New Stars

An Infestation Emergency Report

Session 17-NOV-2018

[Recorded] call log file, sent outbound by Star Knight Roland.

“At first, I thought this was a simple punishment. Send me out here to the edge of the galaxy, out of the way. I still think that as well, but you are also correct in that something very odd is going on out here.”

A man is sitting in a chair in front of a computer, the recording light on the computer’s camera emitting a soft amber glow. If one were to place the man’s age based off his composure, hair color, and harsh voice they would be off by about 30 years. He takes a long drag off his cigarette before continuing,

“There was an emergency alert for personnel in danger on the planet Brimbury, where a bunch of scientists have been studying the local environment or some relics or-sorry, not important. Even though I answered the call for assistance as soon as I heard it, I was still last to arrive at the designated relief shuttle Oathbringer, a Rook 0-IV class dropship. There I met its’ engineer, a Borian named To’do, a couple of soldiers, named Rook and David, and the ship’s relief pilot, callsign Grinder.”

A short pause for the contradiction that is a breath and smoke,

“They were professional in how they carried themselves, despite the hectic situation, and we were on the surface before too long. Not much for talking this bunch, which you know gives me comfort.

Down on the surface we saw the chaos that had transpired. Tents destroyed, equipment damaged, some slightly injured smart-types. Nothing too crazy but I couldn’t help but feel the anxiety and chaos in the air. To’do and I got to work clearing out a swathe of landing space for the shuttle to ferry the civilians out when the soldier David reported a foul stench. This wasn’t a normal stench, either, as a post-mission trip to the clinic revealed later that it was the odor of a noxious cloud that was poisonous to biologicals. Rook, being a synth, was immune thankfully.

I wanted to see what events transpired so I used what you taught me. I used my mind. Seeing the events as they unfolded by turning back time, I saw several local wildlife, some big some small, rampage through the site. Even saw a large winged creature, bigger than any I’ve witnessed before, crash right down into one of the tents and get stuck for a minute before getting free and flying off. All of this was not terribly interesting, however all the denizens of Brimbury came from the same area: a local mountain range that so far, the scientists have no information on, or at least not willing to share what they know. As we we’re loading up and preparing to go conduct our investigation on the source when another source, this of the noxious cloud, made its’ appearance known.”

Another small pause in which some indecipherable mutterings continue under Roland’s breath.

 “A creature, insect-like with a hundred spindly legs, burst forth from the underbrush at the edge of the site. I could almost feel it as it regarded us, but I could not tell if it was hungry, angry, or scared. Either way, as it was a threat to the vulnerable civilians, I took the necessary action and used an electrokinetical blast on it. Minimal effectiveness, but the attack did tell me that its chitin armor was stronger than it appeared. It was not strong enough, however, for the combined efforts of the two well-trained soldiers on our team as they slaughtered it in short order. However, the creature had the last laugh as its noxious cloud infected the Borian To’do, David, and myself. From personal experience I will tell you that I never want to go through that again. It’s effect were immediate and damaging, however with the use of respirators located on Oathbringer we were able to weather out the effects enough to survive.

We were preparing to take off when…it showed up.”

Roland now pauses for a full minute, seeming to listen to an inaudible voice. Before too long, he continues in a tone that is seemingly lower in pitch,

“A creature, whose resemblance is close to that of an alligator from Earth or a reptile in similar appearance, with the exception of two extra legs and it being two stories tall. Minor differences, if you will. Oh, and it had a temper with which would shame even the angriest of Star Knight instructors.

You see, it has had stood on its hind legs and grabbed hold of one of the dropship’s propulsion systems, preventing the ship from take-off. Seeing no other option, I jumped out to distract the gargantuan creature from our poor ship. From there I single-handedly slew the monster and saved the maiden fair!”


A short, raspy laugh follows this proclamation,


“If only I were so lucky. To be honest, I don’t think even my blade make a scratch on the creature. You’d be happy to know this was one problem I couldn’t solve alone and didn’t have to as my soldier compatriots jumped out to assist. Those are two of the best soldiers I have seen and even they struggled against this monster. Between blasts of shotguns and rifle fire, the crackling of my blade’s energy, and the sound of compressing metal as Rook was grabbed and being crushed in this monster’s grasp, the engineer To’do himself was there to save us all. Between him and the ship’s pilot they managed to put several kinetic railgun slugs into the creature that penetrated straight through its strong exterior scales.

The monster slain, we retreated to the station instead of investigating the source of the danger considering our wounds and repairs that were needed. Rook managed to grab some samples of the scaly monstrosity for study.”

A slight hesitation is seen before Roland continues, in a softer voice,

“Another showed itself today. More riddles, of course, but it gave me a piece of intel: sentient creatures are not behind the disturbance, and I’m not sure if that information is a blessing or an omen. Something dark lurks on that world…and I will find it. This is Star Knight Roland, reporting out.”

The soft amber glow of the camera’s recording icon fades.

Comments

Nolcro

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