The NEW Vanguard! Haunt Issue #7

Admin wrote:OOC This IS the Haunts thread... i think you'll find you responded to something in this thread and it's registering as a thread you are subscribed to, or something

Opps my bad ;-)

Sj

AS much as he wanted to help further, the Haunt knew it would endanger his own mission too much. He needed to get out of there and be gone but he didn't want to leave these brave desperate people to die either.

Looking around, he decided it was time to act the frightened self-important scientist he was pretending to be and get out of Dodge while hindering the guards as best he could. He examined the controls nearby before he acted though Then ...

Running up to the closest guard who seemed to be the one about to have the best shot at the resistance fighters, the Haunt [using Acting skill to help with this and any other skill/attribute or bonus we can think of, HP too] grabs the man by the shoulder, screaming, "I'm too important to die! You have to escort me out of here! Now! All of you need to protect me and get me to safety!"

actions: He is first trying to ruin the man's shot but he is also hoping that the man will react somewhat normally and shrug or throw the Haunt off of him. This will allow the Haunt to "Stumble" into one or more of the others guards as he is thrown "off balance", delaying their shots as well. He also hopes to "fall" near the control board, which he will use to "pick" himself up in his fear and "accidentally" hit some switches or press some buttons that will somehow aid the resistance fighters by doing things like slamming down safety shutters over windows and openings that would prevent more guards from entering or prevent the guards currently here from being able to continue shooting until the shutters are raised again, maybe shutting down or redirecting automatic turrets and making sure that the exits for the resistance fighters are left open for them to use, which is why he examined the control board before acting as he does.

After this, he won't stick around but run to safety, while screaming and trying to be as distracting as possible.

ooc: Sorry it took forever to get back to this. Bad nights, no motivation in life and totally blocked on what to do. I had three choices I was down to and locked into them and couldn't figure out which one to take.

Admin wrote:One of the insurgents dashed from the cover of a building and towards the back of a food truck.

The aliens guarding Haunt in his guise as a professor took aim. The resistance member was a sitting duck! Unless...

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" he shouted, putting in his most commanding voice!

OOC Infl 8 + Charisma (extra 4D10) + 2D10 ... Roll(6d10): 2,10,5,8,8,8 Total:16 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d10): 1,3,+8 Total: 28 (Acting Value Total)

vs

Infl 4 + Roll(2d10): 10,4 Total:18 (Opposing Value Total)

Success +4 Effect (to 9 Aura) vs 5 Spirit = 4RAPs.

The attempt to command the aliens isn't wholly successful... nor it is a failure. What it does is causes them to give pause and take stock. The leader leaned in to the cover of the car and made contact with his base.

Haunt watched through the windows and saw the insurgent get to the back of the truck... then, before Haunts astonished eyes, the young man punches through the steel truck body, reaches in, and twists, causing the truck rear to open! He was a super, like Haunt!

The aliens saw it too...

Haunt could try again to command the aliens to get him out of this war zone and to the lab, or he could take direct action to help the insurgents escape with the food. The young man who seemed in his late teens looked about and shouted in french to his companions who were firing into the air to create cover. Then he started scooping up solid looking crates weighing hundreds of pounds each, and tossing them! They flew twenty, thirty, forty feet through the air and into the mouth of an alley where half a dozen insurgents started to drag it to the back of a waiting truck... Could Haunt buy more time for them to escape with the food?

Steeple_jackuk wrote:

Admin wrote:OOC This IS the Haunts thread... i think you'll find you responded to something in this thread and it's registering as a thread you are subscribed to, or something

Opps my bad ;-)

Sj

You can't be bad, you are a hero!

'Laying it on thick' (OOC as we say 'up north' here in T'UK) Haunt brought all of his considerable acting chops to bear

The guard taking aim turned, tried to wave 'Pierre Lubensche' back then recoiled as the man seemingly fell on him, wailing and crying. Finding him surprisingly hard to shake off, the guard commented into his radio. More replies followed and ...

