Free Universe Share

[Because I already use ((double-parant)) in my writing, I'll use square brackets for actual, 'I wrote this while editing it to share' notes.
And sorry if I missed anything I should have censored <.<]

[Censored: 'Aerion', the Benefactor, does shenanigans post-Monster Musume. Most of the perversion is MM's fault, I mostly just reference it, but still, it's not even relevant anyway so I can't be bothered to see what can be left in]

***

((Huh... Actually feel a bit sad to leave the monster-girl world behind o.O I wonder if that's just because I'm in a weird emotional mood and didn't notice, or what, but I kinda wish I could stick with the cute pictures I got of them :\ Maybe I'm just easily influenced by pictures?
Should use pictures more for other Jumps.))

Free Universe

"So, you had your vacation," Aerion tells me when it's time to choose the next Jump, "I hope you've used the time wisely, prepared for conflict, etcetera, because I'm not going to recommend another vacation quite yet. You've had enough... Drama, I feel. You should go test yourself against some conflict."
"You sound like you've something in mind," I say, frowning at him.
He laughs and shakes his head, "Nope, no clue. Finding a Jump for you is as hard as finding one for myself. Have you thought about what kind of world you want to go to next?"
"Yeah," I admit, taking a moment to remember roughly how I wanted to phrase it, "I'm more interested in gathering strength than testing what strength I have, right now. As in, I want an enemy that I can hone my edge against, not one so tough it'll blunt it in the fight, like the Team Rocket people towards the end. Also, I want to see what Kanto can do, but I might have to wait until next Jump for that, depending. If it can at least tempt him into wanting to take a sub-commander role next time, that'd be good."
[In his first Jump ever, Hiro picked a fight with Team Rocket. It turned bad when Team Rocket outsmarted him with tech he wasn't used to]

He flickers, then suddenly looks a lot more serious, tapping his fingers against a stack of papers.
Sliding them over to me, he takes a seat by the table, saying, "That's... A Jump I waited a long time before I went to, because it's a bit... Complicated. Not overly so, but by Jump standards, it is. You, however, have been reading these things systematically, methodically, and in general in quite detail. Mind you, I also didn't get hooked by it; I'd have bit the bullet and just read it until I understood it if I actually cared, but as it is I'd just flip through it, give up, and go somewhere more immediately interesting, with simpler rewards on offer."

I skim through it, having to re-read a couple sections when it feels like I lose the thread.
Then I say, "A superhero world, with some inter-dimensional stuff. It's more complicated because it's more versatile, but I can handle it, and can advice my Companions in their choices. Why did you suggest this, though?"
He shrugs, "Mostly, I just keep it close to the top of the pile, and realized this was an opportunity to suggest it. But, it'd be somewhere for Kanto to do zombie stuff AND get a gang of face-less (not literally, but yaknow) people following him. Heck, maybe he can upgrade his mech a bit. Meanwhile, the rest of you, whoever you bring, can pick up superpowers. Tund can grab some electricity stuff, Taiga can get super-speed, something like that. Or maybe they want to branch out into new things. And then you can use them to fight against villains, and the enemies should range from 'too easy to be worth your time; Leave them to the lesser heroes and/or cops' to 'too tough for you; Leave them to the greater heroes or just hide somewhere and pray for your pitiful lives'. Just go after the villains you can handle."
After reading through it more properly, I shrug, saying, "This doesn't exactly explain every detail of the world, but I can work with this."

I get up to leave... Then pause.
I stare at Aerion, chewing over a certain thought...
Screw it, resisting whims is for peasants.
[Censor: Brief, lewd payoff to stuff established before the point I started copying, including references to stuff I wrote in Aerion's chain like a year ago.]

"Let's see," I say, when everyone's gathered together, "Well, first off, we've got a max of eight slots. Anyone want to just step out of being a superhero?"
A few of them walk away, but most stay.
"I could stay out of it," Kanto suggests, "If you needed to free up a slot to recruit someone or something."
"Ah," Aerion pipes up, "Actually... I mean, you CAN, but when I chose this I'd kinda hoped you'd go in as a Zombie. That's not an Origin, I'll explain how I'm going to suggest you do it if you decide to stick around. Was going to suggest that once we got that far. Actually, your boss specifically asked for somewhere for you to 'show what you can do', and this place lets you be a better zombie, upgrade your mech, AND grab some grunt subordinates while you're at it."
"Sounds good to me," he agrees, "But I'll still leave it up to Hiro; You've convinced me to want to come along, but on the other hand I could use the time to get used to this realm, maybe learn how to command Gruntlings effectively. I have things to occupy my time for the next decade if I'm not allowed along."
I roll my eyes at him, "Kanto, you can handle one more Jump with us. And Aerion's right, there's stuff in here that suits you, I think. Heck, if you really need a break from people... Just stick with us until we've gotten settled in, then go take a break for a month or two, I'm sure there's some good vacation spots. Then you can come back when you've got your energy restored, you bloody introvert."

Most of the origin-choices end up being made fairly arbitrarily.
I get Outsider because of the capstone, while Tunda is an obvious Outsider as a half-spirit.
Galaga, who's coming along for one, is going straight for maximum spellcasting - worrisome, but I'll have to trust her with more power sooner or later... And maybe having more magic will let her get stuff done without resorting to the darker side of magic.

"So, how do I become a zombie here, then?" Kanto, a zombie, asks.
"A few different ways. But I'm thinking if you pick up the 'Vegetation' Morph from Outsider, that's a good start," Aerion answers, "And you don't have to go Outsider to do so. If you go Artificial and either choose Mutant as your Primary, or choose something else and use But Then Suddenly! to get some Mutant points, you can just grab it (and maybe the Harsh adaption, if you think zombies shouldn't be vulnerable to poisons and such). Really, either way works; Go Outsider if you want to focus on being weird and different. Go Artificial if you want to focus on not being entirely... Normal life. Artificial gives you more points for the powers (though you'd then have to spend points to get back the Outsider stuff) AND lets you buy the ability to MAKE zombies. If you go that route, we can discuss a way to pass on stuff from Mutant even if you choose something else as the Primary, but it'll mean giving up some things from the actual Primary - well, not giving them up for yourself, but giving it up for the 'creations'. I do want the zombies to be zombies, after all, so they've gotta have the Vegetation morph, right?"
Some of the plans end up not working too well since he's got limited points...

I'm getting ahead of myself, but at some point after we've entered, Aerion offers Kanto to try out his powers, especially his invulnerability, in his arena.
First, Aerion's fighting a copy of the zombie - After Aerion spars with him to add him to the list, anyway.
That way, he can demonstrate breaking a normal baseball bat against his head and, while it knocks the shadow-clone on its ass, it doesn't seem to hurt it.
Then cut a leg off, cut open his chest, and rip out the un-beating heart, telling the real Kanto in the stands that, "I wouldn't recommend going this far until you've had some practice, but for the record, you could even make the heart beat. This guy has no interest in helping me demonstrate it, so he won't do it - he just wants to kill me - but the heart is basically still as (un-)living as when it was inside their chest."
To finish the fight, he just kneels down to where shadow-Kanto is already closing up and trying to get to their feet.
Aerion concentrates and... Ignites. Like, his body turns into a fire bright enough that it hurts to look at, and the zombie burns away to ash, which he kicks about for good measure, until he's declared the winner.

Then it's Kanto's turn to fight.
"Don't worry," Aerion assures him, "Nothing that happens in there, other than memories, 'sticks'. You can't even meaningfully train there, not even perk-training (which normally would be protected from other 'training is deleted' situations, like the safe-word reset). It's 100% purely to test out fights."
He quirks an eyebrow as he selects to fight Aerion, but doesn't say anything.
Seconds after starting, the zombie is back by the selection screen, and Aerion says, "You do get I was toying with your clone, right? To demonstrate what your powers could do? Look, how about... Well, I do kind of want to see you against an edged-weapon user, so... Raye, wielding me and Alex as butterfly swords, with a LOT of nerfs, mostly just relying on sword-skill and a couple tricks, and not even all her skill. You might actually win against it. I'd still put the odds in her favor. Though, you'd win against this with a mech, but that's not why we're here, I want us both to know what you can handle."
This time it goes better, though he's at a sharp handicap due to not having a solid weapon while she's got twin butterfly blades.
((Ran through some simulations... And was surprised at how they both kept being more competent at the defensive side))
...Neither of them can hit each other.
Raye keeps trying to feint out Kanto, and Kanto sees through it each time. (Despite having a lower skill)
While every single of Kanto's punches gets knocked aside with the blade.
And when Raye DOES get him to dodge a phantom strike, he still manages to deflect the real blow at the last moment.
Abandoning defense, Raye swaps to slashing with the blades one after another, seeking to overwhelm his defense.
He knocks the second aside, but is too slow to parry the first and it leaves a gash in his shoulder.
Then, trying to copy her, he tries to out-feint her... And succeeds, just barely, but gets a sword through his gut for the trouble.
That's about how the fight keeps going, lasting longer than anyone would have expected; Aerion said he had a chance to win, but that was on the basis that Kanto landed a few solid blows early, since he did have the potential ability to do so.
((Actually, was going to end it, but realized I should be using 14 vs 12 or something, not 16 vs 14, I guess. Seems more reasonable, with Raye's nerfs and Kanto having barely used his powers, so I'll give everyone some more HP (not that I was tracking them that closely), and extend the fight a bit with the right stats. For the record, I'm treating Kanto as using Strikers, or possibly just an outright weapon that I'm re-flavoring as punches, so he's not 'blocking unarmed'))
Dropping the offense for a moment, Kanto focuses on staying alive for a second so he can overcome the shock, and therefore easily reads Raye's feint.
Swapping completely from defense to offense, he goes full-force against her apparent primary arm, and it shatters under his blow.
And I don't mean 'breaks neatly in two pieces a doctor could splint together', I mean there's bone sticking out in several spots, it flops around like a limp snake, etcetera (because it's 'dismembered', but by crushing damage, so it's broken enough to be unusable - mind, this is only happening because I'm giving him slightly superhuman Striking ST AND decided to give him the Striker bonus damage - but he could have done the same thing to her hand without it)
To shadow-Raye's credit, she doesn't just immediately fall over, but now she's in quite a lot of pain and down one sword.
There's no point in trying to attack her with her focusing on her defense, so Kanto instead knocks her off balance.
In a desperate move, she swings full-force against his neck, and while he almost manages to parry it aside, it sinks an inch or two in before he knocks it away.
((And I forgot that he should definitively have High Pain Threshold, which is merely 10pts, so he doesn't get shock penalties <.< Raye would too, but that's definitively one of the nerfs she should have. So Kanto doesn't care about injuries in terms of penalties - that fits him perfectly, I feel, anyway))
Since she can't defend herself, already having been badly off balance and then knocking herself further off ((Or, having -4 to defense and then doing an AoA)), Kanto side-steps and essentially just karate-chops her one good arm while it's still outstretched, and it folds (far less dramatically) beneath his strike.
(Actually... She crit-failed the injury-HT, with a 17 and a sub-15 effective HT, so that arm ALSO is permanently unusable now. A doctor would need to amputate BOTH her arms after this fight! If she wasn't going to die and despawn:)
At that point, Raye has no remaining arms and no remaining weapons... And only lasts through the shock (as in, passed the HT only the first round) before she collapses to the floor, at which point Kanto can just stomp on her chest until her ribs cave in.

"I... Did not expect much of that," Aerion admits, when Kanto comes back and the injures fade away (which they would anyway, but still), "I didn't expect you to read her so well, I didn't expect either of you to defend so well, and I didn't expect you to snap her arms like twigs... Maybe I should have let her keep more of her superhuman durability. Oh well. You more familiar with your abilities now?"
"Yes," he nods, "That was quite... Enlightening. Still, I think I won that partially because she underestimated me. And partially because I was superhuman and she wasn't. I doubt I'll fare so well against a superhuman foe with that level of training."
"Technically, she had some powers she never used," Aerion shrugs, "I guess she had enough trouble with two swords and dodging you at the same time. You'd have lost if I let her keep her semi-native 'aura' force-field (semi-native because I picked her up as a monster-girl, like Hiro picked up Chizu, but I didn't get to KNOW Raye, and she didn't really 'discover herself' so to speak, before we went to another world together), but I'd still have been damned impressed at your efforts, since that was still a fairly skilled, if not fully trained, swordswoman."
((Though I realize she didn't actually take advantage of her dual weapons except defensively, oh well, maybe next time :P I should also give everyone way more skills, this was kind of a low-skill training match, except deadly))

Back to the present!
Taiga: "How fast CAN I get here? I don't see a super-speed option."
Aerion: "Three ways, and you can mix these: Mutation's Supreme Body: Agility can get you up to breaking the sound barrier, but since you'll be on the ground you'll struggle to use even the second level at full power without slamming into an obstacle. It comes with some 'secondary powers' to let you handle the speed, but have you ever tried to sprint full-speed through a dense forest?"
Taiga: "Can't be done. Not unless you want to trip over roots."
Aerion: "Exactly. Even with the enhanced reaction time and eyes and so on, you'd find that even a sparse area becomes a dense forest when you're moving at Mach speeds."
Taiga: "I'm not sure I want to be a mutant either."
Aerion: "Next, there's the Bionic Super Action! option. It lets you be part vehicle. There's a few ways to do it, but I think your best option there is to choose either Walker or Wheels, either becoming part Mecha and move about like Kanto's mech can (well, some of it, anyway), or gaining the ability to shoot wheels out of your legs and drive off at motorcycle speeds."
Taiga: "I kind of like how I look..."
Aerion: "I'm pretty sure we could make the Walker version look like those stockings you usually wear. Anyway, final option: Paragon's Extraordinary Training: Running Speed. It'll make you faster than any ordinary Half-Beast has ever been, while still having one 'ET' left (it's a two-for-one power) for something like Endurance. It'd probably play the nicest with the other two; It'd be easy to spin it as you just having pushed your existing power beyond its apparent limit."
Taiga: "So, choose a max of two... Hrmm..."
Aerion: "Well... I mean, technically, you could get all three with 'When Suddenly!'. Be a cybernetic scout, already able to stand among the other supers with your bionic legs and extreme training, except somehow the combination of the two gradually mutated your body and mind to handle more extreme speeds. Like, a brain that can react at higher speeds, a spine that can handle harder jolts, and other justifications to push your legs further. Or maybe one of the other two is the new one, like giving a mutated soldier new legs after an accident or being a mutated cyborg already and then going through extreme training."
In the end, she goes with the 'highly trained bionic scout that later mutated' version.
Ah, but:
Hero: "Hrmm, Taiga... I do wonder if you wouldn't rather have 'ninja training' than extraordinary training. I mean, you can practice with your legs and mutation all you'd like normally, while taking Way of the Warrior with Smoke and Mirrors lets you do stuff like slip into and out of water without disturbing the surface, move silently, stand unseen amongst shadows and branches, slip out of bonds, and so on."
Aerion: "For the record, Extraordinary Training is: 1) A perk thing, with special qualities because of it (on the other hand, it also gets hit by Powerscaling because of it), and 2) Beyond what you're going to learn on your own. If you were the kind of person who could achieve Paragon status through sheer training, you'd have been legendary, not merely respected, for your speed already, since you've had centuries to train. That said, Hero makes a valid suggestion. And the Ninja training is just the combo effect, both perks have benefits on their own."

