Patterson's shot is wide and smashes into the corner of the hallway, blowing another chunk of wall free.
Steev charges down the corridor, leaps over Kai and swings the doshko at the turret. It glances off the ceiling with no effect.
Hellih advances drops prone and tries a shot. His laser scorches a bundle of cables in the wall sending a shower of sparks across the corridor.
Initiative Order Bold may go
Steev:
Hermena: (14 damage)
Kai:
New Turret: (8 damage)
Patterson:
Hellih:
Alzandre:
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Kai doesn't wait to see what the others plan. All he can see is that electronic eye. With his datapad still wired into the electrical system int eh other room, he has no means of making a distraction. He just aims at that electronic eye, the biggest thing in the universe right now, and pulls the trigger.
Kai's second shot shatters the sensor, and fragments rain down on both him and Steev. The gun pulls up until it is parallel to the ceiling, and then the turret slowly begins rotsting. After three revolutions it stops, and the sounds of its mechanism shut down.
No sign of any more turrets or exploding maggot-ridden corpses. You are go for the door to the bridge.
(If of course that's where you want to go, it's not like I'm trying to tell you what to do.)
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As the adrenaline fades, Hermena winces as she grips the bullet wound in her flank. ”Nice shooting, Kai. I’m glad we disabled the bigger cannon, at least this one was closer to our own size. I am worried about those infested bodies, though. Steev, have you seen those kinds of worms before? Did one of the kasathans have an infection with those things, and are we now exposed?”
It's a little hard for Steev to tell exactly what the now crisped worms were, but they seem to be some kind of larvae that were likely implanted in the bodies through the odd round holes. The adult form could look like anything, but if the teeth like jaw ridges of these are any indicator, the adult form will likely be a horrific mass of fangs and claws.
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Kai stood up, shaking just a little. It took two tries just to holster his pistol, and those close enough could hear him muttering "I can't believe I just did that. I can't believe I just did that."
When he thought he could speak without a quaver in his voice, Kai said,
"Umm..not sure about more. I didn't even see that one on the schematics I downloaded. Must have been someone's secret surprise. Still, I can't imagine anyone's be stupid enough to put something like that on the bridge with all that equipment and controls to damage. Let's open the bridge and get off this ship. I suddenly really do not want to be here any more."
The lights go out again, and the ship actually trembles. Four long seconds later the dim lighting flashes, then steadies, now a little fainter.
Kai's link to your ship reports that the leading edge of radiation bursts has reached your position. There's a 95% certainty that the front of the storm will reach you in 20-40 minutes.
The double doors grind open slowly, then stop about 6 inches from their jams. You look into the bridge.
The ethereal storm looms beyond the wide forward viewing platform, filling the viewport. It's impossible to tell how far away it might be. Distance and size vie against one another, the contest compounded by a total lack of objects to use to judge scale. The dark clouds roil, illuminated continually from within and occasionally from without by a radiation burst.
The ship’s bridge is alight in red warning screens that flicker to blackness intermittently. Closer to you, a battered captain’s chair oversees two tiers of descending operations panels. All the way forward a kasatha, silhouetted by flashes in the storm, is seated, staring at the storm, unmoving, at the co-pilot's console.
The bridge is showing signs of damage. A few blank console screens are cracked or holed. The captain's chair's upholstery is shredded along its rim.
There is another creature sitting, or crouched, inside the corpse of the presumptive co-pilot.
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"We need to hurry this up. That storm will be here any minute. We've got a half hour or so, give or take..."
Kai broke off as he noticed the damage to the bridge.
"Well this isn't good. Something came in here and tore this place up good. Looks like it had claws, given the slashes on that chair. Be careful, will you? I don't ever want to have to do anything like that assault on the turret again."
A small breeze causes some papers attached to a clipboard to flutter. The sound is loud in the otherwise silent room.
Patterson and Hellih step onto the top level of the bridge. Patterson stops beside the captain's chair while Hellih steps to the right. No turrets pop out to open fire. The kasatha doesn't move.
Through the view screen, the entire storm front lights up and a shadow from the Struggle's Scholar is cast on the clouds. Simultaneously, the lights and consoles go dark, and Kai's alarm goes off.
The lights come back up, and the consoles resume their red-tinted commentary on the state of the ship. Your ship's sensors report that you were between the last radiation burst and the storm, but the storm front is still 30-40 minutes out.
Hellih takes a few more steps forward. He begins sifting through the computer interface....
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Hermena looks about worriedly, keeping her eyes peeled for any additional surprises lurking aboard the ship. "Are you going to have any trouble with the computer if everything keeps flickering like that? I don't know if we can stabilize the power source quickly enough to ensure we get everything we came for before the storm hits us."
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Kai dropped into a command seat and pulled out his datapad and a memory module. no way was he going to let whatever was in this databank get away, but he wasn't foolish enough to load it directly into his own rig.
"On it, Hellih. Just give me a moment here. I can set the download to pulse fragments, so even if we have more power glitches, it's a minor issue. Not unlike the torrents of the old days, but this is way easier to set up and use."
Kai and Hellih isolate the encrypted navigation files and start the download. Working together they soon figure out that all the relevant data files are already physically stored on a hard drive in the arm of the captain's chair.
Kai notices that a dent in the frame is preventing the drive from pulling out. Prying the frame open, the three Starfinders work the drive free of the chair. Gratification over their victory turns to alarm when they hear a hissing and scampering behind them. They look up and notice the pilot has collapsed, then looking down they see a small horrific alien, all claws and drolling maw, and leathery skin, bearing down on them.
Initiative, Bold may go
Patterson :
Horror Personified :
HK :
Steev :
Alzandre :
Kai :
Hermena :
Initiative
First impressions can be misleading; on closer examination the creature's skin is chitinous and it's bony-ridged mandibles are vaguely reminiscent of a beetle. Arrangement of its four arms and two legs are also vaguely insectile. It's fastened a keyboard shield-like to one arm by wrapping the cord around and around. Another hand holds an improvised whip of electrical cabling; it's third, a length of pipe, and its fourth, a plasma pistol. It's between three and four feet tall, standing erect.
It doesn't waste time communicating, but leaps straight for Patterson's throat with its slavering jaws. The jaws clamp around his throat, but can't penetrate his armor and it drops to the ground at his feet.
....
A tremendous burst of light erupts in the viewport, throwing the action into stark relief. The lights dim; Kai's alarm goes off. And your weapons get wonky.
Initiative, Bold may go
Patterson :
Horror Personified : [/b]
HK :
Steev :
Alzandre :
Kai :
Hermena :
spoiler= PC] And if that hits I need a DC12 Fort save v paralysis [/spoiler
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