SESSION 05: PROTECTION, ELECTION, DELUSION
General Summary
Previous Session: SESSION 04: GIVE UNTO CAESAR
Next Session: SESSION 06: FROM STARSHIP TO WONDER DOG
Players: (The Heroes of St. Louis): Lex Garridan, Linda, Mister Man, Mouse, Zero
*May 8th, 2317*
(Adventure Day 14)
The campfire crackled sweetly, the traveling party were fast asleep, including their new associate Doctor Antyllus, an important figure in Caesar's Legion who could give important testimony to the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel. All except for Mister Man, who looked out into the darkness, scanning lazily. The robot's acute sensors noticed Mouse, shaking and twitching with the unmistakable signs of an intense dream.
Soon, Mouse awoke to discover a concerned Mister Man hovering over him in concern. Mouse described the dream unabashedly, reporting that he had seen himself back at St. Louis, at the diplomatic summit. He dreamed that he had unconsciously dropped a small electronic device when no one was looking. But this was just a dream, and he didn't know what it meant.
In the morning, Mouse told the rest of the group about the dream openly. The others had vague suspicions, but a dream is just a dream. Antyllus was uninterested, and bid them to get moving again.
The group made a stop at the old Folk Nuclear Plant, the old fission reactor which provided electricity to Jefferson, Missouri. It had suffered an indirect hit from a Chinese ICBM during the Great War and was subsequently very irradiated. Linda, Mister Man and Zero delved into the facility, while the humans waited from afar. Linda basked in the glow of Atom and the looters discovered some useful items including a first aid kit and an old shotgun. Mouse used the time to catch a molerat for its meat.
They had been told by Ree back at Honeysuckle Farm that a jet dealer named Thump Milton was looking to enslave her sister and that this man could usually be found at Mari-Osa Bridge. And sure enough, when the group approached the bridge, they could see an agitated man pacing around with a machete. Mouse used his considerable stealth to flank around this figure and ready his bow. The others approached the bridge directly.
Lex, guileless as ever, walked up and said, "Hi! I'm Lex."
The disorganized man erupted with response: "H-h-hey! Buy some jet? I got good quality jet!"
Lex turned to her companions, saying, "I don't know what jet is."
"Drugs," Zero answered. Then he addressed the dealer, "Yeah, I want some jet. How much?"
"That's negotiable!" the man barked. "Depends what you got. But, I mean, it's jet! Jet's fifty caps! Jet equals fifty caps! Everybody KNOWS that!"
"Okay, okay," Zero said, trying to calm the excited man. "But could we maybe come down on that price?"
"Yeah, maybe," the dealer stammered. "But this is Thump Milton jet! Best quality jet ever!"
"You're Thump Milton?" Zero asked.
"Yeah, I'm Thump fucking Milton!" the man shouted. And with that, three arrows arced in from the bushes, striking Thump in the left arm and crippling it. Mouse had not hesitated to attack. Reacting quickly, Lex drew her rifle and shot the dealer.
Thump's eyes widened with shock and rage. With his functioning arm, he drew a sawed-off shotgun and blasted Linda with a devastating attack. The accelerated maniac then charged into his opponents, retrieved a molotov cocktail and smashed it at his feet - bathing the group in flame, but also setting himself alight.
The party shot, hacked, bludgeoned and punched Thump Milton seven times before he died. The whole time, they were dealt with the flames of his molotov, with Linda and Mister Man jumping in a nearby river for relief. Having saved Ree's sister from slavery, the group looted Thump's body, healed up and moved on.
It was a long walk back to Emancipation, but the group found the journey uneventful. They made special effort to avoid Brotherhood detection as they passed Camp Jefferson, putting a hood over Doctor Antyllus. Soon, they were back in the village, at Penn Terrace to see the mayor.
Even from outside, they could see that John Giscala was agitated. He was pacing around his front room when they knocked on the door. Doctor John was glad to see Antyllus and he invited everyone to come into his home to speak. The Legion doctor went over the story of their journey and repeated his claim that Caesar Aurelian Resitutor was fiercely anti-nuclear. Antyllus restated his wish to go to Chicago and testify in person to the Elders of the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel.
