Dark Champions: Secret Worlds

[Storn]

Pardon the interruption of story flow. But Neil reminded me that I had sketched some NPCs quickly at the last session I was at.

 

Here is Dr. Cole, Jolly and Natsuko. Natsuko is a work in progress... I want the spiky hair, but I need to do clothes and such that says hip, class and power... not street punkette.

[Reln]

wow great drawing

[RDU Neil]

Episode 5: Interlude

 

(The following came post-FtF session, but fits at this point in last week's game. It was done via e-mail between Storn and me. Just thought I'd share it, as it was one of those character moments. Oh... and thanks for posting those pictures, Storn.)

 

The following takes place the same morning as the other events just described.

 

After Terry called Stang about the bodyguard job, Jolly gets on the line and says, "I'd like to meet up. I understand your issues with the bodyguard position... but if you still want to work with us, great. There's some information you should have... and it's better to talk in person."

 

He sets up a meet at a local gym... big and crowded, and easy to lose yourself in the middle of the meat heads, loud radios and murmur of conversations. "I'll leave you a pass, under the name John March. I'll see you there around 11:00"

 

You find you way there, and change into sweats before hitting the bench with Jolly. It's California, and a lot of the guys are buff, waxed and wearing lycra... but there are enough of the silent, stained shirt wearing types that you don't stand out. You even have a tan, of sorts... as long as you don't take off your shirt to show the pale skin underneath.

 

Jolly doesn't talk right away, just getting down to lifting. He may be in his fifties, but he can still throw the weight around. You find yourself holding back a little, though. The weight you could lift would impress many of these guys around here, and you know that would draw attention to yourself.

 

You are spotting Jolly, when he sits up and wipes the sweat with the tale of his shirt. Lifting his shirt reveals a horrid scar on his back. It is at least eight inches long, and was probably a two inches wide before it healed. It is an ugly mass of pink twisted flesh. It reminds you of a large bladed or goring attack... or even a shrapnel wound, though you'd be shocked if anyone survived shrapnel that big. You also know that it must hurt Jolly every second of every day.

 

He sees your quick glance, and looks you in the eye. "Yeah... it hurts. That's also the reason why we needed to find someone like you." He says all this in a calm, conversational tone, moving around weights and trading places with you on the bench, like you were talking Manchester United.

 

"See... it happened over a year ago. We are pretty sure that this Grandmaster prick decided to send a message. Stang had been stringing him along for a while... feeding him minimal data... that kind of thing. We don't know if he actually suspected something, or it was just time to remind us who was boss... but we got hit... hard... right at home." His eyes go lost for a bit... a forever stare you know you share whenever you think back to that first bombing... the kids... the body parts scattering... the taste of blood in the dust... No matter how hard the man... some things sink their hooks in.

 

"Maggie was rendered unconscious. Didn' hurt her at all. Doc wasn't home. This was before we found Jones... so it was just me and Dorsey." He shakes his head. "Dorsey knew it first. I was inside, fixing lunch... Dorsey suddenly comes in the back, low, quiet his pistol out. "They're here," he says... Didn't matter that I had the security system showing stable and clear. Didn't matter that the sun was out and fucking birds were singing... Dorsey didn't joke about this stuff. "At least two," he said."

 

"We went for Stang... he was upstairs in the study. From the kitchen, that is 30 seconds at a full sprint... but we went in formation, back to back, circling as we went forward. Covering every banister and closet. "Saw something by the back gate... went to look" said Dorsey by way of explanation. "At least one out there, back in the trees... I was hidden, but he moved like he knew I was there... realized he was keeping me from the house... on the way back, saw the lower office window open. Came to get you..." Simple, exact, succinct... that was Dorsey."

 

"It was the last thing he ever said to me," says Jolly. He grunts and thrusts almost 300 lbs up over his chest. Repeats for five reps, and sets the bar back with a clank. "Stang hadn't responded to my silent page... we were at the top of the stairs, right outside the library... not forty feet from the den. I popped the library door, scanned, saw nothing turned to continue..." his voice gets low and even more terse..."The bitch comes right out behind me... like out of the fucking air... only Dorsey's glance warned me, and I twisted away. Dorsey raised his pistol. The guy was faster 'n hell and a dead shot. Never got a chance. She had a blade... a scimitar like... but short and matte black... it went through Dorsey's wrist like it wasn't there. Hand and gun fell with a thump... I only saw her then because she froze for a moment... in brown and black robes... whisper silent... hooded so only her white grin showed... She was enjoying this."

 

"Heh..." chuckles Jolly, grinning hard for a second, remembering something good. "At least Dorsey made her pay for being cocky. He didn't stop. Just shoved his stump in her face, spraying blood in her eyes, then smashing his elbow in her face. I tried to get a drop on her, but they spun away... grappling... blood flying everywhere. They only stopped when they hit the wall... I fired, as she kicked back. I thought she was running, my shots missed wide, going between her and Dorsey... and that's when I saw it. She wasn't running... she was done. Dorsey was against the wall, the blade right through him... right through the heart... nailing him up." Again a long pause from Jolly. "That's all I remember really... that's what got me... just the look of surprise on Dorsey's face as he looked at the blade stuck through him. That second it took to see that, before I tried to fire at her again... that's what did it for me. The other one got behind me. Don't know how... never saw him. I just suddenly couldn't feel anything but ice in my back. Saw the point of another blade, wider and thicker than hers, sticking out of my lower ribs... gone right through, but missed the heart. As I fell, I caught the sight of him. Casual hiking clothes... American style... but head wrapped in a hood as well. I hit the ground then. Remember just thinking how fucking useless I'd been. Then I watched them slip over the banister... the man saying, "A good lesson. Stang will know he is never safe now..." and then they were gone."

 

Jolly is quiet then... letting you finish reps of curls. "I lived 'cause Stang knew some paramedics, Doc Cole came home five minutes later... and I guess I'm just a tough old bastard." He looks you right in the eye then. "I lived, but it was all over for me. I can help, but I'm not what Stang needs. Dorsey was the best... some might have said that about me, but even in my best years I think they would have had me. That's why we started looking in earnest for someone like you, Terry. Someone who is the best... and more. Someone who might be able to wipe that shit eating grin off that bitches face and teach her boyfriend a lesson, if they decide to come back. Whatever else Stang needs you for... I want you to know what's out there. I want you to know why I want you to stay... to work with Stang. You might be the fucking payback. No bullshit... no honor... no hugs and kisses and please and thank you. Stang needs you... and I want you... because eventually someone is going to have to bury those two fucks, hopefully missing a few pieces. Personally, I think you might be the one to do that."

 

Jolly racks his weights then... stretching. His voice returns to casual. "That's all I had to say, really."

________

 

Terry questions and Jolly's responses...

 

>>She had a blade... a scimitar like... but short and matte black... <<

 

Terry raises his eyebrow at that "...like a ghurka? Know what that is?", Terry says very quietly, not wanting to assume that Jolly does or doesn't know.

 

Terry fears the answer. Could the mystery woman Shiva be on the other side? He doesn't want to go up against her... if she is still alive.

 

At you question about the blade, Jolly says, "Ah... no not a kukri or ghurka... something else. Like a stylized, back swept short sword. Nothing I'd really seen before." Then he gets your concern, and smiles. "Actually, I don't think it was a thugee... but it is what lead us to you. I mean a sword? C'mon, this is the modern age. Knives are effective, but not vs. guns... right?" He shakes his head. "We started looking into esoteric weapon use... something only a 'special' might be able to pull off vs. trained men armed with modern fire arms. Your Kali/Shiva woman... we thought she might know about these people. Unfortunately we never got to contact her... found you instead."

 

>>someone is going to have to bury those two fucks, hopefully missing a few pieces. Personally, I think you might be the one to do that."<<

 

Terry shrugs. "I dunno mate, I'm different, better than I was. But I don't know if I'm better than the duo you speak of. Til the day we face off. Then we will know, I guess. Although, if it comes to a showdown, I'd prefer Jonesie just slippin' up to them and offs them quietly w/ no mess... that would be fuckin' brilliant. The little Boy Blue has the makin's of frighteningly good assassin."

 

Jolly nods, but frowns. "Yeah... Jones could be scary as hell... but to be honest, I don't think he's that kind of guy. I mean... as far as I can tell... he stayed pretty honest, not stealing more than food occasionally... not getting mean and bitter. Shows me Jones is a stronger guy than we give him credit for... and making him like us... a stone killer... I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that."

 

Terry does some light reps.

"Jolly? You obviously think that Stang is doing some good here. Why does he have your loyalty? Its more than a merc contract to you. Why should I care about Stang, Dr. Cole... this whole lorry o' lunacy?..... I'm not saying that I don' care, or that I cannae care... jes want ta hear your thoughts on the matter."

