On his way out of the system , Regulus Fate saw a brief glimpse of something shining out in space. His ship entered spike before further efforts could be made to uncover the truth of the discovery. A shaper probe opens a small hole into real space and through it several more pass. On the ground, detection efforts in the balak leagues high tech observation suite realize what is happening only after it is too late. A ring opens and through it passes a hive ship, it’s flanks bristling with detaching escorts and buzzing with ranks of their twisted fighter craft. The call to battle stations is issued fifteen minutes later as the floatilla begins advancing on Sumati proper

Shriven is teleported from the surface to Reunion. “I thought they were only in the East! What do we have other than those we have in reserve from the push in the system?”

“The res...wait a minute. Sir we have a hail coming in for you on an encrypted channel”

What could this be? Let’s hope it is friends. Shriven pauses then says “Patch it though and send a transcript of the conversation to the surface.”

You hear a friendly voice over the comlink. “Shriven. Long time since we spoke last. You’ve certainly come up in the world. Thought you might need some help”

Shriven pauses, “We can use all the help we can get. This looks like it is gonna get dicey.” Shriven pulls up the comm log, looking for the name of the ship or captain. I know that voice where do I know that voice from?

“It’s Silvano” he says “don’t worry. I’m not reading your thoughts. Right now at least. Just heard the hesitation in your voice”

“Draw them in, we will close the vice. Once this is done I need to speak with you”

“Sounds good, I’m glad SARAH was able to get to you with those reinforcements and supplies. Let’s clear this out and we can talk about more concrete supply runs.”

On one of the ships belonging to the ragtag fleet , @Hagen Emeric waits in a boarding pod with a small detachment of troopers. He has fought the shapers in the confines of a ship before and was temporarily recruited by Silvano and the nameless host days before, knowing this fight was coming

Inside the pod, Ronakeve prepares himself for the encounter with the Shapers. He checks his equipment one last time while the troops do the same. "Alright, everyone. We will soon exit this ship and face the shapers. Don't engage them in melee, zone them away from dead bodies and try to interrupt their shaping ability with a well aimed burst of fire. Prepare to move any time now"

The up north fleet materializes onto the system with commander mazzio and his flagship at its head, bolstering the under strength Sumati garrison fleet. Attacking the shapers from both sides, this might work

(Let’s get initiatives all)

(7)

Something clicks and whirrs and the pod judders. A screen flickers on and your see commander mazzio. His goggles are on his forehead and his leather three quarter coat is patchy with past battles. “You are heading for the control node at the heart of the hive ship. I will support you as best I can, teleporting over when needed. Move fast. Take it out. Let the garrison fleet handle the escorts. I believe in all of you “ There is a kick and it feels like the pod has been hurled by giants, as its fired , along with a dozen others, at the hive ship

(2)

Screaming through the void, the boarding pods will be at their destination in a moment. The Shaper fleet spends a turn moving a quadrant closer to the planet (Shriven up)

The Sumati fleet move to the same sector as the shapers. (They moves as one right? And what ships are there?)

(Move as one. And your ships? Whatever your reserves are. The entire “up north” fleet is what Silvano brought

(Shaper crafts are a shaper Titan , and ten corvettes)

Shriven on Reunion send one command to his fleet. "Isolate that titan, Send everything we have at them." And the torpedos begin to fly.

(Single Shot All ships 3 times Each fighter targets their own corvette, Sumati Fighters AP20 17 / 16, 17 / 18, 25 / 12 22 / 17, 22 / 13, 10 / 17 17 / 3, 17 / 12, 25 / 14 12 / 6, 16 / 15, 18 / 18 11 / 14, 17 / 14, 19 / 15 9 / 13, 7 / 21, 12 / 20 17 / 13, 12 / 20, 9 / 17 23 / 14, 7 / 13, 10 / 16 10 / 13, 8 / 16, 17 / 14 21 / 14, 9 / 16, 11 / 4 Cruiser AP 20 (Targets Titan) 13 / 10, 6 / 7, 20 / 8 Patrol Boat AP 20 (Targets Titan) 22 / 18, 20 / 18, 25 / 13 Reunion AP20 (Targets Titan) 24 / 5, 20 / 4, 7 / 5) (EDIT FORMATTING) (edited)

Four of the corvettes explode as they move to block shots from hitting the Titan, though they’d have no way to know they’d been targeted from the onset. The Titan takes a few hits and some minor damage spreads across its hull, but nothing that seems to degrade its combat abilities for now.

