Power Rangers: Quantum Odyssey - HQ Quest

Personal Actions Turn 1 Results
[X] Plan: ...Prepare for war
-[x] Arrange Training for One of the Rangers
--[X] Talia
---[X] Whatever fighting discipline she'd like to learn.
--[X] Lewis
---[X] Boxing
--[X] Nico
---[X] Street Fighting

Rolls:
Talia: 3+2 = 5 Success!
Lewis: 2+2 = 4/5 - Progress Made!
Nico: 5+2 = 7 Success!

Lord Pluton.

You don't have any idea of who or what that is, but it gives you a feeling of dread. You have keen instincts, and your instincts are telling you that there are bad things on the horizon.

There's a reason you asked Dr. Nzara to look into weapons.

And you'll also need to make sure your Rangers are ready for what's to come. It's time to put that brand new gym you installed to work.

It takes time - hunting down people you know and trust to bring into the project and then arranging training sessions for your Rangers, to improve. Talia needs it the most - she may be tough as nails, but she just doesn't have the killer instinct you think she might need.

Finding a boxing trainer for Lewis is the easiest. His first training sessions go well enough, making steady but uninspired progress.

Nico is a little trickier. As you understand it, he doesn't have any formal training. Rather, what he knows is a mix of things learned from a hard life. Still, you have your own connections, and you think you know just the right choice.
----
Nico lounges against a piece of equipment in the fancy new gym the Commander installed. 5 minutes late, huh? Great start to this relationship. Not that he was planning on meeting this supposed 'teacher' that Dorsett had found for him. She'd been pretty cagey about who it was and what they'd be doing. Probably some fancy martial arts instructor, he bet, that seemed to be the Commander's style.

That wasn't Nico. Nico had grown up in the school of hard knocks. He knew how to take care of himself. He was all instinct, and his instincts were sharp-

Suddenly, something hit one of his legs, and he was wondering why he was on the ground.

"Really?" A voice - harsh, older, male - filled the room as Nico rubbed the back of his head and looked around. "That the best you got?"

There was no one there. "What the hell?"

"I was told you were good!" A kick to the stomach sent Nico back down again, just as he'd struggled to his feet.

"..." There was still nothing there. But something had hit him. Nico's eyes narrowed. He had an idea of what was happening…

As he didn't get up, just waited, a shimmer in the air in front of him resolved into an older man with white hair and olive skin - and a few patches of yellowish-green scales.

"Clara said she had a mutant on her team, and thought he could use a few pointers." The man said. "I'm Elias. But for the next few hours, you might as well just call me 'Ow'."

"Screw that." Nico hopped to his feet and cracked his neck. "I'm ready now. Bring it on, old man."

Elias smirked, and vanished from view again. The camera fades, as there's a sound of a crack, a thump, and a long, drawn out "Ow…."

Nico's Street Fighting raised to 2!
---
Talia was on the treadmill in the gym, trying to think happy thoughts. The first lesson from the krav maga instructor had not gone particularly well, in part due to a bull-headed instructor from Civil Protection who seemed offended to be there.
She did her best to zone out as her feet pounded out an imaginary trail underneath her. Her thoughts went back to her decision at the square.

Had it been the right call? She thought it had. But the monster had escaped, and he'd seemed to recognize them - called them Power Rangers. He'd mentioned someone in charge, too.

Had she endangered the mission needlessly? Had she endangered Earth needlessly?

She was lost in her thoughts as a vaguely familiar face slipped into the treadmill next to her.

She nodded coolly. "Choi, wasn't it?"

"Mmhm!" The shorter girl set up her running program and began to jog alongside her. "Good to see another glutton for punishment."

"Well, it helps me keep my mind off things."

"Hmm." Choi looked her over. "Something the matter?"

"The mission. And, well, I had my first self-defense class today."

"And it didn't go well?"

"The instructor said I didn't have a 'killer instinct'."

Choi slowed and came to a stop. "And is that a bad thing?"

Talia kept her eyes focused ahead on an imaginary horizon. "She seemed to think so."

