You can carry the Garan no problem, with a -3 penalty to your dice pools.
The Dash expenditure will not help you get back to the ship any faster, as you are quite aware of the thousands of small insects that emerge shrieking from the ground. Most could fit in the palm of your hand. Some that explode from the soil are nearly as big as you are! All have a roughly beetle appearance.
"B'ssk!" the Garan minion wails, taking his gun back from a shocked Noland.
"There's nowhere to go!" Noland shouts back at you.
The insects have encircled you all. The Garan minion tries to make a run for it, blasting into the ground. He manages to blast a few of the bugs before they start burrowing into his armor and scales, crawling up his legs. He screams and disappears beneath a horde of them...
"We'll need to clear a path!" Seth shouts, Trawley and Harvik readying their blasters behind him. "It's the only way through to the ship!"
Aurel didn't need to hear Noland's cry to realize they were indeed trapped, and the despair it brought into his heart was echoed by the Garan's death rattle. "May the Force guide us," the Jedi mutters as he hears Seth's shout, activating his lightsaber and holding up the Garan Leader against him, ready to slice any insects that attempted to go near his charge.
Back into combat so soon, oh my. Well, if my narrative wasn't clear, I'll be coming in with lightsaber and Blade Schticks at the ready, most notably Bodyguard to defend the wounded Garan Leader. I'll also be using Balanced Guard, and I'm rather tossed up about either using Cleave or Charge, but I think Cleave will be of better help at this moment.
No need to worry about the Garan; you are carrying him. I'll give you Cleave and Charge to keep things moving.
There are far too many of the smaller insects to count individual beetles. Instead, these are counted as Swarms and treated as mooks. They attack by jumping up onto you and biting.
The larger Soldier beetles, however, are their own entities and Supermooks. They resemble giant rhinoceros beetles with tremendous horns and unpleasant pincers.
All of the insects are emitting a deafening shrieking noise... everyone takes a -1 penalty to their dice pools as the effect is nauseating.
----
BATTLE AT BARUM, Start of Turn 1
East Village- Rise
Aurel (LS7): 1(2A)/24 [BGu CL CH] [OGu BG] (5F) (carrying Garan)
Kart (G10): 1(1PR)/0 [GS ES CC] (4F)
Swarms (C5) x10
Soldier A (C6): 0 (1A)
East Village- Row of Huts
Seth (LS11): 1(2A)/14 [BGu PS RI] [RF] (5F)
Trawley (G9): 1(1PR)/4 [CC ES] [MK] (3F)
Harvik (HW7): 1(2A)/2 [KB 10B EE] (1F)
Swarms (C5) x15
Soldier B (C6): 0 (1A)
East Village- Burnt Hut
Noland (G5): 1/0 (1F)
Mendus (G5): 1/2 (1F)
Swarms (C5) x10
Soldier C (C6): 0 (1A)
----
Seth and company are a turn away from you; Noland and Mendus are two turns away.
Aurel wastes no time, knowing that every moment wasted meant more of the swarm encircling them. "Kart, on me," the Jedi calls out, and begins clearing through swarms with wide arcs from his blade.
This is a matter of speed, so I'll be focused on attacking to kill as many of these little critters as fast as possible right now.
The B'ssk Swarms win the initiative and close in.
On the rise, Aurel and Kart are assailed by five groups of the Cursed Swarm each. They roll remarkably well against the Jedi but his Guard keeps him safe, while they roll less well against Kart. The Soldier chooses the greatest threat as his target but only gets a success on Aurel as it tries to skewer him on its horns.
Those at the row of huts take light damage. Trawley takes the worst of it; Seth's Guard and Harvik's Armor serve them well. Seth evades the Soldier just as Aurel did.
Panicking Noland and Mendus are swamped but luckily the Swarms and the Soldier get few successes.
Your turn! Aurel wields his lightsaber one-handed while carrying the Garan, making his attacks awkward. He manages three successes, clearing a group of the bugs with wide sweeps. Kart gets six successes and picks off a group of bugs himself.
Seth intercepts beetles as they jump at him, sizzling them with his lightsaber. Trawley goes to town with his heavy pistol tapping Carnival of Carnage for four attacks, rapidly firing at the ground to clear the bugs. Harvik unleashes a stream of flame from his flamethrower, revealing a weakness of the Swarm in the process!
Noland and Mendus spray for their lives with the assault carbines.
----
BATTLE AT BARUM, Start of Turn 2
East Village- Rise
Aurel (LS7): 1(2A)/31 [BGu CL CH] [OGu BG] (5F) (carrying Garan)
Kart (G10): 1(1PR)/7 [GS ES CF] (4F)
Swarms (C5) x8
Soldier A (C6): 0 (1A)
East Village- Row of Huts
Seth (LS11): 1(2A)/20 [BGu PS RI] [RF] (5F)
Trawley (G9): 1(1PR)/16 [MK ES] [CC] (3F)
Harvik (HW7): 1(2A)/7 [KB 10B EE] (1F)
FR-3PO: 2/0
Swarms (C5) x8
Soldier B (C6): 0 (1A)
East Village- Burnt Hut
Noland (G5): 1/13 (1F)
Mendus (G5): 1/13 (1F)
Swarms (C5) x8
Soldier C (C6): 0 (1A)
----
Seth's protocol droid comes hobbling up behind Seth and company at that impractical droid gait. It is whining loudly about the danger of the situation.
