Arc Zero

Season 1: Quakes

Season 2: Incurrsions

Season 3: Differences

Season 4: Imperfect

Season 5: Convergence

The Alien Wars 6: Da Capo

 

Session 13: Autopsy

Special Ops Base
7.23.10.636

With the murder of Darien Starr, a military investigation is ordered; Zephyr coming in to head the search. Vodka performing the autopsy and noting several oddities and observations that are recorded; the assailant having knowledge of anatomy and skill with a blade, but seeming to have an emotional reason for the attack based on the evidence. With the information in hand, Zephyr begins her investigation starting with the teams themselves; the emotional context of the attack indicating a personal familiarity with Darien. Lorelei and the Gen2 team have been dispatched to a Hospital regarding the refugee’s that were rescued from the other reality and Shre’Travs medical treatment.

Starting with the more unknown members of the Gen3 team, Kaori and Rea; Zephyr gets perplexing and sometimes gamey answers from Kaori, and playful if not roundabout answers from Rea. However they both have alibis, verifiable through another person if not the base security systems. Warren, Josephine, Jennifer, Angelos, Vesta, Mem and Hale head out to check on old hide-outs and bases that Darien might have used at one point; clearing out an old bunker of its raccoon population before heading to an apartment complex.

At the complex they find porn-reading Juan with his sock-puppets, and Darien’s old room looks completely horrendous; a hidden spot in the corner seems to have had a hidden payload, but it has been replaced recently with a brick. The team after searching the room leaves quietly, whatever lead that might have been picked up here long gone.

 

Session 14: Gamers 4 Life

Special Ops Base
7.31.10.636

The investigation continues into Darien’s death, Warren having taken over command and sets up a training exercise for the Gen3 Team to include a new member; Reikana Arakawa. The exercise places Kaori, Angel, Reikana, Rea, Vesta, Ash, Reese, Lumi, Ren, An’Mi and Hess face Warren’s test; the exercise room getting cut in two by a large pool that has electricity running through it as both Hess and Reikana find out the hard way. Ash’s teleportation is blocked, and they are forced to get to the other side as a whole. With Laser Beams, Fire blasts, and a shark ‘om nom noming’ at them from the pool, they deal with the situations through strength, finesse and stun blasts. Once the team opens the door on the far side they see John running down the hallway in a shark outfit complaining about being shot; Warren nodding approvingly as Rea hides his gun.

They’re dispatched by Warren to Taiga’s Game Development Company to look into a series of murders that have been occurring in Mega City to the players of her most recent Beta, Dualing Worlds; Necia coming out of her room in order to go in person. When they arrive Taiga gives them the low-down on what’s happening and they commence their work in figuring out the particulars, finding in the mostly burned out VR headgear an after-market mod that leads them to a less than legitimate modding shop. Using equipment from Taiga they set up a sting for the Modders, Hess posing as a cute innocent naïve gamer girl is the bait. As they move in to deal with the Modders and keep Hess from getting her brain fried, Reikana unleashes her Dark One side (named Noire) as well as phantasmal creatures to assist in wiping the floor with the killers.

Afterwards they get a sort of congratulations from Warren, and Vesta claims a plate of pot-laced brownies as her own.

 

Session 15: Tsivrixsh Lays Claim

Cheryl's Manor - Underground Base
8.3.10.636

As the teams transition to their new base arrangement and deal with tons of aged equipment sitting around, Lorelei and her team are sent to the PAX once more to check in on the recovery of Shre’trav; and while they’re at it prevent certain Tsivrisx Senators from making off with her. Once onboard the Suisen Flagship, Iku is distracted away from the team by several young children; Empress Lenneth guiding the rest of the team towards medical. Yasha arrives just before the Tsiv Senator Keshya, and immediately there is a tense air in the medical bay as discussions ensue.

The Senator wants Shre’trav, in the healing device, turned over to her for transport back to Tsiv space; Yasha and others present challenge it. Declarations of ambassadorial impropriety, possible sexual indiscretions and impugned honor are tossed around until Leyaeh takes charge of the matter directly as the head of Suisen Security and points out certain problems. That the Shre’trav lying unconscious on the healing bed can’t be the same Shre’trav that Keshya is looking for due to the amount of time that those who were rescued with her have personal knowledge of their Empresses presence. That DNA and fingerprints can’t be solely used for identification when an example of that not being reliable stands in the same room…Ako shares the same DNA and fingerprints as the former Suisen Empress Athena.

With the apparent lack of ground to stand on, Keshya declares that she’s continuing her investigation into the matter and leaves; the others relaxing and readying to return home. Lorelei sits at Pio’s with the children from earlier, Nephilim, Rachael and Aschae…before long a human boy Valen is brought to join them; and shortly afterwards they are all being herded onto the shuttle and unofficially ‘adopted’ by Iku.

 

 

Session 16: Tale of Two Killers

Cheryl's Underground Base
8.7.10.636

As the teams settle in at the new base a call comes in to alert Warren of an apparent serial killing, with his team (and a couple additions) in tow, he heads out to meet up with Zephyr who’s already there. When they arrive they find a crowd gathered outside of an old church, the local police having cordoned off the area, and a news crew already filming the story. Inside they find the body of a 13 year old girl hung on a cross, and very little in regards to answers. With a few gritted teeth and a note from a past murder of “this pure spirit is now part of me”, the only avenue to stop the killer lies with Miyuki and speaking with the spirit of the departed.

