Author Topic: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents  (Read 559103 times)

Cthuluzord

  • Global Moderator
  • I dream in graph paper lines
  • *****
  • Posts: 385
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #165 on: March 03, 2011, 11:54:30 PM »
Since we gridlocked on the vote tonight regarding what to do with The Syndicate, I thought that I'd put all my arguments down on the forums for the team to consider.

First, here's the intelligence that informs my decision:
1. Aegis isn't working for the syndicate; they are the syndicate.  What we thought was two armies has really always been one.
2.  The hybrids do have a fabber, but it is guarded by a leftover mindless pangloss monster and inaccessible currently.  They will help us if we fight.
3. Paragon is some evolution/devolution of a Pangloss clone.
4.  Paragon, the remnants of the syndicate, and some amount of the Luyten weapons are located in an Ideal base outside of town that has a hallidron collider.  This base also has ANOTHER fabber in addition to the one beneath Vanderburg Mall.
5.  The evil plan, if we don't deal, is to release innocents armed with Luyten tech and pumped with drugs into the city while simultaneously freeing all the prisoners in the Finn's jails.

Based on this information, I think we should strike the Syndicate a final blow despite the enormous risk because...
1. It is unlikely that whatever city Paragon retreats to will be able to stop her.  She tried to destabilize the entire govt. of California for some evil plot; god knows what evil she will achieve unrestricted.
2. It isn't impossible that her entire plan isn't some scheme to bring Pangloss back into the world.
3. If the Syndicate buck is merely passed on to the next city, the Heroes of New Arcadia have essentially done nothing to discourage further criminal endeavors from giving the city a shot.
4.  The Syndicate WILL return, and they will not be stupid enough to leave us completely unsupervised while they regain strength.  Striking now is dangerous, but we have the initiative.  Waiting will make us a known quantity and give them the choice of not only when, but where.
5.  New Arcadia will be no better even if the Syndicate leaves peacefully.  No homeless or hungry will be fed from their repurposed fabbers.  No fewer super-soldiers will walk the streets (they can just to the new city for treatments and come back).  No new criminal endeavors will fear overstepping their bounds because the city's only truly effective law enforcement (i.e. us) negotiates with terrorists.

IF we did majority vote to attack, the plan I suggest is as follows; it would require all six of us play in a single session.
1. Using spores cultured in tonight's adventure, plant a sample of Luyten's disease in a food truck headed to the Finn prison.
2. Call Walker, who then contacts the Marshals (already arranged) to do an inspection of the Finn jail.  The tip called in will be that the Syndicate is using the disease to kill possible witnesses turned state's evidence, just like they did with the Tank.  Implicate the Finns.
3. While Marshals are in route, position Squatters, Crystal Children, Hybrids and police armed with tranq. darts (already arranged) around the city.  They will be response teams to pacify any civilians that get released and go beserk.
4. Chirop is given emergency work release by the city.  As his future hangs in the balance, his job will be to coordinate strike teams in the city, the most visibly noble part of the plan.  Hopefully, his actions will play well in the upcoming trial.
5. Marshals inspect food.  By federal law, they must evacuate all prisoners to other counties while a clean-up and investigation takes place.  Finns are removed from the picture, as are the criminals meant to join the riot.  Half the plot becomes unviable.
6. As soon as possible after evacuation of the prison begins, the Heroes of New Arcadia strike the Ideal base, giving the Syndicate as little time as possible to mobilize any Luyten berserker cells hidden across the city.  The heroes STICK TOGETHER, combining their defenses and focus firing whenever possible.  Squad Leader will definitely be present and kept to the rear to deal with Paragon's powers.  Additional allies that might join the cause are the Knight Errent, Raoul the Rock Fighter, and any number of hard hitting Hybrids.
7. Chirop supervises defense efforts from the air against any threats that pop up in the city.  Non-lethal pacification is the first priority, followed by containment, with elimination the last possible option.
8. The goal of the main attack would be to, as an overwhelmingly powerful and flexibly Talented group of  five PC heroes and NPC allies, to focus fire and quickly eliminate threats before they can coordinate and surround us, ultimately seeking to eliminate Paragon herself and sever the Syndicate legacy of organized hyper-villany once and for all.
9.  After the base threat is eliminated, any able bodies would devout the remainder of their efforts to assisting Chirop back in the city.