Doctor John dismissed the idea fervently. "Absolutely not. The Elders will have you wrapped up in interrogation for the next hundred years. No, you'll stay here and we'll write up an affidavit and have it delivered to Chicago."
"Thank you for this," Giscala said, "And, of course, there's more work to be done."
Doctor John's tone became a bit conspiratorial. He chose his words carefully when he said, "As you'd imagine, many of the survivors of the St. Louis attack have been ghoul-ified. Chicago is going over what is to be done with these people."
"Whaddaya mean, 'what is to be done'?" Zero said, expecting the worst.
"Well," the doctor said delicately, "The ghouls in Gravestone have a potential feral test - a medical test to determine whether a ghoul will eventually lapse into a wild, murderous state. And my medical staff have, perhaps, nudged some findings so that Chicago has more confidence in this test than maybe they should. I would like you to go to Gravestone and get a ghoul named Proton to give you at least fifty of these tests. And, perhaps, insist on tests that are likely to come back negative. You'll bring back these tests, the new ghouls will get tested, we'll tell Chicago all the ghouls are nice and they get left in peace."
"I think I like this plan," Zero said.
"Wait, we're lying about tests to the Brotherhood?" Mouse asked.
"We're, maybe, massaging the truth to help some people out," clarified Zero.
Mouse thought about it. "What're we getting paid?"
Doctor John's brow furrowed: "All of our caps are wrapped up in the relief effort. Is there something you wanted?"
Zero stepped in, "I would consider it a personal favour to me."
"Alright," Mouse said, "I'll do it for Zero." The rest of the group agreed and they prepared to leave to go get dinner and some rest."
"There is one more thing," Giscala added. "Since it's at least a week's travel to Gravestone, you'll be gone for the election. So, I'll let you vote early before you leave."
The group noted that they had no idea what the mayor was talking about.
Doctor John looked conflicted and said, "Paladin Hector has informed me that the Brotherhood is invoking martial law. They want to replace me as leader of Emancipation with a Brotherhood Scribe, but their laws dictate that we get to hold a referendum to voluntarily submit or to keep our independence. I honestly don't know what to do. I was elected to keep the military out of our affairs, but we owe so much to the Brotherhood."
The group was adamantly for independence and cast their vote against Brotherhood control, save for Linda, who wanted to vote in accordance with Atom's will. And not knowing the opinion of her god or her church, she didn't feel comfortable voting.
In the early evening, Booches Bar was always alive with cheerful villagers, and tonight was no exception. The group wanted to talk to Booch about the map they found under the Checkpoint Hazelgreen bridge which vaguely indicated that the bar might be valuable to runaway slaves from Caesar's Legion.
"Booch super mutant. Very dumb," he said evasively. "Doesn't understand geography."
Zero wanted to talk to Booch about Emancipation's independence referendum, and Booch was equally cagey, saying, "Booch super mutant. Very dumb. Doesn't understand politics."
When the group pressed him, Booch said only, "One hundred years ago, Midwest Brotherhood of Steel come to Booch village. Fight Calculator or die. So, Booch go to war. Super mutant always in front. 'You super mutant! You like fighting!' Always in front. Very bad."
The group wanted to talk more, but could tell they weren't going to get much further with him. So, they had Booch cook their meat and enjoyed an excellent dinner.
With a few hours left before bedtime, Zero looked to convince the influential people of Emancipation to vote to keep their independence. Traveling to Cindy Zhao's shop, they first informed Cindy that people in Caesar's Legion were looking to re-capture her, and she was unsurprised. They asked her about the referendum and she told them that she was firmly for Brotherhood rule. She believed that a war with Caesar's Legion was long overdue, and a military takeover of government was a step in the right direction. Zero plead with her, and she disclosed that she would change her vote - for 200 caps. That was too rich for the group, so they asked her to reconsider and left.
