Hammer sinks to the bottom. Desi and S'krllk are gaining their composure splashing and swimming as they look around.

Appleburg begins to swim swiftly to shore. "Sarcosuchus!" he yells loudly in panic as he tries to get there as fast as possible.

The giant crocodile monster, which must be 40 feet long, is thrashing with the raft when it suddenly stops as it realizes the raft is not a living competitor vying for its territory. It dips below the water to spy above what things -- or prey -- fell from the raft. It also glances at the rear raft.





The raft is now deflated and has holes, but it still floats slowly above the surface of the water.

The water is deep here, perhaps 50 feet, which appears to be where the apex predator lay in wait for prey to come to it.

Hammer is at the bottom scooping up some essential equipment. Some will not be able to be gathered easily or quickly.

S'krllk and Desi can spend time gathering floating supplies (2d10 supplies per turn or 1d10 plus half movement), or they can beeline to the shore or to the other raft...or maybe even try to take on this creature mano a mano. They can also spend one turn assessing the situation for potential additional clues.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:40, Fri 12 June 2020.

Woken by the sound of all the splashing, Porter quickly assesses the situation in the second raft,  "Eerrm, maybe we should be heading for the shore line?"  he suggests.

S'Krllk makes a beeline for the shore, he seems to be muttering something derogatory about the universe's teeth.

Hammer will take a total of 3 turns gathering stuff from the bottom of the riverbed before going to shore.

ROUND 2
The giant crodolian is slowly turning its head from side to side underwater to gauge the situation.

Desi and Appleburg are collecting the items floating on the water to salvage what they can. they bump into some nearly invisible bubble objects but are unhurt.

S'krllk is swimming quickly to the shore. He is suddenly shocked by the sting of one of the jellybellies Appleburg warned about (10 STA damage) and is paralyzed. He starts to sink into the river, unable to move.

Hammer is on the bottom collecting items.

The rear boat is steered by Porter toward shore.

ROUND 3
Desi and Appleburg collect a few more items before kicking toward shore. They are not hit by any jellybellies. However, they suddenly notice that S'krllk has sunk below the water and must have been stung.

S'krllk has almost sunk to the bottom of the river, still paralyzed. He is unable to even control his breathing and takes immediate drowning damage. (3 STA damage of drowning damage.)

The rear raft is almost to shore.

Hammer is still collecting items when he notices S'krllk sinking nearby, obviously hurt and unable to move or help himself.

The crocodile has abandoned the first raft and is making a U-turn to look upstream at what fell out of the raft--and the second raft.

Hammer will take what he has gathered and immediately go to S'krllk's aid to try to drag the Vrusk out of the water to dry land.

gurgle

"Everyone out of the water!"  Porter roars as he guides the second inflatable ashore, leaps out of the raft with his machine gun and turns to take aim at the giant crocodile.

If the beast looks like attacking any one of our people, Porter will open fire.

ROUND 4
Hammer is moving toward S'krllk to help...

S'krllk is helpless still and taking drowning damage...(15 drowning STA dmg.)

Desi and Appleburg are swimming quickly to shore...Desi feels the sting of a jellyfish creature pulse through her body. She begins to sink in the water just 10 feet from shore. (8 STA dmg.) She is paralyzed and cannot move as water fills her lungs.

The first raft is going to the shore. Porter jumps off and hauls it up right as a giant maw jumps from the water, snatching at air before falling back into the water. Porter's heart races at the close call.



ROUND 5
Appleburg sees Desi fall into the water and he reaches for her to help her above water.

The crododilian creature is under the water looking at its potential prey again.



It seems to spot Hammer just as Hammer pushes S'krllk above the water to stop the drowning...

Appleburg is dragging Desi to shore, getting her head out of the water.

Hammer and S'krllk turn but only feel a wave of water and see the tail as it passes by them.



S'krllk is almost dying now, but at least his Vrusk head is out of the water for the moment.

Porter and the riders of the rear raft now have the raft safely ashore and are turning to see how to help their comrades.

You see the crocodilian monster walking just below the surface as its feet find purchase on the shrubs and dirt as it prepares to breech.

Hammer gets S'krllk to shore. Everyone is on the shoreside now. Desi and S'krllk are paralyzed (7 more rounds each).

