lead the forces of SCALE to total world domination.

Their first order of business is the complete and utter annihilation of the human race. Only a small chosen few, safely confined on Seafloor City from the coming onslaught, will be allowed to survive.

Session Six: Small SCALE War

Last time on Vanguard for Victory our heroes were picking up the pieces left in the wake of the Triple Threat attack by Ringo, the Intraverse and The forces of SCALE. Surprisingly the personal adversities suffered by each individual only served to strengthen the team. Finally working together and sharing vital information the Vanguard rallied around their leader as he made demands of the mayor that changes be made to daily team operations. Siding with her choice for team leader Mayor Talbot quickly fired Maximillian Mars and took steps to remove all presence of all Mars Tech technology from Victory Tower. That didn't go over well and Max left the team cursing Doctor Robot's name. 

Quickly working to recover the items stolen from the ruins of Doctor Robot's lab the team tracked the Sarcophagus of Apophis to the middle of the ocean with help remotely from new their security coordinator Alexander Kaspar, grandmaster of the small spy organization The Chessmen and Barricuda Ritchson in his borrowed AEGIS flying shield carrier. Headed toward the deep sea coordinates the team learned about the existence of the Chamber conspiracy from Adela, the true identity of the global drug kingpin known as Lagarto by Ultima and that Ringo is totally open to some horizontal sparring with Shota. 

Once they arrived the team descended to an abandoned SCALE bunker on the ocean floor just in time to stop the cackling mad Tyrant Lizard from channeling megawatts of energy into the sarcophagus. They would have retrieved the sarcophagus too, except it was teleported away at the last moment by means unknown. Their only lead now is in Seafloor City, an experimental underwater think tank community of cutting edge scientists lead by billionaire eccentric Tox Cofera. Since Seafloor City is considered its own sovereign nation AEGIS can not assist them in infiltrating it, even though it very well might be the secret headquarters for the terrorist organization known as SCALE, the Seditious Campaign for Advancing the Lemurian Empire. 

With only four days remaining before Victory Day can the team succeed in penetrate the secrets of Seafloor City, recover the stolen sarcophagus and stop the forces of SCALE from executing their nefarious plans in time to return in Emerald City to attend the funeral of murdered local hero and retired Majestic 20 agent Somber Quinn?  

Or will the world descend into...

There is only one way to find out.

Everyone gain 2 Points.

The Chessmen

The Chessmen were a British secret intelligence operation that operated from 1962 to 1980. Formed originally by Godwin Kaspar, the original Chessmen consisted of highly-trained former espionage and law-enforcement personnel recruited by Kaspar in his guise as the Black
King. Most of the agents were ranked according to their specialty, Knights were recruited for combat, Bishops for intelligence work, Rooks for security and so on. Masters at behind-the-scenes political manipulation, the Chessmen initially intended to clandestinely assist the American and British governments in containing unusual and colorful menaces to the crown during the Silver Age of heroism.

Eventually, however, it was revealed that the Chessmen only appeared to be foiling the threats they were asked to intervene in. In truth, the Chessmen were profiting or even recruiting from criminal and terrorist organizations they pretended to be dismantling. AEGIS (aided by the Second Nightwatchman) exposed Kaspar and eventually brought the entire organization down.  The majority of the Chessmen, including its founder, ended up in US federal prison. Godwin Kaspar was broken by his defeat and died behind bars less than five years after his incarceration, professing his innocence the entire time.

Then, a little over a decade ago, the Black King’s son, Alexander Kaspar, formed a new Chessmen
organization as a private intelligence firm dedicated to providing personal protection and private security options to wealthy clientele. Alexander replaced his father’s peerless personal charisma with his own unique tactical genius, outmaneuvering and anticipating threats to his clients before things become a problem.

In the space of the past few years, Alexander, now referring to himself as the Grandmaster, has taken his organization from nothing to a highly-efficient and well respected private security firm. And in doing so he hopes to rebuild the tarnished reputation of his father and the original Chessmen. Alexander believes his father claims of innocence and resents AEGIS' role in what he sees as a conspiratorial take down of a legitimate intelligentsia rival.

Now the Victory Foundation has hired Alexander and his Chessmen to act as Vanguard's intelligence support network, acting as home base security, information gathering and media support in the wake of Maximilian Mars' departure.

