Pirate Corvette
-Attacks nearest ExoFleet unit within one space.
-Turns into sensor contact if not attacked and would not be forced to reveal (sensor contact always re-appears as frigate)
-Can show up as sensor contact.
-Immediately attacks if revealed from sensor contact, does not attack on own turn in that case
Pirate Fighter
-If ExoFleet unit present in own space, will attack it
-If no ExoFleet unit present in own space, will move towards nearest ExoFleet unit then attack it
Pirate Commander
-If ExoFleet unit present in own space, will attack it
-If no ExoFleet unit present in own space, will move towards nearest ExoFleet unit then attack it
-Gives an extra move or attack action to nearest non-commander crewed pirate craft or sensor contact that has not already received one
Torpedo
-Always moves "down" one space
-Cannot be attacked by capital ship weapons
-When entering a space with a capital ship, detonates, causing one point of damage
Attack Warning
-Incoming weapons barrage; attacks all units in own space; disappears at end of turn
Sensor Contact
-Always moves "down" one space
-Resolves to an actual contact when entering a space with an ExoFleet unit or when an ExoFleet unit enters its space
Debris Field -Blocks Line of Sight
-Does not move
-Cannot be targeted
JumpTroop Shuttle
-Always moves "up" one space
-2 HP
-No weapons
Note: to avoid getting pointlessly blown up, units will not move into weapons range of a capital ship with operational weapons by themselves
ExoCruiser Endeavor Medical Bay
Emily "Em" O'Dwyer
You plonk yourself down on a nearby bench, looking around the room as Lestari pads out, counting the number of occupied beds. The medbay isn't quite up to full capacity, but it's pretty close - probably three squads' worth of jump troopers. Plus a few of the Endeavor's crew, like you noted before. You pull out your ExoPad and check the squad's E-Frame status. Everyone is back now, including Plague Doc. Not that his E-Frame needs repairs - just a quick missile reload.
"Geez, the jump troops took a crazy amount of casualties." Josh pipes up, sitting down on the bench next to you, leaning back against the wall and slouching.
You shake your head with disbeief. "It would have been a lot worse if Plague Doc hadn't stuck around to help." you raise an eyebrow. "Never thought he'd have it in him."
Josh shrugs. "I dunno, never met the guy."
You chuckle. "Right, you guys haven't been introduced. He's pretty quiet, usually just fiddles around with his E-Frame and tries to end any conversation as quickly as possible."
Josh nods. "I guess they owe him, anyway. None of the injuries look that bad, but that jump armor stops being airtight when it gets perforated. What's he work on anyway?"
It's your turn to shrug. "I dunno, some kind of programming adjustments usually. His E-Frame passes standard specs, though, and he's uh... not too forthcoming, so I haven't asked."
Josh gets a grin on his face. "Yeah, I like to tinker with the UI scripting sometimes, you can actually do a lot of pretty cool stuff with it way beyond the standard customization. One time, I pranked this one guy, snuck into the hangar after his shift and made his targeting reticle turn solid pink whenever he'd get a missile lock." he laughs. "But to make it harder to track down, I only had it happen with one in four odds."
You laugh and cringe. "Holy shite, he must have been pissed."
"Yeah." Josh sighs. "I don't think he made it off the Luther, though." he shakes his head. "Sorry, pal."
You put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, too."
---
ExoCruiser Endeavor Medical Bay
Nathanael "Nate" Weaver
You wake up eventually. Not because you've had a full night's sleep or aren't tired or anything positive like that, but because of the pounding headache. Your mouth is dry, you've got a neck brace on, and your arm is in a cast. "Ugh," you croak. "Anybody get the plate number on the truck that ran me over?"
You hear two chuckles, one definitely belonging to Em, the one to a voice you haven't quite identified yet. "Yeah, we got their numbers pretty good." Em replies, patting you on your good shoulder. She's got her hair down.
"Here, man, let's get you sitting up. Want to raise the bed? Can you hold a cup with the good hand?" the other voice asks.
You try to nod as best you can, but the neck brace prevents head movement. "Yeah." you reply, fumbling around for the button that'll lift the back part of your bed upright. You get it eventually, gratefully accepting the sippy-cup (covered top in case of gravity loss) and taking a good slug. At least your throat stops being dry. "You're uh..." you gaze over at the source of the voice. "Fox-five, right?" you ask, raising your eyebrow slightly.
He nods. "Yeah, call me Josh. I'd offer to shake your hand, but..." he smirks.
You chuckle. "Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm Nate. So, what happened, did we win?"
"Yeah, we won." Em cuts in. "A couple of capital ships got totaled, but the pirates gave up once we took down their mega blasters and re-started the orbital bombardment." she waves her hand in a general 'that way' direction. "Rest of their fleet launched and ran, vectored for Tethys."
You sigh. "That's pretty close, I'm guessing I'm going to miss that one. Sorry, guys."
Josh pipes up. "I hear the admiral caught a piece of it when the Resolute got hit."
"Winfield?" you ask. "So who's in charge?"
"Marcus." Em answers.
You frown. "Marcus? As in Captain Matthew 'I'm the captain of an ExoCarrier but I don't believe in using E-Frames' Marcus?"
Em chuckles. "The way you say it makes it sound like a bad thing."
You sigh. "I don't know. Whose idea was it to bring the capital ships so close to the moon?"
Josh and Em look at each other, shrugging. "Never mind." you interrupt. "So what happened?"
Josh shrugs. "Apparently, a console blew up."
Em spreads her hands in confusion. "A command console? That's just circuit boards and wires, how could it possibly blow up?"
Josh shakes his head. "I dunno, just what I heard. Maybe it was a penetrating hit, EMP effect on his implant or gravity went haywire?"
You sigh, again. "Great. Well, here's hoping the next time we engage the pirates, whoever's in charge doesn't just drop down to optimal pirate blaster range." you smirk. "'cause you nimrods won't have me to bail you out." You look around with your eyes as best you can. "Hey, where's Willy?"
Em tilts her head further into the med bay. "They just wheeled him in from the theatre a few minutes ago. He's a little worse off than you, but he'll be fine." her face brightens up. "Hey, I was reading Field Engineer Monthly the other day, and apparently there's this guy, think he's named after some mouse or something, says he's building a prototype for a long-range grav manipulation device using ... "
You tune out and sigh, for the third time, in as many minutes. Josh is all excited to hear about this ("how long-range?"), it seems, and, from the looks of it, you're going to be a captive audience too. You roll your eyes, mouthing "nerds", then hit the call button for the nurse, hoping for a rescue...
---
ExoCruiser Endeavor Hangar Bay
Tom "Joker" Ward
"All right, folks." you begin, putting your foot up on a knee-high crate. "We're running a short squad today - lot of battle damage and injuries. Easy-two and three are on jump troop liaison duty, everyone else with me. Pretty straightforward plan - capital ships bombard at maximum blaster range, then we move in, escorting jump troop shuttles to locate and destroy long-range weaponry. Any questions?"
"You sure we don't want to move our capital ships to optimal pirate blaster range again, Lieutenant?" the new transfer asks. He's kind of a big dude, messy brown hair, bushy eyebrows, five o'clock shadow. You still haven't bothered to learn his name.
