Understanding where the noise in her mind is coming from, Stefani turns her weapon upwards towards the stryx with a growl, ignoring the doctor's instructions.
A little slow to the party, Damon leaps into the air, buoyed by his armor's mystical forcepack. "I gave you a chance," the vesk growls, "but I'm kinda glad you didn't take it." Unspooling his shadow chain, he whips the cold metal in a deadly arc!
Recorva will take a single shot towards the same Verthani she had been targeting, before sending extra computational power to Rain so that he can catch up to the Verthani.
As the nearest of the Verthani moves away, Rain swings his hammer at their retreating form.
.
Once he is able to, Rain moves back up next to the same Verthani that he and Recorva had been targeting so far. He then swings an overhead strike at them, electricity crackling from the hammer's head as he does.
"We're on our way to take her out. You're just hindering your own liberation," Shabad calls out before firing at any still standing Verthani.
Shabad and Rain take down the wounded verthani while Stef and Damon focus on the strix. She dodges Damon's chains, but Stef lands several precise hits, disintegrating parts of her flesh! She screams in pain but also sets up a psychic feedback loop with the soldier so that Stefani shares in the pain!
The remaining verthani tries to shoot Stefani while the strix cautiously backs away from Damon and attacks Stefani with another mind thrust!
Stefani snarls against the mental noise assaulting her mind. "F~+#ing fine! You want to play this way ... I'll play!" she screams out at the winged woman.
Shabad considers attacking with magic, but wishes to save her resources for later. So she fires again, this time at the other Verthani. This time, she tries a double tap. Her first shot gets close, allowing her to make a slight adjustment that hits dead center in the verthani's chest.
Growling under his breath, Damon flails wildly, trying to strike the strix out of the sky.
Letting Stef and Damon focus on the Strix in the upper parts of the room, Recorva shifts her aim towards the remaining Verthani.
Rain will move over to be within melee range of the remaining Verthani while not blocking the aim of the others. He attacks once with his hammer, lightning crackling as it swings.
Shabad, Rain, and Recovrva take the second verthani down with several precise shot and powerful hits. The strix dodges Damon's chains again, but Stefani manages another hit. Once more, the strix tries to share the pain with the soldier and targets her with a third mind thrust!
As the verthanis fall, Damon creeps even closer to the strix. "Sweating yet? It looks like you're running out of time!"
"You're gonna lose a battle of attrition," Stefani spits out through gritted teeth. Her bravado is betrayed by the trickle of blood running from her ear.
The strix manages to resist Damon's time dilation, but she screams in pain as Stefani blasts her with her disintegrator rifle. Much of her flesh melting away, the strix raises a shaky hand. "Enough! I yield!"
"About time," Shabad calls out as the battle ends. "Set your weapons down and move away from them while we sort ourselves out. Stefani, Damon, and Recorva, recover as best you can and I'll treat any wounds presently."
Shabad keeps her Elite SA pistol trained on the Strix, in case she tries any more of her mind magic. "I'll treat your wounds soon as well, but first, tell me your name and what this place is for?"
“My name is Komarta, and I am somewhat a prisoner here. I have been tasked with guarding this portal as punishment from my former employers at Eclipse Innovations. They said it would be only a matter of days before the galaxy was ready to accept their new way of thinking and then we would be allowed to leave, but I’ve lost track of time.” She shakes her head sadly.
“I suppose this is a fitting end for me. I was not a nice person back in Cuvacara. I was an enforcer for hire, and I worked for any slimeball corporation that had the credits to pay me. It didn’t matter to me who got hurt as long as I got paid. Figures that when I started to grow a conscience, it landed me here.
"A woman named Dr. Gragant is in charge of this place. I only know enough about her to know that Kaeon Rhyse practically worshipped her. The way he spoke of her genius was a little sickening, frankly." Her eyes focus on a distant point. “And the stuff he did in her name… chilling. I told him I didn’t want any part of it, and here I am.
“I’m not even sure how I got here! All I was told through a message on my comm unit when I woke up here was that we had to protect this… hole.” She gestures at the gaping wound. “It looks like it leads deeper into this disgusting place, so I don’t know why anyone would want to go down there. But orders are orders, especially when you don’t have any choice but to follow them.”
"Your story makes sense from what we've learned about Rhyse and Gragant. We were early victims of their plans but we have been tracking them down and sabotaging their tech and killing their servants. Free will and conscience don't play any part in their scheme."
Shabad pauses and sighs. "Assuming your story is true, I'm inclined to give you a chance for a fresh start, but I'm not the best at detecting deceit, so what do the rest of you think?"
With the ringing in her ears and her head still pounding from the mental assault the strix inflicted, Stefani doesn't feel that she's the best one to ask regarding an unbiased opinion on the woman's fate.
Assuming others have Komarta covered, Shabad gets out her medkit to dress Stefani's wounds while waiting for others to weigh in.
Upon closer inspection, Shabad saw that her wounds were not serious. "If you've got any serums of healing, Mark I, one or two ought to take care of these. What I've got is stronger stuff and is best saved for more serious injuries."
