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URDR - Multiverse Defense
The fifth session of URDR Multiverse Defense saw Our Intrepid Heroes (tm) return to old 'verses to meet up with old antagonists... and utterly fail to get any answers. On the other hand, we got to fight a kaiju monster while piloting a giant mecha, so it can't be all bad.
[Eric the GM gives us a bit of foreshadowing.]
Eric the GM: "I can guarantee there will be at least one combat this session, and your stats won't play a huge role in it."
[Sabina levels up her shapeshifting character, and Stuart sees possibilities.]
Stuart: "You can turn into any object your size? ...Can I borrow you?"
[Today's session starts about four months after the last one.]
Stuart: "Have we seen each other in the last 4-5 months?"
Robert: "We may have seen Sabina, but how would we know?"
[Our mission is to return to Pahinui's Planet, where Garalaine Morgaustan, the powerful teleporter who's caused us so many problems in the past, has taken over for Ríkur Mazur, the man he had killed.]
Sabina: "He's been there six months? It's almost like he wants us to find him."
[Our primary mission is information gathering. Sadly, Pahinui's Planet is a high-tech world and we no longer have our hacker.]
Stuart: "They don't just have a sentient electronics-based life form we could plug in..."
Eric the GM: "Are you sure you want a sentient AI?"
[Also missing: any sort of cleric or healer.]
Anton Dregari: "You have a healer with computer skills?"
Lena Cereghetti: "...Yes, but I'm not sure you want him. He's kind of temperamental."
Yalia: "What's his name?"
Lena Cereghetti: "The Doctor."
[We meet the Doctor. Sadly, he is not the Doctor from Dr. Who. He's much more obnoxious than that.]
The Doctor: "Who's in charge?"
Fox: "Well, no one, really."
The Doctor: "Oh, good. Then it's me."
[We try to fish for information.]
Anton Dregari: "You're a doctor of..."
The Doctor: "Yes."
Anton Dregari: "..."
The Doctor: "They don't have universities where I come from."
Yalia: "Where do you come from?"
The Doctor: "Oh, here and there."
[We're not off to a great start. Still, responsibilities are responsibilities. Mostly.]
Stuart: "If we bring him, we have to bring him back."
Eric the GM: "'Have to' is such a strong word."
[We prepare our equipment for the session. Because Pahinui's Planet does not allow weaponry, but also doesn't really know anything about magic, we requisition a bag of holding.]
Lena Cereghetti: "We can do one better than a bag of holding and give you a password-locked tesseract."
[We get Jim to open a Sheppard Gate onto Pahinui's Planet.]
Eric the GM: "He drops you into a dark alley. It's dark. It's alley-shaped."
[Due to Yalia's new hat of disguise, we now have two shapeshifters in the group. So when it turns out that Morgaustan, now posing as Jacques Maur, will be at a charity gala this very evening, we've got things covered.]
Anton Dregari: "Thankfully, we have the two most attractive women int he room."
Fox: "We don't even know if he's heterosexual."
Anton Dregari: "Then we have the two most attractive men in the room."
[Our plan is to tell Morgaustan that we're ex-URDR agents who are looking to find employment with him.]
Yalia: "I guess we should contact URDR to let them know what we're doing and that we're not actually going rogue?"
Anton Dregari: "..."
Yalia: "We're not going rogue, right?"
[We determine beforehand what we might do if Morgaustan tries to test our loyalties.]
Yalia: "I'm not willing to commit murder. I am willing to commit theft."
Anton Dregari: "For me, it'll depend on how hungry I am."
[One small problem: tickets to the charity auction cost about twice as much as the money we've been issued for this mission.]
Stuart: "Can the Doctor get us more credits?"
The Doctor: "Thought you'd never ask. Legal or less-legal?"
[The Doctor gets us lots more money.]
Axcevent: "So what you just did was legal?"
The Doctor: "Totally legal. Ethically questionable, but totally legal."
[After some pressing, the Doctor reveals that he got us the credits by causing banks to 'accidentally' repeat multiple transactions, causing some money to temporarily get to our accounts, which will be removed later when the banks discover their error but after we've bought our tickets.]
The Doctor: "Strictly speaking, we're sort of committing fraud on the charity, but I imagine we'll be off-planet by the time it's found out."
