The two dwarves spring into action!
Gus shoots Red, causing the red bug to chitter! Grognard shoots at Blue and Yellow, but only hits Yellow with some sonic damage.
Grognard remembers these creatures are swarm dredgers, but does not recall much other than they were immune to acid.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Gold Gus
Triage
Nuva'gek
Grognard
Naitier
Swarm
Blue
Red (-6)
Yellow (-3)
Jek
Click. Whirr.
Nuva'gek moves forward, draws his hammer and attacks the red bug.
Alas, Nuva's hammer just barely misses the red bug!
It's time for team swarm!
Red claws at Nuva and atttempts to attach to the android.
The bug misses Nuva, but grabs tight to the struggling android.
Yellow attacks Grognard!
However, Yellow cannot harm the crusty dwarf!
Blue attacks Naitier!
The blue bug slashes Naitier for maximum damage!
The android, finding himself firmly attached, kicks the red bug in the face again, but the bug doesn't seem to have noticed.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Gold Gus
Triage
Nuva'gek
Grognard
Naitier (-9)
Swarm
Blue
Red (-6)
Yellow (-3)
Jek
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As the simulation rezzes around Jekcedo, Jek's heart all most stops childhood memories of the evacuation of Suskillon flood Jerk's mind. Jek yells out in his mind soo loudly that telepathing vibrations of it reach everyone on the team. Inglourious Pronkers! of all the options they picked the swarm.
Jek talking to them self tries to get back under control, "you can do this it's why you trained to be a battle medic." Until recently when Jek encountered undead for the first time, the only creature Jek was willing to harm on sight was the swarm. Jek's head clears realizing the rest of the team has already moved into action without Jek. Remembering that the swarm was only pushed back after the Vesk joined sides with the Pactworlds in the fight, Jek runs up to support Nuva'gek on the front line, also hoping to help the android before it's too late.
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Naitier flinches at the blow hits them. They stagger back a few feet to gain a moment of freedom. "I do not know how hard the swarm struck, but the pain of the blows feels remarkably accurate."
Wincing at they build up a spike of energy, Naitier struggles to remain up as they say, "that likely means this spell will be no less painful to cast within this simulation."
The copaxi nearly falls as they bolt of force flies out. A familiar, fiery aura surrounds them as the retributive damage of their magic takes a toll.
Jekcedo double-moves. Naitier casts soul surge on Blue, and the attack hits so hard that Blue dissolves into a pixellated mist. Meanwhile, Grognard yelled something so incomprehensible that his translator gave up on even trying to interpret it. Still his sonic attack on Yellow hits true.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Gold Gus
Triage
Nuva'gek
Grognard
Naitier (-12)
Swarm
Blue (DEAD)
Red (-6)
Yellow (-7)
Jek
Nuva swings his hammer and hits Red!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Gold Gus
Triage
Nuva'gek
Grognard
Naitier (-12)
Swarm
Blue (DEAD)
Red (-11)
Yellow (-7)
Jek
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Triage takes a second to look at the creature and attempt to identify them.
For just a moment, he's launched back into a memory of fighting creatures just like this on the edge of the Veskarium. He is desperately trying to get his comrades out as the swarm descended on their location, but then the elf shakes his head to focus on the fight at hand. He breathes deep to steady his hand, and then fires.
Triage remembers that swarm remnants can reroll saves when they are within thirty feet of another swarm remnant. He shoots an inhibitor, which inhibits Red even more than Triage planned. The Red bug explodes in a burst of pixels!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Gold Gus
Triage
Nuva'gek
Grognard
Naitier (-12)
Swarm
Blue (DEAD)
Red (DEAD)
Yellow (-7)
Jek
Alas, Gus misses with both shots, and the surviving Yellow bug does a victory dance! The swarm dredger triggers an Attack of Opportunity from Donkey as it advances on Jek!
Much to Donkey's disappointment, the yellow bug pixilates in his mouth as he bites down, dissolving into bits of data code that explode and disappear!
The android gets himself off the ground, and scans himself for damage. "No damage?" He's puzzled for a moment, and then bows to Naitier. "But you've been damaged protecting me!"
