Taric Sizier"Boy, I'm gonna-" Taric was interrupted by dom setting a plate of food near him. He did what not many people getting shot by a lot of missiles did. He started eating.
Operate the Countermeasures to down those missles. And eat the steak.
You eat the steak, it's wonderful. It still feels a little like a dying meal though, huh, whatever. In front of you a holographic sphere dilates to life, in the center is a little yellow dot, you. Converging on that yellow dot are a large number of small red dots.
You hazard a guess that those are bad.
[Mechanical 2+1] You make a few bad guess while Nathaniel helps you figure out the buttons, you're knowledge of software though lets you repair the damage you did fairly easily. The missiles are quite a bit closer though by the time you're ready to use the system though, [Mechanics 4+1] you make up for lost time and ready chaff and flares (Will fire during Ship Turn). The Electronic Warfare system is up and running and you start trying to run interference, [Hacking 3+1 Vs Missile Firewall 4+2] technocrat systems are good and you don't manage to get through.
---
Tarran Smith"Goddamn, Hoke, nice one! Keep it up, we've got missiles inbound!"
Shoot the missiles. Aim at the closest first.
While you're zeroing in on the missiles Dominique Comes in and brings you a plate of steak, you make a mental note to raise her pay or do whatever captains did for good soldiers. Well, the faster you tackle these missiles the faster you can eat steak. The computer highlights the missiles for you and compensates some for Hokes driving and the difference in speed. [Marksman 5+1+1+1-1-1, Boost, targeting system, Small target, evasive action, Confirm critical 4, Luck 1, confirmed] You focus on the pack directly behind the craft and let fire in short precise bursts, the first missile explodes and takes down a second, the third, forth, and fifth missiles foul and detonate in two more bursts of precise machine fire. You like this gun.
---
Trol GraneHope my dreams hold the key to my insanity
[Sanity 1] You dream softly, in your dream you're back to your apartment on earth. You're a child and your mother is beckoning you and smiling warmly. You ran to her and you hug, feeling safe and at home. She smooths you hair and leans down, putting a hand on either side of your neck and kissing your forehead. Then she snaps your neck.
"It's better this way..." she whispers in your ear as you crumple.
You're ten years old and back at the academy, it's different than your last dream, more... real. You're shirking class in a room with kids, most of them older than you. One of them brought along a deck of cards that they took from his dad. You move to play with the others but they don't let you, blocking your way in. Only by virtue of being strong for your age do you manage to make it to the table, laying a small silver pin as your wager. One of the older kids stabs a crude shiv made from a sharpened ruler through your ribs. As you gurgle on your own blood he leans over and sneers at you.
It's better this way. He says before throwing the bloody ruler on your dying form.
You're a casino job, on a job to collect from a particular fallen star of a technocrat. More in debt than Adam's sin he made some seriously bad choices, including but not limited to hiring mercs to try and make a hit on Mr. Kahy. You and a few enforcers tracked him down and put his mercs out, now he's kneeling on the floor in front of you, just waiting for a bullet to the head from your gun. He's trembling and white, trying to beg through his gag. Instead of shooting him though you place your own gun under your chin.
"It's better this way." Then you pull the trigger.
---
Dominique Wakeman & James EvanDom looked over, looked down for a few seconds, stopped her search for the intercom. "She was. She and Trol... didn't make it to the ship. Look, I'm going to let you out. For all I know we're not going to make it out of the blast radius in time, you might as well have a chance to stretch your legs." She gestured at the plate. "You can have this too, if you're hungry. I was going to give it to Teague but he's asleep. Here, let me try those restraints."
"Oh god, not Saun too... *moment of silence* But who's Trol?" James said. "Blast Radius? I just woke up..."
Dominique moves to the restraints, explaining that Trol was a member of the team who was also... lost. She skirts around the insane part as well as how he killed Saun, he's dead, no good can come of telling this man what he did. The restraints are solid and she can't manage to shift them, just as she's about ready to bash the damn things off the computer chimes in helpfully.
"Would you like to remove the restraints?" Both of you consider telling it where to go and what to do when it gets there. Dom manages to clench her teeth and give an affirmative, and the restraints immediately slide open, freeing James. That done Dom gives him a plate of steak and explains what she meant by blast radius. James nearly chokes on the steak at that one.
Virtue and Nathaniel HokeTen missiles are still inbound, and Nathaniel's Evasive maneuvers can't shake the much smaller and faster objects. [Pack 1 speed, 1, Pack 2 speed, 2] It does manage to delay the significantly, even before Taric fires a spread of cluster flares out behind the ship. [Flare effectiveness 4, 5] Both of the remaining packs of missiles scatter and lose more ground, the second pack even loses a pair of missiles when they collide going for the same flare.
Then the facility shields collapse behind the ship, lances of white fire pummel through the fragile shielding. When they were hitting the shielding they weren't so bad, now they have as much matter as they can react with. The explosions are titanic, ripping apart the facility and vaporizing concrete and steel. The explosion can't be felt inside the craft, [Hoke Pilot 5+2] but the only thing that kept the ship from being spun completely out of control on the edge of the shockwaves are Nathaniel's skills as a pilot. [Luck 1] The missiles though were virtually unaffected by virtue of their much smaller size and low silhouette. Tarran has a great view of the blast and the holographics compensate for the blinding light immediately. Thinking of Shiren Tarran says,
"There's no way he could have survived that." With only eight missiles left tailing and with an excellent lead things are looking like they might clear up. Then more pods and a pair of sleek fighter ships make the drop. [Michael Targeting 4 ] The three Pods explode to release their missiles at worryingly close range, the interceptors are also coming in hot and fast.
Nathaniel's voice comes through the intercom to the whole ship, tense instead of his usual sarcastic tone.
"This isn't going to work, that cruiser is going to keep dropping missiles and we can't destroy them forever, doubly so for those interceptors." The speakers crackle, for all the world giving the impression of the AI blowing out a breath.
"We need to try and fly below tree level if we're going to lose them.Missile pack Alpha
- 5 left, 3 turns to intercept
Missile pack Beta
-3 left, 3 turns to intercept
Missile pack Charlie
-5 left, 1 turn to intercept
Missile pack Delta
-5 left 1 turn to intercept
Missile pack Echo
-5 left 1 turn to intercept
Interceptor 1
200/200 Shields
200/200 Armor
Weapons,
Pulse Laser x2
Range: Able to fire next turn.
Interceptor 2
200/200 Shields
200/200 Armor
Weapons,
Pulse Laser x2
Range: Able to fire next turn.
Author
Topic: Deviation-22. The End of All Things. (Read 535569 times)