Adventure! RPG: Heroes of Our Time - episode 2: Air Raid

[Rhiannon Lewis]

"He's nearby," Rhiannon murmurs softly. Seemingly in a dream and fixated on something, she walks down the corridor in a certain direction.

[Locky McKenzie]

Locky flips his body through the hatch, falling quite elegantly to his feet.

"Sounds good to me, Jameson, sir."

Locky walks towards Jameson and the next hatch. "So, what do you need me to do?" he utters, as he subtlely palms the smoke pellets he has in his pockets...

[Andrew Murphy]

"Sounds good to me, Jameson, sir."

"Sheesh kid didn't I ask you to call me James or Jameson? Anyways, the others should be close to finding Tony by now so we should see if we can't get control of this blimp and the situation in general."

Jameson peeks into the control room, and then looks back at Locky. "I know you ain't comfortable in combat so I'll do the shooting. Just make sure nobody sneaks up behind me and we should be ok. Say you ever flow one of these before?"

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos steps up infront of Rhiannon as she 'leads' the way. He swings the SMG around to his back and draws his sword and pistol once again.

"Just point me in the right direction, Ms. Lewis. We will get Tony back."

"Frederick, how is that shoulder of yours?"

[Dr. Mystery]

John tenses up, pulling out his cane, and following Rhiannon cautiously. John turns to Janos.

"It could be better, but I shall survive, Thank you."

Backing against the wall, John fades out of sight.

[Alex Craft]

*... CHUNG ... CHUNG ... CHUNG—*

The sound, much louder here, abruptly stops. There is a brief pause, then a less deliberate burst of hammering rings out. Then silence.

Janos, Rhiannon, John, and Kate proceed down the cramped corridor at Rhiannon's direction. The passage extends perhaps five meters, then ends at a closed hatch. The portal is sealed from this side by a short bar thrust through the locking wheel. The hatch has seen better days: the hinges are twisted and bent - the results of considerable force being exerted to hammer down the door from the other side.

*CHUNG CHUNG*

Suddenly and startlingly, someone on the otherside (whom Rhiannon would bet good money is Tony) hammers on the other side a couple of times - the sound echoing through the tight space and resonating through the decking. The sound of what might be shouting filters through afterwards, but it is far too faint to understand.

* * *

Assisted in his climb by the gradual winding of the winch above, Blaine makes rapid progress. Nearly to the catwalks, he notes with some concern that one of the raiders is still standing guard near the winch. The man in question is several meters away from the winch and seems to be looking away from the rope - instead watching for intruders on the ship who might attempt to cut the rope (which he doubtless believes to be still carrying his compatriots). If Blaine is careful and quite, he may be able to get onto the catwalk before the raider sees him, but there are no guarantees ...

* * *

Kneeling at the head of the ladder down to the command deck level, Jameson notes that the hatch at the bottom is closed. Descending far enough to check the wheel in the middle of the door, he confirms that it is locked from the other side.

Ascending again, he hears a bitter chuckle from one of the injured raiders. None of Jameson and Locky's 'prisoners' are giving any trouble, but they all look pretty angry about something.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

The Count turns to Rhiannon and says,

"Well, since we didn't run into Tony out here, they must have him inside, no?"

"Fredrick, please keep on eye on our rear."

The sword and pistol go back up. Turning back to the door, Janos pulls out the bar and braces himself to turn the locking wheel. Before he does so, and again as he is doing it, Janos keeps quietly repeating,

"Tony, it is us. Stop that racket."

[Blaine]

Blaine tries to stifle his heavy breathing and choke off any grunting fromhis exertion as he finishes the last of the climb. The guard doesn't seem to see him yet, even as he secures himself right beneath the walkway. He positions himself so that he should be completely concealed underneath it, and makes sure he's got a good solid grip before he lets go of the rope. When he sees the last of the rope get reeled in, he suddenly kicks the floor as hard as he can, causing a resounding thump under the guards feet. Then he waits, like a trap door spider for the guard to check out the noise and then yank him off the walkway.

"Guttentahg, sprechenze fall?"

[Rhiannon Lewis]

Rhiannon calls out to, "Mr King, it's us!" She turns to Kate. "Any chance of you opening this thing?"