The boarding pods streak towards it and with a Loud thump, they strike home. Rona feels the decking jitter under his feet and the emergency lighting turns on. The front of the pod groans and growls as drills and cuffing lasers begin chewing through the fleshy hull

After a moment the growling stops, and the front of the pod blasts into the enemy ship on explosive bolts. You are inside

Ronakeve moves out of his seat with the hiss of the pod, readies his rifle and glances at his quad. "Don't give me those looks, it was a smooth landing. Move fast and behind me, no point in sneaking about after this noise. Proceed to the core, don't stop if I fall" He exits the pod and takes a look around, looking for a way towards the core.

(are we supposed to blow the core up? If so, do the soldiers have charges?)

(Cause as much damage as possible before retreating back to the pod. Naturally if things are going well and you seize the bridge or cripple it that helps

(just go crazy, got ya)

(Shriven do we want to throw Otto in the mix here too. I kinda forgot to pick him back up in the midst of everything else)

(Sure let’s throw him in here.)

The pod door blasts open and the chamber is full of fire and the stink of burning flesh. Two shaper bodies have been mangled by the doors blowing outward, and there is one door ahead, leading into the ship. If alarms are on, you can't hear them.

(Otto is here with ronakeve?)

(yeah)

Otto nearly drops his pinky but manages to finish putting it on as he turns to face the two shapers. “Let’s get them!” He yells as he prepares to rush them.

(theyre dead, just the bodies, just didnt want to throw you through the door right into an enemy ship with no chance for prep)

After taking two steps towards them he pauses. “Hehe Woops I guess these died of fear of facing us.” He rubs the back of his head in embarrassment, “We should probably go find those that aren’t dead from fear.”

The airlock ahead shivers, Alive though st the immediate second nothing comes through

(I’ll slow down the space battle so we get about 15 mins of time in here between rounds)

"I think we'll find them down that way", Ronakeve says while nodding towards the door. "Our goal is not killing enemies, though. We are here to fuck up the core of this heap of flesh. Let's kill what we have to and move on, don't give chase." He walks towards the living door, rifle ready, and stabs a fleshy part of the wall with his bayonet while the soldiers get ready to move. As soon as they are all ready, he shoots Otto a quick but calculating look and steps through the door.

The door opens, reacting to the pain and a ramp leads upwards into the main transit deck of the ship. You hear footfalls and heavy treads above you but it sounds like shaper counterboarding forces are still a minute or two off

"Let's surprise them by engaging first. You seemed eager just now", Ronakeve says in a hushed tone to Otto, then gives the hand signs for a silent but fast approach over his shoulder and, as soon as his squad is ready, rushes on to catch his opponents off guard.

Otto moves up towards the bulkhead to be able to get the jump on them.

You charge to the top of the stairs to see three shapers and some kind of cart with supplies on it, trundling down the access hallway to some kind of manufacturing area

Do they appear to see us? If they have their backs turned, I'd rather avoid fighting and move fast.

(They notice. You guys barreled on in)

(well then...) Ronakeve exits the ramp and comes to a sliding stop in the hallway. He sees the shapers and their cart, gestures to his squad to engage and flicks the burst fire mode on his laser rifle with his thumb. Eyes darting for possible cover, he takes aim and fires at the one shaper pushing the cart.

(Initiative?) Otto turns the corner and grins while some old screeching music plays out his arm, Another one bites the dust and another ones gone another ones gone Another one bites the dust. “Let’s get ‘em.”

(Yeah )

(5)

(4)

(Otto, Rona, shapers)

Otto runs up towards the shaper pushing the cart. (Is he in range of my move?)

