Express Train to Hell

The Adventure

Chapter 6 - Runaway Train!

This is the final showdown as the posse catch up with the speeding train, take out Ace Stark and his gang, tackle the misguided cultists, confront Carlton Kent and try to save the passengers from a horrible fate!

Boarding the train

As mentioned before the heroes should almost be able to get the Rocket Car to the train un-noticed, as the two gang members in the caboose have been watching the flashing lights of the ritual with amazement and ignoring the track behind them. When they do see the Rocket Car they will open fire with their weapons. Big Bill Waites has a rifle and his brother has a single action pistol, they will have to be dispatched if the posse want to board the train. To do so they simply need to match speeds with the train, lock the velocity lever in place and jump from one vehicle to the other, needing a Nimbleness (3) check. If this is failed the character missed her footing but she, or a friend who's managed to get on the train, can attempt a Strength (5) check to grab onto the railings and pull them up.

The Train

By the time shots ring out the ritual is over and Kent races to the engine car with the young girl he has "prepared" and speeds the train up to 50mph, beginning the acceleration to 88mph. This activates the velocity detonator! If the train's speed drops below 50mph it will explode, causing 6d10 massive damage (this has accounted for armour) on all targets in the first 7 carriages. Then there's crashing damage to sort out as the train derails...

At this point it may be a good idea to give a rundown of the train's composition:

C - B2 - B1 - S2 - S1 - P3 - P2 - P1 - O - L

Each letter represents a carriage on the train, L being the locomotive and the front of the train, C is the caboose, the rear of the train where the posse most likely board from.

C - Caboose. An enclosed car at the rear of the train. Two of the Texan gang members are in here keeping an eye out. One has a rifle, the other a pistol. On top of the car is a steam gatling gun, but by the time the posse's car catches up with the train it is useless as the angle to the rear of the carriage is too great to target the posse. The Texans were watching the flashing lights of the ritual from this vantage position. A ladder from the turret drops them back into the caboose if they need to or they can fire their small arms from the roof of the train.
B2 - Box car no.2. Horses and passenger baggage are kept in this sturdy, enclosed car. Ace Stark and his gang were going to claim these prizes for themselves after this was all over, they can make a fair few dollars from the horses! There is nobody in this carriage. If the posse Search around amongst the baggage they may find a few items of interest, but this is up to you, Marshal.
B1 - Box car no.1. Another enclosed car, containing all the passengers weapons (no weapons are allowed to be carried on a passenger's person on Wasatch trains) and a desk is set up on one side. At each stop the disembarkees have to come here with their ticket to claim back their sidearms. If any posse member needs ammo or a weapon this is the place to come. This is also where the cult just performed it's ceremony to prepare the sacrifice. A large pentegram has been chalked on the floor and a few candles are still burning. There are also a few cultists remaining (one for each posse member) who have grabbed weapons, some are unsure what to do, one drops her weapon and puts her hands in the air and another screams: "Kill them!!!", the rest respond to this out of instinct, they don't want their trip ruined by kiljoys after all!
S2 - Sleeper car no.2. This is where passengers can get their heads down on the long journey. There are 5 compartments with 2 double bunks in each. A passenger has been tied to each bunk. They are scared but quiet, Ace Stark has told them he will shoot the first person who makes a sound. A corridor runs alongisde the 5 compartments and Ace is at the end with his remaining gang member. They open fire when they see the posse, Ace using his Hexes to enhance his firepower and skill, he retreats into the next carriage when the posse start firing back, leaving his fellow outlaw to fend for himself.
S1 - Sleeper car no.1. Another sleeper car, similar to the other. Passengers are tied to bunks and Ace Stark, if still alive, fires at the posse from the end, taunting them the whole time. He goes into a sleeper compartment and grabs a hostage if pressed. The posse will have to sort this one out themselves! 2 more cultists lie on the floor in here, halfway down the corridor, they are not armed and just want to keep out of the way of the shooting. If the posse question them at all one of them may start talking if sufficiently Overawed he explains Kent has taken a woman up to the engine car and that the train will enter Heaven when the train picks up enough speed. He also tells the posse what they may have already expected - the train will explode if it drops below a certain speed - the cultist began to have his doubts about this whole thing when he learnt the train had been rigged to blow, that's why he's talking now...
P3 - Passenger car 3. This is where passengers spend most of their journey, sitting down admiring the view. There are 30 passengers in here in total, tied to their seats and under the watchful eye of 2 cultists with shotguns. These are more hardened believers and will fire on the posse if they do not put down their weapons. There is a lurch halfway through combat and a scream from the locomotive. Kent has sacrificed the woman and thrown the superfuel into the boiler. The train shoots forward as it begins to pick up speed, and blood runs through the hourglass and fills the lower bulb. Any minute now the bulb will be filled and a gateway opened! The remaining cultist in the cars up ahead come running back with weapons to join their fellows in the shootout, Zacharia amongst them. He has a gatling pistol. The cultists take cover and attempt to pin the posse down to prevent them getting to the engine car. Brave heroes may always go along the roof however and go over the heads of the cultists straight to the engine car...
P2 - Passenger car no.2. Same as the last car. There are two cultists in here, armed with pistols, who will come running at the sound of trouble. 30 passengers are also tied up in here (I know, that's a lot of rope!)
P1 - Passenger Car no.1. Another passenger car, this one houses the bar too, as well as 20 passengers all tied up. Any remaining cultists are in here watching the hostages. Zacharia is among them. They come running to help at the sound of trouble.
O - Ore car. This is actually two small flat bed cars, the one nearest the locomotive has open crates of GhostRock fuel atop it, the other has a swivel-mounted machine gun to defend against attackers. Treat it as a Steam Gatling Gun but with a ROF of 3 and damage of 4d10. It cannot be moved from it's position.
L - Locomotive. Carlton Kent is in here, and so is the Hourglass, which has been fastened tightly to the floor. Blood is dripping through the relic and the woman's body lies on the floor with her neck opened up by Kent's claws. Kent himself will scream in rage and attack anybody entering the Locomotive. The super-fuel has already been thrown on the fire so the train is picking up speed, the Hourglas is filling with blood and the process cannot be reversed. Anybody toching the Hourglass will recieve a backlash of power from the Hunting Grounds (4d10 damage per round, each wound applied to a random location) but the fact that the relic is glowing green may warn the posse. To rip up the Hourglass a hero must roll his Strength once per round and score an 11. If successful he may pick up the Hourglass and throw it off the train, where it explodes in green flame! Don't forget to roll damage every round on anybody attempting this!
If any smart-ass tries shooting the relic it explodes also, causing 5d20 massive damage on anybody in the engine car, and damaging the train so that it slowly loses speed!