[Locky McKenzie]

"Hmm... Locked? We'll soon fix that!" Locky exclaims, as he jumps down to the hatch

Locky places his hand on the wheel, jerking it a couple of times. He quickly inspects the door, feeling the various joints and mechanics accessible from this side, knocking a few times, then giving it an almighty thwack a few inches below the door.

Locky then begins turning the wheel...

[Andrew Murphy]

Kneeling at the head of the ladder down to the command deck level, Jameson notes that the hatch at the bottom is closed. Descending far enough to check the wheel in the middle of the door, he confirms that it is locked from the other side.

Coming up from the hatch Jameson says, "Damn it's locked! Hey Locky ..." His voice trails off as Locky, two steps ahead of him, is already inspecting the door.

Ascending again, he hears a bitter chuckle from one of the injured raiders. None of Jameson and Locky's 'prisoners' are giving any trouble, but they all look pretty angry about something.

Jameson looks around the room, "What's so damn funny? What the hell is wrong with you people?"

[Dr. Mystery]

At Janos' comment, John gives a quick, "I'm on it." nodding as he steps back, and guards the rear quietly, cane at the ready.

[Alex Craft]

Blaine makes more noise than he would like while getting into position, but it does not seem to tip off the guard. Or, at least, the guard walks cautiously along the spar of catwalk - coming within striking distance without seeming to notice Blaine lurking below. He is caught entirely off balance when Blaine reaches up from under the catwalk and hauls him off.

The guard grabs a hold on the catwalk railing as he is pulled under it, but the test of strength is in Blaine's favor. The guard's hand slips, and he is dragged fully off of the catwalk ... so Blaine lets him go dropping down to join his comrades.

* * *

The injured raiders glare back at Jameson, the mood in the room turning black. Scattered laughter ripples through the room, bitter and without any real humor. Both Jameson and Locky begin to grasp that these men are not precisely angered at the two of them (though they certainly aren't happy about our heroes' presence, either). One of the injured speaks up, saying with an open sneer, "Sprechen Sie Deutsch, Amerikaner?"

After Locky's ministrations, the wheel turns easily - the hatch is now unlocked. Carefully listening through the door, Locky hears no movement within the command deck.

* * *

Above, Janos finds the locking mechanism partially jammed. The locking bar is nearly stuck, but slides out with a harsh rasp. The wheel is likewise jammed, and requires that Janos put in his full strength to slowly unscrew the warped bolts. This done, he hauls on the door and finds that the twisted hinges render the door basically inoperable.

Shifting his grip on the wheel, Janos tries again - the metal hinges creaking with strain. Stepping forward, Kate lends a hand, and between the two of them (she seems to be stronger than her frame would suggest) the door grinds open a few inches before obstinately settling in place. A voice - Tony's - emerges from the dark on the other side, saying sourly, "... well know it's you, Janos."

Tony slips a hand through the small gap between the door and the jamb, testing a grip on the edge of the door. Grunting, he adds in an uncharacteristically tight voice, "Step back, everyone ... I apologize if I'm a little irritable right now, but this really hasn't been a good afternoon. Everyone back? Right, then ..."

The door shudders and metal screams as the hinges are twisted. The shriek of metal on metal rings through the small space while the Tony forces the door further. He lets it come to rest about half open, then worms through the resulting gap. The corridor's tight confines make him seem even larger than usual as he rolls his shoulders and cracks his knuckles in a series of sickening pops.

Tony's normally impeccable black two-piece is barely recognizable - the fabric is shredded and riddled with bullet holes, and his blue-grey shirt is clearly soaked in blood. And yet, astonishingly, Tony himself doesn't look like he has any open wounds at all. He bears numerous visible wounds - including a long scar across his cheek that definitely wasn't there earlier today - but they are all closed up, looking as if he has been healing for days or weeks.

Still, he clearly isn't up to standard - his normally catlike movement is sluggish and stiff, and his measured voice betrays at least a little of his pain. Looking the group over, his normally warm grey eyes are distinctly icy in aspect. Counting Janos, Rhiannon, John, and Kate, he turns - casting about like a dog searching for a scent - and asks, "Where are the others? ... In particular, where is Mr. McKenzie?"

