The other end of the hallway led to more stairs-- stairs which Buzz and Johnny were descending.

---

It turned out that Bruno2 (left behind in the control room-- he didn't have the right kind of arms to open the self-closing door to the control room, so he was stuck in a what-now loop, just sort of staring at the closed door, rolling slightly back and forth, trying to solve the problem, but lacking the brains to do so) had been guarding a large stairwell downward.

At the bottom, Buzz and Johnny found Flash, who had apparently just found the stairwell himself.

"The layout of this place is absurdly confusing," offered Buzz as a greeting.  "I think I can get us back to the armory, if we need it and I know we did some damage to their research lab.  I still don't know what they were doing here, though."

"We definitely haven't had time to investigate.  Every time we turn a corner, there are more cultists who seem to have a serious aversion to surrendering and answering our questions." Johnny added glancing at his standard issue RCPD quantum computron Mk III.  He had left it set to passive mode since he arrived, perhaps it's sophisticated neural network had picked up on something interesting while they were dodging lasers blasts and killer robots.

Any chance either of the following offer our intrepid agents a clue?

--Forensic Analyzer: Something useful happens because you have a little computer that can analyze clues and so on. [+]

--Case File Archive: Something useful happens because you have a case file archive that is the envy of law enforcement operatives. [+]

The sudden appearance of Buzz and Johnny got a startled response from Flash, and they found his Raygun brought to bear on them before he realised who they were.
Dropping the gun away, Flash smiled at Buzz, “Tell me about it”.  With a glance at her companion, he asked Buzz, “this out new boyfriend?  What happened to Meathead?”

But even as he asked, he was headed down the hallway to the other end ... to the door he hadn’t yet checked.

The two could see that Flash was pretty banged up, with several burns from Raygun shot, a few bruises, and a busted lip that still dropped the orangy-yellow blood of the insectuoid Titans.
None of it seemed to be slowing Flash Bang down ... yet.

For real diceroller?!

Case File Archive:
14:29, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 6 using 2d6+3 ((2,1)).

Nope...

Edit: +1 Investigator = 7 thanks GM

Weak success

Johnny winced at the results that his machine provided. Smacking the delicate machine on its side with a growl, he punched in a new calibration. “Most sophisticated neural network in the galaxy my eye.” he muttered.  “Even a Neptunian crevasse bat could see the similarity between these readings and the Case of Jimmy the Knife and the Nebula Gang... ah-ha ... well, whadaya know...”

Well, what do we know?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:41, Sun 01 Mar 2020.

--STRUCTURAL LAYOUT ANALYZED
--PROCESSING.............
--COMPARING WITH PREVIOUS REPORTS FILED BY AGENT FLASH BANG...
--COLLATING.......
--LOOK FOR TELEPORTER ROOM
--LIKELIHOOD OF TELEPORTER ROOM ON THIS FLOOR BETTER THAN 80 PERCENT
--LIKELIHOOD OF SUSPECT "FLAME WITCH" ON THIS FLOOR, OR CLUES ABOUT SAME, BETTER THAN 90 PERCENT
--POSSIBILITY OF ADDITIONAL ROBOT GUARDS ON THIS FLOOR, BETTER THAN 90 PERCENT-- DANGER-- WARNING-- CAUTION.........
--LIKELIHOOD OF PHYSICAL PLANT ON THIS FLOOR, BETTER THAN 50 PERCENT.......
--BUFFERING................
--QUERY: WHERE IS AGENT CAGLIOSTRO?

Buzz completely ignores the part about one of their team members being absent.  "Ok, if we can find decent intel on the Flame Witch and then teleport out of here, I'm all for it.  So this is what I know about the layout so far..."  She pulls a marker from her pocket and starts sketching on the wall a crude map, including doors known and unknown.

When Buzz was done illegally graffitiing this facilities walls, Flash asked for her pen, and added to the mud-map what he knew.

Then, between them, hopefully they could hypothesise the likely locations they sought.
 So here be my Insight roll, to add to that objective:
- rolled 9 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,5.  Insight.

The Danger Patrol agents really couldn't do better than the computerized fact-analyzer, but they did come to agree that they should stick to the floor they're on, and not go back upstairs.

At first, the sense of urgency that the fact-analyzer had tried to impart to them rolled off their psyches like water off a Neptunian wave-skipper's back... Were they not Danger Patrol agents? Danger was the first word in their organization's name!

