"Frak," Desiraye says before queing the intercom.  "Hey, hey Terry!  It's Desiraye from the landing party you stranded.  Listen, I know this may be hard to believe but, the ship is going to blow the hell up if you continue with the launch!  Killing everyone, including yourself.  Can we at least stop the count down and talk about it Terry?  The captain, he's still alive in the wilderness.  You want to see him die too?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:01, Wed 19 Aug 2020.

Bartja tosses the protective blanket aside to let it burn apart from him and pauses for a moment to listen to the second incendiary grenade splash and burn just above.

"If I could get at that service robot, I'd just shut the litle mofo off!" he says in the com.

He listens to Desi's reasoning with Terry and half of his face (now seared) scowls.  "Des, Terry can't be thinking straight.  From what S'krllk described and the randomness of these traps, I'd say he's on drugs.  I've seen this kind of haphazard rigging on vehicles and robots rigged by meth-heads back home."

(IC)
  Porter ignore the burning sensation from the white phosphorous as he hauls himself through the hatch.  He stands and walks around behind the robot as he reloads his autopistol.  Aiming the muzzle of his weapon directly at the center mass of the rear of the robot, Porter fires another burst at point blank range.

(OOC)
 If the third burst does not finish off the robot I will empty the clip again.  When the robot has been dealt with Porter flicks the light on and heads up the ladder to see if there are any obvious booby traps on the next hatch.

"We know somethings got to be up with you Terry.  Somethingisoff with you.  Captain Marlboro, even said so himself before we had to put him in a freeze field.  He knew you couldn't be responsible for all of this, it wasn't you.  Even if you make it out of here, someone is going to come here looking for us and what happened to everyone!  The Captain still has a chance at making it if we get back to him in time with some medical help.

Please, at least stop the count down and lets talk?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:04, Fri 21 Aug 2020.

Porter suffers 4 more damage from the prior incendiary blast. (1 turn of burning remains.)

Porter, Bartja, and Appleburg hear Desi talking over the intercom.

Porter pulls himself up and fires a point blank range shot at the robot in the back of the head. The robot drops to the ground. Its incendiary grenade also drops. Luckily, it had not pulled the pin yet.

Bartja hears the sizzling of the prior incendiary grenades burn off and he climbs up the hatch to the Lab Deck.

Porter turns on the lights. He is now in the center of the crew deck (#6). The broken robot is at his feet, along with 8 incendiary grenades.

He beings climbing the ladder up to check out the recreation deck above...



While Porter is moving up and clearing out the central areas, Desi's group is still in the engine room.

Desi says into the intercom, "Hey, hey Terry!  It's Desiraye from the landing party you stranded.  Listen, I know this may be hard to believe but, the ship is going to blow the hell up if you continue with the launch!  Killing everyone, including yourself.  Can we at least stop the count down and talk about it Terry?  The captain, he's still alive in the wilderness.  You want to see him die too?"

There is a moment of silence filled in by Bartja's statement into your personal coms, "Des, Terry can't be thinking straight.  From what S'krllk described and the randomness of these traps, I'd say he's on drugs.  I've seen this kind of haphazard rigging on vehicles and robots rigged by meth-heads back home."

Desi then says into the intercom, "We know somethings got to be up with you Terry. Something is off with you.  Captain Marlboro, even said so himself before we had to put him in a freeze field.  He knew you couldn't be responsible for all of this, it wasn't you.  Even if you make it out of here, someone is going to come here looking for us and what happened to everyone!  The Captain still has a chance at making it if we get back to him in time with some medical help. Please, at least stop the count down and lets talk?"

Leadership check: 12:33, Today: GM Heath rolled 77 using 1d100. FAIL

When Terry comes over the intercom, it seems Desi has merely made him mad. "Captain? The only captain I need is right here, and we are getting off this planet in two minutes. I hope you are strapped in."

In response to his "captain" remark, you hear a familiar voice say, "My friends, you sure have followed me a long way. I am still recovering from you killing my cats. Once again, the timer is running out for you. Are you hear to 'arrest' me again?" LeGrange laughs. "Last time, you shot up my hologram. That was a fun sight. You won't be so lucky this time."

