IST San Angelo

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

It was 11:30 am when they reported, in street clothes, to Sir John's office. Carol stood at a filing cabinet with her reading glasses on and her eyes within inches of a folder. Ginger, her devoted guide dog, instead of being at her mistress's side, stood a few feet away, ever alert for any indication that Carol needed her assistance.

"Morning, Carol," April said. "Sir John asked Shadowcat and me to stop by."

"Go on in," Carol said.

"Thank you," Shadowcat said.

"Welcome," Carol said.

"Good morning, ladies," Sir John said. "Please sit." When they did, he asked, "How your mission go?"

"It went well, Sir John," April replied. "Shadowcat was the perfect partner."

"Good. Any objections to making it permanant?"

"None from me, Sir John," April replied. "Shadowcat?"

"I like," Shadowcat replied.

"I'll make the arrangements," Sir John said. "See you two at the briefing this afternoon at 2 pm."

"We'll be there," April said.

"That's all," Sir John said. As the ladies left, they saw Carol, in her seat, caressing Ginger.

When everyone was in the conference room, Sir John stood and said, "Good afternoon, everyone. We have a few things to go over. First, Shadowcat will be working with April from now on." He slid something to her and added, "That's a United Nations Intelligence Staff ID. Use it instead of your regular one."

"Will do," Shadowcat said.

"Good. Second, according to the doctors at the Faraday Memorial Clinic, Lady Arcane will be healing for several months and, probably, will need, at least one year of physical therapy before returning to active duty. Fortunately, her medical insurance, through the United Nations, covers it. One good note, Amber, her familiar, has been released by the vet and her and Dr. Arcane's housekeeper brought the bird to her bedside after the doctors at the clinic said that there would be no problem.

"Third, Raideen will be joining us from IST Cairo. He wears a powered armor suit that resembles a 2 meter tall version of the toy robot. Fourth, Mystico will be joining us. He's a mage that dresses like a stage magician. His familiar is a black cat named Isis. Questions?"

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

When nobody had any questions, Sir John continued, "Shadowcat and April visited the new reality attached, via gate, to the fifth floor. I expect that it'll be ready for our use within three weeks. It'll take that long to cremate the bodies and get the area cleaned up. From what I have been told, it's custom to strip the bodies before cremation, launder the clothing and reuse it. Anyone that wants to can do so. I'll have a list of what's available attached to their report. Everyone will get a copy of it."

"It's a custom in a number of religions, too, Sir John," Kuntala said.

"I see," he said. "Maria?"

IST Public Relations chief Maria Lopez spoke next. A slender Hispanic woman, she was, according to family records, a direct decendant of the Queen of Swords herself and wore a duplicate of her costume, complete with a replica sword and dagger, on Halloween. "Paladin, one hour ago, the United States Senate found your father guilty by a vote of 100 to 0."

"Good," the blonde warrior said. "Now, we can have a decent Vice President of the United States."

"Once Gloria Vasquez is sworn in as Vice President, her daughter, Elena, is elegible for Secret Service protection," Sir John said. "Only trouble is, she's one of the area's three Vampire Slayers. If she accepts protection, the Secret Service is going to have its hands full guarding her."

"What's worse, protecting her, the First Lady, an eye surgeon that refuses to give up her practice, of the First Daughter, a married circus aerialist that's also an insulin-dependant diabetic?" April asked.

"Good point," Sir John said.

"Paladin, the press will want a statement from you about your father's sentence," Maria said. She paused as a staffer handed her a note. "Also KNDI's `shock jock' `Dingo' Raines just challenged you to an oil wrestling match in front of City Hall."

"He can take his challenge and stick it up his hind end," Paladin said.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

That afternoon, Paladin met with the press. "Good afternoon," she said, mounting the platform in the small fourth floor auditorium.

"Good afternoon," came the response.

"I'll take your questions."

"Are you Mr. Kinsey's daughter?" came the first question. "You don't look like her."

"I know," Paladin said. "My fingerprints say that I am."

"Did you watch the President's speach from Stargate Gommand? If so, which of our wonderful television stations did you watch it on?"

"Since I was at IST London, I watched it on Astra TV. They had a feed from C-SPAN."

The questions continued in that vein until someone mentioned her refusal to meet "Dingo" Raines's challenge. "If we fought, I'd probably break Mr. Raines in two," she said.

After some laughter, the press conference ended. "Not bad," Maria said as they left together.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

One hour after the press conference, Mariko and Sir John met briefly to discuss the drag race program they's be part of at the Sacramento Motor Speedway. "As I recall, you're driving while I sit in the passanger seat," Sir John said.

"Right," Mariko said. "You also have to wear a crash helmet and be buckled in."

"Regulations?" Sir John asked.

"Of course," Mariko replied.

"What are you going to be driving?" Sir John asked.

