The World In The Aftermath (Formerly A World Less Magical)

[Davies]

And that's that for the ancients, for a while. Next week, we head out to space for some noteworthy members of the Last Men Standing, followed by a trip to find out what's become of the Shadow School in recent years.

[Davies]

Feena


Even in civilizations as devoted to self-control as the Gynesians are -- perhaps especially in such civilizations -- there will occasionally come along those who reject the values that their parents and elders attempt to instill in them. Sixteen years* ago, Feena -- properly K'zn F'na G'eru -- was one such child. She'd heard all about how the way of the Gynesian people was designed to protect themselves from those who feared them because of their powers, and her takeaway was that there were people out there who had cause to fear them. She decided that she would use those powers to take those people for all they were worth, since their fear would surely prevent them from understanding what she was doing.

A year after she left her home world, Feena came to the conclusion that she might be underestimating the Technate's ability to understand what they feared. Turned out that many of them actually had a fairly good sense of when they were being conned by someone with psychic powers. Unfortunately, she reached this conclusion when she was already being transported to serve a sentence of rehabilitative confinement for various charges of fraud.

As it happened, the facility where she was imprisoned was the same one where Aun Taxad had been placed, and where Vittara had arranged to be sent as she hunted him. Feena didn't find this all out until the very end of her time there, when she took advantage of a general escape to get out of the prison, accidentally following the same course as they had, and chancing to witness the start of what she thought was a very strange conversation. Puzzled by it, she tried to read their minds to get some context, and as they were focused on each other, she was able to do so.

And so Feena learned about Daath, and the Dark Side, and all the millions of terrible things that lurked beyond the borders of the Technate. It left her reeling, and even after the two she'd spied upon departed, she remained where she was, trying to process what she'd just learned. As it happened, she still hadn't quite reached the point where she was ready to get moving again by the time that the BLE's watchdogs found her and returned her to the facility.

But maybe that was a blessing in disguise. Maybe she was being given time to figure things out. From then on, she started taking rehabilitation much more seriously, and actually managed to complete the process within six years*. Released on her own recognizance, she promptly tossed the contact information for the job she was supposed to take afterwards and sought out a way to join the Last Men Standing, and has served with them ever since.

Feena has, within the last three years*, found herself the somewhat reluctant leader of a small action team of the Lasters who are regarded as some of their top agents. Hallandar considered sending them to Earth as part of the group meant to learn from the superpowers there, but ultimately decided on a different group. Instead of working on the front, their missions take them all over the Technate and nearby systems, since the fight against the Dark Side requires unconventional tactics.

In terms of her powers, Feena attempts to present herself as a highly trained empath, who's able to discern people's emotions, shape hallucinations based on them, and heal wounds by taking their pain into herself. Only those whom she trusts completely, such as her teammates, know that she is capable of doing much more detailed psychic probes and inducing emotions in others that are so overpowering that they leave people stunned, as well as creating an 'obscurity field' around herself and others. She's also an excellent con-artist, though she usually employs these skills to recognize when the opposition is pulling scams instead of pulling them herself.

One thing that Feena sometimes worries about is the possibility that the major decisions in her life, such as joining the Lasters, aren't really her own, but result from her picking up on the emotions of others. When those around her are angry, she gets angry; when they're frightened, so is she. She does have some control over this, else she could never have left the contentment of Aganesh in the first place. But does she have enough control?

Feena -- PL 9

Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 3 | DEX 4 | FGT 3 | INT 4 | AWE 7 | PRE 3

Powers:
Basic Telepathy: Comprehend Languages 3, Affects Others and Self, Perception Area; Mental Communication 2 - 25 points
Psychic Talents: Array (28 points)

• Emotional Influence: Perception Ranged Cumulative Affliction 6 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Subtle, Variable (Emotions) - 1 point
• Empathic Healing: Perception Range Empathic Healing 9 - 1 point
• Hallucinations: Illusions 6 (all senses), Feedback, Resistible by Will, Selective - 1 point
• Mind Reading: Cumulative Mind Reading 9, Subtle - 28 points
• Stealth: Concealment 9 (all senses but mental), Affects Others and Self, Burst Area, Passive, Resistible by Will, Selective - 1 point

Shielded Mind: Sustained Impervious Will 9 - 9 points

Advantages:
Attractive, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 5, Evasion, Fascinate (Deception), Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Skill Mastery (Deception), Taunt.

Equipment:
Blaster Pistol (Ranged Damage 5) and 15 other points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+7), Deception 8 (+11), Expertise: Galactic 4 (+8), Insight 3 (+10), Investigation 4 (+8), Perception 3 (+10), Persuasion 4 (+7), Ranged Combat: Blaster 5 (+9), Sleight of Hand 5 (+9), Stealth 4 (+7), Treatment 2 (+6), Vehicles 4 (+8).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +7 (Close Damage 1)
Blaster +9 (Ranged Damage 5)
Emotional Influence -- (Perception Range Will 6)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 7, Fortitude 4, Toughness 7/2, Will 11

Totals:
Abilities 54 + Powers 66 + Advantages 15 + Skills 25 + Defenses 16 = 178 points

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Emotional Sensitivity (acts in the way that other people are feeling.) Prejudice (psychic.)

[Davies]

Bluehawk


The clean-up after a major space battle can be almost as dangerous as a battle itself. In some ways, the Last Men Standing have it easier than other most other forces, since the Dark Side don't generally bother with escape pods, and so the Lasters are usually able to retrieve their own pods without running into opposition ones. They still have to deal with various sorts of unexploded munitions and wrecked ships, many of which qualify as unexploded munitions of even greater destructive capability. And, very rarely, they discover oddities.

Six years ago, during the cleanup after the massive battle that the Dark Side waged against the Lasters and the Powerhouse, one such oddity was discovered. Drifting through the void at a fairly high velocity, it was a small ship that matched no known Technate or Dark Side profile. The recovery crew slowed it down and boarded it, finding it to be a wreck, empty but for a single passenger in coldsleep. He, too, didn't resemble any species known to them, but they woke him up just the same after taking precautions.

For a wonder, the blue feathered bird-like alien didn't attack his would-be rescuers, but he also didn't speak any known language. A psychic was needed to establish communication, and Feena got the assignment. Through her powers, she learned that he was using the name Bytytl, and was from a world that was only beginning to explore its own solar system. Bytytl had volunteered for a supersoldier project and been one of the only successes, but before he could be given an assignment, something had gone wrong. He'd been launched into space ahead of a disaster that was enveloping his world, and suspected that he might be the only survivor of his species -- hence his name, which means 'the Last of Us.'

Wanting -- needing -- to put his talents to use, and to pay back the life debt that he felt he owed, Bytytl (or Bluehawk, to use the nickname he's picked up) volunteered to join the Lasters, and demonstrated considerable military acumen in the months that followed. He ended up assigned to Feena's action team, where he serves as their primary pilot and gunner, in addition to being a very tough hand-to-hand combatant and guerilla warrior. He can also fly in most atmospheres, though it takes a moment to unfurl his wings from their usually folded position.

However, Bluehawk's time with Feena's team has led him to the discovery that he is not, in fact, the last of his species. But this is not a good thing, as he has recognized the Vaask spymaster known as Ennessea as someone from their mutual homeworld, and regards him as a mortal enemy. He has refused to discuss what exactly Ennessea did, but the rumor that his adversary is in the area has led to him going off-mission to try and hunt the other down. So far, this hasn't caused any serious harm or mission failures, but it's only going to get worse as time goes by.

