Friday, October 26, 2012

Wordslingin'

Things just keep getting stranger and stranger for Our Heroes (tm). The latest development: working on a team with people who hate us and would not be adverse to killing us, for a man whom SecBuro suspects (probably rightfully) of being an assassin, while paying for at least part of it out of our own pockets.

Strange times, people. Very strange times.

[Geroges the GM reminds us where we left off last session.]
Georges the GM: "You're in an alley and you have fembots."

[Our summary position on how we feel about the fembots.]
Torgath: "They tried to beat me up."
Lyta: "They succeeded in beating you up."

[We take Barb, the new leader of the fembots after her boss Vera was killed, for interrogation.]
Lukas: "How did you know we were in town?"
Barb: "...Seriously?"

[More interrogation.]
Lukas: "Were you involved with the Hermes 72 building?"
Barb: "Do I really need to answer your rhetorical questions?"
Josh: "Ooh, she answers with a rhetorical question of her own! Who's being interrogated now!"

[Barb thankfully has a somewhat enlightened attitude about the situation.]
Lukas: "I just want to make sure you're not going to take this personal."
Barb: "I figure if anyone takes this personal, it should be you, not me."
Lukas: "Vera did not share that viewpoint."

[Barb's colleague Gemma is badly wounded.]
Lukas: "We can recommend you an excellent hospital."
Torgath: "Just don't skip out on them without paying the bill. They don't like that."
Lukas: "Don't skip out on them... twice."

[We try to decide what to do with Barb and Gemma.]
Torgath: "They were nice and told us everything we need to know."
Lukas: "After they tried to kill us!"

[One of the things Barb told us was that she and the other fembots had been hired to protect a man who matches the description of Alain Vulpei, the suspected assassin from the Officer's Ball. Not only that, but they tell us when and where they were supposed to meet him. We discuss what to do with this information.]
Lukas: "We could go after him ourselves..."
Ennik: "Why are we even getting involved?"
Lukas: "Sometimes--"
Georges the GM: "Sometimes we just want to make random enemies out of named NPCs."

[We contemplate what might happen if we kill Vulpei and hand him over to SecBuro.]
Lukas: "I think they'd give us a medal."
Ennik: "Yes. At high velocity."

[Now that we have the information on Vulpei, we *could* just hand it over to Major Beria of SecBuro. Or...]
Jimmy Croyden: "Quinn, you better be calling me for a big favor that's going to cost you a lot of money."

[Lukas' opening pitch to Jimmy Croyden.]
Lukas: "I have information for Major Beria."
Jimmy Croyden: "So why aren't you calling Major Beria?"
Lukas: "Because I think you might also be interested."
Jimmy Croyden: "Ah."

[Lukas meets up with Jimmy to give him the information. It's very late. Jimmy is in no mood for Lukas' double-speak and wants him to cut right to the chase.]
Lukas: "You have no sense of drama."
Jimmy Croyden: "You haven't met my ex-wife."

[Lukas tells Jimmy how we know the information.]
Lukas: "We got into a fight with his protection. We won. As we are wont to do."
Josh: "So humble."

[Of course, nothing is ever simple in our lives.]
Jimmy Croyden: "You've put me in a bit of a bind, you see."
Julie: "Oh, not again!"
Jimmy Croyden: "You see, some time ago, a fellow came to me asking to arrange for some protection..."

[Yes, friends, it turns out that Vulpei had arranged for protection through Jimmy. We agree to take on the job for him.]
Lukas: "We have means of access to the Officer's Quarter."
Jimmy Croyden: "So you have my passes, too?"
Lukas: "Yes."
Jimmy Croyden: "You're a resourceful motherfucker, aren't you?"

[Sadly, the job was contracted for a 6-person team. Even with Ennik, the PCs only make up four. This means that Lukas must negotiate with Barb and see if, after trying to kill us, she'd be willing to work with us.]
Lukas: "Stay right here a minute -- I'm gonna step out into my van/prison."

[Lukas now knows that Barb had a 6-person team. However, Barb does not know that we know.]
Lukas: "Where's the sixth member of your team?"
Barb: "What sixth member of my team?"
Josh: "Oh, wrong answer!"

[Lukas pitches the job to Barb.]
Lukas: "Now remember what I said about taking things personally..."

