The Dream Team

[Mark Chance]

Fusion, Genesis, Tendril, Torque

[sblock=OOC]As we move to the next scene, every hero gets 1 Hero Point for going to meet with Foreshadow and for saving the hero's life.[/sblock]

The Highpoint Lighthouse stands several miles outside the city limits to the north. Decades ago, it was a fully functioning lighthouse. Today, it is part tourist attraction, part National Weather Service facility. As the quartet of heroes race through the city toward the lighthouse, the weather goes from the calm before the storm to the storm's rage itself not more than two dozen miles up State Route 4.

The driving rain, flashes of lightning, and howling winds make driving along the way difficult, but manageable for the heroes. SR-4 merges onto Interstate 525, cutting a beeline between Hanover and North Bay. Soon the city lights have been left behind.

About an hour later, the heroes arrive at the facility. The lighthouse sits atop a promontory. The Pacific Ocean roars against the rocks. Surrounded by a tall chain link fence topped with outward leaning barbed wire, the lighthouse, the few surrounding buildings, and the almost empty parking lot are dimly lit by lamp posts. The gate is closed. A security box with a numerical key pad stands nearby.

No one can be seen outside, which isn't surprising given the violent thunderstorm pounding the area.

 

[Mark Chance]

Rumble

Rumble goes airborne, rising skyward after the hang gliders. He quickly realizes they're banking to northwest, riding along the winds coming in from the east. They're also faster than he is, but not by much. While catching up with the hang gliders would be difficult, Rumble isn't in any danger of losing them.

Little by little, the distance between Rumble and the hang gliders increases. Rumble sees the brilliant glow of Astro Labs rooftop sign in the distance. The various towers rising from AL's roof blink red and blue. With a sharp dip and turn, it becomes obvious the hang gliders are heading in for a landing atop AL's main building.

The closest of the hang gliders is nearly 300 yards away. The fartherest perhaps twice that distance. As Rumble considers what to do, a crash of thunder announces the arrival of a heavy, cold rain.

 

[Shayuri]

There's a 'click' and a high 'fweeeeeeeeeee' noise that quickly rises in pitch out of the audible range, not unlike that of an old style camera flashbulb charging up, when Genesis switches on the light amplification in her helmet. The world turns into shades of green, and gets a little pixellated, but otherwise even the faint light of the city bouncing off the clouds is enough for her to see clearly by.

"Ya know," she says as she looks around, assessing the situation. "It's a night like this a real lighthouse would be needed. Kind of ironic...don'tcha think?"

She heads for the gate and the empty security booth.

 

[Moon_Goddess]

"Let's see if we can get into here."

ooc
Tendril uses her vines to climb or simply step over the fence, they extend to 50feet so it shouldn't be difficult. When not hiding her powers Tendril usually moves simular to Doc Ock from spiderman, walking on her vices if that gives you all some visual. /ooc

"Anyone need a hand?"

 

[Jemal]

"Oh you ain't gettin away that easy, bozos." Rumble growls and books straight towards the roof they're heading for.

[sblock=ooc]
Allright, now Rumble's not exactly a very knowledgable person, but he aint dumb (Int 10), so would he know anything about Astro labs? Do they have a reputation for doing good or bad things?
[/sblock]

 

[Shayuri]

"No thanks, actually...I want to check out the booth. See if there's any clueses," Gen replies with a wave. As she keeps going, she muses thoughtfully about the utility of having flexible strong tentacles to move around and grasp things. "Definitely a nice trick though. Hmmm..."

 

[Mark Chance]

Fusion, Genesis, Tendril, Torque

"Ya know," Genesis says as she switches to light amplification mode and looks around, assessing the situation. "It's a night like this a real lighthouse would be needed. Kind of ironic...don'tcha think?" She heads for the gate and the empty security booth.

"Let's see if we can get into here." Tendril uses her vines to climb or simply step over the fence. "Anyone need a hand?"

"No thanks, actually...I want to check out the booth. See if there's any clueses," Gen replies with a wave. As she keeps going, she muses thoughtfully about the utility of having flexible strong tentacles to move around and grasp things. "Definitely a nice trick though. Hmmm..."

Tendril easily crosses over the fence as Genesis approaches the empty security booth. Fusion and Torque stand nearby. The rain slashes in almost horizontally, driven by the gusting wind coming in from the sea. The downpour is so loud that the heroes have to raise their voices to be heard. Lightning infrequently whites out Genesis's light amplication; everything in her view strobes to bright yellow green and then fades back into focus with every flash.

On the other side of the fence, Tendril counts three cars, one with government plates. The doors into the lighthouse and other buildings are closed tight against the weather. Dim light shines from behind the drawn blinds over the windows. Dark, roiling clouds overhead completely blot out the stars and moon. Tendril thinks she hears the drone of a generator coming from one of the smaller buildings, but it could just be the drumming hiss of the rain.

The security booth is indeed empty, but apparently not for too long. A small walkie-talkie sits on the narrow desk along side several magazines, most of them back issues of Guns & Ammo. Water puddles on the floor and the seat of the folding metal chair. Droplets shimmer on the desk.

 

[Mark Chance]

Rumble

"Oh you ain't gettin away that easy, bozos." Rumble growls and books straight towards the roof they're heading for.

As Rumble swings his flight path toward the rooftop of Astro Labs, he wonders at the possibilities. Astro Labs is well-known to be among the top scientific research and development facilities in the nation, if not the world. In fact, a particularly loud crack of thunder reminds Rumble of a recent news report. Something about Astro Labs partnering with the National Weather Service to develop a state-of-art disaster early warning system.

Rumble watches as the first of the hang gliders comes in for a landing, and he suddenly realizes he's misjudged the situation. The "hang glider" starts to flap, long, slow beats of wings that now resemble more the appendages of some monstrous bat. The other two "hang gliders" also begin to flap, swinging around to the left and right of the rooftop.

As the leftward one does so, Rumble sees more clearly that the fliers are indeed some sort of creature rather than men suspended from hang gliders.

Rumble has closed some of the distance now that the three fliers have more or less arrived. The farthest is now no more than half a football field away.

 

[Shayuri]

"Huh..." Genesis reaches out to take the walkie talkie and see if it's on. She then peers up at the ceiling to see if there's a leak in the roof to explain all the water.

Then, on a morbid hunch, she turns off the lowlight amp and creates a flashlight she uses to shine on the seat and desk...to see if that water's really water.

 

[Jemal]

Rumble swoops in, landing on the building as near to them as he can get. "Nice night for a glide around town, eh boys?" He grins, trying to get a better look at what they are. "Now, y'mind tellin me what the hell yer doing.. and what the hell you ARE?"