Laser Beams For Eyes!

Adventurecast Episode

Feb 17

Written By Star Master Jeff

START HERE·STAR MASTER LOG

Sibylen Exosite, Part III

The crew stumbles into a section of the Alien Exosite on Sibylen that is more dangerous than it seems...

Meet the Crew:

Jeff as Star Master (Game Master)
Brian as Captain Thorne
Stephanie as the warrior Haleyy
Doja as the wildcard pilot Robert
Scott as the transhuman hacker Felix

[00:00:00] Star Master Jeff: Welcome to the Dark Star Adventure Cast, where the stars are cold. The void is endless and dangers lurk in every shadow out here. Trust is a gamble, and survival is never guaranteed on tonight's adventure cast.
[00:00:18] Felix: So I'm gonna just shove my hand into that Google as fast as I can.
[00:00:22] Haleyy: They're all gonna be horse sized in a turn
[00:00:25] Robert: idiots.
[00:00:26] IES serving of baby murder that I could serve up hot and fresh.
[00:00:32] Thorne: I'm glad everybody else had
[00:00:33] fun. Oh God, this burns.
[00:00:35] Star Master Jeff: So sit back and enjoy. This is the Dark Star adventure cast.
[00:00:45] Previously on the Dark Star Adventure cast, the crew ventured into the sector's first powered alien facility. There they discovered a pool of nano fluid and an interface for Voss to connect to. After Felix jumped into the pool, [00:01:00] completely unconcerned about its effects on his body, and with Voss already hooked into the interface, the two found themselves deep in a virtual ocean where they could communicate instantly and share their knowledge and memories using the odd otherworldly controls of the goo pool, the pair.
[00:01:16] Discover how to open a new door that goes deeper into the exo site. Once Felix climbs outta that goo pool, the crew find a long room filled with vats of goo. A tiny calcified beak settles at the bottom of each. We now join the crew as they carefully enter this new room. As you move down this hallway, Hailey, with your incredibly good hearing, you hear a new noise, start up, a mechanical warring from somewhere off to your right and slightly ahead of you.
[00:01:48] Somewhere within these like three rows of vats to your right, there's a mechanical whirring noise.
[00:01:55] Haleyy: If I stop, does the rest of the group hear it or is it just me? Or do. [00:02:00] I get this work. Do you guys hear that?
[00:02:02] Felix: You know what?
[00:02:02] Star Master Jeff: Everyone else go ahead and roll a notice. Wisdom.
[00:02:07] Haleyy: I don't think we are alone in here.
[00:02:10] Star Master Jeff: You guys all stop and strain your ears. You, you turn your ears towards where Hailey said there was a noise. Felix, you hear very faintly a kind of clicking mechanical whirring noise like a. Like a CPU fan kind of running on overdrive. Thorn with a five, you hear nothing Doja with a five, you hear nothing but Vera says, oh yeah, I do hear that.
[00:02:36] What is that? Yeah.
[00:02:38] Felix: What It sounds like some kind of computer. I don't know. It's it, it's very faint. Hey, did you think we can track that down?
[00:02:46] Haleyy: Yep. I'll go check it out.
[00:02:47] Thorne: Something's gotta be power in this place, right? Maybe it's some kind of power room.
[00:02:51] Haleyy: Yeah.
[00:02:52] Felix: Nothing here is indicated. There's any moving parts that power this stuff.
[00:02:55] Thorn. So I'm not sure, but yeah.
[00:02:57] Star Master Jeff: So Hailey, you're going to check this out alone.
[00:02:59] Haleyy: It's set by two [00:03:00] o'clock. There's a wearing noise there,
[00:03:01] Star Master Jeff: correct? Yes.
[00:03:03] Felix: I'll go
[00:03:03] Haleyy: with her. And so thank you Felix. I appreciate this Trepid Explorer side of you. Let's go.
[00:03:09] Robert: Let's not split the party.
[00:03:10] Star Master Jeff: Okay. So you're all moving in.
[00:03:11] Robert: Mm-hmm. Team, team,
[00:03:14] Haleyy: team, team scapegoat.
[00:03:16] Star Master Jeff: You guys all move out of the main pathway to the slightly more narrow pathways between the VATS and. That's when you see it, a mechanical being of sorts. It's a small eight legged creature with a sharp beak on the front that resembles a cross between a, a squid and a crab.
[00:03:38] A top it's diamond shaved brow is three barrels each glowing with a faint red light. You didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you? Everyone rolling this? Oh,
[00:03:51] Felix: no.
[00:03:52] Haleyy: How a turret thingy.
[00:03:53] Thorne: You know, for a second there. Yeah, I kind of did rolled an eight. [00:04:00]
[00:04:00] Felix: Don't forget to get froggy and, and Vera on there. They gotta fight too.
[00:04:03] Star Master Jeff: They don't have any weapons.
[00:04:04] Felix: Too bad.
[00:04:06] Star Master Jeff: Too bad. Okay, so what you, so you're essentially amongst this field of vats, they aren't necessarily an orderly rows. So you can partially see the annihilation bot behind one of the vats in front of you, and then you just have rows of vats on either side of you for anyone to.
[00:04:24] In a clear shot, you're probably gonna have to shift. There's plenty of movement and actions to be able to do that sort of thing though. So just describe to me like if you're trying to hide behind a vat or shoot around a vat or anything like that, what we are calling the annihilation bot, the eight legged squid crab bot is ahead of you.
[00:04:42] It sees you with its three red eyes, assuming that those are eyes, and it immediately makes a. Threatening maneuver rushing towards you. The three red eyes powering up with a loud wow as if it's getting ready to [00:05:00] fire at you. Hailey, you are burst in the initiative order. What would you like to do against the annihilation bot?
