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KillerShrike.com

 
 
By Edsel

 
 

The Omega Team

Story Arc One Story Arc Two Story Arc Three Story Arc Four Story Arc Five
Presenting the writeups and campaign logs for a team of Vigilantes operating out of Hudson City in the Champions Universe, released by HERO Games.
 
Heroes to the end
Protecting Hudson City from the depredations of the vile criminal element that preys upon the underbelly of civilization, the Omega Team brave reprisals from both the unforgiving scum they hunt and the forces of law enforcement as well.
 
Final Story Arc

May 21, Tuesday, 1996

For the past several weeks Lex Bratheon[1] has been studying martial arts at the school of Zhu Hsaio.  Zhu Hsaio has sensed the troubles that haunt the man and has gotten him to speak.

Lex is a former VIPER agent.  After a bad experience, involving the murder of 30 innocent people, Lex found he could no longer work for such an evil organization.  Indeed, until the incident, Lex never really realized just how ruthless his employers were.  Lex is searching for a way to make amends for the evil that he has done.  Zhu Hsaio realized that the Omega Team might be the answer that Lex is seeking.  Zhu Hsaio recommends Lex to Nightstick.  Since Master Hsaio has recommended Lex the rest of the Omega team agrees to take him into their organization.

Meanwhile, Dr. Thomas James contacts Dr. Steiner[2] in an attempt to get in on any forensic units that could be formed to support the VAIS unit of the HCPD.  During the conversation Dr. James realizes that Dr. Steiner seems very nervous and frightened.  After much effort he is able to get Dr. Steiner to admit that the mysterious Japanese man (who is going by the name Mr. S) has kidnapped Dr. Steiners family in order to keep him quiet about the gizmo that was found in the body of J.P. Kendrick.  Dr. Steiner also warns him that Mr. S is probably looking for Dr. James as they speak.

Dr. James next calls Debbie Taylors house and is alarmed when he gets no answer.  He rushes over to her house and discovers she is missing.  A quick conversation with a Mrs. Saquiggins (a neighbor) leaves little doubt that Mr. S has kidnapped Debbie Taylor.  Suddenly Thomas cellular phone rings (the normal one[3]) on the other end is the infamous Mr. S.  Dr. James is informed that they have Ms. Taylor and that they are willing to trade her for Dr. James himself.  Mr. S guarantees that Dr. James will be held only briefly.  Dr. James is instructed to meet Mr. S on the concourse of the Hudson City Mega-mall at 7:00 PM tonight.[4]

A quick meeting held at the Alpha Base results in Lex being briefed on the current activities of the Omega Team.  Lex is able to inform them that the Shonto Conglomerate is heavily involved with VIPER.  Lex also hints that he is on the run from VIPER himself[5].

Since it is only about 4:00 PM Lex and Nightstick take one of the teams throw-away vehicles to pick up Lexs stuff and transport it to the Alpha Base.  On the way back to base they realize that they are being followed.  The car following them is a Porsche and Lex says that such vehicles are often used by VIPER and sometimes are armed as well.  Nightstick calls the base and rest of the team hurries to meet them so the followers can be confronted.

The Omega Team springs their ambush just as the VIPER team makes their move to retrieve the traitor (Lex, of course).  The VIPER team consists of two cars each carrying 4 Assault agents and a team of 6 Air Cavalry are dropped into the fray as well.  VIPER expected to encounter one former agent, a skilled one, but only one man.  Instead they have to face most of the Omega Team[6].  In the ensuing battle one VIPER agent is killed and 9 others (including all the Air Cavalry) are injured and rendered unconscious.  Four of the VIPER agents escape to report on what has transpired.

The HCPD responds to the scene of the battle and clear evidence of the involvement of the Omega Team is found.  However, since VIPER is involved in this situation PRIMUS is called in immediately.  The HCPD is superceded in this case and PRIMUS handles the rest.  The Omega Team has no sources inside PRIMUS so they do not know what the PRIMUS investigation turns up.

It should be mentioned here that the Omega Team has recently gained several new gadgets. First, the Alpha Bases new computer has recently come on-line.  The computer is called Big Red and is an impressive AI computer.  The team also has a new medical gadget called a Dermagen Tank.  The Dermagen Tank is similar to the Bacta Tank from the Star Wars setting.  It is capable of rapidly accelerating the healing of any person immersed in the tank.  Predator now has his alien shoulder cannon working in a sense but it is not as well focused since certain broken lenses cant be duplicated.  The cannons effect is now similar to one of the Blaster Rifles used by groups like VIPER or PRIMUS.  Similar repairs have finally been made on the alien first aid kit the Predator brought to the team, its healing power is staggering but the expendable components cannot be duplicated so the kit should be good for about eight uses, ever.

By 5:30 PM the Omega Team and their new member are back at the Alpha Base. The team immediately starts planning for the exchange at the Mega-mall this evening. The team thinks about contacting Dr. Steiner again, but then it is realized that he may have already had a meeting with Mr. S about his family. Several other schemes are cooked up and discarded before a workable plan is agreed upon by all involved.

Dr. James ingests a solution that contains a, weakly, radioactive trace element along with iodine to help prevent any build up of the element in his system.  Knowing the frequency of the isotope, Savant is able to tune in the radios of the two Omega Trucks to the correct setting.  The two trucks will not be able to detect it at a very great range (a mile or less) and will only be able to get rough directional and range estimates with the use of directional antennas.  The team is also able to obtain a hit of wire[7]. It is risky but Dr. James feels he may need any advantage he can get if he is forced to face ninja while unarmed.  Dr. James encapsulates the drug in a capsule that should dissolve after about 20 minutes, thus delaying its effects and allowing him to ingest it prior to the meeting.

At 7:00 PM the meeting takes place.  Snapshot and Savant are in the Alpha Truck, disguised as an UPS delivery vehicle.  Predator is in the Beta Truck, disguised as a Federal Express delivery vehicle.  The two trucks park in delivery areas near opposite ends of the mall.  Pax and Nightstick are disguised as UPS and FedEx delivery personnel and walk the mall with freight carts that hide some of their equipment.  Dancer is disguised as a limo driver and leads a fleet of 5 limos to one of the main mall entrances.  Dancers job is to whisk Ms. Debbie Taylor to an Omega Team safe house.  The other 4 limos have been paid to mix it up with Dancers limo and then drive off in different directions.  The cover story given to the Limo Company is that a wealthy individual who wishes remain unnamed and wishes to avoid poparatzy needs the diversion.  Dr. James, unarmed, proceeds to the main concourse to meet with Mr. S while Pax and Nightstick keep up a covert surveillance.

At the meeting Dr. James agrees to go with Mr. S, and a couple of his associates, after he witnesses Ms. Taylors release, at the far side of the concourse, by a pair of oriental men.  Ms. Taylor wanders briefly until Nightstick approaches her, mentions he was sent by Dr. James, and points her toward the exit where Dancer and the limos are waiting.  Dancer and Ms. Taylor and take refuge at the pre-designated safe house.  Dancer believes that they were not followed and are safe.

Dr. James is hustled into a waiting car and is guarded by Mr. S and two other men, who Dr. James assumes to be ninja.  He is frisked in the car and found to be carrying no weapons but his wallet is taken and the IDs removed (drivers license, AMA card, etc.).  Nightstick and Pax are quickly picked up by the rest of the Omega Team and the two trucks start shadowing the car in which Dr. James is being taken away.  By using the radios to follow the signal of the isotopes Dr. James had previously ingested, the rest of the Omega Team is able to shadow at a much greater distance and are never spotted.  The entire entourage soon arrives at the Carleton Executive Suites.

While in route to the CES tower several of the Omega Team members hear interesting news on the police scanners.  Apparently, the Harbinger of Justice has shot a couple of Cardshark agents who were attempting to kidnap one of the participants of the big Go Tourney scheduled to begin tomorrow.

When the car with Dr. James arrives at the CES tower the rest of the Omega Team suddenly realizes that the building has a helo-pad on the roof. Savant, who has been working with Bid Red over the satellite link, finally managed to get a thermographic satellite picture of the area and realizes that there is a warm helicopter on the roof. The team quickly heads to the building across the street and dash for the elevators. Several people in the building they rush through are rather startled but since the team seems to be passing through nobody even attempts to impede them.  Though the building they have run into is 25 floors tall, the elevator they pile onto gets to the top without being stopped at any intervening floors[8].   The team immediately runs up the single flight of stairs to the roof, sprints to the edge and jumps.

The neighboring CES tower is 37 floors tall (24 hexes taller than the neighboring building) and is located across a four-lane street with sidewalks (10 hexes across).  The members of the Omega Team are wearing spring boots, copied from Cardshark equipment, and most have multi-purpose line guns.  Pax even has a VIPER Jetpack.  All the Omega Team make the leap and swing up with their line guns to crest the roof of the CES tower just as the doors of express elevator containing Mr. S, the ninja, and Dr. James arrives.