Important Details

There are a few things you ought to be aware of during this final scene. Firstly it's a race against time, if the posse are not quick enough the Hourglass will be filled with blood and the first 7 carriages sent through to the Deadlands before the portal closes.

Route through the train - The posse can go along the top of the train (needing a Nimbleness (5) check to jump from carriage to carriage or a Climbin'(3) check to climb down one carriage and up the next) which is quicker as it avoids most of the antagonists, but Ace Stark will move to intervene for a train-top shootout!. The posse will have to go along the top of the flatcars to the locomotive anyhow as there is no "inside" to these cars.

Explosives - There are explosives rigged to the first seven cars. The plan is to remove the last three cars shortly before the train reaches 88mph, it will not attain this speed with the extra weight on the rear of the train. With the last three carriages attached the train can only manage about 70mph (which will get the first 5 carrriges through the portal). The cultists will move to perform this task when the posse's presence is discovered or the train reaches max speed.

Couplings - The posse cannot simply detatch the train from the locomotive, Kent has thought of this and ordered Zach to weld the following carriage couplings at Hopper's Creek: Locomotive to Flatbeds. Flatbeds to Passenger car 1. Passenger car 1 to 2. The coupling between P2 and P3 are not welded in case the train proves too heavey to reach 50mph with 7 carriages (the super fuel has not been tested after all) so the front four can be detatched from the rest of the train if need be, or in an emergency. If the posse cannot slow the train and get rid of the relic they may have to do this themselves to separate the train.
Couplings at carriages P3 and S1, S1 and S2 are also welded, but all other couplings are free. To uncouple an unwelded carriage takes a Strength(9) roll

The Hourglass. Removing the relic will hurt anybody who tries this but will remove the immediate danger. Breaking the hourglass also destroys it, but it will explode and cause a fair amount of damage. The posse then have worry about the explosives on board. If the posse are unaware of any explosives one of the cult members will let them know.

The Detonator. The detonator is attached to the very front of the locomotive, if the posse want to disarm it they will have to Climb to the front of the engine (TN depends on the current speed of the train) and pass a Demolition (7) test to understand how it operates, they then need a Tinkerin' (5) check to physically disarm the important bits. If the blueprints for the bomb were successfully analyzed previously then the hero may add 2 to both these rolls to disarm the bomb. The train will then be made safe and can slow down without exploding. If the Hourglass is still on board it will activate as normal but if the train is at a standstill the posse will be safe so long as they don't physically run into it!

The Dynamite - If the posse do not wish to climb to the front of the locomotive, or do not trust their bomb disposal skills they can concentrate on the actual exlosives under the first seven carriages. They are linked to each other and the detonator by wire. Cutting this wire will disarm that particular dynamite bundle and all those behind it. Unfortunately the only way to get at the wire is at the train couplings. Where the couplings are welded the wire is encased in this welding and cannot be tampered with. The only place one can cut the dynamite wire is at coulpings P2-P3, and S2-B1.

Hostages - The hostages can be freed by the heroes by spending a few seconds untying their ropes, then the freed hostage can be calmed and will help untie other hostages. If the posse cannot slow the train, disarm the bombs or take out the relic then their only hope is to get the hostages back into the rear three carriages (at a squeeze!) and uncouple them from the rest of the train (actually, they don't need to uncouple them as only the first 7 carriages will enter the hunting grounds anyway). If the last three carriages have already been uncoupled the hostages will have to be squeezed into the two sleeper cars and the rear passenger car and the train slowed to 50mph, or these carriages uncoupled from the rest of the train.

Bounty

Defeat Ace Stark and his gang: 1 red chip (each)
Defeat Carlton Kent: 1 blue chip
Save all the passengers: 1 white chip
(each) Train remains intact: 1 white chip
(each)

Aftermath

The posse have hopefully managed to save the passengers and at least a few of the train cars. If they have a whole train it's a simple matter of finding the driver and heading on the Denver at a crawl (the super-fuel damaged the engine). If the locomotive has been lost then the posse should still have access to a few horses so they can fetch help from Denver about a days ride away.

If Ace Stark has been captured rather than killed he can give the whole story away (as he saw it) and explains his reward for the hijacking was all the money on the passengers, and the horses in the boxcar. He has already been paid for the Wasatch robbery but had no idea of the Hourglass' purpose.

If Agent Anderson is still alive he can confirm the posse will be paid $100 dollars for each of the hijacking gang plus costs of any doctors bills paid for if they need wounds treated.

If Carlton Kent was somehow captured alive the manitou will leave his body and he will lapse into a coma for several hours. Upon awakening he remembers everything and can recount the tale to the posse.