RUBY CITY DEFENDERS! Issue #2 - Caught between a Hammer, a Sickle... and a hard case!

"One of you guide them here and get them out of here," Lightning Bullet said. "We can meet at the Texaco station just outside the city limits on State Highway 98. I'm going back in and try to save some lives. I'll try blinding as many crooks as I can so the cops can round them up."

With that, he flies low to the ground away from the van and the building and then zooms back up into the air around the corner of the building. He's looking for a window a floor or two above where most of the shooting is taking place in order to fly in and then fly to the stairwell and blind those crooks behind the main shooters below, so he doesn't blind the cops too.

Swell. The one guy who spent some time with these people just flew off. Now Captain Conduit will have to prove he's not a villain. And it has to be Fred, because DarkRaven is the darkness. From what he understands of his power, if DarkRaven leaves the van it will be visible again. "I'll go be the guiding light. Keep this thing covered in darkness, willya?"

Captain Conduit then ducks and runs from the car to the building's rear entrance.

Dice Action: Dodging.

Move Action: Getting his butt to the group without being shot. He's just running on foot, crouching to avoid bullets, not flying.

Free Action: Saying, "Guten Tag. I'm Lightning Bullet's friend. And more importantly, Herman Schmidt's friend. The name's Captain Conduit. Follow me to a safe exit that is currently shrouded in darkness. You will all be safe there and will see Herman soon."

DarkRaven splutters "Wait! Lightning Bull... Oh well, looks like just you and me Capta..."

Captain Conduit moves at speed and with the majority of the attention focused towards the hotel right now it seems he's 'gotten away with it'.

Meanwhile Lightning Bullet flies about and hears calls from below as cops see a flying shape in the sky. It's dark and there are civilians all over the place so they don't start shooting but there is plenty of shouting!

Captain Conduit arrives at the back of the hotel where Randy and the Germans are trying to push through the crowds, some of which are trying to get back in the building to get their personal belongings and clashing with the cops! The firemen are trying to push past and it's a chaotic mess!

"What the... hey! A cape! You! Stop there!" yells a cop.

"Cool it flatfoot." growled Conway as he pushed past. "I'll deal wid this." he snarled.

Shaking his head, Conway pushes through the crowds and calls out "Hey! Cape! I need ta speak wid ya! Don't move!"

Some of the cops were twitchy but with so many civilians in the way and pushing past they couldn't draw a bead nor shout loud enough to challenge the costumed newcomer.

"What a mess." growled Conway as he got to Captain Conduits' side. "Move on you people!" he growled at the hotel residents as they started to stop and gather around the brightly costumed individual. "We really need ta talk about plans an' how they turn inta **** if ya don't stick to em. This place is turnin' inta a war zone an' the Brass is gonna bust my balls unless I can make sense o it. Please tell me ya got th' family an' you're on yer way outta here?"

Captain Conduit could see a guy pulling along a woman and her children whilst helping an old woman move through the crowds, and he seemed to be looking for someone. Probably Lightning Bullet...

=========

Speaking of which Lightning Bullet slipped into a window left open for ventilation.

As soon as he did he could hear gunshots ring out, with shouting to and from the mobsters and the police! Moving to the door of the room into the corridor he listened.

No shooting or shouting right now. Would he be stepping out into a frefight?

=========

Meanwhile...

A red clad figure screeched to a halt and looked down the street at the hotel and looked back. It was too dark to see at distance and a blackout in this section of the city made it even harder. Still, he knew his team mates must be making their way here.

Eventually.

(OOC translated from Russian) "Snails. They move like snails!" he hawks and spits. Still, he looks back to the hotel and sees the people gathered in the street, cops, hears distant shooting... He would wait for the others to turn up despite the temptation to dash in, flatten a bunch of the decadent Americans and zip out again.

Captain Conduit points out the family to Conway. "I think that's them. Help me lead them to that spot of Darkness over yonder. DarkRaven is there with the van. We'll them be outta your hair but Lightning Bullet went in the building to play hero."

Hoping he figured it correctly, that he is a floor or two above the cops on the stairway, Lightning Bullet exits the room and heads for the stairway door. He hopes he can get into the stairway and flash a bunch of the mobsters and then either move up or down a floor and do it again. That ought to make it a bit easier for the cops to catch the crooks.

Conway scowls - his default expression - and chomps on his cigar as he calls out. "Hey! You! You dere!"

The fellow with the family gapes, sees the cops all around all of a sudden and bolts!

The family call out - in German - and the kids start to cry. The old woman looks bewildered and the younger woman isn't sure what to do now. People moving in between make it tricky to see them and they are in danger of being lost in the crowd!