The Omega Team, on the roof of the CES tower, engages Mr. S, four ninja, and 5 lesser agents in battle. Nightstick takes a minor injury when his curse of bullet attraction activates once again. As the battle quickly turns against Mr. S and his men, the helicopter flees with its two man crew, since it appears to be unarmed the Omega Team does not try and stop it for fear of where it will fall if they shoot it down.  Mr. S is knocked unconscious by non-lethal fire and falls in the elevator.  Since the other two ninja have fled the elevator, Dr. James punches the down button taking Mr. S with him.  This confounds the rest of the team who had intended to stun Dr. James in order to make it appear that he was unconnected with the Omega Team.  Dr. James was unaware of this plan since he wore no radio and the scheme was cooked up during the battle. The rest of the Omega Team is left to battle for a few seconds more as they stamp out all resistance.

As soon as the battle concludes the rest of the Omega Team discover that they will need a key to recall the express elevator that has taken Dr. James and Mr. S down.  After searching for a couple of minutes, Snapshot finds an elevator key on one of the unconscious Shonto employees.  Once he recalls the elevator he expresses down to the parking garage to see if he can determine what has become of Dr. James and Mr. S.  As the doors open he sees a security guard with a draw weapon and a worried look who stares at him in the elevator.  Since it appears that Dr. James has already fled with Mr. S, Snapshot returns to the roof.

The team quickly heads down to the floor that is occupied by Hubbs & Assoc.  Hubbs & Assoc. is the law firm known to often work for the Shonto Conglomerate and it is the owner of the cars Mr. S has been using.  About the time they manage to overcome law offices security systems they hear, on their police scanners, a report of someone carrying a person through the parking garage of the CES Tower.  They correctly surmise that Dr. James must have been seen carrying Mr. S out of the parking garage.  Since they have no way of contacting Dr. James they spend about 15 minutes ransacking the offices for anything that looks like it might be useful.  The Omega Team then flees the building just as the first police unit arrives to check out the call about the parking garage.  They do not currently know where Dr. James and Mr. S have gone.

After Dr. James flees the building, carrying Mr. S with him.  He uses the cellular phone of Mr. S to call his chauffeur to come to a location about two blocks away from the CES tower.  He then locates a couple of vagrants, rolls them, and steals their two overcoats.  He then uses the two smelly overcoats as makeshift disguises and waits, with his captive, until his chauffeur arrives.  He gives the chauffeur a $500 bonus and tells him to find himself a cab.  He loads Mr. S into the car and drives to the Beta Base (the closest) where he puts Mr. S under a sedative to ensure that he remains unconscious.

Big Red continued to monitor the helicopter via satellite until the satellite moves out of range and it looses the picture.  The last location of the helicopter indicated that it was headed toward the bay.  The next gaming secession will take up just as this one ended.  The Omega Team is in the two trucks, having just left the CES tower.  Dancer and Ms. Debbie Taylor are in a safe house.  Dr. James is at the Beta Base having just finished sedating Mr. S.

Two possible Shonto employees left in the helicopter, but then they may just be two ignorant, innocent, witnesses.  None of the people on the roof were killed though a couple are seriously wounded and may die if they are not found within an hour or two.  The team left ample evidence of the break in at the Hubbs & Assoc. offices (open safes, picked locks, shuffled papers, disturbed computer stations) but they were careful not to leave any evidence that could help identify any of them.  The team also has about a half dozen zip disks filled with confidential (and in some cases encrypted) computer files.  Of course with the team in transit at the close of this secession they have not had a chance to examine them yet. There is the fear that Dr. James may have been pictured on surveillance cameras while he arrived with Mr. S and even worse when he left through the parking garage with Mr. S on his shoulder?

Dr. James heads to the Beta Base with the Mr. S. Once he arrives he places the ninja leader under sedation to ensure that he will not escape.  George Bell is at the Beta Base performing some routine maintenance and assists Hippocrates in his endeavors.  First Hippocrates uses the bases hi-range radio to determine if Mr. S is emitting any sort of radio signals. Once it is determined that he is, Dr. James uses the bases radio to jam the signal.  He then performs delicate surgery to remove the implant located in the back of the ninjas neck.  A few minutes after he removes the implant it detonates, either due to some booby trap or a remote radio signal.

Realizing that his identity is probably blown, Dr. James makes plans to change his identity.  He also assumes that the radio signals that were emitted by Mr. Ss implant have probably compromised the bases security.  Hippocrates and George Bell begin to hurriedly load the gold from the vault and any other expensive gear they can into a pair of throwaway cars that they have at the base.  They closely monitor the external IR video sensors in case Shonto or VIPER raids the base before they can evacuate.

Dr. James revives Mr. S and immobilizes him with a paralytic drug so he can talk to him.  He attempts to get Mr. S to talk by indicating the remains of the device that had been planted in him (possibly without his knowledge).  He is unsuccessful in getting Mr. S to utter a single word.  He then sedates the ninja once again and puts him into the car that he will take when they evacuate the base.

Hippocrates and George make plans to torch the building before they leave.  They then quickly put anything that might survive a simple building fire in the incinerator.  They then set several firebombs in the building and flee in different cars in different directions.[9]

George Bell takes a round about route to the Alpha Base and meets the rest of the Omega Team there (except Dancer who is still at the safe house with Ms. Debbie Taylor).  Dr. James does not arrive at the Alpha Base for several hours.  However the rest of the team are aware of a lot of the things he did in the intervening time.

The Private Investigator Shamus had been hired previously by Savant to keep an eye on the CES towers, specifically to look for Mr. S.  When Dr. James exited the area with Mr. S, Shamus spotted them and followed them to the Beta base.  When Dr. James left the base with Mr. S, Shamus followed them to a Motel 6 on the outskirts of the northern suburbs of Hudson City.  He observed Dr. James rent a room and carry Mr. S into the room and leave shortly thereafter.  Shamus was only hired to watch until 10:00 PM at which time he left.

During the time that Dr. James was at the Beta Base Predator used the satellite link to establish a surveillance of the Beta Base.  The thermographic image indicated a warm car a short distance from the Beta Base and the rest of the team realized that it must be Shamus.  Just before Dr. Jamess arrival at the Alpha Base, Savant called Shamus and got a report on what he had seen.

The rest of the team is incredulous when they find out that Dr. James left Mr. S at the hotel to recover and escape.  Dr. Jamess hope is that the reality of his (possible) betrayal by his employers will prompt Mr. S to work against them.  If he was indeed unaware of the implant that Dr. James removed this may have a shot at working.  At worst he will report back to his Shonto handlers and remain a thorn in the Omega Teams side.  He could also become a loose cannon or simply disappear.

By midnight the Beta Base is a smoldering ruin.  No doubt the Fire Marshal will rule it an arson blaze but little should come of it.  The Omega Team has no contacts within the Fire Marshals office.  It was an old warehouse (as far as the city was concerned) and this sort of thing is, unfortunately, common.

Thus ends, what is now called by the Omega Team, The Longest Day.

May 22

At about 8:00 AM the players become aware (through police scanners and eventually the local news media) that there has been a quadruple homicide at the residence of Dr. Thomas James.  Fortunately Dr. James has spent the night at one of his safe houses.  It is eventually pieced together that the dead are the chauffeur and butler of Dr. Thomas James and Dr. Steiner and his wife.  The police now are actively seeking Dr. Thomas James for suspicion of murder and kidnapping. He is also suspected of being one of the Omega Team vigilantes.

The police report is that the butler and chauffeur were both shot and that Dr. Steiner and his wife were killed by some sort of implanted micro-bomb, a device that would require a measure of surgical skill to implant.  Police have also conducted a thorough search of the residence and office of Dr. Steiner and have found notes, in Dr. Steiners hand writing, that indicate that a similar device may have caused a previous death (J. P. KENDRICK).  The police are also aware that Dr. Thomas James has been a friend of Dr. Steiner and has often been seen to visit and work with the Medical Examiner over the last several months.  The most recent of Dr. Steiners notes indicates that he is now fearful of Dr. James and what he has been doing.  The police have thoroughly dusted the residence and personal vehicles of Dr. Thomas James and have good fingerprints for the fugitive.  They have clear photos as well as detailed height and weight data.  Hair recovered from Dr. Jamess residence have also provided a good sample for DNA matching.  The police consider Dr. James to be armed and extremely dangerous.  They are also aware that Ms. Debbie Taylor, the girl friend of the suspect is missing and foul play is suspected.  The daughter of Dr. Steiner is missing as well. Local Crime-Stoppers are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Dr. James.

