>>3993966

"Was it radiation? Judit?" You ask incredulously.

Techie Judit checks multiple readings on her arm before shaking her head in disbelief.

"N-no it's nothing".

"Well that’s good, at least we wo-"

"No… no, you don't get it, it's NOTHING. Not even background radiation, other sensors are reading 0 as well, this is not okay."

Suddenly the power comes on, all the doors close shut , and the power is out once more.

"Away team your pod just got ejected, what is going on down there?"

"Everybody form up. Judit, any movement?"

"Oh... yes, yes, down the hall and in the vents."

Vents. Your gaze shoots upward, scanning the ceiling above the door. Off to the side are 2 grates coming inside the room at a slight angle, obscuring any direct line of sight into them. Who the fuck designed this ship?

"Defresco and Redwood, keep an eye on them. Judit, how many?"

"Too many."

Well fuck, you didn't even have coffee yet.

You have no clue what sort of threat you are facing beside the fact that it is imminent, you furrow your brow and think back to your training and experience. Regardless of what has to be gunned down you still need cover, the bridge is terrifyingly open, all the consoles and stations are on the walls. On the sides of the room there are stairs leading down closer to the massive window at its front, you could probably fit 2 people behind the floor between the stairs. They would have a hard time aiming through the gaps in railing so anything besides cover fire isn’t reasonable.

Moving anyone to the back of the bridge will give them more time to prepare but they won’t be able to fire on anything until they pass the stairs, Judit might be able to get more info if the rest buy her time.

Samson and Madlenka are the only ones with shotguns, their efficiency drops with distance and keeping them in the open makes sense, but is it worth the risk?

>Send 2 people into cover to provide overwatch. (Specify who)
>Send someone to the back of the bridge to set up a fallback line. (Specify who)
>Keep Samson and Madlenka out in the open, or maybe someone else. (Specify who)

Where are you going to position yourself?

>Back of the bridge.
>Out in the open.
>Behind cover between the stairs.

>>3993969
>C) Send someone to the back of the bridge to set up a fallback line. (Specify who)
Julit
>Behind cover between the stairs

>>3993979
>>3993969
Sure, let's go with this.

>>3993969
>Send 2 people into cover to provide overwatch. (Specify who)
Redwood and DeFresco
>Back of the bridge

>>3993985
>>3993983
>>3993979
I haven't been clear enough in how I wrote the prompts. I would like for you to specify which members of the squad you are going to send in each place. Something like:

>Us and Redwood provide overwatch.
>Judit goes to the back of the bridge.
>Samson, Madlenka and DeFresco stay out in the open.

Everyone should have their orders.

>>3993989
let's go with that then :^)

>>3993992
Basically what we got at, sounds good

>>3994017
>>3993992
Sounds good,sorry for the confusion. Vote is locked!

>Us and Redwood provide overwatch.
>Judit goes to the back of the bridge.
>Samson, Madlenka and DeFresco stay out in the open.


Writing™

>>3994022

A drop of sweat escapes from under your helmet and drips down to your chin, drawing in a deep breath of stale air you give your team their orders.

“Shotguns in the front! Redwood on me!”

From your flanks emerge the shapes of your comrades, guns raised. They take a knee and train their sights on the vents jutting out of the roof, if the enemy drops onto the ground there is no god that can save them. DeFresco stands between the two shotgun wielders, a few steps further back. If any one of them gets overwhelmed you trust him to back them up.

As you turn to run down the stairs and behind cover you spot Samson fidgeting with his gear, checking if the safety is off over and over again. The greenhorn seems capable but nothing can prepare you for this sort of work.

“Judit to the back! Get me some fucking intel!”

You feel hot as you take your position opposite side of the other, more hotheaded rookie.

“Redwood! No fucking friendly fire alright?” You shoot want you can see!”

“YES, SIR!” He bellows out way harder than needed.

Soft thumps beyond the steel doors almost synch up with your roaring pulse, your eyes focus on Madlenka who is closest to you. Her frame is comparable to that of DeFresco, large enough to manhandle even yourself during training. She is probably more dangerous without a gun than with one.
Judit as the squad techie is already plugged into one of the ships consoles, you have no idea what she is trying to do while the power is off but during your long service alongside her you’ve learned not to question anything she does too much. Her HUD visor glows a muted blue as the veteran searches for anything useful.

Thuds are echoing down the ventilation shaft Samson is watching, he squares his shoulders and looks ready to blast anything that dares enter the room, you notice DeFresco’s lower half slowly turn towards his comrade, like a wolf protecting his young. In the time you’ve known him DeFresco always seemed more fit to be a father than a soldier, having a certain proclivity towards new faces.

There is the screech of something digging deep into metal, the hair on your neck is on end. Peering down the sights of your assault rifle you spot something tearing into the thin walls of the vent, sharp but with the look of dull carapace, colored like dirty bone. You have half a thought of shooting it while it’s still in your line of sight but it moves faster than you can think, leaping from the mouth of the vent straight into Samson.
It looks like the corpse of a large dog, the end of its limbs pointed with sharp bones, down its face runs a bony plate flanked by eyes, orange like the low flame of a fire. The deadly advance it attempted comes to a sudden and brutal end as Samson splits the carapace on its head in twine, getting sprayed with green viscera as a reward for his efforts.

>>3994166

DeFresco and Redwood managed to get a few shots in, the former more than the latter. Their bullets pierced the thing’s torso, a few leaving deep dents in the bone with no further damage.The left flank relaxes for a second after their quick victory, a second too long. A barbed dart, made of the same sickly carapace gets buried in DeFresco’s side eliciting a pained gasp from the soldier.

“FUCK!” he cries out.

Samson rushes to the injured side trying to inspect the wound. The left vent sits unwatched above the leaking corpse of the alien it birthed.

“I’ll stop the bleeding! Stay still, I think it’s still in there!”

“I can move Samson! Get to your damn pos-“

A wave of bullets slams into the upper part of Madlenka’s vent, thick green bile starts leaking down. Another one of the aliens got winged, but you doubt they care much for their own safety after the reckless charge you witnessed less than a minute ago. You follow her example and drill holes in the structure with random shots, you can’t tell if you actually hit anything.

“INCOMING!” DeFresco yells out, trying to train his gun onto the unguarded vent.

This time 2 of the alien dogs skulk out from the bowels of the ship and charge past the frontline, finding purchase in the railings and jumping over you and Redwood. Loudly, they land halfway between you and Judit, who has one arm plugged into the ship’s console and aiming her pistol with the other.
You dump your entire magazine into one of the things and it dies with a claw stretched out at Judit. Redwood gets caught off guard and barely wings the second one, realizing it’s done the thing tries to make a getaway, but is put to rest by a well placed shot from Judit.

“I got the blueprints for the ship!” She beams, almost as if her life wasn’t nearly ended by a disgusting alien mutt.

“There is a secondary bridge on the second floor, there are empty stations here so at least some of the crew might have made it. We need to get back to the elevators, we can take the same path, but I got sensor readings of lifeforms moving back that way.”

She looks down at the carcass and waves her gun around.

“We got off easy, I don’t know why the rest turned back. Honestly I don’t care to find out, I’d rather take the long way and hope we throw them off.”

>Risk another encounter with these things, the sooner you get off this ship the better.
>Go the long way around the ship, DeFresco just got shot with something and you still have no idea what you are fighting.
>Stay here for a bit longer and let Judit gather as much information as she can, you need to see what happened to DeFresco aswell.

>>3994178
>>Stay here for a bit longer and let Judit gather as much information as she can, you need to see what happened to DeFresco aswell.

>>3994178
>Stay here for a bit longer and let Judit gather as much information as she can, you need to see what happened to DeFresco aswell.

>>3994178
>Stay here for a bit longer and let Judit gather as much information as she can, you need to see what happened to DeFresco aswell.

File: EaRV Exalted.png (387 KB, 1357x588)

387 KB PNG

>>3994178
Forgot the image ree

You guys came in on the left side, the one with the lab.

>>3994189
>>3994194
>>3994196

Locking vote
>Stay here for a bit longer and let Judit gather as much information as she can, you need to see what happened to DeFresco aswell.

Writing™

>>3994207
You allow yourself a moment to breathe. Looking around at the sickly green corpses of the aliens you just killed you can’t help but entertain the thought of getting charged by more of these things. One extra bastard dog and Judit would be meat ribbons. Hefting your gun up on your shoulder you march up the stairs to check on DeFresco.

“Keep digging Judit! We need everything you can get us.” You say, not bothering to turn back and face her.

“It’s stuck in there man, I can’t fucking pull it out! These barbs are strong as shit.”

“Samson, you need to calm down. It doesn’t hurt anymore and I can breathe just fine. Get you knife out of my ribs please.”

You crouch and try to ascertain the damage sustained by your comrade. There is barely any blood, the rounded bottom of the dart sticks out from between his ribs, it doesn’t look to have gone in too deep.

“Do you feel ok? It might have some sort of poison on it” You ask, firmly grabbing his shoulder.

“Yes Sir, it winded me at first but I bounced back pretty fast. The thing had shit aim.” The middle aged man chuckles from behind his helmet.

Samson grimaces as he struggles to pull the thing free.

“I need a scalpel or something to cut around it Lead. At least it didn’t get his neck, that would have been pretty bad.”

The rookie slumps down next to his more experienced comrade, craning his head towards you.

“This is a research vessel, right sir? Do you think they got these cunts from somewhere and couldn’t keep them in check? Eggheads are ironically stupid sometimes.”

He seems to have loosened up a bit at least. You wonder how long it’s going to last.

“It is a science vessel, but our dead friends here don’t explain what happened to the melted officers. Maybe…”

You trail off, and look at the dart again. There must be a reason why they shoot these. It couldn’t have been just bad aim.

“Sir you don’t think… No sir. There is no way. Surely there are other things in this place.” The greenhorn is shaking his head so hard his helmet is starting to slide off.

“That may very well be the case. It’s not our job to figure it out though.” You answer nonplused.

“If you are worried Samson, let’s try to get the job done as fast as possible. Anything can be treated if you catch it soon enough.” DeFresco says, attempting to reassure his younger squad mate.

“There isn’t anything on the manifest! The ship was on its way to pick up some specimens but there shouldn’t have been anything onboard! Get down here so I don’t have to yell!” Judit seems excited about something.

>>3994318

You skip down the stairs past Redwood who is pacing around the alien he failed to kill, on occasion leaning to get a better look.

