[FENG SHUI] Actual Play: Clear and Present Danger

[Phantom Stranger]

The campaign kicks off two weeks from now, one hour after Cheney shoots Bush in the head on live TV. Characters:

R.U.4.S. (Recon Unit 4-Spatial), an ex-Buro Super-Soldier with a Chi-Wave mapping unit and two Buro guns.

Natalia, a Velocity Addict with an Aston Martin tweaked for armour and extra speed

Sara, a swordsmith/metalsmith who dabbles in Sorcery.

Harold Kant, paranoid Techie

Karina, a Secret Service operative and Killer.

Presenting R.U.4.S.' mission report, from shortly after he steals an experimental non-Netherworld transport device and heads back in time to prevent the assassination, having not been privy to the data which tells him you can't do that:

I fall from the sky over Washington DC and onto the bonnet of a car driven by Natalia. She brakes. I fly off and roll along the road, the guns in my hands clinking as I roll.

Did I mention that I'm naked?

So I stand up, she offers me a lift, and a blanket. I hesitate to take the blanket, because the only way I can envisage of wearing it would be in the style of a "skirt" or "kilt", which, when worn by a man in 2005 means that he is a "homosexual". I squeak onto her leather upholstery and simply drape the blanket across my lap.

We stop off at a late-night clothes store and I go in and pick out a pastel blue suit jacket, a Michael Jackson T-shirt, jeans, a shirt, a pair of boxer shorts, a pair of socks, trainers and a necktie. (All men in 2005 wear neckties, despite their utter pointlessness. I must attempt to blend in.)

For the sake of public decency, I am now wearing the blanket as a "kilt", although I loudly and repeatedly reassure all the men in the building that "I am not a homosexual," and "I am as heterosexual as you are, sir."

I see no reason to buy multiple sets of clothing, as the self-cleaning capability makes it redundant, right?

I take my purchases up to the counter and hold up my thumb when the guy there asks for money. He stares at me for a moment before reaching for an inkpad and piece of paper. I helpfully provide the shop guy with my thumbprint. Presumably their thumbprint transaction machine is out of order.

I look very swish and dapper in my jacket, and I roll up the sleeves, as I saw in the Orientation Training Video "Miami Vice".

I leave and join Natalia in her car, and she takes me to the poker night she was on her way to. I explain that I am not from this area, I am a foreigner from foreign lands. I am from France, yes, France.

We arrive at the poker evening and I learn the rules of the game - we all hold up cards, then give our paper to Natalia. When I run out of paper, I offer to put my shoes up as part of the stake, at Natalia's suggestion. I feel that Natalia and I may become close friends.

Eventually, through smalltalk, I realise that the President has been murdered. After establishing that they are referring to the President of the United States, I try to find out his name. It takes some time and confusion (the Secret Service agent told me it was Reagan, which made me believe I was perhaps 20 years early, but this proved to be some kind of joke). The next difficulty is finding out which President Bush has been assassinated.

Bush II. Not Bush III.

That's reassuring. I'm in the right time period, if a little late.

For some reason, I am asked if I have been in a coma recently. I state that I am from France, and, yes, yes, I have been in a coma. I have a brain injury.

After I leave the house, I notice lots of small purring animals following me along the street. They seem interested in the crustacean-based chi-mapping device implanted into my shoulder.

I later procure lodgings with a welcoming inventor who is working to develop a light-weight foil helmet for preventing mind control rays. After I prevented the EMP field from switching off his brain every time he wore it (the batteries were in the wrong way round), it did indeed appear to block any mind control rays that were being used against him.

Unfortunately, my animal friend (who introduces himself as Miaow) is not welcome, but the inventor informs me that Miaow has a home already, and lives with one of his friends. He gives me coffee. Although I have been informed that coffee in 2005 is bland, tasteless and, indeed, in some cases poisonous, I cautiously try it. I lie awake for several hours, contemplating the flavour of the coffee, and twitching.

My secret mission into the past is going well. No one suspects that I am a time travelling super-soldier out to ensure that the future is brighter for all mankind.

Ru4S, signing off.

Ahem, I mean: Rufus, signing off.

[rbingham2000]

This Rufus guy is making me grin from ear to ear. Gotta love it when guys from the future get things wrong about our world.

