The Nightmare of SIDE IC 2 - Exit the Matrix

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 4

Rook may have had the Red Terror right where he wanted it, but to be fair, that only went so far against a mecha. Even Rook's artillery-caliber bullets could only do so much damage to the thing so fast.

Aidan's target may have been weighed down by its heavy armor, but servos and thrusters did help make up for that. It managed to lunge away from his strike, avoiding the damage.

The Cartoon Hero went hammer-to-hammer with the God-Emperor of Haptarus. The golden suit of doubly-armored powered armor brought its own hammer back around in a fluid parry, rocket-maul meeting cartoon mallet head to head with a shockwave of impact that left neither harmed. "Oh-ho-ho, you are very brave! Hey! Ellens! Isn't he brave?" the God-Emperor retorted, sounding sincerely (if bombastically) amused.

Tara Ellens, at the moment, was not interested in Avery's antics. Just rude is what it was. The man goes out of his way to be entertaining during battle the least you could do was pay a little attention. Wraith did something and Tara done with thised at it so hard that it evidently had no effect.

Kate blinked away from her attacker and let loose another volley of portals. The new angle of attack caught the Destroyer off-guard, giving it no time to dodge them all. The armored suit was slashed open in several places, and blood flowed out, clearly showing that Kate had caught the soldier within and injured it badly.

WHOOSH! In a blur of super-speed, Tsuki came zipping onto the field, spent her entire allotted Quickness ranks just, like, gawking at what her uncle had gotten himself into, and grabbed Rhuem and zipped off to take him to her mother.

Wait.

To take him to her mother.

After she had just seen what sort of trouble her uncle had gotten himself into.

After he had told him family about the Death Curse.

...I'm just saying, it was a good thing that Wraith was sending her Rickert on a silver platter. It might, might, manage to spare him his sister's fury next time he saw her. Might.

Tara, seemingly growing increasingly unhinged as the heroes not only continued making headway against the Haptarans, but under Prophet's steady words of judgment, shrieked in frustration as Interceptor appeared and blinked away with Arcanis's staff. "You want rage, priest?" she spat, power blazing up in her eyes. "Then have it all! Kill them! KILL THEM! KILL THEM!!!"

Nothing...happened.

Tara seemed kinda wrong-footed by that.

Count Aubernon continued doggedly focusing on Rook. He came in hard, once more taking direct control as he charged Rook and made a rapid series of attacks. This time, though, he recognized that Rook wasn't going to just go down immediately...and he also understood that his mech couldn't hold out forever against that sustained assault. So Aubernon struck not for maximum damage, but for maximum advantage, analyzing the defenses of those around him to learn how to get around them later.

The destroyer that Kate had injured was hurt, but not down, and fired back immediately with its gun arm. The one that Aidan was fighting took a swing with the weird mace-like blast arm; even if Aidan proved agile enough to dodge it, the explosion it unleashed would not be so easily avoided! The one that had tried to duel Avery knew better than to risk kill-stealing from its Emperor, so it just went ahead and tried tacking Prophet with its chain arm. Why not?

The God-Emperor faced Avery squarely, raised his hammer high...and fired laser eyes straight at him. Right, like he was going to play fair. Please. Man had a reputation to uphold. He went ahead and took the opportunity to sweep the beam down towards Wraith, which seemed like an obvious thing to do given that he was visible for a blessed change and had left himself badly open.

Spoiler

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Tara:
Move: Whatever.
Standard: Invoke GM Fiat for Inspire 5! However, since she's concealed from her allies, nobody benefits. Since this effect does not hinder any PCs, no Hero Points are awarded, but her 1/scene use of Inspire is expended nonetheless. Well done.

The Red Terror:
Move: Dazed.
Standard: Pilot Enhancement System. Lead the Attack gains three ranks, adds Multiattack to Damage.
End of Turn: Regenerates a Bruise. Will to recover from Defenseless: (1d20+15)[30]. Nope

Count Aubernon:
Move: Pilot the Red Terror into Close range of Rook.
Standard: Attack Rook with Lead the Attack at (1d20+15)[23], Deflected at (1d10+23)[33]. On a hit, Toughness DC 31 vs. Damage. Either way, Rook and Prophet both give me Dodge DC 25 for half, Will DC 25/17 vs. Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless and non-stacking Weaken All Defenses. Rook's penalties only apply against Count Aubernon, Prophet's against Tara. The

Destroyer 1:
Move: Staggered.
Standard: Attack Kate with Gun Arm at (1d20+10)[19], Deflected at (1d10+23)[32]. On a hit, Toughness ((1d20+11)[24]) DC 29 vs. Damage, Fortitude ((1d20+11)[28]) DC 24 vs. Weaken Stamina. Dream
End of Turn: Secondary Effect triggers. Kate gets Toughness ((1d20+11)[19]) DC 29/24 vs. Damage Linked Weaken Toughness. Thinking she's gonna reroll that.

Destroyer 2:
Move: Into AV16.
Standard: Attack Aidan with Blast Arm at (1d20+10)[23], Deflected at (1d10+23)[31]. On a hit, Toughness DC 29 vs. Damage. On a miss, Dodge DC 22 for half, Toughness DC 27/21 vs. Damage. Protects

Destroyer 3:
Move: Into V13.
Standard: Attack Prophet with Chain Arm at (1d20+10)[11], Deflected at (1d10+23)[32]. On a hit, Toughness DC 29 vs. Damage, Prowess DC 24 vs. Vulnerable/Defenseless/Paralyzed and Physically Dazed+Impaired/Stunned+Disabled/Incapacitated+Unaware. You

The God-Emperor:
Move: Sweep the Beam.
Standard: Attack Avery and Wraith with Laser Eyes. Perception Range attack. Defense DC 30 vs. Damage (since this is an Area attack Wraith the DC is only 23 for you). Note that your All Out Attack penalties, and Wraith's Vulnerable, do apply to this resistance check as they were intentionally taken. Seriously the whole "tank your defense from behind a Deflect" move doesn't work in final boss fights.

All PCs are on turn.