Yalia: "I'm okay with that."
Axcevent: "If all goes well, we'll transfer 6,000 from Mazurcorp before we leave."
[We figure out what we're going to wear to the gala. Lord Dregari has no intention of changing his clothes.]
Sabina: "It's a cosmopolitan place."
Eric the GM: "Also an eccentric place."
Stuart: "More importantly, my suit is tailored."
[We also figure out some other important details.]
Anton Dregari: "Are we using code names or real names?"
Axcevent: "My code name will be Anton Dregari."
Anton Dregari: "That's Lord Dregari."
[We're all a little nervous in anticipation of the gala.]
Julie: "He's been here six months. There no reason to think that this is the night where he unleashes the killer robots."
Eric the GM: *smirks*
[After quite a bit of discussion, we decide to approach Morgaustan by bringing up the Orb of the Stargazer. But it did take quite a bit of discussion.]
Staurt: "I love unanimous. It's my favorite kind of nanimous."
[Morgaustan seems initially confused to see us, but agrees to meet with us later. Before he can do that, however, we're approached by an older gentleman.]
Eric the GM: "He has a reasonably friendly and not entirely genuine smile."
Stuart: "Like us!"
[The older gentleman turns out to be Fernando Mora, minister of defense. He invites us to a conference room to talk about URDR and Morgaustan. There is coffee.]
Anton Dregari: "I don't drink... coffee."
Eric the GM: "You made it five sessions before you pulled that one."
Stuart: "I'm using remarkable restraint."
[Our meeting with Minister Mora is hampered by the fact that none of us really trust each other.]
Anton Dregari: "I'm only going to ask this once: are you working with Mr. Mazur?"
Fernando Mora: (to his agents) "...Shoot him."
[Minister Mora's agents shoot Lord Dregari.]
Eric the GM: "How did you say stun weapons work?"
Stuart: "I don't recall."
Eric: "You'll want to check."
[Dregari is knocked out by an energy weapon, but Axcevent moves in to grapple the minister. Thankfully, he makes his fortitude save.]
Eric the GM: *rolls* "You feel an electrical discharge but manage to slip through because of incredible odds."
[Even though Lord Dregari and Axcevent have been knocked out, the women manage to bring the situation back under control.]
Sabina: "This was going quite well until he suddenly told people to shoot us for no reason we can discern."
Eric the GM: "There's a reason."
Julie: "But not one we can discern."
[The minister is back on speaking terms with us, which is good, because it seems Morgaustan entered a private washroom and never emerged.]
Yalia: "He's gone. He can--"
Fernando Mora: "If you're going to tell me he's teleporting around in my city..."
Yalia: "...Not necessarily in your city."
[We find out where Morgaustan went.]
Fernando Mora: "He's been sighted at one of the properties he bought. And we need new police."
[We go to the place where Morgaustan was last seen.]
Eric the GM: "There are the corpses of eight policemen. They've been shot, if it makes you feel any better."
Robert: "At least it wasn't a simultaneous heart attack."
Stuart: "If they had all had simultaneous heart attacks, I'd probably be even more worried."
[In the room, other than the dead police officers, are five armored and armed soldiers and a large ritual circle scribed on the ground in red wax.]
Julie: "Do we try to parley?"
Sabina: "The context of this situation makes it unlikely they'll be open to diplomacy."
[We figure out what we're going to do. Eric the GM sums up what he's hearing.]
Eric the GM: "We could scare them... or I've got a thermal detonator."
[We prepare to fight.]
Sabina: "I think we have the tactical advantage here."
Julie: "Their guns are better than ours."
Sabina: "We don't know that."
Julie: "We're about to find out!"
[Yalia uses a wand of silent image to create a shiny distraction.]
Eric the GM: "The illusion raises its weapon and is subjected to a hail of laser fire."
Julie: "That's our cue!"
[Lord Dregari attacks one of the armored soldiers.]
Stuart: "Bite attack."
Julie: "What are you biting into?"
Stuart: "The armor."
Robert: "Those are some impressive jaws."
Stuart: "They're hinged."
[Having dealt with the soldiers, we turn to investigating the circle. Sadly, none of us roll terribly high.]
Eric the GM: "Since I need to provide you with the information anyway..."
