Chetna's shot goes wide but Glowing Dome strikes it again and again, as the crest-eater begins to charge. Both Azimuth and Radokama's shots hit, but do not slow the beast down. As it nears, it spits some sort of venom at Radokama!
But the damage done to it throws off its aim.
[u]Round 3[/u]
Chetna Wavari
Dariox
Zoomer
K'ssatak-Sul
Monstruwacan
Radokama
Crest-Eater -- 37 dmg, Get'em Target
The crest-eater falls down dead from the onslaught of weapons and the crowd goes wild!
Moments later, an attractive, muscular korasha lashunta with reflective glasses struts through the northern door. He casually walks over the remains of the defeated crest-eater, stepping over the carcass with a skip. He lowers his sunglasses to reveal dilated pupils and flashes a toothy grin.
"Stellar," the lashunta man slurs. He glances at the floor and his smile changes to a look of disgust. He takes an exaggerated step over the bare ground as though trying to avoid an object there and trips, falling face-first into one of the metal pillars on the arena floor. He immediately springs back up and dusts himself off.
"You killed two of those things? That's amazing!" The man holds out a hand in greeting. "I'm Envar—Envar Tamm, you've probably heard of me. I know, I know, I'm way more handsome in person. It's a pleasure to meet me, I'm sure. Now, tell me all about you; I want to know all about my new best friends."
"Where are you from? How'd you get into this gig? Man, I thought those things were going to melt your bones!"
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Dariox will stow her weapons at her belt, before turning to Envar and giving a slight bow in his direction. "The name is Dragonfly. As you might be able to guess, I am from Apostae, although I don't particularly consider that place 'Home'. As for how I got into this, I like the thrill of the fight." Seeing that nobody else has done so, she will (somewhat begrudgingly) take Envar's proffered hand.
"That's fantastic!" exclaims Envar before taking a selfie with several of you in the background. He seems unbothered by the quieter members. Looking back down at the crest-eater corpse, "We'll get this made into some cool weapons for you folks."
"While you're here, do you wanna check the place out? My personal tour covers all the hot spots. If you want the VIP treatment, come with me."
Assuming no one objects to this idea, Envar leads you out of the arena and down the hall. "Watch out for the space worms," he says pointing to a blank wall while moving to the other edge of the hall.
A holo-projection of Ilia Tamm pops up in the hallway as you pass, reciting a canned message: "Security is important to Arch Energy. Remember to reset your computer passwords once a week. Use a 16-character password that does not contain any recognizable words or patterns to increase its security." Envar rolls his eyes at the projection and sighs, "I told you, Mother, I can't remember all those letters and numbers. That's why it's still— Wait, where’d she go?"
You reach a security door, and Envar pulls out a keycard. He swipes the card, and looks into a scanner before the door opens onto an elevator.
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Radokama enthusiastically agrees to both the crest-eater weapons and the tour. "Is very generous. Would be delighted to learn more about Arch Energy. Maybe even they have need for skilled mercenary? For security purposes, yes? Unless is fancy company with high-tech electronic surveillance. Or maybe have need for scientists? Could be Arch Energy pays better than being gladiator." If Envar seems interested in talking about either security or what kind of work is done at Arch, Radokama listens politely and tries to get him to keep talking.
"Is foolish rules, anyways," says Radokama to Envar after the hologram vanishes. "Changing password each week only helps if gets compromised every week. Is much more secure to have good habits, like not using same password for more than one place. And reuse happens more often password if is hard to remember."
Envar responds well to small talk and flattery, but gets bored quickly with any more involved attempts at conversation, turning instead to check his media feed, or take another selfie.
The group enters a gray metal elevator with a glass window that allows them to watch employees at work as they descend to level two. A holoprojection of Ilia Tamm announces each level as they pass, and a chime sounds as the glass doors slide open to reveal a dimly lit hallway ending in glass double doors emblazoned with a crescent sun and the word "Eclipse."
As you approach the doors, another holo-projection of Ilia Tamm appears and announces, "Your rest cycle and mental health are important to your productivity. Please enjoy your recreation time responsibly during your non-contracted hours."
"No problem, Mom!" responds Envar.
A small foyer leads to a large open room furnished with hovering black marble tables and dark-orange leather booths. A semicircular bar occupies most of the north wall, its multiple tiers backlit in blue and purple neon where glowing, flaming, and frothing drinks are served. A small holoscreen above the host stand in the foyer broadcasts an image of a scowling shirren in a white chef's hat accompanied by the text "Chef Ghornak personally endorses Eclipse with a five-nova review!"