(Yeah he is)

Otto lashes out with his fist and a flurry of elbows and kicks. (18/4)

(Rona up)

Seeing Otto engage in melee, Ronakeve gives the order for the squad to shoot at the shaper furthest from the brawl. He aims again and fires at the third shaper. (Burst, 26/11)

(The squad will be there next round, they’re following you up)

(all right)

The shaper staggers as laser lock round hits the meat of its upper right chest cavity. The cart overturns

(I’ll roll for them next break)

The shapers shots go wide as they struggle to both form weapons and fire them in the sudden rush of combat. (Otto)

Otto throws a flurry of blows and is unable to solidly connect (missed 1 shock damage.)

Seeing the shapers change, Ronakeve remembers his talks with Headmaster Fate and Shaman Grupp. Grupp gets interrupted when getting shot while changing he recalls. Rona adjusts his aim to shot a shapers part that is currently changing. (if none of them are changing anymore, I'd just shoot at the one I just hit. You tell me, Neko) (burst, 21/10) (edited)

(They’re not charging. They’re content to shoot at you)

(not charging, changing. Shaping)

It falls, leaving just two left, one of which is in the middle of some sort of fist fight with Otto.

(Rolling for them shortly

(20/3 shot on rona

(ottos misses, otto up)

Otto tries a sweeping kick to connect with the shaper. (10/3)

(Have I been taking shock damage?)

(No I’ve been waiving it for this low@level fight

Ronakeve flinches as the Shaper projectile rips through his armor and tears through his flesh. He narrows his eyes, watching the one who just shot him while calmly raising his rifle to aim down sight. He takes a deep breath, holds while making a small adjustment, then releases the air as he presses the trigger. (burst, 27/12)

The shaper rocks back as the well sims shot takes its gun arm off at the Elbow. It roars as its dark blood spurts from a ruptured vein network. They begin moving back, away from combat toward a bulkhead door at the end of the hallway

(Otto up, shapers will be at the door and alarm in two turns) The squad ascends the stairs, firing their mix of weapons into the second of the three shapers, sending it sprawling, leaving just the one disengaging with Otto in hand to hand combat

Otto sees the beginning of the retreat, he steps up and lashes out once more then waits to see what they will do. (13/6)

Ronakeve sees one of the fleeing shapers fall to the squads fire and chases the other one right away. He swings his rifle to his back mid run. "Don't let them get away!", he yells and takes out his thermal pistol. About time I kill something with this, he thinks as he pulls the trigger. Along the dark grey barrel, TOMAHAWK is written in dark red letters, now glowing as a marble sized sphere of plasma rips through the air. (17/6)

The final shaper falls as the shot is true. If any alarms have gone off due to the skirmish you can’t hear them, but there isn’t any noise you can hear either from the surrounding decks

Otto turns to Ronakeve, “let’s go keep clearing this floor. Sil will probably be faster but we can do what we can. Did you get hit at all?”

Ronakeve shakes his head. "We are not here to wipe them out. We should proceed to the core, that's our mission. Maybe get some extra Intel on the shapers, if we have the opportunity. Some devices or weaponry lying about. They can't possibly shape themselves to have anything they need, right?" He goes over to the toppled cart and takes a look at what's been inside.

(You can each call on him once to come clear an obstacle for you or assist in some way. Otherwise he’s off doing battle stuff in the wider space war)

The flipped cart has head sized cubes of metal and meat bound into a conglomeration. They look to be actual raw materials that the shapers would use for any number of their Projects (edited)

Ronakeve squats next to the pile and pokes one of the flesh parts with his gloved finger. "Look at this", he says over his shoulder to Otto. "You think someone in UNW would like to take a look at this?"

Otto shrugs, “not sure, it’s all still rather new for me. I’m from Sumati which 6 months ago was fighting with gunpowder and tanks. It’s been a bit of a transition to figure out what people out here would want.”

Ronakeve eyes Otto, then nods. "We should proceed to the core, then." He gets up and tosses one of the cubes towards a soldier. "Take one more and follow me", he says, while trying to get a mental picture of what the way to the core would be

The shapers seemed to be bringing these parts through a hatchway at the end of the corridor, which curves gently following the hull and leads deeper into the ship. Some kind of tendon like lever is in the engaged position next to it (edited)

(Which means it’s up so the door is closed. I didn’t want to just throw you into the next room)

Otto looks down the hallway, then nods to Ronakeve, “should we pull the ominously present lever?” Otto cracks his knuckles on his hand of flesh.

