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Harrac watches Skrivvex scamper up, "Look at that shirren go Squad! That's how you do it!" He runs and jumps up the wall, slamming intop the face before settling down to the floor again, "See Squad? It's harder than it looks! What you need to do is focus on your form, find your footholds, and PULL" He does just that, pulling himself 10' up the wall. "Like and subscribe if you think I can make it all the way up!"
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Rei looks at the other scrambling to climb up the wall. Her face non emotional as she once again triggers her jump jets to lift her up. She reaches her hand out to grip for support partway up, before letting go and up once more, landing safely at the top next to Harrac.
She looks at him, and blankly states "You have your way, I have my way"
The wall proves somewhat of a challenge, with Harrac, Karyn, and Talc making it only partway up. Skrivvix struggles but manages to surmount the wall as Rei calmly uses her jump jets to rocket to the top. The shirren and the android both step onto the hatch, which opens beneath their feet and drops them onto a metal slide!
The metal chute dumps its occupants onto a downy carpet of vivid blue grass. To the south, a series of metallic tiles embedded in the terrain flash yellow, red, blue, and green in erratic patterns, with tiles occasionally stopping to glow entirely. Beyond the blinking grid, the ground ends abruptly in a ledge overlooking a bubbling lake of lava.
"Would you look at that?" Quell shouts. "Rei and Skrivvix have made it to the Tranquil Meadow. Doesn't it just look so peaceful? But there's no time to stop and smell the roses--they need to hustle!"
Skrivvix spots a large backpack discarded beneath the metal chute.
Talc clambers to the top of the wall and slides down the chute!
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Harrac climbs up to the top of the wall and slides down the tube, streaming the whole way. "That was exhilarating Squad! Make sure you eat your spinach boys and girlz! Now, look at this! Watch how Rei is hopping from square to square, using her computer brain to figure out the pattern! That's why you need to stay in school kids! Add a comment below - what do YOU think the pattern is?"
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Karyn finished climbing up the wall and took a quick look around before sliding down the chute. Once at the bottom, she saw Rei gliding over the trapped squares with ease. She tried to follow where the android placed her feet, but her vew was blocked by a giant scaly back. Sometimes being 5'-nothing had its disadvantages.
"Hey! Tall, green, and scaly! Down in front. We're supposed to be working together, not runnign off and leaving people behind!"
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Harrac spins around and grins, crouching low and affecting a strange accent, "crikey! Harrac squad, here's a rare opportunity to see the wild Karyn in it's natural habitat! Watch her head flick around looking for a manager. Hey furtive eyes are starting to go a little crazy as she sees she's alone! What will she do?!" He slides to the side a bit, "it's best to stay out of her way while she hunts." Harrac busts out laughing, "HAH! All kidding aside, squad, a Karyn is good to have on your side. Why I heard she once stopped a diplomatic disaster by calling for a manager at the perfect time. Now if only she can cross this dance floor, we'll keep moving!"
Skrivix took a look at the squares before stepping carefully into the disco scene. Walking carefully through, he looked back to watch his team follow along. As he noticed Talc licking the floor he tripped into a few squares adjacent to his intended path.
"No Talc, bad boy! Stop that! That's not food!"
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Rei turns around looking at the others attempting to follow. Out of all, she notices Talc most of all.
"Why are you just staring? Are you OK?" She paused, waiting for him to even make a sound, only to hear him groan about colors, numbers, and trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
"I believe his system must have gone into reserve power. Harrac, can you attempt to reboot him. As he is human, perhaps a quick smack to the back of his head ought to help in this matter"
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Harrac is overjoyed that the others want to engage his fans, "hear that Squad? We're in for a treat! THE Talc wants to show us what he's famous for! Not only does he say he can he pilot pretty much anything he says he can pilot, but he's good at puzzles too! Let's watch and see!"
Harrac proceeds to watch Talc stare dumbfounded at the wall before lying down to lick the floor, "Uhhhh, I think Rei may have worn the old boy out last night. Get that man some fluids!" He shifts his camera to focus on the shirren, "look at Skrillex go! I haven't seen moves like that since he and the Beebs made those art pieces back in the day! I see you now Skrapplex!"