 

Finally, Jolly talks about Stang. "It's hard to say. For me, it started out as just a job, but I've been working with the man for years now. He's an amazing business man... but he's more than that. The guy is kind of a dreamer... really interested in how his work affects other people... really generous with his money... and he's loyal. He seems to think he has as much responsibility to his employees, as they do to him. It's a mutual thing." Jolly looks at you straight, saying, "Plus the guy has stones. He takes weird, violent, nasty shit that comes his way... and just handles is. He adapts, he moves forward, he plans, and he doesn't back down. This thing with his daughter... that could break most men. His wife left him... and to Stang, this was his reason for being... but he never broke. He never even considered bending over for this Lung... the Grandmaster. He's looking for a way to fight back... do it smart... and do it right." Jolly shrugs, "I guess I'm saying I'm impressed by him. He's my friend... but beyond that, he is a kind of leader who sets a goal, sticks to it... but doesn't force you to march in step. He wants you as a partner... an equal. That kind of crap you read about in management books, but you never see in real life... hell... that is Stang." He ends with, "My loyalty? I guess he's just earned it."

 

(Finale of last week's session is coming... but work is killing me, right now.)

[James Gillen]

"Heh..." chuckles Jolly, grinning hard for a second, remembering something good. "At least Dorsey made her pay for being cocky. He didn't stop. Just shoved his stump in her face, spraying blood in her eyes, then smashing his elbow in her face."

 

THAT's hardcore.

 

JG

[RDU Neil]

Episode 5: Showdowns

 

(The following was all played out simultaneously, as the time frames were roughly consistent… and I just staggered/jumped between players as they gave their actions.)

 

Hitoshi Ryu: In his apartment, Ryu is just finishing cleaning up, getting a new change of clothes, and putting together his single set of “work tools.†He doesn’t keep much at his apartment that could be traced… and all that is going into a small bag of weapons and instruments to go with him. Just then, his keen hearing picks up the sounds of people out in the hall approaching his door. He is so attuned to the sounds, that he knows there are at least two of them, most likely male… and that he doesn’t recognize their walk as any of his neighbors. Ryu moves quickly, positioning himself above the door, out of sight. The men stop outside his door, but don’t knock. His knob twitches slightly, as they try it and find it locked. Then Ryu hears the click/scrape of a lock pick at work. He settles in to wait.

 

Mr. Jones: Working away on his decryption program, Jones notes a computer chime indicating a search he had running is completed. Since he wasn’t running a search, this was interesting to him, and he logs on to discover that an old program… one he had devised months ago when they Stang had asked him to start trying to find Dr. Berkmann… had reacted. It was a program he had imbedded into search engines like Yahoo and Google to scan their activities for mentions related to Berkmann, and flag any that had high correlation to known data about the Dr. Jones had long since abandoned this program and forgotten about it. It had found something new, though. The last two days had shown a flurry of activity on the net, in regards to someone ELSE doing a Berkmann search. Someone else doing essentially what Jones had done earlier, and his program had noticed theirs. Intrigued, Jones starts some passive backward hacks, to see if he can trace this new search.

 

McGregor: Making his way back downtown, Damien arrives in time to meet Vinnie. He had secured the cash payoff some days before… expecting this, and now had it with him in a large briefcase. The restaurant was on a busy street, a storefront, and McGregor, with his suit, coat and case, fits in with other business people. As he walks up to the front, a woman and her young son bursting out almost hitting him with the door surprise him. “Run quickly, Sean!†she says, ignoring McGregor. Damien can hear, from inside the restaurant, shouts and screams, and the sound of plates and table ware crashing about. Moving away from the sudden swarm of people boiling out, he moves to take a sideways glance through the front window. In that moment, the plate glass suddenly smashes outward in a shower of razor shards, just missing Damien. As he flinches backward, he sees a body that has been hurled through the window, hit the sidewalk and crumple against a parked car. It is Vinnie. “Oh crap,†mutters Damien as he glances back inside the restaurant, to see the armored form of the Avenger standing amidst the wreckage of the front dining area.

 

Hitoshi Ryu: It takes less than a thirty seconds for the men to pick Ryu’s lock. His door swings open, and two kobun… black formal suits and guns drawn, come into the room. Ryu recognizes neither of them, as they move under him. One goes into the small kitchen, while the other goes to check the bathroom. When they speak, Ryu recognizes them as “home office.†They speak as ones from Tokyo… not soldiers from here in America. Shaking his head at the fact that they were so sloppy, he nevertheless decides to simply avoid everything, dropping down, going out the front door and shutting it behind them, without either actually seeing him. He could have easily made his escape in the following seconds, if there hadn’t been two more soldiers down the hall at the stairwell. These two see him come out into the hall and shut the door. They shout and start to run after him, and Ryu sprints away. There is a window at the opposite end, but it goes out on to a busy street. Instead, Ryu moves to a neighbors apartment across the hall kicks open the door and slides inside. No one is home in the afternoon, and Ryu shuts the door, and drops a book case in front to bar easy entrance by the kobun piling up outside. The layout is the same as his apartment, so he moves to the bedroom window. This building is only two feet away from it’s neighbor on this side, an easy scamper up to the roof for Ryu. He shatters the bedroom window to prepare to climb up.

 

McGregor: Instead of confronting the Avenger, Damien turns his back (since the Avenger doesn’t seem to have noticed him yet) and moves to Vinnie. He crouches over him like, noting his is hurt, but alive, and presses the briefcase into him saying, “Here’s your pay, now I’m going to save you ass, and you are going to owe ME!†Behind him the Avenger approaches saying, “Move away. That criminal scum doesn’t need your attention. He won’t escape jus…†and at that McGregor stands up, whirling about and drawing his sword, leveling it at the neck of the Avenger, saying “Hi there, chump. It looks like it’s payback time!†The Avenger is actually startled by this, hesitating and then crying “YOU!†in the grandest, bad comic book dialogue manner. This gives McGregor the time to size up his foe, the armored suit now standing out in full sunlight where Damien can see the armor layers and joints… knowing he’ll have to strike weak spots if he wants to cut through the Avenger’s defenses. (Successful Find Weakness roll, even with a few points of defense for the A-man.)

 

Mr. Jones: After a bit of work, Jones has traced IP addresses of the foreign Berkmann search to at least four nodes… one in India, one in Austria, one in Colorado, and another in Pretoria, South Africa. Not a sure thing, but enough of his route traces move through these IPs that he knows they are main access sites. Have hacked both the FBI database, and having an in on the Naval Intelligence on-line systems, Jones knows military set-ups… and this is not military or government. This is hacker style. Likely a cooperation between people spread out across the globe. They are good, too… but Jones sits back, thinking about his options, and knowing he needs to help keep Berkmann as untraceable as possible. To that end, Jones wants to prove he is better.

 

(Just one more post to come, as soon as I have time to write it. This is all stream of memory with no edits right now, so I appologize if it makes little sense.)

[RDU Neil]

Episode 5: Finale

 

Hitoshi Ryu: The pursuing kobun finally bust into the apartment, guns drawn. In the bedroom they see the broken window. Looking out the see no one on the street level. “He’s on the roof,†one says, and they all head back to the stairwell, trying to catch Ryu on the roof. Inside the closet, not five feet away from them all, Ryu shakes his head again in disappointment. “Incompetents…†he mutters, his pistol out in case they check the closet, but there is no need for concern. He silently follows them out, watches them up the stairs, then returns to his apartment for his bag of goodies. Letting them get ahead of him, up the stairs, he takes a small explosive device he had modified from a surplus fragmentation grenade, and then goes up stairs himself. Once the soliders have gone out on the roof, Ryu quickly rigs the device with a wire, pulling the firing pin and going off three seconds later, after the door to the roof is re-opened. It is a rush job, but he has been trained for this kind of thing, and is back down the stairs by a couple of floors before the kobun give up the search and head back down. Two floors down, Ryu waits. He is rewarded with the hollow “K-WHOOMPH†from above and the jarring of the explosion that shakes fine dust from the ceiling. He then begins moving down to the ground floor as the fire alarm goes off. To anyone who might see him, he appears to be just another tenent, surprised and a little frightened, leaving the building with the rest of the crowd.

 

McGregor: Damien and the Avenger launch into a flurry of strikes and blocks. Damien stands over Vinnie, trying to drive the Avenger back, but the vigilante easily takes the blows on his armored forearms, while punching and kicking at McGregor. Backed up against the car, the Avenger presses his attack, throwing an all out turning back side kick that only just misses Damien (no block, bad ‘to hit’ roll) and his foot smashes through the car window, even caving in part of the door. If the blow had landed, McGregor could have lost ribs. Damien tries to use this to his advantage, but the Avenger is fast… faster than him… and instead he finds himself warding off back fists and hammer fists before sweeping the Avenger’s legs out from under him.

