"STEAM LONDON" Game Thread

[Stella Gaslight]

The gas did not effect George like it did the others.  He continued to beat on the walls on their prison as the others started to fall.  The world spun in front of Emma's eyes. She was so exhausted she could barely keep them open. "George please I can't..."  Emma tumbled to the ground.  She wasn't breathing, what ever sedative was in the gas was too strong for her. 

"Emma wake up." George shouted lifting her in to his arms.  "I am going to get you out of here I promise but you have to wake up." There was no movement, no sound from Emma.  George frantic with worry pushed on the fabric of realty damming the consequences. Cracks started to form in the dome but they were not enough. Out of options George started to cry.  He was going to lose her and there was nothing he could do.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Cain searched madly for the source of the gas. A long rubber tube hooked up to the forcefield, filling the bubble with noxious fumes. Cain extended his blades, knowing what had to be done. Several cold ones saw his intentions and stood in his way, he refused to let them stop him. The first cold one tried to cut the skeletal construct with a hatchet, cain replied by grabbing the cold one's arm and ripping his hand off at the wrist.
"NO!" HE said as if scolding a dog before grinding the cold one's head into the hard ground. Two more charged him, but were decapitated promtly, their black blood streaming from their necks as he sliced the tube that funneled the novious miasma into the dome. He wrapped one hand around the mouth of the tube to prevent any more gas from leaking out.

Now, he had a bargaining chip.

"IF you all don't want a lungful of this god aweful stuff, I suggest you turn off that damn bubble!!" Cain barked, his voice had become harsh and cold in the faces of those who attacked his friends.

[Stella Gaslight]

With no place to escape the gas backed up in to the guard house.  The human thugs inside ran out to get away from it.  Angel stopped them before they could get away.  "Let them out now!" she demand  They were afraid, they had seen what the other winged monster had done to the city and scrambled to give in to this ones demands.  The force field over the crew disintegrated in a shower of sparks.

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss' eyes started to water. This gas was irritating him even asit attempted to put him to sleep. He struggled to stay awake, remembering when he was in that charity hospital in Indianola; his screams of pain from the injuries incurred in his thousand-foot fall from the Mad Anthony so irritated the nuns that they had finally given him laudanum.

He could never stand to be drugged so heavily, so he fought it. They had finally had to give him enough to put down a bull, but it didnt kill him, and he didn't lose consciousness, convinced that if he did so, he would die.

force field, he thought, Remembering a lecture given by an aether scholar who visted the Marauders' Officer's Academy ..."a force field, like most other electromagnetic fields, is electrical in composition, usually formed as a result of interaction between static electricity and something that throws off an electrical or magnetic field." hmmm... "like any form of electrical manifestation, it can be short circuited, mainly by a means of trial and error to establish bounds and reaction. In studies conducted byProfessors Altmann-Einhallow and Grindlebusch in the late 1820s, it was found that thrown metallic objects tended to reveal the most obvious relations between the polar groundings of teh fields thus tested --"

WAIT! What was that about a short circuit?! then he remembered: "like any form of electrical manifestation, it can be short circuited, mainly by a means of trial and error to establish bounds and reaction. In studies conducted byProfessors Altmann-Einhallow and Grindlebusch in the late 1820s, it was found that thrown metallic objects tened to reveal the most obvious relations between the polar groundings of the fields..."

Dreyfuss, struggling to retain some sense and sanity, reached into his bag and pulled out four or five of teh heat-rune-inscribed pistol balls;  he turned (rolled over...when did i lay down? he worried) toward the last place he had been aware of the shield being in evidence, and hurled the balls with a modicum of the small amount of strength that he still possessed, in case a second attempt would have to be made, and watched as teh balls impacted the field...and passed out, not seeing that the balls impacted the cold ones standing around Cain.

[MWBailey]

Young Jaisen ran down the path to Uncle Caractacus' house in Independence, Provincia De Tejas, carefree and nimble as a young colt. He ran up to the door, and knocked. Today he would be tested for magic! He waited...

