Location: Long Beach, California, USA
Terrain: Urban
Threat Level: Low

Opponents:

• Several Human thugs, possible Metahuman influence involved

Additional Information:

• Civilians in danger area

Operatives Available:

• Fandancer
• Nightbeast
• Nightingale

---

---

Rick checked his clothes one more time as he got settled in, he was wearing a 'Texan tuxedo' of denim jacket with jeans over a debatable white shirt with standard cowboy hat and boots. He made the (declined) request for the umpteenth time for body armor, but they believed that he would ruin the armor when he used his powers while he felt there was more to him than just his powers. All in all he tipped his hat over his eyes and tried to get some rest before the fight. His powers required focus and focus came from the relaxation of a nice trip.

He pondered putting on headphones for music, but there might be more to the mission briefing or one of the others might want to talk. Far be it from him to turn away a conversation, these people he hoped to make his new family after he lost the rest when his powers manifested. Let that be a lesson to you, never go to church on Sunday if you're a mutant. It ends badly.

---

<+2 ENERGY>
<N/A>
<Rest>

---

---

Rocksmith settled into a seat in the government issue black painted van that was taking them to their first mission. Rocksmith texted his girlfriend Lily as the rest of the group settled in as well. Rocksmith didn't want Lily worrying about him, he'd promised to text Lily before and after each mission he went on so she didn't worry. Once he had sent the text, Rocksmith began to tune his magic guitar. Sparks flew of the strings as Rocksmith tested his guitar after tuning it. He'd received this guitar from The Lord of The Strings, an ancient god that created music and the great power that came with it. The Lord of The Strings ran a music shop in Rocksmith's home town. Rocksmith accidentally discovered the guitar's power and used it to fend off a bunch of robbers that tried to rob the store. The Lord of The Strings allowed Rocksmith to keep the guitar and use it's power to serve music and root out those who would abuse it's awesome power. Once he was done tuning the Guitar, Rocksmith pulled out his mobile and opened twitter. He had been in the hero business long before he joined the R.A.T.S, and he had gained a lot of fans as a result. To keep in touch with his fans, Rocksmith made a twitter page. Once he had finished on twitter, Rocksmith heard the group's handler ask if they wanted anyone else to come help. "How about that medic girl" Rocksmith said "What was her name again?...Oh yeah! It was Nightingale. Let's have nightingale with us". With that said, Rocksmith started practicing a few chords on his guitar. It never hurt to practice.

---

+1 Energy
No status effects are affecting Rocksmith right now.
Actions: Text girlfriend, tune guitar, update twitter page, request Nightingale join the team on this mission, and wait for the mission to start.

Heretic LINK
Energy; 10/10
20/2/3
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Heretic closed his eyes as the van proceeded along the cracked road. He had been receiving constant headaches for at least a week, only now had they subsided. He would much rather rest than go after a gang of low lifes and take advantage of this pristine moment, but as usual, Lady Luck just wasn't on his side.
Laying his head along the midnight shaded wall of the transport, Heretic sighed. He closed his eyes in hope of rest, only to be interrupted by a familiar sensation. The bloodlust inside him started heat to a boil, adrenaline was soon added to the pot for flavor. So, that's why his headaches had stopped, Heretic's inner demon was pleased to be on it's way to such a violent setting.

Heretic had grown up in a very rural area in Mongolia, Asia. As a child, the small, nomadic village he was born to would wander the plains and see many geographical wonders, the magnitude and grace of which could bring tears to a grown man's eyes. Life had been great in their peaceful setting, but the nomadic monks that Heretic lived with were defenseless against the coming storm.
A patch of Mongolian soldiers came across Heretic's family tribe on patrol, and soon accused them of trespassing on their national soil. Protesting, the nomads gave a small revolt. And that's the only spark the gasoline needed.
Blood drenched ground surrounded the wounded teenager, the smell of which brought both flies and demons. Imps of gore scoured the ground for souls to take to their unhallowed masters, carcasses upon carcasses of once living nomads weighed down by the lead in their torsos offered great pickings for these devious minions. They soon came across desperate little Yuki. The imps stole what small hope Heretic had, a prized commodity in hell, and left him with a new infernal heritage. Yuki could never see the lovely earth the same way again, his mind and body permanently mutated by the encounter, and his senses overwhelmed with hellish bliss.

