Ugly Ghost Squad #2 recap
Feb. 21st, 2016 11:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierUgly Ghost Squad #2
"World in the Balance"
Played 2/20/2016
Roll Call:
Black Panther
Captain America
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Enemies Fought:
The Injustice Gang of the World:
Blackrock
Brain Storm
Copperhead
Crimson Centipede
Dr. Polaris
Libra (behind the scenes)
Mr. Freeze
Shadow Thief
Shaggy Man
The Shark
The Spinner
Tlaca, Princess of the Golden Sun
Other NPCs:
Ruby Ryder (Team patron)
Ted Bartlett and Valeria Hernanedez (television reporters)
Michael Palumbo (STAR Labs spokesperson)
Lt. Maxwell Connors (NYPD SWAT team commander)
General Paul Nordstrom (Military security chief)
Emmett Clayburn (Desert prospector)
Dr. Ruth Delancey (Director of the Ferris Aircraft Western Proving Grounds)
Adventure Modules Used:
DC Heroes "World in the Balance" by Mike Moe and Beverly Hale
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad moved in to their new headquarters, provided by their patron Ruby Ryder: A "Secret Sanctuary" located in the hills surrounding the town of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. The decor and equipment was somewhat out of date, and Ryder admitted that she had bought the property on eBay.
Just as they were settling in, they got word of two emergencies: A hostage situation at STAR Labs in New York, and the hijacking of a train carrying nuclear warheads in the Mojave Desert, both allegedly involving supervillains. The heroes opted to head for the Mojave, reasoning that stolen nukes were more urgent, and that the police already seemed to have the New York situation in hand (and STAR Labs spokesperson Michael Palumbo was insisting -- perhaps a bit too fervently -- that there was nothing dangerous kept in the labs).
Arriving at the scene of the train hijacking, the heroes were briefed by security chief General Nordstrom. Something tore up a section of the train tracks, and then somehow disguised the damage so that the train plowed right into it and derailed. Many were killed or injured in the crash, and the supervillains quickly subdued the rest. They loaded a large number of warheads into a truck and headed off into the desert.
Following the villains' trail with the help of a borrowed Geiger counter, the heroes encountered a giant, hairy beast -- the artificial life-form called The Shaggy Man. Apparently the villains had released the creature into the desert to dissuade any pursuers. The Shaggy Man was menacing an old prospector named Emmett, and the heroes managed to subdue the creature long enough for the military to take it into custody. A grateful Emmett relayed that he'd seen two different trucks -- a rental truck, and one bearing the logo of Stark Enterprises -- coming in from different directions and both heading for the same point, a nearby box canyon.
At the canyon, the heroes found the abandoned rental truck, along with several crates bearing the imprint of Stark Enterprises, and two Stark employees bound and gagged. The men explained that they had been delivering a load of scientific equipment to the nearby Ferris Aircraft facility, in aid of the upcoming launch of Ferris' new space shuttle. They were waylaid by a group of supervillains, who threw some of the cargo out of the Stark truck, replaced it with crates of their own, and then headed out.
The heroes followed the trail to the truck's original destination, the Ferris Proving Grounds. The facility's director, Dr. Delancey, insisted that everything was normal, with no sign of villainous intruders. But the heroes were able to follow the radiation trail right to the space shuttle hangar, and deduced that the villains had used a combination of illusions and mind control to disguise the fact that they were loading the stolen nukes into the shuttle. Realizing the heroes were on to them, they revealed themselves: Brain Storm, Copperhead, Dr. Polaris, and the Shark. A pitched battle followed. Black Panther was paralyzed by Copperhead's poison gas, but rallied in time to join the other heroes in chasing the villains onto the shuttle. As the fight continued, the shuttle began to taxi onto a runway and finally took off, quickly clearing the atmosphere.
