Episode 16 - Rodeo
Does Morgan order them to follow after the fleeing person?
(50/50 | 5[d10]) No, but...
But she'll have them get defensive.
----
"Hold your position!" Lt Morgan shouted from a crouched position. Her eyes followed the fleeing shape as it disappeared into the green gloom of the ship's interior. "No one fires unless attacked!" She had pulled out her own service pistol, one strand of her graying hair drifted in front of her eyes and she gave a terse blow of air to move it. "Corporal, we need to get in a defensive position. We don't know who or who is out there!"
Corporal Whately motioned for Pvt. Chubbs and Claxton to move behind trusses on one side. They nodded, moving off in a crouch, and settled down with the dull thud of polycarbonate weapons knocking against metal armor. They kept with their backs to the outside so they could fall back out of the ship if needed.
"A person..." Elliot said in awe shoving a hand through his hair. He was leaning forward, half crouching, peering into the darkness. "Did you guys see that? A real person. Here! We found aliens! The first ever! We'll be famous."
"If we get out alive," Chubbs muttered. "Probably ain't human. Probably has fangs or claws or somethin' nasty. Probably--"
"Geez, cheer up, Chubbs," Claxton said. "It had two feet just like you, not like some squid thing. Count your blessings. Plus, it isn't raining anymore."
"Yeah, that's the other thing," Chubbs said, still not mollified. "We're in a freakin' rain forest and no rain! Doesn't that feel off to you? What would McCoy say about that do you think."
That sobered everyone up for a moment and silence descended
"He'd probably quote something you couldn't understand from one of his science books," Claxton jibed.
Chubbs flicked away a large multi-colored bug that looked to be something like a cross between a tarantula and a scorpion and frowned. "Everything here has freakin' fangs."
"Quiet!" Corporal Whately ordered. They listened.
"I think it was more scared of us," Ardelle said. "I don't think it had a gun. Might have had some primitive weapons though."
"Out here, primitive is all you need," Chubbs muttered. "That snake thing did just fine without guns. One bite and you're just as dead."
Ardelle swallowed and looked away.
"What do you think it is, Ardelle? Don't you think that foot looked human? I bet--"
Ardelle grabbed Elliot's sleeve and pulled him down. "Get down..."
He nodded, settling in next to her, excitement still written clearly across his face.
Shafts of sunlight cut through through the cavernous insides at irregular intervals, throwing much of the interior into a green gloom. Further in, it grew even more obscure. More dank and dark. Cables hung snake like from shattered floors above. The darkened interior of the mammoth ship felt like some huge cave but there was enough couldn't hear anything except for the buzzing of insects, chirping birds, the trickle of water.
A sudden roar from deep within the bowels of the darkened interior echoed around them and the multi-colored birds that had settled above them cross beams flew out in a cacophony of cawing and fluttering wings.
"What was that?" Lt. Morgan asked.
Private McCoy just shook his head and instead raised his rifle to his chin as the roar grew louder.
In the distance, a lithe shape ran towards them out of the darkness arms flailing, as it stumbled over a root, crying out in obvious fear. It clutched its side, running pell mell towards them.
"What the--?" Claxton said.
"It's the alien!" Elliot said excitement evident in his voice.
"But what's that following it?" Ardelle asked, centering her weapon on the approaching shapes.
A large shape rumbled behind the smaller bipedal figure and emerged from the darkness. It stopped in a shaft of light, sniffing the air. Large claws on muscular limbs churned up the soft earth. It's head was angular, even diamond-like in shape. And its head bore two horns. One, atop its head, glistened wetly as a dark viscous substance oozed down its length. Massive teeth the size of Ardelle's forearm gleamed in the light. It rose up on powerful hind legs and let out a massive roar. The tresses about them seemed to shudder. It's forearms raked the air, not unlike a large mountain cat. It was lithe like one too.
"Fangs..." Chubbs said. "Didn't I tell you? Everything has fangs!"
Does this person lead them to others?
(50/50 | 1[d10]) No, and...
And ... MAG. It shows:
flask w/ liquid, ring of fire, cell, being of light, timebomb, raincoat, target, beast with horns, jeweled cup.
and... it sounds like she leads something to them.
I the person male?
(50/50 | 5[d10]) No, but...
No but a strong female... Right ho.
Sounds like to me like a big jungle beastie with unusual biology (cell structure), hears the commotion, and thinks... Lunch! (beast with horns + target) and the person runs back towards them, beast in tow.
