Dead Space (FWC Halloween Thread)

[Laira Darkhold]

"Askari!" The Knight saw the creature spit, ensuring to raise her energy shield so that her face was behind it. Her eyes flashed blue with concern as she saw her companion injured. Rather than waiting for the beast to engage, the Knight decided to take matters into her own hands.

Dimeria charged forward, taking a much more direct route to attacking the creature than her lovely companion had. The Knight used her gauntlet shield like the warriors of old used their wooden round shields, bashing the creature as hard as she could in the side in the hopes of throwing it off balance. Her hopes, as she soon realized, were misguided. The creature barely shifted its weight following her charge, a mere half step backwards away from the warrior-woman.

Desperate to injury the creature, the golden armored vixen sprayed her flamethrower into the creature's chest, arcing the beam of fire upwards to engulf the monster's torso and head in flames. The acrid smell of burning metal and flesh consumed the hallway, the smoke of searing flesh choking the emergency ceiling lights, dimming the corridor. Enraged, but not slowing, the monstrous ghoul smashed the Knight in the shield sending Dimeria crashing against the far wall. Without a HUD, the huntress did not know for certain what was broken, but she knew that something was indeed injured. If they made it out of this, Askari and her would have to relax in a nice hot tub filled with bacta.

On the ship, Laira pulled herself out of the tandem mounted co-pilot's chair set behind the pilot seat so she could lean over Karina. "I won't play with the arm silly," Pulling herself over the shoulder of the chair, the redhead began pressing buttons on the dash. "Closed the back door." She didn't want any ghouls coming aboard and trapping the wounded Ranger and aristo in the cockpit without their warrior counterparts. Continuing to click buttons a screen appeared on the cockpit's windshield with a set of targeting reticles. "Ground Buzzer below you. That little joystick set on the control stick turns it. Screen is the target window." As she leaned backwards, she stopped and planted a quick peck on Karina's cheek. "You're welcome sweetcheeks."

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


Fortunately for Askari, Dimeria was tussling with the beast, which allowed the Eldorai to get back on her feet again without being stomped. However, she was in a good deal of pain. A pained cry escaped her lips. Luckily, the acid had not gotten into her eyes. But it had splashed onto one side of her face and ear, eating through flesh with relentless, ravenous hunger. Furthermore, her arm muscles had been affected.


The fabric of her robes provided no protection against the blistering acid. Her hands were trembling and she struggled to control them. Her Sarix fell out of her hands. "Goddess, give me strength," she said quietly, wincing as she felt a sharp pain in her ribs from the fall. But she refused to run away and give up. Sometimes, she had the stubbornness of a mule, especially in battle.


Calling upon the Sciia energies she could still muster, she willed their strength to flow through her legs. Breaking into a sprint, she raced up the wall and kicked herself off, landing on a beam above the beast, she breathed in deeply and jumped to land on the monster's shoulders. The great beast voiced its displeasure with a loud roar and tried to shake her off, but she dug in her heels with a Force-aided grip. Lacking her blade and unable to control the shaking enough to use her knife properly, she went for the next best thing. Toss a blazing lance of flame towards the beast's head.


On the ship, things were going well. "I am well aware of how to pilot a ship," Karina spoke indignantly. True to her word, she managed to power the vessel up. A look of irritation crossed her face when the peon planted a peck on her cheek! Slowly, the ship turned and began to move in the direction of the two warrior women, who were occupied fighting a rearguard action.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Yes, but this is my ship." Laira retorted playfully, taking her seat. "Ee Ex, meds please." Behind her a small droid reminiscent of a Pit Droid pulled itself out of a compartment to run off to the medbay with the intention of fetching the redheaded pilot shots of painkillers, disinfectants, and bacta for her injuries.

Dimeria groaned, pulling herself off the floor, the warrior took back to her feet. Ribs, definitely hurt ribs given how she felt a sharp pain every time she took a breath. Her companion threw a lance of fire into the creature's head, charring the meat down to the skull. That was certainly one way to kill a mindless ghoul, cook its brain.

Invigorated by her wounded compatriot, the golden armored Knight without her glorious scarlet cape, got a running start at the creature. With it distracted, the woman sprinted, chest heaving and pain driving through her lungs. When she approached, the woman dropped into a slide, drawing her Atrisian-style sword and slashing into the inside of the beasts knee, sliding between its legs.

