Robotech - Southern Cross Adventure

[Purr]

Gabi nearly died. "Heavenly Father, thank you so much for answering my prayers... through you, all things are possible."

 

[Rykon]

Alan once again rattled his console with the force in which he slammed the throttle to its limit. Once he got up to speed he launched the Spartas into the air off a rock formation while shifting into battloid mode, hoping he could get between the Ajax and the Malcontent's Power Armor. "Taste this!" peaked through the open radio. The Spartas leveled the EU-11at the faceplate of the FPA and unleashed a full burst toward the enemy.

Spoiler

MDC:
Main Body: 475 -70
Right Shield: 500
Left Shield: 500

Payload:
APFSDS - 25 - 3d6x10 - Spent: 1
MPAT - 10 - 2d6x10 - Spent: 0
Plasma - 10 - 2d8x10: Spent: 4
Smoke: 3 - Spent: 0

EU-11 Upgraded d6x10+10

In the Spartas:
Number of Attacks: 8 (6Base +2MECT)
Strike: +9 with Cannons, +10 to HtH, +11 with EU-11 (+2 Ranged, +3 HtH, +2Eu-11 Stacked with Ranged)
Parry: +14 (MECT +4)
Dodge: +12 (MECT +3)
Roll: +9 (MECT+3)
Perception: +8
Initiative: +3

On Foot:
Number of Attacks: 6
Strike: +7 (+5PP +2Martial Arts)
Parry: +10 (+5PP +2Boxing +3Martial Arts)
Dodge: +9 (+5PP +1Boxing +3Martial Arts)
Roll: +6 (+3HTH +1Boxing +2Gymnastics)
Perception: +9 (+8IQ +1Demolitions)
Initiative: +1
Damage: +12 (+12PS)
Horror Save: +3 (+3OCC)

 

[Psychie]

Again, another miss. The luck gods are with this one.

Sherwood is up

21 - Marlon [4]
20 - FPA 1 [3] seriously damaged
18 - Gabi [2]
11 - Alan [3]
8 - Deunan [2] <====
2 - Ryuko -110 MD [2]

 

[Sherwood]

"Watch your aim, Marlon! Damnit! We're having enough trouble hitting this bitch without making her job easier for her!"

Spoiler

On Foot:
Number of Attacks: 6
Strike: +10
Parry: +13 - +17 with Heavy Combat Shield
Dodge: +14
Roll: +6
Perception: +12
Initiative: +1
Damage: +2 from Ps

In the Hover Tank:
Number of Attacks: 8 - +1 attack per melee round at levels 1, 3, 6, 10, and 14
Strike: +12 with Cannons, +13 to HtH, +14 with EU-11 (+2)
Parry: +17 (+1)
Dodge: +17 (+1)
Roll: +9
Perception: +12
Initiative: +3 (+2)

Main Body: 475
Left Arm Shield: 500 / 450
Right Arm Shield: 500

 

[Psychie]

The last FPA suit is so busy being tangled up with everyone in close range to her that she doesn't even see Deunan's particle beam shot coming in from seemingly out of nowhere! It catches her square in the chest plate that was already damaged by your last hit, and it rips a hole through the suit and keeps on going just before making the powered armor explode in mid air!

With no more enemies in sight, what does the members of the Third Heavy do now?

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan calls out on the radio, "Alan! Neo! Gabi! Go check that tunnel to see if there is any signs of the High Lord and her people down there. Watch your asses! If they are in the tunnel, and still alive, they are going to be pissed off to all hell. Ryuko, what is your status? How bad were you hit?"

 

[D. Rex]

Marlon gritted his teeth. As much as he wanted to say it wasnt his fault... it wasnt... but it was still his beam that hit Ryuko. Even if it she did a complete stupid. Marlon could not help but feel shame and guilt from it.

It was a good thing they wore helmets. It hid his grimace. "Yes Sergeant." He responded curtly.

But it didnt last long, as Duenan dispatched the FPA in her distraction.

Remaining silent, Marlon switched to battloid mode with his rifle raised. Moving closer to Duenan and Ryuko, and keeping an eye open for possible threats.

 

[Rykon]

Alan immediately turned to approach the tunnel, still in battloid mode. One shield was raised, the other held the EU-11 forward. He checked the tunnel entrance to see if there were any other signs of life beneath the rubble, or any chance of escape for those inside.

 

[Purr]

"Watch your aim, Marlon! Damnit! We're having enough trouble hitting this bitch without making her job easier for her!"

So it was Marlon's fault that Ryuko got hit when she ran into their fire? SSG Conway wanted Marlon to somehow control his luck with the universe at large? Gabi felt this was the wrong call. What were they have supposed to have done when Ryuko charged in there and started a boxing vs. missile match versus the clearly-motivated Meltrandi? Gabi felt Marlon didn't shoot Ryuko so much as Ryuko made herself a huge target and was damned lucky to be alive right now. Ryuko would have never gotten hit if she hadn't recklessly jumped in to where everyone else was laying down fire.

Besides, bad luck was bad luck. One had no control over the waves of fate; either they rolled in your favor or not. It was the conscious decisions that counted. Evidently SSG Conway didn't see things that way.

