Eye of the Tiger

Heroes: Jag, Zeke, Atobe Keigo, Dust, Pacci and Balarai Snowe
Enemies: Wild Animals, Giant Ikyaks, Caszara and Sir Karsh of the Tiger

Jag – Officer’s Dispatch 11

Recent Duties: If there’s one thing that yesterday’s Varsity Games proved, it’s that the Electran Law Division reigns supreme. Physical training is just no match for good rules lawyering. And that’s the same philosophy you have for this whole war as well; you plan to have half the Spheran army indicted for war crimes any day now.

Troop Status
Supplies: Schmitzer SMGs, Armored Flak Vests, Deluxe Laywers’ suits, and briefcases full of legal documents. These briefcases are even more overflowing than usual, as pre-game drug test results are still pouring in.
Morale: Your men are rather smug over their sporting victories. Mattar and Catalano are convinced that there must have been some cheating on behalf of the other football team as well, and are pouring over the rulebooks for some technicality to give you the game.
Health: The Shark Pack is heavily relieved that the Varsity Games seem to have convinced Special Forces Major Xelme that they’re in no need of physical conditioning after all. Nevertheless, several of them are suffering from post-game injuries ranging from aches and sprains to serious back pain. And when you’ve had a serious injury, you need serious help. You need Jag.

Military Communiques

You’ve received word that the politicians on the base are finally making their departure. Law Division back home has been arguing for days that their presence has been an obstacle to military efforts, but now that they’re finally leaving, proper protocol dictates they still receive a courteous send-off.

Personal Notes

- The International Legal Community is growing more and more concerned as the Spheran-Electran war drags on. In particular, you’ve heard that a high-profile Deksiilan judge has been a strong proponent of interplanetary intervention in the conflict. It’s just like those peace-loving hippies to want to stick their nose where it doesn’t belong. Clearly, they don’t understand international law like you do.
- It seems you’ve discovered the reason for the poor performance of your ‘fellow’ Special Forces at the Varsity Games yesterday. The results of your drug tests are in, and they indicate that Special Forces lieutenant Atobe Keigo has tested positive for opium. That’s right. White Lotus. Yam-yam. Shanghai Sally. This kind of behavior is a disgrace, and you’ve issued an immediate request to suspend her from duty. A dark war zone is simply no place for an addict.
- Kufta is suffering from a serious injury! He claims that during the hockey game, he was subject to a vicious hit-and-run by a man named Seamus. He just went right through the red light! Clearly, this kind of behavior needs to be curtailed. And you intend to do just that, by getting Kufta the money he deserves.

Mini-Objective

- Sue Seamus for Kufta’s medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering.
- Make sure the politicians’ send-off is as courteous as possible.

Balarai Snowe – Officer’s Report 10

Recent Duties: To your great relief, your victories at the Electran Varsity Games seems to have stemmed the Khan’s wrath, at least for now. As a result, you should be able to stave off utter destruction, for the time being anyway. Unfortunately, that also means you’re back to your regular duties. Not that those usually include doing very much.

Troop Status
Supplies: Heavy Field Mortars, 2 Remote Mines, Combat Daggers, ratched-up winter parkas and snowshoes, and several empty barrels that once contained oil. Unfortunately, this list still does not contain a Dunebuggy, but you hope to correct that soon.
Morale: The Avalanche is both thrilled to have crushed the opposition in the Varsity Games, and to have avoided destruction at the hands of Genghis Khan. What’s more, their money from all the gas sales has allowed them to repeatedly fill the Football Cup with beer. As such, their spirits are at all-time high. For the remainder of this Adventure, the Avalanche is at +1 Morale.
Health: Fats Dynamo is suffering from a major hang-over after downing the Beer Cup after yesterday’s game, but otherwise, your men are in good health.

Military Communiques
You’ve just received word that the visiting politicians are finally slated to depart later today. This is fine by you, it means less authority around to catch you goofing off. Now, if it was the Khan who needed a send-off, that woudl be a totally different matter.

Personal Notes
- For some time, you and your men have been contemplating the acquisition of a dunebuggy. It now seems as though the opportunity has fallen right into your lap. Arch Hall Jr. is selling his dunebuggy in order to raise money for his bail. His asking price is 400 marks. You’ve convinced the boys to cough up 320 of that, but that still leaves you 80 short. There’s got to be some money floating around this base that you can get your hands on, one way or another.
- This morning, you found what looks like a broken gun barrel outside your tent. Probably one of Varin’s from the football party last night. You hope he’s not too upset about your guys wrecking his equipment, it’s all in good fun after all.

Mini-Objective
- Acquire the necessary funds to purchase your dunebuggy.

