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

[Andrew Murphy]

Jameson 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]

Not much time left I have to be quick here Jameson quickly scans the remains of the panel and locates what was once the master cancel button now reading simple "c_nc_l".

[00:00:06 remaining]

He pries the cover off the panel and sees that the two wires connecting into the override button were yellow with a black stripe and white with a red stripe. Franticly now as the timer ticks inevitably toward the final second Jameson paws through the wreckage of twisted wiring for the two wires he needs to connect.

[00:00:02 remaining]

With a triumphant cry he grabs the two wires and jams the bare frayed ends together hoping that he was able to beat the clock!

[Alex Craft]

With the strange clarity of sense that staring death in the eye can give, Jameson notices that the circuit he just made is not charged with electricity - the tell-tale ambient tingle is wholly missing. Clenching his body against impending doom, he waits for the coming explosions ...

[00:00:00 remaining]

... and nothing happens.

Jameson and Blaine (the only people remaining on the command deck) gasp in relief, wondering why they are still alive. Of course, Locky disarmed the bomb on the bridge, but what about the others? Stepping up, Blaine's trained eye notices something odd about the arming panel.

The five clock faces - their workings stopped by a raider SMG shortly after being set - are not all set to the same time. One (which Jameson quickly identifies as being connected to the bridge bomb) was set for a 5 minute countdown. The other four, on the other hand, were set for a full twenty minutes. It seems that Zorbo wanted to make sure that the bridge's controls would be inoperable but was also making sure he'd have time to get off before the real fireworks started.

A few moments rummaging around in the casing of the arming station allows Jameson to find the other wires, which trace under the decking and into the central shaft - along with the other electrical systems. It won't be possible to trace the wires to their destinations without tearing up walls and decking (not possible given the time constraints).

Judging from the settings on the arming panel and by the timing of the bridge's bomb, the other bombs should have about ...

[00:14:00 remaining]

* * *

Having darted back up into the infirmary/barracks, Locky recalls that he saw Janos and Kate heading up into the higher parts of the catwalks outside. Hoping to head back and track them to wherever they are now, he speeds towards the hatchway - the wounded raiders still sitting around resignedly.

Just as he is about to reach the open hatch, a large shape fills the opening. Drawing up, Locky prepares to flee ... before recognizing the bearlike form of Anthony King (who looks a real mess) and the comparatively diminutive Katherine Schafer behind him. Looking down at the young man, King rumbles out, "Where are you rushing off to, Mr. McKenzie?"

* * *

Not far from where the three heroes entered the core, Rhiannon, John, and Janos find another narrow stair in the catwalks leading up into the joint between the outer wall of the core and the upwards-curving framework of struts supporting the hydrogen balloons.

They move up past a massive, thrumming engine - one of the many that provide power to the massive ship (it is becoming clear why Zorbo would have chased the generator in Cairo, and now here). Despite coming up above the equator of the hydrogen balloon, there is only darkness above. There must be some kind of cap or platform covering the top of the airship.

Following a tight catwalk around the circumference of the core, the trio comes across a ladder leading upwards. A shaft of light - noonday sun - beams down from the ladders terminus, above. Whoever ascends first hears shouting and engines filtering down from the hole, and - after climbing about a story and a half - he or she sticks his or her head up into a full scale retreat.

The top surface of the airship is capped with a broad platform, punctuated at intervals by open ladder hole like this one. This seems to be a staging area, dorsal armor plate, and emergency air strip all rolled into one. Studded along the perimeter of the circular platform are a half dozen weapons emplacements - heavy machine guns and cannon alike.

Raiders - probably the remainder of Zorbo's forces - swarm over the platform, being airlifted off. Zorbo's backup ship (the basic zeppelin that was hanging back earlier) hovers a few stories above with a few boarding ropes lowered. Some of the raiders are already climbing and scrambling aboard the zeppelin, and Zorbo is nowhere to be seen. He has most likely already boarded the zeppelin.

Our hero (with his or her head poking up through the ladder hole) has not yet been noticed by the retreating raiders.

[Locky McKenzie]

Locky looks at Anthony's condition. "Mr. King! You're... well, alive at least!"

