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"You see that?" Mahari whispers in the comms while pointing out into the fog. "There. There it is again," she says after a couple seconds. "It's those blue lights the Bliss' crew described. They're moving along with us, but not getting any closer."
Out of an abundance of caution, she draws her blaster into one hand. And out of an abundance of nerves, she flips her new switchblade knife open and closed with the other.
Mahari follows Teleemo up using her jet pack. Once he ties off the line, she stands guard over it to make sure no one and nothing messes with it.
Many of you are able to fly up easily through the fog towards the pillar faintly visible in the mist. With a set line, Kat and Azara are able to easily follow
Atop the rocky outcropping a golden pillar is set into the stone and rises upwards. At the pillar's base an access panel is visible; below it, two dark forms lie motionless under a thin layer of snow.
You barely have time to take that in though, as Kat, Nimh, and Azara notice an ominous rippling in the fog. There are large shapes in the mist: and they're moving towards you!
[spoiler=Perception]
The fog parts just for a moment to give a clear view of the creatures. Large beasts with six legs and two spiked tails, their torso rises into an upright chest with a reptilian snout and clawaed hands, almost like a monstrous crocodilian centaur. The creatures seem covered in scales that look and blend into the ice, and frigid pufts of air flow out of their snarling mouths.
Initiative (SURPRISE! round)
Kat, standard action
Nimh, standard action
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Kat thanks Teleemo for the assist in climbing and makes to pull her rifle back out. Her eyes catch the two frozen figures at the base of the beacon and her fears are realised, but she is drawn to the movement her Exocortex picks up in the mist.
Kat will draw her weapon.
She will raise her rifle, charge a powerful shot and fire at the hostile movement towards her team.
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Nimh looks the beasts over. They appear to be some sort of predator species, but even given the moon's cold atmosphere they seem exceptionally aligned to the elements. Likely their evolution has been influenced by a nearby connection to the Plane of water. The ysoki quickly theorizes that cold attacks will be useless against them - in fact their very breath looks dangerously frigid - though perhaps they are so cold-affiliated that fire might be extra effective. From their movements and ease following you they likely have fully adapted to see through fog as well - how annoying.
Kat also runs some tests: 'does shooting them in the face work?' Turns out it does, and her target roars in anger as electricity runs over it.
In response, the creature rears its head back and breaths out towards the android. And the cold breath moves through the air it freezes further before slamming into the mechanic with enough force it threatens to slow down her fluids and circuits!
for plus
The other beast scrambles its many legs to close with the rest of the party, jaws bared and claws sharp. As it moves, bright blue lights flash along its body from some bio-luminescent source.
Initiative (SURPRISE! round)
Azara, standard action
Nimh's shot also hits it target, the compressed sound cracking some of the creature's icy scales.
The rest of you begin getting ready and adrenaline pumping, but the moment's respite from the fog ends as the rocky outcropping is once again covered in thick mist.
Initiative
Teleemo
Kat 8/26 SP, need Fort save
Croaker
Nimh
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Well, here goes nothing.
Nimh moves a little ways keeping the pillar mostly between him and the Orange Creature. It would be a Guarded step if not for the difficult terrain.
He waits for the Attack of Opportunity, hoping the Pillar will provide some cover?
If the AOO doesn't come, he will cast Overheat around the side of the Pillar, avoid getting the pillar in the cone, but still getting the area where the creature was in the cone.
Even the experimenter, Nimh can't see exactly where his target is and test if it can see him. This hypothesis is proven correct as a sharp claws reaches through the mist and cuts deep into the ratfolk with seemingly little hesitation or difficulty.
for
The rat gets some revenge though, as a blast of fire burns away some of the fog ad gives him a satisfying look at the creature being quite effectively burned.
Initiative
Teleemo
Kat 8/26 SP, need Fort save
Croaker
Still Difficult Terrain, and thick fog
Kat waits for her moment, while Teleemo takes advantage of Nimh's small fog break to blast the beast with Acid. Croaker then cloud the creature's mind: just for a moment its leg-claws seems to lost some of their grip on the ice.
Of course it doesn't like that, and responds in kind. Croaker messed with its head, so it messes with his head by clawing you in the face. Blood is drawn before it steps back and is partially lost in the fog. [ooc]They seem to not be treating the ce or the mist as problems, the jerks.
for
Across the outcropping, a space nearby Mahari is struck by another freezing globule and you hearing movement out in the thick fog...
for
Initiative
Azara, photon 1
Mahari
Still Difficult Terrain, and thick fog
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"I'll finish this one. Go help the others with the other one. And keep your distance from me for the next 10 seconds. At least 10' of clearance!" Azara tells the Starfinders near him.
He doesn't follow the crocotaur into the mist, though. Instead, he activates the motion sensor function of his visor
He also activates his forcefield, a faint purple glow surrounding him.
Deciding to use her own means of getting out of sight, Mahari trudges along until she is able to see the large form of the other creature just ahead in the mist
The fog abruptly lessens once again, letting you see the predators once more (though somehow to the rest of you Mahari is gone -eaten perhaps)
Initiative
Teleemo
Kat 8/26 SP
Croaker 23/42 SP
Nimh 30/49 SP
Still Difficult Terrain
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Kat keeps her eyes down the barrel of her rifle, conscious of how much time has passed since her first shot and taking in the sounds of combat around her. Her rifle hums at maximum overcharged power as she scans for a target. As the fog dies off, she spots her the creatures again and locks in for a powerful shot.
