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Tasting the metallic tang in the air, Cora feels her stomach turn. Remembering her knowledge of the planet, she mentions that she thinks a storm of poisonous crystals may be coming, despite the clear skies. " These crystals must be congealed from the air, to create this smell without any sign of clouds. "
But, with the clock running out, and no sign of the possible storm, the group trudges towards the crash site. After all, it's only a half hour's walk! What's the worst that can happen?
Unfortunately, after 15 minutes, there is a sudden crack that echoes through the air. The air seems to thicken and twist. Before you know it, the air is full of purple crystals which fall like deadly hail. Their sharp edges cut, though the smaller pieces are mere annoyances. The larger crystals, however, hold quite the danger. It's every person for themselves. While most are successful at dodging the beginning of the onslaught, Argon-42 and Arratoi each take a large cut on the arm.
As the purple crystals continue to rain down, the party fruitlessly looks for cover in the open desert.
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The rain of purple crystals continue to fall. Cora, nimble as a dancer, dodges the bigger hunks and flicks off the smaller pieces. Arratoi and Domaya do their best to emulate her, but both are hit as a shard cuts through armor like silk. Arratoi lets out a scream as blood spurts from his new shoulder wound.
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BOOT BOOT, ARGON ARGON
Argon grits her teeth and pushes through the pain, feeling the poison RIP through her veins. This slows her down, causing her to stumble on a sand dune. Another large shard slices into her leg. This time, it begins to bubble as the poison defeats the immune system.
Argon-42 falls down, muscles failing, feeling weaker than ever before.
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Despite his girth, Hedd proves quite nimble when faced with deadly purple death spikes. He manages to dodge and weave around each of the larger purple streaks, the smaller pieces bouncing off his thick armor.
Ash and Argon-42 however, are less lucky. They are both lulled into a false sense of security as the storm begins to slow and are each sliced by a bigger piece of the purple crystal. Ash maintains his composure, but Argon-42 lets out a whimper before falling to the ground, though not, it appears, from the bloody cut on her leg.
Just as soon as it began, the storm dissipates and the crystals are gone. A hush lays over the desert, the sun beating down once more.
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The party rests under the shade of a sand dune for ten minutes, until some party members are feeling better.
After the period of rest, the group trudged onwards through the sand. The desert is a cruel place, as Argon and Arratoi can attest. No need to hang around for another storm.
After about twenty minutes of walking, your destination comes into view. About a 120 feet out, pieces of the piece of the wreck are scattered in the dunes. Closer, however, half-buried in the sand is the Unbounded Wayfarer’s antipersonnel weapon, a tactical X-gen gun. It looks damaged, but may still be operational. The sand has blown over much of it and the heavy section of fractured hull it is attached to, which must be why the Eoxians missed it.
Tired, bruised, and weak - The party moves towards their goal. But suddenly, the air is filled with a high pitched scream as the sand explodes in front of the group! From out of nowhere, an enormous worm-like creature pops out of the ground!
Argon 5/5 SP 5/7 HP
Arratoi 6/6 SP 6/8 HP
Domaya 7/7 SP
Ash 0/7 SP 10/11 HP
Cora
Hedd
Wormy
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“Ohhh dear,” Cora moans as another new threat bursts out of the ground. Her mind races as she tries to identify the thing or spot any weakness to it.
She holds out one hand and weaves a piece of magic to attack the creature’s mind - assuming it has one, that is.
Cora places both hands back on her rifle, bracing herself to move or shoot depending on what happens in the next few seconds.
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"That...is a big worm. Hey worm, I'm sorry I ate your cousin back on Absalom station! I was drunk and that little street food stall had fried worms and... and... well... someone dared me. It was just harmless fun right? No need to eat me in revenge!"
Move action draw laser rifle
Standard action attack
Hedd looks at the creature, looks at where he is positioned and double guarded steps back.
"Aye beast you are large but you should look elsewhere for ye dinner."