“I think someone is trying to help us from the secondary bridge, I managed to get the layout from this thing’s allocated serial number. Found out where the console was supposed to go and figured on what type of ship we are on.” She rolls her shoulder trying to loosen it up.

“But after that the power came back to it on its own! The same thing happened with the doors, they aren’t amazing at it but someone is trying to lead us somewhere.“

You scratch under your chinstrap, trying to understand why they wouldn’t lead you straight to the secondary bridge.

“When we approached we couldn’t tell from sensors for some reason, but this ship is very new. Pilgrim model… wonder what managed to fry its main generator. Which is what happened by the way.”

She finally plugs her arm out of the console.

“The main generator got fried somehow and they are rerouting power manually, if DeFresco can walk I say we head to the secondary bridge and get some answers.“

You can’t help but agree, you don’t have the time or resources to figure out what happened on your own. Not that it’s your job, but Judit has always been inquisitive.

“Agreed. We need a way off the ship and currently the escape pods are our only chance, do you think you can reroute power to them when we get to the other bridge?”

“I can sure try! I was hoping the crew would help us with that though.”

To get to the Secondary bridge you need to get to the elevators on this floor. Going back the way you came is risky, but considerably faster. To go around the ship would take a bit longer but you should avoid a fair number of aliens.

>Take the shorter but riskier route
>Take the safer but longer route

>>3994321
>Take the shorter but riskier route

>>3994338
>>3994321
To keep things going I'm locking the vote here.

>Take the shorter but riskier route

Writing™

>>3994377

You raise your voice to make sure everyone is paying attention, it carries well over the bridge. Perhaps they designed the room with acoustics in mind?

“We are heading back to the elevators, apparently there are some survivors lending us a hand from the secondary bridge on the level below us. Judit said a bunch of the things went back that way but we don’t have time for any detours. We move as fast as we can and pass them before they figure out we were even there.”

The recon squad snaps into action falling in line in front of the door.

“Madlenka you take point, Redwood we might need your breaching kit so you’re second. I’ll be behind you. Don’t forget to check above you people, the little shits like to hide in vents!”

With that, your team pulls open the heavy bridge doors open and march into the cramped darkness of the corridors once more. You take advantage of the familiar route and almost sprint down the ship, blitzing past the officer’s office. You can’t hear anything coming from the vents but Judit taps you on the shoulder to halt the squad’s advance.

“There is something in the lab, not sure if a lot of small things or a few really big things.”

You nod, and motion for the team to move past the labs as quietly as possible. Madlenka moves ever closer to the doors, anticipating a threat she gives it a wide berth and the entire column bends as if repelled by the steel.

The enemy never shows up from where you expect it to though.

A long fleshy tendril punches a hole in the ships bulkheads and swipes at your group, hitting DeFresco on his side as he goes sliding on the floor. Everyone except Madlenka gets throw back, she manages to pump a few shells into the meat of the tendril but it doesn’t even flinch, flailing around in its demented anger. A couple more people start shooting, you can’t tell who in the darkness and chaos but soon enough a steady stream of fire is pouring into the enemy.

>Run after DeFresco, that hit looked very bad.
>Open fire as well, try to kill the thing as fast as possible.
>Order everyone to run towards the elevator, whatever else is here knows where you are.

>>3994418
>>Open fire as well, try to kill the thing as fast as possible.

>>3994418
>Open fire as well, try to kill the thing as fast as possible.

>>3994427
>>3994451

Locking vote

>Open fire as well, try to kill the thing as fast as possible.

Writing™

>>3994463
“Is he alive? Let me see him! I ca-“

You look up the walls, on the ceiling, there is no trace of him.

“Did he get up? Maybe he went ahead of us! He has to be waiting for us at the elevators!”

You glance over at the bloodied rookie, his eyes are pleading with you, with reality. His smile is desperate.

“I don’t know Samson… We need to keep moving regardless.”

The rest of the squad finds you looking down like a scolded child. Madlenka is helping Judit walk and Redwood is dragging himself across the wall, his right leg is very obviously injured.

“It got my fucking ankles, Jesus, fucking shit.”

Judging from the injuries sustained it looks like that swing managed to get everyone after all, DeFresco just got the worst of it.

“This was your idea Lead! What a fucking plan.” Redwood spits.

“We could have spared a couple more minutes so DeFresco didn’t have to fucking DIE!”

“You don’t know if he’s dead Redwood! He coul-“ Samson’s timid murmur is cut off.

“He’s fucking dead! Those things took him and are probably gnawing on his guts!”

“There is no time for this, if you keep bitching and don’t get a move on his death would be for nothing. Shut the fuck up and do your job. Did you expect an office job?”

Your words cut deep, so much so that the greenhorn spits down at your feet. There is no other objection as you finally reach the elevators.

You wait until everyone gets in, and slam your fist on the button for the second floor. Everyone slumps down and starts tending to their injuries as best as they can with the basics supplies and knowledge that you have. While not fatal, the damage is going to slow you down considerably. Madlenka is trying to tend to Samson’s shoulder carefully probing it, trying to gauge the extent of the damage.

“I bet it hurts, huh?”

“Y-Yeah, a lot. Shit.”

“Is that why you’re crying, Samson?”

“Sure. Let’s go with that.” Samson meekly answers.

You check yourself for any injuries, you can feel huge bruises on your thighs, the adrenaline helped you ignore them. You hope it will help a bit more.

>>3994599
Everyone seems able to walk or shuffle along, so this time you take point, Judit presses a button with the butt of her rifle and the elevator doors hiss open.

“The second bridge is on the right. Very close. Keep a look out above.”

You step out, and spot at the very end of your flashlights range a now familiar sight. A tentacle, dripping with blood and resting in a pile of gore. You signal for everyone to move slowly, and approach. There’s limbs and skin hanging off the tendril, you shine your flashlight directly at it with no reaction whatsoever. It’s base seems to begin somewhere in the hydroponics bay, the length of it holding the door open. You duck into another corridor on your right, and slowly peek at the thing once more. A glint of something flashes back at you, the flash of an insignia. The same insignia you are all wearing. You retch, knowing that the remains in front of you are of your friend, the ones in which that thing is bathing like a pig in mud.

“It looks like its sleeping, the bridge is along this wall, move as fast as you can and don’t look at it.”

“What? What if it wakes up?” Redwood intervenes.

“I said don’t fucking look. Understand?” You growl.

Just like you did with the main bridge your team moves to open the door and subsequently enters. This time there is light. There are multiple consoles and computers happily beeping and displaying data. A single chair is occupied, it turns, revealing an old man with a captains uniform.

“I suppose you have questions, we don’t have much time but I’ll tell you what I can. From the way you look, I think you’ve seen plenty already.”

Choose one question.
>What are these things?
>What happened to the crew?
>Why did you eject our pod?

>>3994602
>Why did you eject our pod?
Price, captain Price

>>3994602
>>What are these things?

>>3994602
I'm gonna leave the vote open for the night.

Thanks for voting everyone!

>>3994602
>Why did you eject our pod?

>>3994602
>Why did you eject our pod?
Watch our six and the vents.

If we don't like his answer we waste him.

>>3994602
>What are these things?

>>3995311
>>3995197
>>3994819
>>3994654
>>3994615
Great stuff guys, locking vote.

>Why did you eject our pod?

Writing™

>>3995335
Without turning you gesture for Madlenka and Samson to keep their eyes up, the rest of the squad gets the hint and sets up in front of the door, ready for another alien assault

“That won’t be necessary, I made sure to make this floor as secure as possible, most of the infestation is on the other levels.” The captain muses, rising to his full height which is quite impressive.

“I’ll be the judge of that Captain, now why don’t you sit back down yourself and explain why our pod got ejected? Why did you do it?”

The aged officer guffaws, patting himself on the chest.

“There aren’t any enemies for you to fight in this room boy. I don’t know how much that second generator is going to last so we have very little time, there is some-“

You manage to cut him off by pointing your rifle directly at his face, awkward as the angle is. Good thing you don’t belong to the same branch otherwise this would have been mutiny…maybe it still is?

“I hate to repeat myself but, I’ll be the judge of that too. Get comfy Captain.”

He eventually sits back down, more bothered than scared for his life.

“If you insist, Sergeant ?”

“Team Lead” You correct.

“Ah, scouts. I’ve heard you folk are a hardy bunch. Here is the problem we are both facing at the moment. This ship is on its way to Magdalene, a populated colony. I have no clue how the infestation made it to my ship, but I do now that unless we steer it into the sun or detonate it the entire ecosystem of that planet is at grave risk. I trapped you here, fair and simple, because I need you to prevent a disaster.”

There is a heat rising in your temples, your blood is boiling. You are used to being sent to deathtraps but you have never been trapped by the very people you were supposed to help.

“Before you accuse me of anything I want you to consider the fact that I didn’t abandon my ship, and by ejecting your pod I have trapped myself here as well. It is what it is, if we are to make it out here alive we must first insure the safety of Magdalene. Soldiers like being heroes right?”

The officer gives you the look of a banker negotiating a loan, you are willing to bet your life that he was a science officer before ascending to captain.

“I will concede to your better knowledge of tactics and let you choose our course of action. We have a few options, thank the stars.” He brings up the same floor plan Judit found and lazily gestures. “Behind this very room is the hyperdrive generator, I know for a fact it can be overloaded and rigged to blow. I have no idea how to do it though, the Chief Engineer would likely have some notes on how to prevent such an overload in his quarters. Perhaps we can do the exact opposite and hope it works?”

>>3995358
The man doesn’t seem so confident anymore, the plan has too many variables and planned explosions go wrong with specialized crew overseeing it, a bunch of grunts and an idealistic captain might not be the best people to do this with.

“There is also the more delicate option of steering it away, but I need the computer core powered and working to plot a course. To get it operational again I can reroute some power to it but the AI probably got fried from the EMP.” He straightens his back suddenly, you get the feeling that he wasn’t supposed to let that slip.

“Ahem. There is a backup in the vault, I can give you the access codes and let you in, I also know how to get it installed.”

You try to get Judit’s attention by tapping on your arm, mimicking her favorite motion on and off duty.

“Think you can handle that?”

“Yessir! I’ve done it before on shittier ships and crappier chips, this should be a walk in the park.”

Good. You don’t trust this man as far as you can throw him, who knows what else he is hiding from you.

“Ah, that’s great, but you still need someone to plot the course. Have you done that before too soldier?”

