Time for Wentars trademark preflight pep talk!
-
"Sounds good," Wentar says, before keying the com to all friendly fighters.
"Okay people, you know what's at stake here. Once Loj'oon gives the order lets give these invaders hell and keep them away from your station!"
He disengages the landing gears and launches. Moving into formation with he other fighters.
Unlike the organized deployment that Wentar will see on Alura- with the obligatory shots of a single type of starfighter being loaded and launched, with orders of "All pilots to their ships" being stated over the PA system- this is more of a mad scramble for the ships. Flying out with Wentar is a motley crew of pirate fighters, patchwork craft of different shapes and sizes with decent pilots that have stayed behind to help.
As the Free Flier lumbers out of its hangar and flies to the fore, it is joined by a Z-95 Headhunter- an outdated starfighter and precursor to the X-Wing. The Jaded Drifter is Altar Wynn's starfighter.
Another starfighter zips to the fore with you- Nimble Stallion, the fighter of the pirate lord Loj'oon.
"All ships report in," Loj'oon says.
There is a jumble of responses in different languages- nothing organized. The disjointed nature of your supporting ships means it will take Leadership rolls to get them to follow orders- so long as you are not Loj'oon.
"Alright," Loj'oon says. "Circle up, fly orbitals around the station, do NOT leave the shield's reach. We want to keep those fighters from destroying the Seat's shield generators and not allow their boarding craft to dock. We won't do well if we fly out to meet them. Let them come to us."
Another jumble of affirmatives.
As mentioned, the pilots coming with you are in an assortment of fighters and ships. There are twelve in all, and for simplicity, they are divided thusly:
x4 Light Fighters
x4 Medium Fighters
x4 Heavy Fighters
x4 Large Ships
You may wish to brush up on the Maneuverability, Thrust, and Armor of each ship.
You may be pleased to know that the large ships have turrets.
Okay!
My mistake- Altar's Z95 is actually a light fighter, and Loj'oon's is a medium.
The Seat of Srum lies behind your relatively small fighter screen, with its exposed shield generators providing the primary target for your foes. Each generator can take 100 hits; after that, they are gone. Combined, the shields reduce Payload to 0 on attacks against the Seat or the generators. Once one is taking out, Payload goes back to 1.
Coming from the pirate flagship now is a decently sized fleet of fighters... spearheaded by a sleek ship with long rounded wings.
"Hanza," Loj'oon alerts you.
The Srum have scrambled together two squadrons of similar interceptor-style ships, sharp and fast. They are flying cover for a squadron of bulky bombers...
-----
DEFENSE OF THE SEAT, Start of Turn 1
Shield Generator A: 100
Shield Generator B: 100
Free Flier (M3 T3 P9 T6): 80
Jaded Drifter (M4 T6 P7): 40
Nimble Stallion (M3 T5 P8): 60
Light Fighters (M4 T6 P5) x4: 2
Medium Fighters (M3 T5 P5) x4: 3
Heavy Fighters (M4 T4 P5) x4: 3
Large Ships (M3 T3 P5 T5) x4: 4
Sickly Sparrow (M4 T4 P8): 60
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x12: 2
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x12: 2
Srum Bombers (M4 T4 P5) x12: 4
-----
Char 5 + Leadership 2 = pool of 7 to work with in giving orders.
"Light fighters and medium fighters concentrate your fire on that first interceptor group," Wentar orders, hoping they listen.
"Large ships start gunning for that second interceptor group.
"Heavy fighters, hit the bombers! I'll be flying with you."
Loj'oon and Altar can pick where they want to go, though Wentar feels one should stick with the Light fighters and the other with the Large ships.
Righto! Leadership roll... passed!
Wentar-
1. Collision Course
Maneuver Test (Level 3). You must swerve to avoid a mid-space collision. Take 4 damage if you fail.
The Free Flier is a tad slow to turn as those interceptors race out to meet you! One of them scrapes your hull when you fail the roll.
2. Closing In
You move in close to your opponent, ready for the kill. Fight normally, except you win initiative in the first turn and get a three dice attack bonus.
Wentar didn't like having his paint scratched! You zero in on that bomber and do some damage but they are sturdy things and it retaliates. Vlad vaporizes it before it can return fire!
3. No Room to Maneuver
Situation: With ships all around you it is hard to maneuver. Reduce Maneuverability to two.
Between your uncoordinated allies and the swarming Srum fighters, you are having a hard time with handling.
-
The heavy fighter wing rolls three successes, doubled to six! That unfortunately does not take out any bombers; they're hard to kill! Fortunately, so are your heavy fighters. They do not lose anyone.
Altar appears to be having trouble- as soon as he gets into the action, he draws a Boxed In and No Room to Maneuver as he gets strafed by interceptors! He takes 4 damage from his You've Got a Problem, lacking Fix-It. D'oh.
