Firan wakes violently as the the birds pelt his armor like little winged daggers. His mind was spinning, 'What are these things things? Where's everyone else?'

But those thoughts passed through his mind as fast as they had came, instinct was taking over now. A rush of adrenaline sends him to his feat, his hand on his pistol for the draw. 'These things are gonna be hard to hit,' Firan thinks to himself, 'But I'm good.' Stepping back he raises his pistol and blasts.

Two maneuvers, one to disengage with the targer, and one with strain to draw his pistol. Action to attack.

killing birds: 1eD+1eS+2eA+2eP 1 success, 4 advantage

6 damage+1success+2 point blank=9 total damage. 4 Advantage is kind of a lot, any chance my shot was loud or bright enough to catch the attention of another party memeber? If not scoring a crit will be a good enough use.

Two maneuvers, one to stand, and one with strain to draw his pistol. Action will be to attack. I know the increase in difficulty from using Ranged at Engaged, but are there any Setback for defense or anything?

Thanks for asking! They have Ranged Defense 1.

Also, you don't need to take a maneuver to stand. You can still suffer 2 strain and take a maneuver to disengage if you wish to do so, before attacking.

Firan's unmistakable blaster shots could be heard from hundreds of meters away in the moisture-poor forest, echoing from tree to tree.

Three birds fell from Firan's blasterfire, and the rest of the pack were thrown into momentary chaos.

The crit is good. Also, those who want to attempt to bring the group back together will have their checks Boosted once due to his Advantageous combat check.

New round! The first 5 PCs may go. I'll be spending Destiny Points to upgrade the difficulty of everyone's checks this round.

I'll go first since I'll be at Worlds tomorrow and Friday for Armada.

Seifer will make an attack with his lightsaber and then take a stress to Assume defensive stance, which combined with Sense will upgrade the first two attacks against him 3 times and all attacks after that once.

Attacking the flying creatures with his lightsaber: 2eA+2eP+1eC+1eD 4 successes, 1 advantage

Kovin keeps running, darting between the trees, Zelt following in his wake. The tree-cat's body is low to the ground, protected against the creatures above; Kovin is not so lucky, as the creatures race around him and above him, darting in and laying wounds upon him. As he rushes on, he spots a tree leaned over to one side, its roots raised up to waist height on one side and thickly knotted. He darts through them, his thin body able to enter where the broad-winged birds would have difficulty, then he turns back lying down, face outwards, Zelt cowering to one side, and looks up. He takes a moment to consider his options. He is almost unarmed, but Maya is nearby. He could call her now to help him, and realising this he shouts out. "Maya! Maya! Help, they're all over me!"

Maneuver to disengage

Maneuver to move under the tree

Incidental to call for help

The tree is well-covered, so in addition to the setback for cover can I flip a Destiny point to upgrade the birds' next attack once?

Correction: maneuver to disengage, and a maneuver to take cover. Good narrative use of cover. If you spend a Destiny Point, the raptors will not be able to attack you while you remain in cover.

Right, sorry about that. I'll edit the post. And yes I'll flip that Destiny point, and flip it good!

A sudden cry for help broke Maya's concentration. She looked over and saw Kovin. He was being harried by more avians, several meters away. She was too far away, but she had to try.

Small streaks of pain tore through her as the avians took advantage of their retreating foe, but Maya ignored the pain as best as she could. As she advanced closer, she dug deep within herself and willed the Force to do her bidding once more.

Maya's own resolve gave her clarity where the fear only gave her focus. She knew what she had to do. Kovin would not approve of directly harming the birds as she had done to the ones bothering her just a few minutes ago, but she had other ways to drive these creatures away.

The birds were circling the tree that Kovin had used for cover, unsure of how to get to him. Maya took advantage of their hesitation. A series of vines whipped out from the tree and began to encase a number of them; seizing them where they flew.

