Sunday, January 27, 2013

Wordslingin'

This week's session is subtitled, "The train job(s)." Because why have only one, when you can have two for twice the price?

[If you recall, last session we left Our Heroes (tm) trailing some black hats who were holding Calisteria ransom for some Gear neural nets. Torgath follows them to their cabins, where someone shoots him through the door.]
Torgath: "You were right. They have guns."

[What do you do when you're outgunned and the situation is spiraling out of control?]
Brock: "I'll call Ennik."
Ariel: "Loyal NPC, come help us!"

[We are fighting against several armed men.]
Brock: "You know what would be handy?"
Julie: "Guns?"
Brock: "Guns, grenades, GRELs, a tank..."

[Our new player, Joe, has not yet had his character introduced. So Georges the GM hands over control of the black hats to him so him so he'll have something to do.]
Georges the GM: "Joe, you're controlling three NPCs."
Brock: "Now, if you kill us, that bodes ill for your future participation on this team. So just throw down your weapons..."

[Lyta has just managed to avoid being shot by a guy with a sawed-off shotgun at point-blank range.]
Brock: "You know what's the best part about facing a guy with a sawed-off shotgun? Two barrels."

[The fight ends with the successful reacquiring of the kidnapped girl, and the return of the neural nets to Esmerelda and Ennik.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Let's just say these shenanigans have been very instructive."
Lyta: "Is there anything you don't find instructive?"
Jimmy Croyden: "I'll have to let you know."

[We begin preparing the next phase of our plan. Lukas reminds Jimmy of one small detail he may not have considered. Or perhaps he has.]
Lukas: "Now, you know we can't steal anything in Khayr ad-Din?"
Jimmy Croyden: "Well, it won't be... in Khayr ad-Din... proper."

[We plan a visit to Hotel Bravo. Jimmy's not coming, but that doesn't mean he's not curious.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Don't you owe me a freebie on information?"
Lukas: "Do I?"
Jimmy Croyden: "...I must be misremembering."

[Next question, how to get to Hotel Bravo?]
Julie: "I think we should save the Pinkywagon for a grand entrance at some point."
Brock: "Like the Doc's charity fundraiser!"

[We arrive at Hotel Bravo. There's a bit of explaining that needs to be done for the benefit of our new player Joe.]
Ariel: "This is the secret base of our old characters. They don't like us very much."
Brock: "Because we're upstarts."

[We are greeted by Bill Pearce.]
Torgath: "We went to prison. It was crazy!"
Bill Pearce: "Which prison was that?"
Torgath: "...I'm not allowed to say."

[Torgath tries to sidestep the issue the only way he knows how.]
Ariel: "I'll tell him a lot about Frederick Loomis, but not much about us."
Georges the GM: "That's okay -- he knows it all already."

[Bill takes us to see Doc Chambers.]
Doc Chambers: "You come to get your package?"
Brock: "Do I remember a package?"
Georges the GM: "No."

[We remind the Doc that credit goes where it's due.]
Doc Chambers: "Ennik brought me the Major. Thank you."
Torgath: "Mostly we brought him. Ennik helped a bit."

[We have also taken Katchelli to the Doc, so that he can attempt to fiddle around in her brain and find out why Smith is so interested in her.]
Lukas: "She has to be alive. No other condition was specified. Obviously, I would prefer if all of her limbs were attached."
Doc Chambers: "What do you think I--"
Lukas: "I'm just being clear."

[Lukas arranges a date with Karin Hassan. Lyta confronts him.]
Lukas: "Look, Minnie is an extremely dangerous person."
Lyta: "Do you know that?"

[Lukas tries to gloss over his relationship with Minnie.]
Lukas: "Developing contacts is what I do."
Torgath: "Is that what they're calling it?"

[The package that the Doc was referring to earlier was a tactical crate full of smaller sub-crates. The original sender was Ti Corovan. Sadly, we don't have time to investigate before Lukas must leave to go meet Jimmy Croyden.]
Lukas: (to Lyta) "This is gonna be a test. Stay here. Don't touch it."

[Turns out that Jimmy wants Lukas to help him acquire the final member of our team.]
Lukas: "I don't work with new people."
Jimmy Croyden: "I do. And you work with me."
Lukas: "I work for you. Important difference."

