GM Zoomba's Cornered Rat (Inactive)

Game Master Zoomba

"Well, if there are direct orders" says Gunnz, who doesn't seem at all upset by the possibility...

And she may also have the "signature stunt(flyby)" exploit...

"Best set up the right music..." she adds.

"Let's see how they like that!"

Assuming one of the drones is kind enough to 'force' us into the dangerous stunt...

Round 3 shots
Kosigan takes a shot at a drone while Varuthalla unloads again on the turret. The coilgun misses, but the vesk's shots leave some marks on the encamped defense.

Round 4 reactions

In a flurry of activity at Kuaieyo's command, Gil-Oloth springs to action. The elf juices a bunch of the ship's systems let me know how you want to split those 15 restored shields while also scanning the enemy craft.

The drones are tiny drone fighters of a remarkably well-made type. Unmanned and controlled by a nearby control platform in fact these remind you remarkably of the repruposed Drones Datch has used before, in mission 208, albeit a superior model they are fast but with limited crew actions.
Hard stats you know: AC 28, TL 28, HP 45, 50 shield in each quadrant right now, speed 10 w/ Good maneuverability.
In their fore they have a plasma cannon and explosive missile launcher, while their persistent particle beam is in their turret. Their other 3 sides have no dedicated weapons.

Gunnz watches but holds her nerve as the 'red' drone circles around in a wide loop to get right by her side while the 'blue' drone slowly continues its approach up your aft. Both weave back and forth evasively as they do so.

Red Evade?: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (19) + 19 = 38
Blue evade?: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (18) + 19 = 37

They have moved into their positions this round. Gunnz fly as you will!

Round 4
Helm phase (fine to use above roll, but move where you're going to be)
Gunnery Phase

Turret, 12 damage
Drake (pre-shield regen allotment): Port shields 19/50, Starboard shields 26/50

Anyone else want to Gunner with me this found, to take advantage of the Flyby on Red? I can Broadside again to fire Fore & Turret vs Red if it's just me, or if someone else wants to join in, two of us can each Fire at Will with Fore and Turret?
Has anyone seen Troivayan? He's got a +15 Gunnery check...should I just bot him for two Fire at Wills?

should I just bot him for two Fire at Wills?

Yes, worst case he comes back and takes his turn. Would you rather have the lock-on +2 bonus or another gunner? Not many jumped on guns last round so I'm happy to do it.

I assume from the diagonals on the map they are both facing the rear of the Drake?

Twisting around around Gunnz finds no opportunity for a flyby this time, but twists and turns to get out of their forward arcs.

So evade makingour AC 29 for this round.

Troivayan stumbles out of his cabin, awakened by the evasive action and the booms and shudders of combat. He looks groggy and confused as he enters the bridge and looks out the viewport. "Oh . . ." He stabs at a few buttons to see the ship's status. "Yeah, we're good. I'm gonna crash. Call me when we land." He almost trips over his own feet as he makes his way back down the corridor to his bunk.

I've been away for the past week as mentioned in Discussion, but the above is pretty realistic for Troivayan anyway! In the *unlikely* event things go south, he will come out and help.

The rear and the back bit of the port. After the move, Red is in your forward and port arcs (right on the line) and Blue in your forward.

Gunnz zigs and zags and gets you out of most the the drones' firing arcs!

Fire Away!

Red rnd 5 Init: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (6) + 23 = 29
Blue rnd 5 Init: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (7) + 23 = 30

Round 4
GUNNERY!!!

Round 5
Engineering Phase
Helm Init (full if lower than 29)
Helm Phase (if higher than 29)
Gunnery Phase

Turret, 12 damage
Drake (pre-shield regen allotment): Port shields 19/50, Starboard shields 26/50

Whoops: Forgot their shots
Red Particle Beam: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (9) + 18 = 27 for fore damage: 10d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 2, 1, 5, 1, 6, 1, 3, 1) = 22
Blue Particle Beam: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (7) + 18 = 25 for fore damage: 10d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 1, 1, 4, 2, 5, 1, 5, 5) = 29
Turret: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17 for damage: 8d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 1, 3, 4, 6, 2, 5) = 27

Thanks to Gunnz's evasive maneuvers, all of the shots against you miss!

Would you rather have the lock-on +2 bonus or another gunner?

moar dakka XD

I've been away for the past week as mentioned in Discussion, but the above is pretty realistic for Troivayan anyway!