Talc stares blankly at the flashing lights, unable to make any sense out of the pattern. Karyn and Harrac slide down the chute behind him, the former taking some time to look at the lights herself.
Rei and Skrivvix make their way across the floor, and while the android makes it across without incident, the shirren steps on a green square, which releases a jet of acid at the mystic! "Ooh! That's gotta hurt! I can taste his pain from here!" Quell shouts as the camera drones move in to get a good reaction shot from Skrivvix.
"Let's see how our Starfinders will fare as they approach the Lava Hop!" Lethea exclaims.
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Harrac contemplates the pattern before him, muttering to the camera, "see there's the green, then you carry the 1 and avoid the niner. Piece of cake!" He leaps forward, avoiding all the glowing squares and skidding to a stop next to the lava pool. "Good gracious Rei! put your clothes back on! I know it's getting hot in herre, but that's not an appropriate response! We're on live TV!" He turns back to Talc, "careful buddy! you need to give it a little bit of uh uh, and a little bit of uh uh!" Panning his camera back to a selfie close up, Harrac mugs for the camera, "that's what she said! Amiright Squad?"
Skrivix dodges to the side, but his arms swing through acid as he turns back to course-correct from yelling at Talc.
"Gahh! Next time I'll just let you lick your way to the lava you big oaf."
Shaking off the remaining acid he looks over at Rei, "Unlike some others around here I don't share things that make you have burning feelings, sexbot."
Karyn darts across the floor without issues, leaping to the first platform in the lava pool. Harrac dashes safely in her wake, but Talc blunders through the hazardous squares, blasted by two jets of acid, an arc of electricity, and a ball of fire!
"Yikes! Somebody's got two left feet, and they're on backwards!" Lethea comments.
Rei calmly rockets across the lava pool with her jump jets. Two moving walkways run along the rocky ground toward a plexiglass tunnel to the northeast. The northern walkway churns past at a much faster speed than the longer section of track slightly to the south.
"And Rei is at the Acceleration Track! This could give her the boost she needs to beat the clock!" Quell says.
As Rei lands, a pressure plate clicks under her feet. A hatch in the ceiling opens and a spherical blob of colorful protoplasm drops down on her!
"Oh my! It's the Slime Bucket Surprise!" both hosts cry.
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As Rei lnds on the platform, she feels the pressure plate beneath her feet. She sees the giant slime just in time to roll herself out of the way and onto the moving platform. She triggers her voice comms to her teams.
"Be weary of the moving platforms. The northern platform contained a trap, which produced some sort of slime creature. It bears the same consistency of the creature Talc attempted to mate with back on Absalom Station when he was intoxicated. Be warned."
Rei then maintains her footing, and continues a long the path to the next obstacle.
edit: Perception for Traps
Skrivix leaps over the lava deftly, surprising himself with his agility. "Talc only tried to mate with one thing while at Absalom Station? Unbelievable. Rei must have wiped her databanks to think that."
Skrivvix and Talc leap past the lava, moving onto the acceleration tracks.
Rei dodges past the gelatinous sphere and hustles down the faster conveyor belt. Unfortunately, she steps on another pressure plate, and a blast of force slams into her, knocking her back! "Ouch! She did NOT see that coming!" Lethea laughs. "It's times like these I'm glad I don't have any bones to break!"
Skrivix moves his muscles leaving Talc in the dust.
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Harrac watches everyone leave him behind, "It's go time Squad!" He launches himself forward, skipping over the platforms with ease. As he slides past Talc, he grabs an arm to slow him before he runs off the edge, "Yeah heel toe do si do, come on Talcy let's go boot scootin'!"
Harrac leaps across the platforms and moves past Talc while Skrivvix rushes along the slower acceleration track. On the faster track, Rei moves past him and into the transparent tunnel. The tunnel opens into a large, domed room with a floor of polished wood planks, providing an easy sprint to the checkered finish line.
"There it is! The first Starfinder is almost to the end of the course, with time to spare!" Quell declares.
