[X] Store some blood in sealed containers and insects for Taylor to use later
[X] Start discussing making a base of operations (you aren't calling it "a lair") with Taylor. An abandoned building is good for now, but you need something more long-term and secure.
-[X] How many burrowing insects would Taylor need to start making some sort of hidden base?
[X] Discuss the potential of scaling powers with Taylor. How does she feel about being a tinker and would she be willing to help you with said power?
[X]Plan the fighting ring attack.
"You know we should get a lair. A proper lair with supersuits, enough space for my bugs and a big pool for you to keep blood in." Taylor chirrups.
Happy with your progress over lunch (and the rapidly expanding crime scene) the pair of you are legging it back to the old abandoned house near the school where you were doing your testing during the week and taylor is keeping one of her insect colonies. You had some more testing to do and needed to hash out a plan of what to do next.
"Taylor, We aren't going to call it a lair. I mean who calls their headquarters a lair? we need something more classy more secure. Somthing that doesn't give people the impression that there's going to be spider the size of a buick running around waiting to pounce on them if they're going about their buiness."
"Lair doesn't give off that impression does it?" Taylor asks. "besides I don't have any spiders the size of buicks so they'll just have o settle for thousands of normal size spiders." You attempt unsuccessfully to suppress a shudder at the thought while the girl gives you a wicked grin.
"Actually about that. I've been doing a bit more thinking and I think I've found a way to get around that whole gifted powers are weaker problem." you say casually.
"Really? How?" She asks.
"Well I can tie powers to other elements which thematically match the power. Remember that Charles Atlas one I told you about?" The girl nods, "Well it basically gives me a bonus in an area which is thematically appropriate to the skills I have. I learn how to Kung fu, I get stronger, Maths, I get smarter and so on."
"And?" She prompts.
"Well how many bugs are you controlling right now?"
"Two hundred and fifty eight million, seven hundred and three thousand, two hundred and ninety four… ish"
"A metric fucktonne, and you're getting the senses of them all and could control each of them individually if you need to."
"Uh huh."
"Well my power tells me that if I tie a power to the amount of actions you are capable of at once or the amount of senses you have. I'm pretty sure it'd scale logarithmically and at about a million or so bugs you'd be level with one of my normal powers, with as many bugs as you have right now you'd be quite a bit more powerful."
"But only thematically appropriate." she asks.
"Yeah, thinker or tinker powers maybe. I've got an idea for a power which would let me steal the genetics of what I eat, combine it with RGE and healing and I could you know get venomous claws steal the electric eel powers or grow giant wings and stuff. If you get a biotinker for bugs or something which lets you change their DNA then I could copy the modifications onto myself."
"And I'd get an army of tinkerbugs." She says.
"That's about the long and the short of it." You shrug.
"What about Nilbog?"
Urrm, yeah, Nilbog. anything which even looks like a nilbog is going to have the PRT all over it because the green fucker accidentally Ellisburg. The whole city gone, just like that.
"Fuck. Yeah." You run your hand over your short fuzzy hair. "Fuck. Nilbog. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." you say, and the conversation dies down ass the two of you leg it the rest of the way.
"How about a super detective power, the more I can see the better my deductions until everyone in the room is stunned at what I know." Taylor says as the pair of you head around the back of the house.
You run the suggestion through your thinker power and it comes out as good.
"It'll work better the more information you have from more sources, with the sensory power it'll be pretty bullshit."
Taylor smiles happily to as the back door opens by itself, hundreds of spiders pulling a silk line facilitating laziness on Taylors part. You walk in to find that the spiders here are working on a pair of spidersilk gloves, suspended off the ground on nearly invisible silk lines. other spiders, ones you pretend to not notice seal up the door behind you with silk, a normal guy wouldn't be able to get it open but you could in less than a minute and Taylor would just have the spiders cut the silk on her behalf.
"We still need to figure out what we can do for a permanent base. This place is decent enough for now but we could really do for somewhere with space to work and somewhere for you to keep your hives."
"Yeah, theres a couple of places we could get for a proper lair. An old abandoned warehouse would be good, there's a lot of them around the docks from the shipping years and they've got plenty of space for bugs or tinkering. but they're not really secret and any outside bugs will give us away."
"True, we could probably get one legitimately using hero identities if we register with the PRT but if we do that then everyone will know where it is pretty quickly." Taylor quirks an eyebrow at you.
"There are lots of moles in the PRT and police, shitloads of them. For the right price it's easy enough to get most information. The location of a base of independent heroes wouldn't even be that hard. On the plus side of course we get to loot any money we can appropriate which is "proceeds of crime", if we hit a counting or distribution centre that's where the gangs usually keep any money they've gathered for payday. With your powers that's easy money providing we can get past the capes."
"Attacking a gang distribution centre is easy money?" You could almost cut her skepticism with a knife.
"Welll… It usually goes like this. Every month or so a gang, like the merchants or ABB has to pay their goons and put together enough money for a shipment of "Product" whatever the shit is they're moving through the city. When they do that they usually use one of their bigger warehouses, pack it to the brim with mooks and guns and have a moderate amounts of their capes there to oversee things."
"And that makes this easier?" She asks.
