The robots advance forward, blaring through loudspeakers, "The age of Unity and steel will not be halted! Order will be restored!"
However, Roskar and Soundbyte were ready!
The angel takes a momment to adjust to it's new surroundings, before it notices the incoming deluge of mechanical adversaries. It hefts a blade of light, shouting something in a musical tone, before rushing up into the air then straight downward to impale it's foe.
Not wishing to chance being infected by Unity's sway over the machines, Soundbyte for now simply reaches out with a basic telekinetic attack.
Roskar's scale glow with golden light as the mote of matter forms around his fists again.
Well, at least it isn't boring here!
As the robot advances, he charges forward.
"We're Starfinders, 'boring' isn't in our vocabulary," Bravo comments.
Two of the robots advance in, marching down the street. The other moves to engage with Roskar, swinging a normally nonlethal riot control power fist fist at the vesk warrior. As Roskar dodges out of the way he feels the electricity of the power fist barely discharge off his scales. These bots are hitting to kill.
Bravo follows through with his stated plan, launching a grenade from the underslung barrel of his gun between the two robots approaching them.
Once Bravo's grenade has done its work, Morimoto advances to engage the nearest Bad Robot.
His attack is clumsy - must be the whiplash of transitioning from the Embassy of Hell directly into this engagement!
Though Soundbyte tries to offer some more ranged support, he's once again off his mark.
The angel however takes the robots to task, charging them down to try impaling one of the machines.
Roskar counters and punches back.
Bravo's grenade lands between the two robots. They both manage to avoid the plasma wave but one of them has it's circuits briefly scrambled by the EMP wave that follows it.
Mori narrowly manages to land a powerful strike on the robot by him as Soundbyte's angel cuts into the other robot with a holy strike. Roskar, too, is at the top of his game and lands a mighty solar punch on the far robot.
The robots strike back, and they too are fighting well. Roskar dodges the punch thrown at him, but Mori and the angel aren't as lucky, with one robot punching at Mori for 6 damage and the other slamming it's metal fist into angel for 10 damage!
Red -20
Blue -10, staggered
Purple -14
Bravo fires on the robot in front of him so he can get a clear shot at the robot attacking Roskar later.
The blow not striking as deeply as Morimoto might have feared, he steels himself, squares to the target, and delivers two strikes in succession.
Soundbyte's telekinetic projectile is just shy of hitting the robot.
The angel scores a decent blow on the robot.
And Roskar's cosmically charged fist hits the robot like a truck, stunning it!
Mori gets a solid slice on the robot, along with Bravo getting a good shot off.
The two robots retaliate with some solid blows of their own, hitting both Mori and the angel for 8 damage!
Red -29
Blue -21, staggered
Purple -36
Morimoto staggers from the blow, but his resolve is equal to the task. He squares again and his curve blade arcs through his enemy's space in a great cross.
The attack against him must have done more damage than he thought. His aim is clumsy and his strikes miss badly.
"If you want something done, do it yourself!" The SRO intones, loosing some patience with himself by rushing forward into the thick of things.
His angelic comrade, one or two more good hits away from dissipation, decides to make the most of his limited time on this plane with one more slice of his sword.
Bravo keeps firing, hoping to take the robot down.
Roskar throws another solar punch, taking down the robot he’d previously attacked.
Between Bravo’s shot, Soundbyte’s staff, and a slash from the angel’s holy blade, another robot falls to the ground.
Mori doesn’t manage to get a hit on the final robot, but the robot likewise isn’t able to hit the nimble warrior.
With one of the machines down, both summoner and summoner move to try and deal with their last foe. For some reason, Soundbyte is displaying a rare show of combat potential compared to the theoretically far more skilled angelic warrior.
Bravo reloads his weapon and takes another shot.
'Bah. I have had enough of this!" Morimoto swings at the robot twice more, his frustration beginning to get to him.
But again he is undisciplined and comes away empty.
Finally, the party fells the last robot, and as it collapses to the ground in a pile of scrap metal it roars, "The One will not be stopped!"
Further down the street, the squad of Stewards seems to have dispatched the robots they'd been fighting, and they quickly make their way over to the party. Their leader, a broad-shouldered lashunta woman, raises a hand in a sort of a salute, "You handle yourselves well! Thanks for dealing with those bots. Those security robots are usually on our sides...g$@&#%ned robot cult or whatever it is."
Roskar Shrugs.
Whoever they are, if they wish to fight, then so be it.
Bravo salutes back and turns to show the Starfinder Society emblem on his shoulder.
"Bonar Vizetelly, Starfinder Society, Exo-Guardians," he says briefly to introduce himself. "It's an artificial superintelligence with delusions of godhood called 'Unity.' My team's been tracking down fragments of it. We've in fact got one right here and were in the process of transporting it to the Lorespire Complex, where the other fragments we've recovered were secured. We've got to get back there, it's likely the epicenter of this outbreak!"
