Chapter Nine: Year 300, 6th Day

[BackworldTraveller]

Combat Turns 14 and 15
Noor, Maggie and Pranit - Plus Zid
Pranit is in considerable pain but, as his vacc-suit is disassembled, this lessens considerably. His only substantial injury is from the knife in the leg and even that is more psychological than actual. The injury turns out to be caused by bent armour and shock from the hits striking not by the substantial removal of parts of his vital anatomy. His armour, on the other hand is in need of considerable mechanical repair before it will fit again - and the exploded thrust pack isn't going to ever work again (and wouldn't be trustworthy if it was).

Miya, Assana and Ulrika
Miya is donning the full vacc suit - and has decided it's probably useful as armour, but not for use in a vacuum. Several seals are missing and it has only one glove (which is ripped)!

Assana is watching the lift shafts - There are more gunshots from there: That's opened the top-hatch in the lift. It looks like they are bypassing the Passenger deck - and they've done something to the lift door there too. Looking at the bottom lift-shaft she asks There's something in the bottom lift that says "This side towards enemy". That doesn't look good. Any ideas?

Ulrika has positioned her drone to gather a fantastic shot of Arnwulf pushing off the side of the ship, clearing the overhead door on the cargo deck, swinging inwards gathering speed and then, as his line parts, being dropped, unceremoniously, onto the floor of the cargo bay amongst the carefully arranged parts of the part-built laser cannon!

The Drivers
No sign of their doing anything!

Indrani and Tiberius
The pair can hear shooting from inside the stairwell, and are getting a running commentary over the ships annunciator of enemy progress in the lift shafts.

Nālani & Arnwulf
Nālani slips around the corner of the air-raft hanger all prepared to shoot the Hacker who is lurking there, two things happen: Firstly there is a smashing blow to her left arm that spins her around and dumps her on her behind about where she hoped to be standing. The hissing sound and red aerosol coming from the gap in the arm plate suggests that the sniper has fired again. Fortunately, the Hacker is nowhere to be seen. (If he's standing in the alcove over her head she's a sitting duck - but Arnwulf should be covering that possibility.)

Arnwulf takes the admonition to take cover literally and continues into the ship. His brave leap is effective - not one of the shooters manages to land a round on him - but the clown sawing at the rope is eventually effective and the rope snaps before he lands. (Details above). There are no enemies in the cargo hold and he is able to get to his feet (and disentangle the remains of the rope) observed only by Ulrika's drone and Nālani's cat, Hoshiko.

n.b. You could do with re-pressurising and doing some first aid!

Reven
Reven grabs the welder from the Workshop and starts to tack the lift-door permanently shut.

[joertexas]

Combat Turns 14 and 15

Miya, Assana and Ulrika
Miya is donning the full vacc suit - and has decided it's probably useful as armour, but not for use in a vacuum. Several seals are missing and it has only one glove (which is ripped)!

Assana is watching the lift shafts - There are more gunshots from there: That's opened the top-hatch in the lift. It looks like they are bypassing the Passenger deck - and they've done something to the lift door there too. Looking at the bottom lift-shaft she asks There's something in the bottom lift that says "This side towards enemy". That doesn't look good. Any ideas?

Indrani and Tiberius
The pair can hear shooting from inside the stairwell, and are getting a running commentary over the ships annunciator of enemy progress in the lift shafts.

Indrani comes up on the comm. "I have an idea - tell me where the enemy is inside my ship!"

[BackworldTraveller]

Two in the lift by your door, one more below them and two in the passenger lobby. One trapped in the bottom of the lift shaft - and not moving after their fall

[joertexas]

Two in the lift by your door, one more below them and two in the passenger lobby. One trapped in the bottom of the lift shaft - and not moving after their fall

Indrani lays her knives on the floor next to the conference room wall at the lift, runs to the conference room table, grabs two chairs, and drags them in front of the lift doors. She steps back toward the conference room, and picks up her knives.

[The Bindoner]

Nālani exclaims A~tsu! Debiru!, reaches for a slap-patch, tears it off and seals the suit-breach. Scrambling forward she reaches for the hacker-deck and takes it into cover with her.

Arnwolf, can you hear me? Why are you in the hold?

Assana, there is a sniper. They shot me. Get Ulrika to find them.

[BackworldTraveller]

Combat Turn 16
Noor, Maggie and Pranit - Plus Zid
While Noor, Maggie and Pranit struggle to get Pranit out of his mangled suit, Zid announces I've just heard from my guys in the bay...The sergeant's gone to see if he can get help from the ship in the bay next door. And they have got the bystanders in the bay’s emergency shelter.

Miya, Assana and Ulrika
Assana continues to Indrani...Looks like they are going up the lift shaft.
And then she acknowledges Nālani's request.

