[AW] You Expected Heavenly People?

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Comrade Gorbash: Jul 12, 2011; My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Director Redstone
_{The Hardholder | Cool+1 | Hard+2 | Hot+1 | Sharp+1 | Weird-2

XP ○○○○○� | 1-barter | 1-armor | 0:00 harm}

I stare at Watney's report for a few moments, then slam it down on the ancient desk that I'd inherited from the Directors before me. This - this is unacceptable. For a moment I consider going up to hydroponics and hauling Watney topside to a rocket - but no. That would make me feel better but wouldn't solve the problem.

Instead, I grab my gun and go down. In the lower galleries I find the Cosmonuts lounging around, drinking or getting high. Range is at a table playing cards with her confidants. As I enter, I nearly trip over Shep, who has clearly just dosed himself with Drift.

This time I do not stifle my rage. I grab Shep by the scruff of his neck and haul him into the room with me, then I hurl him onto the table, into the middle of Range's game. Every Cosmonut in the room is on their feet and staring at me in seconds. Their looks range from sullen to outright hostile. Good. I want them mad.

"Cosmonuts!" I bellow at them. "This is mission critical! Our supply runs low, and grounders are preparing to deny us access to the farmlands we've landed upon! I will not allow it. It's time to work the problem! We will go and seize what we need and show them what it means to interfere with normal operations!"

I bang my hand down onto the table, next to Shep's head. "I go to battle! If you have the Right Stuff, then stand beside me!"

Once I have them moving, we'll hit Big Lowe first. We'll see who wants to slack off after I return in triumph.

Lemme know if I should roll something now or not.

Hardholder posted:

Stats: Cool+1, Hard+2, Hot+1, Sharp+1, Weird-2
Look: Woman, junta wear, stern face, commanding eyes, massive body

Moves:
Leadership: when your gang fights for you, roll+hard. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7�9, hold 1. Over the course of the fight, spend your hold 1 for 1 to make your gang:
� make a hard advance
� stand strong against a hard advance
� make an organized retreat
� show mercy to their defeated enemies
� fight and die to the last
On a miss, your gang turns on you or tries to hand you over to your enemy.

Wealth: If your hold is secure and your rule unchallenged, at the beginning of the session, roll+hard. On a 10+, you have surplus at hand and available for the needs of the session. On a 7�9, you have surplus, but choose 1 want. On a miss, or if your hold is compromised or your rule contested, your hold is in want. e precise values of your surplus and want depend on your holding, as follows.

Gear:
smg (2-harm close area loud), personal fashion (1-armor)

Hx:
Baby-Boss Hx+1
Key Hx+3
Hurricane Hx+1
Rector Noam Hx+0

Gagarin's End

� ~100 souls
� for gigs, a mix of hunting, crude farming, and scavenging (surplus: 1-barter, want: hungry).
� a makeshift compound of concrete, sheet metal and rebar. Your gang gets +1armor when fighting in its defense.
� a gang of about 60 violent people (4-harm gang large unruly 1-armor).

� for gigs, add lucrative raiding. Surplus: +1barter, want: +reprisals.
� for gigs, add protection tribute. Surplus: +1barter, want: +obligation.
� your gang is large instead of medium, 60 violent people or so.
� your armory is sophisticated and extensive. Your gang gets +1harm.

� your gang is a pack of loving hyenas. Want: savagery.
� your population is lazy and drug-stupored. Want: +famine.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2016 01:51

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 16:40

Comrade Gorbash: Jul 12, 2011; My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Director Redstone
_{The Hardholder | Cool+1 | Hard+2 | Hot+1 | Sharp+1 | Weird-2

XP ○○○○○� | 1-barter | 1-armor | 0:00 harm}

I pretend not to notice the reluctant stragglers. Enough of the Cosmonuts answered the call to start the tide that will pull the others along.

I turn and march out of the room, again downward, toward the lower hangars. Through the swarms of Cosmonuts preparing. I climb atop one of the war-haulers, the big one that came all the way from the Complex. "T-minus 10! We are go!" I roar at my soldiers, banging on the roof of the vehicle.

Buzz clambers up besides me, his hair shot through with grey, but a feral look in his eyes. No Cosmonut has lived as long as he, and it wasn't for lack of the Right Stuff. "We really going after Big Lowe?" I shrug at him, knowing I can speak plainly to this man.

"We're raiding the food stores. If Lowe gets in our way, I'll come down on him with both feet. But the food is mission critical."

Buzz nods. "He'll come after us," he adds, not arguing, just saying. I grin at him, my own smile as nasty as the gleam in the old man's eyes. "I'm counting on it."

A war whoop from below distracts us as Stage hauls herself up into the pilot's couch on this wagon and starts revving the engine for launch. Glancing around and seeing that at least half the Cosmonuts are mounted up, I lean over and shout at Stage. "IGNITION!" The wagon is moving before I even get back up right, waving my gun over my head as the others lurch into motion around us and laggards scramble aboard anything that will carry them.

As we roll down the ramp, I see a few scrambling aboard the last wagon behind us, too slow to grab onto mine. I meet Range's eyes, and tip my cap to her as she crowds onto it, getting a rude gesture in return. But I think there's a smile behind it.

We emerge into sun, and the Cosmonuts around me roar, Buzz and Stage loudest of all. I add my voice to theirs. No matter what happens, no one will say Redstone sat on her laurels.

