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Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest
- Thread starter King crimson
- Start date
- Superhero
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
So no one has mentioned it at all so I think I'll point it out.
The little chant Karkull does before escaping is a transliteration of Hebrew. If I were to write it in English it would come out like this: Flames of hell (if you want to maximize accuracy you can point out that it refers to gehenna which is a bit different from hell even if it is very similar) burn my enemies and devour, Advance to bigger heights endlessly. Obviously it doesn't rhyme in English like it does in Hebrew but I thought it was a neat touch to make the magic chant actually mean something.
Are people interested in me explaining some of the other hidden references and Easter eggs or do you want to speculate on them yourselves?
The little chant Karkull does before escaping is a transliteration of Hebrew. If I were to write it in English it would come out like this: Flames of hell (if you want to maximize accuracy you can point out that it refers to gehenna which is a bit different from hell even if it is very similar) burn my enemies and devour, Advance to bigger heights endlessly. Obviously it doesn't rhyme in English like it does in Hebrew but I thought it was a neat touch to make the magic chant actually mean something.
Are people interested in me explaining some of the other hidden references and Easter eggs or do you want to speculate on them yourselves?
- Location
- United States
Explain away
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I tend to favor explanations; no one person is ever likely to unearth all the easter eggs on their own unless they are hidden in very shallow hiding spots.
In theory it could be almost arbitrarily costly if we indulged in wasteful and inadvisable ways of resolving the issue.
In what sense do you mean the word? Realistically, it's hard to imagine us spending more than, oh, several million dollars on the project, which isn't exactly pocket change even for Lex Luthor, but is far less than he's willing to spend on something important like this.
In theory it could be almost arbitrarily costly if we indulged in wasteful and inadvisable ways of resolving the issue.
We need a Lex+Pam+Mercy+Cass action to pretty much guarantee success on teaching Cass language.
If we were willing to risk a small chance of failure, Lex+Pam+Cass might work.
It's a big investment, but it's only one turn and after that we can have Cass learn things without ridiculous penalties. And frankly we really should take the opportunity of a calm turn where Intergang is on the run and nobody too crazy is gunning for us.
We have not hesitated to invest similarly in things like Karl's bone serum which are frankly far less likely to pay off so well. Every turn Cass is able to increase her stats easily or take actions on our behalf is the reward for one turn's investment. We're talking about an effective +24 to most of her Learning rolls and much more freedom in educating her or sending her on missions.
Frankly, I think people are looking at the fact it's a cute and domestic scene and dismissing it out of hand without considering the staggering mechanical benefits a 'fully operational' hero like Cass could give us. She has some of the best stats behind Luthor himself.
If we were willing to risk a small chance of failure, Lex+Pam+Cass might work.
It's a big investment, but it's only one turn and after that we can have Cass learn things without ridiculous penalties. And frankly we really should take the opportunity of a calm turn where Intergang is on the run and nobody too crazy is gunning for us.
We have not hesitated to invest similarly in things like Karl's bone serum which are frankly far less likely to pay off so well. Every turn Cass is able to increase her stats easily or take actions on our behalf is the reward for one turn's investment. We're talking about an effective +24 to most of her Learning rolls and much more freedom in educating her or sending her on missions.
Frankly, I think people are looking at the fact it's a cute and domestic scene and dismissing it out of hand without considering the staggering mechanical benefits a 'fully operational' hero like Cass could give us. She has some of the best stats behind Luthor himself.
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- Location
- barking
I think people want to make sure it succeeds and find a way to keep her body reading since in the comics once she learned how to speak she lost it
Lower the DC further and then critting it should let us retain the effects.
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
So another little Easter egg was in the codephrases used by Mademoiselle Marie and Janos. Each one responded in the others mother tongue (Marie in Polish, Janos in French).
The briefly mentioned Dr. Daka is a reference to Tito Daka the villain of the Batman serial that was made during WW2
The boys in Bletchley refers to the code breakers in Bletchley park who were imtercepting messages sent through the Enigma machine and decoding them. Most notable this included Alan Turing.