Bluehawk -- PL 9

Abilities:
STR 6 | STA 6 | AGL 5 | DEX 4 | FGT 7 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 1

Powers:
Keen Eyesight: Senses 3 (extended 2 rapid vision) - 3 points
Shriek: Cone Area Affliction 9 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed and Auditory Impaired, Stunned and Auditory Disabled, Incapacitated & Auditory Unaware), Extra Condition, Hearing Dependent - 18 points
Talons: Strength-based Damage 1 - 1 point
Wings: Flight 6 (120 MPH), Wings, Activation (Move Action, -1) - 5 points

Advantages:
Chokehold, Defensive Roll, Favored Environment (aerial), Equipment 8, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Language (Technate Standard, [native is unknown]), Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
Autoblaster (Ranged Multiattack Damage 8, Accurate) and 15 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9), Athletics 4 (+10), Close Combat: Talons 3 (+10), Expertise: Galactic 8 (+9), Expertise: Military 8 (+9), Investigation 6 (+7), Perception 6 (+8), Ranged Combat: Blaster 4 (+8), Technology 6 (+7), Stealth 6 (+11), Vehicles 7 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +7 (Close Damage 6)
Talons +10 (Close Damage 7)
Blaster Rifle +10 (Ranged Damage 8)
Shriek -- (Cone Area Fortitude 9)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 10, Fortitude 8, Toughness 8/6, Will 6

Totals:
Abilities 64 + Powers 27 + Advantages 17 + Skills 31 + Defenses 13 = 152

Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Nemesis (Ennessea.) Only Understands Languages. Temper.

[Davies]

Mashiya


A bit more than a century* ago, on a planet named Trantia, a group of savants embarked on a project to create, through genetic engineering -- geneforging, in their own idiom -- a humanoid lifeform of vast cosmic power. They combined genetic material from a variety of sources -- the Albadine, the Gynesians, possibly the Dhakimites and material taken from Aperion, perhaps even material gathered from the tombs of the Olympians -- to create this being. Their motives for doing so are somewhat unclear, but it seems likely that they intended to use their creation as a weapon to seize control of Trantia and rule it.

However, such intentions were forgotten when the Konan Armada arrived in Trantia's star system and began attacking its outlying planets. As that happened, a majority of the enclave decided to unleash their superbeing against the Konan to prevent Trantia's conquest. One of them, Abnedius, objected to this, as he did not believe that their creation had not reached a sufficient level of development to survive such a conflict, much less triumph.

Abnedius' protests fell on deaf ears, and so he felt compelled to act against the wishes of his fellows. He stole their creation's birth matrix and fled from Trantia just before the Konan's final assault on the planet. Abnedius then spent the remaining decades in an asteroid laboratory within the Technate, doing nothing other than monitoring the growth of the superbeing, until such time as she was ready to be born.

At least, that is the story that Abnedius told Mashiya, decades later. She has reason to doubt the veracity of this account, as she realized, soon after her 'birth', some twenty years* ago, that Abndedius was a self-serving liar. Much of it, such as her origins on Trantia and the sources of her genetic material, can be independently verified, but the motives supposedly involved are very questionable, and it seems likely that Abnedius was engaged in a wide variety of dubious activities during the interval.

His greatest mistake was to underestimate the intelligence of his own creation, and to give her unfettered access to texts which allowed her to form her own ideas about life and the universe. As such, when he commanded her to travel to a Technate colony in the same system as their asteroid, and engage in a display of power there, she realized that he was likely trying to engage in extortion. Thus, she obeyed his orders only by traveling there, briefly inspecting it, and then continuing on her journey without ever looking back.

Of course, having abandoned her original purpose in life, she was left with the problem of finding a new one. For about a decade*, she satisfied that need by exploring the universe, though generally avoiding contact with other sapient life in the process. Her instincts slowly drew her to the regions of the Technate that were under siege by the Dark Side, as the warp drives of their vessels triggered her 'cosmic awareness' in ways that other hyperdrives did not.

What she saw of the Dark Side disgusted her, but she was uncertain whether she should oppose them or not; flight seemed a much more reasonable option. On discovering the existence of beings who did oppose them, however, she found herself drawn towards the Lasters' side of the struggle. Through discussions with Hallandar, Mashiya gradually came to an understanding of the idea that if she did turn away from what she saw, she would effectively be giving her approval to the Dark Side's activities. Thus, she joined the conflict.

Mashiya generally acts as the 'big gun' of Feena's action team, able to fly faster, shoot harder, and generally take more than any of her fellows. She also helps them to determine where they need to go through the use of her cosmic awareness. She is particularly attuned to the opening of any portals used by agents of the Metropolitan, which are used for a great deal of covert villainy throughout the Technate and nearby worlds.

Mashiya's greatest weakness is that, while knowledgable about the universe, she is both very young and highly inexperienced in dealing with other people. She's also somewhat headstrong, and used to making decisions for herself without considering the needs of others who might be affected by them. While she listens to the advice that she's given by the other members of her team, she has a tendency to apply that advice in situations where it wasn't intended. Perhaps even more than this, though, as her team's big gun, she has no real subtlety, which can cause any number of problems for them.

She also has another problem she knows nothing about -- infuriated by her desertion of him, Abnedius has made his way to Daath and is beginning to slowly rise in the Dark Side's hierarchy.

Mashiya -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR 10/0 | STA 8 | AGL 5 | DEX 4 | FGT 8 | INT 2 | AWE 5 | PRE 3

Powers:
Born of the Stars: Immunity 10 [life support]; Impervious Toughness 8 - 18 points
Cosmic Attunement: Mental Communication 1; Comprehend Languages 3; Senses 7 (hyper-extended 3 cosmic awareness) - 21 points
Cosmic Power: Array (20 points)

• Cosmic Blasts: Ranged Damage 10 - 20 points
• Cosmic Might: Enhanced Strength 10 - 1 point
• Cosmic Shaping: Create 10, Feedback, Moveable, Stationary - 1 point
• Cosmic Speed: Enhanced Flight 10 (500,000 MPH) - 1 point
• Cosmic Vision: Remote Sensing 10 (visual; 1000 miles) - 1 point

Cosmic Traveler: Flight 8 (500 MPH); Movement 2 [space-travel]) - 20 points

Power Stunts:
Cosmic Burst: Ranged Burst Area Damage 6
Cosmic Grasp: Ranged Affliction 9 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Damage; Hindered & Vulnerable, Defenseless & Immobilized), Extra Condition, Limited Degree, Reversible
Cosmic Transmutation: Transform 4 (12 lbs)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Eidetic Memory, Equipment 3, Evasion, Fearless, Improved Initiative, Move-by Action.

Equipment:
15 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Expertise: Galactic 7 (+9), Expertise: Philosophy 6 (+8), Expertise: Science 5 (+7), Perception 6 (+11), Ranged Combat: Cosmic Power 4 (+8).

Offense:
Initiative +9
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 10/0)
Cosmic Blast +8 (Ranged Damage 10)

Defense:
Dodge 12, Parry 10, Fortitude 9, Toughness 8, Will 7.

Totals:
Abilities 70 + Powers 83 + Advantages 9 + Skills 14 + Defenses 12 = 188 points

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Nemesis (Abnedius.) Overconfident and Inexperienced. Prejudice (geneforged.) Unusual Biochemistry (odd reactions to food, drugs, scents, etc.)

Note: Despite the armored appearance of her normal battle outfit, it's made of ordinary materials and doesn't provide her with any additional protection. It's costume armor, not the real thing.

[RainOnTheSun]

Note: Despite the armored appearance of her normal battle outfit, it's made of ordinary materials and doesn't provide her with any additional protection. It's costume armor, not the real thing.

Sometimes I want to make an invulnerable character who wears "real" armor that doesn't provide any extra protection but will stay in one piece for longer than a normal costume. It's nice to see more about Daath, I wish the game had lasted.

