Round 3:
Kamiya looked up at Thyx and nodded. She started moving forward through the brush, pushing aside a branch as she went. She groaned as the movement reminded her of her recklessness, "Don't worry, lesson learned."
She continued to move forward as quickly as possible while remaining under cover.
Sigirijus grunted as his just-shot flesh hit the ground 'I really need armour. still, it worked. They paid attention to me, and not Kamiya. I need to keep their attention on me, though, so the others can take them down. Hmmm.'
Despite the pain Sigirjus wriggled, moving the loose soil and debris of the top layer of the forest to form makeshift bulwarks, using his clawed powerful legs to bury himself even lower in the ground. After a few seconds - long enough for the cadets to have decided he was dead - he grabbed the rifle by his side, pointing off into the mist and slightly up, and pulled the trigger.
'If they're green, they'll assume the noise means I've moved to snipe them. That should get them to keep their heads down.' Sigirijus did his best not to remember that he'd been hit twice already by these 'green' troops.
"Damn fanatics," Robert grumbled as the Azalanti just kept coming. Granted, they were soldiers, following their orders, but it'd have been so much more convenient if they had done so somewhere else, becoming somebody else's problem. Well, at least he caught sight of a head peering from between a couple branches of what passed for foliage on this forsaken hellhole of a world and the technomancer made use of the opportunity by butting a bullet just under that helmet, through the gap between the helmet and the armor the troopers wore.
Turn 041 - Another Lucky Shot!
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, fail
, miss
What was everybody doing? Were they trying to get shot?
Not able to stand seeing the captain out in the open like that, Kip launched herself into the open, bounding towards the soldier on all fours and screaming incoherently. With any luck, the soldier would be distracted and the others could take care of him. If not, she could reach him in a few seconds, and force him to drop his gun and go hand-to-hand with her.
They were making headway, but they did really need to get rid of the last Azalanti - it was nice to run into the enemy in ones and twos, but that was still a losing proposition... there was a good chance they'd literally run out of bullets before the invaders ran out of manpower, if the Empire had really flexed its muscles taking over the colony.
Trying to find a clear line of sight, Robert kept on moving ahead, shooting in the enemy's presumed general direction more to keep the trooper's head down than anything else.
Round 4:
Kamiya kept advancing through the brush. She broke cover briefly as she ran over to the cadet who had just fallen, ready to use its body as a shield should she be shot at.
Seeing the remaining cadet take a shot at the Captain, the lashunta focused her mental energy on the remaining cadet and transmitted a picture of fog into its mind.
[ooc]Daze, DC15[/dice]
Thyx watched as Kamiya breezed past him and he tried to stay lock-step with her but only managed to reach a point a few feet behind her. 'She stopped? She seems to be contemplating the body' He spoke over her shoulder with a voice like a damp rag, "It was necessary." He meant that he was remorseful but the captain was in danger yet none of his meaning seemed to be lifted by the words. 'Here comes Kip! She lookes ... determined. But she's distracted the cadet!'
With everything lined up it was only the last moment that the guard looked to her right to watch the android raise his gun and make a fist. He put a bullet through the soft tissue of her right arm.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, pass
, hit
Kip was almost there. The strange static flickered through the fog and over the vegetation, and for a brief moment, Kip thought she saw a pattern. Mid-bound, she drew her knife and swept it through a region of thick sparks, only a few feet from the soldier's face, and the blade flashed and crackled as a big static spark leapt from the blade to Kip's hand. Again, her fur fluffed up beyond reason, making her appear double her diminutive size.
The cadet flinched, and Kip took advantage of his distraction to leap low and angle her knife up and through his armour and into his chest cavity. Pulling the knife out with a hollow sucking sound, she found the fur of her hand and arm suddenly coated in sticky, frothy blood. Lung she thought with satisfaction. What a charge! Sara would be proud!
The last trooper seemed to have learned well the lesson of keeping his head down. Now that Robert had got close enough, there was no reason to waste bullets, and the technomancer turned to his talens instead, murmuring an equation to suck in heat from the world around him and channel it into a ray of superheated air, but the vegetation spoiled his aim, and his reality manipulation burned a hole in the trunk of a local tree/mushroom variant a few inches to the left of the trooper's head.
Seeing Kip race into danger the Captain cursed, pushed himself to his feet and charged. There was no roar - simply a need to stop the cadet stepping back and shooting.
