Prog 2 - Super Duper Loops and Loopy Droops

Holmes, Steele and Wallace arrive at Super Duper Loop Plaza in Steve Jobs Block and join Judge Que and a full complement of Riot Squad manning the crowd barriers.  The Super Duper Loop capsule is due in 10 minutes and the crowd is getting increasingly excited.  The Judges witness minor offences being committed such as littering, but now is not the time to be diving into the crowd to make arrests, surveillance will follow those perps home cuff them in a safer more controllable environment.

Steele spots something in the foliage at the side of the plaza, a two foot height yellow rodent.  When he pokes about in the bushes a male citizen wearing a trench coat emerges showing signs of emotional distress.  Obviously a flasher, he struggles to resist his inner urges even when Steele points his lawgiver at him.  He can't contain himself and flashes open his coat to reveal a blue leotard underneath.  Out of the corner of his eye Steele spots a young civvo in a red cap enter the bushes and a little later a bright flash.  Pushing the kook out of the way Steele investigates the undergrowth further but finds no sign of the boy or the yellow rodent.

The 2 foot tall yellow rodent

The unmistakable thwoppa thwoppa of a rotor drowns out the assembled crowd and the chopper of Super Duper Loop creator, Elon Deerscent, lands in the plaza just as the jumbotron counts down to zero and is replaced by a vid feed from inside the approaching capsule.

The faces of the celebrity citizens are barely recognisable as they contort in expressions of terror.  Something is clearly amiss with this maiden voyage and further confirmation is received when the capsule shoots through the station at Mach 7.

Deerscent immediately runs to the chopper signalling the pilot to spin up the blades.  The Judges react, calling in a spray of riot foam from the nearby Riot Wagon which coats the tailboom of the chopper and sets hard as rockcrete.  The chopper attempts to lift off and rips off its own tailboom.  With its counter rotation device gone it corkscrews into the air violently throwing out Deerscent and the pilot before crashing down and exploding in the middle of the crowd.

Within seconds nearby med teams and a water cannon equipped H-Wagon quell the flames and begin treating the casualties.  Holmes and Wallace rush to find the pilot unconscious on the ground.  Steele and Que rush after Deerscent who has picked himself up and run into the bushes.  Chasing him through the undergrowth they emerge to find him standing on the railing which marks the edge of the plaza.  Deerscent tells Steele "no further or I'll jump".  Steele continues to advance, trying to calm the situation down but the inventor jumps off the railing flipping him off with two extended middle digits.  Rushing to the railing the Steele and Que see Deerscent thump his chest and bat wings extend from his arms to his legs.  He rolls and flies off.

Benny the Bat, a somewhat famous perp who used a Bat-suit to criminal effect

Fishing out hypo rounds from his glove pouch Steele fires twice, narrowly missing him with both shots.  Que is more successful and as Deerscent succumbs to the sedative he loses control slamming into the sloping windows of nearby Steve Woz block and sliding down into a park level which juts out of the side of the structure.

Meanwhile Judges Holmes and Wallace have left the pilot in the capable hands of a medic and run over to the station complex.  After relaying events to sector control Wallace tries to negotiate with the station bot who seems to be malfunctioning as he does not recognise the authority of the Judge and proceeds to seal the station behind plas-steel security walls which pop out of the ground.  Wallace contacts the Super Duper Lopp Inc's customer centre and is eventually put through to the technical team who successfully cut the power bringing the capsule to a graceful stop.

Steele and Que leap on their Lawmasters and drive off in the direction of Steve Woz block.  When they arrive at the block park there is no sign of Deerscent save for a human shaped divot in the grass.  Que routes the park surveillance vids to her bike computer and spins back to see Deerscent pick himself up and stagger off in the direction of the block's Med Centre.  Soon after the heavily bandaged Deerscent is cuffed to a Med Centre gurney awaiting collection by a Pat Wagon.  No doubt he will lawyer up, these rich citizens always think the law doesn't apply to them.

Back to the Euro Zone

The four judges regroup on 5527 heading towards Thatcher Towers and unfinished Nitro-9 business.  