A couple team members step outside to keep an eye on things when its suggested that the perpetrator may still be in the area to observe, inside Miyuki does her distinct type of spiritism and the recently departed spirit returns. Revealing what few details she can remember before her death, the team considers their next move. While outside, Rea and others consider the possibility that the News Crew itself may have the killer in their midst due to the cameraman’s too dedicated focus on the body as it’s taken from the church.

Trailing the news van to the local Morgue, they wait for the crew to head inside before investigating it; the scent of the girl present as well as a hidden camera with recordings that the cameraman had made…to include the most recent killing. Heading in after the news crew, they interrupt them as the coroner is about to unveil the body, and the team unceremoniously and with restrained fury arrests all present. After hours of listening to Edward the Cameraman’s psychopathic ranting, it’s evident that he’s insane; several members of the team going off to work out frustrations and high emotions after returning to base.

 

Session 17: Plants

Cheryl's Underground Base
8.10.10.636

With almost 3 weeks since his death, Warren calls everyone together to discuss the progress (if any) that has been made regarding Darien’s murder. The lack of leads bringing about a group brainstorming session that starts by analyzing all of the evidence available; the odd bruise to the top of the shoulder, the flowers and the serotonin in the wounds. After demonstrating a blaster stun-shot and seeing the bruise it gives is greater than the one on Starr’s body, the suggestion that a stun blast was ‘trick shotted’ to diffuse the impact leads to the question of who could perform such a thing; and the revelation that serotonin is used in OCD medications brings Zephyr to answer “Aya can trick shot.”

A group of Josephine, Jennifer, Hale, Orihime, Zephyr, Ako, Reikana, Kaori, Jason and Ren head off to Mega City to check on whether Aya was at her class reunion party the entire time. After finding John at one of his 20 part-time jobs (this one as the Principle) and a few suggesting comments and tail pettings, they get some of the faculty together. When they hear that a green haired lady was just there asking the same questions and went to review the security footage, the team heads that way; each concerned about another Weapon they may have to deal with. After a wing is blown off their shuttle, foxholes and a flipped and possibly totaled classic car, the undisclosed Weapon that bears a remarkable semblance to XIII hands over the security footage. But the Weapon reveals things besides her name, she was also looking into the probability that Aya Winters had killed Darien, and her Master “He won’t let you hurt Aya.”

Letting the Weapon go her own way, the team returns to base and considers the next step while they turn their attention towards Aya Winters; was she working on her own or was she controlled and manipulated in her actions? The time for delicate maneuvering has come as the teams have to look into one of their oldest and dearest friends.

 

Session 18: The Royal Family

Special Ops Base
8.13.10.636

Several members of the older gen. teams are off doing work so when a request comes in for assistance from the PAX, specifically from the Empress, Warren and Miyuki send out the youngsters once more. Hess, Ren, Reikana, Vesta, Rea, Orihime, Lumi and Ash transport up and are met by Ao who leads them to a changing station where they don Suisen Uniforms (even Lumi after a brief ‘in the buff’ moment) before heading up to 1A. There Empress Lenneth details out a growing concern about a religious group that has been cropping up on Allied Worlds; a group that preaches the falseness of the world. The youngsters, with Hess in charge, are to provide security for Godiva, Jem and their baby Nagisa while a more thorough investigation is conducted.

While the royals and their undercover guards are off to a park on the PAX, Warren and Miyuki consider the facts that have been brought up and arrange to look at one of the boney bodies from Fall Session 1; Ash begins looking through personnel records to see if he can figure out who may be affiliated.

As night arrives, the team is settled in and resting after an uneventful day with Godiva and Jem; Warren revealing that the bodies did have traces of an identifying mark that ties to the religious group while Miyuki retches behind him, Ash going over the findings from the Net. They do note however that five Suisen Police who are on their suspect list have been set as the security for Godiva and Jem, sending an alert to Ao the team heads back for 1A to secure the area. When they arrive, with a nude Erevis in tow, the guards begin attacking despite Godiva’s orders to the contrary. And several of the team act swiftly to safeguard Jem and Godiva while others work to incapacitate them; however there are only 4 present here, a fifth one is unaccounted for.

Godiva and Jem are swiftly taken upstairs where little Nagisa is sleeping; when they arrive they find the fifth standing over the baby. After getting wrapped up by Orihime’s fire, and smashed around by Jem; Erevis is asked to delve into the man’s memories, information coming forth about the fake reality and Nagisa being ‘chosen’ to travel beyond it to the truth. The men are taken off to be questioned further by Warren, while the team celebrates a job well done.

 

Session 19: The Bitter Pill

10-636.8.15

Hero Graveyard
It’s taken time to authorize the exhuming of Chad Winters’ body. Warren, Cassandra, Cheryl, Miyuki, Tabetha, Jennifer, Angelos and Angela standing in silence as John works the controls of the equipment to bring up the coffin. As they watch Aya arrives, upset at them for disturbing her father’s remains; despite her feelings though they have to proceed, Aya storming off while popping a pill as the casket is loaded.

