STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- The Cursed Swarm

Alrighty! Just keep in mind that I am loathe to take back turns. You've spent one of your new player points, and you never get those back. 😉

As before, Aurel goes for what looks like a standard attack... before switching off his lightsaber and trying to punch the Garan. Three successes is a decent hit. Aurel's fist thumps into the Garan's armor for... 1 damage. That armor and its tough hide are problematic for fisticuffs.

He blasts off a volley and nicks you for 4 damage.

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BATTLE AT BARUM, Start of Turn 6

East Village

Garan Leader (G6): 1(3A)/18 [10B] (in cover)

Aurel (C8): 2(1A)/18 [OGu DW CH] [BGu BG] (4F)

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He roars a mighty response to your attempt at getting him to surrender. He doesn't seem inclined to call it quits...

I understand, and agree. I'll try to make sure I don't misread my own character's actions again, as well.

Aurel winced slightly as he subjected to another blast, but he endured. It was clear the leader had greater personal pride than his followers. And the scales to prove it, Aurel thought to himself, that last punch almost sliced my fist open. I'll have to pay more attention to how I strike.
However, first things first, he mused, and attempted to disarm the armored warrior. It was no good to attempt fisticuffs if he was only going to be greeted by another bolt to the face.

Okay, things are going to get interesting here, I imagine. Disarming someone isn't a normal combat action. Are there rules in place for this type of maneuver? I hope so. Also, I'll be swapping out the tapped Charge (which I should have done last time. Thank goodness it wasn't a refresh round) for Martial Arts.

I will rule that a Disarm is a contest of pure Strength, without the benefit of schticks.

A successful Combat Push can disarm as well.

Too bad I don't have Push/Pull mastered. 😛 A contest of Strength it is.

Initiative goes to... Aurel! Aurel has a Strength of 5 and so rolls a pool of five for an impressive four successes. The Garan responds with a Strength of 6 but only nets three. Aurel pulls away the blaster!

The Garan responds by clawing at you for three damage.

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BATTLE AT BARUM, Start of Turn 7

East Village

Garan Leader (C6): 1(3A)/18 [10B]

Aurel (C8): 2(1A)/21 [OGu DW MA] [BGu CH CL BG] (4F)

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And it's a refresh!

The Jedi flexes and heaves against the might of the massive lizardman. Finally, with grunt and burst of strength, he slips the blaster free of the massive lizardman's iron grip. Aurel feels the sharp pain as the Garan's claws dig into his soft human flesh, but fights it off to stuff the blaster into his robes, to keep his opponent from claiming it again. Calling his early training, he feels the pain from his wound subside, and the swordsman looks at the Garan with renewed purpose, launching into an offensive of his own. It would not be a simple matter to impress this creature.

Strength 6...ha ha, I forgot about that. Lucky me, eh? 😆

Also, whoo-hoo, refresh! Looks like I swapped out Charge just in time. Since I'm still in basic combat, my Orthodox Guard isn't doing me any good, and now that we're in melee, I think Impervious will actually help out, so I'll be swapping my final blade schtick out for it.

The Garan gets his blow in first but between Impervious and Dodge & Weave, he's not going to do much against Aurel. His claws give him +1 Damage and he scores two successes for one point of damage against Aurel's defensive stance. Aurel does just as much against the tough hide and armor of the Garan.

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BATTLE AT BARUM, Start of Turn 8

East Village

Garan Leader (C6): 1(3A)/19 [10B]

Aurel (C10): 2(3A BH)/22 [DW MA IM] [BGu OGu CH CL BG] (4F)

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Behind you, Mendus and Noland keep Kart covered as the old pilot snatches the Garan minion's rifle away.

"Finish him, Jedi!" Kart shouts.

Aurel hears the captain's remark but says nothing, focusing his energies as the Garan's claws dig in barely. Perhaps if he could stun the lizardman it would be more willing to listen. Studying his opponent while avoiding his slashes, Aurel targets a point he can reach, the exposed scales from where his lightsaber broke the leader's armor, and strikes!

Alright, so I'm sure my defences are the only thing keeping the Garan from really hurting me at this point, so I'll leave them be. However, I will swap out Martial Arts with Focused Blow to attempt to stun the Garan Leader, and what's more, I'll tap FB to make the attack unblockable.

Aurel goes first, tapping Focused Blow for a concentrated hit to stun the Garan. It does not go as planned; he rolls four successes but only one of them is a 6. The Garan isn't stunned. However, tapping FB makes the attack Unstoppable! Armor is ignored, so the Garan takes 5 damage from the hit.

Aurel can be annoyed that the Garan then rolls three 6s, putting him at evens with the leader.

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BATTLE AT BARUM, Start of Turn 9

East Village

Garan Leader (C6): 1(3A)/24 [10B]

Aurel (C8): 2(3A BH)/24 [DW FB IM] [MA BGu OGu CH CL BG] (4F)

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Aurel feels a twinge of irritation as his strike goes off-mark. Damn, he curses to himself, that was almost perfect! The Jedi was beginning to lose his patience with this creature, and if he could not make it stumble, then he would strike with his entire body, intent to drop the reptile to its knees in submission. Shuffling back for a brief moment, Aurel surges forward, driving his elbow towards the Garan's chest, an attempt to wind him by striking its diaphragm, if it had one.