[00:05:08] Haleyy: See, I'm gonna just gonna step a little bit to the right so I can get a straight shot at it, so I can ping it with my laser rifle
[00:05:15] Star Master Jeff: so you're not punching the robot.
[00:05:17] Haleyy: I am not running up to it yet.
[00:05:18] Felix: Yet. I'll. Always leave room for growth.
[00:05:21] Star Master Jeff: So this thing is small, so it's only like four feet long. It has eight legs and it has pinchers on the front and it has these three glowing red eyes.
[00:05:30] Haleyy: Yeah. I'm gonna, I'm gonna hit it with my laser rifle before I hit it with my fists.
[00:05:33] Star Master Jeff: Okay.
[00:05:33] Haleyy: That's like a lot of stuff coming off of it. I do have some self preservation instincts.
[00:05:42] Does an 18 hit?
[00:05:43] Star Master Jeff: An 18 does hit
[00:05:44] Haleyy: Oh, yep, that's right.
[00:05:47] Star Master Jeff: Hell yeah.
[00:05:47] Haleyy: Yeah.
[00:05:48] Thorne: Max image.
[00:05:51] Haleyy: Damn, your 12 damage.
[00:05:52] Star Master Jeff: Nice.
[00:05:54] Haleyy: Wow.
[00:05:54] Thorne: Annihilated, but
[00:05:55] Star Master Jeff: okay, you hit it for 12 points of damage. So you, you shoot the [00:06:00] annihilation bot with your laser rifle, one incredibly well placed shot with an 18 hit in 12 damage, boom. And you blast off one of its eight tentacles and it kind of crums to the ground momentarily before Hercule Jerkily gets back to its feet and continues its manic charge.
[00:06:14] Towards you.
[00:06:16] Haleyy: Towards me.
[00:06:17] Star Master Jeff: Yeah. It feels no pain. It only knows. Kill it is Annihilation bot.
[00:06:22] Felix: Why would this be at a hospital?
[00:06:25] Star Master Jeff: It's a hospital where no one's supposed to leave.
[00:06:28] Thorne: Yeah. If you get outta your vat, you get annihilated. I think that was pretty clear. Yeah.
[00:06:31] Star Master Jeff: Yeah. This is an Annihilation VAT inclusive bot.
[00:06:35] Felix: Awesome.
[00:06:36] Star Master Jeff: Okay. That's the end of Hailey's turn. So Annihilation box turn. Oh, it's skidders and Scamper towards Haley closing the distance by half. So it's only like five yards away from you now. Mm-hmm. Three red eyes power up and it shoots. Those weren't eyes, they were laser beams prepared to taste laser.
[00:06:58] Does a [00:07:00] 13 hit you?
[00:07:01] Haleyy: Nope.
[00:07:01] Star Master Jeff: Oh, the laser bolt that's right. Scores your armor as it ricochets off and hits against a vat. Cracking it slightly.
[00:07:10] Thorne: What? Oh, no.
[00:07:11] Star Master Jeff: See, it would've been better if you just got hit. Everyone quick dive into the laser beams.
[00:07:16] Haleyy: Would it? Would it? I.
[00:07:20] Star Master Jeff: Robert Ross.
[00:07:21] Robert: Oh, well I seem to have a, uh, do I have a line of sight on, uh, the Annihilation bot?
[00:07:30] Star Master Jeff: Uh, you do. It has moved around one of the bats and it is now in clear view view of you.
[00:07:34] Robert: Okay. Um, I, because I think I'm gonna, uh, take a shot at it and then dive behind Cook. Um, so let's go give it the old combat rifle Puke Q shooting Looks. Uh, that would be a 24 to hit four 11 damage.
[00:07:54] Star Master Jeff: Oh, hell yeah. Oh, you hit this thing so easily, man.
[00:07:58] Boom. Oh
[00:07:59] Haleyy: [00:08:00] my god. That's
[00:08:00] Star Master Jeff: crazy. You blast off another one of its legs with your projectile weapon. So now it's been hit by a laser weapon and a projectile weapon. Two of its legs, boom, have been blasted off and you deal, uh, supposed 11 points of damage though you feel like maybe you didn't do 11 points of damage.
[00:08:18] Robert: Mm Uh, take much time. Uh, try to survey the damage as much as possible. Um, not quite getting why my, my laser isn't going through as I expected. Um, and then dive to the left side that, uh, behind as much as possible to try to, uh, take cover.
[00:08:39] Star Master Jeff: Okay. Thorn Robert has you, you see a, a bullet rocking past and hit the annihilation bot and you turn around to congratulate Robert, but he has disappeared and.
[00:08:49] You see him crouching behind a bat, what would you like to do?
[00:08:52] Thorne: I am going to also dive and take cover behind a bat.
[00:08:56] Star Master Jeff: It's a trend.
[00:08:57] Thorne: I'm going to, uh, I think just [00:09:00] try to get prone next to one of the vats, but maybe on my way over there, try to just take out my pistol and blast some lasers in that box's direction.
[00:09:09] But I'll use my main action to shoot him with my L Oh, I have no, I don't think I still have this laser rifle that I was borrowing. Who does a 13 hit? Probably not.
[00:09:18] Star Master Jeff: A 13 Does not hit.
[00:09:19] Thorne: Yeah, so I fire some lasers off in its direction, but this isn't exactly my forte, and when I find a nice comfy vat, I make myself prone behind it so that I've got cover and I'm laying low.
[00:09:32] Star Master Jeff: The lasers strike into the vat that's directly next to it, dealing six points of damage to the VAT and destroying the vat.
[00:09:42] Felix: A door, sorry, Felix,
[00:09:45] Star Master Jeff: the goo flows out over the annihilation bot covering it and sparks erupt from. Chassis. Take that as you will.
[00:09:53] Felix: I'm going to duck behind the vat that's closest to me and using my tripod, I'm [00:10:00] going to just quickly scan for any signals that indicate like if this thing that might be being controlled or I can has any kind of signals coming off of it.