Under Cheryl Manor
Vodka is asked to oversee the opening and everyone is astonished when they aren’t assailed by the smell of decomposition; as they proceed they match up old injuries to the body with those on file for Chad, but they come to a final conclusion. The injuries from the explosion that killed him are too light, not matching up under close scrutiny; the body is not that of Chad Winters. The new Weapons are immediately suspected as being Chad’s, and as the discussion comes to finding out where Chad is it’s Orihime who suggests getting the info from Weapon XIII who’s still in their custody.

Hess and Kaori are called to conduct the interrogation; XIII being brought in and observed by Cheryl, Zephyr and Orihime. Warren meanwhile watches over Aya on hidden cameras and calls up Eve to check on a matter, checking on the prescription pills that Aya has been taking and realizing that while they look identical the size of the pills doesn’t match with those Aya should be taking. At the same time, through careful observation of the Starr Home surveillance cameras, a glimpse is caught of Darien holding a folder that is apparently the item stolen from the house…a folder with the label “Cra…” and “Spa…”.

Through small chat about ‘old geezers’ and wheelchairs, Hess is able to get XIII to divulge that her former boss is “Winters” and giving up a location. The team quickly gets ready, a shuttle being prepared and launched with little notice and a full cadre of people aboard.

South Pacific Islands
Arriving on a seemingly pristine beach with a single old occupant, they exchange pleasantries as they can with Chad; a couple less than jovial since Chad still remembers the squabbles with Angela. Ultimately they all agree that any plan concerning Aya will be a join endeavor with Chad, and several Psion’s are called to

 

Session 20: The Killer Revealed

10-636.8.15

South Pacific ? Island Winters
A plan in place, the 1st Gen. Group along with Kaori, Hess, Orihime and Chad Winters waits for the arrival of Erevis; a few jokes floating around in regards to Cheryl’s snacking and legs being spread for 50 years. When she finally arrives, they all pile onto a shuttle and head off for Aya’s; Zephyr leading a sing-along while others try to ignore what’s going on or are lost in thought.

Under Cheryl Manor
Rea is subjected to the vocal ‘talents’ of the Gen 1 Team when they transmit, Lorelai focuses on catching up on paperwork while Umi rests beside her and Tabetha is forced to deal with random provocative teaser messages sent to her datapad. Tabetha finally heads out after an image of John’s ice cream truck is sent to her, the truck flipped and ice cream melting on the roadway (to the abject horror of many bun’s); Myria and Rea heading with her to keep her out of trouble.

Residence of Aya Winters
Having arrived un-noticed, the group splits to various staging points; Angela, Hess and Kaori going around back while Mem, Erevis, Orihime and others hunker in and prepare for the expected fight. When Chad knocks on the door, exactly 4 times, he’s met with an astonished Aya; Warren monitoring the situation and detecting a fluxuation in her brainwaves. The shock is short lived however, and a fight erupts with Dawn initially fighting against the team to protect his wife; when it’s revealed, and even proven by the conscience, that Aya is being controlled by another Psionic Dawn assists.

Suffering from having her gun blown up in hand, Aya is taken down carefully, no lasting harm being done to her. The conscience relaying only a few things before it’s gone completely, but not before Dawn uses his gifts to see the past through her eyes before hunkering down to draw out everything he saw; life back in TAW4 along with Dominator, crystal shards, and masked men. With the conscience ‘dead’, Aya recovers enough to realize that she wasn’t dreaming…her father is alive. Aya notes one thing she remembers…that wasn’t given by the conscience; they were testing to see if it was possible to bring back a dead Psion, the ultimate goal to bring back William Spade.

Crashed Ice Cream Truck
With a crowd growing to scoop up ice cream before it melts completely, Tabetha, Myria and Rea make little progress in finding John at the truck; in fact they find that it is Juan’s truck, John has been off engaged in intimate affairs with Key and using the Bond Pings from Tabetha as a “time to shift positions”. Amidst the chaos at the truck Tabetha is bumped into, a small and quick pin prick along with a lock of her hair being snagged almost instantaneously. Realizing that this means somebody has her DNA, the trio looks for the perpetrators; when a shuttle rises to leave the area Tabetha shoots a tracking device onto it.

Under Cheryl Manor
As everyone meets back at the base to recover and rest up there’s friendly banter, the talk of gifts being owed to Eve and Fiona, “Grandma’s” tossed around in reference to several, and slinky outfits gifted while youngsters head out to eat. Warren however grumbles privately, his health deteriorating quickly as his time is running out; their old base being blown to smithereens with only Peter and Vodka present. While this occurs, a shuttle appears out of a portal and falls to the ground.

 

Sessions 21 - 25: The Death of Everything Crossover

10-636.8.22 - 28

 

Anniversary Session 19: Convergence Point

10-636.10.2
PAX City
Taiga awakens in the middle of the night from a nightmare, the inspiration for even more content to her game Dualing Worlds; as she finishes her notes she finds a request to talk with Warren. Ouka rousing from her slumber to comfort her wife who notes that this dream was strange.