"Where are the others? We have some real problems, and we may want to get off this thing real soon. We got problems of the highly explosive kind, and I'm not sure how well Jameson is going with them..."

[Andrew Murphy]

With the strange clarity of sense that staring death in the eye can give, Jameson notices that the circuit he just made is not charged with electricity - the tell-tale ambient tingle is wholly missing. Clenching his body against impending doom, he waits for the coming explosions ....

[00:00:00 remaining]

"OH CRA..."

... and nothing happens.

"...AAP!!??" Jameson looks around him startled by the lack of death and destruction. "What the heck?"

The five clock faces ... are not all set to the same time. One ... was set for a 5 minute countdown. The other four ... were set for a full twenty minutes.

,,

"OH Thank God for small favors!" Jameson slumps against the panel for a second to get his breath back, then turns to Blaine. "The way I see it we have about ... 14 minutes till hell break loose. We can either try to disarm the other four bombs or we can try to move this heap out of the city and then bail out ..."

[Dr. Mystery]

John pokes his head up as he reaches the top of the ladder, eyes widening as he takes in the scene of the escaping Raiders. He quickly motions, palm out for the others stop climbing momentarily. He looks down at them, quietly hissing, "They're escaping!"

[Blaine]

Blaine must not have been told or was not paying attention to how perilously close the bomb was to going off.

"What? You disarmed it?! Why didn't you tell me it was about to go off?!" he literally grumbles a moment or two. "Remind me to kill you later!" he shouts as he looks around at their options. Out the windows he can see the river just past the KIS building.

"Bradford! Do you know how to fly this thing? Here, see if you can steer us for the river, I'll see if I can find any...volunteers." says Blaine as he walks among the wounded. He's specifically looking at uniforms, looking for medals, signifiers of rank or flying ability.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Janos gets a quick 'view' of the situation from Dr. Mystery. He seems at a loss for ideas, but seems ready to give attacking them a try. Finally, he bleakly speaks.

"We could try to infiltrate the ship and sabotage the engines once it is safetly away?"

[Rhiannon Lewis]

"I wish we could be so lucky," Rhiannon says grimly. "I think we should find the others. They're running away, and we have our own problems here."

[Andrew Murphy]

"There's no time for that Blaine, there's no way to get everybody safely off this ship before it blows. I'm going to try to patch power to this dis-arming mechanism and hopefully we can stop the remaining bombs before the timer goes."

Jameson gets to works checking the wiring in the panel for any additional breaks and attempting to determine if he can run the power supply from the control room bomb into the master panel to deactivate the remaining bombs.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Quote:

Originally posted by Rhiannon Lewis:
"I wish we could be so lucky," Rhiannon says grimly. "I think we should find the others. They're running away, and we have our own problems here."

"I have no problem with that. We will have another crack at this madman, I would bet Saint Stephen's bones upon it."
Janos crosses himself.
"Now, lets get down from here before they decide to put some parting shots into this monster. We can get Tony, find the Command Deck, and crash this ... thing ... in New Jersey."

[Dr. Mystery]

John nods resignedly.

"I certainly agree. I do not think that at this time it would be feasable to try and defeat Zorbo and his men, perhaps we should try merely to find the others for the time being."

John grins down at Janos, beginning to climb down.

"I certainly do agree with you, Count Rakozi, it is time to crash this monstrosity."

[Rhiannon Lewis]

"To hell with this. I'm enough of a bitch not to try and ruin the bastard's day."

Rhiannon looks at the two men. "Any of you familiar with big guns? I'd like to ruin that bastard's balloon to make up for him ruining our days."

[Alex Craft]

As our heroes speak, the remaining raiders on the top deck scramble up the ropes, and the zeppelin begins to ponderously turn as rise away from the command ship. Its engines gradually picking up speed, it drifts over our heroes' heads - eclipsing the mid-day sun for several seconds as it moves out over the gleaming river.

With a last glance around before descending, John notices a circular railing at the approximate center of the deck - situated right above the central axis of the core. A few open deck hatches are located within this railing. These probably access the closed off axial ladders - probably faster than working back through the catwalks.

