Once everyone has left the crew quarters, Aureum kneels in front of the door and fiddles with the mechanism, trying purposefully to get it to jam.
"Hopefully it'll keep them in, and anything else crawling around the ship out," she says.
"JOKES ARE ON YOU!!" bellows the second, adding "only reason for marrying is preferring tax statuses, and GOBLINS DON'T PAY NO TAXES ANYHOW!"
"So you marry a goblin and you don't have to pay tax any more? Hmmm..." Jehir muses. "That doesn't sound so bad."
Jehir looks over to Miraj and winks. "Which one did you want? Ah... we can decide later. But we gotta find some dresses that will fit a goblin. Can't get married without a dress."
Once the door is secure Jehir chuckles. "Give them something to think about while we are gone." He hefts his spear and gets ready for the next room.
Aureum is able to insert a spare screw into the door's latching mechanism, effectively preventing the door from opening easily. As Lauren moves over to the starboard side, she finds three closed doors - according to the notes they acquired from Captain Serissi, one should lead to the crew storage locker and the other two to additional crew quarters.
"Don't even joke about marrying a goblin," Diedre says with a shudder. "They're vile, filthy, destructive little pests."
~~~~
Diedre indicates the storage locker with her drawn sidearm.
Lauren heads to the door indicated and attempts to open it.
The door opens smoothly for Lauren, revealing a modest collection of shelves and lockers. She hears a soft beep, which is followed by the percussive sound of a laser blast! Staggering backwards, she finds that she's been shot in the side of the bell; if she had glanced to the left, she would have seen the firing core of a laser rifle, wired to a crude motion sensor and bolted to a plate, sitting on a shelf adjacent to the door.
A small red light blinks under the lens of the contraption.
"သေရေ" Lauren yells, as the laser blast burns through most of her stamina. With as little hesitation as possible, she pulls out her trapsmith's tool kit and attempts to disable the device, before it fires again.
Lauren tinkers with the ramshackle laser blast trap, and after a few agonizingly slow seconds, disconnects the detector from the firing core without setting the device off (again). It appears to be neutralized.
The storeroom, lined with rusted lockers and overburdened shelves, seems to function as the Acreon's junk repository.
... "Big SQUISHY!" admonishes one of the goblins, "don't let creepy dead dude tell you how to lives your lifes!"
Miraj chuckles, shrugs and mutters, "Gob has a point," winking out of sight of the goblins. "On the other hand, I can name at least one 'dead dude' who has been instrumental in keeping me alive, so ..." He gives a nod to Jehir.
"Whoa! Careful, Lauren. I wonder who set that? Seems beyond the reach ... so to speak ... of Mr. and Mrs. Goblin."
Lauren looks at Miraj, a little confused, and then looks at her comm unit while she rests. "Oh... Point." After a few moments of thought she adds. "This trap... is odd. Why crew put it here? Akatas? They no open doors?"
"Maybe they had a problem with 'internal shrinkage'," Diedre says with a smirk.
Once the team has finished disabling/salvaging the trap's components Diedre steps out into the hallway.
"Ok. On to the remaining crew quarters," she says, gesturing towards one of the doors."
"I thinks I lets someone else open this one." Lauren says, with a bob of her head.
Stowing his rifle at his back, Entiren will help search through he room while Lauren rests. When it comes time to continue on through the ship, he says "Well, I could open the next doors if nobody else objects. However, if it is jammed or locked I may need assitance."
"No objections here," Diedre says. "Hopefully there aren't anymore booby traps."
** spoiler omitted **
"Ah..." Jehir stares at Diedre blankly. "Somehow, I don't think I want to know."
He shakes his head as the group moves on, coming to another door.
"Wait... let's check this door too. Might be something alive on the other side."
Jehir listens to the door, and then examines it for anything that looks like it might trigger a trap.
Jehir listens carefully to the door, but he can't hear anything other than the hum of the oxygen recycler. Running a fingernail against the edges of the door, he finds no tripwires or hidden safety switches.
Both crew cabins are devoid of living, unliving, or expired creatures. Simple but homey, the well-worn cabinets and bunks contain personal possessions and other keepsakes.