[00:10:07] Just wirelessly.
[00:10:08] Star Master Jeff: Yes. So the electrical interference is back down to 30%. Now that you've left the last room and from the extreme east side of this room, which is. All the way forward, down that main hallway, there's something that's sending out a very strong signal that seems to be received by this annihilation bot.
[00:10:29] Okay. About 30 yards away from you.
[00:10:33] Felix: Uh, alright, so what I wanna do, you know, fi has a host of pre-programmed kind of hacks on his system. So I want to try to sabotage this system. Um, the signaling system, it's normally a DC 10, but I think because this is. Rushed, and I'm executing this, you know, kind of preprogram thing without modifying it.
[00:10:53] It's probably got a plus two modifier. So I think it'll be a DC 12 to try this.
[00:10:58] Star Master Jeff: Okay. And [00:11:00] I am gonna add a plus one to that because it's an alien system. But other than that, I think that you're good to try it.
[00:11:06] Felix: All right. Well, let's see. Uh, if I can get a 13, uh, actually I think I need to get a 14, don't I?
[00:11:13] Star Master Jeff: Um, sabotage is a 10 plus two for rush, plus one for Alien system.
[00:11:17] Felix: Yeah. Okay. Um. That did not succeed with a six, but I'm gonna use my class as an expert to roll it again. Let's try that one more time, shall we? Uh, 14.
[00:11:30] Star Master Jeff: Oh. Oh my God. He did it. Okay. Wow. Great roll. So you activate your pre-program script against this alien signal that's controlling the annihilation bot, and you sabotage the signal that's coming from some sort of like base station that's telling it what to do.
[00:11:47] On its next turn, it will have a. Minus two to effectively hit someone.
[00:11:53] Felix: Nice. Okay. Uh, and yeah, that's the end of my turn.
[00:11:57] Star Master Jeff: Okay. Nice. Wow, Hailey. Hey [00:12:00]
[00:12:00] Haleyy: ha,
[00:12:01] Star Master Jeff: I always have Scott say that,
[00:12:03] Felix: Hailey.
[00:12:04] Haleyy: That's nice. I'm gonna try shooting it with my pistol again or my laser rifle again.
[00:12:09] Star Master Jeff: Okay. You guys are too good for this guy.
[00:12:11] Haleyy: We'll see.
[00:12:12] Star Master Jeff: We'll see.
[00:12:12] Felix: He's all wet now, so maybe it'll execute him.
[00:12:14] Haleyy: Does a 19 hit
[00:12:16] Star Master Jeff: Oh yeah, 19 hits. You blow off another one. Its legs. 19 hits, seven points of damage. Another leg flies off. You guys are feeling pretty good right now. Oh, I see. Annihilation bots turn. So the three legs that you blew off turned into three more Annihilation bots.
[00:12:34] Thorne: What? Oh, great. That's, yeah. Perfect.
[00:12:37] Felix: Yeah, that's just what I wanted to have happen.
[00:12:39] Star Master Jeff: Nano fluid flows out of the three individual legs and form into full annihilation bots that are much smaller, much smaller.
[00:12:48] Felix: That's not. Not better. That feels worse.
[00:12:51] Star Master Jeff: Yeah, they're, they're like half the size. And then the annihilation bot that was attacking you before continues to try to attack you.
[00:12:58] The other three are growing during this [00:13:00] turn, so they do not attack
[00:13:02] Haleyy: growing.
[00:13:03] Star Master Jeff: Oh yeah. It's kinda like a starfish situation.
[00:13:06] Thorne: Would you rather fight one horse size Annihilation bot or for Annihilation?
[00:13:10] Haleyy: They're all gonna be horse sized in a turn.
[00:13:12] Star Master Jeff: Exactly. That's why we
[00:13:13] Thorne: murdered
[00:13:14] Star Master Jeff: babies around here.
[00:13:15] Haleyy: Yes.
[00:13:16] Thorne: Wait.
[00:13:17] Star Master Jeff: The one annihilation bot that can actually attack. Shoots. Haley, maybe. Let's find out. Oh, I, oh yeah.
[00:13:25] Haleyy: I am going to use my warrior skill to make that miss.
[00:13:30] Star Master Jeff: Okay, well that's good because an 18 hit you and 12 points of damage would probably,
[00:13:34] Haleyy: it would, I would be down.
[00:13:36] Star Master Jeff: You'd be down.
[00:13:36] Thorne: Yeah.
[00:13:37] Star Master Jeff: So that's the end of his turn.
[00:13:40] Robert Ross hiding behind the furthest vat away that he could find. What would you like to do?
[00:13:45] Robert: I am, um, I am going to step. Out of my cover to put me, to try to angle myself so that I can only see, um, one of the, one of the [00:14:00] babies and not all of the babies slash annihilation bot. I don't know if I could really realistically do that.
[00:14:04] So I'll take a step outta cover and, uh, start murdering baby tentacle creatures.
[00:14:10] Star Master Jeff: Okay, so you're, you're shooting one of the baby tentacles
[00:14:13] Robert: as it's forming. Oh, damn right. Damn right.
[00:14:15] Felix: Everybody got grenades. I wish, dude.
[00:14:19] Robert: Uh, so the. It's gonna be an 18 to hit with, uh, six damage to a little it bitty baby tentacle creature.
[00:14:26] I give it a little bit of that. Pew pew,
[00:14:29] Star Master Jeff: your old world mechanical gunpowder bullet screeches towards this little baby annihilation bot. He's just a baby. He's not even fully formed yet, and just abort him off of this planet. He's dead.
[00:14:41] Felix: Jesus.
[00:14:43] Star Master Jeff: Mm-hmm. Jesus.
[00:14:45] Felix: For now, let's do, if he comes back next year,
[00:14:47] Star Master Jeff: but you blow him to bits like you hit him right in the middle.
