The Ballad of Echo Company - Episode 2 - Toujours En Avant

[JbeJ275]

Sal nervously thumbs through the tabs on his looted treasure, the spares another glance at the Vult enforcers pressuring them before this revelation

"Look, if we need chaos or we need extraction I can make it work, but right now we're still dealing with old problems before we can deal with these new ones. What's the call on our unwelcome guests over there and what are we doing after that Sarge?"

[Cavir]

Xilo puts a hand to his ear, finally with a good signal. "Roger. Have our own way down. See you on the ground."

Taking one last look from the top of the Drachenlift the LT sees the enemy approaching in numbers. He joins the others getting off the rooftop. With the roar of the engines and a building between them and the enemy there was no need for stealth. He speaks quickly, with authority.

"There are two waves of elite troops coming at us. That would be a fun challenge for us without the prisoners. Mission is to get these scientists back to HQ and that is what we're going to do. Bathory has their own way down. Our rings are recharged. We each carry 1 or 2 prisoners."

"Doctor Schiller. We are Amcaran... Fallschirmjäger. Each of you will grab hold of one of us when we leap off the edge. Our rings have Feather Fall. We will activate them when we get close to the ground. Any trouble on the way down means they will fall to their death. You will jump with me. There is no other option. Explain that to the others. "

He turns back to the Psychos. "Everyone to the edge. Anyone runs, shoot them. I'll take the doctor. Sarge, you take two of them. Everyone else takes one. If they give you any trouble let them fall. No time to waste. Move it!"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

On the way down, Xilo will have the shield strapped to his arm with that arm wrapped around Schiller. This way he has more to hold on to and gains some protection from the shield. Xilo/Schiller jump last. He has his pistol in the other hand, ready to handle anyone that runs.

[JbeJ275]

"Right that I can handle, everyone bunch up first though. I think I can get the damping working again."

This statement was followed by some careful tinkering, some rather less impressive looking shaking of the battered but intact form of Sparky, some very quiet swearing in three different langagues, then some more tinkering and eventually produced a renewal of the earlier shield, covering everyone including the prisoners as they approached the edge.

Spoiler

Show

Sal goes along with the plan and covers prisoners with his hellfire. Everyone, including prisoners has 13 Temp HP. It's up to god how well the prisoners understand the disks of light and compressed air forming around them.

[Waistcoatwill]

Doc

The halflingsighs and selects the shortest scientist as his jump buddy.

Keep a close formation folks. I can patch anyone up who has a really bumpy ride despite Sal's best efforts, but I ain't in the mood for running after you to do so.

[MrAbdiel]

"What?! What?!"

Dr. Schiller babbles in alarm and confusion as your group rushes to the edge of the soaring island. He rattles out a translation to his fellow prisoners who do an admirable job using their classically Kreiger stoicism to suppress wild panic at what is being asked of them. They barely have time to be amazed at Sal's shielding device before they are reckoning with the plunge ahead.

With prisoners in tow, you cross the distance as shouts of alarm and a few forlorn, hunting gunshots go off behind you. You can feel it, now that you know it; the extra pressure on all of your steps as the landmass continues to rise higher and higher into the air. You can taste the difference of the air up here; purer, maybe. Definitely thinner. The technikers aren't taking it well. Not long ago they were deep underground in their impenetrable lab, tinkering with their war-nerd specialties. Now, they are thousands and thousands of feet in the air and being forced by enemy soldiers to jump with the promise that it will be fine if they hang on. The alternative is a bullet. They do not want the bullet, but they hesitate and plead; and their desperation not to die one way or the other slows your escape so that you can see the enemy storming after you now; blurts of their submachine gun fire stitching the ground and air around you as you launch yourselves over the edge of the cliff and into the sky beyond. Behind you, you see the huge earthen berg blasted from the ground, and the nearest of several gigantic, subterranean silos whirring with mechanical power and magical augmentation to defy gravity and make such a thing fly. The implications of such technology must be left to consider later.

Your passengers wail and scream. You have never feared jumps, like this; you are soldiers selected for this purpose, but they are not. Inconvenient as their antics are, you can hardly blame them.

