[Mutants & Masterminds] A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic
Davies
Legend
Perhaps, but remember that we don't know his side of this, either.
Davies
Legend
Mentor
When he realized the trap into which he had not so much fallen as blindly stepped, Kent Wildman knew greater despair than he had ever imagined it was possible to feel. None of the options he could see were good ones. He could either cause the death of everyone he knew and loved, or cause the death of a vast number of innocents, or produce unimaginable chaos. And the longer he hesitated before making a decision, the worse the outcome would be. There was only one thing to do -- he was going to have to die.
And die he did, but under circumstances that neither he nor Drummond had considered a possibility, such that he was reborn as one of the first Ascendants of the current era. Given the task of guarding the new reality that would emerge from this calamity, he was -- for the second time that day -- daunted. How could he possibly act as a guardian of a world as alien to him as this one would be? Tanelorn would be part of this new world, but its basis was a completely different reality than the one he had abandoned long before.
With the assistance of one of his new colleagues, however, he was able to reach out to a being who had been his counterpart in the history of that world, Ken Hazard, in the moment of his death. In speaking together, however, something unexpected happened -- they merged, creating a being who was not quite Kent Wildman and not quite Ken Hazard, retaining all of their memories and yet distanced from their experiences. A counsellor, a conscience, a consoler ... the Hierarch of the Sphere of Mind, Mentor.
Since the new reality stabilized, a bit more than a month or so, Mentor has found himself busy. He has fulfilled a promise that Wildman made to see to the restoration of the Primal Pattern, and has since guided them towards their role as protectors of Earth. Unfortunately, this required him to negotiate with the rather amoral Merlin so that the latter would "nudge" matters so that the elementals would return under unusual circumstances. That is a favor that he does not look forward to repaying.
He has also investigated the possibility of transferring the minds contained in the Underworld out of their virtual reality prison, powered by an object that is of his domain, and into an extradimensional space where they would hopefully be more comfortable, and better positioned to be of aid in future conflicts. This project is in its early stages, as he does not truly understand the mechanisms by which the Underworld functions, and too blunt an approach could destroy what he hopes to preserve. He will need allies for this, too.
One thing that he has deliberately chosen not to do is to approach the survivors of Wildman or Hazard. He knows that some of those who cared for the former are searching for him, and fears what will happen when they learn of the truth. Despite this, he sometimes observes them, especially the daughters of Hazard, for there is still something in him that cares for them in turn, even if it is fainter than he remembers. He cannot help them, save perhaps indirectly, and that vexes him.
The struggles that are coming are those which he will not be able to fight personally, only guide those who will have to do the fighting. "Guide sounds so much better than use", he murmurs, just a bit bitterly. At least he has been able to warn the one called Paragon of the darkness that is to come, of Asmodeus and the Imperium and other threats, and take comfort in the confidence of that great champion. Misplaced confidence, perhaps, but still ...
Mentor -- PL 15
Abilities:
STR 10 | STA 10 | AGL 11 | DEX 9 | FGT 13 | INT 8 | AWE 9 | PRE 7
Powers:
Ascendant: Immortality 5 (one day), Only When On Home Plane; Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to mystical planes), Standard Action - 10 points
Enhanced Body: Impervious Toughness 10 - 10 points
Mental Awareness: Senses 5 (acute extended radius mental awareness, danger sense) - 5 points
Psychic Abilities: Array (24 points)
Striking Strength: Strength-based Damage 3, Affects Insubstantial 2 - 5 points
Telepathic: Selective Area Communication 4 (planetary); Cumulative Mind Reading 12 - 64 points
Advantages:
All-out Attack, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 4, Evasion 2, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Inspire 2, Interpose, Jack-of-all-trades, Leadership, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork, Uncanny Dodge.
Equipment:
Home Plane: Size Huge; Toughness 14; Features Communications, Concealed, Defense System, Dimensional Portal (Pandiomon), Effect (Dimensional Extended Only Accurate Teleport 9), Grounds, Gym, Isolated, Library, Living Space, Power System, Security System - 19 points.
Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+17), Athletics 6 (+16), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+17), Expertise: Dimensional 6 (+14), Intimidation 6 (+13), Investigation 6 (+14), Insight 6 (+15), Perception 6 (+15), Persuasion 8 (+15), Technology 6 (+14).
