Season Three

Case 3.6.3: Manticores, Spiders and Pirates, Oh My (March 2006)

The team takes stock of their equipment and what they can scrounge in the ruined monastary. A leprechaun is captured and forced to serve as a guide. After evading manticores and giant spiders (through the use of Ed's skill magically shaping stone), and meeting a girl of stone, the team arrives at a "necromancer's" house and gets confirmation on how they can return to Earth. When the team arrives in Freierhafen, they discover a pirate attack is imminent (goblins led by a vampire). Leaving most of the planning to Ed and Carrie, Rally mets a woman who turns out to be the voodoo loa Erzulie, who leaves before the attack. The ship is sunk and the goblens scattered; the vampire is captured and promises to never bother the town again (at midnight, he leaves on the spectral ship with the team, taking a later stop than Houston).

Case 3.6.2: Mars Attacks (January 2006 to February 2006)

The team lets the serpent and robots fight it out; the robots are defeated and the serpent, badly wounded, enters the doorway. The team pursues and discovers the doorway leads to a secret markann lab, which the serpent is trying to destroy. The team opens fire on the serpent. Just as it dies, it damages a dimensional portal the markann are using to escape. A white light flashes and the team are in dust-covered ruins of the lab, with no signs of the dead serpent or markann. A quick check on the street shows that the city is in ruins and there are no signs of life except for some flying humanoid insects. Splintered bones are found scattered on the streets and sidewalks. The team takes the sewers back to the museum, then finds the closest branch of the city library. The last newspaper archives date from November 23, 2049 [current campaign date is February 23, 2049]. The team goes to their old HQ and finds it mostly ruined, but with Captain Sternn alive. After giving them some items salvaged from the R&D lab and a briefcase nuke, she instructs them to head to the Dreamlands, and from there take one of the spectral ships back to their own time. The team arrives at the house with the Dreamlands portal (used in case 1.x) as it is under attack. The team fights their way in to join Joey Steele, who is guarding the portal. As the assault on the house intensifies, everyone exits to the Dreamlands and the nuke is set to explode seconds after the last person steps though.

Case #3.6.1: Bump in the Night (September 2005 to December 2006)

The team (with new member Ed Lee replacing Mike Dunkirk) checks out an early morning attack on a security guard at a museum. The guard was only knocked out, but one storage room was vandalized. Several magic items are detected in the exhibits and storeroom. Later in the morning, Thad, fresh out of the hospital, checks out the nature of the items, while Carrie gets involved in the latest in a string of fatal animal attacks along Buffalo Bayou. Rally and Ed talk to the Three Blue Cowgirls, who appear to have attracted another stalker, leaving roses and ominous notes. Afer Ed talks to an unstable homeless man behind the studio, who claims a revenant was the source of the threats. Carrie and the coroner discover that the animal attacks are not from an alligator, as thought, but most likely a were-Utahraptor. Just after everyone heads home, a page comes in that a guard has been found dead at the museum.

The team responds (except for Thad). In addition to the dead guard, two crates in another storeroom are found empty (one smashed open from the inside, the other opened normally). It is discovered that both crates had Mayan artifacts (two leopard statuettes and a carved sandstone sphere) from Honduras, acquired from a Mr. Klein two weeks earlier. Carrie determines the guard was killed by a large cat, and finds bloody cat and human footprints in the storeroom, leading to a heating vent in the floor. Rally checks out the basement (where the shaft leads), just in time to see a 1.5' diameter snake-like creature vanishing into a sewer pipe leading out of the basement. He fired into the pipe, but was then confronted by two jaguars. In the ensuing fight, both jaguars (both of which took on human form) and one cop die. Examination basement finds a glowing knife of Nazi manufacture next to one of the jaguar-warrior bodies and remains of the (hollow) sandstone sphere are found in the furnace, which is turned on low. The decision is made to go into the sewer after the snake-like creature.

