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The group draws weapons and moves into positions. You watch through the glass as the lashunta carefully walks across the icy balcony and waves at the door. A soft boop gently intrudes on the office as the door wisks open and the lashunta's eyes widen in surprise. "Oop... you're not supposed to be here..."
Jaraduk-as-Plemel heads straight to the entryway with his trusty doshko. Brandishing it, he waits for the intruder to enter.
Akh floats right for the lashunta, vase in hand. "I think we're supposed to be here. Did you get the wrong building? The all you can eat grub buffet is next door, fourteenth floor, ten creds for as many grubs as you can fit in your stomach. It's a very good deal." He sets the vase outside on the balcony just beyond the lashunta.
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Melissa misses with her shot, but not with her encouragement. Akh uses the verbal support to get into position (as well as his special vase - that may or may not be blinking). Akh recognizes the mercenary by his insignia - or lack thereof. This is a trained killer from the black-info-sphere. By the lack of visible tattoos, he likely does not belong to any group that you've offended so far - though there are many. The mercenary draws a nonlethal (surprisingly...) baton and swings (bravely) at Akh.
Nonlethal... does he mean to capture one of us? Jaraduk muses before maneuvering around behind the intruder.
Well, I'll be keepin' it lethal!
Akh gets clonked by the baton and barely notices it "Hmm, one against all of us? That doesn't seem smart. Did you bring any friends?" He raises his claws and slashes away.
"Why? If he wanted that he'd ask."
Not even making the effort to switch his rifle to nonlethal, Guess? fires away!!
"I mean since he's using the baton we could show some professional courtesy back and NOT kill him? "
"While professional courtesy calls for not killing him, our professionalism as spec ops mercs calls for eliminating all threats to our payout! errrr.. I mean to the eggs!"
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The team lays into the lashunta, who takes the hits bravely but is unable to escape the barrage. "Capture, no I just don't want to get my suit covered in your blood." He spins in a circle, hitting Jaraduk in a weak point and snarls as the electricity pulses into the nuar, "Or maybe I like the way you squirm."
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"Saranrae, I don't know if you're punishing me or over thinking my abilities here but could you send me one, and I mean ONE, bad guy for redemption that is TRYING to live?"
non lethal electric.
"Come on guys if we catch him alive we can make him listen to the dragon morality plays they're using for the eggs. Forgive me saranrae I have to work with the tools you gave me.... "
"No, I don't think we'd be allowed to. Plus he doesn't seem very interested." Akh swipes twice at the commando, tearing with great force into the lashunta's back.
Well, it sounds like he's made his decision...
Jaraduk says grimly.
Grr, that electrical hit really has my muscles in a spasm...
Guess? fires again at the intruder!
Noticing Melissa check the video feed, Guess? says with a worried tone, "See anything??"
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Melissa checks the feed to see that nothing has changed in the egg room. In the main room, the mercenary drops to the floor and quickly bleeds out.
Looking over the body, you see that the soldier came armed with freebooter armor III, advanced shirren-eye rifle, elite semi-auto pistol, and a incapacitator.
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Melissa rushes over and TRIES to stop the bleeding (she can't miss a roll to stabilize but I'm assuming Ahk and is holding a vital organ or two after that....)
"Oh for **chitters** Sake... she hopes the eggs didn't hear that
"It was ONE guy with a baton. you couldn't whack him with your tail? You couldn't take ONE second To flip the non lethal switch? We get that really nice leather jacket either way... " Melissa is eyeing the freebooter III armor if no one wants it. One less upgrade slot but more AC and No ACP.
-Visually check on the eggs. Melissa has put too many security cameras on a loop to trust them completely. Make sure her nose is up and running to try to detect the invisible ninja standing by the door waiting for it to open.
"Akh, any idea who this guy was working for? He might have family that needs to know. This seems weird, unless he thought he was going to run into the usual renta mooks?" I assume the office fridge for a dragon counts for a walk in freezer? We can scan him and make sure he's not a trojan horse for viruses or a bomb or a contemplative with a laptop in side his stomach or something. Freeze him till our shifts over, stuff him in a bag of holding, and drop him off at a red dragon orphanage unless someone wants to ping us with arrangements?
We need to quickly check out loverboy. Please just be a coincidence....
Yes, time to make sure this wasn't just a distraction...
He physically approaches the eggs and surveys the immediate area intensely.
The eggs themselves could be replaced by holograms at any point. I'm not sure if it's very possible to be *too* paranoid given who our client is.
Jaraduk shares Melissa's suspicion of "the date," but he uses more conventional networking methods to look into him.