With the initial wave of villains defeated, the heroes made their way to the shuttle's control cabin, where they found Mr. Freeze and the Shadow Thief piloting the ship. The two villains went down quickly, Mr. Freeze nearly perishing when his cold-generating suit was damaged during the fight. Luckily, the shuttle contained a cold storage unit that could serve as a makeshift brig. The heroes were attempting to figure out how to turn the shuttle back towards Earth, when they were caught in a tractor beam from the nearby Stark Enterprises Orbital Factory.
Forced to dock aboard the satellite, they found that the facility had been taken over by the remaining members of the so-called Injustice Gang of the World: Blackrock, The Crimson Centipede (whom the heroes kept calling "The Human Centipede", much to his annoyance), The Spinner, and Tlaca, Princess of the Golden Sun. Already worn out from the day's battles, the heroes had a tough go of it -- both Thanatos and Martian Manhunter were knocked out of the fight. But Captain America and Black Panther rallied and defeated the villains. Their ringleader, the mysterious Libra, slipped away in another shuttle before the heroes had a chance to track him down. But his scheme to blackmail the Earth with the stolen nukes (as well as a deadly virus acquired from STAR Labs) was thwarted.
Memorable Quotes:
"Trump 2016!" - Captain America's rallying cry, echoed by Black Panther when they were the last two men standing.
"I guess Libra hasn't 'weighed in' yet." - Thanatos, on realizing that Libra had fled the scene without ever showing himself.
Sources and References:
Blackrock: Samuel Tanner, president of United Broadcasting, was angry that his rivals over at Galaxy Broadcasting always beat them in reporting Superman's latest exploits. He decided that UBS needed its own superhero, and had his employee Dr. Silverstone create one -- the tv-themed Blackrock. As Blackrock, Tanner tried to take on Superman to show that he was the superior hero (and network). You can imagine how that worked out.
http://filingcabinetofthedamned.blogspot.com/2006/01/ask-super-villain-blackrock.html
Brain Storm: A brilliant scientist, Axel Storm blamed Green Lantern for the death of his brother (in fact, his brother wasn't dead, but it's a long story). He used his stellar energy helmet to capture GL and the rest of the Justice League, intending to force the JLA to witness Green Lantern's execution. But the heroes broke free and Brain Storm barely escaped capture. He later came back for a rematch, and this time he was beaten and taken into custody.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Axel_Storm_%28New_Earth%29
Copperhead: Not much is known about Copperhead, except that he wears a high-tech snake-suit that allows him to stretch, slither, and constrict foes like a giant serpent. Batman tried to lay an elaborate trap for him, with the help of Batgirl and Wonder Woman, but the three of them ended up getting in each other's way more than anything, and Copperhead nearly defeated them all. But not quite.
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/02/02/i-love-ya-but-you%E2%80%99re-strange-that-time-batgirl-and-wonder-woman-both-fell-in-love-with-batman/
Crimson Centipede: A creature created by the war-god Mars to spread terror and chaos on Earth. In the long run, he was no match for Wonder Woman. He wasn't in the original module, but I added him in to beef up the villains' ranks, and because he is awesome.
http://www.againwiththecomics.com/2011/11/legion-of-subpar-villains-100-feet-of.html
Dr. Polaris: Dr. Neal Emerson developed methods for using magnetism to cure disease. But his over-exposure to magnetic energy caused him to develop a split personality, and his evil side became Dr. Polaris, frequent foe of Green Lantern:
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Neal_Emerson_%28New_Earth%29
Libra: This mysterious villain used his "balancing scales" to steal half the powers of the Justice League. Then he got a little too ambitious, and tried to absorb half the power of the universe itself, which caused him to seemingly disintegrate. It looks like he finally managed to pull himself together, or perhaps this is someone else who has adopted the identity? Time will tell...
http://jlasatellite.blogspot.com/2008/03/justice-league-of-america-111-june-1974.html
Mr. Freeze: Surely needs no introduction, between the '60s Batman tv series, the '90s cartoon series, and the notorious Arnold Schwartzeneggar movie. Also added to give the villains a bit more muscle.
