Eberron With Giant Robots 00

[Elvith Jars]

"Thank you, Lady Nozomi," Crowbar says sincerely, "Now let's finish this." Crowbar continues resisting the construct's crushing claws (ooc: thx, I don't really get the 3E grapple rules). As the construct shakes the warforged's suit, its pilot tries once again to deliver a shocking kick, smashing his Mobile Suit Boot into anyplace that looks vulnerable:

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Attack: 1d20 + 11 = 21
Damage: 3d6 + 13 = 26
Shock: 1d6 = 4

[Nerd-o-rama]

The shock of Crowbar's assault causes the construct to collapse, its claws opening and closing feebly before falling off the main body.

Wolf chomp Shiali! Wolf miss.
Spider chomp Nozomi! Spider miss.

Rest of group post action!
DM go get soda before collapse on desk!

[The_Snark]

Shiali continues her subtle mental attack on the spiders and wolves, abandoning her attempts to get through to the construct's mind. She also presses a more physical sort of attack against the wolf.

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Primal Fear against the wolf and one of the spiders (an uninjured one). Then attack 17, damage 20, electricity 25.

[Nerd-o-rama]

(I'm pretty sure all the spiders are dead except 1 uninjured one near the construct.)

The wolf succumbs to Shiali's sword-slash, leaving only a spider and a construct standing.

[The_Snark]

"Should we try to take one of them alive?" Shiali queries the others. "These aren't normal animals, and it might be important to know what they are."

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In that case, she'll just target the spider. She'll also move towards the rest of the group. 19 pp left, incidentally.

[ExHunterEmerald]

Dencamp reverses momentum and charges down the second construct, angling to hit it offguard.

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Charging, flanking, etc. etc. Lop off a -2 per if he's either not charging or flanking.
Attack roll (1d20 12=27)
Damage (3d6 7=14)
Sneak, if applicable (1d6=5)
TOTAL: 19, or 14 without sneak.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Should we try to take one of them alive?" Shiali queries the others. "These aren't normal animals, and it might be important to know what they are."

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In that case, she'll just target the spider. She'll also move towards the rest of the group. 19 pp left, incidentally.

Sorry, I edited my post when I realized it was misleading. You killed the wolf with your action. You can still move towards the rest of the group, though.

Dencamp can't get to flanking position by moving in a straight line, so he doesn't charge and just stabs the construct hardcore for 17 (minus x) damage.

[Winged One]

Nozomi d'Cannith

Nozomi steps into a better tactical position, then takes a rather inefficient swing at the remaining spider-shaped Invader with the mobile suit's empty fist.

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[ooc]Slam attack with flank: to hit, slam damage, shock damage, sneak attack damage (1d20 12=14, 2d6=10, 1d6=4, 2d6=3)[/ooc]

[Nerd-o-rama]

Inefficiency aside, she manages to club the spider into insensibility. Barely.

(You forgot a d6. I rolled a 5 for you. Rejoice.)

Only the one big arachnid/arthropod/stuff construct remains standing. Volker's turn, FYI.

[Lucid_Archon]

Volker frantically smashes the last remaining foe with a left hook, sending sparks showering everywhere from scraping metal and electric discharge.

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Attack: 1d20+8 = 27
Damage: 3d6+5 =18
Shock Damage: 1d6 =5

[Nerd-o-rama]

The surrounded construct, damaged a fair bit now, lashes out in all directions with its claws, landing a solid smack (9 damage) on Nozomi's suit.

Commander Deneith, fresh out of enemies, sprints toward the combat despite knowing it'll probably be over by the time he gets there.

(Everybody, all together now...)

[ExHunterEmerald]

One, two. Dencamp wheels his blades, laying in with two more, final strikes, less to strike the enemy but more to keep it off guard while the rest bring it down.
(And everyone adjacent to or opposite Denny, which would be all of you, also flank.)

