Play! A Fistful of Kung Fu Trilogy: “Episode Two: Sabotage!” (2 of 3)

(Part 1 of 3) (Part 2 of 3) (Part 3 of 3)

Following “Episode One: The Challenge,” the second chapter of the Middling’s first A Fistful of Kung Fu trilogy, “Episode Two: Sabotage!”  saw  Master Bruce Li’s martial artists push their advantage in an attempt to defeat Dr. Leise’s ‘enchanced’ cyber-ape threat once and for all: by destroying the very arcane technologies that makes her mad experiments a reality. Below we see the Master Li’s martial artists and Dr. Leise’s apes:

 “Episode Two: Sabatoge ,” pitted the 300 point forces in a destroy property scenario with a betrayal complication, where one gang member is a traitor. Unlike the previous scenario, this featured a random V.I.P. (a  dinosaur!, which we re-envisioned as one of Dr. Leise’s abandoned but now escaped genetic experiments). Randomly, the traitor was revealed to be the martial artist’s bruiser: the martial arts champion! A brief transcription of the first scenario follows:

The narrative demanded that the martial artists destroy Dr. Leise’s ‘enhancement’ technlogy which were represented by two pieces of AT-43 terrain (the ice crystal and an alien-esque search light – hidden in this view) . Above we see Dr. Leise’s lair before deployment:

As the martial artists skulk forward and infiltrate the compound, Ape defenders guard the machinery and patrol the perimeter. Dr. Leise’s confidant and lover, a deadly sniper watches from a high Western vantage of the compound.

… while the escaped ‘experiment’ (the V.I.P.) lurks in terrain, ready to pounce on nearby, unsuspecting apes

The martial artists get to work quickly: a ninja sets to destroying one piece of lab equipment on the second floor, while the martial arts students (by the ice crystal objective) are betrayed by their own champion. After a brief melee, they are able to subdue him with greater numbers, tie him up, and drag him off the table (to achieve a chi level bonus for the gang). Because of the traitor,  Master Li’s forces are unable to destroy the second objective as quickly as the first.

The apes launch to the defense of their compound, as Dr. Leise herself guns down one of Master Li’s students, to keep her lab equipment safe a moment longer. Master Li reacts quickly,  diving into the fray to avenge his fallen student – where his superior skill at the martial arts will surely defeat Dr. Leise, again, just as they did during his challenge in Episode One.

…but Dr. Leise would not stand to be defeated again, as she had turned her ‘unnatural’ scientific talents on herself. As Master Li leaps at her she SHAPECHANGES into a giant (wo)man ape! Master Li stands agast, looking up to this gigantic cyber ape twice his size, as it smacked him into the earth and sends him flying…

… recoiling nearly into the dangerous, mysterious energies of the crystal reactor, where he was nearly caught in the energy field, but escapes unscathed. Seeing  his leader in danger, the ninja leaps from the wall to join the fray…

…only to be gun downed by the ape’s sniper, Dr. Leise’s confidant and lover from her perch.

 

Meanwhile, outside the compound the ape reinforcements are set upon and killed by the escape lab experiment–what cruel happenstance that one of Dr. Leise’s forgotten, abandoned experiments would best her most beloved!

Back within the compound, Dr. Leise, now joined by two of her creations, overwhelm Master Li, inspite of his superior martial skills. It does not look good for the hero…

…as the superior strength of Dr. Leise’s monstrous ape form sends Master crashing back in to the machinery, hoping its arcane power destroys him a second time….

But Master Li is resilient and crafty, as this is just the break he needs to take a moment, shuffle behind the generator and destroy the second arcane scientific apparatus… completing the scenario’s second destroy property objective. The apes are almost in time to stop him, but Master Li is too quick, too single-minded (and too shirtless) to be stopped! Dr. Leise’s unholy ability to transform normal gorillas into intelligent, yet ferocious beings is, at least temporarily, halted.

(…To be continued in Episode 3: “Secrets”)

Game Notes: Victory went to the Martial Artists, and their gangs Chi level increased by two (one for the scenario goal, and the other for capturing the traitor). The apes re-tooled their gang, refining the theme again and mechanics for the third scenario.