Last Stand

Before the Storm

Tomorrow is the day of the big battle. Perhaps it will decide the fate of the Resistance. The Battlegroup. The planet. Perhaps it will decide the fate of the Republic. Or perhaps it will only matter to those sentients who will fight and die for a cause they believe in.

Today is a time for reflection. Warriors pace, contemplating their weapons and their honor. Soldiers sit, thinking about what they protect. Jedi meditate, as they always do. And the ordinary people who found themselves in a fight they never wanted, but were nevertheless willing to face, reflect on the things that matter to them.

Reflect on the things that matter to you.

Step 1 - One Day More

This is neither time nor location specific. Please post in this thread as your character engages in whatever solo activity allows them to mentally prepare for the coming battle.

Each player may make one roll using a skill of their choice connected to this activity. This connection may be tenuous, such as briefly considering their weapon and rolling the associated combat skill, or considering a friend and rolling Charm; assume all requests to use a skill will be approved. The roll is at Simple difficulty (-). Bonuses from Equipment may not be used for this roll. Each player tallies points for their roll as follows:

1 point for attempting the roll
1 point for succeeding
1 point for every 2 additional successes
1 point for every 3 advantage
1 point for every Triumph

Each player may upgrade a single D11 roll a number of times equal to the number of points they received on this roll. For example, if they received 3 points, they could upgrade one D11 roll 3 times.

Step 2 - Do You Hear the People

The Hopers and Kandra’s Run are having one last big hurrah before what everyone hopes will be the last major battle of Obroa-Skai. This will be a roleplaying thread, located here.

Everyone who joins the thread, whether or not they interact with anyone else, gains the following action that can be used once on D11:

Worth fighting for - As an out of turn incidental, the character may think of friends or family, and what they are fighting for. This allows them to either immediately recover 5 Wounds and 5 Strain (if this would make the character no longer over a filled threshold, they do not lose consciousness or suffer a crit), or negate a critical injury they just received (although not the damage from the attack). Please make sure to post the character rallying, as well as at least a snippet of their thoughts.

When posting in the group thread, please link to your post in the solo thread.

Vala didn't know if she could be considered battle-hardened at this point but the conflict had changed her daily routine drastically. While it was nice to be driving tanks and embarking on dangerous missions that got the adrenaline pumped up, this wasn't quite the life she wanted to be her normal. Thankfully, the Hopers have made progress but it seemed the Mandalorians have proved to be just as resilient as their resistance. She didn't delude herself into thinking that the end was around the corner, just because she didn't want to be crushingly let down later. However, she felt that the end might be around the corner. The momentum was on their side and they just had to persevere.

And so, she spent the day preparing for battle. Making sure her blasters were properly charged, her draw was quick enough, and her shots as deadly as possible. It was indeed time to end this and go home.

Day 10, Step 1 - One Day More with Ranged (Light)

Net Successes: 2; Net Advantages: 5

3 Points Total!

Meditation in the Temple tends to be either very calm--in the meditation room clearing of the mind--or very difficult--learning to find that same place under stress like walking on your hands or fighting with crackling energy weapons.

This isn't that kind of meditation.

It *is* quiet. Tomin sits quietly near the edge of the camp, 'watching' the assault on the shield. The wildly flickering energies are similar to staring into a campfire as shades flow and intermingle in her force sight, letting the mind rest and find focus somewhere beyond the immediate.

Her messages haven't gotten any response, inquiries have gone stale. She knows that doesn't mean much with all the disruption, but it does mean that she doesn't know how her family has fared so far. Her memories ground this meditation in what she's fighting for. In memory, her sister Oslet's hands are steady under her elbow, adjusting her grip and the set of her shoulder as she learns to fire their grandmother's rifle. She'd be old enough to take night watches soon, and this was sufficient for chasing off all but the most determined predators.

She 'sees' the ranch in ruins, dead animals scattered around broken shelters, knows that it's imagination when she spots Oslet sprawled over a fence, wearing the coat Tomin'd seen handed down to one of the twins years ago. Still, it's a thing that *could* be true. The fear and sorrow are right there, so much more energetic than the wistful gratitude for lessons learned well enough to be useful now. But here, just watching the lightshow, she can look at those emotions and past them, refuse to mourn the only possibly-dead.

One hand drifts to brush across the hilt at her belt. Meditation is one tool, but the Temple's given her so many to work with. Attachments can lead to those darker emotions, but she's finding that they can be a source of strength against them as well. This conflict seems likely to test the tension between those things, but for now....she's ready to take the day as it comes.


****************
D10: One Day More: Battle Meditations. Ranged (Heavy)

Net Successes: 2; Net Advantages: 5

3 points

Apollo was putting in a bit extra effort at the camp today, as even he understood that they were getting ready for the final moments of this conflict. He was handing out free drinks, shirt open of course, and flirting wherever possible (sometimes heading to the broom closet for a quick makeout).

