Chapter 3: High Noon on Walston

The final hour of the jump crackled with tension. Four weeks ago, Fallon and Seally had shared a chilling vision aboard the Florian ship: Salvor Dreks, the vile pirate who once claimed the Wayward Wind as his own, was coming back to Walston to take "his" ship - the Wayward Wind, a cutting-edge Harrier-class starship with one of the fastest manoeuvre drives in the Third Imperium. This storied vessel was never really his—it had been stolen from Seally’s noble house, and Dreks’ depraved actions had tarnished the ship's name. Reclaiming the ship’s honour was Seally’s mission, and her handpicked crew had proven to be a resourceful team.Yet, Dreks and his ruthless gang seemed to haunt the ship’s every move. As long as the pirate remained at large, the Wayward Wind could never escape its shadowed past. Justice for Dreks was not just a goal—it was a necessity. And now, Dreks was threatening Walston, a backwater planet where the crew had made many friends, and were celebrated as heroes.The crew had wasted no time after receiving the ominous vision. Using the proceeds from selling data on their extraordinary encounter with the elusive Alo’hei, they readied the Wayward Wind for battle. Microfractures in the hull were sealed, and a gleaming new pulse laser turret bristled from the ship’s dorsal hardpoint.

Their ranks were bolstered, too, by three Florian warriors—One, Four, and Nine—known as Feskals. Towering figures from a distant world, the Feskals were bred for servitude but had won their freedom aboard the Wayward Wind. Now, they lived as free men, their spartan camp nestled in the cargo hold as they dreamed of a world where they could explore their humanity in peace.The crew gathered in the ship's lounge, the weight of their mission heavy in the air. Ahead lay the Walston system, and with it, the chance to confront Dreks once and for all. Were they ready to face a band of hardened pirates and murderers? Analyzing the mood, Goldie decides to be helpful and chooses a song from their ancient Earth music repository. Zuzu's ears perk up as the song begins to play.

Seally's eyes check the navigation beacons and compare them with her own astrogation plots with her mobile comm. She's checked them twice, already, and about to start a third she instead pushes the device to the side and lifts her drink, gripping it with both hands. "Travel takes so long but when we get there we'll wish we had more time to prepare." She slowly rotates the drink in her hands.

They had spent too much cred on liquor station but somehow that just made it feel more like home. She was used to certain luxuries universally offered at the expense of efficiency and conservative management of resources. She felt her companions felt the same way. Certainly Fallon must.

"Think they remember us at that beach?" She snickers remembering the bold way they had talked themselves into committing what must have been a violation of a half dozen of Walston's decency laws.

"Hey now don't get me started on that beach, ladies. Piloting a ship is a great responsibility. No distractions please," he says, fighting a smile.

"Your coordinates are good, Seally. Everything jives with what I'm seeing here." Zuni's brow tightens though as he scans his readouts. "The trajectories all line up. I just wish we weren't on a course to meet Dreks and his thugs too."

"They won’t know what hit them!" Alerio starts up, rubbing sweat from her brow.

She wipes her hands and then lets herself fall into her chair with a thud!

"Last time they saw this bird, well… it didn’t have some of the hardware it has now! They’ll be expecting a pissing contest and we’ll shoot them out of the sky!" she sneers, relishing the idea of ridding themselves and Walston of this gang.

"True. That pulse laser is kick-ass. But don't underestimate the bastard. He probably has an idea we would have made improvements on The Wayward Wind."

"News travels slow, so even if he has paid informants at the station, maybe he hasn't heard about the upgrades yet. Yet, so we don't have all the time in the world."

She looks fondly at Zuzu. "Especially chief woofer Zuzu!"

"I'm saying he is smart enough to imagine that we made improvements, whether he knows anything for sure, who can say?"

Zuni looks fondly at Zuzu. "Chief woofer. Cute."

Weapons are primed and ready to blast. Like me after this is over with, I hope," she grins, dusting her hands theatrically since nothing she did had gotten her hands dirty. "And did I hear Zuzu got a promotion? I mean, well earned and all, but let's not forget the rest of us, yeah? The title 'Chief Master Blaster' has a nice ring to it, dontcha think? Anyway, how long till we arrive?"

