Day 3 | Evening | Boom & Bust

[Kannon]

[Group 1]

That was the first time he'd ever killed someone. He choked down nausea before turning his gun on the other guy going after Lydia.


Boom & Bust | Firing Carbine | Boost from Aim: 2eP+1eB+1eC+1eD+1eS 2 successes, 1 threat


Maneuver to aim.
GM edit: Manoeuvre to move. Should be 2, Long to Medium. Please read my posts.
Fire at merc.
Soaking strain.

Wound 12/12 | Strain 6/12
0 | 0
4 Soak

(Note: This would be the correct strain because my original post would not only took advantage of Bernard's maneuver buff. But it was also written to account for a threat soak that got removed.)

There is always another way...? Death was soldier's toil, blood was soldier's soil. Not vintner's. Hadrian could no longer justify his way of life as dubious but without crossing the line. Whoever this person had been, the line was now crossed.

[Roll not right but roughly equivalent so let's handwave it.]

The man on the ledge didn't escape punishment for his actions.

[7 wounds to merc after Soak]

[Kannon]

[Group 3]

"I imagine that whomever this ship belongs to is the same person who uses that tunnel. They are most likely to come directly here now that all hell has broken loose." Cuyler said quietly. She drew her knife and waited for anyone to approach.

Something happened somewhere.

[Team Turn!]

[Efren Lanville]

[Group #3]

Efren also pulled out his knife and waited near the edge of the camouflaged area while watching the path back to the lava tube entrance carefully.

[Kannon]

[Group #3]

Sinsei 4.jpg (96.7 KiB) Viewed 1126 times

"If this villain is evacuating on their own terms, does it not mean they have already killed the hostages?"

Sinsei trained her eye on entrance once again pulling up the rifle but she was less and less certain that doing the most effective thing equalled doing the right thing.

[Efren Lanville]

[Group #3]

Efren spoke in a small voice only audible by Sinsei and Cuyler.

"This looks like a coward's ship. And cowards run away at the first sign of danger..." He paused and looked intently at Sinsei.

"This is our best chance." He spoke with confidence... a confidence that doesn't waver after having set his course. More intelligent people link Sinsei were right to doubt a bit more... but for Efren feelings mattered more than his doubts. And he wanted them all on that same wavelength of feeling.

[Ambrose Pantazis]

GROUP #2

In the aftermath of the skirmish, Ambrose looked to Paul and saw him gesturing in his cockpit. Crude, less subtle, but more easily deciphered battle sign from this distance, "Circle back. Cover." It seemed Paul had things in hand here, so Ambrose did as he was bade and circled back over the encampment.

He angled his wings and dipped his nose to descend for a better look. There'd been the fortifications near the west side of the camp where Efren and his team were to approach from. Cartel forces would be concentrated there, providing a bountiful target for Ambrose.

On his descent, he spotted groups of mercs clumped together. Sellswords waiting to defend against an attack. But their defenses wouldn't stand against Ambrose. The dogfight between thopters had been mechanical, inhuman and disconnected. Here, he could see them, the ones responsible for the dead Muadh in the cave and all those poisoned by their drug, his brother among them. They might be hired muscled, but that wouldn't exonerate them. They were cartel all the same and they would pay for their crimes.

"For Demetrius." he whispered as his thopter rained death down on the merchants of death. A fitting end for their ilk.

-----
Statement: "Excess brings success." "Keep calm and trust your training."(contradictory) "Salvation through duty."(contradictory)
Maneuver #1 Move down to Short of ground
Maneuver #2 Move to Short of cave forces.
Action Gunnery attack with Fore explosive ordnance on mercs

D3, Evening, B&B, Round #4 Gunnery, Fore gun on mercs, Statement Upgrade and Challenge: 1eP+3eA+1eC 1 success, 1 advantage, 1 Triumph

7 Wounds (6 Damage + 1 Success) (10x stronger vs characters)
1 adv to reduce stress (satisfaction of vengeance)
Triumph for something cool

Defenses: 5/2 (w/ Shield)
Soak: 3
Wounds: 0/14
Strain: 7/13

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

[Kannon]

[Group #2]

Losing the skies meant terrible things for the Cartel on the ground, and Ambrose's vengeful raid vindicated every consonant and vowel in 'terrible things'. He whipped them with heavy munitions just when they tried to flock into the relative safety of the caves. His trail of death counted maybe a dozen once the torn soil and foliage settled. Those who survived scattered in other directions, seeking other ways out. With Atreides also assaulting the pass, the mountain valley was becoming their tomb.

