You have dreams of drowning, and beautiful sirens coming up to kiss you, and then whipping out a charge machine and asking for your credit card.

"That'll be six hundred dollars."  She says with a New Yawker accent.

"Hey, you don't swim away from me."

"Hey you.  Wake up. Wake up."  You realize this last sentence is real.  You're laying on your back on flat concrete.  The air is cool and clean.

"All right, finally you're awake.  Now answer the question, or I'll blow your brains out. What comes after 'I pledge allegiance to...'?"

You open your eyes and see a grim-faced bald man with a sawed-off shotgun pointed at your face.  He's got one-eye open, the other looks like it took a knife cut.

Behind him, you can see a large lodge, and to your right, gulp, you look down.  You're on the edge of a several thousand foot drop.

But its still the Rocky Mountains.

Playtester

What a way to wake up...  I moan and look up at the man.  "I pledge allegience to Queen Fragg, and her mighty State of Hysteria."  I grin as I say this, thinking it may have been the wrong choice but not really caring at the moment.  "If you keep pointing that thing at me, at least turn the safety off."  The only way this'd work is if the guy's a total idiot.  Hey, who knows, maybe he is...

"Wrong answer, sunshine."  He pulls back the hammer, and braces himself to take a shot.  "And I don't have a safety on my shotgun. You may have safeties on shotguns in the universe you came from, but here, we're too busy killing people."

Playtester

"I was just assuring you weren't a savage, that's all."  I look a the man and look at the cliff to my right.  A long fall... I suppose it isn't really a valid option.  "Now how about we settle this like civilized gentlemen, hmm?  I would first like to ask why you're pointing a gun at me.  I have done nothing to you, have I?"

He listens carefully, and you suddenly realize he's afraid of you.

"Oh, I'm definitely a savage. The Battle at the Gate took care of that.  Getting machinegunned in the water does wonders for your love for your fellow man.

You haven't done anything yet, but I can't take that chance. We dance on the precipice of final defeat.  The Wolf Years are here and I don't know if you're a wolf or a wolfhound. Besides, you'll verse out to another world anyways, so its not like I'm really killing you.  Not that that would stop me if its not true.

Now, you've had two strikes. Third strike and its say goodnight, Gracie."

PT

"World... another world..." Images flash through my head. A volcano, indians, bombs, water.  "That... that... well... I think... I think you may be right on that.  Let's say that I did 'verse' here from another world.  Wouldn't that mean I know nothing of this conflict and would, thus, help whoever first asked for my assistance and provided a valid reason?  I would think so.  I have a number of skills that could benefit you in any fight."

I swallow, beginning to think I may have to do something drastic to get out of the situation.  "Machineguns in the water... sounds like D-Day all over again.  You're most definetely not a savage.  I've seen savages... they usually fire randomly 100 feet away, hitting nothing but the brick behind you.  Then, they rush in and begin clawing and biting at you.  You have not done that, so I say you're not a savage."

Well I will have to roll for your persuasiveness.  Botch or even a bad failure, and he's going to blast you with the shotgun.  He has strict orders which he agrees with.  But if you roll really well, then you might get some leeway.   A decent roll, and you get some more time.

"I should have shot you already. What comes after 'I pledge allegiance...'?"

You can see he has lost his patience.

OOC: I'm sorry if you don't know the answer.  This is the way this world is designed.  Its an interesting point I had not really considered that you bring up.

PT

"Let me talk to him, Morrison."  You hear another man's voice from behind your captor, and Morrison turns with relief.  The solidly built man with a huge backpack and a way of moving that is like a lightning bolt falling from the sky, sudden and yet impossible to stop, crouches down in front of you.

"You're a newbie verser aren't you? Look friend, and I do mean that.  I don't want hard feelings between us, even if I kill you.  And I know how silly that sounds, but once you've been killed a dozen or so times, your perspective changes.

These people in this world have to know for sure that you are on their side.  And they can't tell you what their side is for fear that you would lie to them.  This is the last outpost against a world-spanning evil, and we have to know if you're on the side of that or not.

So let me ask you a question.  If you had a chance to travel in time and kill four people, who would you kill?"