"Hear that Zuzu? You've been promoted. Give me a high five!" Zuni had somehow managed to train the dog to do that trick whenever he had the opportunity.

"We should station Zuzu in a secure, confined space for his protection during combat. Some kind of harness apparatus we could probably jury-rig. Any ideas Goldie?"

Zuni chuckles at Fallon. "I'd be happy to address you as Chief Master Blaster if it will make you happy."

Seally laughs that Goldie took her seriously although in retrospect isn't surprised. "Let's make sure Zuzu has access to a comm unit so his woofs can be broadcast to any dastardly miscreants and malcontents we come across!"

She drops finger guns to Fallon and nods with a big smile at her title.

At that moment, the Wayward Wind lurches, the sound of the bonded superdense hull bending and flexing under force. The artificial gravity mostly compensates to dampen the effect, but you still fill the shudders through the ship.

Goldie's calmly explains "I have traced the source of this disturbance to the Jump Drive. The terminus of jump space is currently being calculated, but the jump field is destabilizing prematurely."

Ever since you've taken possession of the Wayward Wind, the Jump Drive has been a little ... wayward. But fixing it has always been a lower priority. If you exit early from jump space, the carefully calculated terminus point might not materialize where Seally would have plotted it. Rather than a safe location, you might end up too deep inside a gravity well and be sucked into a star, or far outside the system, requiring days of travel to reach Walston.

"Damn! I knew we should have fixed that Jump Drive. Remind me again why we didn't fix it?" Zuni fights with the ship, trying to stabilize it.

"We're letting her live up to her name right now. Any damage to report, Alerio?"

"Do we have a vacc su…" Alerio says, joining in the banter over Zuzu before she’s thrown a little off balance by all the shuddering the ship is undergoing.

She groans, and curses as the fault is found to be in the J-Drive.

"Chief J-Drive Pummeler, reporting for duty!" she says, harkening back to all her threats to batter the damned thing with a wrench at any and all opportunities.

"I’ll go take a look!" she says with a sigh, before taking off down the Wayward Wind.

Looking at Zuni, We agreed the hull was the priority since it's the most integral part keeping us fleshy and supple meatbags from becoming hardened ice popsicles in the vastness of space. But the J-Drive is definitely next on the list for repairs. Plus I shudder to think how expensive it will be if a major problem is found. Engines aren't usually the cheapest parts of the ship."

Fallon bends down to give Zuzu some pets. "Comms for the pup sounds like a wonderful idea."

"I know Fallon. I wish we didn't have to prioritize that way, and who you calling a meatbag? I take pride in my supple, lithe body, you know."

Secretly, Zuni was a little concerned about what problems might be uncovered, but he figured giving voice to those concerns might be tempting fate.

"Come in suit up, play it safe ladies."

She hits the comm. "One, Four, Nine, put on enviro suits right away. Just in case things get a little dicey."

She grabs one from the bridge locker and begins to yank it on.

Fallon, now wearing her vacc suit as well, throws up her hands in disbelief. Oh come on! Really? I had just hyped myself up for this showdown with Dreks! I'm going to get fight-or-flight blue balls! Blue adrenal glands! Shit...Should we answer it?" She looks to Seally who is their de facto leader.

Seally is all business over the comm with her partners. "Zuni, plot an intercept course but don't engage yet. Fallon, Alerio, Zuni we decide this together. I vote we go. Report."

The windows shutters raise, letting in natural light into the Wayward Wind for the first time in a week. You've entered normal space quite close to Walston, no doubt a testament to Alerio's quick J-Drive repairs, the system's reddish star cresting behind it.

Your advanced sensor suite begins pulling in data as the distress call continues: "We are under attack ... main drive is gone ... turret number one not responding ... losing cabin pressure fast ... calling anyone ... please help ... this is Free Trader Beowulf ... mayday!"

You get a visual of the Beowulf listing in Walston's orbit, confirming their dire situation.

Then, sensors pick up the cause of the Beowulf's distress. A 400 dTon* Nishemani corsair is bearing down on her. It bristles with weapons, including 2 pulse laser triple turrets and a triple missile turret.

The Nishemani-class corsair's transponder indicates it is of Sword World origin, and designated Calibandr, which sparks a memory from weeks ago.

