Returning to the Past -- Plot Planning

[Timeslip]

Because this has become a miscommunicated mess, I'm starting a planning thread for Returning to the Past.

Long, if you would be so kind, please post here your vision for how you want the fiction to proceed. Once you are done, I'll comment, and hopefully so will the rest of the likely participants (Endeavor, Jager, etc), so that we are all actually contributing to this thing.

[Long]

As it stands Long is badly hurt but as he regains quantum he will regenerate. He does however have alot to go before he's at full health and energy reserves. Shen-Kahn is somewhat less so. He is hurt and and fairly drained. Shen-kahn has overplayed his hand considering Long's friends and his confidence has become caution. He Recognizes the multiple threats arrayed against him and has sought to hide until he is back to full power himself. As to where this will go, Shen-Kahn will die. I would liked to see him trapped and all the suffering returned on him, but that will give him time. in the end I would like it to be dramatic. While I'd like to see Long actually kill him, I won't hold to that. someone else will likely do that little chore.

[Timeslip]

The big thing from Timeslip's point of view is that Shen-Kahn knows Long too well for Long to be an effective point-man against him. Her current thoughts on the matter are to get Jager, Samhra and Singularity sitting around a table with Endeavor and herself, and try to hash out a couple of good plans for taking Shen-Kahn down.

One thing Timeslip has considered is removing Shen-Kahn from the picture by popping him out of the timestream to some uninhabited parallel world, but this has problems:

1. She has to get three successes on a maxing attempt in order to take anyone with her via CTT.

2. She has to be able to survive close-contact with Shen-Kahn, both during the maxing (where there would likely be others around to take some of Shen-Kahn's attention), and once she would have him in another place (where she would be facing him alone), and I don't honestly know if there's enough gadgetry in the world to pull that off.

3. It's not a permanent solution. Shen-Kahn would eventually gain Q6 and CTT, and start trying to return. Could delay him for years or even decades, but it isn't permanent.

[Jager]

I posted this to Long, but I thought it might do some good here:

To start off with, Shen-Khan can call upon allies within the Teragen movement itself, both to buy time and get allies if attacked. While the Primacy seems a good choice, so does the Radical Harvesters. Some of the less combative terats, like Narcosis and/or Orzaiz could be brought in to mediate this "feud" between TimeSlip and SK.

All this does is confuse the issue and buy SK time until he is ready to act. It also isolates TS if she choses to move without Teragen "support".

As far as allies outside the Teragen:

A "natural" disaster in Japan ... preferable in an isolated area, draws off Endeavor. I don't recommend a more direct attack against her OOC, because she's just been down that road.

Some sort of threat to Chicago could distract any of the WCK.

Singularity and Samhra are harder to counter, but a back channel communique to Singularity might make him stall Samhra's involvement.

..........................

I think TS has a good story idea in that SK is not permanently done away with.

Here is something that just popped into my head:

-One group, maybe Samhra, Singularity, and Jager start beating the bushes for SK, keeping him moving and on the defensive (in a strategic sense).

-TS and Endeavor work on an Area effect device for TS's CTT. It basically needs to only be a one-shot device ... for now, but it will still take TS and Endeavor time to kit-bash one up.

-We find a third group to watch-over and keep an eye on Long until he recovers both mentally and physically from his beating. There is also the worry that SK may have deep-seeded commands buried somewhere in Long's mind and that needs to be dealt with. That leads to some interesting situations involving keeping Long out of the loop.

For the third group, what about some of the others involved in the wedding, like Alchemist, Alex Craft, and Conduit. We need some sort of mentalist, or inventor to figure a way to hide Long's mental signature so SK doesn't show up on their doorstep.

One thing that I really feel shouldn't be overlooked is that this involves the Teragen, which is still a relatively small, close club with some strong ties between members.

The Teragen is developing new models, or modifying existing ones, on nova-on-nova relationships.

How do they rate SK's and Long's relationship?

Who feels allied with who on this issue?

Who simply wants to avoid a nasty conflict between two powerful novas?

What novas have made enemies in the Teragen and now would be a good chance to even some old scores?

Mind you, TS's idea of "exile" will satisfy some people, and beats killing SK hands down from that standpoint.

