No Room for a Wallflower – Operation Black Reed After-Action Report

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Alt text for the image is located at the bottom of the post.

Hey folks, I'm currently in a bi-weekly Lancer game of No Room for a Wallflower. I write after-action reports from the perspective of my character, MSMC Pilot Colt Walker, callsign Roughneck. If you missed it, you can check out the AAR from our first session here.

Walker is missing his right arm from just above the elbow. He tells stories about how he lost his arm all the time, but never the same story twice. In this session, when helping the farmers repair their vehicle to get to Evergreen, their young son asked about it. He told the kid a story about working on a deep-space mining rig. At one point, a storm of micro meteors punched through their rig. One of the rocks busted open a coolant tank next to Walker, which flash froze his arm. Another rock went through his now frozen arm, shattering it.

Understandably, the story was someone traumatic for a nine-year-old.

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Alt text for the image (spoilers for No Room for a Wallflower below):

!...SESSION INITIATED!<

!...WELCOME USER — //C. WALKER// //ROUGHNECK//!<

!...CREATE RECORD //OPERATION BLACK REED//!<

!...OPERATIONAL PROFILE //CONTROL//!<

!...MSMC PERSONNEL //ROUGHNECK...ZEPHYR...DRUID//!<

!...NON-COMBATANTS //CIVILIAN FARMERS...CHAU FAMILY//!<

!...HOSTILE FORCES //UNION AUTOMATED UNITS//!<

!...OPERATIONAL REPORT —!<

!...FUCK. WE GOTTA WHOLE LOT OF SHIT HERE. TO START, WE //INTERROGATED// OUR //PRISONER//. CALLED //HIMSELF RANGER KELL ORTHEGA// OF THE //HERCYNIAN UNITED CITIES//. SPOKE WITH THE DUMB FUCKER, DIDN’T LEARN MUCH. CLAIMED THE COLONISTS AND US WERE UNION. GOT AN OLD ACCENT, CLAIMS HIS FAMILY WAS HERE FOR GENERATIONS. ALSO SAID THEY FOUGHT AGAINST //“THE MACHINE”//. AT FIRST, I THOUGHT HE MIGHT MEAN //PATIENCE//, BUT I COULDN’T CONFIRM THAT. //ORTHEGA// SAID THE //HEAD// OF THE //HUC// WAS SOMEONE CALLED //ENDEAVOR//. MAYBE AN //NHP//? WOULDN’T MAKE SENSE WITH HIS FUCKIN’ HARD–ON FOR //“THE MACHINE”//. COULDN’T GET THE BASTARD TO PUT US IN CONTACT WITH HIS COMMAND TO CALL A CEASE–FIRE.!<

!...ENGINEERS FINISHED UP THE JOB, AND WE HEADED BACK; THE //CAPTURED RONIN// AND SOME GEAR SALVAGED FROM THE OTHER MECHS ON THE TRUCKS. CAUGHT AN //EMERGENCY AID REQUEST// FROM //LIU MAIZE// AND //MERRICKTOWN//. WE //MOVED OUT// TOWARDS //LIU MAZE// TO HIT THE FURTHEST //SETTLEMENT// FIRST. THEN, WE CAUGHT ANOTHER //DISTRESS CALL// FROM A //LOCAL FARM// EN ROUTE TO //LIU MAZE//. ON THE WAY IN, HUNDREDS OF //SUBALTERNS// STOOD IN THE FIELDS. DIDN’T FUCK WITH US, SO WE DIDN’T FUCK WITH THEM. STILL STRANGER THAN A SIX–LEGGED DOG.!<

