Smash and Grab 2025-08-04 #1

Round 1: Shadows and Movement

The Eschers wasted no time. With fluid agility, they surged forward, their movements masked by the hiss of rebreathers and the soft purr of bonded Phelynx. On the opposing side, the Scions hunkered into elevated ruins, their weapons bristling over broken ledges. From the gloom, Sivek the Pale was already in motion—an infiltration maneuver placing the flame-wreathed disciple dead centre, poised to intercept.

Round 2: First Sparks

The ambush came quick. Sivek let loose a burst of promethium toward a deathmaiden cresting the flank, but she somersaulted through the torrent, her synth-fueled reflexes sparing her from the worst of it. Meanwhile, the Escher Queen, Elara Cyphertits, flanked north with a sister in tow. Positioning tightened. Bolts of las and gunfire stitched the air—no solid hits, just warning snarls in the growing storm.

Round 3: The Fire Turns

Seizing initiative, the Eschers struck hard. A coordinated lunge downed Sivek the Pale in a flurry of poisoned steel. At the same time, a deathmaiden drove up the central staircase leading into the teeth of the Scions' defence. There, Hierarch Vezurak and his unsettling familiar moved to stall her ascent, pinning her in place with blasts and psychic menace.

Round 4: High Ground, Frag Storm

On the rooftop opposite, Draal the Wound-Walker and a protégé let fly with blasting charges. Explosions churned smoke around Elara and her escort, forcing them off balance and out of cover. Yet on the central stairs, the deathmaiden pressed forward, joined by one of the Wyld Runners' Phelynx—its feline form slinking low through the debris, its feral eyes locked ahead.

Round 5: Chaos Unleashed

The stairs erupted into chaos. The Phelynx pounced upon Glimbo, the Hierarch's mutant familiar—a creature equal parts fish and misstep of creation. Amidst this tangle, a helot cultist deployed some kind of lure—whether bait or ritual, its result was horrifying: a great tentacled thing surged from a corroded pipe, answering the call. Escher lines buckled, but the deathmaiden, bloodied and unbowed, held her ground amid the rising panic.

Round 6: Retreat and Ruin

The battlefield fractured. The Helot line began to crumble—casualties mounting, their resolve broke. The deathmaiden, finally cowed by the looming tentacled horror, turned and fled. The Phelynx, having torn through the familiar, met its end to the beast in turn. But the tide was with Escher now.

As the Scions broke, the Eschers pressed. With the defenders in retreat, three crates were seized. One detonated—a booby trap, shrapnel singing through the air—but another yielded a bounty of 150 credits. Amidst the wreckage, Draal the Wound-Walker fought on alone, his face shredded, yet still striking from the shadows before he too fell.