Hostile Movement:
Barrage in C3 - nothing to attack, expires
Fighter E5 -> E6, attacks Engineer B - target evading, attack negated
Infantry E3 -> left, down -> rolls left -> D3
Sensor Contact D2 -> D1; rolls 5 - mega blaster
Attack vs D1 jump troops, capital ship, rolls jump troops - target destroyed
4x sensor contact
5, 5, 3, 4
2, 4, 2, 1
"That Mega Blaster is starting to get on my nerves..." you trail off. "Easy-seven, help me out here."
"You got it, Easy-five!" Em replies, chipper as ever at getting to shoot something.
The mega-blaster sounds impressive, but visually speaking, it's a large light brown flatbed truck, anchored to the ground with multiple pitons. The flatbed part is occupied by a standard blaster barrel, big enough to send coherent energy up into orbit at relativistic speeds, and enough of it to punch through a capital ship's outer hull. And sometimes all of the interior and the other side of the hull. It needs to go.
So Wilhelm targets it with the long-range blaster while you handle moving eastward across the ice field. It's not quite flat though - continuously broken up by jagged protrusions that you have to navigate around or hop over. You spare a brief glance at the zoomed in view of your target - the combination of Wilhelm and Em's weapons fire punctures the vehicle's armor, causing bits of it to go spinning off as gas escapes from the hull breaches. Eventually, something blows up inside and the barrel sags, prompting one of the doors in the cab to open and the crew to hop out and run for it. You smirk. And then swerve as your retinal display flashes an attack warning. A missile comes flying from the south, going a few meters past your E-Frame's nose, detonating in a cluster of sharp ice blades to the north, sending chunks of ice and some flaming debris flying up in that graceful arc that can only occur in a low-gravity environment without an atmosphere.
"What the hell, Easy-Six?" you ask. "Watch your fire!"
"Infantry eliminated." comes the terse reply from Plague Doc. "You're welcome."
"Thanks." you answer, your upper lip twitching a little. "A little heads up would be nice next time."
Another explosion can be felt vibrating through the ice sheet, the source coming from the southeast. "Hey, watch it! Why you little... come back here!" Fox-Five calls out, his voice definitely excited.
"Say again?" Lestari asks, sounding a little frustrated, her transmission including the sounds of her blaster zapping away at something.
"Uh... fighter engaging me, missile launcher's out so I can't get him. Give me a sec." the repair E-Frame pilot replies after a brief pause.
"Squad three here, second mega blaster located, it's aiming at... " the transmission from the jump trooper squad cuts out. You look in the general direction of the transmission - yep, there's another ugly flatbed, its weapon barrel slowly re-elevating from having just slagged its previous target.
You scowl - at this rate, there aren't going to be any jump trooper squads left for you to protect.
"Maybe we should stay closer to those squads we have been ordered to protect?" Wilhelm suggests, in a tone of voice that drips with I'm calling you a moron without calling you a moron. "E-Frames are generally more immediately obvious targets than infantry."
Allied Unit Status:
Jump Troops A3: 1 infantry squad eliminated
Objectives:
Locate and eliminate all "Mega Blaster" units (1/5)
Prevent "Mega Blaster" units from destroying ExoCruiser or escort ExoFrigates (8/8 HP)
Optional: Prevent Jump Trooper casualties (2/5 squads remaining)
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 (1x)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target 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 grappleSystem Disabled
- 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 one 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)System Disabled - 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 one 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.
Two-Seater
Pilot: Nathanael "Nate" Weaver
Co-pilot: Wilhelm "Willy" Apel
Available Actions:
[] [RED] Rapid Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Long-Range Blaster
- Attack any target within two spaces within line of sight.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4)
- 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] Co-pilot Overwatch
- Automatically use any un-activated RED abilities against any target entering own space.
[] [GRAY] Co-pilot Alert
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind.
[] [GRAY] Co-pilot Coordination
- Target E-Frame may use Evade if not already activated
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.
AN:
Here we go. Should be back on track with regular updates, assuming the corona doesn't get me.
Whoops, I was reviewing the turn and it turns out that Engineer B's missile launcher is disabled - therefore he couldn't have killed the fighter. Which means there's currently a fighter in E5, but nothing else changes (except I'll uh, need to re-write the narrative a little - expect an edit tomorrow sometime).
