Adventure! RPG: Heroes of Our Time - episode 1: City of Thieves

[Andrew Murphy]

"Pilot, as you can see we're having a bit of trouble with the locals. Get the engines started and prepare for a quick takeoff, I'll let you know when we're ready to go. Oh and see if you can't bring up the radio from the KIS offices, the other in my group have it with them."

As Jameson speaks to the pilot he takes the time to replace the single bullet he's fired from his gun earlier witha fresh round from his belt. Once he is sure that the pilot understands what is going to be done he makes his way back to the door.

Crouching in the doorframe for maximum coverage he brings both revolvers to bear on the mob of thugs.

"Locky! Blaine! I think we've overstayed our welcome, time to GO!!"

Jameson begins to methodically fire off shot after shot from his revolvers. He times them for maximum effect and accuracy aiming for a new target with each shot.

[Blaine]

Blaine hears the OK from Bradford, and then quickly slams his last clip of bullets into his gun and lets the slide action bring the first bullet into the chamber. He turns to the kid and nods, giving him the go ahead.

Then he ducks as low as he can and begins firing from under the car, aiming at any exposed feet or legs he can see, as he and Bradford's modified revolvers beat a deadly rhythm in the desert air.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos shakes his head to the Arab drivers words.

"Do you know Turkish?" he responds in Turkish.

"If so, take me back to my car, and I will double your pay and no one needs to be the wiser."

While speaking, he motions again with his sword.

To emphasize his point, he places his sword against the man's neck, and says in English,

"Car. Now!"

[Dr. Mystery]

John grunts in irritation as Lugmani finds his way to the backseat. John covers his head and attempts a dive back into the backseat of the car in hopes of attacking him again.

[Locky McKenzie]

Locky suddenly, and nearly without effort, moves from the back seat of the car, effectively leaping over or around any and all obstacles, landing into a run, and furiously sprinting towards the aircraft at a speed that would almost be surprising, had Locky not learned to run as fast as he had...

[Alex Craft]

Blaine drops and fires upon four gunmen advancing on the car, disabling two of the four. The others run for cover just as Jameson opens fire. Jameson's twin pistols bring down a third man while he is still in the open, but the last of them dives behind a stack of crates - Jameson's bullet only pocking the sheet of oilcloth stretched over the crates.

Locky runs, easily dodging the few rounds of gunfire that come his way - most of the enemy seems momentarily pinned down by Blaine and Jameson. Darting up the stairs, he completes the gauntlet, safe - for now - in the plane.

The field is quiet for a moment as the enemy hesitates to come out from under cover. Then, a shot rings out as the rifleman (at extreme distance for handguns) fires off a round, punching through the hull of the plane not one foot from Jameson's left shoulder. The remaining couple of men on the field take this moment to partially rise from cover and begin firing indiscriminately - one towards the car, the other towards Jameson.

Also, the growl of an engine provides counterpoint to the gunfire as the truck barrels across the field toward the plane - the driver hunched over and almost out of sight behind the dash.

[Alex Craft]

Out on the desert, in Luqmani's car, the driver runs on in extremely broken Turkish - apparently agreeing to take Janos' money, but only because he doesn't have any choice. It seems that he believes Luqmani or Luqmani's superiors will kill him for his betrayal either way.

However, Janos' blade is a much more immediate threat, and he pulls back onto the road - perhaps three or four car lengths behind the Chrysler. Looking ahead, Janos can see that the motorcyclist is already on the Chrysler, moving to pull up along side the car right now.

* * *

John vaults the windshield again and leaps over the front seat, cane in hand ... only to find his target waiting for him. Luqmani is laying almost prone on the floor of the car, his pistol already trained upwards. As soon as John comes into view, he snaps off two rounds. John dodges reflexively, and the first round just misses - ripping through his sleeve but inflicting no damage. The other round, however, catches John full in his off shoulder, punching into meat and lodging against bone.