Rana: "There are an awful lot of words here. I could read them, or I could just ask: Hey, dad, whatcha suggest?!"
Hero: "Hrmm... Well, if you just want simple... Atlas Training and Extraordinary Training takes up your full 'free budget' for powers."
Aerion: "Unless she goes Artificial, yeah. Hrmm, that'd even fit pretty well. It'd be sheer, raw, 'cinematic' training. If you're seen often enough, and 'get' the perks fast enough (you'll get a head start on the training, but WILL have to complete some of it), you'll probably become known as THE Iconic Paragon (at least of the Atlas style, as opposed to the Ancient Mastery style)."
Rana: "I can handle hard work."
Aerion: "Oh, definitively. You'd probably BE legendary if it wasn't for your mother. If you can keep training just as hard, despite life becoming easier and it potentially being tempting to relax, then I'm fairly certain you will be THE strongest natural-born human."
Aerion: "...Mind, Doca seems to be writing down something rather similar, so you do need to work hard to stand out. But I figure you can work harder than Doca anyway, since she's probably going to be busy helping your Lord out."

Hero: "...I should take Healing Factor too. I'd wanted both Atlas and the Mind one, but I need something to keep myself alive."

Kanto: "If I take the Jenny Anywhere drawback, can I just let them capture me?"
Aerion: "I suppose. It'd be a boring ten years though."
Kanto: "I think it's either that, or lock all my powers behind a requirement, liking losing them in the sunlight. Any advise, Lord Hero?"
Hero: "Don't take Crazy Hero, not unless Aerion promises we can 'kickstart' the healing by getting you into the right conditions."
Aerion: "Depends entirely on the damage, time, conditions... I can't make any such promise, but I CAN promise that there WILL be a time limit, if there's any hope at all, before it'd be too late to kickstart it. If he takes 'lose powers in the sun' one, as a Mecha Pilot, then if his corpse is lying in the sun for a couple hours, you might not get him back to (un-)life."
Kanto: "Then either I sit this Jump out after all, but in a prison instead, or I give up on one of the things I was going to get here. I do have a limited budget, I can't buy every single thing you'd like me to have, Lord Hero, not without more funds."
Aerion: "Hrmm... If you're just gonna let yourself get captured... Eh, I'll let you use 'Humiliation Conga'... I guess? Hang on..."
He enters his portal, then comes back seconds later, having considered it properly.
Aerion: "Alright, so, I'm not giving any points for base Humiliation Conga. That's a free 'Toggle' people can use now, and I'll adjust it so it's more even; Enemies won't go for the kill, but in return they'll be more prepared to capture you, and you will not enjoy being in captivity. So, people who don't feel safe can basically lower their chance of victory (especially those of you who are hard to kill; Healing Factor doesn't help against captivity) in order to raise their chance of survival. BUT! You can still get points for the 'guaranteed to happen'. A full 400 points would require... 32 guaranteed captures, so I'd advise against it, but maybe you can get away with less? Take Campy or Never a Dull Moment, drop it to 8, and get a total of 400 still."
Kanto: "I... Do not see Humiliation Conga."
Aerion: "It's in the UDS. Should be around here somewhere. But, basically, the base level just means that enemies don't try to kill you, they try to capture you. And if they succeed, you'll be guaranteed to be stuck for at least six hours, and spend at least one of them suffering. There's some leeway on HOW you suffer, but it'll be painful and/or humiliating. And if it's too mild, you'll be stuck there for longer."
Kanto: "What about the guaranteed captures?"
Aerion: "You get two hundred points if you agree to be 'railroaded' into being captured twice. Your powers will weaken enough to allow it, and generally the enemies will somehow manage it. And that's at pre-determined times, essentially, if you get captured outside of it it does NOT count. Then you get another fifty point for every doubling of it. So, 200 for 2, 250 for 4, 300 for 8, and so on. I... Don't actually intend to put a limit, beyond the time limit (you'd reach thousands of years if we treat each capture as one day and want to get past 1kCP) but you might not get full value past a certain point since the captures would start blending together. Besides, go too high and you might struggle to recover from such frequent torture."
Kanto: "So... I get tortured, but then they just let me go after a day?"
Aerion: "Eh, if they have to. There'll be opportunities to escape or for your allies to break you out. But if neither you nor the others try to get you free, yeah, eventually the enemies will either take pity on you or get bored and decide to throw you out. And let's be clear here; I used to take this now and then, and usually the torture wasn't THAT bad, just required a month or two and a lot of supportive friends to recover from the shock. But I swore off taking this, after one time that taking it at the two-capture level resulted in me getting butchered alive instead of the usual whipping and isolation. They had drugs that kept me awake and prevented my body from giving in to shock, while also paralyzing me. The first time they broke some rock-like scales off (breaking all four limbs in the process), cut off a horn low enough to hit nerve-tissue, and took a bunch of blood, then several years later they found me again and cut off my tail, both legs and wings, and an arm, as well as the remaining horn, and had started debating whether they should just slit my throat to take the rest when the arrangements I'd made resulted in me being freed. I spent the remaining Jump with magical prosthetics, and I'm still uncomfortable seeing dragon-tails on dinner plates after tracking down a crime-boss while he was in the middle of eating my tail. And I was LESS durable than you. I fully expect at least one foe to bolt you to a table and start rooting around in your gut to see what makes you tick."
Kanto: "Can you give me ANY advance warning on when? Or how they'll torture me?"
Aerion: "I potentially could, but I'm not going to, not too much anyway. I'll spread it out somewhat; If you take it at eight, you'll have more than half a year between each guaranteed capture. And, of course, less than one per year on average, but I mean I won't have it 'randomly' happen before 'ten divided by eight' times six months, so seven and a half months, since that's half the average time between each. As for how... I WAS going to go with staying out of it, so it's not my fault... But, yeah, alright, hrmm... Well, I'll never guarantee that it won't be brutal if you get captured by the wrong people, it IS a 200-point drawback. I can adjust things to be more predictable with more captures, though, since I don't need to use chance to punish people then. At eight, for example, I'd estimate about... Two traumatic captures, two lengthy ones (like, a few weeks of imprisonment or something), and four 'normal', humiliating/painful ones."
Hero: "Drawback-fiat traumatic?"
Aerion: "...Nah. Stay in single-digits, and eh, it can be 'traumatic to a normal person'. You're not THAT far beyond human, though, Kanto. You may pick up a phobia for a while, if you're unlucky. I haven't TRIED to get over my own unease, because I'm using it to resist the temptation to take the drawback again."

There's... Far less chatter than I'd have expected.
We all seem to eventually figure out what we want, and even then we don't really get everything.
Heck, Petraxa abandoned Extraordinary stuff entirely and got 2k Hardware Points, and yet she still didn't have the points to get a proper weapon for herself.
And then she abandons even that weapon to upgrade the ship and soldiers further.
...And then un-abandons the weapon by abandoning a perk, because I mean, it's a good idea to have a weapon...
Aerion: "...You're importing your sword, but not doing anything to it?"
Petraxa: "I do not have the budget for more. Will this not improve it?"
Aerion: "...I guess it'd bring it up to local standards, and it'd make it easy to justify you using it in the world. At least mark Severing as your free choice, then; That's about what Longswords are, I can let you keep the appearance then. The reason I say that is because if it's officially Severing, you'll cut deeper when it's used anywhere that's at all cinematic. This world definitively counts, but the Mecha Military world would have counted too. You'll have trouble against armored opponents if you don't scrounge up the funds for Penetrating, though."
Petraxa: "While my sword is an effective weapon, I have seen that modern warfare requires different tools."
Aerion: "...Fair enough. Man, you're like a more blood-thirsty, female Sir Steel. ...Which means I'll go hang over someone else's shoulders instead."

Tunda: "How soft IS silver, anyway?"
Aerion: "Eh, a bit harder than bone, depending on the exact silver and bone. And due to being 'living' silver, you'll have elasticity that normal silver lacks, so it'll probably bend almost as well as bone. I'd guess that against blunt weapons you'll end up getting hurt in minor ways more often, but that it'll take more to cause serious damage. Piercing and such should have more trouble. Be careful about 'steady force', though, or whatever you want to call it. Like, try not to get trapped under heavy objects, or let super-strong people grab you. Flesh is really hard to 'compress', Silver isn't; You don't want to be crushed flat, right? I'd have recommended you be 'sterling' silver if it was an option."

Aerion: "Given how 'loose' the origins are here, mostly because there are a LOT of weird people... Let me know if there's specific things ya'll have in mind. In particular, though, hence bringing this up... Anyone wanting to be related?"
The twins raise their hands.
Aerion: "Well, yes. In fact, you two pretty much have to tell me when you do not want to be. I've set it to default to you being twins, and sharing an Origin makes that pretty easy to justify.
Aerion: "I mean, stuff like... Tund, Hiro, ya wanna be related? The age's a bit of a problem if we go with you being daughter and father, though."
Hiro: "Wouldn't really make sense with our powers either. And I don't want to go too much older, I enjoy being back in the prime of my youth. ...What about siblings? Well, half-siblings. If yer ok with that, Tund?"
The lightning-woman shrugs.
Aerion: "Hrmm... That could work. Share a metal-related father, hence one of you being made of solid silver and the other being essentially a non-artificial android. Tund'd still be a literal half-spirit then - well, yaknow, close enough. While Hiro wouldn't have the lightning powers because he had a different mother. I can't even fake Stryka, since I never met her, mind. Tund, ya should totally take me to meet her sometime, in case I need to fake her in a future backstory."
Tunda: "...Only spirits can ender the Thunderous Realm."
Aerion: "Eh, I've got the ability to grant others the ability to possess me. At which point the combined body would be just as much a spirit as you, so it should be fine. Heck, let's test it, eh? It's too far to go there and back for this, but yaknow, let's see if you can at least do the 'shoot across the sky' thing."
And with that, after they figure out how to do this, Tunda and Aerion fire off for a bit, to go play in storm-clouds with their combined body.

***
[Yes, the math doesn't add up. There's some stuff censored, and some cheats at play. I left the relevant stuff though]

Name: Hiro
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Origin: Outsider (200)

Location: San Angeles, California
	" A future mega-city including Los Angeles, San Diego and surrounding regions. Featured in the movies Blade Runner, Demolition Man, Double Dragon and in many other sources." And is a lawless, smog-filled mess, since the legal side didn't keep up with the growth.
Time: Unlimited Heroes (2010-2020)

Powers: Mutant Paragon
The World's Greatest Mind	(600)
	A superhero capstone boosting the mind. Data-crunching only matched by supercomputers, learn skills in fractions of the time it'd take most, incredible intuition, and so on.
Healing Factor	(400)
	As long as your body is not deliberately and thoroughly destroyed, you can recover from any wound. You'll need to practice this to get faster, and this isn't Wolverine speeds, but it'll be fast enough to get up from a fatal injury and hop away while your lost limbs gradually regrow.
Body as a Temple	(100)
	You can control what was previously autonomous in your body. Change your metabolism, adjust your heart-rate, whatever you need. You can push it pretty far without killing yourself, slowing your heart-rate to where you'd be considered clinically dead. Presumably, you can also NOT control them and let them work normally.

Perks:
Morph: Mechanical	(Free, Outsider)
	Do still have vital organs, of a sort. But are considered 'Mindless', in the DnD sense, including versus mesmerism, and do not need to sleep or rest.
Conditioning: Darkened	(Free, Outsider)
	Adapted to a low-light environment, with near-perfect dark-vision that can even partially compensate for the usual loss of color-distinction.
I Come in Peace	(100, Outsider)
	Even xeno-phobic people let your diplomatic efforts work well enough to give it a shot, at least. Let you show how you can be of use.
Worlds Unlimited	(Free, Unlimited)
	You'll quickly learn how to survive in new worlds. How to dodge the random fire-storms of an infernal world, or how to converse with the native tribes, or whatever. It doesn't make you immune to the dangers, just helps you figure out how to avoid them like a native.
Endless Possibility	(100, Unlimited)
	You can, with a lot of hard work, find a way to 'combine' two similar 'processes'. Two kinds of tech, two kinds of magic, spirituality, whatever. The less they have in common, the harder this is to do.
The Infinite Frontier	(200, Unlimited)
	You can always find a way to dimensionally travel. Invent your own method to do so, and find other worlds even in worlds that had been previously established as canonically not having a multi-verse. Whether that's an alternative timeline, or a brand new world.

Items:
Cape of Fears	(100, Import)
	The Dark Lord's own cape.
	Serves as living armor, able to intercept attacks by moving around while being as sturdy as good armor.
	Side-effect: Makes you seem more vicious, and it's hard to tell if it's because you ARE, or if it's just an impression.
	Mesh-Weave (Free)
		Pretty much what's already true; It works as clothes, but can still protect you.
	Sealed (100)
		It can close up to an airtight suit around you, complete with helmet and replenishing oxygen.
	Stealthy (100)
		Muffles sounds, blends into terrain, and are hard to detect on sensors.
	Tough (100)
		Hard to damage, easy to repair, suited for rough terrain.
Sniper Rifle (100, Import)
	7.62mm sniper rifle with scope.
	20-Round box magazine.
	Comes with 250 rounds.
	Scope (Existing)
		Long-range shots.
	Silenced (Free)
		Suppressed muzzle-fire and practically silent.
	Penetrating (200)
		Designed to break through defenses and protections.