Siberian State
Several members of the teams are gathered together on an undercover operation, their objective to find a lead on the group responsible for the psychic tampering and control of Aya leading to the death of Darien. After a few insults back and forth to test the mettle of the respective sides the deal is finally struck, though the leader of the Russian crew Sigeri confronts them about their identities, almost blowing Vesta’s due to connecting dots with Darien. The threat is subdued however when Sigeri is left without a heart in his chest, and the rest of the Russian crew departs; as they group back up in the shuttle they quickly glimpse at the booty, an odd Sun with a “V” symbol in it adorns each object in the crate.


Underground Base
When Warren and the team returns the equipment secured from the Russians is given a quick glimpse, an odd Sun with a “V” symbol in it adorns each object in the crate, then is sent down to the labs for analysis while a conference is held between Warren, Chad and Taiga. Learning that the game she has been designing is based off of her dreams (and the startling similarities between it and Kitty’s recollections of the mirror universe) but not all of what she dreams is put into the game, Taiga is asked to write down everything that she recalls.


On a hunch Warren decides to head up to the old Striker Station and check on the youngsters in their transfer pods, Chad, Si’Chi and a couple others going along. What they find there raises concern, instead of Yuki and Kitty’s being empty, they find all of the pods barren; system logs show that the last readings were from the 3-day period that most can no longer remember. As they review the logs Warren note the presence of a data-string that he’s seen before; copying it for reference they

head back to the base while trying to keep Si’Chi from exploding with worry; a final remark about “two morons opened a box” floating about being one of the previous times that the data had been seen.
Upon returning to the base, Warren and Chad sit down to track down other instances where this data signal has popped up, finding it at the time of Xanatos’s death as well as when Warren went into his reality bubble with Ahrn. Worried that Marcus and Dias may be involved deeply with this, Cassandra is tasked with tracking both men down; Dias being easier since he’s holed up in the base gym turned campaign office. It’s decided that the data bursts are occurring when Reality is re-written in some fashion, but the exact trigger or source is still unknown.

Theories between Taiga and Megumi raise several more prospects of how exactly to proceed.
In Mexico Cassandra and Setsuna finds Marcus at a male strip bar…the current dancer a guy tossing his ‘sombrero’…between threats of electric-shocks and getting tied up, Marcus finally relents to come to the base and get “examined”. Both Kellin and Mi’Na agreeing that the male stripper should also be brought back. When Marcus is brought to the base it’s found that he shares a peculiar bio-signature with Dias; marking them both as being linked to the reality issues and Pandora’s Box. Plans are laid to test out this connection aboard the PAX.

PAX
Arriving and meeting with Ao, they’re informed that the PAX has been relocated to the approximate location of where Xanatos died; and letting the “power of pure unadulterated stupid” run rampant Dias and Marcus engage in the “highest of fives” and cause a thunderclap to occur in the shuttlebay. Knocking both men apart an engineer is suddenly there, and after getting tackled by Hope is revealed as one of the Bone-faced aliens who decides that instead of talking that it’s going to kill itself. Jennifer’s scans during the entire time reveal that there wasn’t just the single appearance, there was a second one outside the ship; the new Next Gen Weapon Peskov looking calmly out a window to see a figure dying from exposure before an emergency teleport is called for.


As the group heads to the medbay to check on the person, Ao and Leyaeh head to the bridge to respond to a situation there; it’s not long before a positive identification is provided, it is indeed Xanatos Durran. Meanwhile on the Bridge the crew looks on as a large reality quake has erupted in the space between the Earth and the Moon where Centerpoint once stood. With few options to keep the effects of the quake from affecting the planet, Lenneth directs the PAX’s tractor emitters towards the rift and orders all power redirected to them. Once she’s briefed about the occurrence with Marcus and Dias she quickly decides to send the duo out in Mech’s to attempt to close the quake with another of their high-fives.


The Duo of Dumb succeeds in both a high-powered high-five and then a “double clap of awesome rockitude” before the quake closes; however the maneuver has completely drained the Core and despite optimism there is no sign of Drasek having survived his forty-year existence merged with the heart of the PAX.

Underground Base
Having returned to the base, the teams sit back and take stock while Warren continues to make plans; the arrival of a mountain sized ship in the hangar heralding the coming changes that he has planned. The groups will split to work out of separate locations, one of which will be on the vessel, one will remain in the underground base, and the third will set up their own base at a yet to be determined location.

 

Session 26: Angel

10-636.10.4
Underground Base
Warrens plans to move the teams off site continue while efforts are made to learn about the mobile base’s tech as well as figure out a way to safely analyze the Not-Spade equipment recovered previously (to include a suspected cloned brain). Discussions also include what to call the mobile base; numerous sexual / fighting ideas later and there’s no consensus to be found. Dias and Marcus spend time trying to figure out a way to express their overwhelming masculinity that doesn’t involve actually touching since they’ve been prohibited from physical contact for fear of creating new reality disturbances; they finally settle on a simple thumb’s up.