All of this is predicated on surprise, and this plan wouldn't be as effective if any further negotiations with Paragon took place beforehand.  Still, I think it would bring the greatest chance for success, and in terms of ethical considerations, I feel it is the only viable option for the reasons stated above, despite the danger.

clockworkjoe

  • BUY MY BOOK
  • Administrator
  • Extreme XP CEO
  • *****
  • Posts: 6517
    • View Profile
    • BUY MY BOOK
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #166 on: March 04, 2011, 01:28:40 AM »
Out of character, I will say this - the rewards of the fight are obviously much greater but they are counterbalanced by the fact that it will be extremely dangerous. Do not vote to fight unless you are prepared to have your character killed in battle. I'm not saying that is a given but it is certainly possible. I will announce all NPC dice pool sizes and roll in the open for all actions. So, what happens happens.


BenignSpy

  • Slayer of the Dread Gazebo
  • *
  • Posts: 43
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #167 on: March 04, 2011, 04:34:11 AM »
1. It is unlikely that whatever city Paragon retreats to will be able to stop her.  She tried to destabilize the entire govt. of California for some evil plot; god knows what evil she will achieve unrestricted.

I am also in favor of attacking the syndicate, and that is the only reason I need. I am leaving town for a week on Friday afternoon. If any of you say no to this request I completely understand, but can we hold off on the major offensive until I am back in town? (This is the first vacation I've been able to take with my family in years.)

As I said, if not, I completely understand, and I will leave Zero-Shift with Ross just in case he's needed for something.
Who Dares, Wins

BenignSpy

  • Slayer of the Dread Gazebo
  • *
  • Posts: 43
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #168 on: March 04, 2011, 04:38:31 AM »
Also:

Ross what are the rules of engagement for this battle?

or more directly...

Can I put a compact group of 9mm slugs in the syndicate goon's head (As opposed to non-lethal take-downs) without the New Arcadia Police wanting to talk to me?
Who Dares, Wins

Jason

  • Zombie Apocalypse Survivor
  • **
  • Posts: 83
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #169 on: March 04, 2011, 07:20:26 AM »
Can we requisition riot gear from the police?  If we're going into this, I'd like a kevlar vest and helmet 'cause I'm a scaredy cat.

Tadanori Oyama

  • Extreme XP CEO
  • *******
  • Posts: 3897
  • The Full Time GM
    • View Profile
    • Full Time GM
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #170 on: March 04, 2011, 11:14:28 AM »
Why is there any debate on this at all? Big Damn Heroes!

Save the city!

Salkovich

  • I walk between the rain drops, tommy gun and katana in hand
  • *****
  • Posts: 805
  • Concupiscent Piranha of the Apocalypse
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #171 on: March 04, 2011, 12:16:45 PM »
1) I feel like Caleb is probably going to do great things for the future of RPPR PC plans.
2) ATTACK THOSE FUCKERS. As Tad said, BIG DAMN HEROES.
3) That whole outline of how to possibly attack the Syndicate, makes me want to hear these APs SO. BADLY.
4) CAPSLOCK
5) ???
6) PROFIT
"It's heresy. Burn the heretics." - Ross Payton NEVAR FORGET
"If you are asked, 'Would you like Abraham Lincoln', your answer is always YES."

clockworkjoe

  • BUY MY BOOK
  • Administrator
  • Extreme XP CEO
  • *****
  • Posts: 6517
    • View Profile
    • BUY MY BOOK
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #172 on: March 04, 2011, 01:33:38 PM »
Also:

Ross what are the rules of engagement for this battle?

or more directly...

Can I put a compact group of 9mm slugs in the syndicate goon's head (As opposed to non-lethal take-downs) without the New Arcadia Police wanting to talk to me?

the main battle will be in the particle collider base. I don't foresee many scenarios in which police gain access to it and thus discover the bodies, no matter who wins. The main limiting factor will be your morality. There will be at least one or two trauma checks to start murdering dudes and possibly a willpower hit.

clockworkjoe

  • BUY MY BOOK
  • Administrator
  • Extreme XP CEO
  • *****
  • Posts: 6517
    • View Profile
    • BUY MY BOOK
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #173 on: March 04, 2011, 08:17:31 PM »
I read the martyr's backstory - good but I thought you were going to mention what happened to his father. +2 XP.

