Flame on

(From June 2nd 2005)

Vanguard Mission Log:

I still wanted to check out the Flame angle, even though it seemed likely to not be related after out encounter with the Ogouns. Part of me just didn't want Det. Bakerfield to die in vain. I thought of it as following through with his last case.

We approached the "Flame Factory." Flea scouts ahead and confirms that it's active. Hooligan and I crash through a skylight and the game is on. At first there appears to be only your basic thug, but then things get a little weird. This real nasty looking thug grabs the Hooligan by the neck. A couple of headbutts later and it's clear that this thug is some kinda cyborg under his skin. I tried to help the Hooligan out, but I wasn't able to get a grip on him with both of them thrashing about. I was reduced to shouting encouragement. Before I know it, there's this slick looking business man and his wacko looking henchmen who join in. They refer to him as "Mr. Grishom" and he seems to know the Hooligan. He even says "Didn't I kill you?" What a prick. Well he dismisses us, and leaves his henchmen to fight us. I got nailed pretty good by Grishom's goon, and went down. I was able to deflect most of the bullet impact but it stunned me pretty good. We managed to overcome all the enemies, and capture some of the techs.

We examined the office materials. Flea didn't think that Flame, (a fun mix of amphetamines, steroids, and hallucinogen) could cause someone to burst into flames. Damn. Another dead end.

The next thing we know, this weird person drops through the ceiling. I didn't get a great look at him, but he was all black, had no pupils, and seemed to have stars or something all over him. He drops a bomb into the chemicals so we have to evacuate quickly.

I get back to my office the next day, and there's someone named Dawkins waiting to see me. He's from the Institute for Human Advancement. He tries to convince me to support the statute requiring all paranormals to get insurance for property damage. I tell him straight up that I think this bill is nothing but an end run to registering mutants and paranormals. The conversation quickly goes south and he predictable threatens me politically. The next day, there are some protestors in front of my office.

We decide to dig further into the medical records of all the victims. Flea is able to get information that all of the victims had some sort of transplant. Furthermore, they had the transplant not in the hospital, under less than legitimate circumstances. We split up. Flea follows our favorite shady paramedics, while the professor and I go down to the hospital to talk to a doctor. He tells us that these transplants are illegal. He thinks that Dr. Black is behind them, and that the Chinese Tongs might be supplying body parts. Soon after that, Flea calls:

Flea: I followed Mack and Gasser, you'll never guess what they were doing though.
Vanguard: Illegally harvesting organs?
Flea: How did you know that? Well I followed them to China town...
Vanguard: ...to the office of Dr. Black.
Flea: Yeah, I think so, how did you know all of that?

Heh. Just one of the great little moments. Flea has a great idea that maybe it's whatever he's using to stop the organ rejection that might be the source of the combustion. We head on down to this office. After breaking in, we find nothing. Nothing incriminating at all. Yet we saw our favorite two medics come in here. So we look a little harder and find a secret door. Hooligan is able to get past the security door. We enter and underground lab. Suddenly we hear: "What is the password?" I quickly say "Kuata Veratu Nictrr...eh..uh....to.." but that doesn't work. A door slams down and we hear a hissing sound.

To be continued....or maybe not.