Right, so Dabross takes the three stun from the shockers. Don't forget that he's also failed two coordination rolls, inflicting two strain a piece.

Also, just for notekeeping purposes. Attacks this next turn have a setback die on the Weequay (as well as a boost die from his remaining two threat of the four that he rolled last time, unless you want to just inflict strain).

Oh, right, I forgot the strain from the chain. So we could possibly have downed him if I hadn't rolled like a muppet... Perhaps I'm just going to let him keep going until he hangs himself

That's one of the reasons I don't want to "move" as such, because I know the strain is going to take a toll on Lang and Dro-Kar swiftly if they fail a couple of the checks. It's a horrible furball of a battle! I'm loving every second of it.

Caizu - also noticed I missed one of your questions. You are across the arena from the gladiatorial cells and medium distance away from the gate. After you move I'll get the next round of the baddies going for Sunday!

Caizu glances up in the direction of the shouting. "But I can see that you're all busy," she says. "So, if you'll excuse me—"

Instead of finishing her sentence, Caizu breaks back into a sprint, wincing slightly as pain shoots through her ankle. Must have twisted it, she thinks, willing it to stay stable. If she slips now—but she doesn't. She half-collapses against the gate, panting as she presses the code cylinder into the lock.

Let this work, she thinks. This has to work. She doesn't fancy trying to fight her way back out; there's a reason she attached herself to the pair of fighters over there. Figuratively, thank goodness. And she'd like it to stay that way.

Caizu's turn:

Maneuver: Move to Short range of the gate.

Maneuver: Engage the gate.

Action: Utilize code cylinder!

The Toydarian announcer’s wings flutter with glee as he sees Caizu launch herself into the arena, landing in a roll. “ And a third combatant enters the fold! ” he shouts, but even the amplified projection is eclipsed by the cheers of the crowd.

Dark, viscous blood continues to pour out of the wide wound in the Gammorean’s side. Dabross’ broad chest heaves, a combination of exhaustion and blood loss seemingly sapping some of the giant’s speed and strength. Dabross narrowly avoids Dro-Kar’s attack from below and is forced directly into Lang’s range. The Gammorean immediately pays for his misstep – Lang’s shock gloves flare, sending electricity pulsing through the alien. The porcine humanoid’s small hairs singe and a faint smell of fried bacon emanates from the giant.

“ Dabross! FINISH THIS! ” Teemo howls from his throne, spittle flying from the Hutt’s mouth in anger. Rija, the Hutt’s translator, cowers away from his master at every word, obviously afraid of Teemo’s temper and potential misguided punishment. I am not envious of the champions today , the Twi’lek thinks to himself. If those slaves let that Chiss escape then Teemo will feed them to the Sarlacc in short order.

The Weequay notices the new entrant to the entertainment pits but after quick assessment, he rightly believes that he has greater threats at hand. Nirok maneuvers in a low squat, feeling his opponent out for an opening before exploding in an all-out attack, flashing quick strikes aimed to debilitate Dro-Kar. The Nikto is prepared and is able to deflect the attacks as none of the strikes land clean.

Caizu scrambles across the pit, navigating the chaotic scene in front of her to reach the gate at the opposite end of the entertainment pits. From the lip of the arena, the porcine palace guard tracks the Chiss’ running path through the sight of his blaster pistol, but the crowded arena makes it difficult to get a clear look. With a piggish squeal, he pulls the trigger, a blaster bolt scorching the clay wall just a foot away from Caizu’s head. Faster… come on… faster… Caizu thinks. Her hands move dexterously and efficiently as she rotates through the code cylinders, trying each one in turn to see which of the cylinders may give access to the gladiatorial cells within.

“ Not so fast! ” the hulking Gammorean bellows. Dabross labors heavily, stepping between the tethered pair and the potential exit route. “We will finish this, scum!” Dabross rounds on Lang, swinging his fists downward like hammers raining down from the skies on the ex-lawman. A massive blow lands on the Mirialan’s temple followed by an overhand right fist smashing down with concussive force, staggering Lang.

Nirok's turn:

Maneuver - aim

Action - attacks at Dro-Kar (resulting in three damage)

Nirok attacks Dro-Kar : 2eA+2eD+1eS+1eB 1 success

Dabross' turn:

Maneuver - moves to put himself in between the fighters and the exit (flipping a destiny point so pool is back to 3D 2L)

Dabross moves to block the door : 1eP+1eA+2eD 1 success, 1 advantage

Action - attacks Lang, resulting in 5 damage. Another triumph :/ This time Dabross will use it to disorient Lang, providing a setback die on all checks this next turn. The two threat will provide a boost die on all attacks towards the Gammorean for the remainder of the turn.