Jason

  • Zombie Apocalypse Survivor
  • **
  • Posts: 83
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #174 on: March 04, 2011, 09:31:38 PM »
He died during Ragnarok which we don't know anything about.  I figure when I stat up my father I will do a back story for him as well.  I was thinking about him getting his powers (super strength and coordination...maybe some invulnerability) from one of Dr. Pangloss's experiments, but I don't know if you would allow that.

clockworkjoe

  • BUY MY BOOK
  • Administrator
  • Extreme XP CEO
  • *****
  • Posts: 6517
    • View Profile
    • BUY MY BOOK
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #175 on: March 04, 2011, 09:48:58 PM »
Oh I thought he was secretly a member of the Ideal that died or went rogue - a pangloss experimental subject is fine depending on the exact specifics

Tom Church

  • Zombie Apocalypse Survivor
  • **
  • Posts: 77
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #176 on: March 05, 2011, 12:55:46 PM »
The history of Chirop, AKA: Finn O'Halloran.  And sit back, it's a long one.

   Finn O'Halloran was born March 2, 1961 to Gerard and Anna O'Halloran in Hell's Kitchen.  His father had come to America from Ireland when he was just a boy in 1946.  In that time he had opened a bar, The Three Crowns, which quickly became his pride and joy.  He met his future wife Anna in that very pub, and by 1960 they were married.  Finn grew up spending half of his time at home, and the other half at the pub.  He was the pub's official “wee lad” according to his father, and he was a fixture among the pub's regulars, drinking Coke instead of beer.  Finn was an average student at school, mainly because he never took education very seriously.  His father never stressed education, except when it came to grammar.  Gerard O'Halloran still had a very thick Dublin accent, and he wanted his son to speak proper English.  They were in America, after all.

   The O'Hallorans were a very close family, and spend most of the time together.  The only time when they were not together is when Finn's father would leave on “business trips”.  He would be gone for days at a time, and would always return with gifts for his son from different cities all over Europe.  For Finn, the early days were the best.  He didn't have to focus on school that much, since he knew he would go to work at The Three Crowns with his father as soon as he got old enough.  In fact, high school was just the last impediment he had to slog through to get to his real future.  The family never had much, but always had enough to live comfortably.  The family was close, and everyone loved each other.  That was all Finn wanted.  

   It was on July 4, 1976, while watching the fireworks of the bicentennial celebration in Battery Park that Gerard asked Finn if he would like to begin learning how to run the pub.  Finn was surprised, but delighted.  He knew that he couldn't actually tend the bar until he was 21, but his father told him he could learn the other aspects of running it.  Gerard told his son that on Finn's 21st birthday, he would hand control of the pub over to him.  Gerard said that he had to leave for another business trip the next day, but as soon as he returned , he would bring his son into the family business.  Finn hugged his father tightly, thanking him for letting him accept the responsibility of an adult.

   That was the last time Finn ever saw his father again.

   Three days later, a group of FBI agents showed up at the O'Halloran residence, search warrants in hand.  Finn watched helplessly as the FBI ransacked their house under his mother's protests.  Afterward, they were taken to the FBI office in New York City, and interviewed for several hours.  It was only then that Finn found out what was going on.  His father and several other accomplices had attempted to rob an armored car in London, and had been shot and killed by London police.  Finn also found out that his father had been doing jobs for the IRA for years.  Finn immediately thought back to all the “business trips” his father had taken over the years.  Was this what he had been doing all this time?

   Eventually they were released after it became obvious that neither Finn nor his mother knew anything about Gerard O'Halloran's actions.  Finn tried to move on, despite his seething resentment toward his father.  His mother didn't fare so well.  She became utterly despondent at the loss and betrayal of her husband.  She took to heavy drinking and prescription drugs to cope.  After only a few months, Finn had to drop out of school to look after his mother and to keep the pub running.  He had to hire a new bartender, which took even more out of the family's income.  His father's account had been frozen by the FBI, leaving them with little to live on.

