Planet N259

[Busterbugs]

The first world that the BlackStar crew discovered. 

(Premise for this world and the Adventure on it)
A large earth-like world mostly covered in a thick jungle, with a few massive, country sized lakes dotting the surface. Rich with flora, fauna and minerals, it could hold many medical, resource or food sources for discovery.

The crew start to explore that world when they find a abandoned research facility that seemed to be for testing genetic manipulation and bioweapon creation. They find evidence that something broke free from the facility and escaped, killing everyone and wrecking the place. As they explore more, one of the female crew members is found by a strange, humanoid creature and is taken. The creature reveals that he was a experiment from the lab and he tells the crew member that it was getting dark and they come out at night, the creatures that are responsible for wrecking the lab. 

Edited August 27, 2021 by Busterbugs

[Busterbugs]

Ryan stood just outside the ship’s Aft Bay doors, taking in the beautiful view of this new world. It was quite hot, not unbearably so, but he did feel it through his clothes and under his armor plates that protected heart, arms and legs. He took in a deep breath, loving the clean smell of this world compared to the war torn earth. He was itching to move and explore, his parents both having been adventurous and had passed that onto him, but he help himself in check as he waited for his crew. 
 

It was pretty silent around the ship, which was not surprising since the landing of a giant ship was enough to scare anything, but he did hear hoots and howls in the far distance, which worried him some. He turned as Roc walked down the giant ramp from the Aft bay. The young alien nodded and saluted, before moving to stand nearby, his eyes watchful. Ryan was glad to have him here as he was a strong person to have protecting his crew.

[Chiyako]

My first mission! I'm so excited! And I get to carry a gun!

Despite her excitement Zeeva's first steps out the door were very careful as she tested the planet's gravity. Too light and she was afraid that she might send herself up into the sky. Something heavier than Earth would have been more comfortable, but she discovered that it was actually fairly consistent with what she'd experienced on the Human homeworld. Still, she didn't let this get her down! As soon as she had an idea of how much strength she should exert the little Lunavi pulled her gun free from the little holster hanging from her side, raising it swiftly to take aim off into the wilderness! Of course she'd forgotten in her excitement that her suit's bubble helmet was engaged, and so the weapon ended up bouncing off the currently hardened material with a loud clink noise, and she'd nearly ended up dropping the thing! Thankfully she managed to catch it by the barrel and quickly turned it about so it could face the right way again.

"Pew pew!" she whispered to herself, mimicking firing the weapon at the trees. Thankfully she had enough mind not to put her fingers on the trigger. At least for the moment.

[Mysthero]

Their first mission, Travis would need to prep the medical bay before he went anywhere! Missions don't always guarantee injuries, but an unprepared medical station does guarantee deaths. He wasn't exactly a fan of the BlackStar's allocation of the examination beds and had spent the entire morning relocating them to a single wall on the side of the room. Next came the stations, each bed needed scanners, medical hypos, surgical tools. Honestly he thought this was something he wasn't going to do by himself but that was the risk being on the frontier, plans changed rapidly.

Quietly he continued setting up each bed so they would have what they needed, in total there was six beds which he didn't think was nearly enough for a crew of this size but that was also part of his responsibility. Drafting emergency plans to assist when the shit really hit the fan. He would need to talk to the captain about setting up a trauma ward if things were to ever get really bad. Travis' mind seemed all over the place as he just walked from bed to equipment, to bed again trying to get everything set to how he liked it. It was only after he realized he was fretting if he had enough scalpels that he came to the conclusion that he was merely overstressing and had to calm down and relax.

"First drop nerves." The former marine corpsman told himself with a nearly audible scoff as he made his way to the Aft Bay with his medkit. From what he was told the planet had an earth like atmosphere with no airborne contagions. So only a few members of the crew needed to wear helmets. Zeeva's suit was like it's own environment onto itself and Travis was always moderately impressed by how it reacted to her needs in a given situation. He placed a hand gently on Zeeva's shoulder before moving past her to the captain. His boots sinking into the soil as he took in a moment to realize that this was the first time he had landed on an alien world without being shot at within the first few seconds. He didn't have armored plating like the captain, opting instead to not wear anything heavy or bulky as it may slow him down in times of need.

His eyes scanned the trees and the local flora all around them and couldn't help himself but be impressed by the beauty of it. "Sort of reminds me of South America back home." There were certainly comparisons but the plant life was definitely alien. He turned to look over his shoulder to wait for the rest of the crew.

