It was no use, in Flash's mind, tending to the woman's injuries, if/while they were crashing into a mountain.

Hitting his Danger Patrol^tm Wrist Communicator, he spoke to his allies on the trailing ship as he jumped behind the controls of this SPORT.
"Ok, Witch is subdued, and I'm going to try and land this bucket" ...

- rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,4.  Insightful to float this Boat.

Buzz, with the help of a tractor beam jury-rigged by Dr. Cagliostro, manages to land the ship, roughly, getting himself only a little hurt and shook up himself on the process.

The ship's data bank is ruined in the crash, though... It's hard to say where the Flame Witch thought she was headed...

(Buzz takes -1 forward and 2 new points of damage from the crash.)

I’m guessing that would be Flash, not Buzz

With the SPORT landed, Flash makes looks to tending The Witch.   Attempting to stabilise her, if her condition is critical.

She's not dead, but she's worse than just unconscious. If she's going to live, she should be gotten to a hospital.

And where is the nearest hospital, please?

There's got to be a civilized Cavern around here somewhere. Flash can't figure out in his head if the nearest one to this spot would be Cavern 4, Cavern 7, or Cavern 11. Someone can look it up once Buzz lands the other ship... Yes, and here she comes//they come now, just landing right nearby the crashed ship...

Buzz absolutely followed Flash down and landed her own ship as close as it was safe to the one Flash was piloting.  "Somebody radio HQ about our situation.  Make sure it's encrypted.  Oh, and warn them about that emergency teleporting we altered ... if they haven't figured that one out already."  She radios to Flash's craft, asking for a status report.

Flash responded, using his Wrist Communicator, rather than the ship's Comms.
"I'll need help of here as soon as possible.  This Witch will need medical attention fast.  This battle has not been kind to her", as he knelt beside her, and attempted to stabilise her and tend to her wounds.

- rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,1.  Insight for Healing.Converting to a partial (7+) success.

He'd barely managed to stabilise her (he hoped) when the sand and earth exploded around them ... as giant Sand Leech erupted, hungry, having sensed the vibrations that had sounded through the ground at the SPORT's violent landing.

It couldn't swallow the SPORT whole, but that didn't stop it snatching the small ship in its jaws and beginning to shake it.

Flash scooped up the unconscious Religious Criminal in two of his arms, as he quickly tried to make his way towards the open exit point.

Buzz, realizing that Flash would need to get on her ship and would need cover fire in order to do so safely, lowered the back hatch of her craft and trained the ship's guns on the Sand Leech (trying not to blow up the other vessel in the process).

Via her wrist communicator, she said to Flash "The door is open, and I'm trying to keep the path clear, green man.  Bolt like a shooting star!"

The blasts from the ship's weapons slow the leech down, but not enough to kill it or stop it.

It surges toward Flash...

(Looks like it's time for an Agile check, Flash, unless you have another idea...)

Flash raced through the rolling and tossed corridor of the SPORT, carrying The Flame Witch in two of his arms in an attempt to save her life.

As he came with strides of the open door that he’d forced earlier, Flash activated his Rocketpack with his other two hands, and shot out of the small exit portal ‘like a shooting star’.
     - rolled 8 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 3,2.  Agile + Rocketpack.

In a wide arch, trying to stay away from the massive sand wyrm, he rocketed back around towards Buzz’s shuttle, and towards the barn door at the back ... for a landing that might make the proverbial ‘stunned camel’ envious.

The sand leech hurtles toward Flash... it fails to eat him... but just barely. It hits his legs, and he rockets off-course, and into the sand.

The toxic spines sticking out of the leech's skin don't actually affect the usefulness of Flash's legs, but they sure hurt.

(Flash takes 2 new damage.)

His rocketpack doesn't work anymore... but he's fifty yards from safety. He picks the Flame Witch back up...

Run and/or jump, Flash...!
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:15, Sat 30 May 2020.

Flash was an Olympic Grade athlete.  Running (especially) and jumping were his thing.

He had planned to rocket right around and barn-yard the back of Buzz, but that plan had now been changed.
Scooping up the Flame Witch, Flash made a run for it, towards the nearest rock outcrop ... or Buzz’s SPORT, whichever was closer.
- rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,5.  Run, Forest Flash. Run.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:20, Sat 30 May 2020.

Flash safely makes it to a rock outcrop three times his size, which means it's more than big enough to hide behind.

The sand leech knows where he is, of course, but it can't BURROW there. If it tries to crash into it, it'll possibly kill the little green runner, but it'll hurt itself, too.

The tiny, rusty gears in its head turn slowly. It turns toward the flying metal thing... The sand leech doesn't like competition for its prey, if that's what it is... The flying metal thing is smaller than the sand leech... but much bigger than the green runner...

"Uh, permission to try something?" says Dr. Cagliostro.

(Will Buzz let Dr. Cagliostro try something, knowing she might make things worse?
Or will Buzz try firing on the sand leech?)

Buzz again aimed and fired the ship's gun at the sand leech, wounding it a second time.  Afterward, she turned to Cagliostro.

"Yeah, doc, go ahead."

The sand leech's mind nervous system is made up. It rams the ship.

WHAM

Two or three alarms start going off.

"Um, I kind of meant could I try something instead of you shooting it... I don't know if it will work now... But I'll try it..."

Dr. Caglostro, ultra-physicist and mysterious mystic, chants a chant and draws odd symbols in the air with her fingers...

