Before
Jaraduk exhales in relief. He remarks to the auctioneer, encouragingly
Ah yes, very good. Twenty days sounds right! For a moment there I was concerned that your carefully crafted processes would be sidestepped! After all, kalistocrat has a "crat" in it, like bureaucrat! Well done.
He strokes his fake mustache.
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Jaraduk remarks to his friends A disruption of the auction. To scare off rival bidders or to delay it altogether and simply steal the ship? Hmm...
Louder, to the crowd he shouts
Stay calm! Our trained team will incapacitate the interlopers!
Keeep calm...
⇒
Akh draws himself upward, coiling until he's looming high over the ground-bound creatures nearby. "That's me. I'm part of the trained team." He slashes at the nihili with his claws, hoping to end it swiftly and open the way to what are probably more significant foes.
Del startles in surprise, then hesitates, torn between defending herself from undead and worrying that the strange undead might be warranted in their attack.
But her hesitation quickly turns to panic as she feels a sudden pressure on her throat.
Stuck in tight quarters, she punches the goblin with her cestus.
Then she carefully steps back toward the door.
"She's leaving the station by SHIP right....? "
Guess? shrugs indifferently.
Stuck in tight quarters, she punches the goblin with her cestus.
"OWW! Hey!!"
Several screams split the air as four small emaciated creatures of a variety of races explode from the vent, kicking its cover to the floor.
Guess? sighs, "This was supposed to be a fun, enjoyable day..."
Guess? scurries besides Del, drawing a weapon and firing that the undead goblin . "I find your lack of profit-driven motives disturbing."
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Before
The kalistocrat auctioneer also shrugs indifferently at Raithera's fate.
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The majority of you gasp as the familiar feeling of a Nihili's dark aura draws out your breath. Jaraduk pushes through only to feel a spider's legs massaging his soul. Just as a fog of confusion blankets his mind, a sharp pull on his tail brings him back to reality. Jaraduk snaps back to reality and punches the zombie through the broken faceplate, eliciting a sickly crunch of broken jawbone. Akh cuts down over Jarduk's head, lopping off one of the zombie's arms. Del stabs the goblin who is most annoying her at the moment - not Guess? for once. Guess? returns the favor by blowing the zombie's rotting brains out. Suddenly, the air tastes fresher again.
The yrgytchee at the back calls out to Melissa with anger. "And who owns those umbrellas? Who imports those umbrellas? It is not our job to make your day enjoyable!" The two wiggle their fingers and Melissa and Guess?'s legs twitch to a shifting gravity beneath them.
Another screeeeeeee bounces around the room as the spider shifts to the edge of the room. This time Akh feels a magical pressure clouding his mind!
Guess? SP 13/42, HP 37/37, RP 9/9, Off-Kilter
Melissa SP 30/43, HP 45/45, RP 9/9, Off-Kilter
Akh SP 88/88, HP 60/60, RP 8/8
Del SP 31/35, HP 39/39, RP 5/5
Jaraduk SP 51/56, HP 55/55, RP 9/9
Red Nihili 98 Damage
Pink Lovelorn 0 Damage
Yellow Yrgytchee 0 Damage
Blue Yrgytchee 0 Damage
With a moment of clarity, Jaraduk draws his doshko and advances on the spider.
Guess? takes a moment to grab the wall and right himself . Then fires at the spider!
The spell settles on Akh for a moment before his 'loyalty circuits' kick in and erase the affected portion of his brain. According to the Golden League engineers that added that feature to him decades ago, that's "no big deal" and "the memories will grow back". But to the Akh of today, that means forgetting what jellybeans taste like. Tragic.
Akh floats through the air until he's ominously close to the two yrgytchees (5-ft above the ground as long as there's space) and swipes at the one to the southeast. "You're in our way and probably not even part of the whole conspiracy here. Unless you are, in which case that's extra unfortunate for you."
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"OW what the hell you're shooting the INTERN. EVERYONE here has shoes that cost more than I've seen in my life! "
Ysoki are usually not bothered by zero G. to go off kilter. I don;t know if this effect is similar enough to count She is NOT happy with being shot though so...
