The Return of Malfeas IC

[sun_tzu]

"It isn't so much the software I want as it is the hardware. Theion's weapons array is... impressive, to say the least. I wouldn't want to change my nature for any reason, and especially not to that of Theion. I couldn't rule my people like Malfeas wants to. It would take much more time to fabricate everything I would need however, and in the short term probably wouldn't be of much use." He pauses, and tilts his head in deep thought. "Ah, now I see. You feel you're being manipulated, don't you? I understand, I was asking out of desperation. But if it helps you to trust me, I won't ask for the schematics. I need you more than you need me."

Berger smiled. "You've always been an ally, Autochton, and I'll proudly fight the Black Fleet to help you if that's what it takes. But I don't think a decision like this sort of upgrading should be taken under pressure. I'll definitely be revisiting it with you once the dust has settled, though."

[horus42]

"Thank you, Colonel. We'll get this sorted out later."

A few tense hours pass, Admiral Harshaw arranges the fleet in defensive positions, and prepares for the inevitable arrival of the Black Fleet. Eventually, the scanners pick up the approach of Soulsteel ships, on the outskirts of the asteroid field.

[sun_tzu]

Berger had spent the past couple hours poring over records of battles involving the Black Fleet, including any account she could get from Autochton about the recent clash - all toward figuring out how to deal with them in this battle.
Let's see...Is what we're seeing also what we're actually getting? Or are they going to try some misdirection, luring our forces into an indefensible position...?

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Wits+War to figure out the enemy's tactics, trying to stunt as always. Using Excellency to buy seven extra dice. (16d10)[10][3][2][4][2][6][6][6][3][10][2][5][8][7][3][10](87)

[horus42]

From what Berger can analyze from previous records of the Black Fleet, they seem to have several general strategies. However, the one they're most fond of is direct brute force. They consider the vast majority of their troops and ships expendable, and will sacrifice any number of them to eliminate their target.

This tactic is usually used when the forces of Terminus outnumber their foe greatly. Which, if the scanners are accurate, they're doing right now.

[Maugan Ra]

Seated behind the controls in the Mercury's cockpit, Watson cracks his knuckles and focuses on the screen in front of them.

"That's a disturbingly large number of ships. Maybe some kind of envelopment, Colonel?"

[sun_tzu]

Seated behind the controls in the Mercury's cockpit, Watson cracks his knuckles and focuses on the screen in front of them.

"That's a disturbingly large number of ships. Maybe some kind of envelopment, Colonel?"

"Not my call," said Berger. "Hopefully the Admiral knows what she's doing."

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And as is wont to happen, you forgot to award Stunt dice, oh esteemed Storyteller.

[horus42]

And as is wont to happen, you forgot to award Stunt dice, oh esteemed Storyteller.

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Crap, I really need to stop doing that. Take one die for that one.

Before the Admiral has a chance to respond, a hailing channel opens from the Flagship of the Black Fleet. The screen flickers to life, and who you assume to be their leader appears onscreen, sitting in a captain's chair carved from what appears to be bone.

The first thing that sticks out about him is that he isn't human. He's a Thark, just like Commander Tarkas, though one of his tusks is broken, and his skin is a much paler shade of green. His massive body is armored in Soulsteel, and his upper pair of arms is crossed over his chest, while the lower pair rest on the arms of his chair.

He speaks in a gruff voice, bold and commanding, like someone who's used to holding authority. "I am Tal Hajus, Extinguisher of Cosmos. The Black Fleet of the Tomb Stars is mine to command. You Imperials should leave, while I still allow it. We have no quarrel with you today. We only want Autocthon. Leave, and you will be spared."

[sun_tzu]

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Crap, I really need to stop doing that. Take one die for that one.

Before the Admiral has a chance to respond, a hailing channel opens from the Flagship of the Black Fleet. The screen flickers to life, and who you assume to be their leader appears onscreen, sitting in a captain's chair carved from what appears to be bone.

The first thing that sticks out about him is that he isn't human. He's a Thark, just like Commander Tarkas, though one of his tusks is broken, and his skin is a much paler shade of green. His massive body is armored in Soulsteel, and his upper pair of arms is crossed over his chest, while the lower pair rest on the arms of his chair.

He speaks in a gruff voice, bold and commanding, like someone who's used to holding authority. "I am Tal Hajus, Extinguisher of Cosmos. The Black Fleet of the Tomb Stars is mine to command. You Imperials should leave, while I still allow it. We have no quarrel with you today. We only want Autocthon. Leave, and you will be spared."

