Fire_Iron

No wonder we have no idea what Captain Courage looks like! This is the best picture I can find of him.

18/21

You crack me up!

Signed,

Titan
Big-Time Kape Jerk

Bricks is full of Crey agents. They think they’re tough, but they aren’t. Except for those Paragon Protectors. I’ve seen the bright lights of the hospital too many times not to be wary of those scrappers. Sight of one of those bad boys meant mission failure.

I stopped by my contact by the hospital and handed off the papers I had found during the last raid I had made on a Lost safe house. In turn, he gave me a tip that a certain researcher was going to be at a meeting being held in Brickstown this evening. This researcher, Dr. Resham, was involved in the building of the prototype armor I’m wearing. He may have the key knowledge necessary to allow me to take off my tin suit. I thanked my contact and checked to see if there were any other missions he needed to have completed. He said he’d understand if I spent my energies focusing on tonight’s mission.

I went and scouted the route through Bricks where my quarry will pass. I found the perfect ambush point and planned my attack for the coming evening. Smoke here, caltrops there, web grenade covering exit. Boom, boom, boom; snatch the doctor and out before anyone can react. Well, it was a plan. Tonight will be the test of it.

I took a breather at the docks in Independence Port. That was quickly becoming one of my favorite places to relax. Sitting high up on the cranes, I could look out over the water and not notice the crime and corruption around me. The refection of the sun on the water was hypnotic and calmed my nerves. My suit would absorb a little of the sun’s rays and warm up to a comfortable temperature. Funny, in the midst of blasting away with all my powers, I never felt the suit heat up at all. It must have built in regulators that detect massive heat overload. Anyway, it was comfortable. The suit had become a part of me. It felt like my own skin, and perhaps, it had fused with my body. At times, I swear I could feel things crawling through my muscles and, I don’t know how I possible could sense this, my bones felt tingly. I hope the doctor would be able to tell me what was happening inside this suit. It didn’t feel like a prison; no claustrophobia or anything like that. I just wanted to feel the sun on my bare skin again.

As night fell across the city, I moved back into Bricks and took up position. My night vision HUD provided me perfect view of my surroundings. People were walking out on the main street, heading home after a days work or to restaurants and clubs. The entrance to the meeting was, as are most clandestine events, down a darkened ally. Patience was never one of my strong suits, but I sat quiet for what seems hours, ever alert. Around 11:30, I heard low voices conversing as I saw a group of men head down the ally. They must have come straight from work, for some where still wearing their scrubs. I almost missed the one in dark clothes hanging to the rear of the group. [censored]! A Paragon Protector. Time to change plans. I knew I couldn’t take him, I just knew it. OK, think fast.

First I threw the smoke. I covered the ground in front of them with caltrops and hit them with an Aimed Fire Breath. Most of the researchers hit the pavement, but I’d need time to find Dr. Resham. I tossed a web grenade at the protector and watched has he sloughed it off. Double [censored]! I hit him with a Blaze, and watched him stagger back a few steps, barely hurt. Then I saw the name tag on the closest researcher. I smiled and threw the limp body over my shoulder. As I turned to leap away, a searing pain shot through my back. The claws of the protector tore through my armor and nearly split my spine. With a howl of pain, I managed to leap to the roof and bounded away into the night. I was blind with pain. I didn’t know where I was going, but I was moving fast. I had to get away from that demon. Half an hour later, I relaxed behind a water tower in Independence Port. The doctor was starting to stir and shaking off his daze from my blast. My suit had repaired itself and I could feel my bones and flesh repairing too.

Finally awake, Dr. Resham looked at me with a startled expression. There was enough light from the bare bulb hanging above for him to see the armor I was wearing.

“Where did you get that?” he asked.

I decided to play it straight with him “Boomtown. In the rubble of one of the buildings. You recognize it, don’t you?”

“Yes. Yes I do. It’s a FD-01X. I made that suit. I was told it was a failure and had been destroyed.”