Oops, I missed your away notification!! wb :D If Troivayan is looking for something to do, please hop into a Gunner or Chief Mate role! Troivayan is tied with Varuthalla for best Gunnery bonus (outside of Gunnz, who's Piloting), or, he's got a pretty mean Acrobatics/Athletics, so some Maintenance Panel Access or Targeting Aid would be appreciated :)

I'm assuming someone will join Varuthalla in Gunnery; therefore I'll take the Fore Weapons and leave both Turret weapons, plus Port coilgun, open for others to use vs Red.
For that matter, the remaining turret is in our Aft & Starboard, so. Lots of things to shoot at.

Varuthalla's voice again comes playfully over the ship's comms. "Aw, can't thread the needle of a flyby in a Drake, Gunnz? It's a poor doshko that blames the tooth, you know!" she teases, as she lines up the Fore weaponry on Red.

Round 4 Gunnery, Fire at Will w/ Fore at Red Drone; using one ICM +3; I think there's 1 left.
Plasma Torpedo vs Red TL: 1d20 + 15 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 15 - 4 = 12
P Particle Beam vs Red AC: 1d20 + 15 - 4 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 15 - 4 + 3 = 25

Plasma torpedo dmg: 5d10 ⇒ (10, 8, 3, 4, 10) = 35
P Partible Beam dmg: 10d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 3, 1, 6, 5, 5, 5, 2, 6) = 41 42 with our Divert

round 5 init, node: 1d20 + 24 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 24 + 3 = 36
As the Drakes admittedly impressive array of weapons starts to play its deadly tale of destruction one the drones, Gunnz continues to try and predict their moves.

"Busses have their place." admits Gunnz. "But it is the school run, not the race track. Let's see if they want to try and park in front of me this time. We'll run them over just like the First Seeker wanted."

Sefel jumps to the turret and activates the heavy antimatter missile launcher!

Round 4 gunnery: again, using one of the ship's +3 bonuses

gunnery vs RED drone TL, heavy antimatter missile launcher damage: 1d20 + 14 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 14 + 3 = 3510d10 ⇒ (5, 9, 9, 4, 8, 8, 3, 1, 1, 2) = 50

Troivayan moves to the port coilgun to also fire at the drone.

Coligun v Red: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34 for damage: 4d4 ⇒ (2, 1, 1, 4) = 8 10 with weapon system boost

A well-steered antimatter missile collapses the first drone's shiels, and coilgun and particle beam fire hammers its exposed hull. Under the combined assault, the drone explodes!

The remaining drone is undeterred as it continues to zig and zag evasively while circling back around towards you.

Evade: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (6) + 19 = 25

It's moved: fly away Gunnz!

Round 5
Helm phase
GUNNERY!!!

Turret, 12 damage
Drake: Port shields 27/50, Starboard shields 33/50

Moved

"If our esteemed first Seeker really wanted a fly by, we'd have been given a Pegasus. Now that baby can fly past anything." says the saddened Gunnz who can't quite bring the bus around in a tight enough curve to literally fly a ring around it.

Not that is stops her putting in a gratuitously large number of twists and turns... all in name of "evasion". "They docked my pay last time I returned a ship all banged up." she explains over the loud sounds of SMC/.

evade DC25: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (6) + 24 = 30

init, round 6, node: 1d20 + 24 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 24 + 3 = 38

Gunnz continues to help you all line up your shots!

Starship Combat in PbP is tricky to balance keeping things moving with waiting for each role to have their chance, so I am aware Engineering/Science hasn't rolled yet for Round '5'.

Feel free to do that now, as well as Fire. Everyone but Gunnz can take their Round 5 actions now!

Sefel swings the turret around and aims the missile launcher at the other drone.

gunnery vs BLUE drone TL, heavy antimatter missile launcher damage: 1d20 + 14 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 14 + 3 = 2410d10 ⇒ (1, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 8, 6, 1, 7) = 48

Starship Combat in PbP is tricky to balance keeping things moving with waiting for each role to have their chance, so I am aware Engineering/Science hasn't rolled yet for Round '5'.

Agreed - but I think we're in a good spot, balancing the competing needs. Nothing kills engagement like stopping to double-check every single thing, or having days-long discussions about "do you mind if I take that last ICM..?" or whatever.

Varuthalla cheers on Sefel and Troivayan. "Ha, good shooting team! One down, one to go!" She'll try and line up a shot with the Fore persistent particle beam. Taking the last ICM +3 this round
P Particle Beam vs Blue AC: 1d20 + 15 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 15 + 3 = 21
P Partible Beam dmg: 10d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 3, 6, 4, 3, 6, 5, 4, 1) = 39

Kosigan fires one of the coilguns at the nearest remaining target.

Gunnery: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (2, 2, 4, 2) = 10

Gil-Oloth diverts part of the core power energy towards the shields.

