Ugly Ghost Squad #17 recap
Jun. 29th, 2016 10:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierUgly Ghost Squad #17
"The Great Iridium Con"
Played 6/25/2016
Roll Call:
Black Panther
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Experience Level: 7
Enemies Fought:
The ConFederation:
Aztech
Futura
Kahless Khan
Malastra
Nightshade
Yeoman
The Servants of Sargatanas:
Devilspawn
Firefall
Malastra (and his demon)
Oblivia
Sequoia
Other NPCs:
The Valiants: Serena and Epsilon
Various exhibitors, staff, and fans at the Iridium Con.
Adventure Modules Used:
Villains and Vigilantes: "The Great Iridium Con" by Stephen Dedman
Villains and Vigilantes: "From the Deeps of Space" by Stefan Jones
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad was summoned to the small town of Iridium Vale, Nevada by one of the town's resident superheroes, Serena. Serena and her partner Epsilon were both victims of assassination attempts by unknown assailants, leaving Epsilon in a coma and Serena bedridden with a broken hip. At the same time, Roxxon Oil researcher Dr. Laura Stoner was killed in her office by a sniper with a laser gun. Serena suspected that all three attacks were related, and might have something to do with the project Dr. Stoner was working on: a revolutionary new imaging system called "Deep Scan" which could create high-resolution images through solid rock and earth (handy for finding deposits of oil and precious metals underground). Serena asked the heroes to investigate in her stead.
The Deep Scan prototype was due to be exhibited at the Iridium Con, a combination sci-fi convention and technology expo held each year at the local college. Many large technology companies exhibit at the show, hoping to recruit promising young nerds from Iridium University. Besides Roxxon, LexCorp, Stark Industries, and StarrWare all were scheduled to have displays.
Anticipating a theft attempt, the heroes convinced the Roxxon execs to not display the working Deep Scan model; instead, a fake was cobbled together from spare parts, along with printouts of sample scans of the local area. The squad mingled with the crowd, not drawing much attention, since most of the attendees were also in costume.
The first day of the convention passed without incident. The Roxxon employee running the booth took the phony Deep Scan with him to his hotel room, and the heroes staked out the surrounding area. Later that night, a man calling himself Yeoman (decked out in medieval attire with crossbow and flail) appeared as if out of nowhere in the heroes' room, intending to garotte them one by one. But he didn't count on them posting guards, and soon he was fighting off the whole team. His partner, Aztech (a Meso-American in advanced battle armor) came blasting through the wall a few moments later, but even the two of them were no match for the squad. Aztech managed to escape via his high-speed jetpack, but Yeoman was captured. Yeoman confessed that he'd been hired by "some fruit loop who thinks he's a Klingon" to kill the heroes and steal the Deep Scan. But he had no further information.
At the convention the next day, the heroes scanned the crowd, wondering which of the many "Klingons" in attendance might be the one behind the attack. Later in the evening, just as the costume contest was about to begin, the entire room was blanketed in darkness. Several of the costumed attendees jumped forth to attack: Nightshade (dressed as "Princess Jasmine") tried to grab the Deep Scan, but was thwarted when the Hulk sat on it. Instead, she settled for stealing the print-outs, and ghosted through the floor to escape. Most of the team pursued her, while the Hulk and Martian Manhunter stayed behind to take on the rest of the so-called "ConFederation": Kahless Khan (the Klingon, armed with an energy-pistol), Aztech, Futura (a robot who had been hiding inside the "Iron Man" statue at the Stark booth), and the wizard called Malastra.
Not long after the battle started, Malastra magically teleported after Nightshade, grabbed the Deep Scan print-outs from her, and then disappeared again, saying they were too important to be trusted to a woman. Needless to say, she was not pleased, and was even less pleased when the heroes subdued her and her teammates.
Feeling betrayed, Nightshade gladly revealed their plans to the squad. Malastra had sensed something large and valuable buried deep underground outside the city, but was unable to pinpoint the exact location. He recruited Nightshade (herself a minor Roxxon scientist) and her friends to steal the Deep Scan and use it to find the item. Failing that, she had hoped that the scans that had already been done might reveal the location. The heroes acquired copies of the scans, and sure enough, they were able to spot something large and metallic buried out in the desert.