"The region's 2004 Lamborghini Murcielago pace car," Mariko replied. "We're going a 2005 Lamborghini Murcielago driven by the 17-year old kid of the dealer that's supplying the pace car. Legally, he isn't entitled to drive the pace car, however, all the San Angelo Vintage Car Grand Prix association members are all businessmen and friends of Ben Morgan. After some yelling, they agreed to hold the race we're driving in to see who drives the pace car."

"Jolly good," Sir John said. "I know you'll take your baffoon of an opponent apart."

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

A few quick notes.

Carol is a low-power metahuman. She and Ginger can communicate mentally. Carol can also see through Ginger's eyes, if she closes hers and concentrates. Likewise, Ginger can see through Carol's eyes the same way.

April Carter's character sheet is under construction and will be posted to the Dark Champions forum once that has been done. I'll advise you when that happens.

Although Mariko is no longer in gymnastics competition, she hasn't let her body get out of shape. She still has the self-dicipline that took her to the Olympic games twice and continues to work out in her spare time.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

After an early dinner, Mariko, Sir John, Aki, and a group of others from IST San Angelo headed over to the Sacramento Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile Indy-style oval with a 3.194-mile road course inside.

"Impressive," Sir John said, looking at the track map on the wall of the garage Mariko pulled into.

"So's the pace car," Mariko said, pointing to the region's pace car that sat beside the track's Ford Mustang pace car. "I'll get my racing suit on and be right back," Mariko said, grabbing a bag from her car and heading to a small dressing room.

"Is that necessary?" Sir John asked.

"No," Aki replied. "Mariko does that because the members of CART's pace car team also wear racing suits while pacing a race."

"Oh," Sir John said as someone handed him a helmet.

Once in the car, they headed out to the track, staying at the posted 5 mph. Just before easing onto pit lane, they passed a flatbed tow truck carrying the vintage car race's pace car. Walkling beside it was a very portly boy. "Any idea who that rather wide young chap is?" Sir John asked.

"He's our opponent," Mariko replied.

"Good God," Sir John said. "I hope he doesn't break the car by sitting in it."

"I hope he can fit in it," Mariko said.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

April's character sheet has been posted for revies and comment on the Dark Champions forum.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

Mariko drove the Lamborghini around the track at ever increasing speeds until she was called to the staging area. As she arrived, she put the car into a bootlegger's turn to get it lined up.

Sir John, who had been briefed on the turn, said, "Smashing."

"Thanks," Mariko said as the car 40-feet away from her was started.

Suddenly Stephanie, an NHRA and SCCA-licensed technical inspector, came over and said, "Shut your engine and join me. The other car has a problem."

"What?" Mariko asked.

"The transmission," she replied. "The dog teath just shattered."

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

"what kind of teeth?" Sir John asked.

"Dog teeth," Mariko replied, then explained how a manual transmission worked.

"I see," Sir John arrived at the car. "What caused it?"

"Good question," Mariko replied. She turned to the chubby driver and asked, "You did push the clutch in, didn't you?"

"What clutch?" the fat kid asked. "There's no #&"" clutch here. Look, I'll show you. "He pointed to the petals, and said, "Gas, brake, emergency brake." He pointed to a knob and said, "That releases the brake."

"The petal you claim sets the emergency brake is the clutch petal," Mariko said. "You also indicated that the headlight switch is the emergency brake release. In fact, the emergency brake control is the lever between your seat and the center console. When it's up, the brake's set. When it's down, the brake's released. It's all in the manual. You did read it, didn't you?"

"What manual?" the kid asked.

"I told him to read it," the boy's father, whose San Angelo exotic car dealership supplied the car, said.

"Cut the engine!" Stephanie yelled.

"No, the tubby kid said. "I won't let you." Mariko, who had been kneeling, depressed the clutch with her left hand while reaching over the stearing wheel with her right one. After getting a grip on the key, she turned the motor off, removed the key and passed it to the dealer. "Why the %^#= did you do that, you @$#*'," the kid wailed.

"I told Mariko to kill the engine because the fuel line was coming loose," Steplanie replied. "We'll hold it in with duct tape until we can get it to my shop for an impound inspection. I can replace the line's clamp there. Then, you can take it to the dealership to fix the transmission."

"Agreed," the dealer said. "I assume you take care of the region's pace car."

"Only the basic stuff," Stephanie replied. "For major rebuilds, I take it to the dealer in town we got it from."

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

A few quick notes.

Mariko is 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs about 130 pounds, and, being a former Olympic gymnast that still works out, has less than 3% body fat.

Sir John is 6 feet tall, weighs around 180 pounds and, being from England, has an English accent and peppers his speach with English slang expressions.

The fat boy is 5 feet seven inches tall and weighs 250 pounds.

Now, back to the story.

