Laz looks up as Jade opens the hatch and says, "be safe." He feels the elevator roll back and forth and it has him worried.

T-Minus 5 Minutes

Player Walkthrough:  The skill "Explosive Ordnance Disposal" is used for disabling modern explosive devices.  (This also defaults to Demolitions -4).  Demolitions skills may be improved by cooperative effort (i.e. the more people double checking the work with the proper skills, the better the chances of being successful; in this case, X is the cooperative effort).  In some cases, a DX check is also required; because he does not have the proper tools, Viper must also make a DX check here (no modifiers).  (I believe these rules are found in the GURPS Special Ops book.)

Example: Viper has a Demolitions Skill of 12, which gives him an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Score of 8.  X's expertise and access to schematics gives him a modified EOD score of 13.  For every point over 10, a +1 modifier is given to the person disabling the bomb.  Therefore, Viper's modified score is an 11.  His DX check must be made at his DX score of 14.

I am not giving any modifiers for the difficulty level of this explosive (but you may encounter this in the future).  However, before we get to those checks listed above, we must check to see if Viper successfully removes the casing with the butt of his gun.

The party waits anxiously as Viper brings the gun down on the casing...

There is a huge explosion.  Everyone in the elevator jumps as fragments scatter, and the impact...nearly knocks Jade and Grid from the top of the elevator, but their grip on the metal casing protects them.

A body is falling.  Your flashlights illuminate it.  It is torn to shreds.  Jade's grenade has knocked the Agent from the railing.  He falls to the empty shaft below without a sound.

...and Viper successfully removes the casing from the bomb.  It clunks off into his hand and he looks down at the wiring and operations.  He recognizes a bundled thermobaric device.  This is made from HEI volumetric (blast effect) explosive technology similar to fuel-air explosive and used in shoulder-fired infantry weapons and ATGMs, but it is bundled to high level explosives designed for structural damage.  The burn temperature of the thermobaric mixture is 800+ °C, but at any range the blast effects are much more serious than the thermal effects.  But the structural bombs alone will create such a blast that Viper will never have to worry about the burning temperature of the thermobaric blast...if he fails.

Normally, 20-60 minutes is the preferred time to disable an explosive (to gain proper bonuses).  In this case, I have allowed 2 minutes to attempt to disable based on Viper's skill and X's help without a modifier.  However, Viper may choose to double his attempt speed and take a -1 penalty.  Multiple attempts are permissible upon a failure, but just a reminder that the effect of failure is randomly chosen from "no effect" to minor negative effects to a "full detonation."  Viper is not wearing any protective gear.

In the elevator, the party has its flashlights shining down at the body of the Agent far below.  It is so far down now that your flashlights can barely pick out the mangled body from the gears and elevator equipment.  But then it moves.  You're pretty sure that wasn't just a shadow or trick of the light.  The body is moving at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

And then you are rising too high for your light to pick out anything below.

Ding.  The second elevator reaches the ground floor and its door opens.  The sound so surprises Viper that he actually jumps.  He had heard the crash as the body hit the ground in the elevator shaft next to hit.  Then nothing but silence.  And now that annoying ding.

Addendum:

T-Minus 4 Minutes, 50 Seconds

Sorry for playing a dirty trick of misdirection above with the explosion.  But I hope it worked.  :)

Jade hops back down into the cage elevator with Laz and Mitose.  "You can do it, Viper," she says in support.  "We believe in you."

But she grabs onto any side railing for support.  Just in case.

Laz looks at the agent and shakes his head, "That is impossible."

(OOC: My heart.. my poor heart.)

"Okay, X. Unless you see something I don't, I'm going in. Oh yeah, and get me a program on Demolitions Disposal to pump in my head when this is over." Viper carefully, but quickly pokes through the wiring, looking for the ones he needs to sever or pull out to disable the device, paying careful heed to X's comments and suggestions along the way. He pulls out the big bowie knife from his leg sheath, absently wishing X had sent him in with a pair of pruning shears instead.

(OOC: 11:11, Today: Viper rolled 10 using 3d6. EOD (effective 11). )

Grid follows Jade, a little less graceful that the lithe young woman, landing with a thud beside Laz.

"Thank you for the back up," he nods in thanks to Jade as he moves to Mitose, helping the latter to sit on the grated floor of the lift.

"Rest while you can," he says to the Asian-looking man, "You'll need your energy when we get to the top."

When we get to the top, not if we get to the top.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 05:53, Sat 19 June 2004.

T-Minus 4 Minutes, 40 Seconds

[It appears that Viper made a successful EOD check to disarm the bomb.  However, he forgot to roll the required dexterity check.  But more on that in a minute...]