Nite Lite (as opposed to Knightlight which is how it was spelled in the interlude) is a real DC character who worked with the JSA.
I think that's a good number of Easter eggs and small notes to point out
The briefly mentioned Dr. Daka is a reference to Tito Daka the villain of the Batman serial that was made during WW2
The boys in Bletchley refers to the code breakers in Bletchley park who were imtercepting messages sent through the Enigma machine and decoding them. Most notable this included Alan Turing.
Nite Lite (as opposed to Knightlight which is how it was spelled in the interlude) is a real DC character who worked with the JSA.
I think that's a good number of Easter eggs and small notes to point out
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King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
Mid-terms have once again lead to delays with updating the next part. Expect action phase 14 by Saturday or Sunday
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I might skip Pamela, but you have a point.
In the comics, she had her brain aggressively rewritten by a telepath. That's very very different from her, y'know, learning language.
Also, she was able to relearn (some of) her ability from Lady Shiva, her mother, even though Lady Shiva presumably learned to talk in the usual way and presumably developed the body language reading ability over time.
Finally, quite frankly I'd rather sacrifice Cass's body language ability in exchange for regular speech. It's a preternatural power, but it's not that useful, except in a person whose main purpose for existing is to be a weapon aimed by others and fired at their enemies.
It's like, even our Martial characters spend most of their time training troops and doing other things that aren't personal combat, and Cassandra's bonuses basically only become even relevant when she is fighting.
Very possibly. It's one reason to favor the interface, especially with a combo strong enough to have a good chance of critting it.
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- Location
- barking
Oh I didn't know that thanks for letting me know okay
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I mean, it's possible that her Living Weapon and Language of Violence bonuses may fade after we teach her language.
But fuckit, she could lose all of that and STILL be one of the strongest Martial characters we've got despite being, y'know, nine.
I will count it as a net win if she loses all those bonuses, retains Father-Daughter Bond and Child Prodigy in Science, and if we effectively start respeccing her as Lex Luthor's mad scientist daughter who nevertheless happens to be one of the few members of homo sapiens plausibly capable of beating the shit out of Batman.
EDIT:
And as it stands, we can't even get much benefit out of her martial abilities in the short run because we're so worried about the PR consequences of the world learning we're using her as a child soldier, and also because her Martial/Intrigue abilities are much less useful when we can't really explain to her what she's supposed to be doing using words or text.
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The Metropolitan Clan Ch.9
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
The Metropolitan Clan, Ch. 9
Luthor Family Mansion
Outskirts of Metropolis
March 7, 5:45 a.m.
"Mistah Luthor! Mistah Luthor!" The pounding on his door sped up.
Leland groaned, fumbled briefly, then rolled fairly deftly out of bed, pulling on a dressing gown in the darkness and answering the door. Not the head butler, but rather the chief of the night staff. Old Israel wouldn't have rousted him this summarily unless the house was on fire. But then, none of the household slaves would have done it without a reason. He waved, gesturing at the senior servant.
"Go on. Out with it!"
"Mistah Graves is back in town. He wired. Some kind of big message from Newport News, Rebels on the march or suchlike. He says he's on the way but, ah-"
Trying to be tactful. Leland was too bleary to enjoy guessing games, but the obvious was the obvious.
"But I'd better get ready for business?" That got him a quiet, quick nod.
"Right. Coffee, bacon, toast with preserves. I'll eat in the west room. Don't bother waking any of the day staff who aren't already up; I'll be gone with no time for anything complicated soon enough." His brain was starting to gather steam..
Jack Graves arrived halfway through breakfast, having ridden his horse hard all the way to the Luthors' "modest" townhouse. The graying detective trotted into the west room, slowing to a brisk walk as he rounded the corner. He deftly swerved past the girl who'd just refilled Leland's coffee- she startled, but not badly enough to drop the crockery.
Leland waved for him to sit down "Set a spell; they'll have coffee and lemonade for you in a moment. Food, too."
