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"Hells! Sure is a lot of 'em," Thommo exclaims, turning on the spot to take in the growing number of vulpine creatures surrounding them. "Where'd they all come from?" "Reminds me of a holovid I watched back when I was a kid," he adds to the group's speculation. "Had these cute little furballs in it and they'd sprout little clones if they got wet..." The soldier gives Blake a sidelong glance at the suggestion of them being predators. "And they transformed into real evil little buggers if they ate after midnight..." He finishes, trailing off and looking concerned. "What in Absalom is that?" He asks, readying his cannon as the shrieks erupt around them. "And where'd that damn fog come from!?"
”Watch out!” Thommo calls to CTU. ”Keep ya head down!”
Primary Target:
You can focus fire on a single target when unleashing the full devastation of your powerful area weaponry. Before you make an area attack with a weapon (such as from the Area Fire or Auto-Fire actions), you can make a ranged Strike as a free action with the same weapon against a single creature in the area, who’s selected as your primary target. If your attack is a burst, you must select the creature closest to the center of the attack. If your attack is a cone or line, you must select the creature closest to you. If two or more creatures are equidistant, you can choose which one is your primary target. On a hit, if your primary target rolls a success against your Area Fire or Auto-Fire action, they get a failure instead. This Strike doesn’t count toward your multiple attack penalty. Area Fire:
You attempt to hit each creature in a designated area, which has a range equal to the weapon's range increment (for cone or line) or a designated radius of the explosion (for burst). For burst, you can position the center point anywhere within your first range increment. Any creatures in the area must succeed at a basic Reflex save against your class DC plus the tracking value of the weapon (you don't roll an attack roll). This damage is area damage. Creatures who critically fail this save are subject to effects that occur on a critical hit with this weapon, including the weapon's critical specialization effect. Area Fire has an expend equal to the value listed on the weapon. Suppressing Fire:
If you make an attack with a weapon that has the area trait (such as from the Area Fire or Auto-Fire actions), you use it in a manner that suppresses your targets. Enemies in the affected area who fail their save against your attack become suppressed until the start of your next turn. A suppressed target takes a –1 circumstance penalty on attack rolls and takes a –10-foot status penalty to its Speeds. Some soldier abilities and class feats interact further with the suppressed condition. Bombard Fighting Style: When you attack with an area weapon, you adjust the shot to allow allies to better avoid it. You can select a number of allies within the area of your weapon’s fire equal to half your Constitution modifier. Selected allies are unaffected by your attacks. In addition, enemies who succeed (but not critically succeed) their save against an area attack you make are still suppressed until the start of your next turn.
"Well, look at that," Thommo mutters, shaking his head in wonder at the creature's attempts to communicate. "No matter how much you think you've seen, there's always something new out there waiting to catch you by surprise." Hefting his cannon to rest on his shoulder, Thommo resumes the journey to the unknown structure, on the alert for any signs of danger.
"Well, what have we here?" Thommo asks, grinning broadly. "Cute fella." While not aimed directly at the creature, his cannon remains at the ready.
"Creature's likely native to this moon - the thick fur and compact body's ideally adapted for this cold place." "Is it wearing a headband?" he asks, rubbing at his eyes in disbelief. "Hey there, little guy," he clicks his tongue, crouching to get its attention.
Thommo nods. "Sure do. Sounds like some baleful banshee." He turns in the direction of the hill. "Agreed," he says, rubbing an arm.
"Let's go see what this structure is. Get there and back while it's light. Got no interest in experiencing the local night life." He glances toward the tracks and back toward the hill. "Keep our eyes peeled, huh. Seems to be more going on here than first meets the eye."
After a fitful night, Thommo is already awake when the sky begins to lighten. Preparing some hot food and a fresh pot of synthetic caffeinated beverage, he makes his way toward the bridge, offering a plate and straming mug to Blake (and anyone else who is up a d about). Peering through the viewport at the vista beyond, he asks,"What the hell happened out there last night?" Sipping from the steaming mug, he adds, "Like nothing I've ever heard before. Thought the ship was next in the buffet line." *** When the crew are ready to depart, Thomo leads the way down the ramp, cannon in hand. The soldier pauses at the bottom to survey the scene up close.
"Looks like at least a half dozen of them were out here. And must have ten legs, I'd reckon from all them tracks."
