#323 – A Dry Well – C.H.E.S.S. forces arrive and Graulokk is turned over to the Elderess.  The group departs, but a call comes in from Homeland Security contact Dex Vanderbilt explaining that the Saudi Arabian port city of Ras Tanura has not made a petroleum shipment in weeks.  A Saudi military force attempted to retake a terminal and was defeated.  Blackstone and Goliath rush to the site and find a pipe siphoning off much of the oil underground.  Blackstone shuts down the entire operation, but numerous Jesbakin (“mud men”) attack the two and are quickly dispatched.  The heavily wounded Goliath presses on to investigate underground, but Blackstone teleports the hero away to keep him safe.  As the rest of the team flies east in the Guardian Angel, they pick up Goliath and Prism in Seattle.  The heroes consider that Blackstone might be an android, perhaps even one that has neutralized Neutron! Knight Shade contacts Majestic, who recommends a telepathic scan of Blackstone.  Knight Shade and Paradigm discuss the plan, but end up in a heated argument with Prism over individual rights and the exclusivity of the Guardians.  Prism pushes Knight Shade’s buttons in the debate, and a dark, shadowy form surrounds him as he violently throws her against the wall with telekinesis!  Portal intervenes, but the situation devolves until Thomas Carter (Majestic) and daughter Hoshi step aboard via a gateway by Portal.  The former leader gets Blackstone to join them, and when their ally arrives he reveals that he is secretly Neutron!  Majestic calms the vigilantes with an impassioned speech, encouraging them to finish the mission for the sake of the entire world. He and Hoshi depart and the squad returns to Saudi Arabia, again shutting down the flow of oil before venturing underground.  They trounce more Jesbakin and Earthworm, but the enemy operative is first able to turn the collected stolen oil into an immense oil beast!  The champions race to the surface and quickly decimate the creature before it can destroy the surrounding area, but then learn that nuclear weapons have been stolen from the U.K.!

#325 – Opportunity Strike – Quiasar meets with Phase, Blackstone, Scion, Compass, and Battletron at the base and reveals that Paradigm has left the team; he also explains that he apologized to Prism on behalf of the Guardians.  Scion informs all that a special session of Congress is pending regarding the paranormal committee; it is believed that Senator Kinsey’s camp might call on civilians injured by paranormals.  Blackstone visits Alpha Site with an unidentified female guest.  Kageryu and Majestic discuss becoming more involved with the Guardians again.  A call comes in from Leech, who warns Quiasar about an impending T.O.T.E.M. “snatch and grab”.  Quiasar, Kageryu, Compass, and Blackstone then meet Leech outside an N.I.D. facility slightly outside Wilmington, Delaware, and the group quickly stops 8 light shock troops who appear about to raid the place.  The team studies a found laptop and the androids, which now appear to have threat assessment programming prioritizing their Guardian opponents.  They learn about Project Arcturus, and as Blackstone studies things he discovers a crucial flaw in their plans.  T.O.T.E.M.’s endeavor to achieve zero-point energy will jeopardize another dimension and likely destroy the entire solar system!  Blackstone learns from a contact of Leech’s that the crucial module for this scheme is currently being targeted by T.O.T.E.M. as it is transported by the N.I.D.  T.O.T.E.M. causes two highway accidents, diverting traffic and forcing the semi truck carrying the module to travel through the heart of Washington, D.C.  Pilot Hammond races the squad to the Southwest Freeway in the Guardian Angel, where they swiftly engage the convoy of three trucks just as Sable and 16 light shock troops arrive.  The vigilantes then learn that the White House (with President Obama present) has fallen under attack by T.O.T.E.M. forces.  Communications are disabled, and another green energy dome covers D.C.  Sable and the androids attack the vigilantes, who stick with the convoy as Delphi rallies other heroes to go to the aid of the White House.  Quiasar takes out scores of the enemy and the Guardians assault the middle truck as the device goes active and Sable flees the scene.  The physics of the area begin to distort as waves of energy cascade from the activated device in the trailer.  Leech places himself inside the device, but he and Kageryu are unable to disrupt it; Compass stops all of the androids and nearby vehicles with a massive EMP, but the module is not affected.  Blackstone sheds his costume (revealing Neutron), and as he grabs the device, Leech falls out.  Neutron rockets into space with the machine, while Leech contorts and undergoes a metamorphosis in front of everyone, spiked armor forming on the outside of his body.  Contact is lost with Neutron.