What is unusual about the horned beast?
Violently / Mundane
It's particularly violent -- prob more than your rather mundane beast.
What's it's unusual biology?
Carefully / Exotic
Exotic. It's rare... But it's also
Fearfully / Masculine
It's careful... I'll say that means cunning. And fearfully masculine. Alpha male kind of beast with razor sharp fangs, claws, and horns. Got it. Stay away from the pointy ends...
The creature suddenly launched itself towards them, leaping over the fallen bipedal being, but instead of running straight at them, it darted and zig-zagged towards them, as if using the metallic tresses for cover.
"Look how it's moving," Ardelle said in awe. She felt a tremor in her voice.
"Open fire!" Corporal Whately ordered.
Spears of light lanced out towards the large creature.
--- Combat - Round 1 ---
Here's the creature I came up with:
Horned Beast, Large S: 6, C: 3, Q: 2, H:15, D:8, Mv: 30
Sk: Charge, Trample 2 (Damage 3), Horned Maul or Claw 3 (Damage 4), Bite 2 (Damage 5)
The humans get one round of attacks against the creature since they saw him at a distance and have range on him. After that, he'll be among them and we go at initiative order. I'll give the creature +1 to its defense this round for using the trusses as cover, so its effective defense is 9 this round.
Here are the stats for Pvt Claxton and Chubs:
Pvt Claxton (USCN/EarthForce) S 4, C 2, Q 2, H 10, D 11, Mv 20, Sk Bludgeon
1, Shooting 3, Bruiser 2, Spacer 1, Perception 1 X 70
Pvt Chubbs (USCN/EarthForce) S 5, C 1, Q 1, H 11, D 11, Mv 20, Sk Bludgeon
1, Shooting 3, Bruiser 2, Spacer 1 X 70
Corporal Whately (USCN/EarthForce) S 3, C 2, Q 2, H 10, D 11, Mv 20, Sk Bludgeon
1, Shooting 3, Bruiser 2, Spacer 1, Command 1, Perception 1 X 70
Whately shoots:
Clever 2 + Shooting 3 = 5 + 6 = 6[d6] = 11 (that's a hit for 2 + 7 rifle = 9 damage)
Claxton shoots:
Clever 2 + Shooting 3 = 5 + 2 = 2[d6] = 7 (that's a miss)
Chubbs shoots:
Clever 1 + Shooting 3 = 4 + 1 = 1[d6] = 5 (that's a miss)
Ardelle shoots:
Clever 2 + Shooting 1 = 3 + 5 = 5[d6] = 8 (barely a miss)
Lt Morgan shoots:
Clever 3 + shooting 1 = 4 + 3 = 3[d6] = 7 (miss)
Whately's Initiative:
1 = 1[d6] + 2 = 3
Claxton's Initiative:
1 = 1[d6] + 2 = 3
Chubbs Initiative:
1 = 1[d6] +2 = 3
Horned Beast Init:
4 = 4[d6] + 2 = 6
Ardelle
2 = 2[d6] + 2 = 4
Lt. Morgan
5 = 5[d6] + 1 = 6
--- Combat - Round 2 ---
Lt Morgan shoots won the initiative and goes first:
Clever 3 + shooting 1 = 4 + 2 = 2[d6] = 6 (miss)
Horned beast goes next... It rushes towards someone. Who? Does it go for the closest warriors?
(Likely | 7[d10]) Yes
1 - Pfc Claxton
2 - Pfc Chubbs
3 - Cpl Whately
We'll roll a 1d3
2 = 2[d3]
Towards Pfc Chubbs... poor guy
Strength (6) + Trample (2) = 8 + 3 = 3[d6]
It gets an 11 vs Chubb's current defense of 10 (normally, Chubbs'd have an 11 with powered combat armor, but he just has his normal ablative armor that adds 1 to defense and -1 to move). So it hits by 1 and gives 4 damage. Chubbs has a health of 11 and has 7 health remaining.
---
Does Chubbs lose his rifle?
(50/50 | 10[d10]) Yes, and...
And shots go spraying...
----
Ardelle leveled her weapon and shot with the others. The powerful energy bolts rained down around the beast, and some were deflected by his creative use of the available cover. Aredelle's shot went wide, but thankfully, a burst of pulse shots from one of the marines scored a hit. The shots slammed into the creatures side, punching through its thick hide and it slammed into a truss with a clang. Red blood oozed out from the hits, but it only slowed momentarily. It shook its head, bellowed in either pain or frustration or defiance, and continued it's rumbling charge towards them.