 

The Avenger rolls, ending up over Vinnie, and comes up holding the briefcase full of money. “You’ll not profit from ill gotten gains!†he says. “Bastard… that’s my money!†says Damien, and tries to knock the case out of his hand… the attack fails, and Damien is hit by the Avenger thrusting the case into his chest and knocking him back. Seeing his advantage, the Avenger snaps a kick, and begins to move into a follow up thrust kick that could stop a rhino, but it leaves him open. Open enough for Damien to make his move. A moment of perfect Ki-Ken-Tai no ichi… spirit, sword and body all in balance… and strikes at the Avenger’s right arm that is holding the case… the shot perfectly cleaving at the armor groove right below the elbow… the space that allows flexibility… and the razor sharp katana slices through without resistance. The arm is severed perfectly, a spray of blood arcing for 270 degrees as the Avenger continues his torso twist, and unstopped, kicks at McGregor’s mid section. Damien tries to twist away, his fingers finding purchase and swinging the damaged car door open and into the path of the kick, but the Avenger powers right through the remaining window, and takes McGregor in the upper stomach. (Exchange of blue chits.) He feels a rib give, and all the air rushes out of his lungs as the blow takes him off of his feet and slams him two meters back on to the concrete sidewalk. He doesn’t go completely unconscious, but the world grays out, and it seems impossible for him to draw a breath. Damien knows he has dropped his sword and that he is vulnerable, but for the moment, his body just won’t respond. He exists in a haze, but at least he’d seen the Avenger tangled in the car door as he went down. As he lies there, he suddenly hears the “crack crack crack!†of pistol shots… then a heavy crunching sound of further glass breaking. A few seconds later, he finally pulls a breath and jerks up from the sidewalk. Looking around. He catches a glimpse of the Avenger disappearing over the roof of the restaurant, a trail of crimson behind him. Then McGregor sees Vinnie. The mobster had been shoved through the front windshield of the now totaled car, still clutching his 92F… spent 9mm shells on the ground around him. Best of all… as Damien staggers up, he sees the briefcase, hand and forearm still attached, lying on the sidewalk. Wincing, he grins and picks up the case. “Don’t worry Vinnie,†he says… “I’ll protect your money.†Then he grabs his sword and moves off down the street.

 

The last scene is a montage. In one image there is growing crowd outside an apartment building as fire trucks and police arrive. Ryu is briefly seen as merely a face in the crowd. When the camera swings back to his position, he is gone.

The second is McGregor, in his rented car, driving away from the battle scene, one hand holding his ribs, and glancing down at the gory dismembered hand still clutching the case on the seat next to him. “Oh yeah… you’ll be easy to spot next time, punk!†grins Damien to himself.

 

Finally, we see Jones, still in the loft, typing away… he scans the screen in front of him and smiling, hits “execute.†Immediately his program dumps out into the Internet and starts to run. It is a sly little program. A devious idea to make Berkmann invisible by making sure he was everywhere. It would take a little while to spread, but pretty soon, millions of web pages, millions of news articles; millions of guest lists… would have the name Berkmann, Dr. Berkmann, Martin Berkmann or some other variation, appearing on them. A flood of false data that puts him in a conference in Sweden and a jet ski competition in Hawaii all at the same time… a virtual haystack of Berkmann-ness in which to hide the one true needle. “Not a bad bit of hacking, if I do say so myself…†smiles Jones, pulling out one of the cigarettes he took from McGregor’s car in celebration, even though he doesn’t really smoke. For the moment, he just sits back and watches, positioning the cigarette in his mouth in a way that he hopes looks cool.

 

Then he sees the flicker. He’d hacked through a website to insert his virus, and it was highly corrupted… but an image begins to form. A sudden image of the stylized black rose with the words Briar Rose. The cigarette dangles from his lips as he watches five words appear beneath the image. A note of fear and pride runs through him as he reads, “Do You Want A Job?â€

 

 

And that’s where we left it.

[Speedball]

that was the best one so far!

 

"Do you want a job?" has a very eerie quality about it...Can't wait for the next ep!

[Storn]

Last night we played. I doodled. Here are some of the characters of RDU Neil's Secret Worlds... including all the "Specialists" except one, my own... but his pic has already been provided.

 

Enjoy. First up is Dr. Berkmann (Bill) and Ryu (Eric)

 

btw, last night was a doozy. I do not envy Neil's recap of it. Its gonna be a biggie.

[Storn]

Second is Damien "Promo" McGregor and Jasmine (Damien's DNPC...and Ryu's sister and should probably be his DNPC too. heh.)

[Storn]

now, Natsuko (now NPC Oyabun of San Francisco thru bloody intervention by the Specialists).

[Storn]

Lastly, never leastly... our own Invisible Man, hacker extraordinaire, who without, many lives would have been lost last night, Mr. Jones.

 

Although the real hero last night was Dr. Berkmann and his complete ensnaring of Jo-Jo's loyalty... which prevented even more bloodshed...

[RDU Neil]

Episode 6: Blood Price

 

Secret Worlds: Episode 6 – Blood Price

This week brought all five players back to the table.

Hitoshi Ryu – Eric

Damien McGregor – Joe

Mr. Jones – James

Terry Owens – Storn

And the long awaited return of…

Dr. Martin Berkmann – Bill the Ferrett

 

Epilogue to Episode 5:

 

As Ryu was leaving the building after setting his trap, he passed his apartment, noticing his cell phone sitting on the table, chiming softly. Ignoring it, he continues outside.

Cut scene: The inside of the Oyabun’s office as the Westcorp building. A phone is set down in the cradle and the camera pans back to show the pensive face of Natsuko, she turns, eyes down and says, “He does not answer his phone.†Camera pans back further revealing two others in the room. One is Ichiro-san, sitting on a couch, looking angry and puzzle at both his daughter and the other. The third is a large man, Japanese, but well over six foot, broad shouldered and strong, in a severe suit. He turns toward Natsuko, glaring, and flipping shut a cell phone on which he was calling.

 

“My men do not answer either,†he growls. “Whoever this assistant of yours is, he had better return to you… for your sake, and the sake of your father!â€

 

“Of course, Samsano-san,†demurs Natsuko, and she turns away still keeping her eyes down. Yet when she is not facing the man, a smile curls her lips slightly as she hears that Samsano’s men are also not answering the call from their master.

 

 

Within 30 minutes of his escape, Ryu has changed his clothes to that of a Japanese tourist, and is at a payphone. He makes his first call to Natsuko’s direct line.

 

After she says hello, he does not identify himself but says, "I have never done anything to dishonor the family. I have only ever acted as the instrument of the family. And now I am dead.â€

 

"Their lives for my life. Payment is done.â€

 

"Giri is accepted.â€

 

"We part, and all is well. We do not part, and I will bring down all the demons of Gakido to wreck bloody vengeance upon those who come for me and their masters.

 

"Remember what I am, and how I was trained; do not force me to be the instrument against the family."

Ryu pauses just to see if she will answer, and before he hangs up, she does respond.

 

“Yes, yes… of course. Exactly…†her tone is casual, clearly speaking for others to hear her as well. Then her voice drops to almost a whisper.

 

“We have all entered Gakido. Giri is accepted. Do what you must to the masters. Be who you are. Payment is not yet done. Beyond giri, you will have my favor…â€

 

Then more loudly again, “Of course. Yes… we must see you. Tonight. Yes, it must be tonight. You must come. We will await you.†Ryu can sense the others near her, listening in. Then she hangs up.

 

After that, he rests his head against the phone, and trembles, the first time in years that he has been truly afraid.

 

From another phone, in another part of town, he calls Jasmine. "Yuki, I'm coming home."

 

------------

 

Prologue for Episode 6:

 

Over the rest of the afternoon, all the disparate players begin to gather. Ryu is told by Jasmine to return to Stang’s. She has also spoken to McGregor who is driving along with a severed arm and $275,000 in cash in his car. She tells him she will meet him at Stang’s as well.

 

Terry and Jolly have finished their work-out, grabbed lunch and headed back to the mansion themselves. Arriving their, they are greeted by Maggie who informs tells them to watch the news. Local events have flared up again including a possible terrorist explosion in Little Tokyo and an assault on a restaurant downtown that involved a man with a sword and another in armor.

 

At this point, Berkmann arrives, have popped up out of his isolation with some information from his decryption project. He and Owens chat, joking that this is the second time the two of them have come around to find all hell breaking loose on the streets. “I don’t envy the cops dealing with this crime wave,†says Terry. “Do you think we are going to have to play clean up again,†jokes Berkmann, but neither find it funny, as it seems all too likely.