Naturally the Omega Team realizes that this is all the work of the Shonto Conglomerate and possibly VIPER as well.  Dr. James will operate out of a safe house and the Alpha Base until he can establish a credible new identity.

Dancer and Savant move Debbie Taylor from the safe house to the Alpha Base.  She is a little traumatized after her captivity by Shonto.  She was completely stripped by a half dozen strange men and slapped around until it quickly became obvious that she could give them no further information about Dr. Thomas James.  She has now recovered somewhat but is still jumpy and there may be some minor long term psychological effects[10].

Through out the day Andrew Hobbs and Big Red analyze the data obtained from the burglary at Hubbs & Assoc.  From it he is finally able to glean that Hubbs & Assoc. handled the procurement of required licenses for Shonto to operate a yacht named Blossom within US territorial waters.  It is also determined that Hubbs & Assoc. often ships packages through a company call Anaconda Airborne Express, which Pax indicates is a VIPER front company.  It is recalled that the helicopter at the CES tower was last spotted heading out toward the bay.

A bit of computer hacking into organizations including, the US Coast Guard, Shonto Shipbuilding, and the local Airport Authority reveals further information.  The Blossom is large enough to fit a helipad although the computer-stored documentation does not include a helipad.  The Blossom is currently anchored outside of Hudson City Harbor.  It is also determined that Anaconda Express is due to ship some large packages from Hubbs & Assoc. this very afternoon.

The team has become very concerned about the fate of Dr. Steiners daughter. They fear that if she is alive she may be shipped off to white slavery somewhere in the Pacific Rim. Pax and Savant, disguised as Airport Security, check out the shipment at the airport. Though a mix up in the phony ID cards nearly results in them being exposed they manage to succeed in their mission.  One large crate with a false bottom is revealed to contain high-tech computer gadgetry but no trace of the missing daughter of Dr. Steiner is found.

Just after noon Nightstick drives out to the Motel 6 where Mr. S was left. He finds no trace of Mr. S but does have a brief encounter with a trio of drunken truck drivers who attempt to provoke the Chinaman.  After quickly and painlessly rendering the three unconscious he pays their tab and leaves.

Nightstick then proceeds to the Hyatt Regency Hotel to watch the Go Tournament in which Daniel Sanders is a player.  Upon his arrival he sees Mr. Sanders car leaving with a young thug driving. Correctly surmising that the car is being stolen he shadows it to a chop shop about 15 minutes away. Nightstick confers, via cell phone, with the rest of the team and it is decided to let the police handle it. Nightstick calls the police and anonymously reports the location of the chop shop. Joe keeps the building under surveillance and waits.

Shortly two vans disgorge a strong team of Chardshark agents (Spades) who quickly subdue the car thieves and remove a pair of cars from the area.  After the Cardshark agents depart Joe discards the throwaway vehicle he is driving and retrieves Daniels Jaguar.

The team theorizes that the thieves inadvertently stole a couple of Cardshark vehicles at the Hyatt Regency.  Snapshot had been approached by a man with an offer if he would throw a game and Daniel became fairly certain the man was a Diamonds agent. Apparently the thieves stole several cars from the Hyatts parking garage and got a couple that would have been best left alone.  Each of the 8 people in the chop shop suffered a pair of broken arms.

Nightstick makes a call to the reporter Frank Fedora and tells him what has transpired.  He hopes that giving Frank the scoop will encourage the reporter to write more favorably about the Omega Teams sagging reputation.

Satellite imagery soon reveals the location of the Blossom.  Dancer rents a small plane and pilot to do some sight seeing of the coastal area around Hudson City and uses the opportunity to get some aerial photos of the Blossom. The photos reveal that the Blossom has more extensive radar equipment than computer records indicated and that a helipad has been added to the yacht.  The Team makes plans to raid the vessel this evening.

The raid is pretty straightforward.  The crew and about half a dozen ninja are slain in the ensuing battle while the Omega Team escapes injury.  Ms. Steiner and two other girls are found to be locked in a lower forward compartment.  The women all seem a traumatized but are basically unharmed.  Ms. Steiner is informed of her parents death and the women are informed in no uncertain terms that it is the Omega Team that has rescued them.  The Blossom is sent to the bottom by the placement of an explosive charge placed on the hull below the water line[11].  The rescued women are dropped off just outside the waterfront police precinct.

The three womens story of what happened are in agreement.  Little evidence will be quickly retrieved from the wreck of the Blossom.  The explosive used to sink the vessel was nearly enough to blow the vessel in half.  Police are unsure what to think about all this.  The Blossom was not known to be involved in any illegal activity and yet the women are pretty convincing in their separate, but identical, stories.  The use of what was essentially a limpet mine to sink the vessel is very near the tactic that was used at the Brandweir Shipyards just two days ago.  Police surmise that one of the more recent members of the Omega Team is a demolitions expert of some skill.  Originally the police were uncertain who had planted the charges on the civilian ships at the shipyards but this story lends credence to the idea that it was the Omega Team who blew up the civilian ships.

The police believe that Dr. James responsible for the murder of Dr. Steiner and his wife, but the womens story indicate that he was probably among their rescuers.  Captain McPhearson, front runner for command of the VAIS unit, believes that this is an effort by the Omega Team to confuse us.  A feeble effort to prevent police efforts to end their reign of terror.

May 23

For what seems like the first time in ages, this day passes rather uneventfully.  The Omega Team members spend the day covering their secret identities.

Dr. Thomas James spends the day working toward the creation of a new identity; he also talks with Debbie Taylor.  Dr. James spends hours explaining to Debbie what his life has been and what has occurred.  He gets her to accept what the reality of things are and shows her why she must disappear and assume a new identity.  Shonto and probably VIPER are hunting them both.  Debbie and Dr. James will live at the Alpha Base and safe houses until new identities can be established.

Joe Dishwasher watches some of the Go Tournament today.  At one point he follows a suspected Cardsharks operative (likely a Diamonds Agent) to a downtown office building.  The agent parks in the parking garage of the Livingston Building and enters the elevators.  Joe notes that the elevator lights indicate that the elevator proceeds to the 12th floor before stopping and then returning to the garage level empty.

May 24

Again today the Omega Team passes the day without making any appearances in public.  That evening they have a meeting at the Alpha Base to discuss what their next course of action should be.

Savant has spent all of his spare time with Big Red decrypting and sorting the data obtained by the raid on the Blossom (May 22).  They now have a list of 47 people who either now, or recently, worked for HCH&M[12].  The Information that they have obtained seems to indicate that Shontos transmission capabilities went down with the Blossom.  Big Red estimates that it will take about two weeks for Shonto to reestablish transmitter facilities needed to threaten the implanted.  Of course if VIPER is actively involved with the plot they may have the capability themselves.

ICE is the new drug of choice on the streets of Hudson City.  Over the last week it has seem an upsurge in popularity among the users of the city.  The activities of the Pack have put a dent in the supply of the imported street drugs but ICE is a form of methamphetamine that can be produced locally.  Predator advocates that the team hit any additional drug importers and any meth labs they can find to continue the drying out of the city.  The remainder of the Omega Team does not seem to enthusiastic about his idea.

The Pack has yet to resurface.  Mongrel and Hellhound are known to have escaped unscathed.  Dobermans body has never been recovered and could still be alive.  It is generally believed that the Pack will be, at least, weeks licking their wounds.

The King Thutmose exhibit of a mummified Egyptian Pharaoh and his artifacts are due to visit the city next month and advanced passes to the exhibit go on sale the 31st of this month.  Several of the team members are a little worried about this since it is just the sort of thing that is likely to stir up the Cabal.

The Idea Men are getting a little overdue for their next bank robbery.  Since one of the triple-robberies failed the rest of the gang seem to be lying low.  Their total haul is about $4.5 million so they can probably afford to take it easy for a while.  The two surviving hold-up men are to be arraigned on Monday, May 27th.

Cardshark is still continuing their series of crimes that seem to be associated with higher and higher poker hands.  They have stolen many valuable items and gotten away with 4 of 5 prototype laser rifles.  The stolen lasers were not supposed to be significantly more powerful that those currently available. The stolen weapons were experiments toward developing a weapon that can be more economically produced.  The team is a bit worried about the prospect of Cardshark developing a new cheaper to produce laser rifle.  The Full House would be the next poker hand in the sequence that the Cardsharks seem to be following and this Saturday there are three different events scheduled that could be just what Chardshark is looking for.

After much discussion the Team decides that they must try to foil whatever plot Cardshark is up to.  Savant advises caution since he has a healthy respect for the organization.  The team determines that they must try and cover all three of the events this Saturday; An Amnesty International $1000 a plate fund raising luncheon, The Gus Gray National Collegiate Athletic Awards banquet, and the Reception for conclusion of the North American Go championships at the home of Candace Vanderburg.

