May 21, Tuesday, 1996
For the past several weeks Lex Bratheon
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
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)
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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
and a Fat Lady Rifle
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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