“Well, it’s not destroyed. It’s working just fine, except for one little thing.”

“Something’s wrong with it?” he asked as he ran his fingers over the arm panels, “What’s the problem? Wait! I shouldn’t even be talking to you. You almost killed me!”

“Doc, I needed to talk to you, and I’m sure walking in the front door of Crey Industries was not a good way to get an appointment.”

“Point well taken, son. What’s the problem with this armor?”

Looking for the latches, I said, “It won’t come off. The latches all disappeared after I put on the suit. Do you know how to take it off?”

Doctor Resham leaned back and gave a soft chuckle. He made to get up, but I put a hand on his shoulder and sat him back down.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I will show you how to open this suit. It’s quite simple, but, I might add, also quite ingenious. I designed it myself. An obvious key that is utterly impossible to find if you are looking for it.”

“But,” he said, “First, I need you to do something for me. If you succeed, I’ll show you how to open it. If you refuse, or fail, you will never know the secret.” His eyes sparkled ask he watched me for a reaction.

“Let’s hear your request, Doc.”

“You are acquainted with Mark IV, the droid in Founders Falls?”

I knew Mark IV

“I need you to get a message to Mark IV for me. I, for obvious reasons, can not contact him. It would not talk to me and would probably destroy me on site. You see, I helped make its AI and I think it blames me for its troubles. I need you to give it this data chip. I’ve carried it for years now, hoping to somehow get it to the unit. You can do this for me. Then, I will show you the key.”

I took the data chip. It looked like a normal enhancement chip.

“Why would he plug this in? He’d think it’s a trick to corrupt his data or something.”

“Mark IV can scan it before it reads it. Mark IV sells enhancements, right? Have you ever heard of it selling a defective or corrupted enhancement? It has built in, dynamic virus software.”

“I will bring it to him. I will need to make sure you do not try to escape while I am gone.”

“I understand,” he nodded and closed his eyes as I covered him in a web. I made sure he could breathe and sped off to make contact with Mark IV. I thought it eerie that the doctor kept referring to him as an ‘it’, but he was probably more accurate. I always thought of Mark IV as a guy.

Mark IV took the chip and after a few seconds, turned to me and thanked me.

“Please tell the good doctor I now understand. Please present him with this”, and he handed me back a chip. “Please take this as my payment for your effort,” and he handed me an SO damage enhancement.

I thanked him and went back to find Dr. Resham. He was till in the same place, even though the web had dissipated.

“Mark IV said he now understood and wanted me to give you this.”

“Thank you! Umm, you never told me your name, young man. What is it?”

“Fire Iron, but you can call me Ben,” I replied.

“Well, Fire Iron, let me show you how this suit works. First off….”

Two hours later, I knew more about my suit than could fill 10 manuals. I could get in and out of it quickly and learned a few tricks that would improve my abilities. I thanked the doctor and brought him back to Brickstown. He gave me a cell phone number and said to contact him if there ever was any trouble with the suit. I gave him my number as well.

We parted ways and I watched him walk off into the morning mist.

Fire Iron with cape and aura.

It’s been six days since I put the battle suit on and the time has past by in a flurry. After registering with City Hall, I had started out slowly, arresting minor thugs and learning what I was capable of doing with my new powers. It seemed like every few hours I discovered something new I could do. I would develop a new type of attack or a supplement to a skill. As I made more arrests, I gained influence which I used to upgrade and replace worn out enhancement modules.

Not once in the six days did it ever occur to me to take off the suit. I haven’t eaten nor have I had to use any facilities. When I’m feeling tired or hurt, I’d pop an inspiration to bolster me. I’m afraid I’m becoming addicted to the things. Occasionally, when I’ve been hurt very badly, I’d find I needed to check into the hospital. But even then, the doctors would hook up electrodes to my suit and work on me without removing the battle suit. I guess they see a lot of these suits in the hospital.

