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|||| INIT ||||
Flint (11 dmg)
Bel
Mari (flesh rewired 5rds, 65 dmg)
Sammad
Ordyt (5 dmg)
Hacker Devil (63 dmg, imp. get em)
Mari's weapon follows the devil and barks twice more, Mari's once blank face transforming into an angry snarl.
"Blessed Redeemer, let your holy light lay low this foul servant of the Hells," Ordyt intones, and his bayonet begins to glow with a golden slight like the dawn. With the devil still hemmed in, the oread lunges to the attack.
Flint adjusts slightly as needed using the haste circuit to allow him to follow up with a pair of slices. Sammad's motivation and Ordyt's distraction help the solarian with the blazing eyes cut in at the evil creature!
While Bel's slash only scratches the devil, another solid slug from Mari, and a divine smite from Ordyt leave the devil badly bloodied. Flint's glowing solar scimitar whips twice through the creature, burning light repelling devilish flesh. The devil crumples, then convulses, back arching. It lets out an unholy scream as electricity leaps from its open mouth and eyes. It's last throes are easy enough to avoid, and soon all that's left are scorch marks where it's lightning landed and a greasy pool of black blood coating the floor.
Combat Over!
The Mainframe appears to be intact and no longer haunted by the black energy you saw earlier.
"Indeed. We can celebrate once we're clear of this loathsome place."
Bel finds the mainframe fully accessible. She connects and finds this center acts as a comms relay for the Legion invaders, though the communications themselves are end-to-end encrypted, making it tricky to determine the exact contents. However, you're able to infer from local messages being sent that the invaders engaged with your Anassanoi allies nearby are communicating back to the central Spire where the Legion's forces (and communications) are concentrated.
Flint moves over to Mari and says, ”I’m not sure what that devil did to you, but you look pretty banged up. Have a serum and get a bit of rest if you can.” Flint hands her a mark 1 healing serum (1d8) and says to Sammad, ”Let’s go talk to the locals and see what they can tell us now that their taskmaster is dead and the mainframe is cleared of the devil.”
Emerging from the server room to talk with the Anassanoi, saying much the same thing in their own language, ”The invader imprisoning you here is dead, and the devil corrupting the mainframe is eliminated. We need to get as much intel as possible on the invaders to your protectors before escorting you to safety. Can you help us?”
While the rest of the party tackles the mainframe, Flint returns to the Anassanois, who have spread out a little and appear to be conversing silently between each other. Two of their number are backed into a corner of the room and appear defensive in their body language. When Flint speaks, one of the members of the larger group responds "Then the messages from the rebels were true, there are star-walkers who've come to fight the Legion! You have our thanks, though we know not what to do now that our work has been ended. Our group here are technicians and programmers, not rebels. I am not sure how much we could help." The group of anassanois turn to face the two of their number backed into the corner "However, some of us were willing collaborators with the Legion. Maybe they were told something the rest of us were not."
A different mental voice reaches you, seemingly broadcast from the cowering pair. "We were not! And where you say collaborators, we would say simple pragmatism. Prior to the arrival of these individuals, we had no better option than to appease them until they complete their goals and move on." The voice is passionate. "You know as well, that the Legion regarded all of us as not worth knowing anything more than we needed to do our work. We were simply given more access to facilitate some additional message routing."
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Bowing to the larger group, Flint says, "I thank you for your faithfulness; we will need to leave soon to ensure your safety--I am sure the invaders are preparing a counterattack as we speak."
Turning to the other two, Flint bows as well, though perhaps a bit more shallowly, "That gives you two a unique opportunity, pragmatists. With the Legion routed from this location--at least temporarily--you have the opportunity to do a real service for your people, showing them you have played the long game in resisting the invasion. We have little time to decide -- will you help us now?"
With jerky movements, Mari takes the serum and tucks it into her pocket before turning her attention back to the mainframe. After a few seconds, she sighs and throws her hands up in frustration.
"Turns out they're minimally competent, and so we can't just listen in on all their communications. What we can do is wreck the whole thing here and now, or I could rig it to self-destruct at a later time and place. There might be other things, but those are the first two that came to mind."
