Shabad moves 30 feet toward the sniper and Damon, drawing her pistol again and firing one shot. It was not wise to fire on the run, and the wild shot mostly serves to announce her approach.
Damon takes to the air, using his jetpack to weave and bob. The maneuvering makes him hard to hit, but it also makes it hard for him to get off a shot.
Recorva continues to maintain her position while increasing her volume of fire at the woman who is now assaulting Rain.
Knowing that his defenses have been compromised, Rain will shift to a fully defensive fighting style, only working to defend himself for the time. If nothing else, he knows that he can serve as a punching bag in order to distract the woman for a few more seconds.
The soldier grabs another Stim and tries to bring herself back to a useful state.
Damon and Recorva both score good hits on the sniper, and her movements begin to slow a bit as it is clear her injuries are taking a toll. As Rain goes on the defensive, the sniper raises a hand in front of her face and makes a sweeping motion. The woman's blurry form disappears entirely! You can see the ring of fire part briefly as the now invisible woman presumably makes a break for it.
Shabad concentrates and her eyes glow a faint violet color, as she casts a spell that allows her to see auras wherever magic can be detected. She focuses on a likely getaway path and calls out directions toward the fleeing assassin, if she gets any information that can help them stop her.
Damon makes a moves to follow, but it seems his injuries and the deleterious arcane effects of the assassin's attacks catch up with him. Settling back on the ground, the old vesk leans on a trash can to catch his breath.
Shabad watches the sniper's aura as she flees the scene, ducking around a building and out of sight. Badly wounded, Damon and Stefani make no move to pursue her, and so the would-be assassin escapes into the city's perpetual twilight.
Shabad says, "It's time we take the fight to them. Let's get you patched up and get to the ship." Shabad makes sure Stefani's wounds are stable and covers the new cuts with sterile bandages until they get back to the ship.
She does the same when Damon returns to the group.
She checks Recorva and finds only a few singed places. Raine seems to be holding together. Finally the doctor loosens her white coat to check her own wound from the sniper round. The new armor did well, limiting the damage to some bruises.
"Back to the ship. We've got a mission and time is running low. I can do more for these wounds once we have you magnificent specimens in the medical bay. Well done everyone."
"Back to the ship. We've got a mission and time is running low. I can do more for these wounds once we have you magnificent specimens in the medical bay. Well done everyone."
"I'm so sick of these damn assassins. Let's get out of this hells-forsaken city!" Not one to be hypocritical, Damon leads the group back to the Lady Lonilai.
You hurry back to the spaceport and board the Lady Lonilai. Fortunately, no other assassins appear to hamper your progress, and you lift off from the city of Cuvacara without incident. It's been quite a long day--though it's hard to tell any time has passed since the perpetual twilight has never wavered.
You head into orbit for brief reprieve, taking time to rest and treat your injuries.
When you wake up the next day, you feel hardened by your recent experiences, ready to take on greater challenges to come. You have time to upgrade your ship's capabilities as well before you make the journey to Eclipse Innovation's black site.
Although his injuries are not insignificant, Damon makes an effort to help his crewmates back to the ship and get the Lady up and flying; there's a hint of a look in his eyes that says he needs to help more than anyone needs his help.
For once, Stefani seems quite willing to accept whatever aid Damonkayo is willing to offer. The encounter with the drow assassins seems to have shaken her.
DC 14
Once back on the ship, Shabad busies herself getting her most injured crew members to spend some time in the med-lab so she can get them recovered as quickly as possible. She offers each praise and encouragement for their efforts and urges all to resist the shaddow corruptions that may be tugging at their frayed wills.
DC 20
Damon:
; heals 10
; heals 10
Recorva:
; heals 16
; heals 10
Stefani
; heals 16
; heals 16
After resting and upgrading your ship, you set a course for the location of the Eclipse Innovation black site. The journey across the surface of the planet takes a full 8 hours, and and you travel, the light outside dims until it reaches full darkness.
As you fly above the ice-covered mountain range, your ship's alarms suddenly begin to wail! The sensors have picked up on a ship heading straight for you--an unmarked destroyer twice the size of the Lady Lonilai, its weapons primed and ready!