Remaining: 000 + 000GP + 000HP

Companions: (300, Generic)
1: Docaera Wingless, the Half-Dragon Brawler, Outsider
2: Lieutenant-Princess Petraxa of Aspania, Commando
3: Taiga Speedbranch, Ranger of Furast , Free Agent
4: Rana, Daughter of Carna, Commando
5: Galaga Darkfall, Bound Ancient Dark Lady, Scholar Mystic
6: Avice and Grey ('Avarice and Greed'), Half-Beast Twins, Operator
7: Tunda, Half-Spirit of Lightning, Outsider
8: Kanto, Zombie Mech Pilot, Zombie Mech Pilot

***

We're once again standing before the ominous portal.
And again it's up to me to lead the others...
"Any last-minute warnings?" I ask Aerion, who's standing there waiting for us.
"Probably," he tilts his head and considers it, then says, "Oh! Right. Wanted to warn you lot, especially the twins: Superheroing is a dangerous business, few 'Extraordinary People' survive that long in the spotlight. The great ones make a big difference before they die, but I doubt most of you are as concerned with 'making a difference' as with 'surviving to see future Jumps'."
Avice and Grey look at each other, then Aerion, and then Grey asks, "Why especially us?"
Chuckling, Aerion points out, "You've bought a two-man space-plane armed with one of the most reactive substances there are. I've helped you make it as safe as I can, but if you get careless there are so many different ways you can die in space, cook inside the vehicle, etcetera. Especially since anyone who kills you can loot everything you bought; There are people who'd devote a decent bit of resources to getting a hold of your vehicle and your 'toys'. Even more would devote resources to getting ahold of Petraxa's stuff, but she's got 150 soldiers with deadly weapons, you've got each other and whatever circles you draw up with the pencil."

With that, I step through the portal...

My vision's obscured by the cloak being sealed, but not a single other person in the crowded street is wearing such protection - though some wear masks.
I have the cloak pull back from my head... And almost choke on the air, despite this body's lungs being used to life here, before I get the cloak sealed back up.
If Tom Lehren's 'Pollution' song had been about any particular American city, this would be it's futuristic version!
Smog clings to the streets, thick enough that I can't see more than a block or two ahead, and the exhaust is practically dripping off the walls as I walk.
The smog, together with the golden lights from the many windows throughout the city, give the place a 'bronzed' look; At a distance, the entire city would likely look like it was made of bronze, only up close could you see that it's a lot more steel, concrete, and sooth-covered paint.
San Angeles, which is basically synonymous with 'Southern California' given how it dominates the southern part of said state, had been a popular focal-point for dimensional travel and overall immigration - well, Los Angeles and San Diego had been, anyway.
To such an extent that the law had been unable to keep up, as had any attempts at regulating the new and exotic forms of energy and industry.
Add in the sheer amount of housing and infrastructure that brought with it, turning an urban forest into an urban jungle, and you've got a city where you could at any moment be pulled off the streets and never be seen again.
The police wouldn't search unless they've got their hand in your pocket, and they wouldn't find you if they tried.

I... Have no idea where to go now.
My memories aren't any help either; I'd just been on my way to the store, but the 'real' me doesn't need that since I've got supplies in my own Realm.
I mean, I know where my apartment is here, but I don't have a reason to go there either.
The problem isn't where the places are located, the problem is figuring out what place to even go to.
I take a moment to sort my thoughts, sneaking off into a dark alley and I doubt anyone even noticed.
Well, first off, I'd wanted to 'hone my edge'.
A city full of criminals and other 'acceptable targets' sounds excellent, and I won't even feel all that bad if there is some 'collateral damage' that makes this place less of an overpopulated and overbuilt mess.
Kanto needs to show what he can do...
I doubt we can take over the city entirely, but maybe we can work towards becoming a significant faction within it.
If not, we can turn our attention elsewhere, given the mobile base.

(('Anger', 'Usurp', NPC Negative, Rana, Father))
I'm about to start calling around to get us gathered together, when someone beats me to it.
Answering the phone, I hear Rana's voice, explaining that while she gets that caring about everyone's 'fake' family isn't my primary concern... Maybe she can convince me to make an exception if we can meet up and she can explain it properly? She IS going to have to live with this family for a decade, after all.
"I'll gather everyone in the mobile base," I tell her, walking far enough away from the street to be able to talk over the noise.
Thanks to my darkness-adapted eyes, I spot the figures slinking through the shadows, and discretely keep an eye on them.
"I'll get Petraxa, or one of her people, to get in contact with everyone regarding transport," I continue, as my cloak flicks restlessly in response to my heartbeat quickening, "But if you can find your own transport, that'll probably be faster - at least, see if you can get somewhere they can land properly."
('Do the figure notice Hiro noticing them?' UL/C5, 32, Yeah, by a small margin)
First when they get close enough to see my eyes through the smog do they notice that while I'm not turned towards them, my eyes are following exactly where they are.

((Rolled some people... High-level CE wizard, high-level LE fighter, and high-level CN bard... I figure that means these are non-mook villains, probably an Initiate, a Paragon and/or Mutant, and the group's 'Face' with a touch of Psionic power - might as well note them down, even if they won't do much just yet. They'll almost certainly capture Kanto at some point.))
As I'm reaching for my blade, one of them, who I can just barely tell has a purple face where the sides of their head is green, points at me and starts chanting.
While the spell washes off my inhuman mind, the power of it makes me immediately rethink treating them as mook thugs.
(Roll-stuff) I barely side-step the abomination of a man that charges at me - the immediate thought is 'Frankenstein, except also a cyborg' - but manage to get my sword caught in the scabbard as I step to attack.
When the last of the group, a well-dressed and fairly handsome (for a scumbag) man, commands me to "Surrender!" and I feel another power bounce off my inhuman mind... It's time to go! I could (probably) take out a single one of these, but not all three!
I take a solid hit from Void on the way past him, most of the impact cushioned by the cloak but still bouncing me painfully off the opposite wall.
Then I hurry out of there almost on all four.

"Don't bother," Hollow tells Null, "Got a closer look at them. They're like you, but different. An Outsider. Doubt you could make zombies out of them."
"If nothing else," says Null, "I would have liked their cloak."
"We going to Arby's now?" asks Void, confused about the plan.
[Hollow: Face, Null: Necromancer/Leader, Void: Muscle]

As I push through the sparsest parts of the crowded streets, I'm pulling up the twins' number.
"Hi!" I shout into the phone, both due to adrenaline and the noise, "Please tell me you're near the run-down power plant!"
"Which? There's like a dozen of them, and that's only counting the big ones," comes from the other side, probably Grey based on the voice.
"Near the church, the one with... Actually, just locate my bloody signal!" I stop for a moment in an alcove, looking back to see if there's any sign of them following. There isn't.
"Already started," he explains, "You sounded rather worried, thought we might end up having to come as backup."
"I'm more looking for transport! Got attacked before I could contact Petraxa. Just figure out where I am compared to you, and we can discuss where to meet! I'm pretty sure I lost them, but one of them was a mage so he might have magical means of tracking me."
In the end, I have to run full-speed for a good ten minutes to get to a good landing spot for them, so there's probably a lot of criminals in the shadows that get a real surprise as a villain-looking figure sprint through.
Then I get to the safety of their armored, magically-warded vehicle.
Where I explain what's happened.
We then head up into the air, with me borrowing the co-pilot seat for a bit - Grey can just go hide in a shadow-pocket, so we don't need to strap me to the bed.
Calling Petraxa to fill her in, then between us contacting the rest; Petraxa herself is busy commanding the ship, and her subordinates do not have a convenient list of everyone, so they're contacting the most obvious ones and I'm taking care of the rest with my 'Companions' category of phone-contacts.
To be clear, that's just a category I named 'Companions' and am adding their phone-numbers to manually, although I did notice the numbers of people I add seem to 'update' to the correct ones when we both go into new mobile systems - I don't think these are even the same number of digits.
Whether that's Aerion being nice or just a convenient side effect of the phone being 'written into' the world, I don't know.
It actually IS Aerion, for the record; The phone wouldn't stay the same otherwise, not being CP protected, he's just having me 'happen' to end up with the same phone, with the same contacts and settings, in each world where it's plausible, rather than a random cell-phone-appearance with somewhat random contacts - it'd sure be easier if I could get a damn CP-protected cellphone soon.

(Undead Assembly not involved with Rana's thing, by a large margin)
Before Petraxa pointed out this place has a dedicated 'meeting room' specifically for this kind of stuff, I'd been considering taking over the lounge.
"So, we're all here," Taiga says, shifting side-to-side restlessly - at a guess, I'd say she didn't get to try her new legs as much as she'd like.
"Yes, we are," I acknowledge, redundantly, "Now, before we get started... I did try to not pull anyone away from anything urgent - other than Rana, who I've briefly talked to about it - but does anyone have any urgent business?"
(NW/C6, 4, Exceptional Yes. Taiga. 'Criminals?' Exceptional No. 'Expose' 'War', Remote.)
Taiga raises her hand, "Yeah, I'd say so, Hero! I... Well, before we entered, I'd been scouting out some leads for the military. Because apparently I'm an official, military scout - shoulda known I would be, given the backstory I'd built with the Benefactor. Well, I found some!"
Frowning, I lean forward, resting my elbows against the table, and ask, "What did you find, Taiga?"
She leaps out of her seat, and starts pacing, saying, "I found war! Well, plans for war. There's... A lot of background I need to fill you in on, regarding where and when, but I'm not sure this is the time..."
"Who is going to war?" I ask, gesturing to try to get her attention, and maybe get her to stop walking around.
"Ah, err..." She shakes her head, trying to focus, "Well, we don't know their actual name yet, but some other dimension! Not outsiders, though there might be a couple 'immigrant' Outsiders among them too just like here."
"Well, alright, that's not ideal," I say, slowly, chewing it over, "But war takes a long time. It's important, but I don't see why it's urgent."
"It's urgent," Taiga insists, "Because I saw evidence they've already got saboteurs running around softening up the city's defenses in preparation! And I think they're standing ready to invade, or at least will be ready within days. ...Besides, I said I'm an official soldier, and while I have a lot of leeway, I do need to check in with my commander soon. I haven't told them anything, in case you wanted me to hide anything."
Rubbing at my forehead, I use my super-brain to consider the options - I might not have the full advantage of my NEW upgrades, but I've got my previous ones, and was pretty smart (I think) even just as the Hero of my own Realm.
"We have far too many plot-threads," I grumble into my hands, then pull myself up straight, and tell her, "Taiga, head back down, see what you can find out. Stay safe, but in particular I need to know where to send less subtle people to un-sabotage things. Petraxa, please work with her, in particular I need to know everything Taiga knows about this, and she might need ground-support from your 'cavalry'. If the transport can securely communicate, debriefing her remotely is fine. I'll trust your judgements on what Taiga should report, but please err on the side of the truth, I'd like the Military to have no evidence that she's not a loyal scout. She's worked with us in-universe before, maybe you can come up with something she had to check with us before reporting it."

I pull out some sunglasses and slide them over my eyes before I realize what I'm doing. Guess I find the light stressing.
"Alright," I tell the others, and I'd be exhausted if that was still a thing for this body, "So, we've been here all of, what, two hours and already three of us have had something happen. With the exception of mine, they weren't caused by carelessness, (and, to be clear, I was only 'careless' in that I walked into a dark alley to make a call), but I'd still prefer if we could slow down.
"It'll likely be at least a couple hours before Taiga has anywhere for me to send the rest of you, so, let's do what I'd intended: Introductions. I need to know what I'm working with. I know your 'builds', but I don't know what that ended up translating into, so to speak."

Doca is the third outsider of our unofficial super-organization, and the only one not related to the other two.
She'd been essentially a Paragon of her own planet, but had traveled here in search of more opportunities to beat up Evil.
Within a year of moving to San Angeles, the smog, Terran sunlight, and probably various chemicals in the water that she's more sensitive to, made her already-strong muscles and already-tough skin grow even stronger and tougher.
A normal member of her race might have been immobilized by just one of those things, as either their muscles would tear themselves apart or their skin would 'petrify', but Doca trained her body to push beyond those limits.
It helps that the mutations partially cancel each other out, as her tough flesh hold the muscles together while her strong muscles can force the skin to bend.
Nothing particularly to note, she'd just been wandering around, looking for criminals to beat up, and now she'd prefer to follow me instead.

Petraxa and Taiga aren't present, so I'll have to get a proper response back from them later.
But essentially, Petraxa is the keystone of the unofficial organization; We're essentially gathered around the convenience of having a large, flying base to work from, which has good sensors and survey equipment and so on, and can act as the central hub of logistics and communications for us.
While she doesn't have the means to deal with any problems she notices, as she doesn't have even one full Battalion - only the Command Company of one.
Taiga's a scout, and as covered officially in the military, but she has a lot of leeway to allow her to work with other Extraordinary as needed, as San Angeles is... Frankly more work than it's worth, but also an important strategic resource, so they need to keep tabs on it, but can't use too many resources on it. And there might be corruption in play to weaken their hold on it. Oh, and the military shouldn't operate domestically, anyway, so it's probably a bit hush-hush. So, she's more like a spy, setting up her own network to work with in places the military shouldn't be, than a part of a greater military machine.

Rana... Is basically her mother's daughter, beyond what she got the chance to be in our own world.
Training herself until she can match fists with mutants and cyborgs, and mutated cyborgs.
Then going around punching anyone who looks punchable, until she got recruited into our little group and we could point her at the right people to punch.
Her 'urgent business', which she admits seems a lot less urgent now that there's a war on, was that her in-world's dad was being fired for blatantly false charges, which she's pretty sure were set up by the guy that's getting the now-free position.
I'm in the process of telling her to go get me more info herself, since I can't spare anyone, but decide, "Actually, Avarice and Greed? You two, go with Rana. Until I know where the front lines will be, I want you to stay away so you don't end up behind enemy lines, so to speak. Figure out whether there's anything fishy - I don't like this happening on the same day that Taiga discovers people are trying to weaken the city's defenses. Rana's one of those defenses, and would normally be distracted with this if I hadn't called us all together. Even if it's nothing, try to clean it up anyway, I want to clamp down on all the problems until we're stable again."

Galaga... Is also basically herself, just with less of an evil reputation.
And even then, people are still vary of her.
She's been around a while, since before the other worlds were common knowledge, and while she will need some time to unlock the full power of the magic she bought, she has centuries of magical knowledge to work with.
If she was willing to push herself that far, potentially burning her soul out in the process, she already knows how to rip holes in reality and so on.
Without that risk, it'd be best if she stuck to merely Initiate, maybe Journeyman at a push, magic until she can get more practice.
There's actually minimal connection between her and us, we've just asked her for advice and help a couple of times, but she isn't connected to anyone - so with her memories, she'll basically be part of the organization.
She was just sitting around, working on her magic, in private.

