"These are noqual shards," Eye says then explains what he know about them.
"Sounds good, he replies to Orlam as he reloads his weapon. "We may as well put that pistol to use, anyone need a new gun?"
Myterra looks at Orlam. "I have already sealed the airlocks. But, I still desire to explore the aft of the ship before pressurizing the Acreon. It is a precautionary measure. I also admit to curiosity. I desire to see the aft airlocks for myself. I am curious if there are obvious signs of what opened it."
When offered the gun, Mysterra waits... "I have no need of further guns." she says obviously. She is clearly wearing at least four. "Although if no one else desires to utilize it, I will admit that I do not own a flamethrower..."
"Yeah, I'm good. I'm not really a fan of guns," Valius comments about the flame pistol, helping to pick up the noqual shards and stash what he does pick up in his suit's pouches. Metal that afflicted the undead sounded all right in his book.
"I think I'll agree with Mysty here on checking out engineering next. Making sure the ship doesn't blow up if we mess around is probably a good idea. Xera, I get what you're saying about the salt water, but so far we've had little trouble with the akatas. I think we'll be fine so long as we don't split up," He suggests. "We'll make some salt water bombs when we get to galley at our pace. Everyone ready?" Valius asks, nodding towards the engineering doors and taking point.
Orlam nods distractedly. "I had forgotten that you'd already handled the airlocks aft. For myself, I want to make sure that none of those creatures could be lurking behind us when we move into the forward section of the ship."
"There could be creatures lurking in either direction, who could attack from behind no matter which way we go. We could go aft only to have creatures attack us from forward. I would prefer to rig up canisters of salt water as soon as we can, so we can deal with those creatures more easily. We've fought one, and then two, but what if we stumble upon four, or eight? And I suspect that the galley is not in the engine section."
Orlam glances at Xera. "There are more rooms to the front of the ship than there are in the back. We can clear that sector much more quickly." The kasathas shrugs. "It is only my suggestion. If we decide as a group to move forward, I will lead. But whoever guards the rear should stay alert."
"Personally it would take more than 8 of them to worry me. Either way I think we have to go aft first anyway. For one thing the door is just right there. More pertinent to the discussion, we may have to do some work in there to get the power on before we can even get any water to dispense."
Xera: With her relatively extensive bank of trivia and knowledge gleaned from her life before the Starfinders, Xera recalls that the galley on this model and class of transport ship is generally located towards the foward section, along with the crew quarters and the bridge. Engineering is generally to the aft, behind the power core cage.
Valius listens to the arguments from the group, weighing Xera's point overall. "It's true that the hydro might not be running, but we won't know until we turn on a tap," Valius says. "Engineering's shut tight for now. Let's clear the open spaces before opening up another room full of things that want to eat my dumb brain," Valius elects.
As the group decide to make their way to the aft of the ship after Valius gathers up the shards of the noqual cocoons , they follow the corridor to the large cage holding the spherical power core, which can be seen through the maintenance grills.
Passing through the open doors, they see that the corridor splits and passes on either side of the power core to an open door at the end of each arm. Another corridor running from port to starboard appears on the other side of the open doorways where the emergency lighting is mixed with dim lighting from another source, directly behind the power core, that sends confusing shadows scattering in multiple directions.
Valius takes the starboard side passage, peering into the dark from the side of the engine. Though he realizes a little late that he's poor at stealth holding a glowing scimitar in one hand.
Mysterra follows behind Valius, keeping an eye on both the first passage and the starboard 'arm' passage. She holds her rifle out and ready.
Orlam takes a brief look down the northern passage before moving after Valius, then passing the human in order to protect the group. The kasathas sees Mysterra remain vigilant at the rear of the formation and nods at the android when he moves past. The soldier tries to be stealthy, but with the armor it is difficult to do so.
Approaching the door, Orlam pokes his head cautiously through, searching for danger among the flickering shadows before moving in.
The group doesn't seem to be all that stealthy so Eye keeps his head in a swivel, ready to shout at the first sign of trouble.
Xera moves quietly aft, pistol in one hand and baton in the other.
As the group of Starfinders near the edge of what appears to be the engineering bay. This long chamber stretches across the width of the ship, and contains a series of terminals and other machinery that are all plugged into various ports and sections of the paneling within.