"So, what makes these thugs so important anyways? Shouldn't the police be keeping track of minor things like this?", Heretic asked, his mouth as sassy as always.
Cracking his knuckles simultaneously, Heretic gave a slight smirk. He was urging for a fight.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actions:
Tried to take Action: Rest (Failed)
Asked Question

---

---

Flare snapped his cell phone shut, several thugs possibly meta-human with the danger of collateral. Shouldn't be too difficult, though this was Flare's first mission with R.A.T.S so heck if he knew. Transports were apparently being prepped so he could just wait around until they were ready, though it looked like they were supposed to give input on support. If there's risk of civilian danger we best have someone who can fix them up Flare thought to himself and put down his vote for Nightingale. Waiting anxiously he snapped his fingers whiffing flame into existence and then back out, to be honest he was nervous, sure he had played with his powers before, learned some tricks, but he had never fought someone with them before.

---

Actions
-Be Nervous
-Play with fire

Leaping into the state-of-the-art hypersonic transport plane Nightingale was soon in the air with her team and within what seemed like only a handful of minutes they were already on the ground in Long Beach.

It was a beautiful sunny summer's day without a cloud in the sky, but as the team made their way down the boulevard they soon came to the police barricade cordoning off the bank building. "I'm sorry, Ma'am," one of the police officers as he tried stopping them at the barrier, "This area's off-limits due to an ongoing incident."

"I know," Nightingale replied as she flashed her badge, "We're with A.E.G.I.S. We've been sent to resolve the matter."

Just then gunfire was heard from inside and the worried police officer looked back over his shoulder for a moment to check for danger before hauling the barricade aside for the metas to pass. "You're here just in time, by the sound of it." He said, smiling at the team thankfully. "I think that was the hostage negotiator we sent in to try and get the civilians out."

"They're still in there?" Nightingale asked in disbelief.

The police officer nodded his head sadly. "It all seemed to happen too quickly. One moment it was just a bunch of normal regular folks and then these two girls walked in. One of them started to play a guitar, some sort of heavy metal mix, and the other was handing out guns. Before the alarm was raised half the crowd were opening fire on the others, as if they had been brainwashed or something."

"I can see why we were called in. This definitely sounds like a metahuman outbreak." Nightingale responded, waving her team over and gesturing with her hand towards the bank doorway. "Leave the rest to us."

---

Bursting in through the door the team immediately start taking fire from the armed thugs inside. A quick headcount showed four men armed with pistols and two women armed with shotguns all holed up behind the bank counter.


A large group of hostages are sitting on the floor against the far wall, cowering for their lives. None of them seem to be in a position to help the team out in any way, and they're just as likely to do something stupid and get in the way as they are to remain where they are.


Several dead bodies are lying around the room, obviously gunned down by the hostiles. Notably in the middle of the room is the body of a plain clothes police officer wearing body armour. Not that it did him much good from the state of his head, which looks like it took a shotgun blast at close range.

---

Action: Defend - (Nightingale is now On Guard!)

---

@Genni Nightingale Action Complete
@rush99999 Rocksmith Action Complete
@SimplyJohn Bumblebee Action Complete
@Eklispe Flare Action Complete
@knighthawk Brick Action Complete
@GodOfWar Heretic Action Complete

---

---

Flare thought the scenario through as they charged into the building, from the report it seemed most likely result that the girl with the guitar had played some kind of hypnotizing noise and her accomplice had handed out the guns to the victims. Glancing at his new teammates it seemed they had someone with a guitar as well so he could probably use music as well, so hopefully the same strategy wouldn't work on them. Six bad guys all armed with guns holed up behind fortification, this seemed like a terrible idea. But hey, there were all basically super-humans right? I hope this doesn't hurt Flare thought somewhat worriedly as he charged forward hurling a fireball at one of the gunman before taking cover behind one of the pillars. "Hey bozos!" he shouted as he ducked behind his pillar waiting for his teammates to make a move, hoping his actions drew some gunfire freeing up his teammates.

---

Actions:
-Attack Gunman 1

---

---

Upon hearing the officer mentioning someone playing a guitar, Rocksmith immediately knew music makers were behind this. His blood boiled at the thought of people abusing the power of music. It made him charged into the building that much faster. "LET'S ROCK!" Rocksmith hollered as people started shooting at the team. Rocksmith then started playing and epic guitar solo that gave vigor to all his allies, only stopping when his guitar began to overheat from all the power it was using.