 

Jasmine and McGregor arrive, and Damien takes a lot of grief for having wrecked another restaurant in a fight in broad daylight. Soon after, Ryu arrives, bypassing the alarm system with ease by showing up at the kitchen door. When asked about the explosion, he simply says, “I used to live there. That person is dead now.â€

 

During this time, Mr. Jones had been finishing his hack, creating the great Berkmann Virus of 2004. As he sits, staring at the message from Briar Rose, he decides to hack back to one of their own nodes, with the message, “Why are you looking for Berkmann?†He waits again… then the website shifts and a different graphic appears. Letters made to look like cut outs from a ransom note spelling out… “No, no, no. One question at a time. The question is, why are you protecting him?â€

 

Jones just stares at this, grinning. “Cool,†he says… then logs off before they can find his actual computer… and heads off to meet up with the rest of the group.

 

As evening falls, we again find everyone gathered in Stang’s kitchen, each with unique information to share. Events are spiraling rapidly out of control, and something needs to be done, and quickly.

 

End Prologue (More later... and thanks for putting up the pictures, Storn. They are Suh-WHEEET!)

[buzz]

Let me add my voice to the chorus; this is freaking SWEET. I'm sending the link to my gaming buddies.

 

Just curious, how much of the combat descriptions in your writeups are poetic license vs. actual combat manuevers? E.g., Damian using the car door to block A-man's attack. Your HERO-fu seeems strong, so 'd like to know how that was handled mechanically.

 

Oh, and Terry totally reminds me of Jason Statham.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005458/

 

BTW, what the heck is the RDU, and where do I learn more about it?

[RDU Neil]

Quick notes...

 

The RDU stands for Red Dragon Universe. It is actually my long running Champions campaign that I started back in 1987... college days. The Red Dragons were the TKD club my friends and I belonged to.

 

This new Secret Worlds campaign is NOT part of the RDU... but I've had that handle for years now.

 

As for the combat descrptions, 99% of them are straight out of the game. One of the reasons I love Hero is that the combat maneuvers, hit location, etc., provide the basis for very cool/flavorful/detailed description. Most of what I write here was described the same way in the game.

 

The car door thing is my marriage of "poetic license" with "game mechanics." If you read back in this thread, I talk about my "Luck Chit" rules. In this case, Joe (Damien's player) realized that though he had taken the Avenger's arm off, the guy wasn't CON stunned and his kick would still land. He spent a Blue chit describing a desperate scene of throwing open the car door to block the kick (see past post for what different Chits allow a PC to do). That was cool, but as GM, I used a Blue Chit for the Avenger to counter this somewhat, I let the kick land as it would have, but ruled that it still tangled up the Avenger and stopped him from immediately following up and pouding Damien into the sidewalk.

 

I actually think of this as "dramatic license" with a game mechanic control (limited chits) that keeps it from getting out of hand. Players get more leeway to pull the occasional stunt that breaks the official "rules" but fits the scene.

 

Wait for the end of this last adventure (when I finally get around to finishing the write up.) There is a really friggin' cool use of a Blue Chit for a dramatic attack by Ryu. You'll see.

 

Anyway... does that make any sense? The door scene played out in the game just like I described it... but it worked because of a house rule I've used for years that makes the Hero System Luck rule more useful... at least IMO.

 

Thanks for the nice comments, by the way.

 

(Oh... and while players get Chits, so does the GM, and it helps for me to balance when I twist the game with GM license, and when I let the dice fall where they may. I think the players feel more comfortable when I spend a Chit to help a villain... cause they know I can run out of them. Villains without a blue chit or two are the ones who get caught or killed and don't have that miraculous escape! )

[Storn]

Oh, and Terry totally reminds me of Jason Statham.

 

Yeah, me too. Jason in Transporter was very much the model of the character (except that character was very Anal Retentive...and Terry is not, but the physicality of the man)

 

I think I did a pretty good job with that pic of Terry if you think that. Cause Jason was my model, although I drew the pic completely w/o reference (except the gun, Sig Sauer's have very little in the way of distinct features). I drew Terry, as the way of Jason, from memory. Not bad, eh?

 

As for chit use, Neil nails it. A chit thrown to have a villian get away allows us, the players, not to feel stupid... like we didn't do everything in our power to stop. That is Just One Of Those Genre Things. The characters can feel stupid! , but we, players, aren't frustrated at the event.

 

I love chits. We have something very close to them in Savage Worlds, which I run for my fantasy game. I wouldn't run a system now without some kind of Hero, Luck, Coolness mechanic now.

[RDU Neil]

Episode 6: Blood Price

 

(A lot of complex issues were discussed, so I'm trying to break it down and streamline it into pieces that make sense. Not a lot of action, but this discussion was a critical "character bonding" period... and likely set the foundation for the next story arc.)

 

Berkmann’s Rant

 

The discussion among the group is scattered at first, but then Berkmann steps up, speaking as if lecturing in front of college classroom. He even had a short PowerPoint presentation prepared! Though the others find him a bit wacky, he commands a room as he begins his speech. He had been making comment before hand about the group needing to leave the city, “… head for the Philippines!†but he’d not really explained why he thought this. As he paces and pontificates, Berkmann explains that the data he had downloaded was clear evidence that the agents from the other night were of the Federal type. He had managed to snag digital footage of an birds eye view of the shoot-out in front of Stang’s a few night’s prior. Footage snagged seconds after it was caught… roughly 40 seconds of an arc of footage that would cover the passage of a high altitude spy satellite over the area. “Only the government has these resources,†he says. “So it begs the question, since they clearly have visual record of one of their agents being machine gunned to death, why there wasn’t an army of FBI, police and SWAT members swarming this mansion within hours of that event. It is now days later, and still nothing! Why?â€

 

While he talks, no one notices that Terry is silent about the man he killed, and that an actual tear creases his face as his death is shown on screen. At the same time, Stang says, “Well, there was on FBI agent that showed up, with the police. He didn’t ask many questions, but listened to the cops and me talk. His name was… Skelter. Yes. Unusual name. Agent Skelter.†At this, Berkmann goes pale. “Agent Skelter? Don’t ever talk to that man!†Berkmann goes on to say that this man pursued him in the ‘70s and ‘80s. “He supposedly retired a decade ago,†continues a worried Berkmann. Some quick backdoor downloads by Jones shows that Skelter’s file has been recently reactivated… but at the same time, his past information is all but wiped clean. His file is a small as a new recruit… at least in the area that Jones can access.

 

Armed with this new information, Berkmann returns to his presentation, describing all of the different data he found in just the 16% he had decrypted so far. It was a jumble of things like medical records, logs of unexplained deaths, and the like. Berkmann pieces it together, and makes a strong argument that this data is from a government operation that is likely hunting Specials. All of the data seems to pertain to statistically rare events, unexplained phenomena, urban legends, folk tales, etc. Berkmann is the master of seeing the pattern in chaos, and the only paradigm that explains the relevance of such a collection of data is that of “Specials.â€

 

“This, combined with the fact that no on has actively come after us in the last few days, implies one thing. Whatever agency ran those agents, and was using that satellite, they are so far down inside the black box, the legitimate agencies like the FBI don’t even know about them. Calling in a Bureau strike team would probably draw too much attention… so they have to do things differently. It doesn’t mean they won’t come after us, but more that they have to gather other resources to do so. We should use this grace period to get out of here… somewhere safe.â€

 

This engenders a great deal of discussion, as Berkmann wants to get out of the country, and suggests the Philippines because he has hidden out there before, has contacts there, and finds it a place where the American Government has a hard time running covert ops without being spotted. Owens is ok with this idea, but no one has quite the paranoid fear of imminent black helicopters that Berkmann does, and they aren’t sure they really need to run.

 

To be cont'd

[RDU Neil]

Episode 6: Blood Price cont'd

 

(Oy... busy busy... but finally got more written... still in the discussion zone, but this was half the game, really.)

 

Jasmine’s revelations

 

McGregor also balks at leaving, thinking about his business and his responsibilities to the Triads. He feels he can’t just walk away from this peace negotiation he has started, though he doesn’t know how long it will take. At that Ryu finally speaks up and let’s them in on the critical information he has.

 

â€Things have changed in the Nine Flowers Gang. The woman you met with, Natsuko… she is the Oyabun’s daughter. She is the one who wants peace, but someone has betrayed her… betrayed me.†He then goes on to explain the events at his apartment, and that the kobun sent after him were not local. “Home office boys,†he says. This indicates to him that the higher ups in Japan have heard about this mess, maybe even specifics about what Natsuko was attempting to do. They came after him as Natsuko's agent. He is trying to understand exactly what Natsuko was trying to tell him over the phone. He knows someone was most likely listening to her side of the conversation. He knows that she was clear that whatever happens, has to happen tonight… soon.

