Dramatis Personae
Amar Gupta aka The Iron Sikh (played by Christian): Brick. Taxi Driver. Ass-Kicker. Sikh. Tagline: “Being a man of faith means to live it.”- Amie-Belle T. W. Lee aka Whisper (Played by Curtis): Cold War era super-soldier/spy that got put in the Freezer, because she got poisoned. After getting thawed out and cured she tried to back to work, and was given an “adjustment period”. Uncle Sam called 2 years later, with work… because once you’re in, you’re in for life. Tagline: “In and out without a whisper.”
- Beauregard K. “Bo” Ratnam aka Wirerat (Played by Brice): Technopath, inventor, and hacker. He specializes in co-opting enemy systems and tech assets. Tagline: “Nice tech – I’ll borrow that.”
- Rafe Hanlon aka Nyx (played by Chris D.): An umbrakinetic petty thief still on work release several years later, on his way to becoming a true agent and hero. Tagline: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
- Vincenzo L. dePrezzo aka Threshold (Played by Rory): Doctor, Mathematician, and Scientist (yes, capitals) and Spatial Manipulator. Threshold can bend space like a pretzel, teleport, obliterate things, and has extraordinary senses. He’d rather be in a research lab than fight. Better known for his work with Doctors Without Borders, the United Nations, and disaster relief than famous battles. Tagline: “I can be there in a snap!”
- Derrick K. Ratnam aka Legerdemain (NPC Ally): Spin doctor and media liaison for Project VANGUARD. Twin to Bo. Tagline: “Well, actually that’s not how it happened…”
- Layla A. de Blackburn aka Nox (NPC): CIA-trained child assassin all grown up to be Daddy’s Little Monster. Maybe a little mad. Argues with her shadow often. Tagline: “No, we shouldn’t do that…should we?”
- Stainless Steel Rat aka “Sir” (NPC Ally): Bo’s best friend and assistant. A sentient drone in the shape of a stylized shiny metal rat mindlinked to Bo. Specialties are rapid repair construction and modifications. Imagine if K-9 and R2D2 made a baby and it looks a bit like a rodent. Tagline: “Repairs and upgrades in progress.”
Previously . . .
They watch as the large reptilian creature emerges from the water and starts to lounge on the coast about a hundred feet away from the water. Threshold stands there observing it and the more he stands and watches, the more apparent the hum becomes and he can almost see the crystals on its body are softly vibrating. Threshold makes sure not to be right in front of it while also making sure that Wirerat has a good view of things. Wirerat wants to try speaking with it, so Threshold tells him to send a drone if he wants, otherwise he’ll be wanting to try to prep his powers to try to avoid massive damage as it keeps vibrating more and more. Wirerat taps into several communications and issues an evacuation notice in the area that the kaiju has landed.
Kaijued
Threshold
Near the old SMS Concrete Building.
Monday, May 18th, 2020, 1600 hours (EST)
120-05 31st Ave, Queens, NY 11354
Threshold sees several people start flying in and several people coming out of portals. He recognizes several MAPs personnel as well as several known criminals. It’s mostly a motley crew of more or less generic metahumans that he’d have seen around cocktail parties. Wirerat taps into the MAPs tacnet and starts sharing his own data. All the crystals on the back of the beast starts vibrating and falls out to the ground. They shatter on the ground where multi-limbed abominations emerge with too many limbs, too many teeth, too many mouths. Threshold decides that it’s time to attack along with the rest and notices that whatever was dampening is no longer dampening his spatial teleportation as he attempts to erase multiple abominations from existence.
He manages to hit one of the creatures with an obliteration beam causing it to turn to goo rather than dust as normal. He notices that some of the other metahumans are attacking, but they aren’t dealing a large amount of damage when it comes to power use. Those that are attacking physically with fists and weapons are dealing a lot more damage. Threshold attempts to delay them with one of his powers that they just sorta go through after getting confused for around half a second before charging through. The landscape has turned to chaos as the fight continues, those with environmental powers seem to be doing the most damage along with the regular bricks and stalwarts. There’s even a team attempting to take out one of the legs to almost no avail due to the sheer amount of flesh in the way. Threshold attempts to throw one blast of powers at the Kaiju’s head only to find it reflected back at him taking near the full brunt of damage though he hasn’t passed out yet, he’s close to it.
