Dakoyo doesn't expect the armor to have a brain to thrust at, so he instead hurls a pepper at it.
vs. KAC
Gaz-I encourages his teammates, and that promptly leads Nako to burn down with the doshko. The plates diffuse some of the heat, but she still manages to melt some parts. The for missiles of Akoya blast through the armor plates, and Dakoyo proves even something as benign as a red pepper can do a lot damage if hurled at sufficient speeds!
The armor, now severely damaged, pounds down at Nako!
---
Ayoka
Gaz-I-Gaz
Dakoyo
Nako
---
Armor (54)
Vesk (stable)
---
Ouch! It hurts! Not cool armor. says Nako as the armor hits twice.
My turn now!
"Get 'em, guys!"
Gaz-i-Gaz moves forward to help Nako by flanking, drawing his tactical baton as he does so.
Ouch! It hurts! Not cool armor. says Nako as the armor hits twice.
The armor is definitely not cool after the last jojokolea, so Dakoyo sends another its way.
vs. KAC
Nako strikes at the plate armor again, with very much the same effect. The doshko is a formidable weapon, although she only hits once.
Gaz-I-Gaz spurs on his friends, but the pepper Dakoyo sends in misses by a tiny margin
---
Ayoka
Gaz-I-Gaz
Dakoyo
Nako
---
Armor (68)
Vesk (stable)
---
With that last volley of missiles, the nanites in the armor disperse, and the various components of the heavy plate fall to the ground with a clanking sound!
Urgh the Vesk says Urgh. What a waste of my time this trip was. Nobody was even buying armor, and now this chaos.
On the whole, the attacks and disruptions seem to wane a bit, and the panic on the Central Common subsides ever so slightly.
"Your armor last a good long time! And very heat resistant." Dakoyo says, burping up a bit of smoke from his own experience with the peppers. "I'll tell vesk boss to look you up!"
Gaz-i-Gaz nods excitedly.
"Yes! Definitely strong!"
He then looks around, just to confirm that no-one else is in immediate need of 'help'...
...and when he does not spot anyone, pulls out his mirror for an impromptu grooming session.
Nako asks for a 10mn rest as the fight almost wounded her.
Nako takes a few moment to catch her breath, and as soon as she starts feeling better, there is a noise coming from the large floral statue near the Common’s largest fountain. Somebody with a very sinister laughter is making a speech in a very arrogant tone over the Common’s sound systems.
Several fountains are dotted around Central Common, each decorated with sculptures of a different type of aquatic creature found in the Vermilion Sea. The largest fountain is Comananner Fountain, named after a massive aquatic predator found in the deepest waters. For Reetamander, a tall floral arrangement of a skittermander with outstretched arms has been situated near the fountain; the sculpture is meant to be a personification of the Great Mother and is a reverent addition to the Central Common for the festival.
Abruptly, the sinister laughter over the Common’s sound system ends. “My fellow skittermanders,” the voice booms, “I can only hope you heed-heed this wake-up call. Terror descends upon Reetamander as we gather peacefully to ring in the Great Rebirthing. And where is your desire to help-help now? Why do you only save yourselves from this bedlam? Could it be—could it be your entire worldview, your so-called community-mindedness, is-is a lie?!”
The voice pauses to clear their throat. “Look around you now and I am certain you see it too. You can’t deny that each skittermander is out only to help-help themselves. Cast off your aspersions, my friends! Admit your true ways—or suffer the consequences!”
Just as the voice’s monologue begins to fade, the festival-goers’ murmurs of confusion turn to shouts of terror.
“A bomb!” screams one skittermander, pointing toward the skittermander statue near the fountain. “There’s a bomb on the statue’s hand!”
As the group moves closer to the fountain, it is clear who is the origin of the pontificating voice: there's a skittermander with bright orange fur with an intimidating styling. He wears an eye patch (which looks like he doesn't need it) and has smeared black make-up under his other eye. He stands on the edge of the fountain, holding a wireless microphone in one hand.
There is a moment of silence...
Dakoyo looks for something helpful.
"Oh no! It looks like he needs a different kind of help..."
Gaz-i-Gaz looks around for anything that might be of use.
