The small craft sputters for a second, as the engine flares up for a second, launching it forward as the engine explodes behind it. A flare of light flashes into your craft's screens. The auto light balancers take control and bring the brightness down, just in time for you to see the small craft fly forward and crash into the, now very visible, Drift Rock.
Tylur's mouth tightens into a grim line. "Well, whoever that was, they probably had a brief moment of regret right before impacting on the Drift Rock." He reaches up and flips a couple of switches to put the coilgun back on passive mode, then climbs down to the main deck to rejoin the rest of the team. He moves closer to the cockpit, leaning over Sybil, Zam, and Dee to gaze out the viewport.
"Zam? We should probably radio back to alert the Stewards we were attacked, defended ourselves, and put down a Necroglider that crashed onto the rock. Can you notify them we'll check the wreckage once we've cleared the Acreon? But, before we join up with HC's mining barge, it wouldn't hurt to do a fly-by of the Drift Rock. Sybil? Can you bring us in closer...but not too close, of course. And, Dee? Can you scan for survivors from that Necroglider and anything else the sensors pick up from the asteroid."
Tylur stands by, still watching out the viewport as the Hippocampus completes a full pass of the Drift Rock.
"Wow! Look there! Tylur points out, "That whole section of the Drift Rock was sheared off. And, it's a bit too clean to be a natural collision with another asteroid. I never saw anything like that in the Diaspora. No wonder the HC crew thought it was worth investigating..."
"Well done everyone, that was quite the hair-raising... wow this specimen is impressive !" Yon stares out at the Acreon and the Big Rock, his attention clearly being drawn like a lunar fly to a star. As he does so he suddenly switches over to a computer to help analyze.
"Interesting find Tylur, I wonder what could cause such a concise cut to such a large rock." He says so half distracted.
"...This was difficult to assess much from a distance, I would like to help scan as well! I am very intrigued to see what we might find here now, here."
Yon seems visibly excited as his tattoos ignite in color.
Yon helps scan. "Dee... are you reading what I am? I'm getting mixed signals from the rock, hard to assess any meaningful data. The ship seems operational, that airlock you mentioned is open. What else are you picking up?"
"On it.." Zam replies, already transmitting the details of the attack.
"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Zam asks, zooming in on the digital rendering of the rock's surface. "Look! There! That's a cave opening, and it looks deep. I wonder what's inside. Something else to perk AE's interest?" She listens to the reports, then nods. "Prepare to rendevouz with the Acreon."
“I can, but one would assume a bad day is probably the correct term for whomever the pilot was.” responded the elf-droid to Tylur’s request. Activating the Hippocampus scans, Dee checked on the soldier’s request as well as scanned the planet’s surface.
"Thank you Yon for the assist." Said Dee with an appreciative smile. She was able to cut through the interference probably caused by the Rock Drift radiation. "The asteroid has no atmosphere and is primarily composed of rock and metal. Strangely the sensors can pick up no additional information as if the Drift Rock itself is interfering with the sensor readings."
Being too wrapped up in the ship's scans, the elf-droid was too focused on getting the proper readings for her team. "As for the necroglider, I was unable to see if there were any survivors."
"Well, between that weird shearing, the cave, the odd mineral composition, and all that interference with our sensor readings, I'd say there's enough about that Drift Rock to warrant all the extra attention the Acreon gave it. Let's circle back to their airlock and check out what happened to the crew. Maybe we can find a few survivors."
Tylur withdrew from the cockpit and started for the cargo hold, calling back over his shoulder. "I'll get our gear ready. Everybody make sure to load up. We have no idea what we're dealing with, and we'll only have what we take with us to investigate."
"Yon? I don't know what you brought along to defend yourself, but we've got a few spare firearms if you need something. In fact, I might need a little help if we're gonna bring the heavy artillery laser with us...and, I'm still thinking we should, because whatever happened here must have overwhelmed or incapacitated an entire crew on the Acreon. So, I wanna be loaded for bear, just in case."
Sybil also notes the cave as she pilots the ship by the drift rock
She takes the ship and does a little flip and burn right around to the airlock of the Acreaon. "Here we are ladies and gentleman. Please watch your step as you exit the ship..."
The halfling quickly makes sure the ship is in the correct and stable position before she sets the controls to a parking station, she than takes the time to lock down the controls with a simple password.
She turns about and slides out of the pilots chair... "Password for the pilot controls in Desna." she lets her companions know as she gathers up her pack and slings out her rifle readying for trouble.
