Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte follows Isu and blasts into the air, hoping to crash into Serovox in the air while wreathed in flame!
Isu feels a moment of resistance as his second swing finds the invisible Corpse Fleet Commander. The spear blazes hot as it grinds against the elebrian's armor and bones for a moment. Arc rushes in, wreathed in fire, but for all his incredible momentum, his rush passes through nothing more than empty space. Spec's plasma blast bursts against the screen against the starboard wall.
Ted's precision-aimed shot connects with Serovox's torso, splintering bone underneath the armor. As he watches though, some of the damage repairs itself.
Serovox slips to the side, using Isu as cover from the ranged fire coming in from Ted and Spec. Ted notices the Commander drawing a plasma blade with his free hand as he moves. With a quick thrust, he jabs the blade toward Isu's neck, charring flesh. (28 fire/elec damage)
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Isu Greelax Zyte wrote:
Isu double swings! He prays... "Sarenrae, if you would have the universe survive, make our weapons shine through! Sarenrae!"
"For the Sun and the Fury!" Arcalinte adds as he enflames his sword and rockets into the air to try and hit Serovox.
Unfortunately Jelico, in order to target a creature with a spell, you've got to be able to see it or touch it (unless the spell asks you to make an attack roll, in which case its treated like other attacks and you make a d100 check vs. total concealment). So shooting stars doesn't have a valid target. Go ahead and pick another action for the second turn.
Isu's enormous swing finds an undead elebrian in the middle of the empty air, charring the foe with plasma. Arc and Spec are less lucky, each delivering attacks that pass through close to where Isu just swung, but without hitting anything. Ted's shot is much closer to the mark, but as Serovox uses Isu's body for cover, it narrowly misses.
A spiral of spiritual energy from Jelico attempts to lay Serovox's soul to rest. The elebrian manages to resist the worst of the spell's effects, but still finds himself weakened by the magic.
Serovox's plasma blade flashes through the air once more, and despite Isu's force field slightly slowing the attack, it carves another burning gash in his torso. (36 E/F dmg) He falls limp, though his jetpack continues to hold him aloft. Serovox wastes no time in flying past him, slowing as he approaches Jelico. Ted notes that Serovox is finally starting to look battered. The elebrian's supernatural healing continues to restore his body, but it can't keep up with fierce attacks wearing him down.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte turns about and blasts after Serovox.
"Hold on, Isu, just please hold on!" he says to himself.
Male Human Mystic 12 | 76/76 HP, 97/97 SP, 9/9 RP | Init +3 |Perception +25 | EAC 22, KAC 23 | F +7, R +8, W +12 | Spells/Day Left: oo/6/5/2/3/0/0
"Isu!" Jellico yells as the kasatha falls. Looking around for options he sees Arc and Spec attacking a space right in front of him, more or less forcing him to back up instead of running to help Isu.
With little left that he can do, Jellico takes a guarded step backwards and throws his last Soul Reap in the vicinity of where he thinks the commander is.
Soul Reap DC 18:10d8 ⇒ (4, 8, 3, 2, 6, 1, 2, 5, 3, 6) = 40
Hearing the creature call out, he draws his pistol and fires, hoping to add insult to injury.
Aphelion Laser Pistol:1d20 + 9 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 9 + 4 + 1 = 22 Aphelion Laser Pistol damage:3d4 + 3 ⇒ (2, 4, 3) + 3 = 12 Invisible:1d100 ⇒ 14
Serovox endures another soul reaping, buckling as his animating essence is tugged part-way free of his body. Shots from Ted and Jelico lance across the room but fall far off target. Serovox responds by once more advancing upon Jelico, this time bringing his plasma blade in an arcing swing towards Jelico's face. The blade catches Jelico by surprise, slicing across his left eye and leaving a trail of blackened char in its wake. (Crit for 62 E/F dmg, and unfortunately, this is a severe wound weapon)
As Jelico falls, for a moment it looks like the blade burned deep enough to sear out his eye. Luckily, in his last moment of consciousness he pulled away just enough to retain his sight. Even so, the burn is too much, and Jelico loses consciousness.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte grimaces as he sees Serovox take down Jellico, but doesn't say anything, instead steeling himself for what he's about to do. His form glows as he suffuses himself with light and he darts into the air to try and finish the fight!
