Antoine heads into the hallway himself, drawing his rifle in the process. When he spots the jinsuls he takes a "photo".
---
Sorami's attack lands, blasting chitinous chunks out of the red-marked jinsul! Ivok's grenade lands and promptly explodes, sending a mass of goop out at the two nearest jinsuls! Unfortunately, both manage to narrowly dodge the worst of it and emerge clean of goop.
Al's rifle shot strikes true against the red jinsul, but Sev's volley of nanites ends up creatively rearranging the floor rather than red's face.
The green jinsul sends a volley of magic missiles at Sorami, striking her with all three force bolts! The red jinsul fires a pair of plasma bursts at the dangerous looking Ivok, clearly trying to weaken the front line. Both plasma blasts land, burning his armor And the purple (or rather, gleaming black!) jinsul leaps into action, bringing a leg blade down at Ivok while he's still trying to re-grab his pike. The blade cuts into him with surprising weight!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 2+3
Active conditions: None
Sorami (-11)
Al 203 (-9)
================================
Jinsul Green
Jinsul Red (-33, imp get 'em)
Jinsul Purple
================================
Sev
Antoine
Ivok (-37)
Neon
================================
Bold are up!
“Target lock achieved! Terminating.”
The small robot tries to hurt the Purple Jinsul, but evidently the targeting algorithms need adjustment.
|
Ivok grimaces and the blast of energy burns through his body. As the claw comes down on him he tries to bear the pain and grab the leg to get an opening for a slam right to the jinsul's center mass. He releases the hold as he backs up in the hallway regrasping his pike.
"I won't be able to take too many more of those! Lets not give them another chance!"
Antoine keeps his attention on red, going for another inspiring shot!
With an unfortunate miss, he moves to get out of the line of fire!
Even with Antoine's help, Sorami narrowly misses a shot on the red jinsul. Sev's rapid laser fire strikes the purple jinsul's black armor with flashes of light. The armor dissapates some of the heat, but the smell of cooking jinsul lets you know that the rest had an effect! Neon's missiles and Ivok's follow-up punch leave the creature reeling, but it's not until Al's rifle shot that it finally goes down!
The remaining two jinsuls continue their unrelenting assault. The relatively unmolested one with green markings in the back gathers additional magical energy and then sends a wave of magic missiles at Al this time . The red jinsul fires away with its plasma rifle, sending both shots past the ineffective robot and towards Al. One shot leaves a massive scorch on the wall, but the other is a direct hit.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 3+4
Active conditions: AID TOKEN AVAILABLE
Sorami (-11)
Al 203 (-25)
================================
Jinsul Green
Jinsul Red (-33, imp get 'em)
Jinsul Purple
================================
Sev
Antoine
Ivok (-36)
Neon
================================
Bold are up!
“Acknowledged!”
The gun makes a loud noise, and then the robot moves to the other side of the red Jinsul.
Antoine continues the single-minded attack on Red, especially now that the rest of the party is able to benefit.
Meanwhile, one of the other Starfinder groups defending the carrier manages to turn the sprinkler system on in your area! While the water does little against the Jinsuls, the momentary rain and mist refreshes you!
Neon's shot at the magic slinging jinsul in the back is a narrow miss as he fires through a hallway filled with obstacles, but the summoned robot delivers a sonic blast that rattles the red jinsul. Ivok follows with an accurate thrust of his cryopike!
Focused fire from Sev, Antoine and Al is enough to overwhelm the creature. Its chitin litters the floor around it when it finally collapses, dead. This opens up Sorami to deliver a quick, tricky shot at the final remaining jinsul, knocking it unconscious with a single blow!
----
Before you can get to excited about repelling the boarding party, the entire carrier is rocked by another explosion and a screaming sound of metal tearing suggests that the fight isn't over! Jadnura's voice comes in over your comms "You've fought well, but it's not over yet- a jinsul commander along with an elite cadre of their soldiers has just boarded your ship. You’ll need to defeat this potent foe and continue to defend the bridge. We’re almost ready to escape the Scoured Stars and just need you to buy us a little more time. Show no mercy, show no fear—everything depends on you!"
As if to punctuate Jadnura's words, your armor registers a sudden chill from the south. As you turn away from the jinsuls you've been fighting, you catch a glimpse of... something. A roughly humanoid creature, with dozens of legs, but lacking any obvious head. Clad in a light, flowing robe seemingly made of the void of space, complete with an array of stars inside it. In its front-most legs it holds a gleaming black weapon, a massive cannon of some kind. Its other legs are augmented by golden and silver blades.
The creature walks into position in the south with an uncanny, gliding step.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 1
Active conditions: none
Sorami (-3)
Al 203 (-17)
Sev
Antoine
Ivok (-28)
Neon
================================
Jinsul Ascendant
================================
Bold are up!
The robot moves towards the target and fires its gun.