With Taiga spending time on trying to figure out a way to physically cross over to the other reality Lorelei decides it’s time to start her own preparations since the Tarehn’s have been born much earlier and are already being adopted by certain families like the Nue’s and Cridhe’s. Warren meanwhile experiments with some of the Sun-V marked psionic controlling equipment, turning Dias into a barker for a brief time; the tools are locked away to prevent their unintended or abusive use.


PAX
Lorelei is followed by Kellin, Eve, Ako, Tel and Orihime as she goes about trying to find the various children who would help her considerably in saving the alternate future; going around and placing her Angel Mark (or as Ako calls it “bad touching”) on Kaelan, Aschae, Zeal, Tanan, Urr, Cleo, Rachael, Valen and Moira. Aschae gets dragged around with them to keep her out of trouble and having to put up with biting.


Underground Base
Without Truth, Wyrd or Mimi on the PAX, they head back to the Base where Lorelei is flabbergasted at the commentary revolving around her ‘touching kids’. It’s not long though before the misunderstanding is cleared up, even using Aschae as an example; albeit with some water dropping on heads and cursing…along with Lore winning the bases only wet t-shirt contest. With word that Truth and Wyrd are counted among the Next Gen Weapons like Lev, Warren goes off to set up a meeting with them.

 

Session 27: Presidental Race

10-636.10.6
Mega City
Time has finally arrived for the Presidential Candidates to gather together in view of the media to debate prevalent issues. The un-named Billionaire, Dias, Konekomaru and Eluere engaging in a war of words and ideals to highlight their particular and differing stances; Cheryl and Warren are both astonished with Dias’s clean-shaven and respectable look on top of not immediately trying to get into a brawl. Throughout the venue, members of the three teams are spread out and working as undercover security; some in the guise of reporters or just attendees, others visible as standing guards, while a few are backstage and using the cover of ‘family’ to keep an eye on things.

With the moderator leading the civil debate, the orators quickly come to verbal blows as ideals clash and subtle innuendo’s are tossed around; amazingly Dias seems to hold his own in this though the Billionaire seems to get flustered and loses his position several times. Konekomaru andEluere butt heads over colony issues and plans for dealing with them before Eluere goes off on a tangent trying to promote her own Dragoon status and boost her appeal to the Colony voters.

While this continues, the team investigates a missing catering truck from the loading dock; finally tracking it down to an alleyway besides the building. Hess, Ren, Kaori and Orihime coming together at the van’s location with Angelos looking on only to discover that the van is rigged with explosives and no clue between them of how to diffuse it. Opting to transport the van away to a safe location where the detonation won’t cause injuries; Orihime and Hess work together with Ripples and Foxholes to move the van. Their efforts are rewarded when a nuclear level detonation occurs outside of Mega City; with the winds the fallout will move away from urban areas.

After the debate ends Warren plans some recommendations for the youngsters and gets some lists together for restructuring the teams. In the polls the Billionaire has lost much of his support for his isolationist and anti-alien policies, while it seems that Konekomaru and Dias are tied with Eluere a short bit behind them.


Session 28: The Enemy Hits Back (1)

10-636.10.15
Underground Base
The plan to redistribute the teams has progressed smoothly and finally two new Next-Gen Weapons have arrived; Truth and Wyrd. As they settle in Warren discusses the plan with the current teams’ leaders, Hess, Kaori, Lorelei, Umi and Miyuki. The teams will be split between the current base, the mobile ship which will work independently as a backup base, and a third team on the ground and investigating the shadow government. As Warren will remain in the underground base, it’s decided that Kaori will captain the mobile base and Lorelei will take the investigation team.

10-636.10.16
As members go around and get themselves acquainted with their new teammates, final preparations are made to launch both the mobile base and send the undercover team out. No sooner does Warren try to alert Cheryl in her mansion above to the launch than alarms start going off signaling an attack; those still in the command center are unable to do more than cry out in warning before the entire Mansion is obliterated and the base itself rocks from the impact from above.
PAX
The Bridge is in chaos as Lenneth and Leyaeh scramble to understand the cause for the alarms going off; CHIP informing them of the attack on Mizukaze Manor and showing a satellite image of the smoking rubble. Unable to get Earthgov approval for a transport, they decide to send down those with Earth Passports (even if 40 years out of date) to survey and hopefully rescue any survivors. Xanatos is given the keys to a new shuttle to pilot down while Mem shudders at the memories of his past flights.

Underground Base
Emergency lighting kicks in as Warren and those who are remaining in the underground base take stock of their situation, concern immediately showing on several faces for Cheryl, Chii and Lemon who were up in the mansion. No sooner do they get external images than they find unidentified masked soldiers beginning to swarm through the ruined mansion; with few of the original defenses left intact Hale, Kane and Si’Chii decimate the soldiers before clearing out debris covering the launch point for the mobile base. Both Lorelei and Kaori’s teams head out to accomplish their own missions while the mountain team heads up to search for their friends.
As the mobile base takes its leave under cloak they’re tracked by several unknown vessels, forcing them into evasive maneuvers to lose pursuit and give them time to re-modulate the cloak. Once this is done, the pursuing ships are left behind while concern begins to grow that somebody on the teams is working for the shadow government.