Sybil, you notice that the password seems to take, but only for the manual controls on the ship. You are pretty sure that is enough to protect against tampering.
The group of you use your build in environmental protection in your suits, get to your small craft's airlock and jump out, easily, landing in the open bay of the Acreon.
You are met with a small 10x10 airlock. The door in front of you is also open. Artificial gravity kicks in as soon as you cross the threshold. As you make room for eachother in the airlock you are able to get a look into the room.
It looks like a Engineering bay of sorts. You first notice blast marks along with some sort of other damage on various devices in this room.
Along with what you would expect, you suddenly see 2 almost translucent blue quadrupeds with ropey tentacles around their face and mouth, teeth exposed. They seem to be digging into the trash and refuse around the room, but they look up and directly at you all. You know it must not have been via sound as you normally expect it, but maybe vibration on the ship, or even particles from your suits drifting through the vacuum where they might smell it. Or maybe some other sense organ of some kind.
With that they attack!
Round 1
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee <--
A1, A2
Tylur
These are Akata. Predators that dwell in the vast void of space. Known to be immune to the cold, disease, poison, and starvation. Feared among miners
They have some resistance to fire based weapons
They have a disease they spread through their bite. They oddly have a weakness to salt water.
“The probability for having survivors is 3,720 to one.” Dee stated over her shoulder. Not that she was trying to be negative about the situation, but the odds for survivors weren’t certainly in a positive note. “However, if there were survivors. They certainly be within the airlock section of the Acreon.”
“Well done Sybil, that was incredible flying.” said the elf-droid with a smile. Dee had seen her fair share of pilots during her time as part of the Nocturnum Fleet. The Star Shaman had done an amazing job keeping ahead of their opponent’s attacks. “I would agree in packing the heavy wetworks would be advantageous to our cause.”
------ [Onboard the Acreon]------
Entering the ship, Dee keeps an eye out, looking about to see what’s around them. Like the rest of the crew, she decides to wear her mask of her armor. Even if she’s android, and unaffected by vacuum or even needing to breathe; Dee decides it’s probably best to wear it in order to keep in communication with her teammates.
====
Once the elf-droid sees the creatures, she assesses them with her skills and attempts to see exactly what these creatures are.
“These are Akata. Predators that dwell in the vast void of space. Known to be immune to the cold, disease, poison, and starvation. Feared among miners.” She’d heard of these before throughout her travels with her former masters.
Pointing her fingers in a gun like gesture, DeeV8 unleashes magic missiles at the one above Tylur. Green energy darts fly at the creature slamming into it with magical energy.
The halfling moves forward at the mention of trouble, her small rifle points towards the creature to the left of their starting position. Looks like a good one to start with. Let us see how they like fire..." Sybil squeezes the trigger...
She tries to look about to catch to see if there is anythings else of note that may help or hinder...
"...blast marks, with refuse littered throughout--Woah!" Zam interrupts her verbal report when she sees the blue creatures. She remembers reading about these in her biology courses. Somehow the holographs from the course failed to do justice to the eerie transparancy of their skin and, of course, their tentacles and teeth.
"Akata!" she yells. "Predators! They're immune to cold, poison and disease, and they handle fire very well. Don't let them bite you, their mouths are filthy! Anyone have any salt water? It burns them, like slugs!"
Drawing her weapon , she points at the nearest one. "Let's take out the north one first. Try not to let them surround you!"
"Very excellent landing Sybil, I doubt I could have done such a maneuver with both the skill and refinement you seem to possess."
"Yon? I don't know what you brought along to defend yourself, but we've got a few spare firearms if you need something. In fact, I might need a little help if we're gonna bring the heavy artillery laser with us...and, I'm still thinking we should, because whatever happened here must have overwhelmed or incapacitated an entire crew on the Acreon. So, I wanna be loaded for bear, just in case."
"Wonderful consideration, Tylur, given my understanding of the situation I believe myself to be properly armed. I currently carry a standard issue Azimuth Laser Rifle, a survival knife, one frag grenade, one smoke grenade, and three fully charged batteries for the rifle. Of course, I wouldn't turn down an extra gun if there is one, how you say 'lying about'. Especially if you possess any nonenergy based weapons.
------ [Onboard the Acreon]------
Yon wears his new armor, fully equipped, the helmet completely hiding him. Best to look the part he supposed.
Seeing the hostile life forms and listening to Dee and Zam's reports. "Trianna, verify threat."