“Can’t say I have. Yet.” Judit retorts with no small amount of threat. This man made a mistake if he thought of you as expendable.

“Well, that might not be an issue depending on what this fine gentleman decides to do. We could split and attempt both of the plans, or just do our best to get one of them done. I’m decent with a gun, but rerouting power to doors might be a bit more useful, up to you if I come with or not.”

>Get the Chief Engineers notes and overload the reactor.
>Get the AI chip from the vault and plot a course away from Magdalene
>Both (Specify who will attempt what plan, anyone that doesn’t get orders will volunteer for the plan of their choice)

Who is going to help you from the secondary bridge?

>No one
>The captain, even if you don’t trust him his knowledge of the ship will come in handy
>Judit, she may not be as capable as the captain, but you trust her with your life.

>>3995360
>The captain, even if you don’t trust him his knowledge of the ship will come in handy
better to keep him on the door game than to have an unknown variable in the squad

>>3995360
>Get the AI chip from the vault and plot a course away from Magdalene
>>3995362

>>3995360
>Get the AI chip from the vault and plot a course away from Magdalene

>Captain supervised by Judit
If he tries anything shoot his kneecaps.

>>3995372
I like this, this sounds better
Changing >>3995362

>>3995374
>>3995372
Good call anon, but are you sure you won't miss the firepower? Locking vote.

>Get the AI chip from the vault and plot a course away from Magdalene

>Captain supervised by Judit

Writing™

>>3995378
You wave Judit over, and gently place a hand on her shoulder.

“You are going to stay with the captain and make sure he is…safe.It would be a shame if something got in here and tore him to shreds, after all the trouble we went through just to get here.” You spot the man at the edge of your vision giving you a knowing look. He isn’t dumb after all.

“I’ll make sure nothing gets to him sir. What are you going to do though?”

“Redirect the ship, send it out of the system and let these things freeze or starve to death.The vault is right in front of the elevators, on the third floor. The control room is on that same floor but we need to pass those damned labs again. We got the tendril thing pretty good but I have no clue if these things heal or not.”

You look over at the captain in his chair, hoping that he would confirm or deny your suspicions. The man cringes, unsure of himself, his epaulets rising up to his ears. You sigh, the path might be just as dangerous as it was when DeFresco got killed. There are other routes but you have no idea what sort of danger those are rife with, these things could very well be dumb and not able to learn, but you always assume the worst. A good deal of their brethren found a grisly end in front of Madlenka’s and Samson’s shotguns, making them prime targets. There may be other lifeforms yet, ones you haven’t seen, ones that know a bit about you after the skirmishes you fought and luckily won.With DeFresco dead and Judit on babysitting duty your fireteam is down to 4, it might be easier for you to move undetected but any wrong step and your chances of surviving drop.

“Sir? Sir! I think the tentacle woke up!” Madlenka shouts.

You shake off any long term plans and ground yourself in the moment. There is an enemy beyond this door.

“What do you mean? I made sure there is nothing on this floor! I told you before!“ The old man tries to get up and see the danger for himself, but Judit promptly pushes him back down.

“You push buttons and we keep you safe, ok?”

“Sir, we can’t make it out past it. It’s going to paint the walls with us again if we try.” She says, shotgun aimed at it between the two metal doors.

“I can hear some flapping too! Are those wings or what? Jesus, do these fuckers fly as well?”

You strain yourself and try to hear, it really does sound like a pair of wings gliding around the corridor. Tendrils are powerful but don’t move and are an easy target, having an alien attacking from above while making sure your legs don’t get swiped from under you is more than anyone can handle.

“What if it gets in here? Can it even fit through the vents? “ Samson asks no one in particular.

“Nothing was flying when I locked myself in here. Just what the hell are these things?”

>Move everyone to the back of the room, open the doors and wait for the flying alien to attack.
>Open the doors, mow down the tendril and make a mad dash to the elevators.

>>3995403
>Move everyone to the back of the room, open the doors and wait for the flying alien to attack.

>>3995403
>Move everyone to the back of the room, open the doors and wait for the flying alien to attack.

>>3995408
>>3995405
Locking vote

>Move everyone to the back of the room, open the doors and wait for the flying alien to attack.

Writing™

>>3995426
“Everyone move back! We’ll bait it in and deal with the tendril next!” You shout with enough authority for even the captain to obey.

Madlenka and Samson take up positions by climbing on top of a few consoles, making sure that they don’t catch anyone else beside their target in the line of fire. Judit is taking her previous orders a bit too seriously, pulling the captain all the way behind her, making sure the aliens get to him last.

“Well this is a bit emasculating…” He mumbles while brandishing his service pistol.

Redwood and yourself pull up some chairs in front of you, it’s not much but they should at least protect you from the bone darts.

“On my mark open the doors! Everyone hold your fire until it gets in here! Understood?”

“Yessir!” Everyone answers simultaneously.

You can barely sneak a peek through the small crack in the doors, holding your breath as the tendril swipes DeFresco’s remains across the floor, shaking off the sleep. Above you can see the slim silhouette of the flying alien, mocking you as it keeps passing the door.

“Mark!” You yell and the doors screech open, the muted blue glow of the consoles inundating the dark hallway between you and the enemy.

You stare down the fleshy appendage, as it writhes in frustration of not being able to reach you, to pull you apart like it did with your comrade. It’s eyeless form coils around a chunk of meat, tensing its body. Maybe it knows it killed your friend? Is it trying to provoke you to attack? The stalemate is broken as 3 aliens charge into the room, digging their bony limbs into the ceiling. Not the enemy you were expecting, but an enemy nonetheless.

Madlenka is first to fire, blowing off a fore limb, the alien struggles to keep its grip onto the ceiling and hangs down like a broken light, very much still alive but stuck. Samson’s injury gets the best of him, his shot goes wide and it bounces off a metal beam, the ricochet pinging loudly back into the floor. The aliens take advantage of this window and close the distance, one of them jumps down onto Redwood, pinning the office chair between them. His sickly green chest heaves, and a dart is spit straight into the rookie’s face. In a panic, Redwood squeezes the trigger and eviscerates the alien, spilling its guts all over the chair and himself. Among its death throes it manages to scratch at the greenhorn’s chest, ripping open his flakvest and rig.

>>3995464
You take the third one in your sight, ready to plant a bullet straight between its bulbous orange eyes. It charges at you with reckless abandon, intent on avenging his fallen brothers. A flash of red knocks you over before you get a chance to end your enemy, the piece of meat the tendril was holding hits you straight in the chest and knocks the wind out of you. The fetid mutt lands down at your feet, but instead of cutting off your leg it jumps again directly at Madlenka. She is looking at the one hanging off the roof, unaware of the danger she is in. Crossing its limbs the alien severs Madlenka’s arm at the elbow, the cut is brutal, ripping flesh and sinew and dropping the arm to the floor with a disgusting squelch. Your comrade screams a bloodcurdling scream as she drops her weapon, attempting to halt the torrent of blood coming from the stub where her arm once was.

Judit swivels down immediately, pouring lead into the mutt intent on ending his quarry. The impact of the bullets throw it into the side of a console, causing it to spark and fizzle out.

The captain looks shell shocked, mouth hanging agape at the sight of the massacre, verdant ichor mixing with scarlet blood, Madlenka’s screams filling the room.You finally manage to draw a breath, it is painful but it allows you to shout over the noise.

“There’s still more! Eyes up!”

The tendril opposite you grabs another pile of meat and squeezes it tightly in its grip, bending backwards and preparing for another throw. Redwood is furiously scratching at his face, trying to pull the barbed dart free.

“GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT!”

He pulls as hard as he can on the thing embedded in his cheek, he rips off the skin from his face, the dart is pulled out and hangs, weighing down the part of his cheek that got degloved. There is something wrapped around the sharp edges of the projectile, like a tiny verdant slug.

>Start shooting at the tendril to prevent it from getting another throw in
>Try to embolden your comrades for what is to come, the battle isn’t over yet. You still have a bird to kill.
>Rush over and assist Madlenka.
>Rush over and assist Redwood.
>Something else.

>>3995466
>Try to embolden your comrades for what is to come, the battle isn’t over yet. You still have a bird to kill.

>>3995466
>Rush over and assist Redwood
This is just sad yo

>>3995466
>Try to embolden your comrades for what is to come, the battle isn’t over yet. You still have a bird to kill.

>>3995466
>Try to embolden your comrades for what is to come, the battle isn’t over yet. You still have a bird to kill.

>>3995485
>>3995483
>>3995482
>>3995481
Again onto the breach! Locking vote.

>Try to embolden your comrades for what is to come, the battle isn’t over yet. You still have a bird to kill.

Writing™

>>3995466
>Try to embolden your comrades for what is to come, the battle isn’t over yet. You still have a bird to kill.

>>3995491
The bridge is rife with chaos, Madlenka’s wails, Redwood distressed sobbing, the putrid smell of the aliens corpses. You are shaking, adrenaline is keeping your mind sharp enough to realize you can’t afford to look after injuries, whatever damage you sustained is only going to get worse if you get caught unprepared, delirious with dread.

“IF YOU LIVE, YOU FIGHT! WE ARE GONNA PUT YOU BACK TOGETHER AFTER WE ARE DONE. YOU DIE ON MY FUCKING ORDERS!”

You glance over your shoulder, the captain is completely fine, without a drop of blood on him. He stares forward, directly at the alien trying to free himself from the ceiling.

“CAPTAIN, SNAP THE FUCK OUT IT! SHOOT IT!”

With a jerk, the captain blinks, and dumps his entire mag into the helpless alien flailing around. It stops moving of its own accord, and limply sways back and forth dripping green.

“Lead help me, please… GET IT OFF! Is it off? I can’t see, is it out?” Redwoods eyes are begging you for an answer, an answer you can’t give right now.

“There is still the bird Redwood! You are going to be fine! Get it together!”

“Y-yessir!” The boy answers, not believing himself.

Judit is quickly wrapping up Madlenka’s arm, she is holding her comrade’s gaze fixed on her. Samson is uncharacteristically stoic, his only motion that of reloading his weapon.

You hear a long whistle, and the shape of an immense bat takes up the entire door frame, its wings are stretched out, made of thin pale skin with greenish veins webbing the entire thing. Its head is similar to that of the dogs, but it is more slender, the bone plating smooth and round compared to the bumpy carapace of its brethren.It glides into the room, expertly dodging the carcass hanging from the ceiling and heads straight for Samson. You open fire, clipping its wings with a couple of shots but not nearly enough to stop it. Determined to make up for his miss last time the rookie fires like a mad man, only half aiming at the alien and hoping the wave of lead manages to drop it.