Dabross attacks Lang : 3eP+1eA+2eD+1eS 1 success, 2 threat, 1 Triumph

The guard aims and then fires poorly at Caizu.

Guard fires at Caizu : 2eA+3eD+1eB 0 successes, 2 threat

Caizu - why don't you make an average Cool check to get the door open under pressure. Let's also add a setback die as you've got blaster fire whizzing by you! Success you get it open now. Failure means it costs you an additional maneuver at the beginning of your next turn.

Dro-Kar has been fixated on the life-or-death combat, blocking out the shouts and the noise from the audience. Until he hears the Toydarian announcer shout “And a third combatant enters the fold!” Expecting treachery, the Nikto quickly looks around, trying to find the third enemy gladiator thrown into the fight against him and Lang. To his surprise he sees Caizu sprinting across the pit, trying to get to the door, and a guard trying to shoot her.

Darn! This wasn’t the plan! This wasn’t the plan at all. Throwing all caution to the wind, Dro-Kar dodges a swing from the Weequay and thrusts the knife at Dabross as he raises his hands to deliver a deafening blow to Lang. The knife strikes Dabross in the armpit, sinking deep into his body and shredding his flesh as it is ripped out of his body. The Gammorean’s blow still connects, stunning the Mirialan, but the gigantic Dabross shakes as he feels the steel ripped out of his body, blood gushing from a second wound that would have ended the fight for most beings.

The Gammorean has a stunned look on his face, and he tries to stem the tide of blood flowing from his armpit with his fat right hand. He shakes his head, as if in disbelief, before falling face down into the sand in the pit with a mighty thud, blood flowing between his fingers, coloring the sand deep-dark red.

“You are done,” Dro-Kar growls at the massive Gammorean, before looking at Nirok with his teeth bared, the bloody knife still in his hand.

OK, so let's do this. My bribe to the Orokos people is away, let's see how this goes.

Dro-Kar will take a maneuver to aim for one boost. A second comes from Drabros‘ threats and the third from Lang‘s previous attack. And I‘ll upgrade again with a DP flip. Seems like we need it…

Time to end this, piggy! : 2eA+1eP+3eB+2eD+1eS 4 successes, 4 advantage

Wooo! So that will be 8 damage, pierce 2. I‘ll use two advantages for a critical hit. And since I really want to finish him in style, I‘ll use the other two advantages to activate a critical hit again, giving me +10 to the roll. I already get +10 for the Vicious properties of the knife and +10 for the previous critical hit he took, so the total is 1d100+30! Let‘s roll high on this one, shall we?

Critical number two on Mr. Piggy : 1d100+30 58

Although the roll could have been higher, it is actually a very fortunate critical hit in this fight: Agonizing Wound – Target increases the difficulty of all Brawn and Agility checks by 1 until the end of the encounter. It was really worth while activating the crit a second time for +10 since 48 would have been a similar result, except for Intellect and Cunning, neither of which he is using much at the moment!

So. That went about as well as we could have hoped for. It will be interesting to see if the giant is still standing after this. Perhaps Wayward should wait with taking action until we know if he is still up or not. Point is, if he goes down we have no real reason to fight Nirok. It’s not like he can follow us while being chained to this behemoth.

So, uh...

Door-opening under pressure : 1eA+2eP+2eD+1eS 4 successes, 2 threat, 1 Triumph

Yeah.

He's down, Kymrel!

Caizu -> I'll provide you with what you see tonight hopefully for your turn... are you looking to move into the gladiatorial cells or into the cargo bay?

Oh, NICE! It was a mighty good blow, after all. I'll just edit my post slightly to account for that.

Plan was to escape through the cargo bay, I believe? Though the plan did kind of go out the window...

Congratulations on a stunning win over Dabross! Now we just need to smack the other fellow down a little. Or do we leave him chained to the probably immovable object that is the dead(?) Gammorean?

And only the worst plans stay on target, Shy! We know this well.

Staying calm under pressure, Caizu is able to unlock the gate amidst the blaster fire to access the depths of the palace. The door slides open to reveal the workshop and cargo receiving area directly ahead. The workshop area has been set aside for the upkeep and refuel of vehicles belonging to Teemo and his associates. Part of the area is kept clean and cluttered, and is used to fix up thugs and gladiators who are injured while in Teemo’s service.

