'Masque has been preparing minute by minute, laying out his traplines and momentarily regretting the lack of supporting firepower - that's one hell of a lot of Coalition personel down there, and an awfully thin line of Tolkeen soldiery to box them in.

 He's arranged reloads for his launchers around the forwards edge of his foxhole, just back from the enemy line of fire, looking to maximise his fire in the first closing seconds of the engagement and, as all hell begins to drop loose he swings the barrel of each A.G.L. up and over the edge.

 Unlike the missile rifles there's no muzzle flare and no screaming contrail of ignition gas, just a rapid-fire 'fump' that blurs into a pulsing sound like a misfiring internal combustion engine that sends tiny metallic spheres high into the air to rain down like a deadly hailstorm across the clustered enemy infantry, where they blossom like a murderous garden of flames, sending razor-sharp fragmentation clusters scything through their immediate vicinity.

 In the course of eight seconds, both magazines run dry as eighty of the deadly grenades fall amongst the enemy ranks, plastering 1,300 square feet of terrain with hard-driven destruction - and then he calmly reloads, to do it all over again.

The front APC - the larger Mark VII Slayer stops as planned - on what looks like quicksand. And the other just a few seconds after.

The front ends start to sink quickly - a few feet already...

All of the skelebots rush to form perimeters around the APCs. The robot vehicles stop and turn to face the trees. The SAMAS all turn on their jets and begin to hover a few feet from the ground. The hovercycle pilots leave their bikes parrallel with the treeline, and use the bikes as cover. The dog boys are... rather calm.

Orders are to hold off the attack for 60 seconds...

Several dozen flares are fired out into the trees - from the Heavy hover tank up front. Only a few seconds have passed.

After another 30 seconds the first, larger APC drops through the quicksand as planned. The perimeter around it spreads out to avoid falling in. And still the attack is to be held off.

After another 30 seconds the second APC drops through.

The bang of the sound barrier being broken about 2 miles north west of this location is heard, a moment after the Grinning Skull Battle Tank in the rear of the convoy is hit by a well-placed Glitter Boy rail gun slug. Followed by missile fire and grenade fire from Arven and Silvermasque.

The battle has begun...

"Mephisto NOW!" Xion shouts as he begins taking shots at the closest soldiers to him, "Remember the plan people, keep them occupied." Xion remains calm, as he has been through this before, although not quite on this scale with so many depending on him, now was no tthe time for such doubts however.

Mephisto had already sent them on their way - calling to them as they leap and run anxiously towards the Coalition - while invisible.

"Attack one - bring one alive back to me - it will ensure they follow you. If you do this and they follow - I will return you to your homes."

Mephisto takes cover behind his hovercycle and begins to cast his magic.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Thu 23 Nov 2006.

Readying himself for the attack, Van unleashes a series of spells:

Invincible Armor
Invisibility: Simple
Aura of Death

He is now basically undetectable. In his quiet post, feeling truly invisible, he picks up his Hellfire Plasma Cannon and holds it tight into his body, the stock firmly planted on his shoulder. He acquires his first target; one of the Dog Boys. Without a doubt they are top on his hit list. Then with the pandemonium of the flying missiles and grenades, he finds the apparant alpha male and squeezes the trigger, firing four times before relocating 20ft to the north. From there he fires four more times and relocates again while changing the clip.

He will keep up this pattern until their platoon relents and the next platoon attacks from the other side.

As soon as the Grinning Skull battle tank is hit in the rear - by Jonas - Xion looks to Mephisto - as the shifter was already sending his two Alu demon minions into position.

3rd platoon hold off their siege for a few moments while 2nd platoon distracts them - appearing to be the main point of assault.

2 grenades go off among the Coalition south-flank squad - before they are engaged by several members of Pluto Company in hand to hand.

Jonas continues his onslaught. The boom gun does not let up - and fires another slug every 3 seconds.

The 8 SAMAS from the main convoy take to the skies and head North West towards Jonas' position in the river - several missiles have already been fired in his direction from the power armours. They are stopped in mid-travel - seemingly by the sky itself. Their flight patterns are thrown off - and they are under attack by some invisible entities of some kind.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:19, Fri 24 Nov 2006.

As the two Alu demons make it to about half way down the hill they are completely blown to pieces by the 3 spider walkers, and the two hellraisers in the rear of the convoy.