May 25

The team covers all three events today but it is not until that evening, at the Go Reception, that they face the Cardsharks.

About 100 people attend the Reception at the Vanderberg Mansion.  Daniel Sanders (Shapshot), Eden Blake (Dancer), Nightstick (Joe Dishwasher) and Andrew Hobbs (Savant) are attending the reception in plain clothes.  Daniel Sanders has won the tournament and thus must attend. Eden Blake has been acting as Daniels sign language interpreter and also needs to attend. Andrew Hobbs attends separately to allow another set of eyes in the mansion.  Joe Dishwasher attends since he has been a regular spectator at the competition and is best able to fend for himself with out many weapons. Predator (Dutch Watkins), Hippocrates (Dr. Thomas James) and Pax (Lex Bratheon) sneak onto the mansion grounds and stealthily climb to the roof and then into the, presently empty third floor of the mansion.

The team is taken by surprise when the catering staff suddenly reveals themselves to be Cardshark agents.  Before the team can draw a breath there are around 30+ Spade Agents in control of the guests.  Things go badly for the team but fortunately the Cardshark agents are equipped with blaster carbines that generally are much less lethal that firearms.  Three large Semi-Tractor trailer rigs arrive soon after the take over starts.  However, the hidden vigilantes on the third floor disable two of the three rigs.  The Cardshark agents render Savant, Hippocrates, and Snapshot unconscious but are forced to abort and flee the mansion when they are informed by Pax (he shouted) that the police have been summoned.  Cardshark flees minus three of their agents who are unconscious and unable to flee.  The Omega Team who flees shortly after the Cardshark agents depart takes the three unconscious Cardsharks captive.

Cardshark does not leave empty-handed, however.  When they flee the mansion they hurriedly pick out 23 people whom they abduct, probably with the intention of ransom.  Among the group taken is Eden Blake (Dancer).  What little equipment Dancer had was in her purse and all purses and wallets were rapidly gathered by the Cardshark agents.  The Omega Team flees back to Alpha Base with three Cardshark agents in custody and without Dancer.

The situation is pretty chaotic for the police.  There are many people who left the reception as soon as the Cardshark left so that they would not have to be inconvenienced by having to interview with the police.  It will probably take the police the better part of a day to determine just who was kidnapped and who simply left.  Several guests tell of tell of shouting between the Cardshark agents and somebody upstairs and it seems that this is what convinced them to leave.  Nobody in attendance at the reception saw any of the Omega Team and there is no real evidence that the Omega Team was involved.  It is evident that a firefight erupted between the Cardsharks and persons unknown who were hold up on the third floor of the mansion.  The drivers of the Trucks are found and questioned but it is apparent that they were unaware of the probable hijacking that awaited them when they arrived at the Vanderburg residence.  The Omega Team left none of their equipment or any trace of their presence at the scene.  The Omega Team was unable to locate Dancers purse before they left, but the police will not find it either.  Apparently the Cardshark agents took it, along with many purses and wallets.

May 26, Sunday

The team gathers early however previous obligations prevent Nightstick or Pax from attending the meeting.  The team makes plans for the meeting tonight at 8:00 PM at the Blue Diamond Lounge (a classy strip joint) located in the Strip. They agree that one person will go in alone (Savant) and the others (Predator, Snapshot and Hippocrates) will wait outside in the Omega Van, armed to the teeth.  As part of their preparations Savant contacts Alexander Hayden (The former Remittance Man) to see it they can get hold of a minigun (M-214 5.56mm).  Alexander is glad to help and flies out the weapon personally in a corporate jet that afternoon.

At 8:00 PM Savant (in a civilian disguise) enters the Blue Diamond Lounge. At first he has a little difficulty getting inside since the doorman, who is good at this, suspects that the ID he has is phony.  Andrew Hobbs is only 19 and the Blue Diamond serves liquor and has nude dancers. By showing the doorman an Omega Card he is quickly able to get in.  After setting through a couple of acts he notices one of the waitresses obtain an object from a patron near the far side of the bar.  The same waitress then circumnavigates the tavern so as to approach from the opposite side of Savant.  She places a cellular phone on the table along with a drink for Savant.  Savant observed the man leave just after passing the phone onto the waitress.

The cellular phone soon rings and Savant has a short conversation with a man who identifies himself as Jack (a comment made about keeping my eye on you leads him to believe that it was One-Eyed Jack). Savant does not let on that they are missing one of their team members and makes no mention of Dancer.  He negotiates to trade the three captive Cardshark agents that they hold for the nine least valuable hostages that Cardshark took from the Vandenburg Mansion.  Jack is agreeable to this and arrangements are made to make the exchange at an old warehouse near Centre Street and Day Avenue, tomorrow (May 27th) at 9:00 PM.

On the way back from the Blue Diamond Lounge the Team drives past a secure warehouse and spots unusual activity.  When they investigate they encounter Cabal agents.  A battle ensues.  During the battle the Omega Truck is shot up but remains road worthy.  One of the new Omega Cycles has its back tire shot off and the new minigun is destroyed before they get a chance to use it.  Hippocrates is seriously wounded but is able to do a pretty good job patching himself up (but hell still spend hours in the bio-regeneration tank at the Alpha Base). Before the Omega Team can manage to fight their way past the agents outside the warehouse, some of the Cabal agents in the warehouse make off with whatever they were attempting to steal.  A broken open storage bay (#3B) is noted as well as a shattered crate with the code A-EGY-OK-01211M stenciled on it.  The Omega Team revives the mind numbed guards (security guards who had been under mind control) and then they flee back to the Alpha Base.

A little research and hacking with Big Red soon reveals that the bay in question was storing materials for the Hudson City Museum of Natural History.  The broken crates code translated as A (Artifact), EGY (Egyptian), OK (Old Kingdom), item 01211, M (Mystical).  It contained a burial scroll that was inscribed with the cartouche of the Pharaoh Thutmose[13].

The police do not know what to make of the break in at the secured warehouse.  No alarms were triggered even though all of them were in perfect working order.  There are reports that power failed in about a one-block area about the time of the incident, but the warehouse had back up power of its own that would have powered the alarms.  The two guards claim that they were mind-controlled by starfish on their heads and that dark robed satanic-types fought a battle with the Omega Team here.  Nether guard's Breathalyzer tests were positive.  A wrecked van his here but it seems to be untraceable (built from parts of over a dozen vans listed as destroyed in accidents).  Skid marks are on the pavement and white paint chips indicate the color of the missing vehicle.  Smaller skid marks indicate that a motorcycle was involved as well.  Burns from energy weapons are evident and numerous 5.56mm casings are lying about.  The two guards are being held on suspicion of complicity during the robbery but their past records do not indicate any criminal activity and unless real evidence is uncovered the guards will most likely go free.

May 27, Monday

The Hudson City Police Department officially announces the formation of their VAIS unit (Vigilante Activities Investigation Squad). Captain Lyle McPhearson will head the unit. The unit will take about a week to form and over the next several months a special SWAT team will undergo training to act as the enforcement arm of the VAIS unit.

The team spends the morning covering their secret identities and performing other tasks that cannot wait.  By around 2:00 PM Savant is working at the Alpha Base when the door buzzer sounds. The visitor is Alexander Hayden (a.k.a. the Remittance Man).

Alexander did not leave Hudson City yesterday after he delivered the mini-gun to the Omega Team. Knowing that Dancer, his old teammate, was in danger he resolved to see what he could do.  He followed the Omega Team to their meeting at the Blue Diamond. When the agent left the club he heard Savants brief radio signal to the rest of the team.  When he realized that nobody was going to follow the departing suspect, he did.  He followed the man to a downtown warehouse and then followed a couple of men that the agent met with.  The two men lead him to a small industrial park in the northern suburb of Arcadia. With nightvision binoculars he observed the place for several hours and became convinced that one of the building, belonging to Hudson Entertainment Supplies, was in fact a Cardshark facility of some sort.

The Remittance Man was up late (until about 3:00 AM). As soon as he was awake and ready he headed to the Omega Teams Alpha Base to inform them of what he had discovered.  The team goes to the industrial park during a driving rain and is able to plant a couple of listing devices via the roof. They also check out the local storm sewers for use as a possible avenue of attack or escape.

The sewers prove to be to flooded for use and the bugs give only limited information. The information they get is enough to convince them that several captives may be being held here.

The team decides to make the meeting at the warehouse tonight, to exchange the captive Cardshark Agents for 9 hostages.  The whole team (Nightstick, Savant, Snapshot, Predator, Pax, and Hippocrates) goes to the meeting and they are joined by the Remittance Man.  The Cardshark contingent at the meeting consists of One-Eyed Jack, Deadmans Hand, and Blackjack and about a dozen Spades Agents.

