(GM rolls dice:

Okay, now I know what's at the bottom of the ladder. Buzz, roll Insightful check, please...)

Denton sighs. Steps over to the ladder and peers down.

"This would be easier in zero-g." He looks at Buzz while he speaks and gives her knowing wink. "That way I could just float on down with you watching from above. But, this way means feet first, clanging on ladder rungs, and you still have to stand up looking over me for trouble from below. I might need a kiss for good luck."

Laughing, again, at his own perceived clever wit. Denton prepares to mount the ladder and descend further into the complex.

Buzz is already heading downward while Denton is still talking.  She's rolling her eyes as she goes.

OOC: 17:37, Today: Buzz Corey rolled 7 using 2d6 ((4,3)). ... well, that's about as average as one can get rolling 2d6.  My apologies in advance to Denton for whatever's about to happen.

Buzz stops climbing downward.

A little... something... wrong... has presented itself to her, and she's noticed it at the last possible instant.

She wouldn't have-- it would have been too late-- if she hadn't been proceeding so carefully.

Something on a barely-conscious level alerted her that the metal on the sides of the ladderwell had changed color in a couple of spots right where she was-- the sides of the ladderwell were uniformly a dull metallic gray, but suddenly, for about five feet, two rectangular sections were a similar-yet-still-different light taupe... almost a dull coppery color.

And while her brain had warned her about that being a little odd, an alert had been sent out to the rest of her body, and her foot had stopped about an inch before it touched an almost-invisible wire that stretched across the ladderwell.

A trap. And she'd almost set it off.

It was clear to her now-- trip the wire, and electricity would probably zap from one side of the ladderwell to the other.

She slowly raised her foot away from the very thin wire. Her nerves were stretched just as taut. (Buzz gets -1 to her next roll.)

The best thing to do-- well, the simplest-- would be to drop something down the ladderwell that broke the wire and set off the trap without frying a Danger Patrol member. Probably that was the point of the wire-- the trap was ABOVE, not below, so whomever lived in this facility could easily (as long as they remembered) reach up and quickly break the wire, set off the trap above them for a few seconds, and then continue up the ladder if they needed to escape.

Of course, setting off the trap might very well set off an alarm, as well...

"Impatient, huh. I get that." Denton says as he follows Buzz. "Gumption. And a lot of it. I admire that in a woman almost as much as I admire good looks. Almost. Luckily, dear lady, you have a high level of both."

After noticing her come to a halt the hair on the back of Denton's neck stands up.

"Are you alright?" Denton asked with genuine concern. "Should I do something stupid and heroic now?"

Buzz holsters her pistol and holds a finger up to Denton, wait a minute.

She speaks quietly, but deliberately.  "There's a tripwire right below me.  If we want to keep going, we should set it off before we reach it."

Buzz tries to figure out the best thing to drop.  She unhooks her med kit from her utility belt and hands it to Denton.  She pockets a few of the other tools that might fit in the leg pockets of the suit, and grips the raygun in her teeth for the moment.

"Here goes nothin'," she mumbles.  She unhooks the belt and positions it carefully over the wire before dropping it.  She quickly pulls the ray gun from her mouth.  "I hope I get that back.  Custom buckle."

Buzz is too far up to SEE the wire snap, but there's a series of extremely-dangerous electric sparks that arc across the copper-colored sections of ladderwell wall for about six seconds.

Then it stops. The belt can be seen lying on the floor at the bottom of the ladderwell. Someone (a male voice?) says something down there, but you can't quite make out what it says...

Buzz says to Denton quietly, "This is probably gonna get messy fast, Big Strap.  Let's get to the bottom as soon as we can, so we can find a defensible position."  She immediately starts descending with all due haste.

Buzz and Denton are just about to zip down to the bottom of the ladderwell when they hear a heck of a crash from down the hallway they just left, as if someone really strong threw a very large table across a(n uncarpeted) room.

Do they go on, or turn back to check on Flash-Bang and Dr. Cagliostro?

After pausing briefly to consider the noise, Buzz continues downward.  At minimum, she wants her belt back.

Buzz and Denton emerge (safely) into a large room that is immediately recognizable as a medical bay.

There is a robot here. "Oh, I see, you dropped the belt," he says with a calm, soothing (slightly older-sounding) male voice. "I presume the electrical trap did not harm you, since you arrived here under your own power instead of falling...? Are either of you in need of medical aid...?"

Clearly,
--either no one has explained to this robot about the conceptual difference between people who belong here and people who don't, or
--they did but he forgot, or
--they did but he doesn't care and is ignoring the concept.


There is one exit from the room-- a door like the ones found in the hallway above-- which is currently closed.

"Thank you kindly, Mr. Robot. " Denton replies as places himself between Buzz and the robot. Ready to go shield and powered fist if needed, he keeps a calm, casual demeanor. "My friend and I were just talking a tour of this magnificent facility of yours."

Carefully looking the robot over, Denton looks obvious signs of a threat.

"Thank you kindly, Mr. Robot. " Denton replies as places himself between Buzz and the robot. Ready to go shield and powered fist if needed, he keeps a calm, casual demeanor. "My friend and I were just talking a tour of this magnificent facility of yours."

Carefully looking the robot over, Denton looks obvious signs of a threat.

Buzz retrieves her belt and puts it back on, restore the rest of her items to their usual positions.  She swats Denton, and waves for the return of her med kit.  To the robot, she says in her best haughty voice, "It's an inspection tour.  Could you please show us the data from your last ten medical procedures?  We want to make sure that resources are allocated correctly and that they are being utilized appropriately."

"It is a fine facility, is it not?"


"Yes, certainly, right this way..." The robot takes you to a computer terminal and pulls up some information. Ten visits to the med bay, all very minor stuff-- a burn, a few illnesses, aches and pains.

No check-ups-- people seem to come only when they get hurt or feel sick.

Buzz will note if the injuries were 10 different people, or sometimes the same people.  She'll also pay attention to the dates of treatment (how recently they were seen), and any other data that might be relevant.

"Excellent.  Thank you for your cooperation.  In your role here, have you observed any departments that seem poorly managed or maintained?  Have you heard any of the other staff complaining about equipment deficiencies?"

To Denton, she says, "Inspector, did you have any additional questions before we proceed to our next department?"

10 different people, none of them the same people.

The last ten dates go back for a few weeks.





"No, nothing of the sort," the robot says proudly.

"My dear robotic friend, I am tasked tracking breaches of security protocols and potential criminal activities." Denton begins. "Have you noticed any indicators of aberrant behavior beyond normal psychological parameters?  Violence is such detestable, but sadly all to common, occurrence. I am obligated according to my oath to the law to investigate and hopefully prevent such activities when I discover them."

(Denton, you have not yet distributed your stats.