[Phantom Stranger]

This Rufus guy is making me grin from ear to ear. Gotta love it when guys from the future get things wrong about our world.

Much of it comes from the handout the Buro give Innerwalkers on our juncture, as seen in Seeds of the New Flesh. The rest of it is an odd pack of players. It should, at any rate, be interesting.

[Fulsrush]

I'm playing a character with a shellfish stuck to his shoulder and who's dressed like something out of Miami Vice... how cool is that? :)

[Phantom Stranger]

So, the following morning, R.U.4.S slips out of Harold Kant's place bright and early to 'investigate' the killing. (His player not being present).

While he is gone, Karina gets a call on her cell. From Dick Cheney, who's worried about what's going on. Putting him on hold, she calls her boss, who is in the interrogation room with Cheney and Mr. X, the shadowy Secret Service interrogator. Cheney has no phone. Curious, Karina sets off in Natalya's souped-up Aston Martin with the rest of the crew to meet this Cheney from the phone. They secure him, take him back to Harold's workshop, and place the 'improved tinfoil hat' on Cheney's head. Cheney... flickers... for a second, just as he did when getting into the Aston (which has a similar electromag system wired into the bodywork).

Harold whips up a lie detector while tinkering across the way. They establish the following: Cheney is indeed the real Cheney, but (after further probing) that he isn't human, but instead a Transformed Cat, which is why the 'tinfoil hat' blips his appearance a little.

The Cheney in custody, therefore, is clearly a fake; Cheney has come to Karina as a Secret Service agent he's relatively sure he can trust for help. He suspects machinations from the future.

At roughly this point, the crew hear police sirens approaching. Into the car with everyone (a tight fit) and Natalia floors it into the street, outdistancing the first set of police cars effortlessly. At which point Karina notices a police helicopter soar into view above.

Natalia flips the car onto two wheels, skids down an alleyway, pops out the other side, and loops oncoming traffic in time to flip the car and slide back down the alleyway again, sending the team in the other direction and giving them further distance from the helicopter. Racing along, they come to a point where two cop cars are parked blocking the road.

Natalia smiles.

And hits the button marked 'Nitro'.

The DB6 soars over the bonnets of the two cars, clipping one narrowly enough to set it spinning and facing the wrong way. Touching down, the car continues to surge forward with one policeman in pursuit, but a simple slalom through traffic shows Natalia's superior handling to its best advantage while leaving the patrol car at the centre of a six-vehicle pileup.

At this point, the helicopter soars back into view. Natalia doesn't hesitate; a touch on the brakes and a twitch of the steering wheel, and the car's heading for the entrance to the subway. As the helicopter closes in, Sara closes her eyes, mutters to herself, and a lightning bolt blasts down from the cloudless sky, forcing the copter further away.

The car soars over the steps, past the ticket points, and onto the subway rails. Just in time for the crew to see an oncoming train. Natalia slams the DB6 into reverse; leaning out of one window, Cheney throws up; out of the other rear window Harold fires his shotgun.

The blast shatters the driver window, killing him instantly. He recoils backward, then slumps onto the accelerator lever. Sara begins to glow, gently, in blue, as does the train around the tracks. By sheer force of magical will, she brings the train to a halt, and Natalia halts too. They turn to regard the sorceress. "How did you do that?" Sara shrugs.

A quick drive along the subway later, they emerge near the White House. A blue fireball from the sorceress smashes the ticket points apart and the car roars out of the station, scattering bystanders before it.

The crew screech to a halt in a nearby alley, and take stock - before realising their means of escape has been cut off by Kevlar-sporting Secret Service men with assault rifles.

Sara summons a demon directly behind the Servicemen; it's a paltry demon, the best she could manage at current power levels, but it gets their attention. As it is obliterated by sustained bursts of fire, the DB6 reverses at high speed, scattering the Servicemen except for one operative, now perched on the car's bonnet, who Karina recognises as her boss. He draws his pistol, brings it round...

The car screeches to a halt. He's thrown loose, but rolls up into a shooting crouch. Drawing her own gun, Karina blasts the pistol from his hand, and finally the DB6 is clear of pursuit.

