Death Star

Five notorious supervillains have recently joined forces and established a Coalition Centre in a high-tech complex on the outskirts of Vanguard City, in the technologically-advanced land of Valouris. These villains have hatched a scheme to bring catastrophe to the city, by way of a doomsday device called the Abyss Crucible.

The Coalition Centre has a squat, unassuming exterior, but is a sleek, futuristic facility within. It is equipped with an advanced security system including (but not limited to) CCTV cameras, and is regularly patrolled by various henchmen (and henchwomen) loyal to the supervillains. These guards consist of five different groups which were once at odds but are now joined in uneasy alliance by the whims of their masters. They are the Shadow Stalkers, Techno-Sentries, Harmony Enforcers, Lava Troopers, and Dark Acolytes. The henchmen are not highly-trained individuals, but each type has unique weaponry.

The supervillains themselves are much more formidable adversaries, with abilities and combat styles reminiscent of their mooks, but far superior. They are known as Dr. Void, the Machinist, Mesmer, Pyroclast, and Hexcess. Despite their power, they are all (more or less) mortal, so can be defeated with clever tactics, quick thinking, and sufficient firepower.

MISSION GOAL: Destroy the Abyss Crucible. Slay the Machinist. Other supervillains are a bonus.

PORT-IN: Within a Supply Closet in the General Storage section of the Coalition Centre, which Enclave has identified as the least frequented area of the building.

Johnathin Vendigroth & Thoxl, both Gunslingers, and Naomi, an Illusionist, port-in to a pitch-black supply closet, where they soon find the light switch, then find janitors’ uniforms. However, they choose not to disguise themselves before leaving the closet. They progress through a general storage room and after Naomi uses an illusion to hide them from a CCTV camera, into a research lab. Johnathin unsuccessfully attempts to guess the enemies’ computer password, until Naomi locates a notepad with “CRUC1BL3” written on it, which turns out to be the password. Johnathin accesses a computer and locates the building schematics, but before he can print them out, Thoxl spots an approaching four-person patrol.

Thinking quick, he lobs a smoke grenade at a nearby boiler, concealing the Agents from view and fooling the henchmen and henchwomen into thinking the smoke is merely the boiler breaking down and giving off steam. However, while he and Naomi immediately flee the scene, Johnathin chooses to hides below a desk, then changes his mind and hides behind a big machine instead. When the mooks begin inspecting the boiler, he takes a couple of silenced shots with his revolver, bringing down a light fixture that’s heavy enough to kill one goon outright and knock another to her knees. He then also flees the room, joining the other Agents, who’re looking down a corridor at a pair of guards who’re stationed at a medbay. The Agents hear several more mooks rushing towards the lab, so Thoxl throws another of his smokebombs, this time at a conveniently placed pipe, providing the squad with more cover, when just as before, the mooks are fooled into believing that the smoke is just steam from a faulty plumbing system.

The Agents rush through the now-vacant central hall after Naomi cloaks them using her illusory powers and a stick of incense, giving them all smoky, ethereal, almost invisible appearances. On the opposite side, at the end of a short corridor, Johnathin gets behind a henchwoman at a desk and KOs her with a karate chop, while the other Agents peek inside a room that they know from the schematics Johnathin found earlier is the security centre. One of the mooks in there tries showing off his magic, but Naomi uses their own power to subtly interfere, causing his spell to bluescreen the computers the henchpeople were using to monitor their CCTV. This gets them first arguing, then fighting amongst themselves, keeping them distracted. Which is fortunate, as it turns out that the adjacent room is where their bosses — five supervillains — are hanging out.

Johnathin tries striking up a conversation with them, but this doesn’t go so well, after one of the villains hypnotises him into telling the truth. At that point, Thoxl expertly assesses the situation and snipes one of the villains’ two powerhouses — a woman dressed all in black — taking her out of the fight before she even realises he’s there. Johnathin manages to gather just enough control of his body to pull his revolver’s trigger, and as he’d been forced to lower his weapon, this means shooting himself in the foot. The sudden, intense pain immediately jolts him out of the hypnosis, and he guns down his would-be master. At the same time, Naomi uses their fan to deflect a powerful spell aimed at Thoxl, who then darts forwards and shoots its caster point-blank.

Their toughest foe by far, though, is a man made entirely of magma, who proceeds to lob lava at them repeatedly. With Johnathin shooting the sprinkler system to set it off, Naomi manifesting powerful magic to drain heat from the villain’s body, and Thoxl buying time by evading attacks with coach-gun-fuelled acrobatics, they’re able to turn him to stone, at which point a couple headshots — one from each Gunslinger — finish him off. By then, however, the final villain has fled. On the plus side, they find a map of the building nearby, and from it are able to locate the doomsday device they’ve been sent to destroy. They take a side corridor and soon arrive at its room, where they find the last villain in the process of arming it.

Up to this point, Naomi has been keeping all the heat they drained in their bo staff, but here Thoxl grabs their staff, helping them direct it as together the two Agents unleash the full, concentrated power of the sun. This is Naomi’s own magic at work, so they’re shielded from it, but just by participating, Thoxl’s whole arm gets charred to a crisp. The villain and a couple of mooks he has guarding him fare considerably worse, though, as what is effectively a miniature quasar instantly melts the device into a blob of molten slag, then rebounds repeatedly off every reflective surface in their vicinity.

With that, the Agents’ badges ping, and after a few parting words, they depart, their mission successful.

No characters assigned to this mission.