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Seeing that the battle has ended Jek looks around seeing that only Naitier looks injured. You OK Naitier? I got some Serum of healing, MK1 if you need them.
After dealing with Naitier Jek turns to the Android and introduces themself. I am Jekcedo good to see you escaped unharmed, have you seen any other swarm in the area? Did you see where these swarm came from?
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The copaxi moves slowly to avoid exacerbating their wounds. They respond as they look about the simulation, "yes, but it is a common result of my battles. Nothing magic or a med kit shouldn't be able to resolve in a few minutes."
Looking toward the android Naitier tries to recall if they were anyone they were familiar with as they asked, "it is good though you weren't injured. Who are you?"
"Well met, Jekcedo and...?" the android pauses for Naitier to introduce themself. "I'm..." the android pauses in thought. “I suppose you could say I am one who hasn’t yet lost hope.” He gives an introspective smile. “Call me Hope-01. That name is fitting.”
The android furrows in thought. "Still, I’m pleased you came along to take care of those...” Digital code flashes before him for a second before he answers his unspoken question. “Ah, yes. Swarm. I think they were part of the training module but...” he studies his wrist comm. "...the corruption is affecting everything now."
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Triage swallows hard in an attempt to regain his composure. He slowly holsters his gun and quickly goes to work assessing the team. He gets to Naitier first. The elf is unusually silent as he gets to work.
Triage is completely off his game. He manages to staunch the... bleeding? from Naitier, but the wounds need more work than Triage is able to provide in this moment.
Hope-01 squints at his scanner. “Wait, reading now. Ah, they were supposed to attack you, but they found me instead. To some degree I could say that I am a simulation. But no, I am not part of this training module. I suppose one could consider me a lucky byproduct—an extra piece of code."
Then he blanches. “But back to the corruption... Malicious code has infected Guidance, causing a corruption of this simulation and everything else in Guidance’s system folders. I can only assume I was taken along for the ride. I’m as trapped here as you are.”
Hope-01 bits his lip. "Perhaps. But there are other pressing issues here beyond one small accidental consciousness." He gestures to the surrounding forest. “If you look around at the forest, you will see that several leaves, tree trunks, and blades of grass are either losing their raster imaging or breaking down and decompiling altogether. Soon only voxels will remain until full shutdown. Guidance loses data by the moment. If we don’t purge the malicious code, the corruption will destroy Guidance. I suspect we will not like what remains.”
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Responding to Jek, Naitier tries retain their composure as they say, "I have a sufficient idea of the strain my body can take and I'm near my limit. Even still hold onto your serums for now, I have some of my own for just this occasion, unless the simulation glitched them away as well."
Naitier gives Triage time to attempt to mend the wounds and is thankful. "My apologies, it seems as though my echoes of my magical spells always are hard to tend to. That is a possible encouragement for me to adapt and change myself to remove these abilities from my body."
"It might be a good time for me to employ my healing touch and see how well my body has adapted to channeling those energies."
Returning to Hope-01, the copaxi provides an introduction while taking a need to rest and heal, "I'm Naitier. I haven't been with the Society long and cannot recall any time I've spent within the simulation."
Showing concern by the mounting dangers that Hope-01 is indicating, Naitier's mind wanders and nearly loses focus on their magic for a moment before recollecting their bearing. "Is there anyone outside the simulation that we can coordinate with to stop the degradation? Same for us in here, I'm not familiar with code, but is there any way we can even just delay the data loss?"
"My comm unit theoretically could call someone outside the simulation... but nothing in this simulation is communicating with the outside right now. I guess you could say we have no signal." Hope-01 considers his surroundings. “This simulation has about 48 seconds before the system announces an imminent shutdown. To leave, allow the simulation to end. But if you choose this course—if you leave the system—I’m afraid there will be no way to save Guidance or repair the Lorespire Network.”
"You'd be safe, though." He pauses. "At least, I think you would be safe."