The destroyer makes a beeline towards you!
"Here we go!" Stefani shouts out as she sets herself up in one of the gunnery stations. "You get the big prod this time, Damon!"
The instant she hears the alarms begin wailing, Recorva shifts her station from general astrogation mode to combat mode. Engaging the engines, she remains quiet as she mentally determines which route to take the Lady along in order to maximize their advantages. Picking one after a moment, she pushes the engines to their maximum, turning in a quick turn to the port, before coming back around in a starboard spiral to face the destroyer with the port arc. Calling back to Damon and Stefani, she says "Let 'em have it!"
Shabad dashes to the science console to scan the enemy ship.
"I wonder if this is our unfriendly neighborhood assassin," the doctor muses as she watches the data roll in on the enemy ship.
Information shows up on the computer displays:
Antumbra Overseer
Large destroyer
Speed 8; Maneuverability average (turn 2); Drift 1
AC 20; TL 21
HP 190; DT —; CT 38
Shields light 60 (forward 15, port 15, starboard 15, aft 15)
Attack (Forward) heavy torpedo launcher (5d8)
Attack (Port) light particle beam (3d6)
Attack (Starboard) light particle beam (3d6)
Attack (Aft) light EMP cannon (special)
Attack (Turret) chain cannon (6d4)
Power Core Pulse Orange (250 PCU); Drift Engine Signal Basic; Systems advanced short-range sensors, anti-hacking systems, crew quarters (common), mk 3 armor, mk 4 defenses, mk 3 trinode computer, self-destruct system; Expansion Bays cargo holds (2),
escape pods, passenger seating
Stefani cackles with glee as she sends a missile sailing out towards the enemy ship.
Damon grins as he gets a lock on the enemy ship. For a fraction of a second, the permanent night is cut by the harsh night of day as a line of atmosphere drawn between the two ships is shredded into pure energy.
Both the Lady and the enemy ship fire missiles, the projectiles rocketing towards their targets. The masers streak across the distance in an instant, though, blasting through the Overseer's shields! Sparks dance across the enemy ship as their power core and torpedo launcher begin to glitch.
Recorva quickly brings the Lady around in a wide arc at the longest range of their weaponry, before quickly bringing her back around to point the forward arc towards the missile that the enemy ship fired, engaging in evasive maneuvers as she does so. "I tried to leave them in an arc for one of our missiles, while also putting their missile where we might be able to shoot it down."
Shabad brings up the targeting systems. Since she is jacked into the ship computer, she does not appear to be doing anything except stare off into space. But her vision is filled with battle schematics showing the enemy ship's position, the incoming missiles and the status of the Lady's weapons systems. She sets the system to target the enemy ship's engine's, hoping that Stefani or Damon can disable its ability to give chase.
She has some problems getting target networks to synch but she thinks she got the job done just before the weapons fire.
"Doc, the targeting system is glitching!" Stefani calls out. "Oh, wait, I think it's back."
The enemy ship continues to head directly for you, its crew bringing their front shields back up and locking on to your weapons systems as the pilot performs evasive maneuvers.
As the Overseer bears directly towards the Lady, Damon laughs, "What, do they want to play chicken? I've never lost a game of chicken!"
"Chicken only counts if you're the pilot, ya big lug!" Stefani shouts back as she waits to time her shot perfectly, hoping that the previous computer glitch doesn't reappear at an inopportune moment.
The first missile Stefani fired loses targeting, and Damon's maser fire goes wide. Stefani's second missile streaks into the Overseer's shields, shattering them and damaging the enemy ship's hull, causing its life support systems to glitch.
The enemy's initial torpedo loses its target and smashes into the mountains below, but the second one it fires explodes against your shields. Fortunately, your shields hold.
"Well, if it's a game of chicken they want, that is what we'll give them." Recorva then brings the Lady around in a tight spiral, angling to place the enemy ship to where it will likely be within the reach of the port weaponry. She moves in defensive patterns as she does so, not wanting to give their opponents any advantages.
