Vote Closed: Winning vote with no surprise, Defense Boost.

Ah darn. Guess the "armor\gear as strong as" bit if that power only applies to preference boost strength.
Scale up you know? I'd I said that clearly.
I'm not sure I understand correctly. But I'll do my best to respond the way I understand it.

Armored Creatures give armor to a creature with a defense/toughness based on the defense/toughness of the creature, but it's based on its default state. So applying Defense Boost

By the way, you were asking about easter eggs earlier, I remembered another one, sort of. It's the Cucco from Zelda. I include a special rule for it. It's a little reference to the games.

Here's the note I've put for it.
Cucco is an entirely passive creature and even you can't give them any order. It will simply wander around looking for food and flee from danger. But if something or someone attacks the Cucco repeatedly, it will summon out of nowhere 20 additional Cucco, and all of them with attack the aggressor. These additional Cucco will disappear once the aggressor is defeated or once you unsummon the original Cucco. As a side note, Cucco is extremely resistant to physical damage.
 
Chapter 121: Interrogation
[X] Power

Power Roll: (360 points)
Entry Roll D125=35
100 Copy Summoner, 200 Creature Haunting, 200 Defense Boost
Sub vote result: 200 Defense Boost
Banked: 160 points

A fast chapter for once. Enjoy.
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My partners were arrayed behind me, looming really, and Velocity was next to me. The members of New Wave were inside the hospital rounding up the gang members.

I was observing our prisoner silently. Even without their combat gears, they look like professional soldiers. Cropped haircut, straight bearing, and alert to their surroundings.

The one that was fighting Velocity earlier lifted his head and spoke up.

"We surrender."

Behind my mask, I raised an eyebrow. "We're way past the point where you can surrender. You've been captured."

I let a moment of silence pass to make it clear that they were at our mercy. At my mercy, and I was fresh out. I was a hero, but I could hold a grudge like nobody's business. Hurting my partners was one thing that I couldn't forgive. It was stupid, by definition they were expendable, and could be resummoned the next day without consequences. But that was a stance that I refused to take, a slippery slope that I couldn't afford to stumble upon, I would treat them like the living being that they were. Any crimes committed against them were as real as crimes committed against a human being or a beloved pet.

"Now you're going to answer my questions. Are you members of the Empire?" The answer was obvious they were not, they possessed none of the characteristics normally associated with Empire thugs. But the way they respond could tell us a great deal.

The leader appears to hesitate for an instant before responding. "No, we're not. We're paid mercenaries."

The Libra didn't pinged at that statement so I took it as the truth.

"Did Kaiser hire you to kill me?"

He shook his head. "No. Simply destroy your Projections, as many as possible." He paused when saying that. I didn't bother correcting him on the term Projections, even if I wanted to, he wasn't worth it.

"We didn't have as much success as I was hoping for. And we were given specific orders to not target you."

This stops me short. Only my partners? Kaiser wants to kill me himself? Or reduce my strength temporarily to prevent me from stopping a big operation? Still, no reaction from The Libra so he didn't lie.

"What do you know of Kaiser's plan? There's bound to be more to it than just random attacks."

"Nothing. He didn't give us more information than what was strictly necessary. And I'm not in the business of asking questions." He gave me a smirk that made me want to punch him.

Velocity must have seen my reaction because he was the one to ask the next question.

"And what information did he give you?"

As it turned out, it wasn't that much. They knew what places would be attacked, that I would be on patrol at the time, and my most likely route. Details on my power were also included in their briefing. The distance at which my partners can go from me, their maximum numbers, wrong because it improved today, and the profiles for a number of my most common partners.

It was more information than I like for the Empire to have but less than I expected, so that proves that the Director's anti-spying measures are working. And at the speed, I was gaining new partners and power, plus the one I kept secret, the value of such information was questionable in the long term.

Once Velocity finished with his questions I asked another one of my how. "How did you know where to find me?"

"Well, you were flying a winged horse and then a giant cat. It's hard to not see you just by looking up. We started following you during your patrol and then knowing where the attacks were we just needed to see the direction you were going."

In hindsight yes, it's obvious, I made no effort to hide after all. Something to think about.

Velocity and I exchanged a look, and he shook his head. He addressed the mercenaries.

"Very well, you are officially under arrest. At the very least for assault. You'll be staying here under guard by New Wave until we can deal with this mess and put you in cells."

The leader appeared resigned but the other grumbled. I heard one of them muttering that destroying projections was not a crime but the look I sent him made him shut up.

As I turned away from our prisoners, I felt the Menagerie triggering twice in rapid succession. My Minds supplying details an instant later.