#326 – Assault on the White House – At various places around the D.C. area, Scion, Araneae, Phase, Battletron, android Amethyst, and C.H.E.S.S. King Dr. Mercury hear Delphi’s emergency call as the city is covered with a green energy field and communications are severed.  The heroes respond to the White House from different directions as 14 light shock troops, augmented by four heavy shock troops, march across the South Lawn toward the West Wing.  The champions join Secret Service agents Iron Claw and Agent Fusion, who had already repelled a wave of the enemy that took out many agents and Marines while President Obama was evacuated.  The mechanical agents relentlessly assault the group and cause significant damage to the South Portico, but after a major battle the vigilantes subdue all of them.  Towards the end of the skirmish outside, Panthera and five light shock troops (in stealth mode) invisibly invade the West Wing from the north.  The allies engage them and force Panthera to surrender, but the androids self-destruct inside, causing even more damage to the Presidential offices.  After the conflict, the Guardians formally meet Amethyst, another android created by Neutron who looks identical to Delphi and Ami.  Epilogue: Sable reports on the mission’s failure to Adalwolf, expressing frustration that most of their mechanical troops have been destroyed or captured.  Adalwolf dismisses the report and speaks cryptically about the future.

#328 – True Intentions – Kageryu and Majestic leave Hoshi with Scion before going out.  While they are at the Guardians’ base, they are shown news that Scion just assassinated Senator Kinsey at a speaking engagement in D.C.!  As the startled crowd watches, an angelic being steps forward and resurrects the Congressman.  Araneae, Kubera, and Witness (formerly Amethyst) study video of the event and see T.O.T.E.M. operatives Menton, Blonde Berserker, and Samuel Kinnes, who they realize is no longer blind.  The team does more research and begins to suspect a plot by T.O.T.E.M.; it also appears likely that an infiltrator similar to Scion was impersonating Trust member Nick Black at the assassination.  Scion shares the weaknesses of these infiltrators and explains that he was one of 20 GELF (genetically enhanced life form) units brought to Earth by the Vai'Kesh.  They also learn that Black was likely replaced many months before.  The heroes, joined by Knight Shade and ally Xeo Fey from New Babylon, meet up with Razor (formerly Leech) at the Shops at National Place, and he informs them that he has learned from a contact that Black is dead; Witness identifies Leech’s contact and informs Kubera of the person’s identity. Knight Shade slips away, and Majestic issues a quick press release to inform the public of their suspicions about T.O.T.E.M.  The four Guardians are called back to the base for an incoming T.O.T.E.M. message.  They see through a ruse by Blonde Berserker, but the villainess still threatens that there are bombs all around D.C.  Majestic retrieves Knight Shade from Providence Hospital, where he had telepathically scanned Kinsey against his will.  He chastises his teammate back at the base, forbids him to continue on the mission, and informs Quiasar of his growing concerns.  The signal from the message is traced to an abandoned apartment in Maryland, but Razor relays the correct coordinates to the group as T.O.T.E.M. attacks a hidden N.I.D. base in Langley, Virginia.  Razor flies Xeo Fey and Witness to the site while the others join them via the Guardian Angel.

