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The game playing izalguun wave in a friendly manner to Jaeric, but they're too involved in the game to talk at length.
The tech team completes repairs a few hours later. The snow dragons aren't pretty and there's a small draft between Zephyr's windshield and its bent frame, but mechanically they're all sound and operating at full speed.
If you leave right away then night will fall before you reach the research station. Naarma offers you lodging in a hut on the south edge of the village.
The village lines up to watch you drive out of town. Naarma wishes you good luck and you're off on your return trip.
"'Preciate the flophouse. Wasn't looking ta see if we could drive onna these things off another snowbank in the dark and end up break sumethin' else."
"Now, sumthin' the size o' that tower's gotta be drawin' HUGE amounts o' power. Don't know if the generator's inside the base, 'r nearby, 'r further out. If the generator's not inside the thing, and not buried, we ought to be able to just cut the line. Well, "just." That much power'll make the cut dangerous, too. Or we could find the breaker box 'n' just flip the connection off. Easy ta fix that, though."
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After a hearty, or at least plentiful, breakfast of granola and yogurt, you depart via the izalguun lined lane out of town. Many hours later, the sun is well on its downward run when you break out of the trees and begin the climb up the steep slope that was so problematic the day before. In this instance it's easier to climb than descend. If you start to slide all you have to do is point upslope a little more and add more power.
You begin your run along the ridgeline assured that you'll have at least an hour's worth of spare sun when you reach the research station. As you approach the tower, a figure appears on top of the wall surrounding the tower. It's one of the ryphorian security guards. He hails you, "Starfinders! Come in here. Dr Monsylkis is at the tower here and would like to speak with you."
A gate into the courtyard compound slides open to reveal the base of the tower. Not even the snow can muffle the shrieks of steam valves and the hum of electric generators emanating from the steel scaffold tower. Regularly spaced blue signal lamps send waves of blue light up the length of the tower, while 15' high, thick reinforced plastic walls enclose the tower’s base like a makeshift fortress.
Your trail runs within 20' of the walls, and there are turns from the trail into the gates through the walls.
Lorne share over comms. "Guards on the walls 'r' watchin' us . . .."
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Granola and yogurt? What in the living f%+@ is this shit? Never tries it, and finds that yogurt is something like milk that went bad and got gloppy. It's disgusting. Then the granola. Again, what the... Where did they even find this stuff in this snowpocalypse anyway? Naarma is really holding out on them and now she's trying to poison them besides.
Never is used to being hungry, so passing on breakfast is no big loss. It's just as well as the rest of the team seems to be afflicted with terrible gas.
Once they get back to base the welcoming committee seems a little too welcome.
"Ahh f#*#. They're on to us. I hope you've got your story really polished, Jaeric. Otherwise we're gonna be trading gunfire in a minute. Keep an eye out for that f+!!ing dragonkin." She grips her taclash and doesn't bother to hide her Why'd you do that? Now I have to kill you face.
”I am no great student of the behavior of organics, Captain, but the fact they are lying about the scientists and attempting to divert us at the entrance may mean the scientists are unaware of their plans. Perhaps we should put our damaged snow dragons away on the ship before going to see Doctor Monsylkis,” observes Zephyr.
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"Roger that advice, Zephyr...and I agree," Jaeric replies, "We should put away the snow-dragons first, and I want Sparky with the ship in case we need to call in heavier support or a quick escape, depending on what we find. So, we head there first unless they try to stop us. Everybody be on guard..."
He then directs his comm to answer the ryphorian. "That's a negative Winterharvest," he explains, "We've got a damaged crawler and we want to park it on our ship first. So, we'll proceed to the landing zone and seek out Dr. Monsylkis as soon as they're secured. If you can have her contact us directly, we'd appreciate it. Starfinders out."
Jaeric pulls forward to lead the three snow-dragons, but avoids the open gate and tower, steering instead towards the main station entrance they used when they first departed to seek out the izalguuns.
"Sparky? When you're on the Pegasus do a tactical scan of the area and send us any info you can get on that tower, its power source, and security. Then, go on standby and have her ready to go the moment we contact you."
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The guards must have been expecting you to make a break. The words are barely out of Jaeric's mouth, his hand is barely twisting the throttle when they bring their rifles to their shoulders and begin to fire. Two slugs slam into Jaeric's dragon, but he's shielded by its body.
The guard to the north doesn't have a line of fire to the lead snow dragon. He settles for a shot and Zephyr and Never that kicks up snow behind them.
