The original game that kicked off this storyline was called "Santa's Slaughter". It was an idea of a scenario I ran in 2020 (see pictures). General Rinch and his forces attacked Saint Nick. It was a fantastic and brutal battle. There wasn't really a story for it at that point.
In 2021, playing in the stores wasn't an option so, I created the following story, for the group, to build the storyline. At the time it didn't make sense to advance the story too far as players had only seen one battle. So, I worked it out so that the Merry Men and Kris Kringle were participating in an annual Christmas event with the locals while St. Nick and General Rinch were battling in a town far away.
This story merges the aftermath of "Santa's Slaughter" into the goings on that evening with his son and the Merry Men. In 2022 is when the story continues after this devastating evening - those pictures and stories will be posted in the following days before we see what is happening in 2023!
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Christmas had come to town! December was always the most favorite time of the year. Being so far North, there were a trio of towns that found themselves the perfect place to have Christmas festivities! On Christmas Eve there was a race to see who could get from town to town fastest, culminating in a massive celebration at the race’s end in the evening as Santa or Ms. Claus arrived in the final town. It was nothing but wilderness between each town, gigantic trees that dwarfed Red Wood trees on Terra, and hills that crested allowing a rider to see the glow of all three towns in the evening under a large storm of snowfall.
Kris had been training all year with Comet. He loved using a classic name from the tales of Santa on ancient Terra, as did his fellow riders. Comet was a monstrous, legendary creature. It was a deer like species found by the first colonists on planet; they resembled a mix of Terran Reindeer, Red Deer, and Elk, especially with large racks of sharp, jagged antlers. Hoof to shoulder they were typically two meters tall. Comet dwarfed most at his colossal 263 centimeters – over two and a half meters. For a single rider to cover this kind of distance in one evening the creatures would need to be built for speed. A dirt bike rider would be hard pressed to even keep up with a creature such as this, the Ceransis.
“Kris, my boy! Your steed looks immaculate! Well done!”
“Thank you, Cornelius! Comet is going to run circles around the men! Haha!” letting out a hearty laugh as a couple nearby riders waved him off, laughing along in good cheer.
“I believe it”, Cornelius responded, looking the massive creature up and down, placing a hand on one of its solid shoulder muscles, “absolutely amazing, the creatures here are.” Comet turned his head, reaching down, and snatched Cornelius’ beanie from his head. Comet shook his head back and forth, waving around the beanie before Cornelius finally caught it, taking it back. It was a fun spectacle seeing him hop around to catch it.
The loud sound of the classic “Santa Claus is coming to town” overtook the calmer instrumental music that was playing to give background music. It was a fun rock version from a small, local band.
“Best to get mounted up Kris, it sounds like the race is about to begin! Myself and Donner will be right behind you, just because Comet is the biggest doesn’t mean he’s the fastest!” he let out a hearty laugh as he turned toward his steed, giving Kris a slap on the shoulder. Kris waved him off, smiling.
The entire street was filled with merriment, laughing, and caroling as the town celebrated with hot cocoa, fudge, egg nog, and other delicious Christmastime treats. Lights were strung about all the buildings and across the street. Various decorations of candy canes, snowmen, and tinsel were hung across store fronts and apartments above. The random piles of snow on the edges of the streets glimmered under the glow of the various colors, beautiful hues of greens, blues, and reds.
As Kris mounted Comet, he looked about the festivities, a glowing smile on his face. It was great to see everyone out in town having fun. The Merry Men loved being able to protect the citizens and have such wonderful social events. Coming to from his enjoyment of watching the celebration he realized the song was ending and to his left and right the Merry Men were lining up beside him for the race on their Ceransis.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, tonight is the long awaited Santa’s Run! Once a year we see if our noble Merry Men can outrun Santa himself! They will race across the wilderness taking whatever path they choose. You will all be able to watch their progress with your mobile devices. They start here in Moba, then run West to White Brook, then North to…” he paused, waiting.
“The North Pole!” the crowd called out in unison, followed by cheers. Some of the Ceransis reared up, belting out their loud, deep calls seeming to join in the joyful cheers.
“Transportation will be ready once the Merry Men are out of sight, everyone, file to the edge of town!”
Following that direction, the crowd turned, walking West of the starting line so that they could get to the edge of town and see them run off into the night. Some Ceransis had lights on their antlers, some attached lights or ornaments to saddles, Kris placed bells that had the most beautiful ring to them across his saddle.