"Sounds like you need a better instructor. I've practiced martial arts for years, and I've never done it because I wanted to kill anyone."

Talia slowed herself, and looked at Choi. "Never heard of it. I just chose krav maga from the Commander's list because I liked the name, and it sounded useful."

Choi put a hand up to her mouth. "Oh, I can see that not going well. I hope it doesn't turn you off martial arts entirely - with those long legs, you'd be a natural at something like Taekwondo."

"Know anyone who teaches that?"

"As a matter of fact…" Choi's smile widened. "I've been practicing it seriously since I was 13. Want to run through some of the basic moves, see how you like it?"

Talia acquires Taekwondo at Level 1!
----
The only light illuminating Lord Pluton's throne room is pale and threadbare, shining through a massive skylight, from a distant sun in the process of being devoured by a black hole.

Pillars of black-and-green stone dominate the great hall. Various treasures are on display - fine jewelry bearing glorious gemstones, exotic weapons glowing with power, a two-headed songbird kept in a silver cage. Tapestries line the walls, showing scenes of battle and conquest.

Lord Pluton rests on a throne of twisted stone, clad in plated armor of charcoal grey, embossed with gold and onyx. A helmet with three horns sits upon his head, and his eyes glow with a infernal red flame. At his heels rest several hounds, feasting on some sort of scraps. Behind him, a vast glowing orb is surrounded by rotating rings of metal, the power core of the vast fortress lay bare for all to see.

Before him, the creature known as Harlequin kneels.

"Well, Harlequin? What tribute have you brought me today?" Lord Pluton's voice is harsh, rumbling, filling the vast space of the hall without effort. "I see no gold or jewels, no boxes of plunder to fill my treasury, no slaves to work in the mines, no weapons for my ships. Surely my eyes deceive me?"

"Well, ah… your Lordship…" Harlequin does not meet his lord's eyes. "I'm afraid I have nothing… material, to report."

"I see." Lord Pluton speaks with a dangerous hint of amusement. "Then I assume you have brought a planet into my empire? Tell me it's name, then, and I shall appoint you Regent."

"Ah…" Harlequin quails. "Not precisely."

"Hmmm." Lord Pluton considers the creature before him. A pathetic soul, but occasionally useful. Still, it appeared he needed… correction. "I am not unmerciful. You have failed to bring me tribute, but I shall let you live."

Harlequin sat back on his heels in relief.

"After a stint in the Gamma Mines!" Lord Pluton roared. "Take him away!" Several armored figures standing behind the throne, still as statues, move forward, bearing halberds.

Harlequin shrieked. "Wait! Wait! I have information!"

Lord Pluton raises a finger, and the guards halt. "Tell me what you think will spare your hide!"

"Power Rangers! I saw Power Rangers!" Harlequin's voice is thin, pitched with desperation.

"Power Rangers?! They were destroyed!" Lord Pluton yells, and several plinths light up.

On them are three helmets.

Red.

Yellow.

And Blue.

"I know! These weren't the Andromedan Rangers! They were new! Different!"

Lord Pluton rose, armor creaking, eyes flaring. "Tell me everything. Now!"

---
The Rangers stand ready to commit to their next exploration! Where does the Odyssey Project send them?

Missions
[] [Explore] STP A-43 - You see dense vegetation and occasional flickers of movement.
[] [Explore] STP F-211 - The portal seems to look out from the top of a mountain. Below, the landscape is littered with debris.
[] [Explore] STP R-19 – You see a blasted landscape underneath a stormy sky

Mission 2
[X] [Explore] STP F-211 - The portal seems to look out from the top of a mountain. Below, the landscape is littered with debris.


The trip through the portal is as fun as it was the first time, leaving the Rangers with the usual post-Tunnel reaction, though it clears away almost as quickly as it begins.

As Nico stumbles forward, Lewis reaches out and catches him. Nico's flailing foot strikes a rock that shoots forward a few feet and begins falling down, down, down, making an occasional noise as it bounced off an outcropping, until eventually there's silence.

Nico looks down off the ledge. "Long way down. What is all that stuff?"

