Karvis

The Rebel Alliance => The Kota Militia => Topic started by: GM Craig on May 10, 2016, 07:40:51 PM

Title: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on May 10, 2016, 07:40:51 PM
NameShipFinal Destination
Rahm KotaRogue ShadowMission: Assemble Kota Militia
Juno EclipseRogue ShadowMission: Assemble Kota Militia
PROXYRogue ShadowMission: Assemble Kota Militia
CollanRogue ShadowMission: Assemble Kota Militia
NiilRogue ShadowMission: Assemble Kota Militia

The Rogue Shadow is loaded, and Rahm Kota, Juno Eclipse, and PROXY, Collan Rostiern and Niil Spaar are packed into the little ship. As you take to the air, Juno engages the cloaking device. In minutes, you are out of the atmosphere.

"Where to, General?" says Juno.

"The Y'Toub system."

Juno's brows knit together. "You mean..."

"Yes," he cuts her off. "Nar Shaddaa. We had a cell there. When Galen... well, the stronghold there should still be standing. We should find some veterans from my Clone Wars days, supplies and equipment."

Juno plots the course, and sets the navicopmputer working. "We'll be a little over seven days in transit. Three navigation checks. You folks better get settled in."

A few minutes later, the ship clears the gravity well, and Juno activates the hyperdrive.

[Ok, you guys are in transit. 7.11 days to Nar Shaddaa. If you want any private conversations with anyone on board, take them to your personal board. Public stuff can stay here. Training and such in the Jedi Training board.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on May 25, 2016, 01:01:32 PM
Seven cramped days later, and you are all on the bridge. Juno cuts the hyperdrive, and you revert. The starlines explode, and you find yourself not far from a large moon orbiting a larger planet. The moon glitters and twinkles with uncountable lights, and the space all around is filled with ships coming and going. Several large stations orbit the moon. This is a busy place.

Juno checks her consoles and says, "Cloaking systems are activated. No one will see us. Where to?"

General Kota punches something into his console. "There's a derelict fuel station floating in the southern hemisphere. My men have a base there, or did."

Juno glances at Kota. "You had a base here the whole time." Kota smiles. "Where better to hide? The station's fuel tanks had a blow out about ten years ago. The original owners deemed it not worth repairing, and not worth salvaging, so they abandoned it. We've used it as a headquarters for my militia ever since."

Juno shakes her head, but says nothing.

You draw closer to the moon, being careful to dodge traffic that has no idea you are there. You can see a Victory-class Star Destroyer and a couple of bulk cruisers on the other side of the moon, but they appear to be keeping station between the planet and the moon, and are a long way off.

The ship begins to buffet a little as you enter the atmosphere, and Juno says, "Sorry for the bumpy ride - the inertial dampers are overdue for maintenance." You sink down into a thick cloud layer, and emerge a couple of minutes later over a moon-sized city. Bright lights twinkle everywhere, combined with floating palaces, massive holographic advertisements, and more ships than either of you have ever seen in one place.

Kota points to the horizon, where thick smoke rises into the air. "The industrial sector. The platform was towed there and moored out of the main corridors."

You move into a dark, gritty area of the moon, and instead of bright signs and flashing lights, all you see below you is industrial manufacturing, and thick pollution. General Kota gets on the comlink, does something with the encryption, and speaks. "Castle, this is King's Pawn. Do you read me?" He repeats himself once before you hear an answer.

"King's pawn? What's your code clearance?" The voice sounds tense.

"Transmitting now."

While you wait for the code to be confirmed, you hear an explosion over the comlink, and faint voices shouting.

After a moment, another voice comes on the comlink. "King's Pawn, this is Rook. Your clearance is old, but it checks out, but that can be tortured out of you. Tell me, what's the name of my son?"

Kota chuckles. "Maximus Devon, you old coot."

The voice changes tone, a little more relaxed. "General, am I glad to hear you! We could use your help right now." You hear the unmistakable sound of blaster fire.

Kota looks grim. "I'm not as much help as I used to be, Gaven. What's the situation?"

"We've been made. They've moved in turbolaser platforms, but our shields are holding. They've landed ground troops. Imperial Army, looks like battalion strength, maybe a company of Stormtroopers. The barricades are holding, but we're losing ground. To make matters worse, intelligence says there's a Star Destroyer moving into position. We've got maybe thirty minutes until they have a firing solution. Our shields won't hold against that."

Kota considers. "Got an evacuation plan?"

"We lost the frigate earlier - the turbolasers took it out. The corvette is still spaceworthy. We can button up and evacuate, but she won't last long against those turbolasers. If you can take out those guns, we can make orbit."

Another pause. "Assets?"

"I've got three hundred commandos, well-equipped, and a hundred wounded. Veshta-flight is standing by, but I was holding them back to escort us to orbit. They're carrying one torpedo each. General, if you can take out or reduce those guns, I might be able to get us out of here. But the clock is ticking - once that Star Destroyer has a firing solution, it's game over."

General Kota looks grim. "Understood. I'll see what I can do. King's Pawn Out."

As he finishes speaking, you cruise over a massive floating factory of some sort, and against the glare of the setting sun, you see a scarred badly damaged floating platform. Flashes of light and the shimmering of shields tell the story. The station is surrounded by a dozen floating turbolaser batteries, spaced regularly around the ruined station, are hammering at the shields. Smaller flashes show ground troops assaulting the platform, meeting stiff resistance.

Kota takes in the scene a moment.

"Suggestions?"

[The platform is perhaps 500m on a side. The turbolaser platforms are little more than a cannon strapped to a repulsor - there can't be more than 20 troops on a cannon.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on May 25, 2016, 04:00:47 PM
Collan looked at the situation.

"If we can take one of the turbolasers, we could turn it on the others nearby. We'd be able to open up an exit vector. What are our armaments?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on May 25, 2016, 05:49:14 PM
OOC:  Just waiting to hear Rahm's response.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on May 25, 2016, 06:03:45 PM
"The Rogue Shadow is not armed, so our armaments are what we have with us. Veshta-flight id a flight of six Y-wing starfighters. They have one torpedo each - sufficient to take out a gun platform. Their blasters will not hurt the guns however, and if we use them, we risk not having an escort into orbit."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on May 25, 2016, 07:37:07 PM
"Can the fighters be shot dow..." Collan started, "Nix that. They took out a frigate. Sounds like they're capital ship grade, then."

Collan looked at Niil, "Space station rumble? Toss some grenades ahead of us and jump out shooting? Unless..."

"What kind of thrust output do we have? If we give them an engine blast, it might buy us a few seconds to do some seriois mop up?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on May 25, 2016, 09:53:02 PM
"The Rogue Shadow can get us in close, but she doesn't have the mass to move the guns much, and it would reveal the ship as a target."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on May 25, 2016, 10:19:03 PM
"Not the guns...we blow down the stormies," Collan said, "We should sufficient thrust for that. Toss some grenades in the mix...they're less likely to be able to get out of the way. We take their firing position over and blast away at a few other emplacements."

"Or we sneak out...toss grenades and then open up. Maybe even use our firinf pattern to force them where the grenades are before they blow."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on May 25, 2016, 11:55:29 PM
Niil pointed at one of the Imperial gun platforms.  "What kind of shielding do these turbolaser platforms have?  Enough to withstand hits from another turbolaser?  And do they have any other armament?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on May 26, 2016, 05:27:06 AM
Kota strokes his beard. "No, if you could commandeer one, you could turn it on the others. You're likely to draw fire eventually though."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on May 26, 2016, 09:05:21 AM
"We only a few minutes. If we can clear out just one sector...can the corvette hold up?"

Collan tried to bring up a holomap of the situation to assess what they needed to do.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on May 26, 2016, 12:31:59 PM
"Maybe. Depends on the exit vector. The quickest way to orbit would bring them under fire from all 12 guns. But we could fly away, keeping the platform between the ship and the guns, maybe cut out 4 initially, 2 at longer range. But that will take time as well, and possibly open the ship to fire from the destroyer.

"I don't know what your skills are, but I can't see this being done any way but by hand, unless we risk the fighters and spend some torpedoes to take out some guns. Might be worth the risk."

Collan pulls up a tactical map. Data blocks wink in with the relative capabilities of the cannons, and the corvette.

"I can't see well enough to be much use in a firefight, I'm afraid, so this is going to be up to you."

Juno pipes up. "I can jam sensors, but it will reveal the Rogue Shadow. They'll have trouble getting a firing solution, but every ship within sensor range will know we're here, and my jamming range is limited."

[Actions?]

Tactically speaking, best guess - every gun that is active when the corvette leaves the safety of the shield has ~10% chance of bringing the corvette down. You can cut out 2 guns completely, and reduce two more guns to a 5% chance, so a straight exit flying level you have a 90% chance of the corvette being taken out. This would increase the odds on coming under fire by the Star Destroyer however.

Based on raw numbers, every fighter engaging a cannon has ~20% chance of being shot down or disabled, but they are almost guaranteed to take out the cannon. They can be in attack position in 4 rounds.

There are other considerations (fighters from the Star Destroyer, coming into Star Destroyer firing range, etc) so you'll want fighters available for escort to handle those variables, but you don't have enough data at the moment to predict those odds.

The guns will have no more than a crew of 20 scattered throughout the structure, probably much less than that. Most in the fire control centre. They will likely be Imperial Army regular heavy weapon operators. They may have a few guards, but there's not enough room for very many. The guns need a minimum crew of 5 to load and fire every round. If the gun is loaded, it can be fired by a crew of two once, but will take one extra round to load and fire for every missing crew member.

Turning a gun on other guns will require you to make Capitol Ship Gunnery rolls to hit.

Once on board, you could sabotage the power core or slice the control computers to knock the gun out of allignment, make it fall from the sky, of whatever, but that would take firepower or a slicing/tech roll.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on May 26, 2016, 03:58:27 PM
Niil stared at the display for several seconds, then pointed at one of the gun platforms.  "The Rogue Shadow has a small ventral hatch, so it should still be able to maintain its cloak if Collan and I slipped out quickly enough.  Get us on top of one of those monsters; once we get inside and neutralize the gun crew, we can either use the gun to shoot at another platform, or aim the whole platform to ram another one.  At the very least we can just blast the fire control so it can't shoot."

Niil blew out his breath.  "If we're successful, Collan and I can call in for a dustoff and board the Shadow the same way we exited it, and we might be able to pull the same stunt against another platform.  If things go bad and we can't arrange a dustoff from the platform, we won't have much choice but to call the fighters in to punch a hole through the gun platforms."