Shadow Thief: Petty thief Carl Sands managed to acquire a device called a Dimensiometer, which allowed him to hide in another dimension, while "reaching into" the real world to steal. Since his body is in another dimensional plane, he appears as an insubstantial shadow in our world. The original adventure module included a darkness-powered character named "Nightfall", who I'd frankly never heard of, so I substituted Shadow Thief (and beefed up his powers a bit, though he still went down like a chump). Incidentally, Shadow Thief is the only one of this group who was also part of Libra's original Injustice Gang in the 1970s.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Carl_Sands_%28Earth-One%29
Shaggy Man: Professor Zagarian was trying to create aritifical body parts, but instead he created a mindless, nearly-indestructable killing machine called the Shaggy Man. The Justice League keep trying to find different ways to neutralize or imprison him, but he keeps coming back. In the original module, he was the "boss battle" at the end, guarding a captured Green Lantern, but I cut out that section of the adventure and moved him to the front to insert some action into the otherwise dull "tracking the villains through the desert" section.
http://www.dcindexes.com/features/character.php?characterid=763
The Shark: Mutated by an atomic explosion, a shark took on human form and gained psychic powers, but still had all his vicious shark instincts and appetites. Longtime foe of Green Lantern.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Karshon_%28New_Earth%29
The Spinner: An extremely minor Batman foe, his plan was to steal a million dollars, then frame another crook for his crimes so he could retire in peace. And he would've gotten away with it, if it weren't for that meddling Batman.
http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/The_Spinner
Tlaca, Princess of the Golden Sun: Princess of a hidden tribe of Aztec mystics, her father sent her to America to defeat Supergirl as the first step in an invasion. But Supergirl figured out the source of her powers was Earth's magnetic field, and neutralized her with a giant magnet. No invasion for you! Added to beef up the villains' ranks, and to break up the Injustice Gang sausage-fest.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Superman_Family_Vol_1_165
I ran a little short on time this week, so I didn't get around to printing out portraits for the various NPCs. If I had, I probably would have substituted the generic module NPCs for some known characters. Like, one of the tv reporters would have been Lana Lang, the military guy might've been Steve Trevor, etc. Next time!
"World in the Balance"
Played 2/20/2016
Roll Call:
Black Panther
Captain America
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Enemies Fought:
The Injustice Gang of the World:
Blackrock
Brain Storm
Copperhead
Crimson Centipede
Dr. Polaris
Libra (behind the scenes)
Mr. Freeze
Shadow Thief
Shaggy Man
The Shark
The Spinner
Tlaca, Princess of the Golden Sun
Other NPCs:
Ruby Ryder (Team patron)
Ted Bartlett and Valeria Hernanedez (television reporters)
Michael Palumbo (STAR Labs spokesperson)
Lt. Maxwell Connors (NYPD SWAT team commander)
General Paul Nordstrom (Military security chief)
Emmett Clayburn (Desert prospector)
Dr. Ruth Delancey (Director of the Ferris Aircraft Western Proving Grounds)
Adventure Modules Used:
DC Heroes "World in the Balance" by Mike Moe and Beverly Hale
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad moved in to their new headquarters, provided by their patron Ruby Ryder: A "Secret Sanctuary" located in the hills surrounding the town of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. The decor and equipment was somewhat out of date, and Ryder admitted that she had bought the property on eBay.
Just as they were settling in, they got word of two emergencies: A hostage situation at STAR Labs in New York, and the hijacking of a train carrying nuclear warheads in the Mojave Desert, both allegedly involving supervillains. The heroes opted to head for the Mojave, reasoning that stolen nukes were more urgent, and that the police already seemed to have the New York situation in hand (and STAR Labs spokesperson Michael Palumbo was insisting -- perhaps a bit too fervently -- that there was nothing dangerous kept in the labs).
Arriving at the scene of the train hijacking, the heroes were briefed by security chief General Nordstrom. Something tore up a section of the train tracks, and then somehow disguised the damage so that the train plowed right into it and derailed. Many were killed or injured in the crash, and the supervillains quickly subdued the rest. They loaded a large number of warheads into a truck and headed off into the desert.