If this was some people's last day, at least they could have no regrets in regards to Apollo.


--------------

D10 Before The Storm. Charm/Presence. Simple difficulty. +1 Advantage [Pheromones]

Net Successes: 2; Net Advantages: 3

1 point for attempting the roll
1 point for succeeding
1 point for 3 Advantages
= 3 points

It was difficult but not impossible to find some alone time in the clinic. Zeline flicked her syringe a few times before putting it into her shaking arm. The toll of the battle had been more than wounds. No matter how much she claimed otherwise, the meds were taking their toll. She wasn't dying, necessary... but more and more she needed supplements to even function.

I'll check out that spot soon, Private Gral. She chuckled weakly; it seemed impossible for her to weep anymore. Been that way for a while. Met a cop from your planet. Big place, I know, but I wonder if you might have known each other. Maybe you would have liked her. Pretty sure you died a virgin too.

Predictable as always, she put a cigarette to her lips then lit it up. Immediately she started coughing... She hadn't improperly taken a drag. There was one more trick up her sleeve, though. She doublechecked her datapad for the ratios then shook her head. It really wouldn't matter how balanced the mix was.

Once the concoction was finished, she loaded it into the autoinjector that would be safely tucked under her armor tomorrow. Her fingers tingled at the thought of the euphoria that would come.

---

D10 One Day More: Medicine, Of Course

Net Successes: 2; Net Advantages: 3

3 Points

Terreck exercised, others might disagree, but the soldier found the simple task of maintaining and building his physique the most relaxing thing he could do. Which in his head let him better prepare for the coming battle. That it differed from others opinion on the matter didn't really matter.

Of course, there was a thousand things that he could think of during that time. The reasons he fought, those he fought with, even dinner. Which is what he focused on. The other things were important of course. Reasons and people, well they are why he fought, but worrying over them and concentrating on them were just a little much. There was so much there that was beyond his control there and to him at least those thoughts were a black hole.

So instead, he made plans for dinner, and breakfast the next morning. He'd worry about the rest later. After all this was done.

Day 10: Before the Storm. Athletics at Simple. 2 Boosts from Physical training.

Net Successes: 5; Net Advantages: 3

1 point for Rolling
1 Point for Success
2 Points for 4 Additional Successes.
1 Point for 3 Advantage.

5 Points.

War.

War was the H-word. Every culture had words to describe it. It was like a stain on the collective consciousness of living beings.

Zephrin sat cross-legged in the Meditation room. His lightsaber was in front of him, symbolically. His hands were upturned on his knees. It had been tempting to practice his Soresu drills. They were comfortable, familiar. But that was not what his spirit needed right now.

Banishing thoughts of the battle to come he focused on his knowledge of the Jedi. What they stood for. Who they were. In quiet contemplation he hardly noticed as time passed. Master Sikso's lessons. His own lessons for Torvin. The living force. Peace.

As his consciousness returned to the present he heard a cheer from somewhere nearby. The people were celebrating. One last hurrah before the storm arrived.

Rising, he returned his weapon to his belt. With one last satisfied nod he set off. He knew what he was fighting for.

---
D10. Before the Storm. Knowledge (Lore) at Simple. Net Successes: 1; Net Advantages: 4
1 point for rolling.
1 point for success.
1 point for 3 advantage.

3 points in total.

Rece sits alone in a secluded corner of the armory, going over all of his gadgets and gear. Most of them are custom built in one way or another, the extensive modifications on his rifle make it finicky to repair, and he now has an extensive collection of high explosives - the process is lengthy and requires a great deal of attention. On most days, he would be working in a common area where he could enjoy some company, chat with passersby, and maybe make a new friend. But today he could use the time to think.

When Rece left home on a passing Republic cruiser, barely old enough to enlist, he wanted to use his talents to help the galaxy. He's far more gifted with machines than he is with people - he failed the leadership qualification for Corporal, criminals laugh at his threats, and his entire species is genetically predisposed to separation anxiety. But of the two, people still matter more.

When everything is over, his retirement plan is to move to a nice, quiet planet (preferably landlocked and not too rural) and become a speeder mechanic. A good, honest, community mechanic, the kind where people will say, "Nah, don't take that to the dealership! They'll just rip you off. Take it to Rece, he'll treat you right."

But right now, the galaxy doesn't need a small-town mechanic. It needs a lawman who will take the bullet, a soldier who will make the kill, so that no one else has to. And far beyond his talents with people, or even with machines, Rece's greatest talent is violence. And with the lives of his friends, this planet, and the galaxy on the line, he will put that talent to use.

With his thoughts centered and his rifle tuned, he goes back out to join the party.

