Durgama Takeover

***
“Fate” was a word rarely used in the Shasvastii language. When viewed as a divine architecture, an unseen and immutable plan that controls the seemingly chaotic and random universe, “fate” would imply a helplessness, an inability to adapt and overcome and thrive on your own merits. It would imply an existence entirely at the mercy of the unfathomable whims of the cosmos.

As it turns out, having a formerly galaxy-spanning empire destroyed by a cataclysm of unprecedented scale, and having your species driven to near extinction and forced to flee blindly into a cold, dark universe tends to sour one’s opinion on “fate.” This extends even to the concept of personal fate, that each individual has a pre-defined purpose or role in the grand scheme of the universe.

The word “fate” still exists in the Shasvastii lexicon, however its use evolved to be synonymous with cruel irony, unfortunate coincident, or tragic accident. The brilliant neuclear scientist who dies in an undetected radiation leak, the doctor afflicted with an incurable illness, the loss of a young life before they ever had a chance to realise their potential; these are examples of how the Shasvastii view “fate.”

Instead, the Shasvastii adopted a worldview of dogmatic pragmaticism. Every action was undertaken with the knowledge that they bear their own consequences, and that through careful study and planning, those consequences could be assessed, predicted, and mitigated. In order to ensure their survival, every decision must be made with the utmost certainty that it would be beneficial to the collective, that it would further the cause of Shasvastii proliferation through the universe.

In the same vein, every individual in the Shasvastii Continuum has been meticulously designed, through eugenics and genetic engineering, to ensure the Shasvastii will never meet the extinction they so briefly brushed shoulders with in the past.

Despite their general distaste for “fate,” some Shasvastii took this concept of utilitarianism to the extreme, developing it into a spirituality all its own. While the word “fate” doesn’t get used in this context, the word “purpose” is frequently used instead. Many Shasvastii view their existence as akin that of a tool, a tool to be used by the Continuum, with a single defined purpose which it must fulfill in order to build upon the grand plan set out by the Continuum.

Sheskiin hated both the concept of “fate” and the more recently adopted concept of “purpose.” She got to where she was through her own ability, and she could change the direction her life would take at any moment. Nothing defined her except her own choices and actions, and nothing would hold her back from achieving her desired goals; not “fate,” not “purpose,” and definitely not the Nomad forces arrayed before her.

However, despite her feelings, here, aboard the Raveneye station, amidst the rubble and smoke, the flashing lights and blaring sirens, the crack of gunfire and the rush of adrenaline as she raised her weapon towards the Nomad TAG and unleashed a furious burst of fire, Sheskiin couldn’t help but feel like she was made for this. As she rushed headlong towards the enemy and watched them falter and flee before her, she couldn’t shake the sense that this is where she belonged.
***

Nomads win Lt roll and choose second turn. Shasvastii deploy second.

Leftmost Taigha walks forward with its Impetuous order, covered by the prow of a crashed Morat gunship. Sheskiin and her team peek out from cover to fight a Gecko, scoring 3 Hits and a Crit, of which the Gecko fails 2 ARM rolls and falls back behind cover with 1 STR remaining.

Then the Caliban advances prone under cover of camo until it’s within striking distance of a Moran, where it lands a D-Charge and consumes the remains for 2W, unconcerned by the Crazy Koala that detonates on him and removes one of the wounds he’d gained. He then heads towards the second Moran, but takes another wound from the Turret, and finally fails to dodge another Koala, dying just before reaching his target.

With the last few orders, a Shrouded minelayer advances across the catwalk onto the building in the Nomad’s half of the table, placing a mine to lock down the Moran and prevent it from engaging him.

The Morlock spends several orders advancing and Discovering the Speculo Killer, who falls to the Morlock in a brief gunfight after being revealed. The Wounded Gecko then tries to reposition to attack Sheskiin, but is ambushed by a hidden Noctifer along the way. The Gecko successfully dodges the incoming missile, and then the Chimera covers its advance with Smoke so it wouldn’t be targeted by another. The surviving Moran deploys his second CrazyKoala so it will trigger on Sheskiin if she performs an ARO. The Gecko eventually gets into range to target Sheskiin and her Nox Paramedic, knocking the medic unconscious and forcing Sheskiin to retreat into cover.