[2L damage to Dr. Mystery; Resistance roll botches, resulting in shock - lose next action]

John's shoulder explodes in pain, before the shoulder and arm go numb and lifeless. The sudden shock momentarily overwhelms him, and he bonelessly falls over the front seat and into the back - landing directly on Luqmani. Luqmani grunts in pain and weakly knees John in the kidneys - inflicting little damage.

[1B damage to John]

The two scuffle momentarily before throwing themselves away from each other and slumping weakly against opposite side of the car. Each man is sitting on the floor of the car, leaning into the corner of the back seat and the closed door - John on the passenger's side and Luqmani on the driver's side, behind Rhiannon.

Luqmani is pressing his left forearm against his side, where his now tattered shirt is soaked in blood (from John's attack on the hood of the car). Blood likewise seeps from the shallow cut across his chest (Janos' work). Beyond the gunshot wound, John is mostly just bruised, but he can feel the dampness of blood spreading from that wound and saturating the left side of his body.

Almost as soon as he slumps backward, Luqmani suddenly drags himself upright and snatches his gun from where it fell beneath his legs. Falling back again, he lifts the gun - steadily aiming at John. Coughing wetly, he demands of Rhiannon (in perfect, Oxford-accented English), "Stop the car now, or I will kill him."

The motorcycle's engine is loud now, and Rhiannon can see with a glance that it is riding her bumper, preparing to come along side her. The other car is back as well - a few car lengths behind, but rapidly overtaking the damaged Chrysler. To add even more complications, the radio finally springs to life, its speaker crackling out an inquiry as the plane's pilots attempt to raise this end of the operation.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos nods and climbs into the front seat, the sword resting on the driver's shoulder.

"Hurry," Janos adds in Turkish.

Once in the front seat, he slips out his money clip stuffed with British pounds. Realizing the money clip will be damning, he takes the notes out and stuffs them in the driver's shirt pocket with a smile.

"You might want to lay low in Alexandria for a few days."

Then, Janos steps out the door and onto the running board, but keeps his blade leveled at the driver.

"See if you can ram that motorcycle, please."

[Rhiannon Lewis]

"Strange to meet another Oxford graduate here," Rhiannon says serenely, turning in her seat to face al-Luqmani. "Stranger still to meet one with such poor manners."

She pulls the car over and stops it with a sigh. "I'm sorry to see an Oxford graduate in such a benighted place. Now tell me, what College did you come from? I was Magdalen, myself."

She picks up the radio and speaks into it. "We have a little complication here," she says in a flat tone - then launches herself at al-Luqmani, attempting to take his gun.

[Dr. Mystery]

John grunts in pain, grimacing, slumped against the door. After Rhiannon launches herself into the backseat, John tries to quietly open the door, and pull himself out of the car.

[Alex Craft]

The driver of Luqmani's car looks shocked and says, in Turkish, "Hit Youssef? But he ..."

Not seeing much compassion coming from Janos, he mutters something in Arabic and floors the accelerator. The man on the motorcycle - Youssef, apparently - glances back, but pays little heed to the advance of the 'friendly' vehicle. Such is his concentration on the Chrysler that he doesn't notice the danger of the other car until it is too late.

The driver mutters something else (sounds like an apology) before edging up and clipping Youssef's rear tire. It is relatively gentle, but serves to flip the motorcycle and send Youssef flying. The motorcycle hits the hood, then slides off to the right - falling by the side of the road.

Even as Youssef is dispatched, the Chrysler pulls off to the side of the road. Next to Janos, the driver slows down - asking what to do.

* * *

Luqmani seems puzzled at Rhiannon's easy compliance, but he's a little too under the weather to realize she's conning him. As she pulls over, he just slumps back - still keeping a steady bead on John.

When Rhiannon takes the handset of the radio, she only gets out a couple of words - apparently deciding that he doesn't need enemy reinforcements to deal with, he shifts his aim to shoot the radio. As soon as he takes his gun off John, Rhiannon throws herself over the seat, hoping to preempt him from destroying the radio.

Attempting to wrest the gun away, Rhiannon knocks off Luqmani's aim, causing him to fire harmlessly into the back of the rear seat. In response, Luqmani lashes out with his free hand and clips her across the forehead.

