((EDIT: Arghhh just remembered that the razor is also unconventional... oh well.))
Tek realized something: he had no idea how to use this manipulator thingy! This entire time he had just been pushing random buttons.
It was true that he had some successes before (mainly due to the fact that he didn't understand that he didn't understand it, and thus understood it), but it seemed his illogic was catching up with him.
In light of this, Tek decided to carve some stairs into the mound with his razor. He would carve out one step (the topmost), step onto it, and then carve the next one and step onto that, and repeat until he was at the bottom.
ooooo look an action using uncon that wasn't crossed out!
[1-1]
Everything went better then expected.
You whip out your monorazor! In the act of whipping it out, you succeed at slicing off your left arm just below the elbow. You scream in surprised agony and double over. As you bend over you swing your arm and hack straight through your right shin, cutting through at least 80% of the leg. You scream even more, releasing your grip on the blade. The razor, now without anyone steadying it, slices raggedly through the rest of the leg and then falls to the ground. The vibrating wire catches the sand and sprays it up into both of your open wounds.
"AAAHRAGHHAHFUAKCKINGAAAAA"
"Dubs, do not use laser. May anger spirits of earth, agitate artifacts, hurt you, me or early brain death people. May not work in the first place. Have alternative plans. Will listen?"
Step (or climb) away from Dubley's impending laser bonanza.
If he starts cutting with his laser, step away further.
If his efforts fail or he opts to not cut with the laser, see if I can't get through the glass with these methods:
1. with my own mundane tools (such as using an awl plus a hammer to try and chisel through the layer carefully, or a crowbar in a similar manner as a pickaxe).
2. if the first method doesn't work, try it by pointing the civilian gauss sniper rifle to the ground vertically to fire off a penetrating shot, though it'd have to be Dubley who does the firing in this event due to his greater familiarity with firearm safety.
Also, check if Steve has the location of this place recorded for potential later utility.
"Fine. No laser."
Pick up the broken piece of my pickaxe. Gonna have to get this repaired.
Is the pickaxe double sided? if so I could probably mine with the other side.
Otherwise follow Chief's plan.
Dubley takes the Pick and flips it to the other side before planting his feet in a wide stance. After a few practice swings he brings down a full blow on the rock shell, punching straight through it in one blow. The instant it's open the area around the hole starts to visibly ice over with frozen oxygen and nitrogen.
Run away! But stay within site of teammates and eater "Other than sanding it, which most of us can't do, how are we able to restrain it?"
Fuck if I know, but if we're in the path of (what is probably) a fireball that's so fucking big we can see it from space, we have to do something! Inaction is death! Will the Eater follow commands?
Can Steve give us a reading on the giant sky-ball, determine what it is...or determine a projected impact point? Maybe this is how we kill it, when the "Sun" is directly overhead it'll crash down! Try to get the Eater to follow me without using violence!
It appears to be somewhere in the upper atmosphere, but it's hard to monitor. It seems to, judging by thermals, be traveling around the continent, specifically the desert area in wide circles, as though searching for something.
Is....is it a giant space fireball?
((Ladies, gentlemen, members of ARM, we may be witnessing the true meaning of Inferno Mode.))
"Can't sand the guy if I'm roasted, can I?"
Try sanding Samboefreet again.
Str 3; Dex 3; End 3; Cha 10; Int 6; Wil 15//Spe 0; Int 1; Han 0 (-1); Con 4; Unc 0; Exo 12; Aux 3 (+1); Med 0
Mk II Suit; Microwave PK Amp; Mass manip PK Amp; laser rifle (fired once); 0 tokens: normal cigarettes; blue smokes; datapad (with platformer shooter); nanoghosts; shock trigger (with Morul); white skin-tight node-covered black-shell stasis suit worn under Mk II.
Appearance: 5'11'', 170 pounds in a rather unmuscular frame, shoulder-long brown hair, short goatee, brown eyes, a rather long chin that earned him his nickname. Age 32
Half a robot foot. Robot right arm. Wears basic clothes when not in the Mk II.
You leap up and run over toward the Eater, getting as close as you can before things get too hot, even through the suit. You close your eyes and focus, moving your hands to mimic the actions you're taking with your mind. You grab wads of sand, several hundred pounds at a time, and start slamming them into the Eater and holding them in place, building a ball around the creature. The sand begins to melt and form glass almost immediately, but the eater is still leaking out, the tongues of flame punching through and solidifying into spidery legs which seem to be made of pure, white heat. They move slowly, gracefully, each one at least 10 meters long, attempting to find footing in the sand. You can feel the thing trying to tear itself free, trying to push itself up into the air. The noise it's making is cycling between inaudible lows and inaudible highs, which the audible center being loud enough to make your ears and eyes bleed from the sheer vibration bursting the capillaries.
And everyone else is still running away.