A&G are twins and smugglers, driving around in their mobile bunker.
Greed using the pencil to transport far more than they should be able to fit, and now he's starting to learn circle magic to magically reinforce the place too.
While Avarice uses her two locks to secure the vehicle and look for hostile intents floating around the surface of those they deal with.
And sometimes they open their minds entirely to each other and work as one entity, especially during the rare times they have to fight.
They're how we've been getting supplies that are 'less than legal', and have been useful for gathering intel of a more underground, rather than hidden, nature.
When we don't need them for anything and they're getting too 'hot' in the underground, they explore freely, taking advantage of having a great personal vehicle with a lot of space for travel-supplies. By air to cover long distances quickly, or by ground when they've got the time for it.
They had been on their way to check up on some spots of interest, but hadn't actually gotten started yet.

Tunda is... Mostly just an extra-dimensional immigrant.
She's the one I know the most about, given we're related (differently) in-universe.
She's more part of the problem than part of the solution, even having her own gang of (attractive) criminals.
When they're not busy polishing her to a shine - literally; She's very pure silver, so she gets 'tarnished' - they're running around, earning her a comfortable living with her cut of their crimes or gathering intel or whatever.
Since the police are overworked and their main crime is presumably 'escorting', up to and including outright sex-work, I doubt they even see that much jailtime.
They just have to hand over some of their profits now and then, when Tunda can't intimidate the police into backing down - or, if they're cute, convince them to settle for a freebie from the best escort they've got; Herself.
She was busy dealing with the girls, and she'll have a mess to clean up when she gets back, but meeting up with us was more important.

Kanchan is... Well, Kanchan is a bunch of alien spores using a dead body as a home.
But the body was a military mech-pilot, and one of the best ones - probably an Extraordinary Paragon, if only barely.
Then they inhaled the spores while dealing with... Something.
It's confidential, and she assumes it doesn't matter, it could have been anything that wasn't properly sterilized; Smuggled crates, the inside of alien ships, whatever, anything could have had spores that are harmless to the actual alien race.
The pilot got sicker and sicker, the doctors couldn't figure out how to save her, and she finally just stopped breathing.
...Then, an hour or two later, she started breathing again.
And when she woke up, she had no memories of anything, and a completely different personality.
Re-learning to speak, walk, etcetera goes fast enough that it seems very plausible that she was able to use at least some of the pre-existing muscle memory and instincts and such, adapting them into whatever she's supposed to be.
Not that she knows what that is, and there's a chance the spores mutated; They certainly seem to have changed, as she's tried to release deadly spores as a desperate move before, and not only is it harder than you might have thought, but they aren't nearly as infectious.
Given she remembers her purchases, she knows there's SOME way to infect others, but she hadn't found it pre-entry - Her best guess is to try taking a fresh corpse and injecting large amounts of... Whatever, her blood, her organs, just try different things on different corpses, see what works.
She's still got the mech, but not... Legally. She kind of just ran off with it, and have been fighting crime with it since.
Got some mechanics that may or may not be partially infected; She can't tell whether they're just fanatic or if they're subtly brainwashed.
Like a couple of the others, she was just patrolling around, looking for Evil to punch.

And then finally, there's me.
Who's... Mostly just an immigrant too, alongside my 'sister', but I'm trying to help at least.
I'd been a loner, mostly by virtue of the 'curses' of my own, 'native', items - when you look scary AND don't care that much about others, you don't go hanging around in large groups if you don't remember being responsible for their well-being as their Lord.
Still, I was in fact one of the reasons this unofficial group got made, since I could leverage my strategic mind more easily if I had more tools to work with.
I'll be a lot more important now (with any luck, anyway)

"So..." I begin, trying to sum up what we've settled on, "Taiga and Petraxa are already busy. Rana and the twins are going to investigate the corruption, see if it's extradimensional sabotage or just a weird coincidence and see what's needed to fix it anyway. Doca, you can stick with me, we'll see what I end up doing. I'll wait for further info from Taiga, and use my enhanced memory to study as much of the city as our sensors can see. Galaga... I really need you to be able to shield people from magical detection, long-term. That means test-subjects, so... I guess stick with Kanchan, use their tech-people. Heck, if you succeed, we'll have enchanted mechanics, which might become useful. While Kanchan, you're..."
"Basically her babysitter?" She asks, scowling.
Blinking, then sighing, I pinch the bridge of my nose, saying, "Really, Kan-chan? I was at the last sentence, you absolutely had to interrupt me? Everyone else managed to listen quietly."
"I can handle more!" She slams the table, "You wanted me to prove what I can do? Then give me a real task!"
For several seconds, I just stare at her, ignoring the chatter as everyone takes various sides - fewer of them take mine than I'd have expected before certain talks about power-balances, but despite still being in the majority I'd prefer none of them butt in on this at all.
Then I gesture (and whistle) for everyone to shut up, calmly, firmly, telling Kanchan, "We'll see what you can do when I have someone to point you at. Your technicians aren't exactly fearsome in battle, and while several of us could bring in our own (less upgraded) Mecha, I'd prefer to keep them in reserve. Taiga's about the only one who could keep up with you, and she's busy. So, please, keep your head down until we have more information. It's not so much that I expect you to get KILLED at this point, it's more that I don't want you to stumble across yet another problem."
"I'm just supposed to sit there, waiting, so I don't, what, trip across another war?" She keeps scowling, but the fire's going out of her.
"Look, I've got my hands full here, and have very little oversight over anything," I sigh, "As long as you stick near Galaga, I don't care what you do right now. Heck, we've got resources 'back home', maybe you can think up a good use for gruntlings and/or metalhounds to help you work without the rest of us. We'll talk later. I'm busy!"

I... Don't make any progress with the sensors.
Most of the time was spent just learning how to interpret the results.
And what I did learn, I'm thinking in hindsight isn't even true, given the city doesn't match what I thought I'd learned.
Oh well.
Plus, I get somewhat sidetracked when Doca points out that the trio that attacked me, if they were that blatant already, are almost certainly going to take advantage of a war to fortify some abandoned structure.
Perhaps a mall?
That'll have to wait... But I file that away for later.

((Side-note: This is the point where, while trying to get into Petraxa's mind, I realized... Lord Hero would pretty much be King of Aspenia.
He's got two royal marriages: Hrodina, and Petraxa. The others were his traveling companions and the like, and were marriages with little direct benefit.
Hrodina had no control over any of the Half-Beasts, since they completely disregarded her while she was under the Dark Lord's command, and the only Half-Beast territory Hero got was the ex-Aspanian colony that is more 'human' than the rest, more open to 'civilization'.
While Petraxa is explicitly the crown princess, and heavily implies her nation will follow the Hero entirely, and he got BOTH of her available fiefs (once from marrying her, one as part of his payment)
I'd say the obvious course of events here is that Petraxa didn't add her lands to the Hero's realm, HE married into HER realm, was recognized as a war-legend (he beat the Dark Lord) and therefore is the War-King of Aspania despite her having the royal bloodline, and then added the lands HE got as a reward into HER lands. Which, I guess, means her having the one son is good, since the royal bloodline survives.
And used his connection to Hrodina to reclaim the ex-colony back to Aspanian control.
I doubt Petraxa is too upset about her 'small but heavily militarized' nation becoming the largest AND most powerful in the known lands.
That probably also explains why she's the only Wife to take this seriously; She's not just single-minded, it's her birthright he's ruling so she probably feels extra responsible for the well-being of 'her' subjects, even if she's loyal to the true King.))

(Intent: Taiga being debriefed by Petraxa. Altered. The military command try to contact their scout and Petraxa intercepts. Reaction rolls: Poor initial, Good after some degree of concession)
To let Taiga keep talking to the ship as she's out and about, they're getting her hooked into the broadcasting channels of the base.
That way, it can function as a private satellite of sorts, just very low-flying.
Army: "TAI27, TAI27, HQ01." ((Can't be bothered with better names for them <.<))
Taiga: "TAI27 to HQ01, be aware, line likely insecure and I am not alone."
Army: "TAI27, can you get to a secure location?"
Taiga: "HQ01, negative. I am in flight to return to location, after emergency meeting with Petraxa's group."
Army: "TAI27, you were on an urgent recon, why did you not report back?"
Petra: "That question is better posed to me."
Army: "Who is this?!"
Petra: "Petraxa, of the Asp. Taiga was right to meet us, we have far more resources than she has access to, and are already preparing to help."
Army: "I don't give a damn what you think! This is urgent and confidential, you should not be on this line!"
Petra: "While I consider us more mercenary than civilian, perhaps we can help there? I am willing to offer the services of my cargo-transports to make up for the lost time. Free of charge; I expect it to take far less resources to help you hold off the invasion than to push them back if you fail. I have very limited manpower I can spare, but I am also willing to discuss securing assets, though in that case we would have to discuss compensation."
(Vague, 'is he generally for it', question. 98, Exceptional No. But also Good reaction, as mentioned. I figure the offer convinced him Petraxa was genuine, but he has no interest in what she's actually offering, so:)
Army: "...TAI27, report on a secure coms once you land. ASP, you are granted permission to aid TAI27 in their mission, including access to restricted and confidential information she may uncover. In the future, do not interfere with military communication and go through the proper channels to offer mercenary aid."

(Maybe they can NOW get on with it? Nope, altered scene. So... I guess she doesn't find the evidence, the evidence finds her?)
The flying car, since the vehicle needs to be mobile, is lowering down beneath the 'roof' of the city and going in for the planned landing.
Only to find that a bank they should be passing has been highly fortified.
It's subtle, you wouldn't recognize it as a fortified location at a distance, but this is definitively reinforced and then covered in deceptive clutter.
And the fortifications stretch across the street they had intended to go down, so they cannot safely fit the car.
Taiga was part cat before she went anywhere, and now she's got super-legs and ninja training.
So she tells the crew of the car, "Get the side as close to a wall you can, then stand ready for covering fire if there is any sign of hostiles! I just need to get past the front unharmed, I can handle the rest. Then back off, and report to... Well, whoever isn't busy."
"Roger that," the pilot says, slowly leaning the vehicle towards the wall... Until Taiga jumps out.
Bracing herself against the wall, she loses some of her speed to friction before pushing side-ways off it, jumping over to the fortifications and wrapping her tail around a pipe to control her position as she quickly 'climbs' down, slowing herself down further but still having to move quickly to keep from ripping the junk off the wall.
And then she's suddenly hitting the ground, with barely a breath from either her or the legs' jets.

Pushing at various spots, she quickly finds a part of the makeshift wall she can pry open just enough to slip through, and she makes sure to get dirtied up by the water and sooth collecting on the cold metal, to darken her bright hair and what little skin she's exposing these days.
(Camouflage isn't supposed to be rolled ahead of time, but might as well: 3d=14 vs 14 (Camouflage defaulting to Survival-2 (20-2=18), -4 for various penalties, like her gear and the environment) - A success with no margin; She HAS managed to blend in, it WILL take a successful Vision or Observation check to see her, but any margin at all will beat hers.
Might as well roll stealth, mainly to check for crit-fails: 9, so probably at least 6-8 degrees, even after penalties for moving too fast. But against a roll of 7, without said penalties but with lower stats. I'd say someone does hear the occasional object stirring when she goes past, but does not manage track her perfectly. ...What does he roll for spotting her, if he does get line of sight? 7. Yeah, he'd beat her even with a -5 to -7 penalty, depending on skill)
She's... Not a master ninja, but she manages well enough.
Just a shame that apparently someone on guard has very keen ears, and very keen eyes, and seems to take their job very keenly to heart.

('Does she notice she's been seen?' VL/C4. 8, Very Yes. 'Does she at least get some intel first?' Yes.)
The inside of the bank-fort is dark, dark enough that she has to 'mix in' her own, native, eyes to see clearly.
Which feels uncomfortable, since it feels like her body is 'wrong', and the fact that her own body feels 'wrong' is itself uncomfortable on a different level.
Hence why they've been reluctant to alt-form-mix too much.
Still, she manages to make out the sounds of people moving about quietly, and signs of this place having various 'improvements' made.
Mostly to aid in travel.
The new wall hides walkways between the neighboring buildings and the bank - currently just wooden planks precariously balanced on beams, but almost certainly they are going to hammer them down when they can spare the hammers to do so.
Buildings have holes knocked out of them so they can use them for cover while moving about, rather than the open alleys.
And other techniques straight out of 'Urban Combat Doctrine'
(It occurs to me that Kanto hasn't been captured yet, and I can see how this might result in that, but there's several ways this can go, let's see where we end up. Very No to her tripping over the 'keen' guy...)

There's people wandering around in the main lobby, but Taiga slips from the doorway, to a pillar, and then off to the side where the employee entrance is.
On the basis that there are an awful lot of computers there, all presumably still hooked up, that an invader might find very useful for communicating with his fellow guerrilla... And this is their big, secure, central-base-to-be, presumably, so maybe there are some juicy documents around?
She's keeping her head down and silently skimming through interesting files or screens, and the papers, and just looking for something to take back.
Right as she finds something that looks promising, but before she can check if it's what she's really looking for, she hears a voice behind her.

"Can I help you?" They ask with mock politeness.
Mentally searching frantically for an escape, physically Taiga stands up and quickly rattles off, "Yes, I was hoping to open an account, but there wasn't anyone at the desk. No, sorry, I'm here looking for villains. Seemed like a villain lair. You guys seem like soldiers though, not villains. I'm not paid to deal with soldiers. That's more the Asp's job. I'll just go." (Fast-talk, success, +2 to reaction)
(Filch: 9 vs 14. 5 degrees. Versus: 6 vs 12+ Vision/Obs. 6+ degrees) As she's standing up, she's deftly slipping the files inside her coat.
Just as he'd heard a cat's silent footsteps and seen her through the dim light, the stranger's eyes flicker to where she'd hidden the documents.
(I guess now we do need to know: Are those from the actual guerrilla people? Nope! Very No in fact.
Can't have him comment on that without his reaction roll though: 7, plus a max of 2 as far as I can tell, so poor: Potential Combat - Insults, threats, will escalate to violence if the PCs do not immediately leave. He is not armed, by a near-crit No. I'm doing skill-based Reaction Rolls wrong, btw; At least some of these should be Influence Rolls - though maybe I'm also doing them more right than I thought?)
"Get your furry ass out of here!" He shouts at her, pointing back the way she came, "I'd capture you, but [Censor: Threat of sexual assault]"
With a hiss of her legs' jets, she's abandoning stealth and, as commanded, fleeing the scene.
Not bothering to stop to open the way out, even, she'll go right over the wall - whether not wanting to be a stationary target or just not thinking straight.
('Flexibility' cancels out the penalty to climb a building. Climb: 12 vs 16-18 (probably 17))
It's not the simplest part of the wall she's chosen, but she's more than capable of climbing up and over.