...A cavalryman, a representative of Generalissimo Antonio de Santa Anna sat on his horse in the square of Idependence, Provincia de Tejas de la Nuevo Espana, and nailed a notice to the wall of the meeting house. It said, in essence, that any member of the Colonia de Austin who remained in Texas after a certain date would be put to the sword by Santa Anna and  his army. The soldier turned his horse and rode back the way he had come, and...

...Chain and bar shot ripped through the cables over Dreyfuss' head as he struggledto secure the cable that poor leiutenant Garcia had attempted, at Dreyfuss' order, to secure. She had died without so much as a cry or a shout for help. straining to tie the cable off, even as the black zeppelin of the french louisianan privateers ventured closer to the Mad Anthony after she had crossed and then parked abeam of their course; the deck bucked under his feet, and before he could grab the railing for to hang on, he was sailing out over the water far below. Trying to grab a cable that flailed the air beside him, he reached out for it frantically ---

And missed, the cable swiping back and striking him as he fell past it, the metal strands cutting into his back like a leather whip, but worse, and pain, pain, all the way down, into the blue water, blue above him, fading to gray-blue... he fought to stop sinking...

And awakened to see  Abe standing over him, Rosie nudging him with her blunt nose. "Abe? what..." the happenings of the past few hours returrned to him, and he grabbed Abe's shoulders, demanding "where WERE you?
" was with you, Old one. I heard your voice in here," he tapped the side of his head, "telling me to go with the othersand get out of the underhangar."
"you did?"
Abe gave him an odd look. "ye-es... do you not remember?"
"Dreyfuss thought back to thos emoments that he still needed to sort out, and found tha he did, indeed remember something like that. "a bit, I --COUGH HACKK...

[Nigel Wetherby]

"Don't be dyin' on us yet, old man!" Patrick chuckled, seeing dreyfuss regain conciousness as he slowly struggled to his feet, fighting an uphill battle with his body to get his legs to support him.
"We've still got lots of work to do." He used the long barrel of his automatic rifle as a makeshift crutch.
Cain rushed to the rest of the crew.
"Aare you all hurt!?" Cain asked urgently, looking nervously at the half unconcious crew.

[MWBailey]

Die? Me? Hell, I'm too ornery to die," said Dreyfuss as he managed to get his legs underneath him and slowly stood up, feeling like he'd just been on a bender in Austin, the Capitol of teh Republic...almost fell over again as his left leg decided to imitate an accordion, and snatched the miraculously still--unbroken cane out from under the left suspender, jamming it into the ground, narrowly missing Rosie. "ROSIE!?" he exclaimed "Aww, sorry, miss Rosie, it was a n accident, I promise. I'm sorry, girl," as if he were talking to one of Pappy Jack's little girls back home.

-------------------
"Careful, Old one," Abe chuckled, "Rosie may like you, but she hates being caned!" He chuckled again as Rosie reared up and looked at Dreyfuss as if saying he was forgiven -- THIS time.

[Stella Gaslight]

Time moved with excruciating slowness as George pressed on Emma's chest willing her to breathe.  "Please don't leave me Em." He repeated almost like a chant.  He needed to give her the kiss of life but his aetherborn body was unable to touch her that way.  George knocked Trip to the ground and lifted Emma's chin up parting her lips.  "You will breathe in to her lungs when I tell you to."  There was no space in his tone for arguments.  "1  2  3  Go." He waited but Emma was still.  "Again, 1  2  3  Go." This time Emma gasped and started breathing on her own.  She was dizzy and disoriented but both Trip and George were holding on to her like they were afraid she would fade away.  Her head ached like she had been slamming it in to a brick wall and she felt incredibly weak.  "We have to go get that commodore." She croaked trying to get to her feet, she only succeeded in falling over sideways in to Trip's arms.  "Let's take this slow." he said lifting her gently, being ever so careful of her leg.

