Day 3 | Evening | Boom & Bust

[Hadrian Martikova]

Group 1, Martikova's Foxhole (Pre-explosion)

Hadrian was looking down the iron sights when Bern took a hit. His shot missed but only just, suppressing the group in front of them. "Bern! Hang in there!"


Boom & Bust | Firing Carbine | Boost from Aim: 2eP+1eB+2eD 1 failure, 1 advantage


Adv = Blue die to anyone on team 1

Wound 12/12 | Strain 6/12
0 | 2 ranged defense thanks to Bern
4 Soak

[GM Edit]

Inaccurate Setback Hadrian Missed: 1eS 1 failure


[Player Pool: +1 Advantage]

[Kannon]

[Group #3]

Sinsei 4.jpg (96.7 KiB) Viewed 1335 times

Sinsei was waiting with her carbine trained on the exit of the lava tube, but the explosion drew her attention off it for a moment, colouring her hair fiery and washing over her face with the heatwave. She couldn't know if this was indeed a sign of their success or something had gone wrong as the valley below was not so visible from her post. Eileen watched the explosion from high above, opting for a practical consideration of protecting the antenna from being blown down the cliff.

Eileen & Sinsei Init. Cool.: 2#2eA 0 successes, 1 advantage 1 success, 2 advantage



[Sinsei is at Short from Lava Tube, Medium from Cuyler and Efren. Efren is at Long from Cuyler and Lava Tube. Eileen is at Extreme from everyone]

[Cuyler Gray]

[Group #3]

Cuyler was still trying to get a better understanding of the ship she'd found when the large explosion rocked the valley. It would be time to act soon. She'd need to get the others.


- - -
Day 3 | Evening | Boom & Bust, Initiative, Cool (Presence): 3eA 0 successes, 3 advantage

[Kiran Alsahar]

Group #4

"Hands free, legs not. Me or one of you now?" Duncan gurgle-barked out the question with urgency, his mind fluidly getting from combat mode on Gammu to one on Caladan, but the body was less obeisant.

[Laila is tied hands, legs, torso, Kiran: legs, hands. Xard: hands. Duncan: legs. One of those can be cut by Duncan now, without roll, and it will take a turn. You can also try do it yourself, sharp rocks have fallen and are everywhere, but hurting yourself in the process. Daunting Skulduggery or Resilience with 2 Challenge. 1 wound, +1 more for each Threat or Failure, 3 for Despair, one other binding off for Triumph. Be conscientious with Statements. Drug dream bonuses are gone. You're on your own statistics now.]

"They're going after you first, free yourself!" Kiran urged. "We'll get it sorted!"

Kiran grabbed a rock, sawing through the shigawire, though cutting themselves in the process. They grit their teeth against the pain. It was just pain, just pain. If pain got them out, it was fine. Wounds healed.

Skullduggery Daunting with 2C: 3eA+2eD+2eC 1 success, 2 threat


Success! 3 wounds. Freed hands

[Kannon]

[Group #3]

Initiative Order for Round 3 (yet to start, no hostiles)

• Efren
• Sinsei
• Cuyler
• Eileen

NPC/inactive PC slots can be used by active PCs

[Dominic Rorkar]

[Group #1]

Dominic was tired of trench tactics. He was an experienced soldier who had bloodied his weapons and bled on Grumman enough to know that in situations like these, impasse favoured the enemy. It was time to break it.

Knives out, shield on [Improved Quick Draw], he jolted out of Bernard's line toward the lying merc. [Manoeuvres to get from Medium to Engaged]

Melee. Knife Dual Wield. Shield Cumbersome Setback.: 3eP+1eA+2eD+1eS 1 success, 2 advantage


He came down on the surprised merc from above, finishing him with quick stabs into the spine.

[Using 2 Advantage to active second weapon]
[Two Stabs for 6 w/ Pierce 1; netting 8 damage, guy's dead.]

[Last Group #1 Action for Round 2! After that, this Group sees the boom and we're all in Round 3]

[Laila Bridger]

Group #4

"They're going after you first, free yourself!" Kiran urged. "We'll get it sorted!"

Kiran grabbed a rock, sawing through the shigawire, though cutting themselves in the process. They grit their teeth against the pain. It was just pain, just pain. If pain got them out, it was fine. Wounds healed.

"Two of us at full's better'n one and then three of us flopping around like fish... Xard, if he frees you, can you free him?"

Her own efforts to free her legs were... less than successful.

Daunting Resilience to free legs, "Go Down Fighting" statement, 2 Challenge Dice: 3eP+2eB+2eC+2eD 1 failure, 2 advantage, 1 Despair


[By my admittedly fuzzy math, counting the two wounds from earlier, Laila is now at 10/17 Wounds]

[Bernard Martikova]

[Group 1, Martikova's Foxhole (Pre-explosion)]

[-4 Strain after soak, 9 Strain remaining]

Bern looks at the big guy rushing past him and sighs once again. It was like no one could follow the plan. Still, he did what he could, letting him know if there was any dangers afoot, before getting on the ground to catch breath a little from being winded from his shield. He looked on at Lydia, waving her on as he command everyone to press forward. With one of them dead, more would be coming and that sniper cover fire what what they needed.