 

McGregor is worried, thinking this means the end to peace. There is some discussion of everyone just walking away from it all. Stang speaks up, siding with McGregor, because he needs McGregor to remain on good terms with the Triads. If he is ever going to get his daughter back, he will need someone like McGregor to work through the Triads in China since they will no longer deal directly with Stang at all.

 

As Ryu contemplates what he should do, Jasmine speaks up. She is hesitant, but realizes it must be done. “I should not speak for my father… it is not my place… but Ryu, it is clear you don’t understand what happened between our family and the Yakuza. I guess that makes sense, as we were only children, and the damn Yakuza would never have told you anything. It is not as simple as paying a debt. At least... well... the debt is bigger than you might think.â€

 

Jasmine thinks for a moment, trying to find the right words. “Yes, you went to the Yakuza to save the family, but not just me and father and mother. You were payment for the entire Hitoshi line. Our father… and our grandfather’s before him… have always been master swordsmen. They have trained the sons of Shogun’s and even Emperor’s. We have trained warriors for the Yakuza as well. My father wanted this to stop. As you said, there was no honor among them. His skills were being put to use by murderers and thugs… used to butcher. He wanted no more of that, but there was really no choice.†She finally looks at Ryu directly. “No choice until you. You showed promise… even as a child. You were a prodigy. The Yakuza made the offer. You, in place of father. You would become theirs… brought up by them and their ways… trained as a genin… to become their next master assassin… and to create more. But father, the Hitoshi family, would be released from their service.â€

 

Jasmine looks away. “It killed mother. It might as well have killed father. I don’t even know if it was worth it. But know this. Leaving the Nine Flowers Gang doesn’t mean just a death sentence for father and me. It is for every Hitoshi. Every uncle and cousin: niece and nephew. If the Yakuza feel the bargain is broken…†she shakes her head, at a loss for words to describe the slaughter she envisions. Finally she looks again at Ryu, saying “You can’t leave the Yakuza unless they let you go. Can you earn your release? Would Natsuko do this for you?â€

 

Again there is a burst of discussion, questions and ideas being thrown about. During this, Ryu is quiet, thinking about what he has just learned, thinking about the current situation, specifically about what Natsuko said on the phone. “Do what you must… Be who you are… you will have my favor.†Perhaps he can earn his freedom through her, but for that to happen, she must be in charge. She must take the position of Oyabun.

 

“To do that, she must have a display of power," says Ryu. "She must show power and strength and worthiness… especially since she is a woman. It must be dramatic and unquestioned.†He turns to McGregor. “Natsuko wants peace, and it will have to happen as part of her success. Your efforts are even more important now.†Owens suggests that they just have to keep up the peace talks… or somehow embarrass this new Oyabun usurper. “That will not be enough,†Ryu says to Terry’s questions. “She must still assert her authority within the Nine Flowers Gang. I think she even asked me to do this for her. She did not tell them who I was. That much is obvious. The four they sent after me were not prepared for what I am. They may still not know. That is our advantage, but it has to be done quickly… tonight.â€

 

The fact that the time is so short puts shrift to some of the more elaborate plans being discussed, and the talk turns to figuring out what to do to help Natsuko immediately. Berkmann says, “We still don’t know what is happening inside the Yakuza, correct? We don’t even know names, or what these new players are up to. Before we do anything, let me call my man inside. Jo-Jo owes me.†(OOC: This play by Bill/Berkmann will turn out to be a major turning point. It is a perfect use of a player using an NPC generated within the game to further the story in a logical way.)

 

While Berkmann makes the call to Jo-Jo, McGregor plans to speak to the Triads. He hasn’t heard back from them yet, and is concerned that they may act against the Yakuza. He wants to assure them that action is being taken, and just ask them to wait and let the evening play out. He knows the Triad wants recompense for the initial attack, and hopes that what the group plans to do will provide that payment. While planning a quick trip to Chinatown, he asks Jasmine, “What does your father make of all this? I thought you were going to call him?â€

 

At this Jasmine gets quiet and looks strangely at Ryu. There is an uncomfortable silence in the room. “Yes, father knows,†she says finally. “Nothing is ever simple, though. There is something more than just the Nine Flower Gang problem.†During this she keeps looking back and forth between Ryu and Damien. “Oh god…†she mutters, putting her head in her hands, then looking back up. “Even if we somehow manage to free Ryu… it won’t be easy for my father,†she says. “It is a matter of family honor. Very personal… you see,†and she actually reaches out and touches Ryu’s face. “When Ryu was given away, my father swore never to practice his arts, or teach them again. He trained me, but never with the intent of my using those skills.†Then she looks at McGregor. “He kept that vow, until he saw you…this brash gaijin continually offending tradition, bulling his way around, looking for a teacher. A most amazing fighter.†She looks at the other in the room and says, “I have trained twice as long as Damien, but I can’t touch him. He’s better than anyone should be.â€

 

“Whoa,†says Terry, understanding how significant that is, and nods.

 

Jasmine smiles, sadly, saying, “Father broke his vow for you, Damien. He thought he found someone worthy… maybe even noble…†and then she says this last very quietly, seeing both Ryu and McGregor together… “He found someone to replace his son.†And the scene slowly fades with Ryu and McGregor staring at each other… unknown emotions playing beneath their warrior’s façade.

[Storn]

Terry is silent about the man he killed, and that an actual tear creases his face as his death is shown on screen.

 

Uh...that isn't why Terry got choked up. It was the fact of this amazing satellite footage. In Terry's backstory, folks, he was on a mission for the SAS in Afghanistan, painting a city hall in some dirt village where the bad guys were. To guide american bombers to the kill. When several children showed up to use the only large building in town for school, Terry couldn't raise the americans. Some children were saved. Terry was blown up in the attempt. He awoke several weeks/days later in the hands of the Thugee cult, changed forever, the left hand of Kali.

 

He got choked up because: if "we" had those satellites just a year ago...maybe those children wouldn't be dead. Maybe he wouldn't be an assassin.

 

But I totally understand if the others thought that...

[Nuadha]

OK, that makes more sense. Since noone noticed, Terry's tear, we never got to ask you, but I knew it couldn't be the guy that got killed. Terry doesn't seem to like having to kill, but I didn't think he'd get choked up about it either.

 

-James

[RDU Neil]

Interesting...

 

Originally posted by Storn

Uh...that isn't why Terry got choked up. It was the fact of this amazing satellite footage. In Terry's backstory, folks, he was on a mission for the SAS in Afghanistan, painting a city hall in some dirt village where the bad guys were. To guide american bombers to the kill. When several children showed up to use the only large building in town for school, Terry couldn't raise the americans. Some children were saved. Terry was blown up in the attempt. He awoke several weeks/days later in the hands of the Thugee cult, changed forever, the left hand of Kali.

 

He got choked up because: if "we" had those satellites just a year ago...maybe those children wouldn't be dead. Maybe he wouldn't be an assassin.

 

But I totally understand if the others thought that...

 

This is actually a great example of what happens a LOT in this campaign, and in other campaigns that are new... with new characters. The player may describe an ACTION that, internally means a whole bunch of complex internal characterization... but that ACTION is interpreted differently by those who can't read the players mind... and all the subtlety is lost. The cool character building moment is lost. No fault of anyone involved, just a fact of the RPG process.

 

This has been a major issue with Ryu/Eric, where not only were the other players confused, but I, the GM, just couldn't for the life of me figure out what Ryu was up to... what he wanted... what his goals or intentions were. Eric had this vivid explanation for everything that Ryu did... but none of it translated through his actions into anything that made sense for understanding Ryu purpose or motivation. It was very frustrating.

 

In Storn's case, this had zero impact on the story... but until I read his post here, I was friggin' clueless as to why he described Terry as crying when he watched himself kill that agent. Miscommunication like this could have major repercussions, though... and avoiding such is extremely important.

 

I may need to institute the "NOTE!" rule. If I, the GM say "NOTE!" to a player, I'm saying "Write a note to me telling me why/what/how your character was thinking/intending/doing in that last scene, 'cause I just don't get it."

 

It's great to have players who speak and act in character... but there needs to be a successful transfer of INTENT and not just ACTION, at least for the GM. The other players can misconstrue all day long... that's part of the game, but the GM needs to be more "omniscient" to some extent.

 

hmmm... interesting RPG metagaming question... probably more appropriate on The Forge or a site like that.

[Storn]

In Storn's case, this had zero impact on the story

 

And I knew this, that it had no impact. I didn't want to slow the game at that moment with a heart wrenching tale of woe. It wasn't the appropriate place... but when reading hte recap, I knew I had to come clean about the emotional wellspring that situation had come from.