OOC Influence 8 + Charisma Dice (extra 4, don't worry about HP) + Roll(6d10)+0: 7,1,1,8,9,2,+0 Total:17 (25 Acting Value Total) (no doubles, aside from 1? Never EVER consider anything a sure thing in this game!) vs

Infl 4 + Roll(2d10)+0: 2,10,+0 Total:12 (16 Opposing Value Total)

+4 Effect (to 9) vs 5 Spirit = 4 RAPs

Despite not being completely convinced the Soldier dragged Haunt back to the car, shouting all the while as gunshots rang out. Haunts trained eye noted that most shots went wild or high. The resistance fighters weren't THIS bad a shot surely? No. They were Heroes still clinging to a code that stated they should not kill despite fighting in a war for survival! They would forever be hamstrung unless they took 'the next step' and shot to kill.

The door opened with another guard holding it and Haunt was bundled in. A moment later the front doors opened and the other two bodyguards leapt in, bullets zinging off the armoured cars exterior. With Haunt still screaming at the top of his voice the leader had to shout to calm him, then looked exasperated and shook his head, calling out something else to the driver.

The car shot forward, crashing off a parked car and screeching down the road. As he passed the scene he saw more resistance fighters spilling out of the shadows. They carried conventional weapons, handguns and the like, and even molotov cocktails. Against magnetic and laser rifles? And armoured opponents? Haunt hoped they'd live long enough to have a 'chat' to.

Still... a glance behind through the plate glass window of the car... They were cheering, brandishing weapons, moving crates. Today had been a win for them... until Haunt saw a distant dot of a support troop carrier in the sky. They might not win everything they'd grabbed, but something was better than nothing. He settled in the seat, wiping crocodile tears away. He needed to concentrate on his own mission. He just hoped this 'Bradford' guy was worth the effort.

=========

The checkpoint guards looked the bullet pinged car over. It would definitely need a new paint job!

After checking Haunts retinal scan... and clearing it successfully ... the car moved through into a well guarded complex. It was like a military base. Towers manned by guards and with huge mounted guns, patrols, vehicles more like tanks than jeeps... Who knew what waited behind the doors of various warehouses, ready to be unleashed? Some of the main buildings were multi storey and the car headed towards them. The guards hustled Haunt out, showing little respect. They'd wanted to take on the insurgents only to be reminded of their duty, and would be reminded of their loyalties later...

Going through two more checkpoints and into one of the buildings Haunt was somewhat lost. Where to start looking for the guy he was after?

Just then, at a side door... a toilet? He saw it open a crack and a white gloved hand wave from within... The sign said 'Toilet'. Women's toilet. Ahem.

A trap, or... something else? Haunt was an experienced hero. Something told him that hand, and whoever it belonged to, wasn't merely important, but somehow VITAL!

He shivered like someone had stepped on his grave.

Admin wrote:A trap, or... something else? Haunt was an experienced hero. Something told him that hand, and whoever it belonged to, wasn't merely important, but somehow VITAL!

He shivered like someone had stepped on his grave.

OOC: Oh haven't had a chance to read everything going on here, but looking forward to jumping in as soon as Paul has produced my new character to team up, or otherwise with ;-) Oh and you're right not "my bad", that would be my mirror version of my character

Sj

"Isn't this a set up for an adult film," Rush King aka the Haunt thinks to himself, "or a bad bedroom mystery.  Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and he is supposed to be French after all.  Let's see what's up."


Pierre Lubensche sidled up to the door of the ladies room, "you are perhaps a damsel in distress," he asked, "or perhaps one who has heard of my charming ways and wished to speak with me?"

ooc: which explains why the real Pierre was paying hookers for his sexual pleasure.    


The checkpoint guards looked the bullet pinged car over. It would definitely need a new paint job!

After checking Haunts retinal scan... and clearing it successfully ... the car moved through into a well guarded complex. It was like a military base. Towers manned by guards and with huge mounted guns, patrols, vehicles more like tanks than jeeps... Who knew what waited behind the doors of various warehouses, ready to be unleashed? Some of the main buildings were multi storey and the car headed towards them. The guards hustled Haunt out, showing little respect. They'd wanted to take on the insurgents only to be reminded of their duty, and would be reminded of their loyalties later...