Berger shook her head. We're not going to walk away from this, you mass murderer. Still, it would be up to the Admiral to speak up.

[horus42]

Admiral Harshaw patches the Mercury into her comm frequency, so that Berger and Watson can hear her response.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hajus. But you're gravely mistaken. We don't represent the Empire. We're just a group of men and women trying to do the right thing: Stopping you from killing any more innocents. We're not going anywhere, you bastard."

Tal Hajus seems amused by her words. He lets out a small laugh before saying, "So be it." A wound opens in the center of his forehead, a hollow starburst, leaking the Thark's blue blood. "Open fire on the Imperial Flagship."

The Black Fleet's Essence Canons roar to life, bolts of deadly energy traversing the void as the ships approach. The Admiral's comm feed suddenly dies.

[Maugan Ra]

Watson glances at Berger. "So. Possible alternate plan. Let the Fleet handle the overall fight... and I'll get us close enough to that enemy flagship that we can eliminate their leader." he pauses.

[sun_tzu]

Watson glances at Berger. "So. Possible alternate plan. Let the Fleet handle the overall fight... and I'll get us close enough to that enemy flagship that we can eliminate their leader." he pauses.

The Colonel's mind raced over the battle pattern. "I'm not sure we have enough firepower for that.
But they do.
These ships here and here," she pointed at the holographic display, "visibly have torpedo bays. If we follow this flight course, we'll be between them and other capital ships. They won't be able to fire beam and ballistic weapons at us without hurting their own numbers. They'll be relying primarily on torpedoes. But if we go here, right in front of this advancing cruiser, it will cut in the way of the torpedoes, forcing them to take a longer path to us. Then, we go right next to the command bridge of the enemy flagship. Then, we shoot the nearest torpedoes. Their explosion will cause the others to explode too, and that entire firepower will hit the enemy flagship - possibly enough to take it out!"

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Stunting another Wits+War roll, Excellency again. Also channelling Valor on this one.
Without counting the Stunt: (20d10)[10][5][6][7][4][8][9][4][7][2][5][1][4][1][10][7][10][6][8][4](118)

[horus42]

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Take two dice on the Stunt.

As far as anyone call tell, Berger's plan would work flawlessly. The ships are in the exact right positions, and are moving to just where she needs them to in order to make it work.

[Maugan Ra]

"I didn't necessarily mean eliminate by using guns. Or ships. " Watson says. He stands up from his controls, and walks over to Berger. "Very important question, Colonel. Do you, in fact, trust me?"

Nearby, Smith sighs. "Nothing good ever comes from a question like that."

Watson waves a dismissive hand at him. "Very, very simple question. Yes or no. Do you, Erin Berger, trust me?"

[sun_tzu]

"I didn't necessarily mean eliminate by using guns. Or ships. " Watson says. He stands up from his controls, and walks over to Berger. "Very important question, Colonel. Do you, in fact, trust me?"

Nearby, Smith sighs. "Nothing good ever comes from a question like that."

Watson waves a dismissive hand at him. "Very, very simple question. Yes or no. Do you, Erin Berger, trust me?"

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All right, filling up four motes. Stunt dice: (2d10)[6][7](13)

"Yes," Berger said simply. "Is what you're planning compatible with my suggested course of actions? One way or another, we must act fast."

[Maugan Ra]

"Excellent." Watson says, grinning, before turning and striding back over to his controls. "Aria, my dear, get those comms back open, would you?" he says as he taps a few buttons and the Mercury rockets forwards.

All over the two fleets, Imperial and Terminus, the video feeds re-activate as the Chosen of Secrets forces them open with the skill of a born hacker. In one half of the video is displayed the Deathknight flagship, complete with it's somewhat surprised commander. In the other, James Watson, smiling in a thoroughly evil fashion. He addresses them all with a jaunty tone.

"Sorry to interrupt, folks, but I have something of a complaint to make. Mister Hajus, if I might observe... you don't appear to be taking us very seriously. Frankly, that's a little offensive. So, let me correct that with an introduction." he says in an offhand voice, even as the frigate he's piloting loops gracefully through the streams of fire tracing their way between the two fleets. "I'm James Watson, Sidereal. Now, you're a Thark, and while I don't know what exactly it is you get up to on your days off - you do get days off, right? In between trying to destroy the universe or whatever else it is you do - I can at least assume that you keep up with the news. So when I refer to myself, and my commander over here, as the heroes of the Battle of Barsoom, I hope that you recognise what that means."