[It turns out that each of the four locations bought by Mazurcorp had a ritual circle using a different type of magic, the effects of which were... unforeseen.]
Sabina: "So the giant..."
Stuart: "Undead angry crocodile?"
Sabina: "At least now we know what we're dealing with."
[We receive a video imagine of the crocodile at the last ritual circle.]
Eric the GM: "It keep growing beyond the circle and then you don't need the video because you can see it over that building there."
[We get a call from Minister Mora. He mentions that they have an experimental military prototype that they've never used: the "mawi," a giant robot.]
Anton Dregari: "Sir, can I remind you that when choosing between two bad ideas, choose the one that doesn't result in the destruction of your species?"
[Funnily enough, Yalia actually has ranks in mecha piloting, though admittedly not many of them.]
Fox: "Try not to level the city."
Yalia: "I'll do my best."
[The mawi is big enough that it requires a crew of six. In a pinch, it could be five. But we definitely need more than the four core URDR team members.]
The Doctor: "I'm not getting in that thing."
Yalia: "Yes, you are."
The Doctor: "You don't seriously think I take orders from you?"
Yalia: "C'mon, when are you gonna have this much fun again?"
[The five team members take their positions: Yalia as pilot, Axcevent in charge of defense, the Doctor in charge of auxiliaries, Fox handling the massive cannon, and Dregari with a giant mace. Eric the GM explains the various functionalities.]
Eric the GM: "There is a large red button marked 'push in emergency.'"
Stuart: *smiles*
[The Doctor gets settled into his role as well.]
Eric the GM: "None of you know quite what the Doctor is doing, but he assures you it's under control."
[We make our way through the city streets.]
Eric the GM: "As you can imagine, you're having much the same effect on the city as the monster."
[We approach the giant undead crocodile of destruction.]
Stuart: "I have good news and bad news. The bad news is it's bigger in person. The good news is we'll all have very nice purses soon."
Eric the GM: "But they'll smell funny."
[A line that was just dying to be used.]
Yalia: "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"
[A reminder: the mecha we're piloting is experimental and unfinished, which poses some problems.]
Eric the GM: "Among the things you don't know about the mawi is how much damage it's designed to take."
[More things we don't know.]
Sabina: "Does it tell me how many bullets I have left?"
Eric the GM: "That's one of the systems they hadn't finished yet."
[Fox has been having good luck using her explosive bullets to punch a hole into the monster's chest. Until she misses.]
Eric the GM: "Your shot goes wide, slams into an office building, and chunks of concrete go flying."
Sabina: "Oh, right. That was the problem with explosive bullets."
[Stuart contemplates using the big red emergency button.]
Stuart: "Why would they put the emergency button in the mace arm?"
Sabina: "Maybe they use it to commit seppuku on the crew compartment."
[Yalia's getting the hang of piloting a mecha this big. Mostly.]
Mecha: *trips and nearly falls over*
Yalia: "Sorry! There was a dumpster!"
Axcevent: "And now there is no longer a dumpster?"
Yalia: "...No."
[Actually, the dumpster's still there, conveniently in the path of the monster.]
Eric the GM: "The creature charges... and trips over a dumpster."
[Even though we've managed to hit the monster a few times while it's down, the fight continues.]
The Doctor: "I think I've found something!"
Axcevent: "Be more specific!"
[Eric the GM elaborates on what the Doctor found.]
Eric the GM: "He rolled a natural 20 on his... I won't tell you what skill he used because it would scare you."
Julie: "Now I'm super-interested."
[Axcevent and Lord Dregari combine forces to smash the mace into the monster while it's wrapped in an ablative shield. The monster is horribly damaged... but the mecha experiences a moment of shuddering blue electricity as well.]
Stuart: "That was cool! Let's not do that again!"
Eric the GM: "That was one of the most effective things yuo could have done, but you can only do it a limited number of times."
[Yalia rolls poorly on her piloting roll, causing the Mawi to fall onto its left side.]
Yalia: "Sorry! I'll try not to do that again!"
Eric the GM: "Also, you scratched the paint something fierce."
[Stuart really, really wants to use the emergency button.]
Stuart: "If we lose the left arm, we may not get another chance to use the button again. Also, I'm curious to see what it does."
