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"I'm not certain if we may wish to mislead. We don't know how it might sense us. I do agree though it may know the layout better than us. For the moment though, I think we should be quick on our paws rather than outthink the machine." Teka readies her pistol while moving to the door. "I think your direction is correct, we should move through that door you are at. If we see it keeping a step ahead of us we then would want to change tactics to give it difficulty tracking ourselves through this maze."
The door slides open to reveal a lab of sorts. Computers sit to the south of this laboratory, yet the most distinctive features of the room include a cracked stainless-steel worktable underneath a gun-like apparatus made of glass and blue steel that hangs from the ceiling. Part of the north wall has collapsed, littering the floor with dirt and debris. The western half of the lab has collapsed as well, creating a floor-to-ceiling peninsula of packed earth and crushed building materials.
Several undead figures hover around the workspace as though trying to restart the work the started long ago, and another stands behind a console at the rear of the room with wisps of nanites emanating from its mouth and open wounds. They immediately turn to attack.
One skeleton skitters over to the opening door and opens its mouth. Suddenly a swarm of nanites jet out in a line tearing through Tofana, Drift, and Saeron.
Round 1:
Yellow Skeleton
Teka
Drift (-8, Save vs Nausea)
Tofana (-8, Save vs Nausea)
Red Skeleton
Orange Skeleton
Green Skeleton
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-8, Save vs Nausea)
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Teka waves off the swarms of nanites and declares to her allies, "it is a shame to see so many other poor souls, but each of you are more prepared. Keep going forward and we will put them to proper rest."
Trusting her allies Teka steps into the room to face off against the room full of undead.
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Tofana steps back as if physically pushed by the nanite stream. "Systems under attack. Rerouting neuro-control." She staggers into the room and to the side to clear a path for her fellow Starfinders.
Nauseated
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 276
You are experiencing stomach distress. You can’t attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action you can take is a single move action per turn.
Staggered
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 277
You can take a single move action or standard action each round, but not both, nor can you take full actions. You can still take swift actions, but not reactions.
Drift pushes forward and manages to spit out enough nanites to keep his head in the game, but that's about it.
Saeron nearly succumbs as well but a warning shout from Teka gives her the resolve to ignore the uncomfortable feeling, knowing that it will pass shortly anyways.
The remaining undead skitter forward. The first one belches out another spray of nanites while the other two scramble around Teka and begin to rip and tear.
The leader of them begins to do something on the console in the back of the room, and as she does a large rifle attached to the ceiling over the workbench swivels to aim at the incoming starfinders.
Round 1:
Yellow Skeleton
Teka (-15, Save vs Nausea)
Drift (-8)
Tofana (-18, Save vs Nausea)
Red Skeleton
Orange Skeleton
Green Skeleton
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-8)
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Croaker blinks few times.
"What on Absalom sake, are they doing here? Skeletons?" says surprised Ysoki when he spots how deadly they are. Knowing that his spells would not work against the swarm he once again reaches to the streams of magic.
A purple disk forms in front of him that Croaker grabs in one hand. Then he tosses it at the closest enemy.
The disk first crashes into the wall and slides through it then bouncing into one of the enemies and flying further into the room.
"Darn it!"
Croaker manages to injure 2 of the incoming undead before it bounces off of the turret causing it to pivot slieghtly but emerge unscathed.
Round 1:
Yellow Skeleton
Teka (-15, Save vs Nausea)
Drift (-8)
Tofana (-18, Save vs Nausea)
Red Skeleton (-3)
Orange Skeleton (-7)
Green Skeleton
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-8)
Frinke and Saeron raise their rifles in unison and quickly put a pair of holes in the skull of the nearest skeleton. A burst of nanites erupt, lose control, and fall to the ground in a heap on top of the now motionless pile of bones.
The next skeleton in line continues to spray Teka with nanites.
Round 1:
Yellow Skeleton
Teka (-20, Nauseated)
Drift (-8)
Tofana (-18, Save vs Nausea)
Red Skeleton (-3)
Orange Skeleton (-7)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-8)
Drift blasts another of the skeletons apart giving Tofana an opening to rush through to the workstations. The two remaining undead claw out as she rushes by, one of which grabs a piece of flesh off of the side of her neck with a lucky strike. She makes it, bleeding heavily, to the other side of the room in time to see the skeleton turn around and shamble over to the next living thing in the room... Teka.
It grabs ineffectively at her but keeps her attention long enough for a quick chain of events to unfold. The undead behind the counter opens her mouth as if to unleash another blast of nanites, but instead flicks a few controls at the console turning the cannon to aim at Teka.
Round 2:
Yellow Skeleton
Teka (-32)
Drift (-8)
Tofana (-34)
Orange Skeleton (-7)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-8)
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Hearing the skirmish continue in the room beyond and unable to see the plight of her companions, Saeron dashes into the room, ready to offer aid.