Shabad returned her attention to Kormarta. "You are a strong fighter. Would you be willing to aid us in taking the bad doctor down?"
She looks at the others before adding, "That assumes we're ready to trust you. If you do not want to aid us, we'd have to remove your armor and weapons and restrain you here to be sure you don't attempt to sabotage us once we leave."
Komarta seems to be telling the truth. When asked if she will help fight against Doctor Gragant, the strix firmly shakes her head. "Nope. I'll take the second option. Tie me up and leave me here. I'd rather not get myself killed like you lot seem determined to do!"
"No one's killed me yet," Stefani says with a smirk. "Not that a lot of powerful people haven't tried." She looks back down at her weapon and makes some adjustments to the controls. "If you're a betting woman, I wouldn't put credits on this Doctor against us."
"So be it," Shabad sighs. "You won't be needing that armor, so take it off." Shabad sheds her junk armor and puts on Komarta's while the strix is secured. If no one else in the group wants them, Shabad will also take the sword and ring. She takes one of the haste circuits from one of the verthani's armor and installs it in the white carbon skin.
Then she looks at the opening, trying to figure out how it works. She gets out the crystal found in the previous room to see if it may be some kind of key.
'
It looks like the crystal fits in a spot in the ring around the gate, but there are spots for three more. It seems you will have to gather the remaining gems to open the gate.
Once everyone is rested and has scavenged what items they want from the verthanis, Shabad suggests the group continue exploring the area, looking for more power crystals. If there are no other exits from the 'gaping wound' room, she will recommend heading back to the entrance and head south.
With no other exits from this room, you return to the main hall and head south. An enormous head formed from bone and sinew juts from the southwestern wall of this chamber, its features casting a beatific gaze downward at a square stone altar. The altar bulges at the top, showing a hemispherical surface that is jagged and pitted. The air here smells of cinnamon and freshly baked bread.
Four draeliks kneel before the altar, but they turn to you as you enter. “Welcome! Have you come to show your love for the Blessed Lady?” one draelik says. He gestures toward the large, gruesome effigy. “She gathers all in her embrace and asks for so very little in return.”
Shabad pauses and stares at the group, lowering her pistol. "Not what I was expecing," she murmurs to her companions. She nods in greeting, studying the situation in hopes that she can make some sense of what she is seeing.
Then she speaks slowly, again hoping to buy some time and figure the situation out, "We come in peace, but we seek only passage to the master of this realm. We have urgent business and little time for anything else . Have you seen any small crystals about this size?" She fishes out the first crystal found earlier and displays it for a moment, before putting it back in her armor's secret compartment for safe keeping.
Draeliks are aliens native to the Azlanti Star Empire. The draelik religion pays homage to sceaduinars, the denizens of the Negative Energy Plane, and finds entropy to be the most sublime force in the universe. They do not seek to destroy, preferring to accelerate natural decay using negative energy.
The figure in the nightmare you had after leaving New Elysium bears a passing familiarity to the titanic head, even though that figure was mostly draped in shadow.
Shabad notices a small, solid stone in the center of the translucent altar. It appears to be a crystal similar to the one she holds.
"Perhaps if you make an offering at the altar, the Blessed Lady will grant you what you seek," the draelik says. As you watch, he pulls out a razor-sharp knife and slices off one of his fingers, letting it fall onto the altar. He then holds the knife out to Shabad, stating, "The Blessed Lady wishes to taste of your flesh, newcomer."
Damon growls, stepping between the draelik and Shabad. "I don't care if you wanna turn yourself into a mincemeat sandwich, but the only way anyone's tastin' our flesh is when I'm punchin' their damn teeth out. Now get outta here before I make you regret some life choices."
Damon's words prove to incense the draeliks. They level their staffs, which begin glowing with dark, shadowy energy. "For the Blessed Lady!" they cry as they prepare to attack!
"Die for your f@#@ing lady, then!" Stefani growls back, leveling her weapon and firing.
"Maybe I shoulda waited for you to cut more fingers off!" Damon quips as he explodes into a whirling dervish of plasma.
Shabad feels some pity for the misplaced devotion. She had hoped they might be reasonable, but perhaps that was a vain hope in the shadow plane, where reality itself seemed warped. She noted the crystal that would contribute to unlocking the gate to what lies beyond this bizarre entrance, but before she could do anything about it, things escalated to battle.
She felt a little more confident in melee combat with her white carbon armor and decided to try the new dueling sword she had acquired. "I'll pass on the generous offer from this 'lady,' but we have a history and I don't think she'll be happy to see us. Allow me to offer my services dismembering yourself." She drew her sword and swung at the nearest draelik.
Recorva will simply sigh at finding more fanatical devotees to this 'lady' and her goals. Raising her rifle at the nearest of the Draeliks, she fires off a single laser shot at them before shifting some attention to Rain.