Spoiler: Ahhh! Hilf mir! Hiiiilf miiiir!

Show

Everyone is 'carrying' someone. You can assume they are grabbing on to your webbing as best they can. They are not trained soldiers, so you won't be necessarily taxed a turn of grappling to pry one off you. If you want to 'release', or 'attach' a terrified falling Kreiger nerd, you can take a free action to pass a grapple check against a DC 10. If you pass, you can detach/attach one nerd for free. If you fail, you will have to use your action to (automatically) do so.

In addition, roll a d6 for your hanger-on and consult the following chart.

1: No result.
2: They cry.
3: They throw up.
4: They wet themselves.
5: They evacuate their bowels.
6: Roll twice on this chart, rerolling 1's and double-ups.

Now you are back in your 'terrain'. Now the wind is ripping around you and you feel the elemental thrill of the dive. You have done 'passenger' drills before to attempt to save companions with malfunctioning rings. These passengers wriggle and wail more than you'd like, but it's not more than you are trained to cope with and expect.

But what you are not prepared for is pursuit. You remember the storms of tracerfire and flak you dove through during Naphto; but here, the threat is above. More than a dozen red torpedoes race down toward you; in head-first pin dives that cut through the air with minimal resistance as you struggle to contain your passengers. They are soldiers garbed in the red panoply like the one deserter you encountered before - now you know its meaning. These are the enemy's Skyknives. These are their Fallschirmjäger. Goggles and masks cover their faces; their submachine guns now stowed on their backs on some kind of magnetic harness. As they race toward you, their weapons are much more conservative - pistols in some hands, wrist mounted spikes on others. Clever - ranged combat at any real distance with so much air moving by is a fool's effort. They intend to engage you as you fall; to kill you, or perhaps your prisoners, before you can safely abscond with them. And you have five thousand vertical feet between you, and the reinforcements you need.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Check the Roll20 for the map! And the OOC for initiative call!

[JbeJ275]

"WOOOOOOOOO!!!" Screamed Salamir as they plunged through elemental freefall, fire air and earth ripping around him as he plunged through the air. Back home the old and traditional had scowled at Sal, murmuring at him for being kin to a fallen angel but the this time he felt in a whole new way, if hell was the price at the end of this he'd still hardly be able to resist the lure of the fall.

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

(1d6)[1]

The man he was carrying was getting infected too by Sal's mad confidence, where others might have been consumed by terror he found a moment of peace in that weightlessness and for a few moments hung in the open air as well, near serene as they plummeted.

His cries only loudened as the group of Fallschirmjaeger followed him down, Sparky tightened its hold on Sal's arm and Sal grabbed the back of his prisoners shirt and steers they hard towards the closest of the enemy squads, there he pulls a heavy bronze coloured sphere from his webbing, pierces the surface with his arcane firearm and hurls it into the centre of the freefalling paratroopers reaching the very edge of the rage before pulsing, creating an immense pressure distortion to the point that the Fallschirmjaeger experienced a massive impact against the dense sheet of air, like slamming into a semi-solid surface before continuing their fall.

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

All Fallschirmjaeger in that northern diamond take (4d8)[18] damage or half as much on a succesful DC16 con save.

[Waistcoatwill]

Doc

Right buddy, stick tight to me and it'll all be fine. I'm gonna do my best to get you down safely so don't go messing things up for yourself!

He sighs at the look of limited comprehension he gets in return from the labcoat.

Okay, on three. One, two, three...gods dammit!

As his charge hesitates he decides to sweep the leg and pull the Krieger into the aether. What starts as a stream of expletives soon turns into a stream of very sour kraut erupting from the scientist. Mercifully still locked onto the man's knees, Thaddeus remains unsullied and more thankful than ever for his small stature.

That burst of relief is quickly soured by the sight of their murderous opposite numbers bearing down on them.

What kind of paskudniks try to murder people when they're retreating?

