Do it. There's no time.
Callidus looks back at the woman, injects the monoblade into his finger, takes a deep breath, exhales and cuts ...
With effort, Intellect -2
Trained if this is a numenera based creature/function
Also, being very close to the creatures at this point Callidus tries to determine if they are pure biology, or numenera based. He is wondering if his numenera EMP would be able to "shut them down" for any period of time ... these, or any bigger version that may exist ...
(and remember that 20 I rolled awhile back that you told me to save ... maybe Callidus should use that!)
The decision made for him, Galahad's mind hardens into purpose. He stands ready with his Dao and shield.
Balon winces, but nods at the necessity. Moving over to the woman, he tries to hold her still.
Nasir shoves Balon out of the way and restrains the woman.
Might:
Balon tries to hold the screaming women in place as Callidus slices into her. However, his efforts serve more to hinder the others than help. Almost immediately, Balon finds himself flung away from the patient by Nasir who uses a hunter's grip to immobilize the lady. He quickly tells Callidus the location of major organs and veins that need to be avoided during cutting.
The monoblade slices easily through her skin and begins to slice into the fatty layer and the muscle. Callidus can see (both with his eyes and through the Numenara) that the foreign bodies are pushing towards him even as he cuts as if they are anxious to escape their host.
Callidus is able to combine the fine cutting service of the blade with his being able to perfectly visualize the parasites through the Numenera to identify exactly where to cut to both end the life of the worms and severe their connection to their host.
The screaming victim is overcome with pain and lays senseless on the floor. She has a few amazingly small incisions that barely bleed but her abdomen is still distended by the presence of the dead worms.
The red lights begin to flicker and you hear the sound of machinery from the distance.
We need to get her back to the surface. Now.
Nasir shakes his head.
"No. We should bandage her up and lock her back in her safe room. The most important thing is to find this cryptoxenological organism- and any of its spawn- and destroy them. Imagine what could happen if it finds another exit and gets into town. We've spent enough time on her. We have to hunt it and hunt it now- for the sake of everyone living above us."
"Is leaving those things inside her really the best idea? What happens when she eventually has to... pass... them?"
"I'm pretty sure they're dead, we can have someone more skilled take them out later ... and I agree we need to find the mother-beast ... let's stabilize her and see if we can finish this. The needs of the many, right?"
Amadeus shrugs and sighs, clearly unhappy but unable to argue.
Yeah, you're right. Quickly, then.
As you all work to carry her back into her safe room and make her as comfortable as possible you hear a squealing sound come from the other end of the hallway. Due to the dim light only Callidus using his cypher is able to see that the squealing is coming from one of the horrible worm constructs you've heard about. It's squealing continues for a moment until joined by another beast, and then another, and another until Callidus is no longer able to keep track. Suddenly they all begin to move very quickly in your direction down the hall.
"RUN!" Balon shouts, and bolts down the hallways away from the worm construct.
"Constructs", so are these "Numenera"? Does Callidus think his EMP will take them down?
"RUN!" Balon shouts, and bolts down the hallways away from the worm construct.
The only place to bolt to is the safe room that the woman came out of and you just put her back into. It's 'safe' because it can be bolted from the inside.
"Constructs", so are these "Numenera"? Does Callidus think his EMP will take them down?
They definitely interact and use the Numenera but they are mostly biological constructs. That being said, EMP might have an effect of some sort.
Galahad stands ready to defend the others' escape, and will only flee if they all do.
"Fleeing won't make the world any more safe!"
Callidus hastily begins readjusting his cybernetics, swapping connectors from one port to another, preparing to activate his numenera EMP, but not yet triggering it ...
Amadeus readies his sword and shield and activates his fire.
Nasir tosses a glowglobe down the hall and knocks an arrow to his bow.
"Try not to kiss them and I imagine we'll be fine. I know it's difficult but we are men and we shall have to control ourselves.", he says dryly.
Balon swallows hard, and nods. "You're right, of course. They merely...startled me..." he positions himself furthest in the back of the group, as far away from those monsters as possible.
Despite being outnumbered 100:1, our valiant band readies themselves for the alien's attack. The heroes do have a tactical advantage in that by taking positions just inside the door to the safe room, 3 of your team can engage in melee each monster as it tries to enter the room. Unfortunately the aliens seem to have realized the same thing and have stopped out of melee range and are rapidly using various body parts to construct some sort of device.
"Friend Balon" whispers Boregal into Balon's mind, "there is another exit to the room over here."
"Where? Balon asks, whirling around.
"I don't like the looks of that," Galahad says, strapping his small shield to his thigh and pulling out his small crossbow. He then takes a shot, hoping to goad the creature forward or incite the "Onslaught"-ers of the party into shooting as well.
using Pierce (costs a speed point but i have edge 1, does +1 damage above usual for my small ranged weapon)
Into the saferoom, then. We shouldn't stand in front of it. I'll go last. Inside!
Since he's on fire now, Amadeus will stay out until everyone is in the room.