[Davies]

Sometimes I want to make an invulnerable character who wears "real" armor that doesn't provide any extra protection but will stay in one piece for longer than a normal costume.

Well, since there's no rule for damaging costumes, I'd say that would be a good Feature. Mashiya's armor usually gets torn up about as much as your typical anime heroine's outfit, though.

[Davies]

Heluz Tek


While the Chiraben branch of humanity produces fewer mutant examples than the Terran branch, due both to environmental considerations and historical ones, the species is populous enough that there are probably about as many mutants, spread over all the worlds of the Technate, as there are on Earth. Generally, the lives of these people are not particularly happy ones. The attitudes of the Technate's majority culture towards individuals with innate powers are not favorable, even though much has been done in the recent past to change that.

Heluz Tek was born about thirty years* ago as the middle child of a large family on Bogoin, a heavily industrial world in the Technate's core. Even as a child, his physical difference was obvious, as he would race through meals and often accidentally consume parts of the utensils used to serve them. Fear of the possibility that he might hurt a classmate with his abilities led his family elders to keep Heluz out of the educational system and put him to work at an early age at their restaurant business, initially as kitchen staff and later -- when his talent for cooking emerged -- as a chef.

Right up until he was nineteen years* of age, Heluz would actually have considered himself to be living his best possible life. Unfortunately, that's also when his grandfather passed away, and control of the family business passed to one of his aunts who possessed a greater than typical aversion towards mutants, and had a personal grudge towards Heluz's parents. She presented the family with an ultimatum -- either the mutant went, or she did, taking with her the bulk of the family's wealth. To their credit, the rest of the family seriously considered standing up to this demand, but Heluz independently decided that he couldn't let them go through those troubles, and left home with his handful of personal possessions.

For about three years* he drifted through Bogoin's lower cities, sometimes managing to find work as a cook for a brief while before events resulted in his exposure and expulsion. During this time, he learned how to fight rather effectively, taking advantage of the fact that his mutation made him significantly stronger, tougher and faster than most of his fellows. His most frequent opponents during this time were representatives of various Vaskhane-affiliated gangs who were interested in putting his talents to work for them, a prospect which didn't appeal to Heluz at all.

At the end of this time, he happened to go through the routine of having a brief period of employment at a stardock restaurant that was frequented by some Lasters, and to be fired in their hearing. As they'd quite liked the food he made, they offered him a job. Heluz hesitated, uncertain that the Lasters weren't just another criminal element, but the fact that they were offering him work as a cook rather than as a soldier persuaded him to sign on. He worked throughout the Laster fleet, eventually becoming the head cook aboard their flagship, the Parodigue.

While happy with his new life, Heluz was all too aware that his fellows were fighting for their lives while he worked in relative comfort. As such, when Feena came to him with the proposal that he join the team she was putting together, he hesitated again, but ultimately agreed to take on the position of its chef, as well as lending them his muscle and powers when necessary. He also works to keep the team's morale up, which tests his patience from time to time.

Heluz's greatest weakness is probably his lack of a broad education. Unlike the rest of the team, he has no translation gear and speaks only Technate Standard, and doesn't know much about the variety of species and cultures that exist within the Technate -- outside of their nutritional requirements and culinary traditions, at least. On at least a few occasions, he's applied that knowledge in surprising ways, but for the most part he finds himself being the one to ask the questions everyone else has already had answered. He doesn't enjoy that.

Heluz Tek -- PL 9

Abilities:
STR 5 | STA 6 | AGL 5 | DEX 4 | FGT 8 | INT 2 | AWE 1 | PRE 2

Powers:
Bite: Enhanced Advantage 1 (Weapon Break); Penetrating 5 on Strength Damage; Quickness 6, Limited to eating - 9 points
Corrosive Saliva: Linked Affects Objects Weaken Toughness 8, Grab-based; Linked Damage 8, Grab-based - 12 points
Digest Anything: Immunity 2 (poison, starvation & thirst) - 2 points
Hound's Nose: Senses 5 (acute analytical tracking olfactory) - 5 points
Unbreakable Bones: Immunity 20 (bludgeoning damage), Limited to Half Effect; Impervious Toughness 6, Limited to Physical - 13 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Equipment 6, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown, Weapon Break.

Equipment:
Holdout Blaster (Ranged Damage 4), and 22 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11), Athletics 6 (+11), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+12), Expertise: Cooking 11 (+13), Insight 7 (+8), Intimidation 10 (+12), Perception 9 (+10), Ranged Combat: Blaster 6 (+10), Stealth 4 (+9), Technology 6 (+7), Vehicles 5 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +9
Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 5)
Corrosive Saliva +8 (Close Damage 8 and Weaken Toughness 8)
Blaster +10 (Close Damage 4)

Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 12, Fortitude 9, Toughness 6, Will 7.

Totals:
Abilities 66 + Powers 41 + Advantages 18 + Skills 37 + Defenses 18 = 180 points

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Cynical and Sarcastic. Prejudice (mutant.)

[Davies]

Mekkanel


Constructed roughly a century ago in a factory on Muraddin, Mekkanel became a citizen of the Technate when robots were emancipated in response to their outlawing in the Crimson Imperium. In contrast to the views of some entities on the subject, he does not consider being granted freedom to make up for the decades of slavery that he personally endured, much less the millennium of slavery that robots had suffered before that. It all left an extraordinarily bad taste in his gustatory sensor and little if any trust in the benevolence of the Technate government, so when his former best friend suggested that they sign up for the Space Agency, Mekkanel decided to find a new best friend.

It wasn't easy to do, and so he made his way through the Technate's underworld, frequently working for organics but only on a temporary basis and always making sure to get paid upfront before he did anything for anybody. Many of these jobs were on the far side of ethical -- to say of nothing of their gross amorality -- but as long as they involved organics preying on organics, he couldn't be bothered to care. Or at least that's what he told himself whenever he had trouble motivating himself to leave the recharging nook when the cycle was over.

Around twenty-seven years* ago, Mekkanel was hired to do some security upgrades for the computers of some new mercenary outfit with a frankly dumb name. He was a bit bewildered that these so-called Last Men Standing wanted so much redundant security for their gear. Okay, having your computers hacked while you were engaged in a space battle would suck, but who were they expecting to have to fight off, Cerebron? He mentioned these suspicions to the tall bald Albadine who was paying him, and was further bewildered when the organic laughed.

Hallandar proceeded to tell him about the Dark Side. It was pretty horrific stuff, even if Mekkanel was inclined to think only half of what he was being told could possibly be true. However, it wasn't any of his business what one group of organics chose to do to a different group, and he said as much to Hallandar. Hallandar proceeded to tell him about how many of the armies who'd shattered his world had been composed of androids ... likely enslaved androids, like those in the Imperium. That stung, but it still wasn't any of his business. He had enough trouble looking out for himself!

"I imagine that's what anyone who was asked about the notion of freeing robots thought, for quite some time," Hallandar replied.

So it was that Mekkanel wound up in the first full-time job of his existence, as the effective chief engineer of the Parodigue. The worst part was the fact that Otodevol somehow found out about this development, and sent him a wonderfully smarmy message congratulating him on overcoming his grudge. The DELETE he had! He was just going along to determine whether there really were robots and/or androids enslaved by these people, then figure out how to free them, and then he would cash out faster than he could slice pi.

Eventually, though, he came to the realization that his current position wasn't really facilitating that goal. Thus, when Feena came to him seeking his recommendation of a good engineer to join her action team, Mekkanel responded by volunteering his own services. Their greater mobility has allowed him to see more of the Laster's conflict, and even to rescue a few of the androids in Daath's service, while also thoroughly debriefing them for anything they know about the opposition.

