Log:Defiance: The Girls Get Crabs

Defiance: The Girls Get Crabs

Location: Mining Planetoid GF-25
Participants: Defiance, Kasia Ciph, Sapphira Tavers with Jehni'va Cihn as GM

The short story: The ladies of Defiance get crabby and sell crystal.
The long story:

Girl's Day! The Defiance ladies are taking one for the team, strapped in aboard the Hotbox with a completely legitimate claim to riches. Nyla and Jehn have somehow managed to convince them to follow along on something that is 'totally, 100% a good idea, we promise'. "So, basically -" Jehn's voice crackles over the comms to the cargo hold, where any other lady DBAGs (SheBAGS, if you will) may be hitching a ride. "- Our intel told us that a successful mining operation at these coordinates was suddenly abandoned. They left behind a few stocks of Etren crystals in the process - the place is uninhabited (as far as we know) so we should be able to swing in, find the rocks, and sell them for a bitchin' sum." Why was this operation so suddenly abandoned? What source could /Jehni'va and Nyla/ possibly have?! Oh the poor, dumb fools who agreed to come along.
"We're about to drop out of hyperspace; if you have to pee, do so now. "

Kasia is here. Why is Space Mom here? Probably to make sure that space children don't get space killed doing something TOO crazy, also she might be a little bit crazy too. She married Hex, so, you know... "Sounds simple," she remarks, but in that cautious way, because she's been involved with enough of Hex's plans to know that it's never that simple.

"That does sound easy," Sapphira Tavers says to whatever poor SheBAG it is that happens to be seated beside her. Sapphira is dressed today in fitted black pants with a green blouse tucked in, and she's got her gun holstered on her hip. Her red hair is braided down her back. And naturally she's wearing her makeup, whore red lipstick and all. That bruise on her face is still healing, but she no longer looks like the last bitch standing at fight club, so that's something. "Not terribly exciting, but easy enough. I wonder why they abandoned it," Sapphira comment (to whom? Whoever is seated next to her. YOU DECIDE!). It's not said so much as a question to the plan itself, but rather a general, idle rumination.

Nyla Forr is snoring in the copilot's chair. She's not exactly the 'girls day out' type and has chosen to nap on the way there. Jehn's announcement to the small crew jerks her away with a snort. "Huh? We there?" she asks, wiping the droll from her chin with the back of her hand. Nyla's eyes blink a few times, attempting to work out the crust that had formed. "Pro'lly because of some sort of death plague," Nyla yawns. Sudden their coms begin to beep. "Right on time," Nyla says to Jehn and taps the small holojector image up on deck. The figure is a small, furred alien. It's long and lean with an arched neck and a otter-like face. A Selonian, to anyone who would recognize one. "This is mining colony GF-25 Sector 14. We are in need of /immediate/ assistance. This transmission contains the coordinates. Please hurry! She--" And then it cuts out with a buzzing squeak. The image of the Selonian glitches out and they're left with silence.

The planetary body they have the misfortune to approach looks more like a glorified asteroid than a 'planetoid', as the scanners seem to insist. Its surface is entirely rocky, pierced periodically by yawning, cavernous holes. This uninviting hunk of rock is also blessed with slightly-higher gravity, which is going to make everything just a little bit more difficult than it needs to be. Yaaaay.
So easy.
"Okay, well..." Jehn shrugs to her copilot before bringing comms back to the cargo hold, still blinking at the spot which so recently held a screaming Selonian. "Sooooooooo...." She begins, drawing the word out way longer than necessary. "Change of plan: we're going to check out a, uh... Distress beacon first. Some adorable, non-threatening sentients may need help." And we all know Jehn is a sucker for anything a furry could fantasize about.
Those in the cargo hold will feel a gentle 'bump' as the HWK vessel lands atop a burnt-out, quiet landing pad and the entry ramp lowers. The control tower is empty, the lights are all out (several are shattered) and the slighty-above-usual gravity strains the SheBAGS, VBAGS, whatever you want to call the ladybags as they exit. Jehn adjusts the oxygen mask at her mouth (they all have them, obviously) and she points a long arm toward an elevator shaft that looks... Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying; you guys, it's a bad idea. "Seems our best bet." She calls brightly, eyeing a busted-out window in the empty control tower. "Sapphira, can you grab the cart?" There's a cart near the entry ramp. Totally there the whole time.