And I suspect I've figured out why not: I didn't seem to have put stuff about stats in the Character Creation Thread nor any other thread except the OOC thread... but you came along last, and missed that part. So:

Distribute these:

16 (+2), 14 (+1), 13 (+1), 10 (0), 8 (-1)

Amongst these:

Forceful:
Agile:
Insightful:
Confident:
Charming:

And then roll a Charming check.)

OOC: Denton's charming roll total was a 7 (2d6+1), I know it's hard to believe he has anything less than a 10, but he has to allow others to share in some of the glory.

As an afterthought, Denton his warmest smile at the robot and gives the mechanical healer a wink before saying, "Patrolman Denton Quade, put 'er there, pal."

Denton offers a beefy, scarred knuckle hand to the robot as it were any other person.

Unseen behind her goggles, Buzz's eyes have grown to the size of dinner plates in horror.

The robot seems to have a malfunction in its programming that it's trying to resolve. And resolving it doesn't appear to be easy. Its movements grow a little halting, a visual stutter.

Before, it was answering questions quickly and easily-- now, it's got pregnant pauses and long awkward delays and a bit of a literal stammer. It feels like a certain something that was just said is at war with the "HAVE A HELPFUL BEDSIDE MANNER AT ALL TIMES" programming.

"I-I am pleased to meet y-you P-P-Pa-Pa-Sir." The robot extends its right hand and shakes Denton's-- shaking it slowly, shaking it in a jittering way, shaking it with a particularly weak and uncertain grip. "I-i-i-is there anything e-else I c-c-c-can do for either o-o-of you in-of-of a m-m-m-m-medical nature-re-re-re...?"

Buzz feverishly tries to remember (or figure out) if there's a quick and quiet way to deactivate the robot.

"Not at the moment my dear robotic healer." Denton gushes over the robot, subtly he takes a small side step and lightly pulls the robot to face away from Buzz as he speaks. Giving he a quick look, he winks the 'go with it' wink at her. "But, if you wouldn't mind giving us some assistance in finding our way to the library we would be greatly appreciative."

Buzz follows behind but continues her efforts to figure out a way to quietly deactivate the robot.

(Roll Insightful please)






"T-th-the l-library...? I-I-I-I-I-I-I'm n-not s-sure wh-what you m-m-m-m-m-m-mean, Pa-Pa-Pa-Sir..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:45, Thu 19 Dec 2019.

OOC: rolled a 6.  Meh.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:53, Thu 19 Dec 2019.

"Why that's alright." Denton replies, smile beaming like a virgin's beacon to paradise, and subtly nods for Buzz to move in behind the robot. "I'm sure I'll be able to find it. I would like to thank you for your sterling service and praise your friendly demeanor. You know the people here sure are lucky to have you here to assist them. Why, I know that growing up in the belt among all those asteroid mining claims would have been a lot more dangerous if it were for our medical robot.

His name  was Hank, you see, and I tell you what. It wasn't uncommon at all to see old hank come tearing into a zero gravity fire, hurting into space after a floater, or just at someone's side moments after an accident. You see this scar here? I was ten at the time and pinned under a fallen deck plate on an ore shuttle to came away from its tender and collided with an ore shuttle. My head might off been crushed then and there. But, old Hank swooped in at the last minute and lifted the deck plate and began treating my injuries,

Now, when I woke up my momma was so mad. I was supposed to be in the system operations class, on my dad's freighter,  after momma got done tongue lashing dad into a sludgie puddle of 'yes dear' she turned to me. She didn't say a word. I was instantly terrified and bolted for the door. Momma was quick. She tackled a good seven paces short of the door. I tell you, the beating I took then was one for the record books."

There are a few small buttons near the back of the robot's neck. Buzz pushes one.

The robot's eyes, glowing amber, change to red for a moment... then back to amber. "Logic subroutines reset," says the robot, with no stuttering.

An alarm starts going off. "You are intruders. The Followers of the Flame Witch should be here shortly. I advise you to wait here, because they may want one or both of you alive, and then I can give you medical treatment."

(EDIT: and Buzz gets 1 xp.

EDIT: Please mark the new xp on your character sheet and/or a bio line, Buzz.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:09, Sat 21 Dec 2019.

Buzz curses loudly and profusely.

Her raygun is again ready in her hand and she's looking for defensible positions in the room, debating whether to charge forward or defend the medical bay.

"We can't bail out now, not with so little information.  Ambush them here or rush 'em?" she asks Denton.

"I'll can draw them off." Denton offers her an option. "Keep them busy while you find what we need, or the others, whichever comes first. Want me to smack this robot around."

OCC: It occurs to me I forgot to update my gear. I shall do that presently and note it to my character sheet. Do I get two nuclear hand grenades or just the holy hand grenade of Antioch?

"If you can draw their fire on the other side of the room, I might be able to shoot them in the back.  I don't think I can find everything we need on my own while dodging cultists.  Shoot first, ask questions later."

"Is that a marriage proposal, or are you just the woman of my dreams." Denton quips, strutting to the nearest corridor he begins talking just loud enough for his voice to carry with a slight echo in the corridor, "I hear these cultists aren't too tough. Hell, I imagine I can take them here while you go back up to the ship and call HQ to report what we found."

Denton looks at Buzz and shrugs. He didn't know what to say to draw the cultists in, or if there were any actually on the way. But, if anything he was ready to pass out a delicate meal of broken teeth and cracked skulls. It was a meal best served with a fiery disposition.

As and after thought, he placed a cigarillo in his mouth and smiled as he lit the obnoxious but fragrant stogie. 'Man, I need to get some real tobacco again' he thought to himself.

The medical robot comes over to Denton and reaches for the cigarillo. "Smoking in the med bay is expressly forbidden, Patrolman..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:40, Sun 22 Dec 2019.

"I think we need to rush them.  They know where we are.  If they throw a couple of grenades in here, we're space dust.  C'mon!"  Buzz rushes toward the exit that is not the ladder well and prepares for a firefight.

Denton smiles, lunges into the medical robot and grabs it bodily. Lifting the robot as it seizes the smoke, sprints off to head Buzz off.

"Let's follow our pal here." Denton grunts out with the effort. "I bet he makes decent cover for a few shots."

OCC: would this be a roll of force to execute?

"Works for me.  Hope we don't need mending later."

(Yeah roll Forceful please)

OCC: 18:58, Today: Denton Quade rolled 12 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 5,5.

With an exaggerated grunt and a laugh at his own theatrics, Denton bodily impacted with the medical robot, lifted it like some null-g wrestler, and rushed into the corridor shouting, "Come on you sons-a-bitches."

