Author's Note: Everyone is eighteen!
*****
Starring
Lucithana
as Hana Song
Kitty
as Nora
Nathan Ravenwood
as Rakain
Jason
as Sam
Cyrano Johnson
as Xata
Previously, on Starfinder: The adventuring party arrived at the Brineice Asteroid to find it infested by dire corbies - immense humanoid ravens - led by a wicked Tengu. Defeating him and his ogerkin technical support, our heroes continued down to the next level of the asteroid, seeking out the Kami that may hold the clue to the next step in their adventure.
*****
The stairway leading down into the second level of the base was low and cramped, the air close, the breath coming from their mouths in pale fog clouds. Ami was, by main force, pushed into the middle of the group, where she could be protected - which made her look somewhat cross as she walked along the stairs. However, as they walked forward, both SAm and Rakain held up their hands, stopping the group as they stood at the very bottom of the stairs...
Rakain raised a finger. "I hear noises," he muttered. "Sounds like more corbies."
"Yeah, they're cleaning up something and in a pissy mood about it. Probably distracted enough we can get them withouth giving them a chance to fight back." Hana said, nodding.
Ami nodded, drawing her pistol slowly and as quietly as she could, pressing her back to the wall, ready to creep out once the way ahead was cleared out. Xata's katana was at the ready. She prepared to follow the others' lead. Sam readied her sword in a similar fashion. Rakain drew his pistol and padded forward into the room at the bottom of the stairs.
As they crept forward, their bodies moving soft and silent, the only sound being the faint creak of the metal steps. They clustered around a door, looking around it...and saw that the next room over was clearly some kind of communal eating area. The whole place was filthy with grime and blood...and a single severed finger, pale green and plucked up by one of the corbies, who ate it down eagerly.
The rest of the carbies were busy at work, scrubbing the floors and the walls and...well, they did not seem to be working very hard at cleaning. They were mostly pushing the grime around as they muttered to one another.
"When we're done here..." Rakain muttered. "I am taking the longest shower. Ever."
Sam silently chuckled. "Can't argue that." She whispered in reply.
Hana snorted, waving her hand and sending subtle electric sparks over the vesk's form, then the large woman, cleaning them both. Xata held her peace, just watching. The rest seemed to be unsure about just what to do for the situation, until now when they had the jump on others it was still provoked by the surprise or near discovery of their presence. Here they would flat out be the aggressors here.
So Sam dashed out into the room at full tilt and put herself behind the Corbies. Her blade flicked out in a crossing arch as she took advantage of the surprise.
The blade slashed out and the corbie who had just stood, his hands on the mop. His beak thudded as it landed in the murky water that had been used as the cleaning solution - but even as the corpse fell, Rakain started to act! He peeked out of his hiding spot, took aim, and fired. The pistol shot struck one of the corbies in the side, punching a hole through the matted feathers and the flesh beneath. While not fatal, it did make the beast sit up and take notice.
Hana leaned over, firing off one of her small beads, cursing as she flew so far off the corbie she felt it was better to not mention it and hope everyone else assumed she wasn't getting involved. Xata, rushing forward, slashed out her sword and decapitated the wounded corbie, leaving only one, who was already opening his mouth to cry out in alarm!
Nora brought her pistol up with a calm breath and took aim while the drone on her shoulder opened it's mouth and took aim. Both of their bright beam shots struck the same corby in the same exact spot, leaving a seared crater before the corpse fell. As the bodies hit the floor, Ami lowered her pistol. "You know, guys, I'm never going to get any better if I don't get a chance to shoot anyone..." She said, grinning slightly, stepping with a wince into the filthy room. The lights were low and dim - but the interior was a warren - there were corridors in every direction, twisting and winding outwards. A quick count said there were almost eight ways out of the room, each one vanishing into the dimness and curving corridors. In the distant, they could hear the cries of happiness from corbies, echoing and distant and almost impossible to track.
"To be fair, Ami, I keep getting to shoot at stuff and I never get any better, so the two things might be completely unrelated." Hana snickered slightly, putting a mark on the door the entered through.
After assessing the room Sam clicked open her comm channel. "Pick the nearest cardinal direction and clear them one by one?"
"That's a lot of doors to clear, Sam," Rakain said.