Aurel could feel fatigue setting in as the swarm cascaded upon them. His earlier fisticuff with the Garan leader took its toll and it was beginning to show, but simply fending off the bugs would only delay the inevitable. He would have to press the attack. "Kart!" the Jedi cried out, and with a grunt dropped the leader on the ground beside the captain. With his hands free, the swordsman shifted his stance, targets the swarm, and charged in with a whirl, becoming a silver blur within the swarm.
Things are really not looking good, and there's a very good chance I could regret this metagame wise, but here it is: I am swapping out Balanced Guard for Orthodox Guard, then I am tapping both Orthodox Guard and Charge, for +6 to my dice pool, and using a Force Point to activate Twirl once again to try and clear the swarms. I will not be opting to attack first if I lose initiative this turn.
This is a very big gambit, indeed. mmm Let's see how things turn out.
I missed that part; my bad!
Initiative to the bugs again is bad news for all. Aurel gets his +2 Parry from Orthodox Guard being tapped and stays safe from most assailants. Kart gets a little chewed up.
Those by the huts are less overwhelmed. The Soldier their charges down on Seth and knicks him, but Seth taps Riposte and carves a cauterized groove into the giant beetle's shell with twelve successes.
Noland and Mendus are getting chewed up as well.
Aurel unleashes a Twirl that clears our four groups of the Swarm, still managing to be elegant despite his burden. Orthodox Guard's dice conversion and Charge's extra dice make getting the full Twirl easy. Kart backs him up, his light pistol kicking up bugs into the air with each shot.
"Help the others!" Seth instructs while himself spitting the Soldier on his blade. It gives one final shrieking and falls quiet, as do the Swarms around Seth. Trawley follows orders and picks off a group of Swarm by Noland, while Harvik goes down on one knee and fiddles with a control on his wrist. A mortar round poomfs from his backpack and takes down a wall of the hut by Mendus, who dives clear. It kills some of the Swarm, at least.
Mendus and Noland kill off more with their spraying.
----
BATTLE AT BARUM, Start of Turn 3
East Village- Rise
Aurel (LS6): 1/32 [OGu CL CH] [BGu BG] (4F) (carrying Garan)
Kart (G10): 1(1PR)/15 [GS ES CF] (4F)
Swarms (C5) x6
Soldier A (C6): 0 (1A)
East Village- Row of Huts
Seth (LS12): 1(2A)/25 [BGu PS] [RF RI] (5F)
Trawley (G10): 1(1PR)/21 [MK ES] [CC] (3F)
Harvik (HW8): 1(2A)/10 [KB 10B EE] (1F)
FR-3PO: 2/3
Swarms (C5) x7
East Village- Burnt Hut
Noland (G5): 1/25 (1F)
Mendus (G5): 1/21 (1F)
Swarms (C5) x6
Soldier C (C6): 0 (1A)
----
Before any actions take place this turn, the Swarm reinforces itself by doubling its dwindled numbers. Strangely, this does not happen near Seth and company.
Aurel cleared the swarms with ease, only to see the remnants be fueled by more coming from everywhere. "This isn't working," he mutters to himself, looking at Kart for a moment. The captain was sporting his own set of wounds now, and with the swarms surging at every moment, it wouldn't be long before they were both overwhelmed, and that large one. "Kart, keep the swarms off me," the Jedi called out, turning his saber towards the massive beetle, "I'm going to deal with this one."
Alright, so that was ineffective. Oh well, I'll switch my focus towards the Soldier this time, and I'll swap out Orthodox Guard for Balanced Guard again.
Things just aren't going your way in this. Initiative to the bugs again. Aurel fairs well but Kart takes a few particularly nasty bites to his legs. Those by the huts have turned their situation around now that the Soldier is dead. Noland is taking a beating from the Soldier near him.
Aurel slashes at the Soldier! Three successes results in 9 damage as you shear off one of its legs. Kart has your back on this one as well; he aims true and blows out one of its eyes with an epic seven successes for 8 damage.
"I'll finish him!" Kart says.
Seth clears part of the Swarm while Trawley takes a potshot at the Soldier going for Noland. Trawley tries shouting to Noland and Mendus to take down the creature but they are too panicked. Another mortar round from Harvik leaves the endangered duo in better standing.