[Busterbugs]

Ryan nodded as the medic that would be joining them showed up. He felt a bit more relaxed now, knowing that if something happened to them, Baker would do his best to save him.“Thank you for joining us, Baker.” He said smile. “Hope your ready to start this adventure.”

The Captain glanced back ship, wondering where  the Researcher was at. He Knew that Gogo worked at her own pace, but they needed her to start. 

[Chiyako]

Zeeva jumped when she felt the hand upon her shoulder, nearly fumbling the firearm again! With cheeks growing pink the little Lunavi hurriedly stuffed the weapon back into its holster before turning, saluting to the doctor! "G-good morning Doctor Baker! Zeeva is ready to serve! Let Zeeva know if you need anything!" Unfortunately the bubble helmet dulled the vibrations which might have otherwise been picked up by her horns. She would need to be a little more careful on this planet! Of course the others didn't appear to be wearing helmets, but she figured it was probably just safer this way.

With the doctor apparently prepared to take the lead Zeeva hustled on over to his side. She was just a trainee, but she figured she could help as protection if nothing else! Or at least an extra set of eyes and ears and hands. Doing random tasks was her primary occupation, as she was still a trainee, but she really didn't mind. It did let her experience many different jobs! Also she just loved being helpful.

[Busterbugs]

Ryan smiled at Zeeva’s excited greeting,but was always a bit worried about that energy to. He walked over to the young alien and kneeled down so he was eye level. “Trainee Zeeva.” He started. “I know you’ve been on several worlds with your parents but when we start to move please stay close to Roc and Travis. I know that you can take care of yourselves, but I don’t want anything to happen to my crew, so I just want to be safe rather then sorry, Okay?” 
 

He patted her head affectionately, the bubble helmet she wore feeling a strange, before standing up. 

[RayRay]

It was nearly time to start but it couldn't be helped. Researcher Gogo gripped the sick bay bedsheets as the assistant hammered away at her back end, she could barely contain herself as they both approached the big climax together... The assistant finally finished its analysis and Gogo finished up her yoga. The air sample was confirmed safe but contained heavy biomatter particles which were likely spores from fungal bodies. Safe to breath but would require some flushing after the mission so to speak. 

The report was sent out to all the necessary facilities and a confirmation that this was sent went to the captain. Her assistant, a ball sized sphere that hovered around her, proceeded to also send some sexy collectable pics, with labels and even a few sent out with gold autographs to lucky crew members, of her yoga poses to lots of hot crew members along with the mostly promising results from her aerobic activity after micro exposure. This place wasn't as kind as it should be to the hair and skin but was great for exercise. One could move a bit further than normal without losing their breath. 

The air here was rich in oxygen had heavy humidity and spore presence. Like a tropical valley but not as hot. If her guess was right this was a place that would be filled with some inevitable dangerous sticky stuff. 

Gogo went ahead and put on her helmet, prepared some hunting slimes and sent the captain a research briefing

"There should be some super condensed substances to study in a place like this. Its also a good natural oxygen hub. Going to collect some, be cautious with any explosive devices and protect easily water damaged materials. Lastly, expect a very rough night fall with extremely heavy rain. The plant life here all appears to be resistant to light flooding and heavy downpours. The ground surface suggests that the dirt moves often from water based dispersal." 

Gogo went to get some aquatic gear and some protective coverings for devices along with collection devices. She waved with a flirtatious smile to Travis on the way out as she exited through the main portion of the medical bay where she wasn't really expected to be at the moment. 

emergency floatation gear
extra flares
waterproof recording devices and other water proofing accessories
Portable oxygen collection and dispersal tanks
And of course heavy duty sample storage containers along with her usual research tools
Electric tranquilizer rifle with 12 ammunition cartridges 
Lastly she would be a bit late to get this but she prepared some emergency rations and an anti-fungal emergency injection gun along with enough medicine for 30 people injections. 

She kept the hunting slimes in a lantern-like jar, two in total though it was difficult to tell just by looking when they were all over each other in a cramped space. She held the thing up seeming to read something from the goop inside and followed its premonitions to the captain and other things with possibly familiar scents from the ship. She hoped to find rare compounds here that could be used for research, the greater the variety of samples she could procure the better. Particularly she wanted semi-fluid substances.. and sluggy-slimy creatures to breed in her lab!!! 