"Thanks." Graves nodded soberly, still catching his breath after what must have been a sprint into the house. He was twenty years Leland's senior, but the two men had worked together enough for the older man to learn respect for him. And he'd obviously been hard used by the night before- Jack could use all three of the things he'd offered him, no doubt. There'd be hard work ahead for Graves today- and for Leland too, from the look on the detective's face.
Some men wouldn't be in a place to think of such things, a few days after their father died, Leland reflected briefly. Then again, the late great Lucius Luthor had raised a stronger son than that, and that Leland would show to the world.
But first the news.
"So, what's the grand occasion?"
"I've got- people- down around Norfolk still. One of them brought a report to the Union lines at Newport News last night that the last shipment of gunpowder has been loaded aboard the Merrimack."
Leland peered at the far side of the street- that might be a hint of dawn brushing the house fronts. Last night indeed. "Over Army wires?"
"The War Department's telegrapher passed on word to me as a courtesy- after passing on the order to get the Thunderer ready to sail."
Union Navy ironclad USS Thunderer
Commissioning trials, February 1862
"Ahh." That explained Graves' haste. He'd heard yesterday that the Monitor had been towed out of New York harbor to reinforce the blockading squadron, but the Navy wouldn't want Ericsson's little ironclad to tackle her Confederate opposite number alone, not if they could whistle up two.
Leland stopped, calculating. "It'll be three days getting Ericsson's ship down around and into the Bay. She won't make until the night of the eighth, or the morning of the ninth. That's if the poor little thing doesn't sink." he snorted. He understood the logic of keeping the ship's decks so low in the water, but there were limits, and eighteen inches of freeboard wasn't enough for comfort on an oceangoing vessel. Thunderer would ride just a little higher. "I think we have the edge on him."
"We are rather closer, here."
"Ninety nautical miles. Maybe eighty if we risk the shallows. Though I doubt Thunderer can break seven knots. Call it twelve hours or so. If the boys can load her and get her ready in a day, I can beat Ericsson's Monitor into position. Join the blockade, or at least head off the Merrimac before she tries to get into the Potomac or hit us here…"
"You can, sir?" Graves' voice held a hint of admonishment, just a hint. That's a Navy ship-"
"Details. I'm not letting this chance pass up, Jack." Leland clenched his fists, and he knew the look on his face was hungry. "My father died seven years short of his three score and ten, and they owe me for every day of that. I'll reckon, oh, ten Rebel heads a day as a fair going rate"
His smile was a feral thing. Twenty thousand dead sounded like a good down payment, to him, as he was now. He'd teach them not to trifle with the Luthors, oh yes he would.
Graves frowned. "Leland- be careful. Think of your sons- and Ellie-"
Careful. Careful. Fair enough.
"I'll be careful- but I'm not passing this one up." An older wound, an older frustration, boiled to the surface of Leland's mind, thoughts he'd gone over time and time again. And now, it all came out, for now it was time.
His hands started moving, darting back and forth, as though he was assaulting the very air. "I feel like I live in a world made of mud! With iron and gold I could make beauty and terror, but instead I'm squatting in the rain with nothing but mud to work with! Constantly tripping over the smallest details, the deficiencies of other men and their feet of clay, over other men's blindness to what happens in front of their eyes, other men's tools that break when I take them into my hands! Always taking constant care to work within their limitations, to remember just how much I have to do for myself! Or someone DIES!" His hands jabbed and sawed at the air one last time, then came back to his sides, still at last.
Leland took a breath, and smiled savagely, speaking in a lower tone of voice. "But now I have the bastards, no holds barred- their engineering against mine. What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to cast off my shackles and show all the doubters just how far beyond them I really am."
Leland Luthor's lips were drawn back in a snarl. He had every expectation of coming home in triumph from a clash of the Merrimac against his- and his father's- Thunderer. And that would be a prize he simply could not pass up, not now, not after what they'd done.
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World of Cardboard speech reinvented. Awesome.
And an insight into the modern Lex Luthor. The great disadvantage of being a genius ahead of your time is that you're then effectively dealing with morons behind the times, a very frustrating proposition.