Akh leaves the vase out on the balcony and spends a moment out there to inspect it for more than just a blinking light. "Anyone else know what this is? Homing beacon? Bomb? Enhanced foyer decor?"
He separates the infiltrator from his loot while Melissa checks the eggs. "I don't know who exactly he was working for, just a freelance kind of assassin type person. It does seem like a distraction though. Too easy. Let's give everything an inspection after we rule out the vase, assuming it isn't a mimic, eldritch horror or animated object in disguise."
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Upon second look, Akh sees a flashing light! Melissa scurries over and is able to use her engineering skills to remove it whole. A touch of hacking later and she realizes it was only seconds away from hacking into the CEO's terminal! It's difficult to tell exactly what it was going to do, but it appeared to be a trojan horse probe to extract information. Perhaps the mercenary was a distraction!
Melissa and Jaraduk's investigation finds that the boyfriend's dating profile is only a few weeks old. Beyond that, he has next to no online presence.
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after one bit of computer hacking with jaraducks doskho.....
Will text Meb.
The vase your friend dropped off was a bit of industrial sabotage, was timed with a break in attempt and I can't find anything on him. Things are good here now. If spy vs spy isn't a deal breaker on triaxus you can stay on the date, But I wouldn't let him take you anywhere. If we don't hear from you we'll assume you're being kidnapped as plan B. Security question. What is the worst pun you heard all week.
If meliisas eggucation crack wasn't actually it she hopes its in the running to be remembered.
"IS this the sort of thing you break a date for on triaxus or is it just a normal part of the process? She's a mature ysoki.. she has to be pushing fifteen...I'm sure she knows how to handle this better than I do I don't need to turn her phone into a listening device... "
"This would probably a more interesting how I met your mother story than we got. Fighting the swarm yadda yadda surrounded only room for two people in the bunker yadda yadda... "
Akh looks a little disappointed that it wasn't a bomb. "Just hacking? I wonder if it would have tried to change the temperature in the incubator or something." He heads back to look over the eggs afterward "Well, it could be this whole ploy with the assassin and the hacking vase is all just a distraction for an even bigger move tonight. We should be on the lookout. Also, when Meb gets back we should check if she got brainwashed and or replaced by a bodysnatcher."
He returns to keeping a lookout for danger as the night continues.
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Melissa receives back a voice memo a few minutes later. It starts with the sound of frantic breathing then, "Saw your message … That scumball, he seemed so normal. … Just your average, charming software engineer. … Who knew he was working for some… some rival dragon? foreign government? Who knows… Trying to… to steal information from my boss? … It’s insane. … I’m in the bathroom right now. … And now, in the vent. … I think I can get out this way. … I saw some light. … I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m getting out of here. … I’ll see you in the morning. … I need to go." There's a sound of rustling, then the message ends.
The rest of the evening goes uneventfully. In the morning you meet the daytime security staff and point them towards the walk-in refrigerator. After an hour, Meb comes through the elevator in a huff. She begins searching her desk and gathering up items that appear to have come from her ex-lover. "Thanks for the message, y'all! He seemed so normal, so harmless. But you… you saw something I didn't." She pushes the pile of items into the can. "I almost got us all into serious trouble! I guess this is why the boss hired such pros! I'm still shaken, to be honest. I had to spend the night crawling through a vent! Not the first time, from a bad date, but still. I swear, I am taking a break from the dating scene!"
Akh is confident - at least 90% - that Meb is not in fact brainwashed. "Just one more night!" the ysoki says cheerfully.
It's too bad we don't have an address to mail the lashunta back to. It's good to let your adversaries know it won't work. Oh well.
He glances at the entrance to the incubation room.
You're sure all of the gifts have been disposed of? You got all your key cards on you? None swiped during the date or when you brought him by?
Paranoid Jaraduk is paranoid.
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Melissa does some quick math on her fingers she's known Meb for a week they've been for a while and it was a bad break up, carry the two...he's really cute divide by two.....and It's not like Melissa can throw a rock for trying to steal something from a dragon CEO. Although she DIDN"T mess with someones heart... so she doesn't ask for his number. Sigh.
"Don't feel bad. If it wasn't for the assassin showing up right after I don't think we would have suspected him.. "
charming software engineer
Melissa tries not to wince at the obvious clue...
.. and manages to do a good job controlling her poker ears.
"Well, at least you made it back. Good vent scrambling." Akh nods sagely. "I have a strange feeling that the last night will be the most trouble. Maybe we'll get a whole squad of assassins along with an orbital laser pointed at the office. Or maybe a group of impersonators will ambush us in our beds and then come in our place."