[Busterbugs]

Ryan read through the short report that Gogo sent him of what data she had collected from inside the ship. He was happy to know that it seemed that this planet would be abundant in resources for earth to use. He sent the info to the rest of the crew and turned as Gogo came from the Aft bay geared up and holding what looked to be two Hunter Slimes in a jar. 
 “Glad for you to join us Miss Gogo.” He said, before addressing his team for this mission. “Are job for this first mission on Planet N259 is to make sure that this is a good place to keep the BlackStar and to start to get a general idea for the resources and life forms that are on this planet.” He paused for a second, tapping his wrist to bring up a hologram of the BlackStar at the center of a giant three mile square.” We will start searching  north part of the square first, moving all the  way to the top of the grid before moving back down to the BlackStar, then we’ll move to the south part of the square and repeat. Report anything to the group that you see and find and don’t wander.” 
 

Ryan waited for his orders to sink in before he started towards the thick jungle that bordered the clearing the BlackStar was in. He motion motioned for his crew to follow, with Gogo right behind him incase they ran into a alien creature, Zeeva and Travis in the middle and Roc protecting the rear.

 

[Busterbugs]

Unknown to the crew, something was watching them from high the treetops, it’s large eyes studying the group of people without blinking. The creature was not a native to this world or any other world for that matter. He was made in a facility by a Xiya Scientist, who made a living by creating monsters for people who wanted to have Bio weapons, and selling them. The creature now watching the crew had been his latest creation, a monster with complete control over his body, making it able to increase or decrease it’s muscle mass and size, plus it can also change it’s skin color and texture, letting it to be able to blend into any environment and take the form of most beings, making it the perfect stealth weapon. The experiment had escaped the day THEY got loose, and had been living in the jungle ever since. 
 

The creature, who the scientist had called Doppelgänger because of his ability to change form, had never seen beings like the crew before, his curiosity spiking. Despite being made to be a living weapon and his fierce looking form, he was actually a very gentle and curious creature. His skin blended him perfectly into the jungle background as he hopped silently from branch to branch deciding to just observe for now.

[Busterbugs]

Ryan held up his hand for the group to stop. They had reached the edge of the grid and had found nothing unusual yet, which wasn’t surprising since most creatures were probably scared be the BlackStar Landing. 
 

They had stopped next to a small pool that had strangely purple water. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he told everyone to take a break for a few minutes, then sat down himself on a fallen tree. It had been a cooler in the clearing by the BlackStar, but the jungle seemed to hold in the heat, making the air thick and muggy. He also guessed it was because is was getting ready to rain soon like Gogo said was having something to do with the heat. As he took a drink of water from his canteen that was strapped onto his belt he saw the water ripple of the pool beside them. It was very faint but something had moved under the water. He quickly stood and motioned for his crew to be alert, pointing at the water.

“Gogo.” He said quietly, who was standing near him.”Something is moving.”

As he finished talking a large creature slowly rose from the water, It’s eyes fixed on him and Gogo. It’s two slimy arms shot out and pulled the captain and the researcher under the water. 

Ryan had grabbed his gun as soon as he was pulled into the water, but the speed he was pulled deeper made it impossible aim it. He was could barely see the slug like creature swimming before them, it’s long body pumping itself through the water. He suddenly found himself and Gogo flung upward from water and onto a stone floor or what looked to be a under water cave. 
 

The creature loomed above them as it pulled itself from the water and moved closer. Ryan quickly fired the gun, but to his surprise the energy bolt dissolved on the creatures rubbery skin. But while it didn’t wound the creature, it seemed to feel pain for the shot, shrieking and backing away to the cave wall. As Ryan watched the creature he noticed in surprise that their was a opening in the wall behind the creature, looking like it lead somewhere. “You ok, Gogo?” He asked, glancing at her.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Busterbugs

[RayRay]

There were alot of lakes on the area scan as expected, she imported the data as well as tapped into the process for generating it into her little spherical assistant floating about excited to try it for herself later. The slimes detected the captain of course, and they detected the facility, they also seemed to be signaling that something created with materials similar to those found in their ship had left the facility.. materials of course including human flesh. They seemed to be confused by something.. This probably was an indicator of whatever it was that was created here having left.. new breeds and such or just something that had been fed some potent earth food like onion powder perhaps, or some incredible mutant... anything was possible right? 