"We're about to push forward Hadrian." Bern shouts. "Just keep low and follow my lead"

~~
Moar leadership! Day 3 | Evening | Boom & Bust | Tactical Advance (once more into the breech!) | Presence Invoked

Net Successes: 3; Net Advantages: 0
Maneuver to go prone (+1S ranged attacks)
Still in cover (+1S ranged attacks, 2 soak to myself and Bern)
All in combat may take 1 strain to use one immediate Maneuver.
Triumph used to grant our silent giant some tactical advice while he's slicing away, maybe give him some extra setbacks or a challenge dice to hit him from all or maybe just the next attack.

[Kannon]

Bernard's last inspiring words got deafened by the rolling explosion. Startled birds rose from the jungle in approximation of live panchromatic fireworks, and many of them faded, falling dead due to shock they couldn't handle. It was hard to immediately assess what further damage to wildlife in the Muadh jungle garden Atreides explosive actions had wrought.

Every dramatic action, regardless how intentioned or justified, carried a cost somewhere to someone beyond what their enactors thought of or cared about.

[End of Round 2]

---

[Round 3!]

[Groups #1 and #2 act normally, per initiative order. Group #3 can start their structured time per order posted earlier. Group #4 is going to continue their semi-structured moment before they roll initiative for Round 4.]

[Group #1 Initiative Order: dead Merc is replenished from the Pass, new one is at Extreme. Rest is the same]

[Group #2 Initiative Order, after Razar MIA and thopter & battery destruction]

Team
Thopter
Battery
Team
Manpad
Manpad

[Kannon]

[Group #4]

Duncan.jpg (41.46 KiB) Viewed 1217 times

There was sadly no time for deeper discussion, only decisions now. Duncan got it that neither Laila nor Kiran were asking for his assistance. Xard's response was mostly a huffed "Sinsei..." to the inquiry, so he didn't seem ready to launch himself into action. Duncan thought for a split-second about freeing him first and then face-slapping him into situational awareness, but his protector's instincts tolled stronger, making him project shitty outcomes if the mobility of all of them remained compromised this way or another. He bent to get his legs free, accounting for the sprained ankle he owed to Paul. When Marek and a gunman appeared in the doorway, they found him crouching.

[End of Round 3 for Group #4]

[Laila is triply tied, Kiran has legs tied, Xard has hands tied, Duncan is free.]

[Initiative Roll time for Round 4: Cool]

[Laila Bridger]

Group 4
Laila had badly lacerated herself every time she tried anything, so it looked like she'd need to wait for an assist of some kind.

-
Initiative, Cool: 2eA 1 success, 1 advantage

[Kannon]

[Group #1]

Two of them being lured away would do, she assumed the others could at least deal with a one on one each. The two missing ones were in the thicket and she couldn't see them but they'd be advancing on her position she knew. So she moved out, quietly, waiting for them to appear.

The game of cat-and-mouse Lydia had initiated with the two mercs was paused for just a moment when her pursuers needed to process what could have just happened on the other side of the mountains that produced the rumble, the bird shock and the fiery halo. One theory anyone could be having was that a subatomic fusion had been triggered even if the outcome didn't seem quite right. Did they compound still exist, did they have anything to fight for, was their employer still alive, or were they on Atreides mercy now? Or perhaps the Atreides had been wiped out by some Tleilaxu masterstroke and now those were the holdouts to be finished off? This moment of hesitation cost them time, wherever in the ticket they actually were. So either out of choice or negligence, they didn't fire at anything.

[Move back to Medium vis-a-vis Lydia, Short from the ledge, Long from everyone else. They don't see Lydia, Lydia doesn't see them. Lydia is now at Extreme from her team, exercising self-reliance.]

However, Lydia faced some hard choices as well. Her fallback from the ledge was as far as she could squeeze from the environment and remain unseen. Any more up the mountain and away from the pursuers and the vegetation was sparser. Whether they were pressing up or not, building distance from the ledge meant exposure.

[Extending distance means exiting Stealth.]

Could she count on them to become exposed first on the ledge she had abandoned? It was realistic to assume they had already learnt she wasn't there.

[This consumes 2 first Merc initiative slots.]

[Kannon]

[Group #1]

Bernard could wave all he want. Amid the avian deathly outcry and Lydia having her own immediate problems, their sniping spot was semi-compromised and certainly very hard to command.

In this other arena of this now split encounter, the mercenary that had fallen was indeed replaced by another coming out of the smoke in the pass. This one was a decisive cookie, she ran up as much as she could and fired at the first target she saw, which meant Dominic. She had been running roughly in the eels direction though, if Hadrian was paying attention...

