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"Interesting work on the analysis," Sashkri nods. "Though not as huge a find as the other worlds, this one will keep the astrophysicists happy. It looks like we've collected some very fine data indeed!"
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
The trip back to Absalom station is much shorter than the trip here, thanks to the enormous drift beacon that is the Starstone.
What do you all do during those six days of travel? Some of the time is spent collating data for your return to see Fitch, and some keeping watch on the unwelcome guests in the repurposed storage locker, but the rest of the time is your own.
Sashkri notes, "Although it's generally up to the Scientific Community to name worlds, there's nothing wrong with proposing working names to go into our Starfinder files, and to send on to the Scientific Community as suggestions. What names do you want to attach to them?"
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Grognard rushes over to Donkey's quarters to comfort her after the shock of the battle. He pets her, and feeds her some of his own rations. "Dornt ye fash yerse auld lassie. Everything's gonnae be jist braw. Sorry we arenae gonnae be landin' oan onie ay th' planets fur a bit... but ah tryst thaur will be somewhaur tae stent yer legs suin enaw."
Eventually he comes back up to the bridge, Donkey in tow. "Just tellin' her she'll be fine. She dornt like bein' cooped up ya ken? Needs ta stretch 'er legs. So uh... lookin tae name th' planets?"
He coos to Donkey, and scratches behind her ears until she settles down, then strokes his beard while he thinks. "Thar 'as a quaint toown bout a wee stroll from me auld home... Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. May be a wee bit long..."
He strokes his beard a bit more then offers another. "Torag dinnae get a planet named in 'is honor yet. Torag's Reach... Toragsheim... could name it fer Donkey here... but I cannae spell 'er name in aur letters."
His furrowed brow shows he's putting in quite the effort to curtail his accent as much as he is.
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"Hoo~ yeah, found us some neat planets and busted up some pirates." the dwarf commented, feeling satisfied, "I'm sure those Xeno-whatsits will love gettin' a look at those critters, too~!" Gus did a quick freestyle finger snap routine out of excitement, causing the gold on his boots & hands to congeal into coins that he snatched out of the air.
A lot of Gus's time is spent carousing or conversing with the crew if they let him. Being the diligent scrapper he is, the travel time serves him as vacation after a job well done before the hunt for another job begins. He'd love to share & compare stories from fellow dwarf Grognard, having had so little contact with his own race outside his small immediate family. He'd also like to catch up and hear tales from Yarsox, another Akitonian native. He'd also probably let slip some details of his nanites, if any would want to look into their abilities. Outside of that all, Gus would take some time to chatter with their pirate captives a bit while on guard duty, torturing or consoling them (depending on their outlook) with some of his music.
When Sashkri puts forward the question of planet names, he pauses a moment in thought. "Well... huh. I'm not good with names, but Huberon comes to mind for that first one. Full of minerals and stuff that'd be good for mining, but you'd have to wear some pretty big britches to think you'd walk away from that hostile environment with a profit." He points to Grognard. "Naming something after Torag would be nice too!"
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Triage takes his time to fully repair and put back into place all the debris that was strewn about the ship thanks to both him and Gus. Once that is done he retreats back to his room for the majority of the trip back.
He does send a message over his comm unit a few days into the trip that reads:
'We know very little of these locations, it is hard to choose a name that will fit. However, I vote for 'Etheria' for the planet with the ruins on it.'
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After the battle Naitier soon settles to rest, exhausted from the preceding flight, reviewing the ruins on the planet, and then the battle against the pirates.
Naitier returns to spending off hours watching more movies, but they also spend hours hours within the in a corner of the ship speaking at a mirror. Tapping through a datapad they practice giving variations of the commands they attempted during the starship battle. They try it with different phrasing and intonation. They given attempt to practice some lines they took from the films they watched.
Regarding the planetary names Naitier suggests, "while no part of me feels able to offer a name for most of the worlds, I would suggest Kanatani for the planet in the farthest reaches of the system after a mentor from my world. They put in much of their life into learning magic and were able to pass a bit of that onto me."