----
BATTLE AT BARUM, Start of Turn 4
East Village- Rise
Aurel (LS7): 1(2A)/36 [BGu CL CH] [OGu BG] (4F) (carrying Garan)
Kart (G10): 1(1PR)/25 [GS ES CF] (4F)
Swarms (C5) x6
Soldier A (C6): 17 (1A)
East Village- Row of Huts
Seth (LS12): 1(2A)/27 [BGu PS] [RF RI] (5F)
Trawley (G10): 1(1PR)/24 [MK ES] [CC] (3F)
Harvik (HW8): 1(2A)/12 [KB 10B EE] (1F)
FR-3PO: 2/3
Swarms (C5) x6
East Village- Burnt Hut
Noland (G5): 1/37 (1F)
Mendus (G5): 1/27 (1F)
Swarms (C5) x2
Soldier C (C6): 8 (1A)
----
The Jedi felt a twinge of annoyance as Kart ignored his order, but he was certain that the captain was well aware of the situation, perhaps even more so than Aurel himself was, and so said nothing as he focused his assault on the Soldier while keeping the grizzled old man from harm.
Okay, so I'll continue attacking the Soldier this turn, and I'll swap out the tapped Charge for Bodyguard, and be using it to defend Kart.
Oooh, Initiative tie as both sides roll 5s. In such cases, it goes to the heroes of the story! Aurel makes short work of the Soldier- delivering a heavy-handed blow down the center of the giant beetle's head and killing it- and leaves Kart to take out one of the swarms.
Seth chops up bugs. Trawley starts to aim for the last Soldier again, but Harvik gets in his way.
"I've got this," he says before pumping out another mortar round from his pack. His Heavy Weapons attack rolls a surprising five successes. The Soldier has enough survival instinct to try dodging such a thing, but Harvik having the schtick Ka-boom makes it impossible for it to evade. It takes only 8 damage but the Swarm around it is obliterated.
Trawley joins Seth in bug blasting, and with nothing left to shoot at for the time being, Noland and Mendus bring down the Soldier by them with a spray of fire.
The Swarm ineffectually nibbles on the Hut Row group but Aurel is still beset with troubles. However, the shrieking has stopped entirely and the Swarm seems less effective without guidance.
----
BATTLE AT BARUM, Start of Turn 5
East Village- Rise
Aurel (LS8): 1(2A)/41 [BGu CL CH] [OGu BG] (4F) (carrying Garan)
Kart (G11): 1(1PR)/29 [GS ES CF] (4F)
Swarms (C4) x5
East Village- Row of Huts
Seth (LS12): 1(2A)/28 [BGu PS] [RF RI] (5F)
Trawley (G10): 1(1PR)/26 [MK ES] [CC] (3F)
Harvik (HW8): 1(2A)/13 [KB 10B EE] (1F)
FR-3PO: 2/7
Swarms (C4) x4
East Village- Burnt Hut
Noland (G5): 1/37 (1F)
Mendus (G5): 1/27 (1F)
----
Aurel's limbs burned with effort of keeping the Garan aloft and fending off the swarm. His previous injuries only compounded his fatigue. Still, he fought on, and struck with a savage ferocity, his blade swinging wildly to keep the insects away from him.
Okay, REXXXX, I'd said last post that I was swapping out Charge for Bodyguard on Stan.
This turn I'm tapping Cleave to try and keep the last of the bugs from...well, killing me. 😐
So you did! Kart can have the damage he took reduced, then.
Initiative to you bodes well! Five successes clears two groupings of the Swarm from your path and Kart takes a third out with repeating shots from his pistol.
Those by the huts wrap up their involvement there- the bounty hunter torches multiple groups with his flamethrower, leaving Trawley and Seth to claim the last groups.
"We need to go!" Seth says as the shrieking begins anew, this time more distant.
The shrieking begins to grow louder and more piercing as you move at a mad dash for the Dawntreader. The ground around you appears to shift as the insects keep pace with you and start to move ahead. As you run, your companions keep a steady pace of fire- you can run and gun with ranged weapons- to keep the bugs in the ground and slow them up. With Charge you can do the same with your lightsaber; Seth, lacking it, switches to his pistol and gets to blasting.
You tumble headlong onto the lowered and waiting loading ramp of the Dawntreader and collapse onto the deck as your companions move past you. Kart is the last man in and he shuts the hatch behind him.
The shrieking continues outside the ship, though the sound is dulled.
"What were those?!" Seth asks.
The Garan commander you saved mumbles a word.
Aurel lays upon the cold metal of the ship floor, finally allowing his exhaustion to take hold, his living cargo slipping from his grip. He barely even had the energy to replace his lightsaber into his robes, ripped and blackened as they were. It made the Jedi glad he packed two extra sets. Fatigued as he was, he tried to leaf through the pages of his mind, to see if any clue revealed itself to him from his time within the archives. Though he had focused upon learning the history of the sword, there had been moments where Aurel simply had to take up a new subject, something else with which to peruse while he absorbed previous knowledge.
With no luck, the swordsman opened his mouth to speak when he heard the Garan stir. The warrior was not in much better shape than himself, and Aurel was amazed he was even able to say anything.
"Priorities, Seth," Jedi Sing said, taking on a slight air of command, "Make sure Kart can get his ship out of here so we're out of harm's way. Then," he added with a wince," we tend to the wounded." He was curious as to what the Garan had said, but he would be unable to listen properly in his current state.