Solar Acceleration! I make a Full Attack as a Standard Action, meanwhile everyone else in the group is affected by haste for 1 minute. One question before I make my attack rollsl; will my weapon still be affected by Plasma Sheath for this round, or will it immediately lose the fire damage?
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arc's fiery swings flicker through the air, aimed well, but not well enough to catch the invisible Commander unaware. Isu on the other hand surges to consciousness as the radiant wave of energy from Arc catches him. The first of his three strikes, from as much divine providence as skill, comes exactly for the Commander's neck. The blow lands with a blazing flash, the flames charring the elebrian's body, but fails to sever the head from the neck. Still, you can hear Serovox's bones cracking and popping, and Ted can see several shattered, blackened sections of his form turning to dust. It shouldn't take much more to destroy him.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte manages a pained smirk as his blow connects and he sees Serovox for a brief moment.
"Light...and life...will go on. The Dawn Brings New Light."
Ted steadies just enough as he aims. The pulse from his rifle ripples through the air, distorting space as it goes, then collides with the Corpse Fleet Commander's back. Shards of his bones burst free from his chest as he buckles. He sways in the air, just for a moment, and then slowly starts losing elevation. "This is... not..." His voice grows weak. "The Corpse Fleet will march... forever..."
Serovox's body collapses into blackened shards of bone and small hills of dust. The Commander is slain!
Combat Over!
-------------
You don't have more than a few moments of relief before your eyes are drawn to the main viewscreen. Though broken in several places where stray weapons fire from the fight collided with individual panels, enough of it remains intact to see the tactical view of the Gate of Twelve Suns. Much of the Pact Fleet lies broken across the expanse, but a small remnant has retreated and taken a defensive posture at the far reaches of the system.
The Corpse Fleet ships on the other hand have changed priorities. The entire fleet makes for the Stellar Degenerator, presumably with the intention of overcoming the weapon's automated defenses and seizing it. Three large Corpse Fleet destroyers - massive ships, though dwarfed by the ship you're now on - are among their number. As you watch, the Corpse Fleet begins to engage, with the remnants of the Pact Fleet unable to do much to stop them.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte barely has time to register they've won before realizing the situation outside has gotten much worse.
"We don't have much time! Ted, Spectre; search Serovox's remains, see if you can take control of the Empire of Bones from here. If you can, turn the ship's guns on those destroyers, we HAVE to even the odds for the Pact Fleet before we can send the Empire on a collision course with the Degenerator! Isu, give Jellico a hand, we'll need to be as fit as we can manage to make our escape, or this will be a suicide mission after all! This is it! GogoGO!"
Male Human Mystic 12 | 76/76 HP, 97/97 SP, 9/9 RP | Init +3 |Perception +25 | EAC 22, KAC 23 | F +7, R +8, W +12 | Spells/Day Left: oo/6/5/2/3/0/0
"Desna, preserve me," Jellico says as he wakes up and gets shakily to his feet. "Thank you, Isu."
He looks around the bridge, taking note of Ted and Spec searching the dead commander. "What can I do? I might be able to pilot this thing if we can find the controls."
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte nods.
"That's exactly what I thought you could do, Jellico. Take the helm! Bring this thing around to point its guns at the other Corpse Fleet ships. Desna smiles, and we'll win this yet."
You rummage through Serovox's remains and quickly find a compartment on his skull-tipped staff. Inside it is a gold-encrusted data stick inscribed with the symbol of the Corpse Fleet - the command key! You plug it into a slot on the commander's chair, and the main terminal's systems open up and are available for your use! From this location, someone could seize command of the vast array of cybernetic zombies that are manipulating the lower-level systems of the ship.
