I suppose these terminals, not hooked up to the wider network, won't be giving us any current details on our mystery lieutenants. Perhaps the local command logs will give some hints of previous users that may involve them? It's a shot in the dark.
If they're isolated, what's the worst that can happen with a little more hacking.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
"At the very least, we might be able to use this space as a safe haven on this deck," Arcalinte comments. "Considering the presence of chairs here, it looks like the sivv may have felt that this room, and those working in it, were beneath notice."
Shocca inspects the terminals in the engineering offices after Ajithu's suggestion, but it becomes quite clear that the systems are "fresh installs" and were never put to use. An artifact of the circumstances in which the Ark was deployed, it seems.
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+27[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
"Never put to use... the empire wasn't able to use their new toy to it's full potential... before." She shrugs. "Alright, probably didn't expect any Sivv legionnaires in here anyway. Next door, next problem." She moves to the unlocked closet. E4! Then E5.
When you open the next door (E4) you find an empty room whose floor, walls and ceiling are all glossy white stone. Small vent holes dot the floor while small nozzles line the ceiling. The engineering-minded among you identify it as some kind of chemical washroom, likely specific to sivv needs.
With nothing to find here you head across the hall instead. The doors here freely slide open with a billow of warm fog. This large room is filled with a marsh, complete with spongy looking trees, hillocks rising from shallow bogs, and a rippling heat to the air. At the far side of the room across from the entrance, a long window overlooks a vast swampland.
A sivv figure, obscured by a brown robe covering its anatomy, stands at the window and looks out into the swamp. Their "back" (if you can call it that) is turned to you and they seem quite intent on their observations.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Well NOW I'm confused...
Arcalinte shakes his head.
"No, that takes time and a different kind of focus to build to, the kind of focus that comes in life-or-death struggle."
Translation: "Supernova is a Zenith revelation, so to use it I have to be fully Photon-Attuned, which requires us to be in combat for at least three rounds." :P
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+27[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
"Arc... maybe your solar-blessed words can win him over? He is a Sivv, so maybe pre-emptive violence is the way to go... But we've been fairly heroic today, shouldn't stop now." She draws her rifle then holds it behind her back awkwardly.
Translation: "Supernova is a Zenith revelation, so to use it I have to be fully Photon-Attuned, which requires us to be in combat for at least three rounds." :P
Yup, I the player know that. Ajithu is being wishful :P
He thumbs his ice carbine while they decide whether solarian diplomacy might work.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte takes a deep breath in through his nose.
"Perhaps...the worst it can say is 'no, die slave scum,' right?"
He makes his entrance into the room.
"I am Arcalinte Soter, Sola of the Order of the Empty Orbit, Venture Captain of the Starfinder Society and champion of the Pact Worlds. Who are you, ancient one, that I might acknowledge your greatness?" he asks in ancient Sivvan.
The sivv figure remains still as Arc starts to speak. He advances into the room...
Arc Reflex:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (1) + 15 = 16
Only for the doors to suddenly close behind him, cutting him off from the rest of the team. A red light blinks on the door from the outside, indicating that its been locked. Inside the room, the steam rising from the swamp grows thick, partially concealing Arc's view of his surroundings (everything beyond 5 feet of you is now partially concealed - 20% miss chance, though you can make out vague outlines of shapes). Within the mist Arc can see the figure ahead has turned, and seems to be larger than it looked at first glance, though its anatomy is still roughly sivvan. In a grating metallic tone from the figure, Arc hears (in sivvan) "It is odd to be awoken for the sole task of eliminating trash from our abode. Yet it is a duty that must be fulfilled for the good of the mission."
Okay, ret-con'ing from the not-fully effective haste. The tiara of translocation says thus:
Tiara of translocation, mk 2 wrote:
Once per day, a tiara of translocation allows you to teleport yourself and up to 5 additional creatures, functioning as a teleport spell
No line of effect to Arc, so I presume I can't just bamf him back out. So instead, Ajithu and Shocca can jump in! (to a spot they just saw before the door shut). We can deal with engineering the door when there's more time.
Ajithu nods at Shocca.
[standard] activate tiara of translation
They disappear and re-manifest on the other side of the door, on either side of Arc.
[move] draw weapon
Ajithu hefts his ice carbine, casually greeting Arc.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte raises Skyndi and advances so the newly appeared Shocca and Ajithu-Ko are behind him.
"It will take more than locked doors to stop us."
Taking position and waiting for the Haste to kick in.
Ajithu and Shocca translocate into the sealed-off "swampland". Meanwhile Arc takes up a defensive position and waits for whatever is coming. To the north east the cloaked, misty sivv figure gestures and all three of you feel some hidden force grasping at your legs.
