It shakes off the mental overload, then plummets to the ground dead.
One of the "mosquito-birds" repeatedly jabs at the kasatha.
It gets in a good stick!
ROUND TWO Cont'd/ROUND THREE BEGINS
Dr. Rosilia-14
Elisan -2 SP
Kalvarnix
Gava
V'lorus
Bird creature (blue) -12 HP
Bird creature (red) -2 HP
Maximus
Bird creature (green) -17 HP
Bird creature (yellow) -1 HP
Gava aims to better aim next time.
Elisan zaps the bird-like creature; Kalvarnix brings it down.
ROUND TWO Cont'd/ROUND THREE BEGINS
Dr. Rosilia-14
Elisan -3 SP
Kalvarnix
Gava
V'lorus
Bird creature (blue) -12 HP
Bird creature (red) -2 HP
Maximus
Bird creature (green) -17 HP
Bird creature (yellow) -16 HP
The doctor inhibits the bird-like creature and Technomancer gives it a good zap. With the other members of its "flock" no longer moving, the creature flees, flying off as fast as it can.
With the threat abated, the Starfinders can complete the calibration process. All three scanning towers now erected and calibrated, Dr. Motressi contacts you to confirm that she is receiving a signal.
"Congratulations, Starfinders, on your fine work." Dr. Motressi confirms. "I'm now ready to perform a deep image scan of the entire plateau. Scanning sequence commencing."
After the process has been running for about ten minutes, you being to receive the preliminary data while Dr. Motressi and her team analyze the new information. All three towers are functioning properly, rendering the results very clear.
Once the scan is complete, Mara sends the data to your comm units and opens a channel to discuss her team’s findings.
Slowly, using the information gathered from the three scanning towers, the processors on your comm units begin to construct an image of the Big Mina Plateau on the screen. Forsaken Canyon, the cliffside, and the dry riverbed all come into focus, along with many other terrain features over many square miles. But the image also goes down into the ground, and as temperature, seismic activity, and other geological readings begin to light up on the screen, Mora’s voice becomes more and more excited.
“This is wonderful." she exclaims. "You’ve saved us years of work! I can’t believe some of these readings. Wait... is that right?"
The uncertainty is evident in her voice as she pauses, then mutters, "That doesn’t make sense." She pauses again, before continuing tenuously, "These tunnels look like some kind of... respiration network? And the composition of the plateau... that mineral doesn’t appear naturally on this planet. Is this whole area some kind of... transplant?”
Dr. Motressi can be heard audibly consulting with several puzzled scientists in the background. As she does so, the scan concludes, showing deep below the surface of the planet where a network of narrow tunnels come together to form a large chamber filled with a crystalline object.
The doctor's face appears in a small window of the screen. “According to these readings, that crystal is giving off an incredible amount of heat. And all the tunnels we’ve found—like the one at the dry riverbed where you put up one of the towers—converge at that spot."[/b]
"Starfinders, I can’t believe I’m staying this, but I think this entire plateau is one enormous, living creature that migrated here from another world." she declares, both excited and confused. "Big Mina is alive!”
"'Brain'..." Dr. Motressi repeats aloud in a ponderous tone. "Yes, I concur. The information we have is incomplete, but if BIg Mina has some kind of 'brain', I think that crystalline object is the most likely contender." She says, indicating the object on the scan.
"Of course, all we truly have at the moment is a working thesis." she pauses for a moment, taking in the enormity of the potential discovery. “We don’t know how or when it got here, how it grows, or if it poses any danger to the rest of the planet’s inhabitants.”
“And we can’t answer those questions if we have to scan through a mile of rock. The investigation must continue." she declares. "I need a skilled team that can descend into the tunnels, reach the central crystal, and perform additional scans to confirm that the plateau is a single alien organism of immense size."
"Starfinders, I know you've already risked yourselves a great deal for this mission already. But," pleads Dr. Motressi, "I need you to get down there and find some answers. Can you do that?”
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"Doctor, please. We live for that kinda work! And it sure has started influencing the creatures around here". He describes the mosquito-birds.
Gava starts backing the buggy slowly, very slowly. "Can someone stand behind it and yell if I approach them rocks in a bad angle? I doubt we can all fit in the cycle if I finish wrecking this damn thing"
"I'd like the work done as soon as possible." Mora replies over the comm. "But, as a parent, I have had to learn to be more patient. Besides, you've done good work today, so take any resting time you need."
