"Breath of Embers this is Ordyt. Status report." Ordyt calls over the the ship's channel; the fact that the rebels weren't already being hit by orbital bombardment seemed like a positive sign.
There's a worrying wait before Taeress picks up the other end of the comms call "Ordyt? It's bad." Dull booms resound in the background on her end "Weren't counting on all those anti-air turrets still working. Maybe the Legion automated them. We're trying to stay away, but our hiding place is... well, its gone. And, a couple of Legion ships came into the bubble in the-" A roaring briefly drowns out Taeress' words, before you hear Nib squeaking 'Hold on!'. Taeress says "We'll lead them on a chase, don't worry about us." before cutting off the call.
Moments later, your elevator glides to a stop and the doors open again. The space beyond is heavily damaged. Panels divide this room into smaller areas, each with a single bunk and storage facilities. The room looks like it was once a well-appointed hostel or something similar, but many of the beds are in tatters, furniture has been piled haphazardly in some areas, and rubble and bloodstains cover the floor and walls. Several cubicles remain intact, set up for efficiency and larger creatures.
Several four-armed shobhads stand at the ready for your arrival, clearly having been forewarned. Of them, one seems particularly well kitted out. All wield pairs of long curved blades, but all except the purple one also have rifles in their other pair of arms. To the north end of the chamber a rocky shaitan with a pistol calls out "Attack!"
---
|||| INIT ||||
Mari
Sammad
Shobhad Merc x3
Shobhad Captain
Shaitan
Bel
Flint (13 dmg)
Ordyt (17 dmg, 2 negative levels)
"Automated turrets...if they are, there's probably a CnC hub somewhere, likely in this tower. If we can find--CONTACT!"
Sammad fires out at the Shobhad Captain, urging the rest of your team forward as well. Mari follows by taking a shot at the same target.
The captain lashes a blade across Mari's torso . The other three shobhad mercs attack Ordyt, Flint and Mari with their own curved swords. While Mari and Flint are able to block and dodge the incoming attacks, Ordyt is a hair too slow and earns a shallow cut .
|||| INIT ||||
Bel
Flint (13 dmg)
Ordyt (28 dmg, 2 negative levels)
Mari (23 dmg)
Sammad
Shobhad Merc x3
Shobhad Captain (26 dmg, imp get em)
Shaitan
The fire flaring to life once more in Flint’s eyes, Flint steps forward carefully (guarded step) and engages the leader, saying, ”They got kill collars on you guys, or are you just genocide for hire?”
Without waiting for a response, Flint slashes at the captain with his Solar scimitar!
Flint doesn't spot any collars. The Captain tries to defend himself, but Flint is able to slip his blade past the shobhad's guard. "Hrgg. Feisty, eh?" the shobhad grunts.
|||| INIT ||||
Bel
Flint (13 dmg)
Ordyt (28 dmg, 2 negative levels)
Mari (23 dmg)
Sammad
Shobhad Merc x3
Shobhad Captain (62 dmg, imp get em)
Shaitan
Maneuvering next to his captain to guard Flint's back, Ordyt drives his bayonet into the nearest shobhad's thigh. "No collars, Captain. Mercs or true believers."
-
-
Sammad and Mari follow by focusing their fire on the captain. Though Sammad is well off target, Mari's blasts a hole in his shoulder and sends him to an early grave.
To the north the shaitan calls out "Keep it together. Your captain said you were experts, yes? You there, don't you dare fall." encouraging the yellow shobhad. He follows by casting a spell against Ordyt, Flint and Bel.
Bel succumbs, becoming incredibly slow. Meanwhile, the shobhads strike and step with coordinated movements, scoring a hit on Ordyt and Bel.
|||| INIT ||||
Bel (32 dmg, slowed)
Flint (13 dmg)
Ordyt (41 dmg, 2 negative levels)
Mari (23 dmg)
Sammad
Blue Shobhad Merc
Yellow Shobhad Merc (35 dmg)
Red Shobhad Merc (18 dmg)
Shaitan
Continuing to fill with photonic energy, Flint bursts into a cold flame, becoming sheathed with deadly energy! With the captain down, he turns his focus to yellow, slashing with his now-flaming scimitar.
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Flint takes down the yellow shobhad with a single blazing-cold slash.
Bel attempts to sweep the effects of the incoming slow spell out of her path, but finds her own magic swept away instead.
|||| INIT ||||
Bel (32 dmg, slowed)
Flint (13 dmg)
Ordyt (41 dmg, 2 negative levels)
Mari (23 dmg)
Sammad
Blue Shobhad Merc
Red Shobhad Merc (18 dmg)
Shaitan
"Well damn, I guess it's good I've been lugging these around all this time," Ordyt steps away from the shaitan and its shobhard guard, instead bringing up his grenade launcher and thumping an incendiary into the floor paneling at their feet!