As the team is suiting up, a (haunted) suit of armor from one of the exhibits enters the lobby and says it it going after the serpent; the knight who had worn the armor is under a curse to slay some significant evil because of his own wicked life. The team immediately accepts his help and lets him take point down in the sewer. A couple of partially eaten monsters later, evidence is found of a mentally-disturbed girl also in the sewers. A fight occurs between the team and an excremental, which is defeated though Ed magically lifting it in the air and the knight hacking it apart; Thad manifests spell-casting ability early in the fight. The girl is found and taken to the surface and safety. The knight leads the team to a side tunnel, where a giant tentacled snake-like creature is attempting to enter an oval doorway guarded by several spider-like robots.

Case Disposition: The homeless man was taken in for psych evaluation and the interview was passed on to the SCU for further investigation. The serpent was killed.

Case #3.5: Barrels O' Fun (May/June/July, 2005)

Once back in Houston, the team learns that two barrels were unloaded from the ship before it was seized. A search turns up an empty van (reported stolen by KoreTech) and a body (with identification showing him to be a member of the Wisdom of Stars Church). The team heads to the shiny new WoS church and gets in easily, as it is "Family Night." The team uncovers what appears to be a plan to sacrifice the unsuspecting worshippers to a Class I Ancient Evil residing under the church. After SWAT teams arrive, the grounds are searched and a barrel of sarin is found. However, the Ancient Evil starts to awaken and drastic measures are taken against it, consisting of a precision air-strike. The barrel is destroyed by a FAE charge first, for safety reasons, but Thad fails to get out of the tunnel system under the church grounds before the aircraft bombs fall. A search turns up a charred body, which, minutes latter, has turned into a pink and hairless Thad. He is acting somewhat erratically, but seems physically unharmed. After a vision by Carrie, the team heads to a KoreTech warehouse where they find the second barrel, which they secure after a pitched fight.
Case Disposition: Many KoreTech executives are arrested, effectively putting the megacorp out of business. The Wisdom of Stars Church is placed on the banned cult list.

Case #3.4: Lawyer, Guns and Money (March 13, March 27, April 10, May 1, 2005)

The team is sent undercover to Honduras to rescue the son of a local senator. The son is in hiding, being pursued by German intelligence agents and Mafia hitmen. After ending up with two crystal skulls while in the city of San Pedro Sula, the team meets their contact, who takes them to a small coastal village named San Ramos. The situation becomes worse when it is discovered that banditos have captured the son and are going to sell him to the highest bidder. It is also revealed that the banditos' leader is a shadowly figure named Mr. Klein, whom the Germans believe to have several drums of Sarin nerve gas, and who also has a similar appearance to Mike's enemy, The Tall Demon. After the team acquires some old militia weapons, they team up with the Germans and Mike eliminates the Mafia contingent with a rocket-propelled grenade. The Germans acquire a boat and the two groups plan to raid the bandit camp together, located in some Mayan ruins. Thad leads the assault and manages to rescue the son; in the process, the team discovers that Mr. Klein has sent several barrels of Sarin to Houston via an old freighter. The team, with the help of the Germans, steals the bandit's old airplane and rendevous with a Texas submarine off the coast, then head back to Houston on board a jet flying boat.
Case Disposition: The son is safe and the ship reached port two hours before the nature of it's cargo was discovered.

Case #3.3: The Night Stalker Returns ... ? (January 16 to February 27, 2005)

Rally takes a leave of absence for familiy reasons. A new team member (Micheal Dunkirk) arrives and the team gets their assignment, which it to trail Jon Bergmann, believed to have killed over 30 people as the Night Stalker nearly 20 years ago, but only convicted of kidnapping and attempted murder and just done with a 17 year sentence. It is uncertain as to whether he would continue his violent ways or perhaps be killed by an angry relative of his alleged victims. As it turns out, News54 reporter Tonya Olsen is waiting at the bus station when Bergmann arrives and immediately begins harrassing him with questions. She persists, going as far as waiting outside his hotel room. Meanwhile, the team discovers that three strangers also seem to be shadowing Bergmann; it turns out they are two Mossad agents and a golem. Apparently, one of the Night Stalker's victims was related to an Israeli special forces soldier, who has gone AWOL to get his revenge and the Mossad team (under diplomatic cover) is under orders to find him before he can kill Bergmann. Finally, Bergmann takes Olsen hostage at a cafe across the street from his hotel, on live TV. The team manages to save Olsen from Bergmann and Bergmann from the special ops soldier (the golem providing a moving shield and Dunkirk firing on the soldier).
Case Disposition: Bergmann is being held in protective custody as the DA decides what to do with the case.