Mekkanel is a robot with many hidden technological tricks; he's also scarily smart and perfectly willing to make modifications to his shell in order to enhance its functionality. This is also one of his biggest weaknesses, as he cannot perform full maintenance on himself, and has to allow someone else to do so -- and his systems are both old and unique, increasing the operation's difficulty. Other major problems are the fact that he is not at all buoyant, nor can he climb effectively, as his manipulator arms are too weak to support his own weight. (He can use stairs, as he's capable of short hops.) This also means that if knocked prone, someone else is going to have to pick him up again ... and yet the rest of his team keeps doing so, despite his expectations to the contrary.

Maybe he's finally found that new best friend he was looking for.

Mekkanel -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA -- | AGL 0 | DEX 4 | FGT 6 | INT 8 | AWE 1 | PRE 1

Powers:
Machine Interface: Radio Communication 1; Comprehend Machines 2 - 11 points
Reconstruction: Immortality 5 (minimum of 1 day), Check Required (Technology, DC 20), Quirk (loss of all memories)- 1 point
Robotic Body: Immunity 50 (Fortitude effects, mental effects); Impervious Protection 6 - 62 points
Sensory Package: Senses 5 (darkvision, extended radio, ultra-hearing) - 5 points
Small Size: Permanent Shrinking 4 (Strength -1, Dodge +2, Parry +2, Stealth +4, Intimidation -1) - 4 points
Translator Circuits: Comprehend Languages 2 (understand and read all languages) - 6 points
Treads: Speed 4 (30 MPH) - 4 points
Undocumented Features: Array (11 points)

• Cutting Torch: Linked Damage 5; Linked Weaken Toughness 5, Affects Objects Only; Accurate - 11 points
• Empbeam: Ranged Affliction 6 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Accurate, Limited to Robots, Reduced Range 2 - 1 point
• Smoke Screen: Cloud Area Sight Concealment Attack 4 - 1 point
• Stunbeam: Ranged Affliction 6 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Accurate, Reduced Range 2 - 1 point

Advantages:
Equipment 3, Eidetic Memory, Fearless, Improvised Tools, Jack-of-all-Trades, Skill Mastery (Technology), Speed of Thought, Well-informed.

Equipment:
15 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Deception 8 (+9), Expertise: Galactic 3 (+11), Expertise: Science 1 (+9), Investigation 3 (+11), Perception 9 (+10), Persuasion 6 (+7), Ranged Combat: Features 8 (+12), Stealth 6 (+10), Technology 4 (+12), Vehicles 4 (+8).

Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +6 (Close Damage 2)
Cutting Torch +8 (Ranged Damage 5 and Weaken Toughness 5)
Empbeam +14 (Ranged Will 6)
Stunbeam +14 (Ranged Fortitude 6)

Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 8, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 6, Will 6

Totals:
Abilities 38 + Powers 107 + Advantages 10 + Skills 26 + Defenses 13 = 194 points

Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Physical (cannot climb or swim.) Requires Frequent Maintenance. Weak Manipulator Arms (STR 0 for picking up objects.)

Note: The additional equipment points of this team are usually reserved to purchase a Space Cruiser (M&M Hero's Handbook Deluxe, p 224) for their operations. As they go through these vessels fairly quickly, any picture provided would be outdated just as quickly.

[Davies]

Mizuki


When Kageyama Sarutobi passed away in 1992, the titular mastery of the Shadow School that he had created passed to his most senior disciple, one Kosugi Akio. While Akio, and the disciples who gathered around him, were much less inclined to accept non-Japanese students within the school, and discouraged those who had been present under Kageyama's tutelage, they otherwise largely continued the pursuit of martial excellence for its own sake and rejection of the modern world that their founder had. Those who sought to employ the skills of these latter-day ninja for their own ends were politely (and sometimes not so politely) refused in this period. Kosugi Mizuki, born in 2003, is Akio's only begotten child.

Well before her birth, in 1996, the Shadow School accepted as a student an American-born Japanese man who used the name Sakamoto Sasuke. He demonstrated considerable talent for the School's teachings, rising swiftly through the ranks and becoming a senior instructor in just a few years. However, when Sakamoto asked to be given access to some of the school's most advanced techniques, Akio chose to refuse this request, supposedly on the basis that these were restricted to those who had spent more time within the school, regardless of talent. The truth was that he didn't trust this person for a variety of reasons.

And it would seem that he was right not to do so. The Shadow School had suffered a fair amount of attrition during the first years of his leadership, but the aftermath of Cerebron's attack led to a large influx of people seeking shelter within the school's environs and agreeing to the school's principles. This caused a fair amount of confusion, and it was during this time that Sakamoto took action. The exact order of events is somewhat confused, but he broke into the storehouse of the sacred texts he sought, stole and/or destroyed them, killed a number of his fellow students and assaulted others, seriously injured Akio and then escaped.

Humiliated by this, Akio retired as the master of the School and passed it to his senior disciple, choosing to spend his remaining years with his wife and newborn daughter. Koike Hidenori, his successor, was faced with the problems of repairing the damage of Sakamoto's attack, hunting the enemy down, and continuing to support the increasing population of the school. His decision to obtain the funds with which to accomplish all this was to begin using the younger members of the school as agents -- spies, saboteurs and, eventually, assassins -- for a variety of frankly criminal interests.

In 2009, the agents of the Shadow School began to have clashes with the recently established Ghost Sweepers organization. This ultimately led to the Ghost Sweepers invading the Shadow School and exposing Hidenori's corrupt activities -- he had been embezzling much of the agents' fees for his own purposes. Hidenori was expelled and imprisoned, and Akio resumed the position of Master. The Shadow School would be permitted to exist, and even to continue its mercenary activities, but they were required to be much more judicious concerning the contracts that it took.

The example of the Sweepers also wrought some changes in the society of the School. Having been defeated by people who employed the tools of the modern reality that the School had heretofore rejected, this naturally provoked a renewed interest in that modern world. Akio did not really approve but could not prevent this, and so chose to tolerate it, even in the activities of his own daughter, who began dying her hair blue and using a smart phone almost as soon as she entered early adolescence. She has continued to do so as the leader of a group of young kunoichi, sometimes dubbed the Tenshi no Akio.

At the very least, he can be proud of the fact that, despite her apparent shallowness, Mizuki is a very capable practitioner of the School's martial traditions. She has even begun to master the recovered hidden technique of creating shadow duplicates. While able to create dozens or possibly hundreds of purely phantasmal entities who resemble herself, she can also create a maximum of four shadows who are fully able to act in any way that she herself could, although these can be disrupted quite easily. The greatest weakness of this technique is that she is unable to create duplicates of any other physical object more substantial than her clothes, restricting her to unarmed combat techniques rather than weapons usage.

Her personal weakness, the fact that everyone in the School thinks she's an idiot coasting on her family's reputation, is actually one of her strengths. Mizuki is considerably more crafty than she appears, with the flashes of perceptive and knowledgeable behavior that she sometimes demonstrates usually being dismissed as dumb luck. She accepts this as a consequence of her chosen course, that of manipulating her so-called friends for the benefit of themselves and the School, not necessarily in that order. More than anything else, Mizuki intends to one day succeed her father (or whoever follows him) as the master of the Shadow School, and then there'll be some real changes made.

Mizuki - PL 8

Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 0 | AGL 5 | DEX 5 | FGT 11 | INT 0 | AWE 3 | PRE 0 

Powers:
Actual Duplicates: Summon Duplicate 8, Active, Horde, Mental Link, Multiple Minions 2 (maximum of 4 dupes) - 65 points
Decoy Duplicates: Concealment 4 (All Visual Senses) - 8 points
Striking Strength: Strength-based Damage 2 - 2 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Chokehold, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (status ["Princess"]), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Eidetic Memory, Evasion, Fast Grab, Grabbing Finesse, Improved Disarm, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Skill Mastery (Deception), Taunt, Weapon Bind.