You roll your eyes. "I'll ask the captain, see how he feels about it. Maybe he'll see things your way and let us catch a few extra hours of rack time." you chuckle a little, amused at the thought. He's standing next to the tall belter red-head and whispers something to her - she giggles.
"Something you want to share with the rest of the squad, ExoTrooper?" you ask, sighing internally - you were looking forward to having a break from the other loud-mouth wise-cracker while he recovers in the medbay.
"Sir, no sir." comes the answer as he straightens out.
"Good." you point at him, raising your eyebrows. "I don't know how they ran things on your old ship, but around here, as long as you keep your nose clean, do your job and don't undermine the chain of command," you emphasize that last one, "we'll get along just fine. All right, everyone, frame up. Let's get this done quick, so I can get back to my rigorous nap schedule."
---
"Easy-one, launching." you report, feeling the acceleration as your E-Frame's shoulder jets kick in. Instinctively, you give the command to unfold the wings as soon as you clear the hangar, then zone out as the other squad members report their launches. You quickly vector towards the jump troop shuttle, then take a look at the view. Tethys is a bright, highly-reflective round rock, covered in craters, including one really big one. Likely, the pirates use it as one of their water sources out here (and probably break up the water into hydrogen for fuel and oxygen for uh... breathing). Saturn hovers off in the distance, several days journey away, showing off its ring system.
Your squad forms up around the jump shuttle and begins the approach as the capital ships light up surface targets. Eventually, Command calls "cease bombardment, all targets damaged or destroyed", and the shuttle begins its final approach. Which is when the sensor contacts start lifting up from the surface.
"Here they come!" you call out. "Keep them away from the shuttle."
Operational Area Map:
A0 Sensor Contact
B0 Sensor Contact
C0 Sensor Contact
D0 Sensor Contact
E0 Sensor Contact
A1
B1
C1
D1
E1
A2
B2
C2
D2
E2
A3
B3
C3
D3
E3
A4
B4
C4
D4
E4
A5
B5
C5
D5
E5
A6
B6
C6 JumpTroop Shuttle
D6
E6
A7 ExoFrigate Galileo
B7 ExoCruiser Endeavor
C7 ExoCruiser Endeavor
D7 ExoFrigate Guiducci
E7
Pick deployment zone. Must be within one space of an ExoCruiser Endeavor space (so, A7-D7, B6 and C6).
[] Write-in deployment zone for each E-Frame
Objective:
Shuttle must reach row 0 (2/2 HP)
Command
Pilot: Tom "Joker" Ward
Available Actions:
[] [RED] Triple Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Gatling Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (10/10 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind
[] [GRAY] Order: Red
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [RED] action that they have not taken this turn
[] [GRAY] Order: Blue
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [BLUE] action that they have not taken this turn
Wraith
Pilot: Christopher "Plague Doc" Stuart
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (6/6 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Sensor Scan
- Reveal the contents of a sensor blip.
[] [GRAY] Comms Jamming
- Designated target is unable to move or fire this round.
[] [GRAY] Probe (1/1 available)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed going forward.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target within line of sight may be targeted by missiles regardless of line of sight.
Engineer A
Pilot: Emily "Em" O'Dwyer
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) one space towards this E-Frame OR prevent designated target from moving away
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Engineer B (note: will be driven by QM per player request, but suggestions can be made)
Pilot: Joshua Walker
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) one space towards this E-Frame OR prevent designated target from moving away
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Melee
Pilot: Calista "Lestari" Wahyuni
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Laser Cutter
- Attack any target in own space.
[] [RED] Fist
- Attack any target in own space OR grab a mission-critical object.
[] [BLUE] Charge
- Move one space in the grid in any direction, the execute a Laser Cutter or a Fist
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[X] Engineer A
-[X] Deploy on C6
-[X] [Blue] Move C5
-[X] [Red] Missile anything in sight
[X] Engineer B
-Deploy B6
-Move left
-Drag wraith A7->A6
[Note: I meant for A6 and D6 not to be valid deployment locations, but must have made the update after Plague Doc orders were posted - but having a "spare" E-Frame let me make it work, so all is good]
Engineer B deploys B6
Wraith deploys A7
Melee deploys B6
Falcon deploys C6
Engineer A deploys C6
Hostile Movement:
All sensor contacts down to row 1
5x new sensor contact in row 0
Lt. Tom "Joker" Ward
As the pirate sensor contacts begin to close in, you decide to create an arrowhead formation, intending to punch through the pirate line and get the jump troop shuttle through - you don't need to blow up every pirate, the capital ships and trailing... er... escorting E-Frames can take care of that; you just need to blow up enough to get the jump troops through. Them and their boots with the ridiculously large feet that look more like diving flippers.
"Easy-eight, engage your boosters and take point." you order. "Easy-six, designate targets for missile fire. Everyone else, maintain formation on Easy-eight."
"Acknowledged, flight lead." Lestari reports. You smirk - like most other "sergeant" E-Frame pilots, she's probably just itching to fire up those boosters and go shred some pirates. Unlike most other "sergeant" E-Frame pilots, she doesn't show it.
"Negative flight lead, unable to comply. Friendly units in line of sight." Plague Doc replies, somewhat curtly. You blink for a couple of seconds, navigating the flight map to figure out what the hell he's talking about. Yep, Easy-four has moved into his assigned slot in the formation, but Plague Doc has fallen behind for whatever reason and now the engineering E-Frame's sensor shadow is completely blocking the Wraith's line of "sight". You sigh, mouthing something along the lines of "are you fraggin' kidding me?"
"Easy-four, Easy-six, sort yourselves out and get into formation." you order.
"No problem, sir." Josh replies. Soon enough, your sensors show, the two E-Frames in proper formation and a pirate corvette is briefly designated on your targeting map by Plague Doc's sensors. He engages it without delay (or waiting for orders), the missile flying out as soon as the contact shows. A brief flash is barely visible against the looming surface of Tethys, and you consider the issue settled for the moment.
"Hey, leave some for the rest of us!" Em calls out.
"Yeah, man, I pulled you into position, I can just as easily pull you back out." Josh adds. "It'll be just like they do in ExoBall!"
"Hey, you think we'll get this wrapped up in time for us to watch the next broadcast?" Em continues. "I wanna see it live, my team's playing."
"Cut the chatter and focus." Lestari calls out. "We've got pirates literally fifteen seconds from weapons range."
You sigh, again. "First of all, it's on a one-hour delay 'cause of light-speed lag, so nobody's seeing anything live. Second, Easy-eight is correct - cut the chatter, and the B-Complex is on me when we get back."
You hope you don't have to remind them or take any disciplinary action - you've got a fantasy ExoBall team that's got a lot riding on that game, while disciplinary action requires paperwork.
Command
Pilot: Tom "Joker" Ward
Available Actions:
[] [RED] Triple Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Gatling Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (10/10 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind
[] [GRAY] Order: Red
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [RED] action that they have not taken this turn
[] [GRAY] Order: Blue
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [BLUE] action that they have not taken this turn
Wraith
Pilot: Christopher "Plague Doc" Stuart
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (5/6 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Sensor Scan
- Reveal the contents of a sensor blip.
[] [GRAY] Comms Jamming
- Designated target is unable to move or fire this round.
[] [GRAY] Probe (1/1 available)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed going forward.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target within line of sight may be targeted by missiles regardless of line of sight.