Case #3.2: Back to School (December 2 and December 9, 2004)

The team is sent to a one-week traning and familiarization seminar in Austin for battlesuit operations and hostage negotiations.

Case #3.1: Billy Jim Doesn't Get an Anal Probe (November, 2004)

The team (who gets a new member in forensics detective Carrie Starling) is sent to investigate an unusual alien abduction story, which could indicate markann activity in northeast Houston. The team is also asked to interview the all-girl country and western band Three Blue Cowgirls, who have recieved roses with threatening notes for three consecutive mornings. The team discovers an underground markann lab being assisted by (rogue) employees of KoreTech.
Case Disposition: In the abduction case, the markann lab is destroyed but the markann scientist was captured alive and is currently under interrogation. In the death threat case, the janitor was found dead, by suicide; despite secret videos he had taken of the girls, no connection between him and the roses/notes are found.

Season Two (20+ sessions)

Case #2.8: It's My Party at Hotel Hell (November, 2004)

Rally and Thad are invited by Elaine to a party in a new hotel, where Dr. Blades and a handful of Jasons and ghouls take control of the building in an effort to get out of the country. Rally and Thad fight their way to the control room.
Case Disposition: Dr. Blades is almost certainly killed by a helicopter-fired missile. All of the remaining Jasons go inactive and the ghouls surrender.

Case #2.7: Power Corrupts (September 16, through October, etc., 2004)

The team is tasked with investigating the current Chief of Police, who has been accused of various crimes (mostly violations of human rights) over the past several years (when he was a precinct commander). The first two witnesses on the list yield valuable information, including that Hoskins and Truman apparently tried to intimidate one into shutting up. The team is transferred to a newly created unit, the Special Investigations Unit which is tasked with high-profile crimes and threats to the city.
Case Disposition: Truman is killed trying to protect the CoP, who fails in an attempt to kill himself.

Case #2.6: A Little Rumble (Run between April 29 and August 12, multiple sessions, 2004)

The team is assigned to find out why multiple gangs in an area are seemingly ramping up to a gang war. Most of the gangs are small and, previously, were not that violent. A new member joins the team, Sgt. Savernus Jekyll. He and Rally prevent a major incident by dispersing a riotous crowd before the Chief of Police's personal SWAT team can arrive. The team has too many potential suspects, until one of the gang leaders is killed in a traffic accident involving a "large dog". Attention turns to two teens with no gang affiliations, one of whom may have had a werewolf great-grandmother. Further investigation reveals that a 12-year old girl may be the mastermind.
Case Disposition: The girl is receiving counceling, the others have received minor punishments. The team has been temporarily transferred to the DA's office for a special investigation.

Case #2.5: Heeeere's .... Jasons? (Run April 15 and April 22, 2004)

Rally and Thad are assigned to gather information on a new gang and the fate of the gang it apparently replaced. The new gang, wearing hockey masks and carrying machetes, have been named the 'Jasons'. The old gang, the Kyngs, was an ultraviolent lesbian poser gang. Other than the disappearance of the Kyngs, the Jasons have been doing very little. It is quickly determined that the Jasons have been congregating late at night at a graveyard just within their turf (or rather, the Kyngs' old turf), in particular around a horizontal headstone that appears to have been moved slightly. While Hamish collects evidence, Rally and Thad visit an abandoned pharmacy, the last place the Kyngs were know to have been. Most of the store is undisturbed, with dust and cobwebs everywhere. However, a storeroom in the back is in shambles and blood spattered everywhere; it appears to have been used recently as a temporary sleeping quarters. A wrecked door leads down to a generator room, where the bodies of several of the Kyngs are found, along with one dead Jason, stacked against one wall. Examination of the Jason, who has a massive head wound, reveals wiring and microchips embedded in the brain as well as the fact that he has been dead for weeks, not days. Sound is heard from a 3' wide hole in another wall. A Jason enters, talking to the pair as if he knows Rally. Seconds later, a ghoul exits the hold. The pair open fire, dropping the ghoul. However, as the sound of several heavy things scurrying in the hole becomes louder, the pair retreats in stages, barely making it outside and into the sunlight before any pursuing ghouls can catch them.
Case Disposition: A ghoul warren is believed to have been wiped out. Suspicion is high that Dr. Blades was not killed in the Dreamlands as initially believed. His connection to the ghouls and his current plans are unknown. See Case 2.8.

