EPISODE THREE: THE JEWEL OF SUMATRA

[max_vale]

Early evening; October 2nd, 1937; The Tiger Club, Padang, Sumatra


After a long walk to and thru the city of Padang; the 3 members of the Second Flight of the Thunderbolts squadron finds the waterside bar known as 'The Tiger Club'. It takes a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the dim lighting in the smoke-filled bar and the sound of people talking and whiskey clinking fills the air....

The dank room is filled with sailors from all over the world and interspersed throughout the crowd are nefarious looking individuals smoking cigarettes and watching the room with hard-faced eyes and ladies of the evening offering their services to inebriated customers. Pushing their way to the bar; they get the attention of a bar-tender and ask about 'Rick'. The bar-tender points to a table in the back of the place and the trio of pilots look over to see an intense game of poker between half-a-dozen individuals in progress. The man pointed out as 'Rick' talks with a New York accent and is a slim, wiry dark-haired individual with a pencil-think mustache and a sweaty brow.

Rick lays down a winning hand and starts to rake in his winnings when one of the other players; a burly asian man reaches out and grabs his fore-arm and accuses him of cheating. Rick angrily denies this, but before you know it; the table is flipped over and punches are being thrown. Whether or not Rick is a good card-player remains unknown, but it's quickly obvious that he's not much of a fighter and very quickly the slim New Yorker is backed up against a wall with a split lip and blood dripping down his nose as 3 men square off in front of him....

[kipper]

Without hesitation, Murdoch launches himself into a flying kick towards the back of one of Rick's attackers. ((OOC: Murdoch does not know any martial arts))

[Urson]

Jean-Claude
Merde! he says as he rushes in to grab one of the attackers. His plan (such as it is) is to grab the man, pull him off Rick, and throw him to the ground, landing on top of the guy.

[Monsieur Rose]

Nikolai grabs the third attacker and tries to place him in a headlock. Scanning the room for any other threats, Nikolai says:

"Ah, this is the better than that dog fight before, yes? Here you really feel the combat."

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Early evening; October 2nd, 1937; The Tiger Club, Padang, Sumatra


The bar-fight in the Tiger Club was quick, brutal and rather fun for the pilots of Thunderbolt squadron....

Murdoch, with no real fighting ability what-so-ever, quickly sprinted over towards the fight and leapt up in an attempt at a flying kick aimed at one of Rick's assailants. Instead of landing a devastating blow; the perhaps-certifiable pilot flew past the thug and landed on the top of a table on his side, slid for an exhilarating half-a-second and then fall on his behind as the table abruptly collapsed underneath him, causing several drinks to splash on the now flat-on-his-back pilot, who was staring up at the ceiling trying to catch his breath and grin at the same time...

This distracted his intended target however long enough for a bloodied Rick to knee him in the groin and break free of the man's grip and slip away from the melee that was now if full swing all around him....

Nikolai Klokov grabbed one of the men in his massive arms and promptly pulled him down into a headlock which soon caused the man to turn red from lack of air and then sag into unconsciousness, at which time the beefy Russian dropped him unceremoniously to the floor and then he reached down to pull the dazed, but wide-eyed with happiness Murdoch to his feet...

Jean-Claude used his solid Brawling skills to yank the last of the thugs away from Rick and then drive into him and fall on top of the man so that the French-Canadian's weight landed fully on the man's chest and stomach, quickly causing the fight to leave the eyes of the man, along with his dinner onto his shirt and face. Oulette's nose wrinkled from the smell, but he quickly got up and found a napkin to wipe himself off. Turning to his companions, he saw that the other thugs had been put out-of-the fight and Nikolai was helping a gasping-but-grinning Murdoch to his feet. Shaking his head and deciding NOT to ask questions, the Flight Leader turned to see Rick and the New Yorker gestured for them to follow him outside...

Once outside, Rick wiped blood from his nose and split lip and with gratitude in his voice, he said; "Thanks fellas. In a little bit, when things calm down in there, I'll buy you all a round. My name's Rick Tyler...from Brooklyn originally...but now I'm out here at the end of the world, running a charter boat and a diving rig for treasure hunters, salvage, whatever. What brings you types out here?"

