Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

The Iron Crusade and its operatives -- both normal and metahuman alike --

aren't the only enemies that The Solution has to face. Recently, a new

supervillain team made its appearance at one of The Solution's disaster-

relief operations -- a team whose members appeared to be a counterpart

to a specific member of The Solution, and whose overall goals are just

the opposite.

 

Nemesis Force -- the name by which this new team is known by -- focusses

its efforts primarily on throwing the occasional monkey-wrench into the "do-

gooder" activities of The Solution, but does from time to time carry out the

occasional "master plan" against other superhero teams, just to have a little

variety in their lives. Their services can be hired; indeed, their main "client"

is the Iron Crusade.

 

The following pics are of the members of Nemesis Force, along with a descript-

ion of their abilities and powers.

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

Dark Paragon:

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]41201[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

An Earth human of East Indian extraction, Dark Paragon possesses superhuman

physical abilities that are on a par with Ultra Woman's, as well as mental powers

of his own. His mental powers, however, are slightly weaker than those possessed

by Ultra Woman, and so he has turned to technology in order to compensate for

this lack. A psionic amplifier similar to the one employed by Madame Rack not only

boosts his mental powers up to Ultra Woman's level of ability, but there's also a

special setting which can -- briefly -- enable him to surpass those levels.

 

Dark Paragon also possesses other technological means of offense and defense,

the first of which is his armored chestplate. Outwardly appearing to be an ordinary

chestplate (although a 'high-tech' looking one), it actually conceals the true defense

mechanism: a damping field generator which, when active, can negate the kinetic

impact of virtually any attack, regardless of whether it's energy- or physically-based

in nature. The field is one-way; attacks originating from within the field are unaffect-

ed, while those outside of it are stopped cold.

 

His offensive capabilities consist of a pair of energy-projection bracers, which are

capable of firing two different types of energy blast simultaneously -- a force blast

of tremendous strength, and a neural stun blast which can render even a super-

human unconscious for several hours.

 

Like Ultra Woman, Dark Paragon can fly under his own power, and is incredibly

resistant to physical damage of any kind. His oft-stated goal is to "put that do-

gooding, preachy pollyanna in her place".

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

Black Saracen:

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]41205[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

All that is currently known about this battlesuited eco-terrorist is that she

comes from the Middle East, and that her favorite "hobby" is to launch

surprise attacks upon oil-production facilities in both the Middle East and

Western world alike. Using her super-alloy "plasma scimitar", she first

tears oil storage tanks to shreds, then ignites the spilled petroleum with

plasma flame. Her secondary weapons are a pair of shoulder-mounted

white phosphorous projectors, which she can use to either confuse IR

sensor systems or to fire directly at any unprotected human in her line

of fire.

 

Black Saracen's battlesuit is designed specifically to protect her from the

kind of temperature extremes that she finds herself in as a result of her

activities, and is also equipped with a high-thrust flight pack, enabling

her to make a rapid withdrawal from the scene before security forces

with better and heavier weapons than hers arrive.

 

Her counterpart in The Solution is the Green Knight, and she eagerly an-

ticipates the day when the two of them will meet for a final, winner-take-

all battle.

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

Palkha (Pebble):

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]41207[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

Hailing from Russia, this super-criminal not only possesses the power to

shrink in size, but also to increase his physical strength in inverse pro-

portion to the reduction in height -- in other words, the smaller he gets,

the stronger he becomes. Add to that a mastery of both Aikido and Aiki-

jutsu, and you have an adversary that can make things miserable for a

brick in combat.

 

Palkha is to the Metahuman World what rattlesnakes are in the natural

world: an ambush predator. His favored method of combat is to first

shrink in size, then conceal himself from the opposition. Then, once his

teammates have gotten the attention of their foes, he sneaks around until

he's gotten close enough to touch the strongest of their enemies -- at

which point, he uses both his super-strength and his martial-arts skill to

hamper his or her ability to fight. More than one brick has found him or

herself suddenly stumbling at a critical moment in a fight for no apparent

reason whatsoever.

