What Lies Beneath 4 - Secret of the Spider's Venom

*Our heroes continue to struggle against the unaccounted for strength of Balancesheet. As Jowkazza shows that the legendary strength of a Wookiee can fall short of ripping off an arm from time to time, Katira continues to solve her problems by stabbing them, and Bota struggles to keep himself from being removed from the equation. Jimmy and Rusty argue over the radio station as their friends find themselves in the grip of the monster, when Droo decides enough is enough and unleashes her super-Nautolan form to reset the scales.*

## **Previously**

*A chance meeting with the mysterious General Ledger provided safe passage through the Arquitens-class cruiser and into the lair of the monster known only as Balancesheet. Along the way, speeder bikes were picked up and abandoned behind the traffic jam created when our heroes forced a landspeeder down a hallway that was never meant to fit something quite so large. With Bota left bloodied across the room, the team managed to fight their way past the first wave of spider nodes, but the behemoth form of Balancesheet still looms over the battlefield, ready to strike.*

## **Recap**

### **Cleaning House**

Rising slowly to his feet, the thoroughly disgraced Emperor Evezan shouts out to the monstrous form of Balancesheet that he has completed his part of the bargain in bringing the group to the lair. In response, Balancesheet turns slowly to face the doctor, then shoots out a strand of webbing that wraps around him.

> "*Evezan, I knew you would let me down. That’s why we didn’t tell you anything about the real plan. But you did bring me these people…*"
> ― Balancesheet
>
>

> "*What? You really didn’t know anything this whole time?!*"
> ― Katira
>
>

Seemingly enjoying the current state of affairs, Balancesheet gathers his hands and settles back with a sickening look that can only be comprehended as a smile. On command, the score of cybernetic spiders around the room all vocalize a hello to the group, and the team is left with the sense that they have walked straight into the monster’s web.

Hurrying into the room behind the group, Droo jumps atop the stalled land speeder as a node bumps the radio over to Huttese Gregorian chanting. She fires directly at the creature, knocking it over the windshield and leaving it wounded on the hood. As the spider slides to a stop behind her, Katira takes a moment to look back at the group before firing off her rocket boots and catapulting herself toward Balancesheet. Unaccustomed to flight, she comes down hard just atop the beast, her dissuasion belt pronouncing her landing with a thundering boom as she draws her daishō and plunges them into his eye.

Finally joining the fray, Tek climbs atop the back of the stalled landspeeder and fires three shots from his heavy blaster, killing off two more spiders. Across the room, surrounded by half a dozen and alone, Bota ignites the flamethrower on his armor as jets into the air, managing to stun a spider and wound two more while creating some breathing room for himself. Staring up at the bounty hunter, the remaining spiders skitter back and begin to hum a disturbing tune.

Rusty fends off the attacks of the last two spiders adjacent to the landspeeder then finishes them off with two blows of his own, and Katira deftly fights off 4 spiders atop Balancesheet. Bota looks around, noting that things are looking up for the rest of the team when suddenly a spider drops down from the ceiling directly onto his jetpack. Before Bota can react, the arachnid bites into his jetpack, snapping its restraints. Bota tumbles to the ground haphazardly as his jetpack rockets straight into the ceiling after the sudden loss of weight. Severely compromised, the jetpack explodes on impact with the ceiling, killing the spider attached to it and dropping 8 spiders - wounded - onto the floor of the lair.

Looking to shake things up, Jowkazza lumbers over toward the enormous form of Balancesheet and takes hold of the creatures nearest leg with both arms. With an impressive display of strength, the Wookiee pulls down and causes Balancesheet to lose balance for a moment. Several small spiders tumble to the ground as Katira barely manages to hold her footing.

> "*Saints preserve ya! Keep tuggin’*"
> ― Evezan
>
>

Inside the cab of the landspeeder, Sparky turns with his arc welder and knocks another spider to the ground, clearing the way for the astromech to change the radio station on the speeder again. The sounds of remixed Old Republic marching tunes erupt from the speakers and Tek smiles in recognition of his own musical expertise before being surprised by overlaid vocals.

> "*It has a guy singing over Tek’s beats, saying “I’m gold pants. Gold pants #1.”*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

With the music clearing the cobwebs from his head, Jawa Jimmy clambers onto the back of the landspeeder and fires his ion cannon at the final two living spiders, killing both. In response to seeing nearly all of his nodes damaged or disabled, Balancesheet decides to take care of the matter personally.