"Alright GET EM. And if you value your unlives Surrender before you explode I can't use CPR to get you moving again"
+2 to hit and damage on all of em!
Melissa pulls out her thasteron blunderbuss and fires a bunch of paperclips at the offender. Let the office wars begin!
+2 if this zero g is subject to being ignored with moxie.
(Move draw standard shoot and getem swift hit the deck)
melissa is REALLY annoyed at the lack of class solidarity and plunks blue right in the face
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Jaraduk and Guess? rain pain on the spider, who is far tougher than it's size would evoke. Melissa, also used to the difficulties of a tough working environment, fuels her anger into the enemies. Akh keeps his own mind, or most of it, long enough to crack the anarchist yrgytchee with his whip. What a curse, to lose the memory of jellybeans on a station devoid of sugar. The yrgytchees swing their rifles up without hesitation. "You are a part of their machine! You are the machine!" A spray of bullets bounce off Akh's chest.
The spider shuffles away from Jaraduk, hops onto a golden bowl holding fruit. That shining bowl has to be worth a year's pay at your old EJ corp jobs; with a whisper in an eldritch tongue it disappears under the lovelorn's touch. At the same time, a scratch comes from behind you! The nihili's torso floats up into the air, entrails hanging below. The re-reanimated goblin looks different but just as hungry for blood. Del immediately recognizes it as a Shredskin, an undead whose claws and grip are equally deadly.
Guess? SP 13/42, HP 37/37, RP 9/9
Melissa SP 30/43, HP 45/45, RP 9/9
Akh SP 88/88, HP 60/60, RP 8/8, Off-Kilter
Del x2 SP 31/35, HP 39/39, RP 5/5
Jaraduk SP 51/56, HP 55/55, RP 9/9
Red Nihili 98 Damage
Red Shredskin 0 Damage
Pink Lovelorn 37 Damage
Yellow Yrgytchee 0 Damage
Blue Yrgytchee 32 Damage
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"There are bigger gears you can shoot! "
Spend a resolve point "alright get em all!"
Melissa CHUNKCHUNKS some more paperclips into the barrel "I got your class solidarity right here..." and shoots the blue Yrgytchee
On a hit make a dc 17 reflex save... which I forgot about last time because AI didn't see what happens when a shotgun blast knocks you into a wall.. it trips you.
Jaraduk starts feeling backed into a corner as the spider shuffles away. He takes his shot at it as it skitters.
Guess? fires again at the spider!
Akh doesn't bother stabilizing when there's Melissa urging him on! He claws swiftly at the blue Yrgy, his claws glowing with disintegrating energy. "Yes? I'm a machine. I hope that's not a revelation, or you might want to get your eyes checked."
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Melissa follows up Akh's quick claws, "tripping" the man into unconsciousness. Jaraduk uses his doshko to nearly split the lovelorn in half. As it dies, the shadows in the room seem to lighten. The Yrgytchee looks up, face aghast. "No, YOU'RE not the machine! Well, you are. Well... it's a regular crime! Not a hate crime!" He huffs in frustration and shoots Akh twice. Both bullets bounce off harmlessly.
In the back of the room, the shredded goblin torso lunged at Jaraduk and wraps its arms around the nuar! The claws dig into Jaraduk's back and pin his arms to his sides!
Guess? SP 13/42, HP 37/37, RP 9/9
Melissa SP 30/43, HP 45/45, RP 9/9
Akh SP 88/88, HP 60/60, RP 8/8
Del x2 SP 31/35, HP 39/39, RP 5/5
Jaraduk SP 36/56, HP 55/55, RP 9/9 Pinned
Red Nihili 98 Damage
Pink Lovelorn 78 Damage
Blue Yrgytchee 68 Damage
Yellow Yrgytchee 41 Damage
Red Shredskin 26 Damage
Jaraduk grumbles audibly at getting pinned.
Can't we just hack at each other like civilized combatants?
Guess? fires at the shredskin, yelling, "Gunna shred yer skin!"
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Though the twice-undead creature maintains it's grip on Jaraduk, under the hail of fire the Shredskin explodes in an absolutely disgusting splash of gore!
Akh doesn't have mercy to spare for yet more weirdos targeting the group during this already nightmarish job, and so lays into the last foe with his claws without holding back.