“As for saving Guidance... That’s a bit difficult, I’m afraid. From my understanding, the digital attack is targeting Guidance’s core processing centers. We’d have to ride the wave of corruption to get there and stop the malware’s ability to corrupt Guidance’s core programming. There’s no telling what this means for you, considering your consciousnesses are tourists here. But I imagine there could be some degradation if the server resets and you are still stuck in the simulation—or worse, you could be corrupted by the malware. Suffice to say, if you do resolve to cleanse this system, both the corruption and Guidance’s own intrusion countermeasures will see you as a threat. So... will you stay and fight, or leave while you can?”
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"I cannot speak to the others, and I am unable to speak to my opinion on this in a few weeks, but as of now I'm prepared for danger and risk each time I tap into the magical potential." Naitier pauses for a moment to evaluate their own wounds and take stock of their ability to continue through this simulation.
After a few moments they continue, "while I encourage retreat when the odds are overwhelming, I am against leave right now, when we have a chance to help stop this failure. I will stay and fight."
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I'm with you Naitier, I'll stay to see this out. Who or whatever caused this malware attack on Guidance probably didn't plan on us being trapped in here, that could give us an advantage. We might still be in a simulation but the battle just turned very real. Jek pauses and looks to be in deep thought. Now the big question is, how do we fight Malicious code from the inside? Can't say I've trained for that one.
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"I dinnae ken what the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] yer talkin aboot... but they warent sae bad nae. Ah ken we can go another roound."
He looks over at Donkey for confirmation, and after her grunt he turns back and nods.
He checks his simulated pockets for any surprises, then Donkey's saddle bags.
"Nah like ah had nay other plans taday."
The interpreter finally catches up.
<Unknown what the mating ritual you speak. They were not entirely bad. Can venture towards another circle. No additional items contained on itinerary for present day.>
He groans and motions with his thumb toward the translator.
"I dinnae ken what the [EXPLETIVE DELETED] is talkin aboot either..."
Guidance's voice speaks, "The network has been compromised. Malicious code detected. Shutdown due to corruption is imminent.”
“That's our cue. Ready to go save Guidance?” Hope-01 cracks his knuckles as if he were something other than a digital facsimile and smiles at the Starfinders. With a wave of Hope-01's arm, the simulation changes, transitioning from the open-air forest clearing to a dark museum. Unlike Guidance's digital realism, the programming for this museum is impressionistic, as if made by a different digital artist attempting to push their own artistic flair into the code.
The museum's interior is clad in rich wooden features, then the dark polished surfaces of a marble temple, then the sleek steel of a high-tech archive, then the bombed-out remains of a building covered in a thick layer of dust. No matter the appearance of the museum, the exhibits remain unchanged. With a low whistle, Hope-01 gives an appraising look around. “Well, someone took some artistic license here.”
Along each wall of the entry hall, four plinths are arrayed with nameplates at their base. Two plinths are empty, one plinth contains a blue button in place of a nameplate, and the remaining five plinths hold twelve-foot-tall statues of various androids. Each statue is in a state of disrepair, as if the graphics have not finished compiling the data or the memories the statues are built on were damaged. In the center of the room, a much larger statue of an android looms over the others. This statue has no nameplate but remains illuminated even in the darkest incarnations of the room's rendering.
What do you do in this room?
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“I do not really see any other options. We have to continue onward to keep Guidance, and the society, safe.”
—————
Triage starts to carefully inspect Hope-01’s frame, and then the rest of the team. He is specifically on the look out for anything the malice code may be doing to our bodies while inside the simulation.
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Jekcedo takes a look to see if any of the nameplates are readable. Seeing that the largest statue has no nameplate, Jekcedo studies it closely to see if it looks familiar. Looking up at the statue Jek says, "I wonder who this might be?"
Pointing up at the statue and then looking over to Hope-01 "Hope-01 is this you?"
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Gus sighs as he puts away his nanite rifle, feeling overwhelmed. "I wish I studied more about computer coding when I had the chance."
As he observes the museum around him, he stops upon noticing the blue button. Glancing around the plinth it's set in, he tries to spot any mechanism it might be tied to. "What's this button do, I wonder...?" Gus ponders aloud.