* * *

Below, on the command deck, Blaine and Jameson look about at the airship's ruined instrumentation. Getting this thing to move would take a great deal of work. Most of this stuff could be made to work, but new controls would have to be jury-rigged. First things first, though: bombs.

The arming panel is basically scrapped, but Jameson is capable of tracing the wires leading to the remaining bombs. The crude circuitry those wires were connected to is useless now, and power no longer seems to be running. In an attempt to rectify the later problem, Jameson tears the timer and battery off of the disabled bomb on the wall.

He'll have to take apart the timer, separate out the battery leads, and jury-rig a circuit to connect everything to. He'll only get one shot at this, because a screw up could kill the battery, fry a circuit somewhere else in the ship, or (worse) just trigger all of the bombs.

The other zeppelin comes into view around the lower hulls of the airship as it gradually drifts toward the river.

* * *

Eyeing Locky, King makes an aside to Kate: "Go find Bradford. See if he needs help."

"Locky - calm down and explain matters. We're not dead yet, and the others are dealing with Zorbo. Let's let them take care of that, while you and I keep the ship under their feet, alright? What is the problem?"

[Locky McKenzie]

Locky takes a deep breath, and tries to explain things slowly.

"We got to bridge, and there was noone there. We talked with hurt crew, and found a bomb. We tried talking to the hurt crew more, and we figured out there's five bombs. I managed to stop the bomb on the bridge, because obviously there's no explosion, But I'm not sure what's happening with the other four bombs. I was running to find everyone else, in case the other bombs went off too. I went 'cos I figured I could get through the ship better than anyone else here."

Suddenly, something twigs in his head. "What do you mean keep the ship under their feet?"

[Alex Craft]

Addendum:

"Keeping it from blowing up would be a good start," replies King with a snap in his voice.

Sighing to himself, he adds, "Sorry son - I haven't finished healing yet, and this day just isn't getting any better. I suppose you had better appraise the others of the situation. They are all just about directly above us ... three decks up, I'd say. If they're dealing with the enemy, just stay out of it until it's over. Zorbo isn't going to be blowing himself up, and we can take care of things down here anyway."

Moving aside from the hatchway, King steps toward the ladder down to the bridge - flashing a shark-like grin at the wounded raiders (who obviously remember him, and are just as obviously terrified of him).

[Blaine]

Blaine begins tearing through the control panels and wires in an effort to help Bradford deactivate the bomb, or at least find some controls that are still working. He suddenly pulls his gun and trains it on someone coming down a hatch and ladder. He puts it away though as quickly as he drew it.

"Dr. Kate! Bradford's trying to disarm 4 bombs! They're in different places, but he thinks they might all have one trigger. Hey Bradford! The cavalry just got here!" he shouts up to the chamber that Bradford has crawled into trailing after the wires.

[Count Janos Rakozi]

"Machineguns - yes. Cannons - no. Sorry, Rhia. If you want me to give it a try, I'm game, but then there is the problem of them shooting down into the position while we are shooting at them. Let's call it a draw and make our way back to the central core?"

[Rhiannon Lewis]

"Blast and damn it!" Rhiannon curses, her magnificent contralto voice snapping with anger. "We'll dance with that bastard another day, I suspect."

She turns to the men. "Let's find the others and find somewhere to crash this thing."

[Dr. Mystery]

"As I have little knowledge of any weaponry of the mechanized sort, I quite concur, and, I must add, I am a bit sore."

John nods concisely at Rhiannon and Janos as he starts to make his way back to the core, shoulders noticably slumping as he walks ahead of them.

[Andrew Murphy]

Jameson begins to take the battery apart as carefully as possible. He starts by peeling the outer shell off the battery casing attempting to get to where the terminal are behind the welded section.

Once the battery's terminals are convenient Jameson attempts to wrap some spare wires (scavenged from the wreckage of the other panels in the room) around the two terminals to give him some room to work.

Once he has done that he crawls under the control panel and beings to connect the battery to the incoming power lines to restore power to the controls.

"... Hey Bradford! The cavalry just got here!" he shouts up to the chamber that Bradford has crawled into trailing after the wires.

Jameson backs out of the crawl space he was in and looks up, a mixture of relief and delight on his face. "Kate! Thank God you're alright!" he says as he stands up and brushes dust off of his clothes, "I have a little situation here that I could really use your help on.