Sure enough, a few Flame... cultists? Employees? A few Flame Cultployees come running around the corner of the long hallway that the med bay door opens onto. As they turn the corner, they fire a few shots just out of force-of-trained-habit, but they all hit the medical robot, frying his circuits.

Then they realize whom they're fighting. "Crap! Danger Patrol! Back up! Let Bruno through!"

They do so, and in just a couple more seconds, Bruno comes into view, a six-wheeled, bulky, armored, heavily-armed combat robot...

But the delay to let Bruno through means Buzz and Denton have a couple of seconds to plan their next response... do they:

--Fire at Bruno down the right-hand hallway?

--Charge Bruno, and attempt to settle his hash mano-e-womano-a-robo?

--Run down the hallway to the left and around the corner?

--Back up into the med bay?

Something else...?
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 14:25, Tue 31 Dec 2019.

Thinking that if the cultists think Bruno can handle two members of danger patrol, Buzz doesn't want to find out the hard way that they're right.  She's inclined to race down the hallway to the left and around the corner in the hopes that something less formidable is in the offing.  "This way!" she hisses to Denton, and starts down her preferred course.

"Sorry pal." Denton apologizes to the medical robot just before launching it bodily towards the approaching combat robot.

Taking a moment as the medical robot sails through the air, Denton gives the scene at that corner a quick glance and smiled. Turning on his heel, mustering the macho supremacy he can, Denton turns his back on the flame cultployees and arrogantly strides off to follow Buzz. Once out of sight of them, he drops the facade and sprints to catch up to Buzz with reckless abandon and a laugh of triumph for thumbing his nose at danger once again.

This new hallway is pretty long and straight, with no side doors... like a good 40 yards or so. Then it turns to the left, down at the far end.

The thing is, there are electric eyes at roughly ankle/calf level every 10 feet or so.

Probably don't wanna trip those, because there are shuttered panels on the walls (about 1/1 feet wide/tall) that are currently closed... (No wonder the bad guys came to the medical bay from the other direction...)

But you hear Bruno slowly rumbling up from behind you... In fact, it sounds like rolling over the wasted medical robot only slowed him down a little...

(Each of you make an Agile roll, please...)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:47, Wed 01 Jan 2020.

Buzz does her best to avoid the electric eyes as she rushes down the hallway.  She's doing her best, but the stress is getting to her.

13:17, Today: Buzz Corey rolled 8 using 2d6+2 ((5,1)).

OOC: managed to roll a 5. Yay! I hope.

Denton expresses great concern for the sinister, and dastardly, use of a high tech temple trap. Had he been any less the intrepid adventurer he might have even balked at the thought of running down the hallway.

"Nah, who am I kidding." Denton said, firing up a fresh fake ciagirollo. "Let's beat feet little lady. I figure that combat model is on our trail, I wonder if it will follow us down this corridor? It might have access, it may even deactivate the defenses if we can lure it down here."

(Yeah no, that's bad. You get 1 new xp, and now bad things will happen, especially for you.)



Denton immediately sets off the electric eyes.

The panels on the walls open up, and mounted laser guns emerge.

Buzz gracefully tries to dodge.

Denton ungracefully tries to dodge.

(08:31, Today: The GM rolled 3 using 1d4 ((3)).
08:31, Today: The GM rolled 4 using 2d4+1 ((1,2)).

Buzz takes 3 damage.
Denton takes 4.)

And yet, Denton ends up taking only marginally more damage than does Buzz. What a (sort-of) lucky cuss is Denton Quade!

The laser weapons are mounted so that they only swivel so far-- they only fire on what's immediately in front of them, or immediately to their right or left-- so when Buzz and Denton reach the far end of the hallway, to where it turns left, all the laser defenses in the hallway stop firing on them.

Will Buzz and Denton:

--Immediately head left down the new, left-turning hallway?

--Wait about two seconds and see if the laser cannons fire on Bruno?

--Something else?
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:20, Fri 03 Jan 2020.

"Damm. I should have brought that medical robot with me." Denton saiys as he pulls out a fresh smoke a d fires it up to cover for how foolish he feels. "What next?"

Buzz spots a janitorial cart just around the corner.  She reaches for it an pulls it to her, then gives a mighty shove toward Bruno and hopes to have it train the defense guns on the robot.

(07:21, Today: Buzz Corey rolled 6 using 2d6+3 with rolls of 1,2.  Agility plus Right Place, Right Time. Result: Fail)

Buzz gives the cart a good push, but she steps a little too close to the last set of lasers, and gets hit again.

(07:30, Today: The GM . . . rolled 1 using 1d3 ((1)).

Buzz gets 1 new xp, but takes 1 new point of damage.)

The cart rolls down the hallway. The lasers blast it as it rolls... to the point that it stops rolling right before it reaches Bruno.

Meanwhile, Bruno starts rumbling down the hallway, and the lasers do not target him. Guess mechanized security system components of a figurative feather know to figuratively flock together.

The charred remains of the janitorial cart do not bother Bruno in the least, and he rolls right over it.

Looks like it's time to fight Bruno, or retreat some more.

The hallway that's now visible to retreat to is straight. Roughly mid-way down, there's a door to the left, and a door to the right. Then there's a door at the far end.

Unless Buzz and Denton split up, there's only time to duck in one door...

"Time for some good old fashioned hero type foolishness." Denton announces. Arming his gauntlet and charging up his shield smiles at Buzz and gives a totally inappropriate wink.

Walking towards the corner Denton calls out loudly, "This is the Patrol. You have the right remain, anything say will count against you, you have the right to an attorney, and you have to right to have me beat some hard core justice into you."

With that Denton charges headlong around the corner and assaults the robot.

OOC: please feel free to make roll Denton's behalf to prevent loss of flow to the game again.

(16:36, Today: The GM, on behalf of Denton Quade, rolled 7 using 2d6+2 ((4,1)).)

Denton damages Bruno pretty impressively...

(16:38, Today: The GM, on behalf of Denton Quade, rolled 5 using 1d8 ((5)).

Bruno takes 5 damage.)


...But not so well that Bruno isn't able to counter-attack...

(16:39, Today: The GM rolled 5 using 2d3+1 ((1,3)).

Denton takes 5 new damage.)

Buzz thinks to herself, Not the choice I would have made, but ... and then leans around the corner to fire her ray gun at the marauding automaton.

OOC: 17:59, Today: Buzz Corey rolled 10 using 2d6+2 ((2,6)).

Not sure what the damage is, but didn't use the "special effect" version.

(Everyone does 1d6 damage (if they aren't a Commando nor a Warrior, who each do 1d8).

(And incidentally, everyone has 20 hp, except Commandos have 21 and Warriors 22.)

So...

07:41, Today: The GM, on behalf of Buzz Corey, rolled 5 using 1d6 ((5)).

Bruno takes 5 new points of damage.)

