The Drake extends its salvage tether to retrieve the tracking module from the wreckage. The spherical metal computer is small enough to fit in your hand, and beeps with a red light, indicating it's still fully functional.
With the automated defense platform destroyed, the large, red, barren planet of Elytrio awaits you just ahead.
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Chikasa sits down with a sigh as the platform explodes at last. "Well done, young'ns! That was some mighty fine flying there, Ratatat. And of course, we couldn't do it all without our fearless captain. Davrin, you proved quite a good shot too! Now, 9, I'll thank you to take over down here for a bit while I sit and watch my stories." He finds a comfy seat on the main deck and pulls up the infosphere to watch his programs while the others recover the automated platform's computer.
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A few moments after the ship is destroyed and Jack gets out of his latest hair situation, Ehdd reaches over and turns off his TV show and hits the ship's comm button to broadcast. "Great work crew, I couldn't have done it better myself."Literally... at all... even close. Whew, glad that's over.
He watches the screen intently as the piece of wreckage is brought on board. "Maybe that salvage ship we talked to earlier will chip in some gas money for whatever that is. Its worth a shot right?" He shrugs his antennae before reviewing the cheat sheet taped to the armwrest of his Captain's chair:
1. Congratulate Crew Check.
2. Get update on ship damage. Oh, good call Captain Kirk!
"Hey engineering... any damage to report? Lets get an update here from all Departments before we stir up any more of those hornets."
Chikasa's terminal flashes a 'Scanning... Please wait...' message for a few seconds, then returns the following details about Elytrio on screen, with a monotone female voice announcing them:
- Planet has a breathable atmosphere
- Standard gravity
- Higher than normal levels of radiation detected. Should not pose a threat to life
- Large energy output detected from a fully functional city in the southern hemisphere of Elytrio. City has a level of technology that is comparable to that of the Pact Worlds, albeit slightly outdated. City contains life forms of some kind.
The Drake enters Elytrio's orbit and thrusts towards the southern hemisphere, where the scan indicated the existence of a city. As it does, an alarm sounds onboard and your faithful automated ship companion speaks up.
Warning: The city and a zero point five mile radius around it are encased in a powerful force field. Attempting landing here is not advised. Suggesting a safe landing zone close to the edge of the force field. Please confirm new coordinates shown below.
An image of a barren, sandy area near the city's forcefield displays on the screen.
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"Holy shit! Yes confirm already! Watch where you're flyin' this thing Ratatat!" Ehdd sits up in his chair to pay closer attention to what's going on.
"Lets be sure to not go crazy down here and do anything we'll regret. Keep your guns on stun and your friendly face on at all times. Who knows if anyone will come for our asses if we get in a scrape..." Ehdd hits the diagnostics on his personal armor to make sure everything is up to snuff, especially his radiation barrier.
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Ratatatat shrugs "Fine...fine." Looking at the spot that the ship has suggested he flies over to the open area and gently lands the Drake. "Stun?..Whattheheckisthat?..Dancer...tapsthoseantennaetogether...andtellus. ..ifyoupickupanything." Making sure his flight suit is zipped up properly he checks his gun and his precious NIL. Reaching into his pockets he drops a pile of scrap metal at his feet and then puts together a make shift grenade "Alright...wegooodtogo?"
Ratatat maneuvers the Drake to the indicated coordinates, and the ship touches down on the surface of Elytrio safely. Exiting the ship, a cursory glance around the surroundings gives the entire planet a post-apocalyptic wasteland vibe, with little in the way of flora or fauna, but many, many sandy red dunes. A few hundred feet from where the Drake landed is the edge of the forcefield and its contained city.
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Ehdd rolls his compound eyes at Ratatat "Hey now, I'm the Captain, how come I'm sticking my head out first!" He leans his pair or antennae out of the hatch, waiting to see if they pick up anything before heading out himself.
Once they're out of the ship Ehdd takes up his position in the front of the group "Keep your weapons put away, we are here to explore and be peaceful, not drop artillery on someone's head Ratatat." He fixes his top hat and bow tie and heads towards the force field. "So umm how do we get in?"