---

*- This ship is about twice as large as the Wayward Wind

"Oh, shit on multiple levels."

Zuni plots the intercept course and blows through his lips. "Remember The Drunken Droid on Elixabeth?"

Seally shivers. On the comms she says, "A narrow window of victory only. If we strike, we must hit it hard and fast, and hope to do enough damage that it cannot fight back effectively."

She puts her hand on Zuni's shoulder. "Are you up for this, my friend?"

"I am up for this, but is The Wayward Wind? I mean their ship is loaded! And they hate us. If we don't sneak in and kill them dead, we will be dead. You aren't kidding about a narrow window. It's razor thin."

Zuni shudders at what could lie ahead if they fail.

Alerio races back up and saves the report on the J-Drive for later!

"Sword Worlders!" she says, through gritted teeth. She gets ready to move to her station.

"I like those odds!" she says, about the razor thin margin they were working with! "Lets let em have it!!"

"Calibandr? Wasn't that the name of that smug Sword Worlder shit we met a few weeks ago? Was basically fellating Dreks and his battle prowess? Ugh I did not expect to run into them again. I'm in, but so help me if I die during this I will haunt any of you survivors."

"Yes, the very same. I doubt they will show mercy."

Zuni would have made some kind of wise-ass remark in response to Fallon's surprising potty mouth remark, but they were probably a few seconds away from dying.

Goldie puts the transmission from the Calibrandr on the main view screen. The image flickered to life, and before you sat the captain of the Calibrandr, a grotesque amalgamation of man and machine. Tubes pulsed rhythmically, carrying fluids through his ravaged body, while gears hissed and clicked in a discordant symphony of life sustained by cold, unfeeling technology.

But it was his face that commanded your gaze—a grim Sword Worlder funeral mask, its hollow eyes staring back with an eerie, unblinking intensity. The mask’s polished surface gleamed like bone, and its carved features, both austere and cruel, seemed to sneer at you from across the void.



"The Wayward Wind..." intoned the captain, his voice a resonant blend of flesh and machine, twisted with malice. "Ah, the cowards who dared strike me down — shot me through the chest and cast me to rot upon cursed Elixabeth. Did you think death would claim me so easily? Nay, I rose, my veins aflame with vengeance, my blade hungering for the taste of your blood!"

His eyes burned like twin embers as he stepped forward, the dim light gleaming off his jagged armor.

"Dreks foretold your return, to this insignificant speck of sand, though even he could not predict such pitiful haste. And lo, you come stumbling into the jaws of ruin ere the slaughter has truly begun. How considerate of you... to present yourselves for the reckoning."

"What did I tell you ladies?" Zuni hisses under his breath.

"Were fucked. If we try to run, we're dead. If we stay, we're fucked. Ideas?

In response, she smiles at Zuni, but says to the man on the screen, "Hi, good to see you! I see our gunshot hasn't improved your looks. Hold on right there while we finish wrapping your present."

She muted the main comm. On a side channel, she informs the crew, "Prepare for combat. Fallon, break their defenses open. Alerio, get ready with those extinguishers. Heretic Squad, prepare to repel boarders. And Zuni? Let's get close enough for missiles."

Secretly, she's terrified. They've been in combat before but the size of that thing! And Sword Worlders, they seem like they know what they're doing.

Everyone takes their stations - on the bridge Seally takes the captain's chair, routing sensors to her tactical screen; Fallon brings up the holgraphic controls for gunnery station, and Zuni takes a seat at the state-of-the-art, computer-assisted helm.



Down on the first deck, Heretic Squad suits up while Alerio takes her place in the advanced Countermeasures suite.

On Bridge of the Calibrandr

The Sword Worlder pilot of the Calibrandr wrenched the controls, skillfully bringing the hulking corsair around to bear. But his confidence faltered as his quarry darted through the void with impossible grace. The Wayward Wind danced like a phantom!

"By the stars, but she’s fast!" the young warrior bellowed, his voice tinged with disbelief, even as the ship's klaxons blared a deafening call to battlestations.