#330 – In Broad Daylight – Supermodel Holly Cooks mysteriously disappears at a very public bungee jump off the Chrysler Building in New York City.  Ms. Pembrose, corporate council to Holly’s prestigious modeling agency Caveat Allure, solicits Xeo Fey to round up lesser known allies to investigate the disappearance.  With help from Delphi, he enlists associates Enigma, Scotoma (Douglas Gantry, formerly Agent Scott), and Sir Rathos.  In Manhattan, the veteran hero Volcanic Man encounters Summoner and Rune; the latter two are followed by new champion Angelus as they meet up with the others at LaGuardia Airport.  The group, still followed by Angelus, is given a limousine and hotel by Caveat Allure, and owner Madame Barpofsky gives them a video of the jump.  A C.H.E.S.S. analysis team, led by Knight Seth Demaris, aids the team in scrutinizing the images.  While Scotoma investigates personnel and Enigma, Rune, and Sir Rathos check Cooks’ apartment, Summoner and Xeo Fey, led by a clue from the video (a blue flash), meet insurance agent Max Pestana and pediatric neurosurgeon Alvin Grayson in the Warranty Room of the recently robbed Bank of State.  Dr. Grayson explains that a little boy’s life is at stake, as a special microprocessor was also taken.  A sudden blue flash of light blinds the doctor, heralding the arrival of the Ximix, an extra-dimensional monster.  Angelus rushes in and the three swiftly defeat the creature. C.H.E.S.S. theorizes that the being may have been pulled to our world by quantum entanglement, and that the site of Holly’s disappearance may be the next locale for a similar incident.  The area around the Chrysler Building is cleared with a police barricade, and the vigilantes are all present when a ten-story tall ambulatory plant creature, the Megaspur, arrives via another blue flash!

#332 – An Unlikely Request – Doctor Apocalypse turns himself in to C.H.E.S.S. Headquarters in Washington, D.C.  The Guardians are called, and Phase, Araneae, Compass, Kubera, and Scion arrive, along with ally Maccane of the Sentinels.  Scion, Maccane, and Compass question the heavily shackled mastermind, who tells them that he was betrayed by the Shadowed Prince of the Demon World, Dar’kness, who also took away his gem (with which Apocalypse kept demonic hordes at bay).  He asks for their help in getting the gem back because of the great danger posed by Dar’kness and the World's Scorned, whom he alleges will tamper with the timestream in an effort to resurrect Time Holder.  The team reluctantly follows his information via the Guardian Angel to Montana, where they set up watch alongside the military present at a compound; inside the continually relocated research base, the N.I.D. works on the secretive Project: Time Holder.  Late at night the installation falls under attack, with small pockets of darkness appearing and Dar’kness speaking out of them.  When the darkness lifts, many explosions follow, which litters the yard with destroyed tanks and dead soldiers.  Sabredance races out of the building with the remains of Time Holder, and Dar'kness disappears with them.  Sabredance, wielding the powerful katana Ambition (stolen years before from the secret vault of C.H.E.S.S.), and numerous Mystic robots then attack the assembled heroes!

#334 – Problems Cubed – After recuperating and doing more research, the Guardians are able to track a temporal energy signature to a location in Antarctica.  Jerry Hammond flies Scion, Araneae, G-Force, Razor, Compass, Phase, and Kubera in the Guardian Angel to the spot, where they find an invisible cube ¼ mile long on each side.  They find a door, but the laws of physics don't seem to apply inside, and the interior is different depending on whether the door is open or closed.  Time also appears to pass faster inside, and many of their superpowers do not work there.  The group makes their way past obstacles, and in another room when they open the far door the room changes.  Suddenly they are outside on the ice with the Zarton Team, who are working on an infernal machine.  Using Time Holder's remains, the device appears to draw the mystical gems away from different versions of Doctor Apocalypse (from other dimensions or times).  The heroes clash with Caster, Barbarian, Medusa, and Phase, and the powerful villains begin to get the upper hand.

#336 – The Fall of Heroes – The team rallies.  Scion recovers, and Phase and Razor wake Compass and G-Force as the others continue the skirmish against the World's Scorned.  Kool throws a stone into the sphere, and a human body materializes there.  Some of the adventurers begin to focus on the temporal mystic anomaly, which slowly shows the decaying body of Doctor Apocalypse circled by numerous gems.  As the fight continues, Kubera smashes the bubble and the force field protecting it seems to fail; Araneae then pulls it towards himself with webbing.  The spell seems to be disrupted, and the black glass begins turning back into normal sand as the gem of Apocalypse leaves Dar'kness and begins to float toward the ravaged body of its former owner.  When the gem suddenly begins to return to Dar'kness, Razor intercepts it.  He resists demonic temptations from it and lets it go.  Scion fells Dar'kness, and Compass finishes him with a well placed light grenade.  All five gems fly to Doctor Apocalypse, who is instantly healed and appears much younger.  Energy crackles around him as he gloats and stops time within an energy field that surrounds them all.  After he reveals that the World's Scorned were in league with him the whole time and magically removes the Elderess locks that exiled them, the villains vanish.  He resurrects Time Holder from the dust in the anomaly and she too disappears.  Finally, he unleashes the Chaos Scourge upon the Earth again by retrieving it through a gateway.  The energy field suddenly drops, and the evil mastermind is gone.  The Guardians learn that they have been gone for a month, and that in that time multiple prison breaks occurred and many vigilantes were slain.

