Starfinder Story Preview
I have a vague idea for a story floating around in my head, but I don't really have a plot yet or know where to start. I decided that rather than constantly wait to figure that out that I'd just write a random rough draft of a scene I had in mind for it just to get something down and see if I can get a spark to ignite somewhere. I'm drawing inspiration from Starfinder, the new tabletop RPG from Paizo. I was looking at their community use page, and oddly, Starfinder doesn't appear on it yet, so I may be violating their community use policy by using lashunta and vesk and whatnot, but I doubt I'll face legal action. Anyway, you won't find much exposition or character description here; I just wanted to get something, anything down after so long away from writing. So it's an extremely rough draft, and I'm not going to bother looking it over before I hit publish. Comments very welcome.
Rose was not happy. First, she didn't get paid for her last job. Second, someone spilled their drink all over her that morning. And third, concrete dust was getting all over her clothes as people with laser rifles tried to kill her.
"When you said you just needed to grab something before we left, this is not what I had in mind." Despite her fury and the chaos around her, Rose's voice was surprising level.
"You think I planned this?" Riftik asked incredulously. Rose simply shook her head at the rat and rose just long enough to fire off a shot with her semi-automatic pistol. The shot managed to strike one of the thugs in the shoulder, but he didn't drop. If anything, he just seemed to get angrier.
There was a raspy noise from the wall to their left, but Rose couldn't make out any words. Apparently Vendo-Mirakesh's voice couldn't carry over a battlefield. His artillery laser did more damage than Rose's and Riftik's pistols, but it was hard for him to come out of cover long enough to draw a bead on anyone before more lasers broke more of the building he sheltered behind. Vesk may be more imposing with their large size, scales, spikes, and tails, but it did draw a bigger target.
<Look on the bright side.> _Rose glanced to her right as Aleiira's voice sounded in her head. _<All these shots, maybe they'll run out of batteries before we do.>
Rose didn't care for that sort of attitude. The enemy was moving, and sooner or later, they'd find themselves flanked. And if Rose had heard one of the shouts correctly, more were coming. She turned her eyes away from the thugs, looking for anything that would give them an edge or a way out. It didn't take her long to find one, but she could already tell this was going to suck.
"Keep me covered." Rose's voice never wavered despite her fear. She darted out from behind cover, firing quick shots at the masked thugs across the courtyard. She didn't expect any of them to hit, but if she could just make them keep their heads down, maybe she'd live through this. Riftik's hover drone came out from behind cover again, adding its laser to the flurry of fire from Riftik, Aleeira, and Vendo-Mirakesh. When Rose got to the keypad without getting shot, she figured maybe she had a shot at making her plan work.
Then Rose gave a cry when a laser blast hit her side. Her armour helped, but it was too light to stop the shot entirely. Her hands trembled as she started breaking the encryption on the keypad. She couldn't afford to stop now, and this task required all her attention.
This meant Rose didn't see Aleiira literally spring into action when Rose was shot. The lashunta vaulted the barricade gracefully, rolled, and came up running, drawing fire away from Rose. Aleiira tumbled to confuse her attackers' aim and somehow managed a snap shot from a crouch, sending a thug to the ground. As more attention turned to her, Vendo-Mirakesh found he finally had an opening and started lining up shots, each blast from his artillery laser dropping another foe.
Rose didn't see any of it. Instead, she focused on using the custom rig implanted in the back of her head to find the correct code. It was a process that only took seconds, but even seconds on a battlefield could feel like far too long. Finally, the large door beside her opened, rolling up. Rose ducked under it, not wanting to spend one more second out in the open. It took Rose less than a second to choose. Fortunately, someone who lived her had good taste.
Aleiira had been forced back into cover, her armour sporting a new black mark, when Rose sped out of the garage in an urban cruiser, screeching to a halt in front of the barricades the others hid behind. "Get in."
She didn't need to say it twice. Aleirra literally leapt in, antennae brushing the ceiling of the vehicle, and Riftik wasn't far behind. Vendo-Mirakesh paused for one more shot before squeezing his bulk into the passenger seat. The door hadn't yet closed when Rose sped toward the open end of the courtyard. One unfortunate thug didn't get out of the way in time. His armour left a dent on the front bumper, but the cruiser fared much better than he did.