"Will do, cap'n. Let me just put another pot of coffee on...", Tump snaps back.

Inarra drops the multi-tool she was fiddling with and jumped on to a nearby terminal.  "Logging. Give me a minute."

Outside the door, Ronan examines the sparking bodies of the two walkers. There is nothing left to cause problems.  The big engineer takes a deep breath to speak, but stops as the hiss of doors opening and the first rattle of smaller droids is heard on either side of the wide tunnel down the hall.

He drops his hammer and opens up a case he'd been carrying.  A remote operated repeater de-collapses and begins tracking after a few key punches from Ronan.  He repeats the process five  more times, then grabs his pack full of energy batteries, his hammer, and the rest of his gear.  He slides the energy batteries through the opening one at a time, and whatever gear will fit.  One final look at the doorway and his own large frame and Ronan shakes his head.  He retains one really nasty looking repeater and his hammer.  The repeater he fits to a harness that locks to a frame under his jacket.  "I'd appreciate it if you got those doors open.  Until then, I'll hold them here."

Tump eyes never break from the terminal screen, but he still manages to reply over his shoulder. "Yep. Workin' on it. This system is old as dirt but sophisticated as hell. Can you hold 'em off for a few more minutes?"

The only response is the spinning up of the repeaters and the first tell-tale sounds of phased gas evacuating the barrel.  Gears whir as the robotic guns track targets perfectly, chewing through them with a precision no human could match.

The blasts are steady, relentless.

Tump grins nervously. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Django nearly gets frustrated as each time he lines up a shot, a repeater beats him to his target and lays absolute waste. "How long can these hold up? he calls out.

Ronan takes a bit to reply.  When he does, it's a roar over blaster fire chewing threw metal and plastic.  "AT THIS RATE, ABOUT THREE MINUTES!  FOUR TOPS!"

Django turns his head back towards the door and yells inside "You got two minutes before we're all dead! Two!".

Tump's eyes widen. "Make that ammo last!"

He looks over at Inarra. "We need to pick up the pace, otherwise we're toast."

Inarra types smoothly and rapidly on the interface, not missing a beat.  Her intensity alone looks enough to will the computer to comply.  "Access the 004-C branch in three, two, NOW!"

Outside, Ronan ejects a red-hot cannister from his own gun and loads another.  In the ten seconds he spends doing so, the droids shamble closer as the repeaters are not able to keep up with the numbers.  Only 30 meters remain between the line of advance and the repeaters.  Ronan is two meters behind that.

At this point the droids are replacing the fallen faster than the guns can take them down.  The only bright spot is that some now are broken and shambling and so a bit slower than the first.

Without warning, a large metal ball that looks like droid parts squished together, comes sailing out of the din.  One of the repeaters aims and starts chewing through it, but it comes so fast there isn't time to destroy the wad of metal.  It slams into the repeater, knocking it over and bending it's front legs.  With no targets in it's firing arc, the repeater goes silent.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:00, Wed 13 Sept 2017.

Tump grins. "Got it! Synchronizing..."

The commotion outside catches his attention, but he continues tapping away at the keys for a few seconds more. "Ok, we're in. Now we just need to reroute the power to the command distribution center."

"Just another minute... I think"

Django dives to the spot where the repeater was while unslinging the BFG-9000. He takes aim and sends a single disintegration round center mass of the mob.

20:31, Today: Django Blint rolled 16 using 1d20+7.  BFG 9000.
20:32, Today: Django Blint rolled 47 using 10d10+1. BFG 9000 damage.

The blast wipes out maybe thirty of the droids.  Maybe a hundred more are flung in all directions but return their relentless march forward.

Inside the station office, Inarra continues to type furiously on the keyboards.  She compliments Tump's admittedly greater skills in slicing as best she can.  It's not that she is slow or even makes mistakes. She just doesn't anticipate the coding the way he does and so is always two steps behind.  "Power rerouted...wait, that line is broken.  Here.  Okay, got it now.  Power is back online!"

Outside the repeaters go silent.

Only Ronan's gun continues to chew through the encroaching horde.  They are slow but relentless.  They crawl, shamble, drag their bodies ever forward.  A circle of broken, creeping half-formed...things, close on the engineer.