Seeing the disorganization of the crew the remaining cold ones decided to attack them in mass.

[Nigel Wetherby]

The first cold one to leap at them was greeted with five rapid succession shots of incidiary rounds into the chest. Th demon hit the ground as a pile of black, brittle carbon. Patrick lay in a loipsided battle stance, still exhaling wisps of the gas. He stood up as best he could and aimed his gun.
"Get the ones that can't move outta here. I'll meet up with ye in a bit!" Patrick reloaded a clip of the glowing rune-etched bullets.
"We aren't leaving you!" Jen declared, standing up at his side and reaching for a scimitar that belonged to the now charcoal-black cold one. He would not be needing it anyways.
"You still have plenty to learn, boy." Dreyfuss said, taking a stand beside him and readying his boat gun.
"A live monkey is better than a dead one." George said sharply, his eyes scanning for any technology he might perhaps be able to manifest himself in via Aether engine.
"Brothers don't leave their own to die!" Cain declared, readying both deus blades.
"You made Cain and gave me my legs. I'll kill whoever tries anything." Angel said with an alarming clarity.

The crew formed a ring around any unconcious or indesposed member of the crew, making a protective ring.

[Stella Gaslight]

George spotted a gun turret cleverly disguised as a spotlight on the guard tower. Who ever had it installed had spared no expense, making sure it had the finest aether-based targeting and tracking system money could by.  This was going to be fun.  The cold ones did not learn the lesson of their brothers and tried to get at the crew only to be cut down by a crowing with triumph George. 

Emma slowly shook off the effects of the gas and the lack of oxygen and took her place by Patrick's side.  "If you think I am letting one of the best inventing partners I have ever had throw his life away you have another thing coming."   She fired the microwave gun with decent accuracy for being as weak and disoriented as she was.

 

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss leveled the boat gun at three of the Hairy-looking, bad-breathed brutes and pulled the trigger. The small cloud of heat rounds that emerged from the barrel  were followed by fire too white to be the result of mere gunpowder. the combined shot ripped through the first three, lopped off parts of another three plus seriously injuring a fourth, and screamed onwards to impact others behind them.

Dreyfuss drew the paterson once again and finished the cylinder, taking out one Bute or similar entity withabout two shots each, then switched cylinders. He heard Abe roaring like a mad gorilla, and saw cold ones flying left and right, many of them dismembered...
------------------
Abe let his rage overtake him. soon he was covered in the lifeblood of the Cold Ones, literally ripping them limb from slimy invertebrate limb barehanded, a terrible sight to behold. "HAHAHA you wont hurt my friends you silly brutes! yyyyaaaaaaaarrrrgggg!"

[Rowland Elmstone]

Rowland, so he thought, had been tossed, trampled, ran for his life, jumped, leaped, and rolled for what seemed the past several hours. One minute he thought he was in the Aether League HQ, and now at a mansion, but inside what seemed to be a forcefield, with people he had just met naught five hours ago. The gas was much more potent then he first thought. He noticed several of the crew members were already trying to burst the field. It seemed it was self contained. He noticed Dreyfuss using a rifle as a crutch, and the others shooting massive weaponry at the field. He knew that would not help.

He started to slip in and out of conciousness. Would this be how he went? Not like this. He was much too young and intelligent to die. His mind was not thinking rationally to help anyone...

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss worked his way over to Rowland and handed him his water bottle. "Drink a swallow or two, then breathe, and then take anothe rswallow," He said to the young man. I know its probably hard to keep up, Rowland, but you'll get used to it." HE whirled and fired the revolver twice and felled a alrger brute than he had seem yet. "huh. they seem to be breedin' for bigger freaks." He muttered, then fired the remaining round  in that cylindner and stopped a half-human-looking thing from sneaking up on Miss Emma and Trip. He then knelt beside Rowland.

