Supercape

Snakebite Collapsing ceilings were not the best way to start the day! Through the dust and confusion she spied the bearded man. And what, she thought somewhat oddly, a magnificent beard it was! Like a viking warrior! Like a Rus trader! She could only assume he was without malign intent. After all, he seemed to be at ground level. If anyone was with violence machination right now, presumably they would have not have placed themselves under a collapsing ceiling. What was it anyway? A bomb? Bad architecture? Someone moving a really heavy piano? Well she, hand't seen a piano, so presumably it wasn't that. "Over here!" she called out.

Cool

GM "Such glorious toxins! can it be true?" slobbered Mr. Sting, enratured by the thought of possessing such a toxin. "For myself, I never really understood chemistry and science. Home schooled, you might say. I have always been fascinated with insects, and most particularly, scorpions. I have studied them, and their venom, for as long as I can remember! I can distill a toxin so deadly that it will kill a man in ten seconds!" he said, proudly. One wondered if he had actually studied the time. A grisly experiment! "But here, look!" As they went deeper into the poorly lit cave, Venomax could hear a scuttling sound. And soon, he understood why. For Mr Sting had created a pen, or cage, of sort. And in it was simply the biggest scorpion he had ever seen! It must have been four feet in length, and that was without the stinger tail!

GM At the sound of Venomax proclaiming to be the most poisonous thing on earth (and quite likely, a correct proclamation!) Mr. Sting's eyes widened in rapture, although he had a spot on skepticm. Surely it could not be that wonderful!?!? "Well you came to the right place for poisons. The scorpions here...well, they grow em large round these parts! Eh, these part's are queer, though. You seen the magic mesa yet? It comes, it goes. But it's always here, in some way or another" "Now, as you let Big Mama go, all polite and courteous, I'll do you the same courtesy. Only fair. Let me show you one of my scorpions. If you can step inside...?" he asked, offering Venomax an entrance to his cave / hut. "And then you have to show me some of your poisons!" he requested, dribbling at the thought.

GM Abdul, still smoke, turned to the Dust Devil. "I'm glad you followed me!" he said, keenly. It was not really malice, or gloating, in his voice. Rather, he seemed gripped by a furious fever to show the Dust Devil infinity. And beyond, of course. "This is the past. This is the land of the snake. Tell me, do you know the true ancient history of the world? Do you know of Lemuria? Of the civilisation that predated man? Of Atlantis? Here, all these things are now!"

GM Down, down, down into the caverns and tunnels and cracks of the Magic Mesa the Dust Devil seeped. Down, down. And north, west, east, south, and up. And other directions too! for this was the Magic Mesa. Anyone else would surely have got hopelessly lost, for this was the Magic Mesa, and Abdul was taking the most torturous path, through the heaviest distortions. But the Dust Devil knew this place better than Abdul, and probably better than anyone. And more importantly, whilst Abdul had got a head start, he was slower than the Dust Devil. And then, they seeped, together, through a crack in the mesa, and landed in a magnificent, hyperfertile, hyperalive, jungle. Millions of years ago! "Awesome!" said Abdul. "I saw this in my visions. But to actually be here!" A pair of many-toothed dinosaurs, a dozen feet high, whipped their heads to the two gaseous forms, wondering if a new meal had arrived!

Starshot Interesting. And vile. Fifty armed pirates, combat robots, and artillery. That was an herculean feat for their motley crew, even with the best strategy in the world. Not impossible, but the odds were so very very long. But they had information now. The Jaas were the key which, if eliminated, would potentially allow the Edestrekai to be emancipated. He left the pirates to stew and conferred with Soreen and Laark in private. "I can't see any easy road from here" he started. "But every road involves the Edestrekai. For their sake, as well as ours" he explained. "We have to free them. But this won't work with a full on assault. We need a more precise, surgical stategy - and it's not going to be quick" he concluded. "As far as I can see, we have to take the Jaas out of the picture to start with. There are only a few of them, but I can imagine it will be dirty work. Namely, assasination..." He was no fan of killing, but on the other hand their options were thin, and he would rather kill a few mind-raping pirates than leave an entire species enslaved.