   By the fall of 1978, the grief had truly taken its toll on Anna O'Halloran.  The heavy drinking and drug use had left here dangerously thin and with acute liver cirrhosis.  Finn tried to convince her to go to the hospital, but she refused, claiming “We can barely afford to live.  How can we afford a Goddamned doctor?”.  Finn resolved to force her to go the next morning, whether they could afford it or not.  That night, Anna O'Halloran overdosed on pain pills and whiskey.  Finn found her dead the next morning, lying in a pool of vomit and blood.  Strangely, Finn almost expected that.  He knew that his mother couldn't handle his father's death, and it was only a matter of time before she did something like that.  The people of his neighborhood raised enough money to pay for his mother's modest funeral, to which Finn was eternally grateful.  However, his own future was now in doubt.  His parents were dead, and he was only 17.  There was talk of putting him into the State's care until he turned 18, but Finn would have none of that.  After weeks of arbitration, it was decided that Finn's neighbor would look after him until his 18th birthday.  That left Finn alone to try to keep his father's pub open.

   A few weeks after his mother's funeral, Finn was going through his parents belongings, partly for nostalgia but mainly to find some things he could sell to keep the pub open and pay the rent on his apartment.  When going through his parents' closet, he noticed a hollow spot under some floorboards.  He pried them up, and was stunned by what he found.  The secret compartment held four AK-47's, maps of dozens of cities around the world, and his father's personal journal.  The journal contained a complete account of every robbery his father had ever committed, complete with all the planning we did for every job.  Through the journal, Finn learned that his father had extensive dealings with the Westies, the Irish mob that controlled Hell's Kitchen.  Through them, his father was able to launder the money they had stolen, as well as ensure that if anyone came asking around the neighborhood that nobody would say a word.  Finn spent a week reading through the journal.  In that time, his resentment toward his father started to fade.  Sure, his father was an enthusiastic supporter of the IRA, and gave a lot of the money he stole to their cause.  Through it all, it was the money that he brought home that ensured his family had everything they needed.  At the end of the week, Finn set the journal down, a new idea taking shape in his head.

   At a Halloween party in 1978, Finn got together with a few friends he had known back in school.  They were Jacob Mitchell and Frank Reilly, two good friends who had also recently dropped out of school to get jobs.  There was also Victoria Mason, who was going to graduate the next year.  She was a very gifted mechanic, and well versed in everything to do with cars.  But Finn knew all that was waiting for her after graduation was a job at the mechanic shop owned by her abusive stepfather.  Calling them into a separate room at the party, Finn told them about finding his father's journal.  He explained that it was a detailed “how to” book, putting down clearly the steps for committing a perfect robbery.  After his explanation, Finn asked them one question.  “Who wants to give it a try?”  Jacob and Frank didn't take long to decide.  They knew that crime was most likely going to be in their future, given the lack of skills they had.  Victoria took longer.  The idea of crime was terrible to consider.  But then she thought of working for her stepfather.  He was a mean drunk that delighted in hitting her and making her dependent on him.  He would never let her work at another mechanic shop.  After a few minutes thought, she nodded her acceptance.

   For the next four months, the newly formed gang prepared.  They went out to the New Jersey Pine Barrens to learn to use the assault rifles Finn had found in his father's closet.  They learned exactly how to rob an armored car, from locating a target, to the robbery itself, and to the getaway.  By February of 1979, they had gone from a bunch of kids to a competent but inexperienced team.  Using his father's maps of cities and armored car depots, Finn had decided on a Brinks depot in Newark, New Jersey as the target.  For two weeks, the group watched the depot, learning the schedules and routes the truck took through the city.  By Finn's 18th birthday, they were ready.  Only one thing remained.

