Track Six: Up, Up and Away

[Mr. Handy]

"It's a bit late for that now," says Liz, letting the professor lean on her. "Anyway, you're hurt, and if you try to stop them again, they could finish you off. We'll settle things with him later." She lowers her voice. "The ancient Doctor...do you mean Fu Manchu?"

[Starspawn338]

"STAND DOWN EVERYBODY!" Lew yells. "We are just employees who have nothing to do with the schemes of the corporate elites. This is part and parcel of the fighting that goes on unnoticed ALL THE TIME and we are not beholden to defend Takara with our lives."

[jp1885]

"Um..."

While the others pontificate, Tony bobs up and down slightly inside the vessel, feeling rather foolish. The lights of the control panel blink mockingly at him as the engine whines as if in protest at his presence.

"I don't suppose anyone knows... Oh bugger it!"

Seeing the Chinese fellows adopting a threatening attitude towards Zara and having worked out which button makes the thing go up, he jabs another button in the hope of driving into the invaders.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"I saw you on TV, doing that martial arts stuff," Zara says, hoping he can tell she's being truthful.

"Then you are aware that it would be foolish to stand in our way," the leader replies, "as 'that martial arts stuff,' as you call our ancient and noble techniques, are able to defeat your decadent imperialist attempts at defense with little trouble. I advise you to direct that running dog of an Englishman to surrender the vehicle without delay."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"It's a bit late for that now," says Liz, letting the professor lean on her. "Anyway, you're hurt, and if you try to stop them again, they could finish you off. We'll settle things with him later." She lowers her voice. "The ancient Doctor...do you mean Fu Manchu?"

"That is one of his many names, yes. What his true origins might be, no one can say, but for the last half a century or more he has claimed to be Chinese. Nationality means little to him, the fiend! If he were to obtain the secrets of this technology . . . well, I shudder to imagine the consequences."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"STAND DOWN EVERYBODY!" Lew yells. "We are just employees who have nothing to do with the schemes of the corporate elites. This is part and parcel of the fighting that goes on unnoticed ALL THE TIME and we are not beholden to defend Takara with our lives."

The leader of the invaders bows to Lew and says "You speak wisely for an American. Do not interfere with our plans, and you will not be harmed."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Um..."

While the other pontificate, Tony bobs up and down slightly inside the vessel, feeling rather foolish. The lights of the control panel blink mockingly at him as the engine whines as if in protest at his presence.

"I don't suppose anyone knows... Oh bugger it!"

Seeing the Chinese fellows adopting a threatening attitude towards Zara and having worked out which button makes the thing go up, he jabs another button in the hope of driving into the invaders.

Spoiler:

random effects: 1 = summon robots, 2 = vehicle moves horizontally at random, 3 = laser activated, 4 = vehicle descends, 5 = [no further effect], 6 = activate self-destruct mechanism][dice]234186:0[/dice]

As the vehicle's whining sounds increase in volume, until they fill the room with a loud roar, and the Minnow Two begins to shudder violently back and forth, some men in black enter the room from the cleverly concealed doorway.

Spoiler:

[dice]0[/dice]

As luck would have it, there are two for each of the masked invaders. Wasting no time, each of the men in black pulls out a pistol and fires at an invader. Remarkably, these weapons do not make any noise, and produce scarlet beams of light rather than bullets, but otherwise seem to operate like ordinary firearms.

Spoiler:

dex = 9; [dice]2[/dice] 4 hits; damage: [dice]1[/dice]

One of the invaders takes a direct hit to his eyes, and falls to the ground, completely incapacitated. Three others are wounded in other parts of their bodies, but remain standing, in defensive positions. The leader, untouched by the attacks, pulls a throwing star from a pocket of his black jumpsuit and tosses it at one of the men in black.

Spoiler:

dex = 16[dice]3[/dice]

Fortunately, the weapon misses its target, instead burying itself in the concrete wall behind the men in black. Abandoning their severely wounded companion, the others make haste to climb back up the rappelling rope, slowed a bit by their injuries, as the Minnow Two grows ever louder and shudders more and more violently.

[jp1885]

Tony blinks in surprise at the arrival of the Men in Black, but isn't loathe to look a gift horse in the mouth. Consequently, while the two sides battle it out, he hurriedly clambers out of the shuddering vehicle and joins the others.

"Um, I'm afraid I may have broken something - sorry about that. May I suggest we make a tactical withdrawal before our chariot goes boom?"

[SunlessNick]

Zara thinks Tony's idea is a very good one.

OOC:   Remember she has the Slow affliction, though.

[Mr. Handy]

"Right," says Liz, taking the professor by the arm and getting him clear of the potential blast radius and, if possible, out of the area entirely.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Given the fact that the Minnow Two is a fair distance off the ground, Tony has to leap down.