 

While Palkha targets bricks in general, his favorite victim is Asterope; he

takes a perverse delight in watching her fall as a result of his activities.

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

Roadblock:

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]41208[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

This Latin-American villain possesses two closely-linked powers which

make him the bane of super-speedsters everywhere -- the ability to

not only project a field from his body which is capable of instantly and

completely neutralizing the powers of super-speedsters, but he can also

paralyze any speedster trapped within his field. One of his victims de-

scribed the effect as being "like a fly trapped in amber".

 

Because of his considerable size, Roadblock isn't really suited for combat;

his role is more of an ambusher than a fighter. He does, however, have

a moderate level of superhuman strength, which comes in handy when it

comes to moving around the battlefield. His opposite number in The

Solution is Runaway.

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

Scarlet Crusader:

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]41213[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

The woman now known as the Scarlet Crusader was born to a European

family that was famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view)

for two things: a rabid fanaticism for anything religious, and a virulent

intolerance for any faith not their own. From their point of view, the

greatest point in the history of their family was the Crusades which

were conducted during the 12th Century AD. Much of the wealth that

is possessed by them today came from the looting and pillaging of

Moslem strongholds during that time; wealth which has, over the cen-

turies since the Crusades, continued to accumulate interest until the

family as a whole is as wealthy as any multibillionnaire industrialist.

 

The Scarlet Crusader-to-be used her share of the family wealth to pursue

an education in the fields of engineering and science, attending school

first in Europe before going to America to recieve more advanced edu-

cation. Some of what she learned wasn't taught by any accredited inst-

itution; these sources had ties to the Iron Crusade, as well as to several

other criminal organizations. Regardless of what she learned or where

she learned it, by the time her education was complete, she was one of

the top ten experts in the fields of engineering, metallurgy, and exotic

applications of energy-based weaponry.

 

Upon her return home, she sequestered herself in her private forge and

laboratory, where she began the task of creating the armor and weapon-

ry that she would use in her new identity. When she emerged several

weeks later, her family was astounded by the change in her: instead of

looking like some bespectacled denizen of a laboratory, she stood before

them in her medieval-looking, yet advanced body armor, wielding a blade

which crackled with energy, and a shield that looked like it could stop any-

thing short of an artillery round.

 

When asked what she was doing, she announced to one and all that she

intended to wage a new Crusade; only instead of trying to liberate the

Holy Land from "pagan infidels" as her ancestors had done in the past,

she would seek out and destroy those who championed pagan belief sys-

tems, as well as those whose beliefs weren't the same as those they'd

defended for so long. Before leaving, she told them that, from that time

onward, she would be known as the Scarlet Crusader. Leaving her home,

the Scarlet Crusader traveled throughout Europe, where she left a trail

of destruction and death in her wake. It wasn't long until places of wor-

ship -- both Jewish and Moslem -- were kept under discreet, yet intense

watch, with heavy-weapons units standing by in case whoever was tar-

getting them made an appearance.

 

Deciding that a change of venue might be advisable, the Scarlet Crusader

got in touch with some of her contacts, in the hope that they'd be able to

find a new hunting ground for her. As it turned out, Nemesis Force was in

the process of recruiting new members. This was a happy turn of events

for her for two main reasons: one, the team operated strictly in North Am-

erica, and two, there were plenty of "pagan champions" there to be "ex-

punged".

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Scarlet Crusader's armor and weaponry, while medieval-looking in appear-

ance, is the product of advanced metallurgical science. Her armor is com-

posed of a lightweight, yet extremely tough alloy which is capable of turn-

ing aside a .50-caliber round (individual rounds only, however; a sustained

burst from a heavy machine gun of that caliber would penetrate it). Her

shield is also made of the same alloy; however, she has augmented its pro-

tective capability by including a damping field generator which is similar

to that possessed by Dark Paragon, but which she designed and built her-

self. This field, like that of Dark Paragon, is capable of negating a large per-

centage of the kinetic energy that is delivered from either a physical attack

or one delivered from range (blaster fire, gunfire, etc.).