Cross referencing all the registered residents with those who have explosives experience throws up 5 matches, 3 of which are already serving time in the iso-cubes.  They request forensics backup which arrives shortly after in the shape of Judge Murtagh, a tech Judge with his Sniffer device specially calibrated to detect Nitro-9.

Iona Skye lives at 202-47 a sweet old lady of 92 who serves up a great synthi -tea and tells the judges of the days of her youth after the apocalypse war when they drove this block across the destroyed Mega City along with others which survived the Sov Rad bombs to form what is now the Euro Zone.

Tom Vampire 28 lives in a dingy apartment at 427-95.  No one answers the door so the judges force entry and a scan of the filthy interior draws a blank save for a collection of pristine suits and a duffel bag of "Vote Nigel" badges stashed in the closet.

Neither apartment tests positive on the Sniffer and the Judges seem to be running out of leads.  Wallace decides to do some house to house enquiries and knocks on the door of 427-96.  A juve punk answers the door and tells them that he saw the guy leave this morning whistling a happy tune.  He doesn't know where he went but he's one of Nigel Faraways lackeys.  The door closes and in hushed tones they hear two voices converse "Phew that was close", "Yeah they almost got us".

Judge Que knocks on the door again, issuing a standard pre arrest declaration.  Steele hears the unmistakable click of a stub gun being primed and thanks to his lightning reactions pushes Que out of the way as seconds later the door explodes in a shower of splinters and bullets.

"BUDDA BUDDA BUDDA"

NEXT PROG - Juve Punks, a Vampire and Meg Way Carnage ->

Back Issues

• Prog 1 - Another Day in Mega City One

Prog 1 - Another Day in Mega City One

A continuing series of session reports from my current Judge Dredd Game using Starblazer Adventures rules.

Sector House Briefing

Another hot and sunny Wednesday afternoon's patrol in sector 55 begins with a briefing.  Patrol Chief Belloch informs the assembled Judges that weather control has a ten minute shower programmed for 14:00 hours.  Elon Deerscent is going to be unveiling the latest stretch of his super duper loop with a big ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly commissioned Loop Plaza near Steve Jobs Block.  Lastly, Sector 55 is hosting the Fidget Spinner World Series later and expects a large number of competitiors  and tourist fans to be targetted by the locals or causing trouble.

Hitting the Megway

Judges Holmes, Steele and Psi Judge Wallace mount up and head out to Loop Plaza on Meg 5535. As they approach the junction with 5527 the traffic has slowed to a crawl.  An impromptu roadblock is in place manned by two Judges, White and Greene.  Pleasantries are exchanged and the patrol takes the off-ramp for 5587 heading to Loop Plaza.

A few miles down the road Holmes suddenly realises that there was something wrong about those two judges.  White's left knee pad was on upside down.  She orders the patrol to do a swift 180 and ride back to the roadblock.

The two Judges are gone but their Lawmasters remain parked blocking the off ramp.  Two civs in grey corporate security uniforms flag them down.  They explain that the Judges requisitioned their truck and sped off towards the 5527 off-ramp.  The guards are really concerned as they forgot to tell the Judges to be careful, their truck is loaded with Nitro9 explosives and any sudden impacts will set the explosive off.

This looks like a classic case of Jimping and Road Piracy, but the Lawmasters are real which means somewhere there are a pair of Judges in trouble or worse dead.  The patrol soon finds a set of tyre marks  at the side of the road which swerves off into the undergrowth.  At the bottom of a short slope is an abandoned Fonda hatchback.  Wallace gingerly lifts the tailgate to reveal Judges White and Green, stripped down to their regulation underwear, bound and gagged in the trunk.

When released, the Judges explain that they were investigating this abandoned vehicle when they were jumped from behind and knocked out.  They didn't see their assailants and they woke up in the trunk of this car.

A message from Sector Control squawks over their helmet radios.  They had a drone cam following the truck but it went into a through-way in Thatcher Towers and never came out.  The judges head out to the block to investigate.

Thatcher Towers in the Eurozone

Arriving at the through-way the truck is abandoned awkwardly on the side of the road its rear doors wide open and cargo gone.  The only thing in the back of the truck are two piles of judges uniforms.  A cursory scan of the through-way identifies at least 4 block vid cams which might have caught the perps in the act.  They make their way to Thatcher Towers and enter the block at the level 250 atrium.