With the damaged Lamborghini loaded onto the flatbed for transportation to Stephanie's shop, Mariko and Sir John climbed back into the region's Lamborghini, did two quick burnouts, staged and made their run. Since Mariko wasn't racing anyone, she made the run at 50 miles per hour instead of the car's top speed.

[Corwyn]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

Good point. Perhaps I should just have them open an embassy in San Angelo' date=' which, according to R. P. Miller, of Gold Rush Games, is near Sacramento.[/quote']

 

That's basically what I did. I altered the whole Detroit thing to reflect an old Destroyer plot involving a previously-unknown Kal-El who, when he discovered how Dr D/Menton manipulated him, proceeded to trash D across the lanscape touching down every 500 miles or so, finally landing in what used to be LA. They then built San Angelo over the ruins and IST SA became the 4th embassy in the US (1987).

 

Mine is a hybrid though, and incorporates a lot of Champs U, IST U, and San Angelo as well as Freedom City.

 

Oh, I also drastically reduced the nubber of supers in the IST to prevent them from just mobilizing 200 supers every time D or someone else shows up so most Embassies are mainly housed with power armour infantry and a small handfull of supers, NY being a notable exception. SA has 1/2 dozen which is considered large, and only one American.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

While Mariko and Sir John were at the track, April and Shadowcat, both in black, met up with Donna in the fountain room. "You two ready to move the bodies?" Donna asked.

"Yes," April replied.

"Good," Donna said. "I'll help you undress them, then sort out what they were wearing. One thing, since your gloves might be too bulky for undressing the bodies, you should wear disposible gloves while doing so. I have four boxes of nitrile gloves in the warehouse. Either of you want to wear them? I'm going to."

"We should," April said. "They'll give us the dexterity of ungloved hands without leaving fingerprints behind or getting trace elements from the bodies and clothing on our black gloves."

"Fine," Shadowcat said. After switching gloves, they went to the Japanese garden.

When they reached the kimono-clad women, April said, "We should let Mariko look at these before we do anything. No offense, Shadowcat, but she lived in Japan and probably knows more about geisha than you."

"I agess," Shadowcat said. "However, I'm getting some photos for her to look at," she added, pulling out a digital camera.

"Good plan," April said. "We'll go to the villa next. Once the bodies have been stripped, we'll unload the clothes hampers."

"You should clean out the closets and drawers, too," Donna said. "Since they don't need to be cleaned, I'll put the items from them away."

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

"You're right, Donna." April said before she and Shadowcat left for the villa.

"I'll take pictures of everyone here dressed as we found them,April," Shadowcat said. "We should save the burglars for last."

"No problem." It took an hour to move the bodies from the villa and prepare them for cremation. Finally, they got to the two burglars. After taking a photo of each, April checked their watch caps and found them to be ski masks. She rolled them down and Shadowcat took more photos.

Once the burglars were stripped and cremated, the two women went to the community center. That took another hour. April told Donna how to clean the costumes, then the two black-lclad IST staffers returned to the embassy for some much-needed sleep.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

The next morning, Shadowcat met up with Mariko at breakfast. "Morning, Mariko," Shadowcat said. "How was the race last night?"

"My opponent ruined the transmission on a sports car that costs over two hundred thousand dollars," Mariko replied.

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

"Mariko, I need to pick your brain."

"What do you need to know about, Keiko?" Mariko asked, using her cousin's real name.

"We have access, through the nexus gate, to a Japanese garden. Some women there were in kimonos. I'm hoping you can tell us who were geisha."

" No problem. However, I'll have to examinine the bodies and touch the kimonos," Mariko said.

"You sure you can tell if they're geisha?" Shadowcat asked.

"Yes," Mariko replied. "I am geisha."

"How?"

"Kyoto has a large geisha district. The gymnasium I studied and mother worked at was next to one that was owned by another of our aunts. Since mother and I lived there, the geisha took me under their wing. I was their mascot and an honorary Miako, or apprentice geisha, until I was 13. That's when I became a full miako. I became geisha after high school graduation and worked in the teahouse until I received my masters degree."

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

"How could you be involved in gymnastics and motor sports and still be a geisha?" Shadowcat asked.

"I worked as a geisha during the summer, when I wasn't in college," Mariko replied. "As far as racing goes, I was able to set my own work schedule and sometimes worked up to 12-hours a day."

"Not bad."

The day passed by quickly and that evening, Mariko joined April and Shadowcat on a visit to the nexus room. Like her friends, she was in black.

"What can you tell us?" April asked when Mariko left the Japanese garden.

Mariko reported what she'd discovered and Donna, who had been standing at the warehouse door, asked, "Want me to help you undress them?"

"Yes," Mariko replied. "We'll need stands for the wigs."

"I brought twelve," April said, passing Donna the duffle bag she'd been carrying."

