Saturday, June 22, 2013

Wordslingin'

Time for a daring rescue! When Lukas gets himself captured by some really nasty people, it's up to the rest of us to bring him back in one piece. Well, sort of one piece. It's kind of holey. But at least nothing's fallen off yet.


[In the aftermath of the Quicksilver fiasco, the Doc calls a meeting with the PCs, Prabal, and Kain Delacroix.]
Julie: "And Bill Pearce?"
Georges the GM: "Bill's not there, because, really, how many NPCs do I need to play?"
Brock: "All of them!"

[Given that Lukas has been captured, Brock needs to temporarily play someone else. And there's one person who's most appropriate...]
Doc Chambers: "I've called in Kain Delacroix as a special consultant."
Kain Delacroix: "That means things are really messed up."

[The last time the PCs officially saw Kain was when they were hunting down Marius Wallcraft. Unofficially, they saw him a bit after that.]
Georges the GM: "The last time you saw him was when Wallcraft was blown up in the mine."
Julie: "Which means we're almost entirely certain he's dead."

[The plan: rescue Lukas and maybe Jimmy, and bring back a prisoner.]
Doc Chambers: "We want Kinross alive."
Kain Delacroix: "More or less."

[Our marching orders with regards to Kinross.]
Kain Delacroix: "Blow off any part of his body you want except for the head or torso."

[Of course, to get our people back, we need to offer something in exchange. In this case, that 'something' is the Borodin Package. Which we have laced with explosives, just in case.]
Doc Chambers: "If you think you can't retrieve the hostages, there's no point in having the Borodin Package. You'll know what to do with it. That's Plan F."

[The other problem will be the brief moment of tension when people actually have to trade the things they each want without getting themselves shot. We spitball ideas to get past that point.]
Kain Delacroix: "Nothing says Mexican standoff like an explosive vest."

[Other ideas.]
Doc Chambers: "We'll hold a quarter of the Borodin Package in escrow with the Spider."
Kain Delacroix: "What happens when we go back on the deal?"
Doc Chambers: "...He gets pissed at us."

[So, keeping the package in escrow with the Spider is out. Next option?]
Doc Chambers: "There's someone else we can use. A compatriot of Kinross: Mr. Smith."
Lyta: "He'll definitely go back on the deal."
Doc Chambers: "In this instance, I believe we have reason to trust Smith."
Torgath: "Can you share with us why?"
Doc Chambers: "Yes."
Kain Delacroix: "Write this down. This never happens."

[The reason Doc Chambers believes we can trust Smith is that he's not actually Smith, he's one of Ti's Leiland kids in deep cover, having stolen Smith's face when he was in plastic surgery.]
Torgath: "So, it's the smart kind of face-off, where you kill the other guy."

[Kain gives a pep talk. After a fashion.]
Kain Delacroix: "Shoot first, no questions. You'll know when it's time. Don't worry about your brother -- I'll worry about your brother. If I'm dead, you're all fucked."

[We prepare to move in.]
Kain Delacroix: "All right, it's gonna be horrible. Good enough."

[Doc Chambers is never one to put all his eggs in one basket. Though some baskets are more sturdy than others.]
Doc Chambers: "I'm also working on a Plan B. Well, it's actually an entirely different alphabet. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

[Sadly, despite the planning, our strategy is fairly last-minute.]
Georges the GM: "Given that you guys are walking into a situation where the other guy thinks he has total control--"
Brock: "And does!"

[We make our final preparations.]
Brock: "Kain reviews all the places you can shoot someone at point-blank range and not kill them."
Georges the GM: "It's a long list."

[We finalize everyone's role in the upcoming action.]
Ariel: "Was there anything we were supposed to do?"
Julie: "Watch. Be ready. Wait for everything to go to hell."

[Always important: what gear are we taking with us?]
Brock: "Gas masks are one of those things that are only ever vital if you don't have them."

[After quite a bit of last-minute planning, it's go time. Kain goes, 'alone', to the meet.]
Leo Kinross: "I'm impressed. I'd have figured the Doc would have sent someone more... dear to him."

[The negotiations begin, after a fashion.]
Kain Delacroix: "You have something that doesn't belong to you."
Leo Kinross: "I have something that that does belong to me, but I'm willing to part with it for something else that belongs to me. That's just the kind of magnanimous soul I am."

[Meanwhile, Torgath and Lyta are outside the building, sneakily making their way onto the second floor where the deal's taking place. Torgath has a bit of trouble with the escape ladder. Lyta, on the other hand...]
Julie: "I'm not at the point where I'm worried yet. That'll come soon, but getting up to the second floor does not worry me."

[Kain asks to see the hostages alive and unharmed before the deal continues.]
Leo Kinross: "Are you impugning my honor, sir? I offer you a drink, I let you live this far..."
Kain Delacroix: "And yet here I am, surrounded by your fellows."