Similarly, you're able to take the command key to the control room where you fought the ship's captain and unlock several more systems that handle the engineering, gunnery and scanning functions of the ship.
So this ship is positively enormous and each role takes hundreds of crew members to man it. Luckily, the ship uses cybernetic zombie slaves to fill these roles, which means one single individual can issue commands to them en-masse. Essentially, you can take crew positions just like you would in regular starship combat.
Stats for the Empire of Bones are now on page 1 of Handouts. Take a look and familiarize yourself with all those sweet guns. Note that its a tier 20 ship and therefore quite tricky to pilot or engineer, but on the other hand its computers give +10 to any four checks each round.
Choose your roles, discuss your approach, and we'll get started.
Droid Outlaw Mechanic 12 | SP 108/108 HP 76/76 RP 11/11 | EAC 28 KAC 30; | F +11; R +16; W +6 | Init +8 | Perc +16 | Conqueror (white star-class): +16 (3d12+12 E&F)
Spectre plugs into the command console to get a lay of the land. He runs diagnostics to determine what systems they have online, and then runs a scan of the Corpse Fleet ships to see which is the biggest threat to the Pact Fleet.
"Give me just a moment to triangulate targeting on one of those ships," he drones.
Male Human Technomancer 12 Dataphiles | SP 84 HP 64 RP 10/11 | EAC 28 KAC 29 CMAC 37 CMD 29 CMB +9 | Kinetic DR 5/- | F+6 R+10 W+11 | Init+6 | Perc+3 | 1st 1/6 2nd 0/6 3rd 0/5 4th 0/4 Cache 0/1
Ted pushes a corpse out of the engineering chair and hooks in to the cybernetics.
"Someone tell our allies we are now friends."
Ted commands the zombie-tronics to divert energy to the weapons.
Divert energy:1d20 + 20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 20 + 10 = 50 Using one of the +10s; DC is 10 + 1.5 * 20 = 40; damage rolls of 1 are instead a 2
Engineer: Diver:
Divert (Engineering Phase)
You can divert auxiliary power into one of your starship’s systems, giving it a boost. This requires a successful Engineering check (DC = 10 + 1–1/2 × your starship’s tier), and the results depend on where you decide to send this extra power. If you send it to the engines, your starship’s speed increases by 2 this round. If you send it to the science equipment, all science officers receive a +2 bonus to their crew actions this round. If you send it to the starship’s weapons, treat each damage die that rolls a 1 this round as having rolled a 2 instead. If you send it to the shields, restore an amount of Shield Points equal to 5% of the PCU rating of the Starship’s power core, up to the shields’ maximum value. Evenly distribute the restored Shield Points to all four quadrants (putting any excess Shield Points in the forward quadrant).
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
"I know the perfect way to do that..." Arcalinte says as he tries to make sense of the gunnery consoles. The negative-energy cannons weren't going to be of much use on the intended targets, but there were enough other guns on this ship that that wasn't going to be much of an issue.
Do we have a map of the space battle? And how do we decide which guns we're firing? Even ignoring the negative energy cannons (which would heal the undead on board the targeted ships), there's still A LOT of guns to fire!
Happy new year all, with everyone has checked in lets get this started!
You each jump into your respective command seats, some on the bridge and some in the control room just next to it. You take the roles that seem the most logical extension of how you've fought with your own starship, but connect in to the hundreds of cybernetic zombies that do the actual actions. The crew is at your disposal.
----------------------------------
Map updated! You're in the Empire of Bones in the bottom left corner of the map. For as enormous as the ship is, the rules are a little confusing if anything takes up more than one hex. So you're just one hex, same as anything else. Three Corpse Fleet Destroyers are ahead of you, closer to the superweapon.