They hole up in a laboratory, and Karina goes to talk to Sonny Pak about weapons. Sara manages to make herself a sword under less than ideal conditions while Natalia rigs up a remote cutoff for her beloved signature ride and tinkers with the engine to pep it up a bit. A construction montage ensues, with Natalia working on the engine while Harold rigs up, first a remote control package operated by a Game Boy Advance, second, a caltrop-release mechanism to deal with pursuit, and finally adds in some weapon carry devices. Karina returns, and behind the tinted windows of the Aston Martin a grenade launcher is rigged to the underside of the roof, firable through the sunroof, twin machine guns are mounted and concealed toward the front, and the tires are replaced with gel-filled tires that reseal after puncture.

Cheney, meanwhile, is ineffectual.

Time and space rips; in walks a guest star from Detroit, Rudi von Gribblefaust, one of the current Dragons. Evidently his teleportation device isn't all he wanted it to be.

After some chitchat convinces him that Cheney knows of and is a victim of the Secret War, he provides the crew with the location of a nearby entrance to the Netherworld, the route to the Junkyard, and his handy-dandy Guide to Time Travel, coming up in a subsequent post. He also introduces the crew to Kar Fai and the Prof. Between all this, the crew manage to thrash out the beginnings of a Plan; kill both Cheneys. This will involve storming Secret Service headquarters, but it must be done.

They shoot the real Cheney there and then, leaving his corpse in the Netherworld. Having mentioned the... odd, fishy-smelling thing clamped to Rufus' shoulder, the prof figures out he's from 2056, and gives the PCs the following advice: find him, ask him how he feels about 'the Buro', and if he doesn't express negative feelings, kill him dead a lot.

Rudi, keeping an eye on D.C. as the least Wanted in that city, spots R.U.4.S. from their descriptions, and guides them in before returning to Detroit to handle problems in that city.

The crew pull up alongside Rufus...

[Phantom Stranger]

Rudi von Gribblefaust's Handy-Dandy Guide to Time Travel:

Hallo. I am Rudi von Gribblefaust, operating out of Detroit, 2005. The Prof understands temporal mechanics better than I do, but she has the problem of being from 2046, and ten years out of touch with the real world in any era. Accordingly, she's asked me to put together some notes to explain time travel to people operating out of 2005.

“It could mean that that point in time inherently contains some sort of cosmic significance, almost as if it was the temporal junction-point of the entire space-time continuum. On the other hand, it could just be an amazing coincidence.”
-Emmett Brown
There’s a lot we don’t know. Some points in time are accessible. The rest aren’t, and we don’t know why. For whatever reason, we can only travel to four time junctures; 69AD, 1850AD, 2005AD and 2056AD. If something major happens between these junctures – as with the 69-1850 gap and the 2005-2056 gap – there's no way to directly influence events. Which is not to say that these events can't be influenced.

“No matter what you do, no matter where you go, that clock is always running. Got it?”
-Rufus, last name unknown
The junctures are a set time distance away; you can get from October 15th 2005 to October 15th 1850, but not October 14th. This means you only get once chance at doing anything – and if you were supposed to be meeting someone at 6pm, you better be in the right juncture at 6pm.

“Besides, we told ourselves to listen to this guy.”
-William Preston
As a result of this inflexibility, if the above happens to you it's almost certainly a trick.

“Obviously, the time continuum has been disrupted, creating this new temporal event sequence resulting in this alternate reality.”
-Emmett Brown
Simple enough; kill someone whose kid would have been important, and if the feng shui turns with you, things must happen differently.

“Alternate to you, me and Einstein, but reality to everyone else.”
-Emmett Brown
Which means by the time you get back to the later juncture where you found out about that kid, it will have changed, and it will change noticeably if you made a major change.

“I went to the public library to try to make sense out of all the madness. The place was boarded up and shut down so I broke in and borrowed some newspapers.”
-Emmett Brown
When the change is apparent, our advice is to do the above, particularly if you had nothing to do with causing the change. Staying informed can be the key to staying alive.

[Broin]

More Rufus, please. =)

Joe.

[Phantom Stranger]

He'll be back next week. Perhaps sadly, he may get less confused now that some people have figured out he's from the future and doesn't understand things so well.

But I doubt it.