[The problem with introducing a new PC is that you keep forgetting their names.]
Georges the GM: "Character's last name?"
Joe: "Goodbranson."
Georges the GM: "That doesn't roll off the tongue."
Brock: "That's why he's got a cool internet handle."

[Joe's character is an elite hacker. Who happens to be a high school kid in a wheelchair.]
Brock: "Lukas turns around and leaves."
Jimmy Croyden: "Quinn, where are you going?! You, wheel this way."

[Jimmy has apparently never met this contact in person before.]
Jimmy Croyden: "I must admit, I was expecting you to be a bit older than... older."

[The kid, Mads, agrees to do the job for Jimmy.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Well, that was surprisingly easy."
Lukas: "Are you kidding?! It's a gimped-up kid in a wheelchair!"

[We still don't know how trustworthy Mads is.]
Jimmy Croyden: (to Lukas) "You're gonna tail him home. It shouldn't be too hard. You are... bipedal."

[Lukas agrees to babysit Mads while Jimmy makes preparations for our heist.]
Jimmy Croyden: "Call me if... Never mind. Don't call me. I'll call you."

[Keep in mind that Lyta and Lukas came from extremely upper-class backgrounds and are even now trying to recover their family fortune. So when Lukas realizes that Mads is also from an upper-class background...]
Lukas: (deadpan) "Rich kid. Great."
Julie: "Oh, the irony. It drips. It drips so much."

[Lukas attempts to get a feel for our new team member.]
Lukas: "Do you have any field experience?"
Ariel: "Does Modern Warfare 2 count?"

[Mads mentions Oscar as someone who can vouch for him. Lukas calls him up.]
Oscar: "If it is not my favorite half-man... who is twice the man of other men!"

[Lukas asks Oscar about Mads.]
Oscar: "He is not like you, Lukas. He is not an... operator."
Lukas: "I can tell."

[Oscar seems very excited that Lukas has met Mads. He asks for a picture, which Lukas snaps.]
Mads: "You better not send that."
Lukas: *takes a step back* "What are you gonna do?"

[Lukas brings Mads back to our hotel room, where the tactical crate is still unpacked. One of the things it contains is a portable mainframe computer. Sadly, none of the original PCs really know how to use it properly.]
Brock: "We're like two monkeys with a coke bottle."

[Mads is much more familiar with computers than any of the rest of us. Sadly, he's still not allowed to play with our toys.]
Lukas: "What's it do?"
Mads: "It's the system we're gonna use to get into the train system, I assume."
Lukas: "That would be an incorrect assumption."

[Lukas reluctantly allows Mads to look at our new, fancy computer.]
Lukas: (to Torgath) "Watch him. He looks like he's doing anything wonky, I want you to shoot him."
Georges the GM: (to Joe) "You actually think these people might shoot you. You are in mortal danger."

[Mads is somewhat taciturn and sarcastic.]
Georges the GM: (to Joe) "Feel free to, y'know, try to make friends at any time."

[Georges the GM explains Ti's trunk. It's full of very cool stuff.]
Georges the GM: "This is a serious operational trunk."
Brock: "Lukas is impressed. This is exactly what we would have liked to have."

[The tactical trunk is one of seven, scattered all over Terra Nova.]
Julie: "I'm wondering where Ti got the capital for this."
Ariel: "Daddy Warbucks."
Brock: "The Doc."
Julie: "...That's fair."

[The trunk has a multitude of surprises.]
Julie: "We've got drones? Nice!"

[Mads is extremely impressed with our mainframe computer.]
Lukas: "So this is the sort of thing you would want?"
Mads: "This is the sort of thing I would need."
Lukas: "Save your money, then."

[Mads is left alone with Lukas and Torgath. Georges the GM describes what that must be like.]
Georges the GM: "This is the most uncomfortable you've ever been. You feel like you took a dive off the deep end into a scary film."

[Mads gets a call from his au pair, Consuela. She speaks very fast, without pause, and seems unable to understand the concept that Mads is not at his school.]
Torgath: "Is something wrong? Is there anyone we need to kill?"

