SESSION 90: WHY ARE WE TALKING TO THIS PERSON
General Summary
Previous Session: SESSION 89: SHILLS IN FORT WAYNE
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Players: The Fellowship of the Doing the Things, Andy, Lex Garridan, Linda, Morag, Arminius
The Party were still in Fort Wayne, a small town in The Rustlands. They had won Juniper's "trial" in the local Talkhouse, managing to sway the crowd with their boisterous antics. Knifetooth had agreed to pay double for Juniper's repairs, fulfilling their deal with her. They returned triumphantly to Juniper's shop. Just as promised, the vaultie revealed the nature of her work with the Hellcats mercenary company. She had helped them outfit high pressure engine cylinders to take biodiesel instead of petroleum diesel fuel. Juniper had been shocked that they wanted hundreds of these cylinders modified, learning her technique and applying to their apparently vast collection of vehicles. These vehicles were clearly heavy-duty machines requiring very high horsepower and torque.
Interested in impressing another captain, the team decided to go to the Diamond Fighthouse for the racing challenge. This was a combat race with each team combining a cranker which drove the car, a driver who piloted the car and a javelineer who threw spears at the other cars. The team settled on a team of Linda cranking, Lex driving and Scipio throwing spears.
Linda cranked them into an early lead, the cars behind crashing and fighting mostly among themselves. But pulling around the second turn, a car put a javelin through one of the Party's tires. Starting to lose ground, Lex reached out with her mind and confused the other drivers with psychic illusions. The other cars were hopelessly delayed and distracted. Crunch, one of the Hellcats captains, saw the mess and called the race. He offered Lex, Linda and Scipio places in the Hellcats. He was impressed by their performance and said that they could speak to Johnny Strabler, who might have a special duty for them.
They had completed all three of the Hellcats' challenges, and feeling suitably qualified went to Warlady Nephelle in order to get a meeting with Johnny Strabler, CEO of the Hellcats. The warlady's base of operations was an old apartment building, rebuilt and refurbished as local administration. The Party found many Fort Wayne local guards patrolling the area. When the group asked to see Nephelle, the guards demanded that the Party surrender all of their weapons. Some fast-talk was enough to get them inside still able to defend themselves.
The Warlady Nephelle was very busy with the Hellcats job fair, making sure the chaotic workings of the town didn't get out of hand. The Party approached her tentatively, not revealing the information they had gathered in her town. They asked to see Johnny Strabler, which Nephelle shot down at first. But given a note from Captain Shill, she acquiesced. But she demanded that the group surrender their weapons. This was a harder negotiation. They loosely revealed to Nephelle that she might be in danger and that they could be her only hope. She allowed them to pass, still armed.
Johnny Strabler was hiding out the Hellcats festival in a little office within the Warlady's base. He kept a pack of Hellcats elites close to him. When the Party entered his office, Johnny was flanked by six mercenaries, including one in signature Hellcats power armor.
Johnny's psychic powers kicked in, and he began to communicate telepathically with Lex. He asked her which Beastlord tribe she was from. Lex was cagey and unresponsive, pressing Strabler for more information than she would give. He revealed that his tribe of Beastlords once roamed the Indiana region, but were wiped out by the Hellcats mercenary company. Instead of taking revenge, Strabler grew up and joined the Hellcats. He worked his way to the top, taking the power that had destroyed his family.
The Party were concerned for The Rails. These Hellcats might remove Railmaster Bloodgrind and destabilize the region. But looking around the room, they saw that Johnny Station kept a serious presence in guards. And there were hundreds of Hellcats in the city to back him up. So, they backed away from his office, looking to promptly leave the city.
Passing Warlady Nephelle's office again, they decided to pay her another visit. This time, they revealed the awful plan. The Hellcats were going to use her troops to invade The Rails, leaving her spent and defenceless. Then she would be discarded, left to be conquered by the Responders gang. She didn't believe them at first, but as they talked, things began to emerge which convinced her. Nephelle vowed to leave the city, taking as many Fort Wayne mercs as were still loyal, and flee town. She would send word to the Railmaster by courier, which had a better chance of slipping past the Hellcats than a blimp.