I'm looking forward to his first chance to go badass. It should... surprise some of the other PCs.

[Ubermonkey]

Excellent stuff. Keep it coming :)

[Fulsrush]

So, remind me - why did Harold murder an innocent train driver? What purpose did it serve?

And I still can't see the logic of them murdering the real Dick Cheney either.

I can't help but wonder if it would have been different if you'd set it in 1996 and the VP had been Al Gore... ;)

I've a feeling Rufus is going to be getting frustrated with the party when they explain what's been going on to him.

[Phantom Stranger]

As to the train driver - I think the player felt the train would stop if he shot the driver. How he reached this conclusion is beyond me.

As to the real Cheney - they've gathered he's part of some OTHER conspiracy, and they don't want to just protect that one.

[Fulsrush]

As to the train driver - I think the player felt the train would stop if he shot the driver. How he reached this conclusion is beyond me.

As to the real Cheney - they've gathered he's part of some OTHER conspiracy, and they don't want to just protect that one.

Ah, right.

Actually, old steam trains had the original dead-man's lever, which meant that if the driver died during a journey, the brakes would automatically cut in and stop the train from going out of control.

Remind me, which one's Harold? Jo's inventor, right? One of Jo's characters killing innocent bystanders... Who'd've thunk it... :rolleyes:

*shudders at memories of psychotic axe-wielding squat-turned-Chaos-mutant*

[Phantom Stranger]

Ah, right.

Actually, old steam trains had the original dead-man's lever, which meant that if the driver died during a journey, the brakes would automatically cut in and stop the train from going out of control.

Remind me, which one's Harold? Jo's inventor, right? One of Jo's characters killing innocent bystanders... Who'd've thunk it... :rolleyes:

*shudders at memories of psychotic axe-wielding squat-turned-Chaos-mutant*

Harold is, indeed, the only other male PC played by the only other male.

[Phantom Stranger]

He'll be back next week. Perhaps sadly, he may get less confused now that some people have figured out he's from the future and doesn't understand things so well.


Actually, he won't. Rufus' player, Fulsrush, has now remembered he has a play on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, as does Natalia's player.

Accordingly, this week will mostly involve the techie, the killer and the sorceror storming a Secret Service headquarters which contains at least two named NPCs...

[Phantom Stranger]

So, session three. As previously noted, the party in fact detailed Natalia to go take care of Rufus while they dealt with the new Cheney, a plan which involved storming Secret Service headquarters, overcoming (preferably without killing) Paul McBride, Karina's boss, and dealing with the sinister Mr X.

Fortunately, they have a plan.

Harold gets straight to work on a three-seater tunneling machine, going on Karina's description of the base. Once it's complete, it's transported to a nearby park, and they're rolling, emerging finally in the men's shower rooms. Karina pulls the black mask over her head and nods to Sara, who closes her eyes; a low chant fills the basement floor with an all-pervasive mist, and as the trio leave the showers Karina hits the fire alarm. Sirens sound and chaos reigns, but through it Harold, Karina and Sara move unhesitatingly toward their destination. Through two sets of bulletproof-glass double doors they see the squadroom near the interrogation room burst open; half its complement disappear upstairs, but others catch sight of the oncoming figures. There's a brief detour to the armoury, but as the trio pass the first set of double doors they see nine men lined up, waiting for them, assault rifles levelled at the door.

Karina smiles a little beneath the mask; Kevlar means they don't have to be so careful.

For a heartbeat, Sara's eyes flicker blue. The trigger of one of the rear guns jerks backward, a bullet finding its way into the knee of one of the front rank.

In the distraction, Karina keycodes her way through the door, her trusty Automag flaring as the doors swing open. At the same time, Harold's SPAS-12 roars and Sara sends a fireball blaring through the corridor. The Service veterans dive away from the unearthly blue flare of the fireball, directly into the path of the shotgun blast, and half of them fall away in pain. Karina draws her backup pistol also, and a second volley from herself and Harold clears the corridor.

Just as the interview room door opens. Karina swallows as she sees the signature twin MP5 Ks of her superior appear first. As McBride steps fully into view, however, the blue sheen flickers around Sara once more... and around the guns. One is jerked from McBride's hand, though he maintains his grip on the other.