> "*You know, when you came in here with your loud, screeching vehicle, I thought we were going to have a little bit more fun than this. But now I’m bleeding from my eye, you continue to slaughter parts of me… no more mister nice Balancesheet. It’s been fun, but not really.*"
> ― Balancesheet
>
>

> "*Why don’t you shut your mechanical pie-hole!*"
> ― Rusty
>
>

As the thread of webbing around Evezan draws the panicked doctor closer to the monster, one of its mechanical arms reaches over its head, its giant hand pulling Katira down and holding her in front of its face as her stun field dissipates harmlessly.

> "*but… he can’t see me…*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*He has 7 more eyes, and may be able to see through its nodes.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*But… they use two principally?*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*I read the zoo kids book on spiders, I know!*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

With Katira struggling fruitlessly against Balancesheet’s grasp, another thick strand of webbing fires out at Bota Zi as he is rising to his feet. Exhausted, Bota dives to the side, but is wrapped up by the webbing none the less. Finally, Balancesheet kicks out at Jowkazza with its leg, but the Wookiee deflects the sapling sized appendage harmlessly.

> "*That would connect 9 times out of 10.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Rwaaaor (translation: It’s that Wookiee fortune.)*"
> ― Jowkazza
>
>

> "*It’s that patented, last second Wookiee magic.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Are you a shaman?*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Rawwwr Wroof (translation: Yes. I’m going to start casting some totems.)*"
> ― Jowkazza
>
>

### **It's Accrual World**

Seeing the battle turning further into the monster’s favor by the moment, Droo dives headfirst into the fray. Leaping from the landspeeder, a blue glow emits from her lightsaber as she sprints directly toward the restrained forms of Bota and Katira. Balancesheet shrieks out in pain as the blade burns a deep cut through the leg blocking Droo’s path. As the creature jerks its wounded leg away, Droo continues sprinting forward and raises her lightsaber over her head, bringing it down to relieve Balancesheet of the arm holding her friend then taking a defensive stance and facing the dozen or so nodes now rising on the floor behind her.

> "*It’s **accrual** world…*"
> ― Droo
>
>

Freed from Balancesheet’s grasp, Katira severs the strand of web that connects the creature to Bota before flying up to land atop the monster again. Rushing over to the far rear of Balancesheet, she draws her daishō and holding them next to one of the massive strands of web-like substance believed to connect the monster to its nodes, she calls out to Balancesheet to surrender.

As the monster chides the group for coming in with guns blazing, it asks what the group is after. At the mention of the K2 Virus, Balancesheet is almost beside itself with apparent joy at the opportunity to show its creation off.

> "*Come on. You would love it! Do you want to see something? Do you want me to show you why you would love it?*"
> ― Balancesheet
>
>

> "*With Evezan? You want to show me what happens when you give it to Evezan?*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*Oh… you and I are of two minds.*"
> ― Balancesheet
>
>

Balancesheet proceeds to pull Evezan to itself, then inject him with an unknown substance. As the group looks on, Balancesheet explains that it has made contact with the Imperial Remnant to learn about the virus, then alter it. The newly created strain will do the thing that the former strain did not: only infect humans. As the New Republic scrambles to form a cure, cybernetic enhancements would become much more common place, enhancements that Balancesheet would then be able to use to exert its control. When Katira notes that she doesn’t even regret not discussing terms in the agreement with General Ledger to kill Balancesheet, the creature surprises the group again by claiming that they simply used Ledger to bring in the group, then summons the node back.

> "*If you really want to take the recipe for the K2 Virus, we could probably work something out. But wouldn’t you kind of love to see the humans taken down a notch? Even if I don’t take them over. They’re the dominant species in the galaxy, they thrust us into all these wars. If there were less humans around for a little bit… is it really that bad?*"
> ― Balancesheet
>
>

Unconvinced and disgusted by Balancesheet’s plan, Katira strikes out hard at the thread extending from the creature’s back, leaving it hanging by a thread. Breathing threats, it ceases its banter and prepares to attack. Not wanting to be overshadowed or forgotten, Tek takes advantage of the focus on the middle of the room to rush in himself. Activating his own lightsaber combat, he moves to the same leg that was pulled at by Jowkazza and cut into by Droo and attacks, leaving the leg intact but crippled.

Surrounded by the rising figures of numerous cybernetic nodes and thoroughly entangled in Balancesheet’s web, Bota makes a desperate attempt to escape immediate peril. As his flamethrower ignites the web encasing him, Bota fires his grappling hook at Balancesheet. The webs burn away as the clone tumbles to the top of the creature and slowly rises to his feet, battered but unbeaten.