Buzz hits Bruno right in the processors, and it definitely has an effect. Bruno sparks and smokes a bit. He's not out of commission yet, but he's definitely slowed down quite a bit, and Denton has time to try to finish Bruno off, if he wants...

Meanwhile, down at the other end of the hall, the Flame Cultployees are watching this with their mouths open. They can hardly believe that just two people are being mostly successful at decommissioning Bruno. They aren't bothering to shoot yet, because they see that if they did, they'd probably just finish off Bruno faster.

One of them holds his hand to his right ear. "Um, we've got two Danger Patrol agents here by the med bay, tearing Bruno apart," he says. "One seems to be doing it with his bare hands."

"I think he might be using a combat knife...?" notes another (in awe)...

"So uh yeah can you turn off the electric eyes in corridor 2-G so we can give pursuit more easily...? And we could really use some backup..."

"Be with you in moment!" Denton calls out to the flame cultists. "Go ahead and line up against the wall. You there with headset, go ahead and frisk the others."

After ordering the awed cultists around, and hopefully adding to there insecurities about facing Buzz and himself, Denton hurls himself headlong into the robot. Over his shoulder, and around the battered fake cigar clenched in his teeth, Denton calls out to Buzz in a much lower voice, "I think those cult a-holes down the corridor are massing to charge at us, it means turning of the traps. Think a surprise for them oh-wise-woman."

OOC: Denton Quade rolled 6 using 2d6+2 ((3,1)), well, shit.

Denton barrels forward, gives the robot his best shoulder rolling fake and lunges in to strike. But, there just wasn't room for his ego and the lubricants on the floor. A deadly combination that forced his to slip too far to the side taking him out of position for his attack to connect.

Denton isn't far enough forward for the lasers in the walls to target him, but the guys down at the far end of the hall, seeing a clear shot at Denton, fire at him.

(Denton takes 2 damage, but gets 1 new xp.

15:01, Today: The GM rolled 4 using 2d6 ((1,3)).)

On the other hand, a couple of their shots hit Bruno, too, and his circuits sizzle as he tries to continue combat despite all the damage he's taken.

His arm is raised to smash Denton, but there's time for Buzz to try to finish Bruno off...

Which she does, doing her best to avoid hitting Denton in the process.  This is not an easy task, of course, given his latest mis-step.  Hopefully, her blast is enough to turn Bruno into little more than a shield for Denton to retreat with.

Still aiming from around the corner, Buzz fires the ray gun again.

(GM looks at Buzz's roll)

Well, "good news bad news," as they say on Mars. The good news is that, thanks to Buzz's on-target shot, Bruno is no more.

The bad news is that Bruno's demise means an explosion in his midsection that isn't large enough to harm Denton nor Bruno, but it is enough to blow/roll Bruno's frame backwards a few feet... into the lasers.

Whatever signal Bruno emitted that kept the wall lasers from firing on him in the first place is clearly no longer active, because there's soon not enough of Bruno to hide behind, even if Denton wanted to...

There's also no longer a reason for the Cultployees to refrain from firing. Denton and Buzz need to move around the corner-- NOW.

(Buzz, you can just move around the corner. Denton, you need to roll Agile to avoid getting hit. So, roll 2d6 (no modifier this time, since you're rolling your Agile).)

Seeing that her shot was maybe a little too good, in that now Denton has lost his robotic shield, Buzz blasts a few rounds of cover fire down the hallway to distract from Denton's escape and (ideally) eliminate some of their pursuers.

OOC: 18:13, Today: Buzz Corey rolled 11 using 2d6+3 ((2,6)).

That ability should also give Denton a +1 on his next roll.

Downside: GM gets to add a complication.

At least I rolled ok!

Denton turns and bolts for the corner, only he manages to get Tangled in now defunct robot's debris. Stomping around like a man caught up in knee deep mud, Denton trudges for cover while anticipating a shot to the back.

(03:04, Mon 13 Jan: Denton Quade rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,4.  Denton fleeing for cover. = 6, +1 from Buzz's One For All move = 7)

Denton makes it around the corner, but still takes a little more damage from the gunfire coming from behind him...

(08:26, Today: The GM rolled 1 using 1d2 ((1)). Denton takes 1 new damage.)

From behind you, you hear "Okay! The electric eyes are down! After 'em!"

Buzz and Denton down the new hallway...

When they have almost reached the first two doors, the door at the far end opens up, and a few more cultployees enter the hall from that end. They start to raise their guns...


Fight? Or take one or both of the doors?
Your options:
--Fight!
--Left door, quick!
--Right door, quick!
--Each of you takes 1 door (but who takes which)?
--Something else!

Buzz grumbles, "I need a blazin' gunship down here," as she careens toward the left side door.

OOC: Intending to enter the left door.

Buzz zips to the left-hand door-- will Denton follow...?

"I don't think these guys like us very well." Denton quips, trying to use macho virtue to mask the pain of getting shot, again. "Maybe you shouldn't have been so rough on their robot."

Denton follows Buzz, preparing to step up between her ans any trouble if need be. She was a far better pilot after all.

Buzz and Denton swiftly go through the left-hand door...


(Each of you do an Insightful check, please...

(Denton, that's 2d8-1 for you...))
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:37, Sat 18 Jan 2020.

Buzz is so focused on keeping an eye out for the cultists, that she's hardly paying any attention to where she's going.

OOC: I rolled a 4.

OOC: Denton Quade rolled 4 using 2d6-1 ((3,2))

Denton stopped, like immediately stopped, and did a double take. He smiled and whistled to himself.

Taking two strutting steps he walked up next to Buzz, looked down at her with that stupid shit-eating grin that seems to always be plastered on his face and nods to her in a 'I see you got it' way as he says. "Damn, but you do make the seat of those pants look sexier than a man can ignore."

Ego driven ignorance rules the day as the culteployees go unnoticed by our dashing ne-er-do-well hero in the making. Even the stinging burns, the blood, and the frazzle ended faux cigar don't seem to dampen his spirits. Nor do they draw his attention from Buzz's shapely posterior.

(Buzz and Denton each gain 1 xp. I'd add another penalty, but they're in enough trouble as it is.)

There's only enough time (and only enough attention span, apparently) to get a quick impression of this new room-- it's a big laboratory! Science-doing-people (it's not obvious that they're scientists-- they're not holding diplomas nor anything) in white no-contamination suits (at least you can tell they're unarmed, or at least can't possibly get to any weapons they might have on them in a hurry) are standing or walking around doing science stuff.

The trouble is, the more trigger-happy cultployees are gonna be coming in right behind you at any second!

Fortunately, this room has a door at the other end of it. There's a window in the far wall that shows that the other door opens onto a new hallway-- one with no one in it yet...