[Count Janos Rakozi]

The Count shrugs upon seeing King's battered countenance, but makes no comment about it. Instead,

"Well, its good to see you alive, too, Tony," Janos quips with a grin. He hands Tony his SMG and his spare clips.

"We broke up into seperate groups when we boarded, much like Sturmtruppen, with the general intent of bringing this contraption down. If we make our way to the Command section, we should find Locky there."

"Frederick is with us, but back there, somewhere," Janos tosses his thumb toward the rear of the group.

After a seconds hesitation, Janos continues,

"Tony, you and Kate should get out of here and let us finish this fight. King Enterprises needs Kate, and dies without you at the helm."

[Interceptor]

Blaine finally manages to crawl onto the catwalk, and at first can only lay there gasping for breath. Finally he crosses himself and stands up, pulling his gun from the holster and checking the clip. He slams it back into place and starts heading down the walk to the nearest chamber, keeping a sharp eye out for other troops on his level or others.

"Where the Hell did everybody go?" he mutters as he presses on.

[Alex Craft]

Addendum:

King stares at Janos for a few seconds, then reluctantly replies, "That is reasonable. We will attempt to find a secure position ... I assume that there are still hostiles down below?"

"Keep the gun - I shouldn't need it. And Janos - if Mr. McKenzie is downstairs, then Zorbo is moving ... up, and past this deck. Rhiannon, come with Kate and myself or assist the gentlemen - it is up to you."

[Rhiannon Lewis]

Rhiannon gives Tony a broad smile that actually lightens her countenance, then assumes her usual professional serenity. She glances down at her bandaged leg thoughtfully for a moment. "Though prudence and my personal wishes dictate that I would join you, my duties to the field team and my own unique abilities mean that I must join them," she says with obvious reluctance. "I will go with them. May your God and my Goddess go with you both."

With those words she goes to join Janos, checking her pistols and pockets for ammunition.

[Andrew Murphy]

"Sprechen Sie Deutsch, Amerikaner?"

"I don't speak any ... German? Can anybody translate?" Jameson is flustered now, unsure exactly why these men are taking this sitting down (literally).

"Hey Locky how are you coming with..." he hears the door click and the wheel turn, "... OK never mind anybody down there? Want me to go in first, guns leading?"

[Dr. Mystery]

John paces back over to the group, eyeing Mr. King, his brow furrowed. He taps his cane on the ground somewhat anxiously.

"Do we have any idea where Zorbo might be?"

[Locky McKenzie]

Locky looks up to Jameson. "I don't know German either. Does anyone here speak English?"

"Anyway, I can't hear anything on the other side of the door, I'm not sure there's even anyone in there! I'm heading in."

[Alex Craft]

Glancing around as he gets to his feet, Blaine notices Zorbo's support ship - a much smaller and more traditional zeppelin. The zeppelin is approaching the flagship with fair speed, the sound of its engines already humming in Blaine's ears. It is quite a bit higher up than the flagship, though - possibly intending to drop reinforcements on the larger ship. It is outside of practical firearms range and quickly passes out of Blaine's line of sight (obscured by the flagship's bulk hanging above Blaine.)

He turns and moves carefully through the catwalks toward the core, encountering no opposition. Blaine remains uncertain of where the raiders that made it onto the ship ahead of him have gone - the gloom and the layered catwalks drastically reduce visibility. He approaches the outer wall of the core and looks in through an open hatch - the same that Locky had found earlier.

At first, he registers that the room is full of raiders. Then, filling in the details, Blaine realizes that the raiders are mostly injured and spots Jameson standing in a hatchway in a thick pillar at the center of the room - his pistols covering what he can see of the rest of room. From somewhere behind the darkness of that hatchway, Locky's voice faintly emerges: "I'm heading in."

Locky cracks open the door, catching a whiff of smoke in the process. A peek in the room reveals no crew and no guards ... but it looks like the raiders unloaded a couple of clips into the command deck's equipment before retreating. Locky enters the room cautiously and confirms that it is empty.

The command deck is a single, broad ring around the thick central cylinder housing ladder shafts and similar necessities. The outside of this ring is lined with hardened glass windows canted out at a 45º angle to provide a broad, panoramic view of New York City and K.I.S. Plaza below. The inside of the ring - built against the central shaft - is studded with map tables and crew stations holding navigational equipment, controls for the piloting of the ship, and similar functions.