The Party knew they should leave Fort Wayne as soon as possible. They paid Heller the spy robot another visit. Heller listened in shock as they relayed the Hellcats' plans. He vowed to get word to Railmaster Bloodgrind. Soon after, they boarded the Ms. Man and left town. Hovering at a safe distance, they decided to sleep for the night.
As the Party nodded off to sleep, Andy couldn't help but think of his journey to this point. Newly awakened this spring, he and the SchlockettBots of All-American City arose to find that the Reavers had reprogrammed them. No longer bound to service in the city, they were free to pursue their own destinies. Some of the robots had found a portrait of Arthur Schlockett with a second figure painted beside him. The painting said that this was Mouse, the Son of Schlockett.
The SchlockettBots were excited at the prospect of their creator having a son and heir. Their leader, Betty Bagger called for volunteers to venture into the wasteland to find this Mouse. Andy was the first to step forward, eager to take on the mission. The others were skeptical about a simple assistant model travelling the dangerous wastes, but Betty put her faith in Andy. Since then, he had been on quite an adventure.
September 11th, 2317
(Adventure Day 139)
The sun rose on another day and the Party was off again aboard the Ms. Man. They had heard many stories of Ysidro and his Responders terrorizing the region. Wanting to be helpful, they flew to their lair at Huff Track. But they found the Responders' refinery to be a well-defended fortress. There were four towers, each with a team of a dozen defenders. The Responders were well-armed, equipped with missile launchers and upgraded laser muskets. Though they were sad to leave the region harried by these bandits, the Party decided to leave without engaging.
Flying their airship eastward, they espied Truckasaurus Wrecks from the air. This spectacle was an automobile race in a circuit. And in the middle of the track was a giant robotic dinosaur which would randomly knock cars off the track. There was betting and refreshments. But the group decided not to touch down.
The next scouted Fort Defiance where they saw a rough gang occupying some kind of refurbished resort hotel.
Never stopping to land, they cut southward to the village of Glandorf. They saw a cozy hamlet of small houses encircling a central factory. But the factory belched black smoke, blanketing the area in foul pollution.
The Ms. Man flew on to the Join Systems Tank Plant. This pre-war industrial facility built armoured vehicles for the Sino-American war centuries before. The many tanks within had been left to corrode these long years. And from the air, they saw no occupation. But landing nearby and sneaking into the facility, they found a concerning scene. The hulks of tanks were gone. Three hundred Justice Main Battle Tanks had been refurbished and rolled out of the facility. Examining the tracks, Lex could discern that the vehicles had left in three groups. One third had travelled to the northeast towards Holy Toledo, a third had gone westward towards The Rails and the last third left southward.
Careful to go unnoticed, the Party returned to their airship and continued towards Toledo. And as they flew over Captive Catsup, they found and even more concerning development. The catsup factory had been a prisoner of war labour camp back in the 21st century. But today, it was the mustering ground for an entire army. 200 tanks and over 2000 troops had been amassed. There were Children of Atom Inquisitors, Hellcats mercenaries and soldiers from the Capitol all conglomerating together in a unified battle structure.
The Party could barely believe their eyes and quickly diverted the airship, worried they might be spotted. They pressed on to Holy Toledo, where they saw another congregation gathered. A crowd of thousands of faithful had come to the Holy of Holies, the centre of the faith.
A radio signal was sent to the Ms. Man, offering the personal invitation of High Confessor Leo I. They landed as instructed and were greeted by a group of Inquisitors. The Party were shocked to discover that the Inquisitors were led by Right Inquisitor Tomaas himself. The brutal man explained that the Party were guests of the High Confessor, and so the Inquisitors had been commanded to swear to Atom that no harm would be done. But Tomaas informed them that if they broke the laws of the city, then every Inquisitor in Toledo would be duty-bound to execute them.