This wasn't very long at all; Taiga was supposed to be gone the rest of the day, sneaking around on foot, since they hadn't expected her to crash right into the headquarters.
So the car she came in on is still hanging out around the corner, so the soldiers can peer around and report what's going on.
She gets back in, telling them, "We really shouldn't stick around! Pretty damn sure those are guerrilla fighters, so we're outnumbered, out-fortified, and in effectively enemy territory!"
The pilot rogers it and, when everyone's in, lifts off again and flies away.
While the coms-guy relays what's happened, then hands off to Taiga.
Petra: "What happened? You assured me you could stay hidden."
Taiga: "I could have tried harder to go back into hiding once discovered, but I had intended to find their plans before they could invade and bunker up. They HAVE bunkered up. I'd rather be ready to help fight these guys! Besides, got some secret documents that look promising; Lots of code-names and stuff I doubt a bank would have. I'm having your pilot stop somewhere discrete so I can 'call home', they can transmit the documents while I'm doing that."
Petra: "Did you get a good look at their equipment? What are we dealing with here?"
Taiga: "Lightly-armed guerrilla fighters, and pretty skilled ones at that. They can't have been working for more than a couple hours, and they've already gotten the alleys walled off (not completely, but enough to stop vehicles and hinder infantry), started throwing together suspended walk-ways, and knocked holes out of the buildings. If you don't put pressure on them within the next four to eight hours - I'd say eight if they weren't surprisingly fast so far - then we'll pretty much have to blow up the block to get rid of them."
Petra: "Any Extraordinary people?"
Taiga: "I'm not sure; The guy that noticed me was unarmed - entirely, not even a knife stuffed down a boot or something - and seemed to be able to perceive me no matter what I did. He tracked me down without a line of sight, despite being 'imperceptible to hearing' and in a building full of hard-working men that should have obscured my scent. And yet he allowed me to go - mind, I completely believe he meant it when he said the only reason he's not letting his men have their fun with me is because it'd be too much of a distraction from the work. I could have sworn he saw me take the documents too, but he didn't even react to it!"
(Strategy for Petra, I guess: Base 20, -4 because she knows Land strategy and this is Urban, -2 because of TL difference and lack of info. So, 14 vs 14; The other commander is vastly inferior, but he has all the advantages here: Petra/Enemy: 12/13, so just barely!)
Petra: "...He saw you take it? Then it is likely a decoy, especially if it was left in the open. That also means they anticipated someone sneaking in during the narrow time-frame. They must have been aware of you before you came back to meet us, or at least of someone having discovered their plans."
Taiga: "Maybe that means I've managed to make them panic? Rush them along?"
Petra: "A hasty enemy is good when you're ready to take advantage. We are not. It would have been better if they had been cautious for a few more days. I have to let Lord Hiro know. Please report to your commander, and make sure you are told whether or not the military wants first go. I am not eager to engage in urban warfare against an unknown enemy, I would rather the local forces set off the traps before we engage them ourselves."

Taiga checks in with her commander, apologizing for it taking longer than it should (in her defense, she ran into hostiles on the way to the intended secure spot), letting them know what Petra suspected, etcetera.
('Do they want the 'mercenaries' to handle it?' NST/C5, 73, Yes.)
As expected, they basically say 'Fix it yourself, but keep us informed.'

I get on the coms once I'm filled in, contacting Kanchan who's probably at the end of his flight, but not quite down yet.
"Hey, Kan-Chan?" I ask into my mobile, which is the closest I've got to a way to hook into the coms.
"What?!" Comes the response, though I can't tell if it's just noisy on her end or if she's angry.
"If ya still wanna get a 'real' task, I might have something for ya," I explain, "Turns out, there's some guerrilla fighters up where Taiga was going to sneak around."
"Already?" she asks, suddenly far more invested in this conversation, "I thought they were only softening us up?!"
I sigh, saying, "Petraxa thinks they noticed Taiga snooping around before we picked her up. Not her fault, I'm sure."
"Ah... So now they know they can't just prepare at their leisure," she sighs along with me, "Still, if we can hit them right away, while they're still mobilizing, we can crush their invasion piece-meal instead of facing them all at once."
"Which is where you come in," I say, "Get to your mech, get there as fast as possible. Taiga says they've gotten most of the framework up in under two hours, I doubt they'll need more than a couple more before you wouldn't get through their barricades without collapsing the block on top of yourself."
"Am I going in alone?"
"Not if I can get anyone else there in time," I tell her, "This is our only lead, and with any luck we can work outwards to crush the rest of them. If you can drive and talk, we can discuss strategy on the way, otherwise we have until you get in the mech to discuss who you need on-site. It will likely take a while to get backup to you, I'm struggling to find any secure place for a portal within a thirty-minute march of the location, and that's not counting the time for me to get there."

(I'm pretty sure Kanchan's getting captured no matter what. But let's see what she can do...)
(Strategy 17 vs 14, against 15 vs 14, both fail, enemy fails by less - oh, and I missed that Kanchan crit-failed; She's definitively getting captured:) Yeah, Hiro's logic seems reasonable; They'd be preparing for Infantry first... Probably. (She's wrong, very wrong)
The enemy commander didn't so much outsmart as outluck her; They'd decided to get the traps set up early mostly on the basis that they have no idea what they'll be facing, they need to get the traps set up and then complete the internal work while they're sieged, if need be.
And they're particularly worried about car-sized, highly mobile vehicles, as they're big enough to be a problem while being small enough to get through - plus, they've seen there ARE cars on the enemy side - and the first wave is GOING to be the ones that can get into position quickly.
(Tactics 7 vs 20, against 5 vs 15 (An inferior victory, but a crit success on the enemy side!)... I'll give the enemy the Luck Advantage thanks to their apparent luck when being introduced - I consider the intro over, their abilities have been demonstrated now - but call this Kanchan's win. But then Kanchan crits (with a 6) against spotting the trap... Actually, not a problem! Forgot, it wasn't the traps anyway! I think I know how this plays out:)

(Driving for good measure... Rolled 4, so Crit Success! ...What's going on? ...Roll against another -4, to 12, to get there way faster than expected? 13, nah, just 'way more impressive than expected' - which makes sense, given my intent for the Tactics)
Talking strategy while driving ain't no thing, to someone like Kanchan.
They go back and forth a while on who should be where, though ultimately most of the work has to be done by Hiro.
Because he's got maps, he's got plenty of time to contact the others, and he's the one with portal-access.
Mind, he's also gotta figure out how to get a hold of a base in the  area, since he couldn't find a way to just 'move in' and take over without raising suspicion - not even if he could bribe people out, as he'd still need various permits and such to have a legal base, not to mention other bureaucratic work.
Not that most people care about permits here, but he's going to push it above and beyond if he keeps using this place - and he'll want multiple access points throughout the city, so he might as well get a place he can sit firmly on - so he needs it to at least look legitimate on paper.
(Got side-tracked by the economy, so let's handle... Actually, no, let's handle Kanchan first still, then do shopping while she's captured)
Time's limited, Kanchan's fast, it'll be 10-30 minutes for any backup to come...
The logical choice seems to be to send her, and her two in-mech technicians, into the fray to put pressure on the enemy from a secure location.
Buy time for the others to arrive on the scene and start fighting back at a larger scale.
She's nimbly dodging through traffic (mostly-legally) as she sprints through the wider 'main streets' between her Mech was left and where the enemies are.
Once she's close enough that she has to turn off into the alleys, she (correctly) expects the alleys to be trapped and climbs (8vs'idunno') unto the overhanging structures and roofs, battle-suit-parkouring past all the traps and guards.

Until she's standing on the roof of the shortest building there, looking down at the bank.
(She's not heard or seen)
Banking on not having been noticed quite yet, she takes the time to line up her first shot, going for a weak point...
(7 to hit, vs 12-18 (waffling retroactively, but it doesn't matter) - Damage of a TL 8 Rocket Launcher would be 7dx3=24x3=72 crushing. Which is less than it sounds like when dealing with anything but the flimsier buildings. It'd be enough to take out the door though... Definite no on having targeted the door.)
The charged blast hits the weakest-looking part of the makeshift barricade on the side, as she tries to create an opening for future friendlies to use.
There's a loud boom, and the few remaining lights around here go out as electricity surges through everything near where it hit and blows out every fuse in the vicinity.
Even Kanchan's sensors get fuzzy for a second or two.
Anyone touching metal with a direct, conductive link to the blast is fried; Some might survive, particularly those far away, but chances are they're at least unconscious, possibly thrown off walkways, and likely seriously hurt.
Similarly, anyone hiding behind the flimsier parts of the barrier - anything short of an inch or two of solid steel, or half a foot of stone Bank-wall - will also be knocked unconscious, or worse.
But the barricade itself, and anyone hidden behind the sturdier parts, or far away from the blast... Are fine.
It definitively left a dent in it, with enough blasts she might start doing 'real' damage, but this would go a lot better with a lot bigger vehicle or a lot more allies.
And there's no windows left either; Even the surrounding buildings are running low on windows, as in the narrow alleyways the shockwave had traveled pretty far.
(Might need to aim through windows or something next time. If she gets a next time. BTW, a TL9 Battlesuit would just barely block all but 2 points of damage from that; Kanchan herself wouldn't have been seriously hurt by the blast, with the damage I gave it and that roll, only the shock. I think I'd count it as TL10, anyway, though; x1.5 DR. ...That said, it seems like I might be overshooting the DR? I'm unsure on it. Different sources conflict.)

Above her, hidden in shadows, the adversary stands ready to throw down their explosives.
Between the shaking of the surrounding structures, the surprise at an unusual weapon, and the shock of the glass shattering in front of them, they hesitate long enough for Kanchan to get one last shot in...
(Taking a few rounds to Aim again, not sure what SM to use... Let's call it an effective skill of 12-14, I'll deal with it later if it matters. Rolled 8, so it doesn't. Damage: 19 (rolled it three times <.<) x3=57. But looking through the Tank listing instead... I think I should at least give it an Armor Divisor of 10 - that still makes it much weaker than some TL7 tanks' main weapons in terms of damage, and equal in armor-piercing ability. I was basing it more of anti-tank weapons, but even then I was confused not to see any armor division (since tanks have 100+ DR, if not two or three times that))
Kanchan gets the charged blast charged back up, and remembers to do it correctly this time so it's not set at a fraction of its power.
It explodes just inside one of the exposed holes, creating a significantly bigger hole and lightly charring anyone who can't get behind cover in time (57 is low enough to not auto-kill anyone (it won't make them hit -HPx5), but it'll make it real tough to survive the saves against death. For the record, it hits everyone within 42 feet, with independent-rolled damage, divided by (3xfeet from center), and full DR)
And then a grenade goes off beneath her mech.

She wakes up to a metal spike being shoved into her stomach, followed by the smell of cooked flesh as the 'unarmed' man unloads the full power of his melee 'stun' weapon - which he usually uses at a lower basis, but it's not every day you're dealing with someone super-durable AND regenerating.
(Actually, let's do Reactions! For both sides! Adversary's first impression of her is Good. Kanchan's first impression is Poor)
"You're quite a catch," they tell her, "Just such a shame I couldn't get a hold of your vehicle too. It would have made everything go so much smoother."
"Fuck you!" She shouts in response, trying to get up but finding that she can't.
She can't even turn her head far enough to see why, her limbs just refuse to budge off whatever metallic surface she's on.
"Maybe later," he admits, "I need to make certain arrangements, and don't have time for such luxuries. However, don't worry, you won't be bored; You killed about a dozen of my men, so now there's about two dozen friends, lovers, and/or family members looking to take their grief out on you. I'd consider it a waste of your beauty, except they won't be able to mar it anyway."
((And she's stuck for an hour of torture and six hours of captivity, at minimum <.< Rolling some Fright checks, since it's the best I can come up with... A failure at hour 5-ish, leading to fainting for a few minutes. Otherwise, she's a trooper))

While the mech-pilot herself is being tortured...
Her technicians have taken the mech to a safe distance and contacted Hiro, which is the general plan if possession of the mech becomes in question; It'll be real hard to take it back from an opponent who manages to hijack it, it's better to require Kanchan to solve the problem before she can get back in.
Especially as the techs can't be relied on to decide whether or not she could get out of the situation quickly or not; If they do need to get back in, Hiro can tell them as much.
Which means the rest of the gang, particularly Hiro and Petra, do now know that Kanchan got captured, after sufficiently damaging the structure that it appears the remaining people have fled.
There may or may not be booby traps left behind, and/or people hiding in the shadows, but they can't see anyone on their sensors.
Which... Makes it a lot harder to track them, now that they've scattered.
So Hiro's still sending the troops, and this time having them bring the techs too, so they can work together to clear out traps, check the buildings, etcetera.

Hiro himself... Is going to have to talk to some corrupt politicians.
But he can't do that dressed like a comic-book villain, he needs proper clothes!
Good thing he doesn't sleep, and he's got all night (and presumably most of the morning) before any such politicians would be willing to meet.
(Savoir-Faire succeeded, so he does have the right idea for how to bribe them; Bring a gift, take them to an expensive dinner, and imply that you're expecting to have to compensate them for the 'overtime' that people will have to work to help you get this done quickly.
Streetwise: 7 vs 13, so that's a pretty significant success too; He knows who is bribe-able. Actually, that should have been done by whichever Companion (maybe Tunda) has best Streetwise, so that's an even better success - she doesn't have Low Empathy, and it's almost certainly better trained)
Now, not a lot of the most professional tailors are going to be available at such short notice OR at night, and the same goes for restaurants fancy enough to be worth going to... But the latter isn't actually a problem, just a lack of potential advantage, since he can frame it as being unsure where the guy would want to go. He should still have a few spots ready to suggest.
As for a tailor... He has Tund find out if any of her people know about any tailors that might be open at night, on the basis that maybe they know some mob-patronized spots or something. (They're one off critting their streetwise, so yes, they do)
(Out of curiosity... Intimidate versus Will. 9 vs 20, against 15 vs 14-ish. Yeah. With Doca, the two could intimidate 50 thugs with Fearless 5. They also got a 13 for the 'real' reaction roll, + at least 3 for 16-18, Very Good. Could easily get into 19+, but we'll call this unfamiliar enough territory to stay short of that. Very Good reaction means a 20% discount on prices, and they're generally quite impressed.)
The 'natural-born android', Hiro, and his reptilian sidekick, Doca, drop down from the helicopter, which flies off to wait at a more convenient location.
After a short walk, we arrive at a nondescript little shop in a back alley.
Not the darkest alley around either, just... A bit off the road, not quite on the main street, yaknow?

