Post by Adminenkainen on May 27, 2021 23:07:32 GMT
April 16, 1940
American Aircraft Works
Hawkman did an aerial reconnaissance first around the abandoned hangar and saw nothing suspicious. But both Sandy and Doris found footprints leading into the hangar that seemed fresh. They led straight to a trapdoor that Sandman checked for traps and found none.
Beneath the trapdoor was a 20' deep shaft with a ladder in it. Hawkman tested the ladder and this too was safe. Everyone followed him, flashlights were turned on, and a 10' wide, 30' long corridor was found at the bottom, heading northwest, away from the rest of the factories on the surface. There was an archway at the end of the short corridor, in the wall on the right.
On the other side of the archway was more corridor, though this one angled away slightly from the first, in more of a due north direction. This one continued for 30' more feet before ending at an archway in the far north wall. Behind this archway was another short corridor, this one turning to the right and then backtracking 40' to the southeast (darn random hideout design!). This made no sense to anyone, so people stopped and searched for secret doors here, but found none. Down this third passageway, there was a door at the end of the corridor. At this point, no one was moving cautiously, but were eager to see if it was yet another corridor on the opposite side of this door.
It wasn't -- it was a huge room, 50' x 60', opening to the left! And inside were -- devils! What kind of spy operation was this?? There were four devils here, three with big pairs of bat-like wings.
"Whoa, uh--" Hawkman said, somewhat taken aback. He pointed his bow at them. "Surrender or die!"
The devils had archaic weapons too, and two of them were armed with bows, while the other two had scimitars. But they had been busy sifting through things on the floor when the door burst open and were still caught off-guard. Hawkman had time to step aside and let Sandy and Bart come into the room next, both with guns drawn. This did not phase the devils as much as the heroes hoped and it looked like the two archers were about to fire. They wound up all firing at the same time (because the heroes delayed so long to judge the devils' intentions). Hawkman struck one with an arrow and lightly injured it. Sandy and Bart, not sure of what would constitute an overresponse to this threat and to conserve bullets, fired less than how much they could (three shots each), each hitting twice and moderately injuring their foes. Their foes, meanwhile, made an anemic showing, with the second archer's bowstring snapping, though Sandy took a grazing hit from an arrow ((for 2 points of damage)). The two sword-wielding devils had delayed from entering melee, but they were terrified by the roar of the gunfire and fell back to the door at the rear of the room.
While Sandman and Doris moved into the room, Hawkman, Sandy, and Bart decided to charge these cowardly "devils." The one remaining archer tried to shoot them first, but Bart tumbled to the floor to dodge the arrow that might otherwise have struck him. Hawkman and Sandy tried to grapple two of their foes to overpower them, but the devils turned out to be martial artists -- Hawkman was Judo tossed 6' away ((landing for 5 points of damage and stunned for 2 turns)) while Sandy was tripped and knocked prone ((1 point of damage and dropped his gun)).
Sandman and and Doris trained their weapons on the "devils" and again urged them to surrender. Rather than press their advantage over Hawkman and Sandy, the "devils" still wanted to leave. They opened the door to the next room. Bart and Sandy got back on their feet and Zatara came into the room. Zatara doesn't like seeing that Hawkman is down already and drops a Sleep spell over the combat. Luckily, this doesn't affect any of his peers and drops three of the four "devils." The remaining one runs into the next room.
There isn't time to tie up the three sleeping ones, so Hawkman is helped back to his feet and they have to leave and pursue now, hoping to get back before the spell duration ends. Everyone notes the unpleasant contents on the floor the "devils" were sifting through, though -- the corpses of many dead rats of unusually large size. Other than that, the large room seems to have once been used as a barracks by ordinary humans.
The next room is 30' x 40', smaller, and more crowded -- there are just over a dozen naked, furry men with rat heads and long tails in the room. The "devil" can talk to them in some unknown tongue, but it seems clear that he is telling the ratmen to attack or to defend him.
By now it's pretty clear that, while these monsters look supernatural, maybe even otherworldly, they are pretty mortal and worried about a big fight. Instead of shooting to harm again, Sandy and Bart fire their guns into the ceiling to see if it scares the ratmen off. Sure enough, they all wince strongly and keep their distance, though they don't run off. Some are carrying crude weapons, while the others hold nets.
"They don't like guns," Hawkman observes. "They don't have any guns, but they know what they are. They've maybe even been fired at before." More loudly he yells, "Can any of you speak to me? Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The "devil" answered. "Please, masters, do not shoot us! We have done all you have asked of us."
The Heroes all looked at each other. Bart spoke next. "Uh...that's right, but I wasn't with them then. I demand that you repeat your orders."
The "devil" looked confused, as if he had only understood half of that. "Yes, master. We have been making the ratmen fight each other to find their best fighters."
"And what are you?" Bart asked. "A devilman?"
"I am a mephisian, master," the mephisian said, but that didn't mean anything to anyone.
"Why does he keep calling us master?" Sandman whispered.
"My guess is he can't tell humans apart," Hawkman answered.
"Look out, gang!" Sandy said.
The loud shooting must have woke up the three mephisians, because they were advancing into the room behind the heroes. One of the mephisians behind them shouted something into the room that none of the heroes understood. But the mephisian they had been talking to understood.
"Not masters! Tricked!" And then it screeched like a giant bat, a noise that the ratmen responded to by getting ready to fight...