Skills:
Acrobatics 8 (+13), Athletics 8 (+9), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+13), Deception 9 (+9), Expertise: Popular Culture 8 (+8), Perception 4 (+7), Sleight of Hand 6 (+11), Stealth 5 (+10).

Offense:
Initiative +9
Unarmed +13 (Close Damage 3)

Defense:
Dodge 11, Parry 11, Fortitude 4, Toughness 5/0, Will 8 

Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 75 + Advantages 19 + Skills 25 + Defenses 15 = 185 points

Complications:
Duty--Motivation. Manipulative. Reputation (lazy & materialistic.)

Note: Mizuki's duplicates possess all her traits except Actual Duplicates.

[Davies]

Hayate


The eldest of the five 'Tenshi' operatives, Kishizuka Hayate was born seven months after Cerebron's attack, of which her father was a casualty. In the aftermath, her mother fled with Hayate's older brother, Junichi, to the Shadow School, where her own parents had been students until the discipline grew too difficult for them. While their mother became employed as a housekeeper for the School, her two children were both enrolled as students.

While Junichi has risen to become a respected instructor, his younger sister has actually progressed faster in the School's teachings than he has, possibly because she has never known any other life. In addition to being a superb martial artist with a focus on swift and powerful strikes, Hayate possesses a limited ability to control the movement of air. She normally uses this power to incapacitate opponents by inflicting high air pressure on them or drawing the breath out of their very lungs, but has sometimes demonstrated a limited ability to take flight. It was while doing so on one occasion that the team was given its name.

She doesn't find that funny. Truthfully, she doesn't find anything funny. Hayate has been carefully and sometimes brutally taught that she can never express her emotions lest an opponent use them against her, and she does so almost reflexively at this point. It's not that she doesn't have feelings, it's that, on experiencing them, she examines each emotion mindfully and then puts it in the appropriate psychic 'box' rather than giving them voice.

The one exception to this is her loyalty to her brother, whom she believes to be the best possible candidate to succeed Master Akio when he steps down again. (She does not allow herself to think about the possibility that the old man might die in office, nor the chaos that is likely to erupt if that happens.) Even that, however, is something she only expresses to her family. She keeps her teammates at a respectful distance, treating them all equally and without any undue intimacy. She does, however, want to present the appearance of fitting in, and so dyed her hair blonde.

In combat, Hayate frequently wields a large 'war fan' as a bludgeon, often unfolding it while she engages in her wind direction. This tactic has been known to trick opponents into thinking that the fan is required for her to do accomplish these things. It isn't, as all sorts of people have learned to their detriment.

Hayate -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 4 | AGL 4 | DEX 4 | FGT 10 | INT 1 | AWE 3 | PRE 1

Powers:
Internal Breath: Sustained Immunity 2 (suffocation) - 2 points
Striking Strength: Strength-based Damage 2 - 2 points
Wind Shaping: Array (24 points)

• Air Pressure: Ranged Affliction 8 (Resisted and Overcome by Strength; Dazed & Hindered, Prone & Stunned, Incapacitated), Alternate Resistance, Concentration Duration, Extra Condition, Instant Recovery - 24 points
• Suffocation: Progressive Ranged Affliction 6 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Dying) - 1 point

Power Stunts:
Gale Force: Cone Area 2 Damage 8
Lifting Wind: Flight 4 (30 MPH); Burst Area Move Objects 6

Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Critical (unarmed), Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close, Concealment), Quick Draw, Seize Initiative, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Takedown, Teamwork.

Equipment:
War Fan (Strength-based Damage 2) and 3 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+11), Athletics 6 (+8), Close Combat Unarmed 2 (+12), Deception 6 (+7), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+6), Intimidation 6 (+7), Perception 6 (+9), Ranged Combat: Wind Shaping 4 (+8), Sleight of Hand 6 (+10), Stealth 6 (+10).

Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 4)
War Fan +10 (Close Damage 4)
Air Pressure +8 (Ranged Affliction 8, Resisted by Strength)
Suffocation +8 (Ranged Fortitude 6)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 10, Fortitude 6, Toughness 6/4, Will 6.

Totals:
Abilities 58 + Powers 29 + Advantages 16 + Skills 27 + Defenses 9 = 139 points

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Family (brother). Hides Her Emotions.

[Davies]

Shizuka


Kanroji Shizuka is a third generation member of the Shadow School. Her grandparents were founding members, though they never achieved much distinction within the School's ranks, and brought their four year-old daughter, Sumire, with them when they joined. In her early teens, Sumire was close friends with a young American student, and was heartbroken when he was forced out. When the School began doing mercenary work, Sumire took advantage of the opportunity to leave the School and travel to America on a mission, tracking down her old boyfriend and having a brief, passionate relationship with him that resulted in Shizuka's birth.

In order to provide a stable home for her daughter, Sumire retired after that singular mission and became sworn sisters with another kunoichi of the School, maintaining their home and looking after their three children -- plus another child of a neighboring household whose mother had some ... difficulties. Shizuka grew up regarding Manami as practically another sister, often competing with her in their training in the School's techniques, especially after they both began to demonstrate powers. While she could never match Manami's power, Manami could never match Shizuka's speed, either.

That sisterly rivalry has continued right up until the present, though Shizuka is frequently distressed by how seriously Manami takes it -- and, frankly, how seriously Manami takes everything. She gets that her best friend has been given a raw deal by the fates, and when Manami finally takes her well-deserved revenge on the bastard who blighted both her own and her mother's life, Shizuka hopes to be able to watch because she's sure the carnage will be absolutely beautiful. But that's no reason that they can't have some fun along the way, is it? (She's therefore not very fond of Kagome, who brings out Manami's worst tendencies, in Shizuka's opinion.)

Shizuka is able to move at literally inhuman speeds, easily keeping pace with most ground vehicles and performing many tasks in the blink of an eye. Her offensive abilities are comparatively weak, and she's the member of the team who most frequently employs throwing stars and kunai in her attacks, often launching vast numbers of them in the space of a second. Of course, that means she can easily run out of these weapons, and tends to beat a fast retreat to resupply when she does. (Whenever possible, she will set up multiple weapon caches in a mission's area of operations.)

Shizuka has never met her biological father, but knows from her mother's stories that he was working for Argus when last they met. If pressed, she might admit that she's a bit curious about what's become of him in the years since she was born, and wouldn't mind learning the truth. If, as seems fairly likely, the Tenshi's missions eventually take them to America, she might get the chance.

Shizuka -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 4 | DEX 4 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 2

Powers:
Speed Maneuvers: Array (9 points)

• Flurry of Blows: Selective Burst Area Damage 3 - 9 points
• Flurry of Throws: Ranged Multiattack Damage 3 - 1 point

Super-Speed: Enhanced Advantages 5 (Close Attack 2, Improved Initiative 2), Quirk (Close Attack is only enhanced against opponents with a lower Initiative total); Enhanced Defenses 8 (Dodge 4, Parry 4); Quickness 6; Speed 7 (250 MPH) - 20 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Close Attack 2, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment, Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Grabbing Finesse, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative 2, Instant Up, Inspire, Interpose, Leadership, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Redirect, Set-up, Skill Mastery (Sleight of Hand), Takedown.

