ic Crash on Volturnus (IC)

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

And that was precisely what Starshot did. He was mindful of power usage, when scanning beneath them - but it was power usage well spent, by his estimation. Those sandworms could cut them to shreds. 

 

He trod through the desert, his heatsink cybernetic implants down his spine burning off the heat, although he still had a sweat on him, a kind of unavoidable reflex. 

 

"How far" he asked. Or more importantly, in his head, was the question "How long?". They must not burn up under the sun, or exhaust themselves. But on the other hand, they should reach the base by nightfall...and take steady appraisal of the situation there. At least the night would bring coolness. 

 

For now, it was a matter of putting boots through sand and keeping an eye out below...

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The initial entry into the desert reveled little in the way of hidden dangers, but after the first couple of hours, Starshot spotted one of the lurking massive sandworms lying in wait ahead of them, requiring a detour around it.

 

Emorda was walking a short distance behind Starshot as they went over the burning sands.  The Kurabanda looked out over the sands ahead as he considered Starshot’s question.  "We should reach Demons' huts in two moon rises."  He replied. 

 

The group continued their march through the desert, stopping midday in the shade of a rocky outcropping that provided them both a break from the blazing sun and protection from the creatures that lurked beneath the sands.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Being under hard rock was satisfying. Of course, Starshot had wandered deserts before, but they were usually devoid of life and less popular for the Safari. Scenic, perhaps - but one dune soon began to look like every other. He could not say he was comfortable in the desert, even experienced as he was. And the shifting worms beneath were not comforting. 

 

Hard Rock was. 

 

Once again, the military check of equipment. And water, the most precious of all resources out here. He wondered for a moment how the Pirates kept hydrated. A possible vulnerability in a siege - but a siege was unlikely to be attractive. 

 

"Two moon rises it is then. Let us ensure good rest. We are not in a hurry, and as long as the desert does not sap our strength, we should make sure we are fully fit" he said, relaxing.

 

"If nothing else, at least time is on our side". 

 

And so they relaxed. He did, however, spend a few minutes showing Emorda how his thermal pellets worked. They would start a fire much faster than any wood or flint - and much more reliably. If a fire they needed for distraction, a fire they would get. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

While the group rested and rehydrated, Emorda paid close attention to Starshot's instructions on the use of his thermal pellets.  The Kurabanda was quick to learn and it was soon clear he understood how to work them should the need arise.

 

After about an hour's rest, the group was on the move again, back out onto the hot sand under the sun's intense glare.  Onward they trudged, over the sands, avoiding the occasional lurking danger, but otherwise keeping within sight of the coastline of the lake. 

 

As the day started to approach its close, they stopped at the first rocky ground they could find, seeking the protection from anything that might lurk beneath the sands.  Camp was set up and watch rotations established before everyone settled down for a meal and then a relaxing rest under the cool night air.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"Honestly, I do not know if I will miss this planet or not. It has its beauty, and danger, and mystery. Another day, I would have enjoyed it. But the Xeno is still buried under sand, and our fortunes grave. The planet is our enemy. And yet I must stop to savour the night air"

 

He was talking to his crew, but also to himself. Sinking into a battle between self and the forces against one would mean a war and that needed an antidote. 

 

A moment of peace. 

 

But only a moment. 

 

It was time again to relax, but there was nothing more to do but move forward now, no matter how long it took. There was, as far as he could see, no more provision to make, at least until the tides turned. They were committed to this act. 

 

So determined, he set off to sleep, and to begin again the next day. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Soreen glanced over at Starshot as he made his comments.  "Well, I certainly could do without the possibility of being forever stranded here, but I suppose it is a nice enough place to visit, so long as you are not right in the middle of all the danger."

 

"But then how would we have had the opportunity to become a member of the Ul-Mor tribe?  And to spend time with the Kurabanda?"  Laark asked from where he was cleaning his weapons.

 

"I am very thankful to both of those groups for the help they have provided, and are providing.  But really, the Ul-Mor only gave us help on the condition we became part of the tribe, which meant having to face that Quickdeath thing.  Which again, I could have done without.}  Soreen replied.

 

Laark simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to his task.

 

Once again the night passed uneventfully and soon the sun was rising once more and the group was soon up, having a quick breakfast and then gathering their things and starting off once more to get as much time on the move as they could before the worst heat of the day.  They continued on through the desert for hours, as the morning grew ever hotter and the sun continued to rise high into the sky.

 

Once again they made a stop at mid-day, again finding some shaded area, taking a break and double checking supplies.  Then, it was on the move once more.  They had to avoid a couple of those sand creatures that had attacked Starshot and his crew shortly after they had first set off from their crash site, but that was far preferable to risking injuries once again, particularly as they were drawing close to the pirates' outpost.

