Let's Get Outta Here!

Part 1 of the Rescue of Dr. Zhukov
A Kate and Kip Adventure

The Fringe world now known as Devastation was once a thriving world. Then an Imperial-inspired rebellion led to a nuclear holocaust. Now the planet is a post-apocalyptic nightmare. But for some, it is a dream come true. The noted biologist Doctor Zhukov has completed ground-breaking research on the effects of radiation on planetary ecology. Unfortunately, his expedition was attacked by raiders and the rest of the party killed. He escaped, found refuge in a ruined city, and put out a call for help. Kate and Kip to the rescue!

Kate and Kip find the doctor in the city. They are escorting him to their ship, on the outskirts.

Kate and the doctor slip through a window into a building. From another window, Kate has a clear shot at a raider. She does not miss.

Kip is trying to sneak through the streets when he runs into a patrol. He guns the raider down.

The attacks draw an onslaught of raiders. Kate races across the street into another building. Both our heroes miss shots.

Kip races to join Kate and Zhukov but he is intercepted by club-wielding raiders. He dodges their attacks. Again, our heroes miss.

Kip retreats into another building, pursued by raiders. Kate shoots one down. Suddenly, bursts of gunfire erupt through the windows. Kate is stuck.

Kate and Kip blast a path across the street, allowing Zhukov to retreat to Kip's building. A raider bursts through a window and prepares to shoot at Kate!

Kate rushes to Kip's building, only to run into a pursuing raider. A few of the other raiders, however, have heard enough screaming. They decide to retreat hastily from the battle.

The raiders' leader rushes down the street toward our heroes' hideout. Kip blasts her through one of the windows. Meanwhile, Kate guns down the last raider.

Doctor Zhukov is still safe, for the moment.

What other dangers lurk in the ruined city? Tune in next time for the further adventures of Kate and Kip!

The Goblin's Hold

A Rowan Adventure

It has been a while since I lasted posted an adventure with my fantasy Templar, Rowan. This weekend, I decided to experiment with a virtual tabletop using the same skirmish rules as for my Kate and Kip adventures.

Recently, the Temple has learned that a band of goblins has taken over an abandoned dungeon and have been launching raids against nearby settlements. Our heroes, Rowan the Templar warrior and Jacor the priest have been ordered to stop the raids.

They entered the dungeon to search for and kill the goblin leader (although they did not know it when they entered the dungeon, it was in the room with the cross).

The first room they enter is a guard room. Two goblins are on duty. Our heroes quickly dispatch them.

Along with two more in the adjoining corridor. Jacor used his holy smite power to take out one of the creatures.

The next room was filled with acid-spitting giant worms. One shot of spittle hit Jacor,

The heroes took out two of the worms.

But Jacor was knocked unconscious. The remaining worms ganged up on Rowan but he dispatched them.

After healing, Jacor was ready for more action. The heroes ran into more worms in the next passageway. Jacor had to use a heal to save himself. Again, our heroes sliced through the worms.

The entered a room with a couple of goblin berserkers. Rowan was wounded but killed his opponent. Jacor used his holy power to smite another one.

Finally, they found the lair of the goblin chieftain. He was massive and mean. Furthermore he was accompanied by three bodyguards. Rowan and Jacor managed to kill one bodyguard each. Then the chieftain closed on Jacor and struck him with a powerful blow. Jacor collapsed.

Confronted by two enemies, Rowan circled in a way so that one goblin was obstructed from attacking. This gave him an opportunity to wound the chieftain. The bodyguard finally worked its way into position for an attack. Rowan parried, then buried his blade in its chest. But the chieftain lashed out and struck Rowan. He stumbled back.

The goblin chieftain rushed forward. With a flurry, the blades of the combatants lashed out at each other, but none managed to strike. Rowan could feel himself tiring. With one final effort, he lunged forward. The goblin shifted his shield to block the thrust, but Rowan changed directions and lashed out at its head. The blow struck, and the goblin fell to the ground.

Rowan managed to revive Jacor and carry his wounded friend back to their mounts. Then tired and bleeding but victorious, they rode back to town.