In the entryway you are greeted by a male android clad in a white suit and orange tie. "May I check your coats and weapons?"
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Seeing that nobody seems interested in more technical subjects, Radokama remains quiet for the rest of the journey; though he does listen and occasionally takes part in bits of small talk.
Once the party reaches Eclipse, he reluctantly unslings his plasma bolter, double checks that the safety is engaged, smiles, and hands it to the android. "Of course. Here. Was service weapon in Veskarium. Is to take good care, please."
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Chetna hands the android her arc pistol and knife that she was using in the arena battle. Then she hands the sniper rifle she had strung across her back. Her one, last weapon is her tactical pistol tucked into the back of her jumpsuit. She adjusts her jacket to make sure that it's covered.
"Okay, that's it for me. Please store them under Satya 'Foxy' Inhari," and she pushes her ID card in front of the android's face while scooting inside.
The host takes any pro-offered weapons and gear and stows them away. Envar boasts that his "friend" Magisterial Chef Ghornak Ryzcech featured the Eclipse Lounge on his reality broadcast and provided his own downloadable hospitality interface for all android employees. The android host rolls his eyes and comments, "It's completely degrading. Sadly, anticorp hacktivists got their hands on the program, and now I have an excuse to be rude to customers. Oh, my apologies, may I offer you a hot towel?" The android beckons you to enter the lounge.
Behind the glass doors, an all-android waitstaff and a kasatha bartender cater to customers in the Eclipse Lounge. The kasatha bartender introduces herself as Tolara. She's got two additional cybernetic arms, and mixes and serves drinks to patrons with all six arms. "Would you care for a cocktail, or perhaps service at our premium gas bar? We carry oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen—whatever suits your pleasure."
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- You can take my weapon. Be careful with it. K'ssatak-Sul hands over the knife and the strangely tentacled organic blaster.
- How uncultured and wild it is to eat and drink in the presence of strangers. I still can't believe that creatures who create such beautiful music, paintings, smells and more at the same time allow themselves such a thing... It literally mumbles this words under his breath.
The bartender starts pulling together the drinks and finds some snacks for Radokama. "Sorry, there is no meal service right now."
As you settle in to relax a bit, two vesk and an ysoki enter the bar. The ysoki scans the room, and immediately focuses on Envar. She walks straight up to him, the vesk just a step behind her, "You! Where's my creds?" Envar turns to her, still in a bit of a haze and squeals, "Sooo fluffy!" before reaching out to try and pet her. She bats his hand away, while the vesk move to either side of him.
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Envar owes a substantial amount of credits to the ysoki gangster Razor, the leader of a crime organization funded largely by the drug trade. Razor is known for her brutal methods of extracting credits from those reluctant to pay. Razor often uses gladiatorial matches to recruit hired muscle, and she plans to attend the event on Brilliance. She intends to collect Envar's debt after the fight.
That's Razor!,Azimuth whispers.
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Chetna cuts off Razor and her flunkies.
"Oh. My. Goddess. Razor! Just the lady we came here to see! I told you all that she'd like our work," Chetna lies per the mission brief. She puts out her hand to shake and says, "Foxy Inhari. These are the rest of the crew. They're not 'my' crew more like we're 'our' crew. But I was hoping you'd be passing through Brilliance while we were here and here you are."
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Radokama looks up between bites of bar snacks to assess the newcomers. Realizing that they might mean trouble, he stands halfway up from sitting in order to protect Envar. Before he has a chance to act, though, Chetna starts to speak and Radokama relaxes back into his seat. "Friends, please. Sit. Whatever are here to talk about, can do over drink and..." Glancing down at the meager snacks available, "...food," he finishes.
Razor gives Chetna a once over. "Nice job in the arena, but I'm not hiring any new muscle right now," she says. "Now excuse me while we explain to our friend here that its not smart to miss a payment." She turns back to Envar, as the vesk grab hold of his shoulders.
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Glowing Dome also readies an action to call his hunting rifle to him, in case the vesks attack Envar, but right now considers only shooting after they rough him up a little bit.
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Radokama sighs and stands up , gesturing towards his now-vacant seat. "Sit, please. Is no need to get upset. Envar has been most gracious host, seems like decent person. Am sure was simple misunderstanding."
As he says this, he mentally activates his exocortex's combat tracking on the nearest of the three newcomers .