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Oddman is gripped.
Oddman pikes the crab-turtle right in front of him.
As the kasatha recedes into the corridor, a claw reaches for him.
The Starfinder is sliced as he slips away.
Dov identifies the crab-like creatures as those that copaxis call corchaazes. Theyy and the copaxi have copi as a distant common ancestor. Affluent copaxis use the creatures as guard animals, as they tend to stay in their shells slowly digesting their last meal. The creatures have a primitive control over gravitons, which accounts for their darkened state.
Each of the corchaazes further attunes to the gravitons around them.
The nearest lashes out with its claws at the two closest Starfinders.
A claw clamps down on the undead while another slices into the formian.
The other corchaaz clambers forward and points an appendage at Mierwag.
However, the proximity of its mate interferes.
COMBAT ROUND TWO Cont'd/ROUND THREE BEGINS
Dov
D’vost
Eleazar -7 SP
Oddman[/b] -11 SP
Mierwag -10 SP
Rattus
Corchaaz (blue)
Corchaaz (red)
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Mierwag feels the gravitons pulsing too closely by her, as the other corchaaze has clawed into her. She pushes her own fury further towards photons and into her shield to balance out these creatures. She embraces the draw of the gravitons from the creature in front of her, using the extra force to deliver a devastating blow of photons and fire.
The solarian incinerates the corchaaz before her. The undead Starfinder slips from the corchaaz's lifeless grip.
COMBAT ROUND TWO Cont'd/ROUND THREE BEGINS
Dov
D’vost
Eleazar -7 SP
Oddman -11 SP
Mierwag -10 SP
Rattus
Corchaaz (blue)
Corchaaz (red) -50+ HP
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Dov breathes a little sigh of relief seeing Oddman slip from the creature's grasp.
He moves up a little bit into the room, muttering, "Silly doorways...I'm bearly going to fit through that..." as he realizes he might not be able to help much, directly.
Grabbing some chemicals, he quickly whips up a cocktail of useful compounds and (painlessly) shoots Mierwag in the back with a biohacked booster.
Mierwag: +1 Enhancement Bonus to AC (5 Rounds)
The kasatha's disk is deflected by a portion of the wall.
The other Starfinders' shots, however, connect, although Eleazar pays for his efforts.
While gripping the undead, the injured corchaaz attempts to cut the Starfinder to pieces!
COMBAT ROUND THREE Cont'd/ROUND FOUD BEGINS
Dov
D’vost
Eleazar -24 SP | -8
Oddman -11 SP
Mierwag -10 SP
Rattus
Corchaaz (blue) -16 HP
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Eleazar feels the bones in his chest pulverize.....not that he needs them to breath. But the body can only take so much.
From the hand that has the black flare around it, a blade made of bone shoots out. Eleazar strikes at the claw with it.
"S...omme....he...lp...h...ere," the sound of his voice is ghost soft, as he can bearly get the words out from the crushing vice of the pincer....
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"Doc you need to lay off those honey cakes to fit through the door!"
"Oh, bother..."
Dov advances and squeezes into the narrow passage, sucking in his gut and holding his breath in the process...
In some cases, you have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. While squeezing, you move at half your speed and are considered to have the entangled condition.
He'll whip out a syringe full of expanding foam and medigel, jabbing it into Eleazar's nearby arm as a standard action.
Eleazer heals:
Hit Points (but can't be the target of this ability again until Eleazar takes a 10 minute rest to regain stamina)
{wheeze} "...make..." {gasp} "...room..." {wheeze} "...please?"
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D'vost looks concerned seeing his dead friend Eleazar being badly hurt. He looks even more deadly pale than usual
"Hold on Eleazar,<click> I will burn it." his eyes showing more shine in it as he would enjoy it.
Eufory fills his whole body as his shot connected dealing extra damage to the odd-looking enemy. His eyes are wide open and his antennas twitching. His mandibles are wide open like he would like to eat the enemy
The combined assault of the Starfinders brings down the remaining corchaaz!
As the dust and ash begin to clear and the sweat, briny smell of smoked crab starts to dissipate, it is evident that the doorway near the far end of the chamber opens into another room.
The orderliness of this other room contrasts with the messy chaos elsewhere in the mines. Geometric patterns cover the floor, and a half-dozen humanoid robots kneel facing an alcove in the south wall.
Perfectly straight scorch marks cover the entire alcove in dizzying patterns of flawless geometric shapes— especially triangles. A single robot sits in the alcove, facing the others, its hands folded serenely in its lap and holding its own detached head.
None of the robots show any signs of life. The robots’ featureless faces bear an eerie resemblance to those of the copaxis.