Engineer A
Pilot: Emily "Em" O'Dwyer
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) one space towards this E-Frame OR prevent designated target from moving away
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Engineer B (note: will be driven by QM per player request, but suggestions can be made)
Pilot: Joshua "Josh" Walker
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) one space towards this E-Frame OR prevent designated target from moving away
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Melee
Pilot: Calista "Lestari" Wahyuni
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Laser Cutter
- Attack any target in own space.
[] [RED] Fist
- Attack any target in own space OR grab a mission-critical object.
[] [BLUE] Charge
- Move one space in the grid in any direction, the execute a Laser Cutter or a Fist
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Recon
Pilot: (Name TBD)
[] Recon - Pick deployment space (A7-D7, B6 or C6)
[] Recon - Pick a name (and optionally a call sign), up to three keywords describing the character
[] Recon - Pick a color (ideally not one already taken)
Also Recon:
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4x)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Claw
- Prevent designated target from moving away OR grab a mission-critical object
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Low Profile
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Power-To-Weight Ratio
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
You count down the seconds to contact - Lestari hangs a right hook around your formation, forming the tip of the spear. You and Em form the wing, Josh and Plague Doc having fallen hopelessly far behind. Whether it's from dicking around with mag grapples or laziness, you're not sure. A friendly sensor contact comes up from behind you pretty rapidly - it's the recon E-Frame. You cringe when looking at it - despite the dynamic tinting on your cockpit glass it's still obnoxiously bright, the kind of green that comic book artists and video game developers use to signify that a substance is radioactive and you shouldn't step in it.
"Nice of you to join us, Jumper." you call out. "Tried to light your afterburner off in the launch bay and get stuck again?"
"Negative, lead. Just last in line." the pilot in the recon E-Frame replies. A small humanoid design, only slightly more bulky than a suit of jump trooper armor. Its limbs and above-head missile rack make it look like an upright crab - the two missile pods up top being the eyestalks, the single claw (and the other one replaced with a blaster) contributing the most to that look. The standard paintjob is an obnoxious pastel pink, but the emerald green isn't really much better, in your opinion. But you don't really care enough to give your people a hard time about what color they choose to paint their e-frames. "Looks like all the action is going to be here," he comments, "... so I thought I'd catch up."
"You're bloody right the action's gonna be here!" Em calls out.
You shrug. In about ten seconds, they're going to be right. The current plan is for Lestari to crack open the enemy formation, whatever it consists of, while you, Em and Jumper provide fire support and keep the pirates off her tail as best you can. Josh and Plague Doc... at this point, they're missile support. You sigh - you really don't want to have to have a lengthy discussion with them about staying in formation, but it's looking like you'll have to. You catch yourself fantasizing about them (or yourself) getting blown up so you don't have to, it's always kind of a bummer. But then you'd have to write a letter home explaining what happened, which is... well, you still haven't gotten around to writing your first one yet.
"Looks like a lot of contacts coming out of that debris field in A0, watch that vector." Josh calls out, presumably after having read Plague Doc's second sensor sweep of the area. You wonder where that debris field came from. Was it one of the early transport ships carrying convicts here? That was decades ago. No way the pirates left salvageable material hanging around that long. Maybe the remains of a hijacked freighter towed here then broken up for scrap? Whatever it is, it forms a great sensor shadow for pirate craft to hide behind as they come up from the moon's surface or some hidden hangar bay orbiting alongside the debris.
Command
Pilot: Tom "Joker" Ward
Available Actions:
[] [RED] Triple Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Gatling Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (10/10 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind
[] [GRAY] Order: Red
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [RED] action that they have not taken this turn
[] [GRAY] Order: Blue
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [BLUE] action that they have not taken this turn
Wraith
Pilot: Christopher "Plague Doc" Stuart
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (5/6 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Sensor Scan
- Reveal the contents of a sensor blip.
[] [GRAY] Comms Jamming
- Designated target is unable to move or fire this round.
[] [GRAY] Probe (1/1 available)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed going forward.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target within line of sight may be targeted by missiles regardless of line of sight.
Engineer A
Pilot: Emily "Em" O'Dwyer
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Engineer B (note: will be driven by QM per player request, but suggestions can be made)
Pilot: Joshua "Josh" Walker
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Melee
Pilot: Calista "Lestari" Wahyuni
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Laser Cutter
- Attack any target in own space.
[] [RED] Fist
- Attack any target in own space OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Charge
- Move one space in the grid in any direction, the execute a Laser Cutter or a Fist
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Recon:
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Claw
- Prevent designated target in own space from moving away OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Low Profile
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Power-To-Weight Ratio
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
Recon:
[X] [BLUE] Evade
[X] [GRAY] Power-To-Weight Ratio (from C4 to C3)
[X] [RED] Blaster
Melee
-[X] [Blue] Charge C2
-[X] [Red] Blaster enemies in Range
Engineer A
-[X] [Blue] Move C4 [QM Note: Assuming Moving C4 -> C3, rather than evading]
-[X] [Red] Arm Blaster any enemy in Range
Wraith
-[X] [GRAY] Scan C0 [QM Note: C0 is out of LoS, going by the sentiment of the BLUE and RED orders instead]
-[X] [BLUE] if ally needs assistance but LoS is blocked, move to a position where assistance is possible.
--Move A6 -> A5
-[X] [RED] Assist allies
Engineer B
-[X] [Blue] Move B6 -> B5
Falcon
Move C4 -> C3
Order: Blue - Melee;
Melee
Charge C3 -> C2; false contact
Extra Move: up, left, right, stay, stay, stay, down, down, down
Evading
Hostile Movement:
All sensor contacts down one row except D2 -> C2
5x new sensor contacts in row 0
Tom "Joker" Ward
"All units, stay with the shuttle. Easy-eight, move in and engage; we're right behind you, but stay alert, there's a lot of pirates out there. Easy-four, Easy-six, catch up." you dispense one final set of orders.
Lestari acknowledges, jetting off into the middle of a large number of sensor contacts. To your (you're not sure whether) relief or disappointment, the contact directly in front of her resolves to absolutely nothing. A missile streaks forward on your left flank, making contact with something which explodes - likely Plague Doc's work.
"Hey, save some for the rest of us!" Em calls out, her yellow-black striped E-Frame pulling up alongside yours. "And watch those contacts, you're about to get swamped." she adds.
"I've got it." Lestari responds.
"Sure you do. Engaging mag grapple." Em counters. Before you can do or say anything, a magnetic grapple zips out towards the orange-painted Sergeant E-Frame ahead of you, latching on to the back of the humanoid craft and pulling it back toward your formation. On the one hand, that definitely spared Lestari some contact, likely with pirate-fired blasters. On the other hand, she's probably pretty pissed off. You shrug - clearing out another fighter without any damage is nothing to complain about in your book.
Of course, now, you're actually going to have to punch through the rapidly thickening crowd of sensor contacts. Should be doable - you've got local force superiority. Your musings on the matter are interrupted by an "all ships channel" incoming transmission, however.
"Resolute to all ships: the attack is canceled. Rejoin the fleet, prepare to return to the homeworlds at once!"