Finally, once the crowd had filed past them to the West edge of town and it was all quiet at the starting line, the announcer cut off the background music, “It is now time to begin the race! Everyone make sure to watch down Main Street and down the slope outside of town heading West! We will be able to see them racing for a good few minutes before they disappear entirely within the treeline!” It was a slope down from the edge of town. Often used for fun for all, there were usually tracks from sled races and snowmen strewn about. The snowmen didn’t stand a chance against the momentum and mass of the enormous Ceransis. Within the treeline itself the first row of trees were alight with strands of lights and decorations. There were even recreational areas for bonfires and hot cocoa during sledding times.
Kris and the Merry Men grasped their reins tightly, some Ceransis reared up again in excitement… “On your marks…. Get set…… Go!”
The line of creatures powered forward, bounding to start, and then working into a gallop or bounding. Spectators at the end of Main Street began cheering as the thunderous footsteps could be heard from further in town. Then, it grew quiet and the cheering quieted as well, the snowfall and new, building layer of snow gave that atmosphere a dead silence. Spectators began looking around at each other in confusion, normally, the riders tear right through Main Street and into the snow.
Suddenly the footsteps were extremely close and loud, many spectators jumped, everyone looked frantically. Then the racing Ceransis all leapt from the buildings above them, over the crowd assembled along the sidewalk. The creatures flew over the street that circled the town. The crowd lost its mind from the sudden excitement! They were hollering and cheering as the group of massive creatures tore down the slope and to the West!
Growing smaller and smaller as they gained distance, the crowd began to not be able to see the riders because of the snowfall, which was steadily increasing in volume. Some bystanders already took out their devices to follow the paths recorded via GPS. Some still watched because they could see the faint glow of lights mounted on some of the Ceransis.
A few moments later, large busses pulled up to take passengers to North Pole. Everyone began loading up, Hot Cocoa, Egg Nog, and treats like fudge in hand. Carols were being sung in some busses while classic Christmas films were played in others. Pulling to the front of the convoy of busses were massive plows to clear the road ahead, decorated in lights and ornaments. Once loaded with all the passengers attending, the convoy departed toward North Pole to witness the end of the race.
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New snow all through the forest made it a silent night indeed. However, for a split second there was thunder. The gigantic hooves of the Ceransis racers powered through the snow like it was nothing. Every now and then a shrub found itself in the path of Comet, his gigantic antlers tearing it out of the ground like it was nothing. Hot on his heels was Vixen and her rider, Stella. While smaller than Comet, Vixen was fast as a bolt of lightning and agile.
The riders had broken into small clusters, hollering at each other and making fun, all enjoying the fun in the wilderness on Christmas Eve. Kris, Cornelius, Stella, and Gabriel found themselves in a group furthest to the South, cresting a barren, snow covered hill, about a quarter of the way to White Brook. Pausing for a moment, they could see trees shaking, dropping huge piles of snow as the other groups tore through, they even caught a glance of some of the glowing of those who mounted lights in the dark shadows.
Above, the clouds and the snowfall were illuminated by the beauty of this world’s equivalent of the Northern Lights from Terra. Only these ones wove between the thick clouds, light reflecting off the dense condensation in the clouds. Greens and Blues broke through the clouds, sending colored rays through the snowfall on occasion.
“Alright, let’s be off!” followed by the loudest, heartiest, belly laugh he had, Kris let out a “Hohoho!” Comet reared up and jumped forward down the hill.
“On Comet!” Cornelius, Stella, and Gabriel shouted joyfully in unison as Comet led the way down the hill, continuing West.
Gabriel rode Blitzen, a shorter but much more muscle built Ceransis. Blitzen was nearly twice as wide as most of his species, a tank of a creature, surviving many wounds that would have killed even Comet.
They reached the bottom of the hill and reentered the treeline, their speed and thunderous feet knocking snow from the trees.
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About three quarters of the way to the town of White Brook they were crossing a river flowing to the North, one of those bizarre anomalies in nature. Eve river was deep and wide it would take a few minutes to cross and Kris would easily be the least wet with Comet so high up.
“Kris! You get coal!” yelled Gabriel as he found himself to be soaked the most of all. “Why couldn’t we aim for the bridge half a Kilometer North like the others?!” he grumped, causing the three others to laugh uncontrollably. While they had water resistant weather gear, it was not water proof. Gabriel could get riled up about anything but he was fiercely loyal and great to have around.
Finally all four found themselves across the river. They all looked North, seeing the first group in the distance cross the bridge. While Kris did not take the easy road, he took the quickest road, blazing a trail.