I would also point out that SK has absolutely no reason at this time to keep this fight quiet. He has very good reason to believe that some powerful non-terats are going to be gunning for him, and should seek allies at this point.

Furthermore, an out-and-out fight would be nasty on a devestation level, and such a thing would involve other novas and nova organizations.

[kestrel404]

"For the third group, what about some of the others involved in the wedding, like Alchemist, Alex Craft, and Conduit. We need some sort of mentalist, or inventor to figure a way to hide Long's mental signature so SK doesn't show up on their doorstep."

Done. As of the end of the "Hell to Pay" fiction, Alchemist has been working on Telepath counters, with a sideline into quantum detection counters. The hat I've mentioned him wearing is a rough equivalent of Magneto's helmet (based on the same material Alchemist used to mind blast himself during the fiction). Besides, sitting in the background and guarding the wounded is a perfect role for Alchemist in this, if Timeslip thinks to involve him.

[Singularity]

Just so I'm clear on this:

1. Shen is supposed to be killed/neutralized

2. Timeslip is intending on forming some kind of posse to do so

3. Only Timeslip, Endeavor, and Long are aware, in character, what's happened so far.

I understand that plotting out the flavor and feel of something like this OOC is a good idea (probably a very good idea), but shouldn't we save the specifics for IC interaction? For me, it's always been more fun to hash out the specific details of a monster stomp/whatnot IC. And we could miss out on any fun interactions where people, ya know, discuss whether or not killing someone in cold blood is a good idea.

[Sakurako Hino]

1: Thing is, and I've discovered this, Endeavor's potential lethality has gone up recently. All she would need is a clean shot, and we wouldn't even have to go through all of this "time-line hopping" and stuff.

2: If we do send SK off, this should be in a way that is definitive and FINAL. Being sent to another dimension, and somehow developing cross-time at LV 6 at TT games I've been in is straight up Meta-Game. If he gets ditched in some barren timeline, he's there to stay. Especially if he did pick up that power, since he WOULDN'T know how to get back. With his behavior, wherever he'd go, he'd be a target.

3: The draw-off plays SK can try are logical, but that would completely destroy what's trying to be attempted. I'm already rather annoyed with a few things regarding this story, and I don't want to be tied up with it for months. Only to have THIS STORY die as well. Either I see some direction, or I'm going to figure some way to have myself walk on this.

[Timeslip]

Here's a transcript from a current chat session. Read at your own risk (of sanity loss):

singularity: You know... I've got a simple solution to Shen... well, relatively simple...

Timeslip: For an encore, I'll dodge my creditors and skip country.

Timeslip: Yeah, that's the ticket.

Long1: lol

Timeslip: I kinda like what Jager proposed in the planning thread.

Long1 (to singularity): what was that?

singularity: It isn't bad, but it's overly complex.

Timeslip: Well, throw it into the thread, sing; that way, it can be explained long-form, and not scroll off the screen.

singularity: A character with Shen's powers requires a general tactic that would work on Long: beat him with endurance. Get a point man that will keep him occupied and busy to the point of using up his power. Then send in two heavies at the end.

Timeslip: Rope-a-dope.

Timeslip: In other words, that is.

singularity: In fact, had Long taken the time to talk to a few friends it would've been the perfect time to use the plan. Shen obsesses with Long then when he's about to drop off the furry one he gets fucked up inside a single round by two people

--N! Prime Chat: ZONG! Dreamer beams out of N! Prime Chat.

Timeslip: True enough. And thus, TS's desperate (and futile) plea to get him to wait.

singularity: Since his powers are Q heavy, a long combat will make him rather vunerable.

singularity: brb

Timeslip: K

singularity: back

Timeslip: wb

singularity: The trick is to keep him occupied and not wanting to warp away

Timeslip: Pretty much, yup.

singularity: But to stall him, to make the villian go away "for a bit"(ie-a few episodes/movies ) would require something else.

Timeslip: Cripes, I wish we could just sit down, real-world, around a pizza and a pile of wings and hash the whole thing out.

