The Storm

In which a trip from Moon Creek to Stolo shows just how much things have changed.

Tai struggles with options on how to proceed with jamming the Maelstrom itself. Only a lengthy sequence of trial and error or gathering a set of expendable test subjects would be reliable. No one's sure that they have the time or stomach for those.

Added to which there is real disagreement over whether they can believe Kray's story, and even if Kray believes it, whether Tai's research backs up his interpretation of how the Yokes influence people.

Miss Roberta wants Tai to stay out of the business of jamming a Doohickeyed person, in her opinion they can't take the risk that there'll be a reaction (either locally or from Brains).

She thinks the Rosa Lee should keep a low profile and keep her out of trouble; any backlash from Brains' people could convince Jackson to get rid of them.

To whit, Tai does a recon on Moon Creek's new gunboat. The assessment is worrying, twin heavy cannons sit in an armoured turret, to go with several mounting for machine guns. The hull is armoured and to Tai's eye it looks like the steel skirting goes nearly a meter under the waterline. His mind immediately turns to defeating the vessel, outpacing it seems unlikely (estimates of the Rosa Lee top speed puts this craft at double that).

Some means of submerged mines would seem best (though the delivery mechanism might be tricky). Otherwise it'd need to be a missile or explosive projectile with a ballistic arc.

The Rosa Lee finally leaves Moon Creek and stops in at Motherlode. Tai sets his device into Yoke detection mode,  identifying about 15 of them in the area of the hold inside its range. Dolarhyde doesn't seem to have a lot to tell them (at least with regards to their quandary) but does hint that they've raised Jackson's ire with regard to two of his dislikes: surprises and disloyalty.

Below decks, Tai tinkers further, sending strong signals of sleepiness into the Yoke network. After he's all but given up on the results he goes on deck, to see a handful of unusually sleepy miners head back into the hold.

Sweeney now fears for Lark's safety now that some are backtracking on their dislike of Revelations Heights et al. He orchestrates a domestic with her, and cruelly manipulates her into leaving the ship. She doesn't return before the Rosa Lee slips her mooring a couple of days later.

When they approach Stolo, Tai detects at least 60 Doohickeys as they steam around the river bend. Drexler spots a lot of unusual activity inside the hold, but almost nothing in the fields just outside the walls.

Scouting out the hold before tying up, Sweeney finds out from Sun that the cannibals have been rampaging through the wastes beyond. Just about every hold out there (apart from Saltwater) has been overrun and the population of Stolo has swelled by nearly two hundred from all the survivors who've come in over the past few days.

Drexler riles up his gang to go raiding the cannibals, bring back some intelligence on where they're at (and do a quick head-count on Yokes, to see if there is some influence running from Brains to the cannibals). As he's leaving another 20 or so (a mix of Stolo-natives and refugees) volunteer to go out with Drexler.

Meanwhile Sweeney calls on Vega to see if she can give him the lowdown on things. Despite his best efforts, Vega's resolute: either the Rosa Lee helps her right now or she goes to Jackson. Sweeney does notice a faded burn mark on Vega's neck as they get dressed afterwards, but doesn't have a chance to give any signal until after the meeting.

It's like getting blood from a stone but eventually she visits the Rosa Lee to talk directly to Miss Roberta and it's no easier there. Miss Roberta is looking to shuttle some of the new arrivals to Motherlode (but only those who'll accept the tough mining job that entails). Others can come aboard the Rosa Lee, and Vega maintains that none of her people should be let aboard.

She seems alarmed that Tai admits to being able to control those with Yokes implanted, but eventually gives Miss Roberta til morning (when Drexler is due to return) to give her answer. She'll be sending someone to ask Jackson for help otherwise.

Drexler storms back into Stolo, he's lost a few riders, but each and every one of them have a pair of heads on their saddle bags. The count is 6 or 7 Doohickeys in their heads. Which puts it a little lower that elsewhere, but not a really significant difference.

The Interview

In which Miss Roberta tries to understand Kray's role in all this.

Getting Tai to jam the Yokes in the vicinity, Miss Roberta and Drexler decide to cover their bases before opening the door on Kray's cell. Gnarly stands their entire complement to, looking out at The River and Moon Creek.

 

Talking to Lark they struggle with a solid way of convincing Jackson that Brain's cult is a real threat. She suggests that they could implant an idea in the maelstrom that would convince anyone that the cult was targeting Moon Creek. Or somehow arranging enmity between the two factions.

They're not sure about it, as it could go horribly wrong if Jackson got the idea they were fomenting trouble.

 

Sending for Fuse to visit the Rosa Lee, they try to find out from him if it's possible to establish that the Doohickeys affect the implanted person's behaviour negatively. But he says it's difficult to prove any effect on behaviour at all.

 

They go back down to speak to Kray, see what they can get from the horse's mouth. First Drexler unmasks him, revealing scars and deep shrapnel marks all over the left side of his face. (Miss Roberta flinches as she puts together the timeline - they saw his mask the first time after the bombing he visited the Rosa Lee).

 

Getting it out of the way, they ask him what he wants; it's an awkward laugh, but he suggests that they let him go free and that they just stay out of each others way.

 

They go on to discuss what his relationship with Brains is. He explains that they used to sing off the same hymn sheet: they both believed that the psychic maelstrom was what was wrong with the world, or at least the progenitor of the apocalypse. The Yokes were designed to separate people from the maelstrom and dampen the mayhem which it feeds off.

 

Strangely enough, the extreme nature of both Miss Roberta's and Drexler's relationship with the maelstrom means that they're not as unconvinced by Kray's line of reasoning that he might've expected.

 

When accused of forcibly implanting people with the Doohickeys he denies it, pinning the blame on Brains' crew. Furthermore, he explains that the reason Brains doesn't just conquer is that he's playing a long game and trying to get there with a minimum of carnage.

 

They then broach the subject of how they might get to sit down with Brains himself. Kray doesn't think it's likely outside of The City, and they'd need an in. Someone to introduce them. But whether Brains would receive them without being implanted would be a different matter: Brains can definitely sense if someone's got a Yoke or not.

Miss Roberta and Drexler go back outside to talk amongst themselves. It's hard for them to refute what Kray's  told them. If they do leave Kray be, Sweeney and Lark will have to be kept out of the loop, at least until he's off board.

They go back inside and check if Kray can keep his guys onside with the deal, and he admits that he may have to break a few heads, but so long as they don't start anything they should be ok.

So they smuggle him to a flat boat and escort him upriver a ways, giving him a weapon to see him safely Revelation Heights.

 

Later on, they relate to Jackson that they don't think that Revelation Heights is a danger to Moon Creek after all, but he just can't believe that they've left a mortal enemy walk like that. He wonders if Kray was a rational actor and not a raving lunatic for any particular reason, but that question must lie unanswered for now...

Kicking down Doors

In which Drexler and Sweeney see about taking some names

Drexler, Sweeney, and Grekkor tool up for a raid on The City with Shazza driving Tai's Duck. Scouting their way across The Bridge their plan is to make contact with a few gangs hostile to Brain's cult and find out exactly where they're located before trying a snatch job to bring back someone to convince Jackson.

They're challenged at a barricade but Sweeney doesn't drop his aggressive stance and whoever's behind the obstacle opens up with an smg. Sweeney and Grekkor dive for what little cover there is, but Drexler just stands their and squeezes off a burst, taking down the sentry. He moves cautiously up to the barricade to see another sentry racing down the street.

-OK so, looks like we're not going to bother with subtle.