After an uneventful night of rest, you awaken to the task of investigating Big Mina by descending through the tunnels that line her interior. These tunnels ventilate heat.
You descend into the tunnels for approximately two hours. The going is slow as the dragonkin finds the tunnels rather confining. The tunnels are about 5 feet wide for most of their length, and they descend at varying inclines ranging from about 30–60 degrees.
Descending further, you encounter a shaft, the interior of which is covered in the same gray, shell-like material that you saw on the surface of the plateau, though it is much lumpier and more irregular in this section of tunnel.
Below, you see of ribbons of green cloth, visibly sticking out from the stony surface at the bottom of the shaft. As your shine your light sources into the area below, you can clearly see a hardened, calcified form at the base of the shaft. The form bears the distinctive, four-armed outline of a kasatha, which appears to have been caught in some sort of calcifying spray before slowly suffocating to death. A spherical holorecorder is in one of the kasatha’s hands.
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The android nimbly descends the shaft.
The android is easily able to free the object from the corpse’s hand, knock off the shell covering, and play the recording.
The projector creates a hologram of a female kasatha, her mouth covered with a green mask and her hands outstretched in ritual gestures. A faint audio crackles to life, echoing in the tunnel.
“It has been three days since I landed," says the holo-figure, her form matching the suffocated body within the calcified shell, "and I believe I am the first sapient creature ever to visit this planet. What a privilege this discovery is. Thank Talavet for the tales she has charged me to tell. I shall not fail in this duty."
“When I first beheld the vast, dry, expanse of this plateau,
I felt the call of home." continues the kasatha from beyond the grave. "A year have I journeyed, with only my crest-eater cubs for company, and as a citizen of the Idari, I have never seen the deserts of Kasath with my waking eyes. Yet, they are as clear to me now as if they stretched out before me."
"Now I descend into the depths of this strange, alien desert to find what rests beneath it. Mother, father, I miss you and all the members of our family. Soon I will return to add my story to the records of our House. Perhaps one day that story will be retold, and the lessons others have taught me about myself will be repeated in the halls of our ancestors."
“But if I should fail, I leave behind this record in the hope that other pilgrims follow in my footsteps. And while it is hope beyond hope, I ask that if you, strangers, find me before the carrion birds have made a meal of my flesh, perform the work of the adata and preserve my memories, for what they are worth, so that I may be returned to my people. For even in failure, there are lessons to be learned, and love can still be found and remembered."
“I am Exu Jana Onorab of House Hadulan, and this is my Tempering.”
You find it is very heavy.
You can do so, but if you are not careful, you cannot avoid damaging the brain’s preserved structure in the process.
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“Now, don’t go having all the fun for yerself!” Gava climbs down as well, avoiding the walls.
“Whaaaat? So she wasn’t in a space battle with this giant bony starship-sized monstrosity? Aw, I still like my version better… but, if I understood that right, she wanted to be buried back home, so why not - we have all this climbing gear!”
“Let’s attach her to the cables and leave her outside the shaft. Later I can use the buggy to yank her up - gently. I feel a lil’ bit of kinship with her - she was almost as crazy as a starfinder, exploring bizarre worlds out there”
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Maximus climbs down the cable. "All right so this is dark and not particularly great but let's do this anyway!"
He climbs down slowly and unsteadily, betraying his lack of experience in such matters. He mutters something about how he's grateful it's metal and not an organic fiber cable. He looks around as Rosilla indicates, whether by on purpose or by accident, the calcified body in question.
"Oh man. That's some serious stuff. I know it's not your space battle, but it was still really brave to come out all the way here by herself. I really hate that it didn't work out, it makes me sad to see someone's life cut short just as they were beginning to find their way," he says, after watching the video with Gava and the rest of the party.
Maximus thinks a moment. "Don't kasathas, y'know... preserve a slice of brain on death? Upload it to some sort of global consciousness? Besides the 'ASSIMILATE' vibe it actually sounds like a really cool thing. I bet House Hadulan would like it if we could bring Exu back home to them somehow. I dunno about bringing her whole body back--sounds heavy! Do we have anyone surgical enough to take a slice from her brain? Might save you a few discs in your back, Gava!"