> "*Man, I love this kid’s spunk. Alright, Jawa Jimmy, it’s time to change the radio station.*"
> ― Rusty
>
>

## **Featured Characters**

### **Our Heroes**

* Bota Zi
* Droo Vos
* Jawa Jimmy
	+ Sparky
* Jowkazza
* Katira Eve
* Roostan Steele
* Tek Krodak

### **NPCs**

* Cornelius Evezan
* Balancesheet

## **Notes**

* -2cp to jetpack atop Balancesheet (Katira)
* -4cp (Bota)
	+ -2cp to torch some spiders
	+ -2cp to attempt to dodge Balancesheet’s web
* -7cp (Droo)
	+ -4cp for Lightsaber Combat: Control roll
	+ -3cp for Lightsaber Combat: Sense roll
* -6cp (Tek)
	+ -4cp for Lightsaber Combat: Control roll
	+ -2cp for Lightsaber Combat: Sense roll

## **Quotations**

> "*Let me guess. There’s a bunch of spiders, we’re underground, the spiders are linked to the disease?*"
> ― Laurel
>
>

> "*Woah… well played, Sherlock. Detective.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*That’s it. You guessed it. That’s all that’s happened.*"
> ― Ilya
>
>

> "*Is this tally? Is this just a giant expense report villain?!*"
> ― Laurel
>
>

> "*You must balance the sheets! Accounts payable.*"
> ― Ilya
>
>

> "*Don’t tell me the next chapter in this is called contra accounts.*"
> ― Luke
>
>

> "*I missed one very important part: the land speeder is **almost** in the room, and Rusty turns on the radio…*"
> ― David
>
>

> "*Sorry, just remind me. Who’s in like… immediate peril here?*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Tek, for sure.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*I think the people that may be attacked the most in the next turn will be Bota.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*How big is Balancesheet?*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*He’s huge. He could pick you up in one of these hands. Like King Kong. Not quite King Kong size, but he could easily hold you in one hand.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*But he’s still a spider.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*I mean… he may be tall but he’ll never overcome the deficit of being a spider. No matter how high he raises himself, in society and in life, he will always have that against him.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Is anybody in need of any healing. Is Callen okay?*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Rusty? He’s fine.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Oh, Rusty! That’s right, I’m sorry.*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Huh? Who’s Callen?*"
> ― Rusty
>
>

> "*You could also just run at Balancesheet.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*You could use your lightsaber to cut Balancesheet’s arm off, and save me.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*Okay, I’ll try that. What’s the worst that could happen?*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*You could accidentally hit Katira.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*You could end up hanging out in an arm right next to me.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*You’re spending character points like Bota spends character points! We haven’t had anybody achieve lightsaber combat in a long time.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*I yell “Whee” when I do it.*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Ugh… \*\*\*\* you. And by you, I mean me.*"
> ― Droo rolling terribly to strike Balancesheet’s leg
>
>

> "*Why would I ever not add the full control?*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Well sometimes you don’t want to kill everybody.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Not today.*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Katira, hold still!*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Goodness gracious. The most appropriate time to spend 7cp and activate lightsaber combat ever.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*Plus I feel bad that I wasn’t here before, so I gotta burn these points.*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Yes, fueled by guilt. The way of the Jedi.*"
> ― Jordan
>
>

> "*Oh, wait! Sorry. I just thought of something cool to say when I did that. As I’m chopping off the accountant spider’s leg, I shout “It’s accrual world”*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Let’s discuss the terms of your surrender, Balancesheet.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*Alright, so you want to make things interesting… you walk into my lair - and I will use that term, my **lair** - and start killing everybody. I know who you are. I’m not sure how you know who I am, but what do you want?*"
> ― Balancesheet
>
>

> "*I’ve changed it around. So now… it just works on humans. It is the reverse Krytos Virus. The best thing about this is that it now targets humans*"
> ― Balancesheet
>
>

> "*Alright… our day is done. Let’s go home.*"
> ― Rusty
>
>

> "*Yeah… wait… are any of us humans?*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*Bota…*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*I’m a clone!*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*That’s his answer to everything. “I’m a clone!”*"
> ― Rusty
>
>

> "*Wait… that doesn’t mean you’re not human!*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*You make some good points, Balancesheet. I will…*"
> ― Katira
>
>

> "*…join you.*"
> ― Tek
>
>

> "*Katira, no!*"
> ― Droo
>
>

> "*I want you to make me the new General Ledger. Bye guys, I’m joining the spider and becoming your new overlord.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

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