Icons
Here we go, the third one. The fourth one is kind of odd, because I played it mostly with a different character and then brought in Quickstep when an emergency developed.
Day Of The Swarm (Solo)
A Quickstep solo
Scene 1
Suzanne Poole’s phone buzzed with a text. She had a few minutes before the hopper was empty on the scanner, so she looked at it.
Ah. It was forwarded from her special phone. The one she used as Quickstep. Emergency. Colonel’s office.
That was the moment that Kittrick walked into her office. Oh, no, she thought.
“I’ve just had a very odd call from a Colonel Conner, and I’ve checked it with the base commander. You are apparently to go meet this Colonel Conner.”
“Yes, sir.”
“They didn’t give me an address. Do you know where to go?”
“Yes, sir.”
He nodded. “And Poole? When you’re done, I want to know what he needs from you that he couldn’t get from a more senior staff member.”
“If I can find out, sir.” Maybe she was being a bit heavy on the sir but if she was fast maybe he wouldn’t think about this excuse much.
“Well? What are you doing here?” He made a shooing motion.
She shooed.
Once no one was watching her, she switched to quick time and stayed away from people. She lost seconds by going home to change but she took roads to get there and she was able to keep to a little under the speed of sound. Total elapsed time: Twenty-eight seconds.
Colonel Conner had provided a way for her to get in that wasn’t a goddamn elevator.
He had added a big monitor to one wall; it showed a section of road out in the country. There was a school bus on it followed by black shapes.
“Giant ants,” he said. “Attacking Coopersville. Real-time images from a drone we sent up as soon as we heard. It’s not there yet because we saw this school bus. The kids are coming back from a field trip—”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“We don’t know anything else. Got your phone?”
“Yes. Got GPS coordinates? I’m not from the area.”
“Start. You’ll have the coordinates.”
She counted six ants and in the time it took her to reach the bus, the ants had got there and bitten through one of the tires; the bus was already swaying and veering.
The first thing to do was remove the ant from the shredded tire so the driver could stop them safely. She moved up beside the ant and grabbed it around the thorax. It was huge, over four metres long, so she dug her hands in, hoping for a grip.[1]
She hauled but it was too strong. At this speed, she heard breaking glass. She sped up to the driver’s window and shouted, “You stop! I’ll handle the ants!”
Which is a great thing to say, but how?
She zoomed in front of the bus and headed back, ready to rush the ant on the wheel. [2]
One down, five to go. Distributed nervous systems, but maybe a series of uppercuts… [3]
Having to position herself just so for the uppercuts to work meant she could only get three of them; two were still left on the school bus. The next two fell and the bus slowly stopped. [4]
She downshifted and said to the driver, “That tire’s shredded. Have you got a spare?” [5]
“Yeah, hidden in the back.”
“I can’t move all of you or the bus—not my set of powers—but it looks like the ants are headed in a different way. Here’s my cell. Text me if more ants show up. Oh, and then get rid of the number. I don’t want it shared.” She waved to the kids, to the driver, to the drone up above, and started heading for the GPS coordinates again.
Scene 2
The police had set up a barricade on the road. “Hi,” she said to a sheriff’s deputy, who was surprised to see her. “Did they not tell you I was coming?”
“Sure, but so soon—”
“Kinda my thing.” She looked at the ants marching toward the town. “Why here? If they can burrow like that, why not come out by surprise?”
“No idea. Figure ants aren’t too bright.” He shook his head and shrugged. “You want the big picture, see Sheriff Oberlander.”
“Hi, Sheriff.” He was standing next to a man in a star-spangled blue outfit. “All-American. Good to meet you, though bad circumstances. I’m Quickstep.”
“Quickstep. I was told you’d be coming. Surprised it took you this long.”
“School bus in trouble.”
“He said that.” The All-American pointed to the screen of a laptop computer. “This aerial view shows that there aren’t any other breakouts. Think it’s just nature gone mad.”
“As it does.”
He looked at her, to gauge if she was joking. “I’m thinking an explosive device down the ant hole will seal it.”
“What stops them from coming up somewhere else?”
“You and me. And the Sheriff’s men, obviously.” The Sheriff harrumphed.
“Handguns are no good,” the Sheriff said. “Bullets just bounce off them. We’ve got a fair arsenal of seized weapons from that gang a few years back, but I don’t know if something firing a NATO round is going to penetrate that exoskeleton.”
“Do you know how to fire a grenade launcher?” All-American asked her.