[kipper]

Murdoch, still grinning from his escapade, replies in a low tone: "Three words: ... Jewel... Of... Sumatra." He then winks broadly.

[Urson]

Jean-Claude
Still dabbing at the mess on his shirt, Jean-claude shakes his head at Mudoch's lack of finesse. "We are currently investigating the stories of the Jewel, and we were told you might be able to help us."

[Monsieur Rose]

Nikolai looks a bit sad that the fight is over, but starts to cheer up when he remembers that Murdoch is in his squadron.

"Can always count on you to make the fun."

He turns to Rick, crosses his arms, and breaks into a wide grin.

[Urson]

Jean-Claude, speaking to Nikolai

Zis man- do you know him?

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Early evening; October 2nd, 1937; The Tiger Club, Padang, Sumatra


Rick perks up at the words 'Jewel of Sumatra'; responds to Jean-Claude's asking Nikolai if he knows him by saying; "Nah, I've never seen this fella before….I'd definitely remember a Russkie of HIS size!"; and ends with a suspicious look towards Oulette after hearing that he might be able to help them with finding the Jewel.

"Who told you I'd be able to help you with finding the Jewel?"

[kipper]

"The Frenchman!" Murdoch replies succinctly, a tone of exasperation in his voice at Rick's inability to grasp the obvious.

[Urson]

We pieced it together from clues found on the body of Professor DeGaulle. No, we did not kill him- a group of thugs in the employ of a Nazi treasure hunter ended his life- but we were able to collect his briefcase.
jean-Claude then sketches out the brief version of events since this adventure began.

[Monsieur Rose]

Having nothing more to add to Jean-Claude's story, except the occasional embellishment, Nikolai leans causally against the wall and takes a chance to relax.

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Early evening thru early afternoon; October 2nd-3rd, 1937; The Tiger Club, Padang, Sumatra


Rick seemed to be struggling with a decision in his mind before finally just exhaling and saying; "Alright, you guys seem legit and you really saved my neck in there. Okay....if Phillipe gave you the briefcase with the key to the safe and Doctor Manning told you what it was; then the least I can do is trust you enough to keep up my part. Meet me at dock 29 at 9 AM sharp tomorrow. I'll take you out to where the Rosetta sunk and we can use my diving gear to go take a look in the wreck and try and get the safe with the map out of there." With that, handshakes were made and the pilots returned to their Zeppelin while Rick left for....wherever he hanged his hat...

Meanwhile, unnoticed in the shadows, a man with a sharp eye and even sharper ears turned quietly into a shadowy alley; on his way to make a report to unknown parties...

The trio of Thunderbolt pilots reported to Hank Chalifoux and told him about what had happened. The Squadron Leader told them they should accompany Rick on the diving trip in the morning; but to be VERY CAREFUL. In the meantime; Hank had managed to drum up some work for First Flight by flying some protection patrols over Padang, due to increased Pirate activity lately; so the squadron would be able to make a little money....or at least break even on food, gas, ammo; etc. while in 'port'.

The following morning; after waking up and getting read; the trio of pilots made sure to pack their pistols; a Colt 1911 .45 for Jean-Claude; a Tokarev 33 for Nikolai and a captured Lugar 9mm for Murdoch. They meet Rick at Pier 29 at 9 in the AM; and soon the foursome are setting out into the Pacific on Rick's dilapidated but working barge. He's got one diving suit and helmet; a powerful underwater flashlight and a winch with a couple hundred feet of line and a hook that can attach itself to the back of the diving suit; or easily be removed by the diver and attached to something to be brought up. After a cruise of about 4 hours; Rick springs a bit of a surprise on the trio as he arrives at the site where the Steamer sunk.

"Look....I...ahhhhh.....get all choked up and panic when I put on that diving suit and helmet, so I'm afraid one of you is going to have to put on the suit and go down to search the wreck for the safe. When you find it; you can attach the hook to it and tug on the line a few times and then hold on tight to the line and the winch will pull you AND the safe to the surface in a couple of minutes. So.....any volunteers?"

