(This was a Hallowe'en inspired session but, of course, I hadn't told the players that in the hope of maintaining the suspense as long as possible...)
The cadre makes preparations to reclaim Louie's old ship. Mort briefs them about what to expect and the risk of radiation exposure if the reactor has been damaged. They also discuss options for how to get the ship back into space. Louie organises legal paperwork transferring ownership to Hasimir (as he's the only one currently using his real name...), Lawrence pays the bankers draft into one of his accounts, they hire a truck to get them to the crash site and purchase some additional gear (Mort gets some additional tools, Hasimir an armoured spacesuit (for Radiation protection), Keats a Geiger counter and a number of them buy Radiation Serum.
They head out of the city and arrive in the mountain village of Calsazio, the resting place of the "Wretched Harridan" (Louie had apparently named the ship after his fourth wife). About a mile away Keats detects an increase in radiation; it appears that the reactor is leaking and the cadre takes precautions. They also anticipate that as the ship has been here for some time the radiation will have had a detrimental effect on the locals.
Feeling that in order to prevent misunderstandings or unwanted attention they ought to make themselves known to the village headman they head through the village to his house. Driving through the village they find it a ghost town, seemingly bereft of all life.
Keats and Lawrence enter the headman's house and find its inhabitants are all dead and in states of advanced decay. Closer examination reveals that they all have pre-mortem wounds, some potentially fatal.
They decide to get on with securing the ship and head across the village to its crash site. On route Keats finds a child's drawing showing "Daddy" as some sort of monster.
They get to work on the ship. Mort assesses the damage to the ship as Louie tells them a bit more about the crash. Due to his pilot's skill they were able to focus the ship's shields to the fore to mitigate the descent and damage so the hull is damaged but only appears to have a minor breach. Mort was right to suspect a reactor leak though and he, Keats and Hasimir set to work to repair it. It proves to be a relatively simple fix but takes most of the afternoon to lock down and restore power. Meanwhile Lawrence keeps watch outside and Louie takes Arcadia for a tour of the vessel.
Lawrence notices a single light on in the village in the shadow of the mountains, the location of which would appear to be the village church.
After resolving the reactor breach and restoring power (which illuminates the ship like a beacon) Mort does a further check of the ship's systems. There appears to be evidence of erratic Volt transference but other than the hull damage the systems seem to check out ok. Lawrence then comes running in, a horde of figures are shambling towards them from the village. It appears that the residents of Calsazio have been reanimated as Husks.
They lockdown the ship and get the external monitors online, watching as the shambling mob approaches. Everyone except Lawrence, Louie and Arcadia are gripped with fear. They consider their options; the ship is loaded with missiles and rockets, they could risk using one to decimate the Husks but at this range it could damage the ship or cause an avalanche. They need more information so Keats sneaks from the ship and heads around the edge of the village, aiming to investigate the light (now extinguished) in the church.
The Husk horde reaches the ship and from its midst a young, living, woman leaps up and onto the hirde truck. She calls out the crew, to feed to her "babies" so they can join them and Hasimir is nominated to speak to her. She appears to think herself a revolutionary, looking to over throw the impotent nobility with her zombie army! Hasimir, the erudite Torenson, may not have been the best choice to parlay with her....
No comments:
Post a Comment