Equipment:
Shuriken (Ranged Multiattack Damage 1), kunai (Strength-based Damage 1, Improved Critical), and 1 point of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10), Athletics 6 (+7), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+10), Deception 6 (+8), Perception 6 (+8), Ranged Combat: Thrown 7 (+11), Sleight of Hand 6 (+10), Stealth 5 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +12
Unarmed +12/+10 (Close Damage 1)
Kunai +10/+8 (Close Damage 2, Crit 19-20)
Flurry of Blows -- (Burst Area Damage 3)
Shuriken +11 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 1)
Flurry of Blows +11 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 3)

Defense:
Dodge 12/8, Parry 12/8, Fortitude 5, Toughness 4/2, Will 5

Totals:
Abilities 48 + Powers 30 + Advantages 19 + Skills 22 + Defenses 10 = 129 points

Complications:
Thrills--Motivation. Friend/Rivalry (Manami.) Surprisingly, Hyper.

[Davies]

Manami


The tragedy began in 1996, when Yamaji Wakana joined the Shadow School, just a few weeks before Sakamoto Sasuke did the same. Like many people who sought to escape from their old lives within the School, Wakana never really spoke about what she had left behind, and it is now almost impossible to learn anything about it. In the seven years she was active as a student, she developed into a very competent if not distinguished practitioner of the school's teachings, frequently partnering with Sakamoto for training. Most who saw them together believed that they were good friends, with some speculating that they might be romantically involved.

It seems unlikely, however, that Sakamoto would have sexually assaulted someone with whom he was genuinely intimate, as he did Wakana during his rampage. In the months afterward, it became clear that the act had had consequences. Wakana didn't really acknowledge any conversation directed her way for about a year, especially not concerning her pregnancy or newborn child. (Just who named Manami is something of a mystery.) She did not acknowledge the child after she was born, and never has, even as Manami serves as her own primary caregiver during her long decline.

While several other women also took part, Manami was primarily cared for Kanroji Shizuka during her early youth. It was initially expected that the young girl's albinism would mean that she would be too sickly to participate in the School's training for young people, but she surprised everyone by demonstrating unexpected physical vigor. While suffering many injuries in training, Manami seemed to live by the idea that what did not kill her would make her stronger, and absolutely refused to die.

Quick-witted as well as physically tough, Manami possesses a deep understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of the Shadow School's teachings, as well as other, related forms of Buddhist and Confucian thought. She frames her superpowers as channeling her internal energy towards external goals, generally using it to augment her muscles to enable feats of strength, but also projecting it as physical force. She is sensitive to the vital energies of others, as well, employing that awareness while acting as her team's medic.

All of these talents are used towards the singular goal of revenge on the person who hurt her mother. She does not have a father, she has an enemy whom she has never met, who is fortunately the enemy of the entire School. Manami was recently startled to learn that Sakamoto has fathered another daughter who has been recruited to join the Tenshi, but has been pleased to work with her, though she often finds Kagome's attitude to be frustrating. Viewing the other girl as another of her enemy's victims, she's not especially happy with the way that Mizuki intends to use Kagome as bait for a trap, but accepts it as necessary.

If the scheme, or some other operation, succeeds in its goal, she will finally be able to take bloody satisfaction in ending Sakamoto. Then everything that has gone wrong will finally be set right, and her mother will look at her with gentleness and pride instead of looking through her, and Kagome will no longer be her sister, and the world will be a much better place. The love and beauty that she's named for will finally be real. Nothing can get in the way of that.

Manami -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 6/2 | STA 5 | AGL 3 | DEX 2 | FGT 9 | INT 2 | AWE 2 | PRE 0

Powers:
Ki Powers: Array (8 points)

• Abundant Step: Leaping 5 (250 feet); Speed 3 (16 MPH) - 8 points
• Force of Will: Line Area Damage 8, Tiring - 1 point
• Strengthen Sinew: Enhanced Strength 4 - 1 point

Ki Sense: Senses 5 (danger sense, acute radius ranged detect life) - 5 points
Meditation: Sustained Immunity 4 (need for sleep, starvation & thirst, suffocation) - 4 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Assessment, Close Attack, Evasion, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Skill Mastery (Athletics), Startle, Takedown 2, Trance, Uncanny Dodge, Weapon Break.

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+8), Athletics 6 (+12/+8), Expertise: Philosophy 6 (+8), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+7), Insight 8 (+10), Intimidation 8 (+8), Perception 9 (+11), Stealth 4 (+7), Treatment 7 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +10 (Close Damage 6/2, Crit 19-20)
Force of Will -- (Line Area Damage 8)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 9, Fortitude 6, Toughness 7/2, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 19 + Advantages 19 + Skills 29 + Defenses 12 = 129 points

Complications:
Revenge--Motivation. Albinism. Rivalry/Friend (Shizuku.) Rivalry/Family/Something Else (Kagome.)

[Davies]

Kagome


The youngest and most recently recruited member of the Tenshi operatives, Kobayashi Kagome is also the only one of them who wasn't raised inside the Shadow School, but rather in one of Tokyo's suburbs. This has frequently led to culture clashes between herself and her new teammates, as she's completely unfamiliar with the School's non-martial traditions and tends to forget about them when they inconvenience her. To be fair, a lot of the world that she takes for granted is somewhat alien to most of the others, and she has actually helped to guide them in dealing with it as much as she's caused problems in the few months since her recruitment.

Late in 2004, a man who was using the name Kobayashi Kotaro, supposedly employed as a salariman at one of Japan's larger corporations -- later revealed to have been a corporate assassin -- met and began a whirlwind romance with Yanagisawa Kikuyo, a college dropout turned novice hostess. He bought out her contract and married her, with their only child born within the next year. Almost before Kagome could walk, her father began training her in a variety of athletic and martial disciplines, instilling in her the importance of continuing this practice even when he was away on 'business'. Kagome doesn't remember her mother ever objecting to this, but as she herself never really minded the training, she might not have noticed if she did.

Early in 2011, when Kagome was just a few months past her fifth birthday, her father disappeared. As he'd had many absences in the past, she just assumed that this was yet another, unusually long one, and continued her training alone. She and her mother certainly hadn't been left without means, though they began to take in boarders to pay for their expenses. Eventually, her mother admitted to Kagome that she suspected that Kotaro had run off with a Chinese woman in whose company he'd supposedly been seen. More recently, Kagome has learned a different theory about what happened to her father.

By the time she was in middle school, Kagome reached the point where she started to wonder what the point of her training was. The skills that she'd mastered (in her own mind, at least) were meant to be used for something, after all, though she wasn't sure for what. One night, while engaged in free running practice, she chanced to see a group of older boys threatening an elderly man, and impulsively interrupted this. It was a thrilling experience to excercise her faculties, and so she kept on doing so, engaging in some small-scale vigilantism.

Only a few months into her hero's journey, however, she was tracked down by the Tenshi. Kagome hadn't been as careful as she imagined, and was caught on phonecam, leading to Mizuki recognizing her style. They had questions, Kagome -- nobody's fool -- answered them promptly and honestly, and so learned that "Kobayashi Kotaro" and "Sakumoto Sasuke" were, beyond any doubt, the same person. Which meant that she now had a weirdo stalker who was acting like they were sisters, even though Kagome didn't want to have anything to do with her beyond what was absolutely necessary.

While not thrilled to be given a 'work with us or get worked over' ultimatum, Kagome has accepted the situation and is actually a bit happy to have been given the chance to further develop her skills. She had begun to suspect that she'd reached the limits of what she could do alone, and now she can watch and learn from the others, as well as from the other old folks in their village hidden in the mist -- sorry, "School". The missions themselves are also entertaining if dangerous.

Kagome's talent is that she can effortlessly reproduce just about any martial arts technique she's ever seen demonstrated, and combine them in novel ways. Her default mode, which she calls 'Panther Claw Style', is based on her father's demonstrations, but has been augmented by her experiences since his departure. She cannot yet replicate the unique superpowers of her teammates, or those of any other martial artist, but can and does produce flawless imitations of their stylistic training.

