Issue 4 - Mutual Expectations
"I can see where this is going."
—Lockstep, to the heroes
Recap
Communications to a hitman, Lockstep, are intercepted. He is being hired to kill the Board of Directors and CEO of Meridian Corp at their next meeting. The P.L.O.T. Device gives our heroes a warning: Lockstep is a precog, and extremely dangerous to confront. It recommends a plan, and has identified two potential aids: Silence, whose may be able to negate his power, and Drifter, whose instability in time can throw him off. The Board meeting is tomorrow, leaving little room to dally.
Our heroes send out a contact request to Drifter. Silence is harder to find, so they spent that night seeking him out.
Come the day of the meeting, our heroes get in position to defend the targets. Silence is nowhere to be found. They enter the board room and explain the situation, asking their cooperation to evacuate. The first sign of Lockstep comes most unfortunately as a shot through the glass instantly kills the CEO. The Board promptly agrees to evacuate and the team begins escorting them down while fighting off the assassin.
Drifter arrives on scene quickly after the fighting begins and assists for several minutes before vanishing mid-action.
The heroes split the Board taking some down in the elevator and others down the stairs, as Lockstep jetskates up and down the building taking shots at them and their defenders. Magpie's shield prevents another kill, and Topaz runs interception. It quickly becomes apparent that the warnings were justified – Lockstep dodges their attacks easily and, between pinpoint precision and a specialized set of weapons designed to defeat various defenses, manages to inflict heavy wounds on multiple heroes. He then briefly freezes with a look of surprise on his face. He slaps his visor a few times, and then smiles. The party realizes Silence has arrived and is muting his abilities. With the tables evened, they are now able to put up a true fight.
Upon reaching the lobby, Lockstep surrenders. The heroes tie him up, having managed to prevent all but one of the board member's deaths. Lockstep then gestures to the news playing on the lobby television and tells them something they might want to see is about to happen. Moments later, breaking news announces the city is in chaos. With no time to spare, Topaz opens a portal to Gemrealm And kicks the bound Lockstep through it. The The Egali-Darwinist Uprising has begun.
Highlights
- Through the wall, Lockstep cut the cables of the elevator, which would have led to several deaths if not for Magpie's quick-thinking intervention, using his Lucent Chains to arrest the car's fall.
Characters and NPCs
Notes
- The person who hired Lockstep to attack the Meridian Corp board of directors turned out to be Hyena, both due her distaste of them moralistically and as a distraction for her uprising.
- The interception of communications to Lockstep is noteworthy, because Hyena has extensive experience communicating in ways that have evaded the P.L.O.T. Device (its ethical safeguards prevent it from conducting the kind of deep surveillance necessary to catch most communications of that sort). It is likely someone leaked the message, but it is uncertain who.
- Lockstep's fate after being thrown into Gemrealm is yet unknown.
- Topaz confiscated Lockstep's visor, but discovered is it configured for his unique view of the world. It may be something someone else could get used to, but that would require a substancial investment (read: buy the power with xp).