All of this equipment, however, has been superficially damaged by gunfire. The controls and casings are damaged, and a couple small electrical fires burn (not in danger of spreading, though). It looks like the actual mechanisms would still be intact, but working out how to bypass the damaged controls could take some time.

Making the circuit around the deck, Locky finds a few more hatches - each one closed and locked from inside the bridge, with one exception. This hatch hangs slightly ajar, and a careful ear recognizes the sounds of a number of men clambering up the ladder on the other side. From the sound of it, the last of them is at least a deck or so above the command deck.

Perhaps the most important item on the bridge, however, is immediately to the right of the ajar hatch: a small, steel box (about a foot high, a foot wide, and six inches deep) bolted to the wall. The front of the box bears an access panel (currently padlocked shut), a small clock face, and a mesh grill from which issues a metronomic clicking.

Off hand, Locky would guess it was a bomb.

[And no, it doesn't look like any of the wounded raiders speak English.]

* * *

King gathers up Kate and edges past Janos and Rhiannon, saying, "I am afraid my gods and I aren't on good terms these days, Rhiannon. Still, I am sure we'll be fine. Watch out for yourself."

"As I said, I can tell that Zorbo is somewhere above us, and moving. Unfortunately, this is all I can offer. If you intend to engage him, you should attempt to find access to the upper portions of this ship. Be careful, though - I am not sure how many men he has on board. I trust I will see you soon."

Turning, King leads Kate back out of this side hall. The two of them converse briefly at the mouth of the hall, Kate points the way, and the two of them move off - King's movements still unusually sluggish.

[Locky McKenzie]

As Locky realises the box's intentions his eyes go wide. "This is not good. Not good!" Locky mutters to himself.

Locky takes a deep breath, grabs his tools and starts opening the box to see what he can fathom inside the casing.

With a voice somewhat more calm than Locky expected, he shouts out "Jameson, I think I know why the command deck is empty - we gotta bomb on board!"

[Andrew Murphy]

Jameson is standing in the bunk room watching the soldiers when he spies Blaine in the doorway, "Thank god, I was beginning to wonder if it was just me and Locky! Blaine come on down here we have an issue."

"Jameson, I think I know why the command deck is empty - we gotta bomb on board!"

"Oh shit ... Blaine do you speak German? None of these gents know any English, but maybe one of them can help diffuse the bomb. If not we need to get the heck of this bloated sack of gas. I'm gonna go check out this bomb see if I can't help Locky out."

With that Jameson holsters his pistols and drops down through the hatch to the command deck to help Locky with the bomb, leaving Blaine to hopefully talk to the soldiers.

Jameson trots over to where Locky is fiddling with the padlock on the bomb, "I'm no sapper but once you get in there maybe the two of us can puzzle it all out."

Jameson looks at his pocket watch and then at the clock on the bomb to determine the time they have remaining.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Once King and Kate are out of sight, Janos turns and looks at Rhiannon.

Quietly, he says, "Ms. Lewis, you and Fredrick are wounded. Go keep an eye on Mr. King and see him safetly out of here. I will go get Zorbo. No arguments. Anthony is more important than anything else."

He turns to head up, but looks over his shoulder. Smiling, he adds, "See you on the ground."

[Rhiannon Lewis]

Rhiannon's green eyes flash with anger. "I can walk and shoot," she says crisply. "John would be best as he has defence abilities I do not possess."

[Blaine]

"Bomb?" Blaine looks around the room, seeing that it's basically an infirmary. Anyone that would plant a bomb by the infirmary probably wouldn't have lackeys that were unwilling to be sacrificed or able to defuse it stationed nearby.

"I doubt any of them know, if they did they'd have probably ran away or defused it. I don't speak German, but I have a certain...way with people." says Blaine as he holsters his gun and cracks his knuckles loudly and sets his jaw into a rock hard line. "What kind of bomb is it? It got a fuse or is it electric?"

He walks up to one of the men that is slightly wounded and hoists him up by the collar despite the protesting waves of him and the others nearby.