Terry then comes back on the intercom. "Just leave my ship and you can live on the planet. No one needs die today."
NOTE: Each person has one chance to talk to Terry and try to convince him. Each unsuccessful attempt will subtract 20% from the next person's LDR attempt roll (never to go lower than 10% success). Certain topics will add bonuses to the attempt.


Up above, Porter peeks through the hatch to the Recreation Deck. The area is in darkness except for a sliver of light coming through the northern hatch door, which is wide open. All other hatches are closed.

TURN 1

A robotic arm casually tosses a grenade through the open hatch toward the central hatch which is partly open where Porter still stands primarily on the lower deck ladder.

Porter instantly ducks back down and slams the hatch shut. (RS check success.) He hears the explosion of a fragmentation grenade (not an incendiary one) go off above, leaving him unharmed.


T-minus 2:15...2:14...2:13...2:12...
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:51, Fri 21 Aug 2020.

MAP REMINDER:

Locations:
So currently Orvo, S'krllk and Desi are on the engineering deck.

Bartja and Appleburg have moved up to the Lab Deck.

Porter is on the crew deck checking out the hatch going up to the recreation deck.

Orvo says, "Let me give it a shot." He says into the intercom, "Terry, this is Orvo, the medic you sent out. Look, we discovered evidence of Sathar on this planet and that they are putting in more implants on people. We think you and LeGrange have these implants, which is causing you to act like this. We have a doctor here who can remove the implants and return you to your normal self. We need you to please stop the countdown so we can fix this. Otherwise, you risk killing us all. Please listen to reason. LeGrange too. Please."

14:37, Today: Secret Roll: Orvo rolled 98 using 1d100. Not looking too good.

(IC)
  "Le Grange, you have to be the dumbest genius in the Frontier.  You guys have completely botched the job you did downstairs.  This ship going to blow as soon as you ignite the engines, in which case we ALL die.  If by some miracle the engines don't explode, I have enough TD-19 here to blow a decent size hole in the hull of this ship, in which case we ALL die.  All of that assumes I don't get to the bridge and kill both of you inside the next 2 minutes, in which case just you guys die.  I like my chances but yours are looking pretty slim right now.
  So Terry, this is your last chance to stand down.  Let us deal with Le Grange and we will speak in your defence to Star Law.  Or you can die along with everyone else.  It's your call.  But remember, despite everything you have done, we have overcome every obstacle, we are on your ship and we have the means and motivation to stop you before you can reach orbit."
  Porter switches his comms back to the team channel,
  "I am gonna need a medic up here guys.  I got one more robot to take down, I'll try and take it out now." Porter takes out a tangler grenade.

(OOC)
 I am down to 18 stamina with another round of incendiary damage to go.

 Looking at the map for the recreation deck there is a central tube with the ladder (8) and two hatches, north and south that is surrounded by a circular corridor with 6 more doorways.  Is it the northern hatch of the central tube that is open with a robot throwing grenades through it?  The orbot is in the hallway?  If so, does the hatch open in toward me or out towards the attacking robot?

S'Krllk continues to work on preventing an explosion, disconnecting anything that his bodycomp indicates as a bad connection while trying to identify which electronics an EMP would work on, and as he works, he attempts to speak through the intercom. "Is that LeGrange? Then I changed my mind. You guys get out, I'm not shutting this mess down, now."
"Terry! You go ahead and launch this thing, you rancid fleshball! At zero, your worthless hide will just be another ash in a bright orange fireball no matter HOW you wired this. Oh, and tell that genius doctor exactly what his ashes will be mingled with. This universe may need someone else to skim off the dross, but I'm stayin' right here to provide the refining fire!"

OOC: Sorry, Porter, but there is no direct comm from the central area to the bridge. The communications, intercoms mics are in the main rooms. You only have a speaker in the central passage. If you go to one of those rooms, I will have your message broadcast. However, your team coms still work to talk to each other.

S'krllK: As a reminder, if LeGrange dies, the transdimensional beings will invade and likely destroy the known galaxy as you know it, or at least put Sathar in charge. His death would be considered a mission failure.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:03, Mon 24 Aug 2020.