Playtester

"If I had the ability to kill 4 people?  I would kill no-one.  Simply put.  There are too many variables out there outside of our control.  Who knows what affect killing them would have?  If I was forced to kill 4 people, however... I would go back as little in time as possible and kill 4 nobodies.  That way, even though I've altered history, I hopefully wouldn't of affected it in a big way."

I look hopefully to the new person, wanting to get up off the ground already.  "Any more questions?"

He rubs his face, and then looks strangely at you.

"Must remember that not everyone is a stone-cold killer." He mutters to himself.

"Sure, get up. Not the answer I expected, but it should do.  I'll leave you to our host and his staff.  Me and a friend have to go find something, and probably kill some people."

He turns to walk away to a jeep.  Inside the jeep is a hooded man whose face you glimpse for a second.  He seems oddly familiar.

You are standing on the edge of a concrete heli-pad on top of a mountain.  In front of you is a long and several stories tall, wooden lodge with glass windows covered by wood and canvas.

Above the lodge is a radio tower with an American flag snapping in the breeze.  On the side of the jeep is a Nazi swastika.

PT

Well, that Nazi thing there reinforces the belief I need to do whatever the heck he tells me to.  Not knowing what exactly to do, I slowly begin following the man who had told me to get up.  "So... may I ask for you to explain this world for me?  And... don't worry... I can do my fair share of killing when neccessary."

"Ok, but I'm in a rush. About to go on a mission.  You can talk to the people inside as well. Its 1949 Anno Domini, and America lost World War II.  East of the Rockies is German Reich, and west of the Rockies is the Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere.  The Rockies are a Demilitarized Zone because neither of these two wolf states trust each other, with good reason. And because their are rumors that their are ghosts in the mountains.

So, what little is left of Free America hides out in the Rocky Mountains. And we pay occasional visits to our occupiers to let them know of our deep love and affection for them.  We even arrange fireworks displays to entertain them."

He pulls out a dynamite bomb out of the back of the jeep, and shows it to you, before dropping it back in, and climbing into the jeep.

PT

OoC: Sorry for being gone so long.  A few things popped up I needed to sort out.  Anyways, I'm back now.

IC:  Not knowing what else to do, I decide to head inside the nearby building.  Seeing a person inside, I ask him if I could speak to someone in charge.

OOC: It happens, and I'm glad to see you back. I've had a couple players do that, and I'm still holding out hope that DCypher may make his way back, but then he might have been mobilized by the Royal Navy (I believe) and be at sea.

IC: You walk into the nice house with its old fashioned TV in a walnut case, and Danish Modern chairs, and stacks of supplies such as bags of flour, and piles of coal, and boxes of rifles filling up what was once a spacious mansion.

You pass some kids, about five of them, playing catch in a less filled room, and see a motherly figure keeping an eye on them from an adjacent kitchen.

"Ah, another verser. Welcome. We'll bake you a cake. Foster Green the Third, or Trey as everyone calls him is down the hall, second door to the right.  Its the library.  Don't go into any door with a yellow sign, a red light, or a black sign on it. Yellow is for infectious disease, red light is for camera developing, and black is Top Secret. I'm Linda Gray."  She swipes her flour covered hands on her apron and shakes your hand.  "Tell me if you have any particular things you can't eat."

PT

I shook her hand.  "Just kiwis, but that's never really been a problem.  Never liked em much, anyways.  If you could make a cheesecake, that would be nice.  Haven't had a good cheesecake in... oh... as long as I can remember.  Well... I suppose I should go see Trey.  Nice talking to you."  Giving a quick smile, I turned to the direction she pointed and moved down the hall.

Second on the right... second on the--here it is.  I knock on the door and wait for an answer.

You open the door, and see an old, white-haired man sitting reading a book in a large chair.  He has an effortless sense of command about him, and self-assurance.

"I am Foster Green the Third. Trey that is."

He pauses and looks to see something.

"Ah, another verser, tell me, did you have the Hampton Greens as a leading family in European and American history in your world?  I can see that you do not. I wonder who won World War II in your world? I wonder if in some way its my families fault that America lost it in this world."

And the sense of assurance is gone, and he lifts an unsteady hand with a half-full goblet of liquer in it.