"I know its a raw deal, kid, but that's life for you; we need the help of your gun." Dreyfuss said seriously. "Start shooting; even if you don't kill anything outright, you'll weaken them just that little bit. Every little bit helps." BLAM! BLAM! Rowland took out the cartridges that were left in his pocket, reloaded, and began firing, making measured, careful shots, trying for vital areas, it looked like. "that's teh spirit, kid! blast 'em!" BLAMBLAMBLAMDreyfuss fanned three shots off and killed two brutes, one of which had outflanked Patrick, Emma and Cain.

"C'mon, Rowland, lets go join their circle. Maybe we can laager up and get the rest of 'em." they crouch-ran aver to where the others were circled up and firing at the rest of teh Cold Ones.

[Nigel Wetherby]

"Shoot anythin' that looks blue in these!" Patrick called to rowland and drefuss, as He handed them both pairs of brass-framed goggles before charging back into the fray, taking a page from Elisha and driving the bayonet of the rifle into the skull of a charging cold one and flinging his lifeless body towards his peers, knockning them voer and giving him the perfect shots to eliminate the cold one's lives.

Cain and Angel stood back to back in the swarm of cold ones, their wings pressed together as they extended blades and any other weapon they posessed. Angel sang a song of a raging inferno, so hot that it melted the sky and the stars around it. The song terrified the cold ones and slowed their strikes. While Cain sang a song of a sword made from iron taken from the blood of a thousand cold ones forged in that very fire. The tips of his blades glowed orange as every graceful swipe sent the attacking cold ones to the ground, burning like paper to a flame.

[Rowland Elmstone]

Rowland coughed and sipped from the bottle. "Thanks." He managed to spit out. He took his breath and fired the cartridges. He then duck and joined behind Dreyfuss and the rest of the crew.

He shouted over the noise.."How are we going to get out of here!" He fired a few more rounds, hitting the cold one in it's chest. He had to remember why they were called cold ones. He then noticed Dreyfuss take out a medium sized pellet. It had a strange carving on its outer shell. He saw him load it and fire it into the monster. It doubled back and fell. "What is that?" He asked. "It's a heat rune!" He saw Dreyfuss' face light up. Rowland smiled. He would have to remember to ask how they are made.

Rowland finally put the two together. Heat was the only source of really packing a punch when fighting these things. That's why he saw the microwave gun. He smiled and fired off a few more bullets. Maybe they would make it out of here.

Rowland blinked and went pale when Patrick crawled over to them. He had still not gotten a chance to talk to the man. He then saw him drop a pair of goggles into his hand. Rowland smile. These were his first pair. He had always seen the local marauder's wear them. He strapped them around his head and pulled them down. He was able to focus a bit more, and fired several more well aimed shots.

[Stella Gaslight]

Even the stupidest of the cold ones knew when a battle was lost and most of the humans had fled long ago. After a final few suicidal charges the hill was quiet again.  This left the crew of the Boheme with a mighty puzzle, the man they wanted to get at was currently being protected by a larger version of the force field that imprisoned them but this time the controls were sealed up inside the blue dome.  "Let's brake this egg open."  Emma said with a smile.  It was obvious her strength was coming back.

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss removed and pocketed his old marauder goggles, and replaced them with the brass Cold One Detector pair Patrick had handed him and Rowland. HE then had an idea and bent the saber in its scabbard opposite of the way it was already bent, and managed to pull it out. It was weirdly warped, like some kind of broad-bladed epee used one too many times to fence against a claymore, but it would still work fine for hack-and slash.

HE switched cylinders again, and then took out a wad of leather string  --BLAM!BLAM! he shot two cold ones who had snuck up between the groups of crewmembers.