There are two lengths of standing-island counters that people are also doing science things on in the room... Soon, Buzz and Denton might want to hunker down behind those as they make their way to the exit...

The science-doing-people look a bit alarmed when Buzz and Denton run in-- and then they're even more alarmed. "Danger Patrol!" they gasp, muffled behind their masks...

Buzz's eyes go wide at a new room full of people, and the hazmat suits do nothing to quell her anxiety.  But seeing a clear hallway at the far end is enough motivation to keep moving.

Her spur-of-the-moment plan is to take a deep breath and hold it (no telling what's in the air), rush down the left-hand side of the room (maybe the pursuing cultists won't see her?), and dash out the far door.  Ideally, she'll fire off more rounds of her ray gun at the various science experiments as she's leaving.  Hopefully, that will slow ... something down.

And if Denton's so intent on staring at her ass, he'll be following.  If he makes a different decision, at least she won't have to deal with being treated like a piece of meat any more.

Buzz and her anatomy hunker-run behind an island science counter. This event absolutely does not go unnoticed by Denton...

Sizing up the scientifical-types, Denton rapidly selects two wearing suits of the appropriate size, sizes them both with the finesse of a prison gaurd's body cavity search, and smiles his best 'I love violence' smile as says, "These two should fit nicely. Please, remove your suits promptly as my friend here abhors blood stains on her clothing."

Turning to Buzz, Denton shrugged, shot her a quick know-it-all wink, and explained, "Suit up. We'll fight it out in here, just break stuff to create a hazard. I figure that's not why this stuff is here so they'll have to turn off the violence. Might give us a chance to find an edge."

But there is no time to suit up, because unsurprisingly (to Buzz), the door that Buzz and Denton came in by opens, and the pursuing cultployees enter, see Denton, and open fire.

The science-doers jump toward the sides of the room, away from the man who seemingly forgot that armed guards were hot on his tail//right behind him.

(09:04, Today: The GM rolled 5 using 1d2+3 ((2)).

Denton takes 5 damage. (Is he still alive, I think? (It would really help if you guys would keep track of your HP in your bio lines...)))

Buzz is still making a bee-line (pun intended) for the far door, maybe knocking bits of stray science equipment backwards as she crouch-runs for all she's worth.

Denton whirls about, smiles painfully, and rushes the cultists, " Never die alone." He says as barrels into the nearest cultists.

Denton rolled a 9 , 2d6+2 forcefully to attack with impact glove, he has taken 17 damage so far
This message was last edited by the player at 08:33, Wed 22 Jan 2020.

(Since Denton is, specifically, a Two-Fisted Warrior, you may choose to use this move from your playbooks:

--Righteous Fury: You’re even more dangerous when you’re bloodied. You may add +2 to a roll if you have less than 10 HP, or +3 if you have less than 5 HP. (But if you do, the GM gets to escalate things afterwards if he wants!)

Will you use it now...?)

OCC: Denton has 5 HP left, will opt to take advantage of the +2 if alllowed to get a total of 11 on this roll.

Hiding behind his shield until last moment, Denton closes on the cultists with all the speed he can muster, and at the last moment to expose himself and strike the first cultist he reaches just under the hinge of the jaw driving his powered gauntlet deep into the soft tissues of the neck on a line for the man's spinal cord.

Denton takes out the closest opponent without taking (any more) damage to himself.

(20:44, Yesterday: Buzz Corey rolled 10 using 2d6+4 with rolls of 5,1.  Raygun shot, plus Weapon bonus, plus Lucky break!)

Meanwhile, near the far end of the room, Buzz fires a raygun shot that hits NEAR the doorway she and Denton just came through-- she hits a power junction box right next to the edge of the doorframe. Something on the other side of the wall explodes (the lights in the lab flicker), and the cultployees exclaim in surprise and pain. The door itself slams shut. The lack of lights on the wall that were previously lit up suggest there may be, to say the least, a small delay in opening that door again.

The science-doers, on the other hand, remain frantic. "She's blown the power conductors! Quick, stabilize the power in here before the cascade causes us to lose the containment fields!"

Well that sounds maybe not-great...

"Get down here, now, you void-blasted target range!" screams Buzz at Denton as she fires a few more shots of the raygun to keep the scientists (and any guards still in the room) frantic and distracted.

"Damn, woman, no need to serenade me." Denton quips. He runs to Buzz, smashing aside.anyone who gets in front of him. "I already love you, and that was some great on the fly problem solving. Reckon we ought to get out of here though."

Most of the science people are distracted by trying to keep their containment fields from failing, whatever that signifies. The lights start to flicker a bit again. "Damn it, Leon, route the failing systems through sectors 95 to 135! NOW! Alice-- Alice, get off the floor and get up here!"

As Buzz and Denton are exiting the room, Buzz fires one last shot, directly at the scientist barking orders to his subordinates.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:46, Sat 25 Jan 2020.

"Damn, you got a mean streak in you, my dear." Denton says as he heads past her into the corridor beyond. "Hey, maybe you are to shoot out one of those containment fields too."

The man falls. It's not clear yet if he's dead or alive... he looks like he might be dead, though... Another science-person rushes to him, checking his vital signs... Half of the others stop what they're doing and crouch down, fearing more gunfire...

...Annnnd the whole lab (although just the lab, the lights are all still on in the hallway) goes black, as the lights, and every other electronic device inside, all lose power.

The new hallway runs left and right for about 40 yards in each direction. Each ends in a door.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:31, Sun 26 Jan 2020.

Buzz will defer to Denton's choice of hallway this time.  Hers seem to be ... less safe than she'd prefer.

"Pick a direction, and make it snappy."

While Buzz is waiting for Denton to choose a path, she tries to lock the door behind them.  This way, they'll be harder to follow and if the lab blows up, they'll be slightly more protected.

(Buzz gets 1 new xp.)

The door appears, instead, to be stuck open.

Screaming starts from inside. The people still in the lab start rushing for the open door...

"Go right." Denton says to Buzz, charging up the gauntlet. "I'll see if I can get a little more cooperation from the door."

Using a few well placed punches Denton attempts to smash the door loose enough to force closed behind them.

(Denton Quade rolled 11 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 4,5.  forceful to force door closed.)

Satisfied with the effect of the punches Denton grabs the door with both and tries to drag it a close to closed as possible, "Hey, I think I might have found the right button combination."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Tue 28 Jan 2020.

Buzz rushes in Denton's indicated direction.  Not looking back, she's keeping an eye out for dangers and opportunities ahead.

The door slides shut... enough. There's still a gap of about 5 inches in width, but at least it's now stuck mostly-closed. Denton is certain that it's stuck, because if it wasn't, the screaming science-doer-people inside would surely be able to get it open again. As it is, they're all trapped inside now, except for several arms sticking out through the gap, flailing, trying to grab at Denton's arm (unsuccessfully). There is also a lot more screaming happening.

