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Butcher grabs a piece of a portable solar panel that was supposed to provide power for the Starfinder's camp, but had been damaged by the Swarm's attack and holds it over his head as he runs to shield himself from the acid bombardment.
He's completely exhausted as he reaches the foothills, but he continues run for his life because he knows he has no choice.
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Blitniz tries to use his knowledge of the structures to duck behind obstacles that will protect him from the acid.
Once in the foothills, he tries to use his knowledge of physics to outthink the coming Swarm attackers.
Unfortunately, the stress of the last several encounters seem to be wearing him down.
Most of you manage to avoid the acid spray and find a partially-obscured path towards the bunker. GRIM*! unfortunately might be starting to feel the effects of that neurotoxin as he gets burned and finds himself closely pursued by the Swarm.
As you run, you see the mountain door up ahead. But the persistent psychic buzzing that has been pestering you your whole time on this planet has now increased to a mental roar.
Finally though, you reach the bunker. Other Starfinders are huddled against it and the mountainside but the massive doors between you and salvation are sealed! You've opened them before, but with Swarm massing and charging in the distance the entrance needs to be re-opened under heavy pressure...
Blitniz's head starts to hurt, to a point its not only painful but actively distracting him as he fiddles with the door controls. But the situation requires fighting through the pain, and that he does: to door to the bunker opens up with a creak, and you and dozens of other Starfinder agents are able to race inside!
Inside the bunker, you can prepare for the arrival of their fellow surviving Starfinders and keep watch at the bunker entrance. Over the next ten minutes, dozens of Starfinder field agents and support staff stumble into the bunker. The field agents hold weapons in shaking hands, trying to keep their nerves under control as they watch for further Swarm components. The surviving support staff gather at the back of the bunker, far from the entry doors, pacing in a panic or sitting in a daze, obviously shaken by the sudden violence.
Soon Palivhar arrives, takes a quick and somber count of the gathered Starfinders, then takes up a position at the door controls. The minutes tick by, with fewer and fewer Starfinders trickling in. Still, you see Palivhar waits as long as possible to shut the bunker doors, in the hope that more Starfinders have survived and will regroup at the bunker...
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With a squeal of sorrow, Palivhar activates the controls, slamming the bunker door shut with a thunderous boom just as one final team of Starfinders rushes in to safety. A moment later, the Swarm arrives, but the banging, scratching, and screeches they make are muffled to a dull thudding by the thick metal doors. Any Starfinders who remain outside will not survive.
After a moment of solemn silence, Palivhar speaks. “Take a breather, Starfinders. Gather your courage, heal your wounds, and get some sleep. These bunker doors won’t hold forever. We need to be gone by the time they’re breached.”
But in the morning you and the other Starifnders wake to find Palivhar Chooser of Hues and Saivessa bringing all of you together.
Gather ‘round, Starfinders. We have a plan, Palivhar announces. This bunker will hold against the Swarm—for the time being— but we can’t wait them out. The bunker was built to suppress communications, both technological and magical, and we’re unable to call for evacuation or send for help. Yet, hope remains.
The bunker is connected to a large cave complex. Our initial surveys suggest that it may stretch as far as the mountain’s distant side. Whether true or not, there’s bound to be a way out. On the distant side of the mountain is Krethiskar’s space elevator. Multiple starships are docked at its pinnacle. If we can get them functioning, we can fly out of here under our own power. If not, we can call for help from orbit.
Palivhar surveys the assembled Starfinders, looking grim. I know you’re scared and tired. I know you’re mourning. I mourn too. But we need to press on. We’re splitting into teams and working in shifts. Rest when you can. Saivessa and I will assign each team exploration routes and sites as they become available. We need to know if a route is safe and if it leads anywhere. Be quick and be quiet. You’re likely to run into the Swarm in the caves and tunnels beyond the safety of the bunker.
A tremor suddenly shakes the bunker, as something large outside violently throws itself against the shielded doors. They hold... for now.
Palivhar’s antennae twitch nervously. No time to lose. Let’s get to work, Starfinders.
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In a secure corner where you set up your camp, Blitniz unseals his armor. The small white-scaled kobold climbs out - the first time, since you encountered him that you have seen him without the armor nearly twice his size. As he moves, you see that his right leg is bent and deformed, giving him a pronounced limp that is clearly painful with each step. He pulls out his toolkit and gets to work on repairing his armor, getting it up to condition for the next encounter.
After resting, he climbs into the armor and seals it solid, once again standing tall and strong to face the challenges to come.
One you've all rested, Saivessa sees you in the morning. the maraquoi's fur is wrinkled and marred but their tone is bouyant as if they're trying to keep up morale.
All right, so you all know the situation. It's a tight spot we're in, I won't lie, but Starfinders have been in worse. The Scoured Stars incident, the stranding on Rubcai-2 - this is nothing compared to those!
They bring out a map and show it to you. The details are...vague. So, we've noticed a series of caverns over in this section. Brief surveys show a fungal ecosystem thriving there, which mean that there's likely some sort of water, resources, maybe even an exit tunnel close by. Head over and give it a more detailed exploration!
the trip out to those caverns is long, but after two hours you reach the area The tunnels and wider openings opening up before you are dark and damp, with the smell of rotting plant matter lingering in the air. There's a side cavern you pass by to your left while ahead a larger cavern seems to expand
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Blitniz raids the leftover magazines of fallen Starfinders to make sure his gun is full of rounds. "Off we go, then ..."
As the dark grows, Blitniz checks that the human and skittermander can see. If either indicate they need help, he activates his subdermal graft, with his free hand glowing to provide light.
