They've almost made it out. Many of the green-eyes have been killed or have retreated. The dark tunnel indicated by the map as the exit is within sight. Soldat pushes forward to help clear the way for the rest, trying to keep a safe path behind them.
There's a searing blast of heat, suddenly, like the mouth of a volcano has opened up in the dark. Behind them, someone screams. The heat is searing, and Soldat closes their eyes to prevent them being baked right out of their sockets - and that is the opportunity that the seven-eyed creature sought.
It utters a gurgling howl and one of its green-eyed followers bounds forward, six-legged and pantherlike. Heavy. It grips Soldat by the leg with its mouth and bites down hard with saw-like jaws. It shakes its head back and forth as Soldat tries fruitlessly to pry it off - even their powerful metal arm struggles against the creature's strength - and the twist and snap of its movements shreds flesh and painfully dislocates something in the joint. A solid punch from Soldat's fist finally jars the spirit hard enough that it gives one last swing and then lets go, sending Soldat thudding hard against the mineshaft wall. The heat fades, purely an illusion. Despite the pain and disorientation, Soldat fires at the green-eyed panther, landing a shot which craters the side of its head and it crumples and begins to evaporate. The other explorers from Beacon continue to fight back, to help Soldat up, until they manage to make it to the exit.
Soldat is left with some serious but treatable lacerations, and a badly-twisted knee and dislocated kneecap that will need some recuperation time and careful management, but very luckily, none of it is life-threatening. For the duration of their recovery, they're also left with the odd sensation that sometimes, things they touch or approach are too hot - anywhere from uncomfortable to blistering, though no actual physical effect ever occurs, and certainly nobody else thinks that coffee cup or that entire room are anything but perfectly normal.
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There's a searing blast of heat, suddenly, like the mouth of a volcano has opened up in the dark. Behind them, someone screams. The heat is searing, and Soldat closes their eyes to prevent them being baked right out of their sockets - and that is the opportunity that the seven-eyed creature sought.
It utters a gurgling howl and one of its green-eyed followers bounds forward, six-legged and pantherlike. Heavy. It grips Soldat by the leg with its mouth and bites down hard with saw-like jaws. It shakes its head back and forth as Soldat tries fruitlessly to pry it off - even their powerful metal arm struggles against the creature's strength - and the twist and snap of its movements shreds flesh and painfully dislocates something in the joint. A solid punch from Soldat's fist finally jars the spirit hard enough that it gives one last swing and then lets go, sending Soldat thudding hard against the mineshaft wall. The heat fades, purely an illusion. Despite the pain and disorientation, Soldat fires at the green-eyed panther, landing a shot which craters the side of its head and it crumples and begins to evaporate. The other explorers from Beacon continue to fight back, to help Soldat up, until they manage to make it to the exit.
Soldat is left with some serious but treatable lacerations, and a badly-twisted knee and dislocated kneecap that will need some recuperation time and careful management, but very luckily, none of it is life-threatening. For the duration of their recovery, they're also left with the odd sensation that sometimes, things they touch or approach are too hot - anywhere from uncomfortable to blistering, though no actual physical effect ever occurs, and certainly nobody else thinks that coffee cup or that entire room are anything but perfectly normal.