 

By mid-afternoon, they were moving through a small ravine when Emorda signaled a halt.  Looking out at the nearby end of the ravine, he looked over to Starshot.  "Sky Demon's huts are not far now."  He stated.

[Supercape]

GM

 

It was true, of course. Every work Soreen said. But he just wished it had been under better circumstances. A choice rather than an imposition. 

 

But it would be savoured nonetheless. 

 

Starshot consulted the power reading on his helmet. 21%. Not good, but it would last a little longer. The problem with X-Ray scanning below them was it drained power. Still, it had got them here, and it was not dry yet. 

 

And good for a bit of telescopic analysis of the camp. 

 

"Lets scout out the place first, Emorda. Just you and me...we need to be clear what we are dealing with. Study our enemy...."

[Thevshi]

GM

 

With Starshot's statement, the rest of the group moved into the slim shade offered by the ravine and sat down for a rest.  Soreen offered Emorda a pair of macrobinocoulars to assist him with scouting out the target. 

 

The Kurabanda then moved through the ravine with Starshot.  As the pair neared the end of the ravine, Emorda slowed their pace down, indicating they should be above to see the outpost from the mouth of the ravine.  Moving up behind some rock formation that were present at the mouth of the ravine, Starshot and Emorda were able to hide behind them as they peaked up to look out at the desert beyond.

 

The desert flattened out considerably from the mouth of the ravine, with low dunes creating some depressions, but otherwise the area was mostly flat terrain.  About three hundred meters from the mouth of the ravine was a building out among the flat desert terrain.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Oskar lay down in the sand, quite still, studying the building - which he presumed was the camp. 

 

"This does not look good" he muttered for all to hear. 

 

"Flat terrain. Not good to approach". He commented, switching his focus to the ravine mouth. Plenty of cover here, but little further ahead. 

 

"Three hundred and six point twelve metres" he read out, the HUD of his helmet calculating the precise distances to the camp. "This won't be easy..."

 

In fact...it will be hard....

 

"We will get picked off quickly covering that distance. We really do need that distraction" was his conclusion, before once again studying the camp itself. Even if they got there - how would they approach? What defences were there? What sensors, come to that?

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The vision enhancements in Starshot's helmet helped him to zoom in toward the pirate outpost that lay to the east of the ravine.  He saw that it was surrounded by a high fence about ten feet high topped with barbwire.  He was not positive from this distance, but he believed the fence might be electrified. 

 

The outpost itself was several cheap modular construction units, arranged together to form one single structure.  It was not a perfect square shape, with an space inside the southwestern corner of the fence forming a small open space where a small vector thrust vehicle was parked.  Up on several corners of the building, Starshot could also see remote cameras, that slowly swept back and forth, focused out on the sands around the outpost.

 

As he studied the features of the building, Starshot saw a door along the western wall of the building slide open.  Moving out of the door was a human sized robot.  This one seemed heavily plated, and had an energy weapon built into its right arm.  The robot began a patrol around the exterior of the building, covering the area just inside the western fence, before moving to the north and moving back around toward the other side of the outpost.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Cheap...that's good. He was not surprised. Cost cutting would be reasonable practice for the Pirates. It was a business, and they would only pay for what they needed - and could not steal. 

 

The electric fence was not, he judged, a major problem but it would be an obstacle. Easy enough to cut or blast through. But it would eat valuable seconds. 

 

The remote camera's however...

 

"Camera's scanning the place. Sweeping. If we time it right we can cover some ground out of their sweep, but it's not going to be easy" he explained. "And they have a combat droid patrolling. If we time it right, we can avoid him for a bit"

 

If only his plasma rifle was charged, he could have used it to good advantage. Sniping from a distance. Phalen's blaster rifle was functional, but not up to the task. 

 

"Its going to be tight. But if we time it right, we have a chance..." he explained. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Emorda gave a small nod as Starshot indicated that they would have a tight timeframe to try to get close without being spotted.  As Starshot watched the remote cameras, he observed they moved in about a ninety degree arc, taking a full two minutes to start at one end of the arc, pan to the opposite end and then completely return.  They could certain time movement when there were blind spots, but it would only be for about half a minute at a time.

 

While he was zoomed in studying the cameras, Emorda nudged him and Starshot refocused back out some, seeing that the combat robot had moved back to the west side of the structure, having come back around from the southside. It moved past the vector thrust vehicle and back along the side of the structure Starshot and Emorda were on, before disappearing back to the north end, headed east once more.  About five minutes later, the robot came back into view coming along the southside once again.  As it moved back along the western side of the building, it once again entered through the door it had come out from, going back inside the structure.

 

Continuing to observe for a bit longer, the combat robot then reemerged ten minutes later, performing the same clockwise circle around the inside perimeter of the fence, each circle taking five minutes.  It then entered the structure once again.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"Thirty seconds. That's not much time to cover a thousand feet" muttered Starshot. "Especially in sand". 