[Barb wants 5,000 up front and another 5,000 after the job is done. Per person.]
Lukas: "That seems steep."
Barb: "Well, given that I'm not sure I'll survive to see the money..."
Lukas: "Good point. Wait, let me think about whether it's a good point."

[Barb's sixth team member is named Dawn. She's the one with access to the bank account.]
Lukas: "Do you trust her not to run off with your 8,000?"
Barb: "No. But I trust her more than I trust you."

[Lukas calls Dawn to explain the details of the job.]
Dawn: "So you only get paid if we're successful?"
Lukas: "Let me put it this way: you only get paid if we're successful. Which includes you not shooting me in the back. Or the front. Or either side."

[Lukas agrees to meet Dawn in a Forzi cawfee shop.]
Lukas: "Do not read anything into this -- it's the only cawfee shop I know."

[Lukas is paying some of Dawn and Barb's fees out of his own pocket. It turns out Jimmy's paying us out of his pocket too.]
Lukas: "So we're all on the same page."
Jimmy Croyden: "Yes, the same bloody red page."

[We just seem to make things complicated.]
Jimmy Croyden: "The next time you come to town, let me know and I'll go on vacation."

[We agree to take on the job of protecting Vulpei for the next two days.]
Lukas: "And you guys all said it was ridiculous to--"
Lyta: "It still is!"

[Lukas meets with Dawn.]
Georges the GM: "She's decked out in full fembot gear. Assault high heels."

[Lukas further explains the job to Dawn.]
Lukas: "This is gonna work the exact same way as before, except I'm not gonna fully trust you, and you're not gonna fully trust me."
Dawn: "Super! Let the bullets fly!"

[We go back to our flop. It's very, very late.]
Lukas: "Barb, can I untie you, or will you try killing me in my sleep?"

[Dawn explains how she wasn't killed in the encounter with the fembots.]
Dawn: "I was in overwatch."
Lukas: (dryly) "Good job on that."

[We show up the next morning in a fairly psychedelic van that Ennik acquired. It doesn't really look like the sort of thing you'd normally be offering protection in.]
Barb: (condescending) "Is this your vehicle?"
Ariel: "If they hadn't got their own vehicle exploded, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

[Reaching his hotel, Lukas calls up to Vulpei.]
Alain Vulpei: "If you don't mind my saying, your voice is particularly rough this morning, my dear."
Lukas: "There's been a change in the roster."
Alain Vulpei: "And I should take you at your word?"
Lukas: "You don't have to."
Alain Vulpei: "Excellent." *hangs up*

[Turns out Vulpei ran about four blocks away before calling his contractor, i.e. Jimmy Croyden.]
Lukas: "The client is concerned."
Jimmy Croyden: "The client is a little spooked. Says someone managed to find him. [beat] I suppose that's partly my fault."

[Having arranged things through Jimmy, we go to pick up Vulpei.]
Brock: "We pull up."
Georges the GM: "He does not look impressed by the vehicle."
Josh: "Mission accomplished!"

[The last time we met Vulpei, at the Officer's Ball, things were a bit snarky.]
Alain Vulpei: "Now you're working for me. I expect a certain amount of civility."
Lukas: "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. May I carry your bags, sir? That's a fine tuxedo you have, sir. And may I say you're looking particularly handsome today, sir."
Alain Vulpei: "I've already used the bidet today, but you may continue licking my ass... inside the vehicle."

[Inside the van...]
Lukas: "As you may be aware, there's been a change in the roster."
Alain Vulpei: "Yes. Now there are only three beautiful women and three non-beautiful men."

[Vulpei, naturally, gravitates towards Lyta.]
Alain Vulpei: "At least you will keep me entertained with small talk."
Lukas: "Conversation is extra, sir."
Alain Vulpei: *pulls out money roll* "Very well. How much to speak with her?"
Julie: "Oh, the last time someone tried this, it ended badly for them."

[Vulpei pays 1,000 dinar for Lyta's conversation and Lukas' silence.]
Julie: "I don't think my conversation's worth 1,000 dinar."
Brock: "You should be glad you're able to work upright."

[Vulpei tires to hire Lyta.]
Vulpei: "Whatever he's paying you, I will increase it 30%. And I can assure you, the conditions will be better."
Ennik: "Y'know, everyone's down on this van!"

[Vulpei tries to find out more about Lyta.]
Alain Vulpei: "And what about your skills? Do they extend beyond the dance floor?"
Lyta: "...Yes."
Brock: "To the bedroom!?"

