“At what point do you cut your losses and run?” Aurelio asked.
The two brothers were sitting in front of their tabletop board, the older brothers unpainted miniatures being lifted and inspected by his younger brother for the paint night they were having.
“I don’t know if I have enough copper hues for the scavenger suits on your squad, bro.” Juan stated, more immersed in the potential for the figurines to pop with specific color palettes than the question Aurelio asked.
That didn’t stop him from pressing on with his thoughts.
“I mean the game talks about people dying here and there but why would we want to lose a whole squad of guys when we have the option to run, right?” Aurelio continued.
Juan sighed, placing the figurine in his hands onto the table, “There isn’t a clean cut off strategy for when to push your units despite the risk of a loss or to pull back. Personally, there’s a valid strategy in chucking a fresh faced scavenger into a high tier enemy and pushing them towards a meltdown for the damage it inflicts, but that’s only economically viable in a high population game.”
“So sacrifice the newbies to get your veterans online with a higher tier kill.” Aurelio synthesized his brother's point.
Juan shook his head, “Not all the time. I wouldn’t bring a scavenger like that to fight anything in the plains, for example. Scavenger’s die from regular combat anyway, so it’s best to just suit them up with gear that won’t disappear if they die and hope that they roll well enough to see the end of a mission.”
Aurelio grabbed at one of his own figurines and frowned.
---
Aurelio felt his back was against the wall with the predicament their team was facing.
He took a deep breath and focused, letting the world around him move at a snail's pace to give him the space necessary to think.
Organizing the problems from highest priority to lowest, there was the pressing matter of Oja being consumed by the Malignance, the creature being quite healthy despite their output, and the issue of the consistency with their damage output.
Oja would need to free themselves, and in order to do so, they needed to score a wound on the monster. They gained a bonus to their strength from being consumed but a reduction to their accuracy, which was particularly awful because the [Carbon Cleaver] chances of hitting were already at a coin flip.
How do I solve that problem?
He would need to check if his second wind die could work on the rolls of his companions. Aurelio didn’t think this was against the system (his brother and him employed the use of second wind dice on other units all the time) and now would be a good time to use it if the margins to tip the scales into a hit are particularly close.
Assuming that this isn’t allowed by the system, Oja could employ another OVERFLOW and get another shot at hitting.
And if they miss a second time, Kalani would need to use their COMMAND ability on them to get them out of that jam.
Wait!
“Kalani,” he shouted at her from their small distance, “Push up towards Oja until you’re in range of them and start using your special ability on them.”
Kalani shook her head, “What’s the reason behind that? I don’t want to get in close if I don’t have to.”
“We’re not dealing enough damage right now. Oja is the most effective crewmember in hurting this thing because that [Carbon Cleaver] of theirs packs a punch. I’m going to push my luck with a potential meltdown and use my own ability to fish for another armor reduction on the monster. If I succeed, you need to push the offensive as well and unload as many shots as possible.” Aurelio explained his gameplan.
If Oja broke free of their own accord, then he’d take the risk and hope that his REFERENCE ability shredded the enemies plating. Coupled with the amount of attacks the [Scrap Blaster] could dish out, it would make for a powerful combination, moreso when any potential reflex it’d have to move away from the attack worked within the margins of the weapons attack range.
If this doesn’t solve our problems, we might need to retreat.
Aurelio didn’t voice his anxieties, allowing Kalani to move forward and engage the enemy with their new strategy.
Despite all the mounting stress in his heart, he found levity in leaning over the hardened sludge sac and cracking it open like an egg for its resources.
|Chosen interacted with Hardened Sludge [PARTIAL SUCCESS]|
|Chosen gained x1 Vile of Sludge Basic Resource|
And with that out of the way…
Aurelio took a deep breath and triggered his role ability. The sensation his body felt reaching that stage of overheat was unimaginably painful. It felt as if he’d lodged a miniature sun into his chest cavity, its radiant fire boiling the inner organs, letting bones and muscle sinews melt together in its wake.
|Chosen used REFERENCE (6)!|
|Chosen reduces the Plating of the target by (6)!|
|Chosen has triggered a Meltdown! [PARTIAL SUCCESS]|
|Chosen reduces the Ignition Gauge by 1!|
The gauge on his arm ticked down once and the burning sensation across his body dissipated slightly. He felt like a furnace, with his body sizzling and steaming against the humid climate they were in.
He’d rolled a six in total for the meltdown roll. If the enemy used their heat related attack on him, he was assuredly over, should his luck continue to prove as mixed as it was.
Aurelio couldn’t do anything else with his turn so he watched with bated breath for the rest of his crewmates to pull through.
|Sawbones drew zero wounds|
|Sawbones used OVERFLOW|
|Sawbones drew one wound|
|Sawbones deals two wounds (DESTRUCTIVE 1)|
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
The inner sac of the Malignance was pounded against by the mechanical crew member. They could hear their friend struggle against the muscular inner walls of the creature's stomach, [Carbon Cleaver] not cutting away at their containment cleanly.