Niil turned to Juno.  "Do you have any grapple rods and explosives we can use?  Timed charges would be best."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on May 26, 2016, 04:02:20 PM
She shakes her head. "No, nothing like that I'm afraid. But there's plenty of area to land on, if your aim is not half bad."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on May 26, 2016, 04:36:37 PM
Niil shrugged with a faint grin.  "If the alternative is falling off, I'll make my aim spectacular.  So . . . where to poke a hole, and starting with which gun platform? Having the corvette eat sky as soon as it leaves the shield will expose it to all the remaining guns, and possibly the Star Destroyer.  If they punch through a hole we make for them and skim the moon's surface for awhile, they might be able to plot an escape vector that places the moon between them and that Star Destroyer."

Niil thought for a moment.  "Just out of curiosity . . . could the shield generators create a large enough explosion if they were overloaded?  If your commandos set some timed charges to go off soon after the corvette made its run, I'm wondering if the generators' explosion might blind or damage the turbolaser platforms."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on May 26, 2016, 05:43:50 PM
general Kota smiles, but shakes his head. "The explosion won;t take out the guns, but it will finish the troops assaulting the place."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on May 26, 2016, 09:07:45 PM
"I'm guessing that Gaven's already thought of that.  Okay . . . if we've got a few more seconds, can we bring up a blueprint of these gun platforms?  I'd like to see the different entry points, and where the vital stuff is located."  He hesitated, and added, "Oh yeah . . . I, umm, don't suppose there's a spare blast vest or two on board?  I had mine taken from me on that battle station."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on May 27, 2016, 12:23:24 PM
Juno says, "We've got files in the Rogue Shadow's databanks. Give me a moment..."

The display shimmers, and you see one of the floating gun platforms appear. A simple design - It's basically a capitol-scale power core and repulsor generator wrapped in armour and topped off with a turbolaster cannon. There's plenty of access - it's designed to be deployed with protection, not on their own. Energy shields only, so you can fly right up to the structure. There's flat walkway around the perimeter of the platform to give access to sensor pods. The main structure is topped with a dome that contains the tracking and activation controls for the cannon, and that dome is pierced in several locations. The platforms have thrusters for station-keeping, but no drive for movement, and generally have to be towed into location.

There's a hatch on the walkway that gives access to the engineering crawlspaces.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on May 27, 2016, 06:35:38 PM
Niil studied the readout for a few moments, then shook his head.  "I can't believe they built the cannon's tracking and activation controls into a dome riddled with all these access doors," he muttered.  "Well, that's a prime place to hit them.  Take the gun crew out of commission or fry the gun controls, and it's a floating piece of shielded metal.  Or use the engineering spaces to go after the power plant.  Or even the sensor pods to blind them."

Looking at Collan, he shrugged.  "I'm thinking of two options here.  One, we try take the gun crew out on the first one we board, but right after they've loaded.  We fire that round at another platform, and get out of there the second we hit the firing stud.  If all goes well, Juno can get us out of there and over to another one before the others open fire on us.  Or two  . . . we just neutralize the gun on the first one without us firing it, and Juno moves us on to the next platform.  Less risky, and it still takes away the platform's weapon."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 01, 2016, 08:37:21 AM
"I've been working on a few skills too. It's still hard to sense where non-sensitives are but I think I can do it. So...we jump. We open the access panel. If there are unfriendlies, a stun grenade is not out of place."

An idea sparked...

"Hey! Could we slice the sensor pods to make it think they were firing on the base when instead they are shooting each other?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 01, 2016, 09:12:33 AM
Kota shakes his head. "If the gun started training differently, the crew would be aware. It might throw off their aim a bit, but the gun is fired manually. Besides, they have redundant systems. You'd need to slice a few, and even then the crew could eyeball it."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 01, 2016, 09:21:48 AM
Niil nodded with a grin.  "Not meaning to belittle your tech skills, Collan, but I think we'd need a Nim and Buzz team to pull of a stunt like that.  And it looks like we're gonna have to make do with blasters and lightsabers on this one; it doesn't look like we have any grenades handy."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 01, 2016, 06:12:35 PM
"All right...we're playing a game of catch," Collan said, "We open them up like gutted fish and try to get a shot off to take out a gun, sabotage, and run away to the next platform."

"Juno...can you plot the most efficient flight pattern to take out as many guns as possible before the Star Destroyer gets overhead and obliterates us?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 03, 2016, 12:49:53 PM
"I'll work something out. You'd best get to the door."

[Last check before go-time. Anything you want to prepare?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 03, 2016, 01:50:28 PM
[armor?] Collan went to grab the saberstaff and his modified pistol as well as spare clips. He wished he could enter an Emptiness and give himself extra strength. Later.

"I'm ready."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 03, 2016, 06:43:44 PM
Niil swapped the power packs out of his blaster pistols for fresh ones, and stuffed a few extras away for good measure.  As an afterthought, he grabbed his Imperial blaster rifle, safetied it,  and slung it so that it rested along his right front side, barrel end down.  "Ready here.  Let's make for the ventral hatch."

)OOC:  If there's an extra blast vest hanging around, Niil would be extremely grateful.  I'm guessing he had his confiscated back on the Death Star.)
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 04, 2016, 11:19:27 AM
[No armour. The Rogue Shadow was not equipped with anything like that, and Galen didn't wear armour, and you didn't have any when you left the station.]

You head back to the boarding ramp and hang on. The ship makes a few dips and jinks as Juno comes in. General Kota joins you there as Niil opens the door. He has to shout over the howling wind and the concussion of nearby turbolasers. "The turbolasers are the threat. You are there to disable the guns, not kill everything on the platform. Stay focused on your objective."

Juno's voice comes over the intercom. "Ten seconds..."

Rahm holds out a hand. You see small discs in his palm. "Take these. They are trackers, so we can follow your progress. We'll be in position to pick you up when you're ready. They might jam comms, so be ready for that."

"Over target!" comes over the intercom.

You glance out, but see only a couple of thousand feet of open air. Then, the edge of a guard rail whizzes by and you are over the platform.

[Actions?]

No sign of any troops from this vantage point. It's a DC 20 in Climbing/Jumping to jump and land on the walkway. DC 10 to land on the dome and slide to the walkway, though there's a risk for injury in that move. Juno can't stay here for long, so there's no time to spend a round preparing.

You could use Telekinesis (with appropriate MAP) to aid the climbing/jumping roll.

It's go time.

Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 04, 2016, 12:39:07 PM
[what's the dc for concentration right now...5 ish?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 04, 2016, 01:50:08 PM
[yeah]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 04, 2016, 03:04:42 PM
Niil was amused at Rahm's warning as he readied to jump.  Not our first time in the field, sir, he thought to himself.  His gaze flicked between the dome of the gun platform and the walkway.  And the few thousand feet between him and the ground.  "Once more into the breach, dear friends," he muttered as he leapt for the dome.  There was certainly a risk for injury, but at least the platform would break his fall if his landing was bad.  Hopefully.

OOC:  Niil will use Concentrate to assist in the jump only if it won't require a round to prepare.  Once Niil hits the deck (hopefully in a non-ouch way), he'll be up and ready to assist Collan.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 05, 2016, 06:32:26 AM
Collan was less wordy than Niil, saying nothing at all as he mentally prepared himself for the leap. His mind was all on the Force and letting flow through him. He needed the focus and clarity to make this jump. Otherwise, there was just no way.

When he found hisnfocus, Collan leapt.

[concentration on climbing/jumping. CPs as needed for both rolls]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 06, 2016, 09:34:28 AM
As you stand there on the extended ramp, you see the walkway. It's only 20 meters or so below you, but it looks a lot farther, and a lot narrower when you contemplate jumping down to it.

Collan goes first. It starts well, but he gets buffeted a little by wind and looses his form on the way down. He manages to land on the walkway, catching himself heavily  on the railing.

Niil takes the leap, landing easily on both feet, executes a forward roll to lessen the impact, and rolls up to a crouch without the need to use his hands.

There's an access hatch about 10m from you. There is no indication you have been spotted.

You hear the thrusters fire as the Rogue Shadow moves away. Then the cannon goes off, setting your ears ringing.

[Actions?]

Can you guys post an equipment list on your scratchpads, just to help me keep track?

You're not sure which door your're facing. If the passage beyond leads down, it leads to the repulsor generators. If it leads up, it goes to the power core for the cannon.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 06, 2016, 11:08:40 AM
Niil stared at the access hatch about thirty feet away, and bit back a curse.  Which way did it go?  Does it matter?  Either way leads to something that can neutralize this platform.  Move.  Time's running out.  Making sure that Collan was all right first, Niil pulled out one of heavy blaster pistols, motioned Collan toward the door, and started jogging toward it.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 06, 2016, 11:40:59 AM
Collan followed Niil. Chances were good that the door was unlocked so he drew his blaster first. And if not, well, he had the saberstaff.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 06, 2016, 05:38:52 PM
You get to the door, and it is in fact secured. The access pad looks beyond either of your slicing skills, so Collan switches to his sabrestaff. A quick slice, and the door panel slides open revealing a ramp leading down.

[Actions?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 06, 2016, 05:50:33 PM
I guess we're taking out the repulsors, then.  Next time we try the other door . . . "Watch our six.  We'll hit the repulsors on this one," he whispered to Collan.  Niil brought his blaster pistol up, and sneaked a look around the open door to the ramp leading down.

OOC:  If there's hostiles that are ready, Nill will shoot.  Otherwise, he'll start moving down.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 07, 2016, 05:31:20 AM
Collan switched out the saberstaff for his much more familiar blaster pistol.

"Got it," he said. As they mived he tried to reach out into tgr Force and see if he could feel where beings were. It was a stretch but it couldn't hurt.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 07, 2016, 12:42:53 PM
You guys head down the ramp into the heart of the gun platform. You reach a central platform where two ramps meet, about thirty feet over equipment related to the generators. There are four large repulsor generators thrumming away at the intersection. Two control panels each control two of the generators.

Glancing over the controls, they appear to be locked out (probably a standard security protocol).

Collan, keeping an eye on their exit route, does not see any sign of pursuit.

The cannon fires again, still loud, but muted this deep in the structure.

[Actions?]

It's quite noisy here - you'll need to raise your voice to be heard, and DC's for perception of audio sources are much higher than normal.

You can attack the generators directly (easier to do, difficult to repair) or try and slice the console (more difficult given your slicing abilities, may be easier to repair, could possibly time an overload).

The generators do not appear to be shielded in any way. If you want to sabotage them with a weapon, you can add your Technical / Repulsorlift Repair to the damage you inflict.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 07, 2016, 01:09:55 PM
"I wish we had some explosives. We could set a timer and run like hell," Collan noted ruefully.