For now his duty is clear, he has to stick with his charge but he pulls out his gun to defend himself if anyone comes too close.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Bonus action - Steady aim
Readied action to shoot any attackers that come within 15ft.
(1d20+7)[24] or (1d20+7)[12] for (1d8+4)[10] damage plus (3d6)[7] sneak attack.
Edit: Forgot to spoilerthe rolls

[Novabomb]

Pvt Ginger
Hold on buddy (Speaking in Amcaran)
Seeing that the Kriegs really mean business this time, he and his charge go into a dive.

The sudden acceleration, prompts some unfortunate extra fluids to come out of his guy.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Standard, dash down
Bonus, dash away from the enemy skyknives

[MrAbdiel]

Plunging through the sky, the deadliest airborne warriors the Amcarans and Kreigers have respectively to offer begin to circle, and glide, and strike. While Ginger hauls his prisoner out of the immediate advance of the enemy and Doc prepares a shot in a hand as steady as the buffeting wind permits, Sal angles his fall toward the enemy and releases his arcane assault; it tears through the foremost pack of Fallschirmjager, leaving two with serious lacerations spontaneously impacted on their bodies, and two with more mild cuts; but their reprisal is swift coming as they angle their fall to bring them crashing into melee combat with both Sal, and K’ral; the latter missing a rare point-blank shot under the wild circumstances of the combat.

Two of the blooded sky-warriors of the Vult plunge into flanking position around Salamir. The first crashes in, grabbing for webbing and uniform with one hand to anchor himself and slashes out with his wrist-mounted blade; but it’s the second, crashing in behind Sal and leveraging his companion’s distraction that makes a more significant, threatening strike toward the tiefling’s kidney.

Spoiler: Hits on Sal

Show

That’s one hit from one Morgenrot on Sal, 20 to hit, for 3 damage. But the second guy, after just squeaking in a hit with the aid of his buddy’s ‘teamwork’ power, landed a blow with 22 to hit, for 15 damage. It is clear these soldiers are drilled well to fight in tandem; and two attacking one target are more than twice the threat of one.

But getting to grips with K’ral, the enemy does terrible damage. The marksman is not well equipped to defend himself so close and cannot retreat to cover or a high vantage. It’s all he can do to try to fend off the two Soldat crashing into him and stabbing away, ribbons of his blood splashing up and vanishing into the rushing air.

Spoiler: Hits on K’ral

Show

K’ral gets ganged up on by a pair of the enemy and takes a chunky 25 damage this turn. He’s down to 17.

The most decorated of the enemy combatants, who descends not in a diamond but with extra certainty alone with a black stiletto dagger in one fist, chooses his target: Xilo. The bulky human slips through the air with alarming grace and skill, angling his body and shearing into an accelerated turn, plunging past the ongoing brawls and after the falling officer.

Spoiler: Hauptman Turn

Show

Starting at 5100, the Hauptman cannot get to grips with Xilo this turn because Xilo hasn’t acted and is at 5000. The combatants are flailing past each other in the air right now, not quite coming to grips, though Xilo can certainly descend at the start of his turn and make the first strike on him.

But the Hauptman uses his bonus action to dash adding 100ft to his fall fate; his move to move 30ft laterally, and his action to dash again another 20ft bringing up laterally adjacent to Xilo before he falls ‘past’ him to the 4000ft mark. This is part of the abstraction, obviously we’re not leapfrogging all over the place; but you can imagine the tumult and frenzy of an airborne knife fight, I hope.

The second diamond of Morgenrot Soldat accelerate their plunge toward Doc and Ginger, angling into a coordinate spiral descent as they close the gap!

Spoiler: 2nd Enemy Squad Action!

Show

They are 1100 up, so they spend their bonus action to dash to add 100 to their descent, their actions to dodge, and their move to move over to Ginger and Doc. Only one of them can get adjacent this turn, but Doc is free to take his readied shot at him - at disadvantage, for the dodge it took!

It is Xilo’s turn!

[Cavir]

Seeing their pursuers, the LT screams out. "GET TO THE GROUND!"

Xilo would have loved to dual in the air with their commander but he had cargo and a mission. If possible he'd get the Dr to the ground then fight. Otherwise it'd be a fight with one hand tied... otherwise occupied.

