Jaxom launches a volley of two shots at the target of Diamaante’s ire.
Fire, Burn 1d4
Fire, Burn 1d4
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One of Jaxom's laser blasts scorches the strange metal of the alien robot threatening Telion, but his other blast, as well as August's shot, both fly wide, caroming off the plating on the walls of the corridor.
The robot angles forward past the solarion, but brings its heavy arm swiftly down on Telion once more.
The arm crunches again into Telion's head, blood flowing freely from the lashunta's pate. Somehow, the solarian remains conscious. The robot's head swivels between targets.
Jaxom continues firing at the robot...
Fire, Burn 1d4
Fire, Burn 1d4
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August briefly contemplates shooting Jagjug to get him to stop but decides it wouldn't play well off Eox. Probably.
[B]"Stop shooting, the robot's deactivatef.[/ooc]
After the goblin holster his laser, or at the least doesn't point it in his direction while he moves, August moves to inspect he robot and the area it appears to have been guarding.
”Wow! Where the heck did that thing come from?”
Dazed, Telion leaned back against the wall and released his graviton fist, but kept his pistol ready in case a new threat showed itself.
"I'm more concerned if there are more that are going to come looking. Can you see if it has any active communication devices, or any kind of tracking modules?"
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Both Jagjug and August fret with the dark hunk of alien metal, discovering little of use. The panels on the walls still flash with lights and mysterious symbols, and the infrasonic hum of unseen machinery still pervades your senses.
Looking further into the end of chamber, the crew can see the space where the large sentinel robot once-stood.
Jaxom also moves up.
Jaxom moves forward. "Let me see if I can geek the thing open..."
Jaxom steps backs and points at the hatch, ”I think you can open it now.”
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Jagjug bounces up to join the rest of the party, continuing to keep his zero pistol out and glancing over his shoulder at the inert robot more than once.
"Treasure you find? Jagjug help!"
The goblin moves to open the hatch as Jaxom backs away. The hatch doesn't open. Jagjug turns and levels a scrunched brow at Jaxom.
"This no fixed!" An idea hits him. "Jagjug fix!"
He sets about it with a screwdriver that appears in his other hand.
The click and a hydraulic release of pressure signal the portal's opening.
"See?!" Jagjug waves his screwdriver in Jaxom's face, "Jagjug fix things good! Jagjug help you, too, Jumpsuit Guy! Jagjug upgrade you pistol!"
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”Nice try Jagjug! I had it plenty unlocked, and you know it. Great job being brave and opening the hatch though.”
Telion stepped through the hatch for a closer look at the body. "I just hope nothing bursts out of this one..." Telion muttered as he looked for any obvious signs of death.
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Telion peers at the crumpled form. The body appears desiccated and shrivelled within the space suit, but no aberrant blue tongue protrudes from its mouth. Though numerous wounds are visible on the body of the female human, the cause of death appears obvious: a self-inflicted wound
to the head.
You all also notice that her space suit appears different to that of the crew of the Acreon.
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Within the space suit, the shrivelled body is wearing an estex suit I with a brown force field. The battery to the force field has been depleted. August finds two spell amps of lesser restoration, an empty static arc pistol (on the ground), and a personal datapad for his efforts.
The patch on the space suit looks like this.
The datapad's battery is dead.
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With Diamaante's spare battery, August is able to power the datapad and turn it on, revealing the unsecured computer to contain the final messages of Moriko Nash in both audio and data files. A static image of the woman in better days holds the right-hand upper corner of the screen. (IMAGE - pg 2)
There's a steady deep breath and the audio file ends.
Doh!
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August reads through the entries on the datapad and tucks it in a pocket once the playthrough is done.
"Well. Bad news is some creature feeding itself on souls is somewhere on this rock. Or was. The good news is there's a starship here somewhere too - the Sunrise Maiden, lost in 242 AG if I recall correctly. And thanks to the datapad it's...well, mine I suppose until we get it back to Absalom Station and register it with the Society. But as a sign of good will I'm more than happy to take us all off this rock until we can get to an Admiralty court for proper distribution of the spoils."
August will likewise grab the amps, the empty static arc pistol and the force field upgrade. The he tags the body for retrieval once they find a way home.
"Can anyone use the force field? It's a bit of a big module though, so I'm not sure if any of our gear is compatible. It's probably not a bad idea to use it if you can though if that creature ends up finding us while we're here."
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Diamaante shakes her head. "I think Mariko's estex suit is the only armor we have that can house the force field module. I don't know if it's worth it to give up thicker armor for a bit of buffering shields."
She bows her head and says a silent prayer for Mariko's soul. Hopefully she has found peace, just like Idar.
”Not me. I am more anxious to find our way off this place!”
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August and Telion (followed by Jagjug) stalk back down the alien hallway after a well-earned breather. As they proceed past the door that first led them into this corridor, the density of the electronic lights and blinking messages on the strange metallic wall panels grows thicker. The lights seem to all emitting messages in a similar pattern of blips, though it makes little sense to any of you.
The highly-packed forest of blinking lights provides dim light to the chamber as the crew explores the new area. The corridor quickly opens up in a chamber that seems torn between two
worlds — one half an unfinished rock wall, and the other half finished with the same ceramic-metallic plating found previously.
A complex control panel built into the wall to your left appears to reflect many different screens of blinking gibberish all at once. A keyboard of similar gibberish symbols and script rests on the console below it.
Jaxom chases after the others.
Telion injected himself with several serums, but his condition didn't seem much improved. "This place is odd. Almost like the construction here is growing like a living thing inside the stone."