Supercape

GM Photonic flickered for a moment, the invisibility shield fading, revealing the alien in all his uncloaked glory. Pin pricks of light on a hairless, bronzed and mottled humanoid, slender, with a wiry strength and deep set red eyes. A few key areas, glowing with light, indicated he had been operated on. A cyborg. "Fraud?" he said in a slick velvet mouth quite unlike the ugly alien features he presented with. "I..am a...no...no...." he answered, unsure of himself. "I..haven't got time for you..." he finished, trying to muster himself together. Then, he vanished...fizzled...gone... The engines groaned, sparks flying. And then, a huge gust of wind hit the three bounty hunters. Decompression! Roulette caught sight of Photonic, who had opened the airlock in the engine rooms. A functional, simple hatch for ships to click together. Outside, the outer layer of atmosphere from the gas giant they orbitted. And Photonic was holding something. A case. An ominous metal case. And then...he was sucked out of the ship, and tumbled down, down...to the deeper gas of the planet.

So, as you spent that HP and I am sort of escaping combat I will fudge the rules slightly. Photonic is rattled, and you get +2 to future appropriate rolls the next time you see him (as a circumstance bonus). as the memory will be with him.

OOC for thread! Hi tech brain stuff!

GM 1st September Evening time, with a red sun in the horizon... The Hanover Institute of Technology was well guarded at night, but it was hardly a military complex. Five men, in balaclavas and with all the usual tools of the trade, were breaking in. Wire cutters first, then lock picks. They looked professional, or at least a cut above a tweaking crack addict desperate for some quick bucks. However, they were notable for having good equipment. Excellent equipment, in fact. Power wire cutters, electronically controlled lock picks, remote controlled grenades, and perhaps most surprising, what looked like sci-fi blaster pistols for defence. The Van they had come in was large, black, and silent, looking equally cutting edge, with filed off number plates and a number of antenna and dishes, subtle but present, on the roof...

Roullette goes down to 3 HP 1d20+9=14 he is taunted! Shaken for one round (-2 Checks, Saving Throws, Attack Rolls)

GM A little while later... With the destination plucked clean from the Priests mind, reaching the cave was not problematic. The trip to the edge of town was filled with beggars, music, peddlers, colours and smells that assaulted the senses in a most wonderful chaos. India, in any dimension, was not a dull destination. The cave had scratching and etchings around it, subtle chalk symbols dedicated to Kali. But unlike the opium den, this was not so decorated with religious symbolism. It was if religious devotion here was half hearted, a secondary thing. The cave was located in the slums of the town, just as they gave way to a tiny mountain, or large hill, depending on what you fancied terming it. It looked blasted out rather than natural. The mood of the slums was less pleasant. Beggars begged with more ferocity, and street vendors pressed their goods into Synapse and Ulysses hands more urgently. The people of the slums did not look well disposed to two foreigners, and well dressed ones...

GM "You are hungry? Yes?...no need to answer...I can smell it...I can smell it, so delicious, a beautiful gnawing agony in your bones...." The rat stayed stone still, its pure black eyes fixed on Bloodline. It barely seemed to move its mouth, but the words came out all the same. "I am hungry too. I was not always...like this...but this is the form I have taken, and I am chained to that ridiculous boy you met. My hunger is for different...things...I want to eat demons...I wish to consume the essence of them, I want to consume any hellfire, any sulphur, any power, I can get my tiny teeth into" Now, it seems to grin. "And I need help to do it. Your help. That is not so bad, is it? Feeding one demon to another? And in return, these dark tunnels can be yours. I, Vermin, will aide you. For all his weakness, the boy you know as Filth has power over the rats beneath the city. Great power. His eyes are everywhere, and so are his little pets..."

