jkcarrier | DC Villains #29: Seven Soldiers pt. 1 (Reply)

DC Villains
Episode 29:
"Seven Soldiers" part 1
[Inspired by:
Justice League of America #100-102 by Len Wein
Seven Soldiers mini-series by Grant Morrison]

Roll Call:
Bucky
Captain Republican
Chemical Lad
Mr. Roboto

Calling the Secret Society together, Manhunter told them that his sources had uncovered a strange "time anomaly" located in the Andes Mountains of South America. Interrogation of the local population revealed that a team of seven super-heroes had battled a giant monster there several years ago, and deployed some kind of powerful weapon that had destroyed monster and hero alike, tearing a gaping hole in the space-time continuum.

Needless to say, the Society's mysterious leader was very interested in a weapon of that magnitude. Manhunter theorized that the heroes might have actually survived the explosion, and been hurled through the anomaly into some other era. The Society's job was to track the heroes down and find out as much as they could about the weapon they'd used.

Zeroing in on the anomaly with the help of Mother Box, the team saw several branching pathways. They picked one at random, and soon found themselves in ancient Tibet (c. AD 1200, according to Mother). An old monk from a nearby temple saw their arrival and begged for their help. Invaders were coming, he said, led by a man once called Temujin, but now known as Genghis Khan. Khan had powerful evil magic at his command, and his troops were led by a man on a winged horse. The Society thought that sounded a lot like one of their wayward super-heroes, and agreed to help defend the temple.

The next morning, the invaders arrived:

Genghis Khan
[Armor, Special Weapon: Sword (with Laser Contact attack)]
Sir Ystina
[Armor, Special Weapon: Sword (with Death Touch Carrier attack), Companion (Vanguard the flying horse)]
Green Dragon
[Multi-Function power stone with Flame Blast, Flight, and Force Field)]
Shahn-Zi
[Armor, Mind Control, Size Change:Larger, Telekinesis]
Mongol Soldiers
[Armor, Special Weapons: Sword and Bow]

The Society focused on Khan first, hoping his defeat would demoralize the troops. No such luck, so they turned their attention to Shahn-Zi, whose psychic powers gave them cause for worry. Once he fell, Sir Ystina seemed to "snap out of it", and she quickly joined the side of the Society. This was finally enough to convince Green Dragon and the remaining Mongol Soldiers to retreat.

Jumping back to the present through the anomaly, Mother Box told the Society that she had surreptitiously pulled the information they needed from Ystina's mind. Thus, they let Ystina and Vanguard fly off into the sunset and prepared for their next time-trip.

[Loot Drops: Green Dragon's Stone (Force Field), Sir Ystina's Hilt (adds a Death Touch Carrier attack to any Ability).]

This time the anomaly brought them to Tenochtitlan, Mexico c. AD 1500, the height of the Aztec Empire. They arrived just in time for an important ceremony: a human sacrifice to the god Tezcatlipoca. The sacrifice was a woman with silver skin, whom the Society correctly guessed was the hero they sought. Unfortunately, the 20' tall deity himself arrived to accept the sacrifice, and he brought friends with him:

Bulleteer - drugged and chained to the altar
[Armor, Flight, Experience Levels]
High Priest
[Flame Aura, Healing, Special Weapon: Dagger with Armor Piercing]
Tezcatlipoca
[Size Change: Larger, Vibratory Blast (Area Effect, Selective), Multi-Function Mirror (Shield + Reflection: Kinetic)]
Flying Serpent
[Armor, Flight, Size Change: Larger, Sonic Blast]
Uturuncu
[Invulnerability to Kinetic, Natural Weaponry with Poison/Venom Contact attack]
Stone Demons
[Density Increase (Stays Active), Gravity Increase (Single Target, Touch Range), Size Change: Larger]

Chemical Lad and Mr. Roboto went after the High Priest, since their ranged attacks could hit him without having to touch his fiery aura. Meanwhile, Captain Republican and Bucky went after Tezcatlipoca, who was buffeting the whole team with his tornado winds [Vibratory Area Effect]. When they realized that his "smoking mirror" was deflecting their attacks, Bucky managed to target the mirror directly [Called Shot] and shattered it. Even without it, Tezcatlipoca took a lot of damage before finally falling, and his defeat also caused the Stone Demons to crumble to dust. The Uturuncu's poisoned claws did heavy damage to several of the team, but it finally fell as well. The Flying Serpent sniped at the villains from a distance, well out of range of their abilities. But with no one left to command the creature, it eventually got bored and flew off.

Mother Box analyzed the unconscious Bulleteer and learned that her silver skin was one of the components of the weapon they sought. Indeed, when they turned her over, they could see that a swatch of skin had already been peeled away from her back. The Society members repeated the process, then dumped her unceremoniously back in 2021 as they resumed their mission...[To Be Continued]

[Loot Drops: High Priest's Knife (Special Weapon with Armor Piercing), Tezcatlipoca's Headdress (Vibratory Blast with Area Effect and Selective)]

[The player characters earned 3 character points each, giving them a total of 187.]