Now briefed on a mission with some idea of where to begin training the hunter slimes on the scent. She nodded "So far this area seems to be fine for the ship, I suspect it will be ourselves that will be struggling. Eh.. on that same note, we should probably create a forward camp somewhere.. and if we should whoever was here before us probably did as well. Using your credentials there may be a way to find it using one of those beacon signals" She referred to a small base for resupplying when heading out or coming back built in a second location, usually something simple that could also act as a place for evacuating to temporarily should there be a disaster at the main base. There would likely be several and each would probably have a device for locating it. Hardened soldiers might find such things by sniffing bark and licking the salt off the rocks but the people running this place probably wasn't hardened survivalists, this seemed like a science nerd facility. 

The slimes began to react to something as they approached a lake, something was watching them but they seemed to be concerned with something else entirely. "It seems like we are close to an encounter... Something has taken an interest in us, the slimes are reacting to something else though, there may be a trace of something large around here.. eh" she was interrupted by massive slimy looking tentacles rising from the water as if to ravage and molest their bodies mercilessly. Thanks to her lightning fast reflexes and keen senses Gogo was able to... observe every second of it as she simply let it happen!!! Escape was not really an option anyways and she had her gear on.. "YES! YES! YES!" it grabbed and squeezed her sliding all over weird places, this was heaven, THIS WAS ABSOLUTE HEAVEN! But then it seemed to be pulling them into the water... It was more heavenly before that. Her gun would be fine but she doubted she'd get a chance to use it as they switched from over water to below, so instead she stroked the tentacles licking her lips and hoping perhaps the odd shape she had seen before was not well equipped for eating homo sapiens. She turned on her comms awfully calm as she was used to this trying to communicate with the captain. But.. he didn't seem to have his helmet on. This was a bit of a problem. 

The creature pulled them into a cave, depending on what happened next the captain wasn't going to last and she was going to probably need his help surviving herself. She took this opportunity to pull a flare from her supplies and crack it causing a chemical reaction that would have it burning even underwater. She jammed it into some rocks on the way in. Leave a trail, secure allies, regroup and refre.. "Oh.." They were pulled into a place with some sort, so it was amphibious. Something like this needed to eat something, it wasn't well equipped for eating humans from what she could tell, those hook teeth were almost like a parasite, its gorgeous penis shape was definitely for insertion but into a cave, it could grab land animals to eat. It was best equipped for a larger creature and didn't eat them right away underwater. After the quick thump against the cave walls she rolled over and heard the slime jar crack and went to the captain glad she did some stretches, beforehand.. She took a deep breath and headed over, as she cracked another flare and picked up her slime lantern. Scents, smells, visuals, even weird she needed to distract this creature for now. Had the captain shot it earlier? It seemed to be uninjured thus far... that skin... "Ready to move captain!" she affirmed that she was fine, she was more than fine, she wasn't ready to capture something that size but she wanted it bad! That skin was something of a marvel and those long tentacles had to serve more purpose than they appeared.

The slimes began to get excited and glow themselves... the air that got into the lantern was changing their color bit by bit, it wasn't dangerous to them but the air here wasn't quite like the stuff on the surface.. 

Gogo had a revelation... "This thing is built to be pulled and struggled against by something a bit larger but its not equipped to simply consume.. there should be bones or something that finishes the job.." This place wasn't exactly crawling with scavengers and this creature wasn't quick to kill or equipped to take it slow. The most obvious conclusion was that it wasn't the main threat. "Lets go to the walls and prepare for departure, I think its trying to give us to something else." in the best case scenario this thing might have some babies, amphibious creatures often built nests to take care of and feed their young in which would naturally have somewhat different living conditions than what was normal elsewhere, it was unlikely that this thing built an underwater cave so easily but it may have been born in one that formed long ago. If its young could be detained or tamed the parent would sometimes behave itself for a very long time. It was possible this was more complicated than that....

[Chiyako]

The captain had approached her, had given her a pat upon the helmet, and had even voiced his concerns over her well-being! Of course she had reacted with a smile and a nod and a salute. He was so kind! She would do as she was told, of course, and during the trek into the wilderness she'd remained within the center of the group. Or, at least, mostly in the center. Zeeva wasn't too concerned about her own safety, after all the experiments run on her after her rescue had determined that she was incredibly difficult to injure! But she wanted to alleviate the worries of her fellow crew members.

