A #Starward tale/campaign, overplayed by me, with Jonathan McGraw, Eugene Wheeler III, and Mike Leavitt.
Gametable: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1_XYySgPVluo546KnkFenDZlKMVqHILdoj1dXrOOtm94/edit?usp=sharing
Opening Crawl
The Vaex Armada has tracked the Resistance fleet to the farthest reaches of the Anixel System, hellbent on exterminating the insurgents at last. A raging naval battle ensues in the asteroid belt hinterlands.
A small band of Resistance infantry and specialists have landed on an abandoned asteroid weapon station buried deep in the hinterlands, racing to the controls of ancient weapons which may yet turn the tide of the naval battle raging above.
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Dramatis Personae
Nog, a Gnaean warhusk living his twilight terminal-life inside a Cortex armor suit, defending his people as his life ebbs away. He is guided by the voices of dozens of Gnaeans who have worn this suit before him; a high-tech version of ancestor spirits.
Qanas alAzraq, a shadowy sniper and stealth warrior, bearing a powerful rifle and a carapace-like armor flecked with tools and displays.
Oz, a machinegunner and grizzled combat veteran. One of the few survivors of the Vaex obliteration of the 181st Regiment; he now seeks vengeance.
The Vaex, alien warriors with overactive regenerative processes and extremely weak immune systems; leading to continuous molting and vulnerable to virtually any contaminants. As they age and become more decrepit, they use environmental encounter suits to protect them from even “normal” environments, augmented with prosthetics to replace body parts. Their heavy reliance on technology would be crippling to them, were it not so brutally effective.
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Chapter 1
Our heroes are pinned down and being pushed back by Vaex infantry and towering Armor who have teleported into the darkened approach corridor. The battlespace is lit only by Armor running lights and the constant flicker of blaster fire. After a quick suit-sensor scan of the surroundings, Nog finds a station control which fires a defensive EMP down the corridor; the security system here was set up to repel an active assault on the control room. The Vaex mech-suit Armor sags, slams to the floor, and begins to reboot itself while the younger, not-yet-biomechanical Vaex infantry press toward the beleaguered Resistance troops.
Oz lays down chattering repeater fire and motions up the Resistance infantry toward the disabled Vaex Armor and infantry, but more Vaex infantry teleports in behind friend lines, and the lead Vaex Armor finishes power back up and resumes blasting . Qanas takes precise but ineffective shots at the Vaex Armor, then is ambushed by a teleporting Vaex footsoldier. Qanas grabs the Vaex trooper, and manhandles him into opening fire on several of his friends and absorbing return fire as a shield.
The lead Vaex Armor is now back online, and charges at the boulder Oz and several fellow Resistance troops are using for cover. Oz and his friends dodge away at the last moment, and when the Armor pushes the boulder over, it reveals a "this side toward enemy" sticky mine. The resulting blast rocks the corridor and sends chunks of that Armor everywhere.
The tide turns. The Vaex infantry fall back to the control room doorway, deploying energy shields that deflect projectile and energy weapons harmlessly into the stone of the corridor. All but one remaining Vaex Armor hunkers down behind the shields and unleashes heavy fire on the Resistance troops.
The ancient voices living in Nog’s Gnaean armor tell him that the energy shields aren’t Vaex technology. Emboldened by this knowledge, Nog bodyslams the nearest Vaex Armor, throwing him around to smash several Vaex infantry and before throwing him through the energy shields, which are NOT rated for such a large projectile. Qanas, meanwhile, cuts all lights and indicators, ghosting into the surroundings, slips behind the shields and climbing aboard each of the remaining Armors to slit power lines, dropping the enemy’s remaining heavy weapons in a giant cloud of blue and red flickering smoke.
Token enemy resistance remains; the way to the weapons’ control room is clear.
But the Vaex have now realized the seriousness of the situation aboard the ancient weapon, and their flagship dreadnought begins firing on the asteroid base. A veritable earthquake begins under the bombardment. Our heroes push down the hallway as the last of the Resistance and Vaex infantry attempt to gain the upper hand, finally reaching a giant door with a glowing keyboard. Vaex infantry, realizing their failure, rushes to stop them from getting through. The dark hallway lights up like a star with Oz's automatic gunfire laying down supressing fire to cover Nog, who rips the door open with main force, rips the door from its hinges and tosses it over Oz and Qanas atop the oncoming Vaex troops. The entire facility shakes, on the verge of coming apart under heavy Vaex naval gunfire.
A vast control room lays beyond, smooth black stone control panels with holographic glyphs floating in blue and green and red. The station continues to shake as the dreadnaught pours on artillery fire. Qanas rushes to the central control platform to figure out how to fire the weapon and save the Resistance Fleet, but it is first blasted by the last, barely-functional Vaex Armor, spewing gas and sparks with one arm blown off. It stomps into the control room raises its remaining fist to smash the floor in a roaring show of force… Except that Oz grabs a Vaex energy shield station and tosses it in front of the Armor, whose swinging fist triggers the projectile defense and pulses mightily, blasting the Armor to pieces.
As the station continues threatening to disintegrate under the Vaex Dreadnaught’s bombardment, Nog strides to the downed Armor pilot, grabs him by the throat, and drags him to an apparently-secondary control panel for the base’s weapons system. “We couldn’t have done this without you,” he laughs at the helpless Vaex. He wipes his armored palm across the Vaex’s bloodied face, then uses the blood to trace a symbol on a control panel, activating the station’s core doomsday weapon.
A combination of the Anixelians’ long-dead studies in eugenics, epidemiology, and long-range phase technology, the weapon beams a customized virus through the whole system keyed to the Vaex genome. The station suddenly grows silent as the bombardment ceases; the Resistance fleet radios our heroes their congratulations. Nog laughs maniacally; without the Vaex counterassault on the control room, there would have been no blood sample to calibrate the weapon. Oz grumps, "I hate being bait." Qanas, simply eager to be off this rock, asks the fleet to beam them up.
tl;dr #Starward fucking rocks, everyone should play it, the end.
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