Ryerson’s Bluff: Scene 1.1

Location: Heavy cruiser operated by Kryn-alt, in orbit
Ship Name: Hammer of Corvi
Activity: Parked in orbit around fourth planet in Basilin system – Tanak
Purpose: To find out more about inner circle of new drug ring
Bits: Laboratory or operating room, operating table (Alex strapped to it), portable table with surgical tools, various computers, various monitoring equipment, one door to hallway, lockers on one wall, metal cabinet labeled ‘FLAMMABLE’, one guard with small semi-automatic gun held in hands

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Alex slowly comes back to the waking world, finding his head aches far worse than it should. He also finds his extremities are zip-tied down, and he’s laying on some sort of flat surface looking up at a blank ceiling high above him. Lights are hanging from armatures mounted to the ceiling around his location. He can move his head, though he regrets it immediately as pain slices through his brain to his eyes. He can see he’s strapped to a stainless steel table with a trough around the edge; everything is spotless. Once his eyes focus further out, he can see someone standing by a metal door with a large window in the upper half. He can’t see what’s beyond the door; it’s darker than the room he’s in. He can see the person by the door better, and he sighs when he realizes it’s likely a guard. So cliché.

Option A: Conversing with guard leads to release and help with escape (d4) 3
Option B: Conversing with guard leads to gun butt to family jewels (d8) 4

“Hey, er, mind telling me what’s going on here?”

Nothing. The guard stares at Alex with slight contempt and adjusts the set of his gun’s sling across his shoulder.

“Uh, look, buddy, this is not how I was expecting to end up today… wait, is it morning? How long have I been out?!”

The guard rolls his eyes, shifts his grip on the rifle, and saunters over to the table. He suddenly opens his mouth and points to the opposite wall, as if to say “What’s that over there?!”. When Alex bites and swings his gaze around, the guard whips the gun from his shoulder and jams the butt of the rifle into Alex’s groin with a satisfying crunch.

“Wha-uffffff… ohhh, fricking ffff… uhhhhh! Ohhhh. Oh hell. OK, yeah, no, don’t, please don’t do that again please sh… fff… oh oh oh oh! Man!”

“Shut up now,” the guard rumbles quietly.

Alex squints through tear-filled eyes at the guard, and decides to keep his big mouth shut for now. He nods acquiescence slowly, suddenly remembering the pain in his skull once again as the waves of agony in his nether regions subside. Time to just take everything in and assess the situation as best he can.

Option A: Alex finds a way to get his hands loose (d6) 5
Option B: Someone enters the room to work on Alex (d10) 6

Alex pans the room as best he can, with his eyeballs feeling like they are being pressed back into his skull. He sees a tall metal cabinet at the far end of the room, in the direction his feet are pointing, giving the room the only bit of color he can easily discern. It’s bright yellow, with the word FLAMMABLE printed in six inch red letters across its two side-opening full-height doors. Might be useful, if he could find a way to get loose from the nylon straps holding his ankles and wrists to the table…

As he notices several computer displays and rolling pieces of electronic equipment, he hears staccato footsteps in the hallway beyond the guard. Click click click click click… One set of steps, and then a second heavier set of steps playing catch-up to the first, and some hushed mumbling between them. The door handle turns and two humans dressed as technicians or doctors enter the room with a slightly harried look to them, one a female with a long red ponytail flipped over one shoulder of her stark white labcoat, the other an older black man with a shiny bald pate sitting about eight inches higher than the already tall woman. He almost ducked walking through the doorway.

Option A: The two doctors/techs chat quietly about upcoming surgical work on Alex (d6) 5
Option B: The two doctors/techs assault the guard with spray gas (d8) 4

“Listen, Pamela, this isn’t right. We need to run more tests! Tell First to let us try Test Run 5 on this guy instead; it’s much more stable and less likely to kill him.”

“Jim, it’s not like it matters to First what happens to the subject, and TR5 didn’t actually DO anything, not that I could discern. Test Run 6 has shown positive results with all the markers we’re looking for. The subjects lived! That’s the kind of results which First will be looking for. If we’re going to get out of here any time soon, we need results.”

The man scratches absently at his scalp. “Yes, they lived, but the side effects were… Oh. You’re awake.” He notices Alex for the first time and points at his face.

“Guard, why is he so puffy and strained-looking? Did you give him anything for his head injury, or did you just punch him in the gut to shut him up?”