[Lukas suggests Mads call back Consuela before she raises the alarm.]
Lukas: "It would be inconvenient if the police were looking for you before we start the job."

[Mads calls back Consuela and explains the situation to her.]
Mads: "I will be out with some friends."
Consuela: "You have friends, Mr. Magnus? Oh..."

[It's siesta time. With an unknown quantity.]
Lukas: "If you tell anyone where we are, we kill you. You try to leave, we kill you."
Mads: "...Okay."
Lukas: "Sleep tight!"

[Jimmy Croyden shows up after siesta to discuss our new teammate.]
Jimmy Croyden: "He's definitely a bright kid... other factors notwithstanding."

[Of course, it's not like Mads can follow us onto the train tonight to make our heist. And Jimmy's a talker, not a fighter. Which means...]
Jimmy Croyden: "I managed to convince Billy to go."
Lukas: "How'd that go? You don't seem to have too many broken bones."

[We begin preparing for tonight's job.]
Lukas: "You'll have to get another room."
Jimmy Croyden: "What's wrong with your room?"
Lukas: "Nothing. I want to keep it that way. Which is why you'll be getting another room."

[The job is to steal something that is being transported on a gamma maglev train.]
Lukas: "We'll need four parachutes."
Lyta: "...This is a stupid plan."

[Mads is gonna stay behind and hack into the train's security for us.]
Lukas: "Any questions?"
Mads: "No."
Lukas: "You sure? 'Cause you've never done it before."
Mads: "I'll figure it out."

[One of the important things in any plan is to prepare contingencies.]
Lukas: "Now, since things are almost certainly gonna go wrong..."

[We take along a squad automatic weapon, just in case.]
Lyta: "If we have to use this, it means things have gone horribly wrong."
Lukas: "More wrong for them than us."

[We arrive at the maglev train disguised as maintenance crew and find the luggage of the people we're meant to be stealing from. It's full of guns, grenades, flak suits, and so on.]
Lyta: "Take the grenades."
Torgath: "Do we need more?"
Lyta: "More can't hurt."

[Torgath investigates the flak suits for identifying marks.]
Georges the GM: "The shoulder identifier says 'PX Courier.'"
Julie: "Isn't that Tatsugoro's company?"
Brock: "Yes."

[Reflecting upon the fact that we know who the marks are working for.]
Jimmy Croyden: "We now have a slight advantage in knowing exactly who they are."
Lukas: "And the disadvantage of not being able to kill them."

[We've figured out where the targets' cabins are. Lukas decides to see how twitchy they'll be by 'accidentally' fumbling with their door lock.]
Lukas: "Look, they're not gonna shoot me... because I'm not wearing any armor."

[Lukas is intercepted by one of the mooks from the other cabin, who takes him to the bar and makes small talk. Lukas claims to be in the agriculture business, the mook in the shoe business. Both are doing a decent job at pretending to be drunk.]
Mook: "What kind of shoes do you like?"
Lukas: "...Brown shoes?"

[Things have gone on a little too long, so Lukas decides to make his exit.]
Mook: "Barkeep, call an attendant to find my friend his room."
Barkeep: "Sir, if you could..."
Lukas: "I'm gonna find my room." *falls off chair*

[Lukas spends a little while 'passed out' on a chair in the lounge, waiting for things to calm down. Sadly, they don't.]
Lukas: *pretends to be startled awake, spilling his drink* "What?!"
Billy Croyden: (on comms) "Guy's comin' up right behind you."
Brock: "I look at my glass, sadly."

[Turns out that the guy approaching Lukas isn't just a normal PX Courier mook, it's Tatsugoro.]
Tatsugoro: "And you, Quinn, are you on the job?"
Lukas: "No, just travelling."

[To mislead Tatsugoro, Lukas tells him that he's had a falling out with his siblings, is travelling alone, but that he's expecting a call from them soon.]
Julie: "I wait a minute and a half after he says he's expecting a call, and then I call him."

[Lukas is direct as he can be while sitting in front of Tatsugoro.]
Lukas: (on phone) "Look, whatever you're doing, you're gonna have to do it without me."

And that's it for this week! Next time, the continuation of operation: rob Tatsugoro of his precious cargo without getting killed. It'll be fun times, people. Assuming we don't all die.





Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game

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