Hawaii:Sessions:19901110

A012 Track 1 T1M12 - "Nuclear Blackmail" (11/10/1990 - 11/24/1990)

GM: John Gourd

HAWAII REST PERIOD (14 days) 10/27/1990 - 11/10/1990 at noon

Enigma employed a new method for sending a team out. On the morning after the team's return, he sought Darr out and tasked him with pulling together the next mission team. He gave Darr the following mission parameters:

• TIME: December 17, 1990
• PLACE: Washington DC USA Earth
• SPECIFICS: The party needed to be all Earth-type humans in appearance. The mission should not be too deadly if they succeeded, but would kill them all if they failed.

Darr immediately began looking up the returning team. He found Tormac in his underwear at the top of a flagpole. Whitetop was watching. When asked if he was available for a mission in two weeks, Whitetop said he had other commitments then. After Darr hauled Tormac down, he asked Scott, who accepted. He gave Tormac an explanation of where they were going and that he must fit in. Given the place and time, both Samantha and Two-Leaf declined to go.

Darr did meet four new people (well, really, just three new ones) who were willing to give it a try. Three of them even came from the same time period.

1. Gary Cartwright: A World War II USA fighter pilot who was recruited in 1943. Currently without the ability to hear.
2. Perriuka: A Finnish-born composer / conductor living in Dallas Texas in 1993 when recruited. He also knows electronics, is a skilled diplomat, and a dedicated pacifist.
3. Roberto Petrocelli: A baseball player for the Texas Rangers recruited in 1990. An Afro-American of Italian descent.
4. Brodie Cates: Darr had met him on the Black Wall / road world. He was a member of the party the team had rescued.

During the next two weeks, Darr kept looking for Milo and Tanisha but had no luck. The day before the departure date, he was reminded of the locator service. He found the doctor to be on a walkabout, and Tanisha to be in Scotland. He called and invited her on the mission, and she brought along Kathy Oakbranch.

During the interval, Darr continued his personal training in running, tactics, throwing knife fast-draw, 9mm speed-loading, and shadowing.

On the evening before departure Enigma told him a nuclear physicist might come in handy, since a nuclear device was involved. Enigma also warned him about Kathy's run-in with one. Darr tried to find a physicist but had no success. So at noon the team was ready to leave.

Mission Twelve "Nuclear Blackmail" (11/10/90 - 11/24/90)

Washington DC 12/17/90

Mission Team:

• Tanisha Lazuli
• Anthony Darr
• Tormac
• Scott Dugan
• Kathy Oakbranch
• Brodie Cates
• Gary Cartwright
• Roberto Petrocelli
• Perriuka

The team arrived in the office of the mayor of Washington DC at 7:30 am. The mayor had his head on his desk over a newly-opened letter. Darr asked someone to shut the door. However, before that was done Tormac advanced. Darr stepped in and asked to see the letter. The mayor gave it to him. Then they let Gary read it since he wouldn't be able to hear someone else read it. It was an atomic bomb threat. It cited the situation in Saudi Arabia / Kuwait as the reason. It said that an A-bomb would go off at 6:00 P.M. the next day (Tuesday 12/18/90) if three things were not done: 1) troops removed from Saudi, 2) one billion dollars put in a Swiss bank account, and 3) seven specific men released from federal prisons.

Darr remembered his 2017 Secret Service ID, which he showed the mayor. The mayor then showed them the envelope which contained the tech specs the letter promised. Tormac went and set up the Black Hole in a conference room down the hall which the mayor had provided at their request. In the Black Hole they got some electronic equipment for Perriuka to scan for electronic bugs in the mayor's office. Meanwhile, Scott was copying all the envelope's information. Whitetop got some binoculars and went up to the top of the building to survey the surroundings. Darr got the mayor to arrange for cars for them. Roberto and Scott then did an outside walk around the block to check for unusual people. Perriuka began an examination of the electronic parts of the specs to see if they were legit.

Roberto and Scott walked by a dark blue sedan with a person of Spanish descent sitting in it. From earlier questions which Scott had asked the security department of the building, this car matched the one the courier had arrived in. They came back in on the other side of the block.

Since the car had obviously not moved in a while (the front hood had frost on it), the team decided that this must be the courier waiting around to see what happened. Perriuka put together one of the bugging devices, and Kathy, using her magic, planted the device on the car. Meanwhile, Darr and Cartwright got into one car and prepared to make an entrance as Feds that would convince the watcher to head home to report. Tanisha, Perriuka, and Roberto were in the other car with equipment to allow them to follow the bug.

Once everything was in place, Darr exited the rear of the building and drove to the front, where he and Cartwright made an obvious entrance. They went to the mayor's office, tarried, then left in a great hurry. Once he was out of sight, Darr stopped on a side street and waited. As expected, the observer started his car and began to leave. Then his car blew up. Brodie, who was watching from the roof, was not hurt. Once he was told exactly what had occurred, Darr got out of his car and bought a morning paper but took two. Then while waiting for the rest he and Cartwright scanned the paper for unusual events. They found two. Darr found one concerning a fortyish man who was found dead in the Potomac River wearing nothing. The police were very close-mouthed concerning the cause of death. Cartwright found an article concerning a missing man. This man was described as being in his late twenties.

