Ugly Ghost Squad #16 recap
Jun. 20th, 2016 11:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierUgly Ghost Squad #16
"The Final Sleep"
Played 6/18/2016
Roll Call:
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Experience Level: 7
Enemies Fought:
MODOK and his AIM soldiers
The Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android
Batroc the Leaper
The Porcupine
The Sleeper robots
Arnim Zola and his Clones
The Red Skull and his Zombies
Other NPCs:
Ruby Ryder
Mr. Mind
Adventure Modules Used:
None
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad's financier/landlady Ruby Ryder approached the team with a mission. Her business rivals at Advanced Idea Mechanics were preparing some big project, and she wanted to find out what it was. To that end, she had hired super-genius alien worm Mr. Mind to hack into their computers. He had been unable to break into their systems remotely, so he wanted to go on-site and access the servers manually. The heroes questioned the ethics of this, but Ryder assured them that whatever A.I.M. was up to, it was bound to be highly illegal, and they'd be doing the police a favor by uncovering and stopping it.
A.I.M.'s data center was located underneath Alden's Department Store in Manhattan. The Ghost Squad staged a distraction to draw the security forces' attention while Mr. Mind wriggled his way into the databanks. They battled a horde of A.I.M. troopers and their leader, the deformed psychic known as MODOK. As they took out the big-headed boss, Mr. Mind announced he had the data he needed, and they beat a hasty retreat.
According to the computer files, A.I.M. had learned about three caches of lost Nazi "treasures", and were sending teams to retrieve them. The exact nature of the treasures were unknown, but given A.I.M.'s proclivities, it was probably something they thought they could weaponize. The heroes raced to Europe to intercept the recovery teams.
In the city of Berlin, the squad arrived at the location of Hitler's "Führerbunker", the place where he'd made his final stand against the Allies and where he finally committed suicide. The bunker itself was demolished decades before, but there was a secret vault that remained intact. There the heroes confronted A.I.M.'s agents, the Mad Thinker and his creation, the Awesome Android. The Android's ability to adapt to different attacks gave the team some trouble, but in the end both inventor and invention fell. But before he collapsed, the Thinker activated the vault's "treasure": A gigantic manta-ray-shaped machine called a Sleeper. The squad battled the robot, which fought back with powerful magnetic rays. They severely damaged the device, but it took to the air and escaped at supersonic speed.
They next went to Gierloz Forest in Poland, location of Hitler's "Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair)", his eastern front command post. The buildings lay in ruins, but again there was a secret subterranean chamber. A.I.M. had sent the armored Porcupine and the martial arts master Batroc to acquire the chamber's contents, but the heroes put a stop to their plans. Another Sleeper robot, this one shaped like a giant skull, appeared to threaten the team. As they battled, the other flying Sleeper appeared, and the two merged into one giant death-machine, but this time the heroes were able to demolish it.
Battered and exhausted from the day's battles, the squad tried to take a rest before continuing. But their respite was cut short by the arrival of a third Sleeper, this one roughly humanoid in shape, accompanied by the reanimated Nazi geneticist known as Arnim Zola. Zola had gotten wind of A.I.M.'s plans as well, and retrieved the Sleeper himself before the "unbelievers" could do so. Zola stacked the odds with artificial "clones" that resembled the Ghost Squad, but the original heroes proved superior to the fake ones.
With the three Sleepers disabled, the team thought their adventure was over. But they got word that a secret A.I.M. base in the Antarctic was under attack. Racing to investigate, they found the base personnel slaughtered and the facility ransacked. The party responsible was Captain America's old arch-enemy, the Red Skull. The Skull had deliberately leaked information about the Sleepers, knowing that A.I.M. would turn their attention to acquiring the robots, leaving the base relatively unguarded. The Skull's real goal was to steal A.I.M.'s most ambitious project to date -- a powerful weapon called a Cosmic Cube.
The Cube rendered the Skull virtually indestructible, and enabled him to fire devastating laser blasts. He also used the Cube's power to reanimate the corpses of the A.I.M. troopers into a zombie army. It was a grueling battle of attrition, and the heroes were on their last legs as they finally wore the Skull down enough to pry the Cube from his grasp. With the Skull defeated, A.I.M.'s resources decimated, and the Cube safely(?) in the hands of the authorities, the Ghost Squad finally knew they had achieved victory.
Memorable Quotes:
Hulk: "I jump on the Cosmic Cube and swallow it."
Captain America: "I already shoved it up the Skull's ass, but you can suck it out if you want."
Sources and References:
This adventure was based on a couple of classic Captain America stories from the 1960s. Here's the cartoon adaptation of the story of the Sleeper robots:
https://youtu.be/R8aSjcIR9Po
And here's the story of how the Red Skull acquired the Cosmic Cube:
https://youtu.be/A3FJpj3cRe8
Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) was originally an offshoot of the group called Hydra, but eventually struck out on their own. They've battled Captain America, Iron Man, SHIELD, and many other heroes. They specialize in creating high-tech weapons such as the Cosmic Cube and the Super-Adaptoid:
http://marvel.com/universe/A.I.M.
