Pippimi finishes her rest and picks her gear back up. With some deft climbing she makes her way out of the android-ambush-alcove and back to the 3-way intersection. While she waits for the others to catch up, she asks "So Zulu, you think we can restart Acreon? Maybe that best way to escape?"
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Ushering the nearly-unwilling and entirely unarmed android in the front, the group heads back the way they came and into another small cavern. Gork and Mork hum a jaunty victory tune behind you, occasionally reaching up to swat at the ever-floating camera.
Turning the corner you see that all is not well here. A dead humanoid body floats in this cavern. The corpse is that of a human male. It’s still wearing an estex suit with a patch that reads “ACREON,” identifying it as a member of the mining ship’s crew.
The dead crew member is wearing an estex suit I with a backup generator armor upgrade and is holding an empty survival flare gun.
Zulu floats forward towards the dead body carefully observing it for telltale signs of void death, an affliction he had so recently become uncomfortably intimate with.
After a moment, he declares.
"No sign of void plague. Should be safe enough."
Turning to Davrin, Zulu replies quietly. "Throw her at enemies. Use the distraction to take advantage?"
Zulu notes the reactions to his completely serious response with interest. Lacking emotion often made it difficult to understand other sentients' "moral compass" when taken further than simply obeying the rule of law, which didnt apply to wandering derelict ships and mysterious floating drift rocks.
Biologics are so fascinating
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The group quickly decides if the prisoner deserves a weapon, and moves on.
Four tunnels exit this cavern to the north, south, east, and west. Strangely, however, while the south and west passages are hewn rock, the north and east passages are finished and lined with some sort of polished, metallic plating on the walls, floors, and ceiling.
More pressing, however, is the strange zombie-like creature with a pronounced tongue-like appendage that is alerted to your presence! It’s strange, dead eyes are filled with hunger and it starts to lurch towards you!
The zombie moves with uncanny speed, lunging at Pippimi! It grasps at her armor, giving her a nasty bruise!
You can’t take move actions except to right yourself, you take a –2 penalty to attacks, and you take a –2 penalty to AC, and you cannot take reactions or make attacks of opportunity.
Lenny 16/16 SP
Clank
Davrin
Zulu
Zoran 14/14 SP
Pippimi 0/14 SP 13/16 HP
Mork
Gork
Lady Android 6 dmg
Void Zombie 0 dmg
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There is so much undead vermin in space. You'd think somebody would make a killing on an exterminator business out there. Oh wait.... I think that's us.
He carefully steps to the side to make room for others to move in.
He reaches up just in time to grab the solar moat orbiting his head. It causes his hand to glow with white light until it extends outward and forms the blade.
Clank thinks that maybe he could identify the creature but... nah, that can't be it. His goblin nature takes over and he tumbles forward, floating upside down in the corridor as he fires. "Wheeee!"
"Taking my shot above you two!" Zoran says as he tries to get an angle over his smaller companions.
Pippimi shrugs at Davrin's suggestion. "Pippimi think maybe arming assassin OK. But only if she really serious about not stabbing in back!" She peers seriously at the android. "Yes? Swear on circuits?" And then if the android agrees, she returns the pistol to her.
"RRRRRMMMMM!!!" Pippimi grumbles as yet another crazy creature jumps her the second she enters a room. "What happen to stop and talk before fighting!? Pippimi miss nice office brawls!"
She reaches out to grab the creature with her vibrogloves, hoping to get a clean hold on it and maybe tie that gross tongue up.
(Grapple rules helpful link)
Using the walls and ceiling, Zulu slides over the group to get a shot at the zombie getting throttled by Pippimi. Trying to brace against the rock, he fires his overcharged rifle.
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Lenny trips over himself as he maneuvers through the vacuum. Thankfully, the extremely tiny knife that Clara-247 was allowed to keep distracts the zombie enough for him to land a blow.
Davrin finds it much harder to use his touchpad in vacuum but is still able to aim his laser pistol! Clank fairs similarly, his flying space acrobatics somehow working. Zoran’s shot hits the zombie square in the chest, but it’s thick skin is much more difficult to penetrate with physical weapons.