They next approached Nacho Huerta, Emancipation's labour leader. Nacho also advocated for military control. He declared that the village owed everything to the Brotherhood, and if they were called to defend their nation, they should be proud to serve. Zero, whom Nacho considered a friend, tried to argue for independence. He claimed Emancipation was their nation, not the Brotherhood. Nacho was ultimately unswayed.
Zero found some comfort when he discovered that Lyttle Bridges [yes, that is a name people have], the owner of the Candlewood Suites hotel, agreed fervently with independence. She noted that her patrons were often foreign travelers moving along the I-70 corridor and didn't want to be hassled by needless Brotherhood scrutiny.
Within the village, that really only left Mother Sage of the Children of Atom to convince. Linda, having been warned that if she approached the Altar of Atom she would be shot on sight, was kept occupied by Mister Man while the others went to visit the religious leader.
When Mother Sage saw that Linda was not with them, she was immediately panicked, "Oh no, what happened to Linda!? Why isn't she with you?"
"She's fine," Zero reassured her. "We're taking good care of Linda."
"She's made new friends," Lex added. "Pam and Jane," referring to the names Linda had given to her fighting board and junk jet.
"Oh, thank Atom," Sage exhaled. "Tell Linda I miss her. I pray for her. So, why have you come to see me?"
"I wanted to talk to you about the referendum," Zero began.
"I'm going to have to stop you right there," Mother sage interrupted. "Although many of us are urging Holy Toledo to change their decision, it's official orthodoxy that ghoulification is a curse, and so you are not allowed to set foot on church grounds. I'm sorry."
Zero was offended, but nodded politely and parted, leaving Lex to continue the pitch. Knowing almost nothing about the religion, Lex did her best to vaguely imply that Brotherhood leadership might be biased against the free worship of Atom and that freedom was a goodness that Atom would endorse. Mother Sage was convinced. She promised to vote for independence and to urge all of her followers to do the same.
Linda was glad to know that Mother Sage was alright and expressed that she still missed the church. She cast her vote for independence. The hour was getting late and the group had a long trek ahead, so they went to sleep.
*May 9th, 2317*
(Adventure Day 14)
Having never seen the exclusive country club for themselves, the party decided to head to Prathersville Lodge. There they met Prathersville, the gold-plated Mister Handy who administered the club. The robot spoke languidly and with condescension. He informed them that entry required membership, and membership required written sponsorship from two current members. With St. Louis in disarray, that probably only left the wealthy of Gravestone available for petition.
Mouse eyed the lavish estate greedily, instinctively formulating a plan to rob the place. But, in a quick view of the grounds, he spotted at least four sentry bots and six automated turrets. That heist was better left for another day.
Zero had heard vague rumours of a place to the northwest that purportedly harboured some kind of alien spacecraft. It was an opportunity that excited him greatly and the others acquiesced, noting that it was vaguely on the way to Gravestone anyway.
Arriving in the alleged area, the group felt a strange electricity in the air. Before they knew it, they were encircled by a group of green-skinned warriors, armed with swords and laser weapons.
Their leader proclaimed dramatically, "I am Akk, warrior of the Ux-Ron Galactic Order! You Terrans must be brought before War King Zeech! Do you come peacefully?"
Zero, looking to represent Earth diplomatically, conceded to the Ux-Ron's demands, but the others were more defensive. Mister Man could see with his sensors that these "aliens" were really human men, their green faces and alien features achieved with makeup and rubber prosthetics.
Mouse was especially wary when the Ux-Rons demanded that the group be hooded when they were taken to the Starship Jark'k to meet War King Zeech. But outnumbered and out-gunned, he eventually relented.
The party was hooded and led into the Starship Jark'k's brig, guarded by two warriors. In a cell across from them, a starving prisoner informed them that they were to undergo the Trial of Chakg, which they would not survive. The prisoner lamented that even the Silver Shroud could not thwart the Ux-Ron, and so they had no hope.
