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Charli nods. I was wondering the same thing, Goose. Neon found tech in the temple that makes people more susceptible to suggestion. Could this be reinforcing it somehow? This place freaks me out...
She checks the time.
And our appointment with the Governor is coming up soon. What the heck are we going to find when we get there?
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Nelli offers "These are great! I like the 'Lost tomb of the flying pharoah' - it's my favorite."
Charli takes a peak in at Radkon's booth. It is pretty much as he describes it. A big screen with the words "Skating (exciting)" on it.
No virtual skateboard. No background scenery.
A yoski in the corner stands staring at the screen in a very professional looking skater pose though. Every now and then he jumps into the air and does a turn, landing on his feet again.
After ten minutes the "session" ends, and the breathless yoski looks around seeing you in there with him.
"Oh hi! Great isn't it? One day I'm going to get myself a real one."
The team reconvenes. Surreptitious filming and playing back at slow speed doesn't make it look like there is any subliminal messages going on.
However Charli thinks that the mechanisms that Neon found in the temple might very well be tied into this . She has heard of a culture in the vast where the everyone lives in a more or less mind-locked state, bodies fed by machines and living completely unrelated virtual lives. These people here however are real. Their experiences - at least in the VR rooms- however are not even virtual.
Goose thinks similar thoughts. Mind controlling machinery that supports so many living creatures in such a place as the vault probably needs supporting elements. But those like yourself who have not been appropriately conditioned can't see it.
Your wrist-coms beep, and the happy voice of Gigigentenk is heard.
"Hi nufriends! Governor Shipbreaker will see you now. Say... see any new beetles out there?"
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Ivok promptly responds, "thank you, we will be right there." He pauses for a moment despite the confident response to look to the rest of the party for any objections. As he checks he answers, "Beetles?
No, no. I haven't seen any beetles within the camp."
As he looks around the party he adds to the appraisals, could that also explain why no one thinks anything strange about the error filled names here? They are all just ... trained to hear it and think nothing is wrong?
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Neon stands and gets ready to go visit the governor. At Ivok’s implied question, he just gives a nod indicating he is ready.
He makes sure the last of their information is sent to Vex and also sends a request.
Vex, is there any way for you to determine if another chamber has broken into this one? Be nice to know if that is the case.
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Goose nods at Ivok's suggestion and then realizes he can't be seen currently. Projecting his thoughts, he continues the mental conversation, "Agreed Ivok. It takes conditioning, and a lot of it, to get these people to behave the way they are. I believe we are protected for now since we have only been subjected to the cursory sensations. I'm curious what they've done to Nelli, since she hasn't been here for terribly long. But that can wait. Let's go discuss things with the Governor."
Goose wraps up in the cantina and makes his way to the Governor's office with the rest of the team.
"Oh, one last thought. How are we handling this? Are we going to present evidence and try to convince him of what's going on or are we going to continue our ploy of a mercenary team working for this place?" offers Goose before they make it to the office.
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Ivok shakes his head in frustration and growls considering what to tell the Governor if this fabricated town. I almost want to yell and scream at everyone here with the evidence. Even Nelli wasn't jumping to our pitch to her before and I imagine Shipbreaker will be even a harder to convince. We will have to convince him at some point if we are going to make any safe extraction of more than a handful of people. If we just try to lead people out of here and remove all support for the garrison, that plan will run head-on into laser fire. If there is anyone we need to believe us, it is Shipbreaker.
Noting the others and especially the holoprojector and the shrine Ivok continues, we have gathered some bits here and there I think we could use, but unless he is open minded and willing to believe us over his Veskarium reports, we may be better off climbing a sheer wall face.
After another sigh and restraining himself from swinging at the air Ivok offers with some resignation, there are other ways we can run this track. If it was just me I would be honest and upfront because my lies carry no weight and my threats don't have any bite. Your voices have a long more power behind them than mine though here.
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Remember his communication to the orbital tactical support? If are to get through to him, we start with the things he would see as out of place. Have him name the other planets in the Veskarium, then ask why they quit using numbers.
Once we have planted the seed, start pointing out the other things that don’t make sense.
I agree with Ivok that in order to rescue the most people we need the Governor to believe us. We may play coy at the beginning asking leading questions, but we will want to convince him of the situation.