So we got something called a Companion Cube. It's a crate made of metal and plastic, with a pink heart on it. And that's it./But what can It do? Grow legs? Jump super high? Manifest a mouth?/No, no it's an inert cube. No power, nothing./How does that count as a creature that warranted being preserved by the Celestial Menagerie? You know that multiversal construct/computer/thing linked to our soul./Beat me./Ah, I found something! It comes from the same universe as the broken turret we got a little while ago./What sort of crappy universe is that? I hope we never gain anything else from it if those two things are representative of the quality we can expect from it.

I tended to agree with that. But you never know, we may have just been very unlucky. Anyway, what interested me more was the second thing we gained at the same time.

So the second thing is a power called Defense Boost. It works the same way as Speed Boost./Yep, doubling the health and resistance of the target./No special condition, no limitations, no drawback, just pure bonus./And obviously it functions with the supporting effect we already have, like Multi Boost and Self boost.

I didn't waste a second applying the first instance of it to myself. The last two uses would be going to different partners depending on the situation.

Putting that matter aside I decided to call Dragon. With two attacks dealt with, we need to know what was the situation elsewhere. I tapped my earbud.

"Compendium to Dragon. Please respond, Dragon."

The world-renowned Tinker didn't respond immediately. Just as I was about to repeat my question she spoke up.

"Dragon here. I'm listening Compendium. What's your situation?"

"Velocity, a part of New Wave, and myself cleaned up the Hospital. The situation was similar to the school. The personnel and the patient were taken hostage but physical violence was not used thankfully. Only threat. The gang members have been restrained and the hostages freed."

"That's excellent news. Good Work. Anything else?"

In a few words, I summarized the attack by the mercenaries and the information that we obtained.

"So Kaiser called on outside help. That's unusual and concerning. And even more, proof that you are the target of today's operation. Still, you managed to neutralize them before they could do too much damage."

Remembering the six partners that they did manage to kill, I frowned. Still, she was right it could have been much worse. I decided to change the subject. "What's the situation with the other attacks?"

"Things are improving, somewhat. Armsmaster and Battery are finishing things at the police station. Just one last pocket of resistance. At the PRT HQ, things are more chaotic. Victor was freed but is still in the building. Multiple departments are still occupied. The others are doing their best and slowly pushing them back, however. And my suit should arrive in a few minutes, that may turn the tides."

That was good, not perfect but good.

"And the Town Hall?"

"It's a less stable situation. Triumph is wounded, it's not life-threatening but it's slowing him down and he's alone. I'd like for you to go there next."

Even though she couldn't see it I nodded. "No problem. I'll do one last check here and I'll go support Triumph."

"Excellent. Good Luck. Dragon out." Well, I have my next destination.

When I ended the call, Lady Photon approached me. I spotted her while I was talking to Dragon but the heroine politely waited for me to finish.

"You're going to assist Triumph?"

"Yes, as soon as possible. Do you need something before I go?"

She gestured toward the staff hanging from my back that I lent her earlier. "Would it be possible to keep that? It could be very useful. The lightning Frog projections make for an excellent distraction."

I didn't correct her on the lightning thing because it would take too long. I shook my head. "Sadly no. I do have a limit on the distance I can be from my partners, which the staff count as one." She frowned and looked ready to interrupt me but I continued, anticipating her question. "While yes I do have a way to skirt around that limit. Namely by anchoring them to a place or person, I need to make that choice when I summon them. I can't do it afterward."

She nodded in understanding. "I see, it's a shame. But we'll manage without it."

"I won't leave you without support. I'll summon another of my partners to stay here and help you protect the place."

Let's see who could I leave behind? It needs to be able to move all around and even inside the hospital if needed. It needs to be strong enough to contribute and fast enough to respond to the situation. That was a tough one. Searching among my options I eventually zeroed on a partner that I never used before but that should be able to do the job.

With an unnecessary wave of my hand, I call on Skitter, a dog-sized insectoid vaguely spider-shaped but with only four legs. To make her less menacing I used the Musical Instrument theme on her, giving her the appearance of multiple harps fused together. And of course, I anchored her to the Hospital.

It didn't take long to explain what my Arachno could do and gave it orders to obey Lady Photon.

Satisfied that everything was in place, I departed on Rainbow's back. If Triumph was wounded even lightly I could waste too much time.

Wordcount: 1703
Excess words: 878
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For the roll, 280 points.