The guard smirks proudly and says, “Not in the gut, no. That would mess up his internal organs, and that wouldn’t be right for a test subject. And no, I didn’t give him anything for his headache. I didn’t know if that would screw up the test results. Say, mind if I slip out for a few? I haven’t eaten all day, and I’m feeling a bit peckish.”

The woman turns and stares at the guard for a few seconds. “Go. But I’m going to need you back here to help us in about twenty minutes.”

“OK, don’t start without me! I don’t want to miss what happens next.” And with that, the thug switches his rifle sling to his back and walks out of the same door and down the hall, whistling tunelessly.

The two techs stare at each other silently for a bit, waiting for the guard’s heavy steps to subside, then both turn to look at Alex.

Option A: The techs start prepping for something bad (d6) 4-tie, 5
Option B: The techs reveal a plan to get Alex out (d10) 4-tie, 10 – Crit!
Critical Response: Use a ‘Bit’ to perform a shocking act! T -2…

“Hell, what did they do to him, Lank? Can you hear me, Alex, are you OK?”

Alex nods his head sheepishly. “Yeah, but I could use a nap. And a drink. Not in that order.”

The tech referred to as Pamela begins to check Alex’s eyes with a flashlight. “I think he may be concussed. Might need to give him a Quick-Me-Up™ to get him moving.”

“Well, if that doesn’t work, I’ll carry his ass out. I’m not staying here a minute longer than I have to, Switch.” Lank whips out a multitool and finds the knife blade, starts cutting the straps on Alex’s wrists.

Is there anything of interest in this room, worth gathering and taking?
Option A: Yes, plans for some device (d6) 1
Option B: No, Alex is the key here (d8) 6
Still need to use ‘Bit’ to perform a shocking act… T -1…

Alex rubs his wrists to get some blood flowing to his hands. “I’ll be OK, but what the spits are you two doing here? And, where is here?”

Switch tries to help Alex sit up on the table as Lank works on the ankle straps. “No time for details, but we tapped the comms, and heard Kryn-alt’s asshats had you pinned down in Sector 4 in the landing bay. Figured we’d better get over to help you, but by the time we arrived they were already dragging you off to the Med bay. Had to help ourselves to some appropriate attire to blend in. Lank, we need to remember to thank those poor techs!”

Lank closed the multitool and slipped it back into its holster on his belt. “I don’t think they want to have anything to do with us at this point. Send them a card later. Ready, Alex?”

Alex swings his legs off the table and finds he’s in a paper hospital gown. “Not until I find my clothes. You guys check those lockers; I’ll check this cabinet out.”

“But that’s marked FLAMMABLE, I highly doubt they’d keep your clothes in there,” Switch says over her shoulder, as she rifles through the contents of several locker cubbies. “Quit wasting time!”

Alex licks his lips as he examines the contents of the yellow cabinet. “Don’t worry, this is definitely not wasting OUR time.”

Critical Action Resolution: ‘Bit’ is the (assumed) flammable items stored in the yellow safety cabinet. Use it as a diversion to get your team out of the area.

How to make the cabinet go BOOM?
Option A: MacGyver a bomb from chemicals (may take longer) (d6) 4
Option B: Open all of the canisters in the cabinet, close it, fuse it and light it (d10) 9

Alex grabs a canister of naphtha and pours it on the shelves in the cabinet. He then takes the caps and lids from all of the other containers, tears off the arm of his paper gown, twists it up and sticks it between the two cabinet doors as he closes them. The remaining fluid in the naphtha can he dumps hastily around the perimeter of the room. He looks around to the others.

“Did you find my pants?”

“Just did. Boots, shirt, coat, what I think is a pair of underwear but I’m not touching them to find out…” Lank throws the pile of clothes to Alex, who fumbles while grabbing for them.

Alex checks his pockets and finds the ancient metal hinge-top lighter he was hoping would still be there. “Idiots. They didn’t even bother to steal my stuff!”

“What, five credits worth of junk and pocket fuzz? Why bother,” Switch says with disdain as she continues to go through several drawers of medical supplies. She finds what she’s looking for, a stash of Quick-Me-Up™ stim shots, and grabs a few to shove into her coat pocket.

The lighter flickers to life in Alex’s hands. “Might have saved them some trouble.” He lights the improvised wick and limps toward the door to the hallway, Lank and Switch in close pursuit.

Explanation of Miso RPG home rules for Critical Rolls
Continued in: Ryerson’s Bluff: Scene 1.2