The larger group of anassanois begin dispersing to their desks to pick up the few belongings the Legion supervisor allowed them. The two collaborators are silent for a while, telepathically communicating privately between each other before one speaks up to Flint "It seems sensible. If you managed to defeat Ferys, we might all have a chance with your help. We'll assist you." They head over to the mainframe and telepathically explain to Mari and Bel how several maintenance functions of the mainframe can be unlocked.
”Taking as much of the data as possible, then leaving a back door to feed new communications to us once they start using the system again would be great if we could do it. I can do some physical damage to the structure itself so perhaps the invaders think that we are not tech-savvy enough to lay a trap for them—not enough damage to render the computer useless, but enough so it looks like we had to resort to physical means to try and destroy it,” suggests Flint, though he defers to the computer experts for their best judgement on the matter.
"Are we confident they won't find whatever trap we lay? They know we've messed with it and will check carefully--if they find and remove our bugs we'll have just handed them back their system. I think we should destroy it while we can."
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"I'll leave them a decoy worm for them to root out and feel proud of themselves for finding, while the real one stays hidden and dormant until we need it. If we just smash the place up and go, they'll probably have all this replaced by the end of the next day." Mari thinks, then adds a quick correction. "The equipment, anyway. The personnel are less replaceable. Maybe."
"I can't imagine they have many spare digital devils on hand...but we should assume their resources are much vaster than ours," Ordyt mutters.
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"They invaded the sun, big guy. Their resources are as vast as they are misapplied."
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"More than we need, less than I'd like," Mari replies, most of her attention focused on the task at hand. After a minute or so, she unplugs from the mainframe and collects her things.
"Time to go."
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In one short minute, Mari deploys an intricate worm in the mainframe, designed to trigger under specific network circumstances to knock communications off line.
The two anassanoi turncoats watch Mari with even more respect than they initially offered after Flint secured their assistance. It's clear they've been blown away by her programming speed and precision. Meanwhile the other anassanois have gathered their things and are looking to you all for guidance on what to do next.
Ordyt produces his flex-cuffs from a side pouch. If you're all going to stay, we'll cuff you and leave you on the floor so it looks like we took you captive.
As he starts restraining them one by one, he looks back towards the others finishing up at the computer. "Time to go?"
”Do you wish to stay undercover and work against the invaders? If so, Ordyt’s plan is a good one,” says Flint, addressing the workers. ”If you wish to more directly join the resistance, come with us—the distraction will be over soon and we need to return to hiding quickly.” says Flint, offering them the choice.
The anassanois don't confer for very long before one from the larger group sends "We will flee. The Legion expects even the unwilling among us to defend the Legion's interests, and they punish failure by returning the defective anassanoi to those undergoing the great suffering. If we stay, we will be among them once more." Though the anassanoi body language is hard to read, their fear comes through clear in their mental voice.
The two turncoats add "The same would happen to us. Allow us to come with you."
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Nodding, Flint says, ”Then let’s get moving. We’ll need to find a place for you to hide.”
Reconsidering taking them directly back to the resistance headquarters, Flint is concerned that the turncoats may be fickle followers and turn on their brothers of the situation were to allow it.
Speaking quietly to the crew over the comms, he asks, ”What is your sense of them—shall we take them to the main headquarters, or some less critical location and let the Protectors decide?”
Flint adds on the comms, ”We’ll need to watch the two turncoats very carefully.”
"They didn't have to help us, but they did. We don't have to trust them, but we can't leave them here."
As far as Flint can tell, the turncoats fear as much for their safety as the other anassanoi, but he's not able to get a very good read on them. With Mari's offer to have them at least come with you for now, you and the group of data center operators head quickly out of the building and into the shadow of a nearby building. After spending a moment to look out for any incoming reinforcements, you send a flare to alert the distraction team that you're out, then head back into the service tunnels to regroup.
Ten tense minutes later, you see Jenan leading a battered and bloody group of Anassanoi - the team running the distraction - to your destination. Her face is set into a grim frown. Covering the rear of the group is Ilor, who seems in much better spirits, or at least more used to this kind of operation. He gives you all a thumbs up before saying "We managed. Lost a few, some injuries, but for a militia they kept their cool out there. Better than most new recruits I worked with from back in the day. And the Legion's probably down half a squad or so, with Jenan responsible for most of it. The woman's a devil with a pistol." He grins "How was the data center? Any luck? Looks like you picked up a bunch of friends."