Leland is definitely looking to become the iconic past Luthor, and an insight into the current one.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Leland has several significant aspects of his great-great-great-grandson's personality, yes, and probably comes closer to matching Lex's exact balance of character traits than most of the family tree. Leland comes closer to approximating some of Lex's character defects, too. That will become all the more clear after the Civil War.
You mean Lex isn't a perfect character and the absolute pinnacle of humanity!?
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
Doodles will be up sometime tomorrow (my favorite is the logo and Ignition doodles).
This is good. You've earned yet another 500 exp. If stuff keeps being churned out at this rate you'll surpass MysteryCPU for most Omakes written.The Metropolitan Clan, Ch. 9
Luthor Family Mansion
Outskirts of Metropolis
March 7, 5:45 a.m.
"Mistah Luthor! Mistah Luthor!" The pounding on his door sped up.
Leland groaned, fumbled briefly, then rolled fairly deftly out of bed, pulling on a dressing gown in the darkness and answering the door. Not the head butler, but rather the chief of the night staff. Old Israel wouldn't have rousted him this summarily unless the house was on fire. But then, none of the household slaves would have done it without a reason. He waved, gesturing at the senior servant.
"Go on. Out with it!"
"Mistah Graves is back in town. He wired. Some kind of big message from Newport News, Rebels on the march or suchlike. He says he's on the way but, ah-"
Trying to be tactful. Leland was too bleary to enjoy guessing games, but the obvious was the obvious.
"But I'd better get ready for business?" That got him a quiet, quick nod.
"Right. Coffee, bacon, toast with preserves. I'll eat in the west room. Don't bother waking any of the day staff who aren't already up; I'll be gone with no time for anything complicated soon enough." His brain was starting to gather steam..
Jack Graves arrived halfway through breakfast, having ridden his horse hard all the way to the Luthors' "modest" townhouse. The graying detective trotted into the west room, slowing to a brisk walk as he rounded the corner. He deftly swerved past the girl who'd just refilled Leland's coffee- she startled, but not badly enough to drop the crockery.
Leland waved for him to sit down "Set a spell; they'll have coffee and lemonade for you in a moment. Food, too."
"Thanks." Graves nodded soberly, still catching his breath after what must have been a sprint into the house. He was twenty years Leland's senior, but the two men had worked together enough for the older man to learn respect for him. And he'd obviously been hard used by the night before- Jack could use all three of the things he'd offered him, no doubt. There'd be hard work ahead for Graves today- and for Leland too, from the look on the detective's face.
Some men wouldn't be in a place to think of such things, a few days after their father died, Leland reflected briefly. Then again, the late great Lucius Luthor had raised a stronger son than that, and that Leland would show to the world.
But first the news.
"So, what's the grand occasion?"
"I've got- people- down around Norfolk still. One of them brought a report to the Union lines at Newport News last night that the last shipment of gunpowder has been loaded aboard the Merrimac."
Leland peered at the far side of the street- that might be a hint of dawn brushing the house fronts. Last night indeed. "Over Army wires?"
"The War Department's telegrapher passed on word to me as a courtesy- after passing on the order to get the Thunderer ready to sail."
Union Navy ironclad USS Thunderer
Commissioning trials, February 1862
"Ahh." That explained Graves' haste. He'd heard yesterday that the Monitor had been towed out of New York harbor to reinforce the blockading squadron, but the Navy wouldn't want Ericsson's little ironclad to tackle her Confederate opposite number alone, not if they could whistle up two.
Leland stopped, calculating. "It'll be three days getting Ericsson's ship down around and into the Bay. She won't make until the night of the eighth, or the morning of the ninth. That's if the poor little thing doesn't sink." he snorted. He understood the logic of keeping the ship's decks so low in the water, but there were limits, and eighteen inches of freeboard wasn't enough for comfort on an oceangoing vessel. Thunderer would ride just a little higher. "I think we have the edge on him."
"We are rather closer, here."