Angela, Hale, Kane, Lisa, Lev and Ako begin searching the rubble while hoping to remain undetected by any unfriendly forces that might arrive. With the use of psionics, shields and natural muscle Lemon is found in a very injured state; Chii is discovered looking broken but living when enemy shuttles land nearby. The enemy isn’t afforded the luxury of even stepping out before a PAX Shuttle crashes amongst them, disgorging an irate Mem the attackers are overwhelmed before the search continues. It’s not long before Erevis along with others are able to find Cheryl; one arm completely torn off, parts of rubble crushed through her chest and the immediate concern is that she’s dead. However Chii is still alive and Cheryl didn’t have even a chance to sever their bond; somehow she is alive despite her state. Ako and Iko working together to encase her in crystal.
Lorelei’s bus moving throughout the city has its own issues since they’re being followed by cars, using care and subtlety (not really) they lose their own pursuers before continuing on their way out of the city; oblivious to the seriousness of the attack on the mansion and who is feared to be near death.

Session 29: On The Run (2)

10-636.10.16
Underground Base
The staff in the base beneath the ruins of Mizukaze Manor are working on figuring out what they can about Stacey Roberts when they’re alerted to a live news cast; the Vice President Stacey Roberts is releasing the announcement about Cheryl’s death and branding those who were close to her (the teams) as the culprits. Using what is clearly altered camera footage they show Angela, Kane, Hess and the others searching through the mansions rubble as proof that they were responsible for the attack. Following up on this are a series of images of the Mobile Base team that appear to be attacking a Military Base; realizing that this is the Shadow Government they resume their search for clues.

Mega City - Ground Team / Campaign Offices
With Lorelei driving while listening to the Vice President’s announcement a slight diversion is determined as necessary, the group stopping at a Government Records complex. Donning various disguises they enter the facility and begin searching for any and all information about Stacey Robert’s background to determine just who she is and whether she has any motivation for her actions or connection to the purported Shadow Government.
The Presidential Candidates, Konekomaru, Dias and Eluere are gathered to notify them of the addition of another candidate for the presidency. Stacey Roberts will be joining the campaigning. Their discussion with Stacey is cut short when she’s notified by phone of a situation that she directs people be sent somewhere before it’s too late.

Mobile Base
The Mobile Base team consisting of Kaori, Miyuki, Chad, Eve, Marcus, Ash, Tabetha, Vesta, Reese, An’Mi, Cassandra, John and Orihime; arrive at an EarthGov Military Research Facility under attack. With their security clearances suspended by the Vice President, they’re essentially renegades, and entering into the combat area they have to defend from both sides as they make their way into the base where the Light Engine is being constructed. Inside they have to force their way past a giant combat robot to reach an elevator down to the research level of the facility; there they find another giant combat robot that’s dubbed “Armored Cod”. Instead of fighting it, Miyuki drops it through a foxhole so they can focus on a group of non-earthgov individuals who are trying to take off with the Light Engine.
The fight becomes a cat and mouse chase as the group with the Light Engine is interested only in escaping, plus the reappearance of Armored Cod requires the Mobile Team to deal with it yet again. Finally the group of thieves is dispatched and the Light Engine is secured before they retreat back to the shuttle for their own getaway, their only casualty being Miyuki who decided to take on a giant robot as a small fox.

Ground Team - Chicago
Lorelei’s group recovers a great deal of information on Stacey Roberts, but her parental lineage has an odd hole in it…who is her grandfather? The only indications they have to go on are that he was on Venerator’s team decades ago. Before they can investigate further they’re disrupted by the arrival of not one but two different groups that get into a debate of who has jurisdiction and amidst their squabbling the Ground Team makes their escape.

Session 30: The Ghosts of Enemies Past

10-636.10.31
Underground Base
Melancholy has been widespread beneath the mountain and with Halloween now upon them the only decoration is a single carved pumpkin in the cafeteria. With members donning costumes in preparation for going up to the PAX, Kane is met by a surprising and sexy vampire; Lemon has recovered from her wounds in time for a light celebration. As revelers begin gathering a disturbance in the dormitories brings everyone running; a simple sheet ghost is following after Arhn who looks like she’s seen an actual ghost. Guns and swords are brought to bear but none seem to affect it, those who come into contact with the sheet see it as Skaad and are left slightly weakened.

Whether through combined attacks by those who have come into contact with it, or Reikana getting ahold of Skaad’s axe and cleaving him from head to toe, the sheet ghost is dispelled.

Mobile Team
Having recovered from her slight injuries Miyuki has gone to great length to decorate and provide food, snacks, drinks and desserts for the team (all with subtle Halloween themes). While Tabetha gorges herself with cookies everyone gathers in the mess hall and starts to comment and compliment on various costumes a strange sheet ghost drifts towards Chad on the bridge. An intense fight breaks out between Chad, the sheet, and others who see Alexander Cran after they’ve come in contact with the sheet; Miyuki leaving Marcus in the kitchen to watch over the oven heads up after CHIPPY alerts the crew to fighting on the bridge.
With only a few members actually fighting the Cran ghost, Miyuki is able to affect it easily with her spirit-based abilities; and after getting a knife from the ghost Miyuki destroys it.