 

Her sword houses a technological advance of its own: an energy-field gen-

erator which, when active, infuses the blade with an energy field that not

only increases its tensile strength, it also enables it to cut through virtually

any material other than super-dense elements or substances, field-reinforc-

ed alloys like those she uses, and super-alloys both known and unknown

to science.

 

Her primary opponent in The Solution is the Silver Druid, whom she hates

with a passion.

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

The bloody machine did it to me again; here's the pic of the Scarlet Crusader

which didn't attach to the above post:

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]41214[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

 

BTW, her shield isn't shown in this pic because I didn't want to obscure any

more detail than was absolutely necessary.

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

Lord Feros:

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]41216[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

Although he is human, the man called Lord Feros is not a native of

Else Earth. He is an inhabitant of the same "lost world" from which

Ms. Savage comes; indeed, he's a member of a tribe with which Ms.

Savage's own has a friendly rivalry. The son of the tribal chieftain,

the man now known as Lord Feros was cast out from the tribe after

committing crimes which were too unspeakable to mention, much

less commit to parchment. Unfortunately, because he was the son

of the tribe's chieftain, he couldn't be executed for those crimes,

only exiled for the rest of his life, never to return to his homeland

on pain of immediate death.

 

Before he could be branded and taken to the place of exile, however,

Feros escaped, making his way to the lands ruled over by Ms. Savage's

tribe. He arrived there in time to witness Ms. Savage's departure for

Else Earth and -- seeing a golden opportunity to escape from the

sentence passed upon him by his father and the tribal elders -- walked

up to where the keepers of the portal still stood.

 

Telling them that he was on a quest to prove himself worthy to succeed

his father as chieftain of their tribe, Feros asked if the keepers could

send him to the same place that they'd sent the flame-haired beauty.

Seeing no real reason to deny his request, the keepers agreed to his

request, opening the portal once more. Walking through the portal,

Feros found himself instantly transported from the jungles of his world

to the jungles of concrete, glass, and steel of Else Earth -- a jungle that

was home to its own forms of dangerous wildlife. Smiling a predator's

smile, Feros set out upon the quest that -- in time -- would see his

triumphant return to his people...and his ascension to the rulership of

the tribe.

 

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Lord Feros, as a native of the same world from which Ms. Savage comes,

possesses greater physical agility and strength than a native of Else Earth.

Given that the most dangerous predators on his homeworld are descended

from creatures not unlike dinosaurs, this is easy to understand.

 

In addition to his considerable physical abilities, Feros also possesses the

knowledge of herbal medicine as practiced by his tribe. Using this know-

ledge, Feros is able to concoct potions which are capable of a number of

effects; one such potion has the ability to weaken anyone to whom it's

been given. Since his arrival on Else Earth, he has augmented that body

of lore by studying modern pharmacology. By combining the two, Feros

has managed to create potions with properties which not even the herb-

alists of his tribe could concieve of. One of these potions enables the user

to simulate death so perfectly that not even a medical examination could

reveal the truth (while allowing the user to remain conscious and able to

act), while another enables the user's body to rapidly heal from any injury --

even one that would otherwise be fatal. He keeps small quantities of each

of the three aforementioned potions on his person at all times, in the event

of an emergency.

 

Feros has also used his skills to produce powders with powerful hallucino-

genic properties, which can be thrown or blown into an unsuspecting oppon-

ent's face; some of these make PCP or LSD look like the stuff in Pixie Stick

candy straws.

 

Feros has also taken the time to familiarize himself with modern firearms

technology; he has trained himself to be an expert marksman, on a par

with the Force Recon Scout Snipers of the USMC or the SEALS. His favorite

weapons -- other than the hunting knives of his people -- are a pair of IMI

Desert Eagle pistols chambered for the .50-cal. Action Express round. He

also owns a Remington Model 700 7.62mm rifle (the same rifle which, in

its military configuration, is used by the USMC) and a .50-cal. Barret sniper

rifle.

