”They are about 500 yards out and closing,” the scout says. ”Most of the troops are on foot, but I saw at least two squads of Skellies and an APC with them.”
There are quite a few buildings to hide behind, but the men of the village seem to prefer heading towards them and hiding taking cover in the forest. Marcus leads them and you can over hear him commanding them to setup the ambush site.
Burgurk will follow them into the woods, moving close to where the edge of the woods nearest the attackers ends, and find a large tree for cover.
Jingu looks at Deloso, and after getting a nod, shoots off into the air in order to get a lay of the land and see the approaching force. He switches on his armour's adaptive camouflage, but holds off on channelling the power to activate true invisibility just yet.
He counts out the troops and how they are deployed, transmitting a mental image of the same to Deloso.
Captain Deloso gives the go ahead nod salute as his own powers activate, flames wreathing his form. He orders Josie to ready the main guns on Elsie, in case the APC gets too close. He then orders Jace to surge ahead and pick off whomever he can. The Juicer takes off in a flash.
As Jingu rises up, he can see the telltale signs of movement through the forest. The APC is trundling just behind, but along the road, as maneuvering through the forest would be difficult at best for the big machine. With so many trees blocking the view, it is hard to count all of them, but the scout was right. Two squads of Skelebots are flanking a full platoon of CS Soldiers. What the scout missed was a Psi-Hound pack led by a Psi-Stalker that is farther ahead than the rest of the troops and attempting to sneak through the forest.
Jace makes a quick gesture to Captain Deloso before rushing off. He thought if he could get behind some of the troops, he would be able to provide an anvil force to the rest of their hammer. Jace was excited to finally see some action. All this sitting around and jabbering was driving him crazy. Feeling the rush of endorphins and adrenal boosters, he grinned as he drew blade and pistol and ran to the outside of the incoming forces.
●Squad! There is a PSI-Hound pack and a Psi-Stalker moving ahead of the main group. Use caution. Captain, which group do you want me to engage?●
Josie preps himself by getting Elsie oriented in a good direction, preferably near some natural cover if he can, such as rocks or large trees. He then spends the few minutes before the fight, whipping up some party favours. He positions the jury rigged devices near his driver's seat, so he can activate them once the fighting proper actually starts.
Deloso responds back to Jingu. ”I thought I smelled something funny. You’re on dog patrol Jingu, see if you can redirect them elsewhere, we’ll handle the main force. Don’t let them catch wind of Burgurk, that Stalker will come after him.”
Jingu sees the Psi-Stalker suddenly stop and command the Dog Boys with him to stop. After a brief second they all point directly at Jingu and take up aim with their weapons. Burgurk feels a psychic wave overcome him as the being casts his mind outwards. He has been detected as well. Burgurk knows well the psychic signature of a Psi-Stalker.
Jingu relays that the troops in the trees start to head for cover in the trees, aiming their laser rifles in the direction of the town and slowly advancing. The men of the village run and hit the ground for cover, trying to make it harder to be hit since they won’t reach the forest in time to setup their ambush.
Deloso orders Trent into the truck with Josiah and then decides to help the village men with tactics.
"Put your hand here, Mr. Trent!
"Shields up Mr. Chekov!"
"Sulu, full power to Phasers!
"Mr. Trent? Feel free to take the first shot!"
He dives down, hitting the ground between the Psi-Stalker and the dogs, and striking out around him in all directions, starting with the stalker.
Since Dogboys usually use melee attacks, Jingu is prepared for survivors trying to rush him.
Counterattack
REQUIREMENTS: Seasoned, Fighting d8+
Fighters with this Edge deal instant punishment for an enemy’s mistakes. Once per turn (if not Shaken or Stunned), the character receives a Free Attack (page 101) against one failed Fighting attack against him. The counterattack takes place immediately (before other hits against the hero on the same Action Card, if any).Improved Counterattack
REQUIREMENTS: Veteran, Counterattack
As above but the hero gets a Free Attack against up to three failed attacks each turn.
Trent nervously takes the controls of the laser cannon and aims it in the direction of the oncoming APC. He waits just long enough for it to fill up his targeting reticle and then triggers the firing button.
The beam lances out and skewers the APC, sending smoke and fire rising up from the center. The pilot brings the vehicle to a halt, aiming its main guns towards Elsie.
"Well if that didn't just take the spit out of 'em! Nice shooten', small fry!"
Josiah gives Trent a firm slap on the back in congratulations.
"Looks like 'e's still moven' a touch; wait for the recharge and then hit 'im again!"
Jingu lands with enough force to push back a couple of Hounds. The Psi-Stalker doesn’t get a chance to recover as Jingu’s blade slashes through his armor. Jingu doesn’t need telepathy to know he angered the hunter, especially since two of his companions go down with barely a whimper.
