Thyx watched as everyone pounce at once. He had moved too slow and the cadet was riddled with knife and bullet and some strange sudden spark! He looked over the body and searched it for ammunition. "Kamiya? I think I found a sidearm for you."
"Sorry, no sidearm. I should have recognized the difference in the muzzle sound." Thyx collected the ammo then moved to a stone and sat down hard. Crimson simulplasma, compatible with the real thing, dribble out of two large wounds. "They were children. I feel like I used to be better at this", he muttered to himself.
”Kid on the front lines, eh?” Robert grunted as they got a good, close look at their fallen enemies. ”Wonder if their bosses don’t care… or if this was supposed to be a safe little OP to bloody up a patch of raw recruits? You know, easy, low risk, just kicking some unarmed colonists around a bit, do some crowd control, that sort of thing?”
”Anyway, we won’t get any answers out here in the boonies,” he went on, taking a quick look at the pile of weapons and decided he wanted nothing to do with any of them. ”Take five here and then press on? You two holding together?” he glanced at Thyx and the only-recently-almost-shot-to-death Sigirijus. "'cause I sure am not going to carry you if you can't make it on your own."
OOC: Just take care of your personal stuff and we'll take care of Kamiya.
Stay strong!
Yes, Robert lost 5 stamina points. I have it on my combat spreadsheet but forgot to update the turn recap.
I don't think anyone in this group can heal magically but Kamiya has a healing serum (similar to what Kip used on Sig).
Questions?
Game on!
Sigirijus groaned "Cadets? I nearly died to cadets? I know I didn't have my armour, but..."
"Kip - you might have saved me with that injection. I think we should look at buying a stash of whatever you used once we actually make some profit."
Pushing himself to his feet he continued. "Well, looks like I'll have a chance to show you why I'm a frontline fighter. Magnusson - check the weapons for security, then hand them out."
He looked around "Kamiya, Kip - check these cadets for anything we can use. If we're lucky - and my own experiences holds out - one of them will have been drafting a letter back to mum and dad over the last few days and we might get an idea of what's happening."
"Thyx, you and I need to find somewhere to bury them." Sigirijus growled "Can't burn them here."
He looked over to Thyx "Can we see if these kids haven't reported back? I'm tempted to suggest we go back to the ship, use the medbay, maybe try to scavenge some armour plates and try again rather than push on with two wounded. On the other hand, if they know a patrol has gone down they might well send more forces out this way." he looked to his crew "Thoughts?"
OOC: I'll wait one more day for Kip and/or Kamiya to post before moving things along, especially since the captain asked for some input.
Questions?
Game on!
"Kip - you might have saved me with that injection. I think we should look at buying a stash of whatever you used once we actually make some profit."
Kip nodded vigorously. "Yes, we should have lots! I only carried the one." It had been in her cheek pouch for so long that it felt weirdly empty without it. "I'm glad I had it. We haven't had you back for so long that I'm bored of you yet." She grinned, making sure he knew she was joking.
He looked around "Kamiya, Kip - check these cadets for anything we can use. If we're lucky - and my own experiences holds out - one of them will have been drafting a letter back to mum and dad over the last few days and we might get an idea of what's happening."
Kip nodded grimly, then began the task of searching carefully through the cadet's belongings. She unconsciously chose to search the two she hadn't fought with, and she kept her eyes carefully away from their faces. This was a job, nothing more.
Looking around, Kip said, "I think we should push on. Maybe beat news of our arrival back to the settlement. But if we come across another patrol, maybe this time we should just scamper."
"Thyx, you and I need to find somewhere to bury them." Sigirijus growled "Can't burn them here."
”Bury them? Why bother? They sure wouldn’t have returned the favor, and it’s not like they are using those bodies for anything anymore. Just roll them over and leave them for the local fauna to deal with – maybe there’s something evolved on this damn rock that can digest them! And if not, good riddance to that beastie as well!”
He looked over to Thyx "Can we see if these kids haven't reported back? I'm tempted to suggest we go back to the ship, use the medbay, maybe try to scavenge some armour plates and try again rather than push on with two wounded. On the other hand, if they know a patrol has gone down they might well send more forces out this way." he looked to his crew "Thoughts?"
”Didn’t hear any of them shouting to someone over comms, but could be one of them had something pre-programmed ready, so they only needed to tap a button,” Robert grunted, giving the enemies’ meager possessions another look. ”But even if they didn’t, they are sure to be missed, eventually. So taking a few hours off now might just mean running into even more patrols later, these ones forewarned of our presence.”
OOC: I suppose they also have comms; everyone in sci-fi has comms, right? :)
Questions?