Rain will move up to the same Draelik that Recorva had targeted, moving to a position that doesn't block others lines of fire if possible. Activating his hammer, he swings down on them.
Damon blasts three of the draeliks with his microfusion rifle, the energy immobilizing one of them. Stefani blasts the most wounded one while Shabad moves in to slice him with her sword. Unfortunately, both Recorva and Rain miss with their attacks.
Two of the draeliks move a short distance away as they call upon magic to summon wisp allies to harry Stefani and Damon. The one Stefani struck reaches out to her but she steps away, while the other one attacks Rain with its shadowstaff.
"Don't be touchin' people, stubby!" Damon runs between the draeliks and his allies, throwing up a protective wall of fire.
"What the hell are those things?!" Stefani shouts out as she redirects her fire to the things hovering in the air.
Shabad press her sword attacks, going after the most wounded target in range.
Aiming her rifle at the target that Rain is currently threatening with his hammer, Recorva fires a pair of rapid shots at them.
Rain will take two rapid swings at the Draelik in front of him.
Stefani blasts the most wounded draelik twice, finishing it off. Shabad and Rain step to flank the next draelik, and while the android misses, the drone lands a good hit with his storm hammer. Damon runs a blazing orbit around the two draeliks in the back, blasting them both with his rifle afterwards.
The draelik in melee with Shabad tries to touch her again while the other two try to shoot Damon through the flames. One strikes him with an icy blast that doesn't hurt him much.
Taking aim at the foe firing at Shabad, Stefani unloads again.
Shabad flinches when the deranged draelik touches her. She looks for a moment at her hand and thinks, I could eat. Then she shakes it off and resumes attacking the creature with her sword, hoping to put it out of his or her misery. She gets an opening and swings the ultrasharp edge of her dueling sword at the draelik's neck.
Recorva continues targeting the same Draelik that she had previously , taking only a single shot to allow Rain to better target them with his own attacks.
Assuming the Draelik that he and Shabad are flanking is still living, Rain will take two heavy swings at them with his electrified hammer. If they aren't, he instead moves to be able to hit one of the other two remaining Draeliks.
You quickly take down the remaining draeliks. Once they have been defeated, you can remove the dark stone from within the altar of shadowstuff.
The last two rooms of this complex feature more traps and guardians. Defeating them yields the last two gemstones needed to deactivate the forcefield over the gaping portal in the central room. Passing through the wound, you experience a terrible vertigo and a brief moment of mental anguish as your personalities are temporarily stripped away. Then you find yourselves stepping out into a shadowy version of New Elyisum, completely intact both physically and spiritually.
You arrive in a gray version of Green Fields, the foliage stunted and colorless, and the artificial river now a dry, rocky bed. There appears to be no way to return to the Heartgate or your ship.
The whole area feels like you are stepping through a half-formed idea. The resort’s many rooms appear no more real than set pieces from a theatrical production. There is no power, though the Shadow Plane’s ever-present dim illumination prevents the area from being completely dark. Color has been drained from all surfaces and objects, making it a disquieting and lonely place, even though shadows without sources flit around corners and through doorways.
You feel a strong pulling sensation in your minds towards the mine entrance past New Elysium's employee facilities. The large metal door that separated the resort from the old mining tunnels on the Material Plane isn’t present. Instead an empty doorway opens out onto what appears to be the asteroid’s surface. The sky is the deep red of heart tissue, and several dozen feet away, a pair of prefabricated buildings stands next to a cave entrance in a stony hillside.
You feel stronger and more prepared to face the final challenges that await you.
You step out of the airlock and onto the asteroid's surface. This area has a normal gravity and a breathable atmosphere, though the temperature is uncomfortably cold.
The first building along your route is a storage shed. The atmosphere of this storage shed is oppressive and hazy, as if the environmental controls are malfunctioning. Thin bands of lighting run just under the ceiling, barely illuminating the forms of a human, a shirren, and a sarcesian shackled to the wall by chains hooked into their bodies, leaving gruesome wounds. All three appear to be quite dead. A large bloodstain on one wall above a grotesque pile of chunks of flesh hints at the presence of a fourth body.
The second building is a small vehicle bay attached to a garage. Though the floor is stained with oil and machine grease, there is nothing left here of interest.
Behind the two freestanding buildings, a large white gate has been installed into the brittle, gray stone cliffs of the asteroid. The gate is locked from the other side--you'll need to hack into the system to open it.
Shabad approaches the locked gate cautiously. When the others are ready, she set to work on the lock.
Shabad's first attempt to open the gate doesn't work, but on her second try, she is able to hack into the system. The gate begins to slowly rise to grant you access to the tunnel beyond. As it does so, however, a bizarre creature peeks its head up from the rock face above the gate!
The creature resembles a bizarre theropod with three oval eyes and long flaps of skin dangling to each side of its fanged mouth. Countless tendrils of semitangible shadow weave through the thing's pallid body,
leaving tubular openings like the burrowing of worms through flesh. These tendrils suddenly emerge from its body, whipping towards you!