It seems locked, but when I knock on it, it opens.
"What'd'y'want?" Comes from the big guy at the door.
I give him a Royal Frown, and am pleased when his own scowl melts away into uncertainty.
I've still got it - or maybe Doca does, I'm not sure which of us he's more scared of.
"Unless I have the wrong place," I say with blatantly-forced patience, "You should be expecting me. Tund said her 'girls' would send message ahead."
He mumbles an apology, which is close enough to 'this is the right place' for me, so I push past him.
A far more dignified looking guy comes over, customer-service smile in full beam, and asks, "Ah, we were informed someone was coming, but may I have your name?"
"I am Lord Hiro," I declare, then gesture to Doca, "And this is Docaera Wingless, one of my wives. Princess Tund is my half-sister, for reference."
"Ah, yes," he nods, looking uncertainly over us, "We... Had been under the impression you were rather... On the other side of the law."
"I am," I nod, expressionless, and hear people's clothes move - presumably reaching for weapons - but I continue, "But I have far bigger concerns, and you are not in my 'territory' - this isn't the part of town I patrol, not even close. Please refrain from admitting to any crimes, however; I'd prefer to maintain plausible deniability."
He hesitates for a moment, then seems to be pretending to be offended.
I cut him off before he responds, saying, "Don't bother pretending. Like I said, I'm Tund's brother. I might not get to hear the latest 'pillow-talk' gossip like she does, but I knew what I was getting when I asked her for help finding a tailor. If nothing else, me and her collaborate so I don't accidentally patrol near where her people work, or vise versa. Now, I'm on a rather tight deadline; I have several other errands to do by morning, including several more luxury items to track down."
"Ah, of course," he nods, or perhaps briefly bows, hard to tell, then asks, "Do you have an idea of what you are looking for?"
"In the short term, I want the best suit you can get to fit me by morning, and am expecting to pay extra for the rush job, but will be insulted if you try to fleece me," I tell him, "But to give an idea of my 'budget'; In the long term, I want a suit at least equal to a Desmond Merrion Supreme Bespoke, which I hear costs just short of fifty thousand. If you convinced me you were capable of making such a suit, I'd give you five thousand bonus cash-in-hand for saving me the time finding a tailor and would be willing to deposit the entire fifty thousand with a mutually-trusted third party; No offense intended, I'm sure you'd also not trust any of your 'colleges' with 50k paid up front. Of course, you are NOT on Savile Row, I won't be shocked or offended if you are unable to make a suit worth more than ten K, though if I'm satisfied I'd still hand over two to five thousand as a bonus (after, not before) depending on how quickly you can have it ready."
"I-I, ah..." He stutters, staring at me, trying to tell if I'm lying (I'm not, but he can't tell; He lost the quick contest of Detect Lies versus my IQ, so I seem genuine either way)
Eventually he manages, "Look, I'm sorry, but Savile Row is famous for a reason. I'm... A good tailor, but I'm not world-famous. I can get you a suit worth two thousand in a couple of days, or we can see if one of the off-the-hook outfits fit you. Those do not go above a thousand, and most are under half that, however."
I sigh, rubbing my hands in thought, then explain, "I have been keeping a low profile, in terms of spending, since arriving here. But due to certain circumstances, I have to meet with someone on the city council. I'm fairly certain I can convince them to meet me if I tempt them with food and drink, and possibly a bit of entertainment (not 100% caught up in the 'bribing etiquette' of this town, but it seems fairly similar to what I'm used to) But I'm not certain they'll agree to help me. I cannot meet them in some 'under-prepared interviewee' suit. They'd never take me seriously!"
"A-ah," he starts, "P-perhaps you might compensate with expensive accessories? It m-might be easier to find a jeweler that can fit a ring in an hour, than a tailor that can make a brand new outfit in a night."
"Yeah," I admit with another sigh, "You're right, you're right. And while my royal outfit would stand out - different world, VERY different culture, you surely understand - I can re-use a lot of the jewelry. Well, time's ticking, please help me find a suit that does fit me then."
While he helps me try on a few different outfits, I ask him about potential places to find rare wine and such, and whether he knows what my target enjoys in terms of 'business meetings'.

I stop by my own realm to check what royal jewels I'm willing to take out of the vault...
When I'm stopped by a catboy apparating in front of me.
Tilting his head to the side, Aerion asks, "Ya sure ya wanna take those into the Jump? It'd be a shame to lose them, aren't some of these like the better part of a millennium old now?"
"Given how much trouble you've gone to making it easier to steal from me," I say, "I doubt you're here to tell me to be careful."
He shrugs, "Not really, no, I'm more here to offer a deal. But it's still a deal that helps you not risk your jewels. Heck, it's not even a GOOD deal; I'll be overcharging you if you take it. It's only worth it if you're in a hurry and consider your royal jewelry to have more than the purely physical value."
"Get to the point," I tell him, but my heart's not in it.
Shifting his weight back and forth, he considers the wording, then says, "Basically, I'm offering to make stuff out of precious metals in exchange for the object's weight in silver for fancy, precious-metal stuff. Like an 'everyday use' crown. Or for a rather affordable fee if you want some non-precious stuff, though don't expect the same quality then. But to be clear, you'd also have to give me the metal you want me to make it out of. So, if you want a two-pound golden circlet, you'll have to give me two pounds of silver AND the two pounds of gold I'll be using. I'm asking for silver because I need silver rings for my own purposes - it's an enchantment thing. I WILL guarantee a good result, though; If I screw it up, I'll just put that one in my personal storage and use my own metals for another try, until I get it right. Doubt I'd fail more than once every dozen complex items anyway. I'm supernaturally good at smithing, by a pretty big margin. And I'd make it instantly from your point of view."
I stare at him for a bit, partly because as much as he gets on my nerves he's still nice to look at and partly because he did just get on my nerves, again.
Then I frown, saying, "Aerion, there's no way you could put enough work into a crown to be worth its weight in silver. The craftsmen that made my royal crown didn't even get that much."
(How good a mood is Aerion in? 3d=15, plus at least 4, he's in a great and generous mood! And Hiro did pretty well on a Merchant roll too, but it doesn't matter)
"I suppose not," he admits, considering it, then backing into a portal to think.
A few seconds later, he comes back out, "Alright, sorry, if you can get me about half a pound of silver, I'll make a 'backup crown' for you. Without jewels; With jewels, it'll be a full pound, I don't like working with precious stones. I prefer to work with metal, and sometimes wood, materials I can shape and that have some degree of elasticity."
"That's still fairly expensive..." I chew it over, estimating the costs in my head.
"Yes, it is," he agrees, "But I'm more than fairly good. And I'll be making it in the PR workshop; It'll have CP protection. The point is to have something you can wear in Jumps, right? Especially this time, there's gonna be an awful lot of thieves. Heck, you'll have to be careful just to get the crown all the way to your meeting."
Leaning towards him, I squint, trying to judge his expression... "...You seem strangely eager to make this for me."
Shrugging, he claims, "It's mostly getting to show off my smithing. And getting silver without digging any up; I go through a BUNCH of it these days, I thought I had plenty stored but I've ran out. I mean, yes... This IS a great way to plant some secret enchantment, get you under my power, yada yada. Except... I had you under my power the day we met. As I demonstrated at the time. You also cannot resist my magic; I can demonstrate, if you wish."
"That's not necessary," I say, shaking my head, and start walking off to find someone who can get me some precious metals on short notice.
He follows, saying "I don't need a cursed crown to control you, the only reason your mind's free is that I'm not the type to enslave people's minds - without a good cause, anyway."
"How gracious," I roll my eyes.

Once he's got his metals, he's off to work on it.
Mind, as planned, he comes back several times with various proof-of-concepts made of steel - not good steel, apparently it's scrap-steel, but it's not like I'm able to tell at a glance. I might be able to tell if I tried bending them, mind.
A few of them get 'upgraded' to lead, which he has less of but which have about the right weight.
It's really not practical to use a 'traditional' style for long, but this is supposed to be my 'foreign visits' headpiece anyway, so he ends up 'adjusting' it to something that is balanced a lot lower on my head; There's a big difference between having a couple of pounds of metal standing up from the top of your head, compared to wearing them spread out around it.
I wore helmets heavier than even the biggest crowns when I fought against the Dark Lord - I'd still wear them in battle, if my cloak didn't do the same job without interfering with my vision or weighing me down. Of course, it is not impenetrable - He was wearing it when I killed him, and while I was far from ordinary, I was 'merely' a mortal human at the time - but neither is a metal helmet, and with the cloak I can see the attack coming and move out of the way too.
Eventually we have a good plan for what I want, including some feedback from me on what might 'suit' me in terms of decoration, and he's off to actually make it.
(And gets a mediocre result, a bad result, and a crit-fail one... Then a crit-success one! - I figure he won't mention it, but managed to mess up, make it worse when he tried to fix it, then accidentally broke off that part. Then he grabbed two pounds of his OWN gold, and made it flawlessly on the first try. "Bloody, crappy, dirt-kingdom gold... Shoulda just used the good stuff from the start... I wasted so much time!" This has probably taken him a couple of years, especially as he'd have gone especially slowly on the first try on the second.)
When he re-appears, he's got... A damn fine crown in his hands.
(At least +5, quite possibly +10, in Anima terms
In GURPS terms, where I got the prices (not that I'm tracking them closely):
	Black-Gold Crown:
		Cost, not counting metal: 826 (which is less than the metal would cost if it was made of silver. Gold's 7-20 times more expensive (varies a lot))
			Actually made of 100% pure gold, Aerion's using the 'femtosecond laser' trick that turns any metal black, but it's meant to look like the kind of black gold you get when you electroplate it with certain metals, or other more 'possible in modern times' looks. The 'band' that goes around someone's head is left as actual, pure gold, which is exposed when it's not worn.
			Quote a Jewelry site. "One reason that black gold is so popular is due to its edgy, unique look" - so, what better for the edgy, unique Jumper?!
		Weight: 1kg (0.5lb, x2 size, x2.1 metal weight, then approximated)
			Designed to lie lower on the head than most crowns (more like a circlet, and I mean the kind meant to protect the skull), and generally get the center of gravity inside the wearer's head so it'll be more natural on the neck.
		2x Extensive Relief (w/Inlaid Rare Wood in contrasting colors), one around the 'main circle' and one along the short 'tips'.
		Complex, comprehensive enamel: Adding color to your crown to make up for the lack of precious stones - but letting the gold and rare wood shine through in many places - and with minute illustrations of all who stood with you against the Dark Lord and each of the greatest victories against him.
		Crit-success-made after the first attempt was deemed unfixable.
		No special powers or anything, it's just expensive, which matters in GURPS if you've got high Status.
			Oh, except, it's got a durability-charm to keep it from just deforming like Play-Do if you so much as hold it too firmly. It's at least on par with iron.
		Specifically designed to be optionally worn with the Cape of Fears, so it doesn't contrast too badly with the long, red cloak.
		Also specifically made with you, the Vampire Lord, War-King, Hero, in mind, and you had a lot of input on the design, so take that as you wish.)
"Heh," I chuckle nervously as I hold it, carefully, in both hands, "If it wasn't for the sentimental value, I'd be tempted to use this as my royal crown."
Aerion rolls his eyes, chuckling a bit himself, "I'm quite happy with the final result, but dude, you can't wear that around your subjects! I, as discussed, intentionally went for an intimidating design. And to be honest, there's a good reason most crowns go for a rather simple design. And use ordinary, gold-colored gold, or just stick to silver. Use it with people who will be too busy seeing it as something foreign to realize it looks a bit... Well, either a bit Greek or a bit childish; The Greek tendency to paint everything in bright colors is considered childish in most modern worlds. Not sure why; Bright colors are nice, and psychologically beneficial, but eh."

I'm... Not able to find any bottles of wine I'm entirely happy with. (Because Status 4+ wine barely exists in the real world - but then the book does say to treat Status 3+ as Status 3 in most cases)
But on the plus side, once I gave up and lowered my goals from 'would make a lesser noble's eyes bug out' to 'would make a craftsman's eyes bug out', it became a lot easier (and a lot cheaper) to find something.
Didn't even have to go anywhere, I contacted a rich hero, asked about the best wines they'd be willing to part with, and paid them enough for them to get a nicer wine at the next wine-auction or whatever.
They even delivered it to me.
While I've been doing this, I've had Doca arrange for a catered 'box lunch' to be ready for the staff - this is not entirely appropriate, but neither is meeting on such short notice, and I'd like to at least give ingratiating myself to the staff a shot.
If they don't want it, I'll just send it to Petraxa's staff instead, maybe after grabbing a couple for me and Doca if the plan falls through completely.

...I'm really not looking forward to doing this. Kinda wish I could just send one of my wives in instead.
But, I mean, who am I supposed to send? Hrodina, 'empress of the half-beasts', who'd rip their throat out the moment they condescended to her?
Or Petraxa, who is not only extremely busy (and probably just now waking up), but is even less a fan of these 'politics' than me?
If I was desperate enough, I could in fact hand it over to someone else, but this is our best shot.
And hey, if it doesn't work out, maybe I can have the military lean on them.
(Mind... I've got a certain little idea... I might actually be able to make failure interesting, for once, so let's see how this goes...)
A short flight later, and we're dropped off within a short walk of the office.
I doubt they'd be too happy about me walking in with armed soldiers, especially mercenary ones, so I'm borrowing a couple of Kanchan's techs to help transport things instead.
Doca is with me, but she's been warned that I'll be ditching her if I find a way to get the guy to meet me alone; I want him to feel free to speak to me openly without concern about a third party.
Maybe there'll be paperwork for her to fill out, to help, so bringing her might become useful.
"Alright," I say, mostly to myself. Brushing imaginary dust of my new suit, checking that I'm not wearing anything I shouldn't, nor is Doca...
Then I lead the way inside!
(Admin 12 vs 14, so +2. Pointless/'Flavor' Intimidate 11vs17(20-3), against Will 11vs14, so anyone with Fearless 3+ (anyone 'jaded' to Extras) aren't intimidated. Now for the actual Diplomacy: 7vs14 (a bunch of penalties given how hasty and a mess this is), so at least a Good reaction.
Now the Reaction Roll: (-4 for the request (it's inconvenient, might cost them money or the job, and a bit complex), +4 app, +1 fash, +4 Cha, -2 Overconfidence, +2 Status, +4 skills) 7+9=15, Good. ...Welp. Oh! But! Bribes! So 16-18, Very Good!)

