It was a pretty significant price, but Senjen supposed that such investments were going to be necessary for them. As confident as Light had been going into it, Senjen knew they got lucky. If that impact had not disarmed that ship, they would have been caught with no way to fight back, and he did not want to rely on lucky breaks for their survival. All there was now was to go get those parts. An armed Human woman escorted them to the entrance into the Tindrel ship. As a precaution, Senjen handed over his ballistic pistol to Light so he would have some weapon that wasn’t his “bang stick”. It was a hard-hitting weapon, true enough, but its low capacity would not exactly be inspiring if they got swarmed.
On that topic, Senjen did at least try to get some more specific information out of the Human about these bugs. Apparently, the ship was found adrift in a newly surveyed system, sans its crew. The woman was willing to share a recording of one of the bugs snatching someone up into a vent. Senjen definitely had a feeling Rodion was underplaying how dangerous they were, but nevertheless, Senjen was not going to be dissuaded just yet. He was dangerous too.
Senjen led the way, and given what they had seen about the bugs, he did his best to avoid drawing too much attention if he could help it. He was not sure what kind of senses these things might have, but if they were going to run into them, then he wanted to at least try to get the jump on them. He had his pistol in hand, and every sensor his body possessed looking out for the creatures. Especially in the vents.
This new Myrmidon frame of his had nice, smooth joints that hardly made a sound in motion, so Senjen could keep quiet on the move. Unfortunately, Light’s suit was not nearly as...new, nor capable to begin with. Senjen guided him as best as he could, but the sounds it made slamming against rock or metal whenever they had to climb stood out. Fortunately, Senjen heard the movement nearby, so they were not completely surprised when two of the bugs emerged. From the vents, of course. They had a grey-white carapace, long, stilt-like legs, and a collection of huge tentacles emerging from their backs, and of course, they were already right upon them.
Senjen’s quick reflexes had him firing a shot before Light could blink, metaphorically. It wasn’t his best shot, unfortunately, as it was a glancing blow. The plasma bolt burned through part of its carapace and gave it a significant flesh wound, but one of its tentacles was still lashing straight at his arm, trying to get a grip. Senjen did not even think; he just reacted. Training had him deflecting the force of the blow, and fortunately, that still worked on a tentacle. It scratched the paint on his shoulder, but otherwise shot past him. And his reaction to that, too, he die not have to think about. The tentacle was there, and he grabbed it quickly, yanking it straight out of the vent. The fingers on his other hand he held together, claws extended, to jab them straight through the center of its body. The carapace might have been tough, but not tougher than tungsten-alloy claws.
Dealing with the other ended up being much more...straightforward. Light had his rifle ready too, and the shot he fired at the second one found its mark. Despite its limitations, the bang stick was effective. It went through center mass, and immediately obliterated anything that might have been considered a torso. It also let out a booming sound loud enough to damage the hearing of an organic, echoing down the corridors of the ship.
If they had not been in a hurry already, they were now in a race against time. They knew what they were looking for and roughly where it was. Thankfully, that much had been true, and the parts were just where they had been told to search. Light carried them in his suit while they made their dash for their escape. They took a slightly different path back, through the stream bed in the ship’s central canyon. They tried to keep low and quiet, but most of all were just trying to move quickly. Inside of a gravity well, Tindrel ships could be difficult to navigate for those who were not adept at climbing, as the Tindrel did not care much for ramps or stairs. It was not much of an issue for Senjen, whose claws could grip the walls with ease. Light, though, did not have a suit that did him any favors. He had a hard time adhering to the walls, and more than once, Senjen had to stop to help pull him up. They still made decent time, despite it, but not decent enough to avoid two more of the creatures finding their way in front of them.
This time, the creatures were farther away, partially obscured in the vents that they seemed to like so much. Senjen held his pistol out straight and took a bit longer to line up his shot this time, as the shot would have a hard time burning through the rock if he hit the walls. That care was rewarded, as the shot hit right of center, burning through its body. The screech it let out was horrifying, but nevertheless, it was no longer moving. Meanwhile, though, Light’s shot was not as accurate this time. It struck part of the stone and metal wall of the vent, rather than the bug. Stone fragments scattered through the air, but nothing that harmed the creature. It lashed out with a pair of tentacles at Light. They were farther away than the first ambush, but their tentacles were alarmingly long. One of them slapped against Light’s gelsuit, but the gel took the force and moved along with it, and Light’s own tentacles helped to force out the intruder in his suit with a negligible loss of gel. Senjen moved a bit closer and took careful aim once more, and once more, his shot burned through its center mass. He could still see the both of them writhing around in the event, but whether they were still alive or just going through death convulsions, the effect was the same. Senjen and Light had a clear path out the exit, and they quickly took it.
