The cast:
- Switchblade (Maestro D'/Wolf of the Maelstrom): acrobatic woman in a fool's motley who leads a traveling show called the Carnival. She is handy with a knife. Switch is unnerved by her visions of her "Mother" and the new passenger with a claim to her adoptive sister Hiccup: Max. She recently killed a mutant goat some of her carnies worshipped and is currently trying to get free of Bluejay's influence.
- Max (Gunlugger): a brutal woman haunted by her past who thinks of herself as a reaver. She has joined the Carnival to be close to her little sister Hiccup.
- Ekaterina "Katya" Mikhailova Petrova (Tribal): for generations Ekaterina's people have lived on Everette, adapting themselves to its strange psychic jungles. But the environment grew too hostile. Katya led her people to a place of safety, following the visions her father saw in the maelstrom. That place is the Carnival. Now Grigori is trying to split her family up and has convince her brother Ilya to join him.
- Pipeline (Battlebabe): a golden-haired amazon, Pipeline is the head engineer of the Carnival. She had a crush on Manfred but that, like him, is in the past. She's been drinking heavily ever since.
- Hiccup (Solace): Switch's adopted sister and Max's actual if estranged sibling, Hiccup is shy but determined to make the world a better place.
Hiccup is the second character of Katya's player. Only 15, she wears comfortable knit-wear over her slim body. She has a lovely face and wide, dark eyes.
Stat-wise she had the following attributes: Cool+1, Hard+0, Hot+2, Sharp+1, Weird-1
Her starting moves were Alive in the World, Cooperative, and Disarming presence. She had some books, small crocheted animal toys, and crochet hooks and knitting needles. Not really a fighter.
As mentioned earlier, Hiccup joined the crew of The Carnival about a year back. Hiccup’s parents were “abusive assholes” living on a moon called Shepherd. Switch decided to reach out to the girl and offer her a new home. Since then, the two have been close, although Hiccup is still fairly timid and rarely leaves the ship without Switch or another muscle as an escort. With the arrival of her sister, Max, and the recent upheaval among the normally stable Carnival crew, Hiccup has begun exerting her own agency over recent situations, awakened to the fallen angels moving among humanity.
Falling Angels
The rumble of humanity crowded in on the knot of pharmaceutical vendors in Megaton's market. Max opened one of the boxes at a medical supply stall. She found more stim shots in the aged foam packaging, long past their expiration date.Max raised her head to find the merchant when a large man collided with her. She fell back a step and looked up at him.
Scarred limbs, burnt by gunshots and the explosion that took her arm, connected to wide shoulders framing an open face almost as perplexed as her own. Realization dawned on Mech.
"Max!" he said before she plunged a knife into his hand, pinning it to the wooden counter.
The men behind him just began to register on Max's mind as she pulled a second knife with her other hand. She sliced left to right and up, burying the blade in his heart.
"Mech," she replied as his guts poured out of his rent torso.
Mech and Max had history. That history is now done.
Mechanically she seized by force. 2-harm +1 for blood crazed, possibly +1 from her roll. She takes his life.
His bodyguards' mouths dropped open a moment before they rushed her. "She got Mech! Take her out."
They crashed into her, sending her sprawling. Safeties clicked and guns cocked around her.
I believe this occurred because of a harm roll. Max took a net 0 harm (or possibly negative) due to armor and her success in seize by force but still got a 7-9 result.
Max flipped over and sprang to her feet, slicing at them with her knife. Bullets rang where she stood a moment ago. She cut into the thick of them. A few rounds connected with her armor with dull thuds before she stabbed the last of them through the eye.
Another seize by force. She fights as a small gang so that even things out. They have guns but she's at close range. I think she did more poorly on her rolls so took 1-harm. They die.
"What the hell!" someone shouted from down the market aisle. A second knot of goons opened fire from thirty yards away. Max snatched up submachine gun from the floor and strafed them. Her bullets found their mark as they fired wide. A sole survivor ran as his comrades fell and disappeared into the crowd.
I'm not a fan of multiple seize by forces but that is what we have here. If the MC was going to include multiple gangs he or she probably should have broken out the battle rules.
Max stowed her new gun and hurried back toward the Carnival.
"I need someplace isolated," Katya explained as she walked away from the market with Irina.
Her friend turned her head sharply. "Did you hear that? It sounded like those weapons Max uses, guns."
"Let us not get involved. This way."
Katya led Irina into an unused bay.
"So you really intend to go through with it?" Irina asked.
"Of course. To save my father I must spirit walk to his soul."
"No. I mean marry Grigori."
"If that is what it takes." Katya looked up at a sign over the next bay. "Bay XX. I wonder what that means."
Irina looked around the empty space. "It looks unused. Why do not we set up here?"
"I agree. I will start a fire."
Katya laid down a bundle of planks and assembled a campfire. The flames were just catching when several men marched in from the unused sections of Megaton further down.