Offense:
Initiative +15
Unarmed +17 (Close Damage 13)
Shattering Glance -- (Perception Range Damage 8, Resisted by Will)
Defense:
Dodge 15, Parry 17, Fortitude 14, Toughness 12/10, Will 15
Totals:
Abilities 154 + Powers 127 + Advantages 21 + Skills 30 + Defenses 18 = 350 points
Offensive PL: 15
Defensive PL: 15
Resistance PL: 15
Skill PL: 12
Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Family (from whom he is isolated.) Secret (Ascendant.)
"That's truly all this is to you, isn't it? A game."
"If I allow it to be more than that ... I could not go on."
When he realized the trap into which he had not so much fallen as blindly stepped, Kent Wildman knew greater despair than he had ever imagined it was possible to feel. None of the options he could see were good ones. He could either cause the death of everyone he knew and loved, or cause the death of a vast number of innocents, or produce unimaginable chaos. And the longer he hesitated before making a decision, the worse the outcome would be. There was only one thing to do -- he was going to have to die.
And die he did, but under circumstances that neither he nor Drummond had considered a possibility, such that he was reborn as one of the first Ascendants of the current era. Given the task of guarding the new reality that would emerge from this calamity, he was -- for the second time that day -- daunted. How could he possibly act as a guardian of a world as alien to him as this one would be? Tanelorn would be part of this new world, but its basis was a completely different reality than the one he had abandoned long before.
With the assistance of one of his new colleagues, however, he was able to reach out to a being who had been his counterpart in the history of that world, Ken Hazard, in the moment of his death. In speaking together, however, something unexpected happened -- they merged, creating a being who was not quite Kent Wildman and not quite Ken Hazard, retaining all of their memories and yet distanced from their experiences. A counsellor, a conscience, a consoler ... the Hierarch of the Sphere of Mind, Mentor.
Since the new reality stabilized, a bit more than a month or so, Mentor has found himself busy. He has fulfilled a promise that Wildman made to see to the restoration of the Primal Pattern, and has since guided them towards their role as protectors of Earth. Unfortunately, this required him to negotiate with the rather amoral Merlin so that the latter would "nudge" matters so that the elementals would return under unusual circumstances. That is a favor that he does not look forward to repaying.
He has also investigated the possibility of transferring the minds contained in the Underworld out of their virtual reality prison, powered by an object that is of his domain, and into an extradimensional space where they would hopefully be more comfortable, and better positioned to be of aid in future conflicts. This project is in its early stages, as he does not truly understand the mechanisms by which the Underworld functions, and too blunt an approach could destroy what he hopes to preserve. He will need allies for this, too.
One thing that he has deliberately chosen not to do is to approach the survivors of Wildman or Hazard. He knows that some of those who cared for the former are searching for him, and fears what will happen when they learn of the truth. Despite this, he sometimes observes them, especially the daughters of Hazard, for there is still something in him that cares for them in turn, even if it is fainter than he remembers. He cannot help them, save perhaps indirectly, and that vexes him.
The struggles that are coming are those which he will not be able to fight personally, only guide those who will have to do the fighting. "Guide sounds so much better than use", he murmurs, just a bit bitterly. At least he has been able to warn the one called Paragon of the darkness that is to come, of Asmodeus and the Imperium and other threats, and take comfort in the confidence of that great champion. Misplaced confidence, perhaps, but still ...
Mentor -- PL 15
Abilities:
STR 10 | STA 10 | AGL 11 | DEX 9 | FGT 13 | INT 8 | AWE 9 | PRE 7
Powers:
Ascendant: Immortality 5 (one day), Only When On Home Plane; Immunity 1 (aging); Movement 1 (dimensional travel to home plane), Reaction (death); Movement 2 (dimensional travel to mystical planes), Standard Action - 10 points
Enhanced Body: Impervious Toughness 10 - 10 points
Mental Awareness: Senses 5 (acute extended radius mental awareness, danger sense) - 5 points
Psychic Abilities: Array (24 points)
- Become Invisible: Concealment 8 (all but mental), Resistible (Will DC 18), Affects Others and Self - 1 point
- Shattering Glance: Perception Range Damage 8, Resisted by Will, Sensory Dependent (visual) - 1 point
- Shielding: Selective Burst Area Affects Others Impervious Will 12, Limited to Mental Effects - 1 point
- Vitality: Energizing Healing 8 - 1 point
Striking Strength: Strength-based Damage 3, Affects Insubstantial 2 - 5 points
Telepathic: Selective Area Communication 4 (planetary); Cumulative Mind Reading 12 - 64 points
Advantages:
All-out Attack, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 4, Evasion 2, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Inspire 2, Interpose, Jack-of-all-trades, Leadership, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork, Uncanny Dodge.