In his right hand is his pistol. Strapped to his left is the ballistic shield, which is being used to sandwich in Dr Schiller and conveniently giving protection to them.

Squeezing his cargo some to give more sense of safety in the buffeting winds, Xilo started giving firm directions to the Dr to keep his passenger's mind busy while he took them into a dive to create distance. "Use your legs and left arm to hold on. With your right arm, take out my knife. Use it to keep him at bay."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Full dive (1250') to 3750'. Keeping track of the enemy captain's position and probable flight path. Spin slightly as needed to make best use of the shield.

[MrAbdiel]

Wolf is lugging two of the damn Kreiger eggheads, one of which throws up a streamer of half digested lunch that splashes away into the air beside him, spritzing him with its filth as it goes. But the sergeant could hardly afford to think about that. The LT was calling to get to the ground; but in he air beside him, a pack of the red armored Fallschirmjager plunged toward Doc and Ginger. This is Wolf's first mission as a sergeant - and he can't bear to let two of his lads get knifed in the air; not after Echo company has lost so many.

"Wait here!" He shouts, ridiculously, to the two technikers, whom he abandons to clutch each other and spin through the air; angling his own descent to intercept the diamond of Morgenrot Soldat. He roars an inarticulate challenge as he goes, drawing his sidearm and blazing away, plugging two with rounds and staggering their formation as he bodily bowls into the midst of them. As he does, the Soldat closest to Doc, who moments ago was ready to grab and start knifing at the medic, is critically distracted by the intruding sergeant...

Spoiler: OOC: Sarge's turn. Attention: Doc!

Show

He used a distracting strike on the closest Soldat to Doc, missed a shot after; action surged, shot a second soldat, and spent his bonus action and his remaining attack to call for an attack from Doc, who happens to be adjacent to an enemy who is now granting him advantage to hit.

As Sarge moves to sure up the flank, the third diamond of Soldat tuck in their arms, plunge to catch up to the descent of K'ral, and race into crowd over the embattled Eladrin. It's a textbook maneuverer, disorientingly executed in three dimensions - hammering the middle of the enemy line, with the intention to divide and conquer the flanks. The enemy has numbers, and skill; and they are not themselves encumbered with treacherous cargo.

At least one of those treacherous elements of cargo finds the capacity to be more useful than you might otherwise have thought - in for a penny in for a pound, the leg-shot and injured Dr Schiller, gripped by Lt. Xilo, steels himself for the incoming Hauptman. Commanded to draw the dagger to defend himself, he instead balls his free hand into an unimpressive, chubby fist - but does so with strange new confidence.

"Nein, Leutnant; a hand is most useful when empty!"

Spoiler: OOC: NPC Actions

Show

the block of 3rd Morgenrot Soldat moves into the middle of the formation, and dashes twice for more lateral movement and descent.
Everyone's buddies grip them and scream; except Sarge's buddies, who flail, unbuddied. Schiller... does something mysterious.

New round! Ginger and Doc's turns!

[Waistcoatwill]

Doc

Using the Sarge's distraction, Doc lashes out at the closing soldat.

Just don't take a hint do you!

[

Spoiler: Reaction

Show

roll]1d20+7[/roll] or (1d20+7)[8] for (1d8+4)[8] plus (3d6)[10]

[MrAbdiel]

A quit slash of the blade and suddenly, that Soldat is tumbling away; clutching his wounds and fading into a groggy night from which he will never awaken.

[Waistcoatwill]

Doc

I'll be right back! Yells Doc as he sweeps through the void to intervene on the murderous krieger in danger of flanking Sarge. Stricken by guilt, he stabs at the drop-murderer before kicking off back to his scientist.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Bonus dash to give him enough movement to head behind the soldat to the south of sarge on the map, stab him, yhen move back to the eggnead.
Action to stab at the wounded soldat South of Sarge on the map.
(1d20+7)[17] for (1d8+4)[5] plus (3d6)[9] sneak attack.

