Jade and the others run to look out the back of the ship.  Jade has her LAW rocket launcher ready.

The Hyperion begins to move forward.  It will easily outdistance the creatures.

"Wait!" Locke says.  "Slow us down.  Don't outrun them."

You all look at Locke with the look one saves for those truly insane.

"Let's keep them chasing us, but don't lose them.  If we can find a way to capture that whale creature and take it back to Zion, then we can perhaps use it to fight back against Zero-One."

He looks around at everyone as the ship starts to slow and once more the creatures start to catch up.  "Any ideas?"

Screed looks back in worry, "Um, I dunno, but I'd like not to get too close.  Can't we stay further away and fire EMP rifles at it to feed it and keep it trailing us?  What would an EMP blast from the ship do?  Fill it up?  Overload it's senses?  No, never mind.  We'd be sitting ducks if it didn't work."

Jade holds her fire but is prepared in case anything--anything at all--goes wrong.  "I've seen what these things can do.  You sure you want to risk it, boss?"  She remembers her near death experience and the way one of these wormy whale monsters came up from under the ground and swallowed Lazarus whole.  Not to mention the mutants slashing through the top of a train car with nothing but their claws.

"You sure about this?" she repeats.

Cistron was rudely stirred from sleep by the turbulence, the continuous sirens, and the other crew members running past her quarters. With great effort she forces herself to her feet, and down the hall to see what the commotion is all about. "...Do I really want to know?!" She inquires to no one in particular.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:39, Wed 18 Apr 2007.

"Wait, let me get this straight.  You want them to come CLOSER?"

Shadow held his rifle as the beasts began closing, his hand and fingers resting nervously upon the trigger.

"I would like to say I REALLY don't want to end up as worm food."

Shadow wayches the creatures as they close in.  An unhappy look upon his face.

"Boss... you're crazy... in case you forgot, we already lost someone in a training exercise today," Dracos eyed the group, sitting at the computer console waiting.

"The future of Zion and humanity is at stake here," Locke says.  "These creatures have been able to survive on the surface amidst the machines and keep them at bay, even destroy them.  You want to pass up that opportunity?  Now, do you have any ideas about how to capture them alive, especially that worm creature?"

"No... the future of this ship is at stake here. I'm all for kicking 01's mechanical ass back to the stone age," he retorts, "but I'm not for trying to tangle with some new mutated worm creatures that may break out and eat Zion, or us."

Cistron was getting a little unnerved by the implications of the metaphorical slang that was being flippantly thrown about; and agitated because no one was answering her query, and she was getting more and more despirate for answers.

"Would someone tell me what the hell is going on?!"

"We just finished a training mission and these mutant creatures and the worm came out from the caves.  We've got to get back to Zion, and I want to bring some samples with us."

Just then, the worm lets out a sound like a humpback whale.  You remember that sound...the EM pulse it emits.

The Hyperion's lights go out, and the Hyperion stalls a moment.  Its bottom scrapes the underside of the tunnel and you hear grinding metal as you are thrown toward the front of the ship.

Locke is thrown against a wall.  His head is bleeding.  He says, "Silicon, forget my plan!  Get us out of here!"

The Hyperion had gotten a little ahead of the creature before its EM pulse.  Now, you can hear them approaching from the rear.  Because the Hyperion's lights and power are out, you cannot see them, but you know they are back there.

"Silly!" Locke says into the intercom.  "Silicon, answer me!"

There is no answer, so Locke says, "Keep this area clear of those things.  We've got to get out now."  He begins moving toward the front of the ship to check on Silicon.

The Hyperion is dark, and you are standing there (doing nothing, I suppose).  In a moment, Locke calls back, "Silicon's hurt real bad.  Who else can fly this thing?  We need a pilot and we need one now."

The engines begin to hum again and the lights come on as Locke reignites the ignition.  But around you can be heard the sounds of scrabbling claws on rocks and the seal-like bellow of the worm not too distant.  They are close, maybe 30 seconds away.

"Hold on I'm coming."

Shadow spekas towards Jade,

"Guess that's my cue.  See ya later."

Shadow begins moving his way closer to the cockpit as fast as he can.

Shadow gets up to the front and gets the Hyperion up and running.  Just as it starts moving, and as Locke is pulling Silicon away for medical treatment, red lights flood the inside of the ship.

"Hull compromised," bleats an alarm.  "Intruder aboard."

Jade says, "One of those creatures is on board.  EM rifles are no good.  Grab something."  She looks down at her LAW rocket launcher.  "Guess I can't use this inside the ship."  She pulls out her knife.  "What guns we got, boss?"

"Find something and kill that thing.  Gun, knife, harsh language, bad jokes, whatever just kill that thing!"

Shadow jumps into the pilot seat and grabs the controls,

"Hold on to your hats people, this may get messy."

Cistron scrambled, looking for anything that would serve as some sort of defence. As she reached the corridor, she pulled the fire axe from the wall. -Likely a weak weapon against the intruder, but not completely inneffective. (At least until she could find something better.)

