Launch Code 8
Themes
- BAM!
- POW!
- ZZZORCHT!
Structure
Exposition
You are a WEAPON, and you belong to ME!
Roland Desmond of Blüdhaven is a happy man. He has a nice shipment of incoming mutagenic pharmaceuticals and their antidote coming his way. He has an easily floodable base full of this new, rare drug's creators. He has a new chef, and not just any chef, but the one some criminals call "Chef" — it's like combining Mercy Graves with Anthony Bourdain!
So what if his shoes got a little damp when he boarded the submarine?
He already has secret control of several neighborhoods in Blüdhaven's walled section, and today's work may be just what he needs to increase his power to half the criminal underworld of New Jersey.
Just in time for Mother's birthday!
Climax
Welp.
Roland Desmond brought his smarts along today.
He rolled 25 on his first Perception check, so he knew something was up; he rolled 17 on the second, when sniffing the "PPZ boy" who happened to not be wearing a polo shirt. He knows that's "Chef". He thinks he's collected him.
The heroes have already successfully disabled the PPZ plan by taking apart the payloads. Even if The Shadow gets knocked unconscious, everything taken away from him, and the lads try to reassemble, they are missing the Star Gate and anyway they don't have time. The other supervillains are going to punch in on the timeclock pretty soon here. One missile is completely unfireable, the hard drive fried, while Psypher left the other one's navigational program wide open for Chameleon to step in and reprogram.
What's left, though hopefully exciting, is all mop-up of the B plots.
Blockbuster plans to take all of the Star Gate (and antidote, and notes) he can find in this base, and pay via electronic transfer. He plans to walk out the front door with that and his new chef. He then plans to bust the base door so the whole thing will flood, making Blockbuster the only major source of the latest greatest drug.
AIM plans to steal the missiles before they can be launched. They're going to remotely trigger the telescoping launch tube to open, jetpack down to attach hovercraft hoists, disconnect any stabilizing rig, and WHAT THE PARACELSUS HAPPENED HERE??!? They will compensate by trying to go steal the two Ryder trucks.
Card Shark (hudcitybook p 238) plans to steal the antidote and notes. They will agree to work with anybody who wants to take the actual drug, and/or split the supply of antidote, so long as the Cards get the antidote. And notes. Possibly also one of the chemists working on this. If they find out that Summon has been overseeing the actual processing, they'll want to take her along instead. In a pinch, they will even negotiate with the heroes, but Card Shark clams right up and looks upset if pressed to explain WHY they want the antidote. He's going to produce a LOT of the antidote, and this is not a charity; that's all he will say.
Components
Goals
How to Save The City and also The Day:
- Prevent the PPZ from contaminating the water sources for New York City with a mutagenic drug.
- Prevent the PPZ from establishing themselves as a source of illicit drugs, whether that's mood-altering drugs or mental-capacity enhancement or superpower serum.
- Prevent the PPZ from dying!
- Prevent Advanced Idea Mechanics from stealing these untraceable missiles!
- Prevent Card Shark from stealing the notes and starter kit for manufacturing mutagenic pharmaceuticals.
- Prevent Blockbuster from killing everyone.
- Prevent Blockbuster from stealing everything.
- Prevent Blockbuster from landing a solid blow on anybody, including the Trenchcoat Brigade themselves!
- Prevent Blockbuster from ... you know? just, generally, "Prevent Blockbuster".
Relations
Protagonists
Neutrals/Bystanders
- Summon
Competitors
Adversaries
- PPZ a.k.a. Psi Phi Zeta
- and particularly Bob Megalos from PPZ
- and quite possibly Adam Roderick from PPZ who would like to be from AIM
- Blockbuster (more or less the Writeups dot Org version by Sébastien Andrivet, as far as stats went)
Plot type
Chapter 8: boss fight
Parent Plot
Related Characters
Related Organizations
Related Locations
Comments