Ground Team – Chicago
After relocating to a new city and taking residence in a small motel, Lorelei’s team has to deal with educating the Next-Gen Weapons about the holiday while having a small party by themselves; a couple of their group off getting supplies when Zephyr races past them like she’s deathly afraid of a simple floating sheet. With Angelos coming to her assistance they see Venerator who’s trying to shoot Zephyr. With the fight trailing out into the motel courtyard, several members of the team try to assist before Hope grabs ahold of Wyrd and literally tosses her at the sheet; the contact between the Ghost and the Next-Gen Weapon who drains everything she touches causes the sheet to decay in thin air.

PAX
Erevis plays host to yet another grand party in 1A, teleporters set up in secure locations are connected and powered up allowing members from the Underground Base and the Mobile Base to come up and enjoy themselves. Friends parted due to their chosen assignments meet back up while family spend some quality time together.


Session 31: 90 Days to Live

10-636.11.5
Mobile Base
After gathering intel, the Mobile Team sits down to start investigating a series of old Janus bases that don’t appear in any of the newer databases. Deciding to use some of the newer tech that they had loaded up before departure, they don disguises and head out to look into a casino. When they arrive they smooth-talk their way past the doorman and casually begin checking the area out; noting a “VIP area” accessed through a secure door while Kaori tries to get a hook-up from the bartender. Orihime almost blows their cover when trying to foxhole into the back area which sets off alarms and brings out Cain, a cyborg that would seem to match Cassandra in capabilities.

Having detected the attempt the casino is locked down, and before Orihime can be found out as the culprit Eve stashes something she had snagged from Miyuki’s quarters and uses it to frame one of the other casino patrons. With the seeming culprit found the casino is cleared out; Chad and Kaori none too pleased by the young kitsune’s actions.

Underground Base
With ever-increasing restrictions put in place by the Vice President, Warrens investigation into the Shadow Government is put on place when the bases systems detect psionic wavelength’s matching Spade’s. Heading off to a North American desert base, their arrival is met with automated gun turrets; after taking a couple minutes to destroy the turrets the team heads into the base which they find is on a countdown to self-destruct. Making their way to an underground research facility they find several scientists that are trying to escape as well as two large tanks; inside are the forms of two adolescents, a boy and a girl.

Recognizing the boy as a child version of William Spade, Warren tries to kill him only to be stopped by Kane; both children are retrieved before the team heads back to their shuttle and avoid getting destroyed along with the base. When they return, the children are taken to Vodka for diagnosis while Warrens’ medical condition continues to deteriorate.


Session 32: Families

10-636.11.16
Ground Team – Chicago
Lorelei and the team continue their investigation into Stacey Roberts, pouring over the information they got from the Records Facility; hitting a dead end they decide that the only course of action to identify the member of Venerator’s team is to exhume Robert’s mother and perform a DNA test on it. Despite the grave-robbing moral implications, they head back to Mega City’s Memorial Graveyard. With Zephyr using a miniscule amount of her Buster Rifle’s usual power, a hole is bored down to the coffin allowing Lorelei, Zephyr and Umi to jump down.

Umi secures a rotting limb of some sort while Lorelei notices an alarm on the inside of the coffin, some paranoid individual has been alerted. Retreating to the Bus, they head off and knock into Dias’s campaign float; giving him a slight boost in ratings when people start thinking he can fly like a superhero. When they analyze the remains they’re left with an even bigger question…could Roberts’s grandfather have been Venerator himself?

Mobile Base
Having Chad recall Weapon XIII, the team is able to learn of the Sun-V Organization and the emblems they use; agreeing that the only way to adequately infiltrate the casino is by getting tattoos of their own they head off to the place the Bartender had suggested to Kaori on their previous visit. Once the tattoos are complete, the group minus Cassandra, Vesta and Orihime, head back to the casino where XIII gets them a meeting with Liederman. The VIP area it turns out is an operations headquarters for covert actions, and Liederman vents his anger against XIII over the apparent misinformation she fed the organization regarding Chad.

Before XIII can be finished off he is distracted, the team given permission to look around since they’ve taken on the guises of new recruits; during their walk they decide to rescue XIII and disable the facility, triggering several explosives moments before getting out. Liederman losing an arm and a leg in the explosion and thrown into a river to bleed out while everyone heads back to base.

Session 33: Ascension (1)

10-636.11.28
Underground Base
As the Presidential election draws near, Warren feels the need to close out the investigation into Stacey Robert’s past and parentage; pulling out boxes of index cards to start sorting through to identify information to send to Lorelei regarding where Venerator’s DNA samples might survive. With just about every Earth-based database having references to the samples deleted they are left with searching for samples off planet.

10-636.11.30
Mega City – Political Offices
While Dias, Eluere, Konekomaru and Stacy Roberts continue their political game of chess Lorelei brings a number of her team in to conduct a covert raid on Roberts’s office in hopes of finding information on her past. Using Dias and Konekomaru to provide a distraction, and Necia triggering the alarm system, the building security is sent all over while the team absconds with Stacy’s computer before exiting via the window and into a shuttle. During their escape they’re watched by a woman with platinum blonde hair sitting atop a speeder bike.