It was a strange situation, made stranger when they were informed that High Confessor Leo was about to make one of his rare addresses to the faithful. Tomaas would lead them to a special spectating box where they could hear the religious leader's important words. But what that message would entail, only Leo knew, and perhaps Atom…
Next Session:
Next Session:
Players: The Fellowship of the Doing the Things, Andy, Lex Garridan, Linda, Morag, Arminius
The Party were still in Fort Wayne, a small town in The Rustlands. They had won Juniper's "trial" in the local Talkhouse, managing to sway the crowd with their boisterous antics. Knifetooth had agreed to pay double for Juniper's repairs, fulfilling their deal with her. They returned triumphantly to Juniper's shop. Just as promised, the vaultie revealed the nature of her work with the Hellcats mercenary company. She had helped them outfit high pressure engine cylinders to take biodiesel instead of petroleum diesel fuel. Juniper had been shocked that they wanted hundreds of these cylinders modified, learning her technique and applying to their apparently vast collection of vehicles. These vehicles were clearly heavy-duty machines requiring very high horsepower and torque.
Interested in impressing another captain, the team decided to go to the Diamond Fighthouse for the racing challenge. This was a combat race with each team combining a cranker which drove the car, a driver who piloted the car and a javelineer who threw spears at the other cars. The team settled on a team of Linda cranking, Lex driving and Scipio throwing spears.
Linda cranked them into an early lead, the cars behind crashing and fighting mostly among themselves. But pulling around the second turn, a car put a javelin through one of the Party's tires. Starting to lose ground, Lex reached out with her mind and confused the other drivers with psychic illusions. The other cars were hopelessly delayed and distracted. Crunch, one of the Hellcats captains, saw the mess and called the race. He offered Lex, Linda and Scipio places in the Hellcats. He was impressed by their performance and said that they could speak to Johnny Strabler, who might have a special duty for them.
They had completed all three of the Hellcats' challenges, and feeling suitably qualified went to Warlady Nephelle in order to get a meeting with Johnny Strabler, CEO of the Hellcats. The warlady's base of operations was an old apartment building, rebuilt and refurbished as local administration. The Party found many Fort Wayne local guards patrolling the area. When the group asked to see Nephelle, the guards demanded that the Party surrender all of their weapons. Some fast-talk was enough to get them inside still able to defend themselves.
The Warlady Nephelle was very busy with the Hellcats job fair, making sure the chaotic workings of the town didn't get out of hand. The Party approached her tentatively, not revealing the information they had gathered in her town. They asked to see Johnny Strabler, which Nephelle shot down at first. But given a note from Captain Shill, she acquiesced. But she demanded that the group surrender their weapons. This was a harder negotiation. They loosely revealed to Nephelle that she might be in danger and that they could be her only hope. She allowed them to pass, still armed.
Johnny Strabler was hiding out the Hellcats festival in a little office within the Warlady's base. He kept a pack of Hellcats elites close to him. When the Party entered his office, Johnny was flanked by six mercenaries, including one in signature Hellcats power armor.
Johnny's psychic powers kicked in, and he began to communicate telepathically with Lex. He asked her which Beastlord tribe she was from. Lex was cagey and unresponsive, pressing Strabler for more information than she would give. He revealed that his tribe of Beastlords once roamed the Indiana region, but were wiped out by the Hellcats mercenary company. Instead of taking revenge, Strabler grew up and joined the Hellcats. He worked his way to the top, taking the power that had destroyed his family.
The Party were concerned for The Rails. These Hellcats might remove Railmaster Bloodgrind and destabilize the region. But looking around the room, they saw that Johnny Station kept a serious presence in guards. And there were hundreds of Hellcats in the city to back him up. So, they backed away from his office, looking to promptly leave the city.
Passing Warlady Nephelle's office again, they decided to pay her another visit. This time, they revealed the awful plan. The Hellcats were going to use her troops to invade The Rails, leaving her spent and defenceless. Then she would be discarded, left to be conquered by the Responders gang. She didn't believe them at first, but as they talked, things began to emerge which convinced her. Nephelle vowed to leave the city, taking as many Fort Wayne mercs as were still loyal, and flee town. She would send word to the Railmaster by courier, which had a better chance of slipping past the Hellcats than a blimp.
