Day 3 | Evening | Boom & Bust

[Kannon]

[Group #3]

Efren found it in himself, amid all the mayhem, to pick up Sinsei in a way that didn't undo Cuyler's careful work to stabilise her. [Triumph]. Her gaze and complexion were deathly, though, so there was no telling how much longer she could hold onto life.

[Medium from Marek. No-one dies this round.]

They were out of the no-barrier, however. Safe? Next seconds would tell, though they should probably get away as fast as possible if they wanted to be sure the gas wouldn't reach them. Now that they were out, they could see where Eileen had run back off to - an Atreides thopter had landed by the antenna.

[End of Round #7 for Group #3]

[If whole Group #3 gets to Long from Marek's body they can switch to semi-structured time like before as there are no hostiles around. Otherwise Group #3 remains on Initiative.]

[Cuyler & Efren receive 30 XP. Also, this is a formative experience, so they both get a chance to reflect on any of their Statements and modify them in accord with direction the encounter has given them. This is optional.]

[Laila Bridger]

Group 4.

Laila doubletimed it after Kiran, carrying Xard as best she could.

She called back to the mercenaries.

"Do something else with your fuckin' lives!"

Remain Human. Please.

And to be human is be open to change.

Every sense we've got, every way we have of experiencing our environment is about change.

You bastards deserve nothing from me, but please listen...

[Maneuver to move away from the gas, Action to make a second Strain-free Maneuver, Incidental to shout back over her shoulder- Depending on how far she got, Laila is at either 4 or 6 strain thanks to the gas]

[Ambrose Pantazis]

GROUP #1

The projectiles from the minigun peppering Hadrian's torso snapped Ambrose back into action. The mercs on the hill still posed a serious threat and more were making their way up and over. Martikova's Marauders were in imminent danger of being overrun and there were two paths Ambrose could take. He could lean into the arbiter of death he'd yearned to become, swooping in and out of the battle to bring well deserved justice to the cartel's muscle. Or he could revert back to his first calling as a medic and save lives rather than take them. If he didn't act accordingly, Bernard might soon be joining him in the unfortunate club of those who'd lost a little brother.

Sure, Ambrose could try to accomplish his mission and rout the cartel, but there had been enough death today. If there was some cosmic scale out there balancing the lives saved and lives taken, Ambrose didn't know where it stood after today's attack, but he would take him thumb off the side of death and destruction and push some over to the side of life and longevity.

Having set his mind to it, Ambrose tipped the thopter's nose down for another dive. This time, he held his course and waited until he was almost in the ground before reversing thrust and letting his tail swing around to bring his fore to face the enemy. However, the thopter wasn't as responsive in reality as it was in his mind and he had to pull back up at the last moment to avoid skidding through the pass and into the jungle like the rocks he'd sent careening moments ago.

-----
Statement: "Keep calm and trust your training." "Salvation through duty."
Maneuver #1 Move down to Close of Dominic and Bernard
Action: Piloting
Maneuver #2: Decelerate to 2

D3, Evening, B&B, Round #7, Piloting, Full Reverse Thrust: 4eP+3eC 1 failure, 2 advantage

2adv banked.

Defenses: 5/2 (w/ Shield)
Soak: 3
Wounds: 0/14
Strain: 8/13

Thopter Bravo
Armor: 2
Hull Trauma: 3/8
System Strain: 3/10
Silhouette: 3
Speed: 4 (currently 2)
Shield: Deployed Fore

Pool 2

[Hadrian Martikova]

Group 1, Hadrian's End?

He was numb. Silence fell over the world. Even as a rush of air, a displacement of dust and debris, heralded the flyover of a thopter. Was it the merc's? Are they responsible for all this blood? No... it was that bitch on the gun.

He fired...

Boom & Bust | Firing Shotty: 2eP+1eC 2 successes


Unconscious of his success he used the blast to create a hole. Maybe... maybe he could escape. Run, back the way he came. Run... RUN!!!