Zero knew that the Silver Shroud was a pre-war comic book character, but he also recalled that since the Great War many vigilantes and do-gooders had taken up the mantle of the Silver Shroud in real life. The group discussed the situation and were busy formulating plans for escape when the two guards stirred.
"Prisoner!" one of the guards shouted to the man in the opposite cell. "The time for your Trial of Chakg has come!"
And with that the two Ux-Ron warriors fired their laser guns into the starving man's cell, vapourizing him into red dust.
Shocked and alarmed, the group had had enough of this nonsense. Zero beckoned the guards to come closer and attacked them through the bars. Lex picked their cell door with a bobby pin, freeing the party to quietly kill the two Ux-Rons.
They went room to room, slaughtering Ux-Ron warriors as they found them. Lex blew one's leg clean off with her hunting rifle. Mister Man bisected another with the keen edge of his buzzsaw. Soon, only their leader was left, the illustrious War King Zeech.
When the group entered the captain's quarters, Zeech bade them, "Enough! This fighting is madness. I know much of you Terrans. I have heard much of your people, you hu-mans. I have heard tale of a boy named... Christopher. He was small and weak. His world was in ashes, so in his feebleness, he retreated into your so-called comic books. Pathetic. We of the Ux-Ron galaxy are strong and brave. We will purge your world with Chakg!"
The party could see that Zeech was in a state of mental disarray. They dragged one of the Ux-Ron warriors into the room and showed him the green makeup and rubber prosthetics.
Zeech was infuriated, "Betrayal! You humans have infiltrated my Ux-Ron guard. Do you Terrans have no shame!?"
Zero tried to reason with Zeech, but the exalted War King became incensed and drew his laser gun. The group was forced to defend themselves, killing him.
Searching through the "starship" they found it all an elaborate fabrication. The computers were cardboard and the alien metal walls were old Brotherhood barricade steel.
And, buried in a locker in the captain's quarters, they found a well-worn copy of a pre-war comic book: The Unstoppables Visit the Ux-Ron Galaxy...
[RIP Christopher. gg]
Next Session: SESSION 06: FROM STARSHIP TO WONDER DOG
Next Session: SESSION 06: FROM STARSHIP TO WONDER DOG
Players: (The Heroes of St. Louis): Lex Garridan, Linda, Mister Man, Mouse, Zero
*May 8th, 2317*
(Adventure Day 14)
The campfire crackled sweetly, the traveling party were fast asleep, including their new associate Doctor Antyllus, an important figure in Caesar's Legion who could give important testimony to the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel. All except for Mister Man, who looked out into the darkness, scanning lazily. The robot's acute sensors noticed Mouse, shaking and twitching with the unmistakable signs of an intense dream.
Soon, Mouse awoke to discover a concerned Mister Man hovering over him in concern. Mouse described the dream unabashedly, reporting that he had seen himself back at St. Louis, at the diplomatic summit. He dreamed that he had unconsciously dropped a small electronic device when no one was looking. But this was just a dream, and he didn't know what it meant.
In the morning, Mouse told the rest of the group about the dream openly. The others had vague suspicions, but a dream is just a dream. Antyllus was uninterested, and bid them to get moving again.
The group made a stop at the old Folk Nuclear Plant, the old fission reactor which provided electricity to Jefferson, Missouri. It had suffered an indirect hit from a Chinese ICBM during the Great War and was subsequently very irradiated. Linda, Mister Man and Zero delved into the facility, while the humans waited from afar. Linda basked in the glow of Atom and the looters discovered some useful items including a first aid kit and an old shotgun. Mouse used the time to catch a molerat for its meat.
They had been told by Ree back at Honeysuckle Farm that a jet dealer named Thump Milton was looking to enslave her sister and that this man could usually be found at Mari-Osa Bridge. And sure enough, when the group approached the bridge, they could see an agitated man pacing around with a machete. Mouse used his considerable stealth to flank around this figure and ready his bow. The others approached the bridge directly.
Lex, guileless as ever, walked up and said, "Hi! I'm Lex."
The disorganized man erupted with response: "H-h-hey! Buy some jet? I got good quality jet!"