The Space Escape

The Thrilling Conclusion to Escape from the Empire (A Kate and Kip Adventure)

In our last episode, Kate and Kip managed to shoot their way through the docking bay. They made it to their ship and blasted away from the space station.

Suddenly, an alarm went off. Kate checked the sensors. "Oh, oh! We have company!" she exclaimed. Two Imperial fighters were on their tail.

Kip opened up the throttle and they began to outrun the pursuers. "Hurry up with those navigation calculations!" he exclaimed.

The enemy began to fire. Our heroes' ship was suddenly rocked by a large explosion. The engine and guns were damaged!

One of the enemy ships drew closer. Gunnery was ineffective across the board.

Kate scrambled to repair the damage to their ship. She managed to get the engines back to full thrust. Kip engaged one of the Imperials with the rotating laser turret. He hit!

The damaged fighter dropped back but the other enemy pulled closer.

With the engines repaired, Kip pushed the ship to its limits. The damaged enemy could not keep pace and dropped out of sensor range.

Finally, Kate completed the navigation computations. Kip fed them into the systems control and the little ship lurched into hyperwarp!

Kate and Kip jumped out of the system and headed home. They would reach HQ without incident and return the intelligence to the Chief. Another mission complete!

The Dock Blocked

Part 2 of Escape from the Empire (A Kate and Kip Adventure)

In our last episode, Kate and Kip were trying to escape from a space station crawling with Imperial soldiers. They managed to evade detection and take out four legionnaires. Their victory opened the path to the docking bay.

When Kip opened the door to the docking bay, an alarm began blaring. Kip looked sheepishly at Kate and shrugged his shoulders. She rolled her eyes at him. "Check next time." she grumbled at him.

They could hear the pounding of footsteps coming from the corridors entering the bay. Imperial soldiers came rushing forward.

Kate and Kip advanced into the bay. Kip rounded a corner and blasted one of the oncoming legionnaires.

Suddenly the air was filled with the pew-pew-pew sound of a repeating laser spewing out energy bolts at a high rate. One soldier was firing from around a corner. One bolt struck Kate in the leg.

Kate and Kip dove for cover behind storage containers that were laying about the bay. The legionnaires poured a steady fire at them, but missed.

Our heroes peeked out of cover and blasted the soldiers.

They rushed forward toward their ship. Kip noticed an Imperial officer hiding behind a corner. Her pistol was leveled at him. Before she could pull the trigger, Kip unleashed a barrage of shots. They struck the officer in the chest. She spun and fell to the floor.

They had blasted their way free! There were no more Imperials between them and their ship.

Sneak Attack!

Part 1 of Escape from the Empire (A Kate and Kip Adventure)

Kate and Kip have been sent to a space station in fringe space to gather intelligence from an informer. After their successful rendezvous, the station is boarded by Imperial legionnaires, intent on stopping them. Our heroes must make their way past the soldiers to the docking bay.

Kate and Kip enter a series of winding corridors. Enemy soldiers are on patrol.

Kip sneaks up behind one of the Imperials. Using a stun blade, he knocks out the soldier.

Kip drags his victim out of sight. Meanwhile, Kate sneaks into line of sight of another soldier. She is armed with a silenced stun pistol. She shoots, and the Imperial goes down.

The two remaining soldiers halt. Our heroes could hear their whispers.
"Did you hear that?"
"No, what was it?"
"Shhh. Listen."

Kip and Kate sneak up to the corridor corners. They could see the soldiers down the hallway. As one, Kate and Kip squeezed off blasts with their pistols. The remaining enemies slumped to the ground.

The path to the docking bay was open.

Kate Saves the Day!

Part 2 of Against the Antares

Last time, Kate (still suffering from one of the wounds she received) and Kip defeated the thugs in the terminal, and readied themselves to rush through the doors to the tarmac where the Antares lay in wait.

"On three. One . . . Two . . . THREE!"

They rushed through the door and Captain Mal Evolent and his remaining crew ready to receive the attack. Kate veered left and Kip went right, each ducking behind a storage container. Two thugs converged on Kip; one of their shots wounded him.