Shabad dismisses the targeting HUD she alone can see and replaces it with a view of the shields. She begins to work on transferring energy from the starboard shields to the damaged forward shields.
b]"Forward shield level now 56,"[/b] she announces. "Starboard shields 20. Others nominal."
As Recorva sends your ship through fancy maneuvers, the enemy ship continues heading directly towards you! The pilot puts it through some evasive spins as the chain cannon on its turret swivels to track your ship!
"Two loads left Port Side!" Stefani calls out as she sends another salvo towards the enemy ship.
"Capacitors loading, and... fire!" Another streak of light cuts through the eternal night.
The enemy ship blasts your port side with its missile launcher and chain cannon, but your shields hold under the assault. On the contrary, your missiles and masers do massive damage, causing the starboard particle beam to glitch. The enemy ship doesn't look like it can take much more of a beating...
The enemy ship moves past you, slowly turning to place you in its rear arc.
Recorva brings the Lady around in a curve, moving back into the forward arc of the enemy ship to take advantage of their damaged shields.
Shabad continues to shift the power to the shields to bolster the side of the ship most likely to take a hit.
Shabad pulls power from the aft shields to bolster the port shields. "Port shields at 60. Just don't let it get behind us. Our a$$ is almost bare."
The enemy ship supercharges their weapons for one more desperate salvo!
"Go play in the snow!"
"And your mother too!" Stefani shouts out. "Port Side, One load left!"
Recorva banks your ship hard, narrowly avoiding the enemy’s missile. Both Damon and Stefani hit their mark, and they are rewarded by a series of explosions that rock the Overseer. Several escape pods jettison from the burning ship before it slams into a mountainside and is consumed in a tremendous fireball that lights up Verces’s eternal night!
"Overseer destroyed!" Shabad states with gusto, thumping a fist into her palm for effect. "Deactivate weapon systems, tracking zero, zero, zero.
"Good teamwork everybody! Now let's take out that black site."
Only a short time later, you reach the coordinates for the Eclipse black site. A dedicated scan of the area with your sensors reveals a landing pad camouflaged from casual view with holographic projectors. You land the Spirit of Lady Lonilai, check your equipment, and emerge out into the icy winds that buffet the landing pad. A short path leads to a cave entrance.
The shallow cave provides some protection from the bitter cold. A metal platform extends over a wide hole in the frozen ground, connected to a cage-like lift that hangs precariously over the darkness below.
You all have darkvision, so you all spot the creature lurking in this cave. Tall and muscular, this humanoid has an additional pair of arms that look like they have been sewn onto its elongated torso. Its pallid, bloodless flesh icy cold to the touch and marred with ritual scarification. Nanocarbon chains weave in and out of its skin and wrap around its limbs, and razor-sharp spines of frozen shadowstuff protrude from its back.
Prior to beginning this adventure, the fear this creature exudes may have affected her differently, but after what she's experienced, Stefani just shrugs it off.
She takes a firm grip on the bipod of her liquidator and opens fire at the creature of shadow.
"That, boys and girls, is a velstrac sexton. Loves pain, vulnerable to fire. They regenerate, so hit 'im hard."
Shabad then steps back from the creature up to 30 feet (if there is room) before using magic to draw electricity from her sheet lightning pistol and send it in a searingly bright line of white hot charge.
In case it has SR:
With a single glance into the eyes of the velstrac, Recorva drops her rifle to the ground and takes to the air, fleeing away from the four armed creature as fast as she can.
She then takes aim at it with her laser rifle at take a pair of shots at it.
Rain will quickly backpedle away from the creature.
Rain will move up towards the creature, moving around it to get on its far side.
Stefani fires on the sexton, melting part of its flesh away. The creature groans in ecstasy as it embraces the pain, its sluggish movements speeding up!
Recorva blasts the creature with her rifle, the fiery laser seeming particularly effective! The velstrac dodges Rain's hammer and twists away from most of Shabad's lightning.
Its wounds slowly regenerating, the sexton attacks Rain with its shadow chains, tearing into the drone!