[] Creature

[] Power

Voting will be closed Wednesday at 3 PM GMT
 
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I heard one of them muttering that destroying projections was not a crime but the look I sent him made him shut up.
Maybe not but firing guns like they did is likely to be unless things changed a lot. Not to mention taking money to support a terrorist attack

[X] Power

Interesting that Kaiser is trying to weed out our partners (though with us having about a hundred that is more effort than he might think). Curious what the follow up on that is.

edit- still hoping for vehicle summoning
 
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So we got something called a Companion Cube. It's a crate made of metal and plastic, with a pink heart on it. And that's it./But what can It do? Grow legs? Jump super high? Manifest a mouth?/No, no it's an inert cube. No power, nothing./How does that count as a creature that warranted being preserved by the Celestial Menagerie? You know that multiversal construct/computer/thing linked to our soul./Beat me./Ah, I found something! It comes from the same universe as the broken turret we got a little while ago./What sort of crappy universe is that? I hope we never gain anything else from it if those two things are representative of the quality we can expect from it.
Don't diss on the Companion Cube. How dare you. >:[
That thing got us, Portal players, through many a trial. If only it talked. ;~;

Edit: I already got what I wanted. Time for a creature. Now who to aim for, to be the object of my eye.

[X] Creature
 
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Personally hoping we land on Exchange still working on that List and have 14 300 Point Summons I have on there so far that I want to trade our Deathbringer for.
 
speed, I was gaining new
Unnecessary comma.
his questions I asked
question
In a few words, I resumed that attack by the mercenaries and the information that we obtained.
In a few words you resumed? I get what you are saying but I think this needs to be stated better.
?/No, no it's an inert cube.
Awwe. I was hoping it'd be the talky kind.

I just checked the CM (I finally got a new phone with a bigger memory bank!) to see if GlaDos was there. That's gonna be interesting. How would she be summoned? Why no Opera Turret or the few niche ones? Can we get the Cores several times to get them all?

[X] Creature

After that chapter I am hoping for GlaDos.
 
Unnecessary comma.

question

In a few words you resumed? I get what you are saying but I think this needs to be stated better.

Awwe. I was hoping it'd be the talky kind.

I just checked the CM (I finally got a new phone with a bigger memory bank!) to see if GlaDos was there. That's gonna be interesting. How would she be summoned? Why no Opera Turret or the few niche ones? Can we get the Cores several times to get them all?

[X] Creature

After that chapter I am hoping for GlaDos.
GlaDos (or the Central Core going by the CM) is about 500 so we'd need to save points to get a chance of getting her, with our current points if we land in Portal we want Core-Bot or Turret-Bot for their Portal guns.
 
Don't diss on the Companion Cube. How dare you. >:[
That thing got us, Portal players, through many a trial. If only it talked. ;~;
Alex never played Portal. He'll change his tune if he gains a portal bot or Glados.

Edit: I already got what I wanted. Time for a creature. Now who to aim for, to be the object of my eye.
Aiming for a power make sense there is only 125 power.
Aiming for a creature is more complicated, there are thousands of entries.

Blam Grammarly, it insists that I need a comma here.

No, no Velocity asked multiple questions. I just didn't list them all.

In a few words you resumed? I get what you are saying but I think this needs to be stated better.
Damn it.
It's because resume is a false friend. In French, the verb "resumer" mean summarizing. Corrected.

I just checked the CM (I finally got a new phone with a bigger memory bank!) to see if GlaDos was there. That's gonna be interesting. How would she be summoned? Why no Opera Turret or the few niche ones? Can we get the Cores several times to get them all?
Glados is summoned in a pocket dimension in a miniature aperture laboratory.
No wiki page for the more niche turret.
Only one personality core and it would be a custom personality. I don't think I could do justice to the one from the game. Better create my own.
 
After that chapter I am hoping for GlaDos.
Since we're talking about Robots, I'm personally rooting for Claptrap. Reason being I didn't get to have him in a borderlands quest. Which makes me pissed.

Hoping for Clappy. Dice Gods please.🙏🙇‍♂️ Give me Clappy so I can rid myself of this annoyance I'm feeling.
 
Maybe not but firing guns like they did is likely to be unless things changed a lot. Not to mention taking money to support a terrorist attack
At the very least it would be obstruction of justice. I would imagine that by now the PRT has passed laws that intentionally damaging constructs of any sort left by Protectorate members without permission is some sort of crime too, as they were probably left there for a reason.
 
Aiming for a power make sense there is only 125 power.
Aiming for a creature is more complicated, there are thousands of entries.
I know. I already have creatures I want to see though. There's Clappy, One of the DMC upper tiers, A Lion Turtle, and...well My list of wants is incredibly barren, mostly cause The List itself is giving me trouble.
 
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