Ugly Ghost Squad #20 recap
Aug. 3rd, 2016 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierUgly Ghost Squad #20
"The Breeder Bombs"
Played 7/30/2016
Roll Call:
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Experience Level: 8
Enemies Fought:
Fixer
The Sentinels
The (Ex) Soviet Super-Soldiers:
Crimson Dynamo
Darkstar
Ursa Major
Vanguard
Magneto
Mystique (disguised as Magneto) and her various robot imposters:
Hulk
Mentallo
Blob
Quicksilver
Toad
Other NPCs:
Mentallo
Augie Hickman
Adventure Modules Used:
Marvel Super Heroes: "The Breeder Bombs" by Jeff Grubb
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad were relaxing at their headquarters, when the notorious hi-tech supervillain called the Fixer appeared outside, accusing the team of harboring a murderer. When the team came outside to investigate, he immediately attacked, firing mini-missiles from his armored suit. The heroes managed to subdue and disarm him, and demanded to know what he was talking about.
The Fixer showed the team a DVD that he'd received in the mail that morning, appearing to show the Hulk beating a man to death. The man was the Fixer's erstwhile partner, the powerful psychic known as Mentallo. After some discussion, the squad managed to convince Fixer that the video was a hoax. They recognized the scene of the "crime" as a neighborhood in the nearby town of Happy Harbor, and the heroes (along with a de-weaponized Fixer) went to investigate.
In an abandoned canning factory, the team found Mentallo, alive but unconscious, strapped into some kind of complex machine. Before they could extricate him, they were attacked by a pair of robots that were exact doubles of Mentallo and the Hulk -- the "actors" from the DVD. The heroes made quick work of them, and Fixer revived the real Mentallo.
Mentallo revealed that he had been hired by the evil mutant known as Magneto, as part of a scheme to steal nuclear material from a military base. Magneto's machine had boosted Mentallo's power, allowing him to render Magneto invisible, making it easy for him to slip onto the base and steal what he needed. But after completeing the robbery, Magneto left Mentallo trapped inside the machine and abandoned him without paying the agreed-upon fee.
According to Mentallo, Magneto used the nuclear material to create so-called "Breeder Bombs" -- portable nuclear reactors designed to pump massive doses of radiation into the atmosphere. The results would decimate the population, but would also greatly increase the number of mutants being born. Mentallo knew the location of one of the four bombs -- an abandoned military testing site in Colorado -- but not the others. Fixer was confident that, given time, he could hack into Mangeto's equipment and locate the rest of the bombs. The squad left him to his work and took off for Colorado in their jet.
Arriving at the old testing site, the heroes found that the bomb had been claimed by a crazy old hermit named Augie, who planned to sell it for scrap. After some deliberation, they decided that it was easier to just pay him the "five hunnert bucks" he thought it was worth, rather than starting a fight and risking damaging or triggering the bomb. A happy Augie departed the scene, and the Martian Manhunter (with Fixer pitching in via radio) began dismantling the bomb.
However, the presence of super-powered beings triggered the reactivation of some of the dormant weapons buried nearby: the giant robotic Sentinels. Drawing the fight away from the bomb, the rest of the team managed to destroy the robots, while Martian Manhunter completed the task of deactivating the bomb.
The Fixer radioed the team that he had unearthed the location of another bomb: within the nation of Kazakhstan, near the Russian border. As the squad flew to the scene, they abruptly lost control of their plane, and were forced to land. The electrical system had been compromised by the armored Russian superhero called the Crimson Dynamo. He and his partners -- the hammer-and-sickle-wielding Vanguard, the darkness-powered Darkstar, and the bear-creature called Ursa Major -- considered the team to be violating Russian air space and immediately attacked. After a heated battle, the squad managed to take out their Russian foes, and then were free to locate and deactivate the second bomb.
Another call from the Fixer lead to another bomb location: the Great Dividing Range in Australia. However, when they arrived on the scene, the team found that the bomb had been disassembled, and the nuclear core removed. A local news report of terrorists threatening a shopping mall in the city of Syndney revealed the likely culprits.