"If you can break into the control panel, we can always destroy the other two repulsors operating."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 08, 2016, 11:38:44 AM
[The platform could probably operate with 2 generators. It would start falling with one, probably stopping before it hit the ground. If they call went out, it would free-fall into the (mostly) automated factories thousands of feet below you.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 08, 2016, 12:40:44 PM
[if it falls, is it still an effective platform or is it out of the game?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 08, 2016, 01:03:37 PM
[OOC: Out of the game.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 08, 2016, 03:20:54 PM
Niil shook his head and leaned close so that Collan could hear.  "Might take more time than we have, and I'm ashamed to say that my computer skills are drek.  Tell you what . . . slice and dice one of the generators, and I'll take out two more of them.  This monster will start going down, but we should have enough time to bug out as long as one of the generators are working.  Just say when, and I'll time my attacks with yours."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 08, 2016, 04:20:50 PM
Collan took out the saberstaff.

"So...let's destroy a control panel and then blast one engine as far up the stairs as we can be so we can get out fast."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 09, 2016, 12:07:41 AM
Niil nodded.  "Works for me."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 09, 2016, 07:27:31 AM
Collan looked around...

"Any guess which panel drives which engines? It's best if destroy the one with engines less easy to hit from the stairs."

[Collan will ignite his saber and take out the panel that seems to drive/control the repulsors farthest from the stairs]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 10, 2016, 07:22:28 PM
Niil shook his head.  "No idea.  Just be ready to grab hold of something when the three generators are down."  He got into a good spot, grabbed a railing with his left hand, and leveled his blaster at the generator he picked out.  "I'll go for that one.  Ready when you are."


OOC:  Niil will go for one of the generators not controlled by the control panel that Collan's gonna slash.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 11, 2016, 01:19:08 PM
Collan ignites one end of the sabrestaff and reaches behind the panel to reach the control cluster behind it. The blade slices in easily, and there is a small explosion as the control cluster overloads. This sets off a cascade failure up the control conduit. You watch as little explosions run up the conduits to both generators.

Collan says, "This may not be good..."

Niil responds, "Exit! Now!"

You are halfway up the ramp when the two generators overload. The force of the concussion throws you to the grating of the ramp. A moment later, the entire structure tilts wildly to one side. Nill looses his footing and slides through the railing. He is about to go over when Collan grabs his arm, and keeps his upper body on the ramp.

Shouts from the doors at both ends of the area draw quick glances. Two imperials have come in each door. The ones at the far end are of little concern - the shrapnel from the exploding generators shredded the walkway and they have no way to get to you. Of more immediate concern are the two closer to you. They are disoriented from the sudden shift in the floor, but have pistols and are getting their wits back.

[Actions?]

Niil's lower half is dangling from the ramp grating while Collan lies prone holding him with one hand while his other hand grips a stanchion. The entire structure is tilted 30 degrees, making anything beyond cautious movement a skill check with MAP.

Niil still has a gun in one hand. Collan is lying on his sabrestaff.

[Actions?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 11, 2016, 03:28:13 PM
Niil's heart had threatened to leap out of his mouth when he felt himself going over the edge, but Collan had managed to catch him in time.  Taking a deep breath to calm himself and release himself to the Force, he barked, "Hold on for a few seconds, Collan! I've got them!"  He brought his blaster to bear upon the two Imperials and fired a pair of shots at each of them.

OOC:  Using a FP here:  Two shots at each Imperial, then Niil will drop his blaster to the deck and use his free hands to try and haul himself back up.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 11, 2016, 03:47:58 PM
Collan felt his shoulder blades pulling themselves apart. He was strong, not overly so but strong enough to hold Niil in place.

"Take the shots. We still need to shut down one more generator."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 11, 2016, 03:55:28 PM
The soldiers at the door are clinging to the door frame, trying to get their feet under them. Niil, while dangling from a tilted walkway, raises his gun and fires four times. It's an astoundingly difficult shot, while swinging from the walkway, but Niil manages to place four shots on target, two each on the soldiers. Both of his targets down done, one of them rolling off the ramp to plunge into the machinery below.

[Actions?]

Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 11, 2016, 03:59:47 PM
[OOC: Collan's grip is slipping...]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 11, 2016, 07:05:05 PM
[ooc: which grip?]

"So...umm, Niil," Collan strained to get out, "I'm gonna need you to get a grip onto something besides me. I'm starting to lose it here."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 11, 2016, 07:20:39 PM
"Trying . . ."  Niil grunted as he dropped his blaster on to the deck, and used his freed hand to scrabble for a firmer hand-hold.  "Malf me, we really need to bone up on our computer skills . . ."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 11, 2016, 08:29:01 PM
[Corey - both, I;d have given you a choice which one let go first.]

Collan strains, trying to keep a grip in Niil. He is barely holding on.

Niil tosses her gun up onto the platform, and watches helplessly as it bounces off the walkway, skips off the far rail, and vanishes into the machinery below you.

Niil is about to swear when a blaster bolt whangs off the walkway handrail. The next shot hits the support strut on the walkway, which snaps with a twang, and the walkway twists a few more degrees.

Niil reaches up with his now free hand, and manages to get fingers through the grate of the walkway and a firm hold just as Collan's grip lets go.

[Actions?]

You are both prone. Collan can now hold on to the stanchion much easier. Niil is still dangling half over the walkway. The techs on the far side got a lucky miss to his the support. They're not great shots, so once you're on your feet they won't be much of a threat. Prone, however...
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 11, 2016, 09:52:07 PM
Niil's eyes widened as a blaster bolt slammed into the support strut, further tipping the walkway.  If I survive this, I think I'm going to get a royal ass-chewing from Rahm. Clamping down tightly with both hands, he tried to heave a leg back on to the deck while pulling forward with his hands.

OOC:  Okay, for the next turbolaser platform we're definitely going for the bridge.   :P
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 12, 2016, 09:03:48 PM
[ooc: am I situated to fire on the techs?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 12, 2016, 10:00:34 PM
[OOC: Tough shot prone at that range while clinging to a canted walkway. But yeah, theoretically.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 12, 2016, 10:16:26 PM
Calland let out a puff and of air and let the Force flow through him. The tech had them as sitting ducks. Niil especially.

[FP. One shot each on the techs]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 13, 2016, 10:58:29 AM
Collan, hanging on with one hand, takes a breath and centres himself. He draws a bead on the first soldier, and fires. The shot is a tough one, through smoke and debris, but he manages to tag the Imperial in the shoulder, and he falls back. Loosing his grip on the canted platform, he tumbles off the walkway, to crash into the machinery below.

Collan's second shot goes just wide, hitting the bulkhead beside the second soldier. He ducks back through the doorway and out fo sight.

Meanwhile. Niil manages to haul himself up onto the platform and get his feet under him.

The remaining repulsor generators groan and thrum as power is altered, and the platform begins to right itself. Metal creaks, there there are several clanks and bangs as debris shifts while the platform slowly starts to level off.

[Actions?]

The view outside the open door is spinning, which accounts for the vertigo.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 13, 2016, 11:32:20 AM
"Next time...we go up," Collan noted, "Though...we did shut this thing down fast, but we still have one engine to take out."

Collan tried to stand and give Niil his pistol, "You're a better shot than me."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 13, 2016, 11:36:04 AM
Niil snorted, but waved Collan's offer of the blaster pistol aside.  "Yeah, this is gonna be fun trying to get off this gunship once I Pop one more generator.  I've got another pistol and this rifle.  Call Juno and let her know we're gonna need a hot dustoff, and that we might need PROXY to haul us on board.  Grab on to something tight."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 13, 2016, 11:56:26 AM
Collan holstered his blaster and made sure his gear was secure. Then he secured himself, calling Juno, "We're gonna need a hot LZ pickup Juno. PROXY may need to haul us aboard too."

Meanwhile, Collan began to narrow his own focus, taking tentative steps to focus his mind with the Force and use telekinesis in case one of them fell.

[ooc: tentatively starting Concentration on TK if if will be needed. Otherwise...hold on and run like hell if need be]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 13, 2016, 12:38:00 PM
[OOC: Hmm. Telekinesis can be combined with other actions (climbing/jumping or lifting) but it has to be combined. Telekinesis with concentration precludes doing that, unless you stood your ground and helped Niil complete some other task, such as jumping to the ship.]

"Acknowledged," comes over the comlink.

You make your way to the hatch while the horizon steadies outside. When you are near the door, Niil stabilizes his rifle with the sling, and lines up a shot. Niil has some familiarity with repulsorlift repair, which also gives him a pretty good idea how to break them. So he places his shot, and pulls the trigger.

[OOC: Damage 28 -vs- 10 resist - the generator rolled really bad...]

The resulting blowout of the power flow regulator is significantly larger than Niil expected.

"Uh oh..." he says.

The secondary explosion leaves the both of you blinded for several seconds. Your hand grasp blindly as the platform starts to tilt, and the increased pull indicates there is some spinning as well. Acrid smoke fills the air, and you haul yourselves hand-over-hand through the open hatch and into the fresh air.

as your sight starts to return, you hear a scream. A body slams into the guard rail from above, and slips over the edge.

It's clear the platform is coming down. It is not in freefall, but it is definitely going down. Mission accomplished.

You hear the roar of thrusters nearby, but can see nothing.

"I have a visual, but it's no good. I can't close to you!"

Another scream as an Imperial sails past from somewhere up above you. This one didn't hit the guard rail - he just flew by in free fall.

A tertiary explosion somewhere in the bowels of the platform rocks the structure, and it picks up a little speed in the descent.

[Actions?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 13, 2016, 12:58:10 PM
Niil felt a pang of regret as he watched the Imperials fall to their deaths, but was more concerned with Collan and himself at the moment.  Oh, shit on me, this is bad.  Clutching a rail with a death-grip, he yelled into the comm to be overheard.  "Give us a better spot, and we'll see if we can get to it!  If you've got any syntherope aboard, have PROXY stand by with it!  We might have to do an airlift!"