-
Bel's attempt to dispel the slowing magic catches for a moment on the spell before losing cohesion - the slowing spell stays in place. Sammad once more calls for an attack - this time on red. While his shot misses, Mari's blast is a direct hit. Unfortunately due to her awkward positioning in the elevator, she provokes an attack from the shobhad she's firing upon in the process. Luckily, that quick slash only rebounds off her armor.
The remaining shobhad mercs take advantage of their superior reach to attack with their blades. Blue lands a light slash on Flint while Red does the same to Mari
In the back, the shaitan continues to rally the troops, while weaving another spell. His magic attempts to seize Flint...
... and succeeds. Flint suddenly freezes in place, unable to move a muscle due to the magical paralysis!
|||| INIT ||||
Bel (32 dmg, slowed)
Flint (26 dmg, hold person'd)
Ordyt (41 dmg, 2 negative levels)
Mari (42 dmg)
Sammad
Blue Shobhad Merc (7 dmg)
Red Shobhad Merc (4 dmg, get em +2)
Shaitan (7 dmg)
Annoyed and frustrated that he has been physically paralyzed, Flint channels his photonic power rather than trying to fight the spell, hoping that burning the shaitan might destroy the spell at its source...
As his solarian power peaks, Flint--while unable to move--focuses his will and summons a ball of holy fire over the Shaitan and the blue Shobhad!
The fiery holy supernova erupts around the two foes to the north and they dive for cover. As the flames fade, you see that neither are as badly burned as you might've hoped.
|||| INIT ||||
Bel (32 dmg, slowed)
Flint (26 dmg, hold person'd)
Ordyt (41 dmg, 2 negative levels)
Mari (42 dmg)
Sammad
Blue Shobhad Merc (24 dmg)
Red Shobhad Merc (4 dmg, get em +2)
Shaitan (24 dmg)
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As their foes emerge only lightly scathed by a grenade and some solarion star-magic Ordyt makes a disgusted sound. "Well Captain, we tried the blasty thing and it didn't work as well as--Captain? Flint? Aw Hells...!" Stepping in front to guard his ensorcelled captain--at least on this front--the oread switches back to his reliable bayonet combat.
Mari carefully retreats back a step, resolving herself to dealing with one horrible problem at a time. She lifts her gun and fires one more time.
Sammad takes a careful step away from the nearest shobhad and sights down on the other before letting loose a pair of shots!
-
Sammad's shot if left to be directed at blue, who barely even dodges, the icy bolt deflecting off his armor.
The shaitan rallies the remaining shobhad with a "Let us avenge your fellows! There may be many, but they're weakening." before firing his only weapon, a pistol, at Ordyt. Thanks to the cover from the shobhad, the shot narrowly misses. The remaining shobhad follows with a slash of his own, but Ordyt manages to deflect it, pulling through unscathed.
|||| INIT ||||
Bel (32 dmg, slowed)
Flint (26 dmg, hold person'd)
Ordyt (41 dmg, 2 negative levels)
Mari (42 dmg)
Sammad
Blue Shobhad Merc (37 dmg)
Shaitan (24 dmg)
Flint strains against the mental control that has locked his body down, trying to force his way free be sheer willpower!
It takes Flint some serious mental effort, but he breaks free of the paralyzing magic. Meanwhile Bel approaches in slow motion.
|||| INIT ||||
Bel (32 dmg, slowed)
Flint (26 dmg)
Ordyt (41 dmg, 2 negative levels)
Mari (42 dmg)
Sammad
Blue Shobhad Merc (37 dmg)
Shaitan (24 dmg)
"Good to have you back, Captain!" Ordyt lunges in to finish off the last shobhad before turning to confront the shaitan. "And then there was one..."
Rather than trying to bring himself back upright, he tosses his pistol aside and grips the air with his hands. A rippling distortion forms for a moment before he abruptly vanishes!
You're still for a moment listening and looking out for the ringleader, but he neither reappears nor is there any sign of his continued presence. It appears you're safe for now.
Combat Over!
The magic slowing Bel ebbs over the course of a minute until she's back at full speed. Looking to the northern end of the room, you see another set of elevators that look to be capable of going even higher up the Spire - possibly even all the way to the top.
|||| STATUS ||||
Bel (32 dmg)
Flint (26 dmg)
Ordyt (41 dmg, 2 negative levels)
Mari (42 dmg)
Sammad
Shrugging, Flint moves around and starts checking out the bodies and equipment, starting with the Shobad leader. He tries to be quick and efficient, knowing they are on a tight timetable but need to find the access card to get them the rest of the way to the top.