   Finn knew that even if the robbery went off without a problem, they still had to deal with the money.  They needed protection, and a way to launder the money after the crime.  Finn decided the best thing to do would be to go to the people his father used for years; the Westies.  Finn arranged a meeting with James Coonan, the leader of the Westies in Hell's Kitchen.  Finn told Coonan about his plan, and asked for the same protection and money laundering he had given to Finn's father.  Coonan admitted that he made a lot of money off Gerard O'Halloran's activities, but the FBI's investigation had lead very close to Coonan's operations.  Coonan told Finn that to agree to this, the compensation would have to be substantial.  Finn offered 35% of everything they stole.  This was far above the normal rate of 15%.  Coonan accepted, and the last part of the plan fell into place.

   On March 7, 1979, Finn and his crew robbed a Brinks armored car, in broad daylight, on the streets of Newark.  The robbery had been planned down to the finest detail, and went off flawlessly.  The robbery took less than six minutes, and the crew walked away with more than $800,000.  Even after James Coonan took 35%, it was more money than any of them had ever seen.  They held a raucous party afterward, toasting their success.  Finn used some of the money to begin paying off the huge mortgage on The Three Crowns, making small payments so as not to attract attention.

   In April, Finn treated himself to an Alice Cooper concert at Madison Square Garden.  At the concert, he met Sarah Moore, an art student at The Art Institute of New York.  Like most concert goers, they got very drunk at the show, leaving together afterward.  The night that followed was hazy to both of them.  The only thing they could agree on remembering was that it was “awesome”.  They started seeing each other regularly after that, Sarah coming by The Three Crowns several times a week.  Even Finn had to admit that what had started as a concert fling was becoming something more.  Then, in July of that year, Sarah came by the pub with startling news; she was pregnant.  She expected Finn to be angry, knowing that she was pregnant at 18.  Instead, Finn was overjoyed.  He scooped her up and said that he loved her, assuring her that he would never let her go through it alone.  “Besides,” he added.  “I'm Catholic.  They might excommunicate me if I left you now.”

"The upper class keeps all of the money, pays none of the taxes.  The middle class pays all of the taxes and does all of the work.  The poor are there just to scare the shit out of the middle class.  Keep them showing up at those 'jobs'."  George Carlin

Tom Church

  • Zombie Apocalypse Survivor
  • **
  • Posts: 77
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #177 on: March 05, 2011, 12:56:46 PM »
Aaaaaand, part two.  I told you, it was a long one.

   Plans were made for the wedding to happen in September.  Finn found himself nervous, but not for obvious reasons.  It wasn't the stress, the commitment, or the fact that both of them were getting married at 18.  It was knowing that he would be lying to her about the fact that he had committed armed robbery.  He remembered the effect it had on his mother only a year ago.  So, three weeks before the wedding, he sat her down and confessed everything to her.  He told her about his father, the robbery, and the fact that he would most likely do it again.  Sarah just stared at him for a few moments, then told him that it was alright.  Finn was surprised, but Sarah said it was her turn to confess something.  Her grandfather had been a successful businessman, but a disgruntled employee came forward with accusations of the business having ties to organized crime.  Her grandfather proclaimed his innocence, but the IRS picked at his business until it finally crumbled.  Sarah's father watched the IRS destroy her grandfather's business until there was nothing left.  Her father dedicated his life to sticking it to the authorities.  He was a criminal too, from robbery to credit fraud.  She told him that she was, quite frankly “used to it.”  In retrospect, Finn would admit that if they were older and wiser, that would never have been accepted.  But as it was, they were teenagers in love, and they were invincible.  Though, she did tell him that if he got killed or arrested, she would never stop pissing on his memory.

   Finn and Sarah were married on September 10, 1979.  On April 20, 1980, their son Michael was born.  Finn spent much of the next year helping Sarah with the baby and running the bar.  However, he was also planning the next job.  A year later in 1981, Finn's crew hit another armored car in Charollette, North Carolina.  In 1982, they graduated to banks, hitting the Bank of Boston.  Over the next fourteen years, the crew committed seven more robberies, each time getting away clean.  But it was in July of 1996 that Finn planned the biggest heist yet.  On July 5th,  the twentieth anniversary of his father's death at the hands of London police, Finn's crew robbed the London terminal of the TGV train line, making off with more than five million dollars.  It was a final tribute to his father, and a final “fuck you” to the London police.  This was also the last job the crew would undertake.  Finn knew the time to retire had come.  James Coonan had been given a life sentence in 1988, leaving Finn to deal with the Gambino crime family.  Finn didn't like working with them, especially when they upped the rate to 40%.  But most of all, Finn was 35, and wasn't getting any younger.  So, upon the completion of the London job, Finn bade his crew farewell, hung up his guns, and retired from the life of crime he had been living for 17 years.