A man near the front shouted at them. Burn scars covered her face. "Put out that fire!"
The other men continued walking, cradling a large object wrapped in burlap.
"Get out of here!" he said, glancing back at the men.
Katya and Irina looked at each other.
"Let's go," Irina said. "They could be dangerous."
"They are hiding something," Katya said as she nodded. "Secrets make men dangerous."
The women doused their fire and relocated even deeper into Megaton.
"This should do," Katya said, examining the dust on the final bay.
"Bay XXXII," Irina read from the plaque. "Let's return to the Carnival and get what we need."
"I can't believe him!" Switch fumed as Pipeline and Daily trailed along behind her.
"Switch, are you sure no one touched the suitcase?" Daily said. "It wouldn't be the first time someone got into the safe."
A cloaked man confronted them. "Come with me, you are in danger."
"What?" Pipeline said.
"Who are you?" Switch asked.
"I used to with the White Guard. I'm Commander Kriss." He took Switch's arm. "We have to hurry. A patrol could be here at any moment."
"I don't understand."
"You saw Bluejay's lieutenant? He wants you dead. Come, this way."
The man led them to one of Megaton's walls. He pressed on some of the rivets and a panel of the wall swung inward.
"Wait," Pipeline said, grabbing his other arm. "I don't trust you. Why should we follow you?"
"We have to go now." He unbuckled his sword sheath. "Would you trust me more if I was unarmed? Take my weapon."
Pipeline took the sword. "Fine, lead on."
Kriss led the group through a series of narrow corridors and opened another secret panel. Beyond they saw a rusty chamber recently cleared of refuse.
A few dozen men and woman jumped to attention as Commander Kriss entered.
"You've returned safely," an old man said.
"Yes and I found some potential allies." He turned to the others. "This is Tack, our leader. Tack, these are the crew of the Carnival. They had business with Bluejay's men recently. It did not go well."
Tack walked over with the help of a cane. "I hope you can help. Some of our people made a run for it a few days ago. Perhaps you can help us connect with them and coordinate our plan to retake the space station."
"I don't know," Pipeline said slowly.
"We'll consider it," Switch said. "But are you sure they escaped? We encountered some debris on our way to Megaton."
"We should really be getting back to our ship," Daily added.
"Oh crap!" Switch said. "If Bug is after us, he's probably already heading for the Carnival. I need to get back to the ship and warn them."
"I'll take you there," Kriss said.
Hiccup gazed out the hangar door. Out in the gray dock, people hurried past heading to one destination or another. A few stopped to visit the Carnival bringing jingle and news.
The young woman stood up. Nervously she gathered her handmade dolls in a bag and began to walk down the ramp. Maybe I can trade these for something for Switch, she thought.
She spotted Max hurrying towards the ship. Her sister kept glancing behind her.
"What's going on Max?" she asked Max.
Along with a Read a Person roll.
"I've got to get out of sight," Max said.
"That's not an answer, sis. Tell me."
Max continued onto the ship with Hiccup trailing behind her. "I got in a fight. It was Mech, he is here. Was here. I, I killed him. I'm sorry."
Hiccup stopped. In Max's pained expression, she saw more than a fear of disappointing her. Max felt guilty.
"Why did you do it?" Hiccup asked softly.
"I don't know. I've hated him for so long. He took everything from me. It happened so fast."
"What's going on?" Chic said. "What sort of trouble did you cause?"
"Butt out, Chic," Hiccup said. "Come with me Max. I'll help sort this out."
Hiccup led Max to her room. "Let's clean you up and work out some sort of disguise in case they come looking for you."
Switch led the others into the dockyard. The large red ship sat at the far end.
"It's still safe," she declared.
"Why are all those people exiting?" Daily said.
Pipeline narrowed her eyes. "It's Algor and his cult. They must be finally leaving. Good riddance."
"No!" Switch ran over the ship.
She reached the ramp just as the last of the freaks disembarked. "Algor, Chainsaw, everyone, please stay."
Algor shook his head. "I'm sorry but we meant it when we said we would preach the word of the Beast. Since you won't let us work as part of the Carnival, we must find a new place for our ministry."
"Let's talk about this."
"If you wish to speak with us you can find us in Bay 5. We must go now."
As the freaks marched away from the Carnival, a tear rolled down Switchblade's face. "I'll see you later then."
"I'll be in the engine room," Pipeline called to Switch as they boarded the Carnival.
Switch turned to Kriss. "Daily will handle anything you need Kriss. I need to take care of some other business first."
The carnival leader headed for the trapeze section of the hangar bay. At the base of one of the ladders heading up, she found Grigori talking with his warriors.
"Grigori," Switch said. "Just who I was looking for."
"What do you want of me, Switchblade?"
"I wanted to see where you stood now that the Beast is gone."