Equipment:
Home Plane: Size Huge; Toughness 14; Features Communications, Concealed, Defense System, Dimensional Portal (Pandiomon), Effect (Dimensional Extended Only Accurate Teleport 9), Grounds, Gym, Isolated, Library, Living Space, Power System, Security System - 19 points.
Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+17), Athletics 6 (+16), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+17), Expertise: Dimensional 6 (+14), Intimidation 6 (+13), Investigation 6 (+14), Insight 6 (+15), Perception 6 (+15), Persuasion 8 (+15), Technology 6 (+14).
Offense:
Initiative +15
Unarmed +17 (Close Damage 13)
Shattering Glance -- (Perception Range Damage 8, Resisted by Will)
Defense:
Dodge 15, Parry 17, Fortitude 14, Toughness 12/10, Will 15
Totals:
Abilities 154 + Powers 127 + Advantages 21 + Skills 30 + Defenses 18 = 350 points
Offensive PL: 15
Defensive PL: 15
Resistance PL: 15
Skill PL: 12
Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Family (from whom he is isolated.) Secret (Ascendant.)
"That's truly all this is to you, isn't it? A game."
"If I allow it to be more than that ... I could not go on."
Davies
Legend
Mercedes Blaze
The arrival on Earth of the Sprawl has sent a wave of mixed panic and amazement through the technological community. While hyperbrains are capable of producing technology that equals or exceeds that of the Sprawl, their discoveries are difficult to replicate; in contrast, the advances of the Sprawl are mass produced. Acquiring such wonders, and learning how to replicate the infrastructure that creates them, has become a goal of many businesses across the world. The Sprawlcorps, who are currently demonstrating an uncharacteristic accord, are not making this easy for them, restricting access to the city state and bargaining fiercely with those representatives they allow in.
Of course, this leads to some Earth-based enterprises seeking to use less direct and straightforward means to this end. An example of this would be the activities of Mercedes Blaze, ostensibly a Vice President of the Takagi Investment Group's American division and actually a corporate spy tasked with learning all that is learnable about the technology of the Sprawl. As the Takagi Investment Group is one of the many faces of the cabal known as "the Vision", it should come as no surprise that she has certain extraordinary advantages to help her to do her work.
Mercedes has no memories of any childhood. On the rare occasions that she considers this, she has concluded that she was probably an orphan purchased (figuratively, and possibly literally) by her employers as an experimental subject for their cybernetic research, with all her memories flushed when they implanted her with the first versions of her brainmods, or during one of the many updates that have happened in the years since. She is unconcerned with this supposed loss, as these memories are useless to her work, which is all that she cares about.
All that she can care about, really. Mercedes is well-aware that the experiments that created her, despite giving her abilities similar to those of a natural hyperbrain, were at best a marginal success in the opinion of the Vision. It was hoped that they would awaken parapsychic abilities, and her failure to manifest anything of the sort is a permanent black mark on her record that all of her successes as an operative have only slightly offset. She cannot afford any additional failures, as her makers could easily unmake her and would do so without hesitation.
Therefore, Mercedes (and a small cadre of operatives she has built up in previous operations) are engaged in a variety of schemes in the Sprawl and have clashed with several of its self-proclaimed protectors in the last month. She has been able to report enough successes in these operations (and hide the evidence of any failures) to keep receiving the approval she needs to continue. A major success, such as obtaining technical readouts for the dimensional shift technology that the Sprawl once used, has remained outside of her grasp thus far.
Mercedes is a villain. She is employed by a villainous agency and is utterly indifferent to the suffering that she causes in its service. She does not like to be thwarted, but would never bother to seek out revenge on those who did so; she only engages in violence as part of her missions or in self-defense. (Opportunistic revenge, as part of a mission or self-defense, is still on the table.) Further, she is loyal to her agents and would go to some lengths to rescue and protect them; even if one was to fail her in a major way and survive, she would probably just terminate their contract and arrange to have their mind scrubbed of any information about her. It is entirely possible that she might end up allied to Sprawl-based heroes on some future occasion.