There is also a pair of akatas stalking about in here, their tentacle manes flared and moving about wildly. Almost simultaneously, they look upwards and spot the group as they assemble by the open doorway, and the hostile creatures both bare their teeth in readiness for an attack.
Before anyone else can react, the two akatas leap forward and attack at Orlam in a flurry of teeth and claws. The first one reaches the doorway and bites at the kasatha, the sharp teeth piercing Orlam's leg armour, while the second barrels past its companion and skitters to a stop in the hallway before clamping its jaws down on Orlam's free arm and ravaging at him.
Initiative - Round 1
14 - Akatas
14 - Valius
13 - Private Eye
10 - Orlam
5 - Xera
4 - Mysterra
Eye opens fire on the akata up front.
"Get off him, squid dog!" Valius shouts as he steps in, slashing out at the closest one on Orlam's lower arm.
Orlam reacts on instinct, slashing at one of the creatures with his heavy doshko, trying to ignore the pain that flares through his body.
vs KAC (Red)
Piercing
Mysterra watches the orange akata carefully, focusing her exocortex on its movements. She lines up her shot -- careful not to shoot Valius -- and fires her rifle!
"More of them! Do you think they prefer traveling in mated pairs?"
Xera swings her baton at the Akata before stepping back out of its reach.
"Does it really matter to us whether they're mated or not?" The soldier growls in response to Xera's inquiry. Even as he fights, Orlam's body tries to fight off the effects of the creatures' venom that courses through his blood.
vs DC 10 = Success!
vs DC 10 = Success!
With Orlam's hearty constitution continuing to fight whatever the creatures might be trying to infect him with, he stabs downward at the akata before him. The doshko slices deep into the creatures flank, but this seems only to aggravate the akata further. The other akata manages to withstand the total force on blows from the soldiers companions and it turns towards Valius with slavering jaws and hungry yellow eyes reflecting back at him.
Valius manages to get an arm up to fend off the akata's bite, but still feels the sharp teeth graze against the back of his hand as it pulls back. Orlam, however, does not fare so well and the akata clamps down hard on his leg, piercing through the armour plating and through to the flesh below. The creature shakes its head and pulls back, its mouth filled with the kasatha's blood, as it prepares for another attack.
Initiative - Round 2
14 - Akatas
14 - Valius
13 - Private Eye
10 - Orlam
5 - Xera
4 - Mysterra
"Damnit, suit breach!" Valius shouts as he slashes again, trying to end the immediate threat to him. "Focus fire on the one on Orlam!" He tells the others, alarmed by the number of bites the kathasas had taken already.
Not wanting to shoot the wrong person, Eye moves into knife range and draws one. He tries to read the creature but they are still too unfamiliar to him.
Mysterra takes aim on the orange akata and fires again.
Orlam is finding it difficult to focus on his enemy through the haze of pain, but the kasathas continues to fight as best he can.
vs DC 10 = Success!
vs KAC (Red)
Piercing
Xera takes aim with her pistol and opens up.
Managing to stave off the onslaught of disease from the akatas bites, Valius launches into another attack against the creature before him. He swings low as the akata rears back for another lunge and the solar scimitar bites deep into the creatures neck and front. Weakened already from the several shots already against it, the akata totters on its forelegs before falling to the ground, dark blood pooling beneath it.
Private Eye steps over the fallen creature and up to the remaining alive akata in the doorway and with a thrust of the survival knife, he brings the blade up and through the lower jaw of the akata and into the underside of its brain cavity. The blue creature struggles against the blade but eventually succumbs to the blow and slumps to the floor, tentacles twitching but otherwise remaining still.
As soon as Valius sees that the two akatas are down, he turns his attention to triage. First by ensuring that his suit has resealed itself after being punctured, then by checking on the much more ravaged member of their party. "Dawn, I knew kasathas were tough, but that was a little scary. Thought they'd yank you down to the floor," He tells Orlam, peeking out into the rear hold for any signs of further akatas.
"Okay, let's take a few minutes, recheck our seals and catch our breath here. Assume every other room in this place has one or more of those things waiting for us. After we rest, we finish back here and then we find the galley and make enough saltwater to drown one of these things," He says, wincing under his helmet as he checks his arm again. "Xera, just so I know what to expect, how do we know if we're infected? I don't want to be a liability if I'm now carrying akata rabies."