Lex turned to her companions, saying, "I don't know what jet is."
"Drugs," Zero answered. Then he addressed the dealer, "Yeah, I want some jet. How much?"
"That's negotiable!" the man barked. "Depends what you got. But, I mean, it's jet! Jet's fifty caps! Jet equals fifty caps! Everybody KNOWS that!"
"Okay, okay," Zero said, trying to calm the excited man. "But could we maybe come down on that price?"
"Yeah, maybe," the dealer stammered. "But this is Thump Milton jet! Best quality jet ever!"
"You're Thump Milton?" Zero asked.
"Yeah, I'm Thump fucking Milton!" the man shouted. And with that, three arrows arced in from the bushes, striking Thump in the left arm and crippling it. Mouse had not hesitated to attack. Reacting quickly, Lex drew her rifle and shot the dealer.
Thump's eyes widened with shock and rage. With his functioning arm, he drew a sawed-off shotgun and blasted Linda with a devastating attack. The accelerated maniac then charged into his opponents, retrieved a molotov cocktail and smashed it at his feet - bathing the group in flame, but also setting himself alight.
The party shot, hacked, bludgeoned and punched Thump Milton seven times before he died. The whole time, they were dealt with the flames of his molotov, with Linda and Mister Man jumping in a nearby river for relief. Having saved Ree's sister from slavery, the group looted Thump's body, healed up and moved on.
It was a long walk back to Emancipation, but the group found the journey uneventful. They made special effort to avoid Brotherhood detection as they passed Camp Jefferson, putting a hood over Doctor Antyllus. Soon, they were back in the village, at Penn Terrace to see the mayor.
Even from outside, they could see that John Giscala was agitated. He was pacing around his front room when they knocked on the door. Doctor John was glad to see Antyllus and he invited everyone to come into his home to speak. The Legion doctor went over the story of their journey and repeated his claim that Caesar Aurelian Resitutor was fiercely anti-nuclear. Antyllus restated his wish to go to Chicago and testify in person to the Elders of the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel.
Doctor John dismissed the idea fervently. "Absolutely not. The Elders will have you wrapped up in interrogation for the next hundred years. No, you'll stay here and we'll write up an affidavit and have it delivered to Chicago."
"Thank you for this," Giscala said, "And, of course, there's more work to be done."
Doctor John's tone became a bit conspiratorial. He chose his words carefully when he said, "As you'd imagine, many of the survivors of the St. Louis attack have been ghoul-ified. Chicago is going over what is to be done with these people."
"Whaddaya mean, 'what is to be done'?" Zero said, expecting the worst.
"Well," the doctor said delicately, "The ghouls in Gravestone have a potential feral test - a medical test to determine whether a ghoul will eventually lapse into a wild, murderous state. And my medical staff have, perhaps, nudged some findings so that Chicago has more confidence in this test than maybe they should. I would like you to go to Gravestone and get a ghoul named Proton to give you at least fifty of these tests. And, perhaps, insist on tests that are likely to come back negative. You'll bring back these tests, the new ghouls will get tested, we'll tell Chicago all the ghouls are nice and they get left in peace."
"I think I like this plan," Zero said.
"Wait, we're lying about tests to the Brotherhood?" Mouse asked.
"We're, maybe, massaging the truth to help some people out," clarified Zero.
Mouse thought about it. "What're we getting paid?"
Doctor John's brow furrowed: "All of our caps are wrapped up in the relief effort. Is there something you wanted?"
Zero stepped in, "I would consider it a personal favour to me."
"Alright," Mouse said, "I'll do it for Zero." The rest of the group agreed and they prepared to leave to go get dinner and some rest."
"There is one more thing," Giscala added. "Since it's at least a week's travel to Gravestone, you'll be gone for the election. So, I'll let you vote early before you leave."
The group noted that they had no idea what the mayor was talking about.
