Schultz launched, max boosting toward the interception point marked by the plotter. She wasn't the best of the pilots, but she didn't have to be if she could distract the enemy. She readied her torpedoes as she rocketed toward the fight.
“I'll get surprise for my first attack, right?,” asked Lois.
“I'll allow it,” said Jimmy. “Any particular target?”
“I want to break up the dogfight between Doolittle and the five fighters,” said Lois. “I think I am going to try to hit the one in the middle of their flight with a torpedo, then try to get behind one on the end and shoot at it with either a torpedo or my guns depending on how close I am.”
“Just don't roll a critical fail on your shot, then we are rolling for initiative again,” said Jimmy.
Lois rolled a four. Everyone groaned.
“I still hit,” she said.
“You still hit?,” said Webb. “On a four?”
“I get a bonus plus four, so it's really an eight,” said Lois. “Plus as long as it was above the four, it was an automatic hit because he was surprised by a missile up his backside. So all I have to do is roll for damage.”
She rolled a six.
“Six hundred points of damage,” said Lois.
“This is what happens...,” said Jimmy.)
Five of the fighters still dogged Doolittle as he tried to evade their shots. The chase resembled a kite with a long tail as they tried to line up shots to take him out. The other three tried to pin Mannheim down as he circled through the asteroids. One lone torpedo came in from the direction of the station and hit one of Doolittle's pursuers hard enough to cause him to break up in space. The debris became a cloud expanding away from the battle.
(Everyone rolled twenty sided dice to see who went first in the ensuing battle. Jimmy marked down Doolittle's group went first, then Schultz, Doolittle and Mannheim, and then Mannheim's enemy group.)
Doolittle's fighter took a volley, blowing out his engines. He was running on inertia now, and dead if the enemy wanted to finish the job. He could eject in his pod, but he was just as easy pickings as if he stayed with his damaged fighter.
Schultz fired another torpedo at one of the fighters chasing Doolittle. She vaporized the target with a natural 20, dropping the enemy down to six fighters. She cheered as she looked for a target with her last torpedo.
Doolittle tried to restart his engines so he could limp away. He cursed as his skill failed him.
Mannheim jinked and shot up one of his pursuers, but it wasn't enough to hurt the other fighter.
The fighter tried to shoot back at him with a missile. The projectile jammed on the rack and blew off a wing, sending the fighter limping back to base.
The three surviving fighters of Doolittle's enemies turned to roar at Schultz. They would get their revenge for what she had done to their fighter wing. As they turned to put her in their sights, she shot her last torpedo. She hoped to take at least one of them out. The missile flew out into space and exploded harmlessly.
Doolittle triggered something, but it wasn't enough to get his engine restarted.
Mannheim got behind one of his enemies and punched holes in the fighter's cockpit, and control panel. Then he only had one enemy trying to line up to shoot at him. Bolts of light flashed by his wing as he turned his fighter to try to deal with the last of his original enemies.
Doolittle's enemies fired on Schultz but missed as she looped over the firepower. She fired back, and racked holes through an engine cowling. She saw the plasma flicker out on that side of the fighter.
She wanted one more torpedo.
Doolittle got his fighter's engines lit. He wouldn't be very fast, but he could at least maneuver.
Mannheim did minimal damage to the last man facing him. He tutted to himself as they passed each other.
That fighter broke off. Most of his comrades were dead. He didn't want to join them.
(“I get one more action before we roll for the next round,” said Drake. “I would like to shoot at one of the fighters closing on Lois.”
“Go ahead,” said Jimmy.”)
Doolittle let his fighter sail backwards. He fired at the wounded fighter closing on Schultz. Red tracers blew the other engine out, letting the fighter drift ahead without power.
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(“Before we roll for initiative,” said Jimmy. “This fighter with the shot up cockpit ejects its pilot before it hits a rock and destroys itself.”
“Everybody got some action except for me,” complained Webb.
“Isn't that how it always is?,” asked Gerry.
“Ohhhh,” said the rest of the table.
“We're in a race,” said Jimmy. “Let's keep the chatter down. There are two fighters left. They are both trying to shoot Schultz down. Drake, your fighter won't be able to keep up in a straight chase with your rigged repairs. Mannheim, you are over here. You could maybe take one of them by surprise, but not both.”
“Could I surprise one?,” asked Drake. “I might be able to cause a distraction for Lois.”
“No,” said Jimmy. “You're not close enough, or fast enough. I will say you can try to snipe at them with your guns.”
“All right,” said Drake. “I'm going to try to hit their cockpits if I can.”
“I will try to lead the survivors into Drake's guns,” said Lois.
“Roll for initiative,” said Jimmy. “The first hour is coming to a close and we need to have a group win so we can go after the rest of the goals.”
