Assassin!

In the sudden panic and rush away from the station, passengers trip and fall over one another and the awkward steel rails. Those who stand aside are not caught in the crush, but suddenly there are dark figures moving like shadows through the tangle, leaping and pouncing with flashing steel knives in their hands. Long blades glitter coldly in the reflected light from the station only yards ahead, and then run red with blood as they slash through limbs and necks. It is hard to judge, they move so fast, ducking and weaving through the rapidly thinning crowd, but there seem to be three or four of the shadowy assassins mowing down the passengers with ruthless efficiency.

Assassin!

And then they are upon the rearguard, where the Player Characters are clustered. One figure rises up before James and Madelena where they are pressed against the side of the tunnel. He is backlit, easy for James to see and he has leapt a distance to confront them, putting slightly off balance. James is used to bladed weapons and not frozen by the sight of the long knife. Indeed a cold calculation comes into his head as he automatically slips into a fighter’s stance. This is a battle he understands, though the odds are still with the armed man.
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James will try to keep the lamp in his assailant’s face (hopefully if it’s dark behind us, the lamp might be a distracting?), try to pin the knife-hand, then use the lamp as a club. While also trying to avoid stumbling over the rail (is there an electrified rail in this era?)

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Charles looked up from his position close to where the porter had been, where he’d been ushering folk along in an orderly manner, to see the glistening twinkle of cold steel. At first he had hesitated, the last thing he’d expected to see down here some sort of threat; then his military training had jumped into gear. Instinctively he surged forward toward the attackers, shoving innocents back on their way and reaching in his bag for the revolver that lay unused and unexpecting at the foot of his doctors bag.

Knives flashed; and the doctor’s gun rang like thunder in the enclosed space.

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Penelope-

Seeing the commotion ahead, I step back and think of running. However, my curiosity impels me to stay. I am not a sheep that runs blindly with the others unless I know what the threat is! I jump to the other side of the tunnel to get out of their way. Across the tunnel I notice a few others waiting too. The man and woman I saw in my car. Then the doctor a bit behind them. I feel a bit of comfort knowing Im not alone in my decision to remain.

When I see the shadowy figures move about the crowd, I almost panic. My hand finds my umbrella to make sure it is with me. I see the attackers moving closer, springing about at their victims. Then, one lunges at the man and woman across the tunnel. I see the man step forward to take the assassin on. He is weaponless, but takes a defensive stance. He is a fencer!

“HEY!!” Yelling across the tunnel to him. I grab the handle of my umbrella and pull out a thin, two foot long steel blade hidden inside the umbrella handle. When he looks, I toss it to him.

Lets even this fight.

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James hears the shout and senses something thrown, and none are more surprised than he to find his hand serendipitously heavy with the comforting weight of a blade. Here’s a spot of luck!

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Almost as shocked as much by the combative actions of some of his companions as he is by the assassins, Michael is caught in indecision. He crouches down by the wall of the tunnel, making himself as small and unnoticed as possible and hoping the whole awful reality will just go away….

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The appearance of a man with a long knife sends a shock of fear through Madalena. She can only hope and pray that James is able to defend himself, as she is able to offer little assistance. She feels that she can probably help him best by staying out of his way, but if she gets a chance she will retrieve the lamp from him, to free him up to defend himself properly, and try to keep it out of James’ eyes and in those of his assailant.

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James uses the lamp from the subway wall to distract and threaten his opponent, which puts him on the defensive for a moment as he adjusts mentally to someone attacking him rather than fleeing. In that instant of readjustment, a woman’s voice calls out from the darkness and a slender object, glinting in the faint light, tumbles out of the black. James instinctivley reaches up and catches the blade by the handle, his swift reflexes and thorough knowledge of such weapons allowing him to handle the short sword safely even when arriving so swiftly and unexpectedly.

Penelope’s Tricky Umbrella

Without hesitation, he steps quickly forward and lunges: A perfect ballestra attack, sliding his weapon under the blackguard’s defence and up through his rib cage and into the heart. The man’s expression of surprise fades quickly as the life seeps from him and he falls to the tracks.

James has successfully dispatched one of the leaping assassins, but now he is the focus of the three or four stealthy black shadows remaining. They turn towards him, knives raised as the fencer takes a defensive pose, ready to stand them off. Behind him, Madelan takes the battery operated lamp from his free hand and shines it in the eyes of the menacing figures.

BANG! BANG!

In the precious seconds that James and Penelope have gained the others, Charles has fished his Webly from the depths of his doctor’s bag and fires at the advancing figures.

Charle’s Webley Mark IV

In the darkness the first shot goes wide, but the second finds its mark and another black robed figure stumbles to the tracks, out of the combat.

Now the odds are more even. Three shadowy assassins stil stalk the survivors, but James with his gleaming blade and the Doctor with his military revolver step forward to stand them off.

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Surprised and a little sickened by the apparent ease with which his assailant fell (having never inflicted any injury more serious to any man than stealing his top-hat or passing on perfectly-well-founded rumours of his indiscretions), James takes a step back and remains there, defensively, hoping the sweat doesn’t loosen his grip on the sword.

He is doubly shocked by the loud report of a gun in the tunnel, and then triply so when, although it now seems they are faced with at least one firearm, the thugs do not simply turn and flee.

Madness!

James’ sense of self-preservation re-establishes its influence. He concentrates on staying near the wall (to prevent being surrounded or accidentally tripping over the rail), keeping the men at distance with the rapier, and hoping that his gun-toting ally thought to also bring more than two bullets on whatever his day’s business was.

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Charles was no marksman. He was no brawler, no seasoned warrior. First and foremost he was a doctor and his face was grim as the Webly thundered in the confined space. He didn’t have time to look backward, but knew retreat was not an option. The next train would already have embarked on its inevitable journey and to back away would have been suicide.

As their assailants continued to stalk forward he felt his heart pound in his chest. What were these devils doing down here? There was hardly time to think; but one thing seemed clear. They had intended to kill all survivors and a little resistance hadn’t changed that mission. There was no bargaining to be had here. Backing away he fired again.