Session/Game: Savage Worlds Orion 9    Date: 2/19/2006

Episode 9: Once, Twice, Three Times the Savior

Campaign Date: Royal Orion Year 313, Day 241-244

Characters:
Sir Hollis Dupont, human, seasoned (Andrew Smith)
    Squad of six science interns (NPC)
Sir Bloodblade, Kong, veteran (Marlon Kirton)
    Squad of six apeman gunmen and a kong heavy weapon gunner (NPC)
Sir Ashon 'Ka 'Linor, human, seasoned (Mike Miller)
    Squad of six jackal-men laser gunners (NPC)
Sir Connor O'Reardon, human, seasoned (James Gallagher)
    Squad of five human soldiers (NPC)

GM: Dave Nelson

Log:

Day 241--Orion
The heroes are summoned to the office of Sir Eustace, Knight Commander, where they are briefed about a string of robberies being committed by a band of criminals called “Eli’s Chosen Six.”1 These robberies have been taking place only a few days apart from one another, but light-years away from one another. This is causing Sir Eustace worry since it seems that the Fiendish Dr. Eli VanBlinken must have found a way to duplicate the Knights’ Marvel Crystal Effect. Sir Eustace adds that the king’s advisor, the Brown Monk, has a guess about the probable next target of the criminals. On the way out of the office, Sir Eustace’s aide, Sir Sylvester Leroy, hands them a bag containing a gift from Sir Eustace to the Brown Monk.

The knights go to the Brown Monk’s quarters and after an impossibly tedious conversation, find out that all the robberies are sites rumored to contain shards of the Mirror of Sir Vinnie2. The last know such rumored location was at the Third Coming Foundation on New Jerusalem3. Just before leaving, Ashon looks over the gift from Sir Eustace’s office, and finds that far from being an ordinary music box, it is in fact a deadly bomb. The bomb squad is called and the device is disarmed.

After a hasty search, it is determined that Sir Sylvester had been the source of the gift and Sir Eustace had no knowledge of it. Sir Sylvester and his brother Sir Harvey must have fled Orion immediately after handing the package to our heroes. Our knights warn the king about the Leroy treachery and then prepare to set off for New Jerusalem.

Day 242-New Jerusalem
The knights and their entourage arrive on New Jerusalem and summon transport from the lodge-keeper Stan Valet. All four knights then go to the Third Coming Foundation4 where Brother Smith refuses them entry Sir Bloodblade calls the lodge and so has one of Sir Hollis’ interns drive his 6 apemen and 1 kong flunkies over to the Foundation for back up. While they are waiting, Deacon Filbert comes out and again refuses them entry, thanking them for the warning about the robbery. Sir Hollis is overcome with the sense that he has seen Deacon Filbert before, but cannot place him.

Soon after the apemen arrive, all hell breaks loose. Dr. Eli VanBlinken’s Spin Shuttle5 lands in front of the Foundation and Eli’s Chosen Six spring forth to the attack6. While Dr. Garbage and Captain Blasto seem particularly ineffective, The Blade fights circles around Bloodblade, wounding him several times. The Hypno Toad gets mental control over the Kong heavy weapon gunner, and gets him to turn his flamethrower on his allies, killing Hollis’ intern and one apeman. Then, unexpectedly, a squad of Mavorian shock troops7 glide to the ground from a drop capsule and begin firing at both sides of the melee.

After several minutes of bloody chaos in which nearly all of our heroes are wounded, all of the apemen are gunned down, Sir Ashon finally manages to drop an explosive blast onto the Blade, Hypno Toad, and Captain Blasto, taking them out of the fight. Bloodblade and Connor finish off the hapless Dr. Garbage. But Sir Hollis leaps into the Spin Shuttle, followed closely by Hell Ghost. Seeing the writing on the wall, Eli VanBlinken uses his teleport belt to jump back into the shuttle too. While Eli starts the shuttle and lifts off, Sir Hollis and Hell Ghost each try to through the other out the hatch way. Eventually, Hollis hurls the Ghost from the door and leaps after him, but the ghost activates his Flying power and flies back up into the craft. Connor fires a bazooka round at the shuttle and Ashon uses some magic bolts, but they fail to stop its escape. With Sir Hollis back on the ground, the knights finish the last of the Mavorians.

After the fight, Bloodblade packs his 4 dead apemen, 2 wounded apemen and wounded Kong back on the lodge flight bus. Brother Smith and Deacon Filbert come out of the Foundation and tend to the injured, pointing out that Hyno-Toad and Dr, Garbage are still alive. After Sir Hollis drives the murderous Bloodblade8 back to the lodge, Ashon and Connor take the two prisoners back to the side entrance for questioning. Ashon questions Dr Garbage who is incredibly cooperative, saying that they had been hired by “An Emissary of the True King”9 to retrieve the shards and would meet their contact on Scramtor 5 to complete the transaction. While Dr. Garbage was more than cooperative, and had much more to tell, Ashon sacrificed him to Annubis10 at this point. They attempt to question Hypno-Toad, but he gains mental control of Sir Ashon and is slain by the Jackal-men.