While Arc and Ajithu pull free unharmed, one of Shocca's legs partially phases into rel-state, impairing her movement (half speed and you are flat-footed. At the end of each of your turns you can make a DC24 Fort save to end the effect).
A barrage of yellow energy beams blast out from the two hillocks in the mist, all aimed at Arc. Two beams deflect off his armor, but one strikes his head while the other his core. Mutagenic energy runs through him... (Total of 148 dmg, plus potential mutation)
A ripple runs through Arc's body as he suddenly and painfully mutates. One arm and one leg twist and grow becoming ungainly. (You are permanently mutated with distended limbs. These cause you a -10ft penalty to land speed, and a -2 penalty to all attack rolls and all dex-based skill checks. You can recover from this mutation with a remove affliction spell or similar)
|||| INIT ||||
Arc (148 dmg, distended limbs)
Shocca
Ajithu
Yellow Hillock?
Green Hillock?
The Trash Eliminator
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+27[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
"Yeehawwwwhoaaaaaachh!" Shocca's body goes through a rollercoaster of effects. She lifts her gaze to watch Arc evolve just as her leg phases. "Don't worry bud, that'll rub off." She flicks her rifle, sending a dart into Arc's leg. "This'll help."Granting a +2 enhancement bonus to Fortitude saving throws for Arc. Then the ikeshti drops to her stomach for better coverage. Please don't phase out my lungs, please don't phase out my lungs...
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
With the additional speed, Arc flies up into the air and then surges ahead. In the warm fog he can make out that the nearby verdant hillock appears to be overlapped with some camouflaged figure, as though the figure is buried partly in the hillock, with what seems to be a shaggy head and stinger poking free.
Shocca injects Arc with an immune booster, though her own struggle to reassert her bodily wholeness is a bit of a stalemate. The hillock-shrouded foes focus their fire on Arc once more, landing only a single beam. (59 dmg) Luckily he suffers no further mutations. The Trash Eliminator slowly picks its way over the swampy landscape in an approach toward Shocca and Ajithu. As it gets closer it raises a metal tentacle and beams the kalo. The degenerative energy burns away at Ajithu's skin, but could have been worse (36 dmg). The metallic voice emits from the Trash Eliminator "Your presence here is an anomaly not seen in millennia. The records of this encounter will be studied and used to improve our systems, and your molecules will find a more constructive purpose."
Just as it seems Ajithu might pull the trigger on his ice carbine, he instead appears in the mind of the sivv, battering its psyche as a large, looming, cloaked figure of a kalo. The sivv is plunged into icy waters in its mind. But how much will its body feel it?
[standard] cast mind thrust, divination (mind-affecting) (6th) vs cyan/light blue/whatever damage (DC24 will half, spell resistance):17d10 ⇒ (8, 9, 8, 2, 9, 2, 6, 5, 8, 6, 3, 2, 6, 2, 6, 5, 2) = 891d20 + 17 ⇒ (11) + 17 = 28 The target is exhausted and stunned for 1 round if it fails its save, and it is fatigued for 1 round if it succeeds at its saving throw.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte wreathes Skyndi in stellar plasma once more and darts down to strike at the "hillock" to burn away the vegetation covering it and maybe the creature itself, before returning towards the ceiling to stay out of reach.
Plasma Sheath, Attack, then dart back up with my free move action from haste.
Shocca's needles bounce off the Trash Eliminator, but she does manage to phase her leg back into normal space and restore her movement. Despite the Trash Eliminator's rather robotic limbs, it proves to have a mind somewhere within, or at least something close enough to one that Ajithu is able to seize upon it to deliver a mind thrust. Its mind stands firm against the assault and its hybrid partially robotic nature leaves it immune to the fatigue that would otherwise accompany such a powerful magic.
Arc slashes into the hillock and immediately realizes that there *is* no hillock - it's just a very realistic hologram that even has sensory feedback that suggests solidity and the right feel and smell. Not fooled, Arc is able to strike through it to the odd sivv-like mutant hiding within. His blazing slash burns the creature, but it stays standing.
The two mutants hidden in the hillocks fire another barrage of mutating rays at Arc. His flesh convulses as the beams penetrate his armor. Twisted by the assault, he only barely clings to consciousness. (47 and 40 dmg from two beams that hit. No more mutations though) The Trash Eliminator approaches Ajithu and intones "You will not attempt that again." as a huge metal tentacle unfurls from the cloak. It whips the tentacle at Ajithu and connects for a heavy blow. (46 dmg)
Nope. That's my mistake. Looks like I'll need to pick a diff. standard action this round. Lets try...