Spoons looks around, whiskers twitching. "Wait, are you all telling me that we're in Ysoki Encampment and there isn't even one cockroach to catch as a host gift for Gigigentenk? I for one am not going in empty-handed."
The ysoki looks around for a likely bug-hiding place.
Spoons tries to find bug that at least looks lively, and puts it in an empty tea sample box.
"The way to the Governor lies through the secretary, remember?"
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Meanwhile, Charli looks annoyed at Neon, Goose and Ivok. Why are we all assuming that the Governor is a 'he'? From what I know of Vesk culture, isn't a female more likely? I mean, Entukya may be a man, but it's equally possible that she's another badass female vesk. Charli glances at the missive from Entukya Shipbreaker. Male, Female or otherwise, she shrugs, one thing is for certain. The Governor is frustrated and wants answers. We have evidence, and we're willing to help them defend this place. If anyone can get their support, it's us.
Now, let's make a list of our evidence, and not leave anything out. Who will be presenting what? She then pauses, considering. As much as I love this cover of the mercenary unit, I think we may have to unveil for Governor in order to get their help evacuating the place.
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Ivok begins holding up his hands in surrender for a moment before realizing again the camp he is standing in. After a moment responds, you are right and I would have given better odds on the Entukya being a woman, but I couldn't be sure from the messages. I think I heard one of the guards say the governor was a he, but I'm going to be honest that I could misremember it. This isn't a role I'm used to and I'll be lucky if that is the only thing I lost my grip on.
As he recalls what the party has found over the last few hours Ivok unconsciously begins stretching his arms as the party moves forward. As for evidence, I've been able to pull a few small portions up around here. All the vesk here are dressed in military gear along with holoshow costumes. The show might be more than thirty years back in their mind, but they still might recall that past all the mind bending this place has been doing.
The music in the cantina too. It was made from music we have now. It isn't strong evidence, but might be able to give us a bit more leverage if we can get them to recall the original music.
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Spoons spots a beautiful blue beetle. What a catch.
Thinking back, Charli is also pretty sure she has heard the governor being referred to as "her" or "she".
Vex calls in on your coms for an update. And suggests you are upfront about the simulation being... a simulation. "Just try to be persuasive. We really don't know what we are dealing with yet, either within this vault, or the moon as a whole."
Crossing the bridge at last, Ivok notices that The Veskarium garrison is currently understaffed but busy with activity. Soldiers fortify the walls, check redundancies on vital systems, and perform weapons checks.
Three soldiers wait outside a large door, which opens to reveal a red furred skittermander.
"Oh hi Nu-friends! Come on in. We have a moment, I can show you my beetle terrarium!"
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Neon sends Charli his analysis and slide show of everything he found in their infosphere and some of the other information sent him. He still isn’t sure how best to incorporate the information about the VR chamber.
He has also pulled the opening sequence for Krall’s Oasis from his library chip so that the Governor can see those uniforms. He has a couple of more sequences ready and the complete cast and crew listing with images where available.
For the music, he has focused on where it stole from Vesk sources, and pulled the original music scores. He figures that the Governor would be most likely to detect the synthesis when shown the authentic Vesk sources. His own slides only use the authentic sources for background music.
He is perfectly willing to run tech on the holoslides or present whatever sections the group wants him to.
When shown the beetle collection, Neon takes a few minutes admiring it and commenting on the various specimens Gigigentenk has collected. If there are any he doesn’t recognize he would point them out and admit he isn’t familiar with them.
"Hey you must be my beetle-buddy, Gigigentenk! I'm Spoons!" Spoon hands over the tea box holding the bright blue beetle. "And I brought a host gift for your collection!"
Spoons also wants to comment on the cool beetles!
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The team and Gigigentenk spends a happy five minutes examining both Gigigentenk's collection, and the new specimen that you collected.
"I've been trying to get one of these for weeks!" he says happily.
All too soon there is the sound of a buzzer. The red skittermander sighs.
"Time to go visit the governor!"
You are ushered quickly in.
The display of Swarm corrovox heads and a set of immense pincers behind the desk sets a grim tone. The vesk behind the desk has a pair of pistols and a handful of grenades in easy reach, and looks through the holodisplay on her desk showing the town's defenses. The images highlight the vesk's orange and white scale patterns. "Here's our new mystery out of the desert. You don't look local."