The Steward officer’s eyes go wide, ”You mean…wait a minute, you all are the cause of this? Well that’s…hoo, that is a hell of a coincidence. Listen, I can’t say I totally believe you, but if you’re killing bots your alright in my book. We need to get to the main precinct, pretty close to Lorespire. You help us out, we’ll help you. I’m Lance-Sergeant Vylama Akres,” she motions to the three other Stewards in the squad. There’s Oleksaya, a vesk heavy weapons specialist, Branthios-A43, an android with a knack for technology, and Imani Oloke, a human chaplain of Iomedae.
”I’ve heard some chatter from other squads,” Vylama says, motioning down one road, ”We head that way, there’s a bunch of cultists rounding folks up, talking about some kind of ritual. Down that other road though, we’re likely to hit some kinda big robot that the cult brought with ‘em. Couldn’t hear much, but it sounds to me like a mass demolitions unit, able to level whole buildings. Rock and a hard place, I know.”
"We literally just came out of Hell's Embassy," Bravo replies dryly. "We're Starfinders, Lance-Sergeant. Weird s*** is our daily routine and being between a rock and a hard place is where we're in our element. We should disrupt the ritual first. Might stall whatever Unity's attempting."
He turns to the rest of the group.
"Let's move out!"
Morimoto nods approvingly and follows Bravo.
Soundbite taps his staff to the ground, nodding towards his angelic summon before it dematerializes. "No time like the present/ let's give 'em the 'ol 1-2!"
The party and the troop of Stewards heads down the road. Sounds of monotonous chanting can be heard in the distance, and the source quickly becomes apparent. In what was once a grand plaza a large ritual circle is drawn on the ground in some sort of silvery paint, an assortment of civilians at it's center handcuffed together around a metal obelisk, energy crackling around it.
Four large robots stand at the circle's edges, arms raised to the sky as they chant in droning binary code. The air above the circle ripples and warps, as if reality itself was straining against something.
The perimeter of the plaza is guarded by half a dozen androids and other humanoids with heavy cybernetic implantation. If the group is to get to the ritual, they'll have to get through the guards.
Bravo charges forward towards the group, not bothering to move quietly. But rather than rushing into the fray, bolts to the nearest cover. Then he scopes out a new cover he can reach quickly, and makes for there next. He does this multiple times, zig-zagging around the perimeter. The goal wasn't to get into a position to attack, but to put the enemy on alert, and distract them from what they were doing.
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Soundbyte decided to take a, perhaps, more direct approach when it came to these mechanical malcontents and misconstrued misanthropes. While Bravo was skirting around the edges of the group, he slowly and carefully made his approach from the front. He tapped his staff once, calling fourth a distant rising chant of indiscernible nature . Once it seemed they were off-balanced by the noise he carefully selected from the numerous sermons he'd dutifully recorded over the years.
"And 'lo, did the lone pastor approach the rambunctious youths with neither heed nor wary of bow and blade. 'Turn back', He commanded the group armed with naught but a shepard's hook. 'The path you tread is that of Darkness and Despair.' His words were met with the unbridled laughter and scorn, a man of dark hair grinning with unabashed disbelief. 'You are 'naught but a sheep herder, to what right do you have to deny us?'"
His steps were slower, deliberate. A part of him felt like it was faltering, feeling exposed by being so obviously out in the open. Much like the man from the story. Yet. " The man stood firm, planting his hook firm in the ground. Shadowed by the fading light, his eyes were grit with determination. 'It is my right as a shepherd to protect my flock.'"
He tapped his staff one last time, and all at once his body exploded into starlight. "It is by the grace of Her Light that I shall do so."
Morimoto can't decide if this situation is any stranger than what was recently experienced in Hell. Probably so, since there was really no excuse for any of it to happen out in the open on the streets of Absalom Station.
But here was a straightforward task. The ritual must be disrupted, and some cultists stood in their way.
Roskar chuckles to himself. Always wanted to do this. Roskar says as he charges forward, shoulder lowered.
Outta the way! Vesk train comin' through! he shouts as he shoulder checks his way through.
Roskar and Mori face the cultist guards head on, knocking many to the ground in a brilliant show of force.
Meanwhile, Bravo does his best to distract the guards, but Sounbyte's sermon does much more to draw their attention.
The party makes it to the center of the ritual circle but the robots at the center don't seem to be phased by the party's entrace and continue their droning chant.
His experience with the Wytchwards his only exposure to technology, Morimoto attempts to use his limited knowledge to disable the robot cultists.
It is not his best effort, but perhaps the circumstances have a role to play.
Bravo grimaces at the unfolding scene. Not being particularly savvy in technology or magic, he hopes the brighter members of the squad will shine here.