Before the oncoming troops got close, Burgurk did the following :
Boost Trait/Psionics, Boost Trait/Fighting (for Parry), Boost Trait/Vigor (for Toughness), Deflection, activate Force Aura (no-roll, non-Free Action).
= Success, Psionics is d12+1
= Raise, Fighting is d10, Parry is 7.
= Raise, Vigor is d10, Toughness is 14(5).
= Raise, -4 to Ranged attacks (RATN = 10)
Force Aura activated : additional -2 to Ranged Attacks (RATN = 12).
10 ISP spent.
The Hounds growl at Jingu, seeing two of their companions go down and their leader wounded. They pounce on the Melliferan, attempting to drive him to the ground.
Jingu’s psychically quickened reflexes allow him to easily evade the dog boys’ attacks.
The APCs guns, now facing Elsie, spit fire and hyper velocity shells at the truck, attempting to return the favor.
The blasts miss, but only barely, sending gouges of dirt and debris into the air around Elsie.
The Psi Hounds continue to harass Jingu, clawing at him with their vibroblades.
Though they swarm him, his puissant skill with his own blade keeps them at bay.
The APC gunners adjust their targeting and fire again.
The rounds hit further away, shattering some trees along the way. The two squads of Skelebots start marching forward, one opening fire through trees at the running Jace and the other moving to get into range of Elsie.
Jace dashes between laser blasts, attempting to get past the Skelebots as they work to bracket him with fire. His pistol sends packets of energy back at them, but they are too far for him to do more than burn a few trees.
The militia take cover in a copse of trees, attempting to engage the main Coalition force.
Still on Hold...
Jingu’s wrath takes out the remaining Dog Pack, leaving only their leader, clutching his gut, to fight the Melliferan.
Jingu pauses for a brief second to salute the PsiStalker with his blade, before launching into a aggressive sequence of strikes intended to finish the fight.
The Psi-Stalker barely has time to react before he is cut down by the psi-blade of Jingu. His defenses are strong, but his energy is easily depleted and he goes down in a heap. Surrounded by bodies, Jingu looks for his next targets.
"Hmm, I had a dohickey for aiming... goldarn piece o' flotsam shorted out first time round. Lemme try this again..."
He'll aim at the APC, picturing the location of the reactor in his mind, attempting to disable the vehicle's main power.
Josiah targets the APC again, focusing on the distant machine as it lines up for another shot on Elsie. Not willing to let this happen, he fires the big laser, sending a bolt of energy directly into the rear of the vehicle. A massive explosion tells him that his shot was on target.
The CS troops in the forest shoot from cover, slowly closing the distance to the militia and the rest of your team.
The first squad of Skelebots, ten strong, continue to close with Jace, trying to stop him from getting behind them, but they are still too far away to do much.
The second squad continues to attempt to close with Elsie, their robotic legs carrying them.
Jace continues dodging stray fire from the Skelebots, knowing full well they can’t touch him from here. As he closes with them, he knows he will have to be more careful, but his joy of combat doesn’t let him care. Much.
The Militia attempts to return fire at the Coalition, their weapons not near as advanced.
Jingu takes flight, lifting off from the decimated Psi-squad. Still under the effect of his enhanced flight, he makes quick time towards the next closest group.
"Damn; Elsie's cannon can put down som'thin' twice 'er size, but ain't much good on troops. Guess we just pick one."
He scanned the troops on the screen, hoping to be able to pick out an officer.
Jingu flies as fast as he can towards the nearest unit, which would be the Skelebots heading for Elsie. He finds himself about 92 yards from them. So far they don’t notice the little Melliferan flying towards them, their sights set on a bigger target.
Josiah sees no officer among the group of soldiers in the trees, though with all the woods in the way laser fire all around, that’s to be expected. Still, he manages to find one poor CS trooper who was not in cover at the right time and the fellow is vaporized where he stands.
Captain Deloso continue to support the militia, while Trent does as he is told inside Josiah’s rig to keep them fighting.
Jace bounces from cover to cover, staying just out of sight as he closes with the first squad of Skelebots. He mentally goes through how he is going to take down ten of them by himself. They are just machines and I am so much faster, he reminds himself.
He knows his is not close enough to hit them with his pistol, but he fires it anyway to keep their attention on him.
The Skelebots maintain their focus on Jace and forget any idea of cover as they hunt down the fugitive Juicer, firing as they go. Their shots go wide and hit more trees than anything, burning them and setting some on fire.
The other group of Skelebots close with Elsie, ready to open her up as soon as they get within range.
"Take over on the cannon, Mr. Trent; I'm going to see if I can light 'em up with My darling Scarlet."