GM Abdul pointed straight down, to the cracks in the Mesa, leading to the strange doorways, caverns and caves that lead to even stranger times, places...and things that were neither times nor places! "Now...I don't think you are with me on this" said Abdul, astutely enough. "I got a feeling you want to shut down the leaf. Closed mind, closed mind..." he said, softly now, even sad. Mumbling just a bit. He took one massive nostril inhalation of the leafs fumes. "See, when you really get to understand this, it doesn't just send your mind to spacedust, you become spacedust!" And with that, he faded. His body became wisps of smoke, grey and incomplete. So transformed, he oozed down through the cracks!

GM "I never said I owned this place. Its too wonderful for anyone to own" replied Abdul, getting firm in his voice. "My supplier...ah....haha....he is a snake!" he laughed. "He cultivates the leaf deep within the Mesa. I don't understand how this place works. Things get...twisted...inside. But he approached me showing me the leaf and all its wonderful mysteries. It is born from the Mesa, and like the Mesa, it is beyond time!" he said, a grin on his face, his voice full of enthusiam. "Me and my buddies, we started smoking the leaf regularly. It gives you such insight into the cosmos!" he said. "We discuss philosophy, theology, occultism, astrophysics....its wonderful!" Abdul slowly stood up. "You protect the Mesa? Then you should protect the leaf too!"

GM "Dont get blasted to oblivion!" was the only thing Fields could add, and whilst reasonable advice it was surely something the Scarab was already intent on. With a whoosh of gravitic gravitation, the Scarab landed on the roof of the mansion, and then lowered herself onto the first floor. The inside of the mansion had the same feel as the outside. A little old and crumbly, full of rather worn antiques. A beautiful rug here, an intricate four poster bed there. And some goons with Daka-powered rifles. They looked like 60s Sci-fi weapons in a cheap TV serial, but clearly they sizzled with power. The Scarab crept past them, counting three of them on the top floor, smoking, playing cards, drinking coffee, being generally relaxed and rather undisciplined. The entertainment room was another matter. Also on the top floor, it was full of sumptious cushions and rugs, and gave every indication that it was used for smoking intoxicants and, as the policeman had said, watching pretty girls dance. Probably not wearing much. Relaxing on a heap of cushions was a thin man dressed in traditional Egyptian dress, rather expensively. This was surely Yasser Sanu, the arms dealer that Misi and his cousin had talked about. A dangerous, callous, cruel man. And that was before. Now, his eyes sizzled with blue-white energy and you could almost feel the Daka energy flowing though his veins and crackling over his skin. He had, as yet, not spotted the Scarab. Instead, he languished on the cushions, seemiingly (for now) content on enjoying his success, fortune, and prospects.

Opposed against! Notice stealth: 1d20+4 7 YOu are stealthy!

GM "Where should I be?" mumbled Abdul cryptically. Fort all his vagueness he had an intensity to him, and intelligence and drive to his eyes. "I saw you coming you know. Not with my eyes. The leaf sends your mind into the past, and the future. And this is where it grows. My...supplier....gave it to me" he explained. "You should try it..." he added, wafting a few smoking fumes towards the Dust Devil. "Now my eyes have been opened to the Cosmos, I cannot close them again. I wish to share these beautiful visions with all of humanity!" he declared, full of magmanimous righteousness.

From my point of view, good to go. The Rat will have to leave her weapons behind. They do kind of give the game away! (and its more fun being unarmed!). Leaving them in the Ratcoper if thats ok. Ill quickly roll (two full actions) knowledge Current Events and knowledge Streetwise to see if she has happened upon any useful recent rumours or infocmation on Nova Corp Knowledge Rolls: 2#1d20+7 26 15 well, might get a hit with that nice Current Event rolls, maybe!

