TTRPG Campaigns 2024

He started his term just as he had envisioned, scheming and working and trying to manipulate his way into everyone’s good graces. Then there was the first thing he couldn’t account for. A young woman, a fellow classmate, pulled feelings out from him that he had long stopped considering possible. And once he stopped denying the truth of those feelings, the truth of his feelings for his brother became apparent. That, too, was love, though however different from the love he felt for this woman. And his brother loved him, loved him enough to join and work his way through the ranks of the shady merc group known as the Syndicate to try and pave the way for him to join as well. The sacrifices he had made along the way were apparent, and at first Xue simply didn’t like his brother having something over him. But as time went on, concern over his brother’s wellbeing became the primary goal. Information became invaluable, and he repeatedly sacrificed himself to obtain it. Another woman, higher up in the Syndicate than Bao, carried vampiric augments and found his blood particularly appealing. But she was sadistic and manipulative and obsessive, and the price for information eventually led to his first deep trauma. She wanted all of him, so she took all of him. He was shut down for days, but with the support of surprising friends and loved ones, he made it through to term break.
And so came his next deep trauma, when over the holidays, Bao was murdered. All he had left was a short voicemail, saying Xue had been right, the Syndicate was doing something, but was cut off before it could go on. With part of him missing, Xue was even further broken down. What little ego or confidence he had left was gone. To attempt to avenge his brother, he found himself doing what he never thought he would; reaching out to others, being open and honest, even going so far as to admit his condition openly. Even with many new friends and allies, things kept going downhill. An ally was kidnapped, forcing him to again give himself up to get him returned. And from that encounter, he was made aware of just how easily the vampires could get to him, at any point, no matter where he was, and he wouldn’t know until they were on top of him. The ally returned was in an extremely sorry state, and was only returned for a matter of days before being taken once again. Paranoia beset Xue, he couldn’t be alone for even a moment. Every shadow in every corner was the potential for another assault. His mind wore down. He almost completely snapped when he learned who had murdered his brother- the younger sibling of the very vampiric woman who caused his paranoia to begin with. But still he pushed on and on, focusing solely on protecting the one thing he had left, the woman who had taught him that he could love.
The Syndicate’s true goal was unstoppable once it started. The blinkstation that the academy was on was invaded and shut down. Every Lancer and student on the station tried fighting back for naught. Xue found himself fighting as well, trying to protect his love with her general want to help. She showed up. The vampiric woman who had haunted him for so long. He was torn from his mech, shot, and unceremoniously dumped. A few short moments later, Xue died.
Then he woke up alongside three others. All of them had died in the battle on the station. All of them were then cloned by a professor, acting on her own intuition and with no other motives or goals for them. It had been fifteen months. The station fell, crashing into the planet it had orbited, sending it into ecological disaster and cutting it off. The Syndicate had taken over, sending it all into pure anarchy and chaos.