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Arratoi and Cora look at the creature with a critical eye, but the enormous teeth seem to be distracting. What they do remember is that this creature looks like a Skreebara. This creature is fabled as one of the many horrors of the Vast. Rumor has it that the Skreebara is a different branch of the evolutionary tree as the Ankheg of the Pact Worlds, but sporting a sonic shout instead of acidic spittle.
EAC 16; KAC 14
Fort +7; Ref +7; Will +2
Arratoi takes a closer look at the turret, feeling like any advantage against this beast would be helpful. The gun appears operational, and that it has the ability to turn 360 degrees. There are very few rounds left, but perhaps enough to take out this Skreebara.
Domaya squeezes off a quick shot, but her laser goes wide. The undulating muscles of the worm are hypnotic to watch, or would be if it wasn’t trying to kill you. Cora reaches out with her mind, squeezing the small peanut of the enormous creature’s brain. The brain is simple, but foreign. Cora works hard to find her way around it. As she does so, the creature screams in pain, a harsh and guttering howl.
The enormous worm jerks out of the way as a wave of fire explodes from Argon-42’s hands. Once again, the monster screams it’s ear-piercing scream. Meanwhile, Arratoi thinks fondly back on an excellent night he shared with a bottle and a strangely intoxicating worm. His shot goes wild, as if he had consumed another one of those alcoholic worms. Ash, ballsy as ever, pulls up his large laser and opens up on the alien monster.
Unfortunately, his shots go into the dirt as his arms go up to defend himself from the creature’s large jaws. The teeth sink through his armor, cracking bones and spilling blood onto the untarnished desert sand.
The Skreebara shuffles slightly, then leans down and takes a bite at the funny smelling alien with the fire hands! MIRACULOUSLY, the worm stops at the last moment. Apparently android is not the flavor he prefers.
Argon 5/5 SP 7/9HP
Arratoi 6/6 SP 6/8 HP
Domaya 7/7 SP
Ash 0/7 SP 4/11 HP
Cora
Hedd
Skreebara 14 dmg
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Ash. Back away out of reach like Hedd did! Oh dear! Those without magic defend yourselves! Those with magic! Those spells seem like they hurt the beast! Ash when you can.. get to that X gun!
Domaya reverts to how she acted as Captain of the ship in lieu of being able to do anything else useful. She could act as a distraction though.
Hedd backs up a little more.
"Aye, we cannot take many more hits, but you know as they say, the best defense is a good offense. Die foul beast.
Swirls of magical energy crackle through Hedd's weapon as he casts a spell to pierce the creatures mind.
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"I can heal, yes, but if the skreebara just keeps attacking it won't do any good. We have to bring it down! And whatever you do, don't form up in a line!" she adds, thinking about the sonic attack that it hasn't yet demonstrated.
She scrambles off to one side to follow her own advice, and then takes a hand off her weapon again. She knows that the creature is not the most intelligent or strong-willed, so mental attacks are going to be more useful than her laser rifle. She focuses on another psychic spell, just as Hedd is doing the same thing nearby.
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As the group practices it's Fight or Flight instincts, Cora and Hedd stand together against the foreign beast's strange mind. Their otherworldly powers pierce it's skull and it's body begins to undulate in strange, jerking motions.
The beast, practically in it's death throws, slides forward, open's it's enormous jaws and reaches down for Arratoi's small furry body. The brave soldier raises his rifle and squeezes off what could have been the last shot of his life. Luckily, it strikes the beast between the eyes! The Skreebara let's out an ear-aching sonic burst of screaming as it shudders and falls into the desert sand.
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“Phew!” Cora takes a deep breath and barely manages to keep her legs from collapsing in relief. She looks around to make sure everyone is still standing. “Those who are badly injured, come over here please.” She gestures over Argon, Arratoi, and Ash, and when they’re all within 30 feet she channels a soft warm magical light that flows into each of them and heals the physical damage they have suffered.
When that’s done she wipes down her slightly sweaty palms and agrees with Argon, “Another break might not be a bad idea.”