"Collection cycle?" Starshot took a second. Collecting what? "You mean you harvest..the biosphere...at regular intervals?" he asked as he followed them into the outpost main building. "Why is that?" he asked. It would make sense. No point in going out in the dark and cold starry night. Even if armed with lights, it would disrupt the wild life, and the animals themselves presumably hibernated, or something like that at night. But collecting what? "What is the biosphere of Sly'n V, Tal'a?" he asked politely. Mask deactivated, folding back on itself until it was just a metal and light collar around his neck. "Aside from its vast jungles, I am not familiar with the planet. Has something...exotic...evolved here?"

Starshot nodded. "Brazil wood, may be. Its been a while since I was...here...but this looks like South America to me. Either that, or someone is doing a very fine job of making it look like South America" He studied the makeshift club. It would suffice, it would do, although for himself, the various drills, blades, spikes, and just plain weight of his cybernetic hand would do just fine in a fight. "A club, a spear, all good. What concerns me is that the Hunters probably wont come near us. Most hunting, even by primitive, is done from afar. Be it blowpipes and javelins, crossbows, rifles, or high powered plasma rifles" "And we have nothing. Nothing but cover. We have to draw them in, make them feel confident" He gazed out at the jungle. "Unless you can make us bows?"

Thats all cool. So we are probably due a scene cut to a cave at the edge of the town? How soon, any preparations? Do you need a guide? Etc etc! Thoughts please!

GM "The great Indian Continental Line..." whispered Singh, his mouth smiling and his eyes happy, lost in the serene moment of imagining it. Even as he did, Ulysses felt another twang... It must be built... With Dee's hands on his chest, she stemmed the bleeding. She remembered some basic anatomy, some basic trauma - a haemothorax, making it difficult to breathe. But with a little poking around and pressure release, she stabilised Singh, although he was far from well. Fortunately the knife punctured a lung, not the heart or the aorta. "Madam...and Sir...you have saved me, and more than once, I fancy, from my own folly. Please, you see now the madness that seeks to derail us...it must be stopped...."

Good stuff. Let us say that stabilises him and removed daze, as well as providing Care (+8 Recovery roll).

GM "<Kill the Infidel! Protect the King! Kill them and kill them until they die from it!>" yelled the riders as they whipped their camels into a flurry of activity. A few bursts of gunfire roared through the night, but the Van, beat up as it was, was in full working order engine wise. Dee had kicked it into shape back at the dealers. "<They are getting away! They must not find the King! His blood must be protected!>" Then the Van sped into the desert night, and the cries fell away. Later... Even with the pedal to the metal, it was another hour, nearly dawn, before the Van pulled up outside what looked like a concrete abandoned military base on the side of the Nile. It looked like a concrete abandoned military base because that was what it was. It would have been easy to miss, just dust, concrete, and a rusted and ineffective chain gate surrounding the perimeter, with an equally rusted lock. The only entrance appeared to be a predictably rusted and barred iron door, big enough for the Van, if it could be opened, that sat mere yards from the gentle lapping waters of the Nile.

Ok you both notice that whilst Y Dderwen is speaking, he is also laying roots into the ground and regenerating. Not that this means he is hostile - but he is regenerating!

GM "There!" shouted Blood. It was photonic, no doubt about it. He looked like an average guy, in an average suit. A fit for Mr Scure from his face. Except the man also had patches of light crawling around his skin, forming, at times and places, little dots of pin prick brilliance. Blood was fast. Her lithe frame was probably not the sturdiest, she probably came from a low G world. But her reflexes where beyond human. In a flash, she whirled and fire her pistol in one fluid moment. A stun blast, which went just wide. Because Photonic was fast too. Looking up, startled, he blinked out of view. Bam Blood was a good twenty feet from where he had been, but she fell forward as if something had slammed her in the back. Her head butted against a bank of energy cells. Grunt was slower, but not slow. Grunting a war cry, he let rip with his rifle, beams of energy scything through the engine room where Photonic had been. Sparks exploded, and there was a smell of smoke..and the lights above started flickering as the engines ground a most disturbing noise, followed by emergency red lighting bathing the rooms.

