EPISODE ONE: THE JEWEL OF SUMATRA

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Late afternoon of September 19th, 1937; Alameda docks and seaplane piers; San Fransisco, Nation of Hollywood


Several members of Thunderbolt squadron had spent the last few hours down here by the docks of Alameda to ensure that the new shipment of parts was delivered to the mooring stations holding their Zeppelin the Stormcloud when a man in a rumpled suit with an attache case in his hands came running pell-mell towards them from the direction of the seaplane piers with a look of terror and desperation in his eyes. Huffing and puffing and manages to spit out a few words of French while shoving the attache case into Murdoch's hands; "S'il vows plait! Prendre ce de Docteur Manning!"

A moment later the unmistakable sound of a pistol shot echoes out over the area and the strange Frenchman suddenly goes stiff and blood trickles out of the corner of his mouth as he falls unmoving to the ground and looking over in the direction of the gun shot the pilots can see four men in heavy trench coats and fedoras moving their way through the maze of crates; one of them holding a smoking Lugar pistol; with two more having matching pistols in their hands while the last is holding a submachine gun with a side-loading magazine….

[kipper]

Murdoch stands still, holding the attache case and watching the armed men. If they were willing to kill for the attache case, why wasn't he already dead too?

"Do you want to stick around to hear what they have to say?" Murdoch asks his fellow squadron members. Without further warning, he suddenly leaps to the side aiming to lose himself among the crates (hide/sneak).

[Urson]

At the sound of the shot Jean-Claude pulls his M1911 and turns to see who did the shooting. "Who you are? An' what do you want?" he calls, ready to return fire if these strangers open up.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Seeing the man collapse, Che quickly squats and drags the man behind the nearest crates before feeling for a pulse. "Qui est docteur Manning?" He asks the unconscious man.

Action: drag frenchie behind a stack of crates (for cover) and assess the man. If possible, try and stabilize him.

OOC: do we have planes down here or do we take an elevator to the zepplin? Is there water nearby or is this an airfield? Thanks.

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Late afternoon of September 19th, 1937; Alameda docks and seaplane piers; San Fransisco, Nation of Hollywood


For several pilots of the mercenary/pirate group known as 'Thunderbolt Squadron'; the boring afternoon down by the docks suddenly exploded into a firefight with unknown assailants….

Murdoch asks a question to his squadron mates that he doubts they ever heard and then suddenly dives and rolls behind a pile of crates and slips into some shadows with the attache case in hand….

Che quickly drags the Frenchman behind some crates wincing with both the effort of dragging the man's weight and due to the fact that with a crack and a splintering sound; a 9mm bullet fired from a Lugar pistol just barely missed the Spanish doctor-turned-pilot and crashed into a nearby crate sending small pieces of wood exploding out in every direction. Once behind the relative safety of the stack of crates; Che quickly determined that the Frenchman was dead and therefore highly unlikely to answer his question about this Doctor Manning without the services of a seance. Glancing around, Curador saw that his homebase Zeppelin 'Stormcloud was about a mile away over the mooring field with his plane and that of his squadronmates safely tucked aboard and the only other nearby planes were a couple of Sikorsky S-38 'Explorer's Air-Yacht' Seaplanes and the monstrous Sikorsky S-42 'Clipper' 4 engine flying boat. The distinctive rattle sound of a Bergman-style submachinegun firing bursts suddenly cut into Che's thoughts; a sound he hadn't heard since the brutal fighting in Spain….

Jean-Claude yells out a challenge to the 4 strange men who just shot down a fleeing man and he is not surprised when instead of a reply, they open fire on him as well. A Lugar barks and the insect like buzzing sound zips past the French-Canadian's head. In reply; Oulette draws his Colt 1911 pistol and fires a .45 slug that slams high into the chest of one of the mysterious foursome wiedling a Lugar pistol. The man spins and drops unmoving to the ground; but Jean-Claude has no time to savor his marksmanship as the Bergman-wielding stranger fires a burst that tears up the crates near the French-Canadian and one of the 9mm parabellum slugs burns into Oulette's side and with a cry of pain, he drops to the ground; gritting his teeth against the pain*…

Nikolai Klokov had stopped to use the lavatory as his friends went on to check the last of the crates that needed to be loaded aboard the squadron's airship and as he finished up and moved to rejoin his friends; the unmistakable sound of shots being fired echoed throuhout the area. Moving cautiously towards the sound of the gunfight; Nikolai could see his friends diving behind crates as four men; 3 armed with pistols and one armed with a submachine gun opened fire on them. Lieutenant Oulette; the brave French-Canadian stood his ground and returned fire with his pistol; dropping one of the opponents but he was then hit and wounded by the Bergman wielder in return. So far; it looked like none of the bad guys had noticed Klokov who was about 15 yards away from them and on thier right flank….