At first, that is... But as they stood in the corridor, that sense that they should get moving slowly grew... It wasn't anything they could put their fingers on, save for a small sense of "it's quiet-- TOO quiet" that began to gnaw at their conscious awarenesses...

“Better keep moving then. Keep the baddies from coming up with a plan.”  Johnny added. “Keep exploring this floor, find the witch. As good a plan as any. If we find the physical plant maybe we can kill the power and slow down the bad guys coordination and response, or maybe just die in the dark?”

Insightful
20:58, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 7 using 2d6+2 ((2,3)).
Weak Success

The trio of Danger Patrol find a large door that, for once, is labeled. PHYSICAL PLANT, it reads.

The door also reads LEVEL THREE PASSCARD REQUIRED. There is a slot for reading cards...

Buzz will try her card in the slot.  "If we blow the whole thing up, that takes the witch with it, right?"

“There wouldn’t be any way to confirm that we had taken the witch down.” Johnny replied. “I figure we gotta do this face to face. If we can get in here we might be able to cut the power, but you’ll want to make sure that we can get it back on or teleportation out of here might be a problem for you meat bags.”

"Johnny's right," Flash Bang said, excusing himself past his compadres, "I, for one, would like to see her brought to justice.  Of if she dies, I'd prefer that we witnessed it, for prosperity".
Spinning a swipe card between his fingers like a playing card, he grinned the proverbial cat's meow, he turned to the door, and whipped the card through the reader as he drew his Ray Gun.

The door opens.

There seems to be no one inside.

There is a wide panel with controls, including a computer interface, and a lot of large machines whirring and pumping and whatever else they're doing.

Looking over the array of controls and monitors, Johnny was at a bit of a loss.  “Before I joined the force, I worked in that big Nova Broa manufacturing facility on the outskirts of the city out near the Coprates Agrodome, where they grow krill for protein supplements...  Anyway, for emergencies and what have you, a big facility like this has gotta have an emergency procedures optical display tablet or automated procedural assistant kicking around.” he said, beginning to search through drawers and cabinets for something helpful. “Might even find a power schematic the gives us an idea where the teleportation chamber is... if we’re lucky”

"You're right, there might be, if we are lucky", Flash replied, "OR ... we could be here all day looking.

Let's move" he said, trying to encourage his companions to ditch this room, and keep exploring.  "The faster we move through this joint, the sooner we'll find the things we need".


He was waiting by the door, waiting to lead by example.

Buzz followed Flash's lead.

Midway through rifling a drawer, Johnny looked up. “Keep moving where?” he asked. “I’m open to bright ideas, but searching this room should only take a moment then we can get back to running blindly down the hallways waiting for another robot to attack. I know I’m new here, but so far none of us seems to know where we’re heading. Who knows, just maybe we’ll find something useful that will keep us... well... you... alive for a few more hours. You gonna help look around, cover that hallway or just stand there bleeding on the floor?”

Flash didn’t agree, but he could see that this guy was determined to search this room for any useful information ... so the only thing that Flash could think to do, to speed that process up, was to help.

So help he did ...
          - rolled 4 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,1.  Insight.
... or, at least, he tried to.

Insightful if required.
10:41, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 9 using 2d6+2 ((2,5)).
Weak Success... Strong Success if +1 Investigation applies (I believe is should in this case).

"Fine, we'll search here first." said Buzz as she joined the others.

OOC: Rolled a 7

Flash tried to break open a locked access panel, but it just gave him an electric shock-- trapped to discourage people trying to tamper with it.

(Flash takes 1 new damage, and gets 1 new xp point.

Meanwhile, Johnny's roll was good enough that I'll let HIM tell ME what he finds. (I'll probably decide what Buzz finds after that.))

"Well hello there..." Johnny said, pulling a dusty grey case out from under a control panel.  Marked across the top of the case in bold silver letters are the words Theta Technologies Power Management Incorporated - Generation & Monitoring Plant - Emergency Liaison Management Operator (Automated).  "This is exactly the kind of thing big facilities like this sometime have lying around to help the rank and file operate equipment in an emergency." he added unclipping the heavy plastic catches on the case.  Inside was a robot about the size of a child's doll with a pleasant, smiling face.  "These things are programed with all kinds of useful info, like maps, evacuation procedures, facility manifests, shut down procedures... you name it.  If it's been updated it will be a great help.  Even if it's still got the factory settings, it should be able to coach us through using this control room to gain some more info." Johnny explained as the little robot's computer booted up.