As he watched the last cadet get knifed, Thyx moved up and covered Kip from a few feet away. It looked like the end for this last brainwashed Azlanti child. Thyx looked to the captain, "Sir? We could OSP the armour and use it as a disguise. It might fool someone at a distance. If we can clean up some of the blood first ... I'm afraid you and Kip are out. Kamiya and I might get some mileage out of it if he keep our faces down, but someone not so blue might work better. What do you think Magnusson? ... wait a minute, where is our escapee?"
OOC: buried with work so no update tonight.
Game on!
Kamiya cursed quietly under her breath as she realized that the cadet had shaken off her attempt to cloud their mind because she knew she couldn't try again.
The pilot couldn't throw a grenade since her crew was closing in on the last cadet so she went on full defensive and retrieved her healing serum in case someone needed it.
The lashunta heard Thyx ask about the fugitive that had nearly run them down and so she took a moment to look around to see if she could find him or if he had run off.
Thyx looked down over the final dead cadet and stared blankly. He looked like a statue without a trace of remorse. 'The Azlanti must be ruthless if they employ such child soldiery. They use these children as their outer shield. What cowards must be at the centre of it. Effective though. They force trained reconnaissance to tire themselves on the weakest guard first.' "That was very efficient Kip."
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
BTW, I'm still very busy at work so our regular game pace may suffer for the next week or so. For now, make sure you post as quickly as you can so I can take advantage of any free time in my schedule.
Thyx looked to the escapee 'That WAS pretty good - better than the first engagement.' "What is your name, the name of your community, and your position there?" 'Hmmm, that didn't feel right.' The android stared at their new acquaintance and he holstered his sidearm with a little twirl only to unshoulder his rifle.
Kip turned her head away from the cadet, not allowing herself to acknowledge how young he'd been. Taking some of the verdant leaves around her, she cleaned off her knife, and mopped at her fur and clothes as best she could.
Whiskers quivering, she wrinkled her nose. She smelled like blood. It was dangerous to smell like blood. The ysoki looked around for some water to wash in.
Turning her attention to the others, she looked at their "prisoner". "Yeah, talk," she said, pointing at him. "What's going on here?"
Sigirjus looked to Kip "That was efficient, Kip. It was also risky." His head rotated a sixth on his neck "Was it a calculated risk, or blood-rage?"
The large Vesk rumbled. "You sure there was just the three of them?" he asked, doubt in his voice "One squad? There were four in the last one."
Kamiya was almost horrified that the others in her crew were practically interrogating the frightened man rather than speaking with him. Luckily she kept her face properly schooled as she stepped forward to greet the man properly.
With a friendly smile she said, "I'm sure that this has been quite the ordeal for you. We are all fortunate indeed to have met in such dire circumstances, you being chased and us being somewhat lost. My name is Kamiya and we are looking for an old friend. Perhaps she is with your ex-wife? Is that who is in charge of the colonists that are still here?"
She reached out to touch the man's arm comfortingly, "Maybe we can talk while we walk. The sooner we get out of the open, the better, don't you agree?"
The lashunta didn't want to bring up the fact that they were carrying supplies on their ship until she knew a bit more about what was going on. "Those cadets appeared to be Azlanti. Has Nakondis been invaded?"
The large Vesk rumbled. "You sure there was just the three of them?" he asked, doubt in his voice "One squad? There were four in the last one."
"A good point Sir." 'It may mean the settlement is near by. If this one made a break for it then the three may be a disorganized group that managed to take chase. A second wave with an organized team may be underway.' "We should get to cover, as Kamiya suggested." 'How is Kamiya doing that with he voice? She's much better at this.'
Kamiya's antennae flicked around as if agitated at the mention of Cedona being held prisoner. So far this supply run wasn't turning out as planned at all. Were they even remotely equipped to take back an entire planet held hostage?
The envoy's voice was sympathetic as she responded to what the man had shared, "That sounds like quite the ordeal. You were very brave to escape when you could. May I ask where you were planning on running to once you escaped? Is there somewhere on this planet where we can find additional help to overthrow the Azlanti?"
She glanced around at the rest of their crew suspecting that they too felt the need to help Cedona and the rest of the colonists, "And who have we had the pleasure of meeting here in the woods? In all the excitement, I never caught your name, sir."
After listening to Magnusson's description of the badge Thyx was quick with some questions, "The badge doesn't relay information to a central server? We're in trouble if they already know we're here. Can we log into it right away? It could be useful, especially if there is a fourth guard out there. It also means there may be more of these devices. I suggest those who can switch longer range weapons. Kip, covert work just became more dangerous. Where possible stay more than 60' away. Especially if you can spot a badge. At east they don't all have them. " He talked as they walked to get out of the clearing.
Not sure how to do it himself, "Ah, Robert? Can you wipe it clean and make sure we're all attuned to it?"