The hostage exchange goes off without a hitch.  There is some brief and minor verbal sparing between Savant and One-Eyed Jack.

The Omega Team quickly and gently questions the hostages that they have liberated and then drop them off about a block away from a convenient police precinct house.

This surprises the police. The hostages all tell similar stories about how the Omega Team is responsible for their release.  The police are able to locate the warehouse where the exchange took place but no physical evidence has been left by either side.

The Omega Team, plus the Remittance Man, immediately proceeds north to Arcadia to raid the suspected Cardshark facility.  The raid goes off very well.  Dancer and another captive (Inspector Harold LaGrange of the State Bureau of Investigation) are rescued.  Over a dozen Hearts Agents are left unconscious and only a hand full escape.  The team quickly scavenges the base for any useful materials and then departs after calling the Arcadia Police Department.  They stay in the area until the Arcadia Police arrive and then head back to the Alpha Base.

The Omega Team obtains very little of informational value.  The computers in the building had all been slaged by internal thermite charges and any important papers had been burned (flash paper is normally used by Cardshark for paper records).

The police round up all of the Cardshark agents and call neighboring communities for help (the Arcadia Police Department only has less than a dozen officers on duty at one time).  Before assistance can arrive a mysterious black helicopter arrives and drives the police away with machinegun fire. Cardshark successfully rescues its agents.

As in most incidents involving Cardshark and the Omega Team little or no physical evidence is left at the scene.

Situation Report:

Mongrel and the surviving members of the Pack seem to have gone to ground. Cardsharks plans are still probably viable.  They still hold 12 hostages.  The King Thutmose exhibit is due next month and the Cabal has stolen a sacred burial scroll from the museum.  Daniel Sanders has offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the kidnapping of the guests from the Go Tournament Reception.  The Carshark has issued open contracts in the amount of $10,000 each for members of the Omega Team and a $25,000 open contract on the life of Daniel Sanders.

May 28, Tuesday

A cryptic message arrives at the Beta Base via email.  It is apparently from Predator and simply reads, Must be away for an unknown length of time on government business Predator.  Dutch Watkins has apparently left the scene for the time being.

That evening while the team is scattered around town an police report is overheard on scanners that indicates that someone has shot up the Blue Diamond Lounge[14].  Listening to the reports it is soon realized that this is a pretty major happening.  Hippocrates attempt to reach the various team members to check up with them in reguards to what has happened.  He is unable to get Snapshot to answer.  He tries to call Snapshots cell phone in hopes of using a tap into the celluar system to locate his general whereabouts.  He soon realizes that the phone is ringing inside the teams armory.  When he checks out the armory he finds Snapshots cell phone and realizes that the mini-gun is missing but several damaged parts are still here.  He quickly realizes that Snapshot must have repaired the gun and then carried out a vendetta against Carshark.  Hippocrates quickly informs the other team members and rushes to the scene of the shooting.

Police are already thick in the area so he is unable to approach very closely and can only get a very general idea of what has happened.  From the amount of spent brass on the ground and the number of bullet-holes it is fairly evident that the mini-gun has been used here.

Hippocrates goes to the house of Daniel Sanders but he is not there and he is not able to make much headway.

The police realize that a mini-gun was used here.  The few witnesses that they can find indicate that a large dark-colored SUV[15] was used, but thats about it.

May 29-30

Dancer arrives at the base and finds, Hippocrates and Savant there, she announces that she has been out some this morning and found a familiar face near Diamond Lils[16] place.  She managed to determine that Cardshark has suddenly raised the contract on Daniel Sanders to $500,000.  Savant contacts his FBI contact to determine if there are any local talents who would be up to such a contract and also if their have been any suspected hit-men enter the city in the last several hours.  His contact will have to check up on it and call him back in a few hours.

Savant, who has been doing some analysis on Snapshot, soon realizes that Snapshot would probably go and play Go somewhere to sooth himself.  Savant calls Pax and Nightstick, who are at Zhu Hsaios and they immediately start looking for Snapshot at the local, Chinatown, Go parlors.

He is soon located, but before the rest of the team can arrive a distant sniper kills him, with a shot to the head, as Pax and Nightstick look on.  The rest of the team arrives and about that time Savants phone rings.  It is his FBI contact who informs him that a man named Thomas O. Enock entered the country last night via a sleeper flight from Paris.  Enock is a suspected I.C.E. member and assassin.

The team quickly gathers any evidence that could link Daniel Sanders (a.k.a. Snapshot) to the Omega Team and depart with Mr. Sanders vehicle.

They then head to Mr. Sanders residence and eliminate any evidence there and discard his car.  Snapshots Blue Ford Explorer is still missing, as is the mini-gun.  The team surmises that he must have left it at a safehouse know only to him.

As the team returns to base they sight a biker, wearing the colors of the Murder of Crows biker gang, selling drugs to some young school kids.  Pax beats him senseless and gives the kids a quick talking to.  They then pursue the sellers lookout and abduct him for questioning.  He is currently lockup in cell #1 at the Beta Base.

May 31, Friday

Advanced Tickets go on sale for the King Thtumose exhibit.  Hippocrates gets 1st day tickets for all the team members.

June 1, Saturday G.Y. 2[17]

The Harbinger of Justice hits a Chardshark safehouse and kills two Cardshark agents.  He also frees one of the captives that Cardshark was holding.

June 2

Cardshark exchanges their remaining hostages for ransom at many separate, simultaneous, exchanges scattered all across the city.

Pax lands a job, in his civilian ID (Lex Bratheon), as a bouncer at the Blue Moon, a gentlemens club[18].

All hostages are now free with the exception of Ms. Clairese Waterford whose parents were working, secretly, with the police.  Apparently, somehow, Cardshark discovered the money drop was a trap and nobody showed. No further ransom demands or contact has been made with the Waterfords.

June 3

Pax beats up a mugger who is high on ice.  He interrupts the muggers attempt to mug an elderly couple.

The team decides to hit a biker bar called the Roost.  It is the hangout of the Murder of Crows, outlaw biker gang.  Hippocrates has been keeping the place under surveillance for a couple of days and they are one on the known gangs that has been selling the new ice on the streets.  It appears that a deliveryman just made a drop-off so the team moves in quickly.  They are not quick enough to catch the deliveryman on the premises, however.

The bikers are taken by surprise and dont stand much of a chance.  The five vigilantes make short work of the fifteen bikers.  They leave the lot unconscious and bleeding.  They abduct the gangs leader for interrogation at the base.

Dancer and Hippocrates interrogate the biker chief (Earl Torkman) and find out that the Murder of Crows sells their ice in within a fixed turf inside Hudson City and that other biker gangs are doing the same.  They take delivery of the goods from a biker they know only as Jake.  Jake delivers to them about once a week and sells them the stuff for about half the normal price of normal meth.  The stuff Jake provides is really pure and potent stuff and at these prices it is getting very lucrative and the customer base is growing rapidly.  Jake wears no gang colors but he is definitely and experienced biker.  Jake seems to only be a deliveryman but they do not know who Jake works for.  Earl suspects that Jake or possibly other deliverymen have the same sort of arrangement with the other outlaw bikers in the area.  They have been buying from Jake for about a month now.

June 4

Hippocrates heads to the Hudson City Museum of Natural History in an effort to obtain more information about the up coming King Thutmose exhibit.  After looking over the museums standard Egypt exhibit he is lucky enough to arrange to talk with Edward Grizzley who is affiliated with the Thutmose exhibit.

Dr. James finds out that the mummy has just finished a display in London and is heading to Hudson City via freighter.  The exhibit sponsors feel that a freighter is safer than a plane and the great many heavy articles would cost a lot to ship by air.  The exhibit will unload in Boston and travel to Hudson City by rail since the underwriters wish to avoid any hazards that the Hudson City piers may offer[19].

Dr. James inquires why some of the material was already in Hudson City and is told that there are great many artifacts, and that the public would probably find some of them to be redundant. There are really two exhibits.  The first exhibit was in Paris for a month and the materials from the second exhibit were shipped to London to reduce the turn-around time on setting up the displays.  The original materials from Paris were shipped to Hudson City ahead of time while the exhibit was in London for the same reason.  In this manner only the most spectacular and permanent items of the display have to be shipped at once and the exhibit is able to operate more economically.

Dr. James is told that the stolen item on the evening of May 26th was one of a great number of burial scrolls that were found in the tomb.  It contained mystical/religious passages from some of the ancient Egyptian writings and had something to do with life after death as many such scrolls do. His only explanation for the theft is that there are a lot of rich eccentric collectors who will pay outrageous prices for such items.  The thieves probably opted to steal something easily smuggles and therefore left some of the more valuable artifacts.