"Hello! ELMO is ready to help you!" exclaimed the little robot in a high squeaky voice.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:07, Sat 04 Apr 2020.

Buzz doesn't find much, but she does notice that there appears to be a way to lock the door. At least the agents are much more likely now to not be interrupted by anyone who might be searching for them.

(Okay, proceed with Elmo... I'll play Elmo from here... But you might need to do a Charming roll to get Elmo to be really useful...)

"Hey there ELMO, there's been an emergency," Johnny began with a sidelong glance toward the other Danger Patrol agents. "The facility here is being evacuated and we've go to search the rest of this level.  We're going to use the teleporter to get everyone out and we need the facility map to make sure we check every room. Can you project the holo map for us?"

19:56, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 7 using 2d6+1 ((5,1)).
+1 Investigation = 8
Weak Success

"Oh noooo! That sounds bad! Are the cities on the other side of the planet okay? Or would it be better for the evacuation point for the teleporter be somewhere else?"

E.L.M.O. whirs and clicks for a couple of seconds, processing.

"Sorry, but the map is off-limits right now!" E.L.M.O. falls into a whisper. "The Flame Witch has locked it down!" Then he resumes normal volume. "Have you met her? She's so pretty!" More clicks, and a beep. "Where was E.L.M.O....? Oh yeah, the map! I can get the teleporter ready for you to use... and I can give you directions if there's anywhere you want to go...?!"

"All emergency evacuation teleports should go to the following coordinates on the far side of the planet," offers Buzz, reciting the GPS coordinates of Danger Patrol HQ from memory.  "And if you can give us directions to that beautiful Witch and her archives, that would be, uh, good."

“We really need to make sure the Queen is taken care of, ELMO.” Johnny added. “Directions to the throne room and archive would be a really big help.”

"Archive? If you mean the medical logs, those would be kept in the sickbay. The medical robot there is really nice! Although he's offline right now for some reason... maybe he's asleep! But if you mean the science archives... ooh, they're offline right now too... The whole laboratory's down! Wow, it must be due to the big emergency! You'd be better off just asking the Flame Witch what you want to know! Just go to the main stairwell, and then go right!"

Flash smiled, ready now to charge headlong and recklessly into whatever danger was beyond 'the main stairwell, and then go right'.

While the other two had been dealing with the computer contraptions, Flash had sequestered himself to the corner of the room, where he'd pulled out his Medkit and begun attending to his wounds in the most basic ways:  namely, using the 'wound sealant spray' to bandage the burns and open flesh.
- rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 3,4.  using Insight+Medkit.

(Flash gets 5 points of health back.)

By the time that Johnny and Buzz were ready to leave, Flash was feeling better for his own tender ministrations.

And if they let him, he'd take 'point'; and lead the way ... back 'to the main stairwell, and then go right!'

Buzz is content to let Flash lead the charge.  She was always more comfortable firing at the enemy from behind a barrier.

“ELMO, we’re going to take care of the evacuation,” Johnny said falling in with Flash and Buzz. “You get those coordinates set on the transporter and we’ll get everyone to them so they can get out safely”

Unlocking the door, and with his Ray Gun in his lower right hand, Flash lead the team from the room.
Unless intercepted, he was headed back 'to the main stairwell, and then go right!'

The door in question that supposedly leads to the Flame Witch-- a large, heavy door-- is opened. Revealing...

...An empty twenty-by-twenty-foot room, and another large, heavy door on the opposite side.

There's a sign on the wall warning that explains that to preserve hangar bay integrity, this next door will not open until the door the agents just opened is closed first.

In other words, it's an airlock. Well, that makes sense, if it leads to a hangar bay... So the Flame Witch is in there, eh...?

- rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 5,1.  Insightful to find any clues.

Reckless and lost in the hunt, Flash grinned as he sensed his quarry close.
"Let's go", he said to his companions, as he headed for the far door.

Buzz followed, taking a flanking position by the opposite door for when it opened while scanning the room for dangers and traps.

Johnny may be dead, but that didn’t mean he was comfortable rushing headlong into the Flame Witch’s hangar.  Being shot in the face by a notorious gangster had imbued him with a certain sense of his own mortality and, even though he was technically dead, he was finding it a bit difficult to ignore the feeling that this could go badly. Once bitten twice shy...

