Active thread - The Red Strain [TRS]

[Pickman37]

IN THE LAB...

George locks up the container and composes himself. He glances about and is sure no one saw him in his excited state. He takes a deep breath and quickly returns the area back to its natural state, shutting off the heat lamp and putting away whatever implements were left out. Once finished, he exits the lab into the lounge area.

Upon entering the lounge, George catches the aroma of dinner...

Smells delicious. Arthur does it again... The cook was one of the few who George respected. A pity he did not apply himself to a more worthy vocation but in this one, he did admittingly excel. As he enters the dining area, George can see activity occurring down the corridor to the airlock...

[Dave Syrinx]

From the radio, on speaker comes the reply: "Thank God." The usually cocky pilot sounds worried and stressed. "Look Robert, there's an unknown man wandering around out here with a sniper rifle. Janet saw him but I wasn't sure at first. But he's broken into the helicopter and stolen the rifle from its locker. Is everyone else back at the station?"

Inadvertently Arthur starts to second guess the number of rolls he just put in the oven...

Johnny has been outside for three minutes.

On the second floor-
Judging by the state of Xavier, he most certainly has a cardiac arrest. There´s no sign of a heart failure or fluctuating heart rhythm. He did show all signs of acute myocardial infarction before he went down. At the spot assessment gives Evans the fatal conclusion that his boss is utterly dead. Clinically dead, that is. At this, Evans reflects coldly, Xavier will still be conscious for another fifteen seconds before the brain starts to shut down. Then there´s the resuscitation recommendation limit of three minutes. Calculating the odds of getting his boss back to life Evans by default prepares for cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
There´s five meters to the emergency locker. About the same distance to the defibrillator in the clinic ward.

Down in the airlock Walther pass Janet and Harrison and nods at George when walking over to the kitchen. "Any new finds, G?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Bloody hell!" says Robert. "Janet, Harrison, and Walther just came back inside, but I can't see how they could have slipped a rifle past us without someone noticing. Eric also spotted three people in red parkas outside. I'm not sure how they got here. McMurdo is planning to send a team, but they couldn't have gotten here already. I'm not sure if anyone else didn't come back yet besides you. Can you get back inside safely?"

[Pickman37]

Down in the airlock Walther passes Janet and Harrison and nods at George when walking over to the kitchen. "Any new finds, G?"

"Nothing yet but we may have to make another trip..." George attempts to make eye contact with Walther, hoping to convey his meaning but feels he has failed. He does not trust the man but knows he has his uses....

[Dave Syrinx]

Over the radio-
"Robert, it wasn't any of our lot. It's someone else, and I don't know how the hell they got here. Over the ice from somewhere? I'm worried about the helicopter- sabotage would be a disaster."

[MadJaymilton]

"I need a hand up here!" Evans shouted as he turned for the emergency locker. There was a defibrillator there--he liked the clinic model better but didn't want to be out of Xavier's sight. He dashes down the hallway and tears the locker open, looking for the machine.

[Tabs]

Arthur is wandering round the dining room, refilling the cutlery container, placing a jug of water on the table.

"I need a hand up here!"

"Huh? Coming!"

Arthur runs upstairs. Shit, those rolls are going to burn.

[Mr. Handy]

"I was worried about the chopper too," replies Robert. "We saw someone heading for it earlier, and they might have messed with it already. I don't know what we can do about it other than inspect it carefully before trying to lift off in it, but if there's a sniper out there..."

[MadJaymilton]

Evans pulls the defibrillator from the supply closet and cradles it close as he makes his way back to where Xavier is lying. "Get his shirt open," he tells Arthur, hoping the man isn't the type to freeze in a crisis. He drops to his knees and flicks the defibrillator on. Precious seconds pass as it charges.

[Tabs]

Arthur rips open Xavier's shirt as instructed, a button pops off and bounces upon the floor. He thinks: I pity the poor unfortunate lass that did this last!

"Evans, what's going on, has the man had a heart attack?"

[MadJaymilton]

"Acute infarction, yes," Evans says, smearing conductive gel on the shock pads. "If we can't revive him we'll be sending another bag to McMurdo. Get clear!" There's a 'splsh' sound as the doctor presses the pads to Xavier's chest, and he triggers the voltage.

[Tabs]

"'Acute infa--'?"

Arthur stands clear. "Is he gonna make it?"

[Pickman37]

"Nothing yet but we may have to make another trip..." George attempts to make eye contact with Walther, hoping to convey his meaning but feels he has failed. He does not trust the man but knows he has his uses....

The man passes George without any sort of acknowledgement.