"I could send my drone around to scout, but figuring this place every passage might lead back into another," Nora commented as she looked about. After a moment she tapped at her wrist and hummed.
Ami nodded. "That's not a half...bad...idea..." She said, quietly. "Will your drone go unobserved?" she asked Nora.
Hana nodded, "Sounds good to me. Drone it up."
Sam nodded in agreement.
"Climbing claws and optic systems girl, you tell me," Nora said as the little drone on her shoulder flickered and changed colors like a lizard would to blend in. As she tapped a few buttons, Nora found that the sensor she had in her exo-comp could detect the energy signature that had drawn them here...and had drawn the pirates to Ami. It was radiating from about...ten meters...
Directly down.
As she found that, Ami nodded. "Then off with you, cute drone ferret." She said, reaching out and rubbing the drone's nose.
Nora's camera clicked on to display Ami's face while the ferret drone nuzzled her hand back before jumping off Nora's shoulder. The drone quickly skittered off down a passage, moving to climb along the walls and ceiling for protection before disappearing into the darkness.
As they waited, Ami frowned. "So..." She whispered. "It's weird that we've managed to kill their leader and there's still a shit ton of evil in this place. It feels like they should all just crumble to dust, right?"
Hana snickered, "It's like they don't have the decency to murder themselves to satisfy our need for a proper narrative form."
"Takes...days, maybe months even for a full organization to crumble. Usually it splinters with various lieutenants taking their faction and heading off," Nora said, pursing her lips.
Sam shrugged. "It's not something magically bound and dependent on his existence." Sam said as a nod to Ami. "And in that process of tearing itself apart it often does even more short term damage than before as it flails wildly without a purpose."
Ami nodded as the drone came to the first of the rooms and stopped - making a quiet chirrup over the com unit, the view showing that the chamber held what looked like a horse sized fucking bat. It was huge and furred, with a pair eyes closed tightly, a faint red glow shining from under the lids, while its feet clung to the ceiling as it hung there, clearly asleep.
"Well, danger one found. Giant bat." Nora said with a wince. She displayed the image on the nearby wall for all to see. "I'll just...edge around that."
"No complaints here," Rakain muttered.
Nora urged her drone around the bat and kept it exploring, watching while detailing her own little map in the corner.
Seeing as they were going to be a moment, Sam examined the dead in the room for anything of value or note.
"Anything good, Sam?" Rakain called.
The drone skittered forward, evading the bat easily. AS it moved on, it came to a through a set of rooms that had been utterly abandoned - they appeared to be old storage rooms, filled with components and devices, each one left to rot and rust. Then it came to another storeroom...and this one...this one was oddly dusty. There was no sign that they had ever had anything within. AS the drone looked around, a tiny hint of motion was detected. The camera zoomed...but it was just a tiny looking skull, resting in the corner of the room. It hadn't moved.
But then as the drone started to go, another hint of motion came from the same area - the skull was in a slightly different position when the view zoomed in again and they could all see it.
"..how does whatever it is know when the drone is focusing on it?" Hana said in confusion.
Rakain gulped. "More skeletons. Great."
Sam just held up her hand showing a dirty credstick. "Nothing else of note on the corpses." She said as she slipped it into the pocket she was using for undivided loot.
"It might see the drone." Nora said before falling into a mumbling tirade of curses. She keyed a few buttons and whispered a prayer under her breath. The drone settled. A slow, long time came...and then the skull shifted, floating upwards. With a swirling gust of energy, a small green coat appeared underneath the skull. It looked a bit like a dog's skull, floating above a cape that hung around invisible shoulders, making it look like a small puppet, made by a child...save for the fact it floated by itself. It rattled as it started to drift around the room, looking about inquisitively, as if trying to find the drone.
"That's right you facacta bonehead. Float around all dumb, stupid calcium deposit..." Nora muttered under her breath.
"Alright, this one is on me. I made mention of magical dependency." Sam cursed under her breath.
Ami bit her lip, checking the map. "At least it's out of the way, so we can avoid it if we need to. Is it evil?" she asked, looking at the two wizards of the group.
Hana, looking at the screen, winched. "...yeesh... it's... basically a dead kid's spirit. It's just sad and scared and honestly we'll be doing it a favor putting it down..."
"Oh..." Ami said, her voice soft.