A little while later, a good dozen or so armed figures start moving tactically down the street towards them. Drexler's vision closes with blood-pumping frenzy and he sees blood soaked tarmac all the way down to the corner. Some covering fire comes in, hitting Drexler's armour plating, and Drexler responds to Grekkor and Sweeney taking cover behind a bathtub by jumping up on the barricade and opening up. Killing over half of the attacker with the first belt, the rest of them run for their lives. But Drexler follows up with a terrible lust for blood. As he turns the corner the group's camp come into view - children and the infirm are crowded into a building beyond a small barricade. The impromptu defence isn't enough to stop Drexler though and he slaughters every living thing he can see.

Drexler makes his way back to Sweeney and Grekkor, each bloody corpse on the ground is exactly where he saw it in his bloody frenzy beforehand. He keeps walking and Sweeney sends up the flare to call in Shazza as they make their way back to the Rosa Lee.

With sullen obstinacy, Sweeney and Drexler decide to go for Revelation Heights instead - Kray will surely satisfy Jackson. Drexler calls up his gang and they load up the trucks for a big fight. They even pay local fixer Satan a visit, the only man capable of outfitting their trucks with something capable of taking down Revelation Heights gates. They eventually decide on heavy duty ramming bars for the grill of their lead truck and a strong chain winch to pull anything left standing down.

The four pick-ups storm across the river at a low point near the spot where Amy and Putrid were ambushed all that time ago. As they approach the ridgeline they pick a point in between two watchtowers and just charge straight through. Despite their covering fire, Baby, Stinky and Domino are all hit, and at the speed they're going at over this rough ground the wounded fall out and will not be stopped for.

The sound brings out the armed inhabitants of Revelation Heights, but they don't have time to muster the most effective of defences before the lead truck hits the gates. Lars, Blues and Tinker stick with the top guns and Drexlers lead the rest through the shattered gates overrunning small groups of defenders as they make their way to the central building Amy described being kept in.

By the time they find it, they've lost Snake Eyes, T-Bone and Halfpint to small ambushes. Kray comes storming out of the building, shotgun blasting Goldie in half. But Drexler guns down all his support, forcing him to take cover and then Sweeney pulls it out of the bag, blindsiding Kray and smashing him with the sword. Kray drops to the ground like a sack of shit and they grab him and drag him back to the pick-ups. Drexler looks like he wants to go back in for more, but when Grekkor is taken down by a resurgence of gunfire they decide to quit while they're ahead. Only eight or so of the gang have made it, but there's no pursuit as they drive back to Moon Creek to deposit Kray to the Rosa Lee.

Sweeney's first impression as the hooded figure of Kray is put in the brig is that of a chained and angry attack dog, straining to get his maw at his captors...

The Bridge

In which a pathway into The City is contemplated.

Miss Roberta and Sweeney take the long walk to Jackson's house. Passing through Moon Creek and into the inner citadel, they're stalked by Doberman's people all the way to the front door. They're ushered inside where Doberman relieves them of their weapons and points upstairs.

Jackson's unconvinced by their claims. He suggests that they capture someone high up like Kray or someone else in The City to prove their case.

Alan is nervous, but Drexler keeps him on the straight and narrow til Miss Roberta makes it back.

Lark speaks of the organisation in The City, as far as she knows it.
Foster and Mill are two of the central figures of the Cult in The City.

Drexler suggests a nuclear option, but most want to find a bit more out first.

Sweeney and Lark head to The Bridge. They trade a jar of Codeine for passage inside the wall. Eagle runs the clan which occupies The Bridge.
He identifies Brains as the main man in The City - he doesn't have any truck with them, they've had quite a few run-ins.

Sweeney gets a good look at Jones - all he sees is fire, which seems diametrically opposed to the vision of Ice which dominates The City.
They eschew any thought of interrogation or bribery to get Jones onside, but drop him off on the shore and wish him good luck.

Trouble Brewing

In which the Rosa Lee's return to Moon Creek is less than satisfactory...

Driving off into the wastes at the head of the gang, the role of Pack Alpha begins to feel natural to Drexler again. They’re a pack of fucking jackals but they respect his strength and that’s a kind of camaraderie he hasn’t had since the old days. Setting his own course, Drexler begins hunting.
Despite his better judgment he picks up a few of the survivors, a couple of them look handy enough (they’ll get better with a bit of guidance) but he's also gotten some deadweight, a frail weirdo, Jones, who says Drexler’ll be rewarded once they reach Moon Creek, but who freaks him out a little
The attack on the CRs is more hard-fought than Drexler would have liked, and he's got to lay into the pack the night after the first wave to get them to buck up. 

So, Sweeney is trying to get this team up to speed. He's really starting to get them to gel. Shazza has some proper moxie and yet knows when to keep quiet. Grekkor’s quiet matter-of-fact manner is growing on you: at least he’s got the ultra-violence to back it up. Bar’s still a bit broken over Princy’s death, but he’s taken to driving the boat now.
Lark’s a real hit below decks – it’s like Sweeney's invited to someone’s quarters every night for a few drinks. Well, to be honest, he thinks Lark’s got the beginnings of a cult going on down below, just not sure how it’s going to impact on his bottom line yet.
Barker, that hard-as-nails girl he hired for the Rosa Lee’s gang at Harrow’s Place, must’ve taken a disliking to Sweeney. Any time he's around, she’s pretty surly.

Miss Roberta's had an anxious few weeks as the Rosa Lee heads back downriver from Stolo to Moon Creek. She's not sure if she can hold the crew together – if she don’t lay about with some straight-talking, could lose more traders to Dolarhyde.
Eventually she gets a steady ship on your hands again – a few die-hards come aboard from Motherlode to bolster numbers in the gang, and despite passing her over for promotion, Jess seems genuinely helpful. 

Tai's gotten that amphibious truck into action – not the fastest thing by land or water, but pretty solid. It's a bit cranky, and needs a firm touch at the wheel for best performance.

With a working knowledge of the Yokes, Tai's also learnt more about the signal. Tai had to implant herself with one of the Doohickeys to get best readings; hopefully that’s not a problem…

• Doesn’t seem susceptible to jamming like a normal radio signal
• In early stages only transmits during sleep, but as it takes hold it becomes active all the time
• Transmission format looks like it’s designed to go directly into someone’s brain and not into a machine at all
• Signal strongest when pointing back towards Moon Creek, or more correctly back towards The City
• It seems crazy, but tapping into the Signal reminds you of when you open your brain to the psychic maelstrom

Drexler is on his way back to Moon Creek when they drive past a ramshackle settlement out in the wastes. They're planning to pull back; they've taken plenty of punishment from the cannibals this year and have had enough. Drexler agrees to a short sharp raid on the CRs and then he'll escort them back to Moon Creek.

Pulling into Moon Creek, the place seems as busy as ever. The dockside is thronged, but little of that foot traffic ends up at the Rosa Lee. A lot of the attention is looking towards another boat - one that's not even properly afloat yet. Someone's building a new ship. Sweeney head down there to have a nose around, chatting up a bartender called Dune, but she's not able to give him much; he does suspect it's going to be a gunship though.

Tai is setting up an infirmary in his workshop; specifically one that'll allow the removal of the doohickeys from people safely. Also in train is a device that'll tap directly into the psychic maelstrom. When filling in the others on what's been learnt of the doohickeys she lets slip that one has been implanted in her. They're instantly on the defensive, and only the most rational of persuasions keeps things from getting aggressive. Tai calls in Fuse (under Drexler's watchful eye) to remove it.

