Booker shrugs. "I'll leave 'im an MRE an' a bucket." The soldier pillages the Singularity's galley and tosses them in with the cultist.
Back aboard the Maiden, Booker decouples the ships and steers towards the sole inhabited planet.
"Hold on. This'll take some calculations. Good thing too that you have an expert in Physics. Getting the calc right only matters if you know how to best get results."
”Let me do the computers,” Gig interjects to Hack.
Unfortunately, in his eagerness to push buttons, he accidentally pushes the return button before he begins to really access the system.
The party sets about the insanely difficult balance of gravity, orbital speed, and debris. Gig's slip is costly , but Hack-It and Booker make up for it.
As you breach the cloud cover and make your landing approach, you catch glimpses of the planetoid’s surface. You spot a stampede of wild, horned quadrupeds kicking up dust across a grassy plain. You skirt the edge of a mountain range and watch as an avalanche swallows a copse of tall trees. You pass over the canopy of a jungle, spooking a flock of brightly colored, double-billed birds. As you approach the landing pad identified in your scans, you can see a crude trail burned in the brush leading in the direction of the control center.
Landing on the pad takes no unusual effort, and no resistance meets you on the ground. As you step out of the Sunrise Maiden, you can easily spot the wide path through the jungle.
The densest parts of the foliage were recently cleared with fire, explosives, and sharp instruments. Walking the half mile to the control center looks like it will be smooth sailing.
”Look over there. From what I can see, those dense parts of the foliage were recently cleared with fire, explosives, and sharp instruments. Walking the half mile to the control center looks like it will be walk in the park.”
The party heads out from the ship and starts towards the building. As you move through the jungle, you can hear screams and howls in the distance from the local fauna. Occasionally, carnivorous plants make half-hearted attempts to grab at you with a green tendril, but this danger is easily avoided.
The nearby plants are poisonous.
Lovely, Janzi says, dreaming of drinks with little umbrellas instead of death cults with murderous intent. The plants are poisonous. They want to kill us too.
"Go ahead of me, Janzi. I'll let you guys go first. I'm just going to hang back a little and do a little reverse scouting."
Hack-It enters a few commands onto his wrist console, and the jetpack-that-is-Hum transforms back into the familiar drone. The mechanic then follows closely behind Dunk, pistol at the ready.
Booker opts for his sniper rifle for the ground-game. The rest get stuffed in his null-space chamber, except for the artillery laser he straps to his back and the pistol at his side. "Right behind ya."
The party makes their way through the jungle. It's hot and both the flora and fauna both continue to niggle.
The nearby trees sway as something very large barrels its way out of the jungle. Branches snap and foliage is scattered about as a large, bulbous beast with two mouths, each one dripping with slimy green saliva, bursts into the clearing. The creature walks on a handful of small legs, and two massive clawed arms jut from its torso. Its thick tail flails violently about, and both its mouths each let loose deafening roars as it charges forth.
Round 1:
Hack-it: Go
Dunklezahn: Go
Hostile: TBD
Janzi: TBD
Booker: TBD
Gig: TBD
"I have no idea what that thing is, but I don't like it and am going to shoot it. Cool? Cool."
He then punches a few commands into his console, and Hum quickly fires off two shots at the large target!
Hack-it and Hum open fire on the huge creature. Hum's ultimate shot connects and seems to damage the creature, though not by much.
Round 1:
Hack-it: Hit
Dunklezahn: Go
Hostile: TBD
Janzi: TBD
Booker: TBD
Gig: TBD
jubsnuth: 14
When Gig gets a glance at the bi-mouthal beast, he wonders if he recognizes it from his past.
Gig has never seen a creature like this, but many of its features seem to be similar to something known as a Jubsnuth, a huge animal which can swallow a yoski whole with either of its two mouths.
Gig knows that these things are apex predators and rely on fast and overwhelming violence. As such, they have little in the way of specialized defenses.
Dunklezahn rushes in, fearless of the huge creature. It tries to bite him and chomps down HARD for . Unfortunately, the pike never connects.
The creature focuses on Dunk!
for dice=DMG]2d10+15[/dice]. It then tries to swallow him! , but Dunklezahn squirms away!
ound 1:
Hack-it: Hit
Dunklezahn: Miss
Hostile: Bite
Janzi: Go
Booker: Go
Gig: Go
jubsnuth: 14
Booker dumps his sniper rifle on the ground and hauls his artillery laser off his back.
"Eat fire, frog," Booker grunts.