Particularly if they were to find out that somewhere inside her mind, locked behind her cyberware, is a fourteen year-old girl named Bethany Ryan.
Mercedes Blaze -- PL 8
Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 3 | DEX 3 | FGT 4 | INT 8/4 | AWE 6/3 | PRE 5/2
Powers:
BrainMods: Enhanced Advantages 6 (Assessment, Fearless 2, Jack-of-all-trades, Seize Initiative, Speed of Thought); Enhanced Awareness 3; Enhanced Intelligence 4; Enhanced Presence 3; Quickness 4, Limited to Mental - 27 points
Advantages:
Assessment, Attractive, Defensive Roll, Equipment 10, Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless 2, Grabbing Finesse, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-trades, Move-by Action, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Seize Initiative, Speed of Thought, Teamwork, Well-informed.
Equipment:
Body Armor (Protection 3, Subtle), Blaster Pistol (Ranged Damage 5), commlink, and 35 points needed for any given mission.
Skills:
Athletics 6 (+7), Close Combat: Unarmed 5 (+9), Deception 3 (+8/+5), Expertise: Science 3 (+11/+7), Insight 4 (+10/+7), Investigation 3 (+11/+7), Perception 3 (+9/+6), Persuasion 7 (+12/+9), Stealth 5 (+8), Technology 5 (+13/+9).
Offense:
Initiative +12/+8/+7
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 1)
Blaster Pistol +8 (Ranged Damage 5)
Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 9, Fortitude 5, Toughness 7/5/4/2, Will 9/6
Totals:
Abilities 44 + Powers 27 + Advantages 26 + Skills 22 + Defenses 17 = 136 points
Offensive PL: 7
Defensive PL: 8
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 8
Complications:
Professional--Motivation. Secret Identity. Suppressed Memories.
The arrival on Earth of the Sprawl has sent a wave of mixed panic and amazement through the technological community. While hyperbrains are capable of producing technology that equals or exceeds that of the Sprawl, their discoveries are difficult to replicate; in contrast, the advances of the Sprawl are mass produced. Acquiring such wonders, and learning how to replicate the infrastructure that creates them, has become a goal of many businesses across the world. The Sprawlcorps, who are currently demonstrating an uncharacteristic accord, are not making this easy for them, restricting access to the city state and bargaining fiercely with those representatives they allow in.
Of course, this leads to some Earth-based enterprises seeking to use less direct and straightforward means to this end. An example of this would be the activities of Mercedes Blaze, ostensibly a Vice President of the Takagi Investment Group's American division and actually a corporate spy tasked with learning all that is learnable about the technology of the Sprawl. As the Takagi Investment Group is one of the many faces of the cabal known as "the Vision", it should come as no surprise that she has certain extraordinary advantages to help her to do her work.
Mercedes has no memories of any childhood. On the rare occasions that she considers this, she has concluded that she was probably an orphan purchased (figuratively, and possibly literally) by her employers as an experimental subject for their cybernetic research, with all her memories flushed when they implanted her with the first versions of her brainmods, or during one of the many updates that have happened in the years since. She is unconcerned with this supposed loss, as these memories are useless to her work, which is all that she cares about.
All that she can care about, really. Mercedes is well-aware that the experiments that created her, despite giving her abilities similar to those of a natural hyperbrain, were at best a marginal success in the opinion of the Vision. It was hoped that they would awaken parapsychic abilities, and her failure to manifest anything of the sort is a permanent black mark on her record that all of her successes as an operative have only slightly offset. She cannot afford any additional failures, as her makers could easily unmake her and would do so without hesitation.
Therefore, Mercedes (and a small cadre of operatives she has built up in previous operations) are engaged in a variety of schemes in the Sprawl and have clashed with several of its self-proclaimed protectors in the last month. She has been able to report enough successes in these operations (and hide the evidence of any failures) to keep receiving the approval she needs to continue. A major success, such as obtaining technical readouts for the dimensional shift technology that the Sprawl once used, has remained outside of her grasp thus far.
Mercedes is a villain. She is employed by a villainous agency and is utterly indifferent to the suffering that she causes in its service. She does not like to be thwarted, but would never bother to seek out revenge on those who did so; she only engages in violence as part of her missions or in self-defense. (Opportunistic revenge, as part of a mission or self-defense, is still on the table.) Further, she is loyal to her agents and would go to some lengths to rescue and protect them; even if one was to fail her in a major way and survive, she would probably just terminate their contract and arrange to have their mind scrubbed of any information about her. It is entirely possible that she might end up allied to Sprawl-based heroes on some future occasion.
