Battle of Lake Llavain

[Zanaikin]

( as I ask people that they have nothing to update )

For the next minute, the Battlemasters continued their progress towards the Imperial line. With some careful coordination the Battlemasters once again spread out to a thinner formation, but the CBL attack wave has been noticeably separated into two different layers. At first after the missile strike, the Imperial artillery focused on targetting any denser-than-norm formation of Battlemasters that resulted from the emergency porting out from the shockwaves. But as the formation thinned the barrage returned to shredding the frontmost formations...

Daethelar: "CBL have reached nineteen miles from the Imperial line, however the CBL losses have just exceeded fifty percent, and the first wave has been heavily thinned out. The Crimson Brigade is continuing to shift towards the western wing, they should be coming into bombardment range within another few minutes."

Aelisar: "I think we should start readying the Teleportation Circles now."

[Mr_Praetorian]

[Telecomm]: Agreed. Daethelar, fire up those teleports. Let's keep the Crimson Brigade occupied, because we need to get up there and give our Battlemasters some support. Retribution! Vindicator! Prepare to fire rune cannons!

[Zanaikin]

With the orders given, Aelisar immediately gathered her officers (and Kovis) from their strike groups to begin firing up Teleportation Circles, meanwhile the Imperial artillery continued their thundering barrage in the north.

The Sky Galleons Retribution and Vindicator however, began charging up their engine for teleportation, and within a minute's time they teleported to about four miles west of the Crimson Brigade and immediately began to power up their Rune Cannons.

The first Imperial unit that showed sign of noticing the two new Sky Galleons that just teleported in was a REDEIN fighter squadron on patrol over the right wing of the Crimson brigade, and they quickly turned about, changing their vectors and rapidly accelerating directly towards the two Sky Galleons (distance: ~3miles).

[telecomm] Daethelar: "WMS Onyx, Pearl, Jade, Verdant, Cascade, prepare for teleport after the circles' completion, drop behind the Imperial center to the Crimson Brigade's left, Tactical Solid Fogs at will, priority given to enemy artillery units."

( if you have actions to perform while they're powering up the cannons, do it now )
( also, high DC spot check... )
( map updated )

[TheDude51]

As attack groups Storm and Banner begin their assault, Samael turns to Derovarr

"It might be wise to commit the Assault Skiff strike groups as well. We need to take out that artillery before the battlemasters are entirely annihilated."

[Zanaikin]

[all telecomm]

Aelisar: "The Crimson brigade artillery has yet to deploy against any target, if we strike at them now the mobile forces may be disastrously mauled if not annihilated. We only need to wait few more minutes before the circles open to pour through."

Ceriele: "But the battlemasters are taking losses too fast! At this rate..."

Kanaer: "They can't have the ammunition to keep up this kind of barrage for long!"

Aelisar: "...And we will not rush in impatiently only to face disaster. Do not worry my allies, there is still one more card to be played. In the meantime, we simply need the battlemasters to reach as close to the enemy as possible."

Daethelar: "Milady, that's..."

Aelisar: "We've been over this before, milord, and my decision stands final. Lord Strusler hesitated not to draw his final card in order to bring us an end to the First Great Alliance War, and I shall not tarnish the name of Arinydeth by backing out in cowardice!"

[Mr_Praetorian]

[Telecomm]Derovarr: Lady Arvitor, with all do respect, unless you have way to bring the Battlemasters back from the dead, er, wherever they're from. I don't think they're going to last a couple more minutes.

"Get those shields powered up, and brace for enemy fire!" (Spot: 56)

Side Note: I probably should have posted this, but Derovarr will be using Battlefield Coordination to aid the airships and any WMSs that he can, in their attacks (+12 circumstance DC, +12 dodge AC).

EDIT: As the Sky Galleons begin to charge their shots...
[Telecomm] Derovarr: It may be wise to refocus some of our WMSs to firing at the Western-most forward brigade. From the looks of the enemies positioning, they might be preparing for a flank... Correction! Oblique Order! They're looking for local Superiority in the West!

[Zanaikin]

[telecomm] Daethelar: "Very well then Lord Derovarr. All War Magic Sections, form Superior Invisibilities and Ghostform. Port through to west and north of the 22nd Brigade and open up with tactical fogs!"


Meanwhile onboard the Retribution, the cannon charged in under a dozen seconds, but as the war magic array condensed in power, the nearest Crimson brigade artillery battery opened fire in rapid succession. But their delayed fire was hardly noticed in comparison to the REDEIN fighters that accelerated straight towards the ship from the south at breakneck speed closed in... which it quickly became apparent that all of them focused on the one closer ship - the Retribution (the d100 did not favor you this time).