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Mar 24, 2016

# ¿ Mar 23, 2016 03:49

Comrade Gorbash: Jul 12, 2011; My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Director Redstone
_{The Hardholder | Cool+1 | Hard+2 | Hot+1 | Sharp+1 | Weird-2

XP ○○○○○� | 1-barter | 1-armor | 0:00 harm}

I grab one of the orange flags strapped to the top of the wagon and wave it over my head, directing the ones following me to spread out. With Stage at the controls of mine, we're committed to a direct assault, but I want the others to fall on the flanks of whatever force we run into.

As we speed in towards the food stores, I peer through a pair of battered noculars, trying to gauge the opposition. With the dust and the jarring ride, I can't see a damned thing, so I toss them back down and ready my weapon. It's too late for second guessing. Only moments before we're close enough to our target for them to know what's coming for sure. I can't help but smile - at least for the next few minutes, there'll be no time for posturing or politics. Just war and blood.

Leadership [+Hard]: 2d6+2 7
Holding 1 for Leadership.

Read a Sitch [+Sharp]: 2d6+1 5
Lovely.

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Mar 25, 2016

# ¿ Mar 24, 2016 17:56

Comrade Gorbash: Jul 12, 2011; My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Director Redstone
_{The Hardholder | Cool+1 | Hard+2 | Hot+1 | Sharp+1 | Weird-2

XP ○○○○○� | 1-barter | 1-armor | 0:00 harm}

Buzz curses loudly in my ear. "Zaikin bought the farm!"

"I have loving eyes!" I snarl back, thinking fast. I drop down to yell at Stage. "Steer for the explosion! Maximum thrust!" I get a wide eyed look back - I've managed to come up with a plan even Stage thinks it's crazy. But only for a moment. She gives me a thumbs up and hauls on the controls. I reach over and grab the mic for the radio. "Range! Orbit, come in eccentric!" I don't bother waiting for confirmation.

I pull myself back up and wave for the other wagon and the smaller vehicles moving with my wagon to follow single-file. If it's mines, then Zaikin at least cleared one on his track. If it's rockets, maybe the smoke and flame will spoil their aim long enough for us to get close.

Buzz and Deke are firing into the mist know, in the general direction of the explosion. Actually, everyone is. I consider telling them to stop wasting ammo, but decide some suppressing fire couldn't hurt at this point.

Stage blares the wagon's horn as we plow through the wreckage of the bike. Fully committed now.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2016 00:07

Comrade Gorbash: Jul 12, 2011; My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Director Redstone
_{The Hardholder | Cool+1 | Hard+2 | Hot+1 | Sharp+1 | Weird-2

XP ●●○○○� | 1-barter | 1-armor | 0:00 harm}

I ignore the hail of steel around me, trying to cut through the chaos of battle to see the most critical factor. Work the problem. As soon as the Gun Rig starts up, though, that factor is blindingly obvious.

Buzz is hammering away at anything headed for us, and Laika is taking more considered shots, picking off drivers and shooters. I can hear but not see Deke; he's on the other side, hollering and working one of the broadside weapons.

I drop back down next to Stage, and point over her shoulder at the Gun Rig. "RAMMING SPEED!" She looks at me for a second, purely stunned. Seems even Stage has a limit to how far she'll push the envelope. gently caress that. We're all the way outside it now, and the only way out of the flatspin is to ride it all the way down.

I haul the wheel around and push Stage's foot the floor with my own, and brace for impact.

Spending hold to get my gang to make a hard advance.

Also, at this point the gang of Cosmonuts I brought with me is Meidum sized [4-harm gang medium unruly 1-armor].

Seize By Force [+Hard]: 2d6+2 6
gently caress. It'd be nice to get higher than a 3 on one of these dice at some point.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2016 01:33

Comrade Gorbash: Jul 12, 2011; My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Director Redstone
_{The Hardholder | Cool+1 | Hard+2 | Hot+1 | Sharp+1 | Weird-2

XP ●●○○○� | 1-barter | 1-armor | 0:00 harm}

A secret...

In the distance, a great pillar of smoke and fire divides the sky in two. Two women stand atop a small rise, watching the burning spear at the top disappear into the blue.

"Do you still doubt me, Colonel?" Redstone demands, bluntly.

Crocker is silent for a moment, then turns to face the Director. "Yes. But even if you've doubled it's payload and tripled its range, it would still be worth the getting. How many can you give me?"

"Four, in total. It will be some time while they're being built. And none until you make good on your own promises. The uplink. The Satellite."

"Yes. If you deliver, I'll turn it - and all the pictures we've gotten from it - over to you." Crocker holds out a hand. After a moment, Redstone reaches out and shakes it. "I think this will be a fruitful arrangement, Director."

# ¿ Apr 7, 2016 01:12

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 16:40

Comrade Gorbash: Jul 12, 2011; My paper soldiers form a wall, five paces thick and twice as tall.

Director Redstone
_{The Hardholder | Cool+1 Hard+2 Hot+1 Sharp+1 Weird-2 | XP ●●○○○� | 1-barter | 1-armor}

I sit up, staring at the place my arm used to be. I don't want to accept it. Not the loss of my arm, not the loss of my cosmonuts. How could things have gone so wrong so quickly...

Part of me wants to just lay back down in the blood. But if I'm going to die, I can least do it in a blaze of fire, even if any chance of glory is gone.

I reach out - with my one hand - and shake Hurricane. I don't know where he came from... why I know about him, something I shake out of my head for the moment. "Get up," I snap at him. "We aren't dead yet, and there's things to be done before you bleed out."

Comrade Gorbash fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Apr 21, 2016

# ¿ Apr 21, 2016 21:23

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