Her Exocortex locks onto the first Croc she fired at.
Again Nimh's target manages to twist out of the way of the worst of thehis spell, but again it seems more damaged by the flames anyway. Meanwhile Kat's shot strikes her taret squarely, and moments after Croaker finishes his magic he's rewarded by a roar of pain and anger from the creature. It spits another cold icy blast at Kat before clambering further up the rocky outcropping
for
Meanwhile the other beast's sclaes still sizzle form the lingering acid as it slashes out at first Nimh (as the ratfolk moved), and then twice at Azara
for
for
for
Initiative
Azara, photon 2
Mahari
Still Difficult Terrain
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When the big critter focuses its attention on Kat, Mahari tries to slip the edge of her new switchblade into its right foreleg.
"Awww, thanks Croaker. That's sweet."
She'd make a little heart-hands to him if her hands weren't full of deadly weapons.
Having lost her invisibility, Mahari shifts her shoulder left like she's going head that way, but decides not to try moving and just shoots the big critter.
"But that raises a good point, Croaker. I need a code word to tell the team when I'm gonna disappear so they don't worry about me."
Mahari's blade it...well an attempt was made.
Her blaster skills are much better. So good in fact the squarely struck creature gives a final screech before slumping over and falling back down the rock, unmoving.
The remaining beast erupts into flash as Azara flares up.
And the fog remains clear leaving the badly hurt predator extremely exposed.
Initiative
Teleemo
Kat 0/26 SP, 25/34 HP
Croaker 23/42 SP
Nimh 11/49 SP
Still Difficult Terrain
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Kat watches as her target drops, and quickly turns to fire on the remaining threat before she takes any more damage.
There's an electrified crackle in the air as the rifle unleashes a powerful blast. There's almost a thunderclap as the blueish lightning from the rifle makes contact with the Croc, blackening the ground at it's feet.
And with yet another crack shot, Kat drops the last target.
Able to regroup, you have a moment to examine the pillar - and the two bodies slumped under the snow near it.
Even a cursory scan of the golden pillar shows it to indeed be a centuries-old nav Beacon. It contains a data package with navigational coordinates. A massively sized data package: there is heavy, HEAVY encryption on this thing, and the size of the encoded packet will take some time to download. the most effective way to get the transfer and store all of the data is likely to set it to transfer to your ship's computer and stay in near orbit until the data transfer is complete.
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Nimh will take a look at the Beacon, trying to figure out how to get the data out as quickly as possible, as this whole place is still making him nervous.
Get ready for trouble. Someone had modified this Beacon to send an extra message out into the Drift when the Beacon was activated. They were keeping an eye on this device.
Nimh gets the transfer to the ship started.
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"Thanks Croaker, That one stung. Good thing I an running winter weight oil, those icy blast might have gummed me right up." She moves her arm in a jerky, robotic movement "Oil can. Oil can."
She looks over at the bodies as Croaker works. "Just as I feared. What a way to go. I don't suppose there's any chance that data packet you discovered was their distress call?" Kat's security algorithms tell her no.
While she rests she wipes off her rifle, and checks over its function.
Nimh tries his best to disable the auxiliary program. Whoever installed it knew what they were doing though, and unfortunately the minor data packet is triggered and the techmage can see it has been sent out through the Drift.
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The jig is up. I couldn't stop the auxiliary message, so someone knows we are here. I have started downloading the Beacon's contents so we can decrypt it later, maybe even back on Absalom Station. It is a huge, heavily encrypted payload. We're going to have to keep the ship fairly close while the download completes. We can't leave orbit until the download is done.
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Azara nods at Croaker's suggestion. "Better to get back to the ship. If whoever is coming is coming from the surface they won't be able to get to us in space. If they're coming from space, I don't want to be sitting on the ground when they show up."
As he passes Nimh on the way down the crag, he gives the Ysoki a clap on the shoulder. "Good job getting the data out. We'll deal with the fall out together."
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Patched up and tired of being cold, you make your war back to the car and rig to traverse back to your ship. The trip back is smoother than the one out, and while more strange blue lights appear way off in the distance - signs of more of those strange lizard beings - they are coming nowhere close to you.
Mahari launches up the Sythe into a low orbit while Nimh watches the data's progress. Despite its age the beacon's transmitter is a powerful one and the transfer is going steady, if slower than you'd like.
After about thirty minutes post-liftoff your ship's scanners *ping* to show another starship approaching. Unlike before however this dot doesn't vanish: there is indeed another ship in the system on an approach vector towards you. Getting a read on it, its as though you're looking at your twin: it is a Crypt Warden-class Eoxian warship, the same model that the Bliss of Pursuit was shot down by.
The Sythe's comms ping as a hailing message reaches you. The video packet shows a skeletal female figure standing in the captains seat while several other undead move about their stations behind her. She speaks in a rasping voice
This is captain Inzevra of the Congregation of Perpetual Agonies. We were not informed of additional support scheduled for this system. Please identify yourselves.