Josiah stands up, popping up the top hatch so he can see over the force field. He takes aim with his Nova Rifle, trying to drop a Fireball on the advancing Skelebots.
Jingu continues to fly in a high speed, closing with the nearest enemies.
Josiah lines up a shot into the middle of the oncoming Skelebots, sending a burning ball of plasma towards their center. It hits the ground and explodes, sending dirt, debris, and a lot of scrap metal flying in all directions.
The Militia stay in cover, choosing to take pot shots at the advancing CS troops, their weapons to far away to do much good, except to keep heads down.
The CS continues to advance however, bounding from tree to tree and rock to rock, returning fire where they can, but not hitting much at this range.
The militia continues to hold where they are, not willing to give up their position to the Dead Boy army. With a command from Deloso, they hold their fire, lining up their shots on the approaching soldiers.
Jace’s new friends, all machines, tend to perform as he expects. He waits for them to close and then dances through their fire.
The second squad recovers from the blast and sets to putting down Elsie. Two of them pull out launchers while the rest aim their rifles at the machine and set to firing, though the weapons are too far away to do more than spark the force field around it. The missiles are another story.
Luckily, the weapons are not strong enough to pierce the force field of Elsie and they explode harmlessly against her.
After easily avoiding the blasts of several machines bent on terminating him, Jace bolts closer to the group, ready to cut them down as soon as he gets near.
He scores a hit on one of the bots, buts it armor is too strong for small blasters.
Captain Deloso does his best to steady the militia as the Coaliton Forces close in on them.
Trent quickly aims the big cannon down range, attempting to knock out one of the other Skelebots.
Another Skelebot is vaporized by Elsie’s main cannon.
"Well that's just daisy! How 'bout another?"
He aims to put another fireball on a group of Skelebots, making sure not to hit Jace or Jingu.
Jingu lands beside the remaining skelebots, across the group from Jace's position. He lunges forward, sweeping his glowing blade through the few closest droids, striking them with a single stroke.
Three more Skelebots disappear in a blast of fire from Josiah’s rifle, their metal bodies bending and sagging from the heat. From within the haze of smoke, a small insectoid body appears, a shimmering blade of energy slashing through what remains of the squad. Only one is left standing.
The Coalition Soldiers march ever forward, relentless in their mission to take out this particular group of militia and its protectors. Their weapons keep spitting laser fire, but more for effect than any actual damage at this range.
The full squad of Skelebots move to surround Jace, attempting to cut him off from escaping as their rifles fire on him.
Jace easily bounces from tree to tree, sacrificing it for his own ability to spring towards the enemy bots.
The last remaining Skelebot, sans any directives otherwise, continues to assault the Hover Truck, bringing up its laser rifle as it runs towards Elsie.
Its shots are ineffective against the heavy vehicle.
The Coalition Soldiers, seeing that their reinforcements and Skelebot backup are slowly being whittled down, decide to advance more slowly. They pick their way through the woods and brush, still headed towards the militia, but spreading out.
Jace jumps out from a tree and bolts towards the nearest Skelebot, shooting at one nearby and slicing the other.
The first bot goes down, but the second brings up it vibrio-sword arms blades just in time to block the strike.
After listening to Captain Deloso, the Militia fires a volley towards the CS troops approaching them.
At this range, their lasers simply can not be effective. Deloso continues to coach them anyway, hoping to keep most of them alive.
Trent readies another couple of shots, his senses boosted by the science-magic of Josiah.
Destroying the last Skelebot, Trent adjusts his aim towards the CS Troopers headed this way.
His shots goes right through a tree and into one of the Soldiers, bringing their total to 19.
Seeing the last Skelebot in his vicinity go down, he launches back into the air, moving towards the next enemy group.
Jingu send out a message to all the minds in the vicinity. He includes images of the smoking APC, and piles of shattered Skelebots.
"Coalition troopers, your vehicle support has been destroyed. Your Psi hounds are dead, as is their leader. Only a few of your droids remain, and they with soon be dealt with. Drop your weapons and remove your helmet, and your surrender will be accepted. Anyone that continues their aggression will not survive. Make your choice."
"Rest 'o them deaders are outcho range, sweet Scarlet. But don' you worry none, there'll be other skellies to roast come soon."
Josiah stays in position on the top hatch, looking for anyone that might have snuck closer to their position.
"Let 'em have another, Trent!"
Josiah is busy counting the amount of raw materials in the pile of Skelebots to be able to see anything closer to him other than the militia and Burgurk.
Jace immediately attempts to cut through the Skelebots armor, trusting his boosted reflexes to be faster than any machine.
The first one goes down in a scrap pile and he is instantly onto the next one.
The next one drops as well, and he congratulates himself. ”Three down, seven to go.” He grins towards the next closest Skelebot.