Not Atlanta
Nyx and Wirerat
Old FDNY Engine 299/Ladder 152 Building aka New Base
Monday, May 18th, 2020, 1600 hours (EST)
61-20 Utopia Pkwy, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365
Nyx, Nox, and Wirerat are at the base when the evacuation order comes out, Nyx trying to drink some orange juice while ignoring Nox’s description of how she made it. The interns and Legerdemain are in the lab looking over monitors to help keep an eye on things. A screen in the kitchen shows raw footage of the fight with the kaiju. Nox is visibly shaken at the video footage and everything going on. Nyx, deciding that he’s probably not going to be getting his nap today starts heading down towards the lab when the doorbell rings. Sighing, he opens the door to find a large group of armed individuals with a selection of firearms, both futuristic and otherwise, and August O’Neill, June’s father. Nyx just asks them if they’re there for the end of the world which they nod.
Sighing, Nyx just invites them in and offers some orange juice. He listens patiently while August tried to explain why he did what he did only for Nyx to nod and just say that he was a piece of shit father and to next time find someone more responsible than him who is wearing sweatpants and drinking orange juice with vanilla in it. There’s a touching reunion between June and her father and Lynch comes up and speaks with August. Apparently August’s objective was hard, but they finally managed to find it over in New Jersey, something called a Library Card or Diviner. Lynch calls Nyx over, telling him that he’s got to tell him something. That Lynch is pretty sure that’s he’s got some Atlantean blood in him which Nyx protests, he was born in Queens and never been down south where he’s corrected that it’s Atlantean not Atlanta and doesn’t get much information on the difference of them. He’s told that placing his palm on the device would be able to tell them for sure. Nyx says that eventually they’ll need to sit down and explain things to him at some point.
Placing his palm on the device it starts vibrating and glows white as August tells Lynch that Lynch was right and Lynch tells Nyx to ask whatever questions he’s got. The first one is if it’s supposed to be glowing that color, which it is. The second is what it’s actually supposed to do. It’s supposed to mark the person with Atlantean blood and give them the ability to use Atlantean technology around which Lynch knows the location of one of them that he wasn’t able to get access to previously and that Nyx’d be able to open it up now with the marking and maybe find something that’d be able to destroy the kaiju.
Downstairs, Wirerat is running the tacnet and distributing it while MIA is determining strengths and weaknesses with enough heat being run through that it’d keep a cat happy. Fridge Boy and Gimmick are running programs on the side while Legerdemain is calling in backup on the phone, getting the National Guard and metahuman divisions, asking for artillery even. They start running through various things and sharing the information from the IFF identifiers to determine who all is at the scene.
Kaijued II
Whisper
Near the old SMS Concrete Building.
Monday, May 18th, 2020, 1605 hours (EST)
120-05 31st Ave, Queens, NY 11354
While on patrol, Whisper starts hearing and feeling very loud vibrations like a night club with too much bass. Able to pinpoint it with her hearing, she starts threading traffic towards her destination. Seeing a number of evacuees on the way there on strange sleds created by savants, fliers picking people up and moving them off. There’s not quite a headquarters but definitely an area where people are trying to get out of the local zone. It gets thick enough that she has to abandon the motorcycle and start moving on foot. Getting close enough to see the monsters and a lot of bodies. Some of the monsters have stopped long enough to eat some of the bodies while others are being dragged up the kaiju and placed within the broken crystals structures. Witnessing this, she lets out an expletive and contacting the HQ for NOMADs. She asks what’s going on and then asks where Lynch is and is told that Wirerat says that Lynch says that it’s likely a distraction but to try to stop what she can of it.
She looks around and starts grabbing things to start chucking things at it, starting with a nearby propane cylinder that she chucks towards a kaiju eye and pops it with a pistol shot causing it to explode causing lots of flame and fire and some explodiness but it doesn’t look remotely scorched. She curses and says that she doesn’t think she’d be able to do any actual damage to it as the crystals with bodies placed within starts to regrow over. The monsters that were eating the bodies start to twitch and let out screams as they begin to mutate. As she starts to approach the creature with her axe drawn, she notices Threshold out of the corner of her eye standing on his feet but wobbling so he now takes priority. There’s still bits and pieces still falling off of him from the obliteration beam.