Pretty weird - the flagship doesn't usually issue comms across the "all ships" channel, ExoFleet doctrine being more along the lines of letting individual capital ships manage their own small craft and E-Frames. It doesn't look like the pirates are surrendering. Did they manage to crack comms encryption and are trying to create command confusion? Or is there a mutiny going on aboard the Resolute? Another Neosapien uprising, or maybe the Venusian colonists decide to declare independence? Hostile aliens show up and decide to invade the solar system for some reason? Probably should have done that before we developed interplanetary spaceflight, you think with a smirk - you've played that particular game before.
Needless to say, comms fleet-wide are suddenly swamped with some mixture of confused, surprised and disappointed people, to the point where you have to mute multiple channels as people talk over each other. "Uh, command, request confirmation of that last transmission." you send back to the Endeavor.
"Transmission source is legitimate." the comms officer responds. "But we're working on confirming the order. Stand by."
You cringe. "Uh, we're about to get swarmed by a bunch of pirates, command, I don't think 'stand by' is an option here."
"Sorry, Easy-lead. You'll have to stand by anyway until we can get some confirmation." comes the response.
Operational Area Map:
A0 Debris Field Sensor Contact
B0 Sensor Contact
C0 Sensor Contact
D0 Sensor Contact
E0 Sensor Contact
A1
B1 Sensor Contact
C1 Sensor Contact
D1 Sensor Contact
E1 Sensor Contact
A2
B2 Sensor Contact
C2 Sensor Contact Sensor Contact
D2 Sensor Contact
E2 Sensor Contact
A3
B3
C3 Recon Falcon
Engineer A
Melee JumpTroop Shuttle
D3
E3 Sensor Contact
A4
B4
C4
D4
E4
A5 Wraith
B5 EngineerB
C5
D5
E5
A6
B6
C6
D6
E6
A7 ExoFrigate Galileo
B7 ExoCruiser Endeavor
C7 ExoCruiser Endeavor
D7 ExoFrigate Guiducci
E7
Global choice - everyone gets a vote - what to tell the shuttle:
[] "Turn around now!" - one turn in place, begins heading "down" the turn after; you can always have them turn around again later
[] "Hold position." - will remain in C3 until further updates;
[] "Keep going." - keeps moving forward, the recall transmission is probably a fake or subterfuge or otherwise bullshit;
Command
Pilot: Tom "Joker" Ward
Available Actions:
[] [RED] Triple Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Gatling Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (10/10 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind
[] [GRAY] Order: Red
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [RED] action that they have not taken this turn
[] [GRAY] Order: Blue
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [BLUE] action that they have not taken this turn
Wraith
Pilot: Christopher "Plague Doc" Stuart
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/6 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Sensor Scan
- Reveal the contents of a sensor blip.
[] [GRAY] Comms Jamming
- Designated target is unable to move or fire this round.
[] [GRAY] Probe (1/1 available)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed going forward.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target within line of sight may be targeted by missiles regardless of line of sight.
Engineer A
Pilot: Emily "Em" O'Dwyer
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Engineer B (note: will be driven by QM per player request, but suggestions can be made)
Pilot: Joshua "Josh" Walker
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Melee
Pilot: Calista "Lestari" Wahyuni
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Laser Cutter
- Attack any target in own space.
[] [RED] Fist
- Attack any target in own space OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Charge
- Move one space in the grid in any direction, the execute a Laser Cutter or a Fist
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Recon
Pilot: Ian "Jumper" Lorenze
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Claw
- Prevent designated target in own space from moving away OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Low Profile
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Power-To-Weight Ratio
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
Hostile movement:
all sensor contacts down one row except:
E3 -> D3
D2 -> C2
Calista "Lestari" Wahyuni
Even though she bugs the hell out of you with her constant exclamations, and using the magnetic grapple as an extra improvised control thruster probably generates a lot of wear and tear on every component involved, you grudgingly admit that Em has a good idea. It only took you about two or three seconds to figure out why she'd shot you in the back with the mag-grapple, and, truth be told, you weren't looking forward to the fireworks show the pirates were about to unload on you.
Thus - "Easy-seven, let's do that again."
"Understood, Easy-eight. Standing by to engage mag-grapple." comes the unexpectedly sedate and professional response. Maybe she's finally got all that exuberance out of her system?
You fire up your main thrusters, propelling the humanoid E-Frame into the cluster of sensor contacts approaching the jump troop shuttle. While they're faffing about trying to figure out whether they should turn around or the weird "all ships" message was a fluke, you still have to keep the little anklebiters away from the shuttle. The sensor contacts turn out to be a fancy pirate fighter with a bunch of extra antennae that had just fired a torpedo - you engage your control thrusters, changing your vector sideways a little bit to avoid the pirate's clumsy attempt to take you out, then fire the other side's control thrusters, putting you back on an intercept vector. The laser cutter hums to life as you fly directly beneath the fighter, and you spin your E-Frame around after the material you're cutting through stops "resisting" - to your satisfaction, the pirate craft has now become two non-functional pirate craft instead, the individual components continuing into the void on a ballistic trajectory.
For good measure, you lock your blaster onto the outgoing torpedo and let loose, the relatively slow warhead catching a little bit of coherent energy and detonating. By the time the sensor contacts to both your flanks (well, really, just your left flank - the other flank appears to be just random unpowered debris) start closing in, you feel a clang as Em's mag-grapple attaches to the front of your E-Frame. This allows you to more or less double the amount of acceleration you're able to apply toward the problem, and even though the blood rushes to the back of your head, you're able to get clear of the incoming contacts and back into your squad's formation.
"Good shooting, Easy-eight." Joker transmits. "Better get ready to do it again, I don't think these guys are going to let us just sit here."
"Acknowledged." you reply. Indeed, the count of sensor contacts surrounding the jump troop shuttle is only growing, despite you having just taken out a fighter - you can probably handle this batch, but stay here long enough and they will overwhelm you.
"Any update on our orders, flight lead?" you ask. It's not that you're nervous or anything, it just seems dumb to sit here and wait.
"Negative." comes the reply. "Command is still working on verifying the transmission."
Operational Area Map:
A0 Debris Field Sensor Contact
B0 Sensor Contact
C0 Sensor Contact
D0 Sensor Contact
E0 Sensor Contact
A1 Sensor Contact
B1 Sensor Contact
C1 Sensor Contact
D1 Sensor Contact
E1 Sensor Contact
A2
B2 Debris Field Sensor Contact
C2 Sensor Contact
Sensor Contact
D2 Sensor Contact
E2 Sensor Contact
A3
B3
C3 Recon Falcon
Engineer A
Melee JumpTroop Shuttle
Command
Pilot: Tom "Joker" Ward
Available Actions:
[] [RED] Triple Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Gatling Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (10/10 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind
[] [GRAY] Order: Red
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [RED] action that they have not taken this turn
[] [GRAY] Order: Blue
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [BLUE] action that they have not taken this turn
Wraith
Pilot: Christopher "Plague Doc" Stuart
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/6 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Sensor Scan
- Reveal the contents of a sensor blip.
[] [GRAY] Comms Jamming
- Designated target is unable to move or fire this round.
[] [GRAY] Probe (1/1 available)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed going forward.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target within line of sight may be targeted by missiles regardless of line of sight.
Engineer A
Pilot: Emily "Em" O'Dwyer
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Engineer B (note: will be driven by QM per player request, but suggestions can be made)
Pilot: Joshua "Josh" Walker
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Melee
Pilot: Calista "Lestari" Wahyuni
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Laser Cutter
- Attack any target in own space.