Callidus finishes assembling the EMP ... "where, what?!", noticing Balon spinning around Callidus sees the other door. He looks back at the mass, and starts backing up ... letting loose a probing onslaught.
"Where? Balon asks, whirling around.
Boregal spins in place over a spot on the floor. "Here, can you not see it? The Numenera clearly shows that stepping on this spot opens a door at the back of the room.
"I don't like the looks of that," Galahad says, strapping his small shield to his thigh and pulling out his small crossbow. He then takes a shot, hoping to goad the creature forward or incite the "Onslaught"-ers of the party into shooting as well.
[dice=attack]1d20 using Pierce (costs a speed point but i have edge 1, does +1 damage above usual for my small ranged weapon)
Galahad's bolt speeds in a perfect line and buries itself in the middle of whatever these strange beings are constructing, Nothing happens...until it explodes in a shower of worm bits. The front ranks of the aliens are blown apart.
Unfortunately, after a pause, another group of creatures moves forward and begins constructing another apparatus of some type. You can see that they have modified the design by using 'hardened' worms.
Callidus finishes assembling the EMP ... "where, what?!", noticing Balon spinning around Callidus sees the other door. He looks back at the mass, and starts backing up ... letting loose a probing onslaught.
[dice=onslaught]1d20
The onslaught manages to blow a worm 'arm' off of one of the creatures. The creature looks at you, reaches down to the ground and picks up a different worm and attaches it. You could almost swear that it gives you a smug look (difficult as that is to do with no visible eyes).
"Running! We should be doing the running now!", Callidus turns and runs toward Boregal ... planning to do all sorts of stepping and stomping on the floor ...
Once the party is in retreat, Galahad will follow suit.
Amadeus will bring up the rear.
"Hrmph.", Nasir grunts. Thinking better of it, he stows his weapon and picks up the woman.
Balon tries to help Nasir carry, if he can.
Callidus hurries over to were Boregal is circling a spot on the floor and easily triggers the opening of the door in the other wall. As it cycles open, Amadeus' flame is enough to hold off the worms until he can slam the door shut and slides a metal bar through slots to immobilize the door. Given the thickness of the door and the apparent strength of the restraining bar, you're confident that it would hold off any normal foe...
Nasir and Balon shoulder the injured woman and are able to carry her with no problem.
Boregal soars the open exit door and then you all here a mental shout from him..."FRIENDS, YOU BETTER COME SEE THIS!!"
"Amadeus, you should go in first. Being on fire is an advantage over not being on fire.", Nasir says in an attempt to be helpful.
Amadeus goes quickly after Boregal.
Amadeus goes quickly after Boregal.
The sight that greets is almost beyond belief, beyond understanding, beyond anything that should exist in a world where good things are still possible.
You see in front of you another unmeasurabley large room...the dimensions remind you of the greenhouse room except it's not plants that are being grown...its worms, vast uncountable numbers of worms.
Far, far more disturbing is the 'soil' in which the worms are growing. There are ranks upon ranks upon ranks stacked vertically as well as stretching horizontally of humans with distended abdomens. Each human host is unmoving, not even breathing...you see a blue glow surrounding each one of the humans.
"Look, look at this..." Boregal prodcasts to each of your minds. He excitedly circles around a large, damaged section of the room. It obviously has been damaged by the earthquake that was felt in the town a few days ago. A few of the human hosts are split open and their worms missing.
Is there any central area, mother worm, evident in the room?
"I think we need to burn all of this."
"That blue glow... could they be in some kind of suspended animation? We should tread carefully until we find a way to deal with this permanently."
Given how aggressive the ones we found are, you're probably right. If they weren't somehow suspended they'd probably be running around again. We need to find a way to completely destroy them.
Is there any central area, mother worm, evident in the room?
No sign of a mother worm but there are ramps leading downward.
"I think we need to go down ... these are behaving with a swarm or hive mentality ... if we're lucky there is a central control or queen for these things ... if it's a peer-to-peer 'network' we're in deep drit."
"At least we know the containment was holding back the worms until a natural disaster broke the seals." Balon heaves a short sigh of relief. "I was beginning to suspect foul play." he nods at Callidus' suggestion.
"It is clear we must tread carefully. I will defer to your judgement as far as the means of destruction, but things so foul must be destroyed."
Wherever is good. Keep alert.
You carefully make your way to the downward leading corridor. If either of your Nano's decide to check the Numenera they would see lines of power leading from the corridor to the stasis pods.
The corridor has been heavily damaged by the recent earthquake and it's obvious that someone (or something) spent time clearing a path through the corridor which otherwise would be blocked.
As you wind your way through the rubble, you hear something new. It almost sounds like some of the small machines you've seen running in the temples but this is far louder. Unfortunately the sound has diminished your ability to detect anyone that's not in your line of sight. As you clear the rubble, you find yourself literally face to face (face to worm?) with 3 of the creatures that where coming up the corridor from the other direction.
Combat time...