Time for some insubordination! Ti Corovan, our erstwhile boss, gave Our Heroes (tm) strict instructions to keep our heads down and stay out of trouble, and under no circumstances to annoy Marius Wallcraft. So when our other erstwhile boss, Nicosa Renault, gave us directly contradictory instructions, we decided to go with them. Directly into the path of a Northern detail squad. Because that's how we roll. Torgath may have gotten deeply wounded in the process, but at least we know that we've alienated just about everyone we care about.
[We discover that the Kolsons have put out an all-points to capture Lukas, alive if possible. We don't know what the precise bounty is this time, but it's probably a lot.]
Lukas: "Last time it was 20,000 for death."
Tom Chambers: "Gotta respect a man who has, at your age, multiple bounties on his head."
[We've been informed that 12-20 Kolsons are heading down from Prince Gable to kill or capture Lukas, not counting the ones already in town. Chambers and Ti Corovan still want us to keep our heads down and not muddy the waters.]
Lukas: "Any Kolsons that we kill, you can be assured it was in self-defense."
Tom Chambers: "Like, they shot first?"
Lukas: "Like, they were Kolsons."
[Further reflecting on the 12-20 Kolsons coming down from Price Gable.]
Lukas: "Now, given our rampant success against Kolson gunmen in the past, 20-to-3 does not seem like such bad odds."
[Back in our hotel room, the PCs are relaxing after a few days' downtime. There is a knock on the door.]
Lukas: "Who is it?"
Guy Outside Door: "Room service."
Lyta: "You remember what happened the last time we had room service?"
Lukas: "I think we can agree that unannounced room service is always an evil plot."
[The room service guy was, indeed, coming to try to kill us. We try to slip away behind the incoming hotel security and down the service elevator.]
Georges the GM: "Roll stealth."
Julie: "Eight."
Ariel: "Eight."
Brock: "Five."
Julie: "You are the weakest link!"
[We emerge from the elevator into the hotel's kitchens and run towards the back entrance.]
Georges the GM: "A couple of meat cleavers fly past you, just because you ruined someone's soufflé."
[We leave the hotel and enter the waiting car of Kain Delacroix, who's been monitoring the situation.]
Torgath: "He was trying to serve us a side order of bullets."
Lukas: "I think bullets were the main course."
Kain Delacroix: "How do you tip that?"
Lukas: "A 40-mm flash-bang to the chest."
[Our Heroes (tm) sadly had to leave most of their equipment at the hotel in their rush to escape. So when Kain informs them that they should infiltrate Marius Wallcraft's office the same night and hack his computer, they're running with fewer resources than normal.]
Torgath: "Do you have any cool toys?"
Kain Delacroix: "Of course."
Torgath: "That we can use?"
Kain Delacroix: "No."
[As a returning guest star, Josh showed up to the session. His character, Ennik, has been doing his own investigating in Port Arthur, but Georges the GM has not had time to tell him what he's found out.]
Georges the GM: "You're not at liberty to tell them. What you don't know, you don't need to share with the other PCs."
[Ennik contacts the PCs and offers his assistance.]
Lukas: "He knows we're in trouble."
Lyta: "Who told him?"
Lukas: "'Our mutual friend,' apparently."
Lyta: "Which one?!"
Lukas: "I don't know."
[Raiding Marius Wallcraft's business is strictly against Ti's orders. And while Ennik has been getting lots of useful info from the PCs, he's also started to get useful info from Ti as well.]
Brock: (to Josh) "Ah, conflict. Why should you not have any?"
[As a precaution, Lukas disguises himself. The first part is easy.]
Brock: "One of the advantages of wearing a gold mask all the time is that when you're not wearing it, people don't recognize it's you!"
[In his off-time, Ennik has been spending some time as a roadie for Antoni Mor, who is now one of Khayr ad-Din's top Gear duelists.]
Ennik: "I've never seen so many people drink so much. Well, I have, but it's mostly been me."
[We prepare to break and enter into Marius Wallcraft's office.]
Lukas: (to Ennik) "What we could really use is an ace Gear pilot to back us up. But since we have you, how about you come along?"
[Torgath goes in first, acting like a wallflower. Sadly, he botched his 'wallflower' roll.]
Ariel: "Should I reroll?"
Brock: "Well, it depends. If you don't, you're gonna have a conversation."
[Torgath gets into a conversation.]
Josh: "Just think of how Ennik would answer, and don't do that!"
[After most people have left Wallcraft's for the day, Torgath infiltrates his office and checks out the computer. Cautiously.]
Ariel: "I don't want to cause any situations that can't be uncaused."
[Recall that Torgath and Lukas have been in this office once before. Back then, Wallcraft had a hidden panel behind his filing cabinet where Our Heroes (tm) found some valuable secret documents.]
Georges the GM: "There is now a safe where before there was just a false panel."
Julie: "Because he learns!"
[In exfiltrating the building, we discover a team of four covert operatives who seem to have the same target as we do. Inevitably, we get into a firefight. Torgath is shot.]
Lukas: "You know what they say: there's nothing better than a deep wound to remind you it's good to be alive."