Gathering its wings close to its body the creature bypasses the worst of the damage, managing to cut across the room in the blink of an eye. With blistering speed it torpedoes itself straight into Samson’s bad shoulder, with a disgusting crack it breaks and the rookie is thrown back against the wall.
Spreading itself the alien covers him completely, screeching like a banshee in the terrified rookie’s face. The pallid beast tries to crush Samson’s head with its jaws, but the helmet does its job and protects him long enough for Madlenka to one handedly grab the alien by the neck and beat it’s skull against the edge of a console. Filled with rage and a lust for Vengeance she cracks its skull over and over, green ichor spraying more and more with each strike. The pale sheets of skin lay limp as the creature loses all of its mental faculties, being reduced to a motionless pile on the ground.

>>3995540
The tendril finally throws one of DeFresco’s arms into the room, it misses, splattering against the far wall just beside the captain’s head. Judit is quick to pour the rest of her ammo into the only remaining enemy, who is now helpless against your team’s righteous rage. Everyone, including yourself, decides to take out their frustration on the isolated and out of reach tentacle.

You lay down for a second, after every alien is motionless on the floor. Oh right, one is motionless on the ceiling. You zone out, drinking in the relief of surviving another encounter with these things. The captain doesn’t allow you too long of a respite.

“Your people need help! There is a medlab on the third floor, close to the vault. If we move right goddamn now we might be able to reattach the arm!”

Sitting up and turning around in a puddle of guts you gesture over to what remains of your fireteam. Most people look in very bad shape, Madlenka is at risk of bleeding out while Redwood is missing half a face. Samson got his shoulder fully and utterly fucked by that albino pterodactyl, what are you going to do?
>Send people to the medlab to get stabilized. (Specify who)
>Send people to the vault to get the AI chip. (Specify who)
>leave someone in the secondary bridge to assist with doors (Specify who)

Just like with the first vote I need you to give orders to everyone, feel free to discuss alternative strategies.

I’m going to take a break of a few hours before coming back. Thanks so much for voting!

>>3995542
fuck you write in:
>make sure the path to the medlab isnt obstructed by doors before we all move to it together.

>>3995542
Hey OP could you break down the squad's situation in a single block? Who's injured, who's armed with what, who's a rookie/techie/vet, etc.

>>3995551

Team Lead, you: Bruised legs and torso, armed with standard assault rifle and sidearm, veteran
Techie, Judit: Legs slightly injured, armed with standard assault rifle and sidearm, veteran
Squadie, Redwood: Half of face degloved, ankle injured but unknown severity, armed with standard assault rifle and sidearm, rookie
Assault, Madlenka: Arm cut off at the elbow, armed with shotgun and sidearm, experienced but not yet veteran
Assault, Samson: Shattered shoulder, armed with shotgun and sidearm, rookie

>>3995542
>Send people to the medlab to get stabilized
Madlenka and Redwood
>Send people to the vault to get the AI chip
Team Lead, Samson
>leave someone in the secondary bridge to assist with doors
Captain and Judit

>>3995542
>>Send people to the medlab to get stabilized. (Specify who)

Everyone goes to the medlab. Samson, Madlenka and Redwood definitely need healing and we can't risk splitting up.

>>3995542
>leave someone in the secondary bridge to assist with doors (Specify who)

Team Lead
Techie, Judit

Make sure everything is extra dead.

>Send people to the medlab to get stabilized. (Specify who)
Captain, Madlenka, Samson.

Can we not contact our shuttle and give them a heads of of whats going on? Call for reinforcements and give info in case we fail so the next group of people don't get fucked? Hell, leave a note if we can with details of the aliens and stuff.

>>3995557
Wait when it says assist with doors, does that mean we need to make sure the doors stay closed and nothing gets in or that the doors we may pass on the way to the med bay may give us trouble?

The time delay from closed doors may defeated going to the medbay quickly tho, assuming the latter.

>>3995542
>leave someone in the secondary bridge to assist with doors: Judit and the captain

>Send people to the medlab to get stabilized: everyone else. Sending the wounded alone is a death sentence, they won't be able to protect themselves. And what if Madlenka loses consciousness on the way?

>>3995762
>>3995802
You haven't tried to contact Sparrow you didn't really have any time to think about it.
Due to the lack of power door need to be pulled open and pushed shut, this takes time and can be bypassed by someone in the bridge manually powering them so they open and close on their own as you make your way around the ship.

I hate to do this but I'm gonna have to call it here for today, I don't feel up to writing anything and I hate making stuff just for the sake of it. We will resume tomorrow around the same time. Thank so much for your votes and patience!

>>3996145
But we can lock and seal doors right?

What about the vents? They have cut off and sealed sections right? It is a spaceship after all and you wouldn't want to shut all the doors just to have all the air escape out the vents to an exposed section right?

>>3996157
The doors need power to be "locked" properly, its what happened in the main bridge when the captain sealed the door behind you.

The vents do have cut off and sealed sections, they are stuck in the same position that they were in when the ship lost power.

>>3996007
supporting.

>>3995571
>>3995720
>>3995762
>>3996007
>>3996283
I get that the common theme here is:

>Judit and the captain stay in the bridge while everyone else goes to medical.

Locking vote and Writing™

>>3996816

“Everyone except Judit and the captain get to medical ASAP. Let’s put you guys back together.”

You manage to stand up while feeling some moderate pain where you got hit in your torso and legs, it isn’t anything life threatening but you get the feeling it’s going to be sore for a long while. Limply hanging off the roof is one of the aliens, it doesn’t as much as twitch when you tug hard on it limbs trying to get it down. 4 holes riddle the creature, all center mass, the captain is a decent shot. The green carcass collapses on the floor, unmoving.

Madlenka has both arms drenched in gore, with the green and red mixing on her gear she looks morbidly festive. There is no need to check if the bird is still alive, you don’t think anything can live with a skull splintered along the floor. The injured woman doesn’t look as scared anymore but the color is draining from her face, you need to hurry if you want to keep her awake.

On the other side of the massacre, chopped up and butchered is one of those damnable tentacles, ichor flowing freely out of its now formless mass. You put a few more shots whenever you think you see a twitch and stomp it into as many pieces as possible, even if these things have the ability to heal themselves you doubt there is any coming back from this sort of damage.

Behind and to your left people start filing out and rushing as much as they can towards the elevator, you follow up in the rear of the column after getting the codes for the vault and shooting the captain and Judit a quick salute.

It isn’t as tight of a fit anymore with only the 4 of you inside the elevator, during the trip you notice Redwood gingerly holding his peeled skin with cupped hands, trying as hard as he can to look up at cold white lights.You reach the third floor, across the corridor in front of you stands the vault. Your lights catch on the matte black doors rising high into the ceiling. The access codes are on your person, the keycard snugly sat in one of your chest pockets.The sorry lot of soldiers walk out of the elevator towards the medlab further down the hallway, they stop short of the corridor where the first tentacle attacked you. Samson peaks from the corner and his eyes go wide, slamming his back against the wall. He looks to you and with the fingers on his good hand signals “3”.

>>3996839
Shit, were they hiding here all along? Why didn’t they charge you at the same time the tendril did? Are they just toying with you? You shake these thoughts out of you head and focus on the situation at hand, everyone here currently can sprint the short distance across to the other side where the medlab is, only problem being is actually being able to make it past without detection. Everyone still has their weapons slung around their shoulders but only you can use yours normally, the rest at half capacity or not at all in the case of Madlenka.

There is the option of waiting them out, these things obviously move around so you could stay put until they go somewhere else.

>Wait them out, you can’t risk a fight like this.
>Everyone sprints across to the medlab and hopes that Judit and the captain manage to lock the door behind you after you enter.
>Something else.

>>3996841
>Something else.
Can we tell the captain to move a door or activate a claxon on the other side from where we are to attract them away?

>>3996841
Supporting >>3996845

>>3996845
this sounds good

>>3996855
>>3996853
>>3996845
Locking vote

>Tell the captain to distract the aliens

Writing™

>>3996859
You wave Samson back from the corner, taking his place and glancing down the corridor you see them as well, 3 of the dog aliens gathered around the remains of the tendril. The lab doors have been pulled open and inside you spot glowing mounds of the same green flesh you grow tired of seeing, the pustule bursts at the seams and a sickly yellow liquid spills on the floor. Covered in bony plate another alien emerges, shaking off the thin film that remained from what you can only guess was its egg.

They are reproducing. Shit, one more reason to hurry up and send this ship off into the dark abyss of space. Time now even more of a commodity you strain yourself to think of solution, anything that can get you past these things, anything that can spare your team any more injury.

“Judit, this is Lead. There are still enemies around the lab, I need a window to get everyone to the medlab.” You whisper over the radio.

“R-… tha-… -ad” Judit is breaking up, did that tentacle damage your radio?

You go to speak again but a slam from the bowels of the ship gets your attention, and not only yours. The trio of aliens have their heads craned in the direction of the bridge, spines bent and ready to pounce. Slowly they begin to skulk up the walls and ceiling, being eventually joined by the fourth.

Everyone already knows what they are supposed to do and sprint as best they can to the medlab, mercifully the doors are powered and open without any effort.

Immaculate sheets cover about a dozen medical beds, the walls are lined with state of the art medical machinery, in the center is a robotic arm akin to what you would see in factories. It happily beeps as your injured comrades collapse from the pain and exertion of the dash in front of it, a small blue light emerges from somewhere inside it.

“Madlenka first, get to the medical bot.” You state with no emotion.

She is holding her own limb, still dripping with blood, her pallor only getting worse.

The medbot bathes the sight of injury with its scanner and coldly states:

“Place removed limb and patient on the operating table.”

Madlenka complies, slamming herself down on the steel table.

“Beginning reattachment.” The bot beeps.

A second arm from inside the robots cubic base produces a mask with what you assume is anesthethic and places it firmly on her face. The first arm is busy disinfecting and cleaning the wound with blistering speed and precision.

Moving with mechanical grace the medbot sutures the limb back into place, and wraps it up with a bandage.

“Reattachment complete.”

The mask lifts and you are able to gently place her on one of the beds, you aren’t sure how long she is going to be asleep for. Scanning both Samson and Redwood with its blue light the medbot attempts triage. It stops when it gets to the shattered shoulder of Samson.