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After you wake up in your premium lodgings, you head up and say goodbye to the normal guards and Meb. No date tonight, the ysoki heads down to the sleeping area... "alone..." You monitor the area tightly, listening to Akh's gut feeling. After all, Murphy's Law does seem to be pretty accurate with this group.
Just before dawn, the balcony windows explode inwards! Three dragonkin launch in on extended wings. One carries a massive glaive with lightning arcing along the shaft while the other two wield heavy rifles. "Gooooood morning!"
Everyone but Akh is able to react quickly - perhaps Akh was overcome with the glorious feeling of being right.
Akh is overcome with the deeply unpleasant feeling of being right. Again.
Aaaaagain Jaraduk sighs in resign.
Here... try this.
He holds onto something for several seconds before lobbing it between the two nearest dragons.
When you hit an enemy with a ranged attack or an attack with a weapon with the blast or explode special property, you can spend 1 Resolve Point to inflict a debilitating effect on that enemy for a number of rounds equal to your Strength bonus. You can choose to make the target deafened, flat-footed, or off-target, or to reduce its speeds by half (to a minimum of 10 feet). The target can negate this effect with a successful Fortitude save (DC = 10 + half your soldier level + your Strength modifier).
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Jaraduk's grenade explodes mid-air, entangling both nearby flying dragonkin! Each drops a few feet before barely managing to catch themselves. Then Melissa's electricity arcs between them.
The two dragonkin on the outside split along the walls and begin to fire down on the group.
The central dragonkin struggles against the webbing - attempting to charge Akh but only making it to Jaraduk instead. His long axe comes down but Jaraduk is able to deflect the blow. "I just had this armor cleaned!"
Melissa, 19 Damage
Jaraduk, 14 Damage
Red Dragonkin, 21 Damage, Entangled 5 more rounds
Green Dragonkin, 21 Damage, Entangled 5 more rounds
Yellow Dragonkin, 0 Damage
Okay good, good. How about this one?
Akh lifts off to a height of 15 feet and rushes for the two nearest dragonkin. "Hello! Fine evening, isn't it?" He swipes at red with the entropic reach of his claw!
1st round:
Guess? moves away from green while drawing his rifle and fires at green.
2nd round:
Guess? fires again at green!
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Akh, in his haste, gets up in the dragonkin's business but is unable to connect with the agile enemies. Jaraduk explodes a cryo-grenade in the opponents faces just before he gets there.
Guess? gets a bite in the back for his trouble, but ends up getting out of reach and sends two bullets into the meat of the offending dragonkin. One dragon crackles from the ice crystals shattering off his scales as he flies backwards a little - dropping his gun to the ground - and draws a large axe. His partner swings his axe, sliding off Akh's armor, and also repositions mid-air.
The other dragonkin fires two bolts at Jaraduk. "It's just a job, y'all can just go home now."
Melissa x2, 19 Damage
Jaraduk, 31 Damage
Akh
Guess?, 19 Damage
Red Dragonkin, 26 Damage, Entangled 4 more rounds, Staggered
Green Dragonkin, 82 Damage, Entangled 4 more rounds
Yellow Dragonkin, 0 Damage
Akh coughs "Go home? But we haven't gotten paid yet." as he slashes furiously away at green. "Speaking of, how much are you getting paid?"
Ow, ow, ow OW! He does not appreciate the magnetar rifle shots.
It's just a job that we don't complete and get paid for if we just go home.
He slashes at the nearby dragonkin.
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Akh and Jaraduk lay into the central dragonkin, who collapses to the floor. Melissa fires into the group, shocking both. The farthest dragon swings his axe again, going right over Akh's head.
In the other corner, the dragonkin sends another bolt into Jaraduk's side. "Paid more than you...probably."
Melissa, 19 Damage
Jaraduk, 53 Damage
Akh
Guess? x2, 19 Damage
Red Dragonkin, 106 Damage, Entangled 3 more rounds
Green Dragonkin, 158 Damage
Yellow Dragonkin, 0 Damage
Yelling at yellow, "Hmmm... Tell ya what. Your two buddies are obviously going down. If you wanna live, we'll accept a little incentive payment from you and let you walk away. Whaddaya say???"
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With a bullet to the neck, the second dragonkin drops to the floor next to where Melissa is just wrapping up her stitches. The final mercenary balks at this development. "Ooh - uh - no, no, no, no!" He drops his rifle and bolts for the balcony door. He skirts past Akh, , and ends up right above the balcony railing ready to flee.