In two waves, the knights and their retinue return to Orion.

Day 243-Orion
The knights make report to the king, who it seems is now guarded by the Royal Guardians, in place of the traditional bodyguard of knights. It seems that the treason of the Leroys has had the king doubtful of the knightly order. The king, nevertheless, is pleased with the report and urges them on to Scramtor 5. The knights and their men are quickly healed of their injuries in the Royal Warm Liquid Goo Tanks.

Day 244—Scramtor 5
The knights and their men arrive on Scramtor 511 and summon a shuttle from the naval signal station in orbit. The naval crew mention that the Spin Shuttle had been sighted on planet a few months earlier at one of the dwarf fields. So, the heroes and their men go to that field to set up and ambush. In due course, Sir Harvey Leroy and a squad of 5 kongs with cutting bars arrive at the edge of the field. Ashon’s jackal-men begin the ambush with the worst display of shooting ever seen in the galaxy. The kongs then rush the jackal men and begin to cut them to pieces. Ashon causes 2 kongs to flee in fear however, by witchcraft. Sir Harvey teleports to the top of the fuel tower at the field, where he is soon joined by Sir Bloodblade and Sir Connor. Sir Harvey is at last brought down by a magic bolt from Sir Ashon and machinegun fire from a Jackal man. Meanwhile, Sir Hollis’ interns12 had reported a strange craft was heading to the field. Sir Hollis teleported to the shuttle and launched to intercept. After a long dogfight, where the strange shuttle desperately tried to escape, and without a single attempt to hail his target, Sir Hollis shot down the craft and it crashed and exploded in the jungle.

After he landed the shuttle, the knights distracted Bloodblade by turning him against the innocent, if annoying, dwarf miners and the field. His weapon specialist murdered all the dwarves with a flamethrower. The other knights hustled Sir Harvey’s carcass onto the shuttle and took off, so Bloodblade wouldn’t kill him out of hand. They were unable to save Sir Harvey, who muttered that they were too late and then coughed up blood and died. They cut off his head, seized his sword, crystal and armor and jettisoned his naked corpse out of the airlock.

Back on Orion, they returned the crystal and head to the king and made full report. It was discovered that the Leroy family on Regia Prime had liquidated their assets and gone into hiding The king granted boons to the knights: Sir Hollis got charge of the Royal Clambake, Sir Connor was given title to a rim colony, Sir Bloodblade was given a private space yacht, and Sir Ashon a private villa on New Jerusalem.

Footnotes:

1. Eli’s Chosen Six consists of 6 super-villains, Dr. Eli VanBlinken, noted mad scientist, Captain Blasto, a flying dealer of explosive death, Dr. Garbage, who can spray a corrosive slime, The Hypno-Toad, an alien with mind control powers, The Blade, perhaps the finest swordsman in the galaxy, and the Hell Ghost, a master of shadows, fear and force fields.

2. The Mirror of Sir Vinnie was a positronic focus device used in the great war against the machines to control or disrupt enemy robots. It was destroyed at the Battle of 12 Spiders and the shards were kept by the Order of Shadrack until the order’s dissolution under King Tristan, whereupon the location of authentic shards became mostly a matter of rumor.

3. New Jerusalem, more properly Arakab VI, is a center for religious devotion in the kingdom, as it was the home of James Jesus, the self-proclaimed second coming of the Lord, and founder of the Church of Orion.

4. The Third Coming Foundation, as their literature claims, is a group that prepares the galaxy for the Third Coming of the Lord by doing charitable works. They accept donations by post.

5. The Spin Shuttle is Eli VanBlinken’s method of transporting his crew from world to world. Sir Hollis will discover that it uses a matrix of three Marvel Crystals to operate.

6. See Note 1 above

7. The Mavorians are a hostile and annoying race of small, green-skinned, humanoids who continually shout “Ak-ak-ak” all the time. They were last met by our heroes on Crulduk V searching for the Lance of Wilson.

8. Bloodblade is possessed of a nearly psychotic aversion to allowing any enemy to remain alive and kills prisoners without fail.

9. This is the second time they have heard of the “True King”, he apparently was in conspiracy with the Duke of Yellbane, who was killed by Bloodblade and Sir Hollis.

10. Sir Ashon, according to rumor, was a mummified ancient Egyptian, revived by a genetics experiment of some sort. While he has adapted to the modern world, his religious eccentricities are quite pronounced.

11. Scramtor 5 is a primitive planet divided between kingdoms of Lizard men and kongs. There is a small orbital naval signal station and some small dwarf mining operations.

12. “Test Tube” and “Hooligan” had been left on the naval station to monitor the radar.