"Fast?" The captain’s voice thundered over the din, his fury sharp enough to cut steel. "Of course she’s fast! That’s Drek’s ship! The scourge of District 268!" He rose from his command chair, a twisted figure radiating venomous authority. "But fear not!" he snarled, his words dripping with contempt. "We outgun them three to one! And their crew? Nothing but a pack of craven women!"

The pilot’s hands tightened on the controls as he swallowed hard, the tension in the air thicker than the smoke of distant battles. The Calibrandr surged forward, engines screaming in pursuit, but doubt lingered like a shadow in the pilot’s mind.

On the Bridge of the Beowulf
Lights flared red across every console, the wail of alarms cutting through the chaos as the ship disintegrated around them. Captain Falkirk floated in zero gravity, propelling himself grimly down the darkened lift shaft, his hand clenched tight around his lucky rabbit’s foot. His jaw was set, his breaths sharp and measured. Engineering was his destination, on his way to help the chief to jump-start the failing J-Drive. His odds were dwindling fast, but he couldn't give up.

Through the static-laden comms, he heard their officer’s voice repeating the distress signal like a grim mantra. "Mayday... mayday... this is Free Trader Beowulf..." Falkrik cursed under his breath, his thoughts a storm. Damn it all, I should’ve stayed retired.

The ship shuddered under a new barrage of pulse laser fire, but then, as abruptly as it began, the onslaught stopped. The silence that followed was deafening, and far more sinister. Falkirk froze mid-motion, dread clawing up his spine. They’re boarding us, the thought came, cold and sharp. His grip tightened on the edge of the lift. Was it better to meet death in the cold, indifferent vacuum of space when the reactor went critical? Or to endure the slow agony of a Trexalon slave mine?

His hand drifted to his sidearm, fingers brushing the snub pistol in its holster. The weight of the weapon was a bitter comfort as he considered saving that last bullet.

Then, the intercom crackled to life, and a new voice cut through the darkness.

"Captain!" the sensor operator’s tone was sharp, urgent. "Another ship has arrived! The pirates—they’re turning away to face it!"

Falkirk paused, his breath catching. His grip on the rabbit’s foot eased slightly as a glimmer of hope sparked in his chest. Maybe, just maybe, the old spacer wasn’t out of luck after all.

Round 1
INITIATIVE ORDER:

1. Wayward Wind
2. Calbrandr
3. Beowulf

Manoeuvre Step > Attack Step > Actions Step
Pilots: Spend thrust points to increase or decrease range between ships, aid gunners of laser turrets, or dock with an adjacent enemy. Unused thrust points can be reserved later for evasive manoeuvres. Zuni can spend up to 6 thrust points.

Currently, the Wayward Wind is 30 thrust points from the Calibrandr and 35 from the Beowulf.

Captains: [Optional!] If you wish to take charge and guide your crew, make a Leadership (SOC) check. The effect indicates the number of Boons you can hand during this round. If the effective is negative, however, these will instead be Banes that the enemy can apply to your rolls!

Seally provides what guidance she can, organizing the crew and assigning resources where she can. Mainly, she's a firm hand they can turn to, and focus on their tasks at hand.

"Looks like we’ll have to do the job right this time!" Alerio barks through the comms once she sees the ‘man’ still alive.

Could he even be called a man anymore?

"No half measures! Let’s make sure he’s gone for good!" she says, and hopes the Sword Worlder could hear her.

"Just tell me where you want me to be!" she called to Seally, while running through the tasks before her!

Round 1
Manoeuvre Step > Attack Step > Actions Step
Gunners: Sight your marks and rain destruction! Fallon, with Goldie's assistance (Fire Assist/2), can control both the Pulse Lasers and Missile turrets.

Pulse Lasers: No target in range
Missile Turret: Missile rack is loaded and ready (12/12 missiles remaining)

Seally carefully watches the monitors looking for whatever intel that will inform them of the Calibradr's actions or weaknesses.

"She's slower than us. If we can find a range and stay there, we can stay out of her laser batteries effectiveness. "

"What do you see?" Alerio calls over the comms, feeling a little useless when she’s not got a gun in her hand. She’d just as soon boot up with the boys and get ready for boarding. But maybe it wouldn’t come to that!

"Should we be expecting company?" she adds!