Doctor John looked conflicted and said, "Paladin Hector has informed me that the Brotherhood is invoking martial law. They want to replace me as leader of Emancipation with a Brotherhood Scribe, but their laws dictate that we get to hold a referendum to voluntarily submit or to keep our independence. I honestly don't know what to do. I was elected to keep the military out of our affairs, but we owe so much to the Brotherhood."
The group was adamantly for independence and cast their vote against Brotherhood control, save for Linda, who wanted to vote in accordance with Atom's will. And not knowing the opinion of her god or her church, she didn't feel comfortable voting.
In the early evening, Booches Bar was always alive with cheerful villagers, and tonight was no exception. The group wanted to talk to Booch about the map they found under the Checkpoint Hazelgreen bridge which vaguely indicated that the bar might be valuable to runaway slaves from Caesar's Legion.
"Booch super mutant. Very dumb," he said evasively. "Doesn't understand geography."
Zero wanted to talk to Booch about Emancipation's independence referendum, and Booch was equally cagey, saying, "Booch super mutant. Very dumb. Doesn't understand politics."
When the group pressed him, Booch said only, "One hundred years ago, Midwest Brotherhood of Steel come to Booch village. Fight Calculator or die. So, Booch go to war. Super mutant always in front. 'You super mutant! You like fighting!' Always in front. Very bad."
The group wanted to talk more, but could tell they weren't going to get much further with him. So, they had Booch cook their meat and enjoyed an excellent dinner.
With a few hours left before bedtime, Zero looked to convince the influential people of Emancipation to vote to keep their independence. Traveling to Cindy Zhao's shop, they first informed Cindy that people in Caesar's Legion were looking to re-capture her, and she was unsurprised. They asked her about the referendum and she told them that she was firmly for Brotherhood rule. She believed that a war with Caesar's Legion was long overdue, and a military takeover of government was a step in the right direction. Zero plead with her, and she disclosed that she would change her vote - for 200 caps. That was too rich for the group, so they asked her to reconsider and left.
They next approached Nacho Huerta, Emancipation's labour leader. Nacho also advocated for military control. He declared that the village owed everything to the Brotherhood, and if they were called to defend their nation, they should be proud to serve. Zero, whom Nacho considered a friend, tried to argue for independence. He claimed Emancipation was their nation, not the Brotherhood. Nacho was ultimately unswayed.
Zero found some comfort when he discovered that Lyttle Bridges [yes, that is a name people have], the owner of the Candlewood Suites hotel, agreed fervently with independence. She noted that her patrons were often foreign travelers moving along the I-70 corridor and didn't want to be hassled by needless Brotherhood scrutiny.
Within the village, that really only left Mother Sage of the Children of Atom to convince. Linda, having been warned that if she approached the Altar of Atom she would be shot on sight, was kept occupied by Mister Man while the others went to visit the religious leader.
When Mother Sage saw that Linda was not with them, she was immediately panicked, "Oh no, what happened to Linda!? Why isn't she with you?"
"She's fine," Zero reassured her. "We're taking good care of Linda."
"She's made new friends," Lex added. "Pam and Jane," referring to the names Linda had given to her fighting board and junk jet.
"Oh, thank Atom," Sage exhaled. "Tell Linda I miss her. I pray for her. So, why have you come to see me?"
"I wanted to talk to you about the referendum," Zero began.
"I'm going to have to stop you right there," Mother sage interrupted. "Although many of us are urging Holy Toledo to change their decision, it's official orthodoxy that ghoulification is a curse, and so you are not allowed to set foot on church grounds. I'm sorry."
Zero was offended, but nodded politely and parted, leaving Lex to continue the pitch. Knowing almost nothing about the religion, Lex did her best to vaguely imply that Brotherhood leadership might be biased against the free worship of Atom and that freedom was a goodness that Atom would endorse. Mother Sage was convinced. She promised to vote for independence and to urge all of her followers to do the same.
Linda was glad to know that Mother Sage was alright and expressed that she still missed the church. She cast her vote for independence. The hour was getting late and the group had a long trek ahead, so they went to sleep.
