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Itch opens the door easily now that power is restored, and finds the kids in behind scattered barrels and boxes that line the lowered floor of this storage chamber. A thick bulkhead to the port side leads farther onto the deck, while a similar bulkhead to the aft connects to an arterial hallway that runs the length of the deck.
"Are you one of Ms Fitch's family?" asks the older of the two children, a tan-skinned, dark-haired girl. "I'm Kieu Si, this is my brother Lan. Our dad works for her. We didn't mean to cause trouble, we just found a new friend and he accidentally caused the lights to go out!"
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Radiance gives a small jump as the children pop out of the shadows, clearly expecting some thing much more aggressive. As they start talking, though, she realizes they're just little kids and kneels down. "It must have been scary to be in the dark like that. But you're alright now, we'll make sure you stay safe! But who's your new friend? Could you introduce us?"
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"He's weird! He looks like a bug, but not like Mx. Fuzxigig. Like a little bug about this big," the little boy says, holding his hands about a foot apart. "And he floats around like an antigrav!"
"I think it's a new alien," the girl says, older and more perceptive. "It went that way," she adds, indicating the opposite door. "Don't hurt it, alright?"
The lashunta peered around the room looking for any foot long bug aliens. He wracked his brain trying to recall if he knew any creature that fit the description.
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Radiance glances down the way the kids pointed, before looking back at them. There's nothing wrong with them, but still it might not handle adults very well... She gives them a wide smile. "We'll try our best not to, but no promises, kiddos. Now make sure you get back to your dad before he starts worrying more!"
Once they're safely off, Radiance wanders over to the fire suppression system over the door way and takes a closer look at it. After a second she calls Lola, Speck, and Idomyll over. " What do you make of this? Why'd an alien knock out the fire suppression system?"
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Moving past the door, you look around and see an area consisting of two adjoining chambers. Four large containment capsules fill the fore room, three of which hold stasis-locked objects, including a tablet, a strange curved sword, and an odd spiral of bioluminescent coral. A crack leaks fluid from the fourth capsule, which displays a foot-wide breach near the bottom. The aft room contains several desks, each hosting a deactivated computer terminal.
One of the light fixtures has been unscrewed and claw marks around the socket suggest the creature climbed in there. Based on your familiarity with tracking/spaceships/alien life in general, you suspect it's... right... over... THERE.
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"Something's wrong with the fire suppression system?" Speck moves up to take a look. "Really? Looks fine to me."
Speck moves into the room together with the rest, his rifle drawn. Dumb kids. Playing with things they shouldn't. Wouldn't be surprised if an alien burst out and tear us to bits!
"Those claw marks look sharp!" Hmm, it must have been tiny to crawl into that. Still, no telling what its claws can do!
He moves over to another computer terminal, looking to see if he can gain some controls of the life support systems, something that can flush out the creature.
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You eventually find the alien hidden in the ceiling of the southern chamber, behind an exposed panel of ship internals. It looks something like a horseshoe crab, but with manipulating appendages in addition to legs. It is chewing on a power cable, apparently feeding on the electrical power instead of being harmed by it.
The team considers their options, and decides to lure it away from the cable with a battery. It grabs onto the battery, and you let it take the battery and suck it dry until, finally sated, it falls asleep.
Alien and human children in tow, you all return to the main deck of the ship, where Fitch congratulates you on a job well done. She turns the alien over to an assembled team of experts in hopes of learning more of the alien’s language and culture.
Kieu Kein rewards the brave souls who rescued his children with a mk 1 ring of resistance, and Fitch rewards your discovery of the life form with a credstick carrying 400 credits. She thanks you for your diligence, but must quickly return to repairing the ship.
Now that you have reported to all four faction leaders, the Society intelligence Guidance summons you back to the Lorespire complex. The intelligence once again presents itself in a holographic form—this time taking on the appearance of a wizened male korasha lashunta— to congratulate you on your successful missions. It goes on to state that in the aftermath of the Scoured Stars incident, the Society needs skilled agents more than ever, and that it sees potential in the six of you as you start your new careers as Starfinder field agents.