Run #6: Where No Chummer Has Gone Before

[GM Nick]

The man with the beard rises, somewhat hesitantly. He gives Daniel a questioning look.

Daniel stands, adjusts his tie and nods at the man. "Are you my contact? Do you have the vials?"

He steps forward, producing the briefcase. "Is.. uh... is everything going...?"

[Elliott]

Tyros orders Whitelock to affirm everything is going according to plan, to first administer the antidote to Tyros' teammates "the security", and then to the pilots (provided, of course, there are enough doses for all, otherwise the pilots have to have priority).

[GM Nick]

Moving under orders from Tyros, Daniel retrieves the briefcase and removes a set of vials. He hurriedly pops the stoppers off and wafts them under Doc, Max and Rawhide's nostrils.

"The effect should only take a minute."

He hurries towards the cockpit. "We'll need to break down the door."

[John]

With the new nanomachines administered to him, Max immediately begins fighting against his paralysis. Finding himself able to move, Max stands as rage flows through him; his best efforts are just barely enough to keep him from rush and savaging Whitelock. Maintaining his composure, Max rushes to the front of the plane and pushes past Whitelock and his accomplice to kick in the door to the cockpit.

[GM Nick]

Brute Force Test

[BOD (4) + STR (3) = 3]
4 6 5 5 2 4 1

Max kicks repeatedly at the cabin door, but fails to disengage the reinforced deadbolt.

[GM Nick]

The shuttle pitches suddenly, causing several of the passengers to cry out in alarm and Max, Tyros and Daniel Whitelock to lose their balance.

[John]

Regaining his composure, Max barks back impatiently,

"Rawhide, give me a hand here!"

[GM Nick]

Rawhide runs down the aisle and throws his weight against the door alongside the elf.

Brute Force Test

[BOD (9) + STR (8) = 6]
5 3 1 3 3 1 2 3 5 4 3 6 1 5 2 6 5

Rawhide rubs his shoulder, glaring at the undamaged door. "...the frag is this thing made out of? Tyros, lend us a hand!"

[Elliott]

Tyros lowers his shoulder and uses his substantial mass to crash through the door.

[GM Nick]

Tyros, Rawhide and Max stand shoulder to shoulder in the cramped confines of the aisle. They exchange glances. It's quite the trio.

With a furtive battle cry, the three of them rush the door.

Brute Force Test

[BOD (19) + STR (15) = 10]
5 3 1 5 3 4 3 3 2 3 5 4 4 6 1 3 1 2 6 2 2 3 2 1 4 5 6 1 5 5 3 3 4 6

...and all three fall in a heap as the door collapses into the cockpit.

[John]

Max stands quickly and grabs the stranger with the antidote by the shoulder. Pushing him toward the pilots, he yells,

"Fraggin' fix this before we go down!"

[GM Nick]

Daniel wafts the vials underneath the ashen faces of the two riggers who are controlling the shuttle.

"We're not going to make it..." mutters Daniel, his eyes glued to the holographic altimeter that's dropping rapidly.

[John]

Max aggressively grabs the remaining vials from Daniel and turns to the pilots. Giving them both a hard slap to the cheek, he screams,

"SNAP OUT OF IT!!"

[Elliott]

Tyros looks around nervously at the emergency exits, gauging how long he has before jumping out of the ship becomes the only chance at survival...

[GM Nick]

Doc leaps to the manual controls.

Recover Vehicle (3)

[Pilot Aircraft (4) + LOG (7) = 4]
2 5 3 3 5 4 2 4 3 5 6

After issuing several course correction commands and pulling back on the auxiliary flight stick, the shuttle stabilizes and re-enters autopilot.

[John]

Max turns from the controls with his fists clenched and lays into Whitelock.

[GM Nick]

Melee Combat

[Unarmed Combat (2) + AGI (8) = 5]
3 4 3 2 5 5 5 5 2 5

Melee Combat

[Unarmed Combat (Block) (2) + AGI (4) = 2]
5 2 2 2 4 5

Whitelock Damage Resistance

[BOD (2) = 0]
4 1 **Critical Glitch!**

(( 5S DAMAGE. ))

Max's eyes tell the whole story--he's fraggin' pissed. The elf splays his fingers, forcibly cracking his knuckles before forming a fist. He throws all of his body-weight into a haymaker that connects with Daniel's skull, producing a sickening crunch. A spatter of blood and a few teeth jettison Daniel's mouth before he slams to the cockpit floor, fully unconscious.

[John]

Max turns his fury to Whitelock's accomplice and lunges for him.

[GM Nick]

The bearded man shrieks and succumbs to Max's half-nelson headlock.