Fallon grins in her turret chair. "Bring it on you half-dead douchecruiser," she says to herself as she launches the first rocket.

Zuni does what he does best as he watches the missile tail away from their ship.

"Battle stations everyone!" he calls out. "Sorry, I've always wanted to say that," he says, grinning nervously.

Round 1
Manoeuvre Step > Attack Step > Actions Step

Engineer & Countermeasures: Since nothing is on fire, Alerio has nothing to fix. From the Countermeasures suite, she can either jam communications so the Calibrandr can't send messages, break / prevent sensor locks to make it harder for the Calibrandr to hit you, or disable incoming missiles. Since no missiles have been detected yet, you can only do either 1 or 2.

Alerio gets a +6 to either action (in addtion to skill bonuses) because of the state-of-the-art countermeasures suite that is at your disposal.

---

Captain and Sensor Operator: Seally is in the captain's chair, but can also do sensor operator actions. She can use the sensors to acquire a sensor lock to make your weapons more effective, or through leadership she can inspire the crew to the Wayward Wind's improve initiative position (you already are on top of initiative).

Seally gets a +2 to the sensor rolls because of your advanced sensors.

---

Free action: Anyone may send out comms to Walston, the Beowulf, or the Calibrandr

Seally describes over the comms the unfolding action, even as she focuses the instruments to pinpoint the vector the Calibrandr is burning along. "I'll attempt to get sensor lock for that missile. Let's watch for a retaliatory flash, and someone open a comm to the Beowolf. If they can provide any help, their survival odds improve."

"Blocking their ability to do the same!" Alerio calls back, when Seally makes mention of sensor locks!

She works away at her console, trying hard to blind the bird opposite them so that the missiles could hit their target!

Missiles away! Fallon thinks. With a few spare moments, she calls up the Beowulf. "Come in, Beowulf. This is the Wayward Wind. Hopefully we are saving your ass. Please get out of here at your earliest convenience. Which should be about five seconds ago."

Seally's fingers fly over the console, attempting to hone in the resolution. She ignores Dreks for the moment.

Zuni again launches The Wayward Wind ahead, full thrust, the words no disintegration from Dreks, swirling around in his head.

Fallon switches to internal comms. "Shit, salvo incoming!" She swaps from missile interface to pulse lasers. The vector prediction symstem display gives her probable courses for the missiles and she lines up the shots as best she can. Fire!

"What? Ah, great! Ok. Hold onto your .... chairs ladies ...."

Zuni, with gritted teeth, uses all his skill to steer around the missiles.

"Great flying, Zuni!" Seally cheers from her station.

There might have been a fist pump when Zuni realized they weren't dead ... yet.

"Tough luck with the laser but we will get them next time." Not anywhere near being out of the woods yet, Zuni gets back into serious mode and flying the ship.

"Thanks Seally! I'll take any and all encouragement."

Seally is excited by the news from the Beowulf. Our efforts might be heroic!

She scans the sky hard for missiles. She whispers, "Come on, where are you?"

Fallon is grateful for the Wayward Wind's technology and having dual screens. She sets one dedicated to pulse lasers and one to missile controls, with a hand on each. "Time to get serious."
She glances at one read-out, then the other, calculating trajectories and and vectors and speeds. When she judges the time is right, she fires the appropriate weapons.

Alerio watches the missile woosh by, and is keenly aware how close they came to being on the business end of that warhead!

These guys meant business…

"We don’t want to get hit by one of those! Let’s get in close and get around them!" she calls over the comms, hoping their foe wouldn’t be able to get a good shot on the nimble ship!

More than a few beads of sweat dot Zuni's forehead as he guides the ship away from the missiles and into laser range.

Round 2
Manoeuvre Step > Attack Step > Actions Step

Engineer & Countermeasures: Since nothing is on fire, Alerio has nothing to fix. From the Countermeasures suite, she can either jam communications so the Calibrandr can't send messages, break / prevent sensor locks to make it harder for the Calibrandr to hit you, or disable incoming missiles.

Alerio gets a +6 to any of these actions (in addition to skill bonuses) because of the state-of-the-art countermeasures suite that is at your disposal.

