Gunnz maneuvers to get a clear shot before swiftly drawing her pistol and blasting the elemental with electricity.
Huckle drops his gun and draws his baton, but the creature dodges away from his strike.
Karish fires an energy ray into the elemental's side, the icy spell snuffing out a portion of its flames.
Stell backs away while inspiring Jim to stay in the fight.
The elemental swings at Huckle Jim two times, landing one solid blow that burns through armor and skin.
Nobody tries to shoot again, but his blast ricochets off the far wall before dissipating.
Gunnz pulls off another effective trick shot, blasting the elemental with electricity again.
Huckle Jim tries again to whack the elemental, but it dodges the awkward swing.
Karish hits the creature with another ray of cold.
Stell tries to pull off her own trick shot, but her aim is off and her pistol's static arc blazes past the elemental.
The elemental slams Huckle Jim again, dropping him to the floor, then steps up to Nobody. As the hacker taps at his computer and raises his gun, the creature burns him for his insolence! Despite the pain, Nobody fires point-blank into the creature's body, and it flickers and fades away as the energies holding it together dissipate!
"Alright!" Envar cheers. "You did it! But, uh, is Clint okay? He looks burnt or dead."
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"Pain is just a state of mind, Finn," Stell calls out as she moves toward Huckle Jim. "You're the boss of it!"
As Stell reaches Huckle Jim, she watches anxiously as Nobody sets to work. Then she walks over to Envar to make sure he doesn't punch any more buttons. "How about you let us know before you try any more demonstrations? Once we patch our people up, we need to get to the executive level so you can show me if your mother has a picture of you in her office or not."
Nobody quickly works to pat out the lingering flames on Huckle and bind his wounds, stabilizing the soldier.
"Yeah, sure thing, babe! But first--selfie!" He snaps a photo of himself giving a thumbs up next to Stell, with the rest of you in the background. A few seconds later, the update goes out across the infosphere:
Envar and friends: 1, Sun: 0. #sickburn #forrealtho #sunsoutgunsout
"As a reward for your killing the sun, check out the shelves in here and in the other room and take what you want. I'm a ranking member of Arch Energy, so I'm legally allowed to give you stuff!"
Among the items located on the shelves, you find an armorcrafter engineering specialty tool kit, a fire extinguisher, 2 high-capacity batteries, and 2 basic medkits. There's also a spy drone partially hidden behind a cabinet.
The final room on this level has metal shelving along the eastern wall and four mounted telescopes in the center of the room. There's a locked storage unit here.
The lockers contain 3 sets of casual stationwear, a standard hideaway limb (arm), a radiation buffer armor upgrade, two sprayflesh cans, and a least graviton crystal.
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After Envar posts another picture, Stell decides this might tip off their activities to anyone keeping an eye on Envar. So she first creates a distraction and then attempts to pick his pocket and take his comm unit (or whatever he's using to take pictures).
When examining the gear, Stell will carry the fire extinguisher and a medkit, just in case they proves useful.
She will donate a serum of healing to help someone recover if needed.
Nobody's treatment gets Jim back on his feet.
After resting for a few minutes, Huckle is feeling a bit better. Stell has been keeping Envar occupied, but now the lashunta grins at all of you. "Alright! The official tour's over, but my girl here wants to see Mother's office. Luckily, I'm the only other employee who has access. Mother's office is really plush. I go there sometimes to get away from it all... I mean, when she's not around. Let's go!"
Ilia Tamm's office is located on the third floor of Brilliance. As you exit the elevator with Envar, a pair of vesk in security uniforms enter. The two give you a look, but Envar simply waves at them. "It's okay, they're with me!" This doesn't seem to put the vesk at ease, but they say nothing and let you pass.
Soon, you find yourselves in front of a locked plastic door with a control panel attached to it. Envar pulls forth a key card and hands it to Stell. "Here, babe! You wanna do the honors?"
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Stell takes the key and stalls for a moment, fiddling with it and looking hard at the rest of the security system, hoping to spot any problems if she attempts to enter the office.
She gives Nobody a glance and directs her eyes from him to the security system, then turns to Envar and holds the key card up and says, "So how does this work anyway? Oh, look! It has your picture on it. Let me see if I like it better than the real thing." She holds the card up and compares the picture to Envar's face.
Stell doesn't discover anything else about the security system. It looks pretty straightforward.