Appleburg makes his way up with his meds to help out Porter.

Bartja waits for the phosphorous to die out and grabs his medkit to climb the ladder through the hatches to Porter.

"Coming up with some meds for you Porter.  Let me know if you find a mic to Legrange.  I want to have my final words for him as well.  He should know that we don't die that easily.

It's also obvious he has every hatch booby-trapped on the way up to the bridge.  Think ahead on how to defeat whatever is waiting above the next hatch.  That EMP pulse of S'krllk's would sure be handy up here about now."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:52, Mon 24 Aug 2020.

S'Krllk calmly steps back and send an EMP through the Engineering, Power, and Life Support Systems Control console. Then continues to redirect Terry's wiring into something less lethal as he says to Orvo and Desi, "I know we can't kill LeGrange without letting the Sathar invade, but I don't know if Terry or LeGrange will realize I know that. If he checks any of his indicators, he could realize the ship is set to blow up and stop the countdown, if only to clear us out of this control room."

It is the northern hatch of the central tube that is open with the robot throwing grenades. The robot is in the hallway just past it. The hatch opens inward toward the center.

TURN 2
T-Minus 2:06...2:05...2:04...
Orvo says, "Terry, this is Orvo, the medic you sent out. Look, we discovered evidence of Sathar on this planet and that they are putting in more implants on people. We think you and LeGrange have these implants, which is causing you to act like this. We have a doctor here who can remove the implants and return you to your normal self. We need you to please stop the countdown so we can fix this. Otherwise, you risk killing us all. Please listen to reason. LeGrange too. Please."

Orvo's attempt to talk to Terry is a disaster, and Terry responds, "You blame my actions on implants? This has been out of conviction. Some must fall so that right can prevail."

S'krllk says over the intercom channel, "Terry! You go ahead and launch this thing, you rancid fleshball! At zero, your worthless hide will just be another ash in a bright orange fireball no matter HOW you wired this. Oh, and tell that genius doctor exactly what his ashes will be mingled with. This universe may need someone else to skim off the dross, but I'm stayin' right here to provide the refining fire!"

After S'krllk's statement, there is a slight pause. 13:22, Today: GM Heath rolled 11 using 1d100. (Success!)

Terry says flippantly, "You think you know--"
Then LeGrange's voice cuts in, "Terry, what did you do to this ship?"
Terry says, "I enhanced its capability. I--"
The intercom shuts off.

T-Minus 2:00...1:59...1:58...

Porter has pulled out a tangler grenade. Above him, another fragmentation goes off harmlessly as he ducks down on the ladder into the Lab Deck. He now just has to climb one deck up to get to the bridge, but as he most likely presumed, it will be locked and will need a technician to unlock it (Level 3).

Bartja is climbing up.

Appleburg administers a biocort dose to Porter, who is still on the ladder.  (+10 STA.)

Porter, Appleburg and Bartja are now all on the Lab Deck, with Porter on the ladder at the hatch above.

T-Minus 1:55...1:54...1:53...

The timer suddenly stops at 1:52.

LeGrange's voice comes back over the intercom. "I am interested in what you have to say," he says calmly. "We will not blow up this ship...unnecessarily. Please come to the bridge. What is this about Sathar anyway? I have questions."

Terry says, "What about the booby traps?"

LeGrange says, "Seriously? You booby trapped the ship that we are all on?" Then to you, he says, "Look, if you can safely make it to the bridge, let's talk. We can't dismantle traps from here. But don't try anything funny. We have two hostages."

As Porter peeks up from the hatch below, he sees the lock light on the hatch to the bridge go from red to green.

OOC: I'm going to hold back on this post for the moment:

S'krllk:

S'Krllk calmly steps back and send an EMP through the Engineering, Power, and Life Support Systems Control console. Then continues to redirect Terry's wiring into something less lethal as he says to Orvo and Desi, "I know we can't kill LeGrange without letting the Sathar invade, but I don't know if Terry or LeGrange will realize I know that. If he checks any of his indicators, he could realize the ship is set to blow up and stop the countdown, if only to clear us out of this control room."