"Welcome to my penance. I need you to kill Germans and Japs. Throw them out of the nation. If you need advice, I'll be pleased to give it.  But most versers seem quite adept at slaughter."

Now he's angry.

PT

Disturbed by his rapidly changing attitude, I respond as best I can.  "I'll do whatever I can to fight.  If you give me the explosives and the transport, I'll take anything down.  Now... about my world... the Allies won WWII.  Hitler killed himself, and the Japanese were beaten.  I'm afraid I don't know much about the Hampton Greens."

"See thats my problem. Every world where they, the Nazi's lost, the Hampton Greens, President Josiah Green fourth president of these United States, Mark Victor Green-the first man to fly the Atlantic, Houston Green, the first man on the Moon, and me, a billionaire industrialist and maker of the Green Tank for the US Army, none of us existed.  Somehow, my family is responsible for all this, and I don't know how."

He sets his glass down with the too definite preciseness of teh drunk, and tosses you a set of keys.

"One's for the armory, and the other is for a jeep.  Its the least I can do. And its teh most I can do.  We're doomed. The Germans and the Japanese control teh globe.  Why am I even bothering to keep on fighting?  Its hopeless."

PT

I caught the keys with one hand and pocketed them.  "The only time you should give up hope is when you have no legs, no hands, are bleeding to death, and your weapon's 30 feet away.  Any other time, and there's still hope.  I'm willing to help, and I already have a couple ideas, but I need some help from you.  First of all, I need to know where all stores of nuclear materials are.  All of them.  Powerplants, silos, everything.  I also need someone to actually show me how to get out of this area.

Finally... any help would be nice."

"Nuclear materials.  Ah, " He pauses, and opens a cabinet, and pulls out a book.

"As of pre-War, my company was providing some parts for Oak Ridge, Tennessee where we had some stuff going on, but not as advanced as the Nazi's too bad.  Here's the specifications of what my company was doing there, and who we were working with.  Maps and stuff.  Course that is years ago.

I do hear that the Nazi's are putting a few silos in the Kansas grainfields to threaten San Franscisco with, but I don't know where.  Perhaps, Captain Chris, if he's in can help you find them.  He's one of our versers for the moment, and supposedly has ESP.

And I can get you a driver who will be your assistant, if you like."

He puts the glass of liquor away.

PT

"A driver will be nice.  Also, I'd like to meet this Chris.  If we manage to take out a large number of nuclear arms in one of the side, the other will realize their advantage and attack.  Hopefully, one will whipe out the other, with the victor being Pyhrrical.  It wouldn't be difficult to mop him up, then.  I've never directed large groups, so this may be the worst idea ever, but I think it works on paper."

Trey Green looks thoughtful, and then nods.

"It sounds like it might work.  Let me take you to Captain Chris and his wife, Annie."

He gets up, a bit unsteadily, and takes you down the hall to a dining room, still elegant and gracious where a red-haired man with a smooth smile greets you while his demure wife studies you with curiousity.

"I'm Chris. This is Annie.  Welcome to the DMZ. I hear you have a plan. Why don't we go over it together. We two are the only versers here in the compound. The Stormcrow is off killing Germans, and Leikou is still slipping around, following whatever scheme she had for the Nipponese.   Seeing as its a little dim in here for spreading out papers, let me..." He reaches out a finger to a candle and ignites it with a touch, and then blows on his finger, and all the candles in the room light up.

"Show off." Annie says affectionately.

"What can I say, I like fire." Captain Chris says with an easy smile.

Trey excuses himself to go nap, and the cook brings out drinks and a snack. And a driver, Mark Hughes, Corporal American Free Army comes in as well.

"I'm a driver. My father was a moonshiner, so I know how to drive lickety-split, if you know how to hang on."

Pt

"Don't worry, I can hang on."  I take one of the drinks and sip it.  "That's a neat trick there, Chris.  How'd you do that?  Oh, and I suppose I better introduce myself.  Name's Malachai.  Anyways... you said something about spreading out papers?"