*Jean-Claude is wounded; he is at -1D to all skills and attribute rolls (except for resisting damage, that is always done with the full STR attribute) until healed.

[Monsieur Rose]

Ah. Now this is a welcome. Was thinking San Francisco might be quiet.

Without knowing the full situation, Nikolai pulls his TT 33 while running toward the gunmen. He will fire at the Bergman wielder, then close the distance.

[kipper]

Murdoch furtively moves crate-to-crate, circling around beside the gunmen.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Abandoning the dead man, Che takes action to protect his still-living companion. He circles around a stack of crates and leans into them, pushing hard. He hopes to topple them between the gunmen and Jean-Claude. Once toppled, he ducks behind them and draws his pistol.

If there is enough time, Che will topple the crates and shoot at the most in-the-open opponent.

[Urson]

Muttering a curse he learned from a Russian prostitute, Jean-Claude roll/crawls behind cover.

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Late afternoon of September 19th, 1937; Alameda docks and seaplane piers; San Fransisco, Nation of Hollywood


Murdoch quietly and quickly maneuvers around the stacks of crates and he soon hears the sounds of footsteps and then gunshots quite close by and then what sounds like a bunch of objects tumbling and rolling on the ground. A few more gunshots are heard and then a German curse is uttered and the sound of running feet comes from the bad-guys he was nearby; the sound fading fast as they run away from his location....

Che shoves over a stack of crates and they tumble down into the 'alley' between the mysterious adversaries and his squadron-mates and himself. The make-shift barrier works as several rounds smash into the 'barrier' crates and fail to connect with anyone and the Spaniard draws his Star B pistol and fires a poorly aimed shot in the general direction of the bad guys and with some relief he notices the attackers running away...

Nikolai runs to the sound of the guns and seeing the Bergman-wielder fire another burst into some haphazardly strewn crates, he takes aim and fires his Tokarev pistol; putting a shot dead-center in the center of the man's back. The man pitches forward, falls to the ground and with a brief spasm he then ceases to move. One of the two remaining men curses in German and fires a poorly aimed shot in the Russian's direction while the other fires a shot towards the rest of the Thunderbolt pilots while running away and shouting in German for the last man to do the same. The last German follows behind and the men are quickly lost in the maze of crates and shipping boxes.....

Jean-Claudette, cursing in pain and annoyance roll/dives behind some crates and hears the sound of falling over crates landing in the 'alley' that was between him and the attackers and quickly deduces that one of his squadron-mates had shoves some make-shift cover in between him and the bad guys. It did its job too; as not a second later the sound of the Bergman and a Lugar firing rounds into the wood crates was ringing in his ears. Then the distinctive sound of first a Russian Tokarev being fired and then a Spanish Star B cutting loose registered in his ears. A moment later the sound of their adversaries running away echoed through the docks before a shocking silence descended over the area. Oulette cautiously got to his feet; holding his wound with one hand and his Colt .45 with the other and he could see Nikolai moving towards him along with Che across the scattered crates. He couldn't see Murdoch; but he DID see the unmoving bodies of the Frenchman and two of their attackers. It was time to start figuring out what exactly was going on...

[Monsieur Rose]

Nikolai rolls the corpse over and relieves him of his Bergman. He then checks the other gunman for life signs.

Looking over at Jean-Claude:
Looks like you made the friends.

So I am gone for short time, and already trouble is found. The militsiya must come soon, we go quickly?

[kipper]

Murdoch quietly peers up over the top of a crate to ensure there are no more gunmen around. If everything looks clear, he'll make his way back towards his fellow squadron members.

When he meets them, he winks and holds up the attache case. "Before any asks, he gave it to me, so it's MINE!" he admonishes sternly.

"So I can't open it now?" he replies to Nikolai in a conspiratorial whisper.