"That'll do," Mariko said.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

While Mariko and Donna continued working, April and Shadowcat went to the first house.

"Let's clear the closets and drawers out first," April suggested.

"Agreed," Shadowcat said. "What do we do with the food we find here?"

"We'll leave it here until it can be tested," April replied.

Finally, when the house was clear, they moved onto the second house. They emptied it before removing the bodies of the four maids. "Shouldn't we get rid of the personal stuff in these houses and the other buildings?" Shadowcat asked.

"I'll ask Sir John about that," April said.

The last two houses were emptied, then they started on the church.

As they did, Mariko asked Donna, "How are you arranging the clothes we're keeping?"

"One side is men's, the other side is women's<" Donna replied. "Shoes and headcoverings go with the clothes. Gloves, jewelry, purses and other such are shelved in the center. Although most of this stuff is one-size-fits-all, the gloves aren't. I've sorted them by size, length, material and color."

"Reasonable," Mariko said. "Donna, doesn't this stripping the clothes off the bodies, then throwing them into a plane of fire seem disrespectfull to you?"

"No, Mariko," Donna replied. "Since we came into this life naked, we should go out that way, too. As far as this method of cremation goes, it is acceptable in the mystical community."

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

"I know, but it still bothers me."

"I understand," Donna said. "This is just a different culture that you're used to."

"You're right," Mariko said.

As Mariko and Donna talked, April and Shadowcat continued working. When they finished bringing the bodies through, they took the clothing from the custodian's apartment, then helped Mariko and Donna with the bodies.

"That's it," Donna finally said. "All that's left is for me to finish doing the laundry. I guess some of this stuff will be claimed by people."

"I'm going to claim sofe of it," Shadowcat said. "Of course, I'll probably wear it only in the nexus rooms."

"Don't be too sure of that," April said. "Some of the clothes could be worn as disguises. If you like, I can help you pick out some things."

"I'd like that," Shadowcat said.

"Good night, ladies," Donna said, returning to the warehouse.

"Good night, Donna," April, Mariko and Shadowcat said together.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

I'm considering dropping the IST San Angelo campagn andreplacing it with a West Coast Avengers campaign with the team based in San Angelo. Much of the world will remain the same, but there will be a few changes.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

Booyah

 

Book Marked Links

 

QM

[DusterBoy]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

A quick stop in Las Vegas.

All Nevada Crime Scene Investigators are deputy sheriffs and must carry a department-approved firearm.

CSI Catherine Willows, the swing-shift supervisor at Clark County's crime lab, is a metahuman. She can become a Bengal tiger that has human intelligence. After a high-speed camera experiment, conducted by computer and video expert Archie Johnson, it was discovered that she has an in between form that resembles a humanoid tiger. Catherine, however, can't, yet, stop the change at that form.

Next, back to San Angelo.

 

You made Catherine Willows a were-tiger? Ooohhh boy!

 

(Okay, now I have to lie down with a damp cloth over my face until the images go away)

 

Much rep to you.

 

I'm a Catherine Willows/Marg Helgenberger fan. You can tell, can't you?

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

DusterBoy, QuestionMan, thanks for your kind words. Guess I'm going to have to go through the whole thread and insert spaces between paragraphs and fix the multitude of typos.

 

The medical area consists of three rooms. The first room you come to is 2 x 4 hexes (approximately 13 by 26 feet). My best guess is that it is the reception area and office area. The next area is 6 x 6 hexes (or about 40 foot square). The bust guess is that it has the exam rooms, X-ray, lab facilities, and storage rooms. Finally, we have a 2 x 2 hex area. This is the staff office.

 

I think that, with supers wearing them, women wouldn't stop wearing gloves outdoors. Although you'd generally see them with dressy clothes, some women, just to be different, might wear them with jeans and a tee shirt. You might, occasionally, see them worn indoors, too. In this case, they're part of a uniform, the woman likes wearing gloves, she's trying to keep her fingerprints off things, or she's hiding some kind of skin condition.

 

It occurred to me that the area beyond the gateway would have three sections. The first provides additional living quarters. The second is a park, complete with a pool, playing fields, an archery range, and a botanical garden. The third, and largest, part is a training town.

[Mark Rand]

Re: IST San Angelo

 

I think my ideas about uniform regulations and minimum health care employees for the circus industry will never occur. There's just too few people in the industry for official Washington to care about.

 

As far as the newly-elected President having a diabetic daughter who's an experienced circus aerialist goes, that just won't work, either. No show would take the chance of letting her in the air. Additionally, due to the nature of Presidential elections, if a candidate's daughter is a circus performer, it will get out and the candidate's opponant will use it to discredit him.

 

Thus, either the President-elect's daughter joins the circus right after the election or, if I want her to remain an expert performer, her father becomes President through an act of fate.