The dice said the two enemy fighters went first, then Lois, then Drake, then Gerry.
“Let's roll,” said Jimmy.)
The enemy pilots wanted revenge on this fighter that had come in and ruined their ambush. The pilot had to die. They launched missiles at Schultz. Both hit the fighter and blew it out of existence.
“Schultz!,” cried Doolittle. He fired at one of the enemy but his guns didn't emit the tracers he was used to seeing. He was next on the missile list. He didn't see what he could do to change the outcome.
Mannheim hit the missile rack of the fighter on the left. One of the unexploded missiles blew up. Then the rest of the missiles went up, taking the fighter with it.
That made it a one on one fight, with everyone else clear the area.
The lone fighter was able to put his last missile into Mannheim's fighter. The older pilot was able to hit the eject button and flew from the doomed fighter in his escape pod as it exploded behind him.
Doolittle worked feverishly to bring his guns back on line as the other fighter strafed him. He could take two more hits from the other's guns. He decided on a desperate scheme as the fighter came back to strafe him again. He pushed the boost and the eject button at the same time. His fighter hit the other ship. They both exploded as his pod floated in space over the field of wreckage.
“Fox Two,” Doolittle called out. “Are you still out there?”
“I'm here,” said Mannheim. “We lost Schultz.”
“I know,” said Doolittle. “We have to get back to that asteroid and see if we can scavenge up a way back to the Fort. We screwed this up.”
(“I rode along with Mannheim this whole time,” said Webb. “That means two of us are crammed in that little escape pod.”
“I hadn't thought of that, but you're right,” said Jimmy. “You guys are going to have to make some pilot rolls to get back to that asteroid that you blew up. It's the closest base to get things, but also the most dangerous.”
“Can't they try to call Bucky for a pick up?,” asked Lois.
“It's a thought,” said Jimmy. “But you would be broadcasting in the open.”
“We don't have anything to lose,” said Webb. “I say we go for it.”
“I think it's the best thing we can do,” said Drake. “And we need a replacement for Schultz. We can get Lois back in as another character?”
“Not as a pilot with the same skills,” said Jimmy. “The rules for the convention are clear about a player being out. Maybe I can say she was rescued somehow through some stroke of luck, and then we can handwave the loss of equipment.”
“Wait,” said Gerry. “We have the Fort's butler/pilot listed as a character. She can play that. If any of us gets knocked out again, we'll have to sit the rest of the tournament out.”
“We could still be called for cheating,” said Webb.
“Let's take a break,” said Jimmy. “I'll ask Fosswell if we can make the substitution under the convention rules. I want you guys to figure out how you were rescued while I'm doing that.”
“Thanks for the save, Lois,” said Drake. He watched Jimmy walk over to where the creator of the Rails system stood watching one of the other tables.
“So how do we get rescued?,” asked Webb. “We don't have a lot of options.”
“We say Bucky rescued us after getting his ship out there to get revenge,” said Drake. “His ship is like the Fort, and should be able to pick up two pods. Then we fast forward through the acts of getting our fighters back after losing Schultz. We won't have a mechanic for the rest of the game, but if we can make the sub, at least Lois will be able to keep playing instead of waiting for us to finish without her.”
“It would be boring not being able to play after a bit of bad luck,” said Lois.
“I can't believe you got those two criticals back to back with the torpedoes,” said Gerry.
“I can't believe you shot up a cockpit on the fly,” said Lois.
“I can't believe I didn't have a ship to shoot at things,” said Webb.
“But you blew up the asteroid and secret pirate base,” said Gerry.
“That was great, wasn't it?,” said Webb.
“Jimmy is coming back,” said Drake. “Hopefully our scheme is okay to go.”
Jimmy took his place at the head of the table. He looked at his notes.
“You guys come up with a recovery story?,” he asked.
“Bucky picks us up with his ship before we run out of air, we go back to the Fort, and get new fighters from the space corp,” said Drake. “What did Fosswell say about Lois playing Keen?”
“She can do it since we put him in as a character but Con didn't show up,” said Jimmy. “She has to stay away from anything like landings, since Keen's whole thing is running the Fort for your group. We just have to find a way to use the Fort as a set piece for the rest of the game.”
“So Con screwing up worked in our favor for once?,” said Webb. “That's great.”
“If you get killed again, you're out, Lois,” said Jimmy. “There's no way to fight that. Sorry.”
“It's okay,” said Lois. “It's the only way to knock games out of the competition if the dice start acting hateful.”
“Let me put in the montage, then I need to get a drink so we can restart,” said Jimmy. “It was close, but you guys cleared the space pirates off your doorstep.”
“And any future action will let us call Bucky for help if he is in the system,” said Drake. “I just wished we hadn't lost most of our fighters.”
“I wished I hadn't been blown to smithereens,” said Lois.)