Sev and Antoine recognize that underneath all the ominous energies, this is another jinsul, one that seems taller and bulkier and with more than a dozen extra legs. You suspect it has similar capabilities to other jinsuls (unflankable, good at jumping) You also recognize the energies for what they truly are: the hallmarks of a solarian! Its solar armor might be able to protect it from cold or fiery attacks.
Neon's array of magic missiles strikes true against the jinsul ascendant, but his robot's sonic blast is easily dodged by the supernaturally quick movements of the creature. Antoine is far sharper and manages to land a clean hit with his rifle/camera after fooling the enemy. With Antoine's aid, Sev also lands a hit. But as he suspected, the laser is partially dissipated by the void-infused cloak worn by the creature.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 1
Active conditions: none
Sorami (-3)
Al 203 (-17)
Sev
Antoine
Ivok (-28)
Neon
================================
Jinsul Ascendant (-23)
================================
Bold are up!
As Sorami's sonic pulse misses the creature, the rippling sonic energy gets caught by the strange gravitic and energetic fluctuations in the air around it. The sonic pulse swings in a couple of loops around the jinsul and then streaks back towards Sorami. Blindsided by the attack, she doesn't dodge and is struck squarely in the chest.
The Jinsul ascendant raises its pitch-black cannon up and fires, sending a massive globe of unstable plasma in an arc that impacts right between Antoine, Sorami, and Sev! The blast of fire and electricity is far more intense than anything you've seen or experienced up close before.
While you're still disoriented and trying to recover from the plasma explosion, the jinsul ascendant strides directly into your midst!
At the end of each round you are burning, you can attempt a Reflex saving throw to remove this condition. The DC of this saving throw is equal to 10 + the amount of fire damage you took this round from the burning condition. If you succeed at this saving throw, you lose the burning condition. You can attempt a new saving throw each round you have this condition, and you receive a +2 bonus for each previous saving throw you’ve attempted in consecutive rounds.
You can also automatically end this condition by jumping into enough water to douse yourself. If you don’t have enough water on hand, you can spend a full action to roll on the ground or otherwise smother the fire to attempt a new saving throw with a +4 bonus (plus any bonuses from previously failed consecutive attempts) to end the condition.
Since the damage happens at the beginning of your turn, I'll roll now for both:
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 2
Active conditions: none
Sorami (-45)
Al 203 (-17)
Sev (-23)
Antoine (-15)
Ivok (-28)
Neon
================================
Jinsul Ascendant (-23)
================================
Bold are up!
|
Al takes a Guarded Step backwards in case the jinsul commander can reach past their allies, as they call out, "I'll try to deal with the weapon - dedicate all other tasks to taking him down!"
Focusing themselves through Ruby's wireless hacking (20 foot range) ability, Al attempts to Overload the jinsul's weapon!
The jinsul ascendant needs to make a DC 18 Reflex Save or their weapon becomes inoperable for 1 round.
Ivok delivers a powerful vesk slam, connecting thanks to Antoine's aid! The Jinsul Ascendant avoids having their weapon overloaded, but falls prey to the small ysoki next to it quietly injecting nanobots... Sorami follows up by landing a deadly sonic attack!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 2
Active conditions: none
Sorami (-45)
Al 203 (-17)
Sev (-23)
Antoine (-15)
Ivok (-28)
Neon
================================
Jinsul Ascendant (-83, confused)
================================
Bold are up!
|
|
The ball of plasma almost engulfs Antoine, but he is able to jump and dodge partially the radius of effect while protecting the camera... And taking a picture of the scene at same occasion
"Caliss! That hurts so much!"he screams."Why a criss d'insect have a Sarenrae's Canon!"
He continues his shooting.
kAC flat-footed
Taking advantage of the jinsul's momentary confusion, Antoine delivers a point-blank shot of his rifle that tears a hole through jinsul flesh. Sev follows by throwing magical nanites, but his attack misses by a large margin.
The jinsul ascendant, enraged, manages to clear its head of the nanobot affliction. A crackling, reverberating voice, speaking in broken common, emits from the creature's torso "TRESSPASS - NEVER - FORGOTTEN - NEVER - FORGIVEN!!!". As if to prove the point, it lays into Antoine with two of its silver-bladed legs.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 3
Active conditions: none
Sorami (-45)
Al 203 (-17)
Sev (-28)
Antoine (-58)
Ivok (-28)
Neon
================================
Jinsul Ascendant (-93)
================================
Bold are up!
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Having a difficult time breaking through the armor plating Ivok throw a set of wide blows attempting to smash the jinsul into the wall.
"You seem to be dealing with anger issues! Have you considering calisthenics! May do wonders for you anger issues! Just give up and we can set a schedule!"
As Antoine scrambles away, Neon delivers an accurate array of magic missiles straight into the ascendant's torso, followed by Ivok landing a solid punch. Al fires off a pair of shots that both narrowly miss the creature, but as it twists and turns to escape his aim, Sorami follows up with a deadly sonic pulse.