Dr. James finds out that the tomb of Thutmose dates from the Old Kingdom.  His tomb is a small pyramid that was miles away from the Nile in the desert.  It had lain buried in the sands for thousands of years until a sandstorm, a few years ago, partially uncovered it.  Dr. James Artherton led the team that has excavated the sight and the work is still progressing at the sight.  Apparently Thutmose was a reviled ruler who along with his closest advisor, a high priest named Merritet, worshiped the equivalent of an Egyptian demon.  Thutmose was a ruthless and bloodthirsty tyrant who was entombed alive after being captured in a coup that overthrew his reign.  Though Thutmose and Merritet were supposed to be entombed in the pyramid only the body of Thutmose was found.  Perhaps Merritet escaped into the desert and perished there but nobody knows.  Next to the tomb of Thutmose was is a crowded tomb that holds his servants and followers who were all killed and entombed in mass.

After the death of Thutmose and Merritet the Ancient Egyptians struck their names from the records and they lost to the ages until Dr. Artherton excavated the pyramid last year.  Despite how hated Thutmose was he was buried as a pharaoh and many valuable artifacts have been recovered from his un-robbed tomb.

Dr. James inquirers about any curses that are associated with Thutmoses tomb and is told that nothing out of the ordinary was discovered, nothing more serious than the curses that were discovered with Tut.  Dr. Artherton is scheduled to give an evening lecture about the discovery on June 18th, four days after the exhibit opens in Hudson City.

June 5

During the day Joe Dishwasher (a.k.a. Nightstick) encounters Chan Li an information merchant that hangs around the Chinatown area.  Chan informs Joe, for a proper fee, that the Idea men are rumored to be planning an Armored Car heist.  The cargo is diamonds from South Africa. A company called Hanson Couriers, a specialty diamond delivery service, is to pick up the diamonds and deliver them to Goldberg Diamond Importers in the Bankhurst district. Later that day Dancer announces that she has heard, from street talk, that the Idea men are going to hit an Armored Car on Friday.

 

June 6

Today Dr. James, in his new identity goes to the new pharmacy that he has acquired.  Various carpenters and cabinetmakers are working over the inside of the shop getting it ready so that it can be stocked next month.

While there a man comes by and starts up a conversation. It quickly becomes evident that the man is offering to purchase various types of controlled substances from Dr. James. He offers to pay triple market price in exchange for no questions asked.

Dr. James invites him to lunch to talk it over.  The man agrees and is soon shoved into an alleyway and beaten senseless.  Dancer quickly arrives and they take the subject to base in lock him in cell #3 for later interrogation about his contacts. This leaves only two cell vacant at the base, the biker who was involved with dealing drugs to children has been disposed of.

 

June 7, Friday

The Omega Team has determined that Hanson Couriers will pick up a shipment from pier 29 some time shortly after noon today.  They proceed to the scout out Hanson Couriers and the pier 29 area and finally set up at the pier with the intention of acting if the robbery occurs there or following the armored car if the pick up is uneventful.

At noon the pick up occurs and the robbers are seen entering the area.  The Omega Team acts and soon discovers that the robbery is a sham to allow a VIPER ambush of the Team.  The fight is tense and could have proven disastrous for the Omega Team if it were not for the intervention of two new vigilantes Widow & Knight[20].

VIPER is sent reeling from the failed ambush and about a dozen agents are seriously wounded or killed.  Three members of an Air Cavalry 5-Team are shot from the skies as well.  Many grenades are used and much damage is done to the cargo containers on the dock.  Many surrounding buildings are holed by shrapnel from the explosions and the freighter waiting at the pier is set afire as well.  Fortunately the ship will not sink and suffers only minor damage.  The Omega Team makes contact with Widow & Knight and makes arrangements for renewed communication.  The Omega team comes away from the battle with a damaged Air Cavalry Jetpack[21] and a Fat Lady Rifle[22] of VIPER manufacture.

VIPER had apparently seized control of the ship while it was several days outside of Hudson City.  The crew is unaccounted for and PRIMUS has taken over the investigation. PRIMUS has arrived in time to prevent VIPER from recovering all of its personnel and several wounded VIPER operatives are known to have been taken into custody by PRIMUS.

June 8

The day starts with the various team members taking care of personal business and otherwise covering their secret identities.

A review of the newspaper yields two items that could be the target of the, expected, 4-of-a-kind crime by Cardshark.  SIMCORP will be doing a demo, for the press, of their new Turtle powered armor suits.  They will demo four sets of the armor with different options.  Armbruster Industries is taking delivery of four industrial diamond-making machines.  Both of these, the delivery and the demo are to take place on Monday afternoon.

 

It being a beautiful day Andrew Hobbs takes his girlfriend Valerie Steiner to the Hudson City Regatta that is taking place in the bay today and tomorrow.  About 5:00 PM a giant squid attaches itself to the small sail boat they are in and pulls them out of the bay and southward down the coast.  He is able to alert the rest of the Omega Team, except Dancer who fails to answer the emergency call, and they race to the coast to his aid.

As the boat with Savant and Valerie approaches the entry to the Black Bog[23]. With the use of a commandeered motor boat they are able to blow up the squid using a five-gallon can of gasoline and a well placed shot from Paxs battle rifle.

The team has a short debate and over the protests of Hippocrates proceeds into the swamp to locate the Cabal presence that they suspect is behind all of this.  There is a great fear that Dancer may have fallen into their hands and if this is the case they dare not tarry for her life could be in jeopardy.

Their fears are well placed.  They encounter a Cabal ceremony with Dancer as its centerpiece.  In an extremely close battle the Omega Team prevails, only Savant is left standing.  Five Black Cabal and a Dozen Red Cabal agents are dispatched along with a Nightgaunt.  The woman/creature known as the Demoness is also encountered here but escapes unscathed.  Nightstick is left with some long-term psychological effects and Pax has had his life force partially sapped but both should make full recoveries, given time.  Dancer is rescued and Hippocrates is revived after being knocked unconscious during the battle.

 

June 9

The day passes rather uneventfully as the team catches up on its rest and does not go looking for trouble.

June 10, Monday

Today the team decides to cover two different things that they believe could be the four-of-a-kind crime target.  They send Dancer to cover the demo of the four sets of Turtle Armor that SIMCORP will be holding.  The rest of the team along with the widow will keep an eye on the new industrial diamond-making machines as they are delivered to Armbruster Industries.

The Widow has contacted the Omega Team and is interested in throwing in her lot with the team.  She has been unable to contact Knight, her partner since just after the VIPER encounter on Friday (June 7th).  His whereabouts remain unknown and even her contacts with the chessmen[24] are of no help.  Knight has the means to contact Widow via cell phone (and she he) but he does not answer when she tries to contact him.  His fate remains unknown for the present.

Dancers surveillance of the Turtle armor demonstration is uneventful. She notices a heavy PRIMUS presence that may or may not be in response to an anonymous phone tip made by Savant that warned of a possible theft attempt.

The rest of the team meets the freight train hauling the diamond-makers 50 miles outside of town. They shadow the train and eventually the inter-modal trucks that deliver the machines to Armbrusters facility. The team then sets up a stake out of Armbrusters facility.

Their vigilance is rewarded when a Cardshark team arrives, apparently intent on stealing the machines.  In a sharp battle the more numerous Cardshark team is ambushed and put to flight leaving several spades agents and a wrecked helicopter at the facility.  The Omega team has to flee the area quickly as a nearby Hudson City Police car attempts to give chase only to be foiled by the Omega Trucks smoke screen.

The police are able to take 10 Cardshark agents into custody and recover a 7.62mm mini-gun from the damaged helicopter on the roof of the factory.  The helicopter is missing all identifying exterior markings but is a Bell Jet Ranger reported stolen several years ago from a small private airfield.  The mini-gun is believed to be one that turned up missing in a National Guard inventory six years ago.  The pilots and passengers of the helicopter are believed to be the only Cardshark agents that escaped.  The police know that the Omega Team is responsible for foiling whatever Cardshark was up to.  A pair of patrol officers arrived in time to witness a lot of the fight.  The Omega Team escaped in a Truck that is equipped with a smoke screen and is apparently armored since bullets from the Cardshark team bounced off of it.  The truck is described as about the size of a Ryder Rental truck, dark in color and painted as a commercial vehicle belonging to Perfect Diesel Engine Repair, the company turns out to be non-existent. The shell casings recovered at the scene confirm the officers reports that the Omega team was using Assault shotguns and submachine guns.  The patrol cars dashboard camera also captured the trucks tag number which also proves to be a non-existent number (3KL-24B3).  Several chunks of solid rubber from the trucks tires are also recovered indicating that the vehicle uses solid, bullet resistant, tires. A reasonable tread pattern can be discerned from the fragments and tracks left on a grimy patch on the road surface.

Later that night Hippocrates has a dream . . .