Lagarto

The man known only as Lagarto is believed to control the entirety of the Mexican drug cartels. This near mythical Capo of Capos united the narcos cartels of Mexico and created an alliance of sorts with drug trafficking organizations in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. He is the most feared man in all of South America even though no one has every successfully identified him and lived.

It is said that Largato has developed a unbeatable drug trafficking system that allows the transport of South American cocaine anywhere in the world. It is through this process and his reputation as a cold blooded killer who assures complete loyalty from everyone in his organization that Largato retains his unprecedented power.

It is believed that Largato controls many high ranking members of the governments in nearly all of the South American countries as well as a few rumored politicians in North America as well.

Tyrant Lizard

Originally formed in the late 1970s S.C.A.L.E. was originally the brainchild of science fiction author Carlsbad Skink. Skink returned from a mountain climbing trip to the Himalayas with the foundation for a new religious philosophy that he shared in a book called Reptilian Complexities: the Next Evolution of Man. His new religion, which he called the Scientific Church of Advanced Latterday Evolution, proposed that advanced beings he called the Serpent People were the true source of human evolution and that by adopting their philosophies and teachings humanity could continue to evolve past what Skink referred to as man's recessive mammalian period. Skink claimed that he learned of the existence of the Serpent People by visiting extra terrestrial Preservers that dwell within the Nexus of all Realities while lost in the Himalayas. He opened several self help centers in Washington and California where believers could have their Maha Virus Levels measured and begin the metaphysical process of advanced latterday evolution. After several scandals involving charges of abuse and claims that his church was a cult Skink abandoned the mainland completely in 1981, gathering up his loyal followers on his private cruise ship, the Lemurian, and sailing out into international waters indefinitely.

Skink and his followers reemerged in 1985 as SCALE, with a plot that involved highjacking a American Space Shuttle in an attempt to launch their own satellite into space. Skink wore a mask that covered his face and called himself the Tyrant Lizard, declaring that SCALE now existed to subjugate what he called the unevolved hominid  population. They were stopped by Majestic 20, who believed SCALE to be a front for alien invaders, but continued to escape custody and prosecution for the next decade, attempting wilder and more elaborate world domination plans until eventually fading into obscurity during the middle of the Iron Age of heroism.

In 2001 a new terrorist organization began operations in international waters under the command of a new Tyrant Lizard. Unlike Skink's old cult bent on world domination this new SCALE focused on acts of open waters piracy and the destruction of archaeological sites. Although more technologically advanced and in possession of actual super human agents the new SCALE remains under the radar as a global threat. The modern version of SCALE has never made an attack on American soil...until now.

The identity of the new Tyrant Lizard is unknown, although it is widely believed among intelligence services that it is no longer Carlsbad Skink under the helmet. What the most recent Tyrant Lizard ultimately wants, and what motives the organization has for attacking archaeological sites remains a mystery.

Siesmosaur and Snake Charmer

Siesmosaur was once Clifton Troodon, a ex-con with a criminal career including armed robbery, assault, and murder.

Freed from prison by S.C.A.L.E. in 2003 Clifton agreed to genetic experimentation using Lemurian technology. The results of which gifted Clifton impressive mental and physical abilities but altered his DNA to an unstable degree and greatly impaired is already questionable intellect. Clifton, now known as Siesmosaur, is one of a number of S.C.A.L.E.'s elite superhuman agents.

Nigh invulnerable, freakishly strong and capable of gravitational mental blasts that can shake apart the landscape around him Seismosaur is one of S.C.A.L.E.'s most effective shock troops.

Often Seismosaur is deployed alone, as his antisocial tendencies, fits of easily provoked anger and proclivity toward violence can lead to blind rage and S.C.A.L.E. casualities. In fact, the only superhuman agent regularly deployed with Seismosaur is Snake Charmer.

Snake Charmer was once Dominika Zmeya, a ex-member of the Russian mafia who freely joined S.C.A.L.E. in 1997. Dominika helped develop S.C.A.L.E.'s Lemurian genetic experiments and is notorious for experimenting on herself, and others. Dominika possesses a potent form of mental hypnosis activated by sight. Dominika, known as Snake Charmer, is a member of S.C.A.L.E.'s inner circle, capable of leading SCALE soldiers and superhuman agents on field missions.

Snake Charmer is also a well known seductress and spy. Her kiss is said to be poisonous.

Like most of S.C.A.L.E.'s elite ranks, Seismosaur and Snake Charmer are vegan.

S.C.A.L.E.