It freezes for a moment. Its void cloak billows about, movement driven more by unstable fluctuations of energy than by wind. And then... it falls to the floor with a resounding crash!
---
In the stillness after its death, you hear other skirmishes and fights across the carrier coming to an end. Reports from other Starfinder teams on the ship coming in over comms suggest that the moment you slew this jinsul, the others became far less coordinated. Before long, victory cries from the remaining teams announce the successful defense. The carrier is saved!
You return to the bridge in time for the recovered First Seeker Jadnura's voice to come in over the carrier's comms system. "Starfinder teams, you've done well! We'll get out of this yet. Stay clear with your ship and begin powering up drift drives. It's well past time we left."
|
|
"So close to the end, we should remain vigilant. There is time to rest after the finish line. I will say though, being act to save as many as we were able was like an heat pack on a sore muscle."
Looking toward the Jinsul, Ivok lets out a heavy sigh of relief before turning back to the bridge.
"I'll be doing checks on the systems. See if that explosion disrupted anything. I'll have my manager Kaladyne keep in contact with other teams in the fleet. See if we can offer them any support we able."
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Al immediately goes to Antoine with the serum of healing they were given by Radaszam. "Medical personnel are likely still engaged in triage of rescued Starfinder agents. I recommend you consume this to help with your current injuries until more time is afforded to us."
After looking around and seeing that the whole team is still standing, Al gives each a nod while heading back to the bridge controls. "Empirically speaking, you are, by several orders of magnitude, the strongest agents I have had the opportunity to work with since being recruited into the society. Assuming we have no more difficulties in preparing this ship for exfiltration, I would happily procure coffee, or another beverage of your choice, for each of you when we return to Absalom Station."
Almost as an afterthought, through their comms, "Yang - the immediate threat is over and telemetry suggests that we will be entering the Drift in the near future. I recommend you get back to grading the recent undergraduate exam on igneous and metamorphic rocks we administered last week."
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Neon Ten chuckles. “I believe we just rescued several agents that once recovered will be stronger than us.” A frown follows, as he has a thought. I did not like Hsitoria-6’s reaction when freed. “It is the teamwork that is important. I hope the new agents respect that.”
Going over to one of the computer consoles, he brightens back up as he points out “Among those rescued are several that developed the current training programs. I’m sure they will have some updates based on the failures of the first Scoured Stars mission. I especially look forward to Barakul’s and Silask’s reports on what they encountered before they were trapped in that artificial construct.”
“Unfortunately, I am not sure everyone rescued will appreciate the efforts that went into this endeavor.”
As he speaks, he pulls up what he can of the records of people rescued and their previous positions within the society. He overlays it with the organizational chart of the society at the beginnning of the mission and then highlights where there are conflicts.
“There is likely to be a period of upheaval in the near future as we adjust our organization. Hopefully the transition will go smoothly in most cases.”
At the top of the chart are the names Hsitoria-6 vs Historia-7 and Luwazi Elsebo vs. Jadnura.
|
|
"Strength matters less than being present to act when needed. That I feel we have alongside many others."
Ivok moves and looks over the console with an indomitable grin reading though the display.
"I must admit though, I don't think I mind if they didn't commend what we did for them. I did this all more for myself than anyone else. No matter what they say I'm won't have the least regret coming here to help."
Not dropping the smile he points his claw through the conflicts on the system slowing on the major names as he shakes his head pondering the matter.
"I'd be covering my fangs if I claimed that I didn't care how this all plays out, but I'm not worried about a struggle. A life without strife leaves little room to grow, just like in that artificial garden. I'm sure the Society will come out stronger for this. I'm going to be doing my best to make sure of it."
|
|
Neon Ten ponders Ivok’s words a moment, then says “I appreciate challenges, but I want those challenges to be meaningful.”
“This rescue was a meaningful challenge. We saved lives and rescued good people. Nothing can take away from our accomplishments here.” Looking back at the chart he created, he adds “I am delighted with the number of people we were able to rescue. I am sorry it couldn’t have been more. Still, I hope they accept that the society has continued to change while they were trapped, and both sides will need to adapt to the situation.”
With a few quick commands, he changes the display so it only lists the names of the rescued Starfinders. “Perhaps we should just celebrate this moment, and the list of people we have rescued.”
He smiles and nods to himself.
Looking to the others, he says “I hope at some point I will have another chance to work with you. It was quite the experience!”
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
With the defeat of the jinsul, Sev shuffles back and forth briefly in what appears to be a celebratory dance, before his gyroscopic subroutine returns him to his usual, fairly rigid upright position.
While the others discuss the mission and the future of the Society, Sev ponders it all quietly. After some time, he speaks up, noting, "Broken connections have been restored. I believe that that is a reason for optimism, even though they may be some friction arising from reintegration."