"Remaining jump troop squads, rally on designated position. There are too many pirates out here and we can't cover you if you're spread out across the battlefield." Wilhelm announces. You don't disagree, but at the moment, you're busy.
Lestari and Em move east in tandem, Em sending a missile towards the newly located mega-blaster to the north. Given the size, general toughness and importance of the target, you opt to send a missile in its direction as well - despite the sensor noise that threatens to get in your way and ruin the missile lock.
You spend a little too long watching the two missiles flying toward the target, but are rewarded with a nice double explosion and the targeting computer deciding that the mega blaster is no longer functional. Or in one piece. Which is why you're puzzled when Plague Doc sends another missile flying at those coordinates.
"Hey Easy-six, you know we got it already, right? Conserve your ammo." you call out.
"You only got one." Plague Doc replies. It takes you a minute to figure out what he means - your deductive reasoning aided by the impact of Plague Doc's missile on a different target, which briefly lights up the ice field with multiple secondary explosions.
"Come here, you little... " Fox-five transmits. Assuming he survives and goes back to the same place you're going (assuming you survive), you decide you want to have a chat with him about comms discipline. Or, even better, let Wilhelm have a chat with him about comms discipline - honestly, you're all for the occasional whoop and holler.
Speaking of Wilhelm - "Incoming contact, due north. Airborne. Can't get an angle on it." he alerts you. You quickly fire up the control thrusters, sending your E-Frame in a less-than-graceful arc to the side, which allows you to avoid most, but not all of an incoming fighter's strafing run. You hear something crackle in the back of the E-Frame and your augmented reality display flickers briefly, but all systems still show green. You did hear one of the blasters going off, though.
"Did you get him at least?" you ask.
"Target eliminated. Transmitter damaged, outbound bandwidth reduced by ninety percent. Basic voice comms only, and unreliable." Wilhelm informs you.
"Whoops. Not the best time for it." you mutter to yourself. At least you can take the strafing runs instead of the jump troop squad bounding across the icy crevasses from your west.
"Got the little bastard." Fox-five reports. "Where're all these pirates coming out of?" And indeed, your map lights up with multiple new contacts, in addition to the fighter circling around for another strafing run at you. At least it looks like there's less coherent energy and surface-to-orbit missiles being flung up at your capital ships now, so that's something.
"Probably underground hangars like the one I just sealed up." Lestari responds. "Easy-7, barrage warning - relocate now." she adds.
Allied Unit Status:
Jump Troops C3: 1 infantry squad eliminated
Objectives:
Locate and eliminate all "Mega Blaster" units (2/5)
Prevent "Mega Blaster" units from destroying ExoCruiser or escort ExoFrigates (8/8 HP)
Optional: Prevent Jump Trooper casualties (2/5 squads remaining)
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 (1x)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target 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 (3/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight. [] [RED] Magnetic grappleSystem Disabled
- 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 one 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)System Disabled - 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 one 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.
Two-Seater
Pilot: Nathanael "Nate" Weaver
Co-pilot: Wilhelm "Willy" Apel
Available Actions:
[] [RED] Rapid Blaster
- Attack any target within one space.
[] [RED] Long-Range Blaster
- Attack any target within two spaces within line of sight.
[] [RED] Missile (4/4)
- 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] Co-pilot Overwatch
- Automatically use any un-activated RED abilities against any target entering own space.
[] [GRAY] Co-pilot Alert
- Negate the next incoming attack of any kind. [] [GRAY] Co-pilot Coordination System Disabled - Target E-Frame may use Evade if not already activated
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.
You are correct. It's a little bit of a gray area because it was a sensor contact, so we're keeping the damage to your E-Frame as well, but the fighter is gone. I'll update the rules for clarification.
Engineer B D6 -> up, left, rolls up -> E5
Blaster vs hangar - target destroyed
Engineer A E4 -> E5
No valid target for blaster
Allied movement
Jump Troops C3 -> up, right, right (+1 allied unit presence) - rolls up -> C2
Jump Troops C4 -> up, right - rolls up -> C3
Hostile movement
Barrage Warning activates - no valid targets, expires
Sensor Contact D2 -> left, down, down (+1 bigger target) - rolls down, D3 - contact revealed, rolls 9 - ambush!
