Order is Temporary

June 2, 2005

George: Damn you, Dick. "Gate-crashers! No one invited you. If you're going to hog the keg of Bouncy Bubble Beverage, I'm going to have to demand that you at least pay for it." I wander over toward the INFRAREDs approaching the transbot.
Dick: Have a point of Perversity, George.
Tom: "Here we go again. Alberto-R, Donald-R, and Samuel-R, you'll hold the corridors here. John-R, place charges to seal two of the corridors. Shutting down the perimeter defenses will have to wait until we deal with this new complication. We'll have to hope our team leader confuses the INFRAREDs away. I'll deal with the group on the other side of the station." Without waiting for anyone to object, I'll jump off the main platform and vanish into the darkness.
Dick: What're folks doing? Alberto-R?
Alberto: I'll continue drawing my charcoal outline, occasionally coloring slightly inside the lines, if you catch my meaning. Lasers are great because the cauterize as they amputate. Taking off the traitor's right foot at the ankle.
John (ooc): You are Tech Services like Superman is Clark Kent, Alberto...
Dick: The INFRARED screams in pain and terror as you take time to torture him in the middle of a firefight.
Alberto: Hey. I was torturing him before the firefight started. You know I don't like being interrupted.
Dick: Ah. Almost forgot. Perversity point. Donald?
Donald: Holding position at the entrance to the third corridor. Flamethrower is at the ready.
Dick: George?
George: Chasing the new arrivals away from my transbot kegger.
Dick: Your kevlar keeps them from stabbing you to death, but you're wounded and down next to the transbot engine. John-R?
John: Which corridor do I know leads to the control room?
Dick: The first one.
John: Setting the charges for the third corridor, then.
Dick: That will take a couple actions.
John: Just let me know when it's finished.
Dick: Okay. Samuel-R?
Samuel: Hold on. The two people providing cover fire have pretty much abandoned us, haven't they?
Dick: I don't know whether I'd say they abandoned you, per se, but they've left the platform.
Samuel: I'll hold the second corridor, for now, but I'm keeping an eye on the INFRARED mobs. Also, I'm idly beginning to fiddle with my flamethrower, considering ways to improve its performance.
Dick: Tom-R?
Tom: Staying to the shadows and readying my katana. I want to circle around and pick off any stragglers without drawing attention to myself.
Dick: It'll take some time to position yourself, so you won't be able to attack this turn. The INFRARED mob that just beat up George-R take his weapons away.
George (ooc): Uh oh.
Dick: The one that takes the semi thrower opens fire on Alberto-R.
Dick rolls in secret - 6.
Dick: Alberto feels a couple slugs slam into his kevlar with enough force to knock him down. Snafu. The rest of the mob seems more interested in the transbot. The other mob, however, is completely focused on the transbot station. One with the stolen laser of some RED citizen she no doubt used violence to subdue opens fire at Samuel-R.
Dick rolls in secret - 17.
Dick: Fortunately, her aim isn't very good, and the laser bakes the wall well above his head. Alberto-R?
Alberto: I unhappily stand up and get ready to return fire with my laser.
Dick: Donald-R?
Donald: I fill the first corridor with an abundance of fire just to be sure. Then I advance inside and out of the line of fire. I'm going to see if there's another bottleneck to camp.
Dick: There's a T-junction, so not really. You're pretty sure you can cover both directions safely with your flamethrower - just not at the same time.
Donald (ooc): Greeeeaat...
Dick: George-R? You're snafued. What do you do?
George: I make a run for the humanitarian relief car.
Condi (ooc): I love how we still call it the humanitarian relief car.
Dick: Some of the INFRAREDs suspect something and give chase. What's your Agility?
George: 6.
Dick rolls in secret - 8 and 11.
Dick: You're not running very effectively, but you're staying ahead of them. Samuel-R?
Samuel: My willpower cracks a little, and I start altering the flamethrower.
Samuel passes a note to Dick: Making it more fuel-efficient by reducing its range. Overload Device is 13. Hardware is 10.
Dick rolls in secret - 15.
Dick passes a note to Samuel: In theory, it should work. No time to test it, yet.
Dick: Tom-R, you reach the first stragglers. Roll your Stealth. Spend Pervs if you want.
Tom: Might as well. 5, making it 19.
Tom rolls - 3.
Dick: Now roll your Hand Weapons.
Tom: Pervs?
Dick: Sure.
Tom: 5, making it 21.
Tom rolls - 2.
Dick: Um, okay. You slip through the shadows unseen - no mean feat for someone wearing bright red reflec. You come up behind them in perfect silence. Your katana is swift, and you behead one in a smooth motion without raising an alarm. The first members of mob #2 reach the main platform and begin scaling it. Mob #1 begins boarding the transbot. The INFRARED with George-R's slugthrower opens fire at Alberto-R, again.
Dick rolls in secret - 10.
Dick: Fortunately, none of the slugs hits, this time. Donald-R, an INFRARED armed with an impromptu spear rounds one of the corners. You promptly burn her. John-R, an INFRARED with a cracked truncheon appears at the other end of the corridor. The transtubes begin to hum in the way that tells you a passenger is arriving. Alberto-R?
Alberto: Firing at the INFRARED with the stolen semi. Energy is 12.
Dick rolls in secret - 12.
Dick: Your laser hits him in the arm - a wound.
Donald: Holding position in case any others come.
Dick: George-R, you've reached the cargo car. Two INFRAREDs with knives are hot on your trail.
George: I yell at any technicians in the room to draw their weapons and fire.
Dick: There don't appear to be any in here - other than that dead one by the window who looks like his head was twisted 360 degrees. Maybe they're repelling the attack at the front of the transbot.
George: Crap. Does the technician have his laser?
Dick: No.
George: Any other weapons?
Dick: A knife.
George: Grabbing it and getting ready to stab my attackers with it.
Dick: Okay. John-R.
John: Drawing my laser and stepping away from the truncheon-wielding maniac.
Dick: Samuel-R?
Samuel: Clearing away the trash with the flamethrower.
Dick: Trash?
Samuel: The INFRARED mob.
Dick: Ah. What's your Field Weapons?
Samuel: 4. I'll spend 5 Pervs to raise it to 9, if you'll let me.
Dick: Sure. Why not?
Dick rolls in secret - 16.
Dick: A jet of flame a few inches long sprays out of the nozzle. It seems you made your flamethrower a bit *too* energy efficient. Have a point of Perversity, though. Tom-R?
Tom: Sneak sneak sneak. Chop.
Dick rolls in secret - 1 and 4.
Dick: You decapitate another INFRARED mobster without bringing any attention to yourself. Mob #2 quickly swarms Samuel-R.
Dick rolls in secret - 4.
Dick: The kevlar affords some protection, but they give him multiple stab and blunt instrument wounds - treat as a wound. Mob #1 has boarded the front two cars of the transbot. There is a rather intense fight taking place between the technicians and the INFRAREDs.
Dick rolls in secret - 7 and 19.
Dick: The INFRAREDs are definitely on the losing end of the deal, since they're facing laser-wielding opponents. The INFRARED with the stolen semi-automatic slugthrower flees back the way he came, taking his newly won prize with him. The INFRAREDs in the cargo car attack George-R.
Dick rolls in secret - 20 and 19.
Dick: The dice really love you guys, tonight. The first INFRARED's knife gets stuck in the wall and breaks as he tries to free it. The second one stabs the open air well to the right of George-R. The INFRARED facing off with John-R charges, thrusting clumsily with his truncheon.
Dick rolls in secret - 18.
Dick: He swings and whiffs. Another INFRARED in Donald-R's corridor peeks around on the other side. You quickly burn him. A couple seconds later, you hear what sounds like a conference of some kind. You can't quite make out the words, but it sounds like a cross between a pep talk and a discussion of tactics.
Donald (ooc): Uh oh.
Condi (ooc): You guys are saying that a lot, tonight.
Dick: The transtubes abruptly open, and Condi-R and Lisa-Y step out. Now, however, I need to have a brief conference with Condi so she knows what Condi-R now knows.