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squish, tear, rip
The second Yrgytchee sinks down to the floor. You look around at the gory mess that now fills the room, then suddenly the air is filled with clapping! Kalistocrats stand in the auction room, applauding. "Our heroes!" The executive assistant slash auctioneer steps up and pulls you aside. "Thank you so much for defending us today. This event truly is evented by Kalistrade. Here, a few of the preliminary auction items were not purchased by their winning bidders. Take them, with my thanks."
She hands you a mk 1 magic resistor armor upgrade, a ring of counterspells, and a credstick with 3750 credits on it. You surreptitiously check out the two fallen anarchists, each of which has a meager collection of gear that Melissa can't resist pointing out is similar to when you were starting out. Each has a d-suit I, tactical starknife, and a thunderstrike sonic rifle with 1 high-capacity battery. Station security comes in a few minutes late - calming the guests, removing the bodies, and "checking for dangers".
After a few minutes, the auction attendees settle back in the bidding room seats as Jennera the auctioneer takes the lectern once more. Smoothing stray bits of hair back into place, she smiles at the audience. “Now that that bit of excitement is over with, how about another round of applause for those who dealt with our undead incursion so handily?” Appreciative applause fills the chamber. When it dies down, Jennera says, “Without further ado, on to the main event: the commerce barge, White Wind! Guests, begin your bidding!” You look around, noticing that several of your identified auction rivals have left during the intermission, while others are far more interested in their seat neighbors than the auction. However, there are others in the room - including Del's sister. While these other bidders have significantly less funds than the rivals and not nearly enough to win if this was a fair fight, that doesn't mean they won't try.
Bidder: To bid on an item, the bidder must attempt a check against the item’s Bid DC with a bonus equal to their initiative modifier plus their Wisdom modifier. Any abilities that aid skill checks, such as a biohacker’s basic booster, can be used for this check.
Analyst: The analyst keeps an eye on the competition, figuring out their strategies and forestalling any gambits against the PCs. The analyst uses Sense Motive for their checks.
Distraction: The distraction mingles with the crowd, striking up conversations with rival bidders and using other ploys to prevent bids from being made in time. The distraction uses Bluff for their checks.
Hacker: The hacker can interfere with others’ bids to ensure they arrive at the central auction computer just a bit after the time cutoff. The hacker uses Computers for their checks.
Observer: The observer identifies likely rivals in the crowd, allowing the other members of the group to quickly hone in on their targets. The observer uses Perception for their checks.
Persuader: The persuader approaches other bidders and encourages or threatens them to stop bidding and save their credits for something else. The persuader uses Intimidate for their checks.
The auctioneer begins to call out numbers in quick succession as kalistocrats around the room begin to raise their paddles and the bidding war begins. No pressure or anything, it's just wealth beyond your wildest dreams!
Guess? concentrates intensely, going into a trance-like zone as he hyper-focuses on the bidding and all rival bidders - whether they be small-time rivals or bidders trying to appear as a high-roller.
One nagging loose end comes to mind that he regrets not investigating more deeply. Could it be possible that Eline will change her mind and bid after all? Guess? pushes the thought out of this mind. Too late to do anything about it now and pure focus is needed here and now.
Needless to say, Guess? REALLY wants to win this.
Del feels super out of place at the auction, but tries her best to distract the other potential bidders and be generally annoying.
Akh mingles with the other major bidders, hovering his porcelain bulk just over everyone's heads... ominously.
Jaraduk observes again.
Should I go distract Eline, or convince her she has other places to be?
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Jaraduk, a little awkward in his holographic disguise, is unable to see what Eline is thinking. Del and Akh make a fantastic duo, each supporting Guess? alongside Melissa. Several others compete against your group, and the bid goes up higher and higher. They fall off one by one, starting with those whose bids are clearly higher than those in discount robes can afford. The bidding climbs all the way to one and a half million credits, then a few tense seconds pass. "One point five going once... One point five going twice..." But then, from out of nowhere, a pristine and lightly regal voice cuts through the room. "I sense some hesitation from my so called peers in the room. 2 million." You turn and Eline's eyes are not on the auctioneer but piercing into "Estriar". "Only the worthy can succeed, yes?" With that, several more bidders re-enter the fray and paddles begin to raise again.