   The next few years were the best in Finn's life.  He focused on his family and the Three Crowns.  In 1998, he watched his son graduate valedictorian from high school.  Four years later, Finn watched Michael graduate from NYU at the top of his class.  Michael O'Halloran had wanted to go into law, but 9/11 changed that.  He wanted to serve his country, not in the military, but in a way that would truly matter.  So, just before graduation, Michael applied to the FBI academy at Quantico.  Upon graduation, he was accepted.  Finn, although with some resentment to the FBI from years back, applauded his son and gave him his full support.  In November of 2002, Michael graduated with honors  into the FBI.  Finn, quite the proud father, settled into the life of an empty nest.  He was sure that this was how he would live out the rest of his life.

   In the early spring of 2009, Sarah O'Halloran began complaining of intense headaches.  She thought they were just migraines, but they continued to get worse.  Months later, they were accompanied with gushing nosebleeds.  Finn took her to the hospital, where tests showed that she had a particularly virulent strain of brain cancer,  Glioblastoma multiforme.  The prognosis was she had maybe a few months left, maybe a year.  Finn was devastated.  The doctors told him that it was inoperable, and that no treatment existed that could do anything.  Finn, desperate for any kind of hope, turned to his old criminal contacts, searching for anything that might save his wife.   He didn't expect to find anything, but was stunned when he did.  Technology, most likely taken from an alien source, had showed up on the black market.  This was only a month after the Ragnarok incident, and the new technology was only just becoming available.  It appeared to be some kind of nanotech treatment, but it had the ability to eliminate his wife's brain tumor.  But the cost was astronomical, tens of millions of dollars.  Finn decided right then and there that he would do whatever it took to get the money. 

   Bringing up contacts and skills he hadn't used in over a decade, Finn started looking for large shipments of money, pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of his own money into the search.  It took weeks, but he finally stumbled onto a potential target.  It was a notice for private security to assist the moving of a shipment of laundered cash to a secure location.  The amount seemed to be large enough to cover the cost of the nanotech treatment.  But Finn only had a week to prepare.

   He called the members of his old team, hoping they would be willing to help.  Both Jacob and Frank had squandered much of their money on booze and drugs, and were quite strung out.  They both said yes, more out of boredom and a yearning for action.  Victoria, now the owner of a chain of mechanic shops across the tri-state area, flatly refused.  She said the job was too big, Jacob and Frank were clearly not up for it, and that Finn wasn't in shape enough to do it himself.  She wished him luck, but feared the worst.  Finn knew that she was right.  The job was bigger than even the London robbery, and Frank and Jacob were half crazed on drugs.  Most of all, Finn knew that he wasn't physically at his prime.  He was 49 years old, wore glasses, and hadn't done serious exercise in years.  But he thought back to his old contacts.  If he could find an alien nanotech treatment on the black market, maybe he could find something that would help him complete the job.

   It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for.  A concoction of super-soldier drugs and gene-tech agents was available, but quite expensive at over a million dollars.  Luckily, Finn had invested his stolen money wisely, and had enough to cover the cost.  He arranged a meeting with the seller, a very twitchy man with a Russian accent.  The buyer identified himself only as Vassili, and said that it was a powerful mixture of super-soldier enhancers and gene-tech sensory treatments derived from bat genes.  The Russian was clearly nervous and wanted to leave, so Finn didn't press him with more questions and made the deal.  The Russian gave him a package containing a vial of a light blue liquid and an injection gun.  Finn took it home, and found that all the instructions were written in Russian.  Realizing that time was critical, he injected the entire vial into his arm.