A demonstration is in full swing with a couple of thousand residents chanting about something called BREXIT.  On a stage at the far end of the atrium stand a few well dressed citizens below banners emblazoned with the the slogans "Vote Nigel"  "Vote Brexit".  At the moment this seems like a peaceful gathering but the Judges' training and experience tells them that a situation like this can get ugly fast.

However, their immediate concern is a missing cargo of Nitro-9 and so they head to the Block Security Station.  When they arrive it is in lockdown and after Steele shows his badge, the staff let them in.  The watch officer Dun Can tells the Judges that they are an old pre Apocalypse War block and their CCTV system can't surveil every camera simultaneously.  They don't have any footage from the cameras in the through-way as they are totally focussed on the rally in the atrium which has been going on for the last two weeks ever since Nigel Faraway was elected to the post of Citi-Def Block Commander.

Just as the Judges are about to wrap up their investigation, Chief Belloch shouts over the radio

"Steele where are you? You're supposed to be at Loop Plaza by now.  Get your asses down there pronto!"

NEXT PROG - Super Duper Loops and Loopy Droops ->

Tested by the Elements - TLOD S07 E10

As she gasps for breath the catgirl Ai-Nyx is pulled out from under the hulking corpse of the Giant.  

Searching it's huge corpse Wulf finds a two handed sword the giant was using as a table knife and a bag containing some mixed coins.  Our heroes lick their wounds, and press on to the Eagles Eerie.

Are "Enemies" Electric?

By noon they have made good progress trudging through the light snow and howling winds when suddenly the clouds darken and the air becomes still and heavy and.  Lightning tears Argos the sky. And with a flash Tarigoz is hit by a bolt which bounces of his metal breastplate and coalesces into a crackling humanoid figure made of blue jittery light.

Lightning Elemental by Chalmer Relatorre

Laurel is immediately reminded of the bedtime tales her Aeroimm Father used to recite to her about the strange elemental beings which inhabit the clouds.  She recognises this as a lightning elemental of sorts.  A force of nature with no evil intent, just primordial awareness.  She waits to see what it does.

However, Jan the Sell Sword knows nothing of elemental beings and strikes the creature with his magical sword Maraghbur, wounding it.

The elemental flashes across the pass, seemingly attracted to Tarigoz's metal armour, flashes across the pass in an instant.  In a dazzling show of lights, tendrils of electricity arc around the Knight and discharge with raucous barks.  Ssinkar attempts to strike the creature with his wooden staff, Styx strikes with her sword but misses it and Nyx throws a javelin straight through it embedding itself in the cliffside.

Tarigoz bashes the creature with his shield but the creature seems unperturbed.  Wulf strikes at the creature with his newly acquired sword and is rewarded with sparks of crackling blue energy which run up the length of his blade and lick up his arms shocking him.

Laurel grabs the peace stick which hangs from her belt.  A strange foot long smooth black rod which terminates in 3 embedded glass rings which give off a faint glow.  She swings at the creature but misses.

Jan invokes Maraghbur to flame and strikes the creature carving off a chunk of crackling blue energy which dissipates.  The creature retaliates blasting Tarigoz a hundred feet down the pass in a shower of blue flame and sparks. Styx strikes the elemental solidly with her sword and like wulf before her is rewarded with a shocking surge of energy which passes through her body singing her hair.

Undeterred the Barbarian unleashes his primal fury and once again is rewarded with stinging pains throughout his whole body.  Laurel hits the creature with her peace stick and with a bang, the elemental seems to shrink in size.  Laurel's weapon grows strangely warm in her hand.

Once again Jan brings down Marghbur's fiery vengeance down upon the elemental and the creature blast him with energy knocking the sword out of his hands and the mercenary back 60 feet into an unconscious heap.

Styx picks up Maraghbur and the sword assaults her mind with the question "Who the Hell are You?" The Catgirl was not expecting this and is stunned.  The barbarian rages on.  Tarigoz picks himself up and charges headlong at the elemental hitting it squarely with his shield.  Sparks fly off and around him as he pushes the creature back against the cliff.