"Reisora!", Guess? half curses under his breath as Guess? returns the piercing stare straight at Eline.
"But of course," Guess? retorts. "Only the worthy shall succeed."
But it appears Eline has thrown Guess? off his game.
Akh feels his "unpleasant twist" sensors pinging as he continues to look for nervous looking people to intimidate. He briefly considers whether the twist could be averted by just accidentally swallowing Eline while she's busy throwing puppy eyes at Estriar.
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Despite the best efforts of the group, they are not enough to dissuade the other bidders from following Eline's encouragements. Thrown off by this twist, Guess?'s bids don't make an impact on the energy of the group. Those who hesitates at one and a half million credits now eagerly bid well above two million. Eline, satisfied with her efforts, leans back into her seat and refocuses on her datapad.
Guess? grits his teeth, seething at Eline's obvious disinterest in the auction. She's just trying to drive the price up and screw with us... grrrr....
Guess? refocuses, going into the zone and proceeds with the bidding...
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Melissa decides to give Eline something more interesting to worry about and sends her the data from her last round of last chance experiments.
Filled the area with water. Increased the power from 80 to 100 jigawatz. Area DECREASED in size by 3 cubic meters. Water expressed violently out of the tube and broke the flow meter and embedded it in the wall opposite. further tests awaiting the printing of a new flow meter....
Advised: redundant power attenuators and a VERY large sticker about voiding warranties if you mess with this part.
That data is real, but she will of course send it off the deep space recievers to make it look like the sender is still tripping the drift somewhere, not sitting under her chair as there's standing room for a ysoki down there.
17's good popping the envoy die
reroll
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Akh continues to run interference, this time idly commenting on how much empty space there is inside him for snacks.
Jaraduk would like to hold the flashlight to help while the others accomplish bidding (wait, that doesn't make sense!)
Maybe he figures out what other bidder could be trouble?
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"SOLD! To Estriar!"
The combination of the group distracting and demoralizing the smaller opponents along with Estriar's fierce bidding tactics wins you the day! The bids begin to slow, and the auctioneer call out, "Going once, going twice, SOLD! To Estriar!" The auctioneer's smile is as large as Akh's favorite brand of cotton candy. "Please, come up to the podium!" Your group heads up. The auctioneer taps her datapad to Guess?'s, to exchange your massive fund of 3.1 million credits for the access key to the barge. Melissa successfully triggers the targeted EMP, cutting the signal just after it is sent to the bank. Seeing no error appear, the auctioneer authorized the key. A soft ding! announces its arrival in your possession. “Sorry to disturb,” a mysterious man's voice comes over the comm and you realize it's the male verthani spy. “But you may wish to wrap this up. That magisterial blonde woman with the impressive hat who spoke up during the auction? I recognize that glint in her eyes: illusion refractor. She can see right through your holoskin. Can’t fathom why they declassified that one — anyway. Move. We’ll try to slow your pursuers.” Just then, a shout echoes from the back of the room. “That’s not Estriar!” Eline calls, pointing to the stage. “Those people are frauds trying to steal the White Wind! A bunch of ship thieves if I've ever seen one! Seize them!” Eline’s eyes sweep over the group, landing on Del. "Sister, sister..." she says in a low voice. "Never knew when to stay in bounds..." Her accusation results in confusion, creating an uproar as the other auction attendees stand up and begin shouting. It seems you have an opening to escape! Fortunately, there’s no quick way to revoke the access key granted, so the Kalistocrats can’t stop you from escaping on the barge — but you have to get to it first!
Three security robots block the door leading out of the bidding room. In unison, they raise their arms and say, “Stand down and submit to investigation.” Meanwhile, a second squad of robots clanks its way towards the door, but a grenade rolls under the feet of the confused crowd and explodes with a burst of shocking electromagnetic energy, causing the first group of robots to stagger and freeze in place. You see that a verthani woman has thrown an EMP grenade at the first wave of robots. Her voice hisses over the comms. “Good luck! Those other three are all yours. Don't forget to send us what's ours when you're flying off into the sunset.”
In the chaos of the room, you see Eline sink back into the crowd, smirking all the way.