Going through two more checkpoints and into one of the buildings Haunt was somewhat lost. Where to start looking for the guy he was after?

Just then, at a side door... a toilet? He saw it open a crack and a white gloved hand wave from within... The sign said 'Toilet'. Women's toilet. Ahem.

A trap, or... something else? Haunt was an experienced hero. Something told him that hand, and whoever it belonged to, wasn't merely important, but somehow VITAL!

He shivered like someone had stepped on his grave.

Haunt left the bemused guards in the lobby as he strode to the womens toilets in his guise as Pierre Lubensch

Opening the door, he peeked in...



What the...?

The shimmering, rapidly fading image of 'Future Haunt' stood in the washroom/toilet. His mask moved as if he were speaking, then he paused. Turning to someone Haunt/Pierre couldn't see, he said something and turned back "...etter be working now. We don't have much time and the power drain will light up their scans like a Christmas Tree. HAUNT..." he stated. "When you 'fixed' the timeline by stopping the Alien hybrid Dr P creature from smashing London it set in motion a chain of events that is rapidly erasing my present - your future. In a matter of days, maybe hours, I WILL CEASE TO EXIST! The only way to stop this, we have devised, is to fight back. The Aliens set in motion a series of events that saw them conquering most of the Earth... most... but not enough. Those countries and their superhumans remaining will fight back, and ultimately win... or they would have done. If they had not sent agents back in time to ERASE their enemies ancestors and thus prevent their being born in the first place! You must get to LONDON as SOON AS POSSIBLE" he emphasised.

He shook his head "Time is running out. Are you sure about this? I know you're a genius and all but... We're messing with temporal mechanics, paradoxes, what if scenarios... are you..."

Then he vanished!

The door opened and an Alien put his head in the gap. "What you doing?" it asked. 'Pierre' made to wash his hands and the Alien looked about then ducked out.

Future Haunt reappeared. "Get to London and find a man called De Vere. He worked for the British Government on the Executive program. He may have details on where to contact a fellow called John Gibbs. He is a part of the puzzle that we cannot decipher but he is KEY to you having any success at all of resetting the timeline and foiling the aliens. This 'current' timeline is... lost. You will fight a losing battle and you will lose friends, allies and the will to live if you carry on. It will change you, darken you, until you have no hope left and fight... because it is the only thing that brings you solace. You don't have long. Gibbs is the key."

Future Haunt started to fade. "They've found us. Time to go. Find Gibbs. Find STEEPLEJACK."

The Haunt froze, thinking furiously, he had a new mission but he also had the current one to complete. He wasn't sure what to do. Leaving now after making a fuss to enter would set off all sorts of alarms in any competent security force that had seen him, making it very difficult to leave but should he do that? Or should he find the man he is looking for and then go full on Haunt mode, busting him out and then fleeing and hiding until they reached England? Or some other option? What to do, what to do? Maybe if he used his smarts with his Detective and Thief skills he could figure out the best option for this situation?

ooc: yeah, I don't know what to do either? So maybe a skill check will help direct me.

Haunt is a smart guy, but without his full range of powers AND the possibility of an alien mob turning up limited his options...

1) Abandoning the current mission would leave this Bradford guy, possibility a pivotal figure in the resistance in France, to his fate. That sat ill with Haunts powerful sense of justice...

2) using his powers to his (albeit limited) full extent would light this place up like a Christmas tree limiting both his and Bradfords chance of escape, which meant the softly softly approach, which took time

3) time it seemed was the commodity he and the rest of the human race was running out of! The Aliens had somehow found the ability to send agents back through time to eliminate key figures. Haunt might wake up one day to find the world COMPLETELY dominated by the Alien overlords... assuming he remembered anything other than a time pre alien or even if he woke up at all! He might be on a list of targets even now... at any moment he may vanish from existence!

Arggh! Time travel! The paradox, change this, that happens mess it brought with it ... and yet...

A knock on the door.