Laurel snatches Maraghbur from Styx's outstretched hand and hits the creature, her other hand swings around and stabs with the peace stick which once again emits a bang and the elemental is reduced in size.  Styx grabs laurels Peace stick and hits the now child sized elemental with and it dissipates with crackle.  Styx immediately drops the peace stick in the snow as it grows to hot to handle.  A cloud of steam rises up and the snow is quickly reduced to a puddle of water which bubbles vigorously before evaporating.  After a short while it cools and can be picked up again.

Ikkarikka urges them on as the Eagles Eerie is not far.

Giant Bird in Flight by ArtificialGuy on DeviantArt

Entreating with Eagles

A few hours later, as they approach the snow line of the mountain, they are buffetted by winds from above and a giant eagle lands on the ledge above them.  The Eagle speaks to their minds directly asking them

"Who are you and what brings you to Mount Durcas?"

Nyx explains their mission and recants the Arakocara shaman's vision.  The Eagle tells them that the they have seen the dark clouds gathering and it concerns them.  The tower of ice and the frozen lake is known to them.  It is many days travel from here and they agree to take the party there.  However, Ikkarikka must attend the council of Eagles.

More Eagles swoop down from the clouds above and snatch up the heroes in their great talons.  The journey to Mount Ederglow takes a few hours by Eagle and one by one they are deposited on a ledge outside a cave mouth.

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Get Knotted - TLOD S07 E09

Our Heroes rest the night at Tikka Ti-Jarra whilst the remaining Aarakocara pack their belongings for the journey to the last refuge at Tchichi-Kwaaka. 

As dawn breaks they head off with their new guide Ikkarikka heading for the Eagles Eerie.  They descend the mountain and into the valley and it is not long before they are once again climbing into the mountains and wending their way along the mountain road.

Danger Round Every Bend

As night begins to fall they find a shallow cave in which to shelter from the wind and the snow.  Without firewood they huddle round the flaming sword Maraghbur.  During the second watch Styx's hears gruff voices coming from above them.  Maraghbur's dim flickering affords her keen vision enough light to pierce through the darkness and illuminate the faces of two Giants who have spotted the party from the ledge above.

 

Awesome Artwork by Einar Martinsen

Returning to the group she wakes them all and describes the interlopers.  Maraghbur is extinguished and in the darkness she listens to the pair hatch a plan to ambush the party as they traverse the pass in the morning. 

Forewarned is forearmed as they say, and the heroes hatch a cunning counter plan.  Laurel, Styx and Nyx scale the 100 feet of steep but not sheer cliff which separates their ledge from that of the giants.  They stealthily approach the now slumbering Giants and tie their bootlaces together before retreating up the pass and around the next bend.

Before dawn Tarigoz leads the other half of the party along the pass around the switchback to within earshot of the still sleeping Giants.  With a battlecry he leads the charge and in a simultaneous pincer movement Laurel and the two Phylus attack from the other side.

Caught Flat Footed

The Giants are quick to their feet but one stumbles and falls, its boots tied together by stout laces the thickness of good rope. Ssinkar recites a blessing as the combat ensues.  Despite having the boon of Kriskar vested upon them both Tarigoz and Wulf's blows are found wanting whilst Jan envokes his firry blade and strikes solidly at the standing Giant who retaliates with his big club catching Wulf a mighty blow to the chest. 

Styx pounces on the fallen Giant and her sister swings at it with her nunchuks to no avail.  Laurel catches it with one swipe of her scimitars slicing the creature a deep wound. 

Whilst Tarigoz's attack is parried away Ssinkar commands the standing Giant to Sleep.  Offering no resistance the Giant is struck by both Wulf and Jan who open new deep wounds in the creatures flesh.

Styx is roughly tossed aside as the second Giant lurches to its feet, Nyx stabs at the creature striking it in a vulnerable spot.  Laurel strikes once again and both blades find their targets opening wicked wounds across the Giant's arms.

Tarigoz lands a blow on his foe who stands as still as a rock under he Salamankari Clerics thrall.  Ssinkar reiterates his command and regains control of the Giant.  Jan plunges his fiery blade deep into the creatures belly.