She throws a scarred piece of armor on the table with an unfamiliar, seven-toothed cog on it. "You don't wear this mark. Are you agents of the Vault Lord? If so, speak up quickly so I can shot you and get back to work. Just don;t waste my time, or I'll be upset."
Of course the whole effect would be stronger if she was not wearing the Holoshow outfit. This one you notice has a cast list on the back.
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Quirk remains cool and collected, despite the fact that his hackles are up after the vesk speaks.
"I can assure you that we are NOT agents of this 'vault lord.' However, you are correct that we are not local."
Quirk squints to read the shirt, vaguely remembering watching the show.
To his fellow Starfinders he telepathically communicates "this remains one of the more bizarre locales I have visited during my time in the Society."
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What does she mean I don’t look local?
Puzzled, Neon says “Vault Lord?” Wonder if she already knows she is in a simulation?
Deciding it is dangerous to wait on formalities with an angry, armed vesk looking for a reason to shoot him, Neon quickly says “No, we are actually with the Starfinder Society.” and causes his sub-dermal implant to show the insignia.
He then projects the thought Do you think she already knows some of what is happening? It would be a lot quicker if she does!
Still a little miffed by the comment about not looking local, he does add “I AM a native of Akiton though.”
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"Yes, the Vault Lord." she sighs.
The governor takes off her slouch hat and scratches her head. “You don’t know? I’m not sure. The invaders’ drones continuously broadcast a signal when they attack, demanding our surrender to this Vault Lord. It’s gone on for weeks now.”
She bristles a little as the Starfinder Society is mentioned. Perhaps it is not her favorite group of people.
"Where do you hail from then Yoski?" she asks. "And why are you here now?"
I know, right? Spoons agrees with Quirk. This has been the weirdest Society Adventure that I've been on! Then Spoons grins, his nose twitching. To be fair, though... This is also the ONLY Society Adventure I've ever been on!
Out loud, Spoons clears his throat. "Me too. I was born in Tasch, though I couldn't wait to get out of there. It's another mining town."
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Ivok watches his immediate arguments get crushed under the weight of the cog, the declaration of the 'Vault Lord', and a far more blatant reference to the holoshow on the Shipbreaker's clothing. It takes him a moment to catch back up before responding to Neon Ten. It is hard to tell what she knows, but she has more information on from the attackers than we expected. Her response is already better than I hoped. In the Veskarium if a commander finds you suspicious you are often thrown into a cell or restrained.
"We got sent here to investigate after seeing a lot of information pass through your messaging system. We are working to investigate those signals and now what is happening in this ... town. Before you mentioned it just now, we haven't heard the name 'Vault Lord'. At this point I want to make sure that everyone in this town is safe and sound."
"Where we come from is more complicated and, with no intended derespect to your station," Ivok states as he his years of respecting Vesk authority come to mind, "but involves asking you what planet you think you are on and asking about that clothing you are wearing. No disrespect to your station, but that might be the clothing of a leader, but is not the standard garb of a Veskarium governor."
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Jumping on Neon's admission, Goose adds his as well. "I am from Akiton as well. I and my brothers and sisters have lived there for countless generations. I was a salvage pilot before joining the Starfinder Society. And it is Akiton, not this semblance of it. Doesn't even smell right." offers Goose as his whiskers twitch violently.
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Charli steps forward. "Governor Ship Breaker, my name is Charli Poshkettle. I was born in Castrovel, but like everyone else on my team, I'm a Starfinder."
"I saw from your expression that you don't trust the Society much, so let me explain who we are and what we do. We're explorers, diplomats, and trouble shooters. Many of my missions have been rescue and extraction missions, like this one. We're here, Governor Shipbreaker, because messages that we intercepted indicated there were people in trouble. People who needed our help. People like you and everyone that you're protecting here in Buyer's Remorse."
Charli nods to Goose and Ivok, "You've already heard from Goose and Ivok commentary about us being from another Akiton, or from a Veskarium where leadership wear different uniforms. So let's lay this on the table. We did not have a name for the Vault Lord before we came to this room, but we knew what he did: he kidnaps people, tears them from their real lives and real duties, and then reprograms their memories slightly and plugs them into a simulation. A simulation, just like this one. Only, it's not some harmless VR game. It has real enemies like those drones and those drychen."