Case #2.4: We Set You Up The Bomb (Run March 11, March 18, March 25, April 1, April 8, 2004)

Kennedy meets his new partner, a former member of the District Attourney's office, Thaddeus "Thad" Carp. He also discovers that Thad is under a curse that prevents him from casting a shadow or reflection. The pair are assigned to find out what the halfling gang known as the Kneecappers have planned for the night one of their members, Fireball Ferguson, will be executed for killing someone when he set fire to a business as part of the gang's punishment for the owner not giving in to their protection racket. The presiding judge at the trial was "Gallows" Galloway, and the pair begin to suspect he may be the target. The team learns that the gang has had contact with a demolition expert recently released from prison, named Henry "Boom Boom" Mancini. A bomb squad is sent up to his apartment and, when Mancini turns up and runs, Rally and Thad give chase. The bomb squad encounters a booby trap which kills all three of them. After distracting the team by apparently throwing a bomb under a bus, Rally and Thad, in a minivan from the motor pool, manage to get in front of Mancini. A spectacular multicar collision results. Mancini, though badly wounded, tells the two that the Judge's chair, in which he is now setting during court, has been rigged to explode as soon as he gets up. Rally and Thad race to the Kneecapper's hideout in case a remote detonator may be in play and are joined by a SWAT team. Both assist in clearing the building and all members of the gang are accounted for. Another bomb squad defuses the chair bomb.
Case Disposition: Mancini is booked on several charges, including the murder of three police officers. Galloway urges the D.A. not to cut a deal with him, which would allow Mancini to implicate the Kneecappers in the bomb conspiracy. The D.A. eventually agrees and the members of the gang, for the most part, face only relatively minor charges.

Case #2.3: Adventures in Orcsitting (Run January 29, February 5, February 12, February 19, 2004)

After returning to Houston, Joey and Rally go to O'Channigans and get plastered. They wake up two days later, with the vacation cut short and the team is ordered back to duty to guard Sargu Smith, the Orc-Mother. Before leaving Sternn's office, she mindsends a message that they are in great danger. When Rally and Joey attempt to pick up some gear from the R&D lab, they are told that the chief of police has ordered the techs not to give them any equipment. When leaving the lab empty handed, a female tech says she will have gear in the team's lockers early in the morning, where illusion rings, odd grenades and an electrothermal pistol are waiting for the team. Joey and Rally convince Sargu to cancel most of her appearances. However, she plans to still speak at one large rally where she is denouncing the policies of Good Homes, Inc (a subsidiary of KoreTech). Joey convinces the security of Acco Ltd, whose building is one overlooking the rally area, to have men on the roof and a team ready to go if a riot occurs. Shortly after the speech started, contact was lost with orc guards on two rooftops. Joey and Rally figured out that the sniper was atop the building immediately adjacent to the square, a building they had put no one on. Both raced up the stairs and, on the roof, came under fire of a second sniper from one of the buildings contact with the orc sentries had been lost with. With both Rally and Joey pinned down, the sniper on their roof attempted to reach the exit down. Joey managed to kill the sniper in one shot with his new pistol, but was wounded in the process. Rally went back down, to find the second sniper. However, he was called back to drive the Orc Mother away from the scene. When he reached the car in the underground parking lot, the car came under fire from a gunman disguised as an orc. The gun jammed and he attempted to throw a grenade at the car, when Rally ran him over. In the end, Sargu was taken to safety.
Case Disposition: Rally and Joey are both interviewed by Internal Affairs (Hoskins and Truman). Joey loses his temper and slugs Truman and is assigned desk duty indefinately.