   The results were amazing.  When he woke up the next morning, he found that he didn't need his glasses.  Elated by this, Finn became hopeful that his thrown-together plan might work.  The exchange was to take place at the Lufthansa air terminal at JFK International Airport.  Finn found himself working around the clock to arrange the robbery.  He purchased new weapons for the job, including a new Steyr Aug, a 5.56mm SAW, and an M4 Carbine with an M203 Grenade Launcher clipped on.  He was so busy with preparations that he didn't notice the physical changes in his body.  He was growing stronger, and lines and creases in his face were disappearing.  He also didn't notice that some of the gray in his hair was changing color.  Not back to his normal black, but dark brown.

   Finally, the day of the robbery came.  Finn found himself on edge, and that he was experiencing a bit of sensory overload.  Smells and sounds were far more clear and intense than ever before.  Jacob and Frank had prepared by consuming an entire 8-ball worth of cocaine the night before.  They were strung out, on edge, and constantly twitching.  Finn feared the worst, but found himself also twitching, but utterly focused on the job at hand.  So much so that he didn't see that his ears had become slightly pointed, and that webbing had appeared between his fingers.  Jacob and Frank, high out of their minds, didn't see it either. 

   The robbery was, by all definitions, a disaster.  When the trio made their move, they found that the exchange was being looked after by a dozen private security guards in black suits.  They were speaking German, of that Finn was sure.  When Finn and his crew rushed out, guns drawn, and yelling for them to get to the ground, none of the guards did.  Instead, they drew their weapons and opened fire.  What followed was a bloodbath.  As soon as the shooting started Jacob and frank switched to full auto and opened up.  Soon they were drunk on the power of their own guns, especially Jacob with the SAW.  For Finn, the whole firefight was in the most vivid detail he had ever seen.  He felt every shot, could smell the cordite on the air, and could hear the grunts and cries of the wounded and dying even over the gunfire. 

   In ten minutes, the fighting was over.  All twelve of the guards were dead, and a good part of the terminal area was on fire, mostly coming from the M203 on Frank's gun.  Frank was dead, lying in a pool of blood, shot over fifteen times.  He had so much cocaine in his system, it took a while for his brain to let his body know it was dead.  Jacob was shot seven times, and was quickly bleeding out.  Finn, somehow, had come out unscathed.  Realizing he had no time, Finn loaded the last grenade into Frank's gun and blew their own escape vehicle apart to get rid of the evidence.  He then dragged Jacob into the van the armed men were loading and drove out of the terminal.  Miraculously, the van was well away before the horde of police descended on the area. 

   Finn drove straight for the storage facility they had set up as the rendezvous point after the job.  By the time he finally pulled in and closed the door to the storage building, Jacob had died from blood loss.  Trembling with adrenaline and fear, Finn opened the back of the van to see just what it was they had stolen.  The amount of money was staggering.  Well over sixty million dollars.  Finn loaded the money from the van into the SUV he had stored in the garage, and wrapped Jacob's body in a tarp and left it in the van.  He drove the SUV out of the city to another storage unit in New Jersey.  It was only then, when the adrenaline was finally wearing off, that Finn noticed the odd things happening to him.  His ears, the webbing, and looking in the rear view mirror, he saw that his teeth had noticeable points.  He quickly thought back to the vial he had injected, and to the Russian's description.  Derived from bat genes.  He barely had time to register this when his cell phone rang.  Almost in a panic, he answered without checking to see who it was.  The voice on the other end had a German accent to it.

   “Is this Finn O'Halloran?”

   “Who is this?”

   “I'm the one whose property who stole and whose personnel you killed.”

   “What do you want?”

   “Don't worry, Mister O'Halloran.  The money was a relatively small amount.  Not enough for me to hunt you down over.  I have already taken an appropriate repayment from you.  Goodbye, Mister O'Halloran.”

   For nearly a minute, Finn stood motionless, until the horrifying realization hit him.  He raced back to the city, heading straight for the hospital.  By the time he got there it was too late.  His wife had been found dead, a syringe of sodium cyanide solution stuck into the IV line.  Finn, flying into a storm of grief and rage, ran from the hospital, barely registering that his son was about to enter.  He had taken time off from his job in Washington to see his sick mother.  He tried to call out his father, but Finn ran from the hospital at incredible speed.  Left in confusion, Michael went inside, only to learn of his mother's death.  When he found out that his mother had been murdered, and when he remembered the state his father had left, Michael ran from the hospital and raced home.

