With a grinding vocalization, the creature takes a careful step forward, bringing it closer to Ranif, the only other being in the room of its impressive size. Still pestered by Kragga's pale green wisp, the creature attempts to level the dragonkin with a sudden haymaker and catches him hard in the jaw.
Block 1: ??? creature (-20, distracted through R3)
Block 2: Alfin, Cranston (-24), Kragga, Ranif (-43), Ross (-42), Ziyad (-21)
A rattling voice clicks in over the suit-to-suit comms, "Tharystrix, you big bastard! Take a hit like a man! Like a... dragon... man!" The Captain has managed to drag herself up into a sitting position and draw her pistol, but she looks fazed.
"Damn!" Kragga snarls when she sees her shot not do as much as she had hoped. Of course, it's a rock. It doesn't have any vulnerable spots!
She drops her crossbolter and draws her laser pistol, seeing that energy is likely more effective against this monster.
Alflin grins as he ducks into more cover while keeping his weapon trained on the same spot.
Feeling a rib crack from the creatures blow, Ranif stumbles back slightly. However, bolstered by the captain's words, he goes back on the offensive as he steps forwards and thrusts straight ahead with his Dragongliave, swinging his weapon in a large arc in an attempt to impact on one of the creatures legs.
She drops her crossbolter and draws her laser pistol...
Drawing her secondary sidearm, Kragga expertly lasers a hole clean through the creature. The area around the blast is red-hot, but the creature seems unable to ignite.
Alflin grins as he ducks into more cover while keeping his weapon trained on the same spot.
Alfin deftly rolls behind some rubble to break the creature's line of sight, but when he pops back up again, the creature has shifted position and the halfling's shot goes wide.
... swinging his weapon in a large arc in an attempt to impact on one of the creatures legs.
Ranif's attack is fast, vicious, and magically supercharged. Although the keen edge of the glaive has difficulty cracking the tough stone, the sheer force of the blow coupled with the supercharged electric field shatters one of the creature's legs entirely.
Block 1: ??? creature
Block 2: Alfin, Cranston (-24), Kragga, Ranif, Ross, Ziyad (-21)
Block 1: ??? creature (-45, distracted through R3)
Block 2: Alfin, Cranston (-24), Kragga, Ranif (-34), Ross (-42), Ziyad (-21)
Hoping the creature's attention stays on Ranif, Cranston again takes careful aim with his arc pistol.
Not one to let her inability to damage the creature be a damper on her enthusiasm, Lucille fires off another round.
Cranston again takes careful aim with his arc pistol.
In the flurry of stone and dragonglaive, both Cranston and Lucille miss their marks.
Ziyad commands the nomadic wandering motes of arcane quanta to break down a small region of the vacuum and start building up elemental oxygen from virtual particle interactions...
As Ziyad unleashes her fiery spell, the elemental quickly rearranges its floating masses so that the largest rocks take the brunt of the heat. Cracks spread under the rapid fluctuations in temperature, but it successfully mitigates some of the damage.
The scattered barrels, however, are not so lucky. Under the intense heat, their plastic melts and then bursts, dumping a few hundred gallons of water into the hot vacuum. Quickly, a thick cloud of water vapor fills much of the room.
Block 1: earth elemental (-51, distracted through R3)
Block 2: Alfin, Cranston (-24), Kragga, Ranif (-34), Ross (-42), Ziyad (-21)
The elemental, reeling from considerable damage, lashes out animalistically, attempting to strike Ranif through the vapor cloud.
Despite the fog, the elemental's avalanching haymaker connects with a bodyshot, forcing the air from Ranif's lungs.
Raising a second rocky fist, the elemental slams it hard into the ground beneath it, splitting the metal floor. It flows into the breach until its entire body is gone from view.
Block 1: earth elemental
Block 2: Alfin, Cranston (-24), Kragga, Ranif (-46), Ross (-42), Ziyad (-21)
Block 1: earth elemental (-51)
Block 2: Alfin, Cranston (-24), Kragga, Ranif (-46), Ross (-42), Ziyad (-21)
"It's not gone. It's just licking its wounds. If we don't finish it off, it'll hound us every damn step on this rock."
The captain draws a pistol with one hand while fumbling a vial containing a translucent blue liquid into a port on her helmet. After a moment, her breathing steadies and she stands up.
Taking advantage of the momentary reprieve, Kragga calls on the forces of nature to mend Ranif's wounds. "Keep your eyes open for it to return," she says, trying to determine where the creature went.
Cranston looks at the debris spilling out from the eastern door.
"So south it is, then," he says moving to the southern door.
Looking over the hasty welds, he assesses the work and how much effort it will take to bypass it.
Ranif will move to protect the others, shifting so that he can protect as many people at the same time as possible. He then prepares himself to attack the Elemental if it reappears.
"Keep your eyes open for it to return"
Kragga scans the floor of the chamber, but there's no evidence of the elemental - even the breach in the metal plating only exposes smooth, unbroken rock, as if the creature had fused directly with the floor.
