fishers64

GM NPC STRINGER Stringer opened the door to let Thumper and Quiver in. GM NPC BREEZE Breeze boarded the Astral. GM NPC FURNO (TRAFEROUS' BRIDGE) Furno looked around at the smashed controls all around him. "I don't think there is anything interesting here." GM NPC ZIB Zib called Furno and Flood. "What do you two want to do? Do you want to help with the villain, or do you want to come with us to investigate a giant portal?" GM NPC FURNO "He wants to investigate the giant portal. Honestly, I could care less." GM NPC VON NEBULA Von Nebula boarded the ship, heading for the med bay. OOC: Now you may have to deal with Lie/East/Fravi, but I think those are indefinitely more handle-able. Taking Fravi back to Mechna is a worse punishment than jail. O_O The conspiracy is NOT composed of people like Traferous. It's a large group of moderately-to-underpowered villains, as opposed to the Federation. Apology accepted, although I said that half for the fun of it.

OOC: TRAFEROUS. IS. DONE. I have spoken.

OOC: None of that changes the fact that there's an ultra-powerful, ridiculously-OP, practically-unbeatable supervillain hanging around who can escape literally any time you feel like it, and there's pretty much nothing we can do to stop him without metagaming, breaking character, or pulling some other sort of unfair nonsense. It's kind of frustrating knowing that no matter what we try to do in regards to Traferous, we basically can't win. OOC: When I said that battle was over, I meant it. Traferous is out of the game from now on, because he has no reason to affect anything. The next few ICs will merely decide whether he gets stuck on a prison planet with no way off, killed in space, or whether he goes an offscreen (unless Quark's group gets involved with it) battle between the conspiracy and the federation. The latter doesn't affect much either, because the federation is a civilian organization with Traferous as the notable exception, and he's the only one that can stop the federation infrastructure from being destroyed. However, if he gets in the middle of a battle with them, it will probably get destroyed anyway. If Quark is in the middle of it I may just use a conspiracy attack to kill him off to avoid another cycle, or I may had have him flee, but if he does, he's not coming back. He has nothing left to fight for, except for his own hide.

1. There are things I liked about the Journey to One, namely the characterization of the creatures (awwwwww) and the fact that Umarak is treated as a credible threat to be taken seriously. The big fall-down of this series is what everyone said it was: the characterization of the Toa. They briefly paid lip-service to the 2015 personalities of the Toa in the very beginning and then proceeded to ignore them. This is ironic given all the complaints about the Toa's 2015 personalities last year, but whatever. Point being, it pays to have consistent main characters. Further, there is a lack of characterization going on, and it shows. Now, I don't like Nexo Knights that much, but for all of its faults, Clay is consistently the intrepid warrior, Macy is the feminist, Lance is the entitled jerk, and Axl is the dumb brute who is always eating. In this aspect, Nexo Knights is better than the Journey to One.

I'm just tired of being lynched when I'm obviously innocent and really haven't provided any evidence to the contrary.

OOC: The solution I thought of is simple: get the Astral out of there, and leave the situation in the hands of Quark. Traferous either leaves via his own ship(s), headed to the Transportation Federation, or Quark and Co. destroys the cargo ships as well, leaving Traferous with no choice but to go with them. The Astral can go to Mechna, and we can start the mission #4 properly. GM NPC STORMER "How bad is that?" Stormer said. GM NPC SURGE "The portal is getting bigger. It will get to Makuhero city in 24 hours, and who knows what is on the other side." GM NPC STORMER Stormer picked up the comms. "Quark, can I leave you here to deal with Mr. Entitled and Crazy? Right now we have a giant portal to deal with, and I figure you can deal with this."

OOC: That was before he absorbed the ship's quaza battery and the force of his ship exploding into his system. GM IC MECHNA/VALOS SYSTEM The portal sucked Mechna into it. Below, on Mechna, the characters would notice a change in stars and a stiff breeze. GM NPC SURGE "Hey guys, I hate to break up the party and all, but I've got a portal headed for Valos IV, a planet with innocent civilians on it, and growing stronger by the second...