In front of her and to the left, she saw Pfc Chubbs curse as the beast wheeled around a truss and came at him. Chubbs fired shot after shot at it, but the large creature darted quickly among the metal pillars in and out of pockets of light, its feet churned up dark moist earth. Other shots smacked the ground or the nearby truss. The creature lowered its head and barreled into Pfc Chubbs with bone-crunching force. Clods of dark earth flew into the air and blue pulse shots sprayed up into the vastness above them from Chubbs's rifle before it flew from his hands. The beast continued to charge headlong past Chubb's position, but the man was no longer there. Ardelle saw that he had grabbed hold of the massive horn atop its head to avoid being trampled under foot. He held on as the beast ran with him.
"Private, get clear!" Corporal Whately yelled his rifle centered the charging beast as hit continued the charge past them.
Private Chubbs either ignored him or couldn't hear him, because Ardelle saw that he held onto the horn with one arm, and with his other, he yanked tore his combat knife out of the belt and tried to slam it into into the beast's neck.
Chubbs needs get a 9 to beat the defense of 8 and hit and damage the creature with his knife.
Strength (5) + 1d6 (rolled a 3) = 8
But try as he might, the knife only scored the beast's thick armor. The others held their fire, waiting for a clear shot.
The beast tossed it's massive diamond-shaped head trying to toss the large man.
Strength (5) + Bruiser (2) + 1d6 check to hold on. (This is unarmed combat, like grappling falls into this category). I'll say it's going to be very difficult TN of 10 but if he beats it, he'll be atop the beast and will have advantage for next turn.
He rolled a 5 for a 12. Success.
But private Chubbs hung on, and was soon atop the creature. As the beast rampaged about, Chubbs somehow managed to hang on like a cowboy from some old-fashioned rodeo, he attempted to plunge the knife down into the beast's massive eye.
Strength 5 + 2 advantage = 7 + 1d6 (he rolled a 5) for a 12. That's 4 points past the creature's defense. So he gives 5 (strength) + 4 = 9 total damage. The creature was already wounded before...
With a roar, Pfc Chubbs held on with his left hand, and with all his might slammed the long knife in his right hand into the creature's eye large. With little resistance from such a soft target, the blade sank up past the blade and into the creature's brain. He stumbled and fell as Chubbs attempted to leap free.
TN of 6 to roll with it and not take any damage.
Quickness 1 + 1 Bruiser = 2 + 1d6 (he rolled a 4) so he meets the TN of 6. No damage.
The instant Chubbs leaped free, a torrent of fire slashed the darkness and impacted against the heaving sides of the quivering beast. Pulse shots penetrated the thick hide in a few dozen dozen places, and soon it wasn't moving at all. The charred flesh where the powerful energy bolts had slammed into it, emitted acrid tendrils of smoke that drifted lazily around the fallen creature.
"Hold your fire!"
"I think you all got it," Elliot said peeking up over the truss.
"When I say get free, you get free Private." Corporal Whately said, concern on his face as he strode up to Private Chubbs and helped him to his feet. Chubbs's armor was scraped and dented in half a dozen places and some armored plates had been torn away completely.
"Sorry Corporal," Chubbs said with a wan smile. He staggered slightly and had to hold onto Whately. "I think maybe it hit my head. Probably impeded my judgement or somethin'."
"Huh. I didn't think there was much up there to begin with," Claxton said good naturedly as he punched him in his shoulder with a bong sound and handed Chubbs his rifle. "uhh you can get your own knife. I ain't reachin' in there."
"Hah hah. Very funny," Chubbs said and once he had steadied walked over and reached into the ocular cavity and pulled out the melee weapon. He wiped it on his trousers as best he could and slid it back into its scabbard.
"You okay, Private?" Corporal Whately asked.
"Good to go, Corporal," Pfc Chubbs said with a grunt.
"Gutsy what you did there," Whately said clapping him on one shoulder. Then he turned back to Lt. Morgan. "Lieutenant, let's hope there aren't many more of those things. While Private Chubbs is an army unto himself, it's best not to take chances."
"Agreed," Lt. Morgan said.
"What about it?" Elliot said, pointing.
Lt. Morgan's gaze swept passed Elliot, past Chubbs, past the beast then further into the interior of the ruined ship where it settled on the humanoid shape twisted in pain. "Let's find out what's going on here."