Explode Head (DC 24) (Su) wrote:
You can spend 1 Resolve Point as a standard action to psychically assault the brain of a foe within 60 feet, causing incredible pressure to build in its head. If the target has 20 Hit Points or fewer, its head explodes, instantly killing the target and spreading debris in a 10-foot radius. Each creature in the area must succeed at a Reflex saving throw or take 2d6 slashing damage from the flying debris. A target with more than 20 Hit Points takes 1d6 damage per mystic level you have (maximum 20d6), but can attempt a Fortitude save to take only half damage. If this damage would reduce the target to 0 HP, the target’s head explodes as described above. This ability works only on a creature that has a head and would die from the loss of a head.
On the Sivv.
IF it has more than 20hp...
Damage, DC24 Fort half:19d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 5, 6, 3, 5, 1, 1, 4, 1, 3, 3, 4, 1, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2) = 57Well, that's a lot of 1s...
Having seen Arc slice down *through* the hillock, Shocca attempts the same. However unlike Arc, Shocca's mind doesn't overcome the hologram and she's unable to place her shot to cleanly hit the foe within. Both her attacks miss.
To be clear out of character: the hillocks and most of the terrain in the room are illusory holograms. When you interact with them, I've been rolling Will saves. The two sivv mutants are hiding inside the hillocks, so it's effectively a blind shot to hit them (50% miss) unless you have another precise sense or succeed at the Will save. Let me know if you do have that sense that'll let you bypass the illusion. On *top* of the holograms, the room is filled with very real steam that grants everything 20% miss chance unless you have blindsense or similar to compensate. Ajithu has blindsight so he can see through all of this, though the holograms are dense enough to still be "visible" to him even if he can see through them.
Ajithu directs his head-exploding powers at the sivv mutant that Arc has worn down. It clutches at its "head" as psychic powers assault it, but it doesn't fall.
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+27[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
Ah, thank you for the explanation! Nope, no extra senses here. I can give someone Blindsense if they're looking particularly problematic. But for now I can just focus on the Trash Man.
With Arc so close to going down, the two mutant sivv turn their attention to the other heroes hounding them. Both mutants fire a barrage of mutagenic rays at Shocca instead. Two beams miss but two collide with her, warping her flesh (58 and 54 A/So damage) but thankfully not delivering a long lasting mutation. The Trash Eliminator continues its pursuit of Ajithu, stomping through the virtual swampland and lashing him once more with a metal tentacle. (59 dmg)
"Try to flee if you wish." The Trash Eliminator's metallic voice drones.
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+27[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
Shocca runs towards the door. "I'm thinking we should listen to the extremely good advice, despite being an extremely effective threat..." Once there she gets to work on the door.
While Ajithu armors up, Shocca gets to the door and unlocks it with a flash of technical genius. The doors slide open due to her presence and the steam billows out into the hall.
No word from Arc yet... What do you two want to do, since I hesitate to act for him if it means him going down?
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+27[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
I'd vote let's run. If he takes the long way around, hopefully he can avoid the AoOs... But yeah, if he goes down I think the only alternative is to drag him out. I don't think we can handle the combat for the time it takes him to get back up.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
I'm here, do you want me to just retreat or try to carry Ajithu-Ko with me?
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte dives to grab Ajithu-Ko off the floor.
"Time to demonstrate the better part of valor," he says. He lifts Ajithu-Ko into the air and carries the xenodruid, soaring past the monsters and out the door.
"Come on, Shocca!"
I believe I should have enough movement with the haste to get both of us out of the room with my forcepack.
Arc I'm going to assume you have enough strength to carry Ajithu, equipment and all, but move at half speed while doing so. Which handily cancels out the haste bonus, so you get to move at your normal forcepack fly speed.
Two mutating beams miss Arc as he flies out of the room with Ajithu in tow. Two more lance toward Shocca, but only one of those hits her square on and churns her flesh (44 acid/sonic dmg). The Trash Eliminator clomps toward Shocca, contradicting its earlier statement by making a solid effort to turn her to paste by a swing of its metal tentacle. The blow connects, but she holds up for now (51 dmg).
It looks like the mutants haven't moved from their hiding places, and as far as you can tell, the Trash Eliminator itself is not particularly fast. Especially thanks to haste, you think you can outpace it handily. The problem is where to run to.
[dice=Needler @ ]1d20+27[/dice] [dice=P Dmg]8d6+15[/dice] [ooc]Includes x Inhibitor, x if it hits.[/ooc
"I guess the emphasis on 'try' was lost in translation... sorry, Sivv isn't my first language." She fires twice and moves down the hallway with magical speed.
Male Half-Elf Solarian 19 | SP 169/169 HP 139/139 RP 11/11 | EAC 35(37) KAC 36(38); DR 5/- Resist Fire 15 | F +15; R +15; W +14 | Speed 25 ft. | Init +6 | Perc +28
Arcalinte blasts after Ajithu-Ko and Shocca.
"We try to make our stand here or retreat further?" he asks them.