"Could be for lots of reasons," Kasia muses to Sapphira, since we know that she's back there with the less terrible Tavers. "Out of money, slave revolt, predatory creatures, something toxic." Those last couple are super comforting for people about to go in said abandoned workspace. She's decked out in pants, because pants seemed like a good idea today, along with sturdy boots, blouse and jacket, and a blaster on her hip. In case she needs to shoot someone to protect the bbies. "A distress beacon?" she asks, brows furrowing a touch. "Let's all be careful, okay? Could be people in need of help, could be a trap." Then they land, oxygen mask put on as she gets to her feet, slower than usual thanks to the more impressive gravity. Good thing she wore an impressive bra to keep things (mostly) where they're meant to be.

The image of the poor sentient furry in such a dire situation does cause Sapphira's mouth to form a little 'o' and she blinks a few times. "Maybe this will be more exciting than I'd thought," she mutters to the person beside her, who is Kasia it seems. "Though I rather hope it isn't toxic gas," she admits, and those are the last words from her before she pulls the mask over her face, flinching as the plastic creates a seal against her face right over that bruise. She pushes to her feet and, after a few tentative, heavy steps, she walks toward the cart. With a little ladylike grunt and a heave, it starts to roll for her. She's pretty focused on that cart, focused on moving it over the uneven ground, dodging bigger rocks, and the like.

Nyla Forr pulls on her armor as they arrive, tugging the helmet mask over her head and adjusting the headlight on her forehead. The space babies seem well prepared! Nyla shoulders a pack, with water and essentials inside. It's just impressive, really. "Ech," Nyla hums into the speaker com that connects their masks. "Everything is heavy here." Thanks, gravity. The droid mechanic steps out with her blaster, dragging herself towards the entrance down into the mines.

Jehn plods stubbornly forward, back arched slightly beneath the increased pressure of gravity; she's long and lanky and not in the mood to be folded like origami. She /is/ in the mood to save some adorable Selonians and get rich on the forgotten crystals of Mining Clony GF-25 Sector 14. She slaps the 'call' button for the lift... It rattles, it clanks, it whines - but it works. "I'm sure it's fine." Jehn assures them as the doors struggle open only halfway before jittering and jerking, stuck in place. "Totally fine." She steps inside. "Can we hail anyone on comms?" Come on, guys. This thing is totally safe.

Kasia plods along, she's going to be so tiiiiired after the gravity workout. "Ah," she says from behind her oxygen mask thingy. "Is that blood?" She makes a gesture toward panel with the call button for the lift. "That's blood." She takes a small step back and looks around, hand lifting and casually coming to rest on the grip of her blaster. She can't hail anyone on coms, everyone here will be lucky if she can turn on the comms today.

Are the comms inoperable? Is there blood? Is her choice in men questionable at best? All these things sail right over Sapphira's head, as the cart is caught on a rock. And the cart is heavier here than it would normally be. That means Sapphira is focused eniterly on the thing, kicking at the wheel and trying to life and nudge it over the stone that's blocking it. Actually, it's probably for the best that no one can hear her. The string of swears that comes from her mouth would make even Tarion blush.

Nyla Forr rolls her eyes like a fresh teenager and leans in to work at the computer portal. The comms turn on, but... there is no words. Just a static, pulsing noise. Nyla frowns and clicks a few things... "Oh!" Her frown softens to a worries smile as she activates the mag mode for the cart. It seems to lift on it's own, moving at a walkable pace. "There you go, uh..." Shit, Nyla has forgotten Sapphira's name. "Uhh... magnet mode. Let's go." Double checking that her blaster is still at her side she walk-jogs towards the cart, sweating a little at the extra gravity.

TOTALLY. FINE. "Come on." Jehn urges again from inside the lift as sparks shoot out of a severed cable close by her head. There's a piece of floor paneling missing in the back right corner, and beneath them the lift shaft descends into an unending, heart stopping darkness. As Kasia pointed out, there is a smudge of something that looks /a lot/ like blood smeared on the ground near the control panel that Jehn so happily slapped moments ago. This thing is totally safe. And... Even if it's not? It certainly seems to be the only way down.
Beneath their feet, at some unknown distance, something heavy comes loose and clatters. It echoes up and rattles at the foundation of the elevator. Beware falling rocks?
Totally fine.

It's toooootally fine, ok ka. Kasia's hand does not move away from the blaster, as though just stepping into the lift is some sort of trap. Though honestly, if it is, it's probably the 'death trap' variety, rather than bad guys springing from shadows. All the same, she's in the lift with the others, looking uneasy as she glances around. "So just how valuable are these things that it makes coming here worthwhile?" she asks, going quiet when she hears the clatter. Just a coincidence, right? RIGHT?