Following the villains' trail with the help of a borrowed Geiger counter, the heroes encountered a giant, hairy beast -- the artificial life-form called The Shaggy Man. Apparently the villains had released the creature into the desert to dissuade any pursuers. The Shaggy Man was menacing an old prospector named Emmett, and the heroes managed to subdue the creature long enough for the military to take it into custody. A grateful Emmett relayed that he'd seen two different trucks -- a rental truck, and one bearing the logo of Stark Enterprises -- coming in from different directions and both heading for the same point, a nearby box canyon.
At the canyon, the heroes found the abandoned rental truck, along with several crates bearing the imprint of Stark Enterprises, and two Stark employees bound and gagged. The men explained that they had been delivering a load of scientific equipment to the nearby Ferris Aircraft facility, in aid of the upcoming launch of Ferris' new space shuttle. They were waylaid by a group of supervillains, who threw some of the cargo out of the Stark truck, replaced it with crates of their own, and then headed out.
The heroes followed the trail to the truck's original destination, the Ferris Proving Grounds. The facility's director, Dr. Delancey, insisted that everything was normal, with no sign of villainous intruders. But the heroes were able to follow the radiation trail right to the space shuttle hangar, and deduced that the villains had used a combination of illusions and mind control to disguise the fact that they were loading the stolen nukes into the shuttle. Realizing the heroes were on to them, they revealed themselves: Brain Storm, Copperhead, Dr. Polaris, and the Shark. A pitched battle followed. Black Panther was paralyzed by Copperhead's poison gas, but rallied in time to join the other heroes in chasing the villains onto the shuttle. As the fight continued, the shuttle began to taxi onto a runway and finally took off, quickly clearing the atmosphere.
With the initial wave of villains defeated, the heroes made their way to the shuttle's control cabin, where they found Mr. Freeze and the Shadow Thief piloting the ship. The two villains went down quickly, Mr. Freeze nearly perishing when his cold-generating suit was damaged during the fight. Luckily, the shuttle contained a cold storage unit that could serve as a makeshift brig. The heroes were attempting to figure out how to turn the shuttle back towards Earth, when they were caught in a tractor beam from the nearby Stark Enterprises Orbital Factory.
Forced to dock aboard the satellite, they found that the facility had been taken over by the remaining members of the so-called Injustice Gang of the World: Blackrock, The Crimson Centipede (whom the heroes kept calling "The Human Centipede", much to his annoyance), The Spinner, and Tlaca, Princess of the Golden Sun. Already worn out from the day's battles, the heroes had a tough go of it -- both Thanatos and Martian Manhunter were knocked out of the fight. But Captain America and Black Panther rallied and defeated the villains. Their ringleader, the mysterious Libra, slipped away in another shuttle before the heroes had a chance to track him down. But his scheme to blackmail the Earth with the stolen nukes (as well as a deadly virus acquired from STAR Labs) was thwarted.
Memorable Quotes:
"Trump 2016!" - Captain America's rallying cry, echoed by Black Panther when they were the last two men standing.
"I guess Libra hasn't 'weighed in' yet." - Thanatos, on realizing that Libra had fled the scene without ever showing himself.
Sources and References:
Blackrock: Samuel Tanner, president of United Broadcasting, was angry that his rivals over at Galaxy Broadcasting always beat them in reporting Superman's latest exploits. He decided that UBS needed its own superhero, and had his employee Dr. Silverstone create one -- the tv-themed Blackrock. As Blackrock, Tanner tried to take on Superman to show that he was the superior hero (and network). You can imagine how that worked out.
http://filingcabinetofthedamned.blogspot.com/2006/01/ask-super-villain-blackrock.html
Brain Storm: A brilliant scientist, Axel Storm blamed Green Lantern for the death of his brother (in fact, his brother wasn't dead, but it's a long story). He used his stellar energy helmet to capture GL and the rest of the Justice League, intending to force the JLA to witness Green Lantern's execution. But the heroes broke free and Brain Storm barely escaped capture. He later came back for a rematch, and this time he was beaten and taken into custody.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Axel_Storm_%28New_Earth%29
Copperhead: Not much is known about Copperhead, except that he wears a high-tech snake-suit that allows him to stretch, slither, and constrict foes like a giant serpent. Batman tried to lay an elaborate trap for him, with the help of Batgirl and Wonder Woman, but the three of them ended up getting in each other's way more than anything, and Copperhead nearly defeated them all. But not quite.