S.C.A.L.E. stands for the Seditious Conspiracy for Advancing the Lemurian Empire. It is a high tech terrorist network bent on world conquest. Inspired by the legendary Serpent Empire of lizard humanoids that some believe ruled the Earth during the Cenozoic Era.

Far out in the Pacific Ocean, the saurian people, the pinnacle of evolution at that time, developed their civilization on the island continent of Lemuria. They founded a mighty Sepent Empire that spread across the globe from Lemuria. This empire was built on the backs of hominid slaves using advanced science and sorcery. For millennia, their civilization waxed and waned, expanded and contracted, with waves of exploration and influence reaching the western shores of the North and South American continents, where serpents still appear as gods and great spirits in ancient art. The Serpent Empire was already old and decadent by the time the first human civilizations arose in the world.

As the Serpent People stretched their influence further and further, claiming new human populations as their slaves, an evolutionary struggle to the death was inevitable. Sapien ruled Atlantis rose on one side of the world as an empire to rival saurian Lemuria on the far side of the globe. So began a series of wars between the two civilizations, human and serpent, culminating the Great Cataclysm that destroyed them both, sinking the continents below the waves, and virtually obliterating all evidence of their existence. Civilization fell into chaos, and humanity was forced to rebuild from nothing, with the survivors of Atlantis becoming the basis of legends. The Serpent Empire never recovered, the remnants of their once-proud civilization confined to the deep depths of the Ocean.

Until evidence of the Lemurian Empire was uncovered and S.C.A.L.E. was formed. Using recovered Lemurian technology and magic S.C.A.L.E. quickly made a name for itself in global super-terrorism. Their weapons and vehicles are made from cutting edge amphibious technology. They routinely force test subjects, willing and otherwise, to endure aggressive genetic experimentation design to create super-villains and recreate the lost saurian species.

Ruled by the mysterious Tyrant Lizard, S.C.A.L.E. focuses on terror acts against hominid ruled population centers, high seas piracy and the plunder of archaeological sites believed to be tied to the lost Lemurian or Atlantian cultures. Based somewhere underneath the Pacific Ocean S.C.A.L.E. strikes quickly and disappears beneath the waves once their missions have concluded.

Planet LeGrasse

Among the multitudes of stellar bodies that drift through the Intraverse there are few more dangerous and foreboding as Planet Lagrasse. Lagrasse is currently in orbit around a minor star along with a pearllike planet and a living satellite that appears to be covered in planet sized a luchador type mask.

Once a haven for interplanetary scientific research Lagrasse suffered a major cataclysm that left it a ruined, seismically active shell of its former glory.

The landscape is a blasted Hell of jagged stone and rusted metal torn by fissures filled with rivers of ammonia and dotted with twisted iron trees covered in closed circuit cameras like cancerous growths.

In an instant the entire population of the planet was obliterated save for the last of the original ruling family, Princess AmanTal. She exists the last lone survivor, locked away deep within the fortress of Lord Acedia, ruler of Lagrasse.

The remains of the planet have been carved into seven wartorn regions, each dominated by a robotic warlord bent on the destruction of the others and obsessed with possessing the Princess. The current lord of Lagrasse is a loathsome and lazy dictator who is a destructively cruel as he is unambitious. Each warlord commands an army of zombie like automatons called Broken Shells.

In rebellion against the Lords of Lagrasse fights the RedKnight, a holographic champion locked in an eternal struggle to free the princess and banish the warlords as well as their armies.

Rules Reference: Conditions

• Asleep: While asleep, a character is defenseless, stunned, and unaware. A hearing Perception check with three or more degrees of success wakes the character and removes all these conditions, as does any sudden movement (such as shaking the sleeping character) or any effect allowing a resistance check.

• Blind: The character cannot see. Everything effectively has full visual concealment from him. He is hindered, visually unaware, and vulnerable, and may be impaired or disabled for activities where vision is a factor.
• Bound: A bound character is defenseless, immobile, and impaired.

• Compelled: A compelled character is directed by an outside force, but struggling against it; the character is limited to free actions and a single standard action per turn, with both types of action being chosen by another, controlling character. As usual, this standard action can be traded for a move action. Controlled supersedes compelled.

• Controlled: A controlled character has no free will; the character’s actions each turn are dictated by another, controlling, character.

• Dazed: A dazed character is limited to free actions and a single standard action per turn, although the character may use that action to perform a move, as usual. Stunned supersedes dazed.