[The number of mercs rushing into Group #4 encounter from below is now very finite.]

However, they were not done yet, being able to respond with non-trivial punishment. Two rockets flew out from inobvious spots, veering toward the thopter's aft. One exploded by the turret, welding the gyroscope into the fuselage and rendering it useless. The other hit the unshielded disembarkation hatch straight on, making the thopter's passenger hold a lot more airy.

Gunnery. Launching into Abrose's Aft. 2 Boost for Stealthy Aim. 3 Upgrades because speed.: 2#1eP+2eA+2eB+2eC 0 successes, 1 advantage, 1 Triumph 3 successes, 1 advantage



[Triumph for Disarm]
[3 Hull Trauma after Armour]

[End of Round #4 for Group #2!]

[Kannon]

[Group #3]

Efren spoke in a small voice only audible by Sinsei and Cuyler.

"This looks like a coward's ship. And cowards run away at the first sign of danger..." He paused and looked intently at Sinsei.

"This is our best chance." He spoke with confidence... a confidence that doesn't waver after having set his course. More intelligent people link Sinsei were right to doubt a bit more... but for Efren feelings mattered more than his doubts. And he wanted them all on that same wavelength of feeling.

"This is our best chance." Sinsei repeated, trying to erase her anxiety with his confidence. After all, Efren had made a promise!

[End of Round #4 for Group #3]

[Dominic Rorkar]

[Group #1]

Dominic had to... take a breath. He knelt where he stood, turning off the shield and taking in the air the shield had been denying him.

Discipline to regain strain. Statement. Setting difficulty to reflect doing this within combat.: 2eP+1eA+2eD 1 success, 3 advantage


[Let's say 4 Strain restored, 9/13]

[Team!]

[Kiran Alsahar]

[Group #4]

Kiran worked their way down to free their legs with the rock, sucking in a breath as the wires bite in

[legs free, thank you Kannon, grabbing the gun as a maneuver, Wounds Taken: 4/12, Strain Taken: 6/12]

[Laila Bridger]

Group 4

Laila winced a bit ad she got her hands free, then picked up the blade.

With her feet still trussed, that was that for now.

[1 more wound taken, feet still tied, knife in hand]

[Hadrian Martikova]

[Group 1]


Hadrian continued firing at the merc on the ledge. Somehow he'd successfully swallowed down his nausea and managed to maintain his composure.

Boom & Bust | Firing Carbine | Boost from Aim: 2eP+1eB+2eD+2eS 0 successes, 1 advantage


Maneuver to Aim
Regain one strain with advantage

Wound 12/12 | Strain 5/12
0 | 0
4 Soak

[Kannon]

[Group #4]

Xard was still semi-delirious, not answering straight to appeals, and the gas getting into his lungs was worsening his condition. It appeared that only tangible help would get him up [10 Strain].

"Sinsei... my daughter..."

[Duncan is free, Kiran is free and armed, Laila has bound legs and is armed, Xard has bound hands. Everyone has stayed in the area for another round of gas].

[End of Round #4 for Group #4]

[Lydia Storm]

Group #1

Lydia was comfortable with the fucker who had shot her to be served on a plate now. She was more uneasy that it had taken Hadrian to deliver that outcome. She was not used to relying on group tactics. Oh well. Something to think on later.

Round #4. Executing merc. Short.: 2eP+2eA+2eB+1eS 5 successes, 2 advantage


Round #4. Executing merc. Short. Missed die.: 1eD 0 successes, 1 threat


After that bullet in the head he was very dead.