Booker's shot easily connects with center mass!
ound 1:
Hack-it: Hit
Dunklezahn: Miss
Hostile: Bite
Janzi: Go
Booker: Hit
Gig: Go
jubsnuth: 34
Gig immediately recognizes trouble and he quickly casts one of the most powerful magical spells he knows. Moving his hands in quick somatic gestures, he pulls forth his powers seemingly from midair and with a sharp command, sends forth an Explosive Blast on the far side of the beast so as to engulf it with fire but to spare Dunk any harm.
Janzi's grasp of xenobiology is immense:
Gig's grasp of explosive magics is too. The blast erupts But the the massive beast seems to avoid the worst of it. Still it's certianly smoking and burnt in some places.
Round 1:
Hack-it: Hit
Dunklezahn: Miss
Hostile: Bite
Janzi: Thinking...
Booker: Hit
Gig: Boom
jubsnuth: 53
Janzi knows that this beast has nothing special about its defenses. It's size and biology mean it likely can swallow creatures whole as well as trample them. Likely its willpower is nothing special.
I don't usually advocate shooting first and asking questions later, Janzi says, but I find I'm making exceptions to that rule more and more frequently. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the proportion of things trying to kill us.
Janzi's laser hits the creature on a tough part of the hide, not damaging it!
Round 1:
Hack-it: Go
Dunklezahn: Go
Hostile: TBD
Janzi: TBD
Booker: TBD
Gig: TBD
jubsnuth: 53
Hack-It and Hum continue to fire upon the big plant monster.
Dunklezahn's discharge shocks the creature a bit, but it's hard to notice.
His two pike thrusts are MORE than noticeable as blood and ichor pour out from the creature! Hack-it scores a light hit too, though Hum is off target.
The wounds cause it to go into a rage. Fury overcomes self-preservation as the creature tries to swallow Dunklezahn whole!
for It throws its head back and prepares to swallow the grappled vesk!
Round 2:
Hack-it: Hit
Dunklezahn: Big hits
Hostile: Yum Yum
Janzi: Go
Booker: Go
Gig: Go
jubsnuth: 113
"Oh no ya don't!" Booker growls. He pumps fire into the over-sized frog's flank. "Die, you bloated mouthy freak!"
CRITICAL
plus
Booker's first shot is right down the creature's secondary mouth. It collapses in a heap, but Dunklezahn is able to roll away easily.
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”Huzzah!” Gig exclaims as he moves closer to inspect the vile corpse of the beast. ”A nasty foe the universe will no longer have to deal with. Step by step, little by little, we are making this place and many others where young Ysokis can grow up safely and not fear being eaten by creatures with multiple mouths. They will be free to have happy childhoods where they can run free and collect zachberries in their pouches and eventually grow up to attend Thrull Magnar concerts. Boys, today I think we have outdone ourselves!”
Gig looks around the area for a nest where any treasure might be found.
Gig and the others look around, but never do find anything of note. Lacking any other options, they continue down the path. Eventually, the path through the harsh jungle turns into the remains of a battered road leading to a large structure. As you approach, you can easily see that the front doors of the building have been blown inward by some explosive force.
Approaching a little closer, you get more detail. More of the jungle has been scorched here, most likely the result of a large explosion that has blasted a hole through the wall of a one-story building. Sounds of cruel laughter can be heard from inside.
Booker hauls the vesk out of the creature's slack-jawed maw. "You look rough. Need a minute?"
* * *
"Couldn't be bothered t'find a door, huh?" Booker grunts, surveying the damage. He checks his weapon and glances around. "Ev'rybody ready? You got grenades this time?"
Once he gets the nod, Booker keeps quiet and leads the way in.
Booker hauls the vesk out of the creature's slack-jawed maw. "You look rough. Need a minute?"
No need to insult him, Book. He's just as the gods made him. Janzi says. But let's let him catch his breath, yeah.
Booker leads the party forward quiety. The remains of a large double door lies broken on the floor, while a couple of bizarre-looking chairs or couches sit mangled against the north wall. Two short sets of steps lead up to a raised section of the room, from which a double door exits to the north. A smaller door stands in the southeast corner.
A trio of cultists are currently torturing a strange creature —a furry, three-legged beast the size of a small dog with a spherical head on a skinny neck. They don't seem to notice you since they're so concerned with their "sport."
Booker holds up a fist to those behind him, then raises three fingers, then points at the trio.
Booker grabs a grenade from his belt and hucks it.
plus Fort vs deafened for minute
The screamer erupts with a roar!
They shake off the deafening noise, and fall to action! The creature they'd be torturing seizes the moment and flees
Round 1:
Dunklezahn: Go
Gig: Go
Hostiles: TBD
Booker: TBD
Hack-it: TBD
Janzi: TBD
Red: 9
Blue: 9
Black: 9