The Mercury glides between two of the Soulsteel cruisers with an otherworldly grace, it's state-of-the-art drive core barely even ticking over at the demands of the complex maneuvers. "It means that, among other things, we are among the biggest of the goddam heroes you can possibly find in the entire galactic core. It also means we have a reputation for doing less-than-entirely sensible things in important situations."

Carefully, Watson rolls his ship over another interfering enemy battleship, totally disregarding the shrieking energy cannons that try to track them as they approach the enemy flagship. On the screen, everyone watching can see what appear to be glowing violet figures in Old Realm that appear around the pilot's body.

For those that speak Old Realm:

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Once there was a maiden...
...who was always looking forwards to the way that things would be.
She said "Someday, I'm getting out of this place.
Someday, I'm going to kill that boy who put me here.
And while I wait, I don't much mind
'Cause it's better to dream tomorrow than to be there.

"And while you may have all these ideas about rampaging across the galaxy, destroying Stellar Intelligences and whatever else takes your fancy, well... I'm afraid we're going to stop you." he says, standing up even as the Mercury comes in directly above the enemy flagship, scarcely ten metres separating their hulls.

With a casual gesture, Watson snatches up a bottle of water from next to his pilot's seat, as the other Sidereals move towards him. Smith winks at Berger and gently tugs her along as well. "And the reason we're going to stop you is because your little crusade has gone on quite long enough. It's time for it to end. And while we may disagree on a great many things, I think you and I will both acknowledge one simple, universal fact."

The lid of the bottle comes off, and with a wave Watson spills the contents all over his own deck, before turning back to face the view screen. He grins, and then falls backwards into the water, the others following him... and then, all at once, they vanish.

White. Endless white, an infinite void of pure light and nothing else. Together, the four of them fall in a perfect pattern, until a second or so later...

...they emerge on the bridge of the enemy cruiser, surfacing from out of the ridiculously tacky pools of blood like dolphins leaping from the sea. Watson, his eyes glowing a brilliant yellow, grins at the surprised Deathknight.

"There's always an ending."

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Boarding action, via Mirror-shattering Method and a monologue! Also activating Violet Bier of Sorrows style before beginning, with the capstone improvement as well. Oh, and Blade of the Battle Maiden.

Berger technically doesn't have to come along if she doesn't want to. I just figured I'd do something unexpected here, for giggles and awesome.

[horus42]

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Oh man. That was just... cool. Just for the purposes of mote regeneration and such, take a three dice stunt on that.

Tal Hajus' eyes widen in surprise, before narrowing in anger. "Your reputation precedes you, of course. Though it would have been wiser to stay anonymous. Now you've tipped me off, and I know how serious of a threat you are. Which means I won't be underestimating you again." He calmly reaches for his belt, taking two jet-black cylinders of Soulsteel from holsters at his waist. The blades of his Beamklaves hum to life, throwing off a deep red glow. "And now, heroes... you die."

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Roll Join Battle!

[sun_tzu]

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Wits+Awareness: (3d10)[10][6][10](26)

[Maugan Ra]

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Watson is firing Secrets of Future Strife, and thus converts six dice to automatic successes (since he is benefiting from Aria's application of 'Sifu's Useful Fingers', his Martial Arts score is 6). As for the remaining two dice: (2d10)[5][10](15)

Smith is going to spend four motes and a willpower to activate the Fateful Awareness Excellency, and thus automatically converts his entire pool to successes, for a total of 10 successes.

And Aria is left to just roll normally. Poor girl. (5d10)[4][10][8][6][1](29)

[horus42]

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Alright the order of battle is:
Smith
Watson
Tal Hajus
Berger
Aria

And after several ticks, some of Hajus' troops will arrive as reinforcements.

[Maugan Ra]

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Tick order is:
0: Smith
1:
2: Watson
3: Tal Hajus
4:
5:
6: Aria, Berger

With a grim smile, Smith's hand drifts closer to the Starmetal-plated gun at his side. "Everyone dies. Everything ends. All that matters is how they meet that end." he says coldly, and the raw force of the killing intent around his words and stance batters against the minds and souls of everyone nearby.

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Adopting Righteous Devil form. The compulsion to face us is likely mostly irrelevant. What matters is that the form means any Extras in the area - like the Deathknight's massive expendable crew - flee as fast as possible rather than get involved. Speed 3.

His expression set, Watson moves forwards, directly towards the Deathknight. The Thark has four arms and two weapons, and one would normally assume that would give him an advantage. And it would, if Watson were playing fair.

