Robotech - Southern Cross Adventure

[Sherwood]

Here's the roll for Deunan

Spoiler

In the Hover Tank:
Number of Attacks: 9 - +1 attack per melee round at levels 1, 3, 6, 10, and 14
Strike: +12 with Cannons, +13 to HtH, +14 with EU-11 (+2)
Parry: +17 (+1)
Dodge: +17 (+1)
Roll: +9
Perception: +12
Initiative: +3 (+2)
Critical Strike on a natural 18-20

 

[Rykon]

Rolling Perception...

 

[Psychie]

At first glance, everything seems to be nice and clear. No obvious signs of drones in the area at all. But a closer look shows that there are a number of drones hiding among the buildings, probably in an attempt to ambush you as you head towards the tower. The numbers are close to several dozen of various types of drones, so if you trip the ambush, it will be a nasty fight.

Neo looks out and says, "Hey, LT? I'm thinking . . . we may not have to deal with destroying all of these drones. All we really need to do is get someone inside the control center with the virus program, right? Once it's implemented, the computer won't be looking at us as targets any more. So, I'm thinking we can do this one of two ways. One, we do a total sneak and slip past the drones on foot. We may even have some of the team in their mecha making a distraction. Option two, we have one of the fliers zoom across the open area, punch a hole in the top of the tower, and go inside while the rest of the team makes their ground advance. What do you think?"

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan thinks for a moment, then says, "You have a point, Neo. From what we've seen, most of this factory's defenses have been geared to larger threats on the scale of mecha and the full sized Zentraedi. A person or two on foot should be able slip past the bots without too much trouble. As much as I hate to leave the relative safety of our mecha, we may have to in order to save our own lives. Those drones play for keeps."

She then looks around at the others and says, "Anyone have any better ideas? I'm open to hearing them. Otherwise, I want a pair of volunteers to go in on foot."

 

[Rykon]

"I volunteer for this one boss." Alan said over the comms. "I can sneak my way in well enough."

 

[D. Rex]

"They are looking for the threats right? Well clearly I haven't shown myself as one." He said, wincing at the self depreciation. "I'm beat up, haven't made any kills, and made more holes in the floor and walls than any mecha. They would likely ignore me in favor of the more dangerous distraction. I can give those on foot a bit of an escort, while seeing they at least have some mech support. I can carry Alan where he needs to go for faster travel, and catch any heat that notices him." He suggested.

 

[Purr]

"Yo, LT? How about we try the sneaking in, and if they're spotted, we in the air wing swoop in and distract whomever has spotted them? They may be small on the ground, if they're spotted, they're as good as dead, you know?

"I can send in Dragonfly too to scout a good path if you want?"

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan shakes her head. "No mecha on this one, Marlon, even one as beat up as yours. If you want to go, you'll proceed on foot with Alan while the rest of us stands by to lay down some hurt on the bots. Gabi, if I recall correctly, your drones are pretty small and have a tiny radar signature. Keep an eye on our two and make sure you give them a clear path to that tower."

She is not a very religious person, but she cannot help but think a quick prayer for the safety of her team.

"Ok, guys. You know what's at stake. One of you have to get that virus inserted into the computer before we run out of time and the station folds out of our system for good. Best of luck to all of us, and Godspeed to you both."

 

[Purr]

"Gabi, if I recall correctly, your drones are pretty small and have a tiny radar signature. Keep an eye on our two and make sure you give them a clear path to that tower."

Gabriela hesitated and glanced at Lt. Conway. How was she supposed to guarantee a 'clear path' when Third Heavy Recon wasn't even allowed to cover them from afar with their mecha? Gabi wanted to pull overwatch with their guns. She felt if these troops were spotted, one missile could blow them all into the afterlife and there wasn't a thing Gabi or anyone could do about it, especially with an unarmed drone.

She replied carefully but without any nonsense. "Without the option of cover fire, LT, I can't guarantee anything. Best I can do is hope to spot the enemy before they spot our infil team. But I'll do that like nobody's business."