As you trudge towards the edge of the forcefield, a deep rumble gyrates the ground beneath your feet. The top of a mountainous sand dune topples off and a large, muscular lion-like creature prowls out. Its beige-colored mane accents the dark brown scales lining its sides. It points its fanged mouth at Ehdd and Ratatat as it rears up to attack.
No one hears the beast coming, and it raises its maw into the air, releasing an imposing, terrifying roar that causes the sand to vibrate as if charged with kinetic energy.
The brute pounces through the sand ahead, now standing directly in front of you.
Sand Brute
0689, Ratatat, Ehdd, Davrin, Chikasa
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Chikasa hobbies along behind the others, and the larger members of the party block his line of sight, so he doesn’t see the strange beast emerge from the sand. When it lets out a roar, though, a slight smirk crosses his face and he pats the stock of his large rifle. ”Don’t worry, Girl. You won’t be cold for long.”
He steps back a few paces and takes a knee to steady his aim, then pulls back the lever to load a cartridge into the chamber, releases the safety...and waits. This, he recalls at the last moment, is a first contact situation. Best to let the words fly before the blood and the bullets. He stays ready to fire, though, in case things go sour.
Ehdd desperately tries to calm the beast, but it rudely roars when its rage is interrupted by someone telepathically entering its mind. It doesn't seem to have any intentions of calming down.
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"Wellyouasked...forit...notveryfriendly...areyou?"
Ratatatat lets loose a sticky bomb grenade care packaged via NIL aiming it right for the center of the beast.
rounds
The sticky bomb lands on the beast's legs, forming a thick puddle of gooey, molasses-like tar that impedes its movements. Chikasa fires a particularly lethal shot into its flank, and the beast lets out a half whimper before roaring in anger again.
Not only does Davrin's laser shot reflect off the beast's hide, but the creature reacts to it, lunging ahead to attempt to bite him back.
Luckily, Davrin is quick in his reflexes and dodges its fangs, and its mane is set ablaze by Davrin's shot. The creature then desperately shifts and contorts its body to escape the goo, and ends up right in Ratatat's face.
Ratatat feels a surge of pain shoot through his hairy leg as the beast sinks its fangs deep into his murine flesh.
Sand Brute (-13, entangled 5)
0689, Ratatat (-8), Ehdd, Davrin, Chikasa
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"Woah! This guy is PISSED all out attack people!" Ehdd's antennae whorl around aggressively and everyone's focus shifts towards taking this creature down!
He raises his Arc pistol and fires off a shot, still in stun mode
Get ’Em (Ex): As a move action, you can choose one enemy within 60 feet. Until the start of your next turn, you and your allies gain a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls made against that enemy. The bonus persists even if the enemy moves beyond 60 feet or out of line of sight or hearing. At 6th level, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to grant this bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls against all enemies who are within 60 feet.
Ratatat dodges what would've been a vicious bite as he slips away from the sand brute.
Davrin fires a fancy, cinematic sideways shot at the sand brute's paw but it digs into the sand to avoid it in time. Chikasa's aim is much more accurate, and the ysoki hits a vital vein in its alien flesh, spraying the brute's yellow blood everywhere.
The beast looks left and right, seemingly calculating its next attack. Still slowed by the sticky bomb, it lumbers towards 0689 and lunges ahead to catch the android's arm in its fangs.
Bolts and wires are ripped out of 0689's arm by the sheer power of the brute's bite.
Sand Brute (-20, entangled 4)
0689 (-10), Ratatat (-8), Ehdd, Davrin, Chikasa
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Davrin's shot blasts the beast from behind, throwing it off-guard. Ratatat and Ehdd follow suit with two more small arm attacks to the flank, and the brute whimpers and roars as more blood trickles from its alien veins. Even 0689 finds that his aim is on target given the creature's flat-footedness, though Chikasa just barely misses.