Walking along with the others, he kept his eye open for any clue pointing to what they might expect beyond that heavy door.  Normally an airlock was meant to give space to prepare for a change in atmosphere or pressure, but this empty space did nothing to betray its purpose.  The detective asked himself ... why there would be an airlock here?  What was the ill defined threat to the hangar bay that required the air lock?  Most importantly, how could they use this to their advantage?

Lacking any better idea or clue indicating how the team of intrepid adventurers might prepare themselves for the next challenge, Johnny began to dematerialize hoping to perform a bit of spectral reconnaissance and get a peek beyond the door.

Rolls if necessary:
09:23, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,3. Insightful... +1 Investigation if it applies...
09:24, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 9 using 2d6-1 with rolls of 6,4.  Spirit.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:13, Fri 17 Apr 2020.

"Damn!" said Johnny. "It's a trap!"

The opening door showed quite a few cultployees, a LOT of robots, all ready to deal with the three Danger Patrol agents.

Johnny leapt to try to close the door again, but a wall of intense flame appeared at the back of the airlock, and pushed the agents out of it. Johnny felt that even he might have been harmed by it, and so he leapt forward out of the airlock with the pilot and the Titanian.

A large robot by the airlock door closed it and locked it.

"So! You have finally arrived!" said the Flame Witch, a human woman at the back of the hangar bay with a red-and-orange dress and strawberry-blonde hair. "You're just in time to die!"

"Hey guys," said Dr. Cagliostro, held up by her wrist from a rope hanging from the front nose of a nearby parked spaceship. "I got captured. Sorry I couldn't warn you..."

"Any amusing last words before I kill you?" the Flame Witch asks.

The Danger Patrol handbook is extremely clear on this type of situation: All agents in such situations are to neither give up nor surrender, under any circumstances.

(I mean, if terms of surrender aren't offered. That's a whole other situation from "Villain/Villainess, Impending Threat of Seemingly-Certain Death, Offering.")

Buzz, while not thrilled to be surrounded by weapon-toting enemies, did find one aspect of the situation encouraging.  She was now in the presences of machines she could pilot and attack said enemies with!

Seizing the opportunity to act before the Flame Witch was even finished speaking, Buzz bolted for the nearest mech suit and started clambering up the exoskeleton.  The plan was to fire the driver's ejection seat and take over.  Ideally, the armor would last long enough for her to start firing the mini-rail-gun and give cover to her team.

"Keep talking, lady.  I'm happy to provide some hot lead for you to swallow," she said through gritted teeth.

As Buzz split left, Flash went right ... then darted forward, and left then around to the right.

His many years of team athletics were kicking in.  This was just like playing Scrapball in the major leagues: and Flash was an AWESOME Scrapball player.
He'd played many positions over the years, but by far the best was Centre Blitz.  Sometimes, he'd had made a run right down the centre of the field, into the opposing teams territory, before they'd even realised that he had those big brass balls.

And as the trap, here and now, snapped shut around them, Flash realised that there was just one way to end this.
CID had shown him a game, not long ago.  Called Chess.  It was a terran made strategy game ... and the only way to win was to 'take the kind'.
And that is exactly what Flash intended to do.
Take the Flame-Witch, and this would be over.

And so, channelling his college years Scrapball self, he forcefully shoved and shoulder-charged his way through the cluttered room, making use of the enemies overcrowding against itself, sending opposing team members spinning and cartwheeling out of his way
      ... headed for 'the king'.

- rolled 7 using 2d6+4 with rolls of 1,2.  + Alien Training.
Wow, I'm glad I threw in that 'Alien Training'

(Buzz Corey rolled 7 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 1,3.  Agile + RP,RT to commandeer the big guns.)

A big robot grabs Buzz and tosses her aside as she tries to climb up a mecha-suit.

Then it raises its big foot to stomp on her...

Welp, that's it, she's dead.

...EXCEPT...

Then the big robot spins on its ankle (because its ankles allow it to do that) and it punches ANOTHER big robot.

After a second's pause, that robot sweeps its arm and knocks down a bunch of cultployees and average-size robots.

Then all those robots get up... and start punching everyone around them, friend or foe!