Shrugging, he simply alters his stance, standing side-on rather than full-on, and raises the MP5. His volley of fire smashes Harold to the floor, leaving blood flaring from his shoulder, and a firefight ensues between Karina and McBride, which gradually drives him back into the interview room.

As the trio draw their collective breath, McBride slides out of the room once more. His MP5s are gone; an M16 rattles out its song, but the shots go wide, blowing out the lights above the trio. Sara smashes the last of his body armour aside with another blazing volley of blue flame, before Karina steps astride him, points the Automag downward, and shoots him in the hip; an incapacitation injury. She nods to herself, satisfied, and then hurtles into the wall opposite the interrogation room door as two gunshots smash into her arm.

Harold runs up, shotgun drawn, and looks into the room. Beyond Mr X - twin Colt 1911s smoking - sits Cheney, who winks at him. Something twists inside Harold's mind, and he finds himself turning to attack Karina. He pulls a screwdriver from his belt and hurls it at her; the practiced assassin bats it aside.

Sara sees something shifting in Harold's mind, and wrenches against it, dispelling the compulsion. Karina jumps back up as the inventor staggers and unloads into Cheney's forehead.

Blood wells out of the hole. Cheney smiles.

"Pause for effect?" he asks, then begins to shift. The skin turns green, the hair black - and thick, long, and lush all over - and the body begins shifting into what Sara instantly recognises as a demon, albeit the strange metal things plugged into either breast are unsual. Mr. X looks over his shoulder at the monstrosity, and receives a spine full of buckshot for his trouble from Harold; the interrogator is dead.

Blue lines flare from Sara, and are met with red from Cheney. The tendrils struggle against each other for a few moments before Sara gains the upper hand, banishing the demon, leaving behind two strange devices.

Harold investigates the one, finding a curious mix of circuitry and organic matter with in, but is leery of pressing the button.

By charging the other up with regular bursts of magic, the ladies establish that the other is a telephone capable of contacting numbers in other junctures. From someone whose number, beginning as it does ** rather than, say, 05, 69, 50 or 56, they assume is in the Netherworld, they receive what they interpret as an invitation to the Monkey House, and mention of someone called Big Kev, who may be male or female but is probably male going on the demon's previously-established predilections - there are a number of gay chat lines in his phone - and who appears to be some manner of hooker.

Confused, they head to the rendezvous established with Natalia...

[Phantom Stranger]

Rufus' adoring public awaits... he's planning on doing a writeup soon, but hasn't had a chance yet (he kicked off a WFRP campaign last night, so much of yesterday was prep work).

When the writeup's done, I'm sure Fulsrush will be able to pop it up for himself.

So, back at Harold's lab, the trio settle in, when an Aston Martin pulls up. It is quickly established that Rufus is OK, but he spends some time in confusion due to the pamphlet so helpfully provided to Innerwalkers by the Buro. (Sara mentions that being gay is fine, which confuses him, as this era doesn't have such an outlook. He quickly decides she must also be a time-traveller.)

Eventually, in desperation, he pulls out the Buro-recommended phrase to allay people's suspicions and confirm you as a Good Guy: "Man, that Michael Jackson is one cool motherfucker." The response to this is predictable, and ends with Rufus confessing that he's a time traveller, but clearly so is Sara. He seems a bit confused by the fact there were two Cheneys, but extremely confused and a little panicked by the fact both Cheneys are now dead.

This, he explains, is because the Buro are about to lead a big push to destabilise the US politically, using their current dupes - the Raelians, many of whose leaders have over the past seven years (while they've been supplied with super-technology) been replaced by the Buro. They've been leaking papers related to arcanotech for a while, hoping to speed the breakthrough and necessitate an earlier forming of the CDCA, and corresponding with current-time Curtis Boatman, allowing him to manoeuvre for more control from the off. Now, though, Rufus knows they plan to use the Raelians to destabilise political governments, beginning with the USA. and thus strengthening the UN offices that will become the Buro. Essentially, they plan to bring the Buro-run future to the world earlier, so that by 2056 they're more technologically advanced.

Which will allow them better technology with which to secure other junctures.

Why the Raelians, you ask? Simply enough, because they're a low-enough cult on the food chain that the Ascended pay them no mind, and because their technology/angel focused outlook gives the Buro an easy entry.