As she exited the other side, the monster of a ghoul snatched the huntress by her black and purple top-knot and dragging her unwillingly back to the beast's front. She emitted a cry of pain as her full weight and that of her armor was being yanked by her hair.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


The gigantic ghoul's head was on fire, charred down to the skull. Its brain must have been hurt. However, overcome by pain Askari swayed. The enraged beast shook itself and roared in anger. Losing her balance, the Eldorai tried to hold on to the beast's huge shoulder, but her shaking hand could not find solid purchase.


The ghoul shook her off and she fell to the ground with a loud thud. She was lucky to avoid being stomped. Gathering the last of her Sciia energy, she did not manifest another fireball. Rather, she conjured a Force-based thermic lance, something that could heat and melt steel, and tossed it towards the beast. Either way, she was all but drained and exhausted now. Furthermore, her face was a mess now thanks to the acidic volley.


"And I am piloting it. So do not distract me," Karina retorted. For someone who'd lost an arm, the human was being awfully chatty. Either way the ship was shooting towards where Dimeria and Vaena were fighting the huge ghoul. The aristo looked just a bit concerned. She saw Askari fall to the ground, and Dimeria get snatched. Careful to avoid the Force Dead knight, she fired one of the laser cannons towards the beastie.

 

[Derrick Veltraa]

[member="Chekīta Kaie"]

Maybe he hadn't put enough thought into what the ghouls seemed capable of to worry over the chance they could open the blast doors. Still, he would hope most ships never had to worry about depressurization this deep into their superstructure. Rather than the depressurization, at that point the Rendili officer was more concerned whether the starship's frame could even bear the stress and collapse beneath the sudden force exerted on it by the destruction of so many supports and systems layered throughout the ship. Well at least they didn't have to worry about that themselves though, he would think with a cheeky grin. After all, no one was firing on the starliner yet. Not that he would put it past the response forces once the survivors were evacuated. It was much safer to reduce the cruiseliner to dust particles rather than attempt to clear and clean it. "Sticky is fine, it's slippery that worries me."

After all it would be fatal to slip and fall to be set upon by the monstrous creatures wandering the ship. At that point Captain Veltraa would rather his squad put a blaster bolt in him before he could be torn apart by jarring teeth and ragged claw. As the squad sweeped their lights across the hallway, Derrick called out once again for survivors to show themselves as they headed toward the security station. When howls returned his voice, the squad raised their blaster carbines and shined their lights on the approaching group of ghouls, blaster bolts ripping through the air as controlled bursts struck the corpse like beings in their heads and chests. "Ah, my bad. . . . .thought it might be clear to look for anyone else alive here. . . .guess it was presumptious to hope more hadn't wandered back where you came from."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira stuck out her bottom lip, visibly pouting at having been told off while she waited for her droid to return with her meds. She was especially looking forward to finding her way into her very comfortable bed with plush blankets and silk sheets. She was looking forward to her comfortable bed only slightly more than getting even with the aristo who had cost her a literally arm, but that might have to wait.

Dimeria, held aloft by the massive ghoul by her top-knot was most certainly not pleased. More than a little shallow she was very upset her fated companion's pristine looks had been damaged, not that it would stop her plans for the evening if they survived, but it would certainly lessen the enjoyment. Flailing with her arms, the golden knight slashed her atrisian sword into the creatures wrist forcing it to release her. However it followed up by quickly punching her as she fell to the ground, knocking the wind out of her and damaging her armor, caving in the chest piece to make it even harder to breath and cause her considerable pain.

Askari shot the creature with another very powerful heat blast, powerful enough to stagger the beast and become the envy of the Force Dead Knight. The creature staggered, swinging its arms wildly at nothing and thin air, groaning loudly in pain. It was dying, its brain cooking and its motor functions decaying every second. Laser cannons struck it seconds later, vaporizing chunks out of its body and its hulking arms. "Vaena, its time to go!" Dimeria shouted between painful breaths.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


Eldorai had a number of advantages over humans. They had a longer life span and were immune or more resistant to many diseases. Furthermore, they were agile, dexterous and had a greater ratio of Force-sensitives among their population. Alas, they were also less strong and durable.


At this point Vaena's body was a mass of pain. Every breath she took caused pain to spike inside her chest. The acid the massive ghoul had vomitted on her did not help. When she got up, she hobbled on one good leg, managing to keep herself from falling through sheer dumb stubbornness. Suffice to say her mood was quite poor.