As he talks he gestures to half of the distraction team to split off and start heading down the service tunnel.
Falling back to converse quietly with Ilor, Flint says, ”The raid went well. We pulled as much data down as we could, though it is encrypted. Our tech experts have the system handled as far as I can tell, and we have freed the workers, although those two seemed to have gotten a bit cozy with their captors, though they did help us when it was clear we had prevailed.” After surreptitiously indicating the two turncoats, Flint continues, ”I suggest for operational security you debrief the rescued citizens in a secure location unconnected to your main headquarters.”
Ilor shrugs "I can handle the operations and maybe training them a little, but I'll leave it to their leaders to sort our what to do with turncoats." He gives you all a thumbs up. "We'll take half this group and meet you back in that sewer they set up shop in." With a wave, Ilor and Jenan's group heads off down the tunnels to their own Skate.
Your return trip to the HQ is reasonably swift, with your Anassanoi driver taking a circuitous path to throw off any pursuers. When you get back to the rebel base, some of the data center servants are already reuniting with friends and family who are within the resistance, and the damp, cavernous room above the cistern is filled with excited activity. The two turncoats are kept separated from the rest for now. You make your way back to Nyralaen, who's in the middle of tending to an injured anassanoi.
"I have heard already that the data center has been sabotaged, the devil inhabiting it slain, and some encrypted communications recovered. While we have few people to spare, we will set some to cracking that encryption so that we may learn some of the Legion's secrets." Nyralaen turns "Thank you. I hope this will be the first of many successful blows against the Legion. What do you intend to do next?"
Mulling the question over, Ordyt requests a map of the city and, specifically, the skate-rail network. "They'll still have those gunships, so rapid-response capabilities won't be affected. Taking out the rail lines will cripple their ability to make big movements and supply runs, though."
He scratches his head, frowning. "Though perhaps we should go straight for rescuing the Protectors--they're valuable to your people, and if we do too much damage before they're rescued they might be executed as an example." He tilts his head in curiosity at Nyralaen. "This Chariot, it's a dogfighter or gunship of some kind? What are its capabilities?"
"I think taking the rail lines is the next step. It'll make it harder for them to replace everything we just broke, and maybe it'll make them more cautious to deploy things like the gunships if they aren't sure when they'll be able to get another one." Mari pauses, chewing her lip anxiously, before continuing. "Like you said, though, I worry that if we take too long they'll wise up to our ultimate goal."
Nyralaen answers "The Chariots were a legacy of the initial settlement of Kahlannal, remnants of our forebears. The complex engineering that was used to create them has long been lost to us. They are equal parts vehicle and partner to the Protectors. Eight were entrusted to us, each Chariot bonded with one Protector." The concept of the Chariot takes the image of a golden egg in your minds "The Protectors could reshape the Chariots with their minds, cause them to take on forms bearing powerful weaponry that would only respond to one bonded to it. Though the Protectors all were trained to use their Chariot in this fashion, we had not had reason to do so for hundreds of years, and so when the Legion arrived they were able to destroy several of them, and slay several Protectors in the process, before any defense could be mustered."
"If you can free designation Mehhren and recover designation Mehhren's Chariot, the bond can be restored and a powerful ally gained."
"Does the Legion know that the chariots are linked to specific Protectors?"
”Keeping a low profile until we rescue the protectors sounds good. If we raid the medical supplies to try and heal Protector Faefell, the Legion may not connect that action to the protectors. Maybe afterwards we could plan to liberate the chariot and its protector as a simultaneous strike so they don’t have time to make the connection and stop us there,” suggests Flint.
"Does the Legion know that the chariots are linked to specific Protectors?"
"If they did not know before, they have had ample time to study both while they remained in their custody. The Legion is not incurious. They likely understand the bond well by now and will act to keep it disrupted in the future."
"Then time is of the essence. We should rescue Mehren and liberate their Chariot, preferably simultaneously or close to it. If we can get to the other Protectors too, so much the better. The skate-rail and medical supplies should be considered secondary until your Protectors are safe."