[Move to Long from Team and Medium from Dominic, Shoot]

Shooting Dominic. Diff upgrade from Bernard. Thicket.: 2eP+1eA+1eB+2eC+5eS 0 successes, 1 advantage, 1 Triumph


It was a narrow miss, or rather an alternative hit, because it brought a heavy tree branch on Dominic's head. Shield protected him, but impeded the movement. [Use of Triumph, Advantage to restore Strain].

The merc whose buddy had just been brutally stabbed decided not to remain anywhere close to the big knife-wielder. Having a cue from an advancing comrade, he fired too, from close up, before falling back to where she was. He didn't stay to watch how his carbine load rattled Dominic's shield, though a couple more shots like that and they just might stun him down, the shield's oxygen running too low.

Shooting Dominic. Short.: 2eP+1eA+1eD+5eS 1 success


[9 Damage, 3 after Soak, turned into Strain. Dominic is roughly halfway through his Strain track.]

[2 visible Mercs are at Medium from Dominic, Long from Hadrian and Bernard.]

[Group #1 Team!]

[Efren Lanville]

[Group #3]

Efren made his way down the tree and immediately looked for his companions. He saw Sinsei, but could not see where Cuyler had gone. Concern rose in his eyes as he walked towards Sinsei's position with a questioning look.

----

Action to climb down the tree and maneuver to move to Short range to Sinsei.

[Hadrian Martikova]

[Group 1, Martikova's Foxhole (Post-Explosion)]

Hadrian yelled after he recovered his breath from the explosion.

"Atreides! Take it ya bastards!"

Then taking in the battlefield he spotted the Merc near the eel. A grin formed on his face as he yelled. "Push up Bern, I'm gonna go help Lydia!" He then leapt out of the foxhole and rushed the two mercs at the ledge. Placing the eel between himself and the merc he took a firing position and sent a few rounds into Lydia's attackers.

Boom & Bust | Firing Carbine: 2eP+2eD 2 success, 3 threat, 1 Triumph



2 Maneuvers long to medium.
Shoot the guys near Lydia.
Do something cool with the Triumph.

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

[Ambrose Pantazis]

GROUP #2

The debris from the downed thopter peppered his shield and sent ripples across the surface as they rebounded off, reminding him of fat rain drops disturbing stilled waters. Then Razar sent his thopter into a nosedive and the sky was swallowed in fire with its impact. Ambrose tried to keep an eye on Razar, but lost him in the conflagration.

Compartmentalizing that concern, Ambrose turned his focus to the AA gun that had zeroed in on Paul. The first and last thing that'd been drilled into in him during medic training was triage. Focus your resources where you can make a difference and move past what you can't. He would keep a half an eye out for Razar, but for the time being he was Paul's wingman and that battery posed an imminent threat.

With the maneuverability of the thopter, Ambrose quickly brought it around to face the battery and plunged his yoke forward, bringing the thopter into a dive toward his target. He took a moment to line up his shot before letting loose a salvo, but air to ground was not something he was familiar with and his shots went wide of their target.

-----
Statement: "Keep calm and trust your training."
Maneuver #1 Move to Short of Battery
Maneuver #2 Stay on Target
Action Gunnery attack with Fore explosive ordnance on battery.

D3, Evening, B&B, Round #3 Gunnery, Fore gun on Battery, 2adv for boost, SoT & Statement Upgrade: 2eP+2eA+1eB+1eD 0 successes, 5 advantage

5 adv banked (6 adv / 1 triumph banked here)

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

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

[Cuyler Gray]

[Group 1]

[Acting on Sinsei's initiative.]

It was clear that a lot had happened in the brief moments of discovering the hidden craft. Cuyler quickly moved out of the stealth field and tried to get the attention of the others.

"Sinsei! Efren! I've found something! Something incredible!"

[Efren Lanville]

[Group #3]

Efren turned to the sound of the noise and saw Cuyler who had very much not been there a moment before. He looked at Sinsei and then motioned for them both to head over in Cuyler's direction.

----

I'll take Eileen's turn. Maneuver to Short to Cuyler. Field Commander Action. 1 Strain to get to engaged with Maneuver.

Sinsei and Cuyler can take 1 maneuver for 1 strain.

Triumph... to upgrade next check for Sinsei or Cuyler?

D4, Leadership for Maneuver: 2eP+2eA+2eD 1 success, 1 Triumph

[Kannon]

Group #3

[Last slot]

Sinsei 4.jpg (96.7 KiB) Viewed 1167 times

Sinsei did not turn to face Efren, horrified and stupefied by the the scale of destruction unfolding before her eyes. Her planetologist's heart bled, even more so because it was all in part for her sake. Dead birds falling from the sky in hundreds...

It was not even Cuyler's call that made her jerk up, but Efren's sudden burst of leadership. She had not noticed him coming! Her hands were still shaking from overload of the horrific and the unexpected.

Not fully processing what she was doing, she moved toward Cuyler with Efren, not questioning the merits of it and abandoning her guardianship of the lava tube...

[Cuyler Gray]

[Group 3]

As the two them approached, Cuyler led them back into the stealth field so they could see the ship.