Particularly if they were to find out that somewhere inside her mind, locked behind her cyberware, is a fourteen year-old girl named Bethany Ryan.
Mercedes Blaze -- PL 8
Abilities:
STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 3 | DEX 3 | FGT 4 | INT 8/4 | AWE 6/3 | PRE 5/2
Powers:
BrainMods: Enhanced Advantages 6 (Assessment, Fearless 2, Jack-of-all-trades, Seize Initiative, Speed of Thought); Enhanced Awareness 3; Enhanced Intelligence 4; Enhanced Presence 3; Quickness 4, Limited to Mental - 27 points
Advantages:
Assessment, Attractive, Defensive Roll, Equipment 10, Evasion, Fast Grab, Fearless 2, Grabbing Finesse, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-trades, Move-by Action, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Seize Initiative, Speed of Thought, Teamwork, Well-informed.
Equipment:
Body Armor (Protection 3, Subtle), Blaster Pistol (Ranged Damage 5), commlink, and 35 points needed for any given mission.
Skills:
Athletics 6 (+7), Close Combat: Unarmed 5 (+9), Deception 3 (+8/+5), Expertise: Science 3 (+11/+7), Insight 4 (+10/+7), Investigation 3 (+11/+7), Perception 3 (+9/+6), Persuasion 7 (+12/+9), Stealth 5 (+8), Technology 5 (+13/+9).
Offense:
Initiative +12/+8/+7
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 1)
Blaster Pistol +8 (Ranged Damage 5)
Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 9, Fortitude 5, Toughness 7/5/4/2, Will 9/6
Totals:
Abilities 44 + Powers 27 + Advantages 26 + Skills 22 + Defenses 17 = 136 points
Offensive PL: 7
Defensive PL: 8
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 8
Complications:
Professional--Motivation. Secret Identity. Suppressed Memories.
Of course they were that recklessly stupid and that unbelievably callous to raid Earth during Cerebron's attack...
Davies
Legend
She's not from the Sprawl originally, she's from this world. The story of Bethany's kidnapping is ... involved, dating back to a conflict between her father and a former Chairman of Takagi Investment during the final years of the Insurgency.
Davies
Legend
Joey Bazooka
Even in the ranks of Project Mayhem -- once the youth wing of what was a united metasupremacist movement, now just one of many factions -- information about their leader is on a need-to-know basis, with the final hazing ritual for "probies" being the moment that they are told that the great leader goes by the ops moniker Joey Bazooka. Laughing, at that moment, is ill-advised. Even after they learn this secret, they are unlikely to meet the brilliant strategist who will lead them to victory, nor learn much about him beyond rumors.
The few members who have survived long enough to be considered comrades in the struggle have been trusted with the truth. The man called Joey Bazooka is a time traveler from a future only a few short decades away, when simply possessing superpowers is an illegal act and using them for any purpose a capital crime. In a desperate attempt to prevent this, Joey Bazooka stole a time machine and traveled back to the last moment before this nightmarish future became inevitable, and joined forces with Hadron to prevent it from coming to pass. Hadron charged Joey Bazooka to begin training the younger members of the movement to fight the war that was coming, so that this time it would end in victory for the Coming Race.
All of that is lies. He was born Josef Ivanovich Novikoff in Samara, fifty-four years ago. During basic training for the Red Army, he was identified as a superpower and promptly transferred to the SNM, then under the command of Remontnik. Any excitement he might have felt about this elite assignment faded when it became apparent that his only power was the ability to generate an energy field around himself that afforded him no real protection beyond whatever concealment it granted. Novikoff took full advantage of the cybernetics program that the SNM offered to enhance himself so that he had the power that he had even then dreamed about.
Eventually, however, the Soviet Union fell, the Assembly was shut down and Novikoff was transferred to a different branch of the security apparatus, which involved duties that were both boring and unlikely to lead to his advancement. On the other hand, it had plenty of opportunities for corruption, which he, again, exploited for all that they were worth, less to enrich himself than to ensure that he had enough money to keep his cybernetics at the state of the art or as close to it as he could manage. By 2005, though, he was forced to flee from this existence rather than be apprehended, ironically by a certain FSB agent who would go on to follow in his footsteps.
