Kidnapping the Governor General off His Train!

[Grimcleaver]

So things are getting real in our Malifaux campaign and the Fated have invovled themselves in a plot to kidnap the Governor General. The Hollow Marsh gala to commemorate the new pumping station has just happened (including what everyone thought was an attempt to assassinate the Governor General--so alert level is maximum) and everyone is on their return trip back to Malifaux aboard an incredibly well defended and luxurious train.

The kidnappers, led by an escaped convict murderer and insurrectionist called "El Cerdo" plan to blow the tracks under the train as it comes off one of the bridges out of the Footprints canyons and cause a derailment while most of the train is still stuck on a suspension bridge hanging over a grand canyon drop into sharp rocks, man eating cactuses and giant scorpions.

So what kind of defenses would the Guild have set up to prevent stuff like this from happening--because frankly it seems like it would happen all the time. Especially with all the loads of soulstone that rumble over these bridges. What would we be seeing them do to insure this kind of stuff wasn't happening all the time. How do you ever get the Governor General out to places by train and make examples of fools who dare attack his entourage?

Because as much as this plan seems tight...it's gotta' not be. It's gotta' be like the stupidest plan ever. It's too easy. If it were this simple, someone would have done it already. Still once you've overturned a train going 40 miles per hour and it's turned into a pile of twisted wreckage like something out of Super 8 it's hard to imagine how any kind of real defense would be possible and how most folks won't just be in various stages of dead and mangled...

[Sparksman]

The obvious ploy would to have the GG travel undercover, and have Lucius on the train instead...

[tallghost]

1. decoy governor.

2. governor's car is a decorative shell around an armored capsule designed to hold up until help arrives.

3. governor's car has a rocket powered "escape pod" designed to fling him away from the scene of any wreck, to be recovered by reinforcements.

4. a caboose, or underslung "rocket rail sled" designed to jet the governor back along the rails from whence he came. 

5, governors car contains an extremely secure hiding space and a burnt  "decoy body" donated by some poor soul who had the bad look of looking just enough like the governor.

 

these are just off the top of my head. let me think on it a bit.

 

[Ampers&nd]

decoy is a likely sounding plan. if I was the gg I'd have watchers flying ahead of the train, and scouting the track all the previous day or so, and hunter detachments' ready to deploy at the first sign of trouble too.

[Kobayashi]

While a decoy seems the obvious choice I would rather set up ambushes at key points. So any person even wanting to try to set something up, will be welcomed with a good beating by the Guild's finest.

Surely they wait until you start with your supiscious activities, so you are hard working and will be surprised... and they have enough evidence and authority*

Also I fathom that despite the Govenor General they have outposts along the track, where if something would happen; they can come in blazing guns. The question is, are they manned, or was there a Nephilim attack (But with the GG passing by, I guess the stations are manned).

 

 

(*) like the guild would care, but you have an appearance for the public

[Mason]

Maybe just guards stationed along the tracks the day he's traveling, as well as some elite bodyguards to protect the GG himself?

The biggest reason why nobody has kidnapped the GG is probably because they'll end up with the full might of the Guild behind the search to find him... which is something that most of the factions really don't want. It's like kicking a nest of hornets over.

Plus, the Governor General - whether Marlow or the first one - tends to be the sort of dude who can protect himself fairly well, if all else fails.

[explorator]

Yeah, the Governor General is no wall-flower, plus the tracks would be guarded, checked, and monitored. I imagine Watchers and packs of Hunters along the line. 

The GG might also have an aircar on standby to lift him right off the train if security is high, or an aircar full of reinforcements ready to land in case of accident or sabotage.  Unless it is intended to be a suicide mission, I might give my players some kind of out before they fully commit.

It sounds like they are picking the absolute worst time to make the attempt; higher security will likely foil all but the most determined and well-resourced kidnapping.

[Mason]

15 minutes ago, explorator said:

The GG might also have an aircar on standby to lift him right off the train if security is high, or an aircar full of reinforcements ready to land in case of accident or sabotage.

Aircars need guide lines to chart out their path, so they really can't cross wide distances (the neverborn will just break the guide line and that's that).

They're basically a Malifaux version of this, but with balloons attached to keep them afloat, instead of its weight resting on the line itself:

 

[tallghost]

Plus, the guild is not just an iron fist, they have other tools. How many agents did they manage to plant in El Cero's organization? You can't be a criminal insurrectionist who get's the governor's travel plans without attracting a little attention.

[explorator]

Actually, the aircars in Malifaux do use guide lines, but there are free-flying aircars which are more like blimps.  They stopped using the free-flying blimps in Malifaux after the Gremlins (I think) tried to down one in the city, but certainly the Guild could get their hands on one in a pinch. I think it would be super cinematic to have the GG escape in such a way.