#338 – Escape from the Micro-Universe – The Guardians discuss the recent crop of new applicants, and Delphi briefs Compass, Scion, Kubera, and Kageryu about each of them.  The night before a symposium by the Subatomic Physics Society (SPS) in D.C., two of the scheduled presenters are found murdered in their homes.  SPS President Roy Newbeck asks the Guardians to provide security for the conference, so Ragnarr, Enigma, Xeo Fey, Scotoma, Spartan, and Rune meet him in a sculpture garden outside the convention center.  A strange craft suddenly appears on the lawn, and Bugbear and six amphibious beings (Ipzin soldiers) assault the heroes.  The attacking forces are swiftly taken out, and Newbeck confesses an elaborate tale.  Eight years before, he and three other colleagues that were working on Project Zacchaeus (a federally funded endeavor to study subatomic space) had secretly entered the micro-universe via an experimental Micro-Craft vessel.  When one of the quantum physicists, Keith Mikkelsen, was severely injured by a booby trap, they deserted him.  After returning home, they sent the vehicle back to the micro-universe, reporting that Mikkelsen alone had stolen it. The project was discontinued, and the scientist never returned.  Now the craft is back, and two of the four original explorers have been murdered; Newbeck fears that he will be next.  The team shrinks down via the Micro-Craft and encounter more Ipzin, who rebuff diplomacy and fire weapons at them.  The group sweeps through an outpost, taking down the android Replica and many Ipzin.  Xeo Fey and Spartan go back to guard their vehicle, but first have to overcome a deadly creature, the Slithering Ooze.  The rest of the party fights Viberon (Mikkelsen, now with powers), forcing him to flee into the nearby ruins of the demolished Naqlid City.  They find and destroy the Inversion Bomb he had been constructing, as well as his computer records.  Ragnarr rescues an Ipzin named Uub from a brig, but after their return the lowly Gamma soldier escapes at the first opportunity.

That just about catches us up with the current Guardians campaign!  Tommorow's issue (#340) was what we played a week ago, and then we'll be all caught up!   

#341 – Omni-Primus – Responding to a request by A.R.T., the Guardian Angel loses power upon arrival in Chicago.  Kubera creates a force field around the vehicle, allowing Jerry Hammond to land safely in Lake Michigan.  Rune creates an exit doorway, but the magic he uses for a prestidigitation spell a moment later inadvertently transports the team a short distance away into a South Side industrial building.  Enigma, Knight Shade, Rune, and Kubera find that they are in the lair of megalomaniacal supervillain Omni-Primus, who along with minions Vibron, Tengu, and Stigmata are as surprised as they are.  The two forces fight; during the battle the evil mastermind turns Knight Shade into glass and Stigmata breaks it apart.  Members from both sides fall, and eventually Omni-Primus is forced to teleport away.  Soon after Stigmata disappears as well, and the heroes rush the transformed segments of their teammate to the Guardians’ base, where he is reassembled.  After Knight Shade awakens, his body swiftly recovers.  Earlier, the group had discussed news and recapped some of their recent adventures.  Baron Heinrich reveals that the Bloodsworn have acquired a powerful artifact and seem poised to take over all of the vampire clans.  A Homeland Security agent (Michael Chretien) is missing in San Francisco after a recent Asian gangland massacre, the attacks in Washington, D.C. seem to be from an animal-like creature, and Kubera warns that the barriers between dimensions might be breaking down.  Geoffrey Wills holds a press conference in Florida, announcing that he is turning Wills Aerospace over to a board of directors while he takes a sabbatical.

Last weekend we played through another issue.  We continue to surprise the GM by talking our way through things, rather than using our fists!   