 

Although he has adopted modern technology, Lord Feros hasn't allowed his

basic skills -- those used by the hunters and warriors of his tribe -- to go to

waste. Not only is he a master tracker, able to follow his prey across any

terrain, he is also a master hunter and trapper as well. Although he has

adopted certain technologies to use in his hunts, the basic techniques are

the same regardless of which world they're from. In the brief time that Lord

Feros has been on Else Earth, he has gained a reputation in the Underworld

as a hunter capable of bringing down any "game", no matter how powerful

or skilled he or she is.

 

Feros' counterpart in The Solution is, of course, Ms. Savage. His plans for her,

however, go beyond simply proving that he's a better hunter and warrior than

she is. Not only does he plan to return to his world at the head of a small but

highly-trained force of mercenaries in order to conquer his tribe and rule it, he

also plans to create a dynasty that will follow in his footsteps after he's gone.

Once he's made all of the necessary preparations for his return trip, Feros plans

on using a combination of potions, powders, and traps in order to capture Ms.

Savage. Once he's managed to take his "living trophy" prisoner, he and his

small army will return to his world (using a talisman given to him by the keepers

of the portal), where he will immediately launch a war of conquest against his

original tribe.

 

Fortunately for both his tribe and Ms. Savage, he's still many years away from

being able to implement this scheme...

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

Sludge:

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]41217[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

Sludge, like Granite, is an elemental. But where Granite is an Earth

elemental, Sludge is a Toxic Waste elemental from the City of Baby-

lon in the Land of Legends. She was brought to Else Earth as a re-

sult of a successful summoning ritual performed by a would-be mage

with more ambition than brains. He was so elated by his success that

he'd forgotten the need to cast the necessary incantations to bring

the elemental under his control. By the time that that realization

dawned upon him, however, it was too late: the very angry element-

al vomited a humongous gout of her insanely-toxic essence all over

her would-be master. He was dead a full half-second after being hit

by the toxic vomit; once he was dead, the elemental left the house

to explore this strange world she now found herself in.

 

(The EPA HazMat personnel and inspectors who responded to the scene

after Sludge's departure are still trying to figure out how someone in

the middle of his own home could have been exposed to such high lev-

els of toxic waste, when the nearest storage and disposal facility for

such things was hundreds of miles away from the site of contamination.

They ultimately decided to demolish the house, excavate the site to re-

move any contaminated soil, and subjected the site to a massive amount

of decontaminant agents.)

 

Somehow, her existence was brought to the attention of Nemesis Force,

who were looking for a counterpart to Granite of The Solution. After she'd

been found, the representatives of the team asked her -- very politely and

oh, so very respectfully -- if she would join them as a member of their

team. After several minutes spent thinking over their request, Sludge e-

ventually accepted the invitation; after all, unlike the mortal fool who'd

tried to make himself her master, these mortals had approached her in

a respectful and polite fashion to make their request. And, she admitted

to herself, she was curious to see how a band of mortals -- mortals with

extraordinary powers of their own, but mortals nevertheless -- dealt with

those around them.

 

And so it was that Sludge joined the ranks of Nemesis Force...

 

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As has been previously mentioned, Sludge is a Toxic Waste elemental; as such,

she is the living embodiment of all the poisons created in the hundred-years-

plus since the dawn of the Industrial Age. Just being in her presence for any

length of time without the proper protection will ultimately result in death; for

that reason, Nemesis Force has gone to a great deal of time and expense to

create a special facility in their secret headquarters, which allows Sludge to

interact with her teammates while keeping them safe from her toxic essence.

Although she doesn't like this separation much, she does understand the need

for it.

 

Sludge is able to use her toxic essence as a weapon in one of two ways -- she

can either vomit a huge quantity of toxic waste upon an unprotected victim,

resulting in the immediate death of said victim; or she can slash her victim

with her razor-sharp fingernails, therby introducing a small yet potent amount

of her poison into the bloodstream of her victim. This has the result of causing

the victim to suffer a slow but steady poisoning, which will eventually end with

the victim's death.

