For a welcome change, everyone shows up: Tim (Sir Brindal Karth de Hazat), Chris (Peter Sangaree), Nick (Brother Xavier) and Dan (Montgomery Burns).
Sir Brindal Karth de Hazat reaches into his magical bag of goodies and draws out a dueling shield and a standard shield (taken from Thomas Ossy ab Gehallen and his bodyguards). He gives one shield to Captain Gregor Halfiron, and the other to Bob Lungflook.
The characters, excepting Montgomery Burns (who remains in Tuam), break out the rum from the Luftking, and start trying to chat up the three NPAE technicians. They're interested in learning if any of them are particularly good at breaking into secured computers. They quickly determine that Journeyman Lefman Bask, the spindly softcrafter with a weak chin, has worked on think machines taken from Vuldrok frigates. The characters are quickly bored by his long stories about long hours spent trying to crack captured Vuldrok machines. He doesn't take much convincing, and agrees to help break a Vuldrok VERTOL navigation machine in exchange for as much gear as Apprentice Defry Gath and Lancer Gembly the Ox can carry away from the Vuldrok base.
Peter Sangaree spends some time negotiating with Journeyman Bask, pointing out that he may need to remain at Fennen Marsh for some time before the opportunity to obtain a think machine might arise. Journeyman Bask offers to stay on station if he can get some equipment from the NPAE, including a Quonset hut, a power source, and specialized think-machine intrusion tools. He has Apprentice Gath compile a complete list of equipment, with weight and size requirements, for Peter. All told, Gath's list amounts to some 10 tons of equipment. Peter and Journeyman Bask make arrangements to first head back to Tuam, and then to reunite in Phallebreight in two weeks to make the return trip to Fennen Marsh.
Prior to departing back to Tuam, the characters call their contacts in the Chibren Senate, and briefly explain their plans. Senators Hareb and Yemena basically agree with their ideas. The characters also suggest that the Chibren should try and pass themselves off as Hazat soldiers if the Hawkwoods should come calling.
The characters return to Tuam, and go about a large quantity of preparation. Montgomery Burns starts out by committing an act of high treason, by completing his deal to sell rifle ammunition to the Vuldrok. He spends a total of 2000 FB purchasing the 8000 rounds he ordered from the coastal artisans, then turns around and sells the shipment to his Vuldrok contacts for 4000 FB and 200 doses of elixir.
To make good use of the elixir in the upcoming attack, Peter Sangaree recommends purchasing twenty injectors: one for each character, plus six for the base and ten for the Chibren assault force. Sir Brindal Karth spends a total of 500 FB purchasing them, then turns around and collects two months' worth of income to compensate. In an uncommon fit of generosity, he also reimburses Brother Xavier 300 FB for buying cornhusks, though he initially refuses to believe that Brother Xavier actually used the money the way he claimed.
As part of the explanation for the cornhusks (which the Chibren will use to make plastics), Peter Sangaree notes that selling Chibren dyes to the textile works at Pernley Bay will make the characters about 1500 FB per month.
Sir Brindal Karth notices that his finances are getting a little more questionable, so he pens a letter to Director Yie of the MachtArbeiterBank requesting another 12,200 FB. This money brings his total indebtedness to the Bank to a round 20,000 FB. He further requests that 300 FB of the money be used to obtain a substantial library of Hazat military training manuals and tactical guides.
The characters decide that it is essential that they have some way to make the Vuldrok (and possibly the Hawkwoods) think twice about kicking their little colony around, especially after they destroy the Utag Kingdom base in the heart of the Chibren Cooperative. They settle upon forged shipping and transportation manifests as a reasonable solution. Sir Brindal Karth assembles a description of a unit of 200 Hazat troops, accompanied by 100 support personnel and 200 various dependents and family members. He draws upon Brian the Goat's tales of Firebase Tango back on Stigmata for an equipment and weapons listing, with some emphasis upon anti-aircraft weapons. Brian appears particularly enamored of a type of cluster missile able to turn a Symbiot flyer into gook. The characters are eventually forced to tone Brian's tales down a bit, as they fear looking so equipment-rich that the Vuldrok decide to raid them for goodies.
Armed with this description, Montgomery Burns and Sir Brindal Karth find Luther Weasel-finger the forger in the Tuam Low City. He tells them that he can take their descriptions and turn them into realistic travel papers and shipping manifests from Aragon clear through to Gwynneth, for only 50 FB. Montgomery Burns manages to negotiate him down to 35 FB. Luther proves to be good to his word: he produces a set of extremely realistic documents, complete with Hazat and Hawkwood customs stamps, and thumbnail photographs of all 500 of the characters' imaginary personnel. Luther explains that he got most of the photos by strolling around the Low City with a portable image box.