[Kinross sends Geddy upstairs to collect Lukas and Jimmy.]
Geddy Jay Gordon: "How's your cage?"
Lukas: "Comfortable."
Geddy Jay Gordon: "A lot more comfortable than the hellish place I come out of."
Lukas: "I never met your mother."

[Geddy brings Lukas and Jimmy to show to Kain.]
Leo Kinross: "As good as my word, sir."
Kain Dealcroix: (pointing to Jimmy) "Part of that one seems to be missing. He's got a hole in him."
Leo Kinross: "He was that way when delivered."

[Kain, for his part, hands over the partial Borodin Package to Kinross for his tech guys to verify.]
Leo Kinross: "It appears to be incomplete."
Kain Delacroix: "It's three-quarters there."
Leo Kinross: "I see. Perhaps I can offer you three-quarters of these gentlemen? Say, the three-quarters from the neck down?"

[Kain Delacroix reveals that the other quarter is being held by Smith.]
Georges the GM: "Kinross definitely looks..."
Julie: "Disappointed?"
Ariel: "Triumphant?"
Georges the GM: "Amused with all this."

[Kinross agrees to the deal.]
Kain Delacroix: "Pleasant transaction all the way around. Let's go, boys."
Georges the GM: "Bam."
Ariel: "Who bams what?"

[Turns out that Geddy shot Kinross in the back. Everyone surprised, raise their hand now.]
Brock: "He's not dead yet."
Georges the GM: "No, he's just breathing directly through his lungs, bypassing his throat."

[Combat ensues, as was inevitable. First up: Geddy.]
Georges the GM: "For Geddy, the main threat is obviously Kain."
Brock: "Bring it, wee man."

[Kain shoots once at Geddy, once at the nearby window.]
Georges the GM: "The glass is hit. It does not dodge."

[The reason Kain shot out the window was to provide a means of escape for certain other party members.]
Brock: "Kain orders Lukas to take Kinross and get out the window."
Julie: "You gonna listen to yourself?"
Brock: "I'm unarmed. Unarmored. Surrounded by baddies."
Julie: "Yeah, but are you gonna listen to yourself."
Brock: "Lukas is wounded, naked, and unarmed, so he's gonna do what the Batman has told him."

[Lukas grabs Kinross but doesn't quite make it to the window. He's shot.]
Brock: "Who's shooting Lukas?"
Georges the GM: "Geddy."
Ariel: "He probably wants Kinross' teeth."

[The glass window has crack marks but isn't actually broken yet. Sadly, Lukas has been further wounded by Geddy's attack and fails to break through the damaged window.]
Brock: "There's no other holes in this window?!"
Georges the GM: "...You rolled a 2."

[Lyta, meanwhile, charges into the combat, directly at Geddy. And misses.]
Julie: "It's like the dice know when it's Geddy. They know not to roll high."

[Lukas finally manages to grab Kinross and jump out the window.]
Julie: "Kinross is down there?"
Georges the GM: "What's left of Kinross is down there."
Brock: "He might be super-tough."
Georges the GM: "He was."

[Geddy jumps down after Lukas and Kinross. Which leads to yet more inevitability.]
Brock: "Kain jumps out the window and lands on Geddy."
Julie: "That was my plan! But I only get to do it next round."

[Lyta and Kain jump out the window and start attacking Geddy for all they're worth.]
Georges the GM: "Geddy be fucked up."
Julie: "That's what I like to hear!"

[Kain picks up Geddy while he's extremely wounded. Lyta must decide whether or not she has time to finish him off before Kain takes him away.]
Brock: "We did just lose Kinross."
Julie: "Lyta's not rational when it comes to Geddy."

[Meanwhile, goons are pulling away an unconscious Lukas. There is only one round to act.]
Julie: "Lyta weighs her need for revenge against Geddy vs her need to make sure Lukas is safe, and sadly Lukas wins out."

[While Lyta is protecting Lukas, Kain hurls both Geddy's and Kinross' bodies into an antelope.]
Brock: "Kain gets into the antelope and drives away. Job done."

[With the building finally secured, the bad guys dead or unconscious, and our airlift back to Hotel Bravo on its way, it's time to confront Jimmy.]
Torgath: "You gave me a defective gun!"
Jimmy Croyden: "It was a perfectly functioning sniper rifle."
Lyta: "The ammo, on the other hand..."
Jimmy Croyden: "On the other hand..."


And that's it for this week. Next week, the debriefing, and maybe the world's most elusive creature... downtime!





Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game

2 comments :

Charlie Bottoms said...

"smart kind of face-off" was actually a dumb kind of reference to the John Woo movie with Nicholas Cage & John Travolta, "Face/Off". In which a 'face-transplant' between cop & robber goes wrong when the villain inevitably escapes. Killing the villain might be inhumane, but is otherwise much more useful, as the case of Mr Smith proves.

Julie said...

Yes, I got the reference.


 
Hermes 72 - Heavy Gear RPG - Most artwork Copyright 2002 Dream Pod 9, Inc.