Pippimi reaches out, grabs the zombie by the tongue and wraps it around the monster’s throat! He is pinned against her body, unable to move! She turns him around, just in time for Zulu to shoot him in the chest! The zombie falls to the ground, skins sloughing off.
Clara-247 looks down at the zombie with disgust. "I always seem to pick the dirty jobs." Gork and Mork bounce up to her, laughing. "Dirty terrible! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" They find that incredibly funny, rolling around in the lack of gravity.
Lenny 16/16 SP
Clank
Davrin
Zulu
Zoran 14/14 SP
Pippimi 6/14 SP 16/16 HP
Mork
Gork
Lady Android 6 dmg
Void Zombie 25 dmg
Pippimi pushes the body of the undead creature away from her, animatedly wiping off horrible juices from her armor. "This not what Pippimi imagined we would find in here. Where are more tentacle dogs? And why zombies instead?"
She takes a quick look at the zombie now floating in the center of the cavern, trying to judge if this is another Acreon crew member, maybe one from a humanoid race of really-long-tongued creatures.
She also takes a quick look around the chamber, climbing across the walls to do so. "Why was zombie even here? Pippimi would be scratching head, but difficult to do so with armor seals up."
If the answers to any of these questions are not obvious, she climbs along the ceiling after Lenny to back him up.
Zulu floats forward to check the zombie at Davrins suggestion, seeing if the thing has an Archeron uniform or similar distinctive evidence of origin, allowing as he does so "Plague carriers on ship, crew fled here, likely infected. Chances of finding survivors, very slim."
Once finishing checking over the double dead zombie, he points towards the eastern passage, "That way next?"
"Is that what was going to happen Lenny and you, Z? Assassins and zombies. And people still think it is safe enough to go unarmed." Zoran says almost in disbelief but he smiles at the end.
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The group looks over this surprise attacker. His torn space suit does match those of the other Acreon members you have seen, identifying him as one of the missing crew. The lower half of his helmet was shattered from the inside, presumably from the monstrous blue tongue which broke his lower jaw as it grew. Running some scans, you can tell that the crew member had a much more mature case of Void Death before he died. Perhaps that is what caused... whatever that is.
Shaking off the shivers which have crawled down your spines, the group moves on. This chamber is similar to the other excavated caverns within the Drift Rock, with tunnels exiting to the north, west, and southeast. The corridors to the north and west are finished and paneled. But more importantly is the denizen of this room. An incorporeal being resides in the room, the form of her ghostly space suit different than those of the Acreon crew. Skin black and eyes glowing, there is no doubt that she has malicious intent for you.
This is a Driftdead, one of the lost souls of the Drift.
Lenny 16/16 SP
Clank
Davrin
Zulu
Zoran 14/14 SP
Pippimi 6/14 SP 16/16 HP
Mork
Gork
Lady Android 6 dmg
Driftdead 0 dmg
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"Hey, guys! That's a drift dead, a lost soul of the void! You know it means business because it has "Dead" in the name but is clearly moving around. It probably wants to kill us... don't let it!" That's probably bad for all involved.
A trio of magic missles arc at the Ungrateful Dead
Zulu floats forward, using the ceiling to get a angle on the shadowy thing, steadying as best he can, he fires his rifle at it.
"This list keeps growing. Now we have ghosts..." Zoran says before trying to joke away his stress.
"Stand down, we are on your side." he says followed by some hopefully convincing ghost sounds. Or he may be losing his mind.
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Clank’s missiles fly unerringly through the vacuum, striking the apparition! It screams, the sound echoing through your minds! Davrin shoots at it as well, his laser knocking off a small amount of ether. Zulu has less luck, losing his balance and shooting the wall.
The ghost turns to Zoran, confused. Your comment seems to have been understood! However, it still floats up to Lenny and claws at him!
Mork and Gork see Lenny get injured then grab the android captive. "NOPE! NOPE NOPE NOPE " They hurry in the opposite direction.
You can’t take move actions except to right yourself, you take a –2 penalty to attacks, and you take a –2 penalty to AC, and you cannot take reactions or make attacks of opportunity.