Block 1: earth elemental
Block 2: Alfin, Cranston, Kragga, Ranif, Ross, Ziyad
Block 1: earth elemental (-51)
Block 2: Alfin, Cranston (-24), Kragga, Ranif (-39), Ross (-36), Ziyad (-21)
Alflin nods and moves toward the southern door, weapon hand ready for the elemental to return.
Cranston looks around at the pooled water.
"That thing's not on friendly terms with electricity. If we bleed a power feed into the water then no matter what part of the floor it pops through ... "
He begins scanning around for an available power feed that he can tap into.
He begins scanning around for an available power feed that he can tap into.
With a glance, Cranston notices multiple wires fastened to the bare rock walls of the chamber, and he's able to identify one large enough to handle a significant power draw. Placing a small probe from his custom rig to the wire's sheathing, he grins as the reading spikes.
With a rumble, the floor buckles and bursts as a torrent of stone pours upwards from the floor!
Ranif's swing is overeager, and he cleaves through the space before the elemental can fully appear. Alfin is more patient, however, and gets in a shot. The creature made of stone and anger lashes out at the source of its electrical anguish.
The backlash strikes Alfin directly in the chest, hammering the lithe halfling against the wall.
Block 1: earth elemental
Block 2: Alfin (-12), Cranston (-24), Kragga, Ranif (-39), Ross (-36), Ziyad (-21)
Block 1: earth elemental (-57)
Block 2: Alfin (-12), Cranston (-24), Kragga, Ranif (-39), Ross (-36), Ziyad (-21)
The Captain reaches over and shakes Alfin by the shoulder. C'mon! Stay in this!
Focusing her fury on the elemental, Kragga fires off two quick shots.
Seeing his initial attack miss, Ranif attacks more carefully this time. Swinging the Dragongaive in an arc from the right, he attempts to to attack while it is distracted by others.
"Damn! Not fast enough," the engineer mutters to himself.
"Someone try to dump over one of those water barrels!" he shouts as he fires his arc pistol.
Alflin nods, takes a step back from the rampaging elemental and fires his arc pistol again.
Focusing her fury on the elemental, Kragga fires off two quick shots.
Kragga's laser blast strikes the creature, sending red-hot fragments of stone pinging off the walls.
Swinging the Dragongaive in an arc from the right, he attempts to to attack while it is distracted by others.
Swinging from right to left, Ranif connects solidly with the elemental. For a moment, it feels as if the blade might bounce off the hard rocky creature, but it suddenly yields, and shattered dust and rock spray haphazardly across the room.
Cranston makes his way over to one of the nearby crates. Leaning against it, he wipes his forehead.
"I'm gettin' too old for this shit," he says under his breath.
With the battle complete, Kragga silently assesses the injuries of her companions. She chants a spell to heal the most injured among them.
Sitting down heavily on the flooe, Ranif powers off his weapon. Wearily activating his comm unit, he says "So, Captain, about that breather you mentioned? It would be greatly appreciated."
Having avoided injury, Kragga spends the few minutes in prayer to Oras, hoping the battle with the earth elemental will lead to some new revelation on the path to her personal evolution. Once everybody has got their stamina back, the half-orc will turn back to the door and peek through to see what lies beyond.
"Well, if we're ready to move through this door now," Cranston says as he moves stiffly towards it, "I'll just get my key."
He then pulls out a micro-cutting torch and begins bypassing the hasty welds.
It takes a few minutes, but Cranston eventually cuts the weld holding the door shut. As it slides open, the hallway beyond is dark and empty. Gases occasionally hiss from vents and pressure valves protruding from the walls and ceiling. The floor is mostly metallic plating, but occasional sections of bare rock peek through. It stretches at least 60 feet - beyond that, no one in the crew can see.
At a word from Cranston, Lucille comes hovering over. He turns on his flashlight and sets it on the drone.
"Go see what's down there," he says.
In response to the drone's questioning whistle, he says "Yes, this is still considered a hot zone."
The drone beeps excitedly and the slide on its pistol chambers another round. It then begins bobbing down the darkened hall.
"You're gonna think it's fun until something shoots you back."
Heaving himself up from the floor, Ranif once again hefts his Dragonglaive in both hands. "I had probably better take the lead again. I don't want anything to happen to any of you." Better for me to be injured than any of them.
"Let us also remember that there are likely to still be traps around." That said, he will look down the hallway for any more traps like the one that had hit them earlier.
Alflin readies himself to follow Ranif down the hall, keeping his eyes open for any sign of a trap.
With Lucille leading the way, the party tenderly marches down the hall. The drone's camera picks up everything in the flashlight's arc, giving Cranston a clear view on the screen of his custom rig.
The camera picks up a large boxy shape built into the wall - Cranston recognizes it as a utility cabinet. When Alfin approaches, something catches his eye - through slats in the cabinet door, he sees a tunnel bored into the rock, large enough for a medium or smaller creature to move through.
Gesturing at the opening, careful not to touch the cabinet, Ranif calls out to the rest of the crew. "I know that I won't be able to fit down there. Do we wish to send Lucille through to check it out?"
"I don't fancy crawling there myself, so yeah ... " Cranston says with a chuckle.
"Girl, Head on down that hole if you would, please."
Lucille turns about and once the cabinet is opened lowers down and begins heading down the small tunnel.