Threshold, meanwhile, is still thinking that there’s something that he can do no matter how bad the situation is and is currently trying to figure out how what to do in this situation. Understanding that Whisper wants to get onto the beast, he teleports her onto the beast’s back where she has to steady herself a moment by grabbing a piece of snarled skin. It doesn’t seem to notice her, however some of the creatures crawling on it notice her being up there and have decided that it’s time to eat her with five seconds between her and them as she goes wild with her tomahawks doing basically nothing to the kaiju as she keeps slashing at the plate armored keratin. It doesn’t even remotely look like she’s getting through the armor. She attempts to take out at least one of the creatures that keeps dodging against her axes while the others come up on her and grab her when she dodges and drops off the side of the creature. She taps her comms and tells Lynch that whenever they can get the backup there, it’d be appreciated. On the way back, she tries to collect Threshold by having to knock him out with a heavy tap to the head.
Wirerat gets Medevac to port in and shoves Threshold into her arms telling her to get him out of there as Whisper is expendable but Threshold isn’t. She gets him down into Wirerat’s lab where she starts treating him while asking what happened to him. They replay the video of him getting his by his own obliteration beams, complete with hilarious sound effects. She gets him hooked up to IVs and starts healing the best she can when Lynch comes down and inspects Threshold, once again calling him an arrogant bastard. He pulls Medevac to a corner and starts speaking with her in hushed tones asking her to do something. Medevac returns to Threshold’s side and starts muttering weird things to herself about Threshold.
The second wave of MAPs operatives comes into play along with the National Guard coming into position.
Atlantis
Nyx, Threshold, Whisper, and Wirerat
Central Park/Atlantean Library
Monday, May 18th, 2020, 1700 hours (EST)
Central Park, NY 11204
Lynch comes back up and starts talking to Nyx, Nox, and August. Showing a map saying that the last place it was seen was in Lower Manhattan. Nyx just asks if they’re just going to keep calling it an it before they finally explain that it’s a Library, or at least that’s the closest that they can explain it as being. Nyx shakes his head and asks if he’s got to call Five Stars to get them over there in their van. August is coming with three of his guys, Lynch, Nox, and even Whisper shows up covered in black ichor and gore. Medevac is hauling a groggy Threshold into the van and even Wirerat comes along albeit reluctantly.
Threshold asks why they’re driving to the battle where Nyx says they’re going to Manhattan. Lynch says that they’re heading towards somewhere tactical. Lynch tries to explain they found a cache of Atlantean technology while Nyx pops in that they’re going to a Library. Threshold does agree that knowledge is power but what are they doing with the monster. Nyx just asks what his plan was to deal with it, if it included getting knocked out by a girl again which Threshold doesn’t remember, thankfully they’ve got a TV screen available to play the scene over again with more
They get going towards Manhattan, fairly quickly with Five Star’s driving and start driving around. Nyx starts getting the feeling of something leading him by the hand, and after asking Nox and Nox’s shadow to stop it, he determines it’s pulling him towards Central Park. Nyx asks Five Stars if he remembers Die Hard with a Vengeance and that it’s time to take a short cut through the park. They stop in the location when Nyx’s hand starts to pulse. They tumble out when a white oblong object floats to the surface, not disturbing the ground or anything near it like it was intangible. Fairly large, around sixty feet across. A door opens into the side and Nyx asks who’s going in first when Lynch tells him that it has to be Nyx as he’s the one they’d be able to recognize.
Sighing, he walks up the ramp into the object, a white light surrounds him for a moment before it lets him through. Wirerat keeps staring around him, using his powers as he walks to figure out what exactly sort of tech it’s working with. He can tell it’s technology, but not as he understands or knows it. His ability isn’t telling him anything and he’s not sure if that’s because it hasn’t done anything yet or otherwise. Eventually everyone wanders in and a liquid metal column pops up from the ground with a young woman’s face on it.