He flew in with the light and medium fighters. The light fighters totally fluff their attack, but the medium fighters pick up the slack! They blow away an interceptor and damage another! That wing of interceptors then splits its attentions between the two you sent against it, only resulting in one of your light fighters getting dinged. Which is impressive, seeing as the interceptors roll 8 dice against the medium ships.
Loj'oon has a better time of it than Altar. He escorts the large ships into the fight and gets a Melee that converts with Tactical Awareness to a Closing In, getting the drop on an interceptor and vaporizing it. He avoids a Collision Course with another interceptor and races over to cover one of the large ships.
The large ships destroy an interceptor too, but they are lumbering junk heaps compared to the interceptors, who roll 9 dice against them. It is by Loj'oon's grace that nothing happens to the freighters.
Hanza goes after... Altar. He rakes your Master's fighter with a burst of lasers for 4 damage.
-----
DEFENSE OF THE SEAT, Start of Turn 2
Shield Generator A: 100
Shield Generator B: 100
Free Flier (M3 T3 P9 T6): 76
Jaded Drifter (M5 T6 P7): 32
Nimble Stallion (M3 T5 P8): 60
Light Fighters (M4 T6 P5) x4: 1
Medium Fighters (M3 T5 P5) x4: 2
Heavy Fighters (M4 T4 P5) x4: 2
Large Ships (M3 T3 P5 T5) x4: 4
Sickly Sparrow (M4 T5 P8): 60
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x11: 1
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x11: 1
Srum Bombers (M4 T4 P5) x11: 3
-----
Added in Maneuverability and Thrust bonuses from Pilot Schticks to your friends... and foe.
"Keep up the good work guys! Keep it up!" Wentar says. "Loj'oon, anything you can do about Hanza?"
I want to keep the same orders for the pilots.
Wentar will fly with the Light fighters this time and get Altar to go with the Heavies, he'll have an easier time against those bombers then those interceptors while he's got those negative effects.
Three Events again please.
Let's get back to the action!
Wentar-
1. You've Got a Problem...
Draw again if you are undamaged. Damaged systems start to fail. Take 3 damage. You may make an Intelligence + Fix-It roll. Each successes reduces the damage by one (to zero).
No luck there. One of those blasts must have caught a weak point in your shields and caused some strain, something came loose. You fail the roll.
2. Closing In
You move in close to your opponent, ready for the kill. Fight normally, except you win initiative in the first turn and get a three dice attack bonus.
You get the drop on one and blow it away!
3. On Your Six
An enemy fighter has got onto your tail. Fight your opponent but ignore any bonuses from having better or superior Thrust / Manoeuvrability and your opponent fires first.
One of those nippy bastards gets on your tail. Since they handle better, the interceptors get +4 dice on the Free Flier. He gets 4 damage on you before a combination of your cannons and Vlad's turret fire bring it down.
-
Altar is preoccupied with having Hanza on his tail, the wide-winged fighter chasing him through the dog-fighting. The Sickly Sparrow- with a skeletal alien bird painted on one side- and the green-painted Jaded Drifter have a mild exchange.
"I can't shake him!" Altar shouts into his headset.
"I'm heading over," Loj'oon says.
The Nimble Stallion zips across and frazzles Hanza's shields. Your allies come out better for the exchange and Hanza backs off.
-
The first group of interceptors takes a loss from the medium fighters, but Hanza instructs them to stick together and destroy your light fighters, claiming two of them in their pass.
The second group takes a pounding from the large ships, losing three of their fighters to their onslaught! No casualties on your side due to their durability, despite those interceptors being able to fly circles around them.
The bombers decide to make a pass at Generator A! Their torpedoes burst across the surface of the Seat, striking the generator's area and doing 20 points of damage to it. Your heavy fighters keep after them and take one out, but they evade incoming turbolaser blasts.
-----
DEFENSE OF THE SEAT, Start of Turn 3
Shield Generator A: 80
Shield Generator B: 100
Free Flier (M3 T3 P9 T6): 69 [DS FS SL]
Jaded Drifter (M5 T6 P7): 31 [DD RH]
Nimble Stallion (M3 T5 P8): 60 [BS TA JM]
Light Fighters (M4 T6 P5) x2: 2
Medium Fighters (M3 T5 P5) x4: 2
Heavy Fighters (M4 T4 P5) x4: 2
Large Ships (M3 T3 P5 T5) x4: 3
Sickly Sparrow (M4 T5 P8): 55 [KI RH SK]
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x8: 2
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x8: 1
Srum Bombers (M4 T4 P5) x10: 2
-----
Listed Pilot Schticks so I don't have to keep checking who has what!
Hmmmm, tricky business we have going here.