Vile acid had burnt a portion of her face and an ear. Her motions were jerky and her hand trembled. Still, she forced hersef to walk, limping towards their waiting transport, which was busy spraying the hulking ghoul with laser cannon fire. Searing, ruby beams of destruction sliced through the monster, blowing away huge chunks of flesh. Her Sarix lay somewhere in the hangar, having been discarded earlier when she was tossed around.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira closed her eyes, accepting several doses of several drugs being jabbed into her arm, all of which caused a sharp pinch of pain followed by a sensation of relief. The little pit droid wrapped her charred severed stump in a bacta coated cloth, suturing it together. She would need to sit in the medbay to have the wound cleaned up and the pieces of burnt flesh removed and the damaged bones replaced. Eventually she would get a genetic replica made and have a transplant proceedure, but such things took time and weren't readily available. Metal-shaping would be on her list of things to work on learning right up there with Fold Space.

Dimeria hurt. Her chest had metal pressing her flat and damaged ribs, her spine might be herniated given how many times she had been thrown or smashed by the massive creature, but she was still up. "Come here," she slipped an arm around Vaena to help her move, frowning at how hurt her new friend was. "Let's get you to the medbay real quick." The ship hovered around before them, the underside of the beskar plated Rekali-class fitted with a retractable boarding tube that Dimeria made a bee line for.

While she was not normally much of a nurse, it seemed she would be playing that role for the foreseeable future. Perhaps her redheaded companion even had an outfit for it rather than her own bulky golden power armor.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


At this point Vaena was barely capable of walking, so the support was very appreciated. "Jacuzzi sounds pretty good right about now, doesn't it?" she asked sardonically, wincing in pain. A cracked rib gave her trouble, causing her to wheez and cough up blood. The transport hovered just before them, and Dimeria made a bee line for it, carrying Vaena along with her. As for nurse outfits, Vaena could think of a few nice ones. The boarding tube retracted, granting them entrance. Behind them, the giant monster had fallen to the ground. Massive chunks of flesh had been vaporised and it was lying in a pool of blood.


Attracted by all the noise, a large horde of snarling, hungry ghouls had entered the hangar. Smelling all the delicious meat, they stormed towards the ship. But they were met with salvoes of laser cannon fire, while the ship turned around and shot towards the hangar doors. There had been no time to unlock them, but a missile shot out of one of the ship's launchers, blowing them open and the transport shot out into the cold vacuum of space. Inside the belly of the transport, Askari staggered, muttered a prayer of thanks to the Goddess and fell to the ground.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Dimeria staggered around in the bottom compartment of the ship. The boarding tube unfortunately lead to the cargo bay beneath the living quarters. After only a moment the hatch opened and a droid began helping the two women aboard, strong enough to carry Vaena as needed if rather uncomfortably. "Take her to medbay for triage, I can handle myself." Dimeria told the droid, stomping through the ship with her metal sabatons pounding against the deck. "Laira, you okay?"

Laira groggily responded to the knight, "I'm fine." She said, slurring her words and her voice obviously on some very powerful painkillers mixed with antibiotics and medicines. "I'm just thinking about going to bed." The redhead started to stand, shakily and made her way to the closest door to the cockpit. The door opened and stayed open, revealing a very comfortable looking queen-sized bed dressed in plush blankets and silken sheets. Laira struggled a bit, but managed to get into her comfortable pjays before she collapsed on the bed.

The knight looked for a droid, but the only one was off helping Vaena with her burns and broken body parts. "Karina, could you check in on her every now and then? If you get tired, the couch in the galley pulls out to a bed." The knight seemed much kinder now that they were out of danger and Karina had proven herself capable of picking up responsibility. "I'll take care of Vaena." She pulled a closed garment bag out of Laira's closet with a grin and made her way back to the medical bay.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


Hooray! The party had escaped the zombie-infested dungeon. Anyhow, Vaena was sort of out of it since she'd fallen unconscious, and so the droid deposited her in the medbay for triage and all that. Meanwhile, Karina made herself useful by piloting the ship. She looked a bit offended at the prospect of sleeping in the galley, but made no snide comment. She would expect lots of fawning from her 'servants' when she got home, and probably embellish her role quite a bit.


"I shall check on her," she said. "Make sure Vaena recovers." She did not like her half-sister, but she did not like the alternatives who would probably take her place as duchess if something happened to her. Vaena was an annoying, preachey bumpkin who consorted with non-Eldorai peasants, but she was a known quantity.

 

[Chekīta Kaie]

Falling down on a regular floor was bad enough, but on a blood covered ground, with an unknown infection running around, and quick little bugger of undead passenger, slippery was not a welcome thing, though blood was not really like that, dried and coagulated blood was even less. Still it was best to step around it anyways, unless it offered some sort of camouflage against the things, but considering the boy she found covered in blood that may not have been so. "Well they are going to need one big mop to clean up this mess, that's if they don't nuke the ship".