OOC:  Are there any compartments or cabinets on/along the exterior walkway that house safety lines?
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 13, 2016, 01:01:07 PM
[Only thing that looks like it might work is the railing.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 13, 2016, 01:07:11 PM
"This would be a good time for a jetpack," Collan yelled over the wind, "Niil...if we can secure me, I can make sure a rope gets to us."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 13, 2016, 01:09:22 PM
(OOC:  Sorry, a bit dense here.  Did you mean the railing would be a better spot to try and get to the Rogue Shadow? Or to find a rope?)
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 13, 2016, 01:21:03 PM
[ooc: no...I meant if PROXY can get a rope pit, I can ise TK to reel it in...otherwise it'll flap around ...]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 13, 2016, 01:27:11 PM
[I thought you were asking what you could secure a rope to.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 13, 2016, 01:58:40 PM
(OOC: Okay, I get it.  Sorry for the duh moment.  Nill will have to wait for Juno's response, I guess).
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 13, 2016, 02:57:07 PM
[ooc: not to secure it...not tying rope to a falling thing...getting it to us. Can I use Concentration on TK to pull the rope towards me?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 14, 2016, 05:06:55 AM
[OOC: Sure.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 20, 2016, 12:47:27 PM
There is another explosion, and a cloud of debris rains down. More Imperials fly past, though they are not screaming. Debris and shrapnel rain down, and you are forced to take cover for a few seconds.

When you look back up, the rotation has increased - centripetal force is starting to become a factor, and you are having to hang on to prevent sliding to the outer guard rail.

The Rogue Shadow appears before you - dangerous, as the ship is not exposed - and a line extends from the main cargo bay doors. It looks like they are using the main cargo winch. But with the rotation of the station, and the thrust required to keep the Rogue Shadow even with you means the end of the cable is whipping around quite a bit.

Niil grabs hold of Collan with one arm, and wraps the other around a sensor mounting to brace himself. Collan closes his eyes and extends a hand to the whipping cable. For a moment nothing happens. Then the end of the cable straightens out, slowly pulling taut towards you. More line is payed out, and in a few moments, the whipping cable is in Collan's hand.

[Actions?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 20, 2016, 01:19:14 PM
Collan grabs hold tight and makes and attempt to secure the line.

"Got a good hold Niil? This is going to be crazy!" He yelled over the wind.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 20, 2016, 02:21:25 PM
"Play out a bit of that line to me so we can both secure ourselves!"  Niil shouted back.


OOC:  If Collan can do that, Niil will use his end to secure himself.  If Collan can't, then Niil uses Concentrate and clings for dear life.   ;D
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 20, 2016, 06:51:29 PM
Collan played the line to Niil as best he could, hoping he could secure humself well and true.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 23, 2016, 01:06:29 PM
You run out of time. Juno, skilled as she is, is having trouble keeping up with the rotation and descent. Faced with loosing the cable, Collan give a quick couple of flips with his forearm before the line becomes too taut, and grabs Niil's arm with his free hand - and not a moment too soon. The line goes taut, and drags Niil and Collan over the railing. The strain is heavy, but Collan and Niil both manage to block out everything and concentrate on their grips. There is a dizzying sensation as you swing on the end of a 75m pendulum of payed out cable. The sudden shift in load catches Juno off guard, and the ship jinks a little, but Juno recovers quickly. In a few moments, PROXY and General Kota have you safely on board. You barely hit the deck when Juno calls out, "Hang on! We're under fire!" The words have barely come out of the intercom when a turbolaser blast sails past the open loading ramp. The ship bucks and jinks a few times as the boarding ramp is closed. A moment later, Juno comes on the intrcom.

"The cloak is secure, but we're going to have to be careful. They're alerted to our presence."

General Kota helps Collan to a sitting position. "When I said take it out, that's not exactly what I had in mind. You guys don't mess around."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 23, 2016, 01:37:34 PM
Niil shook his head and muttered apologetically, "It's not exactly what we had in mind either, sir.  I'd have preferred to go after the bridge, but luck of the draw dropped us near the engineering door.  If I had better slicing skills or some timed explosives I could've done a far neater job."

Niil thought for a moment, then asked, "How many of the gun platforms are trained on this area right now?  And are any of them sitting at a higher elevation than the others?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 23, 2016, 02:10:48 PM
He shakes his head. "No, you're not going to be able to slam them into one another. And with the commotion you've caused, they're likely going to pull back some troops from the assault to protect the platforms. It's what i would do. We need to be quick if we're going to avoid getting bogged down."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 23, 2016, 02:37:53 PM
Collan thought about and pat his side where he kept the saberstaff.

"I could try to cut or melt the barrels of the turbolasers. Misalignment or fouling could help right?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 23, 2016, 02:54:16 PM
He nods speculatively. "Possibly. I doubt they'll sit and watch you do that though."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 23, 2016, 02:59:10 PM
Niil shook his head.  "I wasn't thinking about ramming, sir.  If we tried to board a platform that was at a higher elevation than the others, then the Rogue Shadow would stand a smaller chance of being spotted by the others."  To Collan, he nodded.  "Yeah, or cut the power supply to the laser.  At least that won't have us fighting for balance."


OOC:  Bleah.  Simultaneous post.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 23, 2016, 03:19:43 PM
"If we worked fast to neutralize power supply, we could cut a lot of lines fast. Pull the plug and then fire the connectors so they can't repir quickly."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 23, 2016, 03:31:50 PM
Niil nodded.  "Yeah, that would be the best bet.  Let's get to work before the Imp troopers reinforce their guns."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 24, 2016, 07:01:34 AM
"So we have two angles: spiking the barrel and neutralizing the power," Collan noted. Personally he felt the spiking was faster and better but eventually they'd have guards outside making a drop impossible. Then again, the Imps were going to do that no matter what.

"Based on your knowledge of Imperial procedure, how long do we have before they make a drop impossible for us? And more technically, how long wouod it take to melt the barrel to spike it? Juno, can you pull up a schematic showing where the gun power core is?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 24, 2016, 09:26:35 AM
General Kota shakes her head. "I'm not a gunnery officer. But I do know tubolasers use Tabana gas charges to generate plasma. Spike the gun, and if they fire it will likely explode. Tubolasers have secondary power generators directly attached to the gun to boost the power, but there's a main power generator that feeds the gun. Take that out, and the gun firepower is greatly reduced. So, main power generator, or spike the cannon. Either one would work for our purposes."

[OOC: You already know that main power is located directly under the main gun, beneath the command centre. There's four walkways. Two lead down to repulsor control. 2 lead to the power generator. There's an external walkway that leads to fire control (the command centre).]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 24, 2016, 10:31:24 AM
Collan nodded, "We're less exposed if we go after the power source. Better control of chokepoints and so on. Outside spiking the gun we are fairly to fire from all quarters."

He turned to Niil, "Ready for round two? We don't much more time?"

Looking at Kota, "The Star Destroyer is what...25 minutes out?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 24, 2016, 10:46:37 AM
He nods. "They'll have a firing solution about then, yeah."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 24, 2016, 11:14:02 AM
Niil pointed at the display.  "Best have the fighters and transport standing by as soon as they can.  If we can keep half of the guns turned away from the station like this, then we can give the fighters an opportunity to blast a hole through the formation if needed.  The other platforms might open fire on the fighters, but they'll run the risk of taking out the other platforms." 

Niil pointed at one of the guns on the opposite side.  "It's too hot in the three-to-nine o'clock arc right now.  Let's try one of the guns in the ten-to two o'clock arc next."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 24, 2016, 01:16:03 PM
"Now that we're out of the line of fire, that doesn't much matter. All the gun platforms will be looking for us now - if we expose ourselves, we're going to come under fire."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 24, 2016, 01:22:06 PM
Collan nodded, "This time we won't be spinning out of control so we should not need such a dramatic pick up. Will we be able to find the entry point?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on June 24, 2016, 01:45:28 PM
General Kota nods. "Juno can put you down wherever you like."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on June 24, 2016, 03:57:14 PM
"Let's go to the next platform...we're wasting a lot of time..."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on June 29, 2016, 05:51:24 PM
Niil nodded.  "All right, then, let's take the seven o'clock gun."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on July 04, 2016, 12:31:25 PM
You head to the next gun. As you make the transit, the firing pattern of the other turbolasers widens, then stops as they give up landing a lucky shot.

As you fly over the next gun, you see Imperial soldiers moving down the walkways to defend certain access points - you can make a guess they are moving to protect the repulsors, which gives you a pretty good indication which access points are for the power generator.

[Actions?]

There was talk of hitting the control room, or the power generator. Which one would you prefer?
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on July 04, 2016, 06:49:57 PM
Niil watched the Imperial troops hustle along the walkways, and gave Collan a nudge.  "Power generators this time?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on July 05, 2016, 04:24:49 PM
Collan watched the troopers.

"Yeah..." He replied in monotone, "We really screwed up last time."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on July 05, 2016, 05:20:38 PM
Niil cracked a half-grin, and shrugged.  "Yeah, the Force took pity on us that time.  Things could've gone a lot worse."  He checked his weapons again, and blew out his breath as he stood by the hatch.  "Ready to go whenever you are, Juno."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on July 05, 2016, 07:34:39 PM
Collan checked his gear and readied himself. No Force powers this time. It was going to be a hot jump. He'd have to rely on luck.

"This'll be a hot one," he said
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on July 05, 2016, 08:12:23 PM
Niil steeled himself for the jump, but still muttered, "Just like old times . . ."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on July 08, 2016, 01:04:09 PM
[OOC: Ok, same deal? You'll need to jump, and should get the drop on the guards moving to the repulsor area. If you're quick you should have a few rounds before they get to you.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on July 08, 2016, 01:06:42 PM
(OOC:  Works for me.  Definitely Concentrate for the jump since Niil ain't a flying squirrel.  ;D)
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on July 09, 2016, 01:34:42 PM
[me too. COncentration for the jump too.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on July 22, 2016, 12:01:21 PM
As the Rogue Shadow approaches, the noise of the engines draws attention, but the soldiers cannot see anything. The hatch opens, and you both make the jump without incident, and apparently without being spotted.

[Actions?]
You're by the door that leads to the power generator running the cannon.

Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on July 22, 2016, 01:31:15 PM
Niil plastered himself to the bulkhead next to the door and brought his blaster pistol up to the ready.  "Pop the door and then come in after me,"  Niil whispered.  Taking a deep breath, he motioned for Collan to open the door.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on July 23, 2016, 10:55:38 AM
[ooc: if I can pop the bulkhead without the saber I do so]

"Gotcha!" Collan said and made to open the hatch to the power generator. He hoped this was an in and out. No shooting; no muss no fuss.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on July 26, 2016, 11:48:46 AM
Collan has to slice this door open as well, but it is quick work. As the two of you duck inside, a blaster bolt pings off a guard rail. It seems you've been spotted.

A quick glance shows the room - a circular chamber with only one other entrance - is dominated by a power generator. There is no other sign that anyone else is in here.

[Actions?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on July 26, 2016, 12:26:00 PM
Collan kept the saber ignited and looked for connector ports for the power source.