[] [RED] Fist
- Attack any target in own space OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Charge
- Move one space in the grid in any direction, the execute a Laser Cutter or a Fist
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Recon
Pilot: Ian "Jumper" Lorenze
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Claw
- Prevent designated target in own space from moving away OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Low Profile
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Power-To-Weight Ratio
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
Recon
-[X] [GRAY] Low Profile - Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
-[X] [BLUE] Move - C3 -> D3
-[X] [RED] Blaster - D3 or any available target
-[X] [BLUE] Evade
Wraith
-Help out
Melee
-Charge C2
-Blaster any available target
Engineer
-Evade
-Grapple Melee C2 -> C3
Falcon
-Blaster vs highest target concentration
-Evade
-Gray: Order Blue - Recon
Engineer B
-Missile vs B2 Fighter 1; target destroyed
-Evade
Allied Movement:
Command Confusion roll 1d4, target 2-; rolls 4, stays in place
Hostile Movement:
Torpedo A2 -> A3
Fighter B2 -> down, right, rolls right - C2
Commander D2, order C2 or E2, rolls E2; move D2 -> D3; attack vs Recon - Low Profile negates damage
Corvette E2 -> left, down, rolls left - D2;
Corvette extra action D2 -> D3; attacks Recon - Evade negates damage
No attacks vs corvette; reverts to sensor contact
Torpedo E2 -> E3
Sensor Contact D2 -> D3, revealed - rolls 4 - flank attack (omg lol)
6,8,6,1,3 - Debris, Commander, Debris, False Contact, Torpedo
Sensor Contact E3 -> D3, revealed - rolls 5 - attack warning
Sensor Contact E2 -> E3
All other sensor contacts down 1
New row of sensor contacts in row 0
Tom "Joker" Ward
You smirk - based on the acceleration she's pulling, Lestari's brain should have turned to mush by now, or at least become evenly distributed over the back of her skull. But once she gets back to formation, she simply turns her E-Frame around then accelerates for another attack run, Em's grapple retracting for another launch.
"Lot of debris drifting our way." Plague Doc calls out. "Getting in the way of sensor scans."
You rub your chin with the back of your hand as your map shows multiple orange dots continue converging on your position. You briefly wonder how long it's going to take those numbskulls to confirm the flagship's transmission - it's not like it's that hard to repeat what you just said five seconds ago, or say "no, I didn't say that". Although, at this point it was more like thirty seconds ago, maybe someone got knocked upside the head.
Then, several of the approaching contacts flash from orange to red (and some appear to multiply), and the shooting starts. You note Lestari going to town again - her blaster flashes off to the right, while her laser cutter slices the rear half off a torpedo, sending the rest of the warhead spinning off into the void, throwing the occasional spark. As Em's mag grapple fires forward, your sensors flag a second torpedo coming at the jump trooper shuttle. You clench your jaw - this one's yours. The target lock tone beeps and you squeeze the trigger in your right hand - the three-barrel blaster in your E-Frame's right arm spits forward coherent energy, and the target disappears.
You glance at your map quickly - Plague Doc and Josh seem to have things mostly under control on their flank, having pulled up close enough that you can call them "in formation" and launching missiles to keep a crowd of pirate fighters away, while Jumper pushes off the jump troop shuttle's starboard flank and thrusts off. The little green recon E-Frame's blaster lights up, a pirate fighter's wing coming off under the assault, sending the craft into an uncontrolled spin.
"Watch out, Easy-eight, you've got two more contacts coming at you." you call out. Green blasters flash by your squad member, but a judicious application of control thrusts and the E-Frame's small size results in no actual hits being scored. One of the attackers, a corvette, re-engages its cloaking field - it's still out there.
"Command, we're under heavy assault, can we get an update on our orders here?" you call in.
"Negative, Easy lead, still working on confirmation. Stand by." the comms officer on the Endeavor responds.
You've read somewhere that having a female voice working comms is supposed to reduce stress level for E-Frame pilots and jump troopers. Maybe it's true on a statistical level, but it sure as hell isn't true in this particular situation.
Operational Area Map:
A0 Debris Field Sensor Contact
B0 Sensor Contact
C0 Sensor Contact
D0 Sensor Contact
E0 Sensor Contact
A1 Sensor Contact
B1 Sensor Contact
C1 Sensor Contact
D1 Sensor Contact
E1 Sensor Contact
A2 Sensor Contact
B2 Sensor Contact Debris Field
C2 Sensor Contact Fighter
D2 Sensor Contact
E2 Sensor Contact
A3 Torpedo Debris Field
B3 Commander
C3 Debris Field Falcon
Melee
Engineer A JumpTroop Shuttle
Global Vote: Feeling a little stressed about lack of orders. Pushing forward no longer appears to be an option.
[] Continue to hold position.
[] Stand by my ass, order the shuttle to pull back.
Command
Pilot: Tom "Joker" Ward
Available Actions:
[] [RED] Triple Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Gatling Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (10/10 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind
[] [GRAY] Order: Red
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [RED] action that they have not taken this turn
[] [GRAY] Order: Blue
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [BLUE] action that they have not taken this turn
Wraith
Pilot: Christopher "Plague Doc" Stuart
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (3/6 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Sensor Scan
- Reveal the contents of a sensor blip.
[] [GRAY] Comms Jamming
- Designated target is unable to move or fire this round.
[] [GRAY] Probe (1/1 available)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed going forward.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target within line of sight may be targeted by missiles regardless of line of sight.
Engineer A
Pilot: Emily "Em" O'Dwyer
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Engineer B (note: will be driven by QM per player request, but suggestions can be made)
Pilot: Joshua "Josh" Walker
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (3/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Melee
Pilot: Calista "Lestari" Wahyuni
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Laser Cutter
- Attack any target in own space.
[] [RED] Fist
- Attack any target in own space OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Charge
- Move one space in the grid in any direction, the execute a Laser Cutter or a Fist
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Recon
Pilot: Ian "Jumper" Lorenze
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Claw
- Prevent designated target in own space from moving away OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Low Profile
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Power-To-Weight Ratio
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
Engineer:
Blue: Evade
Red: Grapple Melee back to C3
Wraith:
[X][RED] Blaster A3
[X][BLUE] Evade
[X][GRAY] Jam E3
[X] Falcon
-[X] Red: Triple Blaster the fighter on C2
-[X] Blue: Move Evade
-[X] Gray: Order: Blue- melee
-[X] Recon
--[X] [BLUE] Evade - Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
--[X] [RED] Blaster - Attack any target within one space. (Enemy Commander in D3)
--[X] [GRAY] Power-To-Weight Ratio - Move one space in the grid in any direction. (D3 to C3)
Wraith
-Blaster vs A3 Torpedo; target destroyed
-Evade
-Jam E3; nothing to jam and no LOS
Engineer B
-Blaster vs Commander B3; target destroyed
-Evade
Player Phase
Falcon
-Blaster vs C2 Fighter; target destroyed
-Evading
-Order/Blue - Melee; Melee evading
You smirk slightly - Em and Lestari have got themselves into a rhythm. The orange humanoid E-Frame charges out into a crowd of approaching pirate craft. As expected, a corvette de-cloaks, its asymmetric silhouette briefly becoming visible against the void. Lestari dodges, engaging her control thrusters in what looks like a well-practiced move, then slides back around just long enough to run her laser cutter against the corvette's flank. Something important blows up inside the pirate craft and a secondary explosion shatters it seconds after. Em uses the opportunity to reel Lestari back into formation, even as the latter fires her blaster at a distant torpedo. You shrug - it sort of looked like it may have been going in the capital ships' general direction.