 

At that time, the game was moving along quite nicely.... didn't want to slow it down with a lengthy explanation. Besides, these characters don't know each other that well... a little mystery is reasonable.

 

So, consider my NOTE as part of this thread..! Just a wee bit late, that's all.

[RDU Neil]

Episode 6: Blood Price cont'd

 

With the short amount of time available, and the fact that Ryu is expected at the Westcorp building, the group decides on an assault. Ryu will go in, and the others will back him up, if necessary… the goal being to eliminate this new Oyabun and install Natsuko in place.

 

Before McGregor leaves, he speaks to Maggie, Stang’s mechanic and armorer. He presents her with the severed arm of the Avenger, which he’d had wrapped in a paper bag. This gets a number of comments like, “Christ! That’s sick!†from the others, wondering what he was doing with the morbid object. McGregor ignores them, asking Maggie to analyze the armor. He also wants Dr. Cole to take fingerprints and a blood sample. He is clearly harboring a bit of an angry grudge against the vigilante. “I want this guy,†he says. “I want to figure out his weapons, his armor… track him down any way I can.†The others note that the normally mellow McGregor is pretty intense when talking about the Avenger, even asking Maggie for a new gun. “I want one of those Desert Eagle… point-five-oh! Big bullets… armor piercing bullets. Something that will put this guy down.†Maggie smiles, always willing to play with guns. McGregor leaves to speak with Kah Lo and Wu, happily checking out his new pistol.

 

Berkmann makes contact with Jo-Jo, who agrees to meet him at a random location. They decide on a Wendy’s some distance from downtown. Mr. Jones accompanies Berkmann, as they are discussing some various programs Jones is writing to over ride the Yakuza security and building operations computers. Ryu has given Jones his access codes to make it much easier.

 

Terry leaves for downtown. He is all in black, with his Manchester United jacket, and a long gun case. Knowing it will still be hours before Ryu and the others arrive, he makes his way to the roof of a nearby high rise, scaling a window cleaning scaffold the last couple of stories and takes position a couple hundred meters and four stories above the Westcorp building. He sets up behind a large potted plant on a balcony, laying out his HK-94 with scope and tri-pod. It’s been configured for 7.62 rounds, and Owens took Russian steel core rounds as well. As the sun sets he spends time sighting the Westcorp tower. He identifies the floors and offices he can see, primarily the main office of the Oyabun as described by Ryu. Having the inside information on a target is really helpful for a sniper, but until it is dark and lights come on, he can’t really see the interior. Owens also makes sure that there are at least three different paths for him to make a quick exit, then makes himself comfortable for the wait.

 

At the Wendy’s Berkmann settles down for a meal, having arrived before Jo-Jo. Jones sits somewhere else, unseen and able to see the parking lot through the glass windows. He sees Jo-Jo arrive first, noticing his nervous and quick pace, a Giants cap pulled over his bald head. When Jo-Jo comes into the restaurant and sees Berkmann calmly eating, his demeanor clearly changes, becoming more comfortable and confident. He approaches the table, and bows slightly before sitting. Berkmann welcomes him, offers to buy him dinner, but Jo-Jo declines, sitting quietly while keeping his right hand over his bandaged left hand, the pinky still wrapped in gauze, and shorter by a notch.

 

Picking his words carefully, Berkmann asks Jo-Jo about the current situation in the Yakuza. “I understand you are facing something of a management change,†he says. Jo-Jo is more than happy to talk about it. He explains that there is a new man from Tokyo… Samsano. He came in claiming that he was the new Oyabun, who would restore honor to the Nine Flowers Gang. His men had taken over the top two floors… the main offices… and the local kobun had been shut out of everything except day to day street work. Everyone reported up through this flashy guy who calls himself Tony, and speaks for Samsano. Jo-Jo is clearly disgruntled about this, so Berkmann pursues the questioning, and finds that Samsano is likely pursuing conflict with the Triads. Whatever the reason for the first attack, Samsano is continuing this build-up.

 

Berkmann presses the issue, returning to his original position when he’d first met Jo-Jo, that he is interested in peace, and that he is looking for those who would work with him. “Would you,†he asks Jo-Jo, “Be willing to support your current Oyabun… and by that I mean Natsuko? Would you be willing to put yourself behind her, to oust this Samsano and return control of the Nine Flowers to it’s members? With your support, my associates and I are in a position to make this happen.â€

 

As Jo-Jo considers this, Jones has wandered outside, bored. From the front of the fast food joint, he can see inside as well as the streets and parking lot… and therefore he is on the spot to see a late model Mustang, black, tinted windows, tricked out chrome hubcaps and accessorized running lights, pull into the parking lot. The side windows slide down, revealing two young, mod dressed, spiky hair Japanese youths… definitely local gang members, looking at the restaurant. Jones moves closer, unnoticed, as the two continue to peer through the windows, and is only ten feet away when they see Jo-Jo. The car jerks to a stop, and the two chatter excitedly, the passenger pulling out his cell phone and starts to dial. Jones moves quickly, circling behind the car and coming up from behind, reaching in and trying to grab the phone. He doesn’t actually make the grab, but his sudden appearance and reaching arm startle the boys and the phone drops to the floor of the car. They start to swear at Jones in Japanese, when his gun comes out and presses firmly against the passengers temple. “Your phone… now,†he says. “Pick it up and toss it out here.†The one complies, while the drive glares. Jones sees him start to move toward his jacket, but warns him off. The passenger gets the phone and lets it fall outside the car to the ground. At that moment, the driver pops the clutch and hits the accelerator. The tires screech as the vehicle lurches forward, sending Jones scrambling back. He considers firing after the car, but decides against it, instead, scooping up the phone and heading for Berkmann.

 

Inside the restaurant, the two had been oblivious of the drama outside, until the car peeled away. Berkmann and Jo-Jo both come out quickly, ready to leave. Jo-Jo tells Berkmann that he will do whatever he can, but that it is unlikely the others will follow Natsuko unless they are confident of her. They have no reason to be so, at this time. They leave separately, knowing that everything has accelerated, if the gang members decide to report the situation.

 

Meanwhile, McGregor has made it to Chinatown, to meet with Wu. It is a quick conversation, as McGregor asks simply that the Triads take no action until he and his friends can act. He also makes the offer of recompense. “There is a new Oyabun. He is seeking to replace the one who speaks for peace. We do not think he will honor any bargains.†He hesitates, and Wu says, “Speak plainly. Between the two of us is perhaps the only time we may.†McGregor is encouraged and says, “If we were to present you with this Oyabun… dead or alive… would it be appropriate recompense? Would it help to create a peace?†Wu thinks on this, then finally replies. “While we honor your efforts, there would need to be further assurance by the Yakuza. They would have to present this man to us directly. They must show that they carry this agreement themselves. They must pay the price for peace as well. Can you make this happen?†McGregor assures him, though he is a little worried about the last part, thanks Wu, then takes his leave, knowing that the whole deal is going down soon, and he wants to be where he can offer some support if needed.

 

Within the hour, everything is in place. Owens is in the “god†position, and Jones is at Stang’s, already inside the Westcorp security and systems management computer control. Berkmann has parked his car on the north side of the building, which spans most of a block. On the south side, Damien is parked in a second getaway vehicle, Jasmine by his side. For the moment, they ignore the uncomfortable silence between them… as they see Ryu. With his back-up in place, the assassin steps across the street. In the guise of simple Akito Takashi, he enters the Westcorp building alone.

 

(Next: Things very quickly go to hell...)

[Nuadha]

I like the idea of the "Note!"

[RDU Neil]

Episode 6: Blood Price (cont'd)

 

(Man... these action scenes take FOREVER to write...)

 

In his perch, Owens has been informed via radio, to be looking for Samsano, described as a big man, hard and cruel… as well as his second, Tony… who has long hair and wears flashy jewelry. Terry has seen none of these people appear, though lights have begun to go on in offices, giving him an interior view in places. The Oyabun’s main office finally lights up, just before Ryu arrives. Owens sees Ichiro-san, the original Oyabun, come out of a side door and make his way to a safe behind a painting. After opening the safe, the old man pulls out a snub nosed revolver, tucks it in his jacket, and then goes back to the side office. Terry sees this all through his scope, and the spotting glasses he has set up… but keeps radio silence. He is also aware of at least four guards on the rooftop garden, though they have huddled around an open door to keep warm, as the night has become cold.