Meaning... Round 1: 29 - Blood - Unharmed 25 - Photonic - Unharmed 20 - Grunt - Unharmed 18 - Roulette - Unharmed - 4 HP Blood acts first, flat footing Photonic. He fortunately has uncanny dodge: 1d20+12=16 and she missed. Photonic turns invisible, and then unarmed strikes Blood, 1d20+15=32 hitting comfortably, and causing a DC 20 Toughness save: 1d20+6=15 Bleed is Dazed and Bruised. Grunt is going to fire into where Photonic was... Engines damaged! Roulette is up!

1d20+17=29 for Blood. 1d20+1=20 for Grunt 1d20+9=25 for Photonic

GM "My..my...it barely hurts at all..." said Singh to the dagger hilt in his chest. "I feel...almost peaceful..." The drugs that had been burnt at the incense were mercifully pain relieving too. Around the heroes, figures coiled back, staggered away, or simply slept through the mayhem. "...this...this thuggery will not do!" said Singh, the effort of talking causing more bleeding from the wound in his chest. His breathing was ragged, a sucking sound coming from his sternum. "You...you...my friends, dear lady, dear sir...you must stop Annie Key...I believe it all now, madam, having seen with mine own eyes. What a story! A story I wish I could have told my grandchildren..." he coughed.

Ok so you can knock down one Cultist, and with your surge, the Priest too. That effectively ends the combat, so lets say you knock out both remaining thuggee cultists (to keep things neat). Post awaaaay! I make current status Synapse - 2 HP (Forgot to add the 1 HP for fiat above, so make it 2) Ulysses - 1 HP - Fatigued.

Your cortical capacity is severely reduced. It is quite...distasteful, even for a computer. I am feeling rather...nauseated... "Hummm...wrong turn again..." said the ape woman, scratching her head. The Rat had devolved for security detail. She had figured looking like a six foot ape woman with arms as thick as tree trunks, and hair every where, would look suitably good for Halloween. Unfortunately, what her devolution gained in muscle, it lost in brains. Perhaps twice over. "Huh huh...Me lost...." she shrugged, after stumbling for the fourth time down the wrong alley. Listen you primitive fool! You try even my patience...turn left...forward...yes...that's right...if you can lift your knuckles from the ground that would help...yes...now right....no...the other right...there...knock on door... With the Slave System guiding her, the Rat knocked, loudly on the door, splintering it slightly. "Knock Knock...uh...me late...me sorry...me come in?" she shouted through the door.

Thats fine for a straight drive. You can outrun them at this point, so its up to you how to play it.

EDIT: Ulysses is up! He has a Fort 11 Save vs the Nauseate Narcotic first.

So, the Van is in Synpases hand once more! You have open road in front of you.

"It is an ill time for Bandits" replied Rene, softening his face. "An ill time to break the law, with France so bloody. Why take this precarious path?" he asked. But more importantly... "What say say you about the town? Cut off? The war, the revolution, is over, although its scars are deep and not easily forgotten. Is it the shadows and echoes of war, or something else? a plague? tell me truthfully now, the need for deception is over. Whilst I do not take well to bullets, I would spare you my anger, such as it is, if you tell the tale with looser tongue than you have granted me thus far!"

"Well, I ain't read it yet" replied the Hound, cautiously. "Thats cos I don't, so to speak, have it. Please feel free to share" he said, open handed. He straightened his tie, which still looked wonky, and combed back his hair, which still looked wild. He wondered if his client actually had the reach to use a shovel. Maybe Forensics could work out the angle of the attack or something. "Still, got some other avenues to explore. Gotta get the right man, huh? So, murder weapon aside, what makes you think Wysocki did it? Surely the stiff..ah the victim, he had more than one enemy? Or was he as clean as a whistle? Nobody is clean as a whistle, before you answer that..." As he paced around the crime scene, his extraordinary nose perked into gear. Perhaps somebodies scent...it was full of horse smells, naturally, but still...