Superheroes of the Trust Game Thread III

[DM_Matt]

Grey puts up some footage of the zombies.

"They might be more appropriately classified as ghouls. They are animated corpses, and are a bit faster and stronger than humans, but are largely mindless animals. They are very dangerous in large numbers, however. They are sort of "headshot" zombies, in that while they can be destroyed in other ways, they are very resilient, and can keep going without some limbs unless blasted to bits. A head shot will work though, too.

You can go there and kill zombies all day, although they have some more formidable troops -- some mechs and tanks -- backing them, but you cant fight the whole war. If you want to take action, your best bet would be taking on Ubunga-Na on his own, although he is very well guarded, or defending Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, the only permanent American base in Africa, until further reinforcements can land, although that means looking a lot more like a US military superteam.

Alternatively, we can hit them elsewhere. The China option remains on the table. So does investigating Wolfson, Sheppard, and Doe, although that will be somewhat difficult being that keeping clean is their specialty. Finally, we can look into the Grant situation, and what exactly he -- and his new medicine -- has to do with Barrington."

 

[Victim]

"Didn't we already have some plan for spying on Grant at their product launch or something?" Megan asks. "And are the zombies contagious?"

"How tough would that Uga guy have to be to take out that superteam?"

 

[kirinke]

"Didn't we already have some plan for spying on Grant at their product launch or something?" Megan asks. "And are the zombies contagious?"

"It depends on what was used to animate the Zombie or even if it is a real zombie and not a person hypnotized into believing they are one. Alot of them are contagious and the rest.... Well any wound dealt by a zombie generally gets badly infected because it is a dead, rotting hunk of flesh and that sort of thing usually has a host of unpleasant viral and bacterial agents infesting it." she smiled thinly at the superheroine. "It's one of the reasons why they are so popular with necromancers. The other one is psychological. It's devestating to have to kill something that wears your friend's or loved one's face," you can hear the dark undertones of personal experience with that softly spoken statement.

"How tough would that Uga guy have to be to take out that superteam?"

"Quite tough. As tough as Ares in his own way and we got lucky on that one." she looked at Star.

 

[Victim]

"I wanted to hear from someone who knows what they're talking about," Star replies.

 

[kirinke]

"I wanted to hear from someone who knows what they're talking about," Star replies.

"You just did," Hope replies quietly without anger or boastfullness, reliving some of the worst moments hunting down Faust and his coven. Having the reanimated corpses of ten year old children attacking you is not something one easily forgets. Errant can easily see those images and the pain that goes with it, for someone like him, it's as loud as a shout in the ear. "And even the ones that aren't contagious, well. It's ridiciously easy for a necromancer to animate one and make it appear as if it is contagious." she smiled again at Star, but it was sad and weary. "It's also possible to create zombies from chemicals and virus born agents, though I've never heard of anyone actually doing that because it's nearly impossible to control the outbreak once it occurs." she shrugged. "I could be wrong on that, I couldn't find much information on that sort of zombie when I was researching them."

Hope looked at each of her team-mates in turn. "When you're dealing with necromancers, you need to remember that they will use your deepest fears, your hidden phobias against you, so all you feel is despair. Can you face yourself in the mirror and defeat the ugliest side of yourself? Because that is what he will use against you." she shook her head. "It isn't just the dead you have to worry about with them." she rubbed the bridge of her nose, her eyes fell once again on Star. "Look at me and you will see the result of having to fight them. And I'm considered one of the lucky ones," there was dark irony behind the words.

Lucky.... How can you call one broke beyond repair lucky? she thought sardonically.


"As to these particular zombies being contagious.... I don't know. Either way they are dangerous and if you get injured by one that's not contagious, the chances of you dying from the infection it causes is damned high."

It isn't a subject of which she is fond of, but as the man says, it is wise to know one's enemies.
Needless to say, Necromancers were high on that list.


ooc:
Remember, Hope does have a fixation/deep abiding hatred of necromancers and evil sorcerers in general thanks to Faust. She'd definately know general information about the major players, maybe even deeper information depending on how nasty/well known the necromancer is.

 

[Elric]

"Look at me and you will see the result of having to fight them. And I'm considered one of the lucky ones," there was dark irony behind the words.

You mean I'd turn into an overconfident know-nothing if I fought zombies? Well, there are worse things... Nitro thinks.

"As to these particular zombies being contagious.... I don't know. Either way they are dangerous and if you get injured by one that's not contagious, the chances of you dying from the infection it causes is damned high."

"I don't think so, Hope. I think you're making stuff up again. Ms. White, what do you think about us being likely to die if we get injured by a non-contagious zombie? If this is actually true, but I doubt it, we'd need some major precautions if we even want to go in at all."

 

[Victim]

"If we wanted useless generalities about monsters and necromancers, we could just watch a movie," Star glances at Nitro for his earlier suggestion, "or read Harry f-ing Potter."