[Stuart uses the emergency button. Sadly, he rolls very poorly.]
Eric the GM: "The mace levels itself to 90 degrees and flies forward... completely missing the monster and embedding itself in a wall."
[The mecha no longer has its mace, which puts us at somewhat of a disadvantage.]
Stuart: "I have a plan to take off its head."
Sabina: "Is this gonna be like all the other plans you've had this session?"
Stuart: "I choose plans for what's cool, not what's effective."
[Stuart lays out his plan to uppercut the monster and then shoot it into oblivion.]
Stuart: "If we're all working together, nothing can stop us... except bad dice rolls."
[The Doctor is doing his part by boosting the energy to the mace arm.]
Eric the GM: "The lights go dim, the holograms flicker off before coming back on, and several lights that were previously green go red."
[We bring the monster to -175 hit points.]
Stuart: "Ultimate combo?"
Eric the GM: "...Yeah."
[Of course, now that the monster's dead, there are priorities.]
Stuart: "I seriously hope there's a video camera in here."
Julie: "I can't wait to show this to Jim!"
[We go with Minister Mora's tactical team to Morgaustan's apartments. There is little of interest on the ground floor. The tactical team goes upstairs.]
Fox: "Do we want to go upstairs?"
Yalia: "After we're sure the tactical team hasn't exploded."
[The tactical team is being quiet. Too quiet.]
Commander: "Team 2, team 2, report in."
Radio: *crackling*
Commander: "You wait here. We're gonna check it out."
Stuart: "I'm waiting to hear, 'Team 1, team 1, report in.'"
[Yes, it turns out that Morgaustan was home and killed all the tactical team members. Also, he's not happy with us.]
Garalaine Morgaustan: "You've ruined everything! Why have you come after me?! Give me one reason!"
Anton Dregari: "The pay is good."
[Morgaustan teleports away after telling us not to get involved in his business ever again. We find what remains of the tactical team behind a closed door.]
Fox: "What could do this?"
The Doctor: "A very powerful spellcaster or a small black hole."
Yalia: "Either of those is possible."
[So, we completely failed in our mission to gather any useful information on Morgaustan. But all is not lost.]
Stuart: "On the bright side, we ruined everything!"
And that's it for this time! Next time... who knows?! That's the joy of URDR!
[Eric the GM gives us a bit of foreshadowing.]
Eric the GM: "I can guarantee there will be at least one combat this session, and your stats won't play a huge role in it."
[Sabina levels up her shapeshifting character, and Stuart sees possibilities.]
Stuart: "You can turn into any object your size? ...Can I borrow you?"
[Today's session starts about four months after the last one.]
Stuart: "Have we seen each other in the last 4-5 months?"
Robert: "We may have seen Sabina, but how would we know?"
[Our mission is to return to Pahinui's Planet, where Garalaine Morgaustan, the powerful teleporter who's caused us so many problems in the past, has taken over for Ríkur Mazur, the man he had killed.]
Sabina: "He's been there six months? It's almost like he wants us to find him."
[Our primary mission is information gathering. Sadly, Pahinui's Planet is a high-tech world and we no longer have our hacker.]
Stuart: "They don't just have a sentient electronics-based life form we could plug in..."
Eric the GM: "Are you sure you want a sentient AI?"
[Also missing: any sort of cleric or healer.]
Anton Dregari: "You have a healer with computer skills?"
Lena Cereghetti: "...Yes, but I'm not sure you want him. He's kind of temperamental."
Yalia: "What's his name?"
Lena Cereghetti: "The Doctor."
[We meet the Doctor. Sadly, he is not the Doctor from Dr. Who. He's much more obnoxious than that.]
The Doctor: "Who's in charge?"
Fox: "Well, no one, really."
The Doctor: "Oh, good. Then it's me."
[We try to fish for information.]
Anton Dregari: "You're a doctor of..."
The Doctor: "Yes."
Anton Dregari: "..."
The Doctor: "They don't have universities where I come from."
Yalia: "Where do you come from?"
The Doctor: "Oh, here and there."
[We're not off to a great start. Still, responsibilities are responsibilities. Mostly.]
Stuart: "If we bring him, we have to bring him back."
Eric the GM: "'Have to' is such a strong word."