As a member of the Tenshi, Kagome focuses on stealth and infiltration, and is in the process of learning disguise techniques from an elder of the School. Of all her teammates, she gets along best with Mizuki, reacting poorly to Hayate's sullen apathy, Shizuka's hyperactivity and paranoia, and Manami's ... everything. She can easily spend hours at a time gabbing with the team's leader about the latest pop sensations, and has no idea that she's viewed entirely as a means to capture her father for the satisfaction of Mizuki's own ambitions.

Or if she does, she's managed to keep it a secret. Which might mean she really is the ultimate ninja.

Kagome -- PL 8

Abilities
STR 0 | STA 2 | AGL 4 | DEX 2 | FGT 9 | INT 0 | AWE 2 | PRE 1

Powers:
Natural Talent: Variable 4 (martial arts abilities), Free Action - 36 points

Typical Variable Sets:
Default Setting (Panther Claw): Strength-based Damage 2; Enhanced Advantages 12 (All-out Attack, Close Attack 2, Defensive Attack, Improved Initiative, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 5); Enhanced Fighting 3 - 20 points
Ox-Body Stance: Immunity 20 (bludgeoning effects), Limited to Half Effect; Impervious Protection 5 - 20 points
Storm Warning Dash: Enhanced Advantages 6 (Defensive Attack, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Move-by Action, Ultimate Effort [Acrobatics]); Enhanced Agility 3; Movement 3 (sure-footed 2, trackless); Speed 3 (16 MPH) - 20 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Attractive, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Improvised Weapon, Skill Mastery (Stealth), Uncanny Dodge.

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8), Athletics 6 (+6), Deception 6 (+7), Expertise: Popular Culture 10 (+10), Insight 4 (+6), Perception 7 (+9), Persuasion 4 (+5), Sleight of Hand 4 (+6), Stealth 5 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +12
Unarmed +14/+9 (Close Damage 2/0)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 12/9, Fortitude 3, Toughness 4/2, Will 6

Total:
Abilities 40 + Powers 36 + Advantages 7 + Skills 25 + Defenses 10 = 118 points

Complications:
Personal Growth--Motivation. Forgetful. Weirdo Who Imagines a Relationship Where None Exists (Manami.)

[Davies]

Aten and the Ankh

Aten

The Ankh

The sudden rush of developing superpowers, unexpectedly, can be an extraordinarily traumatic experience. It is rare, but there have been cases where the emergence of such abilities provoked a dissociative disorder in their subject, as demonstrated by the cases of Fortuna Imperatrix and other examples. Of course, it's impossible to state how much pre-existing trauma might contribute to such disorders, as these individuals are rarely willing to submit themselves to an interview and often have the wherewithal to avoid them completely.

Guillaume Berenger, one of France's first well-known superheroes under the nomme de guerre of Aten, is now recognized to have been an early example of this phenomenon, though the nature of his dissociation was not known until after his death and the exposure of his secret identity. Born in 1922, he served in the Free French Forces and was wounded during the liberation of Paris. After the war, settling in Nice, he made a small but comfortable fortune in textile production, taking advantage of what he learned from trips to the United States on trade missions.

After his passing, some of his few intimates -- for he had been a fairly secretive person even before his awakening -- recalled that he had, in the late Fifties, occasionally expressed a mild fascination with the American phenomenon of the superhero, despite openly agreeing with those of his fellows who expressed doubt that the phenomenon would last very long. By 1964, however, it was clear that such speculations were not the case, with various superpowers popping up all over the world ... but not, as far as anyone could tell, in France.

At the age of forty-two, Guillaume's mind exploded, with talents of telepathy and telekinesis both manifesting themselves. And he realized the truth of his identity in that moment -- he was the reincarnation of the Pharaoh Atenakhen, who had striven mightily to turn great Egypt away from the dead-end that was paganism to a truer understanding of the One God, and been rewarded with the same gifts he now possessed. In light of this, the only thing he could do -- the thing he must do -- was to use these gifts of God to aid humanity. And so he created the identity of Aten and began to fight crime in his home city and all along the Côte d'Azur.

The French were not really sure what to make of him, but, after a few years, during which he avoided causing much in the way of embarrassment, he came to be regarded as a somewhat beloved eccentric. Aten also gained a partner around in 1967, a young woman with similar psychic gifts, whom he identified as the reincarnation of one of Atenakhen's daughters. Isabelle Richard, better known as the Ankh, was privately dubious about this 'theory', but welcomed Aten's tutelage and the opportunity to have a more exciting life than she'd been having up until that point. Soon after they began working together, the pair also received the gift of a specially-designed airship, dubbed the Solar Barque. This expanded their area of operations and led to their first team-ups with members of the Institute.

However, in 1968, as the situation in France grew more and more tense, Aten made the decision that he and the Ankh would not take any side in the struggle. This did not sit well with the Ankh, who ignored this command and attempted to assist the protestors, only to come under attack as an example of American imperialism. She was rescued by la Belle, who had only recently made her debut, and retreated to the pair's headquarters. In the aftermath, the reputation of Aten and the Ankh began to suffer as that of la Belle et la Bête began to rise. Matters were not helped when the Aten refused to assist his supposed allies during the Battle of Vietnam. Increasingly, it seemed that these two didn't really do much that could be considered heroic at all.

Despite their increasingly negative public image, the team continued to conduct occasional operations against criminal groups in the south of France all through the decade that followed, right up until the start of the Pythonian Insurgency, which saw the Solar Barque shot down over Paris. While only the Aten's body was recovered, both were assumed to have been killed in the crash, and their identities were exposed in the immediate aftermath. The pair was given a fairly reverent public funeral.

In fact, the Ankh had actually survived, though this would not become known until much later. Driven to avenge the deaths of her mentor and the many other victims of the Insurgency, she abandoned her former identity and went underground, seeking to infiltrate the enemy's organization. She ultimately succeeded in doing this, and, under the name Gina Atkins, the wife of another infiltrator named Tommy, helped to run a small counter-insurgency within the Pythons' own headquarters of Delphi. The pair were ultimately caught and executed in 1993, a few weeks before the JSOT invaded and destroyed the Insurgency.

Aten - PL 10

Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 2 | AGL 1 | DEX 2 | FGT 6 | INT 2 | AWE 7 | PRE 5

Powers:
Basic Telepathy: Comprehend Languages 2; Mental Communication 3 - 21 points
Psychic Defenses: Enhanced Defenses 4 (Dodge 2, Parry 2), Quirk (not against foes immune to mental powers); Senses 1 (mental awareness) - 4 point
Psychic Gifts: Array (24 points)

• Levitation/Telekinetic Bolt: Flight 5 AND Ranged Damage 7, Dynamic - 2 points
• Mind Scan: Cumulative Mind Reading 8 - 1 point
• Mind Blast: Perception Range Damage 6, Resisted by Will - 1 point
• Mind Daze: Perception Range Cumulative Affliction 8 (Resisted & Overcome by Will; Dazed, Stunned), Limited Degree - 1 point
• Psychokinesis: Perception Ranged Move Object 8, Dynamic - 25 points

Shielded Mind: Impervious Will 12, Limited to Mental Effects - 6 points
Telekinetic Shield: Sustained Protection 10, Subtle - 11 points

Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Benefit 3 (Millionaire), Equipment 12, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-Trades, Move-By Action, Sidekick 21, Ultimate Effort (Will Save), Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
6 points of equipment as needed.
Manor Headquarters: Size Huge; Toughness: 10; Features: Communications, Computer, Concealed, Garage, Gym, Hangar, Infirmary, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Power System, Security System, Workshop - 18 points.
Solar Barque: Size Gargantuan; Strength 11; Speed 7 (air); Defense 4; Toughness 11; Powers: Passive Concealment 6 (visual, radio); Ranged Damage 8; Features: Autopilot, Communications - 56 points

Skills:
Expertise: Business 8 (+10), Expertise: History 7 (+9), Insight 5 (+12), Perception 6 (+13), Persuasion 7 (+12), Ranged Combat: Telekinesis 9 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +6 (Close Damage 0)
Telekinetic Blast +11 (Ranged Damage 7)
Mind Blast -- (Perception Range Damage 6, Resisted by Will)
Mind Daze -- (Perception Range Will 8).