Long1: that would be nice

singularity: Mechanically taking him down is not an issue, that's a snap. Nothing in an RPG is unstoppable (that's the first lesson in D&D ) but I think it would be good is for everyone to understand exactly what should happen.

singularity: a not an (WTF)

Timeslip: Exactly...and that's one of the things that needs to get spelled out in the planning thread. Otherwise, everyone's going to wind up working on half-valid and invalid assumptions.

Timeslip: Sort of like I did.

singularity: If Shen is supposed to end up dead, fine. But why? Should the tone be of some kind of cold and calculated hit? Is it emotions out of control? Is it an accident in the fight? Does he become too dangerous while fighting and there's no choice left?

Long1: his death will be poetic

Timeslip: Strickly speaking, he needs to wind up dead or exiled because he has issued sustained and enforcable threats against Long's loved ones, and isn't willing to back off from them.

singularity: I think we have the destination in mind ("Shen's dead, baby. Shen's dead") but I don't feel like I know why the trip is being taken. If we know why, then we have a route.

Long1 (to Timeslip): never siad he wouldn't retract them

Timeslip:

Long1: Long's servitude ensures they don't come to pass

Long1: 's a threat but it puts the burden on Long

Long1: he has to choose

Timeslip: And therein lies the problem. Long can't serve Shen-Kahn without being a monster.

Timeslip: TS will not put up with it.

Long1: yeah

singularity (to Long1): Yes, but those threats have lost significant power over Long. Anything Shen does, short of outright killing, can be made undone by someone because Long and TS have the ability to seek help.

Long1: right

Timeslip: And if you don't think that TS can and will brutally ruin Long's day if he throws himself back into Shen-Kahn's service, think again.

Long1: heh

singularity (to Long1): There is very little that can't be done by the characters Long and TS could assemble, hence what the hell is Shen going to do?

Long1: seek allies

Long1: or leave

singularity (to Long1): Probably the latter, or just bide his time. Seeking allies will only escalate it into something huge.

Long1: keeping him from warping away is the sticking point

singularity (to Long1): His ass didn't warp away from Long. Just need to recreate that situation.

Long1: ya

Long1: didn't warp from Long because he KNEW he could beat Long

singularity (to Long1): Or you enlist a Spat-Man to stop people from using warp or teleport

singularity (to Long1): Well duh he could beat Long, but afterwards, when he was out of power, he was ripe for the picking.

singularity (to Long1): Totem over here could've turned him into kibble within a round or two.

Long1: he wasn't nearly as drained as Long was

singularity (to Long1): It's enough. Maintenance powers don't help in sustained combat.

Long1: he had about 15 q left when he dropped Long off

[Timeslip]

More:

singularity (to Long1): Then Long needs to last about two or three rounds longer next time

Long1: more than enough to have settled the matter

singularity (to Long1): Naaah... Not when one or more fresh novas engage him.

Long1: Shen-Kahn has one major flaw, it's what he needs Long so badly for

Timeslip: This is like the bajillionth time you've mentioned that he has a major flaw. Care to share what the hell it is?

singularity (to Timeslip): That bad?

Long1: He will not kill another nova

Timeslip: Sorry, I'm simply frustrated as all hell here.

Long1: yeah I know

Long1: sorry

Long1: Long will kill and has killed other novas

singularity (to Long1): Oh fuck that, that's not a flaw. Shit, Geryon causes more than enough problems and he won't kill other novas.

Long1: that was his purpose

Timeslip: For all the world, Shen-Kahn comes off as a Deus Ex Machina. Pops in wherever he wants, is nigh-invulnerable, fiddles with people's heads, pops away when anyone tries to do anything about him.

Long1: nope he's going down

singularity (to Timeslip): tsk tsk Hear you not what I say?

singularity: (oop, forgot the Yoda accent and the )

Timeslip (to singularity): "Ain't nobody understand the words commin' outta your mouth!"

Timeslip:

Long1 (private): seriously I am sorry

Timeslip (whispers to Long1): That's OK. Time now to fix it.

Long1 (private): heh the fun part

singularity (to Timeslip): Heh, well my point is that, mechanically, Shen can be brought down. It just takes some old school D&D party tactics

Timeslip: Question: has Shen-Kahn ever, in any of the existing fictions, actually used Hardbody? If not, get rid of it so that the big goon has an actual Achillies' Heel.