"Kid, the goggles help you see the difference between Cold Ones and people; like Patrick said, shoot anything that looks blue through these goggles. He took the dagger out of rowland's jacket pocket and lashed it to the shortened carbine like a makeshift bayonet --which it was, now. "You see what Patrick and Elisha are doing with those blades on their guns?" Rowland nodded."You get the chance, you imitate 'em! it saves ammo. lets go get 'em!"
And they ran to meet the enemy.

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

"Come on!" said Elisha, pulling Ella through the alley. Suddenly, figures dropped around them. Ella opened fire with her pistol, dropping the Cold Ones behind them.

"It's very rude to just drop in like that..." she muttered.

Elisha opened fire ahead, knocking the Cold Ones to the ground in a smoldering heap. Elisha could see the mansion on a rise above them. He was confused as he saw what looked like a blue bubble suddenly materialize beside it. He hoped that the rest of the crew hadn't gotten into something they couldn't handle.

He lead the way up a ramp, which emereged in an open, deserted and sunny square.

"Right..." he said. "That path should get us to the mansion. We should get..."

He was interrupted as he realized that all exits of the square had just been filled with Cold Ones. He stood back to back with Ella.

"Damn...." he murmured. They were seriously outnumbered. "Don't panic...I'll try to hold them off while you run..."

"No!" she said. "I'm staying here."

"Look!" he replied "This is too dangerous!"

"Then why are you staying? Are you saying I can't defend myself?"

"No...look. I can handle this."

"You'll get yourself killed."

"Well, then that's what..."

He was interrupted as a figure swept in on leathery wings, landing in the middle of the square. It was a shirtless, muscular man, dressed in the fine vestments of an Oriental warlord. His face was masked and his speech muffled by a grotesque mask over his face.

"Elisha! I am glad you have come! I have been anticipating this for so long!"

Elisha paused. How did this commodore know him? This was some kind of trick.

"Who are you?" he said, cautiously.

"I am the Seventh Commodore, Elijah.

Odd.

"What do you want?"

"To fight you. Man to man. To kill you. We duel here. You accept or the girl there will be torn to pieces by my troops. You don't have a choice in this. Neither do I. Hurry. Hurry! We must fight now, spill blood here, let the choice be made!"

"Hmmph. If that's what you want. But don't dare hurt her if this is your plan. This hopefully can be a duel among men."

"Excellent!"

"Elisha, don't!" said Ella. "This is obviously a trap - he knows who you are...this is some trick, he's going to kill you!"

Suddenly, a wall of Cold Ones moved around Ella. She drew her pistol and blew the brains out of one of them. Another simply took it's place, none of them moving to attack her. She fired until she was out of rounds. Though a pile of dead surrounded her, there was still a ring around her and no way to escape.

"Very good." said the Seventh Commodore. "Let us begin."

Elisha's enemy drew from his back a fearsome looking spear, obviously expert crafted. He then took to the skies. Elisha tracked him and fired. This commodore was fast! Elisha leapt out of the way as he dove, flying low against the ground. He barely escaped impact, cartwheeling across the square. Then he was firing again.

This pattern continued. Then Elisha realized he was out of bullets, even those in reserve. That was fine. He didn't need bullets to kill this one. He leapt at the commodore as he fly low, knocking him out of the sky. They tumbled about on the cobblestones. Then they were both up, the commodore spinning and striking with his spear, Elisha deftly blocking him with his rifle and bayonet. Like fencers, they turned and wheeled around the square.

Elisha began to sweat slightly. This was one of the most difficult battles he had fought and one of the strangest. This opponent seemed to know what his moves were before he made them. Elisha began to retaliate this, predicting his opponent. For the most part, they seemed to gain no ground on each other, being evenly matched. But Elisha remembered this commodore could regenerate, a gift he lacked. He gritted his teeth and pushed forwards. He would beat this commodore, even if it killed him.

[Nigel Wetherby]

"Right. I think the forcefield controll panel is Acessed from the watch tower up there. George could probably get there in no time at all, plus it would be less of a risk..." Patrick said factually. George swore this monkey was trying to send him headlong into deadly situations simply because he was practically insubstantial. He rolled his eyes and headed for the controll tower. Moments later, the field vanished in a burst of brightly colored sparks which made any heat-goggles still worn burn the eyes of their wearers with white light.