Everyone's attention's on us before we've even fully entered - it's early and we're weird, so I'm not surprised.
Gluing on a moderate smile, with a touch of warmth to it, I approach a woman that seems positioned to serve as a receptionist or equivalent - as in, it looks like it's set up so that visitors will encounter her first, which means that if the designer wasn't incompetent, she's the one that deals with visitors.
"Good morning," I tell her, discretely looking around for some indicator that she is or is not the right person, but not expecting to find any.
(...Body Language to read her, out of curiosity: 6vs14, easily enough)
"Morning," she responds, and I'm pretty sure she goes from irritation, to confusion, to potential hope at the boxes we brought.
Notably, not much fear, despite me and Doca having scared a room full of gangsters earlier that night, but then I had been wearing my cloak then.
And they were mere gangsters, while this is a clerk; I've known royal clerks whose response to a cannon-ball going through their desk was essentially 'it'll take me days to redo that!', while the trained guards on the other side of their door ran for their lives.
After a moment, she asks, "May I help you?"
"I hope so, but first," I laugh, then gesture for the techs to put down the boxes and leave, before turning back to the woman, "I might cause this place quite a bit of trouble today, so I brought a peace-offering; Catered lunches and good coffee. Hopefully you ARE allowed to accept food and drink here."
One of the other workers comes over and flips a box open, inspecting the inside.
Raising his eyebrows appreciatively, he nudges a co-worker, laughs, and quietly says, "Better not let the boss see it, or he'll want it himself."
Holding up the wine-bottle, I look over to him and say, "Don't worry, I'm bringing him a fancier drink, and if no one else is paying for his lunch already I'd love to pick up the tab for an urgent lunch meeting."
"Unfortunately," the first woman says as she's securing herself a box, "I don't believe he's ever had a lunch that wasn't booked by that morning."
"Yeah," I grimace, rubbing at the back of my head, "I had kind of expected that. But my urgent need to meet with him is in connection with confidential information I only received last night. He'll probably delegate the actual task of helping me, but I have been informed he already has the information, so if I at least could get a moment with him..."
"...If it's confidential, we should have received word via..." She starts, frowning suspiciously.
I hold a hand up, cutting her off, "No one told me to come here, I'm here on my own initiative. And it's partially a personal matter anyway. ...Perhaps I should just explain what I need?"
"I am curious what could require a 'peace offering' and gifts," she nods, giving discrete 'knock it off' glares to her colleagues that are hanging nearby and either distractedly working or just pretending to work.
"Well..." I take a moment to think, then go with, "I... Need a 'base of operation', in district seven. And it must be mine, as my plans for it involve personal secrets I do not want to reveal to the military once the situation is dealt with, but which will be hard to hide or move; I have to retain possession of the base, so I can't have them just 'requisition' the place. I already know of a couple structures that are currently in the government's possession and have yet to be sold off. However, I also need various permits to be able to outfit it as a proper base."
"How quickly do you need it?" She asks, frowning concerned, "It can take several weeks to get permission for such things."
"To put it like this," I say, leaning forward with a strained smile, "One of my friends and allies was kidnapped last night, shortly after sun-set. I cannot safely launch a rescue-operation - I can't even safely search for WHERE to send it - until I have a base. And that's just my personal stake; There are lives (and structural concerns) at stake here! I was half tempted to land on your boss' house and knock on the window, but I'd rather not get charged with Les Majeste. I have spent all night trying to get as ready as I can to get the best chance I have of getting this done personally, without getting anyone else involved. Hence why I'm wearing an off-the-rack suit with a solid-gold crown (the black is from a femto-laser treatment); I'm filling in the gaps of my understanding of local custom with my own culture's, which does admittedly cause some strange contrasts, but I don't exactly have the time to do it smoothly. Hence, the peace offering. If I cannot solve this in person, I have to find someone willing and able to help me solve this, TODAY, and that means you might have strange people showing up here, assuming I can convince any of them, trying to pressure you into cooperating, whether with the law or politics or whatever. And no matter how I do it, you might end up suddenly having to process a bunch of paperwork. I'd MUCH rather we all leave this situation happy with each other; I'm sure I'll have to come back here at some point, for some new business - hopefully a much less urgent one - so I'd love to maintain good-will."
(The improvised 'contact group' tests Law... 8vs12 (might have been 15 anyway; Effective skill 15 is the second lowest tier))
The woman sips her coffee thoughtfully, then leans forward and almost conspiratorially says, "Actually, you don't want to talk to him if you can help it. When he comes in, please let me handle him; If your 'confidential information' is regarding the safety of district seven, then you can talk to a much less busy, and much more friendly, woman if he officially delegates to her. She has equivalent clearance, although only for her district and only if she's handling the task, which means he has to decline it first."
"Alright..." I shrug, shuffling uncertainly, "So... I guess I just... Wait? I didn't really bring any gifts for anyone else, though."
Smirking, she gestures to where there's still a couple boxes left - I'd bought three or four more than I needed, so this still means someone's gotten greedy - and says, "Just save one of those for her, you'll make her day; She's got a bad habit of skipping lunch. Leave the wine with me; I'll let him know who it's from... Well, I will, if you tell me who you are (and actually, if you've got an over-the-top 'hero' name, that'd be perfect). He's not coming for another half hour, though, so I recommend waiting outside until he arrives. People don't usually need to wait here, so we don't have any benches inside."
"I'm... Well, if we're going 'over-the-top', I'm Lord Hiro of Aspania, though I'm not expecting the 'Lordship' to be recognized until I file the proper paperwork. That's a much less urgent problem though. I'm here on behalf of the Asp, - That's the real reason it's called the Asp, it's just a shortened Aspania, the snake painted on is just to explain the name we came up with on the spot when we suddenly had to respond to a request for identification." I explain, grabbing the box as recommended (and some coffee; I bought three gallons, the largest disposable container they have, so there's about 60 cups in it. They can spare a cup or two for me and Doca)

((Ok, this is getting... Exhausting >.< Look, at this point, it's just the victory lap of this 'obstacle' left, I figure. I'm reducing the reaction bonus for future stuff, too, by at least a couple points.
...That said, I was going to just do a Reaction Roll just in case... A 'natural 18', which is a 1-in-216 chance and just needs +1 net to get Excellent. I guess let's play it out after all?
And I'm adding the District 7 Assistant Mayor as a Contact))
Eventually a large, fancy car comes by and the guy I'd been intending to meet goes out.
So, me and Doca walk in after, keeping a casual distance so we don't spook anyone.
Just in time to have the woman I'd talked to gesture at me and say something about a gift - I don't know and don't care whether it's about the wine or the food.
I stand there, in my five-hundred-buck suit and my colorful crown, with synthetic skin, and flanked by Doca the reptilian.
He sneers at me (rolled 8 for his reaction, so probably 10-12, Neutral, so he wants nothing to do with me), and talks to her some more.
Not long after, he walks off to his office.
While receptionist-lady comes over to us and says, "Please, follow me, I'll take you to Ms. Perce."
Suppressing a shrug, I nod to her and follow along...
Ms. Perce's office isn't even in the same building, but then I guess I don't know if anyone's is, as we're lead out back and through a rather nice (presumably artificial) garden, over to an adjacent building instead.

I knock on the office door...
And am met first with the sound of what I assume is... (Actually... Hearing check, why not: 18, doesn't matter what versus.)
Actually, no, I'm not met with any sounds; I'm staring back at the garden, trying to decide whether it IS artificial or not, so I hear nothing and see nothing.
Doca (who doesn't crit-fail her hearing) hears what she guesses is books falling over.
And she elbows in the side when the door opens, so I turn back in time to see a woman in a nicer dress than I'd gotten - or at least one that suits her better.
For a moment, I wonder how I'd look in a dress - in one of my female forms, I mean - but I push it aside, and also push aside the thought of Kanchan in a dress.
Offering my hand, I say, "I'm Hiro - Lord title pending, I'll deal with that when I'm less busy."
"Herleva Perce," she says, shaking my hand with a firm, though shaky, grip, "How may I help?"
"We should talk inside," I explain, gesturing past her, then I hold up the box, "Also, I brought you lunch. Well, I brought the front-office people lunch, I didn't expect to be sent to you, but there was a couple boxes left. There weren't any disposable cups for the coffee, though, so if you want that you'll need to bring your own cup, I suppose. Assuming it doesn't get 'confiscated' by the boss before then."
(And this would be about where the Reaction Roll SHOULD happen, but I pre-rolled it while intending to rush past this - plus, got my breath back a bit, feel like doing this 'properly' again anyway. If nothing else, this helps establish what he's doing when I rush through it other times - though I doubt I'll do this 'right' anyway :P)
"There's coffee in the reception?" She asks, glancing back at her office.
I frown slightly and nod, then glance at Doca.
Perce darts back inside and comes out with a large coffee-mug - one of those with a close-able cap and a suction-bottom for stability.
"We can wait a moment while you get some," I laugh, stepping aside to let her past.
Mumbling a thanks, she hurries off.
While waiting, I lean lightly against Doca and we debate whether or not the grass is real.
Then Perce comes back and I stand up straight, brushing my clothes down and clearing my throat.
"You might be my favorite visitor," she tells me as she walks past with both hands around the mug.
And we're lead inside, taking a seat on two chairs once she's cleared the fallen books and papers off them.

"Now," she says as she sits down at her desk across from us, suddenly looking more intimidating, "How may I help?"
(I wonder... How's her Intimidate? 5vs15+, Crit Success. Versus Will 12vs21. ...Which actually requires a Fright Check! 15, so would fail even with the 'Rule of 15' perk! Stunned for 5 seconds, new mental quirk: Responsive.
So I guess that while she's amazed with me - got a few ideas about why, we'll see what happens - I'm 'scared straight' by her? :P
I mean, technically she shouldn't have crit on that, but I also shouldn't have rolled high two more times in a row)
I... Stare at her for a good five seconds, until Doca elbows me, hard, in the side to snap me out.
"Ah, right, sorry," I blink, reaching for an excuse... Then deciding to, for once, just be honest, "Actually, might as well admit it; You scared me for a second there, Ms. Perce. Which is... Impressive, given who I am and what both my allies and enemies look like."
"Ah, sorry," she says, the intimidating aura melting away, "Habit. Most Extras that come here aren't quite so... Polite."
"Understandable," I nod, pushing my heart-rate down (that sure is a useful ability), then saying, "Now, as for why I'm here... I was told you have the same clearance as your boss, as long as it's about District Seven and he's declined to help?"
"Yes," she nods, gesturing at Doca, "Does she have the appropriate clearance?"
"Well..." I frown, scratching my chin, "The clearance was given to the Asp in general. Not sure if that's even a thing that can be done, legally, but... Either everyone working under me and Petraxa have clearance, or there is no reason to consider the information we gathered on our own to be confidential. And we did specifically get told that we are permitted to help Taiga, an enlisted scout (and my personal friend), explicitly including confidential information for the purposes of said help."
She blinks, then rests her head in her palms, saying something like, "That's not a thing, no. So now you've got confidential information without proper clearance... This is going to be a headache..."
Gesturing to the food and drink, I tell her, "Maybe have some of the coffee? And the brownies are meant to be for dessert, but I won't tell anyone if you need a bit of a blood-sugar boost."
Chuckling, she takes me up on the suggestion, washing down a bite of brownie with a couple gulps of coffee.

"Maybe I should just tell you what I know?" I suggest.
She nods, gesturing to go ahead while she's eating.
So I tell her about Taiga finding clues about an invasion.
About me calling us all together coincidentally, based on Rana's problem and a general need to plan, and happening to run into some pretty powerful villains.
How she explained the issue so we could try to help her, and in particular so we could get her back there as soon as possible.
It was during that trip back that we had the talk with the military and got the maybe-not-legal clearance.
Then Taiga ran into a strangely-perceptive guy that seemed like the leader, and grabbed documents we think are fake since they were suspiciously convenient AND we think the leader saw her grab them.
But he let her go, for some reason - possibly the fake documents.
Since they'd already gotten so much done, we thought time was of the essence, so I sent in Kanchan to put pressure on them and slow down their work.
Only for her to get captured, though the techs luckily got the mecha out of there so the enemy doesn't have a compact war-weapon.
"Which is why..." I say as I'm nearing the finish, "I need a proper base of operations, and every hour it takes to get is an hour they can use to fortify their defenses. In a week, I expect them to either have been pushed back or be occupying a decent portion of your district. But due to... Well, yaknow what? Let's be honest; Because I want to open a portal to my home, and I can't CLOSE that portal, I need to maintain ownership of the base. I can't have the military take it over when the invasion's done, because that means the military has a direct entrance to my home realm."

(Law 10vs14+ for her)
She considers it for a while, finishing up her brownie, and thinking aloud that, "That's not just a problem of acquiring it quickly... If you're telling the truth about still having connections back to your old country of residence..."
I wave to get her attention, giving a sheepish grin and saying, "Not that I have much 'proof', without bringing you there anyway, but it's not like I'm just an immigrant from there. When I said I am Lord Hiro, what I mean is that while Petraxa is the one with the royal blood, due to the traditions of the land, I am the ruling War-King of Aspania."
Slipping the crown off my head - it's kinda heavy anyway - I place it on the desk and gesture at the decorations, explaining, "This isn't the 'royal' crown, of course, but the decorations here are a reference to when I defeated the Dark Lord of my world. The great victories, the people who stood by me, and so on."
"May I?" she asks, reaching for it.
For some reason, I'm not concerned with her stealing or tampering with it, so I just say, "As long as you're careful. Thanks to an enchantment it's sturdier than most gold, but it's still made of gold. Just, laser-treated, and with a few rare woods and enamel and such for decoration."