Initiative:
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The tower is close to the return path. You can drive past the tower on the south side, but you'll take some rifle fire on your way.
They saw that Jeorik was gping to go around and opened fire.
”If you like, Captain, I can pull ahead and set up to provide covering fire as we go past,” offers Zephyr.
"I like that idea, Zephyr. Give 'em a taste of their own medicine. Lorne? See what you can do to get Sparky to the ship. If we can get the Pegasus off the ground, we'll have air superiority and anyone on those walls will be sitting ducks. But also keep an eye out for Farvenzi. That dragon can fly, and I'd like to make sure we keep her grounded. I imagine she or Spinjack put them up to this...but if Monsylkis had any part in it, we'll need to reconsider our options. And that might require a quick airlift out of this killzone."
”As ordered,” says Zephyr, speeding the snow dragon past the tower and behind a tree (80 feet double move this round, make take another round to get to a good spot).
"Be like ah fart in church. Got it."
The dwarf takes the vehicle into high speed and makes a break for the ship.
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Lorne hits the throttle and drives out in front of the group. Maneuvering around Jaeric and the various rocks keeps him from attaining the snow dragon's highest speed.
Zephyr likewise hits the throttle and swerves to drive right along the base of the wall. He squeezes between the wall and a large rock, sparks fly when the fender grazes the wall.
Jaeric lets the others pull past him and then waits as they draw fire. When the guards on the wall seem engaged with them, he moves up just past the closest outcropping until he can see one. He then leans out the window of his snow-dragon like he did when they drove off the megzoloths that attacked the izalguuns and draws upon the power of Desna to summon an acidic cloud, centering it on the guard.
Zephyr speeds the snow dragon along, moving around and partially behind one of the boulders. "Right, Never, feel free to take a shot if they move over to shoot at us as the others ride past..." adding more quietly, "Let's try not to actually hurt them; if we can force them to take cover instead of shooting at our companions as they go past, I'll call it a win--at least until we get a chance to talk with the scientists."
The dwarf hunches over in his seat without realizing it, as though he can make the vehicle smaller and a less attractive target by doing so. He keeps the throttle open, though, and continues trying to get to the ship as directed.
Jaeric delays until he can see Zephyr and Lorne pull thru the narrow path ahead between the rocky outcroppings.
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Zephyr's wall skimming hides his snow dragon from two of the guards on the wall but the last guard is able to shoot almost straight down at the android and Never as they roar past under his feet. Never can tell because a round punches through the cabin's ceiling and pings off her armor harmlessly.
Sparky's rear window shatters outward. When did the ysoki find time to rig ejection charges around the frame? He slams his pulsecaster rifle down on its bipod on the aft fairing and squeezes off a shot at the only guard still visible on the wall. Electricity arcs and hits the guard squarely in the chest.
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(9 Combat Tracking) single attack, Electricity, 50ft range Nonlethal, 1 charge per use, 20 charge battery
The dwarf hunches over in his seat without realizing it, as though he can make the vehicle smaller and a less attractive target by doing so. He keeps the throttle open, though, and continues trying to get to the ship as directed.
Jaeric delays until he can see Zephyr and Lorne pull thru the narrow path ahead between the rocky outcroppings.
Jaeric glimpses the two guards to the east purposefully dropping into the tower compound, and the south door begins to open. The last guard on the wall fires a round that ricochets off the frame of Jaeric's dragon.
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[dice= damage] 1d6 + 5 [/dice
Sliding his window open and engaging his artillery laser’s head’s up display, Zephyr notices the door to the tower opening up. ”We cover the others as they go past, Never—I don’t want to have to kill any guards, but if they come out of that tower with an armored vehicle or some such threat, we should try to disable its weapons if we can,” says Zephyr.
If just soldiers on foot emerge from the tower, Zephyr shoots warning shots at their feet. If a higher threat target emerges (like an armored vehicle or a heavy weapon), he will fire at it to try and disable its offensive capability.
Jaeric turns his snow dragon so it's facing the southern door, and then puts the vehicle in reverse so he can still follow after Lorne by backing up, if necessary. But for the time being, he just pulls back enough to take some degree of cover behind the nearest outcropping. He then focuses his mystic powers on the compound, calling upon Desna to give him insight into their opponents and their plans. 'Why are they attacking us?' he wonders, 'What do they plan get out of it? And how were they instructed to take us out?'
