Jump to content

Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

Kirby

By Kirby
in Champions

 Share

Recommended Posts

Kirby Grand Master

Kirby

Posted
Posted

We're all familiar with the official story of Detroit's destruction (not Darren Watts blowing it up, but Dr. Destroyer), but what if that was just a convenient, plausible explanation? Sure, Dr. Destroyer planned on destroying much of the United States and his super adversaries so that the world would have to accept his leadership to rebuild, and that the graduating students of Ravenswood Academy just happened to discover Destroyer's hideout, but what if there was another entity behind that scenes that influenced the students to stumble onto this master villain's base? Who or what was it and what was its/their plan?

 

Speculative thoughts:

 

DEMON - Who more evil than DEMON themselves? It's possible that DEMON (maybe even just a Morbane) was wanting to summon/command a being from the Descending Hierarchy, but needed a great sacrifice. DEMON knew where Destroyer was, but also knew they were too weak to confront him directly. Destroyer's current chaos was disrupting DEMON's plans (and ruining hideouts), so they subtly influenced the Ravenswood teens into discovering Destroyer's base. Were the 60,000 lost lives worth it, or does there need to be more? Either way, what was DEMON's reward? (This one is probably best to have the required amount almost met, so that the PCs can either prevent it, or fight the being or reverse the reward as part of the campaign.)

 

Mechanon - A cybernetic, the Machinist, made the initial discovery, but what he didn't know was that Mechanon was influencing him! Mechanon knew of Destroyer's plan to destroy North America via asteroids and projected Destroyer would succeed; however, Mechanon wanted Destroyer out of the picture as well. Permanently. Mechanon put the wheels in motion for the Machinist to check for "machine empathy" in the abandoned steel mill. When the fighting was all but over, Destroyer's orbital bombardment cannon was supposed to kill the heroes only and allow Destroyer to teleport away. It was Mechanon who adjusted the weapon's trajectory to include Destroyer. Did Destroyer eventually realize this or did he think there might have been a miscalculation or perhaps hero intervention? (There were supers in space, after all.)

 

Menton - Who knows Destroyer better than anyone else? Menton does. Menton had been subverting Destroyer's henchmen for years in able to keep tabs on his former master. Perhaps Menton had slowly and subtly bypassed Destroyer's mental defenses just enough for Menton to read Destroyer's surface thoughts and/or influence them? Did Menton suggest Destroyer was ready to attack before he truly was or once Destroyer's plan was in motion, did Menton simply dominate the teens' minds to go to the field and discover Destroyer there? And after all, with a fatigued and weakened populace left over, Menton would have a much easier taking controlling new puppets for his personal use.

 

PSI - Similar to Menton's participation, but PSI couldn't influence Destroyer, only his followers. Unable to confront Destroyer directly, PSI encouraged the students to find Destroyer's place. As with Menton, with a new city being built and the controlled chaos of filling the political power vacuum, PSI could establish some powerful roots.

 

Takofanes - Similar to Mechanon, Takofanes didn't mind North America being destroyed nor Destroyer. How Takofanes managed to discover where Destroyer was (ghosts?) and influence the teens (vampires?) might not be set in stone, but Takofanes would definitely have hoped for some *super* powerful dead bodies. Takofanes may not have understood Destroyer's part in sending asteroids to Earth and moved too soon. He may have simply thought Destroyer was doing random violence but the lich lord wanted a mass area of corpses and Detroit seemed well enough. The sixty thousand dead was as close to pure joy as the undead abomination had felt in centuries.

 

Telios - How does one populate the planet with thousands upon thousands of clones without anyone noticing? Kill a city and replace the populace. Perhaps thousands of the new Lennies are clones, including many of the "new" supers (both heroes and villains!) that are now both loved and hated. Just what purpose is there to this? Is this Telios's idea, or did someone (even Destroyer) hire him for this? As for the Ravenswood teens, did Telios capture them and send in clone replacements, or is the majority or entirety of Ravenswood Academy a living lab of Telios'?