A cultployee points at Buzz, who is not remotely at all a red smear on the floor, despite how it looked like things were going to go 12 seconds earlier. "It's her!" he yells. "It's the Silver Plague! She's got it-- she's a carrier--OWWWWW!" he adds, because a robot has just punched him in the face.

In less than 30 seconds, everything is mayhem. The Danger Patrol agents are still in, well, danger, because the robots are still attacking them-- it's just that the robots are all now also attacking everyone-- other robots, cultployees, Danger Patrol agents, the Flame Witch, in what I guess is... kind of a four-way fight suddenly? (Well, except that the Flame Witch and the cultployees are trying not to attack each other, but it's not easy, because the Flame Witch's fire magic or pyrokinesis or whatever the hell she's using isn't really geared for fine control, it's geared more for FIERY MOVING WALL OF DEATH, and since the combatants nearest to her are cultployees and robots, it's not going great for the robots, but it's not going great for her cultployees, either.)

The cultployees, now in danger of being outnumbered, are ignoring the Danger Patrol agents and focusing more on the robots.

Flash is knocked over to the side by a big robot, away from the Flame Witch... on the other hand, he doesn't take any important new damage so far as a result.

Specifically, he's knocked over near Johnny, who was just about to try to get Dr. Cagliostro down. "Hey, big fella," Johnny says to the Titan. "How high can you jump? I can't literally float... you think you can get her down faster than me? If not, I'll do it, but I think one of us should play defense for whoever's trying..."

(I'm narrating Johnny, and, if we get 'er free, Dr. Cagliostro. So:

--Will Flash try to free the Doc, or play defense for Johnny while he does it, or wil he do something else?

--Buzz got knocked down, but she's probably standing again by now... There's fighting going on all around her, but no one is SPECIFICALLY trying to stop her from doing anything yet... Will she fight, or try the mecha-suit again, or something else?)

"Jump?   Man, nobody jumps like the Green Machine.
But why?" he asked.
And drawing his Ray Gun with machismo ease, he spun it on his finger, and ...
       - rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 6,3.
... masterfully let off a shot that severed the ropes holding Doc C aloft.

And, just to prove how awesomely cool and heroic he was (cos thats why the fans loved him), he somersaulted between the legs of a nearby marauding robot, and caught Cagliostro in his muscular arms before she hit the ground.
With a smile, he said, "I gotcha, ma'am".


Now THAT is what I'm talking about
Boo-fricking-Yah!

A crazed robot rolls quickly toward Flash, Johnny, and Dr. Cagliostro.

"Untie me!" the doc yells. "I can do a lot to help with this-- but only if I'm untied!"

Johnny starts untying the doc... looks like it's up to Flash to defend...

Meanwhile, closer to the airlock, Buzz tries again to climb up into the mech's frame... A crazed robot punches at her-- but she swings out of the way just in time, and gets safely into the pilot's seat! She fires her raygun-- and nearly takes the robot's head off! That's more than enough to incapacitate that model...!

(Now what?)

In an effort to protect his allies from the beating down on them, Flash charged the metal threat, aiming to tackle it to the ground as forcefully as he could.
- rolled 8 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 1,4.  FORCEFULly take out the robot .

Buzz tries to make the best use of her refuge by firing at the Flame Witch.

Flash knocks down the robot, although he goes down with it. Flash does take 2 new points of damage in the process, though...

On the other hand, the doc is free, and she's doing something with gadgets... Johnny is watching over her now, firing on anyone who comes near her, so Flash can
--carry on trying to disable the robot he knocked over,
--try to get away from the robot and go back to his original plan of reaching the Flame Witch, or
--something else...

---

Buzz manages to hit the Flame Witch on her arm.

She screams in rage and pain, but isn't able to tell who did fired the shot. Still, she sweeps all robots-- and a couple of cultployees-- away from her in her fiery fury, her eyes scanning the hanger for who she should punish next.

(The Flame Witch is injured, but incensed. A mech suit will probably not be enough to fully protect anyone who hits her again, now that the hanger-battlefield has been somewhat cleared...)
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:27, Sun 03 May 2020.

Realizing that her cover will be blown with her next shot, Buzz decides to make it count.  She does what she can to use the mech suit's weapon fire at the Flame Witch.  Hopefully, the virus doesn't impede the function of the suit's offensive capabilities.

The Flame Witch is hit again, this time in the leg... but she sees who it is that shot her. A rushing wall of flame roars toward Buzz...

(Buzz is about to take...