It may not be necessary due to S'krllk's successful roll for his previous post, and I may not have been clear above that it will likely cause a huge explosion, since it will only affect the electronics, not the chemical reactions currently going on in the engines, which will all be thrown off balance.

Bartja puts a hand on Porters shoulder, hoping to prevent the warrior from rashly climbing to the bridge alone.

"Let's wait for the others to get here.  They're armed up there and sure to be aiming at us if we go up one at a time.  Better we should open the hatch and talk through it than face off with the rest of the crew while they have the height advantage over us."

Bartja flips the medkit back over his back and sets his doze grenade to pop on impact (but doesn't arm it yet).  He then plucks the tangler off his belt to hold in his hand while they wait for the rest of the gang to make their way up.

As he prepares to EMP the controls, S'Krllk has second thoughts and begins muttering to himself. Changing the bionic finger pointing at the control panel, he steps forward to the Engineering section, and interfaces his hand with the panel. Over his shoulder, he says, "go talk to them, if I go up there they'll be too busy hating me to discuss anything rationally. This, I can do."
While his friends talk on the bridge, S'Krllk will attempt to return the Engineering to a safe state.

"Give us a few minutes to find, remove or, get around the traps.  Can you at least tell us where they are Terry so we don't trip any ore?  Can you shut the robots down as well?

We can talk, there's already been enough violence!"

TURN 3
Porter pops up and tosses his tangler grenade through the north open door. He successfully lobs it through the opening and hears it explode its sticky tangles, but he is unsure if it snagged the utility robot on the far side that is lobbing frag grenades at him.

Over the intercom, Terry says, obviously angered that LeGrange is calling him down, "I don't know what you set off or not. The robots cannot be controlled remotely. Just deal with it...if you can. At least try to impress me by surviving."

Desi and Orvo move to the center area to begin climbing up to the Lab Deck.

TURN 4

Porter is still at the top of the ladder leading from the Lab Deck to the Recreation Deck. He closes the hatch as yet another frag grenade comes his way, mumbling, "He'll run out of them eventually."

Bartja and Appleburg help Desi and Orvo up to the Lab Deck.

Everyone is now in the center of the Lab Deck except S'krllk, who is closely examining the engine rewiring of Terry to see if he can fix the problem. OOC: This will take a few minutes, so as he is doing so, the others can continue.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:49, Wed 26 Aug 2020.

Bartja speaks without the radio to Appleburg, but loudly enough for all to hear.  "I doubt they'll volunteer to have their implants removed.  What do you think you could say that would create that seed of doubt in their apparent mission?  We need at least one of them to realize he's being played, and if we can remove his implant, the other should be easier to reach.

Any way this goes, all is lost of we don't keep LeGrange alive and convince him to help us instead of...them"

Appleburg reminds you that he has a Sathar version of a sonic stunner pistol and a three shot Sathar laser pistol that he stole when escaping their compound. (See Day 2, msg 122.)

He also says your tanglers or doze grenades could come in handy if timed right. He doesn't know about the two hostages or their situation, so that's always a potential collateral damage issue.

Remember also that Appleburg has manacles and an extra Sathar Sonic Stunner (2 total).

I added these as new weapons under the Wiki: http://wiki.rpol.net/?edit=668..._nonstandard_weapons
This message was last edited by the player at 00:50, Wed 26 Aug 2020.

As soon as he hears the blast from the frag grenade, Porter will open the hatch enough to throw his own frag grenade at the robot, then shut the hatch again and count the seconds between explosions, thinking the robot might throw again.  A pattern might emerge.

TURN 5
Porter lets his own fragmentation grenade fly. It makes a perfect arc and he hears it clank against metal on the far side of the door. As he closes the hatch and hears it go off, he is pretty sure he made a solid hit on the robot. (11:49, Today: GM Heath rolled 5 using 1d100.)

Porter waits for a reaction frag from the robot.  About ten seconds in, he opens the hatch to see if the robot is still there.  If it is, he will throw another frag and close the hatch.  If not, he will climb up.

Porter almost immediately hears the explosion of a grenade directly above him.