76.5

You step back and watch as Kasende combats the writhing mass of hydraworms. Carefully, calmly, she raises her whispercrack darter and fires three times, the coilgun making a snapping noise as it spits hypersonic darts. Three hydraworm heads whip back, flailing. Then the whole mass slips into the murky waters of the swamp and vanishes.

You ask Kasende if she killed them, but she shakes her head. “No. The worms are joined into a single whole somewhere deep beneath the swamp. I've incapacitated several heads, but the whole always remains. It’s a bloody, tiresome business, but it's necessary to keep the Valley's dangerous biomelds like this in check.” She shoulders her darter and turns to leave. “Thank you for your assistance,” she says over her shoulder. “Now I must continue on alone.”

Discard one Hydraworm. Gain The Kasende Technique reward card. Discard Kasende, and return HELPING HAND to the collection. Record PRUNED THE HYDRAWORM on the campaign tracker.