 

VIPER - No one not only interferes with and annoys VIPER as much as Destroyer, but is such a threat that VIPER cannot directly assault without severe casualties. For a long time, VIPER knew of Destroyer's many bases, but never dared an assault. When VIPER discovered what was truly happening, they sent a sabotage crew to interfere with Destroyer's plans and leave a beacon for other supers to "stumble" onto Destroyer's base. With the Machinist only able to detect machine minds, he felt the murderous intentions of the Destroids, but didn't realize they had recently killed a VIPER team. The dead bodies were overlooked in all the chaos and obliterated later by Destroyer's orbital bombardment cannon.

Foxbat - Every MASTER PLAN has a mastermind who avoids being noticed by authorities. Foxbat didn't want to keep paying for high electricity bills and have some super in his/her secret ID at the electric company discover Foxbat's secret hideout, so Foxbat needed to tap someone else's electrical lines. Imagine his wonderment when this abandoned steel mill not only had enough FREE electricity (to him, it apparently hadn't been turned off) for his latest endeavor, but there were powerful computers present with amazing software that let him hack into and play his favorite MMORPG (World of Women Seeking Everlasting Romance, or WoWSER) for free as well! During a rare escape from the keyboard (one gets tired of waiting at the virtual club for his wing man, MorganFairchilds FutureHusband), Foxbat noticed four teenagers nearby. Fearing he'd been discovered, Foxbat fled, but not before accidentally turning on some equipment which started flickering and warranted the Machinist's attention. Foxbat now is feeling extreme guilt for 'causing' the destruction of Detroit and seeks redemption from the PCs. If someone coaxes him out of his depression (he's wearing an all-black outfit now), he will become Foxbat's newest BFF or she will become his latest, greatest love interest and Foxbat can "hang out" with them for weeks if not months if not years!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lord Liaden Grand Master

Lord Liaden

Posted
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

There actually was another master plan behind it, which isn't what most on Champions Earth believe it to be... but it was Dr. Destroyer's plan. If you get Book Of The Destroyer you'll find out.

 

(Personally I didn't like the plan for a few reasons, but it is official. I prefer some of your alternatives.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kirby Grand Master

Kirby

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

LOVE the Foxbat take' date=' that was just hilarious.... did you come up with WoWSER on your own?[/quote']Thank you. I did; I couldn't think of anything to replace WoW, so I just extended it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LoresLost Collaborator

LoresLost

Posted
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

Long ago Lore Lived in Detroit,

 

For those who like government conspiracies:

I would say that Officials in the Cities Redevelopment Department learned of it in a inspection steel mill for disposition and told the political higher ups and they set all these things in motion through underworld/mystic contacts...

 

(boy it was sure lucky for the mayor and councilman Reeds families were on vacation in South America...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lord Liaden Grand Master

Lord Liaden

Posted
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

The cosmic entity called the Examiner, from Champions Beyond, puts sapient beings of power (such as superhumans) through various physical, intellectual, and emotional trials, to study their responses. The Battle of Detroit and its aftermath provided plenty of all three.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GestaltBennie Mentor

GestaltBennie

Posted
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

The Men in Black, a nameless and undocumented cabal that is working for the Babylon Conspiracy Agency, a group in the City of Man who seeds conspiracy theories of all earths, just for the fun of it and as part of some vague scheme to control the multiverse that wouldn't possibly hold up to close scrutiny, but which produce many scenes of men smoking in big rooms sayng ominous and portentous things that make little sense whatsoever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kirby Grand Master

Kirby

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

There actually was another master plan behind it' date=' which isn't what most on Champions Earth believe it to be... but it was Dr. Destroyer's plan. If you get [i']Book Of The Destroyer[/i] you'll find out.

 

(Personally I didn't like the plan for a few reasons, but it is official. I prefer some of your alternatives.)

 

Drats. :/

 

Like many a newborn, you've snipped me before I could really get started.

 

Not really. Just because something is in the official books doesn't mean you can't come up with your own take. Let the speculation continue.
Should I have the fortune of starting up a new (5E) campaign, I plan on using something "better" to explain how the students discovered Destroyer's base. It might involve more than one of the above, depending on whether the PCs are heroes or villains.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kirby Grand Master

Kirby

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

The cosmic entity called the Examiner' date=' from [i']Champions Beyond[/i], puts sapient beings of power (such as superhumans) through various physical, intellectual, and emotional trials, to study their responses. The Battle of Detroit and its aftermath provided plenty of all three.
I do like the Examiner. It might be a bit harsh; however, there's no reason fellow Galaxar, the Warlord, might have been involved. ;) (On the flip side, if the GM ruled the Examiner did do it, then that makes the Warlord even scarier.)