"Babe, there ain't nothing like the real thing!" Envar says, grinning and swaying a bit unsteadily on his feet.
Nobody's study of the security system shows that the electronic lock isn't nearly as complicated as the retinal scanners throughout the rest of the complex. He could unlock it now without the key card if he wants, or you could just slide the card through the scanner.
The security panel beeps softly as the door slides open. This rectangular room is starkly different from the typical gold-and-silver metal decor found throughout the rest of Brilliance. Darkwood credenzas and bookcases complement the wood-paneled walls and tan wooden floor here. A model of the Pact Worlds system, sculpted in gold and silver metal, hangs from the ceiling near the center of the room. Framed parchment maps from some ancient era adorn the walls. The lone visible piece of modern technology is a silver computer console affixed to a darkwood desk on the eastern side of the room. A private climate-controlled and air-sealed balcony overlooks open space to the north. Racks lined with dusty bottles stand along the western wall of the office, watched over by an oil painting of a graceful lashunta woman reaching up toward a radiant sun--Ilia Tamm herself.
"What do you think? Pretty swank, huh?" Envar saunters into the office like he owns the place, grabbing a bottle off the rack. He blows the dust off and pops the cork out. "This is a primo vintage, man. Wanna taste?"
"Mother changes her password all the time," Envar says. "She's a real stickler! The key card can get you started, but then you have to answer all the security questions to reset the password. Fortunately, yours truly knows all the answers! I'll help you get in and then you can play whatever games she's got!"
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Stell takes the bottle from Envar. "I'll set up some drinks while you work on that password." She takes her time at this task, so as to delay Envar getting anymore intoxicants in him. While she's at it, she inspects the liquor, wondering why the bottle is so dusty. Strange to have such fine liquor and not touch it seems strange, she thinks. She examines other bottles on the shelf to see if any are not dusty.
All of the bottles are dusty. It seems Ilia values the status of having such expensive vintages on display more so than actually partaking of them.
Nobody's fingers tap the keyboard, while Gunnz and Karish look over his shoulder and offer advice to help out. It doesn't take them long to get through the security on it and gain access to the system! Searching through the directory, the hackers are able to find the data that Historia-7 is searching for. They can recognize the various secured files but cannot discern any major information. The single most obvious clue from the data is that Arch Energy is essentially a front that funds clandestine meetings between the members of its board of directors. Each of the directors is hidden by a false identity. The data will require a dedicated team of data analysts to properly pry any major secrets from.
You've attained your mission objective! Now, all that remains is to get back to your ship and depart Brilliance.
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Quietly to Nobody she whispers "Can you remove us from any security footage, while you are here? And what about installing a back door to let us in again in the future?"
Gunz nods to Stell. "Envar, it's been a blast!" says Gunnz
"But you know what life in the limelight is like, right? Work, work, work. And us elite gladiators, we have another gig we can't be late for. Follow us? Hashtag #EliteGladiatorGirls !"
Lets hope he doesn't notice the boys are boys. I'm sure I can come up with a good story about that if necessary.
She says as she tries to make her exit.
"Aw, you have to leave already! But we were having so much fun!" Envar whines. "Okay, okay. I'll take you down to the docking bay."
You leave Ilia's office and get back on the elevator, taking it down to the bottom level of Brilliance. As you prepare to get on your ship, Envar calls out. "Wait! One last selfie!" He gathers you all together, smiles, and snaps the shot.
Later, Gladiator Girls! #love #blessed
He waves as you board the Pegasus. You fire up the engines and take off, heading away from the sun.
Unfortunately, you don't get far before a pair of security fighters begins to approach your ship. A stern voice comes across your comm system. "Attention, Pegasus-class vessel! Inconsistencies have been detected with your credentials, and there has been suspicious activity on the station's computer system. Power down your weapon systems and return to Brilliance immediately, or we will open fire!"
Karish's expert scanning quickly determines all of the schematics of the enemy fighters.
Tiny fighter; Crew Complement 2
Speed 8; Maneuverability good (turn 1)
AC 16; TL 13; HP 35
Shields basic 20 (forward 5, port 5, starboard 5, aft 5)
Core PCU Value 70
Attack (Forward) light laser cannon (2d4), micromissile battery (2d6)
Attack (Aft) light laser cannon (2d4)