---

+1 Energy
No status effects are affecting Rocksmith right now.
Action: Activate We Will Rock You (Use 10 energy)
All allies of Rocksmith are now inspired!

---

---

With so many guns around Bumblebee was going to need all the agility she could manage. Firing up her jetpack she launched herself into the air, rising up above the ground as she headed for cover behind the high hanging chandeliers. From up above she had a much better view of the large bank entrance and as she contemplated her next move the aviatrix studied her opponents carefully.

---

Action: Float Like A Butterfly - (Energy -1, Bumblebee is now Levitating!)

---

---

Humid, that was the word when the doors opened, this part of L.A. was on the coast so it reminded him of Corpus Christi. First thing off was the jean jacket as he tosses it back onto the jet, leaving his wallet as well but grabbing a twenty for food later. All along the way there he kept watching all the girls wearing as little as possible, it was very relaxing until the gunfire went off.

Instinctively, Rick grabbed the nearest person to provide cover for as he put a hand to the burning hot asphalt. The ground seemed to shimmer from the heat as black rock crawled up his skin under his white shirt to add some new stains as well as giving new definition and mass to his frame. While Rick had ducked down, Brick stood back up, there was a subtle change in his ways and frame as they marched up to the bank. He waited for everyone else to come up with a better plan as he slipped his boots off, he liked his boots and didn't want them ruined.

"I'll cover the hostages first and see if I can block the way for any of them to get out. Like a couch or a table to block line of sight-"

"Hey bozos!"

And then the hothead opens fire. Now not given the chance for debate, he enacts his expressed plan by dashing over to the far wall, aiming for anything big but not bolted to the floor to shoulder check it into coming with him to provide cover. If he managed to get this far, he would see about taking one willing person and getting them out with himself as cover.

Wounded were first priority, then children, after that would be anyone not behind cover after either of the first two were taken out. He eyeballed the body armor, but it would be too difficult to get to for the moment. As their ally provided cover fire, he felt himself inspired by the music of their guitarist, he was certain he could help these people get to safety now.

---

<+1 ENERGY| Inspired: +7 health,+1 defense, +1 attack| Armored: +5 Defense >
<No status effects are affecting this character right now.>
<Action: Stone Skin - (Energy -6, Brick is now Armored!)>

Heretic LINK
Energy 8/10
25/3/5
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the last to burst into the fray, Heretic's mind and body were buzzing with rancid thoughts of carnage.
'So, that's why they're so important', Heretic thought, Snatching a police barricade and improvising it into a riot shield as he bolted into the gunfight inside the building. Warping flames twirled off Heretic as the violence around him aroused his psychotic excitement, the embers drifting off and encouraging his fellows in the same sadistic way.
Throwing the now battered shield into the group of gunmen/gun women as a diversion, Heretic diverted his attention to flare as he slid into more supportive cover beside him.
"Damn it, I wanted to crack some skulls! These guys are just hostages turned hostile!", Heretic shouted over the crackling of bullet shells, referring to the brainwashed gunners.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actions:
Used Minor Mutation (Heretic and allies are now Empowered)

Moving in cautiously, with their powers coming to life around them, the team moved into the bank building and started to engage the thugs holed up inside.

One of the shotgun wielding women seemed to be in the process of reloading her weapon, and while ducking behind the heavy wooden counter quickly slipped a fresh cartridge into her pump-action shotgun before priming it for use.

Nightingale dodges into cover behind a pillar and defends herself while assessing the situation.

Gunman 1 was caught by surprise by Flare's fireball and barely got into cover in time to avoid taking the full power of the blast right in the face before quickly returning fire.

Bursting into an epic guitar solo Rocksmith raised the spirits of the team before collapsing in exhaustion, unable to play another note until he's relaxed a little.

Bumblebee takes to the air and surveys the enemy from above, spotting Smoke Bombs hidden behind the counter close to the shotgun women.

Brick steps in front of the unarmed civilians and activates his power to defend them

Heretic summons hellish support

The thugs open fire at random on the heroes as they burst through the door and head for cover, their shots raining across the room with reckless disregard for the innocent hostages.