GM NPC VON NEBULA Von Nebula ignored both of the Heroes' comments, cloaking himself and disappearing. Traferous is going to blow up that ship in revenge for his own being destroyed, Von Nebula thought. Good move. The problem would be the timing. 78 and the doctor were in the medical bay, but the ghost would have to bust Fravi out of her cell in order for her to get off the ship. GM IC TRAFEROUS Traferous resumed walking, gesturing that the Heroes should follow him with his cuffed hands. He was feeling impatient. He had three ideas. One was to just walk onto the large ship anyway and get his friends, and the four of them find a way to stay with the heroes and not get put on a prison planetoid. If that worked, that would be the best solution, but he doubted that the Heroes would let him get away with it. As it was, that plan sucked. He could just destroy the ship himself, of course - or Quark's ship, and kill all of the Heroes on board. Or he could get his own cargo ship and smash it into the Astral. Or he could just leave. But the best plan was him getting on the cargo ship and getting his buddies on it, too. That way they could go back to the Trade Federation in time, and lead the Heroes there. In any event, they needed to get off the ship. The trick was stopping the Heroes from ganging up on him in the interim and causing another time-and-energy wasting battle.

Sigh. Lynching me is a bad idea. I'm not a cultist. If I were a cultist, that would be really bad, but I am not a cultist, and now will never be one.

Or because I was feeling like making a bombastically awesome blog entry for no reason. 1. Refrigerator - This is where you put lots of other vitally important things like Sprite, orange juice, cheese, sandwiches, other sources of protein, possible fruits and vegetables (optional), and takeout. 2. Car - This is how you get your obligatory Sprite, orange juice, cheese, sandwiches, other sources of protein, possible fruits and vegetables (optional) and takeout from the grocery store to your house. Also good for hauling books, Lego Bricks, irritating people, and anything else you need to get from Point A to Point B. The neglect of these two vitally important items will cause you much misery and pain. 3. Three Desks - Desk #1: This is the computer desk. This is where your computer is. To-do list must be visible from this desk. Poster yelling at you to stay on task and not check BZPower for the 400th time is, unfortunately, optional. Desk #2: This is the writing desk, i.e. the math homework/paperwork desk. Stuff still has to be done by hand. Desk #3: This is the Lego construction/modeling desk. Better be big enough to stretch out that concept model and contain the biggest WIP imaginable, and its second cousin. 4. Three Rooms, a Bathroom, a Roof, and a Door - Room #1 is that kitchen space. And where your TV is. And whatever you sit on when watching the TV. Preferably there's some carpet in there somewhere. Room # 2 is where the three desks hang out. This is so when your computer has 124 Windows Updates at 2. A.M., you can walk into Room #3 and sleep without the monitor glaring IN YOUR FACE. 5. Clothes, Bed, and access to washing machines - This is so when other people come over to your place, your place is ready for them. It's for keeping up appearances. It's not optional, though.

I approve this plan. I'm debating whether to be launched into space for a burial, but I'm not sure I want to begin my immortal existence falling out of the sky.

Onua hands down - black makes the ugly chestplate better, well designed and stable figure. Plus purple.

I'm going to go Train.

Worldbuilding: +200 much better than last year. Characters: - 1000 much worse than last year. Result: -800: Shame on you Lego. For shame.

I vote Luroka.

GM NPC NEX "Maybe," Nex messaged back, starting to sort through the rest of the files, including the phone call audio. "Why would they send it to us?" GM NPC STRINGER "The Transportation Federation aren't a group of villains," Stringer said. "Even if their leader is a bad apple, they aren't in the business of giving information to villains." GM NPC STORMER "But can we trust them now?" Stormer said. "They harbored Traferous all this time. They never launched an investigation into what he did. This definitely seems like a distraction to throw us off. They don't want to be labeled a villainous organization, so they out him now to save face." GM IC ??? - VALOS SYSTEM Grinning precipitously, the villain walked out of his glass-paneled atrium overlooking an underground lake. His home was completely underground, of course, hidden from sight, but there was a large hole in the underground over part of the lake in front of his house, and he liked to see the few hours of sunlight that visited him each day. One of his small pleasures in life. But today, he would have a better one. Near the bottom of the house, he walked out of an elevator onto a hangar deck. Two ships waited for him, both of which could be operated remotely from the other. For years, he had lived in hiding, at best watching the news and occasionally making a phone call or two. In a galaxy where being different was a target on your back, it was best to stay away from the public view. But he knew an easy target when he saw one, and the Transportation Federation was an easy target. No one would come to their aid now. No one could come to their aid, even if they would. It was time for his revenge.