As it turned out she wasn't the one to be worried about.

When they had reached a lakeside a giant slug creature had emerged from the water! In the moment she had been caught staring in awe and fascination. Was it intelligent? Would it let her pet it like the cat creatures on Earth?! As it turned out no, it just wanted to pull them into the water. With the helmet dulling her senses she was too late to detect the incoming attack. She made a valiant effort to grab onto either of the two Humans in front of herself, but alas she had been too slow. Both were pulled into the body of water before she could react!

"C-captain! Officer Noriko!" she exclaimed, stopping before she reached the water. Frantically the little alien hopped from foot to foot, turning to look between Roc and Baker. "What do we do?! S-should we go after them? Maybe I should go, right? My helmet should protect me!"

[RayRay]

Noriko's floating robo-assistant thing hovered over to zeeta. Noriko was busy but her comm was open. It heard a question and would respond with a mini-map and a channel to hear Noriko on if she wished since it seemed to be a question for her. 

Meanwhile in the water cave Noriko was attempting to take advantage of the apparent shape and behaviors of the creature. Even if she was wrong about its intentions the way it grabbed things wasnt well suited to an enclosed space like this. She had her tranquilizer rifle ready.. The captain likely still had his weapon too. "I think it will need its tentacles to mive on dry ground."

[Busterbugs]

Ryan was glad that Gogo was ok. He agreed that the slug creature didn’t seem to be the main threat here, in fact it seemed like it was more curious about them then threatening. He had a small rebreather in his belt that would give him a good amount of time, but he was afraid that if they tried to swim back up, the creature would pull them back or their would be something worse in the was water. The safest bet was to go through the tunnel that was behind the creature and see if it led out.But that means they had to find a way around the creature. He didn’t want to hurt or kill things if he didn’t want to, having seen two much of that in the War, hoping to find a way to get it to move.As he studied the creature from the dim light of the flare and Gogo’s slugs he noticed something odd. A small metal disc was implanted on its neck(your where it’s should have been). He pulled a small light from his pocket and shined it the creature, the disk had a set of symbols on it in a language that he didn’t know and seemed to be fused to the creatures skin. Whatever it was it wasn’t natural as if someone implanted it in the creature and as he looked closer at the tunnel behind the creature he realized that the tunnel was perfectly formed, made by a tool. Someone had put this creature down here on purpose and made a tunnel that it could reach it with.

Ryan’s mind filled with questions, but he focused on this crew for now. He tapped a  tiny metal disc that was implanted in the skin just in front of his ear. The disc was a communication device that his whole crew had for short range talking. “We are you ok down here.” He said, the three above the pool. “I want you to wait a safe distance form the pool and wait. We see a tunnel down here and we are going to see if it leads out.”

 

——————

The creature suddenly looked up. It dove back into the water and swam too the surface. It spotted Zeeva from under the water, making loud noises at the shore. It shot out a tentacle and snagged the small female pulling her into the water. It swam back down to the cave and set the woman down next to the two other he had captured. He now just had to wait for his master to get here to collect the people that he had captured. 

[Chiyako]

Zeeva's gaze had lifted towards the floating sphere as it approached. It didn't seem to be freaking out or anything. Did that mean they were safe? As the communicator built within her suit crackled to life Zeeva jumped slightly, although she quickly relaxed again when she heard the captain's words. They were okay. And now she had new orders!

She was about to respond when a tentacle suddenly coiled around her body! Her eyes widened and a gasp of surprise slipped free from her lips, one hand tugging the firearm at her side free from its holster! However the sudden jolt backwards as she was pulled into the lake sent it flying from her grip, clattering against the rocky shore as the little Lunavi was yanked right into the water with a large splash. Instinctually she held her breath, at least for a couple of seconds before she remembered that her helmet was engaged. Everything was swiftly plunged into darkness as she was dragged deeper and into a tunnel, body wiggling in an attempt to escape the creature's powerful grip.

Moments later she emerged from the water, now within some sort of underground cave, and found herself plopped onto the ground near Noriko and the Captain. Everything was a bit dizzy for the short alien, who pushed herself to her feet, wobbling for a few seconds until she'd managed to regain her senses. When she finally took notice of the two she smiled, bouncing excitedly in place! "Captain! Officer Noriko! You're okay!" she exclaimed, before looking down over herself, patting her body a few times. "Zeeva is okay! Suit is okay. Where are we?"