11:16, Today: The GM rolled 4 using 2d4 ((3,1)).

Buzz takes 4 new damage.

Flash, you're in the wall's path as well-- roll Agile to try to dodge it!)

Flash continued his combat roll off the tackled robot, with the intent of using his momentum to continue a run towards the Flame Witch.

But then, the wall of fire came rolling his way.    In a minor, controlled panic, Flash dove to the left to avoid the heatwave, hoping to get behind an abandoned forklift there.
     - rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 2,5.  Agility to avoid fire wall.

(09:37, Today: The GM rolled 1 using 1d2 ((1)).

Buzz takes 1 new damage.)




BZORCH. A powerful laser burst blasts out from the mech suit's main weapon.

It hits the Flame Witch's left arm, and her left forearm disappears in a cauterizing sizzle of energy.

Horrified, she uses her remaining right hand to touch one of her earrings, and she disappears.

"Short-range teleporter!" shouts Dr. Cagliostro. "I--"

An alarm starts going off. "WARNING. WARNING. HANGAR BAY IS ABOUT TO OPEN. ALL PERSONNEL MUST LEAVE AREA OR BE WEARING PROTECTIVE GEAR. WARNING."

There's about 2 seconds while this sinks in, and then all the cultployees panic (even more than they were already panicking). About a third of them head for the airlock. Another third of them run for protective suits hanging over by the walls.

The rest are smarter-- they all scramble to get into the various spaceships in the hangar bay (except the one to which the Danger Patrol agents are standing closest to).

Most of the robots attack the cultployees who are scrambling for the protective gear.

Some of the robots attack the cultployees who are trying to get on board ships.

The cultployees trying to get in the airlock are the least-attacked, except that they're attacking each other to frantically be the ones lucky enough to get into the airlock before it's too late.

"She's teleported into one of these ships!" shouts Dr. Cagliostro. "Based on these readings, I think it was the one that was right behind her! But hold on just a second!" She does something with the device in her hands...

(10:02, Today: The GM, on behalf of Dr. Cleopatra Cagliostro, rolled 8 using 2d6+1 ((5,2)).)

"UGH, that's not what I'd hoped for!" shouts the doc. "I tried to hack her ship long enough to delay her taking off so we could board her ship-- I don't think there's time, even if all these stupid robots weren't attacking! All I did was delay it! I think our best bet is to get on this ship here that's closest to us! Any objections...?!"

"Not from me!" shouts Johnny, glancing at Buzz and Flash...

Flash was already acrobatically flipping and climbing his way up to the entry hatch.

Pulling it open, he shouted, "Lets Go" ... and realising the slight possibility that the Flame Witch was inside this ship (they really weren't sure which, right?) he leapt down into the ship first, to protect his allies from anyone who might be in there already.

The chaos of flame walls, insurgent robots, and panicking henchmen was not Buzz's idea of a good time, at least not from the vantange point of an infected mech suit whose triggers had started sparking.

The moment a full ship was presented as a plausible means of both escape and destroying the Flame Witch, Buzz was already leaping toward the port, dodging shots, screams, and punches, and reviewing the control configurations and start-up sequences memorized from years of training and experience.  She pushed past Johnny and the Doc, nearly beating Flash.

"Hello, lover!" she lavished on the controls.  Especially the weapon controls.

"There's no time for that, Captain Corey, you can talk dirty to me later," called Flash, as he sealed the four Danger Patrol members into the ship, "after you save my life".

As a passable pilot himself, he headed for the co-pilot's seat (leaving the two NPCed PCs in the back), he began helping out as he could, trying not to get in the Maestro's way.

Flash seals the doors of the ship just in time. The ceiling of the hangar bay splits down the middle, and opens up, the huge metal sections of the ceiling retracting into the walls.

Dust from the planet's surface rains down, and another ship takes off-- but not before Buzz gets a shot off.

BOOM! The Flame Witch's ship takes a solid hit!

But that's not enough (not yet, at least) to keep it from leaving.

Quick, after it! (Just do one Agile roll to pursue... I'll combine it with continuing to fire on the other ship, unless you want to do some other clever or crazy thing...)

On one hand, Buzz's next shot misses... on the other hand, she is able to keep up, as the two ships streak over Mercury's surface...

But the Flame Witch's ship isn't faster than the one the Danger Patrol agents are in, so... where does she think she's going...?