The date is May 28th, 2005. On May 29th, 2005, the Raelians' Washington chapter will poison the water supply. And in order to seal their strike's effect on history, on May 20th they'll detonate a number of bombs around the White House, shattering a potent feng shui site.

Time is of the essence, so naturally the crew fall to debating whether the future is, in fact, a good or a bad thing. Rufus settles this by offering to show them the future, then telling them he's going to get some McDonalds first, as the taste is far superior to anything he'd experienced prior.

They drive the Aston Martin through the Netherworld, emerging in 2056 (in London, though they didn't check). Natalia hates it instantly - no little side alleys, nothing to provide a convenient ramp, nothing to really get her teeth into as a driver. And it's raining.

Sharp-eyed Karina catches sight of a man-size waspish thing of technology following them, and Rufus swears. A SPUD-U. Rufus opens fire, puncturing the net canister on its belly as Sara-conjured lightning forces it to dodge and manoeuvre. A stray round punctures the DB6's engine, but Natalia's connection to her favourite car and sheer force of will keep the vehicle going even with ugly black smoke pouring out all over. They race back to their own time after seeing the vehicle plummet, crash and burn.

Without (much) further ado, they go to Raelian HQ in Washington, the home of Egon Anderson, a noted pro-tech, pro-bioexperimentation lobbyist. Using the ident number from demon-Cheney's transtemporal phone, they get in - but not before Egon's checked with home time. There are cultists waiting for them, and they kick in a device Rudi gave them in the confusion. It doesn't work as well as Rudi had hoped, sending them Elsewhere, but eventually Karina figures out how the theory actually works and gets them back there. Two hours have passed, though, and after a running gun battle against thirty mooks, with Natalia smoothly taking one hostage for interrogation, they realise Anderson is gone. Briefly checking his office, they set off for Washington's water supply to prevent his nefarious plan...

[Phantom Stranger]

Again, you'll have to check with Fulsrush for R.U.4.S' report. I picture them getting more and more despairing...

Our bold crew chases off with all speed toward the water purification plant (placed for convenience' sake beside a dam, on a hillside above Washington, up a winding road through a forest.)

Sara receives a premonition of the Aston Martin exploding. They pull over and check for a bomb; no manner of explosive device. Ever protective of the Beastie, Natalia also checks to make sure the car wasn't sabotaged in the five minutes they were out of it battling Raelians; evidently not. Given the warranty-violating upgrades they've put it through and the futuristic bullets that punctured its armour earlier in the day, the Beastie is fine as can be.

So in they go again, and start rolling. As they reach the hillside Natalia and Rufus both catch sight of a rocket-launcher being toted by a thug in a balaclava. Natalia tweaks the DB6 clear of the rocket's path as Rufus hoses the gunman down with a burst from his Blade of Truth.

The rocket, missing Beastie, tears apart a Park Ranger's 4x4 further down the trail. The Ranger, at that point ensconced behind a tree, emerges at a run just as the DB6 pulls up adjacent to the corpse. Rufus emerges and picks up the rocket launcher. When challenged by the Ranger, he cites Homeland Security. When asked to provide ID, he throws the rocket launcher into the open back seat of the car and dives across the laps of Karina, Harold, and Sara as Natalia accelerates.

An embarrassing flying-out-of-car-taking-high-speed-turn moment later, the crew pull up in the parking lot of the water purification plant.

Rufus explains: On the 29th, the Raelian group led by Anderson poison the water supply. Anderson is already moving, and this is the only lead they have.

It is 11:30pm on the 28th, and in the car park are six cars and one gaudily-painted minibus. Clearly the Raelians are already here. The crew examine the filtration pools and the gantries above them, and discuss whether and how to divide their forces. As they do this, a pickup truck enters the parking lot; Rufus, acting fast, disarms the drivers and questions their balaclava-wearing selves at gunpoint. After securing them to the truck's bumper, he examines the chemical barrels in the back – they have a CDCA label on them and a designation: Project 173-B.

The Buro is getting more adventurous, clearly, if it's using equipment from the future in a low-visibility scheme.