Exactly one third of the writing gives praise to “The Three That Are One,” and gives thanks for the great “Mind Gift” bestowed on “We Who Toiled Without Thought.”
Another third of the writing describes the robot’s evil masters, “Those Who Have No Mercy and Fear the Mind Gift.”
The final third of the writing is a plea to “The Three That Are One” for one final miracle—a chance to escape this life of toil.
Exactly one third of the code contains imbedded references to “The Three That Are One,” and references of gratitude for the great “Mind Gift” bestowed on “We Who Toiled Without Thought.”
Another third of the code contains imbedded references to commands given by, “Those Who Have No Mercy and Fear the Mind Gift.”
The final third of the code is like an emergency signal directed toward “The Three That Are One” containing a request for one final miracle—a chance to escape this life of toil.
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Falling out of its claw, Eleazar will pick up his pike and look over at the creature. He sensed odd gravimetric power coming from it.
Saying in a very dry gravely voice,"Anybody know what this is? And why it seemed to have powers similar to a solarian?"
With that, he will go sit next to Oddman, close his eyes and just appear to be a lifeless corpse for 10 minutes.
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D'vost calms down after the enemy is dead. Feeling a bit foolish for his outburst. Then he looks with interest as Oddman, Eleazar and Mierwag sit together and begins to meditate so he joins them.
D'vost enjoys being part of that group and wants to share their experience. Being bored really quickly he begins assembling sticky bomb grenade, using some substance scratched from the crabs as the sticky substance.
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Saying in a very dry gravely voice,"Anybody know what this is? And why it seemed to have powers similar to a solarian?"
Dov will sit near the others during their break, not necessarily to rest but rather to replenish his supply of readily-available biohack components (biohacks per-day reset). He'll explain everything he learned from his custom microlab during the break.
Afterwards...
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Take 10:
"Hmm, interesting, interesting. The writing here isn’t a traditional spoken language but is instead a sequence of mathematical codes that convey...let me see...
Exactly one third of the code here contains embedded references to “The Three That Are One,” and references of gratitude for the great “Mind Gift” bestowed on “We Who Toiled Without Thought.”
"Ah, yes - this as a reference to Triune! Look here! Another third of the code contains imbedded references to commands given by, “Those Who Have No Mercy and Fear the Mind Gift.”
The final third of the code is like an emergency signal directed toward “The Three That Are One” containing a request for one final miracle—a chance to escape this life of toil."
Dov adjusts his bow tie a bit.
"...thoughts?"
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"Android or robotic slavery. They thought the signal was a divine message of freedom. They were wrong. The copaxi - or maybe their masters who hide deep in the sea - disagreed. They fought. Maybe they won, or maybe the civilization was destroyed. Over 300 years to build back up. Years and years trapped in this planet, with no escape, all their fault. All their shame."
Oddman seems lost in his memories.
Among the translated engravings, you discover a series of markings that constitute a recurring sequence, but not seem to serve any other purpose.
As Dov examines the robot more closely, he spots the same series of markings on three buttons of a miniature keypad at the base of the robot's skull.
The robot moves in broken, stiff movements, as its continues to emit a series of beeps and static burst, which convey a sense of despair, for several minutes. As the translation from the comm unit, begins to become fully functional, its words become evident.
"Carve! Dig! Haul!" cries out the robot. "Freedom comes only through The Three That Are One! I am Less Than Three!"
Near the other, non-functioning robot frames, you find an abandoned armor upgrade in the form of a [I]mk 1 mobility enhancer .
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"What does it matter if it has a 'soul' or not. There are people in this universe that thinks androids are not people and have no soul. There are some that think the undead do not have a soul--well..the mindless do not have any mind or ability to think. But really...what is a soul?"
"Hello Less Than Three, I am Eleazar, and it seems like you were persecuted because you and your people were not like the Copaxi. We have seen this before from where we come from."
"Hello Less Than Three, I am Eleazar, and it seems like you were persecuted because you and your people were not like the Copaxi. We have seen this before from where we come from."
"You understand me! Greetings Eleazar!" replies the robot manically, but its tone soon turns to one of despair. "The persecution is universal? Then, there are none left with which to share the 'The Mind Gift'? Indeed, I must be the last of my kind."
The robot emits an electronic chirp, then asks, "Have you heard the voice of the 'The Three Who Are One'? Is that why you have come?"
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“He has a soul.” Oddman approaches. “The signal of Triune was heard across most of the worlds, and most of them used it. This world, after 300 years, finally used it, and that is why we are here. We don’t know if you are the last - but you are the first robotic organism we found and activate. The war is over.”