"****ing &*^%$$*((!" snarls Conway. He starts to push through the crowd towards the family.

"Watch out fer th' flatfoots! They is real trigger happy with costumes in dis town! Man am I gonna get it when word gets round I chat to a couple..." he growls.

Captain Conduit is getting strange looks from people as they push past. One kid grabs hold of his cape and shows it to his Father, only to get a clip round the head for his trouble.

"Don't move!" shouts one Cop, hand on gun but making his way through the push towards Captain Conduit...

=========

Lightning Bullet moves through the smoke and turmoil with people still trying to get out.

A number of fires have broken out now - spilled cigarettes and liquor don't mix well it seems and people are coughing, moving into halls and heading for fire escapes. Some have been asleep through the whole thing but now fire alarms are going off and residents are on the verge of panic!

On this floor the cops haven't gotten here yet. Lightning Bullet sticks to the shadows watching for animal like mobsters having figured out which floor to try next from the noise and gunfire.

Sure enough - though they have transformed back into mobsters that more resemble humans - a pair of suited goons with Tommy Guns pointed down at their sides, trying to look inconspicuous as they pull trench-coats around themselves are heading for the stairs!

Chances are the mobsters are trying to cut their losses and blend with the residents to get out of here! The animal change must only work for a certain amount of time - perhaps tied in with adrenaline or some other trigger.

Lightning Bullet can pick out the mobsters from where he is crouched in the shadows near the window at the end of the hall but they are intermingled with the people heading for the stairs...

Lightning Bullet mutters under his breath at what he was seeing.  He was hoping that the people would stay away from a stairway where gunfire was happening.  Instead, they went right to it.  He could attack some of the crooks but that would endanger the bystanders, he couldn't allow that to happen.

He would have to give this up as a bad deal, for the moment, and head back to the van where Captain Conduit would be escorting the Nazi family towards [he thought], since he knew what they looked like.  Or he could try down lower if he heard any gunfire.

He listen to see if the shooting was over.

actions:  IF gunfire has ended then he will retreat and head back to the van.  If he hears gunfire, he will try heading towards it to help out doing his best not to be seen.


ooc:  and man are we two not coordinating at all!    
LB had pointed out where the van was to the GI so he could lead the family there.  CC decides to move it closer instead so LB leaves to help the cops out knowing the CC knows what the family looks like and could wave them over to the new place the van was parked at but CC goes after LB instead.  Not sure where NightRaven went to as he also knows what the Nazi family looks like.  And now our interpreter runs away!   Well, heck!  

But then again, this is our first try at superheroing.

DavidMcMahon wrote:Lightning Bullet mutters under his breath at what he was seeing.  He was hoping that the people would stay away from a stairway where gunfire was happening.  Instead, they went right to it.  He could attack some of the crooks but that would endanger the bystanders, he couldn't allow that to happen.

He would have to give this up as a bad deal, for the moment, and head back to the van where Captain Conduit would be escorting the Nazi family towards [he thought], since he knew what they looked like.  Or he could try down lower if he heard any gunfire.

He listen to see if the shooting was over.

actions:  IF gunfire has ended then he will retreat and head back to the van.  If he hears gunfire, he will try heading towards it to help out doing his best not to be seen.


ooc:  and man are we two not coordinating at all!    
LB had pointed out where the van was to the GI so he could lead the family there.  CC decides to move it closer instead so LB leaves to help the cops out knowing the CC knows what the family looks like and could wave them over to the new place the van was parked at but CC goes after LB instead.  Not sure where NightRaven went to as he also knows what the Nazi family looks like.  And now our interpreter runs away!   Well, heck!  

But then again, this is our first try at superheroing.

Captain Conduit didn't go after LB. He went for the family as planned. Nightraven had to stay in the darkforce bubble because he is the darkforce bubble.

Captain Conduit freezes, but only because he doesn't want the cop to accidentally shoot an innocent bystander. He says to Conway, "Go get that family to DarkRaven in the Darkforce Bubble willya. The van's there." Then when the cop with the gun aimed at his gets close enough to hear, CC says, "I'm not moving because I'm one of the good guys. So is a short flying guy. But if you see a superfast running Russian, he's not with us. And could be trouble. And animalistic mobsters are definitely trouble. My name's Captain Conduit and I'm not real good at taking advantage of my rights to remain silent."

CAPTAIN CONDUIT

Conway moves between the hero and the cop. "Get that down Smiddy. You shoot these guys so close to all these people an' someone else is gettin hurt, not him! Ain't you heard? Most o dese guys is bullet proof. If he wanted ta take ya out, you'd be on th' floor countin tweety birds. Get the crowd away from here, I'll deal wid dis guy."