It speaks in a foreign language for a moment before speaking in a clipped accented English asking them to place their hand into the device. Threshold moves forward first and places his hand into the device only for it to reject him with a soft green-blue light. Lynch is a bit ticked at Threshold and tells Nyx to put his hand in the cradle, or rather the hole which Nyx does and then he freaks out a moment when it flows over his arm and starts freaking out for a moment as it registers him.
Lynch elbows Nyx and suggests that Nyx authorize him which makes him confused a moment. Nyx eventually authorizes Lynch and starts asking questions starting with how defeat Godzilla. Which causes it to have to search local internet for references and starts a small wikiwalk before Lynch takes over and asks if it’s still got a zero point battery. Questions are asked about what the creature is, calling it a remnant, something from outside dimensions when the dimensions are destroyed. There’s arguments about what’s going on exactly what Zero Point Batteries are worth, how big the explosions and whatnot would be, the side effects are minimal. If they need to do it that way. There’s questions if there’s the ability to control it, which causes it to show the hole again saying it’s to give the capabilities to control the kaiju. Nyx asks repeatedly what it means until the Library explains that it’s to give access to the construct, an interdimensional device that allows access to flows of energy, otherwise known as magic. Whisper asks what it’d take to get it evicted completely, which’d require the construction of an interdimensional wormhole tuned to the kaiju’s frequency.
As the Library merges into the basement of the NOMADs, Nyx suggests pulling the battery to build the bomb while suggesting that Threshold starts working on the wormhole as well. Lynch gives him pointers on how that’d work, how one would merge the natural vibration of the kaiju with his own natural vibration of his powers. Threshold, accepting it, leaves the Library and teleports over to HQ trying to get through to get to tell them to kill the smaller creatures and starts commanding others what they have to do like he’s in command while not telling them where he’s getting his information from either. Constantly repeating himself until he finds someone that’s willing to listen to him.
Zero Point, Zero, Zero
Nyx, Threshold, Whisper, and Wirerat
Old FDNY Engine 299/Ladder 152 Building aka New Base
Monday, May 18th, 2020, 1800 hours (EST)
61-20 Utopia Pkwy, Fresh Meadows, NY 11304
Nox pulls Nyx out of the Library for a sandwich since there’s really nothing more for them to do there while Wirerat and Lynch start working on the zero point battery bomb and Whisper tries to learn Atlantean from the Library while everyone is gone, despite the dangers leaving her bleeding from multiple orifices. While working on it, Lynch disappears for a bit. At some point, Wirerat is pretty sure that there’s the smell of mint and the sound of something being wheeled into the Library. Medevac is standing over Wirerat’s shoulder commenting on how things look before Lynch comes back and apologizes before he starts talking about Wirerat’s progress. Wirerat starts asking him to explain what makes what he’s done wrong, which he does in almost toddler-like explanations until Wirerat insists that he explains it properly. It’s still way above Wirerat’s head though he’s able to get most of what he’s saying.
After about an hour, they’ve got a bomb going and Threshold has been learning how to harness his powers. He’s not even sure if he’s able to open a portal to another dimension. The question now is how they’re going to assault the thing. They’re currently on wave three of the MAPs ops and the feed is showing that the monster is starting to move. It’s time for action now. Nyx suggests that Threshold and Nox work together to try to open the portal first so they teleport with SSR on the way while Nyx, Lynch, and August are moving the bomb physically.
Whisper has been ejected from the Library’s learning pod and stumbles out into the base muttering in a foreign language that they’re unable to understand. People are looking at her funny since she’s speaking a strange language. She heads towards the command center and grabs a comm to communicate with Wirerat, though in a foreign language so no one can understand her. She’s starting to notice that everything is gibberish to her. A side effect of getting Atlantean screwed into her head, barely able to figure out their position by the icons on the tacnet map.
Kaijued III
Nyx, Threshold, Whisper, and Wirerat
Near the old SMS Concrete Building.