Does Morgan order them to follow after the fleeing person?
(50/50 | 5[d10]) No, but...
But she'll have them get defensive.
----
"Hold your position!" Lt Morgan shouted from a crouched position. Her eyes followed the fleeing shape as it disappeared into the green gloom of the ship's interior. "No one fires unless attacked!" She had pulled out her own service pistol, one strand of her graying hair drifted in front of her eyes and she gave a terse blow of air to move it. "Corporal, we need to get in a defensive position. We don't know who or who is out there!"
Corporal Whately motioned for Pvt. Chubbs and Claxton to move behind trusses on one side. They nodded, moving off in a crouch, and settled down with the dull thud of polycarbonate weapons knocking against metal armor. They kept with their backs to the outside so they could fall back out of the ship if needed.
"A person..." Elliot said in awe shoving a hand through his hair. He was leaning forward, half crouching, peering into the darkness. "Did you guys see that? A real person. Here! We found aliens! The first ever! We'll be famous."
"If we get out alive," Chubbs muttered. "Probably ain't human. Probably has fangs or claws or somethin' nasty. Probably--"
"Geez, cheer up, Chubbs," Claxton said. "It had two feet just like you, not like some squid thing. Count your blessings. Plus, it isn't raining anymore."
"Yeah, that's the other thing," Chubbs said, still not mollified. "We're in a freakin' rain forest and no rain! Doesn't that feel off to you? What would McCoy say about that do you think."
That sobered everyone up for a moment and silence descended
"He'd probably quote something you couldn't understand from one of his science books," Claxton jibed.
Chubbs flicked away a large multi-colored bug that looked to be something like a cross between a tarantula and a scorpion and frowned. "Everything here has freakin' fangs."
"Quiet!" Corporal Whately ordered. They listened.
"I think it was more scared of us," Ardelle said. "I don't think it had a gun. Might have had some primitive weapons though."
"Out here, primitive is all you need," Chubbs muttered. "That snake thing did just fine without guns. One bite and you're just as dead."
Ardelle swallowed and looked away.
"What do you think it is, Ardelle? Don't you think that foot looked human? I bet--"
Ardelle grabbed Elliot's sleeve and pulled him down. "Get down..."
He nodded, settling in next to her, excitement still written clearly across his face.
Shafts of sunlight cut through through the cavernous insides at irregular intervals, throwing much of the interior into a green gloom. Further in, it grew even more obscure. More dank and dark. Cables hung snake like from shattered floors above. The darkened interior of the mammoth ship felt like some huge cave but there was enough couldn't hear anything except for the buzzing of insects, chirping birds, the trickle of water.
A sudden roar from deep within the bowels of the darkened interior echoed around them and the multi-colored birds that had settled above them cross beams flew out in a cacophony of cawing and fluttering wings.
"What was that?" Lt. Morgan asked.
Private McCoy just shook his head and instead raised his rifle to his chin as the roar grew louder.
In the distance, a lithe shape ran towards them out of the darkness arms flailing, as it stumbled over a root, crying out in obvious fear. It clutched its side, running pell mell towards them.
"What the--?" Claxton said.
"It's the alien!" Elliot said excitement evident in his voice.
"But what's that following it?" Ardelle asked, centering her weapon on the approaching shapes.
A large shape rumbled behind the smaller bipedal figure and emerged from the darkness. It stopped in a shaft of light, sniffing the air. Large claws on muscular limbs churned up the soft earth. It's head was angular, even diamond-like in shape. And its head bore two horns. One, atop its head, glistened wetly as a dark viscous substance oozed down its length. Massive teeth the size of Ardelle's forearm gleamed in the light. It rose up on powerful hind legs and let out a massive roar. The tresses about them seemed to shudder. It's forearms raked the air, not unlike a large mountain cat. It was lithe like one too.
"Fangs..." Chubbs said. "Didn't I tell you? Everything has fangs!"
Does this person lead them to others?
(50/50 | 1[d10]) No, and...
And ... MAG. It shows:
flask w/ liquid, ring of fire, cell, being of light, timebomb, raincoat, target, beast with horns, jeweled cup.
and... it sounds like she leads something to them.
I the person male?
(50/50 | 5[d10]) No, but...
No but a strong female... Right ho.
Sounds like to me like a big jungle beastie with unusual biology (cell structure), hears the commotion, and thinks... Lunch! (beast with horns + target) and the person runs back towards them, beast in tow.