They did not distract any dog boys - and did not lead anybody into any mine field. And they do not get to go home as Mephisto promised...

(OOC - still waiting on a post from Lotus - she won initiative... then I will post here - no need to respond to the dead Alu demons yet. wait until after Lotus and I post please.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:37, Fri 24 Nov 2006.

   Lotus follows the plan to the letter, remaining as concealed as she can among a few trees with Arven.  She has her compound bow drawn and an arrow loosely notched, but she is just watching the progression of battle and waiting calmly for the sight of that first cannon to be aimed up at her.
   She is also talking quietly, although only Arven would be close enough to hear her.  "We're right beside you!  Invisible and ready to kill!"

As Jonas' first shot struck the Grinning Skull Battle Tank, and the Alu demons made their charge - Silvermasque and Arven had already begun their siege. This prompted the snipers to open fire as well - while the troops were scattering for order.

Arvens' shots all made their targets - except for three - which hit main body. Nearly all of the robots vehicles in the rear are covered in explosions - it is unclear which are without missile capabiltity - the left side of the vehicles was favored in the strike points. The Hellfires nearly fall over, as their two legs struggle to stay standing.

Silvermasques' grenade fury - carpets the skelebots in fire - leaving all forty of them on the ground - half of them to stay down - and the others severely damaged. and missing limbs, or guns.

Xion and Van fired from their concealed positions firing on the dog boys only who only had their bikes for cover. Returning fire unsuccessfully, also left them out of cover for short periods at a time. Xion and Van used this to their advantage and killed four of the hounds.

Ulik and Quinns' shots could be seen hitting the norhtern pack of dog boys.

Xion and Van relocate further down the tree line and continue their fire. The mani group of SAMAS are being torn limb from limb and their jets are crumpling by an unseen force. They drop from the sky one by one. The classic SAMAS first - all 6 of them, and then the 2 Heavy SAMs. The four Light SAMAS that were the Northern flank ignores what took their fellow pilots down and fire several missiles into the trees below - where the snipers are firing from.

Xion and Van narrowly moved in time - it is unknown if Ulik or Quinn survived. The Light SAMAS seem to have fallen under attack now by whatever it was that took out the other SAMs.

The bridge seems to be covered in flames - likely from Attila.

The robots and power armour on the ground, along with the tank return fire into the trees where the snipers are, and heavily where Lotus and Arven are.

The Grinning Skull Tank fires two volleys of 5 mini-missiles at Arvens' position, the Spider Skull walker fires its heavy rail guns into the trees at the snipers, the Hellfires fire a volley of 8 missiles each - from the right launchers - one volley into the trees the other at Arvens' position.

The Hellraisers seem to be focused on 2nd platoon. The cyborg and two of the Terror Troopers fire their massive energy rifles into the trees as well.

Silvermasque lands more of his grenades among the spider skull walkers and troops as well as the tank.

Both scout walkers are in pieces, with black smoke bellowing from the main body. The right Hellraiser is scorched and appears to have a twitch in one leg - but other than that - it is functioning as well as the one on the left - which is severely burned. 2 of the Dog boys - the ones on the right - exploded in a spray of blood and armour chunks - the others thrown to the ground yet to get back up.

The other dog boys in the rear are electrocuted as they stand and collapse again with smoke rising from their bodies.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:13, Sat 25 Nov 2006.

Van high tails it further north and east on his (also invisible) wingboard, trying to avoid the missile fire heading for their location. Once he's out of harm's way, he starts making his way through the trees toward the smaller cluster of trees to the east of his current position. On his way he activates his Targetted Deflection talisman, reloads his Plasma Cannon, and then scans the area breifly, cycling through the different spectrums on his multi-optics band. He sets up again, this time with the CS Psychic in his sights.

   "Arven! Incoming!"
   Lotus raises her bow into the air and lets an arrow fly towards the incoming mini missiles.  She stands in front of Arven, her giant companion who should have little trouble shooting around her or over her head.  The two have fought alongside each other long enough to know that her position will allow her to attempt to deflect enemy fire away - even missiles that don't get shot down.
   Lotus let's a second arrow fly towards a second volley.

Dice Rolls:
18:21, Today: Lotus rolled 20 using 1d20+11. arrow strike #1.
18:22, Today: Lotus rolled 84 using 1d100. chance of secondary explosion.
18:23, Today: Lotus rolled 15 using 1d20+11. arrow strike #2.
18:27, Today: Lotus rolled 91 using 1d100. chance of secondary explosion.
Should be enough to take out two volleys (I believe two is the max for one person who isn't using paired weapons.  The percentile is high enough to have destroyed both volleys completely.