With skilled hands, the party manages to extract several choice slices of brain tissue from the petrified kasatha and, if you choose, even larger portions of the remains.
Rosilia has little difficulty making it out of the shaft and the party is able to readily descend further into Big Mina.
Your darkvision allows you to actually see the source of the noise: crustaceans about 5 feet long with many long, spindly legs. There is a group of three of them and they are slowly rocking back in forth in unison as they observe you.
As you descend further, you see more of such crustaceans, sometimes in groups of three, sometimes in groups of five. The creatures silently observe you. Each time, the groups rock back and forth, but the speed and tempo with which they move varies; some groups move very slowly while others move more quickly.
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Rosilia whispers to the rest of the group, "There's a bunch of shelled creatures watching us as we go."
"They seem to exist symbiotically with Big Mina, eating parasites here. I think they're signaling their relative hunger to each other, and I think it might mean they see us as parasites, so we might want to watch out. Also, they probably would be sensitive to light, since they live all the way down here."
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“Yeesh, doctor! That was gruesome!” Gava remains away from the surgery procedures.
“Well, I doubt antibodies will be willing to parlay, but we might as well try… but if that doesn’t work…” Gava draws his pistol “I won’t have anything stop us in our way to the brain. Let’s keep going”.
"It's literally brain surgury! What were you expecting?"
"We probably should avoid killing all of them, because if we do, Big Mina is left without an immune system."
Continuing the descent and now on the alert, the android spots another group of cavern cleaners, this time rocking back and forth very quickly. As you watch them, the group splits up and disappears into the tunnels. The sound of their movement audibly echoes all around you, the sound bouncing off the walls of the cavern as a few of the creatures emerge from nearby tunnels and approach towards you.
INITIATIVE ROUND ONE BEGINS
Gava
Valorus
Kalvarnix
Cavern cleaner (red)
Dr. Rosilia-14
Maximus
Elizan
Cavern cleaner (blue)
Both the ysoki and shirren zap one of the cleaners .
V'lorus knows that these cavern cleaners, in addition to being sensitive to bright light, can attack with sharp mandibles and disarming fingers, which "clean" creatures they encounter--pulling loose objects free of the target.
INITIATIVE ROUND ONE Cont'd
Gava
Valorus
Kalvarnix
Cavern cleaner (red) -9 HP
Dr. Rosilia-14
Maximus
Elizan
Cavern cleaner (blue)
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Elisan is saddened upon finding the petrified remains of the kasatha at the bottom of the shaft. His sadness turns to anguish as the hologram message plays.
Making his way over to lay a hand gently on the calcified body, he pledges, "Exu Jana Onorab of House Hadulan, your tale will be told. Your thread will be woven into the Storyteller's great tapestry."
At the suggestion of the dissection, he stands abruptly, as though he might object. However, as the practicalities of extracting the heavy corpse dawn on him, he nods once and steps aside, his shoulders slumping. "Please take good care of her," he requests.
After the surgery has concluded, Elisan delicately searches his fallen compatriot for personal effects and trinkets to return to her family aboard the Idari. "Thank you," he intones formally, bowing to his companions, hands forming a Kasathan ritual gesture. "You have performed a great service for my people, today," he says, looking over each in turn, inclining his head to Dr. Rosila-14. "I will see she is delivered safely to the Sholar Adat."
After the surgery has concluded, Elisan delicately searches his fallen compatriot for personal effects and trinkets to return to her family aboard the Idari.
"We been beatin' up a disturbing amount of the wildlife. I'll try to keep 'em alive."
Kalvarnix gives the cavern cleaner a powerful, yet nonlethal, jolt.
Though, perhaps, a bit sluggish due to its injuries, the cavern cleaner attempts to "clean" the nearest Starfinder--with extreme prejudice!
However, its cleaning fingers fail to dislodge the dragonkin's weapons.
INITIATIVE ROUND ONE Cont'd
Gava
Valorus
Kalvarnix
Cavern cleaner (red) -18 HP
Dr. Rosilia-14
Maximus
Elizan
Cavern cleaner (blue)
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"It's kind of a shame, isn't it? This is a big plateau, though. Big Mina has a lot of these I'm sure."
Maximus steps up and readies an action.