Switch tried to read a person but failed...
"I stand here with my tribe."
A crash cut off their conversation. A squad of men led by a man with large patch of scar tissue on his face entered the hangar bay. Switch recognized him, Hurt.
"Switch!" the man called. "You owe Bluejay."
Red Shirt ran up to them. A towering thug behind Hurt picked him up and carried him under one arm.
"Hey!" Red Shirt protested.
"What do you want?" Switch demanded.
"You took an item from the payment. Pay up."
"I told Bug. I don't owe him anything." Switch pulled a knife. "Now you leave or we will toss your corpses into space."
Switch does much better going aggro. Thanks to Devil with a blade she can use +hot.
Behind her, Switch heard the reassuring clicks and rustles of her crew arming up.
Hurt backed off. "Fine, you win this one. You've got a day. If you don't pay up by then we'll pop the airlocks and see how you like the vacuum."
The giant thug dropped Red Shirt as they walked off.
As Bluejay's legbreakers headed for the Carnival exit, Kriss came up behind Switch. "You can't let them leave. They'll be back with more manpower and hurt your family."
Don't listen to a wolf of the maelstrom!
Switch closed her eyes and pray to her mother. A soft voice whispered to her. "Don't let them leave. Save your family. Kill them."
Don't listen to another wolf of the maelstrom!
The captain shivered as she opened her eyes. She pulled a red wooden mask, Manfred's mask, from her pouch. It spoke to her. "Murder."
Dammit, mask. You had one job.
"Wait!" Switch called out.
"What?" Hurt said as the rest of his men lurched to a halt.
Switch advanced on the giant. In one fluid motion she sliced through both of his kneecaps. He crumpled in pain.
Instantly both sides opened fire. Belter, Chic and Wayward provided cover as Switchblade dodged between Bluejay's men cutting them down. Distantly she heard a faint cry.
"They killed him!" Chic screamed as she charged out into the open whirling flaming rods. "They killed Kittens! They killed my son!"
Bluejay's thugs are better armed (3-harm vs. 2-harm) and armored (1-armor vs. 0-armor). Seize by force can only even this out. Switch does not roll well.
A spray of automatic fire cut her down. Wayward fell to the hail of bullets as he ran to her rescue. Switch kept moving dropping thug after thug even as her crew, her family, died around her.
Max drew her submachine gun as she reached the hanger.
Hiccup grabbed her arm. "No. He's the real threat."
The teen pointed to Kriss lurking in the shadows nearby, smiling at the carnage.
"Why?" Max asked, her fingers twitching.
"He's not a man. He's, I don't know, a devil."
Hiccup can see what he really looks like.
Max looked through the maelstrom. In the blood and soot stained wreckage of the Carnival she saw the monster Kriss truly was. A fallen angel with empty eyes and soul.
"Hiccup, hide. Don't come out until I come for you." Max leveled her gun and advanced.
Far above the Baikal tribe watched and waited.
We have two major fights here. The Carnival vs. Bluejay's thugs and Max vs. the Wolf of the Maelstrom. One of Kris's moves is that he only takes 1-harm from any attack. It will not save him.
Kriss turned and leveled his gun at her. Bullets flew through the air between them. They sang around Max as she skipped left and right and advanced. Several found their mark, scratching her space suit and leaving painful bruises. Kriss stood there and smiled as she riddled him with bullets.
Seize by force and Max reduces damage to 1-harm. Kriss takes the same.
Laughing, Kriss shed his human disguise for a moment, becoming something else, something inhuman. His skin shone like gold but his empty eyes were bleak and hungry.
Around the wolf of the maelstrom both the carnies and Bluejay's men threw themselves at each other in acts of desperate and depraved acts of violence. Knives used as skewers, kitchen equipment wielded as weapons, carnage raged around the false angel and the woman who thought she was a devil.
I think Kriss's move increased everyone's damage by +1 harm.
Switch dived in front of Daily as the thugs sprayed both combatant and non-combatant alike.
Acting under fire I believe.
"You're hurt," the clown said as they landed behind a ruined booth.
"We've got to stop this before everyone gets killed," she said grimacing.
Daily peered out at the blood strewn scene. "I think it might be too late."
"Stop it!" Hiccup screamed.
Disarming presence! No one can fight now.
Silence suddenly replaced the cacophony of bullets and screams. Hurt and his knot of survivors breathed heavily near the wreckage of the stands.
"Pull back," Hurt said. "Get the wounded."
As Bluejay's men pulled their comrades outside, Daily and Switch stood up and searched for the few surviving members of their family.
Kriss smiled. "This isn't over."
"It is for you," Max said, tackling Kriss to the ground.
Seize by force with the target being Kriss. I forget if this actually happened at the same time as Hiccup's move or just after.