---

Captain and Sensor Operator: Seally is in the captain's chair, but can also do sensor operator actions. She can use the sensors to acquire a sensor lock to make your weapons more effective, or through leadership she can inspire the crew to the Wayward Wind's improve initiative position (you already are on top of initiative).

Seally gets a +2 to the sensor rolls because of your advanced sensors.

---

Free action: Anyone may send out comms to Walston, the Beowulf, or the Calibrandr

"Shit! Intercepting!" Alerio calls, as she works hard to try stop the missiles before they can even pick up enough speed to punch through the Wayward Wind.

Seally triggers the comms to Beowolf, "Hold on Beowolf, any help you can give us will get those pirates off your back sooner. Jam 'em if you can."

She locks the sensor suite on the Calibrandr, and tries to dial up a firing solution.

"Kark it!" Alerio shouts, as she can’t seem to get enough juice out of the console to do much of anything!

"Someone’s going to want to shoot those down! I don’t think this thing’s got the power for it just yet!" she says, before fiddling with the console to try squeeze a little more out of the array!

On the bridge, Seally manages to zero in on a firing solution, and Goldie sends this additional data to all the missiles' tracking systems, including the one in flight. Meanwhile, Alerio struggles to disable the missile salvo making its way toward the Wayward Wind. She's never seen this spread pattern before, and the Sword Worlders were known for being cunning opponents in battle.

Zuni's nerves jangle but he's good. It' just normal fight or flight stuff, or so he tells himself. He keeps a steady hand on the controls and applies what he hopes will be just the right amount of thrust. He knows he can handle this. Hell, didn't he fly into a volcano?

Seally doesn't try and lead her team. They know what they're doing and she'll just interfere with their concentration again.

"Beowulf, I have one of those 'it's just crazy enough to work' ideas. Can you get just your weapons operational? We want you to launch a surprise volley timed perfectly with our own. Multiple attacks from different vectors may overwhelm them enough to get a direct hit. We just need one good hit. Then we can help you with any repairs."

Fallon switches to internal comms. "Seally, Zuni, let's get crazy. I have an idea. After our next missile launch, fly toward the enemy, then we launch a second at the precise time so they both reach the target in tandem. Do you think you can do that?"

Alerio is worried that the Beowulf opening fire will only remind the Sword Worlders of their presence. She wouldn’t put it past the opposing crew to carry out a coup de grâce to take the Beowulf out of the fight for good…

Zuni is already closing the distance but holding back enough juice in case he needs to make a fancy defensive maneuver later.

"Already on it, Fallon!"

"Love it, let's fly!"

Round 3
Manoeuvre Step > Attack Step > Actions Step

"Let’s hope they didn’t hear that!" Alerio shouts over the comms, as the Beowulf promises to partake in the combat! If the Calibrandr was listening, they may strike first to take the bird out of the fight!

Fallon pumps a fist that Beowulf intends to follow her plan. Now she just has to succeed at it...

Seeing more missiles incoming, she gives her full focus on the pulse laser.

"Oh shit. Here it comes!" Sweat almost drips into his eyes as he gathers all his skill, knowing that if he doesn't dodge, it's curtains for them all!

"Damn I'm good!" Zuni says, fully believing it.

Alerio holds onto her console tight, as Zuni has them zipping this way and that, and head over heels.

"Good thing I skipped breakfast!" she calls over the comms, when they finally settle back down to line up their next shot on the damned Sword Worlders!

The crew's efforts have managed to allow the Wayward Wind to go toe-to-toe with the more heavily armed corsair. Of course, having one of the most advanced starships on the frontier in their hands doesn't hurt.

As the ships hurtle towards each other, they each release another volley of missiles - the Calibrandr firing three for every one that the Wayward Wind fires, but what the Wayward Wind lacked in quantity it made up in accuracy. If only it could get a salvo passed their defences!
9 Missiles remaining. Missiles travel 10 thrust per turn, and we roll to hit when they reach their target. Undetected missiles cannot be defended against!

"Let’s try this again!" Alerio says, preparing to melt some incoming missiles… if she can!

"Be ready to shoot them down if I can’t give this girl some juice!" she warns her crewmates, as she turns all of her focus and attention onto melting those damned warheads!

Seally fights the distortion and rapidly closing vectors, attempting to kick into the Calibrandr once more.