“Place patient on operating table.” It states again.

>>3996872
You have no idea what the medbot is doing, it having shoved a bunch of smaller mechanical graspers inside Samson. The second surgery takes a bit longer, but eventually the machine doctor states that the patient can be removed from the table.Looking at Redwoods face closer up and in the light you can discern what the thing coiled around the dart looks like. A green filament writhing and rolling itself around the bony protrusions of its home, no eyes or nose or head, you can’t even tell if it can breathe. The rookie thanks to all his efforts hasn’t noticed it yet. His turn comes up and the bot starts going to work carefully removing the foreign object from his body, the slug thing doesn’t react as its dropped into a tray.

Sticking Redwoods face back in place goes very smoothly, faster than any of the other operations. You put everyone in a bed, and let the bot apply some sort of lotions or ointment to your various bruises.

Soon enough you are alone with the medbot, looking around the silent room.

>Wait until everyone wakes up and get the chip form the vault, you can’t risk anything.
>Go by yourself and return in time for them to wake up, the aliens are distracted so it should be fine.
>Take some time inspecting the bone dart.

>>3996873
>Take some time inspecting the bone dart.

>>3996873
>Take some time inspecting the bone dart.

>>3996874
>>3996875
Locking vote

>Take some time inspecting the bone dart.

Writing™

>>3996873
Damn, it could've given at least Redwood a local anaeshtetic instead of a general one.

>>3996881
Idly sitting on a tray next to you is the dart, white and slender with barbs hooked backwards going around its circumference. Nestled snugly between them is a slimy string,green and pulsing, it doesn’t seem to have any body segments,if it weren’t for the strange movement you would question if it was even alive.You hazard a touch and bring your finger back instantly, its cold and wet, not very surprising.

What is the purpose of this thing? Was one of these things swimming around inside DeFresco?

Picking at it with your knife as an added amount of precaution you flip it over on all its sides, trying to gleam anything from it.

“Foreign contaminant. Possible biohazard. Do no touch.” The medical robot cautions you, much to your surprise, these things don’t have that much awareness usually.

“Uh, c-can you tell me what it is?” You ask, feeling absolutely silly.

“Command unclear, please be specific.”

Well, maybe these thing isn’t as smart as you first thought.

“I require additional information about the foreign contaminant extracted from the last- Uh… third patient.”

A flurry of probes and scanners erupt from the bottom of the robot, picking at the barb and bathing it in light.

“Bone structure. Unknown lifeform. Potentially parasitic.”

Well you could have guessed as much, you get ready to abandon the attempt when the tray gets sucked up by the robot into one of its compartments. It whirrs and beeps to its heart content for a little while and begins sharing the results of its analysis with you.

“Parasitic lifeform. Symbiotic with unknown host. Cannot live more than 36 hours without host. Secretes large amount of pheromones when active inside hosts. Removal technique could not be determined.”

So it stinks huh? Jesus. Did they draw a bead on DeFresco using this thing?

Your comrades start to stir and twitch in their sleep, eventually they wake up. Redwood is first, pawing softly at the stitches on his face seemingly pleased with the result.

“This is gonna leave a cool scar right, Lead?”

You can’t help but chuckle at the sudden comment, loud enough for Madlenka to properly wake up.

“Mine is gonna be much better. Rookie scars for rookie scouts.” She grins.

The last of your comrades stands up as well, with no words coming from him.

“We better get going, these things are starting to multiply.” You say, checking your weapon.” Can everyone fight?”

Everyone nods to the affirmative, you know they aren’t going to be on top of their game but it’s better than nothing. Madlenka pulls out her sidearm and starts heading to the door. The hallway outside is silent and empty with no sign of danger. With Samson in front your group moves up to the vault, making sure to inspect the corridor where the aliens used to be just in case.

You fish the keycard out of your pocket and swipe it through the receptacle, the double sets of doors grind open revealing an ordinary room filled with boxes.

>>3996909
“Find the AI chip, Madlenka you keep watch.” You order.

Most of the boxes contain expensive research equipment you have no need for in the moment, there is no order to how these things got stored. After a few long and frustrating minutes you finally find the box containing computer stuff, the thing is not aptly named as the size of the “chip” rivals that of your rifle. Awkwardly removing it out of its box you call over Madlenka to carry it, losing a pistol is better than losing a shotgun. You take a second to think.

You will need either the captain or Judit to install the chip, and after that is done only the captain knows how to steer the ship away from Magdalene. Leaving the captain alone in the bridge and having Judit install the chip seems like the best option, but you still don’t know if the captain is trustworthy yet.

>Ask Judit over the radio to join you at the vault, leaving the captain to his own devices.
>Ask both of them to join you.
>Leave them both in the bridge but give instructions over the radio to have the announcement system powered in the computer control room, allowing the techie to guide you through the installation process. This will take a long time though.

There is still the issue of what path you are going to take to the computer control room.

>The route on the right side of the lab, it is the shortest one but also in the direction the aliens went.
>The route on the left side of the lab
>The longer route on the right side of the entire ship

(Please pick one option for each)

>>3996911
radio is barely working so we will get cut off if we rely on it, the captain has something going on and Judit might get ambushed by aliens on the way.

>Ask both of them to join you.
>The longer route on the right side of the entire ship

>>3996911
>Ask both of them to join you
>The longer route on the right side of the ship

>>3996919
Small clarification, the process of installing the chip is going to rely on the ships PA system. not your radio. the only thing you are going to use your radio for is telling Judit to power the PA system.

>>3996911
>Leave them both in the bridge but give instructions over the radio to have the announcement system powered in the computer control room, allowing the techie to guide you through the installation process. This will take a long time though.
We have time. What we don't have is a second person who can pilot the ship. We can't risk the captain.
>The longer route on the right side of the entire ship

>>3996919
>>3996920
>>3996923

Locking vote

Everyone joins you, longer route around the right side of the ship.

Writing™

What is the ammo status?
There has been a lot of shooting going on.

>>3996938

Not enough to warrant any concern right now, but a couple more big firefights and it is going to turn into a problem.

>>3996930

“Halt, we are waiting for everyone else.” You say before reaching Judit over radio. “Judit, meet us at the vault. Make sure to bring the captain too”

“Ye-…ir!” You receive as an answer.

“Listen up everyone! We are going to avoid the labs completely and go around the right side of the ship, we will wait until Judit and the captain get here and then we move out. Understood?”
A synchronous wave of affirmation responds.You watch as the elevator goes back up to retrieve your remaining comrades from the upper floor, as the doors open you see that the captain has a black eye. Judit notices your concern and gestures for you to calm down and not worry about it. Maybe he tried to hit on her or something, she is a good looking woman after all.

With two fingers you point down the end of the corridor and everyone falls in line behind you. Passing along the medlab wall you reach a left turn and carefully continue down the bending halls, vigilant of any aliens that might drop on you from above. To your right hangs a small metal plate reading “Giuliano Silva, office”, there is a single door with the frame around it slightly sticking out. Getting into its cover you scan past the bend and spot one of the alien dogs searching for something. They kept searching after the captain distracted them, there is no way you can continue down this way without having to kill it. Behind you the hallway turns closer to the edge of the ship, you could take an even larger detour and avoid detection, or someone could sneak up on it and take it out silently.

>Kill it from a distance and risk detection.
>Have someone sneak up on it and try to kill it in melee (Specify who, can be multiple people, you know that Madlenka is the best CQC combatant you have on your squad.)
>Take the detour

(This is going to be the last update for today. Thanks to everyone that voted!)

>>3996968
>take the detour
our best cqcer just had her arm reattached

>take the detour

risking detection to take out one bad guy isn't worth it

>>3996968
>Take the detour

>>3996968
>>Take the detour

>>3996968
>Detour

Fights usually don't go well

>>3996968
>>Take the detour

>>3996968
SO no radio contact with our shuttle still?

>>3997273
>>3997217
>>3997129
>>3996988
>>3996987
>>3996977

Locking vote.

>Take the detour

Writing™

>>3997954
You’d rather avoid engaging the enemy whenever possible, bringing down the wrath of an entire ship worth of aliens for a single kill isn’t a smart plan.

“Circle back, down the other way. Move it.” You whisper back to your comrades.

The column turns on their heels, and shuffle back the way you came. Swinging around the entire ship you march up past the storage lockers and reach like crew quarters.

“So close to the bridge must be an officer’s room.” You muse.

Further down around the sudden bend of the front of the ship an orange glint catches the light of your flashlights, slimy drool dripping slowly to the floor. A shiver shoots up your spine, cornered like common prey face to face with your hunter. The aliens chest inflates as it draws a deep breath ready to pierce you and your comrades with a tracking dart so that its brethren may join the feast. With no room to dodge the incoming projectile you are left with few options.

>Open fire
>Hide in the officer quarters, leaving you team to take the dart
>Charge into close range, there is a chance you will surprise it enough to miss.

>>3997966
>Open fire
shotgun to the chest, yolo

>>3997966
>Open fire

>>3997966
>Open fire
Rak

>>3997976
>>3997975
>>3997974

Locking vote

>Open fire

Writing™

>>3997989

With no time to think your body moves on its own, years of battle experience manifest themselves through muscle memory as you bring the barrel of your weapon up, ready to mow down the thing above you. You stare your enemy down, both of you ready to strike at the other in the blink of an eye. The thing may have its instincts but you have your own as well, with no hesitation a stream of fire cuts across the air and embeds itself in your opponent, the pressure built up inside it sprays out its guts in a grotesque explosion. You can’t see where the dart went.

“Fucking hell! The entire ship must have heard that!” Madlenka curses.

Even if you can’t hear or see them, you know more are coming and there is no way you could hold your own in such a tight space.

“They are going to pin us down, move!” You shout, stealth be damned.

Dashing deeper into the corridor your team passes a large room labeled as “Conference” , you have reached the front end of the ship but you still need to get over to the left side where the computer control room lies, past the bridge. Two other dogs rush out to meet you, maws hanging open and the sharp bony blades on the end of their legs slicing open the floor as they approach.

Catching you by surprise when you turn around the corner the aliens slam into your ranks, biting your shoulder and thigh, slamming the breath out of you. Possibly concussed your vision swims, body screaming in agony as their teeth sink into you. No air to shout you lay prone, reaching for a side arm with the other hand. Scared of harming you in the process the fireteam slowly chips away at the enemy, shot by shot and bullet by bullet. Even as they die the aliens don’t lose their grip on you, the orange glow of their eyes slowly becoming muted.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck get up Lead we can’t stay here. Get these fucking things off of him!” Judit orders, taking up your mantle.

