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 . . .
Nox shows up right next to Nyx looking terrified, saying that He’s here. It’s not Warlock, it’s someone else named Erebus who isn’t necessarily a Greek god but might as well be. As the darkness drops in a dome over the entirety of NYC, the sensory abilities of those within the darkness are dampened. Some communication between Nox and the rest, they’re able to determine that Erebus is a famous criminal, a known mercenary, a real powerhouse in terms of darkness controlling. They’d normally have several super teams combatting him if his powers are in full swing, and they are in full swing at the moment. Within the dome of darkness, he’s a not unlike a god in his control within, darmpenings senses, summoning darkness things. There’re rumors that he’d been working with the Chinese Emperor lately and had a history of being a CIA trainee. There’re some rumors that he was the one that killed off the entire prison in the Michigan Lake.
Darker than Black
Nyx, Threshold, and Wirerat
Old FDNY Engine 299/Ladder 152 Building aka New Base
Friday, May 8th, 2020, 1630 hours (EST)
61-20 Utopia Pkwy, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365
Threshold’s experience knows that he was an actual CIA asset as part of a team of a darkness manipulator. He knows that within the dome, after day of it being set up, can mimic other abilities and permanently steal the abilities of other darkness manipulators. Threshold spreads this information among the team and warps upwards until he can actually see above the dome and tries to determine where the center of the dome is, somewhere in Manhattan. Threshold hopes that The Valiants will be fighting him but still suggests getting some recon in if they can. Wirerat really wants to find some way to get their ability to see, or even sense things, beyond a tenth their normal limit. Nyx, meanwhile, is just watching everyone stumble around in the darkness with his vision working normally.
Sonar doesn’t really seem to make a functional replacement for vision. Though he does have an idea, that while he cannot create something to negate the darkness, he can create an augmented reality overlay using the existing data and map out something to put on a HUD to give them an idea where things are at. Nox, however, isn’t taking things too kindly and is curled up underneath a desk in Wirerat’s lab. Meanwhile, Threshold tries to get in contact with HQ to inform them that Erebus appears to be in Manhattan. The HQ orders them to help keep the general peace and trying to figure out how to offset the communication and sensory problems. Wirerat starts going through multiple ideas to shield out interference. Nyx offers the sheet of orichalcum foil he’d been carrying around in his pocket with a bunch of discarded wrappers. Turning it into a tube and running some low frequencies finding that it blocks out nearly 90% of the interference.
Threshold scans frequencies with his powers as Wirerat creates a neural interface to allow for recording everything that Threshold is viewing with his spatial senses. Wirerat determines the best thing to use would be radio transmitters made from orichalcum but he doesn’t have any on hand. There’s some, though, at a Navy Militia Base nearby to their North in Flushing. Wirerat convinces Legerdemain to go out and get him some from there. In the hospital, Threshold sees light pushing back the darkness, seeing various bubbles of light floating around the hospital. Nyx keeps going around the Flushing neighborhood, finding more and more of the remnants and destroying them, helping people out as he comes across them. Nox, meanwhile, has dragged a blanket under the desk with her and a bag of Cheetos, only barely calmer than before she started.
Aftermath
Nyx uses his Shadow View to look over Flushing as the only one able to do so. There’s not much in the way of crime, however there is something out there with black, un-flesh-like flesh and multiple, non-symmetrical limbs and mouths chewing on a woman’s legs, still alive and screaming. It’s not the worst thing that Nyx has ever seen, so he relays the information to the rest of the team before slipping out into the darkness with Threshold porting behind him.
Threshold’s immediate reaction is to shout at it only for it to lunge at Threshold instead and dodges backwards, countering with his obliteration jet, lopping off an arm and a good portion of torso. Nyx, meanwhile, uses a shadow whip to entangle the monster’s legs, dropping it prone only for it to try to spit something at Nyx only to get cracked with a whip. Threshold obliterates it the rest of the way until it stops moving with only half the body left. Threshold rushes over to the woman and teleports her and himself to the emergency room to start working on her there. Nyx, meanwhile, gets to observe what it is, determining that it’s a remnant. Stories from Warlock come back to him, it’s something from outside of reality that must have either been summoned there or been part of some kind of transdimensional break. Nyx can only blame Threshold as he cannot think of another person that deals with dimensions immediately. Over the next few minutes, it dissolves into goo that Nyx determines is probably harmless.
After Action Report (GM)
Another short session because of the weather, but we’re back in the saddle! B-Team was really getting into it and I appreciated the hell out of it. There wasn’t any really dull moments and everything just flowed from one instance to another. I was happy. We argued a bit about the pronunciation of Erebus and I got to reintroduce a critter from the early seasons of AEON. The callback was good.
I think I would have liked more time, but we can build back up to that. Got to get that momentum so I can start crossing over the teams. C-Team is about ready for this, but E-Team isn’t. Not yet.
Other Notes
Bonus Report from Rory.
Soundtrack
“Slippin Into Darkness” by War
“Bury a Friend” by Billie Elish
“Fight the Good Fight” by Triumph (Nyx’s Theme)