 

Minutes later, the Oyabun’s office lights up again, this time from the main door. In walks Natsuko, followed by a large, well dressed, angry looking man that Owens takes for Samsano. A lanky, long haired man follows, diamond earrings glittering. They sit Natsuko on one of two couches, facing the window… and then Tony brings Ichiro-san out and sits him on the other couch, before taking his own position on the corner of his desk. His back is to the window and Owens. Last, six kobun file into the room. They take positions along the back wall, flanking the entrance… three on each side. “Ok then…†mutters Owens, and begins lining up his shots, measuring his rotation, to see how quickly he could place shots in various parts of the room. In the end, he zeroes in on the back of Tony’s head, and settles in.

 

As soon as Ryu entered the Westcorp building, Jones went to work. He had tapped security cameras, but couldn’t access any on the top floor cameras. He does manage to get elevator control. Ryu enters, allowed past by a single security guard who looks a little nervous, but otherwise says nothing. When he enters the penthouse elevator, he finds a single guard with gun drawn and pointing at him. This one pats him down, removes his pistol, as well as his jacket and shoes. They finally keys the elevator to head up. Ryu accepts all this with silence.

 

Once Ryu is in the elevator, Jones locks other elevators in place. If anyone else tries to call, only one will respond, with other cars locked at the top or ground floor for easy access. Then he keys up the lighting and power controls, ready to cut the lights if the signal is given. Ryu had worked out with Owens certain hand signals, and Owens would then relay the command to Jones, via radio.

 

Outside, Damien and Jasmine wait. Damien is glad for her company, and finds himself realizing just how glad. After this afternoon, he expected her to be all about Ryu. He’d felt her drifting away over the past few days… and found it strange that he cared that much. They’d had a relationship in the past… but it had been more business and friendship, lately. So when she said she wanted to wait with him in the car, he’d been surprised at how happy that made him. Their chatter, normally comfortable and relaxed is stiff and awkward though. Neither of them say anything meaningful. Damien is quite relieved when he sees a familiar figure walk past him on the street. Heading down the sidewalk, fists clenched and a look of determination on his face, is Jo-Jo. His bald head is uncovered, and he is talking to himself, with the look of a man trying to convince himself to take a risk. Damien and Jasmine just watch him for a bit as he paces up and down, obviously trying to psych himself up to go inside.

 

On the other side of the building, Berkmann is chatting with Jones over the radio, when the same black Mustang last seen at Wendy’s comes slowly up the road, past Berkmann, and slowly pull up to the Westcorp building entrance. The windows were down, and Berkmann could see the two gang youths arguing with each other. He watches them get out of the car, still arguing, both of them gesticulating and shouting in Japanese over the roof. The driver doesn’t seem to want to go in, but the passenger seems insistent. Berkmann radios to Jones about the approach. Jones begins to pull up the door lock-out commands, but it will take him a few seconds. Worried that the youths will sound some kind of alarm, the Dr. pops his car into gear and slams on the gas. He isn’t the best driver, but he doesn’t really want to kill anyone, so he aims for the outside of the driver’s open door, but to hit it without clipping the rear of the Mustang, or hitting the exposed kid and crushing him, will be difficult. The gang member is frozen in fear, and his friend has turned at the sound of Berkmann’s acceleration, and though he closes his eyes at the last second and braces for impact, the drive by is perfect! (Rolled a natural 3!) His front bumper perfect clips the door, snapping it forward and off its hinges, and sending it hurtling end over end down the street ahead of him. The impact knocks the Mustang forward a little, and it rolls up on to the sidewalk… leaving the youthful drive standing frozen on the street, have fell the car miss him only by inches… and the other gang member has turned and is shouting after Berkmann as he speeds away down the street.

 

At that moment, Jones locks out the main entrances, which happens just in time to stop Jo-Jo from going in the front doors. This leaves him on the sidewalk looking questioningly at the confused guard inside the lobby, and trying vainly to use his scan card to get inside. Damien and Jasmine just watch in puzzled amusement, trying to figure out what Jo-Jo is doing.

 

All of this happens in less than a minute… given Ryu time to reach the penthouse. No alarm has been tripped at this point. Another guard meets Ryu, one of the six kobun from the main office and openly holding a mini-Uzi, who further pats him down before leading him into main office. There he is brought face to face with Samsano. The new Oyabun is only in his thirties, but is big, strong and cruel. His size is clearly an intimidation factor to most, and Samsano uses it to his advantage. He comes right up to Ryu, towering over him by nearly a foot, and glares down, growling, “Who are you? What did you do to my men?â€

 

“I’m am Akito Takashi, Programmer Second Class†Ryu answers with utmost deference. His face is still, but there is a slight tremble to his voice. He is not meeting Samsano’ eyes, but is staring at his chest, taking stock of the room and the position of everyone in it. To Ryu’s right and toward the window, he sees Natsuko sitting on the couch, her face still but watchful. The Oyabun Ichiro, her father, is opposite her, to Ryu’s left, sitting upright and nervously on the edge of the couch, but the look on his face is one of anger and madness. Ryu knows he must act, and quickly, and silently prays that the British soldier is as good as his word. His eyes settle on the silver pen neatly placed in the coat pocket of Samsano’s suit.

 

“You are hardly a programmer!†snaps Samsano. “I am your new Oyabun. You life is mine. You will tell me who you are, before you die. I am your…â€

 

Ichiro-san stands up suddenly.

 

Ryu moves… “You are DEAD!†he says, his right hand sweeping up, palming the silver pen out of the pocket, and continuing the motion upward, shoving the pointed metal cylinder into the throat of Samsano. It drives deep, and blood gushes forth, the Oyabun’s head snapping back. Behind him the Ichiro-san’s hand comes out of his coat with the revolver, and he is shouting, “He is genin! He is a betrayer! He must die as my faithless daughter must pay for her treachery!â€

 

To Terry’s POV, things go balls up in one move. Samsano had blocked his view of Ryu; the man’s broad back totally overshadowing the smaller assassin. He does see the Oyabun’s head snap back though… and at the same time the original Oyabun… the crazy old man… stand up and pull a gun. To Owens’, though, the old man is pointing it at either his daughter, or Tony… and since it was his original shot… he decides to just take out the flashy second. With deft fingers, he double taps the automatic rifle, and sends two heavy grain bullets in a perfect shot… the first punching through the reinforced glass, and the second following through the hole, to take Tony in the back of the skull. (Great Golgo 13 rip from Storn, and Blue Chit spent to avoid any penalties for shooting through the heavy glass.)

 

Tony drops like a sack of meat, the bullet continuing through him to impact in the sofa not two feet from Natsuko… and the room goes mad.

 

All the other kobun begin to raise their weapons at Ryu, as he steps around Samsano, putting the Oyabun between him and the soldiers, holding his sagging body by the hair and pulling the head back to display the death wound. This makes the soldier hesitate, not wanting to shoot their boss. The old man moves across the room, shouting at his daughter and waving the gun…

 

… then Samsano moves. Surprising even Ryu, the Oyabun is not dead yet… his left hand comes up, grabbing the pen in his throat, and yanks it out with a sick “schhlluufftsss†sound, and then rams it backward, shoving the metal into Ryu’s left thigh, right down to the bone. (Blue Chit by the GM!) The kobun recoil in horror for a second, and Ryu, through gritted teeth, and says, “No… I said you were DEAD!†and then hip throws the Oyabun, back and over, slamming him face first into a glass topped coffee table (Blue Chit by Eric to have the coffee table there!)! The heavy body smashes the glass, and the single pointed top of one of the table supports, impales Samsano through the solar plexus, killing him.

 

Owens now sees Ryu finish off Samsano… and this also exposes the two kobun directly behind him. “Gotcha,†he mutters, and fires again… this bullet taking the soldier square in the chest and sending him over backwards. Suddenly realizing they are under fire… the other kobun drop and scatter. Ryu waves his hand in the pre-arranged signal, and Owens sees it, relaying, “Jones… hit the lights!†and a second later, the building goes dark.

 

(One more to go... at least I hope that does it...)

[RDU Neil]

Episode 6: Blood Price

 

Below, on street level, Berkmann has pulled around the block, joining Damien and Jasmine near the front of the Westcorp building. As rifle shots ring out, 15 stories above them, he collects Jo-Jo and the group debates what to do. Looking up, he asks, “Think they need our help?†Damien just shrugs, and passes a cigarette to the doctor. Then the tower goes dark. “Samsano is down,†comes Owens’ calm, dark voice, over the radio.

 

Terry scans the room, but the sudden darkness makes no targets possible for him… and he fires a third shot to the far right of the room… more concerned with keeping heads down than hitting anything. “Get the lights back up, Jones…†he mutters into the radio, looking for another target.

 

Ryu, meanwhile, has rolled in between the two groups of gunsels and grappling with the guard from the elevator, gets the man’s wrist locked backward so that he can control the mans’ pistol while using him for cover. Shots ring out but nothing hits. Then the lights snap back on.

