STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Respite

That must have been a bad roll...

"Oops," Xeth says, before raising his grenade launcher and firing off a round into the closest cluster of droids.

"If I need to," Vera-Kin says. "There is more to the Jedi arts than fancy swordplay."

Here we go, Xeth!

More or less, you stand in a post-apocalyptic wasteland with an army of flamethrower-toting droids marching directly toward you, rank and file. Rubble everywhere, plenty of cover.

The longer you hold them off, the more time Navir has to set the mines.

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BATTLE FOR RESPITE (First Skirmish), Start of Turn 1

Debris Field

Xeth (HW7): 1(1PR)/17 [CC ES CG] (6F)
Grenade launcher

Flamer Droid A: 0 (two turns distant)

Flamer Droid B: 0 (two turns distant)

Flamer Droid C: 0 (two turns distant)

Flamer Droid D: 0 (two turns distant)

Flamer Droid E: 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid F: 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid G: 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid H: 0 (three turns distant)

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"You won't come back if you try it," Kell says. "You've got an army between here and there, and once you're there, you've got Tarne. It's a fight, no matter how you play it. Jedi arts or no."

"I can handle myself," Vera-Kin says, though maybe not so confidently due to her injuries. "Direct confrontation won't be necessary until I reach Tarne."

Xeth stays hunkered behind a large metal slab and aims his grenade launcher into the first row of flame droids. He fires intending to catch as many of them as possible in his first blast, delaying them or destroying them before he can reach them.

3-4, Initiative to the flamer droids! The first group of Droids simply march your direction, preparing their flamethrowers. The second group takes a moment to assess the situation and does not advance.

You send your grenade in. Not the best roll; you score one success for 3 damage to Droid A.

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BATTLE FOR RESPITE (First Skirmish), Start of Turn 2

Debris Field

Xeth (HW7): 1(1PR)/17 [CC ES CG] (6F)
Grenade launcher

Flamer Droid A: 3 (one turn distant)

Flamer Droid B: 0 (one turn distant)

Flamer Droid C: 0 (one turn distant)

Flamer Droid D: 0 (one turn distant)

Flamer Droid E: 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid F: 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid G: 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid H: 0 (three turns distant)

----

Did Kell have a response to that?

That didn't do much...

Switch to sonic blaster, use Coordination and cover for defense.

Xeth changes gears and goes for lighter weaponry as the first wave of flamer droids closes in. Between your defensive maneuvering and the scrap metal cover, you remain untouched. However, that scrap metal rapidly melts from four droids unleashing a flow of super-heated plasma directly into it.

Additionally, the four flamer droids that hung back launch concentrated blasts of plasma your direction. The fireballs collide with the scrap metal and further blast it apart.

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BATTLE FOR RESPITE (First Skirmish), Start of Turn 3

Debris Field

Xeth (G8): 1(1PR)/17 [CC ES CG] (6F)
Sonic blaster

Flamer Droid A (HW6): 3

Flamer Droid B (HW6): 0

Flamer Droid C (HW6): 0

Flamer Droid D (HW6): 0

Flamer Droid E (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid F (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid G (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid H (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

----

Sonic blaster out and ready!

"And when you do reach Tarne?" Kell says. "He doesn't lead an army just because he's really inspirational. The man can fight."

"So can I," Vera-Kin says simply. "I'll make my own arrangements."

Vera-Kin will find Barker and see how he feels about making that journey. She thinks she could make it alone, but she wants to at least run it by him.

What is my penalty again? Agility to 1? I'm guessing my Intrusion score is low but Vera still has her Force abilities to help with that.

Now that my cover does not exist...

Xeth runs forward and starts blasting into the nearest flamer droids.

Do I get the defensive bonus from Close Quarters against the Heavy Weapons?

Yes, Agility to 1, Vera. Your overall mobility is pretty knackered, and your capability in a fight limited. You need to heal further before striking out.

But you sense that time is running out.

2-6, the droids keep up their steady flow of flames. You do not get the Close Quarters defenses as they are ranged weapons, but Eye of the Storm works fine.

And it comes in handy. The front four flamers roll very poorly, a success each, which EOTS negates. The back four roll better, sending fireballs crashing around you for 10 damage.

You hit back by unloading some sonic blasts into the nearest droids you can get. You get the bonus dice from Close Quarters, bumping your pool to 11. You hit the first for 6 and the next for 5.

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BATTLE FOR RESPITE (First Skirmish), Start of Turn 4

Debris Field

Xeth (G8): 1(3CC 1PR)/27 [CC ES CG] (6F)
Sonic blaster

Flamer Droid A (HW6): 9

Flamer Droid B (HW6): 5

Flamer Droid C (HW6): 0

Flamer Droid D (HW6): 0

Flamer Droid E (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid F (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid G (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid H (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

----

Can I heal as I go or is it more of a sit and do nothing task?

Xeth will start slapping the trigger on his sonic blaster rapidly, blasting away at the droids he nailed and picking new targets as he goes. He gets in close to get the full effect of the sonic weapon hitting the droids, knocking them down or blowing them up.

Tap CG and CC together.

Evens means you act first this time. Your opening shots with the sonic seems to have disrupted their coordination, and you take advantage.

Unfortunately, despite all that extra pool, your rolls don't reflect your ability. You get a good shot on Droid C for 8 damage but only dish out 5 damage each to the other three.

Droid C did not appear to enjoy that better shot on him, and he manages to set you aflame with a solid roll of four successes (which you fail to dodge). All told, you take 14 damage from the criss-crossing trails of flame sprayed at you.

You then take an additional 12 damage from the long-range droids.

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BATTLE FOR RESPITE (First Skirmish), Start of Turn 5

Debris Field

Xeth (G8): 1(1PR)/53 [CC CG ES] (6F) (on fire!)
Sonic blaster

Flamer Droid A (HW6): 14

Flamer Droid B (HW6): 10

Flamer Droid C (HW6): 8

Flamer Droid D (HW6): 5

Flamer Droid E (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid F (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid G (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid H (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

----

Uh oh...

Swap to Balanced Guard, take out Carnival of Carnage, perform a Defensive Leap and use Coordination. Tap Eye of the Storm retroactively to reduce damage. Move into cover.

The retroactive EOTS tap drops you back down to 44 damage. Apparently Droid C's flame burst did not burn you, and you are not on fire.

They get initiative just as you start leaping away. Without Coordination, you would have been a roasted bug with all the 5s they rolled. Thankfully, Coordination fixes that in your favor, and a few Agility checks passed means you escape unscathed from close quarters.

Same thing happens with the long-range droids.

You drop into cover behind another large slab of metal.

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BATTLE FOR RESPITE (First Skirmish), Start of Turn 6

Debris Field

Xeth (G8): 1(2A)/44 [ES CG BGu] (5F)
Sonic blaster

Flamer Droid A (HW6): 14

Flamer Droid B (HW6): 10

Flamer Droid C (HW6): 8

Flamer Droid D (HW6): 5

Flamer Droid E (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid F (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid G (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

Flamer Droid H (G7): 0 (three turns distant)

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That Close Quarters maneuver probably would have worked great in conjunction with a spend on Ward. With so many foes, even with your taps, that's a lot of firepower coming in on just Xeth.