Karyn tries to jump across the gap, but she misjudges the distance and ends up plunging into the shallow pool of lava! Her armor blares with warning klaxons as the heat burns her! Scrambling to escape, the biohacker manages to pull herself out onto the platform--right next to the gelatinous sphere! The ooze eagerly moves to engulf her and Talc!
"Yikes! Out of the frying pan and into the slime!" Lethea shouts.
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Talc just manages to avoid being engulfed, using the boost from the ooze to move alongside of Harrac.
Talc may have been behind, but he is faster than everyone else on his team. When Harrac turns around, Talc is literally right beside him. "Go-go-go!" he says, reaching out putting his hands on his back as he moves past him and comes up right behind Skrivixx.
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Rei looks ahead to the finish line. Remembering what happened on the speedy path, she thinks to herself It can't be this easy... There is a trap here somewhere... She activates her jump jets to help give her a boost, as she navigates through the transparent room and along the home stretch.
As she boosts herself along, she responds on the comms "Careful. The end of this course might be booby trapped."
She pauses for the laughter and the responds again "Talc, Harrac, please stop flooding the comms with your childlike laughter"
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Harrac looks at his camera sternly, "now Squad, you heard her, this is no laughing matter. What Rei meant to say is that there may be a surprise trap at the end of the course, set for a crew too focused on the goal than finishing the course. It's called a" Harrac makes air quotes, "booby trap, because way back in the day, a bobo or boob was a" air quotes, "simple man who was easily confused. Ole metal boobs uses it as a term of endearment for our friendly" air quotes, "pilot here if you get what I'm saying! Click the link in the description to see Talc's picture next to this recent Urban Dictionary In Space™ entry!"
Skrivix books it down the final stretch, throwing caution to the wind to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. In between his panting you can hear, "Heh.. Rei said booby."
As Rei rockets through the final room, a wall panel slides open and a mounted laser refractor opens fire, filling the room with a web of searing rays!
Rei manages to dodge and weave through the laser grid, getting scorched by a few beams but making it to the finish line. "She's made it through the Laser Tunnel!" Lethea cries.
A dozen hovering camera drones buzz past, capturing the action from as many angles as possible. “Our first contestant crosses the finish line!” Lethea’s technologically magnified voice booms through the air. A sardonic chuckle filters through the speakers as Quell adds, “The living never cease to amaze me. Do you think the others have what it takes, Lethea?”
Not missing a beat, Lethea responds, “Stay tuned to Pact World Warriors to find out! We’ll be right back after these messages from our sponsors.”
One by one, the rest of you cross the finish line. A digital fanfare fills the room, signifying your victory!
On other monitors around the room, you can see your rival team competing on a similar obstacle course. It seems like they have fared poorly compared to you. Verity-5 lagged behind trying to help Rafelo out of the quicksand hazard, and only Mia Moxie, Tillik, and Shonvyzam finished the course in the allotted time.
The undead production staff escorts you back to your break room, giving you a 30-minute break before the second event.
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Harrac dodges, ducks, dips, dives, and dodges the lasers, coming to a rest beside Talc, "That was exhilarating! Harrac Squad - if you ever get the chance to be on Pact World Warriors, do it! And if you want to keep watching Round 2, click on the button up here, or there, errr, YEAH!" He waves his arms a bit, pointing at his shoulders before clicking stop and stretching, "good job team, that was fun, and I got some good content. Rei - can you flirt a little more with Talc in Round 2? My viewers love it! And Karyn - we need to find you a manager. Talc - just keep piloting buddy. Me and Skrivixx will make sure to stay out of your way."
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Talc kicks it into high gear and flies past everyone else to come into the room behind Rei. Sure, two of the lasers scorched him as he ran through, but it the adrenaline of his whole team finishing so quickly helped him propel himself through.
As he runs through the finish line, he holds his hands above his head at forty-five degree angles in a celebratory manner, running backwards so Harrac can capture him on his commentary. "YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP THIS? NO ONE CAN OUT PILOT THE TALCSTER!"
"WE DID IT! We kicked some serious ass!" he says, punching his companions in the shoulder before dropping back down next to Rei. "So Rei, I bet all your fluids are pumping now from that race, aren't they. If you feel like you need to express some affection towards my leadership, I would understand."