"Conway, get outta th' way ya shmuck! I gotta clean shot!" said the cop.

Conway, cool as a cucumber, walked all the way up to the guns barrel and raised it with his hand to his forehead. "You'll have ta shoot thru me ta get ta him." he growled.

The cop paled and with shaking hands lowered his pistol. "You ain't... you... you're crazy, Conway!" spluttered the cop. "The war made you crazy!"

"Yeah it sure did. I'm seein' things. Flyin' men, super midgets. Cops who want ta fire inta crowds o people. Doctor, take me away, give me a nice room wid padded wallpaper. Yeah, real crazy. Move on, flatfoot." growled Conway.

He turned to Captain Conduit.

"Those reds still sniffin about? The heck wid all this, we need ta get outta here. This..." he waved his hand at the building with smoke pouring from it and the people coming out onto the sidewalk "is just the starter. The main course is one we don't wanna taste if the reds - or the feds - show up."

Conway turned and waved to the guy with the German family. "Through here. Yeah, dats right."

He turned to Captain Conduit. "Get up on the rooftops, keep an eye out fer the reds. If they show up... man..." he looked around. "Just the thought o the paperwork on dis one is givin me an ulcer."

=========

LIGHTNING BULLET

The diminutive hero didn't hear any more gunfire at the moment. Firemen and Police were making their way through, room by room, floor by floor. Despite the noise and ruckus, some people were only just stumbling out onto the landing in their pyjamas having been in a deep sleep or been drunk and able to sleep through anything.

Thankfully it seemed the shooting match between cops and animal powered mobsters had stopped. Maybe they'd decided the fight wasn't worth it and it was time to go.

'Maybe' Lightning Bullet thought, 'it was time to do the same'.

The hero moved to the window and could see (Telescopic Vision) the van in the darkness. Despite the street lights being out it was a patch of pure black where light didn't bounce off surfaces and no shadows were cast.

There! Conway leading Randy and the family to the darkened area and directing them to the rear of the van which revealed itself.

Time to go.

=========

CAPTAIN CONDUIT

From the rooftop of a nearby building he could see the street but - thankfully - couldn't see any Russkies yet. They were powerful, slick, seemingly well trained and their abilities made them formidable. A fight in the streets with so many civilians about would be 'a bad thing'.

He saw the family clambering into the back of the the truck with Conway making sure they got in.

OOC No sign of the Russians... YET! Time to go?

Lightning Bullet wasn't happy with how things went down but for a first effort not bad. Time to get out of here and then convince Captain Conduit the need to turn the family over to the FBI. He certainly wasn't going to allow them to stay in his hidden base, even if it was mostly empty at the moment.

Seeing the van get loaded, Captain Conduit flies back to it in the way that provides him the most cover as possible, just in case there are any more trigger happy cops or gangsters. Reaching the van he'll land on the roof and hold on tight, then tell whoever took the driver's seat to go, by peeking his head down to either the front windshield or the driver's side window.

OOC Summer holidays over (finally!) time to get back to things *I* enjoy doing! Apologies for the delays chaps, the summer has seemed to last for ever...

LIGHTNING BULLET, CAPTAIN CONDUIT, DARKRAVEN and the former Nazi scientists Family

The trio of heroes settled in, on or around the truck and set off. Darkraven dropped the darkness 'disguise' and the nondescript hire truck moved through the city streets away from the wail of sirens, hustle and bustle of people evacuating the hotel and all the cops. Thankfully the gunfire had stopped. What that meant... well, the mobsters wouldn't be happy that their 'bargaining chip' had been taken from under heavy guard and left them battling it out with cops and capes!

Things hadn't gone smoothly or true to plan but someone smart once said 'no plan survives contact with the enemy' and so it had proved.

The main thing was, they'd done it.

The sun started to rise as the truck finally made its way out of the city limits and back towards Lightning Bullets' hideout...

=========

MEANWHILE...

(translated from Russian)

"They were..." spluttered the Speedster. He crouched in his red costume on the edge of the roof looking down on the streets full of people. "I mean, they may still be here, somewhere..."

"Do you suppose we should go through the crowd and ask them?" said a tall man, broad almost as much as he towered and he probably had to duck under doorways. Bearded, the costume seemed an ill fit and beneath it his hair covered body and bestial nature suited his codename 'Red Bear'.