Guess? smiles inwardly as the auction is announced in Estriar's favor. Telepathically, Guess? intrudes into each of his crewmates' brains, gleefully declaring, 'We're rich! Time to retire to a private moon in some quiet corner of the galaxy! At least until it's time to put our next wealth-building, resource-exploiting plan into action! Earning the first trillion creds is hard! The next hundred trillion will be child's play! Trust me! Who's got your back? Guess?!?'
But once Eline blows the whistle on our group of heroes, Guess? mutters an all-too-familiar word whenever the team's plans go awry. BUT this time, that single word is broadcast directly into each teammate's head: 'gobbammit!'
“A bunch of ship thieves if I've ever seen one!”
'Still... She ain't wrong...'
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"I told you relying on holograms was a bad idea...You still smell like pickles by the way. I bet she just doesn't bother to tell one ysoki from another."
Those people are frauds trying to steal the White Wind!
Well if she's going to be THAT mean....
"We're trying to Reisora it, thank you. we could have given you the other ship back if we had this one by the way... "
Melissa reaches into her eel woven picinick basket and takes out the eel launcher , leaning back and wraping her tail around the chair as she fires the gun nearly as big as she is "Say hello to my little friends...."
CTHUNKTHUNK
Get em all!
Electric to Orange and red
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Del stammers for a moment, looking absolutely flabbergasted. She contemplates denying it, but instead, she mostly just feels her heart shatter a little bit more. Instead, she mouths 'love you' at her sister, and turns away, ignoring the tears welling up in her eyes. With a wave of her hand she sends a pulse of magic at the guards in their way, slowing their reactions and speed. Then she books it toward the exit.
Oh WHOOPS did not see i wasn't up yet.
"The only surprise here is how long it took this very obviously bad plan to fall apart. Del's sister probably spotted who we were a while ago." Akh utters impassively as he turns to face the security droids "I guess she wanted it to be very theatrical. If I was her I would have poisoned the tea instead."
He sweeps forward, hovering 5 feet above the ground, and claws at the black droid.
Jaraduk advances, drawing his doshko and slamming it down at the first foe he can reach.
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"Reisora it? No, we are not making that a thing!" The near-quote of Del would be funny, if you couldn't see the heartbreak on her face. In response to Del's heartfelt outreach Eline simply raises her eyebrows, purses her lips slightly, and cocks her head to the side before fading back into the crowd. "You're not getting away this time..."
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Del masterfully targets the robot's weak minds, catching them all in her spell. They immediately slow, as if they're moving through custard. Akh's disappointment (happiness?) at being proved right results in a sloppy slash, but it is still enough to knock some valuable jewels off the security robot. Jaraduk comes from the other direction, slamming his monster axe into a robot's chest. "D-D-DANGER IDENTIFIED" One of the robots steps forward, taking slow deliberate steps. The central robot flexes it's arms backwards and then twitches twice. "GEM SHARDS... UNAVAILABLE... MAGICAL INTERFERENCE." It and the third robot both throw themselves towards you!
Del sidesteps the move, while Jaraduk is too busy with the follow-through on his swing and tanks the blow. The crowd continues to surge around you, with those at the back of the group pushing towards the exit and those at the front fleeing your violence.
Guess? SP 13/42, HP 37/37, RP 9/9
Melissa SP 30/43, HP 45/45, RP 9/9
Akh SP 88/88, HP 60/60, RP 8/8
Del SP 31/35, HP 39/39, RP 5/5
Jaraduk SP 36/56, HP 55/55, RP 9/9
Black Luminant 19 Damage
Orange Luminant 21 Damage
Red Luminant 0 Damage
As they slow in front of him, Jaraduk pauses to place his next strike just right.
Whump! The doshko slams into its stomach.
"Reisora it? No, we are not making that a thing!"
Avoiding Del's gaze, Guess? retorts with a wink, "Oh it already is! And I think now it also means 'to backstab'!"
When the bots shed jewels to the ground, Guess? pauses a moment, unsure of what to do, but ultimately decides to draw his weapon and fire at orange instead of collect gems.
But Guess? is distracted, half-staring at the jewels rather than fully focused on the robots.