[Manoeuvre to change ammo, Action to Shoot, Advantage to recover Strain]

[End of Round #4 for Group #1]

[Kannon]

[Round #5, Group #1]

Bernard's team, through a haphazardly mixed set of tactics and no small amount of bravura, had managed to push back against advance teams coming at them from the pass. The mercs seemed now focused on reinforcing the fortified spots directly at the sides of the pass, hoping that the killzone in between and any other perimeter surprises would repel the Atreides for long enough for them to regroup with their comrades fleeing from the valley. They had already realised what the Atreides fighting them had not - the whole operation was already compromised and their best hope of survival was to disperse in the jungles. For that, they needed to rush through with sufficient force.

[3 new mercs join the fray, the survivor joins them. All converge in a fortified spot that is Long from Bernard, Dominic and Hadrian and Extreme from Lydia. They dig in. This counts as their turns. Hitting any of them is w/ Challenge & 3 Setback.Their commander is armed with heavy repeater and has a half-shield on, so 3 more Setback shooting at him and he can turn half of Wounds into Strain. If these are routed in 2 rounds, the pass is taken and the cul-de-sac is closed. Average Perception as Manouvre before any Move to not step into a trap.]

[Group #1 Team Turn!]

[Kannon]

[Round #5, Group #2]

Paul had followed the fleeing thopter, hopefully to down it soon enough. [Both out of initiative]. The situation was dramatically changed since they had begun. Bravo was the only bird of prey in the skies over the valley, able to choose the next objective freely. On the other hand, he had educated mercs down there not to cluster, and they had educated him they still had weaponry to exercise ground denial would he be too bold. His thopter was holding up, but it might turn untrue after the next portable ground-to-air missile.

Were there other places where Ambrose could make a difference? That depended where he looked. If toward the pass, he'd notice that the mercs heading there did not advance through, which probably meant Bernard's team was doing something right from the other side. They had ten-odd desperate mercs lining up to rush them though...

[Average Perception as Manoeuvre to realise this option. Ambrose is at Close from the ground, meaning he is within range of Manpads. Getting to the pass and joining that theatre by non-ponderous route requires Average Piloting as Manoeuvre, in addition to any altitude change.]

[New Initiative Order: Ambrose, then 3 manpads]

[Kannon]

[Round #5, Group #3]

Efren, Sinsei and Cuyler might have heard something, like a very distant rumble, but the no-field was killing almost all sounds like any other wave-particles, so they could not be sure. It could have been a sea storm. Eileen, however, had heard the muffled explosion well enough even though she was further, and was getting ready to abandon the antenna and rush in...

[Group #3 Team Turn: Eileen, one of the rest, or Delay?]

[Kannon]

[Round #5, Group #4]

In the cave, there was little ambiguity about the explosion. It was close, from upward, where Marek had disappeared. It caused another staccato from the ceiling [1 Strain everyone], and cracks appeared. It could mean several things, but Idaho chose the grimmest interpretation.

"That lil fuck is burying us all alive."

[Initiative order: Team, 2 x Cartel, 3 x Team]

[Group #3 Team Turn: who goes?]

[Hadrian Martikova]

Hadrian watched as Lydia came back to life, nodded to her, then turned to join his brother on the line.

"Okay Bern, I'm seeing traps all over the place. We really should kill the big guy over there before trying to cross. So... how do we do that?"

Boom & Bust | Perception Average: 2eP+1eA+2eD 3 successes


Boom & Bust | Cool off for a second: 2eP+1eA+2eD 1 success, 1 advantage


Action to cool down, Maneuver to see the field.


Wound 12/12 | Strain 7/12
0 | 0
4 Soak

[Eileen Marsh]

[Group #3]

A few scenarios percolated in Eileen's head as she ran toward the explosion, few good ones. She unquivered her bow while running. When the mouth of the lava tube came into her view...

[2 manoeuvres to Long, Action to draw Longbow]