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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Golden Bee" data-source="post: 9674920" data-attributes="member: 7041055">The Emperor Who Never Sleeps.The mechanic scratched her head. “Weird, you look just like that painting in the lobby.”“He must be handsome!” said Lancaster.‘Twas a normal Fourth of July in New York City. Rafe Lancaster hosted a Marshall College alumni function. Ivo Kochev crashed it (and ate plate after plate). A few blocks away, at 30 Rock, “Lala” Santinella prepared for the latest episode of the Grey Gargoyle radio show. There was a problem, though: this episode was clearly based on the time the Gargoyle crashed her wedding. She talked to him, he blamed the writers. They said they'd be happy to rewrite it if she could score them some quality jazz cigarettes. She agreed, and they told her about some new ad copy that came in, asking for mechanically skilled people who wanted immediate work.In the ballroom, Rafe stopped a would-be brawl between local bigot Jarrett Owen and one of Marshall College’s latest engineering PhDs: Afro-supremacist Professor Paradox.Rafe turned on the radio eager to distract everyone, pursing his lips quizzically at the ad. Soon, Lala came over, noting that the traffic was heinous, even considering the holiday. The group went to investigate, but found the police were forbidding anyone from entering the subway. Smuggler Ivo bribed a security guard at a construction site, entering the tunnels that way… and finding one of Baron Korga’s undying automatons! The mechanical marvel was bulletproof and wielded a flame cannon. But oddly enough, it only responded to threats: it didn't seem to be actively conquering.Lala called the mysterious number, and got an address: the Lancaster Industries airplane factory in the Bronx! Rafe, thinking back, realized that he had a dangerous robot of his own: unfortunately, it was in NYPD lockup. With the subway shut down and traffic at a standstill, the group took a powerboat down to the Battery and snuck in. Sneaking out was harder: the group got away with the damaged half robot, but only after crashing a police squad car through the gate. Hopefully nobody saw!Somebody saw. <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Three_Hunters" target="_blank">The three hunters </a>slipped into the aircraft factory, only to be caught by Maja Malgorzo and Drew, detectives of the League of Nations Police Force. After a narrow escape and some minor burn wounds, the group convinced the officers that they weren't behind the mechanical invasion. In fact, with some help, they could stop it! The aircraft factory was controlled by Ulyana Demedov (Korga’s lover and ex of Captain Ivanova, last seen in Emperor of Tomorrow) and some O'Rourke mafia thugs. While Lala was proud to see so many women working in a technical field, it was less than auspicious, considering they were building more evil robots. Not wanting to be caught, our beloved heroes headed to Lancaster's Manhattan automobile factory. There, they palavered with Oleg, Baron Korga’s second in command. The Baron wanted to express his apologies for taking over Lancaster's facilities without asking: there simply wasn't time considering 'civilian opposition to progress'. Rafe played it cool, earning the right to rebuild his robot. Meanwhile, Lala used a payphone to gather up some heavy hitters, and Ivo put it together. The Baron was using radio control, and probably from somewhere private where he couldn't easily be arrested. The best option: the Statue of Liberty.Oleg "escorted" the group to Liberty Island, but wasn't watching the boom and got knocked overboard in the middle of the harbor. Rafe contacted his aircraft factory and had the workers turn on the radio: then, it was easy to see that their innocent project was actually traitorous villainy! Knowing the robots’ weakness, Lancaster sacrificed his own automaton to distract the Baron’s. Lala’s burly brawlers were able to get the group to the base of the statue. The three heroes ascended.Things rapidly went sideways. Korga was far more charming and insightful than a typical villain. He convinced Lancaster that a team-up would let them both rule the Eastern Seaboard. Lala, who meant to distract him while the millionaire destroyed the machines, ended up making out with the Baron on the statue’s torch. (There's something romantic about all that rushing air and fireworks over the city!)Ivo, already in lousy shape, was harried by the demonic luchador, El Principe del Inframundo! Luckily, Steel Eagle arrived. The All-American Tibetan heard Lancaster ranting about his new, evil plans… …and punched him in the face! Rafe snapped out of it just in time to be caught by Korga.Lala smashed the radio, Ivo dodged the Baron, and Rafe pried open the elevator. Messing with the speed limiter, the group nearly shattered their ankles plunging to the base of the statue. As they hobbled outside, they saw a black parachute vanish off the tower and into the night…Back in Manhattan, Ivo looked for some free food, a guilt-stricken Lala called her girlfriend Penny, and Rafe returned to his penthouse. His girlfriend Lillian and his mentee Devika were there. He sent Lil out to make some hotdogs, and confessed his "temporary megalomania”. If it was a few months ago, he would've probably gone along with Korga. Being a good person was hard! His bestie explained that everyone got tempted sometimes. And while she would never ask him to keep secrets, she especially wouldn't want him to keep them from his girlfriend. She explained that he should march into the other room, and come back with some beer and hotdogs.</blockquote>

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