Case #2.2: Rally is Having a Baby. Not. (Run January 22, 2004)

Rally rejects Valerie's offer, but decides to go to the Dreamlands anyway to consult Frau Donner and take her a pig as payment for previous services. Using vacation time, the team arrives in the Dreamlands only to find Valerie physically present there (she has learned how to enter the Dreamlands via dreaming, which gives here a real body there). When they enter Freierhafen, a party is thrown for the pair for stopping Almeda and his gang several months earlier. Joey is almost married to a wife desperately wanting to get out of town. After two days, the team reaches Hayef. In the meeting with Donner, the payment demanded from Rally is to have sex with Valerie. He refuses and, after a nasty argument with her later, Valerie leaves. The next morning, Donner tells Rally about the other half of the prophecy, unknown to the sidhe and fomorians; that if Rally has a daughter, she will destroy the fomorians. Donner and Valerie had worked up a plan to get Rally that daughter, but Rally rejects it again, leaving Donner and heading back to Houston.

Case #2.1: That Old Time Religion (Run January 8 and January 15, 2004)

After a shooting/carjacking/kidnapping that started at Chez Bruno's and ended on a tollway with a man shot and a child returned to its mother, Rally and Joey are sent to investigate a gang (known only as the Smileys, due to buttons they wear) that isn't commiting any crimes but is having their enemies mysteriously vanish. They meet Reverend Pickman, who is leader of a religion known as Wisdom of the Stars, and discover that the female victim of the morning crime, Mandy Ramirez, is second in the local church. They also discover that all of the gang members are part of the church. During the interview (in a shrine in an apartment building), Pickman and Ramirez reveal they intend to sacrifice her child in a ceremony later in the day. Just as the team is arresting the pair, corporate security shows up and claims that this is KoreTech property and no one is being arrested unless they do it. Refusing to believe that Pickman and Ramirez were being serious, Joey and Rally are forced to leave empty handed. Despite not being able to do anything officially, the team is able to organize a posse of off-duty officers at the station and, splitting into diversionary and assault teams, move on the apartment building. After shooting several guards, the inside team reaches the shrine, apparently too late. Rally leaves with the child while Joey and Alan Smith end up, with some provocation, shooting everyone in the shrine, including several members of KoreTech upper management. When taken to a Catholic priest for exorcism, it is discovered that the child's soul is gone and has been replaced by her mother's. That evening, Valerie's ghost appears to Rally and says that a ritual performed in the Dreamlands can return the child's soul, but at the cost of her own.
Case Disposition: KoreTech refuses to acknowledge that anything has happened; the "dead" employees are officially transferred out of state the next day and the building is bulldozed for a mini-mall.

Season One (24 sessions)

Case #1.9: Fetch (Run December 4, December 18, December 20, 2003)

Rally and Joey are tasked with recovering a bioweapon stolen from a lab in east Houston. They track the thieves (a eco-terrorist oriented gang known as the Green Pieces) to an art museum. In the basement, all of the known memember of the gang are found dead, covered in webs. After moving into the sewer, the team faces flying tarantulas, but makes it into another basement where markann, two human terrorists and several 'Frankenstein' human/spiders are at. Rally fires a 40mm HE grenade into the room , which is then stormed by Joey. All the markann and hybrids are killed, the humans captured and the bioweapon recovered.

Case # 1.8: Reign of Fire II (Run October 30, November 6, November 20 and November 27, 2003)