"Let's pop the lines and I'll scrag the power couplings," he said.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on July 26, 2016, 12:36:53 PM
Niil nodded.  "Keep your eyes open.  There's two entrances here, and they've seen us."

OOC:  Watch for the enemy while we go to work.  How far away are the two doors from the center of this room?  If it's more than the range of a heavy blaster pistol, Niil will swap his pistol for the blaster rifle.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on August 09, 2016, 12:52:57 PM
The plan may not keep the main gun out for very long, but it should be long enough to get the corvette away, and it certainly would be much safer than trying to blow the power generator directly.

With Niil keeping watch, Collan heads down to the walkway around the generator and quickly severs the power couplings. It is easy work - easily repairable, but it would take time. In moments, the four power couplings are destroyed, the ends of the power cables throwing sparks. One more shot later, the turbolaser goes silent.

Niil has been keeping three soldiers trying to make their way to you pinned down.

Collan makes his way back to Niil just as two soldiers enter the far door. They take a potshot, but it is long range and there is plenty of cover for you.

[Actions?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on August 09, 2016, 12:58:33 PM
Collan made some simple hand motions indicating it was time to withdraw.

"We have bigger fish...standard move and fire cover? Let's get back up top."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on August 09, 2016, 01:36:52 PM
"You got it.  Just be careful . . . there's likely more troopers waiting for us at the door we came in from."

OOC:  Move and fire as Collan suggested, focusing on the 3 soldiers trying to close with us.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on August 18, 2016, 12:42:11 PM
With Niil keeping the back door open, you get through and back out onto the walkway.

You hear the sound of thrusters below you. General Kota calls over the comlink, "Jump for the ship! We're right below you!"

Niil glances down, and sees a vague shimmering in the air - likely from the cloak of the Rogue Shadow.

[Actions?]

How do you want to do this? These are techs your facing, not infantry, so you could probably get away with both of you jumping at once. If one of you keeps the techs pinned down, they get an easier jump, but you'll both be under fire for longer.

It's a DC ~10 jump to land on the ship. They can't de-cloak because the guns are now looking for them.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on August 18, 2016, 01:34:28 PM
"You go first," Collan said, "I'll provide covering fire."

[ooc: cover Niil's jump]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on August 18, 2016, 02:08:25 PM
Niil hesitated for a moment, then said, "All right.  Be careful."  Niil shot the techs one last look, and leaped for the Rogue Shadow's hatch.


OOC:  Make the jump, and then (if Niil makes it) get ready to snag Collan on his jump.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on August 18, 2016, 04:29:26 PM
Once Niil had jumped and gotten footing, Collan followed him.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on August 24, 2016, 11:23:06 AM
Collan opens up a barrage of blaster fire at the techs, not trying to hit anything, just trying to keep their heads down. it has the desired effect, but one of the techs still manages to squeeze off a shot at Collan. The bolt hits him in the shoulder, but Collan manages to grit his teeth and shake off the burn.

Another tech takes a shot at Niil mid-jump, and scores a hit. The hit burns through Niil's blast vest. He tries to shake off the pain, but looses control of his jump, and lands hard. Collan looses sight of him below the rail.

A turbolaster blast from another gun roars past, near where the Rogue Shadow is still hovering. "They're zoning in on us!" comes over the comlink.

[Actions?]

Niil is stunned, rolled when he hit, but managed to catch himself before rolling off the ship. He is below the line of fire from the techs now, so safe for the moment. He'll need a round to shake off the stun.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on August 24, 2016, 11:42:19 AM
Niil saw stars after he slammed against the ship, but managed to snag a piece of the hull.  Damn!  Did techs start booking time at the firing range? Niil triggered his comm to PROXY and Collan and muttered, "PROXY, Collan and I might need a hand getting into the ship if we want to get out of here quickly.  I've been shot."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on August 24, 2016, 11:49:35 AM
Collan took his leap as well...too many techs and at oeast one could get lucky.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on September 01, 2016, 01:16:52 PM
Collan, without the benefit of cover, is much more exposed than Niil had been. Still, he grips his pistol and makes a break for it, leaping into the air. He is already airborn when he realizes the shimmering was in a slightly different position. He lands hard, but keeps his feet by rolling into a crouch, coming to a stop less than a meter from the edge of the ship.

"Juno! Go!" says General Kota.

"Hang on!" she responds, and it is all you can do to keep from being thrown off as the ship starts to move. It's not a moment too soon - a moment later a turbolaser shot passed through the space you had recently occupied.

Collan goes to the edge of the ship where Niil is barely hanging on, and helps his fellow apprentice up to relatively safer ground. Glancing up, Collan can see the techs, pistols raised, scanning the air, but apparently unable to see you.

The top hatch opens, and PROXY is there. Moments later you are back inside.

General Kota looks grim. "These Imperials are reacting faster than I anticipated. The good news is you are taking a lot of pressure off the men on the station. The bad news is that the Imperials have directed assault shuttles to reinforce the remaining platforms. If you are quick, you might get one more before they are guarded by stormtroopers."

He strokes his beard. "I think it is time we called in the fighters. We could use them as escort on the way to orbit, but that doesn't matter of we can't bring down the cannons."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on September 01, 2016, 02:32:18 PM
Collan gave a glance to Niil.

"Whaddya think? One more time? It'll give the fighters a better shot at taking the platforms down."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on September 01, 2016, 06:32:41 PM
Niil nodded as he absently rubbed at the spot where the tech had tagged him.  "Yeah, still too many turbolasers to threaten the transport, fighters or no fighters.  Let's try to nail another one of those gun platforms before it's swarming with bucket-heads.  Juno, pick one of the emplacements for us to hit and burn sky.  We've gotta do this one quickly.  PROXY, please stand by to assist us back in the ship once we're ready.  Everyone, grab a stanchion and hang on." 

With that being said, Niil secured his weapons and braced himself for some high-gee maneuvering.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on September 08, 2016, 12:33:30 PM
Juno was already en-route, and a moment later you hear her voice on the intercom. "Drop in three!"

Three seconds later, you see the edge of a gun platform swoop by. You both leap and manage the landing, with Collan taking a bit of a tumble (stun). You make your way to the nearest door. A tech takes a shot at you, but you duck inside.

The ramp leads down - the repulsor coils. It will take time to move to the power generator.

Outside, you hear the thrusters of a heavy shuttle approaching.

[Actions?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on September 08, 2016, 03:22:32 PM
Niil checked a sigh; he wasn't too fond of being tossed around like a demented top again, but there probably wasn't time to make a run for the power generator or the bridge.  "Collan, We're either gonna have to do the same thing we did on the first one, or I'll have to try a computer slice and see if I can buy us some time before the repulsors go wonky.  Let's get to the repulsor coils quickly; we don't have much time here."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on September 09, 2016, 11:26:21 AM
"I don't think we have time," Collan noted over the whine of thrusters approaching, "We've only a few seconds before stormies get here."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on September 09, 2016, 12:37:46 PM
Niil shot a glance back at the door, and shook his head.  "Yeah, this is gonna get rough.  We might have to blast the coils from a distance and then run like hell."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on September 09, 2016, 12:52:51 PM
"I think we're going to have to trust the Force on this one," Collan said, "and brace ourselves better than last time."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on September 09, 2016, 02:34:54 PM
Niil chuckled despite the gravity of the situation.  "Oh, yes.  Most of the Imps might be coming in from this door anyway, so let's mad dash toward the other exit first and pot-shot the generators as we're headed out.  Ready?"


OOC:  So, here's what I was thinking . . . run for the other exit and get ourselves a wee bit closer to the door this time before we blast the hell out of the generators.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on September 09, 2016, 02:55:52 PM
"Sounds like a plan to me! Let's do it!"

Collan had his modified blaster unholstered...it might be worth it to hijack the shuttle too...
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on September 23, 2016, 12:42:36 PM
You enter the space and cross the open grating. You reach the control cluster.

[Actions?]

You guys continuing on, or doing something here?
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on September 26, 2016, 04:29:43 PM
Niil pointed to a place on the ramp headed for the other door and waved Collan on.  "Let's get to that point before we blast the controls.  Less distance to have to cover when this bucket starts spinning like a top."


OOC:  The plan is to get to roughly the 3/4 - way point, cling like a leech to the guard rail, and blast one of the panels. As I recall, that should take out two of the 4 generators.   Then, if we can,  one of the surviving generators can be targeted directly.  If the panel shot doesn't work, then we'll have to blast the 3 generators directly.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on September 27, 2016, 01:05:58 PM
Collan shuddered as he remembered the up close and personal way they'd taken out the first platform.

"Yeah...I'd rather be close to out of here when we blow these generators."

[ooc: follow Niil's lead and blow some generators]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on October 06, 2016, 01:07:18 PM
You come to the indicated point, grab on to a railing, and Niil lines up a shot. He nails it, and the panel bursts into a shower of sparks and smoke. Immediately two of the repulsor generators wind down, and the station starts a slow but accelerating roll. Braced and prepared, you keep your places easily. A few moments later, the crew compensate, and the station slows the roll, and begins to right itself.

Then silhouettes of Stormtroopers appear in the doorway on the far side of the chamber. [+1D to hit].

[Actions?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on October 06, 2016, 01:46:12 PM
Making sure that he had a good grip on the railing, Niil said, "I'll keep their heads down; let me know when you're about to blast the genny!"  Raising his blaster, he fired off two shots at the troopers.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on October 06, 2016, 02:05:17 PM
Karabast! Collan screamed within the confines of his thoughts.

"Ready," Collan lined his shot up. It would take dropping the third to neutralize the platform.

"Steady," he pulled air into his lungs.

"Now," he breathed as he let part of his breath escape on the trigger pull.

[shoot at third generator]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on October 11, 2016, 01:07:51 PM
The shot pings off the casing, scoring it but doing little damage. it was a solid hit, but didn't punch through. Another hit to the same spot should do it.

The silhouettes at the far end of the room trace back the shot and open fire, but they are a long way away through equipment. There are a couple of close hits - enough to force you to duck, but nothing dangerous. Their shots were made more difficult by the shots Niil throws their way. He doesn't hit anything solidly, but does ping a shot off one of the armour of one trooper without doing any significant damage.

[Actions?]

Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on October 11, 2016, 06:56:40 PM
Niil sent two blaster bolts back at the troopers and said, "Give that genny a pair of shots, Collan; we need to take this crate out before the Imps catch us in a crossfire."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on October 12, 2016, 02:57:08 PM
Collan lined up a couple shots at the generator, hoping they penetrated and killed the motor.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on October 28, 2016, 11:47:08 AM
Collan lines up his shots, and places two solid hits. That penetrates the regulator, and causes a secondary explosion. The lights flicker, and there is a winding down noise as the third generator powers down. You both feel lighter as the gun platform starts an accelerating fall. Mission accomplished.