Its head is just below the surface as it seems to watch you from below with its gargantuan body.



Then is slowly sinks back in the water and disappears into the darkness below. You wait for a full minute but don't see it.

S'krllk and Desi regain control of their bodies.

The damaged and chewed up raft has drifted and is caught in some rocks about 8 feet out from shore 20 yards downriver.

Player stats updated--in blue.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:14, Tue 16 June 2020.

"Well now we're screwed!"  Porter exclaims.  "We can't all fit in one raft, not that I am real keen on getting back in the river with that thing.  And we can't get to the Eleanor Moraes in time traveling by foot.  Totally screwed!"

Hammer says, "We might be able to repair the damaged raft. Let's check it out and see. We brought repair equipment, including the damaged bivouac."

Hammer will try to retrieve the old raft and see what can be done to repair it, and how long it might take.

S'Krllk raises his head and moans out "...build new?... many trees... have kit..."
He attempts to sit up, coughs out some water, and lays back down, "after nap."

You drag the raft out of the water to inspect it. The material is very durable and the punctures are not as bad as you might think from such an attack, but since the crocodile creature bit once and then just a frenzy death roll that seemed worse than it was.

You have airship and bivouac material that can patch it up with the kits. Doing so, and getting the gear back together and packed, will take about 30 minutes.

As you begin looking at the status of the raft, the others are looking at what was lost and saved in the capsizing.

You lost:

1 of two medkits:
Remaining meds:
-Biocort doses= 7
-Anesthesia: 9
-Staydose: 8 remaining
-Stimdose: 8 remaining

8 survival kits (including food and water):

8 freeze field generators (2 remaining)

5 cold light lanterns

All but 1 machete



Note also that S'krllk is at 4 STA.

Porter surveys his team's situation. There's nothing he can do when it comes to healing folks so let's stick to what I can do he thinks to himself.  The sarge makes sure everyone is far enough back from the river bank just in case their crocosaur comes back and then he takes up a watch position between the river and the team.
  "Hey Hammer can you make a note in your electronic diary for me?  Note to self, for all future missions, each team member should carry their own personal emergency supply of biocort."
  As the rest of the team tend to raft repairs and treating the injured, Porter also checks the remaining shared team equipment is dived as evenly as possible between the rafts so that if they are attacked again only half the team gear is in any given raft.
  "Probably closing the barn door after the horse is bolted but again another lesson for future missions."

OOC: FYI, there were originally 15 survival kits. You guys lost approximately half of the supplies. I assume some heavier things like robokit and the robot itself were on the raft with Bartja. I assumed Hammer rescued S'krllk's techkit and few items.

You repair the raft, get the supplies ready and are about to set out. There is no more sign of your crocodilian friend. The raft is repaired but will not survive any major damage. (Down to 10/20 structural points.)

Orvo gives S'krllk 3 doses of biocort, his limit for the day. (34 STA.)

7:30 a.m. (5.5 hours remaining) (2.5 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 23 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 1 (30/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg). Rafts: 1 at full capacity (20 structural points); 1 at half capacity (10 structural points).


You are ready to get back on the rafts and try again with a little over 5 hours until the Moraes takes off and strands you here forever alone.

"Hey Desi, I ain't gonna get any sleep worth dick this close to the exfil.  How about we swap the rafts around, I'll take point with good raft, seeing as how you broke yours,"  He smiles "and you can follow us?"

Hammer is ready to push out. He will stay with the front raft to put his ecosystem checks and skills to use as they go. "This will be a memorable event for my recordbooks," he mumbles half to himself. "So many new species. Fascinating."

  Rather than complicate things too much, Porter takes Desi's place in the front raft letting the team commander take a break in the second raft.
  "Nice work on the repairs folks but we ain't got all day to sit around admiring your work.  Let's move out!"

You get back in the raft and head downstream. Luckily, the crocodilian creature seems to have lost interest.

After about a half hour of travel, you see a diversion in the river. You can travel to the left side, which continues at the current safe pace, or you can go to the right, which is a faster area of rapids. You will need to decide quickly.