Lenny 11/16 SP
Clank
Davrin
Zulu
Zoran 14/14 SP
Pippimi 6/14 SP 16/16 HP
Mork
Gork
Lady Android 6 dmg
Driftdead 9 dmg
Holding in place behind Lenny and clinging to the wall. Pippimi takes her starknife and chucks it right at the creepy ghost!
Whether it hits or misses, she clicks her fingers to bring it back into her paw. "Ack! Creepy thing has 'dead' in its name! Pippimi not liking how many deads we coming across! Lenny, you OK? Surviving?"
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"OH! Pippimi remember she take Hatchy-vesk's big laser! She try, maybe that more effective!" She releases her starknife to float in the space she's in and draws the azimuth artillery laser with two hands, holding it above her head awkwardly due to its extreme size. "OK, NOW Pippimi mean business!" She pulls the vesk-sized trigger!
Still trying to steady himself, Zulu sets his exocortex fo target the spectre thing and once his computer finds a good firing solution, he overcharges his laser rifle and works the trigger.
"Hey, Lenny, I said don't let it kill you!" Clank fires off a pair of shots at the strange thing, clearly not all together with it.
"Huh, that actually worked." Zoran says almost in shock but when Lenny gets attacked he speaks up again.
"You heard Clank. No dying allowed for any of us. That attack was nothing." he pipes up trying to inspire him to continue fighting.
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No dying. Roger. Got it! I'd almost forgotten! Lenny quips sarcastically.
No void death, no problem Pippimi! But thanks for asking. If anybody else wants a chance up here, somebody is going to have to move back a bit.
Somehow, while winding up to slash at it, Lenny's space-freefloating causes his body to shift akwardly and he completely misses!
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The driftdead very presence sends a chill down your spine. Her very wrong-ness is just so... wrong. Most are able to stomach it and keep on going, but Lenny just can't handle it!
Pippimi's knife slows down as it passes through the ghost,obviously harming it. As it flies back towards her, the little skittermander shows yet another benefit of being many-armed! The cannon weighs nearly as much as she does, but she manages to aim it properly anyway! The laser passes through the Driftdead, but rips off more mass!
Zulu is still having a hard time getting his bearings but his exocortex adjusts! His laser shot digs into the ghost. Clank, still spinning like the goblin hero in the popular holo, Ender's Game, manages to clip the ghost as he spins.
Davrin continues the assault, sending another laser into the ghost! The mass of fire manages to shred the being, sending it's soul to rest. It slowly evaporates, leaving this plane for good.
After a few moments of silence, Mork and Gork poke their heads back around the corner. "Yes?"
Lenny 16/16 SP
Clank
Davrin
Zulu
Zoran 14/14 SP
Pippimi 6/14 SP 16/16 HP
Mork
Gork
Lady Android 6 dmg
Driftdead 24 dmg
"Lenny, snap out of scare-daze! Driftdead is dead dead already!" Pippimi grabs a hold of the solarian's shoulders and pats his back reassuringly.
As Lenny calms down, Pippimi turns to look at the other members of her party "What everyone frozen for? Did Pippimi miss another drift ghost somewhere? If so, why no one say anything?" She recovers her starknife and stows her laser artillery as she speaks.
While everyone else gathers their wits, she takes a look down the passageways to the north, scanning from for any more dead Acreon crewmembers floating about. If she finds one she grabs them and floats them back into the two north-side chambers.
Zulu snaps out of his trance, having been so fascinated at the dissipation of the driftdead that he had lost track of time, apparently.
"Yes, yes. Let's move on." he looks around, trying to deduce the next best direction to explore.
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Pippimi leads the group northwards. The northern passage ends after about 50 feet, where the ceiling has collapsed in a wall of fallen rock. The other northern passage ends after about 150 feet with an overlook into space. You quickly turn around, not wanting one of the goblins to float away.
You all head into the southern cavern, though the goblins have mysteriously disappeared with the android prisoner. Something about 'taking the long way around' and 'no more nasty ghosties'. Either way, Pippimi turns the corner.
You come to a large room. Two passages exit this cavern, one to the northeast, where you fought the Driftdead, and one to the south. An incongruous door, more akin to what one would expect to find on a space station, stands in the south wall. More important, however, two more void zombies lurch towards you! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Davrin smells their unholy presence and beats the zombies to the punch!!!