"There are...too many of them!  Get those doors closed! Shut down the command structure for the defense systems!"

{Tump/Inarra ==> +1 Computer Slicing XP
The Mechanical Subsystem O/S is rebooting.  15 seconds pass...punctuated by Ronan's battle yells and gun.  You can hear the barrel sound start to change as it begins to overheat.  Then you have access to the doors.

Beyond that, you have one more series of Slicing to do in order to find the command system, the subroutine for the defenses, the sub-subroutine for those defense droids, and then shut it down.  Computer Slicing Roll.  Same DC, same situation.

Roll Computer Slicing DC = 27.  You may take 10 and then for every 1 minute you spend beyond the first, you may add 1 to your roll for taking your time to avoid mistakes.  If you fail a roll, the time bonus resets to zero.  Inarra will add +1 for every 2 minutes beyond the first.}

Tump shouts. "Doors are online, everybody inside!"

He pushes several buttons and waits for the others enter the command room before shutting the doors.

"Django!  I can't...I can't let up.  If I try to come inside, they will crash through.  I gotta keep 'em here.  Tell Tump to close those doors.  NOW!"  Ronan is right.  His constant barrage is the only thing keeping the swarm of droids from reaching the door.  Even then, they are encroaching more and more on his position.  The moment he lets up to come inside, they will overwhelm him and make it through.

Ronan's command is loud enough for all to hear within the control room. He glances over to Inarra and Irin with a look of hopelessness on his face. Lastly, he looks back over to Django. "Captain?"

Everything seems to happen in slow motion around Django. His adrenaline has spiked to levels beyond his comprehension. Everything around him sounds underwater. His movements don't feel like his own anymore, and all sights are a blur. In one instant he's flinging off a bandoleer with his left hand while his right pushes Ronan backwards towards the door. The bandoleer sails through the air towards the heart of the swarm. In another instant his right arm is extended, DL-44 energy pistol sighted in on the bandoleer tumbling aloft ahead of him. As his finger pulls the trigger, the sights, the sounds, and the momentum around him all rush together in a cacophony of sensations.

The bandoleer erupts in a violent burst of fire and concussion, flinging Django backwards into Ronan who's still stumbling in to the doorway from Django's shove. He smacks in to the big man with a heavy force as the two fall head over heels through the hatch.

22:05, Today: Django Blint rolled 194 using 40d8.  20 round bandoleer of explosive shot (1's rerolled with permission)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:19, Tue 19 Sept 2017.

Ronan cries out in pain as the wave of energy slams into him through the narrow opening of the doorway.  When he lands, he does not move.  Django makes it inside just before Tump closes the doors.

Outside, there is a deep boom - not from the explosion of the ordinance - of something vastly heavy falling.  The shockwave through the floor knocks everyone to the ground [DMG 6].

Then the computers all go dark again leaving the core shining through the thick transparent metal as the only source of light.

Tump stands up quickly in a panic, seeing all the terminals shut down. "Mighty ballsy, captain, but at least we're all alive. For now. You ok over there Ronan?"

He rushes over to the nearest terminal to diagnose the system.


12:46, Today: Tump rolled 17 using 1d20+11.  perception check.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:46, Tue 19 Sept 2017.

Irin kneels down next to Ronan and inspects him for wounds.  "He's hurt pretty bad.  Second degree burns on the backs of his arms, legs, and head.  His equipment protected his back and lower torso."  She keeps Ronan on his stomach and doesn't try to remove anything.  "Ronan?  Can you hear me?"  After a few moments of waiting, Irin shakes her head.  "He's breathing, but he is out cold.  Probably from shock rather than from impact.  I don't see any concussion wounds on the head."

Tump looks over the terminal but gets no feedback. He starts looking around for an alternate power source. "Inarra, looks like we've gone dark. Can you check the power source on that side? I'll look over here and see if the batteries have been blown out or not."

Inarra gives Toben the thumbs up and starts checking the power cells.  "This one is loose.  Might have been shaken out by whatever that big thump was outside.   I'll try to get it reseated. "

Tump will find the other power cell in his side completely dislodged.  Further inspection indicates some damage on one end at t he connection surface.   It may not fit the socket anymore.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:52, Tue 10 Oct 2017.