[Mysthero]

Stay, go... the seconds that all this chaos had occurred m had forced Travis to go through plan after plan. Who could ship not afford to lose? The captain? The researcher? The medic? The trainee?

The choice to many seemed obvious but he was not about to sacrifice Zeeva to the unknown! When communication reached them he released his held breath but was suddenly surprised to see Zeeva grabbed and pulled below. Now Travis was no longer just worried, in fact the medic was outright pissed. "What I'm not fucking good enough for ya!?" The anger swelled inside him and he did a quick check on his equipment. He took the medkit and pistol and set them down before ripping his shirt open and and throwing it to the side.

"Six years in the colonial marines, twenty-three combat missions, two extra years in medical school because my professor was a fucking prick. Like hell am I going to lose three of my fucking crew members and my captain on my first fucking exploration mission!" The shirtless medic cracked a glowstick and held it in his mouth as he took the medkit and pistol in his hands and dove into the water after his crew.

[Busterbugs]

Ryan didn’t lose he calm as the creature suddenly dove back into the water as it appeared to be listening for a moment, before slipping into the water again. For something it’s size it was incredibly fast, especially in the water as it was only gone for a few moments before it appeared again, with Zeeva in it’s tentacle. It set the alien girl down by him and Gogo and then a few minutes later a shirtless Travis appeared with a glow stick. He nodded at the medic, a bit upset that he had risked his life to swim to them, but they might need him if it went bad with the creature.
 

“We’re ok, Zeeva.” He said, grabbing the young alien and moving her behind him.”As for where we are I have no idea, but that it’s underground and seems artificially made.” He fired two more warning shots at the creature, trying to make it back up more. The slug screamed again, before it suddenly started to shake. 
 

——————————————————————

The creature shrank back in pain, as the tallest male creature he had brought here, shot two more things at him. His whole body started to shake as a thick, green water like liquid gushed from his skin. He rapidly started to shrink, until it was only a foot long. It’s body was like a huge sponge , that could absorb liquid to grow or expel it to shrink. I quickly scooted behind a rock and hid.

[Chiyako]

Once more Zeeva was surprised when Travis also popped out from the water with a glow stick! And also shirtless! For some reason that made her cheeks a hint warmer, but she tried to put that thought out of mind. "Doctor Baker! Are you okay?" she called out as she was gently pulled behind the Captain, peeking out from behind his legs. Was Roc going to emerge too?! Would he also be shirtless?!?!

Gosh why do I feel warm? I shouldn't be sick. My suit should protect me, right? Oh wait alien!

The Lunavi shook her head to refocus, fists raised in case she needed to defend herself. When the Captain popped off two more shots she jumped, flinching from the loud noises, which were especially bad in a small cave. Even her helmet didn't fully protect her from the vibrations. However it did appear to have some sort of effect on the giant slug alien! In fact the creature appeared to pop! Or, at least, leak. It also appeared to shrink right down until it was much smaller!

"Maybe it is scared?" she pondered out loud.

[Mysthero]

He spit the glowstick out on the floor but also coughed up some water with a resounding "Fuck!"

Travis rose to his feet, spitting out water and shaking his head to try and get the water out of his eyes as he took a look around. He was out of breath and very... well... upset at the circumstances thus far. This was not how he expected things to go. 

He knelt down by Zeeva, handing her the glowstick while checking her suit for any breaches quickly, he offered the same attention Noriko and the captain before checking himself for anything that may have tried to attach itself to him during his swim. "Here lies Dr. Baker... died from a combination of alien leeches and microorganisms."

His complaining was quiet as he held the pistol in one hand and the kit in the other, taking position behind the captain as he finally gave a look around at their surroundings and tried to put the behavior of the creature together. "Some sort of drone perhaps? Bringing food to it's queen? No drones arent normally alone and they normally kill their prey." Baker decided to go quiet and stop speculating, he was just the medic. It was best to the let the researcher do the actual investigation.

[Busterbugs]

Ryan watched as the creature shrunk, its new smaller form hiding behind a rock. It was a strange creature, that was for sure, but it didn’t seem hostile, opting to hide rather then fight. “Roc.” He said, as he slowly put his weapon back and tapped his earpiece.”Listen to my first order and stay their. If you feel like your in any kind of danger contact Muacu and have her come their fast.”