Long1: he does have impervious and that has been used

singularity (to Timeslip): You sure that's a good idea? Sing, TS, and Samhra would melt the sucker in seconds.

singularity: Oh shitty, Impervious... left with Samhra's MB then

Timeslip: Well, not in seconds; he's got a metric assload of health levels.

Timeslip: BRB

Long1: yeah

singularity (to Timeslip): Well, I've got 25 Lethal following up any Agg attack

Long1: Long was dealing 30-35 a hit with his claws and they were ap they were barely scratching him..

Long1: Sk only has 16 imperious soak

Long1: impervious

Timeslip: Back

Long1: w/b

singularity (to Long1): That's it?

Timeslip: That's still a hell of a lot more than TS can do with a Q-bolt.

Long1: yeah his physical invulnerability and elemental shield add more as do his armor

Long1: then there's his bodymorph metal

Long1: density increase of 5

Long1: wait hold one

singularity: Forget the Shield, Bodymorph, and DI.

Long1: he's still packing msta 5 with resiliency adaptability health and regeneration and hardbody..

Timeslip: Basically, the only things that TS can do to him are: (1) freeze him (if he does badly on his Willpower role), (2) age him (for pretty much no effect), or (3) take him elsewhere (and pray that she can survive a round to come home).

Long1: it's an assload of bashing

--N! Prime Chat: ZONG! Amped beams into N! Prime Chat.

Long1: hey Amped

Amped: howdy

singularity: Heya Amped

Timeslip: Now mind you, TS can help others that are fighting him. Freezing time on someone that he's about to hit, giving people extra actions via Accelerate Time, etc.

Long1: get the brake job done?

singularity (to Timeslip): Freezing is the best option there.

Amped (to Long1): I'll head over when the weather slacks up

Long1: ok

Amped (to Long1): waiting until Sunday when my dad can help me

Long1: better get dressed again then

Timeslip: TMI...

singularity (to Long1): So what kind of soak would he have if he couldn't maintain powers?

Long1: had to run outside and cover the mowers got totally soaked

Amped: .....ok....you've tainted it, not comign over today

Long1: this is dad's comp not mine

Amped: I know...I'm talking about your house

Long1: lol

Long1: I have Cherry coke and homemade Icecream

Amped: This is all assuming I can find my Windows XP Home disk

singularity: Mmmmm, ice cream

Long1: lol

Timeslip: juuki8mo;'

singularity (to Timeslip): Eh?

Timeslip: Sorry about that; just dropped something on the keyboard.

singularity (to Timeslip): Looks like something a cat would type.

Timeslip: Heh.

Timeslip: Or some odd form of "leet" Japanese.

singularity: Though here's some of my best legal writing, "The elements of the prima facie cjmhgckftttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt"t

singularity: You can see where I fell asleep

Timeslip:

Long1: barring forcefield and elemental shield 32 bashing 23 lethal with an extra invulnerability of2 against physical and mental attacks each

singularity (to Long1): cough

singularity (to Long1): So we're looking at 44 and 35?

Long1: ya

--N! Prime Chat: Alchemist jumps into N! Prime Chat.

Timeslip: Slight topical shift: anyone know a damned thing about this John G. Roberts guy?

singularity: Heya Alchie

--N! Prime Chat: Alchemist jumps out of the room N!Prime.

Timeslip: Howdy Alchemist

--N! Prime Chat: Alchemist opens the door, looks around and enters into the room N!Prime.

singularity (to Timeslip): Prolife, liberal in criminal procedure. That's all i know

singularity: Hi again, Alchie

Long1: add 26 for for those two

Timeslip: Trying again: Howdy Alchemist

Long1: w/b alchemist

singularity (to Long1): 26?!

[Timeslip]

More:

singularity (to Long1): Invulnerability works under multiples of 6

Alchemist: Hey. I haven't been in here for a very long time.

Long1: has a 4 in FF and 5 in Elemental mastery Earth

singularity (to Long1): No no, I mean when he cannot support maintenance powers

Timeslip: ...and a partridge in a pear tree.