Obstructing the doorway stands 41-Vex, Teemo’s personal medical droid. “ Oh, thank the Creator! ” 41-Vex exclaims at the sight of the Chiss, “ I thought for certain that Dabross would have ripped you and your friends limb from limb! I’ve patched that Gammorean more times than I can count. ” The medical droid’s lights illuminate briefly as it conducts a visual scan of Caizu. “ My initial diagnostic did not reveal any signs of physical damage on your frame, ” the droid continues, its voice taking on a confused tone. “ Did you somehow defeat Dabross? That seems unlikely given the physical advantages of his species. ”

Wayward - you're still in structured time for the remainder of this round (at least), so feel free to take your action if you want to take a swing at the Weequay.

Still recovering from the election. I'm just numb right now. Maybe I'll be more recovered later today, but, if you don't see me around, this is why.

Ok, I will in the next couple of hours. One day later...

Trying to shake off the definite concussion, Lang is not sure if the Gammorean is really down or if his reality has become somewhat warped by the hits to his head. There's no time to mull it over, as the other pit fighter, the Weequay, is still doing his best to kill both the Mirialan and Dro-Kar. The advantage the pair now had was that both were alive, and neither was dead weight to the other, unlike Dabross, who was an immovable object tethered to someone who clearly preferred leaping around.

Staggering over towards the Weequay, Lang reaches out with the shock gloves and manages to grab Nirok as he struggles to move, weighted as he is by Dabross' prone form. The gloves discharge with a buzz, a burst of stunning energy running through them and into the pit fighter. Lang, still not completely coherent, finally notices the form of a fifth person in the arena, and a female one at that.

Taking one hand off Nirok, he reaches up to tip his hat to her, only to remember that he's not wearing it. It's still somewhere in the palace. "Hey Dro-Kar," he says, his voice somewhat slurred from grogginess, "I can't leave without my hat! Also, howdy ma'am."

Action to attack Nirok - 4 strain damage

Lang attacks Nirok : 3eA+2eD+1eS 1 success

Lang's stats:

6/14 Wounds

2/13 Strain

Let me know if I need to maneuver over there - I figured we were all still kind of tied up together in the fight but I can edit the post as needed.

Shy - felt the same way! We'll get back on track here for the weekend posts...

Wayward - you're good on the maneuver front - all the parties are still considered engaged.

In other news, I think we're going to have a fourth player join us! More info to come on Sunday

So... random question, but does 41-Vex have an external restraining bolt I could pull off? I suddenly like this droid—and, besides, we need a medic, right?

41-Vex does indeed have an old, external restraining bolt welded directly onto the droid's chest

Hi everyone! The storytelling so far has been very cool, enjoying all your verbose descriptions.

Welcome to the game, good to have you with us! I think it's the end of this round, let's see what our GM can come up with to make our lives more difficult...

"Vex! Just the droid I wanted to see." Caizu's now-strained smile fades into something more relieved and genuine. She'd half-expected one of Teemo's guards. "Things are going down out there, Vex—you're not safe. Nobody is." She reaches out to put a hand on the droid's cold metal shoulder.

"You've been a friend, Vex, and I wish I could do more. As it stands now, though, all I can do is give you a chance. What you do with it is up to you..."

Caizu removes her blade-breaker from her boot, presses it around Vex's restraining bolt, and gives it a good twist.

"...but I hope you'll consider coming with us."

Any rolls here? Charm? Mechanics?

As Caizu works to free Vex of its restraining bolt she hears a loud clomp clomp clomping coming across the dingy workshop. A bulky blue weathered droid approaches, it's designation "HM-6T6" almost legible stamped across its powerful chest. Calmly it threads its way between the crates and workbenches toward the arena door and Caizu. With a heavily synthesised crackle the maintenance Droid speaks "Looking to escape? You need to get off world, Teemo has connections everywhere here..."

66 pauses, looking beyond the Chiss into the arena, registering who else could be involved in this escape. "Here’s a free tip - I happen to know that there’s a freighter in Landing Bay Aurek right now. The bad news is that its captain, Trex, is an associate of the Hutt's and won't just let you on. The other bad news is the reason that I know he's still in the landing bay. Teemo had me there earlier today, diagnosing its problems, he has a broken hypermatter reactor igniter and won't be flying anywhere until he gets a new one."