A Crushing Defeat

Laurel once again deals a serious blow to the other Giant.  Tarigoz finally despatches the enthralled enemy and it tumbles off the ledge and down the mountainside.  Wulf critically injures the second Giant and Tarigoz finishes the job.  The Giant teeters and totters before crumpling to the floor on top of Nyx. 

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Death from Above - TLOD S07 E08

As the heroes caught their breath they could see that fighting had broken out on the amphitheatre ledges surrounding them.

Laurel shot at a flying ape on one of the eastern ledges hitting it squarely in its back, Wulf followed suit with his longbow piercing another's bat like wing.  Ssinkar rushed across the plateau towards Jan who had crashing to the ground like a meteor falling from the sky, landing on one of the ledges where a winged ape commander was overseeing the attack.

Having slaughtered their initial Aarakocaran targets some of the winged apes swooped down to attack the heroes.  Styx was soon engaged and struck at one with her short sword.  With enemies closing in on her Laurel tossed aside her bow and drew her scimitars cutting down her nearest foe with a whirl of her wickedly sharp blades.  Undeterred by losing  his beloved sword, Wulf flicked his dagger out of its sheath flipping it between his hands as he chose his moment to strike, plunging the dagger into the winged ape's chest.  Tcho'eh was set upon by another flying ape which clawed viciously at his scarred skin.  Wulf's opponent was joined by another and both cut deep into the barbarian as they tried to overpower him.


Jan picked himself up only to find himself beset upon by a flying ape commander.  The quick witted mercenary cried "Parr" and shot skywards from the melee like a cork from a bottle. 


Across the field of battle Nyx whirled her three segment nunchuck staff at another winged ape striking it squarely in the shoulder.


With Jan gone, the winged ape commander leapt from the ledge and into melee with Ssinkar clawing at the Salamankari like a vicious beast.


Laurel engaged with a fresh enemy making a solid strike.  With a holy word Ssinkar channeled a prayer of Hold Person on the commander freezing him to the spot.  The creature attacking Tco'eh struck the birdman's beak and recoiled in pain at the shock of his hand hitting the hard keratin.  Wulf's foes continued their assault on the Euborean raining a bevy of battering blows on top of him.  Luck was not on Laurel's side as a strike from her enemy temporarily blinded her.  Fortunately Tarigoz was close at hand and he leapt into the fray slaying the creature with a mighty blow worthy of a bard's tale.

Above the Clouds

The sword Maragbhur pulled Jan screaming skywards, piercing the black cloud layer and emerging into clear bright sunlight.  As he arced gracefully over in a backflip he could clearly see the minarets, turrets and battlements of a small castle floating atop the castle.  Winged apes scuttled around the ramparts and flights of creatures assembled for yet more waves of attack. Just as quickly as he had emerged from the clouds he reentered their dark embrace to return to the fight below.

Floating Castle by Bancotovsk found on DeviantArt

Armed with one of Styx's short swords and the shield he scavenged from the Northern gatehouse tower at Fanjr, Tcho'eh pressed his attack and with more luck than skill lunged at his opponent lodging the point of his blade in the creatures eye socket.  The top of the creatures head exploded in a mess of blood and brains as the Aarakocaran claimed his first kill.

The Temple of Tikka Ti-Jarra is Lost

A huge explosion rocked the mountain top as a great bolt of lightning cracked from the heavens crushing the top of the temple like a spoon on an egg.  Great chunks of what passed for Aarakocaran masonry rained down on the combatants below.

Blinded but unbroken, Laurel calmly waited for Tarigoz to lead her to the next enemy to be slain.


Blood filled Wulf's eyes as the rage swelled inside him.  Armed only with the small dagger he u
sed to peel fruit he attacked the nearest winged ape who grabbed his wrist turning the blade against Wulf himself and the barbarian felt the blade slowly pierce his flesh.


The tide of battle was turning against the heroes as a winged ape flew in to protect its leader striking Ssinkar on the head and knocking him unconscious.  Nyx's enemy struck her with a battering blow of its clawed fist.  Wulf's rage was fading as one of two apes attacking him struck him across the face whipping his head from right to left, blood and sweat streamed from the barbarian as he fell to the floor vanquished.


A winged ape fresh from killing a family of bird people swooped down upon Tcho'eh and floored him with a single blow.  Tarigoz turned towards the beast and ferociously swung at it with a strike worthy of a hero cutting the abomination in two.