Not sure how to do it himself, "Ah, Robert? Can you wipe it clean and make sure we're all attuned to it?"
”Sure,” Robert grunted, going around the group to record everyone’s bioelectric readings in the “ally” category after first flushing away the old settings. [b]”Seems all the tech these kids carry is annoyingly stand-alone – nothing’s connected with anything at all. Not how I’d roll, but I guess it’s a blessing in disguise – we can’t gather intel easily, but the other Azalanti aren’t immediately alerted to our presence either.”[/b}
The captain waved the others over and spoke quietly.
"All right." Sigirijus rumbled "We've got intel now. Time for opinions; do we run, tell the Pact what we've seen and hope they do something? Or do we try to free the prisoners, instigate a revolt and get these eggshells kicked off the planet?"
"Next; who sees a vulnerability we can tie into a plan?"
"We've got intel now. Time for opinions; do we run, tell the Pact what we've seen and hope they do something? Or do we try to free the prisoners, instigate a revolt and get these eggshells kicked off the planet?"
"Pact Council? Do something?" Robert grunted. "Like what? Disapprove in the strongest possible terms? Impose sanctions against some second-level government officials? Recall a few diplomats? No, if we want to pull Cedona's bacon off the fire, we need to do it ourselves."
"Next; who sees a vulnerability we can tie into a plan?"
"Details first. You!" Robert said, pointing an accusing finger at the local who had led the latest patch of Azalanti to them. "We need information. Numbers. How many troops? How are they spread out? How many in the garrison, how many out patrolling? Do they keep some of their number guarding that old wreck they were so interested in? How many of you colonists are there? Anyone willing to fight for their own freedom? Any weapons that didn't get seized? Or any heavy-duty construction bots or machines or such around we could weaponize?"
"And a map. At the very least draw us a map of this colony town of yours, since you should know it like the back fo your own hand."
Action 1
Startled by the question, Kip looked up at the Captain. "Blood rage?! Goodness, no! No, it just seemed like the thing to do, since he was a better shot than we are."
Sara had never mentioned blood-rage. "Is that...is that something that happens to you?"
Action 2
As the others questioned their prisoner, Kip reloaded her weapons, and made sure the clip in her cheek pouch was in good working order. She then stepped a few feet away, hunkered down, and kept watch for incoming danger.
Thyx waited for Robert to finish with the hexagonal device - watching intently. He tossed Kip the motion detector before she took to cover. "A little technical aid?" He knew she didn't need it, her senses were already keen, but scouts would encounter her first.
Thyx went to checking clips and taking inventory, including his own. "I count seven new rifles with twelve rounds each. Minus the one Kip is using, we can arm six locals. Limited. We should see if any are 'bolo' before handing them out. Who took a knife? I have one. There are six others. That is, if arming them is what we want to spend our time on."
Thyx listened to what Magnusson had to say. "I agree with Mags, Captain. You know this Cedona? I think we should go get her. The longer she's captured the more likely she may be harmed. As for pros and cons? They have numbers and arms and some tech. They are all at least trained. We have surprise, could pick them off in small groups. We have some inside knowledge - the local here, and perhaps we can utilize the local wildlife. Collect the batteries from the fallen cadets and use them as a lure. Unknowns? What did Cedona find? A barganing chip? A tool for us? A weapon for them?"
Thyx seemed to be holding his breath. It was like he was getting up the nerve to speak. "Captain, I think we should stay on point. Priority one: rescue Cedona and find out what she knows. Knowledge is key. Priority two: rescue as many locals as possible. If there is a way to drive the Azlanti off then we take it. Priority three: if the Azlanti want their presence here to be a secret then we start shouting."
"Next; who sees a vulnerability we can tie into a plan?""Details first. You!" Robert said, pointing an accusing finger at the local who had led the latest patch of Azalanti to them. "We need information. Numbers. How many troops? How are they spread out? How many in the garrison, how many out patrolling? Do they keep some of their number guarding that old wreck they were so interested in? How many of you colonists are there? Anyone willing to fight for their own freedom? Any weapons that didn't get seized? Or any heavy-duty construction bots or machines or such around we could weaponize?"
"And a map. At the very least draw us a map of this colony town of yours, since you should know it like the back fo your own hand."
Kamiya smiled at the man apologetically, "Any detail, no matter how small, could be important in us helping the others. As you can see, Mags is very thorough."
The lashunta cocked her head to the side, "Out of curiosity, how did you escape? If it was using a weakness in the Azlanti security then maybe we can make use of it ourselves to gain access."