"Teemo isn't going to be happy to see his prized fighter dead, you need to leave soon. Just take me with you."

Hey all! Sorry, today got away from me so my post will come in tomorrow.

Richard - welcome to the game! Looking forward to having you aboard...

Caizu - it's a hard athletics or mechanics roll (depending on the finesse that you want to use) to get the restraining bolt off.

I'd also like to nudge everyone to get the Session Zero creation going again! As an added sweetener, I'm going to give bonus XP awards at the end of this act based on participation for that as well

The Gammorean giant squeals with rage as Dro-Kar pushes the blade through its thick hide and deep into the soft flesh below. Dabross staggers, taking one large step before toppling, almost in slow motion. The ground shakes at the impact of Dabross’ massive, lifeless body hitting the packed soil. Blood courses out of the two large stab wounds while a small lake of dark fluid permeating from the Gammorean pools beneath. The alien’s eyes are wild and open wide, too wide, its pug nostrils flaring confusion and horror of what just happened. The giant wheezes a loud, wet sound. Blood fills his lungs from the punctures as he continues the death throes.

The crowd watches on in utter disbelief of how the combat has unfolded. The raucous cheering has subsided into a mix of groans and boos, with most of the onlookers sitting in silence, unclear as to how to properly react. From the top of the tiered arena, Teemo the Hutt erupts in anger as his favorite slave-gladiator is downed. “ GET THEM, YOU FOOLS! MAKE THOSE SCUM PAY FOR WHAT THEY’VE DONE! ” The Hutt gangster flails furiously in an obvious tantrum, his massive sluggish arms knocking one of his slave attendants over. The twi’lek translator nearby fixates his eyes on his feet, hoping to blend into the background and escape the Hutt’s wrath.

Nirok begins to panic as the realization of his situation settles in. Chained by the neck to an enormous anchor, the Weequay’s movements are extremely limited. Unfortunately for Nirok, he also understands his only way out of this pit is to fight to the death; even if the competitors spare his life, he knows all too well the price of failure in Teemo’s court. Nirok goes on the offensive, each attempted strike with filled with more desperation than the last as he futilely targets the Mirialan.

Nirok (unsuccessfully) attacks Lang, suffering from the setback dice of being chained to a corpse.

Nirok attacks Lang (extra chained) : 2eA+2eD+3eS 0 successes

The Gammorean guardsman snorts at the miss of his first shot and takes careful aim for his second. His blaster steady, the guard is able to parse through the crowded entertainment pits and hit true with his light blaster, striking Caizu in the back. The second guard, emboldened by the Hutt’s screaming from above, jumps down into the gladiatorial pit from the lip of the arena. The human guard lacks the grace of the Chiss and lands awkwardly in the arena below, tumbling to the arena floor in a daze. The Gammorean guard shouts from above, " quickly, you clumsy idiot! They're escaping! Get to that door before they lock us out! "

The guard somehow is able to hit Caizu with his blaster for 10 damage(!). Choose how you'd like to spend the four threat.

Guard fires at Caizu again : 2eA+3eD+1eB+1eS 4 successes, 4 threat

The guard is able to successfully jump into the pit, but not so gracefully. I used 2 threat to knock him prone, and the second two threat to give him disoriented 2.

Human guard jumps into the pit : 2eA+2eD 1 success, 4 threat

41-Vex’s seems surprised by all of Caizu’s sudden movements. “ Oh my, Mistress Caizu, what has happened out there that has put me at risk? ” The droid rotates its torso to an exact thirty degree angle to see around the Chiss in the doorway to the commotion within the arena. “ From the reactions of the crowd, it would be my estimation that a low probability outcome has recently occurred. ” Vex’s eye-lanterns flash as the droid puts the pieces together. “ It must be that Dabross has perished in combat? Unlikely outcome indeed. ”

The droid watches Caizu carefully as she uses her blade to dislodge the restraining bolt.

Dro-Kar looks around, seeing the guards moving fast to try to intercept them. "Quick, get through there and shut the door. Rude not to," he grunts at Lang. He looks at Nirok. "Leave the Weequay. He'll have a talk about his performance with Teemo later."

Still holding the bloody knife, Dro-Kar moves to the door, hoping Lang has recovered enough to follow, but fully prepared to drag him along by the chain. Probably wouldn't kill him. Probably.