Bind Force power roll: 3eF 3 Light Side, 1 Dark Side

Maneuver to disengage, a second maneuver to get closer to Kovin (taking 2 strain), and an action to activate bind. I will flip a destiny point and suffer 3 strain (for a total of 5) to activate bind, a range upgrade, and the control upgrade. If they take an action they will suffer 3 strain.

Depending on how you adjudicate Bind on minion groups, If the targets from last round act, they will be suffering 3 strain as well, and they are still disoriented for one more round.

Is there a more defensible location I can move to? Some place where I could limit the birds ability to get at me?

Xan looks for a more defensible position: (I assume this is upgraded once)

Survival: 2eA+1eD+1eC 0 successes, 1 threat

Xan suddenly realizes, however, that there is a very good location which escaped his notice. He sees a...

I assume awayputurwpn would want some input into how I could use my triumph, given the oddness of this situation. What does Xan see that could constitute a Triumph rolled on his Survival check to find a defensible position?

The hawks backed off of Kovin's position, alighting on nearby branches. There, they started to sing, an otherworldly melody that rose and fell in an almost hypnotic fashion.

Singing: 2eP+3eA+3eD 3 successes, 1 advantage


Kovin suffers 3 strain.

Kovin began to feel oddly tired—this singing was the same thing that he'd heard before they had journeyed into the forest. Before they'd become separated.

...an old, imposing tree with an incline between two mighty roots and enough thick, low-lying branches to keep the birds from attacking from above. Xan immediately darts there, denying the foul avians the ability to attack from behind or above or to flank him. He maintains his defensive stance.

The prey birds that had been pursuing Maya were sufficiently dissuaded. The several that were left flew away, crying angrily at their foiled attempts to gain a meal.

-

Meanwhile, another group of birds attempted to tear into Seifer, but the Jedi was far too adept and focused to allow the creatures to penetrate his careful defenses.

Last PC—I believe that's Firan again! Firan, the birds are disengaged and you've still got a free, out of turn maneuver. You may perform it before taking your action.

The birds manage to bite and tear in the gaps between his armor. These little things are deadlier than their size alludes to. Lining up his shot, Firan blasts into the swam in retaliation, starting to get frustrated with this situation.

Free maneuver will be to true aim, then regular maneuver to aim. Action to blast them.

Blasting: 3eP+1eA+2eB+1eD+1eS 7 successes, 2 advantage

7 success + 6 damage + 2 point blank = 15. Any ideas for the Advantage?

Firan laid waste to three more hawks. The remainder took to the air, and Firan was given a respite. As they began to fly away, they sang a song, and Firan felt his eyelids getting heavy. Their song was the last thing Firan remembered before he'd blacked out earlier.

But then his comlink let out a burst of static—perhaps a result of the jostling his helmet had just taken—and the sound from the comlink's open channel canceled out the sound of the hawks' singing.

Firan suddenly remembered that he had a comlink with him, and that so did everyone else. Perhaps they were within communication range, and could be contacted...?

New round?

If so, maintain defensive stance and cover of tree, use action to retrieve comlink and say, "Hello? Can anybody hear me?"

Kovin pauses. He feels the heaviness of his head, his drooping eyelids, and for a moment he is almost overwhelmed by the feeling of drowsiness. A part of him wants to just lie down and sleep - but then he rallies. He centers himself, focusing on the half-remembered tenets from the campfire the evening before. Short lessons with Xan, trying to instill a few core principles of the Jedi into the willful youth.

There is no emotion, there is peace

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge

There is no passion, there is serenity

There is no chaos, there is harmony

There is no death, there is the Force

This done, Kovin reaches into his knapsack to find the emergency comlink in it. Hitting the talk switch, he broadcasts on the channel the group had agreed the night after crossing the river in case any of them were separated. "Hello, is anyone there? This is Kovin, and Maya's nearby. Can anyone here me? Can anyone see me?"

You may talk to each other as out-of-turn incidentals, but don't get crazy...