GM "The sleeper!" muttered Doctor North. "He certainly fits the profile. I don't like leaping to conclusion but its a very good match. It has to be him!" he said, with uncharacteristic certainty. "We have three of the soldiers in FBI custody for debriefing. Its caused something of a political issue, all dealt with out of the media spotlight. But leave the politics to me" he said, carefully. "That's really my job at WEST, greasing the rusty cogs of politics" he sighed. It wasn't the prettiest of jobs, but North had plenty of experience - he had worked high up in the WHO for nearly two decades, and was the perfect mix of skills - diplomat and scientist. "It would certainly be worth a shot, Synapse, if you are willing. It would mean a trip stateside however - I doubt I can get the soliders transported to the UK, even if the states and the UK are strong allies. I have the WEST jumbo jet parked at Heathrow. Fast, smooth, and equipped with top line computers, laboratories, and so on. Even a fishtank. But not jaccuzi, I am afraid" he said. How he had fought for the jaccuzi. But it was, unfortunately, deemed superfulous!

GM And it did not take long. For the magic mesa was dominating the landscape, and twas surely where Abdul was. The Dust Devil flew up to the top, aware of how time and space were distorting. It would be a perilous flight if someone was not innately attuned to the Magic Mesa such as Dust Devil Was. He understood - on many levels - how things worked - and he danced around the spacetimedimensional warping in a remarakbly eloquent jig. At the top of the Mesa - and how on earth Abdul got there was anybodies guess (for now), was Abdul, tending to a small fire on which a number of leafs (of mystic variety as previously envountered) were gently smoking. He was inhaling - with some gusto - the fumes. Adbul was a man of average build, a thick black beard, and arabic descent (although he was second generation and quite American in culture). He had a certain intense handsomeness, augmented by his engrossed state (which made him quite obliviuos to the Dust Devil, it seemed).

GM North politely interjected for expediencies sake. "Almost nothing, I am afraid" he said, demure. "Allow me to fill you in" "Only a few days ago Replice here stopped a theft of Darwin - X, which I understand you are familiar with" he said. "It was the United States only sample, and a very small sample too. We were transporting it, top secret, top security. And yet somebody peeled through all our firewalls and security as it they were butter" he explained. "Our only lead is a mysterious individual known as Mother Board, a hacker. She orchestrated the theft, as far as we can see, and the soldiers who tried to steal the sample were Russian. They referred to a movement, or organisation, known as Red Dawn. Again, we know nothing about this. And the Sodliers who we captured seemed to have no recollection of anything. Like they were hypnotised, or something" he explained. "You can understand the concern. And this at least partially falls under the remit of the World Exotic Science TAsk Force, or WEST. A Dawrin-X outbreak could be catastrophic, and whilst we are coordinating with the World Health Organisation on this matter, it is simply to exotic an organism for them to manage on there own" "It struck me that you, who as part of Vanguard has been involved in tracking down the Virus, has psychic abilties that may help us understand what happened to the soldiers, and lastly - I understand - are an expert in computer systems, would be the perfect person to help us. If you would kindly consider it?" he asked with a little bow.

GM "Aw...Big Mama didn't mean no harm, sir" replied Mister Sting, giving his big grin. "It's just a funny old place, this here" he explained, vaguely, showing Venomax his hut or cave, or whatever it was. "We don't get much company. And, well, Big Mama ain't exactly all there" he said. "Now then, Mama, if you just promise to be good and not eat nobody, then Ahm sure Mr. Venomax will let you go, ain't that right, Sir?" said Mister Sting. "Me no eat you" said Big Mama, although it looked like she didn't say the words easy. "Now, why in the world are you called Venomax, Sir?" asked Mister Sting inquisitevly. "Ah mean, we got plenty of poisons and venoms in this here place. Snakes and Spiders and Scorpions. Yes sir, we got scorpions like you wont believe!"

GM Big Mama was slow at the best of times, and she was slower still now. The goo filled the air with sticky strands, and in the blink of an eye she was webbed over, stuck to the ground, her limbs tight. Because she liked booms so much - and because despite her strength, she could not work her way free, she let loose the other barrel of the shotgun. The shot just clung to the strands which barely parted. "Sting!" "Sting!" she called out, with the frantic fear of the confused. Even living out here by the Mesa, this was a pretty unusual day. "I'm coming Mama!" Mister Sting was quite unlike Big Mama, although it was hard to tell if they were actually genetically related. He was a short, wiry man, in jeans, boots, and a white vest. His hair was thinning and black as his eyes, his skin sun-drenched, of mixed heritage. He had a canny quickness to him, and a toothy grin (with more than one tooth missing). "What in darnation is this?" he said, eyes widening. "And what in darnation are you?" he asked Venomax. "Don't you mind Big Mama here, she ain't too smart, but she wouldn't hurt a fly!" he said as way of opening gambit.

