Chapter One Part Twelve
Battlefever at Mayfever Farm Wow. Did not think that would work. [GM Aside] No, nor did I, but then a Gentleman has a 1 in [6] chance of achieving anything [/GM Aside]
Jump out of cover, walking bat stick in hand, and say, "Bloody German, it is the will of god that I block your bullets, and it will be the will of god that you're skull be caved. So Surrender!" Hope the German speaks English. Give him a chance to respond. If he says no, continues to reload, or tries to fight back, then attack him.
Smith jumps out from behind the cover of the outhouse building, and fires his majestic speech at the reloading German [1], but he understands no English. He tries to reload his revolver faster as he sees Smith approach, and he hurriedly raises the gun as Smith raises his walking
bat stick to strike. They attack simultaneously. The German shoots! Smith manfully holds his ground flinching not a bit, and the bullet whistles over him, removing his hat! At the same time Smith strikes [5+1]! The German’s skull is caved! His brain is broken! He is struck down! It was the will of God!
Item Lost! Your hat!
Get into cover as i have no weapon and try to clean off the blood.
Thomas Wallace abandons his family heirloom Mighty Claymore and ducks into cover near the stone barn, squatting under the shadow of its several windows. He attempts to clean off some of the blood covering his suit, but meets with very little success as the spatters cover him entirely and he has no clean handkerchief to use [3].
Fire shotgun at my German oppositionists, then duck behind cover and reload.
Just a few yards to the east of Wallace
von Fersen realises he is all but face to face with two startled German soldiers, both carrying standard army issue rifles with bayonets. He swings his shotgun round to shoot, but they beat him to the draw and both raise their rifles and fire. They are both crack shots, famed throughout their regiment for their sharpshooting! They aim straight [6]! They aim true [6]! But the Viking God of Miracles swoops down from his resting place on high, and by his amazing instincts von Fersen is thrust aside at the last minute by the smallest distance [6]. Von Fersen's pipe is shattered! Von Fersen jumps in astonishment! He inadvertantly dodges the second bullet!
Enraged Mildly irritated by the loss of his favourite finely crafted pipe. von Fersen blasts the leftmost German in the chest with his shotgun [6]. The German is too busy standing in amazement at his recent miss to dodge, and he is hit full in the body. He is thrown back a distance of almost twenty feet! His arms are sheared off! His pancreas is pierced! He is struck down!
The battle fever full upon him, the feisty Swedish noble hastily unloads the second barrel upon the similarly second German [1]. The gun explodes! There is a great deal of smoke!
When all the smoke finally clears from before von Fersen's burning face, he finds that where the second German once stood there now remains nothing but a pair of legs in black leather boots. With a slight feeling of
ennui he also notices that his left eye appears to be severely injured, affecting his eyesight. If only he had some fine brandy. Or a pipe.
Item Lost! Finely crafted pipe
Item Lost! Two shotgun shells
Item Lost! Double barreled shotgun
Wound Acquired! Severely Injured Right Eye (-2 to aiming)
Search the slain Germans for a weapon, then follow Wallace regardless, readying my top hat. Especially in case they bring out something akin to a panzerfaust. In that case, fling the rocket into the air with the top hat.
Moving forwards from where he dismounted the car and up past Smith,
Wellington searches the first fallen German for a weapon, sure that he had seem him firing a revolver mere seconds ago. Perhaps in too great and too ungentlemanly a hurry, he finds nothing of use [2]. He passes on steadily, across the gap between outhouse and barn, and comes up to Wallace and the horribly butchered pair on the ground whose blood the Scot is futilely attempting to clean from his suit. He again searches the slain Germans for a weapon, but manages to find nothing that is fit for him to brandish [3], so crouches in Observing Snow Leopard Stance and readies his top hat just as he hears movement from the nearest barn door.
A German bursts out, armed with a large and strange looking weapon that he carries in an ungainly manner upon his shoulder. He sees the Englishman crouching in the shadows 10 feet from him, and backs away a few feet before aiming the weapon. It resembles some kind of steam powered rocket.