Long1: I meant the FF and Elemental shield

singularity (to Alchemist): Good to see you again

Amped: I just can't do it captain...It's a power gamer level 9 and our dive just don't have enough sides

Amped: uhh...dice*

Alchemist: Are you guys discussing Shen Khan?

Long1: 32/44 bashing and 23/35 lethal

Timeslip: Criminy...can't we simply have Shen-Kahn collapse into his own gravity well from the sheer mass of all the cheese?

Long1: yes

singularity (to Long1): BTW-that's just too damn much... Very Bad, the less-than-Q5 with the most soak on the board, was ONLY IN THE FIFTIES

Long1: I've made worse

Amped (to Alchemist): of course

singularity (to Long1): Don't forget Bodymorph and DI. That adds even more... GAAH!

singularity:

Long1: true

Long1: only adds 5 but also adds 5 to the difficulty to hit him

<singularity jabs his eyeballs out>

Timeslip: I'm not entirely kidding about the grativational cheesehole, folks....

Amped: I think Timeslip just just temporally freeze him while he's moving at full speed, Have long open a warp to the sun, unfreeze him, and let him go through it on his own

singularity (to Timeslip): Warp/teleport gets around it

Timeslip: ...it seems a better option than actually trying to face him.

singularity (to Amped): Again, warp/teleport

Long1 (to singularity): with a good wits check

singularity: grabbing Shen's character sheet HELLO, GAME BALANCE?! ARE YOU IN THERE?!

Amped: oh please...if you say Shen Khan doesn't have high wits now I'm going to drive over there and beat you with your own Shinai

Timeslip: Hehehe

Long1: I'm not

Amped: Shen Khan is a terribly broken character

Timeslip: Bingo

Long1: thus he's going to die

Timeslip: Glad someone came out and said it

Amped: he shouldn't have been born

Alchemist: What's his soak against mental attacks?

Amped: he was never this bad in the chronicle

Long1: he was the second time

singularity (to Long1): It shouldn't get this far!

Amped: which was yoru chronicle, not mine

Amped: I'd never have allowed him to get this bad

singularity (to Long1): And there's NOTHING IN CONCRETE!!! He does NOT need to be that powerful to have done what he did.

Long1: in your game he was capable of mstr 10 and mdex 10

Amped: where as you beef up your characters like mad

Timeslip: Makes my Q6 TS feel like a 1 Nova Point character.

singularity (to Alchemist): No idea, but I'm sure it's in the 30s...

Amped: ummm....he was?

Amped: I thought we knew it was broken by then

Timeslip (to singularity): Indeed. Frankly, if we dispensed with the Hardbody and Invulnerability, it wouldn't affect the existing fiction, and would make it possible to actually affect the fucker.

Long1 (to Amped): nope

singularity (to Timeslip): Or just roll things back... instead of 5 dots make it 2.

Timeslip: Something...anything....

Alchemist: Why bother with stats, anyway? It's fiction, yes?

Long1 (to Amped): it took 2 turns to get that high though

Timeslip: Or else the only realistic option is for TS to shove him into cross-dimensional exile...and realistically, she shouldn't survive that.

singularity (to Alchemist): Dude... I hate to say it but we passed that part of the road awhile ago... though I'm on your side in that one...

Amped: is that when you had your equally as broken transform power?

Timeslip: So the theory goes, Alchemist.

Long1: Singularity is on to something

Long1 (to Amped): which you allowed and I paid an assload for

singularity (to Long1): To what? Friggin balance? YAY!

Amped: You could have Shen Khan catch a Nova Fever and die from a lack of cowbell

Timeslip: "Singularity is on to something" Can I have some, too?

Amped: @A once again, we were broken then, and that was equally as broken, and never should have been allowed, I don't allow user created powers anymore for that reason

Long1 (to singularity): how much soak he has when he hasn't got the juice to tpower himself

singularity (to Amped): I've got a fever... and the cure is more cowbell

Amped: ...How did I mistake an A for L

singularity (to Long1): Well duh, but he's still up in the Troll/VB/Sing category at that point.

Long1: getting him to burn his power negates his threat

Amped: this makes me wanna know...how much soak does Long have?