[00:14:49] His body. None of his legs fly off. He just falls down and it's now an aborted baby tentacle.
[00:14:55] Felix: Wait, maybe, maybe we just stop shooting in tion. Bots of tentacles. Guys like,
[00:14:59] Thorne: listen, I'm [00:15:00] gonna spray lasers at this thing. And wherever it gets hit, it gets hit. That's all I got for you.
[00:15:04] Robert: That's fair. But as I end my turn, I scream baby myNO, uh, thorn.
[00:15:12] Thorne: Oh, hey, that's me. Um, okay, well, uh, I think that I'm going to move up to the next. Closest VAT and stay behind and then just tear out, uh, and try and blast one of the little bonners while it's form, while it's formulating. Does the big one look like it's, uh, how many legs does it have left? It had eight. So five?
[00:15:34] Star Master Jeff: Yes.
[00:15:35] Thorne: Mm. Well, I don't wanna shoot it's legs off. That seems counterintuitive or counterproductive, I should say.
[00:15:40] Star Master Jeff: It seems like no matter where you hit it, a leg flies off.
[00:15:43] Thorne: Yeah, that's what I figured. So I was kind of thinking that it looked like the goo had an adverse effect on it. And I was gonna kind of like go from VA to vat, getting closer and closer behind it to try and just maybe, I don't know, sabotage or knock over a vat and, [00:16:00] and, and sort it out or crush it or whatever these do.
[00:16:02] But while I make my way there, I am gonna keep shooting. So I'm gonna go between a couple vats while firing some lasers and I'll shoot him at the, the, the little guy I think just to keep the number of combatants slow.
[00:16:13] Felix: Sure. Come on Thorn. You can do it.
[00:16:15] Thorne: I mean, I say that, but I'm just gonna miss
[00:16:17] Felix: I believe in you.
[00:16:18] Oh
[00:16:18] Thorne: no, I don't believe. Somebody else.
[00:16:23] Star Master Jeff: Okay? A five is gonna miss all of the babies,
[00:16:26] Thorne: but I would've done one damage if I had hit
[00:16:28] Felix: one whole damage
[00:16:30] Star Master Jeff: that might kill the babies. You don't know. Babies are fragile. Uh, Felix Champlin.
[00:16:36] Felix: Okay. I am going to run as fast as my little robot legs will take me towards where the signal was coming from.
[00:16:44] Star Master Jeff: Okay? Assistant gm, how far can you move in one round?
[00:16:47] Felix: You can move 10 meters.
[00:16:48] Star Master Jeff: I said assistant gm.
[00:16:50] Thorne: 10 meters,
[00:16:51] Felix: you can move 10 meters of the move action you could take run as your standard action so you can move 20 meters if that's all you do.
[00:16:57] Star Master Jeff: Okay? So you take the run action, which means you can move [00:17:00] 20 meters, which brings you up to a hole at the end of this alleyway, in the middle, on the wall, next to the hole, you see a gelatin mold.
[00:17:11] Felix: Okay, that's all I can do. I can't do anything with this, this turn.
[00:17:14] Star Master Jeff: Okay. Hailey
[00:17:15] Felix: Haley?
[00:17:16] Haleyy: Yeah. Um, trying to wonder if. It's like worth it to try and shoot at these things.
[00:17:22] Felix: We know at least the little ones. Robert's gonna to take out one of the little ones.
[00:17:25] Haleyy: Yeah. Um, but
[00:17:27] Thorne: the big one is the bigger threat.
[00:17:29] Haleyy: Yeah.
[00:17:29] I'll shoot the big one.
[00:17:31] Thorne: We don't know if the little ones are just gonna be the biggest threat immediately.
[00:17:34] Haleyy: I'm gonna try shooting at them again and then moving a little, a bit after I shoot to duck behind a vat. But then the stuff in the VAT might land on me, which could also be a problem.
[00:17:44] Felix: We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
[00:17:45] Haleyy: You're part,
[00:17:46] Felix: you'll be fine.
[00:17:47] Haleyy: Yep. I'm going to um, shoot. With my laser rifle. Does a 15 hit?
[00:17:53] Star Master Jeff: 15 misses?
[00:17:55] Haleyy: Oh God, no.
[00:17:57] Star Master Jeff: Wait, are you shooting the big one or the little ones?
[00:17:59] Haleyy: Well, now that you've [00:18:00] asked.
[00:18:01] Yeah.
[00:18:02] Star Master Jeff: Okay. You were Okay. Well hold on. You were shooting the big one and you missed I was
[00:18:05] Haleyy: shooting the big one and I missed, yeah,
[00:18:06] Star Master Jeff: yeah, yeah.
[00:18:08] So you shoot the big one and you miss No, and you've already used your re-roll for the scene. So now I see annihilation bot turn. If you shoot, you miss, you step behind a vat just as the big annihilation. Opens fire on you.
[00:18:21] Haleyy: Oh my God.
[00:18:22] Star Master Jeff: So because you're behind full cover, the Annihilation bot has a minus four to hit.
[00:18:28] Haleyy: Okay. Oh, thank gosh,
[00:18:29] Star Master Jeff: eight.
[00:18:30] Haleyy: Um, it does not hit
[00:18:31] Star Master Jeff: eight does not hit. Of course it doesn't hit.
[00:18:33] Robert: Yeah.
[00:18:33] Star Master Jeff: These two little annihilation bots are also ready to go. What? So they are now going to attack first one moves so that it can see Thorn partially behind a vat. It rolls in a. Minus two for partial cover.
[00:18:51] Thorne: Oh, no.
[00:18:51] Oh no.
[00:18:52] Star Master Jeff: Oh,
[00:18:52] Thorne: that hits me.