Charli hands the Governor her own letter. "Governor Shipbreaker, you are tough and strong. You fought the swarm. You are doing your best to defend this little outpost and all the people in it against an enemy that is overrunning you. And you are doing it with no backup from the Veskarium. Does this make sense to you?" Charli gives the Governor an appraising look. "You know the Veskarium would have sent you troops and weaponry. They protect their own. But you're not in the Veskarium, or on Vesk-XX or even Akiton. You're in one of the Vault Lord's vaults."
"My colleagues are going to present you evidence, but I also want you to look inside yourself. You know something is wrong here. Part of you has known that for a real long time. But you have been so busy trying to defend this outpost against attacks and an enemy that makes no sense that you haven't had the time to assemble the data for yourself. Please listen. And when we're done here, please... help us evacuate this entire town."
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Charli, you are making a lot of assumptions there. For all we know, this Vault Lord could just be another set of people from a different simulation that figured out a way to hack the system so they could raid other vaults.
He waits for the Governor to answer Ivok’s question so he better knows where to start the presentation. He does move the information about Krall’s Oasis forward having seen the cast list on the back of the governor’s uniform.
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Oh my goodness, you are right. I may have messed up here. Charli pauses, trying to decide if she should alter her statement and rejects it. But it won't do any good with Shipbreaker to change our story here. Her enemy is the Vault Lord, whether it is the person who is hacking the system, or the people who set up these simulations, and we've got to get her and everyone else out.
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"We" says the governor to Ivok "are all on Vesk-XX, formerly known as Akiton."
"I admit, the latest garb that has been delivered is...unusual. But vesk do not naturally acclimatize well to such a hot dusty planet. Thus these irregular uniforms have been sourced." she adds.
She listens to Charli's speech with a degree of sympathy, but shakes her head as you make your outrageous claims. Whether it is the claims, or that she thinks she might want to believe them is unclear.
"Look, I admit things are a little odd here, but you can hardly expect me to believe such outlandish claims without any evidence."
<Vex here> comes the message on your coms unit.
<We have a vesk warship in hailing distance, I could try and get them to send some military encrypted signals that might be helpful if you like.>
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I hope this "Vault Lord" and whatever threw these people here were the same. This is already a big enough struggle for me to grasp only one new challenger here we know nearly nothing about. I rather not try visualizing this as two or more different groups threaten this town.
Ivok is both disappointed and oddly relieved that Enktuya hasn't seen through the simulation as of yet. He was hoping the matter would have been easier to deal with, but he takes a bit of comfort with the bits of evidence he had prepared rather than trying to make up an complete argument on the spot. For the moment he acknowledges Vex on that being a good idea and leaves suggestions for that to others for a moment as he responds to the Governor.
Ivok does nod with agreement on the governors description of vesk on Akiton. "It is true light clothing like that would help, along with regular hydration. Still those aren't even irregular uniforms. They are costumes for the holoshow Krall’s Oasis. Yours has the cast list written on the back. The Veskarium honors warriors, but not by listing them out on military clothing."
Directing himself from the clothing and pointing back toward the town proper Ivok continues, "and walked into the cantina that Triss-5 runs. It made neither me nor the miners comfortable to have me over their shoulders, but it gave me a chance to hear the music. I can tell you there is nothing new there. It is all rehashed music from outside this place. As a content creator that would drive me mad by itself if not for ... well ... everything else here."
Thinking another few moments Ivok sighs and seems to debate for a few moments before telling the party, I'm sorry for this. It might not work and I doing this, but I can't hold myself back for fear of hurting my pride.
He returns his focus to Shipbreaker as he announces, "Speaking of that content. You might know me as IVOK DRACUSK from Pumping Adamantine!" Ivok takes a step back before taking several dramatic musclar poses as he continues, "It might be a distant memory even if this place hasn't CRUSHED IT TO ATOMS, but many watched my shows and used my training to HONE THEMSELVES! Tap into their dormant POWER! If any memory of me still exists, you should know I look far younger than I should if this is truly over three decades over the fall of the Pact Worlds. My training would let me MAINTAIN VIGOR as I aged, but not this well. This is still the year 320!" Ivok tries to aggressively play his gambit to call upon his fame. All the while hoping Shipbreaker had even been aware of him outside the simulation. The entire time the icon tries to push back any embarrassment from this display as he powers through.