   When he got there, Michael found the door had been ripped off it's hinges.  He went inside to find his father tearing the living room apart in a rage.  Only his father didn't look remotely human anymore.  Finn was covered in brown fur, his face bestial visage of a bat.  The webbing that had been growing between his fingers had no grown to cover the underside of his arms, like half-formed wings.  Worst of all, Finn's eyes were glowing an eerie red in the darkness.  When Finn realized his son was in the room, he tried to explain everything that had happened.  But Finn's voice was heavily distorted and difficult understand.  Fear taking him, Michael drew his gun, not knowing what to expect.  Upon seeing the gun, a kind of atavistic response took over, and the final stages of the change exploded outward.  In seconds, Finn had completely transformed into a huge humanoid bat.  His first instinct was to respond to the threat of the gun, but at the last moment he remembered that his was his son.  Instead, Finn crashed through the wall of the house and flew into the night.

   It was days before Finn finally was able to regain his senses and remember who he was.  By that time he had flown all the way to Ohio.  Knowing that he could never go back to New York, Finn got into contact with Victoria Mason and arranged for her to transfer the stolen money from the city to California.  He told her exactly what had happened, and asked her to take over The Three Crowns.  She agreed, and wished him luck.  Upon doing that, Finn took to the air and headed west.  He didn't stop until he arrived in New Arcadia.

   Finn has had a long time to reflect on what has happened.  His new body, once seen as a curse, has become something he has accepted.  His life has now been simplified into two goals.  Making amends with his son, and finding the people who killed his wife.  Toward the first goal, he has tried to make use of his new abilities, protecting innocents from harm and stopping those who would harm them.  Toward the second goal, he doesn't quite know what to do.  His old contacts haven't been able to help him, or refused to do so.  “Don't ask about them.  Not ever.”  Months after the change, he finally contacted his son and explained what happened.  Finn apologized for waiting this long to initiate contact, but he admitted that it took him a while to learn to talk again.  Finn told Michael about the phone call from the German man, and that he hasn't been able to find out anything.  Michael simply told him that he was coming to bring his father to justice, and that he would be transferring to New Arcadia soon.  Finn asked how he knew where he was, to which Finn replied “You've been on the phone for nearly five minutes.  More than enough time to run a trace.”  Finn abruptly hung up, but after a few moments, realized how proud of his son he really was.

   For his part, Michael has also looked into the man from the phone call.  Not really believing it at first, he made some minor inquiries.  To his surprise, he found the same level of fear from the street snitches he used.  It was the same refusals, the same utterances of “I don't know nothing about any of that!  And you shouldn't ask either.”  Though he still wants to bring his father in, the identity of those who killed his mother is something Special Agent Michael O'Halloran wants to know.

   
"The upper class keeps all of the money, pays none of the taxes.  The middle class pays all of the taxes and does all of the work.  The poor are there just to scare the shit out of the middle class.  Keep them showing up at those 'jobs'."  George Carlin

Salkovich

  • I walk between the rain drops, tommy gun and katana in hand
  • *****
  • Posts: 805
  • Concupiscent Piranha of the Apocalypse
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #178 on: March 05, 2011, 05:23:16 PM »
*whistles*

DAMN, Tom. That was a good read.
"It's heresy. Burn the heretics." - Ross Payton NEVAR FORGET
"If you are asked, 'Would you like Abraham Lincoln', your answer is always YES."

Cthuluzord

  • Global Moderator
  • I dream in graph paper lines
  • *****
  • Posts: 385
    • View Profile
Re: The Heroes of New Arcadia - RPPR Superheroes campaign - Wild Talents
« Reply #179 on: March 05, 2011, 05:52:36 PM »
Seconded.  Damn good role-playing there, roomie.  And here I was thinking I had a good write up for Norm, but you probably already know Chirop's social security number  :)

And btw, after the trial, Norm and Chirop are probably going to have to have a pretty heated in-character argument about the whole formally-a-professional-criminal thing.  If we survive, that is.