Focusing on his assigned task, and trusting the team to each handle theirs, Lorne keeps the snow dragon moving towards the ship as directly and quickly as he thinks will avoid an accident.
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Jaeric and Zephyr stop to set their ambush. Lorne drives headlong ahead while swerving around boulders and small rocks, fallen branches and other debris.
From inside the tower compound there comes a loud roar and expanding air. The heavy door swings open to reveal a wide vehicle with a boatlike deck over a thick rounded black skirt. There's a small pilothouse at the bow. One of the guards is conning the hovercraft through the opening while a second props his rifle against the bulwark lining the sides of the craft. The guard from the wall drops onto the deck while the vessel slowly wiggles free of the gateway.
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The hovercraft wriggles free of the gate, and pivots to pursue. The guards aren't thinking about why, only about how. How to drive, how to shoot, and their thoughts are laced with fear of failure. The two on deck raise their rifle toward the only obvious target, Jaeric.
"Ahead on the right! Above the trees!" Sparky calls out the bogey. It's Farvenzi and Spinjack swooping down toward you. They're about forty feet away when Spinjack jumps from the dragonkin's back and ignites his jetpack.
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Zephyr still doesn’t want to kill these guys unless we have to, so disabling the vehicle so they can’t chase us seems the right call for now. With his heavy weapon able to bypass a decent amount of hardness (6 points), hopefully that shot will make some progress that direction and/or convince the attackers they are outgunned. And thanks for letting him take the shot! Depending on the results from his readied action, he may shoot again for his turn this round, but I’ll wait to see how effective that first shot is before having Zephyr decide what to do this round.
On his turn, Zephyr continues to fire at the hovercraft, trying to destabilize or disable it so they could all get away.
"Torag's toenails tha' was close! Sparky, try ta ground 'em!"
Lorne kicks over to full team comm. "Usin' artillery 'r mortars ta try ta keep us off t'e road. Pair here ta slow us more 'n' that. Don't go ta sleep back there!"
He keeps pushing the vehicle towards the ship, knowing he's going to have to go more around than he wants.
He'll pull his pistol, getting ready to take pot shots if he has to.
Sparky will set his combat tracking on Frvenzi, before trying to shoot him.
"I'll head your way, Lorne! Zephyr? Try to pin down those guards. There's just three of them on the skiff. From what I can tell of their minds, they're just acting on orders. So, if you can hold them back here, I'll see what I can do to help Lorne and Sparky get to the ship. After that, if we can capture the security leaders, maybe I can convince them to call off the attack? If not, we'll threaten to shoot down the tower if they don't..."
Jaeric guns his snow dragon in reverse, then does a complete 180-degree turn to follow after the tracks Lorne left.
”Acknowledged,” says Zephyr concisely as he continues to shoot. Looking over his shoulder, he adds, ”Never, you still back there?”
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Zephyr's rifle punches a second large hole in the hovercraft's skirt. It starts to list to the side, and swerves to the right into a boulder. The guards on deck tumble to the metal surface. The driver frantically works the controls. The large rudders swing to the side but at low speed don't have a lot of control authority. The two guards on deck ground their rifle stocks against the boulder and pole the hovercraft off. The craft begins inching forward and slowly regaining speed.
Jaeric backs his dragon, pivots it, and begins his pursuit of Lorne.
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Farvenzi swoops in front of your snow dragon and from just above roof level, unloads on it with a machine gun. This punishment is just too much for the treads. One of them buckles, breaks and rolls off its bogies. The dragon swereves into a permanent left hand turn.
Spinjack flies above you and stops to hover there with his laser rifle pointed down, waiting for your move.
Sparky cranes his neck to look out the window. "They didn't ask for us to surrender. So what now?"
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Never grits her teeth at the explosion from Lorne's direction. Whatever this plan was, it didn't work. She grips her taclash and singing disk and jumps off the snow dragon, tumbling to a stop and running in the direction of the trailing sled full of gun-wielding idiots.
2x Move (moving 10 squares)
Beginning EP: 1
Ending EP: 2
"What now? Shoot t'e buggers! Ground 'em if ya can, kill 'em if they make ya."
Lorne plays with the Snowcat's controls for a bit, seeing if he can do more than back and forth in a circle, not a very good evasive maneuver, but slaps the controls with a fist in frustration very quickly. Then he looks up and uses his pea-shooter against the heavily armed flying opponents.
Meanwhile Sparky takes another shot as well.