After the celebration winds down, the party heads to the poor, but trendy district of Downlow.
Garbage litters the ground around the district’s largest art park—a cement lot filled with undulating metal sculptures and covered in graffiti of grotesquely adorable creatures. The sounds of music and chatter drift over from the nearby clubs, chronically interrupted by the roar of the local gangsters’ engines. A heavily augmented host shirren is sitting on one of the park benches, eating a simple meal of cold grub-noodles and rice candy. Their antennae perk up at the tremor of approaching footsteps. "Welcome, new Starfinders! And congratulations!” the shirren’s voice telepathically projects. “My speech-name is Zigvigix, but feel free to call me Ziggy, if that would be easier for you. Have some rice candy to celebrate your graduation! Today is your big day!"
"When you are ready, I have two assignments I could use assistance with. The first is to help me secure a new headquarters on Absalom Station. I’ve been in talks with our station’s protectors, the Stewards, and they were kind enough to give us ownership of a warehouse here in Downlow for that purpose! The current owners no longer want it because a vicious alien took it over and kills anyone who goes inside. Once the alien is gone and the warehouse cargo has been returned to its owners, we can start installing desks and computers, so please go in and incinerate the creature!"
"My second assignment... Zigvigix twitches their tooth barbs for a moment and then holds out a credstick. "Please buy the brand-new Strawberry Machine Cake album, Star Sugar Heartlove!!!, which is out today, and give it to Historia-7 when you see her. She is the head of the Dataphiles, so you should meet her today if you haven't already! I wish to do it myself, but I... I have trouble standing for long periods of time. Thank you very much!"
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"Whoa an Alien? Aren't we all? Do you happen to know what type of alien we will be meeting in there? That might help us to better prepare for this encounter. Second.." Inari pauses for a brief moment. "OHHHH MMMMMM GGGGGGG! That is an old human phrase right? The new Straberry Machine Cake Album is out? I had no idea!"
"Apart from the tasks, what is wrong with your legs that causes you issues standing? Is there something else we can help with?"
When Inari gets excited it's all Zigvigix can to to contain themselves with restraint. Nodding several times he says, "Oh yes! Historia-7 has seemed down after losing her mentor in the Scoured Star. We hope the sugar-pop music can cheer her up! Oh yes! The band's music always makes us feel bette." They go on to gush about favorite songs expressing regret they cannot hear the newest releases, as the shirren finds it incredibly difficult to stand in the long lines.
Ziggy avoids Kai's first question and responds to the second. When you inquire about the warehouse, Zigvigix explains, "I believe the creature is a feather stalker, a predator far more unpleasant than its name implies. As far as the Stewards have been able to piece together, a two-bit crime lord illegally imported the creature, and the beast promptly ate him...so I suppose that makes him a two-*bite* crime lord now, right?"
After a brief pause as a trash-tumbleweed rolls by the park, Zigvigix provides holorecordings of the incident taken off the station’s security cameras from earlier today, which also includes the layout of the warehouse.
Feather stalkers come from different worlds and environments, and as such have different adaptations to things like heat, cold, etc. From the holorecord, this one appears to be slightly resistant to fire.
Just like its defensive adaptations, feather stalkers have other varied evolutions that make each one a little bit different. This one seems to be capable of raising a reflective energy shield around itself (similar to the spell "reflecting armor".
Ziggy squees, well as much as a shirren can squee. He looks to Harrac and says flatly, "We would be most happy if you would bring a copy for us."
Once you are ready, station security allows you through the force barrier set up around the perimeter of the warehouse. They give you a curious look, wondering what kind of person voluntarily would WANT to go in.
The doors to the warehouse were forced open and no longer lock, allowing you to simply walk in. The warehouse ceiling is 30 feet high, and a catwalk runs 15 feet above the floor. The crates and vehicle are approximately 5 feet tall, while the cylindrical containers and the crate-filled scaffolding are 10 feet tall. Climbing the crates and scaffolding wouldn't be too hard in a pinch. There's a pit in the warehouse floor.
The scattered junk on the floor creates an area of difficult terrain. The lights on the catwalk are not bright enough to illuminate the area, leaving the warehouse in dim light.