"Torag's Reach, Huberon, Etheria and Kanatani?" Sashkri notes down the suggestions just before you dock near the Master of Stars. As you step out of the loading tube, a bevy of little ysoki children ambush Sashkri.
"Sashkri I got new tooths!"
"We thought you were dead!"
"You were gone forever!"
Sashkri laughs and scoops them up. "Missed you, too!"
Kirkath pops out from behind another pillar. "You guys were gone a long time. Did you run into any trouble, like giant cyber-dinosaurs?"
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Gus can't help but chuckle at Kirkath. "Naw, just had a scuffle with some bumbling pirates. Nothing as cool as what you said." he answered, righting the brim of his hat. "Even brought some back with us, in case any of 'em need a good questioning." he adds further.
Slipping his thumb into one of his metallic suspenders, he adjusts them as he watches Sashkri deal with the bevy of chaos from the kids. Leaning over to Triage & Nuva'gek, he tip toes a bit so he can whisper to them. "If we do more of this together in the future, remind me to never have kids." he jests in hushed tones.
Kirkath's eyes widen. "Pirates! Awesome! I never get to do anything cool like that." He leads you (much more directly this time) to his mom's office.
"Oh, so good to see that you all made it back! Tell me about your survey mission! Did you find anything exciting?" Fitch asks all of you.
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Naitier freezes a bit when Kirkath popped up and quickly defers to Gus while studying how Gus talks to the children.
They are more comfortable when in front of Fitch as Naitier explains, "there was an starship battle but I am happy to say that didn't interfere with our mission."
Naitier quickly moves on waving along to the elements they find more important, "as to the planetary investigations themselves we did find that one of the planets in the system used to support a civilization. I found that the ruins were unlike others within the Pact Worlds. The planet certainly could support life, but I suspect it would be critical to discover what happened to that prior civilization."
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Walking by the children to Fitch "We also have 2 of the pirates in a makeshift brig onboard. They were using one of the planets as a base of some kind." Nuva'gek adds nodding his head back towards the Pegasus.
"Not sure what you want to do with them, but thought they might be useful for more data or we can turn them over to the authorities?"
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"Whit they aw said. Ah foond 'at aam better wi' a gin than Ah am readin' scannin' logs. Ah hink donkey was a bit bummed abit bein' cooped up oan th' pegasus th' whole time, but she managed weel."
He sighs at their confused looks, then simply types out a message on his comm, sets it on the table, then goes back to petting Donkey.
What they all said. I found that I'm better with a gun than I am reading the scanner logs. I think Donkey was a bit bummed about being cooped up on the Pegasus the whole time, but she managed well.
'"Oh this looks very good indeed!" Fitch's whiskers twitch with excitement as she reads the summaries on your data. "I'll need to dig into this further, but I cannot wait to see what the reaction will be to Society's publications on this research." She assures you all that you will all receive co-author credit. "Oh, and I almost forgot. You did well facing off with those pirates hiding in the Estokine System, and I'd like to reward you for completing the unexpectedly dangerous mission."
"As for the pirates, I'll be contacting the Stewards about picking them up!" Fitch looks all of you over. "The timing of your capture is pretty good. Ixthia has been telling me they want to further the alliance with the Stewards, so this will work very well indeed! Perhaps you should head to the Exo-Guardian office next."
Fitch provides you all with directions, and then send you on your way. "By the way, I would be pleased if any or all of you decide to go with the Wayfinders. We could use more Starfinders with your talent!"
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
The Exo-Guardians maintain a presence on Absalom Station in a remodeled warehouse in the poor but trendy Downlow neighborhood. Members of the Exo-Guardians are hard at work in the converted warehouse space, but an elf in a bat costume and matching mask points you to Ixthia's new office. "It's just up that set of stairs, fellow Starfinders!"