Kip returned fire and blasted one of the thugs. His partner moved around the container and shot at point-blank range. Kip was down!

Kate had advanced toward her target, the Antares.

But finding herself surrounded by 3 of the scavengers, she retreated to cover. She managed to shoot down one of the assailants.

Mal and his right-hand man Pug, armed with a heavy blaster, poured fire at Kate.

Her return fire took out Pug. Captain Mal circled around the loading cart and fired. The shot struck Kate in the side. She slumped and winced in pain. But she knew that if she succumbed that it would be curtains!

As Mal prepared to rush her position, Kate took a desperate shot. It was dead-on accurate, and Mal collapsed.

Kate hobbled over to the Antares and tossed a plasma grenade into the ship. She then dragged an unconscious Kip into the terminal, where she administered first aid. A minute later an explosion rocked the terminal. The Antares was no more.

Another New Beginning

Last time I posted, I mentioned starting a new RPG campaign. Well, that never panned out, but now I've started another project. Over on my Warwell's Wargames blog, I have been experimenting with quasi-RPG skirmish rules. So far, these rules have had some distinct advantages over my RPG rules. Adding a movement grid has added some tactical nuances. The scenarios seem to play quicker with less record-keeping. Finally, I am able to illustrate their adventures. As a result, these new rules may become my new form of role-playing.

For my tests, I have been using the same characters, Kate and Kip, who are Federation agents in the same universe as my space Templars. Kate and Kip's narrative has started to take on a life of its own, like an RPG. Thus, I decided to start recording their adventures on this blog.

Without further ado, here is the next ADVENTURE OF KATE AND KIP!

Against the Antares

Part 1 - It's Terminal

The Antares is notorious on the fringe reaches of Federation space. Its captain, Mal Evolent, will do anything to anyone or for anyone, if the price is right. He and his crew of incorrigbles are not to be trifled with lightly.

Word reached the Federation government that Mal had been engaging in treasonous activities with the hostile Imperials. Unfortunately, the evidence was not admissible in a court of law. Therefore, the Federation Secret Service devised a plan to neutralize him. Our heroes, Kate and Kip drew the assignment. Their mission, destroy the Antares.

They tracked the Antares to a seedy spaceport on one of the free worlds along the border between the Federation and Empire. Surreptitiously, they landed and made their way through the spaceport's terminal toward the Antares' dock. Near the end of the terminal, they discovered that they had company - members of Mal's crew.

"Just act casual," Kip whispered to Kate. "Perhaps they won't pay attention to us." Kate nodded and they casually sauntered toward the terminal doors.

They did not get far when one of the thugs challenged Kate, pistol drawn.
"Where ya headin', missy?" Kate mumbled a response about looking for work. Something struck the thug wrong, however, for he leveled his pistol at her. Kate ducked and he missed.

A firefight ensued. Kate backed up, trying to find cover behind a counter. The thug loosed another round, which struck her in the thigh. Meanwhile, two more thugs engaged Kip. He blasted one.

Kate and the thug exchanged another round of shots. She was wounded again but she took out her opponent.

She hobbled forward and blasted another thug trying to hide behind a counter.

Meanwhile, Kip had found cover behind a chair in the terminal lounge. He exchanged shots with another crew member. Finally, Kip neutralized his target.

Separated by a counter, Kate and the last thug shot at each other while Kip rushed to her aid.

Kip circled behind the counter.

And finally eliminated the thug.

Kate slumped to the floor. Kip rushed over to her.

"Perhaps we should abort the mission," Kip said, worry in his eyes.

"No, I'll be fine," she said as she dressed her wounds and administered a stimpack. "Let's go." she stated as she drew herself up, using the counter to steady herself. She limped over to the terminal door, pistol at the ready. Kip joined her.

"This is turning out more difficult than we thought." Kip said.

Kate nodded and readied herself to burst through the door. "Ready?" Kip gave her a thumbs up.
"On three. One . . . Two . . . THREE!"

What happens when they rush through the doors? Find out next time!