"Good, that means he can't plane-shift back unless he wants to end up in the star. Doubt we'll ever see him again." Posting himself by the elevator, Ordyt pauses to catch his breath and check the comm-bands to try and get a sense on how things are going for the anti-occupation forces.
"How we doing?" Mari asks, winded, as she reloads her breaching gun. "Everybody good?"
"It seems like a useful trick, admittedly...then again I do love to frustrate a bloodthirsty foe." He flashes Bel a quick, impish grin.
Bel finds the shaitan's pistol - an advanced semi-auto - while Flint begins a more thorough search of the room and its occupants' equipment. While he does recover a good amount of equipment and some valuables, Flint doesn't find an access card that would take the group higher. Luckily, the card you swiped earlier from the Commissar seems to still be valid for the next section.
2x sintered longsword
2x squad machine gun
2x shobhad longrifle (functions as advanced shirren-eye rifle)
d-suit II
defrex hide x4
---
credsticks with a total of 3000 credits.
You're able to sit and catch your breath over the next 10 minutes (Flint included). Over comms, it sounds like the anassanoi rebels are being sorely tested by the Legion defenses. Even with all the damage done to the Legion over the last few days, their resources and operational discipline still give them an edge over the less experienced anassanoi.
Looking out the window, you can see the fight in the sky against the dragon appears to have become more of a cat-and-mouse game than anything else, with the Chariots slipping in and out of Nysteryx's range. A few visible gashes in the dragon's wings show where the Protectors have managed to score some hits, while the absence of one of the Chariots suggests Nysteryx has likely done the same. It doesn't look like either parallel battle will be able to hold up too much longer.
Flint offers the gear to anyone who wants it for immediate use, stowing the remainder in their null-space container. He rests (and spends the RP for recovering Stamina), then asks, "Shall we finish this, one way or the other?" as he offers his hand to Belmarniss.
"They're counting on us out there, every second of hesitation means more deaths from our allies. Let's go.
Mari nods before reactivating her energy shield. "Time to go."
Once your rest is complete, you enter the next set of elevators and begin the journey even higher up the Spire. The few open views of the area around the Spire are now from so high up that it's hard to make out more than rising smoke and blackened swaths of ground. From the fairly rare flashes of fire, it seems likely that the fighting has moved into the base of the Spire itself. Meanwhile, the dragon and the Chariots are at least for now nowhere to be seen.
The elevator continues upwards for quite some time, before sliding to a stop and the doors swishing open. The opulently adorned chamber that is revealed seems to have taken no damage during the invasion. Plush furniture has been tastefully placed, and strange art decorates the walls. The outer wall is a massive window overlooking the city, which appears peaceful from this height — right up until a dragon with scintillating scales like solar plasma dives past, chasing a Protector Chariot. A curving staircase set between transparent walls leads up to the west.
You hear a voice from somewhere out of sight to the east, speaking quickly in Ignan and issuing orders from the sounds of it. There's no sign you've been noticed yet.
Flint draws his Solar scimitar and moves into the room. He tries to be quiet and listen to the voice speaking in Ignan.
Mari follows after, her breaching gun held low and at the ready.
Recognizing that he's both faster and far less stealthy than his companions, Ordyt holds position but strains to listen for any sign of additional foes other than the speaker.
He turns, long, thin tongue tasting the air as he does. "To think some slipped behind our lines. Dangerous. Very dangerous. Not to be underestimated."
---
|||| INIT ||||
Mari
Sammad
Commander Gorchak
Bel (32 dmg)
Flint
Ordyt (2 negative levels)
The serpentine figure raises a claw and a long spear of blazing light fills it. As he aligns the blazing spear in a defensive posture, a tight whirl of fire begins to spin around him, radiating heat. He slithers out of the room, hugging the wall for a little cover against Mari.
|||| INIT ||||
Bel (32 dmg)
Flint
Ordyt (2 negative levels)
Mari x2
Sammad x2
Commander Gorchak (whirling fire, *)
”Let’s do this,” says Flint, invoking his own solar fire and Stellar Rushing at the commander.
"We are dangerous," Mari answers with a grin. Her protective shield snaps into place before she moves to provide Flint with covering fire from her oversized breaching gun.
Mari's shot goes far wide, ricocheting off the wall, while Bel's flexing junksword deflects off her foe's armor.
|||| INIT ||||
Bel (32 dmg)
Flint (20 dmg)
Ordyt (2 negative levels)
Mari (17 thp)
Sammad x2
Commander Gorchak (33 dmg, whirling fire, *)