Meanwhile, Zuni becomes more comfortable with the possibility that they might actually live and does his best to steer the ship out of harm's way while cheering as his fellow crewmates strut their stuff.

Seally knows it's crunch time. Her comrades need to know that victory is near, and not be scrambling for the life boats. On the comms, she says, "We've closed in to the corsair, it's thick as thieves here. These morons work for Drex, and we all know that Drex is waiting. He's sacrificing them to test us. He's watching. Let's show him why he should be afraid. Unleash the Chief Woofer!" The internal monitors switch to Zuzu.

Alerio hollers as she successfully saves the Wayward Wind from the latest barrage! She doesn’t let up however, and keeps hammering away at her console in anticipation of more shit coming her way from these Sword Worlders!

She slicks her hair back, and rubs the sweat that had begun to slicken her forehead. When Zuzu comes up on the screen, she gives a chuckle before quickly getting back to it!

"Tell me we’ve got em!" she calls to the others!

Round 4
Manoeuvre Step > Attack Step > Actions Step

Fallon grins as the Beowulf has followed her plans. She just hopes it works. Her hands dart across the missile targeting screen as she readies another salvo. Please let at least one hit, she thinks. She presses fire!

As nothing comes back over the comms, Alerio calls again:

"Tell me we’ve got em!!"

A minute, when you were up against Sword Worlders, feels like a month!

Zuni feels a little sick to his stomach. Nerves, maneuvers, the waiting, he's not sure which. He hopes he doesn't make a fool of himself at the most inopportune time.

Seally grips the console in front of her, lips moving in entreaty. Come on Wayward Wind, you can do it!

On the main viewer, the Sword Worlder’s ship erupts into a searing inferno as your missile slams home, engulfing the entire aft section in a thunderous explosion. Alarms blare from the sensors: the weapon systems are crippled, the jump drive is in ruin, the cargo bay is torn apart, and even the bridge has been compromised!

Chief Woofer Zuzu howls in victory over the comms.

Fallon shouts, "The missile is mightier than the Sword, bitch! Now let's put you out of your misery. Don't want you coming back for another sequel!" Fallon switches to the pulse laser screen, aims, fires.

"An injured serpent is at it's most dangerous. Steady now girls, let's see if she's dead in the water before we board her."

"Yowza, ladies! I can't believe any of this is happening! And I echo Zuzu's sentiments completely.

Zuni takes the ship in a circle around the hopefully dead ship, keeping a safe distance between them.

"Yeah ... standby just in case, Fallon."

Round 4
Manoeuvre Step > Attack Step > Actions Step

Engineer & Countermeasures: Since nothing is on fire, Alerio has nothing to fix. From the Countermeasures suite, she can either jam communications so the Calibrandr can't send messages, break / prevent sensor locks to make it harder for the Calibrandr to hit you. There are no enemy missiles to disable currently.

Alerio gets a +6 to any of these actions (in addition to skill bonuses) because of the state-of-the-art countermeasures suite that is at your disposal.

---

Captain and Sensor Operator: Seally is in the captain's chair, but can also do sensor operator actions. She can use the sensors to acquire a sensor lock to make your weapons more effective, or through leadership she can inspire the crew to the Wayward Wind's improve initiative position (you already are on top of initiative).

Seally gets a +2 to the sensor rolls because of your advanced sensors.

---

Free action: Anyone may send out comms to Walston, the Beowulf, or the Calibrandr

Seally continues to try and get a sensor lock. "They're going to get away and they'll hold a grudge. Those types always come back with their shiftless friends and a borrowed ship."

"No, no we can't let them get away! Come on Seally, keep trying!"

We've come this far. We can do it.

"I can try make it so they can’t call this in for a while!" Alerio calls over the comms, hoping that they could be done with this crew here and now! If not, then she didn’t want them coming back with a pack of sword worlders howling for revenge.

"Jamming their comms now!"

Seally triggers the viewscreen to the Calibrandr. She leans closer, teeth bared.

"You prey upon those you think are weaker than you. You think this makes you strong, but we come now, angels of vengeance to teach you that is an error. Even if you escape, we will find you. You will think it's over. And then your lights will go out and the universe will become a braver place in your cowardly absence."