Meanwhile, Brodie returned to the mayor's office and the rest prepared to leave. They got the mayor to provide another car. At this time, with the approval of the rest of the team, Brodie told the mayor to kick the matter up the regular channels. Once that was done, the rest of the team departed. Once they were clear of the garage Darr fell in behind them, and the mini-caravan headed to the nearest hotel, which turned out to be a ten-minute trip. They rented one room at the motel and set up the Black Hole. After Darr passed on the information he and Cartwright had found in the newspaper, they discussed possible actions and finally decided to split into three parties. Darr and Perriuka would head to the police station in an attempt to get more information about both cases. Tanisha, Brodie, and Cartwright would trace the route of the kidnapped man. Roberto, Tormac, and Scott would head down to south DC to see if they could dig up some more information on the streets. Kathy was asleep so Darr departed, but he left her a note explaining where they were going. Scott and his team beat up their car to disguise it from the casual observer. Scott then threw his M-16 into the trunk. Tanisha bolted out without Brodie and Cartwright.

Darr and Perriuka had no trouble getting to the police station. Darr, using the Secret Service ID, got past the front desk and was allowed to see the officer who was in charge of both cases. When shown the ID he almost called to confirm, but a swift change of subject got them past that critical point. Unfortunately they didn't get much new information, but they did get the lieutenant's number and promised to give him one at which he could contact them.

Roberto was driving team two. He missed a red light, which caused a police squad car to stop them. When the cop discovered Roberto did not have a driver's license, he and his partner had them leave the car for a full search. Roberto was carrying no weapons. Tormac's magic dagger could not be pulled out by anyone but him, so the officer passed it off as ornamental. The officers' search did not find any of the hidden weapons carried by Scott and Tormac in their boots. Then the officer decided to search the trunk. Roberto opened it and the M-16 was found. They were immediately arrested and handcuffed. More units arrived. Then their transport back to the police station began. During the last stages of this process, Tormac established communication with members of the group. Brodie and Cartwright headed to the site via cab. Tanisha began driving to the site. Darr's radio was acting up, so after they left the station and were almost back to the hotel Perriuka heard the call. When Perriuka told Darr what was going on, he found a pay phone and made a call to the lieutenant.

Meanwhile, the three had arrived at the station. Tormac, wishing desperately to escape, had made two attempts to get out of the cuffs. After the second failure he went intentionally berserk, centering on the cuffs as his enemy; ignoring everything else he put everything into bursting the cuffs.

Darr got through to the lieutenant and informed him that three members of his team had been captured and arrested. Darr asked for help in their release, and warned that one had problems with being confined. Darr didn't give names, just descriptions. The lieutenant said he would help.

Brodie and Tanisha both arrived at the rear of the station, where Tormac was still throwing himself about in the police car trying to get out, while they were trying to remove him. A moment later Tormac burst free, and then snapped out of his berserk rage. Brodie, Tanisha, and the officers carried him in for treatment of his injured wrists. The lieutenant, meanwhile, arrived at the booking room and set things in motion to release Roberto and Scott. This process was almost complete when Darr and Perriuka arrived. The team then re-gathered their stuff, collected Tormac, and left. Scott and Roberto got the car back, while Darr and Perriuka headed back to the hotel with Tormac. Cartwright and Brodie headed for the library to do some further newspaper research.

Darr and Perriuka put Tormac in the autodoc, then Darr reclaimed the message from beside the still-sleeping Kathy. At about noon Brodie and Cartwright returned, and Tormac was released from the autodoc. Brodie and Cartwright had found an article about a nuclear physicist who had turned up missing over a month ago. He fit the description of the man found dead in the Potomac.

At noon, Perriuka popped out and was replaced by 'Black Trey' and Colin Hawes-Simmons. Darr filled them in on the mission so far. Then while they were waiting Colin decided to go rent a helicopter. Brodie and Cartwright went with him to pick it up at the National Airport. Colin and Cartwright arrived back and landed at the motel parking lot. When Brodie arrived a few minutes later, Roberto and Scott also got back from their information hunt in south DC. A meeting was held to decide the next course of action. Scott told everyone that the only thing of interest that they found was that some security people had been told not to report in today. After discussion it was decided to head back to the airport to check out security. Brodie and Scott took the car while the rest flew with Colin. As they were leaving, Darr noticed that Tanisha had gone elsewhere.