Grid plops down next to Jade.  The four party members feel as though they are riding through an abyss.  There is no light on any side except from their flashlights, neither up nor down.

The elevator continues to ascend.

X answers Mitose's earlier question.  "Once you get to the top of the elevator, you must make it to the computer to upload the information on the disks that Laz has.  The hardline to bring you back to the Hyperion is in a separate location.  Will give you details when you make it to the top."

Viper gets to work with X helping him.

Viper is following X's instructions.  He pulls out wiring and a circuitboard.  It all dangles loose.  Finally, X leads him to the right wire grouping.  "You will see a bundle of wires:  green, yellow, black, red, blue, and black and white striped.  You must--"

His voice is cut off.

T-Minus 2 Minutes, 55 Seconds

Locke's voice comes over the headphones.  "We have spotted a ..... sentinels.  Must...radio contact.  They ... approaching ...Hyperion.  Elec--... interference.  ...cut transmission."

Viper looks down at the bundle of wires in one hand and the knife in his other.  The wires are closely knotted and will take some skill to take apart and cut.

The elevator continues to rise.

X's voice breaks out over the headphones.  "Give that to me!" he says angrily, apparently at Locke.  His voice breaks in the static.  "Viper, you must... the ... black--"  His voice cuts out entirely.  The sound has died completely.  Even the static is gone.

T-Minus 2 Minutes, 40 Seconds

22:27, Today: GM Heath, on behalf of Viper rolled 13 using 3d6.
This may give you at least the comfort of knowing that Viper successfully makes his dexterity check.  However, he must indicate which wire to cut.
I decided to make this public so that everyone can see what is going on (let's just say that Viper is talking himself through it, so feel free to give him your opinions, if any):

Private to Viper: To be fair, I did a secret roll for Viper based on his unmodified EOD skill (since X is not able to help further).  Unfortunately, you don't know whether that roll was a success or failure.  Therefore, the following is true only if the roll was successful:  Viper believes there is a 22% probability that he should cut the black wire, a  7% probability that X was saying NOT to cut the black wire, a 48% probability that he was saying to cut the black and white striped wire, and a 23% probability that he was saying NOT to cut the black and white striped wire.

This is how I will handle it:  If Viper's secret roll was successful, then I will roll a percentile die with the probabilities above (in the order provided) to see if there is success or failure (i.e. if he chooses the black wire and I roll 1-22, he succeeds; if he picks the black and white striped wire, then a 30-78% is a success).  If Viper's secret roll above was not successful, then the probabilities will be reversed.  If he chooses "not" to cut a wire and chooses another wire to cut instead, then this means he believes he should cut two wires:  the one not provided and a new one of his choosing (i.e. if X said not to cut the black wire, then Viper believes he should cut the black and white striped wire and one other).  The probability of success will count toward the wire NOT chosen.  (In the example above, it would apply toward the 7% chance.)  This leaves things up to chance and is based in part on his skill score and not at all predetermined by me.  I look forward to finding out what the correct wire is.  :)

Viper, you may make a percentile roll AFTER you post what you are doing and then make a second post with the roll results.  If you roll BEFORE, then I will have to make the roll again for you. Good luck!

This message was last edited by the player at 14:07, Sat 19 June 2004.

PM
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:29, Sat 19 June 2004.

It is too dark to see Mitose's expression, nor does he speak loud enough for all to  hear over the sound of the rising cage, but his meaning is as clear as any exclaimed curse.  "We must proceed as planned.  This data must be uploaded.  That is our priority."

He pauses, "The rest is beyond our control.  We'll worry about an Exit, when the primary goal is achieved."

Mitose with his head bowed and flashlight pointed down picks up a glint by chance.  Somewhere far below, something is moving on the stairwell.  The four party members in the elevator shine their flashlights together.  Sure enough, there is something down there.  It is too far down to see details, but it appears to be moving up the stairs.  At this point, you are uncertain whether it is moving fast enough to catch up to you or not...or to make out any details at all.  However, you could almost be sure that the glint you saw could have been the light's reflection off of sunglasses.

T-Minus 2 Minutes, 35 Seconds
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:35, Sat 19 June 2004.

Roach glances around nervously as they make their way through the building. He doidn't like being back in the Matrix, no sir. You'd think he'd be comfortable, after growing up in there an all. But no, Roach didn't like the comfortable deception that was this place, and he never would for the rest of his life.

Keeping his AK-47 aimed ahead, Roach creeps up to the elevator doors.

"Right, now just gotta wait for the others to arrive. Then we screw off, no trouble, no problems. Thought the youth, trying to calm his paranoia.

