Frowning at the realization that his rifle wasn't fully effective last time, Kit draws the pulsecaster pistol he found earlier and takes a shot.
Seeing the ineffectiveness of the party's fire-based attacks, Puzzle drops their laser rifle and slips the autotarget rifle from their shoulder.
"Try switching to another weapon," the android suggests to their companions as they fire a round back through the doorway toward the foe.
Nomyra stands and prepares herself for a hit.
Vedrir takes aim at the enemy setting up his biohack
"I will try to do something with her fire resistance"
Then he analyzes the foe with his microlab
Ifrits are native outsiders with the native subtype. They have a natural ability to control fire by several abilities. Their fire affinity ability allows them to reroll one attack per day that is made with a weapon that deals fire damage and take the higher result. They naturally have fire resistance 5. They can also cast overheat as a spell like ability, usually once per day, but more powerful or experienced ifrits can do so multiple times. Ifrits have not natural vulnerabilities or weaknesses to energy. You think the cold resistance she exhibited earlier might be from her training as a solarian.
Despite the party's shots missing, Rej seems to notice the party pulling out new weapons.
"This contract's not worth dying over. I surrender," she says, dropping her doshko and taking a defensive stance.
An instant later the door opens with two Zeylans standing on the other side. Instead of a sniper rifle, they hold a tactical baton in one hand and a tactical semi-auto pistol in the other. They seem very surprised to see Rej without a weapon.
"...what?" they ask, before swinging their baton at Kit.
Their distraction clearly affects their swing, and the attack misses.
Rej offers a shrug in return.
Puzzle
Nomyra
Kit
Vedrir
Wyrd
Start of Round 6
Rej -18
Zeylan
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Drained of energy Wyrd gasps for air and slowly starts to heat up again.
Wyrd glances down at the doshko on the floor and Rej's empty hands before raising an eyebrow
"A senseable approach to life. I approve"
As he keeps his knife in hand he turns his attention to the open door while keeping one eye glancing in the general direction of the woman next to him and stretches out a hand
Concentrating on a reality where there is no roof in the room next door and where the rain is particularity nasty Wyrd superimposes that reality with part of our own
Reflex DC 12 to negate
Surprised by the unexpected turn of events, it takes Puzzle a moment to react. "Keep the pressure on! Focus on the other one!" the android calls out.
Eyes frequently darting back to check on Rej, Puzzle fires a round at Zeylan.
Nomyra narrows her eyes at Rej, suspicious of the surrender, but chooses to focus on the nearer problem. She swings and then steps away.
"Ok!" Kit says, flashing a menacing grin at Zeylon. "Your turn now!" With that he carefully steps away from the doorway and fires the pulsecaster in his hand at the person before him.
The Zeylans manage to avoid Wyrd's acidic attack and Puzzle's shot, but both Nomyra and Kit hit the real Zeylan instead of the holographic clone. Vedrir also aims and fires at the Zeylans.
Vedrir's needle also finds its target in the real Zeylan! After being punched hard and shot twice, the Sunrise Collective leader is looking quite unwell.
Rej continues to stand down, and after looking you all over, Zeylan sighs, drops his weapons, and says "I surrender." The holographic clone Zeylan disappears.
Rifle at the ready, Puzzle returns back into the room. "Keep your hands up where we can see them. Both of you move back into the other room," the android says, gesturing to the doorway behind them woth the barrel of their weapon. "Slowly."
"If they look like they are about to try something, shoot them," they say to their companions.
Nomyra will grab Rej's doshko and Zeylan's weapons while shooting dirty looks at both of them.
"Roger that, Puzzle."
Vedrir keeps his rifle ready hoping that this fight is truly over.
"Shall we free the bounded prisoners?" asks leaning on the wall to help him stand straight.
Rej and Zeylan both move into the other room with their hands raised. At Vedrir's question, Zeylan produces a key from a pocket and tosses it over.
The party is able to release the six prisoners on the wall, all of whom are lashunta Asanatown council members (consisting of Inona Norivahr, female korasha; Lehau Coros, male korasha; Vo Tanahseh, male korasha; Klayar Nasmahkal, female damaya; Ebuday Inya, male korasha; and Maurahn Jash, male damaya. Each reacts slightly differently to being released, but all are overjoyed at their sudden freedom. Except for being held against their will, they all seem in good physical shape.
Councilwoman Norivahr steps forward, rubbing her wrists after being freed. "Thank you, on the behalf of all of Asanatown. Come, we should make another broadcast on the emergency channels to let everyone know this uprising is over," she says, beginning to walk toward the media room.
