Katanas and Hexes October Full Preview!

Hello everyone!

This month, we are going out with the low-life high-tech science-fantasy theme! Check out all the new character models along with the modular stand-alone bar that can also be mixed-and-matched with the assets from the Biker Guys From Mars bar released exactly one year ago in October 2020!

This is not all that's coming this October. We are getting ready a little bonus surprise to celebrate Halloween! 

Afterward, Hexes and Katanas will be back in the following month with some more strictly cyberpunk-themed characters, too! 

Lastly, the team is absolutely hyped for the incoming Dune premiere. It has inspired a desert release that we are putting a lot of work into to make it really special. We can't wait to show you some first models!

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Into Katanas and Hexes 

If you don't know, Katanas and Hexes bar (scenery, modular) is a go-to place for all kinds of adventurers. The owner knows how to take good care of his patrons. Each table is set in its own sound bubble. No curious ears will overhear your highly illegal schemes. The area around the bar is shrouded in an anti-UV sphere. When you come out in the morning, it always feels like it is still night. One less thing to feel remorseful about.

AERIN: Does everyone know their roles for tomorrow? 

Aerin Chromeleaf really wanted to make it work. Her dream to become an eco-terrorist (essentially) was falling to pieces. It started with no one coming to her rallies, then she was stood up constantly as her 'activism' escalated. Her small inheritance went into this one last all-or-nothing. Some people just see themselves failing to accomplish small things as a sign that they are destined for great things. Not sure that's how it works. Not sure at all.

ACID: Distraction is all set. Police will have a lot on their hands. We just have to not get too caught up in the moment and to bail in time, right Jackie?

The goblin, Acid Veerx, was partnered up with Jackie Havok. The giant sat curled up in a corner with his head against the ceiling, looking uncomfortable. Bringing him inside the club was a whole operation. All this so he could say this:

JACKIE: Ye.

HANNIBAL: I still can't fathom that you guys are getting the same cut. It seems a bit.. out of proportions.

Hannibal Okamoto was a troll, and not only by race. He was always drawn to the underworld. One of his hands was cut off as a punishment for stealing a prized steed from a yakuza boss. The other one, well, for stealing it again. Since then he has decided to never steal again... in person. He has his people do it now and it works out great. He runs a couple of casinos, brothels, and pawn shops. His role in this event was uncertain to me but he seemed to have been draining Aerin of her money for a while now and taking pleasure in it.

Acid Veerx smiled and was ready to deliver his comical size-related retort followed by some banter, but he was cut off by Atalli the Netwanderer. Her eerie whisper of a voice demanded to be heard.

ATALLI: As I wandered the desert around the city I have seen the atrocities brought by the power plant's waste and radiation. Decay, madness, cannibalism. Borderlands are home to many beings that want to live in peace and dignity. It is their right. And that right is being taken away by the never-ending greed of the Council. We are the warriors of the future, and we are the only ones that can make the future begin tomorrow.

Everyone dwelled for a moment in silence.

BASH: Don't the Borderlands have a bigger problem now? I've heard the orcs have not only managed to tame the Pinkorrs (cavalry, modular) for a massive cavalry offensive but are also now allied with the Cyber Cult and building filthy Gutflinger Bots for artillery support. If we fail, they will probably finish the job for us anyway. 

Bash Ironhawk was surprisingly well-informed for a strictly head-chopping mercenary. I guess spending all his time at Katanas and Hexes made up for some good connections.

BRAGGA: Can we get to the fun part already? I have built some remote explosive devices to get us in and set up the radio interference to make the security clueless. For the finishing blow, I will let Barim 'Kaboom' Torisson do the talking.

Bragga Blackstorm smiled and pointed at me. 

BARIM: The best way to destroy a reactor are lies and false information, of course. But we don't have the time to spare. In order to make the plant unable to operate we would just need to hammer any of the many systems or electronics necessary for it to operate. But that's only a temporary solution. 

What we do not want to do is to make the reactor meltdown. The whole city would die. It would be very hard anyway, but destroying all the redundant safety systems and a large explosive attached to the primary pressure vessel might do it. 

What we could do, is destroying enough of the system that it would be financially better to build a new reactor, which would take years. A conventional bomb attached to the primary system or the rod controls might do that, but probably several bombs would be necessary.

That's why I have designed a solution, especially for tomorrow. This little silver pill does not look like it holds a lot of power, but we do not actually need anything to explode. It contains concentrated salt, lots and lots of it. All the equipment, the steam generation piping, the closed cooling system, and fuel rods are designed to work in ultra-pure fresh water. Exposing it to salt will destroy the equipment, cause the fuel rods to scam or fully insert themselves on their casings and halt the reaction of fission. The heat will drop off and the reactor will just die forever.

KRUGER: No explosion? You do not live up to your name, Kaboom.

BARIM: Oh no, we are still bombing the primary system and control rods, too. I just want to make sure that the reactor is irreparable.

KRUGER: And I just want to kill as many robots as I can, heard the entire staff is AI.

As you see, everyone has interior motives. And my may just come to life tomorrow. Since being little, no pun intended, I have been fascinated by the power released by explosives. I know for certain that I will die in one someday. And I want to make sure that this will be the most spectacular one. Tomorrow, with this odd team of misplaced goons, something is destined to go wrong. And it might just be the day. The day I go out in glory.

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But the next day everything went according to plan. The core was neutralized and the infrastructure was torn to pieces. Once no meltdown was confirmed, half the city gathered to admire the ashes and ruins. It went easily. But didn't it go too easily? Barim felt almost disappointed. What can you do, back to work tomorrow as usual...

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Ryan Ricksson was pleased, as he looked down from his tower. A consultant came to inform him that right before the terrorist attack, someone from inside the Council has lifted the security protocols in the plant. 

Ryan only pretended to be shocked and furious. Not only was he responsible for that, but he also had his very own agent in the terrorist group. (Any suspicions?).

But why let them destroy the plant? Ohh, what they did not know was that the waste and radiation from the plant were actually the only things that kept the Borderlands heated. By now, the City has many other sources of power, but the outskirts will freeze, and they will freeze fast, getting rid of his little orc problem. Easy and effective.

People would not be pleased if he shut down the plant and let everyone outside the city die but if it was, say, the doing of a vile terrorist cell, then well, only them could be to blame. Now, what can we do to re-adapt the desert for more profit..?

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Happy Printing!
CF Team