"Is that me?" Hope asks. The museum continues to flux, shifting from the warm wooden manor to the hyper-modern archive with mirrored walls. Hope-01 stares for a surprised second at his own reflection. "Huh. It's... not me. But the resemblance makes sense. I'm part of his code."
"I'm not sure what the button does. Maybe it's part of a display mechanism, telling the story of this museum?" Hope-01 kneels down as he points at the computer at the base of the Historia-Prime statue. "However, I think I know what this does. This part of the corrupting code houses the most accessible part of the program. The computer terminal is a graphic representation of that access, but it functions like a normal secured computer terminal."
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"I'm uncertain how we might do that. Although accessing the terminal is within our abilities, at least I mean Triage's skill."
Naitier looks at the plinths and reads off the engravings as they appraise themselve of the new environment.
"I will take a few minutes to recover as you explore this place. Given the moment of time I should be healthy once more."
After tending to most of their wounds over several minutes, and a wary examination, Naitier would press the button to see what the narration that might occurs.
Naitier takes a few minutes and recovers their stamina. As Jek approaches one of the statues to repair it, it suddenly attacks in a surprise round!
The Historia-2 statue says in a calm, cold voice: “Focus. Our Society deserves perfection. Any less is unacceptable.”
Hope-01 asks, "Do you want me to assist you with the battle, or access the computer? The computer has data we need. So one of us should try to hack it." He points towards the console by the central plinth.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Nuva'Gek
Naitier
Cyber Historia
Jekcedo
Gold Gus
Grognard
Triage-347
Hope-01
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"Jek, Nuva'gek calls out racing to his companion, unclipping his pistol.
Drawing the pistol, he lets off his Opening Volley before crashing in to the statue bringing his Assault Hammer to bear.
Gritting his teeth and snarling, he says to Jek "Pull back!
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Naitier staggers a bit seeing the heavy blow and tries to quickly respond to Hope-01, "I would leave that to Triage. Triage, can you access the computer or do you want Hope-01 to take charge of that?"
Drawing pistol and firing at the statue Naitier comments, "I wish that being within the simulation gave me more insight into the inner workings of the computers!"
Nuva hits, but Naitier's shot goes wide.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
“Focus!" The cyber Historia-2 says, slamming at Nuva'gek.
"Our Society deserves perfection. Anything less is unacceptable."
The Historia-2 hits Nuva'gek once and then misses.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Hope-01 nods to Triage. "If you'll handle the console, then I'll help!" He turns to Jek. "Take heart, Jek! That was just a flesh wound!"
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Nuva'Gek (-13)
Naitier
Cyber Historia (-3)
Jekcedo (-7)
Gold Gus
Grognard
Triage-347
Hope-01
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"Perfection? Ah dornt loch th' soond ay 'at. Ah doobt Ah meit yer standard an' eh'd loch tae keep mah heed if it's aw th' sam tae ye."
Donkey and Grognard move forward, the translator barking as it bounces along.
<Perfection. Sound is displeasing. Uncertainty of standard. Preference: retain head.>
Grognard pulls out his rifle and takes aim at Historia-2 while Donkey takes to the other flank and waits for an opening.
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OUCH! Jekcedo looks surprised at the statue's sudden attack. "Don't think it wants fixing." Seeing Nuva'gek jump in and take damage saving Jekcedo from a likely fatal blow, Jek moves behind Nuva'gek to heal. "Thanks Nuva'gek, I got your back." Jeck cast Mystic Cure on Nuva'gek.
School conjuration (healing)
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range touch
Targets one living creature
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Will half (harmless); Spell Resistance yes
(harmless)
With a touch, you heal and invigorate your target, restoring a
number of Hit Points. If the target regains all of its Hit Points as
a result of this healing, you can apply the remaining healing to
yourself, as long as you are a living creature. On the other hand,
if this isn’t enough to restore all the target’s Hit Points, you can
transfer any number of your own Hit Points to the target, healing
the target that amount. You can’t transfer more Hit Points than
you have or more Hit Points than the target is missing.