Chris and Annie pull back the centerpiece on the table, and the snacks to give you a place to put down your book of industrial orders and specifications at Oak Ridge, and then they also spread out some maps, and some large sheets of parchment paper to scribble notes on.  Annie then flips over a portrait to reveal a greenboard on the back, and picks up a piece of chalk.

"Pyrokinesis. Very dangerous psionic trick.  First time I tried it, I burnt myself to ash, I think.  But I like it.  If we have time, which we never seem to do, I'll see if I can teach it to you, if you like."  Chris says.

PT

"That would be fun.  It'd help in lighting fuses from a distance."  I put down the book I was carrying and then took a step back and waited for Chris and Annie to begin whatever they were going to.

OoC: wait... since when was I carrying a book?

Chris nods in agreement.

"Okay, we're looking for nuclear weapons according to your plan.  Kansas wheatfields are supposedly where some are.  Now I can psionically look, but this world is pretty tough on psi.  You can do a few of the simpler tricks like pyro and ESP, but the high level stuff is out, and even the ESP is hard work compared to some other worlds.

And I could look up and down an area but I can't search that far.  Give me a ten mile volume and a couple days or some decent clue, and I can probably spot it for you, but I can't do the whole of Kansas.

Now the best plan I got right now is to take a road trip to Kansas City Reich Army Base, and sneak around looking for anything that looks related to radioactive stuff, and then snoop some more.  Not a great plan, I'll admit."

Chris says, and looks at you and the others.

OOC: The book you are carrying is the specifications manual with some other blueprints stuck in it for some parts used at Oak Ridge.  Trey handed it to you.  Sorry I was not more clear.

"I can probably sneak about the base.  Since I'm going to be sneaking around there, I might as well bring some explosives along.  If I find out that there are radioactive materials there, I'll plant the explosives for later.  Meanwhile, while I'm doing that, if you could 'scan,' as you said, other bases to as far as you can, that would help.  That way, we could figure out if there's nuclear material in more than one place right away."

OoC: Oh, okay.  And sorry for not having really posted much in the last couple days.  I'll try and do some longer posts later.

:P

"All right then. What say you gather up everything you think we will need, and pile it on the jeep. We can leave in the morning.  Just leave enough space for me and Annie to sit, and a milk carton crate space for ammo for the lady.

I would help you, but we just got back from a mission about three hours ago, and are pretty tired."

pt

"Hey, no problem.  I think I'll be fine.  You should go and get some sleep.  I'm gonna go and load the jeep, then."  I walk out of the room and preceed to the armoury.  There, I grab as much explosives as I can.  "Dynamite... plastic... nice.  Let's see what else there is..."  Looking around, I spot some M-80s, smoke grenades, and a couple frags.  "Now whadya know... I think I like this place already."  I take them to a jeep and pile them in the back.  Returning to the armoury, I grab a pistol and several clips for it.  Looking around, I spot a silencer.  "Now... let's see if I can get this on..."  After a few failed attempts, I get the silencer on the pistol.  "There we go."  On my way out, I grab an MP5 and several clips for that as well.

I finish loading the jeep and then head back into the dining room.  The room is empty, so I sit on a couch and mull over what's happened so far and what will happen tomorrow.  After a couple minutes, I lie down and close my eyes, trying to fall asleep.

OoC: If you want something else to happen now, go ahead, or you could just fast forward to tomorrow if you want.  And if you think there's something else I should take, just give me a hint of some sort.  <_<  >_>  ^_^  Or if you thought I took too much in some way, as well.  :P
This message was last edited by the player at 03:04, Thu 14 Apr 2005.

The plastic is in a special locked cabinet with a sign. "For versers only.".  Along with it you find a hundred feet of "200kw electrical blasting wire." A Russian rocket powered grenade, but no launcher, and a small black disk with hieroglypics on it.

You also find a couple mortars with around seventy rounds, and a box of twenty grenades.

The MP5 we'll skip, but you do find a Tommy gun with abundant ammo.

Your driver packs up water, gasoline, food, tents, etc..

The next morning you wake to find a big breakfast, and a cheesecake pie for you to eat on the way (keeping in mind you have no refrigeration).

Your driver tears down the mountainside, and is heading into the foothills for a back road passage when you are buzzed by a Nazi recon plane.  Very bad luck.