Spying Tofana amongst the tables to the east side of the room, she joins the beleaguered android behind the modest cover offered.
"Is everyone okay?" she calls.
[Ooc)Double move as shown. May provoke from yellow.[/ooc]
Spike fires point-blank into the oncoming nanite-infused skeleton, nearly dismantling it in a single shot... but not quite.
Round 2:
Yellow Skeleton
Teka (-32)
Drift (-8)
Tofana (-34)
Orange Skeleton (-7)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-8)
Frinke reduces his target to a fine dust.
Round 3:
Teka (-32)
Drift (-8)
Tofana (-34)
Orange Skeleton (-7)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-8)
Tofana fires off a pair of shots, but both strike the desk instead of the armchair tactician behind it. Drift on the other hand has much better luck vaporizing the final lackey skeleton.
Round 3:
Teka (-32)
Drift (-8)
Tofana (-34)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-8)
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Teka pauses a moment as she lingers a bit on the pain from the desk mounted gun. "You have all done a wonderful job, and while it might be over, it is near the end. You have put all the souls to rest and only one is left. Move quickly and nothing will slow any of you down!"
With her inspiring oration Teka bolsters the resolve of her allies, especially the injured Tofana.
The undead behind the desk turns to glare at Tofana and Saeron, then unleashes a much larger and more potent burst of nanites that rips through the two of them.
Round 3:
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-20, Save vs Nausea)
Round 4:
Teka (-17)
Drift
Tofana (-39, Save vs Nausea)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton
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Self-healing functions failing to keep pace with external damage. Fatality expected within 6 seconds. But her systems rally unexpectedly. Record and file for later correlation - sonic encouragement and system recovery.
Systems under nanite attack again. Internal defense protocols failing. Diverting motor control power. Tofana freezes up. Teka's voice again provides relief from distress, and the android is free to move normally.
She ejects her rifle's magazine and feeds in another. Then she centers herself and draws another bead on the last foe.
...
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Saeron shields her face with her arms as the Nanites swarm past.
As Tofana continues to bare the brunt of the enemies' attack, Saeron reaches out a hand to touch her companion's back. The air around the android grows icy, the warmth drawn from the atmosphere and into their body as Saeron manipulates the flows of energy.
"Hold in there. We're here by your side," she says in gentle reassurance.
Croaker fires a shot that blasts another chunk out of the workbench, while a severely injured Tofana heeds Teka's words and lines up another shot. This one strikes the target cleanly, but the physical projectile can only do so much against the nanites holding the corpse together.
Saeron mends the wounds on the intrepid android, knowing that she'll likely die before backing down.
Round 3:
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-20)
Round 4:
Teka (-17)
Drift
Tofana (-21)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton (-2)
Tofana considers the foe and recognizes them as some form of corpsefolk. The nanites have done something strange, but they live and die just like most undead. Confirming this fact, the creature seems normally affected by the plasma unlike the nanite giant.
The turret swivels around to bear on Drift.
Round 4:
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-20)
Round 5:
Teka (-17)
Drift
Tofana (-21)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton (-6)
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"As much as I understand the sentiment Tofana, the weapon is firing on us right now. If we can't injure it, we may need to fall back and find a new plan. I'm more than willing to continue testing it though for a few more moments."
Taking a pair of shots with her sonic pistol, Teka draw her static arc pistol to her hand to see toward dispatching the last of the undead quicker than not.
Teka blasts the skeletal manager causing the bones to fracture in several places. This one seems significantly tougher than the others, but even it is having a hard time holding together under this assault. Nonetheless it perseveres, bolstering itself for the rest of the impending volley.
Round 4:
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-20)
Round 5:
Teka (-32)
Drift
Tofana (-21)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton (-24)
Croaker identifies this as a corpsefolk that appears to be inhabited by nanites. It has about the same behavior as most, including resistance to physical damage that isn't from a magic weapon and the normal immunities to mind-affecting things that most undead have. This one however seems to be on the stronger side, likely having been a more experienced operative in life before succumbing to undeath. He is fairly certain that his laser would work wonderfully on the creature... assuming he could actually hit it. As predicted, Frinke's shot seems somewhat less effective despite finding its mark.
Round 4:
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-20)
Round 5:
Teka (-32)
Drift
Tofana (-21)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton (-28)
Saeron, Tofana, and Drift fire off a synchronous barrage but between the undead's hardened anatomy and position of cover, fail to land a shot. In exchange it lets out another stream of nanites, shredding through Tofana and Saeron once again.
Round 4:
Frinke
Croaker
Saeron (-39, Save vs Nausea)
Round 5:
Teka (-32)
Drift
Tofana (-40, Save vs Nausea)
Purple Nanite-Infested Skeleton (-28)