"I figured this was just a... Well, a costume prop," she admits, slipping on some gloves so she won't dirty it with her fingers, then carefully investigating it, "Like the usual crown you wear; I'm vaguely remembering how you usually look now."
I cock an eyebrow at her, "The crown I usually wear is a priceless artifact that grants me dominion over beasts. But it used to belong to the Dark Lord - as does the cape, my sword, and... A more complicated 'item' that makes up a third of my army - so it didn't seem appropriate to bring it."
"Well," says Doca, "The sword belonged to his general, didn't it?"
"Ah, yes," I nod to her, "Sorry, I was thinking 'belonged to the Dark Lord's side', but that wasn't what I said. Yes, it's from the general. Hence having healing powers, something the Dark Lord would never have added."
"You have three crowns?" She asks, bringing out a magnifying glass - which shakes in her grip - to get a closer look at the detailed decorations.
Nodding, I explain, "I have the royal crown, made with a significant portion of my monetary reward at the time and used in my coronation. I have the Crown of Beasts, one of four items I claimed from the Dark Lord's, or his subordinates', possession in the aftermath. And I have that crown you're looking at, which is... Just my personal jewelry, paid for with my personal funds. Actually, it was made last night; I've got an... Unreliable ally, we can call them, that can 'step outside time', and just so happens to be a great smith. So I scrounged up gold worth a couple month's of my salary, and half a pound of silver for payment, and had that commissioned in a couple hours. But I figured it might as well serve as remembrance of WHY I am the War-King, and all who helped me get there.
"While I AM on a short deadline here, do you want me to go through a quick explanation of the illustrations?" I ask, gesturing to them, then laugh, "Maybe it'll get you to tear your eyes from it faster that way."
So I do, pointing out each ally and giving a brief summary of each victory, explaining how the ally or victory helped me defeat the Dark Lord.
"And finally, the Castle I rule from," I say as I gesture at the last design, "The Prince was not anywhere near as competent as his father, luckily. You might get to see what I took from him, if I can also get permission to bring in... Support. I mean, my armies are greatly outmatched by the equipment here, but the 'gruntlings' in particular are well-suited to fighting in confined spaces."
Handing back my crown, which I re-equip for now, she thinks it over while she goes through one of the two sandwich-halves...

"I might have a long-shot solution," she explains, eventually, "But it's risky. To both of us, for that matter. But I don't see any other way to get you the permissions you need. On the upside, if this works... You won't just own the base, it'll be your sovereign territory."
And she explains, and we discuss, how I might be able to claim it as an embassy.
We would still have the issue of needing to be formally providing support before we can send troops through, but there are precedences in place, and this city isn't big on laws anyway these days.
Which isn't quite the direction I was planning to go, but this works, I suppose.
Means less secrecy, at least.
We don't have time to do it the right way, but by doing it in a very precise wrong way, we can put her superiors in a position where they can either accept getting more money than that place would pay in taxes at the expense of going along with it, or deny me and have a real headache trying to untangle the 'accident' Perce is going to make when she files certain paperwork she's going to fill out when I leave.
Long story short... I'm now outed as Lord Hiro, War-King of Aspania.
We'll see what that ends up doing to Taiga.
(Now... She REALLY likes you. And you're quite hot, even if I did bump down your appearance. ...'Does she 'try' anything?', 81, Nope, not by a long shot. It's not an exceptional no, so she's not asexual or anything, but I'm taking it to mean 'it's entirely professional/platonic awe')

(I'm not too interested in writing out how to set up an embassy, especially since I'm fudging a LOT of stuff.
But let's do some shopping... And let's just go with the end goal, not what we're getting right now. I might also go for a 'right now' list afterwards.
But I've wanted to use the various 'stationary equipment' lists for a while...
But let's do that in the notes beneath here, eh?)

So... We've got a base, and a shopping list that will take at least half a year to get through... And that's if I cut back on a couple luxuries to save money quickly.
But we've also got access back home now!
A couple mercenary soldiers by the door to guard, various workers inside - I'll buy dedicated computers eventually, but I do already have some back home, even if most of them are wearing out these days.
If I can, I really should try to use this Jump to build up the infrastructure to make these things myself.
Maybe I can get some industry to immigrate?
I dunno...

I guess we actually need to go find the bad guys now?
Tunda can send her people around, see if anyone's tripped over some fortified structures again.
Taiga is busy with military stuff, but that stuff does include scouting.
Galaga might be able to help magically.
Avice and Grey... While they could be flying around watching visually, I'd actually like them to go check for some way for us to earn some quick cash.
10k-20k extra would mean another 2-4 high-tech armors, so I could field a couple mercenaries in risky positions or something.
Petraxa might be able to find something on her sensors.
And Doca needs to get whatever last-minute training with her new shotgun that she can get, so she won't blow her own feet off with it.



***

1: Docaera Wingless, the Half-Dragon Brawler, Reptilian Brawler (Outsider)
2: Lieutenant-Princess Petraxa of Aspania, Flying-Base Commander
3: Taiga Speedbranch, Ranger of Furast , Mutated Bionic Ninja
4: Rana, Daughter of Carna, Atlas Commando
5: Galaga Darkfall, Bound Ancient Dark Lady, Dark Lady
6: Avice and Grey ('Avarice and Greed'), Half-Beast Twins, Smuggler Twins
7: Tunda, Half-Spirit of Lightning, Silver Half-Spirit of Lightning (Outsider, half-sister to Hiro)
8: Kanchan, Zombie Mech Pilot, Female Zombie Mech Pilot
9: Hiro, Android Sniper (Outsider, half-brother to Tunda)

NPCs:
Steelclaw, the Volitional Petbot Cat
	A free-willed, barely-sapient cat.
	Raises ethical concerns, given they're officially your property... But it's also not like they can survive on their own; They need batteries AND regular maintenance.
	Merely 'good' Loyalty... But it's set to 20 thanks to their 'Slave Mentality' (Which, in hindsight, I messed up the roll for... But eh, it amused me that I got precisely 12 with the wrong roll anyway, and I'd waffled on whether or not they had that drawback to begin with)

Undead Assembly
	A trio of powerful villains, each able to stand toe-to-toe with the average hero (Hollow needs to be sneakier about it than the others, but low-grade Killgrave-ing isn't anything to scoff at, before counting his Aura Sight) though all three together would likely fall against the greatest heroes.
	Null, an Initiate of the Mystic Outsider that specializes in subduing targets quickly and is pushing themselves to master the creation of undead. Looks pretty much human, other than the multi-colored skin, but their magical power is due to coming from a world of chaotic magic, which they can radiate at will (though it'll hurt their allies too)
	Void, the undead-cyborg muscle of the group, there to hit the subdued targets until they stop moving and/or to keep anyone from retaliating against Null.
	Hollow, the Psionic 'face' of the group, and the only living human of the trio. Null's the brains, but Hollow usually has to act like the leader since Null isn't suited to the role, making plans, dealing with outsiders (whether it's crime-bosses, corrupt politicians, or just smugglers and other suppliers). Not always with their Psi-powers either, they're quite charismatic even without them. When no one needs talking to, they're busy with their contacts and stolen research-papers, looking for the group's next target. (Actually, reading through the Psionic list... Hollow has 'Aura Sight' so they can pick out the juiciest Extraordinary People. And probably also Hypnotic Suggestion, to do what I already listed)
	There may be others in the 'assembly', but these three are the core. Anyone else would be more like employees (and/or undead thralls) than their partners.
	There isn't a formal goal stated, as they wish for as much power, wealth, and luxury as they can grab.
	But the stated METHOD is Null's undead, and at the Jump's beginning they're intending to experiment with creating Extraordinary undead by using the bodies of Extraordinary that they can ambush and kill when they're patrolling around in the alleyways and such.
	Note: An 'Initiate of the Mystic' has just enough power to explicitly be able to change the course of a city. Or, presumably, a decent portion of a mega-city like San Angeles.

War-World
	Unnamed dimension with an unnamed faction that is trying to conquer this world, starting with San Angeles
	Probably not as powerful as they sound, given this is just a random plot-thread, but they're a good choice for a big, noisy problem to give the UA a chance to start doing some more blatant crime in the shadows.
	There was one guy that kept rolling pretty damn low (3-4 rolls of 7 or lower to find Taiga, then another 7 on the reaction roll) and was 'Very Unarmed' according to Mythic; Possibly someone with some special powers. An Extraordinary guy, maybe? Quite probably an Outsider too. (Or, given the decision regarding his powers, maybe more Artificial)
		How powerful? Dice says 'top 10% of Extraordinary individuals'
			I think he has two Retractable Weapons, on top of other, vaguely-defined, powers:
			Melee: A stun-spike he can thrust into machines, or people, and electrocute them with (Impaling, Shocking, Stunning)
			Heavy Ranged: Explosives of various types he can eject and toss (Concussive, Energy (hot enough to disintegrate/melt targets), Shock)
			At this point... He clearly has the Luck perk (not even bothering to actually calculate it, I like emergent story so I don't mind the possibility I'm imagining it)
				Luck: Loosely translated regarding cooldown (since it's based on real-time 'play'): Re-roll your dice twice, take the best of the three results - should be used before you know if it works, though the way you do rolls you just have to 'be honest' on whether you'd have settled for the roll. Usable every 30-60 minutes of play, so several times a 'session' but not more than once per conflict.
			I'm wondering if he doesn't join up with the Undead Assembly, when this group's defeated; That does seem to explain why the Undead Assembly was introduced, then immediately pushed to the side in favor of these guys.
			Has an effective Tactics and Strategy (Guerrilla) of 14 each - whether that's his skills or there are 'extradimensional penalties', I'm not sure.
				Decided his relevant stat is 12, via dice, so I guess he's a talented and undertrained Commander? We'll see
				Getting a net +1 matters quite a bit; A 15 gets him better crit-rates.

District 7 Assistant Mayor: Herleva Perce, Female Human
	Inspired by, but not at all based on, a real person; Used the generator for everything, but the idea for her is based on the real world.
	Contact for Hiro
	Impressed by him... So far. In an entirely non-sexual way, to be clear.
	4'9"
	'4d6, drop lowest, in order' got a rather reasonable stat-score: STR 10, DEX 5, CON 12, INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 18
		I figure the DEX 5 is due to some physical disability that she's getting less-than-perfect mechanical aid with. The generators say it's something to do with her hormones and/or adrenaline, so it might not even be prosthetic, it could just be medication.
	 She wears professional attire. She has wavy blonde hair. Her eyes are a pleasant gray.
	 Her two random-rolled skills were history and intimidation, and due to the CHA bonus the latter is by far her best, so take that as you will - I 'forced' the roll to be Lawful Good, so she surely uses her intimidation for good.


Embassy/Base:
	10x Gasoline Generators (6k, fuel's 1.5/10 hours, so at 10 it's 1.5 an hour in total)
		Each can run a dozen items, so 10 is in the range where it's more than enough for small things, not enough for a large structure.
		One generator is urgent, maybe a second pretty fast, then the rest can be bought as they're needed.
		Besides; They run off the grid most of the time, it's going to be cheaper, the generators are in case the grid goes offline - they'll keep cycling one active one, just to make sure all of them work right.
	Library
		Small Collection: Undefined, just dozens of books at random subjects that lets people do 'Improvised' (-2 or more) Research rolls on subjects the group would have bought books for.
		Basic Subjects (3500 each, base Research): Strategy, Tactics, Law
			A small book-case full on the subject.
		Good Subjects (17500 each, +1 Research): None
			A couple large bookshelves, about fifty times the books of the Basic.
	Business Cards
		Basically arbitrary amounts of paper business cards (it's 1$ for 100, so they're not free as such, but if someone wants 10k cards, Hiro'll spot them the 100$ it takes or whatever)
		Plus a couple boxes of CD/DVD versions, since they're a lot more expensive (0.5 each, so still not expensive, but hardly 'you want enough to coat the floor? Fine, whatever, I don't care, I'd rather just give you the money than figure out why you need that many' levels of cheap)
	Scientific Calculators (However many are needed, probably a couple dozen, at 30$ each)
	Pens (A ballpoint pen for everyone, plus a box of spares, at 0.5 each. Then a few 'Space' pens, at 25$ each, for use in space.)
	Photocopier (6500)
		Low-priority, but nice to have.
	Slow Mainframe Computer (5k)
		Could be upgraded to a non-slow one eventually, at 20x the cost, to upgrade the Complexity by 1.
		Complex 4, Stores 10TB
	Workstation Terminal
		500$ each, however many are needed.
		The way people connect to the Computer - which is why that might need to be upgraded, maybe even more than one step.
	Machinist Workshop
		+2 to Machinist.
	Refrigerator
		800$, 200lbs
		Holds 20 cubic feet, and has a freezer, ice-maker, and water-tap.
	Misc Kitchen Appliances
		Microwave, blender, coffee maker, hotplate, toaster, and probably a couple other devices.
	Food Canner
		$300, can seal food into tin cans.
		This one they'll be bringing home, I'm pretty sure - heck, it probably IS in the castle, there's no need to have it in the embassy.
			Actually, they'll buy both kinds of canning equipment and bring them back home.
	Survivalist Food Cache ($2500, 600lbs)
		A year's supply of freeze-dried food, or a month's supply for a dozen people.
	Large Radio (15000, 100lbs)
		200 mile range. (Has to 'overlap' the other end, but due to the size of this, the other end gets boosted: 105 Miles for Medium (patrol radio), 50 Miles for Small (standard hand-held radio), 60 Miles for Tiny (civilian pocket-radio))
		Encrypted.
	TV Set ($1500), 42" flat-panel TV.
	A box of Pocket Packs
		$25 each
		A penlight, a swiss army knife, 150 yards of vacuum-proof tape, a marking pen, one meal's worth of food tablets, and one candy bar.
		They probably buy more than they use, so the box' contents increase, rather than decrease. Especially as 25 is low enough that people can pay for it themselves.
		It's a useful pack for space-travelers though.
	Smart Brush
		$50 each.
		Cleans someone without the need for water.
		This one people DO have to pay for; The Pocket Packs are practical equipment for space-techs, this is a personal luxury.
		Most people who spend a lot of time on the ship buys one, though; Not a lot of showering there.
	2x Pressure Box
		900 each, 10lbs
		Battery-powered and seal-able box that lets you bring stuff through vacuum - like a living creature or something too fragile to handle pressure changes.
		Just in case stuff needs to be transported through vacuum.
	Eight-Man Pressure Tent
		$15000, 200lbs
		Has minor radiation protection, though a sheltered location is advised, and can be pressurized to 1atm in a vacuum.
		Holds eight man-days of air.
		Useful if you suddenly need to work on the moon.
	3/4" Rope
		Supports 16000lbs, weighs 4lbs and costs $80 per 10 yards.
	25lb of Plastex B (25x20=500)
		REF 4, so the explosive damage is '6d times square root of (weight x 16)' - alternatively, 6dxY takes '(YxY)/16' pounds.
	Armor
		2x Advanced Body Armor
			$4600 (+1k, -ish, for the rest of the limbs), 17lbs
			DR 35 (DR 5 against crushing), concealable under/as clothing.
			Eventually buy these for Kanchan and Doca.
				Maybe buy Titanium versions that are 1/3rd weight, x5 cost, for the others eventually... Maybe.
		Concealable Vest
			$1000, 2lbs
			DR 12 against cutting/piercing, DR 5 against all else, concealable under/as clothing.
				All of the crew gets some asap, but the army... Will have to wait; This is expensive.
				They might get cheaper body-armor in the meantime, though.