Ennik: "That's not what they say at all!"
[Lukas is engaged with one of the operatives. Torgath wants to help.]
Ariel: "I shoot the guy on Lukas."
Brock: "I'm engaged in close combat with him and you're taking a -2 penalty."
Ariel: "Okay, then I don't."
Georges the GM: "No, please do..."
[Ennik comes in with his Gear to act as our getaway driver. And other things.]
Lukas: "No heavy fire."
Ennik: "Man, you're ruining my fun!"
Lukas: "You know what's gonna be fun? When you use your free hand to pick one of them up."
Ennik: "It's just not as satisfying as--"
Lukas: "Wait until the squishing starts!"
[One of those lines that just begs the question.]
Lukas: "That guy would have to be a colossal fool to do something hostile while you're holding him..."
[The PCs tether themselves to Pigpen's back. Sadly, Josh rolls very poorly on his dodge.]
Julie: "If you get us all killed, I will be miffed."
[Torgath has taken a deep wound.]
Lyta: "Lukas, you need to work on the hole in Torgath's body."
Torgath: "I'm fine!"
Lyta: "You're bleeding out."
[We theorize on the identity of the four covert operatives.]
Ennik: "Northern detail team like in Port Arthur?"
Lyta: "Yeah, like that time. And that other time. And that other-other time."
Lukas: "There have been a few more chances for other times."
[Reflecting on the frequency with which Torgath takes deep wounds.]
Brock: "You're gonna have been in a hospital in every major city in the Badlands."
[After the shootout, Ti calls Lukas after a few days of radio silence.]
Lukas: "It's Ti! He does know how to use a phone!"
[Ti is annoyed that we contracted his orders and moved in on Wallcraft.]
Lukas: "We were completely covert! [beat] Now, you may hear reports that something went down at Wallcraft's..."
[Ti reflects on the results of the evening's escapade.]
Ti Corovan: "We have the encrypted data, we have a wounded Torgath, and we have an insubordinate Lukas. So it's win-win."
[We contemplate what to do next. One hastily-discarded idea is infiltrating the Kolsons.]
Lyta: "I was a Kolson for a week."
Lukas: "No, you were a Forzi."
Lyta: "Oh. That's right."
Torgath: "You were a horrible one."
Lyta: "You're right. I was a horrible Forzi."
[Torgath, in his slightly drug-addled state, gets on the phone with Ti.]
Torgath: "Why is Lyta so sad, Ti?"
Julie: "I snatch the phone away."
[Note that Tatsugoro is still probably going to go after Wallcraft when he gets back into town, as revenge for Pinky.]
Lyta: "Wallcraft's guys killed his friend."
Torgath: "Our friend."
Lyta: "I wouldn't go that far."
Torgath: "We punched a llama together. That forms a bond."
[Lukas examines Toragth's conditions.]
Lukas: "Parts of his insides that are supposed to be on the inside are on the outside."
[Now that the action's died down a bit, Our Heroes (tm) tackle the next problem: getting their equipment back.]
Ariel: "We do have resources who can check the hotel for us."
Brock: "Of course, they're all mad at us."
[Ennik brings back a doctor from our posh hotel to the run-down motel where we're temporarily staying. She is less than pleased by the conditions.]
Doctor: "You have saline? Plasma?"
Lukas: "Left it in my other jacket. Damn it, I'm a commando, not a doctor!"
[The doctor examines Torgath's wounds and realizes she'll have to operate.]
Lukas: "How long does it take to do all that? 'Cause it would be really great if he was operational within an hour."
Doctor: *boggles*
[Torgath gets wounded a lot.]
Doctor: "Do you know what blood type he is?"
Lukas: (immediately) "Yes."
[The doctor does a fast patch-up job. It has to be fast, because Kain has informed us that we might have another job within 36 hours.]
Georges the GM: "She recommends complete bed rest for two weeks."
Lukas: "We'll get on that as soon as possible."
[The players reflect on Torgath's wound.]
Ariel: "I'm relatively careful."
Brock: "No, you're not. You're currently the deep-wound king."
[Meanwhile, Ennik returns to the hotel and gets a few of Antoni Mor's roadies to help him pack up our stuff and bring it downstairs. In payment, he offers them anything from the minibar they want.]
Ariel: "They're on Antoni Mor's tab."
Josh: "Yeah, I know. Shh."
Roadie: "Yeah, but it's somebody else's minibar!"
[Kain has informed us that Marius Wallcraft is skipping town to Prince Gable and that we should be on the train as soon as possible. Conveniently, just the day before, Ti Corovan arranged for us to be shipped out of town on the very same train.]
Lukas: "Meet us at this shipping crate."
Kain Delacroix: "...Please repeat?"
And that's it for this time! Wordslingin' is about to go into a one-month hiatus as Georges the GM goes on vacation and I go to Pennsic. Join us again in August when it will be time for more thrilling heroics!
Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game
2 comments :
What? No quote about Lukas buttstroking the Detail Squad guy?
You may have noticed that most of my quotes tend towards PG-13. If *you* want specific R-rated quotes, you're welcome to record them yourself.
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