The Blind Jump crew have moved on to a new solar system. On a cold, dusty red planet, they discover a strange construct, seemingly half building, half creature. One entrance at either end appears viable – a mouth-like orifice with razor-sharp metallic teeth in continual chomping motion, and a tightly closed sphincter. The crew opts to attempt the mouth. Lefty deploys his mathematical expertise and identifies a pattern in the mouth’s movement, allowing the crew to leap one at a time into the orifice. Inside, they find a passage, its ceiling covered with oozing purple stalactites. As they move in, one drops, narrowly missing Max. Max responds by shooting a stalactite, while Whooey scans the remainder and determines that two of them have metallic contents. Binx deploys her smartrope and the crew yanks all of the stalactites down, revealing two identical Founder devices. Whooey examines them and determines that they are blasting weapons, which produce a concussive force that knocks opponents backwards. Whooey takes one and Binx the other.
Moving into the structure, the crew encounters a sac-like chamber where holes in the walls spew muck onto the floor, leaving a layer 3/4 of a meter thick. “Did the Founders have to be gross all the time?” asked Binx. The crew begins to wade through the muck, but partway across the chamber, nine vaguely humanoid creatures pop up out of the muck. The creatures brandish claws and attack, one leaping onto Miaulong but missing.
“Slime trolls!” yells Miaulong as another claws at Whooey and misses. Shuhb opens fire with his needle pistol at the creature attacking him and hits, but the needles seem to be absorbed harmlessly. Binx tries to activate the Founder blasting device but fails. Lefty ducks a set of claws and fires his pulse rayguns at one of the trolls further away, burning it to a crisp. Another troll claws at Whooey and gouges into his battle armor, knocking him back and damaging some of his servos. Miaulong swings a welding torch at a troll, incinerating it. Whooey recovers his balance and deploys his own blasting device, emitting a wave of energy that knocks the troll attacking him backwards into a wall.
Another slime troll charges in and attacks Binx, but misses. Another claws at Shuhb, but he leans out of the way. Max swings his welding torch and roasts the troll fighting him. A troll moves in to attack Lefty, but his claws just barely scratch his armor, but another troll slashes through Shuhb’s armor and takes him down. Whooey’s armor deflects another two claw attacks as the troll he knocked back charges back in. Lefty roasts another troll with his welding torch, but another slashes at Binx and claws through her armor, injuring her. Miaulong swings a torch at a troll and misses, as Max charges in and roasts another with his own torch. Whooey, surrounded by trolls, ignites his torch and swings wildly, scorching a troll but not bringing him down. Binx staggers out of combat, ducking an attack from the troll that struck her.
A slime troll claws at Whooey, but his armor is proof against the attack. Max charges across and incinerates another troll, as a troll carves grooves into Miaulong’s armor. Whooey swings his torch again, but misses this time, and the troll claws back without effect, as does the troll next to him. One of the trolls turns to attack Max, but Max dodges effortlessly. Miaulong turns his torch on the troll that damaged his armor, but the troll knocks it aside. Lefty raises his plasma bolter and his raygun and fires, blowing one troll apart and scorching another. Binx pulls herself together and moves to Shuhb, pulling out the Founder medkit from his pack, but struggles to activate it. A troll slams into Miaulong, knocking him off-balance. Max draws his plasma bolter and fires, blasting the troll apart. Miaulong recovers his balance and fires his ion blaster at the remaining trolls, dropping a burst of energy into the room but missing all the trolls. Lefty fires his weapons again, destroying another troll. Whooey turns around and pulls his own Founder medkit, applying it to Shuhb and stabilizing him, then turns around again and swings his welding torch, but misses. Lefty fires once more and finishes off the last troll.
With the trolls dispatched, Whooey patches up the wounded Shuhb, and the two of them heal Binx and Whooey. With even greater caution, the crew proceeds further into the strange installation…
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