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/02/02/i-love-ya-but-you%E2%80%99re-strange-that-time-batgirl-and-wonder-woman-both-fell-in-love-with-batman/
Crimson Centipede: A creature created by the war-god Mars to spread terror and chaos on Earth. In the long run, he was no match for Wonder Woman. He wasn't in the original module, but I added him in to beef up the villains' ranks, and because he is awesome.
http://www.againwiththecomics.com/2011/11/legion-of-subpar-villains-100-feet-of.html
Dr. Polaris: Dr. Neal Emerson developed methods for using magnetism to cure disease. But his over-exposure to magnetic energy caused him to develop a split personality, and his evil side became Dr. Polaris, frequent foe of Green Lantern:
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Neal_Emerson_%28New_Earth%29
Libra: This mysterious villain used his "balancing scales" to steal half the powers of the Justice League. Then he got a little too ambitious, and tried to absorb half the power of the universe itself, which caused him to seemingly disintegrate. It looks like he finally managed to pull himself together, or perhaps this is someone else who has adopted the identity? Time will tell...
http://jlasatellite.blogspot.com/2008/03/justice-league-of-america-111-june-1974.html
Mr. Freeze: Surely needs no introduction, between the '60s Batman tv series, the '90s cartoon series, and the notorious Arnold Schwartzeneggar movie. Also added to give the villains a bit more muscle.
Shadow Thief: Petty thief Carl Sands managed to acquire a device called a Dimensiometer, which allowed him to hide in another dimension, while "reaching into" the real world to steal. Since his body is in another dimensional plane, he appears as an insubstantial shadow in our world. The original adventure module included a darkness-powered character named "Nightfall", who I'd frankly never heard of, so I substituted Shadow Thief (and beefed up his powers a bit, though he still went down like a chump). Incidentally, Shadow Thief is the only one of this group who was also part of Libra's original Injustice Gang in the 1970s.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Carl_Sands_%28Earth-One%29
Shaggy Man: Professor Zagarian was trying to create aritifical body parts, but instead he created a mindless, nearly-indestructable killing machine called the Shaggy Man. The Justice League keep trying to find different ways to neutralize or imprison him, but he keeps coming back. In the original module, he was the "boss battle" at the end, guarding a captured Green Lantern, but I cut out that section of the adventure and moved him to the front to insert some action into the otherwise dull "tracking the villains through the desert" section.
http://www.dcindexes.com/features/character.php?characterid=763
The Shark: Mutated by an atomic explosion, a shark took on human form and gained psychic powers, but still had all his vicious shark instincts and appetites. Longtime foe of Green Lantern.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Karshon_%28New_Earth%29
The Spinner: An extremely minor Batman foe, his plan was to steal a million dollars, then frame another crook for his crimes so he could retire in peace. And he would've gotten away with it, if it weren't for that meddling Batman.
http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/The_Spinner
Tlaca, Princess of the Golden Sun: Princess of a hidden tribe of Aztec mystics, her father sent her to America to defeat Supergirl as the first step in an invasion. But Supergirl figured out the source of her powers was Earth's magnetic field, and neutralized her with a giant magnet. No invasion for you! Added to beef up the villains' ranks, and to break up the Injustice Gang sausage-fest.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Superman_Family_Vol_1_165
I ran a little short on time this week, so I didn't get around to printing out portraits for the various NPCs. If I had, I probably would have substituted the generic module NPCs for some known characters. Like, one of the tv reporters would have been Lana Lang, the military guy might've been Steve Trevor, etc. Next time!
