Several dirt paths lead through the budding undergrowth surrounding this dilapidated village. The roads and empty building frames converge at a towering ziggurat, its basic geometry enhanced by its tarnished metallic composition: a simple structure made from advanced materials long ago. Clumps of long brown hair lie scattered about the area, haphazardly tangled into matted carpets or hanging in bundles from the walls of the crumbling houses. Some hair is dark with blood, some is mottled with rotting flesh, and some still clings to several gigantic bovine corpses strewn about the settlement.
In the distance, you hear a sad "Mooooooo-oooooo" that sounds like a creature weak or in pain.
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Fexia looks down at the corpses then pauses as her eyes go blank.
Uploading images of large corpse for assessment. Requesting identification of creature, probable cause of death.
She uses her datalink interface to her computer to grab a few pictures to send to her ally back at the ship for assessment as she moves to follow Swizzars.
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"Wait Officer Swizzers we should stay together." Umbro takes a quick look at the corpses in an attempt to assess what happened.
He then turns the collar up on his well worn travel suit jacket in order to protect him from the cold and unslings his acid dart rifle from his back. Gripping it in both his hands he checks the firing mechanism to make sure no snow has gotten inside it. Quickly reaching to his belt he removes his starknife and slides it onto the light bayonet bracket on his rifle. Its keen edge glints in the sun as he moves to follow Officer Swizzers.
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"Oh no, this is horrible," Teka gasps as she focuses on the scale of the devastation brought on by the radiation. After a moment she nods to Umbro adding, "He is right Swizzers. While I agree we should try to help the creature here quickly, we still need to be prudent in how we approach here."
Teka moves forward with the rest of the party as she shifts her head about surveying the injuries.
Compucast recognizes these corpses as herbivores known as Obivovos. They're like massive musk oxen, with thick wooly hair in their eyes. After a nature documentary that featured them, their adorable faces were depicted on all sorts of merchandise back in the Pact Worlds. Unfortunately, these normally gentle creatures have mutated. Compucast sees signs of an acidic pus gland that could probably be spit at long range. Still... They were gentle. Maybe someone good with animals could tame one?
Teka and Eki both realize that the if one of these creatures is still alive, it will likely have the same wandering tumors that you saw in the lab.
Swizzers just understands the creature is scared and in pain.
Then you all see the creature, maddened with pain and terrified, as it starts to lower its head to attack. "Moooooo-oooooo...."
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 1
Active conditions:
Imperator Fexia
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Obivovo
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Eki
Umbro-187
Teka
Swizzers
Compucast
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Tumors?
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Fexia moves forward and draws her neuralash. She positions herself to best protect her compatriots as she considers their observations. Her eyes glaze once again as she seeks assistance from her hive-mate via her computer. Requesting assistance: Adversary - Ornery bovine creature, identified as Obivovo by compatriots. Appearance - Frightened. Please advise.
As the response comes in Fexia does her best to adopt a defensive posture as she does her best to follow her ally's instructions.
Fexia's hive-mate attempts to give instructions over the computer, but they were not quite complete enough, and the Obivovo trundles forward and kicks Fexia!
"MOOOOOO!'
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 1
Active conditions:
Imperator Fexia
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Obivovo
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Eki
Umbro-187
Teka
Swizzers
Compucast
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Tumors?
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Teka slowly moves forward with her hands empty as she joins the party in attempting to calm the injured creature. She coos and speaks softly to obivovo avoiding any action that might drive the creature to panic. "We want to help you friend." Her eyes darted watching for the mobile tumors in case they erupt from the poor creature.
The team all makes shushing and calming noises at the beast, with Eski finally able to soothe it. The obivovo gently moos and lowers its head to Eski, but it shudders and a tumor wriggles off of it, detaching from the beast with a gloopy noise.
GLOOP!
The tumor has two potential targets.
The tumor aims for Eki, but completely misses! Meanwhile the obivovo is gently head-butting Eki! "Moo."
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 1 / 2
Active conditions:
Imperator Fexia (-17)
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Obivovo (calm and staring deeply into Eki's eyes)
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Eki
Umbro-187
Teka
Swizzers
Compucast
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Tumors?
Swizzers hits the gloopy, bitey tumor squarely! It sizzles slightly.
The obivovo wrinkles its nose as bits of tumor splash on its face. Still, a large part of the tumor is still there, pulsing.
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"That is a strong word Fexia," she moves forward drawing a pistol to hand as she looks toward the tumor with wariness. "Still, I can't offer any other advice."
As she comes within sight, Teka kneels close the ground and supports her weapon arm with the other as she fires off a pair of shots into the tumor.
The group obliterates the tumor quickly and efficiently. Three other tumors shed themselves in coming rounds, and the group takes care of each one in turn. The poor obivovo still appears weakened by this, but shedding the vicious tumors has made it more likely he will survive.
With the obivovo calmed, you're able to climb to the top of the Ziggurat. The porthole's door is slightly ajar and bears signs of being opened recently, including scratches in the metal and areas that have been wiped clean. Still, there is a ladder descending downwards into what looks like a larger complex.
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"I'll go first," Umbro-187 says brusquely. First he checks to see if his radiation badge is functioning properly and then he activates the flashlight on his acid dart rifle, shining it through the porthole. Steadying himself he leaps through opening. Tiny thrusters attached to his armor slow his descent as he floats down. As he descends he shines his flashlight toward the bottom, not only to illuminate his destination, but so that his rifle is pointing straight at any unseen threat.
