Kragga slips the rod back into her belt, then draws her spear and stabs at the demon beside her.
Kragga sinks her spear into the closest demon. It thrashes in pain, but stays flying. Ziyad, meanwhile, is able to extract herself from danger before taking any more punishment.
Block 1: Ranif , Ross
Block 2: Demons
Block 3: Alfin , Cranston , Kragga , Ziyad
"Clear out those Abyss-spawn, we need to grab that evil rock and get outta here!"
The Captain runs forward around the barrels, firing at the nearest demon to punctuate her words.
Unfortunately, she stumbles slightly and the shot hits the ground, covering a section of plating with a thin frost which quickly sublimates into the vacuum of the chamber.
Ranif manages to grunt out a reply as he continues to attack. "Yes, Captain!" He turns the blade of his weapon onto the two demons adjacent to both him and Kragga, but his swings are slowed by the immense amount of pain he has been subjected to over the course of this battle.
Ranif's swings are a fraction too slow, and the demons extract their punishment. One latches its teeth into the half-orc mystic, and another digs into the dragonkin, bringing him down.
Block 1: Ranif , Ross
Block 2: Demons
Block 3: Alfin , Cranston , Kragga , Ziyad
Block 1: Ranif , Ross
Block 2: Demons
Block 3: Alfin , Cranston , Kragga , Ziyad
Kragga roars with pain. She sees Ranif fall, but knows she can't see to him with the demons surrounding her. Shouting a prayer to Oras, she stabs at the demons again.
Cranston moves up next to Alfin and fires his arc pistol at one of the demons.
His shot goes wide.
Lucille also takes a shot.
Not wanting to show up her boss, her shot goes wide as well.
Alflin hurries to kill the demons before they can do any more damage, but knows he'es not very effective in the open, so he does his best to maintain his cover.
"You're not dying on me! Not today!"
Captain Ross runs up to Ranif's side and quickly attempts to staunch his wounds.
Unfortunately, she's unable to stabilize the downed dragonkin.
Shouting a prayer to Oras, she stabs at the demons again.
Kragga's spear catches the demon square in the chest. She hears the outsider's scream of pain clawing at her soul, but as she retracts her weapon, the beast vanishes in a rending of smoke. Off-balance, she misses her next stab at the demon behind her.
Cranston moves up next to Alfin and fires his arc pistol at one of the demons.
Cranston's shot manages to clip the nearest demon, sending small feathers of electric shock up and down its wing.
Ziyad fiddles with her puzzle cube, scanning the creatures for weaknesses...
Unable to discern any weaknesses of the abyssal creatures, Ziyad fires off a beam of arcane frost, but just misses her target.
Alfin hurries to kill the demons before they can do any more damage, but knows he's not very effective in the open, so he does his best to maintain his cover.
In all the chaos, Alfin easily slips the notice of his target, but his shot is only glancing.
As the battle rages around his crumpled form, Ranif's ragged breathing gradually steadies.
One of the demons lashes out twice at the half-orc mystic, managing to inflict yet more damage with its wicked teeth. The other, still staggered from the collapsed connection to its home realm, moves towards Captain Ross.
Block 1: Ranif , Ross
Block 2: Demons
Block 3: Alfin , Cranston , Kragga , Ziyad
Block 1: Ranif , Ross
Block 2: Demons
Block 3: Alfin , Cranston , Kragga , Ziyad
Kragga whirls on the other demon in a rage, barely feeling her injuries. She stabs at the fiend!
Cranston moves around the other side of the crates to get a better shot at one of the demons.
Lucille maintains her position and fires again from her nearly empty clip.
Alflin takes more careful aim at the demon before firing again.
Kragga whirls on the other demon in a rage, barely feeling her injuries. She stabs at the fiend!
Kragga stabs twice, landing a solid hit on the second strike. The abyssal spawn writhes, skewered, before vanishing in a pop.
Cranston moves around the other side of the crates to get a better shot at one of the demons... Lucille maintains her position and fires again from her nearly empty clip.