"Normally no, but in our case, kinda, sorta yes. The PRT doesn't hit up these kinds of things because the gangs are usually packing a shitload of heat and their capes are powerful enough to deter the heroes because of massive collateral damage. But. We have a remote control non lethal weapon which pretty much removes the mooks from the equation completely non lethally, unless they feel like rocking out with their cock out, it's also pretty effective against most capes as well. Perhaps half a dozen in town could get away with fighting naked. We have a building full of mooks who can't fight properly because they don't have any clothes, they can't run because their cars have flat tires, and they can't get out with their money or the drugs. We call up the PRT for the party beforehand, set off the fireworks and claim our share of the loot when the dust has settled. The best part is that we could be eating a burger two blocks away while the whole thing is going down, safe as houses."
"Orrr, of course we could hit them before the process really starts and just do a hit and run. You drop a load of bugs on them while I loot the safe and book it before the capes get there."
"So money…"
"Isn't much of a problem, not until the gangs are actively preparing for us. Our real problem would be if they find us and hit us when we aren't ready for them. but your power is long ranged and I'm pretty much immortal."
"How do you know all this?"
"Dad's a merchant, you kind of pick this stuff up." You shrug.
"So buying somthing legitimately isn't a good idea. our other option is that we could just squat in an abandoned building or warehouse." toylor remarks.
"Like we are now." You interject.
"Or we get someone to buy it for us."
"Like your dad." She scowls at you.
"I haven't even told dad about my powers yet." She mutters.
"I haven't told my dad either but that's because dad's a raging fuckwit and a merchant. I'm not entirely sure which part is worse." Taylor quirks an eyebrow at you.
"Your dad on the other hand seem like a nice guy plus he's got like a couple hundred big burly headkickers on call. Where are you making your costume anyway, is it somewhere that he might accidentally find?"
"The basement." She admits sheepishly.
"Fuck. Taylor." you groan into both your hands, sometimes a single facepalm just won't do the trick.
"I know, I know, I know." she mutters. "Change of subject, Who should be our next customers?"
"Dog fighting ring, lots of nazis, not much chance of capes, if we go overboard on the blood we won't end up destroying the evidence and because we won't be looking for loot there isn't an reason for us to be within two blocks of the place." You say.
Taylor looks thoughtful, considering the other choices. "What about the chemists or arms depots. we could disable them easily and there isn't much to loot in those places."
"Dogfights, or casinos and such are where the gangs go to relax. Plus there's a lot of mooks in places like that, much more then there'd be at their operation and whey won't be prepared for a fight we should be able to pretty easily get the drop on them." You respond.
"Okey. well here's what I know about the place from when I looked."
A trail of ants crawl across the floor to make a map.
Operation Planning.
The target is formerly vacant residential building to the north east of Taylors house, the windows and doors have been boarded up some time ago and a slab of concrete remains where the front yard used to stand. Nazis park their cars there now.
There is a large living room out the back of the house which has been converted into the fighting ring, theres enough space to easily fit a hundred men comfortably alongside the ring and the dogs.
Of the four bedrooms (three upstairs and one downstairs) the upstairs ones have been converted into holding pens where unfortunate animals await their fate, the area is full of bugs and there are holes in the walls and ceiling where overly enthusiastic/drunk/stoned Nazis misbehaved. The downstairs bedroom has been converted into a bar, throughout the house there are multiple empty beer cans and bottles secreted in nooks and crannies. she reports that quite a few seem like they have been there for some time.
There are two toilets, both have seen regular use and irregular cleaning.
There are several other abandoned buildings within Taylors range of the place and even a small collection of shops and restaurants due to be open at that time of night.
Taylor reported that there was no one onsite this morning when she passed the building and that it seemed like no one had been there since Thursday. Checking Stormfront you find that there's a meet this sunday night from eight to midnight, Cricket and Stormtiger are expected to be in attendance.
GM Note: this being the transcript you can't actually vote but I'm putting the options here anyway. the selected option will be in the header of the next chapter.
You have a choice of options.
Command.
[] An abandoned building (close).
Enables you to personally intercede if it becomes necessary.
[] An abandoned building (far).
Allows you to freely discuss operations, safest option.
[] Over Dinner.
Makes it difficult to freely discuss the operation but removes suspicion.
Setup.
[] break and enter. enter the property during the day to prepare the battlefield
[] Tubs of blood. (fill cans and bottles full of blood for onsite traps).
++ to preparation, small chance of getting found while trapping. moderate chance of getting found before ready.\
[] weakened supports, weaken structural elements around the site.
+ to preparation, moderate chance of getting found before ready.
[] ceiling funtimes. Place tubs of blood in the ceiling cavity.
++ to preparation, higher chance of getting discovered while placing traps, no chance of getting discovered before ready.
Insectoid invasion. (choose one)
[] pre place insects for the ambush
[] Hot rig the location while victims are on site. less chance of victims tripping trap before you're ready, more chance of them noticing the bugs.
[] pre rig the location with tripwires. less chance of noticing bugs, more chance of tripping traps before time.
[] Swarm invasion, swarm location at correct time. No chance of bugs being noticed, significant chance of underutilisation of resources and cape interference.