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Attack rolls (1d20 8=12, 1d20 8=11) Wow, how very underwhelming for a finale. So it goes, it just helps cement Dencamp as the Support Guy. I won't even bother with damage.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Zephyr draws his fist back and aims another mighty blow at the construct.

((assuming flanking))

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Slam Attack, Damage; Electricity Damage (1d20 10=23, 3d6 10=27, 1d6=2)

[Lucid_Archon]

Volker sends a foot flying at the construct, bolts of lighting trailing behind it.

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Attack: 1d20+8 = 20
Damage: 3d6+5 = 17
Shock Damage: 1d6 = 6

[Elvith Jars]

"You know, the most effective weapon on the Spirit Mobile Suit appears to be its unarmed attack. I would also like to suggest that suits have some type of emergency repair device that the pilot may activate. Points hostile... warforged titan..."

Crowbar's Mobile Suit plants its right foot solidly in the ground and pivots on the ball of its foot, raising it up and swinging the suit's right hip forward. At the same time, the Spirit's right arm throws a vicious uppercut as it tries to connect with the enemy construct, and its left arm covers counterattacks.

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Attack: 1d20 + 11 = 17
Damage: 3d6 + 13 = 19
Shock: 1d6 = 5

[Winged One]

If by some chance the construct isn't destroyed by the time she can do so, Nozomi decks it.

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Slam attack to hit, damage, shock damage, sneak attack (1d20 12=22, 3d6=12, 1d6=4, 2d6=11) I forgot to add the strength bonus to damage there, and also forgot that I don't get Sneak Attack.

[Nerd-o-rama]

The team surrounds the last construct and pummels it from all sides in succession (except Dencamp's side, 'cause he's a failure.) The machine shakes under the impacts and, gradually, falls apart with a last, frantic waving of its appendages.

After a few seconds of silence, you here the voice over your communicators again. "Good going, men," says the man on the ground, sword now sheathed and no longer on fire. "Lieutenant, what's the status of that splinter group?"

"We held them off with the gates and ballistae. They retreated and teleported away a few seconds ago," Vedner reports.

"Careless, lieutenant, careless, letting enemy scouts escape," the commander chides. "Still, it doesn't matter. Our new recruits here dealt with the main force handily. Everyone, report back to the hangar for debriefing." He leads the way, walking across the now-rather-corpse-filled "picnic area" back toward the cave the mobile suits were stored in.

[Elvith Jars]

"Heavy boots of lead, fills his victims full of dread... Tactically foolish of me, but strategically worth the risk. Maybe we can learn something from those constructs. Do you think the Invaders have Mobile Suits like we do?" Crowbar walks with his comrades back to the garage.

[The_Snark]

"I hope not. This is my first time seeing the suits, and I have to say I'm impressed—I've never really done any fighting at all, and I think I did all right." That sounds a little bit like a question, as if she's not sure of that, but she goes on cheerfully enough. "I doubt I'd have been able to do anything against even one of those animals without a suit."

She adds pensively, "Speaking of which... what did you think of them? They were too coordinated to be normal animals. I think they were either being controlled by something else, or else they've been changed somehow."

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Tactically foolish? That's just another word for a daring strategy. You knew your capabilities, and you used them to the utmost, as a true warrior should."

It's not clear from where, but the sound of someone clearing his throat and possibly gagging comes over the communicators.

The commander seems to think on Crowbar's question for a moment as he walks. "I wouldn't think so. Wouldn't they use their soldiers instead of these random monsters then? Besides, mobile suits are an invention of House Cannith, and we've long since determined these attacks aren't coming from anywhere they have contacts. Although they do seem to have a lot of constructs..."

[Elvith Jars]

"Hrm," Crowbar says, "I suppose wisdom comes from experience. So if the Invaders don't have Mobile Suits but do have- well they're similar to warforged titans- that would suggest the Invaders have some kind of creation forge. Acquiring the constructs seemed strategically wise.