The last thing Gabi wanted was for this team to get killed and the blame laid at her feet, but LT Conway hadn't played that card with anybody yet. Still, the Third Heavy Recon hadn't faced real failure yet either; the kind of failure that Recon Patrol was used to and learning from. Still, Gabi felt she had her orders and she was ready to do the best with what she had.

She transformed her Ajax into Battloid mode and popped the top hatch. "Chrome Shaman online," she said mostly out of habit to herself as a racing drone pilot. Gabi transferred the audio/video feed to Third Heavy Recon. As Dragonfly whirred up and out of the Ajax, she whispered, "Spirit's up." Then she closed the hatch behind her and set herself in her Virtual Reality helmet to flying the drone.

She set about 30 meters ahead of the team (enough to have a good head start without leaving the infiltration team behind) and went looking for paths that didn't involve danger in the form of big, big enemy drones. She kept her drone and the team to the shadows as much as possible. Only when she was absolutely sure did she move the team up into another zone of safety.

At all times, she acted as if it were her silently zipping around and not her top-of-the-line military drone. That, she felt, was the best way to keep everyone alive.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan looks grim. On a private channel to Gabi, she says, "One way or another, we have got to either get to the command center, or get the hell out of here in the next [insert countdown timer here. BTW, how much time do we have?]. Just do your best as the boys try to slip in. Between their stealth and the small size of the dragonfly, I hope that I'm not making one hell of a mistake. It is this, or we go in guns blazing and trigger the ambush and draw all attention away from them that way. God help me to make the right call."

 

[Psychie]

Rykon and D. Rex

With Gabi's drone giving you some 'eye-in-the-sky' route info, the two of you are able to make your way into the outskirts of the Romanesque city. At this point, you have a handful of choices of paths to take to the center tower. The downside to that is the risk of detection on the streets. Your other option is to use your weapons to cut your way through the walls of the buildings and stay under cover. The downside to that is the weapon fire may be detected by the drones, and bring them looking for you.

What path do you wish to attempt?

 

[Rykon]

"Risk of detection by what, exactly? If it's full-size Zentraedi then I think I can sneak my way through on foot just fine. If it's more human-sized targets, well... We'll have to see what we can do. I can't imagine opening fire to not escalate conflict immediately." Alan says over comms, trying not to speak too loudly over the pounding beat of his own heart. Almost... Almost done!

 

[D. Rex]

"Now I know how a rat feels..." Marlon commented. He had brought along his grenade launcher, just in case. "And I agree. The last thing we need right now is to bring attention to ourselves. I'd hazard a guess that they arent looking at the groumd for tiny little things like us. What could we do after all? Its the mecha that are the threats."

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan takes a deep breath, and calls out to the remaining members of the squad that are still in their mecha. "One way or another, we have got to buy Alan and Marlon some time to get to that command tower, because if we let the Robotech Masters take control of this station, Earth is done for and I am sure as hell not going to let that happen on my watch. Here's what we're going to do. We have spotted that there are some mecha hiding out there in the city, lurking and waiting for us to show ourselves. I say we rig up a few nasty surprises and make our own ambush. Here's my thought. Have the remaining Spartas tanks pull back, along with the Valks. We then have Gabi do a quick fly-by with her ground radar going, both to give us an idea of exactly what we have to deal with out there, and to flush the game."

"Then, once you have their attention, swing back and lead them to us. We then hit them with a series of concentrated strikes to thin their numbers out using the big guns on the tanks and the remaining missiles on our fast movers. That will thin their numbers out and keep the attention away from our insertion team." She looks around, trying to see where is a good location to set up a lethal cross-fire against the drones.

OOC I want to try a Military Tactics roll to see if I can get any bonuses to the ambush.

 

[Purr]

We then have Gabi do a quick fly-by with her ground radar going, both to give us an idea of exactly what we have to deal with out there, and to flush the game."

Gabriela sounded confident. "Can do, LT. Just so you know, I can't manually operate my drone and fly my Ajax at the same time. They require different helmets, you know. Let me know when you want me to give the drones a little Fourth of July action!"

