SFS 1-04: Cries from the Drift! (Inactive)

Game Master James Martin

"Can we not plug Porker in?"
Pangea is ready to follow along with the plan.

"Okay, let's get the battery out of the droid and connect it to get access to mess room first!"
The B4B2 went up to the droid room. When he arrives in room with droid he takes out the battery. Then returns and connect battery to the system.

Engineering: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

The battery is retrieved and plugged in, which causes the mess door to open with a hiss.

This room resembles a charnel house. The remains of two dead kasathas are piled in the northwest corner, surrounded by knocked-over chairs. A ceremonial table setting in the center of the chamber is spattered with blood. The stench of decay is palpable in this room, and even the sink along the southern wall is coated in a dark-red shade. Storage containers fill the eastern side of the room, each similarly spattered by gore. An impressive set of double doors bars passage to the north, while a single steel access door continues out to the south.

Sitting on the table are two serums of healing, mk1, and a keycard.

From the door, Pangea glances around, trying to check if anything is moving.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14

Perception or Medicine checks on the bodies!

Seeing nothing moving, Kappa walks over to look at the bodies of these poor souls.

Perception 1st Kasatha: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Perception 2nd Kasatha: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Reynold looks upon the carnage in stunned silence for a moment, breaking the trance to wipe sweat from his brow. ”This is bad. Did that ghost do this?”

As P-K approaches the bodies, Reynold suddenly flies into a panic, training his pistol on the corpse. ”Whoa whoa WHOA! Are you nuts?! What if they turn into ghosts too?! Don’t go near those things!”

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Both Reynold and P-K notice several wounds created by a clawed creature on the bodies.

"Claws... What created the ghost? Did it do this? Did it come from this?"

Reynold peers at the wounds from a distance. ”The...the log said it would tear through people like paper, but this looks different. Maybe this has something to do with the limbs we found in the cargo hold? There was some kind of alien blood there, not kasathan. Perhaps there is something else on this death trap?”

Piggy is appalled at the thought of removing Porkers' battery. "I'll pretend you didn't say that." He walks off in a huff and examines the bodies, keeping his drone close by.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

B4B2 looked at the dead bodys close-up.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

Xenal bows her head respectfully for a moment before proceeding into the room.

Perhaps this card will allow us access to the bridge?

Da'at steps in and pauses. "Maybe." he ventures, looking up and around for any large vents. "Maybe it's an alien Rey. Maybe it's a ghost. But before I turn whatever it is into a fine, texturized pulp, you think we could grab those bodies and bring them back? P-boss, are you OK with Porker grabbing them and returning them to the ship? I'll cover you."

Piggy nods. "Excellent idea, Mr. Da'at! Let's go, Porkers. " He straps the bodies to Porkers' back and takes them back to the ship.

Upon return, "Alright, shall we use that key card? "

"Go ahead; let's get this done with" replies Da'at as he flexes his fingers.

Before allowing Piggy to move the bodies, B4B2 spots a single strange puncture would in one of the bodies. It's a precise wound, indicating they weren't moving or struggling when it was made.

"Guys, these bodies have some wicked puncture wounds. These wounds are made after death! That is very strange!"

The B4B2 moved away from the bodys and looked around the room to see if there was anything strange.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16

"Anybody know anything about medical things and anatomy?"

Piggy shakes his head. " I'm not so good with the living. Perhaps it was part of a procedure, however. "

Medicine: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

I have physical science, but not life science. Anyone?

This little bugger needs a Mysticism roll to ID!

Kappa leans over the wounds, wondering if this is post-mortem, a drug, down during sleep...

Mysticism: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

"Hey, Captain! You might want to check this out! "

I think Reynold is the only other person who could have mysticism.

Sorry folks, Reynold doesn’t get involved with that magic stuff.

Reynold’s face sours at the look of the corpse. ”Fascinating as it may be playing coroner, remember we’ve got a super storm breathing down our necks here. Grab the key card and let’s go. I’ve been sick of this giant flying coffin since we set foot onboard.”

Piggy nods. "Sure thing captain, but let's secure the bodies first. They were part of the objective, and you never know when we might need to run from a Kasathan specter. "

If Kappa doesn't stop him, he begins piling the bodies on Porker's back.

P-K cannot seem to place this wound, though it nags at him.

B4B2 leans in close, still trying to identify what's going on, when she spots something in the corpse move. It seems to be some sort of implanted larva! She thinks she might be able to kill it before it erupts from the corpse, but it's going to take a delicate hand with the biological sciences! I need a Life Sciences check. Only one person can attempt this, because of CONSEQUENCES!

Apologies, I missed something in the description that was vital, so rather than ret-con, I'm doing this.

Pangea leans over, and tries to spot what is moving...

If I checked well you're the only one with Life Science.

If so they problems are for me!
10 on Life Science roll

"Step back, all, let me... just... get this thing that's moving."

How far back does everyone step?

Reynold never even got close to the thing!

sigh... must restrain player suspicions.

