STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Rescue

Before the Shepherds can act, Dak and Xavier get their say.

When the giant blue lizard straightens up, with a flick of his wrist he sends one of his jagged Arnian knives whirling across the room. The roll is 14. The knife hits the Shepherd in the throat and he goes down.

Igniting his lightsaber and sliding off his bar stool, Xavier juts a hand forward in an effort to knock back two of the Shepherds. He bashes them into the wall with his Push, but they stay up.

---

Salloon, 1st Floor

Dak: 10/0/4

Xavier: 8/0/4

Trax: 0/3

Shepherds x7: 0/2
Shepherd x1: 4/2
Shepherd x1: 3/2

Stairwell, 4th Floor

Rianna: 10(4)/26/12

Shepherd Leader: ?/0/10

Shepherd C: 28/15
Shepherd D: 0/14

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The Shepherds in the salloon are going to be throwing knives, three attacks on each person present.

And Rianna has problems as mentioned above.

Rianna will again active dodge the leader, before snapping two attacks at C. If he should end up being finished by only one attack, then put the second snapped attack on D.

Just Defend for now.

Xavier will also Defend for now.

The Shepherds throw their knives with practiced hands, throwing over the heads of the patrons a series of small glinting knives that whistle towards our protagonists.

Dak wants to Defend, but needs a lightsaber out to do so. Being unarmed (having thrown his knife), Dak can blow a point to Draw a lightsaber and slice two of the knives out of the air. The third, however, grazes his arm for 6 damage before smashing into a bottle of liquor on the wall behind the bar.

Xavier is even less lucky. Despite performing a defensive maneuver, two of the Shepherds nearly hit their mark! He cuts one out of the air, but a knife cuts his cheek as it flies past his face and another almost hits him in the chest. He takes 10 damage.

Trax's Speed was incorrect, so he actually shoots before the Shepherds, slinging his assault rifle off his shoulder and blasting away. His first target proves particularly troublesome as shots burst against the Shepherd's forearm energy shield, but Trax manages to shoot him down by saturating him with blasterfire. He then ducks down as a knife thuds into the bar beside him, and a second cuts him for 3 damage.

In Rianna's fight, the leader performs another Quick Attack- unsnapped, this time, for a two-frame attack- and rolls a 7. Miss! But your dodge has him acting again before you.

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Salloon, 1st Floor

Dak: 8/6/5

Xavier: 7/10/5

Trax: 3/6

Shepherds x6: 0/5
Shepherd x1: 4/5
Shepherd x1: 3/5

Stairwell, 4th Floor

Rianna: 10(4)/26/13

Shepherd Leader: ?/0/12

Shepherd C: 28/15
Shepherd D: 0/14

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The Dark Jedi and their ally are up to attack the Shepherds! They are six frames distant, through the crowded salloon. The unstable terrain prohibits the use of Blur, as there is no clear path across the floor...

Rianna has another attack from her masked admirer that needs to be resolved before Rianna can attack the other Shepherds in her company.

Rianna will let this attack come...because knowing her, it'll be another Quick Attack and then she'll still not be able to attack if she dodges.

Xavier will use jump to get past the crowd unhindered and try to land between the Shepards. Defend for defense if he can.

Dak will duck low into the crowd between him and the Shepherds, using the people for cover as he moves closer to engage them in close combat.

Dak decides to use the patrons as fleshy shields. This deters the Shepherds from even attacking him as they do not want to kill or injure the people in the salloon.

Xavier, however, takes the more direct approach of leaping up onto the tables and charging across the room. As there was little point to doing so without using Blur, I will go ahead and say that Xavier uses it to get half the distance in two frames.

However, with Dak ducking down into the crowd, the Shepherds decide to take the targets readily available, namely Xavier who has leapt up into clear aim and Trax. Xavier impressively twists in midair and dodges three knives but a fourth scratches him for 5 damage. Trax has a series of knives thud into the bar around him, but they fail to hit him.

-

It seems that your opponent was waiting for an opportunity like that, Rianna. It was a Quick Attack, unsnapped, and he rolls a 13, which is a hit by three. But he raises it to a hit by five with Strike of the Master! He aggressively moves to your side and slashes you across the hip for 8 damage. He certainly has talent with that sword...

Rianna rolls a 1 against Shepherd C, but a Carnivaled reroll is an 11... a miss due to the snap! Unfortunate, as Shepherd C intercepts your lightsaber with his shield.

