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"Gratitude," Allie mumbles at Jaeric as she picks herself up and dusts herself up. "Normally I need a man to buy me a Chernobyl Cherry before I let him touch me that good, but in this case I'll make an exception." She favors the Envoy/Mystic with a wink that can only be called 'salacious' before turning around and surveying the room.
"We got creepy up on it, eh?" she says mostly to herself as she spies everyone pointing and shouting at the...thing...in the corner. "A'ight. One dead weird thing coming up.
Normally I'd rush right in and show ya how it's done, but since I already did that Imma let Ol' Painless have this dance."
She didn't bring her shawl for nothing. She un-jazzes the glamer on the 'SoBad, takes a step back to get a better line of sight, and takes aim.
Whether the long barrel of the rifle sticks through Zephyr's legs is a question she'll leave for the philosophers.
"Precision weapons, guys. We don't want to damage any evidence in there too badly with explosions or fire," Jaeric recommends over the comm. With the front door open, he draws his weapon, shoulders thru the entry point, and takes stock of the situation faced by Never and Lorne. Since they have one side of the workshop covered, he goes the other direction and takes cover behind a barrel. His elven eyes scan the rest of the room, looking for additional quarry, particularly the assassin Triloteya.
A sound above his head draws his attention and he spots another creature like the one everyone is firing on.
"Two targets," he calls out, "North. Both corners. Some kind of creatures with wings."
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Amidst the tumult Wealth eyes briefly blink at about 3000 rpm in surprise and disconcernment at Jaeric's denial of her double-entendre gambit.
She thinks, 'That's odd. And Never's been tring to climb that pole without so much as a stiff breeze in encouragement. Maybe he doesn't like girls. Which is totally fine of course. I should let him know that it's okay if he's into boys. Every chance I get.'
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The party bursts in through the two doors with Never in the lead. From the other door, Jaeric is close behind. Meanwhile Alison lines up a shot from her doorway. The gun barks and her aim is true. A spurt of blood erupts from the creature's back.
Jaeric warns the others about the second creature as the pair launch from the wall and dive down on him and Never. Swooping in closely, they pivot away and their tails swing bludgeon-like at the two adventurers' heads.
....
....
Never takes the blow then flings her disk weapon in retribution. It smashes squarely into her target's back. It falters, but keeps flying.
Lorne is quick to attack also, but his shot goes wide and richochets someplace near the ceiling.
Round 1/2 Combat status bold to go:
Red beastie (-11 hp, confused)
Blue Beastie
Never:
Lorne :
Z-4 :
Jaeric:
Alison:
Caught somewhat flatfooted trying to track down the enemies, Zephyr is startled when a heretofore unknown weapon mount shimmers into existance and activates from an unexpected location, unerringly tagging the red-skinned foe. Stepping carefully into the room, Zephyr lowers his own heavy laser weapon at the blue-skinned creature and fires.
"Electrovores!" Jaeric says over the comm so everyone can hear him, "Feeding on the wiring, no doubt..."
After ducking the one that had passed over him, he turns and tracks its movement, sliding around the barrel he's using for cover to put something between him and the creature. He then carefully sights with his handgun and squeezes off a shot to try and bring it down.
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Zephyr dashes into the middle of the room, then pivots to lase the electrovore menacing Jaeric. The half-elf meanwhile is looking to his own defense, quickly stepping away and blasting the creature.
Round 1/2 Combat status bold to go:
Red beastie (-11 hp, confused)
Blue Beastie (-11 hp)
Never:
Lorne :
Z-4 :
Jaeric:
Alison:
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"Oh, is that what they are? Okay, thanks for that knowledge Jaeric," Wraith says over the din of combat. "They must not eat normal food, but that just means they have chosen an alternative lifestyle for themselves. Which is totally okay," she says as she shoots the hurt one in a kinder, gentler way.
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Alison lines up another shot. This one pierces the conduit rat's wing.
