Last chapter. The Heaven's Wing

Can we set it up to jump somewhere we can retrieve later?Would be a shame to lose a good ship.

"You've convinced me." Douklan agrees, though it's unclear whether he's talking to Hank or the robot. He leaps out of the pilot's chair and picks up his kit. "If we're going to get the Heaven's Wing, we've got to be all in. Let's go."

Hank replies, "That is a very good idea! I would hate to lose a good ship, but if we aren't going to be able to retrieve it, it will be a good idea to make sure we will be harder to trace. Please set that up."To everyone else he says, "Let's make sure we have all of our equipment. We aren't coming back to this ship."

A few minutes later, the group disembarked from the Vanguard, their boots clanging against the docking bay's scarred metal floor. Moving in a tight formation, Hank, Douklan, Erin, Maya and RB spread out slightly, each scanning the dim, debris-strewn space and joining Mercer and Corbin.

The room was massive and cavernous, the walls lined with shattered control panels and flickering, broken displays. High above, rows of ruined light fixtures dangled uselessly. The faint spin of a red claxon in the corner added to the unease.

Scattered across the floor were remnants of hurried abandonment or vandalism: overturned crates, scorched tools, and shards of broken glass that crunched faintly underfoot.

To one side, a sealed iris valve stood embedded in the wall with a faded label above it that read CARGO AREA BETA-12.

On the other side, the corridor led to the airlock, bay 2 and further away from the pinnacle. It was probably the main corridor of the station, curving for hundreds, if not thousands of meters, until it looped back here.

Mercer will move to the corridor door and prepare to move in.

Once the outer doors are closed, Corbin will move to join the others by the corridor door.

I think we start heading in, being careful and alert. Mercer is willing to take point.
What do we think?

"So I may be stating the obvious here," Douklan mentions as he moves with Mercer and the others to the broken iris port, "But this looks an awful lot like someone beat us here and broke the place apart already. Were they also trying to get the Heaven's Wing? Were they successful? Who were they?" He chuckles. "It'll be pretty anticlimactic if we find that the ship is gone already."

"Fair point. However, we're pretty committed at this point, so we don't have much choice but to continue on. We'll have to try and steal a different ship if someone beat us to it. Worst case we have ten other bays to search of a different ship.

"Also, this is either a commandeered or abandoned station to start with, so this could have happened because of the takeover, not a subsequent invasion."

The group approached the iris valve, its surface scarred and dented from past impacts. With a grinding hiss, the mechanism reluctantly obeyed their command to open. It was pitch black inside.

Helmet flashlights flicked on, slicing through the oppressive gloom as they stepped cautiously into the storage area. The room was vast, the walls lined with rows of towering shelves, most of which were toppled or empty. As they scanned the space, the beams of their lights caught something moving in the shadows—a flicker of motion.

Hank froze, his brow furrowing as an inexplicable sense of dread tightened in his chest. A flicker of an image—jaws snapping, a blur of motion—flashed in his mind. Without breaking stride or raising alarm, he gestured for the others to hold their positions.

Before anyone else could react, a rabid dog lunged into their light. Its matted fur was patchy and streaked with dried blood, exposing raw, infected skin that oozed pus. Its eyes glowed unnaturally in the light, bloodshot and wild with madness, while its emaciated frame revealed ribs jutting beneath the patchwork of fur and open sores. Foam dripped from its bared, yellowed fangs as it charged with reckless abandon.

Its movements were erratic, jerking and unsteady, as if pain and rage were the only forces driving it. The dog recoiled briefly as a flashlight beam hit its face, letting out a pained, high-pitched whine and giving you time to act.

Hank commits the Effort without a thought.

May I assume we have weapons ready? If so, he shoots hoping the others follow suit. (I'll roll assuming I can.)

Douklan sizzles the rabid animal with his laser rifle.

Mercer will keep himself between it and the party use his Vibroblade to ward it off if it isn't taken out. (Full defense)