[1B damage to Rhiannon]

Luqmani shoulders open the door he was leaning against and tries to get out of the car. Realizing that this would only give him an opportunity to use his gun, Rhiannon grapples with him, trying to keep him from getting away or bringing his pistol to bear. Unfortunately, Luqmani twists out of her grasp, rolling out of the car. He grunts with pain when he hits the ground, but continues his roll - moving a few feet away from the car and getting to his feet.

He takes a few long steps away from the Chrysler, bringing his gun to bear on Rhiannon - who is almost prone in the car. In the confusion, John shouldered open his door and slid out - now staggering to his feet.

Luqmani's car approaches slowly (Janos can make out Luqmani and John, but can't see Rhiannon). Luqmani spares an moment to glance over at the car, instantly turning back to Rhiannon. Then - processing what he saw - he drops into a crouch and shifts his aim toward the approaching car. No longer under a gun, Rhiannon quickly shifts to a more mobile position.

Janos sees Luqmani bring his gun to bear, dropping behind the dashboard just as Luqmani snaps off two shots into the windshield. The driver isn't as fast and takes a bullet in his shoulder. He screams in pain and falls against the door, clutching at his wound.

Luqmani's car is now uncontrolled, and (if not interfered with) will coast forward until hitting the Chrysler. It won't be moving fast enough to cause any damage. The two cars are now about one and a half car lengths apart. Luqmani is now about four meters away from the Chrysler, standing in desert. John is back on his feet, standing on the opposite side of the car from Luqmani.

[Rhiannon Lewis]

Rhiannon staggers for a moment, dazed, before leaping back into the car and grabbing the radio. "Get your cursed backsides here now!" she snarls. "Al-Luqmani is here, damn him!"

[Alex Craft]

Safe in the plane, Locky regains his breath - waiting for Blaine to make it in as well. The pilot looks back, and says, "Mr. McKenzie, is it? I've been trying to contact the rest of your group, but I haven't made contact. I thought I had something a moment ago, but it was cut off. Might have just been noise."

Just as he finishes, Rhiannon's voice cuts through the static, growling, "Get your cursed backsides here now! Al-Luqmani is here, damn him!"

[Blaine]

Blaine checks the rounds he has left in his magazine in a quick and practiced motion, then slams the clip home. He doesn't say anything, so as not to tip off the men shooting at him, he just keeps his head down and charges toward the plane entrance, firing in the direction of the gunmen mainly to keep their heads down.

[Andrew Murphy]

Over the thundering of his and Blaine's guns, and the sounds of bullets pinging off the car and aircraft Jameson barely makes out the pilot, "Mr. McKenzie, is it? I've been trying to contact the rest of your group, but I haven't made contact. I thought I had something a moment ago, but it was cut off. Might have just been noise."

Followed by a squawk from the radio, "Get your cursed backsides here now! Al-Luqmani is here, damn him!"

"SHIT! ... Blaine, get up here now!! This just became and express flight!!" Jameson yells over the din.

He fires off the last of his chambered rounds as Blaine bounds up the plane's stairs and bellows to the pilot and Locky, "OK we're all here let get this heap flying!! Head toward Alexandria but keep and eye for the car in the desert I think they'd like a hand with their situation..."

[Count Janos Rakozi]

The Count's leg stomps down on the pedal as he grabs the wheel and attemps to hold the car on the road. When it stops, he pulls out his pistol and drags the driver under the dash. Having accomplished all that, he pauses for a moment, then calls out.

"Al-Luqmani, you've run out of men, and you're quickly running out of options."

As Janos says this, he slowly raises his head over the dash.

"It's time to call it a day."

Janos opens the door and steps out, using it as partial cover.

"If you stay here, we will be forced to kill you. I don't think either of us want that."

Janos steps more out into the open, so he can charge Luqmani if he has to.

"Today, the luck of battle was with us. Tomorrow may be different for you and your noble cause. Don't throw your life away."