Ronakeve smiles, then nods. "Sure, go ahead. Let me just reload this", he says as he changes the battery of his laser rifle. He gives the squad the signal to take up positions next to the door, then he nods again at Otto.

There is a hiss as the lever is pulled and you find yourself in a factory space aboard the ship. Shaper thralls, too brain dead to notice your appearance in the room , are busy shaping these cubes into tools and parts for the ongoing fight outside

Otto walks in and looks for any doors or exits. Quickly trying to find any directions the shapers could come from. (Are there conveyor belts?)

(something like it, not exaxtly but yeah, what they're making is being transported to other areas of the ship)

Otto walks up to one of the belts and looks to see if there’s anything stopping him from picking some up.

(Either the bots or some psychic thing meta-0)

(I don’t think you’d notice if the workers do anything unless a cube is actually disturbed. At that point if they do gain some kind of extra awareness you’d sense that. You don’t sense anything present in the actual machines themselves that would stop you

Otto asks the team. “Should we grab one for the scientists?”

(are these the same cubes as the other shapers had in the cart?)

"On our way out. I don't want to alarm these shapers, even though they look different. Who knows, maybe these are fighters as well, just in their... worker Form. We should proceed to the core and grab what we can on our way out. I'd rather just grab one of these shapers, to be honest. The Void Wardens need a life specimen, and these worker things look like not too much trouble. But feel free to investigate, all the info we can get in addition to reaching the core is worth it"

(YeH same cubes. They were bringing them in here)

(Were there some on the cart or did they take that away?)

(there were fleshy metaly cubes for this facility in that cart we toppled over. Those are the same raw material as they are using here rn)

(they were probably resupplying to make more of whatever they are manufacturing here)

(Yeah I’m wondering if we can get one of the cubes back to the shuttle without grabbing one here.)

(Oh, Rona already ordered the soldiers to pick one up from the crate in the corridor)

Otto realizes that these are already on the way back to the ship and looks for the nearest door to head towards the core.

There is a door in the left of this factory space. The drones do not note your passing , content just to work.

The iris door slides open to a strange room where green energy arcs between various crystalline bone nodes on the wall.

Ronakeve steps into the room, lowering his rifle. Quick movements of his eyes try to follow the arcs in their mesmerizing pattern. He shakes his head vigorously and turns to Otto. "Wha...", he starts, then blinks. "Who are you, exactly? We are a Void Warden squad, we are soldiers from Tsatsos. What is your trade? You seem to be capable of defending yourself even though you lack arms"

"As in you don't use weapons", he quickly adds after glancing at the mechanical hand. "I'm sorry. I'm Ronakeve", he says, offering his right hand for a warriors wristshake.

“Otto, I’m from Sumati but on loan to the northern fleet with admiral Sil. I don’t shoot well. But punching seems to work.” Otto turns nods towards the room. “We May want to save the introductions till we finish this. Any ideas if this is the place? Or keep moving forward? I’m thinking this is just a generator room but I’m not quite sure.”

Ronakeve shrugs. "This ship is half flesh, maybe it's half alive. This could be some kind of exposed nervous system. Maybe they can upgrade or optimize it with these crystals, different arrangements and sizes could influence it. If this is the core, I'd say we rip off as many crystals as we can."

(judging by the size of the Shaper ship from the outside view and how far we traveled inside it, could this possibly be the core?)

(This could possibly be it. You’re close to it if it’s not. You guys can each call silvano for help once as well)

"I may be able to find out if this is the core, or what this is", says Ronakeve. Touching the flesh on the wall, he lets the metadimensional energy flow through him and into the strange partly alive room. (using major organ Restauration here, maybe I get a feedback of what uninjured organs are in the vicinity. Maybe this feels close to an intact brain or something. It's worth a try, even if I just waste effort and this does nothing) (edited)

Otto listens with his meta for any reverberations in the ship or room while he does this.

(Oh you’ve both got that?)

(Level 0 here)

(biopsionic 2 is what I have)

(Mental saves for both of you)

(can you throw that for me? Can't log in roll20 atm, password issues)

(Failed for me)

(It rolled four times but the first is what will be used. Was a fail 2 v11) Rona feels the immense feedback by the ships wounds and connecting with its brain here in this chamber. Sympathetic wounds mirroring the ships injuries begin to manifest on his skin and beneath in the form of cuts and bruises

(8 damage )

Otto grabs his head. Reeling in pain. “Ahhhh” Otto looks up at Rona, “Warn me next time before you reach out and do that.”

