Guardians of the Galaxy: A Big Deal

[Part of Superhero Stories]

It was quite the sight from the metal cat walk, a whole platoon of Nova Corps troopers on their knees worshiping a "floating old guy" as Mantis had described, but Peter could see that the strange worm he had accidentally released earlier was hugging the old man's back like a leech, and the orange gem was implanted in his forehead. "Did you really need to see it for yourself!?" hissed Mantis angrily as she snuck up beside him with Drax and Gamora not far behind. "Yeah... I..." stammered Peter before he noticed Drax suddenly stand upright as if possessed, a purple glow eminating from his eyes. "My friends!" announced Drax while addressing the Guardians and catching the attention of all those below. "Come join us in the promise!"

Of course Drax would beat Gamora.

Catching Gamora by surprise, Drax grabbed her by the back of the neck like a kitten and threw her over the side but her assassin reflexes let her twist into a position that took both of them over to fall to the level below. "GAMORA! DRAX!" yelled Peter but Mantis quickly grabbed his hand and led him back the way they came, all the way to the hangar bay where other ships had begun to dock - their crews mindlessly shuffling forward towards worship with the same purple glow in their eyes. As if by instinct Peter just powered up the Milano and took off out of there, dodging the other ships arriving around the Nova Corps cruiser.

Once they were out at a safe distance, Peter killed the thrusters and put his head in his hands. "We have to go back," he said as Mantis put a hand on his shoulder. "Peter, they've got an ever growing army over there and we just have the two of us. Even if we could ask for help from anyone, who is to say they wouldn't be affected too?" Peter sighed. "This is my fault Mantis. I've got to fix this."

"I understand... but could you maybe drop me off somewhere first?" asked Mantis sheepishly. "Don't worry," Peter replied with sudden confidence. "I've got a plan. What do you say to being an advisor to a powerful ruler?" Mantis blinked her big eyes in confusion as she soon found herself in the throne room of Lady Hellbender.

"Peter Quill, I am not running an Earth pawn shop. All transactions are final," spoke the leotard-clad giant of woman. "Lady Hellbender, I'm offering you all your units back plus this empath to serve as your advisor." She looked at Mantis from head to toe, appraising her value. "And you, little one. Is this what you truly want?" Mantis took a minute to think.

"Well... at first I was like really scared, but I can tell you really are passionate about your collection. And you have really cute pets too, so yes - I think this benefits all of us."

Lady Hellbender smiled at this. "Very well, Peter Quill. You have a deal."

Firefly Adventures: Surprise Retrieval

Today's board game session is from Firefly Adventures: Bandits and Browncoats.

The job was simple: get in, get the item and get out. The guards in the complex would be suspicious if they saw the team traveling together, but as Mal (DL) knew by now - expediency was key opting to once again go guns hot. It was a manic few minutes as the two fireteams: Mal and Jayne (mom) on one end, Wash (me) and Zoe (wifey) on the other worked their way to the center - obliterating the guards wandering out of cover.

On one of the bodies, Wash found the master key and tossed it to Mal who opened the main storage unit in awe - the item was priceless! Mal greedily tucked it under his arm only to have a loud alarm go off as soon as he turned for the door, summoning a swarm of goons onto the crew!

More weapons = more options!

Jayne was caught in the worst position, flanked in the open - taking a number of hits that nearly brought him down. The rest of the team scrambled to help him with Zoe taking down chasers, Wash doing another near point blank sniper shot through a door to kill the gunman behind it, and Mal tossing a grenade that wiped out a whole cluster of the enemy.

Jayne managed to eliminate the last bad guy personally, and with the area clear the crew was clear to make their escape and cash in big time. Mission Success! At this point the crew are rolling in $11,400 credits. :)

Alas, that is the last mission that comes with the base game which is a shame given how cool it is.

Firefly Adventures: Swifty Rescue

Today's board game session is from Firefly Adventures: Bandits and Browncoats.