Ass..! George thinks to himself. He needed the man but did not care much for his character or the way he operated. He chose to carry on, searching for supper even though the station seemed to be in a state of anxious upheaval. He could smell something good....but could he detect something burning....

[Dave Syrinx]

Upstairs-
In the corridor upstairs Arthur backs away from the emergency treatment. Putting the paddles on Xavier, Evans presses the embedded buttons. The body of the station manager heaves and slumps down.
Seemingly ineffective, the pedals whine as they recharge.

Evans studies the dead chief and waits for some reaction. Effects can be delayed, he knows.
What then happens, is beyond reason.
Before his eyes, Evans sees a wriggling motion under the skin of Xavier´s chest.
Not unlike skin worms, he manages to think before the chest rips open in three locations!
Small gaping holes of red and white, blood and ribs.

Arthur and Evans, SAN checks, please. (0/1d3 For seeing the poor Xavier die. The hardened doctor for seeing what he never seen before. Fascinating.)


Airlock, Robert, Harrison, Janet,
Harrison finds Janet´s hand in his, will she let him. Otherwise he will lean towards the airlock door while asking her. "Are we fine?" Robert looks out one of the front windows and sees the three visitors walk up the metal stairs.
The door is still unlocked.
Three red parkas, the first one is a woman. USAF insignia on the hood.

In the kitchen, Walther sees smoke coming from the oven as the rolls are acquiring a coal-like coating. Smoke escapes from a vent on top of the stove. He reaches for the lid and pulls it open.
"One more go, G?"
He looks for a towel or something to grab the rolls with. "You forget something at the site?"
Eric looks left and right at the commotion in the station.
"We have had no warning of any visitors..." Robert replies to Eric after responding to Johnny over the coms.

[Mr. Handy]

"All right, be careful," says Robert. He takes a look at his watch to note the time before signing off and exiting the radio room.

[Tabs]

[ooc: [dice]0[/dice] (Arthur's sanity is 75%)]


He leaps backwards, away from Evans and Xavier, and falls against the door jamb of Harrison's room. "No, no, NO!" An image of barbecued ribs flits through his mind, Arthur gags: he feels like he's about to be sick.

[Dave Syrinx]

The time is 16:59.

From the airlock, Robert, Janet and Harrison see the three newcomers reach the landing outside. One of the men turns around and looks out from the landing at the white snowing vista. The woman reaches for the handle on the door.

In the kitchen, Walther gets the oven tray out, using an apron to shield off the heat when he grips it, of the oven and places it on the stove. The rolls are charred and give off some smoke. George and Eric get past the logistics manager and starts getting out the rest of the things needed for the meal. That´s the least they can do while Arthur is upstairs.

Having trouble keeping the breakfast down, Arthur watches the wriggling feelers erupt from Xavier´s chest and lunge out at Evans´ face. [We hold here to let MadJaymilton reply to the previous post...]

[Dave Syrinx]

On the second floor -
Evans keeps his posture at some strange green tentacles lunge at him. Vines of some sort?
Pedals in hand, he flicks the power on again and fire them off. But not before yelling "Clear!!"

Nothing happens, though... And the tentacles fly at his throat.
Mesmerized at the non-functioning device, he manages to think.

"I...I... didn´t wait long enough between charges...."

The tentacles rip his throat and entangle him. (-1
Instinctively he drops the pedals and grabs at the tentacles trying to pry them off.

At this, Arthur is getting queasier by the second.

[Another SAN check please! 1d3/1d6
Getting a loss of five or more will have
some effect on the chef. Less will let
him act freely.]

All the while, Arthur watches, aghast.

In the kitchen / Air lock
All on deck can hear the yell from upstairs. "Clear!!!" Followed by a gagging sound. Evidently doctor Evans is performing some life saving procedure upstairs. The momentary pause of everything at this is interrupted by a gun shot from outside and the subsequent rip of a round hitting the wall of Station 10 "Thump!".

Hearing the yell, Dwayne lets go of Janet´s hand and rushes up the stairs.
"What the fuck?" Walther swears and mutters. "The shotgun! I´ll get it... Where´s Johnny at?" He leaves the rolls and the setting of the table, passing both George and Eric as he mentions the shotgun.

Janet, Robert, Eric, George: actions please.

[Dave Syrinx]

[BTW, is anyone locking the front door? Or do you let it remain unlocked?]

[Mr. Handy]

"Johnny's still out there," says Robert. "Right before I got off the radio, he said he was going to make a run for the outpost. We can't lock the door yet, or he'll be trapped outside." He positions himself close to the airlock so that he can seal it once Johnny enters.