Niil takes a couple of more shots at the troopers, winging on and forcing him back. Then a flurry of shots come at you from behind - it seems the troopers have flanked you. With the machinery and the poor lighting, the troopers are having trouble hitting you, but that will only hold so long.

[Actions?]

Four troopers behind you, four in front (one wounded).
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on October 28, 2016, 12:48:55 PM
Collan fired his blaster twice at the stormies in front. Once at the wounded one and another at a healthier one.

"Move and cover?" He asked simply. It was one of the oldest tactics. One fired while another advanced.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on October 28, 2016, 01:03:30 PM
Yeah, we've definitely out-stayed our welcome here.  Got to clear away the troopers in front of us before they bracket us good and proper.  "Yup.  Let me try this first.  Get ready to bolt."  Niil took a steady breath and closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the Force coursing through him.  When his eyes flicked back open, he leveled his heavy blaster pistol at the troopers in front of them and released a barrage of fire.

OOC:  Using a FP and firing eight times (2 shots at each  trooper).  Saving the rest for dodging.   ;D  If I remember FP usage, each of my shots should be at 8D+1 (heavy blaster skill is 7D+2), correct?
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on October 28, 2016, 01:24:47 PM
Collan waits for the first shot before he starts to move. A hail of blaster fire streaks past him, and Collan slams into a railing behind a coolant compressor and sights down the barrel of his pistol to see the doorway ahead clear of troopers.

The ones behind are moving up in a double cover formation, but they are not much of a threat for the moment.

The way ahead is clear.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on October 28, 2016, 02:11:02 PM
"Niil! Let's move!" Collan waited for Niil providing cover for him to advance/retreat to his position and beyond.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on October 29, 2016, 09:11:08 PM
Niil flicked a glance behind him, and saw that the troopers to their rear were advancing in a two-by-two formation.  With the gunship starting to fall and the way ahead clear, speed was going to be of the essence if they hoped to get away.  He waved Collan on even as he started running forward.  "Don't wait up for me!  Let's both move before they get clear shots at us!"


OOC:  Run and dodge like the dickens.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on October 31, 2016, 08:20:27 AM
Collan took off as well...but still keeping his ears pricked for any more stormies.

[ooc: oh to have reliable Danger Sense]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on October 31, 2016, 12:36:22 PM
You dodge and weave, and make for the far door. Due to the dip in the walkway towards the centre of the chamber, you are well protected from fire at the troops try to close with you.

Collan gets through the door first, and Niil sees a black blaster rifle slam hard into his mid-section. Collan collapses on the deck, at least winder, though perhaps injured worse.

[Actions?]

There's one trooper, badly injured, who got the drop on Collan. He's in a bad way (Wound x2). You could probably just kick him off the platform. However, stopping to fight will open you to more accurate attacks from the chasing troopers. You could just bull rush him now, if you feel you're skilled enough and keep moving, but if you stop to use a weapon, you may come under fire.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on October 31, 2016, 01:57:51 PM
[can I do anything at this point? Like a boot to them helmet? Get up and keep going?]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on October 31, 2016, 04:13:18 PM
(OOC:  What about firing while running?)
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on October 31, 2016, 09:40:48 PM
[Sure. penalties for movement, but you got mad skillz.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on October 31, 2016, 10:45:58 PM
Niil winced as he saw Collan practically fold over the butt of the trooper's blaster rifle.  Malf me, that looked hard enough to break ribs.  Without breaking the speed of his run - he could almost feel the quartet of troopers behind him zeroing in on his back - he trained his blaster on the trooper and fired a pair of shots even as he shouted, "Collan!  Control the pain with the Force!"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on November 01, 2016, 07:54:07 AM
[OOC: Collan could control pain.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on November 01, 2016, 09:15:19 AM
[ooc: how bad am I hurt?]

Collan winced and remembered his training. He let a breath go and relaxed. He reached/let the Force flow through him, taking his focus off the pain itself, controlling it and guiding his perception of it.

[ooc: control pain...and get out of there]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on November 21, 2016, 12:46:41 PM
Both shots hit the trooper, and he falls backward over the rail to slide down the side of the hull to a thousand foot drop. But the pause to fire leaves Niil exposed, and blaster bolts shower his position. Thankfully, he is a much clearer target than Collan. Niil gits pinged one, shrugs it off, then gets tagged twice more. These he feels, and is forced down on the other side of the doorway from where Collan is gasping for air.

For his part, Collan reaches deep inside to find that well of peace, and lets the Force bleed away his pain. In moments he is breathing normally again and crawls out of the line of fire on the left side of the doorway.

You can hear the tromp of stormtrooper boots as they close on your position.

[Actions?]

Niil is stunned this round (no actions), and wounded. Collan is wounded x1, but controlling pain (so no stun).

Tactics: With both of you on the deck and in close proximity, you are very vulnerable to a grenade.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on November 21, 2016, 01:35:04 PM
Damn, I thought luck was supposed to favor the underdog! Niil started to focus on the Force to control his own pain, and muttered, "Urgh.  Gimme a few seconds here, Collan.  Get that door shut, would you?  No sense in us chewing on grenades. And let's see if we can get a dustoff here."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on November 21, 2016, 04:13:44 PM
We're boned. Was Collan's main thought. He pushed himself backwards with his feet, raised his blaster and took a bead on the door controls. He shielded his eyes from the inevitable sparks and fired.

"Juno! We may need an in flight pick up!"

"Niil! We have at least 16 stormies on the way. I'm guessing from every which way but down...so we need to jump."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on November 21, 2016, 04:30:24 PM
Niil laughed and shook his head despite the pain from the blaster burns.  "If I survive this, you're not getting me on one of these floating bastards again without a jump-pack."

OOC:  Okay, if we're doing a jump/slide with the hopes of trying to land on the Rogue Shadow, Niil might have to use Concentrate next round and sink it into Climb/Jump roll (or whatever's applicable).  Depending on the DC needed to land on the Rogue Shadow without becoming a Jedi flat-cake, that is.   ;D
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on November 28, 2016, 12:53:36 PM
Collan blasts the door controls, and the access hatch slams shut. You hear the ping of several blaster bolts hitting the other side. Collan then makes his call to Juno. He is barely finished that call when you hear synthesized voices above you. "There they are! Blast em!"

With no cover from the blaster shots, Collan and Nill run and hurdle the railing, dropping into a steep slide off the edge of the gun platform. In seconds, you clear the edge of the platform, and enter free fall.

Wind howls in your years, and you need to scream to be heard. If Juno received your communication, you can't hear any response as you hurtle through open space towards the automated factory complexes thousands of feet below you.

[Any actions?]

At this time, you are about 30' apart, spinning at different speeds, with Niil slightly lower than Collan.

You have about 10 seconds to impact.

-1D to all actions due to wind buffeting you.

Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on November 28, 2016, 01:29:00 PM
What the hell am I doing?  Niil had to use all of his will to clamp down on the fear that was gibbering insanely in his head.  Focus, Niil, or you're going to go splat.  You've seen sky-diving on holovids.  To slow yourself down, stick your arms and legs out and slightly behind you.  To steer, it's all arm motion . . . just like the flaps on an air speeder.  Get control and link up with Collan.

Taking a deep breath and allowing his mind to focus on the logic instead of the fear, he immersed himself in the Force and focused his mind on the task at hand.

OOC:  Using Concentrate and trying to link up with Collan.  What skill would this apply to?  is there a sky-diving skill?  :D)
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on November 28, 2016, 01:42:45 PM
Collan likewise tried to link up with Niil and get them strapped together. This was insanely crazy and only the Force would be able to save them. They would hit the ground moving at around 160kmh. Flatcake city.

Unless Collan found a way to decelerate them before impact. Or Juno got there.

By the Force, he hoped Juno go there.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on November 28, 2016, 02:31:12 PM
Quote from: Niil Spaar on November 28, 2016, 01:29:00 PM
OOC:  Using Concentrate and trying to link up with Collan.  What skill would this apply to?  is there a sky-diving skill?  :D)

It's a DEX based skill, so you can use DEX.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on November 28, 2016, 02:33:38 PM
Quote from: GM Craig on November 28, 2016, 02:31:12 PM

It's a DEX based skill, so you can use DEX.

Oh, good. :)  Yeah, Concentrate to boost DEX if I can.  Focusing on linking up with Collan.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on November 29, 2016, 11:26:24 AM
Both of you try to calm yourselves, ignore the howling wind and the buffeting, and disregard the impending death rushing at you. The wind hits you like physical blows, however, and finding a well of calm under that effect is too difficult. Neither of you are able to bring forth the Force. You still try to manoeuvre together. You both end up coming in too fast. Your hands meet, but you are not able to hang on, and your combined grasp is broken. However, you are closer together now.

Over the howling wind, you hear the sound of starship thrusters, but you cannot see the ship, not can you tell how close it is.

[Actions?]

You are still at -1D to all actions due to wind buffeting.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on November 29, 2016, 01:01:23 PM
Niil didn't bother to think about the ground now; either he and Collan managed to link up and get a hold of the Rogue Shadow within the next few seconds, or they were about to meet a very messy end.  Okay, this time let's not close the distance like a damned TIE fighter.  Slower.  He pushed his legs out a hair or two straighter, and brought in his arms slightly closer to his body.

One small glimmer of hope registered in his mind . . . he could hear the sound of a ship's engines, and assumed that the Rogue Shadow was closing in on them.  Even as he moved toward Collan, he took a precious second or two to look around him in an attempt to spot the ship.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on November 30, 2016, 09:47:51 AM
The starship thrusters were just barely audible over the wind in Collan's ears. He'd have smiled but for the buffetting he was taking. Also...no bugs in mouth.

Still...this was getting to be extremely difficult. With his injuries (damned stormie!) and the wind it was too hard to get to Niil. The ground was coming up fast and there weren't a lot of options. This was a multistep exercise...step 1: get Niil and he locked together.

Collan's eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment as his thoughts turned inward to the power of the Force. He let it fill him and his limbs with its strength, light, and vigor. Using its power, he made another attempt to grab Niil and lock on.

[FP. Try to hook up with Niil]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on November 30, 2016, 12:21:28 PM
Niil tries to manoeuvre towards Collan, but misses the mark. Fortunately, Collan performs a quick alteration and chases down Niil as he flies past. He quickly grabs Niil's forearms, and the two of you continue to fall, but at least you are now linked and facing each other as you slowly spin around your centre of mass.