[00:18:53] Star Master Jeff: Oh, Jesus. A 19 hits you for three points of damaged thorn, the smaller, less [00:19:00] damaging pistol of a baby. Annihilation bot Lance is through the air and strikes you in the shoulder, bringing you to a knee.
[00:19:07] Thorne: Everybody here is Thorn. Call out in pain as the laser scorches his flesh. But then you hear I'm all right.
[00:19:13] I'm all right. It's fine. Typical Thorn.
[00:19:16] Star Master Jeff: Typical Thorn, the second baby Annihilation book. Steps out into the main thoroughfare so that I can see Robert Ross a little bit of a distance away, but still well within range and shoots its low powered pistol all the way at him. Looks like he's nodding cover at all.
[00:19:34] So I'm not gonna give a minus to this annihilation body at all.
[00:19:37] Robert: I am not. I'd step out.
[00:19:39] Star Master Jeff: Oh, I roll the three ah annihilation bond, Mrs. Wide, shooting the bat next to you and cracking it, but it does not break.
[00:19:47] Robert: Oh Jesus. This is how I got the alien. Huh?
[00:19:50] Felix: It's the least fun way you can get it.
[00:19:52] Star Master Jeff: Vat goo. Uh, speaking of Vat goo Robert, your turn.
[00:19:56] Felix: Don't call him by his nickname only. We can call him. [00:20:00] We
[00:20:00] Star Master Jeff: can call him that. That's his Christian name. Vat Goo
[00:20:03] Robert: Robert. Vat Goo Ross. Uh,
[00:20:07] Felix: that is his perfect nickname.
[00:20:08] Star Master Jeff: It really is kind of perfect.
[00:20:12] Robert: Is, uh, going to continue playing baby murder, uh, cleanup crew. Um, I'm going. To take a shot at the, uh, closest baby.
[00:20:25] Um, and then I'm going to scoot, scoot behind cover, uh, trying to very specifically avoid, uh, getting the, uh, the old alien clap.
[00:20:37] Star Master Jeff: Okay. So just so everyone, just to, you know, paint the picture for everyone currently in front of you, there is a, the, the original Annihilation bot still alive. There are two babies.
[00:20:49] One is. Impartial to full cover behind a vat depending on where you're standing. And the other one is right out in the open. Right now, Robert Ross is shooting at the one that's out in the open and oh my God, with a [00:21:00] 27 and 12 points of damage. I take back what I just said, that baby Annihilation bot is not out in the open.
[00:21:06] It is not in existence anymore.
[00:21:09] Robert: A little IDT bittiest serving of baby murder that I could serve up hot and fresh, and then I run behind a bat.
[00:21:17] Star Master Jeff: Jesus, I was gonna ask you for. A catch phrase, but you already had one locked and loaded and I regret wanting one. Thorn your turn.
[00:21:26] Thorne: Okay. Uh, where, where are Vera and froggy?
[00:21:30] They, are they staying safe? At least
[00:21:31] Star Master Jeff: Vera and Froggy are like, so Robert's in the very back. Robert's like five yards behind you. Behind some fats.
[00:21:38] Thorne: Yeah.
[00:21:38] Star Master Jeff: Another like five or 10 yards behind them are the retreated, froggy and Vera hiding. Dr. Voss is an orb form of course, hiding on Felix's body.
[00:21:48] Felix: There she is.
[00:21:49] Thorne: All right, so. The little baby annihilation bop that just scuttled over here and put this laser burn in me. Uh, it, I can kind of see it behind a nearby va, so I just [00:22:00] kind of position myself a little bit so that I can get a, get it in full view and then once I can clearly see it, I'm gonna try to put some lasers in it and then try to get back into my cover.
[00:22:11] Star Master Jeff: Okay. It tries to scurry behind the vat as you're shooting at it, but
[00:22:14] Thorne: No, you don't.
[00:22:17] Star Master Jeff: Oh, we'll see. We'll see. You do? Yes, you do.
[00:22:22] Thorne: Yes. I got a A four. Yes, it's a four
[00:22:24] Star Master Jeff: Mrs.
[00:22:25] Thorne: I didn't need to shoot anybody anyway. Uh, and then I tr try to get back behind my vat. I'm trying not to let the big one see me. That's my bigger concern.
[00:22:33] So if the little one can still kind of see me, that's okay. As long as I'm completely obscured from the big one.
[00:22:39] Star Master Jeff: Yeah, absolutely. So when you moved out initially, you kept the big one behind a vat. The little one is a straight shot. Unfortunately you missed.
[00:22:46] Thorne: It is unfortunate,
[00:22:47] Star Master Jeff: but you might be okay because.
[00:22:49] Felix, it's your turn, and Felix is just a few yards away from that little one, but also you're just right next to a gelatin moat. I don't know if we're gonna keep calling them [00:23:00] that, but you're next to a goo mold on the wall. So what would you like to do?
[00:23:03] Felix: What I wanna do is try to shut these bots down so you can describe for me a bit more what I'm looking at here.
[00:23:08] Star Master Jeff: Yeah, so you're like five yards away from one of the baby annihilation bots. You are at the end of the main thoroughfare between these like rows and rows of vats. Leads up to that hole in the floor that Hailey noted earlier. The hole isn't like an impression or an indentation, like something you'd put Dr.
[00:23:27] Bos into. It's straight up like a six foot wide hole, and it looks like it's a tube, like a big pneumatic tube. And when you look down into it, you note that all around the rim of the tube is goo, as if the entire tube used to be full of goo, but it's not anymore. Looking down into the tube, you can't see the bottom of it because it's all dark down there on the wall.
[00:23:49] Next to the tube is a goo mold, a gel mold.
[00:23:54] Felix: All right, um, well I gotta shut these guys down if I can. So I'm gonna just shove my hand into that goo [00:24:00] mold as fast as I can.
[00:24:01] Star Master Jeff: You shove your hand into the goo mold and I need you to roll programming wisdom.