What is unusual about the horned beast?
Violently / Mundane
It's particularly violent -- prob more than your rather mundane beast.
What's it's unusual biology?
Carefully / Exotic
Exotic. It's rare... But it's also
Fearfully / Masculine
It's careful... I'll say that means cunning. And fearfully masculine. Alpha male kind of beast with razor sharp fangs, claws, and horns. Got it. Stay away from the pointy ends...
The creature suddenly launched itself towards them, leaping over the fallen bipedal being, but instead of running straight at them, it darted and zig-zagged towards them, as if using the metallic tresses for cover.
"Look how it's moving," Ardelle said in awe. She felt a tremor in her voice.
"Open fire!" Corporal Whately ordered.
Spears of light lanced out towards the large creature.
--- Combat - Round 1 ---
Here's the creature I came up with:
Horned Beast, Large S: 6, C: 3, Q: 2, H:15, D:8, Mv: 30
Sk: Charge, Trample 2 (Damage 3), Horned Maul or Claw 3 (Damage 4), Bite 2 (Damage 5)
The humans get one round of attacks against the creature since they saw him at a distance and have range on him. After that, he'll be among them and we go at initiative order. I'll give the creature +1 to its defense this round for using the trusses as cover, so its effective defense is 9 this round.
Here are the stats for Pvt Claxton and Chubs:
Pvt Claxton (USCN/EarthForce) S 4, C 2, Q 2, H 10, D 11, Mv 20, Sk Bludgeon
1, Shooting 3, Bruiser 2, Spacer 1, Perception 1 X 70
Pvt Chubbs (USCN/EarthForce) S 5, C 1, Q 1, H 11, D 11, Mv 20, Sk Bludgeon
1, Shooting 3, Bruiser 2, Spacer 1 X 70
Corporal Whately (USCN/EarthForce) S 3, C 2, Q 2, H 10, D 11, Mv 20, Sk Bludgeon
1, Shooting 3, Bruiser 2, Spacer 1, Command 1, Perception 1 X 70
Whately shoots:
Clever 2 + Shooting 3 = 5 + 6 = 6[d6] = 11 (that's a hit for 2 + 7 rifle = 9 damage)
Claxton shoots:
Clever 2 + Shooting 3 = 5 + 2 = 2[d6] = 7 (that's a miss)
Chubbs shoots:
Clever 1 + Shooting 3 = 4 + 1 = 1[d6] = 5 (that's a miss)
Ardelle shoots:
Clever 2 + Shooting 1 = 3 + 5 = 5[d6] = 8 (barely a miss)
Lt Morgan shoots:
Clever 3 + shooting 1 = 4 + 3 = 3[d6] = 7 (miss)
Whately's Initiative:
1 = 1[d6] + 2 = 3
Claxton's Initiative:
1 = 1[d6] + 2 = 3
Chubbs Initiative:
1 = 1[d6] +2 = 3
Horned Beast Init:
4 = 4[d6] + 2 = 6
Ardelle
2 = 2[d6] + 2 = 4
Lt. Morgan
5 = 5[d6] + 1 = 6
--- Combat - Round 2 ---
Lt Morgan shoots won the initiative and goes first:
Clever 3 + shooting 1 = 4 + 2 = 2[d6] = 6 (miss)
Horned beast goes next... It rushes towards someone. Who? Does it go for the closest warriors?
(Likely | 7[d10]) Yes
1 - Pfc Claxton
2 - Pfc Chubbs
3 - Cpl Whately
We'll roll a 1d3
2 = 2[d3]
Towards Pfc Chubbs... poor guy
Strength (6) + Trample (2) = 8 + 3 = 3[d6]
It gets an 11 vs Chubb's current defense of 10 (normally, Chubbs'd have an 11 with powered combat armor, but he just has his normal ablative armor that adds 1 to defense and -1 to move). So it hits by 1 and gives 4 damage. Chubbs has a health of 11 and has 7 health remaining.
---
Does Chubbs lose his rifle?
(50/50 | 10[d10]) Yes, and...
And shots go spraying...
----
Ardelle leveled her weapon and shot with the others. The powerful energy bolts rained down around the beast, and some were deflected by his creative use of the available cover. Aredelle's shot went wide, but thankfully, a burst of pulse shots from one of the marines scored a hit. The shots slammed into the creatures side, punching through its thick hide and it slammed into a truss with a clang. Red blood oozed out from the hits, but it only slowed momentarily. It shook its head, bellowed in either pain or frustration or defiance, and continued it's rumbling charge towards them.