Xion moves the away from his third position as fast as possible, heading south parallel to his current location. Firing when an opportunity presents itself, staying as far away from the road as possible.

 'Masque starts softly counting under what would be his breath if he truly needed it, seconds ticking by as he runs through them in Russian whilst his lower arms smoothly service the emptied grenade launchers, slotting home new drums, stowing the old ones on mag-clips and pushing off to relocate twenty yards or so further along the defile from which he's been shooting before he reaches 'zero', at which point a decent ballistic computer should be able to localise his point of fire in amongst the chaos of the attack...

 And then it's time for another hellstorm of high explosives - though perhaps more carefully directed this time, since all the careful pre-planning of the initial volley has been lost in a cloud of fire and shattered metal.

 And /that/ is why he was brought along...

Even through the wall of smoke still lingering from Arvens ungodly missile barrage he could already see the retaliatory strike coming as Lotus shouted out her warning. His hands unclench and the missile rifles drop towards the ground. The holdout holsters spring his NE-600's into his hands and four bright red lines of energy shoot forth into the incoming volleys before the CTT-M20's even hit the ground. Unfortunately it all happens so fast that there little else he can do. It takes everything he has not to wrap up Lotus, who is standing almost beneath him, into a little ball and try to shield her from any missiles that might get through. He respects her ability too much for that though and trusts that if she is standing there then it is for good reason.

OOC: 3 of the 4 shots were successful called shots and the percentiles for all three indicate that the entire volleys in question would be destroyed.

15:37, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 43 using 10d6+10. dam 3.
15:37, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 51 using 10d6+10. dam 2.
15:37, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 47 using 10d6+10. dam 1.
15:34, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 11 using 1d20+10. shot 4. (miss)
15:34, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 25 using 1d20+10. shot 3.
15:34, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 23 using 1d20+10. shot 2.
15:33, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 21 using 1d20+10. shot 1.
15:57, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 98 using 1d100. % damage to other missiles, shot 3. (entire volley destroyed!)
15:57, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 70 using 1d100. % damage to other missiles, shot 2. (entire volley destroyed!)
15:56, Today: Arven The Annihilator rolled 66 using 1d100. % damage to other missiles, shot 1. (entire volley destroyed!)

Second platoon appears to be inneffective in their supposed second assault. Nothing is seen for several seconds - until chaotic winds carrying dirt, debris, people and trees tears across the ground and heads towards the spider skull walker.

Masque - you move 20 yards in which direction?

Arven and Lotus - what do you do supposing you defend against the volleys? relocate? continue firing?

Xion - I am confused as to where you are relocating. South and parallel to your current spot. How does one move parralel to an unmoving spot? I am guessing you meant you move south and then east parralel to the road?

OOC yes sir...been sick, please forgive

OOC: Well I figured as long as Arven was still alive he was going to yell at Lotus and tell her to relocate while he provided cover fire. He would hten unload a melee worth of shots from his guns since he went to all the trouble of drawing them. After that he would duck/cover and try to follow her if able.

 [ OOC : Let's call it west - it doesn't matter quite so much as that I move before the Coalition radar systems go 'all the grenades came from /there/' and make my little hidey-hole a world of searing plasma unfriendliness. ]

OOC - Lotus would tell Arven to suck it up and she'd stand her ground.  They can relocate later if the Coalition forces actually become a threat.

It would appear second platoon is having some difficulty as they do not make a very noticable dent in the Coalition forces this time around. They seemed held back for the first few seconds - until a visible torrent of winds tore out from their location - filled with dirt, debris and a few people. The winds move towards the road where most of the Coalition remain.

Xion, Van and Silvermasque relocate. Arven and Lotus hold their positions. The rest of third platoon is nowhere to be seen. It is time for third platoon to make their second assault.

(OOC - the dead CS include the two spider-scout walkers and the northern batch of skelebots)

Arven is no expert on military hardware but with the guns and missiles the tank looks to be packing he figures it is the closest deadly threat to him. With that in mind he begins unleashing quadruple blasts from his Naruni hand-cannons fully intending to validate the Coaltions xenophobic stance on the ungodly power of alien technology. Within eight seconds his guns are empty and he drops back down into his nature made foxhole to reload.