"This doesn't end here." Zeylan butts in, despite his captured status. "There will be others like me. True lashuntas have suffered for too long here under the boots of leaders who care nothing for them, supported by organizations who can never know what it's like to be one of us."
"It is not the underlying cause, it is the manner in which it was conducted that is of concern," Puzzle responds to Zeylan as they fall in behind the councilwoman.
"We have all been affected by the recent flare - our friend here, more than the rest of us, it is true," the android says, gesturing to Nomyra.
"We came here to aid the research efforts into the cause of the flare and the subsequent events. Your little... "uprising"... has prevented any from actually taking place!" The android's tone makes clear their contempt for the "uprising".
Puzzle turnd to the council members, continuing. "And the leaders need to hear the cries of the people. For too long, the suffering of the lashuntas has been ignored. People have grown tired of suffering. Zeylan is right in that; if you continue to ignore them or serve up hollow promises, it won't be long before you find another taking his place."
"The time has come to do something about it."
"New butthead rise, we shoot that one too! Bully always end up against the wall!"
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Councilwoman Norivahr nods at Puzzle and Kit as the group walks, then sighs. "And we are lashuntas, Zeylan. Everyone on the council is, as are 5/6ths of the people living here! But we were elected by everyone, to address the concerns of everyone. If you had any idea how to address the psychic anxiety that we all feel, you would have said so. Instead, you hired these Brass Dragon individuals--how you were able to afford all of them, I'll never know--and played on people's fears while staging a coup."
"And Puzzle, we have been trying. I don't know how long you've been in Asanatown, but we've held years of conferences, the best scientists from accross the Pact Worlds have visited and studied the issue, even that Deep Cultures Institute opened here with their theories about life inside the Burning Mother. Nobody can prove anything! Until there are more scientific breakthroughs, or Sarenrae herself intervenes, it's just a fact of life that comes with living here. If you can stop it, well, please do something about it!"
After walking through the entire complex, the group winds up back at the room used for Zeylan's emergency broadcast.
Councilwoman Norivahr and the rest of the council begin an emergency broadcast to Asanatown. In it, she announces brave heroes have struck back against the Sunrise Collective, resulting in the capture of Zeylan and the defeat of his co-conspirators, as well as the restoration of Asanatown's rightful government. She calls on the remaining Sunrise Collective members to disband immediately and pledges that Asanatown will move forward together, lashuntas and other races alike. She also pledges that finding an answer to the psychic tension that lashuntas feel will continue to be the council's top priority. Several minutes later, medical personnel arrive at the Horizon House and begin tending to everyone's wounds.
Within an hour, Nib and Dr. Taeress both appear, offering their profound thanks and congratulations to the party for your effort in restoring order to Asanatown. After Nib announces the party not only rescued the council, but also was present at the Far Portal when it descended into the sun, Councilwoman Norivahr pauses. "Maybe you are the people to do something about this psychic resonance. Please, look into it further." The council offers their profound thanks to the party again and wishes you the blessing of Sarenrae on your future journeys.
On the linecrawler back to Asanatown from the "So, now that there can be a DCI, I can offer you a job there! We have a lot of new data to go through after this Fire Portal and psychic pulse incident, and I have a feeling we might need people like you all to help pursue some of those leads. Besides, the Asanatown council just asked you to look into it. What a great place to start!" Nib also promises free room and board in the guest rooms at the DCI headquarters building for as long as the party is on the council's payroll.
Over the next few days, the councilors reopen Asanatown to the other bubbles in the Burning Archipelago. This event, combined with broadcasts showing Zeylan in custody, is enough to convince the rest of the disheartened rebels and mercenaries in Asanatown to stand down or flee. The Collective soldiers that remain face arrest and prosecution, including banishment or time in penal facilities away from the sun. The party also receives a note that the council tracked down where the party's starship was docked at Dawnshore Spaceport. As a token of their thanks, the bubble of Asanatown would like to cover upgrades to the ship to aid the party in their exploration of the psychic pulse in the future!
The process of acclimating to life on the sun isn't easy. There's no sunrise or sunset on the sun itself, giving you no external reference for day or night and causing time to feel distorted. The residents of the Burning Archipelago keep to a 25-hour-day schedule, but without any darkness, most visitors and even many residents have difficulty sleeping. You soon learn you can find both magical and chemical sleep aids for sale in most shops. The artificial day and night schedules kept to inside buildings, including the DCI's headquarters, help a bit. And, for lashuntas, the dull psychic unease that comes with living in Asanatown is as present as ever.
