Floating above the four assassins and weaving this way and that to dodge as many shurikens as he can, Akh is left with precious little time to go on the offensive. With his foes looking pretty agile, he doesn't bother with his electric breath (despite the cluster of foes). Instead he slashes down at teal to try to thin their numbers.
Mess wit the bull...
You're still here?
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With a final gore, Jaraduk takes out the enemy locked in battle. As the body falls, Melissa and Akh pour power into the secondary group.
The group almost dances in place, hopping from foot to foot. Their worship to the floating metal god takes the form of atomicly sharp shurikens, one of whom finds purchase.
Everyone is up! Round 6.
Melissa 42 damage
Jaraduk, 47 damage
Akh, 116 damage
Guess?, 0 damage
Pink, 146 damage
Red, 182 damage
Orange, 27 Damage
Green, 49 Damage, Bleed 11
Yellow, 0 Damage
Teal, 122 Damage
Jarduk switches back to his grenade launcher.
Akh picks a shuriken out from where it jammed between his scales. Rather dismissively, he says "As much as I like your shurikens, I think you'd have learned your lesson after the first few." He flicks the shuriken at green "Oh well."
Two swift claw slashes tear space around teal, followed by orange if teal falls.
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Melissa's electricity arcs through the group even faster than Akh's gloomy sass. The android drops another attacker as Jaraduk swaps to his favorite weapon. The half-elves heads flick between Akh and Jaraduk. Seeing a slightly easier target, they exchange a series of clicks and move their attack over to Jaraduk.
Everyone is up! Round 7.
Melissa 42 damage
Jaraduk, 95 damage
Akh, 105 damage
Guess?, 0 damage
Pink, 146 damage
Red, 182 damage
Teal, 150 Damage
Orange, 70 Damage
Green, 83 Damage, Bleed 11
Yellow, 0 Damage
Guess? fires twice at green without a great deal of success. "At least you guys are a bit smarter. Letting your other, more expendable teammates wear us down first before taking us on head to head. I'm taking notes..."
Jaraduk has no qualms about charging away, out of their midst.
See 'ya!
At the end he turns back and fires a cryo grenade into their center.
Akh slashes down at orange as the three assassins give up their attack on him and try to disengage.
"Finally realizing that won't work? Shame it took you so long." He follows after orange and tears another gravitic slash toward them.
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Guess? fires on the assassin, who promptly bleeds out from his wounds.
Jaraduk's nimble move places a grenade right where it needs to be. Melissa's electricity arcs across the remaining two attackers and Akh brings one down. You're able to quickly quell the final assassin soon after.
COMBAT OVER!
Melissa 42 damage
Jaraduk, 95 damage
Akh, 105 damage
Guess?, 0 damage
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"Sure, cargo time. Plus we have additional 'cargo' from all these assassins. Maybe we can even find their ship and take it with us." Akh says the last bit with zero confidence, knowing that ships have a strange capability of becoming difficult to obtain and sell when it would be most beneficial.
He heads back to resume loading once the loot has been gathered.
Yeah, cargo time. Affixing the grenade launcher back over his shoulder he proceeds to join akh.
Elby pokes her head back up from behind a rock nearly a mile away. "Wow! You didn't die! Uh... cargo time?"
"Yah, we're hard to kill. To be honest, we're hauling cargo only because we've got time to kill and have a kick ass ship with tons of space. So may as well make some creds while we've got time and space. Our day job is actually spec ops mercs.
"You need someone removed, something acquired, some place leveled, we're your team! Our prices are exorbitant, but as you can see, we deliver!
"Speaking of which, have you heard of any other jobs on planet? Once we unload your cargo, it'd be nice to get a lead on our next contract."
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Melissa takes off her hand knit grandkids cloak and hooks it up with jumper tables to its charger. "Sure.. but at this point cargos a hobby compared to our lucrative business model of making people want to kill us and then looting their stuff..." She asks Akh "How long till he gets bored of killing us as a hobby and takes up zero golf or just regular golf or something like a normal insanely rich gazillionaire?"
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"Oh yah, I forgot that third business model - farming assassins! It's probably our most sustainable revenue stream at the moment actually. No marketing. No sales. Business comes straight to us with no end in sight! It's worked out quite well!"
Guess? stretches his arms out in a grand gesture towards the entire team.
"All this glorious gear we're carrying... You think we bought this? Not a chance!"
"I think Melissa has a point. But we haven't died yet, so we might as well keep raking in the assassin-bucks." Akh nods dourly as he hauls crates on board.