Racing to the scene, the heroes arrived just in time to see the last of the terrorists being dispatched by none other than Magneto. Magneto declared his intention of taking custody of the nuclear core, but the heroes weren't inclined to let him. They battled for some time, and the squad seemed to be making headway against the powerful mutant, but finally Magneto decided to cut his losses and retreat, leaving the core behind. He warned the heroes not to interfere with him again, or the next battle would end differently.
The final bomb was located in an ancient pyramid hidden in the Chilean Andes. Ghosting inside, the squad saw that the interior had been hollowed out and filled with hi-tech machinery, including the bomb. Waiting for them there was Magneto, along with his old minions, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants: the massive Blob, the super-speeding Quicksilver, and the acid-spitting Toad. But the heroes were surprised to see another Mangeto, apparently unconscious and chained to the wall.
The "Brotherhood" turned out to be robots, and Magneto seemed not nearly as powerful as when they'd battled him in Australia, though it was still a difficult battle. Once Thanatos had drained the Master of Magnetism with his devitalization rays, "he" was revealed to be the shapeshifting mutant called Mystique, using a handheld device to mimic Magneto's powers. Mystique was the mastermind behind the Breeder Bombs all along, and the real Magneto (the one they'd fought in Australia, and who had later been knocked out and captured) was trying to stop her. Mystique was taken into custody, and Magneto left the scene, grudgingly thanking the "homo sapiens" for their assistance.
Memorable Quotes:
"At least it wasn't a porno." - Captain America, after watching the video of Hulk murdering Mentallo.
"She looked better in the movie." - Thanatos, after meeting Mystique.
Sources and References:
This module was originally written as an X-Men adventure, so there's lots of mutant stuff referenced.
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Evil_Mutants_(Earth-616)
Fixer:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Norbert_Ebersol_(Earth-616)
Magneto:
http://marvel.com/universe/Magneto_(Max_Eisenhardt)
Mentallo:
http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/m/mentallo.htm
Mystique:
http://marvel.com/universe/Mystique
Sentinels:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Sentinels_(Earth-616)
Soviet Super-Soldiers:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Soviet_Super-Soldiers_(Earth-616)
"The Breeder Bombs"
Played 7/30/2016
Roll Call:
Captain America
Hulk
Martian Manhunter
Thanatos
Experience Level: 8
Enemies Fought:
Fixer
The Sentinels
The (Ex) Soviet Super-Soldiers:
Crimson Dynamo
Darkstar
Ursa Major
Vanguard
Magneto
Mystique (disguised as Magneto) and her various robot imposters:
Hulk
Mentallo
Blob
Quicksilver
Toad
Other NPCs:
Mentallo
Augie Hickman
Adventure Modules Used:
Marvel Super Heroes: "The Breeder Bombs" by Jeff Grubb
Synopsis:
The Ugly Ghost Squad were relaxing at their headquarters, when the notorious hi-tech supervillain called the Fixer appeared outside, accusing the team of harboring a murderer. When the team came outside to investigate, he immediately attacked, firing mini-missiles from his armored suit. The heroes managed to subdue and disarm him, and demanded to know what he was talking about.
The Fixer showed the team a DVD that he'd received in the mail that morning, appearing to show the Hulk beating a man to death. The man was the Fixer's erstwhile partner, the powerful psychic known as Mentallo. After some discussion, the squad managed to convince Fixer that the video was a hoax. They recognized the scene of the "crime" as a neighborhood in the nearby town of Happy Harbor, and the heroes (along with a de-weaponized Fixer) went to investigate.
In an abandoned canning factory, the team found Mentallo, alive but unconscious, strapped into some kind of complex machine. Before they could extricate him, they were attacked by a pair of robots that were exact doubles of Mentallo and the Hulk -- the "actors" from the DVD. The heroes made quick work of them, and Fixer revived the real Mentallo.
Mentallo revealed that he had been hired by the evil mutant known as Magneto, as part of a scheme to steal nuclear material from a military base. Magneto's machine had boosted Mentallo's power, allowing him to render Magneto invisible, making it easy for him to slip onto the base and steal what he needed. But after completeing the robbery, Magneto left Mentallo trapped inside the machine and abandoned him without paying the agreed-upon fee.