The two creatures shoot past their opponents, swirl above the party, then pick their targets and dive together at Lorne!
....
....
Round 2/3 Combat status bold to go:
Never: (-7 SP)
Lorne : (-12 SP)
Z-4 :
Jaeric:
Alison:
Red beastie (-11 hp, confused)
Blue Beastie (-11 hp)
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The singing disk flies back to Never's outstretched hand and she catches it without looking, her eyes fixed on the darting winged creature attacking her from above.
Now that it is in range, she draws her taclash, and with a snap of her wrist, the whip is unleashed on her target.
Beginning Entropic Pool 3 (+1 from taking dmg)
Move action, expending 3 Entropy points, then Entropic Strike as acid damage.
Ending Entropic Pool 0
Moving into position where he has a clear line of sight to the nearest enemy (red if it is still up, otherwise blue), Zephyr fires another lance of coherent light at the creature.
versus EAC
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Never's electrovore flies shrieking around the room.
If you are not devoted to attacking a target, roll on the following table at the beginning of your turn each round to see what you do in that round.
D% Behavior
1–25 Act normally.
26–50 Do nothing but babble incoherently.
51–75 Deal 1d8 + Str modifier damage to self with item in hand.
76–100 Attack nearest creature.
If you can’t carry out the indicated action, you do nothing but babble incoherently. Attackers are not at any special advantage when attacking you.
Stepping around the crate, Lorne will try to give his new neighbor a real pain in the (****).
"Careful, Lorne! They seem drawn to you!" Jaeric warns the dwarf as he swiftly fires off two shots, one for each of his companion's attackers.
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Zephyr has to spin rapidly to track the beasts, and his shot goes wide.
Never's lash severs a wing. The electrovore falls to the deck in a fountain of blood. Lorne is just on the point of pulling the trigger when his target plummets and he shifts his shot to the one winging around the ceiling.
Jaeric fires wide, then finds the range and puts round through the last beast's chest. It falters in flight but recovers near the floor and with two desperate flaps levels out and begins to rise.
Dodging the electrical blast as best he can, Zephyr retaliates with another shot from his Artillery Laser.
"That weren't very nice . . .." The dwarf mumbles as he returns fire.
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The winged assassin swoops to where Never is still standing after the first kill. She's quick enough to avoid the worst of it's attack, and then she whips the taclash at the creature.
Beginning Entropic Pool: 1 (+1 from taking dmg)
This time her strike is errant. Luckily her teammates are up to the task.
Ending Entropic Pool: 1
Jaeric watches as the remaining electrovore continues to harass everyone, thankful that he's out of range of the electrical discharge. "Keep your distance, if you can! Shoot it down from range!" Jaeric directs, following thru on his own advice by snapping off another pair of shots at the creature.
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Riddled by gunfire, the electrovore is driven into the wall by its own momentum. Somehow its wing catches on some piping and it dangles against the wall.
The backpack contains an unremarkable set of clothing, a suit of basic lashunta tempweave armor, an anchoring fusion weapon seal (see Treasure below), a hygiene kit including a vial of Dagret’s Scalesheen Oil and a jar of FLĒQ Texture Cream for Curly Hair, and a computer.
The computer is tier 3 with firewall and lockout countermeasures and a miniaturization upgrade.
The computer also has a firewall protecting a secure data module.
"Well, that was a lot of gunfire for a pair of electrovores," Jaeric remarks aloud, his ears still ringing a bit from all the noise. "If there was anyone else here, they've likely fled or were already gone after setting a few traps, so be careful looking around..." The half-elf heeds his own advice as he lets the others sort thru the backpack's contents and the newly-discovered computer, focusing his attention on the rest of the room's contents. "See if you can find anything that'll help us identify Triloteya or whatever they've got in store for Luwazi..."