They hatch a plan to use Tai's new gadget to detect people who've got a doohickey implanted, and to see if they can get extract it without too much trouble. It's a calculated risk, but their anti-Revelation Heights stance is well-enough known that they're unlikely to lose anything extra surprise with it.

So the Rosa Lee is open for business as usual. After the first day's lull, tonight there's a big crowd buying, drinking, gambling and whoring. Sweeney has gathered a crowd and encouraged people to step forward and be tested, taking on the role of ringmaster for the night.

But the two who tested positive aren't so keen to go below into Tai's workshop to have it removed. They don't seem to trust the weird machinery or the weird doctor.

Into this fractious scene storms Jackson along with some of his gang; they brush right past security and Doberman shouts out that everyone shut the fuck up and stand down. It's easy to tell that Jackson is annoyed as hell, but Tai keeps talking about what's he's planning so Jackson grabs Doberman's shoulder and says straight to Tai
-Keep talking and Dobie here'll put you down
(to which the hatchetman grins and cocks his AK).

Everyone falls silent, the Rosa Lee's crew are looking to Miss Roberta for a signal, they're hoping nothing breaks out, because if it does they're surely all dead. The customers from Moon Creek look like they just want to get home
-Everyone who doesn't belong here, get the fuck off this boat. Everyone else, you're closed for business tonight. You...
He points at Miss Roberta on the top deck
-are coming to visit me tomorrow morning

As everyone else files off, Jackson looks around one last time.
-Bullshit

Looking into the settlement and beyond, Sweeney see a few flickers of light he knows are implanted people. He turns northwards and where he knows The City lies is a blinding wall of bright light, obscuring everything else in his brain.

Elsewhere on deck, Jones grabs Drexler to let him know that he really wants to make it to The City; so Drexler scouts out Tai's new craft for the job. They're likely to get into some trouble and it looks just the ticket to stay mobile and protect them at the same time.

Miss Roberta brings in Lark for a quick roundtable in the office. She tells of her dealings with them in The City. They weren't the only faction there, but were growing steadily by the time she left for Lobster Phil. They didn't brook any interference with their business particularly well, and she got out while she still had the chance.

Trying to reverse-engineer a doohickey in the hold, Tai is scanning through his design options on his lathe (that relic of the golden age past) when the display brings up design #0 in the memory banks:
The lathe is designed to make those things.

*All illustrations by D. Vincent Baker from the Apocalypse World rulebook

That's gotta hurt!

In which the grass is discovered to be no greener upriver.

Heading upriver with hope for the future, Miss Roberta hears the usual rumours floating around about her past. She's never given anyone a straight answer on where her supply of bourbon comes from (why would she?). The usual two bring a smile to her face - that it's just regular old rotgut in nice bottles with a dose of caramel - and that she has eyes on a lost stash in The City.

They stop by a few small farmholds, just extended families with little to trade, but they do some business - no one's willing to come aboard a strange boat no ones heard of before though.

Things pick up a little as they come to Harrow's place. This one is a walled compound with 6 or 7 buildings inside and a few acres of tended trees (apples and coffee they discover) outside. They chat with Harrow, arrange some trading and a bit of repair work on their run-down machinery. When Shazza and Sweeney look for anyone at a loose end to join up Harrow nods over to a young woman at the grindstone. Barker looks like a tough nut (that she's comfortably sharpening a bowie knife does this impression no harm). She seems eager to get out of here; apparently she's Harrow's good-for-nothin' niece.

They continue until they come to what looks like a fort, high walls that they can't see behind. Armed men standing in the watchtower holler down to their boss and the reception party comes down the muddy trail to where the Rosa Lee has tied up. HD is none-too-keen on strangers, but maybe he's rattled by the convoy of armed trucks that drove by a couple of nights back. Sweeney thinks he recognises him but can't quite place him. He's brought aboard to chat with Miss Roberta and given his situation she allows him and a few of his guys to stay armed aboard, a gesture of good faith. He'll send over a few people with stuff to trade.

There's a bit of confusion on deck as Sweeney finally realises where he recognises HD from: he's one of the Revelation Heights guys. There's a brief debate on what they should do but Rothschild's sure that Miss Roberta would want safe conduct exteneded; anyway she's got that pearl-handled 9 handy. HD walks off under Miss Roberta's aegis, and some foot traffic from the hold starts up.

Rothschild goes over to Tum Tum to make sure he keeps a steady eye on these guys when Sweeney and Miss Roberta, standing on the top deck, see one of them standing next to Tum Tum just explode. A rain of blood and steel wreaks havoc near the gangplank. The others from shore who were ambling through the market draw weapons and start shooting.

From the walls of the hold across the way, more armed figures appear and begin raining fire down on the Rosa Lee. Gnarly leads the fight to clear the decks, while Miss Roberta gets the boat moving (however slowly). The crew take serious casualties, with Roark, Kettle and Leone all getting killed.

The Rosa Lee steams back towards Raven Square under cover of darkness. Miss Roberta needs a second-in-command for the boat as soon as possible. She can't trust Jess (who's on the Rosa Lee less than a month) and goes with Alan instead. He's a nice boy and everyone likes him (though few respect him).

Out with the launch, Sweeney spots a lone figure walking upriver along the left bank. That's just crazy. He gets Bar to pull over and they engage in a quick conversation about her situation. She's just walking, seeing if anyone'll take her in.
-Used to be in a place, but my friends weren't the hardholder's friends and he got me kicked out. Been scrounging ever since.
She tells a strange tale. She grew up far to the south, in Bay City. When everything went to shit there she fled north through the wastes. Even though she wasn't one of them, the cannibals left her be.
-Must've thought I was some kind of spirit
She ended up in The City, by way of Moon Creek, but ran into a crowd who gave her the heebies. Turns out they didn't like her type riling up people against their ways. Eventually settled in Lobsterville.

After they fuck by the campfire (with Bar, Shazza and Grekkor not giggling at Sweeney's antics) he realises she's that Lark.
-Fuck me

Having decided to head for home, Miss Roberta (and yes, she does mean Moon Creek) gets Sweeney to drop by The House. His crew storm the house, capturing a greasy guy who works there (called Newton) though they're disappointed there was no sign of Li. Anyway the back room of the place turns their insides. There are metal tables there, with dried blood encrusted on the edges and the floor around the legs. Large cages line the walls and on the top shelf is a half-full box of doohickeys.
Before they kill Newton, they get another name: Kirn. He's the fixer who provided people for Li and Newton.

Uncharted Territory

In which the Rosa Lee takes stock and prepares to head upriver.

Miss Roberta has a quiet word with Jackson when the dust settles. She lets him know that the Rosa Lee will be going her own way. She's paid her debts to Moon Creek and will operate independently from now on. He doesn't seem particularly happy with the news, but he accepts it with a grimace. They negotiate some kind of a face-saving formula on it, but with the Rosa Lee heading well upriver neither of them are likely to get anything out of the current arrangement.

In the chaotic comings and goings after the battle, the flat boat Bar salvaged is stolen and nowhere to be found, Sweeney is helping him look for it so Princy takes the surviving crew from Raven's Square upriver on his launch.

Drexler has driven off up the right bank with his new gang. Everyone on the Rosa Lee is glad they're gone, but without Drexler around they feel a little bit vulnerable. With losses bringing the Rosa Lee's gang down to perilously low strength, Miss Roberta is keen to bring some new guys onto the payroll. She doesn't want to hire people away from Stolo, but anyone else is fair game.