"Righto," Thommo says with a nod after hearing the Pegasus 2 is approaching their destination. Returning to quarters, he begins emptying his duffels, one item at a time, and carefully arranging them with practiced precision on his his neatly made bunk. He emerges a short time later, a slate grey suit of light arnour formed by an interwoven mesh of flexible polymer fibres visible beneathbhis winter jacket. He carries the large portable cannon in one hand, the barrel pointed skyward and resting easily on a shoulder. The blade of the tooth-edged sword peeks above the other shoulder, the weapon secured firmly to his back, along with a well-filled backpack fastened snugly to his shoulders. 'Ready to find what wonders await us?" he asks before striding from the airlock and down the gangway to the snowy ground below. With a casual vigilence, Thommo takes up a position near - but not too close to - Leopold, allowing space for the doctor to do his thing, while keeping alert for threats. "Nice trick," he grunts once Leopold finishes and reports his findings. "Some good intell." "Best keep our eyes peeled," he says after Big Red returns from scouting. "Seems trouble's close by and we're losing light fast." As the shadow's seem to lengthen right before his eyes, he suggests, "The objective's not time sensitive - might be wise to spend the night aboard ship and set out at first light? 'course, no one's accused me of being wise before..."
"The Veskarium doesn't have laws about Androids being free, or laws about their creation. CTU stands for Combat Training Unit." The sudden change in CTU's demeanour is unexpected. Surprised, Thommo tracks the android's departure. His eyes widen slightly at his crewmate's revelation and, nodding several times to himself, he exhales sharply, puffing out his cheeks. "Bugger." ----------- Unsure what to make of the stow away, Thommo opts to zip his lip and watch as the others lead the way. ----------- Thommo heeds the ship's announcement to convene on the bridge. Taking up a position behind Blake's chair, he watches with interest as a comms channel is opened with the other vessel. "A few weeks?" he echoes in disbelief. "Sounds more than just a minor issue. What exactly is the problem you're having?" "We can help where we can but, as our pilot said, we're on a mission. Can't say any more than that. Classified."
Thommo stows his belongings in the crew quarters and explores the rest of the vessel. He slides into a gunnery station and activates the display. Testing out the controls, he tracks an imagined foe and mimes pulling the trigger. "Pew!" he says, grinning broadly, before returning the station to stand by. During downtime, Thommo spends time between the cargo bay, where he watches (and occasionally joins) CTU and Big Red in their exercises, and the galley, often seated at table with a snack while idly watching documentaries on the vid screen or in a daily ritual of checking and maintaining his armour, toolkit, a large portable cannon and a massive sword edged in motorised teeth. He readily engages with any of the crew that are willing to chat.
"Toss in a good tail slap and that'd be perfect Vesk military form," Thommo comments to CTU during one of his sparring sessions with Big Red. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
Noticing the galley being cleaner than he'd left it, Thommo begins deliberately leaving an unwashed plate here, a spoon there or a cupboard door open.
Thommo nods to Blake, extending his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you, too." He chuckles and, scratching his head sheepsihly, answers the other man's question with a shrug. "You know how it goes - You can take the man out of the military...'" He leaves the rest of the platitude hanging, unspoken. Turning to Étoile, Thommo offers his hand to greet her as well. "A pleasure, Étoile," he returns. "Nah, I'd say you don't - it's not for everyone. Ah, fancy!" His eyes follow the shimmering light trail left by her hand. At Venture-Captain Arvin's entry, the one-time trooper snaps to attention, his hand to his brow in salute. He takes his ease as the mission briefing begins. "Scouting and recon," Thommo summarises. "Anything else you can tell us about these artificial structures, sir?"
Opening the door, a brown haired man steps aside to make room for the exiting Tux. Once the way is clear, he steps through the door, neat but unassuming in a pale shirt left untucked over comfortable field pants. He looks to be in his mid thirties and grips a large duffle bag in each hand. Setting the bags down with a muted thud, he straightens to attention. "New agent, Thomas Orrick, reporting," he announces, face impassive, to those gathered in the room. Only his dark eyes move as they scan the faces before him. As the moment stretches, a grin splits his face and he takes his ease. "You lot don’t look like Brass," he says, chuckling. "Name's Thommo." Placing the bags off to one side of the room where they will be out of the way, he walks over to join the others. "Augmentations? None yet but I reckon Father Time will have something to say about that." |
