GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Karen Twelves, Eric Fattig, and Adrienne Mueller
System: Blades in 68′
We ended last session with a few downtime actions left to spend, local trouble escalating, and crew trouble I still needed to introduce. Also, I knew there were several angles to approach the Hull job from and I wanted to make sure the crew knew their options…all that said I wasn’t surprised we spent the whole session in downtime.
Meeting Croc
Before leaving the arcade, Delta obtained a ticket for Nav to enter, so that she could meet with Croc. When she arrived and inserted the ticket into the body of one of the older Gamma model of Hulls that served as door guards and ushers, a small screen lit up in it’s chest. “You’ve got a Golden Ticket!” a pre-recorded voice exclaimed.
The Gamma-Model hull uttered a clipped command “FOLLOW” and began walking through the open air arcade. It was daytime and the B.L.U.E. array was active. Despite the sunny sky, a chill wind swept through the arcade. Nav moved surreptitiously and avoided the notice of all but the most keen [4/5 result on a Prowl Fortune Roll]. The hull lead her to a house of mirrors and chirped “ENTER” before taking up a position to guard the door as he had the gate.
Nav entered and found the mirror house was poorly lit, making navigating it even harder. With some trial and error, however, she found her way to the center where the dimly lit Croc sat at a table. He gestured and in a faltering voice said “sit.”
Nav explained her concerns about Delta, namely that he was equipped to self destruct, and asked Croc if there was anything that could be done about it. In a halting and soft voice he said it device could not be deactivated, but that 968’s resonance was sufficiently developed that it could be transferred to a newer “Epsilon” model, which at present did not have the self-destruct modules installed. As he said this he gestured and a hulking 8′ hull stepped out of the shadows. It’s form nearly exactly matching the Patrol Hull that.
The other option, experimental of course, would be to adjust the charges so that instead of blowing inward, they explode out through Delta’s chest sending the blast of an ultraplasmic bomb to anything in front of him.
Nav wasn’t sure either solution would appeal to Delta, but she, through surprising powers of persuasion, convinced him to come to Detla’s “home” so he could see how his foster child had grown [Risky/Standard Sway. Full Success].
When Nav left she saw Croc remained seated until he thought she was gone, then finally stood up and she realized by sitting in the dark he had been concealing his massive frame.
“Help” from Mac Ransom
While Paolo was on the floor, once again trying to piece together why Three-Fingers is so mad at him, Mac Ransom approached and clasped a meaty hand on his shoulder. “Paolo, you wouldn’t believe what I just saw.”
Paolo bit and asked him what he saw. “Oh, down in the parking lot I saw my friend Kagney with a molotov cocktail just about to torch your beautiful car Salvation. I of course stayed his hand and ask why he would do such a thing. It tuns out he feels you’ve betrayed him or some other unbelievable story about siding with hulls over people. I was able to convince him to back down but he said he would return to finish the job…unless you could find him the location where the store and service the rail hulls, along with the security measures in the building, and means of bypassing them. Which I told him of course you could provide. You’re the Dirt Barons, that’s what you do!”
At some point Mac made a reference to fortunes being easy-come, and easy-go as he looked up at the observational booth the Gallos used to watch over the casino. I’m sure he’s not keeping score or anything, but he reminded Paolo, that his debt was up to 2 stacks now.
Paolo grimaced and accepted that once again, he might be working for someone he doesn’t like and doesn’t trust.
Patching things up with the Blue
After the raid, the Dirt Barons and the Bluecoats weren’t on good terms. Nav cited article #14 to prevent them form searching the place on their own, which made them angry so they trashed the place more than they should have, which made the Baron’s angry (and Chester the bird terrified), and then Nav tranquilized one of the Bluecoats, which he doesn’t remember but he still knows something happened, and Vran took one of of Paolo’s cravats just for spite… all of that leading to tension between the two groups [Faction status -1 with the Bluecoats]
Paolo made it to the Plumb and Pickle, a cop bar in Crowfoot, that has sunken beneath street level due to decades of water damage. As usual Vran was holding court with other Blues, but he dismissed them when Paolo arrived and complimented his new neck attire.
Vran was mad at Paolo for nearly braining him, but more so because in all this time, Paolo has never made good on his offer to provide dirt on the Hull Directive project, and it looks like Vran is about to lose his crusade to stop hulls from taking over the Riot Coat’s jobs. Paolo placated him by telling him that they were going to get him that dirt that he needed and asked if the Bluecoats could ease up a bit. Vran said he’d call off the dogs if Paolo could figure out how (and why) Strangford-Michter Financial was calling the shots with the Bluecoats chiefs, and why they had been allowed to send in their own Ironclad Protection during what should have been a bluecoat search warrant.
The next morning Delta prepared Paolo’s clothes (as he normally does) but his time picked dark blues instead of Paolo’s typically more flamboyant colors. the ironed suit was placed with what sounded like a “sigh” of disappointment, but that’s not a noise that Delta can make, can he?
Resource Allocation
Delta visited Skavo (the Gallo family pit boss) in his observation lobby where he could look down at the entire casino floor like some of the great forgotten gods of yore. Skavo wasn’t used to seeing Delta but on account of the good relations between the family and the Barons, tried to be has helpful as he could “964, what can I do for you?” (oh, so close to getting the designation right).
“More power.” Delta began. “I need power diverted from the floors below and above our base.”