Samson and Redwood rip the hounds off of you and manage to carry your ravaged body further down the hall, right in front of the bridge.

“Almost there, goddammit stay with me Lead!” She begs, frantically scanning for incoming enemies.

A trail of blood lies in your wake, you are completely unable to stay on your own feet let alone use a weapon.

“There! Captain, help me open this fucking door!”

You reached the computer room, or at least it’s what you think happened, unable to focus your vision on anything.

>>3998015

“S-Shit, incoming!” Samson stutters out, dropping you to the floor and taking aim at an alien sailing over you.

Half of its body gets ripped open by the force of the blast, showering everyone in green guts and viscera. Still, the front half lands legs first into the captain as he strains himself to pull the door open. A gap big enough for a person to go through is made and you are shoved straight into it, followed shortly by Judit and the others.

“FUCK! There’s one more! It’s trying to get in!” Redwood shouts.

The two rookies push the doors closed just before it can make it inside, a loud clang indicating that it hit its head pretty hard with the attempt.

“Lead, look at me. Can you hear me? We are gonna patch you up, okay?” Judit coos with a motherly tone.

Adrenaline prevents you from feeling anything that is being done to you, the fireteam does their best to be gentle regardless.

You blink, but end up falling unconscious with your head resting against the side of a huge console. When you wake up Judit and the captain are doing their best trying to install the chip inside a mess of wires and electronic parts you don’t know the purpose of.

“Lead! Thank fuck you woke up, these things keep gathering outside. Lucky for us the vents to this room seem to be blocked so they can’t get it.” Samson says enthusiastically.

“And we can’t get out.” You answer, groggy from the sleep and pain.

“That’s… also true.”

It looks it will take a little while longer for the chip to get installed, there is still the problem of getting the captain into the bridge. There is no telling exactly how many are gathered around the door.

What will you do after the chip is installed?

>Same thing you did back at the secondary bridge, move as far back as you can and let them flood into the room.
>Crack the door a little and take potshots at them, it will take a long time and they might realize what you are trying to do.
>Wait and hope they lose interest.
>Something else.

Potshots as long as ammo count doesn't drop too low.

>Potshots as long as ammo count doesn't drop too low.
Missed the second part
while someone takes an look around the room in case we missed something

>>3998016
>Crack the door a little and take potshots at them, it will take a long time and they might realize what you are trying to do.
also general bodycheck, we cant be the only ones wounded.

>>Same thing you did back at the secondary bridge, move as far back as you can and let them flood into the room.
Not a good option unless you want to get overrun and lose people.
>>Crack the door a little and take potshots at them, it will take a long time and they might realize what you are trying to do.
The best of a crappy situation
>>Wait and hope they lose interest.
Not gonna happen, need to do something
>>Something else.
Literally what? Not a lot of options

>>3998016
>Something else.
Prepare a trap for them from the electric wires.

>>3998016
>>Wait and hope they lose interest.
We can take the time to take a break and regain our bearings.

>>3998061
Seconding this.

>>3998023
>>3998026
>>3998035
>>3998050
>>3998061
>>3998101
>>3998775

All of this is great stuff, I will try an incorporate as much of it as I can

Locking vote.

Writing™

>>3999020

You look down at the grave state of your body and gingerly poke at the site of your injuries trying to ascertain the damage. There is no blood staining the bandages, the flesh underneath feels sore but not ravaged beyond repair, much to the surprise of Samson you manage to put some weight on the leg, although you are sporting a limp.

“Sir! You should sit down and rest while you can, Judit still didn’t get the chip in.”

“Calm down rookie, I’ve weathered worse.” You lie. “What about you? Everything still there?”

“I’m fine, sir. You and the captain got the worst of it.”

“Good. What about the rest? Anyone else hurt?”

“Everyone else is fine, Judit made sure to check all of us after she was done treating you and the captain.”

Looking around the control room you can’t see anything out of the ordinary, the place looks almost pristine if not for the blood stains on the floor and walls.

“Did you check this place, Samson?”

“Not much else to do while we waited, couldn’t find anything besides an old coin under one of the stations. Redwood wouldn’t let me have it.” The rookie moans.

On the other side of the room Judit bangs her head standing up and bursts into a streak of expletives, she stops when she sees you.

“Lead! We managed to plug the thing in but it has some compatibility issues with a few of the systems, I’m not an engineer so I have no clue what I need to do but we should still be able to steer the ship away.” She beams.

“So you don’t need all of those wires?”

“…What?”

“We still need to get rid of those things outside, I want to set up a mess of wires for them to get tangled in and possibly electrocuted when we open the doors.”

The entire room goes silent, turning to face you.

“But before we open the floodgates we need to cull their numbers a bit. Redwood and Samson, pull the doors and make a peephole, enough to shoot out of.”

“I’ll see what I can do, Lead.” Judit says.

The computer control room comes alive with everyone moving to fulfill their new orders, the rookie duo carefully peel the steel doors apart and try to count the amount of enemies you are facing. They give you the best estimate.

>>3999065
“Around three of the dogs crawling around, there could be more hiding but I can’t tell.” Samson informs you.

“Don’t just look at them, try to plink one.” Redwood retorts.

“Easy on the ammo lads, we are going to start running out soon enough. I have a bad arm so it’s up to you.”

In front of the door Judit makes herself busy hanging up electrical cords like Christmas lights, using her knife to expose the copper deeper down.

“Got one! Right in the side of his mutt head.” One of the rookies celebrates.

“Fuck you, I still got the first kill!” The other replies.

Two down already, they should wisen up soon enough and start avoiding the door. It only leaves you with the option of baiting them into the wires once everything is set. Looking over your shoulder you notice the captain struggling with the use of his arms, that alien must have dug down deep. Your shoulder isn’t any better, it would take a miracle for you to be able to heft up your rifle in this condition, the blood loss will make you a pretty bad shot too. What should the recently injured do?

>Hide and avoid being targeted by the aliens.
>Join the fight and risk even more damage.

>>3999066
>Hide the captain, join the fight with our sidearm from the back lines.

>>3999066
>>3999074
+1

>>3999113
>>3999074

Locking vote

Writing™

>>3999074
+2

>>3999161
“Captain, you better hang back and try to not get yourself killed. “ You say, pulling out your sidearm.

“Uh…agreed. What about you? I can at least walk.”

“I only need one hand to shoot, don’t worry about me.”

“The wires are up, sir! Ready to fry some aliens.” Judit comes up to you, sheathing her knife.

The rookies seem to have ran out of luck, the aliens outside vanishing from their sight.

“Maybe they got scared and left?”

“When the fuck have these things ever ran away, Samson?”

You know beyond the shadow of a doubt that these things like to lurk in the shadows, on the fringes of your sight. They won’t get the chance to rush you this time.

“Everyone get set up! It’s time!” You shout, trying to embolden your comrades.

A firing line forms in front of the door, you and Madlenka brandishing handguns while everyone else has their rifles or shotgun.

“Fully opening the doors!” The captain shouts as he slams his fist on a button and promptly ducks under a table.

The cables slightly illuminate the dark hallway as they spark, revealing the wave of aliens gunning straight for you. 3 dogs and a bird, charging in formation. The first mutt tries to leap into the room but only manages to get his frame tangled in the wires as the electrical current slowly pulls the life out of him. His brethren quickly catch on to the trap and cut the net of wires with their sharp legs while the bird seems completely unaffected by it, seamlessly passing through it.

You open fire, trying to put the enemy down before it can reach you. There is no cover in the room and they took full advantage of that, slamming into Judit and Redwood head first even as their bodies get riddled with holes. Samson fails to catch the bird with his shotgun blast yet again, and it bites into his neck drawing a cascade of crimson from it. Everyone ignores you and Madlenka, possibly because they aren’t aware that the weapons you are holding are also capable of ending their lives. From the flanks you mow down the aliens as best as you are able, Judit gets saved by Madlenka just before she gets slashed across the chest. Redwood isn’t so lucky, his flakvest already ripped open from a previous suicidal charge. With nothing to protect him the bony limb sinks itself deep into the rookie, tinking off every rib and spilling his guts on the floor.

>>3999214
The bird pulls on the body of Samson until his windpipe is pulled completely out of his chest, with a demented squawk it swallows it whole. With the dog laying on her dead, Judit manages to maneuver herself in an angle from where she can get a clean shot into the last aliens’ head. Silence falls once more over your shrinking squad, Madlenka can’t stop staring at the corpses of her comrades, eye wide with terror. Judit fares a bit better, used to the horrors of this line of work.

You get up and try to snap Madlenka out it, slapping her across the face.

“No time to think, we need to go.”

Silently she rises, clutching onto her service pistol.

Leaving the control room behind all of you head to the main bridge, the corpses of the aliens you killed aren’t there anymore.

“Get to work captain, you got 3 of my men killed you better make up for it real soon.” You bark at the old man.

“Sir, while he does that I can look at more of the ship archives. What do you want to know more about?”

>That EMP the captain let slip.
>Ship manifest, I don’t trust the captain when he says there was nothing aboard the ship
>The ship course, maybe they picked up some visitors along the way.

>>3999215
>>The ship course, maybe they picked up some visitors along the way.

>>3999215
>The ship course, maybe they picked up some visitors along the way.

>The ship course, maybe they picked up some visitors along the way.
This First
>Ship manifest, I don’t trust the captain when he says there was nothing aboard the ship
This
>>That EMP the captain let slip. And anything else that is relevant.
And then this
Ain't no time to play coy with information

>>3999405
>>3999352
>>3999336

Locking vote.

>The ship course, maybe they picked up some visitors along the way.

Writing™

>>3999423
“Tell me where this ship has been so far, these things didn’t just appear here.” You whisper.

“Right, I’ll see what I can find. You should talk to Madlenka, she doesn’t look that great and right now we need everyone at maximum capacity.” Judit says with a cold tone.

The only thing you can do is nod as you make your way to the last junior member of the squad and sit down. She is crying, rows of tears streaming down her face and dripping down to the floor from her chin.

“I couldn’t do anything. I should have helped them. They were so young, didn’t know any better.”

“Hey, let’s not blame anyone except those things for their deaths, ok? Except perhaps…” You trail off, shooting a glance at the captain who is making himself busy turning on consoles and getting himself ready to plot a course away from Magdalene.