OOC: Sorry that I didn't address this sooner. This is going to sound bad, but... GM IC SHADE Shade wouldn't be able to find any door access codes for Mr. Makuro's quarters - at least, not ones for the ship. Mr. Makuro had no quarters aboard the Astral - it wasn't designed with him in mind, it was designed as a command base for Alpha team.

GM IC 78 EAST "Hey, doc, what's up?" GM IC DR. LIE "Some ship hull and cute female robot face. You?" GM IC 78 EAST 78 sighed. "Waiting in line." GM NPC ZIB (TALKING TO WOLFE) "I have a live video of him talking about destroying the Hero Factory as if it were a Makuhero city fireworks show," Zib said. "Apparently he thought it would be fun."

GM IC TRAFEROUS He sighed and walked away, leaving the hero's rock to hit the ground behind him. "I guess it will be as you demand," he said slowly, gesturing with his hands toward the exit. GM NPC VON NEBULA Von Nebula appeared in front of Traferous, between him and Wolfe/Quark. Traferous' eyes widened. "I am here to tell you that your pathetic faction of worthless goody-two-shoes civilians has sold you out," the ghost said. "They sent over a tape that reveals that you set out to destroy Hero Factory for fun. So you might as well start acting like the villain you truly are." GM IC TRAFEROUS Traferous did his best to look incredulous. "Stop making up stuff, Von. Even if they DID send over the tape, there wouldn't be anything interesting on it." Inside, Traferous wasn't surprised. He had been expecting this - that was why he had hired those people in the first place, for their high moral character. But why did it take them this long to send the tape to the Hero Factory? Were they waiting for him to win the battle so they wouldn't have to send it? He shuddered at the thought. Or was something worse going on? He shook his head, holding eye contact with the ghost. "If you want to be useful, find 78, Fravi, and Dr. Lie, and tell them to stay on the ship. They will be safe there." He forced himself to look grave, but the headshake before that sentence was not the casual gesture it appeared to be. What he really was trying to say was get off that ship as soon as you can. You're not safe there at all. ---------------------------------- OOC: Yes, Quark will see him shudder, though she won't know why...

GM IC TRAFEROUS "I'm not always so friendly," Traferous said with a grin. "I'm playing along because I need a ride, and I need to visit my dear friends who have suffered so much for me. But if I don't get what I want, things could get ugly, and people could get killed. I'm sure you don't want anything like that at all." GM IC THE TRADE FEDERATION The next message from the Trade Federation was some text. "Now are you taking us seriously?"

GM IC TRAFEROUS Traferous considered this chain of events. On one hand, ending up on Quark's dropship would make it easier to overpower those two, steal the dropship, and go where he wanted to go. Further, it might shield him from Saracen's idea, whatever it was. On the other hand, it would involve leaving his friends behind on the other ship, leaving them to end up galaxy knew where. And it might be better to have his enemies where he could see them. Plus the bigger ship would reduce the odds of him destroying it if it came to a battle. "I'm not comfortable with that." He expected the Hero in front of him to say something nasty. If he could irritate one Hero into leaving him alone, he could do it again.

GM NPC VON NEBULA "I will volunteer." The ghost appeared behind Helen, Nex, and Stormer, and then floated through the ship's door into the outside world.