The captain waited for Travis to finish his inspection of them, before he started to move closer to the artificial tunnel, his hand ready to grab his weapon if the slug tried to come at them again, but the creature stayed hidden.“I don’t know what it is.” He said in answer to Travis’s question. “Gogo can study it later if we find a safer way out of here, but for now we should focus on getting out of here.”He held up the glow stick Travis gave him as reached the tunnel entrance. It was led upwards gradually and was lined with a coat of slime from the slug moving through it. Ryan motioned his crew and slowly walked into the tunnel.

After a slow ten minute hike, they reached a another door that was broken to. Ryan stepped through the doorway, and his eyes widened in surprise as his glow stick lit up a massive under ground room, filled with giant metal pods, that looked to be for holding live creatures in suspended animation, storage tanks and a wall of monitors, with what looked like a control panel beneath it. Everything was smashed and broken, as if a army of beasts had been through here.

[Chiyako]

Again the pink had returned to Zeeva's cheeks as Travis unceremoniously checked over the skin-tight environment suit that she wore. Thankfully there didn't appear to be any leaks. When he had finished she offered him a meek smile and a nod of her head in gratitude. "Zeeva is glad everyone is okay."

Travis did have a point: perhaps this creature was working at the behest of something else? It didn't try to eat them, but whatever else might lurk within the darkness might try as such! Or perhaps they were simply lonely. She was really hoping that it was the latter.

I can fix lonely! Human hugs are nice. And shoulder squeezes! Oh, also head pats!

The little Lunavi wiggled with glee at the thoughts which came to mind. She loved affection! Especially physical affection! It just made her feel warm and snuggly and happy and oh they were moving now. As she hustled over to keep up with the larger species she did make certain to keep away from the walls, which seemed to be covered in something. Then again so was the floor! But she wanted to do less cleaning when she got back, and she couldn't really help that.

Eventually they seemed to reach what appeared to be a door and, beyond that, some sort of room! With metal pods! She peered curiously at the consoles and tubes and control panel within, venturing closer to the strange objects, although she didn't touch anything. "Maybe a lab? Or a ship? Zeeva wonders what was in these."

[Busterbugs]

The group searched the building throughly but their was nothing left to show what is place had been or what had happened to it. The only thing that gave a bit of a clue was the claw marks in the metal walls and that the pods were made for holding living things. It seemed to have been a bio lab based on that, for researching dangerous creatures maybe. 
 

The building had a second floor above ground, that was well camouflaged because of the plant life trying to take it over. Ryan contacted Roc and the Security Officer made it to them quickly just as the sky was darkening from the setting sun  and the rumble of Thunder could be heard as the rain Gogo said was coming had almost arrived. They hadn’t meant to stay out here so long hoping to make it back to the ship before dark, but the creature and building had made that impossible. “Looks like we have to choices.” He said to the crew.”We can try to back to the ship, but that means going through the jungle at night or we can secure this location as much as possible and stay here till morning, what do guys want to do?” If they stayed here they could hole up in the underground building and be somewhat safe.

[Chiyako]

Claw marks in metal walls? Now that was a very bad sign! Whatever had made them was powerful! And multiple pods meant there might have been multiple creatures. That also wouldn't be very good. Of course her skin was slightly resistant even to slashing attacks, but something that strong was worrisome.

As it turned out her initial assessment had been correct as well: it had been a lab! She might have inwardly celebrated had her thoughts not been interrupted by the rumbling of thunder, which sent the little alien ducking under one of the desks. Thunder wasn't fun. It was scary and when it got bad enough it vibrated everything as though someone were standing next to her and screaming their lungs out. At least the helmet helped somewhat.

"U-um. Zeeva votes stay here" she called out from beneath the desk. Going back would have been nice. She doubted if this place would have a shower, or proper food! But then again, staying here also meant enduring more thunder. "M-maybe."

[Busterbugs]

Ryan decided to return to the ship for the night. The light was still here and if they went quickly but carefully they should be able to make it back, before the rain and nightfall. He really didn’t want to keep his crew in a unknown location, especially if what was had been in this lab was in the area. He told his crew to move back to the BlackStar for the night and they will come back tomorrow. But he did have Gogo capture the shrunk slug and study it to see if it had something with the building they found, since it had that metal implant on it. 
 

They managed to make it back safely and Once on the ship he told them to go clean up and get a good rest, before going back out tomorrow.