Right arm still extended, Rona grabs his head with his left hand while staggering back from the wall. The sudden wave of pain brings him down on his knees, as he tries to understand what happened. "Don't worry", he says through clenched teeeth, face warped in a painful expression. "I won't do that again. We could have died if the ship was in a worse shape. Are you okay?", he says, standing up again, lightly groaning and flinching at the aching bruises.

Otto rubs his head. “I’m not great but I can’t take another one of those. Do you have any bombs or did you fail to prepare for this as badly as I?”

"You probably won't take another one of these, but just in case..." Ronakeve closes the short distance and uses Psychic Succor, first on Otto, then on himself. (Biopsionics-2 so it should heal you and me for 2d6+2 each, waiting for your call neko) "I did not know what kind of mission I was called to, so I have no explosives, either", he says, putting his hands on his hips and looking around once more. "Maybe we dont need any", he slowly says. "I think this is the core. It felt like some kind of entity, some kind of brain, while I touched it just now. I think we can fuck it up pretty bad if we rip out these crystals. What do you say, we report to Admiral Silvano and see what he thinks?"

(Just track strain and effort but that works fine)

(one system strain for the heal, Otto. I'm at 2 effort and rolled a 10 on my heal roll)

"Works for me.” Otto pulls out a compad and takes a picture then types up a message and tries to send it to Sil.

"Let's see what we have at our disposal until the Admiral has time to answer. He is overseeing a war, after all. Between the squad and I, we have a handful of magazines and type a power cells. I have a binocular and night vision goggles, and this monoblade. A Compad, like you. That's it. All that comes to mind are the power cells to shock this nervous system here, but I can't rig something up."

A message comes back. ive got four demolition charges aboard the ship I can jump over to you

You sense the ship shaking again as the battle continues

Otto turns to Ronakeve, “Sil says he can get us demo charges. We want that or try to overload some cells first?”

“I’m not sure if the power cells would have enough umphf to take out something like this.”

"Let's just blow this up. I don't know if I alerted something with what I just did with this thing. Let's grab a worker on our way out and be gone asap"

(You each get one use of Sil so he can teleport the worker and bring you some charges, one errand for each of you, if we think that might help)

(you okay with that, Otto?)

(Works for me.)

(nice, we got a plan) Rona takes another look around. He is looking for a place to blow up. "Let's make sure to destroy as many of those crystal connections as possible. I'd love to take one with me, but I dare not touch them"

There is a concentration of nodes toward the center of the room, with 15 others scattered in random points along the walls and ceiling, mirroring the organic growths they are

Otto walks around trying to figure out where to place the charges. “Once we call Sil we won’t have long. We need to figure out where to place them. Once we do we can call him have him grab the worker and he can get back to what he does.” Otto grins, “I have a feeling that it is going to be a large commotion when a worker goes missing so we should be ready.”

Ronakeve nods. "I agree, we should hurry. The explosion alone will cause a commotion, maybe the missing worker wont be noticed right away. But it does not matter because at that point we are gtfoing. Squad, be ready for anything. Otto, you think we should just put all four explosives on these center nodes or do we aim for as many crystals as possible?"

“The center nodes. Hopefully more impact.”

"Concentrated, all right. I'm ready"

Silvano appears in the room, goggles on and duster burned. It looks like he has been in the center of fighting somewhere, or many somewheres, and he drops a satchel of charges near your feet. He fires two shots from his modified shear rifle at a shaper warrior entering the room from the opposite door, killing it, before teleporting away. The squad back in the factory room radios in a second later, reporting that the worker has been successfully kidnapped. The lighting in this room flares, and crackles as the ships mind senses the loss of connection with one of its thralls

Rona begins working on the charges, wasting no more time. "You were right, the missing worker was immediately noticed. We need to hurry before it's swarming with warriors. Fuck, I want one of these crystals. What if the shapers are controlled with these crystals? Having one would be valuable, and we might never get a chance like this again." He looks at Otto. "I'll take one after we set the charges up. Let's just hope you won't have to drag me back to the ship"

“You sure you should be the one to grab it? You seem to be our only bio. . . You know what I will grab it. Heal me if it goes poorly.”