Racing to the scene, the team found Malastra trying to unearth the mysterious object. With him were his real partners, the so-called Servants of Sargatanas: The sorceress Devilspawn, the blazing Firefall, energy-draining Oblivia, and the tree-man called Sequoia. Malastra summoned a winged demon to further even the odds, and the battle that followed was fierce and difficult. But in the end, the heroes were triumphant.
The object of Malastra's quest turned out to be a derelict spaceship of alien origins, similar to (but more primitive than) the Capellan spacecraft they'd seen in the Antarctic some months before (see Ugly Ghost Squad #6). The crew of the ship was long dead, with nothing but skeletons remaining. This time, with no orders from Ruby Ryder to go by, they turned the ship over to the authorities, suspecting they hadn't heard the last of the Capellans...
Memorable Quotes:
Captain America: "We should deport all the Klingons...just until we figure this thing out"
Sources and References:
I'm not gonna i.d. every cosplay I pasted into that crowd shot. But here are the exhibitors:
LexCorp:
The company run by Lex Luthor, after he shifted in the 1980s from being a cliche Mad Scientist to being a cliche Evil Businessman.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/LexCorp
https://www.lexcorp.io/
Roxxon Oil:
A major corporation in the Marvel Universe. They're notorious for hiring (or creating) super-villains to carry out various questionable projects in their pursuit of higher profits. Which has put them at odds with everyone from Captain America to Spider-Man.
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Roxxon_Energy_Corporation_(Earth-616)
Stark Industries:
Tony Stark surely needs no introduction. The "booth babe" running the display was based on the "Ironette" dancers seen in the movie Iron Man II.
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Stark_Industries_(Earth-616)
https://youtu.be/Bchp8boR0Dc
StarrWare:
The software company run by Karen Starr, aka Power Girl.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Starrware_Industries
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Kara_Zor-L_(Earth-Two)
"The Great Iridium Con"
Played 6/25/2016
Roll Call:
Black Panther
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Experience Level: 7
Enemies Fought:
The ConFederation:
Aztech
Futura
Kahless Khan
Malastra
Nightshade
Yeoman
The Servants of Sargatanas:
Devilspawn
Firefall
Malastra (and his demon)
Oblivia
Sequoia
Other NPCs:
The Valiants: Serena and Epsilon
Various exhibitors, staff, and fans at the Iridium Con.
Adventure Modules Used:
Villains and Vigilantes: "The Great Iridium Con" by Stephen Dedman
Villains and Vigilantes: "From the Deeps of Space" by Stefan Jones
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad was summoned to the small town of Iridium Vale, Nevada by one of the town's resident superheroes, Serena. Serena and her partner Epsilon were both victims of assassination attempts by unknown assailants, leaving Epsilon in a coma and Serena bedridden with a broken hip. At the same time, Roxxon Oil researcher Dr. Laura Stoner was killed in her office by a sniper with a laser gun. Serena suspected that all three attacks were related, and might have something to do with the project Dr. Stoner was working on: a revolutionary new imaging system called "Deep Scan" which could create high-resolution images through solid rock and earth (handy for finding deposits of oil and precious metals underground). Serena asked the heroes to investigate in her stead.
The Deep Scan prototype was due to be exhibited at the Iridium Con, a combination sci-fi convention and technology expo held each year at the local college. Many large technology companies exhibit at the show, hoping to recruit promising young nerds from Iridium University. Besides Roxxon, LexCorp, Stark Industries, and StarrWare all were scheduled to have displays.
Anticipating a theft attempt, the heroes convinced the Roxxon execs to not display the working Deep Scan model; instead, a fake was cobbled together from spare parts, along with printouts of sample scans of the local area. The squad mingled with the crowd, not drawing much attention, since most of the attendees were also in costume.