-She turned, and made her way to the ship's armory
This message was last edited by the player at 17:26, Sat 28 Apr 2007.

All you find are a bunch of steel pipes, the axe that Cistron found, 2 pistols, a welding torch, and a flare gun.  The armory, although not much to begin with since most of your fighting is inside the Matrix, was one of the areas devastated when you were bouncing off the walls and being attacked by Sentinels.

Dracos grabs the pistols... readying them for the upcoming fight...

Screed grabs an EM rifle and a tool kit.  He locks himself in a chair and starts stripping the gun down.  He calls out without looking, "Someone grab a drill and get it running, NOW!  They hate that stuff."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 04:32, Tue 01 May 2007.

"Why don't you share those guns there, Dracos?  Either give one to Cistron or I'll take it."  She finds a drill.  "This is deja vu all over again."  She looks for something aerosal.  "If we can spray something into the welding torch, we'll get a good flamethrower effect."

"...Or burn your arm off..." Cistron adds "..But Jade has the right of it Dracos, we can't afford to commit all the munitions to a single person, if you get downed we don't want to be left helpless."

He tosses one of the pistols to Jade.

Jade gives it to Cistron.

"I hope Screed is coming along with that EMP rifle."

Jade will stick with a drill and a blowtorch for now, her knife sheathed.

"I can use the LAW," she says, "if you don't mind the ship being badly damaged by it.  Maybe for an emergency?"  She straps it over her back.

Ciston nods in acknowledgement, cocks the gun; and heads down the corridor. She was thankful to Jade for the pistol. Going into battle with naught but a fire axe was not an ideal scenerio in any circumstance.

OOC:  Okay, back in town now.  Note, I'll be out again this weekend.

You hear the screeching sound of claws against metal and wires being ripped apart.  The lights go out.

Shadow finds that the Hyperion is pulling down quickly with a loss of sudden power.  He will have to either try to land it on its belly or "punch" power from below.  The first action could create a crash or damage the ship; the second could make you hit the cavern ceiling and get damaged or crash.  The belly landing seems more likely to succeed, but it would also possibly allow the worm-whale-like mutant creature and other mutants to get closer to the ship.


From the armory, the others turn quickly when they hear--in the pitch darkness--the sound of heavy breathing and footsteps, feet falling on metal without shoes and breathing that does not sound human.

Jade immediately lights up the blowtorch and starts up the drill.

Shadow's mind is racing faster than the ship, he knows the ramifications of any action he takes here.

Crash and they eat us.  Land and they eat us. What's a boy to do?

Fighting furiously with the unreactive controls, Shadow has already made his mind up.

"Hold on everybody, gonna have to use a little more power, hold on to something!"

Shadow is extra loud, not because of fear but of pure adrenaline.

Power is sent to the bottom thrusters in an attempt to gain altitude while Shadow attempts to guide the ship with less then favorable controls.

Screed squeezes his legs together to hold onto the gun better after the warning.  He keeps fussing with it, trying to get it just right like he had read about in the debriefings.

Cistron instinctively knew something of earthquake emergency protocol- (and a shakey ship was not unlike that.) Quickly she gets to a door jamb, and braces her back against the inner wall. Squatting down as pushed her legs outward against the opposing Jambs; Locking her knees into a stable position. Using her free hand she locks the clip and holds it upward in a ready position.

"Shadow, whatever you got in mind...I hope it's genius. I don't feel like going into a face to face melee with this thing...!"

OOC: Just need a move from Dracos now.

Dracos readies his gun to fire at one of the small creatures...

Screed is working on the EMP gun to reverse its polarity.

Jade lights up the blowtorch and starts the drill simultaneously.  The flash of light from the blue flame illuminates the mutant creature that once...maybe...had come from human stock.  But now it is alien in appearance, its ears pointy, its face hairless, with large eyes, sharp teeth, and razor-like claws.

It screeches a high-pitched scream when the drill starts, and it jumps up with amazing strength to get lost in the wires and pipes of the ceiling, out of range of the light of the blowtorch.

Dracos and Cistron fire at the creature, but their shots miss because just then, Shadow punches the acceleration, and the ship lurches up.  The sudden motion dislodges the creature, which falls 12 feet down to the floor about 7 feet in front of you.

Shadow's driving, however, is right on, and the Hyperion misses the ceiling of the tunnel structure and begins marching forward.

The creature, however, is not happy.  The instant it hits the ground, it rolls.  Cistron and Dracos manage to fire off two more shots, but the creature has moved out of the room and is apparently hiding in the computer control room.

Dracos and Cistron are both thinking the same thing...that they'd probably hit the creature if only they had been in the Matrix.

The light on the blowtorch picks that moment to start to go out.

Jade has 10 seconds left of blowtorch fuel.
It will take 1-3 seconds to move into the far room and perhaps spot the creature.
Screed must make 5 successful skill checks (one allowed each second) to change over the polarity of the gun.
Shadow sees that the sudden energy boost and the creature attacks have left the Hyperion's tanks with a slow leak and limited fuel.  Up ahead, he can choose to take the short and dangerous path towards Zion or the longer and safer one, the latter for which may or may not put you within radio contact of Zion.  (Both depend on skill checks.)