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Neon brings up the opening sequence for Krall’s Oasis as Ivok mentions it, leaving the volume off. He lets it play through as Ivok talks,
He replies to Vex “Yes, please explain the situation and ask if they would be willing to help. Encourage them to included something indicating current date. I will let you know when we are ready here,”
Once Ivok is done, Neon steps forward and starts his presentation. He dismisses the holoskin uniform as he steps forward. “Strange name, Vesk XX. Tell me, when did the Veskarium stop using numbers for their member worlds? In any case, this is not Akiton. The air is too clean for one thing.”
“I inspected the infosphere here and found a number of anomalies. Things that demonstrate weaknesses in this simulation.” He hits only the most powerful examples, giving a total number of items found and offering to send the full information to Gigigentenk for verification.
He then gives a few examples of the music, along with their original Vesk elements. He does not play the full music as that would take too long, but he does offer up the original music that he has on his library chip. “Sorry, I don’t have a lot of it. I generally prefer Strawberry Machine Cake myself. Still, I do try to keep track of trends all over.”
He then talks about the operation here. “This is supposed to be a mining town, mining thasteron. Tell me, what sort of mine produces refined materials? Normally you mine raw ore and ship it somewhere for refining.” As he is talking, he shows one of the better historical videos going over the refining that they used to do on Akiton. “Finally, why are you even mining it? Current starship designs no longer use it for their engines, the whole market crashed with the advent of Drift travel.”
He finishes his presentation with the offer of the encrypted communications. “We have a communications channel to the outside world. I have been informed there is an authentic Veskarium vessel within hailing distance. Would you like to exchange encrypted communications with them? You could ask them about your location, current date, whatever would help you verify our story is real.”
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Goose adds a bit to the ongoing convincing of the governor.
"Right. To add further, we found drychens that had been augmented with a mindlink circlet that was allowing something to communicate with and control the creatures. This is highly unusual since this by itself wouldn’t function on non-sentient creatures." begins the operative as he shows the governor the hardware found in the creatures after subduing them. He supplements it with his database on Life Sciences and Xenobiology, explaining the nuances and the issues.
"In addition, this is not Akiton. I should know. I lived there for decades. Here is Akiton now." offers Goose as he scrolls through some updated video footage of modern-day Akiton. He includes some selfies and family shots of his upbringing on the planet and his time as a freighter pilot.
"Furthermore, you are not on a planet, per se. This is something else entirely." explains Goose. He splices together video footage of their approach, their entry and finally their entry into this vault."[/b] Goose shows the governor a quick video montage.
"We know you are all real. We know you have been attacked by some entity, this Vault Lord. We are not discounting this at all. We just want to help you understand where you are and how we can help you."
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"Governor, I might add the following: I spent a bit of time in the diner here in the outpost. I observed a video describing the Veskarium victory over Absalom Station, and their subsequent harvesting of the Starstone within."
Quirk takes a deep breath and continues, "That's awfully strange, as we just came from Absalom, and I can assure you that the Veskarium are not in charge, though they are welcome there. The Starstone remains in its place within the station."
Quirk paces the floor and steeples his fingers. "Governor, I believe the answer is becoming clear to you. You have been a pawn in some sort of game here, and we are here to help you and the rest of the residents of this outpost. Let us help you. We'll help you fight off this 'vault lord' should they come calling. We can also help you escape from this vault. You will find reality on the outside of this place to have its own wonders and challenges. Here in this place, someone is playing you. I know not why, but it's time for you to find a new game"
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After looking to Rakdon one last time, Charli lays out the rest of her evidence. "This world that you are in... it's been elaborately constructed, but it's full of tiny inconsistencies. Did you notice that the name of this town is '01ERROR01'? What kind of a name is an error message?" She pulls out pictures of the VR programs. "These were all just title slides -- no other pictures or sounds. Nothing to engage the mind or offer escape. Yet people line up to see them because they've been conditioned to do so."