Long1: armor piercing will kill him slowly

Long1: 28

singularity (to Long1): Yes, welcome to 30 minutes ago. I'm friggin' lamenting about JUST HOW DAMN POWERFUL HE IS!

Long1: lethal

Timeslip: I'm going to say this once again, for greater justice: could someone please put some of the more pertinent points from this little pow-wow into the plot-planning thread?

Alchemist: AP will kill him SLOWLY? After his power runs out. Gee, there's a tactic we should try.

Long1: copy paste....

singularity (to Timeslip): I've said my peace for now in the thread.

Timeslip: BRB

[Timeslip]

And even more...and then I freaking quit:

Long1: actually Ap will kill him pretty quick in energy attack form

Alchemist: So, Long, what's his soak against anti-nova drugs?

singularity (to Alchemist): You thinking of moxing him to the gills?

Alchemist: 'Cause Alchemist makes his own Mox.

Long1: stam 5 msta 5 with health and adaptability

Amped: This is what happens when the A trains B, B marries C, A threatens to kill C, B tries to kill A plotline gets rezzed

singularity: Whelp, stratch that idea... unless we can dip him in a vat of it...

singularity: Eclipsodil would be nice but he'd teleport around the planet for a few minutes before he was left lying there like a kitten.

Amped: so you'd have to get him stuck with some sort of tracking device first

singularity (to Amped): Nah, just have Alchie over here whip something up that can inhibit spatial manipulations.

Amped: Bandwidth is back now too...but he's quite mentally disturbed about using his Cyberkinesis

singularity: Hit him with an aresoled Eclipsodil, prevent the 'porting with tech, and just put a .50 cal in the back of his head after he's finished the freakout.

Alchemist: Not his forte. I've been stretching it already with the anti-psi material.

singularity (to Alchemist): Yea, but Utopia has been using it for years.

Alchemist: Besides, who's got the Eclipsidol?

singularity (to Alchemist): Yeeea, that's the hard part

--N! Prime Chat: ZONG! Amped beams out of N! Prime Chat. ]

--N! Prime Chat: Amped opens the door, looks around and enters into N! Prime Chat.

Amped: yeah, who has contact with the Directive

singularity: No Directive characters on the board so no help with the 'Clipsol

Amped: could drop a nuke on him

Amped: I'm sure there are enough super hackers around

Amped: though warp/teleport does make the tricky

[Timeslip]

Franklin,

The problem we've run into is one character trying to make arrangements for something, and another character proceeding through a dozen or more posts in rapid-fire sequence and thus heading off anything that anyone else might do. That's the mess, and that's why we need some sort of general plot outline or something.

[Timeslip]

Endeavor,

Trust me: you're not the only one displeased with how the story has gone so far.

[Singularity]

I understand the limitations of the board, however doing this detailed of a plan right now, even before dealing with it IC, will just make it so... mechanical. All I'm saying is that there's a lot fun and neat character stuff we can cover through interaction between the characters that could be involved in this. Otherwise we might just end up with an outline someone could use to just write and post the story on their own.

[Jager]

Please remember, TS and Long are writing a story here, not playing the mechanically weak game we are stuck with. The two of you can do better than our cheesy rules system and write a great story.

We know the general limitations of the powers and can work within them. That's pretty much our only limitation.

Oh yeah, and let's have fun here. Its a frikken fiction.

[Long]

look I've already said I'm sorry about this at least a hundred times.. things are coming around to resolve it all quickly.

[Singularity]

Although I've given you a good ribbing about Shen's power level, Long, I don't want you to feel completely persecuted. I'm just giving my opinion here and you're in no way beholden to it.

[Sakurako Hino]

This is one big old pile of eww. One thing though, Sk cannot defy the Laws of Physics.

If he gets froze, by let's say a cryogenic grenade... He's pretty much ours to break.

[Dreamer]

And that is only if rapid cooling would effect said nova. We are talking about a nova who most likely can live through massive explosives . Miss Hino's toys may not be with the same power scale as what Shen regularly shrugs off. Rapid cooling of objects harder and not necessarily more damaging than rapid heating . It is however much harder to do.