"Ninety nautical miles. Maybe eighty if we risk the shallows. Though I doubt Thunderer can break seven knots. Call it twelve hours or so. If the boys can load her and get her ready in a day, I can beat Ericsson's Monitor into position. Join the blockade, or at least head off the Merrimac before she tries to get into the Potomac or hit us here…"
"You can, sir?" Graves' voice held a hint of admonishment, just a hint. That's a Navy ship-"
"Details. I'm not letting this chance pass up, Jack." Leland clenched his fists, and he knew the look on his face was hungry. "My father died seven years short of his three score and ten, and they owe me for every day of that. I'll reckon, oh, ten Rebel heads a day as a fair going rate"
His smile was a feral thing. Twenty thousand dead sounded like a good down payment, to him, as he was now. He'd teach them not to trifle with the Luthors, oh yes he would.
Graves frowned. "Leland- be careful. Think of your sons- and Ellie-"
Careful. Careful. Fair enough.
"I'll be careful- but I'm not passing this one up." An older wound, an older frustration, boiled to the surface of Leland's mind, thoughts he'd gone over time and time again. And now, it all came out, for now it was time.
His hands started moving, darting back and forth, as though he was assaulting the very air. "I feel like I live in a world made of mud! With iron and gold I could make beauty and terror, but instead I'm squatting in the rain with nothing but mud to work with! Constantly tripping over the smallest details, the deficiencies of other men and their feet of clay, over other men's blindness to what happens in front of their eyes, other men's tools that break when I take them into my hands! Always taking constant care to work within their limitations, to remember just how much I have to do for myself! Or someone DIES!" His hands jabbed and sawed at the air one last time, then came back to his sides, still at last.
Leland took a breath, and smiled savagely, speaking in a lower tone of voice. "But now I have the bastards, no holds barred- their engineering against mine. What we have here is a rare opportunity for me to cast off my shackles and show all the doubters just how far beyond them I really am."
Leland Luthor's lips were drawn back in a snarl. He had every expectation of coming home in triumph from a clash of the Merrimac against his- and his father's- Thunderer. And that would be a prize he simply could not pass up, not now, not after what they'd done.
Some of Zeus's kids turned out alright (Hephestus, Athena, Perseus, Ares etc.). Zeus is more accurately stated to have screwed up being a husband way more than as a father. But that is a Luthoresque ideal so I approve of any plan that has you spit in the gods faces.
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
Also if people want it I can try and get up an analysis of how I portray a few Batman villains tomorrow (Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, Scarecrow and Penguin are all on the drawing board)
Lastly I don't remember who asked it but someone asked how many people LexCorp employs in total. I haven't gotten around to answering that just yet but it has not been forgotten. Time permitting I'll have an answer soon
Lastly I don't remember who asked it but someone asked how many people LexCorp employs in total. I haven't gotten around to answering that just yet but it has not been forgotten. Time permitting I'll have an answer soon
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Firefighters Ch.4
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Firefighters, Ch. 4
Stuck In An Elevator Shaft
Right About Then
Ignition twisted, as far as his armor would let him. Fuck that last shot had managed to hurt. Low fucking blow. Thank God it hadn't pierced the armor.
Only one thing for it.
He throttled back his jets.
The massive weight of the freight elevator began to slowly push him down, and he increased thrust, balancing it carefully- couldn't afford to build up too much speed, his reactions were only so fast. Wait for it… wait for it…
There twist FIRE!
His engines spooling up to maximum almost instantly, and the heavily armored commando suddenly jetted out from underneath the elevator. For brief instants, his curving power-dive carried him down the shaft at a greater pace than the mere nine point eight meters per second squared of gravity could drive the free-falling elevator-
-And he came through the freight elevator door with a crash! YES! On a floor with something to look forward to, because he was pretty sure he knew which floor the fuckers had been shooting from.
...
He was off by one. Because of course he was. Gritting his teeth, he looked up and down the long corridor, noting the wide windows at the far end- LexCorp headquarters had fewer windows than most skyscrapers, but it had some.
