"That individual is either dead or far less likely stable. I think we should clear the area through the door to the left before approaching them. I'd rather not leave a potential source of threats unchecked."
Darshe grimaces. He did not have to be able to see in color to know what the pool of liquid was. Taking that as a bad sign, he double checks his weapon, making sure that it is locked and loaded.
"Well that was fast. I figured we'd have to wander around for a lot longer before finding out that something went horribly wrong," he says dryly, though there is some underlying nervousness that he cannot quite hide. "Anyway, that's as good of a plan as any. I'll take the lead."
"We should probably try and discover how it died." says Artemis as he moves towards he body.
"We can check soon but we have to be safe and methodical!" Krevlor said but the android was gone too far.
Valorus goes to about halfway to the body and looks over the body for any signs of identification on his suit. He keeps his eyes and senses peeled for danger.
Artemis will also investigate the body, trying to determine how it died.
As Artemis and Darshe move to the central junction of corridors, they and the others in the group begin to examine the body to find it is that of a space goblin. No distinctive markings are present on its spacesuit that would indicate that the creature was a member of the Acreon's crew. It is covered in a number of large slashes and bite marks and appears to have died of its wounds right here in the corridor. A discarded dogslicer and broken heap of pistol casings lies near to the body.
Looking down the central corridor shows a pair of branching corridors to the forward section of the ship, as well as a pair of closed doors at the end of it. A dimly pulsing light emanates from behind a steel cage, the spherical form of the ships power core visible within the structure. Corridors appear to wrap around either side of the maintenance cage, heading towards the aft of the Acreon.
Aretmis will scoop up the dogslicer and give it a few test swings.
The blade is light in Artemis’ hands, handling like a survival knife would. The blade is a little longer than a standard survival knife, but the extra weight is counterbalanced by a series of holes drilled into the length of it.
"We have confirmed what we already knew this place is dangerous. Now can we stay focused and figure out what happened here in a manner least likely to get us killed."
"Goblins. Lovely," Darshe remarks with a grimace. Suddenly losing interest in the corpse, he looks back toward Krevlor. "All right, let's do it your way. We'll check the doors before going down any of the halls."
"I'm not keen on getting attacked from multiple directions at once you understand."
"Then pick a direction and let's get moving." says Artemis as he sheathes the dogslicer.
"The door back near the airlock, we don't want to miss something and have it interfere with our ship."
Artemis starts moving in that direction.
Following up on his initial offer of taking point, Darshe backtracks to the door indicated by Krevlor, rifle still drawn. As everyone else gets into position, he checks the door's controls and opens it if is not locked.
Sensing nothing in the corridors leading out from the junction, the group moves into position around the door nearest to the airlock, and Darshe checks over the door to find it in the closed position. The console next to the door indicates that it is unlocked, and with a press of his hand against the largest button on the controls, the door slides open silently in the vacuum of space.
The room appears to be a cargo hold, filled with laboratory and compact mining equipment, as well as shelves with tubes, capsules, and crates, as well as a number of larger boxes on the floor. A broken table lies against the wall, its contents shattered and spilled across the metal floor.
A pair of quadruped creatures with rubbery blue skin and manes of writhing tentacles stalks around the back of the room, the tips of the tentacles fluttering across the ground and the shelves much like a dog would snuffle at the ground. As the door opens, the pair of creatures looks up and appear to snarl as they notice Darshe and Krevlor standing in the doorway, lowering themselves to the ground in an apparently hostile movement.
Initiative - Round 1
22 - Darshe
20 - Creatures
14 - Valorus
8 - Artemis
8 - Krevlor
"Door Number One is looking rather promising so far," Darshe remarks dryly as he plucks a grenade off his belt. Compared to the others, it looks rather haphazardly constructed... mostly because it was. "Anyone know what the hell these things are?"
Without waiting for an answer, he pulls the grenade's pin out with his teeth and rolls the explosive into the room.
The constructed grenade sails through the air and lands at the feet of one of the creatures before exploding in an expanding goop that sprays across the surfaces. The blue creatures both jump out of the way of the exploding device just in time to not be fully coated by the sticky substance.