[Sakurako Hino]

Hey, hit something that causes them to supercool to ABSOLUTE ZERO, all I have to say, is they're boned.

[Dreamer]

Tommy you understand how things cool down? Turning something into "ABSULUTE ZERO" in an non controlled area could cause something akin to a nuke going off. I could be wrong on this one, but I do know that would take a shit load of energy to make something become AZ.

[Amped]

Shen Khan can't break the r ules of physics...isn't that what Novas are pretty much all about.

It's not so much that the thing is going to cool them to absolute zero, but it's that it has a chance to cool them to absolute zero...and nothing is really absolute anyway.

[Jager]

Here is another idea. Why don't we break this down.

Alchemist could do a story were he is hiding Long until he recovers and is then approached by some terats looking for information on Long, SK, and their relationship.

Endeavor could write something about creating anti-SK devices and perhaps some Teragen responses to her actions.

Samhra and Sing could do a story about the potential consequences of Singularity being drug back into a combative lifestyle and what that means to them as a couple.

TS and Long could do the actual confrontation between SK, along with the ramifications of what Long has been doing and how they stand in the Teragen ... among other things.

[Timeslip]

All I know for certain is this: I want everyone who is involved to get the chance to actually be involved. I'm also going to tap Carver's creative mind, since she's good at this sort of writing. Endeavor's gadgets will work, for the simple reason that they have to be able to work in order for her to have meaningful participation. Jager's battle tactics and feints will work as well, for the same reason. Whoever the mentalist is that joins in will be effective in thwarting Shen-Kahn's mental attacks, and so on.

[z-Carver]

As far as tapping me, sure, I'm game. Some ideas I'm going to toss out to get juices flowing:

Thought #1 - SK has allies that someone finds out he's going to call, or he hires mercs. Given TS's angry response to him, he might guess that she's not just flapping her lips. Some people head SK's allies off while core group goes after SK. Logically, Long should NOT be part of the group - when things are this personal, mistakes are made. SK knows Long far too well. I know that it would make a good story for Long to deliver the killing blow, but it would be just as good for TS to "prove" to the anscestors that she is willing to go out of her way to avenge the honor of the family. As she has Agg damage, she could concievably kill SK. Done.

Thought #2 - Long ropes-a-dope, while TS and a few others hang back. The big guys one-on-one him until he's hurt enough that someone could kill him. Done.

Thought #3 - SK realizes he's in a shit-load of danger and disappears for a time. He plans and schemes out a way to get revenge but realizes that Long is too surrounded to grab. So he finds a new prodigy and sends them after TS/Long. The prodigy is traced back to the source and SK is beset by every ally TS/Long can scrounge up.

I'm not saying that all of these ideas are good or even what you all want. However, they might spark something in someone else. Personally, I think that it would be very poetic if TS kills SK - SK has tortured Long's family, and a member of that family finally strikes back. It's different than the tired old "head of the family avenges killer of old family before he kills new family."

[Long]

no more protege's and Long will NOT be the one to kill Shen-Kahn.

[Alex Craft]

Commentary on previous material:

Note that Warping away isn't such a problem. It takes an entire turn to create a Warp, which is a long time in nova combat - particularly since Shen-Khan cannot defend himself while doing so. Granted, he has a high soak, but even that won't realistically save him if he just stands there and stares off into space for a full combat turn.

Also, remember that Cross-Time Travel (Affects Others) is 'affects others.' It works differently from Attunement. If you slap someone with Density Increase (Affects Others), you are not affected. Thus, if Timeslip saw Shen-Khan off to some god-forsaken corner of the multiverse, she would not have to go along for the ride.

And she could pick a universe where quantum doesn't work. Wouldn't that be amusing? No Q6/CTT for Shen-Khan, no sir ...

[Sakurako Hino]

Or... how about one with superpowered folk that get it from other sources? Like maybe a BESM version of Endeavor pops up and blasts him with her "Photon Canon" Mounted on a mobile suit? Wh00tage!

Oooh, ooh, or maybe the WoD.... Just before Gehenna!!!!!

Sorry, but seriously, why don't she just dump him where in an alternate universe, matter didn't form? It would rip him apart from the sheer radiation and energy.