Through clouded eyes Laurel stumbled over to the downed figure of Wulf in a desperate attempt to stop the creatures from attacking her fallen comrade, blindly flailing with her scimitars.


Meanwhile the Flight Leaders eyes could only blink as Jan's flaming sword struck his frozen body.  The sell sword landed clumsily on the ledge a moment later.


Tarigoz ran to Styx's side to defend the plucky cat-girl as she boldly fended of an apes advances.  She chipped away at its grubby grasping clawed hands.  Laurel's sight cleared and she carved a chunk out of the ape who had felled her friend Wulf. 


On the ledge, the effects of Ssinkars prayer waned and the Flight Leader's body sagged as control of his muscles returned.  Jan struck him again in a blaze of fire and sparks.  His attack left an opening for his enemy's subordinate to rain down a flurry of blows which battered the brave sell sword.


Laurel despatched her winged ape opponent and stood over the crumpled barbarian like a mother lion protecting wounded cub.  The embattled Jan struck once more with his scorching sword and once again was rewarded with a howl of pain and anger from the flight leader.


A Horn Blast shook the heavens sounding the retreat for the flying apes and with a flap of their bat like wings they attempted to disengage.


As it leapt into the sky, Tarigoz cut down the creature he and Styx were engaged with.  It's companion, who had been attacking her sister Nyx, managed to get one foot into the air, the other would never leave the ground as Styx severed it from the ape's leg with a swipe of her short sword.  The creature screamed in pain as it clawed its way skywards , the ragged stump spraying a sticky blood trail on all below.  The Flight Leader and its subordinate dove off the edge of the ledge and swooped into the air heading back to the safety of the ominous clouds above as they lazily drifted away from the destruction that they had wrought.

Aftermath and Interrogation

Despite being near to death himself, Jan administered Ssinkar's healing draft to the Salamankari cleric, who swiftly returned to consciousness.  He began to scour the amphitheatre, that had so abruptly been turned into a battlefield, for dying and injured to treat.  Sadly only six male and four female Aarakocara had survived the Cloud Giant's wrath and so he stabilised Tcho'eh's wounds and then said a healing prayer over him.  Life returned to the birdman with a sputter.  Likewise Nyx who was also close to death received a healing prayer from Ssinkar.  Laurel used her healing potion to revive Wulf.


The group helped the Aarakocara in their solemn task of collecting their dead together before turning their attentions to the sole surviving assailant who cowered under shadow of one of the ledges.  The heroes attempted to communicate with the beast who could only retort with guttural animal howls grunts and whoops.  Nyx thought that the creature might be trying to communicate with them but could only converse in his own tongue.  Fortunately Ssinkar remembered that one of the scrolls he recently had acquired contained a prayer which would allow the creature to speak and understand them.  As he read out the prayer the words on the page glowed and faded, crawling up his hand like a snake.  The beast recoiled from the holy power and tried to escape.  Nyx wrestled the creature to the ground and in the scuffle Ssinkar accidentally touched Nyx.

Suddenly the young Phylus could understand the creature and that it was demanding that the group kill it. 

"a Ba'atun without wings was as no Ba'atun at all!" cried the creature.

Nyx questioned the creature and it blurted out that they would all suffer the wrath of his mistress the great magic user Yesork Pahyeh.  No haven was safe and her cloud castle would return and her Cloud Giant plaything would wreak a vengeance upon all before she turned her attention to the ground dwellers.  All would face a fate worse than death.


When the interrogation was over the Ba'atun pleaded once more for death and Jan obliged, clutching the creature around the waist he commanded the sword to lift them into the sky where he promptly dropped the wingless Ba'atun over the edge of the mountain promontory.


After a few hours the Shaman Kirraka emerged from the temple and told the group that he had consumed the seeds which allowed him access to the spirit world and he had had a vision.


The chosen would need to travel to the eerie of the giant eagles who would help them find an ice tower piercing a frozen lake and inside lay a silver sky fish which was critical to the defeat of the cloud giant.  He excused Tcho'eh from this quest and instructed his most trusted underling shaman, Ikarrika, to guide them to the eagle's eerie.

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