A few minutes later, he kneels down to examine some discarded packaging on the floor near a waste basket. "Lorne? Zephyr? he calls out, "Either of you got any expertise with explosives? Looks like there's at least five packages here for industrial grade munitions. So, odds are we need to be looking for a bomb somewhere back at the gala...and we'd better alert Radaszam as soon as we can. If you've got anything else, let me know and I'll add it to our update."
Jaeric draws out his datapad and snaps a few pictures of the packaging to attach to his message for the Head of Security, then taps out a quick message for the vesk's comm. "...Apartment breached. Countermeasures neutralized. No suspects on site to interrogate. Found evidence of bomb-making materials. Trying to access a computer for more intel on the target...."
Responding to Jaeric, Zephyr says, "I have no particular expertise with explosives, but I know my way around grenades. Let me take a look."
"Sorry, I have no idea--probably a bomb like you said," says Zephyr, nodding at the message Jaeric is sending.
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...
Jaeric draws out his datapad and snaps a few pictures of the packaging to attach to his message for the Head of Security, then taps out a quick message for the vesk's comm. "...Apartment breached. Countermeasures neutralized. No suspects on site to interrogate. Found evidence of bomb-making materials. Trying to access a computer for more intel on the target...."
The reply comes back quickly. Finish search, return to gala ASAP. Contact me on trams back up here. Full report then.
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Wraith nods her thanks as the mechanic takes over from Jaeric who was trying to do...something...with the computer.
While the first attempt runs into a few bumps, with the highly competent dwarf at her side, Wraith sees the algorithm the wall is trying to use and slices through it.
"Ah! It's an old take on the Hadrian's Wall barrier with a touch of Heimdall. I just had t' sleaze it with a blonde slut and an ice pick."
Her delivery leaves a question on how much is technical jargon and how much is street slang.
"Good job, Allison." Jaeric notes, not even bothering with any sheepishness over failing to contribute much. In his mind, everyone contributes however they can, and it's a good thing some members on the team are experts at their craft. He takes a moment to absorb the information they've gleaned, mulling it over before offering an opinion.
"If we assume the computer belonged to Triloteya, it seems logical the list of targets...which includes Luwazi...represent the assassin's most recent handiwork. And, if the homicides all list radically different perpetrators, we may be dealing with a master of disguise. This detailed search of Sanivvi Acheosi could represent the next alias Triloteya plans on using..."
He quickly sends a copy of Sanivvi's image from the computer to his datapad. "We'll get this circulated to Radaszam's security team on the trip back. Maybe they can apprehend the assassin by the time we get there. Or, at the very least, get us a positive ID so we can intervene..."
”So this Sanivvi Acheos is the cover planned for assassinating the first speaker, and the explosives are the method. Yes, let’s get the details to security and get back as quickly as possible,” summarizes Zephyr as he prepares to head back to the gala.
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Wraith was on the verge of getting lost in the _excellent_ styling tips located on the computer. 'I'll look in to those later,' she promises herself, dumping the sw33t rig into her carryall.
"We can't wed ourselves to exactly this lady. I mean, it could still be anyone, but, yes, the 'anyone' will certainly have curly hair."
Allie stands up and is ready to hit the tram back to the gala.
'Hope they still have drinks left.'
"This ain't gonna be pretty. Yeah, give 'em the pictures 'n' names, and tell them they are looking for 1 to 4 packages ranging in likely size from" "We really need to not be late . . .."
"I'll bring the backpack with us," Jaeric says, "In case there's any other clues I can glean from it on the way back. Everyone take stock. Check your ammo loads. Treat any electrical burns you might have gotten. And let's get back to the gala."
On the return to the upper decks of Absalom Station, Jaeric looks more closely at each piece of gear (minus the computer now in Allison's possession) to see if there's anything unusual about it that might yield more clues.
He notices the lashunta tempweave armor...a product manufactured on his homeworld of Castrovel...and deems it could provide better protection than his current gear, so he takes the time to change into it on the ride back.
