The vastness of space holds many mysteries, some darker than others. As a starship captain in the Starfield universe, I‘ve seen my fair share of strange happenings out in the depths of the unknown. But when I received a distress call from an old friend begging for help, I knew this was going to be something big.
My friend Ari was a medical officer on The Clinic, a large starstation providing medical care for the settlers of Narion. His panicked message told me only that there were sinister things happening in the station‘s Violet Hold – a high security containment facility for dangerous criminals and patients. He feared something devastating was about to be unleashed but he dared not say more. The transmission ended abruptly, leaving me deeply unsettled. I had to get to The Clinic fast.
Docking at The Clinic
When my starship dropped out ofPulse Driveat The Clinic‘s location, everything seemed quiet. Too quiet. I hailed the station but got no response. After manually overriding their docking protocols, I brought my ship into land in their hangar. The place was completely deserted, setting my nerves on edge. Where was everyone? And what happened here?
I headed into the core of the station, one hand on my weapon in case trouble found me first. The sterile white halls were littered with debris and splattered with blood – signs of a panicked evacuation…or worse. I quickened my pace towards the Violet Hold, hoping I wasn‘t too late.
At the Hold‘s heavily armored security door, I discovered the first clue something catastrophic had originated here – deep gouges raked the alloy panels and the control console was ripped open, exposing fried circuitry. The door remained sealed shut but it was clear something forced its way out. I had to get inside.
Investigating the Ruined Facility
Bypassing the damaged systems wasn‘t easy but one advantage of running with a group like the Freestar Collectives is you pick up a few tricks. It took me the better part of an hour but finally, the heavy blast doors shuddered open. As soon as I stepped inside, I gasped in dismay. It was a nightmare tableau of destruction – like a hurricane had torn through.
Chunks of debris littered the floor amidst glowing puddles of strange substances. Holding cells had been smashed open, their security fields flickering erratically. Heavy surgical tables were overturned, advanced medical equipment crushed and sparking. An observation room high above my head had shattered windows, making it look like a creature with giant claws had raked its way out. Something monstrous did this…and the crawling sense of dread told me it couldn‘t have gone far.
I cautiously made my way deeper into the ruined Hold, searching for any clue of Ari‘s fate or what unleashed this chaos. All I found were more spatters of blood, increasing in frequency the further I explored. And then I saw it, hidden under a pile of wreckage in one of the deepest cells – Ari‘s medical uniform. My heart turned to ice in my chest. There was no sign of his body but the shredded, blood-soaked garment left little room for hope.
Whatever did this, it murdered my friend in a savage frenzy before escaping deeper into The Clinic…perhaps to go after more victims. I had to stop this – but first I needed more information. If I was going up against some unknown monstrosity, I couldn‘t go in blind. There must be surveillance records somewhere that captured what happened.
Hunting the Beast
After avoiding roaming security drones gone haywire, I managed to reach a still semi-functional control room. The video logs painted an ominous narrative. Everything was fine until a heavily restrained and sedated humanoid was brought to the Hold, escorted by an armed detail. It was apparently some mercenary suffering from an unknown mutagenic disease, captured trying to illegally enter United Colonies space. Despite extreme precautions by the Hazmat suited guards, something went horribly wrong during the transfer process.
The prisoner suddenly writhed and expanded, skin splitting to reveal pulsing growths and writhing tendrils underneath. In seconds, the horrific creature shredded its restraints and guards alike in a frenzy of brutal attacks. Alarms blared but containment protocols tragically failed as this monster of mismatched flesh battered its way out of the Hold. It vanished into the bowels of The Clinic…but not before ripping a fleeing medical officer apart right in front of the surveillance drone.
I watched in building fury as Ari – trying to be a hero – attempted to seal a blast door to slow the thing down. He stood no chance. This abomination had to be exterminated before it could hurt others. I was dealing with no ordinary beast…this was an apex predator – an Etheric Voidspawn. And I knew how to kill it!
The Dramatic Confrontation
In the darkest underbelly of The Clinic, I at last tracked down the hideous creature to the main power core it sabotaged. My military-grade Exterminators rifle was loaded with Meta-Silver ammunition imbued with destabilizing radion particles – one of the only known weaknesses of Etheric entities.
The hulking horror roared in rage at my interruption of its efforts to escape. It lashed out with huge misshapen claws and dextrous limb-like tentacles tipped with razor spines. But I reacted faster, combat roll clear seconds before it attacked the spot I stood moments before. Its frenzied swipe tore through machinery in a cascade of sparks and pneumatic hisses.
My rifle barked twice, silver slugs tearing chunks out the Voidspawn‘s oily hide but not slowing its maddened assault. We continued our deadly dance of attack and counterattack – it a whirlwind of indiscriminate fury against my tactical experience. My armor deflected raking blows as I emptied round after round into the beast, trying to cripple its limbs or land a headshot.
It fought like a cornered animal soaked in adrenaline but eventually the sustained barrage of silver-laced fire took its toll. Pierced by over a dozen destabilizing slugs, the Voidspawn‘s physical form finally broke down with an ear-splitting death wail. In mere moments, only a smoking pile of viscous fluids remained of the once nightmarish creature.
I cautiously toed the bubbling puddle while replacing my rifle‘s drained fusion battery – molecular acids still eating into the deck plating. One threat eliminated but this disaster was far from over. Now I had to try restoring power and emergency systems so I could send out a warning beacon. If any escape shuttles managed to flee this calamity, others needed to know the monstrosity was dead…and that The Clinic hides extremely dangerous secrets.
Just what were they doing experimenting on such a volatile entity capable of butchering dozens within minutes? As I set to work, I wondered grimly if I really wanted to know…