GM Conference with Condi:
Dick: Instead of being quickly inserted back into the mission zone, you are escorted back to the briefing room by a pair of GREEN goons. The room is very different from the way you remember it. First off, it appears all the furniture has been removed, as have most of the lights. It is now a dark room with a stool in the center over which a god light shines down - leaving an area a few feet across as the only visible part of the room. The door closes behind you. A very obviously mechanically distorted voice speaks, "Welcome, Condi-R-ICE-2. I'm Jacques-Y-CHC-2, your briefing officer. There has been a slight change in plans. In order to ensure that the cargo in the caboose reaches its destination safely, you have been given the authority to negotiate with the Commie mutant traitors at the rogue transbot station in exchange for safe passage. You will, of course, have to convince John-R-KRY and his followers that it is to his greater benefit to make a deal with him than to continue his battle against your team. Make haste. There is no time for questions. Take her to the transtube."
Condi (ooc): You're almost a mind-reader, Dick. That was eerily similar to the false orders I was going to give when I got back. Now, I actually have a mandate backed by The Computer to give those orders. Why are you laughing?

GM - Vice President Cheney
Alberto-R-GZS-1 (Alberto) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Condi-R-ICE-1 (Condi) - Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
Donald-R-UMI-1 (Donald) - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
George-R-BSH-1 (George) - President George W. Bush
John-R-SNO-1 (John) - Secretary of Treasury John Snow
Samuel-R-BMN-1 (Samuel) - Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman
Tom-R-IDG-1 (Tom) - Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge



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Copyright 2005
by Eric Zawadzki
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