(Mental save Otto)

(Is it psychic? Do I get my meta bonus added to my save? ) fail (didn’t matter either way.)

Otto falls to his knees, feeling the intense cold and hunger of a black hole. His mind is pulled inexorably forward, toward some kind of immense metaphysical pit. The bionic arm sparks, and whirrs as it fights to keep Otto upright, the only part of his body still acting with any kind of will of its own. (5 damage). Veins in his good hand, and arm, turn black, and clear fluid begins to leak out through his skin

Ronakeve rushes to Otto, sliding on the floor to catch him. "Otto! After the explosion, you fool. Are you hurt? Can you hear me? Let me look at that hand."

Ronakeve gasps as he sees the black veins creeping up Ottos left arm. He focuses on his connection to the Void and pushes a wave of biopsionic energy through Otto. (organic purification protocols and major organ Restauration, can I regenerate healthy tissue and repel the damaged parts? Heal for 12hp, +1 system strain, +1 extra effort for the day for opp)

(It’ll cost the strain but the bioscopic powers won’t work on the shapers powers)

“Mey bedy hertz.” Otto shutters and looks at Ronakeve. As he uses his bionic arm to try to drag him towards the door. “Lutz Gaaa baaaaafor iiiiiii Kent.”

(Otto is still up iirc. You guys didn’t get hit in any of the fights so far)

(Can I move as normal? Or am I incapacitated?)

(You’d count as encumbered due to your injuries, so slowed but not incapable)

(Can I double move toward the shuttle?)

"You are too brave for your own good. I can't do anything for that hand", Ronakeve says, shaking his head. "FUCK!", he yells in anger. He helps Otto stand, then looks straight at his face with a serious expression. "If your hand gets worse, we might have to cut that off. It's not rotting or poisoned, it got changed by the Fleshshapers. I may be able to regrow what we have to cut off, but I can't cure this", he says, pointing at the black veins and leaking fluids. "Can you walk?"

(I got scraped for 3 in a fight, I'm down 1hp after healing us after I biopsied the room earlier. Does Otto recieve the 12hp heal from Succor or are all biopsionic effects blocked?)

(Yeah I’m back to full HP.)

(nice. Neko did 3 damage to us, we did 21 damage to us, plus a negative status effect. Way to go xD)

“De godda dough. I’ll ge dood n ah bit.” Otto stands and starts moving slowly.

(All blocked)

Nodding, Ronakeve turns back to the explosives. He rigs them up and gets ready to move. Standing behind the closing iris doorframe, he hits the detonator and runs after Otto.

(So I’m double moving towards the exit. We are in combat turns right?)

(Yes) The explosion is large and you feel the deck shake below your feet, knocking you both forward a few steps. The ship around you loses its drive as the core is destroyed And your frantic march toward the boarding pods for withdrawal begins.

Decks above you grown as their supports are weakened and ahead of you the iris door to the factory space opens, as two shaper warriors appear

20m@away

Stumbling after the explosion, Rona smirks as he feels the ships aching with every shaking of the ground. The hissing sound of the iris door ahead wipes the smirk from his face, and within a fraction of a second, the old mans expression resembles that of a bird of prey during its hunt. His hand darts to his hip, going for the Tomahawk, and a smooth yet mechanical gesture brings the pistol up.

(initiative 6 in case we roll soon)

(Yes let’s get initiative)

(3)

(Rona, shapers, Otto)

Ronakeve fires from his hip and manages to shoot in the shapers general direction (11/12). He jumps for cover and radios the squad. "Encounter. We need your backup. Fire to interrupt their shaping"

There’s just a crackle of broken static from the squad frequency. Peering beyond the open door, you see their butchered remains in the hallway behind where the shapers have just walked in from

Rona’s shot goes wide and the shapers set their heels into the deck, arms beginning to norpg@

Morph

(Otto)

(Is there a way around them or are they in the door blocking it?) I don’t want to drop this thing as it kind of stung to pick this up Otto thinks to himself

(They’re blocking the door. Not entirely but you’d have to pass them)

(Am I more than 10ft out?)