Denton feels bad, but not so bad that he doesn't run like heck off to the right.

Soon Buzz and Denton have come to a new door... (I presume they open it...?)

The direction having been chosen, Buzz tries to move as quickly in that direction as possible.

"Nice job with the door," she says to Denton, as she tries the one in front of them.

"Thanks, what about this one?" Denton nodded towards the door. "I'll hunker down behind my shield, you hit the button, then duck back and get ready to blast anyone with dislike for us on the other side. Whadda you think?"

Denton flashed her a big smiled, did his level best to act as if the pain and injury causing it were nothing to him, and reached for a his belt to retrieve a ham and cheese on rye with Venusian mayo and thinly sliced avocado. Unwrapping the sandwich, it was cut in half corner to corner and the two triangular halves stacked, he offered one half to Buzz with a smile and told her, "I forgot to bring coffee."

Buzz shrugs as she grabs the proffered half sandwich with her off hand.  "I could eat."

This door doesn't open-- it's locked.

(Is Denton still carrying around a dead body? If so, you could try to use Insightful to search it for keys or something...)

"Back the 'uffer way?" Buzz asks around a mouthful of sandwhich.  She continues to scan the hall for dangers and escape options.

Denton finishes his sandwich, smiles at Buzz in the way only a real man can (or so he imagines), fires up the shield and sprints for the door full tilt.

As he powers past Buzz he mentions something about 'jousting with windmills and canvas dragons'.

Denton Quade rolled 9, forceful, ramming the door bodily.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:55, Sun 02 Feb 2020.

Good news! Denton doesn't injure himself when he slams his body into the door!

It's a tough door.

A mechanized voice does say "ACCESS NOT GRANTED-- ARMORY KEY REQUIRED" though.

Buzz does the only thing she can think of and pulls out her Martian Marinara customer card, sliding it into the lock.

"ACCESS NOT GRANTED-- ARMORY KEY REQUIRED"

Buzz is very relieved that nothing else bad happens, like automatic defenses. (Okay, she's also relieved that the door doesn't try to keep her Martian Marinara customer card, but instead spits it back out unharmed.)

(Buzz gets +1 on her next roll (as long as that roll doesn't involve trying to get through the armory door without a key, key card, or equipment that she doesn't have right at this moment.))

Still, how much longer can she and Denton hang around this dead end without the armed guards finding them...?

Buzz shrugs as she re-pockets the card. "Worth a shot."

After quickly rummaging in her pockets with her free hand, she pulls out her med kit.  She quickly squats down, pulls out the Restoro^(TM)  injector, and uses it on Denton, jabbing it into the base of his neck.  "You're not much use dead," she quips as she packs the kit back into her pocket.

"Let's try the other way.  At least we know where the armory is.  Maybe that will come in handy later."

Buzz's use of the medkit is quite effective. (Denton gets 8 health points back.)

"Thanks," Denton says after the healing has occurred, "that's better. Maybe we..." he trails off. "...That's weird. What a strange..."

He's experiencing something unusual, that's for sure... Buzz wonders if he's having a strange side-effect or reaction to the medkit, or what... but then it happens... visibly, that is, since he was obviously already feeling something...

If Dr. Cagliostro was present, she might know how to explain it, Buzz thought... She'd probably call it a fluctuation in the time-space continuum or something... but whatever it is, it happens... Denton disappears, just kind of fades out in a ripple of the air, like someone gently shook the curtain that reality was being projected onto...

...And... a new guy appears... another Danger Patrol agent, wearing different colors...

(Okay, Johnny, I'm puttin' you here. You can have amnesia, or remember everything up until you died, or you can have been aware for a while that you're a ghost, however you wanna play it.)

Buzz's eyes go wide and a bit of sandwich falls out of her mouth as her jaw drops.  "What in the flaming pits of Venus?"

~...Wait...wai...w...~ came a disembodied voice, echoing then fading away against the room's walls.  Johnny flickered briefly into existence, a look somewhere between annoyed and scared to death on his face, unsurprisingly given the circumstances.  Before he could get his bearings, he flickered out of existence again with a soft pop.

A few seconds later, after another soft pop, he was fading back in, like an ancient old television screen with the antenna slightly out of whack.  Slowly he became more substantial, his standard issue Danger Patrol uniform appearing before he did, eerily materializing out of nothingness to fill out the light brown and white jumpsuit.  “What in the actual fu.....” he stumbled over his words, stopping suddenly when he noticed Buzz.  “Hey, where did she go?  Who in the flaming pits of Venus are you?”

Playing it like he is fresh out of post-traumatic death, recently press ganged into Danger Patrol service and launched unceremoniously into field...

Buzz takes in the uniform.  Chews.  Swallows.  Remembers where she is and who she is. "Ok, rookie.  We're in the underground base of a bunch of flame cultists on Mercury.  We've got a Titan bruiser and the doc checking out the complex, too.  You just wiped out my meat shield partner, so you better know what in burning asteroids you're doing, got it?"  She attempts to poke him in the chest, however successful that might be.  "Now I ain't never worked with one of you spooky spooks before.  Can you get us through that door?  Now?!  'Cause if not, we gotta high-tail it the other way five minutes ago."  She points to the armory door and lock and starts ticking down her fingers.  5 ... 4 ... 3 ...

At Buzz’s touch, Johnny goes incorporeal, letting the finger pass right through. His voice fades again weirdly as he dissipates then rematerializes ~Rookie!?..okie...kie~ ... “who you calling ‘rookie’?  I didn’t spend 10 years on the job with the RCPD and get shot in the face by one of Tannenbaum’s goons to get jammed into this outfit and demoted back down to fresh out the academy rook.”  Looking around, Johnny shook his head sullenly. ”It’s always the same thing with you Danger Patrol hot shots. Three of you, well, four counting your dearly departed partner, and you decide to take in a whole evil villain layer worth of cultists?  You ever hear of backup?  No wonder dispatch rushed me out here. I’m probably the only one who isn’t gonna die on this mission but that’s only because someone else beat them to it.”

Moving toward the door, still grumbling, Johnny begins to fade out of the material world ~Cool your heels a sec...ec...ec... I’ll check it out...it out...out~

Johnny attempts to slip out of solid corporeal state and peek through the door... if it’s all clear he’ll slip through to the other side and see if he can unlock it

(Hm. It says in your Ghost playbook that this is something that happens with "an act of will." Roll Confident, please... BUT i'll give you a +1 because it's not like anyone is actively shooting at you right now or anything...)

In reply to The GM (msg # 106):19:32, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 5 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,2.  Spirit.

Miss

Performance anxiety...