Indeed, below appears at first to be littered with rocks and boulders. However, a closer examination reveals that much of what lies belief appears to be artificial - rusting metal, plastic, and more.

"Well, I suppose we'd better check it out." Talia doesn't seem particularly enthusiastic, but then, who would be?

The Tunnel opened on top of a mountain, and it's a long, hazardous trip down. Many times, the earth beneath the Rangers seems to shift unexpectedly, sending down cascades of pebbles, especially when gusts of wind strike the mountainside.

However, what really catches the Rangers off guard is the tremor. With little warning, the ground beneath them shakes, as if from a minor earthquake. Dirt falls from above them, and they can see some of the rubble below shift.

Lewis immediately catches himself on a large rock next to him. Nico stumbles, but doesn't lose his footing. Talia, on the other hand… her foot skids on a loose patch of gravel, and she teeters for a moment.

"Look out!" Lewis cries, and Nico tries to grab for her.

Roll: 1d10 +1 (Super-Strength) = 3. Failure!

Talia falls backwards, just as Nico reaches for her. His hands close on empty air, and he cries out, "No!"

Lewis rushes with him to the edge. They look below, and see Talia rolling a little farther below. She tries to stop herself, but she goes over another small ledge, and then they lose sight of her.

"TALIA!" Nico yells, and begins to dash off before Lewis stops him with an outstretched hand.

Lewis speaks into the Morpher on his wrist, engaging its communicator function. His voice is unnaturally steady, uninflected, as his mind goes into damage-control mode. "Commander, we have a situation here. Talia just fell. We can't see her."

Commander Dorsett's voice is calm, authoritative. "Received. We're still getting readings from her Morpher. We think she's alive, but she's not answering our attempts to communicate."

"Maybe her Morpher was damaged?"

"Maybe." Neither voice the concern that she might be unconscious and in serious trouble. "The data we're getting isn't clear - there's some sort of interference."

"Let me go! We have to find her!" Nico's voice is a little high-pitched.

Lewis's voice is still calm, rational, a bulwark against Nico's panic. "We will. But we can't go haring off, or we'll get hurt too. This is dangerous terrain. If we get hurt ourself, we can't help her.."

"You don't understand. I was this close…" Nico sags.

"No one blames you, Nico." Commander Dorsett's voice is still professional,reassuring.

"Well, maybe I do," he admitted, still subdued.

"Noted." There is a touch of wry humor there, as well as comfort.

Lewis looks around. "Alright, let's… just get down." He looks at the jagged series of ledges and switchbacks they'll have to navigate to go downward. Well, they'd best get started.
-----
Endurance Skill Negates one Injury!

Talia opens her eyes. She remembers falling, rolling, a series of painful thumps and jolts.. Then she woke up… and saw… something, coming to her, with a pair of glowing yellow eyes. She'd tried to get to her Morpher, but it hadn't quite worked - her suit flickered around her, but didn't materialize, and there'd been some feedback, and she'd fallen into blackness.

She feels something wet pressing against her nose, and she brushes it off awkwardly. As she stirs herself to consciousness, she sees that she's inside - but not inside a building. No, this appears to be a cave. And she's lying down, covered in some sort of - hide? Fur? It's something like a blanket, anyways.

Roll: 1d10+1 (Ecology) = 5. Partial Success!

She's pretty sure that this cave is occupied, and has been for a long time. It's expansive, moreso than natural, and doesn't have any awkward stalagmites and stalactites taking up space on the floor. There are shelves that appear to have been carved out of the rock, and as she looks closer, it looks like they're being used like garden-boxes for mushrooms and small plants. Plus, the whole thing is lit - strung with - are those electric lights?

She feels the wet thing press against her again, and she suddenly sits upright and looks down at a large… well, it looks like a rat, except a foot long. And… is that a collar?

She smiles at it awkwardly, extending a hand for it to sniff. It does so, enthusiastically, and she pets it awkwardly as it shoves its head against her hand. It's oddly endearing.