[Dr. Mystery]

Grimacing in pain, John drops a smoke bomb at his feet, slipping out of sight as the smoke rises around him. Crouching, he sneaks around the car, hoping to catch Lugmani from behind with his cane.

[Alex Craft]

Blaine braves the barrage of bullets to sprints across the open ground to the plane, firing wildly in the direction of his assailants. Miraculously, he crosses the distance unharmed and throws himself up the steps and into the plane.

As Blaine runs, Jameson drops the rifleman with his last rounds - he may not be dead, but he is at least down for the count. This done, he rolls out of the way as Blaine runs in, then hauls shut the door.

The pilot already has the plane's props running, and starts rolling as soon as he sees that the trio is on board. The pilot winces repeatedly as bullets ping off his plane's skin, but steadily accelerates onto the runway. Shouting at his passengers to get seated, he pushes the plane for all it's worth.

Outside, the two remaining gunmen on the field jump onto their truck as it passes. The transport paces the plane at first, and its five or six passengers pound it with gunfire. The plane holds up fine, though a couple of bullets break through the skin and briefly ricochet around in the compartment.

Thankfully, the pilot knows his stuff, and the plane soon skips off the pavement - touching down again for a moment, then lifting off for good. A few more rounds futilely strike against the fuselage as the plane leaves the gunmen stranded on the ground.

[Alex Craft]

As Janos brings the car to a halt and gets the driver out of further harm's way, Luqmani (still crouched) darts over to the Chrysler. He takes cover against the front passenger door, where he can keep an eye on Rhiannon and stay out of Janos' immediate line of fire.

Checking out the lay of the land, Luqmani only half-listens to Janos and Rhiannon, and he spots John's approach despite the magician's stealth. Responding quickly, he turns and snaps off a shot at John, who throws himself away from the car - rolling off the road and into the desert. John's reflexes keep him intact for now (the bullet harmlessly burying itself in the road), but his move has left him in the open - too far from useful cover.

Moving a little away from the Chrysler so as to keep Rhiannon in his peripheral vision, Luqmani lines up with John and pulls the trigger ... to no effect. The pistol clicks empty. From her position in the back of the car, Rhiannon sees Luqmani's expression - at first surprised, but then just exasperated. All and all, this is really turning into a crappy night for him.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos quickly moves up to put himself between Luqmani and the Chrysler. Both the sword and pistol are out.

"Care to yield?" he asks Luqmani.

Quietly, he whispers,

"Do you have anyone on the wireless, yet?"

[Andrew Murphy]

Jameson sits down and begins to reload his revolvers as the plane takes flight and begins to speed toward Alexandria.

"Any luck raising Rhiannon or the other on the radio?" he asks. "I'm hoping that maybe they were able ot deal with Luqmani and his goons and keep heading toward the other airfield ..."

Jameson snaps the wheels of his revolvers shut and slide the guns into their holsters. He stands up as much as he can and begins to check the plane's storage compartments. He begins to take a general inventory or what's available.

"Blaine, Locky, I think we should assume the worst. That Luqmani sent enough men against the other team to possibly capture them and the engine. As such we should have a plan ready. Any ideas?"

[Blaine]

Blaine checks his pockets and then snaps his fingers in frustration.

"Shit! I left all my extra clips in my bag. And that's either on the car we left behind or it's in the other car. Oh well, it was only one or two more anyway." he sits and thinks for a bit.

"Well, I think we're gonna be landing in a fight. We may have to either rescue 'em or take the engine back from Luqmani. I'm sure our side gave 'em Hell though, it might just be a wrap up. Until then we just keep trying to raise them on the radio. Hey pilot! You got any guns or pistol magazines on this boat?"

[Rhiannon Lewis]

"I hope you lot aren't too far away," Rhiannon says over the radio, "because I wouldn't be surprised to find out if al-Luqmani has a whole lot of reserves on their way."

[Dr. Mystery]

John grunts in pain, gritting his teeth as he rolls off the road, dodging Lugmani's shot. He scrambles to his feet, quite painfully as Janos approaches Lugmani. He makes his way over to the car, leaning upon it, facing Lugmani and scowling.