Kris turned Comet preparing to be off.
“Wait!” Stella yelled, concern in her voice. She saw something floating in the river. Vixen leapt back in, moving towards the center of the river. It looked like a jacket and Vixen dragged it out of the river. Soon enough they realized it was a body, frozen in the river, it had come a long way. There were no markings on the jacket, it just looked like a civilian.
“Of course, of all nights evil must be afoot…” trailed off Cornelius.
Kris shook his head and was preparing to jump off and mount the corpse on Comet when a flash caught his eye. He looked up and South. His eyes went wide… He saw smoke and flames.
“Is that Noelle’s Town?!” asked Stella with worry in her voice, Vixen rearing up, belting out a loud sound.
River Eve cut right next to that town and went under the main road to town from the West of it. Most of the townsfolk were heading up to North Pole but there were still some remaining.
“That’s where…” Kris trailed off, shifting to order issuing; he shouted as he flew up onto Comet, “On me, go now!” Comet also belted out a savage, deep sound that sounded like a war drum and tore off down the river’s shore.
All three of the others followed, charging toward the smoke.
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Bursting out of the clearing they could see multiple Battlemechs, vehicles, and buildings ablaze. They paused for a moment. Cornelius and Stella surveyed the area. Cornelius had his revolver drawn from his shoulder holster and Stella a rifle slung across her chest. They spotted movement just a few dozen meters South of them as something walked behind a building.
“It was bright green camouflage.” Gabriel whispered to the group.
“Son of a bitch…” Kris snarled, enraged, drawing his own sidearm, a semi-automatic.
He had Comet lurch forward, the three others on his tail. Comet, Donner, and Vixen rounded the corner, witnessing even more carnage, seeing a handful of bodies and new wrecks. Directly in front of them, a team of green clad infantry were frozen in their tracks, seeing the gigantic creatures. All three riders took a moment to realize who they were looking at.
Without warning, the building ruptured outward as Gabriel had Blitzen run right through it, crushing a man under debris and impaling the three others as Blitzen’s antlers crushed them against their vehicle. Immediately Kris dismounted and stormed over to the one man still alive, in shock and horror, holding the antler that pierced through him and into the ferro armor of the vehicle.
“Who are you!? Are you one of General Rinch’s!?” Kris shouted in a rage filled, thunderous voice directly into his face, centimeters away, as he grasped the man’s jacket.
Blood was running from the soldier’s mouth, he couldn’t catch his breath to say anything, then keeled over, dead.
“No, no, no…” Kris said as he looked at the nearest Battlemech burning. Obviously distraught, he mounted Comet and charged toward the Battlemech, prone on the ground. Cornelius took charge and worked with Stella and Gabriel to make sure there was no one else as they moved toward the wreck.
Kris dismounted and ran up to the cockpit. There was nothing there, it was a cockpit ejection. He felt a wave of hope and looked towards the road that led West and more wrecks that were burning. In a diamond formation they crossed the next sixty meters to the other wrecks and again Kris showed signs of rage as they realized there was an armored personnel car burning.
The rear quarter of it was caved in, a side door lay open on the opposite side of the vehicle, bodies were strewn about. Arriving near the massacre Comet stopped short, sliding to a stop. Just ahead, before them… Was a man, dressed in red, their leader… Saint Nick himself. He was dead and like the others, bullet hole riddled. Silent, in despair, his eyes watering, Kris slowly dismounted, approached, knelt and held Nick. As he picked up Nick his facial expressions constantly changed between rage and sadness. He pressed his forehead against Nick’s cold brow. The long time Commander of the Merry Men and more importantly, his father, was dead.
For a few moments he quietly held his father, trying to control his rage and fury.
Soon though, Blitzen and Gabriel came riding up from a Battlemech laying thirty or so meters South of them. Gabriel whispered something to Cornelius and Stella, they gasped.
“Tell me…” Kris called out, sorrow in his voice as he knelt with his father in his arms.
“Sir” Cornelius said, trying to find the words. “That Battlemech is… a… Battleaxe…”
Kris gasped, appearing to stop breathing, his head raised, a slight twitch in his head movement as he turned to look toward the dead war machine.
“Our Battleaxe…” Cornelius trailed off, his head lowering. Their Battleaxe was piloted by Saint Nick’s wife, Kris’ mother, Ms. Clause.