---

A large group of hostages are sitting on the floor against the far wall, cowering for their lives. None of them seem to be in a position to help the team out in any way, and they're just as likely to do something stupid and get in the way as they are to remain where they are.


Several dead bodies are lying around the room, obviously gunned down by the hostiles. Notably in the middle of the room is the body of a plain clothes police officer wearing body armour. Not that it did him much good from the state of his head, which looks like it took a shotgun blast at close range.

---

Action: Combat Triage; -5 Energy

---

@Genni Nightingale Action Complete
@rush99999 Rocksmith Action Complete
@SimplyJohn Bumblebee Action Complete
@Eklispe Flare Action Complete
@knighthawk Brick Action Complete
@GodOfWar Heretic Action Complete
@Behemoth542 Sigma Action Complete

---

---

Rocksmith stopped playing as his guitar began to overheat. Just as he shook the pain out of his hand, the thugs began shooting at him. A musical force field sprung up to protect Rocksmith and stopped some of the damage, and Nightingale's Combat Triage left behind nothing more that a few scratches. "I knew bringing you along was a good idea" Rocksmith said to Nightingale before facing Gungirl 1. "Let's see how tough you are without that gun!" Rocksmith said before playing a powerful chord on his guitar. The chord generated a shock wave that knocked the shotgun out of Gungirl 1's reach.

---

+1 Energy
Rocksmith is currently empowered.
Action: Disarm Gungirl 1.

---

---

> System Offline
> Rebooting system.
> Rebooting system.
> Rebooting system.
> System online.
> Visual Receptors: Operational.
> Sound Receptors: Operational.
> Locomotive Module: Operational.
> Combat Module: Operational.
> Weapon Module: Operational.
> Secondary modules: Operational.
> Energy levels at 100%
> Mission: Received.
> Mission status: Incomplete.
> Ally/Enemy parameters received.
> Ballistic Overload Suit Sigma is Active.

The single, teal eye of the robot slowly starts to grow brighter as the automaton's AI performs the necessary check ups before joining the fight. Although the mechanisms where fairly new, the system was outdated and therefore a bit slow, which led to the late activation of the B.O.S.S. It stood up, looked around and slowly walked inside the bank, looking around and labeling the different beings it saw as allies or enemies according to the information it has been given.

When it entered the establishment and saw the scene, Sigma's Combat Module activated and it inmediately moved for cover while firing his gun at one of the shotgun wielding enemies, recognizing them as the biggest potential threat against the hostages due to the increased chance of collateral damage.

---

Sigma is Online.
Attack Gungirl 1

Heretic LINK
Energy 3/10
25/3/5
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bullets Ricocheted about the building in a blazing display, Heretic's eyes tracked the burning rays of this fiery splendor indefinitely. Yet, a stray bullet soon grazed his shoulder, causing Heretic to stifle a groan as his odd-timed daydream collapsed.
'I gotta keep focused', Heretic self-scolded, as his sight drifted to the hostages huddling behind Brick. "I need cover!", Heretic Announced as the battle persisted in it's blinding state. He composed himself in a marathon-like sprinting position behind the pillar, the hellspawn's skin color starting to morph into an intense red in the process. Beastly visages and light, luring whispers radiated from Heretic, his skin suddenly Consisting of crimson leather.
Soon, the surprise entrance of Sigma and revival of Rocksmith seemed to be as much of a reply as any to Heretic's frantic distress call. Using the new commotion as a distraction, Heretic aimed for the assualtant closest to the hostages (Gunman 4) to be the victim of his swift take down.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action:
Used Demonic Chorus (Heretic's attacks now have the Bleeding and Weaponized status effects for the next 2 rounds)

---

---

Flare cursed, those bullets had stung. It seemed like it was a good call to bring Nightingale so far as the wounds the shotgun blast dealt vanished. He watched a blast of sound fly past him slamming into one of the shotgun toting females and disarming her. Well what he was going to do next was probably going to be very painful and was quite stupid as well. As the gun flew out of her hands Flare jumped into the air, caught and landed in the midst of the bad guys behind the counter. Not having any expertise with guns himself and figuring if he used it he was more liable to hurt himself he instead settling for yelling and having his body erupt in fire. It was an attempt to intimidate and melt the gun to useless junk.

