ICONS Session Issue 2: Automaton On The Loose!

Get caught up, true believers, and take a gander at the Shore City Chronicle article of Mr. Roboto's escape from Iron Island Prison then come back here for the second issue of our ICONS session: Automaton On The Loose!

The scene opens at the Fort Mauldin Army Base where Vanguard 13 has set up it's base of operations in a hanger. The villainous Blitzkrieg is in the clink and her brother Panzerfaust is recovering from being shot in the face*. The Vanguard 13 consists of Automaton: the mechanical wonder, Lord Genovasis: the father of Meta-Humans, and Nate Brown - janitor.

Nate and Genovasis were looking over the Panzerfaust's heavy armor while Automaton was working in the lab with Professor Millicent Barnes when in flies Captain Victory of Shore City's Golden Gladiators. He's worried that after Vanguard 13's initial adventure they've just been sitting around wasting government project funds. Capt. Victory has brought in a couple of new recruits for the government sponsored group; King Cobra and Prophylactica the woman wonder of rubber (seriously, that's my wife's character).

Heading up stairs to the lab, Professor Barnes bursts through the door, a disheveled mess. It seems that the micro-controller in Automaton's brain put in place by Mr. Roboto, the mechanical wonder's creator, has been activated and Automaton destroyed the lab and burst through the wall.

Suddenly the base's alarms go off and the group of heroes runs outside. It seems that Blitzkrieg has been set free by Automaton and she's wrecking havoc in the base, cutting down a water tower. The heroes jump into action! Lord Genovasis enlarges to his twenty foot height and tries to stop the water tower from falling, Nate Black (the Sponge) absorbs Blitzkeig's power and she stumbles to the ground and Prophylactica stretches and grabs the speedster's foot preventing her from escaping. King Cobra rescues a couple of wounded soldiers from an endangered ambulance. Oh, and Capt. Victory receives a call from the Gladiators to aid them in an orphanage fire, so he flies off!

No sooner do they apprehend Blitz when Automaton steals a plane and flies off. Luckily for our heroes, Automaton comes built with a homing device. Within moments Vanguard 13 has hopped into a gyro-plane and are in pursuit!

The chase leads Vanguard 13 to an abandoned warehouse where they see a mysterious figure on the roof. Lord Genovasis lifts King Cobra to the roof and the mysterious figure attacks but is quickly defended by the Cobra. The figure is none other than the Scarlet Hood, following a lead connecting a murder with Mr. Roboto which landed him at this very warehouse. It was decided that the Hood would team up with the Vanguard 13.

Exploring the warehouse they find that it is mostly in disarray and abandoned. Nate Brown spies an observation camera keeping tabs on their movements and he proceeds to disable it with a shot from his pistol. Prophylactica discovers an unopened crate inside of which is a heavy electric blaster of an alien design.

Going through a couple of more doors the group hears a metallic clacking sound. The Scarlet Hood's light reveals robotic spiders that attack the heroes with nets and blasts of acid! After a the battle, Vanguard 13 is victorious.

Some more exploration of the warehouse reveals an office with blueprints for a giant fifty foot robot. A future plan of Mr. Roboto or a discarded idea?

Going through one final door brings the superheroes into a darkened and burnt-out observation room lined with visual monitors with cracked screens. In the center of the room is a chair. The chair spins around to reveal MR. ROBOTO!

The Scarlet Hood, now invisible, leaps at the mastermind villain and smacks him in the head with his quarter-staff. Roboto's head goes flying off in a shower of sparks and rolls towards the group.

"Foolish Americans", the robot head says. "You have fallen perfectly into my trap!"

Suddenly the visual monitors click on to reveal Shore City in chaos and citizens run for their lives from some unseen giant foe! Mr. Roboto's fifty foot robot has attacked the city while sending Vanguard 13 on a wild goose chase using Automaton as his pawn!

With that, Lord Genovasis steps on the robotic head, destroying it...


*See our brutal first issue - bliss

The Vanguard Roster:

Lord Genovasis - The father of Meta-humans
Automaton - The Mechanical Marvel
Nate Brown - Lowly janitor (AKA The Sponge)
The Scarlet Hood - The bane of organized crime and political corruption
Prophylactica - The woman wonder of rubber!
King Cobra