“No,” she said. “I don’t believe in guns.” She might as well have said “I am a pinko leftist commie” because they immediately lost interest in her.
“Then I’ll shoot the explosive. You head off the ants here. Then we can mop them up. Sheriff?”
“Dagelmann! You’re in charge. I need your car. Ay-Ay and me are going to the storage locker!”
The deputy she had been talking to came up to join her. “Suggestions?” he said.
“I think it’s a diversion, but we still have to stop it.”
“We don’t have the firepower. Pistols won’t work against them.”
“What else is in the town?”
“There are only about two dozen employers. Observatory, factories — candies, tires, cardboard, aerospace R&D site, some stores, and maybe a dozen city employees.”
“Candies? Like fudge, caramel, things like that?” Maybe she could pour something to make it sticky.”
“No, my sister works there. Hard candies. They sell’em to places that offer free candies in a bowl, usually.”
“Let me try something.” Seconds later, she was pouring a fifty pound bag of sugar in a line before the advancing ants. A few ants stopped and ate the sugar.
“It distracts them. Get on the phone. Get sugar here. They’ve got enough; I saw the warehouse.”
The ants were already at the first barricade and clambering over the vehicles.
She fetched two more bags of sugar and laid down a pile of a hundred pounds of sugar. She started windmilling her arms, trying to make a vortex of air that would carry the sugar to the marching line of ants.
If I can get them confused— [6]
Ants stopped. They lifted on their hind legs, antennae high in the air. Then the ants began to hunt for the sugar, weaving back and forth. Was that enough?
No. The ones at the back were still marching, and passing the ones hunting for sugar.
At the candy factory, she found them still trying to get organized. There was a truck backed to a loading door from the warehouse, and she fixed the problem for them, moving a ton of sugar bags in a minute. She pulled the door shut and banged on the door. “To the barricade! Go, go!”
Back at the barricade, she told Deputy Dagelmann that the truck was on the way.
“Good,” he said. He was going to say more, but his walkie talkie squawked to life. “We’re at Gray’s! We’re under assault! Giant ants!”
“Gray’s?” she asked Dagelmann.
“Aerospace. East side of town!”
“I’m there. Tell All-American!”
Scene 3
Gray’s Aerospace turned out to be a campus, not a single building, but she didn’t have any trouble identifying the correct building: A line of ants was heading for it, and four had already arrived but were being temporarily held off by gunfire.
If she thought it might be a second diversion, she didn’t think that after she saw the ants; while the other ants were giants, these were titanic, half again as big as the originals.
Maybe warrior ants? If only I knew more about ants. If they were giant palmetto bugs, my experiences in Florida would be useful.
She made a swift recon up and down the line of ants, staying out of reach so they couldn’t bite at her. [7] [8]
A bolt of pain lanced through her head: images of cave-ins and death; she sprawled from the suddenness of it and skidded on her belly for a hundred meters.
What the hell?
Something new. So was the misshapen man riding on an ant.
She didn’t want to leap to conclusions, but maybe they were connected.
Some kind of … telepathic blast? [9]
She vibrated herself to health, then spent a full second figuring what to do.
She would hate herself if he was trying to stop the ants but really, she didn’t think that was happening. She had seen what he could do, and two more shots like that would knock her out. The only thing she could think of was to take him down fast and hard, and be ready for the madness of his next telepathic blast. [10] [11]
He moved at the last moment so that, though she hit him, it was a weak blow and most of it was absorbed by his armor. He looked at her and made a sound and her mind was filled with pain again.
She tried to remember what she knew about mental attacks. Weren’t they visual? Or was that until the first time they connected?
Oh, lord. She hoped that this guy did not have a private line to her brain now.
The only thing she could think of, through the pain, was making it stop, making him not able to do this. [12]
She created a breeze and filled the air around him with dirt, hoping it would get in his eyes and blind him. [13]
She was still conscious, so she hoped that was a good thing. [14]
She zoomed off a couple of blocks and headed back, building up speed, even though she had been warned not to go faster than the speed of sound, she did. At something above Mach 2, she slammed into his armor, knocking him a block away. His armor protected him from a blow that would have knocked out a normal person. [15]
She rushed at him again, and this hit put him square at one of the buildings, through the cinder block walls, and inside the building, where he lay unconscious.
She found cloth and blindfolded him, then found handcuffs and bound him. And then she pondered the images that had been placed in her mind.