A pair of .50 caliber Gatling guns opened up on him. Lex Luthor's houseplants let out a ululating war cry. Because FUCK THIS PLACE!
Screaming madly, laying about himself in all directions with cleansing fire, Ignition turned to make his way back up the elevator shaft, just in time to be shot repeatedly in the face.
Moments Earlier:
Pack elephant pack elephant pack elephant! Mari McCabe ran down the corridor with the improbably bulky railgun, far outdistancing Dr. Jacobs, still gamely trying to balance a laptop computer and a stiff coil of high voltage power cable behind her. Five seconds. Ten.
She forced herself to very carefully lean the gun against the wall so she could open the storage room and shift it inside, gesturing Jacobs inside.
"Hide in there! I'll come back for you!"
A squad of heavy weapons troopers trotted up- perfect. Well, not perfect, they'd hardly slow the bastard down, but-
Monkey. "Give me that-" she grabbed the team grenadier's launcher, faster than he could react. "-I'm going after him again. And the rest of you don't try to back me up unless you see the chance of a lifetime!"
She sprinted back down the hall towards the elevator shaft and flipped herself down a floor, through the massive hole the terrorist had smashed in the door. He'd just covered some distance, having thoroughly smashed a pair of gun turrets with long streams of flame, and everything that could burn was, but his back was still to her, mostly, he was turning.
Viper. Fingers quick as a striking snake pulled the trigger convulsively, again and again, and six antitank grenades slammed into the giant's face and chest, enough to at least rock him back as she-
Frog. -closed the distance in a series of tremendous leaps, but his armor was as tough as she'd been afraid it was, and she wasn't fast enough as she threw the empty launcher behind her. He raised one of his heavy flamethrowers and she hoped her suit was as fireproof as she wanted; because she'd never dodge in time like this, unless maybe-
Fly. She twisted and sprung blur-quick, reacting in milliseconds, only a few droplets of incendiary clinging to the suit, not enough to matter-
Orangutan. She kicked off the wall and bank-shotted off the ceiling, now ricocheting towards him at an angle he hadn't expected-
Rhinoceros. WHAM-
She tumbled limp and awkwardly, but the terrorist flew forward into the wall!
Cat. On her feet again and on the bounce-
Gazelle. She leapt across the meters-
Pistol shrimp. -and reached out clawed fingers. That cable at his right elbow looked exposed as the giant rose. She had just time to grab, fingers closing blur-fast with a violent, explosive, thundering CRACK as they slapped down on the armored cable.
Python. She gripped and tugged and it started to come loose in her hand and the sparks flew and her body stiffened-
Electric… eel… and she could stand it and now she was slipping free and he had gotten to his feet and reached down with his other hand and grabbed her-
Turtle. And he was pushing HER against the wall, almost idly pinning her in place with a huge, outsized, gauntleted left hand and her chest hurt despite the padding of her experimental armor.
His hand pulled back, slammed her against the wall hard-
-Confused blur-
-The giant was poking at her chest, very gently, with one finger of his free hand. Poking at the dynamic reconfiguring smart nametags. To stop an intruder from masquerading. Probably not worth it for mass production, but worth at least testing on the prototype, except… shit.
"What is this… nametag… McCabe… McCabe, I have heard… wait a minute. WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE! You are Mari McCabe?"
"Go… to… Hell!" She snarled, reflecting that according to a few hints Rebecca had let drop, that might be more literal than she'd thought.
"I thought you fuckers cloned Deathstroke, or built killer robot, or maybe turned best security guard into radioactive space magic cyborg! But you? You- you are FASHION DESIGNER! What did you- how did- HOOOOW?"
The terrorist's voice roared powerfully through speakers. On reflex, she defended herself.
Snake.
Snakes do not have ears. Even so, her skin hurt from the sheer volume of the armored man's confused, outraged bellows.
But then the bellows subsided, and became laughter, then silence.
And then the giant spoke to her, almost conversationally. "You know what?"
"I know you're a criminal!" Mari spat.