Defense:
Dodge 8/6, Parry 8/6, Fortitude 5, Toughness 12/2, Will 12.

Totals:
Abilities 50 + Powers 72 + Advantages 42 + Skills 21 + Defenses 13 = 198 points

Complications:
Faith--Motivation. Authoritarian. Secret Identity.

Note: These statistics represent Aten between 1964 and 1974; after this his physical abilities and FGT drop by 1 rank each, but his Psychic Ability Array increased to 27 points, increasing each of its effects (that of Ranged Damage for the second dynamic slot) by 1 rank each, and also increase his Telekinetic Shield's effect to 12 ranks.

The Ankh -- PL 7

Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 1 | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 6 | INT 1 | AWE 4 | PRE 2

Powers:
Basic Telepathy: Mental Communication 1; Comprehend Langauges 1 - 8 points
Psychic Defenses: Enhanced Advantages 4 (Defensive Roll, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Uncanny Dodge); Enhanced Defenses 4 (Dodge 2, Parry 2), Quirk (Not against foes immune to mental powers) - 7 points
Shielded Mind: Impervious Will 6, Limited to Mental Effects - 3 points
Telepathic Training: Array (12 points)

• Mind Scan: Mind Reading 6 - 12 points
• Weak Mind Daze: Perception Range Affliction 6 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Stunned), Limited Degree - 1 point

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Equipment, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Move-By Action, Uncanny Dodge.

Equipment:
Brass Knuckles (Strength-based Damage 1) and 4 points of equipment as needed.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+8), Close Combat: Unarmed 5 (+11), Expertise: Streetwise 6 (+7), Insight 4 (+8), Intimidation 8 (+10), Perception 4 (+8), Stealth 5 (+7), Vehicles 6 (+8).

Offense:
Intiative +6
Unarmed +11 (Close Damage 2/1)
Daze -- (Perception Range Will 6)

Defense:
Dodge 9/7, Parry 11/9, Fortitude 3, Toughness 3/1, Will 9.

Totals:
Abilities 36 + Powers 30 + Advantages 2 + Skills 22 + Defenses 15 = 105.

Complications:
Thrills--Motivation. Rebellious and Impulsive. Secret Identity.

Note: These stats represent the Ankh for her entire superheroic career. As Gina, her Acrobatics and Close Combat skills should be reduced by 3 ranks each, but she gains Deception 6, Language 1 (English [French is native]), Will 11 and 4 additional ranks of Impervious Will; her motivation becomes Justice.

[Davies]

The Golden Eagles


The difficulty confronting the Dominion of Canada, at the start of the first age of superheroics, was primarily one of geography. There were a small number of superheroes located in the major cities of all of the country's ten provinces -- and one or two further north in the territories -- but they all shared the same intensely local focus. None of them, as far as could be discerned, had the sorts of powers that made long-distance travel a simple affair, and consequently had neither the ability nor the interest in assembling as a group in imitation of the Institute.

To be perfectly honest, the notion of relying on such a group of private volunteers was also a bit contrary to the interests of the Canadian government, which therefore began investigating other possibilities. As it happened, the government of the time also lacked the financial wherewithal to engage in much of the way of 'super-soldier' experimentation, which was probably just as well for all concerned. Therefore, when one Dr. Kenneth Gold contacted the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1962 with a proposal to start using what he referred to as piloted robotic vehicles, he quickly gained their attention and interest.

The so-called Golden Eagle suits made their debut in 1964, piloted by some of the best pilots in the Air Force at the time, including many who had formerly been members of the Golden Hawks. Adjusting to the demands of a humanoid vehicle was difficult, even for these experienced personnel, and it was rare for a Golden Eagle to serve the maximum two years (a single year for married men) that the unit's rules permitted. However, their successful defeat of a number of Canada's more notorious supervillains, as well as defending the British Columbia coastline from a handful of kaiju attacks, earned the team a great deal of fame.

Sadly, the Golden Eagles were, like so much else, a casualty of the Battle of Vietnam. The Trudeau government was reluctantly convinced to send the unit to Southeast Asia in response to the situation developing there, with the understanding that they would only be used to assist in the evacuation. Of course, Stardust made no distinction between those who were directly opposing him and those who were only preventing him from accomplishing his goals, and he destroyed the robotic suits and their operators with terrifying ease. Only a single pilot survived the battle, and his suit was wrecked.

It was in the aftermath of this disaster that a mystery began to develop. When the Canadian Armed Forces' Air Defense Command, under which the unit was currently assigned, attempted to contact Dr. Kenneth Gold regarding the prospect of constructing replacements for the suits, they were unable to do so. He had apparently vanished, both from his home in Hamilton and from his offices at the University of Toronto, where he had not been seen in several weeks. Further investigation raised questions as to whether there had ever actually been a "Dr. Kenneth Gold", as much of the background which he had claimed a decade earlier was now seen to be utterly fraudulent. He was never found, and his fate was never discovered.

Half a century later, while examining the armored suit employed by Karen Nichols as Ladybug, itself based on partial schematics of the Golden Eagles' units, Exelion idly commented that he was quite impressed that his student had managed to correctly improvise solutions to some of the problems that had puzzled those who examined it. "But I suppose it's almost time for these to be invented," he added.

Golden Eagles - PL 8

Abilities:
STR 6/1 | STA 2 | AGL 3 | DEX 2 | FGT 3 | INT 1 | AWE 0 | PRE 0

Powers:
Piloted Robotic Vehicle: Removable (-16 points)
* Armored Shell: Impervious Protection 7 - 14 points
* Cannons: Ranged Damage 8 - 16 points
* Communicator: Radio Communication 2 - 8 points
* Cybernetic Controls: Enhanced Advantage 3 (Close Attack 2, Ranged Attack 2); Enhanced Defenses (Dodge 2) - 6 points
* Rocket Pack: Flight 9 (1000 MPH) - 18 points
* Sealed Systems: Immunity 7 (cold, disease, heat, poison, radiation, suffocation) - 7 points
* Sensors: Senses 3 (darkvision, radio) - 3 points
* Strength Boost: Enhanced Strength 5 - 10 points

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Close Attack 2, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Teamwork.

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+7), Athletics 2 (+8/+3), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+5), Expertise: Military 5 (+6), Perception 4 (+4), Ranged Combat: Guns 3 (+5), Technology 4 (+5), Vehicles 4 (+6).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +7/+5 (Close Damage 6/1)
Cannon +7 (Ranged Damage 8).

Defense:
Dodge 7/5, Parry 5, Fortitude 4, Toughness 9/2, Will 4.

Totals:
Abilities 24 + Powers 66 + Advantages 5 + Skills 14 + Defenses 10 = 119 points

Complications:
Patriotism--Motivation. Requires Maintenance. Vulnerability (electrical attacks.) Others as Needed.

Note: A relatively small number of Golden Eagles are bilingual (Language 1 [French] or Language 1 [English (French is native)]) as this was not yet an official policy of the Canadian government when the unit was founded; it became so in 1969. A few will also have Benefit (rank), Leadership and possibly higher mental abilities.