After a long night of fighting crime, I decided to take a break and returned to my apartment to take a shower. Standing in front of my bedroom mirror, I looked for the release catches on the arm bracers. I couldn’t find any. I couldn’t find any on the leg greaves either. The chest plate was solidly locked on. I couldn’t take off the suit! I panicked a little. No, I panicked a lot. I ran as fast as I could, which is pretty fast at Super Speed, to the closest Exarch Industries store and asked for some tech support. The technician invited me into the back room and inspected my suit.

“Hmm. This is an old Crey FD-01 model. Haven’t seen one in use for quite a while. Oh! What’s this? Hmmm. I haven’t seen this before. Interesting.”

“What is it? How can I get out of this thing?” I asked

“It seems you can’t,” he replied. “What you’re wearing is an upgraded prototype of a very old model suit. I don’t recognize the upgrades, but I’m sure it isn’t a standard battle rig. If my guess it correct, this puppy can out perform most of the models on the market now. Where did you get it?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that. Security clearance and all that, you know. But what do you mean I can’t get out of this suit? There must be a release on it somewhere.”

“Well,” he replied, “It seems all the latches sealed when the suit was activated. They are controlled by nanobyte reactors that are keyed to your life-signs. I think, as long as your alive, they will stay shut tight. It’s a defensive mechanism that prevents anyone or anything from breaching the suit once it’s activated. I knew Crey was researching this kind of technology. I just wasn’t aware it was in testing. You’re obviously not working with any Crey developers or you would have gone straight to them. Were did you say you got this suit?”

“I have to go now,” I said as I turned for the door. As I was leaving, I saw the technician talking on his cell phone as he stood behind the counter and watched me leave. I’ll bet he was calling a buddy at Crey. Great! That’s all I need, Crey agents hunting me down in order to get their suit back. I sped back to my apartment and sat on the couch to think. Absentmindedly I popped an inspiration.

First, if I’m trapped in this suit, I sure don’t need an apartment. I don’t eat, sleep or [censored]. And this place will be the first stop any agents make to try and find me. I’ve got to be mobile.

Second, I’ve got to find some friends who can help me stay ahead of the agents. I’d met some other heroes recently and they seemed up on the idea of creating a Super Group. I had suggested Reign of Fire as a possible name. I had even registered the name at City Hall. I didn’t want anyone else to think of it and claim it before I did.

Third, I have to investigate Crey Industries a little bit more. I’m sure if I just walk in the front door wearing a piece of their valuable property, I will not get a polite reception. If the only way to get me out of this suit is to cancel my life signs, I think I’ll pass. Maybe they can get me out alive, but then again, maybe not.

I looked around the apartment one last time and, seeing nothing I would ever need again, walked out the door. Time to go find my buddies and get the Reign of Fire started.

Fire Iron, Super Group colors

Ben James pulled the suit of rusty iron out from under the rubble of the Boomtown high rise. Opening the sealed suit, he found the dried bones of the hero who had died in it, trapped under the fallen building. Ben had heard the slow beeping of the suit’s power supply as he was searching for relics in the broken landscape. It had taken him 3 days to dig far enough to see the power-gloved hand. During that time, he had avoided detection by the roving gangs and 5th Element troops. It took another 4 days of slowly jacking slabs of concrete and quietly digging through debris to get the complete suit free.

There seemed to little or no damage to the suit and the power cells had auto-recharged to full during its quite rest. It had been there so long that when he opened the seal, there was only the feint smell of dried, rotting leather. He shook out the dried bones and wiped the insides clean with his t-shirt. It was an old fashioned set of blaster armor, like he had seen many times in the dated news stories they played on the History Channel. Once cleaned up, Ben inspected the suit as a whole. He could not tell how long the suit had laid there, a coffin to the previous owner. There did not seem to be anything functionally wrong with it, other than all the enhancers had worn out and needed to be replaced. He disconnected the enhancers and cast them back into the rubble. Then he donned the armor.

