Re: [HOE] Spoil the Unity for Me.

["Kai Tave" <kaitave@harborside.com>]

Eh, sure.  Why not.

MAJOR SPOILERS.  Like, all of'em.  So unless you really like spoilers, go
'way.
































































































There.  That should do it.

The brief version is the posse gets recruited, somehow, to take place in the
Iron Alliance's defense against the Combine.  The first part of this is a
major battle between the Convoy and a few other assorted Alliance members
(plus PC's) against the Cult of Doom who are attempting to flank Junkyard.
Lots of nasty, brutal, WW1-style trench warfare interrupted by Dr. Darious
Hellstrome and his personal spaceship.  Hellstrome drops down in the middle
of everything, claims to be the Harbinger, and most of the Cult of Doom
retreats to ponder this development (against Silas's wishes).  And there was
much rejoicing.

The next part involves a massive battle between the Combine's forces and
Junkyard.  Ike waits until the Combine is at the front door before
triggering one of Hellstrome's last little toys, an electro-aetheric pulse
that disrupts the connection between reality and the Hunting Grounds for 30
minutes.  Automatons, cyborgs, warbots, and all that jazz go on the fritz as
their manitous get scrambled.  The pulse also affects the mad science used
to create things like the control chips in all Hellstrome Industries weapons
and vehicles.  Thus, the majority of the Combine forces grind to a halt
and/or find their weapons not working.  Mass slaughter ensues as Junkyard
rolls out the road gangs, militia, sky pirates, and Convoy (and the PC's).
The remnants of the Combine haul ass back towards Denver.  After a brief
celebration/recovery period, the remaining Alliance forces follow in an
attempt to drive the last nail in.

Along the way, and once the PC's reach Denver, a BUNCH OF STUFF happens that
really isn't too important to the overall plot, suffice to say that the PC's
end up running from a sudden zombie horde, get swallowed by a rattler, and
puked up in the middle of a multifront battle raging between the Alliance,
the Denver forces, Raven and his necromantic horde (the previously-mentioned
zombie horde), and the Reckoners themselves, who are there to put a stop to
Raven's foolishness (and slaughter many innocent people).  Hilarity ensues.

In the middle of all this mess, Dr. Hellstrome zips up in his spaceship and
sucks up the Horsemen into this little arcane puzzle box, then proceeds to
get shot down.  The PC's, assuming they actually go investigate, go
investigate and find a damaged Hellstrome who gives them the box, gives them
the lowdown, then tells them they need to go to Banshee and drop the
Reckoners off there.  Good thing the spaceport's in nearby Denver.

The PC's, after entering the spaceport and making it to the control tower,
need to negotiate with ComSat for spacesuits and passage up via shuttle.  If
they can convince it, it agrees, and the PC's then find themselves launched
into space.

After dealing with a couple errant cyborgs attempting to salvage ComSat for
parts, it pilots them towards the Unity and drops the posse off.  Once
there, the posse needs to get the ships engine warmed up, get to the engine
room and activate the gate engine, then get to the bridge and go to Banshee.
Simple.

It turns out (duh) that the Unity actually travels through the Hunting
Grounds to get places, and that on its last trip it turns out a group of
demons hitched a ride, then slaughtered everyone aboard.  The PC's contend
with zero-gravity, demonic infestation, and a 'glom made up of the
Unforgotten Fifteen (apparently NONE of them made it off), make it to the
gate room, only to discover that the Unity's gatedrive is powered by a demon
itself.  The only way to activate the gatedrive is by blood sacrifice;
someone has to be murdered.  This can be a bit of a downer if you just have
one PC left alive.

So someone gets cacked, the gate powers up, the posse (or what's left
thereof) makes it to the bridge, and gets sent to Banshee.  The Unity gets
too close to the planet and proceeds to crash, tearing open a small hole in
the Hunting Grounds in the process.  This now connects all three settings
via the Path of Stone; Banshee may now be reached by going through what used
to be the Unity's engine room.  The end dot dot dot question mark.

And that's about it.

                        --Kai Tave