[We prepare our equipment for the session. Because Pahinui's Planet does not allow weaponry, but also doesn't really know anything about magic, we requisition a bag of holding.]
Lena Cereghetti: "We can do one better than a bag of holding and give you a password-locked tesseract."
[We get Jim to open a Sheppard Gate onto Pahinui's Planet.]
Eric the GM: "He drops you into a dark alley. It's dark. It's alley-shaped."
[Due to Yalia's new hat of disguise, we now have two shapeshifters in the group. So when it turns out that Morgaustan, now posing as Jacques Maur, will be at a charity gala this very evening, we've got things covered.]
Anton Dregari: "Thankfully, we have the two most attractive women int he room."
Fox: "We don't even know if he's heterosexual."
Anton Dregari: "Then we have the two most attractive men in the room."
[Our plan is to tell Morgaustan that we're ex-URDR agents who are looking to find employment with him.]
Yalia: "I guess we should contact URDR to let them know what we're doing and that we're not actually going rogue?"
Anton Dregari: "..."
Yalia: "We're not going rogue, right?"
[We determine beforehand what we might do if Morgaustan tries to test our loyalties.]
Yalia: "I'm not willing to commit murder. I am willing to commit theft."
Anton Dregari: "For me, it'll depend on how hungry I am."
[One small problem: tickets to the charity auction cost about twice as much as the money we've been issued for this mission.]
Stuart: "Can the Doctor get us more credits?"
The Doctor: "Thought you'd never ask. Legal or less-legal?"
[The Doctor gets us lots more money.]
Axcevent: "So what you just did was legal?"
The Doctor: "Totally legal. Ethically questionable, but totally legal."
[After some pressing, the Doctor reveals that he got us the credits by causing banks to 'accidentally' repeat multiple transactions, causing some money to temporarily get to our accounts, which will be removed later when the banks discover their error but after we've bought our tickets.]
The Doctor: "Strictly speaking, we're sort of committing fraud on the charity, but I imagine we'll be off-planet by the time it's found out."
Yalia: "I'm okay with that."
Axcevent: "If all goes well, we'll transfer 6,000 from Mazurcorp before we leave."
[We figure out what we're going to wear to the gala. Lord Dregari has no intention of changing his clothes.]
Sabina: "It's a cosmopolitan place."
Eric the GM: "Also an eccentric place."
Stuart: "More importantly, my suit is tailored."
[We also figure out some other important details.]
Anton Dregari: "Are we using code names or real names?"
Axcevent: "My code name will be Anton Dregari."
Anton Dregari: "That's Lord Dregari."
[We're all a little nervous in anticipation of the gala.]
Julie: "He's been here six months. There no reason to think that this is the night where he unleashes the killer robots."
Eric the GM: *smirks*
[After quite a bit of discussion, we decide to approach Morgaustan by bringing up the Orb of the Stargazer. But it did take quite a bit of discussion.]
Staurt: "I love unanimous. It's my favorite kind of nanimous."
[Morgaustan seems initially confused to see us, but agrees to meet with us later. Before he can do that, however, we're approached by an older gentleman.]
Eric the GM: "He has a reasonably friendly and not entirely genuine smile."
Stuart: "Like us!"
[The older gentleman turns out to be Fernando Mora, minister of defense. He invites us to a conference room to talk about URDR and Morgaustan. There is coffee.]
Anton Dregari: "I don't drink... coffee."
Eric the GM: "You made it five sessions before you pulled that one."
Stuart: "I'm using remarkable restraint."
[Our meeting with Minister Mora is hampered by the fact that none of us really trust each other.]
Anton Dregari: "I'm only going to ask this once: are you working with Mr. Mazur?"
Fernando Mora: (to his agents) "...Shoot him."
[Minister Mora's agents shoot Lord Dregari.]
Eric the GM: "How did you say stun weapons work?"
Stuart: "I don't recall."
Eric: "You'll want to check."
[Dregari is knocked out by an energy weapon, but Axcevent moves in to grapple the minister. Thankfully, he makes his fortitude save.]
Eric the GM: *rolls* "You feel an electrical discharge but manage to slip through because of incredible odds."
[Even though Lord Dregari and Axcevent have been knocked out, the women manage to bring the situation back under control.]