Jumper accompanies Lestari back to formation, sparing a few blasts from the recon E-Frame's right arm to spear a twisting pirate fighter through the fuselage - the craft continues rotating as it breaks up before a poorly-aimed missile barrage saturates the area just as your E-Frames clear it. You turn your attention to the fighter approaching the "front" of your formation, firing its lasers haphazardly. At this range, the poor bastard has no chance of hitting you - based on what you've read they probably still rely on manual targeting systems - but your targeting system beeps, informing you of a solid lock. Which you make use of to perforate the approaching target.
A couple of explosions on your left flank signify that Plague Doc and Josh still have things under control, and then your eyes go wide as you *hear* the pitter-patter of debris against your E-Frame. Sure, the augmented reality system makes "pew pew", "whoosh" and "kaboom" sounds for the various blasters and missiles it detects, but the fact that you're actually *hearing* something means that it impacted your E-Frame. You glance with some concern at the damage indicator - nope, all green. Must just be random debris from all the pirates you've blown up. Other than a loose torpedo, everything is clear for the moment - just sensor contacts approaching.
"Jump troop shuttle, Easy-lead - good news, I guess." the Endeavor's comms officer transmits. "Disengage and retreat orders authenticated and confirmed. Return to the Endeavor. Easy flight, escort it back."
"Understood, command. Engaging control thrusters and commencing acceleration burn." the shuttle acknowledges. "We'll need a few seconds, this thing isn't exactly inertia-less."
"That's too bad." Josh transmits. "I thought I was gonna be able to catch up to you, Doc."
You're pretty sure you hear a faint "hmph" over the comms.
Operational Area Map:
A0 Debris Field Sensor Contact
B0 Sensor Contact
C0 Sensor Contact
D0 Sensor Contact
E0 Sensor Contact
A1 Sensor Contact
B1 Sensor Contact
C1 Sensor Contact
D1 Sensor Contact
E1 Sensor Contact
A2 Sensor Contact
B2 Sensor Contact Debris Field
C2 Sensor Contact Sensor Contact
D2 Sensor Contact
E2 Sensor Contact
A3 Sensor Contact Debris Field
B3 Sensor Contact
C3 Debris Field Falcon Recon
Melee
Engineer A JumpTroop Shuttle
Command
Pilot: Tom "Joker" Ward
Available Actions:
[] [RED] Triple Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Gatling Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (10/10 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind
[] [GRAY] Order: Red
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [RED] action that they have not taken this turn
[] [GRAY] Order: Blue
- Designated other E-Frame may take an additional [BLUE] action that they have not taken this turn
Wraith
Pilot: Christopher "Plague Doc" Stuart
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (3/6 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Sensor Scan
- Reveal the contents of a sensor blip.
[] [GRAY] Comms Jamming
- Designated target is unable to move or fire this round.
[] [GRAY] Probe (1/1 available)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed going forward.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target within line of sight may be targeted by missiles regardless of line of sight.
Engineer A
Pilot: Emily "Em" O'Dwyer
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Engineer B (note: will be driven by QM per player request, but suggestions can be made)
Pilot: Joshua "Josh" Walker
[] [RED] Arm Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blasters
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (3/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Magnetic grapple
- Move designated target (allied or hostile) within one space one space towards this E-Frame OR
- prevent designated target within one space from moving away OR
- pull self towards designated "large" target within one space (e.g. capital ship or shuttle)
[] [RED] Repair
- Re-enable one damaged system on any other E-Frame in the same space. Target cannot issue [BLUE] orders this turn.
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Melee
Pilot: Calista "Lestari" Wahyuni
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Shoulder Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Laser Cutter
- Attack any target in own space.
[] [RED] Fist
- Attack any target in own space OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Charge
- Move one space in the grid in any direction, the execute a Laser Cutter or a Fist
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
Recon
Pilot: Ian "Jumper" Lorenze
[] [RED] Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight.
[] [RED] Claw
- Prevent designated target in own space from moving away OR
- grab a mission-critical object in own space (and move with it if it moves on its own)
[] [BLUE] Move
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
[] [BLUE] Evade
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Low Profile
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Power-To-Weight Ratio
- Move one space in the grid in any direction.
Engineer A:
Blue: Evade
Red: Grapple Melee back to C3
[X] Recon
-[X] [BLUE] Evade
-[X] [GRAY] Power-To-Weight Ratio (C3 to D3)
-[X] [RED] Blaster - (Attack any nearby or revealed hostile units in the adjacent tiles.)
[X] Falcon
-[X] Red: GatlingBlaster to anything that shows up in or around our zone
-[X] Blue: Move Evade
-[X] Gray: Order Blue - melee
All contacts down one, new row of contacts in row 0, but it doesn't matter - no commanders left on the field and no way they can catch up to the shuttle.
Tom "Joker" Ward
"Moving in to engage remaining targets." Lestari transmits. She's quick - by the time you finish blinking, designate a target and your computer starts chugging through a firing solution, the pirate fighter you'd wanted to shoot has had its right wing severed. Then, as you switch targets to the nearby torpedo, it disappears in a burst of directed energy. Finally, you open your mouth to say something about an approach sensor contact to your left, but the red blip on your map disappears while Em clangs the mag grapple against the back of Lestari's E-Frame for the third time, reeling her in again.
"Torpedo neutralized." Plague Doc reports, drawing your attention to a brief flash coming from his direction.
"No, torpedo neutralized!" Josh calls out - you watch a missile fly out from his construction E-Frame and impact something far away from your formation. You're pretty sure you hear a snicker over the comms, but don't bother identifying who it is.
"Negative on all nearby sensor contacts." Jumper calls out. "Just debris and echoes out here. Looks like the pirates are letting us go."
"Shuttle here, we're in the clear. Always nice to go out for a walk." comes the transmission.
"Understood, shuttle." you reply. "All right, all units collapse back to the shuttle and return to the ship. We're done here."
You sigh and let out a breath. This one went a lot better than your last two sorties. Not only did nobody die or get shot down, but the squad is really starting to work together. Although you're not really sure it's anything you did.
"Easy-two here, where's the fight? Did I miss it?" comes a transmission - the squad's Exofighter.
"Yeah, you missed it, Morze." Jumper replies. "But I'm pretty sure we didn't get all the pirates yet. You'll get your chance."
"All sections, secure for main engine burn and report status when completed." comes the announcement over ship comms, more or less the second the last E-Frame enters the hangar - the dark purple-painted Exofighter. The fighter carefully hovers into its cubby as the hangar doors close and the bay re-pressurizes. The camera shows a short, mousy-looking blonde woman getting out as the techs swarm over the fighter and attach it to the floor with magnetic clamps. The last thing anyone wants is for an E-Frame loaded with missiles and a fusion pack to start sliding around the hangar, colliding with other E-Frames, also loaded with missiles and fusion packs.