"Sprechenze English?" he says adding a shake of the collar for emphasis. When the man screams 'Nein!' Blaine nods, and begins to work on his sign language.

"Up there" Blaine points to the room that Bradford and Locky are in.

"Is a bomb." Blaine uses his fingers and counts down from 5 quickly and then makes a fist and opens it fast saying 'BOOM'.

"Do you" he points to the man "or anyone here" he gestures to the rest. "know how" he points to his own temple "to stop it?" he makes a scissor motion with his fingers and then points back to the room. Then he shakes his head 'yes' or 'no'.

He repeats the words and gestures quickly again to see if he can get a response.

[Dr. Mystery]

John nods to Janos and Rhiannon curtly.

"Ms. Lewis, while I thank you for your confidence in my abilities, my defensive strengths are limited mainly to myself, and while my theatrical abilities may indeed prove useful, I doubt they will encounter much on the way out. I think, perhaps we should be more concerned with finding the others of our crew on board."

John tucks his cane into his coat with a quick motion of his hand.

"Where might we begin?"

[Alex Craft]

Locky pops open the padlock within seconds, and finds himself staring at a nest of wires connecting two fist-sized devices. One of the two is labeled clearly with a red star burst and the word "EXPLOSIV" followed by a lengthy chemical formula.

The other appears to be a timing mechanism of some kind, with what might be a battery pack welded onto what is probably a timing mechanism, judging by the regular ticking sound that issues from it. A pair of wires stretch to the open panel, attached to the back of the clock face. A moment's time spent examining the clock suggests that there is about a minute and fifteen seconds remaining.

Looking over Locky's shoulder, Jameson examines the explosive package. The chemical formula looks familiar (hazards of a life spent fighting a mad scientist). If he recalls correctly, this much of this substance should only be enough to wipe out the bridge - probably causing extensive damage in the barracks/infirmary above, as well.

Most of the wires in the casing have to be fakes or booby traps, but there has to be some way to disable it. After all, no one's crazy enough to build a bomb they can't turn off. (Right?) Despite his relatively long experience with this kind of thing, Jameson is completely lost - too many wires, and not enough time.

Locky is slightly more at home, though. While he hasn't spent any time working with bombs, disabling one seems to require about the same process as picking a lock - he just needs to relax and take his time, working through the device wire by wire. Of course, the clock is ticking ...

* * *

The audience doesn't seem to be warming to Blaine very quickly. Instead, they just watch him sullenly, though they seem to understand what he is asking. At the end of his pantomime, several of them do shake their heads no. There is a long pause, and one of them throws out, with an air of resignation: "Dass ist nicht wichtig. Es gibt fünf Bomben."

Of course, Blaine doesn't know German, but he did pick up a few words during the War. 'Fünf' should be 'five,' and he assumes that 'Bomben' means 'bomb' ... or, possibly, 'bombs.'

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos shrugs.

"Zorbo is up and moving and so should we. Let's find a way up. I wonder why he has left the command deck?"

Janos will start looking for a way up. At the ladder, he will switch to a pistol/no sword.

[Blaine]

Blaine drops the man without a word as his left eye twitches for a moment in a spasmodic nervous tic.

"Um, Bradford. Locky? This ain't the only bomb. There's maybe five altogether, probably spread out through the complex. We need to get everyone the Hell out of here. Now. If we hurry we might still be able to rappel down to the building or the ground."

[Andrew Murphy]

"Um, Bradford. Locky? This ain't the only bomb. There's maybe five altogether ..."

Jameson turns to Locky a look of suprise tinged with terror on his face, "Did he just say five? He didn't say five bombs did he?" Jameson suddenly strikes himself across the face, "Ok I'm fine, really. Umm I think discretion being the better part of valor we may want to flee at this point."

Jameson steals a quick look at the timer once again, "One Minute and fifteen seconds!!" he yells up to Blaine, "Time to disembark, looks like 1 K.I.S. Plaza is the final stop on this voyage!!"

Jameson spins and suddenly stops, "Locky, I realize neither of us are experts with demolitions but wouldn't it seem logical that all these bombs have a central arming and dis-arming mechanism?