'Hmm, maybe thirty Azlanti? Plus command. Minus the seven we've already faced. Bad odds.' Thyx tried to modulate his voice, to speak more like Kamiya, but it didn't come through when he asked, "Fulson, let me inspect your sidearm." He winced as he reached out. "Are there medical facilities in the camp?" The android made sure the escapee's sidearm was topped up for ammo. "If you know how to fire a rifle you can take one of these. You should also take a knife. Once we get into the settlement we won't want to make too much noise ... Don't worry. We're not going to put you out front. And we aren't going to face off against any of the guard if we can help it. Not just yet."
-----
"Captain? We didn't see any ships in orbit, only drones. Should we make knocking out their comms a priority? A page out of their playbook?"
"Blood rage?" Sigirijus shrugged "Vesk are prone to it, but most species have some form of instinct when combat starts up. 'Flight, Fight, Freeze or F...'" he caught himself "Something. No-one really talks about it, normally."
He nodded to Kip "Still, turned out to have been a jolly good idea, though I dare say we need to get you some better armour."
'20 to 30? That's a big range. Is he trying to con us? No, wait, humans don't get taught basic scouting in school like civilised folk. It's just incompetence.'
"Alright. Here's the plan, then. We creep closer, keeping an eye out for patrols. We do a wide circle, and come at Fulson's wife's house from the back. If she's home we let Fulson make contact with us in the rear. If not we confirm her security systems."
Sigirjus looked around "We get better information from her before we plan further - though I like the idea of taking down their comms. If it goes bad, we run. If we get separated, use the comms to make contact, remember your codes. If they catch you, talk, but add a '1' prefix to any codes you give them."
"Any issues?" "Then let's move, in case the noise of the fight brings scouts."
Action 1
Kip looked to TortAce - the kindly lashunta was definitely their diplomat in times like this. Curious, she let her eyes roam around the room, taking in all the curiosities the mechanic had acquired.
Action 2
Kip would have raised her eyebrows, if she had any. Standing before the woman, hands on hips, she said, "There's 100 of you, and five of us, and you want us to save you? We almost died just getting here. If you want help, you'd better have some healing serums lying around." She glanced around her. "Do you have any healing serums lying around?"
Action 1:
“So, why are you here?”
Kamiya chuckled at the woman's eagerness brought on by curiosity, "Believe it or not, we're here to see an old friend. We had no idea that Nakondis had been invaded. We came to see Cedona. After a couple of encounters with Azlanti, we literally ran into Jellik and he brought us here. Considering everything we're up against here, it would very helpful if we could get more specifics and fill-in some of the gaps in Jellik's information. Maps would help as well as an accurate count of the enemy as well as a list of the assets available, including medical aide for us as my crew member has kindly pointed out."
The lashunta looked around Aibretta's home with interest, "You have a beautiful home. How difficult is it to see other people within Madelon's Landing? Would Cedona be allowed here to visit you? And by you, us?"
Action 2:
“Will you help us liberate Madelon's Landing from the Azlanti occupation?”
Kamiya looked around at the others. As far as she was concerned, she owed Cedona and so was willing to help because of her but she wasn't about to speak for them all. She is surprised and a little taken aback by Jellik's response to his ex-wife's request. She studied his face for a moment and then Aibretta's, trying to figure out why the man was so jittery and somewhat hesitant to have them help while she was a little too eager.
Finally Kamiya spoke, "I can't speak for everyone but I'm willing to help since this is Cedona's home. When would we be able to see her?"
Action 1:
The android stayed vigilant as his Ysoki companion scouted the way forward. When they reached Aibretta's place of work he visibly relaxed. He scanned over the mechanic but didn't really get a read on her. Her place, however, was a curiosity. He suddenly hoped they could spend some time in this strange sort of wonderland of half-discarded things. When Fulson brought out snacks, Thyx awkwardly walked through everyone,took some, walked back, and started chewing - just loud enough for background noise.
Action 2:
..."There's 100 of you, and five of us, and you want us to save you? We almost died just getting here. If you want help, you'd better have some healing serums lying around." She glanced around her. "Do you have any healing serums lying around?"
Thyx walked over and stood behind Kip, intentionally mirroring her posture like he was some kind of giant shadow with slightly delayed timing. When she looked about the room he did the same, unagressively and un-ironically hoping for some medicine, as if he had been asked if he liked the decor. He was still working on a half-eaten bisquit.
Sorry for delay.
I intend to move things along tomorrow.
Questions?
Game on!