10-636.12.3
Mobile Base
XIII is slowly recovering from her injuries, her abilities that had been sealed by Hess returned; on the bridge the crew watches the leaked stories of a fight between Dias and Konekomaru at the Political Building and rumors of a ‘lovers quarrel’. Vesta and Fiona go off to meet up with Necia for an off-book meeting, revealing that Darien has survived the attempt on his life and been in hiding ever since; meanwhile the rest of the team prepares to go after a Sun V base where old Cran-Tech was taken by XIII and could be responsible for the psionic weaponry they’ve been dealing with lately.

Underground Base / Chicago Ground Team
Warren’s team heads out on a shuttle to check an old base on Pluto that might have survived, hoping to find a sample of Venerator’s DNA there. Lorelei and her team are studying the contents of the various files and the computer taken from Stacey’s office, finding a file on the computer labeled “V. Tor”. While the tech-oriented begin work on decrypting it they’re alerted to the arrival of an unexpected guest, the platinum blonde on the bike has arrived outside and is standing watch from the courtyard. Introducing herself as ‘Sunny’ and offering up an old badge from the Lunar Colony’s police force, she blackmails the team; she gets to work with them while looking into her own investigation and she won’t leak the location of Lorelei.

Northern Base
Kaori leads several members of her team to a Sun V Base in the northern territories, there they observe the Cyborg Cain and a female cyborg talking before an announcement rings out through public address speakers. Sun V will be launching shortly on its mission to ‘take the child back’ and the Nostradamus will depart once the crew all of the Sun V members have finished boarding; Kaori, Tabetha, Eve, Marcus, Ash, John, Chad and An’Mi heading to join up on the massive ship.


Session 34: Descension (2)

10-636.12.6
Pluto
Warren and his group of explorers arrive at Pluto and descend into a partially destroyed subterranean base, the kilometers of ice being the perfect place to store long term samples. Amidst old computers and tissue samples in icy containers they find a Dark One Hybrid that ironically isn’t drawn to the Asian school-girl Reikana, perhaps sensing her Dark One DNA. While there they have only a bit of time to start transporting the computers, equipment, samples and numerous experimental weapons to the shuttle before they’re interrupted by the arrival of armed shuttles. The Dark One mass wiggling after them in space once they have Hyperspaced away.

Mega City – Election Night
EarthGov elections come to a head, the candidates standing together as the various states and colonies cast their votes for who they want to lead them. As Dias, Eluere and the recent duo of Stacey and Konekomaru watch they’re awestruck as a three-way tie is apparent with only the Guardian Colony with its vote undeclared. It isn’t long before the final vote is tallied, and goes in favor of perhaps the most unexpected of candidates. Warren may just have a heart attack kill him before anything else…Dias is the new EarthGov President. With this shocking news Lorelei almost misses the alert that decryption has finished on Stacey Roberts’s files; a journal along with personnel files detailing information that she has a striking history.

Venerator was her grandfather, when she had brought this up to Cheryl the two of them had worked together to hide this information. As the candidates go off to celebrate and or lick their wounds, Lorelei decides it’s time to confront Stacey Roberts about her dogged tenacity in hunting down the teams that Cheryl had put together.

Nostradamus
Kaori and her team have had two days of investigating the Nostradamus, but with limited access they only know the precise locations of a handful of things. When an announcement comes that shortly they will be attacking the Presidential building, the group splits into two; one group will head for Engineering while the other goes up to the Battle Station.

Mobile Base
XIII continues to recover in medbay when a shuttle announces the return of Vesta and Fiona; Cassandra and Miyukie greeting them before an early schematic of the Nostradamus is revealed and a couple of weakpoints are identified. The only problem is that they will have to rely on Miyuki to get them onboard via foxhole; Cassandra and the others preparing for battle.

Nostradamus
With the attack underway, Tabetha, John and Chad head down towards engineering and start planting explosives next to the generators. Kaori, Marcus and An’Mi head in to the Battle Station while Eve sets up a beacon for Miyuki to use to open a foxhole with; with that Miyuki, Cassandra, Setsuna, Reese and Orihime come aboard to assault the Nostradamus’s main weapon control. The female cyborg being engaged by Tabetha and Chad while Kaori’s team rigs the main cannon to overload after its first shot.

Presidential Building
Lorelei and her team are only able to briefly speak with Stacey Roberts before the building shakes from an attack, the cyborg Cain landing in the room and initiating a large scale brawl. Using a lock-on type ability similar to Cheryl’s, it takes the team coordinating their attacks to finally drop him; however Sun V’s objective has apparently been achieved, Stacey Roberts is MIA.

In the aftermath there are injuries to see to, a new President with shadowy individuals plotting his downfall, and Warren seems to be succumbing to his illness even faster…though he reveals to the team what it was about Roberts that had piqued the interest of Sun V; before fathering Stacey’s mother, Venerator had experimented on his own DNA for some unknown reason. The genetic sequences having been inherited by his descendants seem to have been what the Shadow Government was after, and now the teams need to work to figure out what the code was for.