Beep!
"Point of interest: it would seem they are resistant to fire Sybil!"
Yon raises his rifle as he moves into position, as he does so he hacks into his Laser Rifle and overcharges it before firing. His weapon making a strange, uncharacteristic 'thumm' noise when it fires.
"Let's take out the north one first. Try not to let them surround you!"
"Roger that!" Tylur responds, palming his handgun as he moves forward and takes cover behind some of the docking bay's machinery. He hurriedly opens fire on the northern akata...
...but the awkward nature of moving on an unfamiliar ship throws off his aim.
The blast from Yon hits true, but the blast seems to be ineffective, almost absorbing into the glowing flesh of the creature.
The creature to the north's tentacles wave around while it runs toward the group as it gets close to the group it turns quickly to attack Tylur
The second creature charges forward toward Sybil.
But she deftly dodges out of the creature's way.
Round 2
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee <--
A1, A2
Tylur
The halfling moves carefully from between the two creatures drawing a club as she does so. She strikes out with the weapon.
Sybil cracks one of the creature's over the head with her club. Where you would expect a hard crack sound up your arm into your helmet you just feel a squishy sound.
Round 2
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee <--
A1, A2
Tylur
"Tylur! You okay? Don't back down. You have to show it you're the alpha or it'll think we're all just food. Roar at it or something! That goes for everyone!"
"Akata!"
“Understood. That means laser fire will do little damage to them.” Dee replied, happy to have received that information. Reaching into her holster, she pulls out her Tactical Semi-Auto Pistol and fires.
"Hmm, the data doesn't lie, they really are heat resistant specimen. Perhaps once more... for science!
Trianna, lock on."
Yon uses his Exocortex to aimbot himself, still targetting the Akata-A1.
Yon then fires upon A1, supercharging his weapon in an attempt overcome the Akata's resistance.
'THUMMM'
Dee's Bullets riddle the strange creature. Right as a deep thrum of Yon's blast is felt in the bulkhead strikes the creature. At first it seems to resist the energy, but you see its body start to seemly boil. The creature flashes its head over toward Yon, but the blast seems to get the better of it and it collapses onto the bulkhead.
The other creature follows Sybil and bites out at her. But through whatever luck she has she dodges out of the way.
Round 2
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee
A2
Tylur <- Tylur first
Round 3
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee <- You can go right after Tylur
“Nice work Yon!” Dee states into their communication. Calling upon her techno magic, she tries to daze the beast hoping to allow her team to get a tactical advantage against it. “I am attempting to daze the creature.” She replied, waving her hand like an air slap against the beast.
Daze DC = 10 (+3)* 13
The woman moves a little to keep out of the harmful attacks of the beasite. Sybil than strikes out at the creature with her simple weapon hoping to strike another blow on the creature...
Zam fires her laser fruitlessly, regretting the fact she hadn't picked up a tactical pistol like Dee. "Good job, guys. Focus fire! Let's bring this one down!"
Seeing that the team's concentrated fire has brought down the akata that closed on him, Tylur turns his attention to helping Sybil. He draws his assault hammer in his other hand and moves behind the remaining beast in an attempt to flank and take it by surprise.
But still somewhat unused to the assault hammer's grip...and with the alien beast's aggressive movements throwing off his aim...Tylur swings wide and misses.
"Thank you, Dee!
Trianna, note that sufficient heat damage is still capable of harming these creatures. Splendid. Target the next one Trianna. "
Yon aimbots the second beastie and then releases another blast of firey death.
***THUMMM***
Sybil club slaps into the creature's flank. Ripples of the shock bounce through it, as it seems to silently yelp in pain.
Everyone else's shots and hammer are dodged swiftly by the creature. Who turns toward Sybil again to bite.
But sybil dodges easily out of the way.
Round 3
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee
A2
Tylur <- Tylur last of the round. (will adjust for future rounds)
Tylur takes another swing with his new assault hammer...
...but, he just can't seem to find a good opening in which to land a good blow.
"C'mon! Hold still you creepy animal!"
Round 4
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee, Tylur <- moved tylur to make it a bit easiee. All PCs up!
A2
Zam moves north into a better firing position and fires at the creature, knowing her ammunition might be useless but not wanting to be useless herself. She continues to encourage her friends, confident now that they’re on the winning side of this unexpected encounter. ”Come on guys, we’ve got this. We aren’t going to let some wild Akata stop us after everything else we’ve been through!”