Zeke – Officer’s Report 14

Recent Duties: It’s been quite a while since the mighty Zeke has actually been knocked down in a battle. As such, you made the decision that you’d suffered more danger than they pay you for recently, and have spent the last few days recovering in your tent. This has reminded you once again of just how much like a bunker that place is.

Troop Status
Supplies: Hacksaw Shotguns, Combat Helms, Steel Breastplates, Republic Sabres, brand new leather Wheel jackets, a shiny new motorbike, Zeke’s Tent of Horrors and a mysterious metal cylinder. Ominous theme music starts playing whenever you look at this latter object.
Morale: The Wheel is quite happy about the way you seem to have stemmed the casualty flow. At this rate, they’ll be one of the Republic’s best crack squads in no time.
Health: Your men have finally recovered, both physically and mentally, from that ludicrous ninjitsu. Apparently, trying to stop arrows with your hands and failing painfully only holds its appeal for so long.

Military Communiques
- None.

Personal Notes
- Recently, about half your unit received missives from the Republic Law Division, warning them of their impending deportation should they fail to present proper immigration documentation within 4 to 6 weeks. You suspect that Jag may be responsible for this. Bahh, it’s just like the Republic to threaten to deport their best soldiers after they’ve been putting it all on the line!
- Once again, rumors are rampant once again about the availability of illegal drugs on the base. This time, it’s allegedly opium that’s on the market. As far as you’re concerned, this sounds like a good opportunity for profit, if only you could get your hands on the stuff.

Mini-Objective
- Investigate the alleged opium source and market it if possible.

Atobe Keigo – Officer’s Report 10

Recent Duties: You are in a black mood indeed: once again, the Atobe family name has been disgraced. Although you blame your loss on the technical finagling of those lawyers, you still can’t live down the fact you were defeated by some guys in suits who probably couldn’t make a lap around their own office, let alone the courts.

Troop Status
Supplies: FLAME-THROWERS, Deluxe uniforms, kamikaze headbands and several “tennis balls.” Only Seigaku really knows just how painful such a ‘tennis ball’ can be.
Morale: Morale in Seishuen Gakuen is at an all-time low. Your troops feel terrible for failing their leader at such a critical time, and if they don’t, a few smacks to the back of the head from your tennis racket has changed their mind. Plus, they still have no tent. For the remainder of this Adventure, Seigaku is at –1 Morale.
Health: Now that the fire from your burning tent has finally died down, nights in the open air are starting to feel awfully cold. Several of your men are on the verge of catching a bad chill if this keeps up much longer.

Military Communiques
- You received word today that the visiting politicians will finally be departing from the base. As far as you’re concerned, that means good riddance to that wench Lorinda. Sure she may be the High Chancellor’s daughter, but you intend to see to it she knows just how unwelcome she’s been up on this base with the Republic’s REAL soldiers.
- This is outrageous! Just this morning, you received a missive stating that you have been indefinitely suspended from military duty. How are you supposed to prove your worth as a soldier now? You don’t know what the meaning of this is, but you intend to see this suspension reversed as soon as possible.

Personal Notes
- You hate to admit it, but in the last few days you’ve developed a dark secret of your own – you actually like some of Stenda’s food. She’s been making these scrumptious muffins in the morning, which you’ve been sneaking behind her back. Of course, you can’t let her or anyone else know about this, or else she might force you to revert to a diet of all health food again!
- Word seems to have spread around the base of your ‘break-up’ with Brock. Of course, you would claim that to break up with someone, you have to be going out with them in the first place!

Mini-Objective
- Get rid of your military suspension and get yourself back on the field.
- Lip off to Senator Lorinda during her departure as much as possible.

Dust – Officer’s Report 9

Recent Duties: You’ve only got one thing to say right now: TOUCHDOWN! Hockey and tennis may not have been your strong suit, but your Hail Mary stunt to pull the sudden win-from-behind makes up for it and more. If only the Spherans were as easy to beat as the Special Forces, your Boyos would be back in the gold and green hills of Denchul by now.

Troop Status
Supplies: SIR Rifles, Republic Sabres, Deluxe Scout Uniforms, and a Spheran ‘Highwind’ Light Infantry Rifle. Sadly, Snowe and his men insisted on taking the Football Cup, claiming it as Fats Dynamo’s ‘beer mug.’
Morale: The Boyos have gotten all excited over their big football win and have even taken to tossing a potato around the tent. Unfortunately, Sgt. Dijon does not seem to share their cheer, and appears uncharacteristically gloomy.
Health: Your Boyo Scouts are perfectly fine, but you yourself have a few sizeable lumps on the back of the head courtesy of a tennis ball and a man named Seamus.

