Both Lily and Freen hit the remaining constituent and down it goes.
The Apari fires two spikes at Lily, but both fail to connect!
[u]Round 3[/u]
Kultanien
Faraeon
[u]Round 4[/u]
Lily -- 9 dmg
Sunshine
Arratoi
Freen
Apari -- 32 dmg
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Lily lines up her scope between the creature's eyes and fires away!
vs FF
Debilitating Trick: Hampering Shot
Freen 'aims' and fires at the apari.
A hail of gunfire batters the apari, which is unable to stand against it, and slumps down dead.
You quickly assess the rest of the room and find no further threats. There is a computer terminal embedded in the desk, and in a cabinet under the desk you discover a small cache of weapons:
A sentinel staff
One pair of darksight goggles
A tactical cluster launcher loaded with four stickybomb grenades II, two flash grenades II, and two riot grenades III
Standard doors on the north and west walls lead further into the base.
The green-suited Freen collapses to the ground panting, "Oh gods! You all are awesome! How do you deal with such danger so casually?"
Freen hustles over to the console while pulling some tools out of his bag. "Now this is what I'm around for." He then pulls out a small datapad and begins removing the terminal from the desk. After removing the terminal he plugs a series of wires into the wires of the terminal.
Freen's voice spouts out in surprise, "You kill B-list celebrities?! Are you a sociopath?!"
"Oh," Freen says, obviously relieved. He collects his dropped rifle and checks the magazine inefficiently. He then looks over his rifle. At one point he even holds it so that he can look down the barrel.
"I guess I'm ready to keep going.." he finally says nervously.
Freen and Sunshine check out the computer, but as soon as they touch it the emergency lights flicker, and there is a sound of static and claws scampering across metal. As the sounds fade, there is a distant whisper, like an unpleasant thought that is trying not to be ignored.
Freen quickly finishes the work on the computer, a simple unsecured terminal in poor shape. The only file Freen is able to recover seems to be a security memo:
PRIORITY NOTICE. Barachius squadron escalating access requests. Those pixel wings must think they run the place. Monitor and report all activity to security.
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Sunshine looks up in response to the sound. "Seems like we might have a rat problem. Seems on-brand. Any thoughts as to what a 'pixel-wing' might be?"
He arms himself with his rifle again. "My rule for exploring unknown facilities: left is right. Take the left-most door until we hit every room. Sound fair?"
Something feels off, Freen thinks to himself. I need to be more careful.
I feel weird..., Freen says quietly.
Getting up from the desk, you head to the first door on the left...
The door looks untampered with, and opens easily when Lily touches the control panel. The room beyond looks to be a security check point of some sort. Inactive cameras and scanners cover the walls and ceiling in this long room. A single control console sits near a vidscreen next to the room's doors The circuitry in the electronics has been corrupted by something, making them worthless.
The second room you explore is much like the first. The scanners seem focused on searching items rather than people here, perhaps to keep unauthorized equipment from entering, or leaving, the facility.
Passing through the check point you come to a dusty room with computer terminals lining most of the walls. Their vidscreens rapidly switch between blank, static, and error codes. The cabinets beneath the computer consoles are littered with ripped and frayed wires, where some equipment was hastily removed.
Faraeon and Sunshine are able to easily determine that this used to be a massive data archive, but someone, or something, has taken all of the storage drives. Sunshine thinks with a little effort you might be able to extract anything that still remains in the system.
As Sunshine speaks the sound of scurrying feet echo once again. The lights dim for a moment and an uneasy feeling of being watched washes over everyone.
The moment passes, and Sunshine is able to investigate what remains of the archives. The most interesting piece is a partial file containing various mission briefings.
[u]Status[/u]
Kultanien - Distracted
Faraeon - Uneasy
Lily - Distracted
Sunshine - Healthy
Freen - Distracted
Arratoi - DistractedDistracted: –2 penalty to trained skill checks.
Uneasy: -2 penalty to trained skill checks, initiative and Perception checks.
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"Did you hear that?" says Kultanien looking around.
As the mission log scrolls up the screen she can almost feel a chill run down her artificial spine. "Well, that's not creepy at all. I wonder what else that ship brought back? We should see if we can locate that planet - it sounds as if it might need to be quarantined."
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Faraeon's blood practically freezes in his veins as he reads the mission reports. "Oh you've got to be kidding me. A ghost ship? Not again! Last time I went on a ghost ship I almost GOT IMPREGNATED AND DIED!"
Faraeon pulls out his semi-auto pistol and holds both weapons primed and ready for lethal force, totally abandoning his typical non-lethal first approach.
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"Then I'm almost worried. Inside voices, please." Sunshine mulls over the log, barely registering the unnerving sounds. "Looks like a series of missions gone wrong. Heavy casualties, unidentified hostile 'subject' wiping out a habitable moon surface. Only a handful of relics recovered to justify it all. Reminds me of home." He shakes his head slightly. "Or the Scoured Stars incident, rather. Brain slip. Yikes." He transfers the file onto his own datapad, then nods to the next left-most door.
Freen remains quiet, looking like a kind of strange humanoid green statue at times. The red gem glow in the center of his helmet giving off a robotic vibe.
Planet, XTR. The sixth moon, XTR6. SB? 45? he thinks to himself. There is a single creature, 'Subject', that is dangerous, can foil sensors. 45....day 45? 45th mission log? Both?
When the group begins moving once more Freen absently follows in line.
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Lily squints through her scope at all of the surveillance equipment. "I don't like this. I don't like this one bit."
She taps her forearm and a secret compartment opens up. From her Starfinder Backpack she pulls out a sleek, almost ghostlike pistol and slides it into her arm. A moment later, her skin closes up, concealing the device.
Preparations finished, the team cautiously enters the next room. A massive metal hatch dominates the northwest corner of this room. Multiple computer terminals—all of them dormant or malfunctioning—crowd the rest of the room.
Before you is an imposing figure, standing in what appears to be sleek, glowing armor and wielding a glowing laser rifle. Its wings appear to be made of pure electricity, though a closer look reveals patterns within the feathery arcs that mimic digital arrays and computer wiring. They raise their rifle, "Who are you, why are you here?" it demands.
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Sunshine responds in a monotone. "I'm guessing you're one of the 'pixel-wings' we read about? Nothing to worry about, we're not here to harm anyone. We're here on behalf of the exo-Guardians, the Starfinder faction that rightfully owns this property. Who are you, and why are you here?"
Sunshine's shobhad merc's brow furrows as he tries to get a read on the mysterious creature.
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Arratoi makes a show of pointing his pistol upwards to be non-threatening and chimes in, "Hi there! Don't you worry! We're not hostile. My name is Arratoi. My gruff Rhyphorian friend here is Sunshine Rainbows - yah weird, but true! We've also got here Lily, Freen, Kultanien and Star-Jumper.
"As Mr Rainbow smiles here mentioned, we're Starfinders representing the Exo-Guardians. Have you heard the name Sangoro? He was also a Starfinder who founded the Exo-Guardians. See? We're all friends here!
"We've lost touch with this facility ages ago and only recently rediscovered the location and have come back to scout things out.
"But enough about us! How about you? Who are you and what can you tell us about this place?
"By the way, are you hungry? Need supplies? I'm sure I've got some cheese and crackers (and whiskey!) in my pack if you'd care to partake!"