The Drivers
Still no signs of action

Indrani and Tiberius
Indrani places two chairs right in front of the lift door.

Nālani
The suit is whispering instructions on fitting a slap-patch over the leak. You’d think that it was designed for dumb-asses not Marines!
Grab the slap-patch, apply it, monitor for continued air-loss. The self-seal seems to be holding now it has the patch to gloop-to. Still, a patch will give the armour another bit of camouflage from its origins.
And then it starts telling you that your arm is bleeding. Like you hadn’t noticed! It recommends you supply its medical kit with the appropriate pain killers and corrective drugs. It also suggests that your heart rate is elevated and you appear stressed. It suggests that you should load combat drugs for it to apply if the situation is combat related.

Arnwulf
Arnwulf picks himself up and drags the rope clear of the cargo-door seal. His air-pressure is down 10%: The self-seal seems to be holding though.

Reven
Reven thinks he can feel the unconscious body on the other side of the lift-door as he completes the welding to the point where they won’t get in easily. He hopes this will be over soon, because all the freshers are on the other side of that door, and so is all the food and water!

[ateno]

Pranit, having come to his senses a bit realizes what is happening and assists by hitting the fast releases on the inside of his suit, allowing the women to take the pieces away.

Looking for and grabbing his shotgun.

"Where am I, how long, are there boarders still?"

Pranit

THANK you so much for the fantastic Med roll of 15, it saved me.

[The Bindoner]

Nālani
The suit is whispering instructions on fitting a slap-patch over the leak. You’d think that it was designed for dumb-asses not Marines!
Grab the slap-patch, apply it, monitor for continued air-loss. The self-seal seems to be holding now it has the patch to gloop-to. Still, a patch will give the armour another bit of camouflage from its origins.
And then it starts telling you that your arm is bleeding. Like you hadn’t noticed! It recommends you supply its medical kit with the appropriate pain killers and corrective drugs. It also suggests that your heart rate is elevated and you appear stressed. It suggests that you should load combat drugs for it to apply if the situation is combat related.

Suit-ghost, I am touched by your concern, but this is not the time for conversation.

First aid is not an option until she is in a secure pressurised environment, so she just hopes the suit-sealant will form a temporary dressing of sorts and plans her lunge for the hacker-deck. A leap, grab and swerve back into cover...

[joertexas]

Combat Turn 16

Indrani and Tiberius
Indrani places two chairs right in front of the lift door.

She places the chairs on their sides, and runs to get two more.

[Bluetongue]

Arnwulf

Walks to the open cargo bay door and firing from his hip strafes the incoming grav-vehicle, aiming principally at the driver and any turret gunners.

He then dodges behind the crates of cargo.

Arnwulf fires assault rifle [2d6+2]=5+2=7 [2d6+2]=6+2=8 [2d6+2]=9+2=11
Arnwulf fires assault rifle [2d6+2]=9+2=11 [2d6+2]=2+2=4 [2d6+2]=2+2=4
Arnwulf damage from assault rifle [3d6]=16 [3d6]=17 [3d6]=9

[Stirling]

Tiberius O'Hare

Puts the extinguishers by the lift barricade. They are pressurised so a bullet into one would blow the thing and at least vapourise the contents into a cloud of thick smoke.

"Don't worry Indrani, if they get through I won't let them sport with you. I'll save my last bullet for you." he says dryly wondering how those in the Alamo felt.

[joertexas]

Tiberius O'Hare

Puts the extinguishers by the lift barricade. They are pressurised so a bullet into one would blow the thing and at least vapourise the contents into a cloud of thick smoke.

"Don't worry Indrani, if they get through I won't let them sport with you. I'll save my last bullet for you." he says dryly wondering how those in the Alamo felt.

Indrani smiles grimly. "Save your ammo for the enemy. We need to get hold of their weapons."

[BackworldTraveller]

Combat turns 17 and 18
Noor, Maggie and Pranit - Plus Zid
Noor, Maggie, Pranit and Zid get pranit back on his feet. They can hear Assana calling out the movements of the invaders in the lift shaft. They have manoeuvred some piece of kit past the stuck lift and appear to be applying it to the Crew Deck lift door.

Zid has joined Assana and co in the stateroom and starts to don the plastic bubble-suit.

Miya, Assana and Ulrika
Miya has struggled into her protective suit. She has borrowed Assana's pistol.
Assana is relaying information:

• They have dragged some sort of giant salad tongs through the lift and look like they are going to use it on the door.
• The drone's outside: They have a port-authority floater and two 8-seat buggies some kit and more than dozen people. Can't see your sniper, but there are half a dozen on the cat-walk looking in and two on a hand-crank winding the doors open and three by one of the buggies. The air-raft has half a dozen. They seem to be shooting at ulrika's drone.
• It looks like the air-raft will fit through the gap now!