"You better get to the briefing room." the comms officer tells you - you'd spent the battle on the bridge, monitoring chatter. Thankfully, E-Frame jocks tend to have the run of the ship for the most part, as long as they don't get in people's way. You may still be wearing a neck brace, which kind of put a damper on your attempts to flirt with said comms officer, but the idea of sitting in your quarters or the medical bay and not having idea of what's going on out there while your squadmates are getting shot at really bugged you. "I'll be along in a few minutes, we've got a situation update from the homeworlds."
You consider nodding, but are actually unable to move your neck, so you *hmph* an acknowledgement and pad out.
---
"Commencing three-minute main engine burn." comes the announcement from the bridge.
"Wow, we're going fast." the "new" squad member comments, sitting in a nearby (acceleration-secured) chair in the briefing room as you feel the force being applied to your body. The room itself isn't much to look at, just a big table with a couple of wall screens and places for people to plug their ExoPads in to charge. "That is, what, two G's of acceleration?"
"It'll be uncomfortable for sure." you reply. "I don't think we've met before, I'm Nate." you add, extending your hand, which she reaches out and shakes. Rounded eastern European features, and the accent, lead you to think she's ... from eastern Europe. You're not really an expert on the local countries.
"Morze." she replies.
"Why do they call you that?" Josh pipes up from behind the two of you. "I thought Poland was land-locked."
Morze frowns. "It is most certainly not land locked. Just like you Americans to not know geography. Do you even know which planet we were just orbiting?"
Josh chuckles, raising his hands placatingly. "Ok, ok, sorry. Just that 'the sea' is kind of an interesting callsign for an E-Frame jockey."
You smirk, looking at Morze. "Give the man some credit, I didn't even know what the word meant."
"All right, settle down everyone." the ship's comms officer states, walking through the door. "If you'll all direct your attention to the screen."
The chatter dies down, eventually, and a panicked-looking admiral appears on one of the wall-screens. As he speaks, some people stare at the screen, while others look at each other with concern. You're one of the latter, exchanging looks with Em and Josh (the former having sat herself down next to the latter).
"This is Admiral Romero to the fleet. Urgent you return to Earth immediately. Break off the attack. We are under massive assault from Neosapien forces - there was no warning. Suddenly, they were... they were everywhere. Urgent you..." the recording fuzzes out at that point.
"So, as you can guess." the comms officer begins. "We are heading back to Earth. Time lag is a little over an hour, so we don't know what the current status is over there; we'll have a clearer picture over the next day or two as we get closer."
"Guess we're not getting that updated ExoBall championship game score." You quip before your brain even has a chance to process what you're saying.
"What, did you have money on it too?" Joker asks with a grin.
"Maybe we'll finally get a real fight, then, instead of these pirate turkey shoots." Em comments. You raise an eyebrow - the last sortie you went out on didn't seem like a turkey shoot to you, but maybe your perspective is a little skewed, given that you're wearing a neck brace and your co-pilot is still unconscious. Not to mention all those jump troopers that got blasted.
"Against the Neos?" Morze counters. "We don't have the slightest idea of their capabilities! They weren't even allowed to have E-Frames, let alone ships."
"Hopefully fleet HQ can at least send some data over on what the Neos have." Jumper comments. "Most of the fleet may be here, but they still have fixed defense stations and sensors back at the homeworlds."
Lestari scoffs. "Yes, I expect the remaining defense personnel will be very focused on intelligence gathering efforts."
Jumper smirks. "Not all of them. But we don't need all of them, just enough so we have some idea of what we're going up against."
You look over at your flight leader, wondering if he's got anything to say.
[] [Joker] "Pretty clever of the Neos, actually. They make a show of backing this anti-piracy op and wait until we leave..."
[] [Joker] "Wow, our intel people screwed up big time..."
[] [Joker] Nope, nothing to say
---
Joshua "Josh" Walker
Endeavor Hangar Bay
24 hours later
"Hey man, good shooting out there." you tell Plague Doc as he tinkers with his E-Frame. "That corvette could have snuck up on us and done some real damage if you hadn't zinged it with your sensors."
"Thanks." the man responds. He's of average height, average weight, brown hair parted on one side. Completely non-remarkable.
"I hear you're the man to talk to about E-Frame software mods?" you ask. "I'm surprised you're into that stuff, the programming libraries they've got on there are goddamn awful."
Plague Doc scoffs. "Yeah, they are."
"Especially the targeting subsystem, it doesn't even use the same scripting language as the rest of the E-Frame's systems. I was trying to see if I could increase the payload on those missiles and had to make some adjustments to it one time," you begin. "I'm surprised I didn't accidentally light the whole hangar up."
Plague Doc chuckles. "I bet that would have been pretty cool."
You laugh, breaking off a piece of an ExoBar in your mouth. "Yeah, for someone else who wouldn't have to clean up the mess afterwards."
"Nice paintjob." you comment as you approach Morze in her hangar cubicle, fiddling with an ExoPad wired to her (mostly) dark purple fighter.
"Thanks." she says. "I hope the Neos like it when we fight against them."
You rub your neck, a phantom itch from the recently removed neck brace still making itself felt. Your finger rubs up against the cyberlink implant on the back of your head, reminding you sharply that you haven't been hooked up to an E-Frame in a couple of days now.
"I've always wanted to try one of those Exofighters." you say. "Every time I see one, it's always flying circles around me."
Morze smirks, looking up at you briefly. "You should get in line, this one is mine."
You chuckle. "Well, maybe I can catch a ride as a passenger one of these days." you add with a grin.
She raises an eyebrow, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "What, you don't have one of your own?"
"Not uh..." you sigh. "... not right now. I was flying the two-seater before, but those pirates really shot it to bits."
She nods. "Well, I suppose we have some spare E-Frames in storage." her expression brightens up a little as she taps away on the ExoPad. "Look on the bright side, maybe you really can try out a new E-Frame you haven't flown before."
You rub your chin, considering the idea.
[] [Nate] "Yeah, maybe the Heavy."
[] [Nate] "Yeah, maybe the Trooper."
[] [Nate] "Nah, I'd feel weird flying around without a co-pilot."
AN:
We'll have one more update with some customization options. Unlike the pirates, the Neosapiens aren't using ramshackle crap made from salvaged previous-generation components, so expect a little more of a challenge.
Apologies if I don't get everyone a "personal" decision every update, I'd like to keep these updates relatively bite-sized so they don't take forever to write.
Joker rubs his chin. "Pretty clever of the Neos, actually. They make a show of backing this anti-piracy op and wait until we leave... "
Em scoffs. "Can't blame them, really, given how humanity has treated them."
Lestari shrugs. "Perhaps not, but is launching a sneak invasion of the homeworlds really the way to go about addressing their grievances?"
Em spreads her hands. "Grievances? Your bunkmate playing their music too loud at night without headphones is a grievance. Being created for the sole purpose of performing slave labor in hostile environments is a little more than that!"
The comms officer clears her throat. You grin sheepishly - in all the excitement you'd forgotten that she probably wasn't done with whatever she was going to say. "Hey, settle down, you monkeys." you call out. "Sorry, Ensign. Did you have anything else for the upset beehive?"
She shakes her head, flashing you a quick smile. "Thanks, but no. We'll present updates as they become available." she rolls her eyes. "Or you can come down to the bridge and hover over my shoulder some more."
Your grin comes back.
"All right, everyone," Joker states. "Transit time straight to Earth is going to be a while, so get some rest and get your E-Frames fixed up. Dismissed."