The German fires! There is a loud hiss of steam in the frozen night air. With the reflexes of the feral badger, Wellington flings his top hat at the infernal contraption [6+1] and bats the projectile away! It flies at a right angle from its intended target, crashing through the barn door before exploding with the force of a half dozen vengeful and holy handgrenades. Much moaning and screaming comes from inside! The barn starts to creak and to shake; it is clearly on the point of collapse. There is a great deal of smoke!
Enraged and ashamed, the German flings down his steam powered projectile launcher and rushes straight at Wellington, entrenching tool at the ready.
Item Lost! Top hat
At this great and unexpected noise, three figures can be seen bursting from the back door of the outhouse just West of the exploding barn, although they are barely distinguishable through the smoke.
One of them is shouting at the handful of crew around the Escape Contraption in a frantic manner; he appears to be commanding them to work faster. It seems that within a minute they will be climbing aboard the Flying Device.
Sneak onto the Zep. Find a disguise.
A hundred yards behind this raging inferno, and now considerably enlightened on the subject of the Perthshire bagpipe tradition,
John Link realises the time to make a decisive move is now. He moves up, sprinting with the stealthy guile of the Belgian Ox [6] using the cover of the various explosions to travel a mighty distance, over low walls, past the injured von Fersen, past the crumbling barn, past the burning battlefield and onto the Zeppelin - for it thus, the German Flying Escape Contraption! It is LZ2, the second of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's Airship Zeppelins! Link recalls having heard some idle talk about this contraption's predecessor LZ1 whilst dining recently at the Turf Club. This one is a large and mighty looking machine.
Link sneaks successfully on to the forward control platform [4], a large open wicker basket nearly 20 feet long and 10 feet into the air. Climbing the ladder, he sees that there is not yet anyone on board, but there are several crew members bustling about below.
He finds a passable disguise [4+1], the standard greatcoat of the Imperial German Navy worn by the airship's captain and a navy captain's hat. He pulls on the greatcoat; he pops the hat on his head at a jaunty angle like a true seaman; he is become Johannes von Link, Commander of the Luftshiff Zeppelin Zwei!
Skill Acquired! Stealth of the Belgian Ox! (+1 to stealthiness)
Pick up my revolver, call for a medic, and shoot the zeppelin.
Henry McGeenyton is lying prone on the ground south of the farm buildings when he barely notices the stealthy shadow of Link pass him on the way north. He reaches for his revolver, and picks it up with the ease of an expert [5]. He calls for a medic to attend to his light wounds, but there is none about and so none comes [3]. From a range of around 75 yards he opens fire on the enormous Zeppelin with his revolver, emptying the entire cylinder of rounds into the floating grey mass [5].
He can’t tell from where he lies, but one of the bullets penetrates the thick rubbery hide of the flying monster, but nothing happens aside from a light whooshing noise as of a very minor puncture. No effect is visible on the airship.
Item Acquired! Revolver
Clarity Spoiler
In the centre of the map there is the crumbling barn, which surely has no survivors inside. On the south side of the barn are Wallace, in his filthy clothes, and Wellington, confronted by an enraged fraticidal German. Not far from him is the wounded von Fersen, who has nevertheless dispatched both his opponents. John Link is aboard the Zeppelin, alone. There are three German air-sailors preparing it to launch below, and 30 yards away there are three Germans rushing towards it, between the Zeppelin and the ruined barn. The three rushing Germans have just left the outhouse outside of which Smith crushed the German's skull. McGeenyton is prone 25 yards south of the farm buildings.
Note: A Zeppelin is about 500 feet long and has two "baskets" attached front and back. They are, at this early stage in the Zeppelin's design, made of wicker so as to keep the weight down. The main controls are in the front basket. Access to the baskets is using a 10 foot ladder. It is tethered to the ground with a rope at each end.
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Topic: Roll to Be a Gentleman Spy - Chapter Three Part Twenty One. (Read 74962 times)