Initiative is a tie, going to Rianna for player privilege! The next tie will go to the baddies, but for now Rianna continues her assault on the drug-running thugs, rolling eleven successes as she cuts down a pair of them.
Her tap of Perfect Strike gives her a Defense of 4, lowering every thug but Durak to a single die... meaning none of them hit due to the cover of the walkways! Durak misses for the same reason.
----
ABANDONED FARM AMBUSH, START OF TURN 6
Upper Walkways
Thugs x10 (G 5): 0
Lower Walkways
Rianna (LS 10 / FP 5): 3/3/26 [Orthodox Guard/Cleave/Riposte]
Production Vat
Thugs x5 (G 5): 0
Durak (G 8): 1/1/0 [Gunslinger]
----
Baddies win initiative, meaning that Rianna remains on the lower walkways during their torrent of firing. But with Coordination active, it means that not only will the thugs need to roll 6s to hit her, they will need two in order to bypass her cover. As it turns out, a thug from above hits, as does Durak (Gunslinger turns a 1 into a 6, though he rolled sufficiently as it is).
Rianna then performs an acrobatic maneuver to get up to the upper walkways, a simple use of Leaping that she passes with ease.
----
ABANDONED FARM AMBUSH, START OF TURN 6
Upper Walkways
Thugs x10 (G 5): 0
Rianna (LS 10 / FP 5): 3/3/35 [Orthodox Guard/Cleave/Riposte]
Lower Walkways
Clear
Production Vat
Thugs x5 (G 5): 0
Durak (G 8): 1/1/0 [Gunslinger]
----
Rianna gets initiative and, with seven successes, chops down a pair of the thugs opposing her. However, she takes several hits from the thugs she has jumped into the midst of. Those below are opposed by two points of cover (including Durak) and do not hit at all.
Rianna is in dire straights of course...
----
ABANDONED FARM AMBUSH, START OF TURN 6
Upper Walkways
Thugs x8 (G 5): 0
Rianna (LS 10 / FP 5): 3/3/48 [Orthodox Guard/Cleave/Riposte]
Lower Walkways
Clear
Production Vat
Thugs x5 (G 5): 0
Durak (G 8): 1/1/0 [Gunslinger]
----
Rianna gets her attacks in before the shooters do. However, with her Riposte being treated as a regular attack that benefits from Cleave, the tapped version gets +5 to her attacks, so she has a pool of 19. Her first Riposte gets her a Cleave kill with 17 successes thanks to the tapping of Orthodox Guard. She pulls this off on a second Riposte attack, and on a third... getting her six kills total. If she taps Cleave, however, only the highest will be taken (which is still mightily impressive).
And with Orthodox Guard tapped, everyone misses her.
----
ABANDONED FARM AMBUSH, START OF TURN 7
Upper Walkways
Thugs x2 (G 5): 0
Rianna (LS 14 / FP 5): 1/1/48 [Forward Guard/Cleave/Riposte]
Lower Walkways
Clear
Production Vat
Thugs x5 (G 5): 0
Durak (G 8): 1/1/0 [Gunslinger]
----
And it's a Refresh turn! Talk about a reversal of luck...
Tapping Cleave gives Rianna a great deal of protection when the bad guys fire first again. In the firing, Rianna loses ten points of protection as she deflects incoming lasers.
However, those points do not work against Durak, who is a Named Character. A bolt from his pistol catches Rianna in the side and she pitches to the ground before she can finish her attack...
"Secure her!" shouts Durak from the bottom floor, holstering his pistol. The two thugs remaining on the upper walkways quickly make for you, stepping around the bodies of their fallen comrades...
A swarm of laser bolts catches one of them and blows him off the walkway. The other ducks down next to you as a few go after him, sparking and bursting on the railing of the walkway.
You feel cold, Rianna. Unnaturally so.
Yes... you can sense the Force being used.
At either end of the room, on the upper walkways, two figures in black robes have appeared. Both are holding pistols, though you can tell that one is more comfortable with it than the other; he is firing off a torrent of shots from a repeating pistol, again hitting his target next to you. The other turns his attention downwards and awkwardly shoots at one of the goons next to the vat. It kills him.
Durak, you notice, seems to be choking. He drops his pistol and clutches at his throat.
Between the two of them, their rapid firing manages to take out the remaining thugs in seconds. Once they have done so, they quickly move across the walkway towards you and keep you covered with their blasters.
A third figure in black robes and a hood then steps out from the hatch that you used to enter the lair, his pale white hand clenched in a tight fist. Below, Durak falls to his knees before you sense his life extinguished, and he lays still after flopping to the ground. The figure relaxes his fist.
Is Rianna still feeling cold?
She'll try to sit up, at least, as they approach, leaning on the railing to the walkway if needed.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" she asks, slightly annoyed but also confused and curious. Using her senses to try and detect anything odd, as always. "And you can put those away, I'm in no shape to attempt anything right now..."
Yes.
When you sit up, you notice something else... all three of them have lightsabers hanging from their belts. The two with pistols do not respond and keep you covered.
The third figure is quiet for a moment, but then slowly reaches up and lowers his hood... revealing bleached white skin, bulbous black eyes, and a collection tentacles, tied back by some black bands.
"Rianna, I'm disappointed," says Nume Rand, former Jedi Master. "I thought this would have been a simple task for you."
"Simple. You have foiled my operation here on Reecee. You discovered it and told the police where it was you were going, and so it no longer has any potential. Durak served his purpose, and so did his men.
"As for telling the Council of my whereabouts... you can only do that if you get in touch with them, yes?"