"I figure we have one minute to either flee or disarm these bombs. Now I'm all for fleeing but we have no way to know if Tony, Rhiannon, Janos, Fred, and Kate have so much as a clue to the existence of these bombs.

"I'm going to stay and try to disarm these things, I know I can't live with myself if I were to flee and have their deaths on my conscious."

Jameson turns back to the device and begins to look for some wiring leading out of the device which should point him toward the central mechanism.

[Rhiannon Lewis]

"Let's do it then," Rhiannon agrees curtly. She joins Janos in searching for a ladder.

[Locky McKenzie]

"Um, Bradford. Locky? This ain't the only bomb. There's maybe five altogether ..."

Locky looks up from his work on the bomb. "There's... Five?". He looks down at the bomb he's working on. "Even if I disable this one, everything else will go up in flames!"

"Locky, I realize neither of us are experts with demolitions but wouldn't it seem logical that all these bombs have a central arming and dis-arming mechanism?"

Locky thinks very hard, very quickly, and replies "Maybe, maybe. If it's anywhere, it's probably around here. Then again..."

"I'm going to stay and try to disarm these things, I know I can't live with myself if I were to flee and have their deaths on my conscious."

"Jameson, maybe I should try and find the others while you check around here? I can run pretty fast, Even if you don't find the mechanism, maybe I can find them and get them off this thing!"

[Dr. Mystery]

John nods quietly, and joins Rhiannon and Janos in searching for a ladder, hand clasped unconsciously to his injured arm.

[Andrew Murphy]

"Jameson, maybe I should try and find the others while you check around here? I can run pretty fast, Even if you don't find the mechanism, maybe I can find them and get them off this thing!"

"Sounds like a good idea kid, at least that way maybe we can minimize the damage done to this behemoth if we should fail to stop the countdown."

Jameson turns back to the bomb casing and begins to look for wires exiting the box. He then traces these hopeing to find the central control mechanism.

[Interceptor]

Blaine can't quite hear everything that's said between Locky and Bradford.

"Hey! What's going on? We getting off this flying Titanic or what?"

[Andrew Murphy]

"Hey! What's going on? We getting off this flying Titanic or what?"

Jameson looks up from the wires he's tracing and yells over his shoulder to Blaine, "Umm, yeah, kind of, well listen, here's the deal ... Locky's going looking for the other bombs, and I'm going to try to find a central disarming mechanism.

"If you feel like risking your life maybe you can try to find some of the other bombs or possibly Janos and the others, I'm betting they don't even realize that they have ... just over a minute left before all hell breaks loose!!"

Jameson spins back to the wiring he was tracing, Come on baby, come on, you're around here somewhere ... I can feel it, just ... a little ... further ...

[Alex Craft]

[00:00:45 remaining]

A lone pair of wires emerge from the bottom of the bomb casing, trailing down the wall and disappearing beneath the steel grates of the decking. Dropping to his knees and frantically tracing the wires' paths under the decking, Jameson works his way a few meters around the circumference of the command deck.

He finds himself staring into the guts of a panel of electronics - the controls shot up with particular thoroughness. Five clock faces litter the remains of the control panel, suggesting that this was once the central arming mechanism for the ship's self-destruct.

[00:00:10 remaining]

* * *

Upstairs, the others have found that the only route for movement between decks is through the central axis of ladder shafts, electrical conduits, and the like. The hatches into this axis are all sealed from the other side, cutting off the second deck from the rest of the core.

At first the only chance seems to be to simply grasp the wheel on this side of the door and attempt to force the locking mechanism. This proves ineffective, at best, but it occurs to Rhiannon and John that they may have seen catwalk access to higher decks back outside - not far from the point where they entered the core.

[Locky McKenzie]

"Right, Give me a second and I'm off!"

Locky's attention quickly returns to the bomb, as he focuses back on his work.

Come on, I know I left some bare wires here... Ah! there! Locky thinks, as he grabs the two wires. "We're outta time, so here goes nothing," Locky says, as he crosses the two wires.

As the clock stops, Locky takes a deep breath, looks around, and sees Jameson tracing the wires. Placing his faith in Jameson's skills, Locky races off...

[Rhiannon Lewis]

Rhiannon heads towards the nearest catwalk access, limping slightly and her gun at the ready.