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"You fight well," Elby says as she navigates a heavy crate off your ship. "Kind of those assassins to deliver such valuable gear to your doorstep! A dangerous but rich endeavor, it seems." She pauses, her hands resting on the edge of a newly set crate, her gaze lifting to meet yours, one by one. "You come here carrying more than just supplies," she continues, a hint of something akin to understanding softening her tone. "I see it in your eyes, in the way you move. You carry your own scars. The world out there… it leaves its mark, doesn't it?" She gestures vaguely towards the horizon, towards the approved landing zones she had you deliberately avoid. "That world clings to its fear of the past, a fear born of its own failures. It builds walls of law and dogma." Her eyes harden with buried pain. Her gaze returns to the cargo, her hands resuming their work. "We're not like them. What my brother and I are doing at the commune… it's more than just piecing together old machines. It's about understanding. About learning from what came before, not running from it. It's about building a future on solid ground, not on the shifting sands of this broken rock." She is quiet for a time. When the unloading is complete, a few hours later, she shakes each of your hands. "I will be honest. I am eager for you to be gone. The death that follows you, I am afraid it would choke me and those I love. I'm sorry, there is no work here. I do appreciate the work you have done for us; it is more than you know. Now... when the old grudges that haunt you have been long buried, and you can live with peace in your heart... please, return." She hands you the 40 BP vouchers and waves goodbye.
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You head back out into the void, unsure of where to mark your heading. Back to the lawless asteroid where everyone wants to kill you? Back to the Station where everyone (secretly) wants to kill you? Back to the houses of your friends where... everyone wants to kill them? Or take the fight to Lord Sinjin, likely the greatest challenge since signing your EJ Corp time cards. Just then, your hysterics are interrupted by the chime of a new message. Your favorite brenneri shows up. “Hey, y’all! I hope everything’s well and you’re wrapping up on Orry. Or, heading to Orry? You never know with these messages.” Tarika’s laughter crackles through the comm unit. “I’ve found another job for you, but this one’s a little delicate. So handle with care, y’hear?"
“All rightie, now that yer listenin’ ears are on, I’m sendin’ you to Preluria. It’s a toxic gas giant and the orbital rings there’ve got dozens of inhabited moons. A bunch of different factions and gangs vie for control of the rings and the people in ‘em. It’s a lawless place. Plenty of fighting. So you’ll fit right in!" You check the coordinates, seeing that it will take a week or two to fly to the distant planet.
"There’s a world in the rings named Eshrud. It’s isolated, and the folks there like it that way. A disease is spreading through their community and they’re looking for medicine. I’m sure y’all know how expensive that can be! It costs an arm and a leg just to get a cough cured, these days, never mind somethin’ worse! Not that these folks have a choice, mind. It’s pay or die, and they ain’t going down without a fight. But they don’t want to let any of the other Prelurian factions in. Lucky for them, I’ve got a friend who can help. He’s always told me his name’s Gulm, but I ‘spect that’s an alias. He’s tough to get to know–quiet, shy, a little bit paranoid. Thinks the whole galaxy’s out to get him. Brilliant, though, and kind. Dr. Gulm makes medicinals off grid and sells them for a fraction of the cost–makes himself a tidy profit, which goes to show how inflated the price of medicinals is. But back to the point...
“You’ll find Dr. Gulm in the city of Vantis on Lookout, a moon under the control of the Preluria Patrol. They’re a faction of vigilantes dead set on bringing order to the region. I guess they do a fair job of it too, Vantis is a pretty safe place. When you wrap up on Orry pay Dr. Gulm a visit. He’s already whippin’ up what we need. Pick up the shipment from him and deliver it to Eshrud. Don’t haggle with the poor fellow, he’s already offering us more than a fair price. Hurry, if ya can; every day that sickness spreads, and I like to sleep well at night. But most important, don’t draw attention to Gulm. I mean it. The doc could get in big trouble for brewin’ backyard remedies. If the Preluria Patrol found out, he’d be lookin’ at jail time, best case. When you’ve got the shipment loaded up, bring it to Oline on Eshrud. She’s your contact. I’ve attached all the necessary coordinates with this message. Take care and don’t go stirrin’ up trouble. Talk again soon.”
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"Yeah I'm TRYING to set up something like this on that rock I bought the rights to. We're going a little heavier on farming than mining if things work out. Mining means you're trading for food, which puts you at the mercy of people trading the money, and the food, and the ore. "
"I know it sucks about killing people...This is. Uhm.. a lot more dead than we USUALLY wind up with? I didn't exactly have time to pull out these guys wisdom teeth of death. I got someone elses though. Normally they're just knocked out with a hang over. And naked. And broke."