Noticing nothing of interest in either of the crew quarters Diedre recommends moving on to the starboard cargo hold.
As they move down the hallway, Diedre moves close to Aureum.
"Hey, ummm ... Do I have broccoli stuck in my teeth or something?" She looks around at the others. "Everyone keeps looking at me weird."
Lauren moves into the main corridor and doublechecks that there aren't any akatas charging and enjoying the feeling of air moving against her tentacles again. She yells back up the hallway, "Us going port or starboard?"
"Starboard," Diedre calls out.
Lauren takes up a position near the starboard cargo-bay door and waits for someone to come check it for traps. While she waits, she takes out her remaining salt-water grenade and readies to attack anything that is on the other side of the door, aiming for a intersection that will do the most splash damage, whenever it's open.
Quickly looking through the rooms, Entiren comes across the security key card and the credstick. Bringing them out to the rest of the group, he hands the key card to Lauren and the credstick to whoever wishes to carry it. "Wile I feel that this key card could have been quite handy earlier, I think that we should hold onto it still. Might be useful." He then follows the group as they head to the next area.
Standing ready, Entiren is holding his rifle in one hand and a salt-water grenade in the other. However, he is not readying to throw the makeshift grenade just yet, waiting until they can determine what threats, if any, are on the opposite side of this door.
Slowing her pace a little, Aureum glances down at the half-elf. "Nope, no broccoli," she smiles, and after a moment's hesitation, reaches out to place a hand on Diedre's shoulder. "I'm sure it's nothing. I mean—not nothing, but everyone's probably just a little on edge, that's all. I know I am."
{"Don'tLookAtHerHandDon'tLookAtHerHandDon'tLookAtHerHand"}
"Thanks. It's just ... sometimes they look like ... oh, I'm sure it's my imagination," Diedre responds with a smile and a shake of her head.
{"Perfect, now ... something clever."}
"So ... "
{"Something clever, think of ... clever!"}
"Umm ... "
{"Gods, Didi! ... talk to people all ... time! Why ... this so hard?}"
"Yeah, we should keep going," Diedre says finally as her face flushes.
{"Great, now she's ... think I'm a total ... !"}
Miraj takes the credstick and activates its readout so the video droid can document what the amount is. He worries that the relatives of the crew might be cheated out of some of these items left behind by the miners, assuming they are no longer alive on the asteroid.
He holds a saltwater bomb at the ready and draws his sword cane to be ready should close combat ensue if a hostile is found behind a door.
When the crew quarters prove devoid of threats. He sheaths his cane sword again and draws Alice as he takes up a position to throw and if necessary fire into the cargo hold, leaving those who will inspect and open the doors space to do so.
He keeps quiet in case any hostiles inside are unaware of the group's approach.
As Diedre continues to speak, Aureum's expressions change from reassuring, to confused, to astonished. She stops in the middle of the hallway, hand still on Diedre's shoulder, and stares at her, momentarily speechless.
---
Aureum stands by, ready to disable any traps if necessary, and keeps a hand on her pistol.
Diedre takes in Aureum's expression and tries to conceal her cringe in response.
{"Yep, now ... thinks I'm a total ... ! Great job, idiot!"}
As the pieces start to click together, Aureum regains some composure (though she still looks amazed) and shakes her head, instinctively reaching out with her thoughts. {No, you're not an idiot, you're—}
She realizes that communicating telepathically might confuse the situation even further, and pulls back. Leaning closer to Diedre, she looks at her intensely. "I thought I was imagining it before, but Diedre, I can hear your thoughts."
Diedre opens her mouth to respond when the realization begins to sink in. Everyone's odd looks. Her eyes go wide and she closes her mouth. Her skin pales.
"No, that's ... " she stammers out.
{"Then she ... know ... !}"
Her face turns bright red to the tips of her ears and she turns her face away.
{"She knows! Gods! Stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about it!"}
Without turning back to the lashunta, she says quietly, "I'm sorry for ... Could you please ... How do you ... how do you stop it?"
Aureum looks thoughtful, trying to remember what her parents had told her as a young telepath. "Okay, uh. It helps to visualize it. Imagine there's a wall around your mind, and there's a door, right here," she says, and brushes her thumb over the middle of Diedre's forehead.