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan says, "Understood, Gabi. Everyone, get into position and stand by. Gabs, give us sixty seconds to hunker down and get our cannons primed. Then let loose with the speed and see what is out there before you circle back to us."

 

[Purr]

"Yo, LT? How about we try the sneaking in, and if they're spotted, we in the air wing swoop in and distract whomever has spotted them? They may be small on the ground, if they're spotted, they're as good as dead, you know?

"I can send in Dragonfly too to scout a good path if you want?"

Gabriela was relieved down to her deep Hispanic heart. Though Lt. Conway had been in charge for some time, she could not help but feel grateful at working under an open-minded squad leader. Conway had not been Gabriela's first and some before her had been harder to reach than others. She was doubly appreciative because of who was on the line out there - Alan and Marlon.

Gabi smiled at Conway. "Hey, LT! Thank you for trying this the Recon Patrol way. By trying this, you're keeping the 'Recon' into Third Heavy Recon, you know?"

Gabi used her 60 seconds to hide and land Dragonfly in shadows big enough to also hide Marlon and Alan. "Be back soon, you guys!"

In true Recon Patrol fashion, Gabi kept her Ajax in Battloid with all eyes and ears open. No way was she going to blow the squad's cover by letting the enemy hear the approach of her thrusters or helicopter blades. She was intent on being quick and quiet. She activated her ground radar and tried it to transmit its data to everyone still inside a mech.

Her twin ion cannons prepped, she boogied out from behind cover, making a wide rapid circle about the area to see what she and her Ajax could see.

 

[Rykon]

"Looks like we might have to get ready for a full sprint buddy. We don't want to make the team wait for too long. When the fighting starts, I just hope they'll be too busy to notice." Alan chimes in on the radio. "Ah, this isn't our first infantry rodeo. Probably won't be the last either. Regardless, Marlon and I are no slouches. We'll see this done. Thanks for the fly by Gabi."

 

[Psychie]

Purr

When Gabi gets moving, the powerful ground search radar of the Ajax begins its work. On this side of the massive tower, you are able to spot three different groups of targets on the ground. With the interference from the structures around them, you are only able to get about an 80% probability to say that in each group there are ten to twelve Heavy Drones, about the same number of Light Drones, and possibly a Primary Drone with each one.

As you run forward, you are able to send your full data feed to the rest of the team, letting them see what you see. How far out do you go?

 

[Purr]

"You seeing this, LT? These groups are so big, you think they were Mexican!"

Gabi puts caution first. She tries to get the edge of her ground radar out to Alan and Marlon's destination, but if she even thinks she has a chance of being spotted, she stops and gets into concealment, or better yet, cover.

She turns her microphones all the way up and switches through the Ajax's potent optics so she can hear and see as much as possible.

Gabi is trying to pick up where Dragonfly left off. She wants to find a safe path for Alan and Marlon.

 

[Sherwood]

Deunan clutches the controls of her tank and takes a deep breath. "I see them. They want to play for keeps,that's for sure. Gabi, watch yourself out there, and keep an eye on our insertion team. We can't afford any mistakes."

 

[Psychie]

Rykon and D. Rex

Using the directions given to you by Gabi, you are able to avoid contact with the various groups of drones that are lurking in the shadows, waiting for the team to make their move. It takes you almost a half hour to hike your way to the base of the tower, but you finally arrive and see a set of human scaled doors in the side of the tower. A quick look does not show any signs of hostile contacts around you, so it seems to be safe to approach the doors.

When you get to the doors, they do not open. You'll need to either blast your way through the doors, or use some skill to bypass the locks and get them open.

 

[Psychie]

A bump for Rykon and D. Rex

 

[Purr]

Gabi silently cheered. Half of the job was done! Gabriela surmised if Alan and Marlon were able to get their part completed without being compromised, and if they could make it to her Ajax, she could give them a ride back to their tanks with the enemy being none the wiser! That was Recon Patrol power, baby!

 

[Purr]

While Alan and Marlon worked, Gabi gave Conway and the rest of the team play-by-play updates. She also took the opportunity to retrieve Dragonfly.