Heroes: Jag, Zeke, Atobe Keigo, Dust, Pacci, Jean Reno and Balarai Snowe
Enemies: The Fort Romulus Defense Force, Sylgris the Dragonlady, Sir Karsh of the Tiger, and KRONOS, Warlord of Ursus and Master of Time
Personal Notes
- The conditions of this dungeon are really quite unsatisfactory! The dank smell and dripping water from the ceiling clearly indicate that the place isn’t being properly maintained at all, and you don’t even feel safe in such premises. What’s more, the dim lighting makes it almost impossible for you to work without risk of serious eye-strain.
- You knew from the beginning that a plan to open up the fortress by force was doomed to failure. However, now that you’re on the inside, you plan to bring it down by a much more effective means – legal means! By the time you’re done your onslaught on the Spherans’ dubious practices of war, the litigation will have closed this fortress right down in no time. As soon as the paper-work goes through, that is.
Mini-Objective
- Accuse the Spherans of as many different war crimes as humanly possible.
Personal Notes
- As far as you’re concerned, the presence of four top-ranking Spheran Knights waiting for you in the tower can be no coincidence: they knew you were coming. And that can only mean one thing: somewhere along the Republic lines, there’s a leak…
- You’ve been skulking around this fortress all night and quite frankly, you’re getting rather hungry. You really hope that the Colonel delivers to this fort: you could go for a bucket of chicken, or at this point, anything that you could find.
- It looks like you’ll have to rescue those noisy buffoons just for their muscle. Still, you can’t trust them to do anything right, so you’ll have to make sure to stay standing in case they screw up and you have to slip away again.
Mini-Objective
- Don’t get taken down during any fights in this mission.
Personal Notes
- Since being tossed in a dank cell in the bowels of Fort Romulus, you’ve noticed that you and your companions are not alone. Hunched quietly in the darkness of a cell across the way is a man you recognize: Seravian, the Armshand and 'Man of the People' from the village of Istava. You wonder how he ended up in the same straits as you did.
- It sure is dark down here in this prison. Not that you mind overly much, but you find you're really losing track of time. And for a businessman like yourself, time is money. Surely there's got to be some way around here to keep track of the time.
Mini-Objective
- Obtain some method of keeping track of time here in the Fortress.
Personal Notes
- The dank, musty Spheran prison conditions are absolutely attrocious, and not at all befitting of someone of your lineage and importance. This is just yet another of the slights against you for which they’ll have to pay.
- Doubtless, the Spherans are planning to interrogate the lot of you shortly. You suspect that the sub-standard prison conditions are merely a ploy on the Spherans’ part to weaken your resistance. What they don’t realize is that while they may have beaten you in battle (for now!), they’ll never break your will. And you intend to see to it that the rest of your fellow prisoners understand this as well. If anyone dares talk, there’ll be tennis-racket hell to pay from you!
Mini-Objective
- Make sure none of your fellow prisoners (weak as they are) crack and spill any information to the Spherans.
- Demonstrate your defiance by lipping off to the Spheran commanders as much as possible.
Personal Notes
- Ramping over fortress ramparts on motorcycles in plain sight was never your idea of a good plan. You much prefer the idea of finding a good position and taking out the Spherans from there. Trapped as you are in this stone cell, you really miss the feel of a rifle in your hands. You’re the blue-clad death of the Spherans after all, and you intend to show just how much more deadly your expert sniping is over some half-baked Special Forces plan.
- You’re a little worried about your poor Boyos, left up on their own in the mountain wilderness. Of course, you’re more than confident in their ability to handle the rugged terrains; you’re more concerned about Zeke and Snowe’s men bullying them around. And then there’s that Smithie character too – now there’s one you wouldn’t trust farther you can lob a pumpkin at harvest time.
Mini-Objective
- Find a way out of this cell, and snipe down as many Spherans as possible.
Personal Notes
- Unlike you, these Spherans aren’t really very good hosts at all. These dank, musty dungeons are most uncomfortable, and rather remind you of those sewers you had to crawl through not long ago. What’s more, they haven’t fed you very well either. In fact, you’ve built up quite a ravenous hunger, and like Pacman himself, you’re ready to devour anything remotely resembling food that comes into your sight.
Mini-Objective
- Eat as much food as possible. After all, you’re well used to the idea of food being worth big ‘points.’
As well as being the climactic battle for the impregnable Fort Romulus, this adventure also saw the introduction of a new hero of the Republic.
Jean Reno
Race: Chalchakian/French
Rank: Lieutenant
Affiliation: Republic of Electra, Auxiliaries
Known to many as 'the Professional,' Jean Reno is a bitter, bad-tempered Frenchman and member of the Republic Auxiliaries. Although he has a crack shot and a mean one-punch, neither are nearly as bad as either his attitude, or the coffee on this terrible planet of Electra. He leads the French Foreign legion, a squadron of foreigners that has quickly become as disgruntled and bitter as their leader.