"Don't--don't hurt me! I don't know anything! I was just paid to deliver the briefcase!"

[John]

Tightening his grip on the man, Max shouts,

"BY WHOM?!"

[Drew Buddy]

Using the manual interface, Doc keys in the command for the shuttle to continue along its route to the original destination, and stands up.

"You'd best answer his question pal. I can't control him when he gets like this," Doc says to the choking, sputtering man.

[GM Nick]

"Bell!"

The man struggles against Max's burly forearms.

"His name was Bell. I got the impression he was military. He just looked the type. I thought this was a sting--or a training exercise! Please don't kill me!"

[John]

Max's jaw goes slack and the color drains from his face; his muscles loosen. Quietly, he mutters,

"Bell......... "

Recalling the mess in Alaska, Max goes back over the events in his head. The treachery, the distrust, the violence. Bell had turned on them in a second after being backed into a corner. He was dangerous. He was not a man with whom to frag.

Snapping back to the moment, he tightens his grip around the man's neck, reassuring,

"Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you, but the lights are going out."

Max chokes the man unconscious before relenting. Turning to his teammates, he queries,

"Bell. He must have seen us on TV? I can't believe that son of a slitch engineered this whole thing for our benefit. Either that, or this is one motherfragger of a coincidence. But it doesn't change anything. We need to get to that space station."

Turning from the cockpit and the bodies piled therein, Max raises his hands in the air and speaks to the frightened passengers,

"Listen up everybody, the threat has been neutralized. I repeat and reassure you, you are no longer in any danger. We're past the point of no-return on this flight now, so we're going to continue onto the space station to get you all off this thing. In the meantime, one of us will come around to any of you who need any immediately medical attention. Please remain calm. Again, you are no longer in any immediate danger. The terrorists have been dealt with."

[Drew Buddy]

Doc's eyes go wide with surprise, as he glances up at Max. The chickens are coming home to roost.

After Max adresses the passengers, Doc says to him in a low voice,

"Bell? It can't be. Frag, what the hell is that corrupt sociopath up to now?"

Grabbing the medical kit from the back wall of the cockpit, Doc walks down the aisle looking for any passengers that are showing signs of physical distress.

[John]

Max kneels down next to the two unconscious men, first rifling through Whitelock's pockets and then through the bearded man's. He's looking for anything. Anything.

[GM Nick]

After searching the accomplice's pockets, Max turns up a pocket computer, a wad of UCAS bucks, a passport, and a screen actor's guild card.

Perception Test

[Perception (4) + INT (4) = 5]
6 6 5 4 4 6 5 3

Daniel's possessions include a cred-stick, passport and... what's this? He locates something solid sewn into the man's designer jacket.

[John]

After stuffing the money into his pockets slyly, Max says to his teammates,

"Looks like Beard-o here was an actor."

Max pats the unconscious man on the chest and whispers,

"Sleep well, and dream of large women."

Moving on to Whitelock, Max speaks up to his team,

"Huh. And what's this? Hold on a sec..."

Max grasps at the object sewn into the jacket and tears it out of its hidden compartment.

[Drew Buddy]

Doc comes bounding back into the cockpit.

"I need those vials, the passengers with 'ware are still getting hit pretty hard by this bug."

Retrieving a handful of the vials, Doc returns to the first non-responsive passenger, and waves one under the passenger's nose.

[GM Nick]

Whilst Doc is busy reviving the passengers, Max examines the object that was in Daniel's pocket. It's a flat, ceramic disk with a magnetic strip.

[John]

Flipping it over in his hands several times, Max tries to ascertain what the object could be. Catching up with Doc in the aisle, he shows his friend the disc and asks,

"Any ideas here?"

[GM Nick]

Engineering Test

[Engineering (4) + LOG (7) = 4]
5 5 6 4 4 3 2 5 1 2 2

Doc turns the small object over and his face dons a look of recognition.

[GM Nick]

The shuttle shudders gently as it passes through the lower atmosphere.

[Drew Buddy]

Doc shudders, and sets the disk down. He pulls out a pair of latex gloves from the medical kit and puts them on, before picking the disc back up.

"It's a fraggin' nanohive. Everything you need to create a self-sustaining nanomachine colony is right inside here. This thing builds harvesters that collect resources like worker ants. Those resources are turned into more harvester nanomachines... And well, you can see the pattern."

[John]

Max thinks,

"Sounds valuable. Any way to hang onto it without putting every one and thing we run into in danger?"

[Drew Buddy]

Doc searches the medkit for a latex bag or other hermetically sealed container.

"Maybe. If I'm right, these things will only chew through organic tissue."