The sand brute turns to Ratatat and leaps through the sand, reaching forward to bite the ysoki again.
The beast grabs Ratatat by the belly, shaking him around and tossing him aside. Ratatat falls unconscious.
Sand Brute (-30, 4 NL, entangled 3)
0689 (-10), Ratatat (-17, unstable), Ehdd, Davrin, Chikasa
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You swear you see a tiny bead of insect sweat form on Ehdd's brow as Ratatat is chomped and thrown to the ground. "Lets go crew, quick quick, Get 'em!" Ehdd's antennae go wildly aggressive once more, focusing everyone's attention on the bleeding flanks of the beast.
Who's going to fly the ship now? Not me! Ehdd pulls the trigger again of his arc pistol.
Get ’Em (Ex): As a move action, you can choose one enemy within 60 feet. Until the start of your next turn, you and your allies gain a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls made against that enemy. The bonus persists even if the enemy moves beyond 60 feet or out of line of sight or hearing. At 6th level, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to grant this bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls against all enemies who are within 60 feet.
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Ratatatat crumples to the ground as the brute rips into his small frame. Bleeding out he momentarily dreams of images of him flying the most magnificent ship known to the Pact Worlds – the ATech Immortal Series. As he steers the ship towards the three suns he feels like he is forgetting something and looks down to see that he no longer holding his favourite possession.
'Where is my NIL? I just had it...didn't I?' His attention shifts back to the ATech Immortal he is piloting and he watches with shock at how close the suns are now. The heat rises as he tries to pull out of the gravitational pull of the three suns.
"Noooooo...notlike...thiiiss." he feels his body cold and hot at the same time and it is dark all around him.
Davrin and Chikasa's final attacks prove to be lethal, with Davrin's showy sideways shot severing its tail, and Chikasa sniping it through the forehead. A tremor shakes the ground as the sand brute falls onto its side, unconscious.
From above a sand dune to the east, four four-legged insectile creatures clap their mandibles together and begin to walk down towards you. They're clearly armed, though their weapons seem dated, and they aren't pointing their weapons at you.
They stop once within 50 feet of you, and one of them shouts something otherworldly at you, its voice a mixture of clicking, static, and echoing.
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Ehdd raises a three clawed fist in the air as the beast hits the dirt for a long nap. "Wooo doggy! Great work! Doc, get over to Ratatat double time!" Hey, where's Doc? Doc?
As Ehdd scans the area for their science officer he sees the 4 come down over the dune.
"Play it cool everyone, they don't seem hostile and they sound like they're using the same language as that ship message... where's that translator at?" He looks over towards everyone before remembering he was carrying it and pulls it out and hits the button that makes it work.
"Greetings people! I'm Ehdd, how they hangin?" Ehdd asks in his best friendly voice, holstering his pistol in his armor sleeve as a sign of peace. How long it take for this translator to work its magic again?
Watching Davrin lower his pistol, one of the four - a more effeminate looking alien - holds up one of her hands and lowers her head to show the flat side of her twin mandibles, then straps her rifle to her back. She slowly steps closer, moving within 20 feet of Ehdd.
The translator beeps to life as she continues to talk, and after a few minutes, a speaker broadcasts a rudimentary translation monotonously. Hello. We saw -- kill the sand lion. Impressive. Where are you from?
Yet still, the mandibled alien nods as if she understood the word name. "Name? Dys... Dystane." She clicks and echoes.
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As the serum courses through Ratatatat's body the ysoki leaps to life quickly grabbing for his pistol and aiming it at Davrin. He shakes off the confusion his eyes squinting with the glare of the sun beating down on his dirt covered face "THEBEAST...Where?...Anyoneelsedown?" he looks at Davrin and the syringe sticking in his shoulder, "Thanksforthehit." He sits up and flips back his own full serum back to Davrin. "Alrightletsgo."
Finding his legs under him he starts to move when he sees the four-legged aliens start coming over the dunes. He is about to let loose a 'package' from NIL when he hears Dancer's voice in his head.