Time for a gamble!
"All units hit that first Interceptor squadron!" Wentar orders into his com as he watches the Light fighters get torn apart. "Loj'oon try keep Hanza busy, Altar give those Light Fighters some support."
Wentar will be flying with the Medium fighters. Two Events please.
Again, you pass your Leadership roll.
1. On Your Six
An enemy fighter has got onto your tail. Fight your opponent but ignore any bonuses from having better or superior Thrust / Manoeuvrability and your opponent fires first.
They just keep managing to tail you. You take 2 damage in the exchange before Vlad saves you again with his turret killing.
2. Bombing Run
You and two other ships may commence a Bombing Run on a target this turn. Ignore if there are no valid targets.
Sadly, the Overlord's flagship is too far away for this...
-
Altar gets an interceptor On His Six too. He has a little trouble shaking it and takes 5 damage but destroys it eventually. He zips through the Explosion just fine.
Loj'oon chases down Hanza... who is going on a bombing run! Hanza manages to get a torpedo in for 5 damage. Loj'oon nicks him for 3 damage in return, trying to get him away from the shield generator.
-
Your ships go all in against the first squadron of interceptors! They destroy two of the bastards and damage a third.
The first squadron retaliates against the Medium Fighters, damaging one.
The second squadron goes after your large ships again. There is a tremendous explosion as one of the large vessels takes a fatal laser through its port thruster, ripping it in half. Another is damaged.
Unhindered, the bombers take another run. 19 damage to the generator, and it is starting to spark and jolt. One bomber goes down, caught out by turbolasers.
-----
DEFENSE OF THE SEAT, Start of Turn 4
Shield Generator A: 56
Shield Generator B: 100
Free Flier (M3 T3 P9 T6): 67 [DS FS SL]
Jaded Drifter (M5 T6 P7): 26 [DD RH]
Nimble Stallion (M3 T5 P8): 60 [BS TA JM]
Light Fighters (M4 T6 P5) x2: 2
Medium Fighters (M3 T5 P5) x4: 1
Heavy Fighters (M4 T4 P5) x4: 2
Large Ships (M3 T3 P5 T5) x3: 3
Sickly Sparrow (M4 T5 P8): 52 [KI RH SK]
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x4: 1
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x8: 1
Srum Bombers (M4 T4 P5) x9: 3
-----
1. Boxed In
Situation: With so many ships in close proximity you cannot use full thrust. Reduce Thrust by two.
Situations last for your next three actions. You also draw again after a Situation.
1b. Joust
You and an enemy attack each other in a head on attack. In the first round all damage is done simultaneously and Thrust and Maneuver bonuses are ignored. Thereafter, fight normally.
Some interceptors try to single you out until one comes at you from head-on, lasers flying! But it misses as you barrel-roll around the blasts and take it out.
2. Coming to the Rescue
Thrust Test (Level 4). You race across to save a comrade. If you pass, one less Mook is destroyed on your side (reduce hits appropriately).
3. Coming to the Rescue
Thrust Test (Level 5). You race across to save a comrade. If you pass, one less Mook is destroyed on your side (reduce hits appropriately).
Both passed despite your hindrance! Let's see if it helps...
-
Loj'oon and Hanza are locked in a duel again, as Altar takes two events to help the light fighters. However, he gets a Refresh and then a Skimming the Hull, and then another Refresh and a You've Got a Problem. Not much help!
-
Your all-in against the bombers claims two of their number! One goes spiraling off toward the moon below, the other vaporized by a large ship's turret.
This slows up their bombing run, only doing 11 damage. They lose some more to turbolasers!
First squadron of interceptors zips after the large ships... only to be frustrated by your protective efforts! No ships are lost.
Second squadron chases down some of the medium fighters... two are lost.
-----
DEFENSE OF THE SEAT, Start of Turn 5
Shield Generator A: 42
Shield Generator B: 100
Free Flier (M3 T3 P9 T6): 67 [DS FS SL]
Jaded Drifter (M5 T6 P7): 22 [DD RH]
Nimble Stallion (M3 T5 P8): 58 [BS TA JM]
Light Fighters (M4 T6 P5) x2: 2
Medium Fighters (M3 T5 P5) x2: 2
Heavy Fighters (M4 T4 P5) x4: 2
Large Ships (M3 T3 P5 T5) x3: 3
Sickly Sparrow (M4 T5 P8): 50 [KI RH SK]
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x4: 1
Srum Interceptors (M4 T6 P5) x7: 2
Srum Bombers (M4 T4 P5) x5: 3
-----
Reports from the Seat's sensor array are being fed to your ship during all of this.
"The flagship is drawing near," Vlad reports. "More ships launching from its bays. Looks like those boarding craft are coming out, and with escorts. Better be ready for them."