In front of her and to the left, she saw Pfc Chubbs curse as the beast wheeled around a truss and came at him. Chubbs fired shot after shot at it, but the large creature darted quickly among the metal pillars in and out of pockets of light, its feet churned up dark moist earth. Other shots smacked the ground or the nearby truss. The creature lowered its head and barreled into Pfc Chubbs with bone-crunching force. Clods of dark earth flew into the air and blue pulse shots sprayed up into the vastness above them from Chubbs's rifle before it flew from his hands. The beast continued to charge headlong past Chubb's position, but the man was no longer there. Ardelle saw that he had grabbed hold of the massive horn atop its head to avoid being trampled under foot. He held on as the beast ran with him.
"Private, get clear!" Corporal Whately yelled his rifle centered the charging beast as hit continued the charge past them.
Private Chubbs either ignored him or couldn't hear him, because Ardelle saw that he held onto the horn with one arm, and with his other, he yanked tore his combat knife out of the belt and tried to slam it into into the beast's neck.
Chubbs needs get a 9 to beat the defense of 8 and hit and damage the creature with his knife.
Strength (5) + 1d6 (rolled a 3) = 8
But try as he might, the knife only scored the beast's thick armor. The others held their fire, waiting for a clear shot.
The beast tossed it's massive diamond-shaped head trying to toss the large man.
Strength (5) + Bruiser (2) + 1d6 check to hold on. (This is unarmed combat, like grappling falls into this category). I'll say it's going to be very difficult TN of 10 but if he beats it, he'll be atop the beast and will have advantage for next turn.
He rolled a 5 for a 12. Success.
But private Chubbs hung on, and was soon atop the creature. As the beast rampaged about, Chubbs somehow managed to hang on like a cowboy from some old-fashioned rodeo, he attempted to plunge the knife down into the beast's massive eye.
Strength 5 + 2 advantage = 7 + 1d6 (he rolled a 5) for a 12. That's 4 points past the creature's defense. So he gives 5 (strength) + 4 = 9 total damage. The creature was already wounded before...
With a roar, Pfc Chubbs held on with his left hand, and with all his might slammed the long knife in his right hand into the creature's eye large. With little resistance from such a soft target, the blade sank up past the blade and into the creature's brain. He stumbled and fell as Chubbs attempted to leap free.
TN of 6 to roll with it and not take any damage.
Quickness 1 + 1 Bruiser = 2 + 1d6 (he rolled a 4) so he meets the TN of 6. No damage.
The instant Chubbs leaped free, a torrent of fire slashed the darkness and impacted against the heaving sides of the quivering beast. Pulse shots penetrated the thick hide in a few dozen dozen places, and soon it wasn't moving at all. The charred flesh where the powerful energy bolts had slammed into it, emitted acrid tendrils of smoke that drifted lazily around the fallen creature.
"Hold your fire!"
"I think you all got it," Elliot said peeking up over the truss.
"When I say get free, you get free Private." Corporal Whately said, concern on his face as he strode up to Private Chubbs and helped him to his feet. Chubbs's armor was scraped and dented in half a dozen places and some armored plates had been torn away completely.
"Sorry Corporal," Chubbs said with a wan smile. He staggered slightly and had to hold onto Whately. "I think maybe it hit my head. Probably impeded my judgement or somethin'."
"Huh. I didn't think there was much up there to begin with," Claxton said good naturedly as he punched him in his shoulder with a bong sound and handed Chubbs his rifle. "uhh you can get your own knife. I ain't reachin' in there."
"Hah hah. Very funny," Chubbs said and once he had steadied walked over and reached into the ocular cavity and pulled out the melee weapon. He wiped it on his trousers as best he could and slid it back into its scabbard.
"You okay, Private?" Corporal Whately asked.
"Good to go, Corporal," Pfc Chubbs said with a grunt.
"Gutsy what you did there," Whately said clapping him on one shoulder. Then he turned back to Lt. Morgan. "Lieutenant, let's hope there aren't many more of those things. While Private Chubbs is an army unto himself, it's best not to take chances."
"Agreed," Lt. Morgan said.
"What about it?" Elliot said, pointing.
Lt. Morgan's gaze swept passed Elliot, past Chubbs, past the beast then further into the interior of the ruined ship where it settled on the humanoid shape twisted in pain. "Let's find out what's going on here."
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