#343 – Serenity Now! – Compass meets with Hayagriva in prison, and the gangster tells him about a powerful entity that has crushed all opposition among the various West Coast factions of the Asian underworld.  This being seems to be wiping out corruption among the Triad Tong, and Compass realizes that Old Man was among the recent inhuman opponents at City Hall.  Kubera and Quiasar are called to the Pentagon, where various government heads suspect Force is behind a growing Serenity movement spreading across Central America; citizens all over the subcontinent appear to be joyous, happy and dancing, as does Rune after he returns from an expedition to Guatemala.  Enigma, Rune, Kubera, Quiasar, Compass, and Ragnarr fly in the Guardian Angel to El Mirador in northern Guatemala, but Kubera mysteriously disappears (to assist A.R.T.).  The team makes their way underground into ancient Mayan ruins.  After journeying past traps and puzzles the group encounters the Mayan Tree of Life.  Rune perceives that the powerful creature, who appears to be behind the Serenity cult, is an imposter, and after much questioning they discover that archaeologist Augustus Riversson is a captive inside.  The insane Riversson breaks free from his delusion and smashes the tree; this frees Riversson and the two twins held captive by it.  One of the twins, Manuel Esquivel, is discovered to be a local money man with ties to the Triad Tong.

#345 – T.O.T.E.M.’s Pandora Bots – Unusual seismic activity is detected in El Salvador, and the President of Honduras is assassinated.  A.R.T. notifies the Guardians that a Vai’Kesh ship was spotted on the other end of the galaxy bringing an old mining facility online.  All N.I.D. projects are shut down as a result of the poor economy.  The Guardians hold a meeting and discuss internal security matters.  C.H.E.S.S. asks for assistance investigating some caves in El Salvador, so Compass, Enigma, Quiasar, Kubera, Rune, and Warp fly to the small country in the Guardian Angel.  They work with C.H.E.S.S. in searching the caves, and encounter a man, Silent Shadow, who vanishes from memory the second they look away or no longer see him.  After making their way past a stuck elevator, the group ventures deep underground into a facility, where the party is attacked by swarms of insect-like mechanical replicants.  The heroes fight them off, and the creatures retreat into the walls.  The replicants flee via Adalwolf’s Havoc, and the adventurers learn that the Serenity movement freed the mechanical beings from T.O.T.E.M.’s control.

#347 – Anarch – Phase, Scotoma, Knight Shade, Rune, and Araneae continue to look into the recent savage attacks in D.C. and begin to suspect something insect-like.  They also learn that there has been a lack of pest-type insects in the eastern part of the city.  In the sewers near where they had found the Lord of the Flies (years earlier) they encounter a strange, glistening, biological wall.  Knight Shade travels through the thick structure and discovers seven foot ants beneath RFK Stadium.  The group decides to monitor the situation, and finds that there is also a lack of pest insects in Baltimore, New York, Jersey City, and Boston.  Rune transports the same group to the National Sylvan Theater in the shadow of the Washington Monument, where Anarch, a powerful villain, has gone on a rampage, killing civilians.  As the others rescue innocents and shepherd people to safety, Araneae and Knight Shade take down the mysterious being.

#349 – Welcome to the Hood – Quiasar calls a meeting of the Guardians Council and reveals information from the GamesMaster about a secret facility near the Arctic Circle.  After analyzing messages that indicate an SOS, a team is put together to investigate.   Kubera, Warp, Compass, Portal, Razor, Knight Shade, and Phase meet Charles Gates at the location while Araneae and Jerry Hammond stay aboard the Guardian Angel.  Gates informs them that the installation belongs to A.R.T. and that it should be filled with ice, allowing access only deep underground via teleportation.  The group learns that the ice has been cleared out and enters, finding signs of recent use and strange surveillance equipment.  Gates reveals that another gateway exists beneath them, and that A.R.T. has been monitoring what they call Beta Site for years.  The heroes make their way around a deadly trap, finding the place deserted but also recognizing signs that the doorway (slightly different from Alpha Site) has been used.  Clues also indicate that the A.R.T. personnel have been missing for months, and that somebody masquerading as them sent daily updates.  At Foundation Headquarters, BBC reporter Oscar Standish claims to have information, so Scion, Quiasar, and Kubera meet with him while a hidden Compass and Warp observe.  Standish gives details about mysterious activities (strange lights, creatures hunting wildlife) in the far North and missing vehicles (numerous ships and a plane) in the North Atlantic.  The Guardians begin to suspect a possible alien invasion, and a team is assembled.  Scion, Razor, Compass, Kubera, Phase, Warp, and Araneae fly in the Guardian Angel to Iceland, where they enter a cave on the volcano Eyjafjallajökull.  Warp and Araneae scout ahead by swimming through an underground stream, but detect four large beings approaching underwater!