Mystic cure restores a number of Hit Points to your target
depending on the spell’s level.
1st: 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier
Casting this spell doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
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"If this is how the Society offered training in the past, then I'm glad they have seen dramatic improvements since then."
Naitier moves to get a clear shot and continues to lay fire down on the historical construct simulation.
Wary of devastating blows the construct is dealing out, Naitier readies their magic. "Once I can get a clear shot, I will hit it with my magical bolt."
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Grognard pulls out his fires wildly, taking out a chunk of wall. Jek gets to retcon his action. Naitier fires at the Cyber Historia doing four electric damage.
Meanwhile, Triage-347 hacks the computer!
As he approaches, a masculine disembodied voice fills the room. “I am not cruel. I saved them. Every last one of them is preserved forever in the archives of my memory. I am a custodian, not a destroyer.”
Triage expertly navigates the system, and uncovers data that shows how the program will attack and destroy Guidance from within if left unchecked. He also determines that performing a manual reboot from within the system before the infection takes hold would purge Guidance of the corruption. In addition he learns that this attack, along with the other Data Scourge attacks, are all the result of the same being: Historia-Prime. The image this name brings up on the terminal is identical to the statue above it.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Nuva'Gek (-13)
Naitier
Cyber Historia (-7)
Jekcedo (-7)
Gold Gus
Grognard
Triage-347
Hope-01
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he falls to one knee after taking the strike from the giant statue. "This thing hits harder than a Pegasus full of rockets, thanks for the top up Jek." he nods as he claws his way back to his feet.
Nuva'gek quickly glances around the room ( ) "Hopefully none of these other buggers attack..."
Focusing back on Cyber Historia, he growls and unleases a thundorous shot from his Assault Hammer.
"I'll do my best to hold it off, but don't take all day"
Jek heals. Gus does harrying fire. Nuva'gek slices the Cyber Historia!
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Then it is the Cyber Historia's turn. It jerks in alarm as Triage accesses the console, and moves rapidly away from Nuva'gek, triggering an attack of opportunity.
"FOCUS!" Cyber Historia-2 unleashes its eyebeam attack on Triage!
"The society demands perfect--"
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Hope shouts over the rest of Historia-2's speech. "You're perfect the way you are!"
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Nuva'Gek (-9)
Naitier
Cyber Historia (-22)
Jekcedo (-2)
Gold Gus
Grognard
Triage-347
Hope-01
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"I'm not certain about organizational roles within the Society, but corrupting Guidance places you far from custodian." With the path clear Naitier focuses and readies their body as they draw from their own vitality in summoning a shimmering spike of force. "I may not have perfection, but I give as of myself to the Society as I'm able. Let me demonstrate!"
Staggering a bit from the amount of energy put into the blow, Naitier stumbles forward as they close the distance between themselves and Cyber Historia. Naitier puts the digital recreation of Historia-2 right in range of the aura of heat around themselves.
The copaxi still wavers a bit faced with the devastating strength each of the blows have shown.
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Jek seeing Triage getting hit by a beam weapon runs over to block Cyber Historia's line of sight to Triage. Jeck cast Reflecting Armor on themself, then Jek gives Cyber Historia the finger while yelling, "ARCHIVE THIS YOU OUTDATED JUNKYARD OF DEFECTIVE CODE, A MINDLESS ROCK COULD WRITE BETTER CODE. IF I WERE YOU I'D BE SO EMBARRASSED BY MY OWN CODE I'D DELETE MYSELF."
School abjuration (force)
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range personal
Duration 10 minutes/level or until dismissed (D); see text
You create a shimmering skin-like coating of mystical force
that covers your body, allowing you to reflect damage you
take back against your attacker. At any time during this
spell’s duration, when you take Hit Point damage from an
attack made with a weapon by a foe within 100 feet, you can
choose to dismiss the spell as a reaction. If you do, the armor
crackles with energy as it disappears, arcing through the air to
strike the attacking creature, which takes an amount of force
damage equal to the damage dealt to you at the time this spell
was dismissed (maximum 10). The target can attempt a Reflex
save for half damage.