Z-Day - 10:30 PM Mountain Time - Over Warren Air Force Base, west of Cheyenne, Wyoming In the helicopter- Captain Jacqueline Jones sat in the pilot's seat of her Huey Iroquois helicopter, flying her night patrol around the perimeter of Warren Air Force Base. The chopper was equipped with searchlights as well as FLIR for acquiring visual targets on the ground, as well as twin M-240 7.62mm NATO machine guns for eliminating them. Only one of those was manned, by Staff Sergeant Derek Morrison. The helicopter had just the two of them as its crew, in spite of the fact that it normally held four. This particular Huey was also configured as a transport rather than a gunship, which meant there was a lot of empty space on board.
A call came in over the radio. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Carmichael," said a man's voice, "in the operations room. There is a group of civilians on its way to the base, but they've run into some trouble and had an accident a short distance northwest of the Randall Road gates. They are being pursued by the infected. Your orders are to fly to their position and lend them what assistance you can. You are authorized to airlift them out and bring them to the quarantine clinic - there is space to land on the roof there. Over."
The gate in question was a brief flight to the northwest of the chopper's current position.
OOC,Assuming you obey orders and fly there, both of you roll Spot Hidden.
In the helicopter-
"Roger that, sir," replied Jacqueline Jones over the radio. "On our way. Over and out." She changed course to the northwest, the most direct route to Randall Road. The chopper's searchlight shined down on the darkness below. When she reached the gates, she caught sight of the people she had been sent to help. There was a woman wearing a helmet holding the hands of a big young man and a girl in her late teens about fifty yards from the gates, heading towards them. Behind them, a black SUV with tinted windows was trundling slowly down the road in the same direction. Strangely, she could see no sign of any of the infected. Even the FLIR didn't register any heat signatures other than the three running civilians and a bunch of people in the SUV. From whom could they be running?
Derek Morrisoncouldn't see squat in the darkness from the gunner's seat, in spite of the brightness of the searchlight.
OOC,[b]Jacqueline[/b], if you want to land the chopper, make a Pilot (Helicopter) roll.
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," said Jacqueline. "I don't see any of the infected. Can we just lower them a rope or ladder and air-lift them individually? I'd rather not be on the ground in case there's a threat I can't see."
[Spoiler-Button]Sorry about the delay. Took me awhile to find the right thread.[/Spoiler-Button]
OOC,It's okay, and thanks for posting. You can find hyperlinks to the threads for all surviving characters in the Locations and Weapons thread, by the way.
[b]Captain Jones[/b] controls the spotlight, but you can ask her to shine it on any area that interests you. You may both make another Spot Hidden roll, this one at 3/5 skill, to see if you can spot any infected. There are plenty of flat, open places to land outside the gates.
Jones looks for any sign of the infected but doesn't manage to see any in the darkness. "Is there any way we can get them up here without landing?" She will direct the spotlight around a possible landing field to at least ensure there's a small cleared radius.
Do they have a rope and harness or if the helicopter small enough that they can hover just off the ground and let people on board? If they landed but kept everything going, could they lift off quickly?
OOC,It is possible to take off quickly after you've landed as long as you keep the engines on. There is a rope ladder aboard, and you could also hover just above ground level. This will, however, mean it takes more time to get everyone aboard than if you just landed on the ground.
In the helicopter- Jacqueline flew onwards and arrived over the gate, where she hovered while the survivors approached. The people on foot arrived outside the gates, followed by the SUV. The large young man grinned and waved at the chopper.
OOC,[b]Captain Jones[/b], remember to make a Pilot (Helicopter) roll if you set down.
Somehow,I just knew I would roll a 99. I, personally, thought it would be a 100. How do I know? I've no idea. I've never rolled this high since Masks of Nyarlathotep and have never before worried about it. Bye, bye, Jacqueline!
What should have been a routine landing turns into so much more, as Jacqueline blanks out on all the training and experience she has accrued. She shouldn't have flown out of the base so fatigued...
OOC,Wow! :shock: That's the most horrible luck I've seen since...well, okay, that's the most horrible luck I've [i]ever[/i] seen! I'm so, so sorry... :cry:
In the helicopter- Jacqueline had been flying all day, and her exhaustion finally got the better of her. Some pilots took amphetamines to help them stay alert, though it was against regulations. She wasn't one of the ones who did. Maybe it would have actually helped her if she had. Then again, maybe not. It had been a simple enough mistake, misreading the altimeter and thinking the ground was a hundred feet lower than it was, but it was often simple mistakes that wrecked aircraft and killed pilots. When the Huey hit the ground, she instinctively wrenched the control stick, but she turned it the wrong way - to the left. The chopper went over on its side, the main rotor snapping off as it struck the ground. The bird crunched hard, slamming her into the hard-packed earth below and crushing her into a bloody, unrecognizable pulp.
Derek didn't fare so well, either. He got badly smashed in the crash, pinned by the wreckage of the machine gun. He blacked out, bleeding to death.
OOC,I'm afraid [b]Jacqueline[/b] is quite, quite dead. Feel free to create a replacement character if you like. You may want one in Omaha, since you don't have one there. The simplest thing to do would be to take over [b]Gretchen Ehrlich[/b], who was just added and is still unclaimed. You could also create a new character for Gold.
[b]Derek[/b] is at 0 HP and dying, but it's still possible that someone will get to him in time to save him.
OOC,[b]Derek[/b] lives! Head on over to the thread linked below. Please do not read any posts above the one in the link.
It's a shame about [b]Jacqueline[/b], but you should also head over to the other thread. You're playing [b]Cynthia[/b], remember?