In the "days" following the the retaking of the Horizon House from the Sunrise Collective, tensions within Asanatown return from boiling over to more of a simmer. Law and order is restored, but people remain on edge as those who supported the coup are looked at with increasing distrust by their neighbors. More than a few non-lashunta families leave Asanatown, either for a much needed vacation or perhaps to seek a better life elsewhere. A handful of lashunta families leave, too.
At the DCI, several scientists begin returning to work to pour over your and Dr. Taeress's data on the Far Portal's sinking and on the psychic pulse. Other experts elsewhere in the Pact Worlds are invited to come visit and explore the data in person, but they are still a few days away. Nib initially puts you on the token security detail, if just to familiarize yourself with the large building; the DCI has never had a problem with break ins, but each day a handful of buildings show up vandalized or with graffiti on both sides of the Sunrise Collective coup attempt. As there's not really a set schedule, Nib welcomes you to sit in on any of the scientific discussions that you want. She also gives you free run of the DCI's impressive museum, which primarily focuses on the physical features of the sun rather than the possibility of unknown life hidden somewhere within.
You also manage to use DCI computers to hack into the datapad you picked up back at the Horizon House. Most of the information contained on the datapad is Zeylan's notes and plans for the coup, along with a manifesto detailing the lashunta's superior racial traits. It contains minor notes on the leadership of the Sunrise Collective; apparently the mystic "Chamas the Squoxmaster" and the technomancer "Quefoliah" didn't get along at all.
The last, and possibly most interesting, piece of information sheds some light the Collective's financial relationship with the Brass Dragons mercenary group. Zeylan’s records show what he paid to gain the assistance of the Brass Dragons, which is very low compared to the "going rate" for the size of the force Zeylan employed. There is no explanation for how the number was arrived at, or anything else that might have been promised as payment.
Vedrir performs his guard duty frequently ending up in a lab helping the scientists. He gladly shows the samples taken from the ship saved by them. And discuss different beings found there. He spends some time learning about available artifacts and approaches that DCI has.
In the meantime, Vedrir spends some of his money on a new piece of armor, synergizing symbiote to boos his dexterity, healing serums, and ammo for his needler rifle.
After a stern talking-to about the wisdom of disassembling the machinery of the station wall to see how it works, Kit spends most of his time aboard the ship, tinkering with its systems.
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After almost two weeks, you're starting to get a feel for the Deep Cultures Institute. Your accommodations have proven tidy and servicable. Nib and her fellow academics brought a small array of fine food and drink from across the Pact Worlds to supplement the normal fare available in the dorms.
In the wee hours, the institute is usually quiet. However, this morning, a deafening claxon sounds throughout the residential block. An automated voice accompanies the racket, announcing, “Security breach in museum complex.”
As abruptly as it began, the alarm stops. After a few moments of silence, another voice sounds over the internal comms. It says, “This has been an unscheduled test of internal security systems. Had this been an actual emergency, the alert you just heard would have been accompanied by further safety instructions. Please disregard this test.”
You recognize the voice as different from the automated voice which has periodically accompanied Institute-wide announcements.
A few moments later, your comm units vibrate with an incoming call request from Nib.
A sleepy looking female ysoki appears on your screens. "Okay, ow. That’s… Is thi… oh, it’s on! Hello? Hey, crew, you heard that, right? Well, lemme tell you, the DCI’s supposed to schedule any alarm tests to avoid things like startled staff members falling off stools and risking losing hours of work and the results of delicate experiments. So, uh, could you go to the museum and check that out? I’ll be up as soon as I can.”
Nomyra spends her time with the lashuntas of Asanatown, trying to help where possible, but also just learning about the lashuntas of this world, so different from her own. She writes letters home, with her unusual habit of taking actual pen to paper and mailing them alongside the parcels getting shipped to Castrovel.
The sun still affects her, and the rest of the team sometimes hears her shouting herself awake at night or catches her poking through her breakfast carefully, as though looking for something suspicious.
She seems almost relieved to have a specific task ahead of her.
"Yes, ma'am, we can go take a look."
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During the time of Wyrd spend a lot of time soul searching and surprisingly found some interesting things during his meditations.
Including the ability to store part of his inner strength inside an especially prepared crystal, which cracked while receiving the mystical energies but is still functional - just occasionally leaking some energy, mostly in the form of sparks.
The rest of his time he spend tinkering with his computer and updating A.L.I.C.E. creating a better link between his personal computer and the ACN-1 to be able to communicate more and in slightly different ways with the AI giving her an more autonomy to interact with the crew and the immediate surroundings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wyrd swings his feet from the bed he was resting on before replying over the comms
"Copy, we're on it"
Vedrir was enjoying his morning by being in lab, the coffee machine was all heated up and kasatha decided to have at least 3 cups of coffee to start the day the right way.