Round 4
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee, Tylur <- Here
A2
Whatever it is she is doing with her attacks is working... as she dodges out of the way of the creature who does not get that she is not the real threat here. "Anytime Tylur... " the halfling calls on the soldier.
She strikes out once again at the creature but the beastie does move out of the of reach of her short weapon.
Yon continues firing upon the Akata as he remarks:
"Tylur, I do not believe these creatures qualify as animals under most common definitions. Though they are exceptionally creepy."
His weapon makes it's customary *THUMM*
Sybil's swing of the club is dodged by the strange blue creature.
Yon's blast comes from the distance, striking the creature. It seems to absorb a bit of the damage, but the overcharged blaster seems to boil away a portion of the smooth, almost, flesh.
It is starting to favor one foot more than the other. One of its glowing yellow eyes has gone dim. It looks hurt
Round 4
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee, Tylur <- Here (I incorrectly marked Dee has haven gone, when it was Zam who did her move.
A2
"Anytime Tylur..." the halfling calls on the soldier.
Spurred by Sybil's encouragement, Tylur spins the hammer in his hand and moves in for the kill.
“A pleasure as always Yon. I always look forward to providing positive feedback to any action. Especially those tactically sound.” responded elf-droid giving her new teammate massive grin and nod. Raising her weapon, she fires her auto pistol once more.
With Tylur engaging the creature in melee, Dee’s attack misses its mark hitting the bulkhead next to it.
This lithe creature seems to just dodge out of Tylur's attack. The creature is swaying back and forth in the vacuum of this ship interior.
Having dodged out of the way from Tylur's attack it turns back toward Sybil, a smaller target. It reaches out and bites.
The creature finally gets purchase on the small halfling's frame, biting into her flesh. She can briefly feel an injection of some kind into her system, but she is able to rebuff it. Her suit seals back over itself.
Round 5
Yon, Zam, Sybil, Dee, Tylur <- Here
A2
"Let's take this thing down, now! Don't worry Sybil, if you can survive in the vacuum of space, you'll definitely survive an Akata bite!"
Yon decides to try and save ammunition and draws his survival knife and while moving to engage.
"Great, Dee! Sybil, are you okay!?
"Yowwww!" The halfling lets out. "Pick on the little person! I see how it is."
Dee does soemthing and the Sybil stops a moment to see if there is something amiss. She seems okay and than strikes out with her small club once again
"Take that you..." She than notes their spy driod that must be hovering around somewhere. "Ugly critter you!" she calls out as she connects with the beastie again.
She turns to look over at Yon and gives him a nod... "All good"
As Sybil swings one final time with the small weapon it cracks the side of the creature's head. It's head tentacles flare out and it silently screams into the vacuum. It drops to the floor.
Looking around the room there are 2 piles of strange purple shards of something.
This is the cocoon of these creatures. It is called Noqual. Each chunk is 1 Bulk and can be sold for upwards of 1000 credits each.
You find a tactical arc emitter underneath one of the consoles. It looks to have 12 charges remaining
You also find 300 UPBs worth of salvage.
There looks to be 2 exits that go around the power core into the main hall. (Roll20 is all set up)
"Well...that went...okay." Tylur grimaces as he examines where the akata managed to bite him. Thankfully, the damage looks superficial. No worries for his armored suit and probably just some simple bruising beneath. He flexes his arm for a moment and, once satisfied, holsters his sidearm and slips his assault hammer back into the hook on his combat harness.
"Good job on laying out that last one, Sybil. Sorry I couldn't help much. Those things were pretty slippery." As he talks, the big soldier looks around at the interior of the ship.
"What's this...?" He walks over to one of the consoles and uncovers a tactical arc emitter. After examining the power cell, he announces his findings to the rest of the team. "There's a few charges remaining, so it's seen some use. Judging by these akata roaming loose, I imagine we've answered the question of what happened to the Acreon's crew. Of course, there could still be survivors holed up inside. So, everyone be on their guard. We may find more predators or some really stressed out miners."
"Do one of you want to bring along the arc emitter?" he asks before offering his tactical opinion of the weapon, "It might prove useful if we need to stun and restrain someone, and it can hit multiple targets laid out in a spread before it, but that also means all of us would need to stand back from it."
Sybil looks down on the creatureand looks over at Tylur and witha wry smile she says in obvious jest, "If we are going to keep you on the payroll, you need to step up your game."
