(IC)
  With his gas mask still on, and his albedo screen activated, Porter lobs his dose grenade through the hatch, then draws his Auto-pistol and climbs through the hatch, ready to fire a burst at any opposition.

In reply to Sgt. Porter Min (msg # 16):
Desiraye Will follow Porter up the hatch.

Ooc: just wanted to let you know that I have not had power or internet for the past few days. I may not be getting power or internet as far out as the 11th of August. I'll try to keep up if not NPC me

Bartja gets in line to climb through the hatch into engineering, Tangler Grenade in hand.  He's certain there will be some resistance - eventually...

"Masks on, screens still up!  Whne you come up the ladder, cover a sector.  It's going to be tight so try not to bunch up too bad.  One grenade would take us all out," Desi says quietly over the team channel as they proceed up and further into the ship.

4:59...4:58...4:57...

S'krllk jumps off the ladder and squeezes to let Porter through. Meanwhile, Hammer is waiting just north of them where he found the light switch and the rest of the party is lined up as shown below.

Porter jumps up the ladder quickly and tosses a doze grenade through the hatch, ducking back down and closing the hatch to wait for it to go off. As it was dark up there, he couldn't see anything.

But just as you hear the doze grenade go off on the deck above, you notice the latch to the north of you (leading to Remote Robot Bay 2) opening, revealing an armed utility robot holding a laser pistol, which is aimed down the hall at you.

4:45...4:44...4:43...

You are stuck in a narrow 3 foot wide corridor with a utility robot aiming a gun down the aisle at you. Porter is on the ladder and the rest are lined in a row.

As you stare down the hall, you do a mental calculation. Terry had four utility robots. He used one for the aircar. This would be the second one, and there are two more somewhere on the ship.

Seeing the threat and that he is nearest to it, Hammer lunges forward toward the robot and tries to close the hatch and lock the robot in. "Get up the ladder, quick!" he says. Then to S'krllk and Bartja as he lunges, "Can one of you lock this please?"

(OOC)
  Porter had no intention of 'ducking back down' or closing the hatch, the reason he was wearing the gas mask was so he could throw the grenade and enter immediately.  I should be in the room above.

(IC)
  Porter climbs through hatch, pulling it wide open to let some light into the room and leaving the opening free for everyone to follow him.  Taking out his flashlight, Porter scans the room for enemies and doors.

OOC: I see. No problem there. He is up in the dark area of the engineering deck. Everyone else is as stated. Note also that putting on a gas mask means you have to remove the breathers that filter the atmosphere. Breathers, however, do not provide the protection of gas masks.

Note also that I posted all the maps for the Moraes in a separate maps thread, in case you want to plan ahead.

Porter pops up in the room marked "3" on the map. There is a hatch to the west and another to the east. His flashlight shows him a power switch next to each hatch door.

There is also a ladder leading up to another hatch in the ceiling directly above him.

ENGINEERING DECK: The ship's life support and power sources are on this deck (see southeast corner), and could potentially provide some assistance if inspected--especially as to the engines. However, the bridge has separate self-contained emergency systems.




Hammer runs for the door to push it closed. But the robot gets a shot off first since it had surprise.  The shot is a direct hit on Hammer, even as Hammer slams into the door. 15:51, Today: GM Heath rolled 16 using 1d100 ((16)). The laser hits Hammer in the chest. 15:55, Today: GM Heath rolled 57 using 10d10 The Mechanon manages to slam the hatch closed, even as he slumps dead to the ground.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:56, Fri 07 Aug 2020.

As Hammer sees the hole in his chest and goes flying, he tries to use his body mass to keep the hatch shut so that everyone can evacuate safely without further robot attacks. "Take him down for me," he mutters as the light fades from his Mechanon eyes and his programming begins its shutdown procedures. "And keep my story alive." He sinks as his program flatlines.

(IC)
Porter flicks on the light switch for those following him, draws another dose grenade and pushes onward up the ladder to check if it is unlocked.

(OOC)
If the next hatch is not locked, Porter will open it, throw in another dose grenade and go through the hatch.  Was Hammer not wearing an albedo screen?  Damn!

Seeing the Mechanon go down from the laser blast, Desiraye yells over the comm channel, "FRAG OR TANGLE IT SARGE!  BREAK.  ORVO, UP!  HAMMER's DOWN!"

The countdown continues: 4:35...4:34...4:33...4:32...4:31...4:30...

With the robot hatch closed, you have about 30 seconds until the robot can manage to open it, or S'krllk or Bartja can try to lock it.

Porter quickly climbs up the ladder and checks the hatch above. It is locked.

Desi stands between the northern hatch to the robot (and Hammer's corpse) and the ladder, ushering everyone up the ladder.