Using the intel gained from the information relay, Mal (DL) and Zoe (wifey) set course for a nearby prison camp where one of their old wartime buddies was being held tortured. Being a time sensitive mission Mal decided to skip the sweet talking with the entire crew going in guns hot.

Corners and shotguns are a lovely combination.

Zoe opened by blowing away two guards with her shotgun gaining the attention of a third whom Mal shot in the back. Jayne (mom) and Wash (me) took down the remaining two at range, giving the team full run of the place for now. Unfortunately they didn't know where their compatriot was being held so it was going to be a door to door affair with the squad splitting up to cover more ground.

Zoe and Jayne only found empty buildings but Mal lucked out - finding the captive inside the largest structure along with the three goons beating him up! All three rushed the intruder and Mal knocked out the first two, but barely won against third, "the Butcher", as Wash needed to use a medkit stims to keep the captain going.

Jayne provided cover fire as more goons began arriving with Mal and Wash carrying the captive to the landing pad, but the Butcher Mal initially KO'ed got back to his feet and raced out of the building, managing to knock down Mal and almost kill the captive before getting a near point blank sniper shot from Wash - putting him down for good.

With Jayne carrying the captive and Zoe helping Mal back to his feet, Wash could finally call the Serenity for extraction. Mission success!

Firefly Adventures: Sneaky Hacks

Today's board game session is from Firefly Adventures: Bandits and Browncoats.

After a few days of surveillance, the team knew exactly how the thugs patrolled the base of their information relay. As planned, the squad arrived from three directions: Mal (DL) from the South, Zoe (wifey) and Jayne (mom) from the West and Wash (me) from the North, with each quietly taking out a patrol guard as they arrived.

This made breaching the main facility a cake walk, but hacking the actual server node was far more challenging with Wash having the most success at it. Meanwhile Jayne didn't even make an attempt, opting instead to try for a safe in the backroom. Unfortunately it too was digitally sealed.

With a good haul of sellable information on hand it was time to go, but a new goon arriving on a shift change muddled up the timing of their escape - long enough for the alarm to trigger and for the bad guy cavalry to arrive en force, right from the direction of their escape vehicle!

Time to go loud.

Having no option but to fight, the team made use of the large garage door as cover to shoot under - laying waste to the incoming line of gunmen while only taking minor injuries themselves. There was no shortage of bad people however as more thugs began pouring into the area (literally, because on this map if they "see" a dead body - remove the body and spawn a goon).

"We need to move now!" yelled Jayne as he threw a grenade into a cluster of incoming baddies - killing nearly all of them, only to have a fresh batch arrive again.

Predictably, Wash was the first one to the car and got it started while the rest fell back firing - reaching the vehicle and making their escape just in time. Mission success!

Firefly Adventures: Misbehaving Delivery

Today's board game session is from  Firefly Adventures: Bandits and Browncoats.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (DL) led his team of Jayne (mom), Zoe (wifey) and Wash (me) into the shady looking town. Under the crook of his arm was a package that they needed to deliver to someone in this area, but the details of who were quite vague.

"Split up and behave," was his instruction as he trudged towards the nearest house on his own to hopefully get directions. The fat goon inside was not the easiest person to talk to, and while Mal eventually got the info he needed, it also resulted in a short brawl in which he knocked the fatty out.

Upon exiting to the street, he was greeted by mayhem. Wash had somehow set exploded a water silo AND set it on fire (in that order) and was running for his life from two angry thugs with Jayne and Zoe openly providing cover fire. Blood and numerous bodies already lay littering the roads.

There is no parlaying in the wild lands!

Picking up his pace and still trying to remain casual, Mal headed to the contact who was more than happy to receive the package - but he wasn't willing to sign for it. Mal insisted as he needed that for payment but there was no talking him into it, resulting in another brawl!

Despite this man happening to be a skilled martial artist, Mal killed him with his own sword before running back out - package still in hand. With the entire village now slaughtered, the squad returned to the ship in failure.

Fortunately, upon opening the package themselves they find enough contents to fund their next adventure!