According to Mentallo, Magneto used the nuclear material to create so-called "Breeder Bombs" -- portable nuclear reactors designed to pump massive doses of radiation into the atmosphere. The results would decimate the population, but would also greatly increase the number of mutants being born. Mentallo knew the location of one of the four bombs -- an abandoned military testing site in Colorado -- but not the others. Fixer was confident that, given time, he could hack into Mangeto's equipment and locate the rest of the bombs. The squad left him to his work and took off for Colorado in their jet.
Arriving at the old testing site, the heroes found that the bomb had been claimed by a crazy old hermit named Augie, who planned to sell it for scrap. After some deliberation, they decided that it was easier to just pay him the "five hunnert bucks" he thought it was worth, rather than starting a fight and risking damaging or triggering the bomb. A happy Augie departed the scene, and the Martian Manhunter (with Fixer pitching in via radio) began dismantling the bomb.
However, the presence of super-powered beings triggered the reactivation of some of the dormant weapons buried nearby: the giant robotic Sentinels. Drawing the fight away from the bomb, the rest of the team managed to destroy the robots, while Martian Manhunter completed the task of deactivating the bomb.
The Fixer radioed the team that he had unearthed the location of another bomb: within the nation of Kazakhstan, near the Russian border. As the squad flew to the scene, they abruptly lost control of their plane, and were forced to land. The electrical system had been compromised by the armored Russian superhero called the Crimson Dynamo. He and his partners -- the hammer-and-sickle-wielding Vanguard, the darkness-powered Darkstar, and the bear-creature called Ursa Major -- considered the team to be violating Russian air space and immediately attacked. After a heated battle, the squad managed to take out their Russian foes, and then were free to locate and deactivate the second bomb.
Another call from the Fixer lead to another bomb location: the Great Dividing Range in Australia. However, when they arrived on the scene, the team found that the bomb had been disassembled, and the nuclear core removed. A local news report of terrorists threatening a shopping mall in the city of Syndney revealed the likely culprits.
Racing to the scene, the heroes arrived just in time to see the last of the terrorists being dispatched by none other than Magneto. Magneto declared his intention of taking custody of the nuclear core, but the heroes weren't inclined to let him. They battled for some time, and the squad seemed to be making headway against the powerful mutant, but finally Magneto decided to cut his losses and retreat, leaving the core behind. He warned the heroes not to interfere with him again, or the next battle would end differently.
The final bomb was located in an ancient pyramid hidden in the Chilean Andes. Ghosting inside, the squad saw that the interior had been hollowed out and filled with hi-tech machinery, including the bomb. Waiting for them there was Magneto, along with his old minions, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants: the massive Blob, the super-speeding Quicksilver, and the acid-spitting Toad. But the heroes were surprised to see another Mangeto, apparently unconscious and chained to the wall.
The "Brotherhood" turned out to be robots, and Magneto seemed not nearly as powerful as when they'd battled him in Australia, though it was still a difficult battle. Once Thanatos had drained the Master of Magnetism with his devitalization rays, "he" was revealed to be the shapeshifting mutant called Mystique, using a handheld device to mimic Magneto's powers. Mystique was the mastermind behind the Breeder Bombs all along, and the real Magneto (the one they'd fought in Australia, and who had later been knocked out and captured) was trying to stop her. Mystique was taken into custody, and Magneto left the scene, grudgingly thanking the "homo sapiens" for their assistance.
Memorable Quotes:
"At least it wasn't a porno." - Captain America, after watching the video of Hulk murdering Mentallo.
"She looked better in the movie." - Thanatos, after meeting Mystique.
Sources and References:
This module was originally written as an X-Men adventure, so there's lots of mutant stuff referenced.
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Brotherhood_of_Evil_Mutants_(Earth-616)
Fixer:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Norbert_Ebersol_(Earth-616)
Magneto:
http://marvel.com/universe/Magneto_(Max_Eisenhardt)
Mentallo:
http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/m/mentallo.htm
Mystique:
http://marvel.com/universe/Mystique
Sentinels:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Sentinels_(Earth-616)
Soviet Super-Soldiers:
http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Soviet_Super-Soldiers_(Earth-616)