Having been captured by the Spheran battle-knights at the fortress of Romulus (or out in the orchards while picking apples, as was the case for poor Pacci), our intrepid heroes found themselves imprisoned in the dungeons beneath the fortress. This was a source of fury for Jag, who demanded better food, better conditions, and an adherence to the Geneva convention. There was a man in the cells, however, who was not one of us: Seravian, Armshand of the Tigerclaw division.
Briefly talking with him, the PCs discovered that he had been imprisoned for dissenting to the Dragon's invasion of Electran soil. But just as he told them this, a host of Spheran guards marched down the stairs, surrounding the wife of the Dragon of Sphere. I can't remember her name, so hereafter, she's "wifey" (GM Note: Sylgris is her name, as seen below).
One by one, the PCs were taken up to meet Lord Kronos, leader of the Spheran House of Ursus. A great massive bear of a man surrounded by clocks, he voraciously ate Sugar Crisp cereal. After being brought back from questioning, at least one PC divulged that he had managed to get some of the cereal, but that it hadn't been enough.
After they had all come back from questioning, the guards and wifey left, leaving the PCs and Seravian to discuss what each of them had told the Spherans. But soon after, two figures arrived. One was familiar to most, the other only to Zeke. Balarai Snowe and Khaurus Vanbaal came rushing down the stairs, and unlocked the doors, freeing the prisoners. According to Vanbaal, attacking the winch was purely a ruse on the part of the Electrans, and the capture of the PCs had been expected. The real plan had been to release a lever in the basement, opening the sewers and allowing Electran commandos to storm the base from the inside. With this said, the party then split up. Vanbaal pointed a way out to the others, while taking Dust on a different route.
The main force made its way through the hallways of the fortress, trying to find a way out, with Snowe, dressed as a guard and speaking in Spheran, distracting the other guards. Eventually, they made their way out.
At the same time, Dust and Vanbaal made their way up to the highest tower of the fortress. This took a number of difficult checks, with Dust having no problem in terms of strength and agility, but unable for a while to rise above his Denchuli birth: his biggest problem was climbing up a rather scary-looking gargoyle. At the top of the tower, Dust readied his Spheran Highwind and Denchuli Mark 3 rifles, while Vanbaal loaded and readied his Phantom.
At this point, the rest of the group attempted to race across a rather thin walkway, with nearby Spheran soldiers shooting at them. Fortunately, Dust and Vanbaal provided covering fire, knocking out Spherans (Dust) or just outright splattering them (Vanbaal).
But while this happened, the Electrans were gathering their forces outside. Tank divisions, field artillery, berserkers, impressionists, the Lightning Fist, and even the French Foreign Legion prepared to assault the fortress, guarded by two Romulus Cannons, light artillery, mortarmen, heavy knights, and Sir Karsh and his men.
But as this fight got underway, the field artillery, guarded by the Rose Legion, Conventional Guardsmen, the Bottleknockers (led by Dolg), the Ukraine (led by Yuri), was attacked by Grizzlor, Pandaro, and two units of Spheran scouts.
As the main force assaulted the gates, the Spherans desperately tried to pound their tanks as well as the artillery. The guns held up for a while, but eventually the Spherans were able to take them out with superior firepower from blast grenades. But it came at a cost: having infuriated the drunken Dolg, Grizzlor's men took a verifiable pounding from the Bottleknockers' jagged beer bottles.
During the fight, seeing Sir Karsh standing still on the ramparts of the fortress, Dust took a shot. The shot hit Karsh, but deflected off his armour. Looking up and spotting Dust and Vanbaal, Karsh spoke a few words into his radio. Wifey, on her Drakhaan, crushed the tower, causing Dust and Vanbaal to fall. Dust attempted one last shot as he fell, but it missed the Drakhaan.
While this was going on, the main PC force, led by Jag or Keigo, depending on who you ask, made its way into the basement of the fortress. There, by the lever, they found Lord Kronos, asleep. However, he was soon woken up. Enraged, the bear-man ripped into the group. In the end, after a fierce barrage of Kronos' forest fires and the healing provided by his gigantic teddy-bear's picnic, Jag and Snowe were the only ones left standing with Kronos defeated. Managing to rouse the other, unconscious combatants, the level was pulled, and through the sewer came a legion of Special Forces swordsmen, led by Lanver. At the same time, the gates were opened and the Electran tank divisions, led by Tank and Dozer, poured into the fortress. It seemed that the Electrans had won valuable ground, but in the end, several of the Spheran battle-knights escaped by Drakhaan.
And that's where the adventure ended.