"Other forces were at work here." stated another man and the others fell silent when he spoke. "The American 'capes'. 'Super Heroes' they call them, though they seem as yet less convinced by the benefits of such people than other decadent American cities like New York, Metropolis or Gotham."

"We should crush them!" snarled the big bearded man, fist clenched.

"Yes, and like the heads of the hydra, more seem to pop up. They are guided, affected, by popular opinion of them. To find and destroy them would divert us from our mission. To discredit them... well... that would buy us the time and space we needed to retrieve the personnel we were sent here to recruit."

"How can we do that when we don't know where... or who... they are?" asked the only woman of the group, a haughty looking brunette who smoked a cigarette in a holder and swept her hair with a flick away from her face which was partially obscured by a domino mask.

"We must become the hunter. We have tried speed, and that did not work." he said with a glance at the Speedster.

"We have tried brute force and... whilst I believe it got us some results, it is messy and draws attention to us. As yet few if any know we are active."

The man narrowed his eyes, his half face mask obscuring most features but those cruel grey eyes stood out. "It is time to be cunning, like the fox. This... " he gave a wave of a hand "'henhouse' is about to find out what happens when the guard dogs must guard not one, but many of their charges."

He looked down at the crowd. "Public figures, people of note or interest that will be missed, mourned and reported on."

"What will that achieve?" grunted the big bear like man.

The woman sighed and flicked her cigarette. "We need to make sure such an act is seen publicly and that word spreads.  These 'heroes' balance on the edge of the law for the time being, tolerated for the most part by the authorities because the public support them. What happens when the public don't support them?"

The man with the grey eyes scanned the crowd below. "Indeed. Find out all you can about the 'super heroes' of this city and get to work on new costumes..." he rasped...

END OF ISSUE!

OOC In the next day or so (juggling work but no kids thankfully, so should be getting caught up) you'll get your HP awards and be able to tweak/upgrade your characters. You came through, saved the day and avoided getting ambushed by the Red Menace! Counts as a 'win' in my book...

If I can afford it, I want one more level of shrinking and 2 levels of flight for Lightning Bullet.

Lightning Bullet already had 38HP so 193Hp less:

40HP Shrinking 3 to 4
40HP Flight 6 to 80

113HP

Could spend a few more if needed...

Is it Accuracy or Martial Arts he needs to raise his ability to hit easier with his Lightning Touch? Whichever it is, raise that up with the remaining points.

Admin wrote:Lightning Bullet already had 38HP so 193Hp less:

40HP Shrinking 3 to 4
40HP Flight 6 to 80

113HP

Could spend a few more if needed...

Changed my mind, lets go with Shrinking of 5 instead of 4, which should put him around 9" tall or size of a cat by BOH rules.

Increase flight 4 more to 10 total if I have the points to do all that.  At full Shrink of 5, that gives him a flying speed of 5 [since he loses 1 AP of speed for each AP shrunk.  Though he can fly at 7 AP if he remains in Shrunk level of 3 or dog-size since that is the minimum level he has to be in to be in his Hero ID when flying.

If any points are left over, then whatever skill he needs to hit with his electrical touch attack better - Accuracy or Martial Arts, not sure which would be used.  Put the remaining HP in that but leave around 20 HP to use in the next adventure.

According to the character creator this is what the points spent LB looks like and how many points you have left (13HP). This what you came up with or is the math wrong somewhere? (Like I say, I didn't get the book out, just trusted the program to do its thing in my Windows Xp Emulator...)

Cool!  Got one more level of martial arts.  Have to get that up to around 8 when I next can.  SO it looks good to me. And 5 AP of movement isn't quite as fast as a car but better than a dog.
Now he can fly to town in a reasonable amount of time from his stately manor in the boonies.

Admin wrote:According to the character creator this is what the points spent LB looks like and how many points you have left (13HP). This what you came up with or is the math wrong somewhere? (Like I say, I didn't get the book out, just trusted the program to do its thing in my Windows Xp Emulator...)

Oh, and Martial Artist is the skill to improve when it comes to striking/touching in melee combat. EDIT: It's also horrendously expensive, like an extra 70Hp to get to 4... Accuracy is a catch all 'buy dice to use with all other dice powers' but really I'm thinking more and more about writing up a house rules document that lists all powers and has a point cost for buying Dice specifically to use with that power.

A power would look like:

Energy Blast (for Example) AV7 EV10 R3 Dice +1

That means Acting Value 7, Effect Value 10, Range 3 and you get to roll 3D12 and use the best 2D12 (discarding the other) when you use the power.

All of that probably means a sort of not quite but nearly ground up rewrite of the game. It's on my list of things to do when I find a spare life...