(Now's a good time to try to mess with 'er some more...
--To chase/fire again, do Agile again, Buzz...
--Flash, you may try one Insightful roll to look for auxiliary weapons systems, so you can help...)

Buzz tries to fire at the Flame Witch's ship, but not only does the blaster not fire, it shorts out one of the auxiliary maneuvering thrusters.  "Who in the blasted void was in charge of maintenance for this thing?" she manages through gritted teeth, doing her best to follow her quarry.

"Doc?!  You don't happen to have an engineering degree, do you?"

Flash did exactly that ... a cursory look to find any auxiliary weapon's systems that he might use.
- rolled 5 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,4.  Find an auxiliary weapon to use.

But finding nothing, Flash turned to Buzz with a big shit-eating grin on his face, as he moved towards the hull door,
"Get me beside her", he yelled ... "or" even better "above her ship" as he prepared to open the hatch.

Doctor Cagliostro comes over. "Oh, for pity's sake," she says, and she starts flipping switches and turning knobs here and there. "These controls are StarCore manufacture... When they got shut down a few years ago for dangerous corner-cutting, they really deserved it." She flips a few more switches... "Try it now."

(Buzz gets +1 to her next piloting roll. She also gets 1 xp. The bad consequence is that in the meantime, the Flame Witch has really pulled ahead, and will be hard to catch up to, which will be necessary before you can do what Flash wants you to do...)

There is a sudden fit of turbulence. The ship drops suddenly, then raises back up just as suddenly. Flash bangs his head, hard. Stupid cramped ship interiors.

(Flash loses 1 hp. He also gets 1 new xp. On the third hand, he can't help shoot at the Flame Witch's ship...)

Cagliostro's repairs seem to work and their ship accelerates as Buzz redoubles her efforts to pursue the criminal.  "Nice work, Doc!"

Although the Flame Witch's ship isn't going any slower, it seems to move from the horizon to only a couple of hundred yards ahead.

So far, it's still streaking along in a straight path...

Will Buzz try firing again, or will she try to push even closer, so Flash can try whatever sort of aerobatic maneuver he has in mind...?

(It's one or the other...

Also, keep in mind, the bonus from what the Doc did no longer applies...)

Trusting her teammate, Buzz pilots her ship to the best position she can above the Witch's.

"All you, Green Man!"

OOC: Rolled an 11

Buzz Corey’s piloting was, Flash had to admire, awesome.   What he was about to do was dangerous enough, but somehow she accelerated and positioned him perfectly for the idiot stunt he was about to perform.

And when the moment was right, Flash leapt from their own SPORT (Suborbital Planetary Operations and Recreational Transport) onto the one being flown by the escaping Flame Witch.
- rolled 15 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 6,6.  Agile jump.
It was, by any standard, an acrobatic manuveur  that would have impressed any Olympic Judge.

He’d drawn his Magna-Grapple Line from his belt as he’d leapt ... and the moment he landed he fired the Magna-Grapple onto the SPORT, creating a tether, anchoring him to her ship even if he fell.
But, to be sure, he also grabbed a handful of hull-structure to secure himself ... then began making his way towards the nearest entry point.

He hoped that, piloting her craft, the Flame Witch had remained ignorant of his successful boarding, and that he’d be able to get within without her noticing.

Both maneuvers, piloting and aerobatic, are highly successful.

On Venus or Jupiter, this would be madness. But the air is so thin on Mercury, Flash is not quite blown off so far...

Flash reaches an entry point... It's sealed...

(Brute Force entry? (Forceful)
Or try to unlock it? (Insightful)
Something else...?)

Buzz works on piloting in a way that is most likely to put her in a position to help Flash and least likely to get her ship fired on or otherwise put in harm's way.

<goldenrod>"What else we got, folks?  Don't just sit around twiddling your ectoplasm!  Can we jam her comms?  Can we disable her engines?  Gimme ideas!"</golderod>

Now at the entry hatch, Flash reached behind him with one of his spare hands, and pulled over his head the hood to his uniform ... which sealed his face and concealed his identity behind a ski-style mask and goggles.

Then, he forced his entry, reefing open the entry hatch with all his strength.
- rolled 12 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 6,3.
It wasn’t too hard: after all, these sub-orbital SPORTs were not made to counter vacuum conditions, nor entering entry while in flight.

If he could get it open, he agile dropped inside ... ready for action.