D2 - rolls 10 - ice plume - nothing in space, no effect
C3 - rolls 3 - turret - attacks jump troops, target destroyed
D4 - rolls 5 - mega blaster - attacks D3, E5, E5, E3 - rolls 1 - hull hit (1/2)
E3 - rolls 5 - mega blaster - attacks D3, E5, E5, E3 - rolls 1 - hull hit (2/2) (2 8s in a row on 1d8 = 1/64 odds!)
D3 - rolls 10 - ice plume - E-Frame stunned
Sensor Contact A2 -> down, right - rolls down -> A3
Sensor Contact A1 -> down, right - rolls down -> A3
3x sensor contacts spawning
4, 3, 3
7, 1, 1
You throttle the E-Frame up, its chicken legs bounding across the icy terrain - your tentative plan, which you outline to your squad, is to have Wraith and Fox-five take care of the sensor contacts to the south, while Lestari backs you up here, eliminating the contact skulking around the turret.
You've got a major range advantage on that turret, which isn't even bothering to fire at you, so you bring up the zoomed-in targeting view on your retinal projection and set up a targeting solution - your long-range blaster whines when you squeeze the trigger. The shot punches straight through the turret, one of its twin barrels separating and rolling along the ground while the other just sags.
"Engaging mega blaster." Lestari reports. You spare a quick glance to the east - she clears all the loose infantry off the top of the heavy anti-orbital piece with her blaster, then proceeds to fire up her thrusters for a short hop and slice the end of the barrel off with the laser cutter. The component clatters to the flatbed surface then rolls off onto the ice, the superheated edge causing steam to wisp up from where it contacts the surface. "Target destroyed."
You chuckle. "Good luck getting any more of that crap into orbit now." That's three of the five heavy anti-orbital pieces in your sector gone, now you just have to find the other two.
"Hangar door sealed up!" Fox-five reports. "Thanks for the scan, E-6."
"Hey, I was gonna get that!" Em calls out, her voice a tone of amused mock indignation.
You smirk, then turn your attention back to your sensor board. The two contacts way to the northwest slowly make their way towards you, while the jump troops have fallen behind a little - and one squad moves to flank the sensor contact directly to your north. "Jump troop squads, tighten it up a little." you comment. "We've got a hostile signature moving this way, and I don't want any more..."
Suddenly, the ground erupts underneath your E-Frame, as a high-pressure plume of water vapor cracks open the ice underneath, giving you an unwanted boost into the air.
"Attack warning! I can't get a lock!" Wilhelm calls out, an unusual note of panic in his voice. "Multiple target locks on us, evade!"
You cringe, and try to do something, anything - your left hand flies to the throttle, cranking it all the way up while your right hand yanks the control stick all the way to the right - maybe your thrusters will fire in time. But they don't, or maybe your hand isn't fast enough - the E-Frame jolts, once, twice - all you can feel is the incredible pain from the neural feedback, then everything goes black.
Operational Area Map:
A0
B0
C0 Sensor Contact Sensor Contact
D0
E0
A1 Sensor Contact
B1
C1
D1
E1
A2 Sensor Contact
B2
C2 Jump Troops
D2
E2
A3
B3
C3 Turret
D3
E3 Mega Blaster
Melee
A4
B4
C4
D4 Mega Blaster
E4
A5
B5
C5
D5
E5 EngineerB
Engineer A
A6
B6
C6 Wraith
D6 Sensor Contact
E6
(Possibly) temporary perspective switch vote - who's the POV character (and informally takes charge) while Nate is KO'd?
Allied Unit Status:
Jump Troops C2: 1 infantry squad eliminated
Objectives:
Locate and eliminate all "Mega Blaster" units (3/5)
Prevent "Mega Blaster" units from destroying ExoCruiser or escort ExoFrigates (8/8 HP)
Optional: Prevent Jump Trooper casualties (1/5 squads remaining)
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 (1x)
- Designate a space within line of sight. All sensor blips entering this space are automatically revealed.
[] [GRAY] Target Guidance
- Designated target 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 (3/4 available)
- Attack any target within line of sight. [] [RED] Magnetic grappleSystem Disabled
- 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 one 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)System Disabled - 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 one 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.
AN:
Well, that was unlikely. Two 1s and two 8s.