The characters also finalize their purchase of 30 barrels of "slightly irregular" prismatic mist from a dealer in Willowbend, for 45 FB each (a total cost of 1350 FB). They are promised that each drum will cover a 50m by 50m area. Montgomery Burns and Sir Brindal Karth pitch in together to cover the cost, as Sir Brindal Karth finds himself to be running short of cash. After someone points out that breathing antilaser prismatic mist may be harmful, he does manage to come up with enough cash to buy a box of 100 paper facemasks in Tuam for 1 FB.
The characters pick up the NPAE guys and their gear in Phallebreight right on schedule, then fly out to Fennen Marsh to prepare for the assault.
The characters return to their Fennen Marsh colony determined to carry the fight to the Vuldrok. After a brief discussion on how best to distribute the prismatic mist over the Utag base, they finally ask the Chibren to manufacture eight catapults, a task that takes about two weeks. They intend to use five of the catapults to launch prismatic mist over the control buildings, and the remaining three to launch molotov bombs onto the barracks. The Chibren also manufacture Hazat uniforms for the 200 Rangers and militia available for the attack. Of those men, eight are required to man each of the catapults, leaving only 136 men available for the actual assault.
The Chibren troops are predominantly equipped with bolt-action rifles, with either dirks or bayonets as sidearms. Half of the troops have leather body armor (PD 2, DR 2); the remainder have light cloth armor (PD 1, DR 1). One man in each four-man group carries four molotov grenades. The Chibren officers carry whistles to give orders. To provide some first aid capability, Montgomery Burns distributes twelve elixir injectors and 100 doses of elixir among the attacking force. He also makes certain that each character has an injector and ten doses of elixir. The remaining four injectors and 60 doses of elixir he designates as supplies for the colony.
The characters already know that the Vuldrok inside the base maintain an automatic sensor web around their perimeter. They also know that the sensor web coverage is not perfect, and to compensate the Vuldrok occasionally move their sensors around. Sir Brindal Karth, who happens to be blessed with extremely unnatural night vision, spends some time looking for these sensors, and plots out their locations.
Peter Sangaree, with an effective catapult skill of 11 from Gunnery defaults, is placed in command of the catapult detachments. Because the Chibren are none too familiar with using catapults, he finds that he is limited to two fire directors with skills of 10 and five more with skills of 8. He and the other two skilled gunners man the three catapults armed with molotov bomb and aimed at the barracks. Peter reasons that the prismatic mist canisters have a wide enough burst radius that good accuracy is really not important when using them, and places the less skilled gunners at the controls of those catapults. To defend against the possibility that the Vuldrok might get an aircraft up during the attack, Peter brings along one SAM launcher and five missiles. Twelve riflemen provide advance cover for the three catapults placed to the south, while the bulk of the assault force is intended to provide cover for the five catapults placed to the west.
Brother Xavier takes charge of the remaining troops. He identifies the 20 best shots, and has them placed in the trees as snipers. They are charged with picking off sentries on the roofs of the machine shop and the control tower. He detaches another 14 men to stand watch over the eastern edge of the base, near the barracks. They are charged with preventing Utag troops from escaping in that direction.
The actual assault force consists of some 85 men, divided into two contingents. Sir Brindal Karth commands 40 men to come in from the west through a gap in the sensor web. His objective is to hold the landing field and prevent Utag pilots from taking off. His immediate goal is to get his men to the cover of the half-meter concrete ledge at the edge of the landing curtain. Brother Xavier commands 40 men who will move in from the north and assault the machine shop directly. He is accompanied by Montgomery Burns, who turns out to have Gunnery-16 and thus leads a team of four men equipped with the second SAM launcher and five additional rockets.
In a momentary burst of creativity, the characters have the snipers to the north of the machine shop equipped with "dumbass silencers" (plastic bottles sealed over their rifle barrels) to make their initial attack a bit less obvious.
With their troops in position, the characters set to waiting for a good group of Vuldrok aircraft to fly into the base. After three days, a flight of two small Hunters arrives for fuel and maintenance. The characters elect to wait for a different group, as they know they need at least one Carrier for their plans to work. The Hunters depart after two days.
