Entering the reactor chamber

Marie moved through the small maintenance tunnel that led straight to the reactor chamber. Her bio-suit immediately alerted her to the increased radiation in the surrounded environment. Thankfully, her suit would give her protection from the elements, as long as she did not stay in the area long. As she moved, Marie noted the floor becoming more and more sticky. The disgusting ichor from before coated the ground beneath her, and became thicker as she moved towards the reactor. Her sword still brandished, Marie listened intently for any creatures in the distant. Arriving at the reactor door, Marie punched in the engineering security code and the door slid open slowly.

The reactor was massive of course, as the Henkan deserved a powerful plant in order to continue moving through the depths of space. However, the fleshy undergrowth had covered nearly everything inside the reactor. Moving around the reactor itself, Marie scanned her surroundings. Samson, watching intently from his own security cameras, quickly clicked in. "That is a lot of growth in such a short time." Marie could only nod as she continued to look for the supposed blockage. Moving became rather difficult, as her boots seemed to stick to the flesh beneath her.

"There!" gasped Marie, spotting a rather large fleshy undergrowth. The gross flesh had completely blocked one of the cooling ducts. The reactor had auto-shutdown in order to prevent a possible meltdown, and all Marie had to do was completely reset the reactor itself after removing the blockage. Happy that the reactor itself was not harmed by the undergrowth, Marie started slowly making her way to the cooling duct.

Once she got close however, her smile faded. This undergrowth on the cooling duct was different then the rest. A human-like face rested on top of the flesh, staring at Marie with dead eyes. The torso of the once human was ripped open and stuck against the duct itself. The creature was a silent guardian, staring at Marie as she approached it.

"Samson, the growth on the duct looks different. Do you see it?" asked Marie as she stared, afraid of getting any closer to the creature. Samson clicked back into her comm quickly. "I see it. Maybe it is just to scare you?" replied the captain, his voice quivering more then normal. Marie nodded as she slowly stepped closer and closer.

Once she was close enough, the creature let out an unearthly groan. Tentacles of all sorts and sizes burst out from the "chest" of the creature, aiming towards Marie. Screaming and slashing forward with her sword, the energy beam cut through some of the smaller tentacles, but could not slice through all. Wrapping around her legs first, Marie was thrown to the ground by the creature. Her beam sword dropped from the sudden drop, and clattered on the ground near her. Now being dragged towards the monster, Marie struggled as she pulled herself forward.

Stretching out towards her sword, Marie needed to get her weapon before it could drag her all the way.