Bonkers and Burn work together to rescue one of the Starfinders, Nips a ysoki solarian.
Kaleb treats another member of the team while the rest of you help get them out of the rock.
The team consisted of Reila Ensar (female human envoy), Nelinwe Vaudan (female damaya lashunta technomancer), Nips (agender ysoki solarian), Ten (male android soldier), and Otai Barisene (male kasatha operative). They are very thankful for your help.
Exploration Mission List:
After you return to the secure bunker with the rescued team, Palivhar is ready to give you your next mission.
“The initial survey of the bunker identified a series of secure laboratories in the north wing. I'd like you to go check it out. It's obvious that Krethiskar fell to the Swarm, but it's my hope that they've left something behind we might find useful—weapons, experimental countermeasures, or even information about our foes. Please investigate, then report back.”
Between missions, you can take a 10-minute rest, recharge batteries and purchase ammunition, batteries, healing supplies, and spellcasting services to remove conditions.
The laboratory has normal lighting and thick metal walls. The metal doors are closed.
It's ominously quiet in the laboratory, with only the whir of the ventilation system punctuating the silence. Signs written in a foreign language hang on the wall, alongside old containment suits. Every few seconds, spotlights on the wall flash bright red.
There are arrows pointing to the left and right with writing on them.
Dofon is able to tell you that this is the “Secure Biolab.” An arrow pointing left is labeled laboratories A and B, while an arrow pointing right is labeled testing facility, specimen containment, and storage.
You start exploring the right passageway. In the hallway Dofon detects faint weeping echoing through the vents.
You come to a locked door with a keycard reader. Without the keycard, you would need to hack the lock. Dofon believes the weeping is coming from the other side of the locked door.
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"That can't be good. Nothing that isn't slime mold should be alive in here."
Burn isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but this place is old. Unless one of the Starfinders got here before us, which is doubtful, everything should be dead. He can think of a few long-lived guardians he's run into. None of them were fun fighting.
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To Bonkers, "it is indeed the sound typical for humanoid creature experiencing distress. I am not familiar enough with it to determine the specifics of the creature responsible." Dofon carefully tries to shuffle out of Kuozar's line of fire, having seen what the cannon can do. "I am aware of creatures that can imitate such sounds to draw prey, but their presence would be unlikely. As Burn said, this facility has been abandoned for a long time, and food sources for such ambush creatures would be scarce." A couple of seconds of quiet walking. "But it could be a restless spirit, of course. No doubt one of the creatures that are difficult or unpleasant to fight."
Dofon proceeds after Bonkers has deftly opened the door. "I would advise you to make sure your suit seals are closed. Even abandoned secure laboratories can contain substances that we would not want to be exposed to." The mollusk is already tightly suited up, resembling again a blue-and-gray sausage with a huge head.
Bonkers easily overrides the lock.
Although they were trying to hide, Bonkers and Dofon easily find a very frightened female phentomite who is trying to hide in this old storage room. She urges you to be quiet, there are swarm nearby. You coax her out of hiding and she introduces herself as Alyolan.
You find out Alyolan believes herself to be the only survivor of her group. They were attacked by a different sort of swarm creature than the ones you have seen so far and she has been hiding here. They couldn’t call for help because comms don’t work in this complex.
She tells you about the creature. It can fire out globs of acid and has a psychic attack. They were attacked by it at the junction just north of where you are.
After a bit, she wipes her eyes, pulls out her laser pistol, and asks if the way back is clear. She doesn’t want to face the creature with you, but is willing to go back and report what she knows.
Alyolan points to the north and quietly says “That intersection.” Frowning, she adds “I’m not sure how much is left since they were blasted by acid as I fled.”
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I don't think we should leave this thing in the rear. And we also need to check that there are no passages through which even more bugs can get here. Otherwise, this bunker will become our trap. Let's go!
"We've got that parallel corridor to the west. I think we split up and move north together to make sure nothing gets around us. "
Alyolan takes her laser pistol and leaves, headed back to camp.
The group approaches the area from both sides.
There is no question, a battle raged here. The walls and floor are marred by acid. There is a corpse of a Starfinder corroded into an unidentifiable organic mass.
On the remains you find a Flame Rifle, two tanks of Petrol, and an Inspiring Weapon Fusion seal.
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Dofon keeps swiveling the mask around, half expecting the swarm to fall out of ceiling or punch through walls.
Too busy to stay close to Burn, the embri notices nothing but the grisly remains.
After evaluating the capabilities of the armor's load lifters, the embri does pick up the flame rifle, checks that the ammo reserves of the rifle are full, and stows the agitator.
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"Can Checker take my pack too?"
Burn looks over the intersection. "Here, there's acid melted scratches in the floor with traces of blood. Looks like it stepped in the body here. Muddied its leg-claw then started moving east.
"This is a good position to make sure nothing slips by us. We can leave someone here to watch the hallways while the rest of us track down the bug.
I'll take point. "
Burns checks the safety on his rifle. Then, holding the rifle ready he walks carefully down the hall to the east.
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It is a very practical plan. "The swarm is probably used to humanoid targets at this point. I will have a slightly better statistical chance of surviving their standard attack pattern. If they are north, I will draw them out."
Dofon heads north to check the intersections to left and right, holding the flamer in readiness.
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Grognard dismounts from Donkey and hooks the second petrol barrel onto her saddlebag.. "Wait 'ere lassie... and roar if ya see something. Do nae engage!"
Turning back to Burnham he nods. "Donkey will signal if the beastie comes this way. The rest o' us should move east together. She can take yer pack to if I continue on foot."
When Burn gets up to the door, he finds it is slightly open. He doesn’t hear anything in the room, but can’t see into it without opening the door wider.
The door is in bad need of lubrication. Although Burn opens the door slowly, that just causes an extended creaking.
With the door open, Burn can see two small cryo chambers flanking the doors, each containing a large collection of frozen biological samples, from bioacids to fungal cultures. Damaged machinery to the east spews a toxic green gas into the air, making it difficult to see.
When you move forward, you can see two secure containment units occupy the room, one in the north and one in the south. The door of the unit to the south is broken open. The unit is overrun by green, slimy growths, perhaps a type of mold or fungus.