On the plus side, I rolled 2x Mega Blaster for targets, so you guys should be able to finish the scenario up this turn, which should help Nate and Willy survive (assuming they survived).
Sensor contact E4 revealed, rolls 10 - ice plume. Random target
melee, eng A, eng B, rolls eng A - eng A stunned
Survival roll:
1d10 - Target 4+ (-1 system hit, -2 hull hit)
Nate - 5 (out for 1 mission)
Wilhelm - 6 (out for 2 missions)
Christopher "Plague Doc" Stuart
You watch the gray-painted two-seater containing your loud-mouth squad leader and his know-it-all co-pilot get completely plastered by a pair of mega blasters that have decided to make their positions known. You smirk - on the plus side, he did his job, which is to keep the anti-orbital fire off the capital ships struggling to maneuver and retreat to a higher orbit. The flaming wreckage disappears beyond the horizon, and you pay it no further mind.
Everyone else being the same rank, your commission is slightly older (by a few weeks, as you find out later when you actually have time to look it up), you're now in charge. So, the first thing you do is designate a target for Fox-Five - thankfully being spared having to push buttons or swipe or do any of the other things that you have to do with a physical interface. Nope, all done via looking and blinking, and the interface is visible only to you via a projection delivered through your cyberlink. It's a pretty straightforward plan - you and Fox-five take out the mega blaster closest to you, while the other two engage and destroy the further one.
You move your E-Frame forward slightly, keeping an eye on the sensor contact to your right. The turret to your north may give the approaching jump trooper squad some trouble, so you initiate electronic jamming on it - your Wraith comes with a software package for attempting to break into the target's wireless network. If you get access to their computer systems, you can seriously mess with their ability to do anything - it may be a crappy pirate turret, cobbled together from random freighter spare parts, but it still requires computers to operate. And if not, there's always the old standby of flooding their network with garbage data for a good old fashioned denial of service attack. The jump troops take advantage of this and report the destruction of the turret.
"Command, we've got a visual on the crashed E-Frame. Moving in for search and rescue." you hear them report over the comms. "Request evac shuttle at designated coordinates."
You direct your attention to the mega blaster you wanted to target, already bringing up the missile lock crosshairs - except that instead of the target, you see a storm of blaster fire which takes it apart. Leaving you with the further target.
"Goddammit, Easy-seven and eight, I told you to target the mega blaster in E3!" you transmit, scowling.
"Negative, Easy-six, do not recall receiving such orders." Easy-eight replies.
"You have to call it out, you wanker." Easy-seven adds in. "Lestari, let's go... holy shit! Whoo!" she is interrupted as the ice beneath her E-Frame cracks open to release a high-pressure plume of water vapor, sending her flying a little bit. At least it stops her talking for a second.
You sigh. At least you can still get a missile lock on the other mega blaster once the explosions subside a little - you send it in. Your sensors (and a flash from over the horizon) confirm impact. "Got it!" Fox-five calls out. "I think that's all of 'em!"
"Nope, missed one." you state as you fire up your control thrusters, dodging your E-Frame forward as a capital-grade bolt of coherent energy burns through the void you just occupied. Nice try, you think to yourself.
"All E-Frames, this is command. All local ground defenses damaged or destroyed - disengage from sensor contacts and retreat to maximum blast radius. Battle group, cease evasive action and engage ground targets at optimum blaster range."
"Uh..." you mouth to yourself. Command appears to have its head up its ass - there's definitely at least one more mega blaster here. With Easy-seven still fumbling about on the ground trying to recover from being punted up into the air by a water plume and Fox-five's missile launcher inoperative, that leaves nobody else able to help you take it out. Still, you could use your electronic warfare capability to jam its systems and prevent it from firing long enough to destroy it while keeping away from the approaching sensor contacts. Meanwhile the rest of your squad can handle search and rescue (and getting up off the ground) - which you don't particularly care to manage. You should probably warn Command about the extra mega blaster, but that would require talking to them. And they might do something silly like wait for you to destroy the extra mega blaster, which may allow additional pirate forces to move in and attack either you or the rest of your squad (or the remaining jump troops). No skin off your teeth for the most part, but still...
AN: Standard quest vote on this one
[] Warn command, possibly delaying orbital bombardment and risking the search & rescue operation being disrupted.
[] No need to warn them, you've got this under control; but if you don't the capital ships might take a beating