GM NPC NEX Nex just stared, waving Stormer over. Helen would be able to see the tape - the sight of a ship's bridge. Traferous whistled. "We are under attack. Next time, we fire everything and level that blasted building. Everyone ready?" Fravi smiled. "Ready." Traferous kept firing his ice cannon at the field. The ice would at least slow the passage of energy, allowing him to get through it with a barrage. He would try THAT, and then if that didn't work too good, he would bomb the side of the island, vibrating out the amperes. He wondered why no one else was helping, but he supposed it was because of the ship's vibrations. "Come on, guys. We're in the middle of a battle. Stuff generally hits the ship's forcefield when that's going on." It was then that Mr. Vyle fired at the Hero Factory. "Holy shikes," Traferous bellowed. "That's the most dangerous weapon installed on this ship!" He immediately mashed all of the grenade launchers and rocket launchers, blasting the wall of the Factory closest to the ship into ash and exposing the floors to the outside world. "Fravi, engines at 3/4ths power, now!" he shouted as the machine gun Bliss and Drift blasted at exploded, taking out four other weapons and damaging ten more. "Ten seconds!" Fravi shouted. A red light flashed on the screen. Fravi mashed a button, then another. Another red light flashed. Mr. Vyle continued firing. Traferous, fed up with Fravi, grabbed the engine control and moved it to one-half speed, pulling the craft away just as several more booms sounded and the distant crackle of plasma. "You idiot!" he shouted at Mr. Vyle. "You're firing the forcefield disruptor, and a forcefield is this craft's main method of protection! YOU'LL KILL US ALL!" "Why do you even have a forcefield disruptor, then?" [Mr. Vyle] snapped, reluctantly stepping away from the control panel,"Seriously, whose dumb idea was it to make a ship that can't use shields and weapons at the same time?" "It wasn't mine," snapped Traferous. "It's the nature of forcefields. They stop things from going in, but they also stop things from going out. The alternative would have been to have put a ridiculous amount of heavy armor on this thing which would have reduced the weapons capacity and weighed it down." He sighed as the forcefield came back on, and the ship vanished. "As for that weapon, it's there for the exact purpose you used it for - scaring ground targets with forcefields into surrendering. But it's not to be used while this ship is under attack by other ships." "Still seems like a major design flaw to me," [Mr. Vyle] grumbled, turning away from the console, "So now what do we do?" "First, I get the pets through the shield," said Traferous, annoyed. He mashed the field disruptor a couple of times, causing a crackling mess in front of where Adam West was driving...and revealing the big ship, again. It would be a full 5 seconds before the fields turned on again, but that wasn't too big of a deal, now that no ships were attacking. "Then, if it survives being bashed into by a loaded dropship at high speed, we bomb the place out and consider it another holiday. If that doesn't work for some gosh awful reason, we turn the ship around and use the weapons on the other side of the ship. And if that doesn't work, I'm kicking you off this ship for bringing me in here on a suicide mission and wasting thousands of dollars of company equipment." "Fortunately for you, that is extremely unlikely." "In case you'd forgotten, I was initially against this idea," [Mr. Vyle] reminded Traferous, picking up his cane from where it'd fallen on the floor, "You can't blame me if this operation somehow fails." A few interactions with Marcus' hero pod happened. Jimmy Abacus' attack landed, destroying the entire bottom of the ship, including the energy cannons. The main power line to the ship's engines from the bridge was exposed, and the bomb bay hung loose by a couple of supports. It was then that Traferous pressed the button to fire a cluster bomb from the distended bay. Due to the weapon's poor aim, only Hero Factory's cannon's on the roof...and the rest of the roof...were destroyed, exposing Mission Control to the outside world. However, it wouldn't be very practical to fire those cannons anyway, since Traferous' ship was right above the Factory. If the bomb bay dropped off the ships' frame, Hero Factory was history. Traferous did not, in that moment, raise the shields. Instead, he fired the engines a little, descending. It was then that Max Vale's attack of pure Spiral power happened, destroying the entirety of the left hangar bay, sending all sixteen of Traferous' fake ships into Hero Factory's lake in shreds. The entire ship listed far towards the factory before Traferous fired the left engine to try to prevent a fatal barrel roll. The entire left engine was exposed, water coolant leaking from the system in a rain of water. It was then, and only then, that the bomb bay of Traferous' ship fell off the vessel, crashing into the now-deserted area once known as Mission Control. The entire Hero Factory exploded, falling apart in a terrible crash of screeching metal. Unfortunately, Traferous' ship was too close now. The raging explosion from below finished the job that Jimmy's cannons had started, breaking the entire vessel in half. The tape ended, fading out to static. Nex shook his head. "There's more tape here, but that's the one they wanted us to see, marking it IMPORTANT." GM NPC STORMER "Saracen is right again. If we ever get the Hero Factory back, I'm promoting him." GM IC DR. LIE "The impact of hitting the floor hit my head and tore out my stitches in places," he groaned. "It's basically bruises on top of my already bad wounds, causing them to bleed. Just get some cloth or something. And water. I need water." GM IC TRAFEROUS In truth, Traferous had to hold back his energy from the cuffs, lest they get too much energy and fry themselves. "Yeah," he said with a sheepish grin.