June 11

Hippocrates dream:

He is watching from outside of the dream, as if in a movie.  He travel up a deserted street in a suburban town lit by tall street lamps and stop before the door of a small white house.  The door opens and he goes inside.

The room is dark, but a shaft of light from the open door slices through the shadows.  Several decaying bodies lie on the floor.  As he move closer he discovers that the bodies are his and his fellow Omega Team members!  Their eyes and mouths are open, frozen in looks of terror.

Hippocrates body holds a scroll to its chest.  A hand swathed in rotting bandages reaches out from the darkness and takes the scroll.  A low chuckle is heard from the shadows.

This basically unnerves everybody.

 Knight reappears.  He is unable to account for his whereabouts for the last couple of days; in fact he claims to have a complete blackout regarding what has happened to him.  When he thinks of contacting his partner, the Widow, a street address flashes into his head, the address of the Omega Teams secret base and the current location of the Widow.  He then makes contact with the Widow and hence the rest of the Omega Team.

June 12-13

George Bell is mugged, but not seriously hurt, by a group of four street thugs who were looking for cash with which to buy ICE.  The Omega Team tracks them down and intimidate them into checking into a substance abuse center. While taking care of this business they overhear, on police scanners, that the Pack and resurfaced and attacked an alleged crack-house on the far side of town.  The scanner report tends to indicate that there were at least 4 attackers.

Nightstick receives a phone call on his Omega Team cell-phone.  On the other end of the line is a mechanical-sounding voice that says, ask the kids about the thing in Radcliff manor.  The connection is then severed.  Nightstick believes, as do other Omega Team members that this was the long silent Machine.

Nightstick observes a couple of cops shaking down a junkie simply to steal his stash of ICE.  Nightstick becomes enraged over the dirty cops and beats them severely before leaving them in the street. The incident results in some poor publicity for the team as the cops lie about attack by the crazed vigilante and are believed due to lack of witnesses. Captain McPhearson, commander of the new VAIS squad, is said to be handling the investigation of the attack on the two HCPD officers.

These events, and the discovery that street crime related to ICE has risen by over 50% in the last two weeks, leads the team to make elimination of the ICE source their number one priority. They hatch a plan to place two outlaw biker bars under surveillance: The Skids (hangout of the Highway Mobsters) and the Thirsty Hog (hangout of the Asphalt Kings). Dancer and Knight infiltrate the Skids and Widow and Pax take the Thirsty Hog (GM NOTE: I am having a hard time remembering who went to which bar, anybody remember?).  There is a close call at the Thirsty Hog as the Harbinger of Justice carries out an execution of three suspects in front of the disguised vigilantes.

The team is finally able to shadow an ICE deliveryman from one of the bars.  They loose him when he crosses in front of a train into a residential neighborhood.  The team is eventually able to determine that a currently abandoned home in the area was once owned by a family named Radcliff.  The neighborhood in question has numerous children in it and the team soon decided that this matches the cryptic message that Nightstick previously received.  On the night of the 13th the team hits the manor and eliminates the ICE lab and its mastermind.

June 14, Friday

The King Thutmose exhibit opens today at the Hudson City Museum of Anthropology and Natural History.  The members of the Omega Team all have tickets and so they go to view the mummy and accompanying artifacts.  Upon viewing the mummy of King Thutmose both Hippocrates and Savant become uneasy and sense an almost tangible evil about the corpse of the pharaoh. Besides the mummy itself a fragment of his sarcophagus is also on display and the writings upon it catch the eye of Dr. James[25]. The writing, as translated by Dr. James is below:

I Thutmose curse thee, Osris! Thine servants did come and embalm me. Thou did embalm these my members, for I would not perish and come to an end [but would be] even like unto the divine type that never saw corruption.

My hiding place will be opened, my hiding place will be opened. Though Spirits fall headlong in the darkness, the Eye of Horus hath made me unholy, and Merritet hath prepared me. I will hide myself among you, I am not a man to whom violence can be done. I shall not die a second time in Het-Ka-Ptah[26].

I am like unto a god, and my members shall have being everlastingly. I shall not decay, I shall not rot, I shall not putrefy, I shall not turn into worms, and I shall not see corruption before the eye of the gods. I shall have my being, I shall have by being; I shall live, I shall live; I shall flourish, I shall flourish, I shall flourish.

I am eternal.  At the appointed time, again will I walk among men.  No one can lift a hand against me.

While at the museum, Joe Dishwasher encounters a curious little old man named Applebee who sells Thutmose souvenirs. Nightstick thinks the man is a little odd and talks to one of the souvenir shop employees about him. He learns that Applebee makes the trinkets he sells himself and that he travels from place to place with the exhibit.  Applebee wears a couple of cat buttons, one reads Meow Power and the other says, I My Cat.  The girl from the souvenir shop says that Applebee gives her the creeps.

Andrew Hobbs, pretending to be a wealth philanthropist attempts to arrange a private meeting with Dr. James Atheron, the archaeologist who is the discoverer of Thutmose and who has lead all of the digging.  Dr. Arherton is due in town on Tuesday to give a fund-raising lecture. Though he is currently at the dig sight, arrangements are made to have him contact Andrew at the earliest possible time.

That night Nightstick stakes out the museum, for a couple of hours, and watches the changing of the security guards shift.  Eight guards leave just after six fresh guards arrive.

June 15

This morning it is discovered that another marrow murder has taken place in Hudson City. The team becomes very worried about what might be going on.  Through some checking with a police contact they discover that the panic system for the museums alarm system has been wired to alert PRIMUS directly incase of trouble, this has apparently been done at the insistence of PRIMUS.

Nightstick again observes the museum this night and stays until past midnight but the evening is uneventful.

June 16, mostly late night

The team decides to place the museum and Applebee under surveillance all night tonight. They use a sophisticated laser listening device to monitor Applebees room on the 4th floor of the Cordoba Hotel.  Pax disguised as a FedEx deliveryman with Gateway Computer boxes smuggles the equipment to the roof of the office building across the street. That night Hippocrates, Nightstick and Dancer keep an eye on the Hotel while Pax, Widow and Savant maintain the vigil at the hotel.

Applebee arrives at the hotel about 8:00 that evening. At about 10:45 Pax hears what sounds like a muffled, short, chant in Applebees room, then all is silent.  At about 11:45 a cab delivers Applebee and two other men to the museum, Hippocrates reports this to Pax and the group at the hotel. Applebee has not been observed leaving the hotel. Widow picks the lock to Applebees room and discovers that he is indeed gone. The room contains only a few changes of clothes which seems to be very little for a man who is living out of the hotel. The room seems to smell unusually musty. Widow soon leaves the room as she found it to avoid tipping off the absent occupant.

Applebee is seen leaving the museum about half an hour later. About 10 minutes later Pax hears a sizzling noise from Applebees room and then the noise of somebody moving about. The team decides to meet at Applebees hotel and confront the man.

The team proceeds to Applebees room with the exception of Pax who readies himself to rappel from the hotel roof and enter from the balcony window. The team, most in combat gear pound on Applebees door and rouse several nearby guest who take one look out into the hall and then rapidly close their doors. When Applebee opens the door he hurriedly ushers the vigilantes inside and seems very worried and frightened about something besides them. He urgently utters about how its beyond my control or some such thing. The room suddenly is pitched into darkness about the same time Pax comes crashing through the balcony window. Applebee screams in terror and then a body can be heard hitting the ground, something bites Savant on the leg and general chaos ensues.

In seconds the lighting is restored. Applebee lies dead on the floor with an expression of terror on his face. A gurgling noise can be heard coming from the kitchen area. Pax investigates in time to see a formless black mass with a single baleful eye disappear down the drain in the sink. The team quick gathers up the body of the dead old man and rappels out the window to their waiting vehicle across the street. The few stunned pedestrians who are out at this time of night watch the para-military group rappel out of the lighted front of the hotel with the body of a dead old man, scramble across the street and speed away in a FedEx truck.

The team hurries back to the base and Hippocrates starts an in-depth autopsy of the corpse of Applebee.

Police take on all this?

June 17

Hippocrates autopsy on Applebee reveals that the old man apparently died of a massive heart attack, his heart literally bursting within his chest. Applebees body is locked away in one of the drawers and several tissue samples are locked in the medical freezer.

After a team discussion Pax decides that to try and find out Applebee did at the museum last night. Investigation into Applebees past has drawn a blank. Pax and Nightstick return to the muesum in the afternoon with the goal of obtaining the security tapes from last night. They succeed in obtaining the tape but must flee when the alarm is sounded. Examination of the tape reveals a blank spot of about 20 minutes length last night after midnight.  On the way out Applebee, apparently alive and well, is spotted by Nightstick.