"Nik! Nik nik nik!" A high pitched voice comes from down the cave, and quickly thereafter, it's followed by a series of short creatures. Each is about half the size of a human, quite furry, and they seemed to be armed with a variety of weapons in the category of "long pole tipped with something" - some seem to be bladed, others weighted, others seem to glow or spark.

One leans forward and grabs at the rat, pulling it back, then menaces Talia with its spear, which, as it gets closer, whirrs into life like a blender.

Talia backs away from the strange, furry creatures. Her gaze falls to her Morpher again, but she remembers how it hurt when she'd tried to activate it before. The leader keeps making that high pitched sound, and seems frustrated that she doesn't respond.

Roll: 1d10 +0 (Diplomacy) = 5. Partial Success!

She spreads her legs and arms apart, holding her hands up to show that she's unarmed. "It's okay." She hopes she's telling the truth. "I'm not here to hurt you."

They clearly don't understand her, but they seem to respond to her tone and unthreatening posture. The leader's rat squeaks from it's master's shoulder, and the two look at her.

It's then that another tremor shakes the cave, much more intense this time, and while Talia ducks and tries to find a safe spot to stand, the rest of the… nik-niks? React quite differently. Suddenly, they all turn away from her. Some, with the most threatening weapons, rush towards the mouth of the cave. Others move to other locations, bustling about with things Talia doesn't understand.

Eventually, it passes, and there is a palpable air of relief as the nik-niks relax.

As they do, another nik-nik approaches her. This one isn't carrying a weapon, in fact it seems to be carrying a simple stick for walking. It's fur is grayer, and Talia gets the impression of age.

It gestures for her to follow, deeper into the cave. As they navigate through sleeping quarters, workstations, and more, she realizes that an entire community must live in these caves. Although they're nowhere near as sophisticated as the Arcologies, Talia still feels a sense of familiarity here compared to the way the Varanians lived under an open sky.

Eventually, they reach their destination. A large cave, with smooth walls, lit by firelight rather than electricity.

And the walls are painted.

Talia can't imagine how much time it must have taken to illustrate these walls - years at least, especially with stepping-stools to reach the higher walls. But as she traces the images, she sees a set of images, hauntingly familiar.

Three figures in suits of red, yellow, and blue.

The paintings that the elder nik-nik show her tell of a thriving people, living in prosperity. Then they fell under attack by some kind of dark force from beyond the stars that enslaved their people, stole their wealth and ruined their land with some form of machine, or building.

Then the suited figures came. They fought a great battle against the dark forces - casting down their machines, destroying their minions.

The fiercest battle was fought here. Ultimately, the figures were defeated, forced to retreat back into the stars. But they struck such a grievous blow against their enemy that the enemy left as well in pursuit.

But the world was still in ruins. And not all of the enemies left. Something survived, growing powerful off the remains of the battle. A great serpent, whose passage still shook the world.

The elder looked at her, then pointed at her, then the red figure. Then at the monster.

Talia swallowed. It wasn't like she hadn't seen where this was going, though.

She pointed at the other two figures, and pointed upwards. "I have to find the other two." She said.

The elder nodded.
---
With a pair of nik-niks as guides, Talia reunited with Lewis and Nico as they had made their way down most of the mountain.

"Talia!" Nico sounds incredibly relieved, and darts in for a hug that surprises them both. Lewis is more reserved, but he's still clearly glad to see them.

"I've learned quite a bit about what's on this planet," Talia says, and fills the rest of them in. "Commander, what should we do?"
---
[] The people of this planet need help. There's clearly a monster on the loose, and the previous Rangers left a job undone, even if it wasn't intentional. Besides, the resources of an ancient battlefield could be very valuable for the Project. It's time to hunt.
-[] Write-In a plan for finding and fighting the monster.
[] The Rangers are brave, but a monster that's presence shakes the very ground may be flatly more than they can handle. Explain to the nik-niks as best you can that you intend to come back, but you can't fight this thing now.
[] Power Rangers have fought giant monsters before. The Odyssey fighting vehicle program was mothballed and in Dr. Nzara's opinion isn't ready for deployment, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Ready the Zords for deployment.