Hard to believe it's been over a month since I posted on this thread.  We played the rest of #350 four weeks ago, but due to the Christmas holiday it meant we skipped our normal time to play.  Here's a more complete #350 (though it's possible there will still be more added when we play in 2 days):

#350 – The Host – The two vigilantes retreat back into the cavern.  Realizing that the environment favors their adversaries, the team has Compass create an impromptu river with his wrecking ball, which flushes the four creatures down the side of the volcano!  The insect-like Host rush up the mountain slope and use tactics, attacking the Guardians in pairs.  As the heroes concentrate their attacks on single aliens, more of the monsters emerge from the cavern, including a gigantic Host Princess!  Oz (aided by a boy his size) arrives in the Bilskirnir, and as the intense battle rages the team begins to realize that their weapons and limbs are dissolving after exposure to the acid blood of their enemies!  They hastily retreat in the Guardian Angel, leaving Oz’s ship behind as the volcano erupts!  Araneae injects his limbless companions with ReGenx, a serum he acquired from the GamesMaster, and they immediately start to heal.  The adventurers travel to the GamesMaster’s flying platform for further aid.  Phase, Frostpaw, and Razor remain in her care as the others call in Neutron (who returns to Earth), Quiasar, Kageryu, Witness, Shadow Knight, and Majestic.  The group contacts Archbishop Chernetsky, who gives them intel about a Siberian base that T.O.T.E.M. commandeered from the Russians 50 years ago; the aliens are suspected of having been there for the last two months.  Knight Shade constructs a pheromone masking agent for everyone, and a stealth team made up of Compass, Araneae, Warp, Shadow Knight, Witness, Kageryu, and Knight Shade flies to a remote area in Siberia with a lone cabin. Knight Shade scouts ahead, discovering a vast network of tunnels making up a facility deep underground.  He eventually finds a large room full of captive humans, and makes telepathic contact with one.  The captives, A.R.T. personnel taken from Beta Site and forced to work for the aliens, reveal much information about the Host, who have placed a nuclear bomb in both Moscow and Washington, D.C.  They serve a Queen, who has been using her “children” to explore Earth since coming through the gateway in the Arctic.

#352 – (Not so) Great Balls of Fire – The Guardians hold a year-end meeting.  Kageryu shares that she has found underground tunnels all over the northeast U.S., but only in Union Civil War states.  More mutilated bodies are found, including two fatalities.  The team considers the Serenity Now movement, with definite alien involvement at Minos and a possible connection at the Mayan one.  Rune’s research points towards a dig in El Bahr, Egypt, but officials deny access.  Rune gets permission through a contact, and Enigma, Ragnarr, and Araneae join him in flying to southern Egypt in the Guardian Angel.  The team tells A.R.T. about suspected alien involvement, and the agency identifies Gorene nanobots; A.R.T. then sets up a quarantine of the area.  This prevents the local populace from acquiring fire-based powers.  In New York City, C.R.I.M.E. puts a $10 million bounty on an unidentified competitor and a new drug spreads on the streets.  Kubera shares that he plans on taking ReGenx (which would regenerate his missing limbs and cause the loss of his bionics) and that he is going on a diplomatic mission to the Gorene Republic.  The Guardians discover Gorene nanobot infection is involved in the Serenity Now movement, which includes the disruption of the yakuza in Japan many months ago.  President Obama makes an immediate change of plans, and the heroes face great difficulties as they attempt to find out more information.  Scion, Majestic, and Quiasar attempt to contact different leaders in the U.S. and C.H.E.S.S., but continue to feel stonewalled.  Scion even reaches out to the N.I.D., but with no luck.  Quiasar and Scion finally succeed in reaching C.H.E.S.S., who puts them in contact with A.R.T.