Therseis replies, ”We did not linger but they may have been old soldiers of some kind.”
Therseis is willing to remain available by commlink and station themselves nearby, but they are not willing to accompany the Starfinders into the gardens.
Weeds and ugly vines extend along these silent stone pathways. Crumbling statuary and collapsed walls, riddled with bullet holes and scorch marks, stand testament to a great conflict long ago. Dented helmets and battered, rusted vehicles stand in stark contrast to their stone surroundings. Hundreds of grave markers and monuments dot the landscape, each covered in old inscriptions that the years have worn to the point of illegibility.
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Flenn slings his pulsecaster rifle over his shoulder and draws out his survival knife. "Don't suppose zapping undead into sleepy time works too well, so gettin' up close and personal. Any of you spiritual blokes got anything to help against undead?" Assuming he will be in melee, he takes a point position.
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Shelldrake looks disappointed "This is a pretty small engagement area - and we seem to be standing in the middle of it"
Shelldrake has a strange moment of introspection where she wonders why civilisations invented long-range weaponry when their method of engagement seems to involve perpetually walking up to the foe and engaging from under 30' distance and fighting on postage stamp terrain like her ancient ancestors.
"Have we seen many of these undead yet to identify the type?"
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Flenn slings his pulsecaster rifle over his shoulder and draws out his survival knife. "Don't suppose zapping undead into sleepy time works too well, so gettin' up close and personal. Any of you spiritual blokes got anything to help against undead?" Assuming he will be in melee, he takes a point position.
"Just this." TrueSilver's hands turn into bestial talons.
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She continues to talk with Rahdo "You know, we're from technologically advanced civilisations with weapons able to engage in standoff combat at hundreds of yards with precision accuracy and lethal effect, and we're facing a bunch of mindless undead and ceding our tactical advantage to walk towards them with swords and axes like something out of the trideo show 'Croneman the Barbarian', doesn't it seem odd to you? I mean, I can put down a healthy beaten zone with this machine gun and engage a sea of opponents, achieving quality machine gun employment - but it appears we're just walking towards them with bayonets. We can't even use grenades."
Shelldrake tries climbing on top of the fence, but stays at the top of it to have a better vantage point to shoot at enemies from.
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Flenn nods. "I'd certainly prefer to be snipin' from hiding ... or even blast 'em from an orbiting satellite. But we work with what we have available. I'm saving up for a spy drone one of these days, so I don't have to walk into a situation blind. And, unfortunately, in this case throwin' grenades around is probably not an archaeological best practice."
He surveys the area, activating his targeting computer to be sure that he doesn't miss any movement. He pays particular attention to the rusted vehicles, trying to determine what sort of machines they were.
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Rudura speaks up "I, uh, while I am very conscious of the need to save our own skins, I'd like to point out that blanketing the area with machinegun fire would be counterproductive to our goal preserving these archaeological ruins. Plus the weapon I have isn't much use beyond 30 feet. Though to be fair, I'm not a soldier." Rudura holds up her called singing disk.
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"Sure, but it seems like a strange redundancy to have a range of firearms available, from the Ghibrani rifles that were straight out of a wasteland and looked like they used black powder - but could still put a decent round out to several hundred feet, through to the sniper rifle suite of kinetic or energy weapons which can really reach out and touch - and we could be laying down surgical precision hits on the walking dead. Annnnyway, seems odd to keep taking knives to gunfights"
The Soldier keeps examining the area from her perch, machine gun set to single shot.
As the Starfinders enter the gardens they note an absence of birds, rodents, and other critters they may expect in such a run-down environment. Ahead, in a nearby section, they see three copaxi but these do not look right. They almost look hollow, half-melted and well along the path of deterioration. Two are holding tactical spears while the other holds a hunting rifle, a tactical baton by its side .
DC 12
• Bleed, death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, sleep, and stunning.
• Ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, exhaustion, fatigue, negative levels, and nonlethal damage.
• Any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect works on objects or is harmless).
Flenn
Korvin
Rahdokama
Rudura
Shelldrake
True Silver
GM Screen
Round One
Shelldrake
True Silver
Copaxi
Rahdokama
Flenn
Rudura
Korvin
True Silver is heard chanting before changing his appearance, including sprouting claws and then he moves quickly toward a break in the fence.
Silverdrake is somewhat befuddled by these new creatures and waits for direction from a hopefully more knowledgeable teammate.
The furthest spear-wielding copaxis makes its way toward True Silver but seems to have expended its energy by the time it arrives.
Its closer companion, however, is easily able to reach the brave Starfinder and attack. While its movements were somewhat stilted and it looked like it would miss, it managed to true up its aim and pierce the android in the thigh.
The third copaxis simply raises its rifle and shoots directly at Flenn. Its past training showed with the accuracy of its aim but the current state of its mind made it reactive not strategic and the cover provided by the fence was effective.
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Flenn races through the gap in the fence, leaping over the fountain wall as he advances toward the green undead copaxi.
As he clears the fountain wall and moves next to the undead copaxi, he says, "Nice gun there, mate, but not the talkative type, are you?"
Over comms, the text message comes across: Anyone got any idea on the weaknesses of these things?
Rahdokhama follows his teammate through the break in the fence but splits off toward the two copaxi threatening True Silver. As he approaches he activates his powerful arm muscles to plunge his pike through the deteriorating exoskeleton of the nearest opponent.
Rudura moves forward, calling out to her companions as she releases a disk that produces a very high pitched though melodic tone. When it manages to clear the fence, despite the cover provided and hits the nearest copaxi the vibrations work to tear open the gash already inflicted and it crumbles where it once stood.
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Rudura moves forward, calling out to her companions as she releases a disk that produces a very high pitched though melodic tone. When it manages to clear the fence, despite the cover provided and hits the nearest copaxi the vibrations work to tear open the gash already inflicted and it crumbles where it once stood.
On hearing Rudura's words, Shelldrake determines their weapon choice and also takes advantage of the gap in the fence to move toward the remaining spear-wielding copaxi. Soon after, the staccato rap of a machine gun can be heard by all and the copaxi in question jerks as it is hit.
Korvin quickly assesses the situation, one injured copaxi surrounded by Starfinders, one Starfinder toe to toe with an uninjured copaxi.
He grumbles and shrugs then three missiles of force magically appear and head unerringly to the copaxi in front of Flenn.
Korvin's magic slams into the copaxi facing Flenn.
The android mystic lashes out with claws, the first rakes across the copaxi but the second is wide of the target.
The copaxi, in turn, thrusts it spear at True Silver and all though gravely injured manages to connect.
In the meantime, Flenn sees the combatant facing him drop his rifle and slash out with claws, raking the half-orc across the shoulder.
The other Starfinders barely see it happen but suddenly there is second high pitched melody as Rudura's singing disk streaks out and another copaxi crumbles.
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Flenn mutters, "Resistant to non-magical ..." He glances down at the completely mundane survival knife in his hand. "Bloody great." He sidesteps carefully, so he's no longer blocking the shot to the creature. Louder, he calls out, "Okay, light it up, folks..." As he does so, a faint shimmering field of purple energy flickers into being around him.
Realising he may be outmatched, Flenn calls for assistance and moves to protect himself. Rahdokama responds with swift action, maybe a little too swift as his thrust goes wide, missing both the copaxi and his teammate.
Another Starfinder demonstrates the ability to target effectively despite various obstacles increasing the challenge as Korvin delivers a devasting lashing of fire and electricity to the remaining Copaxi. Damaged as it is though, it still stands and looks like it will mindlessly fight on.
Then Shelldrake steps forward to finish it off with another burst from the machine gun.