---
Joshua "Josh" Walker
Endeavor Hangar Bay
En Route to Earth
"Scanner noise filter." Plague Doc responds.
You bob your head in understanding. "What, for better effective range?"
Plague Doc shrugs. "Sort of. Need to know what's behind the front line of noise."
You nod again, thinking. "Do you have the computing power for a good filtering algorithm?"
Plague Doc shakes his head. "Not in the E-Frame. But I can run the harder decisions through here." he taps the back of his head. "I know what a pirate ship's sensor silhouette looks like, even if it's at the slightly wrong angle. Hard for a computer, easy for me."
You blanch. "You sure about that? There's a reason they prevent you from just dumping raw data from the E-Frame into your brain."
Plague Doc shrugs. "I can handle it."
You clap him on the shoulder. "Whatever you say, pal. I think I'm gonna see if I can stuff more missiles on the back of my frame. At least if I'm gonna get blown up, it's not just my brain that's gonna get fried."
Plague Doc smiles slightly. "A worthy goal."
One of Plague Doc's sensor abilities can be upgraded to affect a random eligible target in a random space along the projected line instead of just failing (although it still may fail). Pick one:
[] [Wraith Upgrade] Deep Sensor Scan
- Upgrade the [GRAY] Sensor Scan ability
[] [Wraith Upgrade] Deep Comms Jamming
- Upgrade the [GRAY] Comms Jamming ability
[] [Wraith Upgrade] Deep Target Guidance
- Upgrade the [GRAY] Target Guidance ability
Engineer B upgrade. Pick one:
[] [Engineer B upgrade] Extended Missile Load
- Increase missile count from 4 to 8; may not use Evade until missile count is depleted to 4.
[] [Engineer B upgrade] Shoulder Blaster Overwatch
- Shoulder blaster may be used to attack a random hostile target present in after hostile movement phase instead of making a standard attack.
[] [Engineer B upgrade] Shoulder Blaster Sync
- Shoulder blaster now automatically attacks the arm blaster's target when arm blaster is used.
---
Nathanael "Nate" Weaver
Endeavor Hangar Bay
En Route to Earth
"Yeah, maybe I'll try out the Trooper. Can't go wrong with more lasers, although I'll... " you pause for a second, wondering whether you should go for it or not. It's not even a contest. "... miss the missiles." you elbow Morze lightly in the shoulder. "Get it?"
She rolls her eyes and groans. You laugh.
"You ever meet a Neo?" she asks.
You shake your head. Neosapiens aren't a particularly common sight on Earth, at least not where you grew up. Most of their population is on Mars - the occasional blue-skinned half-giant (both male and female variety - a distinction you find weird since Neos are grown in fluid suspension tanks "on demand") attends a university, and the ExoFleet consists of maybe one percent.
"I've seen a few around, but never got a chance to talk to one. You?"
She shakes her head. "No. I wonder how the ones that are part of the ExoFleet feel about this?"
You shrug and chuckle. "I dunno, I'm not a political scientist, I just fly an E-Frame."
Morze purses her lips. "It's just, we don't know what they want. Which makes it hard to fight back."
You tilt your head in partial agreement. "Maybe, but that's on a strategic and political level we can't control."
Morze spreads her hands. "We don't really know what their tactical capabilities are, either."
You nod and sigh, then shrug. "Like I said, I just fly an E-Frame."
---
Emily "Em" O'Dwyer
Endeavor Hangar Bay
"Hey Em, help us settle an argument." Jumper and Lestari stand in front of Lestari's Field Sergeant E-Frame, the former motioning you over. You raise an eyebrow and pad over. "Which one's faster? My Recon or her Sergeant?"
"Mine, of course." Lestari states without pausing, pointing down to the legs. "Afterburners have equal power to main engine, thus increase acceleration by a factor of two." she points over to the emerald-colored Recon frame in another cubby. You think it resembles an upright crab. "Yours has no afterburners, and even though the main engines are more efficient because of its lower mass, it's not by a factor of two." she raises two fingers to emphasize the point. "Thus, mine is faster."
Jumper rolls his eyes. "Sure, over a period of thirty seconds." he points to the Sergeant E-Frame's afterburners. "But then those things run out of juice and go putt-putt-putt, and you're recharging for another forty five; meanwhile, I'm pouring on the Gs. Other than light speed, there's no upper limit for velocity in a vacuum, so over time, I'm going to go faster."
You chuckle. "What if I give one of you two a tow?"
The two of them both turn to look at you like you have two heads. "Stay in your lane, slow-poke." Lestari tells you. "You're useful for changing direction, not maximizing velocity."
You give a mock pout. "Fine, see if I reel your arse out of a pirate nest next time."
Jumper chuckles. "Some people need help with their evasive maneuvers."
You and Lestari stare daggers at him. "What, and you don't? That E-Frame looks like it could backlight the dark side of Jupiter." you ask.
He grins. "Who says it couldn't?"
Melee and Engineer A E-Frame upgrade. Pick one:
[] [Melee + Engineer A] Coordinated Fire
- When using Mag Grapple on Melee E-Frame, Engineer A may use another RED ability in place of a BLUE ability.
[] [Melee + Engineer A] Slingshot
- When using Mag Grapple on Melee E-Frame in same space, Melee may move one space, use up to two RED abilities, then move back to its starting location, but may not use any BLUE abilities.
[] [Melee + Engineer A] Emergency Vector Change
- When using Mag Grapple on Melee E-Frame, allows it to evade any single attack instead of moving it.
Recon upgrade. Pick one:
[] [Recon] Might as Well
- Evade grants a free one-space move if it is not used to evade an attack.
[] [Recon] Blaster Overwatch
- Arm blaster may be used to attack a random hostile target present in own space after hostile movement phase instead of making a standard attack.
[] [Recon] Claw rip
- Claw may be used to damage the target.
---
Nathanael "Nate" Weaver
Endeavor Bridge, Comms Station
Over the last few days, between running simulated drills in the Trooper E-Frame (while waiting for Wilhelm to finish recovering), getting your ass kicked by Joker and Josh in various network games and finally getting your neck brace off, you've become a fairly regular fixture at the bridge comms station during Theresa's ("Ensign Steinwender") shifts. For one, it's a great way to keep up with fleet-wide comms traffic and the increasingly depressing updates from the homeworlds. The news being - no news from Venus after multiple dome breaches; no news from Mars, unsurprising given the low baseline human population on Mars; declaration of unconditional surrender from the Homeworlds Congress to the Neosapien Commonwealth in Earth orbit. But also, the Ensign is fun to spend time with and hasn't told you to piss off yet.
Just as you're about to begin another round of witty repartee, the comms system indicates an incoming command transmission, and, by unspoken agreement, you shut your mouth. "Resolute to Fleet. All ExoCarriers, proceed towards Earth at full speed."
The Ensign relays the orders, to general grumbling. "Why?" you mouth afterward. "We have no idea what's waiting for us, and we're dividing our firepower in two?" She shrugs.
You sigh. Sure, the ExoCarriers can get there faster, with their fancy engines. But with the rest of the fleet arriving in the Earth Patrol Zone six hours after the ExoCarriers, you don't know whether there'll be any ExoCarriers left by that point.
[AN: Next update, we'll be facing some Neosapiens. Good luck and good hunting!]