Sabina: "This was going quite well until he suddenly told people to shoot us for no reason we can discern."
Eric the GM: "There's a reason."
Julie: "But not one we can discern."
[The minister is back on speaking terms with us, which is good, because it seems Morgaustan entered a private washroom and never emerged.]
Yalia: "He's gone. He can--"
Fernando Mora: "If you're going to tell me he's teleporting around in my city..."
Yalia: "...Not necessarily in your city."
[We find out where Morgaustan went.]
Fernando Mora: "He's been sighted at one of the properties he bought. And we need new police."
[We go to the place where Morgaustan was last seen.]
Eric the GM: "There are the corpses of eight policemen. They've been shot, if it makes you feel any better."
Robert: "At least it wasn't a simultaneous heart attack."
Stuart: "If they had all had simultaneous heart attacks, I'd probably be even more worried."
[In the room, other than the dead police officers, are five armored and armed soldiers and a large ritual circle scribed on the ground in red wax.]
Julie: "Do we try to parley?"
Sabina: "The context of this situation makes it unlikely they'll be open to diplomacy."
[We figure out what we're going to do. Eric the GM sums up what he's hearing.]
Eric the GM: "We could scare them... or I've got a thermal detonator."
[We prepare to fight.]
Sabina: "I think we have the tactical advantage here."
Julie: "Their guns are better than ours."
Sabina: "We don't know that."
Julie: "We're about to find out!"
[Yalia uses a wand of silent image to create a shiny distraction.]
Eric the GM: "The illusion raises its weapon and is subjected to a hail of laser fire."
Julie: "That's our cue!"
[Lord Dregari attacks one of the armored soldiers.]
Stuart: "Bite attack."
Julie: "What are you biting into?"
Stuart: "The armor."
Robert: "Those are some impressive jaws."
Stuart: "They're hinged."
[Having dealt with the soldiers, we turn to investigating the circle. Sadly, none of us roll terribly high.]
Eric the GM: "Since I need to provide you with the information anyway..."
[It turns out that each of the four locations bought by Mazurcorp had a ritual circle using a different type of magic, the effects of which were... unforeseen.]
Sabina: "So the giant..."
Stuart: "Undead angry crocodile?"
Sabina: "At least now we know what we're dealing with."
[We receive a video imagine of the crocodile at the last ritual circle.]
Eric the GM: "It keep growing beyond the circle and then you don't need the video because you can see it over that building there."
[We get a call from Minister Mora. He mentions that they have an experimental military prototype that they've never used: the "mawi," a giant robot.]
Anton Dregari: "Sir, can I remind you that when choosing between two bad ideas, choose the one that doesn't result in the destruction of your species?"
[Funnily enough, Yalia actually has ranks in mecha piloting, though admittedly not many of them.]
Fox: "Try not to level the city."
Yalia: "I'll do my best."
[The mawi is big enough that it requires a crew of six. In a pinch, it could be five. But we definitely need more than the four core URDR team members.]
The Doctor: "I'm not getting in that thing."
Yalia: "Yes, you are."
The Doctor: "You don't seriously think I take orders from you?"
Yalia: "C'mon, when are you gonna have this much fun again?"
[The five team members take their positions: Yalia as pilot, Axcevent in charge of defense, the Doctor in charge of auxiliaries, Fox handling the massive cannon, and Dregari with a giant mace. Eric the GM explains the various functionalities.]
Eric the GM: "There is a large red button marked 'push in emergency.'"
Stuart: *smiles*
[The Doctor gets settled into his role as well.]
Eric the GM: "None of you know quite what the Doctor is doing, but he assures you it's under control."
[We make our way through the city streets.]
Eric the GM: "As you can imagine, you're having much the same effect on the city as the monster."
[We approach the giant undead crocodile of destruction.]
Stuart: "I have good news and bad news. The bad news is it's bigger in person. The good news is we'll all have very nice purses soon."
Eric the GM: "But they'll smell funny."
[A line that was just dying to be used.]
Yalia: "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"
[A reminder: the mecha we're piloting is experimental and unfinished, which poses some problems.]
Eric the GM: "Among the things you don't know about the mawi is how much damage it's designed to take."
[More things we don't know.]
Sabina: "Does it tell me how many bullets I have left?"
