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Szama lays back and puts her upper arms beneath her head, "Your boss is dead, and as soon as we're done here, we're taking word of what's been going on here right to the authorities, so Ainveln's patron's days are numbered too. I sure hope you got paid in advance, fellas. Otherwise, you're out of luck."
The guard believes Szama completely "The boss is dead, and our orders were clear - this all goes bad the tree gets bombed. Ainveln wanted their retribution, we took the job, and a deal is a deal"
"Reckon you are right though, whoever Ainveln is working for is probably in for a bad time, with the Xenowardens across this operation there will be a lot of questions and they don't strike me as the type to let the matter slide too easily"
"We're going to finish the task and go - no need to play the hero and get killed over a tree"
***
"And then your buddy healed it. Should have just let us do our thing and go"
The guard shrugs "Good point, but the intent was pretty clear. You got the boss, you're getting your pay, and we intend to get ours"
The guard gives the tree a few solid chops. With the tree slain, the guards pull back, swapping from swords to their rifles as they pull back into the treeline and disappear.
The guards disappear into the treeline and give no further trouble.
With the melee over you take in the scene - multiple injuries, a dead corrupt Xenowarden, a slain kinwood tree. Though the ritual has been stopped, the shadowy fog of corruption remains in the forest, and is beyond the immediate ability to repair with the kinwood dead.
Mossgrove looks shattered - the betrayal by his mentor and the loss of the kinwood clearly hangs heavy in his heart. He is pretty quiet on the long trek back to civilisation.
***
Returning to Absalom Station, you meet with Ehu Hadif "Excellent work Starfinders. All the information you recovered from the lumber mill has been turned over to the proper authorities. The Veskarium wants to thank you all personally"
Ehu activates a video call and several fierce-looking Veskarium officials come into view, one of them begins to address you "We want to thank each of you for finding proof of Jularaz’s actions. We will be keeping a closer eye on Jularaz and make sure his ambitions are not so misplaced in the future. Due to your diligence, determination, and unbridled use of force, I can confirm that we wish to continue working with the Starfinders in the future"
Ehu thanks the Veskarium for their call and ends the transmission "Congratulations on helping cement an alliance for the Society in Near Space. They seem very happy with your results"
"I have also received word from the Xenowardens. They have sent their resources into the forest, and things are going very slowly but show promise, a tragedy about that Kinwood. The organization sent a polite message of thanks to the Society, and whilst they haven't mentioned anything past that, I can report that several dozen ghorans from Memory Willow seek to join us, curious about the organization responsible for saving their forests"
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Ayoka would have done what she could to save the tree with stabilize spells and her healing touch, but mostly to no avail. She is rather quiet and subdued on the way back to Absalom Station. She does keep the shimmerstone crystals that were in the tree.
My main regret First Seeker, is that it seemed impossible to save the tree
"Look back on the grand scheme you have put an end to, and take pride in a job well done. What was one more death? Your team alone has killed probably dozens of people and creatures without blinking on the way to stopping the release of this dangerous drug, take comfort in knowing there wont be more"
"There were a lot of pawns in the scheme that are now dead, mostly hired guards and mercenaries who weren't involved in the plot but are now dead at Starfinder hands nonetheless, that's the way it is. Concentrate on the hundreds, thousands even, that you have probably saved"
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"Not to mention the alliance with the Veskarium! I'm sure we'll get plenty of great resources out of it, not to mention the opportunity to explore all sorts of great new places. It is sad we had to kill so many people along the way, but they were on the wrong side this time. If you want to spend more time exploring how things could've gone differently though, Ayoka, come see me sometime and we'll explore some different realities."
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Joe watches the two guards leave....hoping for a moment that she might be able to do....something.....to help the tree. Once they get out of sight she runs to the tree...realizing that there is absolutely nothing she could do for it.....
She turns inward... trying to think of anything that could have been different....and almost half hearted thinking if Mujina would have been there they might have had a chance....but realizing that one more skitter would likely have been one more possible body they would have used against them.
*****
Listening to Ehu, Joe remains mostly silent....her heart is still shattered....even the information that the ghorans don't hold it against the Starfinders that the Skitterforce was unable to help even a single tree doesn't seem to help her much.
Hearing that Ayoka seems to be as distraught as she is, Joe nods "This is going to go down in one of the few true failures I have had trying to save a patient or somebody I determined to help. Sad thing is, I don't see this being a abnormality, as it seems dark things seem to happen to the Society."
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Buddy looks at the leaving guards ... he considers shooting them as they leave, but he knows well that he does not have enough strength to fight them. He runs to Ayoka and Szama to make sure that they are ok, and he hugs them both. He can't really help their wounds but he can bring comfort.
Then he hugs Mossgrove ...
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On the way back to Absalom Station, Buddy eats sporadically and plays on drums a lot. He records a new drum solo called: 'Skitter Fury', which is very fast and dynamic, but is mostly his way of venting his anger.
During one of the evenings, he records a message to Mujina
"Hey Mujina, we saw it through... everyone is alive ... the tree is dead"
He deletes that message, he could not make it sound good. Instead, he found a private investigator that worked for Society every now and then.
"Hey It's Buddy, I need you to find 2 Damai mercenaries that worked in Veskarium. I am uploading the recording, I have some unfinished business with them..."
======================
During the debrief with Ehu Hadif Buddy listens. The acting of Jularaz was not that big of a surprise for Buddy, and he did not trust other vesks to keep an eye on him.
But Buddy will...