Engineering DC25: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (10) + 21 = 31 +13PS / +12 SS

Troivayan fires the light particle cannon at the drone.

Attack: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (7) + 15 = 22 for damage: 3d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 6) = 10

While Gil-Oloth restores most of the remaingin shileds and Gunnz continues to fly expertly, the drone maanges to evade all of your shots this round. Meanwhile its own shot narrowly manages to strike into your forward shileds

Drone round 5 turret beam: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (10) + 18 = 28 for damage: 10d6 ⇒ (6, 4, 3, 4, 1, 1, 5, 3, 1, 2) = 30
Turrt round 5 attack: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18 for damage: 8d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 4, 3, 5, 5, 6, 3) = 32

Round 6 Init: 1d20 + 23 ⇒ (7) + 23 = 30

The drone continues to try and circle behind you. Meanwhile over your comms you hear Prime-Two signal [small]<Working to wrap up this section. Hold out a bit longer and we'll try to re-support!>[/smaller]

Evade?: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (13) + 19 = 32

Drone has moved: Gunnz feel free to pilot and everyone can take their round 6 actions!

Round 6

Engineering Phase
Helm phase
Gunnery

Turret, 12 damage
Drake: Fore shields 20/50, Port shields 40/50, Starboard shields 45/50

Sefel grumbles at the drone's persistence but persists. He stops to think about its movements and looks for a way to aim the missiles that will keep them close to locking on.

You can't dodge this forever!

gunnery vs BLUE drone TL, heavy antimatter missile launcher damage: 1d20 + 14 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 14 + 3 = 3010d10 ⇒ (10, 3, 3, 1, 3, 3, 9, 2, 5, 10) = 49

Gunnz continues to circle.

"I'll keep us facing her, but let me know if you want to give our forward shields a break ...."

The music continues to rock in time with the blasts of space combat.

"Wheeee. Time to say Aloha!"
evade DC25: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (3) + 24 = 27

From her couch, Gil-Oloth lavishly continues to divert the core power toward the shields.

Engineering DC25: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (9) + 21 = 30 +20 towards the FS, +5 towards the PS

I'm confused as to what Jhaeman/Troivayan's doing. Are we okay to just keep...botting Troivayan? If so,
Varuthalla calls out to Troivayan. "This Blue one's pissing me off; Troivayan, gimme a targeting bead!"
Botting Troivayan, spending Free RP to Targeting Aid:
Targeting Aid, DC 30: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (20) + 17 = 37

Varuthalla Fires-at-Will with both Fore Weapons, one ICM+3 on the Beam; no minuses from Targeting Aid.
P Particle Beam vs Blue AC: 1d20 + 15 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 15 + 3 = 35
Plasma Torpedo vs Blue TL: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27
P Particle Beam dmg: 10d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 4, 6, 5, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6) = 39
Plasma Torpedo dmg: 5d10 ⇒ (3, 8, 7, 4, 3) = 25

Kosigan fires the coilgun once again.

Gunnery: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
Damage: 4d4 ⇒ (2, 1, 1, 4) = 8

Troivayan is in his room, trying to recover. He doesn't usually participate in starship combats--it's an established thing with the character--except in the very rare circumstance the Starfinders could be actually losing. But if you really want to bot him as an extra number to roll some dice, you can.

As Gunnz zooms around, Sefel and Varuthalla lands two soldi hits on the drone. Combined they obliterate the craft's shields and crack its hull enough that it careens into a nearby asteroid and explodes into shards that drift amongst the Diaspora!

Soon after, Prime-Two manages to return towards you - having eliminated its own bogeys - and together you make short work of the last turret. Handwaving that last hazard part as with the drones down and some support returning next round it wasn't going to last more than another moment.

Through your viewscreens you see the lights on the surviving drone ships go dark as they disengage from battle, fleeing to disappear behind distant asteroids to avoid further fire. Burnt and sparking bits of metal debris from destroyed ships float in the spaces between asteroids as over a third of the drone fleet has been eradicated. Starfinder vessels take defensive positions near the asteroid base, and a soon after, First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo sends a message over comms. “Excellent work out there Prime-One!. We managed to drive the facility’s drone defenders away. We must stay on guard to make sure the remaining drone ships won’t try to attack us again. That means you have to go in to the Laoite base alone—but I’m sure you’re better equipped than anyone else to take care of that. Unfortunately, the facility’s staff has concealed the entrances to the base, and the asteroid is coated in a basalt mineral that blocks even the most powerful of our fleet’s sensors. This means you must land your ship on the asteroid’s surface and continue on foot to locate an entrance. Proceed as soon as you’re ready.”