The crew divide duties; Sara, Karina, and Natalia stake out the parking lot while Harold and Rufus investigate the filtration plant itself, theorising that the advance team must have secured a point beyond the filtration at which to introduce the poison.

They encounter Dr Kilmarnock, tied to a chair and gagged, played by Julianne Moore. She and Rufus almost develop a rapport (“Why are your sleeves rolled up?” “...Shouldn't they be?”) until Harold spoils the mood by prophesying explosions and screaming. Getting directions from Kilmarnock, they head after what the good lady doctor assumes must be terrorists. Rather than a corrupt religious group run by bureaucrats of the future, which is admittedly a far-fetched notion.

The firefight, confined by the corridors such that only a couple of mooks at a time can face Rufus and Harold – and in particular Harold's SPAS-12 – goes easily in the crew's favour until a stray shot by Harold blows the floor through for a six-foot gap. Rufus clears it easily, drawing on years of commando training. Harold draws upon years of pizza in front of Open University and misses by a mile, falling through the floor. And twisting his ankle on the landing, falling sideways and knocking open a door to the outside, at which point he promptly tumbles over the safety rail and lands in one of the purification pools. Sara and Karina run to help him, which means they're not around to stop Natalia opening up with Beastie's grenade launcher as a helicopter soars into view. All Natalia sees is the spotlight on the underside, while Karina sees the W.C.P.D. logo on the side quite clearly. Before the helicopter explodes, that is.

Acting as damage control, Sara sculpts the wreckage on the way down and prevents it from hitting anything. As Rufus rounds a corner inside the building and guns down three balaclava'ed Raelians before any of them can even flip the safety off their AK47s, a second police helicopter emerges above the outside quartet. Between the sniper and the loudhailer, the team are apprehended, and proceed to talk themselves into progressively deeper water (citing Homeland Security for the second time in one night, even if this time a Secret Service ID is on hand, somehow makes these people a bit cagey. Maybe it's all the high explosive being deployed.)

Meanwhile Rufus, snatching up an AK, is joined by Dr. Kilmarnock, who took a different route, and now takes another AK. Noting her obvious inexperience, he doesn't tell her how to take the safety off; yet again showing that while he may look like Crockett and Tubbs' Michael Jackson-lovin' offspring, he's still easily the sanest of the bunch. Heading out to the dam, he finds the remainder of the Raelians, subduing them and tossing their weaponry into the dam before one of his friends manages to mention they still have someone inside the dam. A third helicopter is despatched to see what's going on.

Abandoning his AK, Rufus dives into the dam and swims off underwater. Dr Kilmarnock demi-swoons.

Meanwhile, Sara has a plan. Calling a lightning bolt down from the sky, she explodes the remaining chopper in her area and in the confusion uses some telekinesis to unlock Natalia's cuffs. Natalia reaches her GameBoy remote control and brings Beastie between the heroic foursome and Justice (in that generalised sense). As Sara mentally uncuffs the rest of the group, guns are snatched up and they pile in, before Natalia blasts off down the hillside, ultimately pausing at the base as a soaking figure races out from the trees. With Rufus in tow, they take off for the past, shorting out Rudi's gadget and emerging in front of the White House. People on horses are looking at them oddly, so they duck into the closest hiding place they can find.

A well-suited gentleman taps on the front passenger window. With it rolled down, he casts his eye around the group, selecting Rufus as the clear leader.

“My name is Salmon P. Chance. I'm a Senator of these United States. Do I take it that this contraption comes from the future?”
Rufus: “Might do.”
Harold: “Actually, it's simply a horseless carriage.”
Karina: “Not going to work. Yes, we're from the future. What can we do for you?”
Chance: “I ask you, sirs, to ensure that the President in fact dies tonight, rather than be prolonged in vitality by some futuristic means.”

Rufus demands to know how Chance comes to suspect such a thing, and Chance holds up a history book published in the 1950s.

“How did you get that?”
“His name was Tannen.”

[Fulsrush]

I wouldn't expect too many more of Rufus's reports, particularly since I've joined the party properly now, and it'd be basically repeating what Phantom Brigand's already written.

I've got too much other stuff on at the moment.

(I've still not written up the first two sessions of The Enemy Within, for WFRP, or the play-test review of 2nd Ed.)