Dakoyo and Gaz-I-Gaz both spot a ladder on the ground. It's long and bulky () making it a bit awkward to carry, but it would make getting up on that statue a lot easier.
"Hey there! It sounds like you have been through a lot. What happened? You seem pretty bitter. I find that having someone willing to listen can really be helpful, and I am more than willing to do what I can."
Toraforsten was my brother, and he had to die because of this helping way! He died during a space walk to fix malfunctioning equipment on a starship. He saved the crew, but paid with his life! If only the other crew hadn't been so reliant on the gullibility of my brother and would have found a way to repair the ship without sacrificing him, he would still be with me!
Gaz-I-Gaz seems to get through to the terrorist skittermander, who steps down from the fountain, and would allow the skittermanders to move a bit closer.
The threat is not fully gone though, and it look like more talking is needed.
Gaz-i-Gaz nods seriously.
"That does sound horrible. I agree - helping people is good, but that is different to sacrificing oneself for others, or being sacrificed *by* others. One of those is just naive, and the other is criminal.
However, helping people when you can, and it doesn't seem likely to end in death or permanent disability, is never a bad thing. Think about it - is this really how your brother would want you to honour his memory? If anything, the ones responsible for your brother's death should be held accountable; not random civilians."
Yes, yes, they should be held accountable! the anarchist says, and really seems to listen to Gaz-I-Gaz, until suddenly he shakes his head in anger and activates the countdown on his bomb device, And those who caused his death should pay!
Gaz-i-Gaz raises several hands in a calming fashion.
"Yes - but this is not the way to do it. Violence only begets more violence. If you want to make them pay, blowing up a festival will only makes people hate you, not want to change the way the world works."
Dakoyo nods as he watches Gaz-i-Gaz' negotiation prowess.
Argh the skittermander anarchist says you are right. There is no winning this. he says as he lower the detonator, and tries to disarm the bomb click, click the device does, upon which the orange-furred skittermander says I cannot disarm it!
Gaz-i-Gaz helps to get the ladder into position, and gives Ayoka a boost to get up it.
"One, two, three!"
Once they are up there, he starts giving an impromptu cheer-squad performance.
"Ayoka, Ayoka, Number One! If they can't do it, no-one can!"
Dakoyo stands close, ready to patch up anyone who gets exploded, but doesn't have the skills to help on his own.
Ayoka manages to get up the ladder and starts tinkering with the ticking device. She manages to disable some wires, but the thing needs further work. Will she manage on her own to disarm it in time?
Ayoka finally manages to disarm the device, and also find that rather than being an incredible harmful bomb, it's just a device filled with simple slips of recycled paper on which is written shortened versions of the anarchist's screed (“Helping is a LIE!”, “Selfish-manders must admit the truth!”, and so on) accompanied by the address of an infosphere site.
The page is titled “Skittermanders: A Truly Selfish Species,” and details a list of other places that will soon see “demonstrations of the true skittermander nature” across the planet.
With the anarchist Zerastorfen apprehended, the group is hailed as heroes! Dozens of tiny furred hands pat them on their backs, and the group is escorted to the best position in the Central Common to witness the remainder of the eclipse. There is nearly an hour of chants and songs before the Firstborn appears once again, followed by a feast that leaves everyone’s bellies full near to bursting. In the aftermaths, the group are given five-star accommodations within the city to sleep off the night’s excitement.
An undefined time period later, we meet our group of employees of Nakonechkin Salvage in Ewagadravona, a Vesk-3 settlement near a permanent entrance to Gadraveech, an underground cave system created by the impact of an asteroid long ago, and now a tourist site for those Vesk who want to explore the dangers of the creatures that roam within. The skittermanders are there together with their boss Nanonechkin, who is excited to go on one of the hunting parties that descend into the underground realm.
The vesk are drawn to the city because of its proximity to a large cave that leads down into Gadraveech. The cave was uncovered several decades ago, and the local government hasn’t seen fit to blast it closed, citing the revenue it brings as a tourist attraction. However, most of that capital gets funneled into the city’s protection, as occasionally, throngs of deadly creatures emerge from the cave, seeking blood. Such a large-scale attack hasn’t occurred in years, and many are beginning to believe the constant hunting parties that descend into Gadraveech have made a considerable dent in the monstrous populatio
The high walls and gun turrets surrounding the fortified city of Ewagadravona give it a sense of both safety and claustrophobia. The buildings within resemble vesk architecture more than skittermander, with sharp angles and concessions to practicality. At street level, the structure’s windows are protected by steel shutters that can come crashing down at a moment’s notice. Despite the dour designs, the people here seem as friendly as those in any other major settlement on Vesk-3.