He was concerned by Nomyra, he worked relentlessly but it didn't bring him any closer to realizing the mystery of mental pressure felt by Lashuntas. He was able to create some cocktail of pain killers to soothe her pain, but it also made her numb.
Vedrir heard the alarm and then the follow-up conversation. It took him couple of seconds to realize that his rifle is not on his back but stands next to the doors. He picks it up and loads it with darts.
"I am in the Lab, where do we meet?"
Puzzle readily accepts the security detail as well as the opportunity to sit in on the scientific discussions.
During the intervening time, the android finds themself replaying recent events. They return to several matters that unsettle them.
What was that sensation I felt over Wyrd's observation about our lack of success with discourse? Why did it cause me such agitation? Was that the emotion they call anger? they wonder.
Why did I believe the Asanatown council had been negligent based on incomplete data? They shake their head. That was inefficent."
And why was I the only one without a halo in that room? Is it because I'm an android? Or maybe there is something broken within me.
Puzzle runs some diagnostics and takes themself off for a scan of essential services. When the android returns, it is noticeable that there is something different about them. There is an almost crystalline shimmer to their dermal layer and their interactions appear (only a little) less awkward.
--------------
Woken by the security alert, Puzzle is on their feet readying equipment when Nib requests the investigation. "Confirmed," the android states, simply.
Rousing themselves from their beds (or already up drinking coffee in the lounge), the party quickly moves into the museum to find the apparent source of trouble!
Meeting up near the southern end of the eastern hallway, the party opens the first set of doors into the museum administration's offices. The offices are dark, but light is visible up ahead in the waiting area normally used for visitors.
The party moves forward, opening the door. A few low tables and chairs fill most of the space, with double doors to the east (which you came through) and west reading "DCI Staff Only". A door marked "Elevator" stands to the northeast, but the panel beside it glows red. To the south are two doors, each leading to a meeting room that can be seen through the transparent wall. A staircase east of the elevator leads up, curving out of sight.
Two ikeshtis--small, red-scaled reptilian humanoids--wearing second skin armor and carrying pulsecaster pistols are moving through the room! On their armor they each have a symbol, which Puzzle--being an android of culture--recognizes as a gang symbol for a group called the Bloodshots, a small-time gang from the Burning Archipelago bubble of Corona. The ikeshtis yelp in surprise and raise their guns at the party!
Most of the party is slow to respond to the developing situation due to their tiredness, but Vedrir, already three cups of copies in, gets a jump on the intruders!
Vedrir
Bloodshots
Nomyra
Kit
Puzzle
Wyrd
R2 Start
Vedrir quickly scans the enemy with his custom microlab.
Then he aims with his rifle and shots with needler
Vedrir scans the ikeshtis. Ikeshtis have no resistances or vulnerabilities; in fact, they have virtually nothing "out of the ordinary" from a racial perspective. Their only special ability is they can squirt blood out of their eye up to 30 feet once per day. This acts as harrying fire as the target is momentarily distracted by the gush of blood hitting them!
The two Bloodshot gang members say something to each other...
The blue one on the map fires his pulsecaster pistol back at Vedrir!
The second one moves over to try to take partial cover behind a chair, and pulls out a strange device that almost looks like an abstract sculpture. It appears to be a ball, about twice the size of a human fist, made of mesh, foils, and with wires sticking out at odd angles. It looks... unsafe.
Nomyra
Kit
Puzzle
Wyrd
R2 Start
Vedrir
Bloodshots
"Why certainly Wyrd, activating protocol Gamma-2"
The monitors inside the room suddenly start to flash with strobe like lighting and a piercing shriek plays from the speakers
vs (DC = 15 + 1 per target + 1-1/2 × the CR of the highest-CR target), all targets are shaken for 1 round, plus 1 additional round for every 5 by which your result exceeds the DC.
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Noticing the unsafe looking ball and remembering what grenades are Wyrd decides to take a couple of quick steps away from the rest of the party while gathering some of his internal energy into a ball in his right hand.
Some left over energies spills out of his body in a haze of warm air instead of gather around the crystal forming in his hand.
Fluent in numerous languages, Puzzle easily understands the words of the ikeshtis.
"Whatever that device is, it seems important to them; we need to prevent them from activating it," the android tells their companions. "We need to get the object away from them."