The team drops off Antonev and Terkov at the Russian embassy and Rally leaves his ZR in their underground motor pool lot. Antonev gives the team a pair of SAM launchers and several missiles. Rally and Joey pick up Elaine and Misty, then proceed to Capt. Sternn's house. Enroute, they encounter a group of refugees they see to a shelter (school), also dropping off Misty and Elaine there. By this time, Elaine has seemed to completely snap and refuses to give up a 12.7mm rifle. Rally and Joey head to Sternn's house and load 19 rocket launchers (she is keeping the 20th for a pot shot at any dragon that comes too close). They are ordered to take the weapons in the back of the van to City Hall, which has been under heavy attack. Unfortunately, by the time the team gets there, City Hall has already fallen and an attempt by the officers to reach the front door fails as the van is knocked over by two dragons. Captured, Joey and Rally are taken inside by Timor and meet the markann, a secretive race apparently allied with the dragons, several members of which are dissecting humans (some already dead) in the City Council chambers. Unfortunately, their form is basically that of humanoid spiders and Joey loses it for several seconds. Rally discovers that he has Fomorian blood and that the dragons, markann and Fomorians want him to have a son. As a markann scientist approaches to take a sample to "ensure" Rally has a son, a large red-headed man suddenly appears. He lops off the head of the scientist and leads Rally and Joey down to the parking garage, where Rally finds another ZR. As the team makes their escape, the stranger (who has called himself both Angus and Cellach) apolgizes for overreacting and killing Valerie, then vanishes. Rally and Joey drive out of the garage just in time, as Timor and markann enter the parking garage. Outside, a group of military vehicles has ringed the hall and has killed the pair of dragons that were guarding it. Commanding the unit is -- Major Sternn, who turns out to be ex-special ops and was reactivated when martial law was declared. She commandeered a mechanized infantry company and brought it to city hall. After Rally and Joey fill her in on the situation in the building, she orders it stormed by the infantry she has available; Joey and Rally follow behind the assault in an APC, to retrieve the weapons and explosives from the disabled police van. The soldiers find no one inside the building, not even dead humans. The mayor, police chief and several members of the city council are now missing. A dragon appears overhead and Joey, with a Russian SAM, helps an air-defense vehicle destroy it. Sternn decided to pull everyone back to the old football stadium and set up a command post there, as well as tent city for refugees. Elaine appears, having been picked up by Sternn from the school (where Sternn's children were at), and is in full "let's kill something" mode. Once at the stadium, she goes to help the refugees. Joey and Rally are ordered to rest. During the day, Joey is assigned to the local security detail, while Rally is sent to pick up a dracologist stranded at Rice University.

Case #1.7: The Russians Are Coming! (run September 29, October 16, and October 23, 2003)

The team is assembled to give assistance to Major Dmitri Antonev of Russian military intelligence in capturing Sergei Terkov, the simsense chip smuggler that escaped from Luby's (via psionic teleportation) -- see Case #1.4. After discovering from vice that Terkov is apparently trying to dump the master chip cheaply, they put in a bid they hope he will take. While waiting for word back, a wrong number leads the team to a bad situation at a 7-11, where two patrol officers, to cover up mistakes by the team, frame to innocent men for cocaine possession. Later in the day, part of the team checks out part a hotel Terkov may have been staying at, after questioning his Luby's contact, Rafe Swisher. It turns out to be a trap, but six members of the Cruzers are caught instead, but Joey using a dimensional grenade (picked up from the R&D lab earlier in the day) takes out the gang members, as well as a 6 meter diameter sphere inside the hotel. The team quickly leaves, and sees several Ravens drive away. The offer on the chip is finally taken and a meeting is arranged for 3am at the parking lot of an abandoned football stadium. Rally then receives a call from Elaine, who has had the words 'Kennedy = Die' written on her bedroom wall in blood (Valerie's, as it turns out). She becomes furious when Rally tells her of Valerie's death and orders him out; Misty is sent to keep an eye on Elaine while the rest of the team is busy meeting Terkov. Using another experiemental device, Rally prevents Terkov from teleporting away and wrestles him to the ground; Terkov is then shot with a tranq gun by Antonev. A running gun battle ensues through the streets, with the Ravens (who Terkov has taken up with) taking a pounding. Just as the team is about to reach a police roadblock, a 40' dragon destroys a police helicopter overhead and wipes out the rest of the Ravens. Soon, reports are coming in of multiple dragon attacks and, later, attacks on other cities. When they get to the station, the team finds it mostly destroyed. They team grabs a police van and a large amount of weapons, ammo and explosives from the armoury and evidence room. Sternn tells them that there is a chache of twenty 140mm rockets in her basement.
Case Disposition: Terkov and Antonev are taken to the Russian embassy. See Case #8 for the rest.