“Woah, woah, woah 94, not so fast. We need that power.”
They discussed at length the options and finally Skavo suggested “Look 19, I know a gal who can run us power from the city main. It’s not strictly above board and it means drilling some holes in the walls to run it, but she can get you the power you need without shutting down my slot machines. [3 ticks on the Long Term project using Consort…look at you go Delta]
A different side of Kassius Carver
Paolo already had interest in Kassius Carver (as a potential fixer for for the crew) so he figured he could help Vran and make moves on the estranged Carver at the same time. As Comber house gave him the creeps, Paolo waited outside to meet Kassius and found him visiting a cafe nearby.
Kassius smiled as the server and ordered his usual. He placed his fedora on the hat stand, and loosed his silk tie before taking a window seat and reading the weeks tabloids. Paolo sidled into the other seat at his bench and immediately noticed something was very different about the man he was sitting across from and the pencil pusher he met in Comber house. The were both the same man (please forgive the art not matching, Tim generated some of it, and I generated some of it…just pretend they look more physically alike) but this Kassius’ affectations were completely different. He was calm, flirtatious, and comfortable in his own skin. Just Paolo’s type.
Kassius didn’t seem to remember Paolo, but he liked attention and was pretty free flowing with things that probably should have been secrets. He worked for Castelle but she had been so busy with her projects inside Comber House that he had taken over representing SMF in many places, including at city council meetings. He suggested that if they wanted dirt on the Hull Directive, they should go after either Lord Dunvil (who had been manipulating the Bluecoats on multiple fronts, both pushing for Patrol Hulls and for peacekeeping to be done by the Ironclad Protection in Six Towers) or Superintendent Clermont (who Nav had learned was the civilian head of the Hull deployment efforts within the Bluecoats and her entire career depends on this).
He also, without Paolo noticing, slipped a business card in his breast pocket. On the back it said “Dagger Room. Midnight”
The Talk
Later that night, just a bit before midnight, Nav, Paolo and Delta awaited Croc’s arrival. Little Gallo gave them a ring letting them know “something big” was outside the service entrance and Nav went out back to find a large, bulky, and bulbous hull waiting for her. It did not speak, but when she went inside it followed. The machine barely fit through the entry ways and scraped the doorframe to the Baron’s base on it’s way in.
The machine stood impassive for a time and then hydraulic jets fired and the hull began to open internal chambers until eventually the entire front of the chassis was opened, and a very nervous looking Croc stepped out.
Delta, seeing Croc for the first time outside of the Arcade, quickly showed him about the base. Croc noticed how many things were designed for humans rather than for hulls but otherwise did not complain. He was delighted to see his “sons” workspace and ways in which he had developed, specifically the art he created (mix reals of Nav and Paolo and the world he experienced) .
As the hour got later Paolo mentioned that he was no longer needed for this part of the process and departed for the Dagger Room. Nav stayed and was there with Croc and Delta when Croc inserted a tape reel into Delta’s player. The video (taken from Croc’s perspective) was Avrad convincing the Golden Hand leader Kavira D’har that they only way they can be sure the Hulls will never turn against them is to install self destruct devices in them. “Old man, I want you to build it into the very core of their clockwork engines!”
Croc asked that Delta return the tape (and not make a copy of it) as it’s very existence could get Croc killed.
Meanwhile at the Dagger Room
The hottest restaurant in Doskvol, serving a modern take on traditional Dagger Isle cuisine. The rich and famous come here to be seen, and the waiting list is months long. Chef Kalani, a young and ambitious culinary genius, changes the menu every day. The walls are decorated with hundreds of blades of every size and shape.
When Paolo arrived, the maitre d’ showed him to a table where Kassius was waiting. The were served live octopus, cooked in ink, served by Chef Kalani herself. After dinner there was dancing, driving, and then finally a return to Kassius’ very posh bachelor pad. It had a beautiful view of the city, a fireplace that lit upon command, and not a single living thing inside it except for a small rowan tree growing beside the bed.
A offering
As Paolo slept beneath the rowan tree he had another dream beneath the city. This time he felt as though he was in all places at once. He also felt an offering…to have the power to see in into the hearts of others, however he saw the offer was also being made to two other men he knew at the same time, Sgt. Vran and Mac Ransom, both who stirred in their sleep.
To gain this boon, Paolo would only need to plant one of the rowan saplings inside the Bellweather Electroplasmic Fusion Station. A simple task, surely.
Desperate Situation
The easiest way to halt the hull deployment program would simply be to put Croc in front of a magistrate and watch as the sparttech tells him about his vision of the future where we all live forever inside mechanical bodies. That, however, would be a horrible betrayal neither Nav or Delta could live with (Paolo is on the fence).
Instead, they’ve selected Lord Dunvil, chief operating officer of the Ministry of Discovery, as their target. They don’t know his motivations, but are sure they have to be self-serving. The plan is to get into a City Council meeting, stick Dunvil with truth serum, and see what he says!
To get in, Paolo is using his “invitation to the party” by way of his contact Nolbern (a city politician). As they need demonstrations of hull capabilities, Delta has been offered up to perform that demonstration. Delta, who we just realized because he filled out his final memory clock, is Nolburn’s rival!
The dice rolled and we’re starting the score in a desperate situation…but first, we’re doing a flashback episode to play out Delta-968, aka Ruben’s memories.