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Images from the styling tips from the computer all look hauntingly familiar. Could be someone you saw at the gala. The AV tech had curly hair.
Jaeric, no further clues from the gear.
Lorne, depending on how the explosives are packaged and mounted, they could bring down the ceiling or send shrapnel screaming through the Skyreach room.
"I'll meet you at the lift. hurry back up here."
The party prepares itself for action on the way back up.
The dwarf also takes the opportunity to expend an RP for resting.
"I fig're she could either bring the house down, literally, or scatter shrapnel through the main room. Didn't that AV girl have curly hair? If that was her, the plan's probably shrapnel. If."
"Yeah. I vaguely remember passing by a girl who looked like Sanivvi, too. Not an attendee. She was dressed like one of the staff," Jaeric remarks, "You say she could have been an AV tech? That would certainly give her access to all kinds of stuff where she could place bombs for maximum damage." The half-elf's eyes drift over the rest of the team as they sit within the lift. Some of them looked a little worn down, but they seemed to be bouncing back well enough on the ride back. At least there were no serious injuries to mend. Pretty lucky for setting off an electrical trap and then fighting a pair of electrovores. He hoped Desna's luck would continue to hold for them when they reached the gala.
'Sometimes, luck is what you make it,' he mentally reminds himself as he looks down at the new armor he'd donned. It was a bit more tight-fitting than the freebooter protection he'd brought with him to Absalom Station, but he liked how comfortable it felt. 'Probably the tempweave,' he muses, 'The lashunta always were keen on regulating body heat for expeditions into Castrovel's jungles. Elven tech could do the same, but they'd blend magical solutions into their gear. At least it's a good color. Midnight blue. With some silver-blue highlighting. Desna's sacred tones. How's that for serendipity?'
[dice=Perception]1d20+0
Moving over towards Venture Captain Naiaj, Zephyr spots the curly-haired AV technician working on the electrical system and scans his work, worried that the Starfinder Society's enemies might have some electrical-based pyrotechnics to add to tonight's festivities.
[dice=Engineering to check and see if the wiring is rigged to cause a problem]1d20+5
Assuming he finds nothing, Zephyr continues on to speak with Naiaj, waiting respectfully for a break in the conversation and saying, "Pardon my interruption, Venture Captain, but I am a being of action, not a social creature. Is there anything I can do to be of service to your or our honored guests tonight?" As he speaks, Zephyr nods in Iteration-177's direction out of respect.
[dice=Sense Motive for Small Talk]1d20-2
Describing the tech he saw, Zephyr says, "There was nothing in the electrical work she was doing I found suspicious, but she could have had the explosives in some of the gear she had. Jaeric, do you want to pass that along to Radaszam as well--to cross reference the picture we sent with the techs working the gala?"
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Radaszam meets you at the elevators.
"As I see it. We have two possible plans...."
In the vesk's view, the PCs can plan a conservative approach with support from Radaszam’s security agents, the Obsidian Spiders. This allows the party to focus on confronting the assassin while the Obsidian Spiders handle the explosives.
A more daring approach is for the party to handle the entire affair themselves, demonstrating that the Starfinder Society is well and able to handle its own affairs and bolstering the PCs’ personal reputations. This approach is trickier, however; it involves simultaneously disarming the explosives while confronting the assassin. Radaszam warns the party that they’ll need to be subtle in their search for the bombs and keep the assassin distracted so she doesn’t simply detonate them early. Radaszam ensures the party is aware of the higher risk of this second plan.
Whatever you decide, Radaszam notifies the other Starfinders and important guests. Naiaj replies to alert you to a cache of 6 mk 1 serums of healing in the outer hall. Royo, the ysoki scholar, sends a brief electronic message noting that this particular model of explosive is very stable to kinetic damage and can be safely disarmed by simply smashing it hard enough, but he notes that any kind of energy damage is likely to detonate them upon impact.