Military Communiques
- You recently received word that the visiting politicians will finally be departing from the base. It seems a good thing from where you’re sitting: they seemed none too fond of foreigners like you.
- However, you received a rather distressing communication from Edward Byrne-White. Apparently, the Major-General has heard reports of your own subordinate officer, Sgt. Dijon, serving under Special Forces colors. Needless to say, Byrne-White was rather less than pleased, and threatened that disciplinary action could be in order for the both of you.

Personal Notes
- Your quest to obtain proper armaments with which to face the Spherans continues. SIR ammunition is of a slightly larger caliber than what you’re used to with the MarkIII, so you’re going to need a slightly wider gun-barrel to aaccommodate this. Once you’ve got that, it should only take a day or two of mechanical work and you’ll be ready to go.
- You’ve heard reports that Front Base has started to sustain significant damage from the increasingly frequent animal stampedes. Several soldiers were wounded yesterday in quelling a rampage through the civilian refugee camp. You still have no idea what is making the beasts so crazed and violent.
- You can never trust a man named Seamus. Why just this morning, you saw him skulking around the base’s Power Pavillion. You suspect he’s just doing it to look suspicious, but with him, you can never be sure.

Mini-Objective
- Obtain a SIR gun barrel for your DRMkIII.
- Rub in your football victory by saying the word ‘Touchdown!’ to as many people as possible.

Pacci – Officer’s Report 6

Recent Duties: You understand that some kind of really important sporting event just took place on the base. You don’t quite know what it was all about, but you do know that sadly it didn’t involve playing Pacman – the only game to which you know the rules. As such, it’s probably for the better that you didn’t end up playing, because you really wouldn’t want to hurt anybody by accident. And with Steven on the field, that would be a very real possibility.

Troop Status
Supplies: PK-33 Handguns, SIR Rifles, Bright Yellow Deluxe Uniforms, plenty of fruit and pretzels, and a fashionable European carry-all. Sadly, your pretzels have gotten rather soggy from an encounter with the Front Base water supply. There’s just nothing worse than soggy pretzels!
Morale: The biggest problem with the Pac’s morale is that quantitatively, there’s just not that much of it. Four guys can only produce so much ‘morale.’ You’re going to have to acquire some serious power pellets to grow the Pac up to an acceptable size.
Health: Fortunately, the only one suffering any injuries in your unit now is Steven, who’s still a little sore from his fight with Zeke. You can only hope he’s learned his lesson and you can all be friends now.

Military Communiques
- You recently received word that the visiting politicians on the base are all set to depart. You also just realized that you don’t believe you’ve even met these politicians yourself! As such, you don’t have much time left to do so – after all, it would be very rude to have such important guests on the base and not do everything possible to make them comfortable.

Personal Notes
- You really feel very bad that you haven’t introduced yourself to such important guests on the base. Where have your manners been? What’s more, you’ve been told that some people haven’t been treating them very hospitably either. Why, just this morning, a servant of one of the Senators, Lady Lorinda, was scouring the base looking for proper, fresh-baked breakfast muffins. Apparently, the Senator was irate at not having received a proper breakfast since arriving on the base. Who doesn’t have fresh muffins for a guest’s breakfast? Clearly, this is a display of very poor hostmanship.
- Oh, your poor buddy Brock. You heard the sad news that Atobe Keigo and he have supposedly broken up. You’ve even heard some very mean rumors flying around the base that she was only ‘using him,’ presumably for his amazing cooking. Now that’s not a very nice thing to say, and you may have to have words with her if it turns out to be true.

Mini-Objective
- Obtain some fresh-baked muffins for Senator Lorinda’s breakfast, and thus prove yourself a well-mannered host. Muffins go well with fruit, after all.

