"As reported" - AXL adds - "No need for assistance"
<This is highly irregular, we can't let you go down to the moon without boarding to do an inspection.>
AXL closes all comm, and speaks internally to the crew - "They still approach - we need to get into defensive position without drawing too much attention - please execute"
Then he opens comms again - <On what grounds?>
<You are entering a restricted location in a self identified non Azlanti vessel, greater scrutiny is required if you are to proceed. Please state your name, rank and serial number.>
"How many suits of Azlanti armor do we have in the hold?" Nosmo quietly, frantically asks away from the comms. "We could disguise ourselves and commit to playing the part of undercover agents when they board. If they still don't buy it, then we let Trosvod have at them."
"Works for me! Any suit that'll fit me or do I jump out of a closet at them?"
”Invite them to board, as friendly as possible. The second the boarding ship is ready we open fire on their ship. It will throw them into disarray.” Elthaeron suggested.
"I agree - those who can disguise themselves do. Those who cannot stay out of sight, but close" - AXL nods - "If a fight erupts, we need to be quick"
"Okay, closet for me then!", says Trosvod cheerily, seeking a suitably huge closet.
As you line up to dock with them who is going to be the welcome party?
"Okay, nobody panic," Nosmo declares, even though he himself is the closest to panicking. He hammers away on his console and available datapads as he tries to recall pertinent information to aid the ruse.
As the Azlanti ship draws closer, Nosmo charges for the storage hold and digs up the remaining suit of alien armor. He flails about, stuffing himself into the disguise quickly. He then scrambles to find Elthaeron, assuming that the two of them will play the role of welcoming party.
AXL was getting ready to receive the soldiers, but as Nosmo seems to want to take the lead, the android simply stays out of sight.
There's a brief, tense moment when Nosmo wonders whether AXL would have been the better candidate for this role. However, as the clunk and hiss of the docking procedure reverberates through the ship and his spine, the engineer stuffs aside such worries and braces himself to put on a show.
Three Azlanti soldiers come onto your vessel. Their armour and wargear is far more advanced than those the cadets were wearing, as they move it is clear these are seasoned soldiers. You can not see their faces as they wear uniform green helmets with a single cyclopean lens.
Each carries a rifle, three spare magazines and two different types of grenade. With Nosmo's engineering skill he can tell some form of melee weapon is built into the gauntlet of their left hand. The Aeon Guard in the center turns his head towards Nosmo and begins to speak in Azlanti while the other two look around the area.
"You're short for a cadet, I presume you're smart but you need to bulk up if you hope to graduat. Now show us to the bridge of this bucket of bolts."
Not being able to speak Azlanti, Elthaeron remained silent. He realized that this was a defect that would need to be rectified..if they survived this.
Nosmo steels himself as he puts his novice study of the Azlanti language to the test.
Nosmo turns sharply on his heel and escorts the boarding party to the bridge, hoping that Elthaeron will follow suit even without understanding the exchanged words.
"Thats some accent, you must have grown up on a colony world cadet. Lose it and learn to speak properly if you ever wish to graduate. What a pile of junk. Whats your mission in this area?"
One of the Aeon guard speaks in a derisive tone to Nosmo and the other two chuckle.
Trosvod and AXL listened from a nearby crate but could hear the conversation moving away, they'd have to slip out if they wanted to stay near the action but for now they remain unnoticed.
Elthaeron marched along in step, playing the role of the diligent soldier. He tried his best to keep a military bearing. The last thing they needed was for the Azlanti to be tipped off by him acting out of character.
Trosvod resists the urge to light up a cigar. Or hum.
The sacrifices are great.
AXL remains perfectly still, as if he was a statue.
"As indicated over the comms, we are assigned to patrol the frontier world Nakondis. The planet was seized and a cadet unit was dispatched to occupy the Pact World colony as senior officers investigated a crash site purported to hold lost relics. To prevent Starfinder interference, our orders were to pose as a colonial freighter and intercept incoming vessels investigating the colony."
Unfortunately, Nosmo may have over-corrected for his Azlanti's perceived "accent." He tenses up as he feels the guard's judging eyes upon him.
The Aeon guard turns towards Nosmo and speaks, the body language of the others begins to change as they shift positions to cover each other.
"Why are you here if you are supposed to be patrolling some piss ant system?"
Nosmo desperately hopes the occluded faceplate of his helmet conceals how his face tenses while he struggles to respond convincingly.
Nosmo cultivates an obsequious manner, hoping this approach will placate the guard.
Seeing the change in body language, and himself not being convinced by the tone of Nosmo‘s voice, Elthaeron opened fire. He figured that at this point conflict was inevitable, and that the best they could hope for now was a few seconds of surprise.
Seeing the change in body language, and himself not being convinced by the tone of Nosmo‘s voice, Elthaeron opened fire. He figured that at this point conflict was inevitable, and that the best they could hope for now was a few seconds of surprise.
"Take one alive." The lead Aeon Guard states while firing at Elthaeron. The others follow suit.
Nosmo
Trosvod
AXL
Elthaeron
Aeon Guard
By luck or fate, the salvo that came in at him merely grazed him. He knew that his luck wouldn’t hold up against such a barrage again. Running for cover, he fired off another shot.
If he survives, Nosmo will likely regret having no pithy, action vid-esque one-liner to drop. Instead, as shots erupt around him, he merely dives for cover beside the corner of a bulkhead - drawing his rifle as he moves.