A couple of seconds later, the upper hull of the Rogue Shadow appears several meters away. It slowly closes until it nudges the both of you. Collan, hyper-aware for the moment thanks to the Force, glances at the rapidly approaching rooftops and realizes what she is about to do. "Hang on! High G's coming!"

The Rogue Shadow slowly starts to pull up. The hull starts to angle against you, and in a few moments it is below you. You starts to feel the pressure of gravity as Juno starts to pull up sharper, and it increases rapidly. Your faces stretch uncomfortably as the ship's repulsors scream. Pain, fading quickly as blood is forced out of your brains. Niil looses consciousness from it, but Collan manages to stay aware, and keeps a death-grip on Niil's forearm with one hand, and a firm grip on part of the hull with his other as the crushing force peaks. Collan's lips and forced back, and his eyes water and everything hurts - yet he is somehow detached from what his physical body is feeling. Laying on his back, unable to move, Collan can see the spires of communication towers flash by. As the G-forces peak, Collan can clearly hear the snapping of ribs from Niil. Finally, the rapid descent slows, the Rogue Shadow levels out, enters level flight.

As the Force fades into the background for Collan, he appears to be untouched from the rapid deceleration. Niil, however, looks like he has literally been passed through a wringer.

Still hanging on against the wind, Collan feels the Rogue Shadow slow. Then, a hatch opens. Rahm Kota's blind face appears. "Are you there?" he calls out.

Collan answers, and crawls towards Kota, dragging the unconscious form of Niil behind him, as the Rogue Shadow dodges and weaves between buildings. Within two minutes, you are both inside the ship, and the top hatch is sealed. Kota hits the comlink. "Juno, they're on board. Get us safe, and call in the fighters. We're done with the ground assault."

"On it," you hear her reply.

General Kota turns his blind eyes to Collan. "Enough thrilling heroics, hmm? Help me get him to the medical bay."

You drag Niil's unconscious form to the bay, where PROXY is waiting.

A few minutes later, Collan has been treated (-1 wound level), and Niil is conscious (wounded x2), with a rib stabilizer on to hold his broken ribs in place until the oseregenerator seals the breaks. Niil is covered in bruises and swelling, and has blood in the whites of his eyes. Everything hurts.

[Actions, pausing for reactions.]

Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on November 30, 2016, 01:05:23 PM
Collan offered a weak smile to Rahm.

"Yeah. I'm officially done...D. U. N. Done." He collapsed back exhausted from the final ordeal.

"How are the fighters doing General?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on November 30, 2016, 01:24:06 PM
Despite feeling like he'd just been foot-massaged by an AT-AT, Niil was somewhat surprised that he was still awake.  He lay back, listening to Kota and Collan's conversation - not that he had much choice but to lie down, considering his injuries - and started to focus the Force on healing his injuries.


OOC:  Accelerate Healing if I can.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 01, 2016, 09:45:04 AM
[With Niil's injuries, he is not able to summon the control to accelerate his healing.]

"You don't need to worry about that. You've done your part, the rest is up to them."

As PROXY continues to tend to the both of you, the Rogue Shadow goes through several manoeuvres, and you hear the sound for starfighter blasters pinging off shields. Eventually, the roar of atmosphere against the hull fades, and you figure the ship has reached orbit.

By this time, the osteoregenerator has completed mending Niil's ribs. It still aches, and deep breaths bring a twinge of pain, but otherwise Niil is not bad off. Niil does have bruising over most of his body, but even that is starting to fade thanks to PROXY. Collan is also doing better, thanks to PROXY, and his only remaining injuries now are superficial, and even those have been bandaged.

[Niil Wound x2; Collan is healthy]

You are both about to get up when the manoeuvre warning sounds, and the Rogue Shadow makes the jump to hyperspace.

You wander up to the cockpit and see Kota and Juno there. Juno turns her chair around.

"Well done. The corvette managed an escape, though they took some damage from the incoming fighters. also thanks to your distraction, casualties among the militia were much lighter than expected."

Kota nods. "We lost three fighters covering the escape, which will hurt. But it could have been much worse. Thank you, boys."

He shifts in his seat, turning his bandaged eyes towards you. "We're headed to a hidden base I set up during the Clone Wars. We can regroup there, and make some plans."

Juno adds, "We will be two days in transit. You might as well make yourselves comfortable."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 01, 2016, 10:29:06 AM
Niil smiled faintly.  "I'm glad to hear that the corvette and your troopers made it out, sir.  I'm sorry to hear about the loss of those three fighter pilots."  To Juno, he shook his head in a mixture of admiration and awe.  "Juno, short of CGI action vids, I've never seen or heard of anyone pulling a maneuver like the one you did to save our butts."  He stuck out his hand.  "I'm sure I speak for Collan here when I say that - damn - we owe you for that.  Thank you."


OOC:  Taking Craig's advice from the OOC post.  Once Niil gets a chance, he'll spend some time to Control Pain.  Once he's got that down, he'll focus next on Accelerate Healing (using Concentrate as a buff only if he needs to).
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 01, 2016, 10:40:49 AM
Collan nodded in agreement with Niil.

"That was the most precise and daring flying I've seen or heard of," he noted, "Thanks for getting us out of there."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 01, 2016, 10:55:52 AM
She turns back to the console, saying quietly, "I've done better..."

Rahm breaks that tension. "Go get some rest. Soon we'll be among friends."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 01, 2016, 01:49:15 PM
Damn, touched a nerve there.  Maybe I should've just stuck with 'thanks'?  Niil nodded wearily and replied with a weak grin, "Rest.  Yeah, rest will be good.  Where's my bed . . ." his voice trailed off as ambled off to his bed.


OOC:  So . . . whatever Niil needs to do to successfully activate Accelerate Healing (ie. extra prep time, etc.), he'll do it.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 01, 2016, 02:10:57 PM
Collan got the feeling that Juno's comment was more related to the pain of Galen's death than anything else. But she was also probably the best pilot in the galaxy and may have done better. No matter.

"I'll be practicing with PROXY if you need me, sir," he said to the General.

"And Juno...thank you all the same...you still saved our lives," and with that he left.

[ooc: Darren...Collan planned on lightsaber practice and meditation so if you want to jump on a thread we can RP there]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 01, 2016, 03:09:45 PM
(OOC:  Depends on how long it will take for Niil to get healed up sufficiently to do anything strenuous.  ;D)
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 08, 2016, 12:56:20 PM
[Not long - a few more hours and Niil will be right as rain. We can run that thread in parallel.]
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 08, 2016, 01:14:36 PM
Two quiet days later, you are in the cockpit when the ship reverts. Ahead you see a distant tiny, white sun. Ahead of you, a large asteroid field orbiting the tiny star. You see the ship's shields shimmering, and an alarm sounds from the panel before Juno.

"High radiation levels. Our shields are holding for now." She glances at Kota. "You could have told me... Sensors and communications will be useless."

Kota chuckles, but does not answer. Instead he says, "Check for the beacons. They will lead you to the base."

Juno flies along the edge of the asteroid field. All the scopes and monitors are dead or filled with static. Then Collan spots a blinking light.

"There!"

Juno responds, "I see it." She alters course, and the Rogue Shadow enters the asteroid field. It is a harrowing journey, with a few apparent close calls, but the blinking beacons see to lead you through a safe passage. Eventually, you emerge into something of an open space, where a large, pocked asteroid slowly orbits. As the massive rock turns, you see docking bay doors come into view.

"Signal them," Kota says. Juno manipulates a control on the console, and the Rogue Shadow's running lights flicker on an off in some sort of complicated pattern. The lights marking the docking bay respond, and the large bay doors start to open.

Juno says, "You are a crazy old man, but you know your stuff." She starts working the approach. Kota turns his bandaged eyes to the two of you. "Come with me."

He leads you towards the boarding ramp, speaking as he walks. "I set this up during the Clone Wars as a fail-safe fallback point. I never trusted the clones, and the separatists seems to know too much about what was going on. We'd win some battles, they'd win some battles, but overall we were locked in a stalemate. Neither side could get an advantage that wasn't wiped out within a week. I was concerned there were spies within the Republic feeding them intelligence, so I had this base built as a place to fall back to, where no communications could get in or out, and we could hide from the separatists. Here, we could plan in secret, and hide if necessary. I put stockpiles of weapons, ammunition, supplies and fuel here - enough to keep my army going for six months. We're quite depleted from those days now - both in the size of my army, and the supply stockpiles, but it should be enough to give us a start."

You feel the ship lurch gently as it touches down. Kota turns to you and says, "Welcome to Thresh Base." he hits the actuator, and the boarding ramp opens.

You see an open hangar, with a dozen militia soldiers in Kota Militia uniforms standing in two lines. Four republic-era landing craft, and half a dozen venerable Y-wing starfighters are arrange in an orderly fashion around the perimeter of the docking bay. You see several forms moving on an overhead control room, and all around you the rock of the asteroid forms the walls and ceiling of the base.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 08, 2016, 01:23:48 PM
"Feels like home," Collan said wholely without snark. It did. Well organized. Disciplined. It felt a lot like HQ.

He turned to Niil, "Wish we had the corvette still. I wonder if the Imps recovered it from HQ."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 08, 2016, 04:24:58 PM
Niil shrugged, and replied in a whisper, "Yeah, it would have been a good edge.  Depends on whether or not HQ moved it while we were away."  He then held a finger to his lips, indicating that Kota was likely about to address his troops.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 09, 2016, 11:51:24 AM
General Kota steps off the Rogue Shadow behind you. As he walks down the double-line of soldiers, another solider wearing an officer uniform comes to the head of the line. "General. This is an unexpected pleasure. Welcome home."

General Kota indicates you should follow him. He speaks to the new officer. "Thank you, Jann. We've got the Bergeron in-bound, so set up a supply run. They will have wounded to evacuate as well. You'll probably three shuttles. She'll be going to skeleton crew, so find quarters for the rest. They deserve a rest."

The officer nods. "Yes General."

"Give me a status report."

The officer replies with an acronym-heavy list of things, and their condition. You can't really follow most of it.

"Good. You've done well here, Commander. Now, it's time to initiate a full recall. I want all our units and garrisons to return to their regional headquarters. We've joined an alliance of like-minded individuals, Jann. We're no longer fighting alone. It's time to mobilize."

Jann smiles. "Yes sir. I'll go make preparations." She turns to leave, but Kota stops her. "Jann, before you go - these two..." he 'looks' at the two of you. "Uhm... Niil Spaar and Collan Rostiern. They'll need quarters. And gear. See if you can kit them out."

The commander salutes. "Yes sir."