Game on!
[dice=Computers to hack the team leader's comm]1d20 + 8
OOC: the problem with sci-fi gaming, too much info potentially available.
Let's just say that these are simple communication devices and do NOT store information. No, you can't download the cadet's browsing history either. :)
Questions?
Game on!
"Thyx, you and I need to find somewhere to bury them." Sigirijus growled "Can't burn them here."
He looked over to Thyx "Can we see if these kids haven't reported back? I'm tempted to suggest we go back to the ship, use the medbay, maybe try to scavenge some armour plates and try again rather than push on with two wounded. On the other hand, if they know a patrol has gone down they might well send more forces out this way." he looked to his crew "Thoughts?"
"A quick scouting mission - information gathering only - sounds warranted. We might find out if an alarm was raised. If their comms don't have tracers on them or if they don't have location beacons on them, then they must report in verbally. It would be standard procedure for them to report in .... report in every ... sorry captain, I, I can't remember."
"One of the cadets did yell something out. Magnusson, you yelled back. What did they say?"
"The cadet thought we were from here. They have been killing the locals, it sounds like an extermination ... and these Azlanti are 'believers', indoctrinated."
Sigirijus turned up his muzzle at the armour "Alright Magnusson. Time is of the essence. Leave the bodies and the armour. Mark the location. We'll come back once we finish our mission." Sigirijus sighed and groaned "I'll carry the rifles and knives no-one else is using. I'm used to lugging around fifty kilos of armour, might as well be useful."
"Alright - injured get a short break while everyone else stands watch. Then we move out."
"Ready but don't fire." Sigirijus commanded "Anyone know if these things are sentient? Kamiya, can you sense them? If so, you're the velvet glove."
Sigirijus stood up. And up. And up. Vesk posture tended to slumped heads and bowed shoulders, mostly because the Vesk head was heavy. That many spikes, and scales, and thick bones, and most of all teeth came with an evolutionary cost that precluded human style vertical bipedalism. As he rose he slow-triggered his inner suit, the flight suit's various air cushioning inflating slowly.
As he reached his full height some instinct triggered. A sense that what was could go many ways. In one of those ways...
Lightning discharged behind him, silhouetting him for a moment as thunder rumbled in the distance. His active flight suit started to discharge slightly, and the fog around the captain glowed.
He growled, and grunted once, doing his best to look intimidating without threatening.
Benefit: You gain a +1 insight bonus to Intimidate checks. In addition, when you successfully use Intimidate to bully an opponent, the target must attempt a Will saving throw once the intimidation wears off. The DC is equal to 10 + your number of ranks in Intimidate. If the target fails this save, their attitude toward you becomes indifferent and they won’t report you to any authorities.
Classes Witchwarper 0
School illusion
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets one creature
Duration 10 minutes
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
Description
You pull gossamer threads from other, more genteel realities and wrap the target in them, smoothing the edges of their personality and accentuating their charms. The target gains a +1 circumstance bonus to Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks. Additionally, a creature affected by this spell can attempt a Diplomacy check to gather information in only 10 minutes. Once any individual under the effects of a charming veneer spell you cast has used this benefit to gather information in a specific settlement or local region, no target of a charming veneer spell you cast can do so again for 24 hours.
Action 1
Sigirijus turned up his muzzle at the armour "Alright Magnusson. Time is of the essence. Leave the bodies and the armour. Mark the location. We'll come back once we finish our mission."
”Sure thing, boss,” Robert grunted, thinking that with any luck, they would need to leave quickly enough that burying the dead would become mere wishful thought. That, or some local beastie would have wandered over and decide to find out if off-worlder was digestible.
Action 2
He growled, and grunted once, doing his best to look intimidating without threatening.
Robert could feel his own hackles rising at the Vesk’s performance, and that was with him being 99% certain the giant lizard wasn’t about to rip out his throat. With any luck, the local simian would find the display equally impressive and maintain a healthy distance – the last they needed was wasting time and resources playing with local fauna while they still had all those Azalanti to figure out.
Action 1
Thyx shoved one of the knives in his boot. His breathing was laboured and the pain from the two bullet wounds was constant. A people got ready to go he stood up, "I'm ready to get back to work captain."
Action 2
At the captain's word Thyx stood off the the side and shouldered his rifle, a sign of non-aggression, as he rested his hand gently on his automatic. Then he caught Sigirijus out of the corner of his eye after which it was all he could see. 'majestic!'