Sweeney takes Shazza out to Sun's place to buy a few cold beers for toughs at a loose end, but there's only a few bites, and only one gives them anything like a good feeling. Grekkor looks like a solid enough bloke. He seems a little bit wary of Dolarhyde and wouldn't trust his back around Jackson or Doberman (not in so many words, but Shazza seems to be picking up a lot in between the lines). Sweeney gets Grekkor to join his crew and goes back to Miss Roberta empty handed, though Shazza reckons she'll keep an eye out for dependable hard nuts to join the Rosa Lee down the line.

Tai's picking up junk sheet metal leftover from the pirate's hold; reckons the Rosa Lee needs a bit more armour. A few well-protected firing positions on both decks and some ingenious anti-boarding devices round off the work.

Next stop is Revelation Heights, and the mood there is more subdued but there's still a little bit of business to be had. Kray comes aboard for some gambling, his visage is covered by a greasy white hockey mask. He and Sweeney have a ostensibly rambling conversation over cards about pragmatism and the price of doing business.

The Rosa Lee arrives at Raven Square, and Miss Roberta meets with III to give him thanks for their help and sympathies for the death of Dutch. They're happy that the pirates have been wiped out and are looking forward to some better years ahead. III gives her some advice going up river, but mostly it's just the names of a few small holds they'll run into.

Early next morning, it's still dark really, the dawn watch notices something across the river. The sound of engines pulling away and flames on the bank. They gather on the rail and they see five burning crosses, with moving figures on each of them. Sweeney imagines he hears Princy screaming, but he doesn't really believe it. Despite their urge to cross the river now, they all know it could be a trap. They wait as long as they can bear it and cross with everyone they can spare.

Sweeney recognises Princy's gear, even mangled by the fire. The other four look like they're the crew from Raven's Square. As they cut them down Tai cuts into Princy to find a doohickey embedded in his brain. Shit got serious.

*All illustrations by D. Vincent Baker from the Apocalypse World rulebook

How'd you like them Apples

In which a lot of people get what's coming to them.

Everyone has gathered in Stolo for the attack on the pirates' base:

• Jackson (with Doberman in tow) will lead 18 from Moon Creek
• Jonker has got 15 with him from Motherlode
• Avery's stepping up with 12 from Stolo
• III's son, Dutch has brought down 11 from Raven Square
• Drexler will lead 10 from the Rosa Lee

Miss Roberta doesn't want to lead her gang so she takes the controversial decision to send Drexler in her place. She'll stay behind with Gnarly and Tum Tum to take care of the Rosa Lee. Jackson will lead the attack instead. The plan is as straight-forward as can be: they steam up the river and shoot every pirate they see. Jackson asks Miss Roberta for the rocket launchers back, he thinks they'll do a lot of good in the attack, especially against any bigger boats or strongpoints the pirates might have.

Tai has been in the workshop, he's rigged up a large hot-air balloon which'll hold 1 or 2 people max, it attaches back to the Rosa Lee by cable and winch. This should allow them to get a good view of what's up ahead of the attack, but also, just in case there are any surprises coming at the Rosa Lee from up or downriver. Rather than waste one of their radios, they'll just use a simple set of flag signals.
Fleece, Stolo's quartermaster has been helping out Tai and Bar armouring up the barge's which will be involved in the attack.

Sweeney's been spending some last minutes with Mercury, but while he's saying his goodbyes he catches word that The Harridan has been seen across the River with her crew - this could definitely complicate matters for the attack.

Drexler decides that he'll lead the Rosa Lee's gang to that bank with their guntrucks and clear the way to ensure that the fleet isn't ambushed from shore. Sweeney'll take his launch with the main attack so that they, Drexler's group and the Rosa Lee will be able to stay in radio contact.

Drexler sets off, heading along a rough road in the direction of the pirates base. He spots other tracks from off-road vehicles going in the same direction, though it's difficult to tell exactly how many. As they're picking their way through a dry gulch Drexler thinks to himself that this would be a perfect place for a ambush.


On board the launch at the tail-end of the flotilla, Sweeney is musing about the attack, while they've got at least a parity in numbers, their barges are tougher and better armed than those fanboats. He's still worried about it and opens his brains, fishing for clues.

Princy turns around from the wheel, but it's not Princy anymore. As it walks closer to Sweeney it grows taller and taller until it's got at least a foot on him. The clothes have changed too, no longer the leathers Princy favours, but a brightly coloured poncho. But most of all, Sweeney sees its eyes: they're gone and the dark pits are beginning to glow red.
-You fucker
It intones
-You left me to die in that blasted hell hole. But you're going to make it up to everyone else.
Sweeney backs away until he reaches the stern gunwale. He recognises that voice, it's Crow (and Crow really was that tall).
-The Harridan is going to gut you, no matter how you try to slither your way out of this.
Sweeney grabs for something as flames start to pour out of Crow's eye sockets, but in his terror he falls out of the boat.
-Just kill Kray and put an end to his plans you piece of shit. The Maelstrom demands it!
Sweeney swims for the shore and is eating dirt and gravel there as the launch turns the next bend.


An explosion rocks the front guntruck, Drexler sees Crimson and T-Bone torn apart in the blast. The other two trucks come under fire from the raised bank and they turtle up as best they can. They return fire but at this rate it's only a matter of time before they get beaten down. Drexler is trying to see any way out of this alive when some primal instincts take over and he just stands out of cover and charges up the slope towards the main concentration of force.

As he reaches the top, somehow unscathed, The Harridan steps out. Through his blood-soaked vision, he just sees this black demonic figure unsheathing a giant sword. He rushes in, pumping his shotgun to make sure he's good. He takes the cut on his left shoulder piece and it cuts right through (that'll sting later), he grabs the sword and raises his shotgun, pulling the trigger and blowing through The Harrridan's face before she has a moment to counter.

Sweeney trudges around a hill just in time to see Drexler take The Harridan's bloody sword and turn towards her gang. They stare towards the gory figure on top of the rocky bank in awe. They're Drexler's gang now. The Harridan's right-hand man, a grizzled aul fella with crazy-ass tattoos named Chaplain tells Drexler their plan with the pirates and Drexler crams everyone onto one of their four gun trucks. They're heading for the pirate camp and they'll shoot the hell out of anything that stands against them.

When the dust has settled, the news from the flotilla is grim. The pirates have been all-but wiped out to the last man, but the butchers bill is steep:

• Moon Creek suffered 6 dead
• The barge Motherlode sent was lost with all hands
• Stolo lost 6, and Avery will be out of action for a while
• Raven Square lost 7, including Dutch and their barge was sunk
• The Rosa Lee lost 5 in the ambush

Amongst the ramshackle town they find a small horde of young children and a few women. It would appear that most who were capable of using a weapon were involved in the battle. While searching the camp, they discover one defiant woman who had been locked up. She treats her rescuers with contempt and makes for the nearest stockpile of weapons to arm herself and flee before Sweeney talks her down. This is Jess, Hammer's wife who had been a prisoner since Dremmer took over. She's obviously useful to have around, and Miss Roberta takes her on board as a full member of crew. 

They do keep an eye out for Rolfball's children who were taken (poor Rolfball was one of the casualties in the attack) and both Clarion and Matilda are recovered. The holds are divvying up the loot from their victory, so Miss Roberta wants to take a bigger cut of the equipment, and only take on useful people as crew members. The rest will probably be sold as slaves up to Jade Falls.

*All illustrations by D. Vincent Baker from the Apocalypse World rulebook

Like Hannibal, or something

In which some are overjoyed to see their plans come to fruition

Tai has been working overtime on his projects. With the pointers he got from Fuse, he's been making real progress on the Yokes

• Triggered by weirdness they penetrate the source and worm their way up towards the brain
• They attach to the lower brain/spinal cord and embed themselves firmly there
• After a while they open the brain subconsciously to the psychic maelstrom

He's cracked the rocket launchers too, though it’ll take some real jingle to get them into production. 