Until their rage overpowered their sense of preservation, that is. Oja growled in frustration and committed to cleaving at anything they could shred to bits with the oversized weapon. With wanton disregard for poise and grace, Oja unceremoniously sliced at a thin film within the sac and poured out onto the ground along with the monster's digestive fluids.
“Take it down, now!” Aurelio cried out.
Kalani planted their feet firmly to the ground and fired four shots in quick succession, the dimly glowing core in her chest rising in brightness and heat in response to her triggered ignition ability.
|Commander used the [Scrap Blasters] ignition ability!]
|Commander drew two wounds|
|Commander deals two wounds|
The molten shots rolled in the air towards their targets with an unexpected slowness. Two shots fell short of the target before having a chance to test their mettle against the creature's skin, the ball of hot scrap metal burning a hole into the ground instead.
The two shots that managed to connect with the pus covered monster made a satisfying hiss. It was like watching a hot ball of metal effortlessly sink into a tower of ice, the Malignance writhing in pain against the sensation.
“I’m gonna enjoy this, asshole!” Phineas announced in his battlecry. He lunged with his [Black Needle]...
|Scout drew one wound|
|Scout drew one wound|
… and finally found his mark!
The slender weapon successfully pierced into the monster’s tough hide (with the assistance of Aurelio’s ability) and skewered the monster where it stood.
By the law of divine comedy, despite finally contributing to the fight with a wound of their own, he watched the creature gurgle and a pop sound occur moments after the stab.
|Scout suffered one point of damage to HEAD, ARMS (L,R), LEGS (L,R), CORE|
|Scout at risk of a Grievous Injury|
|Scout is Knocked Down|
Their disgruntled warrior fell once more in the tide of battle, this time to a torrent of acidic pus washing over them as their weapon ruptured a pustule sac and delivered its contents to the disturber.
His face was scalded by the liquid and his armor sloughed off, leaving Phineas as naked in combat as Aurelio was.
“Get up, you idiot!” Kalani shouted at Phineas.
|Commander used REIGNITE|
|Scout is no longer Knocked Down|
Aurelio thanked his lucky stars that Kalani was pushing herself to the brink just like he was to keep the fight going.
And the amount of damage they’d pumped out meant the monster was just below the halfway point.
“Gruah!” The Malignance cried out. The creature's body was destabilizing, its bound flesh beginning to spread out like putty across the ground.
Dozens of tendrils shot out of its body and tore at the earth around it, the monster's blind rage destroying everything around it.
And Phineas was in the middle of it all.
One of the tendrils snaked around his crew member's leg and began thrashing his body around like a ragdoll.
|Scout at risk of a Grievous Injury|
|Scout at risk of a Grievous Injury|
|Scout suffered a Grievous Injury [Partial Success]|
Aurelio watched in horror as his friends' struggles ceased. His body was limp as it flew in the air, discarded from the arena without a second thought.
“Phin!” Kalani screeched.
Aurelio’s breathing was erratic, the calm that he’d forced upon himself melting away.
Phineas was okay. He acquired partial success. He’s fine.
Kalani looked at Aurelio and took control of the situation while he attempted to compose himself.
“Oja! This thing is nearly dead! Fucking pump it!” Kalani shouted her commands.
Aurelio’s body moved all on its own. With a practiced motion, he activated his ability and accepted the hellfire in his chest. The REFERENCE ability rolled another even, a two, a minor boon for the rest of his crewmates to take advantage of.
|Chosen used REFERENCE (2)!|
|Chosen reduces the Plating of the target by (2)!|
|Chosen has triggered a Meltdown! [PARTIAL SUCCESS]|
|Chosen reduces the Ignition Gauge by 1!|
The [Ember Lance] churned with anticipation. Despite his scrambled thoughts, Aurelio managed to align the rifle's sights with his eye and aimed.
|Chosen drew one Wound|
|Chosen scored a CRITICAL HIT!|
|Chosen dealt one Wound|
|Chosen gained x1 Sagging Flesh Monster Resource|
With a triumphant roar, the [Ember Lance] eviscerated everything in its path. The monster lifted its tendrils up to slow the shot's path to no avail.
“YEAH!” Aurelio pumped up his fist. “LETS FUCKING GO!”
His victory cry was met with equal fervor by the remaining crew members.
Kalani was the most composed of them, lining up her shots before firing with a cold and calculated indignation.
|Commander used the [Scrap Blasters] ignition ability!]
|Commander drew four wounds|
|Commander dealt four wounds|
Their luck had turned around in brutal fashion. Each ball of molten slag was launched out of the [Scrap Blaster] in quick succession, their trajectories accurate.
One after another, the red-hot projectiles melted through the monster's diminished defenses. It attempted to escape the commanders wrath and thrashed about to remove the source of its suffering but its tendrils sizzled at the presence of the bundled scrap metal.
It flailed impotently against the heated masses.
Until it stopped flailing altogether.
YOU HAVE ACQUIRED