Session 44: Alpine Assaults
General Summary
The session began with the Liberators enjoying some quiet prep at Erikson's camp. Kutter continued cooking his hermit crab he killed last night to blow off steam, and Kenny came over to compliment his cooking. Kutter gave him a claw and Kenny made a wonderful stew. Kutter came over and offered Kenny Jericho's arm, which he accepted. Kenny cooked a hermit burger for RM and went to trade it for help installing his new arm, a deal which she accepted. After the arm was installed Kenny began adjusting to the weight and the players set off.
First, they moved towards Acadia, figuring it was their best shot at finding resistance fighters. When they trudged up the mountain they sure enough began to hear gunfire. They reached the summit but through the mist they couldn't make out the enemy but they could see defenders on Arcadia's walls firing frantically into the woods. The party approached and made out figures disrupting the mist, recognizing more Red Tide nightkin. They engaged, starting with Kutter throwing Kenny at the nearest commando, letting him test his new arm in brutal fashion. May ran in quickly after, and the players made quick work of their adversaries. They received help from a mysterious Arcadian they saw fighting with them beyond the well who flung some sort of psychic attacks at the mutants, fracturing their already unstable minds in gory explosions. The mutant's morale broke and they fled, but Kutter caught one running, exacting the beginning of his revenge for Jericho. As the dust settled the stranger approached. Cecile took off his balaclava and said hello.
The players reacquainted and RM said Cecile was looking well. They shared details on the invasion and Cecile took them to speak with the Arcadian leadership. Chase and two more coursers teleported in front of the entrance and told them they would join them in the assault. They told The Liberators that the Children of Atom had already departed but the Marino militiamen had fortified The Nucleus and were holding out there. The players went to observe and they could faintly see explosions at the submarine base's entrance. Arcadia's teleporter was burnt out so they double-timed it down the mountain with the coursers and came in from behind again, surprising the raider grunts assaulting the base.
When the cannon fodder was quickly dealt with Captain Avery peaked her head out of the fortifications and beckoned them to come inside. Inside they briefed her on the mission and she offered ground support from militiamen and naval artillery support from the patrol boats they saved. The players accepted them and went to rest as the harbormen prepared.
They made camp in the cold sunlight of the afternoon sun. Kutter sat near the cliff edge with his Blades contemplating the battles of the past and future, Kenny and May set up hammocks and discussed another familiar face they both think they may have seen the day before. RM meanwhile walked weakly into camp after suffering from food poisoning no doubt caused by the hermit burger Kenny had given her. She trudged across the camp, declaring her intent to kill him, but was talked down by Cecile, who read her thoughts and soothed her anger. The players moved out around midnight well rested and ready for the battle ahead.
They reunited with the frogmen who reported that Admiral Longfellow was refusing to support the ground assault and had declared them all AWOL, however, the frogmen and gorillas had done well to harass the artillery base until they stopped sending out patrols altogether. The players, unshaken, moved in. Kutter and Cecile ran up, screaming in fear that the Gorillas were coming, posing as red tide troops. The Red Tide let them through the gates but the ruse was up the second they were inside the base and the players attacked. Kutter threw troops at one another, May flew into battle and tore guards apart as she reached them. Kenny exploded a head with his new arm, showering May in gore, and witnessed her first genuine smile since Johnny died, unnerving him. The Liberators had torn through the first wave and their allies were attacking the base from all sides, but the battle had only just begun.