Miss Roberta has been busy putting together the forces to take on the pirates along with some kind of campaign plan. She loves it when a plan comes together! Carlton has been provided with some road power to clear the route to Jade Falls and he’s mustered a dozen or so toughs in an armoured barge  . She's also been able to talk Impala into doing the scouting for the force on her hovercraft, so much so that you’ve got a fair idea of where they’re holed up. Now all that remains is talking to III up in Raven Square.  

  

Drexler and Sweeney are sharing a beer after convincing Miss Roberta that there'll be no damage to her reputation or to the Rosa Lee when they follow through on their attack on the meeting between Hammer and Revelation Heights. 

Drexler fills in Sweeney on why he gets so bloodcrazed around the CRs. He relates his experiences as a young man when both his brothers were attacked by them outside the compound; they were bitten on their face and bodies and after seeing off the cannibals he had to put them down with the family shotgun. 

When asked about The Harridan, Sweeney has trouble explaining how she went from trusted lieutenant to psycho hose beast; but it all started going wrong when he and his old crew did a job in Devil's Hollow, an abandoned hold far to the south. He made a bad call and his best friend Crow was caught and hung up by a slavers protecting their territory. They got split up in the pursuit, and he's been avoiding her ever since.

They head off on on Princy's launch; Mathers' (or is it Morrell?) crew (they're mechanics who operate out of a barge) have run into trouble with some racketeers and Sweeney has said that they'll take care of it. Mathers is doing some work in Summer Meadow (a nice little farming hold on the left bank).

They're fixing up Mathers' barge when Drexler spots Red Tooth McAgin's mob driving into the hold. Mathers appeals for help against the racketeers , but Sweeney errs on the side of caution and backs out, leaving Mathers high and dry. As they power away upriver they also spot a group of 4 or 5 trucks driving into town - a closer look reveals that it's The Harridan (her trucks now have serious machine guns mounted on the back). Summer Meadow's militia raise the hue and cry and arm themselves.

A quick discussion ensues on whether to help them out, but without knowing what the deal is, Sweeney's unwilling to throw his lot in with them. As they reach the Rosa Lee they can make out the column of smoke rising behind them

.

At Raven Square, Miss Roberta invites III aboard the Rosa Lee. The hardholder is a wary old man, and Raven Square is at the upper reaches of the pirates' activity. It takes a good bit of schmoozing to bring him around (with copious amounts of Miss Roberta's finest bourbon, but eventually he agrees to send his son Dutch along with 7 or 8 of his men to help out with the attack.

In advance of Hammer's meeting with Revelation Heights, the group discusses the best plan. They want to keep their hands clean and not take any casualties from a firefight, nor espose themselves to any blame for the incident. They finally decide to set remote charges on the beach where the two groups are likely to parley and cover the area with sniper fire to ensure that Hammer is taken out.

Tai scouts the beach, looking at the texture of the soil, coverage with sand and gravel and any other factors he thinks relevant. He heads back aboard the Rosa Lee and comes up with a daisy-chained set of charges connecting to a larger central one that will cover a large area. Tai attaches small pieces of scrap metal and will top the area with as much gravel as looks reasonable. Contemplating a command wire, but opting for a radio trigger this means that they (Tai and Drexler) can set up across the river.

As soon as it's ready, they land on the beach, taking most of the night emplacing the device. Early in the morning on the day of the parley, Tai and Drexler take up their station on the bank, on dry ground but hidden by reeds. Their buggy is well back and out of sight, but near enough for them to scarper if things get hot. Drexler sets up (Sweeney's) sniper rifle and starts estimating ranges. Tai rechecks the batteries on the transmitter (for the last time, honest). They settle down to wait, trying to ignore the bloodbugs crawling over them.

They hear the familiar sound of fanboats approaching. One pulls up on the beach, while the other zooms onwards and starts a slow patrol. A monstrosity of a man leaps off the boat, he waves the other two back disdaining whatever protection they might offer him. A little while later, the sound of trucks can be heard across the way. They stop out of sight, and a few minutes later four armed men approach the beach. They start talking; despite being virtually unarmed and outnumbered four-to-one Hammer looks like he's commanding that conversation.

Drexler looks at Tai

-I'm taking the shot, trigger the bomb once I've confirmed Hammer's down

Drexler takes the shot, and Hammer drops like a sack of rice, as he's checking to make sure it's good he sees the other pirates move to his aid and the four from Revelation Heights back up as if unsure what to do.

Tai triggers the bomb, and it's like the entire world rocks, dirt and dust and ringing fills their senses. It seems like an age before the two can withdraw to the buggy and drive away.

Back in Stolo, everyone breaks open a few beers - the army has gathered and everyone wants one final fling before attacking the pirate's base.

*All illustrations by D. Vincent Baker from the Apocalypse World rulebook

Bit in the Ass

In which we are reminded that those who talk about their big plans are looking for disappointment.

Sweeney takes his crew out in two Hilux trucks - the cargo beds are full of heavy-duty supplies. Four serious machine guns, their tripods, base-plates and a shit-load of ammunition to go with them. They've bought them on spec for Millions, the hardholder of Saltwater, a place way south. They're going to deliver them and set them up for best defence of the mountaintop mine.

The little convoy sets out across the wastes - in the distance they see a roaming pack of Dust Dogs (from whose tusks, Drexler has the nice handles for his many knives) but they avoid them easily enough. They guzzle through petrol and water driving up the terrible road across the wasteland until they come to the mountains. A winding road leads through blasted forest, with signs of many minor rockfalls. They're just a few klicks from Saltwater when they reach a few bigger boulders which have landed recently on the road.

Sweeney and Princy jump down out of the first Hilux to attach a sturdy chain to the main boulder so they can pull it out of the way. Princy is struggling against the tension and shouting back at Shazza when Drexler screams at them to watch out. They look uphill to see a horde of CRs charging down at them. Drexler's MG opens up, chewing up the tree trunks and quite a few of the cannibals, who once they're hit seems to collapse and roll downhill as fast as the ones who are still up on their feet.

It's too few though, and they're amongst the vehicles in no time at all. Drexler and Princy lead the charge with shotguns and eventually the surviving cannibals flee. Even Drexler is too exhausted to give chase. Everyone else is wounded, and Shazza needs urgent medical attention. Sweeney wonders if she'd make it if they went back, but urges the others to clear the road and they'll go onwards to Saltwater.

They pull into Saltwater - the stark hold is a dozen or so container boxes half-buried around a low salt lake. Another few small container boxes sit on to of the ridge. They're welcomed with some concern, with a local doc taking in Shazza and a harried-looking guy called Amber brings them inside to get some grub.

They take some well-earned rest and get to work in the morning - they set up the heavy calibre machine-gun inside the hold to cover the gate and the approach road and set up the smaller ones on top to cover the slope and inside the compound just in case. Drexler gives the local crew a quick run-through each of the weapons along with some quick drills on reloading, switching barrels and cleaning. With Shazza stabilised their spirits are much better. Sweeney grabs Amber and asks where Millions is: he wants to get paid and get home.

-Hello there Sweeney
He turns to get quite the surprise. It's The Harridan standing up top of a container - alongside the locked and loaded .50cal.
-Shit!
-That's quite a welcome for your old flame. Listen, for old times sake, I'll let you and yours walk out of here intact, we'll call it even.
Sweeney looks around as his crew. Somehow, even Drexler doesn't seem up for this one. He nods at her, gets everyone into a truck and they drive away.