It didn't work, however. The building creaks, and Roach jumps two feet in the air, whirling around to train his weapon on...nothing.

"Keep cool, Roach, keep cool..." he says to himself., but that didn't work either.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:25, Sun 20 June 2004.

Laz hears X's last words and takes a breath; he closes his eyes and starts to talk under his breath, what he is saying is unknown to the rest of the group but it is all he can do to help Viper.

"Take it easy Roach.  This is just like the simulations, remember your training."  whispers Lot reassuringly.  He draws his pistol in a white knuckled vice grip and allows it comforting weight to calm his rapid heartbeat.

Speaking into his headset Lot informs the others of his intentions before motioning Roach to follow.

"This mission is feeling more like a rescue than recon.  Roach and I are on the top level ahead of you. I dont see the point in wasting time waiting for you all to arrive so im going to search for a computer for the upload in the meantime."

Please note that I have updated the website to include the following:

GURPS For Dummies

For those who are new to GURPS, this should solidify the basics and show you how some of the rules work.

For those who are not new to GURPS, this should be a good basic reminder about how things run and how they will run on this game.

In the upcoming weeks, I plan to post more about specific skills and other options for your character development and how they will work in the Matrix.

"Greetings Lot." Grid replies to one of the new, unknown voices blaring over his headpiece.   He continued to stare down the stairwell his flashlight attempting to follow the movements of whatever it was following them up the stairs. "It would seem that we are currently being followed, as improbable as it seems, by a man we thought dead."

"If that is the case, we are going to need to find another computer to upload the information. Somewhere other than what is organised.  We cannot risk the information being snatched from us at the last minute. Can you do this?"

"If there is a computer to be found on this level you can be sure that we will find it." replies Lot hastily as he quickens his pace.

He halts abruptly at the corner of an intersection and puts his back to the wall.  Natural caution and instinct compels him to take a moment every now and again to use his ears and scan for danger, especially in low light.

Laz looks at the others, weariness on their faces just like his, he wondered what they were thinking. He looked at them and said, "This isn't turning out as simple as we thought it was going to be, is it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:28, Mon 21 June 2004.

"Um, right." Says Roach into the microphone. "We'll see if we can find one."

Still glancing about in all directions, Roach follows Lot.

Jade agrees with Lazarus.  " 'In and out,' they said.  'No problems,' right?"

She waits  impatiently for the elevator to keep climbing, her eyes watching below for more signs of movement.  "Viper, I sure hope you hurry and get yourself out of there safely.  And when you do, keep on guard for that Agent."

“Affirmative Lot and Roach.  Good luck with the hunt.” Grid replies to the group’s two, yet unseen, companions.

Overhearing Laz and Jade’s comments he turns to regard the two.  His eyes look tired, but there is a spark within their brown depths that show on some level the big man is somehow enjoying the current situation.

“This mission has been a mess from the start admittedly but look at the positive.  We have shown how well we work together as a team.”

Black... or Black and white? Viper's blade hovers between the two primary choices, the simulated sweat beading on his forehead. Viper closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, fighting the urge to rip out the earpiece and it's accompanying chatter. Finally, when he feels a bit more stable, he opens his eyes and makes a choice.

"Everyone," he says over the cell-link. "Brace yourselves." He then swiftly and with mostly false confidence cuts...

07:53, Today: Viper rolled 21 using 1d100. eeney meeney miney moe.

T-Minus 2 Minutes, 20 Seconds
Viper's secret roll against EOD: FAILURE

The snip of the wire is audible in your earphones.  There is a momentary pause.  Viper and everyone freeze, waiting for the explosion.

The red digital numbers on the bomb begin to flash.  They read 2:18.  It blinks again.  They read 2:18.  And again 2:18.  Viper's choice was successful.  The bomb is successfully deactivated and its explosives rendered inert.

The elevator down the hall to his left is still on the bottom floor.

...and the other bomb is still counting down...

T-Minus 2 Minutes, 12 Seconds

[OOC:  Since Viper's secret roll was a failure, the percentiles were reversed.  Viper cut the black and white striped wire.  Since he failed the EOD check, the black and white striped wire was the correct choice on a percentile roll of 1-22.  Viper rolled a 21.  He got very lucky.

And I was soooo looking forward to using my random effect chart for a failure.  ):  I guess you defied the odds.]

"Watch yourself Viper, get to an exit if you can." Mitose's voice says over the line.

"Let's move! Viper has bought us a shot, let's  ride his luck and get this uploaded." Mitose begisn to move towards the uplink, eyes peeled, watching warily for the return of that black-suited bogeyman.