Episode 17: Grundorians Die, Die, Die!!!

Campaign Date: Royal Orion Year 314, Day 100

Characters:
Sir Bloodblade, Kong, veteran (Marlon Kirton)
Sir Buford Culpepper, human, veteran (Dave Nelson)
Sir Hollis DuPont, Human, Seasoned (Andrew Smith)

GM: James Gallagher

Prologue:

The characters are summoned to an important briefing in the royal assembly chamber by Sir Winston Wellington Alexander III. When they arrive, they see a throng of nearly 200 KoO, plus several dozen high ranking Royal Marine and Naval officers. At the far end of the chamber, Sir Winston, Sir Eustace, The Brown Monk, Bishop Eusebius, King Henry, and Lord Commander Sir Percival Helstrom (the lord commander of the KoO) are seated on at a high table over looking the assembly. As soon as the characters are seated Sir Percival calls the hall to order.

“Gentlemen, I wish that this assembly was being called for more auspicious reasons, but unfortunately it hasn’t. The Royal Naval Station on Dis has been overrun by the Grundorians. The attack was sudden and with the fleet so overstretched, there simply was not enough defenders to hold off the invasion.” Percival waits till the room quiets after the stunning news.

“His Majesty, King Henry, has assembled you, available commanders and fleet admirals, as well as all available Knights to head immediately to the planet Dis and regain control of the station. I do apologize for the abrupt retrieval of the fleet commanders by my Knights, but your attendance at this briefing was needed as quickly as possible.”

The planet Dis is a deathworld. Roughly 90% of the indigenous flora and fauna is deadly. The naval station is made up of several complexes on the surface of the planet. These complexes are protected from the savages of the planet by 6’ thick reinforced concrete walls, the jungle around the complexes have been cleared to a distance of 600’. Motion sensors and automated turret defenses would be more then enough to handle most of the indigenous threats, but these are the Grundorian Super-soldiers. They managed to tunnel under some of the defenses, but mostly through sheer weight of numbers, they overran the complexes in a matter of hours. A combined counter-invasion of KoO, along with the royal marines will try to take back the key installations on the planet. (Drydocks, C&C, Fuel Station, Supply Dumps)

Interesting tidbits of information:

1) Shortly before the invasion, long range transmissions were intercepted between the Grundorians and a traitor fleet under Mason II. The Grundorians turned on the traitors, demolishing most of the fleet before continuing on to Dis.
2) When the Grundorians landed on Dis, they did so in Mavorian drop ships.
3) A small royal corvette spotted the Grundorians on approach to Dis and reported that they had a fleet made up of nearly 20 ships of various designs, (Sybok, Royal Navy, Mavorian), and that they seemed to be hastily repaired and equipped with large, armored bow rams.

Log:

Off To Dis: Day 100

The characters are to be transported to the Dis system onboard the fleet flag ship Mjolnir. When they near the planet, they will then Marvel to the planet surface where they will make their way to their target, the C&C of the naval station. There, they will attempt to enter and recapture the complex. Meanwhile, marine dropships will begin to land troops to start their own missions in the recapture of the naval station. The characters could easily Marvel there from Orion, but Sir Percival insists on a combined attack by all forces involved.

Arrival on Dis, Day 100

With the ambush behind them, the knights watch as a shower of marine dropships, and debris from the orbital battle rains onto the surface of Dis. Pushing onward into the jungles of Dis, the party narrowly escapes another of the planet’s indigenous flora, as a Killer Nettle fires a poisonous dart in the direction of Sir Buford, but misses, instead burying the poisoned needle into a nearly tree. Sir Bloodblade does a bit of weed whacking, destroying the plant before the party sets off again.

As the knights near the halfway point to the C&C, Sir Hollis catches sight of a large force of Grundorians on a ridge that they must cross in order to continue on with their mission. As the group takes up positions, a familiar sound drifts across the jungle as a Grundorian buggy armed with a multiple rocket launcher pulls onto the crest of the ridge. As the fight commences, Sir Hollis moves forward, taking cover behind a small clump of trees. Bloodblade attempts to hasten his attacks with the use of psionics, but manages to brain burn himself. The apeman drops to a knee to lend support fire, while Sir Buford attempts to use psionics of his own and quickens himself. The Grundorians surge forward, under fire from Sir Hollis and the apeman as the rocket buggy fires a rocket straight at Bloodblade. The shot is true, but as the smoke clears, the mighty Kong stands unscathed, though his armor is a bit scorched. Sir Hollis continues to fire his laser pistol at the approaching Grundorians as the apeman pours a volley of machinegun fire into the horde. The combined firepower rings off the savage’s armor, which seems to be of some type of Sybokian design, highly modified by the greenskins. Sir Buford again uses his psionic abilities and teleports behind the rocket buggy, fires an RPG into the rear of the vehicle, consuming it and an unfortunate Grundorian machinegunner in the explosion. The Grundorian boss quickly moves after Buford and the two exchange pistol fire at point blank range.