!...AT THE //FARM//, WE SPOTTED //HOSTILE MECHS//. IDENT REGISTERED THE //TWO SMALLER MECHS// AS //SCOURERS// AND THE //LARGER// ONE AS //THE BROADCAST//. ONCE THEY SAW US, ALL OF THE //STATIONARY SUBALTERNS// RUSHED US. NOT TOO MUCH A THREAT, BUT AN ANNOYANCE. //DRUID’S// FIRST //SHOT BLEW HALF THE BROADCAST’S MODULE// OFF. //ZEPHYR// CLOSED WITH THE //SCOURER// IN THE FIELDS AND ENGAGED, NEARLY //CUT IT IN HALF// BEFORE IT //DISENGAGED//. I //OPENED FIRE// WITH MY //CANNON// ON //THE BROADCAST// AND THE //SCOURER// GROUPED NEAR IT. TURNS OUT, //THE BROADCAST// CAN DEPLOY A //COUNTERATTACK SHIELD// WHICH HITS ANYONE WHO //ENGAGES// IT OR //NEARBY ALLIES// WITHIN //RANGE//. I TOOK A //BEATING// FROM THE //RETURN FIRE//, BUT I DEALT IN KIND. I DROPPED THE //SCOURER// NEAR THE BIG FUCKER WITH MY //RIFLE//. //THE BROADCAST// TRIED AN //ELECTRONIC ATTACK// AGAINST //DRUID// AND ME, BUT IT WAS //INEFFECTIVE//.!<

!...//ZEPHYR// KEPT THE PRESSURE ON THE //SECOND SCOURER//, BUT IT WAS TWITCHY AND KEPT ‘EM AT A DISTANCE. I MANAGED TO //FINISH// OFF THE //SCOURER// AND //THE BROADCAST// WITH A //MISSILE BARRAGE//. THANK FUCK, THAT BIG BASTARD WAS TOUGH. //THE BROADCAST// SENT OUT A //TRANSMISSION// BURST THAT //SHUT DOWN// ALL THE AGRIBOTS IN THE AREA. I MANAGED TO CAPTURE PART OF THE BURST.!<

!...THIS IS WHERE SHIT GETS WORSE. THE TRANSMISSION SAID:!<

! >//ATTEND:::THIS AREA IS UNDER UNION CONTROL, PURSUANT TO NAVCOMM SPECIAL ORDER 1/TBK(???)ALL ORGANIC LIFE HEREBY ORDERED:::EVAC INTENSITY 3 (GO NOW)!<

! >///ATTN.ENEMY:::[]!<

! >//ATTEND:::CURRENT THEATER (GRID:::A1-H3+ALL SUBGRIDS) IS PRIORITY TARGET FOR [PAVEDOWN_OVERRIDE] PER <MENDICANT_DEMAND=(OK)<!<

! >///ATTEND:::LEAVE THIS PLACE. THERE IS NOTHING HERE FOR YOU. MESSAGE WILL REPEAT:::X(X=ENDLESS)!<

! >///COMMAND_IMPERATIVE:::PARTITION OF LOCAL FORCES AS FOLLOWS: VBND_R, COMM_G, PART_B, AND CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS TO PROCEED TO STRIKE-ID TARGETS [XXXXXXXXXXX] AND ENGAGE. AWAIT TASKING FROM <BEGGAR_MENDICANT_VAGABOND> IN THAT ORDER!<

! >///NOTICE:::YOU CAN STILL LEAVE::YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FIGHT::IF YOU SURRENDER, YOU WILL BE ACCOUNTED FOR AND TREATED WITH DIGNITY::YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FIGHT.!<

! >///NOTICE:::THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPONS. IT IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. I AM UNION I AM PEACE. HELP IS ON THE WAY.!<

!...WE TORE OPEN THE //MECHS//. NONE OF ’EM HAVE A //COCKPIT//. I FIGURE THAT MEANS THE OLD UNION DROPPED AN //AUTOMATED FORCE// TO //“PACIFY”// THE LOCALS ON //ARDENNES–3//. THE //SUBALTERNS// STARTED WANDERIN’ OFF TO THE //EAST//, BUT THERE’S NOTHIN’ OUT THERE. EXCEPT MAYBE THE //GOVERNING INTELLIGENCE// FOR THESE TIN FUCKERS. PLANTED A MININ’ PROBE ON ONE TO TRACK ITS LOCATION. IF WE CAN CONVINCE THE //GUERILLA’// WE AIN’T THE //REAL THREAT//, MAYBE WE CAN DO SOMETHIN’ WITH THAT.!<

!...ERROR...AUTO–ENCRYPTION 43% CONFIDENCE...PLEASE MANUALLY REVIEW ENCRYPTED CONTENTS!<