August 4th

## Lab Work

Both Bugaboo and Mot began their work in the laboratory that the Atlantean secured for them on his homeworld. While Bugaboo reassembled and improved his time machine apparatus, Mot and his drones began a series of projects to increase the team's armament:

* Building chroniton detectors to t**rack the Time Wizard's movements**
* Designing and fabricating a **new power armor suit for the Atlantean**
* Fabricating concentrated **acid bombs for use against the Gorgon**

## Insurgency

Back in Chicago, Mentat, Hardback, and Cort fought a **running guerrilla battle** against the seemingly **endless armies of invaders**. Bugaboo attempted with to evolve "hunter-killer" insects to attack the foe with decent results, while Cort relied on his deadly aim and Mentat on his telekinetic blades. They cut down dozens of aliens, but were unfortunately unable to put a major dent in the ongoing battle.

During the course of their campaign, they encountered a unit of the **National Guard**. The soldiers had mobilized on the only vehicle that still worked: foot-powered bicycles. Despite the many difficulties of their situation, their biggest problem was ammunition: they could only carry a small amount on each soldier, with no motorized vehicles to bring more. While they discussed the issue, Cort surprised everyone by seizing upon the shard of Hazel's power that animated his undead form. Utilizing her magic, **he conjured crates full of assault rifle ammunition** for the soldiers' use. Bugaboo noticed that this act had a detrimental effect on Cort, however, as **the magic he utilized seemed to wither him**.

Later, the trio of heroes encountered an even larger mass of aliens moving in a convoy at the feet of several **enormous battle robots**. These robots seemed to be cobbled together out of cannibalized human vehicles and machinery. As they watched, they observed that the strange mechs had very potent weaponry, despite their crude construction. In attempting to attack the robots from great range, Hardback managed to inflict some minor damage, but the aliens devised a jury-rigged defense using scavenged car parts and **the blood of one of their own, sacrificed to "glue" the parts together**. This strange device adapted the mech to flood its surface with electricity, killing Hardback's bioweapon insects immediately.

Hoping to get Mot's assistance with defeating the amassed horde, the three heroes returned to the Temeraire Club on their way back to the Blazing World. While there, they found that Nighthawk and Omega Girl had returned. Nighthawk revealed that he and Omega Girl had been on a mission to retrieve a magical relic with the intent of using it against the Time Wizard to prevent him from teleporting away from their eventual showdown. The item in question is a **heavily-enchanted reliquary**, contents unknown, that Nighthawk insisted would work despite most magical items being drained by the disruptive energy field surrounding the planet. He gave the item to Cort, telling him that it would be activated by prayer, but warning him that it would **also prevent any of their allies from teleporting away as well**. Once invoked, the reliquary would ensure there was no escape for anyone.

Nighthawk and Omega Girl joined the heroes on their trip to the Blazing World, hoping to gather their team for further strategizing.

## Rebirth(s)

While the rest of the team was dealing with junkbots, Mot and Bugaboo were working diligently in their shared laboratory. Bugaboo had finished fine-tuning his time machine, and with Mot's permission, placed the Alchemist's egg inside to accelerate the egg's subjective passage of time.

The experiment worked all too well. The phoenix egg hatched, but when it did so it exploded in a massive fireball. Bugaboo sustained minor injuries, and **the time machine itself was utterly destroyed** in the blast. Despite the devastation, however, **the Alchemist was successfully reborn**, having fused with the flesh of the unborn phoenix hatchling in a merger of magical powers. After some strained introductions, he opened a portal to the Deadlands in order to speak to the Atlantean directly, and Mot and Bugaboo followed.

It took some time for the Alchemist to be brought up to speed on the unfolding situation, during which time Nighthawk and Omega Girl joined the assembling. The Alchemist explained how, during his (relative) centuries in the egg, he and the unborn phoenix had time to commune and come to an understanding. As such, he is merely "borrowing" the flesh of the phoenix for the time being, with the understanding that when he dies the bird will be reborn and he will go on to whatever afterlife awaits him. This allows him access to many of the legendary firebird's powers, including magic that commands life and death. He demonstrated this power by utilizing a phoenix feather, of which there seems to be a limited supply, to **resurrect Omega Girl to her living state**. He did the same for the Eid ghost, **bringing back the alien prince to his mighty living form**. Taking a new name for himself, the towering Prince thanked both the Alchemist and Mot for their roles in his resurrection, and **pledged himself to their battle** against "your little science-menace."

After the Atlantean said his goodbyes to Hazel, the team left once more for Earth. An argument ensued at the Temeraire Club over whether or not Omega Girl should turn herself over to the Time Wizard as she'd originally intended, or join the fight against him instead. The heroes decided unanimously that she should **stay away from the Time Wizard no matter the circumstances**, and although she resented them for it, she agreed.

The stage is now set for an assault to be launched at any time, once the heroes are comfortable that the time is right. The current force of volunteers to battle the Time Wizard and his allies now includes:

* all four of the Contenders
* the Atlantean
* the Alchemist
* the Eid Prince
* Nighthawk
* Bugaboo
* Hellion

## Table Talk

There was some discussion over whether the campaign might be sexist, as it seems like every woman the group interacts with ends up maimed, dead, or just a mortal enemy of the team. Brian called Moonbow a traitor for having the audacity switch sides after their failure of the task she entrusted to them left her without her powers.