Oh my, Aurel's getting angry. To accentuate this, I'll be swapping the now tapped Focused Blow for Flying Attack, and tapping that schtick as it comes in!

That's the spirit! What the fighting templates like the Swordsman lack in Force power they make up for in schtick-tapping ability. Aurel throws himself into a powerful hit with two successes, then taps Flying Attack for a total of six successes! Even the Garan's armor cannot compete with that.

The blow you deliver is enough to kick the Garan to the ground. He doesn't seem interested in surrendering but he's now too battered to keep it up.

Watching the massive reptile collapse under his assault, Aurel feels a vicious pleasure in his action. Now, to finish it, he thinks to himself. His lightsaber is back in hand in an instant, the smooth cylinder raised high to strike even before ignition. As the familiar hum fills the air, however, a gnawing at the back of the swordsman's mind halts him. No! Remember your training, Aurel, he scolded himself, Emotion cannot rule your actions. Closing his eyes briefly, the Jedi takes a deep breath, lowering the saber from its deadly position and opening his eyes to stare into the silver beam, using it as a focus for his thoughts. Satisfied he was once again calm, the Aurel pointed the tip of his saber at the Garan, murmuring to the lizardman, "You and your men fought well, but this is over. Know it did not have to end this way."

My my, seems as though Aurel's got a temper to him. Might be best not to let him fight hand to hand often. I'm assuming combat is indeed over, given the lack of another turn display.

It is. You get your Force points back (a one-time event) and all schticks refreshed (happens always).

There are drawbacks to unarmed combat against an Armored opponent.

"Why have you come here?" the Garan leader hisses.

"I speak for myself when I say I have come on request of a comrade and his allies. As for their motives, I believe it would be best for the captain of our vessel to tell you," Aurel says calmly to Garan, signaling Kart and his crew to come and join the conversation. As they close the distance, the Jedi murmurs to Kart, "Captain, if you would be so kind, our 'guest' wishes to know why we are here."

Indeed, large drawbacks. Originally I had planned to take Streetfighting to counteract that disadvantage, but sheltered little Aurel wouldn't know how to shoryuken people just yet. 😉

"You come only to die!" the Garan hisses. Kart wanders over while Noland and Mendus keep the other Garan covered.

"Looks like you gave him quite a beating," Kart says. "What are we supposed to do with them?"

Aurel looks at the Garan for a moment, pondering Kart's question. Finally, he looks at the captain and replies, "We know too little about what transpired here, and the Garans don't seem to take kindly to strangers, particularly this one," with a nudge towards the leader. "I'm afraid we're going to have to take them with us, for now." The Jedi turned back to the lead Garan, looking into the reptile's eyes; he deactivated his lightsaber and put it away.
"You're coming with us for the moment. I advise you do not try to escape," Aurel tells the Garan as he pulls the lizardman's blaster from his robes and hands it to one of the crew members. He turned to Kart and asks, "Do we have anything we can do to see to his wounds?" It would be both a sign of good faith and practical, in Aurel's mind, to heal the Garan so that it was not slowing down the group while traveling.

The Garan spits on your boots.

"The Swarm is here," he snarls. "We are lost."

Aurel- you sense danger.

"What is the Sw-," Aurel begins to say, but he stops short as his intuition alerts him. Before another word is spoken, the Jedi's lightsaber is back in his hands, silver beam shining brightly as his eyes scanned the landscape for potential threats. His gut told him somewhat was wrong, but he couldn't discern what, which only left one option in the swordsman's mind. "We need to leave," Jedi Sing said to Kart and the crew, "now."

As if on cue, there is a chittering, shrieking noise in the near distance.

"What the..." Kart says.

"The Swarm arrives," the Garan leader says. "We were fleeing. You stood in our path. You have doomed us!"

The thousands of life patterns you sensed begins to surge toward you. The ground starts to rumble.

Good news, though. Seth Ketra comes tumbling through a line of burnt huts with Kart's first mate and hired hunter in tow.

"Do you sense that?!" Seth shouts to you. His lightsaber is out- an orange blade.

Aurel doesn't waste time to consider who was to blame for what. Instead, the Jedi once again deactivates his lightsaber and puts it away, and in one fluid motion tucks his body underneath the Garan leader's massive shoulder and heaves with all his might, lugging the creature to its feet and calling on the force to aid their escape. "Now's not the time to think!," he calls out to Seth, "RUN!"

Alright, so I'm sure this will require some sort of roll, considering the size and weight the Garan probably is. I'll have to hope my 5 Strength will be enough for it. If I do manage to get him up, I'm going to use a Force Point (so soon after getting it back, sigh...but this most certainly seems like a dire situation), and I'm going to activate my Swiftness ability to double-time both me and the Garan to the ship.