Three days after the Hunters' departure, the characters are warned by Groupleader Ribben up north that a large flight of Utag aircraft is inbound towards the base. Within moments, the characters are able to see three Hunters and two Carriers in approach. Remaining cautious, they wait to see how many men are on board. They count thirty troopers and ten technicians on the Carriers, and are somewhat appalled to see that the troopers are well-equipped with assault rifles, submachine guns and battle armor. Even so, they decide to attack. They debate a night attack, but recognize that the Utag possess night vision gear that will put the Chibren militia at a severe disadvantage. They compromise on dinnertime, reasoning that few of the Vuldrok will be ready for action.
The assault opens with a muffled whimper, as the ten snipers to the north open fire on the three sentries atop the Machine Shop. As their bullets strike home, Peter's catapults open fire. The gunners to the south manage an impressive show of accuracy, landing molotov bombs on two of the southernmost barracks buildings and setting the roofs ablaze. The gunners to the west are substantially less accurate, dropping canisters of prismatic mist all over the control building and the landing field but still managing to cover everything they needed to. After the initial volley, the catapults armed with prismatic mist largely stand by, while Peter Sangaree orders his catapult group to change their aim to hit the northernmost barracks. His subsequent volleys are rather more scattered than the initial one, but still manage to start a series of fires on and among the barracks buildings.
With the sentries either dead or suppressed, Brother Xavier gives the command and the two assault groups run for the chainlink fence surrounding the base. Montgomery Burns uses his wireblade to great effect, slashing great sections of fencing aside. Sir Brindal Karth's group is less fortunate, and is forced to use lower-tech wirecutters to get through.
Brother Xavier's team makes the initial rush to the machine shop walls with little opposition in evidence, only to be stopped by gunfire from the top of the control tower. They remain pinned until snipers are able to suppress the control tower sentries. With their freedom of movement restored, Brother Xavier addresses himself to the problem of taking the machine shop. He chooses to enter via the large bay door on the eastern side of the building. An initial attempt to send a team of ten men around the western side of the building to provide flanking fire turns into a minor disaster, as the group gets savaged by automatic weapons fire from the Utag troops caught in the northern barracks. Brother Xavier and Montgomery Burns elect to solve the problem by brute force. Montgomery Burns uses his wireblade to cut the lock on the bay door while Brother Xavier arranges a fireteam of ten men to loose a volley into the building the instant the doors open. The two characters then rush into the machine shop before the echoes of the initial volley have cleared. They run straight into a hail of submachinegun fire that clatters harmlessly off their shields, then quickly dispatch the two hapless technicians responsible.
Once Brother Xavier is satisfied that the machine shop is his, he sends word back to the snipers to move up. His men exchange several volleys of fire with the defenders inside the Control Tower before Brother Xavier announces himself as "Captain Cross of the Hazat" and demands a surrender. The three technicians inside the Control Tower agree to cast down their weapons and emerge, whereupon they are taken into custody and sent back to the catapult teams.
While Brother Xavier and Montgomery Burns attack the Machine Shop, Sir Brindal Karth leads his team in a charge towards the landing curtain. Halfway to the safety of the concrete ledge, his group encounters automatic weapons fire from troops concealed around the Utag Carriers. Brindal Karth sees two men drop, then resorts to personal sharpshooting to suppress or kill the Utag soldiers. By the time he has dealt with the sentries, he finds that most of his men have scattered all across the area looking for cover. From that point on, Brindal Karth concentrates on mustering a few of his men back into order and suppressing the few remaining Utag caught on the landing curtain. He is able to find about thirteen of his initial group of forty. He details eight of them to hold one Carrier, and five to hold the second. Along the way, he secures the assault rifles used by the Utag defenders and issues them to his own men.
Unfortunately, Brindal Karth isn't able to completely secure the landing field. By the time his men get into position around the second Carrier, one of the three Hunters has warmed it's engines and lurched into the air. Desperate to prevent the VERTOL from either turning it's weapons on the attackers or sending laser messages to other Utag troops, both Peter Sangaree and Montgomery Burns drop everything to get their SAM launchers set up and get missiles into the air. The characters' extensive investment in antiaircraft missiles pays off when both missiles fly true, shattering the Hunter into a ball of flame and debris.
The session ends with the characters in control of the western half of the Utag base, including the four VERTOLs currently on the landing curtain (two Assault Carriers and the two surviving Hunters). An unknown number of Utag soldiers are fortified in the northern two barracks, equipped with automatic weapons and possibly more.
Each character gains five experience points. Montgomery Burns elects to invest a substantial number of his accumulated experience into Streetwise, Carousing, Guns/TL6 (rifle) and Piloting/TL8 (VERTOL).