Bump. Johnny bumped his nose against the door. It hurt his confidence more than his nose.

(Johnny takes -1 on his next roll, but gains 1 xp. He may also not try again to walk through the armory door (nor its walls) right away (maybe later?)...

(Note for the future: I will say now that most of the time, floors and ceilings will be even slightly harder for Johnny to attempt to move through than walls and doors (doors will usually be easiest, but right now Johnny's still feeling just a little out of sorts from his strange arrival.)

"Great.  Back to Plan B.  C'mon, rookie.  Keep up or you'll be the cultist's next experiment."

Not waiting for her new (partner?) to respond, Buzz takes off back down the hallway, not even slowing down by the jammed lab door (although she does hold her breath in that vicinity).

As she runs, she uses her wrist communicator to update Flash and the Doc.  MSG:  Big guy down.  New ghost showed up.  Shit hitting fan.  Looking for exit.

There are no longer any arms sticking through the door.

There is no screaming.

The door is still stuck about 5 inches away from being closed.

It's still dark in the lab.

You don't stop to try to get a better look inside, because this is somehow... the scariest way that the lab situation could have changed.

...Or do you stop and investigate further...?

Repeat: "... not even slowing down ..."

Rookie can take a look if he's curious, but Buzz is already quite motivated to get the hell out ASAP, so further investigation is unlikely to change her mind.

Stinging from the failure to pass through the armory boor and rolling his eyes at continuing to be called rookie, Johnny bit his ethereal tongue and fell in behind Buzz.

Looking over his shoulder at the dark and foreboding lab, but not stopping to delve into the unknown alone, he called out "You know where we're going?  I thought you said the bad guys were out this way."

@GM: mechanics question - should the modifier for the Spirit roll have included a +1 bump due to Investigator

Investigator: You get +1 on all rolls that don't involve combat. Also, when you roll 12 or better when talking to people, take an extra +1 forward.

It wouldn't have changed the result, I'm just wondering... a +1 to all rolls seems a bit broken, no?

Buzz reaches the door at the other end of the hall...

(She opens it...? Just confirming...)

Buzz pauses just a minute to ready her weapon, and the opens the door (or at least attempts to.  Doors in this place work just like walls half the time!)

This is a large, round room. (The walls, anyway. The ceiling and floor are flat, and the ceiling's at the usual-so-far height of roughly 8 feet.) The walls, at every facing point, are about forty feet away from one another.

It seems to be a sort of safety room-- along the walls are a defibrillator, a rinsing station if someone got acid or dangerous chemicals on them, a few fire extinguishers, a first aid kit, stuff like that. There's also several pieces of sectional furniture, that could be good if you had to lay someone down (while you defibrillated them, perhaps).

There's a door to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead, and of course the door Buzz and Johnny just used to come in here by.

Just as Buzz and Johnny enter this room, in fact, two armed cultployees enter from the left. "They're here! Checkpoint Delta!" says one into a personal intercom thing clipped to his clothing.

The other one swings his firearm up and aims... But there's a split-second to do something (try to fire first? Dodge//jump behind furniture? Other?)...

Buzz rushes across the room as she fires, figuring it's harder to hit a moving target.  Turns out it's also harder to hit a target while moving.

(Buzz takes 1 point of damage, and gets 1 new xp.)

Bad news:
--Buzz doesn't hit the cultployees as she fires
--Buzz gets hit by that one guard

Good news:
--It's not a very serious wound
--Buzz is now lying on the floor, entirely hidden behind two of the sectionals...

As soon as he saw the cultist's weapon Johnny had him sighted down the barrel of his own RCPD standard issue Teslatrue mkVII electro-pistol. Artificial lighting crackled from the pistol's resonant transformer arcing toward the cultist.


Combat:22:13, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 7 using 2d6 ((6,1)).
Hit...with complications...
Damage:22:14, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 3 using 1d6 ((3)).

The cultployee Johnny hits very suddenly gains an extremely sharp awareness of his own mortality.

Also, he's in quite a bit of pain suddenly. He follows Buzz's example and tosses himself onto the ground behind a different set of sectional furniture.

The remaining cultployee figures now is the perfect moment to deal with Johnny...

(GM rolls dice)

...but luck is with Johnny. Despite Johnny being wide open, the cultployee misses. "Crap!" he announces, and he ducks out of sight behind the edge of the doorway he'd just stepped through.

Out of sight of Johnny, that is. Buzz could probably see him if she popped up from behind her furniture sections.

Which is exactly what she does!  Buzz pops up, fires at the not-hiding-well-enough dope in the hallway, and returns to cover as fast as possible.

Not wanting to be left out (in the open), Johnny rushed across the room taking advantage of the suppressing fire offered by Buzz's pot shots at the cultist in the hallway.  Crouching low and behind cover near Buzz, he gestures toward the door on the right.  "Gotta get moving.  That minion that I winged was on the radio before the shooting started.  We might have company coming."

(That's definitely a hit, with no counter-attack from the bad guys//no complications for Buzz, but now you have to roll for damage-- 1d6 please...)

Buzz takes the cultployee standing in the hall out before he can fire at her. He's permanently out of the equation.

One down...

"Nice shooting, Tex." Johnny hissed through gritted teeth waiting for the other cultist to pop his head out.  "Cover me while I check that door?"

Buzz nods and readies herself to repeat her earlier success.

The remaining cultployee doesn't move... guess he realizes that if he pops up (or sideways) someone'll take another shot at 'im.

(By the way, Johnny, I think you forgot that "-1 on your next roll" I gave you after you failed to walk into the Armory... feel free to apply it to your next roll, instead...)

In reply to The GM (msg # 126):

I didn't forget, but rolled +Forceful when it should have been +Agile... same result... my bad... I'm taking -1 forward...

Covered by Buzz, Johnny runs over to the nearest door should the one "on the left" side of the room form the initial description(?) and tries to open it...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:08, Fri 14 Feb 2020.

As soon as the rookie starts moving, Buzz brings her head and the muzzle of her ray gun above the cover line, preparing to fire at the hiding cultist's position if a viable target is presented or he starts firing at the ghost.

(...But...  Ohhhh, I see.)





(No, the cultployees came in via the door to the left. You want one of the other two...

There's
1. The "left" door the bad guys came in through
2. The door Buzz and Johnny came in through
3. The door behind Buzz and Johnny, that was on the right when they came in
4. and the door that's opposite the door Buzz and Johnny came in by

So, 3 or 4?)

I’ve made a poor showing during my academic endeavours choosing C as the default when I wasn’t sure... so I’m due for a lucky break!  Door number 3 if you please...

A new hallway. A door down the far end, and a door on the left about halfway down.

This one's a long one-- around 40 yards.

The remaining cultployee, hearing the door open, pops into view to take a shot at Johnny.