Bewm and Harrac both sweep the large building and don't see anything out of the ordinary. If there is something here, it isn't sitting out in the open.
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Kai touched a control and his suits sensors painted a holographic overlay on his eyes, giving him the ability to see in the darkened interior. Unlike cheaper Starlight models, that basically just acted as amplifiers to ambient light, these actually used a combination of short- and long-band infrared frequencies to show structures. His infrared vision may not be as crisp as his daytime vision, but at least he wouldn't be blinded if the lights suddenly came on.
Kai moved into the room behind Harrac, looking about.
No one spots anything from the entrance and position. Slowly the group begins to make their way into the large room as they each search all around them. The complete pitch black darkness couple with the eerie quietness puts everyone on edge knowing an unknown enemy lurks in the darkness waiting for you.
Bewm surveys the console in front of him and thinks he can probably raise the lighting with a bit of work.
[spoiler=GM]
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Taser Face picks a corner of the warehouse to start searching searching in and methodically begins moving lights around the large area.
Bewm surveys the console in front of him and thinks he can probably raise the lighting with a bit of work.
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Inari telepathically tells everyone near her to freeze. "it's opposite us, up on the catwalk over there. I cannot tell if it has spotted us yet or not. "
Inari moves herself into a position out of direct sight of the creature
"I can probably cause some distraction to get it to come out of hiding. Is there anything anyone can do about the lights for those of you without the ability to see in the dark?"
Bewm and Kai work together and quite easily recognize the subroutine required to bypass the security lock on the lighting program. A few seconds later the warehouse goes from a shady unknown to a fully illuminated lifesize layout of the hologram Ziggy showed you earlier.
A shrill shriek eminating from the south west of the warehouse echoes all around you as soon as the lights click on. The creature is hideous as advertised, comprised of long feather appendages and little else.
Shots ring out at combat ensues. Both Kai and Taser Face manage to get a blast off, but both react and fire so quickly they don't take time to aim properly. Their shots shoot past the feathered creature who in return fires two harpoons, one at each of the targets that fired at him. First a harpoon slams into Taser Face's face followed shortly by a blast into Kai's chest . The creatures screetches briefly while bobbing and weaving with its head.
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Kai jerked sideways as the spine hit him, piercing his armor. He felt the blood begin to flow down his right side and got a little woozy. He hated bloodshed, especially his own. He moved quickly to get some cover between himself and the creature.
From his new position, he sighted in on the creature and let loose with another round from his pistol.
Inari's feint was perfect. The creature stops screaming and turns it's feathered head towards Inari and blurps once with its mouth, opening itself up to attacks. The Starfinders quickly seize the moment and unload on the beast.
Jena lines the monster up in the sights of her rifle and lands the bullet in the chest of the feather stalker. The pained sound of its screetches is multiplied when both Harrac and Kai lands their shots as well. Taser Face on the other hand is so enamored by the head movement of the stalker that his energy ray dissipates into the wall behind the stalker.
The feather stalker launches two feather harpoons towards Harrac and Kai with deadly accuracy. Both harpoons plunge through the chest of their targets, bursting out of their backs in a bloody mess.
Inari once more distract the feathered creature were her strange erratic movements. Even with the distraction though, Jena's shot misses. Bewm's rifle BOOMs with a loud echo in the warehouse, but it just barely clips the creature. While Inari is flapping, Bewm is booming and Kai and Harrach are laying unconscious, Taser Face has a lightbulb moment and knows how to get through to the creature. Lower his weapon he puts his arms up and approaches the creature in a harmless fashion.
As he approaches he focuses he reads the inner thoughts of the feather stalker. Kill the intruders! Kill the intruders! Kill the intruders! As the lashunta processes this information, two harpoons fly past him and embed themselves into the belly of both Bewm and Inari .
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Inari reels back from the impact of the feather. owwwwwww.....Is this what this is really like. owwwwwwwww.
Stuck in thought of the pain of the feather, she has a different idea. She overplays the wound. "Oh no! Oh no no! You shot me! You shot me right in the gut. Look! Look at this blood! Look at what you have done! I'm through! I'm finished! Life is over for me!" She attempts to distract the creature with a long death sequence.