She looks at the weapon that she also spotted beneath a console, "Might be useful."
"Those plans you got have this and the other door connecting to a larger door... Me and Tyur take this one," noting the one on the right, "and the rest the other side?"
"If we are going to keep you on the payroll, you need to step up your game."
"Sure thing. I'll do my best to keep up..." he sardonically replies.
"Those plans you got have this and the other door connecting to a larger door. Me and Tyur take this one," noting the one on the right, "and the rest the other side?"
"That's a solid approach," Tylur agrees. "If there's anything inside, we'll set up a crossfire or flanking maneuver, while also giving us two potential exits to fall back from. We'll make a soldier out of you yet, little one..." He adds a wink for the halfling.
"Dee? Let Yon and Zam lead the way on your side. That way, you're their fire support and they can shield you long enough to draw on your technomancy, if you need it. Syb? You follow close behind me and I'll do a threat assessment as I clear the room. Everyone make sure to keep your comms clear and hold down the chatter until we know what we're facing. I have a feeling we'll find a few more of these akata on board, and we should engage them from range, if we can. That way, we put them down before they bite us."
The halfling looks to Yon, "If you want it feel free... otherwise I can take it for now."
“You are quite welcome.” Dee replied to her Android companion. She was happy to have the mechanic on her team, especially when he was an Android. But seeing Sybil being attacked by the dreaded creature made her worry. “Yes Sybil, are you well?” asked the elf-droid, making her way to her halfling teammate. “Good, I am happy you are well.” She responded with a smile and nod.
“This is the cocoon of these creatures. Known as Noqual, each chunk is fairly heavy (1 Bulk), and can usually be sold for upwards of 1000 credits each.” informed the Android. She had seen this stuff before, but couldn’t remember where.
“Yes, well-done everyone.” Dee agreed, she was happy that no one had been truly injured from the encounter. “Yes I would have to agree with Tylur. One would assume with these cocoons there may be more about. May I suggest we attempt to get the power back on the vessel?” It was perhaps the next logical step in their current endeavor to retake the ship.
“Oh...was that an attempt at boisterous banter?” Dee asked aloud, happy to see that interaction between two of her new friends. “I do believe you both have done rather well in our previous encounter. Both have ‘earned their keep’.”
The elf-droid listened attentively, soaking in the constructive criticism. “I will endeavor to fulfill your wishes. Thank you Tylur.”
As you all move down the cooridor, you can feel the hum of the power station behind the walls you are flanking around. Soft vibrations go up your feet and you can tell its purring away.
The two corridors join back up. The two groups flank a another set of doors that lead down the main length of the ship, with side halls leading off.
Tylur, and Yon, as you peak out into the hall . You notice the look of a small dead creature in the hall. It looks slumped against the wall, torn appart.
Looks like a dead Goblin!
The halfling looks to Yon, "If you want it feel free... otherwise I can take it for now."
"I am a bit heavy on gear at the moment, I don't think I could carry it without hindering myself, or trading gear. I think the weapon would work best on you, Sybil!"
Yon pauses for a moment, assessing."I feel it my duty as a member of this team to inform everyone that I may have made a mistake. If we continue to encounter these creatures I will be required to engage them with either my survival knife or heat based damage. It would seem that I can Overcharge my weapon enough to harm them, though it will continue burning through my batteries at an excessive rate. My battery is currently at 8 units of power from that engagement. This is not an immediate problem, but it could become one."
The android scolds himself internally for not bringing a weapon capable of lethal damage in a form other than heat. Trianna, note for future resolution.
"I think we did well there. Not many teams could have handled those creatures as well as you all, this is very good news to me."
--Carrying On--
Yon moves with Tylur as the forward unit, poking his head around. He studies the dead creature for a moment through his visor.
"Analysis: there is a Goblin ahead. It would appear deceased"
Zam keeps her pistol drawn. "A member of the crew. Are the wounds consistent with Akata bites?"
"That goblin's out of place...unless HC's been taking them on as part of the Acreon's crew...and that seems unlikely." Tylur draws his handgun and assault hammer again. "On me...and stay close," he tells everyone, "We may be dealing with multiple threats now."
He leads the way past the bulkhead, doing his best to stay quiet. Once he closes the distance to the corner of the intersection, he takes a quick peek down the side corridors so he can assess the way ahead for further danger.
"Does HC not employ goblins?" she asks, genuinely perplexed. "I've never known one personally, but didn't realize they were blatantly discriminated against."