[Novabomb]

Pvt Ginger evaluates the situation and sees that wolf needs help.
He angles his way directly under one of the kriegs and lies horizontal facing up, putting himself between the enemy action and his charge. Rifle pointed up he fires.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Bonus action dash to reduce his fall distance by 235.
Std action, ready an attack against the enemy above him when he comes into range.

Rolls for readied action:
Attack: (1d20+7)[19] Dmg: (1d6+4)[6] (If sneak attack due to circumstances) (3d6)[7]

[MrAbdiel]

With Doc's darting hit-and-run, the unlucky Soldat is wounded, and revaluating his approach; but a moment later, Ginger's bullet comes roaring up the Z axis at him, into his guts and beyond into the sky; and his limp body loosely drifts away from the combat like a dead fish.

In the centre of the action, six enemy troopers are swarming over K'ral and his charge. The eladrin swings his rifle butt at them one handed, but it is grabbed and ripped away; spinning off into the empty sky. Isolated in the combat, his allies preoccupied with their own mortal peril, the pain in his body strobing back into his mind as Doc's morphine starts wearing thin on the multiple bullet wounds he has soldiered through, the fey-touched scout and woodsman does the only thing he can think to do. He gives the Krieger techniker he is towing a mulekick to spin him back and away from the brawl, to crash screaming into the unattended falling pair behind. Then the whole scrum of red garbed Fallschirmjager in the centre of the combat is blasted to pieces.

The bodies of the Kreigers scythe away into the sky, most of them missing pieces sheared off in the weasel's detonation. K'ral himself seems simply gone - a forlorn hope that he has used his eerie fey-given abilities to step away at the last minute persists, ghostly, in the imagination; but at the centre of such a profane conjunction of flesh and fire and force, conducted four thousand feet in the air and scattering now to the battlefield below, his sacrifice is unlikely to have left much to find, and bury.

Spoiler: OOC: Casualty.

Show

K'ral knows he's stuck and not supportable, so he uses his movie to duck back three and drop off his Krieger out of range (attacks of opportunity all miss), then back into the midst of the scrum, produces his weasel, and immediately sets it off. He is killed at once, and takes six Fallshirmjager with him.

Everyone roll a D20. If you roll a 1, you are struck by a far-flying shred of the explosion for 3 damage; a piece of bone, a fragment of a Kreiger's burst armor, a flying shred of dogtag, or whatever seems most narratively interesting to you.

It is Sal's Turn.

[JbeJ275]

Sal kicks away from the two Vulters struggling with him letting them swipe at his retreating and fully shielded form. Then whips his hellfire around to fire at the one in combat with Xilo, and letting the firey blast wreath through prepared heat dispersal conduits, ready to blister the skin of anyone reach to attack him directly.

Spoiler: roll

Show

To Hit: (1d20+9)[22]
Damage: (2d10)[8][7](15)+(1d8)[3](3)=18

[MrAbdiel]

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Hrm. The Initiative Counter has been acting weird in Roll20, rearranging my placement of my enemy groups, who were at 15, 10, and 5 - but I've wrangled them back to where they were and I don't THINK I've cheated anyone of their turns.

The Morgenrot Soldat on Salamir swing at his back, but the canny engineer dives away through the air with his VIP in tow; releasing a blast of hellfire at the captain of the enemy giving chase to Lt. Xiloscient. The shot rakes across his side splattering blood and char, but with only a wince he carries on like a bullet in the sky toward the lieutenant and his captive. The hauptman plunges, wrist mounted blade braced to ram into soldier or traitor, before...

"Nyeh!"

It's the least impressive verbal component Xilo has ever heard, but it accompanies a thrust of the Doctor's fist and splaying of his fingers suddenly. As the enemy captain is about to make contact, he is seized with mystical weightlessness which would be very helpful in almost any situation in which his combat priorities did not involve falling at terminal engagement speeds. His fall slows swiftly, and he hands idle in the air; the whole thing seeming, relative to the Psychos, like the startled Hauptman had somehow slipped and fallen up into the sky.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Convinced to defect, Dr Schiller reveals some mystical potential he had previously hidden, and cast Levitate - causing the Hauptman to hang weightless in the air 3000ft above the ground while everyone else falls. He is, for all intents and purposes, out of the fight; with nothing to do but hang there and feel Sal's hellfire shot in his ribs.