The Party knew they should leave Fort Wayne as soon as possible. They paid Heller the spy robot another visit. Heller listened in shock as they relayed the Hellcats' plans. He vowed to get word to Railmaster Bloodgrind. Soon after, they boarded the Ms. Man and left town. Hovering at a safe distance, they decided to sleep for the night.
As the Party nodded off to sleep, Andy couldn't help but think of his journey to this point. Newly awakened this spring, he and the SchlockettBots of All-American City arose to find that the Reavers had reprogrammed them. No longer bound to service in the city, they were free to pursue their own destinies. Some of the robots had found a portrait of Arthur Schlockett with a second figure painted beside him. The painting said that this was Mouse, the Son of Schlockett.
The SchlockettBots were excited at the prospect of their creator having a son and heir. Their leader, Betty Bagger called for volunteers to venture into the wasteland to find this Mouse. Andy was the first to step forward, eager to take on the mission. The others were skeptical about a simple assistant model travelling the dangerous wastes, but Betty put her faith in Andy. Since then, he had been on quite an adventure.
September 11th, 2317
(Adventure Day 139)
The sun rose on another day and the Party was off again aboard the Ms. Man. They had heard many stories of Ysidro and his Responders terrorizing the region. Wanting to be helpful, they flew to their lair at Huff Track. But they found the Responders' refinery to be a well-defended fortress. There were four towers, each with a team of a dozen defenders. The Responders were well-armed, equipped with missile launchers and upgraded laser muskets. Though they were sad to leave the region harried by these bandits, the Party decided to leave without engaging.
Flying their airship eastward, they espied Truckasaurus Wrecks from the air. This spectacle was an automobile race in a circuit. And in the middle of the track was a giant robotic dinosaur which would randomly knock cars off the track. There was betting and refreshments. But the group decided not to touch down.
The next scouted Fort Defiance where they saw a rough gang occupying some kind of refurbished resort hotel.
Never stopping to land, they cut southward to the village of Glandorf. They saw a cozy hamlet of small houses encircling a central factory. But the factory belched black smoke, blanketing the area in foul pollution.
The Ms. Man flew on to the Join Systems Tank Plant. This pre-war industrial facility built armoured vehicles for the Sino-American war centuries before. The many tanks within had been left to corrode these long years. And from the air, they saw no occupation. But landing nearby and sneaking into the facility, they found a concerning scene. The hulks of tanks were gone. Three hundred Justice Main Battle Tanks had been refurbished and rolled out of the facility. Examining the tracks, Lex could discern that the vehicles had left in three groups. One third had travelled to the northeast towards Holy Toledo, a third had gone westward towards The Rails and the last third left southward.
Careful to go unnoticed, the Party returned to their airship and continued towards Toledo. And as they flew over Captive Catsup, they found and even more concerning development. The catsup factory had been a prisoner of war labour camp back in the 21st century. But today, it was the mustering ground for an entire army. 200 tanks and over 2000 troops had been amassed. There were Children of Atom Inquisitors, Hellcats mercenaries and soldiers from the Capitol all conglomerating together in a unified battle structure.
The Party could barely believe their eyes and quickly diverted the airship, worried they might be spotted. They pressed on to Holy Toledo, where they saw another congregation gathered. A crowd of thousands of faithful had come to the Holy of Holies, the centre of the faith.
A radio signal was sent to the Ms. Man, offering the personal invitation of High Confessor Leo I. They landed as instructed and were greeted by a group of Inquisitors. The Party were shocked to discover that the Inquisitors were led by Right Inquisitor Tomaas himself. The brutal man explained that the Party were guests of the High Confessor, and so the Inquisitors had been commanded to swear to Atom that no harm would be done. But Tomaas informed them that if they broke the laws of the city, then every Inquisitor in Toledo would be duty-bound to execute them.
It was a strange situation, made stranger when they were informed that High Confessor Leo was about to make one of his rare addresses to the faithful. Tomaas would lead them to a special spectating box where they could hear the religious leader's important words. But what that message would entail, only Leo knew, and perhaps Atom…
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Report Date
20 Jan 2024
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