Eric the GM: "That's one of the systems they hadn't finished yet."
[Fox has been having good luck using her explosive bullets to punch a hole into the monster's chest. Until she misses.]
Eric the GM: "Your shot goes wide, slams into an office building, and chunks of concrete go flying."
Sabina: "Oh, right. That was the problem with explosive bullets."
[Stuart contemplates using the big red emergency button.]
Stuart: "Why would they put the emergency button in the mace arm?"
Sabina: "Maybe they use it to commit seppuku on the crew compartment."
[Yalia's getting the hang of piloting a mecha this big. Mostly.]
Mecha: *trips and nearly falls over*
Yalia: "Sorry! There was a dumpster!"
Axcevent: "And now there is no longer a dumpster?"
Yalia: "...No."
[Actually, the dumpster's still there, conveniently in the path of the monster.]
Eric the GM: "The creature charges... and trips over a dumpster."
[Even though we've managed to hit the monster a few times while it's down, the fight continues.]
The Doctor: "I think I've found something!"
Axcevent: "Be more specific!"
[Eric the GM elaborates on what the Doctor found.]
Eric the GM: "He rolled a natural 20 on his... I won't tell you what skill he used because it would scare you."
Julie: "Now I'm super-interested."
[Axcevent and Lord Dregari combine forces to smash the mace into the monster while it's wrapped in an ablative shield. The monster is horribly damaged... but the mecha experiences a moment of shuddering blue electricity as well.]
Stuart: "That was cool! Let's not do that again!"
Eric the GM: "That was one of the most effective things yuo could have done, but you can only do it a limited number of times."
[Yalia rolls poorly on her piloting roll, causing the Mawi to fall onto its left side.]
Yalia: "Sorry! I'll try not to do that again!"
Eric the GM: "Also, you scratched the paint something fierce."
[Stuart really, really wants to use the emergency button.]
Stuart: "If we lose the left arm, we may not get another chance to use the button again. Also, I'm curious to see what it does."
[Stuart uses the emergency button. Sadly, he rolls very poorly.]
Eric the GM: "The mace levels itself to 90 degrees and flies forward... completely missing the monster and embedding itself in a wall."
[The mecha no longer has its mace, which puts us at somewhat of a disadvantage.]
Stuart: "I have a plan to take off its head."
Sabina: "Is this gonna be like all the other plans you've had this session?"
Stuart: "I choose plans for what's cool, not what's effective."
[Stuart lays out his plan to uppercut the monster and then shoot it into oblivion.]
Stuart: "If we're all working together, nothing can stop us... except bad dice rolls."
[The Doctor is doing his part by boosting the energy to the mace arm.]
Eric the GM: "The lights go dim, the holograms flicker off before coming back on, and several lights that were previously green go red."
[We bring the monster to -175 hit points.]
Stuart: "Ultimate combo?"
Eric the GM: "...Yeah."
[Of course, now that the monster's dead, there are priorities.]
Stuart: "I seriously hope there's a video camera in here."
Julie: "I can't wait to show this to Jim!"
[We go with Minister Mora's tactical team to Morgaustan's apartments. There is little of interest on the ground floor. The tactical team goes upstairs.]
Fox: "Do we want to go upstairs?"
Yalia: "After we're sure the tactical team hasn't exploded."
[The tactical team is being quiet. Too quiet.]
Commander: "Team 2, team 2, report in."
Radio: *crackling*
Commander: "You wait here. We're gonna check it out."
Stuart: "I'm waiting to hear, 'Team 1, team 1, report in.'"
[Yes, it turns out that Morgaustan was home and killed all the tactical team members. Also, he's not happy with us.]
Garalaine Morgaustan: "You've ruined everything! Why have you come after me?! Give me one reason!"
Anton Dregari: "The pay is good."
[Morgaustan teleports away after telling us not to get involved in his business ever again. We find what remains of the tactical team behind a closed door.]
Fox: "What could do this?"
The Doctor: "A very powerful spellcaster or a small black hole."
Yalia: "Either of those is possible."
[So, we completely failed in our mission to gather any useful information on Morgaustan. But all is not lost.]
Stuart: "On the bright side, we ruined everything!"
And that's it for this time! Next time... who knows?! That's the joy of URDR!