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Rei responds to Talc, "My 'fluids' are pumping the same now as they were at the start of this race. " She pauses to take a look at her bruises "Though it appears my body is in need of medical support. Those traps and lasers did not treat me well. I will use this time to recover."
As she tends to her wounds, she looks over to Talc again, who is breathing rather heavily. "Are you ok? Your breathing is quite extensive. Did you mate with the ooze on track #1 mid race? Based on your finish time, and your average coitus time, it appears there would have been time to spare."
"Average coitus time?" Suppressing his gag reflex, Skrivix stares at Rei. "You are a special snowflake Rei, but you're a disgusting special snowflake. Which is impressive for me to focus upon given Talc is RIGHT THERE. What other data are you -- no, nevermind. Don't answer that."
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Talc laughs at either Rei, Skrivixx or both of their comments. He points to Rei and adds "The fact that the bug boy is calling you disgusting, that s@+$ is too funny!" he says, slapping his knee.
Turning back to Rei, he nods "That disco floor was rough. I can't believe they cheated and zapped me like that, I had it all figured it out and they knew it. Anyway, nothing a few minutes of catching my breath won't do."
After the break, a suited ghoul hustles you out of your rest area and back to the elevators at the end of the hallway, a skeletal camera crew following in their wake. Zo!’s staff briefs you about the impending challenge as you ride the lift to yet another floor of the underground complex
The lift opens to reveal a pristine jungle. Ferns carpet the ground beneath towering trees. Birds and insects flit through shafts of artificial sunlight. Only the transparent green dome overhead breaks the illusion of leaving Eox behind for a lush, living world.
Stone walls artfully constructed to look like ancient ruins frame an odd scene: twin kitchens complete with stainless steel countertops and electric cooking ranges stand amid the wilderness. To the west, a cerulean pool laps gently in the artificial breeze.
"Welcome to the Combat Cooking Extravaganza!” Quell calls from his perch atop a floating metal disc. The disc zooms toward the kitchens as he speaks. “First, our contestants order their live ingredients. This isn’t as simple as ordering takeout at home, folks,” Quell smirks as canned laughter plays through the speakers.
“I’m afraid not,” Lethea calls from an identical disc nearby. “These chefs are working with fresh, wild-caught ingredients. Contestants, I’m sending a recipe to your comm units. Collect your ingredients, then head to the kitchen to craft us a dish worthy of a Pact World Warrior!”
“But be warned,” Quell says. “This kitchen might be packing more heat than you can handle. Ready? Begin!”
The members of the rival team scramble past you in a mad dash to collect their own ingredients! You spot three creatures milling about the jungle. A dromaeosaurid lurks near the pool to the southeast. A tashtari prowls the plateau to the north. A necropede slithers near the tree to the west.
"I don't know how anyone can eat after learning about Rei's biostat tracking for Talc... okay maybe Harrac is hungry, but not me. And I LOVE Combat Cooking! So disappointing."
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Karyn celebreated with the rest of the team as they finished up. Coming in last wasn't her favorite thign to do, but she was trained for infiltration and biological sciences, not athletic ability. Hopefully there would be a challenge better suited to her specialty further on. She doubted it, but you never knew.
As the next challenge started, she had flashbacks to her eventful trip to Perfexion, and the chef there. She smiled broadly at the memory. Seeing the "ingredients" she set out to identifying them and any strengths or weaknesses they might hold.
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Talc looks at the three creatures and asks his team, "Alright, what do we got? Rei, can you punch some buttons on your pad or do you want me pressing your button again like I did that one time that you liked so much?"
He points to the dromaesaurids and says "I vote that one.", as he pulls out his sniper rifle and lines up a shot at it. "Are we ready? Let me know when we're ready."
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Rei looks confused for a moment when everyone shudders when she talks about Talc's average... times...
"Not with me!"
She sighs before continuing on with the rest of the group. She works with Karyn to try to figure out everything they need to know about these creatures.
Turning to Talc "If by vote, you mean which one first, then this is acceptable. According to oour ingredient list, we will need all 3. I am OK with proceeding to the Dromaesaurids first."
As you approach the dromaesaurid, it lets out a shriek and taps its talons against the ground!