Tales of Men's Shirts, part 2.

Lt. Craig “Blue” Bottle.  Tall & skinny redhead with freckles, looks like he’s got wet string instead of 

muscles, and that he should still be going to school.  He plays this up by mentioning things his Mum 

taught him, and looking like his Mum still dresses him. Likes watching birds, just not the sort with 

feathers.  

(Sociable - 3) (Athletic - 2) (Firearms - 2) (Tinkers in his shed - 3)

At Major Bloodnok’s command, Bluebottle clocked on at the shirt factory.  They did have an inside man

there already, but Seagoon’s discovery rendered him suspicious.  He was instructed to get friendly 

with the workers over a couple of days, and to find out if it was easy to get in and out of the factory 

undetected.  He was also ordered to find out if their agent had been compromised, or if any of the 

other workers were secretly enemies.

He made a point of not asking anybody that - he observed instead.

GM question: is it possible to get into the factory unobserved?  Yes.

Combat: Sociable.  Can Bluebottle get the regulars to like him?  If Bluebottle wins, they will say 

enough to give away the spy.  If Bluebottle loses, he will lurk in dark corners and sneak away from the 

group to find the way in.

Number of dice per round	Bluebottle	Enemy
1. (B3, E3)	7	10
2. (B2, E3)	9	11
3. (B1, E3)	4	11

Winner: the Enemy.  Poor Bluebottle.

He did his best with them, he really did.  But they just wouldn’t talk to him. They wouldn’t even talk 

near him.  He felt angry and disappointed in himself for his failure, but he knew he had to find another 

way.  There was a war on, after all.

Grimly pulling himself together, he finished his shift.  He’d had a chance to look over the layout of the 

place, and he could see any number of ways in and out.  He made a note of them as he left, and 

reported his failure to Major Bloodnok.

“I’ve noticed a few different ways in,” he reported.  “I think I can sneak back in tomorrow and listen in 

on their conversation.”

Bloodnok nodded thoughtfully.  “It’s worth a try,” he replied.  “Go for it, lad. Seagoon won’t be finished 

with his analysis for a while yet.”

Bluebottle saluted.

The next day, he found himself a handy vantage point in the factory and settled in to listen.

The first thing he learned was that the workers were such a closed group that even the MI agent who 

had been assigned to keep an eye on the place was frozen out.  

GM question: is there an enemy agent in their ranks?  No.

As Bluebottle listened and watched, they gossiped amongst themselves, and turned their suspicions

on everybody who wasn’t a part of their clique.  They spared nobody, not even the manager. 

Bluebottle felt quite frustrated by the whole experience. They did not appear to have any sympathies 

for the enemy, but since they didn’t pay a scrap of attention to anybody outsidet their own clique, they 

knew nothing else at all.  And given the parade of people who came and went, they were no help at 

all. They couldn’t even give him a useful profile of anybody outside their clique.

He reported back to Major Bloodnok.  

“Alright, lad,” he said, and scribbled a note on a piece of paper.  “Report to Skills. See that they teach 

you second-grade burglary - lock-picking and basic safe-cracking.  When they decide you’re ready, go 

back to the factory after hours and get us a list of all the temporary employees, and all the office staff, 

that they have on their books.”

“Yessir.”

After a day with Skills, Bluebottle adds (Burglary - 2) to his cliches list.

As he reported to Major Bloodnok on his success at adding to his collection of nefarious skills a couple 

of days later, Seagoon appeared.  “We’ve cracked it!” he exclaimed.

“You know what the chemical is?”

“Yes!  It’s called ‘geshirtze’,” Seagoon told them happily, and described the attributes of the chemical.

Bloodnok frowned.  “How do you spell that?”

“I-T” Seagoon explained.  

“I-T, pronounced Geshirtze,” Bluebottle said thoughtfully.

Bloodnok looked thoughtful.  “And it explodes when heated.”

Seagoon nodded.

“Alright.  We’ll impound all the shirts that have been affected by this chemical.  Seagoon, find some 

way of applying heat to the shirts without humans having to do it.  We’ll use them as incendiary devices

and drop them on the enemy! Bluebottle, go back to that factory and find that saboteur!”

They both saluted, and left to their respective tasks.

That evening, Bluebottle broke into the factory.  It was, as he had expected from his earlier visit, a 

dead easy job.  Dodging the security guards was a no-brainer, and he didn’t sneak in so much as he 

strolled in, completely undetected.

Security was a bit tighter around the Administration area, though.  

Combat: Burglary.  If Bluebottle wins, he breaks in and gains access to their staffing records and 

chemical formulae, undetected.  If he loses, the security guards wake up and do their bloody jobs 

properly.

Number of dice per round	Bluebottle	Enemy
1.  (B2, E2)	4	12
2.  (B1, E2)	5	7

Winner:  Enemy.

They spotted him.  They rose the hue and cry with a loud “Oy!  What’re you doin’ ere!”

Combat: Athletics.  Which of them runs faster?

Number of dice per round	Bluebottle	Enemy
1. (B2, E2)	6	6
2. (B2, E2)	3	7
3. (B1, E2)	2	1
4. (B1, E1)	5	2

Winner: Bluebottle.

He legged it.  And, eventually, he gave them the slip.  After having put several blocks between him 

and the security guards, he finally settled down in an alley to catch his breath.  Then he went home.