*May 9th, 2317*
(Adventure Day 14)
Having never seen the exclusive country club for themselves, the party decided to head to Prathersville Lodge. There they met Prathersville, the gold-plated Mister Handy who administered the club. The robot spoke languidly and with condescension. He informed them that entry required membership, and membership required written sponsorship from two current members. With St. Louis in disarray, that probably only left the wealthy of Gravestone available for petition.
Mouse eyed the lavish estate greedily, instinctively formulating a plan to rob the place. But, in a quick view of the grounds, he spotted at least four sentry bots and six automated turrets. That heist was better left for another day.
Zero had heard vague rumours of a place to the northwest that purportedly harboured some kind of alien spacecraft. It was an opportunity that excited him greatly and the others acquiesced, noting that it was vaguely on the way to Gravestone anyway.
Arriving in the alleged area, the group felt a strange electricity in the air. Before they knew it, they were encircled by a group of green-skinned warriors, armed with swords and laser weapons.
Their leader proclaimed dramatically, "I am Akk, warrior of the Ux-Ron Galactic Order! You Terrans must be brought before War King Zeech! Do you come peacefully?"
Zero, looking to represent Earth diplomatically, conceded to the Ux-Ron's demands, but the others were more defensive. Mister Man could see with his sensors that these "aliens" were really human men, their green faces and alien features achieved with makeup and rubber prosthetics.
Mouse was especially wary when the Ux-Rons demanded that the group be hooded when they were taken to the Starship Jark'k to meet War King Zeech. But outnumbered and out-gunned, he eventually relented.
The party was hooded and led into the Starship Jark'k's brig, guarded by two warriors. In a cell across from them, a starving prisoner informed them that they were to undergo the Trial of Chakg, which they would not survive. The prisoner lamented that even the Silver Shroud could not thwart the Ux-Ron, and so they had no hope.
Zero knew that the Silver Shroud was a pre-war comic book character, but he also recalled that since the Great War many vigilantes and do-gooders had taken up the mantle of the Silver Shroud in real life. The group discussed the situation and were busy formulating plans for escape when the two guards stirred.
"Prisoner!" one of the guards shouted to the man in the opposite cell. "The time for your Trial of Chakg has come!"
And with that the two Ux-Ron warriors fired their laser guns into the starving man's cell, vapourizing him into red dust.
Shocked and alarmed, the group had had enough of this nonsense. Zero beckoned the guards to come closer and attacked them through the bars. Lex picked their cell door with a bobby pin, freeing the party to quietly kill the two Ux-Rons.
They went room to room, slaughtering Ux-Ron warriors as they found them. Lex blew one's leg clean off with her hunting rifle. Mister Man bisected another with the keen edge of his buzzsaw. Soon, only their leader was left, the illustrious War King Zeech.
When the group entered the captain's quarters, Zeech bade them, "Enough! This fighting is madness. I know much of you Terrans. I have heard much of your people, you hu-mans. I have heard tale of a boy named... Christopher. He was small and weak. His world was in ashes, so in his feebleness, he retreated into your so-called comic books. Pathetic. We of the Ux-Ron galaxy are strong and brave. We will purge your world with Chakg!"
The party could see that Zeech was in a state of mental disarray. They dragged one of the Ux-Ron warriors into the room and showed him the green makeup and rubber prosthetics.
Zeech was infuriated, "Betrayal! You humans have infiltrated my Ux-Ron guard. Do you Terrans have no shame!?"
Zero tried to reason with Zeech, but the exalted War King became incensed and drew his laser gun. The group was forced to defend themselves, killing him.
Searching through the "starship" they found it all an elaborate fabrication. The computers were cardboard and the alien metal walls were old Brotherhood barricade steel.
And, buried in a locker in the captain's quarters, they found a well-worn copy of a pre-war comic book: The Unstoppables Visit the Ux-Ron Galaxy...
[RIP Christopher. gg]
Next Session: SESSION 06: FROM STARSHIP TO WONDER DOG
Rewards Granted
Missions/Quests Completed
Character(s) interacted with
Report Date
23 May 2021
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