[Alex Craft]

Matter didn't form? Not getting you ...

Though, speaking in terms of theoretical physics, there should be about a fifty-fifty chance of a randomly selected universe being an antimatter universe.

OOC, I'd be happy to get in on this. However, IC, Alex isn't one to volunteer for much. On the other hand, this involves local novas whom he also happens to know, so he would help if someone asked. He's not a combatant, but he is extremely good at working defensively if you need someone to hide/watch over Long.

Also, if you want to find Shen-Khan, Alex can do that - his quantum detection abilities are just your standard Telepathy whittled down to just the ability to detect/identify novas. Of course, it's not a telepathic effect, so Shen-Khan presumably doesn't have a resistance to it, since virtually nobody has long-range quantum detection abilities.

[Alex Craft]

And Disrupt from a M-Intelligent nova can really hurt, unless Shen-Khan has Invulnerability (Quantum Manipulation). Which would be kind of messed up, given the rarity of the need but ...

Does anyone have Invulnerability (Mental Attacks)? Max that for the area extra and you've got yourself something useful.

[Timeslip]

A couple of notes of my own, regarding CTT....

Affect Others: I have always played this -- and will continue to play this -- as though it requires the CTT user to go with whomever they are affecting. Simply put, it helps to prevent the kind of arterial clogging that comes from having too much cheese. If I wanted to, I could get into a really, really pedantic examination of the text for the Affect Others extra to back up my position on this, but frankly it isn't worth the finger strain and could be countered (and deadlocked) by someone just as anal coming at it from a different direction.

A World Without Quantum: This would fall under the Exotic Worlds extra ("the nova can specify changes in fundimental laws, such as magic working, only Level 3+ powers existing and so on"). It's bad enough that Timeslip is doing the desperate grab to add the Affect Others extra to her CTT use from time to time (which, while fine in a non-combat situation like her little trips to "Eden" with Long where she can take as much time as needed to get enough max successes to pull it off, is a bit twinkish in a combat situation); there's no way in hell that I could look at myself in the mirror in the morning if I claimed that she got a perfect success on her maxing roll so that she could add two extras (and basically whip out a Level 6 power as a result).

[Sakurako Hino]

Too bad we can't do a buff and grief tactic. Get one of our crunchies buffed with affect others goodness, and put that person on par, if not over, what will be needed.

[Timeslip]

Darn good point.

In any event, I think this thing is starting to shape up...thank the gods.

[Singularity]

Apologies, I just want to be sure I understand:

The current plan, IC at least, is to slam Shen with a bunch of novas to buy TS enough time to use CTT to banish him?

[Timeslip]

That seems to be the shape of it, yes. Cryo-grenades will help with this; figure them slowing him down to an action or two per turn.

[Conduit]

Conduit will be there for this. Where ever he is needed. I've been less then capable of reading the boards this last week, so while I try to catch up, I try to think of some input.

[Timeslip]

Ah, crud. I'm sorry, Conduit, I completely spaced it. What would be the best way to call you in?

[Sakurako Hino]

I'm absolutely sorry in my lag of posts today. I needed to sleep in because I got almost NO sleep last night, and crashed out.

But, I'll try to keep up. I reccomend that we slow down the combat to come to adapt to OUR speed.

[Timeslip]

Don't sweat it. This will take shape in it's own good time. So long as we don't wind up in multi-day bog-downs like the Yamato thing did, it's all good.

And yeah, we definitely need to implement the WWII convoy rule here. Which, for those unfamiliar with it, is that the convoy moves at the speed of the slowest freighter, so as to leave nobody behind for the U-boat wolfpack to pick off. We'll proceed at the speed of the slowest poster...and we're all regular-enough posters that it shouldn't be a major imposition on anybody. Right now, we're holding for Jager & Carver to show up...which is fine, as it gives Endeavor and Timeslip time to figure out if she can work up the "one-shot Affect Others" gadget for Timeslip's Crosstime Travel power. For all the world, I think it's going to wind up looking like a ray gun...

[z-Carver]

Jager: sorry for the delay in posting last night; I was at a table-top game that ran until well after my bedtime and pumpkins can't type very well.

Anyway, new post from me is up.