---

Flare is currently:
-Inspired
-Empowered

Actions:
-Move to melee range
-Attack Gun

---

---

As far as Brick was concerned, he had one job and that was to the humans. Unless Nightingale specifically told him to break off from his actions, he took up the first hostage to remove them from the bank, two if he was strong enough and three if one could hold onto his neck. He didnt worry about himself for the moment, he knew he could take their small arms fire for now, but where was the siren causing the chaos?

---

<+1 ENERGY| Inspired: +1 defense, +1 attack 1/3| Armored: +5 Defense 2/3rounds |Empowered: +1 attack>
<No status effects are affecting this character right now.>
<Action: Remove Hostage(s), I assume up to three since he has an attack of 3 at the moment which could represent his strength to accomplish a task>

---

---

Wincing as the shotgun blast peppered her leather flight suit Bumblebee quickly pulled out her blasters to return fire, only to see the woman who'd attacked her dodging back into cover to reload. Switching targets the aviatrix sent a stream of energy blasts heading towards the second woman, who was just rising up to level her shotgun towards the innocent civilians below.

---

Recover +1 Energy

Bumblebee is currently Levitating! -1 Energy
Bumblebee is currently Inspired! +1 Attack, +2 Defence
Bumblebee is currently Empowered! +1 Attack

Action: Attack Gungirl 1

Mostly sticking to cover the party continue to engage the thugs across the bank as Brick starts to try and move the civilians to safety.

One of the shotgun wielding women seemed to be in the process of reloading her weapon, and while ducking behind the heavy wooden counter quickly slipped a fresh cartridge into her pump-action shotgun before priming it for use.

As she rising up from behind the counter Gungirl 1 has her shotgun blown out of her hands by Rocksmith, she immediately dives across the floor after in, grasping it tightly as she brings it round ready to fire.

Sigma steps through the bank doorway and opens fire on Gungirl 1 as she scrambles across the floor for her weapon.

Heretic summons demonic assistance

Flare destroys Gungirl 1's shotgun

Brick escorts Hostages to safety

Bumblebee shoots at Gungirl 1 from above.

The thugs lean out from behind their cover, pouring a hail of gunshots across the room with reckless disregard for the innocent hostages.

Darting out of cover Nightingale quickly leaps across the room, bringing her blade around in a vicious attack to strike at Gungirl 2

---

A large group of hostages are sitting on the floor against the far wall, cowering for their lives. None of them seem to be in a position to help the team out in any way, and they're just as likely to do something stupid and get in the way as they are to remain where they are.


Several dead bodies are lying around the room, obviously gunned down by the hostiles. Notably in the middle of the room is the body of a plain clothes police officer wearing body armour. Not that it did him much good from the state of his head, which looks like it took a shotgun blast at close range.

---

Recover +1 Energy

Nightingale is currently Inspired! +1 Attack, +1 Defence
Nightingale is currently Empowered! +1 Attack

Action: Attack Gungirl 2

---

@Genni Nightingale Action Completed
@rush99999 Rocksmith Action Completed
@SimplyJohn Bumblebee Action Completed
@Eklispe Flare Action Completed
@knighthawk Brick Action Completed
@GodOfWar Heretic Action Completed
@Behemoth542 Sigma Action Completed

---

---

It worked! The plan was working! While a bit frantic, he had managed to get the a lot more people out as they lemming-ed their way from the firefight to freedom. But as he got to the police, an odd thought struck him. He remembered watching this old movie from the 90's with his grandpa about a guy who dresses like a clown to rob a bank then takes off the clown costume and exits as a hostage to get away.

"Officer, I want you to detain all of these hostages. We haven't found the meta yet and she might be hiding among the victims. Have an officer, with earmuffs on, stay with the people."

And with that, he ran back into the fray to rescue another dozen hostages. His skin was chipping away from all the gunshots but should hold out a little longer, sadly he saw two hostages had fresh wounds. He pondered between them or not before he made a decision: fresh wounds could wait, best to get the previously injured out first.

"Nightengale, new wounded."

---

<+1 ENERGY| Inspired: +1 defense, +1 attack 1/5| Armored: +5 Defense 2/3rounds>
<No status effects are affecting this character right now.>
<Action: Remove Hostages, 12 Defense>