|
DRACOS easily cracks the doors open, but in doing so, sets off a trap - a 150-decibel pulse which floods the stairwell!
Rico starts bleeding from both ears, and nearly collapses, whilst Susreth grits his teeth.
"The Swarm will hear that for sure! We need to get out of here!"
"WHAT WAS THAT?", shouts Rico. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
Scant seconds later, two robots float into view.
+++Intruders Detected+++
DRACOS (-)
Rico (-8; Deafened)
OCSR (-, -)
Susreth (-4)
|
|
DRACOS scores two solid hits.
Rico takes a shot at the injured robot...
...but misses.
+++Detain... Detain...+++
Both robots rapid-fire lob sticky-bomb grenades at the Squad...
Rico is glued to the floor, whilst Susreth dodges everything...
...and severely scorches the already damaged robot.
DRACOS (-4)
Rico (-8; Deafened; Entangled 5)
OCSR (-16, -)
Susreth (-4)
|
|
DRACOS demolishes the damaged Robot, then seriously messes up the other one.
Rico takes a shot at the injured robot...
...and actually manages a direct hit on its CPU, causing it to crash to the ground, smoking!
"YES!!! I STILL HAVE IT!"
DRACOS (-4)
Rico (-8; Deafened)
Susreth (-4)
Whilst Rico cleans the goop off, DRACOS has a chance to scavenge the robots for parts.
|
|
This small room seems to be a security station for the hangar. A couple of metal chairs sit before a computer terminal and several monitors hang above it on the wall. A door exits to the east.
The three rooms marked J4 are identical storage areas, packed with mostly empty crates and cabinets. Only useless packing material
and other garbage remains.
|
|
The main feature of this room is a large elevator platform set into a massive metal hatch in the floor. Above, two metallic doors cover a dark shaft that exits the chamber at a forty-five-degree angle. A security camera is pointed at the platform. Empty crates and packing material line the walls. The room stinks faintly of axle grease.
One of the larger crates is labelled “Return to Sender”; inside is a Drift engine, obviously in a state of disrepair. It would take at least a week (and a fully stocked tech workshop) to repair this Drift engine.
|
|
The center of this room is occupied by a power core that stretches from floor to ceiling. Cables attached to the core stretch in all directions overhead. A security camera is pointed at the power core, and a computer terminal adjacent to the core emits dim light.
The power core here has been knocked offline by the attack on the surface. The computer terminal is functioning on emergency backup power and can be used to reboot the core.
|
|
The smell of combustible fuel hangs in the air. Several pipes run across the ceiling and down the southern wall, all connected to complex fuel-mixing devices and monitoring computers. The floor, ceiling, and walls are bare cement, and a door exits to the north.
This small break area has a refrigerator unit, a beverage dispenser, comfortable seating, and a round table. A row of lockers is set into the eastern wall, beneath a security camera and a holographic counter marked “Days Since a Workplace Safety Incident.”
A row of computer consoles is set into the northern wall beneath a security camera and a transparent aluminium window through which the hangar (and more importantly, the ship it contains!) can be seen. Exits lead to the south and east.
The computers are displaying information about the ship, identified as the Terminus Wild.
Examining the readouts, DRACOS can see that the ship is clearly in working order, but its conventional thrusters need refuelling.
|
|
This room separates flight control from the hangar bay. A couple of small chairs sit in one corner near a row of hooks from which some mechanics’ coveralls hang. There is a sturdy door just below a metal grate in the northern wall.
A security camera is mounted just above the entrance to the hangar.
Of more immediate concern, however, is the robot guarding this room.
+++Intruders Detected+++
DRACOS (-4)
Rico (-; Deafened)
OCSR (-)
Susreth (-4)
|
|
A set of massive jet-blast deflectors occupy the majority of the floor underneath the starship that fills this hangar bay. The room measures over two hundred feet long, and about half that distance wide and tall. The area around the vessel is crowded with heavy-duty equipment and a few wheeled tool cabinets. A pile of pallets and crates is stacked in the southeast corner. A service door exits to the south, a few feet from a large aluminium-steel window that looks into the flight control room. A pair of ceiling-mounted security cameras have been mounted at opposite ends of the hangar.
The starship here has the name Terminus Wild painted across it in big, garish letters. It is a Medium transport frame with a sleek profile, built by the Suskillon-based Flux Industries. Several stately observation windows run along its fuselage, as well as along the aft and forward lower decks, and it is painted a blackish-blue with orange and yellow highlights, as an ostentatious show of wealth.