D10 One Day More - Ranged Heavy

Net Successes: 3; Net Advantages: 4


1 point for attempting the roll
1 point for succeeding
1 point for every 2 additional successes
1 point for every 3 advantage
4 points total

Rather than hang around and make merry with her fellow Hopers, Sirina pulls a usual and skulks off to be on her own. It's not that she's incapable of being gregarious, she thinks she's proved as much, and more that-- given the gravity of the circumstances-- she isn't sure what else to do with herself.

Eventually, Sirina finds herself far enough on the fringe of the settlement, where the treeline and town limit mingle, where the sound of merry making is a vague and muffled din and where no one is around. In the near-silence, she sits with her back to a tree trunk and thinks as she's dusted by an evening flurry of frost and snow. If ever there was a time to get honest with herself, Sirina knows this is it.

Deep down, she realizes as she sits under a growing blanket of fresh powder, the she'd hoped-- more than anything-- that by throwing herself at each and every challenge the Neo-Crusaders had for the locals and their republic allies, that one might prove too much for her. That way, when all was said and done, maybe Kandra's Run could crunch the moral math of her life and tab out a sum just a little on the positive side. Easier to go out a hero and not have to reconcile a life of running away from her feelings.

But, faced with the very real possibility she might just make out the back end of the war, she finds herself more afraid of the afterwards-- a blank slate of a future where, much like the fresh powder of snow laid out before her, she'd trample all over it all over again. In all this time back home, she'd not said a word to her parents ( by design, of course), or her teachers, or mentors, or anyone whose life she made so challenging as a girl. Just passed the time with the usual suspects, those who embraced her but didn't really know her-- just the carefully crafted persona of someone who wants nothing more than for everyone to think she couldn't care less.

Well, there was still one last chance to dodge the hard stuff. Resolved to worry more about all this should she live long enough to have to, she puffs out a frosty breath into the cold night air and pads off to join with the Hopers and play as though there wasn't a care in the world.

---

D10. E: Before the Storm. Stealth vs Simple. 2 boosts from Stalker ranks.

Net Successes: 5; Net Advantages: 2

1 point for attempting
1 point for succeeding
2 points for additional Successes
1 point for triumph
5 points total!

Snowflake was no stranger to violence - and many forms of it, sadly. A more naturalistic, ritual kind of violence tied to hunting, ritual play fights and partying, was still deep in his roots, although the memories of that were ever harder to grasp and make sense of. But that was the good side of it - and might not even be rightfully called violence.

But he was soon introduced to the dark side of violence - much too soon, in fact. Raiding. Killing. Torture. Separating clansfolk. Seeing clansfolk die or suffer in front of your eyes. It came back too often, while sleeping, or just out of the blue at times.

And then life with the new clansfolk. The ritual violence was there as well - although in many ways it was... harsher. More brutal. More serious, more....

...more human?

He wasn't sure. It felt different at times. There was some of that sense of family. Sometimes a lot. And he was grateful. He still felt some things were very different from his first homeclan, however - although he didn't trust his memories enough to be sure.

It was all still very different from what they were currently going through, however. All-out war. This he had never seen. It was nothing like ritual fighting. Nothing like the homeclan fighting others trying to take their turf. There were similarities, of course. But it was as if, in this case, the invaders often didn't even consider they were fighting others like themselves.

Although that miss Tenesfor had left in the letter... she did know they were people. She did say they could have been on the other side. And still, she and her people fought and killed as if they never remembered that. So... why?

That all had been coming back to the Gigoran's thoughts again and again. And he wasn't particularly used to dealing with many thoughts to begin with. So it wasn't the easiest time for him.

And then there was the realisation that he could sense and tug at this web of energy around. This whole new layer of being. And one that seemed to react to his thoughts and feelings - sometimes threateningly. The fight with Nus a few days back was a clear sign - Tomin had warned him of the dangers of letting darker feelings take hold and guide you, and he had been doing his best to prevent his fear of letting that happen take hold, paradoxically. But in the end, it was his anger due to cruelty and violence that took hold, and now he felt unsure of whether he could keep that at bay.

There was much to do, much to prepare for, and it was clear the others were doing so. He was trying to do so as well, and he kept going back to the clanners to help with what he could. But at the end of the day... he felt he needed some time to prepare himself. It was a new feeling for him, and a new experience, this sitting down and trying to make sense of things. It was something he was still trying to figure out.

But at a time like this, he was glad he was slowly learning to do it.

------
Step 1
Discipline to meditate on things before the storm!
D10 Before the Storm. Discipline vs Simple. 2 boosts from equip

Net Successes: 4; Net Advantages: 1

Whoa, double triumph!
1 point for attempting
1 for succeeding
1 for 2 additional successes
2 for triumphs

Total: 5 points


Step 2
Joining the others for the last big hurrah! (Posting soon)
Link to Worth Fighting For
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