__________________
x1 maneuver to stand up before pew
action to pew
x1 maneuver to go from short to medium

Does 7 damage + 2 successes
Qualities: Blast 5, Knockdown, Vicious 1

Wound 11/12 | Strain 10/12
0 | 0
4 Soak

[Kannon]

[Group #1]

With Ambrose's swoop not well-timed enough, the quick pickup became a no-go. He flew over the Marauders, confusing them as to his intentions.

Hadrian's shot struck true, punishing the woman for what she had done to him, though not enough [6 Wounds, at 8] Through his bloody haze, she looked very much like Laila, and it was perhaps this mental freak-out jolt that made him fall back before his blood-loss would make him see imaginary things he could not process.

[Team Turn! Likely Ambrose.]

[Ambrose Pantazis]

GROUP #1

Recovering from his failed landing, Ambrose slowed the thopter down more as he took in the situation. With the steady march of time and heavily armed mercenaries, the window for a timely evac had closed.

Given how spread out they were and the advantages of the pass's terrain, Ambrose chose to lay down a line of fire to push them back while he got in position for another pick up attempt. At least the Marauders seemed to be regouping below.

Keeping it simple, Ambrose opened fire on one side of the pass in front of the mercs and rotated the thopter to walk his shots the span of the pass. Text book cover fire to dissuade an enemy advance.

-----
Statement: "Keep calm and trust your training."
Maneuver #1 Decelerate to Speed 1
Action Gunnery attack to dissuade merc advance.

D3, Evening, B&B, Round #7b Gunnery, Fore gun cover fire on 11 mercs, 2adv for Boost Statement Upgrade: 1eP+3eA+1eB+2eD 1 success, 2 advantage

2adv banked

Defenses: 5/2 (w/ Shield)
Soak: 3
Wounds: 0/14
Strain: 8/13

Thopter Bravo
Armor: 2
Hull Trauma: 3/8
System Strain: 3/10
Silhouette: 3
Speed: 4 (currently 1)
Shield: Deployed Fore

Pool 2adv

[Kannon]

Group #1

The textbook cover fire brought about the textbook freezing effect: instead of advancing, mercs scrambled for cover amid whatever vegetation was still there after the ecocidal tactics of both sides.

Except for two, who had a response. They raised manpad systems onto their shouldets and fired at the winged guardian of the pass.

Shooting at Shielded Bravo.: 2#1eP+2eA+1eD+1eS 0 successes, 1 advantage, 1 Triumph 1 success



One rocket exploded just before reaching target, the shield absorbed the other [1 System Strain]. However, relief would prove premature. Beeping controls indicated something was wrong with the shield. It took Ambrose a second to realise the first one had somehow rattled the shield stabiliser. Before he could reset it, Holtzman field shimmered, and then flipped upward, exposing the thopter's belly to the mercs below. [Triumph: Shield from Fore to Aft].

[Mercs stay at Extreme, 9 have cover, 2 don't]

[Team turn!]

[Kiran Alsahar]

Group 4

Kiran barrels up the lava tube, eyes taking in everything as they move to ensure they all get out. "Follow my steps closely! It's treacherous terrain!" They called back.

Vigilance Hard: 2eP+2eA+1eB+3eD 1 success, 3 advantage

[Kannon]

[Group #4]

Kiran's darkvision let them determine that both the left and the central tunnels were dead ends, though the former a fresh one. The explosion must have been done to collapse that passage into it, and maybe it had indeed been a way up, or just some place Marek wanted to make inaccessible. However, up the rightmost one, Kiran experienced a sense of deja vu when she instinctively matched the faint shimmer to that of a pentashield...

[Assuming 1 Manoeuvre to Move.]

[End of Round #7 for Group #4]

[Bernard Martikova]

Seeing there is no choice in the matter, not to mention his wounded brother, Bern made the choice to try to deal with the hot mess his soldiers put him in, he crawled on the ground to get a better shot at those around him.

Taking aim, he fired at the owner of this gun on the ground, but couldn't get a good shot in. Seeing no other choice in the matter, he quickly rolled on the ground to get behind another tree before the machine gun focused on him once more.

"Go, you idiot! Get to the thopter!"