(15:42, Today: The GM, on behalf of Dr. Cleopatra Cagliostro, rolled 8 using 2d6+1 ((2,5)).)

And the sand leech... does...

...nothing. It's reared up, but it's just swaying there... There's a transparent black miasma around its eyes head top end.

"I called upon The Black Mists of Malakar... but I don't think it'll hold very long at all... Can you even get us airborne again...?"

(The sand leech is distracted!

Will The Black Mists of Malakar last long enough to let everyone escape?

Flash, now is the time for you to try to run for the ship (the door you were going to use is still open... in fact, it probably can't be closed again any time soon except after a couple of hours with a wrench (or spanner, if you're from Ouranos). Agile check, please...

Buzz, the ship has taken a strong hit. Take -1 forward on your next move...)

Flash knew when to take hold of an opportunity with all four hands ... and pulling the Flame Witch close to him, he launched himself forward into a sprint for that open barn-door.
- rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,4.

Sand flew up at his heels, as he left the Sand Worm to eat his literal dust.
Across the distance Flash moved in, likely breaking at least one of two Solar Records ... because fear of being eaten by a giant leech can give an insect quite the burst of adrenaline.

A might leap carried him into the back of the SPORT as he screamed, "K I C K   I T !" to Buzz.
Countering  the   'Buzz, the ship has taken a strong hit. Take -1 forward on your next move...'
with   'Aid: Any time you are in a scene with another PC and you roll a 12 or higher, you can give another PC +1 on their next roll!'

And, hopefully, as the SPORT launched forwards in 'the getaway', Flash yelled, "D O C, H E E L L P P P"
Cagliostra was the best person to tend to the Fire Witch (and keep her sedated) right now.
Flash had got the woman this far, but now she needed some professional help.

Buzz does her best to left off, but the damage to the ship is heavily impeding progress.  "This isn't going so well!"

OOC: Rolled a 6.  Yuck.

"This is going to take more than science," mutters Doc Cagliostro, and her eyes begin to glow as she straps her new patient in...

In the meantime, the ship's alarms are still going off... and the sand leech attacks again.

WHAM

Flash had thought that it must be pretty jarring to be on the ship when the sand leech attacked it. Turns out: yeah, it is.

Meanwhile, Buzz isn't pleased... the ship isn't going to fall apart with one more hit, but it's going to start being unflyable soonish... she needs to get this thing away from the angry (hungry? territorial?) sand leech...

OOC: BOOM! 14!

The sand leech's second strike knocked back into place whatever its first strike had knocked loose.  The SPORT powers up quickly and Buzz is able to lift off to safety.

"There's my baby!  Oh, yeah!"  She hoots in jubilation.  "Lock 'er up, guys!  I think we'll make it out of here and live to tell the tale!"

The ship leaves the sand leech behind-- oh, it follows, but only for a mile or two. Then the ground turns more rocky, and it returns to the sandy environment with which it's more comfortable.

"I've got our patient stabilized," says Doc Cagliostro. "She won't wake up real soon, though. I don't think I could make her wake up right now if I tried, not that I want to deal with a patient capable of burning me up with a wave of her remaining hand..."

"I've been looking things up-- head to Cavern 11," Johnny tells Buzz. "Seems like they're the nearest place with good medical facilities..."

And just like that, Flash Bang had nothing to do.

The pilot was piloting.
The doctor was doctoring.
... and Flash was, at a loose end.  Which, in by almost any definition, a good thing.
But Flash kinda suddenly felt like the proverbial ‘third wheel’.

But not for long.

Soon enough, the ship had landed, the Flame Witch was in intensive care-- with carefully armed and armored guards and automated fire-suppression sprayers at the ready-- and everyone was being debriefed.

And disinfected, and some other special procedures. Buzz was, at first, still a carrier for the Silver Plague. But it was a mutated form, that was more contagious, but also, apparently, easier to treat. Doc Cagliostro, in an electric-mail, informed them that she and the Danger Patrol's (other) top scientists on Mercury informed were, even now, already, working on some sort of vaccine, thanks to whatever germs or bacteria or nanobots or whatever the hell they'd found on Buzz's skin and clothing...

And everyone... could rest...

(Anyone able to Level Up...?)

Buzz took advantage of the downtime to sleep, eat, and read the specs on the latest models of SPORTs and other craft in the Danger Patrol hangers.

OOC: I don't think I have enough to advance, but I'm not sure.  I haven't played in this system before.

Flash DEFINITELY needs the sleep.  He'd been on the go since landing on Mercury just over 24 hours or so ago with CID3000*.
He fought cultists, raced through tunnels in hot pursuit, fought a giant spider, raced across the surface of Mercury to the Flame Witch's hidden temple stronghold, fought his way through to its heart, fought her and her minions, before participating in a high speed chase across the surface of the planet, which lead Flash to making an heroic leap from one speeding craft to another, before running from and fighting off a giant sand leech.

He was exhausted, to admit the truth.
And hungry.   His hungry and tired fought for dominance; but eventually he'd eaten a roast barkudain sandwich before falling on one of the infirmary beds nearby where Doc C was overmatching the Flame Witch:  partially so that he could be on hand if the Flame Bitch woke and started anything, and partially so that (if she were so inclined) the Doc could hook him up to some kind of awesomo IV drip that would give him superhero powers.

Not that he was likely to wake for either for some time.



* is there any word on CID's whereabouts and condition?