Kris lowered his father to the ground gently. He stood and turned, beginning to quickly walk, building to a jog, toward the Battleaxe. Gabriel jumped off Blitzen, intercepting, and bear hugged Kris.
“The hell are you doing Gabriel!?” Kris shouted at him as Gabriel was like his steed, shorter but very strong.
“She would not want you to go over there!” Gabriel yelled, tears in his own eyes.
Blinded by anger and confusion he began violently trying to shake off Gabriel. Both Cornelius and Stella dismounted as well, rushing over.
Kris finally tore out of Gabriel’s grasp, throwing him into Cornelius, both slamming down into the snow. He attempted to run but was quickly blocked in his path by Stella. She looked him dead in the eye, barely a couple centimeters shorter than him, and grabbed him, her head to his chest.
Finally Kris lost all his fight, the two of them sliding to the ground together on their knees. He buried his head into her neck against her long brunette hair and scarf. It was quiet all around them apart from the burning wrecks and the occasional gust of wind among the snowfall.
Most of the town’s power was out. The area seemed to be lit only by the fires and the occasional strand of Christmas lights. Even a couple civilians’, realizing it was a team of Merry Men, emerged from their hiding places, paying great respect to Nick and Ms. Clause.
However, they did hear a growing rumble in the West. The group looked up to see a dropship departing. Gabriel used his binoculars and went to the maximum zoom level. He tried to find the ship’s insignia and as a ray of green light broke through the clouds he saw it. General Rinch was here.
Kris looked at Gabriel, a snarl on his face. Gabriel shook his head slowly, yes. Kris closed his eyes and returned his head to Stella’s shoulder.
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North Pole was ablaze with decorations, the final busses from White Brook rolled in and the celebration was in full swing. Turns out that Cupid won the right to lead the sleigh this year! His rider, Felicity won the honorary Ms. Clause and handed out the first gift of Christmas. She was dressed in a warm, thick, red gown with a mix of brown, black, and white furs.
Cheers rose through the celebration as she handed it to a young boy bundled up in a thick jacket covered in reindeer images.
Kris led the group of four around the outskirts of town to the North end, beyond City Hall. His father lay across the back of Comet, covered from the snow with a blanket. He dismounted as they grouped up their Ceransis. Blitzen’s antlers were still covered in blood.
They carried Saint Nick in to the back offices and rested his body on a table. Stella went out and brought in the town Mayor, her father. He placed his hand on Kris’ shoulder, gave it a slight squeeze, then went back out to the celebration. Stella’s mother came in with Hot Cocoa and blankets to the quiet group and sat with them through the evening and into the night.
Deciding against upsetting the celebration the Mayor continued the festivities. It was a wonderful evening for the crowd and continued on as planned. Eventually the entire unit made its way into the City Hall and discovered the news.
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By morning Kris and the others were ready to fall asleep, recovering from the shock of what had transpired. News had even begun to spread already as residents found out what happened in Noelle’s Town.
Mayor Time came in with breakfast for everyone. He sat next to Kris, “Kris.” He said firmly, Kris looking up, meeting the Mayor’s eyes. “Kris Kringle, you are who we will look to now. All three of us Mayors will fully support you in any way we can to be prepared for his return. General Rinch will return for more plunder after such a devastating turn of events.”
Looking around at the others, his face had blood, soot, and streaks from tears, Kris saw his lancemates and unit warriors nodding in agreement, hope on their faces, looking to him for strength.
He stood, walking over to his father’s covered body, placing his hand on his father’s chest. He looked down for a moment, then up toward the group. His voice started quiet and grew in strength as he continued, his Merry Men listened, their resolve building.
“They stood for so much more than just a fun celebration. He was hope, he was happiness, he was joy, and so much more. Mother was the foundation of our world and the Merry Men. They could never be replaced, but I will do right by them. We will prepare, with the help of Mayor Time, and the people who will rally around us. This will be the last stolen Christmas, for it will endure.”
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Later that morning a pattern of thumps were getting louder and louder. All of the Merry Men emerged to see what was the cause, all of them armed. Emerging from the wilderness was a Nightsky leading a convoy, survivors from Noelle’s Town. They began cheering. A Christmas miracle had come as word moved into town and the townsfolk rushed to see them. Families joined each other and celebrated their reunion. Those whose loved ones didn’t return, gathered, supporting each other.
In his mind, Kris vowed to end the threat of General Rinch.
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See
https://www.facebook.com/groups/helmmemorycore/permalink/1759030354524887/ for images. Thanks for reading! I'll continue to update here with the story so far!