Curious as ever, Piggy peers under Pangea's arm. "Anything cool in there? An exocortex maybe? "

Life Science aid: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

Just a moment Pangea, I think I see something...

Xenal's staying close to help Pangea out.

"Oh? You think those are mini-exocortexes moving around Piggy? Ah! Thank you Xenal. What do you think?"

As I wrote earlier. The B4B2 is still in the room but is now investigating it. It is no longer near the dead body. Its position is as in the map.

Da'at would be covering the room with his heavy weapon, with afocus on the bodies since Pangea mentioned causually in passing that dead bodies were moving.

"Talk to me guys, am I desecrating dead bodies now?" asks Da'at apprehensively.

Piggy Reflex: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8
P-K Reflex: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Xenal Reflex: 1d20 ⇒ 6
Porkers Reflex: 1d20 ⇒ 12

P-K examines the writhing larvae under the flesh of the dead Kasathan. They lean forward, almost catching it... When it suddenly explodes forth from the corpse, spraying gore and bone fragments across Piggy, P-K and Xenal!

All three take 2d6 ⇒ (3, 2) = 5 damage and 2 Con damage as the larvae explodes into multiple tiny creatures and burrows into your skins! Porkers takes half and NO Con damage! Fortunately for all of you, the larvae don't seem to be fully developed and die after their explosive birthing.

What now? There doesn't seem to be a keycard reader on the Bridge door and it's currently unpowered. Perhaps the keycard opens another door? You seem to recall seeing a keycard reader on the door where the blood trail ended in passing...

"Everyone ok?" calls out Da'at from the room entrance? "What's going on, are those bodies a no-go?"

"Guys are you okay! I have 3 basic medkits if someone needs them!"

"Well, at least I found out what it was..." grumbles Pangea, brushing dead larvae away. "By Triune, this is disgusting. I mean, it is all part of the cycle, ebbing and flowing, moving from light to dark to light... but I'd rather skip the maggot part myself."

Crushing the last larvae with its energized fist of crackling dark energy, Pangea is then ready to follow the others.

2 CON dam' = -1 Fort save & -1 SP / level ; put that in parenthesis in my info' line ; and took 5 SP to my new lower total

Piggy screams a high and girlish scream as the larva burst out. " HOLY MOSES, SON OF TRIUNE, WE'VE BEEN INFECTED! " He holds Porker tight. "I've always loved you, buddy. When the alien bursts from my chest, know that I am gone. Please, murder my alien spawn and avenge me. Goodbye, dear friend. " He stares into the pig's metallic eyes and waits for the end.

Piggy may have watched Alien one to many times.

Down to 0/6 SP. Can we rest for ten minutes?

"Have a seat on Porker, Piggy, and rest. I think we have... OH NO, what's that in your stomach?! Nah, just kiddin'. Rest."

Xenal's face screws up in discomfort, A most unworthy end.

I'll go ahead and use Record Keeper to rest up without spending the RP, then...

Perhaps we should follow that blood trail. Before we resort to cutting through bulkheads we should examine all our options.

I'll rest if I'm allowed to. Though... is the storm to close to allow for ten minutes of rest? Asking for a friend.

Piggy, once he realizes that his chest is not bursting, sighs in relief. "Phew. You never know with these ghost ships. Anything can happen. Speaking of, let's go find out what happened to our bloody friend. Watch the turret on your way past. " With that, he clamber back onto his wounded friend and follows the party.

Porker has 7 HP left.

Unfortunately, no way to tell. Mwah ha ha!

Reynold looks increasingly agitated as the group waits for Piggy to recover. ”I do not like this. Springing burrowing corpse bugs costing us time before we go to the murder ghost room, time that might result in an etheric storm killing us all. I just want to get off this death trap and go home.” He persists in his grumbling under his breath as his team prepares to work back toward the blood trail.

Da'at looks to the others as they file out of the room, sighs and picks up the keycard. "You know, a simple "no" would have been fine." He hustles up and hands it over to Reynold. "Here's the key. Open the door, lets find out if I can at least bring a body back."

Pangea follows along, over to the door that Reynold is about to open.
"By Triune, what will find herein?"

B4B2 follows the rest of the team. When he moves he takes his gun and prepares it for use.

Percentile: 1d100 ⇒ 13

The keycard slides into the reader and the door opens with a soft whoosh. The smell that hits you is full of iron and ozone.

The signs of struggle are visible throughout this room. A single bed in the northwest corner of the chamber is torn, with its comforter halfway on the floor. A nearby bed table and desk are in similar disarray, covered with shattered glass and hunks of broken ceramics. A pool of blood covers the southern floor, adjacent to the chamber’s sole entry point.

A lifeless kasatha in a suit of battle harness powered armor lies on the floor. The armor glows with a barely visible force field that projects around the armor at a range of about one foot, and a cable on the floor leads from a starship battery pack (identical to those found in the engine room) to the base of the suit.