The creature nearest to the door races along the cargo hold floor and leaps at Darshe, its teeth bared. It attempts to clamp down on the soldier's arm, but cannot find true purchase and it is only the pressure from the powerful jaws that causes pain. As Darshe pushes the blue dog-like creature away, the teeth scratch across the back of his wrist.
The second creature turns towards the wall and begins climbing up the shelving units and scrambling along the wall and around the corner. The yellow eyes and tentacle mane peer out from around the corner near the room, and the creature snarls silently once more.
With the two creatures now fully in the light of the Starfinders' subdermal implants, Krevlor and Valorus recognize the creatures as Akatas, a terrifying predator that dwells in the vastness of space and generally make their home on asteroids, comets, and dying planets, hibernating for centuries and becoming active when they sense life nearby. They are resistant to damage from fire, and they have a powerful olfactory sensory organs in their tentacle mane despite having no need to breathe. They are susceptible to salt water, taking damage from it as if it were acid. Valorus also knows that their bites spread a vicious parasitic disease, which doubles as their means for propagating their species.
Initiative - Round 1
22 - Darshe
20 - Creatures
14 - Valorus
8 - Artemis
8 - Krevlor
"Akatas, extra solar predators often found on desolate planets and planetoids. Don't bother with heat based damage." Krevlor swings his staff at it.
Artemis will Demoralize the creature currently in combat with Darshe.
{Do not let them bite you either. They spread a dangerous infection that is their main means of propagation. Their biggest weakness is salt water if you happen to have any} Valorus wishes he had brought some salt water from his homeworld. As he warns them not to get bitten, Darshe was the first to get attacked and be bitten.
He gathers his will and casts Magic Missile as a full action. Two to hit the one that is attacking Darshe and one to hit the one that's on the ceiling.
Krevlor swings his battlestaff at the blue-skinned creature but manages to hit only the doorway before him. Artemis lifts himself up and broadens his chest to become an intimidating menace against the akata, and it appears to notice him and shrink back slightly against the larger predator.
Taking the opportunity while the creature is momentarily distracted by the android's dominance display, Valorus summons forth three glowing orbs of intense light and flings them towards the pair of creatures. The orbs strike unerringly, two of them slamming into the back flank of the akata in the doorway, while the third flies at the akata clinging to the cornices of the room.
Initiative - Round 2
22 - Darshe
20 - Creatures
14 - Valorus
8 - Artemis
8 - Krevlor
"No heat. Got it," Darshe says, lowering his rifle when the akatas close in on them. He tugs his hammer off his belt and swings it at the tentacled creature in front of him, his autotarget rifle still clutched in his other hand.
As the hammer bounces harmlessly off of the cargo bay's doorframe, the akata lunges forward and attack's Darshe once again. The strong jaws come down on the soldier's arm, but the sturdy armour protects from the majority of the blow.
The second akata crawls across the ceiling and into the hallway, its yellow eyes fixed on Valorus as it moves with a slight limp from the impact of the magic missile. As it stalks above the group towards its prey, its slower movement allows for Darshe and Krevlor to swing their weapons at it.
Initiative - Round 2
22 - Darshe
20 - Akatas
14 - Valorus
8 - Artemis
8 - Krevlor
Darshe grits his teeth when the akata grabs him. It was more uncomfortable than painful, though his HUD's angry flashing indicates that his armor has sustained heavy damage. Seeing the other akata trying to slip by him, the soldier wrenches his arm out of the creature's mouth in an attempt to swing at it, but is far too slow.
Krevlor tried to hit the akata as it moved and followed up with another attack but was finding it a little difficult to land his blows against the strange creature.
"Way to get punched in the face Darshe. Keep it up!" offers Artemis as a complement. It's clearly a joke however, and it makes Darshe feel somewhat better.
Seeing that one of the creatures is making its way to Valorus, he quickly pulls out his dagger. His teammates are to his back, so retreating isn't an option.
He slashes at it with his best might.
Unfortunately he just swings at air. He's not used to close combat like this.
Darshe blinks. "Uh, thanks. I think."