The office is filled with armor and weaponry of all kinds. A tall copaxi speaks into an intercom unit. “Yes, the nameplate on the door looks lovely, but I'm afraid I need it changed. It's ‘Ixthia' now. Yes, with an ‘Ix' at the front. No, no, you did great work, I just need it to be updated. I know you were working off old information. Next week? That will be fine, thank you.” They quickly greet everyone. “I apologize for keeping you waiting; I had been on hold for almost an hour. Hello and welcome, new Starfinders. I am so pleased that you have all joined the Society, and congratulations on your successful survey mission, and in capturing those pirates!"
Then Ixthia gets up, nods to Naitier and puts his arms to his side and spins in the official copaxi greeting. "So nice to see other Copaxi joining the Society! I myself am new to this role, so I suppose we'll figure out our new jobs together. I do have an assignment for you that just came up, so your timing is excellent."
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Looking the Copaxi up and down, almost as if he was sizing them up, Nuva'gek says "Greetings, Ixthia, was it?" and bows respectfully. "I am Nuva'gek and these are the other Starfinder recruits." Sweeping a hand around indicating to the rest of the group.
"Once we have introductions out of the way, please tell us about this assignment, the crowds here on Absalom Station have me on edge." he says jerking his head backwards towards the station in general.
"Forgive me if I don't bow. I don't want to prick anyone with my..." Ixthia pauses a moment, trying to think of the word, "...antlers. Yes, I think the word, 'antlers' fits."
"We’re trying to build up our relationship with the Stewards after the last couple of years. It would be helpful to be on their good side, and they’ve just asked for a favor. Considering that you just brought in those pirates, I thought of you. They need some help investigating ships seized from smugglers. They’d like to contract extra personnel to go through and inventory the stolen goods on board, as they need to build their case in
a hurry.”
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Naitier posture loosens for a moment upon seeing Ixthia as they feel a sense of home before returning to a professional stance, although with a bit more pride than before. Naitier returns the greeting, rotating around with arms at the side. "I can only hope to be able to match your achievements and successes with my own efforts. I'm certain you will be able to successfully adapt to your new position and I will do the best to do the same myself."
Nodding with Ixthia's reaction to introductions, Naitier listens to the briefing and states, "I feel confident we can aid in those processes to search and log. Do you know what the smugglers were suspected of transporting?"
“I don’t have the details, but the Stewards deal with everything from drug trafficking, to counterfeit goods, to stolen weapons. Part of your job will be to take inventory of any illicit items on board the ships.”
Ixthia sends information to your comms. "I've reserved one of the Starfinder shuttles to take you out to the Steward Officers Headquarters in the Armada. Have you been out to the Armada yet? Very inspiring! So many wonderful ships to look at!"
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
So you travel out to the Armada. Again! This time, though, you head to a small blue vessel with the Stewards logo upon it. You meet with Steward Officers Famdok Athret (male half-orc) and Tramiola Lojten (female human). Tramiola greets you with raised eyebrows. "Ah, the Starfinders are here! Good work on clearing out those pirates!"
Famdok addresses the contractors with a professional nod. “Hello, Starfinders. Thank you for your assistance. As your commander probably informed you, the Stewards recently seized over two dozen ships from a major organized crime operation. Pact World policy dictates that we only have a limited time to search the ships before they have to be returned, so we need to inventory their contents quickly. For that, we need extra personnel. Board the ship assigned to you and search for anything that seems strange or illegal. If you find any evidence about their operation, that would also be helpful to our case.”
The Steward officers loan the you an inventory datapad to record any goods on the ship. "Do you have any questions for us?"
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Tramiola smiles. "The Evening Solace is a light freighter, small and agile and in excellent condition. They got busted the way many smugglers do... based on a tip from someone with inside knowledge. Now... it could be that this was a bogus tip, put out by a shipping rival or disgruntled ex. If there is nothing to the charge, we'll want to know that too. We don't take kindly to false reports. Are you you ready to go see the ship now?"