Undeterred, Sal's pursuers catch up to him. His defensive mastery is strong, but in a flurry of blows, one of the two soldatten manages to snatch a handful of his rucksack and ram his blade into the meat of the tiefling's thigh; the force eroded by, then punching through, the deflecting field left by sparky.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

With two opportunity attacks and four attacks on their turn, the 1st Morgenrot soldat mand 1/6 blows against Sal; but it's a mean hit, for 22 damage, which shears through the shield and does some HP damange on Sal. I've marked it on his token already.

Elsewhere, while Doc and Ginger deal with two of the enemies crowding in on Wolf's distraction, the man himself is left two endure two more; and they make a decent show of grabbing him and sinking their blades in.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Sergeant Vognar is struck twice for twenty damage each time, and is looking rough!

Xilo's Turn.

[Cavir]

Xiloscient watched the aerial combat above him while trying to reach the ground before the Hauptman. K'ral detonated taking out a majority of the Fallschirmjaeger. Xilo had an instant of disbelief but he had to put that aside for now. The Hauptman was diving at him. Schiller cancelled out that whole threat with a simple word. "Impressive! Still need to go deal with those others. Hang tight!"

The elven noble warrior, with scientist holding on with a death grip, steered them through the air above one of the Soldats. He twisted at the right moment to drive into and through the enemy with the ballistic shield before he could try finishing off Sal.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move to be above the Soldat just south of Sal then fall right through him, trying to drive him away from Sal. Maybe the impact will be enough to finish off that enemy. Athletics for this? (1d20+6)[16]

I'm not clear- I did use a bonus action back in the robot fight. It hasn't refreshed right? If it has then I'll use it to double tap at the other Soldat just before the falling impact.
Shot1: (1d20+8)[19] Damage (1d6+4)[5]
Shot2: (1d20+8)[25] Damage (1d6+4)[6]

[MrAbdiel]

Dr. Schiller groans and hangs on tight. A round from Xilo's pistol rakes down the back of one of the Soldat's thighs before he bodychecks into one on the way past, shield first. Schiller manages to hang on through the impact, groaning as he does. He strains as he puts his attention on holding the levitate spell, the flailing starfish silhouette of the Soldat commander retreating into the sky beyond. But the soldier Xilo collides with manages rolls with it, spins in the air, and reorients himself with aeronautic mastery back in threatening range of the tiefling engineer.

At the southern end of the aeriel brawl, Sgt. Vognar fights like the wolf he is so often compared to. With two Soldat on him, stabbing and slashing, he strikes about with elbows, trying to bring his pistol to bear as they try to tear if off him. Spotting ginger below, he heaves over his weight to place himself and his aggressors in a side-on profile to the shooter for a clearer shot. At the same time, he pulls his arm free from the grabbing, rams the muzzle of his sidearm into one Soldat's armpit, and pulls the trigger. He can't hear the dry click with the air rushing past, but the gut-freezing lack of recoil and report tells him all he needs to know.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Actions!

Xilo's bodycheck, unfortunately, wasn't enough to overcome the opposing roll, but Schiller hung on atleast. I took your action, Cavir, to be preparing to shoot at one of the Soldat as you fell toward them; and in such cases, you can prepare to make an attack, but not to take the attack action with the extra attacks. It hit though! He bleeds from your efforts, and may bleed more still.

Sergeant Wolf uses another Commander's Strike to give Ginger an out-of-turn attack against one of the Soldatten. Add a D8 to the attack if it hits, Ginger! Then Wolf makes an attack, and rolls a 1 - out of ammo.

Ginger's turn, immediately after his reaction attack! And then Doc and Sal too.