[00:24:07] Felix: It's my favorite rule. This, this session. Uh, and I don't get a re-roll 'cause I've already used my re-roll.
[00:24:12] Star Master Jeff: Better roll. Good.
[00:24:14] Felix: Six.
[00:24:14] Star Master Jeff: Six. That's the minimum. That's what you need. So you feel like you could do a lot more with a better role, but you're rushed and you're not sure exactly what you're doing. But when your fingers go into this goo mold and you feel the tiny little hammocks crater each of your fingers, and you move them around a little bit, you realize that if you had done better, you'd be able to control these annihilation bots.
[00:24:39] Instead, you're able to just barely get control of one baby Annihilation bot, and it's the one that. You can see clearly the one that's currently taking aim at Thorn. So on your next turn on its next turn, it'll follow your orders.
[00:24:55] Felix: Oh, that's exciting.
[00:24:56] Star Master Jeff: Uh, Hailey.
[00:24:59] Haleyy: So are [00:25:00] there any of the little annihilation bots like specifically seem to be targeting?
[00:25:05] Um, Felix,
[00:25:06] Star Master Jeff: there is an Annihilation bot just a few yards away from Felix, but it seems to be focusing on Thorn.
[00:25:11] Haleyy: It looks like I do have a straight shot to the one that's like Nearest to Felix that is focusing on Thorn. So I am. Going to take a shot with my pulse or my laser rifle. That pulse rifle, um, that sucked.
[00:25:23] That was bad.
[00:25:25] Star Master Jeff: Oh, you roll the critical miss the laser bolt streaks past the baby Felix, you notice that Hailey almost just destroyed the annihilation bot that you just took control of.
[00:25:37] Felix: I'm like, Hailey, I've got this one.
[00:25:39] Star Master Jeff: Hailey.
[00:25:41] Felix: Hey, I'm just
[00:25:42] Haleyy: trying.
[00:25:44] Star Master Jeff: It is now the annihilation bot turn. It doesn't really matter what.
[00:25:47] Order They going usually, but it matters right now. So I'm gonna roll randomly. I'm gonna roll 1D two, and if I roll a one, then Felix's baby Annihilation bot [00:26:00] gets to go first. Now I roll the two. Okay. The big Annihilation bot gets to go first. It doesn't have a clear shot on anyone, so it's actually going to move and shoot Haley with partial cover.
[00:26:13] So it's at a minus two. So it's kind of looking around across all the. It can kind of see Felix, it can kind of see Thorn, it can kind of see Robert Hailey's closest and Hailey did the most damage so far to it. So it moves a little bit to get Hailey into view and shoots a round the VA as best it's can at a minus two.
[00:26:32] And critical myth, this thing, oh God, God dammit, when am I ever gonna get to kill one of you suckers. And I guess Felix, it's time for baby annihilation bot. What overpowered thing are you gonna do now?
[00:26:46] Felix: What? What are, what are its capabilities?
[00:26:48] Star Master Jeff: You're actually not sure. Okay. You feel like you can control its limbs individually, depending on how you move your hands, but there's also sort of a, a catch on the middle finger where you can fire [00:27:00] its lasers.
[00:27:01] Felix: Okay. Hmm. Yeah. I'll, I'll like, I'll move it up. I, I'll move to like very close behind the big annihilation bot, like a couple of, like a few meters or so, like pretty close behind it and just open fire on it.
[00:27:16] Star Master Jeff: You skidder up behind. The larger of the two Annihilation bots, there's only two left. You and him.
[00:27:22] You skidder up, there's a couple yards behind him, and you power on your lasers, and then you twitch your middle finger in a vulgar way, unnecessarily vulgar, in my opinion. And you roll,
[00:27:33] Felix: uh, a 12, which I do not believe hits
[00:27:36] Star Master Jeff: a 12, misses it, but the bigger annihilation bot swings around and begins to target the smaller one.
[00:27:44] Robert Ross, the two Annihilation bots again. All reason and logic appear to be fighting each other. Now, what would you like to do?
[00:27:51] Robert: Pop out of cover, moving towards the Annihilation bot, uh, and take a.in the [00:28:00] back. Uh, not at the baby, but at the Big boy. And unfortunately, I only roll a nine.
[00:28:08] Star Master Jeff: Ooh, another miss.
[00:28:09] Robert: But, uh, this is my first miss of the, of the singing. And so I will use my Warrior's skill to. Shoot it in the face. Oh,
[00:28:18] Star Master Jeff: oh yeah. I love it. Okay, so that's a hit. How much damage?
[00:28:24] Robert: Four 12 points of damage.
[00:28:25] Star Master Jeff: Oh man. Okay. Yeah. 12 damage courses through this annihilation bots already extremely battered frame. And that is going to finish whatever a robot calls a life here in the Viridian Expanse.
[00:28:40] Thorne: Yes.
[00:28:40] Star Master Jeff: And it crumbles to the ground
[00:28:42] Thorne: end process. Tree
[00:28:43] Star Master Jeff: deactivated. Pseudo rm. Annihilation bot Felix, you are still in control of this baby Annihilation bot.
[00:28:54] Felix: I'm kind of nervous to like take my hand out 'cause I think it might just start going crazy again. Do I feel like I can shut it [00:29:00] down?
[00:29:00] Star Master Jeff: No, you did not roll well enough for that.
[00:29:03] Felix: Can I like crush? To death? No. Um,
[00:29:06] Robert: I know somebody who's real good at crushing it to death.
[00:29:09] Felix: All right. Yo, I've got control of this guy, but I, I can't shut it down. So I'll, I'll just hold it here and you just decommission it. Okay.
[00:29:18] Thorne: Can do. All right. You two, concentrate your fire on the little guy.
[00:29:22] Felix: Every just scorched earth, the little guy.
[00:29:24] Just, it's too much. Too much firepower.