At least they drove out with the Hiluxes - Miss Roberta would've had their guts for garters if they'd gone.

A few nights later, Sweeney walks the deck wondering how he can turn his fortunes around, when he sees a glint of light off an incoming boat. He rushes inside to quietly wake Drexler and the other couple of guards on watch. Drexler suggests they play possum, let the pirates come aboard and capture them and their fanboat.

Hiding in some of the empty cabins nearby, they hear as the fanboat is tied up and two pirates quietly clamber aboard. They close the trap, Gnarly and Roark slam into one and subdue him with a few well-intentioned jabs to the face and balls. The other hares off through the decks, with Sweeney wielding his wicked-looking knife chasing after him. Drexler leaps off the Rosa Lee and onto the fanboat before the pirate piloting it can cast off. He goes for a boat hook, but Drexler guts him in a flash. At the other end of the boat, Sweeney sees the other pirate dive into the river and try to make it ashore. He might avoid the shivers if he's lucky...

Drexler drags the surviving pirate into the brig, with Gnarly and Roark glaring at him from the sidelines. Drexler sits him down, only then taking the time to wipe his knife clean of blood. When Sweeney comes in he flashes his eyebrows at him, as if to say -quiet a mess you're in now, huh?

With only a little violence (which Dremmer seems well capable of taking) they drum some answers out of him. The pirates are about 60 strong, and run 11 or 12 fast craft (mostly fanboats) under the leadership of Hammer - a seriously mean fighter who's never backed down from anything. You could try negotiating with hi but as Dremmer says
-you can say anything you want, but it just won't stick
Dremmer however is more amenable to sticking to his deals.

Over the course of the night, they come to an deal with Dremmer they think he'll keep.
He'll arrange a meet between Hammer and Revelation Heights for a week's time on the beach (where the Rosa Lee hove to last time). Once they've iced Hammer, he'll make his bid to take over leadership of the pirates and from then on he'll keep them steered well away from the Rosa Lee.

They shake on it, and let Dremmer go over the side. Now all they've got to do is sell Miss Roberta on it, and find a way to make the hit work for them.

*All illustrations by D. Vincent Baker from the Apocalypse World rulebook

Fucking Hyenas

In which we get a closer look at the inhabitants of Revelation Heights

Before Drexler left Moon Creek,  Dolarhyde put some serious jingle on the table for a hunting mission near Jade Falls. There’s a bunch of bandits working the passes up there who’re wreaking havoc on road travel between the two settlements. 
Drexler wipes them all out! Those bandits picked on the wrong traveller – he spots their ambush a mile off and take out the main group before getting out of the jeep and following up to give the others some personal attention. Looks like they’re actually working a protection racket out of Jade Falls itself.

Sweeney has arranged a nice dinner in the back of Sun's place with Impala. But soon the work he's arranged to repair the vital pumps and turbines for Stolo's rice paddies needs his intervention (nothing glamourous, just some back-breaking work). Just as Sweeney is thinking about scraping the mud off himself, Princy wanders down from the marketplace, walking casual (but not too casual) - he overheard someone looking for Sweeney, someone bandying The Harridan's name around. Keeping low for the rest of the day, Sweeney breaks silent mode just to find Impala has fucked off in her boat, tired of waiting for him.

Drexler wonders if he's left himself short on the ammo front, he should've picked up a few extra boxes of links from Dustwich (a renowned hoarder of all manner of bits and pieces back in Moon Creek). He's going to take it easy on the MG for a while, rely on his trust shotgun.

They head up towards Echo Lake - Sweeney reckons that Barnum might know something about Revelation Heights. Barnum is light on useful details. They started to arrive a few months ago, just a few at first, led by a charismatic man named Kray. They bought supplies and that's when Barnum noticed they were building a settlement across the way. They seemed a bit odd, but he had no reason not to trade with them - Lobsterphil is far enough out of the way to cherish what little traffic they get.

Sweeney and Drexler warn him off about the doohickeys - citing their effect on Bar. Their icky description creeps Barnum out and he swears he'll keep them off his island from now on.

They give Revelation Heights a wide berth as they go back downriver. They pick up a buggy from the Rosa Lee and make landfall on a suitable beach. As they drive up towards Revelation Heights, Drexler spots some new structures on the ridgeline overlooking the hold. Looks like they're putting up a chain of watchtowers to cover that approach. The hold itself looks a bit ramshackle but is still well-defended.

They parley a good distance back from the gates, and let the lone sentry who walks out to them know that the Rosa Lee will be a the beach a few miles south for a couple of days for trading. Having seen enough and not wanting to raise any suspicions (or at least violent reactions) they head back. But as they pull into the distance Drexler turns around to glance back at the hold, opening his brain to the psychic maelstrom as he does.

He gets a rush of sensations throughout his body, with flashing lights appearing in his narrowing vision. He sees a monstrous rapacious machine rise out of the stark landscape, consuming the river in fire and destroying every living thing in its path...Drexler snaps out of it as Sweeney hits a pothole on the track.

Later that evening when three full trucks from Revelation Heights arrive at the beach, the Rosa Lee is loaded for bear. Miss Roberta has a strict no-weapons policy at this stop, but hasn't told traders to button-up or anything like that. While the influx of people are searched (with some careful handling by Tum Tum) Drexler runs an eye over the rest of them as they move around. They gamble, whore and buy like normal, but he does notice a high proportion of the jingle being dropped is those doohickeys.

Three or four of their fellows have stayed behind to guard the vehicles. Sweeney grabs Shazza, a key of beer and some cups and makes his way over to them. He flashes his winning smile at them, nudges Shazza to fill a cup
-Thought you guys might appreciate some refreshments while your buddies have all the fun
They warm up a bit, and Barbarossa, the convoy boss trades a few stories with Sweeney. While they're talking, one of the others, a mangy-looking guy starts on Shazza, groping her while she struggles with the valve connection.
As he's pushing her onto the ground, Sweeney comes up behind him. No questions, just a swinging boot into Fido's jaw. Fido goes down, some of his remaining teeth go flying and Sweeney whirls around to deal with the inevitable intervention from his mates.

Nothing.

Just laughter. Barbarossa is doubled over, laughing her hole off, and the other two on the truck beds are giggling manically with her.

Sweeney grabs the keg (defensively? or does he just not like wasting good beer) and ushers Shazza back to her feet and the Rosa Lee. Once he reaches the top deck, they slump into a few seats. Maybe it's just the stress but Sweeney blacks out for a while, with a sense of terrible menace directed at him and when he's woken up he sees a burnt scar on the inside of his arm, just like Bar did.

The rest of the night passes peaceably enough - a few fights on board, but the Rosa Lee pushes off the next morning no worse for wear - Miss Roberta has to call in the traders and buy all the thingamajigs off them. She has a full box of them now in her desk.

*All illustrations by D. Vincent Baker from the Apocalypse World rulebook

A Coalition Forms

In which the Rosa Lee gathers support from holds on The River against the growing pirate threat.

Lafferty, the Rosa Lee's water purification expert comes to see Miss Roberta. He's had enough of the constant uncertainty and anxiety. The pirates have pushed him over the edge and he's wants to move off the boat and into Moon Creek. Miss Roberta listens to his (somewhat unwilling) complaints and tells him to wait - she's got something to show him that'll help beat the pirates into a bloody pulp. She moves the desk and uncovers the box of missile launchers she's just acquired. However the keys are nowhere to be found and she sends down below for Tai. When the Savvyhead comes in the key is found in one of Tai's overall pockets, but when the box is opened there's nothing inside. Tai explains that the technical work's requirements meant they had to be brought into the workshop. At this stage though Lafferty's embarrassed silence says it all.