Kriss grunted as they landed then screamed as her knives punched through his armor. She stabbed at him again and again until her blades shredded his armor and opened his torso. Blood splattered and grinning, Max impaled his heart.
Instantly Kriss ignited, flames consuming his flesh and bones, leaving nothing but ash.
And he's dead.
"Daff!" Daily cried. "Hold on. Somebody help! Daff's still alive."
Hiccup stumbled through the carnage. The dead far outnumbered the living. Those few who were elsewhere during the battle filtered in slowly, gasping and screaming in equal number. Only Max and Mice seemed unaffected. The child seemed oblivious to her brother's death, caring only about a small music player in her hands. Max stalked past her with a grim smile on her bloodstained face.
Oh, yeah the thing that caused this whole mess.
"Hold him down," Max ordered Daily. She stabbed Daff with a syringe then checked his wounds. "Okay help me move him over the Chic. I think she's the only other one still breathing."
Switch closed Wayward's cold accusing eyes. She rose and turned to Daily. The clown was shaking and paler than usual.
"Daily, get the Carnival ready to leave."
He jumped, startled out of his thoughts. "What? How? Everyone is dead."
"Not Pipeline, not the engineers. You can fly us out. I'm going to end this. Alone."
Switch walked to the main entrance. At the ramp, Grigori caught up with her.
"What are you doing?" the hunter asked as he blocked her path. "Your people need your help."
Grigori never saw the blade. He only felt pain race up his throat before he began to drown on his own blood. By the time he collapsed his friends had toss their spears from high above. In his dimming vision he saw Switch leap between the shafts, slice a rope and fly up to the rafters.
I believe Switch just attacked. No roll just instant death. Then she made her seize by force, avoided all damage and attacked the other hunters.
Needless to say, Switch is pretty unbalanced at this point.
As she reached their position, she found barricades of steel and wood in her way.
"I don't have time for this," she said, sliding down another line.
Hiccup trailed behind her as she left the Carnival for the last time.
Max is busy *saving* lives. If only Switch took her along instead.
Katya raised her head, trying to look over the crowd in the landing bay. "What is going on?'
"There was a fight," a young woman said.
A one-eyed man turned to her. "They fought Bluejay's men. Everyone on board is dead."
"They came out in a hurry," the woman replied. "Maybe there are survivors."
"Bluejay doesn't do half measures. He wanted them executed. They are dead."
Katya turned to Irina. "Let us find the truth."
The hunters pushed through the crowd. Several trails of blood covered the space outside the Carnival, leading to the main entrance. As they reached the base of the ramp they met Switch.
"Is everyone all right?" Katya asked.
"Out of my way," Switch said. "Your tribe is fine."
Katya and Irina hurried past her onto the ship and to the carnage. A half-dozen dead lay in a neat row with Poindexter and Guage moving yet more dead into the center ring. Grigori slumped near the entrance in a pool of blood. Off to one side, Max worked to save the lives of Chic and Daff.
Katya approached the blood stained warrior. "Can I help?"
Max focused on her work. "Not unless you have medical training or some more stock."
"I will find some medicine."
"Thanks. Wait, where is Hiccup? Dammit."
Pipeline entered the hangar bay. "What the hell happened here?"
Max stood up. "These two will live for now. Pipeline, Switch started a fight with Bluejay's men. Everyone died. Now she's going to fight their boss. Hiccup must be with her. We've got to stop Switch."
"Crap. Okay."
"Let me in," Switch told the guard outside Bug's building, her fingers tight around the handle to her knife. "I need to talk to Bug."
The man opened the door. Switch hesitates a moment. Is it a trap? This should be harder.
Inside she turned left and headed up the stairs instead of the elevator.
Halfway up, Bug called down the dimly lit shaft. "I'll give you a chance. Are you here to give up or die?"
"I'm here for revenge."
The sound of metal bouncing on cement echoed down the stairwell. "Thought so."
Soft move to indicate grenade is coming.
Switch swung over the rail to the level below. Above her the grenade exploded with a roar, showering her with pebble size chunks of concrete.
Act under fire to avoid the blast.
Hiccup watched Switch enter the tall building, passing between the two large men out front. Taking a deep breath, Hiccup walked up.
One of the men raised a hand. "Sorry you can't come in."
Hiccup smiled. "Come on let me in. I'll, um, make it worth your while when I get back."
In writing this I find it fairly creepy that the 15-year-old girl is seducing a guard. And that it works.
He smiled in return, revealing a silver tooth. "Sure honey, just be careful."
The entrance hall was painted a drab beige. Two more men stood by the elevator straight ahead. Suddenly the building shook from an explosion.
Hiccup hurried to the stairway. Inside debris rained down from above. She heard loud pings followed by more explosions.
Coughing from the dust, Hiccup stumbled back to the hallway. The guards grabbed her and handcuffed her to an exposed pipe just outside the stairs.
No comments:
Post a Comment