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Having taken that last shot practically with his eyes closed, Arratoi opens his eyes fully and blinks in disbelief. Once it sinks in that the giant worm is dead Arratoi walks up to it.
"Yah beardless thumb-sucking rickety moth-eaten worm! Damn straight I ate your little cousin that one drunken night! Your attempt at revenge failed! Ha!"
Arratoi then kicks the worm (kinda feebly by non-ysoki standards), then turns around and gives everyone a thumbs up. "Good job guys! Think there's a bar on this planet?"
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After a small rest and some healing, the group feels ready to move on. The group travels the short distance to the ship and can plainly see that the vessel is far beyond repair. The hull is half buried in the soft sand and most of the tail section is missing. Although one of the Starfinders must have survived long enough to activate the distress beacon, there are no survivors, as expected. Within the ship are seven desiccated corpses, scattered throughout the wreckage. There were 8 names on the crew roster.
All seven of these corpses appear to have suffered fatal injuries during the crash landing and were later dried as a consequence of being exposed to the desert environment. There is some bloody sand outside the starboard door. The lone survivor was probably eaten by the Skreebara, or some other unknown desert danger.
The group takes some time and explores the ship.
Those familiar with spacecraft are able to deduce that the Wayfarer has many of the characteristic impact marks of heavy metallic slugs, such as those used in coilguns or railguns on starships.
To the trained eye, the damage on the ship’s hull indicates that it tried to dodge the strafing fire but darted the wrong way. Perhaps if the pilot had more time, or faster reflexes, they would have made it out.
After this, the party searches the craft to find that it has been stripped. Everything of worth has been stolen, down to the copper wiring in the walls. Luckily, the computers remain. Probably because they are damaged beyond the repair of a simple craftsman. However, Argon-42 is no average mechanic. The android goes to work and is quickly able to patch the power from the emergency lights to the console. It whirs up slowly, feebly trying to boot the operating system. While the android is working, the group notices that the computer interface ports contain an indentation the same shape as the Starfinder insignias.
After giving the dying computer a few minutes to boot, exasperation gets the better of Ash. He grabs the insignias and shoves them in the slot. For a brief second, the computer fan stops whirring and a fear sets in. What if it just died...
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Then, a small red light blinks on the insignia. Once, then twice. A small voice leaves a speaker on the Starfinder item. "Decryption complete." With that done, the computer breathes it's last and even Argon’s magic touch fails, short circuiting the system.
Once the insignia is removed, a hologram flares to life from it's surface. It displays a datafile of worlds previously explored by the crew of the Unbounded Wayfarer. They include:
• A wasteland planet called Elytrio that displayed signs of scattered technology.
• A sentient asteroid called Lamentia teeming with morlock “children” in the Vast.
• A massive space station called End of Bright Things stuck between the orbits of two blue dwarf stars.
• A stormy, oceanic world called Wealdriad, with upthrust columns of basalt piercing the storm-tossed ocean’s surface.
The final location’s coordinates are too damaged to display, but, when the computer died, a slot within the console opens. It appears to contain a salvaged item from the lost location. The item is a bluish white crystal, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand.
The item is an iridescent spindle aeon stone.
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Domaya carefully and reverently examines the corpses. Seven of the eight. Most certainly died in the crash. May Pharasama be kind to their courage. she says sadly. One seems to have survived for at least a little while longer. Probably fell to something like the Skreebara, though that is not possible to verify.
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"I agree with Domaya. Chances of the eighth crewmember still being alive is low though. I mean we weren't injured from a crash landing and we already had a rough time during the half hour it took just to get here. This crash survivor was injured AND alone."
Looking at the damage on the ship's hull and listening to Ash's description, Arratoi say, "I agree with Ash's assessment. This ship took fire - no doubt from those incompetent mucus-oozing sniffling silver-witted dirt-eater pirates aboard the Lawblight!"
After concluding our search and we recover the datafile and crystal, Arratoi says, "Looks like we've recovered everything we can. It may take some doing but perhaps we can bring these bodies back with us to Absalom? What do you guys think?"