Sweeney is catching a few last-minute odd jobs. He arrives at the dockyard to find Impala lounging against her damaged hovercraft. Bar and Princy (who's got a jonesing for something as groovy and rare as a hovercraft) repair the damaged skirts without much problem. While they're busy, Sweeney and Impala hook up. At the back of his mind Sweeney reckons that a hovercraft would be useful in hunting down the pirates' lair. They talk for a while about fanboat ranges and likely tributaries and such which could be harbouring the pirates.

As Miss Roberta is preparing for departure, she gets an unexpected visit from Jackson. He's been mulling over the pirate problem a bit more, and wants to run something by her. They discuss the possibility of forming a coalition of river holds to put together a force strong enough to wipe the pirates out, or drive them away at least. Miss Roberta will act as Jackson's envoy and get a commitment to raise one or two well-armed boat crews from each settlement. Everyone will aim to muster up by the Rosa Lee's next return trip and then they'll head out.

Reaching Motherlode, while standing duty for a day Magnus puts out the word that he's looking for someone who might have taken a hook lately. A girl, name of Roark, pipes up for some jingle that a miner she knows is hanging it on his wall, and even knows where the guy's shack is. At nightfall, with a promise of payment, Roark leads Magnus into town, up pretty far towards one of the closed mineshafts. Outside the house, with Roark itching for some scratch Magnus turns on her and insists she tell whether the miner sent her. Eyeing up Magnus' drawn pistol and with nowhere to run, Roark admits that Bondo put out word that anyone sending the Battlebabe his way would be rewarded.

Magnus send the girl running and kicks down the door of the shack, two people are sleeping near a small fire while there's a man sitting against the far wall. Magnus kicks  the brewing coffee pot over the sleeping figures and yells at the man to give up his hook; he glances up at a wall, and while the other two scamper, the man picks up an SMG and lets rip, plugging Magnus in the shoulder, but paying the ultimate price as Magnus unloads his pistol. One of the others runs out the back door, but as Magnus struggles to reload the other comes at him with a crowbar knocking him to the ground. As she winds up for a killing stroke to the head Magnus shoots again. A bloody and bedraggled Magnus returns to the Rosa Lee, requiring medical attention but now with hook.

Carlton is a real bundle of cheer when he calls on Miss Roberta to shoot the shit (and put in his usual offer of a good seeing to!). Carlton lets spill that some of his guys was ambushed recently, one on the way back from Moon Creek and another making a delivery up to Jade Falls. He resists Miss Roberta's attempt to get him to sign up for the anti-piracy effort, he's got problems of his own. After finishing off a bottle of bourbon he's a bit more amenable - if he can make the road to Jade Falls safe he can spare a boat crew or two; and if Miss Roberta could lend him one of her guntrucks in the meantime he'd be able to come up with a boat.

Eyeing up the gold Drexler left under her desk, Miss Roberta calls in Sweeney to have a quick chat. The coincidence of an ambush near Moon Creek and Drexler suddenly coming into serious scratch is too much for her and she pushes Sweeney in a roundabout way for an explanation. Sweeney wheedles his way out of admitting it, but everyone in the room knows what happened.

Sweeney drops into Sun's place as soon as they reach Stolo, he's looking for some relief and maybe even a job. There's some light-hearted horse-trading, but both sides are pretty stretched right now and there's not much give, or even prospect of real profits jumping into anyone's plates anytime soon.

With Vega , it's a different story for Miss Roberta's anti-piracy efforts - she leaps at the chance to give those bastards a bloody nose. Next time the Rosa Lee comes through she'll outfit a crew and a boat to join the effort.

*All illustrations by D. Vincent Baker from the Apocalypse World rulebook

The Yoke

In which we reach Moon Creek, though with several unsought passengers aboard

Magnus is having a cold beer in a real classy joint in Motherlode. A miner (one of many) wants to get a closer look at your pistol and who knows, maybe more. The Battlebabe is doing fine dealing with that bozo until a newly arrived mining team arrives in the front door with pistols and machetes. They take exception to his treatment of their buddy and he leaves his hook stuck in some guy’s eye socket and scrambles up on the roof before leading them on a chase. Magnus leaps aboard the Rosa Lee just as she casts off.

Magnus cuts a dashing figure, pristine in his navy-blue long jacket. A neat holster site on his right hip, holding a very impressive looking pistol - very heavy calibre. Upon closer inspection it looks incredibly high-powered, but it only holds a single shell, requiring the breech to be opened after every shot. Not a great feature, especially considering Magnus has lost his left hand (fighting off the coast against a myriad a pirates assaulted the naval vessel he served upon).



As Magnus is hammering out details of his service (or at least remaining aboard!) with Miss Roberta, he mentions that he'll be going back into Motherlode to retrieve his hook. Miss Roberta isn't too impressed by this course of action; the Rosa Lee can't afford to cause trouble like that. Magnus seems to stop arguing, but it's obvious to some that this is going to happen.

Sweeney and crewe have been doing a small delivery for the well-to-do Johnson in Motherlode. They have to deliver a small wooden box to a house on the banks of a small river off Moon Creek. Princy is piloting the launch and Drexler is there for protection. Bar is just along for the ride. As they move up the river, Bar is fiddling with the box - he opens it and reaches in, taking out a curious yoke - like a small silver ball surrounded by gold wire. He looks quizzically at it and then yelps with a start dropping the box (it lands closed) and falling backwards off the stern of the launch.

Princy quickly brings the boat around and they fish Bar out of the river - Sweeney gives him a bit of a roasting for messing with the package, but nothing seems to be missing and Bar insists (though he's a bit shocked) that he must've dropped the yoke back into the box before he feel overboard. He's been left with a burn mark on his wrist, but no one's the wiser as to what happened and they continue onwards to make the delivery after taping up the box so that it won't open easily again.

Eventually they spot the house in question - it's a lonely structure atop a hill, there's a copse of trees off to one side, but otherwise it looks desolate, with boarded up windows and nothing outside (not even the usual detritus of fifty years of the apocalypse). Drexler covers Sweeney as he knocks on the door. The door opens to reveal a older woman (name of Li as far as Sweeney recalls) wearing an industrial-grade rubber apron and elbow length rubber gloves. She grimaces at the box when it proffered.
-This box has been opened
Despite Sweeney's protestations, the woman is not impressed. She takes the box and with one last look at the crewe closes the door in their faces.
Sweeney storms down to the bank
-Fuck! 'sake Bar!

Tai's nose has been to the grindstone for the last few weeks overhauling the engines. Miss Roberta wants to keep the Rosa Lee going for as long as possible without needing to get spares from Moon Creek. A few other odd jobs have snuck their way into the workshop, but mainly it's about the engines.

Those turbines are back humming nicely after a while and with it Miss Roberta’s humming too. Tai had to get some gizmos from Bar in return for some transmitting gear which sets back a long-term workshop project.

Coming into Moon Creek, the crew of the Rosa Lee see the sprawling hold on the island in the middle of the river, with its refineries towering behind it on the far shore. The defences dominate the waterways and heavy weaponry surrounds the refinery. Beyond that looms the ruined city.

On the wharf waits Jackson, the lean man is surrounded by a handful of his soldiers. Miss Roberta squints at the reception party; this isn't usual. Jackson comes aboard, leaving several of his men to take up position at the gangplank while another few escort him to the main cabin; no weapons checks for them. Jackson wonders about the pirates, word has come down river that they've targeted the Rosa Lee. It's hard to know whether he's annoyed or just calculating how much jingle they've cost him.