(GM rolls dice)

There might be time to hit 'im before he pulls the trigger... (Roll, Buzz...)

Buzz fires as soon as the employee presents any kind of target.  Maybe she should have aimed just a few seconds longer.

Buzz fires, and the man dies-- but not before he got off his own shot at Johnny.

(13:21, Today: The GM rolled 6 using 1d6 ((6)). Bad luck, Johnny takes 6 new damage.)

Owwww. It won't kill Johnny, but it still hurts.

Buzz grabs the med kit in the room and looks around quickly for anything else that might be useful.  Like that guard's weapon, which she peels off his still bleeding corpse.  And maybe access cards, she thinks, rifling through his pockets.  "You ok, rookie?  I don't want you dying on me, too.  Again.  ... Whatever."  She looks around, weighing their path options.  "Which way?  I've got bad luck picking today."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:19, Sun 16 Feb 2020.

“Just phantom pain,” Johnny replies through gritted teeth. The bullet had passed right through and left a ragged wound that was dripping a thick greyish goop. Although there were no vital organs to hit in his ectoplasm filled physical manifestation, it still hurt. “Trust me, I’ve had worse,” he added.  “Let’s try the first door...”

Searching the dead men (excluding Johnny), Buzz found a passcard key.

She examined the dead men (excluding Johnny)... they weren't as good as what she was using, but she was free to take them if she wanted...

She also found that she could lock the door that the cultployees came in through... but not the other three doors...

Buzz did lock the door the now-corpses had come through and picked up one of the shoddier guns, just in case.

Assuming that "the first door" is the one to the right from where they'd originally come in, Buzz heads that direction, not waiting for the ghost to clarify.

This door opens onto a long hallway that slowly curves off to the left.

Right now, there's no one to be seen (excluding Buzz and Johnny?) in that hallway.

But there's a wide window on the left side of the hall, like the one the laboratory had.

Gonna go take a look?

Or just sneak past it, crouching-down-like?

Ever the investigative type, Johnny skulks up the hallway trying to sneak a peek through the window...

Buzz hangs back and keeps checking ahead and behind to see if they've got unfriendly company coming.  Her pistol is at the ready.

(Hmmm... Johnny, I'm gonna say... gimmee an Agile check.)

Agility +0. Take -1 forward.
16:18, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 6 using 2d6-1 ((3,4)). Agility Check.
So close... yet so far...

Wow. There's like 4 guys in there... based on the equipment and the activity, it looks like you found the control room, or the coordinating room, whatever you'd call it. When the cultployees call in your locations, this is probably where they're calling in to.

Unfortunately, one of them spots Johnny taking the peek. You can't hear anything they're saying, but before you duck your head down (too late), one of them looks right at you, and gets really excited. He's probably shouting...

(Johnny gets one xp, but things just got worse...)

"What do you see?" whispers Buzz.

”Four science types. They spotted me. Let’s blast off down the hall to the far door.”

Buzz growls and scoots down the hallway as fast as she can while remaining below the window line.  They more surprise they can maintain, the better.

Buzz and Johnny don't stand up until they are well past the long window. Only then do they run for the far door.

When they're about 15 feet from it, it opens, and what Buzz recognizes as another "Bruno-type" robot emerges-- no ranged weapons, but pretty dangerous up close.

It's also too big to just jump between it and the wall safely...

The new Bruno rumbles toward Buzz and Johnny...

With memories of the previous Bruno still painfully fresh in her memory, Buzz fires her ray gun as she begins backing up.  "You pick directions worse than me!"

Buzz's fire hits Bruno2, but it'll take a lot more than that to decommission 'im...

“Running into minions seems to be an occupational hazard.” Johnny quipped backpedaling alongside Buzz. Pistol held before him, electricity arced from the barrel but somehow managed to miss the hulking robot that blocked their path.

14:59, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 4 using 2d6 ((1,3)). Miss

@Diceroller: have I done something to offend your algorithms?  Why can’t we be friends?

(Johnny gets -1 on his next roll due to extreme embarrassment. He does get 1 new xp, though.)

Bruno2 backs Buzz and Johnny back up the hall... soon they'll be near the long window of the control room, and the door that leads inside...

Will they

--fight Bruno?

--back up in front of the window?

--do something else? Something clever, maybe?

Buzz stands her ground and fires again.

Shoulder to shoulder with Buzz, Johnny keeps firing (and keeps missing).


22:05, Today: Juan (Johnny) Gonsalvez rolled 5 using 2d6-1 ((1,5)). ... Nope...

(Johnny gets 1 new xp.)

https://vignette.wikia.nocooki...st?cb=20110504134225

The bad news: By standing their ground and firing, Johnny and Buzz get just barely in arm's reach of Bruno2.

(Buzz takes 2 damage. Johnny takes 4 damage.)

The less-bad news: However, Buzz's highly-accurate shots do break something in Bruno2: "WARNING!" he announces. "TARGET ASSESSMENT SUBROUTINES NOW OFFLINE! ALL TARGETS WILL BE REGARDED AS HOSTILE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!"

If only there was someone in the hallway besides Danger Patrol agents...

Buzz cackles in glee.  "Time to make some new friends, rookie."  She spits at Bruno2 and shouts, "You couldn't assess my grandmother's moondust, you bucket of bolts!" as she flees down the hallway and into the lab door.

The door is locked-- to entry from the hallway side, anyway.

Behind the door, those in the control room point and laugh mockingly at Buzz and Johnny.

Buzz will try the access key she looted from the less lucky guards.

Oh yeah, that! The door opens-- there's a tiny split-second to enjoy the looks of horror on the faces of those inside...

But right now, you've got to move!

Either jump inside the control room... or else stand in the doorway for a second until Bruno2 is right on top of you, and then jump back out into the hall and hope he goes in there anyway...

Buzz will rush in through the door, neither attacking or confronting anyone inside.  She's just trying to get non-Patrol bodies between her and Bruno (and will hopefully duck out later during the ensuing chaos).

(Roll Agile, please...)

Buzz zips inside the control room. There's a brief moment when some of the people inside think almost fast enough to grab her-- but not quite. She sidesteps, hops, ducks past, spins, kicks, and elbows her way past everyone like a Martian kangaroo lizard pursued by a gila worm, and no one's hands quite manage to touch her, although they sometimes come within an inch of doing so.

Bruno2, on the other hand, followed Buzz inside the control room, and makes very physical and traumatic contact with all the cultployees in the command room.

Soon, Buzz had made a little circuit of the control room, and was back at its door.

For the moment, Bruno2 was still busy disassembling everyone else.

Buzz closes the door and locks it, if possible.

"I'll bet he came from somewhere important," she said to the ghost, before heading back toward the direction Bruno2 had come.