Melissa readies puppyrateyes.exe if the group doesn't want to deliver the medicine. She also prepares the Defibrillator for when Guess? processes no haggling.
"Hmmm... No haggling with the doctor but no mention of haggling with they buyers, amirite?!?
"And as for drawing attention to the good doctor, no problem! We're the best, most subtle crew of spec ops merc cargo haulers this universe has ever seen!
"While I can't vouch for the rotating door of assassins, we know how to keep things on the down low... Amirite?!?"
Akh ponders out loud "The Preluria Patrol? They want to maintain order but also don't mind making sure that everyone dies due to lack of medicine? Hmm, how does that work? Are we sure Dr. Glum's not cooking up something else? Plus, I've never heard of freedom fighters making sure corp profits aren't hurt..."
"We should do it anyway, but it's not right."
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Yes, but haggling with the buyers...
Jaraduk shudders.
They're in a bad way already. We just need to make sure we don't hand off the medicine to a price-gouging broker, or other self-inserted middle man. By the way, I trust you vetted this "Eshrud"?
The last question obviously for Tarika.
I don't think I care about whatever else Glum is cooking up, as long as the medicine works. Everybody needs a hobby.
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"I'm SHOCKED you would try to bargain with people who are dying.. not because that's despicable but that makes it TOO easy. How about you give them the meds and THEN try to bargain just to make it harder?"
Mellissa knows that obvious plot to Guesse?s vanity is obvious, and he knows that she knows and she knows that he knows that she knows and.....
"Are we sure Dr. Glum's not cooking up something else?"
"You'd be surprised how far big potion will go to make as much profit as possible. Mom used to do the same thing, then again something else and medicine weren't exclusive.. to her or sometimes the same bottle. Still, nothing prevents us from giving the stuff a pretty thorough scanning."
"Speaking of which, do we know WHAT disease is giving them a problem? I could get us vaccinated against it en route. I don't PLAN on leaving my armor but things don't always go according to plan hard part will either be getting a needle that works on Akh or tranq darting Jaraduk.. "
"I'm SHOCKED you would try to bargain with people who are dying.. not because that's despicable but that makes it TOO easy. How about you give them the meds and THEN try to bargain just to make it harder?"
"You seem to think I enjoy a challenge. You are sorely mistaken. I enjoy credits! Especially easy credits!
"C'mon you know this! I know that you know this. And you know that I know that you know!"
Jaraduk squints at Melissa.
Worse than cats? Hmm..
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"No no. Melissa is referring to cat-lemmings! They're the result of an ingenius genetic experiment to see what happens when you mix the fierce independence-ness of cats together with the tunnel-vision of lemmings. The end result, unsurprising in retrospect, was behavior somewhat akin to your average Ysoki."
"Melissa, of course, isn't an average Ysoki. She's pretty tunnel-visioned on always doing..." Guess? performs air quotes with his hands, "...the good thing.
"But hey, nobody's perfect, amirite?!?"
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You send your responses to Tarika then hop in the drift. Through the joys of drift travel, you'll get her response when you show up at Preluria. Six days later, you pop back into real space with a new message waiting for you. “Hey, just got your message. Sorry to hear you ran into trouble on Orry. Guess?, I know better than to forbid you from bartering entirely. When you see those wretched plague victims, your call on negotiation tactics. Either way, jure wire me my cut." She gives the camera a self-aware wink. "And yeah, vigilantes sure aren't known for their governance skills. No violence is good, well - unsanctioned violence I suppose. Not our place to judge! We're just the drivers, amiright? Perhaps for once that can be true today. Eshrud is totally legit, by the way. No corporate overlords, just the way y'all like it. As for Gulm... I'm not going to hazard a guess as to what an underground chemist does on an outer moon. Don't go snooping into his business, get in an out quick-like, and you'll be fine. As for the disease, seems like a nasty variant of that thing that ripped through the jungles of castrovel a few years back. Keep some of the meds for yourselves, keep your suits on, and you'll be totally fine.” Tarika sighs. There’s a rustling as she digs her beloved wrench out of her pocket. “I’m on my way to Preluria. I’ve sent you the coordinates to an uninhabited ball of nothin’ in Preluria’s rings called Crater. When you finish up on Eshrud, or if you run into trouble, head there. It’s far enough away from factions and their territories that you won’t need to worry about being discovered, but close enough to be in range of Preluria’s infosphere. I'll keep saying you'll be fine but we know how these things tend to go. And with how Orry went? Those unscheduled visitors? Well, we’ll talk then. Take care.”