OOC: Looking at the map below, you can see that taking the left is the safest route but it is at a rate of 5 hexes per hour and, at a 15 hex distance, will take 3 hours to meet the area where the rivers conjoin. The faster route to the right, at 6 hexes per hour, will get you to the same spot in just under two hours but will have some dangerous rapids to navigate.



8:00 a.m. (5.0 hours remaining) (3 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 23 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 1 (30/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg). Rafts: 1 at full capacity (20 structural points); 1 at half capacity (10 structural points).

"We go right, through the rapids."  Porter announces,  "We've had too many delays so far, if we go the safer way we are too late anyway, so not really a choice at all."

Hammer says, "I have to agree. We need all the time we can get just in case there are any further delays. But everyone should hold on tight, get the gear tightly wrapped to avoid losing anything else, and be prepared. Bartja, maybe your droid up there can scout out the river as we go and alert us of any dangers?"

"Let's secure everything that isn't already tied down.  We can't afford to lose any more stuff!"

Orvo goes through his medical gear, and personal equipment & weapons, to make sure as much as possible is secured to his person or the raft.

The party decides to follow the fast rapids to save some time. This requires more effort, paddling and reaction speed.



OOC: For this part, I am assuming two people must man the oars of each raft. The rules for rapids are:

Every character without environment skills must make a reaction check once per hour. Failure results in incident below.

The two at the oars (rowers) must also make an additional reaction or skill check, with the following results:
1) Both make reaction skill check: no further rolls
2) One misses reaction skill check: Everyone must make another reaction check to avoid incident roll--if two or more make check, no incident.
3) Both miss reaction skill check: immediately roll an incident check.

INCIDENT:
Roll below for results of missed rolls in rapids. For hourly rolls, subtract 30 from the roll. For rowing rolls, subtract 10 from roll for each person with environmentalist skills.

1-30: Party almost loses balance but catches themselves. No harmful results.
31-40: Random item falls out of raft
41-55: Roller loses balance and falls out of raft.
55-64: Roller bumps random rider and knocks him out of raft.
65-74: Two fall out of raft (including roller)
75-84: Three fall out of raft (including roller)
85-94: Raft overturns
95-100: In the confusion, sharp instrument punctures raft. Repairs required.


During the first hour, you still must be getting used to it because several did not make their checks. (Bad rolls.)

Bartja: Fail (Rowing) Fail
Desi: Succeed (Rowing) Succeed
Appleburg: Succeed
Hammer: Fail (even with skill bonus) (Rowing) (Succeed)
Orvo: Succeed
S'krllk: Fail
Porter: Succeed (Rowing) (Succeed)

Raft 1 (Bartja, Desi, Orvo):
Indiv rolls:
Bartja: no effect.

Raft Rolls:
No effect.

Raft 2 (Appleburg, Hammer, S'krllk, Porter):
Indiv Rolls:
Hammer: See below
S'krllk: No effect

Raft rolls:
N/A

About 45 minutes into your travel, Hammer loses his footing, falls back, and bumps into Porter, who then falls into the river. (64 roll after modifier.)  Porter is wet...and his breather comes off in the fall...He then hits a rock as the rapids are throwing him around in a torrent. (9 STA damage) You try to get him, but it takes awhile to reorient the raft as he grabs onto sticks. With his scalp now bleeding and the pain pulsing...he is assisted back on the raft after you are forced to go to land and then run back to help him from the rocks. (3 fails in a row there...ouch.) Porter now is missing his breathing mask and his head hurts.

You also lost 15 minutes trying to assist and pull him back aboard.

A few minutes later, and Bartja lets go of the oars to look at the hand controls for the survey robot. Something has gone wrong. Terry has apparently cut off Bartja's command channel. The survey robot that has been such a help to you in this mission suddenly takes off straight to the southeast toward the Moraes.

Bartja tries to take command again, but it is now ignoring all commands.

9:00 a.m. (4.0 hours remaining) (4 hours with no rest)
Rations remaining: 23 (each survival ration is for one person for one day)
Bivouac Units: 1 (30/30 SP (structural points); 10 kg each); second one is kept as scrap (10 kg). Rafts: 1 at full capacity (20 structural points); 1 at half capacity (10 structural points).
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:14, Fri 19 June 2020.

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