 

Sludge can also increase her size by absorbing toxic waste into her body; with

sufficient amounts close at hand, she can grow in size up to a height of over

100 feet tall (this capability of Sludge's by itself is the cause of some major

nightmares at the EPA and FEMA; their current estimates of what it would take

to deal with the contamination that her giant state would cause have begun

to approach the nuclear threshold -- which, of course, causes nightmares of

an entirely different sort altogether).

 

This ability to absorb toxic waste can also be used by her to regenerate any

damage taken by her in combat; this assumes, of course, that there is any

toxic waste close at hand to begin with.

 

Her counterpart in The Solution is, of course, Granite. However, because of

an almost unconscious reverence on the part of the 'younger' elementals

toward those of the 'older' generation -- like Granite, for example -- Sludge

isn't as able to face him as effectively as another 'older' elemental would be

able to.

 

In her normal state, Sludge stands over 6 feet tall; her weight, on the other

hand, tends to vary depending not only upon how much of her mass she

tends to 'shed' over time, but also upon what she winds up absorbing to re-

gain the lost mass. Her appearance is that of a humanoid female whose

'flesh' is a sickly grey-green in color, with slightly darker green 'hair', and her

hands and feet end in razor-sharp claws.

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

Nightshroud:

 

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]41218[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

The final member of Nemesis Force is a young African-American woman who

possesses the power of what has been termed "Living Darkness", which she

is able to use in a number of ways.

 

Offensively, she can use her power to project beams of dark, concussive force

at an opponent. The power of these beams is sufficient to blast someone through

a solid wall.

 

She can also fill a huge area with an impenetrable darkness, in which only she can

see. This darkness also has a 'numbing' effect upon the sensory perceptions of

those within the field; those who have experienced this use of Nightshroud's pow-

er have described being unable to hear, see, smell, taste, or touch anything while

surrounded by her darkness.

 

Nightshroud is also able to use her darkness power as a form of teleportation;

she does this by first using her power to 'merge' with a large area of shadow,

then she uses it to reappear somwhere else where there is also a large area

of shadow present. Her special senses enable her to select where she'll re-

emerge in normal space.

 

There is one aspect of Nightshroud's power which is of concern to those with

energy-manipulation abilities and powers, especially those which are flame-

based in nature. In a recent incident, a teen metahuman with flame powers

found herself trapped within one of Nightshroud's darkness fields. Within

minutes, she felt her powers weakening, as if the darkness was feeding upon

her powers. In her panic, she managed to blast her way free, but was severe-

ly shaken by the experience.

 

Nightshroud is Nemesis Force's counterpart to Sunrise, and wears a form-fitting

bodysuit in black and indigo. When in combat, she is surrounded by an aura of

darkness; most who see her tend to be unsettled by her appearance.

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

Re: Else Earth: The Solution (5e, Super Team)

 

Here's a member of the Templars supervillain team who has a slant all his own

when it comes to question-and-answer sessions with those unfortunate enough

to be subjected to his less-than-tender mercies -- the Inquisitor:

 

 

 

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The Inquisitor is a mentalist who possesses some very frightening powers

indeed -- not only can he scan a victim's mind in order to learn what he or

she fears most, he can also use that knowledge against his victim by first

taking control of his or her perceptions, and subjecting him or her to attacks

by the object of what they fear most. Although these attacks are strictly

illusory -- existing solely within the victim's mind -- that doesn't make

them any less real to the victim.

 

After a few hours of this mental torture -- and once he senses that his victim

is near the breaking point -- the Inquisitor presents himself as a friend, and

offers to rescue the victim from his or her attackers. The only catch is that

the victim has to tell the Inquisitor whatever he wants to know. Most people,

after being subjected to their worst nightmares made real, are understand-

ably willing to cooperate in order to end their suffering. The few who have

outright refused to cooperate, well...suffice it to say, more than a few of the

Inquisitor's victims have literally died from stark terror.

 

 

 

Major Tom 2009