The last two FPA suits manage to thread the needle and slip past the falling shells and exit out into the open as the passage behind them collapses, sealing it shut.

Gabi's radar does not see any movement at the moment, but it could mean that whatever down there is not a large enough metallic target to register. Or, there is nothing down there to see.

Gabriela professionally kept her feelings to herself and checked out the collapsed tunnel again as ordered. Looking back to her ground radar, she looked for signs of movement. Where had the High Lord gone? Would they have to go back inside the base to reach the opposite end of this tunnel?

"Sergeant," Gabriela relayed. "With this tunnel down, there's only one other place they could be if they came this way - on the other side of all this debris."

 

[Sherwood]

With her adrenaline still pumping, Deunan tries to calm herself down as she calls out to Gabi and Alan. "What is your read on the tunnel? Can it be cleared, or do we have to go in from the other side?"

 

[Psychie]

Alan can tell that it will be possible to clear the fallen rubble of the collapsed tunnel with the strength of the Spartas' powerful hands. It will take several mecha working together to make it happen, though.

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Time slowed down, Ryuko stared death in his cold merciless eyes.
The sounds of her comrades calling her were drowned out by the sound of the missles heading towards her.

I-is this it? A-am I gonna die?

At the last second, a beam would intercept the missles, destroying them, as the inside of the her cockpit shook.

With the smoke cleared, she looked towards where the shot came from and saw Gabi's Ajax there, the smoke rolling off the barrel of the gun that fired.

Ryuko heard Denuan call her, and ask what her status was.

"I... I'm okay physically..."
She then would keep silent as tears ran down her face. Her best friend had saved her from demise.

 

[Purr]

Now that she had checked the tunnel electronically, Gabi replied to Sergeant Conway as cooly as she could. "Radar thinks the tunnel is silent, ma'am."

Her duty done for the moment, Gabi took some deep breaths, slumped back in her chair, and just thanked God over and over again. She looked at Ryuko's red Ajax and told herself. "She's still here. She didn't blow up. I heard her over the radio. She's in there alive. Maybe she needs a change of pants - I know I would - but she's in there, alive." Gabriela didn't want to take her eyes off of Ryuko's Ajax lest it suddenly vanish in a cloud of unsuspected enemy fire. Despite the climate control in her body armor, Gabriela noticed she was sweating big-time from head to toe. The mission wasn't done yet.

Gabriela slowed herself down and tried to collect herself.

It wasn't easy.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan thinks for a moment, then nods. "If she is in there, we go in after her. Everyone, time to get our mecha's hand dirty. Battloid mode and lets haul some rock. If it looks unsafe, we pull back immediately, but I want proof of the High Lord, dead or alive. Lets go."

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Ryuko would respond.
"You want me to do anything?"

 

[Sherwood]

"Yes. I want you in here with us, helping to get through this rubble. All hands on deck for this one." Deunan moves her mecha in its Battloid mode, letting Alan take the lead on this with his knowledge of Search and Rescue.

 

[Rykon]

Alan hops out of his Spartas with his case of mines and begins to set explosives at the entrance of the collapsed cave. Using his training in excavation, he attempted to direct the charges to clear the rubble from the entry way so that the third heavy could take advantage of the back door. "I'm gonna blow this hole open, cover me."

 

[Psychie]

It takes several minutes to properly place the demo packs, but when Alan is done and is safely back in his mecha, you set them off and are rewarded by the sight of a small opening, just big enough for one of the Spartas to be able to maneuver through at a time.

Who is going to go first?

 

[Rykon]

Alan hops in to check the structural integrity of the tunnel after repeated detonations of shells and mines upon it. As he does so he is on the lookout for any traps like the first tunnel had.

 

[Psychie]

As you work your way in, the tunnel seems stable enough, but that can change quickly if there is any weapon fire in here. The next thing you spot is a full dozen bodies of Zentraedi soldiers lying in various states of messed up, some groaning in pain, others quite dead.

 

[Rykon]

Alan hails the rest of the squad into the tunnel over the squad band. "Looks like an apocalypse in here, but it's safe enough for now. Mind your step and hold your fire and we'll be fine."

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan calls out, "Ok, I'm coming in. Lets see if we can identify any of the bodies as the High Lord. No one else needs to see this if you don't want to have these images in your mind."

 

[Psychie]

Neo says, "If it is optional, I'll go ahead and stay out here. I don't want to see what is in there. I'll keep overwatch."

Inside the tunnel, it is a gruesome scene. It is unlikely that any of the Zentraedi in here will be able to survive their injuries from both the artillery attack and the cave-in afterwards. Walking your tanks through the mess, you do come across Zerkia, the High Lord. She is still alive, but has a rock shard impaling her, and is probably not going to live long.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan makes sure that her recorders are on as she hits her spotlight on the face of Zerkia, and over her loudspeaker, she says, "Your resistance is crushed, broken. It is unlikely that you will live long; here is your chance to say a few final words. Why did you run when you promised your people that you would stand and fight with them? What do you have to say for yourself?"

 

[Rykon]

Alan kept his chatter to the radio when the target was identified. "We should probably take her with us as evidence boss. Not much we could do for her either way, but having proof of her defeat will help stamp down any rumors inciting further insurrection."