While you get the systems under your control, you watch the three remaining Corpse Fleet destroyers start to get close to the Stellar Degenerator. Once the first is almost at the boundary of the demiplane, the Degenerator begins to move. Thousands of tiny pores open up on its surface, and tens of thousands of autonomous defensive drones pour from it. The destroyers release their complements of fighters and turn their main armaments against the defensive swarm. Without the Pact Fleet to distract them, it seems it'll take the Corpse Fleet a fairly short time to neutralize the Degenerator's defenses enough to slip a group in to board and seize control of it!
Spec's initial scan of the destroyers reveals a lot of important detail
Destroyer Scan Results:
Gargantuan battleship
Speed 4; Maneuverability average (turn 2); Drift 1
AC 27; TL 27
HP 400; DT 10; CT 80
Shields heavy 240 (forward 60, port 60, starboard 60, aft 60)
Attack (Forward) heavy laser cannon (4d8), super EMP cannon (special)
Attack (Port) heavy laser array (6d4)
Attack (Starboard) heavy laser array (6d4)
Attack (Aft) tactical nuclear missile launcher (5d8)
Attack (Turret) heavy torpedo launcher (5d8), heavy torpedo launcher (5d8)
None of them notice as the Empire of Bones turns in their direction.
You automatically win the first initiative roll!
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Round 1
(Shields are Fore/Port/Starboard/Aft)
Empire of Bones: 1050/1050 HP; 70/70/70/70 SP
Blue Destroyer: 290/400 HP ; 20/40/60/60 SP
Red Destroyer: 350/400 HP ; 60/60/40/20 SP
Yellow Destroyer: 220/400 HP ; 60/60/10/60 SP
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The destroyers move first, remaining in place. You may move.
Male Human Mystic 12 | 76/76 HP, 97/97 SP, 9/9 RP | Init +3 |Perception +25 | EAC 22, KAC 23 | F +7, R +8, W +12 | Spells/Day Left: oo/6/5/2/3/0/0
Jellico's fingers fly over the console, looking into menus and pulling up readouts. "By Desna, this ship is big. I think I like the Maiden better."
He finds the controls he's looking for and gets the ship moving. "OK. Let's act as normally as we can for a moment and try to not give ourselves away."
Jellico powers up the giant engines that drive the huge ship and moves forward toward the other destroyers.
Simply Flying forward at our speed, which I believe is a whole 4 hexes
"Ultra plasma cannon. Yes, that shall do nicely. Your ship is too far away for this weapon, Spectre. Concentrating fire on the one directly in front of us." (Red, starboard side, is in range 10)
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
"Keep firing until they can see the glow of the barrels, Isu!" Arcalinte says as he directs the turret's gravity cannon to fire on the yellow destroyer and draw it into Isu's firing range!
The Corpse Fleet ships are far from ready for this sudden betrayal. With their attention focused on the Stellar Degenerator, the Empire of Bones gathers power to its ultra plasma cannon. Several long seconds pass between Isu issuing the command and the cannon firing. But when the starship-sized cannon unleashes its blast, the beam of plasma completely envelops the red destroyer.
As the wave of plasma passes, you see a cascade of explosions along the surface of the destroyer. For a moment it looks like it might've suffers critical damage and be out of commission entirely, but then it starts making a slow turn toward the Empire of Bones. As it does, a rippling gravitic wave from the Empire's gravity cannon passes by the yellow destroyer.
Your bridge is suddenly awash with warnings as all three enemy destroyers assess their targeting options against you. Simultaneously, three captains open a comms connection with your ship.
One calls "Commander Serovox, come in!" while the second emotionlessly intones "It appears the Empire of Bones has been compromised." and the third rasps "Commander, if you are receiving this, be warned that we will move to neutralize the flagship."
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Initiative: Jelico Piloting:1d20 + 25 ⇒ (6) + 25 = 31 Destroyer Piloting:1d20 + 32 ⇒ (16) + 32 = 48
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Round 2
(Shields are Fore/Port/Starboard/Aft)
Empire of Bones: 1050/1050 HP; 70/70/70/70 SP
Blue Destroyer: 290/400 HP ; 20/40/60/60 SP
Red Destroyer: 80/400 HP ; 60/60/0/20 SP (Systems badly malfunctioning)
Yellow Destroyer: 220/400 HP ; 60/60/10/60 SP
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You move first, the destroyers will move second.