Spoiler:

dex = 14 - 1 for temporary effect of teleporting = 13[dice]0[/dice] We'll call that a borderline result.

He reaches the ground with a thump, having made a successful, if somewhat painful landing.

As everyone leaves the room, the vehicle breaks apart with a final shudder, scattering electronic equipment all over the place. The bits and pieces collapse into the chamber located below the floor of the room.

With some luck, the investigators manage to escape the facility. This may be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, however, as chaos reigns outside. From the ground, the investigators can barely see the masked men on the roof seeming to vanish into thin air, just as something that looks like a giant soap bubble, shimmering with just barely visible rainbow colors, drops down from the sky and surrounds them. It then vanishes itself, leaving no trace of itself or the invaders.

Meanwhile, uniformed security personnel run back and forth, seemingly baffled by what has just occurred. In the ensuing confusion, a man whom the investigators recognize as as one of the Russian agents from the secret island headquarters approaches them.

"Come quickly," he says. "There is little time. We must get this man to safety." He indicates the Porfessor.

[jp1885]

With the potential threat of the Minnow Two neutralised, a slightly bruised Tony has no wish to see someone as talented and powerful as the Professor fall into the hands of his nemesis and her cronies.

“I think, comrade, that the Prof is better off with us.”

[Mr. Handy]

"As you can see, he's injured," says Liz. "We need to take him to the infirmary. The intruders are gone, and he'll be safe with us." Bloody Soviets, she thinks. First they try to snatch German scientists before the West can get them after the war, and now this!

[SunlessNick]

"I think their spaceship's wrecked," Zara says, hoping it will mollify the agent for now.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"I see that I shall have to insist that you accompany me," the Soviet agent says, placing his hand in the pocket of his windbreaker so that a cylindrical shape protrudes from it.

The Professor stares at the pocket for a moment. "Makarov pistol, I believe. Standard KGB issue. Primitive but effective."

The Russian raises an eyebrow at this comment, but chooses not to respond to it. Instead, he continues, "Our medical facilities are more than sufficient to see to Doctor Hinkley's needs. I would prefer to make a quiet exit. If you will follow me, I have a car waiting."

[Mr. Handy]

Fortunately, Liz has just the thing to deal with a man who won't take no for an answer, and she's willing to gamble that the Russian won't fire at her and risk hitting the professor who is leaning on her. After all, they want him alive. She takes out her mace and tries to spray him in the eyes with it.

OOC,Dexterity roll (12) to mace the Russian: [dice]0[/dice]

[jp1885]

With Liz's attempt to Mace the Russian, the die is cast. Hoping that the guy is at least distracted by the spray, Tony lashes out with a classic Bartitsu move, attempting to strike and break the fellow's gun hand with the sawtoothed side of his stick.

DEX currently 13 + Bartitsu +3,[dice]0[/dice]

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Fortunately, Liz has just the thing to deal with a man who won't take no for an answer, and she's willing to gamble that the Russian won't fire at her and risk hitting the professor who is leaning on her. After all, they want him alive. She takes out her mace and tries to spray him in the eyes with it.

OOC,Dexterity roll (12) to mace the Russian: [dice]234269:0[/dice]

Spoiler:

With that die roll, let's say that there's a 1 in 20 chance of hitting somebody else. If I roll a 20[dice]0[/dice] Hmm. Didn't really expect that to happen, but what the heck. 1 = Liz 2 = Zara 3 = Tony, 4 = Lew, 5 = the Professor, 6 = Innocent Bystander[dice]1[/dice]

There must be something wrong with the spray can of Mace Liz is using, as it fails to strike at the Russian and instead winds up incapacitating Lew instead. In the resulting confusion, Tony has time to make his attack.

Spoiler:

No permanent damage to Lew, but -3 to all basic characteristics until there's time for the Mace to wear off

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

With Liz's attempt to Mace the Russian, the die is cast. Hoping that the guy is at least distracted by the spray, Tony lashes out with a classic Bartitsu move, attempting to strike and break the fellow's gun hand with the sawtoothed side of his stick.

DEX currently 13 + Bartitsu +3,[dice]234275:0[/dice]

With the deadly accuracy of a cobra, Tony strikes the Russian's hand.

Spoiler:

damage[dice]0[/dice]

So powerful is the blow, in fact, that not only are the bones of his hand shattered, the shock of the attack knocks the fellow out cold. He falls to the ground with a thump.

All this draws the attention of one of the security guards, who asks "What the hell's going on here? Who's this guy? Why'd you attack him?"

[SunlessNick]

"It's my fault," Zara says. "The guy was getting fresh with me, and he wasn't backing off. This dude just helped me out. Thankyou, he was getting pretty scary, she adds, to Tony.