Suddenly, a fungal creature that appears to be mostly mouth and tentacles, slithers out from underneath the ship, projecting a psychic cacophony that is profoundly distracting.
Fortunately, DRACOS' colleagues are made of stern stuff (at least when it comes to non-Swarm entities), and ignore the unsettling thoughts.
DRACOS (-7)
Susreth (-4)
CF (-)
Rico (-)
|
|
DRACOS electrocutes the plant slightly.
Susreth lines up a shot, relieved to have another non-Swarm foe to face...
...delivering the lightest of scorches.
The fungal beast lashes its tentacles angrily, and assaults DRACOS' mind...
...and appears to heal slightly.
Rico then lines up a shot...
...filling the room with the smell of roasting mushroom.
DRACOS (-7)
Susreth (-4)
CF (-8)
Rico (-)
|
|
DRACOS hits once, doing a small amount of damage.
DRACOS electrocutes the plant slightly.
Susreth lines up another shot...
...delivering a much better hit.
The fungal beast lashes its tentacles angrily, and assaults DRACOS' mind again, trying to scare him off...
...and appears to heal slightly.
Rico then lines up a shot...
...severely burning the fungal creature, and setting it on fire.
DRACOS (-7)
Susreth (-4)
CF (-21; Burn 1d4)
Rico (-)
|
|
As you begin the refuelling process, the underground pumps kick in, producing a loud mechanical thrum that echoes throughout the hangar and beyond.
Alarms begin blaring throughout the hangar. Nearby computer terminals show images of hundreds of Swarm components converging onto the spaceport above. A huge shadow falls across the field as some passing unseen gargantuan creature blocks the sun. The sounds of hundreds of clawed legs on the hangar’s launch doors echo throughout the facility.
Scant second later, the doors to the hangar burst open, and a bunch of Swarm Components charge in - two of the all-jaws-and-spiky-limbs variety; one of the spindly-legged flying drones; and a new one - a humanoid, vaguely-Shirren-like creature, but with one arm that has been replaced with an organic acid-launching cannon!
The winged-one assaults DRACOS' mind.
The two spiky-limbed-huge-mouthed Components throw themselves at Rico and Susreth...
...and each gets in a good slash.
Meanwhile, the acid-cannon-wielding one tossing a spray of acid DRACOS' way...
...but misses.
SV (-)
SD (-, -)
SC (-)
DRACOS (-7)
Susreth (-12)
Rico (-9)
|
|
DRACOS smashes the Component targeting Rico, with a pair of well-placed hits.
Susreth frantically stabs at the one engaging him...
"Oh Gods! They've finally come for me!"
...whilst Rico takes a shot at it.
"Pull yourself together, man!"
Both manage to hit, but the blows only serve to make it angrier.
The winged-one assaults DRACOS' mind.
The one of Susreth tries to eviscerate the poor lashunta...
...getting in a nasty blow.
Meanwhile, the acid-cannon-wielding one tossing a spray of acid DRACOS' way...
...and starts to dissolve him.
SV (-)
SD (-8)
SC (-)
DRACOS (-19)
Susreth (-16)
Rico (-9)
|
|
In an orgy of destruction, DRACOS takes out the injured Component with a pistol shot, then splatters the winged Component with two well-placed bullets.
Susreth calms down slightly.
"Sorry! Still a little on edge..."
He then takes a shot at the one with the acid cannon...
...as does Rico...
...but neither manages to hit.
Meanwhile, the acid-cannon-wielding keeps tossing acid DRACOS' way...
...and continues to dissolve him.
SC (-)
DRACOS (-32)
Susreth (-16)
Rico (-9)
|
|
DRACOS hits twice, but this Component proves to be quite resilient; it barely looks injured.
"For the Second Battalion!"
Susreth frantically fires...
..and scores a glancing blow.
Rico tries to emulate him...
...but mises.
Meanwhile, the acid-cannon-wielding keeps tossing acid DRACOS' way...
...and continues to dissolve him.
SC (-14)
DRACOS (-44)
Susreth (-16)
Rico (-9)
|
|
DRACOS scores a single, glancing hit.
Susreth snarls, and keeps firing...
..and sets the Component alight!
Rico tries to emulate him...
...but only manages a glancing blow.
Meanwhile, the acid-cannon-wielding Component turns its attention to Susreth...
...dissolving a hole straight through the poor lashunta's chest, even as the flames engulfing it go out...
"Susreth! NOOOO!"