 

With the lights back on, Owens is greeted by the sight of one kobun standing up and taking a firing position on Ryu. Terry fires again, and the bullet takes the man in the shoulder, spinning him to the ground. Then he turns the scope on to Natsuko’s father, who is now clearly threatening her with the pistol and though he hesitates for a moment, takes the shot anyway. The old man twists slightly, standing sideways to Terry, so that the bullet passes through the flesh on the front of his chest, without hitting any major organs. He sags, though, and Natsuko screams, moving toward him. As she does this, spiderwebs begin shooting outward from the various bullet holes in the large picture window, and half a second later, the window collapses into shards that begins to fall like lethal rain to the street below.

 

Down in front of the building, the group below looks up at the cracking sound, and suddenly loud sound of pistol fire. They look up to see a glittering cascade spreading toward them. “Uhm… crap,†is Damien’s only comment… and they scatter, diving back into Berkmann’s car or otherwise away… as there is an explosion of razor sharp slivers in every direction as the glass strikes the sidewalk and street.

 

Back inside, Ryu fires at the kobun on the left side of the room, taking one unfortunate in the crotch. Owens watches Natsuko struggling with her father, realizing the man isn’t dead, yet. Looking through his scope he sees that the man’s face is twisted in rage, and he is struggling to bring the pistol around toward his daughter, and she has him in a half aiki-jutsu wristlock, trying to get him to stop. Exhaling, Terry lines up the kill shot on Ichiro-san.

 

Just then, Ryu falls into the sights of one of the kobun behind him, and the man fires. Ryu feels a bullet tear through his back, just below his left shoulder blade, but the other rounds go wide.

 

On the ground floor, the rest of the group receives a call from Jones. He had been monitoring the incoming calls, having Stang translate, and he thinks he picked up a call for reinforcements arriving soon. The group decides to head inside, hoping to extract Ryu before the others arrive. Jones unlocks the doors again, and Berkmann, Jasmine, Damien and Jo-Jo go in. The guard is frightened, and the others level their guns at him. Jo-Jo suddenly steps up and grabs the man’s pistol out of his holster, and barks at him in Japanese. Jasmine says that he is telling the guard that his part is to do nothing, and let them go through, and that this will help them win back the clan. The guard acquiesces to Jo-Jo, who strides forward with the others, taking them to the express elevators without further resistance.

 

Caught between too many enemies and severely wounded, Ryu rolls away, out into the elevator foyer. He is followed by a hail of gunfire that misses him, but his former bullet shield dies in the fusillade as he takes multiple rounds from his fellows.

 

Owens fires. This round is dead on, taking Ichiro-san in the gut, and blowing most of his intestines out the back. Natsuko is caught in the back spray of her slain father, who jerks in her grasp. “I’m sorry…†he slurs, as he goes limply to the ground. Natsuko drops to her knees over him… a long slow moaning cry coming up from inside her. Terry sees this, but then has to pull back, as his perch comes under sudden small arms fire. Bullets begin to “spack†wildly around him… none on target… as some of the guards from the Yakuza rooftop had finally zeroed his position and opened up with SMGs.

 

Back at the mansion, Jones and Stang are listening to the radio chatter, and Jones is trying to identify how many soldiers they might have to face. He notices just a few seconds too late that the elevator with his friends is stopping at the 13th floor… and not making it all the way to the 14th, like he’d ordered. He realizes, in a flash, that one of the Yakuza security officers must be taking back control. “Wrong floor guys!†he yells into the radio, as he moves to cut off the counter measures, sending a screensaver lockout to every computer terminal based on the code from a random accounting computer.

 

In the elevator, Damien and McGregor turn to face the opening doors, knowing they are likely facing a number of enemies, since Jo-Jo had told them the top two floors were controlled by Samsano’s men. As the door slide open, both of them step up, pistols raised and fire once each, and shout “Your Oyabun is dead! Surrender!†Damien’s hand cannon blows the chest out of one surprised guard, and Berkmann’s SW 4076 hits another in the shoulder. This one manages to squeeze off a burst of 9mm rounds in his shock, and it peppers the inside of the elevator, one round grazing Berkmann’s jacket. Jasmine pulls Damien back, out of the line of fire… but Berkmann is able to recognize that these men are surprised and stunned, and that they are susceptible to command. As Damien frantically thumbs the door close button, Berkmann pulls Jo-Jo up front yelling, “Tell them! Tell them to follow Natsuko!†He immediately sees the effect on Jo-Jo… the man responding to the authority and responsibility being placed on him. The big solider comes out, his pistol in one hand, the guards pistol in the other, and offers them giri, for their obeisance to Natsuko. Behind them the elevator door closes, taking Damien and Jasmine up to the Penthouse floor.

 

On the opposite roof, Owens is shielded from the suppressive fire of the roof top guards by a low wall. Having dropped the rifle, he pulls both his pistols and crab walks sideways, then pops up, still moving away from his sniper position, firing both guns in the general direction of the rooftop. He isn’t expecting to hit anyone, but his actions should draw the fire of the others, and perhaps make it look like there is more than one gunman up here. Bullets fly all around him, but Terry takes little notice. He knows SMG fire at this range is highly inaccurate, at best.

 

Inside the 14th floor, Ryu is keeping the kobun pinned down, by spraying fire both wide left and wide right, intentionally keeping the fire away from Natusko, who is still in the center of the room, cradling her father. He uses the mini-Uzi he’d scooped up from the dying guard shot by Owens… but the small clip quickly runs dry. He slumps back against the wall, dropping the spent weapon and raising his last pistol. He twitches the gun into a better grip, his hands and body soaked in blood… his own and others. Just at that moment, the elevator chimes, and the doors open. He raises his gun, only to see Damien and Jasmine come rolling out. Damien moves to the opposite side of the doors into the office, as Jasmine moves to her brother… a look of horror coming over her at his blood drenched form.

 

Owens continues to draw fire from the roof top guards, then drops, holsters his guns, and crabwalks back to his original position, smiling grimly at the sound of bullets pinging even farther off target than before. He scoops up the rifle, and repositions it, now scanning the rooftop, sighting in on one of the figures who is highlighted in the muzzle flash of his weapon. “CRACK!†goes the HK and Terry smiles to see the form spin from impact, the SMG firing wildly… then he again, drops down for cover. Expecting another hail of bullets, he is a pleasantly surprised by the sudden lack of fire coming his way at all. “All done here… heading out,†mutters Terry into the radio… and begins to break down his rifle to make his escape.

 

On the 13th floor, Berkmann and Jo-Jo face off against a half dozen trigger happy kobun, but Berkmann thinks Jo-Jo is winning them over… they are listening to the big man, he can tell… except for one. One mouths off. Berkmann doesn’t know what he says, but it is a challenge. Jo-Jo turns, and Berkmann knows that this is a decisive moment. Jo-Jo fails, this group blows the two of them into sushi… and Jo-Jo doesn’t even hesitate… he just turns his guns on the man and fires, once from each gun. The man falls, screaming, a round in his arm and another in his thigh. Jo-Jo doesn’t even blink, just looks back at the others, waiting for their agreement. Berkmann smiles… “Well played.†He knows that this little battle is won.

 

Upstairs, the kobun have continued to rain bullets out into the foyer. The suddenly, there is the heavy boom of a revolver, distinct from the automatic fire of the others. Damien moves, going in with one heavy door protecting him from his right side, and firing twice at the gumen on the left. One shot misses, but the other takes nearly blows the arm off of kobun who had already been injured by a shot from Owens. Ryu follows up, rolling into the room and firing left, noticing that Natsuko is up and standing in the middle of the room no cover… not trying to move… her fathers pistol in her hands, and she has just blown the brains out of one of the last enemy kobun, but then levels the pistol at Damien as he bursts into the room. “Hey! We’re on your side!†he yells, then ducks as she fires anyway, the bullet tearing a chunk out of the heavy door.

 

Ryu rolls forward his hands out stretched, dropping his gun, saying, “Natsuko-san. It is Ryu.†He is greeted by the wide bore .357 barrel lowered to meet his upturned face. Natsuko’s eyes are wide and glassy and tears are pouring down her cheeks.

 

Damien takes the moment to roll right, ramming himself against the couch behind which the last opponent is taking cover. The poor guy never sees it coming, as the moving couch knocks him backward. Then Damien fires twice through the couch with his .50 cal, both shots hitting the man in the chest, ending him and the firefight in a thundering roar. He turns then, afraid of what Natsuko might do, just to see her hand tremble and drop to her side the pistol swinging down and away from Ryu, then “thunking†to the floor with a solid finality.

 

(The denoument, and then we're done...)