As you see the tunnel off to the left, Blitniz says, "I know this will be a tight fit for you, Grim, but I think we should check this out just to be sure we haven't missed anything, before proceeding deeper into the caverns."
Gun and flashlight in each hand, Butcher moves to check out the first cavern, with Blitniz following him while the large GRIM*! takes point.
The side 'room' is relatively small, but there are signs that other beings have been here before - disturbed rocks here and there in a vague circle and a crumpled wrapper from some sort of foodstuff.
Ahead of you is a much larger cavern, large mushroom-like growths peppered throughout the edges of the space. A pair of narrow gaps to the south covered with some of these fungal podslead to an even larger space beyond.
In the middle of the cavern floor there is a light source: a lit, seemingly modern flashlight.
Checking the area, Blitniz notices that not far from the flashlight is an azimuth laser pistol dropped on the ground as well.
The kobold's scan shows signs of a fight or battle having taken place here, and not that long ago. Many of the mushrooms are damaged, and there are blood splatters on the cavern walls. Further, there is a strange cracked green ball thing over near one corner.
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With a click, Luz activates her infrared sensors to see in the dark. She positions herself between allies to act as her meat shield just in case ambush happens. She keeps her eyes peeled for any sign of unusual activity.
Once they find large mushroom-like growth, she tries to assess what exactly they are.
The flashlight does indeed still work Sneaker finds, with 90% of its battery still charged.
Butcher and Luzviminda are a bit more concerned about the fungi around. While most of the mushrooms seem well rooted to the ground, Butcher notices some strange trails of residue along the cavern floor that indicate there may also be some sort of ambulatory fungi around. And Luzviminda analyzes the green object as a fungal pod that contains narcotic spores out when burst. Based on the positioning and state of the pod, it was hurled out at high velocity from a fungus…but none of the mushroom in this room appear capable of such a thing.
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Blitniz nods to Grim. "Affirmative." He draws his azimuth laser pistol at the ready in one hand, his battleglove on the other ready for melee should things get close quarters. He makes sure his environmental protections are also on, although he knows how spotty they can be in regards to things like this.
You head down into a large cavern to the south. This wide space is filled with mushrooms and fungal growths, with a corrosive-looking pool of water sitting near the far side.
Near the center of the cavern right before you a male pahtra lies on his side. His armor bears the symbol of the Starfinder Society, but the figure is very weakly twitching and kicking. On the opposite side of him even GRIM*! sees a...well you're not exactly sure what it is. A massive 'shrub' of tendrils and mini mushrooms seems to be glomming onto the catperson, grabbing tight to the fallen Starfinder as he faintly struggles. Elsewhere in the space, Blitniz sees another such fungal creature lingering near the water - and wedged under some mushrooms around the corner a still and unconscious vesk!
Seemingly ignoring your approach for the moment, the fungal mass clutching the pahtra grabs him even tighter. A faint meew emerges from the Starfinder's throat, but his twitching is getting increasingly feeble.
Initiative
Sneaker
Lezmvdia
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Sneaker rushes forward, waving his arms and shouting, the beam from the flashlight crazily criss-crossing the cavern. "Leave him alone alone you icky, um...icky..." He fumbles for a bit while trying to describe the creature. "Icky...bush?"
The skittermander draws his pistol and shouts to the party. "Goodest friends. There are two more scary scary bushes."
Weapon drawn, Sneaker yells out at the fungal mass. It seems to not hear, or perhaps just ignore, the skittermander at is continues to grab onto the pahtra. As his flashlight's beam scans the cavern, Sneaker and you think you see tendrils moving from the fungal thing into the pahtra's fur. And the beam illuminates yet another fungal mass further in the cavern!
Initiative
Luzviminda
Something
Butcher
GRIM*!
Blitniz
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Blitniz moves through 10 feet of overgrown mushrooms (and GRIM) and then is barely able to get a step beyond it onto the other side, his pistol already pulled. "I have not yet conducted studies to catalog biological threat assessments. Can anyone identify these things?"
Afraid he could hit the fallen pahtra if he shoots at the closest one, he points his tactical skipshot pistol at the distant one and fires.
His bullet takes a chunk out of one of the large mushrooms growing out of the ground, coming nowhere close (I presume) to the yellow mushroom creature.
Blitniz moves up a bit and fires at one of the other fungal things. His shot misses, but seems to certainly have provoked a reaction from his target. It begins slowly shambling from the pool towards Sneaker and Blitniz, launching a green fungal pod as it moves. In the distance you see the other fungal mass moving forwards as well
for
Initiative
Butcher
Luzviminda (delaying)
GRIM*!
The fungal thing slooooowly snacking on the struggling pahtra gets walloped hard by a trio of attacks, but still keeps grabbing its prey. It looks fairly bruised, but for now is more focused on keeping the 'pahtra' in the hand' than you lot as it focuses its efforts on keeping a tight grip on the Starfinder.
Initiative
Sneaker
Blitniz 8/12 SP
Blitniz and Sneaker keep firing on the fungal creature grabbing your erstwhile ally. Both hit - and sneaker's red hot laser fire seems to extra singe the thing.
Both the other fungus-things continue to move (slowly) towards you. One finally nears GRIM*! and slams a tendril against the shobad. It tries to latch onto the large Starfinder as it hits, but can't yet get a good grip.
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The other launches another pod at Blitniz, though the cover from the rapidly-crowded room causes it to miss the 'dragon'
for
Initiative
Butcher
GRIM*! 0/7 SP, 11/12 HP, AoO on yellow
Luzviminda