The ants were wandering away. She hoisted the ragged man over her shoulder and headed for the park in the center of town. There was a ladies’ room there and she hauled him in, so he was sitting on the concrete floor, and she blocked the door.
“Hey,” she said, as she poked him with the toe of her shoe.
He tried to remove the mask, but the handcuffs held him in place.
“I have you blindfolded,” she said. “Is it true?”
“What?”
“The images you were sending. Is it true?”
“Something in that building is causing vibrations. Those cause landslides and cave-ins in the underground province I have the privilege of ruling.”
“And the ants?”
“Something had to be done. You would have done the same in my position.”
“Well, I’m bigger on ‘talk first, act second.’” She looked around the bathroom. “You rule it, huh?”
He nodded.
“It’s a province so you might be anywhere from a baron to a duke in the current peerage system. Call you a duke, then, because I’m going to let you go.”
“For ransom?”
“No, just let you go on the grounds that you might have diplomatic immunity. You defend your people; I defend mine. I will convince them somehow to stop whatever they’re doing, here at least. If it’s still a problem, you tell me instead and I’ll get them to deal with it.”
“How?”
“First, we’re going to get you recognized. You’re going to get me an ambassador for you.”
Epilogue
Quickstep joined the Duke on the patio.
“I came to see how you were doing.” She snagged a drink from a passing waiter, sipped it, and looked at it twice.
“It is a drink of my people,” explained the Duke. “Fermented mushroom juice and some flavourings.”
“No offense, but it kinda tastes like that.”
“It is an acquired taste, but it rorista used to seal agreements.”
“So there is an agreement?”
He nodded. “Favison was minted a baron for this, and he has negotiated a fair agreement. I merely came for the signing.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“I don’t know that this relationship will be of use. We shunned the surface world long ago.”
“No one knows if any relationship will be of use. We start them and hope they turn out well.”
Characters
Characters other than Quickstep are taken from the Fainting Goat Games adventure "Day of the Swarm" and are presented here only because these versions have been converted to the Assembled edition. Really, you should go buy the adventure or the collection it's in, Improbable Tales #1.
Quickstep (“Suzanne Poole”)
For an image, I use the Female Speedster (by Ade Smith), available on Drive Thru RPG; I believe his company is Mesozoic Games: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/68797/Power-Pics-Heroes-1-Female-Speedster
Origin: Transformed
Great (6) Prowess Good (5) Coordination Good (5) Strength Good (5) Intellect Fair (4) Awareness Fair (4) Willpower
Stamina 9 Determination 4
Specialties: Investigation, Performance [Dance], Power [Super-Speed]
Powers:
-
Amazing (8) Super-Speed
- Extra: Defensive
Qualities:
- Eye for detail
- Not soon enough
- Professionally curious
Ants
Average (3) Prowess Poor (2) Coordination Good (5) Strength Weak (1) Intellect Poor (2) Awareness Average (3) Willpower
Stamina 8
Specialties: Wrestling (+1)
Powers:
- Average (3) Growth (Damage Resistance, -1 to Defense)
- Weak (1) Super-speed
- Fair (4) Burrowing
- Poor (2) Bite Slice
Qualities:
- Giant Ant (~15 feet)
- Mind-controlled; without Insector’s guidance they wander off
Hefty Ants
Average (3) Prowess Poor (2) Coordination Incredible (7) Strength Weak (1) Intellect Poor (2) Awareness Average (3) Willpower
Stamina 10
Specialties: Wrestling (+1)
Powers:
- Good (5) Growth (Damage Resistance, -1 to Defense)
- Weak (1) Super-speed
- Great (6) Burrowing
- Poor (2) Bite Slice
Qualities:
- Gianter Ant (~21 feet)
- Mind-controlled; without Insector’s guidance they wander off
Insector
Good (5) Prowess Good (5) Coordination Good (5) Strength Good (5) Intellect Good (5) Awareness Great (6) Willpower
Stamina 11
Specialties: Mental Resistance Expert (+2)
Powers:
- Ant Armor: Poor (2) Damage Resistance
- Staff: Average (3) Bashing Strike
- Great (6) Mind-Control Limit: only ants & giant ants
- Good (5) Fast Attack
- Fair (4) Mind Blast
Qualities:
- To rule is to be responsible to your subjects
- Lives in darkness (can stunt for Super-Senses but takes extra degree of effect for Dazzle attacks that affect his sight)
- “Fear me, surface dwellers! Fear the wrath of the Underground Empire!”