The android strides into the room, acid dart rifle held high before them. In Akitonian, Puzzle announces, "I don't want to hurt you. Just give me the device and you can be on your way..." The android suddenly lunges to the side, crouching by the seats and lines up the foe.
Feint DC The DC of this check is equal to either 10 + your opponent’s Sense Motive total skill bonus or 15 + 1-1/2 × the opponent’s CR, whichever is greater.
Clever Feint (Ex) As a standard action, you can fake out an enemy within 60 feet, making that enemy open to your attacks. Attempt a Bluff check with the same DC as a check to feint against that enemy (though this isn’t a standard check to feint, so Improved Feint and Greater Feint don’t apply). Even if you fail, that enemy is flat-footed against your attacks (see page 276) until the end of your next turn. If you succeed, the enemy is also flat-footed against your allies’ attacks until the end of your next turn. You can’t use clever feint against a creature that lacks an Intelligence score.
Kit bravely (and perhaps foolishly) strides into the room. "Yeah, give me the thingy!" Without waiting for a response, he fires his rifle at the foe with the gizmo.
"Get the thingamabob, got it!"
Nomyra marches in and tries to take the device from the ikeshti's hands.
Scared by the flashing computers, tricked by Puzzle, and shot by Kit, the Bloodshot thug's bad day continues as Nomyra walks over and pulls the object from his grasp!
Vedrir
Bloodshots (one -9)
Nomyra
Kit
Puzzle
Wyrd
R3
Vedrir steps into the room and aims at the wounded foe.
"Nice one Nomyra!"
But Vedrir is to distracted by the other Ikeshtis in front of him as his dart hits the wall.
"Hey!" the thug screams as he pulls out a longsword and swings!
The sword connects as the other one turns and fires his pulsecaster at Nomyra!
A direct hit on Nomyra!
Party's up!
Nomyra
Kit
Puzzle
Wyrd
R3
Vedrir
Bloodshots (one -9)
"Cover, Nomyra!" Puzzle directs the group. "Take this one down first!"
Leaning out from behind the valiant lashunta, Puzzle takes a shot at her assailant with their dart rifle.
Vedrir aims at the pointed foe and takes two shots
One dart hits the foe but deals very little damage.
"Hold On Nomyra!"
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" ..so it wasn't a grenade, or at least it's no longer in their possession.."
Wyrd bravely moves forward and into the room with the rest of...well, everyone.
"Good work Alice, let's try for a more focused approach now. Time to shine"
The light on Wyrd's armor start to flash brightly in a tight beam which centers on the orange scaled ones eyes.
vs DC 20+CR
or become blinded
before Wyrd throws a ball of almost pure entropie energy at the same targets face.
vs blinded?
..but it seems the Universe isn't inline with Wyrd wishes at the moment
*light pulse , light pulse, pulse light*
Puzzle's shout to take orange down first is followed up by a shot that does just that! Orange drops!
One of Vedrir's now redirected shots hits blue.
Shortly thereafter, Wyrd blinds the thug with an armor light show! Despite the enemy's blinded condition, Wyrd's follow up attack fails to hit!
R2:
Nomyra
Kit
R3:
Vedrir (acted)
Bloodshots (one down, one -2)
Puzzle
Wyrd
"Nofun, you so slow! Focus on that one!"
Kit waits for Nofun to feed him targeting data, then fires at the remaining foe.
Wanting to keep the object away from the intruder, Nomyra pulls out her pistol and fires.
Thanks to Wyrd's blinding of the target, both Kit and Nomyra hit and the thug drops!
"Efficient work, everyone," Puzzle
offers in the way of favourable assessment. "Is everyone okay?"
"Now, what is that device? And what were they doing here?" the android asks, indicating the Bloodshot thugs.
Puzzle helps his companions search the thugs' personal effects for clues.
A search of the thugs' personal effects yields no clues, but it does yield:
-2x longsword
-2x pulsecaster pistol with one high capacity battery (40 charges) each
-2x second skin
-2x industrial backpack
-2x medpatch
-2x credstick with 50 total credits
The device appears to be an improvized explosive device that would be used to trap an area. While the thugs didn't have time to get the device set, it seems that disturbing the mesh, when activated, would cause the makeshift bomb to explode in a shower of electrified, sparking foil.
"Ooh! Lemme see the thingy! What is it?" Kit eagerly examines the most interesting thing he's been allowed to play with all week.
"Oh, that boring. It just a janky spark bomb."
"We should have a look if they were the only intruders here. Did they want to destroy something here?"
asks Vedrir and then looks at Nomyra
"Maybe you should rest awhile."