"Sure, I can jam her comms..." said Dr. Cagliostro. She started fiddling with a device from her pack. "I... Wait, then we couldn't hear if Flash Bang took over the ship and tried to contact us. Maybe I can... uhhhhh, give me a minute..."

---

Once he tears open the entry hatch, there is no resistance to Flash Bang's entering the ship-- no one and nothing so far is putting up a fight to him being on board so far...

(Will he make his way to the bridge? Or somewhere else on the ship? Right now he's just in an uninteresting corridor near the outside of the ship...)

"Yes, keep our lines to Flash open!  But he should have his wrist communicator, so maybe work around that?  You're the tech-brain.  I'm just keeping us in the hunt."

Buzz continues her cautious but relentless pursuit of the Flame Witch's ship.  "And speaking of hunting ... Rookie!  Make yourself useful and familiarize yourself with those fire controls and targeting arrays.  Never know when we're gonna need it."

Prepared for an attack from any angle, Flash makes his way towards the bridge*.


* Bridge?  or Cockpit?  How big is this thing?   I assumed they were small across land shuttle-esque craft?

(A little smaller than the Millennium Falcon but bigger than an X-Wing)

As Flash enters the bridge area, the Flame Witch is furiously trying to work the complicated controls (one-handed).

Her back's to Flash. She seems to have no idea he's there.

I mean, she's probably aware that the hull's been breached, from all the alarms going off, but she seems to have no idea that a Danger Patrol agent is literally 12 feet behind her right this very second.

(Now what?)

Suspicious of a trap, so watching he entire area about him*, Flash moved forward with the hope of delivering a pistol whip to the rear of the Flame Witches head that would bring this to a (mostly) bloodless end.


* also, aware that she is attempting to drive this buggy one handed ... and ready for the other to suddenly appear holding a gun or some other threat

If he can, indeed, deliver the blow:
- rolled 10 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 6,1.  Forceful.

("The other?"

OH. You mean her other hand. She's doing it one-handed because a shot from a large laser that the mecha suit that Buzz was operating back in the hangar bay burned the Flame Witch's other arm off near the elbow, removing and cauterizing in one fell stroke. So you can rest assured, her other hand isn't going to show up and menace you suddenly...

09:26, Today: The GM rolled 10 using 2d6+1 ((5,4)).

On the other hand, she does notice you before you can knock her out.)

Flash moves toward where the Flame Witch is sitting, but...

Did you ever have th' feelin' you were bein' watched...?

The Flame Witch apparently has that feeling, and at the penultimate moment, she realizes someone is behind her, turns, jumps up, and gestures with her remaining hand to burn Flash...

(09:27, Today: The GM rolled 6 using 2d6+1 ((1,4)).)

She misses, partly because she's off-balance, partly because she noticed at a sub-optimal time, partially because of Flash's Titanic reflexes.

She damaged some of the ship's circuitry, though...

(It's Flash's move, but the ship is going to crash in a few rounds if no one takes the controls or does anything useful...)

---

Dr. Cagliostro has been monitoring the situation... "Bad news. The other ship's systems just had a catastrophic jolt. It's in danger of crashing if it stays on autopilot... But maybe I can work up a tractor beam here that would help... Give me a few moments..." She plugs the device she was using into a socket in the pursuing ship's controls, and starts adjusting the controls, furiously...

The sudden action by the Flame Witch didn't change Flash's plan, and with a Forceful swing, Flash brought the grip of his held Ray Gun down on the woman's head.
     - rolled 11 using 2d6+4 with rolls of 6,1.  Pistol Whip her with ma Ray Gun.
              choose to do an extra 1d6 damage but risk exposing yourself to enemy attack.
      - rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,6.  damage to Flame Witch.

Flash knew he had to end this fast, and take control of this SPORT before things got REALLY explosive.

"I'll keep her steady and in pursuit.  Let me know if you get it working."

Buzz is pondering filing a report when they get back to headquarters.  That rookie is just no help in a tight spot.

The Flame Witch is on the floor, out, definitely unconscious... if not worse.

What now?

--Check and see if she's dead or dying? (No roll required, but do you choose to sacrifice the precious seconds it'll take?)
--Try to safely land the ship? (Insightful)
--Take the time to try to find out where she thought she was going? (Insightful)
--Contact Buzz and the others? (No roll required, but do you choose to sacrifice the precious seconds it'll take?)

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?