Adventure Summary

  • Our heroes meet for breakfast as per usual in the mess tent. Varin is bragging about the Conventionals' Football win, and Snowe and Dust join in. Dust yells 'Touchdown!' and tosses a potato towards Snowe, who simply sidesteps it and lets it fall to the ground.
  • Keigo sniffs and ignores this display while chewing on a muffin. Seeing this, Pacci demands to know where such muffins come from, but Keigo is evasive.
    • Jag comes in late, though why he comes in at all given that he never has time to eat is a mystery. He informs Dust that he will soon be pursuing legal action against one of his soldiers, a man named Seamus. Dust is relieved and tells him to go right ahead. Before Jag can leave, Keigo demands to go to his files to look up who suspended her. Jag replies that he need do no such thing, because it was him. He informs Keigo that in the drug tests he took for the Varsity Games, she tested positive for opium. That's right. White Lotus. Yam-yam. Shanghai Sally. Keigo insists she is not an addict, but Jag tells her to take it up with the doctors.
  • Keigo suspects Stenda's muffins and tries to explain her case to Dr. Rumak. The doctor, however, would have none of it without obtaining a clean blood test.
  • Dust scours the base for a gun-barrel, only to be offered one by Balarai Snowe for a modest fee, which he pays. This done, he gets to work assembling his new weapon. Snowe heads to the prison and buys Arch Hall's dunebuggy for him and his men.
  • Zeke and Pacci track down Keigo as she confronts Stenda about her muffins, claiming that Echizen was picked up for drug-use. They discover that poppy seeds are baked into the muffins, which is no doubt the source of the problem. Pacci obtains several of these muffins, while Zeke opts for just the seeds. He returns to his tent and gets Hermione to set up her cauldron and brew up a batch of 'White Lotus Lager,' his own custom house beer.
  • Pacci visits Senator Lorinda with some muffins and fruit from his satchel. She is pleased that at least someone on the base has some manners and indicates that she will be departing later that day.
  • Jag locates Seamus skulking at the power tent and brings him to court. Despite Mattar's attempts at a defense, Jag brings the case home by promising to buy lunch for Judge Joe Brown, who presides over the case. Seamus is required to pay the sum of 500 marks to Kufta. Seamus says he'll be right back and leaves the room. A thud followed by a cry of pain is heard and Seamus walks back in with the money. Everyone present can only shake their head, knowing they should expect no better from a man named Seamus.
    • Keigo locates Dust, and after several uses of the words 'yam-yam' and 'shanghai sally,' she drags him to the medical bay, where she tricks him into being jabbed in the arm and substitutes his blood for her own.
  • The important politicians are slated to depart, and the troops assemble to give them a send-off. Our heroes are dismayed to see that Mr. Robles plans to leave Q behind at the base, though as usual it takes quite a bit of time to get Q to understand these orders. Next, Lorinda is escorted to the plane by Major Lanver, who has to make several creative uses of the word 'wrench' to stifle cutting remarks from Keigo. Finally, Senator Calamus shakes hands with Kilant and smugly wishes him luck. Stoically, the Commander recommends that the Senator keep his luck, as he may be needing it.
  • Almost no time after the Senator's departure, our heroes are called to action. Q and the Egg report that they believe a contaminated water supply in the south-eastern mountains is the source of the wild animals' unrest in the region. Major Xelme dispatches our heroes and their squadrons to investigate.
  • Arriving at the streamhead, our heroes discover several metal barrels with Spheran markings on them hidden on the bank, and more empty ones in the river bottom. As these findings sink in, they are congratulated by none other than the Spheran Battleknight, Sir Karsh, standing atop a bluff on the far bank. He is joined by the fiery-haired Caszara, who snarls a greeting to "Dan the Coalminer" - or rather, Zeke. This latter had thought the two Spherans stranded in the south-east corner of the mountains after the liberation of Istava, but Karsh points out this mistaken assumption has come back to haunt them.
  • Karsh and Caszara are joined by their troops as an animal stampede begins along the river valley, blocking our heroes' direct access to the other side of the river. They begin bombarding the Spheran knight at long range, but while most of the animals just lumber down the valley unless provoked, the evil snakes and later, the giant IKYAK come straight for the Republic soldiers. Just as Snowe and Dust are about to be roasted by the Ikyak's flames, Karsh's last soldier is brought down.
  • At this point, a thundering roar fills the valley as a whole herd of Ikyaks comes stomping and tromping down the mountains. Our heroes troops flee in panic, and they are left to chase down Karsh and Caszara on their own. They confront the two Spheran leaders on the far bank, resulting in a furious battle. Pacci opens things up with an awe-inspiring WAKKA-WAKKA!, hurling his shield which turns into Pacman and takes a bite out of both opponents. Identifying the yellow fellow as a major threat, Caszara uses her fiery psychics to power up Karsh for the powerful dual-tech, Tiger Pride, which takes Pacci out of the battle and damages most of the other Electrans. Keigo pulls out some fire of her own, while Jag and Dust concentrate fire on Caszara, taking her down. Karsh then takes out Snowe and Jag with his martial arts, and then unleashes his mighty Tiger Uppercut on Keigo, felling the tennis champion in a single blow, no matter how years of tennis experience she has. However, the Spheran knight could not resist the blows of his old nemesis, Zeke, combined with Dust's long-range bullets and was dropped to his knees. His Tiger Spirit allowed him to rise again, but rather than try his luck, he sprinted off into the mountains, vowing that this battle was won, but the war still raged, and they would yet face the Tigers' wrath...

    • Major Characters this Session

    None.

    Back to Res Publica

    1