"Oh, ha ha," Sapphira says awkwardly but graciously to Nyla. "Thank you!" Never had a damn clue the comms were off. Space case, this one. But once the cart is moving she pushes it into the elevator, taking a moment to look around at everything. Her cheerful mood dies down a bit, sombering up in the fact that they might be in real danger. "Maybe whatever happened here has already happened and gone," Sapphira suggests, putting a hand over her mask when she speaks so as to keep it from falling off. For some reason. It's more of a nervous gesture than anything else. "If we get into a lot of trouble, the boys are sure going to be mad at us."

Nyla Forr rocks on her feet, hitching her gloved thumb into the loops of her light use space suit. "Valuable," Nyla promises. She turns her attention away as they descend with the cart. "I think the signal is showing up here on my datapad. It isn't far." She pushes forward as the lift miraculously comes to an only slightly-jarring stop at the bottom platform. "I'm not seeing anything foreboding," Nyla admits as the suspicious ebbs away just a tad. The caverns before them loom. The cart hums forward and out of the elevator, clicking itself to the new track and lurching forward.

"What she said." Jehn promises nervously, pointing at Nyla. "We have a good source on it." Not a drunk miner they met at Pakko's. Not. At. All. "Let's, uh -" She waves a hand at Nyla and the comm signal she caught. "We can follow this until we see something shiny or..." The 'everything is dead' remains unsaid. While Jehn fusses with the torch at her hip (Nyla /insisted/ she 'come prepared' or something), the dark ahead seems a bit less... Lonely. There is a shift, a foreboding sound. This is fine, everythings fine. Kasia and Sapphira are aware of them before they scuttle forward into the sudden glare of Jehn's torch, having an extra moment to react. The creatures are crablike but with a shell that looks as if it was hewn from the rock of the tunnel. About the size of a sturdy bulldog, they clack stony claws at these intruders with raspy, rattling screeches. There are only two, but a clatter deeper in the darkness.

The lift lurches to a stop, making Kasia sway a little, that moment of additional pull making this extra gravity harder to deal with for a second. "If you're sure," she remarks, stepping out of the lift ahead of the others, in case something needs to be shot, or like, sternly spoken to. Something. "Wait," she cautions, seeing movement ahead, and then the crab like rock monsters. They don't come clacking AT them, though, so she doesn't shoot in their general direction. YET. "Everyone else is seeing those, right?"

"I hear them better than I see them, ma'am," Sapphira reports, respectful to the most bossest of ladies. "But yes," she affirms. Since she's got the (now floating!) cart, she opts to stay behind until everyone else is out of the elevator. But that also means that, even if she wanted to, she couldn't get a clear shot at anything. "...I mean, they don't look /bad/ exactly," she says, trying to remain as upbeat as possible. "But they certainly don't look good, either."

"Seeing what?" Nyla asks as she stares down at the glow of her datapad. The pulse is getting closer. "Oh, shit," Nyla half laughs and reaches up to switch on her headlamp. Her attention swings over and shines down the tunnel. Rock crabs hiss at the sudden spotlight hits them. They advance, clacking and hissing and looking angry.

The stonecrabs are indeed threatening now that they have decided that these fleshy light demons are not something they want in their creepy death tunnel. The two advance, the larger rushing at Nyla and Sapphira while the smaller clacks toward Kas and Jehn: the lattermost of whom is not known for her common sense. She rushes forward to kick at the thing, but her ankle is caught in that one large, stony claw (it's apparently a male nightmare boulder crestacean) and sends the pilot stumbling backwards with a yelp - bowling right into poor spacemom. They don't have Nyla and Sapphira's apparent ninja skills. "Sunnuva-" TOTALLY FINE. "/OUCH/." Jehn chides the stonecrab, which still has a hold on her ankle.

Space Mom was prepared for many things, but she was not prepared to be tackled by her own people. Or person. One gangly person in particular. Kasia is just about to draw her weapon when she finds that the world has gone topsy-turvy, and where her feet once were, now her fleshy backside is firmly planted, landing with both a thud, and unladylike grunt of discomfort. There will be bruises. She doesn't -- and possibly can't if she's still got a Jehn on her -- get up immediately, but she does pull the blaster, ready to shoot something. Eventually. When she's sure she won't hit one of her own, because that'd be bad, too.