It sounds like using 'normal animals' is not a common tactic. If these enemy titans can somehow control the 'normal animals' then they'd become force multipliers. That's not a bad plan, actually, a small insurgent force can increase their power by recruiting the locals. It makes me wonder if there were a way to identify where these 'normal animals' came from. That way, we could determing if the Invaders are using our own combatants against us."

[ExHunterEmerald]

Dencamp sheathes the longsword and relaxes his grip on the dagger as he follows the rest into the hangar.
"I would also spend time figuring out how they teleport--where, and how. They can go right past any defenses we could build. That's our strongest advantage on defense."

[Elvith Jars]

"Agreed. Since the enemy combatants teleported away from the main strike force, it's possible that they don't possess the teleportation ability themselves. Do normal animals have such capability?

Oh, by the way, our base is now compromised. The Invaders know where we are."

[Winged One]

Nozomi

"House Cannith has not and will never sell merchandise to the Invaders." Nozomi says in an offended tone as she picks up the longsword she dropped and goes back to the hanger. "Commander, how would you describe the combat ability of this group of Invaders compared to that of others?"

[The_Snark]

"Normal animals definitely don't teleport," Shiali says, sounding a bit puzzled. "I thought there must have been somebody else doing it for them. Can you teleport somebody without going yourself? I don't really know much about that sort of thing."

Something Crowbar said seems to catch her by surprise. "Oh—this was a secret installation? I thought it was a regular military base..."

[Winged One]

"It's not a secret base, Crowbar just didn't realize that." Nozomi says, letting the mech's sword arm go limp so she can massage her temples.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"No, this is a regular Brelish army base under use by the international cooperative effort, although it is true that the Invaders now know there is a base here, the commander explains. "You see, the creatures don't seem to have any sense of Khorvaire's geography. They just show up in a random place. Now that they've established there's a defensive presence and a population center here, they will likely strike again."

By now, the group has arrived back in the hangar. Unsuiting from your mechs takes a minute or two, during which Lieutenant Vedner arrives. His neatly dressed, severe form is an obvious contrast to the taller, more relaxed, and armored commander.

"Your concerns are valid," the Lieutenant notes, "But believe me, they've all been noted over the course of the war. We know the capabilities of their constructs, we know they can somehow mass teleport in an untraceable manner, we know they can control unintelligent monsters to do their bidding somehow--"

"Mr. Crowbar thinks the constructs act as some kind of magical recruiting device."

"Don't be ridiculous, y--wait. We assumed they were just being controlled at the source, since all the attacks were accompanied from the start."

"What if, when they sortie, the pop off to the Shadow Marches or somewhere first to pick up creatures before proceeding to their objectives?"

Lieutenant Vedner's mouth opens once, closes, and stays tightly shut as he considers this. "Very well," he says, "I'll add this theory to my next report to Captain ir'Frey."

"Oh, don't bother, she'll be here tomorrow."

"What?"

"Yes. With the Green Dragon and the rest of the team's Suits. Oh, and Merrix d'Cannith, he wanted to show off his new toys himself."

"Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?! I'm the hostdamned XO!"

[The_Snark]

Shiali looks fresh-faced and glowing as she emerges from her suit, which barely has a scratch on it. "Well. That was exhiliarating!" Of course, if you hadn't taken a blow it probably wouldn't feel any worse than hard exercise.

"Ah—Lieutenant is a higher rank than Commander, then?" she asks before continuing on with the tactical discussions.

[ExHunterEmerald]

Dencamp dismounts gracefully, pausing to adjust his gear once again.

"A lieutenant is a mid-level officer, miss Shiali. A Commander is of a higher tier entirely, though sometimes different echelons of an army will move independently of one another, and leave fellow commanders out of the loop. Perhaps they hadn't accounted on your presence here, sir--or maybe they didn't want to trouble you, knowing your proclivity for the front-line?"

Or that you could be captured, he kindly doesn't add.

[Winged One]

"I told him it would diminish the political benefits if I got any special treatment..." Nozomi mutters at the news of her father's arrival. "Wait. Lieutenant, has anything arrived for me? A small bottle, perhaps?"