The Retribution opened firing with its missile batteries and starboard side turrets, and two fighters were stopped cold by Solid Fogs while another four were shredded by the force missiles in under 200ft from the ship. The destroyed fighters exploded in midair, causing a far larger explosion than last time at Trias and battering the ship hull with their shockwaves. Three more fighters also exploded in a chain reaction, and the force of their detonation warped several outer hull sections and completely shattered the deck Force warding. Then the last three fighters crashed straight into the ship after firing only a single volley of plasma bolts...
The first one struck Retribution's starboard missile launcher, which was barely held by the Spell-Shield protecting it.
The second struck Retribution's bow, and once again the massive forward Spell-Shield flared to protect the vessel, but it held.
The third soared in from a shallow dive and crashed straight onto the deck, which was left vulnerable with the loss of the force warding. One of the Crusaders managed to jump away just in time from being hit directly, but was then hurled outwards by the explosion.

( everyone takes 316 points of ranged bludgeoning damage and fire damage - should be absorbed by your shields )
( then make a reflex save, followed by a strength check, results on table below )
( REF DC 30 succeeds w/ evasion: you duck onto the deck fast enough, and is now prone, no STR check required )
( REF DC 30 succeeds and STR DC 25 succeeds: you are pushed back by the force of the blast but manages to remain on deck )
( REF DC 30 fails or STR DC 25 fails: you get hurled out of the ship deck by the blast and thrown a good distance ).

The personal spell-shields prevented any casualties, but about half of the Golem Armored Crusaders and almost all of the warmages onboard were hurled off the deck by the explosion. But before anyone on deck could recover or collect themselves back together...

Shift: "FIRE!"

The Retribution unleashed the power of its Rune Cannon, but the Vindicator held off and cancelled its shot at the last moment, and at the same time the Imperial missiles and shells flew in and began detonating one after another, filling the entire area with consecutive waves of shrapnel. Retribution's shot managed to travel out about 100ft before detonating, suddenly engulfing the front of the ship in an explosive burst of silver flames. The force of the blast hurled the Retribution backwards as if a massive tsunami.

( if you were knocked prone: no damage )
( if you're still onboard: REF DC 32 or take 60 sacred damage and 60 fire damage [spell-shields doesn't stop sacred damage] )
( if you're hurled offboard: take 87 ranged slashing/piercing damage from shrapnel and 120 sacred damage & 120 fire damage from the explosion. You may half the sacred/fire damage (not the shrapnel) with a REF DC 36 save, but as you've yet to recover your motion properly: no evasion )
( if you got AMF up, ignore the sacred/fire damage )

Thanks to the protection of their Golem Armor, the Crusader that were hurled off took only minor shield drain from the shrapnel and completely ignored the silver flames. The warmages however were not so lucky, and most of them that were hurled off the deck were quickly immolated by the silver flames, their lives snuffed out in mere seconds.

Damage reports erupted onboard the Retribution. The bow hull sections managed to hold, a testment to their tough construction, but they were now severely damaged and several of them were almost pulverized. The Rune-Cannon turret lost its external amplifier, the engineer believe it will still operate, but will be considerably slower and less effective. The bow staff-gattling turret survived, but the exposed staves had been shredded, leaving the turret an unarmed piece of metal.

( after that... morale onboard the Sky Galleon noticeably drops... )

( post your results )

[Mr_Praetorian]

(Reflex Rolls: 55, 60 evasion)

[Telecomm]: (Coughing) Blast it.. to the Abyss! Shot blocked at 100ft by enemy shrapnel! Heavy damage to frontal segments! Tell WMSs to watch out for shrapnel!

"Shift, full power to shields, and patch those gaps as best you can. Attack Group Storm! Give us some cover while we recover our forces! No more tactical shots until that artillery fire is halted!

Wills of iron, comrades! (rally 42)

Derovarr spends the next few minutes ordering around soldiers, rallying (42, 41, 40), and otherwise barking orders, trying to stabilize the situation.

HP: 276
AC: 83
Touch: 51
SR: 29
PR: 36
Protection from Ranged: 750/750
Shield Points: (684/1000), (1000/1000)

[Squall255]

Ref Save: No damage save ranged bludgeoning, which is absorbed by the shields.

[Laharl]

(Ref: 45, evasion)

"Lady Kati, when do you plan to begin the casting of the Storm?" Teodor sends a verbal poke over telebond and then pulls out a scroll of Vision to hack enemy communications, concentrating on the Crimson Brigade in hopes of hacking their communications in particular.

[TheDude51]

Samael:
Reflex: 55
Str: 13
AMF

Kati:
Reflex: 62 (Evasion)

Kati replies over the telebond: "The storm lasts for under a minute, and it needs to be cast as the battlemasters make their final approach. Casting will begin in about 8 minutes, assuming the Imperials hold their current position."

[Zanaikin]

[TheDude51]

"I suggest we back off and prepare to teleport in to support the battlemasters against the 22nd Brigade, once they reach melee range. Those special detachments are likely something very nasty, given how confidently the Imperials are advancing."

[Zanaikin]

[TheDude51]

Telecomm: "Cary, try using the Galleon's Phase Shot to bypass the shrapnel."

As soon as Samael sees the incoming fighters, he readies an action to throw up a Prismatic Wall between them and the Retribution's central deck section as they begin their final approach.

Concentration: 37