[Alex Craft]

Janos darts around the back end of the Chrysler, and John staggers up to lean against the front door. When he is sure that nobody is attacking him, Luqmani stands, warily eyeing his three adversaries. All four adventurers gradually cool down over the next several seconds of the standoff: their breathing quieting, their eyes adjusting to the dark after the chaos of headlights and gun flashes, and the pain from their wounds creeping in as the adrenaline wears off.

Overhearing Rhiannon's comment to the plane, Luqmani smirks, responding in his wholly unexpected Oxford English, "Why should I yield now? The lady's right - there should be a truck with a baker's dozen of my men coming up any time now. Besides, sir, the last time you offered me a chance to surrender, your associate tried to stab me in the back. (spits) Damn imperialist."

Taking a more relaxed stance, he buttons his now emptied pistol into a shoulder holster, then continues:

"Not to sound too brassy, but why don't you surrender? Granted, you have me at the disadvantage right now, but you cannot really win here. That automobile of yours isn't going anywhere, and you certainly won't be able to walk away from here quickly enough. You could take my vehicle and run, but I doubt that you will have time to move that unwieldy device from your vehicle to mine."

"Of course, you could attempt to take me prisoner, but that would simply leave us in a standoff once my men arrive. That is assuming you could capture me."

Smiling at this last bit, Luqmani extracts a crumpled hand-rolled cigarette from his pocket, smoothes it out a bit, and holds it between his lips as he pulls a match from a matchbook. Looking up again, he speaks around the unlit cigarette, asking, "What do you say? We can call this all even, and you can go explain things to your employer - whoever that may be. Or, alternately, we can have another messy fight in which all of us four will most likely get killed."

[Alex Craft]

The plane is out of the city almost immediately - heading north along the outskirts of town and turning to follow the Nile.

Hearing Blaine's question, the pilot answers, "Not me - I'm just a pilot, yeah? Though, come to think of it, my alternate carries something - I think it's a .45. I don't know what you guys are packing, but he may've left some ammo back there somewhere."

According to plan, the plane is winging its way north along the river looking for where the other group's road meets up with and follows the Nile. The challenge now lies in finding the Chrysler from the air. It is likely one of the few vehicles on the road, but still, there's a lot of ground to cover. The pilot can't be of much help - he has effective navigational skills, but that doesn't do much good when he doesn't know where he needs to be.

Blaine and Jameson are begining to work their way through the plane's few lockers when Rhiannon's voice once more crackles over the radio. Whether they respond or not, one of them soon finds a half-empty box of .45 bullets suitable for loading into a pistol clip.

While the other two are digging through the storage lockers, Locky is looking on. Suddenly, while listening to Rhiannon's latest message, he realizes that the plane must be heading in the wrong direction. The plan was for the two vehicles to meet at the river, but Locky's pretty sure that the Chrysler didn't make it that far (judging by the timing of Rhiannon's warning).

[Locky McKenzie]

Locky frowns for a sec. "Hey, Pilot! I think we're going the wrong way! Our friends need our help, and they're not going to be where we're headed right now!"

[Blaine]

Blaine rummages through the boxes and bric-brac quickly until he finds what he's looking for, a good box of .45 rounds.

"Good." he says as he brings it back to his chair. "Hey kid!" he calls to Locky. "You gettin' anything on that radio?" he says as he starts pressing new rounds into his spent clips. He looks over at Bradford. "That was some dead eye shooting back there Bradford. I had you figured for a circus act with them guns and the rap you were always laying down. But you are one salty dog."

[Andrew Murphy]

Jameson laughs aloud as he rummages through the plane's storage compartments. "let me tell you something Blaine," he says, "I pride myself on my ability to shoot, not to kill mind you, but to shoot.

"However," he says turning to face Blaine, a grim look on his face, "I'm a man who saw the Great War from the inside. I'm sure you can appreciate that. It changes a man seeing that kind of carnage. I'll do whatever is required to keep myself and my friends alive. Sometimes that means becoming a butcher again, I ain't proud of it, but that's what it takes sometimes."