Troivayan emerges from his room and assembles near the passenger hatch. He looks a bit twitchy and his pupils are dilated. "Lasers, robots, in and out, get Luwazi's credits and go home. Let's do this!" he shouts to no one in particular.

Consuming a Tier 1 Excitant.

The lashunta responds to Luwazi with a question, musing hopefully.

Any hints about which side of the asteroid it's on? Surely somebody's sensors picked up ships departing a particular side or surface.

He hopes for a short walk once they land.

Could he try a computers check to see about those sensors or are we basically relying on survival checks on foot?

On foot!? No way. Lets prepare my couch.

From her couch, Gil-Oloth prepares herself for a space exit, removing the hydrojet and putting in its place an infrared sensor.

She also activates her environmental protection from her armor.

Gunnz casts a disappointed look back at the pilots seat of the Drake. It maybe a bus, but at least it is flying.

She follows Gil's example and goes through her own suits checklist, and doublechecks her weapons and batteries are all ready.

As you check your gear and prep for a quick landing Gunnz can approach the target moon. The basalt-lined rock continues to wreck havoc with your standard landing sensors, and the small jagged rock offers no obvious landing pad. It's going to be a tricky landing...

So, for this land/enter section it will be some skill checks needed over a few steps. For this first bit - the landing itself - I'll need a difficult Piloting check to bring your ship down, while the rest of the crew can help guide it in and advise on the proper trajectory with Engineering, Perception, or Physical Science checks. Here we're looking for an overall number of successes from the group as a whole, but at least one must be the one making Piloting check.

<Well done, everyone,> Kosigan projects. Seeing Troivayan emerge from quarters, it adds to the others, <Well, almost everyone.>

The khizar knows better than to try to get between Gunnz and the pilot's chair, despite the complaints, so it starts making adjustments to the landing craft to prepare for descent.

:Engineering: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34

Varuthalla cheers over the ship's comms as the drones go down, and Prime-2 cleans up the turret. "Great job, everyone! Haha, knew you could handle it, Gunnz! We'll make a shopping-cart pilot out of you yet! We all prepped for a little space-walk? don't forget to button-up, kids!" she comments, reminding everyone to activate their armours' environmental seals. "Speaking of - Gil-Oloth, Sefel, are either of you able to cast Life Bubble?"

Assuming Gunnz will continue driving the party bus, Varuthalla will also assist the tricky landing by shunting power to support struts and throttling inertial dampeners (Engineering.)
Engineering to Aid: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (8) + 18 = 26

Please add three if I am allowed to use a node from the Drake for this.

"This place looks like the bottom of an ashtray after an allnight dance-a-thon of DeathMetlers.[p/b]" sighs Gunnz as she tries to boss around the Bus.

"[b]See, a Pegasus is much better for missions like this, delicate, refined handling.."

It's almost as if she prefers the Pegasus over the Drake. Who would have guessed?

pilot: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (5) + 24 = 29 +3 if node allowed

Troivayan jumps around the engine room, pulling levers and pushing buttons.

Engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

As for this first step you are literally piloting the ship to land, I see no reason why you couldn't use a node

Troivayan, Varuthalla, and Kosigan all jump in to help Gunnz guide the unwieldy Drake in. Together, the ship touches down without a hitch!

The six of you plus any hirelings can disembark - after making sure to seal your suits of course! As you emerge from the ship onto the asteroid you begin looking around to get your bearings and determine where the base's entrance might be. Above you the Diaspora is still filled with other asteroids, now with additional chuncks of recently-blown-up metal and ceramic debris further coloring the space. In fact some of that debris seems to be getting larger. Almost as if it's
falling..
straight...
towards you!

Three pieces of debris from the drone fight is on a collision course towards your group! There's not enough time to outrun them, but you might be able to blast them ever further into small-enough pieces you'll be unscathed!
Each of you can attempt two rounds' worth of attacks to try and destroy the incoming debris. For the first round they're far enough away its ranged attacks only; for the second if you'd prefer you can make melee strikes, though that would make you very close to them should you not succeed in destroying the incoming shrapnel.

There are three debris pieces, one 'small' sized (relatively), one medium, and one large. Please let me know which one you are aiming at for each attack - the small one looks harder to hit, but has less mass/bulk to it, and vice-versa for the large

"Hit the deck, Starfinders!" Varuthalla shouts, trying to light up the incoming debris with her stormcaller.
The stormcaller is a line weapon with an effective range of 80 ft and the flexible line property, so if there's a way for Varuthalla to hit more than one chunk - maybe even all three? - she would absolutely do so, trying to prioritize from smallest to largest.