"Coming! It was a particularly bad curry last night, you must accept my apologies!" he shouted at the bathroom door.

If Haunt followed his future self advice and immediately abandoned his mission to go to London and contact this Edward D'Vere, retired former government minister for paranormal affairs* he might be able to track the last known whereabouts of this John Gibb chap. Or Steeplejack, as he was once known. Why? he didn't know yet, but the information was extremely specific. His future self, and presumably Dr Praetorious (if he still existed in the timeline - clearly future Haunt was getting technical help from someone) or whoever was helping him had targeted Gibb as the key to accessing a way to somehow change the timeline, to stop the Aliens eliminating key figures before they became a problem to them. America and some of the other super powers were still Alien free, so to speak, but deleting key members of Congress/Public Figures/Superhumans before they were born would tip the scales in the Aliens favour.

He thought hard.

There must be restrictions or limits on the time travel the Aliens were using otherwise the timeline would have changed already and... arggh. Maybe it HAD changed! He'd been out of it for nearly a year held in a stasis tank whilst the Aliens harvested his DNA....

And they were still at it. Who knew how long he had? He COULD save Bradford, or at least try... and then wink out of existence because his ancestor had been assassinated...

The way forward seemed clear - or at least as clear as time travel would allow.

He was currently in occupied France not far from Paris. He needed to get to the coast, across the channel and to London, there to find this D'Vere fellow and then find Steeplejack. From there...? What if Steeplejack didn't know anything about... No. Future Haunt had been specific. That he was able to send a message at all indicated he was still alive in the future, for now. It was a leap of faith, but it might just save all of Humanity!

First... how to get out of this toilet with the guards outside. He looked about. There were no windows. Dare he fight his way out? The place was sure to be camera'd up in the lobby...

*From the Earliest days of the Yahoo Groups The Executive game that saw Wandafar, Lionheart and Steeplejacks origins, along with Iron Lady, Retribution, Ben Nevis, Professor Thoth and others in the team

Thinking it over and hating abandoning the man he came to rescue Rush decided he had to get out of here and head to England soonest. He would have more options to use to get out AFTER leaving the toilet. So stage one, leave the toilet. Stage two, leave the area.

Maybe he could fake having left important papers at home and having to go back for them? Or maybe he could drop some smoke bombs or small incendiary devices in trash cans or other places, set off the fire alarms and flee under the cover of that? Fake an illness and get taken away in an ambulance then escape from it? No, they would have an infirmary here no doubt. Maybe combine idea one and two? He was and is an ACTOR! He could improvise after he seeing who was knocking on the door.

Washing his hands and splashing cold water on his face and then toweling most but not all water off, so it appeared he had a clammy face and was sweating a bit, he opened the door.

The insistent guards (Two in the lobby) grunted with impatience and headed for the main lift expecting Pierre to follow

"I need to go back!" he declared, looking about and making a song and dance about wringing his hands through thinning hair. "My papers! Important research! Without it I can't... we MUST go back!"

OOC Infl 8 + Roll(6d10)+0: 3,1,10,4,4,7,+0 Total:8 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d10)+0: 7,10,+0 Total:33 vs Infl 5 + Modifier +4 + Roll(2d10)+0: 10,6,+0 Total:25

+4 Effect (Aura 5 +4, to 9) vs RV 5 + Modifier 4 (9) = 0 RAPs! FAILED (by 1!!!)

The Guards were unimpressed! One activated the lift with a key card and retinal scan whilst the other shouted in their native Alien tongue and marched to where 'Pierre' stood and unholstered his pistol, pointing it and flicking it several times in the direction of the lift.

Gulp.

OOC Great roll/performance but this is a tough audience!!!

OOC: Tough crowd tonight Dave ;-)

Sj

so Acting wouldn't have added a bonus die or two to the roll?

Really tough audience!

Oh well, the show must go on, you can do it mate, besides, don't keep me waiting - timing is everything

Sj

Seeing no choice in the matter at the moment, the Haunt followed the guards directions but always keeping his eyes open, looking for a chance.
ooc: Using Detective and Thief skills here to see if I spot something that will help me get out. Otherwise, I think we are up to Plan D now.