"Short version. This," he says, gesturing to the master control panel, "was the master enabling mechanism for the five bombs on this ship. Now Locky disabled the bomb over yonder before it could blow us up, which is good, but there's four more bombs set to go off in ... about 5 minutes, which is bad.

"I've located the master cancel switch and found the proper wires to complete the circuit but unfortunately the panel has no power and thus, we're ticking away toward oblivion. "

"Now I recall you had, shall we say, and electric personality," he says with a sly wink and his best charming smile, "So the way I figure it, perhaps, you could provide a little bit of juice to the circuit and disable the remaining bombs."

[Locky McKenzie]

Locky replies back to King. "Yes sir Mr. King! Catch you in a while!"

And then he runs...

[Count Janos Rakozi]

Quote:

Originally posted by Rhiannon Lewis:
"Blast and damn it!" Rhiannon curses, her magnificent contralto voice snapping with anger. "We'll dance with that bastard another day, I suspect."

She turns to the men. "Let's find the others and find somewhere to crash this thing."

Janos snorts softly, then smiles.
"When you maximize your resources, while depleting your enemies, you ARE winning, Ms. Lewis. We will have another go with this madman. After all, we still have what he wants."

He nods to Fredrick as that man takes the lead. Janos will cover the rear with his SMG, waiting for the others to be safely climbing down into the core before joining them.

[Alex Craft]

John approaches the core ladders with care, checking for any nasty surprises the raiders may have left behind. Everything looks kosher, though. He begins to climb down into the open hatch, but is still on the top rung when a shout rings out from across the broad, open deck. Locky is hauling himself up through one of the holes down into the catwalk network, waving to get the attention of the others.

Zorbo's zeppelin has gained some altitude and distance, now hanging motionless in the air on the other side of the river.

* * *

"Well ..."

Kate looks over the wires the Jameson has sorted out from the mess of the panel's innards. Furrowing her brow, she continues: "I'm not very good at fine control, so I could easily blow a circuit by trying something like that. But if you're right about the timing, I guess we don't really have the time to worry about that, do we? I'll try something."

Glancing around, Kate grabs a handful of wires and one of the simplistic circuit boards Blaine has been pulling out of nearby devices. She moves with no hesitation at all - seeming to have worked out the needed modifications almost before she even saw the circuitry. Her focus is almost discomfiting in its intensity - it seems like she is putting aside some of what makes her human in exchange for savant-like expertise.

Carefully and precisely, Kate scrapes at the board with her thumbnail, breaking existing circuitry, then connects scraps of wires to the board, reworking it into a new, more complex system. Finishing, she breaks her focus, returning to her normal approachability. Smiling uncertainly, she tells Jameson and Blaine, "I think this should regulate my current a bit ... and if it doesn't, I guess you probably won't have long to complain about how I messed up, right?"

[00:00:15 remaining]

Taking the wires Jameson isolated from the arming panel, she taps them into her crude surge protector and lightly touches a free lead with her index finger - a tiny spark arcs away from the contact. Nothing happens for a moment ... then electricity erupts from the circuit with a popping sound, crawling over the board and vanishing with a smell of ozone.

[00:00:08 remaining]

Kate looks at the others, shrugs, and taps the arming panel, saying, "Um. I think it worked. I saw this go live for a second."

* * *

[00:00:30 past]

Four decks above the bridge, most of our heroes have been distracted by Locky's bad news. In fact, only John is attentive enough to spot a new problem arising. After holding steady for several minutes on the other side of the Hudson, Zorbo's zeppelin is now beginning to drift back towards Manhattan.

[Andrew Murphy]

[00:00:08 remaining]

Kate looks at the others, shrugs, and taps the arming panel, saying, "Um. I think it worked. I saw this go live for a second."

[00:00:03 past]

Jameson lets out a whoop for joy and grabs Kate up in a huge hug, swinging her around in a big circle then putting her down, "Ahh sorry 'bout that ..."

Letting a huge sigh of relief Jameson turns toward the passage as King steps down through the portal.

