Devising plans for engaging the New Freedom League

12 Apr 2015

Shadow In The Dark

After SHADOW’s attack on the charity ball, the Freedom League followed a floating helmet to a deserted strip mall, where there appeared to be unexplained activity inside an old K-mart.

Behind the store, two trucks had pulled up to the loading docks and workers in simple brown jumpsuits were loading crates in to the trucks, while guards in SHADOW uniforms watched over them.

It was an easy task for Speed Demon to move the workers safely out of the area, while Deathstroke shot the guards. Then the infiltration could begin. One of the crates (emblazoned with SHADOW’s lightning emblem) fell to the ground and burst open revealing a supply of SHADOW blasters.

The loading dock led in to the back of the store warehouse, with a hallway off to offices. Deathstroke and Raptor encountered resistance there while Speed Demon rushed in to search the offices. Finding two guards standing in an upstairs room with what looked like a pair of locked closets. Mysteriously, someone turned out all the lights.

Speed-Demon, wearing the mask the mysterious ghost had stolen from the SHADOW leader and used to lead the league to this location, was able to see with the mask’s IR vision, and easily defeated the disadvantaged guards. He discovered hidden in the closets, two of the three captives,Commissioner Kane and Lucius Cabot.

Out on the main floor of the k-mart, the SHADOW agents found flashlights and began trying to get a look in to the warehouse area. Along with the agents hidden there, were a large robot suit and an armored man with electrical whips. Deathstroke got an easy shot in on the man with the whip, while Raptor snuck out to approach the robot.

Something seemed to be malfunctioning in the robot, as it kept jerking eratically. It did manage to get a good laser shot in on Raptor, burning her painfully, but she back into the shadows and the robot started to bash through the wall.

Finally Deathstroke and Speed Demon downed the whip-wielder and Raptor knocked the Robot down. Unable to get back up, the robot self-destructed.

The league tracked down a few additional fleeing agents, and examined the offices. They found a dug-out hole in the store’s floor where there was a ring of stones with Egyptian symbols on it. One of the stones was broken. They also found a map of Freedom City, with points forming a perfect regular pentagon marked out on the map. One of the points corresponded with the K-mart’s location, while strings on the map pointed out that the pentagon was centered on Pyramid Plaza.

The other points were quickly examined by Speed Demon. Another pit was dug up in a residential back yard, with a broken ring of stones in it. A tree in a clearing in a park with Hieroglyphs carved around it, a floating platform in the middle of the bay, and an office building. The league entered the building and went down to the basement where they dug up another ring of stones, but examining it let out a burst of energy.

They decided to call on Adrian Eldrich for advice before causing any more damage. Eldrich described the symbols as being a spell of protection and obfuscation, probably protecting the Scarab’s secret lair, long rumored to be somewhere in Freedom City.

Eldrich also was able to sense the presence of the mysterious invisible man who had been following the Freedom League around, and after focusing his magic was able to see and speak with him. The mysterious man is a ghost who cannot take physical of visible form, and is struck with amnesia, unable to remember his name or who killed him. Eldrich promised to find a way to learn more about his history.

The league decided it was important to defend the last two pieces of the spell, the tree in the clearing and the underwater symbol. They enlisted Atlantean forces to defend the underwater stone, while they guarded the tree.

Meanwhile, Inspector St. Claire called the league to let them know about a video SHADOW had delivered to the police, and posted on youtube. A SHADOW commander, Umbral Knight, identified himself as behind the attack at Pyramid Plaza, taunted the league for hanging out with the rich and powerful while accusing Antonio Cruz of Embezzlement, insider trading, running sweatshops and working with a known vampire. He also asked for ransoms for Commissioner Kane and Lucius Cabot. The video was clearly taken before the League rescued the two.

Cruz was still, apparently, under Umbral Knight’s control, and Umbral Knight promised to publicly give Cruz the punishment he deserved.

Finally the SHADOW commander showed video of Deathstroke dropping SHADOW agents off the top of Pyramid Plaza, musing on whether the League were worthy protectors of freedom.

Inspector St. Claire pointed out she would have to conduct an investigation into the behavior, to determine whether legal action against Deathstroke was necessarily. She was clearly disgusted with Deathstroke, but the rest of the force was thankful for the League’s rescue of the commissioner, and Deathstroke seemed confident that his actions could be legally defended.

What does Umbral Knight have in store for Cruz? Will the League and their Atlantean allies be able to defend the remaining focuses? Where is the Scarab’s secret lair? And what wonders does it hide?

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