Sidereals never play fair.

With a faint grunt, the Chosen of Journeys leaps into the air, streams of scarlet and silver essence playing around his limbs. There is a blurring motion, and then Watson is attacking, an endless storm of blows raining down upon his enemy.

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Activating Metal Storm, allowing me to make a flurry of my (Martial Arts) actions. In this case, six. Thanks to Blade of the Battle Maiden, my attacks are basically Starmetal Daiklaives, and thanks to the Perfected Kata Bracers they are, in short, awesome.

These attacks all deal Aggravated damage. Should any of them hit the Deathknight, for every hit he takes, he also loses a willpower. Should he have no willpower, he loses ten motes. Should he have no motes, he is Shaped dead, instantly.

Attack 1: (17d10)[3][10][8][3][10][6][2][8][4][4][1][9][8][2][7][10][6](101)
Attack 2: (17d10)[1][9][5][7][10][10][6][3][10][4][1][7][10][6][10][9][3](111)
Attack 3: (17d10)[2][8][9][4][6][2][7][6][1][5][7][7][5][3][8][3][7](90)
Attack 4: (17d10)[5][3][7][10][5][7][3][6][3][2][1][2][1][4][4][8][2](73)
Attack 5: (17d10)[8][3][3][5][9][3][10][6][10][4][8][8][6][5][2][9][1](100)
Attack 6: (17d10)[2][3][7][4][9][10][6][10][2][6][3][6][4][4][3][7][7](93)

Base damage of each of those attacks is 14A, with an overwhelming tag (and thus, minimum damage if they get through) of 6A.

Oh, and I'll spend 3m on each of those six attacks to activate the Fateful Martial Arts excellency. Thus, the number each dice is looking for is, in fact, 4 or higher.

Watson's stats:
Personal Essence: 0/16
Peripheral: 20/39 (3 committed)
Willpower: 6/8

Tick Tracker:
0: Smith
1:
2: Watson
3: Tal Hajus, Smith
4:
5:
6: Berger, Aria
7: Watson

[sun_tzu]

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Forgot to add the 2 Awareness bonus dice from my armor to the Join Battle roll: (2d10)[5][10](15)

Berger grinned as she realized what Watson was doing. She glanced at Lieutenant Stayer, directing him toward the ship's controls. "Follow the flight path I've highlighted. Keep the ship in one piece for the next couple of minutes; we'll be back ASAP."
A few moments later, they were on the enemy flagship's command bridge. All right. If Stayer does his part right, this place will be getting hit with enough torpedoes to level a mountain in short order. Let's keep their commander's attention off that plan until then.
Her hands gripping her massive golden shellcaster, she dived behind a nearby pillar, ready to fire at the Deathknight.

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Too early for Berger to take action, so I'm Stunting her DV in the meanwhile.
Incidentally, what sort of ship are we on? Dreadnought? Titan?

[horus42]

The Deathknight waits as Watson launches into his attack, then sidesteps at the last second, before the first attack makes contact. He swipes at Watson with one of his unarmed hands, almost contemptuously swatting him aside, laying him prone on the floor.

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He activated Foe-Shaming Defense, which allows him to make a counterattack which causes no damage, but negates the entire flurry if he rolls high enough to successfully attack, which he did.

He grins before saying "My turn."

He spins, his whirling blades of Essence making contact with all four of you, slicing through any and all non-magical material armor, leaving cauterized cuts into your flesh.

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Activating Hundred Razor Circle, which allows him to make one Melee attack against all of you.

He rolled 6 successes, and the base damage of his Beamklaves is 8L

[sun_tzu]

Of course it couldn't be easy, Berger reflected as she ducked behind the column, dodging the blow. From what this guy said, it sounded like he was the commander in chief of the Tomb Stars' navy. That may, of course, have been hyperbole, but I doubt he's a pushover...

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Berger's Dodge DV is high enough, but I'd still like to know how well her defensive Stunt worked.

[horus42]

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Go ahead and take one die for the dodge stunt. Also, it's Smith's turn to act now.

[Maugan Ra]

The searing beam-klaive met bare flesh as Watson raised one hand to guard against it. The result should have been predictable - searing pain, cauterisation and an impending trip to the prosthetics department. But Watson had never been entirely fond of acting in a way that conformed to expectations, so perhaps it was less surprising than it might otherwise be when the roaring column of super-heated plasma was turned away as though it was no more dangerous than a piece of wood.