Once informed of this it is quickly discovered that Applebees body is indeed missing from the base lab. The few tissue samples that remain seem to have taken on a great age. Hippocrates arranges for the samples to be sent out for radio carbon dating.

That night Dr. Thomas James has another dream:

Dr. James finds himself on a busy city street with a hot glaring down upon him. The many people that move around him are dark skinned and wear Middle-Eastern clothing; the men are bearded and the women veiled.

He begins to cross the street. Halfway across the squeal of tires is heard. He looks up to see a black automobile bearing down upon him. It has no driver.

A medieval mace appears in Thomass hands. Just as the car is about to flatten him, he dives out of the way and slams the mace into the vehicles side. The car shatters and pieces of black metal fly everywhere.

The cars hood ornament lands at his feet. Its a bizarre animal of chrome, a creature with a lions body and a hawks head. Lying next to it is a scroll. This seems important, but as he reaches for the scroll a large black bird swoops down and grabs it in its talons. The creature flies off and its screech sounds like mocking laughter.

June 18

Mummy attack at Omega Base

While in route to Hudson City, Dr. James Atherton contacts Andrew Hobbs, collect via air phone. The cost does not trouble Savant since he has so thoroughly infiltrated the Phone Company computers that he actually makes money on these types of calls.  An arrangement is made to talk personally with Dr. Arherton after he finishes his lecture tonight.

At the lecture and slide-show the team learns of the existence of a sphinx statue a creature with the head of a hawk and the body of the lion. The statue was found inside the tomb of Thutmose and is currently in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities. An inscription on the sphinx reads I hold the secret of Thutmoses eternal death, a curious statement since the ancient Egyptians goal was eternal life. The quickly resolves to travel to Cairo to obtain the scroll they feel it must contain. Extensive research and obscure occult texts tell that a mummy can only be truly slain if its creation scroll is read backwards at the spot of its creation, the team feels that this scroll must be what they are looking for.

At their meeting with Dr. Atherton arrangements are made for the team to visit the sight of the tomb, the team plans a side trip to the Egyptian museum.

June 19, Wednesday

Mummy appearance on the Plane.

Another almost meaningless note. I know that the mummies had a mystical ability to locate a known enemy wherever that enemy might be. They could then teleport to the vicinity and attack at the most unexpected times. They could not teleport into sight of anybody, but had to come from around the corner or through a door or something similar. If I recall correctly the mummy came out of the airplanes lavatory and attacked. I believe that the Omega Team were using a chartered jet for the flight and so there were not a lot of civilians involved. They had made arrangements to have some of their weapons smuggled into Egypt. I think they had chartered a Lockheed Starship for the flight to Cairo. Though this was a tense flight, what with the danger of firearms inside a plane, nobody was seriously hurt. The team successfully made it to Cairo International Airport.
 

Battle at the Museum.

After arriving in Egypt the team heads to the Cairo Antiquities Museum. They are in search of the Sphinx statue (the one with the lions body and hawks head). They find the sphinx after a brief search. As soon as one of them touches it, the sphinx animates and attacks them. Bullets have little effect and Nightsticks three section staff seems to be the most effective. Some of the team remembers a pair of crossed maces just outside the door of the room in which the sphinx resided. They grab the maces and eventually the team manages to shatter the living statue. From the broken remains they recover a pair of ancient burial scrolls. Dr. James studies them briefly and confirms that these are the scrolls they need to destroy Thutmose and Merritet.

By now it was quite obvious that there were two mummies. Merritet, the former priest, was the first to be animated, he took on the guise of Applebee and eventually managed to raise, Thutmose the Elder, his master. Since the team had the two scrolls they needed they next had to head to the site of the pyramid, in the desert, to perform the ceremony to destroy the two mummies.

Of course the battle in the museum with an animated statue drew a lot of attention from the few people that were present. Most fled in terror when they saw what was happening. By the time authorities arrived the team was long gone. The few people who hung around told a fantastical story of an animated sphinx attacking a group of western tourists who proceeded to break it up with staves and maces. A lot of this is attributed to peoples eyes playing tricks on them. The Egyptian government comes to believe it was a terrorist attack of some sort aimed at the countrys heritage.

 

June 20

Dust storm and the Corbies.

On the trip through the desert in jeeps, with a guide named Ali Misfin (a native Egyptian archeologist). The team encounters a pair of Corbies. Corbies are vulture-like servants of Thutmose. The Corbies threaten the team (they can talk) to no avail. They then command a group of vultures to attack the party (a lot of birds get shot). And finally summon up a sand storm (which is pretty harrowing). Eventually the team makes it to the dig site.
 

At the Tomb.

The last scene. The team arrives at the pyramid. Here John Miles, assistant to Dr. Atherton, greets them. Miles is expecting them due to their previous arrangements. At first he is a little skeptical about letting them into the site since its all a little irregular but Ali confirms that these are the people that Dr. Atherton wanted access given to.

When they move toward the entrance to the pyramid the two guards at the door step out and block their path. The men toss aside their weapons and instantly transform into the two mummies. Chaos ensues. The workers, Miles and Ali flee in terror as the mummies move to attack. The Omega Team reveals their weapons and start blazing away at the mummies. Though the mummies cannot be slain by normal means, they can be blown apart. This forces them to disappear in a swirl of dust and sand, only to reappear seconds later coming around any nearby corner or other out of view location.

The team quickly fights their way to the burial chamber and Dr. James begins reading the scrolls backwards to destroy the mummies. The rest of the team spends their time blasting away as the mummies constantly attempt to reach Dr. James and the scrolls. Dr. James is nearly forced to abort to a dodge several times (which would have forced him to start the reading over again). The team takes a few knocks but their luck and ammo hold out and with a baleful moan the mummies collapse in a heap of dust which is then scattered by a fierce wind that blows through the pyramid.

Thus ends the mummies, Thutmose the Elder and Merritet his vizier. Sadly this also ends the campaign logs of the Omega Team campaign.


 

[1] New Player Character of Brian Warren.

[2] Chief Medical Examiner.

[3] As opposed to the scrambled ones the Omega Team carry.

[4] Naturally the Omega Team realizes that Mr. S and his associates will probably try to implant Dr. James if he surrenders to them.  That is why they can guarantee to release him shortly.  Since VIPER is apparently wrapped up in all of this the team also is worried about the welfare of the hostages they are holding.  VIPER is not known for its scruples and Debbie Taylor is very attractive.

[5] He does not tell them how he has come by such knowledge about VIPER.  In other words, he keeps his past as a VIPER agent secret for the time being.

[6] Nightstick, Hippocrates, Dancer and Savant in addition to Lex himself.  Even Dutch participates by driving the Omega Truck to the scene and ramming one of the unarmed Porches the VIPER agents are using.  Unfortunately this activity will impede the rapid healing of the wounds Dutch received the previous night.

[7] Wire is a street drug.  In game terms it grants a 2d6 Aid to all physical characteristics (STR, DEX, CON, SPD, END and STUN) for one hour.  The drug is also highly addictive and expensive.  Long term negative effects include impulsiveness, overconfidence and aggressiveness.

[8] Andrew Hobbs (Savant) expended 1 of his 2 dice of luck.

[9] Hippocrates and the rest of the team reestablish contact at some point during all of this.

[10] Debbie Taylor has gained a 5 point Psychological Disadvantage, Xenophobia (Uncommon, Mild effects).

[11] About 2 pounds of plastic explosive are used (enough to produce a 25d6 Explosion).

[12] Hudson City Health & Medical a local, lucrative, HMO that Shonto seems to have designs upon.

[13] The King Thutmose exhibit will be visiting Hudson City starting on Friday, June 14th.

[14] A known Cardshark operation.

[15] Sport Utility Vehicle

[16] A rather classy gentlemens club operated by Cardshark.

[17] Game Year 2.  Which is how dates are now read in the campaign since the old year system was making us fall behind the times.

[18] A classy strip joint.

[19] Several ships have met violent ends at the Hudson City Piers and Hudson Bay recently.

[20] The GM has christened Sydneys briefly appearing character Knight.

[21] An improved version of the standard VIPER Air Force Jetpack (basically faster).

[22] A Sonic Rifle that does a 6d6 AVLD attack against Hearing Flash Defense.

[23] The Black Bog, south of Hudson City has a sinister, occult reputation.

[24] The Chessmen are an international, mysterious and very knowledgeable cartel that, seemingly, works for the cause of righteous.  Widow & Knight are but two of vigilante types to whom they provide information and convert support in order to further their goals.

[25] Dr. James has been actively studying ancient Egyptian writing (hieroglyphics & regular script) for several months now. He has become relatively fluent with the dead language.

[26] The Ancient Egyptian name for Memphis.

Story Arc One Story Arc Two Story Arc Three Story Arc Four Story Arc Five

The Omega Team

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