Two of the gibbon-like creatures came near. One started to sniff up the android's left leg and the other leapt onto his left shoulder. He winced as the creature put weight on the, all too fresh, bullet wound. "Ah, I think that didn't quite send the message you intended Sir." About ready to draw Thyx realized their behaviour wasn't aggressive, though troubling, it was almost playful. The simian at his leg was reaching to his belt line and the one on his shoulder reached down towards the first. "What? Ah, my comms unit? You want to contact someone? Captain, I think they need to send a message. They're indicating to my comms uni... hey, no. That's mine. Give it back. No, no. Stop licking it. Awe, come on, don't do that. They're only going after my. Stop, I said stop it." A flip coin to Sigirijus' commanding presence, Thyx seemed somehow smaller, his voice, deadpan, was winey in comparrison. The creature he was carrying leapt off and moved back to plant cover. The creature at his leg rushed over to look Kip in the eye.
Robert’s amusement faded quickly as he got his own share of simian attention. Luckily, he realized electricity was what the creatures were really drawn to – Sigi’s electric discharge may have been part of why the creatures were so impressed with the huge Vesk – and he had the means to replicate the trick. Whenever the critters began to get too physical with him, he’d use a simple equation to conjure a ray of electricity and zap some nearby rock to send the critters swarming and dancing. Of course, after they lost interest in the target of his energy projection they were due to be twice as interested in him – talk about cure being worse than the disease. Still, he hoped they’d reach the settlement and he would have a chance to sick the critters on some Azalanti goon before things got too out of hand.
Kip shrieked in delight as the strange blue monkeys began to climb over her. Assuming it was some sort of wrestling game, the ysoki joined in with glee, tumbling over the marshy ground with the curious creatures. Agile as she was, she was able to keep her batteries out of the hands of the creatures, and she didn't mind the distraction.
Until, that was, it was time to take point again. "Oi! You, off my head! How'm I supposed to be quiet with you making all that racket? Come on, leave off!"
Kamiya watched the creatures watch the Captain. The look of awe on their faces was quite the sight to see. Her face was a mixture of apprehension and fascination, ”These must be the hobgars that I read about. Under no circumstances can we lead them back to Honu. They would start gnawing on his wiring and bad things could happen.” She swatted away a roaming hand looking for anything electrical. ”I don’t see them going anywhere and after probing their minds, there’s nothing to be done to reason with them.”
"Hog-bars?" the captain asks dubiously "Should I try to scare them off?" A sharp look at Kip's wrestling "Looks like it might be hard to infiltrate with these guys around."
Good luck with that. Don't worry about the game. Just keep us informed as you are able.
Turn 036 - Persistent Local Fauna
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, Thyx
, miss
"No! Bad hobgoblin monkey!" Kip scolded when one nipped at Thyx. However, the mood seemed to be abruptly changing as the monkeys became electric.
Still hoping to avoid actually hurting them, Kip took her sidearm and pointed it at a stump near the feet of the nearest creature. She shot the stump, which exploded into a pile of woodchips. "Go away!" she yelled, hoping to intimidate them so they wouldn't need to fight.
Thyx watched as one of the larger creatures rushed him, "They're coming back for another round." The hobgar grabbed at his leg but the gunner stepped back quickly with a foot extended forward tripping in into the earth. The simian didn't like that one bit and, encouraged by the hooting of its' cohorts, leapt on and tried to bite his shoulder. Thyx had his hand raised. He held the hobgar back by its' forehead. An instinct rose and his body went into a complex, jiu jitsu like maneuver, falling back while twisting to toss the thing off of him. "Whoa, no, captain - I'm going to have to deal with this."
His reflexes remembered the command but his body didn't remember the maneuver. All he managed to do was a spectacular roll on the ground to pop back up five feet from where he was. He started to lose patience and drew his side arm.
-edited
OOC: I'll wait for a couple of more responses before recapping and moving things along.
Questions?
Game on!
Kamiya was fairly certain that she wouldn't be able to use her abilities on the hobgars considering they weren't sentient. She tried to remember what she had read on the ship, trying to recall anything that may be of value to get the buggers to go away.
Not wanting to have to deal with a bunch of irate simians, Kamiya tried her best in posture and tone of voice to shoo the hobgars away.
She motioned at the Captain who had put on such a marvellous display moments before, "See if they'll respond to you if you motion for them to go away - but not menacingly."
Her voice had a soothing quality but her demeanour was stern albeit non-threatening as she said, "I know that you can't understand a word I'm saying but you really need to back off and leave now. You can't have our batteries and you may be hurt if you don't comply." She clapped loudly to get their attention and pointed at the trees, "Now go away!"