Hopefully they didn't though, even if her medical know how was more suited for ending peoples lives then saving it, even she could understand the need to maybe find out more on this infection, maybe find a way to prevent it, so another attack like this does not occur again. He day dreaming was broken as the captain let out another holler for survivors, only to get a hallway full of infected, screaming and bolting down the hallway, "Well, time to get back to work". Crouching down along side the soldiers she let loose on the bull-pup carbine, controlled short burst aimed at their head, putting them down one by one, though it would be more ammo conservative to use single shot, often enough one would miss, so in her case burst was better.

Chetika gave a small giggle after all was over, giving the captain a pat on the back, "No actually, I think this is a good tactic, better to have them charge at us, giving away their position and letting us gun them down in droves then get ambushed by them a hoard and have no time to react, its safer, faster and allow for kill zones, I say keep it up, and if people hear us, all the better".

[member="Derrick Veltraa"]

 

[Derrick Veltraa]

[member="Chekīta Kaie"]

When the bodyguard gave her explanation for why calling out was a good thing, Derrick would have to say he was caught off guard. He certainly hadn't thought about the situation that way before. Up until then the Rendili Captain had figured he was putting himself and his squad at risk by drawing the ghouls attention wherever they were if they were nearby. However, he supposed Chekita was correct since they were all trained soldiers they were well prepared to tackle the incoming threat when they knew it was coming. "Although that still doesn't mean they are all showing up. There might be a few lingering around for all we know so we should keep an eye out for those stragglers even if they aren't the sort we're trying to look for in the first place." Laughing a little at the not really joke, Veltraa checked the ammunition in his blaster's power pack before replacing it. They were going to run out if they kept running into large hordes of ghouls too before they figured out how many survivors they still had to look for.

Not being the science sort himself, the Rendili officer was all for nuking the ship once any living passengers were evacuated. Of course he would fully believe whatever was behind the mess would disappear with the slag, without thinking about potential future outbreaks or attacks considering how nightmareish this one seemed as it was already. "Oh I just had a thought, you wouldn't happen to have encountered any security personnel would you Chekita? it would speed up getting into the security station and any terminals if we had their passcodes or id signatures."

 

[Chekīta Kaie]

As the group continued down the hallway Chekita checked her ammunition, she was not one to trust personal belongings to others, and thus had packed all her heavy equipment and ammunition away with her. With the break out happening, she had donned her armor and as much bullets that could be physically held, without causing to much encumbered, though slowly she was running dry, down to only 4 clips for her carbine, and a few mags for her side arm. "Yer stragglers are a potential problem, a motion detector would be good right about now would do nicely, as for bumping into circuity, yes I did actually, found a few... already dead bodies, seems a few either shot themselves, or where to badly hurt to be turned".

"Either way there should be a few bodies just up a head, a small makeshift barricade was made from what looks like them trying to make a stand, probably explain where that guy who was knocking at my door came from". She motioned ahead and started to lead the group down a different corridor, coming to a fallen bodies of both infected and guards laying about, "Most of their weapons where dry, save for a few side arms, which I gave to that other boy I met, but their is a good chance they still are carrying their ID cards and other identification, maybe bring a hand along with us in-case of finger print scanners".

[member="Derrick Veltraa"]

 

[Derrick Veltraa]

[member="Chekīta Kaie"]

Would a motion detector detect one of the straggling ghouls though if it wasn't moving, perhaps laying still within a swath of corpses. If it were then how would a motion detector pick up the infected before it managed to harm someone in that case. As far as the Rendili Captain was concerned he was just ready to hope for the best as it was rather than worry anymore. So instead he laughed as was his won't, grinning at the bodyguard with his squad. "Well I suppose while its not the best encouragement, everyone here might want to follow their example should the worst come to pass. Although if anyone needs we could draw straws for who needs to take care of who if anyone gets infected. Might even take the edge off of worrying knowing you got a friend ready to help you out if the bad end comes around."

Following Chekita's lead as she lead the defense force unit toward the security station, Derrick's eyes wandered over the carnage of a past engagement. The starliner's security force for the level seemed to have tried making a decent final stand in the corridor, surrounded by a number of corpses of the infected. Still, owing to his earlier worry, Veltraa didn't hesitate to look for any ghouls that didn't look like they went down from headshots and put single blaster bolts into each of them until he was satisfied. "Look for an already severed one if you can then, Alis grab the card off the security officer with the highest clearance here. Everyone else setup a watch for any ghouls that wander this way. We're not too far now. Just grab the passcodes, get into the station, and use the terminal to do a lifesign scan and comm check."