[Blaine]

Blaine looks grim and somber at the mention of the Great War, and he slams one full clip into his gun, and slides the chamber back to advance a round into the pipe.

"Yeah. I was there. Maybe you heard of me. They called me 'Berlin Blaine', for how far I got behind enemy lines. I never did make it quite that far though, least not until everyone else was there. But I was delivering plans and messages throughout the war, and also countering the Krauts' own spies." he starts methodically pressing more rounds into the other magazine. "I got in when I was 16 or so, looking for my Dad. They let me in because they knew I'd been trained. Y'see my Dad and Grandad were Pinkertons, remember them? They let me in despite my age because a that. I was just as young and green as the kid." he looks over and chuckles. "Though not half as smart or good looking."

"Yeah, I know what you mean though. War makes butchers out of everyone, and worse." he finishes the last bullet into the clip and pockets it along with the remaining shells.

[Rhiannon Lewis]

"Or we could just kill you, leave you for the jackals and save ourselves the trouble," Rhiannon says with chilling coolness as she bolts to the car and turns the lights on.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos turns from cool to slightly bitter as Luqmani speaks. After Rhiannon moves to the car,

"I agree," says Janos, and he lunges at Luqmani.

[Rhiannon Lewis]

Rhiannon's eyes flash for a moment, and she gives Janos a brief glance as he lunges. "He's lying through his teeth," she says serenely. "He's got no one on the way."

[Andrew Murphy]

Jameson stand up from his search, "AH HA! Just what I was looking for." He produces a few lengths of rope and some metal tie downs and hooks and throws them onto the pile with the tarp and parachutes.

"Locky!" he yells up toward the front of the plane, "How long before we get to the others? And have you heard anything through the radio?"

Jameson then turns to Blaine, "I have a crazy stupid idea on how to deal with any additional forces Luqumani has, but I'll need a hand."

Jameson turns to gestures to the pile of ropes and hooks, "Ever go fishing Blaine?" he asks, a smirk crossing his face.

[Blaine]

Blaine looks at the ropes, then back to Bradford's crazy grin. He shakes his head and smiles himself as he stands up and holsters his gun.

"I ain't been fishing in awhile, but no time like the present, yeah?"

[Locky McKenzie]

"Guys," Locky says with a smile, "I'm not entirely sure of how much fighting we're going to have to do - I think the Count and Rhiannon are taking care of themselves reasonably well..."

[Alex Craft]

With the Rhiannon's first words, Luqmani strikes the match he has been holding since the end of his bluff. The flame flares up in the darkness, briefly dazzling onlookers. Luqmani himself closes his eyes against the light, but Janos is the only member of the opposition to catch on - the others are blinded for a few key seconds as their eyes adjust and readjust.

Janos takes a couple of long steps forward, striking at Luqmani. In lieu of dodging, Luqmani drops to the ground and lashes out with his foot - knocking Janos' legs out from under him.

[Knockdown; no damage to Janos; successful Athletics roll for recovery from Knockdown]

Rhiannon and John recover their vision after just a few moments - just as Janos hits the ground and Luqmani runs for it. Luqmani is moving faster than anyone might expect, given his battered condition, and he must be doing himself further damage by pushing his body so far. He is striking off down the road, back towards Cairo.

Rhiannon had struggled into the front of the car while her eyes were still adjusting, and now flips on the headlights as intended. Glancing around, she spots her gun which had been left on the front seat earlier.

[Alex Craft]

The pilot acknowledges Locky's interjection, responding, "I'm just following orders, kid. Where do you want me to go? Sounds like your partners on the ground have their hands full, so I don't have any directions to work with."

The plane is beyond the outskirts of the city by now, flying over the banks of the Nile.

[Locky McKenzie]

"Give me a sec Pilot, I'm not good at this sort of thing!"

Locky begins mentally placing locations and headings, knowing full well he only has the vaguest sense of where everything is...

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos rolls up, sticks his sword in the sand, and uses the hilt to steady the aim of his pistol as he squeezes off a shot at the fleeing Arab.