Feeling a touch of urgency as he reminded himself of the whole reason he had decided to risk direct interface with the system, Robert managed, however reluctantly, to isolate himself from the raw datastream and focus on searching for something he could understand here and now.
And find something he did, with the help of Kamiya’s and Zadie’s insights, as they shared their impressions of bits and pieces of data Robert asked the ancient system to project on the control room’s screens for them.
”Did you say 75 years? That’s barely a blink of an eye for this place,” Robert said as he pulled in data from an archive log. ”No idea what calendar the builders of this place used, or how long their units of time were, but comparing these earliest timestamps to the latest ones, aeons have passed since this place was constructed,” Robert said, eyes still firmly closed to better be able to focus on his virtual vision, but mind more firmly attached to the business at hand.
”Also, these algorithms look a lot like one’d find in a fire control system of a ship of the line,” he added, as another screen began scrolling page after page of equations. ”Whatever this place was part of, it had teeth. Big ones – from what I make of this, these systems weren’t too concerned with hitting small fast-moving objects like enemy fighters. No, these systems at least were for hitting something big, likely with something equally impressive.”
Turn 121 – Ancient Control Room
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
broadcast John, the episode with the robot still on his mind. As the creature came closer, however, he decided to expedite the categorisation of the creature as a provisionally hostile entity.
"Spike this!" he declared quietly as his artillery laser engaged, the red beam ripping through translucent flesh.
we should pick a weapon and attach the seal then. @Robert, are you capable of doing that?
"I don't think it's interested in piece," Robert said, then felt quite relieved when he saw the android’s converted artillery weapon open fire. Whatever the thing was, the sooner it was splattered all over the walls, the happier he would be.
Taking shelter behind the backs of his current set of allies, the technomancer raised one hand, pointing towards the creature and murmured the equations of the causality-defying attack he had used successfully against the void-ghost. This time the burden on his brain was slightly more manageable – perhaps succeeding in the technique once under immense pressure had adapted his mind to the strange illogic. Once again, three shards of energy given material form spun into existence, then launched themselves unerringly at the horrifying creature. The missiles hit wounds that had already been torn into the creature’s flesh, choosing paths of flight they had already taken before Robert had decided to cast the spell. Merely thinking about how the reality manipulation managed to do what it did was enough to threaten him with a headache. So he did his best to ignore the ‘how’ and focused on the results.
Kamiya was feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information that had been revealed. This discovery of The Sunrise Maiden and the additional bodies only compounded this. But the lashunta had no time to process the new info before the hideous creature showed itself.
The Captain's recording was still very fresh in Kamiya's mind and so survival was foremost on her mind, not diplomacy. Grabbing a shock grenade from her belt, she activated it and threw it.
Her stomach already turning from the dead people displayed on the floor, Zadie was no less disgusted by the appearance of the leech with wings. "I hope you don't like fire!" She raised her laser pistol and took a shot at the approaching creature before backing up and letting someone else be closest to it.
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The creature was uncomfortably tough, as it still lived after all the damage it had just soaked. But blood was flowing, and Robert was currently safely behind a wall of living bodies and thus not in immediate danger. So the technomancer decided to repeat the trick that had worked once and materialized more shards of energy that tore deep furrows into the beast's flesh before winking out of existence.
Robert is right. Everything worked but the thing has a tough hide (high KAC). Electricity worked best...
Kamiya knew she wasn't going to be throwing any more grenades now that the others were too close to the creature. She figured that the best use of her time would be to keep the others on their feet and in good spirits.
Oriana had taken quite the hit as the creature's maw had closed in on her shoulder. The lashunta focused her attention on the kasatha and projected comforting thoughts into Oriana's mind at the same time she spoke, "You got this, Oriana! Burn it to ash."
Zadie moved out toward the center of the cavern, manipulating her comm to record the eerie moan the creature emitted. As soon as Oriana moved out of the way, she replayed the sound, louder and more distorted, hoping to distract the leech-angel before pulling the trigger of her laser pistol again.
giving John a little bit more time...
giving John a little bit more time...
John concentrated on keeping the alien thing in his crosshairs, but the way that it flit through the air made that all but impossible.
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, pass
With a little more distance John was more successful at keeping his weapon trained on the creature. When the creature started to regenerate an internal dialog warned him his threat assessment and response system was - uselessly - triggering an adrenal analogue to improve performance, but the android was concentrating too intently on his target to override it.
"What the--?" Zadie felt slightly nauseous, caught in the sonic wake of the thing's screech. "Kill that thing. Kill it fast." She took another half-hearted shot at the creature, then retreated toward the group, unwilling to let the thing single her out again.
Kamiya stepped to the side as if moving out into the open to get a clear shot but really she was just attempting to feint out the monster making it vulnerable to the others' attacks. She took a shot over its head to add to the realism of her ploy.