"Hybrid tech within the shrines simultaneously interferes with divinations while bolstering enchantments, especially those that deal with memories." Then Charli leans forward. "Do you know why it's necessary to for them to reinforce your conditioning?'
She slaps the table.
"Deep down, you all are questioning why you are here." Charli motions Nelli forward. "This is Nelli. She disappeared from the Starfinder Society six months ago, and reappeared here with thirty years of false memories added to her story -- but still the same origins, training, personality, instincts. They even kept her name. I have a theory about this. I think that this 'Vault Lord' finds it easier to kidnap people who have skills that match what they need in a given simulation than program it wholecloth. I'm betting the same holds for you, too. You're competent, strong, decisive, and you know the right codes and cypers. Those skills are hard to fake. You're real -- but this world around you is a great big sham."
She pauses, and then puts down Yon's correspondence. "You know Yon. He makes great sandwiches, and he's a hard worker. But he's yearning for the family that he's been ripped away from, and the jerks running this simulation couldn't be bothered to give him a picture of his kids."
Charli bites her lip. "We're asking you to take a leap of faith to save everyone that you've been protecting all this time. You know this situation is unsustainable. We need you, but you need us every bit as much."
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Governor Enktuya wilts slightly under the onslaught of information and evidence. Not to mention the eloquence of the teams arguments!
Finally she sighs. "Which is fine, but... that doesn't help with my current problem which is the Vault Lord wanting to destroy this town. Whether we are in some type of simulation or not, I need your help. I have a budget for mercenaries... would you be willing to help.."
Mid sentence she stops and motions for silence as a whistling noise grows in the air, and then braces as the structure shudders from an explosion. The holodisplay flicks on to show a massed assault of beasts, robots, and soldiers all approaching the town. A cool, mechanical voice echoes through the speakers.
“Rejoice, residents of vault Vesk-XX. The Vault Lord now demands your service and obedience or your deaths. Prepare for the emissaries’ arrival and welcome the role bestowed upon you.”
Enktuya growls into her comm unit and the garrison’s cannons open fire in response.
She stands, and starts calling out orders. Then looking at your team suggests "Either grab your weapons and help out, or get out of the way. This is going to be nasty."
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“We will help. Where do you want us?”
Neon re-engages the holoskin so as to better blend in with the rest of the troops and follows the others out of the office.
As he is moving, he sends a message to Vex.
Seems we just got hit by mortar fire. The Vault Lord is attacking. What is happening out there?
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Ivok hears the commands and leaves to retrieve his weapons while the governor organizes the defenses and those under her command.
I think Vex and major support from the Lodge is hours out. Hopefully the reach of the Vault Lord isn't that wide, but we will need to hold the line here and drive the attack back.
With his weapons ready to be drawn to hand, Ivok takes upward into the air running for the cliff and the guard tower. I'll try to see if I can get a lay of the land and be ready to move to any position we are needed.
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<Vex> []i Nothing obvious outside the vault... what is going on in there?[/i]
The governor gives you a quick assessment. "Looks like you are not all warriors. I suggest Ivok and others who are equipped stand near the gate. We have a spot for anyone with ranged weapons up near the sniper nest. And those who are more support, help out near the clinic."
"I don't think we want to evacuate just yet... Lets see how the defences hold out." announces the governor.
<Vex> See if you can get any more information from the vesk computers, they are likely opened up to allow better communication during the battle.
Status: Pick your starting point
Quirk -
Charli - 91/91SP; 54/62HP; 7/10 RP;
Goose -
Ivok- 81/81 SP; 69/69 HP; 7/10RP;
Rakdon -
Neon - 54/54SP; 47/47hp; 9/10RP;
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The soldier fumbles with the comm and only sends a short message to Vex. Unknown attackers approaching Buyer's Remorse under the command of the Vault Lord. Setting up to repel attack.
Ivok is out of the front doors and into the barrack grabbing gear. He tosses any stowed weapons he can manage to his allies before moving out to the front.
"I'll be on the front lines and try to hold them as long as I'm able. I won't be able to tell if I'm pulling more weight than I can bear until they first hit, but hopefully I can give some of you a chance to pull more information during this mess or make sure we keep the people here safe."