Sapphira lets out a cry and ducks quickly behind the cart. Save me, cart, save me! But in truth there's little to save her from. For the first swipe of the claw seems to go for Jehni, and knocks the first row of VBAGS out of the way. Well, that's nice. A clear shot! Sapphira rises, drawing her pistol from behind her, one hand still on the cart. She gets off a shot, but it goes wild, sizzling into the stone and lighting up the area for just a brief milisecond, before all becomes darkness and chaos again. "Whoops."

Nyla Forr steps back, not thinking to turn off the headlamp as the crabs rush at them. The rock creature swipes at empty space as Nyla bounces away and raises her pistol. BLAP BLAP. Nyla Forr snaps a bolt into the crab's left claw. It screeches a steamy hiss and staggers back wards against the wall of the cavern.

Bam bam! Blaster bolts sink into stone and crab alike. Despite appearances, the creatures aren't /actually/ hewn from the drab slabs of earth around them - we could go into a lengthy discussion of evolution and crypsis, but we're not going to. The point is: the crabs /are/ affected by blasters. Nyla's target scuttles - stumbling and screeching - back into the darkness. Startled by its companion's retreat, the second releases its grip on Jehn's ankle and scitters after the other.
Nyla's datapad is still beeping out the location of that signal - and it doesn't look far. Unfortunately, the now-familiar sound of scurrying crab appendages is becoming louder and more insistent - they may be in store for a lot more company. The tunnel continues forward and hooks left - as do the sounds of stony foes.

Kasia has a blaster in hand, but she doesn't shoot, she doesn't have to just yet, as the crabby stone crustaceans skitter off to join their merry band of fellow crabs. "Are you okay?" she asks Jehn, trying to get a look at the gangly woman's ankle to check for injury, broken skin, blood. You know, all that gross stuff. "We still going to look for the source of that beacon?" she questions the other women, sounding uncertain about the whole idea now. Not that she sounded super certain about if before, but that was before she knew space rock lobsters (ok, crabs, but I did it for the song title) were here.

Sapphira, even after her awful pot-shot, remained half-crouched behind the cart. But slowly, now, as the sound skitters away, she rises, biting hard on her lower lip inside the gas mask. "What if there are other people down there?" she asks. "I mean, /could/ we help them? Or would we all just get ourselves in the same situation they're in?" She's all ready to help some poor innocent furries! If they can, of course. And to that end, those bright green eyes flit from Kasia to Jehn and back again, to see what the professionals think.

Nyla Forr frowns, stepping backwards and moving around the cart to go check on Jehn. "We should just go," she suggests with a worried scrunch of her nose. "We don't know how many there are. That blood up there and just... I dunno." The furries are very likely dead, Jim.

So we've got a dark and sketchy tunnel, possibly full of weird, monstrous space crabs, and definitely full of things that look /suspiciously/ like bits of skeleton - and, as Nyla pointed out, some blood on the wall. It almost looks like someone tried to smear a warning - but that's probably just a coincidence. The tunnel is a very viable option.
Or the elevator, which may or may not be able to make another trip back up that shoddy construction work. This is what you guys get for listening to Jehn and Nyla - shame. SHAME. "I'm fine." The taller of those two is groaning, clambering upright and hopping awkwardly. It's probably sprained. "Let's -" Whatever terrible advice Jehn was going to suggest is lost amid the sound of a sneaky rock crab clattering from the tunnel wall and clacking toward Kasia.
Should they stay or should they go noooow...

Caves are just not fun places to be. Hex would disagree, he loves them, he finds all sorts of interesting, and tasty fungus growing in them, and has insisted that cave fishing is the best, but essentially every cave experience Kasia has had, has gone bad. Critters, or storm troopers, or like... earthquakes that make parts cave in. Basically it's all just been terrible. "We should--" snap snap snip clack. There is a crab crabbing it's way at her from the wall, like a spider. A SPIDER. The blaster in her hand is whipped around, and she takes a second to aim. Badly. Pew, pew! She misses. She needs practice, obviously, because the clacking clacker is entirely unharmed in the process.

"Wait!" Sapphira suddenly calls, and she's ducking around the cart and the group to take two steps into the dark tunnel. That's two steps too far, but then, this is an /adventure/ so it's made for silly behavior! The redhead crouches down by the cave wall, hand digging away at something. Then, with a cry of 'oooh!' she takes her pistol and holds it by the barrel, using the handle as a little spade so she can dig. And dig. And dig. "Almost there!" Dig, scratch, dig more. The end result is a pink and blue crystal about the size of a human fist. She holds it in the direction of the group. "Is this what we're looking for?"