[Vulpei and Lyta discuss the fact that the last time they met, he tried to trip her on the dance floor and she retaliated by tripping him instead.]
Alain Vulpei: "All's fair in love and war."
Lyta: "So was that love or war?"

[Our van is being followed.]
Josh: "There's nothing like drawing out the opposition by getting out of the car and switching."
Brock: "I saw we get out of the car and light them up."
Alain Vulpei: "By 'light them up'..."

[We ask for more information about the pursuing vehicle.]
Georges the GM: "It's a nondescript van with tinted windows."
Julie: "What color?"
Georges the GM: "Navy blue."
Julie: "...I hate them!"

[We exit the car and hide in an alley. Sadly, Barb is still wounded and fails to hide very well.]
Georges the GM: "NPCs react worse to wounds than PCs."
Brock: "Because it creates drama."

[We get into a fight with the men from the pursuing vehicle, who are most likely SecBuro.]
Georges the GM: "A few more rounds before it gets interesting..."

[Lukas takes one of our two gas canisters, pours it over our van, and lights it on fire to avoid it being identified or used against us.]
Lukas: "Don't smoke yet -- I still smell like gas."

[We take out the SecBuro guys without killing them and beat a hasty retreat, just before two APCs filled with GRELs arrive and cordon off the block.]
Lukas: "You know what my favorite part of that was? When we left before they showed up."

[We beat a hasty retreat in our new, much larger vehicle.]
Lukas: "How are we set for fuel?"
Ennik: "Well, you did waste one of our perfectly good gas cans."

[The new vehicle only has a half-tank of gas.]
Josh: "With my 7 drive, I will do my best to--"
Brock: "Drive to a gas station?"

[We drive for another two hours or so until we reach what's supposed to be an abandoned homestead. Sadly, Torgath's initial scans reveal three heat signatures.]
Alain Vulpei: "You'll have to investigate."
Lukas: "Or we could stay in the truck."
Alain Vulpei: "It is less comfortable."
Lukas: "You're paying for security, not comfort."

[It's the middle of the day in the Badlands. Lyta and Todd are off investigating the supposedly-abandoned homestead. Meanwhile...]
Lukas: (to Barb) "Camp out on the bus with me."
Barb: "You know it's 45 degrees out there."
Lukas: "Yeah."
Barb: "And you want us to lie down on metal?"
Lukas: "...Yeah."

[In supposedly-abandoned building #1, Lyta discovers three sleeping guys and one awake guy with an assault rifle. She takes them all out pretty handily and quietly.]
Lukas: "What kind of people would sleep here?"
Ennik: "The same kind of people who sleep in a truck."
Lukas: "We're not sleeping."

[Torgath investigates supposedly-abandoned building #2.]
Lukas: (to Lyta) "Stay with Torgath. The last thing you want is to enter a building with four armored guys by yourself."

[Lyta brings back one of the guys from supposedly-abandoned building #1 for Lukas to interrogate. He says his name is Frank Katz.]
Frank Katz: "We are itinerant workers."
Julie: "You wanna roll human perception on him?"
Ariel: "He doesn't need to -- he knows he's lying."

[The players discuss Katz's assertion that he and his heavily-armored friends are itinerant workers.]
Josh: "There's all types of itinerant work. We're itinerant workers."
Julie: "We're not itinerant workers. We're itinerant mercs."
Josh: "Mercs are a kind of worker."

[Frank Katz asks if he and his friends can leave, despite the fact that there's clearly more going on than he's saying.]
Frank Katz: "There's no need to escalate the situation."
Lukas: "No, I agree. The situation is just as escalated as we want."

[No one is convinced by Katz's story.]
Alain Vulpei: "Of course he's lying -- he's a Northerner."
Lukas: "Isn't the South more known for lying and the North more for telling the truth?"
Alain Vulpei: "You see how pervasive it is!"

[Ennik questions Katz.]
Frank Katz: "We are Jerusalemites. Originally Calvinists."
Josh: "So if we kill him, it's God's will."
Brock: "That makes me feel better."

[We've taken the radios off the guys from supposedly-abandoned building #1. One crackles to life, asking for a status report. Lukas does a very bad Northern accent.]
Man on Radio: "Please repeat?"
Brock: *botches theatrics roll*
Ariel: "Eh, it was a boring conversation anyway."

And that's it for this week. Next week: combat!





Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game

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