"Tony, man you look like hell, well darn I'm sure you know that, anyways, Kate here deserves a raise, she just saved all our lives. The bombs are deactivated so it looks like we have a nice, slightly used, zepplin. Assuming of course that we can get rid of Zorbo anyway."

[Dr. Mystery]

John clears his throat long enough to catch the attention of the entire group, pulling his cane from his pocket. Pointing the cane at Zorbo's ship, he states in a somewhat bedraggled manner,

"Is it just me, or does Zorbo's ship seem to be returning? Mayhaps, as we are in less emminent danger of explosion, we should deal with this unpleasant turn of events"

[Rhiannon Lewis]

"You're right, John. We need to deal with him." Rhiannon's voice grows chill. "Do you think we could shoot him down over the river?"

[Count Janos Rakozi]

"Off the cuff, I would think he is coming back to drop a bomb on us, like the Zepplins did to London during the Great War."

Looking around,

"I don't suppose anyone here has artillery experience? We have some emplacements on the top deck, but I have no clue on how to successfully bring them to bear. I believe that me lobbing loose shells over this crowded city would be almost as unwise as doing nothing."

"Beyond that, can we get this thing moving. I suggest crashing it across the river in those marshlands I keep hearing about."

"On second thought, a few of us should go back to the building to secure the generator as well. Suggestions?"

[Andrew Murphy]

OOC: I'm assuming that by now Rhiannon, Janos and John have joined us if that incorrect ... well Jameson must be on crack then

"No artillery experience per se Janos but I'm sure we can find me a decent rifle and I can poke a few holes in that oversized party favor.

"As for scuttling this aircraft, I don't see the point, there's absolutely no reason why we can't salvage it and put it to our own uses," Jameson looks around the control room, "With some minor maintenance of course.

"But I digress, I'm going to locate a rifle and see about dicouraging our unwanted visitor's, anybody coming along?"

Jameson heads up to the next deck and retrieves a rifle from the pile of arms that he removed from the barracks before heading up to the flight deck for some pigeon shooting.

[Alex Craft]

[Actually, Jameson is on crack ... the two groups are still separated. However, I have to agree that there isn't much to be done downstairs, so I'll go ahead and add this addendum. Consider it to be posted before Jameson's post.]

Kate smiles cheerfully in the face of Jameson's exuberance as King descends from the infirmary above. Surveying the damaged bridge, King seems to relax a bit, working his stiffened muscles. Casting about for another ladder, he says, "It looks like we won't be doing too much down here, gentlemen - perhaps we should join the others topside. Take a look at this mess, will you, Kate?"

Finding the other open hatch, King begins to climb, leading Jameson and Blaine upwards. The three of them climb up out of the shaft and onto the top deck just in time to hear Janos say, "I don't suppose anyone here has artillery experience?" (etc.)

[Blaine]

Blaine takes a look around to assess the situation.

"Shooting it down with artillery is going to be damn near impossible. I could probably figure out how to fire one of the big guns, but it would take a few tries, and targerting over a city ain't a good idea. Bradford and me, with some long rifles might be able to put enough holes in it, and if we get a decent sighting, maybe even nail a pilot or something."

"Otherwise we could try ramming it." he adds as an after thought.

[Andrew Murphy]

Jameson loads the last of the long .30-6 calibre bullets into the rifles he grabbed from the barracks and chambers the first round. He brings the weapon up to his shoulder and sights down the barrel.

"Too bad this thing doesn't have a decent telescopic sight ..." says as he takes careful aim at the maneuvering engines on Zorbo's other Zeppelin.

CRACK!!

Jameson fires a round off toward the approaching vehicle, the rifles normally loud report seems dwarfed by the lack of surfaces to echo off of and the open air around the group.

"On the plus side, it's like aiming at the broad side of a barn, heck a little kid could hit this thing ..."

CRACK!!CRACK!!CRACK!!

Jameson pumps another shot into the starboard side engine and two into the port side, "That ought to slow them down ... now, where exactly is the bridge ... ah there we go ..."

Jameson takes a few steps forward until he is within a yard of the edge of the platform and takes careful aim again...

CRACK!!CRACK!!CRACK!!

He lowers the rifle and begins to feed more ammunition into the internal magazine.