[Novabomb]

Pvt Gabriel Ginger takes a reflexive shot at the command, then attempts to use the body directly above him as an optical barrier to obscure the direction of his next strafe.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Reaction attack:
Att: (1d20+7)[10] Dmg: (1d6+4)[6] + (1d8)[4]

Bonus action: Stealth behind the corpse above. (1d20+10)[17]
Std Att: (1d20+7)[10] Dmg: (1d6+4)[6] + (Sneakattack?) (3d6)[11]

[Waistcoatwill]

Doc

The magnitude of K'ral's sacrifice finally dawns on doc, as does the presence of his falling companion.

We've got to wrap this up soon, Sarge!

He drags his charge with him on a glancing strike against the Soldat to the north of Sarge, before peeling off to grab the nearest free-fsllim labcoat.

Hey...hey! Stop screaming with you, you're going to be fine now, you'd better be worth it!

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Move plus dash to get drag his labcoat next to Sarge and then over to the cluster of falling labcoats.
Attack on the way past.
(1d20+7)[21] for (1d8+4)[6] plus (3d6)[11] sneak attack

[JbeJ275]

As Sal Tumbled through the open air he tried to bring his hellfire back up, sighting it towards the more bloodied enemy with more clear sky behind him, trying to put him down for good. He was also relieved to feel Sparky's shield start to steadily reform.

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Worse of (1d20+9)[25] or (1d20+9)[11]
For (2d10)[4]+(1d8)[6]

Temp HP: (1d8+5)[7]

[MrAbdiel]

Ginger bangs off a couple of rounds, but his precision is fouled by the air racing around his body, and the shots go wide. Doc cried out his warning to the beleaguered sergeant, delivering a slash to one of his attackers before wheeling out of a reprisal blow, techniker wailing in tow.

At the other 'end' of the fight, Sal fights against his two aggressors, bringing his custom weapon to bear against one; but the canny Soldat snatches the barrel with one hand and twists the aim away, the shot blazing off into the empty sky with only the sizzle of his burning glove to show for it.

The reprisal is swift, and brutal. The two red clad Soldat, with the advantage of not having to babysit prisoners, spiral and grapple with the tiefling, stabbing wildly with their wristblades.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Three hits!

A 20 to hit for 22 damage.
A 23 for 10 damage.
A 20 for 18 damage.

I hope Sal has another shield in his pocket somewhere, because that's a timely 50 damage.
Though if he just has to eat it, after the second blow renders him unconcious, the last blow for 18 will go into the Techniker.

With Doc disengaging, the two soldat on the sergeant have a choice to dive after him, or toward Ginger, or to finish off the battered shifter in their midst. In a snap judgement, they decide the sergeant is far enough gone; and now that he is not attending a treacherous techniker, they go after the marksman who is.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Holy smokes, nothing less than a 16. 4 hits on poor Ginger! Now might be time for one of those uncanny dodges.

First hit for 24.
Second for 3.
Third for 13.
Forth for 10.

That's 50 damage, in totally, though if the first gets halved, I think it'll make the difference!

Xilo's turn!

[Cavir]

As Xilo descended back into the fray with cargo gripping tight, he gave his cargo something to focus on and do. "Doctor, the Hauptman is out of the fight at this point. If you have any other useful magic now's the time. If you can heal Sal there he has another feather fall to use and his toy will shield our landing. Otherwise grab him and I'll see what I can do."

As they re-engage Xilo fires twice at the more injured Soldat and shifts their position so that the Doctor is in arms reach of Sal.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Two shots at the Soldat to Sal's south and 5' "step" SW so the Doctor is in reach of Sal. Using a superiority die for one of my shots if needed.

Attack1: (1d20+10)[27] Damage (1d6+4)[10]
Attack1: (1d20+10)[15] Damage (1d6+5)[7]

[MrAbdiel]

The plunging blades find purchase on the tiefling; and soon Salamir is tumbling slackly through the air, gripped by his screaming tag-along as streamers of blood racing from the engineer's wounds turn into vanishing mist with the rushing wind. One of the two attackers spares a blow for the techniker, too - a strike that would have killed him, but for Sparky's shield; only bursting that shield and lacerating the prisoner across the chest.