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Saloon, 1st Floor

Dak: 8/6/8 (halfway, in cover)

Xavier: 4/15/8 (halfway)

Trax: 3/6 (by bar)

Shepherds x6: 0/8
Shepherd x1: 4/8
Shepherd x1: 3/8

Stairwell, 4th Floor

Rianna: 10(4)/34/14

Shepherd Leader: ?/0/14

Shepherd C: 28/16
Shepherd D: 0/14

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Rianna is free to attack, but I just wanted to see if she is changing anything as D and Leader are even with her. The loons in the saloon are free to move as well.

Rianna will actually change her move to a Combination on D, and Active Dodge on the leader.

Dak continues through the crowd. As he comes up to the Shepherds he grabs one of the random people in the crowd and bodily shoves them into the Shepherds.

How many Shepherds do you want to target with your human meatshield?

Oh, just one or two. I don't think one shove-able human could cover much more effectively.

Two sounds reasonable. It will be a Combat roll to grab and shove said patron. Assuming the roll goes well, those two Shepherds won't be prepared for you when you reach them.

Xavier will continue his journey over the table tops.

Defend for defense.

If he can once he gets their he will use twirl on two of the Shepherds.

This turn, the Shepherds do not throw knives but instead reach for their katana-like swords, all drawing simultaneously with a resonating shing! Promptly after, Trax shoots down two of them, aiming careful to bypass their shields before blasting away.

However, one of the Shepherds is totally unprepared for the patron that Dak grabs hold of and shoves into him, the other Shepherd he targeted getting clear of the tangled bodies.

So that leaves five Shepherds swiping at Xavier and Dak as they arrive, with Dak emerging from the crowd and Xavier leaping down off the tables. Two each, with an extra on Dak for using human cover. One of the Shepherds hits Dak for 5 damage, and one hits Xavier for 5 damage.

When Xavier finds his opportunity, he Twirls. His red lightsaber removes the shield-arm from one of the Shepherds before ending his life, but the second target manages to take the brunt of the blow on his shield, which sparks and crackles upon the lightsaber's impact.

And then Trax fires again, taking down the man Xavier didn't kill with his Twirl and the other two that Xavier did not quite kill with his Combat Push. He shoots them while they are attacking, taking advantage of their preoccupied state.

Only two Shepherds left standing!

-

Rianna rolls 2 and 8 on her Combination; I reroll the first for a 15.

Rianna swipes at Shepherd D, her lightsaber skimming his arm-shield with a crackle before she turns about and drops low into a thigh-height slash that burns into his thigh for 23 damage, before she rises with an unexpected feint that ends up with her lightsaber passing through his heart.

The leader makes another lightning Quick jab at Rianna, only prodding her shoulder for 5 damage rather than stabbing through it as she pulls herself away quickly. Shepherd C manages to miss as Rianna backs down the stairs, keeping the two in front of her.

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Saloon, 1st Floor

Dak: 8/11/12

Xavier: 1/20/14

Trax: 3/12 (by bar)

Shepherds x2: 0/12

Stairwell, 4th Floor

Rianna: 8(4)/39/18

Shepherd Leader: ?/0/16

Shepherd C: 28/19

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Dak has an action in store for himself, while the leader is attacking Rianna again.

If the Leader makes another quick attack, Rianna won't bother dodging it, otherwise she'll Active Dodge him. She'll make a regular attack on C, hoping to kill him.

Dak will use both of his actions to Twirl, slicing the crap out of the two remaining Shepherds. Defend for defense.

Xavier will dodge any attacks.

Using a Carnivaled reroll, Dak maneuvers himself to outflank the Shepherds and then cut them down with a Twirl! They drop to the floor, bisected at the waist.

A quiet falls on the saloon as you stand over the corpses of your attackers. Until one of the patrons speaks up.

"You killed the Shepherds!" he shouts, angrily.

-

The leader rolls a 1 against Rianna, his Quick Attack going nowhere as she sidesteps him and lunges up the stairs. Her lightsaber slips underneath Shepherd C's guard and into his stomach (rolled an 11), removing him from the fight.

"Your skills are impressive," the leader says, stepping around you so that you are above him on the stairs now. "But thou art a creature of sin and evil deeds. Your talent for death stems from a lack of moral value. I will tear you down..."

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Stairwell, 4th Floor

Rianna: 8(4)/39/20

Shepherd Leader: ?/0/18

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The man is going to come at you with a Cut and Roll, continuing to move around you with a slash to your side.