OOC: I rolled a terrible GE roll for meeting enemy forces on your way past the Frontier, and so you get spotted by sheer mischance.

PT

"Ah, man!  Of COURSE they have to find us.  Damn you, Murphy!"  I shake my fist up towards the skies as the plane flies past.  "We'd better find somewhere close by where we can hole up, maybe this'll all blow over nice and fast.  Find somewhere sheltered, and park the jeep.  Fast.  I'd give 10 minutes before they get someone out here to take care of his."

OoC: I'm assuming I did get the plastic (you weren't 100% clear on that :P).  Mmm... Tommy gun... those are cooler than MP5s, anyways.  :D

Its not difficult finding a hiding space in the foothills, and underneath a now wild orchard gone to seed, your team parks, and then drags out some camoflage netting to cover the jeep.

You sit there for a couple hours with Annie placidly knitting, and Chris opines that its as good a time as any to learn pyro.  Meanwhile you hear tanks in the distance.

"That is unless, you're scared which would be wise, or you want to try to keep an eye on the opposition or something.  Or Annie here can check you out on the guns you brought if you're not familiar with them. Of course, we can't shoot."

PT

"Or we can play poker?"  Mark says with a hustler's grin.

OOC: Yes, you do have the plastic. Did you take any of the other stuff, mortar rounds, etc., mentioned?

PT

"Hehe, poker's always good.  I'd think I'll take pyro over poker, though, unless it's possible to do both.  Let's start now.  And, nah, I think I'm okay with the guns.  I practiced with the clips a few times before coming, and I was an okay shot in my first world."

OoC: Yeah, I took everything.  :P

"First things first, then.  You really need to learn how to Hear.  Mentally that is.  You'll have to learn how to hear my thoughts so you can see how to do it."

He starts, and within an hour, you're sweating, and then you hear...

**I think we need to quit soon.  The tanks have pretty much left.**

OOC: Sorry Doulos, some worlds its easier to learn psi in than in others.

PT

"I suppose you're right, we should probably get moving."  I grin as I stand back up and move to get the camoflage off the jeep and then move on.

OoC: Doulos?  lol, you messed up on the names XD

You head on further down the foothills, and through a small, lackluster town of grim-faced people, and on to the other side where you see a half-dozen rotting corpses hanging from the edge of an abandoned gas station's roof.

"German justice. They hang you, and leave you until the bones fall loose on their own.  Then the relatives are permitted to bury their dead."

PT

You head on further down the foothills, and through a small, lackluster town of grim-faced people, and on to the other side where you see a half-dozen rotting corpses hanging from the edge of an abandoned gas station's roof.

"German justice. They hang you, and leave you until the bones fall loose on their own.  Then the relatives are permitted to bury their dead."

OOC: Doulos had to learn the same skill in Black Box Imperium, but he had a much harder time of it since BBImperium is less conducive to psi than Rocky Mountain DMZ is.
PT

"There are far worse deaths than that.  At least it's relatively quick.  Let's keep moving."

OoC: Oh, okay.  :P

And I'm really sorry for this being such a short post.  I just don't really have anything else to say.

>_<

They darkly agree with you, and then Chris laughs.

"I've experienced a few of them myself."

You go the rest of the day in what seems a ghost land.  Occasional burned tanks, or empty villages pocked by bullet holes testify to a bitter war of annihilation fought here.

Then your driver pulls off the highway, and threads his way into a canyon.

"The people that own the ranch here run a waystation for us. That means they keep a cave stocked with supplies."

PT

"All right, then.  Let's check it out."  I hop out of the jeep, pull out a flashlight, and move into the cave.

OoC: I'm assuming he stopped by the cave.

You slip into the cave, your gun out, and ready, you hope.  You hear a low murmur of conversation, and urge the others to draw closer, but quietly.

Its a small group, perhaps ten people, and they are discussing escaping to the Yukon Territory from Kansas City.

PT

I approach the group with my hands up, signalling peace.  One of them spots the gun holstered at my side and pulls out his own.  I try and out-draw him, but I fail.  The gunshot rings in the cave as blackness comes over my vision as my head thunks on the ground and blood pools around me.

OoC: Okay, killed off now.  :P