American Aircraft Works
Hawkman did an aerial reconnaissance first around the abandoned hangar and saw nothing suspicious. But both Sandy and Doris found footprints leading into the hangar that seemed fresh. They led straight to a trapdoor that Sandman checked for traps and found none.
Beneath the trapdoor was a 20' deep shaft with a ladder in it. Hawkman tested the ladder and this too was safe. Everyone followed him, flashlights were turned on, and a 10' wide, 30' long corridor was found at the bottom, heading northwest, away from the rest of the factories on the surface. There was an archway at the end of the short corridor, in the wall on the right.
On the other side of the archway was more corridor, though this one angled away slightly from the first, in more of a due north direction. This one continued for 30' more feet before ending at an archway in the far north wall. Behind this archway was another short corridor, this one turning to the right and then backtracking 40' to the southeast (darn random hideout design!). This made no sense to anyone, so people stopped and searched for secret doors here, but found none. Down this third passageway, there was a door at the end of the corridor. At this point, no one was moving cautiously, but were eager to see if it was yet another corridor on the opposite side of this door.
It wasn't -- it was a huge room, 50' x 60', opening to the left! And inside were -- devils! What kind of spy operation was this?? There were four devils here, three with big pairs of bat-like wings.
"Whoa, uh--" Hawkman said, somewhat taken aback. He pointed his bow at them. "Surrender or die!"
The devils had archaic weapons too, and two of them were armed with bows, while the other two had scimitars. But they had been busy sifting through things on the floor when the door burst open and were still caught off-guard. Hawkman had time to step aside and let Sandy and Bart come into the room next, both with guns drawn. This did not phase the devils as much as the heroes hoped and it looked like the two archers were about to fire. They wound up all firing at the same time (because the heroes delayed so long to judge the devils' intentions). Hawkman struck one with an arrow and lightly injured it. Sandy and Bart, not sure of what would constitute an overresponse to this threat and to conserve bullets, fired less than how much they could (three shots each), each hitting twice and moderately injuring their foes. Their foes, meanwhile, made an anemic showing, with the second archer's bowstring snapping, though Sandy took a grazing hit from an arrow ((for 2 points of damage)). The two sword-wielding devils had delayed from entering melee, but they were terrified by the roar of the gunfire and fell back to the door at the rear of the room.
While Sandman and Doris moved into the room, Hawkman, Sandy, and Bart decided to charge these cowardly "devils." The one remaining archer tried to shoot them first, but Bart tumbled to the floor to dodge the arrow that might otherwise have struck him. Hawkman and Sandy tried to grapple two of their foes to overpower them, but the devils turned out to be martial artists -- Hawkman was Judo tossed 6' away ((landing for 5 points of damage and stunned for 2 turns)) while Sandy was tripped and knocked prone ((1 point of damage and dropped his gun)).
Sandman and and Doris trained their weapons on the "devils" and again urged them to surrender. Rather than press their advantage over Hawkman and Sandy, the "devils" still wanted to leave. They opened the door to the next room. Bart and Sandy got back on their feet and Zatara came into the room. Zatara doesn't like seeing that Hawkman is down already and drops a Sleep spell over the combat. Luckily, this doesn't affect any of his peers and drops three of the four "devils." The remaining one runs into the next room.
There isn't time to tie up the three sleeping ones, so Hawkman is helped back to his feet and they have to leave and pursue now, hoping to get back before the spell duration ends. Everyone notes the unpleasant contents on the floor the "devils" were sifting through, though -- the corpses of many dead rats of unusually large size. Other than that, the large room seems to have once been used as a barracks by ordinary humans.
The next room is 30' x 40', smaller, and more crowded -- there are just over a dozen naked, furry men with rat heads and long tails in the room. The "devil" can talk to them in some unknown tongue, but it seems clear that he is telling the ratmen to attack or to defend him.
By now it's pretty clear that, while these monsters look supernatural, maybe even otherworldly, they are pretty mortal and worried about a big fight. Instead of shooting to harm again, Sandy and Bart fire their guns into the ceiling to see if it scares the ratmen off. Sure enough, they all wince strongly and keep their distance, though they don't run off. Some are carrying crude weapons, while the others hold nets.
"They don't like guns," Hawkman observes. "They don't have any guns, but they know what they are. They've maybe even been fired at before." More loudly he yells, "Can any of you speak to me? Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The "devil" answered. "Please, masters, do not shoot us! We have done all you have asked of us."
The Heroes all looked at each other. Bart spoke next. "Uh...that's right, but I wasn't with them then. I demand that you repeat your orders."
The "devil" looked confused, as if he had only understood half of that. "Yes, master. We have been making the ratmen fight each other to find their best fighters."
"And what are you?" Bart asked. "A devilman?"
"I am a mephisian, master," the mephisian said, but that didn't mean anything to anyone.
"Why does he keep calling us master?" Sandman whispered.
"My guess is he can't tell humans apart," Hawkman answered.
"Look out, gang!" Sandy said.
The loud shooting must have woke up the three mephisians, because they were advancing into the room behind the heroes. One of the mephisians behind them shouted something into the room that none of the heroes understood. But the mephisian they had been talking to understood.
"Not masters! Tricked!" And then it screeched like a giant bat, a noise that the ratmen responded to by getting ready to fight...