Embarking on the life of a mercenary supervillain, Novikoff (then going by the alias шифр, or Cipher) found the work more enjoyable, but no less frustrating in its prospects than his work for the government had been. Every time he attempted to put together something big, it would be torn down, either by obnoxious superheroes or villainous rivals. While it was easy to blame others for these failures, he began to suspect that they actually came from some lack in himself, something he was missing that would allow him to enter the big leagues, and started to examine those who were already there. The subject who attracted his immediate attention was Hadron and the metasupremacist movement.
By 2013, he had come up with a plan that he thought might work. Having changed his appearance so as to be unrecognizable, he came to the assistance of a group of metasupremacists and demanded to be taken to see Hadron. He was subsequently amused by the incredible naïveté that the movement demonstrated when it came to operational security, for he was simply brought to see the man he wanted to see -- no attempt to hide his location, no mind probes, nothing! Regardless, he gave his speech to the man in charge.
Hadron was not fooled in the slightest, but he also could not be bothered to expose the fraud. He did not give "Joey Bazooka" any assignment, but, again, did not contradict the new recruit when the latter claimed to be building an army for the movement. Since Bazooka did seem to have a certain talent for organizing these matters, it was best to just let him do so. It was unlikely that they could be any real threat to Hadron, but they might be a serious threat to the enemies of the movement.
Hadron is gone, now, and Joey Bazooka and Project Mayhem still exist. Their goal remains the same -- to prevent the dark future from coming to pass. (Actually to gain power and wealth -- still used mostly to keep his cyberware at the cutting edge.) Anything is acceptable in pursuit of that goal. (That part is true.)
Joey Bazooka -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR 5 | STA 4 | AGL 4 | DEX 3 | FGT 7 | INT 4 | AWE 4 | PRE 4
Powers:
Aura of Power: Visual Concealment 4, Partial, Passive - 2 points
Blaster Cannon: Array (20 points); Easily Removable (-8 points)
Advantages:
Assessment, Benefit 2 (cipher 2), Daze (Intimidation), Equipment 5, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Improvised Tools, Jack-of-all-Trades, Ranged Attack 3, Well-informed.
Equipment:
"Power Truncheon" (Strength-based Damage 4), Body Armor (Protection 4), and 17 points of equipment as needed.
Skills:
Athletics 4 (+9), Close Combat: Truncheon 4 (+11), Deception 8 (+12), Expertise: Military 7 (+11), Insight 5 (+9), Intimidation 6 (+10), Investigation 5 (+9), Perception 5 (+9), Ranged Combat: Blaster 4 (+7), Stealth 5 (+9), Technology 5 (+9).
Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +7 (Close Damage 5)
Truncheon +11 (Close Damage 9)
Blast Setting +10 (Ranged Damage 10)
Bright Setting -- (Burst Area Affliction 10)
Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 11, Fortitude 7, Toughness 8/4, Will 7
Totals:
Abilities 70 + Powers 19 + Advantages 20 + Skills 29 + Defenses 15 = 153 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 10
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 7
Complications:
Power--Motivation. Electrical (becomes Dazed, Stunned, and Incapacitated by Nullify Technology.) Secrets (not really a time traveler, much less powerful, etcetera.) Temper.
Even in the ranks of Project Mayhem -- once the youth wing of what was a united metasupremacist movement, now just one of many factions -- information about their leader is on a need-to-know basis, with the final hazing ritual for "probies" being the moment that they are told that the great leader goes by the ops moniker Joey Bazooka. Laughing, at that moment, is ill-advised. Even after they learn this secret, they are unlikely to meet the brilliant strategist who will lead them to victory, nor learn much about him beyond rumors.
The few members who have survived long enough to be considered comrades in the struggle have been trusted with the truth. The man called Joey Bazooka is a time traveler from a future only a few short decades away, when simply possessing superpowers is an illegal act and using them for any purpose a capital crime. In a desperate attempt to prevent this, Joey Bazooka stole a time machine and traveled back to the last moment before this nightmarish future became inevitable, and joined forces with Hadron to prevent it from coming to pass. Hadron charged Joey Bazooka to begin training the younger members of the movement to fight the war that was coming, so that this time it would end in victory for the Coming Race.