“D-do you think he lied to us? Because ill fucking beat his brains out like I did with that bat thing.”

“I am not sure, but that doesn’t matter now. You did your job as best as you could, saved Judit at the end there remember? I have a few years of service on you so let me tell you this. This won’t be the last time your comrades die, if you let that get to you and make a mistake that gets you killed… well then their deaths wouldn’t mean anything. You do your best to take on an empathetic tone, you aren’t sure if you got through to her. “They meant something to you, right?”

“Of course they did!” She shouts, exasperated.

Looks like that did it.

“Well then forget about them, until we get back and then you can mourn them properly in a bar somewhere.”

Her face loses any expression, becoming a cold steely visage. She nods.

“Good.” You decide to leave it at that and check up on Judit.

“Ahem, you found anything?”

“…Yes”

“…And?”

“And this cunt has some shady shit going on, he had instructions he completely ignored. He went to every single illegal space station he found along the way, I know it looks like he stopped randomly in the middle of nowhere. Pirates and smugglers don’t really like to be put on maps.” She lifts her eyes up from the screen and drills them into you. “I bet he picked up these things from one of those places so he could brag about discovering new specimens. That’s why everyone died. That’s why Samson got his throat ripped out, it’s why Redwood got gutted. Just for this piece of shit to get some extra money for retirement.”

Judit is seething with anger, her pale blue eyes drowning in a sea of sorrow.

“I’m going to kill him after he is done and we are going to get to those escape pods and get the fuck out of here.”

>Agree, no one will know what happened here besides you.
>Try to stop her, You will report this to Command and the old bastard is going to rot in jail.

>>3999458
>Agree, no one will know what happened here besides you.

>>3999458
>>Agree, no one will know what happened here besides you.

>>3999458
>>Try to stop her, You will report this to Command and the old bastard is going to rot in jail.

We still have a job to do.

>>3999458
>Try to stop her, You will report this to Command and the old bastard is going to rot in jail.
We either kill him now and without warning or not at all.

Capt. probably already knows and plans on ditching us or something, or marooning us on the ship. I say we pop him right now while we have line of sight or not at all..... Or do so without anyone knowing of our on violation and so it comes as a surprise to everyone including the captain.

Otherwise he will definitely screw us all over.

>>3999458
Wait where is the captain? If hes in the room and she will do it in literally the next 5 seconds then i'll change to...

>>Agree, no one will know what happened here besides you.

>>3999458
>Try to stop her, You will report this to Command and the old bastard is going to rot in jail.
If she is mistaken and this infestation appeared without the captain's involvement, someone else could catch it. The captain needs to be thoroughly interrogated.

>>3999458
>>Try to stop her, You will report this to Command and the old bastard is going to rot in jail.

>>3999492
>>3999549
>>3999584
>>3999601
>>3999604
>>3999903
>>4000040

Locking vote

>Try to stop her, You will report this to Command and the old bastard is going to rot in jail.

Writing™

>>4000050
“Judit, no. We still have a job to do and we can’t afford to lose someone else. Maybe he wasn’t involved, maybe he was forced to, we simply don’t know. You are angry, I am too and so is Madlenka, but we can’t afford to lose our heads now.”

She doesn’t seem to calm down, restlessly stirring in place.

“Fine. He lives for now but I’m not trusting him for one fucking second, he is staying in front of me at all times. You told me to keep an eye on him and I intend to do that until we get off this ship.”

She fully turns to face you and leans in.

“Speaking of which… do you really trust this guy to let us use the escape pods? I tried to contact Sparrow but comms are cut for some reason. I suspect he had something to that as well but you can call me paranoid. I could try and use the ship comms but I need them powered, wonder if he would let that happen."

>Escape using the pods, they have a built in distress beacon that Sparrow will pick up on.
>Contact Sparrow directly and have the ship dock with the airlock, it will be at risk of getting boarded by the aliens if they follow you to it.

>>4000071
>>Escape using the pods, they have a built in distress beacon that Sparrow will pick up on.
Can't afford to let this spread.

>>4000071
>Contact Sparrow, then escape in pods
No guarantee that the beacon in the pod will work normally. Also Sparrow needs to know what's going on.

>>4000071
>Escape using the pods, they have a built in distress beacon that Sparrow will pick up on.

>>4000104
Swapping to this.

>>4000071
>>4000104
+1

>>4000071
>Escape using the pods, they have a built in distress beacon that Sparrow will pick up on.

>>4000071
>Escape using the pods, they have a built in distress beacon that Sparrow will pick up on.

>Contact Sparrow, then escape in pods

No guarantee the pods will be in working order.

>>4000071
>Escape using the pods

>>4000104
>>4000126
>>4000127
>>4000255
>>4000276
>>4000809
>>4001041

Locking vote.

>Contact Sparrow, then escape in pods

Writing™

>>4001752

“We get into the pods, it’s too risky having Sparrow dock here. You try to contact him regardless, it will make the captain show his true colors and give us an extra bit of insurance on top of it.”

“You were always good at picking best of both worlds.” Judit say coyly, her frustration melting slightly.

“Captain! Is the comms unit operational?” You bellow out with more vigor than a man in your state has any right to have.

“Uh… y-yes? I mean no. Well, it works but I didn’t route any power to it. Do you need it for anything?” The old man stammers out.

“We need to contact our scout ship, to make sure it’s ready to pick us up.”

“Pick us up? Oh, the escape pods you mean?”

“Of course, or did you think of another option for extraction?” You probe, making the disheveled man even more so.

“No. I’ll get back to this, long time since I’ve been out of the academy.” He makes an attempt at humor.

“And you are going to power the comms for Judit, yes?”

“Yes…” He growls.

You glance back to Judit who is absolutely pleased, looks like that managed to put some of her worries to rest.

“Away team, come in. Away team… come in. Awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay teeeeeeeeeeeeam, come in. If you bothered to scream at least I would’ve known you were dead goddammit. Away-“

“Sparrow, this is away team.”

“Oh thank the fucking suns, what happened down there? Do you want me to dock? Where’s Lead? Did Lead fucking die?”

You bend down to the microphone and speak with a stern tone.

“Lead is alive. Keep a look out for escape pods, this ship is infested with aliens and I’d rather you see them only in the report… or maybe Judit recorded something?”

The techie sways her head from side to side, implying she caught at least a little bit on camera.

“Yeah, we will see you in group therapy too.”

“Good to know, Lead. ETA on how long before you bounce? I have been shouting like a madman over all frequencies for the past who knows how long and I need a drink.”

You groan, he will figure out himself exactly how bad this mission went soon enough.

“No clue, these things don’t really work on a schedule.”

“Roger that, get everyone back here Lead, the cat is getting lonely. You miss the boys, don’t you?”

A faint meow can be heard on the comms, followed by a short purr. You bite your tongue so hard it bleeds.

“Away team out. Captain, where are the escape pods?”

“Second floor, alongside the far walls. They can fit two people.”

One more trip and you are home free, a shiver goes down your spine as you think about having to pass the damned lab yet again. Maybe you can make one trip across this floor without someone getting killed.

>Take the far left corridor, path never taken.
>Take the left corridor, directly past the lab
>Take the right corridor, the one you initially tried to use to get here
>Take the far right corridor, the one you ended up taking to here

>>4001762
>Take the far right corridor, the one you ended up taking to here
We should've killed everything there already.

Damn, I can't believe we lost two men even with the trap. What the hell was the correct decision there!?

>>4001768

At the end of the thread I'm going to answer any questions you have, hang in there anon. For now i can tell you that Samson and Redwood dying wasn't the direct result of the choice you made in the control room, them dying had more to do with the decisions you made up to that point. If that anon didn't come up with the idea of the trap it would have been even worse.

>>4001762
>Take the far right corridor, the one you ended up taking to here

>>4001812
>>4001768

Locking vote

>Take the far right corridor, the one you ended up taking to here

Writing™

>>4001865
The captain shoots up from his chair.

“Yes! I got it, Magdalene is saved. Amazing job soldiers! The brave sacrifice of your friends won’t be in vain!”

If you had a credit for every time you heard that there wouldn’t be a need to risk life and limb on derelicts.

“We are going back the way we came, that way at least we know it’s clear.” You say, completely uncaring of the captains little speech.

Your fireteam gets up with a glint of hope in their eyes, maybe no one else has to die anymore.

One by one you file out of the bridge and make your way down the corridors, stepping over the corpses of the aliens you killed on your mad dash to the control room. You go past the officer’s quarters and storage lockers, reaching the corner where you turned around to avoid the alien. The rest of the way to the elevator is eerily peaceful, you sigh with relief as everyone crowds into the elevator.

“Has anything been that easy since we got on this fucking ship?” Madlenka asks no one in particular.

“It wasn’t much better before you got here either.” The captain answers

None of you dignify him with a response or even a look. You have reached the second floor, the doors hiss open.

“This is the galley, if we go around it we reach the escape pods.” The old man says while taking point with his pistol, a curious sight.

Large red doors greet you, emergency lights lazily flashing. The captain scurries to the first one and opens the doors, inviting one of you in.

Who is going to share a pod with the captain?

>You
>Madlenka
>Judit

>>4001873
>You

>>4001873
>You
If he's crooked we need to take point.

>>4001873
>You

>>4001879
>>4001878
>>4001877
Horrible death for mc via shapeshifting alien beastie, incoming

>>4001873
>You
keep gun on him

>>4001873
>The old man says while taking point with his pistol, a curious sight.

You know what.... maybe we should blast him

>>4001873
There is more than two pods?

>>4001877
>>4001878
>>4001879
>>4001953

Locking vote

>You

Writing™

>>4002026
https://youtu.be/8XOa5XXCliU

>>4002026
“How kind, captain.” You say, brushing past the eldery officer. His smile is very broad. “You girls go ahead and get in one of the others.”

“Yessir, see you back on the ship” Madlenka says while tugging on a reticent looking Judit.

The pods doors close and both you and the captain strap in. With a huge lurch forward the pod launches, the cold vastness of space embracing you. The two seats are right next to each other facing forward to a viewscreen and console. A small green light is flashing, indicating that the distress beacon is operational.

“Are they going to give you a raise after this?” The captain asks, awkwardly turning in his seat.

“I might get a pat on the back…a written commendation perhaps. But no money for me.”

