Ch1: Disaster!

[Supercape]

Sam slowly crawled and squeezed through the ventilation ducts, probably the only place on Titan where the air was warm and stifling. It was enough to make a woman sweat.

The scanner kept on beeping; surely George was just around the corner, mere feet from her....

Seth started to follow, but Drake spun around at the sound of Seth's boots. He didn't spy Seth directly, but had heard him. The man was a heap of nerves. His finger tensed on the trigger, close to squeezing....

[Mr. Handy]

Proceeding carefully and quietly, Sam tries to peek around the corner to see if George is there.

[aine]

Seth hears Ron's intake of breath around the corner, and he freezes, his heart pounding. 'Damn that man's got cat's ears! This is just crazy.' He glances back the way he came for somewhere to hide, but there is nothing in this corridor.

Seth's never been one for aggression; he's always taken the sneaky option or just plain flight but it looks like there is no choice this time. 'Well, it's me or the loony.' He thinks. He waits, his plasma gun aimed about chest height, ready to fire as soon as Ron appears round the corner.

[Supercape]

At that very moment!

Hattie peeked awkwardly around the corner...

Nothing...

But the scanner did not lie. A beep, a beep. Infront of her, splattered by blood, was George Lang's Chip, carved out his arm and lying still on the plastic coated floor of the ventilation duct...

Meanwhile...

Ronald Drake turned a corner, sliding between the sheets of wires and tubes of the reactor. His plasma pistol was in his hand, and like Seth, he was trigger happy...

But who would fire first? And who would fire true? For unleashing plasma weapons in a reactor may not be wise...

OOC:   Tune into to the ooc thread, same Bat-time, Same Bat-Channel, to resolve the outcome...

[Mr. Handy]

In the confines of the vent, Sam doesn't hear anything until a plasma blast startles her. She looks around for the nearest exit from the vent shafts.

[aine]

'Aggh! He's here!' All hopes of Ron walking away have gone. Seth doesn't even wait to grit his teeth; he pulls his trigger and fires, aiming at Ron.

[Supercape]

There was a flare; brighter than normal in the oxygen atmosphere - a brilliant flare. Then a scream, a horrible wail, as commander Ronald drake lit up like a firework, stumbling this way and that, crashing into walls of equipment, then slumping to his knees, still alight with orange-hued fire, and then collapsing on the ground, the plasma spitting out.

His body lay motionless but breathing, his flesh and clothes smouldering.

"Warning" interrupted Boss, speaking throughout the dome with his normal unflappable polite tones. "Commander Ronald Drakes Chip is registering critical life signs. Urgent medical attention advised. Commander Ronald Drake's location is Alpha Base Reactor..."

[Mr. Handy]

Sam hurries back to where she had left Ron, hoping that she's not too late.

[aine]

Seth watches in horror as Ron is engulfed in hot fizzing fire. He looks at the pistol in dismay, "What the hell is this thing; why have they got such a weapon here?" He throws it on the floor and rushes to Ron's side, waiting for him to cool down. He feels sick to his stomach.

rolls,sanity 73 (70) losing 1 point san

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,Did [b]Hattie[/b] leave her plasma pistol behind for [b]Seth[/b] to take? I had thought she had taken it with her, and I know I have mine. EDiT: [url=http://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/viewtopic.php?p=174976#p174976]This post[/url] confirms it.

[Supercape]

Spoiler:

Pop over to OOC on this!

[Supercape]

Ron was fairly cool to touch, the plasma burning out in an instant, but he was clearly in a serious condition; aside from extensive burns his chest was in bad bad shape. He was mercifully unconscious, for surely he would have been in agony if awake.

A few dying sparks and embers lit up the floor around him, but fortunately the reactor was undamaged - that is, undamaged by Seth's trigger finger. For George Long was still unaccounted for...

[Mr. Handy]

"What happened?!" cries Sam as she hurries over to Ron, relieved that at least the plasma has instantly cauterized the wound. Grabbing a first aid kit attached to the wall, placed there to be used in the event of an emergency (such as this), she does her best to treat him. Her adrenaline and desperation lend her skill she didn't know she had, and she also hears something in the background.