"Right now, it's unlocked, and your thoughts are pushing against it, blowing it open; try to hold it closed instead. It takes practice, but it becomes second-nature, and you'll be able to open and close it as you choose."
She smiles and gives Diedre's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It gets easier. Once we're back on the station, we can talk about it more, if you want."
Diedre still avoids Aureum's eyes as she responds.
"Thank you, and ... umm ... "
Her eyes momentarily meet Aureum's but then move away.
"Ummm ... I know it's asking a lot, but could you ... ? Uh ... anything that I might have ... "
{"Don't think ... her. CloseTheDoor.CloseTheDoor.CloseThe..."}
"Could you forget anything that I might have ... I mean that they're just thoughts - they don't really mean ... What did you ... ?"
The half-elf closes her eyes in frustration and embarrassment. She takes a deep breath.
"Could we please pretend that I wasn't broadcasting ... whatever it was that I was broadcasting?"
Diedre cringes.
{"CloseTheDoor.... thinks ... CloseTheDoor ... don't care ... CloseTheDoor. TELL HER!"}
"Yeah. Thanks."
Diedre inspects the edge of the cargo hold's entryway, but she doesn't notice any tripwires or sensors attached to the door. Seemingly flustered, she gives the nod to Jehir, who opens the door via a control panel on the wall, revealing two akatas lurking in the hold. They immediately lunge towards the Starfinders, triggering a small barrage of salt-water grenades!
The creatures silently bare their teeth at the Starfinders, their tentacles twitching uncomfortably in the air. They seem uncertain and on edge, no longer in their element.
Everyone!
Akatas
"Hey! Big Lion-Octopus thingy! Over here!" Diedre calls out, banging the butt of her sidearm against a bulkhead brace. "Listen to me! Out here!"
"Good thing zat was not a grenade," Miraj mutters as he aims his semi-automatic at the arkata not distracted by Diedre . He studies it for a moment, picking a moment to shoot when it seems to be shifting its weight and unable to dodge as well.
Range = 30
Realizing she has a moment to make up for the poor performance on the grenade, Lauren raises her pulsecaster and fires at the (hopefully distracted) Akata .
"I thinks is broken!" Lauren curses at the pulsecaster as the electric jolt goes way wide of her target and likely hits some random box behind the akata.
Aureum waits until the others have moved forward, keeping out of sight in the hallway for as long as possible, and then quickly takes aim at the nearest akata when she reaches the doorway.
Lauren looks at Aureum. "Is word... Impressive."
Jehir darts into the room and then darts to one side. He swings his doshko at the nearest Akata .
"All right, let them have it!"
Entiren will move forward slightly, before throwing his water grenade at the floor by the closer Akata.
Diedre waves her arms and wacks the bulkhead, drawing the attention of one of the akatas . Lauren fires wildly, her static bolt striking an empty box on a back shelf. Aureum takes a precise shot from the peanut gallery, sending electricity coursing through both creatures!
Miraj fires Alice as soon as Jehir clears the doorway, landing a solid hit. As Jehir runs up to the closer akata, it lunges at him with teeth bared, but catches nothing but the hard edges of his solar armor. Jehir dispatches the creature with a single swing, but Entiren, switching targets at the last second, throws a grenade that doesn't quite hit his target.
The remaining akata runs up to Jehir, burying its teeth into Jehir's arm!
Everyone!
Akatas
Miraj moved closer, stepping to the side to allow others to have a clear shot and squeezed off another at the hideous beasts from the deep.
Range = 30
"Agh! Curse you!" Jehir curses. He swings again.
Diedre moves through the doorway, taking aim with her pistol.
Trying to get a better angle on the remaining akata, Lauren takes a guarded step to starboard. Taking aim with her pulsecaster, she fires at the akata.
The arc of electricity damages the akata with nonlethal electricity.
"Agh! Curse you!" Jehir curses. He swings again.
Jehir's swing impales the remaining akata, lifting it into the air before slamming it against the wall. The beast crumples to the ground, a lifeless sack.