The Drivers
Still no signs of anything

Indrani and Tiberius
The pile of chairs gets higher and broader, and the fire-extinguisher is placed so as to act as an improvised smoke-screen.

Nālani
She takes a deep breath and bounds out of cover to grab the dangling console - and bounds back to cover. The cable is too short and she has to yank it hard to get under the shelter of the Passenger Deck. The line of thugs on the roof catwalk fire inexpertly at the rapidly moving figure - but even so hit her twice. The Vacc Suit's plating is more than adequate to deflect the strikes. The "Elephant Gun" didn't fire or missed. There were plenty of bullet splashes on the hull as she moved.

The curious thing is the missing Hacker. Where have they gone? Did they fall down the chasm between the two parts of the cargo deck? Or jump it and go on around the hull? Even the suits best sensors don't supply that information.

Arnwulf
Having gained access to the cargo bay, Arnwulf takes a moment to assess his options and confirm that the bay is empty of intruders

Reven
Reven takes a well deserved rest. The power is up and running, the door isn't going to open easily.

[Bluetongue]

Arnwulf

I know a grav vehicle with more intruders is above and Nalani is exposed. If I can't fire and hit it from the cargo bay, I will exit and start up the ladder shooting once it is in view.

[ateno]

In loud understandable speech

The tongs are a breaching machine, after they open, they will then flash bang. Wait for the last bang, about 5 seconds, then acquire and and fire. Who ever does not have a weapon, follow me."

Pranit grabs his shotgun reloads and scrambles to his feet, heading for his stateroom.

"Follow me. There is a blasting sphere and a Cutlass in my room, in the open case. I'm going to give them a surprise."

He then grabs his LI/IR goggles turns them on and attaches then on his forehead, ready to slam down.
He changes his clip out to the full one. loaded one had 5 rounds left, one other full one left
"If there is smoke and not sure of your target, Challenge is 'App', response is 'mujhe', 'Moogehe'. Don't got out of room unless you have to the Sphere is a one time throw weapon, twist to activate, its charged. Armor is there if one of you wnat to take the time.

Leadership:
Wahoo Effect 7, Noor and Maggie may have 2 extra dice to roll. Miya, Assana and Ulrika may have one.

He grabs the table and puts it on the side in front of the elevator.
Then crouch's down at the side of the elevator, pulls off the thermite grenade from his calf and puts it in his left hand, shotgun in right, waiting for the sound of the salad tongs breaking thru the door.

[Monsieur Rose]

Noor

"They're coming here? Shit." Noor listens to Pranit and nods. "I think Assana has a gun. I'm going there to help her, we need to get control of the Queen."

Noor races to Assana and shuts the door behind her. "Give me the gun, I'll keep them off you. Get that lift moving up here. We need to wipe them off the shaft. Or change the gravity of the lift, something to delay them."

"Queen! How long till we can leave the port?"

[joertexas]

Noor

"They're coming here? Shit." Noor listens to Pranit and nods. "I think Assana has a gun. I'm going there to help her, we need to get control of the Queen."

Noor races to Assana and shuts the door behind her. "Give me the gun, I'll keep them off you. Get that lift moving up here. We need to wipe them off the shaft. Or change the gravity of the lift, something to delay them."

"Queen! How long till we can leave the port?"

"If anyone is planning to move the ship, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know first," Indrani says dryly over the comm. "Reven, can you undock us and move us away from the berth? And, make sure you lock out the bridge controls."

[cybersavant]

Reven Stiilpahth at the auxiliary controls at the Engineering Desk. "Captain... I was about to do that - sorry for being incommunicado - a little busy down here. There's an air raft coming in. I'm going to nudge them." Reven gets back to the controls and starts to pilot the Queen to either block or squash the air raft.


[2d6]=11+1

[Bluetongue]

Arnwulf

Why are we moving the ship? Where are we going? I thought the ship was not ready to fly (hull hole and all that). Aren't we in a totally enclosed bay, so what is the plan, blast through the bay roof and go into outer space? I am confused to the actual dynamics here.

Arnwulf continues to climb up the ladder and shoots at the grav vehicle.

[joertexas]

Arnwulf

Why are we moving the ship? Where are we going? I thought the ship was not ready to fly (hull hole and all that). Aren't we in a totally enclosed bay, so what is the plan, blast through the bay roof and go into outer space? I am confused to the actual dynamics here.

Arnwulf continues to climb up the ladder and shoots at the grav vehicle.

In short, yes We have to do something to get away from the assault force. The ship is being trashed again, anyway, so any further damage really doesn't matter.