The city of Vantis is located on Lookout, a bitterly cold tundra moon and base of operations for the Preluria Patrol. As your ship approaches, you’re contacted on the official channel. The planetary customs agents that pops on video wears the uniform of the Preluria Patrol. "Lookout Station Control to freighter Second Chance, you are approaching the orbital barrier of restricted space. Identify yourselves and state your purpose." The blue skinned humanoid pauses, eyes nearly rolling from boredom. "Yes, I can hear you. Now, let's not waste any cycles. State the full names of all crew members aboard and purpose of visit. Be specific, these forms don't fill themselves. Oh, and your estimated duration of stay." "Stand by for visual confirmation and clearance. And for your sake, ensure your transponder isn't broadcasting any … unauthorized signals. We take a dim view of unscheduled guests and their little surprises here on Lookout."
Akh grumbles something indistinct about fascist vigilantes obsessed with executing rules - and probably troublemakers too. He keeps up a mild array of negativity throughout the trip, rather convinced that both the Preluria Patrol and their mad doctor will be dangerous and untrustworthy. Once the group pops out of the Drift he comments "Well, if we're going to do this, we might as well start swinging the moment something looks fishy. Fighting most things that move, especially if they move suspiciously, has worked out well for us so far."
He waves across the video intercom at the Preluria Patrol agents, but stays quiet, counting on Guess or Melissa to charm their way past this obstacle.
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Guess? talks his way past the guard and you fly downwards. Tarika’s coordinates lead to a simple warehouse nestled in the middle of an industrial district on a blustery, frigid planet. Two thick metal doors with heavy-duty locks monitored by cameras allow entrance to the building, and the high windows are covered in steel shutters. Beside the warehouse, a loading dock and landing pad are encircled by a chain-link fence marked with a sign that reads Private Property in a dozen languages. Puffs of steam rise from vents on top of the building, and three little robots putter around outside–one scrubs the building exterior to a pristine white shine, a second clears snow off the fence, and a third shovels the sidewalk with a little built-in scoop. The city around the warehouse is dirty and dreary. Artificial sand has been scattered through the icy streets, providing traction for the heavy-duty trucks and other land vehicles driving the roads. Sandy snow is heaped on the side of the roads. Despite the bitter cold, workers and shoppers fill the streets, bundled up in winter gear; neighboring warehouses appear busy and well-used. A few are topped with holographic advertisements for Spacecops: Preluria!, the hottest show on the local infosphere. Looks like just the place for an illegal laboratory!
As you approach the warehouse, you see cameras on the building twitch to life and follow you. The entrance to the warehouse is locked. You knock once, to no answer. You knock a second time, and get a response from a scratchy tentative male voice. "U-uh, hello? Who's there? I, um, I wasn't expecting anyone. This is a, uh, private residence. Yes, very private. And, you see, I'm terribly busy with... important research. Legal research. Very legal. Highly sensitive stuff, you wouldn't understand. It requires absolute concentration, you see, and any... interruptions... could ruin everything. So, if you could just, perhaps, go on your way? There's really nothing for you here. Absolutely nothing. In fact, this whole area is, uh, condemned. Yes, very dangerous. Unstable structures and, you know, all sorts of... hazards. You wouldn't want to linger. Really, for your own safety, you should just move along. Please?"
Well, since we have you interrupted anyway, maybe you can come to the door and talk to us! We heard you make some meds that can really help people.
Jaraduk holds up his two empty hands to demonstrate a non-threatening presence to the camera.
"What do you mean legal? A very reasonable brenneri told us that this who region is basically lawless. So there's no laws to make something reasonable one way or the other. Not really worried about hazards in any case. And we've got business to do here. So you probably want to just let us in and talk." Akh speaks matter of factly. If the guy doesn't want to open the door, Akh is perfectly capable of purchasing things from him more aggressively.
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"Oh, HI. Down here. No. down. DoooOOWN. there we are. We're here to pick up some medicine for Eshrund? Fishbreath sent us. You don't have to stop what you're doing just let us know which crates we're taking to save peoples lives. The faster we load it up the more people are going to survive.We've got all day but the sick people? Not so much.... "
“Not our place to judge! We're just the drivers, amiright?”
Guess? smiles to himself as he hears Tarika beginning to speak a bit more goblin-like.
"We're just here to pick up some cargo. Nothing unusual. Quite boring actually..." Guess? provides our current aliases - if the rest of the crew is currently using their real names, then Guess? will use their real names. "And our stay will be short. Probably not more than a day. Standard pickup and departure."