OOC: Arven inflicted 526 MD to the area around the mini & medium range missile launchers on the left side of the tank and 888 MD to the main body on the same side. A total of 1414 MD.

Arven rolled 192 using 40d6+40. MD (quad burst 7).
Arven rolled 182 using 40d6+40. MD (quad burst 6).
Arven rolled 185 using 40d6+40. MD (quad burst 5).
Arven rolled 158 using 40d6+40. MD (quad burst 4).
Arven rolled 171 using 40d6+40. MD (quad burst 3).
Arven rolled 165 using 40d6+40. MDx2 for natural 20  (quad burst 2).
Arven rolled 196 using 40d6+40. MD (quad burst 1).
Arven rolled 15 using 1d20+10. quad burst 7 (CS ground tank Main Body).
Arven rolled 14 using 1d20+10. quad burst 6 (CS ground tank Main Body).
Arven rolled 15 using 1d20+10. quad burst 5(CS ground tank Main Body).
Arven rolled 15 using 1d20+10. quad burst 4 (CS ground tank Main Body).
Arven rolled 25 using 1d20+10. quad burst 3 (CS ground tank Main Body).
Arven rolled 30 using 1d20+10. quad burst 2 (CS ground tank MM housing).
Arven rolled 23 using 1d20+10. quad burst 1 (CS ground tank MM housing).

 As the second storm of explosions drop into the swirling (and unplanned) melee developing around the Skull-walkers, 'Masque again drops back from the edge of the defile - onace again loading with a pair of drums with drab green banding, one into each launcher.

 In less than fifteen seconds of furious combat he's nearly cut deeply into  his ammunition, having emptied a pair of foot-square ammunition cannisters, but having damaged or destroyed somewhere in the region of three hundred and eighty million credits of front-line Coalition technology...

 He hits the ground just below the level of the ridgeline as his original 'rifle pit' disspears in a storm of energy and missile fire that would probably have breached even his titanic armour. Unwilling to risk activating his radio to guide the conflict in this early stage he instead extends an optical probe over the edge of his new position and looks for good, hard targets to try and hammer, in the process revealing the carnage below.

 "Bohjmoi!"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:46, Tue 06 Mar 2007.

The trees have been set ablaze. Silvermasques' former postion along with it. Fortunately Silvermasque relocated in time, but there is not telling what has become of Xion, Van, Quinn, Ulik and Mephisto. To the north - the glitter boys' cannon has stopped, with no transmissions from Jonas, Seifer or even Attila.

Silvermasque considers for a moment he is all that is left of his platoon, until the smoke clears around two old companions: Lotus and Arven. Arvens' devastating gunfire continues as he melts the cannons on the rear tank, then melting a hole through the side. It completely stalls, and 4 soldiers climb out a rear hatch - their heads can be spotted one by one as they climb out.

The large spider skull walker scans the area ahead for movement - glaring in Silvermasques' direction for a moment it opens fire with both cannons.

Two dog boys charge closer to Lotus and Arven. In the south a heavy cyborg next to a Hellfire Walker climb over the bodies of Mephistos' alu demons. Behind the tank is a massive tornado - sent from second platoons' direction. There are maybe a dozen men caught in its' winds. The SAMAS have all crashed into the dirt after seemingly being wrestled to the ground by the sky itself. The spider skull walkers have crumpled, bellowing black smoke from the eyes, next to two dog boy bodies.

Arven whistles approvingly after having slagged a top of the line CS tank in about fifteen seconds. Blowing non-existant smoke from the barrels of his topmost weapons he quips to Lotus, "Best five-hunnerd-thousand credits I ever fuckin spent." He drops the clips from his lower two guns and slides another two back into their place. Small arms fire sizzles all around them and dirt explodes into the foxhole. The larger bits of debris vibrate for a moment against his force field before they fall to the ground.

"Alright sweet-cheeks keep the fleas off my nuts!" The Rahu-Man says to the petite human standing in front of him. Popping back up he braces himself for fire he knows will be coming and begins shooting deadly bursts of intense laser fire into the midst of the CS column. The two guns on his left are both trained on the large Spider Skull Walker. The top right is aimed at the Hellfire Walker and the bottom right at the heavy cyborg next to it. Given that he is simultaneously shooting at three seperate targets he is aiming for center mass only. Afterall he is fancy but not that fancy.