Once fully suited up, he activated the power-up and felt the tickle of energy play up and down his skin. Picking a discarded 50-gallon drum as a target, he concentrated and willed a blast to come forth. Nothing happened. He tried harder to force his new suit to do something. Nothing happened. He threw his arms out and yelled at the barrel and commanded his suit to destroy the barrel. Still nothing happened. Frustrated, Ben sat down on the piled cement. Maybe something was broken in the suit? Maybe a circuit was damaged? He looked it over again. All the seals were tight and the power sensors on his left wrist showed all green. He was stumped.

What was that noise? Looking up, he saw 3 gang members looking at him. They had baseball bats and tire irons in their hands and were pointing at him. They moved closer and started to circle around him, slapping their weapons in their palms. Ben rose and instinctively raised his hands up in a defensive gesture. He felt warmth growing and concentrating in his hands. He counted in his head, 3, 2, 1, FOOM! Fire leapt from his hands and knocked the targeted thug back. A small bar on the HUD in the corner of his helm’s visor shrank after the attack and slowly started to re-grow. He figured that was the recharge indicator for that power he had just used.

The smoldering body he had just blasted did not get up. The fallen hood’s friends, seeing Ben’s power, hesitated slightly before attacking. The swinging weapons stunned Ben for a moment, then, he turned and punched the thug on his left hard in the stomach, doubling the attacker over in pain. A second, hard ding on the helmet drew Ben’s attention to the other attacker. He saw that the indicator on the HUD in his helm showed that his fire attack was fully charged again. He aimed his arms and let forth another blast of fire. The badly hurt gang-banger was still standing, so Ben swung hard and laid him out with a hard punch to the jaw. Turning back to the other attacker, Ben saw that he was running away. Ben grabbed one of the canisters from his belt and threw the device at the running target. A sticky web formed over the runner and held him fast. Again calling forth the power of the suit, he released a fire blast. Three thugs down.

Ben asked himself what he was going to do now that he had this powerful suit. It would take some time to learn how to use it well. He decided to head to Atlas Park and register as a super hero. Paragon City needed heroes to keep order in the restless city, and it would provide him plenty of opportunity to learn the secrets of his new suit of armor. He would need a name. He used fire and had a suit of iron. It was an easy choice,

Fire Iron

Capt Neem,

I must tell you I enjoyed your story very much. Well done!

Using this guide, my cholesterol went from 256 to 136. Now, I Kill Skuls every day for breakfast.

I was doing a mission from my Brickstown contact to save the scientists and machines. I saved all the machines. I had just saved the last scientist from the Rikti and was getting ready to click out on Mission Complete, when I was transported out of the mission back to the T-station and got a Mission Failure messsage. It wasn't a timed mission. I don't know what happened. I probably should have bugged it then, but it was late and I was tired. Oh well. Hope that doesn't wreck the arc.

EDIT:

Thinking about it more, I'll bet it wan't a bug. I didn't 'arrest' all the Rikti, just saved the machines and scientists. I figure a Rikti went aggro on a machine and destroyed it, thus causing me to fail the mission. Don't know for sure, just thinking of reasons why this mission could have failed.

I used this guide to build Fire Iron. I'm 31st lvl and loving the build, even after Update 2. I have been criticized for not having Trip Mine, but I don't need it. My Alpha Strike is deadly and I can withstand the counter attacks enough to finish off the mobs. Right now, solo, I'm fighting yellow and orange Crey in Brickstown. Only the Crey Protectors give me trouble, mostly when I'm dumb enough to try to take out a red one. I took out two yellow protectors in one group the other night. I'm nuts!

Beck_,

I think he assumed that the mentor and sidekick were grouped.

[ QUOTE ]
Q. Why aren't stores marked on the map?

[/ QUOTE ]

A: Because they are constantly going out of business and relocating. With the economy the way it is, who can blame them.

Q: Why do Controllers cry when I let my Alpha Strike go off on their mesmerized mobs? Should I invite them to group with me first?

When I use the term Agro, it's like this:

"Keep control of your pet so it doesn't agro and attract more enemies before were done with these."

Agro, as in farming. Going Agro and farming for enemies.