All of that is lies. He was born Josef Ivanovich Novikoff in Samara, fifty-four years ago. During basic training for the Red Army, he was identified as a superpower and promptly transferred to the SNM, then under the command of Remontnik. Any excitement he might have felt about this elite assignment faded when it became apparent that his only power was the ability to generate an energy field around himself that afforded him no real protection beyond whatever concealment it granted. Novikoff took full advantage of the cybernetics program that the SNM offered to enhance himself so that he had the power that he had even then dreamed about.
Eventually, however, the Soviet Union fell, the Assembly was shut down and Novikoff was transferred to a different branch of the security apparatus, which involved duties that were both boring and unlikely to lead to his advancement. On the other hand, it had plenty of opportunities for corruption, which he, again, exploited for all that they were worth, less to enrich himself than to ensure that he had enough money to keep his cybernetics at the state of the art or as close to it as he could manage. By 2005, though, he was forced to flee from this existence rather than be apprehended, ironically by a certain FSB agent who would go on to follow in his footsteps.
Embarking on the life of a mercenary supervillain, Novikoff (then going by the alias шифр, or Cipher) found the work more enjoyable, but no less frustrating in its prospects than his work for the government had been. Every time he attempted to put together something big, it would be torn down, either by obnoxious superheroes or villainous rivals. While it was easy to blame others for these failures, he began to suspect that they actually came from some lack in himself, something he was missing that would allow him to enter the big leagues, and started to examine those who were already there. The subject who attracted his immediate attention was Hadron and the metasupremacist movement.
By 2013, he had come up with a plan that he thought might work. Having changed his appearance so as to be unrecognizable, he came to the assistance of a group of metasupremacists and demanded to be taken to see Hadron. He was subsequently amused by the incredible naïveté that the movement demonstrated when it came to operational security, for he was simply brought to see the man he wanted to see -- no attempt to hide his location, no mind probes, nothing! Regardless, he gave his speech to the man in charge.
Hadron was not fooled in the slightest, but he also could not be bothered to expose the fraud. He did not give "Joey Bazooka" any assignment, but, again, did not contradict the new recruit when the latter claimed to be building an army for the movement. Since Bazooka did seem to have a certain talent for organizing these matters, it was best to just let him do so. It was unlikely that they could be any real threat to Hadron, but they might be a serious threat to the enemies of the movement.
Hadron is gone, now, and Joey Bazooka and Project Mayhem still exist. Their goal remains the same -- to prevent the dark future from coming to pass. (Actually to gain power and wealth -- still used mostly to keep his cyberware at the cutting edge.) Anything is acceptable in pursuit of that goal. (That part is true.)
Joey Bazooka -- PL 10
Abilities:
STR 5 | STA 4 | AGL 4 | DEX 3 | FGT 7 | INT 4 | AWE 4 | PRE 4
Powers:
Aura of Power: Visual Concealment 4, Partial, Passive - 2 points
Blaster Cannon: Array (20 points); Easily Removable (-8 points)
- Blast Setting: Ranged Damage 10 - 20 points
- Bright Setting: Burst Area Cumulative Affliction 10 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Fortitude; Visually Impaired, Visually Disabled, Visually Unaware), Limited to one sense - 1 point
Advantages:
Assessment, Benefit 2 (cipher 2), Daze (Intimidation), Equipment 5, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Improvised Tools, Jack-of-all-Trades, Ranged Attack 3, Well-informed.
Equipment:
"Power Truncheon" (Strength-based Damage 4), Body Armor (Protection 4), and 17 points of equipment as needed.
Skills:
Athletics 4 (+9), Close Combat: Truncheon 4 (+11), Deception 8 (+12), Expertise: Military 7 (+11), Insight 5 (+9), Intimidation 6 (+10), Investigation 5 (+9), Perception 5 (+9), Ranged Combat: Blaster 4 (+7), Stealth 5 (+9), Technology 5 (+9).
Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +7 (Close Damage 5)
Truncheon +11 (Close Damage 9)
Blast Setting +10 (Ranged Damage 10)
Bright Setting -- (Burst Area Affliction 10)
Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 11, Fortitude 7, Toughness 8/4, Will 7
Totals:
Abilities 70 + Powers 19 + Advantages 20 + Skills 29 + Defenses 15 = 153 points
Offensive PL: 10
Defensive PL: 10
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 7
Complications:
Power--Motivation. Electrical (becomes Dazed, Stunned, and Incapacitated by Nullify Technology.) Secrets (not really a time traveler, much less powerful, etcetera.) Temper.
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