This'll be fun! Nanonechkin exclaims, and it will be a good team-building activity too!
The headquarters for Gadraveech Tours—a commercial hunting lodge—are located in Ewagadravona on the third floor of a five-story building shared by several companies. The elevator takes the group up to this floor, where they are greeted by a worried-looking ebony-furred skittermander receptionist. Do you an appointment today? the receptionists asks while sitting in front of a sign that says 'all expeditions have been cancelled', and then confirm because all expeditions have been cancelled today
"Oh no! That sounds terrible! Anything we can do to help? I am sure that there will be a lot of vesk who will end up being miserable if their explorations are cancelled. Our boss was really looking forward to it, too!"
"Yeah, we can help get the expedition open for you!"
Well, you see, our last tour had Syvatsolex, our most experienced guide, bring a group of pahtras into the caves, and... we've lost communication with him. So... the receptionist says Oh, and we're short-staffed here, so we can't do anything. But you guys mention you're ready to help, didn't you?
In that case she says, before awaiting an answer Here's a holographic map of the cave system. There's a tunnel here she points out we don't have any searching that area, but it's also a bit out of the way of where Syvatsolex usually takes his tours.
Well, good luck! And don't let the stridermander bite you! She adds, in a tone that seems to suggest that she doesn't take a stridermander threat as a serious possibility.
Nanonechkin looks a bit uneasy as all of this unfolds.
Gaz-i-Gaz slaps Nanonechkin on the (lower) back with three of his arms.
"Don't worry boss; if anything goes wrong, we will help you, too!"
"Striderwhatnow?"
Dakoyo remembers many tall tales and horror stories, told by the light of the stars, of horrific creatures called stridermanders.
It's a commmon believe Vesk-3 was inhabited beforehand by an ancient civilization they call the Forerunners, which was wiped out when an asteroid hit the planet. While no members of this ancient civilization survived the extinction-level event, their DNA survived in the skittermander species. Unfortunately, other terrible creatures also evolved from the Forerunners, and retreated into the cavern systems formed by the asteroid’s impact. These beings are known as stridermanders.
Helping is what we do best! says Nako
It's not a terrifying, merciless killer, bloodsucking stridermander that will stop us helping, right boss?
Nako takes the map and starts looking at it the wrong way...
Nanonechkin reluctantly rents a hovercar to get to the cave entrance, a 30 minute ride away.
The presence of a small dirt parking lot suggests that this area is used often. Another hovercar is parked in the lot; a Gadraveech Tours logo adorns the vehicle’s doors.
When Nakonechkin pulls their hovercar over, he turns to his skittermander employees. “Look, fuzzballs, I have a real bad feeling about this.”
Nakonechkin looks guilty. “I ain’t one to shy away from danger, but seeing as how the guide’s car is parked right here, maybe I should stick around out here to make sure they don’t just come back from answering the call of nature or something, yeah? I can give you a buzz if I see anything out here.” The vesk seems to have made up his mind...
The cave entrance leads into a tunnel complex. The tunnels are 15 feet tall, while the occasional chamber stretches up higher, some as tall as 30 feet. The walls, floors, and ceilings are all hard stone, and it is pretty dark inside.
The main tunnel seems to be well-travelled, until the group comes upon a massive crack in the tunnel wall, stretching from floor to ceiling.
"No problem, boss. We'll check inside, and you call us if you find the tour group."
No worries boss! That's a good idea!
Nako searches for tracks once they reach the crack.
"Sounds like a good idea, Boss!"
Ayoka seems to gauge the reaction of the Vesk correctly, while Nako checks to traces. A couple of strands of pahtra hair seems to suggest that somebody entered through that fissure in the cave wall.
Gaz-i-Gaz pokes his head through the rift, curious to see what is on the other side.