[00:29:27] Star Master Jeff: Yeah. Hailey and Robert move up and just destroy in a hail of laser and bullets. Just mow it down. I would put a few more in the big guy for good measure, make sure all of the little ones are definitely gone. And finally it's safe. It's quiet for about five seconds.
[00:29:45] And then Froggy says, guys, that was so cool. And Vera says, you were right. They really are explorers. That was really cool. I'm really happy you guys came.
[00:29:57] Thorne: I'm glad everybody else had fun. Oh God, this [00:30:00] Burns.
[00:30:00] Star Master Jeff: Vera runs up and says, oh my God, you're hurt.
[00:30:03] Thorne: Yeah. Are you two? Okay over there? I call. Out to Hailey and Robert.
[00:30:07] 'cause I wasn't sure if anyone else took any shots. Hey. Okay.
[00:30:10] Robert: Yeah. Um, thorn, how big is that hole up in you?
[00:30:14] Thorne: That's just a burn. I'm good. Uh, I, I think I have something for this actually. And I actually think I do
[00:30:20] Star Master Jeff: whatever it is. Vera puts out her hand for it.
[00:30:23] Robert: Are you sure you don't want a greasy rag that I pull outta my half row?
[00:30:26] Thorne: Uh, I've got this pretech cosmetic, which, uh, can heal me for a little bit at the cost of some strain.
[00:30:33] Star Master Jeff: So you pull out your pretech cosmetic, so. Just to be clear, because you guys don't have like a lot of other healing Thorn is choosing to use one of the Pretech cosmetics that he got off of the void cultus ship after you guys killed all the void cultus at the truck stop.
[00:30:50] You went onto their ship and you like got a bunch of loot. So they had those three Pretech cosmetics, right? I don't know who has the other two, but you wanna use one of them right now? [00:31:00]
[00:31:00] Thorne: Yeah, I have two of them. So somebody else maybe has one, or maybe we all have one, but I'll use one of them unless anybody.
[00:31:05] As a strong reason. I shouldn't.
[00:31:07] Felix: No, nobody stops you.
[00:31:08] Star Master Jeff: Cool. Yeah, I mean the nice thing about the Pretech cosmetics is that they're instant and you just lost three hit points. So, and you guys are trapped in here. So I mean, I think it's a good idea. So why don't you go ahead and roll one six for instant healing.
[00:31:21] But of course, pretech cosmetics weren't used for healing back in the day. It's instant cosmetic surgery and a bunch of different things could happen. So I have a random table and I need you to roll 1D 12 to randomly decide. What cosmetic surgery you just got?
[00:31:40] Thorne: Well, that's gonna be either really good or really bad.
[00:31:43] Star Master Jeff: They're all good. There are things that people would pay for.
[00:31:46] Thorne: Okay.
[00:31:46] Star Master Jeff: Your unkempt nails
[00:31:49] Thorne: rude,
[00:31:49] Star Master Jeff: both feet and hand are immediately trimmed and polished and painted. Mani-pedi all the way.
[00:31:58] Thorne: Hell yeah.
[00:31:58] Star Master Jeff: So essentially what happens is all of [00:32:00] your nails grow very quickly and fall out because they're being pushed out by.
[00:32:05] Another set of nails that are painted black with little star gold stars on them, and they go out a quarter inch from your fingers and your toes and you have these beautiful mani-pedi nails now, and they will last for six months.
[00:32:22] Haleyy: Oh yeah. Beautiful.
[00:32:23] Star Master Jeff: And your nails, your nails will not grow for six months and then all of a sudden they will fall out because your new nails will grow in within a week.
[00:32:31] Felix: I love the body horror aspect of this too. That's horse just, he injects himself with this and. Stands there while his nails just fall off of his body.
[00:32:38] Thorne: At first I'm horrified, but then I'm like, oh, huh, this is lovely actually.
[00:32:44] Star Master Jeff: So you guys were in this giant VA room and there's that giant hole there, so I'm assuming you're gonna take a look down that hole, Felix, since you're right there.
[00:32:51] Felix: Yeah, but before that, because I already looked down there, I didn't see anything. I am gonna go over to the remains of the Annihilation bot and [00:33:00] see if there's anything I think that's worth salvaging that I take a back to examine later on the ship.
[00:33:04] Star Master Jeff: Yes. So the big bot is very heavy.
[00:33:07] Felix: Yep.
[00:33:08] Star Master Jeff: The little bots you can pick up, but you wouldn't wanna bring with you right now if you wanted to try to like tear them apart.
[00:33:14] Basically examining them briefly. They're not made of metal, they're made of faro fluid. You know that nano fluid, just like the thing, the goo, just like the walls. So that's like this hardened coral, but there are pieces of it that aren't hardened. Coral. The laser array that's built into it seems to have the same sort of strain.
[00:33:35] When you measure it with your tripod as a laser rifle on the big one and a laser pistol on the smaller ones, you're unsure if you can really remove the mechanism. But if you could take one of these back to your ship and do robotic surgery on it, you might be able to remove some of the alien tech and examine it more closely.
[00:33:53] Felix: Okay.
[00:33:54] Star Master Jeff: But it'd be difficult to carry them if you're gonna continue deeper in since you don't particularly have a way out [00:34:00] right now.
[00:34:00] Felix: Hmm. Can I make froggy carry one of the little ones?
[00:34:03] Star Master Jeff: Yeah. I mean, you can try. To make froggy do anything.
[00:34:07] Felix: Yeah. Um, Hey, froggy vera.
[00:34:10] Star Master Jeff: Yeah.
[00:34:10] Felix: Listen. Could, could you all the, what's up Felix?
[00:34:13] All of the sense of science and of research and I'm making money. Can one of you take one of these little ones and just carry it with you and maybe alternate back and forth? It gets too heavy.
[00:34:21] Star Master Jeff: Uh, froggy goes over and picks it up and he is like, yeah,
[00:34:26] Felix: cool.