SC (-25)
DRACOS (-44)
Rico (-9)
|
|
DRACOS tags the Component twice, dealing *just* enough damage to take it out.
At this point in time, the ship finishes refuelling, and the line automatically disengages.
DRACOS (-44)
Rico (-9)
However, there is no time to celebrate - from the sounds of things, dozens of more Components are on their way!
|
|
You retreat inside and shut the airlock just in time - for you can see through the starship’s observation ports and sensors that there are dozens more Swarm components spilling into the hangar bay. Fortunately, these components don’t have the capability to harm the vessel as the Terminus Wild’s thrusters start up (a process that takes a harrowing 3 minutes).
You can remotely open the hangar doors, causing dozens more Swarm creatures and pounds of accumulated snow to tumble down on top of the ship.
As the Terminus Wild takes off, you get a good view of the spaceport. Thousands of Swarm creatures of a magnitude that you have not seen since Brinnoa, cover nearly every inch of the surface. There is a huge creature at the center of this horde, one that none of you have seen before: A hydra-like beast with multiple heads that towers above the other Swarm components. It bellows resoundingly toward the Terminus Wild and a psychic shock of energy rocks the vessel, causing all aboard to feel uneasy for a brief moment. The Terminus Wild enters orbit about an hour later with no further interference.
Breaking free of Suskillon’s gravity well provides a sense of relief. The evacuees aboard let out cheers of joy mixed with stressful sobs as the Terminus Wild’s artificial gravity kicks in and the unfiltered light of the sun fills the vessel’s observation windows. The ship passes through a debris field in low orbit, hundreds of small impacts bouncing off the shields. The mood aboard the ship turns dour, as it becomes apparent that the Terminus Wild is passing through the remains of hundreds of other ships that were destroyed in the battles that raged above the planet...
The Amulet of Iomedae around Susreth's neck glows, then turns to dust. As it does so, Susreth takes a deep, shuddering breath, and his eyes open.
"Did we... win...?"
Rico is overjoyed.
"Susreth! You're alive! I thought we'd have to report you as dead!"
Susreth smiles weakly.
"It would appear that even in death, Sergeant Tani Cebrace is looking out for me - she insisted that, as I was the fire-team medic, it was important that I not go down for the count, and so she had me wear a Recovery Aegis..."
Rico helps him to his feet, and pats him on the back.
"Glad you are still among the living. Look's like you will have quite the scar, though..."
Susreth gingerly fingers the massive patch of flayed and angry-looking skin across the centre of his chest.
"Ah..."
Rico grins.
"Don't worry - we can get a tattoo to cover that!"
|
|
DRACOS easily manages to repair the damaged systems, but it takes longer (twice as long, in fact) as he would have expected - almost as if the damage was fighting against him...
When he has finished, and glances over to the navigational array, he discovers that the ship has drifted off course...
Checking over the ships logs, DRACOS realises that an (unknown) outside source meddled with the navigational autopilot...
...he also discovers that the life support system is now glitching...
|
|
DRACOS easily repairs the damaged life support systems...
He finds systemic minor damage, such as fraying wires, shorted circuits, and so forth.
Whilst this is going on, Zantos approaches you to complain. “The lights are flickering on and off on the observation deck. It is simply maddening. Can you please do something about them? Some of the less scientific-minded evacuees are making noises about the ship being haunted, but I think poor maintenance is the problem.”
When you head to the observation deck to examine the lighting there, it has returned to normal, which causes Zantos to become flustered. He storms off to read a datapad he found in one of the guest quarters.
Rico and Susreth, still heavily wounded, have retired to the crew section to rest; meanwhile, though thankful to still be alive, the evacuees are in low spirits, having just seen their home world fully invaded by the relentless Swarm.
Luckily, the Terminus Wild’s galley has enough food in its cabinets to feed everyone. Unluckily, these rations are mostly basic R2Es intended for the ship’s original crew. However, the galley also holds a few exotic spices, as well as some strange dried fruits and vegetables. Xelonan volunteers to take on the responsibility of preparing meals for everyone within a few hours after the commandeered vessel leaves orbit. Using the additional supplies, the shirren priest is able make the rations a little more interesting to eat, ensuring that the evacuees don’t fall into total despair.
Meanwhile, the Terminus Wild’s HAC, which is programmed with several scenarios, ranging from romantic, windswept beaches to simulated shoot-outs with faceless enemies, sees almost continuous use by the evacuees, desperate for either distraction, or the ability to blow off steam.