WoAF - Game Session 14

In brief, our heroes decided at the last not to engage with the Lizard men after all.  Nope.  The team, lead by Guns who argued vociferously against joining forces with the Crusaders of the Golden Lion, and was backed by both Pita and Fred, for slightly different reasons, turned dead-set against the idea after all.  Captain Samwise conceded to their demands and reluctantly gave the bad news to Geoffrey.

"Go then," said Geoffrey from his horse, "but do not return.  You are not a man of your word.  You are no longer welcome here."

So, instead, they shoved off as persons non-grata under Geoffrey's disdainful gaze.  After all, as he had pointed out to Samwise, the Captain had already given his word.  But Samwise swallowed his pride and sacrificed his word of honor in order to abide by the wishes of his crew.  Whether or not this was an example of poor leadership would be something to be debated quietly among the crew members as they rolled off westward on Route 89.  Guns sang a particularly loud little ditty to get Samwise's mind off his troubles, and down the dusty desert road they went.

And so they came to the Bridge over the Colorado River at Glen Canyon Dam.  But once crossed they found a palpable gloom of dread descended upon them all.  It was as if they rode their Armored Ground Vehicle through a curtain of gloom.  And on the other side of the bridge they beheld a long line of crosses dangling with skeletons crossing the road for as far north and south as the eye could see like a great and starkly evil border line.  It didn't bode well. It didn't bode well at all.

After what seemed like a very long, rough and dusty ride they came to Big Water which they skirted past, despite seeing a large number of soldiers amassing on the far side of town.  Nope.  "Keep moving", the crew urged.  And so they moved on.

And finally they came to the town of Kanab.  And there was no moving on from there.  Crossing Route 89 was a gate with two machine gun toting guards, and on the side of the road a large gravel lot in which was a very stout looking white building bustling with soldiers.  Next to the building were three jeeps, one under repairs by a mechanic, and two XR7-5 Tanks mounted with Turbo Cannons, one idling at a distance of about 300 yards.  Troops could be seen throughout the building and on the grounds.  Beyond the crossing gate could be seen the town of Kanab, also bristling with troops and activity.  There was a lot going on in Kanab.

The guards commanded the AGV to stop, and so Captain Samwise went out to parley with them.  That grew a bit tense when the guards demanded to know what outfit the AGV was with, and so the Base Commander was summoned.  He emerged from the Base HQ with five men, also toting machine guns.  He was a burly warrior with a distinctly grizzled no nonsense approach, and he demanded to know where the good Captain and his troop came from.  When Samwise explained, the Base Captain dismissed Federation Command as some sort of fiction, and gave Samwise a choice:  they either join forces with the main army and head to the town of Saint George where "the major war is being waged", or relinquish possession of the AGV and spend the rest of their time in the brig under military arrest.  

Unfortunately, with all the electronics of the AGV having been blown out, and being unable to hear the conversation outside, though they could see the Captain arguing with the Base Commander through the window, the crew was forced to watch with baited breath.  They couldn't make a move without risking Captain Samwise being riddled with machine gun bullets.  So they sat tensely with looks of consternation on their faces.

At this point someone asked if Linda might be able to think of something to do.  She leaned out the door and called out loudly "Common guys, we're all on the same team here, right?" and emitted a little known Mentarian Power known as "Influence Emotions" with and extra portion of Chi ... just enough to tip the scale. It would only last a minute or so.

"Why who's that?" asked the Base Commander, leaning to the side a bit to see if he could catch sight of the source of that lovely sounding young voice.  The effect took hold, he was influenced positively, against his better judgement, and took a liking to Samwise and his crew after all.  And so he waved the party off, agreeing with the young lady that they're all on the same side... all of which was quite true of course.  And so Captain Samwise, realizing that there was absolutely no time to waste, hopped into the AGV as Pita floored the gas and drove away as fast as the lumbering machine could bear them back down the road from whence they came.  

And so there was laughter and sighs of relief as they fled eastward.

And that's where we left it for the night.  Fun times.