Focusing on the final demon, both Cranston and Lucille land their shots, punching holes in their target.
Alflin takes more careful aim at the demon before firing again.
The halfling's patience is rewarded; his shot catches the demon unawares and it shudders from the electrical energy.
Ziyad arcs across the room with another cold ray, frozen as the void...
Ziyad's beam of arcane frost strikes her target, and the entire creature seems to freeze solid before shattering into a thousand fragments!
As the chaos of battle subsides, Ranif coughs and slowly staggers to his feet.
With the demons and drow defeated, Kragga drops to her knees, exulting in the triumph. She spares a glance at Ranif, grateful as the dragonkin stirs and gets to his feet. Her own healing abilities have been depleted for the day, but she knows the battle scars have helped shaped the new person she will become, hardened by the intense fight. She grasps her holy symbol and gives thanks to Oras for the opportunity to grow and change.
Gripping her shoulder tight from the still smarting wounds "Captain...whats the plan for this thing? Were not just going to sell it to the highest bidder, right? Why not just destroy it now?"
"I would be surprised if we had the power to destroy this thing. Luckily, I don't think my buyer is much for dabbling about with creatures of the Abyss. Everyone take a moment to recoup, then let's get this thing on the ship!"
As the group takes ten minutes to rest, Cranston summons Lucille over and begins a cursory inspection.
"Damn, girl, you gotta be more careful," he says as he pulls out a shorted tangle of wires.
He also takes the time to reload her ammo supply.
"Ya done good though. We might have to find something bigger to strap on here."
Questioning beeps follow.
"No you're not getting a rocket launcher. That's all I need."
Pulling himself to a sitting position, Ranif will take a moment to catch his breath. He then draws out his healing serum and administers it to himself, letting out a small hiss as the healing begins to take effect.
He will then remain sitting until everyone else is ready to go, knowing that the rest will likely do them more good than he.
After several minutes, Kragga gets to her feet. "Ready to go, Captain. Let's get off this miserable rock."
After a moment's rest, Captain Ross instructs Kragga and Ziyad to watch over the magical rock while she takes the rest of the crew back to the Inscrutable. Near the aft of the ship, she presses a hidden lever, exposing a secret smuggling compartment within the ship. Inside is a sort of stasis container, which Ross then instructs Ranif and Cranston to haul back into the destroyed outpost. With Kragga and Ziyad's assistance, Ross is able to pry the device from the rock wall and place it within the stasis container. Without fanfare, the Inscrutable departs the Diaspora.
~~~
Two days later, deep within the Drift, the Inscrutable is greeted by an unremarkable freighter. Under Captain Ross's guidance, the abyssal device is moved from one ship to the other. Once inside, the freighter is revealed to be an advanced techno-magical laboratory, prominently stocked with holy devices and replete with Iomedaean symbology.
Ross greets the freighter's Captain with warmth, and together they watch as a group of priests remove the device from stasis and start weaving enchantments around it, starting to undo the device's connection to the Abyss. After several hours of chants and swirling lights, the device physically cracks open, the dark red color fading into a translucent pink. Any vestiges of magical power within it are gone.
~~~
After another day of travel, the Inscrutable arrives at Absalom Station. after a brief conversation, Captain Ross hands each crew member a cred stick and wishes them on their way, contract completed.
"It was fun, guys. I appriciate you putting your lives on the line for the safety of others. I think I'll be taking a bit of a vacation, and I encourage you all to do the same. But keep those comm units on - I might have a job or two for you in the future!"
Kragga returns Ziyad's high-five. "Nice job, everybody. I think we've all changed and grown from our experiences. I'm off to continue my journey of evolution wherever Oras guides me. Perhaps our paths will cross again!"
With a friendly wave, the half-orc departs.
Alflin enthusiastically meets Ziyad's high-five.
He pockets his credstick and nods to the captain. "I certainly will not be turning my comm unit off anytime soon."