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"I believe I do have a good understanding of our task." Naitier glaces toward the datapad but allows others to review it as they say, "This does seem to be slightly more muted with my world's response to illegal dealing. It does make sense given how much more transit passes through your system compared to the far less developed trade operations my world has grown recently."
"I only have one question before we go, do you think we should be wary of traps? Do smugglers set traps for those trying to search their ship?"
"Always suspect traps," They say, in unison in a stern narrator-like voice, and then laugh at what is obviously an inside joke.
After a few seconds, Famdok the half-orc explains, "Sorry, that's from a direct quote from one of our Steward training vids. They make us watch it each year as part of our mandatory training"[b] He pauses a moment to think. [b]"That said, the team that evacuated this group did not run into any traps, and they were moving rapidly through the ship. The smugglers are currently in our custody, but only for a few more days. By the time they're out, we need to have our evidence to prepare for court.”
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
You arrive on the Evening Solace, and discover that all the lights are on and the atmosphere is breathable, including in the cargo bay. It feels eerily like the owners just stepped out for a moment. You start with the primary cargo bay, looking any evidence at all.
You spend at least 20 minutes going through these crates, and Grognard finds one filled with credsticks.
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"Would you mind if I looked at those for a moment?" He peaks his head into the box and pulls out a stick. His eyes dart over it as he turns it over in his hand.
"Well, we have fake credsticks. That's a start. The entire container is filled with them." He then carefully places it back inside the crate.
With some evidence already found, you move on to a room that is clearly a Recreation Room. This area contains comfortable seating and leisure activities as a place for crew to relax on long missions. As the crew left abruptly, there are board games set up on the tables mid-play, and four glasses of alcoholic drinks rimmed with salt sit on a long table by the eastern edge.
Donkey becomes fascinated by one wall, and starts whining, sniffing and pawing at it. That's when Grognard realizes there's a secret smuggler's compartment in this room, which contains a manifest of customers buying the goods from this shipment. While the names are in code, the list helps the Stewards in making their case.
Donkey wags her tail, quite proud of herself and hoping for a treat or some petting.
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"Excellent work Triage. I wouldn't have guessed that they would be dealing in counterfeit currency. I do not know why it never occurred to any part of me. I admit that my thinking may be too limited to many Pact Worlds matters."
Naitier spends a few minutes longer than they should examining the board games before seeing what Donkey had found. "Donkey did excellent work Grognard, I do hope you give her a proper reward."
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"Good lassie..."
Grognard pets Donkey AND gives her a treat.
"Awwe 'main 'en Donkey. Ah tauld ye Ah was sorry abit 'at. they wooldnae lit ye ontae th' station an' Ah hud tae smuggle ye. Ah wasnae gonnae lae ye behin'."
It sounds like Donkey and smuggling compartments may have a history... which isn't surprising seeing as not all planets or stations are likely to allow a Yasakaja to roam free.
Grognard goes over to the table and looks at the drinks. He gives one a sniff, trying to discern how long ago this area was used, then goes back to the smuggling hold and looks for signs of dust and debris that might help indicate it's last usage.
He looks over at Donkey. "Smell anythin'?"
Donkey can't smell anything of interest, but from lack of dust, Grognard surmises that this secret compartment was used within the last few days. The drinks are fresh. This place was seized no longer than yesterday, and possibly a few hours ago.
You start searching the rest of the ship thoroughly.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Central Crew Quarters
The crew quarters contain personal effects like bedding, furniture, decorations, and clothing. The ship must have been seized quite suddenly, because the crew didn't have a chance to recover their belongings. Someone left a datapad out on the table, and it shows a paused scene from Rent-a-Rodent, an Akitonian animated series about superpowered ysokis who solve crimes.
Port Side Meeting Room
This room contains seating for over a dozen people. There are hand-drawn electronic diagrams on the walls.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Portside Crew Quarters
These living quarters were abandoned suddenly. Dirty laundry has been piled up on one of the beds, and there are no items of interest here. Although Donkey sniffs with enthusiasm, Naitier wishes her sense of smell was not quite so keen.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Bridge
The bridge of the ship doesn't contain any cargo. However, the navigation computers don't look that difficult to access...