 

The Men in Black' date=' a nameless and undocumented that is working for the Babylon Conspiracy Agency, a group in the City of Man who seeds conspiracy theories of all earths, just for the fun of it and as part of some vague scheme to control the multiverse that wouldn't possibly hold up to close scrutiny, but which produce many scenes of men smoking in big rooms sayng ominous and portentous things that make little sense whatsoever.[/quote']... I don't know how to respond, but my mouth is agape.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hermit Grand Master

Hermit

Posted
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

James Harmon...

just not the one from this universe. It's been established he has , like many folks, multiple reality versions of him. Perhaps in one reality, a major villain* subjugated humanity because humanity was just not ready for it. Technology was too limited, science 'neglected' so when the battle did come, it was like fighting with horses and sabers against tanks. James SE (For Subjugated Earth) escaped to the main CU only to find it slightly out of time sync by a decade, but still woefully unfit for the conquest that was to come.

 

Already maddened by grief, the escaped freedom fighter did all he could to covertly draw the interest of Doctor Destroyer and provoke him, to speed up his plans. Then from behind the scenes, he used the resulting tragedy to guide the formation of Millennium City, arguably both the highest tech city on Earth, as well as a major new muster point for superheroes.

 

* If the villain in question was Destroyer himself, then James SE sacrificed hundreds of thousands to save billions, and hoped the heroes would stop Destroyer before he would become unstoppable on his world.

 

If it was V'Han or an Alien invasion instead, then he went after Destroyer because, as evil as Destroyer was, forcing the likes of UNTIL, PRIMUS, and the superhero community to try to match him would better ready Earth as a whole.

 

In the mean times, James Harmon SE has created an alternate identity where he can work behind the scenes to keep the High Tech Arms race between superheroes, Supervillains, and Organizations going.

 

Perhaps he is even one of the leaders in ARGENT, less interested than his peers in money or science, and far more interested in making sure that THIS Earth will have the technology it needs to survive the coming storm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kirby Grand Master

Kirby

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

James Harmon...

just not the one from this universe.

Very nice. I have often entertained the thought that whenever I do an extra-dimensional adventure, I use the 4th Ed Champions from BBB. I just have to decide whether that dimension is one that Lancer (CKC) is from and/or one that V'han has conquered or not. And what happens if it is one conquered by some earth master villain (Dr. Destroyer, Takofanes, Menton, etc.) and is also being invaded by by aliens or V'han?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lord Liaden Grand Master

Lord Liaden

Posted
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

Captain Chronos is another possibility. He's trying to avert a future catastrophe, and although his intentions are good, he sometimes has to cause events whose short-term consequences appear evil, because he foresees them leading to a greater good in the long term. Such a monumental event as the Battle of Detroit could have multiple repercussions to the timeline: the removal of Dr. Destroyer from active meddling in the world for a decade; the symbolic or practical effect of drawing the American people together to rebuild; the creation of Millennium City, with its impact on emerging technologies or urban society; the death of heroes who could have later accidentally caused long-term harm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kirby Grand Master

Kirby

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

The cosmic entity called the Examiner' date=' from [i']Champions Beyond[/i], puts sapient beings of power (such as superhumans) through various physical, intellectual, and emotional trials, to study their responses. The Battle of Detroit and its aftermath provided plenty of all three.
I was making tea and thinking of a creating a character with a Foxbat rivalry when I was reminded of this post. Initially, I didn't think the Examiner would test the heroes this way; however, this could have been the Examiner testing Destroyer. :winkgrin:
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kirby Grand Master

Kirby

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Re: Conspiracy Theory: Who was really behind the destruction of Detroit?

 

Alan Alda was Plimpton's side kick.

 

If you don't care for Plimpton....

I was thinking something more consistent with an actual Champions campaign as opposed to just humorous one liners.

 

YMMV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...