Wordslingin'

A thrilling conclusion to a thrilling op gone wrong! Where everything that can get messed up, has been messed up! Including the dice rolls! (Oh, so many botched dice rolls…)


[We pick up where we left off last session. Sorta.]
Georges the GM: “A train leaves from Marigold, travelling at 100 km per hour…”

[As you recall, when we last left Our Heroes (tm), the train with all our precious cargo had just taken a wrong switch in the track and was now hurtling towards its ultimate doom, with Lyta, Miranda, and Okran Radsley aboard.]
Georges the GM: “Lukas cannot catch this train.”
Ariel: “You wanna jump on my shoulder?”
Brock: “No, I’m gonna do what I always do – give orders.”

[From the north, we pick up the blips of several large incoming airborne vehicles.]
Brock: “I’m gonna count on them being Peace River hoppers, because there’s nothing I can do about them.”

[They are not Peace River hoppers.]
Zac: “MILICIA? What are they doing out here?”
Brock: “Whatever they want.”

[The edge of the ravine is coming much closer as the train accelerates towards it.]
Lukas: “New plan: get out of the engine car.”

[We start the clock to our ultimate deaths.]
Georges the GM: “Let’s set the counter at five minutes.”
Zac: “Oh, that’s not so bad.”
Georges the GM: “We’re not counting in 6-second combat rounds.”
Brock: “We should – we have more of them.”

[As Torgath approaches the train, a rear crew compartment opens to reveal a number of armed troops, who begin launching grenades at his Gear.]
Georges the GM: “I’m not sure what’s worse – hitting you three times or hitting you once with a huge MoS.”

[The grenades turn out to be haywire grenades, causing Torgath’s Gear to shut down.]
Ariel: “They don’t normally work this well because we don’t normally botch.”

[Torgath decides to use the last of his dying Gear’s power to fling himself at the passenger car.]
Georges the GM: “The train… can’t dodge.”

[We establish what has happened so far.]
Ariel: “I used 10 dice today.”
Brock: “To crash your Gear into a train.”

[Fennec is also trying to catch the train. Specifically, she’s trying to jump onto it.]
Georges the GM: “A good Gear pilot would have no problems.”
Zac: “What about a…”
Brock: “Slightly sub-par pilot?”

[Meanwhile, Lyta is crawling her way back along the train with Miranda and Okran Radsley.]
Zac: “I love how your skill set includes ‘knowing what it’s like to be on top of a moving train.’”
Julie: “This isn’t the first time we’ve done this.”
Ariel: “It’s not even the second.”

[And let us not forget about the incoming airborne vehicles, which have added ‘shooting our drone of the sky’ to their list of accomplishments.]
Georges the GM: “They don’t know what the drone is for, but whatever it is, isn’t to their advantage.”

[Ten Gears paradrop out of the incoming orcas. Brock delivers an understatement.]
Brock: “Well, this just got worse.”

[Meanwhile, back on the train, Fennec has a plan: throw a bunch of grenades into the car with Torgath’s Gear and all the enemy soldiers.]
Zac: “It’s a contained space. I imagine it’ll be… spectacular.”

[The enemy troops go first. Sorta.]
Georges the GM: “Is anyone foolish enough to engage a Gear…?”

[The grenade explosion is, indeed, spectacular.]
Georges the GM: “The guy on top of Grizz’ Gear and setting up a shaped charge…”
Zac: “’Is’ or ‘was’?”

[Now that the guys inside the car are mostly taken care of…]
Georges the GM: “What do you do?”
Zac: “First off, what do I know about trains?”
Georges the GM: “Not much.”

[Fennec attempts to cut her way into the engine room. There is only a slight problem.]
Zac: “So the guys jumped out, put shaped charges on my legs, and jumped back?”
Julie: “That totally sounds like something we’d do.”
Brock: “We’ve taken out many a Gear that way.”

[Meanwhile, at the front of the train, it’s clear that Lyta and the gang will not get to the rear engine in time. Okran Radsley has a plan to use the lid of one of the containers and some webbing to fashion a sled they can use to get back much more quickly.]
Georges the GM: “Just in case it’s not clear, this is an insane plan. This is the most insane plan.”
Zac: “This is borderline suicide.”
Brock: “Not borderline.”

[More of the same.]
Zac: “It’s better than having to jump off a moving train.”
Brock: “Only slightly.”

[It turns out we don’t have to go with the suicide plan, because we are rescued in the nick of time by some incoming Peace River Gears.]
Lyta: “We could use a lift.”
Commander Tunnel, PRDF: “Where do you need a lift to?”
Lyta: “Off the train would be a good start.”

[While all this is happening, the MILICIA Gears who paradropped from the orcas, led by Lieutenant Généreux, are closing in on Lukas, who is laying on some lovely lies about being concerned about raiders.]
Lieutenant Généreux: “If you are concerned about your safety, I would be more concerned with the ten Gears around you who are rapidly growing impatient.”

[Lukas plays the part of the outraged businessman.]
Lieutenant Généreux: “Citizen, transmit your AST citizenship paperwork immediately.”
Lukas: “…I know you’re just making that up!”

[Lieutenant Généreux forces Lukas to get out of his Gear.]
Lukas: “What are you doing?! There are more raiders!”
Lieutenant Généreux: “Your raiders look like PRDF. And signal like PRDF.”

[Back on the train, Lyta has managed to jump onto the engine car as Fennec’s Gear loses most of the power to one leg from the shaped charge.]
Zac: “I hope Lyta can shut things down.”
Julie: “Lyta’s also hoping she can shut things down.”

[So, to recap: Lyta’s Gear has been taken out, Torgath’s Gear has gone haywire, Fennec’s Gear only has one fully-functional leg, and Lukas has been forced to disembark from his Gear.]
Brock: “Remember back in the day, when this was a squad of four Gears? Good times…”

[Lyta makes her way to the engine room. Fennec follows a moment behind. Through the porthole, Lyta can see two people in the control room.]
Fennec: “Are they aware of us?”
Lyta: “If not, they will be in a minute!”

[Lyta and Fennec narrowly avoid dying as someone throws a grenade into the corridor outside the control room. They respond in kind.]
Julie: “I go in and slam the guy’s head against whatever’s nearest.”
Brock: “Is it the brake?!”

[Okran Radsley has withdrawn with Torgath, but they are still involved in a firefight. Radsley has taken two serious bullet wounds so far.]
Brock: “You know if Radsley dies, we get his share, right?”
Zac: “His share of what, the wreckage?”
Brock: “No, because you’re not going to fail.”
Ariel: “You’ll note I’m not first-aiding him.”

[In the end, we manage to slow the train down before most of it falls off the edge of the ravine, though we have lost a quarter of our payload. Or maybe more, because the MILICIA is still active.]
Okran Radsley: “Worst-case scenario…”
Fennec: “We get deported.”
Okran Radsley: “That’s a good-case scenario.”

[The PRDF forces back off, leaving only Radsley with the train and Lukas surrounded by MILICIA. Things look bleak.]
Zac: “Ugh, they’re securing our train!”
Georges the GM: “And then you get…”
Julie: “Deux ex Doc?”
Georges the GM: “Deus ex Doc.”

[The Doc hails the MILICIA forces.]
Doc Chambers: “This is the Jan Mayen Security Force.”
Lieutenant Généreux: “There is no such thing as the Jan Mayen Security Force.”
Doc Chambers: “I have 500 GRELs who say otherwise.”

[As the session winds down…]
Julie: “Lyta is so torn: on the one hand, it’s a rescue force. On the other, it’s made of GRELs.”






Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game