"I'm not sure if I got anybody in the bridge but I'd wager I got their attention. If they're smart they'll use whatever remaining maneuvering power they have to turn tail and flee ... If not I'll keep shooting."

Jameson bares his teeth in a grin that's more than a little feral, he's obviously enjoying himself but the other can tell that he's also done playing nice with Zorbo and his men this day.

[Interceptor]

Blaine, always impressed by Bradford's shooting, picks up one of the 30-06s and checks the load before bringing it to his shoulder. He licks his thumb and checks the wind, then cranes his neck a bit, causing it to crack before he settles into firing position.

He takes aim at the maneuvering engines as well, also scanning for anyone in the windows, and begins to fire in steady, near mechanical precision on the distant zeppelin.

[Locky McKenzie]

Locky tries to see exactly where Jameson has hit, and realises that there's no way he can possibly know from here.

"Um... I'll just trust you guys. How the heck can you see what you've hit from back here?"

[Andrew Murphy]

Jameson turns to Locky as he loads bullets into the rifle's internal magazine.

"Well Locky it takes a great pair of eyes to begin with. Oddly most people seem to have trouble seeing as they get older but near as I can tell my vision has actually been getting better.

"The key to hitting your shot though is that you have to be very calm and focused when you shoot, if you aren't calm your aim won't be true. But I'd say the two most important factor's involved with hitting what you're aiming at is proper trigger technique and proper control of your breathing.

"See you gotta squeeze the trigger evenly you can't just yank one it or you'll foul your shot, also you got to learn to exhale your breath as you fire, it'll help you keep your aim rock steady. If we get some time off I can take you out and give you some pointers if you'd like..."

[Alex Craft]

Jameson and Blaine, bracing themselves against the deck, send round after round toward the distant airship. At this range, damage must be fairly minimal, but enough shots into the engines might pit and warp the propellers.

Finally, a round (or several) does some damage. The zeppelin begins to lazily slew to the side as one of the engines gives out - a nearly invisible line of smoke drifting away from the damaged engine. The change in heading is quickly brought under control, and the zeppelin begins moving at a diagonal relative to the larger airship over K.I.S. Plaza. This presents a moving target, though it also presents the broad side of the ship to our heroes' scrutiny.

Suddenly, a couple of puffs of smoke appear from the cabin space on the zeppelin, the sight followed quickly by the booming report of cannon fire. The rounds miss, one going low and audibly smashing into 1 K.I.S. Plaza and the other going high and falling to ground somewhere further into Manhattan. In all likelihood, the raiders are attempting to find the ship's range and put a cannon round into one of the gas bags.

[Andrew Murphy]

"That tears it!!" Jameson tosses the rifle onto the ground and walks purposefully toward one of the cannons on the top deck.

"That son-of-a-bitch kraut is about to learn to ... NOT ... MESS ... WITH MY FRIENDS!"

Jameson spins the big cannon around and begins to alter the elevation before taking a quick wind reading and compensating for wind and their opponent's speed.

"He fired first I'm firing last damnit!" Jameson yells as he triggers the cannon.

WHA_BOOM!

The cannon fires a shot screaming toward Zorbo's second Zeppelin, the recoil causing the deck to pitch and sway a little.

"TAKE THAT!"

[Rhiannon Lewis]

Rhiannon ducks as the gunfire starts, swearing vociferously in Welsh. "Get down, sir, Kate!" she shrieks to her bosses as she does so.

[Dr. Mystery]

At the first sign of shots, John also hits the floor. He stays there, rather calmly, waiting for gunfire to cease, cane tucked neatly in his pocket.

[Locky McKenzie]

As the cannon hits 1 K.I.S. Plaza, Locky drops down. As he realises that the cannon is from Zorbo's ship, he yells out to Jameson "I think you just made them madder!"

[Blaine]

Blaine pulls his fingers out of his ears, and heads over to the shells, and lugs two of them back with him.

"Here Bradford! I'll load, you fire this damn thing. We can't waste any shots, and you got the best eyes here." says Blaine as he levers open the heavy smoking artillery chamber and grunts as he hoists the shell and then pushes it into place with a loud click.

"Fire when you're ready." he says, plugging his ears again with his fingers.