Stormcaller vs EAC #1: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34
Stormcaller vs EAC #2: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33
Heavy Fire E dmg #1: 2d8 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (7, 5) + 9 + 4 = 25
Heavy Fire E dmg #2: 2d8 + 9 + 4 ⇒ (8, 7) + 9 + 4 = 28

I unfortunately do not know Life Bubble Sefel replies to Varuthalla. This imposes a little bit of embarrassment and shame in him.

Then shouts of debris falling towards the team...

Sefel draws his tactical autobeam rifle and begins firing at the larger chunks that he can confidently target.

tactical autobeam rifle, F damage: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (10) + 13 = 235d4 ⇒ (1, 4, 4, 1, 2) = 12
tactical autobeam rifle, F damage: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (2) + 13 = 155d4 ⇒ (3, 4, 1, 2, 4) = 14

Love me a stormcaller - my envoy/solider has one.
They are close enough you could hit two with that sort of line (or other area effect like a big grenade or a fireball explosive blast

The sylph jumps to the moment and lines up an incredibly tightly-aimed arc. The electricity dances through the two smaller debris chunks, fully obliterating the smallest while leaving the 'middle' piece of shrapnel badly scorched.

Meanwhile Sefel aims at the easiest target, and while one of his blasts still misses the first opens some holes in the piece.

Smallest: gone! Medium 28 damage, Large 12 damage.

Gil-Oloth calls her weapon into her hands and shoots at the medium shrapnel while mechanical arms sprout from her couch and draw a spear.

Aphelion Laser Rifle: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13
Damages, F & So: 3d6 + 9 ⇒ (6, 1, 6) + 9 = 22

Troivayan draws his dusty laser pistol and blasts away!

I'll shoot at the medium unless it's already destroyed, in which case I'll aim at the largest.

Attack w Corona Laser Pistol (range: 90'): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29
damage (fire): 2d4 + 5 ⇒ (3, 1) + 5 = 9

Kosigan quickly switches its nanites to create a rifle and tries to shoot down the rocks, which are neither alive nor electrical. Largest target seems best in this case.

Liquidator Disintegrator Rifle: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23 vs. EAC
Acid Damage: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17 (can be half/all converted to cold, electricity or fire)
Miss Chance if target not alive and within 30 ft. (both ≤ 50 = miss): 2d100 ⇒ (14, 41) = 55

Liquidator Disintegrator Rifle: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27 vs. EAC
Acid Damage: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17 (can be half/all converted to cold, electricity or fire)
Miss Chance if target not alive and within 30 ft. (both ≤ 50 = miss): 2d100 ⇒ (89, 76) = 165

More of the party reacts to attack at the incoming debris.Gil-Oloth's first shot goes wide, but Troivayan further cracks into the 'medium' one as Kosigayan lands good hits to whittle away at the massive piece racing at you. the first shot would've been far enough away to need the miss chance for the khizar but not the second. And luckily with Blind-Fight that still hits!

Smallest: gone!
Medium 35 damage
Large 46 damage

Torivayan, Varuthalla, and Gil-Oloth have second shot/round
Gunnz two shots remainign (I'll bot if still needed after above)

Haha, awesome - Stormcaller is bae <3 :D Always a pleasure to find another Flexible Line Enjoyer, Zoomba!

Oh, I posted both of my rounds above - the stormcaller's one downside is that it's unwieldy, so only one shot per round. Shot 2 was a 33 vs EAC, for 28 E dmg; if the small asteroid is already destroyed, she'd target the medium one then, and if they're close enough, both medium and large.

Ah, I mis-read that then. The first shot would have been enough to destroy the small one, whihc means the second could have encompassed 'medium' and 'large' which means:

With another arc of concentrated electricity lacing through the two still-incoming bits of debris, both chunks shatter into small, harmless pieces!! Success!

Having avoided that catastrophe, a more complicated task is before you: where the heck the entrance to this base is hidden on this dumb rock???

To navigate the asteroid and find the entrance, at least one of you will need to succeed on a Survival check. Others can try to assist with this with difficult Perception checks or Computers checks (the latter to try and calculate optimal routes across the asteroid's terrain)

Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (3) + 13 = 16
Varuthalla blows out slowly. "Uhhhh, anyone have any idea where we are?"

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

"Gimme a minute, I'll find it."

Troivayan closes his eyes and extends his perception along lines of gravity and darkness.

I'll spend a minute to make Survival my Sidereal Influence.

Survival (with sidereal): 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (16) + 8 + (4) = 28