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As the crew searches through the ship room by room, Gus lingers by the walls of the meeting room. Squinting, his face hovers closer to the scrawlings on the wall.
Running a hand through his beard, he groans, "Why do these look familiar...?" The dwarf grumbled and pondered for a moment, thinking back to his days as a hired guard, before it struck him. "Looks like they were trying to upgrade their fake credsticks too. Buncha' cred-launderin' cheats!" He grips his scattergun tight, with a hint of anger.
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Grognard muses to himself as he pulls up the nav logs.
"Whaur och whaur waur these smugglers gonnae?"
He speaks the name of the planet as clearly as possible, and nothing more.
"Preluria."
As he sees Gus go for his gun Grognard shakes his head and speaks calmly in Dwarven.
"Save your anger. Nobody has threatened you yet. A clear mind will do you good while on the hunt... save your fury for the fight that can follow."
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Naitier tries following the diagrams before shaking their head, "I'll rely on your experience Gus. I wouldn't direct your anger at them though, at least not for this. On my world I've known a number struggling to live that would commit illicit acts just to try to make a better life."
Looking through the quarters Naitier ponders on, "The galaxy is an apathetic place at times and we are but motes of star dust floating along within it."
Looking back toward the room farther than into the distances, Naitier admits, "however I can't say anything to the character to these individuals. I might want to see more of this show on the datapad though."
Having investigated a good portion of the Port Side and the Bridge, you decide to investigate the Starboard side.
Starboard Side Meeting Room
Outside of the Starboard Side Meeting room, you hear gun shots, and someone shouting, "You won't take me alive, you corpse-eating corporate goons! Do you hear me? I'm on to you!"
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Naitier looks toward the weapons fire and readies before relaxing a few moments later. "It is another show. A recording at the very least. It seems we are least share a desire for games and vids as we travel through the drift."
Largely confident in their assessment Naitier opens the meeting room door. They try to practice standard Starfinder procedures that have been hammered in over training and Naitier does give a check for sensors or other indications of booby traps as they push forward.
Naitier's instincts were correct. This room contains seating for over a dozen people, all arranged facing a large screen. The scene on the screen shows halfling man quickly climbing up the side of a Eoxian building while firing a pistol at a bunch of zombies in some sort of corporate uniform.
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Then an incredibly dashing entertainer and Pact Worlds Media celebrity comes on to the screen. "Will our daring if pint-sized hero manage to save the good, hard-working Eoxian hostages from the goons of the evil corpse fleet, or will the goons finally get to eat his brains? Better yet, will he finally fall in love with his ghoulfriend? You know what Zo! is rooting for! Tune back tomorrow for our next episode of Shorty vs the Hostile Corpsefleet Corporate Takeover!"
The meeting room is set up with a ton of different films and entertainments, and you find some popcorn under the seats that Donkey thinks is delicious.
You continue your search.
Starboard Crew Quarters
These living quarters were abandoned suddenly. There are a series of notes posted on the wall, documenting a heated argument about a cleaning rotation.
We don't have a trash bot. Clean up after yourselves! Doesn't anyone read the cleaning rotation I posted?
Beto gave themself the easiest jobs.
Okay, why don't YOU write up a rotation?
No one elected you boss!
Hey, who left all the notes on the wall? Sheeesh.
There are also a few rude drawings and pet pictures posted, and the floor is noticeably sticky.
Starboard Bathroom
This small bathroom is much cleaner than the others on board the ship, as if it doesn't get used.
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Yarsox examines the scrawling argument on the wall with a bemused expression. "These are the same people that would claim that bureaucracy gets nothing done. If only they'd been a little more organized, maybe they could have hidden their illegal activities better from the Stewards and gotten away with it."