Reflex Saves: 2#1d20+1 9 2 Snared. There is a remote chance she can break free with a STR of 20: Breaks free of snare: 1d20+10 30 but the snare resolutely makes its toughness save! (vs 20 DC), so ill stop combat there and say she is effectively perma-snared! As she has also been poisoned and we are moving out of combat, ill roll that poison effect for prosperity: Save vs Poison Drain: 1d20+10 18 which lowers her DEX to 4! GIven there is no slow fade on the poison, I will guess that recovers fairly quickly however.

The Red Rat The Rat gave a thumbs up. "As I see, we have three goals. Find out what they want to steal, find out why, and find out who is helping them on the inside. Because I am sure someone is" she said. "If we can find out the answers to some of those questions, we might be in a better position to stop the theft..." If we even want to stop it... "Personally, I can't shake the feeling we are being played somehow. But I cant turn my back on this beautiful mess, and I guess you guys can't either" she summarised. "So, Venomax, I think its time we went into the belly of the beast, and hope the Black Mamba and company can keep the heat off our backs whilst we do. Eyes peeled...they may come in any direction!" Or they may be inside already.... "And let's make sure we don't take the rap for the theft. And if we do, we best make a quick getaway!" she half-joked. "Anything goes south, meet up in Liberty Park, by the statue..."

GM With a little water inside, the woman seemed to perk up somewhat. "He...he said only he could go to the Mesa. I just came for...company" she explained. Although quite what the company was...was left unsaid. "I...think I smoked a bit too much. In the sun. Alone...it showed me the cosmos beyond time and space....its...beautiful..." she whispered. Coming too a bit, she focussed her attention on the much less palatable here and now. "Hey, who are you anyway? And why are you asking about Abdul?" she asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice - although she seemed in no condition to do anything about her suspicion.

GM 'Twas both fortunate and unfortunate that the woman was so intoxicated with the leaf's vile fumes. She had no guile or deception in her, and this was fortunate. But, misfortunate too, for she spoke gibberish. "Abdul is at the Mesa. Smoke, he is! Smoke we all are. Just cosmic dust!" she said, rambling. "I study astrophysics at Freedom City Univeristy! I should know!" she added emphatically, gripped by a transient moment of lucidity (and pride). "We were running low on the leaf, and Abdul said he could get us something even stronger! His supplier...the genius who grows the leaf. He is....there!" she said dramatically, pointing at the Mesa itself.

GM The puff of venom hit big Mama straight in the face. She was slow of wit and her responses sluggish, and she was wide eyed and open mouthed as the gas streamed into her. She took one step back and waved at the air with a spade-like hand, but had inhaled the gas already. Slow she might have been, but she had the constitution of an ox, nay! a horde of oxen. She lifted her Shotgun clumsily. "Me boom you! Boom!" she said with that lovely melodic voice quite out of keeping with her brute form and manner. And boom she did, letting a load of buckshot into the air - with Venomax managing to duck past the shot.

As she is flat footed, that just hits! unfortunately, her Fort save is her one saving grace! Fort Save: 1d20+10 18 DEX reduced by 2. Which means it is 6 (So she can resist the poison well, but she is pretty clumsy to start with!) The poison extra is in effect and will kick in a minute later. In response, she will clumsily fire her shotgun at Venomax! Fires Shotgun: 1d20+6 15 and missing!

GM "Boot..." It was a cracked voice but the meaning was clear enough. The boot of the car. And, like the door, it was unlocked. Inside said boot of said car was a jumble of rubbish. Half eaten crisps, maps of the region, a spare tyre, a couple of old books on history and occultism (one actually written in Arabic, from what the Dust Devil could make out), and - yes - a couple of bottles of water. And, almost predictably, was another large leaf. Purple and sweet smelling, dried ready for burning.