Monday, May 18th, 2020, 1830 hours (EST)
120-05 31st Ave, Queens, NY 11354
At the scene, the kaiju is moving slowly and shaking of its torpor. Threshold ask the skull for aid, as he’s pretty sure it can help with his powers and asks Nox for aid as well to give it a shot. Nyx, Lynch, and August are getting pretty close with the device as Nyx learns how to set off the device which is essentially press the button and run. As they watch, Threshold’s powers start forming a hole over the water with Threshold’s trademark golden sparks but also dark swirls as it moves from horizontal to vertical. He’s able to turn his portal to the exact energy of the being. The smaller creatures start flying off into the hole while the kaiju is still moving. Nyx seeing this, grabs the bomb and flips into his shadow form carrying it away and up onto the kaiju, finding at least one crystal with his shadar that has shattered in such a way that would allow him to go deeper into the beast. He starts his way into the disgusting mess. Whisper has managed to get close enough and has begun firing at the smaller creatures causing them to drop back into the portal.
Threshold looks around to find someone strong enough that might be able to knock the thing back into the portal. There’s Artillery, who has superstrength but hasn’t been able to lift it or affect it with his lasers. Threshold suggests hollowing out the ground underneath with his beams so its footing is affected and they can see it start to lose its grip as Artillery is firing away even as Nyx is searching for a place to planet the bomb. As Nyx searches, he notices a figure covered in goo in a full suit with covered helmet that immediately dodges Nyx’s attempt at binding only to reveal that it’s Lynch who was complaining that it wasn’t part of the plan and tries to find Nyx in the darkness only for Nyx to use his ventriloquism to tell Lynch that he’s all there, he’s become one with the beast which Nyx’s disturbing voice in shadow form makes even more disturbing.
They have an argument about who is going to push the button and then get out before finally agreeing that Lynch pushes the button, climbs back out with Nyx following. On the outside, Threshold starts losing control over the portal as he tries to strengthen it and a misjudgment causes it to become a black hole in the sky drawing in everyone. Whisper fights against the black hole as Wirerat’s sensors go crazy as he starts calling for evacuation. The monster is on its side with its claws digging into the concrete as it tries to keep itself from being sucked in. Threshold’s powers are still concentrating on the hole while Nox attempts to disentangle herself from Threshold’s screw up.
Aftermath
Lynch is trying his best to hold on as he digs his sword into the side of the kaiju while Nyx attempts to figure out a way to get them back to safety as his shadow warping doesn’t appear to be working. Threshold slices at the kaiju’s claws, and an enormous beam much larger than what he’s used to slices through the kaiju’s claws. Nyx, meantime, tries to tether Lynch by first covering him with a binding and then using a whip to lash him to a nearby building for safety, failing only to create a tether for himself. Somehow, as Nyx gets drawn away from them on the kaiju, Lynch’s sword turns into a whip and somehow manages to tether onto Nyx’s shadow form as the kaiju temporarily plugs the black hole and then gets pulled into.it with more debris around. Nyx starts feeling the hole as the energy affects him. Like a strong wind pushing from the other direction sort of feel. Lynch looks back at the building that’s starting to crumble and then back at Nyx, still holding onto them. His armor melts away forming a bubble around Nyx who is in midair, and then he breaks through Nyx’s shadow binding, throwing the whip away and is drawn into the singularity himself that closes upon him and the kaiju.
After Action Report (GM)
And that is it for B-Team and for the AEON campaign setting. We only got 34 sessions in. Just thirty freaking four. we played from end of July 2022 to end of February 2024. That’s 81 possible weeks meaning we only played just under every other week. Those are rookie numbers. Sigh. And it took a toll on the game and the players. Things were disjointed, hard to remember, plots melting into sand. It…was not one of my best campaign turns. But it is a poor craftsman that blames his tools. I could have done better on this one. Kept better notes. Been more through. Been more responsive. Been more prompt to sessions. Oh well. Can’t win them all.
As for the session, it wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t perfect. The dice sort of did their worst on both ends and created a lovely mess. The players were good. Everyone was active when it was their time and no one left the threads to dangle. In that respect…it was good. I wish I had had more time there is more I would have done, but this one was ready for bed so I put it there.
Other Notes
Bonus Report from Rory.
Soundtrack
“I Did It My Way (Epic Version)” by Frank Sinatra