"Heya doc, we know you don't like visitors. No worries, we don't want to impose.
"We're just here to pick up the meds, pay you what you're owed, and get those meds to the patients who need them. We know you've got good intentions towards all sentients. And like you, we're big on helping the needy and the helpless. When we heard of the good, selfless work you're doing here, we couldn't help but accept this delivery. I care... we care a lot.
"So if you'll let us in, we'll get the cargo out of your hair. And we're happy to follow all security protocols that you require. Just instruct us and we'll follow."
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Guess? really phones in the excuses to the planetary guard post... thankfully for him, phoning it in is all the guard needed.
“Not our place to judge! We're just the drivers, amiright?”Guess? smiles to himself as he hears Tarika beginning to speak a bit more goblin-like.
"Oh, well, if a reasonable brenneri said so..." The cameras pan down, past Jaraduk and Akh towards the shorter end of the party. "Oh, the medicine!? Yeah, you seem cool. Come on in. In order to unlock the door, place your thumbs on the doorknob. " After proving your identities, “ooh... Everyone’s after you, you know. They’re after me, too…” The sound of clicking locks and sliding bars follows, before the metal door swings open and Inside is a meticulously organized storage room. Dr. Gulm himself is a jumpy dromadap wearing a lab coat, latex gloves, and protective eyewear. After nervously greeting your crew, he gestures to a row of padded metal trolleys holding clearly labeled jugs of colorful liquid. "The trolleys", he instructs, "must be carted outside, then unloaded at the landing pad... I - I - I want my trolleys returned as soon as possible for decontamination." As he speaks the three drones move into the building from where they were cleaning outside. "By hand! Must be carried by hand, so fragile, so fragile." Although getting the trolleys outside must be done by hand, you're guessing it will take about an hour to move the cargo. As you move the trolleys, Dr. Gulm watches from a 'social distance'. "Robots! Spray disinfectant around and scrub every surface these... helpful folks... touch!" Outside, he hovers nearby, anxiously muttering, "Be careful! Please, be more careful..."
One hour into loading the medicine onto the ship, a bystander passing by the fence recognizes the crew, points at you, and shouts, “Hey, it’s them. The outlaws with the reward money!” Civilians gather, and a few even draw weapons, but only a pair of seasoned bounty hunters dare to clamber over the fence and try to claim the bounty!
The two heavily armed worlanisi move in quickly as you switch from space trucker mode to hardened mercenary mode. They burst over the fence, each casting arcane signals. One catches each of you in a slowing eddy. The second pulls a wall of fire into a circle around you. The flames, though not touching you, bake your armor.
Jaraduk jokingly spreads his arms wide, hoping that the drones hose him down too.
I could use a "decontamination!
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Whatever spell came at him, he shakes it off and glares at their aggressors.
Fight fire with... cold!
Jaraduk slings his grenade launcher off of his back, glides to the middle of the circle, and sends a cyro grenade II across the distance.
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Fires her thruster heels to boost her fly speed to 60
Spends 40 feet going 20 feet up over the wall (I'm going out on a limb here and assuming that a wall of fire is THE wall of fire), drawing the eels out
Flies 20 feet closer
Standard Get em and EEL
"Thats a ship full of medicine you gunk smeared worm drives! Try to kill us when we're not part of the plan to save a few thousand people! "
To both attackers
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"Hmmmmm..." Akh ponders in slow motion "I guess... we should do something about those people... though, maybe, first do something about this..." He taps his own forehead with a claw.
"Oh. That's better."
Feeling a bit shaken, Guess? fires at the yellow assassin!
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Guess? and Akh begin to feel the magical blanket envelop them and slow their muscles... until Akh's magitech claw pops the spell! Jaraduk and Melissa are able to land both shots but Guess?'s bullet ricochet's off their armored plating.
wubb-wubb-wubb-wubb An eddy of cosmic energy is pulled into reality by one of the mercenaries. "Medicine, eh? Not nearly as interesting as a fat bounty!" The energy pulls you towards the ground, threatening to crush you flat! Though the eddy continues to whirl, it seems like it's the first impact that was so harmful.
The second mercenary, frost crackling off his armor from Jaraduk's weapon, twists a battery in his hand. It flashes with magical fire and propels straight towards you! It blazes through the wall of fire before exploding in a massive blast.
Everyone is up! Round 2.
Melissa, 7 damage
Jaraduk, 4 damage
Akh, 3 damage
Guess?, 12 damage
Yellow Vorlath Mercenary, 43 damage, Staggered current round
Blue Vorlath Mercenary, 43 damage, Staggered current round