~~
Day 3 | Evening | Boom & Bust | Pulling 2 stored advantages for 1 boost

Net Successes: -2; Net Advantages: -2
Day 3 | Evening | Boom & Bust | Pulling 2 stored advantages for 1 boost

Net Successes: -2; Net Advantages: -2

Day 3 | Evening | Boom & Bust | Forgot extra purple

Net Successes: -2; Net Advantages: 0
Maneuver spent to get behind cover, still prone. Still rolling terrible.(+2 Soak, +2 Setback to attack me)

[Kannon]

[Round #8]

High in the sky over the jungle an object appeared. It was large and it was approaching fast.

[Group #1]

The Uchani regained his focus, and bigotry. He pushed the woman away from the weapon, apparently convinced he could do the killing better, even as the track record in that was actually worse [Manoeuvre]. She didn't protest, perhaps having a 'why am I even here?' moment because of the shotgun pellets lodged in her. She would try to find cover, maybe a new weapon.

That nevertheless left the Uchani with no time to aim. He considered shooting at the thopter but it had low chances of success, so he just directed fire against the Marauders. Starting at the spot of last shot which told him exactly where the ineffectual shooter was [2 Threat to his Boost.]. This time, he decided to focus fire on that part of the hiding fellow he saw.

Shooting Bern.: 2eP+2eA+1eB+3eD+7eS 1 failure, 1 threat


Bernard, however, was not just jinxing himself, but also those he shot at. The repeater mowed foliage instead of humans again. For all the drama they were in, the woman snickered with no small sense of schadenfreude. It was her who noticed the thing in the sky and shouted about it to others.

The manpad holder was more focused on the thopter. He reloaded his launcher and sent another rocket into Bravo's underbelly. And yet, Bernard's curse reached him too, his aim failed him, and all he accomplished was distracting Ambrose.

[Shooting Bravo.: 3eA+1eD 0 successes, 2 advantage


[2 Advantage to 1 Setback for Ambrose's next roll.]

[Team Turn!]

[Kannon]

[Group #3 & Group #4]

Paul 2.jpg (33.76 KiB) Viewed 1105 times

Out of the no-barrier, they couldn't consider themselves safe from the gas just yet. Before they could catch a second breath to pull away more, they noticed Paul and Eileen running in their direction. He might have been wondering where were the hostages this group had been meant to set free but expediency prevented asking questions now.

Because the no-barrier was flaking, revealing that the fuselage underneath looked like heating up. It looked like the fabric of reality just tore, revealing a glimpse of hell, something hard to parse even for Paul. For Cuyler and Efren it still seemed absurd to think the lethal gas had done it, so there must have been... a failsafe? But all instinctively felt that the area needed to be cleared, fast, and not just because the gas had it easier to reach them now...

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Just across the pentashield, in the tunnels, Duncan, Laila and Kiran had their own problems and unconscious people to carry. Duncan turned for a moment to shoot back into the tunnel with one hand, sending loose rocks on the climbing mercs to impede their chase. This gave Laila a moment to recognise that she actually knew how to turn this thing off and open their path to freedom even though she couldn't recall doing it ever before...

[Semi-structured time for both groups. In this round they can join, once Laila takes the pentashield down or Efren rushes there to stab it with his bloodied knife. One post each with actions and speech acts that can reasonably fit in turn, thought acts and descriptions not limited, any order.]

[Kiran and Laila get 30 XP each. Also, the escape might have been a formative experience, so if they see it as one they can adjust their Statements to reflect it. This is optional.]

[Laila Bridger]

Group 4

This makes no damn sense.

She shifted Xard to one shoulder and approached the shield, feeling for the catch.

But you know what to do, don't you Bridger?

"Open, sesame."

Click.

The shield opened... and Laila stepped back, keeping her body between the outside world and Xard, just in case.

It sounded like hell out there.

Familiar.

And not a place to be idly carrying anyone helpless without some idea of how to get them to safety.

[Efren Lanville]

Efren continued to run towards Paul and Eileen.

When he got close he moved towards Eileen and said, “Here, take her. Careful. She’s near death.”

He then turned to Paul, “We eliminated Marek… He had sealed the entrance to the cave with a pentashield. I’ve got a great deal of his blood on my knife… If you come with me we can take the shield down extract the hostages now. We need to be careful as there are toxins in the air by his body…”

He turned to look towards the entrance a short distance away and saw Laila emerging from the tube.