Orvo pushes through quickly and goes up the ladder to the engineering deck.

T-minus 4:29...4:28...4:27...

OOC: Not sure about Bartja and S'krllk so I didn't put them up the ladder yet. It will take 3 seconds per person to climb a ladder to the next deck up (i.e., 1 turn for 2 people), assuming you go as quickly as possible.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:18, Sat 08 Aug 2020.

S'Krllk ignores the hatch and the utility robot behind it, mumbling something about there not being enough time. He ascends into the next section and starts scanning as soon as he is out of the way.

S'krllk climbs up and quickly starts trying to unlock the hatch above... He starts to sweat as he is having some problems.

Everyone else gets up to the engineering deck while the utility robot is struggling to open the hatch against the corpse of Hammer blocking it.

With S'krllk having trouble with unlocking the hatch, the rest of you see there is another digital read out on this wall showing the countdown.

S'krllk finally finishes, and successfully (but barely) unlocks the hatch going up. 16:16, Today: GM Heath rolled 80 using 1d100

DIGITAL READOUT: "3:36...3:35...3:34..."

OOC: Assuming everyone is closing the hatch below to lock out the utility robot and then waiting for S'krllk to finish his attempt, but you have about 30 seconds in the room waiting for S'krllk if you do anything while he is working on the lock, so just let me know.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:30, Sun 09 Aug 2020.

(IC)
  "Desi, get up here now!"  Porter urges his boss over the chronocom, while he waits for S'krllk to work on the locking mechanism.  "Never thought I'd say this about a Mechanon but I'm gonna miss that guy!" Turning to his team mates he asks, "Is it worth trying to get him in a Freeze Field?  How soon after 'death' do we need to get him in one?"

Desiraye moves up to where Porter is and calls out, "ON YOUR SIX!"

She looks down at the non-moving metal body of Hammer, touches it and checking her emotions for another moment.  Snapping herself out of the moment, "I don't know if freeze fields work that way on robots," she says choking back an emotional reply.  Taking a deep breath, she looks at Minh, "We've got to press on Sarge!  He's one of ours but, we need to look forward and try to end this.  It sucks but, we need to embrace the suck right now.

In three-and-a-half minutes, those of us still alive, are screwed royally!  We need to end this and quickly!  Any chance of maybe popping the hatches to keep the Moraes from taking off or I don't know, reasoning with Terry?"

"Once we're on the next deck, I'll get to the engine room and hit it with EMP from my hand. That should stop the takeoff and give us all the time we need for further action."
S'Krllk instructs his bodycomp to scan, wondering if there are robots awaiting them on the other side of the hatch.

"If you use an EMP, can we get the ship working again?"

"I'm pretty sure I can fix anything we break."
S'Krllk may sound confident, but there are some who may recall his preceding desire to ram the ship with the aircars.

S'krllk successfully unlocks the hatch going up from engineering to the lab deck. Then he gets out of the way to let Porter lead the way.

I'm assuming everyone stays congregated in the center area between the hatches.

Countdown: 3:03...3:02...3:01...



This message was last edited by the GM at 06:54, Tue 11 Aug 2020.

Reposting this map. (The maps are also in the separate thread.)

So you are all currently on the engineering level, having just come up from the lander module level. S'krllk just opened the hatch going up one more level to the lab level.

Communications and computer systems are on the recreation level, and the engines are on the engineering level--see control center in southeast of engineering deck map.


This message was last edited by the GM at 02:01, Sun 09 Aug 2020.

"Frak it, do it when you get the chance.  I trust you!"

She turns to Porter, "Sarge, S'Krllk has a plan.  I think we should give it a shot due to the time of lift off."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:11, Sun 09 Aug 2020.

OOC Notes:

As seemingly suggested between the group, there appear to be three approaches: 1) saboutage the engines (either in engineering room or computer room upper deck), 2) raid the bridge for a shoot out, or 3) use the communication system on the recreation deck to try to talk to Terry.

Given the current time crunch, you may think about splitting up to try multiple strategies.

Also, in case you are wondering if the time countdown is a false threat, think again. I have three scenarios in mind depending on what happens--two of them if you fail and one if you succeed, depending on the ending situation.

(OOC)
Porter only know one way to tackle this problem, head on but I need a tech to open hatches for me.  I want to keep heading up to the bridge to kill Terry in the most gruesome manner possible.  If others want to split off and try other strategies I am cool with that, so long as someone can open hatches for.

"Okay, I'm gonna try to shut down the engines. You'll want to stay clear so it won't shut down your screens at the same time."
S'Krllk will head towards the engine room. If he meets up with a robot, he'll attempt to use his cybernetic hand to pulse the robot immediately.