Through the porthole, you find metal rungs of a ladder descending into the starship. The ladder ends in an empty corridor, dusty from centuries of neglect yet still noticeably intact. Backup lights embedded in the ceilings illuminate the hallways, which are regularly spaced with directional placards written in Izalguun (easily decipherable using Naarma's panel).
The signs direct the you to a variety of different areas, including rec rooms filled with exercise and leisure equipment suited for Large creatures with four arms, childcare centers filled with worn plush izalguun dolls the size of halflings, “nature experience chambers” with artificial plant habitats that have since become completely overgrown in their abandonment, and space observatories that now reveal only Izalraan's packed earth above. A labyrinth of angular passages connects these various rooms.
Obvious directions lead to the power core, but a short distance down each direct path, the tunnel reaches a dramatic dead end. At each dead end, the floor of the ship is torn away in jagged strips. The electrical work in the ceiling dangles down in a dangerous net of live wires, and piles of assorted junk are stacked within the wreckage to render it highly hazardous and essentially impassible.
From your vantage point, you can see at least fifty straight feet of hazardous terrain ahead.
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"As much as I continue to tell the children to find use in every scrap, I think that I that it can wait until we we return. Especially to see to the comfort of the creature. The It may be useful for the Izalguun as well if we could provide armor to them in case this isn't the end of the radiation troubles."
Teka admires the design of the ship along with the massive scale of each of the rooms. "This place was a lovely home. Seems only a waste for it to have been buried. Everything here seems to have been laid with care."
She withdraws the radiation sweeper again, and as it pings it confirms the widespread radiation as she seeks for more potent sources nearby. Upon seeing the wide swath of destruction Teka focuses her scanner there as she studies the damage. "Seems as though something wasn't content even to leave to this place to just rust. This wasn't an accident. Someone ripped through this poor place with purpose." She takes a few steps toward the damage and says, "I don't see a way to bypass the power here, at least all at one time, the only way to clear a safe path through here would take days of work."
"The bridge may have another route through the ship. If the rest of the rooms mean anything, then even their maintenance tunnels may be more than comfortable for all of use to slip through."
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"If this site has been defiled as you have indicated, and the only remaining course of action leads us to the bridge, then it would be prudent to assume a trap or ambush awaits. Allow me to take up the vanguard position. It is my duty to position myself between the mission-specialists and danger whenever possible."
She keeps her artillery rifle readied, and moves towards the bridge at a cautious pace, keeping 10 ft ahead of the rest of the party.
The gentle hum of ambient electronics pervades the stale air in this wide hallway. Fluorescent lights shine out from several glass walls that overlook a central chamber, a stark contrast to the gloom of the ship's other passages. Red letters emblazoned on the walls beside the windows read “Bridge: Authorized Personnel Only” in a variety of cycling languages.
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Teka moves through the halls and runs a hand against the wall as she briefly considers various access panels and how much each would grant access to critical ship functions. Not identifying such a vulnerability she comments, "if not for the damage, I might have tried to explained the active systems as some quirk of the system that brought everything online. As much as one might turn their nose up at it, older tech holds together very well and fights hard to remain running."
"However it seems as though someone set this into motion on purpose. Could it be an outcast Izalguun? Eki, Compucast, do you know anyone who would have done this?"
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Compucast shakes his head. "The wanton destruction seems recent. Witness the power still in the cables, and the notification about the recent increase in radiation. It almost looks like these passages have been purposefuly turned into a defensive corridor. I conclude that someone or something is holed up in Engineering. Presumably the same someones who forced open the doors above."
He ponders. "Perhaps one of the Izalguuns wanted to put the ship forever beyond the reach of their fellows. We should have asked Naarma if there had been discontent among his people about contact with us."
As the team moves forward, the vesk nods to Eki. "Sounds metallic... Guard robots maybe. Do we have any deactivation codes?"
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As the team moves forward, the vesk nods to Eki. "Sounds metallic... Guard robots maybe. Do we have any deactivation codes?"
She unhooks her datajack from her computer in her pack, but not before sending a message to her hive-mate. Reserving datajack for potential interfacing with computer systems under investigation. Over and out.
"Perhaps this will be of assistance. If not..."
She raises her rifle.
"... this will be."
With that she advances slowly and cautiously, looking for a spot to jack in and try to identify the security protocols presently in effect.
As you turn around the hall, two security robots shaped like izalguuns come upon you! They are scuttling in their quadruped form, reading lasers to target on you!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 1
Active conditions:
Umbro
Imperator Fexia
Teka
Eki
Compucast
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Robots
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Officer Swizzers
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Red takes the full brunt of the electrical blast, but unlike the security robots common in the Pact Worlds it does not take extra damage from that electrical energy. Eki's hit misses, as does Umbro's first shot, but Umbro's second shot hits squarely.
Eki and Compucast realize that these robots have integrated weapons, DR against all physical attacks, and can change their postures just like an Izalguun can, from a fast moving quadruped to a multiarmed biped. Their delicate machinery is vulnerable to critical attacks.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Round 1
Active conditions:
Umbro
Imperator Fexia
Teka
Eki
Compucast
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Robots
Red (-49)
Purple (-16)
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Officer Swizzers
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Teka draws her laser pistol to her other hand as she wonders, "have they been wandering the halls since the Izalguun abandoned this ship or was the miscreant who tore through the halls the one who activated them? We might be able to find some data they left behind."
She moves forward behind Fexia taking an attack at the red robot with her laser.
The shots go wide as Teka laments, "the alignment module is out of phase again."