“By god…” Efren said with a look of surprise and awe.

[Ambrose Pantazis]

GROUP #1

A serious of explosions rocked the thopter and Ambrose struggled for control of the thopter while laying down another burst of suppressive fire.

They were nearing the precipice past which he wouldn't be able to extract the team below, so Ambrose lowered the thopter and brought it to a hover just above the dirt at the midway point between the three men, the recently blown open rear hatch facing towards Dominic and Bernard and the cockpit facing Hadrian the mercs up the hill. He waved frantically for Hadrian to fall back to the thopter while preparing to dust off as soon as he'd gathered the troops.

-----
Statement: "Keep calm and trust your training." "Salvation through duty."
Action Gunnery attack to dissuade merc advance.

D3, Evening, B&B, Round #8 Gunnery, Fore gun cover fire on 11 mercs, Setback, Statement Upgrade: 1eP+3eA+2eD+1eS 5 successes, 1 advantage

1adv to recover strain

Maneuver #1 Move between Marauders, everyone Short of thopter.
Maneuver #2 Decelerate to hover at ground level.

Defenses: 5/2 (w/ Shield)
Soak: 3
Wounds: 0/14
Strain: 9/13

Thopter Bravo
Armor: 2
Hull Trauma: 3/8
System Strain: 4/10
Silhouette: 3
Speed: 4 (currently 0)
Shield: Deployed Fore

Pool 0

[Dominic Rorkar]

[Group #1]

Dominic was not sure if Sergeant Martikova had got the thopter pilot's intentions quick enough, with him dredging a trench under machine fire like a good line sergeant would, so he pulled him up on his own and dragged him to the hatch. Besides, he didn't have full confidence that the brothers were in the mindset to evacuate. Maybe they just wanted to fight it out until glorious deaths.

"We've done our job here, Sergeant." He justified his crude treatment once both felt the manta-blackened metal under their feet.

[Manoeuvre to grab Bernard from Prone, Manoeuvre to move with him to the hatch.]

[Eileen Marsh]

[Group #3]

Efren continued to run towards Paul and Eileen.

When he got close he moved towards Eileen and said, “Here, take her. Careful. She’s near death.”

Eileen grunted but did as bidden with muscle and care, carrying Sinsei to the thopter, away from the hellish reality warp that looked like it would explode any moment. She had given Cuyler a stare if she would follow. The planetologist's daughter remained limp and catatonic, likely unaware of everything that had been unfolding since she had been poisoned.

[Cuyler Gray]

[Group 3]

Cuyler was staring at the ship with growing concern, when she noticed movement n the lava tunnels. With a few glances back she rushed over to help the emerging hostages.

"This way, we need to hurry."

[Kannon]

[Group #3]

He then turned to Paul, “We eliminated Marek… He had sealed the entrance to the cave with a pentashield. I’ve got a great deal of his blood on my knife… If you come with me we can take the shield down extract the hostages now. We need to be careful as there are toxins in the air by his body…”

He turned to look towards the entrance a short distance away and saw Laila emerging from the tube.

“By god…” Efren said with a look of surprise and awe.

Paul 2.jpg (33.76 KiB) Viewed 1059 times

Paul absorbed the information quickly, with an expression resembling the Old Duke's, though there was no-one around to know it. At the mention of toxins he immediately turned his shield on. Then he pointed up. "Get Thufir on radio, tell him Marek's dead. I'll help them." And he rushed to follow Cuyler, hoping Duncan was there too.

[Kiran Alsahar]

Group 4

This makes no damn sense.

She shifted Xard to one shoulder and approached the shield, feeling for the catch.

But you know what to do, don't you Bridger?

"Open, sesame."

Click.

The shield opened... and Laila stepped back, keeping her body between the outside world and Xard, just in case.

It sounded like hell out there.

Familiar.

And not a place to be idly carrying anyone helpless without some idea of how to get them to safety.

"Nice!" Kiran exclaimed with a grin as they headed into the fresh air, looking around to take in what was going on on the surface. "Seemed oddly familiar."