[kipper]

Murdoch's eyes light up with the joyful delight of an innocent young schoolboy. "DIBS!!!!!" He yells unnecessarily loudly.

"This is going to be AWESOME!", he enthuses as he begins to don the gear (probably incorrectly).

[Monsieur Rose]

Nikolai guffaws loudly at Murdoch. "Is better this way also. Suit seems a bit snugged for me. I will keep an eye on things up here."

[Urson]

Jean-Claude raises an eyebrow, but nods. So be it. But Murdoch, you know we cannot be there to 'elp you if you get into trouble. You must keep your wits about you on dis.

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Early afternoon; October 3rd, 1937; in the waters off Padang, Sumatra


Rick coaches an enthusiastic Murdoch about the correct way to put on the diving equipment and how to move about when underwater and he hands him a knife, secured in a sheath, that's then tied around the mad-man's leg. With the winch primed and the hook attached to the Diving suit; a gleeful Murdoch goes over the side and drops into the water with a splash….

Murdoch finds the plunge to the ocean floor well over a hundred feet down to be rather exhilarating; but once he's there; it's quite a chore for the rather scrawny, tall man to move about in the heavy suit. It's a slow, slow walk through the murky, dark-greenish light; but eventually the pilot sees the wreck of the Rosetta lying on the sea-bed. She rests at about a thirty-degree angle, deeply embedded in the silt, suggesting she sank at high speed. A large hole can be seen below the water-line near the port bow, revealing the cause of her demise. The experienced pilot can tell that this was the work of a torpedo.

Murdoch enters the ship and moves through the eerie wreckage and past some bloated, zombie-like corpses of some of the unfortunate crew before finally fidning the safe. It's water-tight, locked door remains firmly closed, so its a good-bet that if the map was still in side; it's intact. Murdoch moves to hook the safe with the line when he suddenly feels someting wrap around his foot. Looking down, he sees the pinkish-red tentacle of a ginat octopus and looking back, he suddenly sees the frightening sight of the center-mass of the creature gliding towards him as he reaches for the knife strapped to his leg*….


Meanwhile, back on the surface; Rick monitors the line while Jean-Claude and Nikolai grow bored. Soon, the familiar sounds of airplane engines can be heard and the pilots look up to find the source and they soon see a pair of planes, flying fairly low on the eastern horizon, but rapidly growing closer. They can soon tell that the planes are float-planes and as the bore in closer; the pilots soon see the markings and realize they these are Nazi-Germany aircraft……Arado 196s….



As the two planes roar past; a few hundred yards off to the East, the water starts bubbling and then the sight of a massive German U-Boat soon breaches the surface. The U-boat has a large boxy structure and a crane attached to the rear of the conning tower, along with a long raised catapult the runs from the end of the boxy structure to the stern of the U-boat; where it ends in a ramp. The pilots quickly realized that the boxy structure must be a hangar and the catapult serves as the means to the launch the floatplanes into the sky; while the crane serves as the way to bring the landed floatplanes back into the hangar. On the front part of the deck, just past the conning tower is the menacing sight of an artillery piece; a Deck Gun.

Within a few minutes, half-a-dozen sailers come boiling out of the conning tower and start setting up the 3 inch deck gun while a trio of men in German army uniforms follow them and aim familiar-looking Bergman 9mm submachineguns at them. Finally, a man in a uniform with the dreaded twin lightning-bolts of the S.S. reveals himself and in a heavily-accented voice he calls out; "If you vish to live; throw down any veapons you may be carrying and raise up your hands!"

[kipper]

Murdoch ignores the giant octopus for the moment, lunging his torso forward he focuses all his attention on attaching the hook to the safe and tugging the line. ((Using a Luck Point))

[Urson]

Jean-Claude
To Rick, as soon as the sub surfaces: What weapons do you have aboard? Quickly!

IF Rick says they have none, We may have no choice but to surrender and hope to catch them off-guard. IF there are weapons, Jean-Claude will attempt to reach the longest-range of them.