Case #1.6: We Got the Beat (run September 16 and September 23, 2003)

Due to an illegal strike by large numbers of patrol officers, Steel, Kennedy and Smith were forced to don their patrol uniforms and take to the streets. Highlights included rescuing a teddy bear from a dumpster, a car crash involving a drug courier (escaped) and burglar (arrested), and delivering a presentation to 150 3rd graders (which included two of Sternn's children). Smith made a love connection with a teacher at the school and Rally (and Joey) attended a high-society function as guests of Elaine.
Case Disposition: Goblin thief (stole 20 cyberdecks from employer) is awaiting trial. Party faces doing additional presentations in the future. About 1 in 6 striking officers are fired; corporate security given expanded powers to deal with shortfall.

Case #1.5: A Dream Within a Dreamland (run August 19, August 26, September 2 and September 9, 2003)
Officers Smith, Kennedy and Steele, along with heavy backup, are sent to deal with the escapees. An odd leprechaun reacts badly to the presence of Rally and claims he is marked. After the team encountered large spiders the second day, Officer White is lost to nocturnal hunting ghasts. On the third day the team reaches the port city of Freierhafen, where Almeda and six escapees have taken hostages in a two-story inn. In the assault that follows, Almeda and two others are killed; the team suffers no losses. Smith returns to Houston with the surviving escapees, while the rest of the team proceeds to chase Dr. Blades and Oakes, who left many hours earlier in a merchant ship. Passage aboard a pirate/smuggling ship is agreed on and they catch up to the merchant ship in the pirate haven of Hayef two days later (during the trip, a sea serpent named Jeyaga visits with Rally, claming to be a very distant relative, and Officer Green falls overboard and drowns). In town, the team consults witha voodoo lady, Frau Donner, who tells them to leave the elves alone and provides potions for Rally and Joey that allows them to track Blades unerringly for up to six hours. Thugs hired by Oakes and Blades set a runaway wagon with lit powder kegs down the street; the wagon flips and the kegs all land around Officer Brown, who is reduced to smoking boots. Two of the thugs were killed and info was gained from the third. The team (or what was left) followed Oakes, Blades and several hired thugs to a ruined, evil temple several miles north of town. In an ensuing entry into the temple, Blades was killed (apprarently) after a failed attempt to achieve godhood and the temple collapsed completely; Oakes was not seen.
Case Disposition: Almeda and two escapees are known dead, Blades is presumed dead and Oakes remains at large in the Dreamlands. All other escapees have been returned to a higher security jail.

Case #1.4: Bad to Worse (run August 12, 2003)
After being introduced to two new members (Joey Steele, ex-military and SWAT trained, and Hamish, gargoyle forensic tech), the team is assigned to assist the vice squad during a stakeout to determine the local distributors of illegal simsense chips. During the stakeout, four gang member come looking for one of the subjects of the surveillance, turning it into a hostage situation. The film star Elaine stumbles into the situation and quick action by Ral (and extreme heroism by Joey) ends the situation after a few minutes. While being debriefed, the team discovers that Almeda, Dr. Blade and six violent felons have been busted out of jail, apparantly by Oakes, and have fled to the Dreamlands. Preparations are being made to send the team after them. Finally, when Ral returned home, he discovers Valerie dead.
Case Disposition: See Case #2.5

Case #1.3: Road Trip (run July 15, July 22 and August 5, 2003)

The team, partly to get out of the media spotlight after the last case, is sent to El Paso to retrieve a dangerous suspect wanted in Houston. Unfortunately, the OCU shows up first and ends up with the prisoner, who offers a $5 million reward for his freedom. The team follows behind the undersized and overconfident OCU team. In Sanderson, the OCU tricks the local police into detaining the team briefly; a shootout with 8 bikers occurs outside of town; the bikers are routed. Midway between Sanderson and Del Rio the OCU pulls off in an out of the way service station to change a tire on the police van. It turns out that the service station is a front for a ghoul colony. After a major firefight in the service station and under it, and help from seven dwarves, the team survives until help arrives. Tanner shoots an unarmed Almeda so he doesn't worry about him escaping during the fight.
Case Disposition: Tanner is suspended for four weeks, pending a review board hearing. Almeda has recovered.