OOC Acting added FOUR dice to your roll - Haunt is WORLD CLASS in his field but more dice isn't a guarantee of success unfortunately!

The door swishes open and 'Pierre' is ushered in. The guards look somewhat disgruntled but its hard to tell exactly as they have alien features partially covered by half face helmets!

One activates the lift and Haunt glances at the panel. The alien script on the control panel is indecipherable but he feels the lift dropping rapidly. On an on it goes, down and down into the bowels of the earth beneath the research complex building.

It swishes open and the room beyond is large, dimly lit and pretty secure. Its a checkpoint, complete with metal detector/body scanner and several guards. One alien is clad in a suit.

Haunt stifles a gasp. It's one of the 'human like' aliens that zapped him with the power nullifier ray that caused the reduction in power levels he was still (slowly!) recovering from! What if it had another of those rays? If he were zapped again, would he be imprisoned once more? What of this NEW more important mission that might save the Earth from this invasion in the first place?

The lift door starts to swish closed behind. The guards who escorted him look expectantly at Pierre to watch him go through the scanner. It seems they may have been fooled before at some point. How convincing could the worlds greatest actor be in this most dangerous of performances???

His keen mind looked about.

Air vent.

Two doors leading out of this room but they were beyond the scanner/barrier/through the guards.

The door hissing closed behind. He was fast enough to duck into it. He hoped. He had a heartbeat to decide before it was closed!!!

OOC: Is this the same kind of scanner he went through before or something else entirely different? If it is the same, I am thinking of having the Haunt just go through it. An idea I had was to just do an actual day of work and go home, then since no alarms would have been set off by him, just driving to the coast to try to get to England. That may actually be faster than trying to escape and set off alarms and have to worry about pursuit all the way to England.

Let's go with spend the day "working" and then getting out of there and go "home", get his car or a cab or train and head north. Not sure what kinds of border restrictions we are dealing with. Pierre probably can't or won't be allowed to go to England, so taking a smuggler's boat across would be a good idea. Using Detective and Thief to find such a boat. If not, swimming would probably be my next best option, can anyone say "porpoise".

As for working, having watched my office mates over the decades: spending time getting coffee, making coffee, getting more coffee; casually moving to a group of 2-3 folks who are chatting and join in, while not talking too much; pulling out paper files and "looking them over". Probably don't know his password to his computer but if I do, then "work" on the computer, "reviewing files", playing solitaire; going to the bathroom a number of times; walk around with a clipboard and taking "notes" or "checking stuff off". Walk around holding coffee cup in hand and again joining in conversations. Go to the supply closet for stuff like staples, paper clips, pencils, pens - multiple trips for each item. Stare through a microscope at stuff and "jot notes" on what I see. Avoid any authority figures as much as possible, being somewhere else when they come around. You know, a usual office day for some people.

And actually see if I can find any kind of useful Intel that might help us down the road, though if I am about to time travel, "useful" is a very vague concept here, other than maybe useful in helping me get to England.

The above should easily get through a work day.

DavidMcMahon wrote:The above should easily get through a work day.

OOC: That's got to be oscar-winning at no mistake, the performance of a lifetime. Sorry to keep interjecting, just waiting to jump in.

Sj

OOC: Not a problem. Interject when you want. Now for me, I have an office to myself and I just close the door and no one knows what I do during the day.

OOC I'm not even rolling with a description like that. Consider it done!

'Pierre' moved through the checkpoint with Haunt giving the performance of a lifetime.

When the 'Thin Man' alien took a closer look at the notes about Pierre and then at the man itself, it seemed to be scrutinising.



"Take your time. I have all day." stated Pierre. "I'm the one on a deadline and you people are all contributing to the reason it won't get met. Do you have serial numbers, or names I can jot down for reference? Just for when the superiors demand a report and I..."

