-=-Party Hard in Hard Vacuum-=-
MEANWHILE, IN SPACE
Part 42
43-F Start
41-H Wrecked Section
43-H Local Scan Control
43-I Atmosphere Purged XENOS PRESENT
43-J Atmosphere Purged XENOS PRESENT
43-K HUMANS PRESENT
43-L HUMANS PRESENT CURRENT LOCATION
44-H Local Life Support
44-I Former Dead Section
45-I Former Dead Section
6 Engineers
5 Stormtroopers
7 Armed Crew
Your good feeling about the engineers was well founded, and a brief inspection confirms that they were just modulating the plasma flux or something. Your own engineers explain that this is a good thing, and assist them in finishing up. Once everyone is paying attention, you begin an impromptu speech. You should really write these down ahead of time.
"Heroes of the Imperium! Though you were unprepared and assailed by unspeakable horrors, you took up arms against the xenos and acquitted yourselves with such distinction that they turned tail and fled! Your actions have saved this ship and brought glory to yourselves, your Captain, and your Emperor! On the behalf of Lord General Verhoff, you have the thanks of every Imperial soldier aboard. The Emperor protects!
My staff will give each of you a brief medical scan and any treatment you may require, and then it would be my honour to escort you back to safe decks, where I am certain Captain Meer will have you richly rewarded.As they begin shuffling into a line to be scanned and treated, you open a link to the Lord General. There's a lot of lasfire and screeching. He seems happy, though.
Lord General Verhoff"It's a bit busy to hold a conversation right now, but we've almost got the beast! It's on the run and trying to find a deck to nest on, but with the shipboard scans online there's nowhere for it to hide. I'll have my trophy yet!"Well, that sounds promising. You try the Chartist-Captain, and quickly give a rundown of the progress you've made.
Chartist-Captain MeerGood work, Commissar. I dare say you've saved us a lot of pain by getting those systems back. We're in contact with the Imperial Navy, they should be in-system in a few hours and they sounded impressed about how we handled that bio-ship. Anyway, clean up any messes you've made down there and get back up here before something else breaks and floods the compartment with reactor fuel.Looking across the shrinking group of survivors waiting to be tested, you notice one looking unusually calm. Now, it's not the most usual of circumstances, but at the moment everyone else is either stressed due to the invasion by ravenous bio-weapons, or ecstatic about the rescue and glory of it all. Yes, this fellow is very suspicious. He looks around carefully, and for one chilling moment your eyes lock together. Quick as an ogryn at a mess hall, you draw your laspistol and fire a volley of shots at him, just as he reaches into his coverall pockets. At close range against an easy target even this unfocused barrage strikes home.
He is spun about by the impact of the shots, a detonator flying out of his hands as your lasbolts take great steaming bites out of his arm and head. Before he even hits the ground, a piercing shriek hits your tender nerves and the sound of clattering claws fills the air.