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"Right. People over things."
|
Nyralaen answers "The Chariots were a legacy of the initial settlement of Kahlannal, remnants of our forebears. The complex engineering that was used to create them has long been lost to us. They are equal parts vehicle and partner to the Protectors. Eight were entrusted to us, each Chariot bonded with one Protector." The concept of the Chariot takes the image of a golden egg in your minds "The Protectors could reshape the Chariots with their minds, cause them to take on forms bearing powerful weaponry that would only respond to one bonded to it. Though the Protectors all were trained to use their Chariot in this fashion, we had not had reason to do so for hundreds of years, and so when the Legion arrived they were able to destroy several of them, and slay several Protectors in the process, before any defense could be mustered."
"If you can free designation Mehhren and recover designation Mehhren's Chariot, the bond can be restored and a powerful ally gained."
Belmarniss' eyes widen behind her shades as Nyralaen continues with her description, like a child unwrapping a First Choice's present.
"Holy Spirit of Golarion, I wish I could fly one of those," she mutters under her breath.
"Um, yes," she says more audibly. "The recovery of the Protectors would likely be a massive boost to our friends' morale. Almost every senior Knight of Golarion I've trained with has stories of tearful cries of relief and shouts of joy when vessels bearing our insignia soared over a beleaguered city or world. Sometimes knowing your heroes are with you can be enough to turn the tide. And us fighting alongside the heroes of the anassanois...well, it sends a strong message, both to them and the enemy: Kahlannal does not stand alone."
Nyralaen sends a wave of positivity and affirmation as you start discussing rescuing Mehhren. She explains "Designation Mehhren is being kept at a structure that the Legion built after arriving. They call it the detention center." The concept of detention center is a bit foggy in Nyralaen's thoughts, as if she is less familiar with it. "Others of us that agitated and were captured rather than killed were also transferred there, especially if a round of time as part of the great suffering did not dampen their spirits. None that enter have ever been outside again, but sometimes we can sense their presence. They are still alive."
"Since the structure was built by the Legion, we do not know its layout. However, we do know that it is guarded by at least two dozen of their soldiers at normal times, and half that many for a brief period between guard shifts. Perhaps a twenty minute window to enter, find designation Mehhren and leave." Nyralaen projects a mental image of the building's exterior, showing a pre-fab like structure with two rear entrances and one front entrance.
"The approach is complicated by a prominent lookout tower rising from front of the building. To our knowledge, that tower is always manned."
Mari raises a tentative hand.
"Eliminating the lookout might be too tricky, but what if we just make sure they're not looking at us? I think a big explosion, or something similar, on the opposite side of the base from where we're entering would do the trick."
"Failing that, we could just blow them up. If you've got access to a rocket, mortar, plasma cannon et cetera...I'm certain supplies are tight, but you took out that gunship so you've got some ordnance, and we won't need--or have time for--more than a shot or two."
"That was my first thought, but it's a bit counterproductive if the goal is to stop them from realizing we're already in the base."
Nyralaen responds to Ordyt's suggestion "We have a few such weapons we've taken from the Legion, but not many. They may serve us better when it comes time to assault the Spire, if we can avoid using them here. However, if there is a need, a strike can be arranged."
Thanking about the problem, Flint asks, ”Is there any way we could disable the tower sentries? Perhaps put them to sleep, or cause an illusion of hallucination that all is normal during the raid?”
”A stealth attack on the sentries would be difficult, and risks our being discovered before we are even truly begun. Perhaps deception would be another option, like impersonating the relieving sentries or hiding among a supply shipment?” he adds, hoping someone can take his vague musings and come up with a cunning plan.
Sammad goes pensive as Flint muses, chin in hand. "Dealing with the personnel directly is possible, but it's a risk, as we saw before. Your second idea has merit, though...vast amounts of materiel would be needed to supply the Legion's war effort. The more that's going in, the greater the chance we'd be able to slip inside with none the wiser."
"Do we know what their procedure is for accepting supply shipments? The more we know about them, the better our chances of success."
"They receive supplies during a shift change when the new shift arrives. There would be more guards at that time, but they would be more distracted. We do not know exactly what lies inside, or how they process their supplies, so improvisation would be needed." Nyralaen responds to Sammad.
Ordyt shakes his head. "We should focus on the guard change, when there's fewer of them. That way when something goes wrong--and something always goes wrong--there will be fewer on hand to stop us. Easier to win that particular fight, get Mehren, and get out."