[00:34:26] Star Master Jeff: I mean, it's a little heavy. Um,
[00:34:28] Felix: yeah, you're fine.
[00:34:28] Yeah. But you're a big, strong boy.
[00:34:30] Star Master Jeff: Vera comes over and helps him put it into her backpack and they dump out the contents. The backpack and they like spread the items out amongst everyone in the party. It's like flares and a flashlight and some extra rope and you know, just regular like exploration equipment and you know, her walkie talkie and stuff like that.
[00:34:48] So she slings it on her back and she says, I got it, I got it. I'll, I'll go first. It's uh, probably like 40 pounds.
[00:34:55] Felix: Thanks Vera.
[00:34:56] Star Master Jeff: Oh, I'm gonna sell this thing.
[00:34:58] Felix: Uh, yeah, we'll see how that turns [00:35:00] out. 'cause I have some things I wanna do to it.
[00:35:02] Star Master Jeff: Well, we'll see if I sell it. And I will, I'm gonna sell this. I'm gonna save the company.
[00:35:06] Felix: Well, let's get outta here first.
[00:35:07] Star Master Jeff: I'm gonna sell it and save the company. Felix,
[00:35:09] Felix: I look down the hole.
[00:35:12] Thorne: You know, we're taking a, a big chunk of that cut. Right? Don't forget who explored.
[00:35:17] Star Master Jeff: No one's gonna get a cut of me selling this, but the owner is gonna make sure everyone gets paid Yes. Once we save the company, right?
[00:35:26] Thorne: Yeah. Something like that. Yeah.
[00:35:28] Star Master Jeff: You guys were like, we're gonna kill her and take this thing.
[00:35:30] Thorne: Yeah, I never said that.
[00:35:33] Star Master Jeff: It's like when you guys were killing all those, those. Quote unquote bad guys on one visa, what do you, and then at one point, quote
[00:35:38] Thorne: unquote, wait, wait,
[00:35:39] Haleyy: they were bad. We like the guardians of the work.
[00:35:42] Star Master Jeff: And then at some point Felix is like, wait, wait, wait, wait. Well, I guess Scott Scott's like, wait, wait, wait, wait. We never asked. Are these actually like guardians of the work or are they just people You guys have killed like three of 'em.
[00:35:53] Thorne: Yeah. That
[00:35:54] Felix: dude, I don't, I don't like Vera very much. So we'll see what happens.
[00:35:59] There's lots of, there's [00:36:00] lots of things that could befall her down here.
[00:36:02] Star Master Jeff: Okay. Interesting. You don't like people very much.
[00:36:05] Felix: No, that's true. I like my people. She's not one of my people.
[00:36:08] Thorne: Also, I have a very authoritative presence, though
[00:36:11] Star Master Jeff: true NPCs
[00:36:12] Thorne: tend, tend to just listen to me's.
[00:36:14] Star Master Jeff: I mean, that's true. That is true.
[00:36:15] You're extremely charismatic anyways. You look down the hole.
[00:36:20] Felix: Yep. I might, one of my flares is see better.
[00:36:23] Star Master Jeff: You drop it down the hole.
[00:36:24] Felix: Yeah, drop it down the hole.
[00:36:26] Star Master Jeff: The flare goes down 30 feet and hits bottom. This vertical tube is like six feet in diameter and the insides of it is cut. Covered with goo as if the entire thing used to actually be filled to the brim with goo.
[00:36:40] But as the flare drops down, you can see there's a massive crack down the side of it. So the goo is obviously leaked out over time. Down at the bottom, there's a hole that leads out to a whole nother floor below the one that you're on, a cold draft rushes up the tube along with the smell of fresh air, promising that there [00:37:00] may be some sort of exit down there on the subfloor.
[00:37:03] Felix: Well, I think we might have a way out. But we have to go deeper.
[00:37:07] Star Master Jeff: And with that, we'll have to stop there. But you hit a story beat tonight. You discovered something about this alien civilization. You helped froggy on his quest to reconnect with his childhood friend, and I think it's time that you all level up.
[00:37:22] Haleyy: Oh, thank God.
[00:37:23] Oh,
[00:37:23] Thorne: that. I love those words. Whoa.
[00:37:26] Haleyy: That's the best.
[00:37:27] Star Master Jeff: Between this session and the next, please bring yourself from level two to level three. Yay.
[00:37:33] Thorne: Give a damn hit point. I love it.
[00:37:36] Star Master Jeff: Za. Well, that's it for today's episode. Big shout out to Stephanie, who plays Hailey. Brian, who plays Thorn Doja, who plays Robert, and of course Scott who plays Felix.
[00:37:50] Special thanks to my wife Casey, who redid all of our logos. Just recently, you may be noticing that the logos look pretty fricking awesome in your feed now, so [00:38:00] we all have her to thank for that. And if you follow us on social media, you may have noticed that we have real life professional art. Now check out our blue Sky feed or on Patreon if you wanna see all the cool new art that we've had illustrated from an awesome artist named Bento, Christiana Zacharias.
[00:38:18] He is an incredibly talented artist that we are very lucky to have been able to contract. So check out the amazing art that he did for us on our blue sky and show him a little bit of love. And finally, a huge shout out to Brad and Holly, our MVP. Patreon members, they've been with us since the very beginning and have been extremely supportive right from the start.
[00:38:41] So thanks so much you two, we love you a lot. For everyone else, if you'd like to support us, check us out on patreon.com/darkstar Venture Cast. You can get early and ad free episode, as well as a bunch of extra cool stuff like the lower dumps. We talk about mechanics, we actually posted the feed quite often there on Patreon and.
[00:38:58] Even cooler. [00:39:00] Patreon has a chat function. You can drop us the line anytime. Well, that's it for our episode today. Thanks so much for listening, and we will catch you on the next one.