Case #1.2: Why Can't We Be Friends? (run July 1, July 6 and July 8, 2003)

Two orc gangs that were violently opposed to each other a week ago are now peacfully intermingling on each other's turf and a third gang has been seen friendly with them. Even more odd, the crime rate in the area has dropped. The GCU is sent in to find out what is going on and, as part of fitting in, will have Tanner's band perform at a local night club. A prole informant was found dead, with the phrase 'orc mother' scrawled in blood next to him.When the team showed up at the club, over 30 orcs were holding political signs. The gig went well, but during the orc mother's speech outside, a disguised elf fired several shots at her. After he as captured, a second elf (a sniper) , killed the first.The second elf was taken alive, but due to miscommunicatons, a confrontation between police and orcs occured in the street, leaving several orcs dead
Case Disposition: Interrogation of the elf has turned up very little evidence. Both he and the dead elf were using false IDs; database searches for their DNA and fingerprints have turned up nothing so far. While other elves are involved, none of their identities have checked out either. The sniper's weapon was a military-grade rifle. Sargu Smith, the orc mother, has fully recovered.

Case #1.1: The Fuzzy Grape Massacre (run June 23, 2003)

Nearly 40 patrons of a night club are killed by a dozen cyborgs controlled by Dr. Jason Blades, who believes that some people are being replaced by robots. All the cyborgs were modified against their will and had control chips implanted. Half the cyborgs were killed during a long chase from the night club to Blade's base on the city's outskirts, although Blades was eventually captured.
Case Disposition: After it became clear that the six surviving cyborgs were completely under Blade's control, no charges will be filed against them. However, the cheap cyberwear that was forcibly implanted is expected to break down in a few months. Dr. Blades is currently in a maximum security hospital for the criminally insane; if he ever becomes fit to stand trial, he will face charges on over 40 counts of murder (patrons plus 6 cyborgs), 12 counts of kidnapping, 12 counts of aggrevated assault, operating an unlicensed cyberware clinic and numerous lesser charges.

(I plan on using this system as a personal shorthand and I thought I would share it here. If anyone finds it too complicated or hard to use, I'll keep it for GM use only).

Gangs are rated 0-6 in six categories, with a prefix for race: H = human, W = human (females only), E = elf, T = troll/half-troll, D = dwarf, O = orc, G = goblin, M = mixed, X = other race.
 
 

Rating	Membership	Turf Size	Activity Level	Popularity	Violence	Police Interest
0	Unknown, but small	No turf	Inactive	Unknown	Unknown	Ignore
1	3-7	One building	Monthly	Very Good	Petty crimes	Very Low
2	8-15	One block	Bimonthly	Good	Low	Low
3	16-31	2-4 blocks	Weekly	Positive	Somewhat	Average
4	32-63	Neighborhood	Biweekly	Negative	Fairly	High
5	64-127	Precinct	Daily	Poor	High	High Priority
6	128+	City-wide	Constant	Very Poor	Ultra	Top Priority

Membership and Turf Size should be self explanatory. Activity Level is how often a member of the gang is arrested on average, which is usually (but not always) proportional to criminal activity. Popularity measures how the gang is viewed by non-gang members on it's turf; it has some affect on recruitment and how locals cooperation with police. Violence is an indicator both of how a gang member will respond to a threat or insult and to the general nature of the gang's crimes. Police Interest measures how many resources are officially being devoted to shutting down the gang.

Zero ratings are typically given to gangs that have just formed or a gang that is believed to have been wiped out but has not had this confirmed. The exception is the Ignore tag for Police Interest; this is rarely given and generally only for political reasons.

Example: H242543 denotes a fairly violent human neighborhood-wide gang of 8-15 members with one member being arrested every two weeks and poor popularity, with average police interest in them.