"Besides that." he said. His harshly, unidentifiably accented voice was almost musing, despite its wall shaking basso-profundo tones.
"You're a terrorist and a mass murderer and I hope they catch up with you and peel you out of that shell like a lobster and roast you in Hell!" She struggled, gripping with her hands the armored fingers that pinned her against the wall.
Giant- squid… She heard a metallic creak, she was making a little headway, but only a little, and the iron hand clamped down again, harder, with a whine of impossibly powerful servomotors. Her leverage was… not great… and frankly she didn't want to think about what would happen if he really squeezed.
"Well yes, of course you do. Besides that too." The giant chuckled to himself. " You see, I've done some good damage. I do not think you will be patching all this up any time soon. And I've fought through commandos. Electrocuting floor also, very nice trick, yes? Fucking laser beams too. Got bomb stuck in armpit. Had, oh, fifteen or twenty tonnes of elevator dropped on head. Had a tree scream at me. A tree. And few minutes ago, someone just tried to shoot me in crotch. With I don't know what that was, but if I ever catch that fucker, I am going to feed him his own artillery. And, I've been kicked into a wall, yes? By a fashion designer. You have very hard walls around here. Should be proud of yourselves, yes? But the thing is… you know? I'm even farther from objective than when I came in here. All to do what? To bust up some peasants? To kill Lex Luthor's chances of selling pretty clothing?"
He laughed, more than a little madly. "You know what? I think I've given this, how you say, a good faith effort. You people are crazy. I'm going home now."
And with that, he dropped Mari to the floor and tossed- something- down the hall, to the square of gleaming sunlight at the end.
There was a blinding flash, and a deafening report, and he was gone, to the roar of Doppler-shifting jet engines as he sprinted down the corridor, revving up his engines and smashing through the weakened window. Gone.
Gone to a date with the D.C. Air National Guard flying out of Andrews, whose shiny new F-16Cs had damnably little luck peppering him with AMRAAMs before he disappeared from radar over the Atlantic, flying low at surprisingly supersonic speeds...
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
Somebody is shooting for the omake records. That's another 500 exp for you.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Honestly the main thing on my mind was "gee, despite it being one of the first scenes I drafted, the Ignition-Vixen fight has been sitting around in my Googledoc for like 3-4 weeks, might as well polish it off before everyone forgets I even wrote Firefighters."
Anyway, let's put 100 XP on Lex's Stewardship to boop it up to 31 and done...
600 XP on Lex's Diplomacy to trade on that rep of being descended from the guy who did, well, Things to the American Civil War...
And I'm going to indulge myself a little and spend 300 XP on the first of the Oa interludes, if you don't mind.
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
I'll get on that. Expect the Oa interlude late on Friday. I get to write weird aliens which is always a plus and I hope you will enjoy seeing how the universe at large has changed (and Hal is there as well). I'm excited to get on it.Honestly the main thing on my mind was "gee, despite it being one of the first scenes I drafted, the Ignition-Vixen fight has been sitting around in my Googledoc for like 3-4 weeks, might as well polish it off before everyone forgets I even wrote Firefighters."
Anyway, let's put 100 XP on Lex's Stewardship to boop it up to 31 and done...
600 XP on Lex's Diplomacy to trade on that rep of being descended from the guy who did, well, Things to the American Civil War...
And I'm going to indulge myself a little and spend 300 XP on the first of the Oa interludes, if you don't mind.
Edit: bookkeeping has been done
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Yep. The interface is pretty doable and we still got other much lower DC options we can take to lower her speech DC even further. She's still what, 9 years old? 10? We have time. I do agree with the others that the sooner we can get rid of her speech debuff and put her on actions so she can get stronger (martial and not) in relative safety, the more she will snowball as a teen/adult.
I disagree. Her body language ability is one of the strongest traits out of any we have on our units. We will no doubt have to deal with more martial challenges in the future, we aren't going the diplomatic route, Cass is no doubt also going to get upgraded by us because we aren't gonna leave our daughter to be just a mundane human.