"Whoa, Seally. You'll have them shaking in their boots with that speech."

Zuni was impressed with her impassioned threat. "Remind never to get on your wrong side!" he says as he again prepares to steer the ship out of harm's way.

Fallon grins wolfishly, finally having her targets where she wants them. "No sequels this time." She pushes the buttons for missiles and pulse lasers simultaneously.

Speeches were one thing, but taking the thorn out of their side for good was better! Alerio holds her applause and lesson-giving until she could give it basking in the glow of the sword worlder’s ship going up in flames.

She feels another missile shunt off into space, and tries to get a view of it crossing the space between her and them.

"Come on, come on!"

The combined firepower of the Wayward Wind and the Beowulf hammers into the crippled Calibrandr. Explosions envelope the corsair, and the pulse laser rips through their fuel tanks, triggering a catastrophic chain reaction. In a final, fiery blast, the Sword Worlder vessel is utterly annihilated—erased from the stars in a decisive victory!

Fallon lets out a cheer so loud the reverberations in her turret room hurts her ears and makes her wince afterward. "Let's see you come back from that! You got blown apart so hard even your atoms got concussions!" Fallon can't keep the grin off her face as she switches to internal comms. "Thank you, thank you, I can hear your applause from here. I think we can all agree I have already lived up to my new title of Chief Master Blaster! Let's get to rescuing the Beowulf and then I think we deserve a nice vacation at a clothing-optional beach. Over."

"Over!" Alerio calls back, and she can’t hide the trembling happiness in her voice! She’s much more comfortable on the ground: having never really grown too accustomed to space combat!

"Glad we pulled through! Should we call up the Beowulf and invite them for cocktails?" she adds. They needed the assist, but that was hidden within all the celebratory chatter!

Seally laughs, the tension released. "They're still hanging on by a razors edge. Let's see if we can help them stabilize."

She first signals Alerio. "Alerio, everything okay down there? I want to offer the Beowulf our, your, assistance."

Zuni practically dances in his chair when the corsair is blown to smithereens.

"Damn, we did it! Now let's go save the Beowolf."

"All good down here! I didn’t have much to do… thankfully!" she says, and means it. That doesn’t mean the next few hours wouldn’t be hectic.

They were a long way from being done!

Fallon replies to the Beowulf. "I'm no doctor but I am the closest thing our ship has to a medic. I can come over and give you a hand." Then Dreks interrupts and Fallon has to bite her tongue to keep back a volley of vicious invective. The Wayward Wind is technically Seally's ship and she is their leader so she begins to suit up in her vacc suit while waiting for Seally's response.

Zuni can't help but be proud of the compliment from Beowulf's Captain. But the happy feeling didn't last long when their nemesis appeared on the screen.

Bastard! Zuni had gone from ebullient to seething in the span of a few seconds. They were caught in a very sticky situation with a ruthless amoral man. Zuni looks wide-eyed to Sealy for inspiration.

Seally thinks a moment and then answers Dreks. "Hi baby, did you have a good nap? Your friends are no more, unfortunately. I was hoping to salvage some gear off the Calibrandr, but unfortunately she just fell apart at the slightest jostle. Nothing remains of them. Now, if you could just send us your exact coordinates, we'll resolve this quickly. If your other friends are listening, tell them they should take a few steps away."[/f] She waves sweetly and cuts the channel.

To Zuni she says, "Ahead to the Beowolf, Mr. Zuni, and get us into docking range. I want one of the Heretic Squad to accompany each of Alerio and Fallon. They might need their strength to move girders and so forth."

"Aye aye captain. Oh wait, that's at sea isn't it? Yes sir, captain sir, I mean ma'am." Zuni reminds himself once again of all the years he wasted watching ancient movies from earth.

"I'm on it."

The excited and excitable pilot tries to deftly maneuver the ship into docking range.

Alerio makes her way up to the others as Seally pokes at Dreks! This is why she likes to be in the mix! If she had Dreks within arms reach, she could throttle him before he could harm any of the people Alerio had met before…

From this distance… She doesn’t share Seally’s bravado. But they are committed and they’d know the outcome by end of day!

"On my way." she offers to the captain of the Beowulf over comms!