The All-American
Fair (4) Prowess Incredible (7) Coordination Great (6) Strength Fair (4) Intellect Average (3) Awareness Good (5) Willpower
Stamina: 11
Specialties: Pilot (+1), Weapons [Guns] (+1)
Powers:
- Guns: Fair (4) Blast
- Fair (4) Gadgets
- Extra: Dazzle (Smoke grenade)
- Extra: Swinging (Grapple gun)
Qualities:
- Secret ID of Patrick Bay, TV Weatherman
- Brash and arrogant
- Addicted to danger
[1] Icons: She’s Prowess 6, it’s prowess 3: 8 vs 5. Good grab, so Str 5 vs Str 6: 8 vs 11. Nope.
[2] Icons: She’s Prowess 6, it’s prowess 3: 7 vs 6. She manages to rush it, and she does Damage 9. That works, though poorly: a marginal success (7 vs 7) so I’m going to do a Strength check: the damage (9) versus the Ant’s strength of 6. 9+5 vs 6+6: 14 vs 12. The ant is blown off the bus and takes 6 damage. As a minion, it’s out of the fight.
[3] Icons: She spends a Determination on an Advantage, which she then uses to stunt Fast Attack on her Super-Speed. (Burst would be more reliable but I don’t want any interpretation of the rules where she could hit the kids.) There are 5 Ants and Fast Attack 8, so let’s say she does two extra attacks at Prowess 4. So she gets 5 vs 3, 6 vs 3, and 8 vs 3 (I’m using 1d6-1d6 now.) All three done because her damage exceeds the DR they have. DP 3.
[4] Icons: In fact, she missed the first attack (2 vs 3) but made the other two, so let’s say she did it. DP 3.
[5] Mythic: Does he have a spare? It’s law in Ontario, but maybe not here. So we’ll ask, “Does he have a spare?” and say it’s likely (threshold 65%) 49%: Yes.
[6] Icons: She’s attempting a maneuver to create an advantage; she’s going to create Air Control 4 (burst), so it’s 8+3 versus 4: She has three activations of this Quality, so she does it and sprays the front half of the ants with sugar.
[7] Icons: Highest awareness effort spots the other one first. Quickstep 5+5 vs Insector 5+6 Insector first
[8] Icons; He tries a mental Blast; 6+3 vs 4+4, so yes, he does, both times, so he does 5 Stamina. Suddenly Quickstep is to 4!
[9] Icons: Spend a DP, get an Advantage, use it for a recovery, activating Eye for Detail. She’s back up to full, but now DP 2.
[10] Icons: She’s going to rush him. Her Prowess gets used. She’s going to put her specialty Power: Super-speed into attacking, giving her a prowess of 7. She’s invoking eye for detail as well, so whatever she rolls, she’s spending the advantage on increased effort: +2 on the roll. Here’s hoping! She rolls poorly, even with the advantage: 6+2+1+2 (11) vs. 5+6 (11), so she hits but for half damage: 9/2=5 stamina, and Insector’s ant armour reduces that to 3. It’s a marginal success, so she doesn’t even get to roll for slam. DP: 1 Insector: 8 stamina
[11] Icons: Now Insector gets to roll, and he’s much better at this mind attack thing. He hits both times (6+2 vs 4+3, 6+3 vs 4+1) for 5 stamina damage. Quickstep: 4 stamina
[12] Icons: She’s going to stunt dazzle 3 with a maneuver--she’s going to use the vortex trick she’s been working on to raise some of the sandy soil and throw it in his face. She will activate the “Eye for Detail” quality for that, and use her Power: superspeed. Her stunt is 8+1+6 vs difficulty 3+6, so three activations for free. Then she rolls to hit, and that’s 5+6 versus 4+4, or a major success. Inspector is blinded for 3 pages (1 page per level of Dazzle),
[13] Icons: Inspector will try to get her anyway, but he’s now got +2 difficulty; therefore, his attack is 6+1 vs 4+2+4, or 7 vs 10, and he misses.
[14] Icons: She’s going to rush him again. Prowess 6+3 vs 5+1, so she gets to roll for a slam, and that’s 13 versus 10, so he’s knocked back a range as well as taking 9-2=7 stamina.
[15] Insector spends the panel trying to stand, but… She gets Prowess 6+4 versus 5+2, and hits him again for another 7 stamina. Another slam is possible, and that’s 9+6 vs 5+3
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