Nyla Forr urges Sapphira towards the elevator as she stoops. "Holy-- yes! Friggin' hellsteeth. But /go/!" The mechanic twists to fire more bolts. Her headlamp light is cutting across limbs and claws in the distance, the closer crabs rattling angrily at the light that bounces. One crab is slightly faster than the others. It's dart ahead, over the body of the slowly dying crab that she had shot before. "JUST GET IN THE ELEVATOR, DAMMIT!" BLAST! Instead of shooting the single front runner crab Nyla whips her pistol up and fires into a fissure in the cavern ceiling. It explodes with a rumble, spilling rocks down on the first line of creepy crustaceans backups.

"Yeah but, like, a whole lot more." Jehn nods excitedly at the lump of mineral in Sapphira's hand. Kas's crab is deterred by the missed blaster bolts, but continues its advance nonetheless - that is, until Nyla is a /fucking badass/. There is a cacophony of horrible, rocky clattering that is rolling down the tunnel towards them once the ceiling settles again - this is /never/ what Jehn and Nyla have in mind when they suggest 'getting stoned'. "Bring the cart!" Jehn laments at Sapphira, leaning her weight against the front of it in an effort to help her stuff it back into the lift. The crabs are advancing - clattering over rocks and the shattered bodies of their brethren.
The lift doors are starting to shudder shut as the stonecrabs flood the tunnel behind them.

Kasia isn't being mauled by crabs, which is always a plus, but it will do nothing to improve her view on caves. They're just the worst. Nyla /is/ a badass, which makes it easier for her to turn and help with pushing that card onto the lift, because getting out of there seems like the most solid of solid ideas there ever was. She watches as the doors begin to close, muttering 'come on, come on,' at them, as though that'll make them shut faster and prevent the wave of crabs from washing over them.

Sapphira, the preciousssssss in her hand, runs at the cart. She only gets a step or two, as she never went far into the cave in the first place. But with that step or two, she thrusts her opposite, not-money-holding shoulder against the cart with a ladylike grunt, trying to force it into the elevator. "Gogogogo!" she tells the cart. "What the hell is on this thing, rocks?!" She demands to no one in particular, gritting her teeth underneath the mask as she forces the thing to float forward onto the elevator, taking her and the other pushers with it. When the elevator doors close, she falls flat on her back ... and lets loose a string of pearl-clutching curses from the dankest Nar streets. Then a laugh.

Nyla Forr staggers back into the cart, blaster still at ready. But there is no need for another shot. The crabs that survived the small rock fall are confused and unable to claber through the makeshift wall. "Fuuuuck," Nyla wheezes under her breath. Her gaze drops down and behind at the sight of Sapphira cursing and sprawled out. "So you /can/ be fun," she comments with a teasing grin. "And here I thought Tarion sucked your joy to live forever." It's a plausible theory! Nyla then starts to pant and look up towards the light above instead of the darkness below. She clicks her headlamp off.

So: they make it out alive with one of the valuable rocks. Despite setbacks, split between them they will still make a small profit - hurray! They /did/ just make poor Sapphira push around an empty cart, though - perhaps they were too optimistic about the /amount/ of crystals that they would find. Death by crabs just wasn't on the agenda today, sorry guys.
"Okay, so... That was fun." Jehn drawls as they scramble back onboard the Hotbox, leaning heavily against Nyla. "Those guys are definitely dead, right?" Defiance is free to soar off heroically into the sunset, leaving behind the probably-dead-right? crew from the distress signal to keep being probably dead.

"Probably," Kasia replies with a huff, and a puff, but she doesn't blow anything down, she just huffs and puffs more, because gravity is tough, y'all, and she's not in tip top shape. "Given how broken down things were," puff, "I'd say it's been a while. Can't imagine anyone else was there." Right? RIGHT? Maybe. She doesn't know for sure, but it doesn't do to dwell too hard on the rescue they couldn't perform.

"Even if they are alive," Sapphira admits as she pulls her mask from over her head. "We couldn't help them. Maybe if we came back with everything Defiance has, but even then ... it'd be dangerous. I don't know that saving others at our own expense is good policy." She shakes her head, a line around her mouth indented to show where the mask had suctioned on to her face. And then she lifts the stone so she can look at it near at eye level, and so others can enjoy it too. "So ... we can sell this?"

Nyla Forr wags her head as they climb aboard. "Gotta be dead. /Look/ at this place..." Nyla stomps upwards and flops into her seat. "Yeah, hopefully. Why don't you an' Kasia sniff out some connections for a buyer. Kas, you know everyone on Nar, right?" Nyla flops into her chair and buckles herself in as Jehn gets them the hell out of there.