By this time you have gone through a couple of hatches and come to a door. He opens the door, and invites you in. The chamber appears to be some rather spartan quarters. He walks over to a chair by a tiny desk and flops down into it. There is no room for either of you to sit, so you stand awkwardly by the door.

"I have something that needs doing, and the two of you might be able to pull it off. Can either of you pilot a ship?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 09, 2016, 11:56:03 AM
Collan looked at Niil. He wasn't a pilot by any stretch of the imagination. He could fly a ship better than someone just off the street but only by a little bit. If things got hairy, he could always use the Force but that caused it's own problems.

"I can fly a ship better than a being right off the street but I'm not a pilot personally, sir," he noted.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 09, 2016, 11:58:55 AM
Kota looks disappointed, then turns his bandaged eyes to Niil. "And you?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 09, 2016, 01:55:50 PM
Niil shook his head with a trace of a blush, keenly aware that he was about to compound on the general's disappointment.  "Just repulsor craft, sir.  I'm pretty well in the same boat with Collan in regards to shuttles and fighters.  Skills I'd definitely like to improve on, sir."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 09, 2016, 01:58:43 PM
Collan added, "If it makes a difference, sir, unless we're talking about combat manuevers, I'm capable of flying a ship and getting us from point A to point B."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 09, 2016, 02:24:25 PM
General Kota takes a breath and heaves a heavy sigh. "What are you kids these days? One trick ponies? You're not much use to me if I need to send a pilot with you everywhere you go. How do you expect to get anywhere as a Jedi if you can't even fly? We're fighting a rebellion here, we do not have the people to have a pilot at your beckon call. And never mind that, the galaxy is a dangerous place! Getting from A to B is not the issue. It's what happens when you run unto trouble than counts."

Disgusted, he pulls out a comlink. "Jann? I'm going to need a pilot with a really bad attitude, and the most uncomfortable shuttle you have. I have a special mission for Niil and Collan, but I want to punish them while they are away."

There is a pause. "I have just the pilot and shuttle you need, sir."

Kota nods. "Good. I need them gone in 24 hours or less."

"I'll make it happen sir."

Kota cuts the link.

"That's the problem with young people these days. Everyone wants to be a special snowflake, so they specialize. In my day, a Jedi was a technician, slicer, pilot, tactician, negotiator, and driver. We needed all those skills, not just Force powers. If I hadn't branched out when I was younger, where do you think I'd be now, hmm?" He waves a hand in front of his eyes impatiently for emphasis.

"There's more to being a Jedi than the Force, and more to being a good fighter than being able to shoot the nads of a sandflea at 3000 yards. I suggest the two of you spend some significant effort rounding out your skills, or you are going to spend much of this rebellion watching from the sidelines. You'll have some time to contemplate the advantages of broadening your skillset on the trip I'm sending you on. Learning about the Force is important, but you need other skills as well. Not everything can be solved with a blaster or a lightsabre."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 09, 2016, 02:44:03 PM
Collan piped up at this point. Kota wasn't wrong but neither did he have the full background...at least on him. Niil was his own thing.

"With respect, sir, my Resistance job was officially 'medic' but I was also transport and combat. I've been learning on the job since I escaped from the Malkia nor did I have the benefit of a youth spent in training to be a Jedi or anything else but a slave. I am doing everything I can to catch up in every area of my life."

Collan did his best to keep his tone neutral. The General was a crusty old Jedi, not too dissimilar to Ch'lana, but his snap judgments without even assessing what his background was showed his own biases.

"And if I may speak freely, sir, it doesn't help if you make assumptions about what I should and shouldn't know how to do if you barely make an effort to understand my background."

Outside of his stunt on the Death Star, this was the most assetive Collan had ever been. His heart was beating hard in his chest at the level of candor he displayed. It was taking all of his calming exercises to his mind calm even as his body shot out adrenalin.

"With respect, sir, I'm more than happy for advice, guidance, mentorship, and training," he finished.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 09, 2016, 02:59:37 PM
Kota's frown deepens.

"You want my respect, boy? Earn it! Had a rough history? So have many people. Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it. You have done good things, and I am grateful for your efforts to free me from the Death Star. But this is war. The average Imperial is not going to care what you did before, and they're not going to be impressed that you hauled an busted old man out of an impregnable prison. They're going to try and kill you, or capture you which is worse. You need to be able to defend yourself. You can't always rely on the Force to get the job done, and there isn't always going to be someone to cover for your weaknesses. A Jedi needs to be able to stand alone. So set some goals for personal development and meet them. Pick something you are not good at, and get better."

He sits forward. "Show me you can do that, and maybe I'll lay off a bit. But don't count on it."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 09, 2016, 03:39:52 PM
Niil kept his jaw clamped shut through the general's tirade, and almost . . . almost let loose with a salvo of his own.  If it wasn't for us "one trick ponies", general, your men would've all been flash-fried by those gun platforms back at that malfing base, he thought bitterly.  One trick ponies, my ass.  That drek was uncalled for.

Niil slapped his own irritation down.  The general was right about one thing . . . there were skills that Niil definitely wanted to bone up on.  Straightening, he replied in a calm, flat voice, "Do we have any down-time before we have to leave, sir?  I'd like to speak to some of the pilots and see if I can find at least one to train me."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 09, 2016, 03:45:00 PM
"You have at least 12 hours. Once you get back, I expect you will have a couple of weeks before we deploy."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 09, 2016, 04:08:55 PM
Collan wanted to bristle at the old man because again, he completely missed the point. This wasn't about respect but clearly Kota took a position that hardness taught better than understanding.

And then Collan had a realization. Kota kept talking about Jedi training and what a Jedi needed to do. He almost burst out laughing. In his own way, Kota was training them as Jedi. It was almost funny how clear that was. Kota's approach was more hands-off and indirect but it was still guidance.

"I have two questions sir. Do you have any ships that need a pilot or are otherwise unused for us to learn on?

Then, he focused on the mission.

"And, what is our mission?"
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: GM Craig on December 09, 2016, 05:30:01 PM
Kota's scowl softens slightly. "I'll see you're put into the patrol roster as a second seat on a Y-wing. When you get back. Now go and make yourselves useful. I'm tired."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 09, 2016, 07:58:05 PM
"Sir," Collan saluted and exited. He waited for Niil on the other side of the door.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 09, 2016, 10:15:14 PM
"Yes, sir!"  Niil gave the general a salute of bone-cracking precision, did a smart about-face and exited the room, closing the door quietly behind him. 

Once the door was closed, he let out his breath slowly between his teeth and looked at Collan.  "I don't know about you, Collan, but I'm heading down to pilot country to see if I can find one of the shuttle jocks.  Hopefully he - or she - will take on a newbie.  After that . . . I'd say that we hunt down Commander Jann and see if she can 'make us useful'."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 10, 2016, 08:52:37 AM
As they walked away, Collan bore a knowing smile on his face. He was playing back the discussion and Kota's tirade in his head.

"I think it'll be more efficient to get our gear cleaned and stowed and get kitted out before anything else. Then the Commander. Then food. Or maybe the Commander first to get our quarters."

Once they were far enough away, Collan said, "And did you hear Kota? What he really said? He sorta let slip that he sees us as his apprentices (at least unconsciously). Where Ch'lana was too damaged to want to take us on, Kota doesn't have time to directly train us but cares enough that he made sure we understood our deficiencies as Jedi and work on correcting them."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 10, 2016, 03:33:46 PM
Niil's pace slowed as he thought about it from Collan's angle.  Damn me and my pride, he does have a good point there.  "Sneaky bugger," he muttered softly, although there was somewhat of a smile on his face.  "To be truthful, I've always wanted to learn now to pilot shuttles and fighters, but back on Karvis, those ships were rare commodities, and the resistance already had experienced pilots that already had their hands full.  And I sure as hell need some more savvy with technical and mechanical.  Oh, yeah . . . diplomacy, too, if we're to be proper Jedi.  Forming a rebel's alliance is going to require a lot of smooth talking if we want to bring together dozens of different cultures under one banner."

"So . . . maybe the commander first to get ourselves squared away?  She can also tell us where she can use us, and maybe even suggest who to talk to about piloting training.  And food.  Yeah, definitely food.  I think I lost all of mine on that sky-dive."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 10, 2016, 03:46:22 PM
"Yeah...Commander Jann is our first stop," Collan agreed before adding, "I despair for where to start. Obviously he wants us to be able to fly. I can do some already but nothing spectacular. I guess we'll start there. I need to get more first aid and repulsorcraft ops under my belt. Plus some slicing. Learning how to command troops too. And negotiating more...plus...the Jedi stuff."

He sighed, "It's a long list and I'm not sure how much time I have. Especially if Demaia was right...which she had the unfortunate habit of being."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 10, 2016, 04:04:36 PM
Niil clapped Collan on the shoulder.  "There'll be time for we'll make the time.  Granted, we probably won't sleep at all for the next few years, but it will be done.  Don't forget, Rahm has a few decades' worth of experience under his belt on us, and he probably started Jedi training at half our age."


OOC:  Ready to go find the commander.
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 10, 2016, 06:18:25 PM
"My father..." Collan said simply, "He will come sooner or later..."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 10, 2016, 06:58:47 PM
Niil's smile dropped, and he took on a more grim expression.  "Yeah, he will.  And if he's a Sith Lord, you can bet that he's got some nasty Dark Side tricks up his sleeves.  Demaia probably isn't the only one that can send visions."  Niil sighed.  "A lot of training."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 10, 2016, 11:05:55 PM
Collan said, "When the time comes, I'll have to use that headband we found. It'll block some of what he can do..."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 11, 2016, 09:11:30 PM
Niil nodded.  "And as long as we don't blatantly advertise ourselves as Force users, we might be able to keep under the radar for awhile."  He grinned.  "If all goes well with this Rebellion, then your dad might have his hands full for awhile."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Collan on December 12, 2016, 07:24:37 AM
Collan's voice turned earnest and deadly serious, "Make me a promise Niil. If we encounter my father you run. Don't look back; just go...as fast as you can. He won't let me go and he will have no compunction about killing you. He's able to give Vader a run for his money so he's powerful. But, I'm his son and that might give me enough of an edge to buy you enough time."
Title: Re: Collan and Niil: Assemble the Militia
Post by: Niil Spaar on December 12, 2016, 11:41:06 AM
Niil shot Collan an incredulous look, and shook his head.  "No frakking dice.  The best promise you'll get out of me is that I'll do my best to try and get you the hell out of there should you meet him before you're ready.  I've already had two people sacrifice themselves for me.  No more."  The stubborn set of his jaw showed that he wasn't about to budge on the matter.