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Naitier nodes to multiple others making the same discovery hidden away within the ship bathroom. "I'm not certain what this chemical they have secreted away is, but I'm going to make the assumption that it is also quite illegal here."
Naitier also looks at the wall and notes, "I will say that I'm suspect that a more proper cleaning schedule is related to their capture."
Secondary Cargo Bay
This loading dock is filled with pieces of plastic from the remains of large shipping crates, as well as strange shards of metal. There's a glass panel on the wall just inside the door labeled “Break glass in case of emergency” with two pistols visible inside. One is a needler pistol already loaded with a dose of tier 1 sedative, and the other is a static arc pistol.
Nesting in a pile of shredded crates, metal shards and busted cocoons are two creatures similar in shape to a lion, but with hairless, rubbery blue skin and a mane of thick, lashing tentacles. Their faces are little more than two eyes glowing with ever-changing light and a fanged maw. Two long tentacular tails extend from its muscular hindquarters. They snuffle, smelling the air as you come in, and spring forward hungrily.
Salt water and other salty liquids will burn them like acid.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Bold may act!
Nuva'gek
Gold Gus
Akatas
Yellow
Green
Grognard
Naitier
Triage
Yarsox
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Stepping into the cargo bay, Gus's eyes scan past the wall as he pays little mind to the emergency glass panel. He stops, his eyes shifting left & right as he hears something stir. His slow turning let's him catch sight of the strange creatures snarling at them.
Gus shouts, surprised by them as his instincts kick in. In a flurry, he quickly shuffles out a hand full of coins in one hand and a set of six longarm rounds in the other. The coins meld and shape themselves, taking the ammo out of the dwarf's hand as they form a golden lever-action hunting rifle, with which Gus takes aim and fires toward the one on his left.
Gold Gus finds the creatures so disorienting that his coin bullets plonk harmlessly into some of the crate nesting material. Nuva'gek hits the akata easily, but the vesk discovers to his dismay that these creatures are resistant to fire. No damage from his laser pistol gets through!
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It is the akatas turn! Still snuffling, they head unerringly to the living humanoids before them!
Yellow bites at Nuva'gek, its bite tearing into the vesk's arm, and then burning as tiny parasites try to wriggle under the vesk's scales.
Green tears into Grognard, proving how very uncute it is. Grognard can feel the itchy, burning parasites attempting to burrow into his dwarven flesh.
Other than the faint snuffling and tearing noises these creatures make as they bite, these creatures make hardly any sounds at all.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Bold may act!
Nuva'gek
Gold Gus
Akatas
Yellow
Green
Grognard
Naitier
Triage
Yarsox
Nuva'gek gives a shake, and the parasites fall off, failing to find purchase in his thick vesk hide.
Bang!
The hammer squishes ruthlessly on the akata. It opens its mouth as if to scream, but no sound comes out. It snuffles restlessly, hoping for another bite.
★ --- ★ --- ★ --- ★
Bold may act!
Nuva'gek (-6)
Gold Gus
Akatas
Yellow (-8)
Green
Grognard (-4, DC 10 Fortitude)
Naitier
Triage
Yarsox
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Triage lets out a small gasp as he sees the creatures attack his crewmates. In one swift movement, his needler appears in his hand and he loads in a syringe. He carefully aims it towards Nuva'Gek, then fires a dart.
The dart connects with an exposed scale and the fluid drains quickly into him, strengthening Gek's resolve against these creatures. Triage then uses the microlab in his arm to scan the creature in front of them.
Triage recalls with their bioscan some other pertinent facts about akatas. In addition to their vulnerability to salt water and salty liquids, Triage remembers they are immune to cold and he also recalls the full, horrible akata life cycle.
Those who succumb to akata parasites have several days of void fever where they either fight off the disease or die, rising as a void zombie with the the baby akata attached to the top of their mouths like a horrible tongue. Eventually, the baby akata devours its host completely, forms a cocoon, and grows to full akata form.
Triage also recalls that there were salt-encrusted drinks in the crew recreation area.