Arnim Zola: A top Nazi scientist and sometimes-associate of the Red Skull, Zola was a master geneticist and robotics expert who created various bizarre techno-organic life forms, cloned Hitler multiple times, and altered his own body to be more powerful. A variation on the character appeared in the Captain America movies, where he became a living computer program.
http://marvel.com/universe/Zola,_Arnim
https://youtu.be/E486XjhYHh8
Batroc the Leaper: A notorious mercenary and a master of the kickboxing style called "savate". He loves matching his skills against other martial artists and has fought Captain America many times over the years. He appeared (in much less colorful form) as one of the boat hijackers in the movie "Captain America: The Winter Soldier".
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Georges_Batroc_(Earth-616)
https://youtu.be/aHh0XaW0UyQ
The Mad Thinker (and his Awesome Android): His true name and exact origins are unknown, but this sinister genius has menaced the Fantastic Four and other heroes with his evil schemes. His specialty is creating powerful robots and androids, such as the "Awesome Android", which can automatically adapt to any attack made against it.
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Mad_Thinker_(Earth-616)
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Awesome_Android_(Earth-616)
Mr. Mind: A worm-like alien from the planet Venus, Mr. Mind came to Earth in the 1940s and used his super-genius intellect to create a vast criminal organization called the Monster Society of Evil. He operated behind the scenes, and even most of his minions did not realize he was a tiny alien bug, but he was finally captured by Captain Marvel. He escaped execution and has been a menace to society ever since. In our adventure, he's decided to supplement his income by becoming a computer consultant, his small size allowing him to crawl inside the circuits to make repairs or retrieve data.
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/mr-mind/4005-9336/
MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing): George Tarleton was a minor scientist working for AIM. He became the unwilling guinea pig for one of their ambitious experiments: His brainpower increased a thousandfold, but his skull became grotesquely enlarged as well. His new psychic powers allowed him to take control of AIM as its new leader. They've tried to overthrow and/or kill him several times, but he keeps coming back.
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/George_Tarleton_(Earth-616)
The Porcupine: Alex Gentry originally designed his Porcupine battle suit for the U.S. Army. But he decided that he could make more money using it himself for crime (I can't help but think the War on Terror would be going a lot better if only our troops were wearing Porcupine suits). He originally battled Ant-Man, but has also been part of various villain groups who took on Captain America, the X-Men, and the Defenders. He was eventually killed off, but will no doubt be back some day.
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/porcupine/4005-12610/
"The Final Sleep"
Played 6/18/2016
Roll Call:
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Experience Level: 7
Enemies Fought:
MODOK and his AIM soldiers
The Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android
Batroc the Leaper
The Porcupine
The Sleeper robots
Arnim Zola and his Clones
The Red Skull and his Zombies
Other NPCs:
Ruby Ryder
Mr. Mind
Adventure Modules Used:
None
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad's financier/landlady Ruby Ryder approached the team with a mission. Her business rivals at Advanced Idea Mechanics were preparing some big project, and she wanted to find out what it was. To that end, she had hired super-genius alien worm Mr. Mind to hack into their computers. He had been unable to break into their systems remotely, so he wanted to go on-site and access the servers manually. The heroes questioned the ethics of this, but Ryder assured them that whatever A.I.M. was up to, it was bound to be highly illegal, and they'd be doing the police a favor by uncovering and stopping it.
A.I.M.'s data center was located underneath Alden's Department Store in Manhattan. The Ghost Squad staged a distraction to draw the security forces' attention while Mr. Mind wriggled his way into the databanks. They battled a horde of A.I.M. troopers and their leader, the deformed psychic known as MODOK. As they took out the big-headed boss, Mr. Mind announced he had the data he needed, and they beat a hasty retreat.
According to the computer files, A.I.M. had learned about three caches of lost Nazi "treasures", and were sending teams to retrieve them. The exact nature of the treasures were unknown, but given A.I.M.'s proclivities, it was probably something they thought they could weaponize. The heroes raced to Europe to intercept the recovery teams.
In the city of Berlin, the squad arrived at the location of Hitler's "Führerbunker", the place where he'd made his final stand against the Allies and where he finally committed suicide. The bunker itself was demolished decades before, but there was a secret vault that remained intact. There the heroes confronted A.I.M.'s agents, the Mad Thinker and his creation, the Awesome Android. The Android's ability to adapt to different attacks gave the team some trouble, but in the end both inventor and invention fell. But before he collapsed, the Thinker activated the vault's "treasure": A gigantic manta-ray-shaped machine called a Sleeper. The squad battled the robot, which fought back with powerful magnetic rays. They severely damaged the device, but it took to the air and escaped at supersonic speed.