 

"At least the robot gives us a bigger window" he acknowledged. 

 

Starshot was fast, but thirty seconds for 300 metres was a stretch in sand. He could maybe just make it, if he put everything in. But it would be close. On open plains, he could make it. On sand....

 

But...

 

He looked at his hand. 

 

However, his hand could make it, with time to spare. Powered by its micro jets, still full of energy, it could cover the ground easily. And his hand could hold a grenade. 

 

"I have a plan. Get a few grenades there, set them off inside the complex. That will disorientate them. Then, we go in, from two angles, hard and fast...."

 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

"Kurabanda ready to do their part."  Emorda replied as Starshot gave a basic outline of the plan.  They stayed and watched the outpost for awhile longer, confirming that the combat robot continue to operate in ten minute cycles, with two five minute circles of the interior of the fence and then ten minutes spent inside the structure before repeating the cycle.

 

The pair then moved back through the ravine to where the other Kurabanda and Starshot's crew were waiting, having rested, eaten and were busy preparing their weapons and gear. 

 

They still had the makeshift litter of branches, hides and some foliage, if they still wanted to make any use of those materials.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Once satisfied that everyone knew the plan, and everyone knew that plans could change, Starshot took a couple of the grenades. 

 

Positioning themselves as near to the camp as they could get whilst under cover, they waited, watching both the security combat robot and the cameras. 

 

Waiting for that ideal permutation of ritual. The combat robot half way through its "internal" cycle, inside the camp. The cameras at the beginning of the "blind spot" in their sweep. 

 

Then, he threw his hand off his arm, and let it fly!

 

A moment later, he signalled everyone to make a dash for it, through the sand...

 

And as soon as his hand reached the building, it would let loose a grenade on the cameras covering the approach...

[Thevshi]

GM

 

After Starshot and Emorda outlined the plan (Emorda explaining it to the other Kurabanda), the group made their final equipment checks.  Laark gave Starshot and Soreen each a couple of grenades, keeping about four for himself. 

 

"We should try our best not to damage that flyer."  Soreen commented.  "It could be a source for the parts we need, and even if it is not, it would provide an easier means of getting them back to the Xeno."

 

The group then gathered near the end of the ravine closest to the pirate outpost.  Starshot once again moved up behind the rocks to watch for the combat robot’s patrol to start their plan.  Once the combat robot reentered the structure and the cameras panned away creating a blind spot, the group moved out of the ravine, quickly moving about a dozen meters forward and getting down behind a large sand dune that provided them concealment from the cameras.

 

Starshot then marked the time for when the robot would be halfway through its time inside and sent his robotic hand off, clutching one of the appropriated grenades. 

 

His mechanical hand sped over the desert sands, quickly closing the distance to the outpost while the camera covering their approach was turned away.  It easily flew over the electrified fence and delivered the grenade to the top corner of the building where the camera was located and then began its return flight.

 

A few moments later the explosion of the grenade echoed over the sands of the desert and the group stood and started running forward toward the outpost.  The grenade had caused only minimal damage to the corner of the building where it had gone off, but it had taken out the camera completely.   

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"Now!"

 

It was as good a time as any. One camera down - the approach was blind, the distraction present, and the robot inside. 

 

And so he made the call, and made it loud. 

 

He had Phalens Blaster Rifle strapped to his back, and a gas grenade gripped in his fleshy right hand. He started mentally commanding his cybernetic one to fly back to him. Maybe they could meet (in many senses of the word) halfway on the advance. 

 

Now, he started forward at full pace. There was no time to delay, and he would move as fast as he could. The sands would be difficult, but so be it. They must all charge, and wreak havoc. He would be first into the fray, with his speed (at least he presumed), and he would not shirk for starting the havoc. The pirates were slavers, brutes, and beyond reprehensible. He was not a man for cruelty, nor brutality. In fact, he despised such philosophy. But his mercy would be in short supply today. 

Edited March 21, 2018 by Supercape

[Thevshi]

GM

 

Starshot was the first up and over the dune.  He was also considerably faster than all the others, and quickly pulled far out ahead of them as he raced over the hot sand as quickly as he could go.  A small bit of smoke rose up into the air from the outpost where the grenade had gone off and he was drawing ever closer.

 

His robotic hand did indeed catch back up with him, reattaching as he ran towards the southwestern corner of the fence.  He was about two-thirds of the way there when he saw the combat robot emerge from the building.

 

By the time Starshot had come within about four or five meters of the fence, the robot had moved southward in his direction and was a little over a dozen meters away.

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

"Damn...." cursed Starshot aloud, hoping he would beat the Robot to the Fence. 