Sir Hollis, seeing his position soon to be overrun by the onrushing Grundorians steps from behind his cover and uses his own psionics to become invisible. No less then five of the greenskins rush the invisible knight, and try though they may, just can’t seem to be able to hit him. Sir Bloodblade begins sweeping bloody swaths through the Grundorians, as two assault rifle armed greenies open fire on the Kong. Several more of the marauders continue on and soon the apeman finds himself swamped by five of the axe-wielding savages. Sir Buford and the boss greenie exchange gunfire, with Buford managing to land several head shots on large grundorian, but the monster shrugs off all but the worse of the damage. The two even resort to posturing and taunts before the brute’s luck finally runs out, and he goes down in a hail of laser fire from Buford’s twin pistols. Meanwhile, Sir Hollis slowly works his way out of the encircling Grundorians by killing one with a well placed pistol shot, then begins, along with Bloodblade to dispatch his attackers. The apeman however doesn’t fair as well, and eventually the press of numbers takes its toll, and he falls lifeless on the jungle floor. As these Grundorians turn their attention on the surviving knights, the combined efforts of the heroes eventually wins the day.

The knights now press onwards towards the C&C, making their way to the outer defenses where they find another large group of Grundorians manning fortified positions, armed with a twin heavy machinegun. As they approach, automated laser machinegun turrets open fire, but can’t find a weakness in the knight’s armor. A combined Grundorian force of shorties and the more common greenskins begins to rush forward at the knights. The heroes notice that the leader of this band of Grundorian defenders is outfitted in what appears to be assault armor, with a large plasma gun on one arm, and a wicked looking claw on the other. As the leader levels his gun at Hollis, it smokes and sparks, malfunctioning before shutting down. The leader then begins to slowly advance towards the knights. Buford rushes the twin machineguns before they can be brought to bear, dragging two of the savage greenskins with him. A well placed head shot kills the gunner and another kills one of the Grundorians who were attacking him. (The third managed to finally hit Buford, but to little avail.) Sir Hollis rushes one of the automated turrets, slicing it apart with the Sword of Drogo, before becoming engaged by three of the greenskins. Sir Bloodblade again starts cutting swaths through the Grundorian defenders and finally finds himself face to face with the Grundorian boss. The two exchange blows with little effect. As the fighting on the left side commences, Sir Buford turns the heavy machineguns on the defenders, cutting them down in droves. A single greenskin keeps Sir Hollis jumping as he continuously fires a flamethrower at both Hollis and Bloodblade. Eventually, the flames find a weak spot in the kong’s armor, and he is seriously wounded. In the pitched fighting around the destroyed turret, the continued machinegun fire from Buford eventually wear down the defenses, and Hollis uses his Puppet ability to convince the boss Grundorian to power down his armor. Bloodblade then begins to try and break the armor by repairing it. (Bloodblade has the All-Thumbs hindrance, all he needed was to roll a “1”) The continuing battle at the machinegun turns humorous as Buford taunts the surviving Grundorian that has been trying to find a weak point in his armor, allowing Buford to dispatch him. A lone greenskin finally bests Hollis is single combat, incapacitating him, and releasing the assault armored boss from the Puppet powers.

As his armor begins to power back up, and the surviving Grundorians begin to move in for the kill, Hollis’ wounds become mortal. Just as it looks like the knight may well slip free his mortal coil, his condition stabilizes, but the leader of the Grundorian Super-Soldiers arrives on the scene, along with a sizable force of reinforcements. (Dave played the “Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire” adventure card.) Seeing this new threat bearing down on them, the two Buford and Bloodblade steel themselves for the onslaught. Just then, Sir Connor, Shecky, Wayne, Earl and eight marines show up on the scene. (Marlon played a card that allowed him to draw any card desired from the adventure deck. He chose “Here Comes the Cavalry”.) The knight’s now fight on with a renewed vigor, as Connor lends his own assault armor mounted plasma gun, Shecky’s grenade launcher, a marine rocket launcher, and a lot of laser rifle fire pour into the new Grundorian arrivals. The combined forepower quickly cuts down many of the greenskins, with Buford dispatching the leader with a well placed laser shot to his thick cranium.