"Don't let it get away!" Robert shouted over the suit channel. "If that's the thing that can walk through the walls, we need to finish it off here and now!" He did not look forward to looking over hsi shoulder for the rest of their little trip here, just in case the thing popped through a solid wall to get at them if it got away from them now. So the technomancer ignored his own burgeoning headache and summoned another swarm of reason-defying missiles that slashed new wounds into the creature’s flesh.
Listen Robert, if it can phase through solid walls and survive 75 years in a vacuum, I think it had enough time to learn to screech as well, OK?
Just work with me! :)
Game on!
Zadie attached her extra battery to the force field and handed it to Oriana. "Here. Sounds like you're going to need this."
Nope, Zadie gave Oriana her extra battery. My guess is this isn't what killed Moriko Nash. It doesn't look very incorporeal.
Nah, this is IT, guys.
The reason the forcefield didn't work as expected is two fold:
a) I imagine the force field was modified to prevent the thing from entering the very small space in which you found Moriko; and
b) I forgot Oriana had it. :(
I was going to retcon but then I took a closer look and the entry on the beast and it does not say that it cannot physically attack someone with a force field so I made reason a) above the stronger of the two. It does say that it cannot phase through forcefields and I can see why pushing yourself against the wall of a monster trying to phase through it would work.
In any case, like I said before, my tricks are limited and I don't see this BBEG succeeding.
Questions?
I intend to recap later today.
Game on!
Turn 124 – Forcefield Not Working as Expected
Read the OOC.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
Game on!
, pass
, John
, hit
"Stop eating my lawyer!" Zadie commanded, circling around to the side. Unfortunately her aim was less aggressive than her words.
Robert felt himself sweating inside his suit, despite the environmental systems that kept the air inside comfortably chilly. He had been using his powers more during the last couple of days than he usually did in weeks, and now he was exhausting himself completely in a single encounter. But he really didn’t want this creature to get away, not if it was the one that had haunted late Captain Nash.
Robert focused his attention inwards, to the first cerebral implant he had had installed. A mostly-inert bundle of circuitry that was now loosely interfaced with his more recent, more robust neural cybernetics. But even though the thing seemed to have no value, it did have a purpose. It was the culmination of his studies of the laws that bound the universe together, a symbol of the power that allowed him to bend reality with his will. And, at times of need, a source of power.
Clenching his teeth against the headache that was building to monumental levels, he conjured a last swarm of razor-sharp shards of energy that raked the strange creature’s back, drawing deep lines of blood before they faded back out of existence.
Determined to do his part, John leans into the attack. Feigning disability he waits until the creature strikes again, and jams his gun into the face of the monstrous creature, desperate to both keep it engaged and stop it getting away.
The creature had gotten too close to the others and prevented Kamiya from using any more grenades so she shot at it with her pistol which was already in her hand. This time, she aimed at it rather than shooting over its head.
I intend to recap later today.
Game on!
Zadie clicked playback again, trying to distract the creature with its own sound, but it wasn't fooled again. Nevertheless, her aim was more accurate this time around.
Well, if it only had 5 points left, Oriana took care of it. So I think we can assume it's dead.
Yes, it's dead.
John waved off the others as the creature went down. Blood ran freely from his wound. Silver-red droplets pattered on the floor like rain. "Check it is dead, first. Really dead. I saw it heal, earlier."
Kamiya projected swirling colors into John's mind. "You'll be ok, John. You're safe now and it won't hurt you anymore."
Action 2:
Kamiya was surprised to see the art collection. "That thing actually appreciated art? It may have been a horrible life-essence sucker but it probably wasn't as mindless as we thought."
But the lashunta barely glanced at the art because she only had eyes for the Sunrise Maiden. Her antennae twitched excitedly which was mirrored in her voice, "We actually have a ship!" Her mind was full of thoughts of flying; however, there were also practical ones. "I bet the station would answer if we hailed it using the Sunrise Maiden."
Robert sighed in relief once the monster finally stopped struggling and allowed himself to slide down to sit on the floor. That had been utterly exhausting.
”I’m all used up, like a choirboy after a weekend in a red light’s district,” Robert sighed on the suit channel. ”If there are any more nasties around, please kill them without me.”
"We actually have a ship!" Her mind was full of thoughts of flying; however, there were also practical ones. "I bet the station would answer if we hailed it using the Sunrise Maiden."
”A nice bonus on our pay check, to be sure,” Robert said, nodding his head, making some mental calculations about the expected net worth of a second-hand spaceship. ”Should be a few megacredits, easy, even if it needs some care after it’s sat here all these years. If we decided to keep it we’ll have to put aside a nice big chunk of credits for operational expenses, though.”