The second Gecko then advances into the closest quadrant, killing a Taigha that had peeked out from cover, and tries to score Extremis Recovery on the downed Speculo. It fails the WIP check with a roll of 17, so the Morlock shows him how it’s done with the next order, scoring the Classified for the Nomads.

Nomads score 2 OP for controlling two quadrants to the Shasvastii’s one, plus 1 OP for their Classified.

The Noctifer throws a volley of missiles at a Pupnik in the open and manages to knock his target and the Chimera unconscious. A second missile follows, killing the target and the Chimera and knocking the other two Pupniks unconscious.

Sheskiin and the Jayth then start moving out with different objectives: Sheskiin scales the building and tries to fight the Nomad turret but suffers a wound in their first exchange; the Jayth begins pushing hard to the right, looking to get into one of the Nomad’s home quadrants. Sheskiin eventually takes out the Turret and finds a safe place to drop prone until she can resume her rampage next turn. The Jayth advances to within spitting distance of the wounded Gecko and lands a speculative E/M grenade on it, rendering it Isolated and Immobilized.

Then the Shrouded on the catwalks moves to a safer position and the leftmost Ikadron advances into one of the Shasvastii’s home quadrants. Finally, the surviving Taigha rushes into the opponent’s DZ and dies to a mine, but knocks the Flash Pulse bot unconscious in the process.

A Prowler KHD reveals itself from Hidden Deployment and takes out the Jayth.

Then, a Liberto attempts to cross through the dangerous gauntlet of Noctifer missiles but falls when it fails to dodge the shot. The Clockmaker then repairs the Flash Pulse bot and gives it a little encouragement to try the same gauntlet that killed the Liberto. Unexpectedly, the Flash Pulse bot succeeds, dodging the incoming missiles twice before it finally reaches a safe destination. The Morlock and active Gecko advance again, getting further into the zone to prevent the Shrouded from being able to score it.

Shasvastii and Nomads each score 1OP for controlling 2 quadrants. The Prowler was unfortunately outscored because the unconscious Nox paramedic was still contributing points to that zone.

The Noctifer sets into action again, killing the Prowler with two missiles to the back of the head.

A second Shrouded then breaks cover and moves towards the disabled Gecko, intent on finishing it off to get the points out of that zone. It takes a lot of orders to get there without drawing undue attention, but the Shrouded eventually reveals from Camo and knocks the Gecko unconscious.

Sheskiin advances into the Nomad half of the table, killing the Flash Pulse bot along the way, and engages the remaining Gecko, knocking off a point of structure as it retreats out of line of sight. With one last order, Sheskiin moves further abroad and draws line for a second shot, but both models crit, saving the Gecko from taking another four ARM rolls from Sheskiin’s Red Fury.

The Clockmaker needs to get the damaged Gecko operational again, and his Zondbot manages to thread the needle to avoid the watchful eyes of the Noctifer. It makes it to its target… but rolls a 20 to repair, killing it instead.

The Moderate Lt takes matters into its own hands and engages the Shrouded, luckily killing the Shasvastii operative to stop it from scoring their quadrant.

The Nomad’s EVO bot advances into its zone to lock it down, and the Gecko and Morlock move into the Shasvastii half of the table to score there, knowing they can’t compete with Sheskiin and a Shrouded in their own zone.

Shasvastii and Nomads each score 1OP again for controlling 2 quadrants. Both also score 1 OP for dominating a Quadrant in the opponent’s half of the table.

Dominate more Quadrants x1 [2 OP], Dominate same number of Quadrants x2 [1 OP each], Dominate an enemy Quadrant x1 [1 OP], Complete Classified [1 OP]

Dominate same number of Quadrants x2 [1 OP each], Dominate an enemy Quadrant x1 [1 OP]