They next went to Gierloz Forest in Poland, location of Hitler's "Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair)", his eastern front command post. The buildings lay in ruins, but again there was a secret subterranean chamber. A.I.M. had sent the armored Porcupine and the martial arts master Batroc to acquire the chamber's contents, but the heroes put a stop to their plans. Another Sleeper robot, this one shaped like a giant skull, appeared to threaten the team. As they battled, the other flying Sleeper appeared, and the two merged into one giant death-machine, but this time the heroes were able to demolish it.
Battered and exhausted from the day's battles, the squad tried to take a rest before continuing. But their respite was cut short by the arrival of a third Sleeper, this one roughly humanoid in shape, accompanied by the reanimated Nazi geneticist known as Arnim Zola. Zola had gotten wind of A.I.M.'s plans as well, and retrieved the Sleeper himself before the "unbelievers" could do so. Zola stacked the odds with artificial "clones" that resembled the Ghost Squad, but the original heroes proved superior to the fake ones.
With the three Sleepers disabled, the team thought their adventure was over. But they got word that a secret A.I.M. base in the Antarctic was under attack. Racing to investigate, they found the base personnel slaughtered and the facility ransacked. The party responsible was Captain America's old arch-enemy, the Red Skull. The Skull had deliberately leaked information about the Sleepers, knowing that A.I.M. would turn their attention to acquiring the robots, leaving the base relatively unguarded. The Skull's real goal was to steal A.I.M.'s most ambitious project to date -- a powerful weapon called a Cosmic Cube.
The Cube rendered the Skull virtually indestructible, and enabled him to fire devastating laser blasts. He also used the Cube's power to reanimate the corpses of the A.I.M. troopers into a zombie army. It was a grueling battle of attrition, and the heroes were on their last legs as they finally wore the Skull down enough to pry the Cube from his grasp. With the Skull defeated, A.I.M.'s resources decimated, and the Cube safely(?) in the hands of the authorities, the Ghost Squad finally knew they had achieved victory.
Memorable Quotes:
Hulk: "I jump on the Cosmic Cube and swallow it."
Captain America: "I already shoved it up the Skull's ass, but you can suck it out if you want."
Sources and References:
This adventure was based on a couple of classic Captain America stories from the 1960s. Here's the cartoon adaptation of the story of the Sleeper robots:
https://youtu.be/R8aSjcIR9Po
And here's the story of how the Red Skull acquired the Cosmic Cube:
https://youtu.be/A3FJpj3cRe8
Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) was originally an offshoot of the group called Hydra, but eventually struck out on their own. They've battled Captain America, Iron Man, SHIELD, and many other heroes. They specialize in creating high-tech weapons such as the Cosmic Cube and the Super-Adaptoid:
http://marvel.com/universe/A.I.M.
Arnim Zola: A top Nazi scientist and sometimes-associate of the Red Skull, Zola was a master geneticist and robotics expert who created various bizarre techno-organic life forms, cloned Hitler multiple times, and altered his own body to be more powerful. A variation on the character appeared in the Captain America movies, where he became a living computer program.
http://marvel.com/universe/Zola,_Arnim
https://youtu.be/E486XjhYHh8
Batroc the Leaper: A notorious mercenary and a master of the kickboxing style called "savate". He loves matching his skills against other martial artists and has fought Captain America many times over the years. He appeared (in much less colorful form) as one of the boat hijackers in the movie "Captain America: The Winter Soldier".
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Georges_Batroc_(Earth-616)
https://youtu.be/aHh0XaW0UyQ
The Mad Thinker (and his Awesome Android): His true name and exact origins are unknown, but this sinister genius has menaced the Fantastic Four and other heroes with his evil schemes. His specialty is creating powerful robots and androids, such as the "Awesome Android", which can automatically adapt to any attack made against it.
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Mad_Thinker_(Earth-616)
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Awesome_Android_(Earth-616)
Mr. Mind: A worm-like alien from the planet Venus, Mr. Mind came to Earth in the 1940s and used his super-genius intellect to create a vast criminal organization called the Monster Society of Evil. He operated behind the scenes, and even most of his minions did not realize he was a tiny alien bug, but he was finally captured by Captain Marvel. He escaped execution and has been a menace to society ever since. In our adventure, he's decided to supplement his income by becoming a computer consultant, his small size allowing him to crawl inside the circuits to make repairs or retrieve data.
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/mr-mind/4005-9336/
MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing): George Tarleton was a minor scientist working for AIM. He became the unwilling guinea pig for one of their ambitious experiments: His brainpower increased a thousandfold, but his skull became grotesquely enlarged as well. His new psychic powers allowed him to take control of AIM as its new leader. They've tried to overthrow and/or kill him several times, but he keeps coming back.
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/George_Tarleton_(Earth-616)
The Porcupine: Alex Gentry originally designed his Porcupine battle suit for the U.S. Army. But he decided that he could make more money using it himself for crime (I can't help but think the War on Terror would be going a lot better if only our troops were wearing Porcupine suits). He originally battled Ant-Man, but has also been part of various villain groups who took on Captain America, the X-Men, and the Defenders. He was eventually killed off, but will no doubt be back some day.
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/porcupine/4005-12610/