"Well done Kip! A strong, form voice - that's the ticket! You'll be a captain yourself soon, if you keep this up."
The captain was abrupt "Everyone find an ambush position.". Grabbing at the man to haul him to cover he asked further "How many of what are in pursuit?"
The captain was abrupt "Everyone find an ambush position."
Kip had almost dove into the bushes at the site of the panicked human; the Captain's orders were music to her ears. Finding a patch of damp, staticky undergrowth, the small ysoki tucked herself into it, pistol out, knife in her teeth, and tried to keep an eye on all sides at once.
Action 1:
Kamiya watched the hobgars scamper into the woods and can't help but involuntarily shudder at the thought of what they could do to Honu should they come across him. She hoped that they had landed far enough away from any hobgar habitat so that that didn't happen.
Action 2:
Kamiya skidded to a surprised stop as the stranger almost crashed into them. He seemed quite panicked and she had her doubts as to whether he'd be able to coherently answer the Captain. She found it odd that he never questioned their presence in the forest.
While the Captain tried to get verbal answers out of the man, the lashunta tried to detect the man's thoughts. She expected them to be scattered but hoped that she'd be able to tease some info out of the man's head that would help them face this new threat.
As she focused on the man's thoughts, she lowered herself into some foliage so that she wouldn't be readily visible and grabbed a grenade from her belt in case it was needed.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
Kip stealth = 24
The android had his automatic out and had been following the creatures path back into the brush, only now starting to relax when the stranger appeared. Then it was out again with his side arm. He didn't need any encouraging to leap into the bush with the others.
Thyx could see the tall broad leaves moving over Robert's head, "Good work Magnusson. Reel them in." At that, the faded android, holding his shoulder wound with his left hand and automatic in his right, snuck around the edge of cover to get a little closer. He looked at his comms unit, the only thing he had with a battery in it, and he rolled it out into the path of the oncoming soldiers. 'Surely that won't be enough to bring the creatures back after scaring them off so thoroughly - well, worth a try.'
Hit
Hefting the unfamiliar rifle in her hands, Kip took a moment to get used to the weight of it. Resting her forearm on a rock, she took careful aim at the middle of the three soldiers.
The rifle bucked hard as she pulled the trigger, and she grunted as it slammed into her shoulder. That's gonna leave a mark. Her ears rang, the weapon was far louder than her pistol. But the range was better, and she saw the soldier stagger back under the impact, and a bloom of red start spreading across their belly.
Round 1:
Kamiya's years of supposed recklessness as TortAce caused her to do something risky before the firefight started and bullets began flying everywhere. The lashunta dashed out of her cover and ran forward. As she ran she pulled the pin in the frag grenade she was holding and then launched it at the closest two cadets.
Turn 039 - Magnusson Reels Them In
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, miss
, hit but concealment
, hit
Thyx hustled under cover of the verdant terrain. He breathed out sharply and rose his pistol, wincing a bit as he held his shoulder wound. He could see a cadet, half hidden, shoot and hit Kamiya! The android turned sideways, grimaced, standing tall in the greenery, and returned fire. Instantly, a grunt came from inside the bush! He couldn't mark the target anymore. "Get to cover you crazy zoomie!"
Round 2:
Kamiya gasped as she was pierced by a bullet. It hurt a heck of a lot more than road rash. Knowing that she couldn't stay out in the open, she dove into the bush. As she tried to put pressure on her wound, her antennae twitched as she sought to daze the cadet closest to her.
The captain took a deep breath, swore, then bolted through the clearing, battlecry on his jaws.
Rather than run into gunfire, he veered right at the last minute, throwing himself behind the dubious cover of the hillock that rose out of the mist.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, pass
, hit
, miss
, hit
, hit
Kip crept through the undergrowth, easily keeping her head down. Seeing her target fall, she switched to the next soldier in line. This time she was careful to snug the longarm up against her shoulder, and the kickback didn't hurt as much. Still, she was definitely going to be bruised.
However, the distance and the fog acted against her, and the bullet whined past the soldier's ear.
Thyx rushed past Kamiya only pausing for a quick glance and a second to speak, "Be careful. You aren't wrapped in a starship." She looked like she would recover well so he finally landed a few feat away from the fallen cadet. 'Another child. They won't all be. I'm sure', he turned his head sharp to the next foe and shot from the hip. Just after he fired he heard the wiz of a rifle round cut through the clearing. A bullet rung off the cadets helmet, sending a shockwave to their skull that would leave a deep concussion.
The cadet's head snapped back and they collapsed in the green. 'Was that Kip's shot or mine - what does it matter. Keep moving.'