He snaps off a shot at the same guard that Elthaeron targets, possessing at least enough awareness amidst the chaos to focus fire.
From his hiding place, AXL opened fire as soon as things got sour, aiming at the same guard the others are focusing on.
Hearing the sounds of battle, Trosvod jogs out gleefully.
Seeing that Elthaeron might get hit by his cannon, Trosvod swears, ducks behind a bulkhead, raises his rifle, and shoots at the guard the others are eyeing up.
If he survives, Nosmo will likely regret having no pithy, action vid-esque one-liner to drop. Instead, as shots erupt around him, he merely dives for cover beside the corner of a bulkhead - drawing his rifle as he moves.
He snaps off a shot at the same guard that Elthaeron targets, possessing at least enough awareness amidst the chaos to focus fire. His round doesn't seem to penetrate it's armour however.
Hearing the sounds of battle, Trosvod jogs out gleefully.
Seeing that Elthaeron might get hit by his cannon, Trosvod swears, ducks behind a bulkhead, raises his rifle, and shoots at the guard the others are eyeing up but once more the heavy armour of the Aeon Guard proves its worth.
From his hiding place, AXL opened fire as soon as things got sour, aiming at the same guard the others are focusing on.
By luck or fate, the salvo that came in at him merely grazed him. He knew that his luck wouldn’t hold up against such a barrage again. Running for cover, he fired off another shot.
Still uninjured the Aeon guard redeploy before returning fire once more. Trosvod manages to duck behind the corner just fast enough but Nosmo is hit. The skill of the Aeon Guard is clear as they manage to mitigate the advantage cover offers our heroes.
Nosmo
Trosvod
AXL
Elthaeron
Aeon Guard
Once in cover, Elthaeron took careful aim at their leader. He took a deep breath, let it out, and with his lungs empty squeezed the trigger. The shot was center mass. It might have dropped an unarmored man, but against these guards he was sure that it would not be enough.
The grin is back on Trosvod's mug, as he powers up his shoulder-mounted cannon and fires at the pair of soldiers!
AXL fires off another shot.
Nosmo draws his static arc pistol to see if that is better at penetrating their armour.
The grin is back on Trosvod's mug, as he powers up his shoulder-mounted cannon and fires at one of the soldiers!
AXL fires off another shot this time managing to just about land a hit.
Once in cover, Elthaeron took careful aim at their leader. He took a deep breath, let it out, and with his lungs empty squeezed the trigger. The shot was center mass. It might have dropped an unarmored man, but against these guards he was sure that it would not be enough.
"Surrender now and we will take you in alive!" One of them calls out as they continue firing at you, clearly confident in the exchange so far.
Nosmo
Trosvod
AXL
Elthaeron
Aeon Guard Orange -8, Red -14
Elthaeron responded by firing a fairly accurate shot at the only enemy he could see. He figured that the best way to respond was by shooting them in the face.
Nosmo's helmet echoes with his own fearful keening as more shots tear away at the bulkhead and plates on his borrowed armor. Another barrage will surely begin to actually fry his skin. Hoping to at least serve as a distraction while his allies turn the tide, the mechanic decides to go on the defensive.
He drops to the deck to minimize his profile, a trick he learned from watching action vids.
He then clicks the big red button on his rig to activate his protective field.
Emboldened by his hit and annoyed by being shot, Trosvod jogs out, his sonic weapon buzzing before another strike!
"I'll buy a bigger cannon with your stuff!", he yells as he fires!
Nosmo's helmet echoes with his own fearful keening as more shots tear away at the bulkhead and plates on his borrowed armor. Another barrage will surely begin to actually fry his skin. Hoping to at least serve as a distraction while his allies turn the tide, the mechanic decides to go on the defensive.
He drops to the deck to minimize his profile, a trick he learned from watching action vids.
He then clicks the big red button on his rig to activate his protective field.
Emboldened by his hit and annoyed by being shot, Trosvod jogs out, his sonic weapon buzzing before another strike!
"I'll buy a bigger cannon with your stuff!", he yells as he fires!
AXL fires once more but the armour of the Aeon Guard protect them from the worst of it.
Elthaeron responded by firing a fairly accurate shot at the only enemy he could see. He figured that the best way to respond was by shooting them in the face.
In response to Trosvod's more aggressive approach the Aeon guard increase their rate of fire!
Nosmo
Trosvod
AXL
Elthaeron
Aeon Guard Orange -16, Red -32
Nosmo directs his exocortex to lock onto the enemy diagonally across the deck from him, and from the floor he fires another blast from his arc pistol.
AXL methodically continues shooting at the same opponent.
Trosvod stands his ground and keeps firing - for now.
A shot was quickly shot. It was almost accurate...it was almost a head shot. It was glancing though, doing minimal damage.
Nosmo directs his exocortex to lock onto the enemy diagonally across the deck from him, and from the floor he fires another blast from his arc pistol.
Trosvod stands his ground and keeps firing - for now.
AXL methodically continues shooting at the same opponent.
A shot was quickly shot. It was almost accurate...it was almost a head shot. It was glancing though, doing minimal damage.
Trosvod's armour protects him from the worst of the enemy fire but under the withering hail he is still being hurt.
Nosmo
Trosvod
AXL
Elthaeron
Aeon Guard Orange -18, Red -36
Elthaeron kept up the barrage, intent on bringing his target down. One shot at a time.
Trosvod keeps firing, hoping to finally crack these Azlanti!