The first day of the convention passed without incident. The Roxxon employee running the booth took the phony Deep Scan with him to his hotel room, and the heroes staked out the surrounding area. Later that night, a man calling himself Yeoman (decked out in medieval attire with crossbow and flail) appeared as if out of nowhere in the heroes' room, intending to garotte them one by one. But he didn't count on them posting guards, and soon he was fighting off the whole team. His partner, Aztech (a Meso-American in advanced battle armor) came blasting through the wall a few moments later, but even the two of them were no match for the squad. Aztech managed to escape via his high-speed jetpack, but Yeoman was captured. Yeoman confessed that he'd been hired by "some fruit loop who thinks he's a Klingon" to kill the heroes and steal the Deep Scan. But he had no further information.
At the convention the next day, the heroes scanned the crowd, wondering which of the many "Klingons" in attendance might be the one behind the attack. Later in the evening, just as the costume contest was about to begin, the entire room was blanketed in darkness. Several of the costumed attendees jumped forth to attack: Nightshade (dressed as "Princess Jasmine") tried to grab the Deep Scan, but was thwarted when the Hulk sat on it. Instead, she settled for stealing the print-outs, and ghosted through the floor to escape. Most of the team pursued her, while the Hulk and Martian Manhunter stayed behind to take on the rest of the so-called "ConFederation": Kahless Khan (the Klingon, armed with an energy-pistol), Aztech, Futura (a robot who had been hiding inside the "Iron Man" statue at the Stark booth), and the wizard called Malastra.
Not long after the battle started, Malastra magically teleported after Nightshade, grabbed the Deep Scan print-outs from her, and then disappeared again, saying they were too important to be trusted to a woman. Needless to say, she was not pleased, and was even less pleased when the heroes subdued her and her teammates.
Feeling betrayed, Nightshade gladly revealed their plans to the squad. Malastra had sensed something large and valuable buried deep underground outside the city, but was unable to pinpoint the exact location. He recruited Nightshade (herself a minor Roxxon scientist) and her friends to steal the Deep Scan and use it to find the item. Failing that, she had hoped that the scans that had already been done might reveal the location. The heroes acquired copies of the scans, and sure enough, they were able to spot something large and metallic buried out in the desert.
Racing to the scene, the team found Malastra trying to unearth the mysterious object. With him were his real partners, the so-called Servants of Sargatanas: The sorceress Devilspawn, the blazing Firefall, energy-draining Oblivia, and the tree-man called Sequoia. Malastra summoned a winged demon to further even the odds, and the battle that followed was fierce and difficult. But in the end, the heroes were triumphant.
The object of Malastra's quest turned out to be a derelict spaceship of alien origins, similar to (but more primitive than) the Capellan spacecraft they'd seen in the Antarctic some months before (see Ugly Ghost Squad #6). The crew of the ship was long dead, with nothing but skeletons remaining. This time, with no orders from Ruby Ryder to go by, they turned the ship over to the authorities, suspecting they hadn't heard the last of the Capellans...
Memorable Quotes:
Captain America: "We should deport all the Klingons...just until we figure this thing out"
Sources and References:
I'm not gonna i.d. every cosplay I pasted into that crowd shot. But here are the exhibitors:
LexCorp:
The company run by Lex Luthor, after he shifted in the 1980s from being a cliche Mad Scientist to being a cliche Evil Businessman.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/LexCorp
https://www.lexcorp.io/
Roxxon Oil:
A major corporation in the Marvel Universe. They're notorious for hiring (or creating) super-villains to carry out various questionable projects in their pursuit of higher profits. Which has put them at odds with everyone from Captain America to Spider-Man.
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Roxxon_Energy_Corporation_(Earth-616)
Stark Industries:
Tony Stark surely needs no introduction. The "booth babe" running the display was based on the "Ironette" dancers seen in the movie Iron Man II.
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Stark_Industries_(Earth-616)
https://youtu.be/Bchp8boR0Dc
StarrWare:
The software company run by Karen Starr, aka Power Girl.
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Starrware_Industries
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Kara_Zor-L_(Earth-Two)