"Xera, just so I know what to expect, how do we know if we're infected? I don't want to be a liability if I'm now carrying akata rabies."
Xera thinks about this problem while reloading her pistol.
"I am not sure. It would make sense for those that are bitten to undergo treatment regardless. Perhaps when we find the sickbay there will be equipment we can use."
She goes over to help Orlam tend his wounds.
Mysterra waits in still silence while the others rest. She keeps her rifle in hand and watches their surroundings for danger or more akatas.
"They damn near did." Orlam growls in response to Valius, but a moment later when Xera offers him healing the kasathas is more like his usual self. "I'll be fine. Just need to rest for a bit. Maybe I'll let the rest of you search around and I'll just... sit here and catch my breath."
After making sure his armor is not damaged enough to put its life support functions in jeopardy, Orlam does exactly as he suggests and takes a short rest.
Xera's magic flows from her into Orlam's wounds, stopping the blood flow and knitting together the worst of the damage, but while she knows enough about the akatas to know some of their resistances and weaknesses it is hard to tell whether Orlam or Valius have succumbed to the disease that their bite can transmit.
As the group takes a breather in the corridor heading towards the engineering bay, the only sound they hear is that of their own words and breathing, and the blood pumping in their ears. No further creatures advance on them from either direction. At a quick glance the various monitors within the engineering bay appear to be in standby mode. At the other end of the bay appears to be a technicians workspace.
Valius is glad for the rest, trying to figure things out as Orlam is tended towards. The one thing on his mind is the body of the goblin they found.
"It's strange. There are a lot of akatas on the ship, in sealed off areas, but we haven't encountered anything of the crew yet. Only other body we found was that goblin. Which seems weird to me," Valius comments as he leans against the wall. "I can't put my finger on what's bothering me about it. It's just a gut feeling that I'm missing something..."
After resting he'll help the others explore the engineering bay, letting his solar mote help with lighting. "You think engineering has access to the water tanks?" He asks the others.
Admittedly curious about the engine room, Mysterra stows her rifle and heads inside, searching through the engineering bay for any clues, discrepancies, and oddities. She's also on the lookout for anything that might be damaged.
Private Eye gives the room a look as well. "There's definitely something fishy here."
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After a long, thorough search, Mysterra informs Private Eye, "I have seen no signs of fish."
"I believe they are metphorical fish," Xera says.
"Which way next? I suppose we head forward now."
"Actually, I have a crazy idea," Valius mentions to the rest of the group. "Xera said that salt water is like acid to these things, right? This is engineering, the guts of the ship. Ships still need water filtration and reclamation systems, and part of those are the fire suppression systems," He rattles off, thinking about the few fires that occurred on his family vessel. "So, if we shut off the filtration system and add salt to the ship's water supply, we can activate the fire suppression system and douse every last place on board in something the akatas can't survive. Considering how dangerous it was for us getting close to them, I want to try to deal with this problem without getting into another fight for our lives. But I don't have the technical know how to put this plan into action, so I'll need your help guys."
Mysterra considers if this is possible.
Not sure if I need computers, but I'll roll it anyway!
"That plan will make the metaphorical fish happy," Xera says. "I don't think I can be any help though," she adds.
Orlam slaps Valius on the shoulder. "That's why you're captain. Nice thinking." The soldier turns to Mysterra, who is the engineering expert. "Can it be done?"
"Well, it's not a terrible plan, but there's one hitch to it I think. We'll need to get as much salt as we can, and the only place on board that will have it it probably the galley. We haven't cleared it yet, so that should be our next stop. Even if we can't retrofit things, we'll at least be able to make some salt water bottles to splash at any of the others we'll come across," Valius says.
"I'm still wondering what happened to the crew, though. It seems like they must have tried venting the ship to kill these things, only they don't need to breathe so that didn't work. We don't even know how they got on board in the first place. Private Eye, have you got any theories from what you've seen?"
"We did find remnants of Akata Cocoons in one of the cargo bays. The crew may have brought them on board to study them."
Xera gets up. "Let's see if we can find the galey then," she says.