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss stopped a short distance away, slashing diagonally down though a Brute's torso, killing it. He then fired off two shots atrthe retreating Cold Ones. As Rowland started to run past, he caught hold of the lad's arm, and helped him come to a stop. "that's all right , kid, there'll be more later."

They walked up to the others just as the force field winked out. Dreyfuss glanced at Rowland's "bayonet," and noted that it was coated with the odd-colored blood of the cold ones.
The kid learns fast, he thought.
----------------
Abe looked back as Dreyfuss and the newcomer...Rowland, yes, that's his name, he thought, walked up. TEh forcefield winked out in a shower of sparks and Rowland gasped . "Owww," he said.

"Gotta be quick , kid. Close your eyes when you see something like that happen. Nine times out of ten you'll shut 'em just in time." Abe walked over and said "good to see you both alive, Old one, Rowland. Here, lad," he said he looked into Rowlands eyes and told him to blink , which Rowland did; then Rowland said, "thanks, I can see, now! Abe asked the boy, "What color were your eyes this morning?" Rowland told him. "They are violet, now." Abe answered.

"Let's follow the others, gentlemen," Dreyfuss said, and they trooped along after the rest of the crew.

[Stella Gaslight]

"Very nice work George." Emma said with a smile and suddenly being used as the Monkey's lackey wasn't so bad. "I think it is time we pay a visit to the person who has been causing us so much trouble."  Emma checked the batteries of the microwave gun a little more than half of them were gone but if she was careful it should last her long enough.  "When I get back to the ship I must redesign the battery packs." She muttered as they kicked in the front door. 

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss reloaded the boat gun and brought up the rear, telling Rowland to "stick with Abe for now, put your goggles back on, and shoot anything that looks blue," as he back-walked at the rear of the party. Having reloaded the blunderbuss, he strapped it across his back, and drew the Paterson again. He looked down, saw the cane back in place behind the suspender, and thought, I must be getting old, I could have sworn I'd forgotten that thing back on the lawn.HE pulled, yanked, an dpulled again and got the saber to come out of the scabbard again. Gonna have to get that blade replaced or re-forged after this is all over, he thought.

The mansion was eerily quiet after they kicked the door open. That was kinda loud, he thought, Might not be such a great idea to make so much noise going in. surprise might have been a good asset to have. Oh well, just have to take it as it comes... He heard footsteps behind the group, and peered back while glancing back every onc ein a while to be sur ethe graoup hadnt letf him behind. No one appeared. "Heads up, people, I hear somebody walking behind us, but I cant see them, with the goggles or without."

[Stella Gaslight]

They moved cautiously in through the entry hall and found a room with two grand sweeping staircases and a very odd looking floor.  It was made of a deeply wet looking black tile with strange silver grout. "Wait." Emma said stopping Trip from stepping down on to the floor.  Something about this felt very wrong. She prodded the floor with her makeshift crutch and was knocked back by an electrical jolt.  "The floor is wired." She said getting back to her feet.

[MWBailey]

"Can we short it out somehow?" Dreyfuss asked. HE held up his water bottle "I have about a fourth of this water left."

[Stella Gaslight]

Emma had been scanning the room and noticed a tile in the far corner looked different from the rest.  She guessed it was part of the control system.  "Thank you Dreyfuss that should work nicely."  She turned to George and gave him a big smile that caused little spurs of worry to prick him quite hard.  "If you would please go dump this on that tile I think we will solve this little problem."  George could not turn her down so he stepped on to the tile.  Lightning arced off him in big purple bolts as he crossed the floor. 

He dumped the water and there was one last huge bolt and then the floor went dead.  George looked a bit ill.  "That was supremely unpleasant."