 

But the situation on any battlefield was mercurial. He had not been a soldier for seventy years, but the lessons learned there were hard and not forgotten. One made do with with the situation now. Clinging to the situation one hoped for caused paralysis and death. 

 

He must not be trapped behind the fence. No cover. Impetus lost. 

 

Instead, with adrenaline in his muscles, and his cybernetic implants fizzing with energy, he lunged forward with a burst of speed and jumped upwards, diving over the fence...

 

...landing in a crouch and spending a fraction of a second in a pose. Before moving forward in another burst of speed, and moving into a flying kick aimed straight at the Robot.

 

I hope this hurts you more than me!

 

And it appeared to. His foot crunched heavily into the Robot's chest, sending it flying and fizzing, a trail of sparks following. It landed clumsily, and jerked still, with smoke belching from many joints and the power cell clearly dying. 

 

Not stopping, Starshot, turned and quickly hurled the gas grenade through the hole in the wall. 

 

That should slow them down, but the show is not over yet!

 

He crouched down and pulled out his blowpipe. 

 

Keep them distracted, disorientated, confused...

 

With that philosophy in mind, he crept quietly round the building, searching for an entrance...

Edited March 21, 2018 by Supercape

[Thevshi]

GM

 

So far Starshot had momentum on his side.  After quickly taking down the combat robot, he was able to toss his gas grenade into a section of the building and then moved around the corner of the building, taking cover for the moment as he prepared his next move.

 

Glancing out toward the sands, he saw the others still running towards the outpost.  They were still about a hundred meters away, and likely would take a bit longer to reach the fence.

 

Taking a quick look around the corner, Starshot saw a pirate emerging from the building, using the same door the combat robot had.  He had his pistol in his hand, but did not appear to notice Starshot, instead focusing his attention out into the desert towards the figures running toward the outpost.  He started to move south, toward where Starshot was hiding around the corner, raising his pistol to aim out at one of the running figures…

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Starshot was quiet, and still. At least for a moment. 

 

So far, so good. Better than good, in fact. He had a mixture of momentum and surprise on their side, and that was as good as he could have hoped for. 

 

Don't think..act and think together....and be in the moment...

 

Philosophy giving his nerves an icy focus and a fiery speed, he stayed still, and quickly sidled up to the perfect angle. He put his pipe to his lips. 

 

He was careful not to inhale. His implants could fight of any poison, but he would be a fool to get a needle in his mouth right now. 

 

Quietly, he blew hard, and propelled the poison coated dart out...

[Thevshi]

GM

 

The poisoned dart struck true, hitting the humanoid pirate in the neck.  He staggered slightly, but managed to stay on his feet.  He was still moving, but was very lethargic in those movements.  He turned to look in the direction of where Starshot was, his pistol now slightly lowered and no longer aimed out at the others.

 

But even as the pirate staggered, the door to the building opened a third time, and another combat robot emerged.  This one quickly scanned the area to the south, focusing in on Starshot where he was just around the corner.  It started forward, bringing its built in weapon up to prepare to attack…

[Supercape]

Starshot

 

Starshot felt the Needle hit with satisfaction, but he also felt the winds of fortune shifting slightly now. 

 

Well, 'twas expected. War was brutal and chaotic, no matter how fine a soldier exerted his will to make it otherwise. 

 

Lamentations had no space in his heart or head. Not now. Instead, he pulled out his whip and took a stance. 

 

"Surprise" he said with a deep, gravel voice like tombstones falling to dust. 

 

He took a spin with his whip, and cracked it theatrically. Perhaps too slow...

 

This is war, not a cowboy show! he told himself angrily. He wasn't going for an impression, but an effect. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

While Starshot might have been a bit slow, the pirate was even slower thanks to the effect of the poisoned dart.  But while the whip hit its intended mark, the pirate managed to somehow resist the attack, staying on his feet, but still slowed.

 

The combat robot moved closer, opening fire with its built in blaster.  The bole of energy streaked dangerously close to Starshot, continuing on past him to strike the fence to the south.

 

The slowed pirate managed to bring his blaster pistol up as he also took a shot at Starshot.  But his aim was well off, and the blast struck the wall behind the space hunter.

 

With all the attention focused on Starshot, Laark, Soreen and the Kurabanda all managed to close the remaining distance, coming up to the southwestern corner of the electrical fence.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Starshot didn't like being shot at, but he had no doubt this would not be the last time he had a blaster bolt scream past him. Or, quite probably, into him. 

 

Body low, he scuttled to one side, quick and stealthy, like a predator. Like a panther. Like a snake. 

 

The Electric Fence? Designed to keep people out, he could use it to his advantage. 

 

He changes stance quickly, turning to his side, weight on one leg. Then, with a quick burst of energy, he stood up and landed a straight kick, right at the pirate. His intention: to kick the pirate right into the fence. 

 

It was shock tactics.