TURN 3
Buck
You back up quickly, just as another few fireballs rush past you, crashing into the flesh of the wall and searing it; it shudders repulsively. You input some calculations into your Microwave Field Manipulator and get ready to toast your entrance, just a few meters to the left of where you just got stuck - but before you can, it explodes with viscera as your companion crashes through again.
The turrets fire rapidly; you shift, drifting to the side as more shots whistle past. Pulling up your hacking programs, you initiate a hack and have it done in seconds, forcing the turrets to fire at any tentacles that strike at you and your friend - it's actually amazing fun, except for the other two fireballs that hit you in the process, ripping open the right side of your ship. Weird fluids start leaking; this could be bad, you feel - you're clearly in over your head here. You start up a diagnostics scan to see what's wrong, and, in the process, take another hit at the back.
Seems it's time to leave. You don't want to sit around and wait to see anything else - or to take any more fire. The cultists seem to be getting to the end of their ritual anyway - you hear them singing louder, and louder, from within the main chamber.
Turning around, you fly your ship back out the enlarged hole your pal made, and he follows along behind.
The sounds disappear abruptly when you pass through the airshield, but you continue for a while further, until you feel you're at a safe distance. From way out here, you notice that the station looks rather like a human heart.
Lemons joins you, and you look back at the cultist station, pressing the button on your detonator.
The nuke explodes. You're blinded by a bright flash of light. And then, just like that, the light fades to a small glow a few kilometers below the giant station.
It seems your poorly-placed nuke fell straight through. You're left open-mouthed as you realize you not only wasted an entire nuke, but every second since you've arrived.
Just then, your screens light up with the extremely helpful information that your CASKET is just about totaled. Right robotic arm is gone, RCS aux is gone, one of your engines are damaged, the back is badly damaged, radiators, electrical systems... Your ship is just barely holding itself togther, the computer happily chirps.
Lemons
Accelerating, you throw your CASKET into a rolling spin, preparing to puncture the cultist station a second time. It's a little difficult to aim while you're spinning this fast, but somehow, you manage to plunge almost directly into the hole you made before, ripping it wider by far as you fly through.
As Buck gets ready to escape, you fly around a bit more, dodging between tentacles that reach out to grab you as you play some wild and crazy repetitive music. Unfortunately, you don't have exterior speakers - or simply can't figure out how to hook them up - so the only one listening to your horrible music is yourself.
After getting hit a few more times (it seems the turrets didn't really care about whether you were there), Buck seems to decide it's time to leave. The cultists seem to be getting to the end of their ritual anyway - you hear them singing louder, and louder, from within the main chamber. Turning around, you fly your ship back out the enlarged hole, following behind Buck - but not before one of the turrets shoots your backside, knocking out an engine. You're still doing just fine, though, and keep flying.
The sounds disappear abruptly when you pass through the airshield, but you continue for a while further, until you feel you're at a safe distance. From way out here, you notice that the station looks rather like a human heart.
You join Buck, and look back at the cultist station as he detonates the nuke.
It explodes, and for a moment you're blinded by a bright flash of light. And then, just like that, the light fades to a small glow a few kilometers below the giant station.
It seems the poorly-placed nuke fell straight through. You're left open-mouthed as you realize you not only wasted an entire nuke, but every second since you've arrived.
((If you look, I left a hint in turn #2 that this could happen.
The bomb was improperly placed because a combination of bad maneuverability rolls and getting shot at; it fell off the shelf and into the chasm, where it picked up enough speed from gravitational acceleration to punch right through the hull and continue on to the other side. I look forward to the reactions of your characters.))