• Deaf: The character cannot hear, giving everything total auditory concealment from him. This may allow for surprise attacks on the unaware character. Interaction with other characters is limited to sign-language and lip-reading.

• Debilitated: The character has one or more abilities lowered below –5.

• Defenseless: A defenseless character has active defense bonuses of 0. Attackers can make attacks on defenseless opponents as routine checks (see Routine Checks). If the attacker chooses to forgo the routine check and make a normal attack check, any hit is treated as a critical hit. Defenseless characters are often prone, providing opponents with an additional bonus to attack checks.

• Disabled: A disabled character is at a –5 circumstance penalty on checks. If the penalty applies to specific checks, they are added to the name of the condition, such as Attack Disabled, Fighting Disabled, Perception Disabled, and so forth. Debilitated, if it applies to the same trait(s), supersedes disabled.

• Dying: A dying character is incapacitated (defenseless, stunned, and unaware) and near death. When the character gains this condition, immediately make a Fortitude check (DC 15). If the check succeeds, nothing happens. With two degrees of success, the character stabilizes, removing this condition. If the check fails, the character remains dying. Three or more total degrees of failure mean the character dies: so three failed Fortitude checks or one or two checks adding up to three degrees. Dying characters make a Fortitude check each round until they either die or stabilize. Another character can stabilize a dying character with a successful Treatment check (DC 15) or use of a Healing effect (see the Powers chapter).

• Entranced: An entranced character is stunned, taking no actions other than paying attention to the entrancing effect. Any obvious threat automatically breaks the trance. An ally can also shake a character free of the condition with an interaction skill check (DC 10 + effect rank).
• Exhausted: Exhausted characters are near collapse. They are impaired and hindered. Characters recover from an exhausted condition after an hour of rest.
• Fatigued: Fatigued characters are hindered. Characters recover from a fatigued condition after an hour of rest.

• Hindered: A hindered character moves at half normal speed (–1 speed rank). Immobile supersedes hindered.

• Immobile: Immobile characters have no movement speed and cannot move from the spot they occupy, although they are still capable of taking actions unless prohibited by another condition.

• Impaired: An impaired character is at a –2 circumstance penalty on checks. If the impairment applies to specific checks, they are added to the name of the condition, such as Attack Impaired, Fighting Impaired, Perception Impaired, and so forth. If it applies to the same trait(s), disabled supersedes impaired.

• Incapacitated: An incapacitated character is defenseless, stunned, and unaware. Incapacitated characters generally also fall prone, unless some force keeps them standing.

• Normal: The character is unharmed and unaffected by other conditions, acting normally.

• Paralyzed: A paralyzed character is defenseless, immobile, and physically stunned, frozen in place and unable to move, but still aware and able to take purely mental actions, involving no physical movement whatsoever.
• Prone: A prone character is lying on the ground, receiving a –5 circumstance penalty on close attack checks. Opponents receive a +5 circumstance bonus to close attack checks but a –5 penalty to ranged attack checks. Prone characters are hindered. Standing up from a prone position is a move action.
• Restrained: A restrained character is hindered and vulnerable. If the restraints are anchored to an immobile object, the character is immobile rather than hindered. If restrained by another character, the restrained character is immobile but may be moved by the restraining character.

• Staggered: A staggered character is dazed and hindered.
• Stunned: Stunned characters cannot take any actions, including free actions.

• Surprised: A surprised character is stunned and vulnerable, caught off-guard and therefore unable to act, and less able to avoid attacks.

• Transformed: Transformed characters have some or all of their traits altered by an outside agency. This may range from a change in the character’s appearance to a complete change in trait ranks, even the removal of some traits and the addition of others! The primary limit on the transformed condition is the character’s power point total cannot increase, although it can effectively decrease for the duration of the transformation, such as when a powerful superhero is turned into an otherwise powerless mouse or frog (obviously based on considerably fewer power points).

• Unaware: The character is completely unaware of his surroundings, unable to make interaction or Perception checks or perform any action based on them. If the condition applies to a specific sense or senses, they are added to the name of the condition, such as visually unaware, tactilely unaware (or numb), and so forth. Subjects have full concealment from all of a character’s unaware senses.

• Vulnerable: Vulnerable characters are limited in their ability to defend themselves, halving their active defenses (round up the final value). Defenseless supersedes vulnerable.

• Weakened: The character has temporarily lost power points in a trait. See the Weaken effect in the Powers chapter for more. Debilitated supersedes weakened.