Kip would have raised her eyebrows, if she had any. Standing before the woman, hands on hips, she said, "There's 100 of you, and five of us, and you want us to save you? We almost died just getting here. If you want help, you'd better have some healing serums lying around." She glanced around her. "Do you have any healing serums lying around?"
"The short stuff has it dead to rights - we came here to see a friend, not get dead playing freedom fighters," Robert grunted. Not that the woman had suggested they do it alone, at least, but he had a sinking feeling paying some of his debts to Cedona would involve doing just that. But the last thing he wanted was to appear eager to risk his skin for the warm, fuzzy feeling of having helped.
"That said, it may be we do need to drop a wrench into the Azalanti gears to do what we came to do. But we need help, we need resources and we need information."
"The short stuff has it dead to rights - we came here to see a friend, not get dead playing freedom fighters,"
Listening to Magnusson, the android's face shifted to something serious?, something looking very down-to-business. A thought seemed to be going through his mind, 'But we can play freedom fighters a little bit???'
The captain let Kamiya speak, all too aware of how intimidating his bulk could be. Better to be the stick, and let the Lashunta be the carrot.
Sigirijus raised a hand, preparing to go 'mean captain' to Kamiya's 'nice diplomat' "I'm not convinced. We're sympathetic, of course" he threw a glance to Kamiya "But we are mercenaries, and this is a job where we have extreme danger, little support, and no prospect of getting paid. It would be much safer to just get a few well picked people out."
The mechanic did something that she was not totally convinced, “I didn’t hear a resounding ‘yes’ from you, but we have little choice in the matter. Maybe you’ll remember what a good friend was to you and decide to wholeheartedly help her out.”
'Helping her and helping the whole lot of you may or may not amount to the same thing,' Robert thought, frowning, but decided to play it cool for now - they needed the locals' help to mount some sort of rescue and perhaps in doing so they would end up doing something for the community. But as the Captain said, Robert saw no reason to volunteer to do an inch more than they had to for free.
Kip listened intently, growing excited at the thought of helping. "We should go to the storehouse first - if there's just one there and we can save a life, that would be a good start!"
"We have some excess guns. You may have little training, but an amateur with a gun is still more dangerous than an amateur without." He sighed - this was yet another reason why civilised races demanded their young undertake mandatory military training.
"How can we get the medical supplies from this 'doc'? Or better yet call him to serve?" Sigirijus demanded. "Only a fool commits injured troops, but I am not sure we have the time to wait for recovery."
"I think it likely that the missing patrols will cause a move to a higher alert status. They may send someone out after them, or they may turtle up. It is also possible - though unlikely given the lack of evidence - that this will make them strike out."
"Until they react we can take advantage of their current readiness status, but any obvious attack makes them more likely to decide to blame the colonists."
"My stealth training is elementary at best. Given my size it was always obvious I'd make a terrible scout. I'm a close-range tank, but at the moment I am injured and unarmoured. Tactically I'm close to useless. Does your colony have armour? Stealth gear?"
Action 1:
Kamiya recognized that there was some disappointment from Aibretta's at their hesitation, "I hope you can understand that there is huge risk for us given the numbers, especially in our current situation where quite a few of us are hurt. It's not that we have forgotten about what Cedona has done for us but we are of no help to her if we're dead or dying. I think the fact that we are thinking rationally rather than acting rashly should be applauded, especially when we're outnumbered five to one."
The lashunta listened carefully to the mechanic's outline of how best to start the resistance against the Azlanti. "That is a good place to start. However, may I suggest that we see the doc first as suggested?"
Action 2:
Kamiya studied the map as Aibretta pointed to the different locations and summarized how each location could hobble the Azlanti and their efforts. "Each place has its pros and cons. Personally, I suggest that we leave the hobgars for last because there is no guarantee that they will just affect the Azlanti systems and they can be pesky creatures."
Not sure if the Captain wanted his position known to those planet-side, Kamiya continued using his name which felt odd, "However, I think Kip and Sig have the right of it, we need to get whatever supplies we can to better shore up our own position and weaken theirs." She turned her head towards the mechanic, "Would armour be kept in the storehouse as well or would it be elsewhere?"
Actions 1
Thyx started to speak in a soft voice, "Of course we'll hel..." and the captain began to speak.
"We have some excess guns. ... Only a fool commits injured troops, but I am not sure we have the time to wait for recovery."
Action 2
Thyx made sure his clips were full and offered up ammo to the others where needed."We should go to the storehouse first - if there's just one there and we can save a life, that would be a good start!"
"I agree with Kip. That seems a matter of some urgency. It may take us off mission but if this Rendell Tace fails at his ploy then it could turn this whole situation pear shaped. We should do something there double-quick."