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As both zombies shuffle forward through the cavern and into the light cast by your suits, it is very obvious that they are were also Acreon crew members. That's...Four now? Out of Five?
One shuffles closer to the main group and strikes at
Meanwhile, the other zombie shuffles off to the east, growling and reaching for some unforeseen goal. Odd...
You can’t take move actions except to right yourself, you take a –2 penalty to attacks, and you take a –2 penalty to AC, and you cannot take reactions or make attacks of opportunity.
Lenny 11/16 SP
Clank
Davrin
Zulu
Zoran 14/14 SP
Pippimi 6/14 SP 16/16 HP
Mork
Gork
Lady Android 6 dmg
Red Zombie
Purple Zombie
Zulu floats forward at the sight of the zombies, attempting to stabilize himself on the ceiling before firing an overcharged shot.
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"Wait, what? There's something in front" Davrin tries to push past everyone to get to the front, but the stone on the wall keeps crumbling under his fingers.
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Hearing the zombie moving down the other passage, Davrin debates internally for a while. Down the other way is the poorly equipped android and the two goblins, but he can't just leave them to their doom. Crawling along the wall successfully this time, he heads back the other direction as fires upon the zombie as soon as it comes into view.
Trusting that Pippimi will do the foolhardy and usual skittermander hug, Clank floats over her head to fire on one of the zombies.
Giggling at a sudden joke, he sings out a goblin song. "Shoot them in the head. In the heeeeead. Zombies. Zombies. Zombies. Hey Hey!"
Once again, the enemies get the jump on the Skittermander office worker, leaving her wondering if she should have taken an extracurricular course on Stealthing for Dummies. She shakes the zombie free and swings her starknife in retaliation!
"Poor Acreon team... Pippimi have to make you dead for second time. Hope that OK."
"I am going to help head off the other shambler.
Zoran says heading around the corner and firing off a shot.
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Zulu floats to the ceiling, shooting his laser down at the zombie. The laser glances off his shoulder, removing a small piece of flesh. Davrin moves to the other room, desperately trying to protect the little green idiots. His shot hits the zombie in the shoulder, creating a nice laser-sized hole. Meanwhile, Clank’s voice echoes through your coms as his laser takes a huge chunk out of the zombie’s chest.
Pippimi swings her star knife cutting up the zombie. Her first strike goes deep into the creature’s suit, nearly severing an arm. Unfortunately her second strike glances off his thick skin, not quite penetrating. Lenny fires at the zombie, his expert gym training teaching him how to work around people. The laser digs into the zombie’s skull, penetrating into his brain! He falls to the floor, dead. Again.
Meanwhile, both Mork and Gork drop their hold on Clara-247, drawing their pistols at the sight of the incoming zombie! Zoran joins them in firing on the undead enemy.
Zoran’s shot goes wild but both goblins show him up! Their lasers hit the zombie in the leg, taking off some of the decaying muscle.
Clara takes a few steps back, not wanting any part of this. The zombie lurches forward, grabbing at Gork's face with his hands. The large tongue reaches out and lunges into Gork's oversized mouth! As it wriggles and tears within, Gork's desperate screams will your ears. Then, they are cut off as he falls unconscious from the pain.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mork's tears can be heard, even by those who cannot see them. The zombie detaches from the goblin, letting his body drop to the floor.
You can’t take move actions except to right yourself, you take a –2 penalty to attacks, and you take a –2 penalty to AC, and you cannot take reactions or make attacks of opportunity.
Lenny 11/16 SP
Clank
Davrin
Zulu
Zoran 14/14 SP
Pippimi 6/14 SP 16/16 HP
Mork
Gork 6 dmg, dying
Lady Android 6 dmg
Red Zombie 24 dmg
Purple Zombie 7 dmg
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Seeing the zombie drop and hearing the pitiful screams of the goblins.
its like the pitiful yelping of small dogs. Viscous small, lethal if you aren't prepared, dogs.
Pushing off the wall, then bounding back into the Driftdead room, Zulu tries to maneuver his way into spot where he can get a shot.