Smith, leaning calmly out of the way of the flickering strike that blurred towards him, raised the gun in his hand with calm deliberation. Holographic patterns begin to form in the air around him, a series of silver rings that rapidly begin to slide into place between the Sidereal and his target.

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Activating Azure Abacus Meditation, for extra Alliteration! Anyway, Berger's turn.

[sun_tzu]

Ducking behind a column, Berger had successfully dodged the Deathknight's attack.
But in the heat of battle, he may not be certain of that.
Raising her massive shellcaster, she cried out "Son of a-", as if in pain from a sudden injury. Then, with automatic fire activated, she let out a shot, aimed at the Extinguisher of Cosmos's solar plexus.
Then, wincing, another shot, higher this time, going for his heart.
Then, her expression deformed as if by supreme effort, higher still, aiming for his head.
Then, at last, stumbling as if unable to keep it up any longer, her last shot seemingly going completely wide, far too high to hit him.
Seemingly.
In truth, that final shot was not aimed at the Extinguisher of Cosmos - but rather, at the ceiling above him, aiming to collapse several hundred pounds of metal and stone on the Deathknight while he thought he was safe.
But hopefully he wouldn't realize that until too late.

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So, yeah. Flurry of four shots - the first three aimed at the Abyssal, the fourth trying to collapse the ceiling on him in what I hope will work as a surprise attack and hopefully pin him down.
For the first three shots, using the First Excellency to compensate for Flurry penalties, Nova Shell Ordnance to make the attacks Piercing and raise damage to 14L/3, and Lightspeed Trigger Technique to halve his DV. For the last shot, just using Nova Shell Ordnance to halve the ceiling's soak.
Spending Willpower to add 1 Automatic Success to all attacks.
Attack rolls (add 1 success, not counting Stunt dice):
(13d10)[5][3][7][8][1][2][10][4][8][4][6][1][9](68)
(13d10)[6][7][5][1][6][8][1][4][8][7][10][4][9](76)
(13d10)[1][10][2][9][10][6][1][7][4][1][8][4][5](68)
(6d10)[5][7][10][6][5][5](38)

[horus42]

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Take two dice on that Stunt.
(2d10)[3][1](4)

The bullets tear through the Soulsteel armor, blue blood seeping from the wounds in his chest. Berger's third shot pierces his eye, causing him to cry out in pain, clutching at his face with his two free hands. Before he can react, the small explosion set off by Nova Shell Ordinance erupts, causing a chunk of the ceiling to collapse upon the Thark Deathknight. He's buried, and it's hard to say whether he's still alive or dead.

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With Berger's turn now over, it's
6. Aria
7. Watson
8. Tal Hajus, Smith
9.
10.
11. Berger

[Maugan Ra]

Aria and Watson both back off carefully, watching the rubble that buried the Deathknight with weapons held ready.

"Is he..."

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Guarding on both of them until something happens.

[horus42]

The Deathknight rises from the rubble, one of his upper arms bent at an improbable angle, both tusks now broken. His lower arms are clutched around his chest, though his upper right arm still holds a red Beamklave. He coughs a bit, a small spray of blood issuing from his mouth. "You'll pay for that, Solar bitch..."

With surprising speed, he lunges forward, the point of his sword aimed directly at Berger's chest.

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Using Dexterity+Melee to stab Berger, with 5 extra dice from First Melee Excellency.
(17d10)[8][8][10][3][1][10][5][5][1][5][2][4][4][9][1][10][4](90)
Base damage from the Beamklaves is 8L

It's now Smith's turn, then two ticks, and Berger again.

[sun_tzu]

The Deathknight rises from the rubble, one of his upper arms bent at an improbable angle, both tusks now broken. His lower arms are clutched around his chest, though his upper right arm still holds a red Beamklave. He coughs a bit, a small spray of blood issuing from his mouth. "You'll pay for that, Solar bitch..."

With surprising speed, he lunges forward, the point of his sword aimed directly at Berger's chest.

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Using Dexterity+Melee to stab Berger, with 5 extra dice from First Melee Excellency.
[roll0]
Base damage from the Beamklaves is 8L

It's now Smith's turn, then two ticks, and Berger again.

"Not today. Not by your hand," Berger said, leaning backward, allowing the sword to pass over her, and then rolling around to land back on her feet.

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9 successes on his attack roll...Berger has a Dodge DV of 7, +2 from her anima effect...Dunno about Stunts, but, using Shadow Over Water to cancel her DV penalties, thus giving her a DV of 9 at the least.