Apparently, someone digging out my dark side might not like it very much.

 

[Hammerhead]

"Harry F-ing Potter? I don't think that was his middle name, but my memory is kind of fuzzy. Were there even any kind of zombies in those books?" Errant inquires with a smile. I wish that was my middle name. It beats the hell out of the one I've got.

"Anyway, I thought that necromancers animated dead bodies Hope. So we're probably not looking at any kind of contagious infection, that's strictly in the realms of the Umbrella Corporation. As far as mundane infection goes, well, that's why I wear gloves."

"And my mean dark side would be just as happy beating the hell out of a necromancer as my cuddly light one, so that tact isn't really going to help him," Errant boasts cheerily.

"So do we all like Africa, or does someone have a better idea?"

[sblock=Gather Information]
What does Errant know about Ubunga-Na? Well-Informed with Gather Information, +14
Roll Lookup
1d20+14 → [4,14] = (18)
[/sblock]

 

[kirinke]

"Harry F-ing Potter? I don't think that was his middle name, but my memory is kind of fuzzy. Were there even any kind of zombies in those books?" Errant inquires with a smile. I wish that was my middle name. It beats the hell out of the one I've got.

"Anyway, I thought that necromancers animated dead bodies Hope. So we're probably not looking at any kind of contagious infection, that's strictly in the realms of the Umbrella Corporation. As far as mundane infection goes, well, that's why I wear gloves."

"And my mean dark side would be just as happy beating the hell out of a necromancer as my cuddly light one, so that tact isn't really going to help him," Errant boasts cheerily.

"So do we all like Africa, or does someone have a better idea?"

[sblock=Gather Information]
What does Errant know about Ubunga-Na? Well-Informed with Gather Information, +14
Roll Lookup
1d20+14 → [4,14] = (18)
[/sblock]

Hope smiled bleakly at Errant. "For every myth, there is a grain of truth. And trust me, zombie infection is quite real." she undid her blouse, showing them two nasty scars, running from her shoulder to her breast resembling nothing so much than jagged claw marks, five per shoulder. It looked like it nearly had eviserated her. "This was done by what was once a ten year old child. I spent two months in Aegis intensive care and it nearly killed me."

She buttoned up her blouse again. "And trust me, having a doctor in full hazmat scrap your wounds every hour while you are strapped in your bed, with full power dampeners on is not a fun thing." she shuddered involuntarily at the memory. The child had seemed so alive, at least until she had leapt up at her, clawing with fingernails far too long and a strength that had flung her on her back.

"Nitro, it is easy to say someone is making something up and dismiss them, when you have no knowledge to compare it to." she frowned, it wasn't as if she didn't deserve that jab, she had screwed up.


Hope looked at each of them. "You joke about your dark side, each of us has one. And it wouldn't be fighting your enemies. It'd be fighting you, for dominance in a mental battle that would seem like reality. You would not be able to tell the difference between what was real, what was a product of your mind or a product of the environment. It is everything you aren't, all the little evils and the great ones beside. Your base.... decency keeps it at bay." she went to get herself a bottle of water and opened it, drinking slowly. Again, her tone speaks of personal experience.

 

[DM_Matt]

"Didn't we already have some plan for spying on Grant at their product launch or something?" Megan asks. "And are the zombies contagious?"

"How tough would that Uga guy have to be to take out that superteam?"

"The Grant thing went to hell once Apollo became a public hero. We'd need a new in. Besides, Grant is delaying some of the lunch parties to deal with this one launch of the anti-parasitic medication that just happens to be the cure to the Animus Beast's spores.

The zombies are not contagious. They are all created either by Ubunga-Na in the field, or mostly, at his castle in the Sudd, a large swampy region in Southern Sudan. It seems that they do not have any independant ability to create zombies in the field. They collect the enemy dead, put them on trucks, or sometimes grav transports, which Barrington lent him a few of, and take them to home base for reanimation.

There do exist zombie-like contagions -- in fact, Animus Beasts behave a little like that, but that is not this guy's M.O. He has the power to animate dead flesh. Hope, just because you got mauled by some other thing we decide to refer to as a zombie doesn't mean much about this particular instance. The idea of zombies and the undead really captures the human imagination. People come up with a lot of scientific ways to simulate them...and of course, some, like Ubunga-Na, just happen to have an appropriate mutant power.

As far as that worst fears thing, many necromancers do that, but it does not mean they all do. The ones who fancy themselves wizards and whatnot are especially big on that. Ubunga-Na isn't so much into that. He fancies himself as the son of an angel, gifted with strange powers to use for the cause of goodness. Raising the dead is a common religious trope, after all. He plays up the angel thing in front of potential Muslim followers, and includes just enough animism in his rituals to attract Animists."