Sunday, June 4, 2017

Wordslingin'

Surprisingly, our really horrible plan (“Operation: Let Gabrielle and Torgath be captured so we can find out more about the Bear”) is so far unrolling pretty smoothly. This can’t possibly last…


[Zac says what we’re all thinking.]
Zac: “I just want to go on the record for saying this is a terrible plan.”
Julie: “We all think that.”
Zac: “But I don’t have a better one.”

[We lay out some contingencies.]
Georges the GM: “If things go a little less well, Ti would like to use the stealth hopper.”

[More of the same.]
Zac: “I feel like the worst-case scenario is always made better with the addition of a stealth hopper. So long as it’s ours.”
Georges the GM: “Good distinction.”

[Ti asks Fennec for the bypass codes on the stealth hopper’s booby traps. Fennec agrees.]
Zac: “Yes, okay, I’m not gonna have Ti inhale a cloud of chlorine gas when he enters the hopper.”
Brock: “Damnit!”

[Fennec tries to modify our pistols to fire our betabel-killing rifle rounds.]
Zac: “How do I feel about this 8 on my tinker roll?”
Brock: “Screw what Fennec feels – how do I feel?”

[We prep Torgath for his capture by the NGIS.]
Ariel: “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”
Zac: “I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about what happens to me when I rescue you.”

[Torgath is kidnapped and a bag put over his head.]
Torgath: “This bag smells pretty bad. Can I get another one?”
Brock: “Someone wants the beatings to start early.”

[Torgath is taken to an interrogation chamber and given a preliminary set of questions by a man identifying himself as Ned.]
Ned: “Answering with yes or no only, are you Todd Shelby?”
Torgath: “I don’t know how to answer that with a yes or no. It’s complicated.”

[More questions.]
Ned: “Answering with yes or no only, do you have a heart condition I should be aware of?”
Torgath: “Oh! I know the answer to this one!”

[The first round of questioning is relatively innocuous.]
Ned: “Thank you for your time.”
Torgath: “Thank you for your time. What’s your name?”
Ned: “I’m Ned.”
Torgath: “I’m sometimes Todd.”

[Ariel reflects on the interrogation.]
Ariel: “I like Ned. Can he be my new friend? I bet he likes books. He seems like someone who likes books.

[Ariel checks in on his progress so far.]
Ariel: “Assume I’m following what they trained me to do.”
Georges the GM: “You’re not following it at all – you’re being Torgath. Being Torgath is not the textbook way to approach an interrogation.”

[Ned returns and stuns Torgath with a stun baton. Multiple times.]
Georges the GM: “Sometime around the fifth or sixth shock, you’re finding it very hard to be stoic.”
Ariel: “I’m thinking about pillow forts and how much I’d like to be in one.”

[Zac says what all of us are thinking.]
Zac: “I’m thinking maybe it would have been a good idea not to let Torgath know our plan at all.”

[Ned returns.]
Georges the GM: “It’s Ned again. He’s donned a lab coat.”
Brock: “Lab coat is still okay. It’s when he has a butcher’s apron that you should worry.”

[Even though the interrogator is still clearly Ned, he now introduces himself as Fred.]
Fred: “I have a questionnaire for you to fill out.”
Torgath: “Sadly, the answers are still mostly ‘it’s complicated’.”

[The questionnaire begins.]
Fred: “Answering with yes or no only, are you Todd Shelby?”
Torgath: “…Not right now.”
Georges the GM: “Okay, let’s skip straight to the health check.”

[Fred leaves, only to come back again later.]
Georges the GM: “Does anything change on the third time?”
Ariel: “…”

[Torgath is shown what seems to be surveillance footage of Fred shooting Gabrielle.]
Georges the GM: “Something seems off about it.”
Zac: (as Torgath) “Ned, I know what sound a woman makes when she’s shot in the chest.”

[Ned / Fred returns, this time as Ed. The questionnaire is somewhat different.]
Ed: “Answering yes or no only, is there any reason we should keep you alive?”
Torgath: “Um… yes?”
Georges the GM: “Good. You need a will to live for them to torture you.”

[Meanwhile, the rest of the PCs are infiltrating the base, with Lukas posing as Major Pitt doing a routine inspection and Lyta and Fennec as his adjuncts. Lukas tests the waters with our guide, Lieutenant Beckett, on the drive over.]
Lukas: “You are not expressing any surprise at the possibility of graft on base, Lieutenant.”
Ariel: “I think we’ve found another thing you’re better at than your real job.”

[Lukas begins his ‘inspection’. Lyta and Fennec attempt to play their parts.]
Julie: “I take notes on my clipboard when it seems appropriate.”
Zac: “I look stern and humourless at all times.”

[Lukas’ cover identity is called to the secure communications area. He ‘inspects’ the weapon of one of the guards outside.]
Lukas: “Looks good, Corporal. You’re a credit to the uniform.”
Zac: “Blam!”
Brock: “I like this scenario, where I can just ask them for a gun.”

[It turns out the reason Lukas was called to the communications area was because Gabrielle has freed herself and taken out the three communications officers.]
Lukas: “Good work, Lieutenant. Is it that time?”
Gabrielle Summers: “It is.”

[Lukas arranges for Lyta and Fennec to also gain access to the secure communications area.]
Lyta and Fennec: *enter the room*
Gabrielle Summers: *points gun at them*
Lyta: “Thanks. I missed you too.”
Gabrielle Summers: (pointedly, to Lukas) “Well, someone on your team isn’t good with direct instructions.”
Lyta: “Tell me about it.”

[Lyta gets a sit rep.]
Lyta: “You okay?”
Gabrielle Summers: “It could have been worse.”
Lyta: “Is Torgath okay?”
Gabrielle Summers: “So far they’re sticking to…”
Ariel: “Electroshocking me.”

[More of the same.]
Gabrielle Summers: “So far they’re using a protocol where they are keeping for now to… mild physical discomfort.”
Ariel: “Hey!”

[We reflect on what is inevitably about to happen as we attempt to breach into NGIS headquarters.]
Brock: “We don’t want to kill any of these people if we don’t have to… but we’ll have to.”





Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game

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