OOC,[b]Samantha[/b]'s First Aid roll (30% base skill) to treat [b]Ron[/b]'s wound: [dice]0[/dice] HP recovered by [b]Ron[/b] from First Aid: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Samantha[/b]'s Listen roll (25% base skill) in the reactor: [dice]1[/dice]

[aine]

Seth helps Sam as best he can. He's dealt with these kind of burns before, so knows exactly what to do, even with limited equipment which he jury-rigs from cleaning cloths and fire-extinguisher foam. He's too busy to hear anything and keeps his head down to avoid eye contact with Sam.

First aid and listen,First aid (40): 1%. 1d3: 2. Listen, (35): 49 fail.

[Supercape]

Spoiler:

Ill go with 3 HP increase to Rons HP, bringing him up to 6 HP. Sam succeeds on listen, both succeed on first aid

Ron groaned as he woke up. "Uuhhhh....you shot me...uuuuhhrrr....." he moaned. "The pain...it hurts so bad...." he said sweating from the agony he must surely be in.

He grabbed Sam's wrist, almost delirious..."Shoot him...shoot him..." he demanded, his bulging eyes glaring at Seth. "He will ruin everything! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I want to live! Whatever it takes!" he babbled, squeezing her wrist.

The First Aid Kit certainly had painkillers in...but how much to give?

Meanwhile, Sam hears some scuffling footsteps, trying to be quiet, but still....they are heading out of the Reactor....

[Mr. Handy]

Sam pulls free. "Did you hear that?" she whispers. "I think that was George." She indiciates the direction where she heard his footsteps receding, her plasma pistol in her hand.

OOC,With only a 01% in Pharmacy, I know better than to even try. I'd be more likely to kill him than to help him. I think we should follow [b]George[/b], but [b]Seth[/b] would be better at taking the lead there, since he's sneakier than I am.

[aine]

Seth is still mortified for shooting Ron, "We can't just leave him like this; he's in agony." He looks at the phial of pain killer to see if there's any instructions. "The way I see it, this one dose won't be enough to kill anyone - where's the sense in that? And he's a big fella; he can handle an oversize dose if we get it wrong and too little will still help him a bit."

When Sam hears George he says, "Let me just give this to him before we go." And he takes the phial and administers half of it. "This will hopefully just sedate him, reduce the pain. Look here Ron, here's the rest of it, if you need it." He lays it down next to Ron's hand. "You rest here and we'll be back as soon as we've found George; and then we're all out of here. Sam, can you get your Boss to monitor Ron and let us know if anything changes?"

He waits briefly to see how Ron takes the pain killers and then nods to Sam, "Lets go." He picks up Ron's gun and discards his own plasma pistol that seems to have bust.

Pharmacy,(01%) Roll: 09 fail. Is that okay about the dratted plasma pistol breaking?

[Mr. Handy]

Sam nods, following Seth. "You should take the lead," she whispers. "You're a lot quieter than I am, and we don't want him to know we're on his tail."

[aine]

"Just because I look sneaky." Seth protests. "But you're probably right." He takes one last look at Ron and then stealthily creeps down the corridor in the direction that Sam indicates. He wonders what they should do once they find this George; he for one isn't going to do any more shooting - not for a long while.

roll,Sneak (50): 30%

[Supercape]

Spoiler:

The dratted plasma pistol is probably still working but Seth can easily disable it...

Seth took the lead by several yards, as quiet as he could. And he did not just look sneaky; he pulled it off. Ahead of him, moving quietly, but not silently, was a lonesome figure dressed up in the Colonist overalls. On his back, "LONG".

The man was dishevelled, with wild hair, and a few rips on his overalls. In one hand, he held a tool kit - a step up from the normal multitool, for complex repairs and construction. In the other, a plasma torch, for heavy duty cutting and welding. Of course, a plasma torch was a dangerous thing - a dangerous weapon. Its end burned with tiniest of flame, but Seth knew all to well that at full power it would be a foot long blade of white hot heat.

"Bzzt...Bzzzt....Bzzzt....hehehe....Bzzzt Bzzt Bzzt..." mumbled George in an out of tune hysteria as he shuffled to the centre of the reactor...