They discuss in a round-about fashion what Miss Roberta can do to stop the rot. As she heaps some of the blame on herself, Miss Roberta asks if Jackson could provide some heavy weaponry to tear the pirates a new one next time they try something. Jackson is taken aback by it, but has a few pieces in mind which might do the trick (they'll come at a price, but not what he'd charge anyone else; he's protecting his own). As they haggle over the price and the repayment options, Miss Roberta gets the impression that she'd better not fuck this one up; Jackson is unlikely to take anything but the agreed-upon deal well.

Meanwhile, Tai and Sweeney head to Fuse's place (with Drexler tagging along) to see what light he can shed on the doohickey. The house is a ramshackle corrugated iron shed that goes up two stories. Tai knocks on the rickety door and after a minute they're met by a tall man, bollock naked except for a pair of night-vision goggles on top of his head.

He gives a lopsided grin as he recognised Tai. They shoot the shit a little, until he notices the others standing awkwardly behind.
-Come on in, mind your heads
He crouches as he turns back into the house (if it can be called that). A ladder leads upwards, but he shuffles over to the far corner where there's another ladder going down. As they follow Fuse down a narrow tunnel, Drexler spots large bear traps hanging on one of the walls; though on closer inspection
-Don't touch those
the teeth appear to be actual bone, maybe even shark's teeth.

Sweeney and Tai explain the background to the doohickey, and Tai takes one out of a pouch. Fuse takes a closer look, but when Tai makes to give it to him, Fuse backs away
-Not a fucking chance, mate. Put it down over there
he says pointing at a metal bowl on a counter.
-I'll have to take a closer look, come back in a few days if I don't drop around to you beforehand and I may have some answers for you

As a new member of the crew Magnus is denied shore leave for the first while, Miss Roberta pairs him with Tum Tum who's quickly proven to be a reliable member aboard the Rosa Lee. There are a few raised eyebrows at the pairing (left handed compliments all-round) but they do seem to get on alright. While trading stories of how they lost their left hands (Magnus relates his story of how he lost his falling into the fan of a flatboat upriver staving off bandits).
Anyway Amy catches Magnus' eye and after a day of regaling her with stories of his prowess Amy (with her daily tasks complete) succumbs to his charms. As he follows her below, Miss Roberta calls him over with a stern glance. As far as she's concerned he's got to earn his way before he can fuck about with one of her crew: if he crosses her on this he'll end up on his ass (or kissing Shivers) on a dockside some morning.



Miss Roberta is keeping an eye on Magnus, but has more important things to do. Jackson has come aboard, this time with a few porters carrying a great heavy metal box. He opens the box to reveal four large tubes
-I was thinking if we could fit one of the Bofors aboard, but then I thought these missile launchers would definitely do the trick. They're one-shot wonders, but they'll completely fucking obliterate anything they hit!
Miss Roberta grins; this is going to be good.
After a bit of horse-trading the price is agreed, it'll be paid over the next three visits back to Moon Creek.

Asking around about the pirates, word comes through at the market that a barge came in pretty beat up a few days before the Rosa Lee. Miss Roberta meets the owner, a hungry-looking bedraggled man called Rolfball. The pirates boarded him, killing his older son and capturing his daughter. They also took just about everything that wasn't nailed down, though they left him his barge. Now though, he's pawned it for a bit of jingle so he and his son Bunker can eat and buy a sleeping spot at the junkyard. After having gotten a good sense of the man, and backing up her impression with others in town, Miss Roberta offers him a spot on the Rosa Lee, doing the sort of work Putrid used to take on for her.

Below decks Sweeney discovers that Bar is burning up, seems to have a high fever and has been stuck in his bunk for a full day. The burn on his wrist has flared up, and one side of his throat looks like it has a bad rash. Tai brings in Fuse, they were going to meet up anyway to discuss the yoke, but now matters seem more urgent. Fuse has a clicker with him, he's established that there is some radioactivity involved. He follows the yoke up Bar's arm all the way to his neck, explaining that the device is made of two discrete pieces, one of which penetrates the subject and worms its way into the body and the other which is emitting this faint radioactive signal.
-Strap him to the bunk, this may get violent. Someone may want to get some bandages as well for later
Fuse snaps on his protective gear and opens a leather tool roll. He takes out the scalpel and a pair of pliers. Winces all-round.

After cutting deep into Bar's arm, Fuse sticks the head of the pliers into the gash and gently pulls. After what seems like an age of Bar's wriggling and screaming Fuse slowly draws away from the bunk revealing a long wire coming out of the wound. A little while later and he drops the yoke into a bucket. As Sweeney patches Bar up, Fuse draws Tai aside
-I'll show you what I've got later

Drexler is aware that Miss Roberta is in need of dosh to help out with the weapons deal and reckons he can do some work to help out just in case. He wanders into Moon Creek and takes a spot at the counter in a likely looking bar. After a cold beer, he lets the barman know that he's looking for work; when he gives his name, the barman definitely gives some weight to the name Drexler. He'll put in out the word and let Drexler know if there are any bites same time tomorrow.

When he goes back the next day, the barman nods over to the corner where a small bespectacled man is sitting with two untouched beers in front of him. As Drexler walks over he noticed the relatively subtle bodyguard standing at the bar near the back door. Drexler sits down and the man introduces himself as Dolarhyde. He outlines the job, there's a  gun thug called Boxer he wants killed. He'll be leaving town tomorrow, probably driving up the north shore. Dolarhyde beckons the bodyguard over
-Max'll show you the car he'll be taking. This Boxer guys knows his stuff, he uses an auto-shotgun if that makes any difference to you. He may be driving with some others, but I'm sure neither of us would appreciate witnesses. I don't need any kind of proof, just your word that it's done and I'll hand over the jingle day after tomorrow
Drexler knows that Rosa Lee heads back upriver the day after that. He leaves most of the beer behind and walks past Max and out the back door.

Drexler takes a skiff out from the Rosa Lee before dawn, Sweeney and Magnus have come along. They tie up the boat in some reed on the shore and walk to a small rise overlooking a turn in the road. They put down some large rocks - more to get the car to slow down rather than to stop it outright. Sweeney takes position with his hunting rifle in the reeds looking down the road, while Drexler sets up his machine gun on the rise. Magnus grips his pistol from adjacent cover, ready to wade in if needed.

A dusty blue sedan comes around the corner and immediately brakes and swerves a little; Sweeney fires and hits, shattering the windscreen. Drexler opens up with his machine gun peppering the engine and blowing out at least one of its tires. As the car stops, a machine pistol comes out a window and sprays up towards the hill. The door opens and out pops Boxer, but as he draws another weapon Drexler drills him with a well-aimed burst. On the far side of the car two figures jump out and run. Sweeney aims at one, realising that the woman is unarmed, but shooting centre-mass after a brief moment of doubt. As Drexler climbs to his feet with his shotgun ready, Magnus lopes easily around the ambush site after the second, smaller figure running for the reeds. As he passes the car he glances inside, there's a young girl moaning in pain in the back seat. He heads into the wide reed bed, following the trail easily. He shouts out
-Come out now boy, or I'll have to go back for your sister!
After what seems like an age, the scared boy struggles out of the mud, trying to get a look back at the car on the road. Magnus shoots him in the head and then goes back to burn out the car.

The boat ride back to the Rosa Lee is very quiet...

*All illustrations by D. Vincent Baker from the Apocalypse World rulebook