The Thin Man scowled and gave a wave. The guards opened the door into a corridor and a pair of them escorted Pierre down there. Through another door, into a curving corridor. On the 'inner' side of the curved corridor were windows viewing into a great circular room. It had dimmed lighting but lots of glowing screens and strange devices lit it up. Some kind of testing facility. Humans in white coats buzzed about like worker bees noting things down and tapping away at computers. In one section that looked like a firing range a hapless human dressed in rags and manacled was put against the wall. A scientist in a coat levelled a weapon and Haunt turned away from the resulting mess.

There were booths filled with light and noise containing humans being tortured. Scientists noted the results with more thin men prowling about keeping an eye on things.

This was more than a mere torture chamber. They were testing, looking for... something.

Finally Pierre reached another door and he was led inside. It was a large changing room/locker area. The guards stayed at the door whilst Haunt looked up and down for his peg/locker. Finally bored he grabbed a white coat and safety glasses from a random post, ripped off the name badge and made his way to another doorway, clipboard in hand. Steps led down, down, down into the bowels of the Earth and a doorway at the bottom led into another corridor, guarded by Alien soldiers. They admitted him without taking much interest and he entered another cavernous darkened room.

Strapped to 45 degree angled gurneys were various human beings. All were naked and showed signs of beatings, surgery and torture. The scientists in here moved around in silence, hushed or possibly ashamed to be participating. Thin Men were everywhere, and Haunt glanced about, counting at least a dozen guards at various doors and entrances. Computer terminals, surgical instruments, strange devices on the end of angled arms leaning down like some death ray from a Bond villain lair and more besides.

There, surrounded by half a dozen scientists, was the man Haunt had come to save. John Bradford.



White coats were gathered about, men and women. Bradford was the only clothed prisoner but his uniform was in tatters. Despite his bruised and battered face, the man looked defiant and spat a gobbet of blood out on the floor as much as his restrained head was able.

Pierre stood taking it in before he was called over to another terminal and told to get to work by another white coat, thankfully in English. The terminal was passworded and his desk was arranged neatly with piles of papers, reports and various office related objects. It was time for a hard days work. Starting with a cup of coffee.

OOC Any deviation from the professional 'looking busy' work day? Have done it myself on occasion though these days my working day is spent looking out of a window at 100mph (soon to be 125mph) at rails and the scenery whilst wiggling a lever and pressing a few buttons. Meh. It pays the bills.

OOC: Really, really want to kill everyone of these aliens in sight but can't .... Sigh

Would love to leave some of the "toys" I brought in with my briefcase in reach of Bradford on my way out at the end of the day. Maybe with a "Give me 15 minutes to get out before you go wild" message and give him a chance at payback or escape with the tools I left him. But that's only if I can do it without being spotted, otherwise, "boring work day" and nightmares when I finally sleep.

Haunt found it hard to keep focused on his 'work' even as Bradfords mouth was taped up as they applied various methods to torture him.

It was a prolonged and determined effect to break the man. Occasionally the tape would be removed with questions asked about the resistance, their plans, location of arms caches, names of contacts, potential recruits. Where were the superhumans? What did he know? Did he know that Advent had members of his family? his sister, Sarah and her family? They were being held as accomplices. They would be questioned. He could spare them by talking.

Despite hours of torture, and doubtless weeks before this, Bradford grinned a bloody smile and snarled "Traitors. Your race will judge you when the reckoning comes. And it IS coming. Now slap the tape on and get prodding with those tasers again, I gotta itch."

The man DID have an iron will. He was courageous but ultimately doomed to fail or die. They'd break him or kill him.

Haunt ground his teeth together and shuffled papers.

It was going to be a long day.

=========

A shift change for the torturers/scientists gave an opportunity for Haunt/Pierre to walk past Bradford.

The man was slumped, exhausted and in incredible pain. Occasionally he'd blacked out but now he was gathering himself for the afternoon session. Sleep deprived, racked with pain, he was a man near the edge of breaking, held together only by strands of willpower!

Haunt glanced about. Scientists were chatting to two Thin Men. The guards with those half face masks stared forward, impassive, but it was hard to see if they noticed Haunt. Did he want to risk passing close enough to help Bradford in some way, or pass him a message?