[Urson]

"Let us be sure of what we are dealing with before you open it, Murdoch."
Keeping one arm pressed to his side against the wound, Jean-Claude goes through the dead gunmen's pockets, looking for any ID or other clues.
"I had hoped we could wound one to interrogate, but such is not to be."

As soon as he has checked the dead men's pockets, Jean-claude straightens up. "We should be making our escape good, my friends. The gendarmes will be here soon, and they may ask awkward questions."

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Late afternoon of September 19th thru early morning of September 20th, 1937; Alameda aerodrome; San Fransisco, Nation of Hollywood


Quickly rifling through the corpses' pockets; the pilots find a Lugar 9mm pistol with a couple of fully-loaded spare clips and a few dollars and not much else on one of the thugs' bodies while the other had been carrying the 'Bergman' Submachinegun with a couple of fully loaded spare magazines as well and a lighter with the distinctive Eagle and Swatztika symbol of the Nazi party engraved on it.

The Frenchman, in addition to his briefcase, had several different types of currency in his wallet, including French francs, Chinese yen, and American dollars; a half-empty pack of Cigarettes with what looked like Chinese writing on the label; a book of matches from a bar or restaurant called 'The Tiger's Den' located in some place called 'Padang' and with the name 'Rick' written on the inside cover of the matchbook.

Hearing the sires getting louder and louder; the pilots quickly move on and after arriving back at thier Zeppelin (and ensuring that no one was following them); they learn that they are due to leave for the Kingdom of Hawai'i the day after tomorrow and then they all get some fitful sleep.

The morning is spent getting breakfeast and learning that they have the day free to do whatever they want; but they have to be back to the Zep by 8 am tomorrow when they cast off. The four pilots have a table to themselves and an unoppened briefcase that occasionally draws all of thier attention….

[kipper]

Murdoch raises an eyebrow and (after a theatrically suspicious look around to make sure no one else nearby is paying undue attention) slowly and suspensefully opens the briefcase...

[Monsieur Rose]

"5 dollars there is hand inside. Maybe ring on finger."

Nikolai eagerly awaits the reveal, while fiddling with lighter found on the body.

"Maybe finger of the Rick from matchpad"

[Urson]

"Zat is doubtful, my friend."
Jean-Claude glances around the table. "For my part, I have no idea what is inside, except that those bastard Nazis apparently want it." He turns to the side and spits on the floor. "I spit on them! They are a cancer on mankind."
"I would say our mysterious Frenchman was probably a spy- or else a fellow smuggler- since he carried so many Identifications.
"Do not wait for ther dramatic music, Murdoch. Go ahead an' open it. But do not expect to keep it all to yourself- else I may be forced to call the teddy bears."

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Early thru late morning of September 20th, 1937; San Fransisco, Nation of Hollywood


Opening the attache case; the pilots see that the case holds some academic papers written about a culture of primitive Sumatran peoples by a Professor Thomas Manning; head of the Archaeology Department of San Francisco University; a ticket for one 'Phillipe de Gaulle' for the China Clipper route flying from Hong Kong China with a final destination of San Francisco, Nation of Hollywood dated for arrival yesterday; a large key and a Telegram. The telegram had been received by Phillipe de Gaulle in Padang three days ago and read; Pirate Attack Stop. Rose lost in Java Sea Stop.

Knowing that they had the rest of the day to look into this; the enterprising (and possibly bored and/or insane) pilots decided to travel to the nearby San Francisco University and pay Professor Manning a visit; to see if he could shed any light on what was going on. Taking a taxi; they drove quickly to the school; arriving shortly before noon and they soon learned that Dr. Manning's office was on the third floor of the Old Main building overlooking the quad of the campus. Climbing the granite stairs and a quick walk to the end of the hall; the foursome find themselves at an open door that has the name 'Professor Thomas Manning; Department Head of Archaeology' engraved in the glass. Looking in, they see a wizened old man in his late 60s or early 70s studying several maps and surrounded by artifacts from around the globe. He doesn't appear to have noticed the four men in his doorway....

[Monsieur Rose]

Nikolai gently knocks on the open door.

"You are the Doctor Manning? Do you have a time for questions?"

[kipper]

If Nikolai does not receive an immediate answer, Murdoch will open the door and step in.