(Yeah 20m out)

Otto moves 10 ft out and pauses. Making a mental connection with the fleshaper. (Effort for the scene.) (edited)

(Is this the one where they get a save?)

(No I just hear them when they talk and can talk to them.)

You hear insectile whispers back and forth between the two, mixed in over something like a second voice speaking inside each of them, a low sound like gravel sliding down a mountainside in a sheet. Their thoughts right now sound like any other soldiers in wartime. Calling out targets to one another

(10 miss on Rona (17/7 on Otto) their weaponized arms fire their first combat rifle like volley into the confined corridor

(Is it Otto now or Rona?) (edited)

(Rona, they held their action before, and fired at the end of the turn)

"Otto! Don't just stand there, move" Ronakeve gets out of cover, fires his gun (18/9) and yells at the shapers to get them to attack him instead of Otto.

“Not” breaths out heavily, “Just standing” takes a sharp breath in. “Telepathic link, something... is sending them orders, something big.” As Otto coughs not looking to good after taking that hit to the chest.

One of the shapers, already wounded by the squad it had killed moments ago, falls to ronas shot, leaving just one standing

(Otto)

Otto pulls out a pistol and fires at the shaper (4/4) “Stupid thing, won’t... shoot... right.”

The shaper still standing grows some sort of bulbous object at the end of its arm and fires it down the tunnel at you both (evasion save both

(Failed.)

(17v12, pass. Shit Otto, don't die)

(It’s okay I still have health and a orb that makes me immune to healing )

(Rona takes 5, Otto takes 10) The heavy polyp like organ bounces off the ship ceiling, then off the deck, rolling to explode in front of you. Sharp bone fragments and a splash of digestive chemical bathe the both of you with a harsh hiss.

Otto falls to the ground, his gun clattering as it hits the organic plated floor.

(This was a heavy weapon so if you’re down you’re down)

Ronakeve ends his evading Tumble on one knee, pulling up his pistol with both hands (20/7). He sees the shot connect and turns to Otto. Ronakeves face grows pale as he sees the lifeless body. "Otto!" He rushes over to look at the empaled and dissolving body of the young man.

(major organ Restauration can't save him either because it gets nullified after the Shaping, right?)

(Yeah that’s right. He’s at 0, so they can start shaping him.)

(shit. Rip Otto)

The second shaper, likewise wounded, falls to the ground shot through. The ship shakes around you and there is the sound of a tremendous quantities of falling metal nearby.

(Better not die Rona)

Ronakeve hastily turns around after the metal debris falling down. He takes a last, quick look at Otto and shuts the young mans dead eyes with his hand. "I'm sorry, Otto. Your courage shall not have been for nothing." He hastily puts the crystal in his backpack and continues his way to the boarding pot pod as fast as possible, eyes always darting around for falling debris or Shaper ambushes. He reloads his thermal pistol and drops the empty battery in the rubble around him mid run. (edited)

You make it to the pod, the lone survivor of the boarding action, and it shudders as the doors shut and it ejects itself from the hull of the enemy hive ship

It flounders in the void, alone and dead from within. Ships from silvano’s fleet begin surrounding it like a pack of wolves

Ronakeve activates the wall panel as soon as the pod is disconnected from the Shaper Moon. He writes only two words. Mission Accomplished He sits down in the eerie silence of the pod, a deep concerned frown on his face. They nullify biopsionic powers. Does that mean Shaman Grupp would not have been able to change Ottos arm back, either? Or was it the crystal that nullified my effort to cure him? He replays the mission in his mind several times while he watches Silvanos fleet engage. His expression relaxes a bit with every repetition. After his sixth run through, he is watching the battle unfold without any expressions on his face. Soldiers die. They always have and they always will. It's inevitable, so don't dwell

The ships close in, trading small battery fire with what few systems remain operational on the Hive ship. As it is encircled, their main weapons fire, cutting the hulk to insignificant pieces

The other escorts, already have been dispatched and the all clear is signaled from the ground

(6xp, 10,000 credits)

(thank you both for playing)

(Dying...)

(I continued this back in your thread rona. )