Screed works as hard as he can moving as quickly as he can.  "Keep going, don't wait on me!"

PM

PM

Jade says, "Do we have any flashlights or alternative light sources."  She turns off the blowtorch temporarily while they decide how to approach the creature in the far room.

"No point in playing safe here.  Go the long way and they'll eat us, go the short way and we might have a chance."

Shadow is muttering to no one in particular and has already decided which way to take the ship.  Over the radio he speaks,

"Gonna try and go back the quick way and get us back.  Hold on."

Reaching for the controls he steers the ship towards the quicker route.

Shadow gets you going the short way...so far, so good.

Screed is having awful luck with the EMP rifle.

Jade turns off the blowtorch.

Everyone is standing around not wanting to go into the next room where the mutant is.

Cistron is able to pull out a flashlight from a nearby bin.

You hear a scream in the next room.  It is too harrowing to tell who made that scream, either X, Hammer, or Jinx.  Whoever it was must be dead, or almost so, by the sound of that scream.

9 seconds on blowtorch. currently off

Cistron places the axe on the floor and grabs the flashlight"I got a flashlight, on my mark everyone move in...I'd rather not be the only one fighting this thing."

With the flashlight off, Cistron alligns herself as close to the door as possible; Waiting to hear any nearby movement. She looks to the others and forms a fist and nods, then rolls as prone as possible into the room; using the light to blind the creature while she fires off a few shots.

Screed quietly curses as he works.

Dracos readies the gun again and follows Cistron.

Jade follows along behind Cistron, ready to use the drill if things get complicated and the blowtorch if it gets close to them.

All except Screed proceed through the doorway.  Cistron's flashlight lights upon blood on the ground and the body of Jinx.  Then it scans over to movement.  The mutant creature, its claws covered with blood, howls and moves toward you.

Dracos and Cistron fire their guns.  One of them, you're not sure which, hits the creature while Jade starts up the blowtorch and drill.

The creature jumps erratically from wall to wall as it moves quickly away from you.  Both Dracos and Cistron get off another shot, but neither hits.

The creature moves down the hall and to the left...toward the bridge.

Shadow is doing well driving the ship.  Locke pats him on the shoulder.  "Good work," he says.  "I didn't know what we were going to do without Silicon."

Jade says, "Let's go!" as she runs off after the creature, drill and blowtorch ready (but currently switched off).

He hits the com system, "Locke, Shadow, mutants are heading your way, arm yourselves."

Then he moves with the others, though he covers the area they're leaving as they go so nothing can sneak up.

Cistron utters a few choice explatives, and quickly follows the others down the corridor toward the creature. -Keeping the flashlight on the ready. 'There has to be an easier way of doing this...', she thinks to herself. 'This is turning into a wild turkey shoot.'

She checks her ammo clip, and makes a final preparations before converging on the creatures.

You move up after the mutant creature, but it is very fast.  It reaches the bridge first, bursting in on Locke and Shadow.

Locke turns, mutters a curse, and then jumps on the creature to tackle it.  From behind, the others enter the room, finding their captain entangled with the creature below him.  Locke is injured and fighting, and it is obvious the creature can tear him to threads with its claws.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:10, Thu 24 May 2007.

Jade puts the drill and blowtorch close to the mutant and turns both on, hoping to scare it off of Locke.

"Don't play with it... hit the damn thing Jade!" he yells as he aims for the monster, waiting for a clear shot.

Jade says, "With what?  All I've got is a drill and a blowtorch!"  Nevertheless, she tries to sear the back of the mutant with the blowtorch without hitting Locke.

Cistron takes a few moments (rounds) of careful aim, to target what she suspects might be the mutant's critical system (head)

"Hurry, shoot the damned thing befor eit kills us all!"

Shadow releases his restraints to be able to move should things get worse.

Shots are fired, the blowtorch lights things up in a flash as Jade strikes the creature.  It screams, hit by Cistron and Dracos and by Jade's flame, and it launches itself out the hole in the window put there by the Sentinel in the previous attack.

The mutant is gone, but you look down and see that Locke is dying, blood seeping through his wounds.

Just then, there is a sharp turn, and with the Hyperion in badly damaged condition, Shadow cannot turn it in time.  It strikes it sideways, and everyone is thrown to the side violently, including Shadow, who has now taken off his restraining harness.

The Hyperion begins to plummet...but Shadow is able to jump in the seat and regain control.

"He's dead!" you hear X say.  He comes running to the front.  "Hammer's dead.  He was working on fixing the damage, and the sudden jolt knocked him against the...broke him in two and..."  X stops as he catches his breath and looks down at Locke dying.  His mouth hangs agape.

Locke is struggling for breath.  "Get back to Zion," he says, reaching down for something.  He pulls out a small disc, now bloodied in his hand.  "Give them this.  It is from Jinx.  Got it before we left."

Locke takes a couple more breaths before dying.