Lyle sneaks forward, past the edge of the junkpile, and toward the main cavern. Sticking close to the wall, he gets to the edge.
The cavern isn't that packed. There are maybe a thousand quintpods of varying sizes. Most are smaller than you've seen, with about one in ten the size you fought. A smaller group, eight or nine, are twice that size. However, at the end farthest from the light, you see what has to be the queen. She's enomorous, the size of the whole redoubt back in Cooperstown, with eggs piled to the side. Quints tend to her, feeding her sacs of viscous goo, cleaning her, and keeping the eggs safe.
To the left, the cavern opens into darkness. Only the inky black of the night sky, with unblinking stars, solid pinpricks with a clarity you've never seen, unhindered by an atmosphere. You gulp in a breath, and are surprised there is still air. In the center, a huge star, smaller than a moon, larger than the largest star, blasts its light into the cavern. Heat burns on your face, almost as strong as sunlight.
The one thing that captures your attention, however, is a mirror-finished sac in the center. It captures the light and glows its own pale light. Veins of glowing fluid flow forth in multiple directions, one snakes over head and into the rock, and then into the derelict craft with the archway. You can all but feel the power, captured from the star, and converted to bio-technological energy.
Emmett on the other hand, finds a nest of small quints inside of a metallic crate. They hiss when he opens the lid, and tails flash in alarm.
Initiative checks!