“Shame. A real shame. You did amazing work back then, honestly. But I’d rather you accept some extra credits each month from me, in exchange for leaving all of this behind.You can justify the tragic deaths of your people however you like, but the story of a brave captain preventing catastrophe has a better ring than if just some scouts did it. I’m close to hanging up my uniform, a bit of extra glory to send me off seems fitting, no?”

>Accept the bribe. Not much you will gain from this anyway.
>Refuse, you won’t stain the memory of your comrades like this.
>Something else?

>>4002044
>Something else?
Bang bang, he was infected.

>>4002044
>Refuse, you won’t stain the memory of your comrades like this.
>Drill him thoroughly about the source of the infestation and his strange stops on illegal stations under an implicit threat of violence.

>>4002047
Don't be paranoid, anon.
We dont't even know people can be infected by whatever this is.

>>4002049
They've got human biology compatible parasites that produce pheromones upon implantation, the captain mysteriously survived for quite some time despite the level he was on clearly NOT being exempt from contamination, our route to the escape pods was mysteriously free of opposition...I dunno, something's not lining up here.

>>4002055
We'll put him into quarantine on the Sparrow.
If we just off him and it turns out he wasn't infected, we'll be a murderer.

>>4002055

Is that a vote for shooting him anon?

>>4002057
So what? His actions got his entire crew killed and contributed to our men being killed as well.

>>4002069
That won't save us from a trial anon.
Just stick him into quarantine and have some eggheads poke him with scalpels on the next planet we stop at.

>>4002067
Nah, despite the fact that I think it's justified I'd like to see how this plays out.

>>4002044
>Refuse, you won’t stain the memory of your comrades like this.

Also, we already told Judit not to kill him. It'd be OOC to do so without an obvious need.

>>4002071
It's only our crew around here anon, nobody's gonna comment on one more body

>>4002077
They're gonna think we're a psycho though.

>>4002044
>Refuse, you won’t stain the memory of your comrades like this.

>>4002044
>>Refuse, you won’t stain the memory of your comrades like this.

>>4002079
You mean the crew that was asking us for permission to kill this selfsame guy not too long ago?

>>4002047
>>4002049
>>4002072
>>4002081
>>4002082

Locking vote

>Refuse, you won’t stain the memory of your comrades like this.

Writing™

>>4002090
Only a psycho commits a murder because he recognized a possible horror sci-fi setup.

>>4002092
“My people didn’t die to give me a raise. Keep your damn money.” You spit out. “The report is going to have exactly what happened on it.”

The captain deflates. “Are you sure there is no way we coul-“

“No.” You cut him off.

“Damn shame.”

His fist slams into your chin, rocking you in your seat. With a second hand he reaches for his handgun.

“As if I’d let some grunt with a numb brain ruin my career and reputation”

You struggle to gain your bearings, the blood loss still having an effect on you. Thanks to sheer muscle memory you plant a fist of your own in the man’s crotch, the first thing they teach you as a scout is that honor doesn’t exist.

The captain lurches forward from the pain, unfortunately gun in hand.

>Pull out your own pistol
>Try to shoot him with the rifle hanging across your chest
>Unbuckle your straps and jump on top of him, keeping his gun arm trapped under his own body

>>4002104
Now for this I agree we can kill him.

>Pull out your own pistol
The rifle might be faster, but I'm afraid of damaging something important as the bullet exits his worthless body.

>>4002104
>fire the rifle, its faster than pulling the pistol

>>4002104
>>Try to shoot him with the rifle hanging across your chest

agree with the anon above. the quicker we can fire, the better.

>>4002279
>>4002114
>>4002108

Locking vote.

>Try to shoot him with the rifle hanging across your chest

Writing™

>>4002284

You pull hard on the strap around your shoulder to give it some slack, offhand squeezing the trigger. The captain hurries to get a shot off on you but he misses, the bullet pinging off inside the pod. A lot more shots are coming from your weapon though, and it doesn’t matter if a few miss. You rake the entire left side of his body with fire, pieces of flesh hanging loose as you lift you rifle up to his head and blow it apart completely. The lights in the pod go off, including the tiny green light of the beacon.

You lean your head back and try to relax, to conserve oxygen. Must have hit some important stuff inside the pod, they are made to resist exterior damage more than internal. If the girls made it to Sparrow they will surely look for you. No way to tell time in the dark cold pod. A few hours maybe? The stink of the captain’s evacuated bowels makes your stomach turn, even in death he managed to find a way to make life more difficult for you. The cold slowly takes you, and you fall asleep.

“Lead! Lead wake up! Jesus fuck get him a fucking blanket he is freezing. Madl-NO! LIZZIE GET OFF!”

You wake to the sound of Judit, and the feeling of something furry and warm tickling your nose.

“Lizzie?” You groggily ask.

“He’s awake! Jesus fucking Christ Lead stop falling unconscious on me so much.” Judit says bringing you into a deep warm hug.

“What the fuck happened in that pod? Did he try to kill you?”

Beginning to explain what transpired you stand up, shooing the orange tabby cat off of you.

“Wanted all the glory for himself, you were right about him being greedy Judit. It just wasn’t about money.”

“You never listen to me! If we popped his bald head off when I said we should this wouldn’t have happened!”

From the ships cockpit a voice shouts.

“Lead! Capital ship on comms! What do we tell them?”

“We left the pod adrift far away from the Exalted. No one needs to know.”

“Right.” You get up and make your way to the cockpit, past Madlenka who is chugging as much alcohol as possible. Your orders, you remember.

“Sir what do we tell them?” The pilot of your ship asks again.

>The truth.
>Mostly the truth, the captain can remain forgotten for good.

>>4002348
>Mostly the truth, the captain can remain forgotten for good.
and dont forget to tell them to nuke the ship proper

>>4002348
>Mostly the truth, the captain can remain forgotten for good.
>>4002356
Why tho?

>>4002348
>Mostly the truth, the captain can remain forgotten for good.
>But tell them which stations Magdalene stopped. If the infestation was caught on one of them, someone else might catch it too.

Btw orange tabby cats are all male due to how the genetics of cat fur coloration work.

>>4002364
>>4002361
>>4002356

Locking vote

Writing™

>>4002368

“The truth. Mostly. The captain died with the crew, we steered the ship away from Magdalene. Judit, do you remember the places where the Exalted stopped?”

“A couple, he stopped in a lot of places.”

You sigh, thinking about other ships coming in contact with whatever that species was.

“This is team leader Jordan Hunt, reporting…”

You are placed on leave for a few days following the exploration of the Exalted, you mourn and move from office to office explaining exactly what the threat you were fighting was. Everyone presses you for as much information as possible, there is nothing more you can give them besides what you found out about the dart.

Time flew by, and you find yourself counting heads again.

Tatiana Judit, Andrea Madlenka, Cason Frank, Winslow Gully, Yume Coombs, and yourself. All accounted for…

(That's the end of recon quest! Feel free to ask me any questions and offer your critique. Thanks to everyone who voted!)

>>4002409
Can't believe the captain was a heeb and we just saved space europe!

>>4002409

This thread is now archived!

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/3993966/

>>4002409
>(That's the end of recon quest! Feel free to ask me any questions and offer your critique. Thanks to everyone who voted!)
As in it was an one shot?

>>4002409
So regardless of if we stayed with Samson instead of killing the tentacle thing, he still would have been taken and killed at that moment or later on? Was his shirt under the armor red?

What kind of armor were we wearing? It seemed so frail and fell apart after one or two hits from the alien attacks, sometimes less.
Was any of the stuff we wearing EVA capable for vacuum or exposure to space?

Did our guy get "promoted"? Surely after all of this we'd get a promotion or something, instead of a squad, we'd be bumped up to commanding a platoon or something.

Considering there were only two pods left (room for four) some people would have to stay on the ship after the pods left.

>>4002585
Well if an extra person can fit in it.... The retrieval boat wasn't that far off anyways.

>>4002522
I may have gotten Samson and Marcus mixed up.

>>4002514

Yes

>>4002522

I think you mean DeFresco, if you went after him you would have had the chance to save him, the dart was basically a tracker for the aliens, its why he got hit first.

You were wearing standard flak vests, it did block an alien claw once but remember that alien bones can cut into steel. you had EVA stuff but the ship didn't have any hull breaches so you didn't bring any.

Nope, you got the job done but lost a lot of people. Standard fare as far as Recon is concerned.

>>4002663
For a 6 man team to suffer %50 of total casualties is unbelievably fucked up, especially for smaller units. That's half the team, there must be some heavy physiological issues among veteran Recons if they live long enough must be intense.

Did we save any "samples" even residue bits that may have been splattered on us or something?

Did we send the ship to crash into the sun? I figure we could have marooned them on a barren rock. But we seemed to have glossed over it and moved pass without much thought.

>>4002663
OK, so how could we prevent Rosewood and Camson from dying?

>>4003792
By having others die in there place I assume.

>>4003507

It is very fucked up, It's why the main character was so awkward comforting Madlenka, he and Judit were simply used to people dying. The only part that truly pissed them off was the fact that it was the person they were supposed to help that did it. When DeFresco died Redwood lost his cool because he was a rookie. At the end group therapy was mentioned, Lead trusted a lot of Judit's calls without a second thought due to the nature of their shared experiences.

Yes but it's not much to go on, if you guys chose some of the other options when talking to the captain or when Judit was searching for info on the bridge you would have had more information to share.

Even if you did or didn't it's gonna run out of oxygen at some point, the aliens don't know how to operate a ship. They are also multiplying which will accelerate the rate at which air is going to run out.

>>4003792


Your first mistake was when you chose to go to the far right after the medbay, it was in the exact direction they went. Judit and the captain used the bridge doors to distract them for you. While you were healing up they managed to search a bit deeper and you guys ran headfirst into them. You then opted to avoid the one skulking around in the hallway which was sensible, if you chose the right people you could have killed silently and snuck past to the bridge. The best options were going to the far left, where you would have come in right behind them and would ahve had the chance to stealth behind and into the control room without a fight. At that point everyone sustained pretty major damage and was getting tired, only so much rookies can take.

>>4004012
I knew I should've actually looked at the map...

Aliens multiplying means they have to had some kind of food source.
I assume the former crew or some kind of foodstuffs in a hold somewhere because in order to increase you have to have some kind of food.
A lot of writers overlook this and just have hordes of aliens appear out of nowhere.

>>4004012
Well if the aliens run out of oxygen, then that's even better. Leaves us plenty of in tact samples.

>>4004846
Well so long as it isn't some bs like space radiation or sunlight.