Elsewhere, Sgt. Wolf is exhausted. Below him, two of the Soldat have engaged Ginger and made him pay in blood - and across the air, he sees Doc struggling to manage an embarassment of prisoners. He could disengage to the doctor, perhaps be balmed by healing magic and cleave to the objective of retaining the prisoners... but he can't leave Ginger to the Soldaten; expecially since he knows Ginger does much better work on enemies that are distracted in some way. He angles his dive to catch up, blazing away with his sidearm, and crashes into the melee; two Amcarans, two Kreigers, locked in a deadly wheeling embrace as they pass the 2000ft mark on the way to the earth below.

"Doctor, the Hauptman is out of the fight at this point. If you have any other useful magic now's the time. If you can heal Sal there he has another feather fall to use and his toy will shield our landing. Otherwise grab him and I'll see what I can do."

"Alas, Leutnant - no magic, but perhaps still tricks!"

The gripping the Lieutenant's webbing with one hand, he leans out with the other as Xilo's cunning aeronautics bring them close. The blow he throws with his right hand comes from the limp wrist of an academic - the soldier doesn't even bother to devote defense to it, focusing instead on trying to guard against Xilo whose incoming shots send one of the Soldats spinning away bleeding from the debacle. But then Dr Schiller's fist hits the remaining Soldat's chin; bizarrely snaps up a few inches from the wrist, sliding on some kind of pneumatic rack mechanism where another man's radius and ulna would be. The doctor's arm is some kind of mechanical prosthetic, then - another secret he kept, which might have been inconvenient to discover under a different circumstance. The jackhammer blows don't knock out the Fallschirmjager, but they do dazzle him and give him reasons to consider why, being the last many standing at this end of the combat, he chooses to remain at all.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Salamir is unconcious. Sarge matches Ginger and his attacker's velocity to flank for him, and scores a glancing blow on one of the enemies. The LT manages to blow one of Sal's attackers away, and Dr. Schiller whams the other for 18 damage worth of mechanical uppercut.


Current average height for the new round is 2000ft. One more round of 'free operation' - once you're at or below 1000ft, you'll want to make sure your Reaction is clear to activate your featherfall ring.

Ginger is up - then Doc!

[Novabomb]

Pvt Gabriel Ginger
Now thats the stuff, bleeding out, plunging to my doom, and there has been an explosion. Only thing I could ask for to complete this experience is to survive it! Time to Die Vult.
He levels his rifle, and fires shortly before spreading out to slow his descent

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Std Action attack (1d20+7)[20] dmg:(4d6+4)[17]
Move action slow descent to 750 this round

[MrAbdiel]

The report of the gunshot is almost lost completely to the howl of air rushing past; the bullet finds its mark, and the second to last Soldat engaging Ginger and Wolf goes spinning off into the air, ragdoll-limp.

Nearby, Ginger's allocated techniker screams and flails as the experienced drop-fighter slows his descent, and the junior technician plummets, unattended, like a stone.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

Doc's turn! Then the unconcious Sal will make a death save.

[Waistcoatwill]

Doc

With casualties and injuries mounting up almost as fast as the ground is approaching, he's starting to get desperate.

Triage! Sal needs up and I need to stop ginger and the sarge both going down at once!

Hey, Sal! The fat lady ain't singing yet! He fires off his sky knife ring at the grease monkey. Everyone, get over here, stat!

He turns to the screaming scientists. I'll he right back, promise!

Letting go, he leaps towards Ginger, slapping a pack of posi-gel on the the soldier's largest wound, itching to spring back to the mass of scientists when he can.

Spoiler: Actions

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Healing word on Sal (1d4)[1]
Move to Ginger
Use medipack to heal (1d6+9)[15]

[JbeJ275]

"GAHHHH!" Sal screamed as he woke back up in mid air, instinct took over active thought for a moment as he restarted Sparky's shielding subroutines and kicked away from the Krieger next to him, drifting into the open sky with the prisoner next to him.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

A: Disengage
BA: Activate Sparky (1d8+5)[9]
M: 15ft west, 5ft south