Male Human Mystic 12 | 76/76 HP, 97/97 SP, 9/9 RP | Init +3 |Perception +25 | EAC 22, KAC 23 | F +7, R +8, W +12 | Spells/Day Left: oo/6/5/2/3/0/0
Jellico moves the huge ship slowly closer to the other destroyers.
"I'm bringing us in closer to the damaged one. Isu, if you can take that one out with another hit, we'll be sitting pretty!" he yells from the front of the flight deck.
Male Human Technomancer 12 Dataphiles | SP 84 HP 64 RP 10/11 | EAC 28 KAC 29 CMAC 37 CMD 29 CMB +9 | Kinetic DR 5/- | F+6 R+10 W+11 | Init+6 | Perc+3 | 1st 1/6 2nd 0/6 3rd 0/5 4th 0/4 Cache 0/1
Ted diverts more energy to the weapons.
Divert energy:1d20 + 20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 20 + 10 = 49 Using one of the +10s; DC is 10 + 1.5 * 20 = 40; damage rolls of 1 are instead a 2
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte pushes the turret's guns to fire at the red destroyer. Even if the negative-energy cannon didn't really impact its mostly undead crew, he hoped it'd at least do some damage to its hull.
Fire At Will (Gravity Cannon):1d20 + 17 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 17 - 4 = 322d6 ⇒ (1, 5) = 67x10=70 Fire At Will (Negative-Energy Cannon):1d20 + 17 - 4 ⇒ (16) + 17 - 4 = 295d8 ⇒ (6, 4, 4, 7, 5) = 26
The three enemy destroyers slowly turn in place, aiming their armaments against the Empire of Bones. The blue destroyer reinforces its forward shields while the other two seem to be diverting power to their weaponry.
While they do so, Spec attempts to improve countermeasures against the yellow destroyer. Unfortunately, the advanced jamming technology on that ship foils his efforts, at least for now. Ted diverts power to the weapons.
Just as Arc and Isu fire, all three destroyers release their own volleys. Your main viewscreen is filled with a flurry of warnings - half a dozen missile locks as well as laser batteries about to fire. Arc engages the gravity cannon and blasts the closest ship with a ripple of negative energy. The attacks catch several of the incoming missiles, then continue onward and tear through the red destroyer. Several violet explosions cascade along its hull, before it explodes in a brilliant burst.
One of red's missiles meets your forward shields, as does a blast from its laser cannons. (Total 37 dmg)
One breath later, and Isu unleashes hell upon the yellow destroyer. The supercharged plasma beam utterly incinerates the craft. When the crackling red beam fades, you see you've punched a hole clear through the yellow destroyer. The yellow destroyer's own attacks glance off the Empire of Bones' shields, or lose their target locks without reaching you.
The blue destroyer's missiles and laser blasts strike against the starboard side of your craft, sending vibrations through the deck as the shields are tested. (49 dmg)
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Jelico Piloting Init:1d20 + 25 ⇒ (10) + 25 = 35 Destroyer Init:1d20 + 32 ⇒ (5) + 32 = 37
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Round 3
(Shields are Fore/Port/Starboard/Aft)
Empire of Bones: 1050/1050 HP; 33/70/21/70 SP
Blue Destroyer: 290/400 HP ; 20/40/60/60 SP
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You move first, the destroyer will move second.
Male Human Mystic 12 | 76/76 HP, 97/97 SP, 9/9 RP | Init +3 |Perception +25 | EAC 22, KAC 23 | F +7, R +8, W +12 | Spells/Day Left: oo/6/5/2/3/0/0
"It's going to pass us! Let me see if I can bring this giant thing around."
Jellico pilots the ship, turning it around as fast as it's engines can turn the hulking craft.
Flying forward and turning once b/c we're that clumsy in this ship