Tormac stayed with the helicopter. Darr, Kathy, and Colin headed out to the security office. Black Trey and Roberto waited outside in case of trouble. Darr introduced himself and took the part of a very nervous, inexperienced Secret Service man. Colin stayed in the lobby, and Darr and Kathy went into the boss' office. They soon determined that the airport security was legit and at 150 percent of staff. Just then Brodie and Scott arrived, and Scott over the net was prodded to remember that it was a private security guard. With the security chief's help they located the private company and ID'ed the three hangers they were guarding. Darr passed on the information, and Brodie, Tormac, and Scott headed for the hanger furthest away. They found a guard stationed outside. Petrocelli and Trey arrived not long after. Cartwright was with Brodie and Colin because he had gone back to the helicopter. He started preflight and turned it over to Colin when he arrived. Darr and Kathy were last to the helicopter because Darr stopped and got airport maps.

Cartwright approached the guard and was sent on his way. Cartwright returned to the helicopter. With Colin flying, Darr, Cartwright, and Tormac went up to keep watch above. They swung out over the Potomac, which was near the target hangar. Meanwhile, word of the threat had gotten out and the panic was beginning. So no flights were incoming, and outgoing was picking up.

Scott kept watch at the front while Kathy joined Brodie at the rear of the building. She turned Brodie to mist and he entered the rear room. It was pitch-dark, so Brodie slowly worked his way to the front of the room. While he was doing this Trey arrived at the rear and Kathy also sent her in. Luckily she called out for Brodie before he had a chance to attack. Once linked up they proceeded into the main building and found it deserted. They went to the monitor room and found it empty. They exited the building and the team decided to capture the guard. Roberto got into position and tried to bean him with his eight-ball but he missed, so Brodie jumped him from the top of the hangar.

At the end of this, Colin got a clearance message over his headset for a plane from the second hangar. Trey, Roberto, and Scott headed there at top speed. Brodie and Kathy stayed behind to begin questioning the guard.

The middle hangar had a private jet leaving that checked out. Colin and the group buzzed the area, confirmed that airport security was at the perimeter, and then went to the third hangar. It looked quiet. Colin hovered low and Darr decided to bail out and check the hangar out. Tormac and Cartwright went with him. Darr carried a light machine gun. Before he left, Tormac passed Colin a grenade launcher.

Colin hovered to the front of the hangar. Darr approached the office door from the left, Tormac from the right. Tormac got to the door first and opened it. AND ALL HELL broke loose. The bad guys were there and ready. (They had monitored the radio frequencies.) They didn't want to talk, they just attacked. Both Tormac and Darr were able to dodge, Darr left, Tormac right. The hangar doors cracked open and a grenade fired from a rifle hit the low-hovering helicopter. Cartwright jumped into the doorway and took out several men with his M-16 before he was hit by return fire and fell in the doorway. Darr put out a help message as men poured from the hangar doors. Automatic fire hit Darr in the right arm, and Tormac with only a throwing knife found himself just a few feet away from an armed man.

Colin got out of the crashed burning helicopter and rolled into the snow to put himself out. Then he played possum after the guards pumped several shells into him while he was extinguishing himself. Tormac took a shot while Darr dived around the corner of the building and set the light machine gun up on its tripod. One of the guards yelled that someone had gone around the corner. Things were quiet for several seconds while more guards poured out and the hangar doors continued to open. Then two guards decided to take shots at Colin's still form. Colin, hearing their intent and knowing that he didn't have time to get behind the snowbank, came up firing his grenades; even as his grenades went off he took fatal wounds from the return fire. Having heard the firing Darr stuck his head around the corner and with a burst took out the remaining outside guards. At that time Scott arrived. The doors were now open and a helicopter was being pulled out to the apron. Scott put some shots into the vehicle. Darr, seeing no people in his sights, put thirteen shots into the helicopter. Darr then took an M-16 round in the back and went down. Even though he stayed awake, he stayed down. Scott put more shots into the helicopter which was now on the apron. Kathy had arrived at the outskirts of the fight and teleported Petrocelli to the hangar's rear where he knocked out Darr's attacker. He then entered the side room by which the attacker had been standing. As the helicopter (un-piloted) started to lift, one of Scott's shots went home and it settled to the ground with its rotors still going. At that time Brodie on an Air-tug arrived at the scene. He bailed out just before his vehicle hit the copter's tow vehicle. Brodie also threw his baton into the rotor blades, completing the disabling of the helicopter.

At Scott's suggestion Darr had thrown his Hole on the hangar wall and went in to get his first aid kit. He had just gotten it when Brodie entered the hangar and threw two grenades to the rear of the building. This dislodged Darr's Black Hole, dumping him into the snow. Brodie went on back and found two dead men beside a remote control (for the helicopter) and a red detonation button. These were secured as the wounded were seen to. Colin was dead, and Tormac and Cartwright were also severely wounded and unconscious. The large Black Hole was put up, and Tormac and Cartwright were put in autodocs. Once that was done Darr was also assisted into the Hole and also put in an autodoc.

The authorities then began to arrive. Brodie reported the casualties but said they could handle it. Then they were returned to Hawaii.

Dead: Colin Hawes-Simmons Severely Wounded: Tormac, Cartwright, Darr Unharmed: Brodie, Petrocelli, Trey, Scott, Kathy Oakbranch

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